One of the things that I’ve resolved to do in 2014 is devote more space on this blog to Memphis, THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WHOLE UNITED STATES. (C’mon, really, pick a fight with me about that claim. You will lose.) As I’ve said many times before, in private but more often in public, there…
Read MoreVince Johnson of the Plantation AllStars So, I promised to update you readers occasionally on the progress of the documentary film that my student Sophie Osella and I are shooting this summer about working Memphis musicians… but, to be honest, I’ve barely had a free moment to do so. As I said in the previous…
Read MoreAlas, it is with great sadness that I report that the long-anticipated but much-dreaded inevitability in my life finally came to pass. Wild Bill’s is officially closed. The doors closed without ceremony or fanfare early last month. Like every other time before, there were a few weeks when I hoped that this was a false…
Read MoreI thought I might interrupt the 31 Day Film Challenge for a moment to update you readers on my own little adventure into film-making. I’ve undertaken a project this summer that I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time: a documentary film about “working” Memphis musicians. For what it’s worth, all the photos in…
Read MoreIt’s funny how the process of “discovering” an artist or band happens sometimes. Nowadays, when almost every venue for purchasing or pirating music auto-recommends artists/bands to you, it’s very easy to get caught in a self-reinforcing loop of your own tastes and, correspondingly, it’s very difficult to just stumble upon something genuinely “new” to you. …
Read MoreI’m going to assume that today’s prompt means for me to pick among living artists/bands, partly because it would be really creepy to have dinner with a dead person, but more so because the idea of choosing a dinner guest from all the living and dead artists ever is far too daunting a project for…
Read MoreToday marks the end of the 30 Day Song Challenge (The Sequel) and, although I’ve complained about the prompts several times this month, I think this prompt for the final day is an especially good one. I also realized over the past week that it’s going to be difficult to drop many of the habits…
Read MoreSince we’re now on the penultimate day of the 30 Day Song Challenge (The Sequel), I wanted to take a moment to say a few things about this whole venture. First, I have to confess that, in my view, The Sequel’s prompts weren’t nearly as satisfying as the original 30 Day Song Challenge’s prompts. (Today’s…
Read MoreI’m playing catch-up right now because my dearest friend, Adriel Trott (featured in the post for Day 15 of this 30 Day Song Challenge), has been visiting me here in Memphis for the last several days. I had every intention of trying to keep up with the Challenge while she and her husband Jeff were…
Read MoreThe thing about a good workout song is that it has to be semi-fast (but not too fast) and it needs to have a pretty steady beat. No matter what sort of exercise you’re doing, it’s always made more difficult when you find yourself slowing down and speeding up in response to the music, so…
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