It's summer 2020. Like every summer in this part of Tennessee, about an hour or so from Beale Street, it's hot and humid. Recently, I received a CD by Victor Wainwright & The Train, titled Memphis Loud. I started playing it, and I'm glad I did. Like so many people from families with lots of talent, such as the Marsalis and Newman families, Victor Wainwright is not only a member of that Wainwright family, he writes and performs music that is amazing, and perfectly his own.

The opening song on Memphis Loud, "Mississippi," is honky-tonk dance music with lyrics that light up your body and make you want to sing along with its righteous words and rhythms. Having lived at both ends of the Mississippi, in Minnesota and Louisiana, I know the river, and its soul flows in and out of the many twists and bends within. Memphis still has a train station that people use with regularity to travel to many parts, including New Orleans.

As Wainwright sings, his fingers dance along the keyboard like a cat on a hot tin roof. He's also backed by a great band, The Train, providing vocals, drums, percussion, bass, guitar, baritone and tenor sax, clarinet, flugelhorn and a heavenly harmonica, with everyone singing "Everybody Start a Party." It is infectious and delightful.

If you seek Victor Wainwright out on YouTube, as I did, you will see for yourself that he puts his passion and his soul into every song he composes and performs. His joy and his dancing on the keyboards are effervescent. Every song on this CD is terrific, and holds true to the promise of Memphis Loud. I encourage you to listen to Memphis Loud and join the party.