DIME Entertainment | March 2017 | New School Charm by DIME Entertainment

DIME ENTERTAINMENT

NEW SCHOOL CHARM

MARCH 2017 | VOL. 3 â&#x20AC;¢ NO. 3

Celebrating the 65th anniversary of South Central Regional Medical Center

live auction & Silent auction food | beverages | after party

Proceeds benefit the South Central Health Care Foundation.

WILL AT 3509 HARDY ST

Film Screenings Workshops Meet the Filmmakers MS High School Film Fest

14TH ANNUAL

A P R I L 2 0-2 2, 2 0 1 7 Malco Tupelo Commons Theatre 3088 Tupelo Commons Tupelo, MS 38804 www.TupeloFilmFestival.net

The University

of Mississippi Museum and

Historic Houses MUSEUM.OLEMISS.EDU 6 6 2 . 9 1 5 . 7 0 7 3

UNIVERSITY AVE. & 5TH ST., OXFORD, MS Tues.–Sat. 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

A NEW GENERATION OF BLUES

THIS ISSUE

MARCH 2017 | Vol. 3

No. 3

DIME.ME BITE/POUR Beer of the Month \\ 12 Tupelo Sazerac \\ 14 Crescent City Crockpot \\ 16 Restaurant Rebel \\ 18 BEAT Dial Back Sound \\ 38 The Tale of the Windbreakers \\ 42 Dinosaur Pile-Up \\ 44

CANVAS Repurposing the Past \\ 22 Kevin Thayer \\ 24 DIGS Suited to another Era \\ 74 FEATURES The New Proud South \\ 54 Walks with Finnegan \\ 56

NEON Red Hot Chili Peppers \\ 48 Trombone Shorty \\ 51 DNCE \\ 52 SEAMS Notoriously Dapper \\ 64 STANDARDS Horoscopes \\ 82

62 74

LUCKY CHARMERS

ONE FILMMAKERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JOURNEY

Mis outhern S S EVENT SERVICES AND CATERING

Cochran Center | Lott Center | Cook Union | Danforth Chapel www.usm.edu/event-services | 601.266.4399

Photo courtesy of Daniel Meigs Photography

Photo courtesy of Steve Randon Photography

AA/EOE/ADAI

JX SN

APR 7 ZOO 6-9 PM CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF CHEERS N’ BEERS Over 80 Craft Beers Lucky Town Specialty Beer Tyson Wing-Eating Contest $45 General Admission $40 Advance Ticket Purchase $70 VIP & Early Admission

Music by AJC & The Envelope Pushers DJ Young Venom DJ Breakem Off Chris Gill Joe Carrol

m o r f s t Though w e r C e m i the D How do you define the new Southern Gentleman? “He’s dedicated to his personal growth every damn day.” — Jacqueline Lee “He doesn’t back down when something is right but isn’t afraid to admit when he’s wrong.” — DeeJay Rolison “A hardworking man who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and promotes kindness.” — Paige Pritchard “The NSG is kind-hearted, creative, loves to wear, eat and drink all things local, stands up for what is right, and doesn’t hide from talking about or doing something about the hard stuff in the world.” — Elizabeth Wilson Harris “Classic charm, a worldly sense of humor, a loving heart and compassionate soul. He is an insatiable lover but a little on the nerdy side. When you find him, give him my number.” — Adam Evans “ “The new Southern Gentleman embodies classic values but stays woke. He says yes ma’am and no ma’am and opens the door for me even though he knows I can do it myself. He calls where he’s from his “hometown” and is restlessly in love with his roots.” — Kaitlyn Watkins “He is fine with me going home without him but won’t sleep until I text that I’m home safe.” — Mary Ann Avallone O’Gorman “Thick af. Everything else is secondary.” — Justin Sawyer “He still has the traditional manners of a gentleman, such as introducing you to his mama, but still supports your endeavors to be independent.” — Talbert Toole

ON THE COVER: HUNTER DEERMAN CHANNELED HIS INNER SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN IN OUR STYLE SHOOT THIS MONTH. TAKE A PEEK AT THE OTHER LOOKS ON PAGE 68. PHOTO BY ASHTON PITTMAN

DIME ENTERTAINMENT

PUBLISHER Jim Cegielski

MANAGING EDITOR Courtney Creel

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jacqueline Lee

ART DIRECTOR Kassie Rowell

VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES & MARKETING Robin Bice MARKETING REPRESENTATIVES Amy Allegrezza Jenn Devereaux Brian Powers Houston Buckley Teddie Taylor DIRECTOR OF NEW MEDIA Ashton Pittman PHOTOGRAPHERS Ashton Pittman Kate Dearman Jenn Devereaux Lenore Seal Chad Edwards ILLUSTRATORS Sean Morgan CONTRIBUTORS Nicole Chantreau Chloe Clutter Kyle Crockett Jenn Devereaux Zack Grossenbacher Biz Harris Zach Jones Devin Ladner Ashley Locke Sean Murphy Adam Myrick Brittany Purvis Leighton Roland Justin M. Sawyer Daisy Stutts Andie Szabo Kaitlyn Watkins Brittany Purvis Thomas Roney Justin Sawyer Meaghen Stark Andie Szabo Teddie Taylor Talbert Toole

DIME Entertainment Magazine is published monthly by Gin Creek Publishing, 318 N. Magnolia St. Laurel, MS 39440. All contents copyright 2017 by Gin Creek Publishing and all rights reserved. Any views expressed here are not necessarily endorsed by DIME Entertainment Magazine, its staff or advertisers. Individual copies of DIME Entertainment Magazine are free for the first three copies. For additional copies, subscriptions, address changes and back issues, write to: Dime Entertainment Magazine, 110 E. Front St., Suite 103 Hattiesburg, MS 39401, call 601.909.6092 or visit dime.me For editorial inquiries, contact asst_editor@dimeentertainment.com. For advertising inquiries, contact ads@dimeentertainment.com. For all other inquiries, contact asst_editor@dimeentertainment.com.

R E E B o f

e h t

h t n o m

BY SEAN MURPHY OSKAR BLUES OLD CHUB STYLE: SCOTTISH STRONG ALE ABV: 8% IBU: 25

For the refined beer drinker and one who treats this lovely beverage much like a fine cognac, sink your teeth into an Oskar Blues Old Chub. This brewery began in a bathtub at Auburn University and now has three brewing operations in Longmont, Colo., Brevard, N.C., and Austin, Texas. This is one of the first breweries to distribute exclusively in cans and that is where you will find Old Chub — look for the green can! Coming in at a hefty 8 percent, this beer is a malt bomb that’s perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. It features semi-sweet tastes of cocoa and coffee with a bit of smoke flavor at the end. While I’m a regular hop head, sometimes one must sway to the malt side, and this beer will certainly leave the brain craving more. FOR MORE INFORMATION, GO TO OSKARBLUES.COM.

12 // dime entertainment

R Listen to

March 7 - 9

DESERT ISLAND DOZEN

3/7/17 3/8/17 Ben Farrier 9:00 a.m. Lici Beveridge Greg Prime 10:00 a.m. Clint Taylor 11:00 a.m. David Gustafson Lanna Wakeland 1:00 p.m. Jamie Massengale Chuck Cook John Miham 2:00 p.m. Jon Smith 3:00 p.m. Dean Maureen Ryan Hunter White

3/9/17

Marlo Dorsey Heath Kleinke Ben Shemper Wes Brooks John Neal Harry Crumpler

TUPELO SAZERAC RECIPE SUBMITTED BY MEGAN DYE

2.5 oz. Barrel Aged Rye Whiskey

(KOK’s rye whiskey is infused with fresh, muddled

blackberries for 1 month and then barrel aged.) 1 Sugar cube Absinthe

Lemon peel

2 dashes Honeycomb bitters* 1 dash Angostura bitters

Muddle sugar cube with just a few drops of water in mixing glass. (Use an actual glass for this step, not a shaker — trust me, it matters.) Add several small ice cubes, rye whiskey and bitters in same mixing glass. Stir well. In an Old Fashioned glass, roll around a few drops of absinthe until it is evenly covered. Pour out the excess to be sure there’s no standing absinthe in the bottom of glass.Strain the stirred mixture into the glass. Garnish with a lemon peel. Serve neat. *Honeycomb Bitters: Kermit’s Outlaw Kitchen gets honey from the local Amish who leave the comb in the jars. KOK soaks the comb with a bit of liquid honey & everclear for three weeks and then strains out the comb.

Megan Dye is the self-taught cocktail artist at Kermit’s

Outlaw Kitchen in Tupelo.

