The blues music genre originated on plantations up and down rivers across the South, including the Arkansas River from Little Rock to Sweet Home, Altheimer, Pine Bluff and as far downstream as Arkansas City. Besides vast fields of cotton, the plantations raised the procreators of America’s unique soulful music. Many of those blues founders have been forgotten for more than half a century. A new economic, educational and cultural heritage project means to correct that long oversight.
The Arkansas River Delta Blues Trail is a new nonprofit. Its initial project, “Arkansas Originals,” intends to honor six blues artists who left their mark on the culture.
The first honorees include Bobby Rush, from Sherrill; Big Bill Broonzy, from north Jefferson County; Cedell Davis, from Pine Bluff; Larry “Totsy” Davis, from England; Elmon “Driftin’ Slim” Mickle, from Keo; and “Quenn Sylvia Embry” Lee Burton from Wabbaseka…