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Hometown Heroes: Beale Street Music Fest 2022

Three 6 Mafia's Juicy J and DJ Paul

“We’re back!” There ought to be a banner with those words draped over the Hernando DeSoto Bridge this weekend, marking the grand return of the Beale Street Music Festival. After being shuttered for the last two years, making it three years since the last edition, the perennial gathering of music lovers is roaring back to life with more momentum than ever.

The typical BSMF experience always runs the spectrum from your favorite blockbuster artist to that new unheard-of band that blows your mind. And as for the former, concert-goers need little additional information on why Megan Thee Stallion, Weezer, or Van Morrison are phenomenal. But for the typical out-of-town fan, too many artists based in Memphis fall in the latter category. Naturally, given that Memphis still rules the airwaves and charts as in days of yore, plenty of our local artists need no introduction, either. But chances are good that everyone will discover something new about the Bluff City after this weekend.

Randy Blevins, vice president of marketing and programming at the Memphis in May International Festival, thinks this makes BSMF especially valuable to the city. “People talk about going to other places and exploring to learn about new music,” he says. “Most of our ticket-holders come from over 200 miles away. They’re coming from all 50 states and five or six different countries. So most of the people there are not Memphians. There are a lot of people coming here from out of town; exposing them to these Memphis acts that Memphians know and love is part and parcel of helping promote Memphis. You might show up because you bought tickets to see Counting Crows, and out of nowhere you learn about Don Bryant. The average person may or may not know about him. That’s Memphis pumping through the blood. We’re helping to spread the word.”

Sure, we all love songs by Smashing Pumpkins or DaBaby or Sarah McLachlan. Of course the Indigo Girls and Shaggy and Lindsey Buckingham are phenomenal. Toad the Wet Sprocket, Soccer Mommy, and Robert Randolph are worth a special trip. But given that it’s such a point of pride for the festival, and in light of the fact that this year’s BSMF boasts the most local acts ever — “at least over the past two decades for sure,” Blevins says — today we celebrate the native talent that makes Memphis ground zero for so much musical innovation and style. Here, by the day of their appearance, are the hometown heroes that make this music festival a little different from most.

Al Kapone (Photo: SP Stylistic Photography)

FRIDAY

Three 6 Mafia
Bud Light Stage, 10:35 p.m.
No group represents the staying power of Memphis hip-hop like Three 6 Mafia, who’ve parlayed their relatively obscure, ’90s cult status into global celebrity through the staying power of their game-changing beats and attitude. Now their horror-movie soundtrack to life on the Memphis streets, which won them an Oscar, has morphed into the crunk and trap genres. See where it all began.

Al Kapone
Bud Light Stage, 6:15 p.m.
Kapone came up alongside Three 6 Mafia back in the day, and also contributed to the award-winning Hustle & Flow soundtrack. His “Whoop That Trick” from the film lives on as an anthem for the Memphis Grizzlies. Lately, he’s become more eclectic but always grounded, telling the Memphis Flyer’s Michael Donahue: “At some point I’m still just a songwriter, a guy from the projects and the hood.”

Amy LaVere (Photo: Todd V Wolfson)

Amy LaVere
Zyn Stage, 5:45 p.m.
This singer, songwriter, and bassist extraordinaire is such a fixture on the local scene that it’s easy to forget that she’s a Louisiana native. It was in Memphis that she really found her voice, and she even lured her husband Will Sexton here from his native Texas. We dubbed LaVere’s most recent album, 2020’s Painting Blue, “dark and beautiful.”

Kenny Brown
Coca-Cola Blues Tent, 9:05 p.m.
Hailing from North Mississippi, Michael Donahue calls Brown a “Hill Country Hero.” Given the way the blues ebbs and flows, only to be reinvented by stalwart artists like Brown, that’s not an exaggeration. He learned well from the likes of R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. No wonder his latest album, with The Black Keys and Eric Deaton, snagged a 2022 Grammy nomination.

Earl the Pearl
Coca-Cola Blues Tent, 6 p.m.
Born in 1936, Earl Banks is a living link to the blues in its rawest, earliest expression. Having first played with Joe Hill Louis, he went on to define the Memphis blues style for decades and can still be seen on Beale Street nearly every week. From Jimmy Reed to Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King, Earl the Pearl makes every blues his own, with a guitar tone like quicksilver.

NLE Choppa (Photo: @damnjohnnie)

SATURDAY

NLE Choppa
Zyn Stage, 7:30 p.m.
With “one of the greatest flows in current hip-hop,” as M.T. Richards wrote in 2020, NLE Choppa brings a unique angle to trap music. This “creature of Memphis’ strobe-lit skating rinks” honors his Jamaican heritage by “sprinkling patois in rap’s everyday vocabulary.” He’s created a unique sound and credits his hometown: “So many good artists are in Memphis,” he says.

Project Pat
Zyn Stage, 6:15 p.m.
Few artists are as close to the Three 6 Mafia orbit as Project Pat, self-described brother of Juicy J, whose biggest hits were on the Hypnotize Minds label owned by J and DJ Paul. Yet Project Pat has crafted his own identity with Dirty South classics like “Chickenhead,” “Ballers,” “Don’t Save Her,” and the ever-relevant “Ghetty Green.”

Duke Deuce
Zyn Stage, 4:50 p.m.
With his hit single “Crunk Ain’t Dead,” Duke Deuce has let it be known where he’s coming from. Son of Duke Nitty, a producer for Gangsta Blac and Nasty Nardo, the rapper’s name-checked his hometown in debut tracks, “Memphis Massacre” and “Memphis Massacre 2.” Last year, his debut album Duke Nukem debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.

Lil Wyte
Zyn Stage, 3:25 p.m.
It’s no accident that Lil Wyte is a natural ally of rapper Frayser Boy. Growing up in Frayser helped Lil Wyte transcend any racial barriers, as he proved himself in the world of Three 6 Mafia enough to release his debut on the Hypnotize Minds label, with hits like “Oxy Cotton” and “My Smokin’ Song.”

