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News News Blog

Strickland Talks Past, Present, Future in State of City

During his third State of the City address Monday night, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said he is “hungry for more” progress, growth, and momentum in Memphis.

“I don’t simply want to have momentum in Memphis — I want to accelerate our momentum,” Strickland said. “I want to take this special time in our history and continue turning the corner into a prosperous future for everyone — a prosperous future that we all know Memphis deserves.”

Strickland delivered the address in three parts, highlighting what his administration has done, what it is doing, and what it will do.

A few of the accomplishments Strickland reported are:

• Roughly 18,000 more Memphians are employed today than when he took office with the unemployment rate at “near record lows.”


• Poverty is down about 17 percent, according the latest census data.


•The Memphis Police Department (MPD) hired more officers in the last 17 months than in the entire six years prior.


• Prosecution of violent crime is up with the prosecution of gun crime up 58 percent.


• The major violent crime rate dropped over four percent in 2018.


• About $15 billion worth of development is happening in the Memphis area.


• Homelessness is down 14 percent from a year ago and 41 percent from 2012.


• In the most recent fiscal year, the city doubled the amount spent with minority businesses from when Strickland took office in 2016.


•The tax rate went from $3.40 to $3.19 during Strickland’s time in office so far.

“We have momentum in our spirit, momentum in our grind, and momentum with how we’re running an efficient, responsible city government,” Strickland said. “We have momentum in how we’re tackling our challenges, too. And under my watch, you can rest assured that tackling our challenges remains this administration’s priority every waking hour.”

What the city is doing now:

Strickland said his administration is a “neighborhoods-first” one.

“And instead of just saying that, we’re incorporating that philosophy into the long-term plan for our city, which you may have heard about — it’s called Memphis 3.0,” Strickland said. “Over two years, our Memphis 3.0 staff heard from 15,000 of you, and came up with a new strategy for our growth: We’re going to build up, not out.

“We’re going to cast a road map to better transit. We’re going to invest in our core and our neighborhoods. We’re going to invest in Memphians.”

With that, Strickland announced the creation of two initiatives that will put “our money where our mouth is” and “will ensure Memphis 3.0 isn’t just another plan that collects dust on a shelf at city hall.”

The first initiative, the Memphis Community Catalyst Fund, will be dedicated to renewing the source of money used to make infrastructure improvements to key neighborhood areas — or places the Memphis 3.0 plan refers to as anchors. Under the initiative, the city will work with neighborhoods to identify areas that need improvement to infrastructure hoping to spark private development.

“That can be anything from new sidewalks, new pedestrian crossings, new lighting,” the mayor said. “It’s a tailored approach to what works best for you, and what will have the most lasting impact in making your neighborhood better for years to come.”

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The details for the fund haven’t been finalized, Strickland said, but the plan is to commit roughly $2 million toward it in its first year with additional investments in the following years.

The final proposal will be delivered to the Memphis City Council in April during the 2019-2020 fiscal year budget presentation.

The second initiative is a group of eight private investment opportunities in properties owned by the city or city partners.

The properties include:

• The former Tillman Cove housing complex in Binghampton


• Nine acres in Midtown near Crosstown Concourse, where Interstate 40 was previously planned


• Outparcels on the Raleigh Town Center, where Raleigh Springs Mall used to stand


• Parts of the Fairgrounds redevelopment


• Parts of the Pinch District


• The Historic Melrose High School building


• A block of land in the South City redevelopment, just south of Clayborn Temple, which the city is calling the South City Cultural Block


• A proposed site for residential development on Powers Road in Raleigh


A website will launch next week with details and instructions for the call for redevelopment proposals, Strickland said. The city will select the developers with proposals that will best “jump-start” the neighborhoods.

Continuing, Strickland also said the city is working to improve public services, like picking up piles of limbs on the curb and cutting down the time it takes to repair potholes.

To that end, the city is partnering with a technology company to pilot machine learning that could lead to scans of the streets for potholes and filling them faster. This will be implemented by placing cameras on city vehicles that detect and report potholes.

Also in an effort to improve streets, the mayor said he’s charged his team with “paving early and often this spring, as soon as the weather allows it.,” announcing the “long-awaited” improvements to Elvis Presley Boulevard to begin in the spring.

