The Delta Blues Education Program conducts highly successful and innovative after-school classes in the Mississippi Delta. There is no charge for enrollment, but an application must be completed and accepted and parental participation is required. The students learn the Delta blues tradition directly from recognized master musicians Mr. Johnnie and Dr. Mike. Graduate students Anthony Sherard, Vanessa Young, and Artrelle Earl are paid as assistant teachers.
Class Structure
The DBEP is a unique program in that it employs the use of electric instruments instead of acoustic. It does not try to be sentimental in its approach to the blues, which is today played on electric instruments, the other having been abandoned in the Delta generations ago. Classes are conducted as year-long apprenticeships. They are taught similarly to how band is taught in high school. Apprentices learn their chosen instrument, and are expected to perform. Performance ranges from in-class practice, to performing for special groups, to traveling out and performing at other venues in the region (colleges, libraries, community centers). At paid performances apprentices are paid accordingly. In the past some apprentices have made significant contributions to their family's income. Money management is one of the skills students are instructed in.
Delta Blues Education Fund 291 Sunflower Avenue Clarksdale, MS 38614 (662) 627-4070
Our Mission Statement: "To bring together the children and master musicians of the Mississippi Delta for the continuation of the Delta Blues tradition."
The Delta Blues Education Program conducts highly successful and innovative after-school classes in the Mississippi Delta. There is no charge for enrollment, but an application must be completed and accepted and parental participation is required. The students learn the Delta blues tradition directly from recognized master musicians Mr. Johnnie and Dr. Mike. Graduate students Anthony Sherard, Vanessa Young, and Artrelle Earl are paid as assistant teachers.
The DBEP is a unique program in that it employs the use of electric instruments instead of acoustic. It does not try to be sentimental in its approach to the blues, which is today played on electric instruments, the other having been abandoned in the Delta generations ago. Classes are conducted as year-long apprenticeships. They are taught similarly to how band is taught in high school. Apprentices learn their chosen instrument, and are expected to perform. Performance ranges from in-class practice, to performing for special groups, to traveling out and performing at other venues in the region (colleges, libraries, community centers). At paid performances apprentices are paid accordingly. In the past some apprentices have made significant contributions to their family's income. Money management is one of the skills students are instructed in.