Blue Tom Records, a student-run record label at the University of Memphis, is holding its first annual Rhythm and Greens Music Festival Saturday.
Blue Tom Records, which was established early last semester, is the result of a split between members of Delta Vibe, a registered student organization designated for students with interest in the music and entertainment industry.
"We brought the organization back to where it once was and started to actually record and help artists again," Spencer Turney, senior journalism major and public relations for Blue Tom Records, said. "We decided to work with a couple of artists this year, those artists being hip-hop outfit PreauXX and Mason Jar Fireflies who can be classified under Americana acoustic-pop."
Mason Jar Fireflies, an acoustic three-member outfit, will be leading the show, which is in honor of their debut self-titled release. Their CD will be officially released on April 29.
"We're working with Mason Jar Fireflies, which is a group made up of some University of Memphis students," Turney said. "We made a partnership between them and Blue Tom Records last year, and it eventually led us to create the Rhythm and Green festival."
The partnership between the two initially started when Mason Jar Fireflies' lead female vocalist Kyndle McMahan met one of the label's sound engineers at Sound Fusion, a student ensemble made up of vocalists, musicians and sound engineers.
Upon meeting the sound engineer, McMahan said her and the rest of the band were invited to come to one of the music industry classes to present themselves as possibly being the class's guinea pig by letting the class help prep, record and promote the band.
"We went to the class and we were blown away at the opportunity," McMahan, 20-year-old sophomore music business major, said. "We would have been idiots to not jump at it. We'll forever be grateful for Blue Tom, because they gave us a direction to go in and the means to do it."
Turney noted that this program is great not only for the musicians that get free help and guidance, but it also gives music industry majors first-hand experience within their field.
"A lot of big and prestigious schools have student-run record labels and it's an incredibly helpful tool for people who want to work in the music industry and the students who want to be professional musicians," Turney said. "To be able to have this idea, build on it, put in all the hard work and then putting out the release provides so much more real-world experience than just reading about it in a text book."
The name of the festival, Rhythm and Greens, comes from the band's description of their genre, which they note is the product of their different influences and inspirations.
"At first we had a hard time describing the music because we all have different musical backgrounds, so our combined tastes ended up birthing something different," McMahan said. "We call it Rhythm and Greens, which incorporates country, soul and rhythm and blues."
Along with McMahan, the band also features McMahan's boyfriend of three years and lead male vocalist Adam Gowdy. The outfit is complete with guitarist Greg Carmack.
"This album is our history put to music," McMahan said. "As far as song writing, I'd say our main inspiration is love,"
The group's music is made up of duets that howl melodies of southern love and reminisces of long star-lit nights, complimented with powerful harmonious riffs that provide a solid foundation for the singers' strong vocals.
"We are beyond excited for the show on Saturday, this will be by far the biggest thing we've ever done," McMahan said. "There has been so much momentum since we first partnered with Blue Tom Records, and the wheels have continued to turn ever since. We've come to this spot where all this work, energy and sleepless nights have culminated into this one fantastic night."
The doors open at 7 p.m. and the show will be held at the New Daisy, located at 330 Beale St. Tickets are available for $6 on www.zvents.com, and there is also a $35 V.I.P. bundle that includes a ticket and a copy of the CD.