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Feeding the City Crescent City Crockpot BY ANDIE SZABO The Big Easy celebrates all types of people, including the homeless. After Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast, New Orleans experienced a 566% increase to the city’s homeless population. Since then, the numbers have been reduced significantly by the efforts of several non-profits and government agencies in the area, but it has not disappeared. As of 2015, 1,703 people were still displaced and living on the streets in the city. Crescent City Crockpot is a feeding initiative that delivers free meals to the homeless population in New Orleans, an organization formed by pure chance. Aaron Taylor, founder of Crescent City Crockpot, made crockpot honey bbq for a Mardi Gras party that was ultimately cancelled. Taylor ate bbq for a week but still ended up throwing a portion of the food

away. That’s when he posed the question: if it was possible to make so many meals with a few inexpensive ingredients, why not crockpot with a purpose? After confirming that the idea was legal and allowed by the Health Department, Crescent City Crockpot was born. Together with Reid Cooper and Rosalie Noland, Taylor started distributing meals in the city. The first serving dished out 30 hot meals in a week. Now, two and a half months later, they’ve served over 400 meals. “[Aaron] kind of just said let’s go feed homeless people one day,” admitted Cooper. “It was a no brainer.” Quality and healthfulness of the food they serve is the first priority for Crescent City Crockpot. They purchase the food the night before serving and only make meals that they would eat themselves. All of their volunteers have day jobs, so they let the food cook in crockpots while everyone is at work.

Every meal includes protein, vegetables, rice, bottled water and a small desert in a to-go box. Not to mention each meal costs about $1.20, meaning as little as $70 could feed 55 people. At the end of the workday, five to ten volunteers split up between two routes and serve under the interstate by St. Charles, Central City, The Quarter and the Bywater. “The best thing about Crescent City Crockpot is the amount of support we’ve received from friends, family and strangers,” Rosalie said. “It’s truly heartwarming to know that so many people back what we’re doing so openly.” It’s easy to get caught up in life and forget to pay it forward, but these millennials are doing just that. “New Orleans has given us great art, great food and great music,” Aaron explained. “We want to give what we can back.”

To make a donation to Crescent City Crockpot, go to crescentcitycrockpot.org. For more information about their upcoming events or for more recipes to try at home, find Crescent City Crockpot on Facebook.

Damon Reynolds, Rosalie Nolan, Reid Cooper, Aaron Taylor and Scott Clark of Crescent City Crockpot

ROOT BEER BBQ CHICKEN Inspired by Pillsbury.com

Try one of Crescent City Crockpot’s go to recipes in your own kitchen. Ingredients: 2 ½ lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce 1 cup root beer Salt and pepper Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper, and place inside crockpot. Pour in barbecue sauce and root beer, and spread around. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. Place chicken back in slow cooker on warm (or low). Simmer for 30 minutes, and then serve. Add shredded cheese if desired.

XXX

Restaurant

Rebel BY BIZ HARRIS PHOTOS BY CHAD EDWARDS/MCE PHOTOGRAPHY

Wearing a black biker t-shirt and jeans, Matt Flowers sits around one of his restaurant tables with three other fellas before the kitchen gets cooking. “We get together once a month or so to have coffee, shoot the shit, eat cheese toast…” one of them explains. Cafe La Fleur is still quiet, and, with its dark wood interior, it seems like the perfect place for a few guys to get together. I barge in, wrecking the vibe, but, thankfully, I’m offered a cup of coffee and a spot at the table. The other fellas trickle out, but Matt sticks with me, saying, “Stick around. I’ll have a couple of cups of coffee, make some gumbo, run some errands and come back here to chef-it-up tonight.” As it turns out, “sticking around” is one of the things Matt Flowers does best. Thanks to his dedication, Laurel’s downtown has had a delicious creole eatery for 20 years, when at times it’s had little else. Being in what restaurant people call “the back of the house” (a.k.a. the kitchen) since high school, Matt began his culinary journey in a Shipley’s doughnut shop, moving later to bars and casino kitchens, until he finally made downtown Laurel his home at the age of 27. Barring a few small menu additions or subtractions and some schedule changes at the very beginning, little has changed in the 20 years since he and his wife Amy bought the building that would become Cafe La Fleur. Even the oil cloth linens covering the tables are the same ones from the first day he opened. Flowers believes that consistency, combined with selective hours that make the job sustainable, have been the key to keeping his customers happy and his business successful for two decades in a field known for high turnover and burnout. However, taking a different approach (and being successful because of it) seems right for a guy who has mixed feelings about rules.

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“I’m a stickler about the rules, as long as I’m making them,” Matt admitted, “But, otherwise, I’m pretty bad at following the rules.” For example, while businesses in downtown Laurel are exploding in expectation of the HGTV Hometown premier, Matt has been getting a common request from restaurant goers and friends alike regarding the expected business boom. “It’s great. I’m thrilled about it… maybe we’ll have lines a few more days a week,” Matt said. “But, you know, people are always telling me that now I’ll have to stay open longer, or open more nights. With all due respect, no chance. I’m not in this to be rich. I love my life and want to keep loving what I do, and we’ve been able to be here for 20 years because we don’t kill ourselves. 18 hours a week — sure, that’s a weird schedule, but it’s right for us.” It’s right for Matt because, while he cares about the food he serves, his real passion is vintage Honda motorcycles. And, frankly, more time in the kitchen means less time rebuilding and customizing bikes that he hopes to make run again. “Seeing something dead, and then feeling it come alive again, that’s really something,” Matt explained. Considering he and his wife breathed new life into a once empty building in downtown Laurel all those years ago, I’d say he knows something about that.

CAFE LA FLEUR’S CRAB CAKES Lump crab meat 1 egg per pound of crab meat Cajun seasoning Salt Minced garlic Garlic pepper Onion powder Green onions Diced red peppers Worcestershire Tabasco Saltine cracker crumbs Mix lump crab meat and one egg in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients except cracker crumbs and combine. Add cracker crumbs to the bowl and mix together well. After all ingredients are combined, portion out crab cakes to the size of your choice. After the cakes are made, place in refrigerator for at least two hours to harden. Heat oil or butter in a skillet and place the cakes in the pan once the oil is hot. Cook for several minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve.

Thanks to Matt's dedication, Laurel's downtown has had a delicious creole eatery for 20 years, when at times it's had little else.

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Repurposing the Past BY JUSTIN MANUEL SAWYER

Picture, if you will, a small boy surrounded by piles of sawdust as he plays with scraps of wood in his father’s workshop. The boy smiles as he imagines what he’ll make with these discarded bits of wood. As far as origin stories go, it’s pretty tame. Nevertheless, the end results are even more extraordinary than what you’ll find on any silver screen at your local multiplex. John Walrod has spent a lifetime finding beauty in what other people have cast aside. As his eccentric alter ego Dr. Von Walrod, John is an award winning artist. In 2013, he received the Best Creative Artist Award at Ocean Springs’ annual Peter Anderson Arts Festival. As Dr. Von Walrod, John discovered an outlet for his imagination when he stumbled on the concept of assemblage art. You may know it by another name: steampunk. For those of you who don’t frequent art festivals or science fiction conventions, steampunk is an artistic movement encompassing books, fashion and everything in between. The movement puts a fantastical twist on the aesthetics of the late nineteenth century. Assemblage art is when an artist takes various found items and repurposes those items to create something unique. Whereas most artists purchase their supplies at art stores and hobby shops, John’s supply runs take him to far more eclectic places in nature. “I am constantly on the search for cool, old and unusual material, preferably cheap, from flea markets, yard sales, estate sales, antique stores and thrift shops. The process is very dependent on serendipity – what I

John Walrod

build depends on what I find during the hunt,” John explained. “My pieces usually start with a really unique object, such as a cool, old, art deco toaster made of shiny chrome. I then reimagine the piece as something else – such as the body of a cat. From there, I add on the rest of the anatomy in a rather organic fashion, pulling from a huge collection of bits and pieces I keep in my art studio.” The steampunk subculture also appealed to John’s distaste for our modern world’s consumer discard culture. “As a wood craftsman and engineer, I appreciate quality handmade work that will last many generations,” he said. “Box store pressed wood furniture will last maybe 10 years, if you don’t get it wet. An iphone or computer might last three to four years before it’s obsolete. In stark contrast, Victorian furniture and technology will last for centuries. I would much rather shop in a flea market, used

thrift store or antique mall than any modern retail store.” John found a creative outlet that combined all of his passions in the steampunk movement. “I’ve been a big fan of science fiction since I was a little kid and generally love science,” John revealed. “I have also always tried to be imaginative and open-minded, and I love antiques and old stuff. Steampunk embraces all of my favorite things.” Many of John’s pieces feature whimsical elements, such as his ray guns fashioned from metal pipes and various other sundry items he has about his shop. It’s the serendipitous nature that draws people to his art. And while the good doctor certainly never turns away interested art lovers, he can find the demands of being an artist for hire constraining. “I do commissions, but somewhat reluctantly,” he said. “What people want may not match with what I have on hand. I never know if a client will love a custom piece until after it’s been completed. Though this hasn’t been a problem yet, is it always a nagging concern while creating the custom piece. And I work better without deadlines on my creative process. If I have creative or assemblage issues on an art piece, I will set it aside to ‘simmer’ for awhile – good for quality, but bad for deadlines.” Before his transformation into Dr. Von Walrod, John described himself as “a typical cog” in the corporate machine. The fact that he had a stressful job certainly didn’t help. In his later years as an engineer, there were heavy layoffs in his department, and it was John’s responsibility to personally break the news to his employees.

