Singing the South

Photo from the Commercial Appeal.

The New Daisy had a great show for Memphians this week, with Carlene Carter (daughter of June, granddaughter of Maybell, stepdaughter of Johnny Cash) and Elvis Costello sharing very different images and sounds of the south.

Carlene said she was playing her first acoustic show in 30 years, and there was a resulting vulnerability about her set. She told some good stories, and generally served as a living tribute to Tennessee and the Delta, sharing heartbreaking memories about her family, her stepdad, and what must certainly be her own sordid past. She ended her set by switching to the piano and singing a tribute to her sister, Rose, which left this listener more ready for a good cry than the rock n roll show that was sure to come.

And it did. Despite lackluster sound, Elvis rocked from the first chord. Elvis loves Stax, and that influence could be felt in many of the songs...and left me wishing that there were 2 or 3 really soulful backup singers. As is wont to happen in Memphis, there were multiple encores and the audience was rewarded with additional musicians coming to the stage for a few songs off the new album (Momofuku) and a spirited if somewhat flawed version of Peace, Love and Understanding. There was one point where it seemed that Elvis holding his guitar close to that of guitarist Jonathan Wilson was more a teaching moment than a jamming moment. But as the incredibly diverse audience flooded into Beale after the show, it was pretty apparent that no one minded being a guinea pig audience.