BEALE STREET BOUND
SHARA CLARK Editor-in-Chief
ABIGAIL MORICI Managing Editor
JACKSON BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN
Senior Editors
TOBY SELLS Associate Editor
KAILYNN JOHNSON News Reporter
CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor
ALEX GREENE Music Editor
MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers
JESSE DAVIS, GENE GARD, EMILY GUENTHER, COCO JUNE, PATRICIA LOCKHART, FRANK MURTAUGH, WILLIAM SMYTHE, KATIE STEPHENSON Contributing Columnists
SHARON BROWN, AIMEE STIEGEMEYER Grizzlies Reporters
SARAI BENNETT, JAKE SANDERS Editorial Interns
CARRIE BEASLEY Senior Art Director
CHRISTOPHER MYERS Advertising Art Director
NEIL WILLIAMS Graphic Designer
KELLI DEWITT, CHIP GOOGE, SHAUNE MCGHEE Senior Account Executives
CHET HASTINGS Warehouse and Delivery Manager
JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN Distribution
KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher
THE MEMPHIS FLYER is published weekly by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 Phone: (901) 521-9000 Fax: (901) 521-0129 memphisflyer.com
CONTEMPORARY MEDIA, INC.
ANNA TRAVERSE FOGLE Chief Executive Officer
LYNN SPARAGOWSKI Controller/Circulation Manager
JEFFREY GOLDBERG Chief Revenue Officer
MARGIE NEAL Chief Operating Officer
KRISTIN PAWLOWSKI Digital Services Director
Beale Street Bound
The
PHOTO: COURTESY MIKE CURB FAMILY FOUNDATION
PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE
THE fly-by
MEM ernet
Memphis on the internet.
TRAIL RIDING
Boots, hats, four wheelers, food, drink, line dancing, and more brought hundreds to the Byhalia Trail Ride event over the weekend. It looked “like good, pure, country fun,” as knatalya_ described it.
‘RADICAL’ RAGE
Newsmax host Todd Starnes claimed a “radical le ist exploded in rage,” “lunged at me,” and threw his phone on the ground when he and state Senator Brent Taylor visited protestors at the Bartlett Tesla dealership this weekend.
“ ese people are insane,” he tweeted.
While he was here, two rappers were shot Downtown. To which, Starnes opined that “we need President Trump to stage an intervention in this city.” No thank you.
DUST IN THE WIND
e U.S.
National Weather Service of Memphis issued its rst ever Blowing Dust Warning last week.
e Damn Weather of Memphis posted a satirical, AIgenerated image of what it looked like. More simply, though, Judith Johnson just commented, “Shit.”
{STATE WATCH
By Toby Sells
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
‘Tortuous Death’
Tennessee death row inmates challenge the state’s new lethal injection protocol.
Death row prisoners in Tennessee challenged the state’s new execution protocols in a legal complaint that claims the use of pentobarbital is unconstitutional as it can lead to a “tortuous death.”
Nine prisoners signed on to the complaint by Amy Harwell in Davidson County Chancery Court this month. Harwell is the assistant chief of the Capital Habeas Unit at the O ce of the Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of Tennessee.
e complaint argues those executed here “will experience extreme pain and su ering if they are poisoned to death with pentobarbital.”
e plainti s also cite “Tennessee’s shameful history of mishandling its execution processes” as a reason to challenge the new lethal injection protocol.
Governor Bill Lee halted executions here in May 2022. He ordered a review of the system, and a scathing report found that state o cials didn’t follow their own rules in carrying out executions and criticized the three-drug injection protocols used for executions at the time.
Lee hired a new commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), Frank Strada, with a major goal to get executions back on line in Tennessee. at work began in January 2023. In late December 2024, TDOC issued a brief news release announcing that the new review had been completed and the agency had selected pentobarbital for its lethal injection executions.
PHOTO: TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION
Nine signed on to the complaint, saying Tennessee has a “shameful history of mishandling its execution process.”
“I am con dent the lethal injection process can proceed in compliance with departmental policy and state laws,” Strada said at the time.
Earlier this month, the Tennessee Supreme Court scheduled executions for four prisoners to be carried out this year:
• Oscar Smith on May 22nd
• Byron Black on August 5th
• Donald Middlebrooks on September 24th
• Harold Nichols on December 11th
Smith was set for execution in May 2022. It has been reported he was taking his nal communion on death watch before walking to the execution chamber when Lee called o the execution and called for the review.
“ e evidence keeps piling up to show that pentobarbital poisoning is excruciatingly painful,” said Harwell, an attorney for the plainti s.
e complaint argues that killing by pentobarbital “can create a sensation of su ocating or drowning that has been likened by experts to the sensation intentionally induced by the practice of waterboarding — an unambiguous form of outright torture.”
e drug can also leave prisoners aware as their bodies begin to
experience physical damage “resulting in extreme su ering.”
In January, the U.S. Department of Justice quit using pentobarbital in executions due to “signi cant uncertainty” as to whether or not the drug causes pain and su ering.
“In the face of such uncertainty, the department should err on the side of humane treatment and avoidance of unnecessary pain and su ering, and therefore halt the use of pentobarbital unless and until that uncertainty is resolved,” then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time.
Even if the drug was not a concern, the complaint doubts TDOC’s ability to carry out executions, given its track record. It says that over the past 25 years, the agency “has consistently struggled, and o en failed, to ful ll [its] responsibility [to administer executions] in a consistent, reliable, and lawful way.”
“TDOC has burned through at least ve now-discarded ‘protocols’ for performing executions by lethal injection … each of which collapsed under the weight of its own aws and mismanagement a er no more than, at most, a few executions,” the report says.
Justice? {
CITY REPORTER
By Toby Sells
A new report says Shelby County justice system needs to gather, publish more data so public can see “big picture.”
The criminal justice system in Shelby County is murky, a new report says.
How many days does it take for a case to be taken care of?
How many days are people incarcerated (if they can’t make bail) before their cases are taken care of? How o en do people stay clean while they’re out on bail? How o en are they re-arrested while out on bail? How o en are people booked? How o en do they ask for a trial?
Some answers came to these questions in a report issued last Wednesday by a division of the Tennessee State Comptroller’s O ce. at report was requested in February 2024 by Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) who wanted those answers (and more) about “issues in Shelby County,” speci cally.
on pretrial release (bail or free release).
• A majority (60 percent) of felony charges did not change at the end of a case from 2018 to 2023. e remaining charges either decreased (about 20 percent) or increased (about 21 percent).
Here’s some of what they found in General Sessions Court:
• Over half of the cases were dismissed.
• A quarter of cases were disposed with a guilty plea.
• About 10 percent of cases were bound over to a grand jury.
For the request, the comptroller’s O ce of Research and Education Accountability (OREA) sent agents to Memphis. Over the past year, those agents interviewed about 70 people and spent about 100 hours at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center. ey conducted research, watched court proceedings, and analyzed datasets from at least 22 state and local entities.
From August to September, the agents gathered data on about 1,033
cases as they made their ways through the criminal justice process here. ey watched 417 cases in General Sessions Court and 616 cases in Criminal Court. For the sake of equal comparison, they included 145 sample cases for the report that had similar data. “ e more than 1,030 cases observed represent a fraction of the cases heard in these courtrooms on any given day,” reads the report. “Across all eight General Sessions courtrooms that hear felony cases, more than 480 cases are heard daily. In the nine Criminal Court courtrooms, this number rises to over 500 cases heard daily.”
Here’s some of what they found in Criminal Court:
• Half of cases were completely through court (or disposed) in two
Courts here handle double the number of felony cases than those in Nashville.
months.
• A quarter of cases were disposed in 37 days or fewer.
• Nearly all the cases were disposed within 266 days, or nine months.
• Shelby County had the highest number of open felony charges (2,335) at the time, double the Nashville count of 1,024.
• Of the 95 defendants OREA watched, only seven re-o ended while
However, no one in Shelby County is collecting this information. ese observations are from a small sample size from a small group of OREA agents.
Without aggregate data, it’s impossible to judge the e ciency, throughput capacity, or overall health of the Shelby County justice system. e OREA group thinks someone here should be responsible for gathering that data and sharing it with the public. “ e result is that the public cannot assess overall aggregate trends and patterns; the public cannot see the big picture,” reads the report.
e group o ered a list of detailed recommendations to improve the situation here, but it is unknown what next step may come in the situation. Read the full report on our website.
PHOTO: DAVID FRANKLIN | DREAMSTIME.COM e review was ordered by Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally.
POLITICS By Jackson Baker
Taylor Resolution Limping
Citing good crime stats, Mayor Young takes dim view of e ort to remove DA Mulroy.
A er a lengthy period of inaction on it, state Senator Brent Taylor’s muchvaunted legislative resolution to remove Shelby
County DA Steve Mulroy from o ce was scheduled for a hearing in the state House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Wednesday of this week.
Asked about the matter following his appearance before the Downtown Kiwanis Club last week, Mayor Paul Young had this to say: “I don’t think they should remove a duly elected individual. I told Brent that, but I opt not to get into all of the public backand-forth on DA Mulroy or the school board because I believe that Memphis needs a leader that can stay above the fray. And I get so sick of the drama. It’s just nauseating. Every day is some BS that people want us to respond to that’s all personality-driven that does not help our people, so I stay out of it and let them gure it out.”
What the House subcommittee will try to gure out was expressed this way in Taylor’s original Senate resolution: “General Assembly, Statement of Intent or Position - Authorizes the Speaker of Senate to appoint a committee to meet with a like committee from the House of Representatives to consider the removal of Steven J. Mulroy from the o ce of District Attorney General for the irtieth Judicial District by the Tennessee General Assembly acting pursuant to Article VI, Section 6 of the Constitution of Tennessee.”
e Senate resolution has not so far advanced. It is the House version, more or less identically worded and co-sponsored by state Representative Kevin Vaughn, that will be considered on Wednesday, to be regarded either (in Young’s phrase) as “BS” or, as Senator Taylor has argued, as an important element of his soi-disant “Make Memphis Matter” campaign.
Taylor has issued a lengthy, if somewhat sketchy, bill of particulars to justify his essential claim that Mulroy’s tenure is injurious to the prospects for crime control in Memphis.
Word to this point has been that few members of the legislature’s leadership or its rank and le have shared Taylor’s sense of urgency or timing.
e issue will be vying for attention with such matters as a pending measure authorizing state takeover of the Mem-
phis Shelby County School Board and Governor Bill Lee’s announcement this week of a supplement to his budget.
And both Mulroy and Young, in his remarks to Kiwanis last week, have cited gures showing dramatic recent decreases in the incidence of crime in the city.
e mayor presented gures showing a 13.3 percent decrease in crime overall since 2022, with reductions occurring in every ZIP code except two. Homicides were down 30 percent, and motor vehicle the s were down 39 percent, he said.
He also cited gures demonstrating that crimes in the FedExForum area were substantially lower than equivalent areas in Downtown Nashville.
“Results,” he said when asked why the city council, which failed to approve his reappointment of Police Chief C.J. Davis in 2024, had unanimously approved her this year.
• e appointment of Circuit Court Judge Valerie Smith to replace the retiring Judge Arnold Goldin on the state Court of Appeals was nalized by the legislature on Monday.
• Inspired by the ongoing series of angry popular protests of Department of Government E ciency (DOGE) actions at congressional town halls nationwide, Shelby County Democrats made ready to organize a protest action last Saturday at a scheduled local appearance by 8th District Republican Congressman David Kusto . e action had to be called o , however, when Kusto ’s speech to the men’s club at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Germantown was canceled because of what church o cials called “safety concerns.”
PHOTO: JACKSON BAKER Young at Kiwanis: leery of “BS” issues
By Katie Stephenson
Leaving Your Legacy
To leave a legacy means more than the dollars you leave in the pockets of your children. A legacy is an opportunity to love someone from the grave. It’s forever tying a memory to a smell, taste, or sound. It’s asking yourself how you want to be remembered and what your core values are — then putting those answers into action. Here are four ways to leave a legacy for those you love.
