Sing All Kinds, Memphis Flyer

Country Comes Home

Chris Shaw — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:27:00 -0500

The organizers of the first annual Delta Country Jam are ready to bring country music back home to Mississippi.

“With this festival, music is coming back home to its roots, and I can’t think of a better spot to bring thousands of people together to listen to country music and to experience the musical heritage that we have in Mississippi” said Webster Franklin, President and CEO of the Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau.…

Elements of Dewey Phillips' WHBQ sound booth have been salvaged and stored

Chris Davis — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:59:00 -0500

Renovation has begin on the Hotel Chisca, where WHBQ's "Red, Hot, & Blue" disc jockey Dewey Phillips first introduced the world to Elvis Presley, and rock-and-roll. Working with a skeleton crew of volunteers filmmaker turned preservationist Mike McCarthy removed glass, and acoustic tile from the booth where Phillips conducted the world's first Rock-and-Roll interview.…

Sound Advice: Patrick Dodd Comes Home

J.D. Reager — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:30:12 -0500

This Thursday, May 9, The Poplar Lounge will host a special "welcome home" party of sorts for Memphis blues singer and former contestant on NBC's The Voice, Patrick Dodd.

Dodd, a longtime fixture on Beale St.…

Justin Timberlake Announces FedExForum Concert

Chris Herrington — Mon, 06 May 2013 09:47:00 -0500

Dates were announced this morning for Justin Timberlake's "20/20 Experience World Tour," which kicks off on October 31st in Montreal and will arrive in Timberlake's hometown on Monday, November 18th at FedExForum.

Tickets for Timberlake's Memphis concert — part of his first tour in six years — are slated to go on sale on Friday, May 17th, with members of Timberlake's “The Tennessee Kids” fan club eligible for “pre-sale” purchases at 10 a.m. that day.…

Remembering Sid Selvidge

Chris Herrington — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:00:54 -0500

A bittersweet accompaniment to having so many great artists in your city is the pain of losing them, and Memphis lost a major one yesterday with the passing of Sid Selvidge, who lost a lengthy battle with cancer on Thursday morning.

I didn't really know Selvidge well, but had crossed paths with him several times over the past decade, first for a Flyer cover story on Beale Street Caravan, the made-in-Memphis but broadcast worldwide radio show Selvidge presided over.…

Memphis musician Sid Selvidge dies after a struggle with cancer

Chris Davis — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:53:00 -0500

Sid Selvidge had a goal. He once told a reporter that he wanted to celebrate his centennial singing on the stage at the Levitt Shell.…

The Possum Has Left the Building: George Jones (September 12, 1931 — April 26, 2013)

Chris Davis — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:40:29 -0500

George Jones, known as the Cadillac of Country Music because of his vocal range and nuanced phrasing, has died.

While looking back over past articles I stumbled across a piece I'd written prior to Jones' 1998 appearance at The Mid-South Fair. And while I may have overstated my point when I said he ignored Rock-and-Roll completely (some great Rockabilly cuts for Starday say otherwise), it's a fun read touching on the good, the bad, and the ridiculous.…

Sound Advice: Spray Paint live at Murphys

Chris Shaw — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:35:00 -0500

This Friday, Austin, Texas natives Spray Paint play Murphy's in support of their first full-length record. Featuring members of Austin punk bands Dikes of Holland and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Spray Paint has been gaining steady attention for their debut album on California's SS Records that was released at the beginning of 2013 and fans of off-kilter garage punk a la Britain's Hygiene, or perhaps Memphis' own Sharp Balloons should make plans to attend.…

Catching Up With Star & Micey

J.D. Reager — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:54:37 -0500

In recent years, the local indie-pop group Star & Micey has seen its stock rise from relative obscurity to one of the most consistently enjoyable and hardest-working acts in town. The group's 2012 E.P. I Can't Wait earned the band rave reviews from both critics and fans, as well as slots on high-profile national music festivals such as the Folk Alliance Conference and South By Southwest.…

96X to Return to Memphis Airwaves

Greg Akers — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:01:00 -0500

What began as a Twitter rumor and message board material can now be independently confirmed by the Memphis Flyer, from sources with knowledge of the situation: 96X will be returning to the Memphis airwaves.

