Beat asks Damon Smith, one of the frontmen of Sun Rising, about how he came to put the show together. “It was when I went to Sun Records in Memphis and recorded some of my stuff. I made friends with the music engineer there; he jammed with me all night and told me all these stories about some of the musicians who recorded there.” So, wait, Smith recorded something at Sun Records himself? “Jerry Lee Lewis’ old piano was there, with the cigar burn,” Smith says. “I took in a bottle of Scotch – just a small one.”
Smith says there’s certain stories and anecdotes that came out while he was there that’ll never see the light of day. However, he heard enough to want to put together a live homage to the studio and its beyond-legendary legacy. Many of the anecdotes feature Jerry Lee Lewis’s infamous shenanigans.
“As a touring person myself, I know that what happens on tour stays on tour,” Smith says. “Men are so bloody silly – they are buffoons, carrying on like that. But I thought if we are able to narrate some of it along with the music, we have a show.”
Smith has always been a fan of classic Memphis rock’n’roll and rockabilly. “I am an original musician,” he says. “I strum guitar and play old songs, old country stuff. My mum told me I should play piano cos I was really good at it.”
Smith performs with four other musicians, including Sun Rising’s like-minded co-founder David Cosma. “We have played in each other’s original bands for years,” Smith says. “I’ve always talked to him about this. He’s a huge Elvis fan so it was a no-brainer for him.” Their shared love for the music celebrated in the Sun Rising show doesn’t fade. “We have done thousands of shows but we don’t stop smiling when we’re on stage.”
Smith is proud to call Sun Rising: The Songs That Made Memphis a true tribute show. It’s entirely based on the music and characters of a particular time in music history – the years 1950-1957. Aside from the Million Dollar Quartet of Elvis, Cash, Perkins and Lewis, the show honours several other artists discovered by Sun Records head honcho Sam Phillips, including Roy Orbison, BB King, and Howlin’ Wolf.
“We’re not dressing up in wigs and burning pianos,” Smith says. “We’re not blowing it out of proportion. It’s a nice clean performance. We are paying the ultimate tribute to the music. I want to keep it bare bones, keep it authentic.”
Smith says that some of the Memphis glamour rubs off after a Sun Rising gig. “It’s intensely popular. We stand out the front after shows and hundreds of people want our autographs.”
For everyone heading to Eltham Jazz, Food & Wine Festival this weekend, Sun Rising also comes with an impressive seal of approval. “We have this endorsement from Sun Records – Sam Phillips [son of the founder] somehow heard about it and said he liked what we were doing.”
By Liza Dezfouli
