Ok so spirits guide me on, and truly mysterious week that follows.  Memphis like all the big musical cities has it’s party street, Beale St, the once great bustle of music that through history built what we know as blues and rock n roll. But now is  a shell of its former self where commercialism and party society culture has slowly eaten the soul from this place inside to out… Venues where former icons of the scene played, where now everyone plays that same music but with less conviction and doing it because that’s what is expected.

I have sensed everywhere, all the places I have been, like Australia, in the USA, Nola, San Marcos, Austin, Greenville, Clarksdale, Memphis, Nashville, the over-arching vibe I get from chatting to, researching, absorbing, and watching musicians is that the music scene is increasingly hard whereever you are. It’s only ever going to be whatever you are gonna make it for yourself, and the truths that have always been truths, are that you will only be the difference with what becomes of you and your music.  This trip has confirmed one thing for me which is if you want to make music you have to be extremely careful who you pick as your allies in this war of attrition of those with a true heart for it. As many comrades will be lost along the way, and only the truly dedicated will be standing by your side, or even somewhere on the field of battle in years to come.

As an AV tech, the whole tour experience has been done really well! and not just the commercial stuff, I do get some really great insights into the man, and the things that made him the musician he was, very interesting from the point of view of where he came from to where he ended up.

It’s undeniable though, that Elvis’ impact on the music industry is substantial, but the more I have seen local scene, the smaller exhibits, the places significant in other ways, and the other musical histories laid out by different views, that perhaps there is a dissproportionate acclaim held up to certain artists, or people like Elvis, who capitalised on the shoulders of others. In the words of Carl Perkins on arguably the “first" Rockabilly song “Blue Moon of Kentucky” BY Bill Monroe but made famous by Elvis - “A white man’s lyric, to a black man’s rhythm”. It seems Elvis just came at the right time, and fit country, blues, and gospel into the one gyrating package in a palatable white face. Talent undeniable, marketed by a savvy manager, the Colonel, who like a lot of business people of the era, just realised the $$ opportunities that lay ahead.

“I didn’t open the studio to record funerals, weddings and school revues. I knew what I opened the studio for: I was looking for a higher ground that I knew existed in the soul of mankind. And especially at that time the black man’s spirit and his soul.” - Sam Phillips

The best thing about THIS tourist attraction is even though it runs as a gift shop, tours and historical site, the studio is still a great recording space with a full setup and live recording space in its original configuration.  So after 6.30pm when the tours stop, it still records bands, and artists who come in, in the original Sam Phillips ethos, We record anyone! I have been emailing and chatting with the In-house engineer, and plan to track down the bassline to a song I am reworking from my old band Filthy Downtown, hopefully some of that spirit gets infused into the recording :) After the tour I was on, I hang out with the staff/tour guides who are all musos (of course) and get the low down on the scene, more list additions, and even get a sneaky beer in with them.

Ok enough of the nostalgia, it’s time to get real and actually in this, so I dive into a blues jam that I see listed, surprisingly there aren’t many jams listed in Memphis. But I guess like most things you have to dig to find the real ones. So I head way out that night, south to a local pub to and get into really local jam where really only me and one other guy show up to jam with the local house band.  I meet Jack Rowell Jnr, and one of his bands, they love that an Australian came all this way to jam at a jam in Southaven… a very outer suburb in Memphis. 

On my way back into town I drop into DKDC and catch Dave Cousar, local guitar legend with many guests… truly unique singer guitarist, and has great flavours with extra singers, bassplayers, snare drummers, acoustic guitarists.

Wed, tick The Edge Cafe off my list, and have arguably the best coffee I have had in America so far. New boutique cafe in a mini-boutique mall with artisan shops, they know how to make food and coffee, and brewed infused cold coffees too! This becomes my fav cafe in Memphis and end up doing most of my Blogging here. (I am there right now doing this Blog)

Thurs, decide to get some more history into me, there are so many exhibits, Stax Records, Blues Hall of Fame… amongst others, I’m a bit exhibited out,  but a local suggests the Rock N Soul Museum as it’s a good history and not too targeted at one thing like the rest, set up by The Smithsonian Institute.  He’s right it’s actually really good.  It takes you all the way through from the early work songs, blues, and country music, through the different eras - Blues, Country, Soul, the development of the key artists, a smattering of all the important original indie record companies Stax, Hi, and the development of the styles of music known from Memphis that changed music as we know it. 

