Author: Memphis Flyer

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Editorial Opinion

What They Did, What They Said

As news got around on Sunday that Osama bin Laden was dead and that he had been made so by direct purposeful action by military representatives of the American people, a great deal of satisfaction was expressed about that fact, and, almost miraculously, none of it was ghoulish and very little of it had a vengeful sound.

For the most part, our representatives in Congress mirrored this sense of the moment and reflected President Obama’s own emphasis — that justice had been done, that a mass murderer had received his due, and, correspondingly, that patience, courage, and dedication had received their just rewards:

“We did not tire, we did not falter, and we did not fail. Justice has been done.” — 7th District U.S. representative Marsha Blackburn.

“The mission after 9/11 was to get Osama bin Laden. Our troops did it and they did it in a spectacular fashion. I’ve always been proud to be a member of the House and an American. I’ve never been more proud than today when I think about our soldiers who put themselves in harm’s way to truly protect our country and to keep our freedoms.” — 9th District U.S. representative Steve Cohen.

“I commend all the brave men and women in uniform who selflessly serve overseas and sacrifice so much to keep America safe and secure. We are a grateful nation to these service members for their heroic actions that have brought justice to all Americans.” — 8th District U.S. representative Stephen Fincher.

“… [A]ll of us have in our hearts and minds the victims of 9/11 and hope that somehow, in a small way, this event helps bring some conclusion to what has happened in their lives.” — U.S. senator Lamar Alexander.

“I would like to congratulate the men and women of our military for a courageous mission and our intelligence community for accurate and important intelligence. I would like to congratulate the president for his persistence in bringing a mass murderer to justice. And I would especially like to salute the men and women of our military services, who for the last 10 years have fought terrorism.” — U.S. senator Bob Corker.

The emphasis here was uniform and clear. Brave and determined Americans had distinguished themselves in righting a wrong. Period. No gloating, no bloodlust, and no recriminations. Except …

Senator Corker went on to raise an issue that is on a lot of minds, justly so: “… [T]he discovery that bin Laden was living in comfortable surroundings merely 35 miles from Islamabad calls into question whether or not the Pakistanis had knowledge that he was there and did not share that knowledge.”

This, too, needed saying. For even in this moment of well-earned closure, even in the midst of a democratically inclined “Arab Spring,” there is reason for ongoing concern and continued vigilance. We still have not identified all of the perils out there, nor can we truly say that we have fully and compassionately understood the part of the world from which this latest threat has sprung. The task is still what it was — to confront and deal with reality. Ignorance is the ultimate enemy.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Weathering the Moment

Remember last summer? The unrelieved intensity of day-after-day sweltering heat? The grinding sweat-soaked afternoons, the groaning all-night air conditioners? Oh well, that’s just Memphis is how we consoled ourselves. Then came a painfully abbreviated fall, followed by the winter that would not stop. We may have lost count. What was it? Four full snows? Or five?

And with spring came not your proverbial March winds and April showers but full-time winds, thunderstorms, and tornadoes — none of it conforming to the expected time frames made cutesy and tolerable by vintage Tin Pan Alley lyrics and all of it recurring with abnormal frequency. How often these days do we turn on, say, Survivor, to find instead one of our all-too-familiar TV weather analysts standing vigil over menacing Doppler screens and warning us, for real, that our own survival has become an issue?

It takes a real talent for denial to imagine that none of this means anything — that it’s all just part of a natural cycle, that “nature” will take care of itself. Or, if not, that with the proper coaxing and/or show of deference God will take care of us. Apropos that latter hope, we are reminded of the good sense, both religious and secular, of the old saying: The Lord helps those who help themselves.

And we would say that, indeed, He already has by allowing for scientific discovery after scientific discovery, demonstration after demonstration, fair warning after fair warning that there is something ominous but perhaps correctable called climate change. The trouble is that all of that advance information goes for naught if we ignore it, pretend it isn’t there, or argue that it isn’t what it seems to be.

A great deal of media attention has been devoted of late to a bill that, by fits and starts but inexorably, has made its way through the Tennessee legislature — the so-called creationist bill, HB 368, with its deceptive insistence on an open-mindedness toward certain subjects. The devil is definitely in the details on this one. The subject of evolution, specifically mentioned in the text of the bill, has drawn most of such public and editorial concern as has been expressed. But the fact is that other subjects are also singled out for special state-sponsored skepticism: the “chemical origins” of life, human cloning, and — what a surprise — climate change.

In one sense, as more than one observer has noted, the bill merely supports “critical” thinking, which, pursued in a pure and honest sense, is a good thing. In another sense, it relegates these relatively cosmic matters to the same limbo where more mundane issues of state go to be warehoused when they are shunted off to this or that committee for “study.”

Climate change is on TV now, more or less full time. It’s something to do something about, not just think about, as we sit with kith and kin, huddled and hunkered down, in the bathrooms or such other windowless spaces as we can find in our all-too-vulnerable households.

The issue goes beyond silly legislation. We’ve already studied it, and it’s a matter of life and death. Really.

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Cover Feature News

Beale Street Music Festival | April 29 – May 1, 2011

Combining perhaps its most impressive group of contemporary stars ever with the usual mix of legends, blues sure-shots, and terrific Memphis artists, Memphis in May’s Beale Street Music Festival is primed for one of its best and busiest years. The festival has become one of the largest music festivals in the country, routinely drawing over 150,000 fans to the banks of the Big Muddy. This year’s lineup should only help continue the festival’s popularity, bringing roughly 60 acts from a variety of genres and generations for a three-day celebration of the city’s mighty music heritage.

