Gloria Johnson at
The Broom Closet (Photo: Jackson Baker)
Back in April of 2023, state Representative Gloria Johnson of Knoxville got to be a known quantity, not only statewide but to the nation at large, as a member of the “Tennessee Three,” the trio of Democratic legislators whose zeal for gun reform made them targets for expulsion by the GOP House supermajority.
She survived the expulsion vote, as her cohorts did not, either because — as some believe — they were African-American and she was not or — as the Republican whose dissenting vote saved her maintained — because she differed from them in not having challenged the “decorum” of the House quite as seriously.
Whatever the reality, Johnson fully shared the outrage of fellow protesters Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville at Republican inaction following a lethal shooting rampage at Nashville’s Covenant School. And the lesser degree of her martyrdom would give her at least a measure of the national recognition earned by the two Justins, both of whom were immediately returned to office by their local legislative bodies.
The publicity generated by the expulsion incident doubtless was a factor in Johnson’s subsequent decision to seek the U.S. Senate seat currently held by the arch-conservative Republican Marsha Blackburn. But long before the bump in her statewide name recognition, the veteran legislator had earned respect in the House for her unstinting dedication to progressive principles.
Over the years, Johnson, a Knoxville special education teacher, had frequently gotten under the skin of Republican leaders, to the point that they had managed to reapportion her out of her seat, leaving her residence six blocks out of her home district. Undeterred, she sat out a session, moved, and was re-elected from a new, adjacent district.
Johnson’s campaign for the Senate brought her to Memphis over the Memorial Day weekend, and at one of her stops, a Saturday meet-and-greet affair at The Broom Closet on South Main, she undertook to explain both her own mission and the failings of Senator Blackburn, whom she accused of being dishonest and a “fearmonger” in the senator’s speeches, press releases, and frequent blog postings in which Blackburn accuses Democrats of a multitude of sins, up to and including disloyalty.
“Instead of focusing on hate and division,” Johnson said, “we need to be focusing on bringing people together, keeping people healthy and educated and earning a living wage, with access to things like paid family leave and childcare infrastructure.”
As an example of the incumbent’s dishonesty, Johnson recalled having seen a video in which “Marsha Blackburn actually said that we’re in a cooling period, that here’s no such thing as global warming. She said that back when she ran in 2018. Bless her heart, science is real. Just to let y’all know, I believe in science and research and data and use it daily. Yes.”
Johnson, who is simultaneously running for re-election to her state House seat, included the GOP legislative supermajority in the General Assembly in her criticism, notably, for their refusal to accept Medicaid expansion.
“Literally, Tennesseans are dying, while we refuse to expand Medicaid. And, you know, it is fair to say that their policies are certainly putting women and girls at risk. They’re putting the LGBTQ community at risk.”
She cited a recent Vanderbilt University poll which, she said, showed state voters favoring “not only medical cannabis, but recreational cannabis. They favor Medicaid expansion. Protecting the public schools. Things like universal background checks and [gun] safe storage, and extreme risk-protection orders or red flag laws.”
The same poll, she said, had her edging out Blackburn with women voters, 49 percent to 43 percent, and close behind the incumbent with other demographic groups.
(It should be noted that the prospect of Johnson’s doing well in a general election race depends, of course, on her winning out in the August Democratic primary, where she is opposed by Marquita Bradshaw of Memphis, who derailed the senatorial hopes of Nashville’s James Mackler by upsetting him in the primary in 2018. Bradshaw was easily beaten in that year’s general election by Republican Bill Hagerty.)
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.
Richard Briseno with his Crawfish Boudin King Cakes (Photo: Michael Donahue)
I’ve sampled many variations of ribs and shoulders at barbecue competitions, but I never tried a “Crawfish Boudin King Cake” at a contest until I recently devoured the one made by Richard Briseno of Metairie, Louisiana.
Briseno, 40, owner of Lovie Enterprises LLC, which makes “Lovie Sauce” barbecue sauce, was on the “Rub Me Tender” team at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.
