New York City recently got a heavy dose of soul, courtesy of local band the Bo-Keys.

In July, the group stormed the Big Apple, playing a sold-out headlining show at Brooklyn's hip venue Southpaw, and then took the stage the following night at the famed Lincoln Center for an R&B revue concert that found them backing genre legends including Stax Records great William Bell, '50s Harlem girl-group the Bobettes, and Midwest soul showman Harvey Scales.

"It was pretty crazy," says Bo-Keys band leader Scott Bomar of the trip. "People were really excited and hungry for that music up there. A lot of people there are really into that soul sound, especially the Memphis soul sound."

On Saturday, the Bo-Keys will bring that sound back home, as they perform at the Center for Southern Folklore's Memphis Music & Heritage Festival.

The Bo-Keys -- a multi-generational R&B outfit featuring classic-era Stax players like guitarist Skip Pitts, trumpeter Ben Cauley and singer John Gary

Williams, as well as several younger musicians like Bomar -- have established itself as the go-to backing band in the old-school R&B world.

The band's latest triumph came as part of their involvement with the Ponderosa Stomp, the New Orleans-based roots music organization that stages an annual festival in the Crescent City, and has expanded its reach with package concerts in Austin and, most recently, the show at Lincoln Center.

For Bomar, who grew up idolizing many of the artists he now backs, there's a deep connection and history behind their collaborative work.

"A lot of the artists are people we're friends with," says Bomar. "And Ben Cauley and Skip Pitts have known a lot of those guys since the '60s. So there are relationships that go way back, many decades. And, obviously, a lot of the work we do comes from the Ponderosa Stomp. They've hired us to back up artists for the Stomp events and that's largely how we've ended up playing behind so many great people."

That work on stage has extended into the studio for the Bo-Keys, who've recorded new tracks with Scales and Bell in recent months. Earlier this year Bomar released a Scales/Bo-Keys split single on his own Electraphonic label; another split pairing the band with Bell is due later this year. "And next year we'll probably compile those singles, plus some new stuff we've recorded for a Bo-Keys full-length," adds Bomar.

Bomar has been trying to keep the Memphis soul tradition alive through his Electraphonic label. In addition to the singles, he also recently released a full-length by local organ-soul combo The City Champs. "I definitely want to keep it going as a consistent thing," says Bomar of the label. "It's mostly for projects that I'm really close to and that are personal and fun. The way the record business is now, it's so crazy; it's nice to know that I have a way to get records out myself if I need to do that."

Between his Bo-Keys and label commitments, Bomar's been busy with work at his Electraphonic studio, located in Downtown's South Main district. Over the past year he's recorded a variety of projects, including tracks for Jay Reatard, Willem Maker, and Jason Mraz's Grooveline Horns.

Bomar, who established the studio in 2007, says that while he's set up with modern accouterments like ProTools, most of his clients come looking for a classic analog sound. "I have the computers and all that. But I have a console the same type that was in Muscle Shoals Sound and Criteria in Miami, in the '70s, and I have a one-inch 8-track tape machine -- a Scully, which is the same kind they had at Stax -- plus a lot of old mics and vintage equipment. These days, nearly every project I get, they come to me because they know that I do (analog) tape. That's the sound most people are looking for."

Somehow, in the midst of his many projects, Bomar has found time to revive his much-revered '90's instrumental rock act Impala. The group, which recently performed at the Antenna Club Reunion, is booked for several more shows in the coming months, including the opening of film director Mike McCarthy's "Cigarette Girl" next week. "In the past, Impala would get together and play a show, and then we wouldn't play again for two years. But, this time, we've had so many people book us for things we don't have a choice, they're making us play," says Bomar, laughing.

While he juggles his various projects, Bomar is eagerly anticipating the Bo-Keys set at the upcoming Music & Heritage Festival. "It's always special to come play the [festival] and be back in Memphis," he says. "As much as we love playing for people in New York or Europe, or wherever, there's nothing like playing at home."

Memphis Music & Heritage Festival

Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. in Downtown Memphis on Main Street, from Peabody Place to Gayoso Avenue. Free. For more information, call 525-3655.

