Kyndle Wylde Brings Home The Prize

"CBS Mornings" Mixtape Music Competition winner is Kyndle Wylde. The singer-songwriter grew up singing in her family's worship band at church and moved to Nashville to pursue her dreams of a career in music. Air Date: Sep 3, 2024 CBS MORNINGS

See her CBS Interview here.

https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/cR_ht260Rzz06Av7d27AwQ2lS_0gqhVC/

 On a bright sunshiny day in August Kyndle Wylde’s phone rang. CBS Morning News

was requesting a zoom call with her and the producers asked her to stand by. As the

screen came up from black, she saw TV host Gayle King on the other end saying the

words, “you are the winner!”

Kyndle sat down and put her hands over her face. She thought “Oh my God!”

Now Kyndle had a huge secret to keep. Especially from her grandmother, who she knew

would have to tell everyone in all of Bolivar, Kyndle’s hometown.

She had to sneak up to New York City for filming, without anyone noticing.

A few weeks later, on September 3, 2024, the show officially announced that the CBS

Mornings Mixtape Music Competition winner was West Tennessee native Kyndle Wylde.

Hundreds of talented people from all over the country competed, sending in their covers

of Johnny Nash’s song, I Can See Clearly Now.

“We were all blown away by her submission video,” said CBS Mornings host Nate Burleson during an interview. She showcased her skills to the world live in a studio in New York City and is now featured in their national promotional campaign.

“That was a win, not just for me, but also for Bolivar and for Memphis, where I cut my teeth and grew so much as a person and performer,” Kyndle, 31, said.  Kyndle performed and recorded with the Memphis Ukulele Band while in Memphis.  “When I did win, it was a big celebration for everybody. It was just a great day to rejoice with everybody.”

“We wanted to knock it out of the park,” she said of herself and her band. CBS was happy with how everything turned out and said this was a win for them, too. Before her performance, Kyndle said Gayle King came to the makeup room and was nice. She took time to meet her and thank her.

Kyndle, a petite soul singer with a powerful rich voice and incredible range, has always

wanted to be a performer and touts that she was singing from her crib as a baby. This was

the biggest national opportunity she has had in her career, she said.

When she performed the song, she belted out a soulful take on the tune that would

make any Memphian proud. Now, CBS plays it every morning.

“Everything that we are and grew up listening to, we just put it in that” she said in her

CBS interview.

It is not every day your dreams are realized, and the universe conspires in your favor.

Gospel-raised Kyndle Wylde believes she is doing exactly what God has called her to

do. She grew up singing in church with her grandfather, a preacher. “The first ten years

of my life, we were in church.”

She and her husband Adam Gowdy, also from Bolivar, are inspired by many of the R& B

greats. Kyndle does not like to get all the credit, she emphasizes. That is not just her. She

says “Adam has proven time and time again how much he loves me and loves what we

do and how much he supports this. He believes in it. Creatively we have melded

together, we have a vision and a purpose that we are aligned with. We are kind of like

Johnny and June or Ike and Tina Turner.”

“When you align with all that, that’s when doors open for you” says Kyndle.

She is humble and filled with gratitude this Thanksgiving.

Kyndle studied music at the University of Memphis. After living in Memphis for six years,

she and husband Adam, who is also her bandmate, moved to Nashville to pursue their

dreams. Adam has believed in her since they were teens, and for that long he has

been wanting the world to see the beautiful superstar that he sees in her.

In October she found herself on stage at The Grand Ole Opry singing a song with

Country artist Drake White. She was hired for background vocals on one of his songs

and he said, “I’ve just got to have you at the Opry with me.”

Once again feeling deep gratitude, she got emotional as she thought about the history

of that stage and what it means to perform there. The song they were singing was about

about faith, the gospel undertones. “It is really a powerful stage to perform on” she

said. “I’ll never forget it.”

She recently came home to Bolivar to perform for her hometown friends and family and

to thank them for all of their support. She wants to come back to Memphis to perform for

her Memphis fans too, and she wants it to be something special.

