LINDA WERHEIMER, host: In nearby Mississippi, it was the wind that caused major damage. After the storm hit, we heard from a blues musician who's no stranger to hurricanes.</s>Mr. VASTI JACKSON (Blues Musician): (Singing) Well, it's hurricane season, Lord, can't you feel it in the wind?</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: That's Vasti Jackson, who wrote that song after Hurricane Katrina's fierce winds knocked over an enormous tree on his block in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. That tree fell across three properties and crushed his rehearsal studio, but Jackson considers himself lucky.</s>Mr. VASTI JACKSON (Blues Musician): The trunk of the tree, it was falling from east to west. If it would have fell from south to north, we would not be having this conversation.</s>WERTHEIMER: When we last heard from him, Jackson had no idea how he was going to get that tree trunk out of his yard. That is, until a group of volunteers from religious organizations around the country found him and offered to help remove the tree.</s>Mr. VASTI JACKSON (Blues Musician): And they were just going from neighborhood to neighborhood doing whatever they could do. It took probably a week. This thing was so huge that it just took a lot of effort and a lot of manpower.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Jackson eventually set up a new studio, and now he's working on a new album. It's called "Stimulus Man." Here's the title track.</s>Mr. VASTI JACKSON (Blues Musician): (Singing) I'm your stimulus man, baby. Your relief is in my plan.</s>WERTHEIMER: You're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News.
In Mississippi, it was Hurricane Katrina's winds that caused major damage. After the storm hit, Morning Edition heard from blues musician Vasti Jackson, whose rehearsal studio was crushed by a tree.