The Beale Street Music Fest divides acts among four stages — along with a “blues shack” — in Tom Lee Park, a 33-acre site that sits at the base of historic Beale Street and stretches along the majestic Mississippi River.

On Friday night, fans can see modern alt-rock at its most psychedelic when the Memphis-connected MGMT and theatrical Oklahoma rockers the Flaming Lips headline the Horseshoe Casino Stage. Pop fans can witness an interesting combination of radio juggernauts with rapper B.o.B. and songwriter Jason Mraz on the Bud Light Stage. Meanwhile, fans of hard rock or blues can camp out for veteran stars such as Stone Temple Pilots and Jimmie Vaughan on the MATCU Stage and in the FedEx Blues Tent, respectively.

On Saturday, a rich, diverse collection of alt-country/roots-rock acts highlight the Bud Light Stage, featuring Grammy-certified folk-rockers Mumford & Sons and headliner John Mellencamp, who will mix familiar hits with selections from his recent, partly Memphis-recorded album No Better Than This. The Horseshoe Casino Stage will pair a couple of Southern rap stalwarts with Memphis’ 8Ball & MJG and Atlanta’s Ludacris. An eclectic bill on the MATCU Stage will range from jam (Lotus) to indie (New Pornographers) before capping off the night with jazz (Kirk Whalum) and soul (Gap Band singer Charlie Wilson). Meanwhile, the Blues Tent goes Chicago with headliners Magic Slim & the Teardrops and Otis Clay.

On Sunday, alt-country and folk-rock fans will want to be at the Horseshoe Casino Stage where locals (Lucero), a legend (Gregg Allman), up-and-comers (the Avett Brothers), and contemporary stars (Wilco) will share the stage. Hard-rock fans will be at the Bud Light Stage for the head-banging sounds of bands like Drowning Pool and Godsmack. An interesting pairing on the MATCU Stage brings together Memphis rap legend Al Kapone and former Atlanta rapper turned smash pop singer Cee Lo Green. And the FedEx Blues Tent bookends a potentially amazing day from the sacred-steel sound of Miami’s Lee Boys and the deep-soul singing of comeback star Bettye LaVette.

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Cover Feature News

Saturday Schedule

Bud Light Stage

Amy LaVere 2:30 – 3:40 p.m.

Paul Thorn 4:05 – 5:20 p.m.

Jerry Lee Lewis 5:45 – 6:50 p.m.

Mumford & Sons 7:15 – 8:30 p.m.

Lucinda Williams 8:55 – 10:15 p.m.

John Mellencamp 10:50 p.m. – 12:20 a.m.

___________________________________________

Horseshoe Casino Stage

One Less Reason 2:20 – 3:30 p.m.

Sick Puppies 3:55 – 4:10 p.m.

Hinder 5:35 – 6:50 p.m.

8Ball & MJG 7:15 – 8:25 p.m.

Ludacris 8:50 – 10:10 p.m.

Ke$ha 10:40 p.m. – 12:10 a.m.

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MATCU Stage

Lotus 2:25 – 3:35 p.m.

The Experimental Tropic Blues Band 4:00 – 5:15 p.m.

The New Pornographers 5:40 – 6:55 p.m.

Macy Gray 7:20 – 8:35 p.m.

Kirk Whalum 9:00 – 10:15 p.m.

Charlie Wilson 10:45 p.m. – 12:15 a.m.

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FedEx Blues Tent

Travis Wammack 2:15 – 3:25 p.m.

Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-Stage Coalition 3:50 – 5:05 p.m.

Devon Allman’s Honeytribe 5:30 – 6:45 p.m.

Reba Russell Band 7:10 – 8:30 p.m.

Magic Slim & the Teardrops 8:55 – 10:15 p.m.

Otis Clay 10:45 p.m. – midnight

___________________________________________

SoCo Blues Shack

Blind Mississippi Morris 3:00, 3:45,4:30, & 5:15 p.m.

Brad Webb 6:15, 7:15, 8:00, & 8:45 p.m.

___________________________________________

Amy LaVere

Bud Light Stage • 2:30 p.m.

The bass-slappin’ roots/pop chanteuse Amy LaVere has emerged as the city’s most viable local musical export. Her third album, A Stranger Me, is scheduled for this summer.

Paul Thorn

Bud Light Stage • 4:05 p.m.

A former professional boxer, Mississippi native Paul Thorn’s path to alt-country singer may be a confusing one, but it also may have contributed to his informed perspective as a songwriter.

Jerry Lee Lewis

Bud Light Stage • 5:45 p.m.

“The Killer”: no introduction needed in these parts.

Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons

Bud Light Stage • 7:15 p.m.

This English folk-rock quartet deploys traditional instruments on their debut album, Sigh No More, released in the U.S. early last year. Since then, they’ve built a large audience, culminating in Grammy nods for “Best New Artist” and “Best Rock Song” (for their single “Little Lion Man”).

Lucinda Williams

Bud Light Stage • 8:55 p.m.

The alt-country/folk-rock stalwart Lucinda Williams built her reputation on 1988’s Lucinda Williams and 1998’s Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Since Car Wheels, Williams has become more prolific: five albums, including the new Blessed, showcasing her juke-joint riffs and evocative vocals.

John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp

Bud Light Stage • 10:50 p.m.

