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Billy Gibbons and his ZZ Top bandmates visited the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, MS thirty-seven years ago to pay homage to Muddy Waters. They gifted the nascent cultural institution with a guitar fabricated from a cypress timber that had fallen from the roof of a “shotgun shack” on nearby Stovall Farm. That humble home, damaged by a tornado, had been the childhood home of Muddy Waters, the godfather of the blues whose influence underscores much of the music that has been created over the past 75 years. The guitar, dubbed “Muddywood” has been part of the Delta Blues Museum’s collection ever since. The Museum will be paying tribute to ZZ Top at a “Crossroads Conncection” event set for Wednesday, April 9, that is part of its annual Muddy Waters Month celebration. The program kicks off at 2:00 PM at the Delta Blues Museum Stage where local musicians, civic leaders and state dignitaries will help the Museum thank Billy and ZZ Top for their long-time support of the blues and the culture of the Mississippi Delta. Live music will be provided by the award-winning Delta Museum Student Band, joined by Billy, who will play the legendary Muddywood for the occasion. The event serves as a lead up to the 2025 Juke Joint Festival that kicks off in Clarksdale the following Saturday. At 3:00 PM, festivities will continue inside the Museum for a ticketed reception in honor of Billy and in support of the museum’s multi-faceted programs that have enriched the Mississippi Delta community since 1979. There, Billy will be joined in conversation by the Delta Blues Museum’s “Blues Ambassador” Charlie Musselwhite, who is a Delta native, Grammy winner, and a Blues Hall of Fame and Memphis Music Hall of Fame inductee. The two will discuss the life and legacy of Muddy Waters and his enduring influence on music. This is the first fundraising event in an anticipated series saluting music greats influenced by the blues, demonstrating the power of blues music and how it lives on in disparate genres. Tickets for the fundraiser are $150 plus processing fees (tax-deductible value is $100), and space is limited. Ticket purchases are limited to two tickets per purchaser and are now on sale. |
