Where Southern Soul Meets Memphis Magic
Explore our exclusive collaboration with La Panthère Studio, featuring the Memphis Music Issue + Vinyl LP, Limited Edition Southern Music Tee, and the Rhythm & Soul Tarot Deck!
Explore our exclusive collaboration with La Panthère Studio, featuring the Memphis Music Issue + Vinyl LP, Limited Edition Southern Music Tee, and the Rhythm & Soul Tarot Deck!
South Carolina Music Issue
The Oxford American presents its 21st annual Southern Music Issue, featuring more than twenty-five stories and poems exploring the history and legacy of South Carolina music. Among the many notable contributors to this year’s Southern Music Issue are National Book Award–winning poet Nikky Finney; fiction writers Thomas Pierce and George Singleton; musicians Marshall Chapman and Melvin Gibbs; and essayists John Jeremiah Sullivan and Zandria F. Robinson.
The issue comes with a 24-song sampler showcasing South Carolina music across era and genre, ranging from a 1937 field recording of the gospel choir the Plantation Echoes to Gullah-Geechee revivalists Ranky Tanky’s 2019 single “Freedom.” In signature Oxford American style, the compilation includes beloved artists such as Reverend Gary Davis, Linda Martell, Shovels & Rope, and Iron & Wine, alongside obscure recordings, including early hip-hop from Charleston and a 1970s prison band. Accompanying the sampler in the issue are detailed liner notes and essays on the songs by Blain Roberts and Ethan J. Kytle, Katie Moulton, Benjamin Hedin, and others.
Notes on the songs, including:
"Down to the Graveyard"
George Singleton on Moon Pie
"Bad Case of the Blues"
Katie Moulton on Linda Martell
Marshall Chapman on her "Guitar Song"
"Paradise"
Liam Baranauskas on Charlie McAlister
"My Father Is a Witness, Oh, Bless God"
Blain Roberts & Ethan J. Kytle on the Plantation Echoes
"Keep Your Eyes on the Prize"
Benjamin Hedin on Alice Wine
Benny Starr on his “Resurrection”
Plus
Brendan Greaves, KaToya Ellis Fleming and Diaspoura
Early Recordings, by Thomas Pierce
Enchanted, a poem by Ciona Rouse
Eartha Kitt, Coming Home, by Latria Graham
Lowcountry for Old Heads, by Dave Tompkins
Beyond the Sea, by Sarah Bryan
I Make of You What I Will, by Mark Powell
The Knoxes of Murrells Inlet, by Eric Crawford
Cut Me Loose, by Joshunda Sanders
Talking Drums, by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Set the Country to Stamping, by Robert Greene II
Esquerita and the Voola, by Baynard Woods
I Remember His Sweetness, by Maxwell George
More Like African Music, by Melvin Gibbs
Clara & Josephine
A poem by Nikky Finney
The Wonder of It All
In Ron McNair’s Orbit
by Jon Kirby
Sing Across the Ocean
South Carolina is our past and our future, and Ranky Tanky celebrates the middle
by Zandria F. Robinson
Like a Shovel and a Rope
Notes on family and a family band
by David Ramsey
Now I Don't Know Who I Am
Mixed (race) feelings about Columbia’s Toro y Moi
by Lauren Du Graf
Art by: Carter/Reddy, Ndidi Emefiele, Alex Harris, Katherine Dunlap, Dorothy Chapman Josey, Sean Rayford, Jack Tottle, Diana Davies, Paul Chelmis, Sam Doyle, Shara Hughes, Carrie Mae Weems, Sarah Hobbs, Brennan Booker, Adam Ekberg, Irene Tison, Derrick Adams, Radcliffe Bailey, Alex Gardner, Giuseppe Pino, Carl Van Vechten, Jeremy M. Lange, Kennedi Carter, Robert Beatty, Keisha Scarville, Sully Sullivan, Teppei Kaneuji, Steve Daniels, Dave Jordano, Ruta Smith