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Secret Service

Memphis is a tough market, and every retail business has its own unique way of making customers feel special.

Maybe you’re a grocery store that gives out free samples and instructs employees to perform intimate hand-washing services for your customers.

This message on the bathroom mirror at Fresh Market (snapped by reader GB) seems to advertise just such a secret service: “Employees Must Wash your Hands Before returning to work.”

Neverending Clownvis

We interrupt your regularly scheduled installment of Neverending Elvis to note that a unique tribute artist is slated to perform at Growlers Monday, November 26th.

Clownvis Presley doesn’t recreate Elvis songs. Instead, he performs new material, like what the King might perform today, were he alive. And a clown.

Oops

In a Flyer headline last week, the word “Referenda” was spelled “Rerferenda.” We regret both the error and hiring celebrity copy editor Scoobert Doo.

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Misery

“Master of the house isn’t worth my spit. Comforter, philosopher, and life-long shit. Cunning little brain; regular Voltaire. Thinks he’s quite a lover, but there’s not much there.” — Madame Thénardier, Les Misérables

Madame Thénardier is one of the all-time great musical theater characters. She’s vile, but in a show as relentlessly bleak as Les Misérables, she provides much-needed comic relief. “It’s dark,” says Allison Guinn, who’s been touring in the pivotal role for more than a year and describes the opportunity as a lifelong wish fulfilled.

Allison Guinn as Madame Thénardier

“I’ve wanted to play this role since I was a child,” says Guinn, who grew up in East Tennessee and describes her first encounter with this epic musical of revolution and social injustice as a life-altering event. “We lived near Johnson City. There wasn’t a lot of opportunity to see live theater, so my mother took me to see Les Miz in Knoxville when I was a pre-teen,” she says. “She thought I’d connect with little Cosette, the ‘Castle on a Cloud’ girl, because I was about the same age. But I was instantly attracted to Madame Thénardier. I wanted to be the one who makes people laugh.”

Guinn grew up in a literate and musical family. Her mother was a public school teacher who read Hugo’s novel aloud. Her grandmother was Daisy Dean Sherrill who played mandolin and sang in The Ladies Homeland Gospel Quartet. “Carter family songs were some of her favorites, and she taught them to me,” says Guinn, who learned to accompany herself on autoharp.

Victor Hugo never developed a knack for making music. He got super excited when he learned to peck out Beethoven with one finger. But the poet had other skills, and his moody, nearly expressionist drawings served as the principle inspiration for Les Misérables‘ 25th anniversary remount.

“It’s gorgeous,” Guinn says. “And what really moved me is that the designer didn’t just take the time to pay homage to the art, he animated it.”

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Music Music Features

Barbara Blue’s Latest Features Old School and New

CREDIT: Ebet Roberts

Even Barbara Blue sounds a little surprised at the talent she gathered together for her latest album, Fish in Dirty H20. While it’s true that the blues belter, a regular performer at Silky O’Sullivan’s on Beale Street, has worked with some serious contenders in the past (including three albums with Taj Mahal’s Phantom Blues Band in the 1990s), she couldn’t have predicted that her latest effort would feature one of the greatest drummers in the history of jazz, funk, and soul: Bernard “Pretty” Purdie.

Purdie’s work, of course, became legendary soon after he first made his mark drumming for Mickey and Sylvia in the New York scene of the early 1960s. It wasn’t long before he was contributing to albums by James Brown, David “Fathead” Newman, Herbie Mann, B.B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Robert Palmer’s Insect Trust, and many others. Pop fans might be most familiar with his solid grooves on hits like “O-o-h Child” or Aretha Franklin’s “Rock Steady” and “Day Dreaming,” but he also chalked up a number of albums as a bandleader in his own right, now often sampled in hip-hop productions.

Ebet Roberts

Bernard Purdie and Barbara Blue

Cut to 2017, when both Purdie and Blue were performing at the Porretta Soul Festival in Italy. “Porretta is known for these little doughnuts they make over there,” explains Blue. “They’re halfway between a cookie and a doughnut. I’d take ’em to everybody, just to give ’em out. So when I saw Celia, Bernard’s wife, I said ‘Here, I found these, they’re delicious.’ She looked at me with tears in her eyes. She’s Italian to the bone, from New York. She’s got tears in her eyes and says, ‘My nonni used to make these.’ And we’ve been like family ever since.”

She felt an immediate bond with Bernard as well, she adds, because “we have the same musical philosophy on a lot of things.” Recruiting him to cut her latest album was a simple matter. It helped that she had secured time at a studio on Pickwick Lake operated by multi-platinum producer Jim Gaines, best known for his hits with Huey Lewis and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Gaines’ approach to production suited Blue just fine. As he recently told Tape Op magazine, “I try to capture a little bit of live-ness to the music … . I do it today with a lot of bands that work with me. I look at it as if you’re going to see a live performance. That’s the sound I want to hear, except with us in control.”

And that’s precisely what you get with Fish in Dirty H20. To hear Blue tell it, working with Purdie made live-tracking easy. “We drive each other, because we drive for perfection. We had nine one-take songs on this 13-track record. With Bernard, you get it the first time. But I had other great people in the studio. I had [former Stax and Enterprise keyboardist] Lester Snell, I had Dave Smith on bass, and most of the time I had Will McFarlane on guitar. Bernard is cerebral. We’d discuss it, and then we’d hit it. And we had a ball at it.”

