Bukka White and Jimmy Crosthwait onstage at the the Overton Park Shell in The Blues Society. (Photo: Randall Lyon | courtesy of The Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane)
For director Augusta Palmer, The Blues Society is a personal project.
Her father, music writer Robert Palmer, was a member of the group of hippies and weirdos who first brought Black blues artists from Memphis and Mississippi to the Overton Park Shell. They were among the first to acknowledge the deep debt that popular music owed to these artists. Robert Palmer went on to write the bestselling music tome Deep Blues in 1981.
On Friday, May 31, The Blues Society opens in Memphis at Studio on the Square.. The opening weekend will feature a series of Q&A’s with the director and some Memphians involved in the project. On Friday, Grammy-winning author and filmmaker Robert Gordon will moderate a discussion with the director and musicians Jimmy Crosthwait and Chris Wimmer. On Friday, June 1, Indie Memphis executive director Kimel Fryer will moderate a discussion with director Palmer and editor Laura Jean Hocking. On Wednesday, June 5, Robert Gordon will return with Memphis radio legend Henry Nelson.
What’s For Breakfast? Records hosts a two-day, fourteen-band showcase at Lamplighter Lounge this Friday and Saturday. (Photo: Victoria Marie Photography)
Memphis Italian Festival Marquette Park Thursday, May 30, 3-11 p.m. | Friday-Saturday, May 31-June 1, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore. When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine, that’s just the Memphis Italian Festival, “where everyone’s Italian.” There are several events going on throughout the day including bocce, grape stomping, wine races, live music, face painting, and cooking demonstrations from local chefs. This is a family-friendly festival with games and rides your kids will love. Tickets are $15 for Thursday and Friday, and $20 for Saturday. Purchase ahead here or at the gate. Kids 10 and under get in free, and so do active military with ID.
Trolley Night South Main Friday, May 31, 6-10 p.m. Visitors will be able to stroll South Main and explore the many galleries, shops, restaurants, and bars in the neighborhood. Doors will be open and featuring an assortment of live music, performances, complimentary drinks/appetizers, and more.
Brek Fest Memphis Showcase Lamplighter Lounge Friday-Saturday, May 31-June 1, 7 p.m. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but sometimes it’s just too early to be making decisions on what to eat. What’s for breakfast? I don’t know. Now, if you were to ask who’s What’s For Breakfast?, I’d tell you it’s Dan Staggs’s Chicago/Memphis-based record label and it’s hosting a two-day, 14-band showcase this weekend, with six Memphis-based artists and eight traveling bands from around the Rust Belt and Mid-South. Friday night features Pity Invite, Big Whoop, Grimey, Snørkler, Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes, and Lollygagger. Saturday night features Opossums, Bluff City Vice, Pet Mosquito, NightFreak, Deady, Wesley & the Boys, and Little Baby Tendencies. Admission is $20 at the door each night. Limited presales are available online at wfbr.bandcamp.com/merch. Doors open at 7 p.m. and music will run from approximately 8 p.m. to approximately 1 a.m.
Shelarious Rumba Room Friday, June 31, 7 p.m. Hehehe … or shesheshe? ’Cause this night of comedy is led by comedians who just so happen to be women. Tickets are $13.73 and can be purchased here.
WYXR DJ Night Bar DKDC Friday, May 31, 8 p.m. WYXR stacks the deck for a hip-shakin’ sensation with DJ Bizzle Bluebland and DJ DY3. $10 cover.
Dragon Boat Festival Hyde Lake at Shelby Farms Park Saturday, June 1, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Enjoy a fantastic and memorable time with family and friends at the 2024 Memphis Dragon Boat Festival. In addition to electric boat racing, the festival will also have stage performances, art crafts, Asian street food, and other vendors. Admission is free.
Memphis Pride Festival and Parade Robert Church Park and Beale Street Saturday, June 1, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. June, if you can imagine, is already here, and that means it’s time for Pride. This year’s Memphis Pride Fest, which bills itself as the largest gathering of LGBTQ people in the Mid-South, promises to be bigger and better than ever before, with a theme of “Embrace Your Story,” a celebration of diversity, strength, and unity. Headlining the event organized by Mid-South Pride is Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté, a fan-favorite from season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and 37 local drag entertainers and four local bands will join the lineup across two stages. The festival will also host over 175 booths, providing a wide array of activities. Admission to the festival starts at $1. Kicking off the day, of course, is the annual parade which starts at Fourth and Beale before making its way through the historic Beale Street Entertainment District. The procession features over 100 units with 2,500+ participants from myriad organizations. The weekend also includes a Drag N Drive on Thursday, Big Gay Dance Party on Friday, and Grand Marshal Drag Brunch on Sunday. For more information on all that’s happening this weekend and to purchase tickets to any of these events, visit midsouthpride.org.
Headspace IPA & Sour Festival Grind City Brewing Company Saturday, June 1, noon-10 p.m. Grind City is grinding out four one-day-only IPAs and four one-day-only sours. (Flavors are influenced by the summer season and will include some local farm ingredients. This is where you oooh and ahhh.) There will be food trucks (Albee’s at noon to 6 p.m. and Champ’s BBQ at 2 to 8 p.m.) and live music (Joe Downing at 1 to 4 p.m. and Flirting with Sincerity at 4 p.m.)
