Thursday, July 08, 2010

John Németh to appear, perform on 'Memphis Beat'



Photo credit: Pat Johnson

Singer and harmonica player John Németh has been turning lots of heads lately in the music world, and now he's been discovered by Hollywood. He will sing and appear in an upcoming episode of "Memphis Beat," a new television series on the TNT network.

Evyen Klean, music supervisor for the program, was looking for someone to sing a Howlin' Wolf song. After hearing Nemeth's recording of "Daughter of the Devil," John's original Wolf-like song, he knew he had his man. Originally, John was just supposed to record the vocal for the track, and an actor would later lip-synch to his recording for the cameras. But after witnessing John perform at the Los Angeles recording session, Klean lobbied the producers of the show to hire John for the onscreen role as well. So Németh headed off to New Orleans to face the cameras.

Says Klean, "As soon as I heard John I knew he would kill 'Who's Been Talking.' His voice and harp playing just resonated the blues and of course he nailed it at the recording session. It was then it hit me, Geez John you should be in the show, and asked him if he wanted to be on camera...The whole scenario from start to finish was organic and honest, John's a true artist."

On the show, Jason Lee plays a quirky Memphis police detective with a passion for blues. Music plays a vital role in the show. In the words of co-creator Liz W. Garcia, "Music is a huge part of this show. It has to be. You can't live in Memphis and not have your life steeped in music."
Németh appears in Episode 6 of the series, entitled "Suspicious Minds," which will be broadcast on July 27, 2010. The TV appearance is the latest media coup for the singer since the May release of his CD, Name The Day! He was just featured on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition," recorded an interview for the nationally-syndicated "House of Blues Hour" radio program, and is scheduled to sing the National Anthem in front of a sellout crowd in San Francisco prior to a Giants-Dodgers game later this month.

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