Involvement in The University of Memphis' ensemble group Sound Fuzion has scored five students a spotlight in this year's Beale Street Music Festival, sharing the same stage as artists Cee Lo Green and Sublime.
Opening for the two groups is Memphis-based rapper Alphonzo Bailey, best known by stage name Al Kapone, and his band of five U of M students, each of whom are currently a part of or have performed with Sound Fuzion.
Kapone's band consists of lead guitarist Matt Uselton, senior finance major; bass player Will Hanlon, senior hospitality major; background vocalist Taylor Pfohl, senior music business major; background vocalist Jessica Griffin, junior interdisciplinary studies major; and keyboardist Claude Hinds, senior jazz performance major.
"Al is a great guy who really has a passion for the Memphis music scene and has always shown respect and gratitude toward the fans who follow him and have supported him throughout his career," said Uselton, who has worked with Kapone for two-and-a-half years. "It's been an honor and a privilege to work alongside such great musicians and amazing people. They really are a family to me."
By Uselton's recommendation, Hanlon joined the group a year ago. The others will be linking up with Kapone for the first time this year at Music Fest thanks to Uselton and Hanlon's references.
"They pitched me, and I was in. It was awesome," Pfohl said. "This is my first year, and I hope to not make it my last."
Griffin, the only woman in Kapone's group, will be playing at this year's Music Fest for the first time as well.
"I'm looking forward to the great experience, exposure, great networking — and, of course, the crowd — because I love to perform," she said.
Kapone is most famous for his involvement in the soundtrack to the film "Hustle & Flow," for which he wrote the two main songs, "Whoop That Trick" and "Hustle & Flow (It Ain't Over)," and performed another, "Get Crunk, Get Buck."
Uselton, who has played guitar since he was 11 and in professional settings for the past eight years, credits his love for music to his father, who started his career playing on Beale Street in the R&B jazz band South Soul Rhythm Section, comprised of boys under age 18.
"Music has always been my life," Uselton said. "My dad played his vinyl records of Michael Jackson and ZZ Top when I was 4 years old, and I was hooked."
Uselton doesn't just affiliate with Sound Fuzion and Kapone. For the past year, he has been teaching several forms of guitar, including electric, acoustic, bass and ukulele, to students at Dance Arts Inc. in Germantown. He said he is also working with Hanlon, Pfohl and two others "creating all kinds of styles in the studio."
"At heart I am a blues guitarist," Uselton said. "My biggest influences are local virtuosos like Eric Gales and Shawn Lane, but I take a lot of my style from guitar legends like Jimi Hendrix and Slash. My philosophy is that music is an extension of your soul, and being a great musician is not about how much theory you know or what kind of equipment you use. It all comes down to the story you tell through your music — the emotions people can feel when they listen to you."
Kapone and his band are scheduled to take the Memphis Area Teachers' Credit Union stage Sunday night at 5:25, just after Ziggy Marley and before Cee Lo Green.
