Tag: Newby’s

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Music Music Features

Scruffs and Fareveller Return

This weekend, local music fans will have two rare chances to see Memphis power-pop cult figures the Scruffs perform live. The band is scheduled to play on Saturday night at the Poplar Lounge and on Sunday night at the Hi-Tone Café.

The Scruffs is the brainchild of Memphian Stephen Burns, who’s been living and performing in Scotland for the last decade or so, collaborating with members of Belle & Sebastian and Teenage Fanclub, among others. Burns recently moved back to Memphis, which could complicate things for live shows in the future, as half of the band’s current line-up — bassist Bobby Kildea, who did not make this trip, and drummer Mark Rodgers — are based overseas.

(Guitarist Adam Hill and fill-in bassist Chris Gafford are based in Memphis and Nashville, respectively.)

“I’ve lived here, there, and everywhere,” Burns says. “It does not affect recording. It can make the live-show issue a bit more difficult. However, my family has lived here for over 45 years, and I have to demonstrate a tad bit of responsibility. Difficult for a perpetual teenager. On the positive side, I have found a house that I like very much, quite close to Ardent.”

The band’s shows this weekend will be its last before Rodgers returns to the U.K. Sunday night’s Hi-Tone performance has the added distinction of being the CD-release show for the Scruffs’ new album, Kill! Kill!, which might be Burns’ strongest collection of songs since the 1977 classic Wanna Meet the Scruffs?.

“Frankly, I think it is an excellent album,” he says. “As good as anything the Scruffs recorded. Exciting, gentle, beautiful vocal melodies. Great pop rockers.”

The Scruffs perform Saturday, March 24th, 10 p.m., at the Poplar Lounge ($5) and Sunday, March 25th, 9 p.m., at the Hi-Tone ($5).

For more information, visit thescruffs.com.

Also on tap for this weekend is the Fareveller Music Festival, which runs Thursday through Saturday at various venues around town.

Now entering its second year, this year’s Fareveller is a somewhat more focused affair, with last year’s sprawling overload of venues and artists giving way to a tighter schedule and a few bigger names in indie-rock, including Maps and Atlases, Those Darlins, and the Black Belles.

“We have made an effort to focus on the individual shows this year,” says Fareveller founder/organizer and local musician Brandon Herrington. “My talent buyer, Seth Fein, is a wise young man with a lot of experience. With our limited budget, we felt it very important to get the most bang for the buck by making each show stronger in terms of headliners. It will be a lot easier from a logistical standpoint as well.”

Despite scaling back in some ways, including the number of locals on this year’s bill, Herrington sees the festival continuing to grow and take root in the current Memphis-music scene.

“Memphis needs more progressive music things,” he says. “I keep saying this, but we are held back by our heritage so much. It is the coolest thing about Memphis, but it also infiltrates everything. Part of building the shows better this year meant upping our headliner level and reducing the total number of acts for each show and the total number of shows. The unfortunate side effect is less available spots. I hope that as this thing grows, we can increase the local participation. The local scene is still integral to my vision. It’s absolutely where my heart is.”

Fareveller Schedule

Thursday, March 22nd:

Young Avenue Deli

10 p.m.: Ume

11 p.m.: Maps and Atlases

Friday, March 23rd:

Young Avenue Deli

9 p.m.: Canon Blue

10 p.m.: The Rocketboys

11 p.m.: The Black Belles

Midnight: Mobley

Otherlands Coffee Bar

8 p.m.: David Ramirez

9 p.m.: Myla Smith

10 p.m.: Among the Cranes

Newby’s

11 p.m.: Mindelixer

Midnight: Eliot Lipp

Saturday, March 24th:

Young Avenue Deli

10 p.m.: Arma Secreta

11 p.m.: Youniverse

Midnight: Those Darlins

Otherlands Coffee Bar

7:30 p.m.: The Underhill Family Orchestra

8:15 p.m.: Greenside Manners

9 p.m.: Water Liars

10 p.m.: Jessica Lea Mayfield

Newby’s

11 p.m.: Luke “Glitchdoctor” Sexton

Midnight: Strooly

1 a.m.: The Hood Internet

Three-day wristbands are $25 at the door and good for every show of the festival. For individual show prices or more information on the line-up, visit fareveller.com.

