A Journey to the Birthplace of the Blues with Eric Meier
by Danny Colman originally published on Rock On! This Week’s Sound Bites…7/31/2025
Back in March of this year, Christine Zemla of the Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation put together what has now become an annual sojourn to the place widely considered to be the birthplace of Blues music; Clarksdale, Mississippi. Seven hearty souls (Including this writer and “Rock On Radio’s” Producer Claire) made the trip with Zemla and Scott “Blind Squirrel” Zemla (His given Blues name) for four days of fun, local cuisine, education, history and the most incredible music the Mississippi Delta has to offer.
Once there, we had the opportunity to chat with Eric Meier, one of several partners of the Ground Zero Blues Club; an integral part of the town’s landscape and culture. Juke joints and music clubs permeate the confines of Clarksdale but Ground Zero is different and during our conversation, Meier told us how it and Clarksdale in general have a “Unique” vibe all their own.
“I grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and my daughters, one has graduated and one went on to college and my ex-wife is here and I’ve had a passion for music,” he said as he began explaining his journey into club management. “My first opportunity, I backed a band based near Portland that did quite well for an indie rock group, a band named Everclear and then I actually got involved with a Grunge club up in Seattle called, The Crocodile. Peter Buck of R.E.M founded it and then a bunch of local folks in the music industry who had a passion for music bought the club. We’ve since expanded the ownership team and it has become kind of a hallmark for the Grunge movement of the ’90s; folks like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains; that was my first foray into being involved as a club owner. Then I was fortunate enough to go down to the Delta, I took my girlfriend and went down to the Mississippi Delta and met Bill Luckett who co-founded the club with Morgan Freeman and Howard Stovall and I met them and given some of my business experience with clubs and music, I joined them. It took about two years for them to vett me (Laughs) to make sure I was legit but I bought a home in the Delta with a buddy and basically got involved and over a series of time, I got more actively involved and it has been a great ride and in many ways as much of an ambassador role if anything being able to keep the Blues alive and serving as kind of a hallmark of Blues and fast forward to today and we’ve got a sister club on the coast; Ground Zero Blues Club in Biloxi. We’ve been closed but we’re gonna reopen very shortly and continue to deliver world class blues music to the locals and the folks from around the globe who come here to enjoy music. We’re actively involved in The Juke Joint Festival every April, there is a series of other festivals, The Sunflower Festival, there are events in the fall; it’s as much a living shrine as it is a blues club. We’ve even taken it a step farther, we’re touring with symphonies around the United States where we’re playing a form of blues music integrated with symphony orchestras. So, we’ll be doing a number of shows starting in late July in what we’re calling Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience. We’ll be up at The SummerStage in Central Park, New York CIty and in Chicago and in other venues around the country; it’s highly authentic and we’re playing classic Delta Blues but when you bring a 50 piece symphony to the party it is pretty impactful. The beauty of Clarksdale is that it’s an authentic place with huge cultural and musical historical relevance and we’ve worked hard at the club to keep it authentic.”
“Authenticity?” Clarksdale oozes authenticity. Whether it be from its architecture, its history or its people, one would be hard pressed to find anywhere that upstages it. Meier knows that the area’s rich history and folklore from civil rights to the Crossroads and the music have inspired as well as piqued curiosities the world over.
“I find this part of the United States probably one of the most authentic places where the culture and the complexity of the region, the confluence and all sorts of things from music to social justice, the narrative of a hard scrabble environment; it’s unchanged. Now, you can say that’s good and bad but I think it has given it a unique DNA that frankly, people like yourself appreciate. This doesn’t stop within the borders of our country, you get folks from all over the world who appreciate the legacy; look at the British rockers. These guys were arguably heavily influenced , The Stones, AC/DC, Zeppelin and even Fleetwood Mac was a blues cover band when they started. They found their own voice but they didn’t lose the underlying impact of blues and the same thing with Gospel music. There is a really cool picture of John Lee Hooker and the backdrop is almost like a flow diagram on a chalkboard of all of the genres that the blues have influenced. That’s part of the opportunity with our symphonic blues experience is to bring this relevant and acknowledge that this is an important genre which is still alive and well. Whether it’s the music of Big A, Kingfish, Keith Johnson, Lala Craig, Lucious Spiller; these guys who are making their own flavor of music that was shaped generationally by the folks who preceded them.”
Guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin is quoted as saying, “I don’t deal in technique. I deal in emotions” and for blues musicians, no statement could be more accurate. Recently, Anthony “Big A” Sherrod made a second trip up from Clarksdale to put on a rollicking show at Monmouth University and all in attendance saw what emotions can do for a performance. Meier and his partners at Ground Zero understand the importance of this in Blues music and how it sets the atmosphere in the club as well as in the entire town.
“I’m a ukulele hack but I’m an optimist,” he said with a laugh, “I asked Big A for some lessons and he took two fingers and tapped my heart and said, “Start here.” My point being, Johnny “Mr. Johnnie” Billington taught him and he was fortunate enough to, at the ripe old age of eight years old to play with BB King; right place, right time but I think he understands the essence of what makes this music so impactful and the legacy and it starts with emotion first and he plays with his heart and it shows. I’m an American and I’m proud to be an American and this genre is classic American. It’s rich in storytelling, it’s authentic and as I’ve lived, learned and listened more, it’s very heartwarming for me to hear music today and realize the impact of the Blues. I think it’s the authenticity, the realness; I think this music could’ve died time and time again but it’s had an incredible impact. I just like the fact that it’s real, it’s raw, it’s got a lot of history to it and it’s had a profound impact on music. I think that’s the same reason why Morgan launched the club as did Bill and Howard.”
“This region, whether it’s music, written prose, Faulkner, John Grisham, this place is an area that has so much folklore and Blues, in many ways, was the narrative of slaves and sharecroppers and folks that were modifying West African music and telling their stories through work songs which was the foundation of Blues. Morgan will be quick to remind you that it’s a story of lament but it’s on different levels and it has got such staying power and that’s the thing that’s so amazing.”
Clarksdale’s site isn’t the only Ground Zero around but it is one of less than a handful . So, with that in mind; what are their plans to stay the course and keep things “Real?”
“You could ask the same question of someone who owns a sports team or a restaurant,” he said without hesitation.“I come out of the healthcare software realm; if you have what I call product marketship; in other words, are you delivering something that people want to enjoy and you figure out how to run a good business, the rest will kind of take care of itself. So, I think, you’ve got to deliver an authentic solution or offering and we have to make sure that we stay true to our roots. Are we gonna go out and play Country music? Probably not but if there is an artist coming to town that has an American roots focus, absolutely but we have to stick to our roots and core of what we’re doing and that’s to be the preeminent Blues club in the world and, what does that mean? That means that the place needs to feel like a juke joint and we have to deliver music that’s gonna align with that, there are probably certain food and drink offerings you’re gonna expect to see and frankly; be nice. I think our management team does a phenomenal job of making sure there is an authentic experience where people feel welcome and there is something about the Mississippi spirit that’s holistic; not that you can’t get that in Trenton, I’m not poking fun of New Jersey, my daughter was born in New Jersey (Laughs) and I did what I call my “Tour of duty” working for Johnson & Johnson in Somerville. My point being, you want to make sure you have a good product and that you’re delivering joy; it’s sometimes hard to explain it. There is something about the place, the club, the environment, I don’t know, you tell me but when my friends and family come out from the West Coast, I tell them, it’s hard to explain, you just need to come out and experience it whether it’s a New Year’s Eve party or an anniversary party in May or a juke joint or whatever, it’s almost like a revival as much as it is a true juke joint experience; the energy, you just want to bottle it.”
Meier is enthused about the club and its impact on Clarksdale’s economy, history and tourism and loves how he was welcomed and absorbed by the town’s people; some of which are transplants such as himself and others who have been there for generations and once again, it’s the authenticity that makes it all possible.
“That’s what it is, it’s authentic. You can find other places like that where there is a strong almost indigenous culture of locals and then you get infused with people like me and others who say, hey, I want to invest in the community and be a part of this and the community responds favorably. So, there are plenty of people like me that compliment people like Bubba (O’Keefe/VisitClarksdale.com) and Howard, Tamille and our managers have got a long history there and by and large, if you’re willing to lean in, you’ll be welcomed.”
To discover more about Ground Zero Blues Club, please visit https://www.groundzerobluesclub.com/