Tag: Memphis

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Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Comic on Comic: An Insider’s Guide to Memphis’ Comedy Scene

Memphis is known around the country for its lip-smacking good BBQ, its toe-tapping Blues and Rock n’ Roll music, and, of course, its knee-slapping hilarious comedians! In honor of the 4th Annual Memphis Comedy Festival this weekend, we’ve compiled a list of the funniest, most recognizable local comedian types working in Memphis right now! 

“My word, I’ve got a rather severe case of the giggles!!!”

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#7) Marquel (2Funny) Parram

Catchphrase:

“I can only tell you what I heard I did…”

Marquel (2Funny) Parram is one of the hardest working comedians on the scene today. You can find this Comedian anywhere there’s an audience in Memphis, and I mean ANYWHERE!

“I wanted to get strong as a performer,” he said, “so I figured I need to practice in as many different venues and in front of as many different audiences as I could.”

Not only has Marquel performed stand-up at Memphis’s top venues, he’s performed on street corners, buses, trolleys, grocery stores, doctor’s offices, carpools, and even at the zoo!

“You know a joke’s not good when you can’t make a hyena laugh.”

Marquel has been on the Memphis Comedy scene for four years now and said he is ready to make the transition to full-time comedian. He has had semi-recent success opening up for the ducks walking at the Peabody. You can see Marquel (2Funny) Parram…well…anywhere!

2funnycomedy.com

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#6) Josh Feveret

Catchphrase: 

“I have a knife on me.”

Our number six pick is the wild Josh Feveret! Josh moved to Memphis from Chattanooga just three years ago. And since then he has shook up the local comedy scene. Josh has often made a habit of riding the lines of appropriateness when it comes to his standup sets.

“Comedians today have to be shocking in order to get any attention,” Josh said. “I may say things that might offend you, but that’s part of the art of standup.”

Josh did make local headlines recently when he briefly set himself on fire during one of his standup sets at the P&H café’s open mic night.

“I wasn’t getting any laughs that night, so I thought well… let’s kick things up a notch. In hindsight it probably wasn’t the best decision, but that’s what open mics are for. The paramedic did laugh a little when I asked her for a light before they took me to the emergency room, so I’d say the night wasn’t a complete waste.”

Josh will be opening for a local punk music band The Mindless Ripoffs this Saturday at Murphy’s bar.

Joshisonfireyall.com

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#5) Thomas J. Freeman 

Catchphrase:

“I thought this was a music open mic not a comedy one, but the host said I could do a few songs before you guys start.”

Thomas J. Freeman has been part-time musician in Memphis for the past 12 years. He doesn’t consider himself a comedian, yet will religiously show up to all the comedy open mics and shows in Memphis asking for stage time.

“Otherlands coffeeshop won’t have me back anymore because apparently you have to order something once in a while, which I am against,” he said. “Also they really only want you performing during the open mics, not to people trying to use the Internet.”

Thomas hopes to soon sell at least 10 of the CD’s he’s made of all originally songs he recorded in his sister’s boyfriend’s bathroom. The album is called “Echos by the Throne.” Buy it online here.

 

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#4) Jessica Talbert

Catchphrase:

“I may not know a lot, but one thing I know for damn sure is that airplane fuel doesn’t burn hot enough to melt steel!”

Young, energetic, and fearless are three worlds that come to mind when you think of this up-and-coming Memphis comedienne. Some comics like to do impressions, others tell stories of their personal life experience, but comics like Jessica like to go more political.

“It’s easy to make people laugh. I mean look at the New World Order!” She said. “Our reptilian shape-shifting lizard overlords have been laughing at our ignorance for years. Wake up people!”

Recently Jessica has taken time off from her full time job as a blogger for ChemtrailsAreBrainControl.com to focus more on her stand-up career. Although she has yet to finish a complete set without the microphone being cutoff, she is releasing her first full-length comedy album called “Live from Hollow Earth.” You can see Jessica perform at the back porch of most bars trying to get you to stop drinking water. Also check out her Podcast, “Tinfoil Hat Thoughts” on the Shut up and Listen Network.

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#3)Tim “The Biff” Johnson
Catchphrase:
“It’s Biffing time!!!”

This comedian has the largest and most loyal fan following in Memphis. His high energy comedy is a force to be reckoned with. It’s hard to find any comedy fan in Memphis that doesn’t enjoy a good “Biffing”. He is one of many headlining comedians working in Memphis, but what sets him apart from the others?

“It’s the Biff-Squad, definitely,” he said. “My fans are come out in full force waiting to get biffed, and what can I say? I always deliver.”