Some may snicker at the artist formerly known as Johnny Cougar for his Chevrolet commercials and rigidly blue-collar ethos, but there’s no denying the genius-level accessibility of his music.

One Less Reason

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 2:20 p.m.

Tennessee’s One Less Reason flirted with major labels before settling on a career as independent power-ballad revivalists. They’ve since released a string of successful underground hard-rock records.

Sick Puppies

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 3:55 p.m.

Australia’s Sick Puppies moved to the U.S. to “make it,” and thanks to a video clip for the song “All the Same,” the band pretty much has. Sick Puppies trade in emotional, metal-tinged modern rock.

Hinder

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 5:35 p.m.

Hard rockers Hinder rose to prominence in 2005. Since then, the band has delivered a string of catchy, cocksure albums.

8Ball & MJG

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 7:15 p.m.

This duo is arguably the most well-respected hip-hop artists from Memphis. The smooth-rapping 8Ball and the more gruff-voiced MJG have remained relevant, as demonstrated on their 2010 album Ten Toes Down.

Ludacris

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 8:50 p.m.

Whether lighting up stages or recording studios, Ludacris has evolved into one of contemporary hip-hop’s most reliable stars.

Ke$ha

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 10:40 p.m.

Ke$ha is a high-concept performer situated somewhere between Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. If you’ve been anywhere near a radio over the past couple of years, you’ve heard “Tik Tok” and “We R Who We R.”

Lotus

MATCU Stage • 2:25 p.m.

Equally popular on the jam-rock and electronica scenes, Lotus expertly toe the line between noodle-y guitar experimentation and feel-good dance anthems.

The Experimental Tropic Blues Band

MATCU Stage • 4:00 p.m.

Allegedly influenced by Elvis and the rockabilly-punk band the Cramps, the Experimental Tropic Blues Band should fit in nicely at the Beale Street Music Fest. The band hits town as representatives of this year’s Memphis in May honored country, Belgium.

The New Pornographers

MATCU Stage • 5:40 p.m.

The New Pornographers combine the songwriting talents of Carl Newman and Dan Bejar with the strong vocals of secret weapon Neko Case. The band’s hook-laden power pop has been showcased on standout albums such as Mass Romantic and Electric Version.

Macy Gray

MATCU Stage • 7:20 p.m.

Macy Gray burst on the scene in 2000 with her single “I Try,” which showcased a blend of pop, soul, and jazz styles. Gray was Grammy nominated for “Best New Artist” then and has shown staying power with five studio albums, most recently the well-reviewed 2010 album The Sellout.

Kirk Whalum

MATCU Stage • 9:00 p.m.

Memphian Kirk Whalum has long been one of the go-to guys at the intersection of jazz, pop, and soul. But he’s broken out with the soul-centered Everything Is Everything: The Music of Donny Hathaway and the spiritual The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter III.

Charlie Wilson

Charlie Wilson

MATCU Stage • 10:45 p.m.

As the lead singer for the Gap Band, Charlie Wilson has a claim to classic R&B jams. But he embarked on a musical second life as the new century began, going solo to connect the Gap Band sound with a new generation.

Travis Wammack

FedEx Blues Tent • 2:15 p.m.

Local guitarist, singer, and session musician Travis Wammack is probably best known for “Scratchy,” the mid-’60s instrumental rock gem that has been covered by many over the years. He currently serves as the musical director for Little Richard’s touring band.

Jimbo Mathus &

the Tri-State Coalition

FedEx Blues Tent • 3:50 p.m.

James “Jimbo” Mathus has never achieved the commercial success as a solo artist that he once enjoyed with the Squirrel Nut Zippers. But the quality of Mathus’ recent solo output far outweighs the impact of the Zippers’ long-forgotten neo-swing artifact Hot.

Devon Allman’s Honeytribe

FedEx Blues Tent • 5:30 p.m.

Drawing on the blues-rock legacy laid down by the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, and the Allman Brothers, Honeytribe is led by the youngest star from one of jam-rock’s first families and combines high-energy Hammond B3 chords, Latin percussion, and straightforward blue-eyed soul.

Reba Russell Band

FedEx Blues Tent • 7:10 p.m.

An internationally regarded blues singer as well as a proud local product, Beale Street diva Reba Russell returns to Music Fest. Joining her will be an excellent collection of local blues players, including the dynamite harpist Robert “Nighthawk” Tooms.

Magic Slim & the Teardrops

FedEx Blues Tent • 8:55 p.m.

Magic Slim & the Teardrops have won “Band of the Year” at the Blues Music Awards multiple times and are up for the honor again this year. The band first emerged in the ’70s but hit their recording stride over the past two decades with a series of highly regarded albums.

Otis Clay

FedEx Blues Tent • 10:45 p.m.

Otis Clay is Mississippi-born and Chicago-bred, but the soul singer hit his peak in Memphis at Hi Records. Clay’s Memphis years are best know for the hit single “Trying To Live My Life Without You,” but he has remained a prolific and popular concert and studio artist.

Blind Mississippi Morris

SoCo Blues Shack • 3:00, 3:45, 4:30, & 5:15 p.m.

This year’s Beale Street Music Fest boasts a strong group of blues harpists, and perhaps the strongest is Blind Mississippi Morris.

Brad Webb

SoCo Blues Shack • 6:15, 7:15, 8:00, & 8:45 p.m.

Local blues guitarist Brad Webb has played with several local luminaries over the years. That said, Webb’s skill with a bottleneck slide is something to behold.

