Beaugez’s writing on Mississippi music has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Garden & Gun, Guitar World and the Smithsonian.
When Magnolia Tribune launched in January 2023, we set out to serve Mississippians by not only exploring the complex issues affecting our state, but also by inspiring readers with stories about all the things that make Mississippi a special place to live.
That mission includes covering the culture of Mississippi — the people, places and things that make us who we are. We have covered Mississippi’s great writers, reflected on former stars of the silver screen, opened the doors to great restaurants, explored the unique connection Mississippians have to sports and outdoors, and shared fun events for the whole family located right here in the Magnolia state.
Magnolia Tribune recently began featuring columns from chef, restaurateur and author Robert St. John on the role food plays in our lives. And in that same spirit, we introduce writer and Mississippi native Jim Beaugez, who will contribute stories about our state’s musical legacy, past and present, to our growing Culture section.
A professional writer for two decades, Jim’s passion for music has led to covering the stories behind Mississippi’s deep contributions to American music and culture for regional and national media outlets. In just the past few years, he has authored more than fifty articles about the musicand musicians of our state for a broad audience of readers.
For example, Jim recently covered the reopening of the historic chitlin’ circuit venue Club Ebony in Indianola for The New York Times and the Lisa Marie Presley memorial service, held just across the Tennessee state line at Graceland, for Rolling Stone. He also profiled third-generation Hill Country bluesman Cedric Burnside and Marty Stuart’s efforts toward the preservation of country music history for Garden & Gun.
Jim has written extensively about blues and its subgenres, profiling the evolution of Hill Country and Bentonia blues styles for Guitar Player, as well as Bentonian Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and the Blue Front Café for Smithsonian.
His coverage for Rolling Stone includes reporting on Jackson’s hip-hop scene, how concert venues such as Jackson’s Duling Hall dealt with the Covid pandemic, and the first socially distanced concert in the United States.
Jim has contributed to The Recording Academy’s official companion books for the past two Grammy Awards, including a feature on the evolution of music as told through the 2021 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees. He is also a frequent contributor to Guitar World and wrote the cover story on Jimi Hendrix for its year-end 2023 issue.
Jim’s talents aren’t limited to writing, though. He created and produced My Life in Five Riffs; a Guitar Player docu-series profiling artists like Mississippians Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Mac McAnally and Luther Dickinson, as well as Americana star Jason Isbell and members of Foo Fighters and Wilco. The 11-episode series has racked up nearly two million views on YouTube to date.
Outside of music, the Ocean Springs native and Clinton resident plays guitar and writes about technology, outdoors and travel, as well as non-fiction essays. “The Dog Hunter,” his fiction debut, was published in the Mid/South Anthology from Belle Point Press in 2022 and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
In addition, he moderated an author panel on Mississippi blues music at the 2019 Mississippi Book Festival and served on the 2022 Governor’s Awards nominating committee for the Mississippi Arts Commission.
Watch for his first article for Magnolia Tribune on Wednesday of this week, a piece on photographer Margo Cooper’s new book, “Deep Inside the Blues,” which features interviews with and original photos of blues legends taken throughout Mississippi over more than 25 years.