The team won 10th place in whole hog. Briseno’s Crawfish Boudin King Cake came in near the top third in the seafood category. And his Lovie Sauce came in third place in the vinegar category for barbecue sauce.
When I visited their booth, Briseno let me try one of these “King Cakes.” Honestly, it’s one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten.
Briseno says these savory king cakes can be made with different types of meat, which are ground up and put in a casing and grilled. In this case, it was crawfish, seasonings, and rice all ground up, which comprise boudin, Briseno says.
Briseno and Wes Angel with their 2024 “Rub Me Tender” trophies (Photo: Courtesy Richard Briseno)
He uses Pillsbury Crescent Roll mix to make his dough. He then folds in his stuffing, puts egg wash on it “to give it a little shine,” and bakes it. He adds pepper jelly and lump crawfish tails on top after he takes it off the grill to give it the “sweet and savory profile.” And he adds thinly sliced green onions “just to add a little bit of color to it.”
“Lovie Sauce” is how Briseno became a member of the “Rub Me Tender” barbecue team. “I joined the team in 2022. I came on as ‘the sauce guy.’”
The “Rub Me Tender” team was founded by Wes Angel of Memphis. Ninety-five percent of the team is composed of physicians, Briseno says. “They all went to medical school together and they live throughout the Memphis and Nashville area.
“One of my best friends’ wife went to med school with everybody. They invited me to join a couple of years ago. I thought it would be fun.”
The Lovie Sauce recipe came from Briseno’s mother, Karen Lambert, who, like Briseno, is a realtor. “We’re a mother-son real estate team in the New Orleans area.”
Lambert came up with the sauce after visiting some friends in South Carolina. She wasn’t impressed with the barbecue sauce they were using at a backyard cookout she attended. She said, “I could make a barbecue sauce that was better.”
She began experimenting with sauces after she returned home. On her next visit to South Carolina, her barbecue sauce was “very well received.”
After years of people asking them to get the sauce in stores, owners Briseno, Lambert, and her husband, Jack Lambert, now have Lovie Sauce in about 40 stores throughout New Orleans and the metro area.
Lovie Sauce is a vinegar-based sweet and tangy “multi-functional” sauce, Briseno says. It’s good for “dipping if you want to dip your meats in it, cooking, basting your ribs or pork butt or even chicken. It does well with everything. So, it’s sweet and tangy on the front end. On the back end, right before it goes down you get a little bit of heat.”
His mother is a good cook, but Lambert says, “My mom doesn’t have a cooking background other than what she was taught by her mom. She did her thing and I learned from her.”
Briseno is “not so much in the kitchen. I do a lot on the pit. I have this smoker, so I do barbecue shrimp. I boil tons of crawfish.”
In addition to pork butts and fish, Briseno also smoked cream cheese. He scores the cream cheese, puts a little bit of seasoning on it, and cooks it low and slow in aluminum foil at 225 degrees and drizzles Lovie Sauce over it.
Briseno enjoys his annual visits to Memphis. In addition to hanging out with the team at the festival, he loves “to check out some of the restaurants.”
As for future plans for Lovie Sauce, Briseno says, “A lot of people have reached out who want a spicy version. So, we’ll see what happens.”
People can’t buy Lovie Sauce on the web. “We are not online yet as we are not set up for shopping. Currently, it’s just store-bought.”
Being able to purchase it online someday “is a possibility. People can follow us on Instagram @loviesaucebbq or on Facebook at Lovie Sauce.”
Briseno would like to see the sauce hit the states “that are closest to Louisiana. And see how it’s received in other parts of the country.”
What about Memphis? “Well, it did win an award in Memphis, so that could be a possibility.”
Also, Briseno says, “Since we were so well received this past weekend, I’ve already reached out to a co-packer. We are interested in possibly bringing the sauce to stores across the nation one day. It got such great feedback. We think we really have a great product here.”
