Published 5:31 pm Wednesday, April 30, 2025
By Jan Griffey
NATCHEZ — Since Lou Ellen Stout was a little girl, she has loved music. A singer, Stout has loved performing as well as attending music festivals.
“I have been involved in music festivals one way or another since I was about 5,” Stout said. “I have relatives who were part of the Washington Parish Free Fair in Franklinton and always helped with those. I know how music festivals make me feel — getting to hang out in a beautiful place and enjoy music with your friends.”
That’s her goal with the Stay Tuned Music Fest set for Saturday on the grounds of Dunleith. Gates open at 11 a.m. and music begins at noon. Stout has partnered with the Natchez-Adams County Community Alliance to sponsor the festival.
“I’m good at organizing, but this really means something to me. We’re not trying to make a bunch of money, though the money we do make will go to the Community Alliance. I’m excited people will be able to get together and fellowship in such a beautiful place,” she said. “I hope this will become an annual event.”
Stout hopes Saturday’s Stay Tuned Music Festival will become an annual event.
“It’s just the perfect place, right in the middle of Natchez,” she said.
The event will feature Natchez native Jack Curtis, who owns an insurance agency in Tupelo but more importantly is a 1980 graduate of South Natchez-Adams High School.
He also starred in the hit Netflix series The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga.
“Performing in Natchez Saturday will be very exciting for me as Natchez is my hometown. To be able to perform my Elvis tribute and have friends I grew up with in the audience will be the highlight of my year,” Curtis said.
“The first Elvis song I ever sang was at South Natchez High School. I believe it was a Key Club fundraiser program. I performed ‘Way Down.’ I will include that nostalgic song in my lineup Saturday afternoon. My show will recreate the early 1970s Presley hits. I call it the Elvis Jumpsuit years. Some of the songs in the show are ‘Suspicious Minds,’ ‘Way Down,’ ‘That’s All Right Mama (Vegas version.” I’ll throw in some of his early hits also such as ‘All Shook Up,’ ‘Teddy Bear,’ and ‘Love Me,’ “ Curtis said. “I hope everyone will come out to the Stay Tuned Music Festival Saturday and enjoy some Elvis tunes as well as the other musicians and singers in the lineup. It’ll be a great day in Natchez. And I hope to see many of my childhood friends and classmates during and after the show.
“I have been performing my Elvis Tribute for about 20 years. It has never been a full-time gig, but rather a nighttime and weekend thing. After my day job ends, it is nice to change into the polyester jumpsuits and let loose. I’m 62 now. We lost Elvis at age 42, so I don’t know how many more years I have but it has been a long, fun ride,” Curtis said.
Curtis joins Hana Hart and Friends, who will perform beginning at noon, followed by Mira Loves Soul, Curtis, Chad Wesley and headliners Monsters of Yacht.
Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased at StayTunedMusicFest.com or at the gate on Saturday. Children 12 and under are free.
Bring your own lawn chairs and blankets to the festival, Stout said, but no coolers, tents or umbrellas will be allowed.
Food and drink will be available from vendors on site, including C&M Crawfish, Dunleith and Rolling Fatties, as well as an ice cream truck.
The festival is also raffling a $4,000 Predator E-Bike. Raffle tickets are $20 and only 500 will be sold. Raffle tickets can be purchased online or, if any remain, at the festival on Saturday.
Monday’s SWAC college basketball lineup has lots in store. Among those contests is the Southern Jaguars squaring off…
Ranked squads are on the Monday college basketball schedule in two games, including the Wake Forest Demon Deacons…
Monday’s college basketball schedule has several interesting games, including the matchup between the McNeese Cowboys and the Stephen…
The NHL schedule today, which includes the Tampa Bay Lightning taking on the Florida Panthers, is not one…
Top-25 teams will take the court across two games on Monday’s college basketball slate. That includes the Kansas…
All games are FREE. No subscription required to play.
Adams County residents: Could you live with once-a-week garbage pick up if it would save you significantly on your monthly garbage collection bill?
View Results