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THE fly-by
{WEEK THAT WAS
By Flyer staff
Memphis on the internet.
BLUE MONKEY
“After nearly 27 wonderful years, the Midtown Blue Monkey will be closing,” the iconic Midtown bar and restaurant posted on Facebook last week. “Our final day of business will be Friday, June 19. Thank you, Memphis, for allowing us to serve you.”
The Downtown Blue Monkey will remain open.
ROAD
TO PROJECT X
Key Glock took his “Road to Project X” vlog to Hamilton High School last week on YouTube. He played basketball in the gym, visited a convenience store (sharing a few dollars with a cute little girl), and drove (and smoked) around South Memphis. Project X is the rapper’s upcoming album.
DARK
U OF M Grahamwood Heights neighbor
Frank Butler has been snapping photos around the University of Memphis around 4 a.m. and posting them on Nextdoor. The oft-unseen nighttime world there is beautiful. Kudos to the lighting designers and electricians.
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
Smokey City, Trans Youth, & Immigration
A $70 million project underway, a harmful healthcare law, and a group claims state overreach.
SMOKEY CITY
Smokey City is getting a $70 million mixed use development with townhomes, rentals, and a beer garden.
Construction on the project was announced last week by the city of Memphis and the Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). The project — called Smokey City Market — consists of 11 parcels of land at Jackson and Decatur. The project will be built in three phases.
REPORT: LAW HARMFUL FOR TRANS YOUTH
Advocacy groups said Tennessee’s new law prohibiting health providers and insurers from collecting data on a minor’s gender identity will diminish preventive measures and “understanding of LGBTQ health.”
The Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) and Human Rights Campaign (HRC) found that 44 percent of trans and gender-expansive youth who have not expressed their identity to their parents find connecting with a doctor as a safe way to have “honest conversations” about their health and sexuality.
LGBTQ minors living without insurance, healthcare access, or familial support in the state may only have physicians as a “safe space,” the study said.
IMMIGRATION LAWSUIT
A new class-action lawsuit — with plaintiffs in Memphis — claims a new state law on immigration enforcement oversteps federal law, which has sole power on the matter.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU of Tennessee) and National Immigration Law Center (NILC) filed a federal lawsuit last week challenging a law passed this legislative session.
That law creates a state crime for people who are immigrants with final removal orders but who have not yet left the state. It says if immigrants with final removal orders don’t leave Tennessee within 90 days of the order, they face a misdemeanor that comes with a maximum of 11 months and 29 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
The new law is set to go live on July 1st. But the advocacy
groups argue only federal lawmakers — not state lawmakers — can enforce immigration law.
NEW SIGNS
New signs will welcome motorists at Tennessee’s borders. Gov. Bill Lee and other state officials unveiled the new sign design, which looks like a vintage postcard, last week. They are part of a $5-million glow-up of state roadways.
CRIMINAL CASE TRACKING
For the first time ever in Shelby County, criminal cases will be tracked from beginning to end.
The University of Memphis (U of M) recently launched a new research unit to pull criminal justice data from several agencies into one system. Within six months, a public dashboard for tracking criminal cases should be online. The new system will also allow criminal justice officials here to better evaluate programs and policies.
AI FUND RECOMMENDATIONS
The city should spend money from xAI and other Memphisbased artificial intelligence companies to weatherize homes and to provide healthcare, according to an advisory board. Its final proposals were headed to the Memphis City Council for consideration this week.
Tennessee Lookout contributed to this report. Visit the News Blog at memphisflyer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
PHOTO: U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFROCEMENT | FLICKR Immigration advocacy groups claim state lawmakers have no right to enforce immigration law, and hope to nullify a new state law by July 1st.
POSTED TO FACEBOOK BY BLUE MONKEY
POSTED TO YOUTUBE BY KEY GLOCK
POSTED TO NEXTDOOR BY FRANK BUTLER
By Toby Sells
{ STATE WATCH
Get Drugs While You Can
State GOP seizes cannabis, kratom from shelves at the end of the month, but may add a new psychedelic.
Intoxicating THC products and kratom will disappear from Tennessee store shelves at the end of the month, but hope for a Trumpbacked psychedelic is on the horizon, all thanks to the Tennessee GOP.
“Legal weed”
July 1st will bring the long-foreseen collapse of Tennessee’s burgeoning cannabis industry. Lawmakers banned intoxicating products last year, though the industry got a short-lived reprieve to continue sales until the end of this month.
Many of the “legal weed” products on the shelves now will simply be gone in a month. All that will really be le to sell will be those CBD, CBC, CBG, and CBN products that were available before the galaxy of hemp-derived THC products hit the market. CBD hand cream, anyone?
It will also be illegal to ship “legal weed” products into Tennessee, according to the new laws. You might still be able to order them, but shipping, receiving, and possessing them become crimi-
Kratom
Kratom is also set to disappear from shelves in a month, thanks to something called “Matthew Davenport’s Law.” e Chattanooga man’s family says he died of an overdose using kratom and many other substances.
e law’s sponsor, Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), called kratom “gas station heroin.” Derived from a Southeast Asian tropical tree, its e ects include feelings of pleasure and relief, pain reduction, and sedation or stimulation depending on the dose, according to the Nashville Addiction Clinic.
While some use kratom to help ght opioid addiction, the Mayo Clinic labels it “unsafe and ine ective,” saying it causes liver damage, hallucinations, delusions, depression, and more.
e U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved kratom to be marketed as a drug, supplement, or food additive, but it’s not banned at the federal level. When Tennessee banned kratom earlier this year, it became the eighth state to do so.
On July 1st, those convicted of kratom possession face up to 11 months, 29 days in jail and a $2,500 ne. e manufacture, delivery, or sale of kratom is a felony and can lead to nes up to $25,000.
Ibogaine
Yet there’s one psychedelic that Tennessee conservatives appear to love: ibogaine.
While the cannabis and kratom crackdowns were pushed by Tennessee’s hard-right GOP, so was the approval for this new hallucinogen. at’s largely thanks to President Trump.
The GOP loves the Trump-backed psychedelic ibogaine.
nal o enses. Get caught once: $1,000 ne and your stash is taken. Second time: $5,000. ird time: $10,000.
e same illegality, of course, goes for all those Memphians who have beaten a path to the Missouri Bootheel for legal, recreational cannabis. It’s totally legal to buy it up there, but totally illegal to possess it in Tennessee. is is nothing new, though.
“Psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine compounds, show potential in clinical studies to address serious mental illnesses for patients whose conditions persist a er completing standard therapy,” reads Trump’s April executive order. “It is the policy of my administration to accelerate innovative research models and appropriate drug approvals to increase access to psychedelic drugs that could save lives and reverse the crisis of serious mental illness in America.”
at executive order came with the promise of $50 million to work with states “that have enacted or are developing programs to advance psychedelic drugs for serious mental illnesses.”
PHOTO: WESLEY GIBBS | UNSPLASH Smokeable ower is just one product to be gone by July 1st.
SUNSETS at BEALE st LANDING
AT LARGE
By
Bruce VanWyngarden
The Long Goodbye
e president is no longer woke.
An 80-year-old man held up a poster that looked like it was created for a fourthgrade science fair. It read, “Our Pool is Bigger an Skyscrapers.” Under normal circumstances, the old fellow would be the subject of concerned sympathy from family and friends.
“Such a pity,” they’d say. “But you know, David’s just not really himself anymore. And poor Margaret! It must be hell to live with him like that day a er day, to see the man you love losing his mind. ey were soul mates.”
“It happened at Rotary Club. He was trying to make a presentation of some sort, but no one could gure out what he was going on about. Everyone tried to be polite, but he was in his own world. And a er he stopped talking, he just fell asleep on stage, tilted over in his chair, totally out of it.”
“Poor Margaret.”
Most of us who’ve lived to a certain age have friends and family members who have developed dementia. It’s not an uncommon occurrence. I have a friend whose wife has been leaving the land of sentience for three years, getting progressively worse with each passing month. He calls it “the long goodbye.”
