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In celebration of Jackson-Madison County’s bicentennial, the Library is hosting a program Friday, August 20, at 12 p.m., focusing on the music heritage of our area. West Tennessee author, Shawn Pitts, and Jackson-Madison County Library’s Media Librarian, Mike Baker, will be presenting the program. The program will focus on musicians and songwriters that were from Jackson-Madison County and the surrounding area that influenced the greater musical world.
Library Director, Dinah Harris, shared, “The library will be hosting programs each month throughout the next year that will focus on bicentennial themes. August is Music Heritage Month. We are proud that our very own Mike Baker will be joining esteemed writer, Shawn Pitts, to discuss some of our community treasures in the musical field.”
Shawn Pitts is a community arts advocate, avocational folklorist, musician and writer. He is a founding director of Arts in McNairy and has served on the boards of The Tennessee Folklore Society, Humanities Tennessee and The Tennessee Arts Commission. His writing has appeared in Southern Cultures, The Bitter Southerner, Y’all Magazine and a number of other print and online periodicals. In 2012 Shawn was awarded for his work in music heritage fieldwork and preservation by the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. He coproduced the international LP/CD release, Discovering Carl Perkins, for Bear Family Records in 2019 and his debut novel, which draws on the same research, is represented by a top literary agency. In his spare time Shawn is a practicing Doctor of Chiropractic in Selmer, Tennessee.
Mike Baker has served the Jackson-Madison County Library for over 35 years as one of our Media Librarians. He was also one of the founders of the former Shannon Street Blues-Fest. His knowledge of the music history of Madison County is extensive.
The Jackson-Madison County Library is located at 433 E. Lafayette St. in downtown Jackson. For more information, contact the Library at 731-425-8600, visit the Library’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/JMCLibrary or its website at www.jmclibrary.org.