Staff Report

Continuing their late fall tour of libraries in Panola County, Drs. Rebecca Jernigan and Wendy Garrison will bring “Robert Johnson at the Crossroads” to the historic Emily Pointer Library in Como Thursday (Dec.13) at 4:30 p.m.

In colorful costumes Garrison and Jernigan retell the tale of legendary bluesman Robert Johnson.  Tandem telling with music, drama and sign language, they recount his fateful encounter with the prince of darkness at the crossroads of the Mississippi Delta.

They will round out their performance with holiday stories for the young and young at heart.  Their tour is funded by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council Speakers’ Bureau.

Jernigan and Garrison have performed together in the public schools for grades 4th through high school, at the BB King Museum in Indianola, the Yoknapatawpha Summer Writers’ Institute, in Theater Oxford productions, the Tupelo Arts Showcase, for the Word and Music Series in Pass Christian, at the Oxford Community Market, and at the Double Decker Storyfest.

For the education department of Delta State they offered a hands-on workshop for area teachers on arts integration.  In October they entertained for the Oxford/Lafayette County Library and will round out their tour of “Robert Johnson at the Crossroads” for Panola County Libraries in Batesville, Como, and Crenshaw.  The performances are free.

Jernigan is an actress with notable credits. Some of her film credits include “The Client,” “Ode to Billy Joe,” and most recently “Texas Heart.” In September she starred in the Theatre Oxford production of “On Golden Pond.”

Garrison is profiled in the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Mississippi Folk life & Folk Arts Directory as a red clay hills slide guitarist.  She honed her signature style as an apprentice to Mississippi Blues artist Bill Howl-N-Madd Perry, performing around North Mississippi with Perry and his band. She regularly gigs around the region and has appeared at the King Biscuit Blues Festival as a street musician.