Abe Fortas (Photo: Supreme Court of
the United States, Public domain Wikimedia Commons)
Maybe it’s an age thing, but I find that when I’m alone, my internal monologue often turns into an external mutter-logue. The other day, for instance, I found myself muttering the name of Abe Fortas. Fortas, as you may or may not recall, was a Supreme Court justice from Memphis, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. He was a Rhodes College (then called Southwestern College) graduate (like Justice Amy Coney Barrett) before going on to graduate second in his class from Yale Law School.
Known as “Fiddlin’ Fortas” for his prowess on the violin, old Abe had a brilliant career, first as a law professor at Yale, then as an advisor to the Securities and Exchange Commission for President Roosevelt, and later as a delegate appointed by President Truman to help create the nascent United Nations. Fortas was an accomplished man.
Then, in 1969, just four years into his term at SCOTUS, Fortas was discovered to have accepted a $20,000 loan from financier Louis Wolfson, who was being investigated by the Justice Department for possible insider trading. President Nixon, seeing a chance to gain a SCOTUS appointment and push the court in a more conservative direction, asked Fortas to resign. He did.
So why was I muttering this man’s name? Because I’d been reading about the brouhaha(s) surrounding Justice Samuel Alito’s flags flying at his house(s). You know, the upside-down American flag at his home in Washington, D.C., and the QAnon/January 6th conspiracist “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his vacation home in New Jersey. Alito blamed the first flag on his wife, Martha Ann, who allegedly put it up while engaged in a dispute with a neighbor over yard signs. He refused to address the controversy about the second flag.
For the record, the U.S. flag code states that an upside-down American flag can be displayed only “as a signal of dire distress.” I’m not a legal scholar, but I’m thinking a pissing match over a neighbor’s yard sign doesn’t qualify. And I’m thinking Alito knew that.
At this writing, it appears that the Senate is about to stir itself and call Chief Justice Roberts into its chambers to demand some sort of action. No one has yet shown the courage to demand that Alito resign, but at the least, Roberts could urge Alito to recuse himself from any cases related to January 6th. Even that seems unlikely, given that Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted literally millions of dollars worth of gifts and trips from billionaire Harlan Crow — who has had cases before the court — and has suffered absolutely no consequences. Additionally, Thomas’ wife, Ginni, was among those urging Trump administration officials to overturn the 2020 election. Democrats have called for Thomas to recuse himself from election-related cases, a demand he has ignored.
The recusal statute standard that applies to federal judges and justices is not limited to actual bias — it also includes the appearance of bias. For that reason, many legal experts have said that Alito and Thomas should recuse themselves from any January 6th-related cases. Recuse? Resign? Meh. That’s so … 1969.
It’s all about expectations. Lower them far enough, and you can get away with anything. It was expected that Hillary Clinton would be fastidious about her emails. When it was discovered she was sloppy with some of them, the media outrage machine went into front-page overdrive for weeks, probably costing her the 2016 election (and three SCOTUS appointments). Trump’s hiding thousands of top-secret government documents after leaving office? Not so much. That’s just Trump being Trump. In short, if we think someone “should” be acting with integrity and they don’t, it’s news. Otherwise, nah.
So here we are, 55 years after Fortas’ resignation, with a Supreme Court majority mostly hand-picked by the conservative Federalist Society and put forth for Republican presidents to nominate. The justices are mostly Catholic (six of nine members), mostly anti-abortion, and mostly Neanderthal in their attitudes toward the rights of women and minority groups.
Back in 1969, it was expected that Supreme Court justices would avoid any appearance of impropriety. Abe Fortas recognized that what he’d done had irrevocably damaged his standing as a jurist and would become a distraction for the rest of his career at SCOTUS, so he did the honorable thing. Honor. What a concept. It’s a word that’s got me muttering.
Books are and always will be the best part of summer. Assigned summer reading? No, never. But when you get to choose, ah, there’s the sweet spot … until you realize there are just too many books to read and not enough time. That’s why we put the question to Memphis’ booksellers to see what they’re recommending to help make those choices a little easier.