“Corporate managers were splitting the company in half, forming two new companies for the dubious goal of ‘building shareholder value’,” he said. Disheartened by these obligations, John handed in his resignation on his 49th birthday, but focusing on his artistic pursuits has also improved the overall quality of his life. “I was overweight and out of shape, with neck pain and frequent

headaches,” he recalled. “I was popping ibuprofens daily, taking baby aspirins to reduce the risk of blood clots and heart attack, and on prescription meds for heartburn.” Dedicating his life to his art has not only enriched his own life, but also filled those who view his work with a sense of wonder — wonder that the good doctor hopes will linger with them long after they’ve seen his strange, cobbled together creations.

AGE: 45 IG: @THAYERFINEART KTHAYERART.COM

PHOTO BY JENNIFER DEVEREAUX

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MARDI GRAS GIRLS // BY KEVIN THAYER

HIGH FLOW BY ZACHARY JONES

His work adds a pop of color to the streets of the Crescent City, and one of his better-known works is a portrait of David Bowie, which was hoisted high above the throng of folk who turned out for the “Pretty Things” second line in honor of the late musician. DIME sat down to talk art with New Orleans painter and artist Kevin Thayer to find out just what makes him tick. ZACHARY JONES: How did you get your start? KEVIN THAYER: I have been drawing since I was probably four or five, but painting didn’t come along until high school. ZJ: When did you first take up painting? KT: I started hand-painting t-shirts in high school for my friends and that led to fashion shows in NYC and selling in boutiques in NY. I eventually got into painting with oils not long after that when I was working at an art supply store. My first attempt at a portrait was of Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon. ZJ: How would you describe your style? KT: My style is a real combo platter of impressionism, pop and street art. ZJ: What would you say has most influenced your artistic development? KT: My development has evolved incredibly in the last three years, and I would attribute that to time in the studio working. Developing a solid work ethic was tough for me, but once I learned to really dedicate myself to working, I really don’t want to do anything else with my time but work more. ZJ: What other artists do you look up to? KT: Artists dedicated to their craft that have something interesting to say — Marina Abramović, Takashi Murakami, Molly Magwire, Faile, Alex Ross, Jack Kirby, David Lynch. ZJ: What media do you use to make your art? KT: I use acrylics, high flow Golden Acrylics, MTN 94 spray paints. I have been doing some plein air watercolor painting on occasion as well. ZJ: What do you think is the most important thing people can take away from your art? What’s your message? KT: I hope the viewer sees what fun I’m having making the work. I don’t believe in a fixed message or narrative. Work I was doing a year or so ago was definitely more about an

emotional content, but now it’s more about optimism, fun and not taking the world so seriously for a moment. ZJ: What’s your process? What inspires you to create? KT: I have three or four stages of underpainting and canvas prep before I get onto the main image for the painting. I work from reference material generally. Each painting I do, I feel a little more capable of my craft and I like that feeling, so I guess I am inspired by feeling like I’m getting better at painting. ZJ: How do you work best? Quietly? Privately? Crowded spaces? With music? KT: I work best alone in my studio with some post-rock or WWOZ on, but I also like painting in other environmental situations as well. There is something to be said for live painting in New Orleans and having someone who just got off a plane, coming from some far flung part of the world, and now they are looking over your shoulder vibing with what you are painting — it’s pretty special. ZJ: What’s the hardest thing about what you do? KT: The hardest part is that this career pursuit is a bit of a marathon, and there is no real direction but the path you are laying out for yourself. Most of last year was difficult on a bunch of different levels, but I feel like I came through it pretty well. ZJ: In your opinion, why is art important? KT: Art is a great guide to help humanity understand one another despite their cultural, geographical and philosophical differences. Personally, it helps me get outside of reality for a bit and be peaceful. ZJ: If you had to choose, what’s your favorite piece you’ve created? KT: Recently, I painted a Billy Idol picture. Things were clicking when I painted that one I guess. Beyond that, I drew a chimp while riding on Metro North heading down to NYC for the first time after 9/11, and I still really like it. It is my logo after all. For commission inquiries or to join Kevin’s newsletter mailing list with info on shows and updates, email kt@kthayerart.com.

YOU ARE MY FALLING STAR // BY KEVIN THAYER

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ROYAL STREET ART // BY KEVIN THAYER

dime entertainment // 31

A New Generation

of Blues

BY KAITLYN WATKINS PHOTOS BY FRED SALINAS Gulfport-based Magnolia Bayou got its start at Murky Waters Blues Club after guitarist Dylan Palmiero’s dad/ band manager Kevin Palmiero hounded the bar music director for several months to listen to the band’s unique sound. When finally given the opportunity to play, they brought the club to life with their high energy. Since then, Magnolia Bayou has continued to attract large crowds and pack venues. The young blues group describes their style as “blues with a bite.” The band is comprised of members Palmiero, founder and guitarist; Andrew Fulton, lead vocalist and guitarist; Josh Estes, bassist; and Wesley Peden, interim drummer. Their unique medley of blues, rock, jazz and funk is demonstrated in their leading song “Snake in the Grass” from their demo recorded in late 2015. Since their inception, Magnolia Bayou has played over 100 live shows from the coast to the Delta, including blues hotspots such as the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, the Walnut Street Blues Club in Greenville, the Blue Biscuit in Indianola and Smoots Blues Lounge in Natchez. In addition, the group has played at numerous festivals and clubs throughout Mississippi and will continue touring in 2017. Reviews of the band describe their sound as a throwback to 60s and 70s blues rock, a time when rock music was epic. They have met and played with legendary

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blues musicians like Cedric Burnside, a Delta legend and 2016 Grammy nominee. Magnolia Bayou has been not only locally but also internationally recognized by a top rated blues show in the Netherlands. They were even included in a blues documentary filmed by a group from Europe, and they intend to prove that they have what it takes to continue to rise in the music scene. Before Magnolia Bayou was the completed ensemble it is today, Fulton was playing guitar for an Indie rock group while Magnolia Bayou was without a lead singer and reduced to scattered jam sessions. It was around this time that Palmiero and Fulton developed a friendship through a shared music interest. At the time, Palmiero wasn’t interested in bringing on another guitar player, but he was really looking to get the band back off the ground. So Fulton did what any true musician would do — he decided to become Magnolia Bayou’s frontman. “ I remember thinking ‘Hell, why not? I’ll sing.’ I guess you could say the rest is history,” Fulton recalled. Magnolia Bayou’s style of music is a melting pot with each member of the band coming from different musical backgrounds, including

hard rock, blues and funk. Each live performance is a ride for their audience members. The band can go from playing a hard rocker to a funky dance number to a traditional delta blues tune effortlessly. Even when they perform throwback songs, the band makes the music their own. “No matter what we do or where go, we keep our music rooted in the blues, and our original music is a good example of just that,” Fulton said. This summer, the band hopes to professionally record their first EP. After touring in multiple locations, they feel the most important step is to record their music to get to the next level. According to the band, their new music is heavy, raw and, of course, rooted in the blues. “Our new music is really representative of who we are as a band,” Fulton explained. “We are doing everything we can to take an organic approach while simultaneously flavoring the music with our own fresh, modern style.” To book the band or inquire about the open drummer position, contact Magnolia Bayou’s manager Kevin Palmiero at 228-209-1098.

