Long before interstate highways, the internet and big box stores, a furniture store owner in Itta Bena named Ralph Lembo dedicated a portion of his real estate to building a recording studio.
Lembo then promoted blues artists and records throughout the country, giving many of the artists we know today their first exposure to the world.
Visit Mississippi, the tourism wing of the Mississippi Development Authority, unveiled a Blues Trail marker in honor of Lembo last week.
It was the 209th such marker in the state, according to Kamel King, manager for the Tourism Development Bureau at MDA.
King was the keynote speaker at the Indianola Rotary Club’s 2021 banquet, which was held at the B.B. King Museum this past Tuesday night.
King’s program helped to kick off a week of celebration, as the museum is set to unveil its own multimillion dollar expansion to the public this coming Saturday.
“This guy took a chance and opened up two recording studios, and he became a promoter of the blues,” King said of Lembo. “Many of the artists, this man was responsible for recording them and promoting the album past our border.”
King, who is also a practicing attorney, spoke on a variety of subjects, highlighting the many tourism attractions in the Delta and the industry’s importance to the state.
“Statistically, tourism is the fourth largest employment industry in the state,” King said.
King, who joined Visit Mississippi in 2016 said that the state did suffer during 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, but the state actually fared better than most.
“Mississippi got hit a lot less than we ever could have expected,” he said. “As it relates to our bordering partners, we actually did better than all of them. In our fiscal year, ’20, we had 21 million visitors here in the state, which contributed $5.65 billion spent in the state. $362.2 million went to the state’s general fund.”
King credited the state’s welcome centers, which he said were only closed for a short period of time, with keeping more tourists and tourism dollars in the state.
“Our frontlines stayed the frontlines,” he said.
On top of noting the state’s world class museums, he also said that Mississippi’s trail marker systems, which include blues, freedom, writers and country music, provided citizens with outdoor activities, even calling it the largest outdoor museum in the world.
“You can drive all throughout this state and see those markers,” King said.
Visit Mississippi has already dedicated the 210th Blues Trail marker after Lembo’s last week.
After’s King’s program, Rotarians were treated to a sneak peak at the museum’s expansion, which will have its grand opening on Saturday.
That will start with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2, followed by museum tours and live music starting at 3 p.m. Museum tours are free, but they must be scheduled through the museum’s website.
Check out the back page for the latest lineup.
