Author: Michael Donahue

Rain, rain went away and the Artery Alley Party took place two weeks later.

The party, originally scheduled for April 26, was postponed to May 10 because of rain that hit about 6 p.m., said Penelope Houston, vice-president of marketing and communications for Downtown Memphis Commission, which sponsored the event.

Artists showed their works on the walls on the South side of Local and the old Oshi, Penelope said. “We probably had 30 submissions for what was eventually six artists we chose for phase one,” she said. “And there is a phase two we will launch later this year.”

About 350 people attended the event “over the course of the evening,” Penelope said. In addition to the art, the event featured table tennis, corn hole games, chalk for sidewalk drawling an Amurica photo booth, Mempops and music by Djanga and Southern Avenue.

MIchael Donahue

Big Llou Johnson at Big Llou’s Blues Hall of Fame Tribute Jam.

Big Llou Johnson hosted his fifth “Big Llou’s Hall of Fame Tribute Jam” in Memphis May 10, but it was the first time he held it at the Warehouse in the South Main district.

His event is the after party for the Blues Hall of Fame induction ceremony. It’s held the night before the Blues Foundation Blues Music Awards.

Llou remembered attending the induction ceremony five years ago. “After that ceremony we just left and went back to the hotel,” he said. “Everybody did their own thing. There was no music there. There was no camaraderie or back patting.

He was concerned. “Me coming from Chicago, a party town and a blues music town, I was not having it.”

So, he said, “Let me throw a party.”

The first event, held at B. B. King’s Blues Club, drew “a good hundred,” LLou said. “Everybody who was inducted in the Hall of Fame that night – we just had a ball.”

The event was held at Hard Rock Cafe for three years until it moved to the Warehouse this year. About 350 attended this year’s event, Llou said.

Since it began, the jam has raised more than $20,000 for the Blues Foundation, Llou said.

Asked the origin of the unusual spelling of his first name, Llou said he changed it because he’s a member of organizations, including the Screen Actors Guild. “It’s a well known fact you can’t have two actors with the same name in the actors’ union.”

His real name is “Louis,” but “Louis,” “Lou” and even “L. Johnson” were gone, he said. “I’m sitting in the union office going, ‘What can I change my name to? I don’t want to be ‘Lou Stone,’ ‘Lou Riprock’ or ‘Lou Granite.’”

Since his mother’s name is “Lora,” his father’s name is “Louis” and his grandmother’s name is “Lillie,” Llou just added another “l” to his name. “Everybody who meant anybody to me in my family, (their) name started with ‘l.’ Let me stick another ‘l’ in my name. If I ever get to see my name up in lights, those ancestors will be up there with me.”

Michael Donahue

Jim Hines at Gossett.

Gossett Porsche unveiled its 2017 Panamera at a reception May 11 at the dealership on Covington Pike. The silver 550-horsepower Porsche that can reach a top track speed of 190 drew applause from the crowd when the drape was removed.

Wayne Ashford, one of the guests, has owned 27 Porsches over the past three years. He trades them in every “three to six months,” he said. “I never put 1,000 miles on them,” he said.

“He’s never had to check oil,” said his Porsche salesman Saad Baddar.

He even owned the Porsche that was unveiled. “Here people are waiting to see it and I’ve already driven it,” he said. “And traded it in.”

Guests partied to the beat of the music of University of Memphis performers at the Hear 901 Music Festival, held April 28 at The Bluff.

Music was by The Band CAMINO, Sonic Pulse, Aaron James, Haley Daniels, Kyndle McMahan and Flirting with Sincerity.

“Hear 901 is our annual spring festival where we provide an opportunity for students in the music industry division to perform original music while also creating opportunities for students to produce, promote and publicize a festival,” said Ben Yonas, assistant professor of music business at the Rudi Scheidt School of Music at U of M. “We do these every semester. Our Fall festival we usually do at the Levitt Shell. This was the first time we had a show at The Bluff. It exceeded all expectations. Just under 500 people in attendance. It was a smash success. The place was packed.”

The festival also marked the release of Aaron’s new EP, “Caught in the Corner of a Half Moon.” Aaron, one of the artists on the school’s Blue Tom record label, said, “This EP is kind of a story of me letting go of things I was attached to in the past and coming into a new self identity. There are lots of themes of letting go of toxic things I maybe once held onto, but things that clouded my vision of myself. These songs tell that story of starting to value new things in life and letting those things shape me.”

The Band CAMINO, which headlined the event, played several songs from its “My Thoughts on You” EP as well as songs from its upcoming EP, “Heaven,” which will be released June 2.

