November 2nd Rock-n-Romp, 2-5pm

This will be our last Rock-n-Romp of the season! Please join us at Overton Park next to the new playground on Saturday, November 2nd from 2-5pm.

We have four bands this time--J.D. Reager & the Cold-Blooded Three, The Monday Night Card, Abbey West Pates, and Katie Ives.

We will have free food while it lasts from Central BBQ, Tom's Tiny Kitchen, and the Trolley Stop Market.

The Bluff City Homebrewers will be on hand with their delicious handcrafted beer. We will also have a keg of Memphis Made Brewing Company's beer!

Grace-St. Luke's staff will be leading a craft for kids. There will be a hula hoop jam with Co-Motion studio (opening December in Crosstown). Livable Memphis will be leading bike-centric crafts to promote the Hampline.

All this for $5 per adult. Kids are free.

Bring a blanket or a chair, ear plugs for the little ones, a snack to share and enjoy an amazing afternoon of music and fun!

9/21 Show Recap

 Back to the Mid-South Maze! This is always one of our favorite spots to romp. Saturday was just a picture-perfect day-- clear skies, temps in the mid 70s. Add to that three great bands, some gourmet beer, some of the best barbecue in the city, some of the best pizza in the city, and healthy snacks from Whole Foods, and you have a pretty perfect day.

First up was Wind vs. Sun. Dirk rocked a TV appearance with me earlier in the week to promote this show--thanks Dirk! It was great to hear his full band.

Next up was Mighty Souls Brass Band, which blew everyone away. Literally. (Ahem.) Jeremy Schrader, on trumpet, is a RnR veteran, having played our shows in several different bands. 

A dude who can rock the sousaphone like this really makes me way too excited. (Personal confession: extensive band nerd past, played tuba.)

As usual, Central BBQ provided awesome 'cue. Thanks a million, yet again, to those folks.

We also had Bluff City Brewers and Connoisseurs back. So awesome to have fresh craft brew at our shows!

Last up was the raucous post-punk band Tanks. Serious rocking going on from these guys.

We even managed to get the RnR board together for a new photo! These are the folks who make it happen, cap'n.  

(L to R, Bianca Burks, Graham Burks, Aimee Lewis, Corey Crowder, Chip Chockley, Caleb Sweazy, Stacey Greenberg, Marvin Stockwell, Kate Crowder and Launa Morris. Slacker board member Jeff Hulett wasn't at this show. Kidding, we love Jeff.)

In addition to Central and the Brewers, thanks to Whole Foods for providing awesome healthy snacks and to Trolley Stop Market for contributing some of the best pizza in town. And thanks to Tom's Tiny Kitchen for again loading us up with the the undisputed champion pimento cheese of all pimento cheeses. And we always appreciate the rocking sound from Charlie Lawing at Memphis Sound Lab.

And most of all, thanks to the Mid South Maze for having us again-- you guys rule.

Seeya in a few weeks for the 2013 finale show at Overton Park on November 2nd!

Check out all the photos from this show by Chip Chockley Photography by clicking here.

September 21st Rock-n-Romp at the Mid-South Maze

Come Rock-n-Romp with us at the Mid-South Maze on September 21st from 2-5pm. We'll have Wind vs. Sun, Tanks, and the Mighty Souls Brass band playing. $5 Adults/kids free. Adults MUST be accompanied by children.

As always bring a blanket or a chair, a snack to share, and earplugs for the little ones. There will be free beer from the Bluff City Homebrewers & Connoisseurs, free food from Central BBQ, Tom's Tiny Kitchen, Trolley Stop Market and Whole Foods.

The Mid-South Maze will give the following discounts: Maze admission-$4/adult and $2/kid, 5 and under free. The Jumping Pillow will be $2/person and you can jump all you want. Identify yourself as a Rock-n-Romper when paying and they will give you the appropriate discount.

The Maze takes about an hour, so we ask that you come early or stay late. The Jumping Pillow is adjacent to the bands, so kids can enjoy it during the show. (It is supervised.)

We look forward to seeing you!

For directions, click here.

August 10th Bridges Show Recap

Thanks to an awesome musical lineup, the climbing wall, the cool LEGO action and KID PRESIDENT (more on that later), this show was a big success!