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop by Alice Faye Duncan (Children)
A historical picture book for students by local award-winning author Alice Faye Duncan, Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop focuses on the 1968 sanitation strike that took place here in Memphis. — Jeremee DeMoir, DeMoir Books & Things
Blood at the Root by LaDarrion Williams (YA)
Blood at the Root is a new release that’s taking over TikTok and seems to be an instant book of interest. Its author says it is his version of “If Harry Potter was Black and went to an HBCU.” The book explores the supernatural and the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting. This heart-pounding fantasy series opener is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion. — Jeremee DeMoir
Black Shield Maidenby Willow Smith
The singer of “Whip My Hair” is back with new music and a book for fans of mythology, high fantasy, and historical fiction. The newly released title follows Yafeu, a defiant yet fiercely compassionate young warrior who is stolen from her home in the flourishing Ghanaian Empire and taken as a slave to a distant kingdom in the North. — Jeremee DeMoir
Shit Cassandra Saw by Gwen E. Kirby
A wild ride of 21 short stories from the unbridled imagination of writer Gwen E. Kirby. Anchored by bold female bad-assery, each story instantly demands the reader’s attention.
The whole journey of reading this collection is like a food processor. You are chopped, stirred, pulsed, and crushed. You are shaken up and down and all around and then at book’s end, you are left howling and wanting more.
Funny, tragic, unreal yet real simultaneously, crazy, and savory, every bit of this book is delicious. — Sheri Bancroft, Novel
Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter
dread (n,v): from the Old English drædan, to shrink from in apprehension or expectation; to fear very much.
One of the definitions used in the book. You don’t have to read horror to get dread. If you don’t have enough home made on your own, here it is store-bought. Etter captures that feeling when you have existential burnout in your work, but it turns your senses off enough to not be able to quit.
This chronicling of the Believers (a perfectly apt name) in the tech world is all too accurate. Having worked in corporate America (though not tech, science, or engineering, but tech-adjacent), this is exactly how it feels to be surrounded by the brand attire-wearing masses who are more company cult than culture. — Dianna Dalton, Novel
Two Minds: Poemsby Callie Siskel
Callie Siskel doesn’t miss a beat. Her debut volume, Two Minds, masterfully weaves a thought-provoking exploration of the human psyche, while discreetly grieving her father’s early death. This pulchritudinous elegy delves into the intricate dance between creativity and criticism, and the delicate balance between self-expression and self-doubt. Siskel crafts a narrative that is both deeply personal and universally relatable. Two Minds is a triumph of storytelling, a testament to authenticity, and a shining example of the transformative potential of contemporary poetry. — Blake Helis, Burke’s Book Store
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / James / The Audacity
My summer reading assignment is to reread Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (not read since 7th grade) and then Percival Everett’s James, a retelling of Twain’s novel from Jim’s point of view. Currently I am reading The Audacity by Ryan Chapman, a comic novel about the implosion of an Elizabeth Holmes Theranos-type company. — Cheryl Mesler, Burke’s Book Store
Guitar, 18” x 24” acrylic (Photos courtesy Ron Jewell)
It’s hard out there for an impresario.
For years, Ron Jewell has been all in on the performing arts. In the 1980s and 1990s he was director of marketing for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and after that he joined the city of Bartlett to put together and run the Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center. As director of the facility, he booked the programming and turned it into a venue that drew healthy attendance. After 21 years there, he went over to the Orpheum Theatre Group where he was director of operations for the Halloran Centre for eight years.
But he wasn’t just behind the scenes in the performing arena — he’s had a yearslong run with his one-man show “Mark Twain At-Large” that he’s performed all over the country. He could run a show on either side of the curtain.
As happens with people of a certain age, however, he sensed change was afoot. “I began to prepare myself for retirement,” he said. “The whole concept of leaving a long career in the performing arts seemed like giving in somehow.”
Combustion, 11” x 14” acrylic
He had the finances to retire, but he just wasn’t sure what he’d do. “I just didn’t have any direction for what to look forward to. I wasn’t ready.”
And yet, something was already bubbling up. “About 10 years ago, I asked my daughter, on a lark, to get me a starter painting kit,” he said. “I began to push paint around a canvas without any instruction, playing all over the palette with great folly, while watching a variety of video demonstrations and tutorials on techniques and style.”
