The 100 Men Hall will relive its glory days as a “Juke Joint” on “the Chitlin Circuit” when Sunny War takes the stage from 6:30 – 8:30 pm on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. This year, Sunny War was named best new voice in Roots music by Rolling Stones Magazine, and last year, 100 Men Hall was named must see venue by Rolling Stones!
Sunny War – the Los Angeles-based street singer, guitarist, and roots music revolutionary grew up in Nashville, where she searched for her own roots, looking first to the blues she heard from her mother’s boyfriend and then learning from a local guitarist. Moving to Los Angeles in her teens, she searched for herself in the LA punk scene, playing house shows with FIDLAR and shoplifting DVDs from big box stores to trade at Amoeba Records for 80s punk albums. But here, too, she found herself on the outside, working to bridge her foundation in country blues and American roots guitar traditions with the punk scene she called home. She first made her name with this work, bringing a wickedly virtuosic touch on the fingerstyle guitar that sprang from her own self-discoveries on the instrument. Sunny War played the historical 100 Men Hall at its annual Booker Fest in 2021 then went onto meteoric fame.
Rachel Dangermond, owner of the 100 Men Hall, is delighted that Sunny is returning to the iconic, historic Bay St. Louis Venue. “After its founding, the Hall grew to become a robust performance venue included on “the chitlin circuit”, an historic nationwide network of juke joints, and a stop on the Mississippi Blues Trail map. Some of the toughest of the people operating and performing in Juke Joints were women — women who ran bars, booking agencies and clubs, where traveling musicians could come into a Black community, play, make money and go to the next town.”
Adding to the ambience provided by Sunny War’s music will be soul food for purchase by Big Bertha. Bertha began cooking at four years old and knew at 18 years of age that food was her passion. Bertha and her family owned a full-service restaurant in Slidell, and seven years ago she came to Bay Saint Louis to start her own catering company, Big Bertha’s Kitchen and Catering. Her specialty is soul food, which is why flavor is her main ingredient.
Says Dangermond, “The combination of Sunny War’s virtuosic fingerstyle guitar playing and Big Bertha’s soulful cooking will make this Juke Joint JUMP again!”
Tickets for Juke Joint Women starring Sunny War are $15 in advance and can be purchased here: https://the100menhall.com/products/juke-joint-women-starring-sunny-war or $20 at the door, provided the event doesn’t sell out.
The iconic and historic 100 Men Hall was founded in 1894 by 12 civic-minded African American Bay Saint Louis residents whose goal was to “assist its members when sick, bury its dead in a respectable manner, and knit friendship”. The Hall now owned by Rachel Dangermond, grew to become a robust performance venue included on “the Chitlin Circuit”, an historic nationwide network of performance spaces, and a stop on the Mississippi Blues Trail map.
Located at 303 Union Street in Bay Saint Louis, the 100 Men Hall is a 501c3 nonprofit organization (Hundred Members Debating Benevolent Association), supported by tax deductible donations. Additional information about the venue’s history and other activities can be found on the100menhall.com or by emailing 100menhall@gmail.com.