Kyndle has regular gigs in Nashville and Austin, Texas. “I do what I love and people can

see that. My job is to conjure the spirit in people and communicate truth. I do feel like

the universe is conspiring in my favor in a way, because I have aligned myself with what

I feel like what God has called me to do.”

She’s experienced a lot of growth this year. “There is a lot of synergy around who I am

working with now, all from West Tennessee, you can feel alignment, you have this gut

feeling, “I’m on the right path.”

For all of that she is very thankful.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCE:

December 1 st , Nashville, Analog at Hutton Hotel

The Twelve Thirty Club on Fridays when she is in Nashville

Story by Karen Pulfer Focht ©

Hear her sing! https://youtube.com/shorts/QAx6N4xjXPo?si=21uE32CCdqjsa_kt

https://youtube.com/shorts/hPa1-PQqp2w?si=FZOVFhUdmmwtPwfS

A Tour Of Possibilities

Carolyn Michael Banks

The Memphis Skyline

Beale Street, Memphis

Mississippi River

Mississippi River

Mississippi River

Blues Musician

Lorainne Motel

Tom Lee

Mississippi River

Slave Haven

Rosa Parks

Pridefully driving around Memphis, bragging on all things great that derive from the Bluff City, Carolyn Michael-Banks, founder of A Tour of Possibilities in Memphis, Tn. gives black history-focused tours. 

With blues playing on her radio, Michael-Banks, also known as Queen, takes visitors to sites of historical and cultural significance to African Americans.

She highlights the best things about our city.  But Queen does not sugarcoat the history.

Driving along Riverside drive, touting the majestic Mississippi River, the colorful bridges, the remarkable story of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Pyramid, our amazing musical history and Beale Street, she reminds her guests, “if this body of water could speak, I can only imagine the stories it would tell.” 

Looking over the river, Michael-Banks offers a view of the city from a different vantage point. “On this body of water, two commodities were transported that changed the economy of this area;” she says as her voice tone changes, she pauses “cotton and enslaved people. On this same river, many used to escape slavery as well.”

For two-and-one-half hours, she highlights black owned businesses and the contributions that African Americans have made to make Memphis a such a great and significant city. She boasts about our soul food, blues music and B.B. King, COGIC, Stax, Robert Church and Obama’s visit.

But the guided historical tour also does not hide the darker side of the city’s history including injustice, segregation and racism.

Queen reminds Chicagoans Maryann and Reginald Marsh, touring on this day, that in front of them is the location where Nathan Bedford Forrest once had “Fresh Negro’s For Sale.”  Woven through the ride that includes various wonderful landmarks, magical stories of inspiring people and popular Memphis attractions, she also tells of people who lived in fear of lynchings, of city riots, a civil rights struggle and the Martin Luther King assassination.

There’s no doubt about her love for the city.  What she loves to share most is a sense of hope, optimism and deep respect for the people that came before her, the people like Tom Lee, Rosa Parks, Danny Thomas and Ida B. Wells, “the people who saw things that appeared to be impossible, but made them possible, in spite of.”

That is why she has named her tour A Tour of Possibilities.

By Karen Pulfer Focht ©2024

Interview with Karen Pulfer Focht- Professional Photojournalist in Memphis

A street scene from Coney Island, New York By Karen Pulfer Focht ©2024

I was recently interviewed for Shoutout LA, a part of the Los Angeles-based Voyage Group of Magazines. They also published a few of my favorite photos, they asked me about parenting, about my mentors, the challenges I have faced and they asked about what I love about our city Memphis, Tennessee.

As they grow and spread their work to other cities and build community across the country, they ask their interviewees questions designed to spark meaningful conversations. Questions about life, work, love, parenting, finances, and more.

Here is a link to my interview.

Link to Shout Out LA Interview with Karen Pulfer Focht

Amish Sing-A-Long

Who doesn’t love a sing along????

While attending the Rocky Mountain Ukulele Festival in Durango this month, we (a few members of the Memphis Ukulele Flash Mob) had a late-night jam in our hotel lobby.