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Cover Feature News

Friday Schedule

Bud Light Stage

Freesol 6:10 – 7:15 p.m.

Cake 7:40 – 8:50 p.m.

B.O.B 9:15 – 10:25 p.m.

Jason Mraz 10:55 p.m. – 12:15 a.m.

___________________________________________

Horseshoe Casino Stage

Manchester Orchestra 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Cage the Elephant 7:25 – 8:35 p.m.

MGMT 9:00 – 10:20 p.m.

The Flaming Lips 10:50 p.m. – 12:15 a.m.

___________________________________________

MATCU Stage

Egypt Central 6:10 – 7:15 p.m.

Everclear 7:40 – 8:50 p.m.

Slightly Stoopid 9:15 – 10:30 p.m.

Stone Temple Pilots 11:00 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.

___________________________________________

FedEx Blues Tent

Will Tucker Band 6:15 – 7:20 p.m.

Big Bill Morganfield 7:45 – 9:00 p.m.

Tommy Castro 9:25 – 10:40 p.m.

Jimmie Vaughan with Lou Ann Barton 11:10 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.

___________________________________________

SoCo Blues Shack

Grady Champion 6:30, 7:15, & 8:00 p.m.

Kenny Brown 9:00, 9:45, & 10:30 p.m.

___________________________________________

FreeSol

Bud Light Stage • 6:10 p.m.

Led by rapper/singer Free, this local hip-hop/rock/soul fusion band parlayed local popularity into a relationship with Memphis-bred megastar Justin Timberlake, who signed the band to his Tennman label. With a song featured on the HBO series Entourage last year and a recent performance at Austin’s SXSW music festival, FreeSol is gearing up for the release of its debut album for Tennman.

Cake

Bud Light Stage • 7:40 p.m.

The widely popular (and rather quirky) Northern California alt/roots act returns to Memphis following a triumphant, sold-out performance at Minglewood Hall back in January. Cake’s newest album, Showroom of Compassion, was created entirely without so-called corporate interference — the band recorded in an off-the-grid, solar-powered studio and released the album via their own independent label — but it still managed to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts.

B.o.B.

B.o.B.

Bud Light Stage • 9:15 p.m.

Once an underground fixture on the vibrant Atlanta hip-hop scene, young rapper B.o.B. was one of pop music’s biggest breakout stars last year, scoring massive hits via collaborations with Paramore’s Hayley Williams (“Airplanes”), Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo (“Magic”), and singer/producer Bruno Mars (“Nothin’ On You”), all from his debut album The Adventures of Bobby Ray.

Jason Mraz

Bud Light Stage • 10:55 p.m.

Rootsy singer/songwriter Jason Mraz is probably best known for his multi-platinum smash hit “I’m Yours” from 2008’s We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The long-awaited follow-up has been stalled a bit in the studio by a seemingly Brian Wilson-esque level of ambition but should finally see the light of day this fall.

Manchester Orchestra

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 6:00 p.m.

This Atlanta-based indie rock band has broken through with appearances on a variety of late-night television programs and by placing a song on the television series Gossip Girl. The band will release its third full-length album, Simple Math, in May.

Cage the Elephant

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 7:25 p.m.

Veterans of the Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza festivals and former tour openers for Stone Temple Pilots, this guitar-heavy alternative rock band from Kentucky debuted at #2 on the Billboard album chart earlier this year with their second album, Thank You, Happy Birthday.

MGMT

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 9:00 p.m.

Despite the group’s local ties, MGMT’s bubbly, new wave-ish sound owes more to David Bowie and the New York City punk scene of the late ’70s than it does to anything derived from the Bluff City. Even so, the group’s 2008 debut Oracular Spectacular is nothing short of a spaced-out indie-rock revelation.

Flaming Lips

the Flaming Lips

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 10:50 p.m.

In a somewhat epic 25-year history, the Flaming Lips have evolved from modestly successful underground weirdos in the ’80s, to one-hit wonders (“She Don’t Use Jelly”) of the early-’90s alternative rock explosion, and finally to international superstars and elder statesmen of the Amercian indie rock scene from the late ’90s onward. The band’s 1999 album, The Soft Bulletin, is regarded as a definitive work of the indie/alternative rock era, on par with Nirvana’s Nevermind and Radiohead’s OK Computer.

Egypt Central

MATCU Stage • 6:10 p.m.

Long considered the heirs apparent to Saliva’s local hard-rock crown, the energetic Egypt Central are led by charismatic frontman John Falls. After scoring rock-radio hits with “Taking You Down” and “You Make Me Sick” off their eponymous debut album, the band is set to release its second album, White Rabbit, in May.

Everclear

MATCU Stage • 7:40 p.m.

In 1995, Everclear frontman Art Alexakis and company emerged as a viable replacement for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana as a pop-savvy grunge-era act, both on the strength of the immensely catchy hit single “Santa Monica,” and Alexakis’ damaged good looks. 2009’s In a New Light found the band expanding to a 5-piece, and also re-visiting hits such as “Santa Monica,” as well as other chart toppers such as “Wonderful,” “Father of Mine,” and “I Will Buy You a New Life.”

Slightly Stoopid

MATCU Stage • 9:15 p.m.

Laid-back stoner punks Slightly Stoopid’s reggae-infused grooves remind one of modern-day jam-rockers Jack Johnson or the Dave Matthews Band as much they do the group’s former labelmates Sublime, to whom they are often compared. But the band really shines when they remember their SoCal hardcore-punk roots and just let one rip.