White $osa
Zyn Stage, 3:25 p.m.
Kicking off the Zyn Stage string of Memphis rappers, White $osa is unique in that his name inspired his rapping, rather than vice versa. Originally gaining fame through an Instagram account that’s now up to 129,000 followers, it turned out he had a flair for flowing rhymes as well. Since turning to music, his collaboration with NLE Choppa has garnered 21 million streams on Spotify.

Blvck Hippie
Bud Light Stage, 2 p.m.
As Jesse Davis wrote in the Memphis Flyer, this group’s 2019 track “Hotel Lobby” is “one of the catchiest Memphis-made songs in recent memory.” With indie-pop songs marked by “excellent arrangements” and group founder Josh Shaw’s “open and honest lyrics,” and fresh off a series of concerts at South by Southwest, Treefort Music Fest, and Audiotree promoting their new LP, If You Feel Alone at Parties, Blvck Hippie is one gem to keep an eye on at this year’s festival.

Tora Tora
Terminix Stage, 2:15 p.m.
If you thought that Memphis was all about blues, soul, and hip-hop, think again. These metal masters have been honing a distinctly Mid-South variant of their chosen genre since the ’80s, when a trio of hits like “Walkin’ Shoes,” “Guilty,” and “Dancing with a Gypsy” (the latter featured in the film Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) powered a career that includes 2019’s Bastards of Beale.

Don Bryant & the Bo-Keys
Coca-Cola Blues Tent, 9:25 p.m.
Don Bryant has lost none of the power of his voice since he began performing over half a century ago. Indeed, his delivery has matured as if aged in an oak barrel, and now that he has ace neo-soul group the Bo-Keys backing him up, we dubbed his latest LP, You Make Me Feel, an “instant classic” of pure, down-home soul.

Ghost Town Blues Band
Coca-Cola Blues Tent, 7:55 p.m.
This group is proof positive that the blues still offers plenty of room for innovation. Not your typical bar combo, Ghost Town Blues Band blends traditional blues with Stax-era soul and even includes novel instruments like cigar box guitars and electric push brooms in their arrangements. Expect the unexpected.

Barbara Blue
Coca-Cola Blues Tent, 2:10 p.m.
Blue is a queen of Beale Street, a regular performer at Silky O’Sullivan’s who has worked with some serious contenders in the past (including three albums with Taj Mahal’s Phantom Blues Band in the 1990s). Her latest album even features the legendary Bernard “Pretty” Purdie on drums. World-class blues, soul, and jazz live on with Barbara Blue.

Moneybagg Yo

SUNDAY

Moneybagg Yo
Bud Light Stage, 7:40 p.m.
It was only five years ago that Zandria Robinson reported on Moneybagg Yo’s album release party for his debut, Federal 3X, and now he’s a leading star in the trap music universe. His 2020 album, A Gangsta’s Pain, debuted at No. 1 on the charts. Yet he continues to appreciate his hometown, gifting Covid-related supplies to local schools after that album conquered the charts.

Jucee Froot
Bud Light Stage, 2:10 p.m.
If Memphis hip-hop is dominated by male stars, Jucee Froot is bucking that trend with her meteoric climb to fame. Since 2020, when she released her debut Black Sheep on Atlantic, she’s had tracks featured in soundtracks for the film Birds of Prey and the series P-Valley and Insecure.

Cory Branan

Cory Branan
Zyn Stage, 2 p.m.
Rolling Stone got it right when they dubbed this consummate singer/songwriter “a country boy with a punk-rock heart.” Since the late ’90s, when he found his voice in the Memphis indie scene, he’s been perfecting the combination of those elements in his music and lyrics. He’s also a phenomenal guitarist. Watch for a new album later this year.

Blind Mississippi Morris
Coca-Cola Blues Tent, 3:25 p.m.
Blind Mississippi Morris is Beale Street royalty, and no festival named for the famed blues district would be complete without his uniquely powerful harmonica playing and singing. The recipient of the Mississippi Music Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award and a two-time winner of the Premier Player Grammy Award for Harmonica Player of the Year, Morris combines the grit and grind of the blues like no other.

Melvia “Chick” Rodgers
Coca-Cola Blues Tent, 3:25 p.m.
A vocal powerhouse, Melvia “Chick” Rodgers-Williams grew up in the historic Black neighborhood of Orange Mound, singing in her father’s church. Being steeped in the passions of gospel music stuck with her, as she followed her musical star on USO tours and a successful career in Chicago. With BSMF, she’s bringing it all back home.

BSMF 2022: Liberty Park Logistics

The Beale Street Music Festival is such an institution in Memphis, and so closely associated with Tom Lee Park, that any change to the winning formula is hard to fathom. Yet fathom it we must, as the BSMF situates itself on new grounds this year so that work may continue apace on the riverfront space where it typically lives. And if Tom Lee Park, once given its remake, promises to be better than ever, the 2022 iteration of the festival will have a glory all its own, nestled in the shadow of the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. To get a sense of what has changed and what has remained, Memphis Flyer asked BSMF’s Randy Blevins to give us the lay of the land.

Memphis Flyer: It must have caused quite a shake-up to relocate away from your usual home. How will the experience be different for festival-goers?
Randy Blevins: We’re going to be at the fairgrounds at Liberty Park just for this year while Tom Lee Park is under construction. As far as the festival is concerned, the layout is a different shape. Where everything at Tom Lee Park is kind of lined up north to south, the fairgrounds at Liberty Park are in a big rectangle. It’s still a big site. Two of the main stages will have the Liberty Bowl in the background, and the other main stage will have East Parkway in the background. There’ll be two main entrances on the north and on the south. And in the middle is Tiger Lane.