Tim Johnson has been doing comedy for 18 years now and has a career ranging from stand-up to movies to theater.

“The Biff has done Shakespeare before; the Biff can do it all.”

You can see Tim “The Biff” Johnson getting his Biff on at his comedy showcase at the Cooper Penny off Central Avenue the 12th of every month. Click here for official Biff Merchandise.

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#2) DJ Tickle-Cheeks

Catchphrase:

“Goo goo…haaaa HAAA Ppppppffftttt drrrrrppp ma ma ma….”

Who said this list was only featuring stand-up comedians? You may not recognize his face, but you’d definitely recognize his voice! DJ Tickle-Cheeks hosts the #1 podcast in Memphis, “Nap Time; Snap Time” on the OAM Audio Network. DJ Tickle-Cheeks got his start in comedy when he ate spaghetti for the first time. Combined with a deep appreciation for dubstep music, DJ Tickle-Cheeks has built a strong following here in the city of baby blues.

“We cannot wait till he gains more control over his motor skills and is able to actually hold his head up to the microphone, then there is no stopping him,” said audio producer Gil Worth.

Listen to DJ Tickle-Cheeks every Friday on the OAM Audio Network.

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And finally we come to our number choice for best local Memphis Comedian… 

A Horse

Catchphrase: (N/A)

It’s a horse guys, horses can’t talk.

As most of you know there is a horse that appears randomly in Memphis comedy clubs and venues.

“Oh shit, that horse is back” is a common phrases said by host and hostess at open mics and showcases.

“He just keeps to himself most of the time, which is fine when a show isn’t going on. But have you ever tried making an audience laugh when there is a 900lbs thoroughbred horse standing in the middle of the freaking room”, said one Memphis comedian. “He goes to like 80% of the shows in town, and he doesn’t even laugh! He just stands there knocking shit over.”

You can find the Memphis Comedy Horse at a majority of comedy venues in town.

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And there you have it! The undisputed top 7 entirely made up comedians working in Memphis!  If you’d like to see the real, hardworking, and funny local comedians in Memphis, this weekend’s Comedy Festival is the perfect place to start.

For a listing of shows, tickets, and venues go to MemphisComedyFestival.com. All joking aside, Memphis does have a very strong, very funny comedy scene and they deserve to be recognized. Go out and see a show and support local performers and artist. BE A PART OF IT!!!

Mike McCarthy is a standup comedian who is sometimes confused with Mike McCarthy the filmmaker and occasionally mistaken for the Memphis Comedy Horse. He is also a Wiseguy and contributor to Fly on the Wall. 

Comic on Comic: An Insider’s Guide to Memphis’ Comedy Scene (2)

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Music Music Blog

Happy Birthday, Elvis.

CREDIT: COURTESY OF LANSKY’S ARCHIVES

COURTESY OF LANSKY’S ARCHIVES

Elvis with Dewey Phillips

Whether skies are grey or blue, Memphis has a thing for the King, who would have been 80 today. Let’s not think about the movies or the carpet pile.Those are for fools to ponder. His best work was done here in Memphis. At Sun, he changed the world. At American, he reasserted himself into the culture as one of the ultimate honkey badasses of all time. It’s hard not to dwell on the lost potential and the genuinely tragic downfall. But under the artifice, there was a hell of a singer.

There are three videos after the jump that find him on his own terms: His first recording was for his mother. He paid for the session himself. The second is the sit-around from the ’68 Comeback Special. This is staged, but it’s an attempt to distance himself from the trappings of Hollywood schlock. The King floors his engine on “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” Finally, some rehearsal footage: He’s started to slide at this point. But he is enjoying making music, and it’s a powerful thing to watch.  

Happy Birthday, Elvis Presley.

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Happy Birthday, Elvis.

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Happy Birthday, Elvis. (3)

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Film Features Film/TV

Fresh Skweezed

On the one hand, short films tend to get short shrift. Aside from a few Pixar animated shorts, they are rarely seen in theaters outside of a film festival setting. But on the other hand, thanks to YouTube, short films have never been more popular — even if most of them are cat videos. Distributors are usually reluctant to take on shorts, which makes it remarkable that one of the best Memphis-made short films of the past few years, Fresh Skweezed, is getting an internet release by Music+Arts on December 16th.

The 22-minute film stars Haley Parker as Maggie, the 11-year-old spelling-challenged proprietor of a trailer park lemonade stand. Writer/director G.B. Shannon created the role specifically for Parker after seeing her act in another short film at the 2010 Nashville Film Festival. “She was fantastic,” he recalls. “She just had a small part, but she stole every scene she was in. She had such great command of the screen, and I think at the time they shot it, she was just 8 years old. So I turned to Ryan Parker and said, I’m going to write something for her.”

