Hill Folk Music on Hippie Hill

The Hill Folk playing some tunes at Hippie Hill in Tennessee.

Arlo Guthrie once stated, “Folk music is music that everyday people can play, and it inspired a lot of people to make their own music. That trailed into making your own pop music, and that's why garage bands started springing up everywhere.”

Guthrie was an original hippy, a song writer and was known for singing songs against social injustice. However, his only hit was the cover of Steve Goodman’s City of New Orleans.

His best known work was an 18-minute blues / satirical song called Alice’s Restaurant Massacree.

Hippie Hill cabin

Hippie Hill is deep in the woods of Middle Tennessee. Music and freedom is alive in the hills. 

“Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.” - Bob Marley (1945-1981)

Hippie Hill and Wayd Battle

While at Hippie Hill on Thursday, I ran across a man named Wayd Battle. In a small and cramped cabin of sorts, we talked. 

Battle said, “Well, I’ll tell ya this… I’m the son of a Baptist minister and I started playing honkytonks when I was 14 years old.” As the conversation continued, Battle told me that he was born in Alabama, eventually moving to Nashville. 

While in the Music City, Battle met a man named Jamey Johnson. Battle traveled with Johnson who was growing in popularity while playing guitar, singing background and writing songs over a seven year period. 

As far as hits go, Battle stated, “We were lucky, we had the ACM / CMA song of the year called 'In Color' and that was an awesome thing [laughing] - my girls go to college because of that.” When discussing albums, Battle said, “We sold, I guess to date, 4 point something million on that.” 

The hit song “In Color” was released on Mercury Nashville Records in 2008, the same year it won both the Academy of Country Music Awards and Country Music Association Awards.

In 2009, the song became Jamey Johnson’s first Top Ten country hit. 

The song is about an older man who shows his grandson black and white photos from his past. Some of the photos, according to the lyrics, were of the grandfather fighting in World War II. 

Wayd Battle no longer tours with Johnson. In fact, he is now on a mission to create brand new tunes with a band called Hill Folk. Their tunes make you want to sit back and just listen.

Hear the interview HERE. 

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He stands alone

Culturally Alone: He lives in Drew, Mississippi, which is a town within Sunflower County. The town has only 1,801 residents and needless to say, he stands out.

Since 1990, the population has been on the decrease in Drew. In 1991, the population rang in at 2,400 residents. By 2014, the number was down to 1,801 residents.

In Drew, 82.7% of the population is black while 16% are white. In other words, he represents 1.3% of the “Other” category. To make the math clear, only 23 people in Drew are either American Indian or directly from cultures outside the U.S.

If we were to further examine the numbers, 0.7% of the residents in Drew are Hispanic, 0.2% are American Indian, 0.2% are Asian and 0.2% are classified as being part of one or two more races.

Talk about being culturally alone, this would be a prime example of that. Sometimes being different is a good thing while other times it means you can't fully relate to your surroundings, others fail to relate to you and you stand alone.

In Drew, this man works hard for a living while owning his own gas station and grocery. He also operates a popular package store. However, people litter his property despite his significant request for them not to. He stands alone.

The prison saved the community

While the Corrections Corporation of America operates a prison directly behind his home, he does not work there. However, he does work security for a local company in the Delta of Mississippi. 

Tallahatchie County, Mississippi is a small community in the Delta that has a little more than 15,000 residents. Of that number, about 600 work in the prison behind this man’s home. The prison is contracted through the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Before the opening of the prison, the county was on the downfall quick. 

While standing in his front yard on a hot September day, he told me, “The only thing that made a difference was they put that private prison back here [pointing behind his home].” CCA pays property taxes to Tallahatchie County for the facility.

Since opening in year 2000, the prison has served as both a county jail and a prison that houses inmates from all over the country. The prison currently has inmates from Mississippi, Wisconsin, Colorado, Louisiana, Hawaii and California. 

In 2008, California sent 1,300 inmates to the facility in Mississippi. Soon after their arrival, a riot broke out between rival California gang members. This man remembered that day well, “I seen they was on top of the building. They had SWAT on top of the building and stuff like that.” He said the county had to shut the highway in front of the prison down until the problem was fixed and inmates back in their cells. 

Some may ask if the community likes having inmates from all over the country in their local facility. The answer would be an overwhelming yes. 

If other states did not send inmates to Tallahatchie County, the prison would fold and the town would see massive layoffs from CCA. That happened in 2001 when Alabama withdrew their inmates. The employee number went from 204 to 40 by the end of 2001. However, they have since recovered and continue to grow steadily. 

I think it is safe to say that all in all, the prison literally saved the county and the city of Tutwiler, Mississippi.

Have you met Red?