It actually surprises people who may have only driven on Tiger Lane or to the Coliseum. Once you’re there, you realize that’s a really big space. The fairgrounds had the Mid-South Fair for such a long time, and there’s plenty of room for the experience. So it’ll include all the things you’re used to seeing, just placed a little differently. All three stages will be triangulated with plenty of space between them. From the fountain at Tiger Lane, you’ll be able to see one stage to the south and another to the north. So it’ll create a really electric atmosphere.

How will parking be handled this year?
We’re trying the best we can to make things easy and nice for everybody. There is on-site parking, and that area is accustomed to holding big events. And there are all these other locations, like CBU and other places that turn their surface lots into parking. We’ve also arranged with MATA to have a free rapid shuttle coming from Downtown. Most of our fans are coming from 100, 200 miles away, spending on average two to three nights at a hotel in Memphis. And most of our hotels are Downtown. That’s why Tom Lee Park works so well. So this year we’ll have a rapid shuttle, which will pick up at two locations: B.B. King and Union, and on Second Street by the [Renasant] Convention Center. Ticket-holders will be able to hop on the rapid shuttle and get dropped off at two locations, then take the shuttle back Downtown to continue to hang out on Beale Street and enjoy all the nightlife down there. If you’ve ever been Downtown after the festival, it’s packed. So we want that to continue. And if people want to use that, it’s free, but they have to register online first. They just show their ticket and they can hop the shuttle and ride about every 10 minutes or so, depending on traffic.

We’re also coordinating to set up a couple hundred spaces at the University of Memphis, and you’ll be able to buy access to a parking spot next to the Holiday Inn there, and then ride a shuttle from the U of M to the site and back. That’s just for Memphians who might not want to go Downtown and don’t want to deal with congestion around Liberty Park. It might be a nice option if you’re coming in from Cordova or Germantown.

The festival’s been delayed for years because of the pandemic. What procedures are in place to address Covid?
We have a disclaimer on everything and we have a plan ready to go if anything happens, as we did last year when we had a half festival with the barbecue cooking contest at limited capacity. Whatever comes down from the Shelby County Health Department, we’ll comply and do what needs to be done. The world’s used to this now.

Have artists made different requests as far as vaccinations and the like?
There have been different requirements from artists, but that’s become less and less part of the conversation as the months and weeks have come along. Currently we’re not asking for proof of vaccination from the public. But currently, anything is possible. Some of the artists have different requirements for ground transportation that’s picking them up or in the backstage areas. They might request masks. The vendors and backstage crews will meet each specific artist’s requirements.

After the 2020 festival was canceled, did many ticket holders opt to just redeem their tickets when the festival resumed?
We have a decent number of deferrals. We did not get a lot of refund requests. Many folks just decided, “Whenever you come back, we’re in.” It shows the staying power of the story. It’s a great deal of trust, if you’ve paid hundreds of dollars for tickets, in some cases, and you’re flying blind because you don’t know who we’re going to book. So we felt pretty good that 90 percent of the people weren’t just saying, “Give me my money back.” It could have happened. We were prepared for whatever.

Has it been difficult to gear up for this after such a long hiatus?
Just a short time ago, we were at a skeleton staff of only five people and the future of everything was a giant question mark. A festival depends on bringing people together in big groups. We don’t receive money from the city or the state or anything to cover overhead. And we had a reserve saved up for a rainy day, but a rainy day is a bad year, not a year with literally nothing. Who would have ever predicted that, right? So it was really tough. To be in the situation we’re in now, back to doing a big, full-on festival, is really good. There were no guarantees just a short time ago, when everything was shut down and there were just five of us, basically, living month to month. We just started hiring people and getting back up to full staff this fall. And we’re glad to be back, and glad that we’re getting such a good reception to this.

Beale Street Music Festival Schedule 2022

Friday, April 29, 2022
Gates at 5 p.m.

Bud Light Stage
Three 6 Mafia 10:35-11:50 p.m.
DaBaby 9:15-10:05 p.m.
Waka Flocka Flame 7:45-8:45 p.m.
Al Kapone (Memphis) 6:15-7:15 p.m.

Zyn Stage
Sarah McLachlan 10:15-11:45 p.m.
Van Morrison 8:15-9:45 p.m.
Kurt Vile & The Violators 6:35-7:40 p.m.
Amy LaVere (Memphis) 5:45-6:20 p.m.

Terminix Stage
Sammy Hagar & The Circle 10:30-midnight
Dirty Honey 9-10 p.m.
Glorious Sons 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Black Pistol Fire 6-6:55 p.m.

Blues Tent
JJ Grey & Mofro 10:45-12:15 p.m.
Kenny Brown (Memphis) 9:05-10:15 p.m.
Janiva Magness 7:30-8:35 p.m.
Earl the Pearl (Memphis) 6-7 p.m.

Saturday, April 30, 2022
Gates at 1 p.m.

Bud Light Stage
Death Cab for Cutie 9:35-11:05 p.m.
Spoon 7:55-9:05 p.m.
Grouplove 6:20-7:25 p.m.
Toad the Wet Sprocket 4:45-5:50 p.m.
Soccer Mommy 3:15-4:15 p.m.
Blvck Hippie (Memphis) 2-2:50 p.m.

Zyn Stage
Megan Thee Stallion 10:45-11:35 p.m.
Sarkodie (Ghana) 9-10:15 p.m.
NLE Choppa (Memphis) 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Project Pat (Memphis) 6:15-7:05 p.m.
Duke Deuce (Memphis) 4:50-5:45 p.m.
Lil Wyte (Memphis) 3:25-4:25 p.m.
White $osa (Memphis) 2:15-3 p.m.

Terminix Stage
Smashing Pumpkins 10:15-11:45 p.m.
Stone Temple Pilots 8:30-9:45 p.m.
Chevelle 6:50-8 p.m.
Rival Sons 5:15-6:20 p.m.
Ayron Jones 3:45-4:45 p.m.
Tora Tora (Memphis) 2:15-3:15 p.m.

