It’s Christmas week, and you need to chill. Legendary Memphis songstress Susan Marshall is here to help. “Deck the Halls, Y’all” is the slow-burn comedown track on her 2015 holiday album Decorations of Red. It’s a hill country blues take on the classic yuletide carol.
Director Kim Bledsoe Lloyd made this music video for the song in 2020, which she says features Marshall and drummer Pee Wee Jackson “filmed at Phillips Recording Studio and then stuffed inside a snow globe.” Let’s just take a moment to admire the brilliance of her concept.
Susan Marshall decks the halls, y’all.
Lloyd mixed in some images from a 1949 version of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and 1959’s “Santa Claus vs. The Devil,” as well as home movie footage of Sam and Jerry Phillips’ family Christmas celebration and the Orange Mound Christmas parade. The result is a fizzing sip of holiday good cheer. Deck them halls, y’all!
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Bruce Newman is the host of WEVL’s “Folk Song Fiesta,” where he brings you deep cuts from the long history of folk and Americana music every Wednesday from 8 to 10 a.m. He’s also a singer/songwriter in his own right, one who has previously graced Music Video Monday with his music, which can touch on the emotional and the political.
His latest song, “Strange Question,” was inspired by the looks he got when he returned to Memphis from the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada with his hair dyed. “It is usually tinted with some color before I go out to Black Rock City,” the attorney and accountant said. “I began to realize if my skin was brown or if I was blind or if you did not like a feature of mine, would you judge me or just accept me? Would you ‘love me for me being me?’ So, accepting me for ‘me being me’ is the gist. What does it matter? And, especially now, it is about acceptance of our brothers and sisters. Let the obvious be clearly understood, that my choice to color my hair is not to be compared with separation based on race or disability or any other factor, but rather a small, personal realization of how we are sometimes unfairly and unkindly separated by differences.”
After the song debuted at Folk Alliance, he put together a band of his Memphis friends — Eric Lewis, Reba Russell, Susan Marshall, Paul Taylor, Gerald Stephens, Heather Trussell, Carrington Trueheart, Sam Shoup, and Kevin Houston — to record it at Music+ Arts. Director Laura Jean Hocking made the music video, which stars the most accepting people of all — kids. Take a look.
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Bruce Newman is a lawyer and accountant specializing in small business and entertainment law. He’s also the host of Folksong Fiesta, airing Wednesdays at 8 a.m. on WEVL. A true polymath, when he’s not helping his clients navigate the difficult world of the music business, he’s writing songs of his own. Like most people nowadays, Newman is concerned about the state of the world, and in the best folkie tradition, he lays it all out in his new tune “Doing The Best We Can”. It’s a song of protest and solution which urges us all to listen to our better angels.
To help record the song and film the video, he gathered a crew of Memphis all-stars including vocalists Susan Marshall and Reba Russell, James Alexander of the Bar-Kays, blues guitarists Eric Lewis and Doug MacLeod, horn players Art Edmaistan and Marc Franklin, keyboardist Gerald Stephens, and multi-instrumentalist Paul Taylor. Director Laura Jean Hocking combines footage of the musicians taken at Music + Arts Studio with extensive animation to create a lyric video which really gets Newman’s point across. Take a look, then make sure you’re registered to vote.
Music Video Monday: Bruce Newman
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Indie Memphis 2019 kicks into high gear on Friday with its first full day of films and events. The first screening of the day comes at 10:40 AM with the music documentary The Unicorn, director Tim Geraghty’s portrait of gay psychedelic country musician Peter Grudzien.
Indie Memphis Day 3: Legends, Queens, and Sorcerer
3:30 at Playhouse on the Square is the second annual Black Creators Forum Pitch Rally. Eight filmmakers will present their projects they want to film in Memphis on stage, and a jury will decide which one will receive the $10,000 prize, presented by Epicenter Memphis. The inaugural event was very exciting last year, and with this year’s line up of talent (which you can see over on the Indie Memphis website), it promises to be another great event.
Over at Studio on the Square at 3:40 p.m. is the final work by a giant of filmmaking. Varda by Agnes is a kind of cinematic memoir by the mother of French New Wave, Agnes Varda. It’s a look back at the director’s hugely influential career, made when she was 90 and completed shortly before her death last March. Here’s a clip:
Indie Memphis Day 3: Legends, Queens, and Sorcerer (2)
Part 2 of the unprecedentedly strong Hometowner Narrative Shorts competition field screens at Ballet Memphis at 6:15 p.m. “Shadow in the Room” is an impressionistic short by director Christian Walker. Based on a Memphis Dawls song, and featuring exquisite cinematography by Jared B. Callen, it stars Liz Brasher, Cody Landers, and the increasingly ubiquitous Syderek Watson, who had a standout role on this week’s Bluff City Law.