Give back to your community. If generosity and acts of service are among your core values, consider participating in at least one volunteer activity per year with friends or family. You can take part in a fundraiser or donate your time or talent to a local nonpro t you’re passionate about. If you have an a nity for a particular cause, creating a charitable foundation can be a meaningful way to provide your loved ones with employment or board membership opportunities directly related to the cause you support. While a private foundation is certain to leave a powerful nancial legacy, it also promotes collaboration, creativity, and continuity of your philanthropic vision. A foundation can be structured to operate inde nitely so that the lessons you leave to your heirs can be taught for generations to come.
funny memories, random thoughts, and pieces of wisdom you want to pass along. ere’s no need to copy edit or write multiple pages at once. Keeping a journal can be a low-pressure way of putting your personality to paper — a gi your loved ones will cherish when you’re gone.
Create a will and/or a trust.
e act of creating a will and/or trust gives the absence of chaos to your heirs following your death. ese documents outline who will inherit your assets as well as how and by whom they’ll be distributed. Putting your wishes in writing helps to prevent disputes and legal battles among your heirs. Additionally, a trust may be able to protect your assets from creditors, reduce estate taxes, and provide nancial support to your bene ciaries. A trust can also prevent your heirs from having to participate in probate, a lengthy and o en expensive formal court administration process that “proves” the legitimacy of your will a er death. While far from glamorous, creating a will and/or trust is a generous and loving act of housekeeping that may spare your children from unnecessary additional suffering a er your passing.
Start a family tradition.
Keep a record of memories for your heirs.
Keep a record.
Record a video message or keep a journal. When a loved one passes away, it’s common to hear sentiments such as, “I wish I could see their face or hear their voice again.” Recording a video message is an opportunity to express your love, share your life experiences and values, and o er guidance to your loved ones.
If a video feels too formal or induces stage fright, consider keeping a journal. Put it someplace you’ll see it o en so that you can jot down daily observations,
Whether it be the dependable smell of homemade birthday cake, the sound of Frank Sinatra coming from the kitchen on Saturday mornings, or counting constellations from a tent under the open sky every summer, a tradition reinforces your family’s values and creates a sense of belonging. Establishing positive family traditions has proven to increase a child’s ability to form a strong sense of identity — an identity you have the opportunity to forever in uence.
Katie Stephenson, JD, CFP, is a Private Wealth Manager and Partner with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest registered investment advisory rms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s nancial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.
Take charge with the purchasing power of our Visa® Platinum or boost your credit with our Visa® Secured card. Apply online today and take advantage of no application and no monthly fee.
PHOTO: LAURA FUHRMAN | UNSPLASH
AT LARGE By Bruce VanWyngarden
Huddled Masses
e lamp of liberty is ickering.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
e wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I li my lamp beside the golden door!”
ese are the nal lines of Emma Lazarus’ poem, “ e New Colossus.” ey are inscribed on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty. How quaint those words seem now that it’s apparent that those leading this country no longer want anything to do with the poor or homeless or those huddled masses yearning to breathe free. ere’s no lamp and no golden door, unless it’s the ones controlled by the for-pro t ICE detention centers run by CoreCivic, GEO Group, LaSalle Corrections, and Management & Training Corporation.
at there are big pro ts being made from immigrant deportation is a feature, not a bug. In 2023, during Joe Biden’s presidency, 90 percent of the 30,000 people then held in ICE detention were housed in private facilities contracted by the agency. In 2022, Biden pledged there would be “no private prisons” used for detention, but he never delivered on that promise, and the number of immigrants in ICE detention centers has almost doubled since then.
Biden did at least keep detained immigrants in the U.S. until their cases could be handled in court. Donald Trump ramped it up to the next level last week by ying 238 Venezuelan immigrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador without giving them judicial due process. Trump justi ed the illegal move by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which enables the government to rapidly deport people from countries at war with the United States. Last time I checked, we weren’t at war with Venezuela.
to prove their innocence or challenge their sentences — because they haven’t been sentenced, just imprisoned for however long Bukele decides to keep them. It’s a business deal disguised as justice.
e administration claimed that the men were members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, but no proof was o ered in a court of law. Some of these men presumably were gang leaders with criminal records; others may have been low-level members; others, we are now discovering, may not have had any association with the gang or any criminal record at all. ey all got the same punishment. It’s utterly inhumane and ies in the face of any American legal processes. At the very least, the men could have been deported to their country of origin. Using a Salvadoran prison as an American Gulag is a new low, even for Trump. And all of this was carried out against the speci c orders of federal Judge James Boasberg. It’s perhaps instructive to learn that when Bukele was told about the administration’s lawyers ignoring the judge’s order, he posted, “Oopsie, too late” on X. It was promptly reposted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President-Select Elon Musk because … well, of course they did. at exchange makes it increasingly clear that the last line of defense against Trump’s march to authoritarianism will be the judiciary. And the nal bulwark of the judiciary is the Supreme Court, which has six right-leaning Republican appointees among its nine members. Trump has already hand-picked a subservient attorney general, Pam Bondi, to lead the Justice Department. If Trump just starts ignoring judicial orders from lower courts, as he has begun to do, will the GOP-linked members of SCOTUS stand up for the rule of law — or cede our democracy to the oligarchs who have taken over their party and our country? eir track record
isn’t great.
e deportees are now subject to a “justice system” that relies mostly on the whims of banana republic authoritarian President Nayib Bukele, who calls himself the world’s “coolest dictator.”
El Salvador (read Bukele) received $6 million from the U.S. for taking the Venezuelans o our hands. It’s blood money. e prisoners had no opportunity
And even if they do stand up to Trump, what happens if the president just ignores the Supreme Court? Who’s going to stop him? According to the Constitution, the only means available for judges to enforce their court orders are nes and/or arrests carried out by U.S. marshals. So, who controls U.S. federal marshals? Attorney General Pam Bondi. Oopsie.
April 25 - 27
Greene
BEALE STREET BOUND
The Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum prepares to move into its forever home.
“Would you like to take a look inside?” asks Josh Harper of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, as I stare at the white and pink letters on a black door, spelling out some of the most revered words in the annals of rock-and-roll fashion: Lansky Bros., Memphis, Since 1946 at’s an o er no inquisitive journalist can refuse, and when Harper turns the key, it’s as if he’s opened a portal into the past. e brick walls of the clothier’s longtime location at 126 Beale Street, now vacated in favor of the newer Lansky at the Peabody boutique, exude an aura of living, breathing history, dating back to the structure’s incarnation as Burke’s Carriages in the early days of Beale.
“ e building used to be two buildings that were bricked together,” says John Doyle, executive director of both the Memphis Music Hall of Fame (MMHOF) and the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum. “On the second oor, they shoed horses. ere was a ramp on the outside of the building where they walked the horses up there. A saloon was on the rst oor. And the original hardwood oors are still there; the original beams are still there.” Doyle has every reason to savor the history of the location, beyond the fact that the MMHOF museum was
sandwiched between Lansky’s and the Hard Rock Cafe there for nearly a decade. Helming a museum makes one partial to the legacy of any building, especially when it’s destined to be the home of the very exhibitions you manage. And that’s precisely what’s in store for the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum.
A Movable Feast
e move was made public one year ago at a press conference outside the building
that featured Doyle, businessman J.W. Gibson, and host Priscilla Presley, where it was announced that Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Inc., the nonpro t that operates both the museum and MMHOF, had purchased 126 Beale from Lansky’s for $5 million with funding from Gibson, Mike Curb, and other benefactors. e highlight of the event was the unveiling of a sign marking the address as the new “J.W. and Kathy Gibson Center for Music” that will include MMHOF, Rock ‘n’ Soul, and the
Mike & Linda Curb Music Center.
As reported at the time by Bob Mehr in the Commercial Appeal, Gibson, who is chairman of the museum’s foundation board, said, “It’s Memphis music that I’m committed to, and that I think is sorely missing tremendous opportunities year a er year. Since I’ve been on the board, I’ve been preaching the notion that we need to take advantage of the talent that Memphis has and the history we have. Memphis music is substantial to the music industry internationally. However, locally, what are we doing to upli that industry, to support that industry? We saw an opportunity here.”
Naturally, migrating the museum into the space will take some time, but the institution has long had patience on its side. Now in its 25th year, Rock ‘n’ Soul occupies a unique niche in the local museum ecosystem. For one thing, it was launched by the Smithsonian Institution, the rst of that venerable organization’s exhibitions to be located outside the Washington, D.C., area. Moreover, Rock ‘n’ Soul was uniquely peripatetic even before it opened, with its origins rooted in a traveling exhibition.
PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY MEMPHIS ROCK ‘N’ SOUL MUSEUM; (BOTTOM) COURTESY MIKE CURB FAMILY FOUNDATION Artists’ renderings of the future J.W. and Kathy Gibson Center for Music
As Doyle explains, “When the Smithsonian was celebrating their 150th anniversary as a museum system, they decided to get some of their stu out in the world and did an exhibit that toured the country. It included the ruby slippers from e Wizard of Oz, Abraham Lincoln’s stovepipe hat, and other things, but the centerpiece of it was an exhibit about the origins of America’s music. It featured the quote that ‘In the quest to identify the roots of rock-and-roll, all roads led to Memphis.’ And they actually tapped some Memphians to do some of the research. David Less, here in Memphis, who has been head of the Blues Foundation and is a record producer and author, conducted over 60 oral history interviews with Memphis musicians who were still alive at the time.”
at ultimately led to siting the brick-and-mortar Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum in the Gibson Guitar Factory, a block south of Beale Street, in 2000. But though Gibson was not destined to keep
that facility in operation in perpetuity, the museum had already migrated by the time it closed. As it turned out, Gibson wasn’t the only business interested in having a music museum in its corridors. e Grizzlies were coming.
Doyle explains that the NBA team “wanted a music museum to be part of the FedExForum campus because they were theming the basketball arena with a Memphis music thing. Anyone who’s come to a Grizzlies game recognizes that Memphis music is pretty prevalent through there. It was wise on the Grizzlies’ part to really embrace that aspect of the city’s culture. So they wanted a music museum to be part of the campus, and the Rock ‘n’ Soul board and sta preceding me raised, I think, $1.3 million to convert what was going to be a three story building into a four story building, so that Rock ‘n’ Soul would encompass the rst oor.”
And that’s where it has stood since 2004, when the FedExForum opened. “We can never say enough about the Memphis
Grizzlies. To have a nonpro t museum developed by the Smithsonian Institution, that pays no lease, is pretty unheard of. We’re the envy of most of the nonpro ts in the city, and that’s out of the graciousness of the Grizzlies.” Indeed, the museum has thrived there for 20-odd years, and only last month, USA Today included Rock ‘n’ Soul among the top 10 music museums in the country as part of their 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards series. at puts it in the company of the Johnny Cash Museum, the Patsy Cline Museum, and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville; the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix; the Museum at Bethel Woods in Bethel, NY; the Motown Museum in Detroit; the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Virginia; and the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
A Weird Coincidence
riving as it is in its current location, one might well ask why Rock ‘n’ Soul would
What if we dreamed about having our own building, and both museums being under one roof?
move at all. And at one time, several of the museum’s board members were asking the same question. But at least one of them was inclined to think big.
“We had a strategic planning session a few years ago,” Doyle says, “and we were talking about things like improvements to the museum exhibits, expanded programming, and starting an endowment for the longevity of the organization. And then one board member threw up their hand and said, ‘What if we dreamed about having our own building, and both museums being under one roof?’ And another board member said, ‘Are you crazy? We pay no lease at FedExForum, thanks to the Memphis Grizzlies. Over at the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, we pay no lease, thanks to the Hard Rock Cafe [the anchor tenant in Lansky’s building, serving as MMHOF’s landlord]. We would be stupid to do something like that!’”
