503Views
Walker to perform as part of Exploring the Mississippi Delta series
This spring, Holmes Community College is hosting a series, "Exploring the Mississippi Delta," on the Ridgeland Campus to celebrate the Delta's rich heritage. The first event is a performance and presentation, "The Mississippi Delta: Birthplace of American Music" by Tricia Walker on Monday, Feb. 26. Walker, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter and director of the Delta Institute of Music at Delta State University, will perform at 12:30 p.m. in the McGowan Workforce Training Center on the Holmes Ridgeland Campus.
A native of Mississippi, she earned her bachelor's from DSU and her master's from Mississippi College before moving to Nashville in 1980 to pursue a career in music. As a writer for Word Music and PolyGram music she has written songs that were recorded by Faith Hill, Patty Loveless, Kathy Troccoli and Allison Krauss. Krauss even on a Grammy for her version of the song, "Looking in the Eyes of Love," which Walker co-wrote with her. She also worked as a vocalist and instrumentalist with award-winning artists Shania Twain and Paul Overstreet.
Walker has also served as creative director for Crossfield Music Publishing where she developed a staff of five writers and produced company demos and masters. She was the founder of the Bluebird Cafe's legendary Women in the Round, a writer's show featuring singer/songwriters Ashley Cleveland, Karen Staley, Pam Tillis and herself. To learn more about Walker, visit her blog/website at http://bigfrontporch.com/.
As the "Exploring the Mississippi Delta" series progresses, Holmes English Composition II students will be reading and discussing the New York Times Best Deller "Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta" by Richard Grant. A British citizen, Grant offers a look at the Delta as an adventurous travel writer who braved mosquitoes, humidity, snakes and southern drawling natives to hold a mirror up to readers of a world both familiar and perplexing. Other events Holmes is hosting as part of the series A book discussion of "Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta" with Holmes English instructors Arnetra Pleas and Dr. Andy Kelly on Thursday, March 22, at 12:30 p.m. in the McGowan Workforce Training Center. This event is free and open to the public. A presentation by Richard Grant about his novel "Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta"sponsored by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council on Tuesday, April 10, at 12:30 p.m. in the McGowan Workforce Training Center. This event is free and open to the public. A Spring Art Show, "The Landscape of the Mississippi Delta," which includes works from Holmes art students. The show, directed and curated by art instructor Kris Wilson, will be in the Ridgeland Library. Date and time to be announced.
For more information about the Tricia Walker performance or any of the "Exploring the Mississippi Delta" events, contact Mary Brantley at (601) 605-3319 or mbrantley@holmescc.edu.