Waheed AlQawasmi produced “Shadow In The Room” and directed the next short in the bloc, “Swings.” Based on the memoir by ballerina Camilia Del, who also stars in the film, it deftly combines music from Max Richter with Del’s words and movement.
Indie Memphis Day 3: Legends, Queens, and Sorcerer (3)
“A Night Out” is Kevin Brooks and Abby Myers’ short film which took this year’s Memphis Film Prize. It’s a technical tour de force—done entirely in a single, 13-minute tracking shot through Molly Fontaine’s by cinematographer Andrew Trent Fleming. But it also carries an emotional punch, thanks to a bravado performance by Rosalyn R. Ross.
In “Greed” by writer/director A.D. Smith, a severely autistic man, played by G. Reed, works as a human calculator for a drug lord. But while he is dismissed by the gun-toting gangsters around him, he might not be as harmless as he seems.
Indie Memphis Day 3: Legends, Queens, and Sorcerer (4)
Andre Jackson’s tense and chilling “Stop” finds two men, one a cop and the other a mysterious stranger from his past, reunited by a chance encounter on the road.
Indie Memphis Day 3: Legends, Queens, and Sorcerer (5)
Kyle Taubkin’s “Soul Man” earned big applause at the Memphis Film Prize, thanks to a heartfelt performance by Curtis C. Jackson as a washed-up Stax performer trying to come to grips with his past.
Indie Memphis Day 3: Legends, Queens, and Sorcerer (6)
Director Morgan Jon Fox, whose documentary This Is What Love In Action Looks Like is one of the best-loved films ever to screen at Indie Memphis, returns to the festival with his latest short “The One You Never Forget.” A touching story with incredible performances by two teenage actors, this film has had a killer run on the festival circuit that climaxes with this screening.
At Ballet Memphis at 9:00 p.m. is the Hometowner Documentary Short Competition bloc, featuring new work by a number of Memphis documentarians. Matthew Lee’s “9.28.18” is a wonderfully shot, verité portrait of a very eventful day in the Bluff City. Indie Memphis veteran Donald Myers returns with heartfelt memories of his grandfather, Daniel Sokolowski, and his deep connection with his hometown of Chicago in “Sundays With Gramps.” Shot in the burned-out ruins of Elvis Presley’s first house, “Return to Audubon” by director Emily Burkhead and students at the Curb Institute at Rhodes College presents an incredible performance by Susan Marshall of Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel. Shot in the churches of Memphis and rural Mississippi, “Soulfed” by Zaire Love will tempt your appetite with an examination of the intimate connection between religion and cuisine. “That First Breath,” a collaboration between Danielle Hurst, Madeline Quasebarth, and Kamaria Thomas, interviews Mid-South doulas and advocates for a more humane and natural childbirth experience. “How We Fall Short” by Brody Kuhar and Julie White is a six-minute dive into the Tennessee criminal justice system. “Floating Pilgrims” by David Goodman is a portrait of the vanishing culture of people who live on boats in the Wolf River Harbor. “St. Nick” is Lauren Ready’s story of a high school athlete fighting debilitating disease. “Fund Our Transit” by Synthia Hogan turns its focus on activist Justin Davis’ fight for better transportation options in Memphis. And finally, Zaire Love’s second entry, “Ponzel,” is one black woman’s search for meaning in an uncertain world.
The competition feature Jezebel (9:30 p.m., Hattiloo Theatre) by director Numa Perrier focuses on the story of a young black woman in Las Vegas who is forced to take a job as a cam girl when the death of her mother threatens to leave her homeless. The emotional heart of the film is the conflict that arises when the protagonist discovers that she kind of likes being naughty with strangers on the internet, and the dangers that arise when one of her clients gets too close.
Indie Memphis Day 3: Legends, Queens, and Sorcerer (7)
Outdoors in the big tent block party, the premiere musical event of the festival happens at 8:30 p.m. Unapologetic Records will celebrate the release of its new compilation album Stuntarious IV with a show featuring performances by A Weirdo From Memphis, IMAKEMADBEATS, C Major, Kid Maestro, She’Chinah, Aaron James, and Cameron Bethany. Expect surprises and, well, lots of mad beats!
Finally, at midnight, a pair of screenings of classic films—for various definitions of the word “classic”— at Studio on the Square. Queen of the Damned is Michael Rymer’s adaptation of the third novel in Anne Rice’s vampire trilogy. Pop star Aaliyah starred as vampire queen Akasha, and had just finished the film when she died in a plane crash in the Bahamas. The film has become something of a camp classic, and is probably most notable today for inspiring a ton of great Halloween costumes.
