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.

Featured contributor Scott Barretta, who lives in Greenwood, Mississippi. Photo by James Patterson.

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.

The author with Po' Monkey's Lounge in Merigold, Mississippi, with Bobby Rush (left) and Little Freddie King (right).

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.