But even as they spoke, events were
continued on page 14
PHOTO: (TOP) ALEX GREENE; (BELOW) COURTESY MEMPHIS ROCK ‘N’ SOUL MUSEUM (top) “All roads led to Memphis”: the Rock ‘n’ Soul museum today; (below le ) Keith Richards at 2015 MMHOF Induction Ceremony; (below right) John Doyle and Priscilla Presley
coalescing to nudge them out of their comfort zone. As Doyle explains, “It wasn’t two months later that Hal Lansky came into the lobby of Rock ‘n’ Soul and said, ‘I need to talk to you about something. The Hard Rock Cafe is leaving Memphis.’ This was in June of 2023. And I said, ‘When are they leaving?’ He said, ‘Thirty days from now.’ And I said, ‘Are y’all going to get another tenant in there who can serve as landlord for the Memphis Music Hall of Fame?’ And he said, ‘No, probably not. We’re probably going to put the building up for sale.’
“So I went to our board and said, ‘Remember that idea that some of us said was the stupidest idea anyone had ever come up with at a strategic planning session? It looks like it’s coming true.’ And so, with a very visionary board of directors, our soon-to-be board chairman J.W. Gibson donated a million dollars towards the purchase of the building. Then we wrote a grant, and the Assisi Foundation of Memphis graciously donated a million dollars. And then Mike Curb with Curb Records, who owns Elvis’ home on Audubon and funded the [Mike Curb Institute for Music] at Rhodes College, stepped up with $2.5 million, and in eight months, we purchased the building.”
That was just the beginning, of course. Expanding and creating new spaces for
public engagement will incur costs far beyond the purchase of the building itself.
“We then started a capital campaign to raise another $15 million to renovate the building, to do upgrades to both museums’ exhibits, to make them bigger and better, to have a performance space, so that we can assist musicians, to have a studio, so that we can assist students, and grow the gift shop. And now we have that underway. It’s kind of a surreal moment.”
Furthermore, both Rock ‘n’ Soul and MMHOF will live together in a space that’s undeniably, inherently historical. As Doyle points out, that’s something that other Memphis music tourist destinations have that Rock ‘n’ Soul has never possessed.
“There’s only one place where you can have Sun Studio. The Stax Museum [of American Soul Music], even though the building was demolished, they rebuilt a replica on the same site. And then obviously, you can’t move Graceland. The fact that we tell the complete Memphis music story separates us somewhat from our other partners in the field of music here, around Memphis.” Yet that has also meant that Rock ‘n’ Soul has lacked any obvious, charmed location. But that’s about to change.
Sacred Ground
Although Rock ‘n’ Soul won’t move for another year or two, the upcoming location is already spurring on a new
groundswell of support for the museum. As it turns out, there’s nothing like having a Beale Street address. “Priscilla Presley is very engaged about what we’re doing,” says Doyle. “She’s obviously engaged because Elvis was tied to that building. But she also considers Memphis home, despite the fact that she lives in Los Angeles — as she’s said, she lived at Graceland longer than she lived anywhere in her life, being a military brat. And so she’s gone with me twice to the State Capitol to talk to legislators and the governor about how important this is, not just for the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, but for Memphis music and for the future of Beale Street, the safety of Beale Street: to have daytime and familyfriendly programming, to enhance what the clubs and restaurants are doing. We’re looking forward to working with the Beale Street merchants, to be a good partner there, even though we’re on the other side of Second Street from the Beale Street Historic District.”
Mike Curb, for his part, also sees the move as potentially creating a critical mass around Beale Street. “We’re kind of hoping to do on Beale Street what we did in Nashville’s Music Row, where we bought quite a few buildings. … We’re going to do something really special.”
A whole new world of possibilities is opening up, in part because of a significant increase in square footage,
but also because of what the Hard Rock Cafe left in its wake. “Fortunately, when Hard Rock Cafe left town,” says Doyle, “they left every plate, every fork and spoon, the most incredible kitchen equipment you’ve ever seen, and a stage with full sound equipment, full lights. Everything was left for us. I guess it was a housewarming gift. And we have great space in the building, double the space that we currently have for our two museums’ exhibits, so we could make room for a performance space, a larger gift shop, a recording studio to help students with podcasts, and host Beale Street Caravan, that sort of thing. We can have summer camps for kids, music performances, private facility rentals, anything that you want in that space, and still keep the museums running. This building is going to afford that.”
Naturally, putting the museums at the head of the entertainment district will make them both more visible, and, together under one roof, able to attract more visitors. Most of all, they will be both on and of Beale, the old carriage shop’s brick walls, where a saloon’s rowdy crowd once fought, courted, and raised toasts, exuding the street’s spirit. Within those walls, Rock ‘n’ Soul and MMHOF will embody the very history they celebrate. As Doyle puts it, “Those are the things that make us sacred. We are moving into sacred ground.”
steppin’ out
We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
‘Supernatural Telescope’
By Abigail Morici
Danielle Sierra’s father used to look at her through his “supernatural telescope.” He would be back home in California, while she was in Memphis, sharing her artwork with him over the phone and the internet. “He would always tell me, ‘I’m looking through my supernatural telescope at all the marvels of you,’” Sierra says. He died this past May, but Sierra remains comforted, knowing that “he’s in heaven, with his supernatural telescope.”
With that in mind, her exhibit, now on display at Crosstown Arts, is titled “Supernatural Telescope” in his honor, her father Ernie being one of her greatest supporters in life and art. When she was little, he taught her how to shade spheres and cubes; he later encouraged her to paint on wood instead of canvas, which would become a trademark of her style. “ e funny thing is, he never told me he was an art major,” Danielle says. “He went to [California State University] Northridge in California, but he had to leave to provide for his family. He only told me when I told him I was an art major.”
Even though he was talented in his own right, Danielle says, “He would never say he was like a capital-A artist.” Yet she’s found inspiration in his work, exhibiting it alongside her own as part of her thesis exhibition for University of Memphis’ MFA program in 2022. “It’s crazy that it was in this very gallery [at Crosstown Arts].” For “Supernatural Telescope,” too, Ernie’s sketches and woodworking pieces are displayed. Danielle, for her part, has created responses to some of them. For one, Ernie had drawn a surrealist, Dali-inspired landscape of the Cruci xion, and Danielle has drawn her own in her own style, the two shown side by side, father like daughter. She’s also created pieces representing her memories of her father, with nods to quotes he’d say, to the hours they spent watching the Blue Angels in the sky, to the stories he’d tell about running away from home with only two peanut butter sandwiches. ough these memories are personal, Danielle has included universal imagery of owers, angels, and stars throughout to capture a message of hope for all. In one piece, I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends, she asked her artist friends to paint wooden owers she’d cut, the idea being to create “this little garden as a representation of my art community,” she says. “None of us gets here alone.
“Everybody should have a supernatural telescope,” Danielle continues, “and be able to look back through all the times that we’ve experienced love and memories that upli us. … I hope that [viewers] feel loved in a way that the work speaks to them. A lot of my inspiration comes from the Bible and my love for God, and I just always try to translate that through maybe the shading of a color or a line, and just love being the dominant force behind my work in one way or another.”
“SUPERNATURAL TELESCOPE:” DANIELLE SIERRA, CROSSTOWN ARTS, 1350 CONCOURSE, THROUGH MAY 11TH.
VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES March 27th - April 2nd
Metal Petals + Healing Roots
Metal Museum, 374 Metal Museum Drive, Saturday, March 29, 11 a.m.3 p.m., free Metal Petals + Healing Roots brings together artists from the Metal Museum, Moore Tech, and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Memphis to create art from disassembled gun parts collected during the Guns to Gardens initiative. While the museum will not be collecting or dismantling guns during the event, Metal Petals + Healing Roots serves as a platform for artists to repurpose these materials into meaningful works of art. Admission to the Metal Museum is free on the day of the event, offering visitors the opportunity to explore the museum’s collection while enjoying live music, food and drinks, and engaging in free and paid hands-on activities. Additionally, attendees can watch the artists
transform dismantled gun parts into art and can hammer on gun parts at the outdoor forge. At 1 p.m., there will be an artist talk where attendees can learn more about the artworks being created and the inspiration behind them.
Sir Meatball’s Dogchella
Grind City Brewing Company, 76 Waterworks Avenue, Saturday, March 29, noon-6 p.m.
is one is for the dogs! Sir Meatball’s Dogchella is back a er a year hiatus! Dogchella is like Coachella, with all the out ts, music, backdrops … but for dogs. Also, it’s dog uencer Sir Meatball’s birthday. Bring your pups on a leash to Dogchella and hang out in the Grind City lawn with Sir Meatball, get freebies while supplies last, enter the fashion contest with prizes (4 p.m.), shop vendors, check out adoptable
STAY IN THE LOOP
dogs (noon-2 p.m.), and more.
Food truck for humans Diamond Dave’s Pizza will be on site.
Library Love Is Permanent
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar Avenue, Monday, March 31, noon-8 p.m.
Enjoy an a ernoon/evening of tattooing fun to celebrate and support the Memphis Public Libraries. All tattoos go for a $100 donation (unless otherwise speci ed) to the Memphis Library Foundation to support MPL programs, collection and building enhancements, and free resources for every Memphian. ere will also be live music, temporary tattoos, a face painter, food trucks, and so much more. Open to the whole family but permanent tattoos only to those 18 and up. Register at tinyurl.com/ akp8vkp3.
PHOTO: COURTESY CROSSTOWN ARTS
Danielle Sierra’s “Supernatural Telescope” honors her father.
BRACKET 2025 Challenge
MUSIC By Michael Donahue
Wide Appeal for The Narrows
More people are discovering the Memphis rock band.
Not many bands can say audience members created a dance to one of their songs.
e Narrows can, thanks to their song, “ e Wheel.”
“I think it’s still the crowd favorite,” says singer/rhythm guitarist Owen Traw, 23. “I think people like how it sounds. People know some of the lyrics.”
And, he says, there’s “a dance during that song.”
“It’s like a bunch of little hand movements that t whatever the lyrics are saying,” says bass player Bella Frandsen, 22.
One of the lines is “Don’t fall asleep,” says Traw, who wrote the song. “People make a negatory motion with their hand, like wagging their nger. en when I say, ‘Fall asleep,’ they fold their hands under their heads like they’re sleeping. ‘At the wheel,’ they make a driving motion.”
People teach other people the dance at their shows, Frandsen says. “ ere’s an ever-growing number of people doing this silly dance.”
ere’s also an ever-growing number of people going to shows featuring e Narrows. e Memphis rock band also features Aidan Smith, 25, on vocals and guitar, and Chris Daniels, 20, on drums.
e band will open for Juicy J on April 5th in the Bryan Campus Life Center at Rhodes College as part of the school’s Rites of Spring.
“ e Wheel” was the band’s rst single. “Our best song at that time,” Smith says. “ e one that got the crowd going the most.”
“I wrote it when I was really sick,” Traw says. “I still have the voice memos of that moment when I was trying to make sure I didn’t forget it. “
He had a bad cold. “I was all hunkered up and all gross in my room. I had a chord change in my head.”
e lyrics originated from a drive Traw took to Nashville. It was bumper-tobumper tra c, but people were speeding. “If anybody hit the brakes it would have been really bad. It’s basically just about the feeling that one’s decisions have really big impacts.”
It was Traw’s idea to form a band about a year ago. It became e Narrows. “I started the band basically because I really wanted to express myself artistically, but I didn’t know how,” he says. “I wasn’t a musician or anything.”
at changed a er he saw Smith in
One Strange Bird. “A band I formed with some friends from Rhodes a few years ago,” Smith says. “We were playing really shitty bars and stu like that.”
“Aidan really blew me away,” says Traw, who thought, “Dang, he’s so good. I wish I knew how to play music.”
Traw already played some guitar. “I could play ‘cowboy chords,’ as they call them, on the guitar, but I couldn’t play barre chords or hold a pick.”
He was impressed with “the way Aidan played the guitar. It’s a really cool mix of rhythm and lead playing. e kind of stu Jimmy Page does. Or Jimi Hendrix. Playing guitar and lead at the same time and it’s really melodic. Just really catchy and good, too. Tasteful.”