Much to our surprise, while we sang a gospel song led by Pete McCarty, one by one a few Amish guests were slowly drawn into the room. Pete, who is known for his jolly personality and rich deep voice, discovered a common bond, and touched by their presence, we sang one gospel song after another for over an hour. They listened to us sing, and with big smiles on their faces, they sang along too.

These Amish singing with us were from Shipshewana, Indiana, which is the third largest Amish and Mennonite community in the United States. They were visiting Durango on vacation. They took the train to Colorado.

The Amish are conservative Christians and they believe in a simple lifestyle, dress modestly, and live close to the land and without technology. They are known for building fine furniture sold all over the country.

After we sang together, they asked if they could sing us a song. They began chanting The Praise Song, VERY slowly in high German. They sang one verse, which took over five minutes. You can hear it here in this video. It's about 1:48 minutes in.

As little as we had in common, for a few minutes that night, we were all just the people of God.

The Stax Documentary

A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART FOR STAX

STAX ARTISTS THROUGH THE YEARS

Photo gallery includes: Rufus Thomas, The Memphis Horns, Isaac Hayes, Justin Timberlake, Barack and Michelle Obama, David Porter, The Memphis Horns, Booker T. and the MG’s, Sam Moore, Marva Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, Al Bell, Albert King, Steve Cropper, Jerry Lee Lewis with Ben Cauley, Doobie Brothers Michael McDonald with Carla Thomas, Kirk Whalum and the Stax Kids and Graziano Uliani.

SOULSVILLE: The neighborhood around Stax, and home to many musical greats!

It’s no secret that what made me fall in love with Memphis and made me want to stay in Memphis for so many years was the music. The people, yes, the warm climate, yes, the fantastic professional opportunities, yes, the central location, yes and the low cost of living, yes. But the music-- absolutely yes!

I‘ve always loved jazz and the blues. My father entertained me with silly songs any child would love, like Slim Gaillard- Potato Chips and “Flat Foot Floogie.” He went to an elite school in the northeast and had to listen to this “race” music secretly, as it was frowned upon.

Memphis is home to The Blues Foundation because of the rich blues musical history and heritage. Memphis and the Mississippi Delta are like Mecca for blues fans and blues pilgrims.

As long as I’ve lived here, I have noticed that Europeans were very knowledgeable about Memphis music, much more so that many Americans. Americans came to Memphis to see Graceland.  But it’s always been the Europeans who were savvy on the blues, R&B, and the soul music that has its roots in Memphis. The Stax Documentary explains this.

There is the Poretta Soul Festival, in Rufus Thomas Park the third week of July, every year, in Porretta Terme, province of Bologna. Graziano Uliani, frequently comes to Memphis seeking out new local talent for his festival.

I have a vivid memory of Rufus Thomas telling me how excited he was that they were naming a park after him.

It’s the music created here in this region that draws people from all over the world, to Memphis.  

In the last decade, Memphis has risen to the top of places to visit by influential travel magazines like National Geographic and Condé Nast . “Memphis is one of two destinations from the U.S. highlighted in Condé Nast Traveler's “23 Best Places to Go in 2023,” which covers 22 countries and six continents,” a Commercial Appeal story reported.

I got to know Stax artist Rufus Thomas when I first moved here from Chicago. Rufus captivated me right away and quickly became of my favorite entertainers. He was SO MUCH FUN! He was an amazing entertainer with roots in vaudeville. He could still get a crowd going with Funky Chicken and Walking the Dog, into his 80’s. I have many fun memories of seeing him perform on Beale Street. He used to say, “If you could be black for one Saturday night on Beale Street, never would you want to be white again.”

His daughter Carla, who still lives in Memphis, was also a successful Stax artist. You can still find Carla out buying flowers, or as a guest or singer at one of the many Memphis music events held over the years. Carla is Stax royalty. She had the good fortune to record with Otis Redding before he was killed in a plane crash in 1967.

Redding’s music is so soulful, it just pierces right into your heart.