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Minority contracting is another area Strickland said the city is looking to sustain and improve through a program called Buy901. It will be an online directory of locally owned and city-certified minority and women-owned businesses.

“Instead of just having this information for ourselves, we thought, why not share it with all Memphians?” Strickland said. “Need a new roof or fence and want to hire a local or minority contractor? Great. Just visit Buy901.net, and you’ll be able to pick the same contractors we use … It’s a long-term way to build equity in our economy and attack poverty, and now you can help.”

Finally, Strickland said the city is continuing to work to reduce violent crime by taking actions like hiring more police officers and working with the General Assembly asking them to pass a law to enhance the penalty for road rage shootings.

Wrapping up, Strickland talked about his vision for the city in its third century. It includes:

• Safer streets with continued reduction of violent crime


• Smoother streets, where “we treat our infrastructure with the care it deserves, sending that visual message to every neighborhood, in every part of our city, that we care”


• Better access to opportunities for youth


• Building up, not out


• An equitable and just city, where poverty continues to fall and black-owned businesses flourish


• More jobs


Read Strickland’s full address here

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Freedom Whiskey to Enter Memphis Market

Michael Donahue

Freedom Whiskey founder/head sampler Zach Hollingsworth at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl President’s Gala.

Freedom Whiskey is slated to be introduced in Memphis in February, says founder/head sampler Zach Hollingsworth.

It’s the “shot of freedom,” says Hollingsworth, 33, who served with the Marines in Afghanistan.

I met Hollingsworth and several of those connected with the Wilmington, Ohio-based Freedom Whiskey Co. – appropriately – at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl President’s Gala, which was held January 30th at The Peabody.

The whiskey was served during the party and at the game.

Hollingsworth told me a bit about the whiskey at the party. I called him back to get more information.

He spent 2010 to 2012 in Afghanistan. “The longest we did was 69 days without a shower,” he says. “Stinky. You know what? It’s only bad for the first two weeks and then you kind of get used to it. We used to joke that we smelled like ‘freedom.’ The smell of freedom is two months on the front lines without a shower.”

If they ate or drank something they liked, they’d say, “That food tastes like freedom. That beer tastes like freedom.”

After he got back home, Hollingsworth and some of his buddies were on the back porch drinking bourbon. Everyone shouted, “Let’s do a shot of freedom.”

Hollingsworth realized “freedom” was a great name for a bourbon and he should trademark it. He went to the trademark website and couldn’t find any bourbon named “freedom.”

Outside of just loving bourbon, Hollingsworth didn’t have any experience in making it. “None whatsoever. I took off just searching what you had to do, the licenses you have to have and just started talking to everybody I knew in the business. And 90 percent of them told me to pound sand. And 10 percent that talked to me told me what I needed to do.

“I honestly just wanted to make bourbon and bring vets together and have the camaraderie we had during service. Marines enjoy their whiskey. It would be a place people could come and work. And cuss as much as they want and not get in trouble for it.”

He wanted to not only hire vets, but “hire their families and use a portion of our proceeds to help out veteran’s causes.”

Unless you’ve fought in Afghanistan, you won’t understand the closeness he and his fellow Marines feel, Hollingsworth says. “Honestly, I think any time you are in a high risk situation, shared suffering brings people together. But the way I always compare it if people ask me what’s my best time was in the Marine corps, I say Afghanistan, hands down. It’s just one of those things. You join the Marine Corps ‘cause you want to be in the fight. Nobody joins the Marine corps cause they don’t want to be out there. The Marine corps was created to fight. That’s it.

“It’s like basketball. If you practice every single day and you don’t ever play again, why be on the team? Afghanistan — that’s like our game.”

They put everything in practice, including the hours spent on the rifle range, in Afghanistan. “Eight months of getting to use your skills you develop and actually apply them.”

Asked how long it took him to get the bourbon business running, Hollingsworth says, “It took me about a year and a half from the day I started to the day I got approved to actually sell. I had partnered with a friend of mine who had a distillery already. A Navy vet. He started making our whiskey for us before we were licensed. They’d been making it since 2013. And I kind of jumped in with them in 2016.”

Freedom Whiskey is in 12 states now, Hollingsworth says. “And we’ll be in 16 by the end of April.”

