Mississippi Transplant: Scott Barretta
"I’ve pretty much felt at home in Mississippi since I moved here. Although I’ve been described by a friend as 'someone who doesn’t look like they’re from here,' I’ve never felt like an outsider."
What does it mean to call Mississippi home? Why do people choose to leave or live in this weird, wonderful, and sometimes infuriating place? Today we hear from radio host, researcher, writer and blues expert Scott Barretta.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Northern Virginia, just fifteen minutes from Washington, D.C. Today that area is really overgrown, but it was a nice place to grow up in terms of my exposure to a rich variety of music and culture. When I was young our family always went to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, where I saw blues artists for the first time, and while in high school I began going out to see a wide range of live music regularly at clubs. And I’ve never stopped doing that.
When did you move to Mississippi and why did you move here?
I moved to Mississippi in 1999 to edit Living Blues magazine, which is published by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. I came here after living for about eight years in Sweden, where I was doing doctoral studies in sociology and editing a Swedish language blues magazine, Jefferson. I had first started visiting Mississippi in 1988, and returned often to the area over the next decade, going to wonderful places like Junior Kimbrough’s juke joint in Chulahoma. When the Living Blues job offer came up I knew it was something I’d regret not taking—getting paid to study the blues in Mississippi. It was a dramatic move, but I largely experienced it as moving from one charming university town (Lund) to another.
What does “home” mean to you? How does Mississippi fit into that definition?
I enjoy going back to Virginia to visit family and friends and for the scenery, but I don’t really have a “hometown” or feel that I’m “home” in a broader social sense. But I’ve pretty much felt at home in Mississippi since I moved here. Although I’ve been described by a friend as “someone who doesn’t look like they’re from here,” I’ve never felt like an outsider or been treated as one.
The benefit of Mississippi being such as a relatively small state is that you can feel as though you know “everyone,” particularly in cultural circles, and it’s hard for me to think about how I could find that in other places.
What do you miss most about the place where you’re from?
All the wonderful Smithsonian museums, the variety of restaurants and the range of musical venues. But to get to all of these you have to negotiate D.C.’s horrible traffic, and of course traffic is hardly a consideration when planning things here in Mississippi.
How have you cultivated community in Mississippi? Who are the people who have made you feel rooted here?
Through my work with projects like the Mississippi Blues Trail and Living Blues magazine and traveling across the state to see music I’ve had the unique opportunity to get to know many blues artists well, and I count many as good friends.
Landing in Mississippi at the Center For the Study of Southern Culture was wonderful in getting to know culture folks, and for many years I lived within blocks of the Oxford Square, which was like my living room. I never needed to make plans to go out—you knew which bars where you could find your friends, and there were plenty of music shows, book readings and art openings. Although I didn’t move to Greenwood until 2013, I had known many people here for years through my work with the nearby B.B. King Museum, which began in 2003, and there are a lot of nice things about the pace of life in a small town.
What’s the weirdest question or assumption you’ve encountered about Mississippi (or about you as a Mississippian) by someone who’s never been here?
The idea that it’s not safe to visit—that you’ll be menaced the whole time by the stereotypical redneck sheriffs. People who casually accept the negative stereotypes of the state seem to really underestimate the cultural, economic and political diversity we have here, and I think it’s pretty awful when supposedly progressive people are willing to write off a state that is 38% African American.
How has living in Mississippi affected your identity and your life’s path?
I arrived here just as the boom in music tourism was taking off, and I’ve been incredibly fortunate to take part in many cool projects such as the Mississippi Blues Trail, the B.B. King Museum and the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi, and work with the Mississippi Arts Commission and the Mississippi Humanities Council. My work is pretty united in the sense that it’s involves presenting information to the public about music, and I’ve also been able to do so via my show Highway 61 on MPB, various magazines and newspapers, and teaching sociology at University of Mississippi (since 2002), including a course on the blues.
What is something that you’ve learned about Mississippi only by living here? In what ways has Mississippi lived up to your expectations?
I didn’t initially have expectations other than being able to see lots of music, but living here has taught me how so many people here value and brag about the richness of the culture in terms of art, literature, music, and food. It’s always a pleasure to see people visiting here and being blown away by how much fun it can be.
Have you ever thought about moving away? Does a sense of duty keep you rooted here? Do you have a “tipping point”?
When I visit more cosmopolitan places where there’s a much wider range of food, interesting urban spaces, and more like-minded people I might question my life choices, but on a day-to-day basis I’m pretty content with living here. I can’t imagine what I’d do for a living if I moved somewhere else, and I don’t ever think about retiring—I’d want to continue doing the same things that I do now.
What do you wish the rest of the country understood about Mississippi?
That although there are all sorts of major social and economic and political problems here, they don’t determine who we are—I think it’s important to view our culture in terms of its resilience in the face of those things. Notably, that’s something central to the blues.
Do you have a favorite Mississippi writer, artist, or musician who you think everyone needs to know about?
That’s a tough question, but I’d say the most fascinating person I’ve met here who isn’t widely known was the late Willie King, a bluesman and civil rights activist. He was a saint who worked tirelessly for his neighbors, and his shows at the tiny juke joint Bettie’s Place in Noxubee County were spiritual experiences. I wrote a remembrance of him for the Mississippi Arts Commission a couple years ago.
If you had one billion dollars to invest in Mississippi, how would you spend your money?
There are obvious major issues with educational quality and access that I would like to address, but on a cultural level I would want to invest in the creation of public stages, free concert series, and music education programs around the state, something that would provide more opportunities to appreciate our wonderful musical heritage and provide more regular work to musicians.
Art is work, and while we are fortunate to have such a rich musical heritage, relatively few people can make a living from it and building an infrastructure supporting music would help in this regard.
What or who do you want to shamelessly promote? (It can absolutely be a project you’re working on, or something you are involved in.)
I’m glad to shamelessly promote a documentary that Joe York and I made about bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell from Como. It’s called Shake ‘Em On Down and is available for free.