by Cory Bryars, KCBS Media Coordinator
Like some Blues fans have done for almost 40 years, I attended the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas last month. This was my eleventh year in a row, and yes I am counting 2020 and 2021 when “the Biscuit” was officially cancelled for Covid and a bunch of KCBS folks and friends created a Covid-friendly substitute we called Shack Fest.
After almost cancelling due to lack of funding in 2025, the Biscuit came back in full force for 2026.
Pre-Show
The Biscuit officially ran Thursday thru Saturday, October 8-10. Being newly retired, we decided to go early and enjoy some down time. We got to our bed & breakfast Tuesday evening and started our annual re-connection with our fellow Biscuit Buddies. Bob Corritore stays in the same place, but he wouldn’t arrive until Wednesday. If you’ve been to Helena, you know that “B&B” isn’t quite as glamorous as it might sound. The Southmoreland it ain’t.
Wednesday we road-tripped the 90 miles to Memphis and spent several hours at the National Civil Rights Museum. My wife Cecilia and I were joined by friends and KCBS members Sara Grika and Greg and Donna Lunnon (KCBS Board Secretary) and a Biscuit and Bluesfest newbie, our Fort Scott friend, TD. The museum movies and exhibits were very moving, and even after several hours, we had only absorbed a portion of the museum, and we were getting hungry as well as a bit overwhelmed, so we decided to check out and leave plenty of history for another visit.
I was the only one in our group who had been to Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous, a renowned Memphis BBQ restaurant in business since 1948, and all agreed they wanted to try it. I sure as heck didn’t disagree — my earlier time there had been fantastic!
We went mid-afternoon, which worked great. There was no crowd, and our waiter was a gentlemen who had worked there 55 years and had recently gotten a proclamation from the Mayor and maybe even the governor honoring his still-living legacy.
Rendezvous is no-frills, limited menu, and delicious. Their claim to fame is the ribs, which they charcoal grill and baste with a secret sauce before adding a dry rub. It is a unique process and the result is outstanding — sorry to say, KC, but best ribs I’ve had, and others agreed. An added bonus was the sliced sausage appetizer plate; also some of the best we’ve ever had.
Newly exposed to the depths of the Civil Rights Museum and hunger fully satisfied, we headed back to Helena, in theory to relax for the rest of the evening and be ready for music the next four days (yes, there is Sunday Fun, too—keep reading.)
And of course, on our 90-minute drive, we learn on a call from Junebug that there is great music at Clarksdale’s Hambone Art Gallery that night, featuring some of our favorite Delta artists Heather Crosse, Anthony “Big A” Sherrod, and Lee Williams, Jr., drummer to the stars.
So we stop in Helena and refresh just long enough to regroup and head 30 minutes the other direction to Clarksdale, MS. Still only being Wednesday, and 30 miles from the Biscuit, Clarksdale is quiet and we get a great parking spot and find Junebug at a great seat already inside Hambone. We no more than got situated and a bunch more people came in and we had a full house, including many Europeans. What a treat we all got with Heather, Big A, and Lee. Still Wednesday, and maybe got home by midnight, or maybe it was really Thursday — a fitting start to Biscuit Week!
Thursday morning we were treated to a forum featuring what I calculate to be about 400 years combined Blues Experience. Maybe 100 people kicked off their Biscuit week getting to listen to Bobby Rush, Jimi Primetime Smith, Bob Corritore, Carla Denise, Willie Buck, Bob Stroger, and Lonny Shields. Moderated by Blues Foundation President & CEO Kimberly Horton and Deputy Director of the BB King Blues Museum Robert Terrell, the artists shared personal insights on the history and future of the Blues.
Another pleasant surprise was that Bob told us after the forum that he and Jimi Primetime and Carla Denise were coming over to the house to practice for their performance later that day. How cool to sit on our front porch of an old Delta mansion and listen to real-deal raw blues, no amps, no stage, no fluff, just three artists working their craft.
