Bill Graham/ The Meridian Star fileSteve Forbert, shown performing in Meridian in 2017, will get a star on The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience’s Walk of Fame on Saturday, May 4.

Saturday, May 4 looks to be a good day for Steve Forbert.

Not only will the Meridian native headline the 2019 Jimmie Rodgers Music Festival with an evening set at the Temple Theatre for the Performing Arts, he’ll finally get his star on the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience’s Walk of Fame.

The ceremony, which is free and open to the public, is planned for 2 p.m. on the sidewalk in front of Weidmann’s Restaurant on 22nd Avenue. The festivities then move to The Max’s gift shop, where at 2:30, Forbert will sign copies of his 2018 memoir, “Big City Cat: My Life in Folk-Rock.”

“It’s certainly a very nice thing, and I’m certainly honored,” Forbert said during a recent phone conversation. “You know, Meridian…Well, it’s Jimmie Rodgers’ birthplace, and Paul Davis was one of my teenage heroes. I listened to WMOX constantly as a boy with a transistor radio. It’s great to be part of the visibility of the town.”

Forbert, known for his unique brand of folk-rock music, joins a long list of previous honorees on the Walk Of Fame.

The walk runs from the MSU Riley Center to the Max on Front Street and honors The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Jimmy Buffett, William Eggleston, Willie Morris, Charley Pride, Howlin’ Wolf, John Grisham, Jim Henson, Robert Johnson, Leontyne Price, Muddy Waters, Richard Wright, George Ohr, Elvis Presley, Hartley Peavey, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Walter Anderson, Moe Bandy, Mac McAnally, Morgan Freeman, Marty Stuart, Sela Ward; Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner and B.B. King. Rodgers, known as the father of country music, earned the first star in 2009.

“We’ve got some artists,” Forbert said of the state’s deep cultural contributions. “Going to visit a hall of fame, I don’t think any state can beat Mississippi.”

As far as the Temple Theatre concert, Forbert is looking forward to taking the stage, as the hallowed hall played a big part in his childhood.

“I look forward to it,” Forbert said, noting that he last played the venue in 2010. “I spent a lot of time in there as a youngster. Not always watching a movie…You know, we were boys – So we were scouting the place out, going under the stage…looking for ghosts and playing hide-and-seek. Just generally not doing what we were supposed to.”

More information

Tickets for Steve Forbert’s concert, which will feature an opening set by Paul Burch, are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the show. For more information, visit www.jimmierodgersmusicfestival.com.