July can be a tough stretch for lovers of the performing arts. Many music venues slow down their booking, most theatrical houses go dark, and local dance ensembles focus mainly on their summer camps. But today, in the first sign that life will reemerge after this month’s swelter, the Overton Park Shell and Orion Financial are announcing the artists to be featured in the Orion Free Concert Series, that fair-weather bastion of free music in Memphis that serves up shows in the late spring/early summer and the late summer/early fall, but not in July.
From August 23rd to October 23rd, weekends will light up at the Shell once more, but not only with music. While the Memphis Country Blues Festival and Memphis PowerPop Festival will return, along with usual stellar lineup of individual artists, Shakespeare at the Shell — in partnership with the Tennessee Shakespeare Company — will also be back onstage.
Perhaps the most notable change is the addition of the Gonerfest Grand Finale on September 28th. “We’re taking the music out of the bar and into the park; that’s exciting!” Zac Ives and Eric Friedl, co-owners of Goner Records, enthused in a statement. “The Overton Park Shell is such a landmark of music in Memphis, and it’s an honor to be a part of the fall lineup.”
The collaborative spirit also informs the final night of the free series, produced by Rhodes College, who will bring trumpeter, composer, and author Muneer Nasser to Memphis. He’s written extensively about his father, jazz bassist Jamil Nasser, even as he’s made his name as a player in his own right.
While Rhodes has a long tradition of collaboration with the Shell, the most historically resonant event is surely the Memphis Country Blues Festival, which was launched in 1966 and continued until 1970 in a legendary run that spawned albums and films, including 2023’s perceptive documentary, The Blues Society. It’s been a part of the Orion Financial series for years now and will surely evoke the glory days of the ’60s grassroots spirit that launched the fest when the North Mississippi Allstars and the Sensational Barnes Brothers take the stage this fall.
It’s all a sign of how the free concert series’ sponsors have a finger on the pulse of the city’s arts. Since 2012, Orion Financial has invested in the Overton Park Shell mission, using music as the catalyst to cultivate community. “The Overton Park Shell has always been a gathering place for Memphis — a space where music brings us together,” Ashley McDurmon, Orion Financial CEO, said in a statement. “Orion Financial is proud to support the Free Concert Series, continuing the rich tradition of making live music accessible to all.”
August 23: Stax Music Academy
August 29: Bobby Rush
August 30: Pokey LaFarge
September 5: Kudzu Kings
September 6: Memphis Powerpop Festival feat. The Connells
September 12: Shadowgrass
September 13: Lukah
September 19: DJ A.D. & the Vibe Tribe
September 20: Princeton James Productions Backyard Experience
September 26: Arkansauce
September 27: Daisha McBride
September 28: Gonerfest 22 Finale
October 3: The New Respects
October 4: Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen
October 11: Memphis Country Blues Festival feat. North Mississippi Allstars and the Sensational Barnes Brothers
October 17: Corey Lou & Da Village, with Savannah Brister
October 19: Shakespeare at the Shell
October 23: Rhodes Night feat. Muneer Nasser