Events

Memphis Listening Lab/WYXR’s Record Swap and Crosstown Arts’ eighth annual Zine Fest are coming together for one awesome event in the Crosstown Concourse Central Atrium!

Larry & Joe is the duo of Joropo maestro Larry Bellorín (Monagas, Venezuela) and GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and oldtime star Joe Troop (Winston-Salem, North Carolina). These two virtuosic multi-instrumentalists fuse their respective Venezuelan and Appalachian folk traditions on the harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, upright bass, guitar, and maracas to prove that music has no borders. Their bilingual (esp / eng) program includes storytelling, humor, and singalongs.

Memphis Listening Lab/WYXR’s Record Swap and Crosstown Arts’ eighth annual Zine Fest are coming together for one awesome event in the Crosstown Concourse Central Atrium!

Pedal and lap steel guitar ace Roosevelt Collier, so proficient he’s affectionately known as “The Dr,” released his solo debut, Exit 16, on GroundUP Music. It’s a potent mix of blues, gospel, rock and, in his words, “dirty funk swampy grime,” as overseen by producer and Bokanté bandmate Michael League (from the Grammy-winning Snarky Puppy). Brought up in the House of God Church in Perrine, Florida, Roosevelt built his “sacred steel” guitar prowess alongside his uncles and cousins in The Lee Boys, known for their spirited, soul-shaking live performances.

Already being hailed as “the next Woody Guthrie,” DC resident Crys Matthews is among the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music-makers. A powerful lyricist whose songs of compassionate dissent reflect her lived experience as what she lightheartedly calls “the poster-child for intersectionality,” Justin Hiltner of Bluegrass Situation called Matthews’s gift “a reminder of what beauty can occur when we bridge those divides.” A former drum major and classically-trained clarinetist turned folk singer, Matthews is using her voice to answer Dr. Martin Luther King’s call to be “a drum major for justice.” Crys Matthews’s thoughtful, realistic and emotional songs speak to the voice of our generation and remind us why music indeed soothes the soul.

The sonically innovative harpist, Brandee Younger, is revolutionizing harp for the digital era. Over the past fifteen years, she has worked relentlessly to stretch boundaries and limitations for harpists. In 2022, she made history by becoming the first Black woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. That same year, she was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Ever-expanding as an artist, she has worked with cultural icons including Common, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, and Moses Sumney. Her current album, Brand New Life, builds on her already rich oeuvre, and cements the harp’s place in pop culture.

The Crosstown Strictly Jazz Series, presented by Crosstown Arts in collaboration with Strictly Jazz Entertainment, is designed to salute classic jazz music as contemporary musicians perform the work of the legends.

John Fullbright’s debut album was called “preternaturally self-assured,” while NPR said “it’s not every day a new artist earns comparisons to great songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and Randy Newman, but Fullbright’s music makes sense in such lofty company.” The Wall Street Journal crowned him as giving one of the year’s 10 best live performances, and the album also earned him a GRAMMY nomination for Best Americana Album and the ASCAP Foundation’s Harold Adamson Lyric Award.

For this performance, Ben Ricketts (piano/vocals/electronics) will be joined by the Vanishing Imaginary Orchestra, a small ensemble featuring Julia Rice (guitar), Dylan Van Zile (bass), and Kole Oakes (tapes/synthesizer/samples). This performance ensemble recreates and reimagines songs from Ricketts’ wide-ranging catalogue, bringing them to life with a mix of tight arrangements, adventurous improvisation, and expansive audio exploration. Local songwriter Rachel Maxann will be opening the show.

The collective vision of trumpeter Marc Franklin, guitarist Joe Restivo, and vocalist John Németh has earned the ensemble favorable responses from the public and press alike. The Memphis Commercial Appeal noted the band’s immersive qualities, transporting listeners to a pivotal scene in which jazz and blues maintained influence over Memphis’ soul burgeoning sound. Writer Bob Mehr lauded the band for “re-conjuring a sound and style that was dominant in Memphis, and that would have a formative influence on the young artists who would come to stock the rosters of Stax Records and Hi Records in the decades to come.”