Traw originally met Smith when they were at Rhodes. “We met very, very brie y. We had one conversation, really, where I told him he looked like Kurt Cobain.”
He got Smith’s phone number, texted him, and asked him if he wanted to be in a band.
“He had a demo that was circulating through the friend group,” Smith says. “So I knew who he was. When he said, ‘Let’s jam,’ I was like, ‘Yeah. For sure.’”
As for Traw’s guitar ability back then, Smith says, “He’s being a little modest. He could play a little bit of guitar.
“I remember him playing four or ve songs. I thought all of them were really pretty good.”
e songs “were all well constructed and sort of in a tradition I love from the ’60s and ’70s music. I saw the nuances
and jumps from verses to choruses and back. And the way that the melodies would work with the chords when he was playing.
“ at night I think we wrote a song together.’”
e song was “Waste,” Smith says “It was an idea that I had that we just eshed out based on an experience with DMT, the psychedelic. A drug I had taken years before that. I really wanted to write a song about it. And Owen really helped me out with the lyrics.”
Recalling how he felt on the drug, Smith says, “It made me feel like all comfort and warmth was gone from the world. I was looking at the sunshine in my parents’ backyard and it was kind of frightening. It was a frightening and beautiful experience. I was doing a lot of it then. at was when I was 18 or 19.”
Traw eventually became comfortable playing guitar. “I de nitely got to the point where I could play guitar a little bit better,” he says. “I almost learned through osmosis because Aidan is so good. e way he would move his right hand to strum and hold the pick. Or what he would do with his ngers on his le hand. I would basically just watch him and try to do that.”
He and Smith began playing together in public. “At that point Aidan and I were writing songs on acoustic guitars and playing open mic nights. We wanted a band, but we didn’t know who would be the drummer, who would play bass.”
ey began auditioning drummers. Born in Memphis, Daniels began playing
PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE e Narrows
drums at age 5. “I was born in the church, so I always watched church musicians. My uncle [the late Bernard Wilson] played drums as well. He kind of got me into it.”
Daniels was in the jazz band at Ridgeway High School and Middle School. He’s currently in the jazz band at University of Memphis.
As for what makes e Narrows di erent, Daniels says, “You have your punk rock and stu and all that jazz, [but] I think our music is di erent because we talk about real life events. And it’s basically like therapy, like you’re talking to a counselor or something like that.”
Traw was impressed when he learned Daniels played drums in jazz groups. “I played jazz drums but had long since quit. But I know jazz takes a lot of musicality, and it’s really di cult to play. And with Chris, you could tell he had serious chops.”
ey then interviewed bass players. Frandsen, a Rhodes student from New York who already was a friend of Traw’s, felt con dent when she auditioned for them. “I really just clicked. I got along with everyone and everything worked really well.”
Smith thought Frandsen was “super intuitive” when they were working on their song, “Ice About to Melt.” “I played o the bass line that she had dreamed up,” he says. “ at became a main gure in the chorus of the song. I could tell she was really super musical and an overall musician instead of strictly a bassist.”
e band name came from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, twin suspension bridges spanning Puget Sound’s Tacoma Narrows strait in Washington.
“I also think ‘ e Narrows’ is pretty evocative even if you don’t know what the body of water is,” Traw says. “In my head, it made me imagine scrawny gures.” e group, which has been touring, recently played shows with their friends in Smokies, a band from Jackson, Mississippi. ey’re planning a “more serious tour this summer.”
e Narrows also completed its rst EP, Sloth & Envy, which the group recorded at Easley McCain Recording and Young Avenue Sound.
Describing the EP’s cover he designed, Eli Schwartz says, “It evokes a feeling of being lost, helpless, and feeling like a stranger to yourself. Wondering who you are and coming up empty handed.”
AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule March 27 - April 2
PHOTO: ORPHEUM THEATRE Black Violin
Blind Mississippi Morris
Friday, March 28, 8 p.m. |
Saturday, March 29, 8 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Earl “The Pearl” Banks
ursday, March 27, 7 p.m. |
Tuesday, April 1, 7 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Flic’s Pics Band
Led by the legendary Leroy “Flic” Hodges of Hi Rhythm.
Saturday, March 29, 4 p.m. |
Sunday, March 30, 2 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
FreeWorld
Sunday, March 30, 8 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Memphis Soul Factory
ursday, March 27, 4:30 p.m.
| Friday, March 28, 4 p.m. |
Sunday, March 30, 8 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
The B.B. King’s Blues Club Allstar Band
Friday, March 28, 8 p.m. |
Saturday, March 29, 8 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
Vince Johnson
Monday, March 31, 6:30 p.m. |
Tuesday, April 1, 6:30 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Black Violin: Full Circle Tour
Grammy-nominated duo
Wil Baptiste and Kev Marcus rede ne the possibilities of music by merging classical depth with hip-hop’s pulse.
$47-$67.50. Tuesday, April 1, 7:30 p.m.
ORPHEUM THEATRE
Jazz Meets Broadway
Peggy Lee Brennan and her husband Geo Hastings Haberer join forces with the Eureka Waters jazz trio for a night of classic Broadway hits.
$51-$59. Saturday, March 29, 7:30 p.m.
THE HALLORAN CENTRE
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
An electrifying tribute to the music of the legendary queen of soul — Aretha Franklin.
$36-$88. Sunday, March 30, 6:30 p.m.
ORPHEUM THEATRE
South Main Night Market Jam Session
Friday, March 28, 5-9 p.m.
SOUTH MAIN SOUNDS
Stax Music Academy
Live feat. Ant Clemons, Evvie McKinney & Corey Lou
Experience the power, legacy, and future of soul music as Stax Music Academy proudly celebrates its 25th anniversary with a spectacular performance honoring Black history. $25. Friday, March 28, 7 p.m.
CANNON CENTER FOR THE
PERFORMING ARTS
Tequila Mockingbird
Sunday, March 30, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S DOWNTOWN
2025 PRIZM Youth Chamber Music Competition
String, wind, and brass ensembles vie for certi cates, trophies, partial and full summer camp scholarships, and cash prizes. Saturday, March 29, 1-3 p.m.
SHADY GROVE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Alex Cuba is Grammy- and Junowinning singer-songwriter combines the music of his Cuban home with jazz, funk, rock, and pop to create a truly unparalleled sound. $35. Sunday, March 30, 7 p.m.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Ethan Smith
ursday, March 27, 7 p.m.
ROOSTER’S BLUES HOUSE
Five Fridays of Jazz
Five Fridays of Jazz presents the inimitable Joyce Cobb. Friday, March 28, 6:30 p.m.
BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY MEMPHIS PUBLIC LIBRARY
Formerly Known As
Saturday, March 29, 10 p.m.
ROOSTER’S BLUES HOUSE
Jay Jones Band
Sunday, March 30, 6 p.m.
ROOSTER’S BLUES HOUSE
Joe Restivo Trio
Saturday, March 29, 6 p.m.
ROOSTER’S BLUES HOUSE
John Williams & the A440 Band
ursday, March 27, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
J.T. McCaffrey Band
Friday, March 28, 10 p.m.
ROOSTER’S BLUES HOUSE
Memphis Symphony Orchestra: Music from the British Isles
Showcasing the remarkable violinist Hannah White, the MSO presents Grainger’s “Danny Boy,” ColeridgeTaylor’s Violin Concerto, and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, “Scottish.” Sunday, March 30, 2:30-5 p.m.
SCHEIDT FAMILY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Rick Camp & the Suburban Trunk
Monkeys
Sunday, March 30, 4-8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Deb Jam Band
Tuesday, April 1, 6 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Settlers
Sunday, March 30, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S POPLAR
University of Memphis 901 Jazz Band
Kicko show for a week of jazz, popular music, and all-star talent: It’s Jazz Week. Tuesday, April 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
SCHEIDT FAMILY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
University of Memphis
Jazz Combos
Second show in a week of jazz, popular music, and all-star talent: It’s Jazz Week! Wednesday, April 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
SCHEIDT FAMILY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Van Duren
e singer-songwriter, a pioneer of indie pop in Memphis, performs solo. ursday, March 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
MORTIMER’S
A Betor Way Presents:
Betorfest
A harm reduction bene t with Turnstyles, YesseYavis, Grant Beatty, Interna, Grave Lurker, Bvrnbvbybvrn, Jadewick, Heels, Mormon Mincers, Deaf Revival. Sunday, March 30, noon-7 p.m.
HI TONE
Agnostic Front
With Murphy’s Law, Violent Way. $25-$30. Monday, March 31, 7 p.m.
GROWLERS
Alice Hasen Band
With A on Wolfe. Friday, March 28, 7:30 p.m.
B-SIDE
Belmont
With Young Culture, Joybomb. $22. Wednesday, April 2, 8 p.m.
GROWLERS
Car Microwave
With Runi Salem, Fosterfalls. Saturday, March 29, 9 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Chinese Connection Dub Embassy
One of the city’s nest reggae and dancehall groups. Friday, March 28, 9 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Cyrille Aimée
A matchless interpreter of song. She has performed and recorded with Roy Hargrove and won over the notoriously hard-to-please crowd at Harlem’s Apollo eater. $30/ advance, $35/at the door. Friday, March 28, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN
ARTS
Deborah Swiney Duo
ursday, March 27, 7-10 p.m.
THE COVE
Devil Train
Bluegrass, roots, country, Delta, and ski e. ursday, March 27, 9 p.m.
B-SIDE
Don Quixote’s Horse
With Red Harp, Wicker. Saturday, March 29, 8 p.m.
GROWLERS
Don Ramon Latin Band Saturday, March 29, 9 p.m.
B-SIDE
Goner Records Presents: Water Damage With Cloudland Canyon. Sunday, March 30, 7 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Jazz Jam with the Cove Quartet
All jazz musicians are welcome to sit in. Sunday, March 30, 6-9 p.m.
THE COVE
Joe Restivo 4
Guitarist Restivo leads one of the city’s nest jazz quartets. Sunday, March 30, noon.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Kirk Kafé: Kirk Whalum with Kim Burrell
A series featuring guest artists and Kirk Whalum. Forged from his Memphis gospel roots and his 1980s initiation into the thriving Houston, Texas, nightclub scene, Whalum’s big, rich tenor sound is unmistakably his. Houston-based singer and pianist Kim Burrell is known for her unique jazz-gospel sound. $59. Sunday, March 30, 6 p.m.
CROSSTOWN THEATER
Level Three
Wednesday, April 2, 10 p.m.
LOUIS CONNELLY’S BAR
Mark Guiliana Guiliana brings an adventurous spirit, eclectic palette, and gi for spontaneous invention to a staggering range of styles. $30. Saturday, March 29, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Zoë Dominguez
With Arc of Quasar, Alexis Jade & the Gemstones, Degenerate Breakfast Sunday, March 30, 7 p.m. GROWLERS
Billingsley & Earp
Friday, March 28, 8 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
El Ced & Groove Nation Sunday, March 30, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHWIND
Jeremy Short With Amy LaVere and Will Sexton. ursday, March 27, 8 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Singa Bromfield
Birthday Celebration
Max & the Magics
Sunday, March 30, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S MIDTOWN
Memphis Reggae Nights
With Zsa Davis. Sunday, March 30, 7:30 p.m.
B-SIDE
Memphis Symphony Orchestra: Music from the British Isles
Showcasing the remarkable violinist Hannah White, the MSO presents Grainger’s “Danny Boy,” ColeridgeTaylor’s Violin Concerto, and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, “Scottish.” Friday, March 28, 6:30-9 p.m.
CROSSTOWN THEATER
Pop Culture Rave
Friday, March 28, 10 p.m.
B-SIDE
Ritual Friday, March 28, 9 p.m.
HI TONE
Sip & Spin with DJ Chris Rohling
Your records, some beer — spin the night away. Saturday, March 29, 6 p.m.