Haley Parker stars in Fresh Skweezed.

He came up with the concept for what would become Fresh Skweezed while driving to work at Beale Street Studios one morning. “I thought, ‘A crooked lemonade stand! She’s the flim flam man of the neighborhood.'” He wrote the screenplay over Soul Burgers upstairs at Ernestine & Hazel’s.

“When I first read the script, I cried,” says Parker. He is an amazing writer.”

Parker’s portrayal of Maggie, a tough little firecracker who uses her wits to fight off a bully named Cody (Caleb Johnson), is remarkably poised and expressive. Even with a cast of some of the best screen actors in Memphis, including Lindsey Roberts, Billie Worley, Kim Howard, and Shannon himself, she owns the screen. The audience thinks they know exactly what’s going on in her mind, right up until the script pulls the rug out from under them. “When we started casting the other parts, I got worried,” says Shannon, who co-directed the piece with cinematographer Ryan Parker (who is no relation to Haley). “Did we put too much on this little girl? It’s 20 pages long, and she’s in every scene.”

But Shannon was amazed when she came into auditions with a fully realized character. “I had worked on it quite a bit before the audition process rolled around because I didn’t want to let anyone down,” Parker says. “Maggie was a lot like me. She was easy for me to play, and I really had fun with her.”

The script originally called for a suburban setting, but the crew had trouble finding a suitable place that looked good and would allow filming. Then they stumbled upon a trailer park in Millington that had been evacuated during the floods of 2011. “It was like we had our own sound lot,” Shannon says. “Everything was there.”

Filmmakers love to regale each other with stories of onset disaster, but Shannon says “it was one of those magical shoots where nothing went wrong.”

The film was shot on a few consecutive weekends. “I wished it had lasted longer, because we had a really great time on the set,” Parker says.

Editor Eileen Meyer was brought in for the cut, because, Shannon says, “we wanted a female perspective. She added a couple of elements that we never would have thought of.”

It was during the sound mixing and scoring that Ward Archer’s Music+Arts became involved, supplying music by Amy LaVere, Robby Grant, Rick Steff, and Roy Berry. “Because he has these great artists at his disposal, it’s pretty great how it works out,” Shannon says. “Having that here is pretty amazing.”

The film won both jury and audience awards at its Indie Memphis premiere and went on to play in 18 festivals across the country, winning several more accolades including a Best Actress award for Parker at the Newport Beach Film Festival. After its almost two-year festival run was over, Shannon reconnected with Archer at the premiere of Mike McCarthy’s Cigarette Girl, which was Music+Arts’ first film release, and they worked out a deal to distribute Fresh Skweezed on internet streaming video services such as iTunes, Amazon, and VUDU. Shannon says they are enthusiastic about the possibilities: “If he can keep doing this — having a cinematic sound mixing operation and then releasing as well — it will be fantastic.”

Parker, now 15, has acted in several more films and is currently trying her hand at writing. “I am so proud to be a part of Fresh Skweezed. It’s just been an amazing experience all around — the filming, the production, the film festivals have just been amazing.”

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Very Extremely Dangerous

CREDIT: Rogues Gallery

When Robert Gordon was writing his seminal 1995 book It Came From Memphis, a name kept popping up amid the wide cast of musicians and freaks who populated the city’s music scene. “I knew around here he was a legend,” Gordon says. “A great talent who kind of got on the wrong side of the law, liked it, and stayed there.”

Jerry McGill had done one rocking single on Sun Records in 1959, and had reportedly been a crony of Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings before disappearing in the 1970s. Years later, when Gordon was working on Stranded In Canton, a documentary he edited together out of the raw, chaotic video footage of the Memphis underground shot by William Eggleston around 1973, he found some scenes with someone who was said to be McGill brandishing a gun and playing Russian roulette with art provocateur Randall Lyons.

Rogues Gallery

Jerry McGill (right) with a rouges gallery of Memphis musicians in the 1970s.

Gordon had filed the story of the missing rockabilly outlaw with the rest of his extensive collection of Memphis music history, never really expecting to find out what happened to him. “Then Jerry popped up on the internet,” says Gordon.

Jerry McGill

It was 2010, and McGill, now 70 years old, had just gotten out of prison, and Irish director Paul Duane wanted to meet him. “Paul is a guy who is drawn to characters, like I am,” Gordon says.

Duane got a grant from the Irish Film Board and flew to America to shoot a documentary about the outlaw that would become Very Extremely Dangerous. “They trust him to turn a really out-there idea into a good film. I’m not sure they expected as out-there a film as this one,” Gordon says.