Indie Memphis Day 3: Legends, Queens, and Sorcerer (8)
The other screening is Exorcist director William Friedkin’s masterpiece Sorcerer. Starring Roy Scheider as an anti-hero in charge of a ragtag group of desperados trying to move a truckload of nitroglycerin through the Amazon jungle, it’s a gripping ride through human greed.
Indie Memphis Day 3: Legends, Queens, and Sorcerer (9)
Come back tomorrow for another daily update on Indie Memphis 2019.
Memphis music was vibrant as ever in 2018. Every week, the Memphis Flyer brings you the latest and best video collaborations between Bluff City filmmakers and musicians in our Music Video Monday series. To assemble this list, I rewatched all 34 videos that qualified for 2018’s best video and scored them according to song, concept, cinematography, direction and acting, and editing. Then I untangled as many ties as I could and made some arbitrary decisions. Everyone who made the list is #1 in my book!
10. Louise Page “Blue Romance”
Flowers cover everything in this drag-tastic pop gem, directed by Sam Leathers.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (13)
9. Harlan T. Bobo “Nadine” / Fuck “Facehole”
Our first tie of the list comes early. First is Harlan T. Bobo’s sizzling, intense “Nadine” clip, directed by James Sposto.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (11)
I used science to determine that Fuck’s Memphis Flyer name drop is equal to “Nadine”.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (12)
8. Aaron James “Kauri Woods”
The smokey climax of this video by Graham Uhelski is one of the more visually stunning things you’ll see this year.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (10)
7. Daz Rinko “New Whip, Who Dis?”
Whaddup to rapper Daz Rinko who dropped three videos on MVM this year. This was the best one, thanks to an absolute banger of a track.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (9)
6. (tie) McKenna Bray “The Way I Loved You” / Lisa Mac “Change Your Mind”
I couldn’t make up my mind between this balletic video from co-directors Kim Lloyd and Susan Marshall…
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (7)
…and this dark, twisted soundstage fantasy from director Morgan Jon Fox.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (8)
5. Brennan Villines “Better Than We’ve Ever Been”
Andrew Trent Fleming got a great performance out of Brennan Villines in this bloody excellent clip.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (6)
4. (tie) Nick Black “One Night Love” / Summer Avenue “Cut It Close”
Nick Black is many things, but as this video by Gabriel DeCarlo proves, a hooper ain’t one of ’em.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (4)
The kids in Summer Avenue enlisted Laura Jean Hocking for their debut video.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (5)
3. Cedric Burnside “Wash My Hands”
Beale Street Caravan’s I Listen To Memphis series produced a whole flood of great music videos from director Christian Walker and producer Waheed Al Qawasmi. I could have filled out the top ten with these videos alone, but consider this smoking clip of Cedric Burnside laying down the law representative of them all.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (3)
2. Don Lifted “Poplar Pike”
I could have filled out the top five with work from Memphis video auteur Don Lifted, aka Lawrence Matthews, who put three videos on MVM this year. To give everybody else a chance, I picked the transcendent clip for “Poplar Pike” created by Mattews, Kevin Brooks, and Nubia Yasin.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018
1. Lucero “Long Way Back Home”
Sorry, everybody, but you already knew who was going to be number one this year. It’s this mini-movie created by director Jeff Nichols, brother of Lucero frontman Ben Nichols. Starring genuine movie star (and guy who has played Elvis) Michael Shannon, “Long Way Back Home” is the best Memphis music video of 2018 by a country mile.
Music Video Monday: Top 10 Memphis Music Videos of 2018 (2)
Thanks to everyone who submitted videos to Music Video Monday in 2018. If you’d like to see your music video appear on Music Video Monday in 2019, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Mark Edgar Stuart has been a busy man of late, jumping deeper into the music scene than ever. Expect to see a lot more of this young upstart in the near future, as he winds up to promote his new album on Madjack Records, Mad At Love.
The crack band assembled for the project helps the proceedings along, with Al Gamble on keys, Landon Moore on bass, John Argroves on drums, and John Whittemore on steel guitar. Along the way, you’ll also hear special guests Amy Lavere, Liz Brazer, Will Sexton, Jana Misener, Susan Marshall, Paul Taylor, George Sluppick, and Kait Lawson. And a host of musical movers and shakers in the scene have been praising it, hotly anticipating its eventual release into the world.
Mark Edgar Stuart
For us locals, that time has come today. (The national release is October 12). On Sunday, he’ll lead a band through a record release party at the Railgarten, and today marks the release of the album’s first video (see below).
As cool weather settles in, it’s a good record for autumn, a smorgasbord of musical comfort food, due to the naturalness of Stuart’s songwriting. The changes flow like country water, at times like the river of soul music, all led by Stuart’s trademark “What if Willie Nelson sang baritone?” twang.
