Memphis Flyer 11/03/2022

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SHARA CLARK

SAMUEL X. CICCI

Editor

JACKSON BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN

Editors

TOBY SELLS

Editor

KAILYNN JOHNSON

MCCOY

GREENE

ABIGAIL MORICI

Editor

MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS

GENE GARD, COCO JUNE, RICHARD MURFF, FRANK MURTAUGH

Columnists

AIMEE STIEGEMEYER, SHARON BROWN

Reporters

ANDREA FENISE

Editor

KENNETH NEILL

Publisher

CARRIE BEASLEY

Art Director

MYERS

Art Director

WILLIAMS

Designer

JERRY D. SWIFT

Director Emeritus KELLI DEWITT, CHIP GOOGE, HAILEY THOMAS

Account Executives

MICHELLE MUSOLF

Executive

CHET HASTINGS

Facilitator

JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN

Hello, dear readers. You’ve probably seen my name within these pages by now, mostly in this space or in the back in Last Word or a byline to the occasional music or food feature. Today, you’re seeing it for the rst time with me as this paper’s editor-in-chief. And I’d like to formally introduce myself.

I picked up my rst copy of the Memphis Flyer more than 20 years ago as a edgling writer — and an outspoken, screw-the-system teenager — on the newspaper sta at my northern Mississippi high school. Once a week, I’d drive to my favorite local music store, Disc-O-Tech (shout-out to Tomcatt who’s still keeping it going in Southaven!), and grab a copy. It gave me easy access to the big city that then felt worlds apart but lay just across the state line. In many ways, the paper’s voice — edgy, bold, and unapologetic — matched that of mine, even then, as a determined kid with much to learn.

It was nearly 15 years ago that I drove to the Memphis Flyer o ces for the rst time, then housed on Tennessee Street Downtown, with a slip of paper in my hand and a dream in my heart. On the paper were handwritten directions, given to me over the phone by senior editor Michael Finger, who I’d be interviewing with for an internship position. In my nal year as a journalism major at the University of Memphis, I was nervous but excited at the prospect of seeing behind the scenes, learning from the company’s talented sta of writers and editors — and being a part of making the magic happen.

A bonus — for me, as a Mississippi Delta native who’d always yearned for big-city life — through an editorial internship, there were endless opportunities to learn more about Memphis from on the ground, by talking to community movers and shakers, artists, activists, entertainers, and leaders. And I’d come to do just that.

e rst story I wrote for the Flyer was back in 2008, on Anthony Lee’s Modern Hieroglyphs art project along South Main at Central Station. I’d later cover controversies surrounding expansion at the Memphis Zoo, a host of events around town for the paper’s Steppin’ Out section, and — one of the strangest for a young reporter — the on-site auction of property le behind at the former Platinum Plus strip club. I learned more with every story, about myself as a writer, about how to ask the right questions, about what made Memphis uniquely Memphis. And I found my journalistic footing.

Once my internship was up, I stuck around, hoping to keep that foot in the door. rough the years, I worked in various departments within Contemporary Media, wherever they’d take me — selling advertising space, writing advertorial content and editorial features for Memphis magazine, taking the helm as the editor of Memphis Parent. And, in 2019, I circled back to where it all started, on the Flyer sta , this time as managing editor. It has been a hell of a ride.

I have profound respect for all of the people who keep the Flyer and its sister publications rolling, who’ve weathered stormy waters as digital media took its hold, who persevered through precarious times, including navigating an unprecedented pandemic. Our entire crew — reporters, editors, designers, sales executives, distribution and production facilitators, and management — are to be lauded for what they do day in and day out. It truly takes teamwork to make the dream work.

THE MEMPHIS FLYER is published weekly by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O.

rough it all, the Flyer has been a beacon, representing the spirit and grit of the city and its people, covering the curious and quirky, the light and the dark — and maintaining its focus of giving a voice to the voiceless, telling the hard stories, doing the deep digging, and providing that work to the public, for free.

During my time here, I’ve gotten to know Memphis at its core — its humans, its hardships and successes, its scu s and scrapes, its beauty. e stories I’ve helped tell, that came to life on the pages of these publications, are the stories of our city. ere are many more to be told, and I look forward to — along with our outstanding (and ridiculously cool) team — sharing them with you all.

We wouldn’t be able to continue the Flyer’s 33-year legacy without you, and we’re grateful to have you on this journey alongside us. ank you for reading. Shara Clark shara@memphis yer.com

Hello, from the editor’s chair

THE fly-by

MEM ernet

{NATION WATCH By Toby Sells

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

Memphis on the internet.

INSTA- FLYER

January 6 Insurrectionist Takes a Deal

Brockho sprayed police with a re extinguisher, broke into the Capitol, and kicked in a door.

A 21-year-old January-6th insurrectionist took a federal plea deal, got eight charges reduced to one, agreed to pay $700 for a Republican conference room door he helped to break and other fees, and faces years in federal prison.

Memphis Flyer sta ers Chris McCoy and Bruce VanWyngarden recently went out to get some fresh views of the shrinking Mississippi River.

Flyer sta er Toby Sells had fun last week visiting some of the Memphis area’s best Halloween decorations, from Cooper-Young to Bartlett’s Halloween Cove.

AFFIRMATIONS

Nicholas James Brockho of Covington, Kentucky, was arrested in Counce, Tennessee (near Pickwick Lake in West Tennessee), in May 2021. In January 2021, he joined thousands of other rioters to breach the U.S. Capitol in hopes of stopping Congress from certifying results in the 2020 presidential election.

Brockho pleaded guilty in federal court last week to one charge of assaulting law enforcement o cers with a dangerous weapon, a re extinguisher. Before he signed a plea deal, he faced eight charges, including another charge of using a deadly weapon (the re extinguisher), obstructing law enforcement, entering restricted grounds, disrupting government business, engaging in violence on the Capitol grounds, demonstrating, and more.

A Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation found that Brockho traveled over 500 miles and eight hours by car from Kentucky to Washington, D.C., to join the “mob that had gathered on the west side of the U.S. Capitol.” At around 2:32 p.m., he threw an object at law enforcement o cials.

Later, he “assaulted” law enforcement o cials “when he discharged the contents of re extinguishers, which are deadly or dangerous weapons when used as Brockho did.” He sprayed police at least two times from two locations, according to the DOJ. In doing so, “he caused law enforcement to disperse, which interfered with their ability to conduct crowd control and prevented them from seeing, avoiding, or de ecting projectiles and weapons intended to injure them.”

On his way inside the building, Brockho found a D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) helmet on the ground. He put it on his head, reads the report, “and wore it as a trophy.”

e Kentucky man was arrested in West Tennessee last year. Police identi ed Brockho in surveillance footage wearing his distinctive blue jacket with a green hood.

Much of the government’s identifying evidence on Brockho came from Capitol surveillance footage and police cameras. In nearly all of them, he is identi ed by his blue jacket with a green hood and his black backpack with a yellow tag.

is IG has not been updated since April, but it’s worth a look.

