Psychobilly Forum ~ View topic

So-Cal Kid Joined: 03 Nov 2010 Posts: 27 Location: Memphis

As everyone who's done any research knows, Memphis is the home of pure Rockabilly. Psychobilly is something that happened more in the UK than in the US historically, and because of that is virtually unknown in the home of it's parent style.

Psychobilly has never been particularly popular in Memphis because... well, we had The Killer. I mean, when you have Jerry Lee living in your neighborhood, who needs new music?!

However, time moves on, the old masters get older, the new kids get new ideas and find ways to play faster, louder, and add more layers to the traditions of the past. More and more the sounds of country music and metal are blended in Metal-billy bands like Brother Chuck and Jocephus and the George Jonestown. Sadly, some people will simply never accept country music or its influence locally because of its long standing cultural ties to purist white elements.

It always amazes me to be playing a local show to a fresh crowd and have the younger people get all excited that Psychobilly has reached Memphis TN, a place where it should have been all along. The reason for this, obviously, is that Psychobilly is only loosely attached to it's blues roots, and when Memphis makes traditional style music, blues is where we go. Memphis is named after a city in Africa for a reason; if black people don't like your music, you won't do well here!

That's changed. A new Mayor, a new President, and a new vision of the future have destroyed the racial walls that have kept real musical progress from occuring in Memphis. 666 Mafia may be the face of Memphis music in popular culture, but their dark themes and sharp tight beats are brothers to the sounds of Psychobilly as it is known today. As rappers turn to live bands to legitimize their artistic integrity, their audiences also turn to live music to shape their culture.

Channeling the spirit of the now defunct interracial dive bar The Rally Point, a Memphis Psychobilly show is the only place where you can see black, mexican, and white music fans rocking out together and spitting on the concepts of purity and elitism that have caused us so much pain in the past.

We are healing the divide caused by the assassination of Martin Luther King jr. And we aren't doing it with political rhetoric or rallys or flag waving or repressive new legislation. None of that stuff matters. We're doing it using music about period sex, driving blind stinking drunk, and raising thirteen kinds of unholy hell .

Wreckmaster Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 1634

Sounds a bit different to Newcastle then..........

this was a good read, but you need to get out a little more often, I can name a dozen cities in a dozen States other than Memphis TN where you can see Mexicans/Whites/Blacks and even more rockin out to Psychobilly in unity at a show.

I understand you probably wrote this from a "Local Memphis" perspective

So-Cal Kid Joined: 03 Nov 2010 Posts: 27 Location: Memphis

Memphis is a pretty racially radicalized city, so these things are much bigger issues for us than in other places.

There's actually a sign at the end of Beale St. that explains that the music scene died as a direct relationship to MLK's assassination. Memphis was no longer considered a safe place for affluent blacks, so they moved to chicago, which developed a substantial blues scene afterwards.

It's pretty tragic.

i been meaning to come to memphis again and this inspired me ha