Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Rufus Thomas Jnr, Howlin’ Wolf, and many more all had one thing in common – they launched their careers at the famous Sun Record Company in Memphis.
Kicking The Joan’s 2019 season off in style on January 18 and 19, is Sun Rising: The Songs That Made Memphis, a show that will transport you to that special time and place with amazing tales, brilliant music and hilarious anecdotes from the famed Sun Records artists and the label’s creator, Sam Phillips.
Sun Rising: The Songs That Made Memphis will inform and educate the audience while rocking them senseless.
The show takes a chronological tour of Memphis’ famed Sun Records, focusing on the early period of 1950-57, showcasing artists including Ike Turner, BB King, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and more.
For the last six years, Sun Rising has performed sell-out shows all around Australia and has amassed a huge fan base and received glowing reviews.
The band has travelled the country, playing sold out performances and dazzling crowds with their incredible musicianship, infectious passion and standout renditions of this timeless music.
The Songs That Made Memphis is no tribute show – it’s an authentic and undeniably alluring musical journey through the decades from the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. Expect a super-charged night of blazing hits, and lots of fun.
The band is narrator, guitarist and vocals David Cosma, Damon Smith on piano, Adrian Whyte lead, Trent McKenzie on bass and Adam Coad on drums.
Cosma told Beat.com the band wanted “to raise a glass to the man who started it all, Sam Phillips. Sam started Memphis Recording Service in 1949 and started the Sun Records label a few years later in 1952.
“To the band, the most incredible thing about the legacy is the fact that the artists he recorded and produced, ‘started’ their careers at Sun.
“They weren't established artists passing through Memphis. They walked through Sun’s doors virtually unknown and would eventually become household names.”
Sun Rising: The Songs That Made Memphis is on January 18 and 19 at 7.30pm and at 2pm on January 19. Tickets: Adult $60, concession $55, under 30s $30, seniors matinee $30.
This show is also available for subscription, ranging in three sizes with respective discounts on pricing for shows; a four pack saves you 10 per cent, six pack 12 per cent and an eight pack 15 per cent.
Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now online at www.thejoan.com.au or by phoning 4723 7600.