Coming This Fall: A Mississippi Blues TV Reality Show     by Jonny Meister

In 2008, it was “M For Mississippi: A Roadtrip Through The Birthplace Of The Blues.” Jeff Konkel and Roger Stolle visited clubs and homes in Mississippi to bring us the music, and the stories, of a number of modern rural Mississippi blues artists. In 2011, they made another trip around the state, this time surveying the state of juke joints and blues clubs. The film “We Juke Up In Here” revealed a sharp decline in the number of these places and a change-over, in some that were still in operation, from live bands to dee-jays.

Now Konkel and Stolle are returning with a new concept, and a more upbeat message, a “reality show” about modern Mississippi blues! “Moonshine & Mojo Hands” is planned as a weekly web-TV series about present-day Mississippi blues. Konkel and Stolle will do it again – namely, travel around the Magnolia state and introduce us to blues artists playing at various venues and house parties. They promise to tell the story as it is, without embellishment or cosmetic editing. The music, the food, the places, and of course the people that make up the exciting and often quirky blues scene in Mississippi will be the subjects of this weekly series. Each online episode will run twelve minutes, and there won’t be any “filler.” The first season will have ten episodes, streaming online for free.

Konkel and Stolle still need some financial backing, and they are seeking it in a totally modern way, with a Kickstarter campaign.