Now, the whole world is watching as the president of the United States makes that long goodbye, very publicly losing what’s le of his golden marbles. ey watch as he makes up fantastic stories and tells them like he really believes them. Did you know, for instance, that “Democrats sent a man to jail for seven years because he xed his own car”?
rial Re ecting Pool; Trump paragliding; Trump posed as a gladiator; Trump as the Pope; Trump as Jesus. All of them send the same unintended message: Trump is delusional.
In my experience, this is the point when children take away a parent’s car keys, deny them social media access, and keep them from answering phone calls for fear they’ll get scammed out of their life savings. ey know that someone with dementia is easily manipulated.
It’s become obvious how this will end. ere will come a point where Trump’s condition is no longer ignorable, where he will say or do something completely and dangerously nuts, something that forces even the toadiest of his toadies to admit the jig is up, the long gri is over, the president really is losing his mind.
ey watch as the president loses his train of thought, forgets some words, mispronounces others, digresses endlessly, and forgets his point, if there ever was one.
ey watch him tell the same tired stories over and over: Windmills cause cancer; electric batteries sink boats; water won’t come out of faucets; gas prices are down; the war with Iran is over. Oh wait, no, we’re going to blow them to hell.
He spends all hours of the night posting bizarre AI images on social media: Trump on Mt. Rushmore; Trump as a brave knight; Trump as an astronaut; Trump sunbathing in the Lincoln Memo-
ere’s now a subculture of social media posters — doctors, therapists, psychoanalysts — who analyze the president’s appearance and actions each day and declare him medically un t for o ce. eir posts draw millions of views, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by many former Trump- u ers seeking to keep their own hustle going, including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Laura Loomer, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones. Even Trump’s dementia is a gri for somebody. It would all be so terribly sad if it were happening to almost any other person — a friend’s brother, your mother. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine any other American president who wouldn’t be getting some measure of sympathy in this situation. But this is Donald Trump, a man who has never, as far as I’m aware, demonstrated an ounce of genuine compassion for another person. Can you imagine Trump shedding a sympathetic tear for someone? Hell, I can’t even imagine him loving a dog. And he’s never held back from disparaging the recently deceased if they’d ever dared to cross him. He’s a relentlessly self-centered man with no discernible moral principles.
One thing is sure: In his inevitable descent into senility, Trump will continue doing the one thing he does better than anyone else: dividing us. ere will be those who mourn his inevitable exit. And many more who will do the opposite.
PHOTO: DONALD J. TRUMP | TRUTH SOCIAL Trump posing as Jesus.
The Hot Tamale Capital of the World invites you to
an eclectic collection
» MAY « Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Festival, including Frog Fest and Leland Craw sh Festival LelandChamber.com
Future Tour Golf Championship
» JUNE « Delta Soul & Celebrity Golf Event facebook.com/DeltaSoulGolf
Lake Washington’s “Straight O The Lake” Music Festival
» AUGUST « MS Delta Duck Boat Races at Lake Washington
» SEPTEMBER « Delta Blues & Heritage Festival deltabluesms.org
Gumbo Nationals greenvillespeedway.net
Sam Chatmon Blues Fest facebook.com/SamChatmonBlues
Stephone Hughes Old Time Gospel Fest
» OCTOBER « Delta Hot Tamale Fest mainstreetgreenville.com/ delta-hot-tamale-festival
Highway 61 Blues Festival highway61blues.com
Monuments on Main Street Historic Greenville Cemetery Tour deltacenterstage.org/events
YMCA Cotton Classic 10K/5K Run racesonline.com/ymca-cotton-classic
» NOVEMBER « Roll’n on the River Car Show facebook.com/redwinecarshow
» DECEMBER « Christmas on Deer Creek LelandChamber.com
COVER STORY By Alex Greene
THE NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS REFLECT ON 30 YEARS OF BRINGING THE WORLD BOOGIE.
ould it be that we have a random fan in Jackson, Mississippi, to thank for the dozen or so studio albums, plus numerous live releases, that the North Mississippi Allstars have created over their career? e group, founded in 1996 by Luther and Cody Dickinson, sons of Jim and Mary Lindsay Dickinson, was at rst in it only for the playing, as Luther himself notes. “We were not ambitious, dude! I mean, we lived in a single-wide trailer at our parents’ Zebra Ranch, with our studio in the back, and we were just selling tapes! We were like rappers, selling our own tapes. And we were so intent on just hanging out with our friends and making music and jamming and doing enough shows to pay our little bills.”
His younger brother Cody agrees, and then mentions that particular fan. “ at’s such an excellent point, and totally true. I remember we were playing this place
called e Biscuit Company in Jackson, Mississippi, in the mid ’90s. e place was wall-to-wall packed, and I remember this one kid came up and said to me,
‘When are you doing a CD?’ And I was like, ‘What??’ He’s like, ‘When are y’all gonna make a record?’ I said something like, ‘Why would we do that?’ He’s like, ‘Man, I want a record. Make a record!’ I thought, ‘Okay, maybe we should,’ and that’s what became Shake Hands with Shorty.”
With that debut, their career in music was o and running, and they show no signs of slowing over a quarter century later. eir 2025 release, Still Shakin’, was ostensibly a tribute to their debut, but its exploratory ourishes ultimately revealed just how far they’ve come since then. Now, as they continue an ever-expanding tour to promote the new work (playing the Germantown Performing Arts Center on July 18th), they’re taking a rare look backward to consider how far they’ve come.
THE HARDLY CAN PLAYBOYS AND D.D.T.
e two brothers were making music well before the Allstars were born, of course. How could they not, growing up in the shadow of a great producer and player like Jim Dickinson? Once they’d warmed to the idea of playing, with Luther taking up
guitar and Cody on drums, their dad recruited them as his rhythm section when they were still in their early- to mid-teens.
“We grew up playing roots music with our dad in e Hardly Can Playboys, but that was his thing. And we played Furry Lewis, Sleepy John Estes, and Bukka White, all that stu ,” says Luther. Cody, however, remembers a more varied approach. “ e setlist was super diverse. We were playing like everything, from a Latin kind of feel to a ballad, then ‘Across the Borderline,’ then B.B. King. He was mixing up all the di erent kinds of feels, just to kind of get our feet wet.”
“And then,” Luther goes on, “we
PHOTOS: (ABOVE) JEAN FRANK PHOTOGRAPHY; (LEFT) MICHAEL EMANUELE
Multi-instrumentalist brothers: Cody on guitar and Luther on bass; (le ) Cody Dickinson on the kit
started being the rhythm section for Mud Boy & the Neutrons, which was a dream come true for us. We earned our stripes and proved that we could do it.” Mud Boy was, of course, its own kind of supergroup, wherein Jim Dickinson, Lee Baker, Sid Selvidge, and Jimmy Crosthwait played rocked-up roots tunes with a countercultural rebelliousness. “ at’s where Dad taught us the concept of ensemble improvisation,” says Luther, “and also the idea of playing roots music as a foundation for improvisation and interpretation. It’s also an excuse for not rehearsing! So we did that with Dad, and then later with Mud Boy. Meanwhile, we were rocking out with D.D.T.” at power trio, which the brothers formed with Paul “Snow ake” Taylor on bass prior to the Allstars, was a proving ground for the Dickinsons. Decidedly non-rootsy, D.D.T. (an acronym using the players’ last names) was essentially an art rock band with a heaping dose of punk aggression. “We were a very hard rock trio,” says Taylor today. “We also were backing up Shawn Lane, playing straightup fusion.”
In fact, they were all over the map, stylistically. “D.D.T., we just played experimental junk rock,” says Luther today. “D.D.T. was fun because we just experimented. We started by playing weird originals, and then when Chris Parker and Jim Spake and Kelley Hurt joined the group, we were studying Marvin Gaye and Curtis May eld, and that’s what we called the D.D.T. Big Band.” But in the end, even the expanded band couldn’t take Luther where he wanted to go. “It just got to where I couldn’t write that way,” Luther recalls. “I just lost interest in it. Everything I was writing or wanted to play had its roots here, or in the North Mississippi Hill Country, to be more speci c.”