Blues Tent
Robert Randolph & the Family Band 11-12:15 p.m.
Don Bryant & the Bo-Keys (Memphis) 9:25-10:30 p.m.
Ghost Town Blues Band (Memphis) 7:55-9 p.m.
Hurricane Ruth 6:25-7:30 p.m.
Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88’s 5-6 p.m.
Brandon Santini 3:35-4:35 p.m.
Barbara Blue (Memphis) 2:10-3:10 p.m.

Sunday, May 1, 2022
Gates at 1 p.m.

Bud Light Stage
Lil Wayne 9-9:50 p.m.
MoneyBagg Yo (Memphis) 7:40-8:30 p.m.
Shaggy 6:10-7:10 p.m.
Stonebwoy (Ghana) 4:45-5:45 p.m.
Third World 3:20-4:20 p.m.
Jucee Froot (Memphis) 2:10-2:50 p.m.

Zyn Stage
Counting Crows 8:15-9:45 p.m.
Lindsey Buckingham 6:30-7:45 p.m.
Grace Potter 4:55-6 p.m.
Patty Griffin 3:20-4:25 p.m.
Cory Branan (Memphis) 2-2:50 p.m.

Terminix Stage
Weezer 8:40-10:10 p.m.
Modest Mouse 6:55-8:10 p.m.
Goose 5:05-6:25 p.m.
Indigo Girls 3:30-4:35 p.m.
Cory Henry 2-3 p.m.

Blues Tent
Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio 9:25-10:40 p.m.
Trigger Hippy 7:50-8:55 p.m.
Sue Foley 6:20-7:25 p.m.
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band 4:50-5:55 p.m.
Blind Mississippi Morris (Memphis) 3:25-4:25 p.m.
Melvia “Chick” Rogers (Memphis) 2-3 p.m.

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Working on Beale

CREDIT: Don Perry

It’s a little past 9 p.m. on Beale Street when Gracie Curran starts another set with the High Falutin’ Band. The restaurant side of the Rum Boogie Cafe is half full, a pretty good crowd for a Monday in January. It’s “slow season” on the world famous Beale Street — weeks before the International Blues Challenge brings thousands of tourists from around the globe to the two-block zone, and months before the warm weather brings the big crowds — but Curran works the room as if it’s the last concert of her life. Since forming the band in 2010, she says she’s approached every show this way. She says anyone who’s ever performed on a stage knows that a Monday night is what you make it.

“There’s a different energy on Monday nights than on the weekends,” Curran explains. “It’s nice to play to people who came here to see Memphis music, no matter what day it is. It’s a big responsibility.”

Curran considers herself a cheerleader or a “chaperone of a good time” when she’s on stage. She never plays with a set list and often asks the crowd what they want to hear. Like any good entertainer, she realizes it’s her responsibility to provide her audience with a temporary refuge from the outside world.

“I remember having an office job and working 70 hours a week, so I don’t take for granted getting to tour the country and put everyone in a good mood. Lately there’s been a lot of talk about the political climate, but I want to take you away from all of that,” Curran says.

“That’s what the blues is for. We all go through stuff — everyone has a struggle — but I want to take you away from that. I love it, and I appreciate it so much. We get to come home from tour and play Beale Street; that’s the best thing in the world to me.”

With a voice like Curran’s, luck has little to do it with it. But that sense of gratitude is something that can be found in just about every other performer on Beale, regardless of what kind of music they play.

Matt Isbell of Ghost Town Blues Band has no problem admitting that Beale Street shaped his musical career. He’s played the street more than 300 times. His band won second place at the 2014 International Blues Challenge and built an international fan base in the process.

“Playing on Beale during the week, you catch a lot of people doing the Southern United States vacation thing, or maybe there’s some convention or something, which means you have the chance to get national exposure in your own backyard. People from other cities will have already seen your band when you go there on tour. Other bands in other cities don’t have that resource. It’s kind of like a built-in fan base in your own backyard.

“If it weren’t for [our playing] Beale Street, we probably wouldn’t have gotten second place at the IBC. We wouldn’t have played B.B. King’s funeral, and we probably wouldn’t be a national touring band.”

Beale Street Booker

Carson Lamm has been booking on Beale Street for almost 20 years, and his history on the street goes back even further. Lamm oversees booking at the Rum Boogie Cafe, the Blues Hall, the Tap Room, and King’s Palace. If you’ve ever wandered into a bar post-Tigers or Grizzlies game, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a band he’s booked.

“I think the cool thing about Beale Street is that some of the guys who play weekdays with us are the same artists that have a national fan base and travel on the weekend,” Lamm said.

“They’re in town doing what they do on a smaller stage, but you still get that quality show. It’s kind of like playing without the safety net, so a lot of times artists will try new things. I booked the North Mississippi Allstars in 1998 at the Blues Hall on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, and they used the venue as a breeding ground for writing new songs and trying new things.”

“They’d have a new part of a song that they’re basically writing in front of an international audience. I remember Luther going, ‘Hey man, is it okay if my dad shows up to the gig?’ Then Jim Dickinson would show up, and he’d take it to a whole other level. People like Gracie and the Ghost Town Blues Band represent Memphis on a national stage, and Beale Street is their home base.”

King of the Blues Hall

While the days of the Dickinson brothers playing Monday nights on Beale are gone, there’s another band kicking up dust weekly at the Blues Hall. At first sight, the McDaniel Band might not seem like anything special. You won’t find them in fancy costumes or flexing flashy instruments. But sit in the Blues Hall and listen for five minutes, and you’ll quickly see why the band just might be the best-kept secret in Memphis.

Like many Memphis musicians, Chris McDaniel started singing in church when his age was still in the single digits. His mother was also a singer, and McDaniel said that he hasn’t looked back since the first time he heard the Jackson 5.

Don Perry

The McDaniel Band plays Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Blues Hall.

“We’ve been down there [at the Blues Hall] for the past three years. I also [perform] a little bit at B.B. King’s when they need me, but I started out in Handy Park and things just moved on up. We kept getting better musicians in the band, and now we do everything from the Rolling Stones to the Allman Brothers to Howlin’ Wolf. We keep a crowded house because we do songs that everyone knows and likes.”

