Nothing reveals the hidden links and sense of community among Memphis musicians more than when Music Export Memphis (MEM) stages its annual fundraiser, the Tambourine Bash, scheduled for October 16th at the Overton Park Shell. Drawing on the many artists who have worked with the nonprofit in their touring, merchandising, and marketing, MEM’s executive director Elizabeth Cawein always creates band mash-ups, where members of three or four bands collaborate to cast their original material in a new light.
She’s always made a point of featuring bands that have never played the Bash before, but this year, for the first time, she’s revisiting groups that have participated in previous years as a kind of full circle moment. Many of them have continued to thrive, thanks in part to MEM’s efforts to promote local performers.
This, then, is the thought-provoking lineup. It’s eclectic, electric, and Memphis AF, as the kids say.
Ozioma + LaDarryl + Keenya (Ambassador Access cohort 2025)
Ryan Peel + MadameFraankie + Mak Ro
Raneem Imam + Graham Winchester + Cyrena Wages
Black Cream + Marcella Simien + Lucky 7 Brass Band
UNAPOLOGETIC + FutureEverythingThe combinations sent my head to spinning, so I grabbed the phone and called Cawein to get the inside scoop on the latest version of this great gathering of our musical community.
Memphis Flyer: I see that the first three groups on the list are part of the Ambassador Access Cohort from this year. What does that mean, exactly?
Elizabeth Cawein: So this is the third year that we have featured our cohort of artists from this particular program as a collaborative set at Tambourine Bash. This is a year long program that we’ve been doing since 2022 that is designed to essentially over-resource artists that have traditionally been under-resourced and help them build towards a sustainable touring career from Memphis. So it’s designed for artists of color, LGBTQ artists, women artists, and women-identifying artists. And we have a cohort of three to five. For the last few years, it’s been three, and they start with us in sort of February or March, and we work with them throughout the entire year on everything from financial planning, budgeting a tour to booking workshops, marketing workshops, and creating assets for them. And we also book them on a group tour together in the summer. So these artists spend a ton of time together, and then at the end of the program they also go through a process of putting together a proposal for a grant that they receive. It can really be to cover anything they see as the next phase of their career.
Who are the three bands in the program this year?
Ozioma, LaDarryl, and Keenya did two long weekends on tour together last month, playing shows in Kansas City; northwest Arkansas; Columbus, Ohio; Paducah, Kentucky — all over the place. So they did that group tour and we tour managed that for them. And then the idea is that coming into the second half of the year, or the end of the year, that they are booking and planning their own solo tours. So, we take them out together, really, to, like, get those reps in and build some experience on the road and experience touring. But then the idea is that they book, with our support, a solo tour after that.
After touring together, they must have some serious chemistry between them.
It’s been one of my favorite sets in the last few years, because they will have absolutely spent a lot more time together than any of the other groups, just because of the Ambassador Access program. They’ve been together for workshops and professional development stuff every single month since February, and then they also went on the road together. So yeah, there’s a deep chemistry that’s developed over time with them. So it should be a really fun set.
And this year, it’s also unique, because they are the only ones who haven’t previously been on the Tambourine Bash stage. With this being our fifth year at the Shell, what I wanted to do was go back and pick from different folks that have played over the past five years, because we’ve never done that in the past four years. Ever since we’ve been at the Shell, we have not repeated an artist a single time.
Most Memphis music fans likely know the other artists, who are some of our best and brightest on the scene today. But describe the music of Ozioma, LaDarryl, and Keenya for those who don’t know them.
LaDarryl is hip hop. He’s a rapper. But I’m not so knowledgeable about the names of different hip hop styles, so I don’t want to assign a name to it. It’s nerdy rap, a little bit. And his flow really reminds me of Gorillaz, and he’s a rapper who most often plays with live band instrumentation, which I think is really cool.
And then Ozioma is like R&B pop/neo soul kind of vibes. And Keenya really kind of combines both. She on her latest project that is going to be coming out soon, a little bit of R&B, a little bit of neo soul. But then she’s also rapping. And she’s somebody who has been making music for a really long time in Memphis and has done a lot of different things. This next chapter is featuring this neo soul/rap hybrid, but she’s a talented instrumentalist, like a talented keys player, in addition to being a vocalist, and so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun!
Will Boo Mitchell lead all the participants in a final jam as before?
I actually just spent some time with Boo yesterday afternoon, and he and I picked out the songs for the finale, which will remain a secret until they are performed. But I am very excited about what we’re going to do there. So he’s back producing the finale, as he always does, and we’re going to have a ton of fun with that. I’m always like, “Don’t leave early. You’ve got to stick around till the very end on this one,” because the super jam is always a highlight.
The Tambourine Bash benefiting Music Export Memphis takes place at the Overton Park Shell on Thursday, October 16th, from 7 to 10 p.m.
