Tag: Graham Winchester

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Music Record Reviews

Jack Of All Tunes: Graham Winchester’s Eclectic Pop

It took a few weeks, but after a lengthy search, I was able to find one Memphian who’d never heard of Graham Winchester or the many bands in which he plays (Jack Oblivian & the Sheiks, the MD’s, the Turnstyles, and, every once in a while, the Tennessee Screamers, to name but a few). Everyone else knows him as one of the hardest working players on the local scene, an indefatigable presence on social media, and an all around nice guy. Yet, perhaps because he plays in so many noteworthy bands, not as many are familiar with his solo work. 

That could change with his most recent releases, especially the single released on Madjack Records this March, “I’ll Be the One” b/w “People.” Unlike the raunch ‘n’ roll purveyed by Jack Oblivian, this solo release is unabashedly happy-go-lucky pop. The A-side, for example, certainly sounds like an A-side, and could make for a potential hit if this was the 60s or the 80s. (Or maybe now, what do I know?)

The tradition of power pop in this city is a rich one, even if it’s sometimes overshadowed by the blues, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll. Winchester’s bouncy take on a declaration of love would fit right in on an album by Good Question, the group started by local pop-meister Van Duren in the early 80s. Giving it that extra 80s shimmer are some tasty synth licks that are nestled in the guitar-driven track. 

The flipside mixes a slower bounce with a trace of poignancy, as Winchester croons about humanity in a more wistful manner, like a cross between Herman’s Hermits and the Kinks. The warmer, more traditional sounds of piano and organ dominate this one, in keeping with its earlier touchstones, and in a way it’s more affecting than the A-side. The extra touch of vulnerability draws you in.

Winchester is nothing if not prolific, and there are more recent releases to be heard as well. While the aforementioned tracks are on a physical release, the new tracks on Bandcamp are clearly post-coronavirus, solo excursions on acoustic guitar. Both “Fortune Favors the Bold” and “I’ll Be Sad With You” go a long way in demonstrating Winchester’s eclecticism, exuding a mellow folk melancholy that is especially cathartic in these quarantined days. “Fortune” is especially moving, a portrait of a spurned lover blindsided by rejection and striving to make sense of it all. Musically, it’s more venturesome as well, dipping into some fascinating dissonance in the coda that adds further shadows to the mood.

Winchester has been ahead of the live-streaming curve since shelter-in-place began, and that may be the perfect place to hear these songs in the context of his wide-ranging songwriting chops. As an everyman singer with a restless imagination, there’s no telling where he’s headed next.

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Music Music Features

Memphis Music Lovers Support Players’ Online Events

And just like that, the gigs were gone. Musicians around the world have suffered a setback as their primary sources of income — performances in public venues — have evaporated. In previous centuries, such straits might have sent troubadours making do with digging ditches. Now, we have the live-streamed event. And many local players are making it work for them.

“A few people had already done [live-streamed performances] in Memphis before me,” says multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Graham Winchester. “But mine was one of the first ones that someone made an event for and advertised. And it got a lot of support.”

Indeed, Winchester’s live-streamed Facebook event on March 14th occurred right on the cusp of the great shift to social distancing. “The night before, I played my actual record release show at Bar DKDC, and I know a lot of folks weren’t comfortable going out even then. So I wanted to do a second part [online]. And it went really well. I was blown away.”

Gary Baldwin

Gerald Stephens

While such events may not match the steady pay of real-life gigs, there’s a chance they’ll earn you even more. “People were super-generous on the donations,” says Winchester. “On the actual feed, I wrote, ‘If you want to donate $15 or more for an LP, I’ll deliver a record directly to your doorstep.’ So a lot of people were giving two to three times the asking price of the vinyl, saying, ‘I know it’s hard times, man,’ or ‘keep the change.’ It really touched me. I was in tears that night, thinking about how many people were so generous with their donations.”

Gerald Stephens, keyboardist extraordinaire for the Love Light Orchestra and other bands, has also jumped into live-streaming, noting that, “It’s the sharing economy. ‘Give me some content, if I like it I’ll give you a $10 tip.’ That’s people helping each other. I’m grateful. I’ve made some of what I’ve lost back, a substantial amount of it, so I feel grateful. There’s something to us taking care of each other. That’s the good part of this.”