For a time, Taylor, who loved Hill Country blues as well, played midwife to the two brothers’ burgeoning new band. “D.D.T. had an alter ego that was the North Mississippi Allstars,” he says. “In that sense, I was kind of the rst North Mississippi Allstars bass player. We also had the alter ego Gutbucket, which was our jug band.” Yet at the time, Taylor wanted to explore new directions. Once the Allstars began in earnest in 1996, Taylor moved on to a brief stint in Big Ass Truck while Chris Chew, who, Taylor notes, “was kind of on the scene peripherally, because he went to high school in Hernando with Luther and Cody,” took over on bass.
TAKING THEIR TIME
e newly minted North Mississippi Allstars then proceeded to cut their teeth on Beale Street. “When we rst started NMA, I was trying to be as traditional as possible,” says Luther, “and we didn’t stretch out at all.” Yet as time went on, he warmed to the idea of playing the blues more freely. “We played on Beale Street at the Blues Hall from ’97 to ’99, I think, playing two sets a night to nobody. at’s when
“That time at home in the Hill Country, when the elders were still alive, was so beautiful.”
it dawned on me, ‘Oh wait a minute, we can use all of our psychedelic rock, low-rent stoner improvisation tricks in this music!’ It literally took me a couple of years to open up my mind to the fact that we can pull these songs apart and rebuild them in any way we want.”
PHOTOS: (LEFT) BILL STEBER; (INSET) LAURIE HOFFMA
(le ) Luther, Otha Turner, and band at Turner’s goat picnic, 1998; (inset) Kenny Brown, R.L. and Cedric Burnside, and Luther Dickinson on the Ass Pocket of Whiskey tour in 1997 at House of Blues, Boston, Massachusetts
THE ARTIFACTS OF A GOOD PARTY
at
Yet as the trio developed their own sound, they were happy to stay in place. “We were turning down these little tiny record deal o ers,” Luther recalls. “We did not want to tour. We would tour regionally, from Fayetteville to Knoxville to Oxford, occasionally to New Orleans. at was our circuit. And I’m so glad we didn’t leave home right away, because that time at home in the Hill Country, when the elders were still alive, was so beautiful. I call it the lost years of extended apprenticeship.”
e elders they mingled with, partly through their dad’s connections, partly due to just living in the same area, were some bona de legends of the blues, including Otha Turner, R.L. Burnside, and Junior Kimbrough. As Cody recalls, “going down to Otha Turner’s picnics and Junior Kimbrough’s club and stu , or hanging out with Gary or Duwayne Burnside at the time, we were soaking things up just through osmosis.” is was especially true for Luther, who traveled with R.L. Burnside’s band as a youth on his rst ever tour. Yet even as they soaked up the elders’ ways, they also hungered for something more, something new.
“ e older I get, the more I respect the importance of preservation and tradition and things,” Cody says. “But when we started, man, I didn’t care about that stu at all! I’m just glad that now I have a little more perspective on that.” Indeed, even as the brothers pieced together recordings
the family’s home studio for what would become their
rst album, a creative tension developed that still informs the group’s dynamic to this day. If there was a Saturday morning cartoon of NMA, it might feature Luther as the one fascinated with the deep traditions, with Cody as the forward-thinking futurist of the band, bringing samples and synths into the mix.
“Our in uences are so wildly different,” Luther observes. “What we do together, neither one of us would ever do. I’m more primitive and organic and oldfashioned, and Cody’s way more modern. Like those hype-man vocals that pop in on ‘Shake ‘Em On Down’, or the samples, the beats, he put those on there. So it’s a combination of my aesthetic and Cody’s aesthetic. I would never do anything like ‘Shake ‘Em On Down,’ le to my own accord. at’s the beauty of the brother collaboration. It becomes something di erent.”
“ at’s the dance, man!” says Cody, re ecting on those roles. “ at very rst song on Shake Hands with Shorty, ‘Shake ‘Em On Down,’ is such a mishmash collage of sounds,” muses Cody. “ ere’s everything from heavy metal guitars and a ve-piece drum kit to, like, Fred McDowell slide breakdowns. And that’s our rst song on our rst album! I feel like we’re still catching up, conceptually, and I’m glad that it was such a big palette to pull from. at helps a lot as time goes on.”
Time has indeed marched on, yet the Allstars have paradoxically stayed both rooted and innovative through the years. eir studio albums contain multitudes, sporting styles as disparate as electrofunk, psychedelia, and old-school soul, but also in the sense of having many guests, features, and cameos. “My favorite records are just artifacts of a good party,” says Luther. “Like a family reunion.” And, with every album featuring a rotating cast of characters, the reunion seems endless. at openness to collaboration has made the Allstars arguably the most inclusive band of our time, and over the years they’ve featured guest appearances by the likes of Mavis Staples, William Bell, Jason Isbell, Lucinda Williams, Robert Randolph, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and, of course, fe master Otha Turner. Meanwhile, they’ve also served as the backing band for Phil Lesh, John Hiatt, and more. What other group has so successfully breached the barriers of age, race, and genre that keep most American bands so siloed?
All the while, they’ve resolutely identied with Memphis, more so than your typical Mississippi band. “ ere are so many people in Memphis that we owe so much to,” says Luther. He calls out Judy Peiser, who gave e Hardly Can Playboys their rst gig at the 1989 Memphis Music & Heritage Festival, and Karen Carrier, owner of Bar DKDC. “To this day, DKDC is our favorite place to play,” he notes. And the group has worked in some of the city’s great recording studios, from Ardent to Phillips Recording Service. But their deepest connection may be to Royal Studios. “Boo Mitchell is such a special cat,” says Luther of Royal’s man on the scene.
“Cody and Luther Dickinson, those are my musical brothers,” says Mitchell, who worked with them on their 2017 album, Prayer for Peace, among other sessions (including Luther’s cameo on the Sinners soundtrack). “ ey’re such authentic and genuine human beings.” And, as Mitchell recalls, Cody changed his life.
continued on page 10
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continued from page 9
“ at phone call from Cody Dickinson at nine in the morning de nitely put me on a di erent trajectory, and changed my life forever. is was about a year a er my dad [famed producer Willie Mitchell] had died, and you know, it just felt like my phone wasn’t ringing. It felt like people didn’t think I actually knew what the fuck I was doing, because all the major credits to my name were, you know, in conjunction with Pop, right?”
Yet Cody had a project in mind that would combine old-school soul singers with contemporary hip-hop artists and others. It would eventually become the celebrated lm, Take Me to the River, which spawned similar lms shot in other cities, not to mention an entire educational initiative. “I was like, ‘Well, Cody, who’s the producer?’” says Mitchell. “And he goes, ‘Man, I want you to produce it.’ To hear him say that just really meant the world to me.”
e admiration is mutual, as Cody notes: “We both lost our fathers within a year of each other and became fast friends. And we both have ties to North Mississippi [where Willie Mitchell was born]. It’s hard to explain to people that it is a culturally enlightened place, but it absolutely is the truth, no doubt about it.
e music proves it.”
And Mitchell is thankful that the band’s family reunion vibe has led him to work with some legends. “ e biggest name was probably Robert Plant,” he laughs. “He was playing the Botanic Garden that week, and while I was in the studio, the phone rings. ‘Hello, is this Boo? is is Robert, and me harmonica got caught in a bag of incense. Do you know where I can get another one?’ I was thinking, is this a code word for weed or something? But he really did just need another harmonica! And later that day, we cut ‘Goat Meat’ with the Allstars, and Robert Plant is playing frickin’ harmonica on it!”
