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KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher
THE MEMPHIS FLYER is published weekly by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 Phone: (901) 521-9000 Fax: (901) 521-0129 memphisflyer.com
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Wendy Moten: A Hero’s Journey
From ’90s hitmaker to the Grand Ole Opry to The Voice, this soul survivor keeps evolving.
PHOTO: THOMAS CRABTREE
Sound Healing
This calming practice can help heal wounds and balance energies. p25
PHOTO: MARKUS GANN | DREAMSTIME.COM
- 17
p12
Freedom City
Why, in the land of the free, do so many of our elected leaders fight so hard for universally unpopular initiatives — like conquering Greenland? p31
PHOTO: VISIT GREENLAND | UNSPLASH
- 19
As required by Tennessee Code Annotated Section 67-5-903, the Shelby County Assessor will be mailing Tangible Personal Property Schedules to all active businesses Within Shelby County by Friday, January 9, 2026. The filing Deadline is March 2, 2026. Please call the Shelby County Assessor’s office at 901-222-7002, if you needassistance.
THE fly-by
MEM ernet
Memphis on the internet.
TAYLOR TAUNTS
“Tennessee state Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) is seen holding up an ice cube mocking anti-ICE protesters outside a legislative reception celebrating the rst night of the new legislative session,” u/ConsciousQuarter423 on Reddit.
TWO MUD ISLANDS
Dueling ideas about the Mud Island Amphitheater surfaced on Facebook recently, very di erent ideas.
Jerred Price, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, spearheads the movement to return concerts to the stage at Mud Island. “Jerred, what is your ultimate goal for the Mud Island Amphitheater,” he posted earlier this month with the image above.
Smart City Memphis called the proposed resurrection a “distraction, not a strategy” in a two-part series. e blog claims the live music economy has changed enough to make the venue non-competitive. Blog author Tom Jones suggests Mud Island needs a wholistic strategy, not one focused on the amphitheater.
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
{WEEK THAT WAS
By Flyer staff
Crime, Guns, & Drag
Shows
Report shows eight-year low, youth crimes up, lawmakers target “cabaret” shows one more time.
CRIME AT EIGHTYEAR LOW
Memphis recorded its lowest major crime rates in nearly a decade in 2025, a year public safety o cials described as a “breakthrough year” and said it was helped, in part, by the Memphis Safe Task Force.
e city’s major violent crime rate — which includes murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults — fell 27.6 percent compared to 2024, dropping below levels seen in each of the previous eight years, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI) data compiled by the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission.
PHOTO: TOM DEF | UNSPLASH
e city’s major violent crime rate fell over 27 percent, even as rearm crimes involving youth aged 10 to 17 increased.
“Signi cant declines began in 2024 and continued at a faster pace in 2025,” said Bill Gibbons, president of the Crime Commission. “ e rate of decline improved even more in the latter part of 2025, aided no doubt by federal and state assistance in investigating and solving crimes and serving outstanding felony arrest warrants.”
CHILD GUN CRIMES
According to the 2025 State Of e Child In Tennessee, rearm crimes involving youth aged 10 to 17 have increased by 87 percent. O enders of the same age committing crimes with rearms have increased 35 percent.
In 2024, 63.4 percent of crimes committed by youth using a rearm involved a handgun. e report showed rearms were the leading cause of death in 2023 for children aged one to 17, accounting for 95 deaths. e second leading cause was motor vehicle tra c, with 62 deaths.
ANOTHER “CABARET” BILL PASSES
e bill that could classify establishments hosting drag shows as “adult-oriented” passed the Tennessee House last week.
e bill seeks to classify establishments o ering “sexually oriented material, devices, or paraphernalia, adult cabaret entertainment, or speci ed sexual activities” as “adultoriented establishments.”
An amendment to the bill says “cabaret” features “topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers and includes
a single performance or multiple performances by an entertainer.”
Rep. Sam McKenzie (D-Knoxville) said businesses like Victoria’s Secret and Target could be assumed as “adultoriented” under these provisions.
Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison County) said this was not the intention, and that a single performance must be in compliance with requirements of adult-oriented establishments. ese include not being within 1,000 feet of a church, school, child care facility, and more.
AMAZON’S “SAME DAY” STATION
Amazon Prime customers in Memphis will have the option to select same-day delivery on their purchases in the future. e company announced plans last week for its rst same-day delivery station in Memphis. e facility will be located at 4131 Clarke Road and is slated to be open in late 2027. Amazon expects to hire “roughly 100 associates” at the site.
GARAGE SETTLES PARKING SUIT
Metropolis Technologies Inc., which manages garages in Downtown Memphis, will pay the state $8.75 million to cover consumer refunds, court costs, and a free parking program in a settlement announced Monday. e company will also implement changes to its business practices to promote transparency and protect consumers. Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
SUPER SCIENTIFIC CIRCUS
By Toby Sells
Grok Blocked
Global blowback shutters AI ability to create sexualized images of children, women, and more.
Memphis-based Grok now blocks the ability to create sexual images of people a er weeks of global pressure and a civil suit from the mother of one of Elon Musk’s children.
in uencer and the mother of one of Musk’s children, sued the company in New York last week on allegations that Grok used images of her to generate sexually explicit images.
This is a great show to share with the entire family! Using incredible circus skills — magic — zany antics, Mr. Fish & Trent the Mime entertain & teach important scientifi c concepts to kids. With boomerangs, bubbles, beachballs, bull whips, magic, & lots of audience participation, Super Scientifi c Circus explores how the world works. Between laffs, you’ll learn about friction, inertia, ultraviolet light, sonic booms, & more in this totally fun show!
Grok allowed users to upload images of real people, including children, and ask the AI to undress them or place them in sexualized positions. xAI later restricted the image-generation tool to only paid subscribers.
is feature found Grok temporarily blocked in Indonesia and Malaysia and prompted investigations by o cials in the United Kingdom and India. By last week’s end Grok was also under scrutiny by authorities in Canada and Japan.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a formal investigation last week into the “proliferation of nonconsensual sexually explicit material produced using Grok.” As of press time, it was the only U.S.-based investigation of the matter.
According to Business Insider, St. Clair alleged X users prompted Grok to “manipulate images of her, including photos from when she was 14, into graphic sexual content. She alleges some images remained online for more than a week and that her premium X account was later terminated a er she complained.”
Last week St. Clair posted to X, “And don’t post pics of urself or family here unless u want twitter to tell u that sexual abuse content from its nazi robot isn’t a violation of its terms of service. Xoxo.”
“ e avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual, sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” Bonta said in a statement. “ is material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet.”
In response to the backlash, Elon Musk said recently, according to Reuters, that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as uploading such material directly. When other news agencies reached out to the company last week, they widely reported that the only response from X was a message that read “legacy media lies.”
However, X shut down the ability for Grok last week. e company issued a statement on X that has now been removed. e quote below is from reports from e Associated Press and Reuters.
“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis, underwear and other revealing attire,” X said, according to reports. “ is restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.”
Ashley St. Clair, a conservative
She wants the court to force X and Grok to stop making more explicit content.
As of press time, blocks on Grok had not been li ed in Indonesia and Malaysia. Investigations into the matter by other governments remained opened. All of this despite the company shutting down the sexual-content functionality.
It remains to be seen what repercussions the global backlash might have for Grok and its company, xAI. But damages could be real. If X is found in violation of U.K. law, for example, it could face nes of up £18 million (about $24 million) or 10 percent of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. If the company fails to comply, o cials there could force advertisers from the site or block access to it altogether.
PHOTO: GREATER MEMPHIS CHAMBER e company was sued by the mother of one of Musk’s children.
Three’s a Crowd
e entry of Devante Hill complicates the District 9 race.
Another former aide to U.S. Representative Steve Cohen has decided to seek his ex-employer’s seat. Like state Representative Justin J. Pearson, pastor-activist Devante Hill served the current Congressman at some point as an intern.
Unlike the case with Pearson, whom Cohen has frequently chided for misleading claims, Cohen has fond thoughts and memories of Hill, recalling the new challenger as “idealistic” and “talented” and seeing him as “quite capable of o ering leadership.”
initiatives that demanded both moral clarity and legislative seriousness.”
Says Hill in the “Open Letter,” “Ten years ago today, I walked out of your congressional o ce carrying far more than the conclusion of an internship. I walked out carrying vision, conviction, and a deep gratitide for the exposure you a orded a young man who was still discovering the breadth of his calling. I knew then quietly, unmistakably that I was meant to serve in this capacity one day.”
A few paragraphs later, Hill makes this pitch — “I want you to hear this clearly: I would be profoundly grateful for your support and your endorsement. But more than that, I am committed to earning your con dence the same way you have sought to earn the trust of every constitueny — through work, through presence, and through results.”
Hill is unlikely to extract such a favor, inasmuch as the Congressman seems rmly committed to his race for re-election. But Cohen is clearly pleased with Hill’s deferential and attering rhetoric about himself. And he is also attuned to the fact that two challengers in the eld likely means some vote-splitting between them.
“They’re both very oratorical, and make an appeal to a newer generation,” says Cohen.
Says Cohen: “He really delighted in being involved with public a airs and with members of the government, some of whom he mentioned in his opening statement.”
( ose would be, besides himself, three now-deceased members of Congress — John Lewis, Elijah Cummings, and Sheila Jackson Lee.)
In a statement labeled “An Open Letter to Congressman Stephen Cohen,” Hill expresses his gratitude for the opportunity to work in such undertakings as “the Flint water crisis, the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, and
“ ey’re both young, both very oratorical, and both of them make an appeal to a newer generation,” says Cohen, lumping Hill in with the somewhat better-known Pearson.
As an activist, Hill has achieved a fair amount of notice over the years, notably for his participation in the bridge protests of 2016 and in demonstrations on behalf of Black Lives Matter in the wake of the George Floyd killing in 2020.
And what does Justin Pearson think of this entry of a rival to his role of congressional challenger?
Pearson issued this statement: “I welcome anyone to the race who is sincere about serving the people and earning the privilege of serving this district by moving the needle on poverty, increasing healthcare access, and ending gun violence, among other challenges we face in District 9.”
All things considered, a pretty game thing to say.
And now this new game is on.
PHOTO: DEVANTE R HILL | FACEBOOK Devante Hill
AT LARGE By Bruce VanWyngarden
Norway, José
Some fries are missing from the presidential Happy Meal.
“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
Has there ever been a more appalling self-own than Donald Trump’s loony late-Sunday night message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre? Oh, now you can think about what’s good for your country, Donroe? Forgive me if I nd that a bit hard to believe. Besides, you did get the Etsy Re-Gi ed Nobel Prize. Surely that counts for something.
Trump added: “I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. e World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
Trump has “done more for NATO than any person since its founding.” Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, FDR, and a few other losers would like a word. Also, I guess ghting alongside the U.S. in 13 international con icts, including Iraq and Afghanistan, doesn’t count as “doing something for the United States”? Hard to believe such a noted history bu like Trump wouldn’t be aware of that.
of mental decline? Biden would be mocked 24/7. Calls for his resignation would be non-stop. Oh, wait. at part already happened. e di erence is that Democratic leaders went to their faltering leader and said, “Pops, it’s time to step down.”
No one in the GOP seems willing to confront Trump, and this insanity has gone on far too long. Every day, it’s a new crisis, another country targeted, more masked “law enforcement” sent to American streets, more pointless chaos.
For years, world leaders tried the “ atter him shamelessly” approach with Trump, knowing that letting him think you admire him was the quickest way to get what you wanted. ink “FIFA Peace Prize.” at tactic is no longer reliable. Trump now has the attention span of a gnat at a fast-food dumpster. Enough with the attering; e way to stop a bully is to punch him in the nose, and someone needs to do it to President Bi Tannen soon.
People, this is the freaking president of the United States. If your dear ol’ grandpa sent such a completely bonkers 3 a.m. missive to someone, you’d call that person the next day to apologize and explain that Pawpaw has dementia. And you would de nitely take away the old man’s car keys.
Only the most deeply infected (or power-mad) MAGAs refuse to acknowledge how Trump’s speeches, texts, and public statements so o en disintegrate into nonsense these days, or how batshit crazy many of his Truth Social posts are. It’s not normal, it’s not okay. It’s literally a threat to humanity. A man with the emotional depth of a 6-year-old has access to the U.S. nuclear codes.
I know it’s a cliché, but seriously, can you even begin to imagine the response from the right if former President Joe Biden were writing deranged messages to world leaders in the middle of the night or showing other obvious signs
e European NATO alliance is on an economic and military parallel with the U.S. and they are bound by the NATO treaty to militarily defend against an invasion of Greenland. But beyond the unlikely insanity of armed con ict, NATO countries could dish out trade and logistical punishments that could cripple the U.S. It’s time they called Trump’s blu . Canada already has, having cra ed a trade deal with China just this week. NATO countries are not powerless. ey have American bases they can shutter, troops and materiel they can move to Greenland, if necessary. If Trump goes beyond the yapping stage toward actually invading a NATO ally, he will likely get a long overdue bitch-slap, maybe even by some sane Republicans who will have nally seen enough of his crazy brinkmanship.
My friend Ed Weathers said it well in a recent email. “ e question for the Europeans is this,” he wrote: ‘How do we break with Trump without breaking with the United States?’” Ed’s solution was for European leaders to issue a joint statement, something to the e ect of, “Donald Trump is clearly undergoing a mental breakdown. He is no longer sane,” putting the ball in America’s court. Making it easier for us to nally say, “Sorry Pops, we’re taking away the keys.”