“Threaded Legacies” Opening Reception Cossitt Library Saturday, June 1, 3 p.m. Celebrate the artistry of Black women quilters at the opening reception for “Threaded Legacies.” Join the library for an evening of culture and creativity honoring the remarkable contributions of the Orange Mound Community Service Center quilters. Hear their inspiring stories firsthand during an engaging artist talk, and immerse yourself in the beauty of their craft.
Beginner Sushi Class Memphis Made Brewing Co. Sunday, June 2, 5-7 p.m. Learn how to roll a big fat one — by that we mean the perfect roll of sushi. In this beginner class, learn how to make perfect sushi rice and all of the sauces you love (from eel sauce to BangBang), where to shop/what to buy, and how to safely serve raw fish at home and save a lot of money. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased here.
Showboats Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Sunday, May 2, 6 p.m. The Showboats are playing the Houston Roughnecks. I don’t know anything about football, nor do I really care. But here’s the link for tickets if that’s the lifestyle you choose. They start at $14, which isn’t that bad even if you don’t like football.
Samara Joy Cannon Center for the Performing Arts Monday, June 3, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Cultural Arts For Everyone is bringing the incredible Samara Joy to Memphis to kickoff Black Music Month. To hear acclaimed vocalist Samara Joy perform live is to feel the emotional resonance of every lyric. With her Grammy award-winning Verve Records debut, Linger Awhile, the 23-year-old Bronx native has already earned her millions of likes on TikTok, cementing her status as perhaps the first Gen Z jazz singing star. Tickets ($35-$119) can be purchased here.
There’s always something happening in Memphis. See a full calendar of events here.
Memphis has been ranked as the most dangerous metro city for pedestrians, with 343 pedestrian deaths from 2018 to 2022. Smart Growth America said this means more than half of pedestrian deaths (65 percent) over the last decade happened in the last five years.
The nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping people who “want to live and work in great neighborhoods,” released its “Dangerous by Design 2024” report in conjunction with the National Complete Streets Coalition. The report found that 7,522 people were killed by moving vehicles in 2022. They also found minority populations such as Black and Native Americans, older adults, and “people walking low-income communities” to be more susceptible to walking fatalities.
“Our nation’s streets are dangerous by design, designed primarily to move cars quickly at the expense of keeping everyone safe,” the report said. “Researchers found that Black people are killed at over twice the rate of white people (213 percent), and for Native people, it’s more than four times (428 percent). For Latino people, there is a 26 percent increased risk of death while walking. In addition, lower-income areas have far higher rates of pedestrian deaths.”
In order to understand why Memphis’ streets are dangerous, the organization interviewed local residents to not only put faces behind the numbers, but to hear their experiences first-hand.
Jared Myers, director of The Heights Community Development Corp, said in The Heights specifically, many residents depend on sidewalks to get from place to place. Many places such as grocery stores are often 20 minutes away by car.
“Memphis drivers, they just drive fast and careless,” Vernice Foster, resident of The Heights, said.
Foster said several years ago she was walking on the corner of Homer Street and Macon Road and was involved in a hit-and-run.
“When I come to that intersection now and I’m walking there is such a fear,” Foster said. “Right now, if I gotta go, you know, I’ll go.”
The organization also interviewed Shannon Curtis, a Crosstown resident who primarily uses cycling and walking as their preferred method of transportation and prefers to take “neighborhood roads” when possible.
“I very rarely will not cross at a light,” Curtis said. “You’re supposed to yield to pedestrians, even if there’s not flashing lights, even if there aren’t yellow signs, you’re supposed to yield to pedestrians at a crosswalk, but no one ever does.”
Curtis also said they never take Poplar due to its design with seven lanes.
Mike Rutkowski, senior principal of complete streets leader at Stantec, explained that Summer Avenue had twice the state average crash rate “for a similar corridor.”
“You have crumbling sidewalks, gapped sidewalks. … There are segments on Summer Avenue that have gaps between high-visibility crosswalks. Certain areas [have] almost 3000 linear feet between a high or a protected or a safe crossing.”
As a result of this, many are forced to take an extra 12 to 15 minutes to cross the road.
“Inherently, you know they’re not going to do that,” Curtis said. “They’re going to run across there, even though it’s seven lanes.”
The report suggests improvements in road designs will minimize fatalities and danger. Advocates stressed current road designs often prioritize vehicular speeds as opposed to safety.
“The only way to truly stop this epidemic is to make safety improvements in road design,” Smart Growth America said in a statement. “Crosswalks are regularly missing or too far apart, intersections are difficult to cross on foot, and many turn lanes encourage going around corners quickly, which can pose a hazard. Many places people regularly walk have zero sidewalks.”
Some of the recommendations included speed bumps in residential areas. Beth Osborne, vice president of transportation and thriving communities at Smart Growth America, said design interventions should be put in place to slow drivers down such as delineators and other improvements that will encourage drivers to “look for pedestrians.”
Barry Lincoln inside Mr. Lincoln's Costume Shoppe.
Mr. Lincoln’s Costume Shoppe, a Midtown landmark for more than three decades, will close on Friday, May 31, 2024.
Barry Lincoln, the longtime owner and shop’s namesake, is retiring after building his business into a must-visit spot for Memphians wanting to look sharp for Halloween.
