True Blues

The Leland Blues Project depicts the great musical history of the area through a series of striking murals painted on downtown buildings. These often photographed murals are a must-see when touring the Delta that also lead visitors to a variety of interesting shops and local craftspeople.

The Leland Blues Project sponsors the Annual Highway 61 Blues Festival, held the first Saturday in June and dedicated each year to its headlining musicians. On Sunday, the Holly Ridge Store hosts a blues jam like no other with some truly unique bands.

In the heyday of the blues, over 150 bluesmen lived within a 100-mile radius of Leland. This museum chronicles the story of the Delta Blues and the musicians who helped make it famous and features memorabilia from Little Milton, B.B. King, James “Son” Thomas, Bougaloo Ames, Eddie Cusic, and many others. Be greeted by Pat Thomas, son of legendary “Son” Thomas, a local bluesman, and ask him to draw you a cat head.

Always held the 3rd Saturday in September, the Mississippi Delta Blues Festival began in 1978 and is the oldest continuously operating blues festival in the country.

When the first Delta Bluesmen took Highway 61 to the industrial North to find work, they also took their music. Today, the music born in the Delta is revered worldwide and recognized as the roots of jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and hip hop. The Delta Blues Festival, held in Washington County each September, along with the Highway 61 Blues Festival in Leland each June, attracts music fans from all over the world.

Take a stroll down historic Walnut Street and experience the Greenville Blues Walk. Along the way, you’ll see works of art, meticulously created to honor many of the great artists from the Delta whose music helped shape the Blues and American music as we know it today. You can also step inside one of our local hot spots on Walnut Street and experience Greenville’s famous southern hospitality and entertainment.

The owner will bestow blues folklore upon you, and for 10 or more people, get a blues artist out of bed to come play.