PHOTO: BACK TO THE FUTURE | UNIVERSAL STUDIOS Bi Tannen
A Sister’s Love and Grief
For the rst time, Keyana Dixon opens up about the death of her brother, Tyré Nichols.
Keyana Dixon agreed to meet on her day o . It was a warm yet cloudy and rainy Monday morning — Dixon’s favorite type of weather. e rain recharges her, she said. e conditions seemed ideal for the heavy conversation ahead: discussing what her life has been like since January 2023, when ve former Memphis police o cers beat her younger brother, Tyré Nichols, to death. e conversation started light. en, she opened up for nearly two hours.
rough her words, Dixon shared the last two years of her life: losing a close family member in such a public way, facing her brother’s killers in court, moving from California to Memphis and navigating expectations placed on her and her family to grieve in a certain way.
With Dixon’s voice at the center, “A Sister’s Love and Grief” aims to broaden how we view safety and justice in the face of publicized horror and state-sanctioned violence.
Editor’s note: is piece has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Opening up about my brother’s death
I’ve never watched the video. I tried to sneak and watch it when nobody was around, and I threw up. I couldn’t even see still images. I’m a visual person, so it gave me nightmares. So, when I went to court, I covered my eyes, covered my ears.
To hear them laugh, high- ve, and mock my brother — calling him a “bitch-ass n—a crying for his mama” — it was too much. Knowing that they just tortured him, that they were able to just stand there and have a disregard for his life — that wasn’t just
violence; it was hate.
o cers, rst and foremost.
Seeing them in court and all their personalities, I started reading each of them. I called them the Monstars, like from “Space Jam.” Each one had their own role. I know it’s a crazy comparison.
they hung a man.
e fact that Demetrius Haley took a picture and sent it to people as if my brother’s lifeless body was a trophy: e rst thing that came to my mind was how they used to take pictures when
It made me cry, and then it made me think about the self-hate of another Black man. What really hurts is that they were Black
Like Justin Smith, he was new. He was a follower. I believe he’s played it back in his mind so many times of what he should have done. Desmond Mills is big as a box, but when he got on the stand, he sounded like a baby. He said, “I froze. I didn’t know he died until I saw it on the news.” He started crying. His voice was so , like a third grader’s.
Tadarrius Bean, to me, is just a follower. He didn’t stand up as a man. He was super young. He was
“With all the things that have happened over the past two-and-a-half years, we still haven’t received the justice we’ve been seeking. All of the officers are now free.”
PHOTO: ANDREA MORALES | MLK50 (above) Keyana Dixon stands for a portrait in December at Tom Lee Park near the sunset canopy bearing the name of her brother, Tyré Nichols.
PHOTO: LUCY GARRETT | MLK50 (below) Keyana Dixon speaks to the crowd and press at the National Civil Rights Museum on Jan 16, 2023. continued on page 10
new. He didn’t have a voice yet. I think the longer he would’ve worked on the police force, the more he probably would’ve pulled back and said something — or he would’ve become as corrupt and gone along with it. But I don’t think he slept well that night. en, there was Emmitt Martin III, the one who’s ghting against his own identity as a man in this world. He started all this shit: lying about my brother reaching for his gun, lying about my brother coming at him. Just sel sh. He was looking to make a name for himself. When he got on the stand, he immediately put his head down. He could never look at us in our face. He was very adamant in his testimony about how he was wrong. at also lets me know that he’s trying to make peace with whoever he prays to.
Demetrius Haley — he’s a psychopath. I believe that with everything in me. I think he’s that kind of dude that doesn’t keep up well with himself, but when he puts on that uniform, he’s somebody. at’s when he feels powerful. He smiled at me in court every chance he got. Every time I looked up, he was smiling. At rst, I thought I was tripping, but no. He was smiling. at’s sick. at’s some real psycho shit.
None of them acted with any humanity that night. at made me mad, because I realized everybody was hiding behind something: the badge, the bene ts, their excuses. at’s what I saw in that courtroom, not justice.
When I did nally see some parts of the footage, I saw my brother’s body give out. His body language, it was like he knew. It was like his spirit said that’s what it is. To know that he felt that breaks my heart. In the beginning, I thought, it’s on video, so this is cut and dry. But years later, we’re still in court, and they’re all out.
Now, I know there’s no such thing as closure. My brother can’t come back. at’s the root.
Navigating a new normal
I went from living my normal life one day to being on TV the next day a er my brother died. CNN was at my front door while I was trying to take my kids to school. It felt unreal; I didn’t understand the magnitude of it all.
ere was a second funeral to bring national attention to my brother. We had already laid him to rest. We had our service at M.J. Edwards Funeral Home. en, a week later, there was a huge shi with di erent support from di erent people. It wasn’t just something that happened in Memphis; the whole world knew.
It was a new experience to be around people in public while dealing with one of the worst things in my life. At rst, I cared how people saw me, but I’m so unapologetic now, while I’m still navigating through my grief.
ANDREA MORALES | MLK50
Keyana Dixon (center) listens to her mother, RowVaughn Wells (right), speak during the Jan. 7th vigil marking the third year since her brother, Tyré Nichols, was killed by Memphis Police Department o cers.
When I rst came to Memphis, I didn’t even know who half the people were showing up to my mother’s house. I just knew my brother was gone.
I immediately went to my mom’s room to tell her that I was here, but she just laid there with her eyes wide open. She was in a paralysis state. I just closed the door.
en, I went straight into action. We marched, but I had never done one before. We went into action because we didn’t have body camera footage at that point. We didn’t know what happened.
I felt helpless.
stands at
A er my brother’s death, I had some very unhealthy coping mechanisms. I had just landed my dream job as a probation assistant. I wanted to work more in the realm of helping people getting out of prison and getting them help. But a er Tyré was killed, I couldn’t breathe in that o ce.
I worked with police o cers. Every uniform was a trigger. I took six months o . But when I went back, it was cold. People didn’t talk to me. One guy looked at me and said, “Are you back or not? Because I can’t work with this.” He didn’t understand; I was surrounded by the same kind of people who killed my brother.
I had to sit there and act normal, type my notes and go on home visits, but I was drowning.
I didn’t want to deal with people anymore. I shut down. I tried to keep it together for my sons, but they told me later they felt abandoned. at hurt. I was like, “damn.” But they don’t hold it against me. My biggest goal is for them to see me win again.
My oldest son called me a er the verdict, crying, saying, “Mama, why?” at was all he said. “Mama, why?”
He’s 6’3” like Tyré and smiles like him, sounds like him. When I hear his voice, it strikes me how similar they are. We have very strong genes in our family.
I moved back here to Memphis to be closer to my mom. Her house has a whole room for Tyré. His urn sits on a shelf by the window that faces west, so he can see the sunset. She keeps all his things — his skateboards, his samurai swords, letters from people all over the world. She talks to him every day.
I go in there, kiss the urn, and tell him I love him.
Redefining justice in his memory
I don’t feel like it’s possible to reform a police force from what it’s based and structured in. So many families have not gotten justice. We’re still going through court. With all the things that have happened over the past two-and-a-half years, we still haven’t received the justice we’ve been seeking. All of the o cers are now free. Where is the justice in that?
ey say, “Justice for Tyré.” Justice, to me, would’ve been my brother walking through the door. Real justice would’ve been him getting to skate at the park, come home, talk about his day, hug his mama. We’ll never get that back. e o cers can go to jail, but that’s still not justice.
Justice would have been my brother not being yanked from his car, targeted, and beaten to death.
So, I had to rede ne justice for myself. For me, justice is keeping his name alive the way he lived.
ese days, I don’t want to turn my brother into a brand. My way of keeping his legacy alive is simple: by honoring his life and his creative vision. I want people to remember that.
at’s why I started the Tyré Nichols Foundation: to work collaboratively with the community of Memphis to raise social justice
podium while being supported by her husband, Rodney, during a Jan. 27, 2023, press conference following the release of the footage of Tyré Nichols’ death. that raise
PHOTO: ANDREA MORALES | MLK50 RowVaughn Wells
the
PHOTO:
awareness through the arts. My dream is for there to be a scholarship program that honors my brother’s imagination and creativity. He was into everything: skateboards, colognes, photography, videography.
He was a dreamer, and he loved to eat. He was peaceful, creative, kind, and goofy. He was a person.
We get so caught up in “the movement” that we forget the person.
My brother loved the sunset. He’d call my mama just to say, “Look at the sky.”
His room at my mama’s house is like a museum now. People from all over the world have sent paintings and drawings. ere are photographs from people in Germany, letters from people in Canada, art projects from schools here in Memphis. My mama keeps everything. Sometimes I go in there, sit by the window, and talk to him. I tell him about the foundation, about how we’re trying to make something out of all this.
I don’t really know what I’m doing half the time. I’m guring it out as I go. I do know that this foundation is something he would’ve loved. It’s what he would’ve done if he were here: help people, make something, and create.
As for myself, I’m still standing and navigating through this grief. I’m focusing on having a healthy mind and body, embracing life head-on, and keeping my brother’s name alive forever.
(ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT): AP PHOTO | GEORGE WALKER IV, POOL; ANDREA MORALES | MLK50; PATRICK LANTRIP | DAILY MEMPHIAN VIA AP (top) Le : Former Memphis
Police O cers Tedarrius Bean, le , Justin Smith, center, and Demetrius Haley, right sitting, at an April 30th hearing in their state trial; Center: Former police o cer Desmond Mills testi es during the April 29th hearing of the same trial; Right: Emmitt Martin III walks into federal court on April 4th.
PHOTO (RIGHT): ANDREA MORALES | MLK50
Rev. Earle J. Fisher leads a prayer alongside friends and family of Tyré Nichols at a vigil outside the Odell Horton Federal Building during the federal trial against three of the police o cers that killed Nichols on Sept. 24, 2024.
PHOTOS
COVER STORY By Alex Greene
Wendy Moten: A Hero’s Journey
To tell the epic, rollicking story of Memphis native Wendy Moten, we must begin back in the mysterious late 20th century, when a certain trend in pop vocal style emerged to such a degree that scientists now call it “ e Melismatic Age.”
(Not really.) at would be the time when melisma came to dominate soul and pop singing — the kind of free ri ng over a single vowel sound that Whitney Houston made famous, also exempli ed by Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, and others. Even those “others” included some stellar singers, masters of their cra , because singing melismatic improvisations convincingly relies on years of training and discipline, typically in the Black church. Just ask Memphis’ own purveyor of the form, Wendy Moten.
Naturally, Moten covers a bigger swath of sonic style than that, as fans will see this Saturday, January 24th, at the Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center (BPACC), but when telling the story of Wendy Moten, you’d best begin with the years of discipline she’d already put in before her rst virtuosic and very melismatic hit raced up the charts in 1993, “Come In Out of the Rain.”
As with so many Memphis talents, it began in the church, but also in
the more select classrooms of one of Overton High School’s most celebrated educators, the late Lulah M. Hedgeman.
“The person I hear in my head every day”
In Moten’s case, she explains, the church was “St. Stephen’s Baptist Church o Chelsea Avenue, and James Adams was the pastor. My dad at that time was just a musical director, and he would make extra money teaching choirs the newest gospel songs. And he was a very popular singer,” she says of her father.
So was she, and one might trace the ease and presence Moten still has onstage to those pivotal moments when she was 8 years old and the congregation drew out her talent. Before long, she was singing solos.
“I didn’t have a choice,” she says. “Because my dad was the minister of music, right? And he knew I had a gi . All I knew was, ‘I’m shy, and now I gotta stand in front of all these people?’ It was pretty traumatic. But they gave you that encouragement, too, you know, ‘It’s okay, baby.’”
Her congregation’s encouragement had her singing well enough to leapfrog over many competitors into what was then the big time: getting into Hedgeman’s class at Overton High School. As Moten says, “Parents
From ’90s hitmaker to the Grand Ole Opry to The Voice, this soul survivor keeps evolving.
would camp out for the night, trying to get [in line to get] their kids in there. And [Hedgeman] would also go to a couple of schools and hand pick some students. I was going to Colonial Junior High at the time, a performing arts school, and she heard me and was like, ‘Okay, I want her.’ I didn’t even know what Overton was about, and I hadn’t met her yet till then. So to be handpicked by her, looking back, was amazing. And then getting to go to Overton High School. I mean, it was a Fame type school. We sang mostly choral and classical music. eory was the main focus, and academics too, and it was really stressful.
“But the best thing was, [Hedgeman] also worked with the psychology of things, ‘Mind over matter,’ you know, ‘ ink before you speak,’ and she had really high expectations. Which prepped me for the world. She was a mentor. She kept me close, so I was with her all the time. And, you know, outside of my parents, she is the person that I hear in my head every day.”
She likely heard Hedgeman in her head on the day she won a singing competition at the Mid-South Fair at age 16, or years later, during her stint at the University of Memphis, when she was invited to sit in at the Madison Bar and Grill with a band she knew, Come in Berlin. at night, unbeknownst to
her, band member Niko Lyras, also a songwriter, producer, and owner of the well-regarded Cotton Row Studios, happened to invite a friend from out of town.
As Lyras recalls today, speaking from his home in Greece, “Dick Williams was looking for talent. We’d already scored one deal out of Memphis with this girl, Ella Brooks, who he got signed to MCA. And then he started coming to Memphis, and one weekend he came to a Come in Berlin gig. Well, it just so happened, Wendy came in and sat in with the band. He was blown away, of course.”
