Canvas of Memphis – Memphis Flyer

Local house DJs Brian Hamilton, Pat Allgood, and friends will bring their souls to the city this Saturday at CANVAS.

The house music collective, otherwise known as Memphis House Mafia, hosts Soul in the City events at CANVAS the third Saturday of each month, emphasizing free musical entertainment for all.

“Making money has never been the goal,” says Hamilton. “It’s more about making music and sharing it with people.”

Creation Studios

Brian Hamilton

Hamilton was influenced to produce electronic music 25 years ago by local artist DJ David the Worm.

“My friend shared some of his mixtapes with me,” says Hamilton. “I listened to those, and I thought, ‘I’d like to do that, too.'”

Since then, Hamilton has used his previous experience playing piano, as well as tuba in high school band, to shape his electronic musical styles.

“People tend to go for the heavier electronic sounds,” he says. “I like music with soul, hence the name Soul in the City. I like music that has vocals, horns, and other real instruments mixed in with the electronic.”

Hamilton says he hopes to change peoples’ lives with music, just like it has for him.

“I enjoy making people dance and seeing people smile,” he says. “Knowing that something you created, someone enjoyed. And the few times people have come up to me and said that the things I did changed their life, that makes it all worth it.”

Anyone unable to make it to Soul in the City can catch Hamilton’s free set at New Year’s Eve with Iz & Diz at Alchemy on December 31st.

Soul in the City and Handmade Holiday Market, CANVAS of Memphis, Saturday, December 21st, 11 p.m., free.

David Liebe Hart, musician, puppeteer, and actor known for his bizarre puppetry and voice characterizations on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Good Job!, hosts the Carnival for a Cause FunRazor at CANVAS of Memphis this weekend.

At this fund-raising event, Hart will bewilder and entertain the audience with songs about extraterrestrials, trains, and ghosts, with the help of partner-in-crime Jonah Mociun’s electronic beats and Hart’s puppet sidekicks.

“I do a mixture of electronic music, country western, and rock-and-roll,” says Hart. “I’ve experimented with lots of genres. The only music I just can’t get into is rap music because it’s sending out negativity of violence and disrespect for women, disrespect for the law, and killing each other. I just can’t go there.”

Jessica Pohl

David Liebe Hart

But, as it turns out, Hart’s main sidekick puppet, Chip the Black Boy, raps.

“That’s Jonah’s doing,” says Hart. “He’s got my puppet being bad. Chip used to be on a puppet show on The Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson Program, but now he’s made to become an evil rap guy.”

Hart credits many notable artists as his influences, such as Jim Henson, a renowned puppeteer known for his work on Sesame Street and The Muppets.

“Jim Henson was my Sunday school teacher in the Christian Science Church,” says Hart.

In between musical numbers, Hart will share stories of his alleged alien abduction, relationship troubles, and whatever else comes to mind.

Hart says that not only will the performance help to raise funds for P.A.S.S. Forward Liberty, Memphis Arts Movement, and Pigtopia, but also the audience’s energy. “Music raises the vibrations of people to be happy and gives them energy to enjoy life,” he says. “Comedy does the same, and so does acting.”

Carnival for a Cause FunRazor, CANVAS of Memphis, Thursday, September 26th, 2 p.m.-12:30 a.m., $10 G.A., $30 VIP.