M:M Feature Story: Journalism Off The Beaten Path

(Photo: JustinBurks:The entrance to One Block North, a joint in North Memphis.) Originally posted 4/17.

By Richard Thompson
Mediaverse®

Memphis has a poignancy that no amount of photoshopping can replicate, an authencity so compelling that one has no choice except to honor its every whim no matter where it leads--even to the backroads, the "hole-in-the-wall" joints throughout the city where the natives stew in their own rhythms and rules.

For that reason, it's not a stretch to also call these clubs "sanctums," which partly explains why they seem so intimidating to the uninitiated. You see the signs-- "WE SCAN FOR WEAPONS" and "NO REFUNDS"--and peek through the dusty box-office window to see if this trip to discover a Memphis beyond Beale Street is worth the risk.

Well, lucky for you, that entrance has been mosaiced as part of a cool blog--and best of all, for you, not necessarily the owner, Backroads of American Music has no cover charge.

Your initiation awaits.

Preston Lauterbach, Backroads founder, will be your guide.

Backroads, as Lauterbach describes, is a "blog on steroids," a hyperaware and loyal tribute and a fledgling online community to holes-in-the-wall places that most of us ignore--at our own loss, it turns out. Lauterbach, 33, began the site in 2007 with the help of photographer, Justin Burks, and web developer, Graham Burks.

Lauterbach is a staff writer for Memphis Magazine and The Memphis Flyer. Both are Contemporary Media Inc. publications. "Backroads is my own thing-- I'm not even sure anyone at CMI knows about it," he said in an E-mail interview.

(Well, they do now. That's how Mediaverse® discovered it. But I digress.)

Here's a reformatted Q&A with Lauterbach. Per the custom, the responses are unedited.

M:M: What's your backstory?

PL: I'm 33, born in Richmond, VA but raised in San Diego, CA. I got my start in media and developed my devotion to African-American music working for Living Blues magazine in Oxford, MS from 2001-5. Married a Memphis girl in May '05 and have been here ever since. The place, as you know, has its problems and its charms both, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

How did the idea for the Website come about?

This city has the richest musical heritage in the world. Period. Nowhere else comes close, though New Orleans and Chicago could make some noise about that. Nashville, NY, and LA are all industrial centers and arrival cities. But this place makes music. Another thing about it, though white artists and music biz people are a major part of the Memphis music story as its typically told, the creative force and artistic originality that lies at the root of Memphis music comes from black Memphis. I moved here in 2005, already a fan of the music, but not really aware of how alive it still was. I researched the music scene of the past in old film of the Tri-State Defender, and heard about places like CC Blues Club and One Block North on WDIA All Blues Saturday. The stories in those old pages, and in those places needed to be told, so the idea for the site came about pretty simply. Now, I have a lot of ideas and very little ability to do much about them-- the steam-engine hover car for example-- so I had the good fortune to meet some like-minded folks who helped, which leads me to...

Are you the sole contributor right now? How many members does the site have?

I handle the writing and the research, but it'd all be a fantasy without my co-contributors Justin Fox Burks, the site's photographer, and his brother Graham Burks, the web designer. As you can see, they're both extremely talented. I met Justin through work at CMI, he liked the Backroads concept, and introduced me to his brother, who also digs it. We all do it for fun now-- each of us works for someone else, but get a chance to do our respective things our way with the Backroads project.

On members, I haven't done a good job attracting people to sign up and need to revisit that. I'm happier with the geographic breadth of our membership-- which is worldwide-- than I am the numbers.

How long have you been working at the Flyer? Does this site coincide with your responsibilities there? Is Contemporary Media helping to finance it?

I've been at the Flyer full time since January 15, 2007. I freelanced for Memphis magazine for the first time about two years ago, did a few pieces for the Flyer, and they eventually came to their senses and brought me on 9-5. The site and my work at CMI coincide some, yeah, but I cover a little bit of everything there, and music's a pretty minor part. Backroads is my own thing-- I'm not even sure anyone at CMI knows about it!

Talk about the layout of the site. It feels like a blog but it's not. What are you trying to accentuate or convey with the design?

