University of Memphis president Brad Martin says allowing in-state rates for those within 250 miles of Memphis would increase enrollment and have other long-term benefits to the city.
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Month: April 2014
This month’s Cherry party, billed as a “lezzie shindig,” will feature burlesque performers from three cities.
On Saturday, April 26th at Side Street’s RedBar, Memphis performers LadyDoo Moi, Macc Onner (with Boi-lesque), and Kissame Suga will join Bre Von Buxx Xom and Spyke Styletto from Little Rock and Mimi Magnolia from Hot Springs, Arkansas.
As usual, Julie Wheeler will host the event. And there will be giveaways. Doors open 8 p.m., and shows start at 9 and 10:30 p.m. General admission is $10, and VIP admission is $20.
Members of President Barack Obama’s cabinet will be in Memphis Friday for a tour to inspect federal investments made here through the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy will begin their tour at 10 a.m. Friday to see:
• the Harahan Bridge
• the Aerotropolis FedEx facility
• the Broad Avenue business corridor
• the Legends Park West affordable housing development
The three departments have invested more than $130 million in Memphis since Obama established the Partnership for Sustainable Communities in 2009. The program’s goal was to make investments in communities to improve housing, transportation, protect the environment, and build stronger regional economies.
The federal officials will be joined by Memphis Mayor A C. Wharton, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, and Delta Regional Authority Co-chair Chris Masingill.
E-cigarettes could get the same government oversight as traditional cigarettes after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration announced Thursday it wants to extend its authority over them and a variety of other tobacco products.
The new rule wold widen the FDA’s regulations to cover products that are currently unregulated. The rule would include electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, nicotine gels, hookah tobacco, and dissovlables.
The FDA proposal comes at a time when e-cigarette sales are exploding in Memphis, as we reported in March. Stores specializing in the products have sprung up all over the area. If it passed, the new rule would certainly have an impact on them.
The FDA currently regulates cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco.
“This proposed rule is the latest step in our efforts to make the next generation tobacco-free,” Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
Products that would fall under the new rule would have to:
• Register with the FDA
• Report ingredients
• Market new tobacco products only after FDA review
• Make product claims only with FDA approval
• Not be available for free samples
• Meet identification restrictions to prevent underage sales
• Require health warnings
• Not be available in vending machines where minors are present
“Tobacco remains the leading cause of death and disease in this country. This is an important moment for consumer protection and a significant proposal that if finalized as written would bring FDA oversight to many new tobacco products,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg. “Science-based product regulation is a powerful form of consumer protection that can help reduce the public health burden of tobacco use on the American public, including youth.”
Public comment will be open on the new rule for 75 days after the rule is formally released Friday. Read the proposed rule here: FDA_new_tobacco_rules.pdf
Last night, while strolling along Main St. my daughter Lucy spotted this poster. Being the thoughtful child she is, she immediately brought it to my attention and was rewarded with all the fish tacos she could eat.
What a cutie.
There are few annual dance events that I look forward to the way I look forward to New Ballet Ensembles’ SpringLoaded concerts. These days Memphis Jookin’ is so ubiquitous that I’m tempted to insert the expression “peak jookin” into our ongoing cultural conversation. But NBE was the first local company to mix Memphis street forms and classical dance and over time styles have evolved within the company that can’t be easily described as Jookin’, Ballet, or Flamenco. It is instead, as I described in this truncated history of Memphis’ “Gangsta Walk,” some new kind of Rock-and-Roll. This year NBE is doing something especially nifty.
If ever there was a ballet begging for a little Memphis street it’s “Coppelia, which tells the story of an inventor who has created a life sized dancing doll, and the villager who falls in love with the lifeless automaton.
If you don’t know why a robot ballet based on a series of ETA Hoffman stories would be perfect for a company with street cred, maybe this video shot at Collins’ barber shop can clue you in.
New Ballet’s “Coppelia ReMix”, tells the story of a jookin’ Dr. Coppelius and the yong people who visit his toy store. Choreographers include Kaori Ogasawara, Robin Sanders and Artistic Director, Katie Smythe.
In addition to “Coppelia” the ensemble will also perform new repertoire by guest choreographer, Francesca Harper and a new Flamenco work by Noelia Garcia Carmona to original music by Roy Brewer.
Last year Carmon’s duet with Shamar Rooks, featuring original music by Brewer was a season highlight.
