Riverfront Times, March 29, 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher Chris Keating

Editor in Chief Rosalind Early

EDITORIAL

Managing Editor Jessica Rogen

Editor at Large Daniel Hill

Digital Content Editor Jaime Lees

Dining Editor Cheryl Baehr

Staff Writers Ryan Krull, Monica Obradovic

Theater Critic Tina Farmer

Music Critic Steve Leftridge

Contributors Thomas K. Chimchards, Mike Fitzgerald, Reuben Hemmer, Andy Paulissen, Mabel Suen, Graham Toker, Theo Welling Columnists Chris Andoe, Dan Savage

Editorial Interns Katie Lawson, Braden McMakin

ART & PRODUCTION

Art Director Evan Sult

Creative Director Haimanti Germain

Graphic Designer Aspen Smit

MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING

Associate Publisher Colin Bell

Account Manager Jennifer Samuel Directors of Business Development Tony Burton, Rachel Hoppman, Chelsea Nazaruk

BUSINESS

Regional Operations Director Emily Fear

CIRCULATION

Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers

EUCLID MEDIA GROUP

Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman

Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner

Executive Editor Sarah Fenske

VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein

Audience Development Manager Jenna Jones

VP of Marketing Cassandra Yardeni www.euclidmediagroup.com

NATIONAL ADVERTISING

VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 5257 Shaw Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63110. Domestic

FRONT BURNER 6

MONDAY, MARCH 20 The Missouri Attorney General issued a rule to restrict gender-affirming care — the better to persuade GOP primary voters that he’s the only candidate capable of governing by fiat Who needs an elected legislature when a bureaucrat unelected by the people can take matters in his own hands, no need for public hearings? Also, in Idaho, Republicans block a plan to provide tampons in schools — they’re “too woke.” Real women free bleed, donchaknow.

TUESDAY, MARCH 21 It’s the first day of spring, and Donald Trump is apparently looking forward to doing a perp walk. Anything for attention! Also: Ben the bear is leaving for Gladys Porter Zoo after repeatedly escaping his cage in St. Louis. We don’t care how naughty he was; banishing him to Brownsville is just mean. Meanwhile, a missing St. Charles woman was found dead in Maryland Heights six days after going missing. The woman had texted with the man who’s now charged in her death. Which leaves us with one ques-

Previously On

LAST WEEK IN ST. LOUIS

tion: How do we pin this on Kim Gardner?

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22 St. Louis County Executive Sam Page wants a 3 percent county tax on marijuana — and if municipalities pass their own taxes, his proposal would stack them, meaning places could easily end up with 6 percent sales tax on top of the 6 percent charged by the state. Ouch. That seems to fly in the face of the constitutional amendment approved by voters, which said the appropriate taxing authority could include municipalities or, for unincorporated areas, the county — not, for incorporated areas, the county on top of municipalities. Local pols are apparently out of any revenue ideas beyond taxing

FOUR QUESTIONS for RFT founder Ray Hartmann

vice. Also, contrary to his own predictions, Donald Trump did not get arrested today. Trumpers seem disappointed.

THURSDAY, MARCH 23 The House Committee for Energy and Commerce is grilling the CEO of TikTok — and if ever there was a crew that made us sympathetic to the foreign-owned social media outlet steadily rotting our brains, it’s our posturing, pious Congress. Naturally, the best political coverage of the hearing came on TikTok, where observers mocked the Capitol circus with the eye rolls they deserved.

FRIDAY, MARCH 24 A tornado kills 26 people in Mississippi and leaves a swath of destruction 100 miles wide. Meanwhile,

in NCAA basketball, all four No. 1 seeds have now lost. We have no dog in this fight, but for a city that is never a No. 1 seed, the triumph of the underdogs feels positive.

SATURDAY, MARCH 25 In the Grove, drag queens are on the march, organized by our own society columnist, Chris Andoe Seen and heard: Lots of beautiful drag queens, and lots of gay men awkwardly wearing dresses in solidarity. Gay men, we salute you for trying. These lewks are not easy to pull off. And how about St. Louis CITY SC? Five wins in a row, baby!

SUNDAY, MARCH 26 Organizers of the volleyball tournament that left a Tennessee teen a double amputee last month returned and gave St. Louis high marks for safety. The city blocked off a lane of Wash Ave between 7th and 10th streets and “turned [it] into a pedestrian thoroughfare for the weekend,” per the Post-Dispatch Wondering what it would take to get safe pedestrian zones in your neighborhood? Forget it, Jake, it’s St. Louis.

one who has been doing this a long time and has an audience. I’m about to have two kids in college in the next year, and there are two things that I think I need more of: One is flexibility, and the other is money.

This solves that?

We’ll see. One person I follow on Substack is Thom Hartmann, a prominent progressive writer. He has 38,000 subscribers. He publishes something called the Hartmann Report. I suspect I’ll lower the Hartmann average on Substack, but I think there’s room for me to do well. I’ve written over 1,000 columns for the RFT over the years, and I’ve really enjoyed the past four years. But at this point, I need more flexibility in my life, which is one reason I’ve stopped doing radio. I’m going to miss the RFT, but I’m not going to miss the deadlines — and I know the people who have to enforce those deadlines are not going to miss me. But we’re planning for me to continue to contribute occasionally.

“Ray Hartmann’s St. Louis Insider” will provide local and state coverage for a fee, starting at $8/month. Charter membership includes a monthly Zoom call titled “Ray Hartmann Shuts Up and Listens.” What’s the idea there?

We’ll find out, but I think there’s a lot of people who will be interested. I know from just going to the grocery store that a lot of people watch Donnybrook and read the column and like to interact. This gives them a chance to do that, and more than that, it gives me a chance to get some ideas. I think it’ll be fun.

This week, Riverfront Times founder Ray Hartmann moves on from the weekly column he’s written for the paper since 2019 — and onto Substack. Hartmann hasn’t owned the paper since 1998 but has kept himself busy with other business ventures, including nearly four years hosting a talk show on KTRS (550 AM) and his ongoing run as a panelist (and co-founder) of Nine PBS’ Donnybrook. This interview has been condensed for clarity and length.

Why Substack?

It’s a platform that I think is perfect for someone in my position — some-

You’re also getting into grant writing. Anything you’d want to share about that?

Part of it is, I’m looking for new and interesting things to do. I’m an old marathoner, and I’m sort of at the 24-mile mark. When your “things to do” list starts with “don’t fall down,” you want to find new and interesting things to do — that also, frankly, can be monetized. And I found two. I just finished a course at Northwestern University in grant writing, and I think it’s a really interesting challenge. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do some good things strictly on a freelance basis to help local organizations find significant funding they might not otherwise be able to get.

Ray Hartmann is taking his talents to Substack. | THEO WELLING

WEEKLY WTF?!

Brick Watch

Date of sighting: March 17

Location: Kingshighway Boulevard, in Forest Park Southeast

Property Owner: Lux Living

Walking time to St. Louis’ crown jewel, Forest Park: between 30 and 90 seconds, depending on traffic

And if you want to walk in the other direction: The Grove is a five-minute walk away.

Why this prime piece of real estate looks like this and has for many years: because St. Louis ... and also see next question

One more time, who owns this? Lux Living

Glass-half-full take: It’s easier for brick thieves to steal the bricks when they’re already loose like that.

Portrait sketched on boarded up entryway: Donald Trump, maybe?

ESCAPE HATCH

We ask three St. Louisans what they’re reading, watching or listening to. In the hot seat this week: three people at the Rep to see The Confederates.

Rae Davis, actor

Listening to: Dixson

“His arrangements are really nice in my opinion, and I like his flow and lyricism. He seems to have a wider range of artistry as far as choosing not to stick to one sound.”

Evan Meyer, park ranger

Watching: The Legend of Korra, a Nickelodeon show from 2012 “It’s got great characters and conflict and the bad people are nuanced. It’s very anime style.”

Karen Griffith, retired

Watching: The Deuce on HBO

“It’s set in the ’70s, and I would recommend it for mature audiences. It takes you back to the ’70s, and we [she was with a man] can relate to the era. A lot of people our age can relate.”

SOMETIMES IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

Prosecutor Stopped Serial Killer — And Didn’t Know It

“Who knows how many lives were saved by him not being left out there,” Doug Sidel says

Written by RYAN KRULL

When St. Louis County prosecutor Doug Sidel took on the 1993 case against Gary Muehlberg, he immediately recognized Muehlberg as a sadist.

The 44-year-old Bel-Ridge man was on trial for the February 1993 killing of 57-year-old Kenneth “Doc” Atchison, whom Muehlberg lured over to his house on the pretense of selling him a car. Muehlberg killed Atchison, stealing $6,000 in cash and the car Atchison had driven over. Weeks later, police found Atchison’s body stuffed in a homemade box in Muehlberg’s basement.

“The way he killed him was so cruel,” Sidel says. “With him being handcuffed and gagged … he could have been killed in a less cruel fashion. Clearly [Muehlberg] had a sadistic personality.”

Muehlberg pleaded not guilty, and despite the body being found in his basement, Sidel says it was not an easy case to prosecute. The murder weapon had wound up in the house of a known drug dealer, where it was discovered by police. That drug dealer’s daughter was also driving around in Atchison’s car, which Muehlberg had allegedly stolen. Muehlberg’s defense attorney swore his client was being framed.

