Bikes and Blues On Historic Ground near Como
On the last weekend of September, Memphis-based blues and southern soul singer Gerod Rayborn asked me if I would play keyboards with his band for …
Memphis TN
R. L. Boyce, Cam Kimbrough, Joyce Jones and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band at the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival
New Orleans’beloved Jazz Fest celebrates the wide diversity of New Orleans music, but the Memphis equivalent, the Beale Street Music Festival generally does not feature …
Opening the Crosstown Concourse
I had driven out to Covington for the inaugural Isaac Hayes Day in Frazier Park, but found it disappointing, as there were no live bands …
A Sneak Peek At The Crosstown Concourse
I never in a million years could have imagined the Sears Building being redeveloped as anything at all. I was only in it once when …
Exquisitely Roasted Coffee on the Edge of Downtown Memphis
Compared to other Southern cities, coffee is seriously under-represented in Memphis, and always has been. I can remember when Java Cabana was literally the only …
An Authentic Blues Experience in the Wilderness of Fayette County
If you travel due north from Holly Springs in Marshall County, Mississippi, you will come to Fayette County, Tennessee, a rather similar county in many …
Railgarten: Another Austinish Kind of Place With Memphis Sensibilities
A few years ago, the Commercial Appeal newspaper compared Memphis to Austin in an article, a rather strange and forced comparison perhaps, despite the fact …
“Memphis’ Worldly Fair”: Deciphering Riddles In A Hill Country Blues Lyric
Anyone that has spent any time listening to the Hill Country blues style of Mississippi has doubtless heard the song “Coal Black Mattie” AKA “Po’ …
The Hill Country Blues Continues: Cameron Kimbrough and Joyce Jones Live at The Dirty Crow Inn
I had seen that Cameron Kimbrough, the grandson of Hill Country blues legend Junior Kimbrough, would be playing at The Dirty Crow Inn on Saturday …
Breeze Cayolle and The Mighty Souls Brass Band at Lafayette’s
Lafayette’s Music Room is a reincarnation of one of Memphis’ best-beloved music venues of the 1970’s, but the latter-day version has something of a New …