Memphis

Confused About Regional American BBQ? Listen to This Song

Barbecue styles from the South, the Midwest, and points beyond have been invading New York City like an army of warrior ants in the last few years. As was demonstrated by a recent Voice cover story, we've now got 'cue from places like St. Louis, North Carolina, Memphis, Oklahoma, and, of course, Tex ... More >>

Meet the Un-Exonerated in West of Memphis

A new doc achieves the impossible: freeing the West Memphis Three

Q&A: Booker T. Jones On His First Visit To New York, Scoring Films, And What Working With Kanye West Might Be Like

Booker T. Jones is in a cab from the airport heading into Brooklyn, where he'll perform a free show tonight under the Brooklyn Bridge as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn festival. In tandem with his band, Booker T. & The M.G.s, the multi-instrumentalist laid down the grooves behind some of the '60s mo ... More >>

Harold Mabern Trio

KONDUCTA

Get moving to Madlib

Gov't Mule

STEEP THOUGHTS

Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop

Samuel L. Jackson As Martin Luther King, Jr: My Review

A situation comedy about Martin Luther King Jr. and a motel maid in Memphis in 1968? Involving cigarette-smoking shtick, a pillow fight, and a pleading phone call to a higher-up? Yes, Katori Hall's award-winning play The Mountaintop is all of that.

Win Cyndi Lauper DVDs And Tickets Right Here!

Here's the drill: Explain why Cyndi Lauper has inspired/entertained/educated you in 150 words or less, and send it to me at musto@villagevoice.com by tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 11:59 p.m. In other words, tell me why you feel "she's so unusual" and amazing.

Which Part of the Country Has the Best Barbecue?

Texas-style barbecue at Hill Country​ This week we had a nice long chat with Blue Smoke executive chef Kenny Callaghan, who explained the nuances of this country's many regional barbecue styles. Apparently Zagat has been obsessed with this issue as well because they just published their BBQ St ... More >>

Blue Smoke's Kenny Callaghan Shares His Fave BBQ Spots and the Secret to Great Ribs

William Brinson​ Back in 2002, there weren't a lot of places for New Yorkers to score good barbecue. That's when restaurateur Danny Meyer tapped chef Kenny Callaghan to helm the kitchen at Blue Smoke. Since then, a barbecue renaissance has blossomed in the city, with top-notch pitmasters smoki ... More >>

Otis Clay+Tre Williams & the Revelations

Open Five: Grown-up New Look, Same Old Mumblecordian Themes

Memphis Has The Dumbest and Ugliest People in America

​The city, not the Broadway show. According to a survey on TravelandLeisure.com, which rated 35 cities, Memphis came in dead last for both "Attractive People" and "Intelligent People," though it came in first for "BBQ". Gosh, you'd think if the folk are hideous, at least they'd be smart--and ... More >>

Mindy Smith

GREASE PATROL

Psychobilly invades Gowanus

Fela! Totally Hosed By The Tonys

​So the 2010 Tony Awards were dished out last night, and to the surprise/dismay of many -- and nobody more than the guy up there -- Fela! did not rule the night, ceding Best Musical (among others) to Memphis. Given our own bias, we, too, will have to check out Memphis soon, and like ?uestlove, ... More >>

Tony Awards For Excellence?

​It was a less than stellar season for musicals, so the folks who won the Tony for Memphis last night should probably not pat themselves on the back too hard.

This Week's Voice: The National, Ariel Pink, Battle of the Memphis Rap Crews, Colt Ford, and More

​In this week's Village Voice, Michael D. Ayers writes our cover story on the National, who make the awkward look cool and despair sound hilarious. Elsewhere, Mike Powell hangs out with creepy chillwave godfather Ariel Pink, Ben Westhoff on the massively divergent fates of Memphis rap crews Th ... More >>

Battle of the Beloved Memphis Rappers: Three 6 Mafia vs. Eightball & MJG

One group won an Oscar and hit L.A. The other did not. Both aim to stay fly.

Behind The Scenes at the Broadway Beauty Pageant

Hotties from Memphis, Fela!, and Wicked battled it out last week at the Broadway Beauty Pageant at Symphony Space, where I was a judge, Tovah Feldshuh was the MC, the Ali Forney Center was the beneficiary, and the audience was very lucky. Check out Mike Diamond's coverage of the breezy yet import ... More >>

What It Was Like in NY when MLK Died

​Clip Job: an excerpt every day from the Voice archives. April 11, 1968, Vol. XIII, No. 26 A Happy Wake Ends in Tears by Michael C. D. Macdonald I was in Madison Square Garden at the Stanley Cup Playoffs when I first heard the news. With the Rangers comfortably ahead, 2-0, I turned on my tra ... More >>

Ian Hunter

Alex Chilton, Immersed

In memory (and praise) of the tawdry, defiant anti-canon he carried around in his head

Michelle Obama Visits New York, Exhibits Watered-Down Cultural Tastes Yet Again

​President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have shown pretty decent taste whenever they visit our fair city. So why the hell'd they do this, of everything else there is to see in town?

Let's Get This Over With As Quickly As Possible: Here Are Jay Reatard's Autopsy Results

​From the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "Autopsy results released this morning in the death of Memphis musician Jay Reatard reveal that he died from 'cocaine toxicity, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in his death,' according to Shelby County Medical Examiner Karen E. Chancellor."

A Ford in Senate Future? Memphis Flyer Wants Gillibrand's Job

​Harold Ford Jr., the African-American Wall Street exec who likes to come across as the hottest cat from Memphis since Elvis, apparently really does want to snatch that U.S. senate seat away from Kirsten Gillibrand. And there's a fat slice of the permanent government that's ready and eager to ... More >>

Big Star

Fork in the Road on the Road: Biscuits, Boiled Peanuts, Fried Chicken, and Swine

The view inside the aptly-named Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken in Memphis.​ This past weekend, one-fourth of FiTR journeyed to Oxford, MS, for the twelfth annual Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium. The three-day conference was dedicated to the topic of Southern food and music, which meant ... More >>

Timberlake Hawks Tequila

This week in booze news... Justin Timberlake tossed his designer fedora into the ring of celebrities with their own spirits brands with his newly launched 901 tequila. The number is supposed to signify the beginning of party time but also happens to be the area code for Memphis, JT's hometown. [Yum ... More >>

Double Exposure: William Eggleston and Enrique Metinides

Buckle up for some curious photo road trips

SONGS OF THE SOUTH

The BRC ponders the dark heart of Dixie

Lucero+Justin Townes Earle

Let's Never Mention the Three 6 Mafia Reality Show Again

The Triumph of Soul's Second-Stringers

A Stax set predictably thrills, but a set of forgotten Chicago gems hits harder

Blazin' BBQ

Smoking up an eclectic Brooklyn joint

'Happy Feet'

Three 6 Mafia: Oscar Winners

Music

A Movie About Rap!

Memphis Bleak

Trick daddy: Pimp-hop flick's troubled sensibility sabotages an exquisite lead performance

Rhyme Scheme

Creators of Sundance smash pimp fable leak the game plan

Getting Wood

Twerk to Do

A Great Night in Harlem

Bringing Musicians Back to Life

Memphis Bleak

Bippity Boppity Belle

Dusty in Heaven

Dusty Springfield, 1939­1999

Consumer Guide

Beale Street Talks