Soul. We all know that Memphis is the birthplace of soul music, but this idea is much bigger than that. It’s about generosity and kindness, activism and spirit, creativity and curiosity. In this series, we ask Memphis artists to talk about what soul means to them.
It’s hard not to think about Memphis when I think about the word “soul.” As a musician, I can get wrapped up in thinking about vibes, grooves, tempos, and arrangements. But when I take a step back and try to take a look at the word without letting music get in the way, I think about heart; I think about emotion. What is soul? It’s something deep inside us I guess. Something that all artists, whether we’re making noise or something to look at, think about. I want to touch that. I want to dig deep into what I do and find that thing that connects us all. That constant underground heartbeat that we all feel, hitting us all in the same place. It’s not nostalgia; but it is something ancient, something we all feel simultaneously in one way or another. We’ve all got it, and the best artists can bring it up out of the deep and place it in front of us to admire.
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