Sidel told the jury Muehlberg’s motive had been the robbery and that the murder was “a coldblooded horrible killing. It was an execution.”

Ultimately, Muehlberg’s lawyer couldn’t explain why Atchison’s body was in a box in Muehlberg’s basement. Muehlberg was found guilty in September 1995 and was sentenced to life in prison two months later.

“The facts of the case were so strange … I will never forget that,” says Sidel, who started as a prosecutor in St. Louis County in 1981 and still works in the office today. Recently, he was given more reason to remember them.

Last summer, O’Fallon Detective Jodi Weber came to the veteran prosecutor’s office asking if she could see the investigative file that the office had compiled on Muehlberg almost 30 years ago.

Weber was hoping to close a case she’d been working on for more than a decade — the unsolved serial murders of Robyn Mihan, Brenda Pruitt and Sandy Little. The trio had been abducted from the city’s red-light district, and the killer had left their bodies in packages on the sides of roads throughout the region in 1990 and 1991. Weber had recovered DNA from Mihan’s remains and, using a new technology not available in the 1990s, matched it to Muehlberg, whose DNA was in a state database.

Beyond the DNA, there were immediate similarities between the women’s murders and the murder of Atchison. Like Atchison, many of the female victims had

Outsmarted at Last

Saint Louis Zoo’s escape bear, Ben, is getting moved to a Texas enclosure with a moat

Written by JENNA JONES

Much like my exes, the Saint Louis Zoo has decided it cannot handle a strong-willed individual and decided to part ways with Ben the Andean Bear.

Ben, who escaped his enclosure twice during his time in St. Louis, will be moved to a zoo in Texas. The zoo is citing his “unique personality” as a reason for the move, which is code for “too much to handle.” Sigh. You make a couple of mistakes, and no one ever forgets.

been bound, gagged and found with ligatures around their necks. All the victims had been found in some type of box or container.

Looking back, Sidel now suspects Muehlberg planned to get Atchison’s body out of his home and dumped on the roadside in a fashion similar to his female victims. In the weeks after the killing but prior to his arrest, Muelhberg had fled to an Illinois motel and placed frantic phone calls to acquaintances trying to get someone to move the box out of his home.

“But he never got to do it. The police got him first,” Sidel says.

In July, after Weber finally

Listen, we’ll reason with our lovely zoo. Escaping an enclosure during visiting hours? Bad. But Ben is young! Don’t you remember being a dumb teenager?

In any case, the Texas zoo Ben is being moved to will have a moat to keep him in, rather than the steel mesh enclosure he’s tampered with to perform his escape acts. The zoo and several other organizations agree that the move is what’s best for Ben.

“While we love Ben, and wish he could stay with us, our goal is to do what is best for him,” Regina Mossotti, vice president of animal care, says in a statement.

“I am so grateful for the excellent care provided to Ben by our animal care team here and everyone’s willingness to seek opportunities for Ben to thrive.”

The public may not get a chance to say goodbye to Ben — he’s in a nonpublic area of the zoo, receiving training so he can get comfy for his big move — but we’ll always have the memories. We would congratulate Ben on his last great

closed in on him, Muehlberg confessed to the three murders, as well as two others: that of Donna Reitmeyer and an unknown fifth victim police are still trying to identify. Muehlberg agreed to confess to the murders if the death penalty was taken off the table.

With Weber having secured Muehlberg’s confession, the prosecutions against him in 2023 were much less of a lift than in 1995. After pleading guilty in court in St. Charles earlier this month to the murder of Sandy Little, Muehlberg pleaded guilty to the murders of Pruitt and Reitmeyer in court in St. Louis County last week. Sidel was there as the lead prosecutor.

“I don’t think I’d ever prosecuted anyone twice for separate murders at separate times,” Sidel says.

The revelation that Muehlberg was a cold-blooded serial killer made the 1995 conviction Sidel had secured against him all the more meaningful.

“I did not know he was a serial killer of women at the time, but there’s nothing about his conduct that leads me to believe he would have stopped doing what he did if he had not been stopped by law enforcement,” Sidel says. “Had he been free, I shudder to think what would have gone on.”

He adds, “Who knows how many lives were saved by him not being left out there.” n

escape, but we are petty (also like my exes) and wish he would just stay. But don’t worry, Saint Louis Zoo, we won’t hold any grudges (unlike my exes). n

Prosecutor Doug Sidel put Gary Muehlberg (pictured) behind bars. | MISSOURI DOC

After escaping his enclosure twice, Ben the Bear is moving to Texas. | SAINT LOUIS ZOO

Residency Questions

Incumbent Laura Keys files suit saying challenger Carla “Coffee” Wright doesn’t live in the 11th ward

Written by MONICA OBRADOVIC

Carla “Coffee” Wright says she’s lived in her house in the 21st Ward long enough to run for the Board of Aldermen. But neighbors tell the RFT the house she claims to live in has long been abandoned.

Wright’s residency was called into question when her opponent, 21st Ward Alderwoman Laura Keys, filed a lawsuit against Wright and the Board of Election Commissioners to disqualify Wright as a candidate for the new redistricted 11th Ward.

Keys says Wright has never met the legal qualifications required for aldermanic candidates, including a city charter requirement that aldermanic candidates live in their wards for at least a year before an election. Keys also accuses Wright of having unpaid water bills and taxes on other city properties, which would also disqualify Wright as a candidate.

“Having lived and worked with the people in my community for 34 years, I know who lives where,” Keys says. “If you tell me you live at an address, usually, I know the people in the area.”

Wright denies Keys’ allegations, which she calls “ridiculous” and “foul.”

“She is coming up with every shenanigan she can,” Wright says.

Tax records show Wright has been the co-owner of a house in the current 21st Ward for at least the last three years, but Keys says other records indicate Wright has not lived in that house for the charter-required year. For example, she notes that the house, in the 4500 block of Holly, has not received water service since 2007.

In a previous interview for an RFT cover story, Wright told a reporter she grew up in an area of the 21st Ward that will soon become part of the new 11th Ward as the city’s long-awaited ward reduction plan finally goes into effect this spring. Wright later moved to California to pursue an acting career but said she came back to St. Louis around 2003.

Wright’s supposed neighbors say Wright’s house on Holly has been abandoned for years. Others said they occasionally see people come and go from the prop-

erty or see Wright every once in a while.

“I haven’t seen anybody come in and out of that place for years,” says Dan Taylor, who’s lived across from Wright’s house for 12 years. “I’m pretty much in touch with all my neighbors, and I haven’t seen anybody come out of there.”

Taylor noticed yard decorations and campaign signs on the property recently, he says, and from time to time sees workers come and go from the house. For the most part, he hasn’t seen anybody: “Nobody lives over there.”

One nearby neighbor says she’s lived on the street for seven years, during which Wright’s house has been “abandoned the entire time.” Lately, however, the neighbor has seen Wright cleaning up her backyard. But the neighbor works long hours, and admits she “keeps to herself.”

But Shonda Harris, who has lived near Wright’s house for one year, says she’s seen Wright often and has noticed lights on in the house.

Library

Revenge of the GOP

Missouri House Committee chair wants to defund libraries after library associations pushed back on a book ban

Written by RYAN KRULL

Last week in Jefferson City, Representative Cody Smith (R-Carthage) announced he wanted to remove all state funding for libraries in Missouri.

Smith, who is the chairman of the House Budget Committee, has submit-

“My guy just did some work for her in her house,” Harris says. “I don’t know why they say she don’t stay there.”

As for Wright, she says she is fine without water service, saying she has a rain barrel and a system in the house that “works for me.”

When asked how she could go by escaping her neighbors’ notice all this time, Wright says she’s “not the butter and sugar neighbor” and spends long periods away from her home for business. She also says she’s worked as an in-home caregiver for cancer patients and elderly relatives.

“I come home when I feel like coming home, and I travel a lot,” Wright says.

Wright says this is just Keys’ latest attempt to intimidate her from running for office. Over the past few months, she claims, members of Keys’ campaign have sent “threatening messages” to Wright via texts and a letter.

Wright doesn’t know who sent the messages. But the anonymous letter,

ted revisions to the state’s proposed budget for next fiscal year, including taking the $4.5 million allocated for libraries and reducing that number to zero.

Smith says he’s upset that library associations are suing to stop a law that went into effect in August that bans “explicit sexual material” from school libraries.

Librarians who are found to violate the August law could face up to a $2,000 fine or a year in jail.

Critics of the law blasted its vague language and said it would instill a climate of fear among people who work at school libraries.

Last month, the Missouri Library Association and the Missouri Association of School Librarians along with the ALCU sued in state court, hoping that a judge will find the law unconstitutional.

“The law presents specific peril for

postmarked February 23 and sent to the house she’s accused of not living in, calls Wright “U Fake Whore,” among other profane insults. The writer said they put up posters for Keys — posters that Wright “got an Asshole taking them down.”

Neither of Wright’s previous attempts to run for office ever got this contentious, she says. She previously ran for U.S. Senate twice.

