A challenge of Tennessee’s law dealing with the use of public school restrooms and locker rooms by transgender students remains alive after a federal judge declined to dismiss all claims against the state education department and Williamson County Schools.
U.S. District Court Judge William Campbell denied the state’s request in to dismiss the child’s claim of a violation of rights under the Equal Protection Clause.
The judge, however, granted a request to dismiss the child’s claim that her Title IX rights were violated. The ruling notes that because the federal law allows schools to maintain separate restrooms for “the different sexes,” requiring the child to use the restroom based on her biological sex doesn’t violate Title IX.
The judge also dismissed the child’s request to correct all records to reflect her female gender.
Tennessee lawmakers have taken steps in recent years to prevent transgender athletes from playing sports based on their sexual identity. The Legislature enacted restrictions in 2023 on transgender medical treatment and this year adopted a bill preventing adults other than parents and guardians from taking children outside the state for transgender care.
The case against the Tennessee Department of Education and Williamson County Schools involves a 9-year-old transgender child who was male at birth but identifies as female, according to court filings. The child uses “she/her” pronouns and lives socially as a girl by wearing her hair long and dressing in a manner usually associated with girls.
The complaint was brought by a friend and the child’s parents when the child was 8, claiming the Williamson County elementary school she attends requires her to use a single-occupancy restroom, not the multi-use girls’ restroom.
The child claims the school’s “insistence” that she use a separate restroom “isolates her and distinguishes her from her classmates and exacerbates the stress and anxiety she experiences while trying to fit in and avoid being stigmatized on the basis of her sex and gender identity.” The child also claims the restroom designated for her has problems with distance from her class, safety and cleanliness.
The Tennessee Legislature passed the Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act in May 2021, requiring public schools to provide a “reasonable accommodation” to students, teachers and employees who want “greater privacy when using a multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility designated for [their] sex and located within a public school building.”
“Reasonable accommodations” include single-occupancy restrooms or changing facilities or use of an employee restroom or changing facility.
The “reasonable accommodations” don’t include restrooms or changing areas designated for use by members of the opposite sex while the opposite sex is present or could be present. They also don’t require remodeling or structurally changing a school facility, or limiting access to a restroom or changing room designated for use by members of the opposite sex if that creates a violation or state or local building codes.
The new state law defines sex as “a person’s immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth.” It also provides students, parents, guardians, teachers and employees the right to sue public school systems for “psychological, emotional, and physical harm,” including monetary damages, legal fees and costs if they “encounter a member of the opposite sex in a multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility located in a public school building … [and] the public school intentionally allowed a member of the opposite sex [defined as sex at birth] to enter the multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility while other persons were present.”
Campbell denied the child’s request for an injunction against the school district to stop it from enforcing the state law.
Yet the judge opted not to dismiss the child’s claims under the Equal Protection Clause, which prohibits a state from “denying to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” and prevents government discrimination that “either burdens a fundamental right, targets a suspect class or intentionally treats one differently than others similarly situated without any rational basis for the difference.”
The judge’s ruling points out that classifications by the government based on sex are recognized as “a quasi-suspect classification subject to intermediate scrutiny.”
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Wyly Bigger’s new album on MadJack was produced by Mark Edgar Stuart and features a full cast of Memphis players, including drummer Danny Banks, guitarists Jad Tariq and Matt Ross Spang, sax legend Jim Spake, and Stuart himself on bass.
“Hello, Is That You?” is the rollicking first single. “This track is actually a cover of an old tune by a group called The Red Tops out of Vicksburg, Mississippi,”says Bigger. “A couple years before she passed, my grandma gave me her collection of 45rpm singles from the ’50s. I was digging through them and saw a label I’d never seen before, so I threw it on the turntable, and really dug the sound. Come to find out, it was the only recording The Red Tops ever did — just that A-side (“Sewanee River Rock”) and B-side (“Hello, Is That You?”). I started playing “Hello” at some of my shows, and when it came time to start picking a cover or two for the album, I pitched that one to Mark, who produced the record, and he was into it! The original is a bit more big-band-ish, so we decided to rock it more and make it fit my sound better.”
The video was conceived, directed, shot, and edited by Landon Moore. It features Bigger rocking and rolling in some familiar Memphis locations. “For the video, we wanted to shoot it in a place that was relevant to my career with people who were important to me. So we went with Earnestine & Hazel’s, one of my favorite spots in town to play with my band, and I invited a bunch of friends and family to be in it.”
Take a look.
If you would like to see your video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
New rules will change air travel, mandating refunds for flights and eliminating hidden airline fees. In addition, new laws could come soon to limit fees for booting cars in parking lots, and restrictions on “zaza” or “gas station heroin.”