Stephens was surprised, given that his first live-streamed event was launched on the spur of the moment. “It was real quick,” he says. “I just realized, ‘Hey, we lost some money. Hey, my friends tried that, it works.’ And I do enough restaurant gigs, blues gigs, and rock gigs that I’m always in practice. I always have a bunch of different songs that I can play at any given time. So I came up with a setlist on the fly. The second one, I planned a little bit more ahead. Doing the same thing within a week, I don’t want it to be exactly the same.”

Winchester throws himself into the planning. “We put plants in my room, which has a shag carpet, a good vintage vibe, and tried to turn it into a jungle room. And we also ran a bunch of sound checks. You can make a Facebook Live setting private and invite a couple friends. I think there’s a misconception out there, where musicians think, ‘Once you’re live, you’re live. It’s on.’ But there is a way to make it private and sound check it first.”

There’s an aesthetic payoff as well. Stephens says he started his first solo streaming event partly to satisfy his creative side. “I don’t think people are doing it necessarily for the money,” he says. “We need that, and I’ll take it and say thank you. But also, this is what we do. You know how it feels if you’re playing all the time, and then suddenly you’re stuck at home. Now there’s an outlet, you know? The emotional outlet to art is more important than the money. It’s nice to have a little of both so we can just have time to do it better.”

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We Recommend We Saw You

Graham Winchester – at Home

CREDIT: Erica Winchester


 Erica Winchester

Graham Winchester in his home studio.

In place of parties and gatherings, We Saw You will focus on what people are doing at home. This week: singer-songwriter-musician Graham Winchester.

Graham Winchester didn’t know he was going to be stuck in his home studio a good part of the day after he and his wife, Erica, and their children Miles and Everlee moved into their Midtown house last November.

Winchester, 31, a drummer, pianist, bass player, guitarist, and vocalist who performs in Turnstiles, Sheiks, Jack Oblivian Band, the MD’s, Cassette Set, Devil Train, and So Gung Ho, is at home because club gigs have been canceled and Sun Studios, where he is a tour guide, closed until further notice because of COVID-19 virus precautions.

“My two ways to make a living are selling records — dropping them off at people’s doorsteps, selling records online — and the live-stream thing,” Winchesters says.

He recently spent four or five hours dropping off records. “To people who had tipped me Venmo money or PayPal money. People send me money and I drop the record off at their doorsteps. It’s personal, but it’s also social distancing.”

He’s selling his recent 45, “I’ll be the One/People,” which is on Madjack Records, as well as his albums.

Winchester began live-streaming from his home studio March 14th on his Facebook page, with a show featuring himself performing original songs on acoustic guitar. He held a record release party the night before at DKDC.

He held his first Facebook live stream with himself and another band March 19th. Winchester played drums with the Tennessee Screamers, which includes Frank McLallen, Jesse James Davis, and Keith Cooper. The Tennessee Screamers is an acoustic group, but when Winchester plays with the trio, the group is called “Electric Screamers.” McLallen converts to electric bass and Cooper, electric guitar. “We bring in some amps and I get on the drums.”

The sound was better on the Tennessee Screamers show, Winchester says. On his first show, he says, “I was stomping my foot real hard which was making the camera glitch. Last night, we had studio microphones recording direct audio so it wasn’t your usual bad cell phone audio. We spent more time on the audio and the visual last night, so it was more successful.”

McLallen is my nephew, and the others on the screen are my “nephews,” so, of course, I wasn’t going to miss the show. Based on the comments, the guys noted that all the parents were watching. So were the uncles.

I listened and watched on the last night of winter while, sitting in my yard. The balmy weather, which was in the 70s, was perfect. The music from where I sat was accompanied by the singing of frogs.

The best part about the experience besides the music and the performance, with all the jokes and back-and-forth banter by the band members, were the Facebook comments. People made wisecracks, complimented the band, talked about what the musicians were wearing, and about what they themselves were doing at home. Someone was frying chicken. Others were on their porch. It was like you were at a big party even though everybody was miles away.