Beyond recording together with rock gods, it turns out that both Mitchell and the Dickinson brothers also have a commitment to bringing their homeland’s history to life for the younger generations. While Cody was the driving force behind Take Me to the River, Luther is also committed to passing his knowledge on to others, and both brothers take it far beyond teaching their own kids. As Cody explains, “Up in the Catskills, outside of Woodstock, Butch Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, Luther, and myself started a summer camp called Roots Rock Revival, about 11 years ago, and it’s been going strong. It’s really grown into this cultural event that happens every year.”
As their education e orts have taken on a life of their own, the brothers’ own diverse tastes have come into play. As Luther says, “We’ve become friends with George Clinton’s grandson, who fronts a band with George, and he’s bringing P-Funk musicians to the Roots Rock Revival. It’s a fantastic evolution of the camp, which started as Allman Brothersfocused, then became more Grateful Dead, and now it’s more P-Funk.”
at’s now expanding to include the Luther-led Catskills Crossroads Blues Camp, which begins this August 11th. Yet even then, and even with his background with “the elders,” Luther is a little wary of the “blues” label. “I always say ‘roots music,’” he says. “I just am never comfortable with a genre of any sort, and I would never claim to be a bluesman or to play blues music, you know. Now ‘psychedelic folk rock’ I can completely get behind.”
In that sense, Luther can be considered in agreement with his late father. Re ecting on his sons’ accomplishments in the last pages of his posthumous collection of writings, I’m Just Dead, I’m Not Gone, Jim Dickinson observes, “ e North Mississippi Allstars make no claim to being a blues band. Something happens when white boys play the blues. Rock-and-roll.”
PHOTO: BRIT O’BRIEN
e current incarnation of NMA, with Ray eld “Ray Ray” Holloman on bass, Cody, Joey Williams on guitar, and Luther
steppin’ out Philippine Fiesta Comes Alive
We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
By Kimberly Ham
If your summer calendar could use a burst of color, culture, and community, make plans for the 3rd Annual Philippine Fiesta in Memphis on Saturday, June 13th.
Presented by FILAMemphis Inc., a nonpro t organization dedicated to promoting Filipino culture and community engagement in the Mid-South, the festival has quickly become one of the city’s standout cultural celebrations. In fact, Philippine Fiesta was recently recognized as one of the top three nalists for Best Local Event in the 2025 Memphis Most Community’s Choice Awards — a testament to the event’s growing popularity and impact.
Festivalgoers can expect a lively showcase of Filipino heritage through authentic cuisine, traditional and contemporary performances, cultural exhibits, music, family-friendly activities, and opportunities to connect with Memphis’ vibrant Filipino community. Whether you have Filipino roots or are simply curious to learn more about one of the world’s most dynamic cultures, the event o ers a welcoming atmosphere for all ages.
According to FILAMemphis president Roy Alinsub, the festival’s mission extends beyond entertainment. “First-time attendees can expect a vibrant celebration of Filipino culture, full of the color, vibrancy, energy, and hospitality that Filipino people are known for. ey will experience live cultural performances, warm community spirit, and delicious Filipino food. We want all guests, Filipino or not, to feel welcome and experience such a rich heritage.”
at spirit of inclusivity has helped the event grow year a er year, attracting visitors from across the Mid-South who come to experience everything from folk dances and live music to cultural demonstrations and beloved Filipino dishes — like tasty lumpia, lechon, halo-halo, and others. It’s an opportunity to not only celebrate traditions but also to build connections across communities.
Held at Agricenter International, the festival provides plenty of space for a full day of exploration, entertainment, and discovery. Come hungry, bring the family, and prepare to spend the day immersed in a celebration that highlights the richness of Filipino culture while re ecting the diverse fabric of Memphis itself.
For more information, visit FILAMemphis online at lamemphisinc.com and follow the organization’s social media channels for updates and announcements.
South Main Singer Songwriter Fest 2026
Various locations on South Main, Saturday, June 13, 9 a.m.-June 14, 11 p.m.
South Main Sounds has long been a hub for spotlighting the deep pool of Memphis songwriting talent. Now that will spotlight will only glow brighter with an entire two days dedicated to such artists. With inimitable talents like Candace Mache, Miz Stefani, Mary Hatley, and Kennard Farmer, you’re sure to hear a song that moves you. Performances range up and down South Main, in clubs as varied as Momma’s, Slider Inn, Arrive Hotel, Muse, Earnestine & Hazel’s, and more.
Lava Lovers
Germantown Community Library, Monday, June 15-Wednesday, June 17, 5-6 p.m.
Have the kiddos join a hands-on exploration of volcanoes, eruptions, and owing lava! Participants will learn about volcanic activity through an engaging art project and a fun zzy science experiment. Be prepared for a little mess as they create and discover together.
Falsettos
Germantown Community eatre, rough Sunday, June 21, 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Falsettos is a Tony Award-winning musical by William Finn that follows Marvin, a neurotic New Yorker who leaves his wife, Trina, and young son to pursue a relationship with Whizzer. As their unconventional family navigates divorce, remarriage, parenting, and evolving relationships, they gradually build a supportive community of friends and loved ones. Set against the
backdrop of the early AIDS crisis, the story explores themes of love, identity, family, loss, and resilience with both humor and emotional depth.
Sunday Garden Club
Memphis Botanic Garden, Sunday, June 14, 1-3 p.m.
Join a relaxed and informative gardening workshop focused on helping your garden thrive during the hot summer months. Participants will learn about heat-tolerant vegetables, e ective watering and weeding techniques, and practical strategies for maintaining a healthy garden in warm weather. is session also explores seasonal topics such as pollinator-friendly planting, spring tree care, and garden preparation. Please dress appropriately for the weather and wear comfortable shoes.
3RD ANNUAL PHILIPPINE FIESTA, AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL, 7777 WALNUT GROVE RD., SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 11 A.M.-8 P.M.
PHOTO: COURTESY FRANK CHIN Fiesta-goers have fun and build community.
AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule June 11 - 17
Wendell Wells
Sunday, June 14, 9 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
Zazerak Soul Jazz Trio
John Violinist
Musically rich, visually capti-
vating. Sunday, June 14, 6 p.m.
THE ORPHEUM THEATRE
Seeing Red and DJ A.D.
21+.
ursday, June 11, 6 p.m.
THE PEABODY ROOFTOP
South Main Singer
Songwriter Fest
Saturday, June 13, 9 a.m. |
Sunday, June 14, noon.
THROUGHOUT DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS
Sunset Jazz at Court
Square: Susan Marshall
Sunday, June 14, 6 p.m.
COURT SQUARE PARK
The Quartet Show ree days of classic gospel.
Wednesday, June 17-June 20. CANNON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Saturday, June 13, 8:30 p.m.
BOG & BARLEY
Ethan Smith Trio
Wednesday, June 17, 5:30 p.m.
HUEY’S EAST
Ghost Town Blues Band
Sunday, June 14, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S EAST
Live at the Garden:
Alabama
Saturday, June 13, 8 p.m.
RADIANS AMPHITHEATER
Alexis Jade & the Gemstones
Friday, June 12, 7:30 p.m. THE GREEN ROOM
Alice Hasen & the Blaze
ursday, June 11, 7 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Basketcase
Saturday, June 13, 9 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Black Widows
With Confessed Lover. Tuesday, June 16, 9 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Bob & Angela
ursday, June 11, 6 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
The Chaulkies
Sunday, June 14, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S MIDTOWN
ClubHaus
House music galore. Saturday, June 13, 9 p.m.
WISEACRE BREWING COMPANY HQ
Delvon Lamar Organ Trio + Vincen Garcia
Wednesday, June 17, 8 p.m.
1884 LOUNGE
Folk All Y’all: Sing It
Loud ree astounding singer-songwriters in one performance.
Saturday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM
The Iguanas
A rocking slice of multicultural Americana. ursday, June 11, 7:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Jazz Jam Session: Hosted by Halimah
Muhammad
Tuesday, June 16, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM
Kevin & Bethany Paige
Sunday, June 14, 5 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Korroded
With Seeing Hell A.D.