First up was Hanna Star. Her songwriting and voice are waaaaay beyond her years. She also had a stellar band, full of RnR/Memphis music vets: Alicja Trout, T-Money and Paul Taylor. Really nice tunes-- I think Hanna has a bright future.

Next up: Cheap Time, from Nashville, TN. Great classic punk-pop sound, with big riffs and lots of energy.

We had the awesome folks from Bricks 4 Kidz, who teach all sorts of cool things through the use of Legos. The kids loved this stuff!

Finally, we had Big City Circus. This band was barrels of fun! They brought out the Super Duper Monster just in time to dance around to the song named after him.

He gave the climbing wall a go after their show...

The other cool thing about this show was KID PRESIDENT! The guy with over 30 million YouTube views spread his special brand of cheer to Rompers. He climbed the wall...

Helped Marv out with MC duties...

And did a special photo session with Rompers:

See all of the Kid President photos here.

Thanks to Bridges for having us again-- we especially appreciate Drew Smith for working with us to make things go smoothly. As always, thanks a million to Central BBQ, Tom's Tiny Kitchen and Whole Foods for providing us with good stuff to munch on. We always appreciate the rocking sound from Charlie Lawing at Memphis Sound Lab. And BIG thanks to the Bluff City Brewers for generously providing us with fresh, delicious craft brews of many varieties. You guys rule!

Most of all, thanks to YOU guys for coming out! Seeya on September 21st for our favorite Romp of the year-- the Mid South Corn Maze!

Check out the full set of photos from the show by Chip Chockley Photography by clicking here.

August 10th Rock-n-Romp at Bridges, 2-5pm

Join us at Bridges for an afternoon of rock music, rock climbing, and general romping. If the weather cooperates we will have the music out in the amphitheater. The Mezzanine is off limits this year. Bridges is located at 477 N. 5th Street and is easily accessible from North Parkway. Parking is available on the roof. Please enter through the front door.

Big City Circus, Hanna Star, and Cheap Time will be playing. We also have Kid President!

The Bluff City Brewers will be on hand again to serve their amazing homebrew (Kolsch, Special Bitter, Belgian Golden, Strong Ale, Hefeweizen, Pineapple Pale Ale, Belgian Pale Ale, Extra Special Bitter, Centennial Blonde, Begian Taflebier & English Mild).

We'll have the usual Central Barbeque awesomeness as well as healthy snacks from Whole Foods, copious amounts of pimento cheese from Tom's Tiny Kitchen and ice cream sandwiches from Yarnell's.

Bricks 4 Kidz, a new program in the Memphis area that encourages STEM learning using LEGO (R) bricks, will be at the Rock-n-Romp this Saturday leading crafts using LEGO "contraptions."

We ask each adult to donate $5 at the door to cover our venue, music, & sound costs. Feel free to bring a blanket or chair and a snack to share. Adults must be accompanied by children.

Bridges will have the climbing wall open, but there is a $5 charge per climb or $10 unlimited climbing. Adults will not be allowed to climb if after drinking MORE THAN ONE beer, so plan accordingly. Everyone who wishes to climb will also need to sign a waiver. It can be done onsite or online.

5/20/13 Rhodes College Show Recap

We love having Rock-n-Romp at Rhodes College. They are very gracious hosts and on Sunday they gave us the run of Oak Alley and Buckman Hall. In addition to the really fantastic, we had fantastic weather. All we needed was a TV! The Grizz were in the playoffs and well, we decided to accommodate our fans so that no one would have to make the decision between Rock-n-Romp and the Grizz! Carly from the Grizzlies even came out and helped us cheer on the team.

Turns out the game was sort of a bust, which was a bummer for Grizz Nation, but a bonus for us. We had some music to enjoy! Nancy Apple got us started with her brand of folk/twang rocking. She also wins the award for getting the most people to dance at a show ever!

Everyone was all smiles.

Next up was Reemus Bodeemus-- some faces in that band that are probably familiar to Rompers. Rootsy rocking tunes happening from these guys.

Vanishing Islands closed out the afternoon with an awesome set of quirky progressive tunes. Lots of interesting sounds coming from these guys-- we really loved it.