Stone Temple Pilots

Stone Temple Pilots

MATCU Stage • 11:00 p.m.

Second-wave grunge rockers Stone Temple Pilots were initially dismissed as Pearl Jam/Alice in Chains knockoffs, but hindsight has proven them to be so much more. Hit singles like “Interstate Love Song,” “Big Bang Baby,” and “Sex Type Thing” reveal a creative depth the quartet is rarely credited for and hold up against anything produced by the group’s mid-late ’90s contemporaries.

Will Tucker Band

FedEx Blues Tent • 6:15 p.m.

Young Memphis-based guitar hotshot Will Tucker cut his musical teeth at B.B. King’s Blues Club, where his band plays regular gigs. The up-and-coming blues hopeful recorded his debut album, Stealin’ the Soul, at the venerable Ardent Studios and is planning for a summer 2011 release of his second album.

Big Bill Morganfield

FedEx Blues Tent • 7:45 p.m.

The son of blues legend Muddy Waters (aka McKinley Morganfield), Big Bill Morganfield has grown into a scene elder statesman in his own right, having released five albums over the past decade, most recently 2009’s Born Lover.

Tommy Castro

FedEx Blues Tent • 9:25 p.m.

San Francisco Bay area hotshot Tommy Castro is one of the leading stars on the modern blues circuit, a fiery electric guitar player in the Elmore James mold and a soul-schooled singer inspired by the likes of Otis Redding. Castro won “Entertainer of the Year” at the annual Blues Music Awards a couple of years ago.

Jimmie Vaughan with Lou Ann Barton

FedEx Blues Tent • 11:10 p.m.

A very promising pairing of Texas roots/blues musicians. Guitarist Jimmie Vaughan (Stevie Ray’s older brother) was a founding member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, who paid homage to Memphis with their hit cover of Sam & Dave’s “Wrap It Up.” Lou Ann Barton, an Austin-based purveyor of Texas roadhouse blues, doesn’t tour much anymore. Blues fans won’t want to miss this show.

Grady Champion

SoCo Blues Shack • 6:30, 7:15, & 8:00 p.m.

Blues artist and Jackson, Mississippi, native Grady Champion is a triple threat of sorts as an equally skilled guitarist, harpist, and singer/songwriter. His 2010 album Back in Mississippi: Live at the 930 Blues Cafe is a testament to his ability as a dedicated live performer.

Kenny Brown

SoCo Blues Shack • 9:00, 9:45, & 10:30 p.m.

North Mississippi blues guitarist Kenny Brown’s résumé as a side player is unmatched; over the years he’s collaborated with nearly every noteworthy blues figure from the area, including R.L. Burnside, Jr. Kimbrough, and Paul “Wine” Jones. He’s also a capable frontman in his own right, as 2003’s Fat Possum-released Stringray can attest.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Sunday Schedule

Bud Light Stage

Drowning Pool 2:20 – 3:25 p.m.

The Experimental Tropic Blues Band 3:50 – 4:55 p.m.

Saving Abel 5:20 – 6:35 p.m.

Buckcherry 7:00 – 8:20 p.m.

Godsmack 8:50 – 10:20 p.m.

___________________________________________

Horseshoe Casino Stage

Amos Lee 2:05 – 3:10 p.m.

Lucero 3:35 – 4:45 p.m.

Gregg Allman 5:10 – 6:30 p.m.

The Avett Brothers 6:55 – 8:10 p.m.

Wilco 8:40 – 10:10 p.m.

___________________________________________

MATCU Stage

JJ Grey & Mofro 2:15 – 3:25 p.m.

Ziggy Marley 3:50 – 5:00 p.m.

Al Kapone 5:25 – 6:30 p.m.

Cee Lo Green 6:55 – 8:00 p.m.

Sublime with Rome 8:30 – 10:00 p.m.

___________________________________________

FedEx Blues Tent

The Lee Boys 2:05 – 3:15 p.m.

Hubert Sumlin 3:40 – 4:50 p.m.

John Hammond 5:15 – 6:35 p.m.

Preston Shannon 7:00 – 8:20 p.m.

Bettye LaVette 8:50 – 10:15 p.m.

___________________________________________

SoCo Blues Shack

Robert “Wolfman” Belfour 2:30, 3:15, & 4:00 p.m.

Eric Hughes 5:00, 5:45, & 6:30 p.m.

___________________________________________

Drowning Pool

Bud Light Stage • 2:20 p.m.

Nü-metal group Drowning Pool have had an unfortunate history with lead singers — until (knock on wood) the addition of frontman Ryan McCombs, whose personal angst drives the band’s 2010 dark, yet inspired, eponymous LP.

The Experimental Tropic Blues Band

Bud Light Stage • 3:50 p.m.

Allegedly influenced by Elvis and the Memphis-connected rockabilly-punk band the Cramps, the Experimental Tropic Blues Band should fit in nicely at the Beale Street Music Fest. The band hits town as representatives of this year’s Memphis in May honored country, Belgium.

Saving Abel

Bud Light Stage • 5:20 p.m.

Saving Abel combine a mix of aggro-metal and Southern rock influences to produce a unique brand of modern rock music. The group’s self-titled 2008 debut album was certified gold.

Buckcherry

Bud Light Stage • 7:00 p.m.