I interviewed Mr. Lincoln himself about how he got into the costuming business, and why he’s leaving it all behind. But the good news is, he wants to sell the shop. So, maybe this is one Memphis tradition that can continue.
A common misconception is that if you’re not working outside the home, you’re not eligible to save for retirement. In reality, a stay-at-home spouse can have a significant impact on a couple’s retirement savings. Here are six tips to help you prepare for retirement as a stay-at-home spouse.
1. Establish a financial plan.
Establishing a financial plan should be the first step you take toward establishing financial goals and a savings strategy.
A comprehensive financial plan is essential to growing your wealth, avoiding potential pitfalls, and remaining on track toward achieving your goals. A plan can help increase your level of confidence in making financial decisions and ensure your family will be provided for in unexpected circumstances.
2. Focus on paying off debt.
High-interest debt, such as credit card balances, can make a big impact on your ability to save for the future. Interest charges and late fees can add up and quickly result in debt becoming unmanageable, so it’s important to pay these balances off before taking steps to save.
Two effective strategies for paying off debt include the snowball method, which involves paying off your smallest debt balance as quickly as possible, or the avalanche method, in which you begin paying on whatever loan has the highest interest rate. Once that loan is paid off, you move on to the loan with the next-highest interest rate until all loans are paid off.
3. Establish an emergency fund.
Often, high-interest debt results from unexpected expenses you’re unable to cover from normal cash flow, such as a job loss, medical expenses, or an emergency home repair. In a household with a stay-at-home spouse and only one income, it’s important to have at least three to six months of living expenses saved in a short-term, liquid emergency fund that’s available to cover any unexpected expenses. Having immediate access to funds can help you avoid taking out high-interest debt or tapping into your retirement savings in an emergency.
4. Save in a spousal IRA.
Spousal IRAs are retirement savings vehicles specifically intended for non-working or part-time working spouses who would otherwise not have access to a qualified retirement account. A stay-at-home spouse may have the ability to contribute to a spousal IRA if he or she files a joint tax return with a spouse that has taxable compensation. Both traditional and Roth spousal IRAs are available, and the 2024 annual contribution limits are the same: $7,000 for those under age 50 and $8,000 for those age 50 and older.
5. Increase contributions to the working spouse’s 401k.
Although retirement accounts are held in individual spouses’ names, funds contributed during the marriage are considered marital assets, meaning they’re generally considered the property of both spouses. Given this, it’s beneficial for couples with a stay-at-home spouse to maximize contributions to the working spouse’s employer-sponsored retirement plan.
In 2024, individuals who haven’t yet reached age 50 can contribute up to $23,000, and those age 50 and older can make an additional $7,500 catch-up contribution for a total contribution of $30,500. At a minimum, it’s important to contribute at a rate that allows you to qualify for the full employer matching contribution.
If cash flow doesn’t allow you to contribute the maximum to start, consider raising your deferrals by 1 percent to 2 percent each year. You probably won’t even feel the impact on your take home pay, yet these small increases can make a big difference in the balance you accumulate over the long run.
6. Save in a taxable account.
Once you’ve saved the maximum in your 401k and spousal IRA, consider saving additional funds in a taxable brokerage account. While 401k and IRA assets have limitations on withdrawals prior to retirement, funds in a taxable brokerage account are accessible at any time. In addition, saving in a variety of retirement accounts with different tax treatment (e.g., taxable, tax-deferred and tax-free) provides you with maximum flexibility to structure a tax-efficient withdrawal strategy in retirement.
Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Partner and Private Wealth Manager with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest Registered Investment Advisory firms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s financial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Welcome to the future of your education, Aries! Here are actions you can take to ensure you are exposed to all the lush lessons you need and deserve in the coming months. 1. Identify three subjects you would be excited to learn more about. 2. Shed dogmas and fixed theories that interfere with your receptivity to new information. 3. Vow to be alert for new guides or mentors. 4. Formulate a three-year plan to get the training and teachings you need most. 5. Be avidly curious.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Poet Emily Dickinson was skillful at invoking and managing deep feelings. One scholar described her emotions as being profoundly erotic, outlandish, sensuous, flagrant, and nuanced. Another scholar said she needed and sought regular doses of ecstasy. Yet even she, maestro of passions, got overwhelmed. In one poem, she wondered, “Why Floods be served to us in Bowls?” I suspect you may be having a similar experience, Taurus. It’s fun, though sometimes a bit too much. The good news is that metaphorically speaking, you will soon be in possession of a voluminous new bowl that can accommodate the floods.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): All of us periodically enjoy phases I call “Freedom from Cosmic Compulsion.” During these times, the Fates have a reduced power to shape our destinies. Our willpower has more spaciousness to work with. Our intentions get less resistance from karmic pressures that at other times might narrow our options. As I meditated on you, dear Gemini, I realized you are now in a phase of Freedom from Cosmic Compulsion. I also saw that you will have more of these phases than anyone else during the next 11 months. It might be time for you to get a “LIBERATION” tattoo or an equivalent new accessory.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Bold predictions: 1. Whatever treasure you have lost or are losing will ultimately be reborn in a beautiful form. 2. Any purposeful surrender you make will hone your understanding of exactly what your soul needs next to thrive. 