Memphis Music & Heritage Festival Takes Center Stage

Center for Southern Folklore transforms a two block area of Main  Street Labor Day Weekend Street September 5th and 6^th for its annual Memphis Music & Heritage Festival.

The festival runs from11:00 AM to 11:00 PM each day.

“The festival is a celebration of what makes the Memphis Delta Region so special…its music, arts and culture,” said Center for Southern Folklore Executive Producer Judy Peiser. “This 22^nd Festival  presents the musicians, artists, craftspeople, cooks, talkers, dancers and more who come together each year and show Memphians and tourists alike why Memphis is such a special place. There are five outside stages and two stages inside the Center for Southern Folklore.  Best of all, admission to the public is FREE!”

At the heart of the festival is the music.  From dynamic soul man Bobby Rush to the wild man of rock, Jason D. Williams the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival presents over 400 musical performers who made Memphis the great melting pot of America’s musical heritage and keep it cooking today.

The entire festival roster reads like a who’s who of both the traditional and contemporary Memphis music scene including: new South singer/songwriter Kate Campbell, rockabilly legend Sonny Burgess & The Pacers, insightful songstress  Amy LaVere, neo-soul from Tonya Dyson & Green Onions, hip hop artist Al Kapone, the dynamic gospel sounds of Darrel Petties & SIP, country legend Eddie Bond, bluegrass jam band Devil Train; jazz-blues diva Joyce Cobb, authentic Delta blues from Blind Mississippi Morris and Brad Webb, jazz and swing with Johnny Yancey and the Sanctuary Jazz Orchestra, jazz-funk-and-fusion artists FreeWorld featuring Herman Green, reggae from Nathaniel Kent and Exodus; urban blues from The Daddy Mack Blues Band, jug band music from The Bluff City Backsliders, youthful jam band Tempeh Four, the energized Millennium Maddness Drill Team, and the list goes on and on.

Each year the Center celebrates the heritage of Memphis Music with the release of its annual Festival Poster and T Shirt designed by Tennessee artist Gray. This year the Center is proud to honor three legendary Memphis saxophone players Fred Ford, Evelyn Young and Sonny Williams who made their marks on Memphis Music and in the hearts of all of us at the Center for Southern Folklore, said Peiser. Throughout the Center’s history these musicians performed, assisted in educational programs and told and retold us stories of Memphis Musical History. These stories are archived in the Center’s Multimedia Archives and in films we produced like All Day & All Night: Memories from Beale Street Musicians.  To learn more about the lives and careers of Ford, Young, and Williams, click on Festival Dedication.

The Festival will feature special workshops for aspiring musicians to learn from the masters.  Blues/R&B/Rock performer David Bowen will perform a soul music set while talking about the guitar; Randal Morton will demonstrate his mastery of the five-string banjo; musician and noted ethnomusicologist David Evans conducts an impromptu seminar on jug band and blues music.  In addition, there will also be two songwriting workshops – a joint venture by musical collaborators Mary Unobsky and Kim Richardson and one by acclaimed New South singer/songwriter Kate Campbell.

A special stage on Peabody Place will feature theatre, dance, drumline, and music for young folks and their families. They’ll be entertained by storytellers from The Voices of the South and musicians such as Joe Murphy’s Dandelion &The Raindrops and the Memphis chapter of Music for Aardvarks performing for younger festival-goers. The Trolley Stop Stage will feature two full days of cooks and chefs talking about making everything from Peach Cobbler to Fried Rice. And they’ll be plenty of time to hear artists and musicians talk about their work in the Heritage Hallway and the Center’s Folklore Store.

New this year will be the opportunity for festival goers to record their voices and music on 19^th Century Cylinders. Martin Fisher, Manager of Recorded Media Collections at the Center for Popular Music at Middle Tennessee State University will bring his old fashioned horn along so festivalgoers will have a chance to see how early recordings were first made. Even when he uses modern equipment, there’s nobody more retro than octogenarian Roy Harper who sings old time country tunes from the 1920s and 30s and talks about his long career and the history of real country music.  The delightful Hattie Childress will show off the pillows and quilts she’s sewn from Crown Royal liquor bags as well as the homemade chow-chow and pickled peach preserves made from ingredients she grows in her garden.

In addition to shopping for great folk art, books and CDs in the Center’s Folklore Store over 30 artists and craftspeople will be on hand selling their wares. In Heritage Hall Center Archives Staff and volunteers will be on hand to talk about the Center’s newest online exhibit featuring the photography, audio recordings and filmmaking of Rev. L. O. Taylor. Festival goers will have the opportunity to screen and help identify images and hear recordings.