Tennessee Screamers with Graham Winchester on Facebook live streaming March 19th.

I read and commented while I listened and watched the guys perform. It felt like I was at a big party with old and new friends, even though everybody was miles away. With no parties happening right now, it was great to enjoy a “happening.”

“We definitely got that vibe,” Winchester says. “Even though it was just the four of us in the actual room, it felt like all of our friends were in there with us. It felt very personal. Very real.”

The show, which featured original music as well as material by Waylon Jennings, Roy Orbison, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Bobby Helms, Carl Perkins, Warren Zevon, and Alex Chilton, went on for two hours. They planned to only play an hour and a half. “But we had so much fun we decided to keep going. And the longer your stream, the more engagement you get, naturally.”

Ross Wiley, who lives in Montgomery, Alabama, commented: “This is by far the best thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

Comments were from all over the world. “We had people from Germany, Japan, tuning in. Canada. Holland. Norway. France. We had friends from 20 different countries tuning in.”

And, he says, “We’re up to 4,000 views in less than a day. Usually these things pick up a couple of more 1,000 as the week goes on. If you think about it, 4,000 people watching is like filling out the Orpheum twice. It’s pretty crazy.”

Winchester was pleased with the overall experience. “It felt like the best we’ve got, you know. It felt as social as we can possibly be right now.”

To hear the March 19th show, go to Graham’s Facebook page, which is public: Facebook.com/gwinchester3.

Winchester’s next Facebook live show from his home studio will be a performance with Seth Moody at 6 p.m., March 21st. “We’ll be trading songs back and forth and playing some together as well.”

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Music Music Features

Graham Winchester: ‘Round the Clock Rocker

Maybe there’s a Memphian out there who doesn’t know Graham Winchester, 31, the musical mainstay who drums for more than half a dozen bands, guides tours at Sun Studio, and has hosted a number of tribute benefit concerts, like 2016’s Memphis Does Bowie: Benefit for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Oh, and that’s all when he’s not home with his wife, parenting two toddlers.

Winchester, whose groups dabble in bluegrass, punk, rock-and-roll, soul, and other genres, may not be the hardest-working musician in Memphis, but he certainly makes a case for himself as such. This spring, that hard work pays off, as the drumming dad hosts a songwriter series at Bar DKDC and releases two (two!) records — a self-titled solo 45 out on Madjack Records (with a release concert at Bar DKDC Friday, March 13th), and a full-length LP by Turnstyles, the duo of Winchester and multi-instrumentalist Seth Moody, out on Black and Wyatt Records in April.

Graham Winchester

So how did Winchester get behind the drum kit for so many Memphis groups? He started early, when he was 10 years old. “When I started playing drums, I had to play pots and pans for at least a year,” Winchester remembers, explaining that his parents wanted to make sure he was invested before buying a drum set. “I don’t blame them. If you buy your kid drums, is it going to be annoying for two weeks and then collect dust?”

Before long, though, Winchester switched his pots and pans for a snare and toms, and he even began hosting band practices at his house. “My parents were cool enough to tolerate that.” His band mates would leave their instruments at Winchester’s house between practices, and while they were away, Winchester would play — anything he could get his musical mitts on. That gave the fledgling musician early experience with other instruments, which would serve him well years later when he began writing his own songs. Before that, though, Winchester had to get his first taste of the stage.

“I started playing in clubs in Memphis when I was 13,” Winchester laughs, remembering getting his cheeks pinched during ladies’ nights on the old Highland Strip. Because not all parents are as willing to let their kid learn to play an instrument without a volume knob, drummers are always in demand. “I’m probably the youngest person in just about every band I’m in,” Winchester says. “So there’s a lot of older experience shaping my playing.”

All those years, Winchester was getting a front-row seat in the class of songcraft, which, in turn, only increased his cachet in local circles. “If I’m singing and drumming, live or in the studio, I can pack a punch where I want to,” he says. “I can bring out that energy.”

