Helena, Arkansas: Main Street of the Blues

One of the more interesting towns I've discovered during my stay in the mid-south is Helena, Arkansas. Located right on the banks of the Mississippi, in the Mississippi delta, this town has one of the most colorful histories of any town in the area, and has played a major role in the history of American blues music. Although now only a shadow of its former self, it was a wild, honkey-tonk kind of town during its heyday in the 1940's. Musicians from around the delta came here to jam, drink, and gamble. Just the kind of place you'd go to escape the blues if you had them (like Pinetop Perkins says, "you got the blues if you can't sing 'em"). The King Biscuit Time radio show was first broadcast from here on KFFA in 1941 and introduced the public to artists like Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Houston Stackhouse, etc. The show is still broadcast, more than 60 years later by the same DJ, Sonny Payne, now over 80 years old. You can visit the radio station which is now located in the Delta Cultural Center, right on Cherry Street (there's an excellent interpretive musuem there, btw, highly recommended). Once a year, Helena plays host to the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival to honor the blues and this town's indelible impact on the music. I visited Helena last week and took a few photos while I was there. Helena's pretty quiet these days, but it still makes for an exceedingly interesting and historically educational stop if you're in the area.