Memphis A rmations really is an a rmation board for Memphians. But instead of phrases like “I am enough” or “I am brave and bold,” we tell ourselves, “I will not have my rst LSD trip be at the Lamplighter Lounge” or “I will be stronger than 95 percent of the Memphis power lines.”

rough a broken window, Brockho entered the Senate conference room. Once inside, Brockho and others le the room and went into hallway. ey found a door labeled “ST6M,” a Republican conference room. He and others kicked the door, and at one point Brockho instructed another to kick the door “farther to the right.” ey kicked a hole in the door, and Brockho reached his hand inside and opened the door from the inside. Once inside, he tore open a box and “ri ed through the papers in the o ce.”

Outside the building, Brockho , still wearing the police helmet, was confronted by MPD o cers who asked him, “You’re going to come out with an MPD helmet?” To which, Brockho replied, “I found it on the ground.”

As part of his plea deal, Brockho will face only one count of use of a deadly weapon. For this, the DOJ will ask the court for a reduced sentence. He could face nearly four to ve years in prison. However, he faces a statutory maximum of 20 years. But the court will decide how much prison time he will get.

His plea deal also includes paying $700 for the damage he helped to in ict on the Republican conference room door. He’ll also pay $2,000 in restitution to the Architect of the Capitol to aid in the more than $2.7 million worth of damage caused to the building that day. He will also pay an unknown sum in restitution to the victims of violence on January 6th.

Brockho is slated to be sentenced in March. e U.S. Attorney’s O ce for the Western District of Tennessee, the FBI’s Memphis Field O ce, and Hardin County Sheri ’s Department helped investigate the case.

He found a police helmet on the ground and wore it as “a trophy.”

POSTED TO INSTAGRAM BY MEMPHIS FLYER

PHOTO: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

By Kailynn Johnson

Love Online

Hookup culture has prevailed in recent years, as many say it empowers those who choose to be intimate without the perils of commitment. Dating apps have made it easier for those seeking these types of relationships. However, this idea has also caused Black queer men to steer clear of these apps.

Joshua Knight, a 29-year-old Black gay man, said that sex is important, but it isn’t everything. He said that he feels that it’s a common thing that people want, but Knight craves a more meaningful and intimate connection.

Dating apps may seem appealing, as they seek to make the process of nding prospects quicker and more accessible. However, these apps can also can provide a number of challenges that make dating in marginalized communities more di cult to navigate.

Most of these apps rely heavily on photos to appeal to prospective partners. According to Knight, this can be detrimental, as many are criticized and put at a disadvantage for the way they present themselves. In Knight’s opinion, the inclination toward more masculine-presenting people is halting progress in the Black queer community.

“It seems like we will never progress because almost every gay guy has this vision of their partner being masculine, when in reality we all are gay,” said Knight. “ ey paint this image that there aren’t supposed to be feminine gays, and that’s what’s dividing us. It’s annoying.”

an outlet to nd true love.

“It’s just straight up misogynistic,” Beavers said. “You know, people have internalized homophobia.”

According to Beavers, he doesn’t always present “masculine.” Beavers said that in some of his features he takes a er his mother, but he said this can also boil down to the way that he poses and “exist[s] for his own comfort.”

Beavers said he is more inclined to meeting people organically. However, he said that being located in the South makes it harder to nd openly queer people.

Knight isn’t alone in this thinking. Many have reported this idea as something they’ve encountered on dating apps.

Keveon Beavers, a 21-year-old Black gay man, said that he has “entertained dating apps,” but for the most part he doesn’t necessarily like them. He said that looks play a major role in the success of these apps and that they serve as more of an ego booster, as opposed to

He said that he has found success in some spaces to do that. Beavers recently lived in Starkville, Mississippi, and in DeSoto County, where he said there seemed to be a more accepting and open dialogue.

However, he also said that just because there are two openly queer people in the same proximity does not guarantee that they are a perfect match for each other.

“Just because we’re gay doesn’t mean that we’re a pair for each other,” Beavers said.

Knight also said that for Black queer men speci cally, it seems as if there are a number of “internal wars” that make it hard for them to date one another.

When it comes to navigating the dating scene as a Black queer man, Beavers said he chooses a di erent approach. He said that instead of bringing a chair to a table that he’s not welcomed at, he chooses to create his own table where he can bring others along with him, so that he does not have to worry about “maneuvering through di erent types of situations.”

“Just because we’re gay doesn’t mean that we’re a pair for each other.”

PHOTO: PRATIK GUPTA | UNSPLASH

Dating apps come with complications.

Black queer men share the reality of dating in the South.

David Yurman Mikimoto John Hardy Gurhan Elizabeth Locke Monica Rich Kosann Charles Krypell Penny Preville Roberto Coin Michael Bondanza

Join us for an exclusive evening inside the historic theatre, where we’ll be shaking up specialty cocktails and dishing up food from your local favorites. Strike a pose at the photo booth, shimmy-shake at the silent disco, and raise your paddle to win exciting items during our live auction.

By Jackson Baker

Mayor’s Race Roadblock?

Complications have already set in regarding next year’s race for Memphis mayor, inasmuch as a ruling by Fed eral Judge John Fowlkes about a residential requirement in the city of Mason could affect the legality of races in Memphis, which has similar residential requirements. Nei ther would-be contestants Van Turner or Floyd Bonner at the moment has a Memphis residence.

And sexist talk by candidate Joe Brown at a weekend forum would seem to make it necessary that either Karen Camper or Michelle McKissack or both follow through with their mayoral plans.

Meanwhile, not the least interesting item on the November 8th election ballot is an amendment removing a restriction against ministers of the cloth holding of fice in the legislature. Given long-standing sentiment for dividing church and state, this one will doubtless require of voters some serious meditation — prayer, even.

Three other amendments are of more-than-usual interest. One, the “Right-to-Work” amendment would enshrine in the Tennessee Constitution the state’s existing bar against manda tory union membership. Business wants it. Labor doesn’t. Another amendment provides for the house speaker to as sume the office of governor temporar ily during an emergency. And another amendment abolishes explicitly the practice of slavery in any form.

Other matters of interest on the ballot include a governor’s race pitting GOP incumbent Bill Lee against Demo cratic hopeful Jason B. Martin and a whole squadron of Independents.

Of other competitive races, 8th District Republican Congressman David Kustoff and 9th District Demo cratic Congressman Steve Cohen face Lynnette Williams (D) and Charlotte Bergmann (R), respectively, plus a bevy of Independents in each case.

The state Senate District 31 seat is con tested by well-heeled Republican Brent Taylor and Democrat Ruby Powell-Den nis. The district is heavily Republican but has been run close by Democrats.

Democrat London Lamar is favored in state Senate District 33 over Republi can Frederick Tappan and Independent Hastina Robinson.

A special circumstance prevails in state House District 86, where Democrat Barbara Cooper, recently deceased, is pit

ted against Independent Michael Porter. If Porter should finish first, he wins the seat. If Cooper ends up ahead, the Elec tion Commission will call a special elec tion and permit new candidates to file.

State House District 95 sees GOP incumbent Kevin Vaughan challenged by Democrat Patricia Causey, and in state House District 97 incumbent Republican John Gillespie also has a Democratic challenger, Toniko S. Harris.

Memphis has a special election for City Council, District 4. Contestants are LaTonia Blankenship, Barry Ford, DeWayne Jackson, and Jana Swearen gen-Washington. A vacancy exists for Municipal Court judge, as well. Vying for that position are Patience “Missy” Branham, Latonya Sue Burrow, John Cameron, Varonica R. Cooper, Lynnette Hall-Lewis, Latrena Davis Ingram, Wil liam “Bill” Larsha, Christine Stephens, and Carolyn Watkins.