That energy will be in high demand this spring, as Winchester juggles his Wednesday-night songwriter series at Bar DKDC with a series of record releases, from this Friday’s solo 45 release to Turnstyles’ Cut You Off at The Cove in April. Turnstyles’ debut was recorded in Moody’s basement in a single night. “We did 12 songs, with the vocals,” Winchester says. “We cut from 7 p.m. to 5 in the morning and got a whole record done in one night, Please Please Me Beatles-style.”

Whether Winchester’s ability to run on minimal sleep is thanks to his time playing late-night shows in the Memphis bar scene or helping out with the kids at home is anyone’s guess, but he finds inspiration whenever and wherever he can. “The kids really inspire me, and they make me want to go out and work, just in the most basic way, to bring home money to support them. I want them to have a great future,” Winchester says. “And their personalities inspire me. They remind me of the purest form of art, just the fun side of it.” Winchester laughs before adding, “And I try to sleep when I can.”

Graham Winchester releases his album at Bar DKDC on Friday, March 13th, 7:30 p.m. Winchester hosts his Songwriter Series at Bar DKDC, Wednesdays, through March 25th.

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Music Music Blog

Gonerfest 16 Recap: Friday

Violet Archaea at Gonerfest Friday night.

It’s Saturday morning of Gonerfest, and I have a headache. And I’m not the only one. Folks from all over the world are cursing the bright, fall sun of Memphis the morning after an overstuffed night of punk, garage, no-wave, and the indescribable.

And too much beer. Did I mention the beer? Memphis Made brewed a special Gonerbrau cream ale, and it only comes in tall boys for your beer-spraying convenience.

After a full afternoon at Memphis Made with Static Static, Lenguas Largas, Fuck, Graham Winchester, Kelley Anderson, and Tyler Keith, Goners reconvened at Crosstown Arts auxiliary gallery at 430 Cleveland. Miss Pussycat, Quintron’s partner and celebrated artist and puppeteer who recently got a fellowship and retrospective at the Ogden Museum in her native New Orleans, performed her puppet show “The History of Egypt” to as packed a house as it is possible to have. After Antony was defeated at the Battle of Actium, and Cleopatra got fatally intimate with an asp, Miss Pussycat added a post script set in the holy Egyptian city of Memphis detailing the founding of Goner Records and the Mummies playing Gonerfest. Later, Goner co-owner Zac Ives confirmed that this was the first time he had ever been portrayed in puppet form.

Miss Pussycat presenting her ‘History of Egypt’ puppet show, featuring Guitar Wolf as it segued into a ‘History of Gonerfest’.

(I was unable to confirm with Eric Friedl if he had ever been represented via puppetry before that evening.)

Miss Pussycat’s art on display at Crosstown Arts 430 Gallery

In years past, the golden passes have consistently sold out, but individual tickets could still be had if you got to the venue early. This year, Friday and Saturday sold out weeks ago.

“It’s like Mecca, almost. Everyone comes together,” says Megs from Louisville, who is here with her friends Yoko and Aaron.

This is Megs’ second Gonerfest, Yoko’s third, and Aaron’s fifth. They say they’re here primarily to see the Oblivians reunite with Quintron to play their watershed 1997 album Oblivians Play 9 songs with Mr. Quintron. The descriptively titled album is the best Memphis rock record since Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers. Its reputation has grown in the 22 years since the January 1997 afternoon when Quintron rode the bus up from New Orleans and recorded the album with Greg, Eric, and Jack in one eight-hour session. It sits in an unlikely pocket of lo-fi, punk, and gospel, and the songs have been rarely performed by the full band. “It’s my favorite album,” says Megs.

“I’m ready to go to church tonight,” says Yoko.

Sarah Danger of Mallwalker

At 9 p.m. sharp, Mallwalker from Baltimore, Maryland, gave the evening a swift kick in the ass. Singer Sarah Danger, who would act as the MC for the evening, reserved some special vitriol for the anonymous person who accidentally broke her foot during the band’s 4 a.m. after-show last year. Afterwards, I talk to her as she’s rehydrating at the bar about the band’s big stage debut. “It was fucking amazing while I was up there, but it was horrible beforehand because it was so nerve-wracking!.”