"We are doing everything we can to take an organic approach while simultaneously flavoring the music with our own fresh, modern style" â&#x20AC;&#x201D;- Andrew Fulton â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

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DIAL BACK SOUND ISN’T JUST A ‘WHITE BOYS CLUB’

BRONSON TEW AND MATT PATTON IN THE DIAL BACK SOUND STUDIO IN WATER VALLEY, MISSISSIPPI

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BY ASHLEY LOCKE PHOTOS BY JOE YORK Matt Patton and Bronson Tew never planned to run a recording studio, but the opportunity fell into their laps. Bruce Watson, who opened Dial Back Sound in 2009, was planning on turning it into a duplex, but Matt couldn’t let that happen. “I’ve seen too many cool things I loved disappear,” he said. “Matt called me in the morning and said, ‘Do you want to buy the studio?’ I said, ‘With what?’” laughed Bronson, the now engineer and manager of the studio in Water Valley, Mississippi. “But we made it happen.” Matt and Bronson weren’t new to the music scene. “We’re from northern Alabama punk rock bands. Our friendship goes way back,” Matt said. “You get in your 30s and your music making

friends drop by half. By 35, they’re all gone.” “I’d be talking to some friends, and they’d mention Matt, and I’d think, ‘No way! That dude’s still playing!’ We reconnected over still being involved in music.” Matt’s roots are in politically progressive southern bands, The Dexateens and The Drive By Truckers. “Progressive and Southern are two things that don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” he said, and that way of thinking shows in the music Dial Back Sound produces. Cody Rogers, a member of Holy Ghost Electric Show, wrote a protest song called Hospitality right after news broke about HB1523, the infamous religious liberty accommodations act proposed last year. Many Mississippians were afraid the bill would inherently legalize discrimination.

“Cody called me with the idea for the song and asked if we would produce it,” said Bronson. “We did it that night, no charge. I finished mixing it at four in the morning.” Matt’s band The Drive By Truckers came out with the politically charged album American Band in the fall of 2016. Many of the songs on the record were about gun violence, one of which was inspired by the shootings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, and the band started touring with a Black Lives Matter sign on stage. “We got pushback from a lot of places you wouldn’t expect. There’s a lot of benign racism here in the south. It’s progressing, but it’s slow,” said Matt. “In California, we had protesters with Blue Lives Matter signs in the crowd. A lot of people walked out of our show. We try to explain why we believe what we believe, but some

people don’t want to hear it.” Their value of diversity extends beyond their personal lives, and it shows in the bands they produce. “One of the most satisfying things for me is that Dial Back is not just a white boys club,” said Matt. “It’s a diverse group of people that come here to make a record. I put together a Spotify playlist of stuff we’ve done, and the music quality is most important, but I look back and I’m proud to see the different voices represented.” Those voices include The Seratones, Leo “Bud” Welch, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus and Water Liars. Though the bands all sound very different, their records share a warm, raw quality that comes from Dial Back Sound’s old school approach to recording. “We record mostly live, and we

still use tape,” said Matt. “We wanted to make records that sound like the records we grew up on. We don’t want anything to sound dated.” “We try to capture the excitement on the floor. We want realer sounds, we want you to feel the sound of the drums in the room without it sounding like a volcano,” said Bronson. Part of that excitement comes from their goal of recording bands on tour. There’s an enthusiasm in the sound of a band in the middle of a tour that doesn’t come out otherwise. “We aren’t here to cut vanity records,” Bronson said. Being located in Water Valley has its upsides and downsides. Water Valley is a breeding ground for artists. There, the low cost of living allows for risks and ideas that would be unaffordable in a city. Preconceived notions about Mississippi, however, can

make it difficult to convince bands to stop by. Plus, Dial Back Sound doesn’t advertise. Word of mouth is what keeps them going, and, so far, it’s working. “I feel like that’s my job,” Matt said. “I make connections while Bronson does the job. He’s in the studio day in, day out.” The bands they record sometimes stop for shows in the nearby town of Oxford, Mississippi, but, as fathers, it can be difficult for them to get out to see a late show. “I’ll order one drink, and as soon as it’s gone, I am too,” Bronson laughed. Dial Back Sound is bringing an old school feel to a new age song and dance — a fresh sound by using the old ways. They make friends, they use tape and they record protest songs. It’s a formula straight from the sixties, and it’s working. dime entertainment // 41

The Tale of the Windbreakers BY KYLE CROCKETT

LET ME RIDE III: This is the third piece in an ongoing series called “Let Me Ride” that celebrates, discusses and explores the unique nature of music in Mississippi and the infinite catalog of stories that contributes to that rich portrait. The subsequent pieces in this series will focus on particular events, characters or locations in Mississippi’s musical history and in its current musical landscape, and examine how they reflect or uncover the mythic, murky identity of one of the world’s greatest musical watering holes.

Tim Lee and Bobby Sutliff hung out in the late 70s listening to rock and blues and country and falling in love with punk rock like everyone else under 30. At this point in Mississippi music history, not an awful lot was happening in the local music scenes or in the national headlines for our Magnolia home aside from Jimmy Buffett or the bluesmen who continued to play and perform after the 60s blues revival, like John Lee Hooker and Bo Diddley. New was never Mississippi’s thing anyway. But new was always Tim and Bobby’s thing. In fact, they had a fairly hefty batch of brand new material, new material like Mississippians had only heard about through the gossip circuit condemning the national freaks, material like a few lucky Mississippians had heard on radios, records and cassettes — material like a few even luckier ones got to hear straight from the Windbreakers. Tim Lee and Bobby Sutliff formed the Windbreakers in the late 70s around Jackson, and they spent quite a few years developing a reputation as one of Mississippi’s finest house bands for any venue your country club or school could have. That’s because Tim and Bobby knew their audience, and their audience wanted to come in and know. So the boys decided if they wanted to press their music, they had to infiltrate the manila Mississippi hierarchy for the funds with a boatload of rockin’ favorites. Years of local pleasing and then one totally life-changing cover concert at a Port Gibson soiree later, the duo were in business with Meet the Windbreakers, a self-released 7” on Lee’s own label Big Monkey Records in 1982. After minor success with 1985’s Terminal, the WB’s released Run, an impressive 1986 debut for DB Records. A year later in 1987, Sutliff departed from the band to pursue his own career, which would bear many successes itself thanks to the songwriter’s keen ear and near-prophetic alt-country-punk style, and Tim Lee would release the Windbreakers’ magnum opus on his own. A Different Sort released on DB to the same national oblivion that characterized Lee and Sutliff’s music career, but also perhaps the band’s most universal acclaim from the critical world and the world of freaks and loners and listeners and rockers that found them. Alone for the first time in almost a decade, Tim Lee recorded A Different Sort here in Jackson at the still operating Terminal Recording Studios. The record is a total embodiment of alternative modern Mississippi and perhaps a prologue for it, a crystallization of everything around it through the mud of home, and an obliteration of home’s horrors through relentless, unhinged energy transfer. After a few years of solitude, Sutliff returned to his old friend again and the duo released the

wonderfully wry Electric Landlady in 1991 for DB, which marked a return to Lee’s stupendous form on A Different Sort with a bigger sound and better production value, representing the high point of the Windbreakers’ recording career. Their music was punk and power and pop and rock like few had explored in ’82. Aside from Michael Quercio’s Three O’Clock precursor the Salvation Army and their stunning debut the same year, no one made a sooner direct dive into the psychedelic powerpop wonders of the Paisley Underground than Mississippi’s first modern weirdos, the Windbreakers. The pocket of pop made titans of Game Theory and the Bangles and countless others all the way to the New Pornographers, and it thrived in the 80s with its wild individualism and indelible knack for melody and quirk. What set the Windbreakers apart was the rooted and rowdy chaos that their Mississippi foot-stomp brought their glistening 80s rock, an attribute unique to anyone else involved, and it placed the Windbreakers at the forefront of the movement with their early work despite relative disconnection from other major players, an isolated involvement the band enjoyed throughout the decade. But that was the way of the Wind. Individualism and rock and roll were all. Country and blues were way more awesome than the rock world was allowing them to be, and like so many other gifts to culture, Mississippi bore the fruit. With their amazing juxtaposition of genre and their eternal cool, Tim and Bobby were and continue to be incredibly devoted to individualism through whatever means, and their considerable obscurity speaks to the musicians’ apathy toward the approval of any group. Despite their role as rock and roll lost boys, their impact and influence there is immediately apparent through the 80s with contemporaries like the Replacements, Television, R.E.M., the Minutemen, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, even later the Lemonheads, and countless others who embraced Lee and Sutliff’s gritty Mississippi punk style. The way Mississippi music has looked since 1980, and most importantly how it looks in 2017, owes a momentous debt to Tim Lee and Bobby Sutliff and the Windbreakers. They defined the Mississippi freakazoid. They created it in a lot of ways. And they’re one the state’s most historically important bands, regardless of widespread reputation. The next time you wear your Vans to a wedding, or go to that punkcore show in a living room instead of the bar with the hotties, or the bar with the Jenga instead of that punkcore show in a living room, or drink Four Roses right under a teetotaler’s nose, or wake up one morning and dye the tips of your hair blue, remember the Windbreakers. And thank the cosmos for the different sorts.

