Shangri-La’s annual Purgefest is once again here, and the record store will be giving away thousands of LPs and CDs for the reasonable price of one whole dollar. Because the record store has a constant flow of used singles, LPs, CDs, tapes, magazines, speakers, and turntables coming through their doors, a purge is necessary to keep the store’s content where it needs to be.
Chris Shaw
To celebrate the annual clear-out, Shangri-La has enlisted some of the best locals around with Richard James & the Special Riders, blues band Southern Avenue, and Billie Dove.
Richard James has been making noise in Memphis for years, and his weekly gigs at the Cove and the Buccaneer are as unpredictable as they are entertaining. Mixing elements of rockabilly, garage rock, and punk, James is the working man’s Tav Falco, and his sets are everything but dull.
Southern Avenue might qualify as a supergroup, having taken the 2016 International Blues Challenge by storm, in addition to playing regularly at places such as Lafayette’s Music Room.
Southern Avenue guitarist Ori Naftaly has an interesting story, having first come to Memphis from his home country of Israel to participate in the 2013 International Blues Challenge. Naftaly ended up in the semifinals of that challenge, making him the first person from his country to place that well in the competition. Naftaly now calls Memphis home, and his band also features sisters Tierinii and Tikyra Jackson, and bassist extraordinaire Daniel McKee.
Rounding out the bill is Billie Dove, a roots-rock group that features longtime Memphis rocker Jim Duckworth.
Purgefest, Saturday, March 26th at Shangri-La Records, 11 a.m.