They now just make bourbon, but, Hollingsworth says, “We have a barrel-aged gin that is coming out in the next couple of months.”

Their whiskey is “the smoothest 90 proof you’ll taste. A high corn mash. You’re 75 percent corn, so it’s going to have less bite than some of your more well-known whiskies. It’s a whiskey anyone can drink and it really appeals to the masses.

“We, by no means, try to articulate our whiskeys as being any fancy words. It’s smooth and damn good. Beyond that you can use any fancy words you want.”

Asked how they happened to be at the President’s Gala, Hollingsworth said they were invited by someone with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. “It was awesome. It was a really good time. Much more fancy than what me and my crew are used to. We all took showers and put on a suit.”

And, he says, “We just wanted to be a part of the Liberty Bowl and part of its veteran’s cause and get our name out there.”

Former AutoZone Liberty Bowl president and City Gear president Mike Longo told him about Freedom Whiskey, says AutoZone Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart. He called him one day and said he ran into these Freedom Whiskey guys. He told Ehrhart: “They’re veterans that came back from Afghanistan. They created their own whiskey and their own distillery and I want to support them. And I had them send me a bottle and I really liked it.’”

Ehrhart called the Freedom Whiskey Co. and told them about Longo is an Army vet and went to West Point. “I said, ‘You’ve got the patriotic theme and the AutoZone Liberty Bowl is all about freedom.’”

He told them, “We’ll furnish some of your product at the the gala.”

“And the product was in some of the sky boxes during the game. We really appreciated them coming on board as sponsors.”

Michael Donahue

Jake Ittel, Zach Hollingsworth and Lawrence Ryefield at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl President’s Gala.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: A Weirdo From Memphis

Get with the times this Music Video Monday. Get weird.

As the prophet Hunter S. Thompson said, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”

Well, my loyal readers, look around you. It’s weird out there, and getting weirder. That’s why it’s time to allow trained, professional freak A Weirdo From Memphis (AWFM) into your life. Unapolagetic’s strangest artist — and that’s saying something — is dropping his new, five-song, solo EP “You Goin’ To Jail Now” this Thursday, Jan. 31st.

This video for the C Major-produced lead single “GooseAcne” was directed by MVM frequent flyer 35Miles and cut by Troy The Editor. It gives off a strong “Too Many Cooks” vibe, but as always with AWFM, there’s a dense field of ideas underneath the surface shock.

Music Video Monday: A Weirdo From Memphis

If you’d like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

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News News Blog

New U of M Donations Support First-Generation Students

The University of Memphis received $1.4 million to enhance the experience of first-generation college students, the university announced Monday.

The funds, donated by the Suder Foundation and an anonymous donor, will be used to establish an endowed scholarship fund for first-generation students, those who are the first in their families to attend college.

The new funds will also create the Office of First Generation Student Success (OFGSS) at the U of M. The OFGSS will be tasked with expanding the existing programs for first-generation students, as well as creating new ones.

The average national graduation rate for first-generation students is 34 percent — 21 percent less than the average for the general undergraduate student. At the U of M, 35 percent of undergraduate students identify as first-generation, compared to the national average at four-year universities of 17 percent.

Student success of the university’s top priority, U of M president M. David Rudd said.

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“We have studied the unique challenges of the growing number of first-generation students on our campuses, and are committed to providing them with the resources they need to succeed,” Rudd said. “The remarkable commitments from the Suder Foundation and other donors will benefit thousands of students and support them in earning their degrees.”

The Suder Foundation was launched in 2008 by Eric and Deborah Suder to support and establish initiatives that increase graduation rates for first-generation students. The Foundation has offered a scholarship and supportive program for first-generation students since 2012.

“We understand how important holistic support is for first-generation students and are thrilled to help the U of M establish the OFGSS as a strategic, innovative approach to serving first-generation students,” Diane Schorr, executive director of the Suder Foundation, said. “We are committed to investing in initiatives like the OFGSS that address student development on the personal, academic and professional levels.”

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From My Seat Sports

Mike & Marc

I grew up devoted to some special Dallas Maverick basketball teams. New to the NBA (the franchise began play in 1980), the Mavs drafted my college hero (Tennessee’s Dale Ellis) in 1983 and I adopted the team from afar (I was living in New England at the time). I quickly fell in love with a trio of players — Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, and Derek Harper — that steered a run of five straight playoff appearances, including a trip to the Western Conference finals in 1988. (Does this sound familiar yet?)

