What is soul? Soul is like a magnetic energy, an electricity. Nobody really knows what it is, but soul has the power to vitalize a city. When it's unleashed, you can feel it, hear it, see it … and when you have it, you know it.
Whether you're visiting Graceland or rhyming to the emotional echo of an e-chord from a Gibson guitar, music is the heart of Memphis soul. Memphis soul can be felt in the clubs and bars on Beale Street and in writers' clubs all across the River City. Every time you hear a hot musician play cool Memphis blues, jazz, hip-hop or rock n' roll, you'll know "Memphis has Soul."
From the King Cotton culture and the deep Delta blues to the legend of the King of Rock and Roll and the civil rights legacies of Martin Luther King, Jr., the city's rich cultural history created the core of Memphis soul.
Going hog wild over pork barbecue, receiving white linen service at a 5-star restaurant or savoring a chicken wing on a soul food Sunday, Memphis food has soul.
Digging through vintage record stores for the perfect Delta blues song, picking out a mojo magic voodoo charm, shopping on Beale Street or walking through Blues Alley in Memphis, Tennessee, looking for that perfect souvenir, Memphis shopping has soul.
Memphis soul runs through the city as deep and steady as the mighty Mississippi. You're all but guaranteed to get caught up in the current.