Categories
Music Music Features

Get Together

For years, Memphis’ place along touring routes into and out of Austin, Texas, has created a surge in club shows each March, when Austin hosts the South By Southwest Music Festival (see cover story, page 19).

If the density of SXSW-connected local shows has, at times, felt like a mini-festival, that relationship is being formalized this year with the first Fareveller Music Festival, which moved from a prospective fall date to this weekend in large part to take advantage of bands’ SXSW-based touring schedules.

“The fall is so packed, with the Cooper-Young Festival, Gonerfest, River Arts Fest, etc.,” says Fareveller organizer Brandon Herrington, who is booking roughly 40 acts in four venues across three nights. “Spring just made more sense. Picking the weekend after SXSW made it a lot more interesting in terms of artist availability. We had to pick and choose wisely because our budget is limited.”

A member of local rock bands such as Dora and This Is Goodbye, Herrington — who recently finished a stint with the South Main Association as president of the arts district — was looking for a different way to impact the local music scene. A friend he’d met while touring, Seth Fein, runs a similar multivenue festival — the Pygmalion Festival — in Champaign, Illinois, and Herrington talked to Fein about duplicating the Pygmalion fest in Memphis.

“I called him and said I wanted to do that same concept here. He handed me the golden book, so to speak, and is now acting as my talent buyer. His festival is a really cool niche festival, with about 6,000 people attending every year,” Herrington says. “I wanted to stay involved in making Memphis better. I thought that the easiest way to do that was to go deeper into the music scene and find something that isn’t happening and then do it.”

In addition to working with Fein, Herrington has sought advice locally from Louis Meyers, the Folk Alliance director who helped found SXSW.

“Indie music is so weird, and that term doesn’t really mean much these days, but that’s definitely our focus,” Herrington says. “I’ll probably focus the most on indie rock and singer-songwriter stuff, but there will also be electronic and some hip-hop.”  

Among the touring acts hitting town as part of Fareveller is Portland’s psychedelic roots-rock band Morning Teleportation, who got some nice buzz in Austin. They’ll be at Newby’s on Friday. There’s Indianapolis’ chamber-pop band Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s, who are playing the Hi-Tone Café on Thursday. And there’s New Zealand guitar band Surf City, who will be playing the Hi-Tone Saturday.

Though there are lots of out-of-town touring acts at the festival, the lineup is 60 to 70 percent local.

“There has to be a lot of local artists,” Herrington says. “Memphis isn’t that big, but we’re cliquish. I hope this creates more connections in the local scene. I definitely want local bands to take some ownership of this festival.”

Among the local acts are folk-rockers Star & Micey (Young Avenue Deli, Saturday), newish shoegazer/metal band American Gods (Newby’s, Friday), and emerging rapper Cities Aviv (Young Avenue Deli, Thursday).

“I don’t have overly inflated hopes and dreams for it,” Herrington says of his goals for what he hopes will become an annual event. “I just want it to be a part of everything, much in the same way Live From Memphis, Goner Records, and the Hi-Tone are permanent fixtures in this scene. I want to give people something to look forward to every year and, hopefully, bring some amazing talent to this city.

“My personal opinion is that festivals appeal to a new generation of people who are inundated by technology, media, etc. People don’t commit anymore until the last minute, because there are always so many options. Festivals bring all that together. They satisfy that A.D.D. urge to have a lot of choices. They let you preview lots of music. And there’s usually beer involved. In my mind, Fareveller is a no-brainer.”

