Crosstown Arts
Tickets: $15 advance/$20 at the door
Doors 7pm | Show Begins 7:30pm
Larry Springfield is a singer-songwriter whose voice is vibrant and full of soul. He’s written and produced music for artists such as Gerald Levert, Chante Moore, and Wayne Brady. He’s also toured the U.S. with Keith Sweat, Al Green, Chante Moore, Barry White, and B.B. King. Larry’s live performances are fun and exciting, and he’ll be bringing that energy to The Green Room on Saturday, August 10!
Join us at The Green Room for a performance by Memphis musician Grace Askew, celebrating her first full-length album release in five years.
The 12-song culmination of writing and performing a new song every day for over 500 days straight, Denim & Diesel is a raw and vulnerable collection of stories about the struggles of daily life. The album was self-produced and recorded at Grace’s home — a.k.a “Tumbleweed Ranch,” a creaky, old, tin-roofed ranch house on 100 acres in Eads, TN, and features two co-writes with Mike Doughty (of ’90s cult band “Soul Coughing).
Jana Jana, one of Memphis’ hottest, new female-led bands, is fronted by Jana Misener (founding member of Memphis Dawls and Giant Bear). With live cello loops and soaring vocals, Jana Jana’s soul-inspired indie rock is an orchestrated tempest.
$25 presale | $30 night of show
Doors at 6:30 pm | show at 7 pm
About Grace Askew:
Grace Askew is a sixth-generation Memphian and a highway child. With seven studio albums, two international songwriting competitions, gold medals, multiple appearances on NBC’s The Voice, and over a decade of touring under her belt, Grace has established herself as a relentlessly creative artist and a powerhouse of talent. Growing up to the humming lullaby of the nearby interstate, she fell asleep imagining all the places she would travel one day.
Join us as Rob Jungklas performs new songs from his forthcoming project, Gone To Water. Opening act: Jana Misener.
Tickets: $10
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
About Rob Jungklas:
Rob Jungklas came roaring back into the Memphis music psyche with 3 new critically acclaimed recordings in a few short years: Arkadelphia, Gully, and Mapping The Wreckage. Ever prolific, he has released four more since his reemergence. The Spirit and The Spine, Nothing To Fade, and Blackbirds on Madjack Records, and 7 Sisters.
He issued his debut LP, Closer to the Flame, in 1987 on Manhattan Records. On the strength of an MTV video aired for the single “Boys Town,” the record garnered airplay and modest chart success for his effort, while creating the iconic regional anthem “Memphis Thing.”
The more reflective Work Songs for a New Moon, that followed two years later on RCA, showcased Jungklas’ nuanced blend of pop songwriting and Memphis style R&B.
Lee Froelich calls Rob’s songs “profane and poetic, haunted by ghost and damnation” and the sentiments are echoed by the likes of Rolling Stones’ David Fricke who describes the sounds as “bloodied bottleneck guitar and choked prayer.”
Join us for LIVE from THE GREEN ROOM with Memphis-based singer-songwriter Tia Henderson.
The LIVE from THE GREEN ROOM music series offers an intimate experience featuring some the best up and coming artists in the region. Every month will feature performances in the premier listening environment “The GreenRoom“, the brand new venue for live music at Crosstown Arts. Enjoy an inviting lounge setting highlighting an array of up-and-coming artists, some you’ll know and others you’ll discover.
Tickets: Advance $10 | Door $15
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
Join us for a performance by Grammy-nominated country singer Chuck Mead. Mead’s latest solo album, Closer to Home, was produced by Matt Ross-Spang at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis.
Tickets: $15
Doors at 7:30 pm | Show at 8 pm
CHUCK MEAD is a Country singer with a rock n roll heart. He’s also a renowned songwriter, producer, music director, musicologist and architect behind the rebirth of Lower Broadway and the Global Neo Traditional Country music movement.
This Kansas native, has been at the forefront of what has come to be known as Americana Music for the better part of 25 years. Perhaps best known for co-founding the famed ‘90s Alternative Country quintet, BR5-49, whose 7 albums garnered a CMA Award for Best International Touring Act and three Grammy nominations, helped build an indelible bridge between authentic American Roots music and millions of fans worldwide.
Since then he’s toured the globe, entertained thousands on the high seas, released 3 solo albums, made 137 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, co-produced critically acclaimed tribute albums to Johnny Cash & Waylon Jennings, acted as Musical Director/Supervisor/Producer of the Broadway hit musical Million Dollar Quartet AND the companion CMT television show Sun Records.
With a deep connection to Memphis and a burning desire to keep building musical bridges, Chuck packed up the band and took time out of his crazy schedule last summer to record his fourth solo album with Matt Ross-Spang (Margo Price/John Prine/Jason Isbell/Al Green) at legendary Sam Phillips Recording Studios, the result of which, ‘Close To Home’ was released on June 21, 2019 on Plowboy Records.
