“You got to walk that lonesome valley, you got to walk it for yourself …”

–John Hurt song lyrics

 

If anyone were to need a spot-on illustration of the importance of The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience to exploring our state’s cultural riches, it was provided this week by a Jimmie Rodgers Festival education event.

 

For many, this free Monday evening gathering offered a fine point of connection and understanding, as well as a good time.

 

The MAX, a still-young museum attraction on Front Street, partnered with the legendary Meridian festival to host a presentation of the “A Man Called Hurt” documentary, recalling the life and hard-won achievements of Delta blues and folk musician John Hurt (1893-1966). The film was followed by a Q and A session with a few who know Hurt’s story well, including granddaughter Mary Frances Hurt, and a performance by another remarkable Mississippi bluesman, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes.

 

Musicians featured in the documentary talked passionately about Hurt’s distinctive guitar-playing and gentle storytelling. About how this unique musician – added to Rolling Stone magazine’s Greatest Singers of All Time list two years ago – didn’t gain wide exposure until the final years of his life, when he became a folk festival star, and how measures must be taken to secure his legacy. The Mississippi John Hurt Foundation is leading that effort.

 

In February 2024, the Mississippi John Hurt Museum at his old homeplace in Avalon, near Greenwood, was declared a national landmark, and the next day it mysteriously burned. Most artifacts associated with his career were lost.

 

The fire’s cause hasn’t been determined, and this setback only adds to the daunting story of a man who refined his talents during Jim Crow times.

 

“Daddy John found a way to escape the realistic side of life, and it was not very pretty,” granddaughter Mary Frances says in the documentary.

 

During the Q and A time, someone from the audience asked if Mississippi John Hurt would have appreciated the Jimmie Rodgers Festival. The answer was a resounding yes.

 

“It (music) is the one thing that speaks to people in their soul and their heart,” said Mary Francis.

 

Andy Cohen, an officer of the Hurt Foundation and impressive guitar-player himself, said, “He would have been right at home here.”

 

Educational programs and workshops, as well as live entertainment, have long felt at home at The MAX. The nonprofit’s executive director, Penny Kemp, gives priority to holding these events on the building’s second floor – where they are surrounded by exhibits highlighting musicians, writers, actors and other artists. Her mantra: You shouldn’t attend a nice event at The MAX (be it a reception or concert) and miss the engaging content just upstairs. These are at the heart of the MAX’s state-endorsed mission.

 

As a packed crowd took in Monday’s event on the 2nd floor, they could find, steps away, a chapel exhibit celebrating Gospel music influences; a “People & Places” wall recalling key figures like architect Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee, a Meridian native who led efforts to design affordable buildings in poor communities; and a quote from singer-songwriter LeAnn Rimes, originally from Jackson: “I think our songs really talk about real life, heartbreak and love and we are just able to reach people deeply, which is a gift.”

 

The MAX also had created a temporary small exhibit that told Hurt’s story and presented a few surviving artifacts, including his fedora and a beloved guitar.

 

Jimmie Rodgers Foundation leaders are more than pleased at the “edutainment” opportunities offered by The MAX – this week, in the past, and going forward. It all helps to put Meridian on the map in the right way. In her opening remarks, Kemp returned the sentiment: “We love having Jimmie Rodgers in the building!”

 

Warner is a veteran journalist and cultural historian, and can be contacted at legacypress.warner@gmail.com.