Thursday, March 24th

Hi-Tone Café: Mobley, Dignan, Young Buffalo, Margot &

the Nuclear So and So’s

Young Avenue Deli: Cities Aviv, Total Savage

Friday, March 25th

Hi-Tone Café: Greenside Manners, While I Breathe I Hope, Pezz, The Subteens, Mouserocket

Newby’s: American Gods, Youniverse, The Oldest Profession, Nicos Gun, Morning Teleportation

Young Avenue Deli: Andrew Bryant, The Wealthy West, Damien Jurado, Chase Pagan

Saturday, March 26th

Hi-Tone Café: Rainy Saturdays, Modern Convenience, Death on Two Wheels, Surf City, Bare Wires, Pujol, Turbo Fruits

Newby’s: Electrocity

P&H Café: Animal Sounds, Holly Cole & the Memphis Dawls, Andrew Kelley Simons, Jeremy Stanfill, The Near Reaches

Young Avenue Deli: Myla Smith, The Sheriffs of Nottingham, Rainy Day Manual, Jamie Randolph and the Darkhorse,

Star & Micey

Individual show tickets range from $10 to $15; three-day festival wristbands are $25. For set times and more info, see fareveller.com.

Categories
Best of Memphis Special Sections

Best of Nightlife

CREDIT: Alex Harrison

Alex Harrison

For a long time, people went to Earnestine & Hazel’s for another kind of box. But now that it’s no longer a brothel, they go there for the jukebox and its selection of classic Motown, blues, jazz, and soul. It goes great with a Soul Burger.

The category “Best Pick-Up Joint” is a fount for interesting
responses. To wit: There were two votes for No Regrets Tattoo
Emporium (second-place winner of “Best Tattoo Parlor” in Goods &
Services). “I always did well at Young Avenue Deli,” one voter
helpfully responded. 201 Poplar got a vote, as did a couple of
places that were too disturbing (and potentially illegal) to include
here. For the voter who entered ”You tell me,” see below.

Justin Fox Burks

Minglewood Hall, 1st place: ‘Best Place To See Live Music’

Best Place to See Live Music

1. Minglewood Hall

2. Hi-Tone Café

3. Mud Island Amphitheatre

Minglewood Hall, located in the old Strings & Things building on
Madison, bounced onto the Memphis music scene with a bang. Boasting a
massive seating area, a fancy raised stage, and plenty of room for
dancing or headbangin’, Minglewood is Midtown’s largest rock venue in
decades. Since opening in February, Minglewood has hosted MGMT, Gwar,
Lucinda Williams, and Of Montreal. Expect plenty more huge acts in the
years to come.

Best Local Band

1. The Dempseys

2. The Sheriffs of Nottingham

3. Lucero

This unique local rockabilly trio is no stranger to fame. Members
Joe Fick, Brad Birkedahl, and Ron Perrone portrayed Johnny Cash’s
back-up band in the 2005 biopic Walk the Line. They even
performed for Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi when he was in
town with President George W. Bush in 2006. So it should come as no
surprise that these local faves placed number one in the Best of
Memphis poll.

Best Local Singer

1. Amy LaVere

2. Harlan T. Bobo

3. Valerie June

Amy LaVere’s trademark Southern twang, accented by the deep rumble
of her upright bass, has made her an unforgettable staple on the
Memphis music scene. She entered the Bluff City in the early ’90s as
part of the Nashville-based Gabe & Amy Show, but she quickly broke
free, establishing her own place in a scene deficient in rootsy
Americana music. These days, she’s all over the place — Craig
Brewer films, the Americana Music Conference, the Austin City Limits
Festival, and tons of local gigs in bars across the city.

Best Karaoke

1. Windjammer Restaurant & Lounge

2. Yosemite Sam’s

3. P&H Café

Despite the tragic shooting of DJ Donald Munsey last year, karaoke
lovers still tout this bar as the best place in Memphis to sing along
to their favorite tunes.

Best Hole in the Wall

1. Earnestine & Hazel’s

2. P&H Café

3. Alex’s

Downstairs, this ages-old bar offers pool, a generous dance floor,
and a jukebox loaded with the classics. Upstairs, curious customers can
explore the rooms that once played host to ladies of the night during
the building’s brothel days. Thankfully, the whole place is very dimly
lit. The sheer age of the building, doubled with years of serving
greasy burgers, gives the place a dingy vibe. Of course, isn’t that
what makes dive bars so special?

