Summer is upon us once again, so grab your lawn chair and get ready to kick back under the stars for the third annual Mary Ann Fisher Summer Concert Series, hosted by Russellville Blues. The season opener is scheduled for Saturday, June 5, at 7:30 when the sounds of the Mississippi Delta arrive in Russellville.

The featured performer will be L.C. Ulmer, an 81-year-old legend from Ellisville, MS.  For over fifty years, Mr. Ulmer played music all over the U.S. – “like horse manure, everywhere!”- before returning to Mississippi in 2001.

 A multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Ulmer plays guitar, keyboards, drums, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, kazoo, and harmonica, and performed for many years as a “twelve piece” one-man band.

Today he plays mostly guitar at live performances, performing a number of original compositions in a distinctive style with a propulsive boogie beat. In recent years, he has played the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, The Shed Blues Festival in Ocean Springs, and at the Blues Today Symposium in Oxford. In June 2007 he performed at the Roots and Blues Festival in Parma, Italy.

Mississippi Millie McLaine, known as “Mother Blues” will open the show.  Born and raised in the Delta, Millie has performed all over the country, playing notable venues like the House of Blues, Jack’s Sugar Shack, and the Babylon. In the 80’s she opened Phoenix, Arizona’s Women in Blues Week with Koko Taylor.

Her CD, “Mississippi Millie, Acoustic Blues”  infuses 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. As Millie says, “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.”

Millie now appears at music venues in and around Nashville, often with guitarist, Tiger Gagen, who will join her for the Russellville concert.

You won’t want to miss this very special evening of  Mississippi Delta Blues, June 5 at the African American Heritage Museums, on the corner of 6th and Morgan in Russellville. Bring your lawn chair and come early – food vendors will be open at 6. Admission is free.