Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin Circuit Tour

Beyoncé is on the road again and this time only hitting nine cities, promoting her eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter. The Beyhive is buzzin! Especially after Queen Bee made history becoming the first Black woman in GRAMMYs history to take home the award for Best Country Album. Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour is more intimate of a tour unlike her previous Renaissance tour run. The name itself is richly rooted in African American history. As the BeyHive load up their bank accounts and charge their devices to secure a seat at a show hosted in cities Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, London, Paris, Houston, Atlanta, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas. 

Another 16 carriages prepare for a historically significant tour paying homage to the Black pioneers of American music. Artists who were limited to perform in a tight network of venues during segregation. Picture being served a hot plate of chitterlings awaiting to hear rock ‘n’ roll icon Tina Turner blow, “big wheels keep on turnin’” and Bobby Rush and James Brown were sitting across from you. That was the Chitlin’ Circuit! Every Black Musician of note at the time graced the circuit. Icons such as Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Bobby Rush, Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, and a slew of others. What a shapeshifting time in history! This history learned of course after I transferred funds from my account on presale day to secure tickets for the July 11th show at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Chitlin’ Circuit’s name derives from the widely controversial soul food delicacy, chitterlings. Often served or received as a form of payment for performing at the small juke joints and rural nightclubs within the circuit. Often served or received as a form of payment for performing at the small juke joints and rural nightclubs within the circuit. 

Unpopular opinion warning, if you never had chitlins you are not missing out. BUT properly cleansed, seasoned, and cooked from the heart of Big Mama. Served with white rice and Louisiana hot sauce may very well be the best tasting chitlins you done ever had. However, the smell of boiled pig intestines is enough to keep me out of Big Mama’s kitchen. The more highly regarded venues were: Atlanta’s Royal Peacock, Baltimore’s Royal Theater, Chicago’s Regal Theater, Detroit’s Paradise Theatre, Harlem’s Apollo Theater, and Washington, D.C.’s Howard and Lincoln Theaters.

This circuit sustained and advanced the careers of Black talent during an era of strict Jim Crow laws. Segregated from a system of venues created by White booking agents, two brothers formed an agency by and for Black artists and their culture. Denver and Sea Ferguson’s, the men who invented the Chitlin’ Circuit, booking agency – Ferguson Brothers Agency – became the most powerful Black-owned agency in the country. In which brought forth the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. Beyoncé’s, Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit shows just how far Black musicians have come.

Now, buckle up, jump into your favorite pair of Levi jeans, and throw up your hands to heaven because these tickets are indeed most wanted. I hope your money is as long as Beyoncé’s legacy! In the meantime join me in the kitchen for the first time to cook up some chitlins the right way using PBJ’s Southern Chitterlings recipe – while blasting Cowboy Carter, of course

Grandma Gwen’s Chitterlings (Chitlins) Recipe

Ingredients:

Instructions