CROSSTOWN BREWING COMPANY
Southern Culture on the Skids
With Joecephus & the George Jonestown Massacre. $25-$30.
Tuesday, April 1, 8 p.m.
GROWLERS
The Scott Sudbury Band
ursday, March 27, 7 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Victim of Doug e Stupid Reasons, Mothcat [Small Room-Downstairs].
Saturday, March 29, 9 p.m.
HI TONE
Weedtuth
With Seize & Desist, Shame Finger [Small RoomDownstairs]. Friday, March 28, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Your Arms Are My Cocoon
With A Kiss Before Dying, Figurine, Week Knees, No One Le . ursday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.
HI TONE
A special show in honor of the artist known as the “Prince of the Blues.” Sunday, March 30, 5-9 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
The Bugaloos Sunday, March 30, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHAVEN
Tony Logue & The 184 Saturday, March 29, 8 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Bartlett Bayou Bash
Bartlett’s rst-ever craw sh boil. With Isabella & Sebastian (1-3 p.m.), Mighty Souls Brass Band (3-5 p.m.), Hope Clayburn & Soul Scrimmage (5-7 p.m.). Saturday, March 29, 11 a.m.
W.J. FREEMAN PARK
Bartlett Community Concert Band
Composed of local musicians, the BCCB performs both classical masterpieces and modern movie soundtracks. $15. Friday, March 28, 7:30-9 p.m.
BARTLETT PERFORMING ARTS AND CONFERENCE CENTER
Duane Cleveland Band Sunday, March 30, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S OLIVE BRANCH
Five O’Clock Shadow Sunday, March 30, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S COLLIERVILLE
High Point
Sunday, March 30, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S MILLINGTON
Meshell Ndegeocello
Masterful and mercurial, Ndegeocello fascinates audiences with her sojourns into soul, spoken word, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, and rock. $30/ general admission. Sunday, March 30, 7-8:30 p.m.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The Chaulkies Sunday, March 30, 8 p.m.
HUEY’S CORDOVA
The Java Trio
Sunday, March 30, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S GERMANTOWN
CALENDAR of EVENTS: March 27 - April 2
ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS
“A Journey into the Shadows”: Nelson Gutierrez
Colombian-born artist Gutierrez confronts the realities of migration and displacement through a striking visual language of shadow and movement, using threedimensional cutout drawings. rough May 11.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
“An Occasional Craving”
Chris Antemann reenvisions the concept of porcelain gural groupings with colorful, imaginative, and cheeky ceramic sculptures that parody the dynamics between men and women. rough April 6.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Anna Parker and Gopal Murti: “A Harmonious Interplay of Complementary Styles”
A blend of works exploring acrylics, mosaicism, and pointillism by two eclectic artists. Tuesday, April 1-April 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
“Arrangements in Gravity”
Exhibition of recent work by Brian Jobe and Jered Sprecher, in whose work both the poignant and playful are present. Free. rough April 25.
BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY
“Colorfully, Darkly, Quietly” - Works by Willy Bearden and David Tankersley
Combining Bearden’s photography and Tankersley’s drawings, “Colorfully, Darkly, Quietly” o ers a unique blend of two singular but complementary Memphis voices. Free. Tuesday, April 1, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Wednesday, April 2, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. WKNO
“Double Vision: Abstract vs. Realism” –Works by Sandra Horton and Becky McRae is exciting exhibition combines Sandra Horton’s vibrant and colorful abstract paintings and Becky McRae’s photographs, many taken while traveling abroad. Free. ursday, March 27, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Friday, March 28, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
WKNO
“Earth Matters: Rethink the Future”
See the inner workings of a tree, learn about endangered species, and experience large-scale visualizations of changes in our natural world. Learn more about biodiversity and climate change. $18. rough May 18. PINK PALACE MUSEUM AND MANSION
Floyd Newsum: “House of Grace”
Large paintings on paper and maquettes for public sculp-
tures that represent the artist’s interest in social practice. rough April 6.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“From the Ashes”:
Maritza Dávila-Irizarry
Featuring both new and salvaged works, “From the Ashes” integrates printmaking, mixed media, photography, video, and remnants from the re that destroyed the artist’s studio. rough May 11.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
“In Plain Sight”: The Photography of Ben Couvillion Couvillion is a photographer with a passion for creating bold and saturated compositions that elevate the beauty of everyday life. rough April 27.
ST. GEORGE’S ART GALLERY AT ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Jeannine Paul and Jerry Ehrlich: “Small Works”
Paul paints mostly impressionist and expressionist landscapes and orals in oil, while Ehrlich aims “to surprise the viewer with a look and feel that’s not expected … but enjoyed.” Tuesday, April 1-April 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Jennifer Watson: “Small Spaces” e artist incorporates three-dimensional enameled copper sculpture into highly designed, jewel-like paintings that mix overlapping and colliding geometries with animal and plant imagery. rough April 13.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Kit Reuther: “Many Moons”
Anchored by an intuitive awareness of spatial order, Reuther employs her own brand of architectural abstraction to deconstruct representational forms in paintings and sculptures. Wednesday, April 2-May 10.
DAVID LUSK GALLERY
“Light as Air”
Explore the beauty in tension: a balance of forms, the contrast between heavy and light, and the signi cance of negative space. rough Sept. 7.
METAL MUSEUM
“Magic Hour with Pam Hassler”
Showcasing a collection of ethereal landscape paintings by Memphis-based artist Pam Hassler. ursday, March 27, 5:30-8 p.m.
GOETZE ART & DESIGN
Memphis Camera Club: “Best of 2024 Exhibition” e Memphis Camera Club (MCC), one of the oldest and most active photography organizations in the region, is proud to present the nest
Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.
DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.
photographic works created by MCC members over the past year. rough March 28.
ANF ARCHITECTS
“Not Only Seen, But Felt”
Featuring Black women photographers from Memphis: A.C. Bullard, Ariel J. Cobbert, Alexus Milons, Jasmine Marie, Gabrielle Yasmeen, Keara W., and MadameFraankie. rough April 17.
URBAN ART COMMISSION
Owen Westberg: “Thicket”
On ve-by-seven slices of aluminum ashing, and larger slabs of sanded birch, Westberg paints still lifes, views through a window, and landscapes captured in and around Pittsburgh. rough May 17.
TOPS GALLERY
“Pompeii: The Exhibition”
In a media-rich, object-based immersive experience, discover the bustling commercial port and strategic military and trading center that was Pompeii before Mount Vesuvius erupted. rough April 13.
GRACELAND EXHIBITION CENTER
“Speaking Truth to Power: The Life of Bayard Rustin Exhibition”
“Speaking Truth to Power” explores Bayard Rustin’s innovative use of the “medium” to communicate powerful messages of nonviolence, activism, and authenticity. $20/adult, $18/ senior, college student, $17/ children 5-17. rough Dec. 31.
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Jerry Ehrlich’s works “surprise the viewer with a look and feel that’s not expected … but enjoyed.”
“Spirit of ’74, Fire and Water”
An exhibit uniting two St. Mary’s class of ’74 alums, Mary Hills Baker Powell and Katie Dann. rough April 3.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
“Supernatural Telescope”: Danielle Sierra
A deeply personal and poetic re ection on memory, love, and spirituality, inspired by the passing of the artist’s father. rough May 11.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
“The Colors of the Caribbean”: Juan Roberto Murat Salas Murat Salas, a Cuban-born painter trained at the San Alejandro Academy of Arts in Havana, brings the rich visual traditions of his homeland to life through bold colors and dynamic compositions. rough May 11.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
Thomas Dambo’s “Trolls: Save the Humans”
International Paper presents this larger-than-life fairy tale, in which art and nature intertwine. rough May 21.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
BOOK EVENTS
Book Clubbin’ Besties’ One Year Anniversary
With giveaways, face painting, games, posting challenges, more giveaways, permanent jewelry, and cake. Free. Saturday, March 29, 2-4 p.m. NOVEL
CLASS / WORKSHOP
Ecological Landscape
Design Workshop
Learn the basics and get help with a real-life situation where you want to design or revamp a planting. Bring pictures, ask questions, develop your plant community, and put the design on paper. $250. Saturday, March 29, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Fiber Arts Open Studio
Bring your fabric, yarn, and tools to the Dixon to work on your pieces and gain inspiration from other ber artists and cra ers. Media and methods are your choice. 16+. Free. ursday, March 27, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Sunset Garden Painting: Teen Workshop
“Water Valley in Memphis”
Featuring Tori Ellis Smith, Amy Webb, Erin Austen Abbott, Megan Patton, Coulter Fussell, Brooke Alexander, and Hannah McCormick. rough April 10.
THE UGLY ART COMPANY
“Who is that Artist?
Jorden Miernik-Walker”
Explore photography-based work through interactive components, created speci cally for the exhibit, that speaks to function, loss, identity, comfort, and femininity. rough April 6.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
ART HAPPENINGS
Artist Reception — Ankur Gupta’s “The Wonders of Nature”
Inspiring a sense of wonder, appreciation, and connection to the natural world. Friday, March 28, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Metal Petals & Healing Roots
With live music, food and drinks, and engaging in free and paid hands-on activities. Attendees can watch the artists transform dismantled gun parts into art. Free. Saturday, March 29, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
METAL MUSEUM
Spring into Art Seniors and their caregivers are invited to this special event that o ers art-making, nature exploration, and music. 65+. Free. Tuesday, April 1, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Capture the beauty of the Dixon gardens in acrylic. For teens in Memphis. $10/Dixon member, $15/nonmember. Friday, March 28, 5-7 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Super Saturday - Calida Rawles Snow Globes
Explore the beauty of art inspired by the works of renowned contemporary artist Calida Rawles. Free. Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m.-noon.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART WYXR and University of Memphis present “Meeting in the Middle” “Meeting in the Middle” is a series of panel discussions geared at bringing artists and fans closer together, featuring industry professionals, musicians, and more. ursday, March 27, 6-8 p.m.
SCHEIDT FAMILY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
COMEDY
Comedians Alyx Libby (Showtime) & Alex La (Laugh Factory)
Comedians Alyx Libby (Showtime, Laughing Skull) and Alex La (Laugh Factory, Edinburgh Fringe) co-headline this month’s Flyway Comedy Club. $10/discount online tickets. Saturday, March 29, 8 p.m.
FLYAWAY BREWING
Hoppy Hour Comedy at Hampline Brewing Entirely free, this comedy showcase features local/ regional comedians bringing their A-game to an intimate and lively crowd. Enjoy tasty
CALENDAR: MARCH 27 - APRIL 2
LECTURE
The State of the Aquifer
The Wolf River Conservancy hosts Protect Our Aquifer for an eye-opening discussion on the health of the Memphis Sand Aquifer and the future of water recycling in our region. Saturday, March 29, 3 p.m.
FLYWAY BREWING COMPANY
Timothy Snyder lecture “On Freedom and Just Habits of Mind”
The author will speak about his new book, On Freedom. Freedom is the great American commitment, but as Snyder argues, we have lost sight of what it means — and this is leading us into crisis. Free. Sunday, March 30, 3-5 p.m.
MCNEILL CONCERT HALL AT RHODES COLLEGE
PERFORMING ARTS
Carden Circus
A classic circus, plus face painting, animal rides, and inflatables. Adult tickets include an additional free ticket. Friday, March 28, 7 p.m.
Friday, March 28, 7-9 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
SPORTS
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Boston Celtics
Monday, March 31, 7 p.m.
FEDEXFORUM
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Golden State Warriors
Tuesday, April 1, 7 p.m.
FEDEXFORUM
Memphis Grizzlies vs. L.A. Lakers
Saturday, March 29, 7 p.m.
FEDEXFORUM
Memphis Hustle vs. Austin Spurs
Thursday, March 27, 7 p.m.
LANDERS CENTER
Memphis Hustle vs. Mexico City Capitanes
Saturday, March 29, noon
LANDERS CENTER
Hampline brews while sharing laughs with fellow Memphians. Perfect for a date night or a group outing. Friday, March 28, 7:30-9 p.m.
