Today we’d like to introduce you to Meagan May.
Hi Meagan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Backbeat Tours is a small business formed in 2006 by author and historian Bill Patton. We wanted to change the whole nature of sightseeing tours–our goal has always been to give visitors and locals alike not simply a traditional tour with stories, dates, and a lot of talk, but a unique and special interactive experience they’ll never forget, something that truly brings Memphis to life.
Memphis has a compelling local history which has influenced and shaped popular culture to a degree far beyond other cities of comparable size. At Backbeat Tours, we believe that the best way to show that is through music, story, and fun.
Bill Patton is the author of The Guide to Historic Downtown Memphis and A History Lover’s Guide to Memphis & Shelby County, both for the History Press. He has always loved Memphis’ creative entrepreneurial spirit and dreamed of offering tours that would capture that spirit. The opportunity opened up for him in 2006 when he met three well-known Memphis entertainers who supported his vision for music tours led by real musicians. Papa Don McMinn (“The Pale Prince of Beale Street”), Eddie Harrison (former Stax musician and performer of the Billboard Top 100 Single “Your Eyes May Shine”), and Gary Hardy (former owner and chief engineer at Sun Studio) were the original entertainers for Backbeat Tours Memphis. Their combined knowledge of the Memphis music industry from the 1950s to today allowed us to craft truly unique and exceptional tours.
Backbeat Tours has grown quickly over the years and is now rated as one of Memphis’ top attractions. Growth hasn’t stopped us, though, from holding on to our personal touch. We’re a little family, and the satisfaction of our customers and our employees are our number one priority.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Obviously 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic was something that no one could have predicted, and it was tough. We were closed for 8 weeks and furloughed our entire staff (Bill included!) but we pulled through and came out the other side, I think, stronger. We had a better understanding then of how much Memphis and its story means to people from all over the world. We received calls and emails almost every day from people who were absolutely heart-broken that their trip was being cancelled and lots of promises (most of them kept!) to come back once things opened up again.
When the world did start to reopen, we saw a huge influx of people to Memphis in the immediate post-Covid years and it was so great to see how excited people were to be here and be a part of the city and to really immerse themselves in our history. I think the pandemic gave everyone a certain sense of pride in where they come from, but also the wonders of traveling to a new place and experiencing something outside the little bubble of home. When international traveler started returning to the U.S., I literally saw people from all over the world burst into tears or actually kiss the sidewalk on Beale St. (not something I’d normally recommend but under the circumstances, understandable). We so often take for granted living here, but this is a big deal for so many travelers from all over the world. I’ve known people to tell me they’ve spent years saving up to come to the Unites States specifically to see Memphis; everything else is secondary to them.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Backbeat was started with a simple idea: tell the story of Memphis music history in a unique way–by letting the musicians tell it. When Bill started Backbeat in 2006, he had uprooted his entire life in Washington, D.C. to make this dream come true. He found a few Beale St. musicians who shared his optimism and passion for music history, and he threw them onto an old bus with a microphone. What grew from that is now the country’s only live-music sightseeing tour. And since I joined the team in 2012, it has grown even more. What I thought was going to be a part-time gig has not become my career and I truly couldn’t have asked for a better one. I’ve trained new tour guides, helped create new tours, made contacts with and maintained partnerships with many different locations and professionals across Memphis to make us the best. It’s really what gets me up in the morning. I’m always excited to work; every day is something fresh.
It’s fair to say that our “specialty” is the Memphis Mojo Tour, but that isn’t the only tour we offer by far! In 20 years, we’ve expanded our offerings to include 7 daily tours that are open to the public, ranging in topic anywhere from general history, to music, to ghosts and true crime. We’ve truly got something for everyone and we have so many guests who end up booking multiple trips with us. I think that’s the thing we are most proud of: our diversity. We know that Memphis is not just music history, and it’s not just Elvis, and it’s not just barbecue. It’s all the other tiny things that have happened and are still happening in those every day moments by every day people that have shaped us. It’s the little dive bar on South Main that has become known as one of the most haunted buildings in the South; it’s the church that played host to a Civil Rights movement and became the home of the idea “I Am A Man”; it’s the Mississippi River and the ways that it has given us so much (and taken from us too).
The best part of our tours is definitely our tour guides. Not only are they all phenomenal people (artists, teachers, actors, musicians) but they are all so passionate about Memphis and sharing that passion with the world. It’s true that all of our tour guides have their own unique personalities, but we think it’s immensely important to allow them to share those personalities with our guests. We don’t want them talking from a “script”; of course everyone starts from the same point, but each of their tours ends up morphing into something entirely their own. It’s not uncommon for our guests to tell us “we took this tour 3 years ago with a different guide and now we’ve taken it with a new guide and it was entirely different but still amazing”. Letting our guides take the information we’ve gathered and make it their own is really the key to what sets Backbeat apart from other tours.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Bill Patton has written two books about Memphis: A Guide to Downtown Memphis (2010), and
A History Lover’s Guide to Memphis and Shelby County (2020). I’ve of course read them both, which are always great resources when I’m looking for exact information about anything! But outside of that, I have loved On This Day In Memphis History by Wayne Dowdy for those off-the-wall fun facts and glimpses into ordinary life throughout history.
I’m a true crime junkie (aren’t we all?) so I love podcasts on that topic. Of course I always keep my ears open for Memphis-based stories, and I was so thrilled to find two that are produced by Memphians and recorded right here too! “Cemetery Row” is a great one for historical information on all different kinds of people from all over the world, but one of the hosts, Sheena, has a special love for Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. And “You Can See Me in the Dark” is a Memphis-based podcast focused on first-account ghost stories.
Undoubtedly the thing that helps me the most is being a part of the tourism and hospitality community here in Memphis. From hotels, to restaurants, to other attractions–we’re all a big family and everyone is always willing to step in and help when one of us needs it most. I’ve made friends that have extended beyond just being “work colleagues” and most of have a genuine connection to each other. That’s not something you find often in other cities like Memphis, and it’s always so refreshing to know that we’ve got each others’ backs.
Pricing:
- We have 6 different tours we offer every day.
- We also offer private events and tours for any number of events that you might be celebrating (birthdays, anniversaries, friends getting together, corporate events, school groups) we do it ALL!
- Follow us on social media; we post lots of fun stuff and have some cool facts that will make you sound so smart to your friends!
- Stay tuned for new events surrounding our 20th anniversary this spring!
- We love Memphis and we look forward to serving this city for another 20 years (or more!)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.backbeattours.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backbeattours/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backbeat.tours
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@backbeattours/shorts
- Other: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g55197-d1792456-Reviews-Backbeat_Tours-Memphis_Tennessee.html