New airline rules
Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued final rules to require airlines to give passengers a prompt, automatic cash refund for canceled and significantly delayed flights, instead of travel vouchers or credits. The idea was proposed, in part, by U. S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis), as a ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
The new rules were part of Cohen’s Cash Refunds for Flight Cancellations Act and Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous (FAIR) Fees Act. The legislation would also protect consumers from “ridiculous” or hidden fees on certain services, though USDOT has not yet ruled on the idea.
“These passenger protections are long overdue,” said Congressman Cohen. “When airlines are responsible for flight delays or cancellations, or do not provide the services that their customers pay for, passengers should be made whole, not tied to airline vouchers or travel credits. I have also heard from many travelers about their frustrations with hidden fees for checked bags, seat assignments, and flight change and cancellation fees that far exceed the costs to provide these services.”
New rules for “booting” and towing cars
In Tennessee, a bill is headed for Gov. Bill Lee’s desk that would prohibit unlicensed individuals from booting vehicles and cap the fee to remove a boot at $75. The legislation was sponsored by state Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin). It also proposes new rules for towing and parking.
“This legislation will protect vehicle owners in Tennessee from bad actors seeking to profit off of immobilizing and confiscating vehicles,” said Johnson. “I’ve received complaints from many constituents who have had to go through unreasonably long and expensive processes to regain control of their vehicles which were unfairly immobilized or towed.
“Unfortunately, our current laws do not provide legal recourse to punish parking enforcers engaged in certain nefarious practices. This bill targets those bad actors and protects Tennessee vehicle owners.”
The bill would require booting be done if only a licensed parking attendant is present in a commercial parking lot. Boots would also have to be removed within 45 minutes of a driver’s call. The legislation would also ensures that vehicle owners are properly notified if their vehicle is being towed, sold or demolished by a towing company. Also, if the towing process has begun, but the vehicle hasn’t left the parking area, the bill requires towing companies to release vehicles to the owner for a fee of no more than $100.
Getting “gas station” heroin out of gas stations
Another piece of federal legislation would ban the sale of tianeptine — sometimes called “zaza” or ”gas station heroin“ — at retail stores, like gas stations. The proposal is from Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey) who said the drug is causing an uptick in calls to poison control centers and emergency room visits. America’s Poison Control Centers said 391 tianeptine cases were reported nationwide last year.
Tianeptine is most commonly used for treating anxiety and depression. However, the drug has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sometimes the drug is abused to create a euphoric, opioid-like effect. A common tianeptine brand is called “Neptune’s Fix.”
“It’s clear that these harmful tianeptine-containing products pose a serious threat to consumers and are jeopardizing the health of our communities, particularly our kids,” Pallone said in a statement. “These dangerous products do not belong on store shelves, which is why I’m introducing a bill today to empower FDA to prohibit the marketing of ‘gas station heroin’ to protect consumers.”
The Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission’s (MSCCC) latest report shows that the overall crime rate, as well as major violent and property crimes and juvenile crimes, saw an overall increase in 2023 compared to 2022.
The crime commission released its 2023 Annual Report. The statistics compare crime in Memphis and in Shelby County. The rates are released in conjunction with the University of Memphis Public Safety Institute.
“The sources of the crime rates issued by the University of Memphis Public Safety Institute and the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission are data submitted to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s (TBI) Tennessee Incident-Based Reporting System (TIBRS) by individual law enforcement agencies,” MSCCC said.
MSCCC mentions that the city has “a lot of positive momentum” in terms of tourism, Tom Lee Park, the construction of the Memphis Art Museum, and more. However, they said in order to propel this “momentum” forward, the area needs to “get a handle on our unacceptably high crime rate.
“We saw some encouraging signs during the latter part of 2023,” MSCCC said. “For the entire year, though, crime rates in almost all major categories moved in the wrong direction compared to 2022.”
The report classifies major violent crimes as murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults, and major property crimes as burglaries, auto thefts, and other felony theft offenses, or larcenies.
Overall crime in both jurisdictions increased from 2022 to 2023, with the city of Memphis reporting 19,962 reported incidents in 2023, compared to 18,554 in 2022. Shelby County reported 15,380 crimes in 2023, and 14,509 in 2022.
According to the crime commission, there was a 52.3 percent increase in murders in 2023 compared to 2022. These incidents were calculated “per 100,000 population.)
Domestic violence incidents were up by 3 percent, and “gun related violent incidents” in the city of Memphis increased by 11.6 percent .
Included in the report is the “Safe Community Action Plan Status Report,” which is one of the solutions towards “reducing violence.” In terms of gun violence, the commission is on track with “vigorous federal prosecution of gun crime as a priority, and “establishing a special Memphis Police Department Unit to investigate aggravated assault incidents involving guns.”
MSCCC reported that they are “on track” with these developments, however they are “slightly behind schedule” on “expanding violence interveners” tasked with preventing “retaliatory violence.” They also said they are behind on “developing and implementing an effort to reduce thefts of vehicles and guns.”
While the city saw an increase in multiple areas, the report concluded that “serious juvenile charges” were down 13.3 percent in 2023 (569) compared to 2022 (656). This follows a trend of decreased charges starting from 2011.