HAMPLINE BREWING
COMMUNITY
39th Annual “Bowlin’ on the River” Bowl-A-Thon benefiting Junior Achievement of Memphis and the MidSouth
All funds raised benefit local K-12 students who participate in Junior Achievement’s educational programs on financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness. Saturday, March 29, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
BILLY HARWICK LANES
Mid-South Trans Nation: Transmission A celebration of Trans Day of Visibility, with DJs and nonalcoholic drinks. 18+. Free. Monday, March 31, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
DANCE
Chloé Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies
A female tap dance ensemble from L.A., known for their viral, self-produced content. $30. Friday, March 28, 8-9:30 p.m.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Emerge: Dance Works
Undergraduate choreographers showcase their work, often for the first time. The production is fully student-choreographed, -designed, and -run. Friday, March 28, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, March 29, 2 p.m. | Sunday, March 30, 7:30 p.m.
UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE
FILM
3 Idiots: Bollywood Film Screening
Conclude the Brooks’ Bollywood film series with 3 Idiots, the second of two special screenings at the Brooks. $5/general admission. Saturday, March 29, 1-4 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
National Theatre Live: Dr. Strangelove
A film of the stage play about a rogue U.S. general who triggers a nuclear attack, led by a world-renowned creative team including Emmy Award-winner Armando Iannucci. Sunday, March 30, 1 p.m. | Tuesday, April 1, 7 p.m.
MALCO PARADISO CINEMA GRILL & IMAX
Some Like It Hot
In this 1959 classic, two down-on-their-luck jazz musicians find themselves out of a job and on the run after the police raid the speakeasy they perform in. Thursday, March 27, 7 p.m.
CROSSTOWN THEATER
HEALTH AND FITNESS
Taijiquan with Milan Vigil
This Chinese martial art promotes relaxation, improves balance, and provides no-impact aerobic benefits. Ages 16 and older. Free. Saturday, March 29, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
| Saturday, March 29, 11 a.m. | Saturday, March 29, 3 p.m. | Saturday, March 29, 7 p.m. | Sunday, March 30, noon | Sunday, March 30, 4 p.m.
AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL
Justin Willman: Illusionati Tour
An evening of magic, comedy, and mind-control for the whole family. Prepare to join a secret society of wonder. $51.65/general admission.
Memphis Showboats Home Game Sunday, March 30, 11 a.m.
SIMMONS BANK LIBERTY STADIUM
THEATER
Beauty and the Beast
The story of Belle, an independent young
Crossword
1 One or two chips, maybe
5 Airer of N.C.A.A. March Madness games
8 Choctaw and Chickasaw 14 “Here’s the ___ …” 15 Promise-to-pay note
16 Flower cluster whose name can also be read as a challenge
Deceive
Bulletin 20 Mob-busting law, for short
Get exactly
Single-minded religious group
Dental problem 26 Remini who co-starred on “The King of Queens”
Tax table figure
“Beau ___”
Romanov leader
Make tweaks to
Newsman Koppel
Nickname
“Life of Pi” director Lee 42 Ancestral ruler 43 Big tubs 47 Hired toughs 49 Elevated platforms for speakers 51 Big name in petrol 52 Noted 1950s-’70s D.J. dubbed a “fifth Beatle”
Basic idea
57 Start of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
58 Seeks legal recourse
59 “Is everything all right?”
62 Dahs’ counterparts in Morse code 64 Dwindles, with “out”
65 L.A.-to-Denver dir.
66 Castaway’s locale
67 Article of living room furniture
68 Denver-toAlbuquerque dir.
Sign for the superstitious
Press “+” on a calculator
Cells separated by synaptic gaps
Starchy pudding
Some “college” participants
Idiosyncratic habit
Aaron ___, Yankees manager beginning in 2018 7 Shrub that might cause a rash 8 In all honesty
9 Scampered
10 One hanging around a house? 11 Inheritance, e.g. 12 Act like
woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, really a young prince who is trapped under the spell of an enchantress. Friday, March 28, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, March 29, 2 p.m. | Sunday, March 30, 2 p.m.
THEATRE MEMPHIS
Punk Rock Girl!
A spirited musical tale about discovering community, featuring hits by celebrated women in music. Friday, March 28, 8 p.m. | Saturday, March 29, 8 p.m. | Sunday, March 30, 2 p.m.
CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE
Seussical
A musical that captures the essence of Dr. Seuss’ characters. Saturday, March 29, 2 p.m.
CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE
Thoughts of a Colored Man
A play that celebrates the hopes, ambitions, joys, and triumphs of Black men in a world that often refuses to hear them. Thursday, March 27, 7:30 p.m. | Friday, March 28, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, March 29, 2 p.m. | Saturday, March 29, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, March 30, 2 p.m.
HATTILOO THEATRE
Tick Tick ... Boom!
The story of a composer and the sacrifices that he makes to achieve his big break in theater. Friday, March 28, 8 p.m. | Saturday, March 29, 8 p.m. | Sunday, March 30, 2 p.m.
THEATREWORKS @ THE SQUARE
13 Saw red 19 Unaccounted-for soldier, for short 21 Resistance unit 24 Relative of a chickadee 25 Annual horse race 28 “I’m speechless!”
Features of May-December marriages
“Wrong you are!”
Actor Louis
PUZZLE BY GARY CEE
PHOTO: COURTESY DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Teens can gather in the beautiful Dixon gardens at sunset to explore painting with acrylics.
We Saw You.
with MICHAEL DONAHUE
About 1,500 people turned out for this year’s Memphis Irish Society/Cooper-Young St. Patrick’s Day Parade, says Tamara Cook, executive director of the Cooper-Young Business Association.
Green was the preferred wardrobe color of the day.
As usual, the parade was held on March 17th.
“We had a ton of people,” Cook says. Part of the reason was the timing of the parade, she says. It was held about 4 p.m. “We did it a er school was out.”
e Memphis Irish Society presented the parade in conjunction with Celtic Crossing. DJ Naylor opened up his Celtic Crossing Irish bar/restaurant for outdoor and indoor celebrating.
is year’s parade featured 21 entries. As is the custom, the parade included horses, dancers, bagpipers, and Inis Acla School of Irish Dance step dancers.
e parade was family-oriented. “We gear ours toward the family. We wanted kids here, and we got them. And dogs. And I even saw a cat on a leash. Everybody brought everybody, so that was good.”
and
Spain
(le to
Chris and Cierra Cleasant; Margot, Victoria, Kelleam, and Max Myers; Lamont Cole and Ralph Nelson bottom row: (le to right) David Halford, Erin Nelson, and John Streete; Carl ompson and Matthew Canonico; Alex Turley and Susan Dynerman
PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE above: Mark, Mac,
Sydney Pulido circle: Sarah
below:
right)
above: DeAndre Diggs, Alaysia Williams, and Main Williams circle: Alex Turner
below: (le to right) Tara Surratt; Grayson Brooks and Abigail Brady; Hannah Tilley and Connor DeMoll; Kevin Moore and Tim Marmino
right row: (top and below) Madison and Alex Dinwiddie; Grace Siler and Matt Brint bottom le : John Mazier and Fiona Toomey
Seussical
e Circuit Playhouse musical is both authentic and over-the-top.
Raising a child in the digital age can feel incredibly overwhelming. You can’t get through a day without a social media platform — operating under the guise of peacefully perfected progressive humility — gently telling you that you and every other 21st-century parent are doing everything wrong. e wealth of information available to us on parenting o en feels more like an assault. One thing that stands out to me is that escaping the ephemeral tablet wonderland and having experiences rooted in the real world is fundamentally a good thing — hence live theater. (I say this without judgment. If your child is playing on an iPad right now, I get it.) Exposing young minds to the arts couldn’t be more important right now — hence Seussical
the realm of feeling disingenuous. Luckily this show achieves the delicate balance of feeling authentic yet being just over-thetop enough that it can hold a 5-year-old’s ckle attention. Director and choreographer Courtney Oliver staged this show perfectly, and I have to tip my hat to the casting decisions, as everyone t their role like a hand to a glove. Annie Freres as the Sour Kangaroo was particularly inspired, as it provided an appropriate avenue for her powerhouse of a voice, which could so easily make everyone else su er by comparison but instead elevated the calibre of the whole show.
Much as I enjoyed this performance, I would be remiss if I didn’t voice some thoughts on the background of Seussical A failure to comment on the backlash against the works of eodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, in recent years would feel, to me, dangerously close to erasure. In 2019, the NAACP called for the censorship of all of Geisel’s work from public schools, institutions, and public libraries, and as of 2021, six Dr. Seuss books will stop
Circuit Playhouse’s Seussical is everything a grown-up theater kid loves but packaged for a young audience — the future theater kid, so to speak. If I had to sum it up in one word, I’d probably use “dazzling.” You’d expect any musical based on the works of Dr. Seuss to be a visual buffet, and in this you won’t be disappointed. Bright lights, catchy songs, and costumes like a veritable spring sensory bouquet — it’s all here.
About 15 to 20 Dr. Seuss books are represented, by my guess, although the main stories we follow are Horton Hears a Who!, Gertrude McFuzz, and Horton Hatches the Egg. We mainly follow e Cat in the Hat, who acts as a kind of guide through the metaphorical representation of the imagination of young JoJo (a resident of Whoville, if you recall).
One thing I appreciate about this show is that it’s the perfect way to teach children the magic of willfully suspending your disbelief. It’s an art I sometimes worry might be lost as we become more used to computer-generated e ects, but it’s one that’s fundamental to enjoying live theater. What we see is just a person on stage holding a scarf, but if things come together just right, then kids (or anyone really) can gleefully buy into the idea that no, this is a real-live elephant. is is a case in which things came together just right.
I’ve always thought children’s theater requires a speci c energy from performers. Everything is a little more “up” in a way that’s di cult to articulate, and it can potentially tip a performance over into
being published. In my opinion, the vital message here is this: Art is important. It has power, and talking about it — whether about how it can encourage people to learn and think critically or about the ever-increasingly relevant debate on just how much we should separate art from an artist — is important. e humanities are and always have been critical for our society. is musical can be interpreted in myriad ways, and perhaps it’s an opportunity to talk with our children (or family or friends) about how art can mean di erent things to di erent people. Perhaps this is an opportunity to stop and wonder why the line “Somebody’s thinkin’ di erent than us” is voiced by the villain of the show.
Seussical runs at e Circuit Playhouse through April 12th.
PHOTO: MEG CHRISTOFERSON Brooke Papritz as Mayzie LaBird
FOOD By Michael Donahue
Mudbug Time
Crazy Craw sh & Seafood locations are open.
T
he robin redbreast is a sign of spring.
So is the red mudbug.
Just about the time brave da odils are beginning to appear, the red Crazy Craw sh & Seafood food trailers owned by Bryan Freeman and Gary Rapp are stocked and open for business — at 8271 US-72 in Byhalia, Mississippi, and 2053 Houston Levee Road in Cordova, Tennessee.
Freeman and Rapp sell craw sh Fridays through Sundays beginning in February and running through the Fourth of July.
People, who travel from as far as Nashville to their trailers, also refer to the craw sh as “mudbugs” or “crawdads,” Freeman says. “I never heard it called ‘cray sh’ ’til I moved to Memphis,” he says. “ at’s a new one on me.”
ey get their craw sh from Louisiana. “We pride ourselves on the freshest and the best quality craw sh,” Freeman says. “We pride ourselves on quality and customer service.”
He and Rapp feature an extensive menu at their food trailers. “We do craw sh, shrimp, gumbo, crab legs, all the xings.”
ey also sell boudin. “It’s chicken or pork with sausage and some other ingredients — I don’t even know, but it’s so good — in a casing.” And it’s a popular item. “We sell probably 300 sticks a weekend.”
His dad and uncle taught him how to cook craw sh when he was about 8 or 9 years old, says Freeman, who is from Petal, Mississippi, just east of Hattiesburg. ey cooked craw sh on weekends, “just for family.”
