Author: Jake Sanders

Categories
Fun Stuff News News Feature

A Lasting Legacy at Paula & Raiford’s Disco

Paula Raiford serves 40s (and more) at the club’s bar. (Photo: Shara Clark)

A dazzling array of flashing lights cuts through the fog, shining on an illuminated dancefloor packed with moving bodies and vibrant outfits. Countless handprints line the walls from people all over the world. Shimmering disco balls and silver dance poles fill the room, echoing the untouchable era of ’80s disco. This is your average weekend night-out at Paula & Raiford’s Disco, which has taken home several years’ worth of Best Nightclub awards in the Flyer’s Best of Memphis. To the owner, Paula Raiford, “The wins mean a lot. The way dad grew the old Raiford’s and now the new Raiford’s … it means we’re doing a great job.”

The original location at 115 Vance Avenue, Raiford’s Hollywood Disco, won several Best After-Hours Club awards in the 2000s. Since Paula & Raiford’s Disco opened in 2009 at 14 South 2nd Street, it’s taken home multiple consecutive wins for Best After-Hours Club, Best Dance Club, and Best Nightclub.

The original Raiford’s Hollywood Disco was open from 1976 until Paula’s dad, Robert “Hollywood” Raiford, retired in 2007. But retirement didn’t suit the Raifords. Just two weeks later, Paula decided to give it another shot: “I was getting my hair done and started booboo cryin’. I missed it!” But before Paula & Raiford’s Disco opened in 2009, they made sure the new location kept the original Raiford’s Hollywood Disco charm, with big speakers on the floor “like an old house party,” a lit-up dance floor, silver dance poles, a fog machine, and her dad running the DJ booth. These are just some of the nonnegotiables in the legendary disco club. She was ecstatic when her dad continued running music for the club, too. “He came back for the music,” says Paula. The same sound system that bumps in Raiford’s today was built by her dad.

As Raiford’s approaches its 50th year in Memphis, it’s seen the Memphis nightlife scene shift and grow into something new. “We had a whole lot of blues clubs back in the day. … We don’t have them anymore.” Even as the outside world changes, Raiford’s stays the same. Paula attributes the club’s authenticity to her father’s legacy: “My dad left a spirit in here. If you met him, he’s one of a kind … the music, the decor, the spirit of people, the lights, the action, the fog. Other places make it really pretty — not like Raiford’s isn’t pretty, but it’s not a 2025 bar; it’s got old rhythm and old recipes.” Other parts of that recipe are the iconic 40s that Paula herself serves every Friday and Saturday night. Each guest strolls between the velvet ropes on the red carpet before heading inside. “If they can’t walk the red carpet in Hollywood, they can walk it at Raiford’s,” Paula says. The final product of the recipe: the power to evoke viral nostalgia from all their guests. Anyone and everyone can grab a true taste of the ’80s after their first step inside, no matter what generation. And that’s something other clubs just can’t fake.

Past the bar is another Raiford’s special: the drum set. Paula says she isn’t exactly sure where it came from, but it’s been in both disco club locations for decades. “Anyone can play, anyone who can’t play, it’s open season.” That same relentlessly accepting attitude is the final secret ingredient to Raiford’s. “I treat everyone the same, no discrimination. We just let everyone be themselves.” 

Paula is optimistic about the disco wave coming back around. “You see the bellbottoms coming back, so never say never,” she says. When I tell her I missed out on original ’70s disco, she says, “You did, a little bit, but different generations are still appreciating Raiford’s, and it’s great to be loved.” Paula still believes young people can bring in a new era of incredible disco. She tells me a story of a woman throwing a Raiford’s-themed birthday party in her garage. “It looked just like Raiford’s. She used paper for the handprints, the ‘Love Love’ sign, all the special things we have over here.” 

“Love Love” is one of Paula’s life slogans, and it’s written on the alley walls right next to the club. It’s part of the history she’s been writing for decades, and it’s what she hopes to leave behind. “I’m going to leave a legacy of love. Loving yourself, loving each other.” 

Categories
Fun Stuff Music News News Feature

Play On, Amro

Amro’s distinctive wall of windows, graced by a white grand piano (Photo: Andy Mannis)

For nearly 20 years, Amro Music has won the Flyer’s Best Music Equipment Store in Memphis. Regarding the long-standing honor, vice president and co-owner Nick Averwater says it’s as simple as customer and employee satisfaction: “This is our people telling us that we’re doing a good job.”