Memphis was, and still is at the crossroads in the country where cultures and musics collide. Nashville may have become the music capital, but Memphis definitely seems to have held onto its musical soul just that little bit more than its cut-throat counter-part.

So I arrive at almost the right time, and literally get thrown onstage almost immediately! I find out it’s more just Jack’s Band, and it’s not really a jam more of an invitational, but Jack knows I can play so I’m straight in.  This is a great jam, great players, Stax records demo session players, ex-Hank Williams Jnr players, and Jack has been nominated for best Indie Blues by The Blues Foundation. Work up a connection with both the drummer and the guitarist on stage, and also get throw a bass solo ha ha not the best I’ve ever done ad-libbed, but its enough to get cheers from the crowd. As a player on the search for the heart of things musically, this is one of the best nights on this trip so far, not just for the music, but also the connection I make musically with all the players on this night.

I do a cruise around, and end up down at Broadway, the strip, for a while to just check it out (Nashville’s Burbon st, Beale St). It is a hotbed of music bars and tourist T-shirt/boot shops, and like its predecessors an armpit of covers-y noise, neon lights & drunken bachelorette parties, bros, hoes, and security.  Fun for a moment, but a good place to avoid in the future. I find out there is 2 football games on, but even locals tell me that its usually nearly this busy, it’s pretty packed everywhere.

The only place that I wanted to see in Nashville was the original Grand Ole Opry. Renamed the Ryman Auditorium, and still hosts the winter concerts for the Grand Ole Opry TV show.  If you are ever here see the introduction tour video, it’s something else! AV-wise so much better than the usual boring info film… state of the art tech, loved it! Have a great chat with Brandon the head lighting tech of the place as they are setting up for the show tonight. Grand MA lighting desk & plenty of standard and moving lighting. He’s only been in the job for 1 year, great gig! He gives me a few more tips for my list.

The Ryman has such great history, with the Opry Radio/TV Show, and also so many great artists have played here, it’s big enough for a national/international artist to play, but also small enough that it still feels intimate for the audience. So many great artists played here, including Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams (who received six encores), Patsy Cline, Carl Perkins, and later newer artists in the revival after a period of dormancy and near destruction, Neil Young, The Oak Ridge Boys, Ringo Starr, Cold Play, Garth Brooks, Foofighters and Kesha (who is from Nashville). 

It’s a nicely setup bluesy bar, with a medium 1 metre high stage, surrounded by a mezzanine level.  The musos are going through so interesting covers and standards, very occasionally put in an original song.  They are selling CD merch of their own stuff, and a tip bucket, but rarely showcase their own music. It’s what’s expected in these types of establishments.

I head out to more city, and go directly to the pit, Broadway to just soak up that side of things, you can’t have an opinion unless you see it totally for yourself right.  I check many venues but hang particularly at 2 to see bands play, the first is so typically bedroom-hero-my-mum-told-me-i-am-good playing bad covers like Summer of 69… ha ha it’s cheesy good! but the second Rachael Johnson - with band, are actually really tight, and a great band and singer.  But they do a slightly better covers, in really good ways. Rachael also has her own stuff on sale. The band plays songs every once and while, while sexy Rachael wanders the crowd for requests and the tip jar… they have a great system for maximising incomes.  I ask them later, after requesting an original (but they can’t play one), where there band plays.  But Rachael is a solo artist and the band is temporary, They are called the Funkonaughts. I finally head home after soaking up more of the ghastly street vibe, footy season has bolstered the vomit, have a Nashville hotdog on the street and get out of there.

