Lil' Howlin' Wolf, who performed at the 2000 Delta Blues Festival, is not one of your "wanna be" performers, emulating a legend like Howlin' Wolf whom the Lord took from too soon.  The legend was so close to his protege, he called him "son."  In any event, Lil' Howlin' Wolf is a musician in his own right who actually played and toured with the legendary Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Bobbie Rush and a flock of other blues stars.

During the festival, Lil' Howlin' Wolf not only performed "Highway 49", a Howlin' Wolf favorite, on the Main Stage, but later went over to the Juke Joint Stage to perform with some other musicians. Yes, I was far away from the main stage, but this is what it looked like at the beginning of "Highway 49".   The crowd was roaring by the end of the song--people standing and cheering and singing along.

But I was a lot closer to the stage when Lil' Howlin' Wolf performed on the Juke Joint Stage with Jerry

Always be really friendly to the people standing close to you--you might need them to take your picture when you meet a celebrity--like I did when I met Lil' Howlin' Wolf!

Hey, Mom -- I told Lil' Howlin' Wolf you raised me on the blues, especially Howlin' Wolf albums.  He said "You have a good mama!"