Bartlett has a full slate of candidates in that city’s municipal election. For mayor: Steven Brent Hammonds, John Lackey, David Parsons, and Kevin Quinn. For alderman, position 1: Casper Briggs, Har old Brad King, Jimmy D. Norman, and Victor Read. For alderman, position 2: Robert Griffin, Stephen Spencer, Thomas Stephen Jr., and Brandon S. Weise. Paul Kaiser and David Reaves vie for position 3. Aislinn McEwen and Bryan Woodruff are contesting school board, position 4. Collierville has aldermanic races, too. In position 1, William Boone vies with Maureen J. Fraser. In position 2, Jewel Jordan and Billy Patton compete. In posi tion 4, the contestants are Emily Fulmer and Missy Marshall. Wanda Chism and Alissa Fowler are competing for school board, position 2. Position 4 on the board is sought by Keri Blair, Chelsea Glass, Heath Hudspeth, and Jeremy Smith.

Contested positions in Germantown are for alderman, position 1, with Manjit Kaur and Scott Sanders running. Daniel Chatham and Jeffrey Chipman are compet ing for school board, position 2, and Angela Rickman Griffith and Carrie Schween are vying for school board, position 4.

In Lakeland, Michele Dial and Connie McCarter are competing for commis sioner, and Keith Acton, Laura Harrison, and Deborah Thomas are running for school board.

Millington has competitive races for alderman, position 3, with Chris Ford and Tom Stephens; school board, position 3, with Brian McGovern and Gregory L. Ritter; and school board, posi tion 6, with Mandy Compton and Larry C. Jackson.

Meanwhile there’s a busy ballot on November 8th.

High-Yield Savings

One silver lining of this current market cycle is the increasing relevance of bond yields. For years, yields have inexorably marched downward, which has resulted in generally favorable total returns for bonds but not a lot of income. Now that bond prices have fallen somewhat, yields are much more attractive than at any time in recent history.

As a consequence, yields on things like CDs and high-yield savings accounts have risen sharply, and the relentless pursuit of the best rates has turned into the equivalent of a grail quest for many investors with cash on the sidelines. To save you time and trouble, I am happy to present the best, most dominant solution for your cash today. You can get two-point-nobodycares percent by opening an account at your local It Does Not Matter Bank!

I am intentionally being provocative, but I think for good reason. I am an optimizer, and I fully understand that if you have a need to have cash around, it makes sense to get the best possible rate. However, there comes a point where the e ort it takes to nd the best yield can take away from focus on the big picture or can even be counterproductive. For example, too many credit pulls from new bank accounts could reduce your credit score and make the mortgage you are saving a down payment for much more expensive down the road.

I would go as far as to argue that the pursuit of the highest yields on cash is always irrelevant. If the time horizon is short, the slight delta in yield from one account or money market fund to another won’t matter much at all. If the timeline is long (or unde ned), you should think about not being in cash at all and putting your money somewhere

with a better chance of not just keeping up but beating in ation in the long run.

ere’s one good reason to keep a lot of cash around: You have a de nite or likely need to spend money on speci c large expenditures soon. ere are many reasons to keep a lot of cash around, which in our opinion are not so valid:

• Some people do not like to be invested when the market does not “feel right” (hint: it never feels right).

• Some people want to wait to invest until there is some certainty, but by the time you digest any good news, the market will have already reacted.

• Some people just want the safety and security of cash, but even the highest yielding cash accounts mean that any kind of in ation is going to rapidly erode your savings.

Any amount of time or e ort you spend to achieve an extra 0.2 percent per year on cash would almost certainly be better spent focusing on what really matters. Indeed, the real grail quest we should pursue as investors is how to cultivate a meaningful long-term real return, represented by attractive total returns from interest, dividends, and price appreciation a er considering in ation.

ere’s little evidence that any sort of cash or cash equivalent will help you do that in the long run.

Gene Gard is Chief Investment O cer at Telarray, a Memphis-based wealth management rm that helps families navigate investment, tax, estate, and retirement decisions. Ask him your questions or schedule an objective, no-pressure portfolio review at letstalk@telarrayadvisors.com. Sign up for their next free online seminar on the Events tab at telarrayadvisors.com.

Fall Road Trip

PHOTO: ACTON CRAWFORD | UNSPLASH Bond yields are relevant again.

e real grail quest is to cultivate a meaningful long-term return.

What’s

brewing?

The ckle Memphis weather threatened to rain on Daniel Lynn’s parade when he launched the inaugural Grind City Co ee Xpo back in 2019. Gathering storm clouds eventually morphed into a raging monsoon, with Lynn worried that the gales and heavy rain would keep people away.

“I was concerned for sure, but we had about 500 people come out that rst year,” recalls Lynn. “A er seeing that, I knew we were onto something. If we got 500 people to come out in a monsoon, that convinced me we could build on the event.”

Lynn has sustainably grown the Grind City Co ee Xpo over the past couple years. Every successive iteration sees the addition of a few new vendors, representative of the organic growth of Memphis’ co ee community. Inspired by the Science of Beer event held at the Memphis Museum of Science & History, the result is a celebration of all things co ee, with everything from roasters to traditional shops to various health and wellness vendors. e comprehensive package covers everything that co ee

enthusiasts would want from an event but also strives to welcome newcomers and give advice on how they can best approach co ee.

“Our event puts beauty over competition,” says Lynn. “Many similar expos will have shops competing against each other, and there is, of course, some friendly competition here. But this is about bringing everyone together under one neutral roof. It’s all about building community. And it’s also hyper-educational. We ask vendors to come prepared to answer any questions people might have.”

Don’t expect to nd only simple roasts at the Grind City Co ee Xpo, held this year at Wiseacre HQ on November 5th. Lynn gives the vendors free rein to experiment as they will, whether that’s focusing on their prime product or trying something outside the box. And if previous Xpos are anything to go by, prepare for a few pleasant surprises along the way. “I remember our rst year, Comeback Co ee debuted their co ee soda,” says Lynn. “ at’s become so

popular that they’re building a cannery for it.”

Xpo-goers this year can look forward to four new vendors: Memphis Grindhouse Co ee, Muggin’ Co eehouse, Southaven’s Co ee Central, and Ounce

of Hope. “I’m a big believer in health and wellness,” says Lynn, “and we’ve got that represented here, too.”

While, at the end of the day, many co ee shops are in competition with each other from a business perspective, Lynn says that Memphis’ growing co ee community has always been supportive of new members. “What keeps me doing this is the community and culture around co ee in Memphis,” he says. “Everyone is so welcoming in the industry. Folks like Charles Billings over at Dr. Bean’s have been doing trainings and other things like that for newcomers, helped them open their doors. From what I’ve seen, everyone is willing to bend over backwards to help others, no matter what.”

As for Lynn’s favorite co ee shop? ere’s no right answer to that question. “Every place in town has a couple things that they really excel at,” he says. “I go to di erent shops when I’m in the mood for di erent things and am never disappointed.”

COVER STORY By Flyer Staff

“What keeps me doing this is the community around It.”

