2017
Marcella’s Music Export Memphis story goes all the way back, almost to the very beginning: she showcased with MEM at our second-ever event, a day party at SXSW in Austin, Texas. “When I think about that opportunity, it’s emblematic, in a way, foreshadowing of what so much of MEM’s impact on me would be,” Marcella says. “The support to bring my full band, to fully represent my music on a stage I had always thought ‘oh, one day I’d like to do that,’ and the confidence to feel like: Yes. I belong here.”
Marcella shared the stage that day with other bands and artists who would go on to be MEM Ambassadors and showcase with us across the U.S. and in the UK, including GRAMMY-nominated blues band Southern Avenue.
2018
The next MEM stage for Marcella was in Nashville, at our 2018 AmericanaFest party. AmericanaFest is an international gathering of music industry, media, artists and fans that takes place in venues across the city each September. It’s also the festival where it all started: Music Export Memphis’ first ever event was a day-long celebration of Memphis roots music in 2016.
Just two years later, Marcella made her own AmericanaFest debut. We have the honor of hosting incredible groups of artists every year, but 2018 was especially fun – alongside Marcella on the line-up were Cedric Burnside and Talibah Safiya. That day, Marcella played for a packed house that included NPR Music’s Bob Boilen and Ann Powers.
2019
In 2019 Marcella received her first Ambassador grant from Music Export Memphis. The program had only launched the year before, and Marcella had just started touring – that first grant supported a run with Gumbo, Grits and Gravy, her trio with Guy Davis and Anne Harris. “Having that opportunity was a huge shift for me, in terms of feeling like I was taken seriously outside of being my dad’s daughter,” Marcella remembers. “Guy looked at me as an equal. I look up to him so much, he’s brilliant. And that started my partnership with Anne Harris, who I’m still collaborating with.”
In addition to that tour, Marcella also received a grant in 2019 for her first northeast tour under her own name, with Marcella & Her Lovers. “I played Joe’s Pub on that one for the first time which was huge for me,” she says. “It’s just one of those iconic spaces, you feel like you’ve made it.”
This was also the year that Marcella first collaborated with Talibah Safiya, after they were paired up for a set at The Tambourine Bash.
2020
When the world shut down, Music Export Memphis was able to provide emergency support to musicians and music industry professionals in our city who lost their livelihoods overnight. Marcella received a grant from MEM during that time, but also generously gave back, playing one of our “Hold On I’m Coming” virtual COVID relief concerts to raise money for the emergency fund.
2021
As things slowly reopened, Marcella hit the road for her first post-pandemic tour and MEM was there to help – we provided a tour grant for another northeast tour, this time with Gumbo, Grits and Gravy.
“That tour opened doors for opportunities for the future for my solo project to return to some of these places,” Marcella says. “I got to play gigs that I genuinely will never forget. Like the North Atlantic Blues Festival, which was in Rockland, Maine. We did a version of Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind” for an audience of maybe 2500, 3000 people. The first half of the crowd – older white audience – they’re all seated. At the end of I’d Rather Go Blind, I got a standing ovation. It was one of these powerful, proud, wild moments. Wow. I felt this lifeline between myself and an audience that I’d never felt before. All through the power of music. You don’t forget that, when a couple thousand people stand up and acknowledge you.”
2022
“I remember that summer, Rev. Charles Hodges from Hi Rhythm played with us in Cleveland, Ohio,” Marcella says. “Because of that extra support from the Ambassador grant, we were able to hire him. None of that would’ve happened without me being based in Memphis, being surrounded by the MEM community. The confidence that Music Export Memphis helped me develop by putting me in these rooms like SXSW and AmericanaFest – it gave me the confidence to even approach someone like Rev. Hodges, to take on bigger shows and bigger opportunities.”
