Month: August 2016

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

4 Dumplings Closed, more news

• 4Dumplings has shut its doors. 

From restaurant’s Facebook page: 

After a year’s preparation and two and half years of operation, we have decided it’s time to close 4Dumplings. We are proud of what we had done for our community, proud of the small impact we had made for eating clean, but we also realized that being the restaurant owner/ operator is a little too much of a job for us… We have sacrificed too much meaningful family time together. We are sad that we started something wonderful, but couldn’t carry it to the end, but we know we need a more balanced life so we can do some other things that could be even more important and more rewarding from many levels. 4dumplings has taught us so much and we will always be grateful. Last but not the least, we want to thank all our guests for allowing us the opportunity to serve you!!!

• Another Broken Egg opens its second Memphis location on August 8th, but biscuit beignet lovers can get an early and free (!) taste on Friday, August 5th, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and Saturday, August 6th, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. 

Both days are set as fund-raisers. Friday’s proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House and Saturday’s go to St. Jude. You can book reservations at NewATABE.com. 

$15 at Pho Binh

• The second BreakFest has been set for September 24th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., on Broad. Includes a bloody mary contest and a waffle bar (!). 

Proceed go to the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry. 

• Have you checked out Blooming Bubble Tea at the Wolfchase Mall? 

Blooming Bubble offers an extensive list smoothies and milk teas, plus sno cones and macarons. You also get a choice of tapioca pearls or popping boba (and, yes, these pop in your mouth!). 

• The first Fourth Bluff Friday is set for August 12th, 4:30-9 p.m., at Memphis Park near the law school. There will be a pop-up beer garden courtesy of Tap Box and food from Monkey Train and Stick’em. 

Continues on the second Friday of the month through October. 

• Paradox Underground is a new dining club from chef Jimmy Gentry. The first event is set for August 26th, and the dinner will include five courses plus wine, cocktails, and beer. 

There will be at least five dinners a year, with special guest chefs cooking with Gentry. 

More info here. 

• 99 cent Soul Food Express is now open. All dishes are served a la carte. Guests make their way through line, pointing out what they want, sorta like Picadilly. 

Seen above is the lima beans, mac n cheese, fried green tomatoes, and a corn bread muffin, about $6. 

Categories
Music Music Blog

Andy Human and the Reptoids at Murphy’s

Tomorrow night Oakland art-punks Andy Human and the Reptoids kick off their east coast tour with a show at Murphy’s. Performing under Andy Human and in the band Lenz, the Oakland outsider has cranked out many memorable punk offerings, and Thursday’s show should pack a punch, especially with locals Aquarian Blood opening the show. Check out songs from both bands below, with a bonus Andy Human track because the song rules. 

Andy Human and the Reptoids at Murphy’s (3)

Andy Human and the Reptoids at Murphy’s (2)

Andy Human and the Reptoids at Murphy’s

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

Ostrander Nominees, 2016

Jim and JoLynne Palmer in The Gin Game

The 33rd Annual Ostrander Awards honoring excellence in Memphis Theatre will take place at the Orpheum Theatre Sunday, August 21. Cocktails start at 6 p.m. The awards, hosted by Sister Myotis, begin promptly at 7. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.

The Ostranders are produced in partnership with Memphis Magazine and the Memphis Arts Council. This season’s show sponsors are Dorothy O. Kirsch and Dr. Thomas Ratliff.

