Proud Larry’s 30th Anniversary
Courtesy of Forrest Jenkins
The two-night Proud Larry's 30th Anniversary Celebration is a "family reunion" of Old Oxford creatives and their fans. "Old Oxford" refers to the eclectic counter-culture and independent business community that once carved out a powerful presence amid the small-town-conservatism-meets-Deep-South-preppy-football culture. Old Oxford's glory days were from the mid-1980s through the early-2000s. Those who were there have bought an Uncle Tupelo album from Uncle Buck's Records, studied at Coffee Bistro, caught a movie at The Hoka, ordered Mr. Phat's Egg Rolls at Two Stick, got night caffeine with a Jubilee Jack, sat in the photo booth at Long Shot, and ate crawfish at the swing table at Murph's. I spent a lot of time on both nights of the anniversary event hugging and catching up with people I never get to see anymore.
Owners Scott and Lisa Caradine opened Proud Larry's in 1993, kicking off three decades of live music opportunities for musicians and audiences. Artist Anne Scott Barrett's original work still decorates the walls downstairs, and she restores it every several years. The upstairs walls are a memory lane of framed past-show posters. "Humbling" is the word Lisa uses to describe her experience as the business grew far beyond her initial expectations, ultimately outlasting most of its peers.
Then and now, the pizzas and calzones, burgers, and fries attract a regular teen and family dining crowd. People are often still finishing their plates when the music and sports fans start pulling up to the bar. The restaurant is a hangout spot and a first job for local high schoolers, some of whose parents used to make the very same pizzas.
Like most rural areas, North Mississippi has its share of great cover bands for parties and weddings. Unlike most rural areas, Oxford has a high concentration of musicians who write, play and produce original songs. Punk rock cult The Cooters, 90's-alt Beanland, and recently-revived Wobitty all contributed to the soundscape in the early years. Proud Larry's continues to provide performance space for songwriters who would be on the radio if any independence still existed in that medium.
Proud Larry's is THE place to see an artist with the potential to command unaffordable tickets within two years. Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, and Iron & Wine all played at this small venue while their audiences were growing.
Proud Larry's provides a platform for influential voices in music. In December, Birmingham's Lee Baines III and Glory Fires invoked righteous fury at the Confederate monument a block away. In February 2019, Memphis's all-Black punk/metal band Negro Terror played and screened their documentary at Proud Larry's as an event for Oxford Film Festival. The performance was a rarer chance than intended. Months later, lead singer Omar Higgins died a preventable Deep South death--of lack of access to health care.
30th Anniversary Night One, April 15, 2023
The first night's bands include Tyler Keith and The Apostles, with their passionate, punk rock storytelling. Scenes, characters, and plot points pour out of frontman and songwriter Keith at a frantic tempo. His stage presence fills the venue to bursting. I don't know whether kids still read "The Outsiders," but practically every Gen X and Xennial did. "Do it for Johnny, man!" we all scream along.
There isn't enough room in music for all the stories Keith wants to tell. Years back, he wrote and produced a rock opera, "The Outlaw Biker." In 2022, he published a book, "The Mark of Cain," and is in preproduction on a screenplay, "The Big Beat." On May 6, The Apostles released a new album, "Hell To Pay," at Memphis's Bar DKDC. I know I'll be hearing those songs at Larry's sometime soon.
Blue Mountain finishes out Night One. I first listened to them on a mixed cassette tape at summer camp in 1998. "Soul Sister" was THE song of that summer, alongside Phish's "If I Could." Blue Mountain's albums were released on CDs and cassettes in the last years before the digital music deluge. We recorded their songs onto cassettes from the college radio station. To this day, lead singer Cary Hudson can put on an incredible solo show. Maybe it's pure nostalgia, but I love Blue Mountain for the camaraderie and Laurie Stirratt's fine harmonies that float me on a "Blue Canoe" every summer.
30th Anniversary Night Two, April 16, 2023
Day Two starts early. I miss one of my favorites, Bill Perry, Jr. playing solo piano. He is EVERYWHERE in local music and beyond. It's a joy to be part of his audience. I have danced through half the night to Space Invaders, Bill Perry Trio, Fade 2 Black, Enigma Jazz, and his sit-ins with every band worth watching. Bill Jr. is another prolific creative beyond the music stage. He appeared as an extra in ABC's "Women of the Movement" and "Young Rock." He has dreamed up and self-produced films and animations, most recently an animated five-part mini-series, "POW!" It will debut at the local theater in the coming week. Bill's father--a major influence and mentor--was Bluesman Bill "Howl'N Madd" Perry. Bill Sr. passed away May 8, 2023. His final performance was with family band The Perrys, at the International Jazz Festival in Luanda, Angola, Africa.
I make it out in time for Rocket 88's juke joint gospel and roots rock set. Every holiday season, "the hardest-working band in Oxford" organizes and plays the Tackie Townie Christmas Party--a tacky sweater fundraiser for the local rent relief organization--at Proud Larry's. Today, Nathan Robbins's son has perched on the side of his dad's chair, behind the neck of the bass, and refuses to leave. Two seats down, guitar player and vocalist Jamie Posey uses an empty beer bottle as a guitar slide, and the scene feels like an extended family gathered around for a pickin'. Hugs and backslaps continue into the evening. The bartenders pass hot crawfish over to customers.
"Proud Larry's always took a chance on live music," says Thomas Queyja, a native of Oxford, MS, who now produces and engineers music in Los Angeles, CA. He spent years as a guitar player and vocalist in an array of talented and entertaining local bands. He recalls dancing on the pizza bar to Ween, one of his favorite 90's acts, after opening for them with his band Wobitty. The poster from that performance is up in the wall rotation tonight. Queyja is here to play guitar and sing Prince and Stevie Wonder with Pithecanfunktus Erectus. His mom is in the audience, proud as always. A couple of weeks after the show, I see that Wobitty is back with an intriguing new release, "Armada." I smile, unsurprised when I find Bill Perry, Jr. credited for keyboards on this track.
Two Beans, an abbreviated assembly of Old Oxford favorite Beanland, give us a wonderful set with jokes and storytelling in between songs. Local legends The Kudzu Kings follow with delicious alt-country jams. Finally, New Orleans-based brass band The Soul Rebels step into a quick sound check before they draw the crowd in for one last rousing, dancing, clapping, and hollerin' set. Brass music is the sound of sunshine on a dark night. The Soul Rebels play the perfect, joyful noise to send off the crowd, bouncing and buzzing on the warmth of reconnection and shared roots in this special place.