Best College Hangout

1. Newby’s

2. RP Tracks

3. Blue Monkey

Newby’s bills itself as the “college bar you never graduate from.”
Truer words have never been spoken. This roomy Highland Strip hangout
attracts an even mix of University of Memphis students, college grads,
and likely a few college dropouts. The crowds gather to hear live
music, play pool, watch the game, or down Newby’s energy cocktail: the
Rock Star.

Justin Fox Burks

Tara White, 1st place: ‘Best Bartender’

Best Bartender

1. Tara White at Celtic Crossing

2. Brian “Skinny” McCabe at Newby’s

3. Brad Pitts at Bari — tie —

Michael Luckey at Ciao Bello

Every Monday night at Celtic Crossing, beer lovers descend on the
tiny Midtown pub for $2.50 drafts. Despite the shoulder-to-shoulder
crowds, bartender Tara White manages all the drink orders on her own.
With 15 years experience in bartending, White knows what she’s doing.
Co-workers describe her as a “high-volume bartender” with a loyal
following.

Best After-Hours Club

1. Earnestine & Hazel’s

2. Blue Monkey

3. Alex’s

After a night of sipping wine and gazing at local art on the South
Main trolley tour each month, patrons cram into this downtown dive for
a cold beer and a Soul Burger. Though it’s not open any later than many
downtown bars, Earnestine & Hazel’s makes for the perfect gathering
place after a Beale Street blues show.

Best Pick-up Joint

1. Peabody Rooftop

2. Flying Saucer

3. Blue Monkey

Patrons dressed to impress, a steady flow of cocktails, and live
music to dance to set the stage for seduction at the Peabody’s rooftop
parties.

Best “Cougar” Bar

1. Spindini

2. T.J. Mulligan’s

3. Blue Monkey

Mature ladies on the prowl know they can find hot young hunks at
this South Main restaurant. Spindini boasts upscale dining and
signature cocktails. It’s the kind of place you don’t frequent unless
you’ve got some cash to plop down, making it even more conducive to
attracting young professional men. Ladies, don your best animal print
cami, order a glass of Caldora Pecorino, and reel ’em in. Roar!

Best Beer Selection

BOM 1. Flying Saucer

2. Boscos Squared

3. Young Avenue Deli

Um, duh. Of course the Flying Saucer was voted “Best Beer
Selection.” With more than 200 beers on tap, both the downtown and
Cordova locations have a huge leg over the competition. Need a pale
ale? Check. How about a lager? Got it. Sample trays of beers from
around the world? No problem. Beer and cheese pairings? Got it.

Justin Fox Burks

Peabody Lobby Bar, 1st place: ‘Best Place To Get a Martini’

Best Place To Get a Martini

1. Peabody Lobby Bar

2. Side Street Bar & Grill

3. Beauty Shop

Not only does this historic Memphis hotel serve a tasty dirty
martini, it offers some of the best downtown people-watching. Order a
‘tini and plop down in a comfy chair in the hotel lobby. You won’t even
need a friend to chat with or a newspaper to scan. Just watch the
tourists and rooftop partygoers as they amble about the hotel.
Fascinating!

Best Place To Get a Margarita

1. Molly’s La Casita

2. Happy Mexican

3. Café Ole

Molly’s La Casita is a Midtown institution when it comes to Mexican
food, so it’s only fitting their margaritas would find a place, as
well.

Best Happy Hour

1. Chili’s Grill & Bar

2. Flying Saucer

3. Boscos Squared

Okay, yes, Chili’s is a chain restaurant. But if that’s a problem,
you just need to get over it, because their happy hour is two-for-one
and it lasts all day. And you don’t even have to ask. Finish one drink,
and before you even nod at the bartender, there’s another.

