Memphis In The Meantime

Pop music is a disposable item- a diversion meant to temporarily entertain. Art has meaning and must stand the test of time. Memphis music endures. From Howlin’ Wolf to Alex Chilton, it doesn’t go away. The "Memphis Sound" is the artistic space between Marguerite Piazza and Panther Burns-musical genius that spans the creative territory from Gus Cannon to Shawn Lane.

Memphis celebrates the individual rather than the institutional. A maverick community of jug bands, juke joints and independent record labels- Memphis survives and sometimes flourishes in a bi-coastal music industry rooted in establishment prejudices.

Memphis artists from Will Shade and Elvis to the MarKeys, Gentrys, and Boxtops traditionally have had to sneak up on the national industry from behind and hit it over the head. The Memphis Underground has influenced the cutting edge of alternative culture from Be-Bop to Big Star. Tragically, potentially great artists have been poorly recorded or not recorded at all. Worthy projects have been mishandled and swallowed by legend. Art must be nurtured before it can be preserved.

Currently, the forward motion of Memphis Music has been blocked at the entry level by ignorance and greed. But as Sam Phillips says, "All great art springs from deprivation. " Self-help is another Memphis tradition. Once again the independent spirit of Memphis rears its bloody head.

This record is an offering- an act of communication between some of today’s finest Memphis artists and an audience from whom they are separated by time and space. We have a future as well as a past. It’s all the same animal.

World Boogie is coming!

- Jim Dickinson