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS A fresh latte from Dr. Bean’s

PHOTO (BELOW): JONATHAN AMADO e scent of roasted beans lls the Xpo.

e Grind City Co ee Xpo allows Lynn and the co ee community to take that supportive ethos and extend it to one of our greatest treasures: the Memphis Sand Aquifer. Lynn doesn’t pro t from the event, and vendors are donating their time and product to a good cause, since 100 percent of the proceeds go toward the Protect Our Aquifer organization. A er all, high-quality water is intrinsically linked to the Xpo. “You can’t have good co ee without good water,” says Lynn, “and the water we have here elevates it to another level. I think sometimes people take it for granted, but look at what’s happening over somewhere like Jackson. It’s so important to maintain high-quality water levels.”

To help enhance the Xpo co ee even more, Lynn has partnered with ird Wave Water, a company that creates packets which can change the mineral content of water. at allows vendors to customize their water for whatever their preferred brewing method might be, and each participant at the Xpo will be doing so. “You combine that with our already amazing water from the aquifer,” remarks Lynn, “and you’ll see some amazing pours.”

Looking ahead, Lynn believes that Memphis can continue to grow its co ee community. “We’ve got so many great shops, but we can handle more, too. e passion is there on our end 100 percent, but I can see us expanding in a healthy and organic way going forward.”

And there’s plenty of good stu in store for ca eine connoisseurs and newcomers alike. Read on for a closer look at ve participating vendors at this year’s Grind City Co ee Xpo. — Samuel X. Cicci

Boycott Coffee

Boycott Co ee just celebrated its rst year in business, but it has been putting cups in hands for far longer. As coowner Alexander Roach explains, since 2017, “Boycott Co ee was already an established social program working with language communities here. We had a few pop-ups and a few language centers. I was popping up wherever I was invited to present ideas, drink co ee, and create spaces.” As his recent social media post announces: “Boycott Co ee wants to help!”

Now, with the help of Mersadies Burch and Averell Mondie, Roach’s

vision has a permanent home. Calling themselves “the three-human ownership team behind Boycott Co ee,” the trio of activists’ shared progressive values have led them to open a storefront cafe combining co ee with community.

Burch and Mondie “started consulting and working with this building during its redevelopment,” explains Roach. “Fast-forward a year, and it was a shared project between the three of us, a kind of a weird co ee/potluck in the back. en they asked us to move to the front of the building.” at’s where you’ll nd the pink interior of Boycott; the place still retains the clubhouse vibe of Boycott’s

excited about the upcoming Grind City Co ee Xpo. “ at was kind of where we got our start,” he says. “We were at the rst Xpo three months before our opening day.”

Hayes, Amy, and Ethan McGaughy, who work together on all the avor combinations, also launched their strawberry-lime co ee soda at that rst Xpo in 2019. e native Memphians are bringing a “new co ee soda to promote” at the upcoming Xpo, says Hayes. It’s going to be a surprise. ey’re also bringing a “non-co ee-related product,” but it’s a secret. “It highlights that really special water we have in the city.”

e McPhersons opened Comeback Co ee in March 2019. Food & Wine

and other items. “Our slogan is ‘Stay Awhile.’ I think we’ve nailed that.”

— Michael Donahue

Crazy Gander Coffee Company

Crazy Gander welcomes Memphians with their open atmosphere and creative selection of frappes, unique co ee renditions, and delicious pastries. Enjoy anything from a traditional Americano and hot tea to their cookiesand-cream frappe and a seasonal drip co ee served with a cookie. is quaint storefront is found in the heart of Memphis providing a simple yet aesthetic space lled with immense love and e ciency. With every cup, each sta member and owners Dana Bunke and Kevin Crow strive to connect with the Memphis community.

Abby Sexton, a member of the business development and operations team, states that Crazy Gander’s main mission is to “serve a continuously excellent cup of co ee and be consistent with our product.” Along with consistency and care, Sexton says that Crazy Gander connects with people by treating “every new visitor like a regular.”

earlier incarnations.

All that’s missing is a bookshelf. But you may want to reach for your phone for some heavy reading. As their website states, “We call on you to question how co ee is really made and who it belongs to along the value chain. To revolt and protest alongside the producers, traders, mill workers, carriers, roasters, and baristas.” And, we might add, to tip generously. — Alex Greene

Comeback Coffee

Hayes McPherson, who along with his wife Amy, owns Comeback Co ee, is

magazine named it one of “ e Best Co ee Shops in America” about six months a er they opened.

“We just try to do our thing really well. Good co ee. High specialty co ee. We bring in roasters from all over the world and showcase them here in Memphis. We highlight those people and those stories.”

ey’re “physically building out” the business. “We’re pretty far along in construction of our building. It’s still on North Main two buildings down from Comeback. We hope to be in there by March.”

Chef Cole Jeanes brings his Kinfolk restaurant pop-up on weekends and sells fried chicken on cathead biscuits

As for Bunke and Crow, each are local entrepreneurs working to better the community, raising millions of dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and environmentally safe organizations. And that same love and care go right back into their co ee as a “small neighborhood way of doing things for the community.” But stay tuned: Sexton says to “look for new and exciting things coming your way from Crazy Gander.” — Izzy Wollfarth

Memphis Grindhouse Coffee

Ten banks turned down Dwayne

(above) Attendees sample roasts from 15+ vendors.

(right) Guests watch a pour-over co ee procedure.

PHOTOS: JONATHAN AMADO (le ) e Xpo shares samples and roasting techniques.

(below) Comeback Co ee shows o its co ee soda.

Cha en and Rick Askew’s loan application to jump-start their new co ee shop. “One particular bank asked us if we had a white business partner,” says Cha en. “It was 2019. We really thought they were joking.”

ey weren’t joking, the two friends soon realized, so instead, they invested their own money into the online shop that has become Memphis Grindhouse Co ee. Being online, though, has had one major bene t: reaching a global audience. So far, they have customers in 22 states, plus Canada and Australia. e co ee is made-to-order in Memphis. “ at is the freshest you’re going to get,” Askew says. “Sometimes the bag is still warm when you get it. And we only buy the highest-quality beans you can nd. e light roast comes from Peru, the medium roast comes from Ethiopia, and the dark roast comes from Guatemala.”

Plus, with every product sold, the company donates money to ongoing literacy e orts and buys books to give away to kids. ey’ll even ship books free of charge to kids in need.

“We’re two inner-city Memphis kids,” Cha en says. “We love our city, and we understand the unique challenges that many people in our city face, especially the children. We wanted to nd a way to give back.”

Still, the two hope to open a brickand-mortar location to provide a physical space where young students can sharpen their literacy skills. For now, it’s a matter of nding the right place at the right time. Abigail Morici

Muggin’ Coffeehouse

Ken and Mary Olds believe that co ee should be accessible to everyone, not just connoisseurs. And when it comes to their co ee, they don’t concern themselves with fancy names. A er all, what’s more

accessible than a co ee named Zippin Pippin or Flickin’ on Beale?

According to Mary, if you walk into Muggin’ Co eehouse, located at 1139 Brownlee Road in Whitehaven, asking for “that caramel thing,” they know exactly what you’re talking about. Mary says that co ee connects people, and that there should not be barriers like pronunciation standing in the way of enjoying a fresh cup.

e Olds wanted to take away the “pretentious stigma” surrounding co ee and opened Muggin’ in June of 2020. ey also want to make sure that co ee is approachable to the people in their community. In fact, according to Mary, 90 percent of Muggin’s employees had no prior background in the co ee industry. e Olds sought to teach their community more about co ee, while also giving back.

e uniqueness of Muggin’ can be pinpointed to a number of things, such as the way Memphis culture is intertwined within the shop and its products (Hard Out Here For A Drip, Looking for the Brewin’). However, Mary believes that being a Black-owned business and demanding a standard of excellence from their sta has played a major role in the success and brand of Muggin’. “We want to make sure we represent in a great way,” she says.

