Tag: I Love Memphis

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Music Music Blog

“Virtual Music Festival” To Raise Funds For Memphis Musicians

With social distancing as the new normal, countless musicians have taken to the internet, staging live video concerts of all kinds on multiple social media platforms. How did players manage a century ago, during the Spanish Flu pandemic? Now, at last, people have cause to be less snarky and more appreciative of online interactions, and musicians especially so.

David McClister

Southern Avenue

This week, the concept of the live-streamed music concert is being ramped up to festival-like heights, thanks to the efforts of the Memphis Music Hub, a division of Memphis Tourism, who have collaborated with I Love Memphis and Music Export Memphis to coordinate the Get Live! Memphis event. Scheduled to take place from March 26 –March 28, the series serves as a fundraiser for Music Export Memphis’ COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund.

Over the course of those days, viewers need only log on to Facebook to view live-streamed performances by nearly a dozen of Memphis’ finest musicians, including headliners MonoNeon, Ben Nichols of Lucero, Grammy-nominated band Southern Avenue, and producer IMAKEMADBEATS. 

Justin Fox Burks

IMAKEMADBEATS

“This is the time to give back to the Memphis music community that has given so much to our city’s cultural identity,” says Music Specialist Jayne Ellen White of the Memphis Music Hub. “Our music has brought such joy to so many and now is the time to speak to the world through our universal language: music.”

Ben Nichols

“Our local musicians play an integral part of the Memphis destination’s identity as a live music city,” says Kevin Kane, President and CEO of Memphis Tourism. “Their talents not only keep Memphis’ music scene vibrant but, now more than ever, they are able to share those talents to lift up, not only our local community but also a world of music fans. As people around the world connect with us during this virtual musical festival, these outstanding artists will have an opportunity to not only share their talents with new audiences, but also share messages of hope.”

Justin Fox Burks

MonoNeon

To view the festival performances, viewers need only visit the Get Live! Memphis event page on Facebook and the various performers will connect their feeds at the appointed times. The festival schedule is:

Thursday, March 26th
7:00: MonoNeon

Friday, March 27th, 8PM – 10PM
8:00: D’Monet
8:30: IMAKEMADBEATS
9:00: Louise Page
9:30: Southern Avenue

Saturday, March 28th, 8PM – 10PM
8:00: Brandon Kinder of The Wealthy West
8:30: Doll McCoy & Derek Brassel
9:00: Cameron Bethany
9:30: Ben Nichols of Lucero
Toonky Berry

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Taste of the New Menu at Ciao Bella

CREDIT: John Klyce Minervini

John Klyce Minervini

Ciao Bella’s Piccolo Sara ($10)

We’ve been itching to try the new menu at Ciao Bella for a while now. So when The Flyer got a chance to grab lunch with I Love Memphis’s Holly Whitfield, we jumped at it. I mean, come on. Wouldn’t you like to have lunch with this charming person?
John Klyce Minervini

I Love Memphis’s Holly Whitfield

We started with the Tuscan White Bean & Kale Soup ($4 cup). And you know what? There’s something special about that soup. Here’s Ciao Bella executive chef Branon Mason:

“I grew up eating soul food,” says Mason, “so I try to incorporate that into some of my recipes.”

[jump]

In the white bean soup, that meant eschewing vinegar in favor of a top-secret pepper juice. Which pepper juice, precisely? Mason wouldn’t say. But the soup was pretty tasty: warm and full-bodied, with a playful kick from its secret ingredient.

Next it was time for the BLTA&E($9). Piled high with avocado (A) and fried egg (E), this hefty sandwich also features roasted garlic aioli on wheatberry bread. This ain’t your mama’s BLT, and I predict it will be a big hit.
John Klyce Minervini

Ciao Bella’s BLTA&E Sandwich ($9)

My favorite dish of the day was definitely the Piccolo Sara ($10, pictured at top of page). It’s a simple variation on the classic Italian flavor combination: spinach + cherry tomatoes + parmesan. But at Ciao Bella, they swap out the fresh tomatoes for sun-dried, and ditch the parmesan in favor of goat cheese.

It’s an inspired combination: wonderfully light, with lots of room for the fresh flavors to shine through. Also, as Holly points out in her recent post for I Love Memphis, it’s great for carb-loading, whether you happen to be training for this Saturday’s St. Jude Marathon—or you’re just a person who likes carbs (:

Categories
News News Blog

Kerry Crawford Says Goodbye to “I Love Memphis” Blog

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Kerry Crawford

She gave you 365 things to do in Memphis (eat all the cheese at Bari, frolic in the Main Street Mall fountain) and at least 52 reasons to love the Bluff City (Tony Allen’s Twitter account, cheap parking). And she uncovered the secret Target on Colonial.