Wetland, 18” x 24” acrylic
He finally found his direction. And he’s well aware of how an artist’s initial explorations can go off in any number of ways. “As I discovered new paths for expression, the exhibit may seem, at times, a little tangential,” he said. “But the randomness in styles reflects the search for my own voice. I’ve found a new sense of purpose and rely on my creative energies to navigate what I call the ‘Second Winds.’”
Jewell’s explorations go far and wide, and that suits him just fine.
“I paint for myself, but I’m ready to include my circle of friends. You will excuse my amateurish attempts, but I hope you will also celebrate the never-ending power of an inspired imagination.”
Ron Jewell’s exhibition “Second Winds” is at Gallery Ten Ninety-One at WKNO, 7151 Cherry Farms Road, Cordova. The show runs from June 3rd to June 29th, with an opening reception Monday, June 3rd, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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.
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
The conceptual design for the Tyre Nichols Memorial is slated to be revealed midsummer per The Skatepark Project (TSP.)
According to The Skatepark Project’s director of grants and skatepark development, Trevor Staples, the next steps in the development process will be to unveil the design that was created based on community input.
“This concept will allow stakeholders throughout the community to see not only the potential size and scope of the entire project [and] inclusiveness of the skatepark,” Staples said in a statement.
In April, the Tyre Nichols Foundation along with TSP held a design charette at the National Civil Rights Museum, where community members and stakeholders were allowed to share input on what they would like to see at the skatepark.
Photo Credit: Tyre Nichols Foundation via Facebook
“Successful public skateparks begin with involvement of the community,” Staples said. “The goal of this project is to not only have a place for young people to engage in free, healthy, outdoor recreation, but to create a gathering place for community members across the Memphis area.”
This will be the second skatepark dedicated to Nichols, as TSP helped revamp a skatepark in Sacramento, California with the support from Vans.
“Although we didn’t know him personally, Tyre was part of our community – the skate community – a community that bonds us together,” Staples said. “With that, TSP wanted to support Tyre’s family through amplification of their fundraising efforts, which brought us together and since then we have been working with them in a larger capacity to help their goal of building a skatepark in his honor.”
Keyana Dixon, Nichols’ oldest sister and founder of the Tyre Nichols Foundation, said one of the best ways to honor her brother’s memory is to give back to the community and honor all aspects of his life.
“What I’ve noticed from all of this is that Memphis is a pretty rough place, but he was able to find all the beautiful things there,” Dixon said. “He really enjoyed Memphis — he loved it. It’s a way to have his energy and his space there. It’s hard to stay, but everytime I come to Memphis, I can feel my brother. Like all the love, community support … it’s just felt all the time.”
Dixon said the charette, in conjunction with the community and partners such as TSP and the “Hip-Hop Architect” Michael Ford, showed overwhelming support for the skatepark, knowing that it would not only be a great way to commemorate Nichols, but a safe space for citizens.
“It’s going to draw people from all over the world to come visit the skatepark. It’s going to be a safe space to build relationships and that’s what we got from the charette.
Community input is extremely important to the Tyre Nichols Foundation and TSP in designing the skate park. Both organizations spoke about the many communities being represented in these collaborations.
“It was a lot of skaters, a lot of people from all different walks of life,” Dixon said. “Old, young, Black, white — it didn’t matter, everyone was there in support of this project in honor of my brother.”
TSP and the Tyre Nichols Foundation hope to have a location confirmed by the end of the year.
As Memorial Day approaches and we pay homage to men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, it’s also worth remembering other fallen heroes. And for this writer, Memphis music has produced no greater hero than Phineas Newborn Jr., the pianist who grew up playing Beale Street in his father’s band, then conquered the world with his transcendent talent.