Overdubs of horns, background vocals, and other textures were added later. But one overdub in particular took the album in a direction unheard of on almost any blues record to date: a rap by one Al Kapone. “Al texted me and said, ‘C’mon I wanna be on your record’,” says Blue. “And I said, ‘Funny you should say that … ‘ So he sent me back a scratch track. I almost fell to the floor. So Jim’s sitting at the computer, we’re listening to it, and he says, ‘Barbara, I love it. But I’m gonna tell ya, my professional friends are gonna think I lost my fucking mind!’ The cool thing was, Jim had never seen anybody rap like this before. And Al knew exactly where he wanted to be.”

The final product is a testament to Blue’s hard-won life experience, and the gritty power of the blues to convey it. “I’ve been singing in bars since I was 13 years old. I’ve watched people come in who are trying to mend their marriage. I’ve watched people who are having affairs. I’ve watched people who are sending their kid overseas in a Navy uniform. And I can tell you: People don’t always go there because they’re happy.”

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We Recommend We Recommend

Memphis’ Last Waltz: A Tribute To The Band at The Hi-Tone:

Bassist Rick Danko steps up to the mic and wishes the cheering audience a “Happy Thanksgiving.” His band, The Band, launches into a scorching, horn-laden cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Baby Don’t You Do It” that ends with guitarist Robbie Robertson’s iconic sign off: “Thank You. Goodnight. Goodbye.” It was November 25, 1976, and Danko, Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Richard Manuel were ending a fruitful and longstanding musical partnership that had resulted in perfect singles like “The Weight” and “Up on Cripple Creek,” and in landmark LPs like Music From Big Pink. Thirty-five-year-old filmmaker Martin Scorsese recorded their star-studded farewell with performances by marquee artists like Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Diamond, the Staples Singers, and a dozen more. The Last Waltz arrived in movie theaters in 1978 and has become the concert documentary against which all others are measured.

The Last Waltz.”

“My favorite scene in The Last Waltz has gotta be Van Morrison doing ‘Caravan,'” says Memphis songwriter and keyboard artist Jason Pulley, who’s participating in Memphis’ third consecutive Thanksgiving tribute to the epic farewell concert. “I love the spirit in his performance, and the first time we performed it live as a band, it gave me chills.”

The Last Waltz tribute was first organized in 2016 by Pulley’s Glorious Abhor bandmate Josh Stevens and included members of Glorious Abhor, HEELS, and Chinese Connection Dub Embassy. “To my recollection, the original plan was to do this once, for the 40th anniversary [of the concert],” says Pulley, who helps Stevens navigate the ambitious project. “But after the turnout and response was so incredible, we absolutely had to try it with a horn section and more guests,” Pulley says.

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Cover Feature News

‘Tis the Season … to Shop Memphis!

CREDIT: Illustrations by Greg Cravens

The best way to give truly original and unique presents for the holidays this year is to stay at home. Well, not literally at your home; that wouldn’t be any fun. We mean you should buy local — do your holiday shopping at businesses here in Memphis and Shelby County. Shopping local helps Memphis-area merchants and the local economy. And it says you care enough to get off your duff and go pick something out instead of just staring at your laptop and tapping into the internet.

There are many great local shopping options and areas — Broad Avenue, Downtown, Cooper-Young, Laurelwood, Saddle Creek, Overton Square — to name just a few. Try our local bakeries, breweries, boutiques, bistros, and even places that don’t start with “b.” For even more ideas, just browse the pages of the Flyer and see what our beloved advertisers have to offer.

And, just because we’re helpful that way, those of us on the editorial staff also came up with a few suggestions.

Now, get out there and do your civic duty and shop! You’ll be glad you did. And so will we.

Illustrations by Greg Cravens

Stoned Ninjas

Every year, Mid-Southerners find themselves asking: What sort of locally sourced holiday gifts might make a good stocking stuffer for the pot smoker and/or ninja in my life? This once-unsolvable challenge has finally been addressed thanks to the creative team behind Stoned Ninja, a small, Memphis-made comic book title drawn by cartoonist/illustrator (and frequent Memphis Flyer contributor) Greg Cravens. In addition to creating weed and martial arts-themed stories about a street level hero who can vanish in a puff of smoke, Stoned Ninja also produces its own line of 100 percent hemp rolling papers and Stoned Ninja T-shirts.

“When I was a kid, comics were in every grocery store and quickie mart in the country, and they aren’t anymore,” Cravens says, explaining the potential for headshops to expand comic distribution. “The market has narrowed down to where you have to go hard target search for a comic shop to go get comics,” he says. “What we’ve got is something we can sell in another store to another targeted audience. So, that’s the pitch when we approach larger publishers. There are potentially 25,000 more shops you can put your comic into if you’ll just pay attention.”

Stoned Ninja writer and mastermind Gabriel DeRanzo credits 901 Comics owner Shannon Merritt for his new business venture. Shortly after opening shop in Cooper-Young, Merritt launched Bad Dog Comics to publish locally produced graphic literature. Cravens and DeRanzo met at 901, and their collaboration on Stoned Ninja began after a meeting to organize the first Bad Dog Comics Anthology.

