PROFILES

Valerie June

Her music: After coming to Memphis in 2000, Valerie June, now 27, released The Way of the Weeping Willow in 2006 and Mountain of Rose Quartz in 2008, both stocked with what she calls “organic moonshine roots music.” Floating above strummy compositions that recall an early 20th century American family sing-along, her ethereal voice produces soft-edged pleas for simplicity and a better world.


In $5 Cover: In a Midtown house, amid the fictional romantic entanglements of others, Val plays herself as a virtual Geneva among warring nations. Her eyebrows may be arched but she’s a got-your-back companion and roommate whose acoustic, summer-porch serenades could come with a $5 cover charge of their own.


In $5 Cover Amplified: A trip home to her working-class roots in Jackson, Tenn., contrasts June’s earthy, holistic life outlook and incense-scented faith in manifestation with her occasional melancholy.


On Memphis music: “When I’m in Memphis, I’m usually working really hard trying to make ends meet, and over-meet, so that I can get some records made and move my music to the next level. So when I leave Memphis, I’m in this mode where I can actually sit down and get something done with my guitar. I’m in the car and there’s nowhere to run.”


Latest news: June is planning a new CD in the fall, and plans to continue local gigs such as her regular appearances at the Memphis Farmers’ Market and at Midtown’s Fresh Slices bistro. Learn more at valeriejune.com.


—John Hubbell


Valerie June's website



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$5 Cover Amplified Summary:

Intimate, thoughtful, always entertaining and often formally daring, the 12 documentaries that comprise the anthology "$5 Cover Amplified" reveal a modern Memphis music scene that is as creative, passionate and vibrant as in the city's commercial heyday, when Elvis, Isaac Hayes and Al Green demonstrated that visionary art and popular culture could be inseparable as the 'A' and 'B' sides of a vinyl record.

Produced as a complement to Craig Brewer's episodic MTV drama series/ new media experiment, "$5 Cover," the "Amplified" series of documentary portraits chronicles the rousing art, uncertain careers and sometimes problematic home lives of a diverse, distinctive and often eccentric group of Memphis music-makers.

Mesmerizing Valerie June croons confessional lyrics from beneath a Medusan tangle of dreadlocks that's as thick as her family ties and her musical roots. The puckish Tommy Chong-meets-Pippi Longstocking "clown prince of rap," Muck Sticky, proves to be as dedicated to the welfare of his mother and sister as to his own pursuit of happiness. Punk rock pioneer Jack Oblivian, who plays to sell-out nightclub crowds in Europe, makes ends meet in Memphis by cleaning houses. "Crunk" hip-hop artist Al Kapone is shown to be a tough but loving father, bringing new urgency to the concept of rapper as "role model." Troubadour of heartbreak Harlan T. Bobo is portrayed impressionistically, through stop-motion animation, allegorical fantasy and other conceits.

Whatever the focus or style, the direction of Alan Spearman, an award-winning photographer/filmmaker with The Commercial Appeal, ensures that each segment is as visually assured as it is musically irresistible. "$5 Cover Amplified" was co-produced by Spearman, Andria Lisle and John Hubbell, and edited by Eileen Meyer; their familiarity with the Memphis "scene" ensures unprecedented authenticity as well as access.

John Beifuss- The Commercial Appeal