King Biscuit Blues Festival

Helena-West Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas, is the home of the King Biscuit Blues Festival, which began in 1986. The festival takes its name from the world's longest-running blues radio program, King Biscuit Time, which was originally hosted by Sonny "Sunshine" Payne and broadcast from KFFA Radio in Helena.

In 1986 Bubba Sullivan and Jerry Pillow organized the first annual King Biscuit Blues Festival starring blues legends Robert Lockwood Jr., Pinetop Perkins, CeDell Davis, Sam Carr, James Cotton, and Frank Frost.

The Pryor Center began interviewing musicians and recording symposia at the King Biscuit Blues Festival in 2015.

Jim Aldridge

Anna Lee Amsden

Sterling Billingsley

Rockin' Johnny Burgin

Cedric Burnside

Mike Cherry

Eddie Christmas

Bob Corritore

Bobby Crafford

Leon "Butch" Dener

Robert Finley

Samantha Fish

Michael Groth

Zac Harmon

Veronika Jackson

James "Super Chikan" Johnson

Grace Kuch

Hamilton Loomis

Kenny Neal

Tracy Nelson

Barbara Newman

Chris O'Leary

Jack Pearson

Chris Pitts

Dave Pruitt

Dick Pruitt

Bobby Rush

Reba Russell

Johnny Sansone

Kennan Shaw

Lonnie Shields

Lucious Spiller

Keith Stone

Berbon "Bubba" Sullivan

Paul Thorn

Christina Vierra

Joe Louis Walker

Don Wilcock

Tom Worrell

 

Call and Response Blues Symposia

The Blues Symposium - 2016 - Part 1

The Blues Symposium - 2016 - Part 2

The Blues Symposium - 2017 - Part 1

The Blues Symposium - 2017 - Part 2

The Blues Symposium - 2018 - Part 1

The Blues Symposium - 2018 - Part 2

 

Arkansas Memories Project

Edwin Leo Burks Jr.

Terry Cagle

Morse U. Gist

Blanche L. Lincoln

Sonny Payne

Charles "Charlie" Buford Roscopf

Beatrice Clark Shelby

David Solomon Jr.

B. Alan Sugg

Jean Sugg

Berbon "Bubba" Sullivan