Beale Street Caravan

Critically renown for their consistently brilliant, category-defying output, roots music stalwarts The Mavericks are with us this week to promote the release of their new album, Mono. This week's set, captured aboard Delbert McClinton's Sandy Beaches Cruise finds them in top, musical form in front of an adoring crowd. Also with us today, BSC contributor Jim Spake continues his series on the great saxophone sidemen in music history.

We're back with two sets taken from the North Mississippi Hill Country Hill Country Picnic. First up is southern troubadour Cary Hudson. Then rounding out the program is a set of blues-inspired gospel from the legendary Rev. John Wilkins. BSC contributor Jim Spake stops by to continue his series on the great saxophone sidemen of the early years of rock n roll.

Featuring on Beale Street Caravan this week is native son Greg Cartwright's garage-rock juggernaut, The Reigning Sound. For the record, we suggest listening to this week's show at a very high volume. BSC contributor Jim Spake stops in to continue his series on the sidemen that played rock and roll's original lead instrument. The series is called "Crazy 'Bout A Saxophone."

This week we feature the instrumental sounds of The City Champs. The Champs are a collaboration between musicians Al Gamble (St. Paul and The Broken Bones), George Sluppick (JJ Grey, Ruthie Foster, Chris Robinson Brotherhood) and Joe Restivo (Otis Clay, John Nemeth). Since these guys stay so busy with other gigs, they don't get to play together much... but when they do, it's a don't-miss occasion and BSC was there to capture it live.

A couple of days before his unexpected passing, John Fry, a longtime supporter and source of inspiration for BSC, had called up post-producer Adam Hill and in their conversation jokingly mentioned how great it would be to hear the Big Star show again during our re-broadcasts over the holidays. So as we step into this new year, it seems a fitting thing today to remember those who won't be making this leg of the journey with us.

(Previously aired). This week on BSC, the songs of the iconic album, Big Star's 3rd, fill the air in Overton Park in Memphis, TN, as Jody Stephens and an all-star cast, including Mitch Easter, Chris Stamey, and Pat Sansone, take the stage to bring the songs to life in front of an adoring hometown crowd.

Cedric Burnside features on Beale Street Caravan this week. Cedric, grandson of the late, great R.L. Burn.side, plays Hill Country blues like nobody else. We caught up with Cedric down in Clarksdale, Mississippi, at The Shack Up Inn's Juke Joint Chapel during this year's Bridging The Blues.

Also on the program, BSC contributor, Eddie Hankins, continues his series, American Studios: Memphis' Hit Factory.

Memphis is a tough crowd. It's a rare thing for a band to roll into town and knock a crowd's socks off. Memphians have seen it all.  But St. Paul and the Broken Bones aren't just any band. Listen to them set the city on fire in an electrifying set that you won't want to miss on Beale Street Caravan this week. Also on the program, BSC contributor Eddie Hankins checks in with us and continues his insightful series, American Studios: Memphis' Hit Factory.

John Kilzer is a lot of things: Former NCAA basketball standout at the University of Memphis, college professor, major-label recording artist , and a behind-the-scenes songwriter. And in recent years, he's added minister and theologian to the list. For some, that would indicate a departure. But for Kilzer, it's all part of a bigger plan and comes full circle with his first new recording project in decades, Hide Away. On this week's program, Kilzer plays selections from the album and, in his own words, explains how music, Memphis, and life's ups-and-downs led to his new calling and cultivated a desire to help others.

Child prodigy, prodigal son, and now man-on-a-mission, Eric Gales brings his unique gifts to the the BSC stage this week to celebrate the release of hi new record."I'm Good for Somethin'." Produced by Raphael Sadiq, the effort is Gales' most cohesive, yet daring, work yet. Later in the program, BSC host Pat Mitchell Worley sits down with Gales to talk about his new life and artistic direction.

Also on today's show, BSC contributor Eddie Hankins continues his talk on Chips Moman and all those amazing, hit records he made in a series we're calling, "American Studios: Memphis' Hit Factory."

With decades of accomplishments under his belt and a freight train tempo to his current rate of output and touring, Jimbo Mathus is crafting one of the most unique musical legacies in American roots music. It also may be one of the most overlooked. A genuine southern romantic, a brilliant wordsmith, and a fiery performer, it's always a pleasure when Jimbo graces our program. Today's performance is taken from the heart of the delta at the MIghty Mississippi Music Festival in Greenville, Mississippi.

