A Message From Memphis's Musicians: "We Want YOU!"

The Incredible Hook performs at an Accendo Media
 event, photo shot by Dustin Taylor of Sideways Media 

There are many things Memphians keep in their arsenal of things to do. There are always the safe bets like The Memphis Zoo, The Brooks Museum, or The Levitt Shell, and bars that cater to any number of specialty drinkers (Absinthe Room, what?!?), and then everyone’s default when all else fails -- let's go to a show! It makes sense for that to be our default, because look at our scene here: from reggae to metal with niche genres all along the way! However, at some point we have got to notice that the bands that we enjoy listening to end up relocating, quitting, transforming into cover bands or even worse: they stay the same. SO below is a list of what YOU can do to improve our local music community!

1. LOOK AROUND - It's easy to listen to the same couple of bands all the time because you always go to the same bar, club or venue, and you're right. Our musicians DO run in circles that they are sometimes hesitant to step away from. This gives the feeling that our community is lacking in talent and creativity. Try going to new places, as there are tons of venues around town that not only have varied music, but keep it coming through. Otherlands, Minglewood and Memphis Rehearsal Complex are three prime examples of locations that put a significant amount of effort into recruiting talent, and not just friends as we have seen other venues do.

2. BUY DRINKS!!!! - This is one of those things that may seem like it shouldn't have any impact on the bands. However, most venues make most of their money off the bar. So, the more drinks that are purchased during a bands performance the more likely they are to not only get paid more, but will be able to get better and better venues. In addition to this, it will allow your favorite clubs, bars, and venues to maintain the environment that you want to visit. This sounds simple, but there is a reason that so many places have drink minimums.

4. DON'T BE AFRAID TO PAY FOR QUALITY MUSIC – This is a big one; we as a city seem to all scream WTF?! when we see a ticket price over five bucks. I’ll just say this as plain and simple as I can: imagine you get a job that requires you to dedicate most of your life to learn how to operate at a functional level – not including all the additional time you spend to become the best at what you do – and you and your cohorts, let’s say you have a team of five and you have to split $150 between you. Then, your employer tries to pay you more so you can survive and all the customers immediately scream at the sky in disgust and frustration and go home…or down the street to listen to other bands willing to play for “exposure”. Tip your musicians, buy their merchandise. If we want the talent to stay in Memphis, we have to support the talent while they are in Memphis. In short, it is okay to buy a steak instead of a hot dog.

4. PROMOTIONS – Holy crap is this a big one. Even in the best of times, when bands and venues promote a show until you wish that someone would open the chest from Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark and take your eyes and melt your face off…they still have a limited reach and can’t reach everyone. Local acts don’t have that kind of reach, so if you see them share a link…share it on your social media outlets. It doesn't take long and it means a lot to everyone involved. Take your friends out with you, slap their stickers on stuff, just generally support them. Things like that, which will take you less than thirty seconds, can be the difference between a band making good money one night, or living on a Ramen diet for another week.

5. HAVE FUN! -- Don't be afraid to get out there, dance, and just generally make a fool out of yourself! That’s what this time is for… don't hide in the corner guarding your over-priced drinks like they are the queens jewels. Get up and shake your ass, throw your arms around. Smile, throw your bras on stage [Or, if it is your Effin' Memphis editor playing -- MORE ON THAT SOON -- your jockstraps. Or whatever. -- Ed.]  Let. It. All. Go. Entertainment shouldn't always just make you think deep thoughts, change your perspective or make you cry…sometimes just making you forget about certain parts of your life for a few minutes is the point.

To sum up: Have fun! If you like somebody, help promote them! If you go see them, don't be scared of paying so that the act you like can survive on a living wage! Buy a drink! And jump out of your comfort zone once in a while. You won't regret it.

Will Scheff is the director of Accendo Media, a local nonprofit which seeks to support Memphis artists both at home and abroad. Check them out here!

Your Weekend In Music Includes Star & Micey

Seriously, folks. It's time to stop taking hometown heroes Star & Micey for granted (NOT THAT YOU WERE) but your Effin' Memphis reads all the big music blogs and websites and reads the tea leaves, and Star & Micey is getting really big, like, on a national level. This is a good time for you to go cheer them on and soak up their success with them.

Besides, the music they're making right now really kicks ass.

TONIGHT. 8 PM. 1884 LOUNGE @ MINGLEWOOD HALL.

Go!

If you haven't heard what they're doing lately, well, listen:




Seriously. Are you KIDDING me? Fucking fantastic.

