THE JUNCTION
REUNION
Hopson Commissary | December 3 & 4, 2021
Open to the public.
$20 tickets at the door
Friday: David Dunavent | Grassfire Bluegrass Band | Steve Azar
Saturday: The B-Flats, honoring Chance & more
Special appearances by Junction friends: highly likely!
Live From Clarksdale will broadcast the Grassfire Bluegrass Band for our friends all over the world on Facebook.com/LiveFromClarksdale at 8pm, Friday December 3.
What was The Junction?
The largest beer joint in the Mississippi Delta, once upon a time!
The junction hosted bands ranging from blues to bluegrass, country, rockabilly, and rock n' roll. They crossed racial lines bridged musical genres in a way that was unusual at the time.
Many current artists credit The Junction as an oasis for them to gather and experiment with new music.
Hear more:
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In a Mississippi Minute 11/19/21: Steve Azar's interview of Mark Collie (Junction Reunion in first 1/3 of broadcast)
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In a Mississippi Minute February 2019: Steve Azar's interview of The Junction's founder Judge Grendel Roy
Read more:
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Farm Progress magazine's profile of Mike Ellis & the Hometown Band: Friendships Forged Through Agriculture & Music
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Hotty Toddy's article on Grassfire Bluegrass Band's residence at Rafters: Four Year Residency Fuels Oxford Bluegrass
Who are the Grassfire Bluegrass Band?
Straight from lead singer Brad Robb:
"Marks, Mississippi will always hold a special place in my heart because I lived there when I was young. My dad was the head football coach at Marks High School and my mom was the secretary for the Principal, John Curlee. I grew up a coach's son and spent countless hours in the gym and on the football field. My dad ran the pool in the summer and I learned to swim before I could walk.
We would go back and visit folks frequently but Marks took on a pivotal role in my life when I began playing music and eventually met Grendel. Robert Dickerson and I met in the 10th grade and have been together since. We were the first country/bluegrass entertainers at Libertyland Theme Park in Memphis, traveled on USO tours, played countless venues around the Mid-South and have been inseparable since.
We met Randal Morton (he has a twin brother Greg who lives in Az) in 1977. We have never strayed too far from him either. Robert and Randal played in a band called Sea Breeze that frequently played The Junction in Marks before Mark left for Nashville and became famous.
We played bluegrass with Steve Clark (our bass player) for years before he started make a big name for himself in the Rockabilly scene around Memphis. After our bass player, Johnny McDonald (an icon in Mid-South bluegrass) we called Steve and drew him back into the bluegrass fold!"
Grassfire Bluegrass Band consists of four seasoned players who all grew up "under the influence" of traditional bluegrass veterans like Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs. Somewhere along their timeline of growth, that influence continued...but expanded when Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs and Jerry "Flux" Douglas started producing a new style of bluegrass with complex chord progressions and a driving sound that caught the attention of the younger bluegrass crowd. It is that same style of interpretation that Grassfire Bluegrass Band plays today.
Catch them live across the South & follow them on Facebook.