New Ballet Ensemble Presents Springloaded from New Ballet Ensemble on Vimeo.
For details about SpringLoaded you can visit NBE’s website, here.
SWEET HONEY
So who exactly are The Hot Foot Honeys? They’re Memphis’ brand new (and ONLY, to the best of my knowledge) tap dance company. The group is presenting its inaugural show, “HeArt & Sole: A Rhythm Revue for Tap Lovers,” April 25-27. Although rooted in tap the show features dancers from many traditions, ranging from Africa to Ireland.
Memphis dancer Marianne Bell founded the company noting that many other cities, such as St. Louis, Chicago, Atlanta, and New Orleans all have established tap communities,” while “Memphis— a city that can’t stage a musical without a flashy tap break— does not.
I don’t have any footage of the new company, but I do have a preview clip from an outdoor tap/vaudeville routine Bell staged for a tree-themed environmental concert. This fun piece takes inspiration from beatnik culture.
Guest artists performing with the Hot Foot Honeys include Artistik Approach, Bridging Souls Productions, Inis Acla School of Irish Dance, Wayne M. Smith, and steppers from Phi Beta Sigma.
April 25-27, 2014 at Evergreen Theatre in midtown.
Price: Adults- $7.50 in advance, $10 at box office. Children under 10- $5, 302-5487
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TTT Answer
Joe Jackson led the Memphis Tigers in both scoring and assists his last two seasons with the program. He’s the fourth Tiger to lead the team in both categories (at least) two straight seasons since Memphis began charting assists in 1968. Name the other three.
• Larry Finch: three straight seasons, from 1970-71 to 1972-73
• Elliot Perry: three straight, from 1988-89 to 1990-91
• Penny Hardaway: 1991-92 and 1992-93
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Dali Illustrated
Advice from a Caterpillar by Salvador Dali
“Illustrating the Surreal,” the Brooks Museum’s ongoing Salvador Dali exhibit, provides visitors with a special opportunity to observe the artist’s transformative visual style in action. Although the multimedia work collected for the exhibit is characteristically strange and consistent with Dali’s major works, it has all been inspired by familiar things like ordinary cookbooks and scenes from well-known works of literature like Don Quixote, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. The accessibility of the source material gives viewers a unique chance to compare their own expectations to Dali’s whimsical and sometimes spooky compositions.
Down the Rabbit Hole by Salvador Dali
“I know what the end result of illustration looks like, but I don’t really know how an artist gets there,” says Brooks’ associate director of education Elesha Newberry, who has planned a Community Day event full of activities inspired not only by Dali and surrealism, but also by the concept of illustration. “I’m hoping our Community Day activities will give people a better sense of how that works,” she says.
In addition to activities developed by students at the University of Memphis, 22 students from the illustration club at the Memphis College of Art will be on hand to demonstrate a variety of styles. “We’ll have some artists working in oils or sketching, but we’ll also have people working digitally and in 3D,” Newberry says.
The Little Mermaid by Salvador Dali
Community Day will also showcase a series of short, child-friendly surrealist films played continuously throughout the event.
Macy’s Community Day: Salvador Dali at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Saturday, April 26th, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free.
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Maximum Stax
Stax communications director (and Flyer columnist) Tim Sampson thinks there are a lot of exciting things going on in the neighborhood known as Soulsville USA. “And we really want people to come out and see what’s been happening,” he says, pitching the museum’s annual “Stax to the Max” street festival, an annual block party celebrating the anniversary of the Stax Music Academy.
“The neighborhood has really taken to this event,” Sampson says, describing the vibrant street life and good-smelling backyard barbecue. This year, in addition to all the food, art, and music by artists like William Bell, the Bo-Keys, Toni Green, the Mad Lads, the Temprees, and Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, visitors can drop by the renovated home of blues pianist Memphis Slim, which is located just behind the Stax Museum. The structure has been given new life as the Memphis Slim Music Collabratory, a multipurpose facility designed to attract and aid collaborating musical artists.
“There’s such a hunger for this thing everybody’s been missing for a while,” says Imported Moods singer Toni Green, who has also provided supporting vocals for Isaac Hayes and Luther Ingram. “What Stax does with these reunions — this coming together of new friends and old friends — is so needed.
“People are dancing with their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And everybody is so happy bringing back the Mad Lads and the Temprees,” Green says.