By then, Moten had been singing with the band M.V.P. at the beloved Captain Bilbo’s, with Lyras occasionally hiring her to sing jingles or demos.
“When Wendy rst came to the studio, really, she was a baby,” says Lyras. “A gospel lady by the name of Vivian Berryhill, who was a songwriter, brought her in. Wendy sang on a demo for me, and that’s when I was made aware of her incredible, unmistakable voice. at demo was immediately covered by the Jets, a little pop group back then in Minneapolis, and they literally just copied Wendy’s performance.”
Once Dick Williams saw her perform, it was a no-brainer to try adding her to the roster of his edgling management company. Naturally, he
PHOTO: THOMAS CRABTREE
Wendy Moten
was working with Lyras again. Had they found their next Ella Brooks? Or maybe they were already thinking bigger than that, for, as Moten recounts, Williams was immediately convinced he could make waves for Moten. “He was like, ‘I de nitely can get you a record deal.’ I’m like, ‘Go for it, young man, go for it.’ About a couple of months later, he was like, ‘I’ve got songs for you. I’m gonna come over. We’re gonna record them at Cotton Row.’ And ‘Come In Out of the Rain’ was one of the songs that we recorded. A month or two later, he had a bidding war going on between EMI, Elektra, and Warner Brothers, because if you sounded like Whitney Houston at all, if you were a pop artist, singer, R&B girl, you could get a good record deal — if you had a good manager or a great lawyer. So I t that mold, and we ended up going with EMI. Yeah, and that changed my life.”
“We can’t break an artist with a ballad.”
It didn’t hurt that Moten’s demos were made at Cotton Row. In those years, Lyras says, the studio was thriving. “We were pretty much the place in Memphis. I mean, Ardent was having a slow spell and we were getting little record deals. And so was Sounds Unreel. e little studios were actually doing more.”
that he introduced us to, Curtiss Boone, and we started writing together with this guy. I also had my partner in crime, Ernest Williamson [Jr.]. Just a great, great Memphis musician, songwriter, and producer.
“We wrote a few songs with Curtiss,” Lyras remembers, “including a couple of upbeat songs, and we modeled them on what was happening at the time, with Janet Jackson this, and Minneapolis that. At one point Curtiss brought a ballad in, but it needed a lot of changes. So Ernest and I took it to the lab for surgery and added a bridge and all kinds of stu . And we ended up with a song, ‘Come In Out of the Rain,’ one of three songs that we demoed. And all of a sudden, the phone started ringing.”
Such was the quality of the demos that the label executives were essentially hearing Moten’s rst and biggest hit record — they just didn’t know it yet. As Lyras tells it, “So [Dick Williams] came to Memphis, was enchanted by Wendy, and came up with some money for me to do some demos. And he had a songwriter from Detroit
Once the EMI deal was struck, the nal recordings were done mostly at Cotton Row. “We used a lot of Memphis musicians, and quite a few from Detroit, where Dick Williams was based. I’d say 80 percent of it was done at Cotton Row. A lot of Memphis musicians who were just up and coming, like Steve Potts and David Smith, played on it. Ernest, of course, played all over the place. Pat Register played. And they also used some great singers from Detroit for backgrounds, the Ridgeway Sisters. ey were phenomenal in blending and making quick arrangements. So we did that, delivered the album. It was out of our hands. And they had signed her on the strength of ‘Come In Out of the Rain,’ but somehow, some dummies in the company were saying, ‘No, no, we can’t break an artist with a ballad. No way.’”
“I’ll ride this out and see how far it goes.”
Eventually EMI saw the light, and
PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY WENDY MOTEN; (ABOVE) COURTESY NIKO LYRAS (top) Moten luxuriates at the Grand Ole Opry; (above) Niko Lyras with Moten, making her rst album
(right) Congratulatory postcard from the singer to the co-songwriter, ca. 1991
“Come In Out of the Rain” was released as a single despite that being a formuladefying move. “You know, in Memphis, we just don’t play by the rules,” says Lyras. “So, of all people, Steve Conley at FM 100 decided he was going to spin the record, and it just took off. Everybody jumped on the bandwagon.” Ultimately, Moten’s soulful take on the ballad would peak at number five in Billboard’s adult contemporary charts, and become a top 10 single in the U.K.
“I even did the show Top of the Pops!” remembers Moten. “Oh, man. 1994, Top of the Pops, that was something else. I was going over to England a lot, maybe twice a year. The Japanese market was a big market for me, too. I was in Japan two or three times a year. And in the ’90s, you could have a big band. Like, I always had a 10-piece band.”
This gives her a pause of disbelief, given the current era’s tight touring economics, but Moten goes on, “It was huge. It was during that Whitney Houston era. There was Whitney, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, and I was number four. I was EMI’s ‘Whitney,’ because every record company was looking for one. And it was a great run. It was a really huge machine. And I did all the shows, the Jay Lenos and all that. I was Michael Bolton’s opening act with a 10-piece band.”
The membership of that band had shifted, though, as Moten explains. “My band ended up coming from Detroit because Dick Williams lived there. So the second album and third album were done in Detroit, and then that recording band became the touring band.” Her career, it seemed, had reached a reliably lofty cruising altitude. “I couldn’t believe I had a major record deal. That’s the first thing. Because I hadn’t spent my life dreaming about being a star, or singing in front of large audiences, and it just wasn’t what I was thinking about. So, when I got a major record deal, I was just like, you know, ‘I’ll just ride this out and see how far it goes.’”
“And that’s when Julio Iglesias found me”
Which isn’t to say she wasn’t learning along the way. “Dick Williams taught me the music business as we were living through it,” Moten says today. “He wasn’t gonna take advantage of you. He wanted me to be in power. And I’ve practically been on my own since 1998.” It was around then that Moten’s career would take a turn nobody could have predicted. “I was so busy,” she recalls, “and that’s when Julio Iglesias found me. I traveled 15 years as his duet partner, singing in four languages. You know, the private plane, the crazy money, the whole lifestyle. I’m glad
that he found me, because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be as an artist or what I wanted to sing, and it was a safe place to hide out till I could figure out, you know, my purpose. And I was getting paid to learn. He’s one of the greatest singers in music history, and he’s saying I’m one of the greatest singers in the world, and I’m learning from him. So I’m getting paid to learn and travel and see the world, and it’s just priceless.” Acknowledging that this period registers on her discography as a lull in her career, Moten notes, “Yeah, that ‘lull’ is me out there, learning from him.”
And that, Moten makes clear, was not always a walk in the park. “It was good, but hard, because he’s very demanding and wants the impossible right away. But Dr. Lulah Hedgeman got me prepared for that. I was ready for Julio.”
“For the people who watched Hee Haw and Soul Train” Indeed, Moten’s training also helped her ride out her transition away from the Juliocentric orbit, as she embraced life in her adopted home of Nashville with her longtime partner, bassist David Santos. Being there, she opened up to the eclecticism of her tastes, steeped as they were in the ’60s and ’70s pop culture of her childhood. Even now, those influences are apparent when she plays the Grand Ole Opry. “When I play the Opry, first of all, I tell the audience I’m from Memphis, so they don’t get confused. And then I say, ‘This particular song is for the people who watched Hee Haw and Soul Train.’”
Moten’s post-Julio years, she says, were “when I really studied how to sing country music. I toured with Faith Hill and Tim McGraw from 2005 to 2018.
Then Vince Gill called me in 2016 and said, ‘Won’t you come out on the road with me?’ So I studied the women of country music from the ’60s and ’70s, and Vince has just been my brother and friend since 2016. Then he wanted to produce this traditional country record on me called, I’ve Got You Covered, a selection of traditional country songs. We did the record at his house, and some heavy hitters play on it. He chose the songs the day of the session, and I had never heard of most of them. But he said, ‘I’m glad you don’t know them, because you will truly make them your own.’”
Listening to the album, she certainly does that, from country rockers like “Driving Nails in My Coffin” to her haunting take on George Jones’ “Walk Through This World With Me.” Moten’s almost formal delivery, echoing the great Patsy Cline at times, continues even today when she sings with the Time Jumpers, as on their 2024 single, “Don’t Touch Me,” covering what was a minor hit for Jeannie Seely in 1966 with
all due classicism. Indeed, Moten still regularly appears at the Opry with the Time Jumpers. “Last week was my 37th performance at the Opry,” she beams.
“So I decided, ‘I need TV.’” But even the Opry, Grand and Ole as it was, had to bow down before the coronavirus — as did all of Moten’s other singing engagements in the early weeks of 2020. As it happened, that would push Moten into an invaluable crossroads on her hero’s journey, only a short time later.
“Nobody was working,” she recalls. “Our lives changed. I was like, ‘When the world opens back up again, how are you, Wendy Moten, going to make a living? The tours you were once on don’t exist. And probably won’t exist, because we don’t know if we’re going to be in front of a live audience anymore!’ So I decided, okay, ‘I need TV.’ Okay, well, what kind of TV can I stomach? Because everything is reality TV, and I’m from the era that you don’t talk about yourself. And I was like, ‘Well, I can stomach The Voice.’”
They put me in some choir robes, trying to camouflage it. I was like, ‘I need my black clothes. I don’t want to be in choir robes the whole three weeks. I need my rock-and-roll clothes back!
Just committing herself to that potentially embarassing move took a leap of faith. “I knew I had to fast track this, you know, to make up for all that time I was off the scene, with no music released. Although I’d been doing duets with all kinds of icons, that wouldn’t sell albums. So I decided, ‘I’m gonna send a video. I’m not going to tell anyone.’ I thought, ‘If they receive me and say, yes, we want you to do it, then I’ll know that’s the path I need to take when the world opens back up. Otherwise, I’ve got to find another way to make a living.’” Even when The Voice said yes, it was intimidating, and Moten had to consult her family. “I wanted to remember how afraid I was to take this leap.”
One sign of how much time had passed since her first hit was her relative anonymity among the cast and
crew of The Voice. “Only one person knew me,” recalls Moten, “and that person was one of the coaches that, you know, warms you up and helps you with technique, skills, and stuff like that. That one lady was like, ‘I know who you are.’ Because she used my vocal technique when teaching her students. She had been studying my vocal technique since the ’90s!”
Added to that validation was the fact that Moten was actually doing it, leaving her a lot to celebrate as she marked a birthday during her time at The Voice. Yet during that time, she was caught up in her own world. “I didn’t even know when the finale was happening. You know, we lived in a bubble, and I didn’t know the rules of the game. The younger people on the show, they were very aware of every move that was being made. I chose to stay in the dark.
“So it’s three weeks before the finale. I literally turn 57 years old on November 22nd, 2021 — on the show. On November 23rd, that very next day on live TV, I fall and break my elbow and two arms. I went to the emergency room that night, my right elbow was completely broken, and my left was fractured and pieces were broken in my hand. Entertainment Tonight played footage of the fall. I got three phone calls in the emergency room, and the first was from Vince Gill, and he said, ‘I just saw the fall. Where are you?’ I said, ‘I’m in emergency room.’ He’s like, ‘You have to stay on the show.’ Dude, I haven’t even seen a doctor!”
And yet she persisted. “It hadn’t even been 24 hours, and I’m leaving the hospital, going to the set with two splints on my hands and arms. I couldn’t move anything, but I never cried, and I never mentioned it. The first two nights back, they put me in some choir robes, trying to camouflage it, bling it up, you know. And I was like, ‘Man, after this week, give me my black pants back. I need my black clothes. I don’t want to be in choir robes the whole three weeks. I need my rockand-roll clothes back.”
And so she got them, and won the runner-up prize for the 21st season of The Voice, despite her hardship. Best of all, that was proof positive that she was on the right path. Today, Moten is as indomitable as ever, and feeling free to go in any direction she sees fit. Case in point: her latest single, in which she makes TLC’s ’90s hit “Waterfalls” her own.
Her arms and hands long since healed, Moten’s now reaping the rewards of her latest big gamble. “You know,” she reflects, “going on The Voice was one of the best moves I could have made. It was a really great decision. It was a risk that I took, and it got my career back on track without management, agent, or label.”
SPORTS By Frank Murtaugh
Blues and Gray
Penny Hardaway’s Tigers seek to sharpen their claws.
Something’s rotten in the state of Memphis Tigers basketball. You have to go back a quarter-century to nd a previous Tiger team with a losing record a er New Year’s Day. ( e Tigers were 7-8 a er a loss at FAU on January 11th.) And the 2001 Tigers — on the watch of new coach John Calipari — went 7-0 that January to erase any notion of a losing season. Alas, the 2001 team was relegated to the NIT and, almost certainly, this year’s squad will have to win the American Conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament. e latter has been the minimum expectation for Penny Hardaway’s program since he took the helm eight years ago. How and why are we here?
e current Tigers have virtually no star power. Each of Hardaway’s three previous teams featured the American Conference scoring leader: Kendric Davis, David Jones, and P.J. Haggerty, respectively. Dug McDaniel leads the Tigers with 14.0 points per game, good enough for 20th in the league. McDaniel is the only Memphis player to average as many as 10 points and when your point guard is your top scoring option, your roster has holes.
Forget a star, the Tiger fan base would welcome merely a familiar face. No member of this year’s team wore a Memphis uniform last winter. e coach’s son, Ashton Hardaway, is back for a second season, but only a er playing a season at St. Mary’s. Welcome home … I guess. College athletes have always been “our guys” for a brief time, but merely ve months? It’s not enough to ll seats — or even an entire section — at FedExForum, not by a long shot. Games must be played, though, and the Tigers improved to 9-8 with a pair of home wins last week. Following a gritty, two-point victory over Temple
Wednesday night, Penny Hardaway suggested a corner may have been turned. “We were committed with our energy and e ort,” he said. “It wasn’t an on- or o -switch. ey were talking, communicating. ey were the most engaged in the huddles that they’ve ever been as a group. We should never look back. is is who we are. is is the ngerprints we’ll put on the game, starting tonight.”