ILLUSTRATION BY SEAN MORGAN

XXX

QA &

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QUESTIONS WITH DINOSAUR PILE-UP BY JENN DEVEREAUX

Hailing from Leeds, the alternative rock trio Dinosaur Pile-Up, consisting of lead singer and guitarist Matt Bigland, drummer Mike Sheils and bassist Jim Cratchley, have earned a spot in the upcoming Welcome to Rockville festival April 29-30 in Jacksonville, Fla. It’s unmistakable that their musical roots are deeply embedded in the 90s grunge era of music, but don’t label them as another grunge revival band just yet. Their music is a fresh take on the well loved genre of alternative rock, and for every massively heavy guitar riff, there’s also an exceedingly addictive hook that makes their sound extremely radio friendly. DIME caught up with Dinosaur Pile-Up founder Matt Bigland to talk about the story behind their band name, politics and why 11:11 is so symbolic to them. JENN DEVEREAUX: What’s the story behind the band name? MATT BIGLAND: So before I started Dinosaur Pile-Up, I went to the movies with a bunch of friends and caught a movie. It was the Peter Jackson version of King Kong, and, man, did it suck. There was a part in it where a stampede of dinosaurs all crash down a mountain together and pile up at the bottom. When we came out, I bet them that when I started my next band I would call it Dinosaur Pile-Up, not actually intending to go through with it, I guess. But, eventually, I needed a name for the band, so I went with it! JD: I actually discovered your newest album Eleven Eleven at a time when those numbers kept popping up day to day in my life. There are a lot of theories about the idea of 11:11, so what’s one of your favorites? MB: We don’t really have a theory about it. Whilst we were touring prior to recording the album, we started seeing the numbers everywhere. Like, everywhere! I was writing a lot of the ideas for the album during that touring period, and, eventually, the numbers had become so significant to us that it made sense to name the record after that period of time with those numbers. I guess it’s more sentimental to us than anything. JD: Eleven Eleven is a darker, heavier album compared to your past two albums. Was this a conscious decision, or were you being influenced by other bands you were listening to at the time you started writing? MB: I guess it’s a bit of everything: the timing, what I was writing, what we were listening to. I was revisiting a lot of the [Smashing] Pumpkins and listening to Deftones’ Koi No Yokan at the time, so I think that was influential for sure.

JD: Did you always know that music was the end game, or did you have a Plan B? MB: I started playing guitar when I was nine years old, and I’ve been obsessed ever since. All I really wanted to do was play guitar, and I wrote songs instinctually all the time even from that age. So I guess it was just something that was there for me from the beginning. I never really considered any ‘Plan B’ or whatever, even though friends and parental figures always said I should. The idea of not doing music terrified me. I felt that if I created a Plan B then somehow the universe would force me to use it, so I just always focused on music and didn’t really ever think about anything else. JD: As a band, what’s the biggest challenge that you have faced thus far? MB: Being able to survive financially. Creating enough money to support the band can be challenging, particularly now that nobody really pays for music. So we’ve all had to sacrifice a lot and work our asses off for a really long time. Not that I’m complaining at all — it was our choice to do this with our lives, and we do it because we love doing it. But I guess now we’re starting to see the opportunities that we’ve created for ourselves, which is perhaps even more rewarding. JD: If you could have any band cover one of your songs, which band would you choose? MB: I don’t know — maybe Weezer? We’re big fans of those first two Weezer records, and we still slam them in the van when we’re on tour. And we got the chance to play some shows with Weezer a couple of months back, which was awesome, so seeing Rivers [Cuomo] doing one of our songs would be a trip. JD: You guys will be at Welcome to Rockville this year. What bands on the

lineup are you excited to see perform? MB: I’m really stoked to see Soundgarden. I’d love to catch Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes and Gojira also. It should be a pretty good time! JD: Being from the UK, as an outsider looking in, what is your view on what’s going on politically with America’s state of affairs? MB: I’m disappointed that such a regressive environment is being created, rather than a progressive one. I’m truly saddened by that. There is no place for sexism, racism and social inequality in today’s society, and I hope those mentalities are not cultivated further. JD: I recently read on your Twitter that the band is addicted to watching Forensic Files. What are some other shows you guys are watching? MB: Mainly Forensic Files to be honest. Mikey [Sheils] and Jim [Cratchley] started watching it in hotels when we’d get in and had some time, and now we’re all over it. The guy narrating it has such an awesome voice. JD: What is Dinosaur Pile-Up’s next project? MB: We’re just gonna be touring for the rest of the year through the UK, Europe and the US. That’s our main goal — to get Eleven Eleven out there and give it the opportunity it deserves through touring. I’m always writing, so I’ll keep doing that until we’re ready to get off the road for a bit and make the next record. JD: If there was a phrase that you think best sums up your approach to life, what would it be? MB: Shred till you’re dead. That’s the freaking truth. You only live once, and you never know when the end of the road is, so you better give it all you got until you’re gone. I think about that everyday.

Are you ready for Welcome to Rockville? Take a peek at the full lineup at welcometorockvillefestival.com. To purchase tickets, go to rockville.frontgatetickets.com.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS “Hello, New Orleans! I feel like I met about half of you on the street today. So, hello again,” Anthony Kiedis’ said, greeting the jam packed crowd in New Orleans on January 10. The Smoothie King Center was filled to the nosebleed sections with fans and for good reason — the Grammy award winning Red Hot Chili Peppers were playing. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers performed hit after hit, including Dani California, Can’t Stop and Californication, but the real treat that night was a memorable encore of their chart-topping song Give it Away with special guests and New Orleans natives Ivan Neville, the Rebirth Brass Band, George Porter Jr. and opening act Trombone Shorty.

PHOTOS BY JENN DEVEREAUX

dime entertainment // 49

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS // JENN DEVEREAUX

TROMBONE SHORTY // JENN DEVEREAUX

DCNE

By now, you’ve probably heard the hit song ‘Cake by the Ocean’ on the radio or in various TV commercials, and, if you haven’t, you’re probably living under a rock. What you may not know is that DNCE (pronounced D-N-C-E), the band behind the catchy tune, is fronted by former Jonas Brothers member, Joe Jonas. New Orleans got a treat when the eclectic funk pop band performed at the House of Blues to a full crowd in January. PHOTOS BY JENN DEVEREAUX

Upcoming Shows March 1 EILEN JEWELL holley peel

Duling Hall

March 2

ELI YOUNG BAND derek norsworthy

Hal & Mal’s

March 3

JAKE SLINKARD & CO empty atlas

Duling Hall

March 4

GRADY CHAMPION

with special guest big yayo & an acoustic experience

Duling Hall

March 7 SON VOLT johnny irion

Duling Hall

March 8 SOUTHERN SOUL ASSEMBLY

Luther Dickinson, Anders Osborne JJ Grey & Marc Broussard

Duling Hall

March 9

CITY AND COLOUR

Hal & Mal’s

March 10

BankPlus Concert Series Presents

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX

Billy Cox, Buddy Guy, Zakk Wylde, Jonny Lang, Doyle Bramhall II, David Hidalgo & Cesar Rosas, Dweezil Zappa, Brad Whitford, Whit Ana Popovic & More

Thalia Mara Hall

March 15 MARTIN SEXTON brothers mccann

Duling Hall

March 16 ZOSO

the ultimate led zeppelin experience

Duling Hall

#JX//RX

we don’t book sh!t bands

tickets & info ardenland.net

THE NEW PROUD SOUTH BY DEVIN LADNER // PHOTO BY LENORE SEAL

The phrase southern gentleman typically conjures images of men with thick accents, complete with calloused hands and manners Mom would be proud to claim. But the term is not exclusive to that classic image, and Justin Mitchell is one of the men redefining what it means to be a southern gentleman. Gay and proud to be from the South, Mitchell is a journalist for the Sun Herald, a Biloxi newspaper. Although being a voice for the LGBTQ community in the Deep South seems like a controversial role, Mitchell says the tides have turned. “Being who you are is more positive than it has been traditionally,” he said. As a journalist, Mitchell uses his voice to discuss topics that are perceived by outsiders as contentious, but so far he has received nothing but positive feedback.