‘Cause I am out north of the city I have a look at my list for Nashville, and Fontanelle comes up way out north too. So head there for lunch, it’s a winery/music venue/hiking area.  Sit at the bar, order the brunch Corned Beef Harsh Benedict which is absolutely delicious, and order a Bloody Mary to go with it, which is also a very accomplished version with jalepeno, pepper, bacon, olive and cherry tomato.

There are 3 experienced ol’ boys playing a mixture of jazz standards, bluegrass, and bluesy swingy inspired numbers. Nothing to offensive for the lunchtime crowd. The Fontanel property was built by country star Barbara Mandrell in 80s, the largest log cabin in the world, but since then it’s been sold and made into a tourist complex with cafe, venues, hiking trails and high adventure activities. Do we see a pattern forming in ‘Murica.

I decide to possibly head to New Orleans for a Swing Dance Festival, and hang with friends there, and after a daytime ditch into the biggest flea market in Nashville, which I pick up a great little ampere guage to add to my steampunk bass, see some NAS cars as the track is right next door, and then I head on down the road. 

But as with things on this trip, plans change, and I discover my friends place in Nola isn’t going to work out, and then the whole idea of travelling way out of my way, and the extra accomodation expense needed, and also the festival cost make it a really expensive detour now.  So after heading off, I decide to head back to Memphis as its only 3hrs away, and head there via Tupelo… which becomes its own story next week. Another week down, so many great things, music is crazy and great!

After a great time in mid south Texas, hooked up a stay with Rich (muso mate of Nick from San Marcos) in Austin proper. He luckily has a caravan for touring in his yard that band people and muso mates can stay.  I after getting acquainted, do  a drive around the central area again, I have a bit of an idea of Austin already. Austin is a bit more spread out, it has a nice feel, more sprawling with lots of river around, every available empty block is full of little food trucks.

Tues luckily is HAAM Benefit Day in Austin! Such a great thing, HAAM stands for Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, and its literally that, the benefit day is their fundraiser, where bands/musos play all over Austin and money earned goes to HAAM, who help musos in need of acute medical care. Like most places in the world, musos never can afford to take care of themselves, or do the big medical and dental maintenance that people with regular careers take for granted. I hear many stories during the day from performers who have benefited from the program (and are putting back in for free this day).  Such a great initiative! one of the main setups is at Wholefoods supermarket outdoor area, with bands all day 6am - 8pm.

I saw heaps of great music here, from pop-py country blues, solo gravelly country with pedal steel, world-y Marimba group playing Zimbabwean music, groovy alt rock, a great day and selection of high quality players.  It’s sunny and hot, and a dry heat here in Austin, it reminds me of late Spring/early Summer in my home town in NSW.  Late arvo when the music gets a bit commercial, I do a bit of a walk around the Texas Capitol, the main govt building in the centre of town.

Wed, have a slow start. Have a bit of a drive around Central Austin, and Cherrywood, just to see some other place around town, check the communities. stop off at near Wholefoods again on the way back to Office Max to get a USB stick and a new back-up harddrive, as I left my full backup of my computer in Aus, wrapped in plastic in storage (as you can’t be too careful). But now I have heaps of new stuff that I don't want to lose, so decide to start a new USA backup that stays separate to my laptop :)  ha! do i sound like a computer nerd now! later head back to The Whitehorse because Lauren’s other big band outfit is playing swingy tunes there. They are seriously good, and the Two-Steppin’ western swing dancers love it, and there are a few swing dancers there too. I’ve started to feel the western swing dancers vibe, but it’s still a challenge, to match enough to not confuse them with Lindy moves. I head over to Dozen St again where there is listed Butta & Jam listed, but when I get there it’s actually more a band playing smooth grooves, and not much intention of any jamming happening.  I watch for a while, it’s groove / RnB / hip hop, but then head home.