Stoned Ninja was originally inspired by the classic Kung Fu comedy Drunken Master and developed as a means to explore pot culture beyond the usual burnout stereotypes. “So I asked myself, if there can be a Drunken Master, why can’t there be a Stoned Ninja?” DeRanzo says.

DeRanzo’s vision extended beyond the glossy pages of a monthly title. The right merchandise wouldn’t just tie it all together, it could be a bridge to new markets. “Given the content of the comic, I figured there was no reason to go less than 100 percent pure hemp,” DeRanzo says of Stoned Ninja rolling papers. “So it’s as good a quality paper as anything out there, and we’re offering fun packaging. On the inside flap, there’s a comic and we’re going to change that flap every time we put in a new order. So Stoned Ninja will be like Bazooka Joe Bubble gum.”

Stoned Ninja comics are available at 901 Comics and Whatever stores. Stoned Ninja starter packs, which include a comic book, a T-shirt, and a pack of papers are available online at stonedninjacomics.com. — Chris Davis

Game On!

A new gaming paradigm has emerged recently, based on creating total immersion in an environment. The chief example is Virtual Reality (VR), where a visual/audio headset fills your senses, projects a 3D space around you, and senses your movements in it.

You can buy a home VR rig, but to really experience the state of the art, a VR arcade is the way to go. It is a remarkable experience. David Callahan of Bluff City VR in Cordova says it’s impossible to describe. “The technology is so amazing, it’s like trying to explain color to someone who’s color-blind. Until you put the headset on, you just won’t get it.”

For that reason, he says, “everyone that walks in the door gets a free demo. It’s more realistic than the most realistic 3D movie you’ve ever seen. It really feels like you’re inside the video game.”

While none of the 30 available games can be played by more than one person, Callahan says, “each booth also has a TV set that displays what the person’s seeing in the headset. So it’s perfect as a group activity to sit there and watch the person play. And you can talk back and forth.”

There’s no limit to how many can share a one hour room rental ($39), swapping time with the headset, and you can even rent all five gaming rooms for larger events. www.bluffcityvr.com

If your tastes are less techy, try one of the challenges at Memphis Escape Rooms. For one hour, eight people come together to puzzle over clues and mechanisms that will unlock a door (although anyone who needs to leave can do so). Up to eight friends can book time together at around $20 per person. But if it’s just you, says assistant manager Brianna Berg, “you could end up working with total strangers, which is always fun, because people work in different ways. Sometimes having people from outside your group can really open your eyes to different ways to solve the puzzles.”

And if you’ve tried such rooms elsewhere, keep in mind that these are unique: “We create the rooms completely ourselves. All the themes, puzzles, and rooms are built by us.” Many scenarios are available at their two locations. Gift the gift of game! — Alex Greene

www.memphisescaperooms.com

Fitted To a Tee

What can we say? Your friends are total homers, but their T-shirt game is tight. Help them build on it with a well-thought-out, Memphis-centric gift.

If your friend bleeds blue, then a stop at the Tiger Bookstore is a must. Steer clear of the gingham blazer, no matter how snazzy. The back wall is where it’s at. They’ve got your grays and royal and navy blues, your standard logos and fancier prints, in both long sleeve and short. They run about $14 to $15. tigerbookstore.com

Memphicity Design is the go-to place for Grizzlies and Tigers fans, with their nods to gritting and grinding and One Cent. Pancho’s and Piggly Wiggly lovers are covered as well. T-shirts run from $10 to $20. Buy three, get one free. memphicitydesign.com

City pride never looked so elegant with the etchy sketchy designs with the Pyramid in comfy grays available at B. Collective. That doesn’t mean they can’t get funky — witness their dead Elvis shirt and the 9.oh.1 one with the bridge. Prices range from $25 to $35. bcollectiveshop.com

The pickup line “Are you from Tennessee? Because you’re the only ten I see” is a real groaner, but ablazed on your chest, it’s damn near a thing of beauty. The Five in One design is particularly swell: a retro color scheme, the Hernando-Desoto bridge, a funky-fonted “Memphis.” Five in One also carries a Crosstown-proud shirt and other Memphis-y tops. There’s also a great hoodie with a yellow “Memphis” with ’70s flair. The only thing you’ll be arrested for in this hoodie is being too cool. T-shirts are $32; hoodie $62. fiveinone.org

The mecca for the hip T-shirt hound is West Tn Print & Trade Co. on Cleveland near Crosstown. They’re the ones who birthed the “Memphis as F**k” shirt. Among their inventory: “Santa’s Favorite Memphis Kid”; “Go Tigers, Y’all”; “Memphis: Be Nice or Leave”; “Keep Midtown Sketchy”; “Memphis vs. All Y’all”; “Memphis BBQ Kicks Ass”; “Memphis F**king Tennessee”; and more. All shirts can be made into a dog shirt for $20 for any pups that are living large. T-shirts are $20 or three for $50. westtntradeandprintco.com — Susan Ellis

Get Potted

There are a handful places in town to send your friends and family to get their creative juices flowing, but if they want to put their hands to work, get a little messy, and create a masterpiece, Seize the Clay is a good choice. This year, gift the creatives in your life the experience of creating.

