Tag: Recording Academy

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Memphis Area Talents Win Big at 2021 Grammy Awards

CREDIT: Catherine Elizabeth Patton

Several of yesterday’s winners at the Grammy Awards had connections to Memphis and the Mid-South, leading many music insiders to scratch their heads and tell themselves there must be “something in the water.” All “music industry” towns notwithstanding, there is no replacement for the local heritage and high standards that continue to cause local creatives of all generations to bubble up to the top.
Kim Welsh

Bobby Rush

Speaking of generations, 87-year-old Bobby Rush continues to show us how it’s done with his second Grammy win in the Best Traditional Blues Album category, for last year’s Rawer than Raw (see our interview with Rush here). “Wow … who’d have ever thought? A few years ago, I won my first Grammy at 83 years old. Now I’m this old and winning another one,” he exclaimed in a video acceptance speech. After thanking friends, media, and Recording Academy members, Rush added that his win “gives me the sense of knowing I’m on the right track. Because I’ve been writing this book for a while now. And now you certify that what I’m writing about is a true thing. I’m the true man, and I thank God for it. So I’ve got this book coming out called I Ain’t Studdin’ Ya. Some great things that I haven’t told about myself, but I’m telling on myself and about myself and others too.”

Another local talent also nabbed a golden phonograph for his mantel, none other than music writer Bob Mehr. Having written Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements, his definitive biography of the Minneapolis band, he went on to write the liner notes for the group’s four-disc retrospective Dead Man’s Pop, released in late 2019, leading to his win for Best Album Notes yesterday. In a heartfelt comment on Instagram, Mehr noted that “this project began as an escape for me after the loss of two of my closest friends, Tommy Keene and Ali Borghei, and it was completed just as I lost my dear Uncle Shirzad Bozorgmehr. Those three guys would’ve been happier than anyone for me. I sure hope they’re proud, wherever they are.”
Catherine Elizabeth Patton

MonoNeon

It was also a big day for Memphis bass players. When rapper Nas won in the Best Rap Album category, for King’s Disease, there was much celebration in the Bluff City for the role bass virtuoso MonoNeon had in the track “All Bad.” Though he once played with Prince, and has many other high profile collaborations under his belt, this marks MonoNeon’s first involvement in a Grammy-winning record.

Meanwhile, another bass ringer, David Parks, aka PARKS (see this rare profile from The Daily Helmsman), was celebrating Ledisi’s win in the Best Traditional R&B Performance category for her ninth studio album, The Wild Card, to which he contributed parts. He briefly posted an Instagram comment recalling being exhausted, disembarking from a plane at 1 a.m., and going straight to the studio to add his contributions at the last possible minute. The moral of the story, for Parks, was to “always help your friends,” no matter how tired you might feel.

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Lawrence Matthews on Recording Academy Invite, Masks, and More

Last week, Memphis multi-genre artist Lawrence Matthews, who performs as Don Lifted, announced he’d been invited to join the Recording Academy, host of the Grammy Awards. So I called to talk with him about the invite, the potential risks of performing in a pandemic, and the importance of knowing when to take time and to listen.

“As a person who would love to get a Grammy one day, to be a part of the process is really exciting,” Matthews says. “I’m hype to learn more about the recording academy and everything that comes with it. I’m oddly obsessed with studying the Grammys, the winners, and all of the correlations between engineers and producers, so to be close to that process has been something that I’ve wanted for a while.”

As for what he’s been up to in quarantine, the prolific artist sounds almost meditative: “I’m taking time.”

“I’ve been working on music. I’ve been recording, doing the social distance thing,” Matthews continues. “I’ve been showing up to people’s houses, running cords into their house or into backyards, recording from a safe distance.”

“As far as performing, I’m not going anywhere until Live Nation starts doing stuff. That’s been the barometer for me,” Matthews says, explaining that he’s watching the mainstream music industry and sports, keeping an eye on sites like Ticketmaster and Live Nation. Contrasted against responses that include cries to “LIBERATE!” states, reopen business, resume school in the fall, and get back to normal — seemingly at all costs — Matthews’ measured assessment is a welcome dose of sobriety in what has become a charged discourse over how to handle living with the coronavirus.

Lawrence Matthews

Matthews’ work has already been affected by the current health crisis. His photography exhibition “To Disappear Away (Places Soon to Be No More),” which was on view at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, closed about the same time the coronavirus showed up in Shelby County. “I’m hoping that by next year we can navigate this a little differently,” Matthews says. “People’s livelihoods depend on group things, especially artists.”


Matthews says he’s given the matter of safe, socially distanced concerts some thought, but when it comes down to it, he’s not ready to try something like that. “For me, I’m thinking about ‘What do I gain from that? What does the viewer gain?’” Matthews says artists have a responsibility to weigh the possible risks against any rewards, be they financial or artistic fulfillment. “It’s potentially life-risking. You’re thinking individualistically. You’re like, ‘What can I get out of this? How much money will I make? It’s their personal choice if they choose to do a thing or not.’ But that’s being irresponsible.

“At this point, I try to lead by example. Stay safe, stay in the house, share stories,” Matthews says. “I’m not going to pretend I’m the most knowledgeable person in the world, but for the people that are, I’m following them and I’m sharing the words they’re trying to put out.”

As for his advice to his fans, other artists, and everyone else? “Stay the fuck in the house, or keep the fucking mask on,” Matthews says, laughing. “One of the two.”

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Local Luminaries Lend Talent To New Push For COVID-19 Relief

Susan Marshall

When the age of quarantine began, we wrote about the many initiatives to raise money for musicians caught over a barrel with the collapse of paying gigs and other work. One such relief effort, the Recording Academy’s MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, raised upwards of $15 million. But the need was so great, those funds have now been completely depleted.

So several members of the organization banded together to spread the word and raise more funds, by way of a tribute to the recently departed John Prine. Prine, a 2020 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, who died April 7 from complications from COVID-19. A group of musicians and elected officials from Recording Academy chapters, including Christine Albert, Helen Bruner, Brandon Bush, John Driskell Hopkins, Tracy Hamlin, Tammy Hurt, Eric Jarvis, Terry Jones, Lee Levin, and Memphians Susan Marshall, and Jeff Powell, came together virtually while in quarantine to record a new version of Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.”

Local Luminaries Lend Talent To New Push For COVID-19 Relief

As Tammy Hurt, vice chair of the Recording Academy board of trustees, and a drummer in the Atlanta chapter, observed in a statement: “John was a much-beloved country and folk singer/songwriter, with a very giving spirit. This project is a tribute to honor that spirit and, in turn, raise awareness for the work that MusiCares is doing to support music creators around the country affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

JD Reager

Jeff Powell

Susan Marshall, a singer well-known in the local scene, contributed the lead vocals and played the Wurlitzer keyboard. Her husband, Jeff Powell, served as the project’s recording engineer.

Meanwhile, a salute to the singer/songwriter, Picture Show: A Tribute Celebrating John Prine, will be held online on June 11th at 7:30 pm. EDT. The performers have not yet been announced, but plans include family and friends sharing memories and Prine songs. The salute will be used to raise money for The National Alliance on Mental Health and Alive, a Middle Tennessee-based hospice and grief center.