On Saturday September 5^th Memphis historian Jimmy Ogle will give three walking tours of Downtown Memphis. Festivalgoers can meet Ogle outside the Center’s Folklore Store for a tour of Union Avenue at 12:00 PM,  Beale Street at 2:00 PM and Cotton Row at  4:00 PM. Festivalgoers can make reservations for the tours by emailing eric@southernfolklore.org or by signing up at the Folklore Store prior to the tours. Space is limited for each tour and reservations are encouraged. A donation of $5.00 per person is requested. The tours are free to FolkPass Holders.

Festivalgoers can purchase a CSF FolkPass. They become a VIP at the Festival and receive numerous benefits at the Festival and throughout the Year.  Click here for FolkPass Details.

The Memphis Music & Heritage Festival is produced by the Center for Southern Folklore with generous support for the Tennessee Arts Commission, Arts Memphis, Center City Commission, Memphis Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, SunTrust, Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation, Southern Heritage Charitable Foundation,  Blue Moon and  MGD 64, The New York Times, How Sweet The Sound, I 55 Productions, Majestic Grille, Circa, Blue Fin, Shelton Clothiers, Arts on a Hot Tin Roof, Peabody Place, Mississippi Mud Coffee, Harkavy Shainberg, St. Blues Guitars, The Memphis Flyer, The Memphis Downtowner, Citadel Broadcasting, WRBO 103.5 Soul Classics, KIX 106, 98.9 KIM FM and many other individuals  and businesses.

For More Information, Images and Interviews:

Tim Curry

901.525.3655

timcurry@southernfolklore.org

Rock for Love 3 benefit August 21-22 at the Hi Tone, Shangri-La

Rock for Love 3, the third-annual concert to benefit the Church Health Center, is set for Aug. 21-22 at the Hi-Tone, 1913 Poplar Ave. There will also be a free day show from 1 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22 at Shangri-La Records, 1916 Madison Ave.

Rock for Love, a benefit concert founded in 2007 by Makeshift Music’s J.D. Reager and the Center’s PR Manager, Marvin Stockwell, will not only raise vital funds for the Center, but it will also celebrate the diversity of Memphis music with performances by some of the city’s best bands and artists.

Friday, Aug. 21 at the Hi Tone (music starts at 9 p.m.) - John Paul Keith & The One Four Fives, The Warble, Pezz, The New Mary Jane, Blair Combest (emcee: Gary Parrish)

Saturday, Aug. 22 at Shangri-La – Sounds of Memphis Rock for Love 3 Day Party (free day show, 1 to 7 p.m.) - The Simpletones, Snowglobe, J.D. Reager & The Cold Blooded Three, The Bulletproof Vests, Organ Thief (emcee: Chris Vernon with 730 Fox Sports live remote broadcast)

Saturday, Aug. 22 at the Hi Tone (music starts at 9 p.m.) - River City Tanlines, Two Way Radio, The Magic Kids, Jeffrey James & The Haul, Jason Freeman (emcee: Al Kapone)

Tickets for each night are $10, or tickets for both nights are $18. Cost to get in each show will be $10 at the door. Tickets will go on sale at Shangri-La and Goner Records on Aug. 1 and will also be for sale online at HiToneMemphis.com.

Admission to the day party at Shangri-La Records will be free, though donations will be accepted. Twenty percent of store sales during the show will go to the Church Health Center.

Doors at the Hi Tone open at 8 p.m. and each show will start at 9 p.m. Memphis Roller Derby will host a silent auction, and there will be a variety of CDs and other merchandise available for purchase, all to benefit the Center. The Hi Tone will also have a beer garden in the back.

Rock for Love 3 is presented by SunTrust, Elvis Presley Enterprises and Makeshift Music. Other sponsors include the Hi Tone, Shangri-La Records, Live From Memphis, Rocket Science Audio, 730 Fox Sports, Traphix Entertainment, Center City Commission, Ardent Studios, Sasha Barr / The New Year, 2 Chicks and a Broom, Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, Garland Company Real Estate, Bluff City Sports, St. Blues Guitar, Memphis Flyer, Music Memphis, B.B. Kings Blues Club, Memphis Roller Derby, Goner Records, Street Savvy Unlimited, WEVL, Revolutions Community Bicycle Shop and Tsunami.