Community and Professional Division

Eugart Yerian Lifetime Achievement Honorees: Jim and JoLynne Palmer

Set Design
 Justin Asher & Andy Saunders – A Streetcar Named Desire, Germantown Community Theatre
Bryce Cutler – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
Melanie Mul – In the Heights, Hattiloo Theatre
Jack Yates – Into the Woods, Theatre Memphis
Jack Yates – The Producers, Theatre Memphis

Props
Kellie Bowles – Peter and the Starcatcher, The Circuit Playhouse
Betty Dilley – A Streetcar Named Desire, Germantown Community Theatre
Betty Dilley – Orpheus Descending, New Moon Theatre Company
Jack Yates – The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), The Next Stage at Theatre Memphis
Jack Yates – The Producers, Theatre Memphis


Lighting

Jeremy Allen Fisher – Into the Woods, Theatre Memphis
Jeremy Allen Fisher – The Producers, Theatre Memphis
Zo Haynes – Peter and the Starcatcher – The Circuit Playhouse
John Horan – Billy Elliot, Playhouse on the Square
John Horan – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Costumes
Austin Conlee – A Streetcar Named Desire, Germantown Community Theatre
Amie Eoff – The Producers, Theatre Memphis
Rebecca Y. Powell – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
Rebecca Y. Powell – Sister Act, Playhouse on the Square
Rebecca Y. Powell – The Matchmaker, Playhouse on the Square

Hair/Wig/Make-Up
Buddy Hart & Erin Quick- Into the Woods, Theatre Memphis
Buddy Hart – Oliver!, Theatre Memphis
Kaite Coffey & Rebecca Y. Powell – All The Way, Playhouse on the Square
Kaite Coffey & Rebecca Y. Powell – The Matchmaker, Playhouse on the Square
Barbara Sanders & Jaclyn Suffel – The Producers, Theatre Memphis

Music Direction
Gary Beard – Into the Woods, Theatre Memphis
Thomas Bergstig – Billy Elliot, Playhouse on the Square
Thomas Bergstig – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
Jeffery B. Brewer – The Producers, Theatre Memphis
Jason Eschhofen – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Germantown Community Theatre

Sound Design
Zach Badreddine – Carrie the Musical, The Circuit Playhouse
Matt Cantelon – All The Way, Playhouse on the Square
Jason Eschhofen – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Germantown Community Theatre
Jeremy Allen Fisher – Wait Until Dark, Theatre Memphis
David Newsome & Amanda Davis – Into the Woods, Theatre Memphis

Choreography
Geoffrey Goldberg – Billy Elliot, Playhouse on the Square
Patdro Harris – In the Heights, Hattiloo Theatre
Ellen Ingrahm – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Germantown Community Theatre
Jared Thomas Johnson & Christi Hall – The Producers, Theatre Memphis
Jordan Nichols & Travis Bradley – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square

Bertram Williams – Free Man of Color

Supporting Actress in a Drama
Jessica “Jai” Johnson – Byhalia, MS, POTS@TheWorks
Michelle Miklosey – A Streetcar Named Desire, Germantown Community Theatre
Maggie Robinson – Peter and the Starcatcher, The Circuit Playhouse
Kim Sanders – The Other Place, The Circuit Playhouse
Morgan Watson – In the Red and Brown Water, Hattiloo Theatre

Supporting Actor in a Drama
Delvyn Brown – All The Way, Playhouse on the Square
David Foster – Peter and the Starcatcher, The Circuit Playhouse
Marc Gill – Byhalia, MS, POTS@TheWorks
Shadeed A. Salim – Radio Golf, Hattiloo Theatre
Christopher Tracy – A Streetcar Named Desire, Germantown Community Theatre

Leading Actress in a Drama
Jillian Barron – Byhalia, MS, POTS@TheWorks
Sarah Brown – Lettice & Lovage, New Moon Theatre Company
Natalie Jones – A Streetcar Named Desire, Germantown Community Theatre
Kim Justis – The Other Place, The Circuit Playhouse
Karen Mason Riss – Mothers & Sons, The Next Stage at Theatre Memphis

Leading Actor in a Drama
George Dudley – All The Way, Playhouse on the Square
John Moore – I Hate Hamlet, Germantown Community Theatre
Jordan Nichols – Buyer & Cellar, The Circuit Playhouse
Gregory Szatkowski – A Streetcar Named Desire, Germantown Community Theatre
Bertram Williams – Free Man of Color, Hattiloo Theatre

