Effie Burt live at Springfest in Batesville, Mississippi, May 14, 2021. Photograph by Newt Rayburn. © 2021 Newt Rayburn - The Local Voice.
by Davis Coen
Lafayette County native and vocalist extraordinaire Effie Burt was recently awarded a prestigious grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) for a Folk Arts Fellowship.
The MAC awarded a total of $1.7 million of funding to artists and arts programs across the state for Fiscal Year 2025, and recipients are able to benefit in a variety of ways, but mainly to further nurture their exceptional talent.
Effie grew up in the Orwood community, outside of Taylor, Mississippi, near the Panola County line. She was part of the first desegregated class at Lafayette High School and has some stark recollections of those days.
She vividly recalls the school policy against wearing afros, supposedly on account of hindering students in the rear of the class from viewing the chalkboard. In cahoots with her mother, Effie went to school one day with a long blonde wig that ran down her back, in order to make light of the harsh measures.
After a couple of days, the school principal eventually conceded and allowed Effie to wear her hair how she wanted—which she described as in the style of political activist Angela Davis or members of the band Sly & the Family Stone—under the condition that she leave the blonde wig at home. Afros were eventually allowed but none longer than three inches.
Effie credits her father for having the resilience to keep bringing her back to school after she would get suspended, for minor things like donning an African dashiki which was also frowned upon.
Along with another talented local musician, acoustic guitarist and songwriter, Wendy Jean Garrison, Effie learned early this summer about being awarded the four-figure grant, which she intends to use to further pursue her career in “blues-gospel.”
She acknowledges legendary vocalists Big Mama Thornton, Etta James, and Koko Taylor—who she describes as “raw” and “just having a conversation-music”—as her main influences. Effie not only celebrates these songstresses but likes reimagining their songs with her own personal touch.
For instance, Effie enjoys singing Koko’s rendition of the blues/R&B classic “Born Under a Bad Sign,” but replaces the tag line, “If it wasn’t for bad luck I wouldn’t have no luck at all,” with, “If it wasn’t for God’s love I wouldn’t have no love at all.”
She said, “My father told me as long as I am respectful with what I sing, I can sing it in church.”
Although Effie admits there is a line that some gospel singers don’t want to cross, because it’s been ingrained in their minds that they “can’t serve two gods” at once.
“If they are truly Christian, they can keep it gospel and still talk about their life, or their experiences, or their pain,” she said.
A major goal is to collaborate with some young, talented, like-minded musicians who grew up playing in church.
“Our young people today need to find as many positive messages as they can,” she said.
Currently she’s been working with Nashville-based Silas Caldwell (son of Tony) on her gospel-blues endeavor and hopes to record some of his original compositions in that line of music, as well as some of her own.
“Silas is an upcoming star,” Effie said of the former North Mississippian. “My dream is to carry somebody along that way, as I do blues, and he does what he does, and we can be separate but together. He’s already polished and ready to go—and very focused.”
Setting the naysayers aside, Effie insists that “blues and gospel do go together,” because “everybody’s gonna experience some blues at some time in their life.”
She feels confident that her relationship with God is strong enough that whether she sings blues or gospel, it will be equally celebrating His gifts.
As she has throughout her entire life, Effie intends to continue expressing activism in her craft. She’s been involved with the Living Legacy Project, whose mission is to provide education about the American Civil Rights Movement, and regularly embarks on “pilgrimages” to places like Selma, Alabama, to walk over the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
She fondly recalled singing “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around” while walking over the much revered bridge. Also, Effie has spoken on occasion with well-known civil rights activists, the Freedom Riders.
But Effie’s main goal is to let young folks know exactly what a grant can do for an artist. “I tell them, ‘go on their site, see what’s available for you.’ I want to share that these grants are available. No matter who you are, there’s something positive you can do with your music.”
Although Effie spent 27 years in Iowa working for John Deere before returning to Lafayette County—where her family still owns over a hundred acres—she’s managed to build an impressive list of musical accolades.
These include performing for President Obama on two occasions while he was still a senator in Illinois, and writing “I’ll Make Me a World in Iowa,” which was the theme song for the 2000 statewide “Make Me a World in Iowa” festival.
Later in 2006, in a historic moment, her song—which she describes as “jazzy”—was unanimously adopted by the Iowa Legislature as a State Song for Iowa.
“I want to walk in the steps of Koko Taylor,” said the powerful and often robust 70-year-old singer, who has goals of international touring—although doesn’t exactly plan on “thumping all around the world.”
After a chuckle, she said “The sky’s the limit. And if everything goes right—and God says the same—I believe I can walk in those steps, and bring back her music.”Effie has also performed multiple times at the Oxford Blues Festival, including most recently in 2022, and had a role in the 2019 independent film Two Headed Woman, (written and directed by her Soultones bandmate, Damein Wash), which premiered at the Oxford Film Festival.
