The 2009 Folk Alliance Conference starts tomorrow at 11 a.m.  If you’ve never attended the conference, which will be held at the Downtown Marriott Hotel, it’s well worth the $250 per day (or $750 for all 5 days) admission — hundreds of musicians, including John Sebastian, Rodney Crowell, Kathy Mattea, Charlie Louvin, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Albert Lee, Lucy Wainwright Roche, and Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey, are scheduled to play. 

Go here to read CA writer Bob Mehr’s interview with performer/keynote speaker Roger McGuinn — pictured above with his 1960s-era group the Byrds. And go here to read my interview with 17-year old Pennsylvanian Brittany Ann Tranbaugh, who will be traveling more than 1,000 miles to appear at the event.  

While this is an international conference, with musicians from all over the world networking and performing, there’s plenty of Memphis in the mix, including: 

1. Screenings of the Memphis jug band documentary Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost, slated for tomorrow at 3 p.m. and Thursday at 2 p.m. 

2. An open mic set hosted by the Memphis Songwriters Association.

3. The Kids Show, on Thursday at 11:30 a.m., with Memphis host Darin Hillis and a performance from Valerie June and Jason Freeman.

4. An interview with legendary musician — and former Memphian — Charlie Louvin on Thursday afternoon.   

5. An interview with onetime Elvis sideman, guitarist James Burton, on Friday afternoon. 

Also: panel discussions with the likes of new Memphis Music Commission head Johnnie Walker; Memphis International record label owners David Less and Bob Merlis; producers Jim Dickinson,  Jeff Powell, and Scott Bomar; Oxford attorney Tom Freeland,  and performances from Valencia Robinson, Nancy Apple, Valerie June, Jimmy Davis, Blair Combest, Jed Zimmerman, Deering and Down, Holly Cole, Caleb Sweazy, William Lee Ellis, Cory Branan, Susan Marshall, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Dan Montgomery, Andy Cohen, and more. 

In conjunction with the conference, The Folk Alliance will also present a number of concerts and events that will be open to the public at various venues around town.

The Center for Southern Folklore will host a free performance by Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart with special guests Act of Congress and Deering & Down on Feb. 20. On Feb. 21, the Center will welcome The Ebony Hillbillies along with Valerie June and Andy Cohen. Both shows start at 8 p.m. 

The Hi-Tone Café offers a pair of shows starting with a Feb. 20 bill featuring the Duhks, Hoots and Hellmouth and 2 Mule Plow. The following evening, Small Faces legend Ian McLagan brings his Bump Band in for a concert. The bill will also include a performance by Jack Oblivian & the Tearjerkers. 

On Feb. 21 at 3 p.m., Ardent Studios will host a creativity workshop featuring banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck and drummer Amir “?uestlove” Thompson of hip-hop band The Roots. The event is free. For more information, call 725-0855.

Tonight: Start the weekend off with Girls of the Gravitron’s free show at Shangri-la Records. Also: AC/DC’s “Black Ice” tour at the FedEx Forum; Colourmusic and Good Luck Dark Star at the Hi-Tone Cafe; Van Duren at Central BBQ East; the Heartless Bastards at the Young Ave Deli (go herefor CA music critic Bob Mehr’s interview with frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom); Memphis rapper RI’m Skeem at the Crystal Palace (go here for my interview with the rising star); Thrush, Silent Haze, Distilled Blood, and more, at the New Daisy; Will Graves at Cafe Soul; Or, head down to Tunica for a country music two-fer — the legendary George Jones is at Sam’s Town, while Gary Allan is at Horseshoe.

Saturday: Get your indie rock fix from Snowglobe at the Hi-Tone Cafe, with the Bulletproof Vests opening. Also: 34-year old composer Jonathan Leshnoff will debut a composition with the IRIS Orchestra at GPAC. Violinist Augustin Hadelich, winner of the 2006 International Violin Competition, is also on the bill, performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Brahms’ Serenade No. 1. Classical pianist Terry McRoberts is at the University of Memphis’ Harris Concert Hall; Uncle Jungle is at the New Daisy; Down in Tunica, George Jones and Gary Allan wrap up their respective 2-night stands.

Sunday: At 3 p.m., the Germantown Symphony Orchestra makes its 2009 debut at Hutchison School’s Wiener Theater, at the same time that the Ceruti String Quartet and pianist Marsha Evans perform “Conversations Among Friends,” at the Memphis Chamber Music Society. Later, Rob Jungklas and Deering & Down (who have been laying down tracks at Poppa Willie Mitchell’s Royal Recording Studio this month) are at Otherlands. RI’m Skeem is back at the Crystal Palace, with Atlanta MC Yung LA.

Tonight: Down in Clarksdale, Miss., the Oxford American magazine celebrates the release of its 10th annual music issue by hosting one heckuva throwdown with Dale “Suzie Q” Hawkins, R.L. Boyce, and Wiley and the Checkmates. It’s all happening at the original Ground Zero Blues Club in downtown Clarksdale. Admission is $15, and showtime is 7 p.m. Go here for more info.