J.D. Reager, one of the concert’s organizers, says that it’s fitting that Makeshift Music and the Memphis music community as a whole are coming together to support the work of the Church Health Center. After all, the Center has provided quality, affordable healthcare to thousands of uninsured working people in Shelby County – many of whom are working musicians. “Memphis and Memphis musicians need the Church Health Center,” says Reager, who will pull double duty this year, playing in his own band and Two Way Radio. “Rock for Love has been an amazing experience these past two years, both in terms of the support we’ve been able to give the Center, and the unifying effect it has had on the music scene. It’s great to see that musicians and artists really do care deeply about the community that supports them, and they’re willing to use their talent for something bigger than self-promotion.”

Makeshift co-founder and Snowglobe front man Brad Postlethwaite, said it’s an honor and a pleasure to support the work of the Church Health Center. “I’m in medical school and see people in need everyday,” he said. “The Church Health Center is and should be a model of healthcare across the nation.” For ticket information, call the Hi Tone at (901) 278-TONE or visit HiToneMemphis.com. For general information about Rock for Love 3, call (901) 272-7170 or visit www.churchhealthcenter.org or www.makeshiftmusic.com.

2009 Cooper Young Festival Line-up Announced

The Cooper-Young Festival, hosted by the Cooper-Young Business Association (CYBA), is Memphis’ most anticipated outdoor celebration. Held in Memphis’ largest historic district, the Cooper-Young Festival is scheduled for September 19th.

In its 22nd year, this event has grown tremendously and is one of Memphis’ most highly attended Festivals. This year over 85,000 guests will enjoy an appealing mix of art, music and crafts presented by over 370 artisans from around the country. This Festival is a true celebration of the arts, people, culture and Memphis heritage.

Stage	Time	Set Length	Name
East	12:30 PM	45	Organ Thief
East	1:30PM	45	Ryan Peel
East	2:30 PM	45	Good Luck Darkstar
East	3:30PM	45	Streetside Symphony
East	4:30 PM	45	Bullet Proof Vests
Congo	12:15 PM	45	The Will Tucker Band
Congo	1:15 PM	45	Groundspeak
Congo	2:15 PM	45	Valencia Robinson
Congo	3:15 PM	45	Two Mule Plow
Congo	4:15 PM	45	Queens of Zion
Main	11:30 AM	30	Rhythm Realm
Main	12:15 PM	45	U of M Jazz band
Main	1:15 PM	45	River City Tanlines
Main	2:15 PM	45	Tonya Dyson
Main	3:15 PM	45	Darrel Petties
Main	4:15 PM	45	Susan Marshall
Main	5:15 PM	1hr 15 min	The Iguanas

Folk Alliance International Logo Contest

Earlier this week we wrote about The Folk Alliance Conference held right here in Memphis, Tn – but we neglected to mention that what we have always commonly referred to as the Folk Alliance has a new official name. Formerly known as The North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance, they are now known as simply Folk Alliance International, or FAI. And with a new name comes the need for a new logo – check out the details below:

Flipside Memphis Covers the International Folk Alliance

Flipside Memphis is a series of hip mini-docs about cool happenings in the city produced by LFM.  Today they premiered their video highlighting the International Folk Alliance Conference, and the following to say about the event:

Folk is the music of the hills, front porches, and fields. It’s the hymns, work songs, and ballads that form the basis of the American music tradition. Founded in 1989, the Folk Alliance is a national organization committed to preserving and promoting the music of the people. Their annual conference, one of the biggest musical convocations in the world, brings thousands of performers together in Memphis every year for a long weekend of hoe-downs, picking parties, and sing-a-longs. It’s a unique opportunity for the myrid musicians to come together, share stories and tunes, rub shoulders with the industry, and lift up their voices in song. But the biggest beneficiaries are the audience, who are treated to an embarrassment of riches over the hundred-plus hours of performances.

While all the above is true, as someone who has attended the last three years, I must warn you to not be scared away from the event thinking that it’s one big “hoedown!”  Many contemporary singer-songwriters attend and perform at the event, and it is a great place to check out some fantastic on the verge artists like Cory Branan, The Hereafter, Twilight Hotel, Raina Rose, Anthony Da Costa, Amy Speace, Valerie June, Andrew Duhon, Aimee Bobruk, and Dirtfoot. The artists come away from the event inspired by their fellow performers and the audience gets to be reminded that there are still many musicians on the scene making music for reasons other than money and fame.

The Folk Alliance Conference is the least pretentious and most music oriented conference that I attend every year. It is the most laid back, and I find it the most interactive. There are no back stage areas, few managers to bypass, and in general everyone who attends is there for the same reason, to actually connect with each other through music.

