SLIDESHOW: Parchman Portraits

If you’ve been keeping up with Music Maker news, you may know that we’ve embarked on a partnership with The Parchman Band, the newly-revived blues band at Mississippi State Penitentiary.

Tim Duffy (co-founder and Executive Director) recently wrote about his life-changing visit to the prison to take portraits for the band’s upcoming debut album and songbook, scheduled for release on the Music Maker label in 2027. He had expected to learn about Parchman’s rich musical legacy: famous recording sessions by folklorists John and Alan Lomax in the 1930s-60s, the legacy of once-incarcerated artists like Bukka White (“Parchman Farm Blues”), and how the current iteration of the band is carrying on Mississippi’s Delta blues traditions.

“What I did not expect,” Tim wrote, “was to witness one of the most hopeful places in the United States today.”

This weekend, Tim returns to Parchman to document the prison’s annual Family Day festivities, where the incarcerated men, staff, and their families gather for a picnic with minimal guard presence – and where the Parchman Band will perform for their loved ones with country songwriter Charlie Worsham.

We are so grateful to be part of such a meaningful project, and we can’t wait to bring you deeper into our collaboration with Parchman. In the meantime, we’re excited to share more images from Tim’s previous visit, including several tintype portraits of the band’s members. See this week’s photo slideshow below!

This is only the beginning of this work. Stay tuned!