Terry Evans

H.C. Porter recently added a 30th musician to Blues @ Home. A legendary musician, performer and songwriter, Terry Evans is a Vicksburg native. H.C. Porter, who has her gallery in downtown Vicksburg, caught up with Evans while he was home on tour from Los Angeles. 

Porter photographed him at the railroad tracks along the Mississippi River. Evans showed he was right at home and is a great addition to our list of Mississippi legends.

For information on this project and to find out how to sponsor a painting, visit the Blues @ Home site or contact the H.C. Porter Gallery at 601-661-9444.

Purchase prints online of the paintings that have been completed to-date and will make up the nationally traveling exhibition.

Blessissippi

Blues @ Home was honored to be part of the recent Blessissippi Crossroads Concert event in Clarksdale. The event was a fund-raiser for Delta State University's Delta Music Institute and was hosted by actor Morgan Freeman and Explore.org founder, Charles Annenberg Weingarten.

H.C. Porter and Lauchlin Fields, project manager for Blues @ Home, were excited to showcase some of the photographs and paintings from the project during the weekend at Son House Gallery right down from the Delta Blues Museum and Ground Zero Blues Club, where the concert was held Saturday night.

Daryl Hollingsworth found a way to hang a couple of the paintings from the ceiling of Ground Zero.

This painting of Super Chikan, one of the 29 Blues @ Home featured musicians, was on display as Super Chikan jammed on stage.

H.C. Porter had the opportunity to speak about the project on stage.

Blues @ Home is trucking along as H.C. continues to create the portrait paintings. We still have painting sponsorships available. Visit the Blues @ Home Web site to learn more about sponsoring a painting.

Sharde Thomas

H.C. Porter added fife player Sharde Thomas as the 29th and final blues legend to Part One of Blues @ Home.

Sharde, at 22, has already established herself as a legend like her legendary grandfather, Otha Turner.
Here is a clip from Sharde's interview with H.C. She explains how she was introduced to the fife by her grandfather...

Limited edition photographs of Sharde from this photo shoot will be available for viewing and purchase soon in our online Blues @ Home photo gallery. We have only 10 more painting sponsorships available. It's not too late to be part of this historic project documenting Mississippi blues legends. Visit the Blues @ Home website for information, and be sure to stay tuned for all the latest news on the project.

Mississippi Arts Hour

H.C. Porter recently talked about her career and the Blues @ Home project on Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Mississippi Arts Hour. Here she is with Mary Margaret Miller of the Mississippi Arts Commission, who conducted the interview:

Follow the link to hear the hour-long interview: http://mpbonline.org/mississippiartshour/mah_12_11_11_hc_porter/.

Pat Thomas

H.C. Porter traveled back to Leland to add Pat Thomas, the son of blues legend Son Thomas, to Blues @ Home.

Pat is a legend in his own right, known across the world for his down-right Delta country blues.

H.C. photographed the bluesman in various locations around Leland, capturing Pat's true blues spirit.

Pat Thomas is the 27th legend to join Blues @ Home and the final participating legend in what will now be Blues @ Home: Part One. Beginning in January, the artist will paint the 27 musicians she has already captured for the first in a two-part series of Blues @ Home paintings and oral histories. Stay tuned at www.hcporter.com/bluesathome for more information on the project. The collection is expected to be complete by early spring and available for exhibition soon after. 

We have only eight sponsorships left for this first series. Visit our sponsorship page for more information on how to pre-purchase one of these amazing paintings and join all the excitement surrounding H.C. Porter's cool, new project!

Zac Harmon

Blues @ Home spent some time with blues legend Zac Harmon at his father's store, Harmon's Drugstore, on Farish Street this week.

Zac, a huge advocate for promoting Mississippi as the Birthplace of America's music, is a perfect addition to Blues @ Home as our 26th legend! The Mississippi blues was instilled in Zac at an early age. He watched street performers and blues musicians from his father's store, right in the heart of Jackson's vibrant entertainment district.

"I always tell folks everywhere I go, the thing about being from Mississippi, you know...blues is like air down here. And if you breathe, you're gonna' get some blues," Zac told us.

Cadillac John

H.C. Porter and collector and friend Tom Johnson traveled the blues highway to Renova, home of Cadillac John Nolden, Blues @ Home's 25th blues legend.

Cadillac John, 84, said playing the blues makes his feel good.

"I just feel better when I'm out there doing it," he told H.C. during his interview.

Photos by Tom Johnson