“Stax to the Max” at the Stax Museum of American Soul, Saturday, April 26th, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Free. staxmuseum.com
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Slow Burning Blues
Local metal band Crowlord doesn’t need a shredding guitarist to get its point across. The band has been cranking out doom metal for more than four years, with dueling bassists Jeremy Jackson and John Burton laying down slow and heavy rhythms steeped in stoner-metal history. Singer Brian Anderson and drummer Rob Morrison also have impressive backgrounds, serving time in bands like the Unbeheld and Filthy Diablo. By incorporating elements of blues and country music, the group has escaped being pegged as just another Southern metal band and in the process have grown an audience around their take on slow-burning metal. We caught up with the members of Crowlord to find out more.
Flyer: How did you guys get together?
Jeremy: Crowlord started about four years ago, but me and John had been playing together for a couple years before that with a bunch of different people. We were also playing in [local metal band] Filthy Diablo for a few years off and on.
Rob: I met John about 15 or 16 years ago at a fat camp in West Memphis.
John: I thought we were lassoing llamas at that time? I just remember Rob had a hell of a hand.
Rob: Jeremy and I met years ago, and we found Brian on Craigslist. [laughs]
Jeremy: Me and John had played with Filthy Diablo, so we kind of already had something going.
How often do you guys play shows?
John: We try to play about once a month with touring bands and a few different locals. We like playing with new local bands if they are around. Normally, we play first so we can steal the show and then get drunk.
Rob: We aren’t too concerned with playing all the time, though. We can go four or five months without playing a show, because we get focused on the recording and writing side of things. I think this upcoming show is our second or third this year.
John: We don’t want to wear out the spot or run the band into the dirt.
It seems like that’s a mistake that a lot of local bands make, playing way too often.
John: Yeah, I was talking with the guy who runs the Hi-Tone, and he was telling me that there are a couple bands that have pretty much worn out their welcome. In a city like Memphis, I think it’s important not to play that often. I mean, besides the Hi-Tone and the Buccaneer there’s really nowhere else to play anyway.
Obviously you guys are a Southern metal band in terms of location, but how big an influence is the Southern metal genre on your music?
John: I don’t think you can deny where you’re from, but I also don’t think we set out trying to sound as close to Skynyrd as possible or anything like that. I mean, we grew up on certain things that we all know, but I think that we are influenced by a wide variety of things, ranging from blues to black metal.
Rob: I’d say we are influenced by everyone from Black Sabbath to Waylon Jennings.
How do you think the underground metal scene in
Memphis compares to other cities in the South?
John: I like it, because there are several bands that are bringing the heat. Bands like Reserving Dirtnaps and Ritual Decay are killing it right now, and Gringos are still the king of their little mountain in Memphis. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of horseshit out in Memphis right now too. Over the last few years, Memphis metal has gotten a lot more real instead of trying to appease everyone. For a while, I think people were trying to make the metal scene more accessible, because it makes up such a large portion of the Memphis scene. But that doesn’t seem to be happening now.
What are some of the topics you cover lyrically in your songs?
John: Fast cars and slow women.
Brian: My lyrics deal with the fact that everything is a dream. They deal with the fact that I wake up every day and realize that everything is just a dream. I don’t really like to talk about my lyrics, but I like the idea that everyone interprets songs completely different. What I try to express in a song might not mean anything to one person, and it could mean the complete opposite of what I was trying to say to someone else.
How collaborative is the writing process, how does it work having two bassists?
Rob: One of the coolest things about writing with these guys is how collaborative it is. There’s no preconceived notion of how it should be. There’s no blueprint for what we want to do before we go in there. Other than making it slower and heavier than everybody else’s stuff. Two bassists makes that pretty easy.
John: I think we started playing with two bassists, because most guitar players are candy asses.
Jeremy: There’s too many strings on a guitar.
What do you guys have planned for the rest of the year?
John: We are about to record and embark on some kind of journey out of town. We went out of town once before this lineup, but now we are pretty much ready to get out of town and go for it.
Rob: We’re going to try to do some pre-production with our friend Jeremy before we go back into the studio with Alan Burcham at Ardent.
Jeremy: We’ve got some more shows with Reserving Dirtnaps and Holy Gallows coming up. We’re excited about playing with those bands some more.
Nate Hall, Crowlord, and Wights are at the Hi-Tone, Friday, April 25th, at 9 p.m. $8.