Grind City Co ee Xpo takes place Saturday, November 5th, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Wiseacre HQ, 234 E. Butler Ave. For tickets, visit grindcityco ee.com. All proceeds go toward Protect Our Aquifer.

Kailynn Johnson

continued from page 11

PHOTO: JONATHAN AMADO Muggin’s Mary and Ken Olds

“We want to make sure we Represent in a great way.”

steppin’ out

Talkies

By Abigail Morici

Have you ever watched a movie or witnessed a painting and wondered how on earth did someone come up with that? Well, this ursday, you can peek into the processes of Crosstown Arts’ fall-session resident artists: Nelson Gutierrez, Angelo Madsen Minax, and R Jason Rawlings.

Each of these artists will present a 20-minute talk, followed by a Q&A session. “You’ll learn about the artists’ priorities, how they got where they are,” says artist residency manager Mary Jo Karimnia. “It’s not a comprehensive talk about their practice; it’s more like a window into their practice. e talks are always fascinating. I never get tired of learning how artists approach things.”

“All of the artists bring something unique to the table,” Karimnia says, before adding that this cohort of three-month residents happens to have a local air. Both visual artist Nelson Gutierrez and lmmaker R Jason Rawlings are from Memphis, and lmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax, a current Guggenheim Fellow, taught at University of Memphis back in the day, though he now resides in Connecticut. e fourth resident, Brittney Boyd Bullock, is also a local and will give her artist talk in the spring.

e talks will also be an opportunity to learn more about Crosstown Arts’ residency program, Karimnia says. “[ e residency] can be a really concentrated time to work on your practice. … We want people from elsewhere to learn about the great stu that’s happening in Memphis, and we also want the people who are working in Memphis to be able to network with the greater arts world.”

In addition to this speaking engagement, Minax and Rawlings will screen some of their work on November 9th, with yet another Q&A to follow. “I think [the two lms] will complement each other well,” Karimnia says. “ ey’re sort of a di erent type of lmmaking.”

Rawlings’ short lm “Natives” follows a traditional narrative structure, telling the story of a claims adjuster returning home to New Orleans two years a er Hurricane Katrina. Meanwhile, Minax’s feature North by Current is much more experimental and personal, exploring the inconclusive death of his young niece in Michigan. “It’s a lot of found footage and interviews,” Karimnia says. “It’s very aesthetically beautiful, but also not what you expect.”

Applications for Crosstown Arts’ 2023 residencies are now closed, and the next application period will open May 15th for residencies in 2024.

Fieldaze

Wiseacre Brewing Company, FridaySunday, November 4-6

Fieldaze is a three-day outdoor festival in Downtown Memphis with activities for everyone.

e festival’s three headliner events include a 5K and a half marathon; a 20-, 26-, and 32-mile gravel grinder bike race; and a two-mile kayak race.

ere will also be music, food, beer, entertainment, and free tness classes such as line dancing, yoga, pilates, and boxing. For more information, visit memphisadventures.com.

Broad Ave. Art Walk

Broad Avenue Arts District, Saturday, November 5, 11 a.m.5 p.m., free e Broad Avenue Arts District is excited to be back hosting another fun- lled and free fall festival.

ere will be 45+ local artists and makers. Wiseacre will have beer for sale. Neighborhood Print Co. will host live T-shirt printing. High Expectations will have an aerial arts display. Vice & Virtue Co ee will have an espresso bar set up outside with specialty drinks. Maximo’s will be cooking paella in a big pan street-side.

Memphis Japan Festival

Memphis Botanic Garden, Sunday, November 6, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., $8-$12 e Memphis Japan Festival is a fun, family-friendly, interactive, and hands-on experience of Japanese culture.

e festival is presented by the Japan-America Society of Tennessee and will be held outdoors, rain or shine. Festival highlights include traditional and contemporary Japanese music and dance, martial arts demonstrations, cultural lectures,

arts and cra s, merchandise, children’s activities, sumo-suit wrestling, a roving Japanese Candyman, tours of the Japanese garden, and a variety of Japanese cuisine featuring special menus from local restaurants and food trucks.

Memphis Music Listening Party with Steve Cropper

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, Tuesday, November 8, 7-9 p.m. Join the library for an evening with Steve Cropper, the legendary guitarist and songwriter who helped de ne the Stax soul sound through his work in the 1960s and 1970s with Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett, as well as more recently with Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Neil Sedaka, Rod Stewart, and e Blues Brothers. Host Robert Gordon will discuss Cropper’s career through ve songs.

CROSSTOWN ARTS RESIDENT ARTIST TALK, THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 6 P.M., FREE. FILM SCREENING BY RESIDENT ARTISTS, CROSSTOWN THEATER, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 6:30 P.M., FREE.

PHOTO: COURTESY CROSSTOWN ARTS 2022 resident artists

By Alex Greene

Remembering The Killer

The passing of the great Jerry Lee Lewis last Friday, at the age of 83, has brought oods of memories rushing back for those who knew him. As drummer J.M. Van Eaton posted on social media, “He was the greatest entertainer of them all. A musician’s musician. So lucky to have played on his early Sun recordings.” at quote alone pinpoints what made Lewis stand out among the other stars of Sun Records: his virtuosity. True, e Prisonaires, Elvis Presley, and Roy Orbison had golden voices, and Carl Perkins was no slouch on the electric guitar, but both “Jerry Lee Lewis And His Pumping Piano,” as he was billed on his early Sun singles, were equally dazzling.

Phillips. “He came to the studio and Knox was engineering, and we just started the tape machine and let him go. It was a very interesting trip. And it’s all on tape: He takes to the piano and goes, brrrring! en he says, ‘ e pills just hit!’ and takes o playing ‘Meat Man.’ He’d want to go to the strip club about midnight, so we’d all jump in his Rolls-Royce and go there, and then come back and do some more recording. Of course he wasn’t sleepy, you know what I’m talking about?”

Like his father before him, Jerry Phillips tells it like it is, and so does this album. Phillips notes: “I told Knox, ‘Sam cut the rst great recording of Jerry Lee, and you cut the last one to really capture the man.’” Hearing the album today, it’s striking that such an unhinged moment was recorded as it was, without lters or editing. For it perfectly captures Lewis the artist-as-provocateur and all the multitudes he contained, from the sanctity of “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” to the much lewder sentiments of “Lovin’ Cajun Style” to those electrifying moments where he indulges in an eerie falsetto.

JOHN PAUL KEITH

OF

“He could play anything with ease,” recalls Jerry Phillips, son of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips. “He could sing any song, ‘Over the Rainbow’ or ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm,’ it didn’t matter.” Nothing expresses that better than the album Jerry Phillips recommends to anyone hankering for some prime Jerry Lee: e Knox Phillips Sessions, a little-noticed recording date from the ’70s that was not released until 2014.