Best Dance Club

1. Hollywood Disco

2. Club 152 Beale

3. Backstreet

Is it the light-up dance floor? The lone pole in the corner? The
smoke machines? All of it. It’s the Hollywood Disco

Best Place To Shoot Pool

1. Fox & Hound English Tavern

2. Young Avenue Deli

3. RP Billiards

Want a casual place to make a nice, clean break? According to
Flyer readers, the Fox & Hound English Tavern is the place
to go for eight-ball, nine-ball, and all sorts of billiards. Fox &
Hound has good grub, multiple pay-by-the-hour tables, and a full bar.
What more do you need? Just remember to call your pocket.

Best Sports Bar

1. Fox & Hound English Tavern

2. Buffalo Wild Wings

3. T.J. Mullligan’s

Maybe it’s because our readers consider pool a sport, or maybe it’s
because of all the televisions. Either way, the Fox & Hound is also
the “Best Sports Bar.”

Best Gay Bar

1. Backstreet

2. The Pumping Station

3. Metro

Backstreet has been our readers’ fave for years, but don’t try to go
right now. The Midtown bar was closed at the beginning of September
after a police operation uncovered gambling and the unlawful sale of
alcohol. At press time, the court date for Backstreet owner Shane Trice
had been re-scheduled, but he’s vowed that the club will reopen.

Best New Bar

1. Bardog Tavern

2. Silly Goose

3. Dru’s Place — tie —

Paula and Raiford’s Disco

Sometimes you just want to sit and stay. Bardog is a perfect place
to do just that. A new favorite downtown, Bardog is a two-story bar
with a neighborhood feel, an Italian-influenced menu, and a cute
logo.

Categories
News The Fly-By

No Cover

Newby’s owner Todd Adams asks bands performing in his Highland Strip bar to stay away from cover songs such as”Mustang Sally” or “Respect” and perform original music instead.

That’s because Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) is suing Adams over copyright infringement after several bands played cover songs in the venue in 2006. BMI issues licenses to radio and television stations, bars, restaurants, and other businesses across the nation for the rights to play 6.5 million songs in its catalog, but Newby’s is not licensed with the group.

The federal lawsuit began in May 2007, but a judge ordered mediation between the two parties last week.

“We have a long history with Mr. Adams and Newby’s,” says Jerry Bailey, a spokesman for BMI. “He was licensed from May 1999 to April 2000 and paid in full. Then the following year, he quit paying his license fees. There was a breach of contract.”

Adams says Newby’s occupancy is 132 according to the fire code, but BMI says the bar and adjoining theater can safely hold 600 people.

In 2000, Adams says he stopped paying fees after BMI charged Newby’s according to the higher capacity figure.

“They came in at first and walked every square inch of Newby’s, and then I wrote a check for the whole year,” Adams says. “About five months later, I got a bill in the mail from a collection attorney demanding thousands of dollars more than what they’d originally agreed on.”

Bailey says Adams has been unable to show documentation from the fire marshal to prove his fire-code occupancy, and when documentation is not available, BMI determines occupancy based on square footage.

The higher the occupancy number, the higher the licensing fee. Money paid to the nonprofit BMI benefits its network of songwriters.

After the original occupancy dispute, a New York judge handed BMI an arbitration award for $11,594. Adams took the issue to local Memphis courts, and the award was set aside. That’s when BMI stepped in with the federal lawsuit.

In order to prove Newby’s was in violation, BMI sent an undercover researcher into Newby’s on several occasions. Armed with a recorder, the researcher documented 21 performances of licensed songs in June and December 2006. In the lawsuit, each violation costs $3,000. The music group is seeking $63,000, as well as $15,000 in legal fees.

Adams says some of those cover songs were played by Memphis artists who typically play original music but may throw in one or two cover songs during their set.

“About 99 percent of the bands who play Newby’s are playing original music,” Adams says. “That’s what Newby’s has been known for all these years.”

Both Adams and Bailey say they hope the mediation will settle the issue once and for all. “We’ve never said that we don’t want to be compliant [with BMI],” Adams says. “We just dispute the fact that they can tell you, me, or anybody that our fire-code occupancy is not what it is.”