Beale Street attracts musicians from Louisiana
It is no secret that Beale Street in Memphis is a hot spot for great music. Today, this legendary thoroughfare in the heart of the city is exploding with a mélange of musicians creating a new sound. Hurricane Katrina left thousands without a home including scores of artists from Louisiana and Mississippi who arrived here with little more than the shirts on their backs looking for work. “We reacted quickly by stepping up to the plate to coordinate musicians so that we can book them,” said Carson Lamn, a club operator on Beale Street. “They just want to keep at their craft. I am simply here to help.” Together with his father Preston, Lamn has booked hundreds of musicians, coordinated programs through Musicares and held fundraisers/street parties on Beale Street to provide the necessary equipment and housing for the musicians. While he does not have an exact count on how many displaced artists are in the area due to the transient nature of this phenomena, Lamn does know that Beale Street ...