Mississippi June Bugs Literary & Musical Society to host 5th annual gathering in Tupelo

TUPELO — In 2018, Mike Mills had a heart attack. While he recovered, friends and acquaintances shared stories of their own cardiac-related brushes with death.

Retired Mississippi Supreme Court Justice James L. Robertson was among them, and in sharing his own heart attack experience with Mills, he told him he had a list of things he wanted to do before he died.

One of those was seeing the plaque memorializing Quentin Compson III, William Faulkner’s fictional character who famously commits suicide in “The Sound and the Fury,” at the Anderson Memorial Bridge on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

So Mills made it happen. More than a dozen Mississippians gathered at the site on June 2, 2019, to share essays they’d written and to remember the literary character who “drowned in the fading of honeysuckle,” as the plaque that bears his name and date of death reads.

It was a gathering too special to be a one-time event, so they planned to dedicate a grave marker for another fictional Southerner the following year on June 3, the date that Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge in Bobbie Gentry’s famed 1967 song “Ode to Billie Joe.” The group called themselves the Mississippi June Bugs because of the coalescence of culturally significant dates and anniversaries in the month.

Delayed by COVID-19, they had an outdoor gathering in Greenwood to dedicate a tombstone to McAllister. And in 2021, Bill Luckett, owner of the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, invited the June Bugs to play at the venue.

“But there was a catch to it,” Mills said. “The co-owner was Morgan Freeman, and we had to let him sing with the band before they would let us play.”

Freeman opened up the band’s first show, singing alongside June Bugs member Amye Gousset, whose first performance with the group was that night. As an actress and singer, the moment was unforgettable for her, and she feels lucky to be a member of the society.

“Being a part of something so grand and so unique and so special is just really icing on the cake of my life,” Gousset said. “I’ll treasure knowing these people forever.”

The Mississippi June Bugs are a network of friends and friends of friends that continue to recruit more people to join in on the fun. It’s all about celebrating memories through music and literature, enjoying each other’s company all the while, according to Mills.

A day hasn’t passed since Gousset joined the June Bugs that another member hasn’t sent an email praising a fellow member, sharing witty commentary or a YouTube link to a song suggestion.

As momentum continued to build around their gatherings, and the group kept them going annually. Other gatherings took place in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 2022 and Oxford in 2023.

Now it’s Tupelo’s turn to host the June Bugs.

The greatest show in South Tupelo this century

The event poster for “The Great Mississippi June Bug Music Festival” promises to be “the greatest show in South Tupelo this century,” and it will certainly be the largest event they’ve hosted thus far.

The group will celebrate songs of Americana, starring Gousset, Trey Lyons, Jody Lackey and Sam C. Richey. The show will feature Mark Willcutt, Will McFarlane and Billy Earheart alongside a selection of June Bugs members and other guest musicians.

The free music festival begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, at The Cotton Mill in Tupelo.

“It’s a joyful thing,” Mills said. “And it’s not to make a profit. We’re just giving it to the community.”

The June Bugs’ annual gatherings follow a general schedule of sharing essays on Friday evening, followed by visiting the gravesite of a notable Mississippian, real or fictional.

“Every year, we remember someone from our past who contributed to Mississippi culture,” Mills said.

In Tupelo, they’ll memorialize Elvis Presley’s stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, considering what could’ve happened had he lived. They plan to give speeches in his honor.

The Saturday evening music festival will follow, along with a Sunday morning contemplative service.

“Friday night, you’ve got the literary aspect; Saturday night, you’ve got the music,” June Bugs member Marsha Tapscott said.

“Sunday, you talk to the Lord,” Mills added.

Traditionally hosted on the first full weekend in June, this year’s June Bugs gathering was moved up a week because of the Tupelo Elvis Festival being scheduled for June 5 through June 9 in the All-America City.

“It’s a don’t-miss show, that’s for sure,” Gousset said.