“I ran against millionaire Claire McCaskill and not once did that lady disrespect me,” Wright says. “I ran against a billionaire, Trudy Busch Valentine … Not once had that lady disrespected me.”

Suspicions of Wright’s residency apparently began over a month before Keys filed her lawsuit.

The Missouri Department of Revenue performed an investigation into Wright in January and found she was not compliant with the state statute requiring political candidates to be up to date with their taxes.

Wright was given 30 days to resolve any tax delinquencies, and Wright did so, according to a February 27 letter from the Department of Revenue.

“Nobody cares about if I pay my taxes anyway,” Wright says. “Shit, they’re looking for help to pay their taxes. They wanna know what you’re gonna do, who’s gonna stand up for us.”

Wright also received a letter from the Missouri Ethics Commission on February 14 saying the office received a complaint against her. But the letter says the complaint failed to allege any facts within the authority of the commission. The complaint was not investigated.

“I don’t have to plead my case to her or nobody else,” Wright says of Keys. “I don’t punch no clock when I come in here. I come and go as I please.” n

school librarians,” the Missouri Library Association’s Joe Kohlburn said in a statement. “Librarians have been undermined politically in this state for long enough, and the fear of prosecution is an ongoing issue for keeping qualified professionals in Missouri, as well as bringing new people into the profession.”

The Missouri Independent quoted Smith as saying, “I don’t think we should subsidize that effort. We are going to take out the funding and that is why.”

Representative Peter Meredith (D-St. Louis) criticized Smith’s proposal on social media, saying, “That’s right, if you believe a law passed by the MO GOP violates your rights and freedom of speech and choose to sue the state over it (not even with public dollars from what I can tell), you can expect the MO GOP to take away all your funding.”

One candidate in the 11th Ward might not live there. | MONICA OBRADOVIC

Fish Fry-Days

St. Cecilia has one of the best fish fries on the south side

Words by

ROSALIND

EARLY

Photos by REUBEN HEMMER

St. Cecilia Catholic Church has been hosting its Mexican fish fry for 16 years. Though that’s not a long time, waiting in the long line for fried chile relleno or cod filet has already become a St. Louis tradition. And the line is long; usually, it’s already stretching outside of the church at 4:30 p.m., right when the fish fry starts.

Fortunately, roaming entertainers and dancers help keep things entertaining while you wait.

The church added Mexican dishes to its Lenten fish fry after it started doing Hispanic ministry. The goal was to bring more Latinos to the fish fry. (The menu switch ended up actually attracting more non Latinos to the church.)

This year, there is even more reason to stop by St. Cecila: The Archdiocese of St. Louis has proposed closing the church. Due to a lack of worshippers and priests, the archdiocese is downsizing. In the proposal, St. Cecilia’s school would close, too, and parishioners would share space with St. John the Baptist or Immaculate Heart of Mary, both in south St. Louis. The final plan for the St. Louis parishes will be announced in May, so grab your fish and visit St. Cecilia while you can. n

A CELEBRATION OF THE UNIQUE AND FASCINATING ASPECTS OF OUR HOME

Badass Vampire Hunter

Laurell K. Hamilton’s famous Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series turns 30

BY JESSICA ROGEN

Anita Blake is a badass bitch. The St. Louisan is not only a vampire hunter turned U.S. Marshall who hunts down and executes supernatural creatures on the wrong side of the law, but she’s one of the most powerful necromancers in the world. If that wasn’t enough for a modern gal, Blake is one third of a vampire triumvirate that boosts the powers of all involved. She has a lot of hot sex — with the triumvirate, vampires and wereanimals — while solving mysteries and generally saving the day.

This year, she turns 30. Or rather, her books do. Blake is the titular character in St. Louis-based writer Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series.

Hamilton is a pioneer in books that blend genres (mystery, fantasy, romance, erotica) and opened the door for many to follow in her footsteps. A New York Times bestselling author of three separate series, Hamilton was born in “the middle of nowhere” Arkansas and moved to an area near Kokomo, Indiana, as a toddler. Inspired by a drugstore dime novel — Pigeons

From Hell by Robert Howard — she started writing as a preteen. She hasn’t stopped since. As the Anita Blake series hits three decades, I connected with Hamilton over the phone to discuss book 29, Smolder, which published in late March; setting her books in St. Louis; keeping the sex interesting; and more. Stay tuned after the Q&A for an excerpt of Smolder.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Congrats on the new book. How does it feel to have been publishing Anita Blake since 1993?

It’s always amazing because when I first started out, I’d had an earlier series that was going to be four books. But the first book, Night Seer, did not sell well enough, like

most first novels don’t, and they did not want the second book. When I got the first Anita Blake contract, it was for three books. I remember going, “There’ll be at least three books in the series.” I had no idea that it would continue to be popular enough and do well enough that I would get the opportunity to publish the 29th book.

I love what I do. I’ve wanted to do this since I was 14. To be able to have a dream since 14 and not only succeed in that dream, but to still be doing it and still be loving what I do, it just doesn’t get better than that.

Were there any moments, since 14, where you’ve had doubts?

Yeah, college. I was in the writing program as a major; I wanted to get a creative writing degree. I entered the writing program with two stories. One was a vampire story, and one was a pastiche of H.P. Lovecraft. But they let me in the program, so I thought they were OK with me writing horror and stuff.

But two years in, the head of the

writing program took me into her office. For between two and four hours — I no longer know — she did everything she could to destroy me as a writer. She told me I was no good. She told me I’d never publish. She sliced and diced me and served me on toast. She did everything she could to destroy me and make sure I’d never write again. Why did she do that? Well, it’s because she let me come into the program writing genre, but she thought she could cure me.

I would not write again, after she did that to me, for over two years. Since I was 12, especially from 14 on, I’ve written every day, multiple times a day, at least some kind of note. But I would not pick up a pen to do that for two years. I didn’t know if I’d ever write again.

How did you pick up a pen again?

Because I’m a writer. That’s what I am. It’s like breathing. I will write till I die.

What happened, though, is I ended up marrying my college sweetheart, and we moved to

California for his job. There was a [writing] contest. I believe every six weeks, I had to have a story to put in. It wasn’t that I thought I would win … so much as I thought it was a deadline. That gave me something to shoot for. It gave me a timeframe. I got back into the habit of writing and telling stories again. I’d had an idea, actually that I’d had since high school, but I’d been too scared to try to write a book. I finally decided, “What do I have to lose?” I would get up at four or five in the morning before work and spend two hours in front of the computer, and I would write two to four pages. I wouldn’t edit as I go, just stack it up beside the computer and then go to work. That is how I wrote most of my first novel.

How did you decide to place the Anita Blake stories in St. Louis?

I’m one of those writers that always does a better job if I have walked those streets. If I have been to a place, seen it, touched it. The first book especially, you can literally drive around and find everything. It’s changed since then because one of the houses I use in the first book, Guilty Pleasures, people were knocking on their door looking for the characters.

I enjoyed Anita trying to figure out how to conceal her gun in the St. Louis humidity.

The first year to two I lived in St. Louis, every summer was 100-degrees-plus. I mean, it was after coming from California and then northern Indiana. St. Louis was a bit of a shock that first summer, and so there’s so much heat imagery.

Do any of your favorite St. Louis places get nods in the books?

I love the Fox Theater. I’ve loved it since the first time I walked in. It’s just so gorgeous and so much fun. I make sure that [characters] go there, have a good time and leave. We never trash the Fox, but I’ve had it [as a setting] at least twice and maybe more. When I lived in

Continued on pg 16

Laurell K. Hamilton speaks at a recent book signing. | BRADEN MCMAKIN

LAURELL K. HAMILTON

St. Charles, I would include the Missouri [River]. It’s so pretty in the summer and shallow enough that you don’t feel you’re going to capsize and injure yourself. The Mississippi is shallow, too, so I’m told, but it’s just so big. I’m not going to put an inner tube on the Mississippi.

When the series starts, Anita is more traditional, almost prudish. How did that change?

A fan came up to me at a signing and said, “I’m so glad you’re doing the horror movie trope.” I said, “I don’t know which trope you’re talking about.” And he said, “I’m so glad you’re doing the thing where the virgin survives, and the bad girl dies, like a slasher flick.” I think that’s sexist, and I think that’s horrible. I didn’t tell him all this, but I just said, “No, that’s not my intent.”

That planted the idea. If one person says that, what I’ve learned is, there are other people thinking it, too. I thought that’s a horrible thing to say. Or a horrible trope. I hate that trope. This idea that if you’re pure and virginal you survive, and if you have sex even once, then you’re marked for death. That is such a negative message for women. I thought, OK, the books have been leading toward it. We’re going to pick one of the guys that we’ve been going back and forth with for several books.

When I tried to write the scene in book six, where we finally break that barrier, I was so uncomfortable with it. I thought, “What does it say about me as a person and as a writer that I’ve written graphic, graphic death scenes, I mean, murder scenes, horrific murder scenes. I don’t do gratuitous violence. But the violence that was necessary, I did it. And what does it say about me that writing sex between two people who care about each other, and who’ve known each other for five books before this, is more uncomfortable?” I didn’t like what it said about me.

How does one write a good sex scene?