There’s something spiritual about this band. It’s like going to church — if the reverend was handing out Big Ass Beers. They connect. Those in the crowd seem quick to realize that the McDaniel Band takes each performance seriously. McDaniel often addresses members of the crowd and dedicates the song “Stand by Me” to American veterans every time he sings it.

“I had an uncle and two cousins die in Nam,” McDaniel says. “I have another uncle who served 22 years in the Navy, and a lot of other folks in my family were military.

“You look out on the streets, and you see homeless veterans, so when I sing ‘Stand by Me,’ I want people to know how grateful we should be for their service. They allow us to do the things we’ve done. I’ve had so many guys from Vietnam come and shake my hand, and they have tears in their eyes, and it brings tears to my eyes, as well. People come up to me and say thank you because they don’t get that everywhere they go. Someone has to speak out and say something about it, and I’m just glad I’m in a place where I can meet people from all over the globe and share that.”

Don Perry

Cruisin’ Heavy plays Mondays and Tuesdays at Alfred’s on Beale Street.

Don Perry

Roxi Love plays at Tin Roof on Beale Street in downtown Memphis.

The Street Remembers

Logging long hours on Beale Street means spending time away from friends and family. Making a living playing music might seem ideal to many, but life in the spotlight night after night takes a toll, no matter how many people are applauding. Many Memphis musicians consider Beale Street their home away from home. And when someone in the Beale Street family goes home for the last time, the street holds a funeral procession.

“Basically, a tradition on Beale Street is that people who were either involved or played on the street will have their final procession down Beale. It really is an arm of what was the Memphis Music Commission,” Lamm says.

“When B.B. King passed away, we had to organize 20 horn players. We’ve done big ones like those, and we’ve done small processions with six horn players.

“It’s really an organic and cathartic process, because a lot of the people who show up knew the musicians. It’s their final stroll down Beale Street; it’s paying the ultimate respect to someone to play in their procession.

“I had to start a Facebook page for when B.B. King died, because so many people wanted to be a part of it. It’s a process that musicians and the families appreciate. We don’t advertise it. It just happens.”

McDaniel was close to legendary Beale Street singer James Govan, who was honored with a Beale Street funeral procession after his death in 2014.

“I loved James Govan,” McDaniel says. “There was no voice like his on Beale Street. I’d walk away from my set sometimes to catch him sing. I still think about him and talk about him all the time. If I do ‘These Arms of Mine’ by Otis Redding, I always mention his name.”

The gratitude shown on Beale is a two-way street. When you ask a musician about performing in one of the many world-famous clubs on the downtown stretch, the words “thankful” and “lucky” are used without hesitation.

While there are certain events — Beale Street Music Fest, the International Blues Challenge, and bike nights — that serve as high-profile functions and draw in the crowds, any night’s a great night to catch a band on Beale, even Monday. Or maybe, especially Monday.

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Music Music Blog

Weekend Roundup 17: Loveland Duren, Sweet Knives, Blackberries

CREDIT: Loveland Duren play Lafayette's Music Room on Saturday.

Loveland Duren play Lafayette’s Music Room on Saturday.

Greetings from sunny California! Here are ten shows worth checking out this weekend.

Friday, May 15th.
Rockers in the Round, 8 p.m. at Otherlands Cafe, $7.

Kiljoy, Nerves, Strengths, The Heard, 9 p.m. at Murphy’s, $5.

Sweet Knives and Thing, 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $10.

Weekend Roundup 17: Loveland Duren, Sweet Knives, Blackberries (3)

Ghost Town Blues Band, 10 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

Weekend Roundup 17: Loveland Duren, Sweet Knives, Blackberries (4)


Saturday, May 16th.
Bruce House Showcase, 3 p.m. at the Bruce House (935 Bruce 38104).

Loveland Duren, 6:30 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

Weekend Roundup 17: Loveland Duren, Sweet Knives, Blackberries (2)

Beef, 9 p.m.at the Hi-Tone, $7.

Sunday, May 17th.
A Gathering of Good Times for Linda Yancey, 2 p.m. at South Main Sounds, donations.

Kidz Bop Make Some Noise Tour, 5 p.m. at Minglewood Hall, $20.

Ostraca, RadRadRiot, Gryscl, Kiljoy, 7:30p.m. at DORK, free.

Weekend Roundup 17: Loveland Duren, Sweet Knives, Blackberries

Categories
Cover Feature News

Swamp Rock, Shape Shifters, and Southern Blues

Rollin’ on the River …

The amazing career of John Fogerty

Do you remember the first time you heard a song that changed your perception of popular music? For me, it was “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Growing up, my parents frequently listened to oldies stations as we drove to school or soccer practice (I remember wondering as a child how my mom knew every song on the radio), and I can still recall the first time I heard Fogerty’s voice come over the airwaves. This was a very significant moment in my life for two reasons. Number one, the song is absolutely flawless. And number two, I had never heard an anti-war song on FM radio before. What was this guy who was singing about silver spoons and senators’ sons even talking about? Was this even legal? Hell, yes, it was legal, and I wanted more of it.

As a pre-teen, I dug deeper into Creedence Clearwater Revival, downloading their albums on file-sharing sites like Limewire and Napster and buying their greatest-hits compilations at Best Buy. Around the age of 15, I discovered vinyl and sold my collection of CDs to places like Cat‘s Music and Spin Street (Turtle’s Records + Tapes at the time), but my Creedence CDs stayed put.

Creedence Clearwater Revival only existed from 1967 to 1972 (even though the trio of John Fogerty, Stu Cook, and Doug Clifford had been playing together since 1959). Think about that for a minute. Think about churning out that many gold records and huge hits in such a small amount of time. Think about writing one good song that would become synonymous with the late 1960s, let alone a handful. In five short years, Fogerty went from being discharged from the Army to being a rock-and-roll star with one of the most recognizable voices in modern music.

