Soul of Memphis: A Musician’s Driving Tour of Hidden History

Get ready to experience Memphis the way musicians do – through the stories, legends, and hidden corners where the city’s soul was born.

I’m Brandon Cunning, a local musician and longtime Memphis storyteller. On this driving tour, I’ll take you beyond the postcard stops and into the real places where blues was shaped, rock ’n’ roll was born, and civil rights history left its mark on the world.

The tour starts at the Tennessee Welcome Center, with its statues of Elvis and BB King watching over the river. You’ll drive past the glittering Memphis Pyramid and the cobblestones where steamboats once unloaded cotton and music, and into the beating heart of Beale Street – the same route musicians took from the riverboats to the bars.

You’ll hear how a broken sanitation system sparked a movement at Clayborn Temple, why the “I Am A Man” plaza still matters, and what really happened the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched through Memphis.

You’ll pass the neon glow of Sun Studio where Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis made history. I’ll also point out the Overton Park Shell, where a young Elvis shocked the crowd into the era of rock ’n’ roll in 1954. The tour ends on Union Avenue, at the corner of South Pauline street, next to the Walgreens store.

During this 90-minute driving tour, you’ll also have a chance to see:

• Victorian mansions that were home to Memphis’s elite in the 1800s
• The Hunt-Phelan Home and its Civil War secrets
• Winchester Park, one of Memphis’s earliest neighborhoods
• The original Lansky Brothers shop, where Elvis found “his look”
• Panoramic river views and hidden landmarks that most visitors miss

This tour isn’t just a history lesson. It’s an inside look at the people, places, and stories that shaped American music and culture. Whether you’re an Elvis fan, a blues lover, or simply curious about the real Memphis, by the end of this tour, you’ll see the city with new eyes.

Let’s hit the road! The soul of Memphis is waiting.