The Weekend In Music is Full Of Banjos (3/7 - 3/10)

Hello, Memphis music lovers. If you'd like to get out and patronize "the scene," well, this is a good weekend for it.

Start tonight at The Blind Bear for MOTEL MIRRORS. "I don't know Motel Mirrors," you say. Well, you know Amy LaVere and John Paul Keith, probably, and it's a collaboration between Amy, John Paul and Shawn Zorn. 10 PM.

Then tomorrow night at the Poplar Lounge, it's GLOSSARY. Opener is KAIT LAWSON. If you don't know Glossary, they're from Murfreesboro, they share a member with Lucero and they're awesome. Check it out:


Next up, and this is the one I'm most stoked about, is Saturday night at the Young Avenue Deli with THE BLACK LILLIES. They're from Knoxville, and they're making some of the best indie Americana/country I've heard in quite a while. Seriously, if you like REALLY good country/bluegrass/Americana, you need to park your ass at the Deli on Saturday night and just stay there.



And if you're not done with the whole country/Americana/bluegrass thing on Saturday night, go do it again on Sunday night at Newby's with SPIRIT FAMILY REUNION. Here they are doing one of NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts, which, if you're not familiar, are about the coolest thing ever. If between Saturday and Sunday nights you're not stomping feet, well, you have no soul.



And as always, if you want to check out all the coolest stuff you've never heard that's coming to Memphis in the next month, subscribe to the Spotify playlist up there on the right. It's constantly updating with all the Effin' Memphis picks for the best live shows in a 100 mile radius of Memphis over the next month or so.

ENJOY! There some Real Music going on this weekend and you'd be silly to miss it.

Live Music In March Is Kinda Awesome

My dog would like you to go see some live music this month.

Want to go see Mary J. Blige in Southaven on Sunday night? Sorry, you can't. It's sold out. Also, would you like to see Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter at GPAC tonight? You are again out of luck. You should be quicker on the uptake! But, of course, if you're good at That Sort Of Thing, you might be able to find your way in.

That said, you should check out the Effin' Memphis picks for the best live music in Memphis for the month of March. There is, of course Leonard Cohen (!!!!!), and also Elton John, which might make some of you (!!!!!). Personally, we are stoked about the alternative country/Americana/whatever of The Black Lillies (Saturday, March 9 at Young Avenue Deli). Other names making an appearance this month include Pinback, Spirit Family Reunion, Minus The Bear, Quiet Company and Memphis's own Star & Micey.

Are some of these names unfamiliar to you? Would you be more likely to patronize the music scene in Memphis if you had an easy way to check out some of these artists with only a minimal effort on your part? Well, we have a solution for that! Here is your "Live In Memphis" Spotify playlist, which includes a few songs from each artist playing within a one-hundred mile radius of Memphis that we think is worth your time. It's super-easy! You click on the playlist and let it play while you're doing whatever it is you're doing. I mean, it's the end of the day on Friday. You can probably get away with throwing on some headphones.

You should also subscribe to the playlist, because it's constantly updating, about a month out. Indeed, I'm not done updating it for March, so if you listen today, and then you listen again tomorrow or Monday, you will have a completely different experience! It's embedded below, but as always, it's also over there on the right side of the page.

Go see shows! Buy your tickets in advance!

WHOA HEY HERE'S THE MUSIC FEST LINE-UP

Good afternoon, weirdos, here is your Beale Street Music Festival line-up. I will have a Spotify playlist of the best stuff that is coming, in my esteemed opinion, later on today or tomorrow or maybe next week, stop pressuring me. [click to embiggen, as usual.]

Or, in handy list form:

The Black Keys - Alice in Chains - Bassnectar - Daryl Hall & John Oates - Flaming Lips - Phoenix - The Smashing Pumpkins - ZZ Top - The Black Crowes - The Roots - Sheryl Crow - Gary Clark Jr. - Dwight Yoakam - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Public Enemy - Three Days Grace - Gavin Degraw - The Wallflowers - Big Boi - Deftones - Jerry Lee Lewis - Patti Smith - Porter Robinson - Mavis Staples - AWOLNATION - Papa Roach - MiM0SA - Gov’t Mule - The Joy Formidable - Lucero - Cracker - Yngwie Malmsteen - Charles Bradley - Al Kapone - Deer Tick - Vintage Trouble - Jake Bugg - Coco Montoya - Louise Hoffsten - Davy Knowles - Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers - Shannon McNally - Pickwick - Zac Harmon - The Slide Brothers - Star and Micey - Ronnie Baker Brooks - River City Tanlines - Heritage Blues Orchestra - James SuperChikan Johnson - Jimbo Mathus & The Tri-State Coalition - Royal Southern Brotherhood - Will Tucker - Don Trip - Heartless Bastards - Kenny Brown - Brandon Bailey - Marcus James & Kinney Kimbrough - Matt Isbell - Barbara Blue - Kingston Springs - Brad Webb - Blind Mississippi Morris - Fuzzy Jeffries & the Kings of Memphis

