CostelloNews.com

Costello slated for rare club gigs
By John Beifuss
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March 27, 2004

Elvis Costello - the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member recognized as one of the most distinctive songwriters and performers in popular music - will be in Memphis and Oxford, Miss., next month for a series of rare club appearances.

Costello is scheduled to perform Friday and Saturday, April 3, at Proud Larry's in Oxford and April 16 and 17 at the Hi-Tone Cafe, 1913 Poplar.
The performances bookend sessions for Costello's new album, scheduled to take place at Sweet Tea Recording in Oxford with studio owner Dennis Herring, who has produced records by Counting Crows and former Memphian Garrison Starr, among others.

Herring previously worked with Costello's current bass player, Davey Faragher, on records by the bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven.

The last time an artist of Costello's stature played a club show in Memphis may have been Feb. 5, 1999, when Bob Dylan performed at the New Daisy.

"We're beyond honored, of course," said David Green, owner of the Hi-Tone, which likely will present two Costello shows per night. Tickets are $20 each and go on sale Wednesday at the club or online at www.musictoday.com.

"This is the coolest thing that's ever happened in this town," said Zach Thompson, owner of Hot Dog Records in Oxford, where $25 tickets for the Proud Larry's show go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. "He's one of my heroes."

Tickets for the Oxford shows also go on sale Tuesday at Proud Larry's and at www.proudlarrys.com.

"There's not a whole lot to compare this to, because it's pretty epic," said Proud Larry's owner Scott Caradine, citing shows featuring Warren Zevon and Roger McGuinn as previous highlights for his club.

Costello is a frequent visitor to Nashville, where he recorded his "Almost Blue" country album in 1981, but he hasn't performed in Memphis or the Mid-South since a 1994 concert at Mud Island.

Liverpool-born Declan Patrick McManus became Elvis Costello in 1977, and the musician has paid homage to Memphis's musical heritage many times since borrowing his stage name from Presley.

Costello's 1980 album "Get Happy!!" - featuring a cover of Sam and Dave's "I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down)" - was his revved-up homage to Stax, and he has worked with Roy Orbison and veterans of Presley's 'TCB Band.' He wrote for Johnny Cash, and covered songs originally released on the Stax, Sun, Hi and Goldwax labels.

Costello emerged during the punk era with caustic songs about "revenge and guilt," but in recent years he has collaborated with Tony Bennett, Burt Bacharach and a string quartet. In December, he made news when he married jazz chanteuse Diana Krall at Elton John's Surrey, England, estate.

Arrangements for the club shows were "hush-hush" until this week, Thompson said. The performances will enable Costello and his band to gauge audience reaction to some of the new songs they are expected to record at Sweet Tea. Some recording work may take place in Memphis as well.

"I think that a lot of acts that go on to sell out venues with 3,000 or 5,000 or 20,000 seats, they really miss playing intimate club gigs," Green said. "It typically takes the right record label and the right agent and the right artist to have the kind of leverage to say, 'Hey, I'm gonna do these shows in front of 200, 300 people.' "

- John Beifuss: 529-2394