McDaniel scored only ve points in that win over the Owls, but the 5’11” guard led his team with nine rebounds. It’s the kind of e ort stat the 2025-26 Tigers need to see in more box scores as the season builds toward March.
McDaniel scored 18 points and Curtis Givens added 14 in Sunday’s win over UTSA. All the better, Sincere Parker scored 22 o the bench, suggesting backcourt stability may be a team strength Hardaway can lean on during league play. Entering Wednesday’s game at Tulsa, Memphis and FAU are the only teams in the American with only one league loss.
• As if the Tigers’ play at FedExForum hasn’t been shaky enough, fans can’t even gaze toward the ra ers for a glance at heroes of days gone by. No Larry Finch banner. No Keith Lee banner. No Penny Hardaway banner. Instead, a pair of gigantic black drapes hang, ostensibly to block the empty seats of the upper deck (where tickets are no longer sold for Tiger games). is has all kinds of bad mojo. e drapes look like something that would hang at a memorial service. Tiger basketball may be struggling, but it’s not dead. And come on: What’s the meaning of retired numbers if they’re not displayed on game nights? I’ve been attending games since 1991-92, and I cannot remember seeing “blank” ra ers. is needs to be corrected. And soon.
PHOTO: WES HALE
Penny Hardaway
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We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
Music in Service
By Abigail Morici
e musicians with which Iris Collective works are “more than just wonderful players,” says executive director Rebecca Arendt. “We really look for artists that are doing meaningful work in the communities that they’re working in.”
Iris’ upcoming collaboration with Vijay Gupta is a perfect example. A violinist, Gupta founded Street Symphony, a Los Angeles-based nonpro t that brings music to neighbors recovering from addiction, homelessness, and incarceration through performances, workshops, and new songs. is Saturday, he’ll make his debut with Iris Collective, bridging the classical and the contemporary with Beethoven’s Septet, Reena Esmail’s Movement from Darshan, and J.S. Bach’s Partita, interwoven with György Kurtág’s Signs, Games and Messages
Yet this concert won’t be the only item on Gupta’s agenda during his stay in Memphis. “When we bring in guest artists, we don’t bring them in just for performance,” Arendt says. “We bring them in for a residency, so they’re doing work within the Memphis community.”
Gupta, for his part, will lead a masterclass with the music students of University of Memphis on Wednesday, and later that evening, he’ll join a community roundtable moderated by Rachel Knox of the Hyde Family Foundation and featuring DeMarcus Suggs, the city’s director of creative and cultural economy; Kelcey Johnson, executive director of Hospitality Hub; and Kevin Farrell from Alpha Omega Veteran Services. e discussion, Arendt says, will focus on how “art organizations and community service organizations and those that are interested can create places of belonging, and opportunities of belonging and creativity, for those that are experiencing homelessness and are in our community.”
On Friday, in partnership with Hospitality Hub, Gupta and the Iris musicians will participate in a “soup kitchen” performance at First Presbyterian Church for those experiencing homelessness. “Not only will it be a moment of beauty and relaxation, but it’ll be a chance for us to talk directly with people to say, ‘Do you like it? What would you want to see di erently?’ So we can hear directly from the people that we want to serve.”
is feedback, Arendt adds, is integral to Iris’ mission as they seek to expand the work they’ve begun with Hospitality Hub over the summer. “Iris musicians really are intentional to make sure that they listen rst,” she says. “People are people and music is a wonderful way to connect. [Someone’s] experience with housing insecurity is just a little piece of them, and so music is a really wonderful way to sort of break down all of those labels we put on each other just to get to what we all have in common.” For more information and to purchase tickets, visit iriscollective.org.
COMMUNITY DIALOGUE ON ARTISTIC PARTNERSHIPS AND UNHOUSED NEIGHBOR SUPPORT, BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY, 3030 POPLAR AVENUE, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2-3:30 P.M., FREE.
VIJAY GUPTA: ON STAGE WITH IRIS COLLECTIVE, GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, 1801 EXETER ROAD, GERMANTOWN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 7 P.M., $62/SEAT.
VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES January 22nd - 28th
Spillit True Story Film Festival Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park Avenue, ursday, January 22, 6 p.m. | Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar Avenue, Saturday, January 24, 8:30 a.m.
Spillit Memphis is launching its inaugural True Story Film Festival, featuring documentaries produced or lmed in the Mid-South, or created by lmmakers who live in the region.
Its opening night on ursday at the Dixon will feature a special screening of “Shine On: e Tom Lee Story,” directed by Mateo Servante, alongside the new short lm “(I’m Not) Your Negroni” by acclaimed Mississippi lmmaker Antonio Tarrell.
On Saturday, festival attendees can see short lms like “Adopting Greyhounds,” “Down ere,” “Equestrian Mid-South,” “A Few of
My Favorite ings: Edge Motor Museum,” “Floating Pilgrims,” “ e Little Tea Shop,” “Mempis Makers: Memphis Union Mission,” “Moving Spirits: Encountering the Ancestors,” “Sites of Memory,” “Tangled Up in the South,” and “On the Row: Stories from Arkansas’ Death Row.”
All lms are free to attend, but space is limited. RSVP at sts .eventive.org.
Playhouse on the Square, 66 S. Cooper, Friday, January 23-February 22, $15-$25
Inspired by Alanis Morisette’s 1995 album of the same name, this musical tells the story of a Connecticut family under the pressure to be perfect, while navigating pain, addiction, racism, sexual assault, and trauma.
e show will run from January
23rd to February 22nd, with performances at 8 p.m. ursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.
General admission tickets are $35; senior citizens, military, and rst responders are $25; and children under 17 are $15. Purchase tickets at playhouseonthesquare.org. is musical contains strong language, adult themes, drug use, and moments of sexual violence.
50th Anniversary Celebration Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park Avenue, Sunday, January 25, 1-5 p.m., free
Join the Dixon community for a joyful celebration of the museum’s golden anniversary, with refreshments and special tours and art activities designed for all ages. 50 Years of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, a documentary by Last Bite Films, screens at 2 p.m.
PHOTO: KAT BAWDEN Vijay Gupta
AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule January 22 - 28
Ashton Riker & The Memphis Royals
ursday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
Baunie and Soul
Sunday, Jan. 25, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Blind Mississippi Morris
ursday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Blues Players Club
Friday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m. |
Saturday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Eric Hughes
ursday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Flic’s Pics Band
Led by the legendary Leroy “Flic” Hodges of Hi Rhythm.
Saturday, Jan. 24, 4 p.m. |
Sunday, Jan. 25, 2 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
FreeWorld
Friday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m. |
Saturday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
FreeWorld
Sunday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Red Thomas
Monday, Jan. 26, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
The B.B. King’s Blues Club Allstar Band
Friday, Jan. 23, 8 p.m. |
Saturday, Jan. 24, 8 p.m. |
Monday, Jan. 26, 7 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
The Settlers
Sunday, Jan. 25, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S POPLAR
Van Duren
e singer-songwriter, a pioneer of indie pop in Memphis, performs solo. ursday, Jan. 22, 6:308:30 p.m.
MORTIMER’S
Brain Eating Amoeba
666
Elmo & the Shades ft.
Eddie Harrison
Wednesday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
John Williams & the A440 Band
$10. ursday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
Motel California (Eagles Tribute)
Saturday, Jan. 24, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Debbie Jamison Band
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 6-10 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Klezmatics
Melding traditional Eastern European Jewish dance tunes with contemporary musical trends to forge a unique hybrid, this Grammywinning ensemble has been a pioneer of the klezmer revival and continues to evolve, reimagining and expanding the genre’s boundaries. eir blend of diverse global traditions has made them a standout presence in the world music scene, collaborating with extraordinary artists worldwide. $45. ursday, Jan. 22, 7-8:30 p.m.
BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST.
MARY’S SCHOOL
With Radar Blips, Gootones, Subperceptual. Saturday, Jan. 24, 9 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Candlelight: Coldplay & Imagine Dragons
Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live musical experience to awe-inspiring locations, featuring the Beale Street Quartet. $38.41/general admission. Friday, Jan. 23, 6:30-7:45 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Candlelight: Neo-Soul Favorites ft. Songs by Prince, Childish Gambino, & More
A multi-sensory musical experience, featuring the Beale Street Quartet. $37.32/general admission. Friday, Jan. 23, 8:45-10 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Dave Miller Party in the Pines Listening Event Wednesday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
David Wimbish
With Jesse James DeConto. $22, $25/door. Sunday, Jan. 25, 4 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Deborah Swiney Duo Jazz and bossa nova. ursday, Jan. 22, 6-9 p.m. THE COVE
Feeling 32: An IndieRock Tribute to Taylor Saturday, Jan. 24, 9 p.m.
HI TONE
Folk All Y’all: Will Kimbrough in Tribute to Todd Snider
As an in-demand guitarist, Kimbrough has played on countless and wide-ranging recording sessions, seen the world from a stage on multiple tours with Rodney
and
Harris, and returned to his Nashville home with an Americana Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year award in hand. is special tribute show will honor Will’s relationship with his dear friend and bandmate, Todd Snider. It’s a chance to share Todd’s music and celebrate his soul. $25. Saturday, Jan. 24, 5 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Heartbreak Hill Sunday, Jan. 25, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S MIDTOWN
Jazz Jam with the Cove Quartet
Jazz musicians are welcome to sit in. Sunday, Jan. 25, 6-9 p.m.
THE COVE
Joe Restivo 4
Guitarist Restivo leads one of the city’s nest jazz quartets. Sunday, Jan. 25, noon.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
John Németh and The Blue Dreamers
John Németh is a showman, songwriter, vocalist, harmonica player, and awardwinning recording artist. He is steeped in the blues, mentored by the likes of Gene Harris and Elvin Bishop. $30.39. Friday, Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m.
Noisy Cats Are We (R.E.M. Tribute) is group specializes in R.E.M. material from the group’s early years. With Yesterday’s Trash (Replacements tribute). Friday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m.
B-SIDE
Pestilence Presents: Real vs. Fake Hardcore With Phony, Aversive Control, Meanmuggo. Sunday, Jan. 25, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Risky Whispers
With Wicker, F!rst. Saturday, Jan. 24, 8 p.m. HI TONE
Subteens
With HEELS. $10. Saturday, Jan. 24, 8 p.m. BAR DKDC
Supreme Imperial With William Wilder. Friday, Jan. 23, 9 p.m. BAR DKDC
Take 12
Friday, Jan. 23, 9:30 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
The Blue Plate Special Wednesday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m. B-SIDE
The Floozies + Too Many Zooz: Too Many Flooz Tour Friday, Jan. 23, 8 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
TILT
Friday, Jan. 23, 6 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Trench/Vanilla Album
Listening Kickback
ursday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Zoë Pete Ford
With Hayden Hunter & the Yearly Trials, Rose Haven Motor Hotel, Izzy Arthurs. Friday, Jan. 23, 10 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Chicken S#!+ Bingo
Play the game of the century with live music by Hillbilly Mojo. Sunday, Jan. 25, 3 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Dale & Celine Watson
An intimate, stripped-down acoustic set featuring just the two performers sharing songs and stories. ursday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Even Odds
Sunday, Jan. 25, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHWIND
Jack & the Fat Man
Sunday, Jan. 25, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHAVEN
The Filthy Heathens
With Lennox Creek. Friday, Jan. 23, 8 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Will Sexton & Friends Saturday, Jan. 24, 3 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Bob Nelson & the Bobcats
Sunday, Jan. 25, 8 p.m.
HUEY’S CORDOVA
Concert @ Neshoba
Universal Church Original acoustic music. $10. Saturday, Jan. 24, 2-4:30 p.m.
NESHOBA UNIVERSAL CHURCH
Don Was & the Pan Detroit Ensemble
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the legendary Grateful Dead album Blues for Allah. $44/General admission. Friday, Jan. 23, 8-9:30 p.m.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Richard Wilson
Smooth, soulful, and relaxing jazz and bossa nova. Saturday, Jan. 24, 9 a.m.-noon
CARRINGTON OAKS COFFEEHOUSE AND BISTRO-LAKELAND
Royal Blues Band
Sunday, Jan. 25, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S OLIVE BRANCH
Terry & the Wallbangers
Sunday, Jan. 25, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S COLLIERVILLE
The Parker/Tariq Experience
Sunday, Jan. 25, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S GERMANTOWN
Wendy Moten is newest inductee to the Memphis Music Hall of Fame garnered national attention with hits like “Come In Out of the Rain” and her powerhouse vocals and incredible range on Season 21 of e Voice. $40.
Saturday, Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m.
BARTLETT PERFORMING ARTS AND CONFERENCE CENTER
Crowell
Emmylou
PHOTO: ADRIAN BUCKMASTER e Klezmatics
SATURDAY FEB 28TH
11AM-2PM directo get best
Discover the best camps, classes, and summer experiences for kids of all ages. Meet camp directors, ask questions, and get inspired for your family’s best summer yet — all at this FREE, family-friendly event!
CALENDAR of EVENTS: January 22 - 28, 2026
ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS
“Art of the Game”: Irvin Serenco & the MSCA
e arcade expressions of Irvin Serenco and the Mid-South Cartoonists Association. Free. rough Jan. 30.
MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
“Bettye’s Bin: The Personal Archives of Stax Songwriter Bettye Crutcher”
Discover the story of a woman who transformed poetry into platinum hits, whose words echoed from South Memphis to the world, and whose rediscovered archives now return home. Free. rough Feb. 22.
STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC
“Black Artists in America: From the Bicentennial to September 11”
e nal installment of the Dixon’s Black Artists in America series showcases artistic styles and viewpoints within African-American art during the last quarter of the 20th century. Sunday, Jan. 25-March 25.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Brantley Ellzey –
“Reflection + Ritual + Refuge”
A major solo exhibition by Memphis-based artist Ellzey. e spiral is his recurring form. It turns through the exhibition like a silent logic — natural, ancestral, unstoppable. rough Jan. 25.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
“Food: Science, Culture, and Cuisine”
A multi-sensory feast of an exhibition that engages you in new ways to think about food through sight, taste, smell, touch, and sound. Saturday, Jan. 24-June 30.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
“Last Whistle: Steamboat Stories of Memphis”
Featuring detailed model boats and original steamboat artifacts, this exhibit rekindles the romance of the steamboat era while sharing stories and insights about their role in shaping the region. rough June 26.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
Master Metalsmith
James Viste: “Let Me
Tell You a Story” is exhibit by the museum’s 39th Master Metalsmith is lled with whimsy, humor, memories, and anecdotes, underscoring the innovation found in smithing techniques of the past. rough Feb. 1.
METAL MUSEUM
“Meet the Dixons”
Learn how the Dixon Gallery & Gardens began with Margaret and Hugo Dixon’s vision of creating a place to celebrate art, nature, and beauty, which became a reality in 1976.
Sunday, Jan. 25-May 31.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“Navigating Knowledge” is exhibition explores vessels and navigation as metaphors for the containment and transmission of knowledge. rough Oct. 31.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
“Of Plural Worlds”:
Archive
Sophia Mason works in so sculpture and installation. is show organizes “Of Plural Worlds” as the nature center exhibit comes to an end and prepares to be archived, packed up, and led away. rough Jan. 24.
THE UGLY ART COMPANY
Patrick McGee Exhibition
McGee’s painting styles range from realism and oral studies to abstract-surrealism and the avant-garde. rough Jan. 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
“Redemption of a Delta Bluesman: Robert Johnson”
A series of 29 paintings dedicated to reimagining the story of the mythical crossroads where the bluesman purportedly made a deal. rough June 30.
GALLERY ALBERTINE
“River Coral”: New Works by Anthony Lee Depictions of fantastic, uid gures and shapes. Friday, Jan. 23-March 30.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Roger Allan Cleaves: “A World on Fire”
Cleaves’ Forget Me Nots Land series is a complex Afrofuturist fantasy that resists easy explanations. “A World on Fire” is the most recent chapter of this ongoing epic narrative. rough April 12.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“Seasons” - New Works by Melody Weintraub
Weintraub currently supervises art education candidates remotely for UT-Knoxville and has written over 30 articles for SchoolArts Magazine Free. rough Jan. 29.
WKNO DIGITAL MEDIA CENTER
Shameka Carter Exhibition
“Winter Embrace” by Shameka Carter exhibits her earthly, etheral style designed to evoke warmth and comfort. Free. rough Jan. 31.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Tributaries: Kat Cole’s “Meditations” Cole captures ephemeral
Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.
DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENTS LISTING, VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.
COURTESY DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS e Dixon Gallery & Gardens’ 50th anniversary will be honored with cake and special tours.
gestures in glass, enamel, and steel, resulting in gleaming puddles of light and color. rough March 8.
METAL MUSEUM
Veda Reed: “In Memoriam”
Reed’s painting life focused on West Tennessee landscapes, the Mississippi River, brief pilgrimages in Italy and England, the vast skies of New Mexico, and Granite Mountain that loomed over her town.
rough Feb. 7.
DAVID LUSK GALLERY
ART HAPPENINGS
A Queer Social Event: Collage & Letter Writing Workshop
An art workshop presented by Lisa Berry and Like Really Creative. Monday, Jan. 26, 6 p.m.
DRU’S BAR
Dixon Gardens 50th
Anniversary Celebration
Celebrate 50 years of art, gardens, and beauty with your Dixon community. Light refreshments, cake, and tours of the property will be o ered.
Sunday, Jan. 25, 1-4 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“Food: The First Bite” Opening
A multi-sensory feast of an exhibition that engages you in new ways to think about food through sight, taste, smell, touch, and sound. Saturday, Jan. 24, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
Opening Reception for “River Coral”: New Works by Anthony Lee Meet the artist behind these depictions of fantastic, uid gures and shapes. Friday, Jan. 23, 5-7 p.m.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Tour: Between Realms
Step into an ethereal journey where art dances between reality and dreams. Engage with symbols that ignite imagination and unfold hidden stories. $10. Sunday, Jan. 25, 2-2:45 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
BOOK EVENTS
Amy Rigby: Girl to Country: a Memoir Burke’s Book Store presents an evening with singer-songwriter Amy Rigby, whose new book depicts the tricky second act of a creative life: How do you keep doing the work you love into your forties? Tues-
the machine and discussion about the purpose and history of 3D printing. Monday, Jan. 26, 6-7:30 p.m.
RALEIGH LIBRARY
Beginner Casting: Aluminum Light Switch Plates
Lawler Foundry Classes are project-speci c, a ordable, and enjoyable metal casting classes designed for novicelevel students. $120. Saturday, Jan. 24, 8 a.m.-noon.
METAL MUSEUM
Beginner Casting: Bottle Openers
No experience necessary. Fun for adults and kids. $120. Saturday, Jan. 24, 1-4 p.m.
METAL MUSEUM
Country Swing Dance Lessons
It’s never too late to start, and a partner is not required to join the class. New moves taught weekly. Friday, Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m.
WHISKEY JILL’S
Figure Drawing (Long Pose)
Join us for a gure drawing session with a two-hour long pose. Artists of all levels can practice and increase their skills drawing the human form at Memphis’ art museum. $12. Sunday, Jan. 25, 2-4 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART Houseplant Propagation Workshop
day, Jan. 27, 6 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Book Sale: Rare Art Books, Exhibition Catalogs & More
A treasure trove of art books, including rare exhibition catalogs, hard-to- nd critical texts, contemporary titles by artists in the museum’s collection, and more. Saturday, Jan. 24, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Freida McFadden
Release Party: Dear Debby
A garden party in honor of McFadden’s upcoming release. Tuesday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m.
NOVEL
Lizzie Olesker and Lynne Sachs: Hand Book: A Manual on Performance, Process, and the Labor of Laundry
A performative book reading featuring author Lynne Sachs, with special guests Laura Goodman and Kathy Steuer. ursday, Jan. 22, 5:30 p.m.
BURKE’S BOOK STORE
CLASS / WORKSHOP
3D Printing Has Layers is monthly class series will explore important topics related to 3D printing, including demonstrations on how to use
Learn from Urban Earth’s resident plant doctors — the knowledgeable team members who care for plants daily and understand the nuances of seasonal stress, root health, light, and indoor environments. Sunday, Jan. 25, 1 p.m. URBAN EARTH GARDENS, NURSERY & MARKET
Intro to Watercolor Botanicals
Local artist and instructor Barrie Foster will lead you through lessons on color theory, using tracing paper, painting with watercolors, and detailing with ne line pens. Sunday, Jan. 25, 1-3 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Open House: Artistic Expression Program | Programa de Expresión Artística
Get a glimpse of Cazateatro’s innovative classes. Saturday, Jan. 24, noon.
CAZATEATRO OFFICE
Rhythm & Roots Presented by Memphis Youth Arts Initiative, this is a free community program o ering high-energy music and dance lessons for youth ages 6 to 17. Wednesday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m.
MEMPHIS YOUTH ARTS INITIATIVE CENTER
continued on page 20
PHOTO:
CALENDAR: JANUARY 22 - 28, 2026
continued from page 19
The Tingey Painting with Parkinsons Program
A free art therapy program that supports people living with Parkinson’s. Wednesday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m.-noon.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Youth Workshop: Printmaking
Dive into the art of monoprinting. Explore addition, subtraction, and found objects using ink and the printing press. Ages 10-13. Supplies included. $15. Saturday, Jan. 24, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
COMEDY
Amy
To
details the creative life’s second act, after that first flash of achievement.
charming story that introduces young readers to the power of perseverance, creative thinking, and collaboration, with a healthy dose of pandasized humor. Saturday, Jan. 24, 10:30 a.m.
NOVEL
Kaleidoscope Club
Beale Street Monster Club: Once Upon a Midday Dreary
A celebration of one of horror’s most legendary figures: Edgar Allen Poe. Free. Saturday, Jan. 24, 1-3:30 p.m.
A. SCHWAB
Dark Side of Light
An exploration of light pollution and the impact it has not only on us, but on nature as a whole. Thursday, Jan. 22-Jan. 28, 2 p.m.
AUTOZONE DOME PLANETARIUM
Forward to the Moon
Mended Therapy
Combining mental health with a love of fashion, creativity, and sustainability, Mended Therapy was born. Ashley wants to show that although things may seem like they cannot get better, there is hope. Just like a mended piece of clothing is brought new life, the same can be said of us. She is here to walk with you through this journey with laughter, creativity, and challenging your beliefs about yourself. She is MENDED (and constantly mending). She hopes you will let her join you as you MEND.
Ashley specializes in working with LGBTQ+ populations and mood disorders.
For more information or to book an appointment, visit mendedtherapypllc.com.
She currently accepts Aetna, Cigna, Quest Behavioral Health, All Savers (UHC), Health Plans Inc, Optum, Oscar, Oxford, Surest (Formerly Bind), UHC Student Resources, UMR, UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealthcare Shared Services (UHSS), UnitedHealthcare Global, and UnitedHealthcare Exchange Plans (ONEX) insurance plans. She does provide a superbill for out-of-network clients if they want to submit to their insurance. Self-pay is $125 for individual sessions.
Open Mic Comedy Night
It’s a laugh a minute with this hilarious Midtown institution. Tuesday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
René Vaca
Vaca’s appearance at the Netflix is a Joke Festival catapulted him to comic stardom. 18+. Thursday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
COMMUNITY
Free Haircuts
Come get a line up and feel your best. Children 18 and under will be prioritized. Thursday, Jan. 22, 5-7 p.m.
ORANGE MOUND COMMUNITY
GARDEN
Invasive Species Pull
Help keep our ecosystem healthy by identifying and removing non-native invasive species plants. Friday, Jan. 23, 9 a.m.
OVERTON PARK
Weed Wrangle
A weed wrangle with lead volunteer Bill Bullock. Meet the group at the East Parkway Old Forest Gateway wearing closed-toed shoes and appropriate clothing. Saturday, Jan. 24, 1-3 p.m.
OVERTON PARK
FAMILY
A Special Story Time Event: The Handy Pandas with Jamie McMahon
Meet the author of this
Each week, participants aged 5-9 will enjoy an art or horticulture project that sparks creativity and critical thinking. $8. Wednesday, Jan. 28, 4-5 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Magic Carpet Presents Shake, Rattle, and Roll:
A Musical History of Memphis with Brad Birkedahl Saturdays are for the kids and rockin’ out! Saturday, Jan. 24, 10-10:45 a.m.
BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST.
MARY’S SCHOOL
Mini Masters
Introduce your little ones to the arts and nature with crafts, movement, and more.
$8. Tuesday, Jan. 27, 10:30 a.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Story Time
Stories, songs, art activities, and creative play related to Collierville history. Ages 2-4. Friday, Jan. 23, 10:30 a.m.
MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY
FILM
Apollo 11: First Steps Edition
A special edition of Todd Douglas Miller’s critically acclaimed Apollo 11 documentary, created exclusively for giant screen theaters, with a trove of never-before-seen 70mm footage and audio recordings. Thursday, Jan. 22-Jan. 28, 1 p.m.
CTI 3D GIANT THEATER
A planetarium show about the Artemis program, NASA’s project to return to the moon, from landing humans on the surface, to building a space station in lunar orbit, to establishing a human lunar base. Thursday, Jan. 22-Jan. 28, 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
Met Opera: Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
The exhilarating operatic adaptation of Michael Chabon’s novel follows two Jewish cousins who create a comic-book superhero, hoping to recruit America into the fight against Nazism. Saturday, Jan. 24, 1 p.m.
MALCO PARADISO CINEMA GRILL & IMAX
Seasonal Stargazing: Memphis Skies
Hop through constellations, learn cool star names, and groove to planetarium space music in this full-dome audiovisual experience. Thursday, Jan. 22-Jan. 28, 4 p.m.
AUTOZONE DOME PLANETARIUM
Spillit Memphis True Story Film Festival
Documentary films from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, including “Shine On: The Story of Tom Lee” and “(I’m Not) Your Negroni.” Thursday, Jan. 22, 6 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 24, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Gandalf and Aragorn battle Sauron’s army as Frodo and Sam approach Mount Doom with the One Ring. Friday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m.
MALCO PARADISO CINEMA
PHOTO: COURTESY AMY RIG -
BY/BURKE’S BOOK STORE
Rigby’s Girl
Country
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The conclusion of Peter Jackson’s cinematic retelling of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic trilogy. Sunday, Jan. 25, 1 p.m.