All this success came at a price, and Creedence Clearwater Revival went through their fair share of turmoil, even at the peak of their popularity. Their headlining performance at Woodstock was not included in the original Woodstock film because Fogerty claimed the performance was subpar (Cook disagreed – one of many disagreements between Cook and Fogerty). Ultimately, it was the rough relations between Fogerty and the rest of Creedence Clearwater Revival that led to their break-up in 1972. Fogerty addressed his hard-nosed ways in an interview with The Guardian in 2013.

“Yes, I was very disciplined,” Fogerty said. “Were there any drugs involved? Yeah, I smoked a little pot. I think my bandmates smoked quite a bit more pot. I had rules: Never do that when we‘re recording; never do that when we‘re playing. To me it was a competition. You‘d have the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane talking like: ‘We don‘t want to be successful, maaaaan.‘ For one thing I wasn‘t sure I believed them and for another, why would I go to all this trouble and only sell one record to my mom? I wasn‘t embarrassed that I was ambitious. We wanted to be the best we could be.”

Fogerty kept his discipline as a solo artist and started cranking out more hits, first under the name the Blue Ridge Rangers and later as John Fogerty. When Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, Fogerty refused to perform next to Cook and Clifford and was instead joined by Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Patterson to perform three classic Creedence songs. In 2011, Fogerty told Rolling Stone that his anger toward his former bandmates had diminished and even went as far to say that a full-scale reunion was possible. Pretty impressive for an artist who wouldn’t even play the songs he wrote for Creedence Clearwater Revival live for 25 years after their 1972 split.

Sure, Neil Young is great, but he didn’t write “Someday Never Comes,” “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” “Long As I Can See the Light,” or even “Run Through the Jungle,” and for that reason I can comfortably say that Fogerty is one of the best, if not the best, American rock-and-roll singers of all time. Don’t miss his first performance in Memphis in 20 years when he plays Beale Street Music Fest on Saturday night, because someday never comes. – Chris Shaw

John Fogerty plays the Rockstar Energy Drink Stage Saturday, May 2nd, at 10:15 p.m.

St. Vincent …

The evolution of Annie Clark

I first fell in love with Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, when I saw her do a searing cover of the Pop Group’s “She Is Beyond Good and Evil” on a summer music festival webcast. Before that, I had been aware of her mostly as the former guitarist for folk rocker Sufjan Stevens. But there she was, absolutely killing it in front of a huge crowd, not with some big party anthem, but with a fairly obscure English post-punk song. If anything, her interpretation was even weirder and harder than the original. Every time she stepped back from breathily reciting the lyrics, she strangled out squalls of No Wave noise from her guitar. Then she leapt into the crowd and proceeded to sing her song “Krokodil” while her tiny frame was being thrown around by a few thousand sweaty festivalgoers. Then, after barely escaping with her life, she did an encore.

Clark was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Dallas. She took to guitar at the age of 12 and showed immediate talent. Her first taste of a musician’s life was touring with her aunt and uncle, the jazz duo Tuck & Patti. Clark played in punk bands in high school and then attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. She dropped out due to frustration after three years and landed a job playing guitar with the psychedelic folk group Polyphonic Spree, before hooking up with Stevens. She struck out on her own in 2006 with Marry Me, an album of meticulously arranged songs that showed the influence of the baroque popsters for whom she had been serving as side-woman. By the time of 2011’s Strange Mercy — recorded over a month in self-imposed isolation in Seattle — she had found a voice and a sound that were entirely her own. It was Bowie-descended art rock with teeth, and like the Thin White Duke, she had an ear for taking the best quirks of any genre that caught her fancy and recombining them into something new, yet still tantalizingly familiar.

Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent

As more people turned up at her shows, the introverted musician gained the confidence to charge headlong into crowds, Iggy Pop­style. But it was her absolute mastery of the guitar that transfixed audiences. On such songs as “Cheerleader,” she proved she could switch from an Athens jangle to a noise meltdown and back, effortlessly, unafraid of either crunchy power chords or twisted jazz phrasings.

Then, in 2012, she completely switched gears, collaborating with the legendary David Byrne on Love This Giant. The album was noticeably short on guitar but heavy on horns, with many songs constructed more like marching band arrangements than traditional rock or pop songs.

Like Byrne and Bowie, her collaborations are not just pickup bands, they’re learning experiences. With a new record contract and a fresh set of ideas, 2014’s self­-titled St. Vincent was her best work yet. Always sonically restless, Clark delved heavily into guitar-­triggered synths, creating tones that managed to recall both pre-­King Crimson Adrian Belew and 1980s electro-pop. The ingenious arrangements and song structures were still intact, as on album standout “Huey Newton,” which starts out as an airy synth pop number before turning on a dime into a square wave, Black Sabbath cruncher. The single “Digital Witness” sounded like nothing else in pop music, but still captured the selfie­-obsessed zeitgeist. You never know what’s going to happen next in a St. Vincent song, but the weirdness is always in service of real emotion.

If St. Vincent marked a musical turning point, her stage show had also undergone its own radical change. Instead of the blood and guts, punk girl with an axe and amp, she and her band carefully choreographed everything that happened on stage. Like Bowie, the stretches of strict control had the effect of amplifying the moments when the mask falls and the audience catches a glimpse of the turmoil going on inside her head.

Clark has a reputation for being tight-lipped about her personal life, preferring to focus on the music, which she says reveals all that needs to be revealed. The reticent performer is always intriguing, which makes her first single of 2015, the frank memory “Teenage Talk,” a tantalizing sample of a more intimate musical direction. St. Vincent’s set on Sunday is not to be missed. — Chris McCoy

St. Vincent plays the FedEx Stage Sunday, May 3rd, at 7:30 p.m.