One of those things to me about the sex scenes is that if you’re doing it right, they tell about character. You can tell something about somebody in an intimate scene like that, which doesn’t come out any other way. I pride myself on trying to make each person have their own style in the bedroom, their own attitudes and interactions because

it’s one of the most personal things we do. And because, especially in this country, we don’t talk about it. I don’t think we understand that it is personal. It’s special, and it should be special.

I am still getting women — all age groups — saying that before they read my books, they didn’t know sex could be fun for women. There’s something wrong that women still think that they’re not allowed to have fun in the bedroom. It should be a pleasure. It’s a gift. This is a soapbox for me, so

that I talked about safety. I made sure I talked about certain things that other people didn’t want at the time. I ended up accidentally stumbling into a niche.

Well, you’re welcome. First of all, when I was first trying to sell the series, even though it took a while for some of the content to get to where it is, nobody knew what to do with it. The first book was rejected over 200 times. But because I was popular, it opened the door for everybody that’s come after. I love the fact that poly and alternate lifestyles are being better represented, because that is important. Representation matters.

I’m very happy that so many people came in behind me and expanded it. The only thing is the earlier caveat. I think some writers are feeling forced to put things in their books that they’re not comfortable writing. I don’t agree with that. But other than that, it’s great. You’ve had a great amount of success, but you’ve probably taken a lot of flak. Are you able to brush it off?

I’ll stop.

Were those responses how you got over your discomfort?

Yeah, it did encourage me to go: This is supposed to be mutually pleasurable. We’re supposed to enjoy ourselves, everyone participating in a consensual relationship is supposed to enjoy themselves. That’s the point. I was one of the first people that talked about birth control because once I realized that people were using it in a more serious manner than I had anticipated, I made sure

I will add this: I have actually seen some writers online where editors at some smaller houses ask them for sex scenes when there’s no need for it. Don’t do that. Trust your novel, trust your book. If it needs it to succeed, do it, and do a good job. But if it doesn’t need to be there, don’t put it in there.

You were the first or one of the first to write genre-blending books and books with lots of sex, polyamorous relationships. How does it feel to have opened the door for other writers?

When it initially started happening, it hurt more. But over the years, you get a thicker skin, or you just can’t stay in the business. Because the early books had no sex in them, when the sex started coming up, especially polyamory started coming up, I would have people come to signings, and they would smile and nod and talk about the books and hand their book over to be signed. Then they would call me a whore to my face for writing it, say Anita was a whore. The first time it happened, it was like, “Wow, OK.” But I got used to it. Which is a sad thing to say, isn’t it? I say, “‘Whore’ implies that you take money for sex. And since Anita doesn’t, and I don’t, then that’s not the correct definition.” They would always agree with me.

The fact that I have a pat answer for that insult is sad. But they would always get their books signed first, no matter what they say to me, no matter how insulting they are. There have been other things, but that one has happened the most often. But you know what? Owning your sexuality as a woman doesn’t make you a bad person. It means you have ownership of yourself. That is never a bad thing. Anybody that thinks otherwise — that’s their issue, not mine. n

“I am still getting women — all age groups — saying that before they read my books, they didn’t know sex could be fun for women. There’s something wrong that women still think that they’re not allowed to have fun in the bedroom. It should be a pleasure. It’s a gift.”

Wedding Drama

Drama Hell Only one thing can scare future vampire queen Anita Blake: family

If you thought the family drama around your wedding planning was bad, just wait until you hear what Anita Blake is dealing with. Set to marry the powerful (and sexy!) master vampire Jean-Claude and become a vampire queen, Blake comes undone after a phone call with her father doesn’t go to plan. As a Catholic, he doesn’t approve of the match and has just let her know that he will be coming to town with the grandmother who abused Blake as a child to meet the fiancé — but really, to try to convince Blake to end the engagement.

Peter, the adult son of her bounty hunter/U.S. Marshall friend Edward/ Ted, comforts Blake after the call ends. She’s been Peter’s crush since she saved his life as a child, and he’s gone on to become something of a monster hunter himself. —Jessica Rogen

The crying had almost stopped. I was just standing there with my arms around Peter’s waist while he held me in place, and I leaned against him. I felt light and airy and quiet inside, like the world after a storm wiped it clean. It didn’t feel much like me.

Peter hugged me carefully and said, “I’ve always wanted to hold you in my arms, but this wasn’t how I pictured it.”

It made me laugh, just a little. “Didn’t meet expectations, huh?” I said, sighing with my head still resting on his chest.

“In some ways, no.” He stroked his hand down the back of my hair.

I raised up my head up and away from the touch. It was borderline between comfort and more.

“But in other ways, totally exceeded expectations.” He smiled down at me, and it was a good smile full of all the years we’d known each other, all the things we’d been through together, how much we’d both grown, though mine had been more internal instead of gaining 10 inches of height

like he had. “Thank you for trusting me,” he said, and just like that I knew he understood how much it had cost me to fall apart and how much I had to trust anyone to let them catch me while I did it.

“Thanks for being trustworthy,” I said.

“Oh, when a woman calls you trustworthy you’re so in the friendzone.” He made a dramatic face to go with the comment. It made me laugh and start to push away as the far curtain opened and a vampire and a werehyena came through. Asher, the vampire, was tall with long golden hair that he wore loose to hide half his face. The half that showed looked almost artificial in its beauty. Kane, the werehyena, was tall, dark, and sullenly handsome. The vampire said, “Anita, what’s wrong?” The hyena said, “Found another man to fuck, I don’t know how you find the time.”

I wanted to punch Kane in the face, but I debated whether the comment was enough to justify it, or just my anger with my family talking. Peter beat me to it, moving faster than I’d ever seen him

move. One second we were holding each other, the next he was across the room punching Kane in the solar plexus with his right hand, so hard it doubled him over, then bringing his left elbow into the side of Kane’s face. Kane tried to stand up, swung at him, and Peter raised his left arm to block the blow just in case, but he was already coming up under Kane’s chin with as pretty an undercut as I’d seen in a while. Kane fell over backward, and the fight was over.

“I’ve never seen you move that fast, Peter,” Edward said from behind us in the door of the dressing room.

“Or hit that hard,” I said.

Peter was staring at his hands like he couldn’t quite believe what he’d just done. Apparently, he hadn’t seen himself move like that before either.

Asher looked at his fallen lover and then at Peter and then back to Kane. “I apologize for what Kane said, it was inexcusably rude, but could we begin with verbal insults before resorting to violence next time?”

Milligan was back through the curtains with Craven at his heels. Milligan had his pale hair newly military cut. He kept trying to grow it out since testing positive for lycanthropy had gotten him a medical discharge from the Navy, but he hated it touching his ears. Craven was so newly discharged that his black hair was still in its original high and tight. It seemed weird to have Milligan on duty without his usual partner, Custer, but we’d divided all

the more experienced military security among the newer guys who were still transitioning from career military to civilian security. It was a good idea, but I still missed Custer, and Milligan was a lot less chatty and comfortable to be around with the newbie.

Milligan said, “Blake, if you’re going to pick fights with shapeshifters I’m going to have to stay on this side of the curtain.”

“If Kane’s involved it might be for the best,” I said.

Craven knelt and checked for the pulse in Kane’s neck.

“He’s a werehyena, I didn’t hit him that hard,” Peter said, but his voice held a note of panic.

“He’s alive,” Asher said, but not with the emotion you’d expect about the news. Kane’s cruel streak had started to wear thin on everyone.

“He’s got a pulse,” Craven said. I heard Peter let out a breath, his shoulders slumping with relief.

“And that’s the other reason we’re here,” Edward said.

“Can you move like that now, too?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Neither of us has ever moved like that. We’re stronger and faster, but not like that.”

Peter backed far enough away from Kane so he might have some warning if the werehyena came to and wanted to have a rematch. He backed up until he was standing by Edward. Peter looked pale. “I don’t know what happened.”

“You cleaned his clock,” I said.

“You lost control of your temper,”

Continued on pg 20

WEDDING DRAMA HELL

Continued from pg 19

Edward said.

Peter just nodded. “Worse than I have in a long time.”

“I taught you to fight, and you’ve learned more at the dojo, but with those skills comes responsibility and judgment about when to use them and how hard to go at it. Today was not the moment to go this hard, Peter,” Edward said.

“I know that, I really do, but he said what he said after Anita had talked to her dad on the phone and it was … I lost control. I don’t have an excuse for it, but I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t lose control,” I said, “that was very controlled, very precise.”

“I wanted to hurt him, Anita, that’s not OK. I’m too big and too strong, and now it’s even worse. I have to control my emotions as much as I do the physical stuff, or someone will get hurt, and I could end up arrested.”

“Well, if you hit a human this hard someone could get dead,” Craven said.

“I don’t want to kill someone by accident,” Peter said. He suddenly looked scared, the shadow of the boy I’d first met on his face. I didn’t blame him.

“You’re here to work out with us, right?” Milligan said.

Peter nodded.

“We’ll teach you how to manage your new strength and speed, and how to hide it.”

“Yeah, that too, I mean if I moved like that in the dojo they’d all know.”

“You were fast, kid, but not as fast as we are,” Craven said.

Peter looked at him. “Are you serious?”

