Tennessee

Posted on: October 10, 2008 at 4:30PM

The Memphis in May Festival is a month long series of events honoring all that is Memphis. It includes the Beale Street Music Festival with blues, roots, and rock; the rib cook off, AKA the Superbowl of Swine, and an annual international festival which features a different country each year. Most events are at Tom Lee Park. For more info go to memphisinmay.org. The Blues Music Awards hosted by the international Blues Foundation is an annual program honoring the best in blues, usually held in May. Admission includes a pre-festival mingle with live music, dinner, dancing, award presentations, a post awards music jam and the chance to meet some of your favorite blues artists. For more info go to blues.org. Stax Museum of American Soul Music is open year round. It’s at 926 E. McLemore Ave, the site of the old Stax recording studio. Stax rivaled Motown in its heyday. Some of the notable Stax artists were Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Little Milton, Johnny Taylor, the Staple Singers, and Booker T and the MGs. For more info go to soulsvilleusa.com. The Gibson Beale Street Showcase, open year round, is at 145 Lt. George Lee Ave. It is one block south of Beale Street. One can purchase fine Gibson products, tour the facility, and attend concerts. For more info go to Gibson.com and click on Showcase where you can find the full venue listing. The Rock and Soul Museum, also open year round, is in the FedEx Forum entertainment complex at 191 Beale Street at Highway 61. A fitting location as Highway 61 is the Blues Highway that stretches from New Orleans to Chicago. The museum is operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian but is as hip as it gets. For more info go to memphisrocknsoul.org Ribs. Don’t wait until May to go to Memphis for ribs. I recently saw a TV special that did a taste comparison between N. Carolina, Kansas City, Texas, and Memphis style ribs. Memphis won, hands down! It’s true. In Memphis, there is your dry rub versus wet debate. It doesn’t matter, it’s all good. Get dry and add sauce-that’s what I do. report a problem