Tonight at 10pm, ACANSA partners with the Oxford American to present Memphis soul band The Bo-Keys as part of the 2015 ACANSA Arts Festival! The concert starts at 10:00 PM with doors opening at 5:00 PM. South on Main will be open for normal dinner service prior to the concert. If you have tickets and intend to dine before the concert, you may make reservations for 8:30 p.m. or later by calling South on Main at (501) 244-9660.

Tickets for The Bo-Keys are $15 each, and all seating is general admission. Seating at tables is limited and assigned on a first-come, first-seated basis when doors open. Purchase individual tickets to The Bo-Keys via Metrotix.com, or by calling (800) 293-5949. ACANSA Festival Pass buyers are also permitted entry to this concert. For more info on ACANSA passes click here.

The word “soul” has powerful resonance—musically, culturally and spiritually—and no contemporary band embodies the power of soul more than The Bo-Keys.

Through two critically acclaimed albums and four singles, as well as international appearances at major festivals and clubs, The Bo-Keys have kept the spirit of classic Memphis music alive, while also writing a vital new chapter for the sound and style that’s etched into the fiber of American consciousness.

The Bo-Keys’ multi-generational cast of players—some in their eighth decade—bring a high level of virtuosity developed cutting literally hundreds of hits during the ’60s and ’70s to those recordings. Or, in the case of younger members like Bomar, hundreds of hours digesting those records. But onstage, they embody the lively spirit of Memphis soul, digging in hard to deliver the deep grooves and wealth of emotions at the style’s core as they take the music around the world, making such prestigious stops as California’s Doheny Blues Festival, the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon, and Italy’s Poretta Soul Festival. The Bo-Keys have also supported the fabled soul singers Rufus and Carla Thomas, William Bell, Otis Clay, Sam Moore, Eddie Floyd, and Syl Johnson in concert.

Skip Pitts, a funk-soul innovator whose numerous credits include cutting the wah-wah guitar introduction to “Theme From Shaft,” was Scott Bomar‘s partner in founding The Bo-Keys along with trumpeter Marc Franklin. Franklin cut his teeth touring with Bobby “Blue” Bland before becoming a first-call R&B session player, and today tours with Gregg Allman. Joe Restivo replaced Pitts after his death in 2012. Restivo also plies his exceptional soul and jazz guitar vocabulary as leader of the all-instrumental band the City Champs. The Bo-Keys’ remaining elder statesmen include drummer Howard Grimes, who drove Stax and Hi Records hits for Ann Peebles, Al Green and others. Organist Archie “Hubby” Turner was also part of the Hi Rhythm Section, playing on historic sessions for Green, Peebles, O.V. Wright, and more. Trumpeter Ben Cauley was a charter member of the Bar Kays. That band cut the smash “Soul Finger” for Stax and toured behind Otis Redding. Cauley was the sole survivor of the plane crash that claimed Redding and his bandmates. He continued to record at Stax with Isaac Hayes and the Staples Singers. And vocalist Percy Wiggins has a long and storied history in gospel and soul music. He began performing at age thirteen with his brother Spencer and sister Maxine in the New Rival Gospel Singers, and went on to cut sides in the ’60s for the RCA and Atco labels with a band that included a pre-fame Jimi Hendrix. The Bo-Keys horn section includes relative youngsters Kirk Smothers and Art Edmaiston on saxes, plus Franklin on trumpet. Edmaiston is also a member of Gregg Allman’s band.