Craven smiled that smile that big, athletic men have been smiling since the first one realized he was bigger and stronger than everyone else.

“They are serious,” Asher said, “and please remember that when Kane comes to, he will take this as a grave insult.”

“Is that a threat?” Edward asked.

“No, it is a warning. As I become healthier and less prone to being what Anita calls a shit stirrer, Kane is getting worse. He’s only here today for my fitting because he didn’t trust me out of his sight.”

“The jealousy issues are that much worse?” I asked.

“I fear so.”

“How much worse, since we’re supposed to be keeping everyone safe?” Craven asked.

Milligan answered, “You haven’t been around Kane much, but he’ll

probably try and tear the kid up next time he sees him.”

Asher lowered his head, putting his hands in front of his face like he might weep or didn’t want to see Kane lying on the floor. He shoved his hands back through his hair so it pulled back completely, exposing the scars on the left side of his face. It let me know how upset he was because he would never have done that in front of so many people if he’d been thinking about it.

Peter gasped.

Asher froze and then very slowly moved his hands so his hair would fall back like a dark golden curtain to hide behind again. He spoke with his face still hidden. “If Kane wakes and the young man is still here, he will attack him. He can take such an insult to his honor from Anita and others at the apex of our power structure, but he is too insecure to take it from anyone he perceives as less able.” He never moved his head at all while he spoke so that his hair was all we could see of his face. He didn’t even show us the unmarked side of his face, which meant all his issues had been hit hard by that one small sound.

“If everyone is okay with it, we’ll just send Kane to the medical area at the Circus so he can wake up there,” Milligan said.

“Fine with me,” I said.

“Yes,” Asher said, still unmoving as if he was afraid to give Peter a second look at his face.

I walked over to Asher as Milligan picked Kane up like a sack of potatoes, putting him in a fireman’s carry over one of his shoulders.

“What if he has a spinal injury?” Peter asked.

“Kid, if his spine was injured he’d either be dead or it’ll heal no matter what,” Milligan said, and then he walked out while Craven held the curtain for him.

He hesitated in the doorway and said, “We’re not supposed to leave you without someone to watch your back.”

“We’ve got her back,” Edward said. I was a little uncomfortable with Peter being part of that we, but he had earned the right to be included.

Milligan yelled back, “If Forrester says he has her, he has her. Now let’s get the werehyena to medical before he comes to.”

Craven almost saluted, remembered in time, and hurried to catch up with Milligan.

I tried to stand in front of Asher, but he moved just enough so that his hair was between me and seeing any of his face. I hadn’t seen

him this insecure in maybe ever. Damn it. I reached up to touch his hair, but he moved just out of reach, so I dropped my hand to his arm. Which he let me hold, but he was immobile under my touch like he was trying not to be there.

“Asher, please,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” Peter said.

“Your reaction was honest, don’t be sorry for that,” Asher said, but his voice held bitterness that made the words a lie.

“It wasn’t for the reason you think.”

“Now you will tell me that I don’t know my own mind. You do have the arrogance of youth and beauty.”

“I’m young, but I’m not beautiful, not compared to you,” Peter said.

Asher made a sound that was too bitter to be a laugh, but I didn’t have another word for it. He pulled away from my hand, and I didn’t fight him over it. I had my own issues to work today. I didn’t have enough energy left over to deal with one of Asher’s famous fits. He was gorgeous, but eventually beauty and great sex aren’t enough.

Peter said, “You’re so good at hiding the scars with your hair that I forget they are there.”

“Good that you can forget that I am ruined.”

“All you let me see is the perfect parts of you physically. Nicky lets me see the scars where he lost his eye now, so it’s part of him, but you never seem to treat your scars that way.”

“Oh, they are very much a part of me, a part that I can never forget. I have wished often that vampires had no reflections like in movies, because then it would not be a constant reminder of what I have lost.”

“If that is how you feel, Asher, then why don’t you go back to consult with the plastic surgeon? He was hopeful about helping you,” I said.

He just shook his head hard enough that his hair moved but never showed any of his face. Peter was right, Asher had spent centuries using his hair to shield his face. He always seemed to know where every shadow or patch of light would hit him and what it would show. He used all of it to keep his scars hidden. The scars didn’t cover that much of his face because he could keep the hair over it while looking at someone with both eyes and most of his face, but it wasn’t my face, it wasn’t me who had gone from the kind of beauty that would make people gasp in wonder, to scars that made people gasp like Peter had.

I felt Jean-Claude like a distant dream down the metaphysical connection between us. He was being subtle because if Asher sensed his presence then he would say that I didn’t want him except through Jean-Claude’s eyes. Since I was beginning to agree with that, it was hard to argue. I’d only been in an off-again, on-again relationship with Asher for a few years; JeanClaude had been trying for centuries. That breath of power asked me in emotions to please try. JeanClaude could have simply spoken in my mind, but that much power between us and Asher would have sensed it happening.

I reached for his hand. He startled, his hand tensing under my touch. He darted a glance at me, a flash of those ice-blue eyes through the wilderness of his golden hair. “Why would you want to touch me when you have unblemished youth before you?”

I settled my hand more securely in his; Jean-Claude was gone from the part of me where I could feel it because touching made all our powers stronger. If Asher realized that it hadn’t been just my idea to hold his hand, then it would have made things worse. “You know that Peter and I aren’t an item.”

“Only a lover will defend someone’s honor so swiftly and so decisively.”

“Any suggestions, Ted?” Peter asked.

“You made the mess, you clean it up, that’s the rule; besides, this isn’t the part of Anita’s life that I help out with, and I’m good with the division of labor.”

Peter took a few steps toward us and my hand in Asher’s kept him from moving away. Peter took the hint, though, and stopped where he was, giving the vampire the space he seemed to need. “Somewhere in all that talking, did you imply that you’re jealous of me?” Peter asked, so not what I thought he would lead with.

Asher laughed, and it was so bitter it felt like broken glass in my ears just to hear it.

“No vampire mind tricks,” Edward said, “or I will join in, and you don’t want that.”

“No,” Asher said, “I do not. My apologies, for losing control for a moment.” n

Excerpted from Smolder by Laurell K. Hamilton. Copyright © 2023 by Laurell K. Hamilton. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

CALENDAR

BY RIVERFRONT TIMES STAFF

THURSDAY 03/30 Wing Heaven

Grab $7 wing specials from 22 area restaurants for St. Louis Wing Week now through Sunday April 2. You can earn rewards by checking in on the app anytime you buy a special. If you go to five participating locations, you will be entered in a grand prize drawing that includes swag and $250 in gift cards. All of the restaurants are mapped out and listed on the app, along with the specials, so you can plot your journey through wing heaven. Participating restaurants include Alamo Drafthouse, Alpha Brewing Company, Crafted, Felix’s Pizza Pub and more. Some of the restaurants have crafted wing recipes special for this week, so don’t miss out. But keep in mind that supplies are limited and restaurants can run out.

FRIDAY 03/31

No Kids Allowed

It seems like the hottest spot in town lately is Slick City (17379 Edison Avenue, Chesterfield; 636229-9899). Local children are obsessed with the giant slides, air courts and other exciting amenities that can be enjoyed at the indoor action park. But why should kids have all of the fun? If you’re an adult who gets annoyed when ankle-biters take over any area, we have good news for you: Slick City is hosting an Adults-Only Night on Friday, March 31, from 8:30 until 10:30 p.m. That’s right, you can enjoy two full blissful hours of fun without children crowding you out. The kids can take their millions of questions and their sticky hands that always smell like peanut butter somewhere else for the night because you, friend, are going to go down those slides, and you won’t even have to worry about crushing a child with your adult-sized body at the end. This event is strictly for the young at heart but not for the young. People under 18 years of age will be turned away. Tickets are $15.99 and are good for 60 minutes of sliding, or $19.99 if you want to enjoy the full two hours of

kidless joy. Visit slickcity.com to secure your tickets.

SATURDAY 04/01

Party in the Streets

Schlafly Tap Room (2100 Locust Street, 314-241-2337) is leaning into being so close to the new CITYPARK stadium by hosting tailgates before every CITY SC home match. This Saturday, April 1, the Soccer Pre-Match Street Party kicks off at 4 p.m. and takes place on the street next to the Tap Room, now known as Louligan Street after the St. Louis CITY SC supporter group the Saint Louligans, who will also be on hand for the event. Schlafly even has a deal on parking: If you pay $25 for a space in the restaurant’s lot, you get a $25 gift card for the Tap Room. Other than that the event is free, and is a great opportunity to talk soccer and get hyped before the game (and hopefully another win).

Dog Days

This Easter, don’t let the folks with kids have all the fun. Take your dog (or cat, if your cat gets down like that) out to the gazebo at Des Peres Park (12325 Manchester Road, Des Peres; 314-835-6100) for the Dog Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 1. The eggs will be filled with dog treats and the Easter Bunny will be on hand for Fido to pee on him — er, pose with him. At least one human must be registered with every dog. Tickets are $16 to $18 per dog (humans are free) and proof of vaccination for your dog is required. The hunt starts promptly at 10:30 a.m., so arrive early for check in. For more info, visit desperesmo.org.

