Banjo
MAMA Logo
NEXT CONCERT


8 p.m. Friday, June 12, 2009
Cafe Eclectic
603 N. McLean
901-725-1718
Bryan Bowers

Bryan Bowers Credited with resurrecting and redefining the autoharp and widely regarded as its leading virtuoso, Bryan Bowers has enchanted audiences for over thirty years. He grew up hearing and singing the songs of the field hands and railroad workers in rural Virginia, and those songs took deep root. They found an outlet when he picked up first the guitar and then the autoharp while in college. The Dillards introduced him to the bluegrass community, and the rest is history.

Not content with merely strumming the autoharp like most players, Bowers picks individual notes with all five fingers of his right hand. Rhythm, melody, and three harmony lines interplay simultaneously, creating a celestial sound unlike any ever heard from the instrument before. A talented songwriter as well as instrumentalist, Bowers wrote John Denver’s hit, “Berkley Woman,” and his composition, “The Prison Song,” is widely lauded as his most painfully honest and powerful.

A Bryan Bowers performance, however, consists of more than just sad songs. He can progress seamlessly from the sublime to the ridiculous, his magnetic stage presence leading the audience effortlessly from tears to musical silliness. For more than three decades, Bowers’ power and charisma on stage have never failed to reach his audience. “I feel like every night when I step out, it’s not a given,” he says. “It’s not like I’m the Yankees. I gotta earn it every night.” It’s been over four years since MAMA’s last Bryan Bowers concert, and he’s still earning it—every concert, every night. This one will be no different.

Tickets are $10, available at Cafe Eclectic and Davis-Kidd Booksellers.

Click Here For Teennessee Arts Commission Web Site MAMA is indebted to the Tennessee Arts Commission for helping to underwrite our current concert series. The Arts Build Communities grant is a program funded by the Tennessee General Assembly and administered in cooperation with the Tennessee Arts Commission and ArtsMemphis.




The Memphis Acoustic Music Association
P.O. Box 42024
Memphis TN 38174-2024
901-274-1626
e-mail



The Memphis Acoustic Music Association is a non-profit organization that promotes the preservation and performance of acoustic and folk music. National touring musicians at our monthly concerts play everything from blues and old time music to traditional folk, contemporary folk, Celtic, and acoustic guitar. Show your support of our concert series by becoming a member of MAMA. Send a $20 check to MAMA, at the address above, for a 1-year membership. If you'd like to be listed in our concert e-minder list, send us an e-mail

Copyright January 2001, Memphis Acoustic Music Association.
Contact the Web Master