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Mother Blues is hot and heavy into
the development of
a creative-intensive one-woman show titled...
what else?...
but "Mother Blues."

Set deep in the Delta from 1935 to 1951,
this drama will take the audience
on an adventure into
the mind and human spirit of a woman
filled with not only the melody of the region,
but the spirit of life.

Filled with sensual music and dialogue,
"Mother Blues" promises to be
SRO (standing room only!)

Look for more details as this drama unfolds!

Say, if once you've surfed on waves can you become a musical slave?

Will you read the signs posted there along the way?

Will you hear and heed all the messages they say?

Or jump back and buck like a mule put on display?

No boundaries, so minds may wander then go astray.

Intuition of signs say intolerant, hate mongers, you can't stay!

To behold trust, love these feelings from many kind souls.

One must be given the privilege to join the fold.

First after, must bite the bullet before taking control.

Given from the heart, now let the good times roll!

The Other Side

Thinking about
what is from the
other side?

With space
there I, too,
can reside!

Here things
I've been longing
gets denied.

Assuming that
There I can
be satisfied.

If I
walk into a
strange situation.

Will I
have to bend
my pride?

Accommodating while
staying on the
other side.

Diversifies illuminating
there on the
other side.

How?

How can you see filth
If at all you are filth
As if when in hell
You plea, I'm not guilty

How can you be kind
When words of hatefulness growing undermine
Unresolved disagreements enlarges from time
Compassion displaced, souls walk blind

How can you be sure
Grief flows from every living soul
Deception, greed developments of war
Richness enhancing demoralizing the poor

How can you feel love
Weaving jealousy like a seductive glove
Throwing baby out the tub
While pulling out the plug

How can you see filth
If at all you are filth
As if when in hell
You plea, I'm not guilty

about Mississippi mille maclaine
"mother blues"..

" I would get up on stage and sing with the 'bad boys.'"

A child born with a veil over her face, indicating a sixth sense, delivered by her midwife grandmother into a family of six children, Mille remembers not just the hymns she her the choir sing in the Baptist church where her mother played piano, but also the 'Devil's Music' she heard performed in the Delta Bayou. "They claimed it was the Blues," says Millie, "and to me it sounded as natural as the willows above and the rich earth below. I would sneak into the local party houses and rundown joints every change I could, so I could get up on stage and sing with the 'bad boys.' They called me the 'little girl with the big voice.'

When Millie was nine years of age, her mother moved the family from Mississippi to Pennsylvania. While this transition opened up a whole new world for this very inquisitive child, it also strengthened Millie's devotion to the traditions she had left behind.

"I resented the slur on my heritage."

Three years later, Millie found herself standing before Philadelphia audience, belting out tunes made popular by such Blues greats as Dinah Washington and Billie Holliday. She recounts, "Sadly, whenever I would try to include one of my favorite Delta songs, folks would nix the idea. I really resented this slur on my heritage."

During the '60s, Millie traveled to New York City with her sister. There she was offered the opportunity to tour Europe with the Catherine Dunham troupe as a 'pivot girl', the middle dancer with a 10 minute spotlight during which she could display her proficiency in interpretive dance. Millie also took this time to broaden her repertoire to include not only the Blues she loved, but Soul and Rock music, as well. To appease her mother, Millie even took opera lessons! She remembers, "It didn't matter where I loved, what club or hall I performed in, what kind of music they wanted me to sing...I always took every opportunity to do some Mississippi Blues."

"The songs I sang were pure Delta."

Millie's career gained momentum in the 70s when she was invited to sub for Roberta Hightower, lead singer for the Orions, a predominantly female group best remembered for their Top Ten hit, "Don't Hang Up." Eventually, Milled became the permanent lead, but at the end of five years, she moved to Nashville, TN because she had been offered a songwriting deal! "Unfortunately," remembers Millie, "Hal Neely and the rest of the folks at Starday King Records did not know what to do with me, since the songs I sang were pure Delta."

Millie moved across country to Los Angeles where she quickly built a solid fan base gleaned from some of the best Blues artists in the Southern California area (Marie Muldaur, Linda Hopkins, Robert Lucas, White Boy James, Mickie Champion, Evens 'Neckbone' Walker, and before their untimely deaths, Albert Collins and Larry 'Texas Flood' Davis.)

She began making appearances at such venues as the Orange County, Big Time Blues and San Francisco Blues Festivals. In addition, Millie began playing clubs like The House of Blues, Jack's Sugar Shack, The Mint, Starboard Attitude, The Babylon, Blue Cafe, The Hillside, Harvelles, The Village Bar & Grill and Fals Do Do.

At various times, Millie's band included some of the best musicians in contemporary Blues: William Clark, Johnny Dyer, Bernie Pearl, Juke Logan, Deacon Jones, Larry Gales, Robert Lucas, Top Jimmy, Evans 'Neckbone' Walker and Eddie 'Lips' Clark.

During this rich 80s musical period, Millie also traveled from Los Angeles to Phoenix, Arizona, to headline the Women in Blues Week with KoKo Taylor and Sue Foley. All the while, this deep-down Blues singer remained true to her Delta roots, earning for herself the nickname, 'Mississippi Millie.'

"I was sent to Germany with my duet partner to be a part of the 'Good Whiskey Blues' compilation album of Blues classics."

After 15 fruitful years in California, 'financial snags' forced Millie to move back to Nashville, where she found the climate more favorable toward her music. "I got to perform in clubs around Nashville doing classic songs written by Elmore James, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, plus a lot of my own compositions. I even started dueting with a great Australian musician named Jeff Lang, who can play anything from the dobro and kick box to percussion. Fred James, an executive with Bluesland Productions, heard us, liked us, and finally sent us to Germany to be included on a "Good Whiskey Blues" compilation album of classics."

This was the impetus Millie needed to finally dig into a solo recording about which she had long dreamed, an album of purely original compositions, with a couple of songs from one of her Blues idols, 'Memphis Minnie,' thrown in for good measure. Titled "Mississippi Millie, Acoustic Delta Blues," the CD showcased an artist who was able to infuse the original sounds of the Mississippi Delta with her own brand of originality and style, while remaining true to the heart and soul of Blues music.

Cuts like "Handful of Trouble," "Retribution" and "Hush, Child," born of the struggles that confronted children of the Civil Rights, Anti-War and Counterculture Movements, reflected the pure earthiness and passionate nature of a very unique performer.

"I use my voice to make the Mississippi Delta come alive."

Says Millie, "Because I find joy in Blues music and simplicity in all things, it was easy for me to put pen to paper and pour my heart out. I believe that the voice is the first instrument that God ever created. I use my voice to make the Mississippi Delta come alive."

While Mississippi Millie continues to record her original songs, she is also continually fine-tuning her one-woman show, "Mother Blues." "It's fiction based on fact," explains Millie, "because it addresses struggles such as those I have encountered as I tried, not only to build a music career, but just to live my life."

"I have this theory," says Millie, "that we are only here on this earth one time, and if we don't embrace the experience, what is the purpose of living?"