Phillips’ words took me back to my rst encounter with the Killer in the late ’80s, sitting cross-legged on the dance oor of Hernando’s Hide-A-Way, at the foot of the piano. Hearing Lewis sing, “Somewhere over the rainbow …” then ad-lib, “there’s a place Jimmy Swaggart only dreams of” as a dig at his more pious cousin, will be forever burned into my cerebrum. And that’s precisely the irreverent energy present on e Knox Phillips Sessions. Lewis’ irrepressible talent and ferocity are on display there, thanks to the hands-o production of Jerry’s late brother Knox.

“It was a time when Jerry Lee was out of his contract with anybody,” recalls

At that point in his life, Lewis was feeling re ective, even as he reveled in the wild hedonism of Memphis in the ’70s. He turns “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” into a tribute to himself: “My name’s Jerry Lee Lewis, piano playing motherhumper, country and western motherhumper, just a plain motherhumper when I take a notion. … I seen a cat down at Fridays. Picked a little ght with him. He broke my nose, I had a hold, and I whooped the shit right out of him. ey call me bad, bad, bad, the Killer! Meanest man in Memphis, Tennessee!”

Indeed, at times it seems Lewis is writing his own elegy, as when he mulls over the death of songwriter Stephen Foster in “Beautiful Dreamer,” introduced on the album by an unidenti ed narrator. “ anks, Stephen, Al, Hank, Jimmie, and Jerry Lee,” intones the voice, invoking Lewis’ late heroes, Stephen Foster, Al Jolson, Hank Williams, and Jimmie Rodgers, as if Lewis had already ascended to heaven. en the Killer chimes in again: “Lost in the arms of life’s raging sea, neighbors … you’d better think about it. God bless you.”

A service for Jerry Lee Lewis will be held on Saturday, November 5th, at Young’s Funeral Home in Lewis’ hometown, Ferriday, Louisiana, with the visitation at 10 a.m., the funeral at 11 a.m., followed by a public celebration of his life at the Arcade eater.

PHOTO: COURTESY JERRY PHILLIPS

Jerry Lee Lewis and Knox Phillips in the 1970s

Jerry Phillips on the unhinged genius of Jerry Lee Lewis.

3-9,

CALENDAR of EVENTS:

ART HAPPENINGS

CBU Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition Opening Exhibition features work by faculty in the art department. Free. Friday, Nov. 4, 6-8 p.m.

BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY

“Hints of Gladness”

Opening Martha Kelly’s block prints are getting a Memphis party! Friday, Nov. 4, 5-7 p.m.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

“The Half Moon Trail”

Opening Exhibition of new works from Leanna Carey. Friday, Nov. 4, 6-9 p.m.

SERAPHIM GALLERY

BOOK EVENTS

Bookhouse Book Club

A short discussion on Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and a screening. Sunday, Nov. 6, 5 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Book Talk: The Movement That Made Us

Welcoming civil rights legend Dave Dennis Sr. and his son Dave Dennis Jr. in a discus

sion about their book. Free. Thursday, Nov. 3, 6 p.m.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

Discussion with Timber Hawkeye Book talk with author of Bud dhist Boot Camp, Faithfully Religionless, and The Opposite of Namaste. Saturday, Nov. 5, 9:30-11 a.m.

CHURCH HEALTH

Stax Storytellers

Conversation and book-signing with Stax legend Eddie Floyd and Memphis author and DJ J.B. Boyd. Thursday, Nov. 3, 7 p.m.

STAX MUSEUM

FAMILY

A Quest for the Magic Flute

This multi-sensory scavenger hunt, led by Opera Memphis, introduces the whole family to Mozart. Free. Saturday, Nov. 5, 10 a.m.-noon.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

FESTIVAL

Broad Ave. Art Walk

Featuring 45+ local artists and makers. Free. Saturday, Nov. 5, 11 a.m.

BROAD AVENUE ARTS DISTRICT

Fall Beale Street

Artcrawl Festival

Pop-up market with artists, arti san businesses, and nonprofits. Free. Saturday, Nov. 5, 1-7 p.m.

BEALE STREET

Fieldaze

Three-day outdoor event with activities for everyone. Friday, Nov. 4-Nov. 6.

WISEACRE BREWING COMPANY HQ

Grind City Coffee Xpo Highlighting the coffee com munity. Proceeds benefit Protect Our Aquifer. $25-$35. Saturday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

WISEACRE BREWERY

Memphis Japan Festival Experience Japanese culture. Sunday, Nov. 6, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.

DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENTS LISTING, VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.

CBU’s latest exhibit features professors Janie Carp, Scott Carter, Nick Peña, Melinda Posey, Jana Travis, and Matthew Thomas. Through Dec. 3.

FILM

The Room: An Interactive 4-D Screening An epic cinema atrocity. Friday, Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

FOOD AND DRINK

5th Annual Meddlesome

Meandering 0.5K Beer, food, and live music, benefiting Dream Factory. $30. Saturday, Nov. 5, 5 p.m.

MEDDLESOME BREWING COMPANY

HEALTH AND FITNESS

2022 Buffalo 5K + 15K

In celebration of National Bison Day, these exciting races are a fun way to support the park’s most iconic residents. Saturday, Nov. 5, 8:30 a.m.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

SPORTS

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Boston Celtics

Monday, Nov. 7, 8 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Charlotte Hornets Friday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Washington Wizards Sunday, Nov. 6, 5 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

The 901 Wrestling Classic Finals

Crowning the first-ever 901 Wrestling Tag Team Champions. $5-$15. Saturday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

THEATER

Immediate Family

In the Bryant family’s Hyde Park home, keeping a secret is next to impossible. $15-$20. Friday, Nov. 4-Nov. 19.

THEATRE MEMPHIS

Evil Dead: The Musical Hilariously combines elements of the Evil Dead movies into the craziest theatrical experi ence. Through Nov. 5.

THEATREWORKS

TONY

“YOU MIGHT FIND YOUR HEART GROWING A FEW SIZES, TOO.”

By Frank Murtaugh

Tigers Tip-Off

The pinnacle of the coach Penny Hardaway era at the University of Memphis — now four years and counting — was hal ime of the Tigers’ NCAA tournament game against Gonzaga on March 19, 2022. Playing in the program’s rst March Madness since 2014, Memphis led the country’s top-ranked team by 10 points, a spot in the Sweet 16 (for the rst time since 2009) there for the taking. Alas, Tiger shooting went cold, the Zags rallied, and another season ended for the U of M and its considerable fan base.

Among the 10 players who played in that game for Memphis, seven have moved on. And here’s the twist to that reality: All seven could have returned for another season in blue and gray. Everyone knew star freshman Jalen Duren was “one and done,” and he was chosen by Charlotte with the 13th pick in the NBA dra (then traded to Detroit). Josh Minott went to Minnesota in the second round, and Lester Quinones also found his way to the pros (Golden State, as an undra ed free agent). But also gone, via transfer, are Landers Nolley, Tyler Harris, Earl Timberlake, and last year’s recruiting sensation Emoni Bates. ose seven players would make a rotation all but certain to qualify for another Big Dance. Instead, Hardaway was le to build his h roster virtually from scratch.

