YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED…
To join Jimbo Mathus in creating The Secret World of Charlie Patton.
Jimbo is the inaugural Artist in Residence at the Shared Experiences headquarters in downtown Clarksdale, Mississippi -- and invites you to come watch, learn, and even help as he builds marionettes, writes, scores, and films this new work.
Set in the Delta, the film will include oral histories learned through Jimbo's own experiences growing up around the Patton family and Delta blues world.
Building upon his residency at the historic 100 Men Hall, Jimbo will bring marionettes to life here.
The film -- and events March through April -- will share little-known stories from Charlie Patton; his wife and daughter; and Delta blues legends like Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith.
Together, you & Jimbo will create an Early Wright marionette just one block from where the ground-breaking Black disc jockey broadcast on Delta Ave.
Over the past three decades, Jimbo has achieved international recognition for his music, including his most recent album with Andrew Bird, These 13. During this residency, he'll perform with the Squirrel Nut Zippers in Memphis and Jackson, and with Creatures of the Southern Wild at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale.
Jimbo still loves coming home to the Delta, and can't wait to spend this Spring exploring stories with both travelers and the community here.
DELTA EVENTS
Saturday, March 18, 2-6p: Kickoff & Unboxing (Clarksdale)
Saturday, March 25, 1-6p: Open Studio & Cultivating Clarksdale
Thursday, March 30: Jimbo Mathus at the GRAMMY ® Museum Mississippi in Cleveland
5:30p: FREE Student Conversation with Jimbo & Delta Music Institute alumna Schaefer Llana
7p: Words & Music: Jimbo Mathus
Saturday, April 1, 2-4p: Jimbo Mathus in downtown Helena, Arkansas
2p: FREE Conversation & demonstration
3p: Meet-and-greet at Delta Dirt Distillery's anniversary party
Sunday, April 9, noon-3p: Easter Studio
Thursday, April 13 – Sunday, April 16: Studio & Events at the Juke Joint Experience
Thursday, April 20 – Sunday, April 23: Filming The Secret World of Charlie Patton
OPEN STUDIO
Travelers and locals of all ages are invited to drop in FREE, 1-6p:
Sunday, March 19
Thursday, March 23
Friday, March 24
Sunday, March 26
Friday, March 31
Sunday, April 2
Saturday, April 8
Jimbo will be working with clay, sewing, painting, light and set designing, composing, screenwriting AND filming. You're welcome to come watch briefly, or come learn and create with him every day.
The workshop and marionette theater is inside our Shared Experiences HQ:
121 Delta Avenue, on 1st & Delta in downtown Clarksdale.
ABOUT JIMBO
Jimbo Mathus is a Mississippi native, visual 8 musical artist, writer & producer with deep ties to the Delta. The 55 year old Mathus has spent a life learning the musical lexicon of the Deep South.
His father taught him the ropes of bluegrass, honky-tonk and gospel. He absorbed the blues on visits to Clarksdale where his grandfather, Tony Malvezzi, ran the Conerly shoe store.
Jimbo is a GRAMMY-nominated musician and multidisciplinary artist.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
This program builds upon Jimbo's work developed in residence at 100 Men Hall.
A historic landmark in Bay Saint Louis, 100 Men Hall was founded as a Benevolent Association in 1894. The present hall's cornerstone was laid in 1922, and it became a thriving stop on the "chitlin circuit." It was a center of African American community for over a century, and still runs a variety of wonderful programs and events.
Visit Coastal Mississippi to experience this treasured institution for yourself.