MALCO PARADISO CINEMA GRILL & IMAX
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
While Frodo and Sam edge closer to Mordor with the help of the shifty Gollum, the divided fellowship makes a stand against Sauron’s new ally, Saruman, and his hordes of Isengard. Saturday, Jan. 24, 1 p.m.
MALCO PARADISO CINEMA GRILL & IMAX
The Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival: The Ring
The 12th year of The Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival features eight films from all over the world and contain a diverse mix of genres, from documentary to dramedy. $10/community movie ticket, $8/MJCC members; $56/community series pass (all eight movies), $45/ MJCC. Thursday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m.
MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
The Morris and Mollye Fogelman
International Jewish Film Festival:
The Stamp Thief
Another of the eight films from all over the world featured in this innovative festival’s diverse mix of genres, from documentary to dramedy. $10/community movie ticket, $8/ MJCC members; $56/community series pass (all eight movies), $45/MJCC. Tuesday, Jan. 27, 7 p.m.
MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
The Sun: Our Living Star
Discover the secrets of our star in this planetarium show and experience never-beforeseen images of the Sun’s violent surface in immersive full-dome format. Thursday, Jan. 22-Jan. 28, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
AUTOZONE DOME PLANETARIUM
T. Rex: Greatest of All Tyrants
The most dazzling and accurate giant screen documentary ever made on this legendary predator — and its carnivorous Cretaceous cousins. Thursday, Jan. 22-Jan. 28, 4 p.m.
CTI 3D GIANT THEATER
Walking with Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet
The film follows Pachyrhinosaurus youngsters through the seasons and the challenges of growing up and establishing themselves in this prehistoric world. Thursday, Jan. 22-Jan. 28, 2 p.m.
CTI 3D GIANT THEATER
FOOD AND DRINK
Burns Supper
Celebrate Scotland’s most beloved poet, Robert Burns, with an unforgettable evening of food, music, and tradition. $110. Saturday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m.
BOG & BARLEY
LECTURE
Munch and Learn: Turning 50
With expertise in nineteenth-century French and American art, Sharp has organized or coorganized more than 50 exhibitions during his long career. Wednesday, Jan. 28, noon-1 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
PERFORMING ARTS
Poetry Slam with Glow in the Dark Kool-Aidw in the Dark Kool-Aid
The library’s first ever Black Light Black Out Poetry Slam — an electrifying afternoon of spoken word, self-expression, and cosmic vibes. Saturday, Jan. 24, 4 p.m.
ORANGE MOUND LIBRARY
Portfolio Review Night: U of M Entertainment Design and Technology
Enjoy light refreshments, meet designers, and see their work! This will be a great opportu-
JANUARY 22 - 28, 2026
nity to talk with emerging Memphis theater artists and designers. Monday, Jan. 26, 6:30-8
p.m.
THEATRE MEMPHIS
Sip & Slay
Featuring performances by Wednesday Moss, Mariah DaGoat, Zoloft, James Alias, India
Taco. Friday, Jan. 23, 9 p.m.
DRU’S BAR
Sky’s the Limit Live Podcast Taping
A live podcast and masterclass where Coach Bill Courtney (host of An Army of Normal Folks) will interview Bo Ghirardelli, the founder of Sky’s The Limit. Thursday, Jan. 22, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
The Barber of Seville Opera’s most beloved comedy returns in all its joy and madness. Join Figaro as he cuts through schemes and sniffs out secrets in pursuit of an ending that is joyful, romantic, and lucrative. Friday, Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m.
SCHEIDT FAMILY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
SPECIAL EVENTS
Love 4 Lilley Fundraiser
Show support for Sergeant Sam Lilley and his family. Sunday, Jan. 25, 4-7 p.m.
HILTON MEMPHIS
SPORTS
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Charlotte Hornets
Wednesday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.
FEDEXFORUM
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Denver Nuggets
Sunday, Jan. 25, 2:30 p.m.
FEDEXFORUM
Memphis Grizzlies vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Friday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m.
FEDEXFORUM
North American Arenacross Championship
Pure indoor motorsports entertainment. Saturday, Jan. 24-Jan. 25.
See the team’s 100 Year Tour. Sunday, Jan. 25, 3 p.m.
LANDERS CENTER
ACROSS
1 “We should totally do that!”
5 Key of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7: Abbr.
9 Ain’t I a stinker?
14 Energy field, in holistic medicine
15 Made-up story
16 Rub the wrong way
17 Metal that rusts
18 Coup d’___
19 What a tabloid may be sued for
20 Need for targeted advertising
23 Medium for modern matchmaking
24 Ghost in a haunted house, e.g.
25 ’60s conflict site
28 “That sounds painful”
30 Ozs. and lbs.
Crossword
31 Danson of “The Good Place”
34 Birdlike
36 A very long time
38 Neighbor of Pennsylvania
39 Netflix or YouTube
42 Online option that turns into “show” when clicked
43 Absence of complication
44 Profess
45 Sun or moon
46 UPS competitor
47 The longer of the two Morse symbols
49 “Hey” alternatives
50 Restaurateur Lagasse
53 Part of a headset
55 It settles a case
61 Classic hit
62 Catcher of counterfeiters, in old lingo
63 Retort to “Are not!”
64 Investigator
65 [Same source as before]
66 Like drone bees
67 Pizza size
68 Disadvantages found in this puzzle’s three longest Across answers …
69 … and advantages found in them
DOWN
1 Concerning the nonordained 2 $ : dollar :: € : 3 Disney sci-fi classic 4 Eldest Stark daughter on “Game of Thrones” 5 “Resume normal speed,” in a score
6 Each animal in Noah’s Ark had one
7 First thing in the morning?
8 Like 747s
9 Beauty parlors
10 Butter spreader
11 “Occasion” celebrated 364 times a year in Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass”
12 “The First ___” (carol)
13 “South Park” boy
21 Leading by a single point
THEATER
Always a Bridesmaid
This comedy begins with friends swearing at Senior Prom to be in each other’s weddings. Thirty years later, they are still determined to honor that vow. Friday, Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 25, 2 p.m.
NEXT STAGE
Jagged Little Pill
A musical inspired by Alanis Morisette’s 1995 album of the same name. Friday, Jan. 23, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 24, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 25, 2 p.m.
PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE
sex/work
An exploration of a young woman forced to navigate a world built on transactions. Thursday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m. | Friday, Jan. 23, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 24, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 25, 2 p.m.
THEATREWORKS
The Outsiders
This story of Ponyboy Curtis and his Greaser family of “outsiders” received four 2024 Tony Awards. $46.70, $151.60. Thursday, Jan. 22, 7:30-10 p.m. | Friday, Jan. 23, 7:30-10 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 24, 2-4:30 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 24, 7:30-10 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 25, 1-3:30 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 25, 6:30-9 p.m.
ORPHEUM THEATRE
Edited by Will Shortz No.
Got full, say
How a smartphone knows where it is, for short
De-squeak
So-called “architect of India”
TV programming filter
Option with a trash can icon
Making ___
Host’s task, informally
Something to bend over backward for
Athlete’s
PUZZLE BY JAKE HALPERIN
We Saw You.
with MICHAEL DONAHUE
Awoman was dressed as David Bowie at the annual “EL-BOW! e Elvis Bowie Birthday Party,” which was held January 10th. e woman, who didn’t want to give her real name, was a dead ringer for Bowie in his 1972 “Life on Mars” video. at would be just before his Ziggy Stardust period. Her hair (wig?) was red and she wore a skinny blue suit. During the party she sang selections, including “Life on Mars” and “Ashes to Ashes.”
She also got to cut the birthday sheet cake, which bore a TCB lightning bolt, but colored red to represent Bowie’s face paint on his 1973 Aladdin Sane album cover.
Scott Taylor and Laurie Major hosted the party at Major’s home this year. In years past, it’s been held at the home of Mike McCarthy and hosted by McCarthy and Anneliese Jones.
Music was by TURNT, which Taylor co-founded.
PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE above: Marcia Cli on, Jewell Roesler circle: Chris McCoy below: (le to right) Layvonda Fason, Brianna Henderson, Brendan Ballenger; Zoe and Will Loren; Adam and Renata Rains bottom row: (le to right) Jan and Jim Orick; Kevin Keough
above: Anneliese Jones and Mike McCarthy
row: (top and below) Scott Taylor, Laurie Major; Zaria Crawford, Fedan Haydar, Leilani Howard
below: (le to right) Adam Hohenberg, David Less; Klay Lester and Mary Glasscock; Mike Abernathy; “David Bowie” bottom le : Mark Wallace and Brooke Nelson
right
FOOD By Michael Donahue
Remember Gridley’s?
Product line honors beloved barbecue restaurant.
B
arbecue lovers fondly remember Gridley’s Fine Bar-B-Q. e name is synonymous with smoky, tasty, cooked pork slathered in a special sauce.
Robyn Gridley Nickell is keeping that taste alive. Nickell, daughter of Celeste and restaurant founder Clyde Gridley, launched the Gridley Revival line of products, including classic mild and hot barbecue sauce, classic back-of-the house rub, and barbecue shrimp seasoning.
“I wanted to honor mom and dad,” Nickell says. “I could not let it die. I couldn’t. I was not going to let it go away.”
Gridley’s, which was in business from 1975 to the early 2000s and had numerous locations, brings back fond memories for its fans. People tell her, “I had my rst date there.” “We had our reception there.”
“Our rehearsal dinner was there.”
Nickell says, “It’s almost magical.” e origin of Gridley’s began in 1962 with a small business owned by her dad. “Dad had always loved food,” she says. “We had a little dairy-type drive-in on Macon Road called Stop N Tell.” ey sold ice cream, but they also sold the Gridburger, Nickell says. “He created a sauce that he put on it.”
Gridley’s main job was working as comptroller for Loeb Enterprises under Bill Loeb, who owned barbecue restaurants and laundries around town. Loeb made a bet with Gridley about running one of his barbecue restaurants. “He made him a $1,200 bet. He didn’t think Daddy could make one of those stores a number-one in a year.”
Her dad chose the Loeb’s at Summer Avenue and Graham Street. at location, which is now Bryant’s Breakfast, was close to their home.
“He won the bet, for sure,” Nickell says. “He said, ‘I can take on a couple more.’ At one point he ended up with ve.”
But Gridley wanted to sell wet ribs and have a dining room at the restaurants he was operating. Loeb thought he was “getting too big for his britches” and wouldn’t let him do either of those things.
So, Gridley le Loeb’s. “He said, ‘I’m going to do it my way. I want to open my own place,’” says Nickell.
With a backer, Gridley opened the rst Gridleys Bar-B-Que in September 1975, on Summer between Waring and Graham. He wanted it to be more than a barbecue joint. He hired servers and even a maître d’ to take care of customers in the dining room. ey also had a self-serve counter. Gridley wanted to o er “a nice dining experience,” his daughter says. e decor wasn’t bright. “It was dark
The Gridley’s menu included seafood gumbo and other Gulf Coast fare. “Daddy was born and raised on the Gulf Coast,” Nickell says. “Biloxi.”
— dark leather and all that — but people loved it. ey said it was cozy. ey loved the wait sta we had.”
And, she says, “Business took o .”
In addition to pork shoulders and beef brisket, the Gridley’s menu included barbecued shrimp, seafood gumbo, a remoulade, and other Gulf Coast fare. “Daddy was born and raised on the Gulf Coast,” Nickell says. “Biloxi.”
Her dad also came up with a bread that was a cross between sourdough and French. “He wanted to make a po’ boy sandwich like they did on the coast,” she says.
People still talk about his food, including the beans. “It’s de nitely spicier than some beans, but it’s not hot. It’s
de nitely a sweet bean, and we put a lot of pork in the beans.”
Her father “just had a knack,” she says. “He knew what people wanted.”
Gridley also put the emphasis on quality. “He was so rigid about keeping the best products,” Nickell recalls. “I could not tell you how many times I went to meat packers with him to get the right rib cut, the right shoulder. He bought his shrimp and anything seafood-related on the Gulf Coast.”
Gridley’s grew to include four locations in Memphis: Summer between Waring and Graham, Sycamore View, Elvis Presley Boulevard, and Winchester at Kirby.
Franchise locations were in Jackson,
Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi. Another one was about to open in Atlanta, Georgia, but, Nickell says, “Daddy died suddenly of a massive heart attack. He was in a car driving.”
People came to her mother and told her Gridley had promised them this and that. “Nobody was as kind and generous as my mother,” she says. “But my mother did not have any clue what daddy had been promising.
“My daddy trusted a lot of people. He did a lot of stu on a handshake. at’s what bit him in the ass, literally.”
Her mother sold the business to a local restaurant group in the late 1980s. One by one, all the Gridley’s locations closed. “ e last one open was on Stage and Summer,” says Nickell.
In 2022, the family began bottling Gridley’s sauces. “We had notes and recipes. ings dad had written down,” she says. “We knew we had the barbecue shrimp seasonings because I was making that.”
Family members knew how to make the gumbo and baked beans, but they had to match sauces by memory because Gridley used a commercial sauce, which no longer was made. “It took nine or 10 tastings on the mild to get it,” says Nickell. ey also began making barbecue rubs, including Hello Honey!, a honey jalapeño sauce; and Sunshine Rub, a high-citrus seafood rub that also “works great on vegetables.”
Family members involved in the business include Nickell’s son and general manager Matt Nickell, and her daughters Nikki Domenico and Caitlin Miller. ey sell their products at e Woman’s Exchange of Memphis, e Tru e Pig in Collierville, Katie’s Kitchen in Germantown, and Cypress Home & Garden in Rossville, Tennessee. People can also order from their website: gridleyrevival.com. “We’ll ship our sauces and seasoning to your door,” Nickell says.