It's a blog on steroids, to use a Cal-ism. I can administer to it, post stories and photos and do the layouts as a blogger would, but it's got a lot more going on than a blog does. The model for Backroads is roadsideamerica.com which is an ingenious combination of original content, user contributions, a massive archive, news, and fresh features. I'd love to have that kind of depth someday.

The idea with the design, the photography (well, Justin's photography, mine's there too, but it's crummy), and the writing is to convey a sense of immediacy. We want to take the reader where we go. The photo at the top right corner of the welcome page is the ticket window at One Block North in N. Memphis. Once you go inside, we want you to stay awhile and have a good time!

Are you considering expanding the idea to other cities?

I'd love to. My biggest struggle, and the thing I haven't figured out yet, is how to attract contributors in other places. I'm afraid the solution is something I'm not prepared to do: pay them.

What is it about the "backroads" that really attracts you?

The music is superb, and I enjoy the people and their stories. Let me say, I've scouted plenty of spots hoping to feature them only to find that their music isn't up to par. The sense of history hits me deep. The first time I went to the Boss Lounge on Jackson, I met Roy Cunningham, who lost his brother (Bar-Kays drummer Carl Cunningham) in the plane crash that took Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays. He introduced me to Leroy Hodges who played bass on virtually every record Al Green, O. V. Wright, Otis Clay, or Ann Peebles put out. And he introduced me to Jesse Dotson, who toured with Albert King and the Soul Children. It fits that they call themselves the Memphis Connection Band, because there's so much connection and so much fascinating history in the music community here. It's mindblowing to someone who grew up where nothing ever happened-- San Diego.

There's a freshness to me as an outsider about Memphis juke joints and Memphis music people. The "music scene" here is like the "music scene" in three other big cities I've lived in. Same kind of bands, same kind of venues. It's dull. But there's this layer of Memphis music-- the one we talk about at Backroads-- that's different. It has its own rules.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Lauterbach later clarified the “dull” comment: “That's certainly my opinion, but the real point I was trying to make there was about the uniqueness of the historic music scene that's here that many of us don't know about. The mainstream scene might not be my cup of tea, but those musicians work hard, their fans love them, and I don't need to be a dick about that.” Another aside: The OV WRIGHT Memorial Fund.]

Isn't "backroad" a nice way to say "hole in the wall"?

Basically. The exact phrase I have had in mind is "off the beaten path." There's no media push to places that you'll read about on Backroads. There are no historic markers outside where the Hippodrome once stood, or the house where Aretha Franklin was born, or the club where Isaac Hayes made his debut. With the exception of Wild Bill's, there's never been any mainstream media coverage of these current venues, be they holes in the wall or what have you. To me that isn't fair, for all the reasons I've laid out. I'll tell you something interesting. I've discussed these places with people who decide what kind of attractions to promote in this city, and there's no civic interest in helping the entrepreneurs and artists who are on the Backroads. We always talk to the club owners about being featured, and no one's ever objected, so it ain't like they're media-averse or unfriendly to folks who aren't regulars. Quite the opposite. And Isn't it kind of odd that there's no sign outside the place where Aretha Franklin literally entered this world? I get tired of hearing people in this city bitch about attracting new talent and developing new resources when we're wasting what we DO have.

How did you become such a fan of the music? Why did you feel the need to distinguish between the contributions of white musicians and black musicians in Memphis music? Is that a function of respect or just acknowledging your outsider status?

Well, the music is just superb. Who doesn't like Memphis Minnie's "When the Levee Breaks" or Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" or Al Green's "Take Me to the River" once they've heard them? I'm into history (if you can't tell!) and so I love the stories and the history behind blues, rhythm & blues, rock & roll, and soul. It's that connection between history and the sound that gets me. I first got into old blues and was a student of the "deal with the devil" school of blues mythology. I'm grateful to have since learned that the reality is far more interesting than that.

I distinguish between black and white musicians as they pertain to Memphis' history because black musicians invented all of the above forms in and around Memphis. Whites got plenty rich playing and recording those forms, but first thing's first-- it's black music. So, yes, it's out of respect to the truth.