The 22nd Annual Folk Alliance International Conference is February 17-21, 2010 in Memphis, TN.
The event promises four days/evenings of industry workshops, panels, exhibits, showcases, outreach concerts, etc. for members of the international music community. The event provides a networking opportunity for those in the industry to work hard and enjoy themselves while doing so

The FAI Conference offers official showcase space to 200+ artists in our Performance Alley Showcases. To apply for a showcase: entry forms are available at www.folk.org or enter digitally through www.sonicbids.com.  Official Showcase Deadline: November 19, 2009.

Check out some videos of past registrants:

Cory Branan returns to Ardent to work on ‘Midtown’

Cory Branan booked Studio A this week to lay down vocal tracks for his upcoming album, Midtown, due for release in early 2010. The album is highly anticipated by his extensive fanbase, with his last album, 12 Songs,  being released in 2006.  While most of the music was recorded in San Francisco at Closer Recording with Tim Mooney (American Music Club) in the producer’s seat, after catching a cold on two different trips to California to record vocals (California weather will get you everytime!), Branan elected to bring in longtime friend and highly acclaimed engineer Jeff Powell to finish off recording his vocal tracks at Ardent Studios before he returns to San Fran to mix the album.

“We were gonna do it at Jeff’s house, but the opportunity to work at Ardent came available, so of course, we jumped at the chance!” says Branan.

Recording in Memphis also allowed Branan to bring in old friends Ben Nichols (Lucero) and Blair Combest to sing back-up on a few songs.

The new album will include tracks like “Bad Man,” “Survivor Blues,” “Jericho,” and his ode to summer and John  Melloncamp, “Yesterday (circa summer ’88)” .

Many Memphians will obviously take the album title as a reference to the culturally and socially diverse area of the city where the so-called creative class make their home. However, after living in a diverse range of places including New York, LA, Nashville, Fayetteville, and now Austin, Branan says every city has a “midtown,” a place he claims is always somewhere between suburbia and downtown, where most people his age make tend to live .

‘The album is really about different people I’ve known, and different people I’ve been.”

If 2010 seems a long time to wait, be sure to check out the album he recently released with Jon Snodgrass of Drag the River featuring “The Corner,” “The Walkaroud” and “Yeah, So What?” It was recently released on vinyl and cassette, but you can also download the album here.

Cory Branan plays The Hitone with Jon Snodgrass on July 15th.

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Athens’ Modern Skirts Visit Ardent Studios

After listening to the Modern Skirts‘ latest album All of Us in Our Night, I knew I had to get them to record a set for The Ardent Sessions.  Little did I know at the time how closely they were already tied to Ardent and Memphis.

After listening to their album no less than half a dozen times on the ride to SXSW this year, I committed to make it my mission to find the band in Austin and invite them to come to Memphis to record. I found them at a showcase for the 40 Watt Club, which according to Wikipedia, was instrumental in launching American punk rock and new wave music, along with CBGB’s, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others. Of course, my knowledge of the venue focuses more on it’s association with bands like  Pylon, R.E.M., Drivin N Cryin, Guadalcanal Diary, The Primates, and Indigo Girls. The 40 Watt Club is currently owned and operated by Barrie Buck, the former wife of R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, who has managed the club since 1987 and who retained the venue following the couple’s divorce in 1994. It’s currently homebase to such nationally-renowned local bands as Of Montreal, Drive-By Truckers, and The Whigs.

Speaking of R.E.M, any knowledgable Memphis music buff will recall that what many consider to be their breakout album, Green, was recorded at Ardent Studios (and the subsequent Green Tour which stopped at the now defunct Mid-South Coliseum was actually my very first concert experience.) REM bassist Mike Mills produced the song “Motorcade” on Modern Skirts latest album and has even joined them on stage.  Another Memphis connection comes in David Lowery, who produced 5 songs on their latest album and has also recorded with his band Cracker here at Ardent. Once again, if you have been paying attention, you may also recall that Lowery produced Lucero’s last album, Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers.

Back to SXSW: When I arrived at the 40 Watt showcase it was early afternoon and the heat was oppressive. It didn’t help that the bands were behind schedule and the stage was outside. Although the band’s set ended up being cut short, the performance was fantastic, and I was even more excited to invite the band to Memphis.  I met at least 10 bands while I was in Austin that I was very serious about getting to Memphis to record – bands like The Henry Clay People, Those Darlins, and Wild Light – but none I was more interested than Modern Skirts, so it was very exciting when they arrived in town yesterday at Ardent. After spending the day with the guys, (their very first visit to Memphis,) taking them to Stax, drinking beers with them at The Deli – I can tell you that they are just as nice as they are talented. These guys have a long and exciting music career ahead of them (they recently were named Best Pop act at Athfest and beat out hometown heroes REM as best Athens’ band) – and now they too can be written into the story of Memphis Music.

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