You’ve certainly driven by Amro. Located on Poplar Avenue next to the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, its iconic piano sign displays the weather or phrases like “Music Makes You Smarter.” “Most people know us as that music store with windows,” says Averwater. Inside is an abstract arrangement of stringed instruments and pianos. The historical Piano Gallery is housed in the lot next door. This dates back to Averwater’s great-grandfather, Sil Averwater, who founded Amro in 1921. “He was on his way to L.A., seeking fame and fortune, and made a stop in Memphis. Nobody was teaching piano, so he opened his windows and played for passersby. That was marketing back then.” 

The century-old shop eventually grew to serve school orchestras in rural farm communities outside of Memphis. It continues that practice today, repairing and providing instruments for students in Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. 

Walking into Amro, an array of shining saxophones, trumpets, and trombones rests above a fire-engine red keyboard. Dozens of stringed instruments hang on the north wall, with hundreds of music education books (for all skill levels) in accompaniment. 

Music has been part of Averwater’s life since childhood, he says. “I’m a product of music education … and Memphis should have a music culture. It makes our schools and communities a better place.” As they reach their 104th year, their mission of nourishing students has remained unchanged. “School orchestras might not be the blues or clichéd Memphis music, but it’s a vibrant cornerstone.” 

Averwater asks if I want a tour. I expect a walk around the floor and a couple of employee greetings. Instead, we walk through the repair shop upstairs. He shows me specific tools, cleaning methods, lighting fixtures, and mechanical approaches to repair. The brass section is flush with bright overhead lights. One mechanic, Jason, solders a brace back onto a trumpet. “Without the light, I wouldn’t be able to see this,” he says, pointing to a minute dent near the mouthpiece. He learned how to repair instruments at Amro, where he’s been working for the past three years. He got his first trumpet at Amro in fifth grade and went on to march in the University of Memphis band. 

Nearby are the woodwind mechanics, who work in a much darker space. “They utilize the shadows to better analyze their instruments,” says Averwater. One technician feeds an illuminated fluffy tube through a saxophone while fluttering the valves. I’m not sure what he’s doing, but it looks very professional. Yet the extent of their work goes beyond examinations and soldering. “We’ve seen ’em run over by cars, dropped off buses. … There’s not much that would surprise us anymore,” says Averwater. “We’ve seen it all, and then some,” says Nico, another repair technician. 

I also see a mountain of instrument cases. Averwater says it’s the line of instruments waiting to be repaired. There were two rooms full of French horns, tubas, trumpets, trombones, oboes, saxophones, and more. “Those instruments represent a kid who doesn’t have an instrument … and they need their instrument to learn.” The shop churns out nearly 300 instruments a week for students all across the Mid-South. 

The tour ends with a framed, original copy of Sil Averwater’s first piano instructional book, titled Amro System of Popular Music. As fourth-generation co-owners, Averwater and his cousin, CJ Averwater, both consider family to be an incredible foundation behind Amro’s success. 

To Averwater, it was never a question whether to join the family business. To contribute to such an integral part of Memphis’ youth is nothing but a privilege, he says. “We could sell something else, but we get to sell musical instruments.” 

Categories
Food & Drink Fun Stuff

A Breakfast Legacy: Brother Juniper’s

One of Brother Juniper’s delicious breakfasts (Photo: Brother Juniper’s | Facebook)

Brother Juniper’s has been voted “Best Breakfast” by Memphis Flyer readers for more than 20 years. The classic breakfast joint on the Highland Strip serves famously delicious and large portions of original family recipes dating back over 50 years. 

“It’s an honor to win,” says owner Sarah Elliott. “We keep trying to put out the best food that we can with high-quality ingredients.” 

We talked over a plate of one of her favorite meals: a potato dish with bacon, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, green onions, sour cream, and an over-easy egg. I pierced the egg and watched the golden yolk coat the smoked bacon and roasted potatoes. “We get our eggs from an Amish farm. … They have the bright orange yolk … and we serve it with love.”  

Brother Juniper was an Italian monk who cooked for St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century. Brother Juniper’s restaurants, a product of a missionary-outreach program, began opening across the country in the 1960s. The last remaining location is right here in Memphis. Elliott’s parents, Jonathan and Pauline Koplin, bought the restaurant when she was 12, and she’s been working there ever since. Elliott recently purchased the restaurant, making her the new official owner. She says her family has been helping her with the transition. “It’s stressful, but I’m so excited. I’ve grown up here and know all of the ins and outs.” 