Wednesday, June 17, 8 p.m.
THE HI-TONE CAFE
Mustang McGee
A mustachioed bassist who identi es as a horse. Saturday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
The Pinch
Saturday, June 13, 5 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Quadscool & Friends
Saturday, June 13, 6 p.m.
THE HI-TONE CAFE
Sarah Spain & the Nightshades Friday, June 12, 6 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CROSSTOWN ARTS
Yotam
Silberstein
Tuesday, June 16, 8 p.m.
1884 LOUNGE
Soot
Sunday, June 14, 8 p.m.
THE HI-TONE CAFE
Southbound Band
Friday, June 12, 9:30 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Steph Strings Friday, June 12, 7:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Thundergun
With e Narrows, Wilshire. Friday, June 12, 8 p.m.
THE HI-TONE CAFE
Tiob
With Shame nger, Stay Fashionable. ursday, June 11, 8 p.m.
THE HI-TONE CAFE
Tristen Gressett
With Mary Hatley. ursday, June 11, 7:30 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Writers in the Round
Featuring Hope MacGregor. Tuesday, June 16, 8 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Yotam Silberstein Trio
Jazz and South American music. Sunday, June 14, 6 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM
65 North Pickers
Bluegrass with jam band improvisation. ursday, June 11, 8 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Live In Studio A
Summer Series
Featuring Stax Music Academy alum. Tuesday, June 16, 2 p.m.
STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC
Concerts in The Grove: Germantown Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert
ursday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.
THE GROVE AT GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac Tribute)
With a variety of food trucks. Saturday, June 13, 6 p.m.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Music by the Lake: Almost Elton John & the Rocketmen Friday, June 12, 6 p.m.
BARTLETT PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Silverada
CALENDAR of EVENTS: June 11 - 17
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.
1 Boosts, with “up” 5 Result of digitization 9 Medium for a model 13 Subjects of many nonfiction best sellers 15 Kind of list 16 First name in morning TV 17 Word that can follow sea and man to make new words
18 “Let There Be Rock” rock band 19 Goals
20 What the Constitution provides among the branches of government
In this show, 22 photographs present hybrid beings, part human and part animal, who inhabit surreal, dreamlike landscapes. Adorned with ns, scales, and other features, these gures are equipped to survive and thrive in challenging waters. rough Sept. 27.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM
Rana Rochat: “New Works”
Showcasing the artist’s signature abstract encaustic paintings, works created through layered wax and pigment that produce a luminous, translucent surface. rough July 18.
DAVID LUSK GALLERY
BOOK EVENTS
Elspeth Gregorsdottir with Maddie Kay: The Drowned Queen
A er a century of servitude in the Duskhold for the crime of being loved by a Fae, a woman walks into the cosmic sea seeking her end.
Saturday, June 13, 6 p.m.
NOVEL
COMMUNITY
Junk Journal Jam
Bring your favorite journal, rummage through vintage magazines and rare ephemera, choose your favorite art supplies, and create as many
1, 2019
Crossword
30 Free rein 34 The Red Wolves of the Sun Belt Conf.
35 You might take his word for it
37 Good gardening soil
38 Many a Twitter thread
40 Leave college early, perhaps 42 “Livin’ la Vida ___” 43 [Things seemed to be going so well]
44 Brings in 46 Bring in 47 Vending machine directive
50 One way of seeing or standing
52 What apiphobes fear 54 Showed fear, maybe 55 Famous symbol of the Cold War 61 Cajole 62 The Big Easy
63 Tipping point?
65 Like a leviathan
66 Monopoly token replaced in 2013 by a cat
67 Court locale, with “The”
68 Western tribe
69 Even numbers and odd numbers, in math
70 Some detective fiction, informally
1 Contents of some sidebars
2 Preconcert job
3 Food that may be puréed for babies
4 Capital on the Mississippi
5 Attempt, informally
6 Traditional treatment for altitude sickness
7 Confuse
8 Like many popular 13-Across
9 With 39-Down, fulfill requirements … or how to fill four of this puzzle’s squares?
10 Sole 11 Also mentions 12 “___ queen!” (slangy affirmative)
14
COURTESY DIXON GALLERY AND GARDENS
Youth, ages ve through nine, can enjoy an art or horticulture project at the weekly Kaleidoscope Club.
mixed-media collages as you’d like within your journal. Sunday, June 14, 3 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM
Edited by Will Shortz No. 0627
COMEDY
Friday Night Laughs Hosted by Wild Beale
Come see some of the best comics in Memphis work their set alongside some of the best national traveling comics in the world. Friday, June 12, 8:30 p.m.
SMOOTH LIVING
DANCE
Summerdance
See the students from New Ballet Ensemble’s summer classes and CityDance program. Saturday, June 13, 7 p.m.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
FILM
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
A er an Indiana electric lineman witnesses a UFO, he becomes obsessed with a strange vision of a mountain-like formation, driving him to a cross-country quest for answers and a momentous encounter with extraterrestrial intelligence. Saturday, June 13, 2 p.m.
THE ORPHEUM THEATRE
FOOD AND DRINK
Sunday Trivia
Gather your team and put your collective knowledge to the test in downtown’s most engaging battle of wits. Sunday, June 14, 5 p.m.
MFS BREWING
LECTURE
Art and Aperitifs: David Uzochukwu
In this lively conversation, Curator Efe Igor Coleman sits down with Artist David Uzochukwu to explore his rst solo museum exhibition and the themes of migration, belonging, and identity that shape his work. Free. Saturday, June 13, 2 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM
PERFORMING ARTS
Assassins: DayBreak
A colorful, vibrant drag competition. But it’s not just a competition, it’s a phenomenon of creative pride. Monday, June 15, 9 p.m. LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
SPECIAL EVENTS
Philippine Fiesta
Get ready for a vibrant Filipino heritage celebration packed with colorful cultural shows, delicious Filipino food, and awesome community vibes. Saturday, June 13, 11 a.m. AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL
SPORTS
FIFA World Cup Watch Parties
Watch the FIFA World Cup 2026, the largest and most ambitious World Cup in history, bringing together 48 national teams from around the globe in a tournament. ursday, June 11-Sunday, June 19, 11 a.m.-midnight. BROOKHAVEN PUB & GRILL
THEATER
Falsettos is musical by William Finn chronicles a Jewish family in the late ’70s and early ’80s exploring themes of gender roles, divorce, parenting, gay life and chosen family. Friday, June 12, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, June 13, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, June 14, 2:30 p.m.
GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE
Sweeney Todd
Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Benjamin Barker, a London barber, is sent to Australia by the evil Judge Turpin. Now serving a dark and vengeful god, he returns to London 15 years later and now goes by the name Sweeney Todd. Friday, June 12, 8 p.m. | Saturday, June 13, 8 p.m. | Sunday, June 14, 2 p.m.
PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE
PUZZLE BY HOANG-KIM VU
PHOTO:
We Saw You.
with MICHAEL DONAHUE
An old friend of Memphis, Latty Latimer, who did the morning show for three years on KIX 106, was back in town to judge the cocktails and spaghetti gravy contests at the Memphis Italian Festival, which was held May 28th through May 30th at Marquette Park.
Two big reasons why he made the trip from Houston, Texas, where he is a radio on-air personality for 104.1 KRVE: “I came in town for my birthday weekend, and I’m a judge during the Italian fest,” he says. “I have to come back.”
It was his third year to judge, says Latimer, 46, a Memphis native.
So, where was his birthday dinner celebration a er all that spaghetti gravy? “Keeping it Italian, my mom and I went to Pete & Sam’s with some family members. We went Sunday. So we just kept it going for four days.”
What did he eat? “I had a steak.”