The weekend is a toss up, but nothing is grabbing me in Austin, and I remember a festival that I wasn’t sure if it would time out, but as I spent a bit more time in New Orleans, it schedules out OK! so I decide to make a run for the Mississippi Delta Blues & Heritage Festival, which turns out to be their 40th Anniversary Fest! leave friday lunch and travel halfway to a small town called Marshall, stay in a motel, travel the rest of the way on Sat morning to arrive at lunchtime for the festival in Greenville Mississippi! basically a 9hr journey! just of hop skip and a jump for a touring aussie muso ;)

Highways are generally pretty good, major divided affairs, and this part of the country is mostly pretty flat, so they are big and straight… but luckily some of the places I’m going to are small, so I get to travel some byways and little places. Past cotton fields, and farms and towns of a few thousand, and every small village proudly has a water tower with their name on it.  I cross a state line into the corner of Arkansas, then the mighty Mississippi river again into Mississippi, The home and heart of the Blues and Rock and Roll.

First stop The Delta Fest! it’s pretty crazy, and very low-fi compared to say Byron Bay Blues Fest in Australia.  There is little pretence here, NO major corporations gauging as much cash out of you as possible.  Tickets for the whole festival are $30!! that’s right… 4 stages, music all day and night, there are only basic facilities, plenty of BBQ and food trucks onsite, and really no restrictions… people just bring wheelie trucks of marques, cooler boxes (eskies) full of beer, their own smokers and BBQ grills,  foldout chairs, the whole she-bang! & like a lot of festivals most setup up camp in front of the mainstage & don’t move.

It’s pretty dry and very hot this day in a dusty paddock!  lots of round bales of hay are dotted around, in case of rain and mud etc but I find they are also good to sit on later for a good view.  Main stage is huge, and has a massive PA, the Duke stage is small, and basic,  I mean really basic, but I find like most festivals I find myself moving around during the day and evening to different stages to check out some interesting stuff.  As with most main stages, the performer are all pretty good to great, but sometime can be a bit “safe” (read commercial) for my liking… ha ha the Duke stage has heaps of local acts, which are good and great. I buy one CD. There is also the Gospel Stage, which I gather after a few performances is actually a full gospel blues stage, like run by churches, with church bands and band/choirs that sing full on Church music southern style! Pretty amazing to watch, as the LEAST amount of harmony singing I saw on this stage was 3 part harmonies, and it went up from there, amazing! but after a while, each time, it started to sound a bit same-y to me, and when all the lyrics are about Jesus and God, and being uplifted, Amen! I get a bit lyrically tired, and went for some more variation on the Duke Stage.

Anyway I get over it, and start to have some conversations with a few people around and some of the stall holders, who can’t believe I came all the way from Australia! Whenever you talk most people assume you are British… I soon poo-poo that and set them straight ha ha! and after some great musical conversations and some BBQ ribs with spicy beans and potato salad, I could get used to this… hanging at the Duke stage I chat more closely with people and the barriers are breaking down, even the main stage area I start to get lots of smiles and nods from people that see me moving backwards and forwards from stage to stage, I think they know that only blues enthusiasts make it to this festival :)

But I have my own connection to Clarksdale, besides all the famed blues mumbo jumbo, and have always wanted to see the place.  Many years ago I was at a blues jam in Thirroul Australia, and ended up thrown into a jam with Matt Foster, a wild drunken slide bluesman from Maine in the USA, but he lived in Australia for years (Sidenote: and as a carpenter, Matt built some of the Nebauchadnezzar, Morpheus’ space ship in The Matrix 1) but we ended up jamming and playing many gigs over the years, and we did a song called "Going Down to Clarksdale”.  It always made me wonder about the place, it was a great song, and had incredibly bluesy, raucous, inciteful story lyrics, now I have stood in that place & walked that blues trail.

Also another totally random thing, I always wondered what happened to The Vanguard in Newtown Sydney, it had such a great vibe, and seemed to be going so well.  Then it has lately changed hands and become a bit more lack-lustre as Leadbelly.  But randomly walk into Levon’s in Clarksdale Mississippi, and run into Daniel Champagne! (Aussie Guitarist/Singer, who lives in Nashville now) who is playing in Levon’s. He explains that Johnny Cass who used to run The Vanguard, sold up everything and moved to Clarksdale, and now runs this venue! crazy!