3. A helpful influence may fade away, but its disappearance will clear the path for new helpful influences that serve your future in ways you can’t imagine yet. 4. Wandering around without a precise sense of where you’re going will arouse a robust new understanding of what home means to you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Denmark’s King Canute IV (1042–1086) wasn’t bashful about asserting his power. He claimed ownership of all the land. He insisted on the right to inherit the possessions of all foreigners and people without families. Goods from shipwrecks were automatically his property. But once, his efforts to extend his authority failed. He had his servants move his throne to a beach as the tide came in. Seated and facing the North Sea, he commanded, “Halt your advance!” The surf did not obey. “You must surrender to my superior will!” he exclaimed, but the waters did not recede. Soon, his throne was engulfed by water. Humbled, Canute departed. I bring this up not to discourage you, Leo. I believe you can and should expand your influence and clout in the coming weeks. Just be sure you know when to stop.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo-born Irène Joliot-Curie craved more attention than she got from her mother, Marie Curie. Mom was zealously devoted to her career as a chemist and physicist, which is one reason why she won Nobel Prizes in both fields. But she didn’t spend sufficient time with her daughter. Fortunately, Irène’s grandfather Eugène became his granddaughter’s best friend and teacher. With his encouragement, she grew into a formidable scientist and eventually won a Nobel Prize in chemistry herself. Even if you’re not a kid, Virgo, I suspect there may be a mentor and guide akin to Eugène in your future. Go looking! To expedite the process, define what activity or skill you want help in developing.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I have a fantasy that sometime in the coming months, you will slip away to a sanctuary in a pastoral paradise. There you will enjoy long hikes and immerse yourself in healing music and savor books you’ve been wanting to read. Maybe you will write your memoirs or compose deep messages to dear old friends. Here’s the title of what I hope will be a future chapter of your life story: “A Thrillingly Relaxing Getaway.” Have you been envisioning an adventure like this, Libra? Or is your imagination more inclined to yearn for a trip to an exciting city where you will exult in high culture? I like that alternative, too. Maybe you will consider doing both.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): An Instagrammer named @sketchesbyboze advises us, “Re-enchant your life by making the mundane exciting. You are not ‘going to the drugstore.’ You are visiting the apothecary to buy potions. You are not ‘running an errand.’ You are undertaking an unpredictable adventure. You are not ‘feeding the birds.’ You are making an alliance with the crow queen.” I endorse this counsel for your use, Scorpio. You now have the right and duty to infuse your daily rhythm with magic and fantasy. To attract life’s best blessings, you should be epic and majestic. Treat your life as a mythic quest.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I invite you to invite new muses into your life in the coming months. Give them auditions. Interview them. Figure out which are most likely to boost your creativity, stimulate your imagination, and rouse your inspiration in every area of your life, not just your art form. Tell them you’re ready to deal with unpredictable departures from the routine as long as these alternate paths lead to rich teachings. And what form might these muses take? Could be actual humans. Could be animals or spirits. Might be ancestral voices, exciting teachings, or pilgrimages to sacred sanctuaries. Expand your concept of what a muse might be so you can get as much muse-like input as possible.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The Japanese have a word for a problem that plagues other countries as well as theirs: karoshi, or death from working too hard and too much. No matter how high-minded our motivations might be, no matter how interesting our jobs are, most of us cannot safely devote long hours to intense labor week after week, month after month. It’s too stressful on the mind and body. I will ask you to monitor yourself for such proclivities in the coming months. You can accomplish wonders as long as you work diligently but don’t overwork. (PS: You won’t literally expire if you relentlessly push yourself with nonstop hard exertion, but you will risk compromising your mental health. So don’t do it!)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Typically, human fertility is strongest when the temperature is 64 degrees Fahrenheit. But I suspect you will be an exception to the rule in the coming months. Whether it’s 10 below or 90 in the shade, your fertility will be extra robust — literally as well as psychologically and spiritually. If you are a heterosexual who would rather make great art or business than new babies, be very attentive to your birth control measures. No matter what your gender or sexual preference is, I advise you to formulate very clear intentions about how you want to direct all that lush fecundity. Identify which creative outlets are most likely to serve your long-term health and happiness.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Here’s a key assignment in the coming months: Enjoy fantasizing about your dream home. Imagine the comfortable sanctuary that would inspire you to feel utterly at home in your body, your life, and the world. Even if you can’t afford to buy this ultimate haven, you will benefit from visualizing it. As you do, your subconscious mind will suggest ways you can enhance your security and stability. You may also attract influences and resources that will eventually help you live in your dream home.
The MEMernet buzzed about a guy walking around Crosstown with a mattress attached to his back. But no one really knew what was going on. Now we do!
Musician Nick Black dreamed up the mattress rig and took it for a spin to promote his new single “Future Me’s Problem.”
Top Comment
Posted to Facebook by Elvis Presley’s Graceland
The Memphis subreddit piled on contempt for that weird investment company … or whatever … that tried and failed to sue Riley Keough … for something … in a move that would have put Graceland on the auction block. (Big h/t to The Daily Memphian for breaking the story.)
Top comment, however, goes to u/erichsommer, to whom it was clear that the investment firm “ain’t never caught a rabbit.”
UFO App
Posted to X by @enigmalabs
Enigma Labs has launched an app to capture UFO/UAP sightings.
With new reports from users and some publicly available data, the company shows 4,028 UFO sightings for Tennessee since 2018. Knoxville leads the way with 251 sightings reported. Memphis is a close second with 239.