The report does not state what is considered “serious juvenile charges,” however it cited aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, and carjacking as “serious delinquent juvenile offenses.” The commission called these “especially disturbing.”
The statistics show that there was an overall increase in juvenile or charges compared to 2022. “Delinquent juvenile charges” were up by 15.9 percent.
Per the status report, the commision says it is on track with “expanding efforts” to engage with youth prior to committing any offense or “before they encounter law enforcement or the juvenile justice system.” The commission reports that it has developed a system regarding intensive supervision, rehabilitation. and treatment for “serious juvenile offenders.” MSCCC reported it is slightly behind on a plan that helps to “break the cycle of repeat offenders.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) will review a fatal, officer-involved shooting in North Memphis early Friday morning.
Here’s what Memphis Police Department said about the shooting in a Facebook post:
“At 3:07 a.m., officers responded to a domestic violence call in the 3000 block of Dumbarton Road.
Officers arrived and heard an active disturbance inside. Officers located a wounded adult male and were charged at by an armed suspect. One officer discharged their weapon striking the suspect.
The suspect and the wounded male victim were transported to Regional One Hospital in critical condition. The suspect was pronounced deceased and the injured male is now listed as stable. An officer was injured on the scene unrelated to the altercation and was transported to Methodist North in non-critical condition.”
Michael Detroit, executive producer at Playhouse on the Square (Photo: Carla McDonald)
Memphis’ annual Ostrander Awards honor the season’s best local theatrical productions.
Mostly.
But there is one category that gives a standing ovation to someone who has had an ongoing, yearslong impact on the theater scene.
The Eugart Yerian Award for Lifetime Achievement has put the spotlight on these singular people since 1984, and this year, the distinction will go to Michael Detroit, executive producer at Playhouse on the Square, a professional resident theater company.
Detroit started at Playhouse when he came to Memphis in 1989. And he’s done it all: actor (stage, film, television, commercials), director, singer, costumer, choreographer, professor, creator of the Unified Professional Theatre Auditions (UPTA), civic activist, and more.
When Detroit took over at Playhouse from founder Jackie Nichols in 2018, he was more than ready, having been associate producer since 1998. As executive producer, he manages $15 million in capital assets, a $3.3 million annual budget, an endowment of more than $7 million, and 40 full- and part-time employees, including hundreds of contract actors, designers, and directors.
Being ready to take over also helped when the global pandemic hit, forcing arts organizations to rethink how to keep creating — and delivering — art. Detroit and Whitney Jo, managing director at Playhouse, were able to ensure that no staff or company member was laid off because of the pandemic. Further, they devised ways of creating online content to sustain interest and involvement.
Detroit will receive the award at the Ostranders ceremonies on August 26th at the Orpheum.
The Memphis Flyer asked Detroit about the highlights of his 35 years in Memphis.
Memphis Flyer: Tell us about your journey since you came to Memphis in 1989.
Michael Detroit: I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been able to make a living in the arts, which is hard for anybody that goes into the arts. For me, it was a history of piecemealing things together — doing theater, doing video gigs, doing voiceovers, doing print work, and teaching and all the things you did to make a living as a younger artist. And I’ve been able to stay with it and make a living out of it. With that kind of vision in mind, my goal since I became executive producer was to strengthen our ability to have artists have the ability to make a living in Memphis — things like salaries and working conditions and hourly work weeks and all of those things, which is a challenge in any artistic format for sure.
What are some of the initiatives behind your vision?
It goes back to things like UPTA, where we’ve got 1,100 people coming in over four days with 85-plus companies and 850 actors all looking for work that pays across the country. We’re also very committed to partnering with our friends at the Greater Memphis Chamber. Playhouse belongs to seven different chambers and I wanted to make sure that we were doing that so that we were civically engaged, not just an artistic company, but as a small business in Memphis. And that creates an awareness of employees, but just like the big folks out there, like FedEx and IP and Nike and AutoZone, we want to attract and retain the talent that we have here as actors and designers and technicians and admin folks.
You have to have material that they want to work with and work on, but you’ve got to pay them a salary that’s of value to them. And that’s what UPTA was created for, to help folks find work, and certainly to help Playhouse find talent. Coming out of that too, making sure that what we’re bringing to the table is a lot more newer work, perhaps than we had done in the past, and certainly a greater diversity of work than we have been doing in the last, let’s say, couple of decades. So, we’re getting back to our roots in terms of types of shows we’re doing.
You like to see where there’s a need and then take steps to meet it, right?
Yes, things like the Queer Youth Theater Program. We chose to do it, recognizing that as something that’s important for our community, we’ve been able to do that and do it proudly, do it unabashedly. It’s easy to identify issues. It’s challenging to find the right materials to put in front of folks that help push that needle in one direction or the other that reflects that diversity of our community. So yeah, we’re going to do the family shows because that’s part of our community, but then we’re going to do shows that talk about the politics that we’re dealing with right now.