At Seize the Clay, they can make and paint pottery, as well as fuse glass. Owner, Adam Loeffel says all three options lend to having a “fun, creative time.” It’s a nice break from the corporate commercial retail world, he says.

“It’s an opportunity for people to take time out of their day, be creative, and have quiet time,” Loeffel says. “It’s a chance to make something. We live in a world where everything comes at us so fast, but making things takes time. So there’s a big sense of accomplishment when you see your finished product.”

Loeffel says painting pre-made pottery, specifically coffee mugs, is the most popular option. The turnaround time is much faster, he says. You simply pick a ceramic piece, costing anywhere from $8 to $100, paint it to your heart’s desire, and then the staff does the rest. In three to five days, the piece is fired and ready to be used.

For those who are more patient and have more time (and money) on their hands, Loeffel says the studio also holds four- and six-session potter’s wheel classes, priced at $250 and $350, respectively. Meant for beginners, the in-depth classes cover how to throw bowls, plates, and mugs. Class attendance requires a reservation. Loeffel says making pottery from scratch is a bit of a process, but it’s a nice therapy-like way to relax.

Finally, on Thursday evenings, a class-fusing workshop teaches participants how to design, cut, and assemble their own glass pieces. There’s no cost to attend the class except for the cost of the project made. — Maya Smith

Seize the Clay, 3084 Poplar, is open Tuesday through Sunday with varying hours. Gift cards for any dollar amount are available.

Give the Flyer

Here’s an idea: Give the Memphis Flyer for Christmas. Not literally, of course. I mean, we’re free, and you’d look really cheap stuffing a Memphis Flyer in Mom’s stocking. But you can give a Frequent Flyer membership for as little as $5 or $10 a month. In return, your giftee will get some swag — a snazzy Flyer “wings” pin, a T-shirt, a decal, invites to our parties and events — depending on the gift level you choose for them. They’ll get weekly updates on events, and special ticket offers, and your lucky Frequent Flyer will will get their name printed in the paper several times a year, and on the ever-growing list of members that can be found on the Flyer website.

For more information and details about how to become a Frequent Flyer, go to support.memphisflyer.com — and help keep Memphis’ only progressive news source free. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Park It Here … or There

Tennessee State Parks again invites you to “skip the Black Friday shopping and join us on the day after Thanksgiving for a post-holiday hike with family and friends.” Parks officials have offered free hikes in Tennessee’s 56 state parks for a few years now (and this year with the handy hashtag #thankful4hiking). 

“We have hikes for all ages and abilities, from easy peaceful strolls to rugged ramblings,” say state park officials. 

And the parks website makes it easy to find a hike near you. Easily, the closest hike to Memphis is the After-Thanksgiving Day hike at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park. Ranger Colton Garner will lead a hike down the bike trail to the Woodland Shelter, where he’ll talk about the creation of the park. The hour-long hike starts at 3 p.m. from Shelter No. 2. — Toby Sells

‘Tis the Seasoning

If you say you’re giving someone vinegar for Christmas, people might equate that with ashes and switches. But hold on. The Mighty Olive sells an array of flavored balsamic vinegars, which make dandy gifts. They even sell a variety gift pack of vinegars, complete with ribbon.

Still not sold? I might not have been either, until I tried a small cup of vanilla ice cream topped with The Mighty Olive’s dark chocolate balsamic vinegar at the recent Art on Fire party at Dixon Gallery & Gardens. I didn’t stop at one cup; I think I had four or five. It was incredibly delicious.

It’s got the taste of chocolate and it’s “got some tartness,” says The Mighty Olive owner Sam Braslow. “When you put it over ice cream, it just works.”

It’s great on strawberries, too, Braslow says. And if you mix the dark chocolate with the raspberry balsamic vinegar, you’ve got a great taste treat.

Once, you get started with the dark chocolate and strawberry vinegars, try some of the other balsamic vinegars, including blackberry ginger and mission fig. All of those sound like they’d be dandy on ice cream. Or yogurt. Or just salads. They also sell traditional style balsamic vinegar, but Mighty Olive’s aged balsamic vinegar has no caramel coloring and no sugar. The Mighty Olive sells olive oils, too, if you want variety in your stockings. Vinegars range from $10 to $40.

And remember: Balsamic vinegar and olive oil are presents that are good for you. Kind of like Christmas pajamas. — Michael Donahue

The Mighty Olive is at 4615 Poplar No. 18; 901-240-6226

Shab Chic Marketplace

Skip the big-box store melee and shop in a box at The Edge District.

The Shab Chic Marketplace kicks off its inaugural Holiday Market on Friday in The Edge and will run every weekend until the Sunday before Christmas Eve. The market and its vendors operate out of “articulately designed” shipping containers, located across the street from Edge Alley and High Cotton Brewing on Monroe.

The market’s innovative look matches its innovative mission as a sort of business incubator for local startups. It’s a partnership with the Memphis Medical District Collaborative.

 “When our team created Shab Chic Marketplace, we understood the influence it could have on the community and small businesses, and we’re ecstatic to see our community being a part of such a unique project and a part of the Holiday Market,” say Marketplace owners Brian Christion and Ebony Doss.