The problem for my Mavericks was that they peaked at the same time a dominant team from California commanded the Western Conference. (Surely this rings familiar now.) After losing to the mighty Lakers one game shy of the 1988 NBA Finals, the team cracked. Aguirre was traded to Detroit the next season (where he’d win a pair of championships with the Pistons). Blackman was traded to New York in 1992 after a 22-win season. Harper was traded (also to the Knicks) in 1994 and helped New York win the Eastern Conference title. The “cracking” left a considerable emotional gap for at least one basketball fan for several winters to come.
Larry Kuzniewski

The Grizzlies’ dynamic duo.

It appears less and less likely that Mike Conley and Marc Gasol will complete their NBA careers in Grizzly uniforms. With his team spiraling toward the bottom of the Western Conference — don’t get too close to the Suns — team owner Robert Pera hinted earlier this month that the two franchise icons could be included in trade discussions. When asked about his name being used as trade bait, Conley was quoted as saying, “Memphis is all I know.” Gasol suggested that his relationship with the Grizzlies franchise might change, but not his connection to Memphis, Tennessee. By that of course, Gasol means his connection to us, Memphians. It’s a deeper sentiment than most modern professional athletes are capable of uttering. And it makes the thought of Gasol (and/or Conley) in another uniform even harder to stomach.

But the Grizzlies, as the roster is currently shaped, are moving further from contention for an NBA title and not closer. It’s not a trajectory conducive to retaining highly paid stars, never mind the duo’s decade of tenure in Beale Street Blue or the seven playoff trips they made possible. And this has been the hardest part of the reality math for me: Conley and Gasol will leave Memphis (the franchise) with a whimper, and not the celebratory flourish more reflective of their impact on Memphis (the city).

For me, Mike Conley will always be “the masked man,” a point guard who played the majority of his minutes in the 2015 playoffs (and against the mighty Warriors no less) with a broken face. For me, the image of Marc Gasol I carry is Big Spain taking the opening tip at the 2015 All-Star Game. A Memphis player starting the All-Star Game. Save for a championship or perhaps an MVP, I’m not sure a moment could more legitimize Memphis as an NBA city than that tip-off in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Both players have been slowed in recent years by significant injuries. Both have nights now when they appear to have lost a step (as athletes do in their 30s). But neither Conley nor Gasol has ever griped, at least not about their plight as players. Their steady comportment, in good seasons and bad, has made them, well, Memphis AF. It’s among the reasons no other Grizzly will ever wear number 11 or number 33. Conley and Gasol are destined, you have to believe, for the bronze treatment someday. Only if there’s enough room in the FedExForum plaza next to the Zach Randolph and Tony Allen statues.

Our favorite teams hurt us as much as they help us. Only one group of players finishes a season with a parade. And the players we cheer — at least as long as they remain human — move on to new life stages. But joy, while never bottled, has no expiration date, not really. And those who deliver a certain brand of joy (a sweep of the San Antonio Spurs comes to mind) outlast physical presence. Here’s hoping Conley and Gasol — no, Mike and Marc — find their paths to happier life stages than the Grizzlies’ current record suggests. They’ll remember Memphis, perhaps with the same profound appreciation we’ll remember them.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Fernet-Branca: The Bitter and the Sweet

Last week, a coworker flabbergasted me with a thank-you gift for doing something that I considered a routine part of my job. It was a truly unexpected, generous gesture — and what she gave me was a surprise, too. At first glance, I sized up the tall, sparkly gift bag and assumed it contained a bottle of wine, always a welcome present. When I opened it, however, I found a large bottle filled with a coffee-colored liqueur that, when I unscrewed the cap, smelled leathery, minty, and herbaceous all at once. And that’s how I came to fall in love with Fernet-Branca.

The aroma that emanated from the bottle reminded me of both root beer and iced tea — if the drinks were filtered through my grandfather’s aftershave. Its taste, which I waited to get home to discover, was astringent and almost uncomfortably bitter. It reminded me of some dark spoonful of medicine served by my childhood physician, and I screwed up my face as I swallowed. Then I poured a second glass of the amaro liqueur, which, according to most bartenders, is best served neat. I tried to discern the flavor profile, but with 40 herbs, roots and spices on the ingredient list, it’s complicated.

