Bill Graham / The Meridian StarSinger-songwriter Elizabeth Cook sings at last year's Jimmie Rogers Music Festival in Meridian. This year's festival kicks off Friday. 

In 1955, a young aspiring singer from Memphis attended an annual festival in Meridian honoring a famous country musician from East Central Mississippi. The event featured some of the country’s top entertainers of that time – Ernest Tubb, Frank Snow, Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, the Carter family to name a few – and much to the dismay of festival organizers, the young singer also wanted a chance to perform.

The singer’s persistence paid off. He was allowed on stage and gave a performance that not only wowed the crowd, but also festival organizers – many of whom destined him to become “the next best thing” to hit the country’s music scene.

That young singer was none other than Elvis Presley, who would later rock the music scene and become known as the King of Rock and Roll. The event was the Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival.

More than six decades later, the festival honoring the Meridian native recognized as the Father of Country Music is alive and kicking – despite several years of dwindling attendance numbers and, even worse, disinterest among many local residents.

“There are so many stories just like that one of Elvis’ appearance at the Jimmie Rodgers Festival,” said Betty Lou Jones, president of the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving Rodgers’ legacy, but also the heritage of country music. “We really have a jewel. We have been given a great opportunity to take advantage of our history, and we ought to do it. We ought to enhance our association with the legacy of music.”

According to Jones, the 64-year-old festival – now known as the Jimmie Rodgers Music Festival – is enjoying a third revival, thanks to a new format and more importantly, a renewed interest in one of Meridian’s most famous natives.

Festival history

The first Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival was held May 26, 1953, to honor the country music singer on the 20th anniversary of his death.

“Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb, the governors of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas, as well as the fans of Jimmie Rodgers and his family wanted to celebrate him,” Jones said. “At that first festival, they said they had 30,000 people. It was held at Highland Park and was just one day. They had a barbecue, a talent competition and people came and camped out.”

In 1958, Tubb and Snow called off the festival due to a lack of local support and because of the demands required to produce it. It would be revived in 1972 (Tubb and Snow returned to show their support) and the festival had a new home: Ray Stadium.

Jones said while the festival did not draw the massive crowds of its early years, its popularity continued and it was a favorite among musicians. It was relocated to the Temple Theater in downtown Meridian and featured three nights of entertainment with two show times, as well as other activities – in addition to the barbecue and talent competitions, there was also golf and fishing tournaments, a pageant and even a street dance to kick everything off.

In 1976, the Jimmie Rodgers Museum opened in Highland Park. According to Jones, the facility was originally proposed to serve as an even greater venue.

“History has it that it was supposed to the Country Music Hall of Fame,” she said. “A site on the interstate – out toward the Meridian Airport – had been determined to be the location of the Hall of Fame, but it was not to be. We lost out to Nashville.”

During the early ‘80s, the Jimmie Rogers Memorial Festival enjoyed great success, attracting the top names in country music.

“The stars loved the festival, and just about every top country music artist had performed the festival at least once during its heyday,” Jones said.

But by the decade’s end on to the mid-’90s, the festival would experience a decline in interest and almost become non-existent.

Changing times

Change is inevitable. And, according to Jones, several changes almost led to the demise of the annual Jimmie Rodgers Festival.

“Prior to the ‘80s, our youth were not as involved in sports and there weren’t as many little league teams. Once that started, people weren’t able to go every night of the festival events,” she said.

Increasing fees to book performers was another factor.

“About that time, country music had really begun to come into its own. And that’s when the stars began to be able to charge these huge prices to perform,” she said. “In the beginning, a lot of the stars donated their appearance or charged lower prices. But then they started making a lot of money and having agents, and that changed that.”

However, Jones said the greatest impact on the festival longevity was the growing number of casinos constructed throughout the state.

“The casinos had a tremendous effect on the festival, and a lot of other entertainment venues,” she said. “Not only could they pay the big bucks, but they also would have a clause in the artists’ contracts stating they could not perform within a 90-mile radius of their location within a certain number of days.”

In following years, the festival would relocate to several venues, including the Lauderdale County Agri-Center and Singing Brakeman Park.

“The artists would want you to assure a crowd of a certain number. If the Temple Theater only seats 1,400, you can’t assure a crowd of 2,500,” Jones said.

Despite organizers efforts, the annual festival began to dwindle, with drastic drops in attendance – audiences of less than 1,000 – and even worse, financial problems.

“A lot of people became disgruntled because it changed; they didn’t want change,” Jones said Jones, “But they (festival organizers) were trying to have something that could be paid for. They were losing money, they were in debt; they were trying to find a way to make it work.”

The phoenix rises – again

Jones become involved with the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation in the ‘90s.

“We were struggling to try to keep it and to try to keep the tradition,” she said.

And while the festival was hindered by a number of obstacles, Jones also notes one major hindrance: arrogance.

“A lot of people thought they were too good to be country,” she said. “You know, you have to dance with the boy that brought you to the dance. And country music was what brought Meridian to town. But there were a lot of people who turned up their nose at it. And that’s the time when a lot of people in Meridian walked away from the festival.”

Nonetheless, foundation members continued their struggle to save the Jimmie Rodgers Festival.

“Primarily because it means so much to Meridian as an identification point. The birthplace of the Father of Country Music is not something you want to throw away,” Jones said. “And part of the Foundation’s mission is to provide affordable music to the community – along with the museum to perpetuate the history and legacy of Jimmie Rodgers.

And, with the construction of the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience – which is scheduled to open in spring 2018 – Jones said Foundation members realized a second life for the festival and museum.

“We’ll be able to work hand-in-hand,” she said. “Our plan is to move the museum downtown and people can visit both facilities. With the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience, Tupelo will still have the Elvis Presley Museum, Indianola, the B.B. King Museum and Meridian will have the Jimmie Rodgers Museum – representing three music icons in Mississippi.”

Through the dedication of volunteers and renewed spirit of the community, the Foundation has overcome the obstacles of the festival with another change.

“For the last years, we’ve changed the festival’s format from just country music to more diversity – more blues, more Americana – and presenting up-and-coming artists,” Jones said.

And while today the festival continues to grow – crowds are expected to reach 4,000-5,000 at this year’s event set for Friday and Saturday in downtown Meridian – Jones said community support is still needed.

“The festival’s economic impact to the community is significant – people from out of town stay in our hotels, eat at restaurants, shop and buy gas. We want our community to be more of a part of that success,” she said. “We should have more restaurants attached to country music themes, more playhouses … We could be the next Branson, Missouri.”