Music

Bridging the Gap: 5 Contemporary Women Artists for Fans of Memphis Music Legends

While the music industry has often been criticized as a boy’s club (and for good reason), women in Memphis have been at the forefront of various genres since the very beginning. In the 1930s, Memphis Minnie earned a reputation as one of the country’s most formidable guitar players, prompting blues legend Big Bill Broonzy to say that she could “pick a guitar and sing as good as any man I’ve ever heard.” In the 1950s, Cordell Jackson became the first woman to produce, arrange, engineer, and promote music on her own rock and roll label.

Memphis

The Women of Memphis Music Playlist

There’s no way our Women of Memphis Music playlist is definitive – even though it is literally four of songs written by and featuring Memphis women music-makers. Inevitably there are so many more that we missed, but that just helps to prove the immense impact Memphis women have had on our music scene – since the beginning!  We’d love […]

Music

Five Questions with J.D. Reager of Back to the Light Records

As you look over this weekend’s live music events, one thing becomes clear: Back to the Light Records is seemingly everywhere. The indie label, which was founded last year by native Memphian J.D. Reager, is hosting two notable events within 48 hours. Although he now resides in Chicago, Reager has maintained a deep connection to […]

Music

5 Questions with Marcella Simien

Marcella Simien is a Memphis-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist hailing from Louisiana. The daughter of zydeco legend Terrance Simien, her music blends Memphis soul with New Orleans funk to create something altogether new. Although the ongoing pandemic has kept Marcella from her regular slate of live performances, we caught up with the swamp-soul queen to ask […]