Editor’s note: This is part three in a five-part series focusing on immigrant contributions to our nation and city.
In 1825, the town of Bolivar, Tennessee, was founded 70 miles east of here, named after the Venezuelan “liberator” of much of South America, Simón Bolívar. Presently, a bust of the Venezuelan leader sits in front of the town’s courthouse as a gift, “from the government and the people of the Republic of Venezuela … to the city of Bolivar on the celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of The Liberator, 1783-1983.”
The exuberance and goodwill between the Republic of Venezuela and our state of Tennessee in 1983 has, by 2024, completely collapsed. Venezuela, a traditional exporter of cacao, coffee, and petroleum, now exports its citizens: About one-quarter of the population of 28 million has left the nation over the past 10 or 20 years, and there seems to be no end in sight to this ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Many factors — economic, political, and global — help explain this mass exodus from a once wealthy and influential South American nation. María Bracho’s arrival here in Memphis is directly related to the economic and political chaos of her native Venezuela.
María Bracho (Photo: Bryce Ashby)
Bracho grew up on a farm outside the city of Maracaibo, which is the petroleum capital of the nation. Venezuela, it should be noted, sits on the largest known oil deposits in the world, and about 90 percent of the national GDP is tied to oil. Nine years ago, Bracho decided to come to the USA to join her eldest daughter who had relocated here. Her siblings now call Jacksonville, Florida, home.
“We decided to move here for good about nine years ago,” she says. “We had the property of our business — a mini food market in Maracaibo — expropriated so the government could build a metro that has yet to be built.” The expropriation was followed by threats and extortion. María was forced to flee. Eventually, the family chose Memphis as their permanent home.
The daughters, Arianna Iskeif (age 27) and Orianna Bracho (age 23), are thriving here. Arianna is married with three children and is a homemaker. Orianna works at Independent Bank in the city. María settled in Germantown, and the family has lived there since.
“I love it here in Memphis — the city reminds me of my hometown, Maracaibo; it’s small and friendly,” she says. “I’d love to return to my country, but it’s impossible right now. … There is no electricity and no gasoline in a country whose leading export is petroleum!”
María lives in an apartment on Farmington Road and works full-time in Midtown at Global Café. There she sells and serves arepas — the traditional Venezuelan corn cake that defines and anchors Venezuelan cuisine. She’s worked as a cashier at a Mexican grocery store here and at TruckPro, but enjoys working with the public in the food service industry.
“I work long hours, and the commute is long, but everything I’ve done here has been for the well-being of my family, and I’ve been very lucky here.” María is negotiating to buy a house and plans to sign papers in the next few months.
Food — especially traditional cuisine from home — has always animated María, and she prepares for customers a traditional Venezuelan tamal called a hallaca. She also prepares desserts and other Venezuelan fare on her own. María has obtained residency status in the USA and in about two years’ time will be able to apply for citizenship.
María is grateful for the opportunity to work at Global Café, but her long-term dream is to build a business related to her work there. “I’d like to make and distribute traditional foods and desserts for local Hispanic markets/stores, and I think I’d be good at that type of work,” she says. Chef María is the kitchen manager at the café, a position that puts her at the heart of everything cooked and sold there. “I was so lucky to find Global Café here in Memphis and owe so much to that restaurant … that organization.”
The bust of the great Venezuelan Liberator sits far away from Memphis in a town that history seems to have forgotten — his dream of a unified America unrealized. But the determination and dignity of people like María Bracho connect us culturally and bring hope for peace and opportunity for all Americans.
Bryce W. Ashby is an attorney at Donati Law, PLLC. Michael J. LaRosa is an associate professor of history at Rhodes College.
“Hello, Is That You?” music video (Photo: Courtesy Wyly Bigger | Youtube)
Wyly Bigger plays just about every notable piano in town in his video, “Hello, Is That You?”, from his recently-released album, Broken Telephone.
He tickles the ivories on the spinet at Earnestine & Hazel’s and at Sun Studio, and at the grand pianos at the Peabody Skyway and the Orpheum Theatre, to name a few.
The first piano he ever played, though, was a “just a little Fisher Price kid’s piano,” says Bigger, 26.
A native of Marion, Arkansas, Bigger began picking out songs on the piano by ear when he was three. The little piano was “just a plastic, bright, and colorful thing. It probably had 10 keys on it.”
It belonged to his sister, singer-songwriter Bailey Bigger, but “she didn’t take to it at all. She could care less about it. I kind of took it over.”
Wyly’s parents bought an old piano that their church wasn’t using and put Wyly in piano lessons.
He began taking Suzuki-method piano lessons when he was 4 at the University of Memphis. “I wasn’t a huge fan of it. Just because I wanted to play by ear and I wanted to do more. Even from a long time ago I loved Elvis and Jerry Lee. That kind of music.”
Wyly even adopted the Elvis look. “For Halloween in first grade I was Elvis. My grandma sewed me a gold suit to wear like Elvis.”
Wyly Bigger (Photos: Michael Donahue)
He also began wearing gel in his hair. “I think we even got some temporary black hair dye from the party store to make it really look like Elvis.”
His next teacher made him learn music, but he also encouraged him to play by ear.
Wyly’s first public performance was playing rock-and-roll on his keyboard at Big John’s Shake Shack (now Tacker’s Shake Shop) in Marion when he was 9 years old. He continued to play there every other week when he was in high school.