The market will feature Memphis-only vendors such as My Heavenly Creations Soap and Sundries for bath bombs and (you guessed it) soaps. Get your subtle/fresh Memphis-themed hats, hoodies,  and more from 9.oh.1 TheLabel. If you — like Janey Bees Jems — believe “life’s too short to wear boring jewelry,” look for their shop at the Holiday Market. With apparel from The Crybaby Club, you can wear your sad on the outside. 

Marketplace visitors should also expect a coffee vendor, booths from local nonprofits, and a Memphis Medical District Collaborative information station. Weekends at the market will also feature gift-wrapping, entertainment, contests, and more.

The market runs Fridays (4 p.m.-7 p.m.), Saturdays (noon-7 p.m.), and Sundays (noon-4 p.m.) through December 23rd. — TS 

For more information, look for Shab Chic Marketplace on Facebook.

That’s Oil, Folks

Let’s face it: Even if you love Christmas music and tinsel, the holidays can be stressful. Maybe the best gift you can give someone you love this season is a little relaxation.  

Cannabidiol is derived from the hemp plant, but it’s not psychoactive. It is, however, nontoxic, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic. Most importantly for holiday purposes, CBD is anxiolytic, which means it helps reduce anxiety that might be generated by, say, a political discussion with your intense uncle.

America is in the midst of an explosion of CBD products, and Tennessee is no exception. Several companies have sprung up in the last year, since industrial hemp production was legalized in Tennessee. Maggie’s Pharm in Overton Square carries CBD products from Veteran Grown from Clarksville. Veteran Grown Anxiety Starter Kit includes a vial of their popular Hemp Extract Tincture, along with CBD infused candies and lollipops.

Memphis-based Simply Hemp offers their own extremely popular Full Spectrum CBD Oil, which helps with everyday aches and pains. Their Sleep Support Oral Spray combines CBD, melatonin, and valerian root to help put you down for a long winter’s nap.

But the sleeper in Simply Hemp’s product line is their selection of CDB herbal teas. The Optimum Focus and Clarity tea includes peppermint, gotu kola, ginkgo, and lemongrass. The delicious White Spicy Peach Blend mixes organic white tea with orange, cinnamon, and allspice. The Decadence Heart Health and Anti Inflammatory is a rich blend of chocolate red rooibos, ginger, and cardamom. And the Optimum Chill Time chamomile blend sells itself. Add in a CBD infused honey stick, and a cup of tea will be your ticket out of holiday headache land.

Oh wait, this is supposed to be a guide to gifts you can buy for other people. Well, you can do that, too, I guess. — Chris McCoy

…

Gift a Museum

One way to give the gift of Memphis is to give the opportunity to experience our art, history, and culture — and there’s a lot to choose from. For history buffs, music nerds, or art aficionados, Memphis’ museums offer a veritable smorgasbord of sights and sounds. Another great thing about museums? They’re warm in the winter and air-conditioned in the summer, making them a great way to get out of the house — especially when family’s visiting and the house feels two sizes too small. Here are a few to choose from:

Pink Palace Clarence Saunders invented the self-serve grocery store and, in doing so, made himself a fortune. He never got to move into the pink marble mansion he commissioned with the proceeds, but the city of Memphis turned the mansion into a museum. (And don’t worry, Saunders wasn’t destitute.) The museum has grown and expanded many times since then, but it has remained a destination for Memphians. Every year, Mid-South children fight squeamishness as they ogle the shrunken head or the wax dummy of a Civil War-era doctor amputating a soldier’s leg. And the shrunken head, the giant-sized Burton Callicott murals, Elvis’ GI uniform, and W.C. Handy’s trumpet are just a few of the treasured artifacts that make their home within the Pink Palace Museum. Individual and dual memberships are $75, and family memberships start at $100 a year.

National Civil Rights Museum MLK50 happened this year, a series of events commemorating the memory and the message of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and that makes a membership to the National Civil Rights Museum a timely gift. Located at the former Lorraine Motel, where civil rights leader Dr. King was assassinated, the Civil Rights Museum continues to promote activism and is considered to be one of the nation’s premiere cultural and heritage museums. Individual memberships are $50, and family memberships start at $75 a year.

Stax Museum Booker T. & the MGs were my dad’s favorite band, and Stax hits were the soundtrack around my childhood home, so maybe I’m biased when I say that the Stax Museum might be the coolest museum in the country. The museum offers a totally immersive experience, setting the stage for soul music’s ascendency with information about gospel and the blues, the musical forebears that mixed to give birth to soul. The museum has maps of old Memphis neighborhoods, an exact replica of the legendary converted movie theater where Stax artists cut records, and even Isaac Hayes’ funky Cadillac Eldorado. Individual memberships are $50, and family memberships start at $100 a year.

Dixon Gallery & Gardens A stroll through the Dixon grounds makes for an idyllic way to while away the hours, ambling up and down the paths that wind through the gardens. The Dixon is tucked away in a quiet, tree-lined property off Park Avenue, and it makes for a great destination to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. And all that before even entering the gallery, which houses traveling exhibits and regional art. A past exhibit of French impressionism was so comprehensive, I had to make multiple trips back to take it all in. Individual memberships are $45, and family memberships start at $60 a year.