“I feel like I’m supposed to be here,” he said. “In the South, everyone knows everyone. I guess most people would think I’m silly, but I like that. I think it’s a great thing to be connected to everyone, and that connectivity is what makes me thrive and inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing.” Mitchell has made a home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and, although he hasn’t written off relocating completely, he has no intentions to leave Mississippi anytime soon. “My blood is here. I was born and raised here. Whenever I travel, I always look forward to coming

back,” Mitchell admitted. “There’s nothing I love more than driving over the bay bridge from Pass Christian to Bay St. Louis. I think it’s the most beautiful view in the world.” Mitchell lives in Biloxi with his boyfriend who he says “grounds” his inner dreamer. Although they haven’t faced any adversity from strangers, Mitchell says he still looks around when they’re holding hands. However, he attributes this more to just being gay in general, which he says has its difficulties no matter where you are. The only difference? In the South, there is a “bless your heart” mentality. “You never know when someone says that it was good to see you if they really meant it was good to see you or if they meant they are going to pray for you on Sunday morning,” he explained.

That mentality, though, has some positive impact as well. The South has taught Mitchell to always be respectful, and he believes this has made him a better journalist and person. “A high school teacher showed me the importance of [respect] — be respectful, but think for yourself.” In that philosophy, Mitchell also finds the meaning of what he perceives to be a true southern gentleman. “Traditionally, I think for women it meant to stand still and look pretty. For men, it was more about masculinity and being a provider,” Mitchell said. “If you happened to not fit in those boxes, you were looked down upon or ridiculed. Today, I think it’s more about being unafraid to be who you are.”

FOR JUSTIN MITCHELL, BEING A “SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN” IS LESS ABOUT OPENING DOORS AND MORE ABOUT LOVING WHO YOU ARE — REGARDLESS OF WHO’S PRAYING FOR YOU ON SUNDAY. dime entertainment // 55

Walks With

Finnegan How one man found a home, and a dog, in Mississippi

BY ZACK GROSSENBACHER PHOTOS BY VINCE EVANS On any given day, you can see Vince Evans and his border collie Finnegan walking around downtown Jackson. Vince’s Jackson is preserved in photos he shares via Instagram and other social media. They are part remembrance, part experiential artifact. It’s as if his lens follows Finnegan and makes a disjointed map of the city. In what he calls “the best part of his day,” Vince has constructed a city seen from a dog’s eye. Finnegan was born in Mississippi, but Vince is a transplant. The local shows the new guy around. Born in the Catskills of Upstate New York, Vince is from a rural town called Liberty. It was a poor place, and he came from what he calls a broken family. The child of unmarried teenagers, Vince didn’t have the easiest go of things. Evictions and house hopping were the norm. He even spent a week living with his principal once. From an early age, he had an interest in politics. He remembers when he was first drawn to the subject. In fourth grade, while Bill Clinton was campaigning against Ross Perot and George H.W. Bush for the Presidency, his class hosted a mock debate. Vince was chosen to portray Clinton, in what seemed an intentional choice by his teacher. “I think he knew my family received welfare,” he said. “We looked like kids that weren’t very well cared for.” I met him years later when he was a Barksdale Fellow at the Honors College at the University of Mississippi. He was fresh off a masters in Philosophy at Notre Dame (and before that a stint at the other Oxford as a Marshall Scholar). He had been to Marine Officer Training School, but left after a severe back injury. He was teaching Public Policy and Ethics. When we met recently, on a bleak winter day earlier this year, we strolled around downtown Jackson in what must have felt very similar to his ritual walks with Finnegan, though the pup was absent. dime entertainment // 59

We went from building to building — City Hall, the Governor’s Mansion, and the unusual, modernist headquarters of Trustmark — and Vince recounted tidbits of trivia about each with the familiarity of a Jacksonian of decades. Afterwards, he spoke about his decision to return to Mississippi from his unfinished doctoral studies at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. “There is a sense of culture that is palpable in Mississippi,” Vince said. “It is rich in a way that I’d find it really hard to say that New York’s culture is rich.” He meant, in part, the obvious trappings: Faulkner and co., the food and the blues, but surely he meant more. New York, after all, is the home of great museums and the birthing place of great artistic movements. The culture in Mississippi is born from hardship and the failure of us to see each other as humans. “I’ve always been interested in the dialect of America’s experiment with democracy,” Vince said, “and that dialect is most rigorous in Mississippi, and what I mean by that is this struggle to really look at people, regardless of their contingent features as equals, as peers in a republic. There is no place that has failed more than Mississippi.” Though he says this off the cuff, you can tell that Vince has thought about it at length, and with a philosopher’s mind. He is here because there is a home in this failure. There is room to work and to grow. “The dynamic that led me to developing an affection for this place is the interplay between people who are from Mississippi and people who aren’t,” Vince said. When he decided he was moving here, he recalls the father of a friend evoking that tired old question of whether or not Mississippians wore shoes. In response to people like his friend’s dad, Vince has a direct answer.

“Three million people live in this state. If 30,000 of the ‘bleeding-heart’ liberals moved here, they could change the culture of this state in one election cycle.” After years working in different capacities for the Democratic Party, Vince isn’t in the political sphere anymore. He does work to break the insider/outsider barrier in Mississippi, and his walks with Finnegan are a central part of that. Finnegan was part of the reason Vince returned home. “He’s a Mississippian, after all,” he joked. And as a Mississippians are wont to do, Finnegan has been making connections with folks of all sorts. From coworkers to tenants in Vince’s apartment building, people have started scheduling time to go on walks with the pair. “We meet all kinds of people,” Vince said. “When people see me without him, they say, ‘Where’s your buddy?’” One day, they were out walking down Capitol Street, near the Woolworth’s building. Vice saw an elderly man standing near the Freedom Trail marker that addresses the 1963 sit in. He pointed out a few more markers the man was interested in, but the man stopped him and said that, in fact, he knew many of the people that were at the sit in, pictured on the sign. He was Henry Wingate, who was appointed to a federal judgeship by Ronald Reagan in 1985. Wingate was 16 when Medgar Evers led the sit in. “I couldn’t have gushed enough,” said Vince. “[It was] maybe one of the most significant experiences in my whole life.” People can fall in love with a place for a number of reasons and in a number of ways. A big part of Vince’s Mississippi is his dog. Finnegan is both his connection to his place and his inroad to know it more intimately. “There is only one decision that I don’t regret even a little bit,” said Vince, “and that is the decision to adopt Finnegan.” But it seems that where he gained a friend, he also gained his own piece of Mississippi. dime entertainment // 61

MINIATURE EXPLOSION IN MAX PERIL

Make Good Art One

Filmmaker's Journey

BY JUSTIN MANUEL SAWYER Throughout his career as a filmmaker, Frank Ladner has worn many hats. He directs, writes, edits and acts in his own films. He even scores them to boot. Barely in his mid thirties, Ladner already has two feature-length films under his belt as well as a handful of short films. Although an impressive enough feat in and of itself, the fact that Ladner manages to tell intimate, funny stories on a shoestring budget makes his cinematic exploits all the more significant. Obsessed with filmmaking since childhood, Ladner’s early attempts consisted of rudimentary stop motion animation. “Most of my early years were spent doing ‘test films’ where I was really testing an effect as opposed to telling a story,” Ladner said. “It wasn’t until age 30 that I made my first feature [film].” When artistic inspiration took the reins, Ladner led his friends out to the

woods to make his sci-fi mockumentary “Hickory Never Bleeds.” Like many artists, Ladner dealt with self doubt throughout the filming process. “I hit a point where I was very close to erasing everything so that I wouldn’t have to figure out if it was even worth putting out there,” Ladner admitted. “Encouragement from my wife, and the fact that actors had put their time into it, were the reasons I moved forward.” Independent film making is especially daunting when you consider that neither Frank or any of the actors make any real money from their cinematic labors of love. In a society where the ever-present bottom line is looming, there are still those, like Frank, that find the time to create works of self expression. “Making an independent film is a worthwhile endeavor,” he said. “I tell younger filmmakers that selling your movie — actually making money from it — usually means you need ‘name’

talent, and to get that kind of talent you often have to be tight with a producer who has some pull. The other approach to making a successful film is to show people something they have never seen before. ‘High concept’ is a term that comes up in screenwriting books — it’s fairly elusive. But for me, I get more satisfaction in making a movie that I would want to see.” In addition to satisfying his own creative needs, Ladner’s filmmaking also allows him to showcase local talent, which he feels makes for a more well-rounded performance. “I’m comfortable with the mockumentary style of filmmaking because I work with regular people. This allows them to follow a story loose outline. The flipside of that is that when you work with trained actors in a mockumentary, they often have trouble delivering natural lines,” Ladner explained. “A non-actor doesn’t ingest your suggested dialog