As with many great artists, he died way too young at age 26.  Stax music was experiencing some real success when Redding and many band members died in a plane crash.

As a photojournalist in Memphis, over the years I covered the only survivor of that plane crash, Ben Cauley.  Other influential Stax artists like Booker T. and the MG’s, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Marva Staples, David Porter, Steve Cropper and Sam Moore have all been in my camera’s viewfinder.

The documentary goes into the run of bad luck that followed Redding’s death, the assassination of MLK in Memphis and the signing of a bad contract by Stax owner Jim Stewart, who in a very Memphis way, trusted the people he was working with, and in the end, the trials of Stax record executive Al Bell.

By the time I had come to Memphis, Stax had closed. But there was an appreciation for the Stax contribution to Memphis music legacy.

The documentary helped me appreciate more deeply the people, their experience and the music that is so deeply woven into the fabric and culture of Memphis.

I covered the opening of the Stax Museum and the music programs they had for the kids of Memphis. These programs are still teaching our city’s youth about the magical musical legacy here while cultivating the next musical generation. I went to New York City to cover the Stax Kids when they played at Lincoln Center and I also was on assignment when Memphis Music, including several Stax artists, Justin Timberlake and harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite were honored at the White House by Michelle and President Obama.

Wayne Jackson , and his wife Amy, were good friends of ours. He was one of the Memphis Horns.  Jackson and partner Andrew Love were on hundreds of Top Ten and Number One hits, gold and platinum records. They were considered the Rolls Royce of horn sections. Jackson fully appreciated the experience and told about it in this short video I did before he passed away. He says “Memphis was just on fire! And Andrew and I were walking right down the middle of that street. We played on hit records every day”

Memphis is just such a musical treasure box that never ceases to amaze and entertain me. Living here you run into these folks here and there. Most of them have always been very accessible.

“Indeed, many musical luminaries either hailed from or resided in the Soulsville neighborhood,” writes Alex Greene in Memphis Magazine.

Even though I felt like I knew the Stax story and many of the players and much of the music, the Stax documentary opened my eyes with more intimate details, historical glimpses, and great storytelling that helped me appreciate what the artists and producers went through, good and bad to create and capture the “Memphis sound.”

By Karen Pulfer Focht ©2024

Memphis Photojournalist

The Memphis Horns- “We laughed our way around the world”

Kirk Whalum- Delivering Music Soul to Soul-

Wayne Jackson - https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/waynejackson-memphishorns

For a really in-depth read, Rob Bowman, author of Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records is serving as a consultant on the series. Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records: Bowman, Rob

Amazon.com

The Harmonica Experience in Delta Magazine

Twice a year people come from around the world to learn blues harmonica from the masters, in the Mississippi Delta, where the blues began. I did a story for Delta Magazine about The Harmonica Experience.

Master harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite stops by The Harmonica Experience to share his stories.

The Harmonica Experience

The morning light streams into the Juke Joint Chapel as pilgrims take their

seats. Each one has traveled a good distance, hoping to gain some insight

and inspiration unique to the Mississippi Delta.

They’ve settled into rustic sharecroppers’ shacks and are surrounded by

cotton fields in full bloom.

Some are experts already, others just beginners. And for one week, they will

come together to learn how to play blues harmonica at The Harmonica

Experience in Clarksdale.

“Playing harmonica has brought me so much joy in my life and being able

to share that joy with others is priceless” says Cheryl Arena, a master

harmonica player and teacher from Boston. “But what better way to teach

folks how to play harp than down in the Delta… The Birthplace of the Blues,

where the musical vibe is as thick as the mud in the Mississippi River.”

Arena runs the workshop with a few other coaches, all professional

musicians from around the country. Each day, she expects participants to

attend group classes that offer a variety of harmonica techniques, song

writing, singing, and jam sessions, while preparing a song for performance

at the end of the camp.

The ‘Mississippi Saxophone” as some call it, is a challenging instrument to

play. It is easy to learn but hard to master.