Gridley Revival products also include jelly and preserves made from family recipes. It o ers prepared foods, including barbecue, soups, and Nickell’s dad’s famous chili. And it features hand towels, ornaments, T-shirts, and stickers with nostalgic artwork, including the old Merrymobile.
ey’re not ready for Kroger, Superlo, and other bigger stores at this time. “We are a small batch bottler,” Nickell says. “We’re not in a position to do the huge orders. I’m trying to keep it controllable.”
But no matter where she’s selling Gridley Revival products, Nickell loves to hear people say, “You do not know how much this means that you’re bringing it back.”
PHOTOS: (ABOVE) ADAM LOEFFEL; (TOP) COURTESY OF ROBYN GRIDLEY NICKELL (above) Nikki Domenico, Robyn Gridley Nickell, Matt Nickell, Caitlin Miller; (top) An early photo of one of the Gridley’s restaurants
By Emily Guenther
Sound Healing
is calming practice can help heal wounds and balance energies.
If you have ever been to e Broom Closet or seen our social media, you have seen us advertising our weekly sound baths. Taj Chandler, who is a musician, reiki master, and certi ed sound therapist, o ers immersive sound baths using various sound therapy instruments multiple times a month. All his events being popular and typically selling out, we get a lot of people in the store asking what exactly sound healing is.
Sound healing is a therapeutic practice that uses vibrational sound to promote relaxation, alleviate stress, and enhance overall well-being. Sound has been used for healing purposes for centuries across di erent cultures. From Tibetan singing bowls to gongs and tuning forks, the power of sound to in uence our energy and health is being increasingly recognized. Sound healing is any practice using the vibrations of various sound-producing instruments to in uence the body’s energy eld.
universe is built on vibrations. We know we can manipulate those vibrations to our needs. But does sound healing work? If you experience a sound healing session, you may not feel di erent but the vibrations from the instruments worked with your body at some level. However, like most things in the metaphysical world, sound healing is going to work better if you believe in it or accept it.
Sound healing works on our auras and energetic bodies, helping us to heal wounds or balance our energies better. Every sound healing session you have will be unique and di erent. O en a sound healing session leaves a person feeling calm and relaxed. But it’s also possible to leave a session feeling energized, centered, and ready to take on the world.
e main idea behind sound healing is that everything in the universe, including our bodies, vibrates at certain frequencies. When these frequencies are disrupted or out of balance, it can lead to stress, illness, or emotional imbalances. Sound healing therapy works by retuning the body’s energy eld to restore harmony and balance. Not only does our body vibrate at a speci c frequency, our individual organs also have their own vibrational frequencies. e vibrations from a sound healing session have the ability to work on individual parts of our bodies as well as our body as a whole and our energy systems.
ese therapeutic sounds produce vibrations that interact with the body, promoting relaxation and aiding in the release of emotional blockages. When the body is bathed in speci c frequencies, it allows for deep relaxation, which can enhance physical healing and mental clarity. Scienti cally we understand that the
If you are interested in sound healing, there are multiple ways you can experience one. One of the most convenient ways is to listen to audio recordings of singing bowls or other instruments being played.
A sound healing session can be as simple as you or a friend playing a sound therapy instrument while you meditate or sit quietly. is can be tricky for some people such as myself who cannot play a sound instrument and meditate at the same time.
A group or public sound bath can be a good introduction to sound healing. is allows you to experience a variety of sound healing instruments in one session. at way you can learn what vibrations work best for you. Attending a group or public sound bath can also take some of the stress out of the unknown because you can bring a friend. Group sound baths are typically more a ordable than private ones, which is another reason they can be a good place to start your sound healing journey.
A private sound healing session is great because you can work with your sound therapist to tailor your session to your needs. If you have never had a sound healing session before, being able to control a bit of the experience can be helpful if you are nervous.
I hope you take the time this year to experience a sound healing session and see what it can do for you.
Emily Guenther is a co-owner of e Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.
Nominate a young person for the 10<20 Youth Impact Awards, presented by Memphis Parent. This award celebrates youth and young adults who strive to impact their community through school, business, leadership, or service by committing themselves to changing the lives of others for the better. Nominations will be accepted for K-12 students.
By
the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication
Mid-South Heart Ball
’Tis the Season Leavenworth, Washington, has become a tourist destination because of the Bavarian theme businesses have adopted there, NPR reported. One shop, the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, houses the world’s largest nutcracker collection, thanks to 101-year-old Arlene Wagner. Wagner started the collection in 1976, and soon after, she and her husband were going to estate sales and auctions in the U.S. and Europe to find rare examples. Once they’d collected 7,000, Wagner said, “It was time to share it with people,” and they opened the museum. The oldest nutcracker she has is a bronze device made between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. Now, Wagner is training a new “Nutcracker Lady,” Michelle McMullen. [NPR, 12/9/2025]
Animal Antics
Andrew Mackay, a politician in Sydney, Australia, was surprised in early December when he checked in on his dogs via a pet-cam, CBS News reported on Dec. 10. His dog Thunder nuzzled open a sliding glass door to get outside, but a couple of typically outdoor animals took advantage. A steer named Sue and a horse named Cricket soon appeared on the camera. “Over the next hour and a half,” Mackay said, “they took turns playing inside, knocking things off cabinets. The fish tank has been drunk from.” [CBS News, 12/10/2025]
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
BMW he had just crashed in Ormond Beach, Florida, they got an earful, The Smoking Gun reported. Investigators say Johnson took the car on Dec. 8 and drove it at speeds exceeding 100 mph before the crash, but Johnson had a different explanation. He said he was “teleported into the vehicle” and told officers, “You saved me from the aliens.” He was charged with grand theft auto and driving on a suspended license. [The Smoking Gun, 12/9/2025]
Least Competent Criminal
A clumsy 20-year-old burglar bungled his own effort to break into a home in Spanaway, Washington, on Dec. 5, KIRO-TV reported. Homeowners called police because someone was banging on their front door, trying to get in. The intruder then moved to the back of the house and tried to break a window. As he attempted to escape, deputies said, he tried to crawl under a fence, but got his foot stuck. Law enforcement used bolt cutters to free his foot before arresting him on charges of residential burglary. [KIRO, 12/8/2025]
The Aristocrats
On Dec. 7, The Washington Post reported, a drone flew over the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina, and dropped the ingredients of a swishy holiday dinner: steak, crab legs (along with a small container of Old Bay seasoning), two bags of marijuana, and a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. The contraband was picked up by law enforcement before reaching its intended recipients, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said. Spokesperson Chrysti Shain said the prison receives “nightly attacks” of drones trying to drop drugs into the prison yard, “but this was a bit unusual, even for us. I’m guessing the inmates who were expecting this package are a bit crabby.” [Washington Post, 12/10/2025]
No one was seriously injured on Dec. 8 in Brevard County, Florida, when a small plane crashed into a moving 2023 Toyota Camry on I-95 around 5:45 p.m., Spectrum News 13 reported. The 27-year-old pilot was attempting an emergency landing, Lt. Tara Crescenzi said. He and his passenger remained at the scene. The 57-year-old driver of the car was taken to the hospital. Jim Coffey and his son, Peter, were in the car behind the Camry; Peter said, “I thought it might maybe aim around and not hit the car, but bam, the wheel just smacked right dab on the back of the car.” [Spectrum News 13, 12/9/2025]
Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.
Truth Is Stranger Than Netflix
When law enforcement questioned Calvin Johnson, 36, about the stolen
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Master astrologer Steven Forrest understands you Aries people well. He says that the riskiest strategy you can pursue is to constantly seek safety. It’s crucial for you to always be on the lookout for adventure. One of your chief assignments is to cultivate courage — especially the kind of brave boldness that arises as you explore unknown territory. To rouse the magic that really matters, you must face your fears regularly. The coming months will be an ideal time for you to dive in and celebrate this approach to life.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You are an ambassador from the material world to the realm of spirit — and vice versa. One of your prime assignments is the opposite of what the transcendence-obsessed gurus preach. You’re here to prove that the flesh is holy, pleasure is a form of prayer, and the senses are portals to the divine. When you revel in earthy delights, when you luxuriate in rich textures and tastes and scents, you’re not being “attached” or “unspiritual.” You’re enacting a radical sacred stance. Being exuberantly immersed in the material world isn’t a mistake to overcome but a blessing to savor. May you redouble your subversive work of treating your body as a cathedral and sensual enjoyments as sacraments.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Everything that’s meant for you is trying to find its way to you. Here’s the problem: It can’t deliver the goods if you’re in constant motion. The boons trying to reach you are circling, waiting for a stable landing spot. If you keep up the restless roaming, life might have to slow you down, even stop you, so you’ll be still enough to embody receptivity. Don’t wait for that. Pause now. Set aside whatever’s feeding your restlessness and tune into the quiet signal of your own center. The moment you do, bounties will start arriving.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Artist Louise Bourgeois said, “I am what I do with my hands.” I will adapt this declaration for your use, Cancerian: You are what you do with your feelings. You are the structures, sanctuaries, and nourishment you create from the raw material of your sensitivity. It’s one of your superpowers! I understand that some people mistake emotional depth for passive vulnerability. They assume that feeling everything means doing nothing. But you prove that bias wrong. You are potentially a master builder. You can convert the flood waters of emotion into resources that hold, protect, and feed. I hope you will do this lavishly in the coming weeks.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Admiring writers often say that the Balinese people have no traditional word for “art.” Making things beautiful is woven into everyday life, as if
By Rob Brezsny
everything should be done as beautifully as possible. I aspire to carry out this approach myself: infusing ordinary actions with the same care I’d bring to writing a story or song. Washing dishes, answering emails, and walking to the store: All are eligible for beauty treatment. I highly recommend this practice to you in the coming weeks, Leo. It’s true that you’re renowned for your dramatic gestures, but I believe you also have an underutilized talent for teasing out glory from mundane situations. Please do that a lot in the coming weeks. For starters, make your grocery list a poem.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Some American Indigenous cultures have “potlatch” ceremonies. These are elaborate giftgiving rituals where hosts gain prestige by generously and freely bestowing their riches on others. Circulating wealth, instead of hoarding it, is honored and celebrated. Is that economically irrational? Only if you believe that the point of resources is individual accumulation rather than community vitality. Potlatch operates on a different logic: The purpose of having stuff is to make having stuff possible for others. I invite you to make that your specialty in the coming months. Assume that your own thriving depends on the flourishing of those around you.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Sufi poet Rumi wrote about a “treasure in ruins.” He meant that what we’re searching for may be hidden in places where we would rather not look. Your life isn’t in ruins, Libra, but I suspect you may have been exploring exciting locations while shunning mundane ones that actually hold your answers. What do you think? Is that possible? Just for fun, investigate the neglected, ignored, and boring places. Try out the hypothesis that a golden discovery awaits you in some unfinished business or a situation you feel an aversion to.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your capacity for intensity is your superpower. I love it, I celebrate it, and I hope to keep nurturing it in you for as long as we’re both here. But not everything deserves the full force of your passionate engagement. Some things are meant to be touched lightly, held loosely, and released easily. The question isn’t whether to feel deeply — that’s who you authentically are — but whether to act on every deep feeling as if it were sacred revelation. Some emotions are weather patterns passing through, not permanent truths requiring upheaval. These are especially key understandings for you to act on during the coming days.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): As I have promised you a million times, I will NEVER exaggerate. And though you
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You are a spy from the future.
Thank you for your service! I love to see your boldness as you smuggle innovative ideas into a present that may or may not be ready for them. Your feelings of alienation are sometimes uncomfortable, but they are crucial to the treasure you offer us. You see patterns others miss because you refuse to be hypnotized by consensus reality. Keep up the excellent work, please. May you honor your need to tinker with impossibilities and imagine alternatives to what everyone else imagines is inevitable. You are proof that we don’t have to accept inherited structures as inevitable.
may wonder if the statements I’m about to make are excessive and overblown, I assure you they are not. The fact is, dear Sagittarius, that everything you have always wanted to enhance and upgrade about togetherness is now possible to accomplish, and will continue to be for months to come. If you dare to dismantle your outmoded beliefs about love and deep friendship — every comforting myth, every conditioned response, every inherited instinct — you will discover new dimensions of intimacy that could inspire you forever.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In Renaissance painting, chiaroscuro refers to the use of strong contrasts between light and dark. It’s a technique that enhances the sense of depth. I believe your life may be in an intense chiaroscuro phase. As your joys grow bright, your doubts appear darker. As your understanding deepens, your perplexity mounts. Is this a problem? I prefer to understand it as an opportunity. For best results, study it closely. Maybe your anxiety is showing you what you care about. Perhaps your sadness is a sign of your growing emotional power. So find a way to benefit from the contrasts, dear Capricorn. Let shadows teach you how to fully appreciate the illumination.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Your unconscious mind is extra communicative, dear Pisces. Hooray! Take advantage! Pay attention to weird images in dreams and songs that linger in your head. Be alert for seemingly random thoughts as they surface. Bypassing logic, your deep psyche is trying to show you ripe secrets and provocative hints. Your duty is to be receptive. So keep a journal or recording device by your bed. Notice which memories rise up out of nowhere. Be grateful for striking coincidences. These are invitations to tune in to meaningful feelings and truths you’ve been missing.