Now Memphis’ number one fan Kerry Crawford is leaving her post as “I Love Memphis” blogger and social media strategist at the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau effective September 30th. Crawford posted her goodbye announcement today. Here’s an excerpt:

When the CVB hired me as their social media specialist in August, 2009, I had no idea what I was doing. All I had was this idea for a website that featured all of the great, overlooked parts of Memphis — the parts that make this city so great. Four years later, it’s that, and so much more. This site has taken over my life, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Running I Love Memphis has been the most rewarding, challenging, intense and inspiring thing I’ve ever done. I had a really great time. The best time.

But it’s time for me to make room for other good things to happen. I have an amazing opportunity to work for myself, which is something I’ve wanted to do forever, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m going to be doing freelance digital content strategy, social media strategy, information architecture and user research. It sounds super nerdy, and I can’t wait to get started.

But the “I Love Memphis” blog isn’t going anywhere. After Crawford leaves, posting will be taken over by Holly Whitfield, former editorial director for Scripps Memphis Niche publications.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

Letters to the Editor

We Got This

Thanks to Bruce VanWyngarden for stating the truth that needs to be spoken about the paranoid, negative comments that choke the spirit of this city (Letter from the Editor, August 1st issue). The “Believe Memphis” Grizzlies campaign is no accident. Simply living in this city doesn’t make you a citizen. You have to believe in the people, the art, the music, the food, the sports, and all the other aspects that make this city great.

Graham Winchester

Memphis

As a “newcomer” to Memphis (55 years, 25 in Midtown), I have always enjoyed the irony of the negative chorus emanating from beyond the city limits. The editor’s boasting about the many exciting and successful things happening here (also open to our superior but disgruntled non-Memphians) was pretty complete, with the exception of not mentioning our burgeoning Memphis Public Library, notably Benjamin L. Hooks Central.

It’s a great success story — operating with curtailed budget, 40 percent fewer staff, and diminished hours but providing our city with quality-of-life support, dynamic children’s programs, an outreach program helping Memphians find jobs (the new JobsLink bus takes this support on the road), as well as all the more traditional cultural areas. Your list — with inclusion of the library system — supports our optimism in Memphis’ immediate and long-term potentials. Keep up the good work.

Herman Markell

Memphis

What a great editorial! My husband recently moved here for work. I visit when I can from St. Louis (trying to sell a house). We love being in the city. We overlook AutoZone Park, can walk to everything — great restaurants and wonderful cultural events. We love South Main, Beale Street, the zoo, Overton Park, everything!

When I go to the ‘burbs for a mall (I am a shopping female after all), I tell people we moved to Memphis from St. Louis. Everyone says, “I’m sorry.” Why? Have they been to St. Louis? Is the grass greener, the weather better, the crime different? No. In the last survey I saw, crime was higher in St. Louis. It’s been a fine place to live, but we love Memphis!

We’ve lived all over the world. Is Memphis my pick of favorite city I’ve lived in? No. But it’s a good city. It’s trying so hard to better itself, and I hope that Mayor Wharton continues down the path he’s set. I will continue to tout Memphis to all my friends and family — strangers too. Thank you for the editorial. Go Griz! I’m a delighted new Memphian.

Mary Sue Ercoli

Memphis

Memphis and the Movies

The rich culture and heritage of Memphis has always made it appealing to storytellers, musicians, and filmmakers. Twenty yeas ago, we were on a roll toward being a premier filmmaking hot spot. Film producers, directors, and cast members enjoyed working in Memphis. Now our city rides the caboose of the Hollywood train (“Out of the Picture,” July 25th issue).

Moviemaking is valuable business, not just for the money and exposure it brings but in opening opportunities for young artists, writers, and technicians who presently find little in Memphis to draw them. Other states like Louisiana, Georgia, and Mississippi have moved proactively to cash in and lure film productions from the film capitals of California and New York. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that between 2008 and 2011 the state of Georgia invested more than $250 million to lure filmmakers. In 2012 alone, film production spending in Georgia was $880 million.

Moviemakers, like in other businesses, are looking for the cheapest deal, with state and local governments offering attractive support packages. This is not unlike multi-million-dollar tax and other incentives offered businesses like International Paper, FedEx, AutoZone, Electrolux, Bass Pro Shops, and the Memphis Grizzlies to relocate, expand, or stay in Memphis.

Mayors Mark Luttrell and A C Wharton, state senator Mark Norris, and local film commissioner Linn Sitler are committed to helping marshal state resources for infusion into Memphis’ anemic film industry. But they will not be successful unless the local business titans, who have shown their agility to move and shake when it comes to their own projects, get meaningfully involved. Having succeeded themselves, they must not pull the ladder up behind them.

Further, the film community will strengthen its appeal by continuing to assure that it builds a genuine racially and culturally diverse constituency of entrepreneurs and supporters.

D’Army Bailey

Memphis