Unlike most apertifs and digestifs, Fernet-Branca is very low in sugar. It’s also one of the only amari liqueurs to be aged for a full year in oak barrels, a process that adds intensity and complexities to the final result. Distilled in Milan, Italy, since 1845, its ingredients include the familiar and the exotic: chamomile, peppermint, saffron, myrrh, Chinese rhubarb, aloe ferox, angelica, colombo root, cinchona bark, and orris root are just a sampling of the herbs that go into the mix using both hot and cold infusion processes. The actual recipe is known by only one man, Niccolo Branca, the great-great-grandson of Bernardino Branca, who invented the liqueur and originally promoted it for its health benefits, including flatulence, overeating, gas pains, and hangovers.

Today, Fernet-Branca remains popular in Italy, and in Argentina, where it’s drunk with a Coca-Cola mixer. The liqueur is catching on in Germany, where the preferred drinking method is Fernet-Branca and Red Bull. On this continent, it’s most frequently consumed as a bracing shot. It’s also turning up as an ingredient in many craft cocktail recipes.

I was intrigued by a cocktail I found online called the Hanky Panky. The drink first appeared in 1925, making its debut at the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London. Today, it’s making a comeback — likely due to its simplicity and its complexity. The Hanky Panky only has three ingredients: 1 ½ ounces of gin (I used Beefeater’s), 1 ½ ounces of sweet vermouth, and 2 dashes of Fernet-Branca. You simply stir the liquids with ice in a mixing glass or cocktail shaker, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish the glass with a twist of orange peel if you like, and sip.

I also sampled what Argentines refer to as “ferne con coca” or “Fernecola” — an ice-packed glass with a few fingers of Fernet-Branca topped with sugary Mexican Coke. While the sweetness of the cola hardly subdues the bitterness of the liqueur, the bubbles make the drink particularly intoxicating. During WWII, a Fernet-Branca distillery opened in Buenos Aires — today, it and Milan remain the only places in the world where the liqueur is made. The International Wine and Spirits Record, which monitors the world’s beverage alcohol market, recently declared that Argentina consumes three-fourths of the world’s Fernet-Branca.

But be warned, Fernet-Branca is not for everyone’s tastes. I recommend taking the liqueur for a test-spin before committing to a full bottle. Ask your favorite bartender to pour you a shot or order a Fernet-Branca-based cocktail if you see one on the menu. At Hog & Hominy in East Memphis, there’s a delicious drink called The Grifter (yes, it’s an homage to the Memphis indie-rock band) that pairs Fernet-Branca with Four Roses bourbon. The cocktail is a bit fussier than something I’d whip up at home, but, that said, the final result is so delicious that it warranted a full-page review in Conde Nast Traveler.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers 77, UCF 57

“Let’s make a statement. When we got up 20, Coach [Hardaway] said, ‘Let’s get up 25.'”
— Memphis guard Tyler Harris

The Tigers have yet to beat a ranked opponent under rookie coach Penny Hardaway, but on Sunday afternoon at FedExForum, they thoroughly dismantled the team picked by league coaches to win the American Athletic Conference. Despite the presence of towering (7’6″) UCF center Tacko Fall, the Tigers dominated the glass, pulling down 46 rebounds (21 offensive) against the Knights’ 28. After a miserable shooting performance last Thursday at Temple, the Tigers hit eight three-pointers to hand UCF its worst loss of the season and only fourth overall.
Larry Kuzniewksi

Raynere Thornton

“Shot selection is the main thing for us,” said Hardaway. “We can get into situations where we feel like we can make anything, and we’ll start taking anything. I can count maybe three bad shots today, but they didn’t hurt us.”

The Tigers enjoyed a comfortable lead throughout the game (38-28 at halftime), but put the contest away over a three-minute stretch early in the second half. Tyler Harris opened a barrage of three-pointers to give Memphis a 43-31 lead. By the time the freshman guard hit another — after Raynere Thornton and Isaiah Maurice each connected — the Tiger lead was 52-36, and the crowd of 17,046 achieved full energizing capacity.