Supporting Actress in a Musical – SIX NOMINEES
Lorraine Cotten – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
Jeanna Juleson – Billy Elliot, Playhouse on the Square
Carla McDonald – Carrie the Musical, The Circuit Playhouse
Kim Sanders – Billy Elliot, Playhouse on the Square
Montanez Shepheard – In the Heights, Hattiloo Theatre
Gia Welch – Into the Woods, Theatre Memphis

Supporting Actor in a Musical
Justin Asher – The Producers, Theatre Memphis
Jarrad Baker – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
Curtis C. Jackson – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
Seth Judice – Billy Elliot, Playhouse on the Square
Clark Richard Reeves – The Producers, Theatre Memphis

Leading Actress in a Musical
Susannah Corrington – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Germantown Community Theatre
Meredith Koch – Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, Germantown Community Theatre
Claire D. Kolheim – Sister Act, Playhouse on the Square
Maggie Robinson – Carrie the Musical, The Circuit Playhouse
Nikisha Williams – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square


Leading Actor in a Musical
Lee Hudson Gilliland – The Producers, Theatre Memphis
Jared Graham – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Germantown Community Theatre
Philip Andrew Himebook – The Producers, Theatre Memphis
Nathan McHenry – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
CJ Sagadia – In the Heights, Hattiloo Theatre

Small Ensemble
Byhalia, MS, POTS@TheWorks
Mothers & Sons, The Next Stage at Theatre Memphis
Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, Germantown Community Theatre
The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), The Next Stage at Theatre Memphis
The Other Place, The Circuit Playhouse

Large Ensemble
All The Way, Playhouse on the Square
In the Heights, Hattiloo Theatre
Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
Peter and the Starcatcher, The Circuit Playhouse
Sister Act, Playhouse on the Square

Featured Role/Cameo
Jillian Barron – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Germantown Community Theatre
Evie Bennett & Anna Lunati – Into the Woods, Theatre Memphis
Travis Bradley – Billy Elliot, Playhouse on the Square
Jaukeem Balcom, Daniel Gonzalez and Ryan Patrick Jones – Sister Act, Playhouse on the Square
L. Simeon Johnson – In the Heights, Hattiloo Theatre

Best Original Script
Byhalia, MS, POTS@TheWorks
Short/Stories, Voices of the South

Best Production of an Original Script
Byhalia, MS, POTS@TheWorks
Short/Stories, Voices of the South

Direction of a Drama
Justin Asher – A Streetcar Named Desire, Germantown Community Theatre
Stephen Hancock – All The Way, Playhouse on the Square
Robert Hetherington – Peter and the Starcatcher, The Circuit Playhouse
Jeffrey W. Posson – The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), The Next Stage at Theatre Memphis
Anne Dauber Scarbrough – Buyer & Cellar, The Circuit Playhouse

Direction of a Musical
Lorraine Cotten – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Germantown Community Theatre
Patdro Harris – In the Heights, Hattiloo Theatre
Dave Landis – Sister Act, Playhouse on the Square
Jordan Nichols – Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
Cecelia Wingate – The Producers, Theatre Memphis

Best Production of a Drama
All The Way, Playhouse on the Square
A Streetcar Named Desire, Germantown Community Theatre
Buyer & Cellar, The Circuit Playhouse
Peter and the Starcatcher, The Circuit Playhouse
The Other Place, The Circuit Playhouse

Best Musical Production

Michael Detroit and George Dudley in All the Way.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Germantown Community Theatre
In the Heights, Hattiloo Theatre
Memphis, Playhouse on the Square
Sister Act, Playhouse on the Square
The Producers, Theatre Memphis

COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY DIVISION 
Set Design
Kathy Haaga – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College
Brian Ruggaber – The School for Scandal, The University of Memphis
Jesse White – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis

Lighting
Laura Canon – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College
Anthony Pellecchia – The School for Scandal, The University of Memphis
Kristen Reding – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis

Costumes
Ashley Rogers – A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis
Ashley Rogers – The School for Scandal, The University of Memphis
Anne Thompson – For Our Freedom, And Yours, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Music Direction
Jacob Allen – Next to Normal, The University of Memphis
Jacob Allen – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis

Sound Design
Anthony Pellecchia – Next to Normal, The University of Memphis
Anthony Pellecchia – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis
Eric Sefton – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Into the Woods at Theatre Memphis

Choreography
Jill Guyton Nee – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis
Jared Johnson & Cecelia Wingate – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Supporting Actress in a Drama
Anita Jo Lenhart – The School for Scandal, The University of Memphis
Andrea Pajarillo – Admissions, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College
Brianna Roche – A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis

Sister Act at Playhouse on the Square

Supporting Actor in a Drama
Jake Bell – A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis
Matthew Nelson – A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis
Hunter Reid – The School for Scandal, The University of Memphis

Leading Actress in a Drama
Andrea Pajarillo – Good Boys and True, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College
LaToya A+ Slater – The Woman in Me, Southwest Tennessee Community College
Amelia Sutherland – A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis

Leading Actor in a Drama
Delvyn Brown – For Our Freedom, And Yours, Southwest Tennessee Community College
Jon Castro – The School for Scandal, The University of Memphis
Caleb Leach – A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis

Supporting Actress in a Musical
Isabel Celata – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College
Olivia Gacka – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College
Allison Huber – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis

Supporting Actor in a Musical
David Couter – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis
Ian Goodwin – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis
Jared Johnson – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College
Hunter Reid – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis

Leading Actress in a Musical
Erica Peninger – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis
Amelia Sutherland – Next to Normal, The University of Memphis
Jenny Wilson – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Leading Actor in a Musical
Justin Braun – Next to Normal, The University of Memphis
Ryan Gilliam – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College
Tyler Vernon – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis

Small Ensemble
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College
Next to Normal, The University of Memphis
The Woman in Me, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Large Ensemble
A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis
Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis
The School for Scandal, The University of Memphis

Featured Cameo
Jon Castro – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis
Robert King – My Christmas Caryl, Southwest Tennessee Community College
Landon Meldrum – A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis

Direction of a Drama
Stephen Hancock – The School for Scandal, The University of Memphis
Evelyn Hall Little – For Our Freedom, And Yours, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Meredith Melville – A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis

Direction of a Musical
Jacob Allen – Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis
Swaine Kaui – Next to Normal, The University of Memphis
Cecelia Wingate – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Best Dramatic Production
A Flea in Her Ear, The University of Memphis
The School for Scandal, The University of Memphis
The Woman in Me, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Best Musical Production
Next to Normal, The University of Memphis
Oklahoma!, The University of Memphis
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The McCoy Theatre at Rhodes College

Categories
News News Blog

South City Plans Emerge

CREDIT: Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development

Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development

Plans for the $209 million South City redevelopment project will get their first reviews and (possibly) votes by Memphis leaders in September as the project becomes reality.

The overall plan will redevelop Foote Homes, the city’s last public housing project. It will transform the aging and institutional-looking 420-unit set of buildings with a “safe, green, and well-managed” complex of 712 apartments.

Planning for the transformation got well underway in October with a $30 million startup grant from the federal government.

The engineering and architecture firm of Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon Inc. applied submitted its proposal for the South City’s first three subdivisions last week to the Land Use Control Board. Josh Whitehead, director of the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development, sent the plans along to citizens in an email Tuesday. 

The board members are slated to review the plan and vote on it during their next meeting on Thursday, Sept. 8 and Memphis City Hall.

The plans call for the demolition of the existing public housing units on the site, which is bounded, basically, by Vance, Mississippi, Lauderdale, and Danny Thomas.

Replacing them would be several new housing units built to Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, which is like LEED standards for residential properties. The firm’s application says several “live-work units” will be built along Danny Thomas.