Brother Juniper’s first Best of Memphis win was in 1999, the same year Elliot’s parents took over Brother Juniper’s College Inn in Memphis. Since then, they’ve added merchandise, hot sauces, jellies, catering, and most importantly, new and creative menu items. “There were about five omelets on the menu back then, now there are 15,” says Elliott. She’s the brains behind one of their most ordered dishes: the cinnamon roll pancakes. “Not to brag, but they’re really popular,” she says. The dish includes two massive pancakes with cinnamon sugar swirls and cream cheese icing. They also added a coffee bar in 2010, which serves classic espressos, lattes, and more. “Some people come in just for a cup of coffee or to-go drinks, and we had to keep up with the hipster coffee spots,” says Elliott. 

Many of the menu items come from Elliott’s family. “A lot of it was my dad, Jonathan. My grandmother was such a good cook that he learned most of it from her.” Besides the Koplin family’s contributions, other recipes originated from previous Brother Juniper’s owners across the country. The familial contributions are what take their dishes to the next level. 

Besides serving the best breakfast in Memphis for over 20 years, Brother Juniper’s also serves Memphis citizens and nonprofits. Local artists’ vibrant paintings add pops of color to the walls by the coffee bar. Elliott mentions Lindy Tate, a frequent customer who’s had art on the walls “forever.” Beyond that, they promote and support different nonprofit organizations each month on their “Community Spotlight” bulletin board. There’s a tip jar by the entrance for cash donations and information about each organization. Brother Juniper’s also welcomes all Memphians to a free Christmas dinner every Christmas Eve. To Elliott, these parts of her business are nonnegotiable. “We want to be more than a restaurant.” 

While my fork scraped the bottom of my plate, Elliott painted the scene of a typical Sunday morning at Brother Juniper’s. “There’s a crowd waiting outside the doors. … The dining room fills up, and people start running around like chickens with their heads cut off.” They’ll serve hundreds of customers in the 10.5 hours they’re open on Saturdays and Sundays. The restaurant runs with an all-hands-on-deck team effort, says Elliott. She’ll wait tables if they’re short-staffed, run food, take coffee orders, greet arriving guests, and even step into the kitchen to help cook. She mentions Brother Juniper’s feature on Rachael Ray’s show, $40 a Day. “She kind of put us on the map for nationwide attention. That helped us blow up a bit.”

As Elliott takes the reins, she’s preparing to pass on the same traditions to her own children. “I have two little kids who will grow up here, and they already help me out. It’s great to keep the legacy.” 

Categories
Music Music Blog

Cooper-Young Porchfest’s Fifth Time Around

Porchfest 2025 (Photo: Ian Schiller)

On Saturday, April 12th, the Cooper-Young Community Association (CYCA) held their fifth annual Cooper-Young Porchfest. At 70 degrees under sunny blue skies, it was perfect weather for the 130 bands that performed on 46 porches and patios. Hundreds of Memphians walked around the neighborhood in shorts, summer dresses, and short-sleeves, listening to original music, classic covers, DJ sets, and even a comedian at 2034 Evelyn Avenue.

Reflecting on Porchfest’s founding in 2021, CYCA executive director Amanda Yarbro-Dill says, “We had about 40 bands sign-up.” Five years later, Porchfest has more than tripled the musical artists involved. “I opened up registration in February. At the end of the week, I had 80 bands signed up, so I had to take down the form,” says Yarbro-Dill. Fifty additional bands were then booked by Cooper-Young residents and businesses who took matters into their own hands.

Some even scheduled “secret shows”: A house on York Avenue had a pop-up show that drew a great crowd. I asked Yarbro-Dill if this spontaneity complicated her job: “It doesn’t belong to me, just because I organize it,” she said. “If you live in the neighborhood and you want your friend to play on your porch, go ahead!”

Yarbro-Dill spent the first half of the day selling shirts at the gazebo outside Margarita’s. Acts like Alexis Jade + The Gemstones and The Eastwoods performed nearby on the patio outside Mulan Asian Bistro. After that, Yarbro-Dill joined the masses and bounced from porch to porch, reaping the benefits of her work. After the six hours of music, her day was capped off with a drag show.

The bands she saw included Jeff Hulett and The Hand-Me-Downs on Felix Avenue. Hulett, a five-year Porchfest veteran, has been performing at the same house every year. To him, the residence has “become a second home. … We show up and they’re like, ‘What kind of beer you want?’” The homeowners are Joel and Lindsey Alsup. Hulett remembers meeting them at the first Porchfest during peak Covid. “Fast friends, immediately. … Every time Porchfest has come around, I’d have no choice. They were like, ‘We want you.’”