Red was struck by a car a few years back and spent weeks at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville on and off during the first twelve months of his recovery. His leg is much better today and he has not used a wheelchair in about 10-months or longer.

For those who have never met Red, he has a huge heart for people. While he often drinks the afternoon away, I have seen him give his last dollar to someone in need on multiple occasions. He has allowed other homeless to stay in his tent numerous times until they were able to get a tent of their own.

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Living the the impoverished Delta region of Mississippi

In Clarksdale, Mississippi I spoke to this man who told me that the jobs are gone and the youth has gone wild. He is retired and calls the Delta home.

“I’ve lived here about 55 years,” he told me. When asked to explain the area he stated, “I done saw the whole town change, there used to be plenty of jobs and everything, mostly all the jobs done left – it’s sad, but that’s the way it is – and people done changed too, the crime rate wasn’t as high as it is now and a lot of killings been going on here and back in the day, it wasn’t like that, people had love for one another.”

As for the biggest crimes in the Delta, he told me shootings and assaults. He then said, “You know, kids are raising their self. There’s no discipline in the homes. The average grandmother now is maybe 34-35 years old – when I was coming up the average grandmother was about 70 something.”

Sunflower County in the Delta

I shot this photo in Sunflower, Mississippi in the Delta.

He was with three of his friends behind a convenient store and liquor store. However, before I left the owner asked all three to leave the area suggesting that all they do when behind the store is litter.

Sunflower County is often called Sunflower Country. It was named Sunflower in 1844.

In the 1930's, the county had over 66,000 residents. Today, that number is down to 27,005. It is one of the poorest counties in the state and also one of the poorest in the U.S.

The Mississippi State Penitentiary is one of the largest employers in the area. It is the home of Mississippi's death row and execution chamber.

He has style

While he lives on the streets of Tennessee, style is not beneath him. He looks like someone one might spot playing a bass in a jazz club or perhaps a guitar in a blues band.

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." - Maya Angelou

Meet Henry of Nickson Juke Joint

He owns a small bar in the Delta of Mississippi. There were no windows and I felt as if I should knock to go inside.

There were about six men sitting out front drinking and smoking on a beautiful Sunday morning and they looked at me as if I were lost, however they invited me to go inside.

After I walked in I was greeted by Henry, the owner of Nickson Juke Joint… I did not see a sign on the front of the bar and his Mississippi drawl was long and sincere, but a foreign language to me. We then started to talk about the past as I sat down at the bar with my camera in hand.

Henry is 72 years old and has lived in Mississippi his entire life. He told me, “When I grew up around here, they was pickin’ cotton paying like $1.25 per hour for pickin’ cotton – mostly everybody, that’s what they was paying and $5 a day for driving-driving a tractor.”

I talked to him about growing up in the Delta and he said, “It was hard, during the time that I come up.” He then told me that his family lived in a small farm house, “My parents and them, we stayed on a farm like a sharecropper and picking cotton, pick ten bales of cotton a day they get $10 and they split the money with you.”

Juke joint: a bar featuring music on a jukebox and typically having an area for dancing.

All I own is in this cart

Everything he owns is in his shopping cart. Tonight, he will sleep under the tree standing behind him, near Graceland, home of Elvis in Memphis, TN. 

100 Pound Watermelons in the Delta of Mississippi

He is a former Sheriff’s Deputy in Tunica County, Mississippi and he is now retired. He carries a small handgun in his left pocket at all times, as crime is quite high on the Delta. Health problems like diabetes keeps him home many days, but he has a love for his garden and his small dog.

He lives alone with his Chihuahua, but finds joy in his garden that sits in the front yard of his camper. He has grown everything from okra to watermelons. He said with a smile from ear to ear, “I have grown everything from sweet corn, green beans, whole beans, you name it and I have pretty well grown it.”

He recently grew several 100 pound watermelons that he took to a local school in Tunica County. He said, “I had some special seed that grew some extremely large watermelons and I donated a couple of them to the local private school over here (Pointing South) and after football practice one day they enjoyed some big watermelons.”

He was a track runner in the 1970's

Mr. Richard Townsend lives in a small house that was once where slaves called home in the Delta of the Mississippi. The home is approximately 15 feet long and 8 feet wide. It consists of two small rooms with a toilet and kitchenette that was added years and years after slaves, then sharecroppers made the house their residence.

Mr. Townsend who was born in Mississippi, later moved to California. While on the west coast and in his early twenties, he was known for running trackfrom 1976 to 1979. He ran for the Santa Monica Track Club. The track club in California received worldwide recognition in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s after setting numerous world and national records.

I was able to track down information that showed his name on an April 1977 schedule to run in event #33 during the Drake Relays. Townsend ran the 440 yard relay in heat number one. His relay team made the run in 41.34 seconds, placing second in their event.