Three days before the cameras rolled, McGill was diagnosed with lung cancer. “He bared his soul. He was staring into the face of death,” Gordon says. “He said, ‘Ask me anything’. So we got these great true crime stories.”

Word spread McGill was back in town, and a recording session sprang up at Sam Phillips Studio with Roland Janes and a host of Memphis all stars, and a gig was scheduled for the Hi-Tone. But Duane and Gordon, tagging along with the cameras, soon discovered they had gotten more than they bargained for. What they thought was going to be a story of redemption turned out to be a film vérité ride-along through the Memphis netherworld with a genuine hard drinking, hard drugging man who always seemed one shot of rotgut away from epic violence. “What none of us could know when we started this project was that we were catching a 70-year-old outlaw on what he thought was going to be his last great tear,” Gordon says. “There were times when we thought Jerry had a death wish, and we were being careful to not go with him when he finally took himself out.”

With Duane flying back and forth from Dublin to Memphis and Gordon acting as producer and often camera man, Gordon says they captured a once-in-a-lifetime story. “It was a really interesting combination of me, the local, and Paul, the outsider. It took his distance to see this. In the beginning, Jerry was charismatic, but there are lots of charismatic people. It took Paul’s vision from afar to see that there was more going on here, and we needed to persevere. This movie is made out of our perseverance. That’s what happens in a documentary. All of the sudden, the movie is not about what you thought it would be about. So you have to enter the editing room and find out what it’s about.”

One day, when the duo picked up McGill to take him for a doctor’s visit, McGill demonstrated for the filmmakers how to prepare and inject prescription opiates while the camera, and the car, rolled. “When he shot up in the back of the car, I couldn’t believe it,” Gordon says. “Every time I would go out with him, it would be a new surprise, until I kind of thought I had seen it all. That just goes to show you how naive I was.”

Very Extremely Dangerous screened at Indie Memphis in 2012 and will soon be released on DVD by Fat Possum Records along with the film’s soundtrack, a retrospective of McGill’s work with some Memphis legends, including Jim Dickinson and Mud Boy & the Neutrons. “Jerry’s album is really great,” Gordon says. “To me, it’s got some of the best Mud Boy and & the Neutrons performances ever. When I heard them, I was shocked that something this good had never made it out of the box. If the only thing that this movie accomplishes is to bring attention to the album, it was all worth it.”

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Of The Moment: Nots “Decadence”

Natalie Hoffman in Nots new music video ‘Decadence’

Memphis director Geoffrey Brent Shrewsbury‘s new music video for the Nots is as chaotic, raw, and beautiful as the band’s music. Combining performance footage, a studio shoot, and some well-chosen manipulated stock, “Decadence” is reminiscent of the golden age of MTV. 

Music Video Of The Moment: Nots ‘Decadence’

In Shrewsberry’s career, he has done everything from short narratives to PBS documentaries, but he got his start making stylish music videos for some of the best Midtown rock bands of the last 20 years. Here’s his director himself starring in his first video, a narrative of the ultimate New York street hassle he made for The Obivians’ “You Better Behave”. 

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A few years later he immortalized Jay Reatard and Alicja Trout’s seminal band Lost Sounds at their peak with the Gothy “Memphis Is Dead”, which saw the filmmaker come into his own as a visual stylist. It’s particularly cool when the video, which has been frantically phantom riding through Downtown, slows to a theatrically languid pace as the music downshifts from punk drive into synth dirge. Shrewsbury is also a musician, and its his deep understanding of and love for Memphis punk that allows him to create such compelling work in a time when music videos are as important as ever.

Music Video Of The Moment: Nots ‘Decadence’ (3)

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Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Inside the Scottish Rite Temple: Circuitous Succession

The Double-Headed Eagle.

“The cause of human progress is our cause, the enfranchisement of human thought our supreme wish, the freedom of human conscience our mission, and the guarantee of equal rights to all peoples everywhere, the end of our contention.” So begins the Scottish Rite creed, a set of ideas evidenced in the Masonic order’s welcoming of ambitious works by nearly 50 local, national, and international artists into their grand temple at 825 Union Avenue, a building frozen in time, and already laden with symbols, murals, and decorative detail.

Curated by Jason Miller, “Circuitous Succession Epilogue” brings together a variety of artists working in mediums ranging from wood and steel to fragile ceramics and plastic Walmart grocery sacks. The artwork can also be heady, exploring a range of topics from economic disparity to corporate dominance to female exclusion. It may also be witty, as is the case with stairwell installations by sculptor Greely Myatt, and a tricky piece by multimedia artist Jay Etkin that has been used by Miller to create a kind of hide-and-seek game with visitors.