Closer to home: First, kick off the week with a free show from Jump Back Jake at Shangri-la Records. The Ardent recording artist will begin performing at 6 p.m. Later: The New Mary Jane and Vending Machine at the Buccaneer Lounge; Westbound at the Hi-Tone Cafe; Soul Enforcers at the Full Moon Club; One Hour Thursday, Facecast, Chocking On Clarity, Third Gear Pinned, and Searching 4 A Signal at the New Daisy; Preston Shannon at Ground Zero; NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” host Neal Conan, hosting “A Universe of Dreams,” at GPAC; and DJ Steve Ann at Dish.

Saturday: Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, performed by Opera Memphis, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Orpheum Theatre. Also: Rap showcase at Club Unbreakables with 40Kel, JDogg & T-Won, and more; gospel artist Marvin Sapp at the Cannon Center; Sore Eyes head up a bevy of bands, including Goodbye Monroe and A Study in Scarlet for their CD release party at the New Daisy; Charlie Mars at the Hi-Tone.

Sunday: The Mersey-minded Jeffrey and the Pacemakers play a free show at the Buccaneer, beginning at 5 p.m. Later: New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus and Welsh indie rockers Los Campesinos! are at the Hi-Tone, and FreeWorld play Blues City Cafe.

Tonight: Kick off the weekend with a free performance from Good Luck Dark Star at Shangri-la Records at 6 p.m. Afterwards, have dinner with Bobby Rush at the Center for Southern Folklore. Later, head to the Hi-Tone Cafe for some fabulous local power pop, served up by the Everyday Parade and Van Duren. Also: Free Sol and Haymaker Project are at Quetzal, Will Graves is at Cafe Soul, and Shortwave Dahlia is at the Full Moon Club.

Saturday:Get up early and take the kids to the “Peanut Butter and Jam Session” at GPAC, with Wild Willy and the Memphis Jam Band. Shows are at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. My pick of the night is a triple bill — J.D. Reager and the Cold-Blooded Three, plus Billy Worley and the Candy Company and Dragoon — at Nocturnal. There’s also Pavement Band and Tyler Keith at the Hi-Tone; the Elvis Birthday Pops Concert at the Cannon Center; the Grascals at the Lucy Opry at BPACC (go here for Mark Jordan’s profile in this week’s CA); Facedive, Painbreak, Dark Embrace, and more at the New Daisy; a Mozart concert at St. Benedict; a performance of the Eroica Ensemble at First Congregational Church in Midtown; Reba Russell at Neil’s; a MAMA concert with Dan Montgomery at Otherlands; and Duke Hex and the Firm Foundation Riddim Squad at the P+H Cafe.

Sunday:Chris Chew’s last free Sunday afternoon show starts at the Hi-Tone at 4 p.m., and later, blues guitarist Scott Holt plays at the East Memphis Huey’s.

Thanks, everybody, for the kind comments after my last post. Fortunately for me, 2008 ended with a whimper, not a bang — and I’m ecstatic to have made it to a new calendar year.

A few topics from the end of ‘08 are still lingering in my inbox:

First, Delaney Bramlett died on Saturday, Dec. 27. The iconic singer-songwriter was born in Pontotoc, Miss. in 1939, and worked with a wide range of artists including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, George Harrison, Dave Mason, Billy Preston, Jackie DeShannon, the Everly Brothers, and Etta James. He co-wrote “Let It Rain” with Eric Clapton, and “Superstar” with Leon Russell — my favorite version of the latter is by Sonic Youth. He and his first wife, Bonnie, a former Ikette, recorded their second album, Home, for Stax Records.

Second, the 30th anniversary of the death of Big Star founder Chris Bell was Sunday, Dec. 28. Go here to read CA music editor Bob Mehr’s piece, which includes interviews with Ardent Records founder John Fry and David Bell, Chris’ brother.

Third, Mehr and CA freelancer Mark Jordan compiled year-end lists. Go here and here to read ‘em.

Fourth, the students at the Stax Music Academy put on Go Down Moses, an apparently killer tribute to Isaac Hayes on Thursday, Dec. 18. Sorry I missed it! Go here for Jordan’s review.

Fifth, the legendary DJ Squeeky was hospitalized after a car wreck at the end of Dec. According to MemphisRap.com, Squeeky blacked out at the wheel after taking a dose of cough medicine. Snark all you want, but the man was genuinely sick — and now he’s faced with a broken hip, broken facial bones, and bumps and bruises.

Tonight: Dan Montgomery, Robert Mache and Louis Meyers are at the Cove; Jump Back Jake (pictured) is celebrating his Ardent debut at the Hi-Tone; the Delta Highway Blues Band are at Ground Zero; Jocephus & the George Jonestown Massacre is at Murphy’s; Cult of the Flag, Torn Apart, Ghost Tone, Facecast, and Agent Cooper are at the New Daisy Theatre; Down in Tunica, Colin Raye and Restless Heart are stopping in to the Gold Strike Casino on their Gift of Christmas tour.