“They say blues is a feeling and I certainly get that feeling when I visit the

Delta,” says Kate Wakeling, who travels annually from Australia to learn

how to coax and bend notes from her harmonica while keeping a bluesy 12-

bar-beat. “Staying at the Shack Up Inn I get a sense of the history of the

Delta and what life must have been like for those who labored under the hot

sun in the cotton fields. I can channel those feelings into my harmonica

playing.”

“The Harmonica Experience camp is the most wonderful week where you

get to learn from talented musicians and hang out and play music with

people from all over the world. It’s a very special week,” she says.

Twice a year on this former southern plantation, where blues legend

Pinetop Perkins once worked on the land, aspiring musicians sit on the

porches of their cabins calling music from their hearts and souls.

In the evening, the more skilled musicians often encourage others to join

along in a spontaneous jam. Some sing better than others, some play in a

group for the first time, but they all have fun making music together with

their new friends in this special place.

The workshops take place in a region where many great blues artists lived,

worked, played music and are buried. It is hallowed ground.

Harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite stops by the camp on occasion. He

recently moved back to Mississippi, and now lives in Clarksdale. He shares

stories about playing with harmonica greats Muddy Waters, Little Walter,

Howlin’ Wolf, and many others.

“Ultimately you want to find your own blues in you and play that.”

Musselwhite tells the students, “Get out of your head and come down to

your heart.”

The harmonica has taken Musselwhite touring around the world and even

to the White House. But there is something about the humble Mississippi

Delta that he says he feels right down to his DNA, “you just walk out your

door and there are interesting people everywhere.”

The students, who come from all over the world, get to experience home

southern cooking from Ranchero catering. In the evenings Chris Green and

Carolyn Sykes serve up fried chicken, mac-n-cheese, corn bread, cobblers

and pie. And no meal would be complete without southern sweet tea.

For those that want something stronger, the bar is open. Campers can sip

some whiskey, wine or beer while jamming with the house band.

Two lines form on either side of the chapel. Students, some wearing

fedoras, Hawaiian shirts or sunglasses, all try and find their groove as they

jump in and play a sequence of riffs to a shuffle or slow blues being played

by the house band. They engage their imagination, their diaphragm, their

breath as they improvise, putting into practice the musical phrasing and

articulation they have been learning about all week.

Some frantically run their lips up and down the harmonica with excitement,

others pause and allow a cool and layback space between notes to

punctuate the sound they are going for.

Ralph Carter, an accomplished songwriter, composer and producer, teaches

students song writing during the camp. He also holds an independent

songwriting camp at the shacks.

Sitting in the Robert Clay shack, Carter asks students, many of whom never

really thought about writing a song, “what gives you the blues?” He

encourages them to make observations, think about rhymes, look for a

melody in what they are saying. He teaches song structure.

“The songwriter’s job is to help understand our life’s experience by

providing perspective, context and sometimes just the plain comfort of

sharing.” He encourages them, convincing them that each has a song inside

of them. “Music, songs, connect us to our humanity in a magically direct

way. They go directly to the heart.”

Not all players have to play or write blues, but for those who want to, he

says “The blues hangs heavy in the air in the Delta. There is something that

still feels raw here, exposed and vulnerable. The fact that the Blues and it’s

offspring are still going strong today, tells you something about the

enduring power of songs.”

By Karen Pulfer Focht © 2024

www.theharmonicaexperience.com

https://www.songsattheshacks.com/

Protect Our Aquifer Fundraiser

We all know Memphis has the best drinking water. It wins awards year after year. People are trying to protect it. Grammy-nominated Tracy Nelson, Shemekia Copeland, Loudon Wainwright, John Nemeth, and many others performed during Acoustic Sunday Live at First Congo Church, on Dec. 3, 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee. Protect Our Aquifer, which put on the fundraiser, is a grassroots non-profit working to protect the source of drinking water for Shelby County, Tennessee, and much of the Mid-South. The room was packed, and the music was fantastic.

Tracy Nelson and Shemekia Copeland duet Down So Low

For more information about the cause see https://www.protectouraquifer.org/