He began writing instrumentals when he was about 14. “South Side of Southern,” which was “about growing up in Marion,” was his first song with lyrics.
Wyly didn’t want to sing at first. “I was terrified to sing. I didn’t like it at all.”
His piano teacher encouraged him to start singing along while he played piano during lessons.“I kind of ripped the Band-Aid off.”
Wyly majored in marketing at Mississippi State University, but he continued to play piano at night at local watering holes.
After he graduated, Wyly went to work for a marketing agency and, later, at Marion’s Sultana Disaster Museum.
But he continued to play music in public. Last July, he decided to quit his job and do nothing but music.
He began playing piano in the lobby at the Peabody, where he still plays on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. “The Peabody is a lot of everything. Outside of rock-and-roll and ’50s soul and R&B stuff, I also really love the old jazz standards. Like Cole Porter and George Gershwin-type songs.”
In 2020, Wyly recorded a self-titled EP of his songs. “Back in Love” — “just a story of unrequited love.” — got the most streams.
He describes the EP, which he and Bailey produced, as a “rock-and-roll Fats Domino-swing-type of thing. I had drums, bass, keys, guitar, and sax.” He recorded the EP at Memphis Magnetic Recording Co. with Scott McEwen doing the engineering and mixing.
Bailey, who sang background vocals on the EP, performed with Wyly on occasion back in the day at their church and at the Shake Shack. They’re both on the Madjack Records label.
He began recording his new album in May of 2023. “It took a while just ’cause we hired a team of musicians and we had to work around their schedules.”
The album features Danny Banks on drums, Jim Spake on saxophone, Mark Edgar Stuart (who produced the album) on bass, and Matt Ross-Spang on guitar.
The idea to have Wyly playing pianos all over Memphis “was all Landon Moore. He filmed, directed, and edited the whole video. He’s a bass player in town. He plays with Cyrena Wages and Marcella [Simien].”
One of Wyly’s favorite pianos is the grand piano at the Peabody Skyway. “I love to play that piano and picture myself up in one of the live big band dances they had back in the ’40s.”
He knocked all those piano pedals while wearing his black-and-white Royal Wind spectator shoes. “I bought those things at a thrift store in Starkville when I was in college”
And, he says, “I tell you, they’re a conversation piece. I can’t wear them without somebody saying, ‘Man, where did you get those shoes? Those are amazing.’”
Wyly likes to wear the shoes at the Peabody. “It will turn heads and maybe get me tips. Anytime I dress up, I’m typically going to wear those.”
To view the “Hello, Is That You?” music video, go to tinyurl.com/yckwu33k. Wyly Bigger will perform Friday, May 31st, 7 p.m., at Hernando’s Hideaway.
Michael Donahue looks cool in a pair of Versace sunglasses from Sunglass Hut. (Photo: Terriese Williams)
We, the writers at the Flyer, know we’re cool. Our definition of cool may vary from yours; it may even vary from writer to writer. But we know there’s a reason why you pick up a copy of our paper or click onto our website: It’s because we’re cool … right? Please say yes — our egos are fragile. We are sensitive journalists who hide behind the written word. But it is also because we are journalists that we are able to bring you the best ways to stay cool and, well, be cool this summer with the coolest things to do, people to see, and places to go. Read on, and keep your cool.
Zio Matto Gelato (Photo: Chris McCoy)
Cool Treats
You would think ice cream, rich in fats and sugar, would be bad for you. But numerous studies have pointed to the opposite conclusion. People who ate ice cream about twice a week have about a 10 percent lower rate of serious cardiovascular disease, as well as lower rates of diabetes and fatty liver disease. Most doctors don’t believe it’s the ice cream (correlation is not causation, after all), but it’s a result that won’t go away.
Personally, I believe ice cream helps you live longer because ice cream gives you something to live for. Memphis, as we all know, is hot as Hades in the summertime, so we’re a frozen treat town. The granddaddy of cool is Jerry’s Sno Cones. The Bluff City landmark is famous for its decadent shaved ice creations, available in exotic flavors like Hurricane Elvis and Legit. The populace was shocked when owner David Acklin announced the closure of their original location on Wells Station in Berclair, but the Cordova location at 1601 Bonnie Lane is still going strong, and the owner is canvassing his patrons for suggestions as to where to open a new Jerry’s.
Mempops’ mobile unit is a familiar sight at concerts, games, and festivals. Their two locations, in the Crosstown Concourse and in East Memphis at 1243 Ridgeway, are the places to go for some chilled goodness. Mempops comes in cream (keep it simple with the vanilla, or go with cookies-and-cream if you’re feeling uppity) or fruity sorbet (I’m a raspberry lemonade man, myself, but don’t sleep on the spicy pineapple) varieties.
Another pop option is La Michoacana, the Mexican ice cream shop at 4091 Summer Avenue. Their butter pecan pop is to die for, and they’ve got a wide selection of ice cream flavors like tres leches and tequila.
