In the land where musician Willie Dixon said, “Blues is the roots and the music is the fruits,” Vicksburg is hot on the trail of tapping toes and rockin’ souls — or wants to be.

A problem is that a sustainable business centered on performing blues music has remained elusive, despite the facts such legendary artists as Dixon and Milt Hinton were born here.

The project

Five journalism students from the University of Mississippi spent — Aline Carambat, Andrew Mullen Scott, Elizabeth Pearson, Donica Phifer and David Hopper — two days in Vicksburg last month — to gather and report on the future of tourism in the area. Their stories, directed by reporter Steve Sanoski and Executive Editor Charlie Mitchell, are being published through Friday.

Scroll down to see video

Part 1: If you build it, they will come

Part 2: Military park looks ahead to 150th anniversary

Part 3: Vibrancy for residents might hold key to city future

Part 4: Limited public transit is a driving concern

Part 5: No crystal ball on convention center hotel

Shirley Waring, president of the Vicksburg Blues Society, is among those who believe that because Mississippi is widely known as the birthplace of America’s music, the potential is real.

“People interested in the blues do not just want to come here to look at a blues monument or a blues marker,” she said, indicating three Blues Trail markers erected around the city are a starting place, not an ending place.

Music tourists, especially international visitors making the trek between New Orleans jazz venues and Beale Street and Elvis’ Graceland in Memphis, have a wide variety of accents. One phrase they’ve all mastered in English is, “Where can we hear the blues?”

“This is why Vicksburg’s heritage is so important,” she said. “If we can embrace what we were and rebuild it to its glory then we will be recognized as a music city.”

Her ideas come in two forms. One is an annual festival, perhaps themed to match the instrument of preference for both Dixon and Hinton.

 “We want to embrace the idea of how we have two very famous upright bassists from Vicksburg and how unique it is for such a small town,” Waring said.

Adopting the slogan of “Tune Up for Tourism” in Vicksburg, Waring, who is also president of the Vicksburg Heritage League, said her second goal is working to get clubs to offer live blues music, even if it’s just one day a month.

Part of the appeal of the blues is atmosphere. To that end, Waring says, Vicksburg needs a “juke joint.” The closest thing today might be a venue such as the Bottleneck Blues Bar at Ameristar. That venue is decorated in a blues motif, with the names of performers painted on the walls, but live performers there are of all musical stripes. Actual blues artists are rare.

That could be because the music has evolved and is not performed by as many artists — and the fact that there are fewer blues performers means preservation is a priority.

“The Jacqueline House has a lot of memorabilia that they are prepared to make a part of a museum,” Waring said. “It is really more than the music, it is the appreciation of the culture and how it all got here.”

The Mississippi Blues Trail markers honor performers who frequented the neighborhood clubs in Marcus Bottom and the Red Tops, a dance band. One is at the gateway to the Mississippi Delta, where black laborers created the sound known as the blues.

While Vicksburg’s location is ideal, Bill Seratt, executive director of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau said, music must be part of, but isn’t enough to sustain future tourism in the area.

 “You cannot live off blues pilgrims,” he said. “You’ve got to have the greater mix. The blues is very important to our cultural heritage, but you cannot just be the blues. You have to offer other entertainment, great accommodations, great food, great cultural heritage experiences and a friendly attitude,”

Waring agrees and says she thinks the city already has a great deal to offer any visitor.

 “Vicksburg encompasses not only the live entertainment but the opportunities to observe and see a part of what I call ‘The Delta Experience,” she said.  “There are different perspectives of why people come here, whether it is touring homes, seeing our museums or shopping. I think that is important — not to forget why people come here. It is our job to show them the real Vicksburg.”

And, she said, that includes the blues.

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Elizabeth Pearson is a student at the University of Mississippi.