Stream the Indie Memphis Music Sampler 2011

The Memphis Music Foundation has teamed up with Indie Memphis and the Memphis Shelby County Film Commission to create a Memphis music sampler for music supervisors and creative directors.  Heartache in Memphis is a compilation of 20 songs available to stream live on SoundCloud.

The sampler features music from Furry Lewis, Grace Askew, Glorie, Trashed Romeos, Chris Milam, Jeffrey James and the Haul, Tiger High, Susan Marshall, The Bo-keys and Amy Lavere.

Indie Memphis Music Sampler 2011 by Memphis Music Foundation

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Chris Milam Stops by Ardent Studios to Play The Warm Up

The Warm Up Podcast at Ardent StudiosChris Milam doesn’t like Kickstarter – too passive he says. So instead, he has decided to stage his very own fundraiser to raise money to record a new album. He’ll be playing from 4 until 10pm TODAY in front of the I Love Memphis Mural in Cooper-Young. If you are a fan of TVD, you might have already come to know Chris Milam from his excellent Another Cup of Coffee series of interviews with all sorts of Memphis music mavens. If you are not reading his blog or following on Twitter – you are missing out!

He’s been working on some new songs, so if you’re a local to Memphis, go give him some love tonight. He told us to tell you to bring beer.

Check out our podcast to hear some outstanding live tunes! Then download the The Warm Up at Ardent Studios with Chris Milam  podcast! It’s a free Memphis music download from us to you!

Chris Milam has more stories than songs. Of course, he’s not running short on those, either. And for every city, every stage , every hotel desk clerk he flirts with to get a few extra free muffins for the long drive back to Memphis, every pang of homesick or moment of road weary, there’ll be another song. And at least a dozen more stories.

But the one thing that remains the same through all of them, the one central character and unwavering motif, is the music. And like the stories of so much good music, this one starts in Memphis.

A lefty, Chris taught himself to play guitar by watching his brother, memorizing the shapes of his hands in different chords and flipping them upside down. Not long after, in high school, he started crafting songs. But it was in college that Chris did what maybe we’re all supposed to do in those four years: reach some level of self-actualization. Left entirely to his own devices, the only thing he wanted to do was write and play music. “I found myself telling people I was going to law school,” he says. “I’d told people that since the sixth grade, for some reaosn. I took the LSAT. I was looking at schools. And at some point everyone around me was like, ‘Who are you kidding? You’re not gonna do that.’ They were right.”

The Warm Up is music podcast recorded at Ardent Studios. We are thrilled to offer this podcast recorded live in Memphis, Tn as a free music download. You can also subscribe to this podcast via Itunes. We keep the music downloads for this podcast free by generous support from our sponsors. Please visit their sites and purchase their products in order to keep this podcast ad-free.

Ardent Presents: Eliot Morris

I recently had the honor of being invited to participate in an afternoon of music at Ardent Studios for a production called “Ardent Presents”. It had been more than two years since my move to Memphis, and I had, for some time, intended to see the place that I had been hearing so much about. So, when I stepped through the gates on Madison Ave.

I knew I was entering a world set apart. I was immediately struck by the warmth of the place – informed, no doubt, by both the people and the general aesthetic. I was soon directed to the studio control room where, when opening the door, the sound poured out into the hallway. Chris Milam was playing – then Anthony DeCosta and both sounded really good. Studios have the difficult job of creating an environment that is at the same time familiar and inspiring. Ardent does this masterfully – the people are friendly and professional, the space is inspiring and the gear second to none.

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