A huge swath of green space will separate the subdivision, providing common space and water retention.    

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday on Tuesday: Love

Today’s Music Video Monday is on a Tuesday, and it’s got what the world needs now. 

Ten years ago tomorrow, Memphis-born singer/songwriter Arthur Lee passed away. Lee’s group Love was not the most famous band to come out of the fertile musical ground of the late 1960s, but they left an indelible impression on everyone who heard them. Here’s Lee sporting some killer diamond-shaped shades on American Bandstand in 1966. 

Music Video Monday on Tuesday: Love

Lee had his finger on the pulse of California folk rock before it was even a thing. He was equally at home writing sweet, melodic hooks and leading psych rock jams, such as in this show from Copenhagen in 1970.

Music Video Monday on Tuesday: Love (3)

Here’s another psychedelic stunner from that same show. 

Music Video Monday on Tuesday: Love (4)

In the early aughts, after being overlooked for decades, his music enjoyed a revivial, and Lee came out of retirement. Here he is rocking the Glastonbury Festival in 2003 with a full string section and horn line! 

Music Video Monday on Tuesday: Love (5)

In keeping with the tradition of Memphis musicians being more appreciated in England than in the U.S., here’s Lee performing his most famous song “Alone Again Or” for Jools Holland’s BBC show. 

Music Video Monday on Tuesday: Love (2)

Thanks to Adam Remsen, Dan Ball, and Greg Roberson for suggesting Lee when I turned to Facebook in search of fresh blood for Music Video Monday. As always, if you have a music video you would like to see in this space, email me at cmccoy@memphisflyer.com, or hit me up on Facebook. 

Categories
News News Blog

RDC: Closing Riverside One Option to Alleviate ‘Cruising’ Gridlock

Riverside Drive may be closed on some Sunday afternoons next year to help alleviate the mass of traffic that gridlocks the street, especially around Tom Lee Park.

Closing the street entirely is one option officials with the Riverfront Development Corp. (RDC) are eyeing to stem the “huge amount of cruising” on Riverside Drive, according to RDC president Benny Lendermon. Cars and people jam the area usually on Sundays from 3 p.m.-6 p.m. during nice-weather months in the spring and fall, he said. 

Lendermon

“Again, 90 percent of what goes on [in Tom Lee Park and on Riverside Drive during that time] is not anything incredibly wrong,” Lendermon said. “It’s just young people wanting to get out and be with other young people and show off a little bit, sort of very much like you and I did when we were that age.

“But the problem is that there are so many cars and so much cruising activity that the roadway totally locks down and the park almost gets totally taken over. Families can’t really get to the park and they can’t get across the roadway.”

The Memphis Police Department usually assigns two cars to the area in the spring and fall, Lendermon said. Sometimes there are as many as eight cars there and sometimes mounted police and bicycle police, too, he said.

“Sometimes, it’ll look like a sea of blue lights there on a Sunday afternoon in the spring time,” Lendermon said.

The RDC fields question every year about what to do about the traffic, Lendermon said, especially in the spring and fall when cruising activity is highest.

This year, the RDC sponsored an eight-week volleyball tournament at Tom Lee Park on Sundays, Lendermon said, in an attempt to displace some of the car traffic. But it didn’t work, “they basically filled in the gaps.”

Lendermon said other options include closing the Tom Lee Park parking lot on Sundays, or closing two lanes of traffic on Riverside Drive, or closing all but one lane.

More-aggressive policing in the area is another option, Lendermon said, but it’s “not an option we’d like to do.”

Discussions on the topic are ongoing, Lendermon said, with residents, businesses, police, and others. However, there’s a “better than 50 percent chance” that the RDC could handle the situation just as it has in the past.”

When asked about shutting down a public space to citizens of Memphis, Lendermon had a question of his own: “You mean like they do on Beale Street and with Memphis in May?”

