Paul Ryburn’s Journal

The Sauce Boss, the musician who sings songs about cooking gumbo while he cooks a big pot of gumbo onstage, will be back at Blues City Cafe this Wed-Sat, May 28-31.  This is his third booking at Blues City in 8 months, so he must be bringing in some good-sized crowds when he plays there.

The unique [...]

It’s May 27, which means Tube Top Month is a mere five days away.  I spent part of the weekend updating the Tube Top Boutique, my Amazon.com storefront that sells tube tops.

The boutique sells solid colored tube tops, striped tube tops, print tube tops, tube top jumpsuits and rompers, almost tube tops (halter tops [...]

Calhoun’s Sports Bar and Grill, the tiny little bar on G.E. Patterson next to Cheesecake Corner that has been open since December 31, will soon have a new name.  There’s a restaurant chain that operates several locations in Middle and East Tennessee that goes by the name Calhoun’s, and they have sent our Calhoun’s a cease-and-desist [...]

I arrived for brunch yesterday at the Downtown Blue Monkey about 10 minutes after it opened.  Here are a few pics of the new place (click on images for full-sized view):

The entire gang showed up over the next hour, and enjoyed the Monkey’s brunch menu and [...]

This promises to be a very fun Sunday Fun Day, with no work tomorrow, first brunch at the Monkey, $2 beer at Big Foot, Sunday with Sam at Itta Bena, and possible appearances at the Saucer, Rooster, McGuinness, Calhoun’s, and who knows where else today.  But, I’m already looking forward to next Sunday because…

THE DEMPSEYS PLAY [...]

One of the brunch crew’s regular spots, the Majestic Grille, will be closed tomorrow, Sunday, May 25, for a private party from 11 AM to 1:30 PM.  It isn’t Majestic week on our rotation anyway, but I know that some of the crew likes to pop in for a Bloody Mary even on the off-weeks.  The [...]

One of my favorite local bands ever, ’80s hair band cover band Aquanet plays Downtown Memphis tonight and next Saturday.  Tonight you can catch them at the Red Rooster.  Next Saturday, May 31, they’ll be at the Flying Saucer.

So come on down either this Saturday or next, and catch all your favorite ’80s songs by Motley [...]

So last night I decided to check out the new Thursday ’80s night at Raiford’s. Since the place opens early (9 PM), I decided to get there early to see if any young-professional types were there getting an hour or two of dancing in before bedtime. Ummm… no, they weren’t there. It was [...]

Here are the options for partying Downtown tonight:

Here Come the Mummies on the Peabody rooftop, 6-10 PM, $5 cover, ladies free until 8 PM
Charlie Wood Trio on the Madison rooftop, 5:30-10:30 PM
Q107.5 patio party with Garry Goin and G3 and a special appearance by Ferras at EP Delta Kitchen, 8:30-til
Mudflap Kings at the Flying Saucer, 9:30 [...]

Circa by John Bragg recently overhauled its bar snacks menu.  These snacks are available from 4 until close on the patio and at the bar.  Here’s the new list – looks like some new items have been added, and it’s nice to have the option to mix and match.

bar snacks

 
Choose any 3 for just [...]