But, he adds, “Of course, I had to get a side of the barbecue pizza.”
and Olivia
below: (le to right) Paul Wilson, Dalton Peace, Mario Bertagna, Chase Andreini; Kennadee Carlton, Alex Carlton, Brinetta Carlton, Khari Pettigrew; Hopper Harmon, Betty Lawyer, Jeanelle Acosta, Ben Farmer; Latty Latimer
bottom row: (le to right) Buck McCormack, Matthew Hill, Brett Ragsdale, Justin Walden; Quinn Gonzales, Stephen Roberts
PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE
above: (le to right) Nicholas Piacenti, Hannah Stahl; Clayton Joyner; Austin, Evelyn,
Merryman
FOOD By Michael Donahue
Senatobia restaurant part of Tekila Group.
ona 55 Urban Kitchen is the newest member of Tekila Group’s collection of restaurants, which includes Tekila Steakhouse and Fuego Vivo in Memphis and Tekila, a modern Mexican restaurant, in Southaven, Mississippi. is time the group ventured to Senatobia, Mississippi, where they opened Zona 55 Urban Kitchen on May 25th.
“Zona” means “zone” and “55” means Highway 55, which is near the restaurant, right o the highway at 181 Nor eet Drive, says general manager Jonas Garcia Vidana, 27.
Each restaurant in the group has its own theme and personality. “Zona 55 is a Mexican smokehouse,” Vidana says. “ at means we have a smoker in-house. In the back of the building.” e menu includes brisket, smoked chicken, pulled pork, and short ribs. But, Vidana says, they have “a spicy kick to them” because of the sauces they use. “It’s not your traditional barbecue.”
at’s all served in a variety of ways. “We have a brisket quesadilla,” says Vidana, “which is the number one seller right now. And we have the shrimp and pork belly tacos (with) pico de gallo.”
eir pulled pork sandwich is “basically the traditional barbecue sandwich with barbecue sauce. But it comes with mango habanero sauce and pickled red onions, which gives a kick to it,” Vidana says. “We paired it with something international. We want to make sure we give you something that is a traditional dish and give a little twist to it.”
ey also have pork ribs, Vidana says. “Our ribs are going to be wet ribs. Slow cooked for six to eight hours.” ose are the traditional ribs, but you pair them with macaroni and cheese, barbecued beans, potato salad, or onion rings. Diners can also pair them with Mexican items, including quesadillas and tacos.
Zona 55 also o ers “corn ribs” — corn on the cob that’s been boiled and fried. “We’ll cut it and it’ll look like a rib.” ey cut it into six pieces and serve it with bu alo sauce and ranch dressing.
eir short rib burritos are beef short ribs slow cooked from six to 12 hours and put inside a tortilla with rice, beans, and cheese.
aromatic bitters, and simple syrup.
In Sonora, Mexico, where he was born, Vidana was into soccer, not cooking. His mother was the cook. One of her specialties was “green spaghetti with chicken Milanese,” he says. She used regular pasta noodles, but added jalapeño peppers and a green tomatillobased sauce instead of a red sauce.
His rst restaurant job was working as a busboy and dishwasher at a Mexican restaurant in Pontotoc, Mississippi, where he grew up. “Even as a kid, my dream or goal was to own a restaurant. I knew the GM [general manager] at the time and I’d see what he would do.”
e enticing drink menu includes the “Ultimate Paloma,” which is tequila, grapefruit soda, and lime juice; “Prickly Pear Margarita” — premium tequila, prickly pear syrup, and lime; and a “Mezcal Old Fashioned” — mezcal,
Vidana began working for the Tekila Group at their Southaven restaurant in 2022. Pablo Blanche is executive chef for the Tekila Group restaurants. “Give him the idea, and he comes up with the recipe,” Vidana says.
PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE Empanadas, Carrot Cake, and Fried Mac and Cheese Balls
By Toby Sells
Drink a Beer Outside
ree great beer experiences you need this Memphis summer.
Beer and summer are pork ribs and dry rub, sun and rock-and-roll, crystals and grottos — they just go together.
Memphians deserve good, cold beers in the summer, too, dammit. It ain’t hot yet, like Memphis-hot hot. But y’all remember what it’s like in August? Your skin melts. Your insides cook. You don’t want to get into or out of your car. Union asphalt shimmers like a dessert oasis.
But you can’t stay inside all summer. So, when you’re out there in those uninviting environs, you gotta ght back. You gotta reclaim your right to have fun outdoors. Cold water would do, probably. Cold beer would do better, de nitely.
“But, Toby, I can’t think of any places to drink beers outside this year,” you say.
I know. at’s why I’ve spent two decades researching this at the Toby Sells Outdoor Beer Drinking Research Council of Greater Memphis (TSOBDRCGM). White papers on the matter are being readied for publication behind the scenes. But I thought I’d give you a sneak peek.
Here are three great outdoor beer experiences you should have this summer:
Memphis Redbirds at AutoZone Park
Field work on this one commenced in earnest Friday as the Birds hosted the Louisville Bats in a 6-0 loss for the home team. But beer, baseball, and rooting for the home team in our amazing Downtown stadium is a can’t-miss summer specialty.
I don’t even love baseball, nor do I routinely wear patriotism as part of my personality. But on Friday I counted balls and strikes a er rising solemnly for the national anthem. I really loved the “America” of the thing: watching kids run for foul balls, families sharing barbecue nachos, and everyone mouthing the words to “Little Pink Houses” and dancing freely (thanks to a few beers) in their seats during the 7th inning stretch.
Friday was “$5 Friday” and Dos Equis tallboys (and margaritas) were, yep, $5. You’ve got to go lager for at least one beer in a baseball stadium. I think that’s in the Constitution. And I did. It was glorious.
Pro tip: AutoZone Park has a sneaky good grab-and-go situation in the concourse now. Drink refrigerators (like at a convenience store) o er water, so drinks, and beers. You walk up, grab what you like, and check yourself out. No line, at least not for me at all during Friday’s game. And I got a $7 Memphis Made Cat Nap and Soul & Spirits Hoochie Coochie. Memphis IPAs at a Memphis game. Equally glorious.
Orion Financial Free Concert Series at Overton Park Shell
Our researchers (me) are still reviewing what exactly makes music sound so good outdoors in the summertime, especially with a beer in your hand. I have almost concluded that it’s just a fact of the universe, like atoms, and that no Memphis summer is complete without this experience.
It all has to be true because so many go to the Orion Financial Free Concert Series every year and a good many of them bring beer: coolers and backpacks and picnic baskets — I am surprised someone hasn’t tried to rig a kegerator out there yet. (Don’t bring any glass bottles, y’all.)
ey go because they want that quintessential summer-in-Memphis moment when the music hits just right, there’s a cold beer in their hand, friends are near, troubles are far, and they think, “ is is why I love Memphis.”
No fear if you forgot your beer. Get them (and other drinks) at the Jaguar Shell Bar.
TPE — e Patio Experience
e council has spent innumerable hours studying TPE. Does it matter which one? Which beer? Which friend group? Which day? None of it matters. Time on patios with loved ones is time well spent. Furthermore, you are never wasting time on a Memphis patio, you’re spending it. And spending it wisely, our research suggests.
My residential bias skews my research to Cooper-Young. My can’t-miss patios for enjoying the CY community are Celtic Crossing (the new one is amazing), Hammer & Ale, and Cooper House Project.
I have fallen in love with meeting friends at the outdoor bar at Cooper’s.
ey have a great dra selection and those huge glasses I just call “Big Boys.”
PHOTO: COURTESY OVERTON PARK SHELL
The Magic of Authenticity
Spirituality should not demand that we abandon ourselves.
June is lled with sunlight, celebration, and visibility. As Pride Month arrives alongside the approach of the Summer Solstice, I’m re ecting on one of the most powerful forms of magic we can practice: authenticity.
In metaphysical spaces, we spend a great deal of time talking about transformation. We work with tarot to uncover truth, astrology to better understand ourselves, and spell work to manifest change. We light candles for courage, carry crystals for con dence, and perform rituals to align ourselves with our highest good. Yet one of the deepest spiritual lessons is o en the simplest: becoming fully and unapologetically ourselves.
