Paul Duane
Tad Pierson adopted Memphis history as his entrepreneurial calling, with a tour business and his Imaginarium Indoor Trailer Park.
Tour guide, folk artist and cultural impresario Tad Pierson is a Memphis original.
He's a familiar sight in town, often glimpsed at the wheel of his old-school pink Cadillac, giving Bluff City visitors a look at the town's lesser-known haunts as part of his American Dream Safari tours.
Sixteen years after first arriving here, the Kansas native remains smitten. "I still love Memphis," says Pierson. "It's been a place where I've really been able to immerse myself in the things that appeal to me."
This weekend, a crew of local musicians and artists will offer their time and talents to help raise money for Pierson to
maintain his Downtown living and art space, the Imaginarium Indoor Trailer Park.
A concert will be held tonight at the location, featuring music from Burning Sands, Lamar Sorrento and Robby and Five Grant. Local visual artists, including Greely Myatt and Johnny Taylor, will also donate their work as part of a charity auction.
A former English teacher, Pierson began giving his American Dream Safari tours in the late-'80s while living in New Mexico, taking passengers down the literal and proverbial back roads of America along the famous Route 66.
In 1995, he moved to Memphis, where he continued American Dream Safari in the cradle of blues, soul and rock and roll.
Pierson's journeys into the historic heart of Memphis — taking in the former homes of celebrity icons like Johnny Cash, clubs like Wild Bill's, and various churches and restaurants — were soon heralded internationally, earning him rave write-ups in magazines like Esquire and Travel+Leisure.
"Tad heard Memphis calling him," says Bluff City musical and cultural historian Robert Gordon, "but he's done much more than just absorb everything here. He's been a great guide and educator of individuals. He's had a lot of impact."
Even an expert like Gordon says he was moved by Pierson's vision.
"I went on the tour, and the city has never looked better than through the window of Tad's 1955 Cadillac," Gordon says. "Whether you're steeped in a knowledge of the city or visiting for the first time, to go to those historic locations can be a powerful experience."
"What Tad does is maintain the power of those moments between stops with photos, with music and with his knowledge and storytelling."
In addition to his tour business, Pierson was a catalyst in the performance space Stop 345 on Madison near Downtown and also created his own Memphis Mary's brand of barbecue-accented Bloody Mary mix, which is carried by numerous local retailers.
Pierson also developed a sideline as a folk artist, creating "hillbilly" holiday wreaths, furniture and murals from reconstituted tires.
Four years ago, Pierson moved into the 7,500-square-foot Imaginarium, a living quarters and warehouse space adjacent to Stop 345. The space operates as a piece of functional folk art: It's strewn with vintage Airsteam trailers, retro bric-a-brac and offbeat mementos stretching from the Eisenhower to Nixon eras.
The Imaginarium's unique setting has made it an ideal backdrop for numerous film and commercial shoots, including several by Gordon.
"Tad has boiled down his ideas about Memphis into what's in that space," says Gordon, who shot part of his most recent film, a portrait of former Sun Records outlaw singer Jerry McGill, at Pierson's. "It sort of defines his ethos in a way, which is very Memphis-centric: It's about funk, flavor and feel."
This weekend's benefit events will go to help Pierson, hit hard by a slow tourist economy, preserve the space. In addition to the "house rent" party concert tonight, Pierson will open up Imaginarium for a tour and "yard sale" on Saturday.
Pierson is still confident that his "Made in Memphis" ethic will continue to survive and thrive.
"There's been some madcap Memphis entrepreneurs that have made it ahead of me: Kemmons Wilson, Sam Phillips," says Pierson. "Memphis is a town that produces eccentric thinkers. I like that kind of atmosphere, so I feel like I belong."
A Benefit to Preserve Tad Pierson's Imaginarium Indoor Trailer Park
Featuring music by Robby and Five Grant, Lamar Sorrento, Burning Sands and DJ Robert Gordon. 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. today. The event will also include an art auction, bull riding, photo booth and games.
On Saturday, the public is welcome to tour the space and attend a "yard sale" starting at 10 a.m.
343 Madison. General donations welcome. For more information, go to americandreamsafari.com or call (901) 428-3602
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Comments » 1
Sagefarmer writes:
And formerly local artist, me, has also donated a piece.
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