Co-owned by Morgan Freeman, club celebrates Delta blues
MEMPHIS, Tenn., May 19 -- Morgan Freeman is helping
showcase authentic Delta blues with the opening of Ground Zero Blues Club
in downtown Memphis. The club, co-owned by the Academy Award-winning actor
and Delta resident, carries on the mission of the famed Ground Zero Blues
Club in Clarksdale, MS -- to celebrate and sustain the rich heritage of
Delta blues.
Blues lovers consider Clarksdale the starting point or "ground zero"
because of its legendary blues musicians. Many of those bluesmen followed
Highway 61 north to Memphis, so the new club fits right in. The owners of
the original -- Freeman, attorney Bill Luckett, and businessman Howard
Stovall -- teamed with Memphis developer John Elkington of Performa
Entertainment Real Estate in the new venture.
"We're offering customers the real deal -- down-home blues, the
Mississippi juke joint experience, great Southern food," said Luckett.
"Memphis rock and soul music is rooted in the blues, and we're here to
celebrate that." The club, open daily for lunch and dinner with live music
on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, is located in the heart of the
downtown entertainment district, a short distance from the FedEx Forum and
next door to the Westin Hotel.
"Our mission is to showcase the best of today's Delta Blues musicians,
those who carry on the tradition of Charley Patton, Muddy Waters and John
Lee Hooker," said Luckett. "We're excited to bring that heritage to
Memphis, home of the blues."
Since its opening in 2001, Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale has
been featured numerous times in the national media and has been named one
of the "Top 100 Bars and Nightclubs in America." For more information,
visit http://www.groundzerobluesclub.com .
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