Soggy Sweat Whiskey Speech

Poor William performing Whiskey Speech by Soggy Sweat on The Mosquito night at New Roxy in Clarksdale

Clarksdale, Mississippi (VIDEO and PHOTOS)

WEDNESDAY NIGHT. NEW ROXY THEATER.
CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI. HEART OF THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA.
FIRST NIGHT OF THE FIRST NIGHT OF THE RECENTLY RELOCATED TO CLARKSDALE “DEEP BLUES FESTIVAL!” 

The Mosquito was a spoken word event held last night at the awesome open-air venue, the New Roxy Theater, located on Issaquena Avenue in the New World district of downtown Clarksdale.

Hosted by Randall Andrews and New Roxy owners’ Robin Colonas and husband William Laidlaw, the event was held just inside the door of the partly open-ceilinged building,
under the back stage area and next to the beer bar. The terra-cotta lighting was cozy, the faux candles warming and the spoken word preeminent.

Original poetry and prose was to be had, a harrowing tale of self-travail by the Clarksdale Press Register’s Jesse Wright was sobering, and several anecdotal stories by MC Randall Andrews were hilarious and touching. Twas just another fine night in the Mississippi Delta.

I delivered the famous Soggy Sweat Whiskey Speech. It is a fine Mississippi-bred example of a complex contradiction given by a 26-year-old legislator from Corinth, MS, who served only one year in the state legislature!

True story ladies and gentlemen! The speech was given in 1952, when the end of prohibition was a hotly contested issue in the last state in the US to eventually end Prohibition. These were his words, verbatim, eloquently and wryly delivered at a banquet at the King Edward Hotel in the state’s capitol–Jackson, MS! The legislators name–no kidding–NOAH “SOGGY” SWEAT

VIDEO
[youtube width=”600″ height=”400″]http://youtu.be/4YXGKcGS9d0[/youtube]

DJ Jamie Lynn Miller at The Mosquito night at the New Roxy in Clarksdale. Owner Robin Colonas far right.

Poet/writer/musician Heidi Gean Shuler at The Mosquito night at New Roxy in Clarksdale

Actress Shera Phillips at The Mosquito night at the New Roxy in Clarksdale

Artist Randall Andrews at The Mosquito night at New Roxy in Clarksdale

Clarksdale Press Register Managing Editor Jesse Wright at New Roxy in
Clarksdale at The Mosquito

Writer/Photographer Eric Stone at the New Roxy in Clarksdale

Poor William performing Whiskey Speech by Soggy Sweat on The Mosquito night at New Roxy in Clarksdale