FRANK LADNER // MAX PERIL

In a society where the ever-present bottom line is looming, there are still those, like Frank, that find the time to create works of self expression. or prompts — they just stumble through it, and that’s great. I also get a real sense of satisfaction in giving regular people the chance to play a character when they would otherwise not have the chance.” Even though the joy of filmmaking is its own reward to independent directors such as Ladner, that certainly doesn’t mean that he doesn’t aspire to reach a wider audience with his work. To that end, Ladner has worked out a deal with Amazon to stream both “Hickory Never Bleeds” and “Max Peril” on Amazon Prime. Max Peril (starring Ladner) came out in 2015 to positive reviews and has played in numerous film festivals around the South. All films are personal, but the parallels between subject and artist become extremely blurry at times. “Max Peril was my second feature and allowed me to do some of the lo-fi filmmaking techniques I played

with as a kid,” Ladner said. “I took this movie-within-a-movie approach. You follow the main character, Riley, who is a filmmaker on the verge of 30, and he’s never made a film, similar to my real story except Riley is played a lot more eccentric and maybe a little inept. He gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he’s contacted by Max Peril, a retired secret agent. Max Peril asks Riley to document his story, but Riley takes it a step further and wants to re-create the stories, using his VHS camcorder, local talent and cheesy special effects.” Amongst his artistic influences, Ladner lists comedic directors Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Christopher Guest (Best in Show), and this guidance certainly shows in his work. His films will not appeal to certain demographics; they walk a fine line between the absurd and the enlightening. You find yourself wanting to laugh at Ladner’s protagonists one moment,

only to be struck by a calm sort of awe by some profound bit of dialogue they mutter whilst looking into the camera. They are idiosyncratic and whimsical. There’s a moment in Ladner’s latest short film Aluminum where the lead character River reflects on his unique ability to levitate aluminum (and only aluminum) cans. As Ladner said, “When it boils down, everybody may not be for what you do, and what you do may not be for everybody.” The same can be said of Ladner’s body of work. But, for those of us who follow this gifted filmmaker down his unique path, we are rewarded with films that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Hickory Never Bleeds and Max Peril are available on Amazon. The short films Aluminum and Almost Mine can be found on YouTube and Vimeo. dime entertainment // 63

NOTORIOUSLY

DAPPER BY CHLOE CLUTTER If there has ever been a time for body positivity and self-love advocates, that time is here and now. Kelvin Davis is an authority on menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fashion and the unrealistic standards that go along with the industry. As a successful blogger, instagram guru and published author, he is constantly intertwined with social media and readers who look to him for advice and inspiration. This month, Dime chatted with Kelvin about his journey with fashion, body acceptance and his growing online presence.

dime entertainment // 65

CHLOE CLUTTER: What sparked your interest in the fashion industry? KELVIN DAVIS: Well, I have always been into fashion and art, even as a child. I started picking out my own clothes at six and was doing my own laundry by nine. My mother often reminds me of how meticulous I can be, especially with my clothes. My interest started as a kid watching my dad take care of his clothes and dress on the weekends. He’s a cop so he was always in uniform, but, when he was off, he dressed so dapper and clean. I was fascinated by his style, and, occasionally, I find myself wearing classic pieces that he wore when I was growing up. The older I got, the more my interest grew. In high school, I worked at a few clothing stores in the mall. I liked seeing the shipments and having an idea of what was going to be updated. I was always known for rocking clothes my own way. A lot of people would try to imitate my style, and I was flattered by it. I love inspiring people to try new things and feel confident in their own skin. We all deserve to feel good about ourselves, and style has helped me share that message with others.

at another store or online.” The sales associate then elaborated and told me that the company did not make a larger size in that blazer at all. On top of that, she told me that my arms and chest were just “too big.” I remember feeling insecure and hurt — my self confidence definitely took a back seat that day. I wanted to talk about it but had a feeling that it wasn’t “appropriate” for men to feel this way, but I couldn’t shake it off. I then realized the need for an outlet to show men of all sizes that you can be confident and still look just as good, no matter what size you are. Men are often expected to be silent about body image or anything emotional due to the societal standards of masculinity. Notoriously Dapper was made to break that standard and inspire all men to love themselves while gaining some style inspiration. I have been blogging for almost 4 years now, and it has been a long, challenging but very rewarding journey. I look forward to more years to come.

CC: What is the most important rule of fashion to you? KD: The most important fashion rule to me is wearing things that make you feel comfortable and confident. We often get too consumed by the media and what the fashion industry says is ‘in’ and ‘out’. But I’m a firm believer in being original and doing things that make you, you. As long as you feel confident in your clothes, you won’t need to worry about anything else because the confidence will shine through you and radiate to others. To me, having well fitted clothes makes me feel confident. I feel like I can take on the world in a well-tailored suit. Even when I wear well fitted pants and a button up, I feel invincible and that’s a feeling we all need in order to conquer our dreams and passion.

CC: How has starting your blog/social media presence changed your life and career? KD: It has helped me get my story and message out while listening to support from others. It has definitely helped my career in the sense of being a prominent face in the menswear industry. I feel like my contributions are starting to pay off, and it is inspiring others to follow their dreams as well. I remember being a waiter after college with a one-year-old to feed at the time (she’s six now) and talking to people about my dream of being a style icon. I would tell them about wanting to go to New York for fashion week, and now I will be attending the New York Men’s Fashion Week for the third time. I feel blessed to have such supporters of what I do. I’ve been featured in BuzzFeed, Glamour and now my Notoriously Dapper book will be available in the fall of 2017! My blog and social media presence have led me to pursue my dreams in the fashion industry. It’s even better knowing that you have worked so hard for four years, and now you can see what people mean when they say “follow your dreams.” It’s a beautiful thing to watch it unfold right in front of your own eyes.

CC: What made you start your blog, Notoriously Dapper? How long have you been blogging? KD: I started my blog after a bad shopping experience a few years ago. I spotted a red blazer, so I went to try it on and it didn’t fit. It was strange to me because it was my size, so I asked for a size up and was told they didn’t carry a larger size. I was confused and thought to myself, “well, maybe they have a larger size

CC: What has been the biggest challenge for you, and how did you overcome it? KD: The biggest challenge has been balancing my time. I have often had difficulty dividing up my time and choosing when to work on certain things. I’m still a full time art teacher/football coach, father and husband so it can get a little hectic at times. Somehow, I have found time to balance all of them while now becoming an author. Many that are close to me often tell me

CC: Who is your style icon? KD: Nick Wooster, for sure. He is the definition of what I want to be when I’m older. He has amazing versatility in his style, and he inspires everyone around him. He’s a true gentleman.

how much of a modern day “Renaissance Man” I am. One day, I know I will be able to make this my fulltime job, but right now balancing everything is the most challenging thing to deal with. I love staying busy, though. I get bored very easily, and it’s nice to know that I always have something to do from going to dance recitals, planning birthday parties, attending fashion week to writing a book. Life is beautiful right now. CC: How did you come to be a part of the Instagram page Eff Your Beauty Standards? KD: EYBS was founded by Tess Holliday to promote women of various sizes and to give a middle finger to the beauty and body standards we all are faced with. She liked what I was doing with the men’s side of things. We had a few chats over Instagram, and she asked me to be a part of Eff Your Beauty Standards. Of course, I said yes. I was now officially a part of one of the most badass teams in the game. I help bring light to the male beauty standards and often spread what I preach on my own outlets. Currently, I’m the only male on the EYBS team and love being around such positive and inspiring women. We are truly revolutionizing the way people view beauty standards while encouraging everyone to love themselves and embrace their bodies. CC: What is your outlook on body positivity, and how do you relate that to the fashion industry? KD: My outlook on body positivity is that it’s for everyone. Every age, race and gender — we all deserve to feel confident about our bodies and love the way we are. We are all made different. That is the beauty in our individuality. I try to relate it to the fashion industry by using my platform and style. I want people to look at me and say, “Well, he’s 5’9, 250 pounds, and he looks good in those clothes.” I want people to know that they don’t have to look like the models we often see on these fashion sites to look good. You can be yourself and be just as fly, or even more fly, than the people we see in the media. We define what beauty is, and we can’t let anyone else tell us what is beautiful. CC: If you had one piece of advice for others aspiring to become successful in the industry, what would it be? KD: Ignore the negativity, surround yourself with positive people and wear what makes you happy. That’s my formula for success. Also, know that the road to success is not a straight, short, smooth path. It’s long, bumpy and often has sharp turns. Take the risk, follow your dreams, work hard and everything else will fall into place. Trust yourself — you’ve got this.

