Cedric Burnside is a Grammy-nominated blues musician who was born and raised around Holly Springs, Mississippi. He is the grandson of the legendary R.L. Burnside and son of drummer Calvin Jackson. Cedric has been playing music all his life.  He is a four-time winner of the prestigious Blues Music Award’s Drummer of the Year (2010-2014) and is widely regarded as one of the best drummers in the world. His current CD, Descendants of Hill Country, was nominated for a Grammy award as the Best Blues Album of 2015. His previous CDs include, Here Me When I Say, and Take Me As I Am. Cedric is currently touring the world with guitarist and lifelong friend Trenton Ayers.

Lenny Kaye is a guitarist, composer, and writer who is best known as guitarist for the Patti Smith Group. An avid record collector and DJ, he curated the 1972 compilation of lost American pop singles, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. He is the author of a book on crooners of the 1930s and a biography of Waylon Jennings. His forthcoming book is Lightning Strikes (Ecco) which sprawls across five decades and a dozen cities including geographical flashpoints of pop culture from Memphis ’54 to New York ’75.

Starting with an informed homage to 1960’s acid rock and early glam, The JAG, originally from Jackson, quickly progressed into a rare mix of influences, including David Byrne, David Bowie, and Brian Eno. Following a tour with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The JAG recorded their sophomore album, Pondermental Wonderment In Hypocricity, with the Bomb Shelter’s Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff). Their latest releases are the singles, A Star is Born and Dead Animals.

Simeon Marsalis’ debut novel is As Lie Is To Grin (Catapult Books). The book is narrated by David, a freshman at the University of Vermont who is struggling to define himself against the white backdrop of his school while mourning the loss of his girlfriend. Short-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, Grin is “a slim, ambitious debut that tackles loss and racial identity . . . Marsalis incisively comments on a wide range of ideas, from authenticity to architecture.” (Publisher’s Weekly)