Hulett’s been playing shows around Memphis for over 20 years, but Porchfest is something special. “Huge crowd, beautiful weather. … Seeing the neighborhood so activated … people riding bikes, walking around, people meeting each other.” Hulett and The Hand-Me-Downs were the “headliners” at Felix Avenue and played an hour-and-a-half set of originals. “It’s special,” he said. “The only change I’d wanna make is being able to see more music.”

For Yarbro-Dill and Hulett, Porchfest is about accessibility and community. “I’ve never said no to a band before,” says Yarbro-Dill. “I saw a Flyer article about a band who said their first show was Porchfest.” It’s much more than free live music. Porchfest is a community event that shows Memphis’ love of and commitment to the arts. If you missed it this year, don’t fret. Yarbro-Dill assured me it will continue in 2026.

Categories
Music Music Features

Strickland Entertainment: Locals Thinking Big

Zach Jennings, co-founder of Strickland Entertainment Agency, plays in Crooked Diehl. (Photo: Ian Schiller)

On Sunday, March 30th, Growlers hosted a four-band bill organized by local booking agency Strickland Entertainment. The lineup boasted Arc of Quasar (a psychedelic rock duo out of Mississippi), Zoë Dominguez (a punk singer/songwriter out of Rhodes College), Degenerate Breakfast (a University of Memphis alt-rock outfit), and Alexis Jade and the Gemstones (a smooth Americana five-piece). Each young talent brought their own creative energy; performances featured a saxophone solo, a sitar, a Marcy Playground cover, and all types of fresh, original music. “We love booking bands with different styles,” says Zach Jennings, the first half of Strickland Entertainment. “We’re trying to expose people to each other, new fans seeing new bands and vice versa.”

That’s an approach well-suited to Memphis, which doesn’t have a cookie-cutter Nashville-type sound. It may be home to the blues and rock-and-roll, but there are far more sides to the Memphis music scene. “You’ve got old jazz and blues cats on Beale playing Albert and B.B. King, then you’ve got a country band at Tin Roof, then a DJ right next door, then you’ve got hardcore shows at the Hi-Tone,” says Malcolm Bryan, Jennings’ business partner. To Bryan and Jennings, uniting these different parts of the community is what Strickland is all about. “It’s not about genre; … it’s about community. … These are people we believe in as artists, and we want to help them out.” 

Arc of Quasar is a psychedelic rock duo out of Mississippi. (Photo: Malcolm Bryan)
Strickland co-founder Malcolm Bryan (Photo: Ian Schiller)

Bryan and Jennings founded Strickland Entertainment Agency six months ago. Both local musicians and former Rhodes College students, they’ve spent the past three years navigating the booking scene with their own blues rock band, Crooked Diehl that I’m a part of. That meant going out to bars, digging through social media, countless email chains, and persevering past the classically fruitless response: “Yeah, we’ll make sure to call you back.” How to get a gig is the big question for all young musicians. Strickland Entertainment is looking to offer a solution.  

At the start of their music careers, Jennings and Bryan faced plenty of their own booking struggles. “We talked with Ford Garrard in Boy Named Banjo about how no one would email us back. He suggested the idea of creating a booking agency to send emails from. … Suddenly people started getting back to us,” says Bryan. 

The agency started out with who they knew: fellow Rhodes College artists. At the time, it was Zoë Dominguez, The Narrows, and Philip Nye, three artists they’ve seen in the classroom and on stage. At first, their services were mainly sharing contacts and sending emails. “We try to take the annoying part out of music: sending a booking email, setting up a show. We already had a solid contact list from gigging around Memphis,” says Bryan. Now, the entertainment agency is beginning to see the market they can tap into. “Booking is how it started, but there are tons of bands around Memphis who need a contact for a photographer or someone to do art for them,” says Jennings. 

Crooked Diehl has taken Bryan and Jennings on shows all around the South. They organized their own tour for summer 2024 through South Carolina. For them, the process was rinse and repeat. “We would go out to bars, venues, restaurants, get a couple beers, and tell the bartender we’re trying to book a band.” Most places would slide them a crinkled receipt with a contact and never call back, so they kept going back until they got a name and a response. “No one really took us seriously till we got on stage, then they’d ask us to come back,” says Bryan. 

Their latest artist, Degenerate Breakfast, was on the March 30th bill at Growlers. Bryan and Jennings discovered the University of Memphis band through a local bill and reached out. Now, Degenerate Breakfast has their album release show scheduled for May 2nd at the Hi-Tone. They’ll be sharing the stage with local acts The Narrows and ¡El Chavos!. Zoë Dominguez, another Strickland artist, will also be playing at B-Side on April 26th, along with Avon Park and Crooked Diehl.