Ghost Town Boys …

A closer look at Ghost Town Blues Band

Ghost Town Blues Band is one of the few Memphis-based groups (along with Star and Micey and Prosevere) who have been asked to play Beale Street Music Fest (BSMF) for the past few years. Formed in 2009, Ghost Town Blues Band is led by Matt Isbell, a multi-instrumentalist and tour-tested musician who also fashions instruments out of everything from cigar boxes to broomsticks in his spare time. When asked at what moment Isbell knew he wanted to play Beale Street Music Fest, he recalled seeing one of his favorite guitarists play the festival as a teenager.

“I remember being around 14 years old and seeing Todd Snider playing at Beale Street Music Fest and just being blown away,” Isbell said. “I had talked to him a little bit before and seen him play around town, so it didn’t just seem like some huge rock star playing on stage; it actually seemed like a touchable dream.”

Ghost Town Blues Band

Snider would later invite Isbell to hang out at Ardent Studios and sit in on a recording session – his first opportunity to see the legendary music studio in all its glory. Fast forward to 2013, and Isbell’s dream became a reality.

“The first time we played Beale Street Music Fest was in 2013 at the Southern Comfort Blues Shack,” Isbell said.

“When we started, there were about 30 or 40 people watching us play, and by the end I’d say there were close to 400 people standing there — and not just because we were playing next to the port-a-potties. I guess that’s when I felt like we belonged at a festival like Memphis In May. After that performance, I felt like we deserved to be there.”

A mentor like Snider helps, but that’s not what has landed Ghost Town Blues Band a spot on three consecutive BSMF lineups. Since forming six years ago, Ghost Town Blues Band has grown ever more popular with their infectious blend of modern blues and Southern rock. The band has toured the States numerous times and been championed in publications like Living Blues Magazine.

Their list of awards is impressive: 2014 International Blues Challenge, Second Place; 2013 Memphis Blues Society International Blues Challenge Winner; 2012 Rosedale Blues Society Winner; and a 2010 Independent Label Music Award in Germany. Their latest album, Hard Road To Hoe, is more introspective than anything the group has created before, with songs referencing the death of Isbell’s mother and other hard life lessons. Released in March, the album has received rave reviews and debuted on the Living Blues Chart at number 18.

Isbell said the first opportunity to play Beale Street Music Fest came before the band had finished playing all their sets at the 2013 International Blues Challenge.

“Mike Glenn [former owner of the New Daisy] is the artist relations guy for Joe Whitmer from the Blues Foundation, and they pretty much run all the blues tents at Beale Street Music Fest,” Isbell said.

“I don’t know how he got my number, but Mike gave me a call before we had even finished playing the 2013 Blues Challenge and asked me, ‘How do you feel about playing Beale Street Music Fest?’ Since then, they’ve always taken real good care of us; they put us up in a trailer and make sure we always have cold beer.”

Isbell said playing multiple Beale Street Music Fests has brought the band notice in some of the strangest places. “We could be playing a show in Canada and someone will come up to us and say they saw us play Memphis In May,” Isbell said.

“That’s when it kind of hits you just how big the festival is. Being from Memphis, I think people kind of take for granted how special the event really is. People from all over the country come to Beale Street that weekend and we don’t try to use it as a booking tool or anything, but we definitely feel the result of playing the festival when we are away from home.”

As for what to expect from Ghost Town Blues Band at this year‘s Beale Street Music Fest, Isbell said they plan to show the crowd what Memphis is all about.

“We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to play a third year and to show people from out of town how Memphis does it,” Isbell said.

“We were grateful to play the Southern Comfort Blues Shack that first year, so moving up to the Blues Tent is really cool. I mean, we would play in the bathrooms of that place if it meant getting a chance to perform. I guess our biggest hope for this year‘s music fest would be for Robert Randolph to come and sit in with us.” — CS

Ghost Town Blues Band plays the Pearl River Resort Blues Tent on Saturday, May 2nd, at 2:10 p.m.

Q&A … with Memphis In May President and CEO Jim Holt

Jim Holt has been with Memphis In May since the beginning. He’s watched the festival go from a two-night event on Beale Street to a three-day and three-night experience at Tom Lee Park for 100,000 people. Deep in the throes of last-minute planning and preparations, Holt was kind enough to let me ask him some questions about the origins of the festival and what makes Memphis In May one of the most attended music festivals in the South. — CS

Flyer: Can you tell me what the transition was like when the festival moved from Beale Street to Tom Lee Park?

Jim Holt: We had been operating a smaller music festival with the Merchants Association, where we would put a stage in Handy Park and program the nightclubs with bands, but it wasn’t financially successful. There was talk in 1989 about doing away with the music festival, but we didn’t want to see it go away.

We came up with the idea of doing it at Tom Lee Park because the barbecue festival and the Sunset Symphony were successful there. I was working for a company called Mid-South Concerts at the time, and we ended up doing a sponsorship with the festival in the fall of 1989. I think the first festival [at Tom Lee Park] was held on April 27th and 28th of 1990. Mid-South Concerts sponsored the event, along with AutoZone and Budweiser.

What were those early Beale Street Music Festivals at Tom Lee Park like?

It started off with two outdoor stages and was two days long. There were way fewer artists because there were way fewer performance stages at that time, and Tom Lee Park was only six to eight acres. In the mid-1990s, the city of Memphis added 15-plus acres to the park, which allowed growth for both the barbecue festival and Beale Street Music Fest.

How many months of planning does it take to pull off a festival of this size?

We have a staff of 14 people who work year-round. There is a lot of cleanup that goes on in June and July and then August 1st is when we start our fiscal year and do our annual review. It’s a long process. We sent out our first talent offer for this year on August 26th, and that same week we issued seven offers to artists. We’ve got 67 artists this year, maybe 66, and we place offers on probably 124 different acts.

At what point did you have to embrace the typically poor weather as just a part of Beale Street Music Fest?

I like to look at the blue skies and sunshine in life, that’s my philosophy. We track the weather, and if you look at the last three years, there’s only been rain on one of the weekends. In 2013, it was just freakishly cold, but I don’t remember that much rain. Some weekends in the past we have had fabulous weather, and when that happens there’s really just no better place to be.

