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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Local indie-pop, all-ages extravaganza is on this Monday night at Hal & Mal’s, as The Rockwells return to the Red Room with King Elementary and the Louisiana Hip-Hop newcomer Futuro Boots. 8 p.m. $5. With all the catchy hooks, these three are well worth the price of admission, and some of the most promising young bands on the scene. You may have heard that King Elementary was recently signed to bigtime Capital Records. See and support all our local talent as they make their start for rock stardom. At any of these alcohol-free, all ages line-ups you’ll see why the passion and talent of these kids have made these shows the hottest thing going in Jackson. With every gig they get better and better. They bring new possibility for the future of the local music scene. Support them whenever and however you can.

Every Tuesday in December from 4:30-6:30 p.m. you can catch free jazz by Raphael Semmes and Ezra Brown at Fusion Coffeehouse on Highland Colony Parkway in Ridgeland. An hour later you can travel down to the Hunt Club at the Ramada Inn on Ellis Avenue, and spend your whole evening with Ezra (also free).

Herman Snell

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.