Mississippi soul/blues legend Bobby Rush to perform Oct. 2 at UNC-Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL -- Mississippi soul and blues legend Bobby Rush, soon to appear in the PBS documentary series "The Blues," will perform live Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"Rush is in a class by himself," said Dr. William Ferris, history professor and senior associate director of UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South. "His visit is especially exciting, because his performance will offer a rare glimpse into a powerful blues world, complete with a full soul band."

Tickets for the concert, to be in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union Auditorium, are on sale for $15 each at the Carolina Union Box Office (962-1449) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

A performance by Rush will be part of the third of seven programs in "The Blues" series, airing nationally Sept. 28 though Oct. 4. Ferris consulted on "The Blues," and some of his documentary film footage will be seen in the programs. The series highlights Congress’ designation of 2003 as the Year of the Blues, recognizing the genre’s 100^th anniversary.

Through the ‘90s, Rush was nominated for five W.C. Handy Awards, considered the Grammies of the blues. Publications in the genre recognized him with distinctions including "Best Live Performer of the Year," from Living Blues Magazine in 1995, 1997-99 and 2000.

Rush received the B.B. King Award from Jackson State University in 1998. In 2000, the Mississippi Senate passed a resolution honoring Rush for his musical career.

For decades, Rush's provocative and colorful "Chitlin' Circuit" show has been a staple in the African-American community and a cult sensation in alternative circles, Ferris said.

In 1969, the singer and harmonica player recorded the hit "Chicken Heads," one of the last real blues songs played on rhythm and blues radio. The song, whose subject matter was slightly outside the mainstream, immediately crowned Rush "King of the Chitlin' Circuit."

"The 'Chitlin' Circuit' scene, mainly populated by older black Southerners who gather to hear their music at social clubs, is very different than the comparably pristine world of blues festivals," Ferris said. "Over time, Rush's music was discovered by white blues fans who were in search of something more authentically Southern and intense than the music that had become well known in the blues mainstream."

Rush was born Emmit Ellis Jr. in 1940 -- some sources say 1936 -- in Homer, La. He gained renown in Chicago starting in the '50s and '60s, where he performed or recorded with artists including Howlin' Wolf, Freddie King, Willie Dixon, Little Milton and Earl Hooker.

Ferris requires his students to study Rush and other artists identified with a variety of Southern music genres. Before his performance, Rush will visit Ferris' class, where students may talk with him about his life and career.

The class visit and evening performance are sponsored by the UNC James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence's music series, "Thursdays on the Terrace." The series allows faculty to bring important musicians to campus so that undergraduates will have an opportunity to learn about music they've studied.

UNC academic units whose courses the series has supported include the music department, the folklore curriculum and the Slavic languages and literatures program. Cosponsors of Rush's performance include the history department, the folklore curriculum and the Center for the Study of the American South.

For more information, call 919-966-5110 or visit the Johnston Center Web site: www.johnstoncenter.unc.edu.

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Note: For more information on "The Blues," visit http://www.pbs.org/theblues/index.html. Locally, WUNC TV will air the series from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. Sept. 28-Oct. 1; 9:30-11:30 p.m. Oct. 2; and 10 p.m. to midnight Oct. 3-4.

Contact: Dr. Randi Davenport, 919-843-7765, rdavenpo@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589