Cave Rave

First, let us lead by saying that, in a way, the entire damn world is one big Man Cave Extravaganza. But in this man’s world, the Man Cave Extravaganza in Bel -

leville, Illinois, looks like a genuinely fun event that could be enjoyed by all — men, women, or anyone in between — as long as they like beer. Vendors from multiple states will crowd into the Belle Clair Fairgrounds (200 South Belt East, Belleville; 618235-0666) with their breweriana, collectibles, lighted signs, decor and more this Saturday, April 1. So in other words, there will be thousands of items for you to choose from to spruce up your home bar, man cave or she shed. What’s the non-binary version of this? Just a cave/shed? Perhaps the way we need designated spaces to comfortably flaunt the supposed wills of our genders is indicative of a larger problem? You do you! Shit, get a neon beer sign for your front window or office. No one cares. Admission is $3, and the festivities run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the general public, with early bird access at 7:30 a.m. for $10. Tickets available via Eventbrite.

Your good boy deserves some Easter fun, too. | VIA FLICKR / KEVIN

SUNDAY 04/02

Good Boy!

In Metro Theater Company’s Go, Dog. Go!, our four-legged friend is the master of his domain. The dogs play musical instruments, swim, skate and even drive cars. Based on P.D. Eastman’s children’s book, this show celebrates Metro Theater Company’s 50th anniversary and revives one of its most popular productions of the last five decades. The show includes music, movement and furry pooches who like to ride bikes and go on boat rides. Go, Dog. Go! will be at the Big Top (3401 Washington Avenue, 314-533-0367) in Grand Center starting Sunday, April 2, through Sunday, April 16. The show starts at 7 p.m. on Fridays, 1 and 4 p.m. on Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $20 to $36. For more information, visit metroplays.org/go-dog-go.

Game On

Remember that scene in the second season of Bridgerton

when the lustful tensions between leading lady Kate Sharma and old-school hunk Anthony Bridgerton boil up as the two face off on the croquet (called pall-mall after the Italian word pallamaglio) field? Something about the competitiveness of the game really got the spirits moving. If you try to recreate that moment for yourself during the Gin Room’s 4th Annual Gin & Croquet: A Seersucker & Sundress Summer Kickoff Affair , we can’t promise that you’ll fall head over heels in love with the kind of man you never pictured yourself with (but now know you can’t live without). But you might! But even if that doesn’t happen, it should still be an afternoon to remember, with spirits and amaro tastings, cocktails, a makers market, live music and other fun. People will be dressed in seersucker with giant summer hats. There will be food trucks. And it will all go down at the really beautiful Wild Carrot (3901 Shaw Boulevard, 314-696-2474) space. The 21-and-up shindig begins at noon, and tickets are $10 to $35.

WEDNESDAY 04/05

Tend Your Garden

St. Louis is a sneaky, top-level art city. The latest proof comes via the Sheldon’s new exhibit from photographer and Heflin, Alabama, native Alayna N. Pernell. Our Mothers’ Gardens is an evocative black and white photo series that works to bring to light images of Black women from the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection. Often showing exploitation or violence, the images are reinterpreted by Pernell to issues of Black

WEEK OF MARCH 30-APRIL 5

identity and the historic treatment of Black Americans in the U.S. “With Care to Ms. Maudelle Bass Weston,” for example, shows a pair of hands covering the presumably unclothed body of a young Black woman who seems to stare uneasily at the viewer. It’s uncomfortable to look at and tugs at the viewer’s empathy. St. Louisans can check the exhibit out now through Saturday, May 6 at the Sheldon Art Galleries (3628 Washington Avenue, 314533-9900) from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Admission is free.

Our Mothers’ Gardens is now showing at The Sheldon. | VIA THE SHELDON

Go, Dog. Go! will be at the Big Top this weekend. | COVER ART

This Saturday, April 1, the Soccer Pre-Match Street Party kicks off at 4 p.m. | REUBEN HEMMER

Dream Come True

At Sueño Latino, the Nunez brothers offer an exemplary take on the food of their native Honduras

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Two locations including 2818 Cherokee Street, 314-899-0777. Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Jolman Nunez vividly remembers being the new kid in town when he and his brothers, Jesus and Ever, arrived in St. Louis back in 2007. Just nine years old, Jolman had moved here with his siblings from their native Honduras to join their mother, who had already been here for a few years. It wasn’t easy. He spoke no English and spent his first few months at school with a dizzy head from trying to figure out what his classmates were saying to him. It was so tough, Jolman recalls coming home from school on his first day crying out of frustration and exhaustion.

Fast forward two and a half decades, and the Nunez brothers are officially bona fide restaurateurs, having just opened the second location of their Honduran eatery Sueño Latino. The name, which translates to “Latin Dream,” is especially poignant to the men, as it represents the culmination of their experiences since moving to St. Louis. From those early days of struggling to acclimate to a new culture and learn a second language to their decades-long careers working their way up in the city’s restaurant scene, every bit of effort has been leading up to this moment. For the Nunezes, Sueño Latino is not merely the realization of a personal dream; it is the Honduran American dream itself.

All the Nunez brothers began working in kitchens as soon as they were old enough to do so legally, balancing school and jobs so they were successful at both.

Though they started out at entrylevel back-of-house positions — which they got through their mother, who was also employed by restaurants — all worked their way up to leadership roles, including kitchen manager positions at such popular spots as Charlie Gitto’s, Peacemaker Lobster & Crab and Mission Taco Joint.

As much as they were dedicated to their jobs, Jolman, Jesus and Ever always dreamed of opening a place of their own where they could prepare traditional Honduran cuisine for their adopted hometown. They had a deep well of experience to draw from; in addition to working full-time restaurant jobs, their mother ran a

catering operation out of their garage that centered around her family’s recipes — in particular, Honduran-style tamales. The boys helped their mother and picked up how to prepare her traditional dishes in the process, hoping that one day, they would be able to build a restaurant around them.

That chance came with Sueño Latino. Located in the former Mariscos El Gato space on Cherokee Street, the Nunez brothers opened their debut restaurant in February of 2020 with the goal of serving the Honduran food they grew up on to the area’s Central American community, as well as American diners looking to learn more about the cuisine. For three weeks they achieved that goal, and were on their way to building a regular customer base, until the pandemic ground all their momentum to a halt. They made the difficult decision to close their doors for a brief period, then reopened for carryout only, their business barely surviving despite their best efforts.

The brothers persevered and gradually built a loyal follow-

Sueño Latino

Sueño Latino’s dishes include (clockwise from top left) pollo asado, baleada especial, pollo con tajadas and tacos Hondureños. | MABEL SUEN

The minds behind Sueño Latino include brothers Jolman, Jesus and Ever Nunez. | MABEL SUEN

SUEÑO LATINO

Continued from pg 27

ing from all over the metro area, prompting them to open a second Sueño Latino in Maryland Heights on March 17. For this review I considered only the Cherokee Street restaurant, which, unlike during those first years of the pandemic, has the happy hum of a busy restaurant in Central America, with families tucking into plates of food as international soccer plays on the TV. There’s also a full bar, complemented by an array of fresh juices.

The Nunezes credit their success to their “never give up” spirit, but to truly understand why they made it, you just need to taste their Honduran tamale, an absolute revelation of texture based on their grandmother’s recipe. To call their masa creamy is to call a Bugatti a car with some pickup. The nixtamalized corn is positively custard-like, a warm, jiggly concoction generously stuffed with hefty hunks of fork-tender pork that has a whisper of heat to warm — not burn — the back of the palate. Their grandmother would be proud.

Sueño Latino’s tacos Hondurenos, an appetizer, are the taquitos of dreams. Here, corn tortillas are stuffed with seasoned pulled chicken, rolled into a cigar shape and deep fried. Alone, they are a delightful finger food, but the Nunezes top the dish with a zesty slaw made from crisp cabbage, pico de gallo and julienne bell peppers. The veggies are tossed in a mildly spiced creamy condiment akin to the popular Caribbean and Latin American mayo-ketchup condiment, which acts as a sauce for the taquitos. The juxtaposition of cool, tangy sauce with rich, fresh-from-the-fryer taco roulades offers a stunning contrast.

The brothers offer a selection of baleadas, a quesadilla-adjacent tortilla foldover filled with funky refried beans and cream cheese. At my server’s suggestion, I opted for the version that paired the creamy bean concoction with a soft-scrambled egg, which made the dish even more decadent.

Main courses are no less exceptional. The pescado frito features a whole fried fish (on my visit, snapper) dusted in a wellseasoned flour coating; combined with the skin, it formed a beautifully crisp counter to the fish’s tender flesh. Instead of sauce, the Nunezes smother the fish in a mix of bell peppers, white onion and tomatoes that have been broken

down to form a juicy concoction in that sweet spot between solid and liquid.

Sueño Latino’s grilled meats rival those of any area barbecue spot. Hefty strips of carne asada are gilded in mouthwatering chimichurri. Juicy rotisserie chicken, served on the bone, benefits from significant char that gives the meat an outstanding earthly flavor. The bitterness of the grill pairs wonderfully with an accompanying

sweet-vinegary house sauce. That same char utterly transforms the restaurant’s grilled pork chop. Here, the tender meat is cut into thick strips, each one edged in fat and char crispies you wish you could bag up and snack on like popcorn. If you are dining with a group, you can sample all of these on the restaurant’s parrillada familiar, a stunning array of meats, vegetables, plantains and accoutrements served family style on

a lazy susan. It’s a feast every St. Louisan should experience.