An exhibition of live music
Proposal Submission Period: July 9 – September 10, 2019
Event dates: April 18th – 21st, 2020
Crosstown Arts is challenging musical artists to create a body of new work for A Change of Tone, an exhibition of live music, applicable to musicians of all genres, scheduled for April 18th – 21st, 2020.
This four-part, four-day event will feature a selection of four musical acts, one act per night, who will “exhibit” their music for a listening audience over loudspeakers in one venue as they simultaneously perform it in another, creating a non-traditional listening experience.
During this event, there will be two live feed interconnections between The Green Room music venue at Crosstown Arts, and Crosstown Theater: the first feed will be an audio feed for the audience in The Green Room to listen to, as the musicians, out of sight, perform their original work live in the empty Crosstown Theater auditorium. The second feed will video-capture The Green Room audience for the performing musicians in the Theater to see on a screen, so that they may virtually watch and technically perform, for their audience. The audience in The Green Room will be informed in advance that they will be watched by the performing musicians in the theater, creating an immersive environment for the listening audience in which the performers’ new music might achieve a vivid and seemingly living omnipresence.
Similar to the experience of being inside of a haunted house or abandoned building, this spectral approach to auditory perception will be, among other things, a sonic experiment in vulnerability. It will be an attempt to enhance and heighten the audio-sensory experience for the listener, and perhaps will intensify the presence and impact that music can have when our fight-or-flight response is instinctively activated, giving the sounds we hear the power to demand our full attention.
Submission Process:
The theme of this music exhibition is “In/Out of Sync.” What does it mean to be “in or out of sync”–with something, with nothing, with anything…with everything? In what ways do you feel or observe things as being in or out of sync with one another, and what approach would you envision yourself taking, musically, to express these feelings and interpretations as they present themselves within your reality? The goal of A Change of Tone is to invite artists to sonically and musically explore the varied interrelations between technical musical themes and humanity: what we experience, observe, believe, and imagine within the realms of our intellectual capabilities.
Musicians who wish to apply to this musical showcase must submit an original proposal (one or more pages preferred) that explains their vision for the new music they intend to create as it pertains to the “In/Out of Sync” theme. Artists may take any approach to this, from topics based in society and everyday life, to the larger natural world and universe, and may do so through both the lens of these guiding ideas or beyond them.
Submissions are due on Tuesday, September 10 at noon.
Instructions if Selected:
This music exhibition is limited to 4 participants. The submissions will be randomly selected by a unique, curated lottery process, by which every proposal will be considered; the primary contact(s) for the four selected proposals will be notified of their acceptance and given a performance time slot on Tuesday, September 24, at 12pm.
Musicians will then use the nearly 7-month period before the A Change of Tone: In/Out of Sync event to create a set of new music, no less than 45 minutes and no longer than 2 hours in length, with the intention of performing it live during one of the 4 performance timeframes (randomly assigned). The time slots are as follows*:
Saturday, April 18, 2020 – 7:30pm
Sunday April 19, 2020 – 7:30pm
Monday, April 20, 2020 – 7:30pm
Tuesday, April 21, 2020 – 7:30pm
Selected participants are encouraged to start creating their sonic and musical works as soon as possible to allow for adequate time for creation and rehearsal. If you are selected, please do not perform or submit proposals for work that was created prior to this open call (do not submit work created before July 9, 2019).
Musicians may also conduct an artist talk or meet-and-greet in the Crosstown Theater auditorium after their performance. This component is optional, but highly encouraged.
Each performance will be recorded by a sound engineer and will be given to the artist free of charge, to use for any purpose. The artists will receive both a stereo room recording and an unmixed, multitrack version of their performance so that they may create their own personal mix of their performance. All artists selected to perform at the event will also receive: a $125 stipend for each musician within a group of 2 or more individuals; or a $200 stipend for solo musicians.
Music stands will be provided at the venue for artists who would prefer to reference their work during their performance (this is highly encouraged as we are not expecting artists to perfectly memorize such newly created work within the 7-month timeframe).
Copyright infringement and cover versions are not allowed at this event.
*If you are selected, we will try to accommodate as much as possible for any scheduling conflicts, though unfortunately, due to the numerous events being hosted by Crosstown Arts in our various venues throughout the year, this could mean that you may have to forfeit your participation, and we will have to make another lottery selection in your place. If this happens, we hope that you will still feel inspired to create new work based on the themes you chose to explore in your proposal. Only one written proposal is allowed per submission, per artist; proposals can be made on behalf of a solo musician, or any group of two or more musicians.
Thank you for your proposal submissions. Please contact Lauren Cain at lauren@crosstownarts.org if you have any questions.