Music Export Memphis became more than just an idea on paper in 2016 at AmericanaFest, an annual gathering of musicians, industry and media in roots and Americana music. On Sept. 17, we were back for our 10th annual Pure Memphis Happy Hour (the festival was canceled in 2020, or this would’ve been lucky number 11)! We welcomed 200+ attendees to enjoy Memphis BBQ, Soul & Spirits Brewing beer, Old Dominick Distillery spirits and another fantastic line-up of artists (including Phil Nye, pictured above). Keep reading for more highlights from a decade of MEM at AmericanaFest.
2016
We couldn’t have asked for a better line-up for our coming out party, including The Bo-Keys, Motel Mirrors, Mark Edgar Stuart, Memphis Ukulele Band, Deering & Down, and Rev. John Wilkins and His Three Daughters. Made possible by support and partnership from the Greater Memphis Chamber and Memphis Tourism, the event – then called The Memphis Picnic – was a day-long celebration of our city’s contemporary music scene in the heart of the festival.
Because of the close proximity to Memphis, AmericanaFest has always been a space to execute the highest and best version of our Experiences program, which aims to meet all five senses with Memphis-centric experiences all centered around the music. In 2016, our beer partner was High Cotton Brewing, and we quickly expanded to include our now longest running partner, Old Dominick Distillery in 2017. In addition to beer and spirits, we’ve brought photographer Jamie Harmon and his locally iconic Amurica photo trailer with us faithfully since 2016.
2017
The Memphis Picnic returned to The Filming Station for another day-long event, featuring performances by Loveland Duren, Crockett Hall, The Rusty Pieces, Juju Bushman, and Grace Askew. We worked with Shangri-La Records to create a pop-up record store at the event, featuring all Memphis-made vinyl records.
2018
After two years producing The Picnic at the same venue, our buzz was building and the media presence at our 2018 event – which made the move to Thursday evening and a happy hour format – was strong. Talibah Safiya landed on NPR Music’s Best of AmericanaFest list, with critic Jewly Hight writing: “”At the festival, she was performing for a tent of people who didn’t know who she was, and she was just zeroing in on people speaking directly to them. She was witty, she was bawdy, she was frank.”
Check out the coverage on NPR here.
2019
The Pure Memphis Happy Hour made a temporary move to a new home at Little Harpeth Brewing, bringing the Central BBQ food truck with us and featuring performances by The Wealthy West, Reba Russell & Susan Marshall, Rising Star Drum & Fife Band, Bailey Bigger, and Those Pretty Wrongs.
2021
We were on the hunt for a new location and found InDo, a mullet of a space: coworking in the front, purpose-built music venue in the back. We’ve been there ever since, helping to solidify our audience and bring out regulars year on year. In 2021, we kicked off what would become a long-term partnership with a fantastic line-up that included Southern Avenue, John Paul Keith, Mama Honey, Savannah Brister and Jeremy Stanfill.
This marked our third year working with talented artist and designer Lauren Rae Holtermann, who has continued to make this event look amazing every year since. Her illustrations of our showcasing artists on each year’s poster have become a hallmark of the Memphis party at AmericanaFest.
2024
“At AmericanaFest I made lots of connections – from folks I met at the California artists showcase who are now possibly hosting me at an event in Los Angeles, to a publicist and booking agent I met at the Dan Reeder showcase. At my own performance at the MEM Pure Memphis Happy Hour, I had several revelations that highlighted room for growth. I do feel like some insight gained from this showcase was a turning point for me – and having the actual pass to attend the festival and conference programming is such a research hack. It was really cool to be able to showcase on that level and to do so with my Memphis friends. It’s an invitation for growth to be in situations that make you uneasy, and I feel like I grew a lot given this experience. I reconnected with former industry relationships and made new ones.” – Cyrena Wages
2025
“Having The Pure Memphis Happy Hour to promote at AmericanaFest gave me reason to network more than I have in one week of my life. Artists have a tendency to compare ourselves to those ‘more successful’ than we are, but I think being amongst so many who might not even be playing an event like ours reminded me how far as a band we already were and how years of working towards this goal finally has started to pay off. I have described AmericanaFest as ‘an entire chapter of my life in four days.’ I have a list of fellow artists/managers/movers and shakers I met. I have plentiful contacts for playing in Nashville. I feel validated and inspired to continue to pursue this craft wholeheartedly because of MEM and AmericanaFest!”
-The Stupid Reasons