2023
In 2023, Marcella was the first MEM artist to travel to Colombia for the Cali Blues & Folk Festival, kicking off what would become an annual partnership that brings a Memphis musician to play the festival and teach young people in the creative camp. “My experience in Colombia was absolutely life changing: Creatively, professionally and spiritually,” Marcella wrote about the trip in our 2023 annual report. “Not only was it an incredible opportunity to perform for new audiences in Colombia, but as a cultural exchange opportunity it was wildly inspiring and eye-opening. I was given the opportunity to share professional practices that help cultivate artistic development in your career with the students, many of whom are aspiring professional musicians. They were an incredible group of students who asked great questions throughout the whole day of work. We also spent the second half of the day in a songwriting workshop. It was deeply gratifying and inspiring for me. This opened up a door for me to explore this new way of connecting and mentoring with emerging artists, something I’ve always wanted to do. This opportunity created space for me to do this, and I now am hoping to do more work like it. The festival provided me with a full schedule everyday – a really amazing blend of work and also the chance to take in the country with all my senses! I was able to work in four different cities in Colombia while I was there over the 8 day trip. I saw different regions of this exquisite country – there just aren’t enough words to describe this magical trip. I learned so much about myself. This experience in Colombia that Music Export Memphis so generously granted me with allowed me to recognize a confidence within myself that I didn’t know was there. I threw myself into something I’d never done before and I am so humbled and happy that the festival and students felt what I felt. It was truly character-building and life changing.”
It was also a good year for touring: Marcella played three Levitt venues that summer, which always means fair pay and amazing audiences, and she had a chance to play New Orleans, on her terms. “You’d think it would be easy for me to play in New Orleans, but you have to get in,” the Lafayette, Louisiana native explained. “You’ve got to be there a lot. And that year I played Bayou Bugaloo, it’s a really respected festival, and gets you a better chance of playing Jazz Fest. I played Chickie Wawa which is harder to get into if you’re not from New Orleans. I don’t live there anymore so they don’t look at me as a NOLA-ian but I’ve had these grants and been able to prove myself.”
2024
Our Export Bank is designed to support musicians who have been extended opportunities that have the potential to be career-altering, but don’t neatly fit into one of our other programs. Marcella received an Export Bank grant in 2024 to take advantage of a chance to attend APAP, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference, in New York City. She packed the week with showcases and started to see a shift in herself: “That year I started to feel more confident selling myself to people,” she says. “It felt more natural. It’s always been hard for me to talk myself up to an agent or a buyer, and that was the first year I really felt confident doing it. Getting in front of the APAP audience – when you tap into the performing arts center market that’s truly when you elevate as an artist. That’s how you sustain a career. Not clubs, not even some festivals, but the performing arts centers pay well.”
2025
In addition to traveling to snowy Montreal with MEM in February to showcase at Folk Alliance International – headlining a stage we co-hosted with our friends in the Louisiana Office of Culture, Recreation and Tourism – in 2025, Marcella got her first Merch Grant. “It was a release year,” she says. “I’d decided to make this solo album and that meant a whole ‘nother rebrand that we had to do to go along with that release. I couldn’t have done it without the Merch Grant. We’d never printed tote bags before, and I was so excited about that.”
2025 was also a big year in the evolution of Marcella’s career – she had the chance to take part in Musical Explorers at a festival in Savannah, Georgia, and the world of teaching artistry opened up to her. “Our focus was New Orleans brass band music, and it was tailored for Pre-K,” she says. “The classroom gets our photos and videos in the year leading up to the festival, so the kids have been learning our songs and we get on stage and they erupt – they think we’re famous! I’d worked with kids before, did blues in the schools stuff with my dad. He’d told me, this is something you need to explore, and in my 20s I didn’t really get it. But now I know, you’re developing an audience for yourself for years to come. My dad has fans that come up to him and say, I saw you in my school 15 years ago. Professionally it’s another stream of income. That’s not the reason I do it, I’m passionate about it, I love kids. But it tapped into this other part of myself that I didn’t realize was there. It was a life-changing career moment.”
2026
This year Marcella has already showcased with MEM at Folk Alliance, this time in New Orleans, and will head to Manchester, UK this month for our first-ever showcase at the English Folk Expo. (She and Talibah Safiya, now a constant collaborator, have also booked a UK tour around the Expo and will be making their London debut.)
In addition, thanks to an introduction made at Folk Alliance in 2025, this spring Marcella begins the Music to Life Changemaker Academy. “There’s a lot of outreach work I’d like to do beyond what I’m already doing,” she says. “I want to use my music for justice. I want to see real change for our community. I want to see our music economy shift and improve. This will help me hone in on which ideas are the strongest.”