The duo talks about their goals for each show they book: “We’re always trying to bring in a bigger crowd,” says Jennings. Their time in Memphis has shown them that crowd size can be a problem. “It’s tough to get people to come out and see you, even if they say they will,” says Bryan. But this is part of a larger problem; it’s why local clubs and festivals close down. “We’re working on promoting and getting our name around Memphis so audiences can keep up with our artists.” And after their successful first show at Growlers, Strickland is looking to grow. 

Bryan and Jennings strive to lean into their personal experiences as musicians with Strickland Entertainment. To them, that will be what makes them successful. “I feel like most people in music business booking went to Belmont [University], studied at school. … Being musicians, we know exactly how things should run,” said Jennings. “You can’t learn all of it in school. Booking changes city to city. Nobody tells you how it works in Memphis.” 

The two have had their fair share of booking mishaps around town, as well. “We’ve met a lot of people that do booking who have never even been to the venue they book for. We were playing at Tin Roof and the booking agent told us to pull up front for load in, right in the middle of Beale, which you can’t do.” Suffice it to say, they didn’t move the police barricades, so the band ended up using a nearby parking garage. 

Bryan and Jennings’ motivations for pursuing this as a real career come from their love of the Memphis music scene. “It’s all about building up the community. It’s one thing to move to a city like Nashville and work with a bunch of big industry names, but starting from the ground up feels so much more impactful.” Even as their brand continues to grow, Strickland Entertainment’s Memphis roots won’t change. For them, success means starting something new in a city full of young and determined talent. “Memphis has always been known for that. It put itself on the map.”

Categories
Music Music Features

Jombi: Your Local Psychedelic Rock Outfit

Guitarist Sam Wallace (Photos: Amanda Smythia)

Along with headliners Missy Elliott, Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals, and The Killers on the lineup for this year’s RiverBeat Music Festival will be local Memphis band Jombi. The genre-bending group consists of four members: Auden Brummer, Sam Wallace, Bry Hart, and Caleb Crouch. All native Memphians, they’ve brought their electric live performances to countless venues here, as well as Nashville, New Orleans, North Carolina, and elsewhere. Last week, I sat down with them in the Mike Curb Lodge at Rhodes College, their frequent rehearsal space.

Essentially, Jombi is a group of “lifelong friends,” Hart says. They started at School of Rock in Memphis, a nationwide music education program for young players. Hart and Brummer began at the school in 2013, playing medleys and cover shows with other students. Crouch and Wallace joined the program around 2016. Now, Hart, Brummer, and Crouch all teach at School of Rock.

Guitarist Auden Brummer

But the four always had an appetite for their own project. In 2020, they started rehearsing at Hart’s house, adopting the name “The Jombi Jam Band.” The name stuck, but not without some resistance. Crouch and Hart remember questions like “That’s the name?” and “In two years, that’s what y’all are gonna be?” Not to mention the occasional mix-up with Outer Banks character John B. Now, almost 5 years later, Jombi has released an EP and two studio albums, and toured throughout Memphis and the South. 

Out to Pasture was the band’s sophomore album, a project that wholly demonstrates Jombi’s multi-instrumentalist skills and collaborative songwriting. Wallace wrote the lyrics and sings on the track “Break/Melt,” a haunting and hypnotizing 5/4 tune that highlights the band’s long-established chemistry and rhythmic finesse. Brummer coined the hook for “Nothing Left to Say,” the band’s highest-streamed song on Spotify. Hart recalls why he loves that lyric: “It’s poetic but it’s simple.” Hart writes plenty of lyrics for the band as well. He even “hears Auden’s voice in [his] head” when working on his own projects. The band regards Crouch as “the musically educated” one in the group. Their widespread talents ooze out of their music. It’s no surprise they’re preparing for their biggest festival date yet.

Caleb Crouch on upright bass 

RiverBeat came onto Jombi’s radar after a show at Overton Square a couple of months back. Post-performance, Hart met Brent Logan, the talent buyer for Mempho Presents, who organizes RiverBeat, Mempho Music Festival, Shell Daze Music Festival, and more. Logan liked their set, and the two exchanged contact information. Hart told Logan, “We just wanna throw our name in the hat” for Mempho-sponsored festivals. The band was disappointed when they didn’t see their name on the Shell Daze lineup. They thought, “[It] was our only chance. … We’re not gonna play RiverBeat.” 

