The musical acts at the annual Cooper-Young Festival always hit a little differently from your typical music festival. Maybe it’s because they’re performing in a swirl of other features, like the artisans, fine artists, and food vendors that congregate up and down Cooper Street and adjacent areas, or maybe it’s the neighborhood vibe that reigns supreme at the event, but there’s a certain intimacy to the experience. And that’s in spite of the huge numbers of people that congregate there, often upwards of 120,000 in a given year.
This year, it’s officially the Guaranty Bank Cooper Young Festival, to be celebrated on Saturday, September 14th, and the musical schedule offers arguably the festival’s best lineup yet. The most fervent music lovers will want to arrive even before that lineup begins, when the Bellevue Middle School band, with its 32-piece drum line, kicks off the day by marching down Cooper Street at 9 a.m.
After that, consult this schedule to determine which stage to head for first. The Guaranty Bank Stage in front of the Young Avenue Deli will come to life at 11 a.m., and the Memphis Grizzles Stage, at the intersection of Young Avenue and Meda Street, snaps into action at 12:30 p.m.
| Stage | Time | Artist | Genre |
| Guaranty | 11:15 | Rachel Maxann & Her Emotional Support Band | Folk/Soul |
| Guaranty | 12:15 | Oakwalker | Folk |
| Guaranty | 1:15 | Tennessee Screamers | Folk, Country |
| Guaranty | 2:15 | Jombi | Psychedelic Rock |
| Guaranty | 3:15 | Salo Pallini | Progressive Latin Jazz Rock |
| Guaranty | 4:15 | Cameron Bethany | R&B |
| Guaranty | 5:15 | Carla Thomas | Soul |
| Grizzlies | 12:30 | Turnstyles | Garage/Surf Rock |
| Grizzlies | 1:30 | General Labor | Electronic |
| Grizzlies | 2:30 | Late Night Cardigan | Power Pop/Rock |
| Grizzlies | 3:30 | Black Cream | Rock/Soul |
| Grizzlies | 4:30 | Steve Selvidge Band | Rock |
The sheer eclecticism of the lineup is astonishing, and a testament to all that Memphis has to offer. Of course, the standout performer is the legendary Carla Thomas, whose frank and trenchant commentary in this year’s stunning HBO documentary, Stax: Soulsville USA, has won her many new fans. Naturally, she’ll be backed by the 926 Stax Music Academy Alumni Band, comprised of the best and brightest musicians trained at the academy on McLemore Avenue, as she presents “B-A-B-Y,” “Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes),” “Tramp,” and other hits that made her the Queen of Memphis Soul. Not to be missed!