CLARKSDALE – America’s “purest” blues celebration is throwing a steamy spring preview before the main event – the 14th annual Sunflower River Blues Festival Aug. 10 – 11 in Clarksdale.

Past festivals have showcased today’s celebrities from Charlie Musselwhite, Little Milton, Ike Turner, the John Lee Hooker family, Bobby Rush, Mose Allison, Pinetop Perkins, R.L. Burnside and Snooky Pryor to the late Eugene Powell, Jack Owen, Lonnie Pitchford, Wade Walton and Little Jeno Tucker.