Today, Richard Townsend pays $125 per month to rent the small home that he has lived in for about 15 years. The area in which he lives is surrounded by drug dealers who harass him on a daily basis and even throw bricks at his house. He told me that people make and sell meth and crack in the neighborhood and drink non-stop. Townsend told me, “As for me, I only drink coffee and juice.”

While talking to Townsend, I witnessed the harassment first hand. Mr. Townsend told the subject who walked up to his house to leave and said to him, “He’s interviewing me, you need to get outta’ here.” The man continued to harass Mr. Townsend until we were finished talking.

Townsend has numerous “No Trespassing” signs posted on nearly every side of the small house. He even has a gate across his front steps so people cannot enter his home. The two do little to keep people away.

As for why he moved back to Mississippi… It was to be with his mother who was near death. She passed away shortly after his arrival and is buried in a cemetery about a mile from his home.

As I left I could see that he was tearing up. I think he enjoyed reminiscing about his mother and his track days. He seemed to be a very kind, open and thankful man.

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We are all similar

The Mississippi Delta: “I’m from Memphis,” he told me with a slow country slur. He moved to the Delta of Mississippi for a slower pace of life and less crime than the big city.

We are all human beings working on our hurts, sins and life together despite of our current living arraignments. Some of us live in the Delta while others live in large cities at a faster pace. But underneath our hats, many of us have similar past.

“Practiced on our sins
Never gonna let me win, uh huh
Under everything
Just another human being, uh huh"

"Yeah, I don't want to hurt
There's so much in this world
To make me bleed”

-Eddie Vedder, Just Breath

Sleeping anywhere in Memphis, TN

In an area that is called the Delta, he is homeless in Memphis, Tennessee. He told me that he and his girlfriend of 13 years sleep anywhere they can find. 

Working off fines in the Delta

Living in the Delta of Mississippi is tough due to a lack of jobs that are currently available. Things that many of us in most cities could avoid like paying a simple fine can quickly equal headaches and sometimes jail time in the Delta.

This man lives in Indianola, Mississippi and was jailed for a speeding ticket and driving without a license as opposed to simply paying the fines. Due to a lack of income, he is working off the fines through the workhouse.  

Living in the Delta

Mississippi Delta – Land Lost: The Mississippi Delta is a very different region of the country when compared to other areas.

After the Civil War, many areas were undeveloped, despite the well balanced land to grow a variety of crops on. Today, many of the Delta areas are still undeveloped and lack jobs, hospitals, education and more.

The Delta is comprised of a flat low lying land that sits between the Mississippi River and the Yazoo River. The land in between is 200 miles long and 70 miles wide at its widest point.

This resident has lived in the delta her entire life, since 1961.

They Litter My Property

Mississippi Delta – Land Lost: He was armed with a small sheep knife on his side when he came around the corner. The knife was not exposed, but on a strap around his shoulder as if to say that he means business.

“You need to leave now,” he growled at several men on his property behind a market that he has owned for about 30+ years. The men were sitting around on old milk crates that were previously stacked behind his store. The area in which they were sitting was once a car wash behind the market in Drew, Mississippi.

After the men walked away he told me in a tone that made me quickly realize he has grown tired of cleaning their mess, “They sit around and drink all day and litter my property (pointing at a pile of liquor bottles and beer cans).”

The men slowly walked away as if they knew the routine, once again leaving behind beer cans.

The poverty rate is 36.1% in Drew City, which is in Sunflower County, Mississippi. It is the 8th poorest county in the state. In Sunflower County, only 70.2% of adults 25 and older have a high school diploma or higher education. The per capita income over the past 12 months stands at a low $12,177 in Sunflower County.

What does poverty look like?

What does poverty look like to you? 

“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.” ― Mother Teresa, A Simple Path: Mother Teresa

Grace is Gone

His skin was leathery and his hair thick. His eyes were like fog in the morning, covered in haze. His words were few.

I often wonder how many end up on the streets after a broken heart, perhaps because of something they did to their significant other while in a relationship? Once on the street, do they experience the social pains of being unlike those around them or made fun of by passing motorist?

Naomi Eisenberger of the University of Califiornia-Los Angeles wrote about the hurt in what she called social pain in a magazine titled "Current Directions in Psychological Science." She wrote, “Rejection is such a powerful experience for people." Her research found that brain activity in people with real physical pain was very similar to the brain images of someone who had experienced social rejection.

But why? “I think it’s probably there for a reason—to keep us connected to others,” she says.

“Neon shines through smoky eyes tonight
It’s 2 am - I’m drunk again it’s heavy on my mind
I could never love again so much as I love you
Where you end where I begin is like a river going through
Take my eyes take my heart I need them no more
If never again they fall upon the one I so adore”

-Dave Matthews Band, Grace is Gone