Twenty minutes with the Mayor of Memphis “There’s another level of soul and grittiness that’s in our city – and you can feel it in the music”

PAUL YOUNG was sworn in as mayor of Memphis on January 1, 2024, with a commitment to creating a stronger, safer, and thriving community for all Memphians.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee, a Master of Science in urban and regional planning, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Memphis and has spent the last decade improving the quality of life in Memphis by advancing housing security and fostering healthy neighbourhoods where families can thrive.

I also found Mayor Young to be passionate and knowledgeable in all areas of popular music, both locally and globally, and the perfect ambassador for the city’s music community.

However, I wanted to know if there is a danger the city of Memphis places too much emphasis on legends of the past, and as a result, neglects up-and-coming talent? Could, should, the city do more to help them? Learn from the past, embrace the legends without doubt, but perhaps greater support elsewhere is required.

“Are we doing enough? Well, I think we can always do more, and I think that Memphis has such a storied legacy of music, STAX, all the labels, Elvis, Sun Studio, and all those amazing things, that I think it’s important for us to also be present in the now and support the artists that are the current torch bearers.

“It’s important for us to make sure that we are finding space for those individuals, first, to get recognition from our city, but then second, find ways to improve the economic climate for musicians here such that they can earn a living here, because a lot of them feel like they have to leave to be in, you know, the major cities like Atlanta, or LA, or New York to really practice their craft.

“So, the way we do that is by increasing opportunities, by hosting more events for us, creating events for our musicians to get recognition and dollars by leading by example with our public face and organisations like Downtown Memphis Commission. They set like a $250 floor – we will pay all performers, all musicians at least $250 per gig, whereas some of them were getting you know $50, $100, maybe, and so establishing their base lines so that others can follow our lead, that’s part of us trying to right the ship.

“And when you look at what’s happening at STAX, they have a lot of different aspects of their programming, but what’s really important is the school that they have where they are training up musicians – and they’re playing for the White House and in very, very, very big venues – but they are also carrying the Memphis brand, and training up that next level of talent.

“What John Doyle [Executive Director, Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, and Memphis Music Hall of Fame] and his team is doing at Rock and Soul, I think that it’s really important that we have more music venues. I think that we have taken music for granted as a city, I think that it’s been so ingrained in us and it’s always so ever present, that we don’t show it enough love and I think having Rock and Soul continuing to elevate their presence and have a new venue on Beale Street, where they are able to host more people and get more people to lay eyes on the space and also hear the sounds of Memphis, I think it’s really, really important.“

Undoubtedly those initiatives are to be commended, but when the record stores I visited make sixty percent of their sales from performers no longer with us, it’s clear the wider music community must also contribute to deliver meaningful change.

“I think we certainly can take our home-grown talent for granted and I also think that there’s so many different musical tastes and flavours in our community, they sometimes find it hard to breakthrough in their own community which is a shame. But it’s harder to breakthrough, and locally we know kinda the bigger artists that have made it, but it’s those that are kinda just on the cusp that blow up overseas, and not so much over here.”

“And that’s part of what we want to do for the future of Memphis. We wanna make sure that we are remembering the past and highlighting those people that have made Memphis sound so special but also elevating the future and giving more opportunities. I always tell people if you wanna see Memphis talent, just go to five churches on a Sunday morning. You will be blown away, and I mean these are just regular folks that have a job, and it’s just natural talent, that is just ever-present in our city.”

Despite the image portrayed elsewhere, in Memphis I’ve only ever been met with kindness, generosity, and warmth. There’s a mystical pull to the city, employment is rising, and no matter what others may claim – Nashville in particular – Memphis is undeniably the nation’s ‘Music City.’

“I think Memphis has a feeling, it has a energy, that I always tell people it’s hard to describe it to you if I tried. But when you come here you feel it and it kinda pulls you in, it make you feel like there’s just another level of soul and grittiness that’s in our city and you can feel it in the music, in our actions, with the people that you’re talking to downstairs or on the streets and it’s a warmth, but there’s also a ruggedness that comes with it and I think it’s special.

“Nashville is a great city, it’s an amazing town and they have a energy of their own, but it’s not ours, and I think people that have an attraction to the type of character that we have, you know they just feel right at home here, and it’s not for everybody, but that’s what makes us special.

“I really love to hear the view of Memphis from people outside of our city because I think that is so important – like even what you’re writing – it’s so important for other people to share their feelings and experience because as Memphians sometimes we get jaded with our place because we been here so long and what’s normal to us is abnormal to others, and it’s hard for people to see that unless they hear it from your perspective.

“Memphis is a city that has issues, it has challenges, but you know I wouldn’t trade our city for any others because there’s a soul, there’s a spirit, there’s a energy that is ever present in our community and sometimes it shows up in some forms of bias. And it’s not just racial bias, it’s economic bias like, ‘we don’t go in that part of town,’ but there’s so much treasure when you cross that bridge, when you go to the other side, and I think that it’s important for all of us to take an opportunity to do it, and I want as Mayor to be able to show the beauty of all sides of our city and highlight it not just to the world, but to Memphians.

“I really feel like Memphis is going to be one of the next ‘it’ cities in this nation, and I think people that are wise will double down on our city now because the price tomorrow is not going to be the same as it is today – now is the time.”

For further information on the City of Memphis, click HERE

(Mayor Young photograph © The City of Memphis)

(With special thanks to Mayor Young, Vanessa Delgadillo, Penelope Huston, and Keenan Lowery)