Augusta Palmer wrote in the Oxford American in 2017, “The Memphis Country Blues Festivals, held yearly from 1966 to 1969, changed the way Memphians — and Americans — think about the blues, and they couldn’t have happened anywhere else.” Originally organized by a countercultural coterie that included the late Jim Dickinson, the short-lived but influential annual series at the Overton Park Shell eventually led to a 1968 album on Sire Records, and later the film Memphis ’69, only recently restored and released at the behest of Fat Possum Records. The latter is especially revealing as one sees the performances range from Furry Lewis playing solo, to Rufus Thomas backed by the Bar-Kays, to a full-on rock show by Johnny Winter. Clearly, the organizers’ idea of country blues included some decidedly urban forms.
That’s one thing that Alvin Youngblood Hart finds appealing about the Shell’s revival of the tradition in recent years. Along with hometown favorites, the North Mississippi Allstars, Hart and his band, Muscle Theory, will be playing the 2023 Memphis Country Blues Festival this Saturday, September 23rd, as part of the Shell’s Orion Free Concert Series. And its significance is not lost on the singer/songwriter, whose own work is as eclectic as Memphis itself.
“I love watching Memphis ’69, and making other people watch it,” Hart says. “I’m actually doing some gigs with the Allstars right now, and we were just talking about that last night. It’s cool. We all sort of feel like we’re a part of that Memphis Country Blues Festival tradition.”
Hart understands better than most how much that tradition means to the Allstars’ Luther and Cody Dickinson — they’ve known each other since the last century. “I think we met in ’99,” says Hart. “Because their dad was producing one of my records. So he invited me over when they were recording their first record. And then I went on the road with them quite a few times. I’d open for them solo and then come back and play, on and off through the night.”
As for the festival’s traditions, both artists have devoted themselves to the styles of Furry Lewis, Johnny Winter, and everything in between, and this weekend’s show will give both acts a chance to revel in the breadth of their influences. Hart’s most recent work, for example, leans into his soulful original songs and electric guitar stylings, yet the covers range from Blind Willie Johnson’s “In My Time of Dying” to Doug Sahm’s “Lawd, I’m Just a Country Boy in This Great Big Freaky City.” Meanwhile, only last year Bob Dylan dedicated an entire chapter of his book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, to Hart’s lilting acoustic guitar version of the Stephen Foster chestnut, “Nelly Was a Lady.”
But Hart recorded that 20 years ago; now he’s steadfastly focused on looking forward. The Dylan mention “hasn’t led to that much,” he says. “Nobody knows who Stephen Foster is! My big fun the last year was being asked to open for Mike Campbell’s band, the Dirty Knobs. I did two tours with them.” Working with Tom Petty’s axe man resonated deeply with Hart’s inner journeyman rocker. “Mike has been one of my guitar heroes since I was in high school.”
To be sure, Hart contains multitudes and wears all his diverse influences on his sleeve. But that can be a challenge if one tours heavily, as Hart has since the nineties. “There’s no hiding in live performance,” he says. “You have to get with it, get inside of it, you know? Go for it. And then, it’s like a fight. Am I going to swim with gators or am I going to swim with dolphins? It all depends on the audience. There’s a crowd out there — who’s with you?”
Still, having lived in Memphis for 24 years (only leaving for Mississippi last year), Hart’s confident that Saturday’s audience will be able to stay with him through any genre-hopping he might do. He’ll stay true to his eclecticism because, as he says, “that’s how I grew up to experience music. And for me personally, that was always one of the attractions of Memphis music, was that it was all those things, right? That’s always been an attraction of Memphis music for me.”
The Overton Park Shell will host the Memphis Country Blues Festival, featuring the North Mississippi Allstars and Alvin Youngblood Hart’s Muscle Theory, on Saturday, September 23rd, 5:30 p.m. Free. A new Mississippi Blues Trail historical marker for the Shell will be unveiled between sets.