As proud as the Nunezes are of their meats, they suggest everyone who comes in try the pollo con tajadas, a traditional fried chicken dish that is wildly popular in Honduras. The brothers butcher the bird into hefty hunks, then coat each piece in a crunchy, warmly seasoned breading before dunking it in the fryer. They cover the searing hot, deep-fried meat in the same cooling, mayoketchup-dressed cabbage and julienne vegetable salad as the tacos Hondurenos; its zest cuts through the richness of the fried meat, offering refreshment in what would otherwise be a heavy dish.

Jolman, Jesus and Ever are adamant that, when you eat the pollo con tajadas at either Sueño Latin location, you are tasting the dish as if you were enjoying it in their hometown in Honduras. What makes it so wonderful, however, is not simply the fact that you can taste such a traditional dish outside of Central America, but that it gives you a window into the journey the Nunez brothers took to deliver it to us here in St. Louis — and a true taste of the Honduran American dream. n

Sueño Latino Honduran tamale $3 50 Pollo con tajadas ��������������������������������� $12�99 Grilled pork chop $15 99

The tacos Hondureños feature cabbage salad, pico de gallo, onion and cheese. | MABEL SUEN

The parrillada familiar features beef, chop and rotisserie chicken. | MABEL SUEN

SHORT ORDERS

[SNEAK PEEK]

On a Roll

Chef Nick Bognar’s hotly anticipated Sado brings sushi and more to the Hill

Written by SARAH FENSKE

For months, the building that’s now Sado (5201 Shaw Avenue) has shown few signs of life — no “coming soon” or even a sign with the restaurant’s name on it.

But looks can be deceiving: Behind the shuttered doorways of what used to be Giovanni’s, one of St. Louis’ most hotly anticipated restaurants from Nick Bognar has been taking shape. On Tuesday, it opened its doors.

“We were keeping things under wraps,” Bognar acknowledges. “We thought it would be funny if we came out and had a fully functional restaurant.”

And while “funny” and “fun” might not be the first words that come to mind when you think about high-end sushi or an acclaimed chef, Bognar — a twotime James Beard semi-finalist for Best Chef: Midwest this year and Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2020 — is eager to change that. While he sees Sado as a specialoccasion restaurant, he’s also hoping people won’t be so darn serious about it.

“When you sit down, you’ll have a breath of fresh air and realize the menu is not stuffy, the ambiance is not stuffy. You’re going to have a good time,” he promises.

To that end, he’s not only offering the sashimi that made his name at Indo (his southeast Asian-inspired hot spot in Botanical Heights) and Nippon Tei (his family’s recently shuttered sushi restaurant in Ballwin) or omakase service, though both are on the menu. He’s also going back to the traditional Americanized sushi dishes his family served at Nippon Tei in his childhood, before he helped to transform the place into a destination — nostalgic favorites such as crab Rangoon, Cal-

ifornia rolls and salad with misoginger dressing.

Then, he adds, “We’ll have grilled dishes that really push the envelope. There are some dishes that are not your normal sushi bar fare.” That includes dry-aged fish, a “sustainable eel” that Bognar says took him a year to source, and a chawanmushi, a Japanese egg custard with crab, enoki mushroom and sea urchin.

That this is all happening on the Hill — a place long reserved for not just Italian food but a certain sort of St. Louis-style Italian food that’s heavy on nostalgia — drew some grumbling when Sado was first announced. But in the months that Bognar’s team has quietly worked behind closed doors to gut the old Giovanni’s, Bognar says he hasn’t witnessed any pushback whatsoever.

“All of the comments about this concept being on the Hill — that was really just on the Internet,” he says. “Most of these people weren’t even living on the Hill anymore.”

He adds, “Now that I’m there every day, I haven’t felt anything but welcome, from business owners

and from neighbors. They’re really excited to have us there.”

And that’s even without a sign, or any suggestion that the place is about to open. Bognar says that now that the interior is ready to go (press materials say the 97-seat eatery has a “modern, minimalist, playful vibe”), he’s ready to tack-

le the exterior — perhaps some fresh paint if it ever stops raining. But he’s not going to do much to change its appearance from the street.

“It doesn’t draw too much attention to the outside,” he says. “But when you get inside, it really opens up.”

Sado offers a full bar and a host of fish dishes. | IZAIAH JOHNSON

Nick Bognar is the chef and owner behind Sado. | IZAIAH JOHNSON

Heavy Metal Pizza

Headless Bat promises to give St. Louis slices that Ozzy Osbourne only dreamed about

Written by JESSICA ROGEN

Early in the pandemic, Rick Giordano was having a few socially distanced porch beers with his pal Kenny Snarzyk of the Crow’s Nest and musing about what St. Louis really needed.

Their answer: a pizza joint where the duo could “play metal all the time.”

Something close to those pandemic musings is set to become a reality. Giordano (sans Snarzyk) plans to open his heavy metal pizza place, Headless Bat (@headlessbatstl), at 3128 Morgan Ford Road in the space that formerly housed the London Tea Room.

“This space is exactly what I saw in my

[FOOD NEWS]

Frida’s, Bonito Bar Open

After a series of delays, the highly anticipated spots opened their doors in University City

Written by JESSICA ROGEN

Two highly anticipated concepts opened their doors this month in University City.

Natasha Kwan and Rick Roloff’s Frida’s and Bontio Bar held a grand reopening for the former and an opening for the latter on March 18. In an Instagram post, Frida’s announced that lunch service resumed on March 21 and features a menu of “delicious and fresh options.”

In April last year, Kwan and Roloff announced they had purchased the space between Frida’s, a plant-based restaurant, and Diego’s Cantina, an elevated Mexican street-food concept. That space will be home to Bonito Bar, a 12-to14 seat bar featuring cocktails based around freshly squeezed juice. The pair closed Frida’s temporarily in order to renovate both spaces.

head as I’ve been envisioning it for the past couple of years,” Giordano says. “It was this spot. Exactly.”

Giordano says that Headless Bat (a nod to Ozzy Osbourne’s infamous bat-biting incident) will have a bar with a great beer and liquor selection and upscale, high-quality food. But that will be con-

trasted with “bizarre artwork” and heavy metal music — albeit metal played at a level that won’t disrupt conversations.

The heavy metal aspect of Headless Bat is not a surprise coming from Giordano, who is one-third of local metal band the Lion’s Daughter and formerly worked at the Ready Room. But the pizza

is something of a surprise.

“I am not a pizza person,” he says. “I’ve never worked in a kitchen. I don’t know how to make a pizza.”

It might be more accurate to say that he didn’t used to know how to make a pizza. Since Headless Bat has come on the horizon, Giordano has been learning, perfecting recipes and consulting with a mysterious pizza expert from Chicago, whom he wasn’t ready to name.

Despite the Chicago connection, Headless Bat will serve New York-style pizza and maybe pan pizzas.

“If you think about that one time in the ‘90s when you had Pizza Hut and it was really, really good that one time: That’s what I want to recreate here,” Giordano says. “I want to there to be a sense of nostalgia to the food here as well.”

Giordano hopes to be open this summer, but it’s too early to say when, or approximately when. What’s not in question, though, is the vibe of the future space and who he intends it to be for.

“This isn’t a dark place, but it’s a place for weirdos,” Giordano says, “a place where people are into weird music, weird art, weird culture and really good food.” n

In December, RFT dining critic Cheryl Baehr named Bonito one of her most anticipated restaurants of 2023.

But if there’s one truth about construction, it’s that things never go according to plan. Though Kwan and Roloff intended to reopen in January 2023, the pair had to delay.

On February 13, Kwan took to Insta-

gram to discuss the delays and air some frustration about not having electric service yet.

“So this is the reason we can’t open,” she said. “We’ve been delayed over a month and a half now because of this. So it’s really out of our control, you know. Anyway, if you can push some buttons, do something, please do. I’m at my wit’s

end.”

Then, on March 11, the owners shared on Frida’s Instagram that they were working through inspections. It’s safe to say that the results of those went well.

In addition to these three concepts, Kwan and Roloff also own Station No. 3, which opened in Benton Park in May last year.

Headless Bat will take the space that used to be London Tea Room. | VIA FLICKR / PAUL SABLEMAN

Bonito Bar serves a host of drinks based around fresh juices. | MABEL SUEN

ST. LOUIS STANDARDS

Not a Regular Taco

Mission Taco has been gifting St. Louis Mexi-Cali cuisine — and a good time — for a decade

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Mission Taco Joint

Multiple locations, including 6235 Delmar Boulevard, 314-932-5430

Established 2013

Jason Tilford can’t help but chuckle at the request he and his brother Adam would often get when they opened their first Mission Taco Joint on Delmar Boulevard in 2013.

“We’d get asked all the time if we had a regular taco,” Jason recalls, referring to the Old El Paso-style ground beef and iceberg lettuce concoction of so many St. Louisans’ youth. “Sometimes, we’d run them as a tongue-in-cheek special and even put them on the menu as a ‘regular taco’ at Busch Stadium. When we offer them, people come in and crush them.”