For many LGBTQ people, authenticity is not merely a lifestyle choice or preference. It is a spiritual act of liberation. Choosing to live openly in a world that o en pressures people to hide parts of themselves requires courage, self-knowledge, and resilience. ose are sacred qualities.
I believe authenticity is deeply connected to the throat chakra, the energetic center associated with communication, truth, and self-expression. When that chakra is blocked, we may struggle to speak honestly, ask for what we need, or show the world who we really are. We silence ourselves to t expectations. We make ourselves smaller to remain comfortable or accepted.
When that chakra begins to open, however, something powerful happens. We begin speaking with clarity. We stop apologizing for existing and reclaim our voice. e process can feel incredibly magical because it changes the energy we carry into the world. People o en think magic is only about elaborate rituals or mysterious tools, but our words are spells too.
e names we call ourselves, the truths we nally speak aloud, and the boundaries we set all shape our reality.
One of the most misunderstood forms of magic is glamour magic. Many people assume glamour magic is simply about beauty or attractiveness, but historically it is far more complex. Glamour magic is about perception, presence, and intentional self-presentation. It asks, “How do I want to move through the world?” At its healthiest, it’s not about hiding who you are but revealing yourself more fully.
A person wearing clothing that makes them feel powerful, applying makeup as ritual, adorning themselves with symbols of identity, or walking proudly in their truth is engaging in glamour magic. Pride celebrations themselves are o en full of
magical symbolism — color, self-expression, transformation, joy, and visibility. ere is power in being seen. at power connects directly to personal sovereignty. In spiritual practice, sovereignty means recognizing that your spirit belongs to you. Your body, your identity, your voice, and your path are sacred. No outside authority has the right to de ne your soul for you. at idea is especially important in a time when many people feel pressured to conform, perform, or hide. Spirituality should not demand that we abandon ourselves. True spiritual growth brings us closer to our authentic nature, not further away from it. Tarot re ects this lesson beautifully. Cards like e Star remind us to shine openly a er hardship. Strength teaches us that gentleness and vulnerability are forms of courage. e Sun celebrates visibility, joy, and truth without shame.
Authenticity is not always easy. Sometimes it disrupts relationships, challenges old beliefs, or forces us to release environments where we are no longer welcome. But spiritually speaking, living dishonestly carries its own heavy cost. Pretending to be someone else drains energy, weakens intuition, and disconnects us from our inner knowing.
is Pride Month, I encourage readers to think about authenticity as a sacred practice. Ask yourself where your voice has become quiet. Notice the places where you feel pressured to hide your truth. Explore what self-expression means for you, whether through fashion, creativity, identity, or simply speaking honestly. You do not need to become someone new to be magical. You only need to become more fully yourself. And that may be the most transformative spell of all. 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.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Many of you have a fraught relationship with discipline. You recognize you need it if you want a life rich with epic adventures. Yet you sometimes resist planning ahead or organizing your resources, fearing it might dampen your immediate pleasures. The problem is that when you skip the planning and organizing, the short-term fun you default to may turn out to be unsatisfying. That’s the challenging news. The encouraging news is that you’re now in a cycle when you can transform how you relate to discipline. I bet you can render some of those old patterns obsolete.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Gemologists evaluate opals less for flawless uniformity than for their mesmerizing play-of-color. They study how light interacts with a stone’s microscopic internal structure to produce vivid, shifting hues. The most prized opals aren’t necessarily the most perfect in shape, but the ones whose internal pattern and rainbow-like displays are most vibrant, varied, and alive. This is a marvelous metaphor for you in the coming weeks. I hope you don’t obsess on consistency or smooth away your complications. Let the world see your play-of-color.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Restoration ecologists work to revive damaged prairies. They’ve discovered that seeds of many native plants can lie dormant in the soil for years, waiting for the right conditions to germinate. If they remove invasive species and restore the land’s natural cycle of controlled fire, wildflowers long absent from the landscape spring back to life. With this metaphor in mind, Cancerian, consider what dormant possibilities may lie buried in your own psyche. What seeds did you plant long ago and then forget? What dreams or talents are waiting for you to clear away the choking overgrowth and create space for them to emerge? Old potentials may be patient, not dead.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Better than any other sign, you understand that ego and generosity can be collaborators rather than enemies. Your charismatic radiance is often a public service. When you express your interesting beauty, you give others permission to tap into their own luminosity. The world always craves your unique flavor of audacious joy, and especially now. The rest of us need your intense insistence that flair and flamboyance are forms of resistance against the forces that would diminish life’s splendor.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Many people struggle with what could be called “imagined ugliness,” a condition clinicians refer to as body dysmorphic disorder. It usually involves fixating on a supposed
Rob Brezsny
physical defect, or even on a flaw that exists only in one’s mind. I suspect that almost everyone carries a trace of this tendency, including you and me. The good news, though, is that the current astrological climate is ideal for you to at least partially shatter its spell. You are poised to transform your self-image so vigorously that you begin to regard yourself as a flawless exemplar of quirky, one-of-a-kind beauty.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The Golden Gate Bridge, which is a few miles from my home, is painted continuously. Painters start at one end, work their way across, and by the time they reach the other side, it’s time to start over. The job is never finished; maintenance is the permanent condition. Some people find this depressing, but I find it oddly liberating. It means the bridge doesn’t have to achieve some final, perfect state. It just has to be tended. Similarly, you don’t have to fix everything once and for all, Libra. The relationships, projects, and internal states you’re concerned about aren’t meant to reach completion. You shouldn’t worry about trying to finish what’s meant to be an ongoing practice. Just keep starting the cycle again.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Innovative theater director Viola Spolin was a Scorpio. She taught that the best scenes emerge when the actors avoid trying to control outcomes. Instead, they fully commit to the reality they’re creating together. Spontaneous responses are their gold standard. Let’s make this a keynote for you in the coming weeks. Your assignment is to give yourself heartily to improvisation. The most interesting magic will happen as you relax into the collaborative process, trusting it to guide you toward beauty and meanings none of you could have scripted alone.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Musicologists distinguish between “perfect pitch” and “relative pitch.” A person with perfect pitch can sing or identify a specific note without hearing any other music beforehand. Relative pitch is the ability to recognize musical notes in relation to other notes. In the coming weeks, Sagittarius, relative pitch will be a more useful metaphor for you than perfect pitch. Don’t insist on perfect clarity about what’s right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, worthy and unworthy. Instead of obsessing on fixed standards, practice relational discernment. How does this choice feel compared to that one? How does a person behave in this context versus another? For you right now, truth lives in the intervals and connections.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The best way to eliminate a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. Now is an
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
“Dear Oracle: Why do we always have to start at the beginning? I’d much prefer just jumping into the middle of things. Right now, I would love to bypass all the tedious baby steps I’m being forced to take as I try to get some momentum going. Please slip me a few clues about how to fast-forward directly to the fun stuff. —Bored with the Groundwork.” Dear Bored: Your timing is perfect. The planetary omens say you are now authorized to vault over the preludes and prologues and dive right into the heart of the action.
excellent time to acquire more expertise in this art. Start by choosing a specific habit that drains your energy, time, or self-respect. Then identify what that habit is secretly trying to give you, like comfort, distraction, or a sense of control. Your mission is to find a healthier behavior that offers a similar payoff without the damage. For example, maybe you go online and binge-scroll through bad news because you imagine it soothes your anxiety. Instead of that, read an uplifting book or listen to serene music for a while. Be concrete: When the itchy habit hits, what exactly will you do as an alternative?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 1905, 26-year-old Albert Einstein worked full-time as a clerk in a Swiss patent office. During his off-hours, he wrote four audacious papers that fundamentally changed how physics understood space, time, light, and matter. He accomplished his revolution without the sponsorship of a renowned university or laboratory. His example suggests that we can perhaps re-imagine and recreate the world even if we’re not supported by glamorous circumstances. I suspect this principle applies to you these days. Breakthrough insights and earth-shaking realizations may arrive while you’re doing ordinary tasks. Be alert for the flashes that arise in seemingly routine and modest situations.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): For linguists, “untranslatable” words are con cepts that exist in one language but have no equivalent in others. One example is mono no aware, which in Japanese refers to the tender poignance and appreciation you feel in the presence of fleeting beauty, like cherry blossoms falling. I bring this to your attention, Pisces, because I suspect that you, too, are untranslatable right now. My advice is to forget about trying to get others to grasp what’s going on with you. Here’s a suggestion that might help: Find soulful artists and emotionally intelligent creatives who speak the language of your mystery.
