This story was produced in collaboration with the Institute for Public Service Reporting.
If the walls of Memphis' Royal Studios could talk, they’d tell stories of Al Green, Tina Turner, John Mayer and Bruno Mars among others. After all, Royal has been around since 1956.
But last weekend, those walls were just listening. About 30 people arrived to take part in a sing-along coordinated by The BIG We, an organization honoring those who participated in the1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike.
Participants ranged in age from babies to grandparents. The eclectic choir joined voices on the song “Tomorrow” by Quincy Jones.
“Community and connection is natural for us as humans," said BIG We founder Anasa Troutman. "We're just out of practice. And this singing together is about practicing being in community and that's it. It's as simple as that.”
The room vibrated with laughter, chatter, smiles, hugs and tears of joy — a sense of camaraderie that seems rare these days. Those who showed up walked out of the studio with so much more than they expected.
Kristen Atkins and Jason Lyman were in town from Charlottesville, Va. and decided to attend the event.
“It was just amazing the warmth, the community, the joy of harmonizing together. Like, it was just incredible,” Atkins said.
Lyman added: “I mean, you got to be here. Just the feeling of being embraced by love and uniting in song is just incredible. It's hard to describe that feeling."
"And when they say anybody is welcome, they mean it," Atkins said.
Royal Studios owner and Grammy Award winner Boo Mitchell was not surprised by how the sing-along affected people. Music, he says, is transformative.
"I think music is the most important thing on the planet because everything is music," he said. "Your heartbeat has a tempo. The birds sing. Like, music is everywhere in all creation."
The last event of the series In This Place 2025 is scheduled for April 14 at MoSH Giant Screen Theater.