“When we buckle down and stick to the game plan, we can be really good in this league,” emphasized Hardaway. “If we stay as a team, and listen to the coaching staff, this game shows we can play with anybody in the country. UCF is a really good team. They only had three losses, by a combined 11 points. Only one loss in conference play. They’ve been playing solid for a couple of years under Coach [Johnny] Dawkins.”

Senior center Mike Parks noted the impact of two weeks of rebounding drills, an area of concern for Memphis over the season’s first six weeks. In just 19 minutes off the bench, Parks scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Senior forward Raynere Thornton had a double-double (11 points and 11 rebounds). “I’ve told Ray to go rebound, and the points will come,” said Hardaway.
Larry Kuzniewski

Alex Lomax

Harris led Memphis in the scoring column with 14 points. Jeremiah Martin had 10 points and seven assists, and Kyvon Davenport scored 11 points to help the Tigers improve to 13-7 for the season (5-2 in the AAC). UCF falls to 15-4 (5-2). Freshman Alex Lomax contributed eight points, three assists, and two steals in 21 minutes off the bench.

“It’s always good to see guys stick with what we teach,” said Hardaway. “Old-school teaching is defense first, offense second. In today’s game, it’s not popular to play defense. A lot of the guys in the NBA don’t play D, and that’s what college kids mimic. To see this game today — holding a really good team to 57 points — it can be done. It was done with energy and toughness, and it was consistent.”

The Tigers’ next two games will be on the road, at Tulsa Wednesday, then at USF next Saturday. They return to FedExForum on February 7th to host Cincinnati, one of two remaining teams (with Houston) with only one league loss.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Cream Of The Crop: 39th Annual Blues Music Awards Nominees Announced

Tom Davis

2018 solo International Blues Challenge winner Kevin B.F. Burt is now a BMA nominee

The blues, in all its permutations, can be polarizing in Memphis. Many have built their lives around the genre; others are at best indifferent. Alicja Trout, on the Lost Sounds’ album Black Wave, expressed a punk’s frustration with the style: “This city’s filled with reasons to kill/But everybody wants to play the blues.”

But the blues as an artistic approach has a staying power that cuts across mere genre. The much-beloved Oblivians made their name, in part, as creators of their own blues/punk hybrid. Meanwhile, rapper Al Kapone and singer Barbara Blue are pioneering a hybrid of blues and rap on their song, “Fish in Dirty H2O.” The blues also permeates the two greatest historical legacies of the city, Sun and Stax. And it continues to draw thousands to Memphis.

Standing amid this constant destruction and rebuilding of the form is the Blues Foundation, which can function as a kind of corrective to the whims of the market and its hunger for novelty. Although contemporary blues bands can draw huge crowds in places, they often toil in a kind of parallel universe, with little media attention. And attending the Foundation’s gala Blues Music Awards (BMAs) can indeed feel like a alternate reality, with entirely new rules of glamour and achievement. This may explain the deep familial feeling one experiences at the ceremonies. 

This month, the Blues Foundation announced the nominees for the spring’s awards event, honoring artists and releases from November 1, 2017 to October 31, 2018. This year, the prestigious Blue Music Awards will honor achievements in 26 categories, including two new ones: Blues Rock Artist of the Year and Instrumentalist: Vocals.

Winners will be announced at the 39th Annual Blues Music Awards, scheduled for May 10th at the Cook Convention Center. Any Blues Foundation member, even those just joining now, can vote on the categories. It’s a rare opportunity to participate in a uniquely global community (of 4,000 individual members and 200 affiliated local blues societies, representing another 50,000 fans and professionals around the world). And the vista of faces at the BMAs is indeed international. Moreover, every nominee not only attends the Awards show, but also performs at it – making for an unforgettable evening for blues fans.

Click here or scroll down for the complete list of nominees.

The 39th Annual Blues Music Awards, Thursday, May 10th at 7 p.m. at Memphis’ Cook Convention Center. Individual tickets are $150 per person; Regular Tables for 10 are $1,500 and Premium Tables for 10 are $1,800 each. All tickets can now be purchased  as of January 9th. The Blues Foundation’s hotel block of rooms at the Sheraton Memphis Downtown also opened for reservations on January 9th.

Major funding for the Blues Music Awards is provided by ArtsMemphis and Tennessee Arts Commission. The 39th BMAs are also sponsored by AutoZone, BMI, Ditty TV, First Tennessee Foundation, Gibson Foundation, and Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.