Freeman was about 14 when he cooked craw sh solo for the rst time. And it “wasn’t so good,” he recalls. “It just wasn’t the same taste as my dad’s and uncle’s.”
e number one thing to remember when cooking craw sh is “making sure the craw sh is clean. You have to wash them really good. You want to get all the mud o . Make sure the water is clear before cooking.”
Next is getting the water hot. “Put in butter and seasoning.” eir seasoning is a secret, of course. “We have our own ‘home seasoning.’ We’ll just put it that way.”
A er his secret ingredients, Freeman adds potatoes and sausage and brings the water to a rolling boil. “Dump your crawsh in. Let them boil for three minutes. Bring back to a boil. Cut the heat o . Put in your frozen corn and let it soak for 25 or 35 minutes. en it’s done. [It takes]
food trailers.
about an hour.”
Freeman moved to Memphis in 2008 and eventually opened his own construction company, Freeman Builds and Designs, which he still owns and operates. He’s also national director for Wow Factor Baseball, a travel baseball organization.
He got into the seafood business four years ago a er a friend of his, who owned Southbound Seafood, told him he was getting out of the business. He wanted to know if Freeman wanted to buy it. “I called my good buddy Gary Rapp and asked him if he wanted to invest in a craw sh company, and he said, ‘Yes.’ So we bought Southbound.”
Rapp, who is from Bartlett, Tennessee, was the football coach for Freeman’s son Caden Freeman, 20. Caden, who now plays college baseball at Jones College in Ellisville, Mississippi, “helps a little bit when he can.”
A year a er the Southbound purchase, Freeman and Rapp bought their rst Crazy Craw sh trailer in Cordova from John Stanford, who was moving to Pickwick. “When we bought Crazy Craw sh, it was already established. We just took it
over. It already had a customer base.”
Two years later, they bought another trailer, “Cajun Crawdads,” from Jimmy Pegram. Now, both trailers have the same name, Crazy Craw sh & Seafood.
Owning a craw sh food trailer was a good t, Freeman says. “I love crawsh. I love cooking it. at and just the camaraderie and getting to meet new people. Doing festivals. We do Overton Square Craw sh Festival. We cook a lot of craw sh down there. is year it’s May 3rd. We’re doing 6,000 pounds. We do catering and all that good stu .” Rapp says he knew “nothing” about craw sh when he got in the business. “I had them a time or two at some events, but that was about it,” he says.
“ e thing I like about it is being able to serve the people in the community,” Rapp says. “I have worked in the food industry through high school to college in my 20s, and then I got into sales. It’s serving the public and providing them good quality, tasty food.”
at also goes for his It’s a wRAPP restaurant, where he sells deli wraps, salads, and quesadillas.
eir cookies come from a recipe by Rapp’s sister-in-law Rachel Rapp. ey eventually want a brick-andmortar location for Crazy Craw sh, Freeman says — and they want to expand.
All of their Crazy Craw sh items are online at crazycraw shandseafood.com. “Customers can order their live craw sh sacks and all the sides and items they need for a craw sh boil,” Rapp says. at includes their newest item: Cajun boiled eggs — “a boiled egg we soak in water and our seasoning,” Freeman says.
So, just what is the proper way to eat a mudbug?
“I don’t know if my way is the proper way, but you pinch the tail and pull it away from the head,” Freeman says. “ en you twist o the head. “Take the rst ‘ring’ or ‘shell’ o the tail. Squeeze the back of the tail and pull out the meat.”
Finally, you can “suck the head,” he says. “If you want to get the juice out.” e quote Rapp came up with for their website says it all: “Tastes so good it makes your lips go Flippity Floppity Flip Flop Flop.”
PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE
Gary Rapp (le ) and Bryan Freeman (right) serve up craw sh and more at their
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
By
the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication
Crosstown Concourse Plaza and Atrium on June 7th! Shop 100+ of the most talented local makers and artists, enjoy delicious craft tastes at our Crafts & Drafts Beer Garden, and partake in all of the fun of Crosstown Concourse!
The Passing Parade
In the name of gender equality, Chinese influencer Zhu Miaolin is calling on her male counterparts to start wearing Adam’s apple covers, analogous to women wearing bras. The South China Morning Post reported on Jan. 23 that Zhu noted the Adam’s apple is a delicate, sensitive area that should be protected. The covers are made from wool, leather, or lace and cost between 70 cents and $3. A 2020 census in China revealed that there are about 35 million more men than women, a result of the longstanding (but now defunct) one-child policy in the country.
Family Values
Two mourning sisters from Clearwater, Florida, didn’t even make it out of the church before getting into a scrape following their 95-year-old dad’s funeral on Jan. 22, The Smoking Gun reported. As Kathleen Deegan, 66, delivered the eulogy for Dr. Arthur Deegan, she neglected to mention her niece, which upset Maureen Deegan, 60. After the service, Maureen allegedly chestbumped her older sister; Kathleen then grabbed Maureen’s hair and pulled her back. Maureen threw “strikes at [Kathleen’s] face.” Kathleen was arrested for misdemeanor battery; Maureen was charged with felony battery because her victim was over 65 years old.
up her name, until she started going by Shian when she was 11. As an adult, she has embraced her first name again. “I have heard the same jokes over and over again,” she said. “Kids would ask if my parents were alcoholics or if they were drunk naming me.” Interestingly, Tequilla is a teetotaler: “I myself don’t drink — people find that very funny, that the girl named Tequilla doesn’t drink.”
Don’t Try This at Home
JAMA Cardiology published a case on Jan. 22 that might put followers of the carnivore diet off their meat. The subject arrived at a Tampa, Florida, hospital with yellow oozing nodes on his palms, elbows, and soles of his feet, the New York Post reported. He told doctors that he was following a diet consisting of entire sticks of butter and six to nine pounds of cheese and hamburger patties daily. He said his overall health had improved — he had lost weight and gained energy and cognitive functioning. But the painless ooze had started nearly a month earlier. Blood tests revealed his cholesterol level was more than 1,000 mg/dL — about five times what is considered healthy. He was diagnosed with xanthelasma, in which excess lipids ooze from the blood vessels. The report didn’t reveal the man’s fate.
News That Sounds Like a Joke
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Fighting a cold? If you’re lucky, you can find some Progresso Soup Drops — cough lozenges that taste like chicken noodle soup. Metro News reported that General Mills announced the limited-time product on Jan. 16: “What’s a soup drop? Well, it’s soup you can suck on, of course!” A can of 24 lozenges costs $2.49, but they sold out almost immediately, before a second batch was released on Jan. 23.
What’s in a Name?
Before she was born, a cosmetologist from McDonough, Georgia, told the New York Post on Jan. 27, her mom wanted to name her either Tequilla Sunrise or Shaylee Shian. After the birth, her dad merged the names and signed the papers, and Tequilla Shian was introduced to the world. Tequilla was bullied and got in trouble with teachers, who thought she was making
Domino’s Pizza UK launched its firstever eau de toilette, Eau de Passion, which is inspired by its Pepperoni Passion pizza and features notes of spice, pepper, and a woody, warm base, the New York Post reported. The scent’s bottle is shaped like a slice of pizza, and the cologne is free from the Domino’s website if you’re lucky enough to be chosen to receive one. British star Luke Debono, who’s promoting the scent, said it was “the perfect gift for passionate pizza-loving couples looking to spice things up this Valentine’s Day.”
Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD © 2025 Andrews McMeel Syndication. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Guilt and fear are always useless distractions from what’s really happening. Right? APRIL FOOL! The fact is that on rare occasions, being anxious can motivate you to escape from situations that your logical mind says are tolerable. And guilt may compel you to take the right action when nothing else will. This is one time when your guilt and fear can be valuable assets.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The German word Flüsterwitze means “whisper jokes.” These jests make taboo references and need to be delivered with utmost discretion. They may include the mockery of authority figures. Dear Gemini, I recommend that you suppress your wicked satire and uproarious sarcasm for a while and stick to whisper jokes. APRIL FOOL! I lied. The truth is that the world needs your outspokenness. Your ability to call out hypocrisies and expose corruption — especially with humor and wit — will keep everyone as honest as they need to be.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): In the lead-up to the Paris-hosted 2024 Summer Olympics, the iconic Eiffel Tower was repainted gold. This was a departure from tradition, as the usual colors had been brown on the bottom and red on the top. The $60-million job took 25 painters 18 months. I recommend that you undertake an equally monumental task in the coming months, Cancerian. APRIL FOOL! I lied. In fact, I do hope you undertake a monumental task — but one that’s more substantive than changing the surfaces of things. Like reenvisioning your life story, for example — reinterpreting your past and changing the way it informs your future. I think you are ready to purge inessential elements and exorcize old ghosts as you prepare for a re-launch around your birthday.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): When I worked on the Duke University grounds crew years ago, I did the work I was assigned as quickly as possible. Then I would hide in the bushes, taking unauthorized breaks for an hour or two, so I could read books I loved. Was that unethical? Maybe. But the fact is, I would never have been able to complete my assigned tasks unless I allowed myself relaxation retreats. If there is an equivalent situation in your life, Leo, I urge you to do as I did. APRIL FOOL! I half-lied. The truth is that I think you should be a little less extravagant than I was — but only a little — as you create the spaciousness and slack you need.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In his film Fitzcarraldo, Virgo director Werner Herzog tells an epic story. It includes the task of hauling a 320-ton steamship up a hill and over land, moving it from one river to another. Herzog could have relied on special effects to simulate this almost impossible project, but he didn’t. With a
By Rob Brezsny
system of pulleys and a potent labor force, he made it happen. I urge you to try your equivalent of Herzog’s heroic conquest, Virgo. You will be able to summon more power and help than you can imagine. APRIL FOOL! I half-lied. While it’s true that you will be able to summon more power and help than you can imagine, I still think you should at least partially rely on the equivalent of special effects.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Researchers discovered that Egyptian fruit bats engage in extensive communication with each other while nesting in their roosts. Surprisingly, they talk about their problems a lot. In fact, they quarrel 60 percent of the time. Areas of disagreement include food allocation, positions within the sleep cluster, and males initiating unwanted mating moves. Let’s make these bats your power creatures. The astrological omens say it’s time for you to argue more than you have ever argued. APRIL FOOL! I was not entirely truthful. The coming weeks will be a good time to address disagreements and settle disputes, but hopefully through graceful means, not bitter arguing.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Unlike many modern poets, Scorpio-born Alice Notley rejects the notion that she must be part of any poetic lineage. She aspires “to establish or continue no tradition except one that literally can’t exist — the celebration of the singular thought sung at a particular instant in a unique voice.” She has also written, “It’s necessary to maintain a state of disobedience against everything.” She describes her work as “an immense act of rebellion against dominant social forces.” I invite you to enjoy your own version of a Notley-like phase, Scorpio. APRIL FOOL! I lied. In fact, I encourage you to enjoy a Notley-like phase beginning May 1. But for now, I invite you to be extra attentive in cultivating all the ways you can benefit from honoring your similarities and connections with others.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is a standardized test that many American high school students take to prove their worth to colleges. The highest possible score is achieved by fewer than 1 percent of test-takers. We might imagine that earning such a premium grade must guarantee admission to any school, but it doesn’t. During one five-year period, for example, Stanford University rejected 69 percent of applicants with the highest possible score. I’m sorry to predict that a comparable experience might be ahead for you, Sagittarius. Even if you are your best and brightest self, you may be denied your rightful reward. APRIL FOOL! I totally lied. Here’s my real, true prediction: In the coming weeks, I believe you will be your best and brightest self — and will win your rightful reward.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Ancient Rome’s emperor Julius Caesar undertook a radical move to fix the calendar, which had become increasingly inaccurate as the centuries passed. He added three months to the year 46 B.C.E., which as a result was 445 days long. I’m thinking that 2025 might seem equally long for you, Aries. Your destiny may feel like it’s taking forever to unfold. APRIL FOOL! I totally lied. In fact, I think 2025 will be one of your briskest, crispest years ever. Your adventures will be spiced with alacrity. Your efforts will be efficient and expeditious. You may sometimes be amazed at how swiftly progress unfolds.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The visible part of an iceberg is typically just 10 percent of its total size. Most is hidden beneath the sea’s surface. References to “the tip of the iceberg” have become a staple metaphor in many cultures, signifying situations that are not what they seem. Of all the zodiac tribes, Scorpios are renowned for their expertise in discerning concealed agendas and missing information. The rest of us tend to be far less skillful. APRIL FOOL! I fibbed. These days, you Capricorns are even more talented than Scorpios at looking beyond the obvious and becoming aware of the concealed roots and full context.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In the coming weeks, I advise you to be like the 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson. She lived in quiet seclusion, corresponding through letters instead of socializing. She seemed content to write her poems all alone in her home and be unconcerned about trying to get them published.