Such is life with the transfer portal in modern college hoops. Hardaway pivoted quickly and lured the 2022 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year — point guard Kendric Davis — from SMU. Davis led the AAC with 19.4 points per game last season and will be playing for his third program in ve years (he spent the 2018-19 season at TCU). Two other transfers — both guards — may well nd themselves in Hardaway’s starting lineup for the season opener at Vanderbilt (November 7th): Keonte Kennedy (from UTEP) and Elijah McCadden (Georgia Southern). Kennedy averaged 14.1 points and pulled down 6.1 rebounds per game last season for the Miners, while McCadden’s numbers with the Eagles were 11.7 and 4.6, good enough for the Sun Belt’s Sixth Man honors.

“We’re an older group,” acknowledges McCadden (a h-year senior), “so we’re gelling. We know what we’re here to do. We want to win. We have one main goal, and not a lot of years to grow together. We’ll make the most of the short time we have.”

ere will, in fact, be a few familiar faces in uniform for the Tigers. Guard Alex Lomax has spent a full decade —

since middle school — playing for Hardaway and returns for a h college season. (Remember, players were granted a bonus year of eligibility when the pandemic restricted play in 2020-21.) en there’s forward DeAndre Williams, back for a third season with the Tigers at the tender age of 26. Williams was second to Duren on last year’s team in both scoring (11.1 points per game) and rebounds (5.8). Expect both gures to grow this season for Williams, named (along with Davis) to the AAC’s preseason all-conference team.

“As a unit, they have to do more than play basketball,” says Hardaway. “ ey have to hang together o the court. Understand each other on all levels. at carries over. ey have to develop an identity early: Who do we want to be? And live up to that identity every single night. I want it to be about toughness. And defense.”

Even with the roster turnover, the o season was good to Hardaway. e program is nally out from under a three-year cloud, an NCAA-mandated agency (IARP) all but absolving Hardaway from wrongdoing in the recruiting of James Wiseman. So no suspension and no exclusion from upcoming NCAA tournaments (should the Tigers qualify).

en in October, the U of M announced a six-year contract extension that should keep Hardaway on the Memphis bench at least until 2028. Plenty of time for this city’s most famous basketball son to win his rst conference title (the Tigers were picked to nish second, behind Houston) and get his alma mater back to the Sweet 16 or, dare it be dreamed, the Final Four.

PHOTO: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI Kendric Davis

Penny Hardaway’s h team will go as far as a few new veterans take it.

By Michael Donahue

Supper is Ready

Meet chef Josh

Josh Mutchnick is used to serving his cuisine on an 1870s 20-foot mahogany dining room table in a Victorian mansion.

In early November, he’ll be serving food on several contemporary wooden tables at a pop-up o South Main.

Mutchnick is chef/owner of JEM (Just Enjoy the Moment) Dining Supper Club. Since he and his wife Emily moved to Memphis, Mutchnick has cooked monthly dinners at the circa 1848 James Lee House bed-andbreakfast in Victorian Village.

Mutchnick will cook JEM Dining pop-up three-course dinners November 3rd through 5th at By the Brewery at 496 Tennessee Street, Suite 101.

And a restaurant owned by the Mutchnicks is on the horizon.

in Washington before becoming chef de cuisine at Michelin-starred EL Ideas restaurant in Chicago. But he and his wife decided to relocate. “We wanted to move somewhere to slow down a little bit, to open up a restaurant.”

ey visited Memphis. “Growing up, my older sister went to Rhodes, so I remember Memphis from visiting her.”

And they fell in love with the city. Memphis is “a little bit gritty and has some character to it,” he says.

Mutchnick was in Chicago when he came up with the idea of doing monthly supper clubs at the James Lee House. “I’ll use the grand ornate table and I’ll cook food and get my name out. No one knows who I am. If I open a restaurant, nobody will bat an eye at someone they don’t know. It’s a great way for me to cook and network a little bit.”

He began doing the dinners last January. “We want to make it like a dinner party where people can mingle and make friends. Come as strangers and leave as friends.”

e emphasis is on Southern cuisine. And “I try to stay as seasonal as possible.”

JEM Dining Supper Club was included in “14 Restaurants Designed to Feel Like Dinner Parties” on the Food Network website.

Mutchnick’s By the Brewery popup will be “more casual” and “more approachable.” e menu will include homemade gnocchi, seared New York strip steak, and “decadent chocolate cake.”

Sandwiches

AT SOUTH POINT KITCHEN

Josh McLane is a native Memphian who's been in bands and the comedy scene for years. He's cooked in some of Memphis’ most famous spots like The P&H, Fino’s and The HiTone, where he learned "The Sandwich Arts." His unique sandwich menu may be a little di erent, but he guarantees they’ll always hit the spot. “Half of these were created for my vegetarian wife, and the rest just to make me happy. And guess what — they work.”

Mutchnick, who grew up in Mobile, Alabama, says, “I was born and raised Jewish, so food was such a critical part of events. I remember baking cakes with my mom and making breakfast with my dad. My grandfather used to do these shrimp boils on the beach. I have very fond memories of that stu .”

Mutchnick knew he wanted to be a chef when he was in the sixth grade. He got his rst restaurant job when he was 15. And he loved it. “It’s a great way to focus your energy into creating something that is a super personal experience. I create something with my hands and give it to you and you put it inside your body and you use it for life. at’s the most intimate, humbling experience I can imagine.”

A graduate of e Culinary Institute of America outside New York, Mutchnick worked at several prestigious restaurants

As for owning a restaurant, Mutchnick says, “I am very close to zeroing in and nalizing a restaurant space.” It is “de nitely going to be in Midtown or closer to the center of the city, and the food will be seasonal. I want to work with local purveyors.”

He also wants to feature a Sunday Supper Club each week. “Four nights a week you come in and it’s a normal restaurant.” On Sunday, everyone will sit down together and eat.

“Food-wise, I love the idea of a multicourse tasting menu,” Mutchnick says, adding, “I want it to be approachable with a price point that’s not intimidating.”

Even if it’s something they’ve never eaten, Mutchnick wants his customers to say, “Oh, this isn’t scary. is is food.”

“All the food I make is an expression of me and who I am. So I want to show that food can still be executed at a high level without being intimidating and still be delicious.”

To reserve seats for the JEM Dining By the Brewery dinner, call (901) 286-1635 or go to jemdining.com and @jemdining.

PHOTO: EMILY MUTCHNICK

Josh Mutchnick

Black Power in the Bluff City

In the summer of 2020, as protests against police violence spread in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, many Americans got a glimpse of what it was like during the height of the Civil Rights era. ere was righteous anger, a sense of purpose, and a shared commitment to justice — but there were also bitter disagreements over which tactics were most e ective, and a tug-of-war between those who believed state violence must be met with citizen violence, and those who believed nonviolent resistance was the only way. e newfound camaraderie of the street protests came with a frisson of suspicion — is one of us a Fed, reporting our plans and movements to the same law enforcement agencies whose methods and priorities we’re protesting?

All of this will sound familiar to anyone who saw e Invaders when it debuted at Indie Memphis in 2016. e lm that director Prichard Smith and writer/producer JB Horrell made, tells the inside story of the Blu City’s own

homegrown Black Power group. Vietnam veterans Colby Smith and John B. Smith founded e Invaders when they le the army a er their tours of duty. Disillusioned by their experiences when they returned home, they aligned themselves with the militant rhetoric of groups like the Black Panthers. e group rst gained prominence during the sanitation workers strike of 1968, and then infamy when they were blamed for the riot which overtook Dr. Martin Luther King’s nal march in Memphis. Later, the group’s claims that they had been the targets of a spying and smear campaign by the FBI’s COINTELPRO unit were con rmed.

