Music: 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.…

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.…

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.…
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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).…

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).…

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.…

Pre-gaming for the final Hi-Tone show

Chris Shaw — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:53:14 -0600

This weekend two hometown heavyweights, The Barbaras and the Oblivians, will reunite for the final concert at the iconic Hi-Tone music venue. But as with most heavily anticipated musical events in Memphis, a pre-party is in order.…

Sound Advice: The Old 97's at the Hi-Tone Café — Rhett Miller on the band's landmark album Too Far to Care.

Stephen Deusner — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:25:00 -0600

For nearly 16 years the Old 97's have been closing their shows with the rollicking “Timebomb,” which is just as explosive as its title implies. As drummer Phillip Peeples lays down an impossibly fast train beat and guitarist Ken Bethea fires off a desperate riff, frontman Rhett Miller howls about having “a timebomb in my mind, Mom” and being in love with a girl who’s “like a Claymore… she’s waiting ‘round to get blown apart.”

“Timebomb” opened their 1997 album, Too Far to Care, which was not only the Old 97's’ major-label debut but also remains the most popular release of their 20-year career.…

Sound Advice: Jason Freeman at Poplar Lounge

Chris Herrington — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 10:19:19 -0600

In a city that's launched several young, blues-based artists to various levels of prominence over the past decade or so — the North Mississippi Allstars, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Valerie June, to name three — singer/songwriter/guitarist Jason Freeman has been a fixture, but one always just outside the spotlight.

He co-founded the string-band-based Bluff City Backsliders more than a decade ago, prepped Samuel L. Jackson for his bluesman role in Black Snake Moan, has played with local artists such as June and Amy LaVere, and fronted, briefly, another band, the Midtown Lowdowns.…

A Genre of One: Onyx Ashanti at Five in One Social Club

Chris McCoy — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:07:00 -0600

When you see him perform today, it’s hard to believe that Tupelo, Mississippi native Onyx Ashanti started out as a saxophone player. But after mastering conventional jazz saxophone and making his living as a busker in Atlanta and California, in the 1990s he became fascinated by electronic music.…

Not Your Mother’s Art: Underground Art celebrates its 20th anniversary at the Hi-Tone

Tonya L. Thompson — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:51:00 -0600

Last weekend, the soon-to-be-departed Hi-Tone hosted the 20th anniversary party of another Midtown staple, Underground Art.

In addition to the collaborative art, the event featured performances by Rebel Child, Capgun, New Science System, SVU, Brando Little of the Gloryholes, Jody Stephens of Big Star and Alicja Trout of River City Tanlines, Sin City Scoundrels, Snagglepus, the Sidewayz, Mo Alexander, and Imaginary Friend.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, there was an art auction, with pieces donated by local artists and photographers.…

The Oblivians and the Barbaras on Tap for Final Hi-Tone Café Show.

Chris Herrington — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:26:43 -0600

The Hi-Tone Café announced this afternoon the line-up for the final show before the club closes its doors at the end of February.

It'll pair two cult-classic Memphis bands of the past couple of decades, both in reunion form, with garage-rock living legends the Oblivians backed by the Barbaras, a garage-pop band of more recent vintage that broke up before it could release an album, with members splintering into other configurations, most notably the Magic Kids.…

Sound Advice: Ty Segall and Ex-Cult at the Hi-Tone Café

Chris Herrington — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:08:17 -0600

California's Ty Segall is a garage-punk prodigy who might be on a par with Jack White or Jay Reatard when it comes to inherent musicality or prolificness, though he so far lacks quite as compelling a sense of purpose as White's wounded romanticism or Reatard's now-tragic sense of self discovery.

Since emerging roughly a half-decade ago, Segall has averaged well more than an album a year, whether solo, with his touring band, alongside fellow Cali collaborator Mikal Cronin.…

Sound Advice: North Mississippi Allstars with MSO, Jimbo Mathus at the Brass Door

Chris Herrington — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:31:00 -0600

The North Mississippi Allstars' Luther Dickinson and solo bandleader Jimbo Mathus occasionally team up, along with Alvin Youngblood Hart, in the South Memphis String Band. But this weekend they'll be going their separate ways with a couple of big shows each.…

Sound Advice: Tess Brunet, Data Drums, the Switchblade Kid at the Buccaneer

J.D. Reager — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:46:00 -0600

Tomorrow night (Thursday, January 17) the Buccaneer Lounge hosts a diverse triple-bill, pairing up-and-coming New Orleans singer-songwriter Tess Brunet with two excellent locals, Data Drums and the Switchblade Kid.

Brunet (a.k.a. Au Ras Au Ras) was the drummer of the Dax Riggs-fronted group Deadboy and the Elephantmen before striking out on her own.…

Saying Goodbye to Live From Memphis

Chris McCoy — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:39:00 -0600

In an announcement posted on the front page of their popular web site, the pioneering arts community organization Live From Memphis announced last week that it will be ceasing operation. “The bottom line is that our site has far outgrown our resources to run it,” the announcement reads in part.…