Buckcherry burst onto the scene in 1999 with an eponymous album that yielded no less than three hit singles, including the infectious anthem “Lit Up.” The quintessential party band, Buckcherry’s most recent album, 2010’s All Night Long, was hailed by critics as a return to form.

Godsmack

Godsmack

Bud Light Stage • 8:50 p.m.

Arguably the best of the nü-metal Alice in Chains acolytes that emerged in the late ’90s, Godsmack continues to be a force to be reckoned with thanks to a stream of mega-hits.

Amos Lee

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 2:05 p.m.

With his soulful singer-songwriter sound, Amos Lee followed Norah Jones’ path to crossover success. He’s an A-list artist in his own right now. His fourth album, Mission Bell, features guest turns from Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams.

Lucero

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 3:35 p.m.

If there is one band that defines the current era of Memphis music, it is local alt-country favorites Lucero. Heartfelt and hardworking, Lucero has attracted a national following.

Gregg Allman

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 5:10 p.m.

One of the godfathers of the Southern rock and jam-band genres, Gregg Allman, alongside brother Duane, led the Allman Brothers Band, which peaked in the early ’70s. The singer/songwriter/organ player has been a sporadic solo artist but comes to the Beale Street Music Festival on a big upswing, with his first solo album in 14 years, Low Country Blues.

The Avett Brothers

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 6:55 p.m.

The Avett Brothers have brought traditional bluegrass and folk sounds to the indie-rock masses over the past decade with a spirited live show and an increasingly polished series of albums. The band’s most recent album, I and Love and You, was recorded with producer Rick Rubin, who gives the band a stronger sound. This step led to a performance on this year’s Grammy telecast, where they joined Mumford & Sons to back Bob Dylan.

Wilco

Horseshoe Casino Stage • 8:40 p.m.

Once a sidekick in ’90s alt-country faves Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy emerged as a bandleader supreme in Wilco, arguably the most revered American band of the past decade. The group took folk-rock into experimental territory with their 2002 critical/commercial peak, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But lately Tweedy has been focusing more on his songwriting than sonics. Onstage, the band’s blend of Tom Petty-style classic rock and Radiohead-style art rock tends to work even better.

JJ Grey & Mofro

MATCU Stage • 2:15 p.m.

The Florida-based JJ Grey & Mofro are purveyors of a brand of Southern rock that includes plenty of country and soul, heard most recently on their 2010 album Georgia Warhorse for the blues/roots label Alligator Records.

Ziggy Marley

MATCU Stage • 3:50 p.m.

The oldest son of late reggae legend Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley went pop for a brief moment in the late ’80s. In more recent years, Marley has continued to release new music but geared toward reggae fans, the latest for his family’s Tuff Gong label.

Al Kapone

MATCU Stage • 5:25 p.m.

Al Kapone possesses one of the most original voices on Memphis’ rap scene, and he began to get his share of the local spotlight via his collaborations with filmmaker Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, $5 Cover). Live, Kapone has built a reputation as the city’s best onstage hip-hop performer whether playing with a DJ or, occasionally, a full band.

Cee Lo Green

MATCU Stage • 6:55 p.m.

For years, Cee Lo Green was the raspy-voiced secret weapon on the Atlanta rap scene, stealing the show on Outkast’s first albums and becoming the centerpiece for the group Goodie Mob. When he began to transition from rapper to singer, Green morphed into a major star, lending his voice and personality to two of the definite hits of the past decade: “Crazy” (as a member of the duo Gnarls Barkley) and the current solo smash “F— You.”

Sublime with Rome

MATCU Stage • 8:30 p.m.

Original band members Eric Wilson (bass) and Bud Gaugh (drums, vocals) have recently taken up the Sublime mantle once more, despite protests from the estate of deceased original member Brad Nowell (guitar/vocals). Nevertheless, the new version of Sublime is a faithful tribute to Nowell’s memory, with frontman Rome Ramirez filling in capably.

The Lee Boys

FedEx Blues Tent • 2:05 p.m.

Arguably the leading lights on the sacred-steel guitar scene, the Miami-based Lee Boys whip up crowds into a fervor with their scalding, spirited funk/gospel jams. They’ve become a festival favorite — recently delivering an ecstatic set at the local Folk Alliance Conference — and should be a highlight of this year’s festival.

Hubert Sumlin

FedEx Blues Tent • 3:40 p.m.

Greenwood, Mississippi-born Hubert Sumlin got his start on radio station SWEM in West Memphis, playing with Pat Hare and James Cotton in the 1950s. Howlin’ Wolf took Sumlin north to Chicago, and blues guitar hasn’t been the same since. Sumlin’s unpredictable, twisting riffs and solos — check out “Killing Floor,” “Mr. Airplane Man,” and “Wang Dang Doodle” for starters — led him to be crowned “King of the Outer Space Guitar.” Now approaching 80, Sumlin never ceases to astonish.

John Hammond

FedEx Blues Tent • 5:15 p.m.

A product of the mid-’60s blues/folk revival scene, John Hammond has stayed committed to vintage/classic styles over the decades and is now one of the standard-bearers of traditional blues. Hammond was nominated for “Acoustic Artist of the Year” at the 2011 Blues Music Awards.

Preston Shannon

FedEx Blues Tent • 7:00 p.m.

Gritty local soul-blues singer Preston Shannon returns to the Beale Street Music Fest after a three-year absence. His most recent album, Be With Me Tonight, is a Dixie-fried slice of R&B heaven.

Bettye LaVette

Bettye LaVette

FedEx Blues Tent • 8:50 p.m.