I’ve also been helping theatrical licensing companies realize that Playhouse on the Square in Memphis is a treasure to be had because we can produce things here in the Mid-South that these licensing companies, quite frankly, can’t really license anywhere else. And they realize quickly when we produce things that perhaps they can be produced in other places.
You were instrumental in organizing last year’s arts-centered mayoral forum. How did that go?
We worked with various other folks through the Memphis Cultural Coalition who had strong contacts into the various mayoral candidates committees. We got four of them here at Playhouse to talk to a full house of people, and it was specifically geared towards the arts. It’s something, as far as I know, that had never happened before, and it was extremely successful. We had four candidates committing to creating something or engaging the arts as a way for Memphis to move forward. We see that now in Mayor Paul Young’s messaging. We had a chamber event at the Memphis Botanic Garden last week, and he talked about it there, and he’s talking about it without being fed a line about it. He’s making it part of his platform. If you feed the arts, you feed business. Without a strong professional arts component, especially in a city, you become a tier-two city. And we want to be a tier-one city. It’s important to keep those organizations vital and thriving.
Gabriel Iglesias brings his comedy tour to Memphis this Friday. (Photo: Jose Guerrero)
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month’s Hungry Tiger Tour Various locations Select dates in the month of May This May take a delicious food journey highlighting Memphis’s Asian ethnic communities. Joining the tour is simple! No pre-registration required: Just grab some friends for lunch/dinner — or make some new ones along the way — and get ready to taste the best of Memphis eats. The schedule is as follows: Friday, May 10, 12:30 p.m., at Casarap; Monday, May 13, 7 p.m., at Petals of a Peony; Friday, May 17, 12:30 p.m., Mochi & Mi (inside Rio Grande Market); Monday, May 20, 6:30 p.m., at Sen Trang; Friday, May 24, 12:30 p.m., at Ryu Sushi & Pho; and Friday, May 31, 12:30 p.m., at Mosa Asian Bistro. Find out more about AAPI Heritage Month in Memphis at aapiheritagemonthmemphis.com/2024.
A Picture of Home: Chalk Drawing Competition Crosstown Concourse Friday, May 10, 4-6 p.m. Join Hospitality Hub for a short conversation about the complexities of chronic homelessness and the Hub’s work with encampments, then flex your creativity by creating a chalk drawing of what “home” means to you. Winners will be announced the following week. The Hub will be at the Crosstown Plaza in May raising awareness about Hub Village, which will serve as an innovative solution for emergency shelter and transitional housing for those experiencing homelessness. See the full calendar for programming here.
Gabriel Iglesias FedExForum Friday, May 10, 8 p.m. He’s so fluffy I’m gonna die. And that’s a compliment. And I’m talking about Fluffy, aka Gabriel Iglesias, who’s bringing his Don’t Worry Be Fluffy Tour to the FedExForum. Tickets start at $47 and can be purchased here.
Pickleball Street Party Edge District, 400 Monroe Saturday, May 11, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Don’t put yourself in a pickle this weekend. Play pickleball. Following the Orion 5k, which benefits MIFA Meals on Wheels (sign up here), Pickleball 901 will host the Pickleball Street Party for pickleball newbies and oldies. There will be FOUR pickleball courts along the street, along with great music, food, and local beer all day! All you have to do is show up, sign up, and choose an available court time. First come, first served.
Art For All Festival Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Saturday, May 11, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. You might have an art-attack at the Art For All Festival, a free celebration of all things art. You can expect free admission to the Brooks; musical and theatrical performances from Stax Music Academy, Opera Memphis, New Ballet Ensemble, and more; pop-up galleries and art-making stations from Arrow Creative, Opera Memphis, Metal Museum, UrbanArt Commission, RiverArtsFest, and more; traveling exhibit “I AM” presented by Historic Clayborn Temple; art and culture activations from Orpheum Theatre and Stax Museum; and so much more (seriously, like so much more). Again, this is a free event, but make sure you register here.
Sunset Jazz: Ted Ludwig Court Square Sunday, May 12, 6 p.m. Jazz up your weekend with, well, some jazz. And free jazz at that, thanks to the Sunset Jazz at Court Square concert series. This weekend’s performance will be by Ted Ludwig. Lawn chairs and blankets are welcomed. Oh, and did you see Alex Greene’s article all about the series this week? Go on and get to reading if you haven’t!
Spring Fling: Afrobeats and Island Rhythms The Ravine Saturday, May 11, 5-7:30 p.m. You may have been to Zumba in the Park with David Quarles, but this time he’s brought serious back up — Catherine Marte and Michelle Primiano! Enjoy an extra long dance session with a group of pro instructors plus healthy vendors and music by DJ Sledro to keep you moving all evening in the Medical District’s newest event space, The Ravine!
