Inspiration for this week’s cherry tomatoes from my Whitton Farms CSA actually came from Los Angeles. I arrived home recently to a box and inside were two HUGE elephant garlics from Frieda’s, a distributor in California which supplies specialty produce locally to Schnucks. The garlic is a featured product of the month at the supermarkets. Take a look at this:
What a difference six months makes. This spring, Indie Memphis, the local arts non-profit best known for its annual Indie Memphis Film Festival, seemed to be in trouble.
At the premiere of his Memphis-themed MTV series $5 Cover this spring, director Craig Brewer sounded an alarm, imploring audiences at every screening to support Indie Memphis or risk losing it after the faltering economy had cost the festival some previously promised funding.
Fortunately, the local arts community answered the call, and now Indie Memphis will open its 12th annual festival — held October 8-15, primarily at Malco’s Studio on the Square — in better shape than ever.
Brewer held his $5 Cover premiere as an Indie Memphis fundraiser, which netted more than $12,000 for the organization, and soon after an anonymous challenge grant was issued via ArtsMemphis that required Indie Memphis to raise $20,000 by June 30th. The successful launch of a new individual membership program helped the organization surpass that goal by $16,000. Now, according to Indie Memphis executive director Erik Jambor, the organization is only about $14,000 away from meeting its year-end fundraising goal of $80,000.
“It’s all about long-term sustainability, so that the institution lives on regardless what happens with Les or me,” Jambor says. “There’s needs to be a funding structure. Our member base allowed us to do that.
As a thank you to members — and as an enticement to potential members — Indie Memphis is holding a “members only” screening of Humpday on Monday, August 31st at Studio on the Square.
I placed a call to New Olivet Baptist Church on Monday, as soon as I’d heard about the incident involving a lesbian couple ejected from pastor and Memphis mayoral candidate Kenneth Whalum’s church (see my last post for details). I was told he was out, so I left a message.
Yesterday, I finally received a call from a member of Whalum’s church staff. She informed me that Whalum would like me to check his Facebook page for his account of what happened in church service last Sunday that resulted in the ejection of the lesbian couple.
Unfortunately, that’s not so easy. Since Whalum has privacy settings on his Facebook page, one must be “friends” with him to view the page. In order to see Whalum’s response, I had to request to become his Facebook friend. Only after he approved me (which to his credit was rather quickly) was I able to view his response.
After some digging through comments from his page on Tuesday, I found a few vague responses Whalum had made to comments on his status update: “i’ll answer any questions today about “the incident”. to quote President Obama…”teachable moment” :-)” Here’s the most comprehensive of his answers, given in response to questions posed by commenter Danielle Inez:
From Inez:
Candidate Whalum, do you mind sharing the following: When did you become aware of the incident involving the two women? What was the rest of the congregation doing? What were the women doing when you became aware; it’s safe to assume you didn’t see everything? What were the people in their immediate vicinity doing when you became aware? How did the ushers respond to the women? How did the security respond to the women? How did the congregation respond to the incident? How did you respond? That’s all people need/want to know.
From Whalum:
woohoo!!!!! sup d!? great questions: (1) when several members complained to me about the disruptive behavior; (2) the rest of the congregation was WORSHIPING, praying, praising, singing, dancing, crying, laughing, and other general stuff people do at our church; (3) when i became aware, they were shouting obscenities, and waving arms wildly while … leaving sanctuary; (4) by asking them to quiet down or leave; (5) by asking them to leave because of their increasingly disruptive behavior; (6) by WORSHIPING, praying, praising, singing, dancing, crying, laughing, and other general stuff people do at our church 🙂 (7) as i always do, by moving forward with the liturgical sequence. Again, GREAT questions. I can’t imagine that anyone would need more than that, so I’ll hang around a few more minutes, then I’m out. Peace.
While I admire Whalum’s embrace of social media, an old-fashioned phone call would have been nice. As a mayoral candidate, I believe he has a responsibility to be accessible to all media outlets, especially in relation to controversial incidents such as this one.
The fall schedule for the Levitt Shell Concert Series is out and it looks like the same enticing blend American roots and international music the Shell has graced the city with in its first two seasons. And it’s free!
The fall season will run from September 3rd through October 4th, with five concerts each weekend from Thursday through Sunday.
Among the highlights:
September 11th: Local jazz/blues/soul/pop organ man Charlie Wood will celebrate the release of his latest album, Flutter and Wow, in which he mixes original songs with covers from such songwriters as Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and Paul Simon.
September 19th: Farmer Jason, which is the musical alter ego of Jason Ringenberg, the former leader of ’80s alt-country pioneers Jason & the Scorchers, will perform a kids’ concert.
September 25th: Sacred steel ensemble The Lee Boys will sanctify the Shell with their searing blend of blues and gospel.
October 1st: Grammy-nominated Canadian group The Duhks bring their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, and roots jazz to the stage.
For a full schedule, go here.
Christian Brothers University staffer Aimee Lewis went through the Leadership Academy’s Fellows program a few years ago. After CBU’s new president John Smarrelli Jr. began work in July, Lewis thought he might benefit from seeing the Leadership Academy’s Memphis 101 presentation.
“Our new president is from Syracuse, New York, and when he wasn’t there, worked a good deal in Chicago,” she says. “I thought the overview would be good so he has a grasp of the community he had moved into and some of its idiosyncrasies.”
The Leadership Academy offered its “crash course” on Memphis again earlier this week. The program covers Memphis history from its first charter, through yellow fever, the second charter, Mayor E. H. Crump, the sanitation workers’ strike, and the election of the city’s first black mayor.