Just a couple months later, Logan texted Hart asking if they wanted a spot at the Tom Lee Park festival. Hart got the message in the middle of teaching a lesson, but quickly found Brummer (who was with his own student) to share his excitement. Before committing, though, the group had to make sure: “Can Sam do it?”

Wallace, besides being their lead guitarist and certified “noisemaker,” is a student at Belmont University in Nashville. Before giving Logan the green light, Hart, Brummer, and Crouch had to confirm that he was available for the festival weekend. To no one’s surprise, the answer was a resounding yes. 

Being in the other music city three hours out of Memphis, Wallace says there have been challenges, but nothing that wasn’t worth overcoming. “[I] give up a piece of my college experience to be in Jombi,” he says. He says he’s gone home six weekends in a row before. But, for Wallace, a six-hour round-trip is worth it for his family, friends, and incredible gigs. “I just went home to fucking play with Futurebirds.” Wallace is referencing Jombi’s show at 1884 Lounge last fall, where they opened for the big-time touring band out of Athens, Georgia. Now, he’s going home to play on the same day as Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals. 

From their roots at School of Rock to album release shows at the Pink Palace Planetarium, Jombi has shown an equal amount of determination and talent since their formation in 2020. RiverBeat is just the beginning, too; Hart says the gig is “totally lighting a fire under our ass.” Jombi’s songwriting won’t be stopping anytime soon, and neither will their touring. They’re preparing to embark on their Spring Fling Tour, with dates in Nashville, Birmingham, and more. Keep an eye out for their next studio release and get your tickets now for RiverBeat on the weekend of May 2nd. 

Categories
News News Feature

Alliance Healthcare Services Brings a ‘New Day for Mental Health’

Groundbreaking of Alliance’s Children and Youth Crisis Center (Photo: Jake Sanders )

Last Friday, Alliance Healthcare Services held the opening of its new 24/7 Crisis Wellness Center on Broad Avenue, the final product of a $34 million project that broke ground in September of 2023. Along with 18 other locations, Alliance says it serves “as Shelby County’s only countywide mental health facility.” The organization also works to promote wellness and mental health awareness in Memphis.

A group of representatives attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, including Mark Billingsley (executive director of the Alliance Foundation), Laurie Powell (Alliance Healthcare Services CEO), and Marie Williams (commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services). Local officials including Mayor Paul Young and Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis also attended the ceremony. 

Alliance’s expansion addresses a larger issue of mental health in Tennessee. According to the University of Memphis’ SMART Center, “There is a serious known mental health workforce shortage.” Further, “approximately 60 percent of Tennessee residents who need mental health services do not receive treatment.” A majority of these residents are located in rural and urban underserved areas where mental health support is not present. 

Alliance opened just over 40 years ago. They provide outpatient mental health services, addiction recovery services, and crisis services for the Memphis community. According to their LinkedIn, they employ “more than 350 caring, licensed professionals.” 

During her speech, Powell described how Alliance partners with first responders to direct arrested/detained individuals to proper care and treatment. She said Alliance “divert[s] around 400 people a year or more” from misdemeanor jail time. Once again, Alliance’s work is touching on a much greater issue: “About two in five people who are incarcerated have a history of mental illness (37 percent in state and federal prisons and 44 percent held in local jails),” according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Powell announced how the new crisis center will be “the only detox facility in Shelby County that serves the uninsured.” Anyone in need of crisis services can get immediate care and attention, regardless of their income or socioeconomic status. The SMART Center reports, “Common barriers to treatment … include stigma, lack of insurance, and limited availability of providers.” Alliance has structured their services to help combat these barriers. 

A large number of benefactors helped fund the new Crisis Wellness Center. Alliance received $7 million from Tennessee and will continue to receive $4.4 million in annual funding. Other contributors include the city of Memphis, Day Foundation, First Horizon Foundation, Assisi Foundation of Memphis, and others. Billingsley also noted “angel” philanthropists who have donated to the project. 

The February 14th opening also marked the groundbreaking of Alliance’s new Children and Youth Crisis Center, located next to the new Crisis Wellness Center. This is part of a greater movement to address the need for youth mental health services and awareness in Memphis. A SMART Center study, conducted pre-Covid, found that “22.3 percent of youth had scores indicative of clinical depressive symptoms, which is higher than the 13.2 percent estimated prevalence of youth depression.” During his announcement of the youth crisis center, Billingsley emphasized that Alliance aims to serve everyone, “from 4 years old to 100 years old.” The Children and Youth Crisis Center is set to open in early 2026. 

