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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.

Mark your calendar now for Thursday, Dec. 2 for the Hal & Mal’s Operation Shoestring Benefit Concert. From 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. your $15 donation to Operation Shoestring gets you in to see Bobby Rush, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus (of Squirrel Nut Zippers), Cary Hudson, Delta Mountain Boys, Buffalo Nickel, Neilson Hubbard, Living Better Electrically, Eric Stracener and Garvis, Scott Albert Johnson, Laurel Isbister, Omega Hart, Kool Filter Kings. With that kind of eclectic juke line-up of area favorites, there truly is something for everyone, and you’ll be getting it on for charity, so you can tie one on, or off, and feel good about it.

If you or someone you know is in a band, remember to submit your stats on our permanent musicblog at www.jacksonfreepress.com/music so everyone can read about you and try out your website before they go out. You can also catch up on all our past local and national CD reviews while you’re there.

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.