And now the music!
Quicksand Stage
In recent years, as the Biscuit morphed thru leadership and funding changes, a rogue venue called the Quicksand Stage had grown to life parallel to the official Biscuit stages. We KC peeps are significant donors to the Biscuit as well as the Quicksand Stage, and Quicksand started earlier than Biscuit, so we headed there for a full day of great Blues — see the lineup in the photo below. Some of these artists traveled quite a ways to be here, and one of my favorites is Spit Cup & The Jukes. I expect to see them in KC at some point, all the way from San Antonio.
Note the 2pm Thursday Junebug appearance, and KC’s own Haley Burke accompanied him on guitar and many say she stole the show! Great job Haley! Haley spent most of the next two days and nights busking on the streets between the Quicksand Stage and the rest of the Biscuit festivities, and earned almost $1000, which she donated to the Pinetop Perkins Foundation on Sunday. Kudos Haley! That’s quite the gesture after 30+ hours of hard work!
Haley also played with the Younguns, a precursor to the Sunday Pinetop Jams — more on that later. Pictured with Haley below is Meaza Joy, an amazing teen phenom vocalist who went thru the Pinetop workshops with Haley (see more in the Sunday Funday section below). Look up Meaza Joy to see and hear the future of the Blues and a vocalist who defies her young age. What a pleasure to see Meaza Joy and Haley and more of their teen peers perform on the Quicksand stage, and to witness Haley and Meaza Joy’s first re-connect in months — the photo doesn’t capture their shrieks of joy (no pun intended!)
Other acts of particular interest include Downtown Charlie Brown who is a super-smooth cat from Chicago, and the Arkansas Delta Kings featuring Jess and Tim Hoggard guesting on harp with regular harp player Jeremy Burnett, who serenaded our own Betty Berry. Tim is always a ton of fun on the harp and vocals, and Jess was back in his finest form on guitar after having a few off years due to health issues that seem behind him.
Deak Harp and stage namesake Ricky “Quicksand” Martin put on a show every year and this year’s was better than ever. Deak was on his hands and knees and then literally rolling on his back singing, harping, and guitaring to the crowd, and soliciting every penny of tips like always.
The Quicksand Stage offered three days of quality music in a fantastic shaded courtyard with great acoustics and great Blues fans.
The “Official” Biscuit started later in the day Thursday and went thru Saturday night featuring the Main Stage and the awesome Front Porch Stage.
The Main Stage had quality acts all day and night, including Lonnie Shields, Paul Thorn, Bobby Rush and two Booty Girls, Bob Corritore and friends, and John Primer with an all-star band supported by none other than Helena local and Biscuit competitor Quicksand on drums. Primer was a fitting closer for the night and the Festival — he brought real Chicago guitar fire to back his legacy of playing with Junior Wells, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Magic Slim. He played like he was 41 rather than 81 — a real living legend Bluesman.
The Front Porch Stage is a small intimate indoor venue and it hosts acoustic and solo/duo acts, including some of the stars that front their full bands on the Main Stage. Standouts this year included Watermelon Slim, Robert Finley, and Stud Ford, grandson of T-Model Ford.
Sunday Funday
For those in the know, some of the best times (and music) associated with the Biscuit can be on Sunday at the Pinetop Perkins Foundation Homecoming. Many of the artists who play the Biscuit get together and jam for hours and hours in Clarksdale, MS at the Shack Up Inn and Hopson Commissary. To end the evening, a bunch of the teens who have been thru the Pinetop Perkins Foundation Workshops jam as a group, and with some of the Biscuit artists, and more—whatever they decide to do at the time. It is truly impressive to see these teens practicing their craft after learning from the masters, and it is encouraging that they will keep our beloved Blues alive for generations to come.
All in all, another fine Biscuit week. If you’ve been before and missed this one, think about joining us in 2027. If you’ve never been, try to get down there while you’re still young and experience life and music in the Delta!