The breeze, the beer, and the bands. The Legendary Levitt Shell is where the second annual University of Memphis “This Is Memphis” student-run music festival is set to be held.
As student-performers Ben Callicott, Mary Owens, Drew Erwin, and Bluff City Soul Collective are steadily rehearsing for the free, Oct.11 showcase, members of Blue T.O.M. records, the student run record label at the U of M, are working hard to make sure the event is huge. President Jasmine Hirt explained the ideology behind the name of the show.
“A huge goal of ours is to promote Memphis music culture,” Hirt said. “In order to do that we named it ‘This Is Memphis.’ It really just ties into our objective of supporting local music.”
The event boasts that it will feature the next generation of Memphis Musicians and The Levitt shell’s own website states that the event aims to serve a “hearty serving of Memphis-made music, bringing back the traditional sound of the city.”
Bluff City Soul Collective frontwoman, 21-year-old Kyndle McMahan wants attendees to know that bringing the sound back means setting the stage for Memphis’ days to come.
“This Is Memphis’ is what Memphis is now, and what Memphis will be in the future” McMahan said. “Bluff City Soul Collective performed at spring fling and I couldn’t make it so this’ll be an official, full-on Bluff City Soul Collective, as it is now, introduction.”
The Levitt Shell introduction of the soul collective will feature guitarist and 19-year-old music business sophomore Ben Callicott, who is also slated to open the event with a set of his own original material.
“I just feel lucky,” Callicott said. “I think there’s a lot of artists that were already here before all of us got here as freshman. I think a lot of this is Ben Yonas growing us these opportunities.”
Music Industry instructors like Ben Yonas have helped mold Callicott into a professional, steadily-gigging musician.
“My job is playing music on the weekends on Beale or at Cafe Ole,” Callicott said. “l’ll also go out and play a private party or a tailgate, but see that’s just four hours of just cover songs. In that moment i’m not the artist, I’m just kind of the jukebox. I’m lucky enough to where that’s my only job and I’d make a lot of money if I put my focus on that, but I still want to be creating and playing showcases like this.”
The “This Is Memphis” festival gives Callicott an opportunity to share some of the material he’s been writing since the age of 16, as well as the new sound he’s cultivated while living under the same roof as a couple fellow “This Is Memphis” performers including singer/songwriter Drew Erwin.
“Drew’s really good at using Garageband and Logic himself just in his room so I kind of started doing that,” Callicott said. ”I’m making these full tracks, but everything sounds like midi, except for guitar and vocals. I think it makes the stuff kinda sound like video game music.”
Though his aim is not to write for the next Nintendo classic Callicott firmly believes in utilizing multi-track recording programs to hone the sound he describes as ““Motown soul with Beach Boys harmony and a little bit of John Mayer guitar.”
“The kind of music i’m writing; It’s almost like I’m writing it on the bass,” Callicott said. “I think of the bass more than I do anything else. They’re also really keyboard driven. I don’t really write just thinking about acoustic guitar and vocals anymore. Not at all. Now that I’ve discovered that I can get my ideas down in ten minutes on Garageband or Logic I write with parts in mind.”
The guitarist/vocalist further raved about the benefits of living with fellow U of M musicians.
“At any point somebody is playing guitar or practicing or making something,” Callicott said. “It’s just cool if Drew’s in there making something and I’m sittin in my room like ‘man that’d be sick if the keys went like..” and then you’re both in there working on it together.”
Together, Callicott, Bluff City Soul Collective, and all the artists on the “This is Memphis roster seem to have made the collective decision that their life plan is to perform music professionally. Callicott described a Bluff City Soul Collective rehearsal:
“I just look around in that group and think ‘Man, everybody in here it looks like they’ve made up their mind,” Callicott said. “Especially Christian. That’s what he’s supposed to be doing. Just playing that bass. He’s so damn good at bass.”
Regardless of his bandmates’ talent levels Callicott admits that outside of rehearsal there is still a certain stigma about Music Industry students.
“It trips me out that so many people will be so quick to be like ‘that’s cool, but what do you actually do?” Callicott said. “Some of my friends’ moms like last year would be like ‘I mean you probably need to switch majors.’ I’m like I made 700 dollars today. It’s ok. People do this.”
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