The 14th annual Pinetop Perkins Homecoming Celebration will take place on Sunday, October 12th at Hopson’s Commissary and the Shack Up Inn from 3:00 to 7:30 pm with a suggested donation of $15. All proceeds go directly to scholarships for youth to attend the Pinetop Perkins Master Class Workshops held each June in Clarksdale, MS.
The Homecoming is held each year on the site of the old Hopson’s Plantation and began with the dedication of the Pinetop Perkins Shack at the Hopson Plantation and the Shack Up Inn in October o f2001. It became an annual event to honor Pinetop, who had spent World War II on the grounds of Hopson’s driving one of the first mechanized cotton picking machines. The event quickly drew many fans and musicians each year on the Sunday after the King Biscuit Festival to honor Pinetop.
Artists appearing this year include Bob Margolin, Super Chikan and the Fighting Cocks, Bob Stroger, Jonn Del Toro Richardson, Sweet Betty, Tom Holland, Jimmi Mayes, Clay Swafford, Lee Williams and Heather Crosse. The Juke Joint Stage will show Kenny Brown, Cedric Burnside Project and Lightnin’ Malcolm
A special youth showcase will feature Kingfish Ingram, Marcus Cartwright, Wyly Bigger and Carson Diersing. The Acoustic Jam Stage will have Stephen “Blues Dude” Duncan and “Rip Lee” Pryor.
Pinetop formed The Pinetop Perkins Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) in 2009. Its mission, in part, is to help young musicians at the beginning of their careers. The Foundation fulfills that mission through the Master Class Workshops held each June. Open to musicians of all ages, its goal is to provide scholarships to youth 12 to 21 to spend three days learning from some of the top blues artists in the country.
