A wide scenic shot of a highway at dusk leading past a cotton field in the foreground as a car drives by.

See Mississippi's unique musical heritage in photos

A region of warm hospitality and deep spirituality that embodies the essence of the American South, the Mississippi Delta is marked by an extraordinary musical heritage. Born out of adversity, the delta’s blues and gospel scenes are still thriving to this day.

The Mississippi Delta features some of the most fertile soil on the planet, which was transformed in the early 19th century by the introduction of cotton farming.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
Story and photographs bySimon Urwin
September 17, 2025
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
A symmetrical outdoor swamp scene of bare cypress trees being perfectly mirrored in the water.
The Mississippi Delta is a vast, inland floodplain, crossed with a network of bayous, cypress swamps and oxbow lakes.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
A typically quiet American small town street with a pick-up truck parked in front of a low-rise brick building looking onto the mural of a guitarist on the side of the neighbouring house.
It’s dotted with some of the most uniquely atmospheric and idiosyncratic small towns in America — including music-rich Clarksdale, the self-proclaimed ‘World Capital of Blues’.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
A retro deserted American gas station with stripy features and a sign on the roof saying 'Dockery' surrounded by Coca Cola branding.
Life on cotton plantations, such as Dockery Farms, led to the emergence of the blues.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
The close-up of a rusted, retro round sign saying 'American' in bold letters across the middle section.
The portrait of an older man with a Blues tattoo spelt out vertically on his forearm, passionately playing the harmonica.
Shaped by the hollers of workers in the field, spiritual songs shared in church and African musical traditions, the genre developed as a powerful response by the enslaved population to the brutal realities of their daily life.
Photographs by Simon Urwin
The landscape portrait of an older black man playing an embellished and lived-in banjo in a guitar and music shop.
James ‘Super Chikan’ Johnson is a renowned Delta bluesman and guitar maker. His grandfather, Ellis Johnson, was also a prominent bluesman in Mississippi and played regularly with Robert Johnson, the man who’s said to have sold his soul to the devil at the junction of highways 49 and 61 in exchange for his otherworldly guitar skills. Super Chikan is based in Clarksdale, one of the US’s leading music destinations, where live music can be heard 365 days of the year. As well as custom-making guitars and diddley bows in his home studio-workshop, 74-year-old Johnson is still performing, and believes the blues is most impactful in the land of its birth.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
Come listen to the Blues in a Clarksdale juke joint — It’ll punch you in the gut and rip your heart out.
James 'Super Chikan' Johnson
An epic shot of twin bridges crossing over a wide river with the American flag swaying from the peak of one bridge tower.
The Delta’s southernmost point is historic Vicksburg, famed for its twin bridges over the Mississippi River.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
The entrance to a 1950s diner with a vertical letter neon sign and a colourful fassade.
A close-up of a cotton plant on a plantation with a clear, blue sky in the background.
In 1863, the defeat of the Confederate army here proved pivotal, hastening the end of the Civil War. After slavery was abolished, the region stood at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement, its activism driven by faith.
Photographs by Simon Urwin
Rows inside of a church with hat-wearing visitors dynamically moving their hands to song, shot from above.
The Delta’s deep spirituality also played a crucial role in the development of gospel music.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
A simple, wooden church building on a field with trees.
The fusion of blues with traditional hymns rings out on Sundays in many Delta churches, such as the iconic, white-wood Brooklyn Chapel in Greenwood, which featured in the 2011 film The Help.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
A late dusk scene of a blues strip with a focus on the stacked and blinking neon signs to clubs and bars.
A road trip taking in sites along the Mississippi Blues Trail — a heritage project featuring more than 200 historical markers scattered across Mississippi and beyond — is one way to discover the people, places and events that have shaped the blues and the musical genres it inspired, from rock ’n’ roll to R&B. The markers include the bright lights of Beale Street, Memphis, where Mississippi blues musicians have come in search of stardom since the early 20th century.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
An older black woman with quirky style performing a song in a fairy light-lit music bar.
Also featured is Red’s, a Clarksdale juke joint housed in the former Levine’s Music Center, where Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm bought the instruments used on what’s widely considered to be the world’s first rock ’n’ roll record — Rocket 88. The venue still hosts performances today, with local Ann Flanagan among the regulars.
Photograph by Simon Urwin
Published in the September 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).

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