Inside the Scottish Rite Temple: Circuitous Succession

A partial video tour with Jason Miller

Sculpture by Roy Tamboli

The Scottish Rite building is three stories with a dining room and a grand theater that was expanded and refurbished when it was used to film performance scenes for the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. It is already outfitted with ornamental work, masonic symbols, and portraits of past members. 

Inside the Scottish Rite Temple: Circuitous Succession (2)

A closer look inside the Scottish Rite theater with Jason Miller

Secrets inside

Miller, who curated his first exhibit in the grand, non-traditional space a year ago, is also a conceptual artist who believes that an artwork is completed by its surroundings. The Scottish Rite gives him a lot to work with. 

The rose cross.

Miller can’t stop talking about the depth of talent in his show and seems especially excited about four pieces created by Shara Rowley Plough. “It’s called Maids Work,” he says of the collection. “She wove maids’ garments out of Walmart shopping bags. They are so detailed; it must have taken her a year.”
Chris Davis

Jason Miller, behind the board. Backstage at the Scottish Rite Temple

Going up?

Door detail

A better look at the board.

Sculpture by Anna Maranise

Anna Maranise’s sculpture, installed in front of an allegorical Scottish Rite mural, provides one of the exhibitions best interactions between art and environment. Miller describes it as being like a “Cronenberg film.”

The old masters. Masons, that is.

Sculpture by Jay Etkin

No smoking signs are everywhere.

Installation by Greely Myatt.

More places to store your hat and coat.

It’s impossible to really capture how the above piece resonates in its space, below a Masonic ceiling mural. You really do have to see it to get it. 

A painting by Beth Edwards

Chair.

At times it’s impossible to tell where the exhibit ends and the Temple begins. Everywhere you turn there’s a William Eggleston photograph just waiting to be taken.

It’s an impressive organ. No other way to put it.

Theater detail.

More backstage stuff.

Costumes abound.

More costumes.

More places to store your hat and coat.

Buckets and a radiator.

Stairs

Art

Fire escape

More chairs

Rope hanging in a window

All that and a place to store your cloak. Members only.

Miller can’t stop talking about the depth of talent in his show and seems especially excited about four pieces created by Shara Rowley Plough not pictured in this post. “It’s called Maids Work,” he says of the collection. “She wove maids’ garments out of Walmart shopping bags. They are so detailed; it must have taken her a year.”

Circuitous Succession is an ambitious instillation in an impressive space that’s majestic in some corners, and bit frayed at the elbows. The art alone is compelling enough. In the temple, it’s downright irresistible. 

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Calling the Bluff Music

Rick Ross Talks Love for Memphis, “Elvis Presley Blvd”

rick-ross-breakfast-club.jpg

Rick Rock seemingly shares a love and respect for Memphis.

The Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling artist has opened multiple Wing Stop restaurants in the city, creating numerous jobs for locals. In August, he was presented a key to Memphis by Mayor A C Wharton for his economic contributions to the community.

In September, the Miami-bred rap sensation delivered his Project Pat-featured song “Elvis Presley Blvd,” paying tribute to the historic strip.

During an interview with The Breakfast Club, Ross talked about his love for Memphis, helping bring more jobs to the city, his respect for Elvis Presley, and more.

Ross begins talking about Memphis at the 15:44 mark of the interview. Check it out below.

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Sing All Kinds We Recommend

Indie Memphis Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup

At a gala party last night at the High Cotton Brewing Company, Indie Memphis announced the lineup for their 17th annual film festival, which will be held October 30 to November 2. More than 40 feature length narrative and documentary films, as well as dozens of short subjects, will screen over the course of the four-day festival.

John Carpenter’s They Live

Four classic films will receive gala anniversary screenings. Director Michael Lehman and writer Daniel Waters will be on hand when Heathers, the 1989 black comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, will celebrate its 25th anniversary at the festival.

Indie Memphis Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup

Friday night of the festival is Halloween, so it is appropriate that the work of one of America’s greatest horror directors, John Carpenter, will be honored with two gala screenings, beginning with his 1988 science fiction classic They Live, starring Rowdy Roddy Piper and Keith David.

Indie Memphis Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup (3)

At midnight, Carpenter’s Halloween will screen. A direct descendant of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Jamie Lee Curtis’ film debut defined the 80’s slasher genre and holds up better than ever today.

Indie Memphis Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup (2)

The festival will also celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of the best documentaries ever made, director Steve James’ Hoop Dreams.