Talking about the new EP, lead singer Jeffery Jordan said, “We took a lot longer to make it. It shares similar elements from the first EP, but it’s more us. It sounds like The Band CAMINO. On the first EP we were trying to sound like a lot of different bands. But on this album, we took our time to sound like The Band CAMINO. We just wanted to figure out what The Band CAMINO sounded like. I think we kind of captured that with this EP.”

All marketing and production for Hear 901 was done by U of M students.

A 6-by-4-foot oil portrait of a distinguished- looking gentleman – the late Domenico Canale – graces The Toasting Room at the Old Dominic Distillery. Domenico, great-great-grandfather of owner Alex Canale, wears a suit and vest with a watch fob. In his left hand he carries a toddy glass. In his right arm he carries a rooster.

That’s a Dominicker rooster, Alex said. The portrait was taken from a small headshot of Domenico. No photo – to Alex’s knowledge – exists of his great-great grandfather carrying a rooster. The bird was added later. Red Deluxe created the concept and commissioned artist David Riley to paint the portrait, said the Red Deluxe associate creative director Ben Powers.

“On one of the original Old Dominic bottles we unearthed to create that product were two roosters,” Alex said. “We invested some money in timberland. We were having our own white oak timber cut for barrels. One of the timber guys picked up the old bottle and said, ‘That’s a Dominicker rooster.’ So, we did some research and it is an actual Dominicker breed of rooster.”

The breed, he said, “is known for being hearty, calm, steady and a great forager. So, it sort of goes hand in hand with Dominic himself and the company as it’s evolved over the past 150 years.”

Guests milled about the portrait as they tasted Memphis vodka, Honeybell vodka and The Memphis Toddy at one of the distillery’s soft openings, held Aug. 28 during Trolley Night Memphis. A total of 324 tastings – at $2 for the trio – were sold that night, Alex said.

Atop the building, the striking neon sign bearing the Dominicker rooster resembles a turn of the 19th-Century logo, but it’s brand new, Alex said. “We modernized that logo,” he said. “That’s how we wanted it to look: like we’ve been here for 150 years. Even if we haven’t been in that building.”

Mary Ellen Kelley exhibited her photos and mixed media art and she was on site to sign copies of her book of photos, “My Memphis View,” Aug. 28 during Trolley Night Memphis at Stock & Belle on South Main.

She described the book of 65 photos of Memphis as “a modern way to look at Memphis. Memphis doesn’t have anything like the book I have. The books we have are coffee table books. They’re a little bit stagnant. I hate to say ‘old fashioned.’ But my book is simple and it’s hip and it’s small. To me, it’s much more relevant to a younger generation – people coming into Memphis and people who’ve been here looking at Memphis in a different way.

“My style is minimal. It focuses on one thing. So many of our photographic books representing Memphis are ‘whole view.’ They show the whole moment. Mine is simple, whitespace oriented.”

Mary Ellen photographs “every day things,” but, she said, “I focus on one particular detail.”

One of her photographs is of the Memphis Pyramid, now the location for Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid. “It’s a picture of the Pyramid, but the top third. Against a white background.”

She also took a photo of the Pyramid from the ground looking up. Looking up, keeping your chin up, bucking up and looking forward to things are important to her, Mary Ellen said. “Looking up is a bit of my mantra.”

Her show will be on view through May.

Carnival Memphis will kick off its “Carnival Week” of parties at night and charitable visits during the day with the Crown & Sceptre Ball, which will be held June 2 the Hilton Memphis.

The legendary Memphis celebration, which began as Cotton Carnival in 1931, continues with various events during the year, including the Business and Industry Salute and Krewes for Kids, which is Carnival’s biggest fundraiser for its Children’s Charity Initiative. Each year, Carnival selects three local charities that provide services for children. This year’s recipients are Church Health, The Erika Center at Bodine School and Knowledge Quest.

The Secret Order of Boll Weevils, a group of people who conceal their identities by wearing masks with long snouts, held its annual Boll Weevil Party April 28 at Riverfront bar and Grill. The Weevils, which formed in 1966, are merrymakers at the parties as well as the charitable events.

The purpose of the annual party is to honor the king, queen and president of Carnival Memphis, said Evil Eminence Todd Brown. King Edward Dobbs. queen Tayloe Lowrance and president Dr. Jeff Cole attended.

Van Raby was introduced as this year’s ‘Unmasked Weevil.” That means he doesn’t have to wear a snout any longer. Instead, Van showed up wearing a green jacket, green shorts, green shoes and pink- and orange socks.

City Mix performed and Simply Fabulous catered the event.

Krewes for Kids was held April 22 at the Crosstown Concourse. The party drew “the most people and was the most successful fundraiser in the history of Carnival,” said Carnival Memphis executive director Ed Galfsky.

The party featured food from area restaurants, music by AJ Ghent Band and silent dancing to music heard with headphones at Silent Events

Joe Birch was auctioneer.