O.V. Wright Night In Memphis 15/11/08

I thought I'd give this night another shout and remind people that the concert is part of a weekend dedicated to the memory of O. V. Wright:

Mark your calendars, buy your tickets, and head to Memphis, Tennessee the weekend of November 14-16.

We have an unbelievable line-up of events planned to honor the late, great, but underappreciated Memphis soul singer O.V. Wright! It all began here several months ago with this post about the saddening discovery that Wright lay buried in an unmarked grave outside Memphis.

His fans around the world refused to let this situation continue, and came together on a solution, the O.V. Wright Memorial Fund. I'm so proud to report that the fund collected over $2,000 to purchase a fitting monument for this great artist. The handsome marker will be unveiled Sunday November 16, 2008 at the Galillee Memorial Garden at 8283 Ellis Road in east Memphis. Time TBA.

Many of the generous contributors will be on hand for the ceremony, several from overseas.

Well it didn't seem like enough of an honor without music, so on the eve of the unveiling, some of O.V.'s colleagues will perform in dowtown Memphis for O.V. Wright Night! Check it out: O.V.'s brilliant back-up band, the one and only Hi Rhythm section will play, and O.V.'s Hi Records labelmate Otis Clay will sing. The celebration will happen Saturday November 15, 2008 at 8p.m. at the Ground Zero Blues Club at 158 Lt. George W. Lee Avenue in downtown Memphis.

Tickets are available online at http://www.ovwright.org/

Also, locals can pick theirs up at three locations around the city- in Midtown at Shangri-La Records, 1916 Madison Avenue; Downtown at Pop Tunes, 308 Poplar Avenue; and Whitehaven at Pop Tunes, 4622 Faronia Road.

I encourage out-of-towners coming in for the show to stay at the Doubletree Hotel. They've given us a special rate for y'all (and you might even run into Otis Clay at the ice machine) which you can learn more about at ovwright.org as well. The hotel is clean and nice and 1/3 of a mile from Ground Zero, so no need to curtail your celebrating or invite trouble.

In addition to the main events, attendees can also join the group tours of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and a very special behind the scenes go-round at Royal Studios, where O.V. recorded his masterful body of work. I'm told that a certain Poppa will be on hand for the latter event-- you don't want to miss that!

Please e-mail me with any questions: preston@backroadsofamericanmusic.com

Thanks to all who have given their time, money, and bandwidth to making this happen. See ya in Memphis!

Please support!!! Here is a glimpse of the man from 1975