Mother’s Day Yo mama’s so great, they dedicated a whole day to her. And I bet you forgot. Shame on you. So, lucky for you, here are some things you can do this Mother’s Day, so you can act like you remembered all along. No need to thank me or anything. Just thank your mother. Or don’t if she’s, like, evil or something. I don’t know your life.
Baby Day at the Zoo: Meet the newest members of the zoo family this Mother’s Day weekend, with baby keeper chats. Memphis Zoo, Saturday, May 11, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Blooms & Brunch: A Mother’s Day Weekend Pop Up: Treat the human moms, dog moms, and mother figures in your life to a day they won’t forget with a delightful build-your-own bouquet cart from Hosanna’s Floral Co., delicious brunch from Hustle & Dough, and mimosa and Bloody Mary specials from Bar Hustle. Bar Hustle at ARRIVE Memphis, Saturday, May 11, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Mother’s Day at Memphis Botanic Garden: Treat mom to a libation from the cash bar. Enjoy the Picnic Grove or bring a blanket to pick your perfect setting. Children can plant a flower for mom. Memphis Botanic Garden, Sunday, May 12, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., free with admission.
Mother’s Day on the River: Surprise your mom, mother, meemaw, or granny with a memorable trip down the Wolf River. Wolf River Conservancy, Sunday, May 12, 12:30-5 p.m.
Mother’s Day Brunch at The Guest House at Graceland: Elvis Presley famously cherished his mother, calling her “the most wonderful person in the world.” Show the mother in your life the same love and affection by treating her to a special Mother’s Day experience with great food and live music at The Guest House at Graceland. Guest House at Graceland, Sunday, May 12, $55
Symphony in the Gardens: Celebrate Mother’s Day with Big Band music performed by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra on the Dixon South Lawn. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Sunday, May 12, 5-7 p.m.
Mississippi Moon Festival Presents: Artist Showcase Preview The Green Room at Crosstown Arts Thursday, May 16, 7 p.m. Hear a sampling of 11 musicians performing acoustic Americana music before the bigger Mississippi Moon Festival happens in June in Olive Branch, Mississippi, where 29 local, regional, and national musicians and songwriters make the two-day camping and arts festival a truly unique experience on June 7th and 8th. Thursday’s performance includes Alice Hasen, Josh Thelkeld, Jake Keegan, Lily Brown, Rachel Maxann, Kelly Hunt, Wyly Bigger, Alexis Jade, Sarah Spain, Amber Rae Dunn, and Anna Sharpe. Tickets ($18.54) for the showcase can be purchased here.
There’s always something happening in Memphis. See a full calendar of events here.
The Fugees at the inaugural RiverBeat Music Festival (Photo: Joshua Timmermans/courtesy RiverBeat Music Festival)
After it was discovered that the RiverBeat Music Festival‘s social media accounts posted a clumsily-Photoshopped image that inflated the apparent crowd size (which the festival organizers copped to, blaming the photographer and removing the image), many in the online-iverse ramped up their complaints about the festival, dissing the lineup, the attendance, and even the lack of chain link fencing along the river shore (believe it or not).
Yet, as a musician, a music fan, and journalist embedded in the actual RiverBeat experience, I witnessed throngs of happy listeners and had more than a few magical encounters myself. In the end, that’s what will stay with us. Here, then, are a few personal, highly subjective moments that make a celebration of music on this scale worth the while, complemented by the Memphis Flyer‘s own mixtape.
Charlie Musselwhite The magic began before I even entered the festival gates. Walking along the perimeter toward the entrance, I heard the sound of pure liquid gold ringing out over the river. It was the blues harp of Charlie Musselwhite, known as “Memphis Charlie” in his youth, his family having moved here from Mississippi when he was a toddler, though he was based in Chicago as his career accelerated in the ’60s. To this day, he’s criminally under-booked in Memphis venues, making this moment a rare one indeed. This octogenarian and the melodic flow of his harp are national treasures.
Charlie Musselwhite at RiverBeat Music Festival (Photo: Joshua Timmermans/courtesy RiverBeat Music Festival)
Lucky 7 Brass Band Seeing this group in the charged setting of the festival brought home what a tremendous font of creativity and groove the Lucky 7 can be. As I walked into Tom Lee Park, I heard the familiar strains of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” but far groovier and brassier than the original. It was quickly followed by Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name,” Victor Sawyer’s singing full of the original’s fury, but layered over the forward momentum of a second line groove. An utter revelation.
DJ’s at Whateverland The Memphis gem Qemist took DJing to new artistic heights, weaving together disparate tracks into a whole greater than the sum of its parts. “It’s about to get real Black real fast!” he announced at one point. The crowd gathered in the shade of the fanciful tent shimmied and swayed along with him…even the staff walking past. “I see you, Security! Get your strut on!” he exclaimed. On Saturday, WYXR’s Jared Boyd, aka Jay B, aka Bizzle Bluebland kept up a similar vibe with some fine disco-tinged vibes, puffing on a jumbo cigar as he manned the wheels of steel.