SATURDAY

Verizon Wireless Stage

Main Street and Peabody Place

2 p.m. Ghost Town Blues Band

3 p.m. Smoochy Smith & Hooch

4 p.m. Devil Train Bluegrass

5 p.m. Sweet Angel

6 p.m. The Bo-Keys

7 p.m. Los Cantadores

8 p.m. Elmo & The Shades

9 p.m. The Brown Singers

10 p.m. Bobby Rush

ArtsMemphis Stage

On Peabody Place at Gayoso Lane

11:15 a.m. Dandelion & The Raindrops

11:45 p.m. Watoto Memphis

12:30 p.m. New Ballet

1 p.m. Elaine Blanchard-Voices of the South Children's

1:30 p.m. Chinese Dance & Martial Arts

2 p.m. Desert Rose Dancers

2:30 p.m. Kenneth Jackson Basically Blues

3 p.m. Watoto Memphis

3:45 p.m. The Tennessee Boltsmokers

5 p.m. Johnny Yancey & The Sanctuary Jazz Orchestra

5:45 p.m. The Millennium Maddness Fancy Trick Drill & Drum Show Team

6 p.m. Currie Williams My Stories and My Art

6:30 p.m. Last Chance Jug Band

7:30 p.m. Barbara Blue

8:30 p.m. Jack Oblivian & The Tearjerkers

9:30 p.m. Amy LaVere

Folklore Store Stage

12:15 p.m. David Bowen

2:15 p.m. Mary Unobsky & Kim Richardson

3:15 p.m. Tori Norton

4:15 p.m. Roy Harper

5:15 p.m. Kim Richardson

6:15 p.m. Slidin' Clyde Roulette

7:15 p.m. Paul Taylor

8:15 p.m. Sidney, Cidney, Sidney

9:15 p.m. William Lee Ellis

10:15 p.m. Hope Clayburn & Soul Scrimmage

Folklore Hall Stage

12:45 p.m. Los Cantadores Trio

1:45 p.m. Greg Hisky & His Whisky Dixie Flyers

2:45 p.m. The Jumpin' Chi Chis

3:45 p.m. The Annointed Cowans Singers

4:45 p.m. Chris Parker & Kelley Hurt

5:45 p.m. Grassfire

6:45 p.m. The Sensational Six

7:45 p.m. Eddie Bond

8:45 p.m. Joyce Cobb & Hot Fun

Comcast Gayoso Stage

Main Street at Gayoso Avenue

1:30 p.m. Mr. White

2:30 p.m. Deborah Swiney

3:30 p.m. Agitators Blues

4:30 p.m. Tempeh Four

5:30 p.m. The Moments of Joy

6:30 p.m. John Paul Keith & The One Four Five's

7:30 p.m. Victor Wainwright

8:30 p.m. Al Kapone

9:30 p.m. Exodus

SUNDAY

Verizon Wireless Stage

Main Street at Peabody Place

2 p.m. The Golden Keys

3 p.m. Delta Highway

4 p.m. Billy Lavender with Brad Webb & The Pocket Rockets

5 p.m. Sonny Burgess & the Pacers

6 p.m. Giant Bear

7 p.m. The Mellowtones

8 p.m. Blind Mississippi Morris

9 p.m. Jason D. Williams

10:15 p.m. Darrel Petties & SIP

ArtsMemphis Stage

Peabody Place at Gayoso Lane

11:15 a.m. Music for Aardvarks Memphis

12:00 p.m. Watoto Memphis

12:45 p.m. New Ballet

1:15 p.m. Currie Williams My Stories and My Art

1:30 p.m. Randal Morton

2:00 p.m. Edward Oluokun Yoruba

2:30 p.m. Pyramid Dancers

3:00 p.m. Watoto Memphis Dancers

4:00 p.m. Two Way Radio

5:00 p.m. Mark "The Muleman" Massey

6:00 p.m. Singing Southern Jubilees

6:45 p.m. Sunshine and Ladia Yates

7:15 p.m. Fitz's Ultimate Cooking Hookers Music That Smells Good

8:15 p.m. The Papa Tops West Coast Turn Around

9:15 p.m. Tonya Dyson & Green Onions

Folklore Store Stage

1:15 p.m. Hattie Childress

2:15 p.m. Joe Scott

3:15 p.m. Roy Harper

4:15 p.m. David Evans

5:15 p.m. Dan Montgomery Trio

6:15 p.m. Niko Lyras & Vicki Loveland

7:15 p.m. Super Chikan

8:15 p.m. Ms Nickki & the Soul Survivors

9:15 p.m. Valerie June Trio

Folklore Hall Stage

12:45 p.m. Los Cantadores Trio

1:45 p.m. Nancy Apple

2:45 p.m. Promise

3:45 p.m. Memphis Klezmer Allstars

4:45 p.m. Dani

5:45 p.m. Gary Topper Trio

6:45 p.m. Lisa Lambert & The Pine Ridge Boys

7:45 p.m. Orange Mound Jazz Messengers

8:45 p.m. Kate Campbell

Comcast Gayoso Stage

Main Street at Gayoso Avenue

1:30 p.m. Mr. White

2:30 p.m. JD Reager & The Cold-Blooded

3:30 p.m. Charles Johnson & Kwest

4:30 p.m. Gospel Jubilees

5:30 p.m. Will Graves

6:30 p.m. Bluff City Backsliders

7:30 p.m. FreeWorld featuring Dr. Herman Green

8:30 p.m. Susan Marshall

9:30 p.m. The Daddy Mack Blues Band