This is Danger’s eighth Gonerfest. “One of my favorite ones was when Guitar Wolf played the opening ceremony. I had never seen that kind of energy. It was so sick.”

The second set of the evening was Richard Papiercuts et Les Inspecteurs. The New Yorker crooned like a hyped-up Brian Ferry. It was an ’80s-infused dance party, with the evening’s only saxophone, and an example of how the sounds at Gonerfest have expanded and diversified over the years.

At 10:30 p.m. was the legendary M.O.T.O. Paul Caporino’s low-fi, pop-rock machine mesmerized the crowd. The peak of the set came with “Tastes Just Like A Milkshake,” a Memphis favorite covered by Secret Service.

Innez Tulloch and Matthew Ford of Brisbane, Australia’s Thigh Master with Memphis singer Jesse James Davis. Blurriness courtesy Gonerbrau Vision (TM).

Brisbane, Australia’s Thigh Master had the distinction of throwing their record release party at Gonerfest. Now For Example is out on the label as of yesterday, and they celebrated in style, joined at one point by Memphis’ Jesse James Davis on vocals.
At the stroke of Midnight came NOTS, a Gonerfest staple, sounding as fierce as ever. Now playing as a three piece after the exit of keyboardist Alexandra Eastburn, Natalie Hoffman did double duty on guitar and synth, while Charlotte Watson and Meredith Lones pounded out titanic rhythm behind her.

NOTS

People on the floor jockeyed for position as the back stage curtains parted to reveal Quintron’s massive vintage Leslie speaker. Violet Archaea was wearing a “Kill A Punk For Rock and Roll” shirt, famously featured on the cover of the Oblivians album Popular Favorites. “This is my first one, but I’ve been wanting to come since I was of age,” she says. “It’s everything I want.”

Her band The Archeas would be playing the super-late night after-party, but she was in no hurry. “2 a.m., 3 a.m. It will be an a.m.”

The Oblivians playing nine songs with Quintron

When Greg Oblivian began the circular riff of “Feel All Right,” the packed Hi-Tone surged forward. Seconds later, the first thrown beer of the night nailed him right in the face. It couldn’t have been more accurately aimed if it was actually aimed. This served to piss him off, and for a glorious hour or so, the snarling, rock-hard Oblivians of old were back. The gospel songs played by punks with a lot more miles on ‘em than in 1997 revealed new depth as they rattled down the road like an old truck about to shake apart. “Before this time another year/I may be gone/In some lonesome graveyard/Oh Lord, how long?”

They encored with the New Orleans zydeco stomper “Call the Police” from their Desperation album, and then Greg decided to teach the band a new song right there on stage at the Hi Tone in front of a packed house at 2 a.m., just to make sure the crowd got that vintage Oblivians experience.

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Music Music Features

Graham Winchester and the Ammunition Return with New Record

Graham Winchester may be the purest embodiment of what it means to be a Memphis musician. Hardworking (he currently plays anywhere from three to eight gigs a week with upwards of nine different bands) and immensely talented, Winchester has carved out a niche for himself in several corners of the city’s often fragmented music scene through both relentless determination and his ability to charm almost anyone.

Though he’s primarily known as a drummer with well-known local acts like the Shieks, Devil Train, and Jack Oblivian, Winchester is a capable multi-instrumentalist, proficient on at least 10 different instruments, and also something of an emerging presence as a singer-songwriter.

The success of his 2014 solo debut Graham Winchester and the relatively rapid ascent of his namesake group Winchester & the Ammunition are testaments to his sharp skills as both a songwriter and bandleader. Now he and the band are gearing up for the release of a follow-up (though technically the first using the Ammunition moniker) called Until the End, which is being released in digital formats this week by the label American Grapefruit. To celebrate, Winchester & the Ammunition will play a show Friday at 9:30 p.m. at Young Avenue Deli, along with guests Jana Misener and Victor Sawyer.

Flyer: What was your process for recording Until the End?

Winchester: I started at High/Low Recording in the summer of 2015 for this album. Toby Vest and Pete Matthews engineered it, and we were all a production team together. 

