Rock for Love, four concerts in three days featuring 17 local acts, all to benefit the Church Health Center, kicks off tonight at the Hi-Tone Café. In my preview of the shows in this week’s Flyer, concert organizer Marvin Stockwell said, “If a person wanted to get the lowdown on what’s really going on. It’d be a pretty darn good start.”
I agree, and for those who maybe don’t go to lots of live shows and could be looking to use Rock For Love as something of a primer on the current local scene, here’s a brief band-by-band guide, with links for further exploration and a few video clips:
Thursday, August 19th
Hi-Tone Café
$5. 9 p.m. 18+
Emcee: Blair Combest
The Candy Company: An energetic straight-up rock-and-roll band led by Billie Worley. From a 2009 performance at Nocturnal:
Teflon Don: Though this rapper’s music is familiar Memphis-style hip-hop production — built on skittery high-hat beats, springy synths, and a rumbling low end, Teflon Don approaches the form from different angles, somewhat like a young David Banner.
Holly Cole & the Memphis Dawls: A fixture for the past few years as a solo singer-songwriter type, Cole has recently made the smart move of hooking up with a band, or two to be exact. She rocks up her country-soul sound with Holly & the Heathens, but with the Memphis Dawls (violinist Krista Wooten and cellist Jana Misner), she adorns he songs with sympathetic but still folkish accompaniment. Here’s a recent performance of standout song “Hole in My Side”:
