OTIS REDDING plane crash survivor BEN CAULEY is to return to the site of the tragedy to mark the 40th anniversary of the soul legend's death.

The trumpeter was the only member of Redding's backing band the Bar-Kays to survive the horrific December, 1967 crash in Madison, Wisconsin, which claimed the lives of the Stax Records hitmaker and his bandmates.

The musicians' twin-engine aircraft plunged into Lake Monona.
Cauley, 60, has never even returned to the state since the tragedy, but he'll pay tribute to Redding at an event on Monday (03Dec07).

He will speak and perform the soul great's (Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay as part of the lakeside tribute.

Redding recorded the song with the Bar-Kays three days before he died.

GUY Sebastian has so been there, now after the Australian Idol grand final he's going global.

The original karaoke king will perform for an audience of 300 million next month, after being invited to appear on Asian Idol.

With a mega-mix medley from his Memphis Album ready to roll, the 'Fro will go get 'em in Jakarta on December 16.

The big break could mean big business for SonyBMG, which now has plans to release the album in India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

But he'll need the angels who brought him here to stardom to be on his side again, with a packed itinerary before he takes to the stage.

The day before he'll pack in three Sydney performances - for Dolly magazine, Carols in the Domain and the Mix FM/Australian Radio Network Christmas party - before hopping on a midnight flight to Indonesia.

Every year, local artist Lamar Sorrento paints us a Christmas painting, Ardent style. We use the paintings as our Christmas cards and hang them proudly on our walls. We're proud to present this year's painting:



Lamar has also done other great work for us, including:

A painting of Big Star in front of the Big Star grocery store that they took their name from..



A painting of the Stax building that we display proudly in our lobby..



And finally, some pictures of the mural outside of Ardent's Studio A:

An exhibition honouring soul man OTIS REDDING on the 40th anniversary of his death has been erected at the Stax Records site where he recorded his most famous hits.

Now a Memphis, Tennessee museum, the label's headquarters is staging a major new show featuring rare and unseen Redding memorabilia.

Otis Redding: From Macon To Memphis - An Exhibit From The Private Collection Of Zelma Redding opened on Monday (Dec 10) and will run until April 2008.

Items on loan from Redding's widow and daughter include a collection of never-before-shown family photographs taken on the Reddings' ranch outside Macon, Georgia.

Check out the very first episode of The Ardent Sessions hosted by me and featuring the Cincinnati duo Bad Veins. They made a huge splash at this year's CMJ festival when they played the Dovecote showcase at Fat Baby. These guys are on the verge. I'm excited to bring them to you on BreakThru Radio.

Setlist
00:55 The Lie
05:16 Falling Tide
08:05 Found
13:00 This Ending
18:55 Fake Baby
24:12 You Kill
32:35 Afraid
36:08 Gold and Warm

Bio: Benjamin Davis (vocals, guitar, synth) and Sebastien Schultz (drums) the guys behind Cincinnati's power-indie-pop outfit Bad Veins know how to please a crowd. Rave reviews from USA Today and Atlanta's Snowden (who gave Band Veins props after the band opened for them) have propelled them from little-known opening act to certified buzz band.

Their mix of uptempo indie feel-good songs and howling vocals won them a nomination in the Break Our Act category at this year's CMJ Music Marathon. While Davis and Shultz have been thrilled with all the attention, they both know that they've only just begun.

Andy Meek from The Memphis Daily News did a really nice write-up on our new radio show.

Bad Veins, the Cincinnati-based duo of which Davis is a member, was the first burgeoning act to get a plug on the show. The debut episode of "The Ardent Sessions" was recorded last month and can be heard by (clicking here.)

For Davis, his group's appearance on that first episode amounted to a new feather in the band's cap.

"Memphis is a very cool town - everybody's really nice, and the engineers at Ardent were awesome," he said. "I just heard the podcast of our performance (Sunday) night for the first time on the drive home. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but I think it turned out great."

When Bad Veins was in town to record for "The Ardent Sessions," Hurley also helped line them up with a performance date at the Hi-Tone. The radio show on which they performed was sound-engineered by Jason Latshaw. The assistant engineer was Alan Burcham.

The next Ardent radio show will feature the group The American Princes and will air Jan. 7. Ardent founder John Fry said he's excited about the new show for several reasons, one of which is its creation of a new small concert venue of sorts in the city.

"I think this is a great way for Ardent to help provide a platform on Breakthruradio.com for some exciting new artists, to give a small Memphis audience an intimate performing experience and to expose the artists to a bit of our Memphis music heritage and culture," Fry said. "Everybody wins."

Or you can check out the original press release here.

Soundtrack Produced by G. Marq Roswell Features Pre-1935 Classics

Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington directs and stars in “The Great Debaters,” for which he hand-picked the pre-1935 music from 1000 songs of the period. Recorded largely at Memphis’ world-renowned Ardent Studios with producer G. Marq Roswell, the soundtrack features a wealth of talent performing pre-1935 blues, folk, jazz, and gospel classics.

Pictured (L-R) at Ardent Studios are drummer Harry Peel,
Rhonda Hodges, Teenie Hodges, engineer Jeff Powell, Sharon Jones,
Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, Susan Marshall, percussionist Kevin Ricard,
and producer G. Marq Roswell.

“THE GREAT DEBATERS - MUSIC FROM & RECORDED FOR THE MOTION PICTURE” centers around Grammy Award-winning blues singer/guitarist Alvin ‘Youngblood’ Hart and Brooklyn-based soul sensation Sharon Jones, who are featured both as solo performers and in collaboration with The Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Among the album’s many highlights is a version of the traditional “Step It Up and Go,” performed by Hart and legendary Hi Rhythm Section guitarist Teenie Hodges (Al Green, Ann Peebles). In addition, Hart unites with traditional African-American string band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, for a series of songs, including a stunning take on Blind Willie Johnson’s “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” and the Mississippi Sheiks hit, "Blood In My Eyes For You.”

“The Great Debaters” is based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, Wiley inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. The film is set to open in theaters nationwide on December 25th.

Todd Agnew's album Better Questions made the Best of 2007 Chart for Chrisian/Gospel! Although they are not numbered, he is at #19 out of 53! They are editorially chosen by iTunes staffers, so this is a huge compliment and nod of achievement from them.

So Says The Memphis Flyer:
Fans of this website know that on weekends and holidays, we tend to get, um, less "news" directed.

Check it out. (And yes, we know we'll get a zillion website hits from Australia. Hey, it's Thanksgiving. Traffic is traffic, you turkeys.)

More photos can be found in the Gallery.

From Andrea Lisle's article in The Commercial Appeal

In the 1930s, the Mississippi Sheiks, an African-American string band, was one of the most popular groups to hit Memphis.

They were prolific; in five years, the Sheiks cut 70-plus songs for labels like Bluebird, Okeh and Paramount.

Then, around the advent of World War II, electric instruments took over, and string bands were out.

After playing to black and white audiences in such far-flung places as Chicago, West Texas and New York City, bandmates Bo Carter and Lonnie and Sam Chatmon, who were brothers, returned home to Mississippi and found work on plantations.

Sam Chatmon enjoyed a brief revival, courtesy of the 1960s folk scene.

Lonnie Chatmon faded from the public eye.

Carter, once one of the South's biggest recording stars, died blind and destitute in Memphis in September 1964.

Now, the Mississippi Sheiks' sound is the foundation of "The Great Debaters," one of the most talked-about movies to hit the screens this month.

Read More...

The soundtrack to "The Great Debaters" was recorded here at Ardent Studios this summer and fall. The movie is out now.

The soundtrack is available here through amazon.com.