Durand Jones & the Indications I’d never heard this old school soul and R&B vocalist live, but certainly will again after the scorching set he delivered last Friday afternoon. The very on-point band formed over a decade ago at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, but a distinctly more Southern flavor of soul springs from Jones’ roots in Hillaryville, Louisiana. “I feel like I’m an ambassador of the rural South,” he quipped at one point. “I’m just a boy from a town of about 500 people, and our land is being taken away from us. It’s about time we saw what is going down.” Midway through their cover of Irma Thomas’ “Ruler of My Heart,” Jones spoke wistfully about a young man who came to Memphis “with just a guitar” and made Thomas’ song his own, bringing the house down with Otis Redding’s version, “Pain in My Heart.”
Talibah Safiya We just profiled this neo-soul/hip hop auteur, and, armed with fresh new tracks from her new album and a tight live band featuring MadameFraankie on guitar, she held the Stringbend Stage last Friday with aplomb. Even in the group’s tight execution of beats there was a playful looseness, exemplified when, seeing a few sprinkles in the air, they launched into an impromptu take on “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” That soon gave way to more of Safiya’s originals. “Look to your right,” the singer called out to the audience, pointing to the Mississippi River. “Let’s honor that body of water,” she said, and then launched into perhaps her most popular track, “Healing Creek.”
Carla Thomas at the RiverBeat Music Festival (Photo: Joshua Timmermans/courtesy RiverBeat Music Festival)
Take Me to the River Having written about the group assembled by Boo Mitchell in last week’s cover story, I knew this would be a special moment, but it exceeded all expectations. Lina Beach, the young guitarist for Hi Rhythm, rocked her originals with verve, Jerome Chism delivered soul standards like “Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You” with passion, and Eric Gales delivered some scorching guitar work that was both virtuosic and soulful on “I’ll Play the Blues for You.”
While Mitchell is naturally grounded in Royal Studios and Hi Records, that latter song’s provenance in the Stax catalog confirmed that Hi Rhythm was the perfect vehicle for all stripes of Memphis soul. That was especially clear when Carla Thomas took the stage, cradling a crutch in her right hand but looking spry as she exhorted the crowd to do some classic straight-eighth note “soul clapping” while the band vamped on the intro to “B-A-B-Y.” She followed that up with the song her father Rufus put on the charts, “Walking the Dog,” whereupon Chism appeared with a small pup wearing ear protectors. That in turn was followed by the inimitable William Bell delivering stone classics like “I Forgot to Be Your Lover,” making the Take Me to the River set a festival highlight.
No Blues Tent, Plenty of Blues As if to make up for the lack of a blues tent, always a fixture at Beale Street Music Festivals, the blues seemed to crop up everywhere at RiverBeat. Kenny Brown brought the Hill Country Sound on day one, laconic and completely at ease as he unleashed guitar licks with his trio. On Sunday, the Wilkins Sisters brought their unique gospel-blues straight out of Como, Mississippi, just as their late father, Rev. John Wilkins, and their grandfather, Rev. Robert Wilkins, did before them. As lead singer Tangela Longstreet said, “We lost our daddy in 2020. But I can still hear him telling me, ‘Don’t stop singing, baby!'”
And there was more of that sanctified blend from Robert Randolph & the Family Band, as the master of sacred steel guitar delivered a sermon from the church of good times. In his hands, the pedal steel guitar became an engine of squeaks, squalls, and heavily distorted riffs. Indeed, their finale of “It Don’t Matter” was the weekend’s personal highlight of unfettered abandon, and, judging from the way Boo Mitchell and Lina Beach were dancing, they felt the same. Such high energy blues were also apparent in Southern Avenue‘s fiery set, wherein the humble acoustic guitar played by Ori Naftaly on most of the tunes presented country blues riffs amped into overdrive, adding a new grit to their sound.
Yet there were blues in more unexpected niches. Lawrence Matthews‘ latest work draws heavily on sampled blues in the Fat Possum Records catalog, and his anti-hype attitude, sitting calmly on a stool as he delivered his rhymes was only underscored by the bare-bones country blues guitar underpinning much of his work. Al Kapone has also taken to blending his hip hop vision with the blues, and that was on full display in his Saturday set, especially on the dread-laden “Til Ya Dead and Gone (Keep Movin’).”
Al Kapone and Mayor Paul Young at RiverBeat Music Festival. (Photo: Chris McCoy)
And finally, bringing it back full circle to classic soul revivalism , there was plenty of blues in a groovy set by Rodd Bland and the Members Only Band, the horn section’s evocation of his father Bobby “Blue” Bland’s classic take on the minor-key “St. James Infirmary” giving this listener chills. Some of those same great horn players appeared with the Bo-Keys as they backed up singers Emma Wilson and John Németh in a stomping soul set. Are players like Jim Spake, Marc Franklin, Kirk Smothers, Tom Clary, and Tom Link becoming the new de facto Memphis horns? Their presence on the RiverBeat stages, and so many records cut here, suggests as much.
