“We’re the real deal,” Archie Turner said as he packed up his keyboard at 4 a.m. at Wild Bill’s, a dive bar, barbecue spot and soul joint that is one of the area’s most belovedly ragged destinations. Mr. Turner, 64, is the stepson of the late Willie Mitchell, a record producer who put out seminal albums by the likes of Al Green at Hi Records, his studio around the corner from the better-known Stax. Memphis rewards localism and loyalty  Hi Records is still open today  but there is also room for renewal.

New spots like Minglewood Hall, a 1,500-person concert space, and Nocturnal, where the Electrocity crew sometimes holds parties, are giving Midtown a revamped cultural bite. If you don’t mind staying up, you can get a feel for it in one weekend. And Memphis is small enough, and welcoming enough, that you may meet someone in a bar one night and encounter that person at a party the next. Its hospitality is infectious.

You might start out, as I did, with a drink at the Cove, a bar that appears unassuming from the outside but serves inventive cocktails like the Vampire, a take on the Bloody Mary, with tequila, tomato juice, red chili salt and balsamic vinegar. It’s got a New Orleans style and a nautical theme, with a mast extending over the bar, peeling paint (there’s a lot of peeling paint in Memphis), ragged booths (ditto) and kitschy murals of sailors. The menu includes oysters and Café du Monde coffee; movies along the lines of “Brazil” play in lieu of sports.

The Cove is on the eastern edge of Midtown, a recently blighted area where artists have taken root. Not far away is the Odessa Gallery, which explores visual art, music and technology with a D.I.Y. bent. Old warehouses have been carved into studios by enterprising artists, and the Historic Broad Business Association sponsors an annual gallery tour. “The commercial galleries are real conservative, but what Memphis really excels in is a lot of alternative spaces,” said Dwayne Butcher, an artist who has been documenting the community in a blog, artbutcher.blogspot.com, for several years.

Visual art has its place in Memphis  Mr. Butcher said the scene was “always on the verge”  but music is ever present. Nearly every bar features a band a night or two a week. And whenever there is a buzz-worthy show at the Young Avenue Deli or the Hi-Tone Cafe, two clubs that anchor the indie scene in Midtown, it seems as if everyone turns out.