Memphis is closing in on its 200th birthday. The river town that gave the world rock ‘n’ roll and FedEx and epic slabs of Memphis-style barbecue — all from the rowdy spur jutting into the southwestern flank of the Volunteer State — is set to commemorate its bicentennial in 2019. Two hundred years of making history and making waves — which, of course, is certainly cause for celebration. But the thing about Memphis is it’s not just the big moments and the tourist magnets like Beale Street and Elvis’ palatial Graceland that give the city its globally resonant brand. It’s everything else, too.
From the indie music scene to the makers and artisans, the craft brewing community and the food culture here will render obsolete whatever you thought you knew about the place that once caused a writer for Esquire to declare, “Whoever said ‘Good things come to those who wait’ must have been in Memphis at the time.”
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