The newest entry in the creamy game is Zio Matto Gelato. The Italian creamery’s products have been available all over town, from South Point Grocery to Villa Castrioti in Cordova, and you’ve probably seen their stand in the FedExForum. Now, they’ve opened a new home base in Central Station Downtown. If you’re a little sweaty from visiting Tom Lee Park, pop in for a bowl of the tiramisu gelato. Life is better when you keep it cool. — Chris McCoy
Eight & Sand (Photos: Courtesy Central Station Hotel)
Cool Beats at Eight & Sand
In summer’s swelter, nothing spells relief like a tall drink on crushed ice in a chill bar. Eight & Sand, in the Central Station Hotel, has all that, and the fresh jams to keep you there. Hearing the unmuddied bass and pristine highs of the space’s custom EgglestonWorks speakers, any music lover is likely to exclaim “cooool.”
The bar is practically a temple to the art of DJ’ing, thanks to its towering shelves of vinyl records, ready to be spun in a deluxe DJ booth they’ve dubbed “Elmertha.” Elmertha’s a veritable pulpit of funk, especially considering that the vinyl amassed around her is packed with Memphis jams from all eras. Chad Weekley, Central Station Hotel’s music curator, says the focus on Memphis music was baked into the bar’s design from the start. “There’s probably 4,000 pieces of wax there, and it’s all connected to Memphis, some way, somehow. And we’re steadily adding to it.”
That collection alone, and the chance to play through an advanced hi-fi system, makes Eight & Sand an attractive venue to DJs from all over the city — and many from beyond. The bar has booked many world-class platter spinners, including Skratch Bastid and DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill (on 4/20, no less). Their international draw will be especially apparent on June 1st, when the featured DJ will be Rich Medina. His appearance will be a full-circle moment for Weekley and the bar, now in its fifth year.
“Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest and Rich had a legendary DJ night in NYC in the early 2000s, and Rich now runs the best vinyl bar in Miami, Dante’s HiFi,” says Weekley. “I definitely modeled Eight & Sand a little bit off of Dante’s, for sure.” Other notable DJs appearing at the bar this summer will be DJ DāM-FunK and house music giant Mark Farina. — Alex Greene
Kiwi Lime Drop at Global Cafe (Photo: Bruce VanWyngarden)
Global Cafe’s Fruity Cocktails
You know what’s cool in the summertime? A big, refreshing, ice-cold, fruity cocktail. You know what else is cool? Helping refugees and immigrants who are trying to acclimate to American culture and lawfully enter our society. And you know what is really, really cool? Doing both of those things at once.
That’s where the Global Cafe comes in. Located in Crosstown, it’s a business that pours all its proceeds back into its employees — paying them a living wage, offering English lessons, free shoes, profit-sharing, and helping to integrate them and their families into Memphis.
Now, about those cocktails. … Cafe manager Juan Viramontes, himself an immigrant from Mexico, specializes in crafting Global Cafe’s famous fruit-based drinks, created using fresh seasonal fruit, including pineapple, kiwi, mango, peaches, and watermelon. “Whatever’s in season.”
The Global Cafe’s most famous — and most Instagrammed — drink is its “Mangorita,” which features an entire mango carved into a rose sitting atop 20 ounces of Juan’s Famous Margarita. They are indeed terrific, but for something equally delicious but a little less over-the-top, I recommend the cafe’s Kiwi Lime Drop. It’s a variation on the classic lemon drop, but decidedly more complex and, yes, more delicious. The good news is that whichever drink you have, you can be assured that you’re helping immigrants and refugees while getting your drink on. What could be cooler? — Bruce VanWyngarden
Whet Thursdays (Photo: Courtesy Metal Museum)
Free, Free, Free
Money burning a hole in your wallet? Cool it with something free, and there’s always something that’s zero dollars and zero cents to do in the 901 in the summer.
If you want to catch live music this summer, how about a free concert? There’s Overton Park Shell’s Orion Free Concert Series and Overton Square Music Series, where you can bring a picnic blanket or lawn chairs and settle down for live music. Germantown Performing Arts Center has its Happy Hour in the Grove on Friday nights where you can enjoy free music, drink specials, deals on local beer, and $5 wine, and Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center has its Music by the Lake concert on Friday, June 14th.
If you’ve got a kid (K-12), sign them up for a 901 Student Passport at 901studentpassport.com. The passport gets students and a parent free admission during summer months (through August 2nd) to 12 cultural institutions including the National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
If you’re not a kid but like free admission to places, don’t you worry! The Dixon Garden & Gallery always has free admission. The Brooks has free admission (and sometimes art-making activities) on Saturdays at 10 a.m. to noon. Stax has its Free Family Day on the second Saturday of every month that offers free admission plus activities. And for the summer the Metal Museum has brought back its Whet Thursdays, which includes free admission, live demonstrations, and more after-hours on the last Thursday of the month.
And, get this, there’s still more free and very cool stuff that I could go on about, but I’m at my word count, and my words, like Dickens’, aren’t free. So keep up with these organizations at their websites. Okay, cool? — Abigail Morici
DJ Nico (Photo: Courtesy TONE)
DJ Nico
Your best bet at catching one of DJ Nico Hatchett’s legendary sets locally is after TONE’s Juneteenth weekend. Hatchett is the chief event coordinator for TONE Gallery and helped book Erykah Badu for this year’s Juneteenth celebration. “I love that a lot of the local performers get to say, once they leave the stage, they were on the lineup with Erykah Badu in their city.” However, the fun doesn’t stop there for Hatchett, as she and her best friend, will keep the late night vibes going afterwards on the premises with a set after Badu performs. “It’s going to be packed, and it’s going to be fun.”
