Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience hits the road

Mississippi native and blues music enthusiast Morgan Freeman created an experience combining Mississippi Delta blues music with a symphonic orchestra, and he’s taking the show on the road.

Freeman says, “The blues is just a lament, the blues are songs by people who have a serious problem in their life, my women left me, my dad died, I lost my job, whatever it is that’s blues…It’s like “what am I going to do”…Hard rock is my pillow, cold ground is my bed.”

Freeman heard this music as a child near Charleston, Mississippi, and fell in love with it as an adult. He carried that blues music with him as an actor of world-renowned status, and now has paired the blues with classical symphony. 

The first performance was held in San Francisco on July 25, 2025, at the Davies Symphony Hall. This show featured Freeman’s cinematic narration and performances by Delta Blues musicians from Ground Zero Blues Club. 

The tour continues with performances on August 1, 2025 at the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Highland Park, IL with Vienna-based composer and conductor Martin Gellner; August 19, 2025, at the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater in Chautauqua, NY featuring the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra with Gellner conducting; September 26, 2025, at the Nashville Symphony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, co-presented by the Nashville Symphony and the International Black Film Festival, Nashville, TN; and October 11, 2025, with the Louisville Orchestra at Whitney Hall in Louisville, KY, featuring Freeman’s narration and performances by blues artists from Ground Zero Blues Club.

The Morgan Freeman Blues Experience is being rehearsed in the famous Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi, which has become a blues destination for blues lovers from around the world. The Experience is blending orchestrated symphonic instruments and arrangements with the grit of Delta blues guitarists, blues vocalists, harmonica players, and drummers, highlighted in songs that are blues standards, including but not limited to those from B.B. King and Muddy Waters.

Among the performers participating is Keith “Prince of the Delta Blues” Johnson (guitarist, vocalist, harmonica) from Glen Allen, MS. He is a great-nephew of Muddy Waters.

From Clarksdale, MS, the performers include Guitarists and Vocalists Anthony ‘Big A’ Sherrod and Jacqueline “Jaxx” Nassar (Clarksdale, MS). Bassist Heather Crosse and Drummer Lee Williams too are from Clarksdale, MS. Hailing from Grenada, MS is Bassist Adrian ‘Rev Slim’ Forrest and from Leland, MS is Backup Drummer George Mumford.

Keyboardist Mark Yacovone and Blues Vocalist Adrienne ‘Lady Adrena’ Ervin also are performing.

For more information, visit www.symphonicblues.com.