Scott M. Barretta

Barretta is a principal writer and researcher for the Mississippi Blues Trail, a series of historic markers, the host of the radio program Highway 61 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, and a folklorist for the Mississippi Arts Commission. He is the former editor of Living Blues magazine, published by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, worked as a writer and consultant for the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, and is a freelance writer for many publications. Barretta holds a Bachelor’s in sociology from George Mason University, a Master’s in sociology from the University of Virginia and is in the dissertation stage for a Ph.D. in sociology from Lund University in Sweden.  His dissertation examines the historical development of white audiences for the blues.