At least, he should have conquered the world. Despite any acclaim he garnered amongst jazz afficionados in his heyday, he was, in his latter years, a supremely troubled human, struggling with the most pedestrian aspects of life in Memphis, a figure typically written off by the well-to-do passing him by on the street. Which made his supreme artistry on the ivories all the more heroic. (Read Stanley Booth’s masterful and poignant portrait of Newborn’s contradictions, the chapter “Fascinating Changes” in his anthology, Red Hot and Blue: Fifty Years of Writing About Music, Memphis, and Motherf**kers, and you’ll see what I mean.)
With Sunday, May 26th, marking the 35th anniversary of Newborn’s passing, this Memorial Day weekend will be an excellent occasion to honor his life and work.
You can find no better starting place than his 1962 platter, A World of Piano!, first released on Contemporary Records, now available as part of Craft Recordings’ Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series, featuring lacquers cut from the original master tapes (with an all-analog signal path) by Bernie Grundman, a Grammy-Award-winning engineer who once worked for Contemporary when it was one of the hippest labels in the country. Craft’s reissue, released on 180-gram vinyl last December, is a sonic marvel.
It’s also a visual marvel. Unlike many reissues which tweak the album art of classic platters, or, worse, try to update the art altogether, this and the other releases in Craft’s Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series pay complete fealty to the aesthetics of the original records. This means that the full experience of the album is in your grasp, right down to the brilliant liner notes by one of the legendary practitioners of that art (and another personal hero), Leonard Feather.
An accomplished musician and composer in his own right, Feather digs deep in these notes and offers the reader some powerful insights. The notes are a tome unto themselves; when was the last time you saw liner notes with footnotes? Better yet, in the first, Feather notes a telling detail that’s usually only acknowledged by Memphians: “1. Phineas prefers to pronounce his name ‘fine-us’ with the accent on the first syllable.”
Feather’s learned approach is in dialogue with Newborn himself. The notes read: “Of ‘Lush Life,’ Phineas says, ‘You’ll notice I used part of the Ravel Sonatine because of its harmonic structure, which is similar to part of the verse of ‘Lush Life,’ stretching out from the D flat to the F minor.'” Who else but a pianist and musicologist would elicit this quote from the virtuoso?
Indeed, the version of Billy Strayhorn’s classic tune here is a dazzler, and, given Newborn’s sheer dexterity and rapid-fire playing elsewhere, beautifully restrained. All Ravel interpolations aside, this is exquisitely sparse, letting Strayhorn’s melody shine in the first iteration, the drums and bass not entering until the chorus begins. This “Lush Life” is a revelation in its simplicity.
Other tunes, like opener “Cheryl,” display Newborn’s fireworks to the utmost, played with a ferocity that caused me to sit up at attention when I dropped the needle. Yet other tracks display the sheer groove of Newborn’s playing, as with the pounding Latin rhythms of “Manteca,” one of Dizzy Gillespie’s signature tunes, here somehow evoking a full horn section with only Newborn’s chordal blocks, hammered as if on a timpani.
“Juicy Lucy” offers a master class in swing, simultaneously lilting, playful, and sultry, while “For Carl” is the epitome of that lost art, the swing waltz. The swaying, 3/4-time number was, as Feather notes, “written by bassist Leroy Vinnegar as his memorial to the pianist both he and Phineas admired” — the one and only Carl Perkins. Actually, strike that…this guy had nothing to do with “Blue Suede Shoes,” so he should be dubbed the also and other Carl Perkins. Yet fully worthy of this beautiful homage, nonetheless.
The grooving is mutual all around, as Newborn finds himself complemented with some of the greatest rhythmists of his time. As Feather’s notes make clear, this was due to the happenstance of Newborn being in Los Angeles for these recording sessions as other bands passed through. Side One swings like it does “thanks to the presence in town of the Miles Davis combo … Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones,” Feather writes, later noting “the presence in Hollywood of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet when Phineas cut Side 2 … Sam Jones and Louis Hayes.”
Such details, along with the masterful reproduction of this album in its original form, put you in that time. Yet it’s not nostalgia that’s summoned up, but the immediacy, the vibrancy, and the modernity of that era. Thanks to Craft Recordings, you can now hold some of that bottled magic in your hands.
