THROUGH THE LENS: Small-Town King Biscuit Blues Festival Packs a Big History

In recent weeks this column has taken us to events all across the country, primarily in larger metropolitan areas such as Nashville, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and Raleigh, North Carolina, exploring the many of the branches of roots music. This week, ND photographer Boom Baker visits Helena, Arkansas, population 12,000, for the first time and shares with us his photos of the King Biscuit Blues Festival, which took place earlier this month.

When thinking of places that have had an impact on the world of blues, you could be forgiven if Helena, Arkansas, does not come immediately to mind. Situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River between Clarksdale, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, Helena is home to the radio station KFFA, which in 1941 began airing the live blues show King Biscuit Time. At the time it was the only radio station in the area that offered an African-American music program. It continues to be aired today.

Named after a local flour brand, the show was aired on a daily basis beginning at 12:15 p.m., which coincided with the midday meal break for the area’s field hands, including McKinley Morganfield (later known as Muddy Waters) and B.B. King. Featuring artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Pinetop Perkins, and Robert Lockwood Jr., the show soon became a favorite of listeners outside the area as well.

As the popularity of the King Biscuit Time program increased, Helena became an important stop for blues musicians from the deeper South on their way to Memphis and Chicago. Some of them, such as legends Little Walter and Jimmy Rogers, made the town their home.

While the King Biscuit radio show continued uninterrupted, by the 1980s Helena’s blues history had been largely forgotten and the town was in serious economic decline. With businesses being boarded up, some dedicated blues fans formed the Sonny Boy Blues Society and launched the first King Biscuit Blues Festival planning committee. In 1986 the King Biscuit Blues Festival was founded with the dual purpose of presenting a blues festival and to reaffirm Helena’s rightful place in the Delta’s musical history. Since then, the community added three additional festivals to its calendar. Information on all of them can be found here.

While the King Biscuit Blues Festival offers six stages in total, Boom told me it wasn’t until the last two days that all the stages presented music: “The Main Stage was what you would expect, with the other outdoor stages being in more primitive settings not unlike like the ruins of an ancient city. Seeing artists on these smaller stages felt spiritual and added to the overall experience. Save for the Main Stage, the other stages, which run along six blocks of Cherry Street, were free and open to the public.”

The 11th Annual Blues Symposium also piqued Boom’s interest. Moderator Roger Stolle and guests Kent Burnside (R.L. Burnside’s grandson), Jimmy Burns, Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers), and Charlie Musselwhite talked about their early musical histories and what they are doing today.

Among Boom’s highlights, he told me, were: “The opening night tribute to Marcia Ball, individual sets by Ruthie Foster, Boo Boo Davis, Anson Funderburgh, Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials, Australia “Honeybee” Jones, and the one-woman band Rachel Ammons, who refers to herself as a ‘No Man Band.’ With long hair reaching almost to her knees and back-lit by the sun, her image had a gorgeous glow as if she was as much on fire as was her scorching guitar playing. Speaking of hair, Lady Bianca’s huge platinum afro was a show stopper.” 

I’d add that given the depth and diversity of the of the talent on display at the 36th annual King Biscuit Blues Festival, this branch of roots music is as vibrant as ever.

Click on any of the photos below to view the gallery as a full-size slideshow.