I have to skirt north around Houston as all the highways are completely flooded from Hurricane Harvey, and Nick msgs me to say there are fuel shortages in the area. I break the trip up and stay in Shreveport, in a late night dodgey motel, two stars, with the most hillarious included breakfast, but hit the road and make it to  San Marcos late in the arvo, 11hr drive, just a easy one over 1 1/2days for an Aussie. Meet up with Nick and head out to a food truck area for dinner. And check out a couple of local venues and bars including The Showdown, a great local hang. Above the bar hang about 300 stickered, plastic stein mugs, each one belongs to a local, and the refills are cheap.

The other thing that San Marcos is really famous for is its river, a river tubing.  The junction geologically and the natural spring fed river lends itself to the clearest river water I have ever seen.  The last thing you’d expect in dusty Texas is such amazing rivers, but this whole area of the state has heaps of great rivers to swim in, which I did! perfect near the end of a hot day! and made with built rapids with smooth water slides and plenty of easy access steps and hang places.

I must say beer is weird in the USA, it’s not that great (there I said it)… ha ha there are plenty of fine Beers, but let’s just say it’s no Germany or Czech Republic.   I have a great breakfast Quesadilla, if there is one thing that Texas does well is Tex Mex food! the Mexican influence is brilliant! even the fast foody versions made by Mexicans are really good, and one of my local pick up taco joints is Bobcat Quickie in the Exxon gas station, but they have a full grill kitchen that makes amazing food any time of day or night.  I also have a great conversation with Jim from the Steampunk lighting shop. After a great chat he invites me to a steampunk mixer that is coming up, and I get a small custom made oldschool key to add to my steampunk bass guitar.

Saw my first Amercian squirrel in the park burying nuts for the winter, whilst eating my soft shelled Tilapia (fish taco) and a potato/choriozo/avocado taco custom, washed down with at Mint & Honey Moonshine Sweet Tea.  Apparently cars don’t need doors in San Marcos, and who could blame them with this weather.

Friday is punk night, and surprisingly there is a full on punk night in San Marcos which is rare these days. We stop by Tantra on the way for a cheap jug of beer (each ha ha) and one of Nick’s friends is spinning hip hop vinyl there, super cool. Nick and I catch a bit of the first punk bands at Kiva, and they are pretty standard SoCal style punk, we head out check some other places around town, & back to catch the final band “Piñata Protest” who I thoroughly recommend.  They are a bit more old school, and have a strong Mexican flavour.  The lead singer also plays accordion! which is fantastic with punk! Crazy night, get in the mosh-pit, but it’s a really supportive pit, and you get picked up if you get knocked over ha ha! I end up on the stage at one point, I don’t know how, and have one set of sneakers destroyed, and wake up with black stuff all over my legs.

Next day head out to New Braunfels where Georgia & Nick play a duo market gig, New Braunfels is a germanic town, so has a great farmers market ethos, and a huge Beirgarten Hall to go with it. Krauses’ has about 50 beers on tap! plays live music with a great outdoor beer garden style stage and has markets and lots of kid/family friendly activities.

I did intend on going moving on up to Austin this day, but end up hanging and going to another gig with that Georgia is playing upright bass with Steel Betty band also in New Braunfels. After lunch check Duckworth’s Violin Shop, where Bryan Duckworth has been making and repairing violins, cellos and double basses for over 30 years. See a few other night spots in town with some of Nick’s local friends, but then eventually head home to San Marcos, via some more tacos...

Nick’s San Marcos area has been a treat and Nick was a fantastic contact in the local music scene and showed me one hell of a time, but now it’s time to head on to Austin proper, and organise to stay with Rich Russell who also toured Aus with Nick. Time to catch some more music in Austin.  Another week drifts by and hurricane Irma has destroyed a lot of the Caribbean and now Cuba… so I may have to modify my end of trip plans, will see.  Some New Orleans friends are calling me back so I may end up back there ! ha ha :) Thanks San Marcos you were an absolute HOOT!