It’s familiar territory, yet all done with Stuart’s unique stamp. The lyrics reward deeper listening, gliding over Stuart’s impeccable folk picking. John Prine is the obvious reference point (and Stuart’s lyrics rise to the occassion), but at times he steps up with a stinging solo on electric guitar. And his ventures into country soul territory (“Something New”, “I’ll Be Me”) echo classic Charlie Rich. Indeed, with Gamble’s tasteful work on organ and electric piano, there is a deep current of soul through the whole album. Hear it for yourself, in the video released today:
Mark Edgar Stuart Finds a Little Peace with Mad At Love. (2)
But listeners beware: the overarching theme of the album would seem to be the opposite of its title. Far from being “mad at love,” our hero is determined to not give up on it. “Give me one more chance/to prove that I’m not a lush,” he sings in “Stuck in a Rut.” And, given the recurring themes of reconciliation and responsibility, it seems that he got that chance. “Being high ain’t enough,” he sings, and one comes away from this album feeling that he found something better.
Here’s a track from the record, which Stuart says is “Inspired by a friend who’s brother died in the Middle-East, and the attachment we seem to have to the material things loved ones leave behind. This song is about a soldier, his sister and an upright bass.”
Mark Edgar Stuart Finds a Little Peace with Mad At Love.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 19, McKenna Bray releases her debut album Once In A Blue Moon on Madjack Records with a party at Lafayette’s Music Room. The first single “The Way I Loved You” is a heartfelt call to a lover above all others.
The video was produced and directed by Kim Bledsoe Lloyd and Susan Marshall, with production assistance by Sean Faust and Josh Beckemeyer. It features McKenna and dancers Megan McCusker and Shamar Rooks. Check it out:
Music Video Monday: McKenna Bray
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Eric Hughes has been playing on Beale Street for 16 years. But he found his faith in the Bluff City shaken after his guitars were stolen last year. In response, he decided to do what does best—music. He got his friends together and recorded an album. Singers Reba Russell and Susan Marshall, keyboard player Chris Stephenson, saxophonist Art Edmaiston, and trumpeteer Marc Franklin, along with bassist Leo Goff and drummer Brian Aylor, got together to create this tribute to their hometown. The album Meet Me In Memphis was the first project created with the help of the Slim House Front Loan, a program of the Memphis Slim House that provides low-interest loans to fund projects by Memphis musicians.
This Saturday, October 21, Hughes and company will throw a record release party for Meet Me In Memphis at the Warehouse on 36 Patterson Avenue. Here’s the video for the title track, directed by Derrick Curran of Fifth Floor Productions.
Music Video Monday: Eric Hughes
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
Maybe it’s last week’s passing of Wanda Wilson, the singular and much-loved proprietess of the P&H Cafe, a woman who created and curated a beer joint that once made Midtown feel like a village of like-minded souls. It was a harbor, a place of sanity (and insanity), conversation, friendship, and laughter for those of us of a certain age.
Maybe it’s the rain and the long cold spell and the winter hanging on, but there’s an inevitable sadness that comes when you ponder the passing of people and things. Sometimes you just have to let it in.
Or maybe it was my discovery of Rob Jungklas’ “Everything That’s True,” a perfect and gorgeous song celebrating the temporal, inevitable human condition. Memphis singer Susan Marshall posted Jungklas’ song on her Facebook page and dedicated it to all the “beloved Memphians who have recently passed: Jimi Jamison, Jack Holder, John Hampton, John Fry, Sid Selvidge, Jim Dickinson, Di Anne Price, Mabon ‘Teenie’ Hodges, James Govan, and Wanda Wilson.”
Seeing that list in black and white was stunning. So many Memphis music and cultural icons gone in such a short time, so much light no longer reflected.
I found myself wanting to disconnect from the hive-mind of email and chatrooms and Twitter and Facebook for a while. I dug out some old books and hunkered down by the fireplace on Sunday, reading from Be Here Now, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and a battered Alan Watts tome — books that offer words and thoughts that lead one back to the center, to this moment.
Here. Now. All that we have.
And after thinking for a while, it came to me that the hive itself, the incessant connections we make with each other these days, is itself a gift — a way of learning more about the joys and pains of the human condition. The village is larger now; the beer joints are still there, but there are other paths to empathy, to sharing sorrows, celebrations, and memories, to being connected to those we don’t see often enough.
The deepest valley of the human heart knows winter is always on the way, even as spring approaches. It’s as certain as the throw of stars overhead on a February night. There’s a sadness there, but it’s a good sadness. And that too is a gift.
Photo by Fontaine Pearson