Indie Memphis Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup (4)

Hometown filmmakers are well represented at the festival with three narrative features: Chad Barton’s comedy of filmmaking errors Lights, Camera Bullshit; Anwar Jamison’s workplace comedy 5 Steps To A Conversation; Marlon Wilson and Mechelle Wilson’s Christian drama Just A Measure Of Faith. The sole local documentary is Pharaohs Of Memphis, director Phoebe Driscoll’s history of jookin’.

Indie Memphis Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup (5)

Twelve films will compete for Best Narrative Feature, including the Brooklyn heist comedy Wild Canaries, Onur Tukel’s vampire comedy Summer Of Blood, the time travel drama Movement & Location, and the Texas-based crime drama Two Step.

Indie Memphis Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup (6)

The thirteen films up for Best Documentary Feature include the kenetic sport doc American Cheerleader; The Hip Hop Fellow, tracing producer 9th Wonder’s experience as a teacher at Harvard; Man Shot Dead, an intimate history of a family torn apart by an unsolved murder; and Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back, about Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali’s fight to keep the heavy metal dream alive.

Indie Memphis Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup (7)

Other notable films include Sundance winner Whiplash, a music drama starring Miles Teller as a young jazz drummer and J.K Simmons as his demanding teacher, and The Imitation Game, an early Oscar contender starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the eccentric British codebreaker whose work in World War II led directly to the invention of the modern digital computer.

Indie Memphis Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup (8)

The festival, which will also include numerous panels, special events, and parties, will take place in venues around Overton Square, including Playhouse On The Square, Circuit Playhouse, the Hattiloo Theater, and Malco’s Studio On The Square. The Memphis Flyer will have an in-depth examination of the festival as the cover story for our October 30th issue. Go to indiememphis.com for details on how to buy passes for Memphis’ greatest film weekend.

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Sing All Kinds We Recommend

10 for 10: October Sound Advice

CREDIT: Aviana Monasterio

Aviana Monasterio

Neev

1. Neev with Aviator, Rescuer and Gone Yard

Crosstown Arts, Oct. 5. $5. 7:00 p.m.

For those looking for something heavier than Katy Perry’s Prismatic World Tour, post-hardcore local NEEV will be opening for Aviator and Rescuer as they make their way through Memphis on their “Death-to-False Music” tour. While both touring bands have recently released records on No Sleep Records, NEEV put out their first full-length album Those Things We Tomorrowed on cassette in May through Ireland based ndependent label Little League Records. The post hardcore outfit combines melodic math rock with chaos, and while no song meets the three-minute mark – they are each packed with unpredictable twists and turns that keep you on your toes. This is not a band to ignore.

10 for 10: October Sound Advice

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2. Hea Head and the Heart

d and the Heart with Rayland Baxter

Minglewood Hall, Oct. 6. $30. 8:00 p.m.

On The Head and the Heart’s sophomore release Let’s Be Still, they managed to capture a sense of sincerity that is often lost in the now saturated indie folk genre that has grown popular over the last few years. This is serious, heartfelt songwriting. Perhaps it’s the band’s humble beginnings playing on street corners that separates them from the rest of the crowd. Without a doubt, their live show is less of a concert and more of an experience that will pull your mind away from Memphis for the evening and take you somewhere special.

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3. Berkano CD Release with Ugly Girls and Hair Party


The Hi-Tone, Oct. 7. $7. 9:00 p.m.

Berkano is everything that is right about garage rock. The guitars blend distortion and reverb while the vocals lazily echo their way into the mix. It’s beer-drinkin’-head-bobbin’ rock ‘n roll, and you’d be silly not to come pick up a copy of Santa Sleeping. Ugly Girls are also not to be missed. The three-piece punkers are unapologetic. They sing songs about hating “frat boys” and being gifted cancer from God. You can find more of that on their EP Bad Personalities that they released in February. 

10 for 10: October Sound Advice (2)

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4. Juicy J with Project Pat

Juicy J and Project Pat


Minglewood Hall, Oct 8. 8:00 p.m.

Juicy J has risen far beyond Three 6 Mafia fame, making his way to the soundtrack of the latest reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now, he’s rapping alongside Miley Cyrus and is an active member of Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang. His third studio release Stay Trippy featured the radio favorite “Bandz a Make Her Dance,” and landed at 29 on the Billboard Top 100. J and his older brother Project Pat will be returning
to Memphis with some new, and, fingers crossed, hopefully some of the old iconic sounds that defined Memphis rap from the ‘90s to late 2000’s. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get to hear some classic Three 6 Mafia tracks. 