Bettye LaVette was a cult-fave soul singer in the ’60s but never broke through. An active live performer into the ’90s, LaVette found her way back into a studio this decade and recently recorded with the rock band the Drive-By Truckers for her deep-soul testament The Scene of the Crime and followed that up with Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook.

Robert “Wolfman” Belfour

SoCo Blues Shack • 2:30, 3:15, & 4:00 p.m.

Robert “Wolfman” Belfour may not be as well known as some of his fellow north Mississippi blues-scene contemporaries, but he delivers every bit as much straight-to-the-gut wallop. And even now, at over 70 years of age, he’s probably still the best pure singer of the lot.

Eric Hughes

SoCo Blues Shack • 5:00, 5:45, & 6:30 p.m.

Memphis’ Eric Hughes is a talented blues harpist and vocalist known for jumping on tables and directly engaging his audience. It remains to be seen what he’ll cook up for this year’s Beale Street Music Festival.

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Editorial Opinion

Big Brother Rides Again

With minimal discussion, the state House calendar and rules committee voted by acclamation on Tuesday to schedule HB600 for a vote on the floor of the full House next Monday. This is the notorious bill sponsored by Glen Casada (R-Franklin) that would prevent any local government anywhere in Tennessee from enacting measures to prohibit workplace discrimination against gays.

Such resistance to the measure as there was came from Mike Turner (D-Nashville), chairman of the Democratic caucus, a virtually powerless component of the lopsidedly Republican House membership in this session. Turner, who had previously suggested the bill was “homophobic,” asked sponsor Casada if the bill was aimed directly at a recently passed Nashville ordinance intended to prevent such discrimination. Blithely, Casada said the bill had no such purpose but was meant merely to ensure uniformity in state policy for the purposes of industrial recruitment. There was no other commentary from the committee, not even from Steve McManus, the Memphis Republican who had voted against an earlier version of Casada’s bill but has since been the object of persistent lobbying by the bill’s proponents and opponents alike.

No other comment, that is, except for an exchange between Casada and committee chairman Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville). Casada quipped, “Mr. Chairman, should that be on consent?” (meaning on a portion of Monday’s calendar consisting of routine, non-controversial matters requiring no debate). Dunn responded with stage laughter: “Ha ha. It’s on Monday. We’d better pack our suppers that day.” Translation: Unlike the case with the calendar and rules committee, which normally just concerns itself with scheduling, the debate on the floor will be full-hearted and brisk.

We hope so. Casada’s bill seems to us not only meretricious in both its stated and unstated purposes, it is also, like so much else that the General Assembly has so far approved in the current session — much of it relating to educational policy — utterly invasive of and contemptuous of local authority. Even if we suspend disbelief and assume for a moment that the bill really is aimed at issues relating to industrial recruitment and nothing else, it is still offensive on its very face. Nashville, as a developing metropolitan entity, has a right to set its own workplace priorities, complete with ethical guidelines. So does Memphis. And Knoxville. And Chattanooga. And so have the rest of Tennessee’s chartered communities — large, medium, and small.

Turner was right in the first place. Casada’s bill is homophobic, pure and simple. And we trust that he and others, in the course of debate on Monday, will make that fact unmistakably clear. It also transgresses unforgivably against the principle of local sovereignty and deserves to be defeated on that basis, as well.

The crowning absurdity is that this heavy-handed dictatorial nonsense is being pushed by the very same ideologues who are always muling and puking about the supposed excesses of Washington and Big Government. Orwell’s Big Brother had nothing on these guys!

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Hooray for the Orange

Joe Pietro, who has been president of the University of Tennessee system for less than a year, got some backup from an unexpected source Tuesday when he spoke to Memphis Rotarians of the benefits accruing to Memphis and Shelby County from its various connections to UT, notably to the university’s Health Science Center located here.

As Dr. Pietro was dissertating on the costs of education and acknowledging the modest tuition increases — in the area of 10 percent — that UT has been forced into in recent years, a Rotarian whose son attends a university in neighboring North Carolina rose to mention the fact that tuition in that state’s land-grant colleges has risen by an average of 50 percent. That fact served to underscore some of the relative bargains available to students in the Volunteer State — especially at a time when, as Pietro said, the nation’s educational debt burden has for the first time in American history exceeded the burden of credit-card debt.

Among the other fun facts Dr. Pietro shared with the Rotarians:

• The Health Science Center has graduated more than 53,000 health professionals in the last 100 years;

• Some 40 percent of the physicians in Tennessee trained here, as have 75 percent of the state’s dentists and 40 percent of its pharmacists;

• The system’s dental clinics, here and elsewhere, treat an average of 40,000 patients a year.

And, in a time of severe economic austerity, Governor Bill Haslam has budgeted some $10 million for the research consortium involving UT, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, and Memphis Bioworks.

One other fact: Despite facing an estimated $120 million reduction in state funding for the coming fiscal year, UT has managed to prepare for that event with minimal disruption. “We’re ready,” Pietro said.

And the Blue …

The Flyer‘s pages — and scribe Frank Murtaugh, in particular — have documented the successful season just concluded by the University of Memphis basketball Tigers under second-year coach Josh Pastner. A C-USA tournament championship, coupled with a near-win over mighty Arizona in the NCAA tournament: not too shabby for Tiger Blue.

