BackinMemphis

It's been 21 years since the door's first opened at the National Civil Rights Museum in the Lorraine Motel. For the first time since then, the museum is about to get some upgrades. The number one renovation will allow visitors to actually walk down the balcony where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Balcony access will begin in November, but will only be open for 13 months. "We need to broaden our capacity," says Gwen Harmon with the museum. "While we can't change the footprint necessarily, but we are redeploying the space so we can free up more public space, expand our auditorium, or our orientation theatre, expand that we have that big room we have for our facility, use, so more people will be able to use it and have access."

Click on image to enlarge Elvis' hair stylist and friend - Larry & Shira Geller sent this note the other day: Larry and I saw a travel show about Eastern Turkey, and when they showed a group of ancient statues...we both said OMG, that's Elvis! He found this on line - check it out for yourself. Very cool.

Can't wait for the inevitable Elvis hologram? Well, Fuse recently sat down with the King's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, and she says that while a concrete plan for Hologram Elvis isn't in place at the moment, when it is they'll be ready. "It was a business decision to get the rights to it," she says of obtaining her father's hologram likeness. "There's no actual plan yet, it's just the creative control over it if it does come to fruition." Lisa also opens up about working with famed producer T-Bone Burnett and her upcoming album, Storm & Grace.

Awesome video footage of Lisa Marie performing in NYC last week!

From his web site: It's been a defining year for "ukulele hero" (Rolling Stone) Jake Shimabukuro . He's performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live !, Rolling Stone Live ( http://tinyurl.com/c6dc7a4 ), A Prairie Home Companion ( http://tinyurl.com/7puket7 ) and CNN's The Next List ( http://tinyurl.com/d2sxopq ). On October 2nd, Shimabukuro's most ambitious record to date, entitled 'More Ukulele,' will catapult his career even further. Jake is in the studio with Alan Parsons , engineer of the Beatles' 'Abbey Road' and Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon,' working on an album that will not only take him to the next level, but will redefine the ukulele itself. The release will be followed by a 30+ date US tour. On the new LP, Shimabukuro will infuse his "buoyant musicianship and brisk proficiency" (NY Times) with the rock and roll technique that has earned him the title of "Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele" (Gu...

‘It’s a short set,” Lisa Marie Presley apologized from the Gramercy Theatre stage Thursday night. “I want to drag it out.” Presley wasn’t kidding. Backed by a tight five-piece band, she played just 10 songs — her new album, “Storm & Grace,” has 11 — and between songs, and sometimes during them, she looked unsure about what to do with herself, seeming happiest when keeping time with a mini-tambourine (on “Over Me”) or hitting tom-toms with mallets (on “Un-Break”). Presley’s nervousness is understandable, simply because she is who she is. Being Elvis’ daughter is a lot to live up to on any stage, even at a smaller show at a venue like the Gramercy, which has room for 500. Dave Alloca/Starpix Lisa Marie Presley bears an unmistakable vocal resemblance to her father—and has solid songs to work with—but displayed little of his stage presence at her Gramercy Theatre show. As expected, a fair number of showgoers — particularly European visitors — were there to genuf...

 Q: So you're living in England now. Please tell me you live in a manor house with liveried footmen, like on "Downton Abbey." A: I don't. It's one of those conventional thatched-roof houses. They say it was a medieval house. I don't know what that means, but it's very interesting (looking). Q: Could you have made this new album if you hadn't moved to England? A: I could have made it, but it wouldn't have turned out the same. ... It took somebody not pushing me — giving me the space to do what I want — and I ended up doing the right thing. That's kind of what happened. I was set up to write with so many different writers, from pop to rock to electronic to just whatever — given so much freedom — I just wound up embracing what I should have embraced. Q: Was there a point in your life when you thought you might not make another album? A: I thought that a while ago. Then I thought, maybe if I just get drastic and change ev...