I read an article where someone was joking about Tom Lee Park becoming the fourth largest city in Tennessee during Memphis In May. How does the festival function like a miniature city during Beale Street Music Fest?

We lay down a plumbing grid and an electrical grid, and we build an infrastructure in Tom Lee Park that costs nearly $1 million. Over the course of the month we flip the park three times, so there is a lot of detail and hard work that goes into making everything function properly.

If you had to pick some of your favorite artists who have played Beale Street Music Fest in the past, who would they be?

I tend to bounce around from stage to stage and check on problems, but I thought that Stevie Ray Vaughan playing on April 28, 1990, was just incredible. The park was about a third of the size it is now and there were 17,000 or 18,000 people in attendance. He died four months later in that helicopter crash, so that was a very special performance.

James Brown’s first performance in 1993 was also unbelievable. Stevie Ray Vaughan stands out, but there’s been so many memorable performances over the years, from B.B. King to Etta James and Little Richard. ZZ Top were amazing when they played.

We also have an incredible lineup for this year’s festival. Lenny Kravitz hasn’t played in the market since 1996, Ed Sheeran couldn’t be any hotter, and everyone is excited for Hozier. It’s tough when you look at this year’s schedule. People are going to have to make decisions.

How do you go about picking the local bands? Any tips for local bands interested in playing?

We have a committee that is really knowledgeable about what is going on musically in the city, and we solicit input from them. We look at who is really at the cusp of breaking nationally and we try to pick the artists who are getting ready to pop. There are so many great artists in this town that you could book a whole weekend of local talent if you wanted to. We’ve had locals like the Memphis Dawls and Amy LaVere, and they both did a great job. We are always excited to have artists like Al Kapone and Three Six Mafia and Yo Gotti. We always try to get the best of the best in Memphis.

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Music Music Features

Down the Hard Road

Ghost Town Blues Band isn’t just a group of blues enthusiasts on the local nightclub circuit. Since forming six years ago, the band has been recognized by the International Blues Challenge (twice), toured the country numerous times, and been praised by blues societies nationwide. The band crowd-funded their latest album, Hard Road to Hoe, but still enlisted six-time Grammy-nominated producer Kevin Houston to man the controls. We sat down with chief songwriter Matt Isbell to find out more about the band’s latest album, recording live animals in the studio, and their extensive summer tour, which includes a stop at Beale Street Music Fest.

Flyer: Where did you get the idea to open the album with a recording of a push broom?

Matt Isbell: I make cigar box guitars, and I’ve learned over the years that not everyone has $300 to spend on a cigar box guitar. I’ve learned to make smaller things like shakers and other cheap homemade instruments and somehow that has evolved into using a broom as an instrument. Basically, I just take a door buzzer and reverse the polarity of it, and it becomes a little tiny speaker for the broom. It was kind of a cool idea that actually worked, so we decided to mess with it in the studio. We use the broom live now too, and it definitely gets some weird comments from sound guys when they see us plugging it in on stage. It’s paired with a cigar box guitar on the opening track, which made a lot of sense.

How did you hook up with producer Kevin Houston?

We’ve done every record with him. He’s the North Mississippi Allstars’ engineer and he worked under Jim Dickinson. He grew up with the Dickinson boys and he learned everything he knows from that family. Kevin has a real good approach as a producer and he’s amazing to work with. We recorded the latest album on tape, and he was all about us getting technical with stuff like the push broom. He looks at the studio like a giant playground and that makes it really easy to work with him.

What does the expression “hard road to hoe” mean to you? Is that an expression you’ve heard a lot before?

The original saying is “hard row to hoe,” and I guess it’s an old farmers saying. I changed it up a little bit because we aren’t farmers, we’re drivers. We drive around from town to town playing music, so it applies to what we do as a band every night.

The album starts and ends with some pretty heavy lyrical content. Was that a conscience decision?

Nah, not really. The last album was a lot softer as far as lyrics go, but I think each album is a reflection of my life at the point it was recorded. Our next album will probably be a little bit more jovial, but that’s not where I was when we made this latest record. I lost my mom recently and my dad has Parkinson’s and I guess that title track is about me losing my mentors, so to speak. I didn’t mean for it to be really deep or anything, but that’s just how stuff comes out sometimes. I’ve been sober for over nine months, but I still have a lot of experience from drinking and that comes out on the last song “Road Still Drives the Same.” A lot of things have changed since we started this band, and I think that’s reflected on this record too.

How else is Hard Road to Hoe different than your last album Darkhorse?

We didn’t have a piano player or a horn section when we made Darkhorse, but we wrote that album so that we could grow into having one. The 2012 album was kind of a blueprint for what the future of our band would be, and now we have those extra members and are writing songs with them as a full band.

Tell me more about the decision to record your dog on the track “My Doggy.”

I figured out that my dog can sometimes howl in a certain pitch depending on how I’m singing or what I’m playing. I have an old Wurlitzer organ that she will howl to, and she also howls when someone plays the harmonica. As soon as I figured that out I was like “we have to get this dog in the studio.” She’s just a rescue dog, but she can sing.

The band is going to be touring almost all summer long in support of Hard Road to Hoe. How do you prepare mentally for a trip that long?

Man, honestly I look at each tour date like it’s just another show. We’ve been doing this band for more than six years now and I don’t take it for granted, but there’s not a whole lot of mental preparation that goes in it for me at this point. People are honestly really excited to see good music from Memphis no matter where we play. When we play Canada, we get treated like rock stars because they don’t get to see bands like us very often. Pretty much anywhere we go we get treated like we are a lot bigger than we really are.

What are you most looking forward to in regards to playing Beale Street Music Fest again this year?

Just being asked to play again is a huge honor. That was the music fest to end all music fests when I was a kid. I didn’t know there was anything other than that – I thought that was the biggest music fest in the world. For us to play the Blues Tent and the same stage as some of my favorite childhood musicians, it’s still surreal.