The two of them helped this record breathe and find itself. They helped sculpt every song. They are also amazingly aware of space. If you invite them into the production world of the songs, they will undoubtedly help in the best way.

How do you compare Until the End to your debut?

It’s a little bit darker. The first album was more traditional, instrumentation-wise. Until the End uses more keyboards, especially synths. The lyrics ring in a little more personally. I don’t know which album is better, but I know the second one feels better to play live in rehearsals.

You can and do play many of the instruments on your albums yourself; where does the band fit in?

The guys contributed so much — not only in terms of the playing and singing, but also in helping shape sonic landscapes on specific songs.

Is it ever difficult for you to make time for so many projects?

It can be strenuous, but I try to balance time with different bands and keep it all to a strict calendar. I like to explore different musical worlds, so that’s the fulfilling reward of a tedious and busy schedule involving lots of different musicians.

Has starting a family affected your focus or availability for playing music?

I see making music as a natural act and one so important to my life. It’s been really inspiring. Erica [Winchester’s wife] and my son Everlee both love music, so we naturally have a lot of it in the house. I feel like I’ve slowed down my live shows maybe one gear lately to spend more time with family.

In recent years, you’ve become sort of famous for putting together lots of tribute and benefit shows around town.

I really enjoy putting together tribute and benefit shows and kind of just being a show booker of sorts. I breathed a huge sigh of relief that we successfully did a Talking Heads tribute when nobody had passed away. That’s the plan from now on — try and [pay tribute to] people who are alive. Of course, if and when a true legend passes away, an honorable tribute is always a worthy remembrance.

To what do you attribute your ability to move within so many different sects of the local music scene? I just enjoy playing lots of types of music. Too much of anything gets boring to me. A lot of my close musician friends agree, and that’s why we get along so well. I’m just happy musicians from a few different genres will put up with me!

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Music Music Features

Cassette Set: Nashville Meets Memphis

Less than two years ago, Seth and Coco Moody — the musical power couple that fronts Cassette Set, a new-ish local project featuring a pair of well-known Memphis musicians, Graham Winchester and Jack Oblivian — were gearing up for a big move from Wilmington, N.C., to Nashville to pursue new jobs and musical opportunities. As luck would have it, for what would be their last night in town, one of Seth’s bands, Deadly Lo-Fi, got offered a gig opening for a touring Memphis act, Jack O and the Sheiks.

“That was a pretty random card throw,” he says. “We were packed and about to move to Nashville, and Travis (Burdick, Deadly Lo-Fi frontman) hit me up to do a Monday night show, opening up for Jack and the Sheiks. We were literally driving the U-Haul on Tuesday, so my inclination was to skip it.” His wife, however, would have none of it.

“Coco, I remember, said, ‘Come on, it’s Jack Oblivian. You gotta do it!’ So I did the show. [Jack O and the Sheiks] had me sit in on sax, and we had a blast of a night, musically, and those guys are a blast without the music.”

A week later, when the tour rolled through Nashville, Seth sat in with the band again. Friendships and a musical bond were formed, and for six months, Seth traveled from Nashville to Memphis for gigs.

“After the Nashville show, I came down and did Gonerfest with them, stayed the weekend, and played a DKDC show as well,” he says. “Then, I guess every show after that, I’d get asked to come down. I’d stay the weekend, so it was fun despite the commute.”

Wary of the music industry infrastructure and unable to make connections in the local underground scene, the couple grew restless in Nashville. After only six months in “Music City,” Seth and Coco relocated to Memphis.

“Every time I’d come to Memphis, I’d meet more and more oddballs like myself, who were also coincidentally good musicians and songwriters,” says Seth. “I’d stay at Jack’s, and he’d drive me around the city, showing me the good thrift stores, where to get a goat burrito, etc. So as the six-month lease on our expensive Nashville apartment started nearing renewal time, we made the decision to get ourselves here.”

Winchester, one of Seth’s new bandmates, takes credit for playing at least somewhat of a role in that decision.

“Every time I saw Seth, I would tell him how much more of a Memphis dude he was than a Nashville one and how we were going to steal him one day.” 