Also on the program, BSC contributor, Eddie Hankins continues his series, "American Studios: Memphis' Hit Factory."

Rising roots artist Grace Askew headlines this week on Beale Street Caravan. Many may recognize Grace as a former contestant from NBC's The Voice, but music lovers throughout the country, particularly those plugged into the singer-songwriter scene, have known Grace as an creative wonder for years. This week she debuts songs from her new record, Scaredy Cat, which she recorded locally on hallowed ground at Sun Studio.

Before Grace, we'll hear from Jana, Holly, and Krista of the eclectic The Memphis Dawls as they perform selections from their full-length debut, Rooted In The Bone.

BSC contributor, Eddie Hankins will also be with us this week as he continues his series, American Studios: Memphis' Hit Factory.

Take Me To The RIver is a new film about the interracial, intergenerational legacy of soul and blues music. The award-winning film, which is in theaters now, goes behind the scenes to chronicle studio collaborations between veteran icons and young upstarts, exposing the familial warmth, the laid back approach, and the inspiring stories that have kept the music alive generation after generation. BSC host Pat Mitchell Worley sits down with producers Boo Mitchell and Martin Shore and they tell stories and take her on a guided tour of the film's soundtrack.

Also this week, BSC contributor, Eddie Hankins, continues his series, American Studios: Memphis' Hit Factory.

We kickoff our 2014 broadcast season with Rosanne Cash delivering a passionate, heartfelt performance in front of an adoring crowd in her hometown of Memphis, TN. Rosanne plays selections from her acclaimed album, The River and The Thread, an introspective collection of songs that provide a beautiful ode to the Memphis-Delta region. Critics are saying that it may be the very best work of an already illustrious career.

Also on the program today - BSC contributor, Eddie Hankins, begins the daunting task of distilling the success of Chips Moman's American Recording Studios into a new series we're calling American Studios: Memphis' Hit Factory.

Join us this week on Beale Street Caravan as Amy LaVere takes center stage and performs some of her most loved songs, as well as a few new ones off her new release, Runaway's Diary. BSC Contributor and slow foods movement pioneer, Poppy Tooker, explores the links between "Food and the Blues."

On this week's Beale Street Caravan we spend the hour with The Daddy Mack Blues Band as they celebrate the release of their new album, Blues Central. Singer and guitarist, Mack Orr, has been a part of the Memphis blues scene for decades - originally playing in legendary group, The Fieldstones - and The Daddy Mack Blues Band delivers its blues real, raw, and funky. So, the party will be coming right at you through your speakers on this week's show. Also, we conclude our series, "The Man Who Invented Rock and Roll" with one last moment with the late, great, Sam Phillips taken from the BSC archives.

This week on Beale Street Caravan we visit Ellis Grove Baptist Church in Memphis and we experience an incendiary night of old school gospel music. This concert features several Memphis gospel legends - The Nonconnah Male Choir, The Hunters Chapel Singers, The Seven Brothers and BSC favorite Rev. John Wilkins closes the night with a set that blows the roof off. In this week's "The Man Who Invented Rock & Roll" segment, the late Sam Phillips reminisces about his dear friend Chester Burnett, aka "Howlin' Wolf."

British born, roots phenom, Jake Bugg joins us this week on Beale Street Caravan. Jake's new record, Shangri-La is a collection of amazingly well-crafted tunes that belie his 19 yrs of age and it's resonated with music lovers in a big, big way. His journey to Shangri La began in no small part here in Memphis, so naturally he came back through town to wrap up his latest tour. Also on the program, BSC contributor Adam Hill drops in for another episode of Made In Memphis. This week he discusses the story behind Sid Selvidge's Cold Of The Morning.

Legendary jazz man George Coleman brings the house down in an amazing hometown performance celebrating his induction into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. This performance also features the great Harold Mabern on piano. BSC contributor Adam Hill stops by to give us the inside story on the creation of Al Green's classic "Let's Stay Together" for this week's Made In Memphis segment.

 

 

The Oxford American is an American quarterly literary magazine dedicated to "documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South." Each year, the magazine devotes an entire issue to the subject of music and this year's issue focuses on the incredible music from the state of Tennessee. We sit down with OA music editor Rick Clark in the BSC studio and let him take us on a guided tour of the stories and the exquisitely constructed playlist found on the 2 CD's that accompany each issue. It's a live-in-the-studio listening session of the best mixtape you've ever heard.