In the Bluff City, the holidays are in full swing and available for the world to watch, thanks to the miracle of the internet. Some of the Christmas shows scheduled for online availability include The Sheiks’ annual Christmas in Space extravaganza, as well as a multi-band revue benefiting Porter-Leath’s work for children and families (Friday) and Mick Kolassa singing Uncle Mick’s Christmas Album (Sunday), both at Hernando’s Hide-a-way. But there are plenty of non-holiday tunes available too. Take your pick, and do your part to keep music safe throughout this pandemic.
ALL TIMES CST
Thursday, December 16 8 p.m. GRW — at Hernando’s Hide-A-Way Website
Marcella Simien has been a fixture of the Memphis scene for over six years now, often with her band, Marcella & Her Lovers, and over that time she’s acquired a reputation as a genre-buster. If her brand of “swamp soul” is inherently multicultural, reflecting both her zydeco-playing father, Terrance Simien, and the rich roux of her native Louisiana’s other musical flavors, she personally has many sonic touchstones beyond those. “I have broad taste in music and always have,” she says. “You can find soulfulness in any genre. That’s what I’m drawn to. From Kraftwerk to Brian Eno to Nina Simone, from sampling to jazz to folk.”
As her musical endeavors gain steam, that eclecticism is more apparent than ever. And it’s keeping her mighty busy. I spoke with her recently about the welter of projects she’s involved in now.
Memphis Flyer: It doesn’t seem like quarantine slowed you down much over the past year.
Marcella Simien: It turned out that the time away from the usual schedule was something that I needed. All the time I had alone to write and dig more into what I want, across the board, in life and ceatively, professionally, was really transformative. Things have opened up for me.
I also invested in a couple items that have got me excited about making new sounds: a little sampler and a drum pad thing, the Roland SPD-S. It’ll be interesting to integrate it into the live show. It’s cool to blend analog or acoustic instruments with the high-tech stuff, samplers and all that. I’ve been making demo after demo after demo, sinking my teeth into these different genres.
Marcella Simien (Photo: Kevin Evans)
You’ve also been playing with different ensembles. Are the Lovers still an ongoing group?
I’m never going to abandon the Lovers band, no matter what. That’s who I am. We still have tour dates, and we’re putting out an album, Marcella & Her Lovers Live at Railgarten, in September. And then I have a new single that’ll come out after that, under the name Marcella Simien. That’s a rebrand that allows me more room to dance between different genres.
Another group I’m in, ASP, started when Jesse James Davis, Keith Cooper, and Frank McLallen recorded all these songs during quarantine, and then brought them to Dustin [Reynolds] and I about three weeks ago, to recreate the songs live for Goner TV. I’m not the front person, and I really enjoy having the pressure off. And the songs are great and catchy and psychedelic. Some wild shit! So it’s been small gatherings and smaller ensembles. I’m drawn to that right now. And my website [marcellasimien.com] has all the groups that I’m associated with in one place.
On June 18th, you’ll be heralding the reopening of Bar DKDC. That venue has been important to you, hasn’t it?
Absolutely. It’s my second home. I owe so much of my progress to Karen Carrier. She gave me a stage, ever since I was in college. So on June 18th, we’re going to have a second line and walk from Nelson Avenue to DKDC, with the Lucky 7 Brass Band. Once inside, the Lucky 7 is going to throw down, and the Lovers will go on after them. And we’ll try to keep some of the Lucky 7 up there with me!
Not long after that, yet another group you’re in, Gumbo, Grits & Gravy, will have a DKDC residence.
Thom Wolke manages Guy Davis, who is the son of civil rights activists and actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. Guy’s an incredible guitarist, songwriter, and storyteller. So Thom reached out to me about his idea for this group, gathering Guy with me and Anne Harris, who’s this great fiddle player based in Chicago. She’s just electric. She creates this whole different reality, and you can’t help but just want to be around her. And Guy’s the same way, with his storytelling ability. It’s heavily roots and blues. We’re doing a short 10-day run in July, so they’re coming to Memphis to rehearse, and then we’ll play DKDC on June 23rd and 24th. I’m just honored that they let me be a part of it.
Even as more live venues reopen, this week proves the staying power of live-streamed shows. Many bands remain committed to bringing their music into your home, if you should choose to play it safe. And with talk of a new pandemic surge on the way, safe is the best way to play it! As always, tip these online performers generously.
The MD’s (Photo courtesy the MD’s)
REMINDER: The Memphis Flyer supports social distancing in these uncertain times. Please live-stream responsibly. We remind all players that even a small gathering could recklessly spread the coronavirus and endanger others. If you must gather as a band, please keep all players six feet apart, preferably outside, and remind viewers to do the same.
Ross Johnson, having laid down the back beat of underground Memphis bands for over forty years, is on the verge of spilling the beans.
He’s worn the hat of the rock ‘n’ roll librarian, historian, chronicler, and/or raconteur for some time now, both penning a definitive remembrance of the Antenna Club in The Memphis Flyer‘s own pages, and serving as an articulate commentator on the local scene, either on camera or across the table from you at the bar.
Now, his perspective has been distilled under the title Baron of Love: Moral Giant, soon to be released under the Spacecase Records imprint. To ready us for the full onslaught, Johnson has been softening up the target audience with short bursts of close-range excerpts and interviews. HisBack to the Light podcast appearance, reported here last week, was just the beginning. Tonight, you can hear even more Johnson-isms when Goner TV takes to the internet once again.
The Spacecase-related blog, Bored Out, has published a few excerpts from the book, full of tantalizing details on the making of some stone-classic “alternative” records, and tonight Johnson will read even more. Here’s a taste of what to expect, courtesy Bored Out:
I was working as a sack boy in the summer of 1972 at one of the local Big Star (yep) chain groceries. Jim [Dickinson] would usually shop for groceries there mid-afternoon Friday while my drumming idol Al Jackson, Jr. shopped at the same Big Star on Friday around dusk. They were the only customers who ever tipped me for carrying their groceries out.
One day I got the nerve up to speak to him as I was loading groceries into his car and said: “You’re Jim Dickinson, aren’t you, and you recorded with the Flamin’ Groovies on Teenage Head, didn’t you?” Years later Jim admitted that he thought I was going to ask about The Rolling Stones but was impressed when I mentioned the Groovies instead. We had an extended conversation in the parking lot about the Teenage Head session and he enthusiastically mentioned that he got paid $700 by producer Richard Robinson for one night of work on the record. I got in trouble with grocery store management for staying in the parking lot so long, but the conversation was worth it.
Doesn’t the thought of getting Ross Johnson in trouble make you want to read more? Stay tuned for the book, and content yourself for now with a visit to tonight’s installment of Goner TV.
GONER TV Ep. 4: Ross Johnson live at Goner Records, Friday, September 11, 8-9:30 p.m.
courtesy of Goner Records 