40th Blues Music Award Nominees

Acoustic Album:
A Woman’s Soul, Rory Block
Black Cowboys, Dom Flemons
Global Griot, Eric Bibb
Journeys To The Heart Of The Blues, Joe Louis Walker/Bruce Katz/Giles Robson
Wish The World Away, Ben Rice

Acoustic Artist:
Ben Rice
Guy Davis
Hadden Sayers
Harrison Kennedy
Rory Block

Album of the Year:
America’s Child, Shemekia Copeland
The High Cost Of Low Living, The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling
Journeys To The Heart Of The Blues, Joe Louis Walker/Bruce Katz/Giles Robson
Rough Cut, Curtis Salgado and Alan Hager
Why Did You have To Go, Anthony Geraci

B.B. King Entertainer:
Beth Hart
Bobby Rush
Lil’ Ed Williams
Michael Ledbetter
Sugaray Rayford

Band of the Year:
Anthony Geraci & The Boston Blues All-Stars
Larkin Poe
Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials
Nick Moss Band
Welch-Ledbetter Connection

Best Emerging Artist Album:
Burn Me Alive, Heather Newman
Free, Amanda Fish
Heartland And Soul, Kevin Burt
Tough As Love, Lindsay Beaver
Wish The World Away, Ben Rice

Blues Rock Album:
The Big Bad Blues, Billy F Gibbons
High Desert Heat, Too Slim and the Taildraggers
Live At The ’62 Center, Albert Cummings
Poor Until Payday, The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Winning Hand, Tinsley Ellis

Blues Rock Artist:
Billy F Gibbons
Eric Gales
J.P. Soars
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Tinsley Ellis

Contemporary Blues Album:
America’s Child, Shemekia Copeland
Belle Of The West, Samantha Fish
Chicago Plays The Stones, The Living History Band
Hold On, Kirk Fletcher
Wild Again, The Proven Ones

Contemporary Blues Female Artist:
Beth Hart
Danielle Nicole
Samantha Fish
Shemekia Copeland
Vanessa Collier

Contemporary Blues Male Artist:
Kenny Neal
Rick Estrin
Ronnie Baker Brooks
Selwyn Birchwood
Toronzo Cannon

Instrumentalist – Bass:
Danielle Nicole
Michael “Mudcat” Ward
Patrick Rynn
Scot Sutherland
Willie J. Campbell

Instrumentalist – Drums:
Cedric Burnside
Jimi Bott
June Core
Tom Hambridge
Tony Braunagel

Instrumentalist – Guitar:
Anson Funderburgh
Christoffer “Kid” Andersen
Laura Chavez
Monster Mike Welch
Ronnie Earl

Instrumentalist – Harmonica:
Billy Branch
Bob Corritore
Dennis Gruenling
Kim Wilson
Mark Hummel

Instrumentalist – Horn:
Doug James
Jimmy Carpenter
Kaz Kazzanof
Mindi Abair
Nancy Wright
Vanessa Collier

Pinetop Perkins Piano Player (Instrumentalist – Piano):
Anthony Geraci
Bruce Katz
Jim Pugh
Marcia Ball
Mike Finnigan

Instrumentalist – Vocals:
Beth Hart
Danielle Nicole
Janiva Magness
Michael Ledbetter
Shemekia Copeland

Song of the Year:
“Ain’t Got Time For Hate,” written by John Hahn and Will Kimbrough
“Angelina, Angelina,” written by Anthony Geraci
“Cognac,” written by Buddy Guy, Tom Hambridge, Richard Fleming
“No Mercy In This Land,” written by Ben Harper
“The Ice Queen,” written by Sue Foley

Soul Blues Album:
Back In Business, Frank Bey
Every Soul’s A Star, Dave Keller
I’m Still Around, Johnny Rawls
Love Makes A Woman, The Knickerbocker All-Stars
Reckoning, Billy Price

Soul Blues Female Artist:
Annika Chambers
Barbara Blue
Candi Staton
Thornetta Davis
Whitney Shay

Soul Blues Male Artist:
Frank Bey
Johnny Rawls
Sugaray Rayford
Wee Willie Walker
William Bell

Traditional Blues Album:
The Blues Is Alive And Well, Buddy Guy
The High Cost of Low Living, Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling
The Luckiest Man, Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters
Tribute to Carey Bell, Lurrie Bell & the Bell Dynasty
Why Did You Have To Go, Anthony Geraci

Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female Artist):
Fiona Boyes
Lindsay Beaver
Ruthie Foster
Sue Foley
Trudy Lynn

Traditional Blues Male Artist:
Anthony Geraci
Cedric Burnside
James Harman
Lurrie Bell
Nick Moss

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

The Greyhound is Now Open

The Greyhound, in the new Hilton Garden Inn Downtown on Union, opened last Thursday.