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Guess Where I’m Eating Contest 108

A two-parter this week. One old, one new. 

A.

B.

The first person to guess BOTH places where I’m eating wins a fabulous prize. 

To enter, submit your answer to me via email at ellis@memphisflyer.com. 

The answer to GWIE 107 is Gus’s fried chicken, greens, and mac n cheese at Gus’s, and the winner is … Elizabeth Ennis!

Thanks to Cristina for the image! 

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Changes at Ghost River

The space is a mess — dusty concrete floors, hanging wires, pipes sticking out of the floor, plastic hung over doorways. But soon, this will be Ghost River Brewing’s new taproom.

The new taproom comes, along with a change in branding, just in time for the craft brewery’s 10th anniversary.

The space was carved out of the front of the Ghost River building. Office space and storage was sacrificed for the taproom, which will feature a bar along the front with 12 taps and a large window into the brewing operations with the big, gleaming steel tanks (six 25-barrel tanks and 12 50-barrel tanks).

Family photo with with baby Randall and granddad in Budweiser shirt

“We got our hands dirty first,” Jimmy Randall, Ghost River’s head brewer, says of Memphis’ craft beer scene. “But when we started, we legally could not open a taproom.”

Then, with High Cotton leading the charge, the law requiring food be served wherever alcohol is sold was changed.

The question subsequently arose about where to put Ghost River’s taproom. Off-premises seemed the most logical conclusion. But, says Randall, it wasn’t feasible to run an operation off-site for 20 hours while maintaining the brewery. Ghost River’s building offered no give, either — until it did.

“We didn’t have room,” Randall says. “Then we said, ‘Let’s tear down some walls.’ Sure enough, we have the space.”

Ghost River offers three core brands: Ghost River Gold (formerly Golden Ale), Riverbank Red, and 1887. The 1887, an IPA named after the year the sand aquifer was first tapped, is now offered year-round — a nod to Ghost River’s overall rebranding.

owner Jerry Feinstone

The cypress tree, the unifying visual element of all of Ghost River’s beers, has been axed for a look that gives each beer a strong identity.

“When we first started, we needed brand recognition. We needed people to know Ghost River,” Randall says. “Well, people know Ghost River now.”

Hieroglyph was enlisted for the rebranding.

“You can’t have a name like Ghost River and not do something really great with it,” says Josh Horton of Hieroglyph.

Initially, the idea was to do something outdoorsy. That was struck for coloring and images for each beer that tell a story.

There are gold coins on the Gold label; the beer is Ghost River’s best-selling beer by far. “It’s been our bread and butter beer. It speaks well to the palates of non-craft beer consumers,” Randall says. “It’s a wonderful stepping stone out of mass-produced light lagers and moving into craft beer.”

The Riverbank features a copperhead snake on the label, which delves into a bit of Ghost River history. Riverbank started as Home Run Red, which was brewed to be served at AutoZone Park during Redbirds games. The beer proved to be a hit, so they decided to make it year-round, which necessitated a name change. They landed on Copperhead Red, but were thwarted when they discovered a Copperhead Pale already existed.

The 1887 has a bird’s-eye view of a well, a tribute to the sand aquifer. “It’s a nighttime scene. You can see the crescent moon reflecting off the water in the bottom of the well, and there are ripples across the water like someone’s thrown a coin down and made a wish,” Randall says.

Each label has a black background, connnoting mystery and harking back to the ghost. On the bottle neck label is a lantern, which has multiple meanings, including the idea that Ghost River, as the first modern brewery in Memphis, led the way.

As for getting rid of the cypress tree, there was some pushback.

“There’s a lot of love for the cypress tree, and there are a lot of people who miss it,” Randall says. “Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a story associated with it, and we’re finding that our prime market really wants to have a story involved.”

The new branding kicked in about six weeks ago, and the taproom could be open as soon as early October.

“It’s coming up,” Randall says. “Closer and closer.”