APRIL FOOL! I lied. Here’s my real horoscope: Now is a highly favorable time for you to shmooze with intensity at a wide range of social occasions, both to get all the educational prods you need and to advance your ambitions.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Some systems and situations improve and thrive in response to stress and errors. Indeed, some things need strain or irregularity to be fully healthy. For example, human bodies require a certain amount of stress to develop a resistance to infection. In reading the astrological omens, I conclude you now need stimulation like that. APRIL FOOL! I lied. Here’s the truth: August of 2025 will be a great time for you to harvest the benefits of benevolent stress. But for now, your forte will be the capacity to avoid and resist stress, confusion, and errors.
FILM By Chris McCoy
Of Mushrooms and Men
Common Side E ects takes on the pharmaceutical industrial complex.
The elevation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the o ce of secretary of health and human services is a symptom of a deep problem in the United States: We hate our healthcare system.
ere are a lot of reasons to hate the horrifying and deadly kludge that passes for a healthcare “system” in this country. Even the newly installed CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Andrew Witty, admitted in a New York Times op-ed published in the wake of his predecessor’s murder by vigilante Luigi Mangione that no sane person would design a healthcare system like this. And yet, there Witty is, turning the crank on the peasant grinder and collecting the coins that come out the other side. UnitedHealth’s $14 billion in pro ts, and Witty’s personal $23 million pay, is a powerful motivator for him and his comrades to keep things as messed up (and expensive) as possible. Looking at the United States of 2025, there’s only one possible conclusion: e for-pro t healthcare model delivers pro ts, but it cannot deliver healthcare.
Instead of blaming those who are actually at fault — pharmaceutical companies, hospital conglomerates, and the entire concept of health insurance — many people have been led to reject the things that the people actually practicing medicine do well, like vaccines. Robert F. Kennedy sells snake oil and vaccine skepticism so the public doesn’t turn on the people who are getting rich by making them poorer and sicker.
No one is perfect, and no one is purely hero or villain.
e hero of the new Adult Swim animated show Common Side E ects knows exactly where to place the blame. Marshall Cuso (voiced by veteran comedy writer Dave King) has the look of someone who entered mycology because of his fondness for psilocybin. His Hawaiian shirt is always unbuttoned, his beard is scru y, and he probably sleeps in his bucket hat. But despite his appearance, he is a serious scholar of mushrooms who studied with Hildy (Sue Rose), a respected
academic who has since retired.
Marshall’s mushroom obsession leads him to the jungles of Peru in search of a legendary mushroom known as the Blue Angel. e mushroom is said to have healing properties, but when Marshall nally does nd a circle of them, it turns out to be much more potent than anyone imagined. Just a few bites of the little blue mushrooms will cure everything from a rash to a gunshot wound.
e spot where Marshall nds the mushrooms is remote, but it’s hardly untouched. Just a little way upstream is a pharmaceutical factory run by the Reutical corporation, which is polluting the ground and water. Fearing that he might have found the last of the endangered mushrooms, Marshall picks a few samples and makes plans to return home. But before he can, he is attacked by unknown forces and barely escapes the country with his life.
Back in the United States, and in a state of maximum paranoia, he turns to his former lab partner and college friend Frances (Emily Pendergast). She’s a kind soul who has leveraged her biology degree into a healthcare job, and Marshall thinks maybe she could help him bring this miracle drug to the masses, curing practically all diseases overnight. But little does Marshall know that Frances works for Reutical as an executive assistant to CEO Rick Kruger (Mike Judge).
Marshall nds himself trapped with no one to trust but his turtle Socrates, and possibly his half-brother Zane (Alan Resnick). Meanwhile, the mysterious armed men who rst found him in Peru are hot on his trail. eir boss, Swiss nancier Jonas Backstein, views the mushrooms as a threat to the entire pharmaceutical industrial complex, and wants them and Marshall destroyed.
e way series creators Joseph Bennett and Steve Hely draw both their protagonist Marshall and antagonist Rick reveals a lot about what makes Common Side E ects such compelling viewing. No one is perfect, and no one is purely hero or villain. Marshall sees the world clearly, but he’s also a wild-eyed idealist and something of a self-sabotaging bumbler. He takes everything seriously and carefully calculates his next move to the point of overthinking. Rick is a man of wealth and power, but he has no intention of using his position for anything but selfenrichment. He can barely check into a
hotel without Frances’ help. Meanwhile, Frances must care for her mother Sonia (Lin Shaye), a late-stage Alzheimer’s patient whose insurance is about to kick her out of the nursing home. Rick is afraid the company’s recent disappointing earnings report is going to cost him his job, and he needs a new breakthrough medicine to satisfy the board of directors. Frances nds herself caught between loyalty to her friend and the needs of her job. Meanwhile, Marshall’s reappearance in her life has rekindled an old ame, and her current boyfriend Nick (Ben Feldman) is an oblivious oaf. Bennett was also a producer of Scavengers Reign, the excellent scianimation that was canceled by Net ix a er only one season. e animation style of Common Side
E ects is a similar combination of naturalistic environments and somewhat stylized character designs. Adult Swim is famous for the absurdist style of animated comedy the network pioneered, but this show, while o en funny, is their rst foray into serialized thriller. e laughs come from the character’s foibles, like Rick’s inexplicable addiction to playing farming simulator games on his phone while he should be working. Don’t let the animation fool you into thinking this show isn’t a serious work of art. Common Side E ects is one of the best shows on television.
e Common Side E ects season nale airs on Adult Swim on Sunday at 11:30 p.m. e entire series is available for streaming on Max.
Common Side E ects, Adult Swim’s rst foray into serialized thriller, wraps up its rst season this Sunday.
Our critic picks the best films in theaters.
A Working Man
Jason Statham stars as Levon Cade, an ex-Royal Marine whose boss’ (Michael Peña) daughter Jenny (Arianna Rivas) is kidnapped. He must shed his new identity as a construction worker and use “a certain set of skills” to bring her home. Fast & Furious director David Ayer directs and wrote the screenplay with Sylvester Stallone.
The Woman in the Yard Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler) just lost her husband in a horrific car crash. Now, she has to figure out how to carry on with her two kids alone in a remote farm house.
Then a mysterious woman in black (Okwui Okpokwasili) appears in their yard. From her funeral shroud, she whispers, “Today is the day.” Sounds ominous!
Snow White
Disney continues its string of liveaction remakes of classic animation with this reimagining of the highest grossing film of 1938. This Snow White stars Rachel Zegler as the titular princess who is forced into work as a scullery maid by her evil stepmother, played by Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot. Andrew Burnap stars as the prince, who is now just a guy named Jonathan, and basso profundo Patrick Page is the magic mirror. Also, the dwarves are bandits now.
Qualifying Agencies are:
•Health Organizations
•Treatment Centers
•Churches
•Schools
•Local Businesses
•Non Profits
•Restaurants/Bars/Clubs
•Hotels etc...
memphisprevention.org
This Time It’s Personal
Of new beginnings and sudden endings — how recent federal cuts have a ected one small family.
Yesterday, my wife and I took my infant son to his one-month pediatric checkup appointment. He got a glowing report from his wonderful doctor, but a month ago, that outcome was anything but certain.
Some 20 or so hours into my brave wife’s labor, the hospital sta realized that our son was having serious and potentially deadly uctuations with his heart rate. ey tried every intervention possible while I ran through the pain-coping techniques I had learned in our birthing classes.
Suddenly, there were at least half a dozen medical professionals in the room. ey stopped explaining what they were doing, but their eyes told me everything I needed to know. My brave wife, whose birth plan had changed three times in a handful of hours, was rushed to an emergency “crash” C-section while a nurse took me to get into scrubs. e time apart from my best friend, my beautiful, caring, courageous wife was the most terrifying few minutes of my life.
Soon, a nurse took me into the operating room and I was able to hold my wife’s hand during the procedure. I would swear that the surgery took hours, but our family, who were waiting outside, all said it was the fastest C-section they had ever waited on or heard of.
Trump’s federal cuts a ect Americans, far and wide.
A er 26 hours of labor, my son was born via crash C-section. He was (and is!) healthy, and he recovered from the di cult labor quickly. My wife was safe, too, for which I will never stop being thankful. A er a few days, we were allowed to go home to begin our journey as a family.
One week a er our son’s birth, my wife and I learned that we had lost our jobs thanks to President Donald J. Trump’s federal cuts. ough neither of us works for the government, we did work with federal agencies. My wife, who had been promoted based on merit mere months earlier, was recovering from major surgery, learning to be a mom, and suddenly needed to nd a new job. She had worked for a lovely company doing work that I can describe only as “good.” She has helped scientists and researchers ght cancer, ght coastal erosion by saving native sea grass, and helped environmental and data scientists communicate with each other and with the Indigenous community.
As for me, well, it was contract work. I had recently taken the plunge and begun my own copywriting, editing, and marketing company. Until I lost that one big client that helped make the dream possible. I’m not stressed about myself though. My family is healthy; I’ve found work before, and I will again. But I do worry about all of the workers at our national parks and the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation who have dedicated their entire adult lives to the dream of making the U.S. a healthier, safer, greener place.
It’s easy to think of Trump’s measures as a ecting only a faceless horde of bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., but no human being is faceless. No one is without dreams, a history, a rich inner life. ese are our countrymen, and they’re real people who will really su er.
e former federal workers who are doubtless scrambling to nd employment and feed their families are, of course, only the tip of the iceberg. Immigrants, documented or otherwise, who are detained by ICE agents are people guilty only of being from somewhere else, of dreaming of a better life. ey probably had more hope for the U.S. than I do, but that hasn’t helped them when plainclothes agents handcu them, o en without providing the necessary legal documentation.
And then there is the trans community, speci cally, and the LGBTQ community in general. Did I mention that the doula who taught our birth classes is trans? at they are easily the kindest, most generous human I have met in years? at they helped my wife feel safe before confronting the biggest and most frightening unknown a pregnant person can experience?
Of course, they’re not the rst trans person I’ve known, nor is their kindness the reason why that community has my support, but this column isn’t about sense and reasons. I’m desperately trying to humanize these issues, to put a face to the headlines. Again, these are people. Americans. O en brave people who work harder than I can imagine, who work to help others more vulnerable than themselves. To demonize them for political gain is nothing short of callous cruelty I’m not ashamed to call evil.
During the Covid pandemic, the previous iteration of the Trump administration so -launched eugenics, to little outcry from the American people. Collectively, we decided that we didn’t mind if the old and vulnerable paid the price for our weekend brunches, our vacation trips. Trump is back, emboldened by a socalled mandate from voters. e message is clear: As long as the economic wheels keep turning, no one in power cares if they’re greased with the blood of the vulnerable.
I don’t want my son to grow up in a nation devoid of empathy, where might makes right. So I’m asking you — begging you — to care.
Jesse Davis is a former Flyer sta er; he writes a monthly Books feature for Memphis Magazine. His opinions, such as they are, hope we can nd some way out of this mess.
PHOTO: CPENLER | DREAMSTIME.COM
