Backroads of American Music

One Block North

MEMPHIS, TN - This joint's tag line "music & fun" provides truth in advertising. Owned and operated by Jessie "Rabbit" Hurd for 18 years (as of early 2007), One Block North is the scene for live music on Friday night in north Memphis, right off Thomas Street, the city's "real Beale." The strongest band in the city, the Memphis Connection, plays behind a parade of talented guest vocalists including Joe Simon sound-alike Isaac Simpson, young lion Nate Dogg, and the electric entertainer known as Sugarman. The crowd is friendly, from boss man Hurd on through. Entry sets you back $7. The bar offers domestic beers for $2.50 a pop, quarts for $4, and BYOB set-ups....

James "Brick" Brigance: South Memphis Muralist

MEMPHIS, TN - [Words and photos by Justin Fox Burks] While working on a story about Memphis rappers 8Ball and MJG for Wax Poetics, I started to notice all the hand-painted signs on buildings around the neighborhood Orange Mound. The ones that stood out to me were all signed by ‘Brick.’ His larger-than-life, colorful animations of creatures and letters are more than just signs for local businesses. Whether his work depicted a hawk or lion or car...

Sam "Black Smoke" Wiggins

MEMPHIS, TN - We ran up on Black Smoke one night at the Boom Boom Room on Thomas Street in North Memphis, back when it was called the J&J. Nice enough dude. We chatted awhile, emptied intoxicating golden liquid into our bellies from chilled aluminum cylinders. He mentioned that he enjoyed picking a little guitar. Well, I'm pretty sure that his guitar is of normal size, but you get the idea. He made it pretty clear that he preferred his blues downhome, citing Lightnin' Hopkins as a sonic mentor. Now hearing a young African American man espouse such musical ideas is pretty damn unusual, so we decided that we must really take in a performance. But, proving...

Holt Cemetery, New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, LA - Holt Cemetery is basically a potter's field-- the final resting place for some of New Orleans poor and indigent peoples for over a century. Because it's a cemetery for the poor, people are buried in the ground rather than housed in the mausoleums you see throughout the city's scenic cemeteries. More prosperous dead people rot in fancy tombs, but most of the graves here are personally decorated with bed frames, brightly-painted piles of earthly possessions, wooden headstones, and planter boxes, among other touching displays....

Homes of the Stars! Memphis Style

MEMPHIS, TN - As you know, we here at Backroads deeply value the unmarked landmarks of our grand music history. Owing to the Bluff City's unparalleled legacy as a foster of talent, Memphis, Tennessee contains more than its share of homes where the giants of blues, soul, and rock-n-roll were born, first masturbated, developed a taste for fried banana sandwiches, learned music, wrote unforgettable songs, and died. Too often, we arrived late to our appointments with historic structures and elderly folks, finding they'd gone...

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