Bobby Rush
The King of the Chitlin’ Circuit
Bobby Rush has been playing the blues longer than most people have been alive, and he plays it like every show might be his last. Born in Homer, Louisiana, and raised in Arkansas before making his name in Chicago and across the American South, Rush is one of the last living links to the original Mississippi Delta blues tradition.
At 90 years old, Rush remains one of the most electrifying performers in American roots music. His stage show is part revival, part vaudeville, part pure Delta dirt: horns blazing, hips moving, his voice ranging from a whisper to a holler without warning. He’s won Grammy Awards. He’s been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. None of that quite prepares you for seeing him live.
This performance at the Arkansas Folklife Festival is a homecoming. Come early. Stay late.
Festival Appearances
Find their time and stage at the festival
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Joshua Youngblood
Associate Dean of Special Collections at the University of Arkansas Libraries, leading the Arkansas Folksong Digital Archive.