Young listeners of old-school R & B may recognize the names of Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, and Booker T. and the M.G.’s, but do they know the record label behind their music?

Until recently, I fell into the category of music listeners who knew the songs and musicians but didn’t know the label that released their albums. It was not until I began my internship at the Center for Folklife and Culture Heritage that I was pulled into the history of Stax Records through the electrifying sound of the Stax Music Academy, who participated in the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festival program Youth and the Future of Culture.

Stax music history began in 1957 when Jim Stewart, a fiddle player living in Memphis, Tennessee, founded Satellite Records to produce and distribute folk music. When that dream didn’t pan out, he asked his sister, Estelle Axton, to invest in his work; the resulting business took the name “Stax” from the first two letters of each of their last names. Looking for different ways to attract listeners to their label, Stewart and Axton rented out an old movie theater in Memphis and bought a recorder. Thus, in September 1961, Stax Records was born.

Youth were always the driving force behind production and the target audience for Stax Records. Carla Thomas, known as the Queen of Memphis Soul, was in high school when her single, “Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)” hit the charts. Isaac Hayes, whose career took off in the 1970s, was twenty-five when he wrote “Soul Man” for Stax artists Sam & Dave. Otis Redding’s first single at Stax, “These Arms of Mine,” debuted in 1962 when he was only twenty-one. He tragically passed at the age of twenty-six, shortly after the release of his iconic song “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.”

Stax expanded throughout the 1960s at the height of the civil rights movement, and Black youth in 1960s Memphis looked to Stax as a representative and comforting space that fostered community.

“I like to see Stax music as the soundtrack of Black history,” Brandon Wooten, of the Stax Music Academy’s 910 Band, expressed in a Folklife Festival narrative session about the label’s legacy.

In that session, the academy’s music director, Sam Franklin IV, shared the moment in Stax history that is special to him: the 1966 Stax Volt Tour in Europe, “because many of the Stax artists were very young.” This tour not only cemented the international presence of Stax Records, but the artists themselves realized just how far their music reached. As Franklin pointed out, “Stax gave [these young artists] opportunities that they never thought they would have, which is the same mission we have at Stax Music Academy.”  

The founding of the Stax Music Academy (SMA) in 2000 was a natural evolution of Stax Records’ goal to uplift youth in Memphis, both musically and professionally, and build in them a strong sense of self.

SMA creates opportunities for young artists to learn their craft and expand on the unique, but often unrecognized, legacy of Stax. As part of the Memphis-based Soulsville Foundation, which “perpetuates the soul of Stax Records by preserving its rich cultural legacy, educating youth to be prepared for life success, and inspiring future artists to achieve their dreams,” they offer classes in songwriting, music theory, business, and life skills.

Now, in its twenty-fifth year, the academy has cemented its role as a resource for young musicians, as shown through the professional careers of former students such as bassist MonoNeon and singer Evvie McKinney.

During the Festival, the Stax Music Academy’s 910 Band, which performs R&B and soul classics from the Stax Records catalog, funk, and jazz, pulled visitors in with their dynamic vocals, old-school choreography, and unwavering energy. I witnessed several passersby change their course as they heard strong vocals pouring from the Festival Main Stage, redirecting themselves to the audience to join in the celebration. Watching SMA felt like a celebration indeed—a heartfelt tribute to the history of Stax Records and a recognition of the freedom we all deserve to move like we’re young, relish in community, and be joyous. 

SMA students embody a rich legacy, showing that the knowledge transfer within the academy goes beyond what can be taught—providing a necessary space for that which can only be felt and fostered. As student Iriana Greene expressed at the Festival, “A lot of people are influenced by the music we sing and play because of the fact that there is history behind Stax. Stax is history.”

Morgan Joiner is a curatorial intern and family activities coordinator for the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. She is a recent graduate of Howard University with a bachelor of arts in history and enjoys music, reading, and DJing.

References

Robert M.J. Bowman, Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records (2006)

Bill C. Malone, Charles Wilson, editors, The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 12: Music (2014)