The classically trained musician-turned-DJ specializes in mixing house, techno, Jersey, and jungle music with sweet throwbacks featured in her set. “I play a lot of music that is nostalgically known, like R&B music or even church samples… stuff that is uniquely Black.”
This summer presents a “Where’s DJ Nico” type of vibe as Hatchett will be leaving her mark on a number of cities. She recently made her Atlanta debut at BrainWorld on May 24th, and DJ’d at the renowned dance and night club, Le Bain, in New York the next day. On May 31st she’ll be at Poor Boys Bar in New Orleans. She’ll also be playing Los Angeles Pride on her birthday, June 7th.
“I’m surprised, but not surprised at my growth. I’ve been a musician my whole life so the way I apply myself and work with other people just makes sense,” she says. “I really try to build community, like it’s not just to get booked. It’s meant to be a continued, running, nurtured relationship.” — Kailynn Johnson
Flip Side (Photo: Jackson Baker)
Pinball at Flip Side
The heyday of the pinball machine was the 1950s, when every decent dive or halfway sizeable corner drugstore had one of the jingle-jangle contraptions, usually located near its entrance or, maybe, a back exit.
For the players themselves, the machines were an indoor sport which, then as now, could be played au solitaire or as a group event. At a nickel per game, competitors took turns to see who could rack up the most points or, better yet, free games, which signaled themselves with a loud and mellow TONK sound that, to the usually adolescent devotees, was rewardingly orgasmic.
All that is still the drill at Flip Side, the self-described pinball bar on Autumn Avenue in the neighborhood of Crosstown Concourse, where some 15 of the machines — with thematic names (and corresponding narrative structures) like “Foo Fighters,” “Jaws,” and “AC/DC” — line one long wall of the establishment. You pay for the games not with nickels but with reasonably inexpensive tokens, and the experience is still satisfyingly addictive.
Flip Side doubles as a sports bar, with five big screens tuned to such athletic events or game shows or whatever as happen to be going on. There are electronic dartboards, too, and a decent menu featuring pizza, burgers, mac-and-cheese, and beers, including some interesting sour varieties of the latter. Service is as good as you could ask for, given the crowds on hand, and conversations — at the bar, at the tables, or at the machines — are remarkably possible even amid the streaming background music of the place and the nonstop dings and dongs and bells and, hopefully, TONKs of the pinball action.
Cool. Way cool. — Jackson Baker
Birdie’s (Photo: Courtesy Birdie’s)
Cool Off With a Cold One
Vacation and beers go together like Memphis heat and humidity. But if you can’t get away, these three Memphis watering holes have vibes (and beers) dank enough to take you there even if it’s just for a little while.
• Birdie’s: Hit the links without that Memphis heat and humidity. Birdie’s offers local craft in cans and on draft. Grab a cold one, head into a virtual golf bay and swing away. You can even ask staffers to set you up on some iconic courses. Oh, and the food is great, too — tater tots, pretzels, chicken sandwiches, and more.
• Mary’s Bar of Tropical Escapism: Truly escape to the sandy shores of your beach fantasy right on South Cooper. Mary’s B.O.T.E. takes tiki drinks seriously with tons of tropical tipples to melt in your hand. The bar’s draft towers carry local craft, too, if a beer floats your boat. Escape at the amazing bar or to the great flamingo-ed patio outside.
• Momma’s: Roll down the truck window, hang your arm out, and get back to your roots at Momma’s. The “blue-collar diner’s destination” really is the first and last bar in Memphis (if you’re traveling Crump or I-55). And Momma’s brags it’s the only trucker-themed bar in America.
Drink laid-back beer. Sing along with Travis Tritt on the juke. Ain’t nobody gonna laugh at you. This is Momma’s. That food, tho. Momma’s nails Southern staples like chicken biscuits, smokestack chili, meatloaf, burgers, wings, and more. — Toby Sells
Sunglasses Are Cool
Everybody looks cool in sunglasses. Not just Jack Nicholson, Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, and Morris the Cat. All you have to do is put on some shades, and you’ve become mysterious, sexy, interesting, and rebellious.
Sunglass Hut, which leases a space at Macy’s Oak Court, has hundreds of sunglasses in stock for sun worshippers or nightspot habitués. Brands include Versace, Gucci, Prada, Oakley, Balenciaga, Ray-Ban, and Maui Jim. “We have kids’ sunglasses also,” says Terriese Williams, manager of the Sunglass Hut at Macy’s.
What’s the attraction of sunglasses? “They’re fashionable. Sunglasses are an accessory to your outfit,” she says. With sunglasses, “You’re all put together.”
Men’s and women’s sunglasses are not alike. “It’s the shapes and the cuts.”
A lot of women want cat-eye sunglasses, she says, as well as different colors of tortoiseshell. And, she says, “Women like big glasses. They’re oversized.”
The guys? “Men’s are more sleek and more neutral.”
If people don’t know what type of sunglasses they want, Williams provides some help. You can also try on sunglasses digitally before you buy them.
Sunglass Hut also carries polarized sunglasses, which provide extra protection from the sun’s glare. Those are popular with truck drivers, people working outside, or those who have light sensitivity.
Finally, if you want to look even cooler, you can invest in a pair of the new Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses, which Sunglass Hut exclusively carries. Sunglass Hut has six locations in Memphis, one in Collierville, and two in Southaven, Mississippi. — Michael Donahue
