Seraphim, a new multi-media gallery, will open Friday, July 15th, at 437 North Cleveland in the Crosstown area. And the first featured artist is about as Crosstown as you can get — Hi Tone Cafe owner Brian “Skinny” McCabe.
The gallery owner is Walt Phelan, who is becoming something of a Renaissance Man when it comes to the visual and performing arts. Phelan, 27, a guitarist in the Walt Phelan band, is a veteran of several Memphis bands, including Super Low. He also owns a recording studio, Purple Church Recording, which is located above the art gallery.
A print shop was in the space where the gallery is now located, but it was expanding and had to move to a warehouse, Phelan says. “I always wanted to open a multi-media gallery and that space was big enough to do it.”
He opened Purple Church Recording in March, 2021. “Originally, it was just going to be for me,” Phelan says. “Then we started accumulating a lot of equipment.”
He then realized he could make more money from the studio by letting other people record their music there. “I’m having engineers come in. They rent out the studio and they can record their own artists. So, it’s kind of like a community-type thing. Anybody can rent it.”
He describes Seraphim as “a dynamic exhibition space intended for local artists to rent for a period of time.” That includes people who want to show a film, or hold a listening party for an album, or talk about a book they wrote. “I’ve got some guys that are holding a motorcycle show in there,” Phelan says. “It’s like a vintage bike show, where the guys have rebuilt the things. They’ll roll them in, set them side by side, sell them, or auction them off.”
Phelan also is considering “vendor pop-ups” that would include food and vintage clothing. And he might add music to the mix. “Not a full-on band. I’m thinking individual artists do singer-songwriter with just an acoustic guitar or keyboard.”
His main goal with Seraphim was “to build a space that serves and brings people together in Memphis.” He wants to cater to less established artists. “I really want it to be a community thing. People can walk in and feel comfortable even if they’ve never had a show before. I want them to be able to come in and do their thing.”
Phelan, who performs around town, got into guitar in a roundabout way. He and a friend played the video game, Guitar Hero, when they were in the sixth grade at St. Dominic School. “We got pretty good at it.” They then decided to learn to play actual guitars. “That’s what shot it off, man.”
Phelan joined his first band, China Gate, which later became Super Low, when he was a junior at Christian Brothers High School. “It was kind of power-pop indy rock. We toured the country with those bands. But the pandemic hit and it just kind of fizzled out.”
Now, Phelan’s band current band, Walt Phelan, is “a singer-songwriter kind of thing with a band behind it.” The group released World’s Away, an album of originals, in February, 2021. He describes their music as “synth-driven singer-songwriter indy music.”
When he announced he was opening a gallery. “It was just, ‘Oh, what is this guy doing? He’s never done anything with art before.’ But artists need an outlet. It really fell in my lap and I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve got to do this.’”,
Seraphim and Purple Church have nothing to do with religion. Quite the contrary. “Platinum Plus was a strip club in Southeast Memphis, says Phelan, “so, when anybody who knows what that is hears ‘Purple Church,’ it’s a nostalgia thing.”
Asked how he happened to choose McCabe, Phelan says McCabe’s wife, Katey, is an owner of the print shop that was downstairs. “He said, ‘Oh, man. I’ve been working on pieces during the pandemic I want to show off.’ Every time he posts, people think it’s a joke. But it’s the real thing. It’s a slew of things. Some graphic art pieces that he made on his computer. Some tapestries he painted on.”
“I’ve always been the creative type,” McCabe says. “Basically, in high school I was in Honors Art 1, 2, and 3. As things go, my conduct kept me out of Art 4. But that’s another story.”
“I’d always doodle on stuff. I’m not taking myself seriously about this at all.” The “funny stuff,” he says, was “kind of fecal drawing. Doo-doo on stuff. And being silly. Cheeseburgers. Things that motivate me.”
He kept his creativity up while running The Hi Tone Cafe. “You have to make posters for upcoming bands and attention-grabbing stuff. So, I’ve always had this creative side. And doing the booking for 300 plus shows a year for 18 years — or however long I’ve been doing it — there’s always something to create.”
McCabe says had a “ton of down time” during the pandemic. He’d just moved The Hi Tone Cafe to a new location at 282-284 North Cleveland Street, and wasn’t getting crowds because of COVID. “My wife suggested I get back into art.”
He began making some “geometric color pop stuff” on the computer. Then he ran across a black and white painting of singer-songwriter John Mayer at a thrift shop. “And I was like, ‘It would be hilarious to make him shitting his pants.’ I don’t know why it struck me that day. So, I just started buying paintings at thrift stores and stuff and painting poop on it.”
That’s why he titled his Seraphim show, “di-ART-rrhea.”
McCabe’s show will open with a wine and cheese reception from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, July 15th. “And then Josh McLane is going to have some sandwiches,” Phelan says.
Seraphim and Purple Church Recording are night-time projects for Phelan, who also is a guitar technician at American Musical Supply in Olive Branch, Mississippi, working on guitars Monday through Friday.
A recording studio, a mixed media gallery, singing and songwriting, and working on guitars — what’s next for Phelan? “This is kind of it for me right now. The plan is in 20 years to be sitting in a mountain home in East Tennessee. But for now, this is what I’m doing.”
For bookings and enquiries, go to natalie@purplechurchrecording.com