Brooks Museum of Art This year, the art broke out of the museum and onto the walls of buildings all over town, as part of Julien de Casabianca and the Brooks’ Outings Project. Of course, every inch of the Bluff City would be covered if all of the Brooks’ artworks were so displayed. For the avid art lover, a membership to the Brooks is an ideal gift, as it would take days to view and appreciate every artwork in the expansive museum. Individual memberships are $45, dual memberships are $65, and family memberships start at $75 a year.

Cotton Museum Long before music and food tourism, Grizzlies basketball, and FedEx, cotton was the cash crop of Memphis, which is why the Cotton Museum purports to “tell the story of how Memphis came to be.” It’s a cozy museum on the corner of Union and Front Downtown, and it’s the doorway to some of Memphis’ formative history. Individual memberships are $45, and family memberships start at $75 a year. — Jesse Davis

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

New life at Old Venice; Little Italy’s new location; The Nine.

CREDIT: Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

“We needed refreshing,” says Ben McLean of Old Venice Pizza Company on Perkins Ext. in East Memphis. On November 19th, Venice Kitchen was unveiled.

McLean says that Venice Kitchen is a whole new concept, that they are expanding beyond their Italian roots and embracing their Creole and Mediterranean sides. The 20 pizzas that were offered at one time have been narrowed down to 11. One new pizza is the Hog Wild, with pork tenderloin, barbecue sauce, gouda, and pepperoni. While the World Famous Lasagna and the Rasta Pasta (with Caribbean jerk sauce) remain, Shrimp & Grits has been added, as has a veggie zoodles dish with squash and zucchini noodles with pesto, cherry tomato, almond slices, and grana padano.

Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

Among the new salads are a grilled shrimp panzanella and steak & cabbage. New on the sandwich menu are the VK Burger with bacon, Fontina, and roasted garlic aioli, and crispy chicken with a spicy slaw.

Shrimp & grits; meatballs

Heading up the kitchen is Rob Ray, who worked with McLean at Belly Acres and at McEwen’s in Oxford. He is described as progressive and an innovator. Ray emphasizes high quality and fresh ingredients. “We are broader than just pizza and pasta,” he says, noting that the new grill is for cooking steaks and salmon.

David Buescher, who is partnering with McLean on this project, agrees it was time for a change when it comes to Old Venice. He says with the opening of Novel and other developments nearby, the timing is perfect for such a restaurant.

Both McLean and Buescher emphasize that they’ve ditched the “old” of Old Venice.

“We’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to take a Memphis staple and put our twist on it, give it life for the next 10 to 15 years,” says McLean.

368 Perkins Extd. (767-6872), venice-kitchen.com

The third Little Italy will open in South Main Downtown sometime in December, according to owner Giovanni Caravello. It will be in the old Scoops site at 106 GE Patterson.

“It was a good opportunity,” says Caravello, noting the coming movie theater and hotel. “In that part of Downtown, there’s not really authentic pizza.”

By authentic, Caravello means New York-style, which is what he specializes in. He says what makes their pizza so good is their high quality ingredients — the best cheeses and finest flour. His lasagna, he swears, is “like my mom made it.”

Caravello says that the menu for the Downtown restaurant will be smaller. He’s thinking of offering fresh mussels with marinara sauce, imported cold cuts, and a cheese platter.

There will be seating for 35 to 40 inside, with an additional 20 to 25 seats outdoors. Caravello hopes to host games outside.

Ultimately, he’s feeling pretty confident about this latest venture.

“We’ve been in business 15 years,” he says. “People know what we can do.”

106 GE Patterson, littleitalypizzamemphis.com

The Nine, in the old Bangkok Alley space at 121 Union Downtown, opened November 1st. Owner Chalee Timrattana says the Burana family, Bangkok Alley owners, helped him by providing the space free of charge and have been supportive.

Timrattana worked for Bangkok Alley for 16 years and has served as kitchen manager for all the locations.

The nine of the Nine refers to the king of Thailand, who recently passed away. Timrattana is using it as a lucky number.

Construction and the upgrade took longer than expected. The inside looks much like it did before, with a bar at front with some seating and banquet seating along the walls in the back.

Also similar is the menu, with such favorites as Pad Thai and Drunken Noodle.

Timrattana says he doesn’t have a specialty. “I can do it all good,” he says.

121 Union

Categories
Book Features Books

John Ajvide Lindqvist’s I Am Behind You

John Ajvide Lindqvist has been called Sweden’s Stephen King. The comparison is apt, except, let me whisper this, he writes better than King. This novel certainly has a King-like opening, reminiscent of The Mist. It also feels very Twilight Zoney: Four pairs of trailer park denizens, along with two children, a dog named Benny, and a cat named Maud, awake one morning to find the rest of the park, indeed, seemingly, the rest of the whole world, gone. The fields that surround them are described simply as nothing.

Lindqvist hit something of a horror home run with his earlier novel, Let the Right One In, which was made into two films. This new book, I Am Behind You, at its best, is reminiscent of Lem’s Solaris, or the Strugatskys’ Roadside Picnic. It also has something else in common with most of King’s books: It’s a tad too long.