In addition to Memphis Sound Lab for donating the use of their awesome trailer, we would also like to thank Crosstown Collaborative for being our show sponsor. They have big plans for Crosstown, so check them out! They also led a really fun "craft" where everyone chipped in to write a story.

And many of you may have noticed that in addition to the amazingly generous Central BBQ, we are also regularly serving Tom's Tiny Kitchen Pimento Cheese (which is damn good on a BBQ sammy!) and Yarnell's is providing ice cream sandwiches at every show as well. Thank you to our awesome sponsors!

Next up we have our third year of Rock-n-Romp camp. The camper showcase will be at the Young Avenue Deli on Sunday, June 9th from 4-7pm. Our regular concert series will resume Saturday, August 10th at Bridges.

Rock-n-Romp at Rhodes College, Sunday, May 19th, 2-5pm

We are looking forward to seeing lots of smiling faces at our one and only Sunday show! We will be in Oak Alley on the North Parkway side of the campus. Nancy Apple, Reemus Bodeemus, and Vanishing Islands will be playing.

The Crosstown Collaborative is sponsoring the show and will be leading a fun activity for the kids. We will also be sharing some information on their plans for the Crosstown area.

We will have food from Central BBQ, Tom's Tiny Kitchen and Yarnell's while supplies last. We will also have homebrew from the Bluff City Brewers while supplies last.

The show is from 2-5pm. Please bring a blanket or a chair, and a snack to share. Adults must be accompanied by children. Adults are asked to donate $5. Kids are free.

Camp 2013

Camp is full, and the waiting list is closed. We are still accepting applications for volunteers (grades8-12) and we need guitar, bass, and keyboard instructors! Email memphisrocknromp@gmail.com for more info!

Rock-n-Romp Camp is back! This year there is only one session, June 3-7 at Rozelle Elementary in Midtown. Camp will run from 8:30am to 5:30pm M-F, plus there will be a showcase Sunday evening, June 9, at the Young Avenue Deli. The camp is open to boys and girls in grades 1-7. The cost for the week is $200. Kids will be asked to bring a sack lunch, but we will provide snacks.

Click here for the camper application.  (Sorry, you have to print and fill it out by hand, this isn't a fillable .pdf.)  Get it in soon, before we're all full!

We are also looking for staff members to teach an instrument and volunteers in grades 8-12 to assist at the camp. Click here for a volunteer/staff application.

Click here or here for a peek at last year's camp!

4/13/13 Mud Island Show Recap

For the fourth year in a row, we kicked off our season at the fantastic Mud Island River Park. We love that they always provide us with a sunny day, a grassy bluff, and lots of opportunity for water play!

We decided to go all out and booked four bands for opening day. The Jeremy Shrader Hot Memphis Five really got things going with some cool New Orleans-style jazz standards.

If you enjoyed them, you will be happy to know that we have booked the Mighty Souls Brass Band for our September show at the Corn Maze!

Here's a peek at some of the bluff action. There were plenty of smiles (and grass stains) to go around!

Our second act was the Grizzlies Drum Line. They really energized our crowd with awesome drum routines and choreography. You may have seen these guys at Grizz games, but they're even better when they have more time to put on a show.

Next up was the Jeff Hulett One Man Band. Jeff is not only one of our board members and all around awesome guy, he is quite the musician. The guy can make music from luggage! We all dug his Bob Dylan for the new millennium style. Check out his new CD here.

We had one of our biggest turnouts to date. About 524 paid adults translates to about 1000-1500 people! Woohoo!

Our final band was the WuvBirds, featuring two more of our multi-talented board members, Kate & Corey Crowder. We love their outfits almost as much as their music. They bring the fun of 1950s pop to a new generation!

A super special thanks to New Memphis Institute for sponsoring the show! These folks are doing great things for Memphis. Thanks to Nancy Coffee for coming out and spreading the word.

Also thanks to Memphis Sound Lab for the use of their fancy stage, and our true blue Central BBQ and Tom's Tiny Kitchen for the delicious snacks! We could not put on the shows without our fantastic volunteers and each and every one of you! Thanks for your support!

Our next show is SUNDAY, May 19th at Rhodes College from 2-5pm. Hope to see you there!

For a full slideshow, click here. To learn more about our photographer, click here.