Footnote: Juggalos gather and spray your Faygo. Da Mafia 6ix, a new project formed in 2013 featuring six original members of Three 6 Mafia, will be joining Insane Clown Posse and Mushroomhead at The New Daisy Oct. 11.

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5. Interpol with Rey Pila

Interpol


Minglewood Hall, Oct. 9. $25 advance / $30 day of show. 8:00 p.m.

Interpol didn’t reinvent the wheel with their nearly brand new release El Pintor, but after four years, it breathes life into their tired, old routine. It’s reminiscent of Turn On The Bright Lights, the album that launched them into the spotlight, and is arguably the best thing the band has released since Antics. With bassist Carlos Dengler having the left the band, the former four piece is now made of three, which is not at all a bad thing. Interpol is playing like a band in their prime again, and the energy of their live show may very well be the best that it has been in quite some time.

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6. Slugz with Gimp Teeth and DJ Wasted Life
 Josh Miller

Gimp Teeth


Murphy’s, Oct. 12. $5. 9:00 p.m.

Richmond, Virginia’s Slugz plays raw, punk music that gives show goers a reason to thrash their bodies against each other. Local punkers Gimp Teeth merge power violence with surf rock to create a sound that belongs in a Harmony Korine film. They recently played Gonerfest 11 and released an EP titled Naked City earlier this year.

10 for 10: October Sound Advice (3)

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7. The Jack Oblivian and Monsieur Jeffrey Evans Revue

Josh Miller

Jack Oblivian

The Hi-Tone, Oct. 18. 9:00.

Jack Oblivian and Monsieur Jeffrey Evans have spent decades creating and cultivating a sound derivative of blues and punk that has forever left a stamp on Memphis music. On Oct. 18, the two will share the stage with a batch of Southern musicians. If you can make it to only one show during October, this is it.

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8. City and Colour with Clear Plastic Masks

City and Colour


Minglewood Hall, Oct. 30. $25 advance / $30 day of show. 7:00 p.m.

Dallas Green’s distinguishable tenor and stripped down, acoustic structure coupled with his sentimental lyrics and catchy melodies have carried City and Colour from a small, independent band with a cult following to a household name, selling out venues all over the country. His latest release, The Hurry And The Harm, sees
Green moving into the mainstream with additional musicians and even poppier sensibilities. More recently, Green released the single “You and Me” with Pink, and the two have formed a duo under the same name with plans to release an album titled Rose Ave. While Green’s place in the indie music world seems to be ever growing, he hasn’t lost sight of the intimate performances that define City and Colour’s live show, and you shouldn’t miss out on it, either.

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9. Dead Soldiers with Clay Otis and James & The Ultrasounds
 Jamie Harmon

Dead Soldiers


The Hi-Tone, Oct. 31. $10. 9:00.

Dead Soldiers are one of the most hardworking bands out there – playing a brand of alternative-country that is similar to no one else in Memphis. The Soldiers are packing out every show they book, and for good reason. For a relatively new band, 2013’s LP All The Things You Lose and follow up EP High Anxiety are impressive, to say the least. On Halloween night, they will play alongside local pop singer Clay Otis as well as James & The Ultrasounds, whose first full-length Bad To Be Here is due out through Madjack Records in December. The Hi-Tone will also hold their annual costume party, where they will choose the best dressed male and female who participate. The winners get free admission to The Hi-Tone for a full calendar year.

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10. Manchester Orchestra with Chris Staples

Manchester Orchestra


The New Daisy Theatre, Oct. 31. $18. 7:00 p.m.

The last time Manchester Orchestra came to Memphis, it was a cold February evening in 2010 at The New Daisy Theatre. The Atlanta-based rock quintet was touring heavily on their sophomore release Mean Everything To Nothing, and they were just on the cusp of the success that would carry them through 2011’s Simple Math. After releasing 2013’s COPE, an 11-track album that capitalized on the huge guitars and roaring vocals of Frontman Andy Hull that have come to define Manchester Orchestra’s sound, the band later released a stripped-down album entitled HOPE featuring alternative versions of all 11 songs accompanied with a string of stripped-down tour dates. When Manchester Orchestra comes back to The Daisy, it may be the first and last time we get to see the band abandon their amps and tone down their songs.

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Sing All Kinds We Recommend

Gonerfest 11: Blood, Sweat, and Beers

The 11th edition of Gonerfest roared into Midtown last weekend, with punk, garage, power pop, noise, and just plain weird bands from all over the world converged on the Bluff City in an annual gathering of the tribes that has gotten bigger and more exciting each year. Festivities kicked off in the Cooper-Young Gazebo with New York’s Paul Collins Beat. 