So, what do you all think?! I can tell you right now that Effin' Memphis will do everything possible to attend all the musical performances in bold, with a heavy emphasis on the Deer Tick and the Patti Smith parts. As I said, stay tuned for later, when I'll have a handy Spotify playlist of the best of this year's line-up, and also look for another post about the amazing next few weeks of live music in Memphis.

BONNAROO!

I suppose this doesn't fall into the category of "live music in Memphis," but I don't care, because Björk is coming to Bonnaroo. Now, your Effin' Memphis is aware that he is Old Now and probably doesn't want to deal with the crowds and oh god, the smelly people, and the "ugh," and the whatnot, and the constant complaining he would end up doing if he actually decided to go to Bonnaroo, but Björk is coming to Bonnaroo.

The festival is in Manchester, Tennessee and runs from June 13-16. Here is the full line-up [click to embiggen]:

We are also excited about Wilco, Pretty Lights, The National, The Lumineers, David Byrne & St. Vincent, beach House, Cat Power, Jim James, Gaslight Anthem, Sam Bush & Del McCoury, Foals, Dirty Projectors, Matt & Kim and SO MANY MORE. If you've skipped Bonnaroo the past few years, this line-up is worth giving all of the "ugh" another shot.

Jazz Or Burlesque? Burlesque Or Jazz? A Couple Ideas For Your Weekend Nights!

There are a couple larger pieces coming, as well as a few more recommendations for things this weekend, but I wanted to let you all know about a couple of really cool things happening this weekend.

1. Have you ever been to a Burlesque show? We, somehow have never been! That is about to change, though, because Memphis has a thriving Burlesque scene, and the lovely women of Sock It To Me Burlesque have a special show planned this Saturday night at Newby's. Here's their description:

Cupid is at it again, and love is in the air. Lady Doo Moi, Kissame Suga, Madonna Putana and Chloe du Bois return to the stage to bring you an evening of dance, romance and missing pants! Enjoy the songs, shakes and shimmies of the ladies of Sock It To Me Burlesque, as well as special guests, stunning newcomer Kitty Wompas, and the operatic stylings of Mr. Tony Lamoreaux of TN Vaudeville Review. Prepare for an evening of fun filled acts, classic burlesque and music to delight. SITM Burlesque presents......Cupid's Revenge! We will also start the evening off right with the music of the incomparable Memphis local, Michaela Caitlin!

Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased here ahead of time. Purchasing tickets ahead of time is a good thing, by the way. 9:00 PM.

2. If jazz and great music in general are more your thing, you should be at the Mollie Fontaine Lounge on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. While the great Ms. Di Anne Price is taking some time off, a few local musicians are doing their best to keep the fires burning until she gets back, and it starts on Thursdays with the amazing chanteuse Jen Hall, a new arrival on the Memphis music scene. Accompanied by Adam Levin on the piano, she'll sing the standards you love and maybe some you don't know yet! 9:00 PM.

Then on Friday and Saturday nights it's time for Lee Taylor, who has become a staple on the Memphis music scene in a short time, with her unique brand of jazz, blues, R&B and whatever else strikes her fancy that night. She likes to sing "Nature Boy," and if you come on Saturday night, you'll get to hear her trademark version, a combination effort between Ms. Taylor and one of her musical collaborators and pianists, who also happens to be your very own Effin' Memphis editor. In fact, on Saturday night, we'll be focusing the show on our own work. You see, Lee is a singer/songwriter, and Evan the Piano Person is also a singer/songwriter. (We are shamelessly self-promoting right now, shamelessly, shamelessly, shamelessly.) So, if you've been wanting to hear a few of the songs on Evan's forthcoming record... Lee: 8:30 on Friday. Lee & Evan: 8:30 on Saturday.

Okay, we are done self-promoting now. Any and all of those three events will be sure to get you in the proper mood for Valentine's Day, the proper mood being that it's an insipid holiday regardless of whether or not you're coupled, but you should at least have some fun with it if it insists on existing. The ladies of Sock It To Me, Jen Hall, Lee Taylor and I look forward to seeing all of you!