That being said, once the narrative gets cooking, it’s a real page-turner. The author delineates each vivid character thoroughly and precisely. The story starts queerly … and then gets queerer. In every direction, the nothing is like long stretches of a grasslike lea, and up above, there is a uniform blankness. “It doesn’t even look like sky; it is more like something that has been put there to resemble sky.” As each character tries to wrap his or her mind around the alteration, logic fails them. “They had thought the sun would reappear, that it was lurking below the horizon, but the minutes and the hours pass, and there is no sun. It is an absence so great it is impossible to comprehend.” Yet, they struggle to explain. They struggle to figure it all out. One of the book’s themes might be described as “empiricism fails.”

And it’s not enough that their present resembles something from a grim folktale, they are also, each man and woman, flooded with their bleakest memories. Is this part of the transformation of reality into irreality? One of the men ponders, “To what extent can we make our memories into a reality? If an event has been imprinted on us with the violence of a branding iron … if it is encapsulated within us like a moment that will live forever, does that also mean that we can really go back there, to some degree?”

The key enigma (along with the mystery of what the title of the novel means): “Nothing exists and the field is endless.” The reader will wonder, along with our poor trailer park crew, what is going on? Another character responds, “I haven’t a clue. But there’s someone … something out there that wants to do something to us?” This line succinctly nails the dark eeriness of the novel. It was about here, a hundred pages in, that the hair on the back of my neck began to prickle. Then, the young girl, who had seemed a somewhat sinister child, like the bad seed, asks her father if he thinks you can remove a person’s skin with a vegetable peeler. There is more than unease going on. There is real evil here.

The most problematic aspect of a sci-fi or horror story, movie, or book is the ending. In other words, after all the dread, bizarreness, and creepiness, there must be a satisfying conclusion, if not an explanation of all that has gone before. To illustrate: You watch all 118 episodes of Lost because you believe they’re going to explain all those disparate and puzzling happenstances in the final wrap-up. Then they don’t. Worst case scenario for an ending: It’s all been a dream. Or, everyone is dead and this is hell/heaven. In contrast to this, there is the theory that the journey is more important than the destination. What might be called the Twin Peaks poser is germane: is it weird just to be weird, or does it matter because the weirdness is certainly entertaining? And, incident by incident, oddity by oddity, I Am Behind You is very entertaining. Does Lindqvist come up with the goods? Does he have a conclusion that satisfies after all the abnormal machinations of his perplexing story? I don’t want to offer any spoilers but will say that fans of Lost and Twin Peaks will relish every page.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Doc 52: A Memphis Rye-Bourbon Blend

Americans have a weird and fairly awful propensity to want to stick things into neat little categories. It enables us to start a lot of sentences with the phrase, “Well, actually … ” or other ways to make ourselves obvious. Fortunately, we also have that grace-saving habit of embracing novel ideas every once in a while. Sometimes these originals are the result of brilliant innovation or, as often, a blind accident. … And there I go, putting things into categories again.

A lot of innovation in the liquor world involves what super-mellow hotel art painter Bob Ross called “Happy Accidents.” The story goes that Bulleit was gearing up for a bottling run when a technician mixed a tank of bourbon and their rye. Now, a lot of bourbons have some rye in them (like 5 percent), but a 50/50 mix is something else. You can’t unmix a vat of whiskey; at that point, you’ve got what you’ve got.

Seeking to salvage what looked like a complete loss, Bulleit sold the mixed whiskey for pennies on the dollar to the only willing buyer: a distillery in Utah that no one had ever heard of called High West. They called it Bourye. The company claims Bourye is one of those innovative novelties in homage to the cowboy’s spirit. Well actually, it looks a lot more like a pure cock-up that was saved with a last-minute Hail Mary. Good stuff, though.

Local spirits store Doc’s Wine and Spirits is introducing its Doc 52 Blended Whiskey. It’s also a 50/50 Bourbon/Rye blend. It’s a limited release, retailing for $49.99, that hit the shelves on November 17th. Doc’s is using their own limited release rye (the entire run was sold out in advance) with a mash bill of 51 percent rye and 49 percent corn. This, manager Ryan Gill tells me, makes for a sweeter rye, that has a bit of yellowcake feel to it. Not the sort that you make nuclear dirty bombs out of, but the moist, delicious kind.

“What we like about this rye,” says Gill, “is that blending with the bourbon gives it a heavier mouth feel that turns the yellowcake into rum cake. It really turned out well.”

Gill started out in the liquor business as a wine guy, making custom blends for customers, but he has been dragged, chuckling along, into the bourbon boom. “I did the same thing with wine — drink everything, compare products. Two bourbons from the same distillery, with the same mash bill, housed for years on different floors of the same warehouse will taste different in the bottle.”

Picking and choosing barrels with Gill are Mike Jones, a Certified Bourbon Steward, whose moustache is only slightly less famous than his palate, and Angie Adams, who would be a steward, too, if she’d only take the damn test.

I asked all three the crucial question: “So what’s Doc’s Blend taste like?”

Angie said, “Trying to explain what other brand it tastes like does it a disservice.” Truly, that sounds like something a woman who hasn’t taken her finals would say. On the other hand, she’s completely correct.

Mike said, “We’re creating something new — so it’s difficult to say. Hard to pigeon-hole what it is. But it’s good stuff.” True enough.

Gill was a little more technical in his answer, but still a little vague. “I can’t put my finger on it. The composition is very close to a Basil Hayden, or even a Granddad, but it tastes like neither.”

