Attendees at the 72nd annual Jimmie Rodgers Festival last week in Meridian had the opportunity to not only hear from talented musicians but also to learn more about the roots of Rodgers’ music. Known as the “father of country music,” Rodgers, a Meridian native, created music that has inspired generations of musicians and continues to touch new artists today.

 

Vasti Jackson, who performed Friday during this year’s festival and again Saturday in an encore performance, said Rodgers combined European and African rhythms to create sounds that make up the root of country music.

 

Jackson said he had the opportunity several years ago to play the part of Hobo Bill in “America’s Blue Yodeler,” at Meridian Little Theatre, which started him down the path of studying Rodgers’ music and looking at how it shaped the landscape of music from the 1930s and on.

 

“That put me on the path of examining, studying the music of Jimmie Rodgers,” he said. “God makes no mistakes.”

 

The 72nd annual Jimmie Rodgers Festival was a weeklong celebration of Rodgers’ influence on music and  included performances by Jake Worthington, Daniel Houze, Britt Gully, Preston Cooper, American Blond, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Cuffing Season and more.

 

The festival is organized and put on by the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation, which also operates the Jimmie Rodgers Museum in Meridian. For more information about the foundation, Rodgers or the festival, visit jimmierodgers.com.