Flyer senior editor Jackson Baker, CA columnist Wendi Thomas, and Main Street Journal publisher Jonathan Lindberg questioned a phalanx of mayoral candidates Thursday night.
Bruce VanWyngarden offers a quick impression. Jackson Baker has 10 thoughts on the debate, with more to come.
R.C. Johnson and Shirley Raines are taking the heat for the NCAA’s decision to strip Memphis of its 38 wins and championship game banner, but Derrick Rose is the one who should be on the hot seat, says John Branston.
The Society of American Travel Writers has proclaimed Memphis North America’s 6th best live music city, just behind a Top 5 of: New Orleans, New York, Austin, Nashville (boo!), and Chicago. Hey, at least Memphis beat out Branson, which mysteriously ended up at #9.
It’s unclear from the cited comments on the SATW’s web site, however, if many of its voters actually ventured beyond Beale Street in gauging Memphis’ live-music offerings:
“Barbecue and blues, blues and barbecue. Memphis is a foot-tapping, sensory delight.” John H. Ostdick, freelance travel writer
“Doesn’t get any better than Memphis, Beale St. and barbecue, wow, what a concerto. Plus the ghost of old Elvis is always hanging around somewhere, munching on a fried banana and peanut butter sandwich and strumming his guitar.” Rich Browne, host, Barbecue America
Also this otherwise meaningless list is a good excuse to post a favorite bit of live Memphis music video, from a recent Gonerfest:
It was 10 years ago (or close to it) that I ventured out to the
Hi-Tone Cafe on a weeknight to catch Nebula’s air-moving lesson on the
fineries of the power trio. Besides my paranoia that the trio’s
blunt-force thud would literally throw my heart off beat (the only
other band that has inspired a similar fear is Torche), I remember two
particular details of the evening: One, only seven other people saw the
show, and two, taped all over the merch table were signs with the words
“Nebula Welcomes Trades for Merch” surrounded by generic clip-art
images of pharmaceuticals.
I remember finding it refreshing that there was no clip art of
burning joints or glass bongs, then thinking that I’d probably be won
over by this clever and direct way to tackle the age-old “Where’s ‘the
guy’?” problem facing touring bands as they enter each new town. I also
concluded that if the band kept playing shows like this one, the signs
would soon disappear. Lastly, I recall really enjoying Nebula, but
bemoaned the fact that their chosen genre was mired by innocuous,
mediocre bands that buried good bands like this in obscurity.
This genre went by the unfortunate name of “stoner metal” or “stoner
rock.” Black Sabbath is the influential ground zero for stoner metal,
like, well, every other style of metal, but from there other
ingredients in the stoner-metal recipe are early-’80s groundbreaking
loners such as Trouble and St. Vitus along with the Melvins (huge
influence) and the heavier or scarier true grunge bands of the late
’80s and early ’90s (Tad, Mudhoney, Green River). Then there’s a few
points of reference that sort of set stoner metal apart from other
metal sub-genres: Black Flag, Meat Puppets, and a few other lost SST
bands from the mid-’80s and the “aggro” rock/noise-rock heyday (Helmet,
Hammerhead, etc). Monster Magnet, Clutch, and Queens of the Stone Age
are generally seen as the three stoner-metal bands that have tasted
success within the past two decades.
The movement might not have had its salad days if not for two record
labels: Man’s Ruin and Meteor City. Owned and operated by artist Frank
Kozik, Man’s Ruin was the better known of the two, but Meteor City is
the one still active. Listeners knew what they were going to get with a
Man’s Ruin or Meteor City product: thick, thick, thick riffs and the
rest of the song used as an excuse to drive these riffs, a wider range
of vocal styles than any other strain of metal, and slow-to-mid-tempo
pacing.
There was but one “scene” when it came to stoner metal, and that was
the Palm Desert scene, a healthy group of constantly related musicians
known by their own tag, “desert rock.” Kyuss was the first and best,
Thin White Rope is maybe the oldest, and Queens of the Stone Age is, of
course, the best-known export. But it was another corner of the Palm
Desert scene that attracted Nebula’s primary songwriter and guitarist
Eddie Glass in the early ’90s. Glass had previously been drumming for
Olivelawn, a punk-rock band with a decent following around Southern
California, when he passed through the gateway into the Palm Desert
scene as a member of Fu Manchu, less a band than a Palm Desert rite of
passage. Fu Manchu is still active as a vehicle for founder and
guitarist Scott Hill to recruit other players likely to depart due to
creative differences. Eddie Glass and drummer Ruben Romano did just
that in 1996 after three years with Fu Manchu, forming Nebula shortly
thereafter.
The musical differences that Glass had with Fu Manchu’s Hill were
clearly based on Glass’ desire to incorporate more psychedelic and prog
elements and to dial-down the Black Flag-meets-Black Sabbath vision
that always has driven Fu Manchu. Nebula didn’t release anything until
1998, but made up for the work-shedding period with three EPs and one
full length by mid-1999 on as many labels (Relapse, Sub Pop, Man’s
Ruin, Meteor City). Nebula’s two full lengths on Sub Pop, 1999’s To
the Center and 2001’s Charged, pull off the ’70s production
trick with success and would appeal just as much to fans of the Melvins
as they would to open-minded Yes or Gentle Giant fans.
Nebula has released a handful of EPs over the past decade, and when
they left Sub Pop, two albums on the Liquor & Poker label followed,
in 2003 and 2006, before the band released a Peel Sessions recording
and the most recent and enjoyably solid Heavy Psych album on Tee
Pee Records, both in 2008.
Fans of every band listed above and even those who just like their
jams to be JAMS are encouraged to join Nebula fans when the band plays
with The Entrance Band (formerly Entrance) at the Hi-Tone this
week.