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Registration begins for Heritage Conference


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>Memphis Mojo


Registrations are now being accepted for the third Delta Music Heritage Conference May 3-5.

A "blues summit," the conference is aimed at promoting tourism in the Delta while preserving the heritage of the music and the culture.

"The local committee has worked very had to put together a top-notch conference," says organizing committee chair Munnie Jordan, the former executive director of the King Biscuit Blues Festival. "There will be panel discussions conducted by musicians, promoters and organizers of some of the best the Delta has to offer."

Registration for the conference is $175 for professionals and $75 for students. The registration fee covers all meals, including a Monday night dinner cruise on the Mississippi with entertainment by Big Bill Morganfield, the son of Muddy Waters. To register, call Linda Wagner at (870) 338-8798.

The conference will take place at a variety of locations in Helena, ranging from the Delta Cultural Center to the historic Malco Theatre, which is under renovation. The Festival Marketplace will serve as the central headquarters. The conference is being coordinated by representatives from Phillips Community College, the Chamber of Commerce, the King Biscuit Blues Festival and the Delta Cultural Center in Helena; officials from the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism; and Conaway Brown Inc., the Memphis-based publisher of BlueSpeak.

Speakers include:

  • David Evans, the University of Memphis ethno-musicologist who has devoted his career to the study of blues

  • Tad Pearson, owner of American Dream Safari, which takes private tours of the Delta in a vintage 1955 Cadillac

  • Sonny Payne, the longtime host of the King Biscuit radio show on KFFA

  • William Ivey, who has been nominated to chair the National Endowment for the Arts

  • Legendary bluesman James Cotton

  • Eli Ball, producer and organizer of the Crossroads and Bluestock music expos in Memphis

Several other speakers are scheduled for the two-day workshops and panels. The conference will begin by explaining the history and heritage of the region. It then will feature success stories, and culminate in the nuts and bolts of how to promote, produce and plan events and other tourism-related sites.

The sessions will take place throughout historic Helena.

The first conference took place in Memphis in 1994, and brought together more than 100 people for seminars, lectures, panel discussions and brainstorming sessions. The keynote speakers were National Humanities chairman Bill Ferris and Bob Pittman, the founder of MTV. The focus of the first conference was on the resources and popularity of cultural/heritage tourism. The second conference, which took place in Greenville, Miss., in September of 1996, focused on preserving and defending the Delta's heritage. Isaac Tigrett, founder of the House of Blues and Hard Rock Cafe, and author Shelby Foote were the keynote speakers.