About MLL
History
The Memphis Listening Lab is made possible through the benevolence of Memphian John King. King’s donation of tens of thousands of records, CDs, and books, along with a rich assortment of music memorabilia, forms the basis of the Memphis Listening Lab collection.
John King’s lifelong involvement in Memphis music began in high school in 1959 when he partnered with John Fry and Fred Smith to form the Ardent Records label. King went on to work in radio at KCAT as well as radio promotions and published the Gideon B. Matthews radio programming guide for many years. In the 1970’s, King became head of promotions at Ardent and broke iconic Memphis rock band Big Star by organizing the now infamous National Association of Rock Writers’ Convention in Memphis in 1973.
Over the years, King amassed the incredibly vast and diverse collection of music that the Memphis Listening Lab houses for the public’s enjoyment and benefit. The Memphis Listening Lab exists today due to the lifelong vision, bona fide great taste, and utmost generosity of John King.
Board Members
Tonya Dyson
Tonya Dyson is at the forefront of today’s Memphis soul scene. Not only is she an accomplished singer and songwriter, but she is the founder of Neosoulville and the Soulsville USA Festival. She also serves as the Executive Director for the Memphis Slim House– providing local musicians with collaborative space, financial support, and help in navigating the business side of music.
Catrina Traylor
After serving four years for local non-profit Memphis Music Foundation, Catrina devoted seven years to Memphis’ own legendary Rock 103 as Producer/Host and On-Air Personality of station’s local music program Memphis Made. She is currently PR/Marketing Representative for one of the fastest growing record plants in North America – Memphis Record Pressing. Catrina also supports Memphis Music by representing the board of Music Export Memphis and the Memphis Chapter of the Recording Academy.
Sherman Willmott
Sherman Willmott began Shangri-la Records and helped to create the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. He currently owns the record label, production company, and publisher Shangri-la Projects.
Kortland Whalum
Kortland Whalum is a singer-songwriter and actor, recording and touring with world-renowned artists including Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Kortland has also starred in stage productions of The Wiz, AIDA, and Raisin. From 2016-2020, Kortland was the Vocal Director of the Stax Music Academy, responsible for the day-to-day activities for vocalists of the Stax Music Academy. Kortland has ushered in a new generation of aspiring musicians with the help of Justin Timberlake and the Stax Music Academy songwriting cohort.
Matt Ross-Spang
Matt Ross-Spang is a Grammy-winning engineer and producer who has worked with John Prine, Jason Isbell, Al Green, Margo Price and a host of others. He was the chief engineer at Sun Studios and now operates his Southern Grooves Productions.
Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson is the owner and chief designer at EgglestonWorks loudspeakers. For over 20 years he has traveled the globe promoting his Memphis-based company. Locally, he has been instrumental in the musically-focused Central Station Hotel development. Jim helped to conceptualize the MLL and has designed a reference-level listening experience within the Lab called the SoundRoom.
Ryan Schell
Ryan Schell has a 30 year background in sales and client relations, having spent the last 18 years in Orthopedic sales in the Memphis area. He has served on numerous non-profit boards including 9 years with Shelby Farms Park Conservancy and is currently serving as a Trustee for his high school alma mater, Trinity-Pawling School in Pawling, NY. He and his wife Mary live in East Memphis and have three teenagers.
Jeff Powell
Jeff has been recording, mixing and producing records for more than 30 years – working with a who’s who of musical legends, from Bob Dylan and B.B. King to Glyn Johns and Eddie Kramer. Jeff served as staff assistant engineer, then engineer/ mixer and finally producer at Memphis’ legendary Ardent Studios from ’89-’97. Jeff’s company, Take Out Vinyl, is now cutting vinyl records on his Neumann VMS 70, and he has cut well over a thousand records to date.
Lawrence Matthews, III
Lawrence Matthews is an artist from Memphis, TN working in music, photography, painting and filmmaking. Matthews has had many group and solo exhibitions spanning galleries and museums across the mid-south as well as the residency program at Crosstown Arts. His exploration of photography has focused on areas and moments within black communities in Memphis that have been greatly affected by gentrification, systematic disenfranchisement and city planning.
