Mississippi Moon will open alongside the already established European-style bars Bibliotheca Bar and Book Exchange and La Buvette Drinkery, bringing some diversity to the street with its Mississippi Delta vibe.

Owner Michael West says he worked in hospitality while studying psychology and marketing at university, and enjoyed it so much he decided to start a bar instead of pursuing a corporate career.

“I’m very much a people person,” he says. “And I always loved the south-west American culture with their bourbon, blues and jazz.

“I’m a bit of a drummer myself; I’m always tapping away, and I’ve always preferred real music to the ‘doof doof’.”

The drinks menu will have a heavy focus on bourbon and moonshine as well as ciders, beers, wines, spirits and cocktails.

“We’re doing southern American-based cocktails and bourbon infusions, such as an old fashioned-style bacon-infused bourbon,” West says.

At this stage, food is limited to bar snacks such as jerky and nuts.

“Part of the small-bar licence is that you don’t have to serve any food,” says West. “So to start we’ve got some Top End beef, buffalo, camel, kangaroo and crocodile jerky.”

He has done most of the renovating of Mississippi Moon with some help from his dad. Expect a bright white weatherboard-clad exterior, and an outback/swamp homestead feel inside including vintage magnolia wallpaper and a hand-drawn floor-to-ceiling mural by Adelaide artist Jayson Fox.

With the recently opened Pink Moon Saloon bar nearby in Leigh Street, does Adelaide now have one too many “moons”?

“The only thing we have in common is the word ‘moon’ in the name,” says West.

Mississippi Moon opens on Wednesday, December 16.