(In the spirit of full disclosure, this columnist worked brie y as a writing consultant on the lm, but has no nancial stake in the project’s success.)

“I don’t think there are enough stories looking at some of the inner pockets of the Civil Rights movement,”

says Smith. “ ere are the main stories that you hear about the ministers and Dr. King and whatnot. But I would venture to guess that there are many, many more stories like e Invaders that should be told just to give a wider understanding of the whole situation.

I think it will continue to be relevant. I think you could argue that if it came out in the middle of the George Floyd protests, that would have been the most relevant time it could have come

out. But that’s not how it panned out.”

During the lm’s 2016 festival run, which featured a stop at Doc NYC, e Invaders producers, including Memphis lmmaker Craig Brewer, made a deal with a distribution company to help get the lm out. But later, Smith says, they asked, “When you say ‘Help,’ does that mean you’ll help us pay for these licenses for all the di erent archi-

FILM By Chris McCoy

Made-in-Memphis documentary e Invaders sheds light on a forgotten chapter of Civil Rights history.

e Invaders gained prominence during the 1968 sanitation workers strike; (le ) Juanita ornton

FILM By Chris McCoy

val stuff that we had to license?’ And they basically came back and said, ‘No, we can’t help you with that.’ So from there we were kind of treading water, spinning our wheels.”

With The Invaders in limbo, Smith got a job with New York filmmaker Sa cha Jenkins, whose documentary Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues played at In die Memphis 2022. “I happened to be on the subway train with him, on our ways away from work, and he was like, ‘Hey what’s up with that Invaders thing?’”

Jenkins showed the film to rapper Nas, who signed on to do a new voiceover for the film. “He actually showed up in my office and was like, ‘I’ve never heard of this story! It’s so great! I can’t wait to get this out!’” recalls Smith. “He actually said — and this just threw

me — ‘I was having dinner with Colin Kaepernick last night and all I could talk about was The Invaders.’” Memphis hip-hop superstar Yo Gotti came on board as executive producer to help get the project over the finish line. Now, The Invaders is set for release via video on demand (VOD), which means you can buy or rent it on streaming services or storefronts such as Apple TV, Google Play, and Amazon Prime Video. Smith says a wider release may be in the offing next year. For Smith, the release is the final milestone on a long journey. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he says. “I guess it teaches you patience. There’s the things that you can control, and the things you can’t. Try not to sweat too hard the things you can’t because they will eat you up.”

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

RESEARCH VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDRESEARCH VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

MLM Medical Labs

Volunteers to donate blood for a research study.

MLM Medical Labs is currently seeking Volunteers to donate blood for a research study.

MLM Medical Labs is currently seeking Volunteers to donate blood for a research study.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 80, weigh more than 110lbs, and are currently taking a blood thinner such as Aspirin, Brilinta, Eliquis, Lovenox, Plavix or Xarelto, or have been diagnosed with Kidney Disease, you may be eligible to participate.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 80, weigh more than 110lbs, and are currently taking a such as Aspirin, Brilinta, Eliquis, Lovenox, Plavix or been diagnosed with Kidney Disease, you may be eligible

This is a blood collection study only. No drug treatment will be provided. Participants will be paid for blood donation.

This is a blood collection study only. No drug treatment

If you are between the ages of 18 and 80, weigh more than 110lbs, and are currently taking a blood thinner such as Brilinta, Eliquis, Lovenox, Plavix, Xarelto, or Coumadin or have been diagnosed with Kidney Disease, you may be eligible to participate.

For more information, call: 901-866-1705

Participants will be paid for blood donation.

This is a blood collection study only. No drug treatment will be provided. Participants will be paid for blood donation. For more information, call: 901-866-1705

For more information, call: 901-866-1705

What’s in a Name?

Traversing local bureaucracy can be hilarious, frustrating, and hilariously frustrating.

When I got married in June 2011, I took my ex-husband’s last name. Changing my name at the little local Social Security O ce took about 15 minutes, if that. It was ridiculously easy. Eleven years later, I set about reversing the process.

is time, it was not ridiculously easy. In fact, it was an Odyssey-style journey of the strangest bureaucratic interactions I have ever experienced in my life.

e rst stop in my travels was the Shelby County Courthouse. Wait, let’s amend that. e rst stop in my travels was nding a parking space near the Shelby County Courthouse. is took some time.

Once that task was accomplished, I entered the courthouse, armed with the knowledge of exactly where to go thanks to a wonderfully helpful person who had assisted me over the phone. She was hands-down the most accommodating government employee I’ve ever talked to, and procuring an o cial copy of my nal decree of divorce from the courthouse turned out to be remarkably easy. I held on to the slim hope that maybe the entire day would follow suit. Alas. It was not to be.

My next stop was the Social Security O ce. Upon entering, I was immediately reminded of the scene from e Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in the Vogon (aka the galactic government bureaucrats) waiting room. I went to a screen that read “touch to begin,” an incongruous message as touching the screen began nothing. Once the screen and I came to terms, I hunkered down to wait. Many monitors around the room reminded us that our numbers may be called out of order. I experienced that this was indeed the case.

Eventually, I made my way to my designated window. e man behind the glass partition asked me how he could help me. I told him why I was there, to which he replied, “Oh, divorce? We only do divorce cases on ursdays.” I knew that this could not possibly be true and that this man was joking.

He looked at me.

I looked at him.

We blinked.

And yet, he stared at me with such deadpan earnestness that I was completely thrown. He looked at me. I looked at him. We blinked.

“So,” I said uncertainly, “I should come back … tomorrow?”

“Yep.” He paused. “Nah, I’m just messin’ with you.”

I couldn’t decide if I was irritated.

e man looked through my documents and then casually asked, “So, what happened?” I shrugged helplessly, unsure how to sum up an entire marriage and subsequent divorce in small talk. “You don’t have an answer? I’m a stranger,” he continued. “You can tell me anything.”

As I awkwardly attempted to answer his question, his system went down and saved me the trouble. A er waiting together in silence for 30 minutes, the system was restored and the issue handled. I le , still unsure if the interaction had been charming or frustrating.

My quest ended that day at the DMV. I went to one outside of Memphis, thinking that the wait wouldn’t be as long. I entered a vestibule that looked like it had been designed to trap the socially anxious. A zigzagging path snaked through about three feet of space, ending not in any clear destination but ambiguously in front of a long desk. A woman gestured for me to ignore the path.

A er explaining my purpose, I signed in and once again settled in to wait. e woman called me to the counter, but when someone with the same last name (that I was ironically there to change) went ahead of me, she went ahead and took care of him. I allowed myself a quiet sigh.

en it was my turn. We took my driver’s license photo six times. At the end of that debacle, I was handed a paper license bearing a hilariously exasperated photo of me. en, I was told that I would need to come back. I expressed my confusion. I explained that I had all the documents that were needed. e woman said, “But they don’t have the right name on them.” To which I replied, turning it into a question, “My birth certi cate has the correct name on it?”

She looked at me. I looked at her. We blinked.

Su ce it to say that I lost that particular showdown and will be returning to the DMV forthwith.

Coco June is a Memphian, mother, and the Flyer’s theater columnist.

PHOTO: SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT Shelby County Courthouse