The format change — a re-formatting, if you will — was first reported by Radio Insight yesterday.…

Local Web Series Headshop Premieres

Chris Herrington — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:55:00 -0500

Craig Brewer's $5 Cover was the canary in the coal mine, and another MTV production, Savage County, followed. This weekend, a new Memphis-shot web-based film series premieres in the form of Headshop, a series that follows nine characters whose lives intersect around a local headshop where a new designer drug is being sold.…

Hi-Tone Set to Return

Chris Herrington — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:18:00 -0500

Hi-Tone Café owner Jonathan Kiersky announced on Facebook today that he's signed a lease at 412 and 414 N. Cleveland to open a new live-music venue to replace the former Hi-Tone on Popular, which closed last month.

This deal was in the works when we reported on the Hi-Tone's closure in a recent cover story, which outlined Kiersky's tentative plans for the new space:

Kiersky was approached by Chris Miner, co-founder of the nonprofit Crosstown Arts, about space available as part of a strip of storefronts on Cleveland that are being rehabbed as a component of the neighborhood's ambitious redevelopment as an arts district.…
[ Read more ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Sound Advice: Quiet Company at the Poplar Lounge

J.D. Reager — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:09:48 -0500

Since being taken over by local media mogul Rachel Hurley, the talent booking at longstanding local watering hole The Poplar Lounge has noticeably become both more diverse and ambitious. The club has hosted a steady stream of regional and national touring acts on Hurley's watch, and there's been a greater frequency of all-local bills as well.…

Memphis Music Hall of Fame on Jeopardy!

Chris Herrington — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:22:00 -0500

The Memphis Music Hall of Fame will be a category on today's broadcast of the game show Jeopardy!, in the “Double Jeopardy” round.

The five answers will draw from the inaugural class of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, which was announced last year and which includes both obvious names (Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Otis Redding) and less well-known contributors (Lucie Campbell, George Coleman, Jimmie Lunceford).…

Justin Timberlake, Oscar Host?

Greg Akers — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:13:00 -0500

File this under rumors, but according to the National Enquirer (okay, file this under speculation), Justin Timberlake is in talks to host the 2014 Academy Awards ceremony.

Maybe the Oscars folks are sending this out as a trial balloon to see what people think.…

Sound Advice: Chris Milam The Sun Sessions Watch Party

J.D. Reager — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:13:00 -0500

Tomorrow night (Saturday, March 23), local singer-songwriter Chris Milam will be a featured performer on the latest installment of the popular television series The Sun Sessions, which is filmed at the legendary Memphis recording facility Sun Studio and airs on PBS stations across the country. To celebrate, Milam is hosting a watch party at Newby's, where his band will be performing both before and after a public screening of the episode's local premiere at 11 p.m on WKNO-TV (Channel 10).…

Memphis Blues Singer Di Anne Price Has Died

Chris Davis — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:16:00 -0500

After struggling with health problems for many months, Memphis blues artist Di Anne Price died, Wednesday, March 13.

When she was a little girl, Price would wake up in the middle of the night, sit straight up in the bed, and want to play the piano.…

Sound Advice: Dead Soldiers CD-Release Show at Young Avenue Deli

J.D. Reager — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:39:00 -0600

Tomorrow night, Saturday, March 2, the Young Avenue Deli will host the CD-release show for one of Memphis' best emerging bands, Dead Soldiers.

Dead Soldiers is a "supergroup" of sorts, combining members of well-regarded local bands such as the Unbeheld, Cremains, and the Memphis Dawls to form an Americana powerhouse that combines elements of outlaw country, bluegrass, and southern rock.…

The 2013 Beale Street Music Festival Lineup

Chris Herrington — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:00:00 -0600

The full lineup is out for this year's Beale Street Music Festival, which takes place Friday, May 3rd through Sunday, May 5th at Tom Lee Park, with artists such as the Black Keys, the Roots, Hall & Oates, and the Black Crowes among the headliners.

Three-day passes for the festival are $85 and are available through April 21st.…