Alliance’s new Crisis Wellness Center will be in full operation on February 25th. This marks a “new day for mental health in Memphis and Shelby County,” said Billingsley, but “our work is not over.”

Categories
News News Feature

Sam Morril’s ‘The Errors Tour’ Stops in Memphis

Sam Morril (Photo: Matt Salacuse)

Comedian Sam Morril just kicked off “The Errors Tour” and is bringing his act to Memphis. A native New Yorker, Morril has been doing stand-up for 20 years. Last week, he talked with the Flyer about the tour, Bodega Cat Whiskey, and that one time he forgot his pants.

The slight wardrobe malfunction occurred last time Morril came to Memphis. “I forgot pants. I had to wear baggy Nikes.” He tried searching for alternatives, but only found cowboy jeans, which don’t exactly fit his style: “I’m gonna look dumber in this than sweatpants,” he says. That was two years ago, and, luckily, it wasn’t bad enough to keep him from the Bluff City. Since then, Memphians may have seen one of Morril’s six comedy specials, his recent Netflix performance, or his YouTube podcast.

Morril co-hosts the We Might Be Drunk podcast with comedian Mark Normand. Morril explains his role in the podcast as “the straight man,” meaning he maintains some composure while Normand can lean into his jokes: “Mark is literally farting on guests. … I kinda have to pull back a little bit.” The comedy duo started We Might Be Drunk roughly three years ago, and, with guests like Blake Griffin, David Spade, and Hasan Minhaj, have since amassed millions of views and nearly 200,000 subscribers. 

Last December, Normand and Morril took part in Netflix’s Torching 2024: A Roast of the Year, sharing the stage with Jeff Ross, John Stamos, Tim Dillon, and Ms. Pat. Morril and Normand cracked jokes about Luigi Mangione, Jeffrey Epstein’s pilot, and Ross’ unlikely resemblance to a fat Jewish dictator (Benjamin “NetanYoo-hoo”). Morril’s on-stage persona at this event seemed less of “the straight man,” but the duo’s banter was still on point. Evidently, Morril’s podcasting and stand-up roles are different. “On stage,” he says, “it’s my show and I can control the tempo.” 

Morril’s most recent solo work, You’ve Changed, premiered on Amazon Prime last summer. 

He’s been described as “reliably funny,” but what’s more distinctive is his genuine passion for the art: “I love stand-up. I love writing jokes. I love writing scripts,” he says. And he’s made this more than clear. Back in 2020, Morril released his second comedy special, Up on the Roof, which was shot during the beginnings of the pandemic. The special was quite simple, really. All Morril needed was a roof and some New Yorkers in need of surefire comedic relief. With just an amp and a mic, Morril is good to go. “That’s the beauty of stand-up,” he says. “I can go on stage drunk and pretty much be the same. I really just need a mic and a crowd and I’ll be good.”

Despite his podcast name, Morril isn’t known for being a stage drunk (he prefers “stage-whore”), but he and Normand did recently launch their own brand of whiskey: Bodega Cat Whiskey, named after the feline population of New York’s iconic bodega stores. It’s not yet available in Tennessee, but Morril says, “It’s coming.” 

Clearly, Morril is a busy man. Specials, whiskey, podcasting, touring, writing, the list goes on. This level of work can come along with the big stage of comedy. But Morril still reflects on his early days as a comedian (before people hit him up to do podcasts): “I do miss how much I was able to give to stand-up. … There’s something really cool about those low-stakes shows.” 

Despite his packed schedule, Morril’s game has never been stronger. His relatability hasn’t dwindled with his rise to fame, and neither has his material. He talks about his motivation as a young comedian: “No one knowing who I was … was kinda cool. … Having a chip on your shoulder as an entertainer or a writer is a good thing. … It pushes you.” 

Sam Morril’s The Errors Tour comes to Minglewood Hall, Sunday, February 16th. Hopefully he remembers pants.

Categories
Music Music Features

Why Aren’t Big-Time Acts Coming to Memphis?

Photo: Courtesy Archimania

If you live in Memphis, you’ve likely heard phrases like “home of the blues,” “heart of soul music,” and “birthplace of rock-and-roll.” Ask anybody; even Google AI insists (so it must be true). Yet Memphians have also seen their favorite artist skip over FedExForum for a tour stop in Little Rock. Despite the rich musical talent and history, Memphis is not a popular destination for national tours. Last-minute cancellations are not uncommon either, as seen just a few years ago with Drake and Moneybagg Yo. Still, locals pride themselves on a vibrant and historical music scene, which is undeniably true. Stax Records, Royal Studios, the Memphis Drum Shop, Easley McCain Recording, Sun Studio — the list goes on. Online lists of the nation’s distinguished music cities frequently rank Memphis in the top 10. But, over the past couple of decades, Memphis has resembled a black hole in the major touring circuit. If asked why, artists would likely say it’s not personal, just business. 

