Memphis Annie
Attalla, Alabama, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
The first annual T.A.G. Blues fest was held at the Mentone Inn in Mentone, Al. July 28 to a very appreciative crowd of around 200 who braved the much needed rain for an afternoon of blues on the Pavillion featuring Russell Gulley and his trio, IBC contestant, Melissa Siegler, percussionist Chas of Memphis, Tn. and Memphis Annie with Pensacola Reese on harmonica from the North west Fl. Blues Society and a great time was had by all!
The second Annual will be held in late summer of 2008 with the date to be announced.
September, 2008 Lookout Mountain View.
T.A.G. Bluesfest 2008 recieved rave reviews from Chattanooga, Tn. to Birmingham as over a thousand people attended the second annual two day event that featured artists from as far away as Austin, Texas and Davenport, Iowa. Taking the stage were several hard hitting acts who participated in the International Blues Awards in Memphis, Tennessee including the Delta Flyer, Bo Williams, Tyn Feet, Reece Howard, Memphis Annie, Rob Garrett, the Alabama Gravy Soppers, Melissa Siegler and guest performance by resident elder of the blues, Dr. Bill Schenker.
- LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN VIEW
The Mysterious Memphis Annie took the stage at Marty's for a night of her own hipshakin' blues and boogie to a crowd of blues enthusiasts and newcomers. "If I close my eyes when I listen to her, I swear that i'm hearing some new nineteen-thirties' blues in real time..." said one man in the audience. "She has a certain style about her...a way with words and a definate way with that piano."
- Birmingham Weekly
Blues and Alternative crashed together in a beautiful way on Friday in the Courtyard at the Center for Cultural Arts when Memphis Annie and guitarist, Chris Crider took the stage on a crisp fall evening under the stars. - Gadsden Times
"Be sure to check out the lady at the piano inside the Santa Cruz Coffee Company on Pacific...she comes from what she calls the Deeper South and plays the blues like a 1930's Buesmama...they call her
Memphis Annie... and she has added a kick to my afternoon coffee break! "
- Santa Cruz Good Times
"SHE PLAYS LIKE IT WAS A SATURDAY NITE IN A MISSISSIPPI JUKE JOINT..." - COLLEGE PRESS
Discography
I write, record, edit, burn and publish my own material right here in the old home place on historic US Highway 11 in North Alabama. I sell the cd's at live performances and occasionally post some songs on Songramp or MySpace.
I have written well over a hundred songs and have recorded about twenty-five of them so far.
Photos
Bio
Alabama Blues Woman Memphis Annie has come into her own after over twenty years as a singer/songwriter and performing artist. Over the years, she learned and performed with several legendary blues artists including piano great, Pinetop Perkins, Alabama’s own, Johnny Shines, Jerry “Boogie” McCain and many wonderful artists she performed with in several house gigs on historic Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.
Memphis Annie sits down at the piano, singing and performing her original tunes in stride, barrelhouse or straight up blues style and she can whip out a slide on guitar and make you think you were in a Mississippi juke joint on a Saturday night!
“Seems I’m just getting it after all this time trying to get the sound I wanted with the slide. I always sounded like a silly white woman trying to play the blues until a few years ago when it all began coming together and I get better every day! I feel more confident that I can present the traditional tunes I perform on piano or guitar and my originals in a respectable way and it’s about time after all these years.”
In fact her work on an original tune titled, “Just like the wind” proves her worth on guitar and she says the song was a pivotal point for her.
Another song she wrote, entitled, “Sweet Magnolia” brought down the house at the 2008 IBC on Beale Street in Memphis at King’s Palace Café when Memphis Annie teamed up with her son and playing partner, Chas Crowder, to excellent reviews.
“I started him out at the age of seventeen, when he was just out of high school as the house drummer for the re-formed ‘”Blues Alley Trio” with sax legend, Tott Randolph and he learned a lot and he learned it fast, playing harmonica and drums at the same time with me on piano or guitar. Chas is in Santa Cruz, Ca. working with the Catalyst Night Club’s own “ShotGun Suitor”on vocals and guitar. “In fact, they’ve done several of my songs including “Ode to My Decapitated Lover”.
In 2008, after their success at the IBC, Memphis Annie and her son Chas, along with several other blues supporters formed the T.A.G. Blues Society and presented a two day blues festival atop Lookout Mountain in Mentone, Alabama with twelve acts who came from as far away as Texas and Iowa to participate.
Memphis Annie not only writes and performs music but is a published author as well with Quixote Press and is soon to release her first book entitled “Ghosts Along the Trail of Tears” to be followed by two more volumes of short stories, audio books and original music.
“All of my songs and stories conjure up images of trains and rivers and moonlit nights in the hills and hollers and the buried secrets of the south where ghosts are and lost loves are lamented.
"When I write a song or a short story such as “Southern Woman” or “Just like the Wind”, I imagine they’re telling me their tale. I’ve talked about the star-crossed lovers on the banks of the Coosa River in “Under the Poplar Tree” and wonder about the secrets buried in “Magnolia holds her secrets well”, and I often wander around my old family homeplace here and realize it’s hard to ignore the past and better to bring it into the present for everyone to hear. That’s why I live to play the blues! That’s why I’m a blueswoman!” She concluded.
Memphis Annie lives in North Alabama on historic US Highway 11 at the foot of Lookout Mountain.
You can visit Memphis Annie or ShotGun Suitor on Facebook or My Space for live music, information, stories and more.
PERFORMANCES
Memphis Annie has performed around the south in small venues as a solo and duo act since 1992 and in between house gigs on legendary Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee and performances in small clubs, she has worked with such blues legends as Johnny Shines, Jerry “Boogie” McCain and Pinetop Perkins and “Southern Music Network founder and musician, Billy Abbott on bass, guitar and piano. She has also performed with blues harmonica man, Virgil Thrasher and traditional blues, Robert Lowery on the west coast.
On Beale Street, she met the Savarin Brother’s who owned Blues Alley, (the former Joyce Cobb’s) across from Handy Park and became pianist/vocalist for the longstanding “Blues Alley Trio” which included saxophonist, Tott Randolph and a very young Chas “Sonnyboy” Crowder on drums and harmonica.
During her time as innkeeper of the historic Mentone Inn on Lookout Mt., together with Chas Crowder and supporters, organized and presented the T.A.G. Blues Fest for three consecutive years featuring blues artists from around the country and performed with legendary Richard Johnston.
Memphis Annie writes, performs and records all of her own material which also include three volumes of short stories about the south and a collection of audio books based on the short stories with original music.
Venues include:
The Peerless Saloon, since 1990
Johnny Shines, New Daisy Theatre, 1989
IBC, Memphis, Tn. 2007-08
Antonell
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