Memphis is a Star Perhaps the most striking pattern of the weekend was the way that the biggest stars of the event expressed their gratitude for playing our city. Of course, that was to be expected of Memphis-based mega stars like 8Ball & MJG, who made their set ultra-topical when they announced, “We’re going to dedicate this to the mayor!” then launched into their hit, “Mr. Big” in honor of Mayor Paul Young. Fellow hip hop star Killer Mike also got very specific in his love of the Bluff City, paying homage to both Gangsta Boo and Jerry Lawler in one breath.
There were plenty more tips of the hat to our city. Black Pumas singer Eric Burton called out the city many times, but his greatest tribute was perhaps through his vocal style, which one friend described as “Al Green without the horns.” Their psychedelic soul fit the riverfront crowd like a glove.
The Fugees‘ electrifying set also embraced our city in very musical ways. The crowd went mad as Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean (sans Pras) performed “Zealots,” with its distinctive sample of The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes For You,” but no one could have expected them to shift that beat into a shuffle for a lengthy bridge, wherein their crack ensemble sounded like nothing so much as a consummate Beale Street blues band. Aside from the mere fact of their appearance at the festival, quite a coup for RiverBeat’s organizers, they showed their love of Memphis in myriad small ways, as when Hill sang “killing me softly in Memphis,” or turned the line “embarrassed by the crowd” into “embarrassed by Memphis’ crowd.” Naturally, the crowd ate it up.
Jelly Roll at the RiverBeat Music Festival (Photo: Joshua Timmermans/courtesy RiverBeat Music Festival)
And yet, fittingly, the most involved embrace of the Bluff City came from Tennessee native Jelly Roll, who closed out the weekend just before Sunday’s second downpour descended. As the set was still warming up, the Antioch, Tennessee native shouted, “It feels so good to be back in my home state!” Later, he quipped “Since we’re in one of the birthplaces of rock and roll, I figured we’d play a little rock and roll,” before launching into “Dead ManWalking.”
But then he got more personal. “When I was growing up, my family would drive down to for Memphis in May, to be right here in front of this river,” he said. “I feel like this is God’s exact fingerprint on the bible belt, right here.” He noted his disbelief at now being on the festival stage where his musical heroes once played, then added, “I cant express how honored I am that you people are out there standing in the fucking rain for this!”
Then he began to reminisce: “When I was 13, we were all listening to rap. I’d go up to my brother’s room, looking for whatever smelled like skunk. And someone gave me a mixtape from Memphis, Tennessee labelled Three 6 Mafia.” As the night wore on, he displayed his formidable rapping chops, even calling out his old friend in attendance, Memphis rapper Lil Wyte. It peaked when he described his influences as “somewhere between Hank [Williams] and Three 6 [Mafia],” then launched into his mega-hit, “Dirty South.” The multiracial crowd went wild in the drizzle, celebrating the hybrid confluence of the many musical styles that typify Tennessee, Memphis, and the RiverBeat Festival itself.
Destructive winds, very large hail, and strong tornadoes are possible with a band of storms that could reach the Memphis area overnight.
The National Weather Service predicted the threat of severe storms across the area Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The storm could bring winds up to 80-plus miles per hour, and hail up to 2-plus inches. A flood watch is also in effect.
“I urge all citizens within the Mid-South area to have multiple ways to receive weather alerts,” said Brenda Jones, director of the Shelby County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. “There are mobile applications for your phone, local news coverage, and/or a NOAA Weather Radio.”
The agency said severe weather that occurs overnight is especially dangerous when tornadoes are involved. Scattered power outages and damage to trees and structures are possible due to damaging winds and lightning.
The National Weather Service Memphis has been tweeting about the potential for a damaging storm all day Wednesday. The agency went live on Facebook Wednesday afternoon to talk more in depth about the storm. Follow them on X for more details as the storm develops.
Here are the individual wind, tornado, and hail probabilities. All three of these hazards have the potential to cause 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙩 impacts overnight. pic.twitter.com/XmO0PQNPLj
If you live in a manufactured home, now is the time to make alternate plans for sheltering overnight. Consider staying with a friend or relative, or at the very least locate your nearest public storm shelter. Prepare NOW! It could save your life! ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/TDooxAHnjm
Here are some things you can do RIGHT NOW to prepare yourself and others for severe weather overnight:
• pack a go-bag with flashlights, batteries, and water • put shoes and socks next to your bed • go into your phone's settings and make sure Wireless Emergency Alerts are ON pic.twitter.com/nMYTgEvqYx
The potential storm canceled the weekly test of the tornado alert system that sounds each Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
We are postponing the NOAA Weather Radio Test today due to the severe weather threat. Please still turn on your radio to ensure you hear a broadcast loud and clear! pic.twitter.com/oh5ORWTe5c
As of this afternoon, Memphis Light, Gas & Water had not made any public statement about preparations for the storm. However, the utility had retweeted several posts from other agencies, noting that they were aware of the potential of damaging weather.
