Robert Johnson Centennial Celebration May 5th-8th

The city of Greenwood, where Robert Johnson died in 1938, is holding a four-day celebration in early May to honor the centennial of Robert Johnson that will feature an art exhibit, a panel on Johnson’s life, a church service led by Johnson’s grandson Steven Johnson, and free concerts featuring artists including 95-year-old Honeyboy Edwards, who says that he was with Johnson the night he was reputedly poisoned fatally, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Keb’ Mo’, Bobby Rush, Kenny Brown, Warren Haynes, and others.

A series of celebrations around the country have already begun, notably a Johnson-themed national tour with the Big Head Blues Club, featuring Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Honeyboy Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, and the duo of Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm. All of these artists – as well as B.B. King, Ruthie Foster, and Charlie Musselwhite – appear on the recent album 100 Years of Robert Johnson by the “Big Head Blues Club,” which features interpretations of ten Johnson songs.

You can read more at Highway61Radio.com and check out the schedule at GreenwoodMS.org.