And now the Memphis Grizzlies (who combine their Beale Street Blue with a little bit of orange, come to think of it) have made it to the NBA playoffs, after an absence of five years, under the patient, methodical leadership of Coach Lionel Hollins. (And that process, too, has been well documented in the Flyer by the indefatigable analyst Chris Herrington.) We’re willing to go out on a limb and bet that this time the Griz won’t be denied a victory — unlike the case in 2004 when a last-second three-pointer by Mike Miller rimmed the basket against the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in game three at the Pyramid or 2006 when a three-pointer at the buzzer by the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Novitzki kept the Grizzlies from coming out on top.

And we aren’t thinking the Griz will stop with just one win, either.

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Editorial Opinion

Two Who Made an Era

As reactions to the death of Ned Ray McWherter poured in Monday — from the high and mighty and regular folks alike — it became evident that both the former Tennessee governor and the political era he presided over held a special claim to the affections of his state. And to his nation as well. Former President Bill Clinton, whose tenure as governor of Arkansas overlapped with that of McWherter’s in his neighbor state, made it clear on Monday that his Tennessee counterpart’s positive influence transcended state borders:

“His legendary ability to cut to the heart of a problem in a few blunt words was invaluable to me in the White House. Those of us who served as governors with Ned knew that under his leadership, there was no state better run than Tennessee because of his commitment to both continuous change and sensible management and his uncanny blend of old-fashioned common sense and progressive values.”

The memory of McWherter’s common-sense, forward-looking approaches to the problems of Tennessee was attested to by the outpouring of praise and remembrance across a Tennessee political spectrum that is otherwise highly fractionated these days — Alexander, Corker, Cohen, Haslam, Ramsey, Naifeh, Herron, DeBerry, et al. Former U.S. senator and Vice President Al Gore, whose service spanned state and nation, said it simply: “Regarded by many as the greatest governor in our state’s modern history, he fused the demands of tough executive management with the authentic touch of the common man.”

“The greatest”: Gore was not alone in making that claim for a man who worked his way up to the governorship from long years of service as speaker of the House, whose attention to detail regularly earned Tennessee the title of the nation’s best-managed state, whose far-sighted policies — in matters of health care and education, especially — became models for the rest of America and whose bipartisan spirit was best reflected in the strong votes this authentic Democrat always got in arch-Republican East Tennessee.    

Like Elvis Presley, this political icon was a sharecropper’s son. And in the modesty of his upbringing, he resembled that other titanic figure who left us this past week, Larry Finch, who achieved the historical hat trick of being both the greatest basketball player and, arguably, the greatest basketball coach in the history of the University of Memphis. Others may rival Finch on the latter score, but the number of his all-time victories transcends anyone else’s and his ability as a recruiter and assistant coach fattened the win-totals of those who came before and after him.

Finch’s sterling playing career as the sparkplug and scoring leader of the Tiger team that almost won the NCAA tournament in 1973 occurred during Ned McWherter’s time as House speaker. His tenure as Tiger coach was almost exactly concurrent with McWherter’s as governor. For legions of people in Memphis and elsewhere (this week’s Flyer Viewpoint is explicit on the score of Finch’s widespread symbolic value), the two of them represented an era of goodwill, unity, and accomplishment that may never be equaled.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

What About Us?

We’re all for economic outreach on behalf of Memphis and Shelby County and generally approve the thinking behind the newly formed Economic Development and Growth Engine (EDGE) umbrella, devised jointly by city and county administrations. Our metropolitan area is in a state best described by Arnold Schwarzenegger, back when he was a bodybuilder and daily flogging his muscles to get them up to a competitive level. “They had to grow just in order to survive,” said the then Mr. Olympia and now former California governor.

Well, that pretty much says it about our city and county — both of which are now concerned about population loss, income stagnation, and the other ills of a stagnant economy. We, too, have to grow in order to survive. So the cooperation between Memphis mayor A C Wharton and Shelby County mayor Mark Luttrell in forming EDGE has been the single most impressive and far-reaching manifestation of inter-governmental cooperation in these parts, as well as of the much-touted idea of “functional consolidation.”

But local advocates for EDGE, including the two mayors, have made a huge point of keeping their cards close to the vest on the score of public awareness. That means keeping elected members of the City Council or County Commission (“politicians,” if you’re making the case against them) out of direct policy-making or supervisory roles on the EDGE board, and it means keeping certain key aspects of negotiations with target industries away from the media. To be sure, most details of a recruitment package ultimately become known both to the members of the two local legislatures as well as to the media, but on an ex post facto basis, after the deals have been cut.

A case in point was the landing of the Electrolux plant for Memphis — or, technically, the lifting of one from Quebec, where the loss of some 1,200 jobs has been lamented simultaneous with the gaining of those jobs on this end. To land this bonanza, the city and county agreed to put up roughly $20 million each, and the state almost $100 million in start-up incentives. The company itself would supply another $40 to $50 million.

A necessary investment by government? Very likely. But little to no information was publicly disseminated in advance as the deal was being hatched. Maybe the hush-hush negotiations were necessary, as well — though a few members of the County Commission raised eyebrows.

Now we are told, via press release from the Memphis Chamber of Commerce, that an all-star cast of local luminaries involved in the nitty-gritty of industrial recruitment would be in New York this week to discuss the Memphis area’s “plan and strategies” for marketing itself. With whom? Such august national publications as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek, FastCompany, and Business Facilities, we are told.

All well and good, we say. We just wonder why the local media, which has been kept at a polite arm’s length from such advance planning, has not also been given a chance to see said plans and strategies.