Travel Itinerary
This
itinerary includes destinations and approximate length of stays along with
specific cultural centers, events, clubs, and museums we plan on visiting. I
hope to contact most venues in advance to make arrangements for special access
or tours when possible. The exact order of stops may change depending on music
and festival schedules for spring 2012.
• at all
sites I will be taking extensive photos whenever possible.
• I
plan to do recorded interviews with curators and musicians when possible
Place Duration Purpose of Visit
Bakersfield
After
Bakersfield we plan to detour to Springdale, Utah and Santa Fe, New Mexico
for a few weeks and then plan to hit the road in ernest at the beginning of
Feb.
|
2
or 3 days
|
Investigate
current country music scene including Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace (contemporary country music venue)
Kern
County Museum
Bakersfield
Country Music Museum
(Both
museums have exhibits on the history of the legendary, hard edged,
Bakersfield Honky Tonk scene that emerged out of the Dustbowl Migration of
the 1930s
|
Drive to Texas
|
1
week
|
follow
rural roads thru Arizona and New Mexico with investigations of Native
American Music
(Casa Grande Ruins music festival Feb 2012)
|
San Antonio
|
2
or 3 days
|
San
Antonio remains one of the primary centers of Tejano music and is the home of
the Tejano music awards in March. I plan to visit clubs and other music
venues including Main Plaza with a
focus on Tejano/Norteno music and culture
|
Austin
Austin continued
|
2
or 3 days
|
Investigate
the roots of Austin’s nationally recognized music scene
(Austin
is currently the home of “South By Southwest” one of the largest contemporary
national showcases for new rock of all styles)
Visit
Texas Music Museum
Clubs
on Sixth Street-Antone’s and many
more
|
Travel thru
rural Texas
(before and
after visits to Austin and San Antonio)
|
3
to 5 days
|
Small
towns we plan on visiting include Luckenbach (made famous by Waylon Jennings
song), Liberty (cover photo of my textbook), Navasata (Home of blues legend
Mance Lipscomb)
All
are some of the oldest towns in the state
|
New Orleans and
Louisiana Bayou country
New plan to try
to be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras . . .Fat Tuesday here we come.
2/21/12
|
2
to 3 days with longer 10 day visit later in trip for Heritage Music Festival
|
Attend
Jazz and Heritage Music Festival
Explore
French Quarter:
Investigate
contemporary music scene and reflect on both commodification and
commercialization of New Orleans rich musical heritage
Congo Square
Lafayette-home
of Zydeco originator Clifton Chenier, visit Clifton Chenier Center
Explore
Bayou Country- focus on culture, climate, music and geography
|
Blues Trail
exploration of the Mississippi Delta and surrounding areas
Blues Trail
continued
|
2
to 3 weeks
|
Travel
on routes 55 and 61 from New Orleans to Memphis along the Mississippi with
stops at historic homes and birthplaces of Blues legends including
Hazlehurst-Robert
Johnson
Hinds
County- Charlie Patton
Dockeries Plantation- (often referred to as the birthplace of the
blues)
Greenville- Home of the Delta
Blues Festival
Vicksburg- Willie Dixon
Junction of Rt 61 and 49-
“The Crossroads”
Itta Bena- B.B. King
Indiola: Miss “Ebony Club”
Clarksdale- visit Delta
Blues Museum and birthplace of WC Handy
Lyon- Son House
Yazoo City- Muddy Waters
(The intent of this section of the trip will be
Morgan Freeman’s Club “Ground Zero”
• explore how these legends are remembered and celebrated in
their hometowns.
• experience the climate, rural isolation and poverty of the
Mississippi Delta
• further investigate contemporary theories that have challenged
the primacy of many of these blues legends as the inventors of the blues
|
Memphis
Memphis
continued
|
1
week
|
Visit
Sun Studios Museum
• Experience
Sam Phillips roots music studio and home of legendary recordings by Elvis
Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and others
• Visit
Beale Street: one of the first
African American Business districts in the US, now home to numerous clubs.
•
Visit Graceland: Home of Elvis
Presley, investigate how and why the idolization of Presley continues to this
day
• Visit
Stax Museum of American Soul Music (located
on the site of Stax studios; one of the 3 legendary soul studios of the 1960s
and 70s)
• Beale
St Zydeco Music festival last week in Feb 2012
|
Nashville
|
1
to 2 week
|
• Visit
Country Music Hall of Fame: focus
on country music’s cultural roots
• Attend
a show at the Grand Ole Opry
• Check
out the current club scene of Nashville: investigate the current trends of
live performance in one of the nation’s most vibrant music scenes.
•
Attend a country recording session of possible: check out the current
Nashville studio scene
|
Trip thru rural
Appalachia including Tennessee, Kentucky, parts of North and South Carolina
and Georgia
|
1
week
|
• explore
the rural roots of Country and Old Time Music with stops in the historic home
towns of country artists and sites historic importance including
Bristol,
TN-first country music recordings of the Carter Family and Jimmy Rogers,
Goodlettsville,
TN-Bill Monroe
Sevierville,
TN-Dolly Parton
Maces
Springs (Hiltons), VA-Maybelle Carter
Clintwood,
VA- Ralph Stanley Museum and
Traditional Mountain Music Center.
This
segment of the trip will be very similar in focus to the Blues Trail with
emphasis on the culture, geography, and climate
|
Georgia Sea
Islands
And South
Carolina Sea Islands
|
3
to 5 days
|
Investigate
Gullah Culture and language: one of the oldest and best preserved African
cultures in America with roots in Sierra Leone and one of the most distinct
linguistic dialects in the country
Visit
St Helena, SC- considered a center of Gullah culture today
Hilton Head Island, SC-home of the Gullah Cultural Celebration during
Feb
|
Return to
California with additional stops as time allows
|
1
to 2 weeks
|
|