Memphis turns – From Beale Street blues bars to Stax’s legacy, Memphis helped define American music—but many locals say the city’s modern music economy still gets overlooked. A new push from the mayor’s office, fresh venue openings, and artists’ push for better publishing acc
For a city that gave the country so much sound—blues bars on Beale Street, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and Graceland—Memphis can still feel like it’s waiting for its payoff.
On Monday, May 25, 2026, an episode of The Excerpt podcast—“American music is rooted in Memphis. The city helped shape the sound of a nation yet hasn’t fully shared in the wealth it created”—captured the mood from people who live it every day. The conversation also traced how long the modern comeback has taken. and why it’s tied to something more than nostalgia: jobs. touring. publishing. and a live-music scene that can hold its own.
Dana Taylor. the show’s host. started with the question that hangs over the city’s identity: Memphis shaped nearly every genre of music. but why hasn’t it shared in the wealth it helped create?. The answer. in large part. is a mix of history. uneven industry momentum. and a perception—shared by residents—that the attention often flows elsewhere.
Chris Kenning. a national correspondent. said his trip was driven by headlines that he felt were increasingly dominated by crime and the Trump administration deploying the National Guard. He also pointed to another shift: the sense that Memphis had been “losing its place” to Nashville, which has boomed. His goal was to understand where the city’s music stood now—both in its historical sites and in what was coming out today.
Kenning spent time with Pastor Juan Shipp, 87, whose life story bridges Memphis’s past and its present. In the 1960s. Shipp was a clergyman and a gospel music presence. running a gospel radio show at a time when Stax Records was a major force. He explained that the gospel bands featured on his show had recordings with quality problems. and he moved to fix that. Shipp found a studio above a burger joint in downtown Memphis and started recording gospel bands—some known. some not—helping develop the sound he would become known for.
By ’72, Shipp had started his own label, D-Vine Spirituals. Then, as the music industry changed by the 1980s, he returned to ministry life. For decades afterward, he had master recordings stored away. Kenning said that long after that. people approached Shipp to locate the old masters; the recordings were dug out. reissued under a new label by a producer. and the work earned renewed attention—what Kenning described as a renaissance.
Shipp is now retired from the ministry. back recording bands under a newer label. and running a new radio show highlighting gospel. Through all of it. Kenning said Shipp has remained a major advocate for giving attention to what’s happening currently in Memphis. alongside the history people already recognize.
The shifts in Memphis’s music scene aren’t abstract. They track major turns in the city itself. Kenning said the foundation in Memphis had been built in the ’60s and earlier with Sun Records. Elvis. Stax. Otis Redding. Sam and Dave. and Isaac Hayes. In the 1970s, Stax went under. After Martin Luther King’s assassination. Kenning said downtown began to suffer. and over the years some recording artists moved to Nashville or Atlanta—though not everyone left. and studios continued. Royal Studios, Kenning called out as a famous example, recording Al Green and others.
Then, in the 1990s, hip hop changed what the world heard from Memphis. Kenning said the hip hop sound of Three 6 Mafia became influential and remains so in modern hip hop. He also pointed to GloRilla as one of the world’s biggest hip hop stars right now. and said she is from Memphis. Even with that ongoing talent. Kenning returned to the same feeling he heard repeatedly: Memphis can seem like an underdog place.
Many visitors come for the landmarks—Beale Street. Graceland. and music museums including Sun Records—but people in the city feel that the present-day scene doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. Kenning described that sense of a vibrant. current wave hiding in plain sight: music bars that host lesser-known bands. and music-themed hotels with DJ scenes. “There’s just a lot happening there. ” he said. “that people sort of feel like doesn’t get the attention it deserves.”.
That perception feeds the larger debate over value. Taylor asked why Memphis hasn’t captured more of what it created. Kenning tied it to a familiar comparison: Nashville took the “Music City” moniker and grew, while Memphis was left behind. He said redevelopment has helped in parts of downtown, but not at the same scale.
Kenning said the conversation has focused on gaps that matter economically—why Memphis doesn’t have more of the music publishing industry. more recording studios. and why fewer artists make Memphis their base compared with the city’s historical contribution. He framed it as a question that keeps resurfacing because people see the fortunes of the city and the fortunes of its music scene as tightly linked.
Memphis mayor Paul Young is part of a push aimed at reconnecting those fortunes. Kenning said Young sees music preservation as more than heritage, aiming to jumpstart the local economy. He described the mayor’s effort as starting an office designed to create more opportunity for artists. the recording industry. and tourism tied to music—live music included. Kenning said they see music tourism as their “largest cultural export. ” and that the plan is to marshal government funding. private funding. and business investment to build infrastructure around programs that already exist.
He pointed to two examples of that approach: a program helping Memphis artists get their music placed in films and commercials, and another group providing touring grants to up-and-coming bands so they can go on the road, build a name, and act as ambassadors for Memphis.
Live music is where those ambitions meet the reality of venues and capacity. Taylor asked whether live music is resurging in Memphis. Kenning described an evening with music promoter Nick Barbian as Barbian opened a new venue just outside the city. The venue has 4,500 seats and has taken years to bring to life. Kenning said it is one of two venues opening this year.
The timing matters because the city has venues. but—according to Kenning—was missing ones of a size that touring bands want. He said one of the venues is a Live Nation venue, which he described as important for attracting bands. The hope is that the added capacity and drawing power create a financial foundation for up-and-coming Memphis groups to perform and sharpen their sound.
For artists, the conversation is just as much about control and access as it is about stages. Taylor asked Grammy-winning artist Dwayne Eric Thomas Jr. known as MonoNeon. whether Memphis-based artists can capture more value from the music they make. Kenning said MonoNeon was at the opening night of the Grind City Amp. Kenning reported MonoNeon said he lives near the venue and loves Memphis. but that much of his touring happens outside the city.
MonoNeon. Kenning added. advocated for more opportunities for the music scene and for artists who want music publishing to exist right there in Memphis. Kenning also said MonoNeon acknowledged how difficult that can be. Many artists, he said, end up uprooting and going to bigger industry hubs—Nashville, Los Angeles, New York, or Atlanta.
That tension—between Memphis’s creative output and the industry centers that pull artists away—shapes the comeback story. Kenning said he sensed momentum during the trip. People kept pointing to what he described as hidden gems poised for growth. including Bar DKDC. a tiny music space that has hosted guys from the Black Keys to play there. and the Memphis Listening Lab. a repository with about 60. 000 records. Kenning said visitors can sit in a leather chair and listen to a catalog of music from the city and beyond.
The sequence of facts adds up to a clear picture: the city preserves its legacy through people like Juan Shipp. it tries to convert that legacy into opportunity through Mayor Paul Young’s office and programs for placements and touring. and it builds room for the next wave through new venues like the 4. 500-seat showcase and the Live Nation connection.
By the end of the episode. Taylor asked whether Kenning believed this was the moment Memphis finally keeps more of what it creates. He answered with a simple, confident yes. The feeling on the ground. he said. was that momentum is building—and that a comeback driven by today’s scene. not only yesterday’s legends. is finally within reach.
Kenning thanked Taylor for having him. Taylor closed by telling listeners she and the show would be back the next morning with what’s next before the day begins.
Memphis music industry Beale Street Stax Records Otis Redding Elvis Paul Young Juan Shipp live music music publishing tourism Grind City Amp Live Nation MonoNeon