Hailing from Beavertown, Oregon, singer guitarist Brandon Summers and drummer-keyboardist Benjamin Weikel started playing together in 1996. Three years later, the duo self-produced their first EP and officially formed The Helio Sequence. After years of crafting their musical style, the duo garnered a significant amount of recognition with the success of Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop Records).

If Aaron Embry's name doesn't sound familiar, the names of his previous collaborators certainly will. Embry recently played as a pianist in Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, but also worked with Elliott Smith, Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris. Multifacted and multi-talented, in 2009 alone, Embry both composed a score for Yukio Mishima's silent film, Patriotism, and also produced Avi Buffalo's debut album. Yet throughout his diverse, nearly two-decade career, Embry never released a solo album - until now.

Father John Misty is quite a character. And he is a character invented by Josh Tillman to hang his rock and roll persona on.

"Foxygen blend their love of classic rock and psychedelic music in to something fresh and new and very well crafted. They manage to spin the past into the future like magicians."

I Bet on Sky, the recent release by alt-rock band Dinosaur Jr. has generated highly favorable reviews for its explosive energy and its perfect use of feedback and distortion. Attempting to reemerge in the rock scene, the band spent a significant amount of time crafting and strategically engineering its albums following the trio’s reunion. Performing at a variety of well-known music venues, the trio has been sharpening their musical talent in order to capture the attention of all music aficionados.

Tanlines, the drum and guitar plus electronics duo from Brooklyn, put out their debut album Mixed Emotions last summer. The steel drum sounds and, of course their name, went perfectly with the season.

Formed in 2007, the Kopecky Family Band recently released their long-awaited full-length debut, Kids Raising Kids. Although none of six the members of the Kopecky Family Band are blood-related, they function as if they were a real and integrated family. With a brief listen to this band’s music, one can immediately appreciate the band’s strong sense of congruence that every band dreams of having.

Star & Micey bring a fresh perspective on the Memphis music scene, where they’re currently thriving. The band was named #1 on Paste magazine’s list of 12 Tennessee Bands You Should Listen to Now; they were also our World Cafe: Next artist this week.

This session of Sense of Place Memphis focuses on Reverend John Wilkins. Wilkins' introduction to music came from his talented father. Wilkins is the son of Reverend Robert Wilkins, who originally wrote "Prodigal Son," made famous by the Rolling Stones.

It’s on to Royal Studio on our Sense of Place tour of Memphis today.

That’s where Al Green, Ann Peebles and others made some of the seventies most important soul music for Hi Records.