By Chris McCoy
Liminal Spaces
Enter the otherworldly horror of Backrooms
The “backrooms” meme complex started out with a single, simple image posted on the infamous message board 4chan in 2019. It was an empty room, maybe in a convention center or hotel, with yellow wallpaper lit by yuck-inducing uorescents. Some posters responded to the creepy image with little stories about “the stink of old, moist carpets” and speculation about what kind of creatures would be stalking the endless expanse of abandoned rooms. Other posters found examples of the backroom aesthetic in their own camera roll. ere were dead malls, closed shops with random, cast-o furniture lying about, and long hallways leading nowhere. e common thread in these “liminal spaces” seems to be areas designed to accommodate large numbers of people but are currently empty. e rooms themselves suggest the ghosts of people who should be there, but are not.
Kane Parsons was a teenager in Petaluma, California, when he saw the
backrooms creepypasta. Since “ nding creepy abandoned spaces to lm in” is a foundational skill for the no-budget lmmaker, Parsons decided to make some YouTube shorts in the world of the backrooms. His super-creepy videos caught on, and last year, indie studio A24 came calling. Now, at age 20, he has become the youngest director ever to earn $100 million at the box o ce.
Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is having a rough time. His dream of becoming an architect has slipped away, and he’s found himself the owner of a struggling furniture store named Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire. His soon-to-be-ex-wife has kicked him out of the house a er getting sick of his drinking and now he’s living in the store. All he can do is replay their nal marital confrontation with his therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve), who is herself struggling with PTSD stemming from her abusive, agoraphobic mother.
When he calls an electrician about some weird issues in the store, they
Clark is drawn deeper into the maze of rooms and hallways until he hears something else moving.
discover that someone has installed a new circuit breaker in the breaker box, but turning o the breaker doesn’t seem to do anything. en, one late night, Clark discovers that he can walk through a seemingly solid wall in the basement. On the other side is a huge room with yellow wallpaper lit with
humming uorescent bulbs. In the middle of the room is a pile of random furniture. It’s a classic backrooms environment. Clark is drawn deeper into the maze of rooms and hallways until he hears something else moving. Spooked, he manages to nd his way back to the store basement. e next
PHOTO: COURTESY A24
Director Kane Parsons makes de use of imagery that began as a meme.
By Chris McCoy
day, he tells Mary about his experience, but sensing that she is sizing him up for an antipsychotic medication prescription, he promises to bring her proof. He recruits his sales clerk Kat (Lukita Maxwell) and her boyfriend Bobby (Finn Bennett) to accompany him on a video expedition to document this seemingly supernatural space. When they don’t return, Mary goes looking for them, only to find herself lost in the backrooms, too.
Much has been made of Backrooms’ meteoric success, but the truth is, there’s nothing revolutionary about it. Parsons followed the classic indie film model: Make a no-budget proof of concept, hustle to build out a loyal core audience, and leverage that modest success into a workable, but not
huge, feature budget. Yes, Backrooms is based on a meme, but its cinematic influences are clear. Parsons’ use of interlaced, first-person video like The Blair Witch Project evokes the creeping dread of John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness, and delivers a variation on the evil clown from It. He leans heavily on his two talented leads to sell the scares. Ejiofor delivers a nuanced performance, particularly when he can’t stop his despair from leaking through as he records what is supposed to be a funny TV commercial for the store. Parsons may be young, but Backrooms is the real deal.
Backrooms
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AMAZON.COM SERVICES
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LAST WORD By
Jesse Davis
UFO GTFO
Immigrants are a beautiful and necessary part of American life, not so-called “aliens.”
e truth may be out there — but you won’t nd it on the newly rolled-out website whitehouse.gov/aliens (or just aliens.gov, if you’re in a hurry). Earlier this month, the White House quietly launched a new webpage, one purporting to reveal the long-hidden “truth” about the secret in ltration of our society by aliens. e aliens in question aren’t extraterrestrial; they’re immigrants.
Visually, the new webpage ri s on e X-Files, and the message is a perverted inversion of John Carpenter’s anticapitalist ey Live!, in which aliens hide among humans, controlling society from the shadows. Frankly, the premise is not unlike the television show V, either the 1983 original or the remake. Clearly, President Donald Trump’s team is playing the hits, rolling out the tired conspiracy theories they’ve fallen back on time and again, and hoping the science ction veneer will appeal to the crowd from 4chan, e Joe Rogan Experience, and other dark corners of the internet. If the website were not targeting real, living human beings, the ploy would seem so obvious as to be laughable.
IMAGE: WHITEHOUSE.GOV
e White House’s new aliens.gov site uses sci- conspiracy tropes, promoting fearmongering.
“Our national government should not use its resources to encourage Americans to fear their neighbors.”
Sci- set dressing aside, the new site is a tool, albeit an unwieldy one, that has been employed to a purpose. Recall that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act delivered an unprecedented budget increase to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, making it, according to NPR’s Bill Chappell, the “highest funded U.S. law enforcement agency.” Despite the unseriousness of the new White House website, the intent cannot be doubted. e language used on the site evokes a mood of sinister conspiracies, a contagion that in ltrates and poisons its host. at the diction is heavy-handed only makes the intent easier to recognize.
Whichever intern plugged prompts into some Large Language Model word processor to spit out the text gracing the face of the new website was working hard to make the site is as chilling as anything written by R. L. Stine. (Is that reference out of date? Or perhaps too clunky? Stine writes horror books for children, so I mean to suggest that the White House communications team is capable of frightening only the most gullible of literate Americans.)
“ ey’ve shopped in the same stores, attended the same classes as our children, and lived seemingly normal human existences,” the site reads, implying that immigrant children are somehow inhuman. No matter one’s stance on the issue of the U.S. immigration system, the use of o cial national resources to dehumanize or vilify any group of people is immoral and disgusting in the extreme. Our national government should not use its resources to encourage Americans to fear their neighbors and coworkers.
Even the term “illegal alien” is dehumanizing and insulting. ankfully, that kind of language has fallen out of popular usage, at least in most professional spaces, but an insistence on using outdated and o ensive language is one way the formerly frightened racists in our midst recognize each other. eir dog whistles are getting louder, though.
No group of people is uniform. Whether one judges by astrological sign, geographic location, eye color, skin color, blood type, age, ethnicity — no one is just like everyone else in any given category. Similarly, is there any idea more patriotically American than the belief that everyone deserves to be judged on their own merits? Should not those ideals extend to everyone, not just those who have o cial citizenship?
Everyone of good conscience should vocally oppose any attempts to dehumanize their fellow human beings, regardless of their citizenship status, place of birth, or ethnicity. Also resist the urge to shrug o ham sted attempts at fearmongering as merely silly. e delivery may be laughable, but the intent is deadly dangerous.
To that end, allow me to state my position plainly: e United States is a better place because of its immigrants. Memphis is a better place because of its immigrants. I have been taught by immigrants, danced with immigrants, and my life is immeasurably improved by their presence in it. at should go without saying, but these days, I feel better making sure I have it on the record.
Jesse Davis is a former Flyer sta er; he writes a monthly Books feature for Memphis Magazine. His opinions, such as they are, wish the right-wing bozos would get hip to the fact that authoritarian ideology is the villain in almost all of science ction. Read a book, losers.