Saturday: Harlan T. Bobo’s Christmas extravaganza at the Hi-Tone. Also: Oracle & the Mountain and Antique Curtains at the P+H Cafe; Jimmy Davis and Friends’ Songwriters in the Round at Otherlands; the Bar-Kays at Fitzgeralds’ Casino; and the 2nd Annual “Applause For the Cause” at the Hard Rock Cafe, benefiting World Hunger Year with performances by Al Kapone, Tha Bank, Surrender the Fall, Zach Meyers, Cornerstone, Who Framed Sam, Dave Cowell (of Chosen View), Mike Dees, Bethilea, and Whiskey Penny.

Sunday: The Goner Christmas Party — with the Barbaras — is happening at the Buccaneer Lounge. Also: Chris Chew at the Hi-Tone; Mr. Del at Cafe Soul; Holly Cole at Neil’s; Tim Regan, Jeff Hulett and Brad Bailey at Otherlands; and Misty White’s Off-White Xmas Ball at the Poplar Lounge with the Dan Montgomery Three, Seth & the Sentimentals, the Gleaners, and more.

Tonight: Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm are at Ground Zero Blues Club. If you haven’t heard their new album, 2 Man Wrecking Crew, check it out. I interviewed the duo for this article, which was published in today’s paper.

“I’ve lived the blues all my life,” Burnside told me. “What I mean when I say that is there’s been a lot of poor families out there, and I’m one of ‘em. I grew up poor. We didn’t have a radio, so we used to wait for the house parties to start on weekends,” he says. “I can remember when I was 6 or 7 years old, and my granddaddy used to invite his friends over — guys like (harmonica player) Johnny Woods. All the grandkids would get out there and kick up dust. Even though we were poor, we never let it stop us from having our fun.”

Also tonight: Pezz and While I Breathe, I Hope are having a split record release party with Antique Curtains and Streetside Symphony at the Hi-Tone. Go here to read CA freelancer Mark Jordan’s interview with Pezz frontman Marv Stockwell.

Soul singer Lalah Hathaway — go here for CA music critic Bob Mehr’s interview — is appearing with Will Downing and Gerald Albright at the Cannon Center.

Jim Duckworth and Jim Spake are playing the opening for Made in Memphis‘ annual holiday show at 2238 Central Ave. Keep the holiday mood going with the fourth annual Jazz for St. Jude benefit is at the Memphis Drum Shop, and the Holiday Cabaret at Theatre Memphis.

Also: Todd Snider plays the Lyric Theatre down in Oxford, and Nick Lachey hosts the Q107.5 Jingle Jam (with Rehab, synth-pop band Metro Station, Cash Money recording artist Kevin Rudolf, Bajan R&B singer Shontelle, VH1 stars Thriving Ivory, Florida pop punk band We The Kings, and Martin Johnson and Paul DiGiovanni of Boys Like Girls) at Sam’s Town Tunica. Closer to home, the Unbeheld play Black Lodge; the IRIS Orchestra performs at GPAC; Falling Point is at Ubee’s; Susan Marshall, Kim Richardson, and Reba Russell play the HO HO HO Show at Otherlands; and Damn Bullets, Revelations of Jupiter Stone, and Sheriffs of Nottingham are at Murphy’s.

Sunday: Don’t miss Chris Chew’s Acoustic Soul Revue at the Hi-Tone. It starts at 4PM, and it’s free. At 5:30, the Rhodes Singers perform Advent carols at Church of the Holy Communion. At 7PM, Bartlett United Methodist Church hosts “The Word Became Flesh,” a Christmas cantata, and at 7:30, Lindenwood Christian Church presents its annual Christmas Spectacular. Later, Dash Rip Rock plays Huey’s Midtown, Big Don Valentine plays at the View, and FreeWorld plays Blues City Cafe.

Spectacular news: The 21st annual International Folk Alliance Conference is already slated for the downtown Marriott February 18-22, and 2009 is gonna be a doozy! The organization has already tapped Byrds legend Roger McGuinn (front and center in the granny glasses, above) as the keynote speaker, and Charlie Louvin and John Sebastian are gonna be in town, too. Showcase artists scheduled to attend include NC bluegrass group Chatham County Line, Nashville-based cowpunk-turned-kid-friendly musician “Farmer” Jason Ringenberg, former Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan and the Bump Band, Susan Cowsill, and Lucy Wainwright Roche. Oh, and a New Jersey-based singer named Amy Speace who fronts a band called the Tearjerkers.

While we’re talking about singer/songwriters (see Kate Campbell, below), I wanted to mention that earlier this month, Memphian Kim Richardson won the singer/songwriter contest at the Ozark Folk Festival in Eureka Springs, AR. She netted a cash prize and a performance slot at next year’s festival with a performance that included 2 songs which were co-written with William Lee Ellis and Mary Unobsky. Her next Memphis performance is slated for Otherlands on Saturday, Dec 6 at 8PM, when Richardson will headline the Ho-Ho-Ho Show with Susan Marshall and Reba Russell. Her second CD, True North, which features Ellis, Paul Taylor, Rick Steff, and Amy LaVere, is out now.