Johnny Dowd: Nihilistic Bacchanalia

Friday, July 4th
8pm
$10/pwyc

You might not know Johnny Dowd. In fact, the self-deprecating Dowd would say the same thing. But your favorite musician probably knows who he is. Amy LaVere told a story recently on a Memphis radio station about the time that Talking Heads frontman David Byrne gave Texas outlaw country legend Terry Allen a copy of Dowd’s 1998 debut album, Wrong Side of Memphis. Dowd has made a slew of records since that underground-favorite debut at nearly age 50. For his latest, his 19th studio album, he went back to his roots and rounded up a slew of crack players in Memphis, where he spent parts of his childhood. The result is a gem. Is Heaven Real? How WouldI Know? is sprinkled with surprises both lyrical and musical, an album that bites with mordant good humor and cuts with boxcutter-sharp wit, all the while swinging with Memphis Soul.
-John Schumacher, The Amp

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