There’s live music at the P&H this weekend. Anyone involved in Memphis’ creative culture over the past four decades has an emotional attachment to the place, thanks to Wanda Wilson. It’s the perfect-sized venue, warm and acoustically muted like Royal Studios. There is no sound system. I know the literary, theatrical, and plastic arts communities share in the sense of home at the P&H, but it’s hosted some of the best live music I’ve ever seen, all of it local. It’s an organic space, like an old-forest honky tonk. Here’s to Wanda and to the P&H.
On Saturday, February 7th, Jack L. Alberson hosts a record release party for his single “Texas Can’t Have You Back” b/w “For My Favorite.” Tony Maynard and J.D. Reager round out the bill.
Joe Boone
Alberson’s “Texas Can’t Have You Back” is a song that carries broken pieces of an Ernest Tubb song into the weird night of indie rock. Brushed drums and hints of Leon McAuliffe’s guitar lurk in the distance, but the dominant sensibility is darker, more modern, born by the droney, processed guitar and the bent harmonies. “For My Favorite” is decidedly in the ’80s-’90s British reverb lament camp.
Tony Maynard has a song called “Parts Unkown.” It’s a pedal-to-the-metal-paced take on the Mystery Train Fulsome Prison line. It’s about fast trouble and Maynard’s guitar can keep up. His “Tuscaloosa” is a road warrior’s declaration of loyalty to home. “We’re Rocking Tuscaloosa/The girls here are pretty, but I sure won’t kiss ’em.”
And J.D. Reager? That dude writes for this newspaper. He’s in the middle of everything: making records (It’s Dangerous To Go Alone! Take This), selling records (Shangri-La), and looking after friends in need (Bob Holmes).