Gonerfest 11: Blood, Sweat, and Beers

I spent the weekend embedded with the Rocket Science Audio crew, who were live streaming the performances to people from as far away as Australia watching on the web. I’ve done this for several years, formerly with Live From Memphis, and this year we brought the full, multi-camera experience to the audience. It’s a lot of fun, in that I get to be up close and focused on the music, but also quite grueling. 

The Rocket Science Audio van outside Goner Records.

The highlights of Thursday night at the Hi Tone were Ross Johnson, Gail Clifton, Jeff Evans, Steve Selvidge, Alex Greene, and a host of others playing songs from Alex Chilton’s chaotically beautiful 1979 solo album Like Flies On Sherbert. The mixture of old school Memphis punks who had played on the album and the best of the current generation of Memphis music made for an incredible listening experience.

The Grifters’ Dave Shouse on the Rocket Science Audio livestream.

Thursday night’s headliners were 90s Memphis lo-fi masters The Grifters. Recently reunited after more than a decade of inactivity, Dave Shouse, Scott Taylor, Trip Lamkins, and Stan Galimore have their groove back. At the Hi Tone, they even sounded—dare I say it—rehearsed. 

I couldn’t make Friday night due to another commitment, but Friday afternoon at The Buccaneer hosted a great collection of bands, starting off with a blast from Memphis hardcore outfit Gimp Teeth. 

Cole Wheeler fronts Gimp Teeth at the Buccaneer.

Next was one of the highlights of the festival: The return of Red Sneakers. Back at Gonerfest 5, the duo from Nara, Japan showed up unnannounced wanting to play the big show. When Jay Reatard cancelled, they got their chance and blew the roof off of Murphy’s in front of an unsuspecting crowd. This year, they did it again, only they were invited, and they substituted a soulful “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” cover for the smoking “Cold Turkey” they did five years ago. 

Yosei of Red Sneakers about to take the stage.

Afterwards, returning to the Rocket Science Audio van, we found that one of Red Sneakers’ drum sticks had flown over the fence and embedded itself into the earth. No one dared touch it. 

 

Red Sneakers drum stick, fully erect.

Buldgerz

Hardcore Memphis vets Buldgerz played a sweaty and confrontational set of hard and fast punk nuggets, followed by Mississippi’s Wild Emotions. 

The weather cooperated again the next day for a memorable afternoon show at Murphy’s. Two stages, one inside and one outside, alternated throughout the afternoon. 

Roy from Auckland, New Zealand’s Cool Runnings plays the indoor stage at Murphy’s under the old Antenna sign.

Goner Records co-owner Zach Ives sings with Sons Of Vom, as seen from the Rocket Science Audio webcast monitor.

There were many great performances on Saturday afternoon, but the most incredible was Weather Warlock, an experimental heavy noise act centered around a light-controlled synthesizer custom built by New Orleans’ mad genius Quintron. The cacuphony rose and fell as the light changed with the sunset, and Quintron and co-conspirator Gary Wong swirled around it with guitars and theremin, while a plume of smoke rose over the stage. 

Photographer Don Perry, AKA Bully Rook, dressed for Gonerfest.

Gonerfesters stumbled into the Hi Tone Saturday night, a little bleary from three days of rock, but with a lot of amazing music ahead of them. 

DJ Useless Eater keeps the crowd hopping at the Hi Tone.

Obnox

The highlight of the show for me was Nots. Fronted by steely-eyed, ex-Ex-Cult bassist Natalie Hoffman, the four piece arrived with something to prove. And prove it they did, with punishing, athletic songs delivered amid a shower of balloons and waves of reverb. 

The Nots, Charlotte Watson, Natalie Hoffman, Allie Eastburn, and Madison Farmer, backstage at the Hi Tone.

Austin, Texas No Wavers Spray Paint on the monitor Saturday night.

Detroit, Michigan’s Protomartyr on the Hi Tone stage.

English guitarist, songwriter, and ranter The Rebel delivers a solo set to a packed house.

Ken Highland and Rich Coffee of The Gizmos get bunny ears from their drummer after a celebratory closing set at Gonerfest 11.

The crowd, the largest I’ve ever seen at the Hi Tone, never flagged throughout the night, which ended with a reunion of The Gizmos, a seminal American band that developed something like punk in 1977 in the isolation of Bloomington, Indiana. The playing was loose, the mood buoyant, and the band vowed to not stay away for so long. And after a Gonerfest as great as this one, next year can’t come soon enough. 

[Ed Note: The first edition of this story incorrectly identified The Nerves “Hanging On The Telephone” as being written by Blondie.]