Music Tours

Memphis [1] just looks better from the passenger window of a 1955 Cadillac. That’s as good a reason as any to call Tad Pierson for one of his American Dream Safari (901/527-8870, www.americandreamsafari.com [2]) tours of Memphis.

Pierson offers tours with a difference—he does not just do sightseeing, he promises experiences and memories for his guests. His tours include juke joints of Memphis [3], gospel churches, a Mississippi Delta day trip, a special tour for photographers, plus much more. Pierson really gets the unique appeal of Memphis [1], and he wants to share it with his guests.

Music fans should sign up for one of Sherman Wilmott’s Memphis Rock ’n Roll Tours (901/359-3102, http://shangrilaprojects.com [4]), customized musical tours of Memphis. He will pick you up at any Memphis hotel and then whisk you away to some of the city’s best- and least-known musical sites, such as the past and present locations of Memphis [1] recording studios, radio stations, record stores, and even musicians’ homes.

He is a fountain of music lore. If you have a special interest, speak up: Chances are that Sherman can fix you up. A former curator at the Stax museum [5] and publisher of the Kreature Comforts Low-Life Guide to Memphis, Sherman recently started a partnership with Wayne Jackson of the famed Memphis Horns, who will ride along on special tours and tell firsthand stories of Memphis’s [1] musical history.

Music-themed tours are also the specialty at Backbeat Tours (901/272-2328, www.backbeattours.com [6], $25–40). You will travel on a reconditioned 1959 transit bus and be serenaded by live musicians. Tours include the Memphis Mojo Tour, which takes you to Memphis music landmarks like Sun Studio [7] and the Stax Museum [5], and the Hound Dog tour, which follows in Elvis Presley’s Memphis footsteps.

Backbeat can also take you to Graceland [8] and offers two walking tours of Memphis [1]—a Memphis Ghost Tour and Haunted Pub Crawl—on Wednesday through Sunday evening for $15.