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: 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.

Be sure to turn on your TV tonight for VH1’s Soul Cities, which debuts on the VH1 Soul channel (on my TV, it’s channel 208) at 8PM. Tonight, journalist Nelson George, who hosts the series, gets gritty in Memphis. On his agenda: visits to Beale Street, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the Lorraine Motel, and the Four-Way Grill. Nelson also meets up with Neosoulville co-founder Tonya Dyson, filmmaker Craig Brewer, and the congregation of the First Beale Street Baptist Church. I’ve got high expectations for this series — the promos look great, and George — a critic for Billboard and Playboy magazines — is the author of one of my favorite music books, 1988’s The Death of Rhythm & Blues.

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.

Dunno if you saw this article about 18-year old Cordova drummer Ramon Sampson, who competed in Houston for the semi-finals of the 20th anniversary Guitar Center Drum-Off this week.

In 2006, Sampson, his parents and his sister, said goodbye to life in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved to Cordova, where Jacques Sampson accepted a job as minister of music at Koinonia Christian Center.

Sampson told me that although he had to give up his role as percussionist for the jazz group Chocolate and his slot at South Africa’s National School of the Arts when he came to the U.S., his only regret was leaving behind his beloved drum kit.

“Moving over here definitely drew me closer to what God wants for me,” he said.

Billed as “the world’s largest drum competition,” the Guitar Center Drum-Off is big stuff: The winner receives $25,000 cash, custom drum equipment and major endorsements. Past winners have gone on to back Prince, Jay-Z, Bobby Brown, and Sly and the Family Stone.

In January, Sampson will travel to Los Angeles for the final competition, where he will be judged by celeb drummers Adrian Young (No Doubt), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Kenny Aronoff, The Rev (Avenged Sevenfold), and Danny Carey (Tool). Sampson will be competing against 5 other drummers, including Juan Carlos Mendoza (E. Brunsick, NJ), Jerome Flood III (Lawrenceville, GA), Anthony Burns (Saginaw, MI), Sherman Arnold (Englewoodm CO), and Timm Newton (La Mesa, CA).

Good luck Ramon!

Last night, the nominees for the 51st annual Grammy Awards were announced.

Lil Wayne, of course, is already a big winner with 8 nominations — but plenty of Shelby County tax payers (past and present) received nods:

B.B. King performed during the Grammys’ prime time TV special, and received a nomination for “Best Traditional Blues Album” for One Kind Favor. He’ll be competing against fellow Mississippian Pinetop Perkins, who’s nominated for Pinetop Perkins & Friends.

In the “Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals” and “Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical” categories, Justin Timberlake got a nod for “4 Minutes,” his collaboration with Madonna and Timbaland.

Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere are up for “Best Pop Instrumental Performance” for “Love Appetite,” off Nudge It Up A Notch, and Gerald Albright is nominated in the “Best Pop Instrumental Album” category for Sax for Stax, his tribute to Memphis music.

I’m really excited about Respect Yourself — The Stax Records Story, a documentary directed by Robert Gordon & Morgan Neville and produced by Mark Crosby, Robert Gordon & Morgan Neville. I worked as a production coordinator on the project, which aired on PBS last year. It’s nominated in the “Best Long Form Music Video” category.

Al Green’s Lay It Down is up for “Best R&B Album” and “Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.” Album tracks “Stay With Me (By the Sea)”, which features John Legend, is nominated in the “Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group” category, and “You’ve Got The Love I Need”, which features Anthony Hamilton, is nominated in the “Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance” category.

Memphis Horns trumpeter Wayne Jackson played a big part in the Raconteurs’ Consolers of the Lonely album, which is up for “Best Rock Album” and “Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.”

And gospel singer Kirk Franklin got major nods for “Help Me Believe” in the “Best Gospel Song” category and for The Fight of My Life, nominated for “Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album.”

Kirk Franklin makes Christian Music Today’s list at #7:

This Christian Music Today panel has always held enormous respect for Kirk Franklin and his efforts to revitalize gospel music for a new generation. But it’s been a long time (1998’s The Nu Nation Project to be exact) since he’s released an album that we could unanimously call one of the year’s best. It’s interesting that his album with the shortest creative turnaround is the one that earns him some overdue recognition, but simply put, The Fight of My Life is one of the finest in his 15-year career. From the buoyant opening of “Declaration” (making brilliant use of Kenny Loggins’ “This Is It”) to the smooth gospel ballad finale of “The Last Jesus”—not to mention his most rocking song to date, “I Am God,” featuring tobyMac—Franklin again proves himself a master of ceremonies who invites everyone to the party and leaves no detail about it to chance. The production is flawless, the arrangements creative, and the melodies are plain heavenly. It’s everything we’ve come to expect from Mr. Franklin over the years, only done more memorable and with more excellence than usual.

Go here for the rest of the list.

Thanks in large part to the efforts of music bloggers Preston Lauterbach and Red Kelly, the late, great O.V. Wright is getting a tombstone this weekend.

Go here to read CA music critic Bob Mehr’s take on Wright’s career, with commentary from Wright’s one-time label mate Otis Clay, his producer Poppa Willie Mitchell, and his former drummer, Howard Grimes.

On Saturday night, Clay and the Hi Rhythm Section will perform a tribute concert at Ground Zero Blues Club, downtown. This is a don’t miss event — some of the finest Memphis soul you could ever hope to hear, along with some incredible special guests. Tickets for the event, a benefit for the Soul of Memphis Foundation, are just $25 — but one lucky Memphis Music Confidential reader can win a pair by simply being the first to correctly answer the questions below:

1. What was O.V. Wright’s given name?

2. Who wrote Wright’s first secular hit “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” later a million-seller for Otis Redding and the Rolling Stones?

3. Where is Wright buried?

4. Which Wu-Tang Clan member sampled Wright’s music for the song “Motherless Child”?

5. Wright’s best work was recorded for Hi Records by producer Poppa Willie Mitchell. What is the name of Mitchell’s studio, still in operation in South Memphis?

It shouldn’t surprise me to hear so much Memphis and Mississippi music on NPR. And it shouldn’t surprise you to know that I stay in bed as late as I can on weekend mornings, listening to NPR on WKNO FM 91.1. Saturday morning, I listened to Bob Edwards’ piece on the American Folklife Center, where folklife experts Steven Winick and Todd Harvey compared and contrasted versions of “Sea Lion Woman” (performed by Christine and Katherine Shipp, then covered by Canadian singer Feist), “Rock Island Line” (performed by Arkansas prisoner Kelly Pace and covered by skiffle enthusiast Lonnie Donegan), the old English folk song Gallows Pole (Leadbelly reinvented the song as a blues number, which Led Zeppelin re-covered in the ’70s), and the lament “Trouble So Hard,” sung by Alabaman Vera Hall and sampled by Moby.

And yesterday I heard a great piece on Texas-born blues guitarist T-Bone Walker on All Things Considered. Walker’s daughter, Bernita Walker, B.B. King and Duke Robillard broke down “Stormy Monday,” a song I first heard on the dance floor of Green’s Lounge.

Musicians — be sure to go down to the Music Resource Center next Wednesday between 8AM and 9PM to get half-price band registration for the 2009 International Folk Alliance Conference, slated for the downtown Marriot Feb. 18-22.