FILM By Chris McCoy
The Three People You Meet in the Apocalypse
Nia DaCosta revives the zombie genre in 28 Years Later: e Bone Temple
In post-apocalyptic stories, most of the eight or so billion people on planet Earth are dead. Some of them are holding on to life by the skin of their teeth. ese are usually the ones who are the main protagonists of the story — think Ben in Night of the Living Dead, holed up in an abandoned farm house, surrounded by zombies, using his intellect and resolve to gather enough resources to live another day. en, there are characters who thrive in the a ermath of ultimate catastrophe. e Mad Max franchise is full of them. ere’s Lord Humungus from e Road Warrior, Immortan Joe from Fury Road, and Dementus from Furiosa. My personal favorite is Tina Turner as Aunty Entity in Beyond underdome. Aunty tells Max that she was “nobody” in the Before Time. Now, she is the sovereign of Bartertown, the last bastion of civilization in the Wasteland.
But mere warlordism is not the only sign that you are cut out for the postfall lifestyle. Some eccentrics take the opportunity of an apocalypse to carve out their own little worlds. In I Am Legend, the 1954 Richard Matheson novel which inspired Omegaman and e Last Man on Earth, as well as the 2007 Will Smith lm, Dr. Robert Neville makes his own little paradise in the ruins of vampire-infested Los Angeles. In “Time Enough at Last,” the rst-season episode of e Twilight Zone that cemented Rod Serling’s reputation as a genius, Burgess Meredith is a bookish introvert who nally gets le alone when he accidentally survives a nuclear war, which goes great for him until he breaks his glasses.
Once he has won Samson’s trust, Dr. Kelson decides to join him, and the two have regular dance parties.
How normal people react to apocalypse is one of the recurring themes of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s 28 Days Later. e 2002 lm is told from the point of view of Jim (Cillian Murphy), a working man who survives the zombie apocalypse because he was in a coma when the Rage virus spread. Jim is de nitely in the “Ben” category of survivors who got lucky, and are trying against all odds to stay lucky.
Last year’s long-awaited sequel, 28
Years Later, introduced us to a postviral warlord: Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). Jimmy was the son of a parish priest who watched his entire family get eaten by Rage zombies in his church. is, naturally, had some negative e ects on his mental health. Twenty-eight years later, he’s taken on an identity based on Jimmy Savile, the British TV presenter who was the longtime host of Top of the Pops, the English version of American Bandstand.
Savile was beloved during his lifetime, but a er his death, it was revealed that he was very probably the most proli c child molester and rapist in the history of the British Isles. is is a subtlety that will likely be lost on American audiences, but O’Connell leaves no doubt that he’s playing a bad guy. He forces his followers, e Fingers Gang, to dress like him, down to blonde wigs and gold chains, and to ght to the death for his amusement.
When director Nia DaCosta takes over for Boyle in e Bone Temple, our surviving protagonist from the last lm, 12-year-old Spike (Al e Williams), is the latest captive of the Fingers Gang. He is thrown into a ght with Jimmy Shite (Connor Newall), a bully who is another thriver. But Jimmy Shite gets a rude awakening when Spike’s desperate knife thrust nds the femoral artery, and his fellow cultists refuse to help him as he bleeds out. is is why we don’t play with knives or join Satanic death cults, children.
Meanwhile, 28 Years Later’s riving Eccentric Loner, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), is living his best life. Most of the time, he’s stripped to the waist and covered in red iodine, which he says helps prevent infection by the Rage virus. He spends his nights dancing alone to Duran Duran, and his days scouting the countryside and dragging the unburied dead back to his lair, a grove of ash trees where he boils o their skin and incorporates their bones into the Bone Temple, a towering monument to those lost in the apocalypse. “It’s an ossuary!” he tells anyone who will listen, which, given the circumstances, is not many people. ese days, his most frequent guest is Samson (Chi LewisParry) a hulking infected who is, in his own way, also thriving as the alpha zombie of the north woods. e rst time Samson got too close to the Bone Temple, Dr. Kelson was forced to use his weapon of choice: a blowgun ring darts laced with morphine and thorazine. But unexpectedly, Samson really enjoyed the drug cocktail, and now he brings Dr. Kelson little gi s, like the head and spine of a deer, in exchange for another hit.
For Dr. Kelson, this is a breakthrough. It’s the rst evidence that the Rage zombies have any kind of mind which the Rage virus hasn’t erased. Once he feels like he has engendered Samson’s trust, Dr. Kelson decides to join him, and the two have regular opiate-driven dance parties among the bone towers. But you know how these
things go: It’s all fun and games until the morphine runs out, and Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal’s death cult nds the Bone Temple.
e biggest revelation from e Bone Temple is the con dent, elegant direction by Nia DaCosta. 28 Years Later was a revival of the early ’00s chaos cinema which Boyle pioneered. e Bone Temple is exactly the opposite. e action sequences are e cient, clear, and compelling. When Jimmy Shite receives his fatal wound, DaCosta stays with him as he bleeds out, shoving the horror of an ordinary death in our face. e lm’s climax, which revolves around an epic needle drop of Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast,” put me in mind of Ryan Coogler’s barn burning sequence from Sinners — another lm where O’Connell’s talent for villainy shines through. And it should come as no surprise that Ralph Fiennes steals the show. King Charles III should knight him, because the man is a national treasure. With e Bone Temple, Garland, Boyle, and DaCosta make the case that, despite all of the mediocre takes on the zombie genre, there’s still a little meat on the bone.
28 Years Later: e Bone Temple Now playing Multiple locations
PHOTO: COURTESY SONY
Ralph Fiennes gets buck in 28 Years Later: e Bone Temple
Our critic picks the best films in theaters.
Mercy Chris Pratt stars as a police detective accused of murdering his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson), an AI whose creation he championed.
The Testament of Ann Lee Amanda Seyfried stars as “Mother” Ann Lee, one of the founders of the Shaker Christian sect in England in the 18th Century. Identified as the female messiah, she leads her followers to immigrate to America, where she helps define the religious traditions of the Colonies. This musical by director Mona Fastvold, co-writer of The Brutalist, has earned Golden Globe and
Critics Choice nominations.
Clicka
Mexican American Jesús Diego Orejel got his start as a farmworker picking peaches in Northern California. Clicka tells the story of his rise to the top of the corridos tumbados music scene, and the founding of the record label which brought this unique Latino genre to a global audience.
Return to Silent Hill
The second installment of the beloved video game franchise stars Jeremy Irvine as James, who is called back to the haunted town of Silent Hill to find his long lost love. Evie Templeton, who performed the mocap and voice of Laura in the video game, reprises her role.
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
In the CHANCERY COURT of Shelby County, Tennessee No. CH-24-0964-2
ROBERT BELDSOE, ET AL
Plaintiff(s) VS. BONNIE WILSON, ET AL
Defendant(s)
It appearing from the complaint in this cause which is sworn to that:
There are parties known and unknown and as prayed for in the Petition to Quiet Title filed on July 25, 2024, as to all previous owners of 4230 Germantown Rd., Arlington, TN 38002.
It is therefore ordered that they make themselves appearance herein at the court House of Shelby County, in the city of Memphis, Shelby County, TN on March 26, 2026 and answer plaintiffs complaint for Petition to Quiet Title or the same will be taken for confessed as to defendant(s), and set for hearing ex parte, and that a copy of this order be published once a week for four successive weeks in the Memphis Flyer.
This 15th day of January, 2026
A True Copy – Attest:
W. Aaron Hall, Clerk & Master
By Jocelyn V. Henderson
Jocelyn V. Henderson
Attorney for Petitioner
Jan. 22, 29, Feb. 5, 12, 2026
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
In the CIRCUIT COURT of Shelby County, Tennessee No. CT-1972-25-1
ISABELLE LOUIS LONG Plaintiff(s) VS. TIMMY LAMAR SWOOPE
Defendant(s)
It is appearing from the complaint in this cause which is sworn to that THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE DEFENDANT, TIMMY LAMAR SWOOPE, CANNOT BE ASCERTAINED AFTER DILIGENT SEARCH AND INQUIRY.
It is therefore ordered that HE make AN appearance herein at the Court House of Shelby County, in the city of Memphis, Shelby County, TN on March 9, 2026, and answer plaintiffs’ complaint for DIVORCE or the same will be taken for confessed as to defendant(s), and set for hearing ex parte, and that a copy of this order be published once a week for four successive weeks in the MEMPHIS FLYER.
This 15th day of JANUARY, 2026.
A True Copy - Attest:
Jamita Swearengen, Clerk & Master
By Jocelyn V. Henderson
Jocelyn V. Henderson
Attorney for Petitioner Jan. 22, 29, Feb. 5, 12, 2026
Docket: PR034086
In Re the Matter of: Major Hodges, Sr. Notice is hereby give that on the 21st day of Oct., 2025, Letters of Administration in respect of Major Hodges, Sr., who died Aug. 29, 2025, were issued to the undersigned by the Probate Court of Shelby County, Tennessee.
All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured, against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court or on before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise their claims will be forever barred.
(1)(A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this notice if the creditor received an actual copy of this Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) days before the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or
(B) Sixty (60) days from the date the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedent’s date of death.
This 15th day of Jan., 2026.
Major Hodges, Jr. Administrator Attorney for the Estate:
Jocelyn V. Henderson
THE LAST WORD
By Jesse Davis
Freedom City
Why, in the land of the free, do so many of our elected leaders ght so hard for universally unpopular initiatives — like conquering Greenland?
European troops are arriving in Greenland, a territory of Denmark, in a show of support against its potential aggressors — us. ese are strange times. It’s certainly not that the violence, greed, and apathy on display are unprecedented. Rather, it’s just that it’s so very well-documented. Each day brings a thousand new reminders pinging to the supercomputer in my pocket.
An overwhelming majority of Americans wish we would just let Greenland be.
By the numbers, roughly 75 percent of Americans are against President Donald Trump’s attempts to acquire Greenland. Even more Greenlanders — a whopping 84 percent! — want the United States to keep its grubby, imperialistic paws to itself, though I have heard from a family member who spent time in the country last year that some Greenlanders she spoke with welcomed the increase in funds they thought a closer relationship with the U.S. might bring.
Surely there are better ways of fostering a closer, and mutually bene cial, relationship than by suggesting we might “take” the country, “whether they like it or not” (Trump’s words). Why, in this day and age, would the U.S. need to actually acquire a new territory anyway?
Maybe Greenland really is essential to U.S. defense. Maybe it’s true that the ultra-rich tech bros want to build a so-called “Freedom City” in Greenland, and maybe that proposed city will be an experimental frontrunner of similarly libertarian settlements planned for Mars. Maybe it’s that Je Bezos, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, and Sam Altman have all invested in Kobold Metals, a company that looks for valuable rare-earth metals and allegedly has its AI-driven eye on Greenland. Maybe this is about Arctic resource protection, or maybe Trump is telling the truth and this is all about “saving” Greenland from Russia and China, whether or not the ne folk of Greenland are looking for such a rescue. Whatever the reason, polling suggests it’s a low priority for the everyday people of both the U.S. and Greenland. In fact, I expect that, if the U.S. were to press a claim on that cold island, the only measurable di erence in my life would be that, as with Trump’s oh-so-smoothly rolled-out tari initiative, many things would get more expensive.
Policies that y in the face of popular support are not uncommon lately, though. A recent poll from e Economist shows that 46 percent of Americans — that’s Americans, not just Democrats — support abolishing ICE. e numbers are even higher for questions of whether ICE has gone too far or if their methods are too forceful — and these polls were conducted before all the videos documenting the brutal shooting and killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent were released. For some reason, though, a recent memo from the Democratic think tank Searchlight Institute is suggesting that Democrats refrain from taking up the apparently popular and moral rallying cry of “abolish ICE.” Instead, the top-level Dems seem to want everyone to cool down the rhetoric, instead opting for “Reform and Refrain.”
I’m not sure we can “Reform and Retrain” an agency that’s been posting Nazi slogans on social media, whose members have snatched U.S. citizens o the streets, and executed a human being in broad daylight, and I’m not sure why we should be afraid to discuss scrapping an agency that’s only 24 years old. ICE is not exactly a sacred part of national history.
Immigration enforcement should require a clipboard and a pencil, not a gun and an identity-obscuring face mask. We don’t need — and we can’t a ord — a paramilitary agency to check in on people who overstay their visas, and I seriously doubt that most Americans actually want a group of well-armed thugs to have, inde nitely, the authority to conduct random tra c stops or go door to door to check citizens’ papers.
A militia with little oversight and less training? Martian colonies? War with Venezuela? Invasion of Greenland? Who wants any of this?
Most Americans don’t want another war, let alone one in Greenland and one in Venezuela. ese aren’t le -versus-right, red-or-blue issues. ese are issues with broad support, relatively uncomplicated ideas held by the majority, yet they can’t get traction. We can’t get gun laws passed or keep our president from threatening that the U.S. will control Greenland, one way or another. Our representatives have dropped even the slimmest pretense of working to represent us. What’s next, is the president going to ip the bird to an American worker?
Oh, wait.
I’m not calling on us to storm the Capitol, but when so many resoundingly unpopular initiatives are rolling ahead unchecked, when it feels as though we’re all living in a country that increasingly caters to the sel sh whims of a powerful and privileged few, it’s long past time to ask ourselves if we like where we’re going. Because I’ve got a feeling we aren’t exactly headed for Freedom City.
Jesse Davis is a former Flyer sta er; he writes a monthly Books feature for Memphis Magazine. His opinions, such as they are, are packing their bags for Freedom City.
PHOTO: VISIT GREENLAND | UNSPLASH
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