From where I’m standing, Granddad and Basil Hayden taste completely different. Which brings us back to that indefinable element of sensory things that makes it impossible to stick them into neat little categories. It’s the je ne sais quoi, which literally translates from French as “I don’t know what.”

Fortunately, there is one solid and fool-proof way of finding out what the Doc 52 blended whiskey tastes like. Give it a try.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Stand Up for Memphis

CREDIT: Maya Smith

This time of year, when the sun leaves the sky before 5 p.m., Memphis Grizzlies games are among the few things that get me motivated to do anything in the evenings. One recent dark, cold evening, I got home feeling glum, until I remembered the Grizzlies were playing. Making a beeline toward the TV, I was hit with a wave of excitement.

A few minutes later, my dad moseyed in and made his way to the couch. Not long after, my sister woke up from a nap (a rare miracle) and joined us. In that moment, watching the Griz dominate whatever doomed opponent they were playing that night, my endorphins were flowing, and I forgot all about the ubiquitous darkness outside. The Griz made that gloomy night into a mildly glorious one with my family.

Maya Smith

Standing up at a Griz game

The same is true when you’re in the FedExForum or at a bar watching the game or just strolling down Beale Street getting score updates from strangers. You can feel the unified energy.

The Grizzlies bring people together. People that don’t look like each other, representing different neighborhoods of the city, are united by a common goal: grit and grind.

When the Griz win, the city is winning. But the next day or during a slump or the off-season, that excitement is gone. It’s tossed aside and forgotten. That unity subsides. And what’s left? A sometimes divided city.

How can we carry that unified spirit beyond the FedExForum and into everyday life? One way is good public spaces.

I recently visited Denver, where nice public spaces are as common as sidewalks. There were chess games set up on pedestrian plazas, a mini golf course tucked in the middle of downtown, and art in nearly every park I came across.  

The infrastructure there sparks connectivity and community. How can Memphis be designed in such a way that it promotes and brings communities together?

The city is definitely making strides to improve shared public spaces. Just look at what’s happening on our the riverfront (see the Flyer‘s November 15th cover story for details). But, we can’t stop only at the city’s hot spots and tourist hubs, because a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That means the city of Memphis is only as great as its struggling neighborhoods.

Have you ever noticed the amount of people that loiter at corner stores and gas stations in poorer neighborhoods? Ever wonder why that is? Well, when your neighborhood parks are rife with knee-high weeds and littered with trash, there are few places left for people to just be people together. Uplifting those neighborhoods starts at the top.

A few months ago, I sat down with Paul Young, director of the city’s Housing and Community Development division to talk about his role there. Young told me HCD works hard to equally elevate and support small-scale neighborhood projects as it does larger projects designed to bring in revenue. That sentiment is a good step in the right direction.

On Monday, the state reviewed the city’s Tourist Development Zone application that would help finance the $100 million Fairgrounds project. If approved, I hope that when it’s completed, the space is inclusive and that those living literally across the street are able to benefit from it. They deserve access to clean, free, quality spaces with public amenities.

The development’s flagship feature — the youth sportsplex and event center — is fine in theory and will probably bring in lots of revenue, but at the end of the day, what good does it do to accommodate tourists if we do it at the expense of — or exclude — the families who for generations have lived and worked in the community? We need to make sure they are included.

I truly believe that Memphis can be great. It has the potential to be a progressive city that’s rich with culture and blooming with diversity and that, most importantly, empowers all of its residents.

Memphis is nearing its 200th year as a city. That’s 200 years of history, movements, and progress. It’s been a long time coming, but this city is moving in the right direction. Still, there’s more work to be done. If you call yourself a Memphian, then stand up for this city and all of the people in it.

Stand up for the poorest neighborhoods, housing parks with broken-down playgrounds, schools in need of modernization, and busted, unwalkable sidewalks. Stand up and make Memphis — all of Memphis — great.

Maya Smith is a Flyer staff writer.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Lamplighter Now Serving Lunch

The venerable bar in Midtown, The Lamplighter, launched its lunch service over the weekend during a festival

“That was nice,” says Laurel Cannito, who is a partner in the business with Chuck “Vicious” Wenzler.

She notes that day Lamplighter is not like night Lamplighter. For one thing, it’s kid-friendly and it’s non-smoking before 8 p.m.

The pair, who took over last spring, say it’s not as much about changing the Lamplighter as making it a little better. The kitchen and floors were redone, the whole place cleaned from top to bottom.

“It’s the same but cleaner,” jokes Cannito.

Cannito says her path was always to where she is now. She and Chuck are longtime friends, and her goal was to open a cafe or a food truck. In fact, she was saving for a food truck, when Ann Bradley, the owner, mentioned she was ready to retire.

Cannito and Wenzler consider the place community-supported.

As for the food, the favorites like the burger and the grilled cheese are still there. The menu isn’t typical bar food, and they are still tweaking it. Cannito hopes to shape something that is vegan by default but doesn’t have to be.

Right now it features the Hangover Helper, a Vegan sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit; sandwiches, tacos, bagels, chicken, and curries.

And, let’s not forget the cheap beer.

Wenzler hopes to eventually add a window to the south, front-facing wall; Cannito a garden out back. “Really?” asks Wenzler to the news of the garden. “You’ll have to water it.”

Curry with tofu