Seth has quickly become a local staple. In addition to playing with Jack O and the Sheiks, he’s performed live and/or recorded with Kelley Anderson, Jesse Davis, and Faux Killas, to name a few, and has two original projects — Turnstyles, a duo with Winchester, and Moped 10, a trio with Coco and Oblivian.

Last year, Seth and Coco decided to start a covers band with Coco as the lead singer and Seth on guitar and keyboards. Winchester and Oblivian were quickly recruited to play bass and drums, respectively, and Cassette Set was born.

“The idea of the band is to do songs from the ’70s and ’80s but not to worry about the details so much,” says Seth. “If you’re coming up to a part that’s intricate, just plow through it like the Kool-Aid guy entering a kid party.”

Cassette Set has built a repertoire of over 40 revved-up versions of songs by Tears for Fears, Soft Cell, the Cure, the Cars, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, adding a “Memphis garage-rock flair” to new-wave classics.

“These are songs we grew up with. They’re fun,” says Seth. “We have a good time, and that’s the whole point, right?”

Cassette Set, Loflin Yard, Saturday, March 18th, 10 p.m. Free.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: The Shieks

Music Video Monday works hard for its money. 

Memphis garage psychos The Sheiks have built a reputation around their hard-rocking, sweaty live shows. Frank McClellan, Keith Cooper, and Graham Winchester have gone from crashing Gonerfest to backing up Jack Oblivian and touring relentlessly. This video for their song “She Said All These Things” had its origin at a New Year’s Eve house party in 2013, when Memphis filmmaker Ben Rednour showed up with his camera and cut together this 3-minute blast of fun. If you want a sense of what the Memphis underground has to offer, here it is in all its chaotic glory. 

Music Video Monday: The Shieks

If you would like to see your video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

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Music Music Blog

“Memphis Does Prince” Tribute Concert Announced

Graham Winchester, the man who brought you the David Bowie benefit earlier this year, is back with another tribute show to a fallen music idol. On Friday, June 10th,  a dozen Memphis musicians will perform Prince classics at the 1884 Lounge in Minglewood Hall, with the proceeds benefitting St. Jude. 

Steve Selvidge, Hope Clayburn, Winchester & The Amunition, The Incredible Hook, Southern Avenue, Clay Otis and the Addults, Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, Lightajo, The Candy Company, Marcella Simien, Another Green World, and Kitty Dearing will all be performing Prince classics, and the list of sponsors and vendors has yet to be announced. The show is all ages, starts at 7 p.m., and tickets range from $15-$17 dollars. Check out a classic prince track below, and make plans to catch some of Memphis’ most known musicians put their spin on one of the greatest artists of all time. 

‘Memphis Does Prince’ Tribute Concert Announced

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We Recommend We Recommend

In Sod We Trust at the Hi-Tone

Nothing brings Memphians together like good food, good music, and an opportunity to publically demonstrate to prevent cars and car-related interests from wrecking Overton Park. This Easter Sunday, while others are parading about in their finest seersucker, hunting eggs, and driving the 240 loop in their fancy Easter bonnets, friends of Overton Park can gather at the Hi-Tone Cafe for an all-ages fund-raiser benefiting both the Overton Park Conservancy legal fund and the Get Off Our Lawn initiative to prevent overflow zoo parking on the Greensward.

Conceived by singer and multi-instrumentalist Marcella Simien, and arranged by drummer-turned-frontman Graham Winchester, In Sod We Trust is an epic, six-hour concert showcasing some of Midtown’s most creative musicians, including sets by both of its organizers.

A $10 donation at the door buys access to all the music and vending.

Bands scheduled to appear include Artistik Approach, Chickasaw Mound, Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, Dave Cousar, Faux Killas, Hope Clayburn, Marcella & Her Lovers, Southern Avenue, Tony Manard, Winchester and the Ammunition, Zigadoo Moneyclips. Participating Vendors: Dirty Cotton, Eponymous Print Co., Farmhouse Marketing, Guerilla Stone, MEMPopS, Shangri-La Records, Sushi Jimmi, and Yanni’s Food Truck.