This chic bar, which claims to be the first of its kind in the city, specializes in craft gin cocktails.

The name is a nod to the bus station that once stood in the same location. Greyhounds abound in the bar. Two statues of the dogs, named Danny and Jude, guard the door. Ice for the drinks can be stamped with an image of the dog, and you can buy stickers with greyhounds on them from an old stamp machine.

This a bar less about the drinking than it is about the experience. A bar trolley is used, so drinks can be made table-side. The cocktails are served in pretty Waterford crystal glasses with little tin straws. A smokebox is available so drinks can be infused with a smoky flavor. And the bar menu has a page with a circle on it for placing your drink — to frame it just right for social media.

Kel’s Bells

The Greyhound carries some 50 gins. Bar manager Kendrick Cook says you can’t really beat gin for its versatility. You can make it sweet or bitter or spicy, he says, it all works.

Among the signature cocktails are the Greyhound Station (Hayman’s Sloe Gin, mint, grapefruit, Aperol, oleo); Memphis Grizzlies (Botanist gin, creme de violet, lime, and seasonal berries); and the Keeper, which is a nod to the new soccer team, with Brugal rum, Cynar, Orgeat, and tiki bitters.

And there are the classics, such as the Gimlet, the Martini, Last Word, and Sazerac, as well.

The bar menu features twists on Southern classics, including a Jack Daniels’ BBQ brisket sandwich, Southern chicken with grilled chicken and pimentos cheese, chicken wings, and house-made pub chips.

The Greyhound opens daily at 4 p.m.


Categories
News News Blog

XPO Named ‘Admired Company,’ Organization Says It’s Offensive

Fortune magazine named XPO Logistics one of the “World’s Most Admired Companies” for 2019, and one group is calling that offensive in light of several recent allegations brought forth by its employees.


Employees at XPO’s Verizon warehouse here reported sexual harassment and unsafe, hazardous working conditions, including extreme heat last summer. In the last year, more than a dozen XPO employees have filed Equal Employment Opportunity claims against the company relating to unsafe conditions

There have also been various incidents of pregnancy discrimination, including refusals to allow pregnant employees to take on less strenuous tasks, leading to several miscarriages, which was brought to light in October by The New York Times.

However, XPO made the list as one of Fortune’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” in the trucking, transportation, and logistics category, based on criteria including investment value, quality of management and products, and social responsibility.

James P. Hoffa, president of International Brotherhood of Teamsters General

President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General, James P. Hoffa said including XPO on the list is offensive to all of the women who have brought allegations forward about the company.

“XPO Logistics being named a ‘World’s Most Admired Company’ is offensive to the dozens of women who have come forward with allegations against the company of pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment, and the hundreds of port truck drivers employed by XPO who are suffering egregious wage theft,” Hoffa said. “Even after The New York Times report, along with over 100 members of Congress and a number of national organizations calling on XPO to address these issues, the problems with the working conditions and culture still fester throughout the company and across the country.”

House Members, led in part by Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen, urged the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in December to investigate the many allegations of “disturbing treatment” of pregnant employees at XPO’s warehouses around the country.

Hoffa said XPO is not a company people should be admiring.

“There is nothing admirable about women losing their unborn children on the warehouse floor,” Hoffa said. “There is nothing admirable about workers losing their life on the job because they were denied medical attention. There is nothing admirable about XPO employees working 14-16 hour days with little to no breaks. There is nothing admirable about illegally classifying workers as ‘independent contractors’ and stealing their wages.”

Hoffa said Fortune should have looked more closely at the companies they recognize: “Just a little investigation into XPO would show a company that fails its workers when it comes to social responsibility.”