Soulsville was the name given to the neighborhood surrounding the Stax recording studio where dozens of soul musicians who created the first great golden age of Memphis soul music lived. But Tonya Dyson didn’t think that the Memphis music scene’s best days were behind it. The music and culture had changed—hip hop and slam poetry came to the forefront, and a new generation of musicians had added a “neo” to soul—but the spirit was still the same.
“The thing wasn’t that there was nothing to do in this city,” Dyson says. “It’s just that people didn’t know about it.” And so she founded Neosoulsville.com to get the word on out the positive, progressive, and funky aspects of Memphis music and culture. Since its founding, Neosoulsville has moved beyond just reporting on the scene to making it happen by booking and promoting shows and connecting artists and fans. Dyson’s inside connection to and passion for the music she loves is no accident. She is herself a fantastic soul singer who says she can’t remember when she wasn’t making music—which makes Neosoulsville yet another example of Memphis musicians doing it for themselves.