Hollywood is not exactly a place where justice flourishes. But aside from all of the sexual assault, and the way some white guys keep failing upward, one of the biggest injustices in Hollywood is the fact that there is no Academy Awards category for stunt work.
I don’t know if you’ve looked at a movie lately, but stunt performers are getting more screen time than ever. Many great pioneers of cinema built their reputations on hair-raising stunts: Think Charlie Chaplin roller-skating backwards on the edge of an abyss in Modern Times, or Buster Keaton riding on a locomotive cow catcher, batting railroad ties off the tracks in The General. Jackie Chan, the king of the Hong Kong stunt performers, has broken so many bones his injuries were shown as outtakes in his film’s credit sequences. Chan’s pain became part of his star attraction.
It’s not like stunt work is not artistic. Look at the greatest film of the 21st century, Mad Max: Fury Road, and tell me the pole cat attack, where the performers are swinging on 20-foot poles mounted on vehicles traveling 80 miles per hour, is not artistic. Even if you do define “art” more narrowly, there’s still the existence of technical categories like Best Sound Design and Best Visual Effects. Stunt work is every bit as necessary for the success of the film as the talented professionals in those categories.
And look, if you want to jazz up the rating of the Academy Awards (and who doesn’t want jazzier ratings?), adding categories where Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious could win something is just the ticket.
One person who definitely agrees with me on this, the most pressing issue of our time, is director David Leitch. He’s a former stunt performer himself, having been at one time Brad Pitt’s stunt double of choice, before directing the star in Bullet Train. He’s also the co-creator of the John Wick franchise, which has taken fight choreography into the realm of modern dance. The Fall Guy is his love letter to the world of stunt performers. It’s the rare action movie that really feels like it’s made with love.
It’s also relentlessly inside baseball because there’s nothing film people like more than films about themselves, or “self-reflexivity” in film theory-speak. The Fall Guy is ostensibly based on a TV series from the 1980s starring a post-Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors as a stunt man who solves crimes. (In the 1980s, it was a requirement that every TV star had to solve crimes. But I digress.) In a weird way, The Fall Guy owes a great deal to Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night, the 1971 romantic comedy about a film set that’s always on the verge of falling to pieces but never quite does.
Leitch’s star is Ryan Gosling, and to say he’s perfect for the role of Colt Seavers is a profound understatement. The source material is a notoriously rich vein of Reagan ’80s masculinity, with Majors driving a truck and singing country music between bringing in bounties. Gosling brings some much needed Kenergy to the role. This Colt Seavers cries to Taylor Swift songs. There’s not too many actors who could convincingly make a phone confession of their love to their girlfriend, director Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), while also fleeing from assassins in a stolen speedboat.
Jody and Colt met years ago when she was a camera op and he was the preferred stunt double for megastar Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). While filming Tom’s latest sci-fi blockbuster, their relationship evolves from a semi-recurring, on-set fling (which is a fairly common thing in the film world) to something more serious. Then, producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) insists Colt do another take of a dangerous high fall. Colt’s luck runs out, and he wakes up on a stretcher with a broken back.
Eighteen months later, Colt is hiding out in Los Angeles, working as a valet at a Mexican restaurant, when Gail catches up with him. Jody is directing her first big feature film, a passion project she and Gail have worked for years to put together. They need Colt for a big stunt, a dangerous cannon roll on a beach. Jody has personally asked for him, Gail says, to support her as she tries to make good on her first big break. More inside baseball: Jody’s “passion project” is apparently a remake of the 1983 movie Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, a 3D debacle so notoriously awful it is nowadays only watched by sick cinematic masochists such as myself.
Colt arrives on set in Sydney and pulls off the spectacular stunt, which in real life broke the Guinness World Record for most on-screen rolls by a car — a fact the film-within-a-film’s stunt coordinator Dan (Winston Duke) points out. But Jody’s not happy to see Colt. She was crushed when he cut off contact after the accident, and tells him via bullhorn as she repeatedly sets him on fire. “That was perfect! Let’s do it again!”
When Colt confronts Gail, she reveals the real reason he’s been brought on board. Tom Ryder has gone missing, and since he and Colt used to be tight, Gail thinks he would be the best at discreetly tracking down the wayward movie star before Jody and Universal Pictures find out he’s gone AWOL.
Gosling and Blunt are breezy and charming, and the supporting cast all understand the assignment. The whole point of the now-forgotten TV series was to cut to the chase, forget about all those pesky story beats, and get to the good stunts. The Fall Guy is at its best when it’s putting its small army of crack stunt performers through their paces with the safety wires and crash bags fully visible for once. It only makes the stunts more harrowing by emphasizing the human frailty of the performers.