Simply put, ticket sales here are unpredictable. Memphis has a reputation as a “walk-up” city, meaning tickets are typically bought as a last-ditch effort instead of far in advance. This could be related to Memphis’ relatively low socioeconomic level. This is not to say Memphis has no appetite for live music. Just look around: Music is everywhere. There are roughly 60 locations within Memphis city limits that provide live music and entertainment, and these locations would not be paying musicians without their ability to attract an audience. 

Last December, a partnership between national entertainment agency Live Nation and Crosstown Concourse spawned the construction of a new Memphis venue. Sitting right next to the Concourse, the 1,500-seat venue is expected to host roughly 100 events a year, ranging from comedy to corporate meetings to concerts. Similar types of events can be seen at The Green Room at Crosstown Arts or The Crosstown Theater, albeit with smaller crowds. According to a press release, the new venue is projected to bring more than 150 music industry jobs to Memphis, with base starting salaries of $20/hour, (theoretically) filling a Nashville-sized hole in Memphis’ professional music market. The press release steers clear of this comparison; rather, their plan is to “honor Memphis’ rich musical heritage while filling a key gap in the market, providing a platform for artists eager to perform in the city.” Here, in this almost-mission statement, lies the mysterious “black hole” of live music in Memphis. 

By filling a market gap, Live Nation means providing a more “legitimate” venue for big artists to schedule shows. But what about all the other larger venues in Memphis? There’s Minglewood Hall, Memphis Botanic Garden’s Radian Amphitheater, FedExForum, and even smaller locations like Lafayette’s Music Room that have boasted plenty of national acts. Is this “gap” due to a lack of venues, or is it a lack of artists’ interest? The latter seems more likely. But Live Nation’s massive list of nationwide artists likely bolsters their confidence to “fill the gap.” This is what Sherman Willmott, founder of Shangri-La Projects and local music expert, feels the public should be focusing on.

“I think the lede here … is not the venue; it’s Live Nation booking. They’re filling a big empty hole that started with the death of Bob Kelley. Over that time period of the last 25 to 30 years, there’s been no … full-service promotion in town,” Willmott says. Bob Kelley, booker and promoter of Mid-South Concerts, died in 1998. The booking world since then has become “monopolistic. … There’s very few providers.” Memphis especially is not known for large booking agencies/promoters or music business infrastructure, hence the potential impact of Live Nation booking on the Memphis music scene. Memphians will have access to hundreds more artists in pop, indie, electronic, hip-hop, country, and more. Even if the venue starts out slow, Live Nation will likely be able to keep it afloat long enough to catch on. “There’s no one with deeper pockets,” says Willmott.

The introduction of Live Nation to Memphis could point the city in a new direction regarding industry jobs, but 150 of them is a lot to promise. Willmott says he does not “see them hiring that number of people,” drawing on comparisons between the Orpheum Theatre and The Green Room, each of which has a smaller staff. But if the new venue does hire that many, it’s possible for a larger music business market to open up in Memphis. 

Naturally, there are some fears and questions about a nationwide corporation like Live Nation (recently involved in an antitrust lawsuit) digging their claws into the Memphis music community. But Willmott points out the role of Crosstown Concourse in the new venue’s booking process: “Bookings at Crosstown are … between 70 and 90 percent local artists.” After all, Crosstown was designed to uplift the community arts, and events at The Green Room or Crosstown Theater do just that. Further, the vertical village supports education (Crosstown High School) and healthcare (Church Health). It is hard to imagine Crosstown wavering from this community-focused vision, even when working with a corporate giant like Live Nation.

Sure enough, things are changing around Memphis. RiverBeat Music Festival is back for its second year in a row, boasting an even bigger lineup of global artists as well as a surefire program of lively and talented local artists like Jombi and Lina Beach. Grind City Brewing Company and Barbian Entertainment just announced a new venue, Grind City Amp, boasting a max capacity of 4,500 and a deep backdrop of Downtown Memphis. The outdoor venue is set to open in the spring of 2026. Although Live Nation and Crosstown have not specified their venue’s opening date, there seems to be a new era of shows coming to Memphis. Let’s hope our favorite artists start showing up on the bills.