L ucky Charmers

The southern gentleman has evolved, and his style reflects a a new playful – yet polished – attitude. Whether sporting a suit and tie or a button-up and sneakers, his charm is just as refined as his favorite beer… or cocktail. Whatever you’re drinking, make it a double and toast to the new southern man. CORY Jacket, J. Crew Pants, Abercrombie Shirt, Goodwill JOEY Velvet Jacket, J. Crew Grid Shirt, Randy Price Pants, H&M Glasses, Ray-Ban HUNTER Sweater, Goodwill White Shirt, JCPenney Jeans, Levi’s

Photography by Ashton Pittman Styling by Leighton Roland, Chloe Clutter and Daisy Stutts Modeling by Hunter Deerman, Cory Clutter and Joseph Frierson Venue provided by Southern Prohibition Taproom

Blue Suit, Randy Price White Shirt, J. Crew Tie, Randy Price Shoes, Johnston & Murphy

Blue Shirt, JCPenney Suspenders, JCPenny Red Pants, American Eagle Shoes, Black Stone Socks, Journeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Red Jacket, Belk Shirt, Platoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Closet Watch, T.J. Maxx Glasses, Ray-Ban

White Shirt, Randy Price Seersucker Shorts, Platoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Closet Bow-tie, Randy Price Shoes, Belk Socks, Belk Watch, T. J. Maxx Glasses, Ray-Ban

Patterned Shirt, Forever 21 Pants, Rue 21

Gingham Shirt, Plato’s Closet Shorts, Plato’s Closet Shoes, Johnston & Murphy Watch, Nixon

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Suited to another

ERA BY ANDIE SZABO PHOTOS BY KATE DEARMAN

Cory Ferraez in his historic loft in downtown Hattiesburg. dime entertainment // 75

ory Ferraez and Ella Fitzgerald Ferraez, his Great Dane counterpart, reside in a historic loft in downtown Hattiesburg. A personal injury lawyer by trade and a “professional cocktailian” at heart, his apartment is appropriately labeled “lawyer,” a hand-painted building detail that coincidentally matches his own profession. Cory is not hard to spot in a crowd. His grandfather owned a fine men’s clothing store in his hometown of Columbus, and Cory grew up watching him dress in a suit every day. To Cory, a suit is more comfortable than blue jeans. Ella the Great Dane is also not difficult to spot in a crowd. She seems like a large dog for a 742 square feet abode, but Great Danes are actually low energy and often recommended for apartment life. She’s named after one of Cory’s favorite scat singers, which Cory describes as “sophisticated and rambling nonsense through music.” Ella has now earned her name as she manages a sophisticated destruction of his fancy fabric and pillows. The building he lives in is over 100 years old as is his favorite piece of furni-

ture, his 1830 Federal New York roll-top desk, rich with the history of those who must have sat at the desk and the letters and documents that were drafted upon it. “It’s unfortunate that writing letters and thank you notes is a lost art these days,” Cory said. “Our generation should once again invest in the art of writing letters.” Cory’s always looking for a new piece of furniture. He upgrades and replaces décor often since he considers himself more of a collector than a decorator. But he’s not shopping at Target. The internet has made the world of antiques a lot easier, but Cory says that some of the best pieces he has acquired are from local estates and antique shops in Mississippi. For him, the

history of a piece is as important as the piece itself. Cory readily admits that antique furniture is not for everyone. A lot of vintage pieces have lost their usefulness and serve more as décor than function. Most antique enthusiasts blend their antiques with modern, useful pieces. The pair of antique scissors on the side table are a good example of décor — if you wanted to open a handwritten letter in the apartment, a more functional pair would be needed. Though his apartment has everything, there’s one large black box that is distinctly missing. Cory doesn’t own a TV and finds them distracting. His recommendation of where to eat in Hattiesburg is Mexican Kitchen. The original Mexican Kitchen started in his hometown, and he used to eat there once a week as a child. It’s also one of the only places you will find him ordering a Corona Extra over a manhattan. Cory loves music and has played piano as far back as he can remember. Both sides of his family play instruments and dime entertainment // 77

and sing, and he grew up constantly surrounded by the crafts. “I was fortunate that I had such talented family on both sides that exposed me to music,” Cory said. After a quick glance around the apart-

ment, you will notice there are a multitude of wall hangings — each piece with a story of its own. When I asked Cory what his advice would be for picture hanging newbies, he responded, “Hang high and hang often.” He takes his advice seriously, even hanging

small photos on the window frame in between the large windows. Cory keeps the history of his home and his belongings close to his heart, so if his loft apartment seems like it is from another era, it’s because most of it is, including Cory. dime entertainment // 79

“My heart probably belongs in the 1920’s through the 1940’s. Not just for the good music… but the emphasis on a more formal and reserved frame of mind.” — Cory Ferraez

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ROGUE FUTUR ES

PISCES

by Nicole Chantr eau

FEB. 19 - MARCH 20

You’re in good health, and you’re even keeping up with your resolutions. You’ve been saving some money for a rainy day, but why do you feel so miserable lately? You’ve been down in the dumps, and your relationships feel strained this month. Try to make some personal time for the people close to you to help better your mood. A brunch date or a bad movie night will help pick up your spirits and give you some much needed face time with those you love.

ARIES

March 21 - April 19 Hooking up is starting to lose its appeal, and you’re looking for something more meaningful. While you won’t find that this month, you will be feeling and looking great since you’ve been determined to stay healthy and vibrant this year. Wait for the right one, and do your best to keep having fun in the now.

TAURUS April 20 - May 20

You’re feeling healthier than ever, and you’ve been good about doing things on your own lately. You’re feeling awfully independent, which is great, but sometimes it’s nice to have a pal along for the ride. Reach out to someone you haven’t had time for lately and go shopping or catch a movie together

GEMINI May 21 - June 20

Work has been great lately, and your relationships have been fun with no unnecessary drama. Money is tight due to some planning you have going on, but it’s nothing you can’t handle since you’re such a good nervous planner. Make sure you triple check your list — plans can easily go awry for you this month.

CANCER June 21 - July 22

Financially, you’re doing well this month. You may even have a welcome new job opportunity early in the month, which will put you in a great mood even if you decide not to take it. I must warn you — a romance could become rocky toward the end of the month, so choose your words wisely.

LEO July 23 - Aug. 22

You have some work changes happening this month, so try not to let the stress get to you. Everyone has a period of adjustment to a new work place, so don’t overthink the awkward moments. They’re inevitable. Focus on your emotional health with a weekend in a nice hotel to get some time away and recharge.

VIRGO Aug. 23 - Sept. 2

Your life is a whirlwind this month. Romantic changes, job changes, money situation changes… you really

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don’t know up from down. Grab on to someone close so you have a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold while your world falls apart. Make sure you let your person know how much you appreciate their love and friendship.

LIBRA Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

Socially and domestically, this will be a great month for you. You may be moving into a new place and making some new friends now that your dynamic in your social circle is changing. Welcome the change with open arms and an open mind and make the best of it. It will be rocky at first, but you’re always good at balancing acts.

SCORPIO Oct. 23 - Nov. 21

Trouble at home will put a damper on your mood this month. Face it head on to resolve it, or you’ll be having issues with family well into the summer. Keep those ties with your family strong, and it could result in some positive karma for a promotion or a new job that you’ve had your eye on.

SAGITTARIUS

Nov. 22 Dec. 21 You’re going to have to hustle this month and really put in some work to earn money and respect in the workplace. A change

in management will have you on your toes and brown nosing like you just got hired. Don’t try to be too much of a teacher’s pet, though, or you’ll lose some self respect. In the meantime, watch out for new romances this month.

CAPRICORN Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

Things are a little crazy for you this month. Your job and family life have taken some hits and you don’t feel safe at work or at home. Try to spend some time with friends to get your mind off things and give you the clarity to problem solve what’s going on. And, please, make sure you’re sober when you finally get the guts to talk it out..

AQUARIUS

Jan. 20 - Feb. 18 This is a great month for your health and your love life. Be careful though, as all this positive energy may end up getting someone pregnant or engaged without too much forethought, which may be more than you anticipated getting yourself into. Do some yoga and a small fast to keep your body focused on health.

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