WEVL, Memphis’ independent volunteer-radio station, will kick off the first part of the 14th annual Blues on the Bluff concert Saturday, July 20, with Memphis-based acts Sid Selvidge, The Gamble Brothers Band and Blind Mississippi Morris & The Pocket Rockets.
According to WEVL Program Director Brian Craig, the concert will display Memphis’ true blues roots.
“It’s straight-ahead blues,” Craig said. “There’s acoustic blues with Sid Selvidge, funky with The Gamble Brothers and Blind Mississippi Morris is straight, gritty blues.”
Memphis’ son Selvidge began his career with Stax Records in 1969 and cut his teeth with blues masters Furry Lewis and Mississippi John Hurt. His career has taken him to various music festivals, along with performing at Carnegie Hall. Selvidge performs Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Although The Gamble Brothers Band formed just a little more than a year and a half ago, it’s fusion of jazz, funk and blues without a guitar has built a regional following.
Blind Mississippi Morris & The Pocket Rockets jam out Delta blues. The band combines more contemporary blues sounds with Blind Mississippi’s incredible harmonica-playing.
Saturday’s concert will take place on the grounds of the National Ornamental Metal Museum, overlooking the Mississippi River at the Riverbluff Pavilion.
The venue, along with the sounds of Memphis blues, provides much of the overall experience, according to Craig.
“It has the most spectacular view,” Craig said. “Mark Twain described it as ‘the finest between Cairo and New Orleans.’”
For anyone interested in experiencing the sounds and sights of Memphis, Blues on the Bluff is the place to be, according to Craig.
“When you combine the river and the Blues — It can’t get much more of a true Memphis experience than that,” he said.
Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children. All proceeds go to the funding and operation of WEVL FM 90. Call (901) 528-0560 for more information.
