The East Memphis Trio and Friends Play at Local Downtown #MMHF13

Besides the music that was occurring on the official Memphis Music and Heritage Festival stages, there was also a good-sounding band playing on the patio in front of Local Gastropub downtown. I asked the band there what their name was, and was told that it was basically the East Memphis Trio, but with some guests sitting in.

A New Generation of Memphis Music With First Class #MMHF13

When I walked up to the stage at the north end of the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival, a rap duo was on stage called First Class. Boo Mitchell, the owner of Royal Sound Studios, walked up and told me that the group were his kids, and I could see the family resemblance. They were a decent rap act, and it is good to see the Mitchell family continuing in the music tradition started by the late Willie Mitchell.

Celebrating the Unique Culture of Memphis at the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival #MMHF13

Unlike New Orleans’ Jazz Fest, the Beale Street Music Festival does not feature a considerable amount of local Memphis talent (and almost no roots artists at all), so it is fortunate that there is another festival held on Labor Day weekend every year, known as the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, sponsored by the embattled yet resilient Center for Southern Folklore. This amazing, free, two-day festival features the music, dance, visual art and foodways of the Mid-South, spread out among two indoor and four outdoor stages on the Main Street Mall in downtown Memphis. Although there is usually at least one headline artist (this year’s was Bobby Rush), the festival line-up is heavily geared to artists from Memphis or the immediate vicinity, and includes all styles from bluegrass to blues to hip-hop to indie rock and jazz. Even drill teams and drumlines make appearances during the afternoon. Not as well known as perhaps it should be, the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival is arguably the best reason to make a trip to Memphis.

J. M. Van Eaton performed on the Folklore Hall stage of the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, 9/2/12

This year’s Memphis Music and Heritage Festival seemed beset with rain. Both days were harassed by sudden showers that popped up and caused the cancellation of some performances. 9/2/12

Brittany Russell and the Trunk Monkeys perform on the Gayoso stage at the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival on Sunday, 9/2/12. Visit http://www.brittanyrussell.com for further info including tour schedules, or like Brittany on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brittany-Russell-and-the-Trunk-Monkeys/129426100404836.

Memphis gospel group the Moments of Joy performs at the Peabody Place stage at the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, 9/2/12

In my lifetime at least, Memphis has not had much of a second-line tradition, but a sort-of impromptu second-line developed on Main Street late Sunday during the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, 9/2/12

Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, 9/2/12

Beast Finger at the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival 2012

The gypsy-jazz/folk band Devil Train renames itself Beast Finger when it goes electric, as they did Sunday at the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, 9/2/12. Check them out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DevilTrain/info.