Judging by that question, there is no doubt that the Tilford brothers played a significant role in transforming the St. Louis food scene through their wildly successful brand Mission Taco Joint. The restaurant, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, was a vital player in introducing the area to the many different ways to enjoy Mexican-inflected cuisine, in particular West Coast-style fare they refer to as Mexi-Cali food.

The milestone year has made the Tilford brothers reflective on how they’ve gotten to where they are. After all, they are two kids who grew up mostly in oceanside cities all around the country, thanks to their father’s Coast Guard career, and somehow launched a West-Coast-inflected taco empire in the landlocked middle of the country. However, if you ask them, the journey makes sense. Whether on the Atlantic or the Pacific, the brothers grew up as self-described skateboarding, surfing beach bums whose

seminal food memories revolve around feel-good boardwalk fare. A significant part of their childhood was spent in San Diego, California, and that region’s style of lighter, low-key Mexican-inspired cuisine made an impression.

Their parents opted to settle down in St. Louis (after a tour here) just after Jason had graduated from high school and Adam was entering it. Both planted roots in town and pursued careers in the hospitality industry, both working for Levy Restaurants before going out on their own with their first restaurant, Tortilleria, which opened in 2004 in the Central West End. Centered around the food they fell in love with in California, Tortilleria featured braised meats, fresh tortillas, fish tacos and a casual, West Coast vibe that quickly resonated with area diners.

Bolstered by Tortilleria’s success, the Tilfords opened the Barrister’s pub in Clayton, then launched the upscale Milagro Modern Mexican in Webster Groves in 2010. With the latter, the brothers made a name for themselves in the area restaurant community and garnered critical acclaim for their innovative, high-end offerings.

Still, they had a feeling there was something more they wanted to do.

“All of those restaurants hit different points,” Adam says. “Tortilleria was a great casual lunch and dinner spot; Barrister’s had a great bar program and happy hour; Milagro had that creative, higher-end feel but was busy only on Friday and Saturday nights. We took all that knowledge and a little bit of all those places and created Mission Taco. It had the cool bar program of Barrister’s, the casual feel of Tortilleria and the creativity of Milagro — and it just took off.”

The Tilfords were blown away by the reception out of the gate. While originally conceived of as a dinner and late-night spot equally focused on bar and food, it became clear right away that they would have to increase their hours to give more people access to the Mission Taco experience. If the lines wrapped around the building and lengthy wait times for tables clued them that there was demand for an expansion, the messages they’d get from hungry diners sealed the deal.

“I don’t want to call them hate emails, but that’s pretty much what they were,” Adam says with a

laugh. “People would tell us, ‘We’ve been waiting so long for you to open, and now we find out you’re not open for lunch?’ People were getting really upset, so we realized the demand was there and decided to jump on it quickly. Within a month, we hired additional staff and were open for lunch.”

The original Mission Taco Joint opened in March 2013 at the corner of Delmar Boulevard and Eastgate Avenue in the University City Loop. By September of the following year, the brothers opened a separate commissary kitchen and, with the help of an investment group, launched a second location in Soulard. The Central West End storefront came next, followed by a location in the Streets of St. Charles and another in Kansas City. They were just getting ready to launch their Kirkwood store when the pandemic ground their momentum to a halt. It was an awful period for the group that was characterized by layoffs and real questions as to whether or not the restaurants would survive. However, even in the midst of such turmoil, the Tilfords still managed to do a bit of public service.

“We had all this alcohol, limes

Mission Taco Joint was started by brothers Jason and Adam Tilford. | BRADEN MCMAKIN

and lime juice, so we figured we’d sell margaritas to go,” Adam says. “That lasted two days, and I got a call from someone with the City of St. Charles who said, ‘Hey, I heard you are selling margaritas to go.’ I told them that yes, we were, and they told me I was not allowed to do that. I asked if it was a St. Charles rule, and they said no, that it was a state rule. I told them, ‘OK, we will wait to hear from the state.’ Two minutes later, I got a call from the state. Honestly, they were nice and understanding, but we were technically breaking liquor license laws.”

The Tilfords were told that they would have to cease selling to-go booze or risk losing their liquor

license. They responded by sending out a tweet from the Mission Taco Twitter account telling their followers that they could no longer sell margaritas and suggesting they contact the state of Missouri if they felt this wasn’t right.

“The next day I got a call from the state asking if we could take down the tweet — that their phones hadn’t stopped ringing, and they had to turn their phones off,” Adam says. “I had people saying that they tried calling but hadn’t gotten through because the lines were so busy. I think they got a lot of phone calls that day.”

Tilford was not trying to cause trouble but was instead trying to shine a light on what he saw as

a double standard — gas stations and grocery stores could sell packaged booze easily consumable in cars, whereas restaurants struggling to survive were unable to provide more cumbersome to-go cocktails in large jugs. His advocacy paid off; in no time, he had the support of local officials and state lawmakers who got the governor to sign an executive order allowing restaurants to serve to-go drinks — a sea change in the way restaurants are allowed to serve their customers.

Aided by a robust to-go business and the support of their loyal customers, Mission Taco Joint was able to weather the pandemic and is proud to be transitioning from

a survival to a growth mindset in its 10th year. The Tilfords tease that they have two more locations coming in the Kansas City area and one in a yet-to-be-disclosed St. Louis area spot, and they are excited to continue their relationship with the Enterprise Center while entering into a new one with Busch Stadium for the coming Cardinals baseball season. They credit this staying power — even in the midst of such upheaval in the hospitality industry — to a company culture that values and empowers their employees. They believe that if they take care of their people, their people will take care of their guests. For Adam and Jason, this is the foundation of all they do, which results in an allaround feel-good brand that will keep growing for years to come.

“When people go to Mission, it’s not just to get a quick bite or to have this amazing five-star culinary dinner; it’s for the experience,” Adam says. “There’s a bit of everything; it’s a combination of food, cocktails, the environment and the feeling you get. Dining now is so much more experiential than it used to be. People really have a lot of choices for where they are going to spend their money, so they are going to think back to how they feel when they are there. Sometimes they might not even know why. If we are doing our job correctly and providing a good experience, people won’t know why they feel the way they do. They just will. And that’s a good time.” n

ICONIC PEOPLE, PLACES & DISHES THAT ANCHOR STL’S FOOD SCENE

The chain’s Mexi-Cali cuisine charmed St. Louisans immediately. | BRADEN MCMAKIN Mission Taco Joint will have three more locations coming this year. | BRADEN MCMAKIN

Mission Taco in University City has a colorful interior. | BRADEN MCMAKIN There’s a loop location. | BRADEN MCMAKIN

REEFERFRONT TIMES 35

Breaking In

After spending nine years in prison on a weed charge, Rasheed Gresham is ready to break into the Missouri cannabis business — but the industry seems stacked against him

Written by ROSALIND EARLY

Rasheed Samir Gresham, 48, loves everything about weed — growing it, talking about it, smoking it. So when Missouri legalized medical marijuana, Gresham jumped at the chance to become a licensed cultivator.

“My buddy was in the service, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I got my license,’” Gresham remembers. “I was like, ‘Where? Here?’” Gresham followed suit and got licensed in 2019.

He started growing cannabis from “immaculate conception,” which was what cannabis seeds were called at the time since it was illegal to transport them into the state. Despite the fact that medical marijuana was legal, a miracle was required for cultivators to get started.

“The Department of Health and Senior Services looked the other way so the industry could get going, basically,” Gresham says.

Gresham came across the miracle seeds and started cultivating. He knew something of horticulture from working in his grandmother’s garden growing up. Still, cannabis was a different beast.

“It took me almost three years growing different plants and playing with things to understand,” he says.

All of that hard work has paid off, and Gresham — who as a licensed caregiver in Missouri can sell small amounts of pot to certain patients — has started making some memorable cannabis strains under his brand Sheed With the Weed.

“We have Grape Vess, which tastes just like the grape soda,

and we have Gooey Butter Cake, which tastes just like you’re eating a slice of the cake, and it has a mind, body and soul effect.”

Gresham’s passion for weed started when he was growing up in New Jersey. His father smoked pot, and it was always around. In the ’70s though, it wasn’t a big deal. “When crack came [in the ’80s] the government vilified drugs a lot more,” Gresham says. That’s how he ended up in prison.

“It’s crazy because the amount of weed [I went to prison for] — it was probably six ounces,” he says. At the time, he was living in Pleasantville, New Jersey, and a law had been passed that imposed tougher penalties for selling weed within 500 feet of a public building, park or housing project.

“I fell under that,” Gresham explains. “I read about it even before I fell under it, and I remember saying to myself, ‘This is going to hurt a lot of people.’” He says that where he was living, due to the

density of public housing, it was nearly impossible to not be within 500 feet of a prohibited building.

In 2000, Gresham was sentenced to 13 years and released after serving nine. While he was incarcerated, his mother moved to St. Louis, and Gresham followed.

Now, the plant that got him locked up is not only legal but a source of revenue for Gresham.

“I know the plant, and I know the people,” Gresham says. “So that gives me validity.”

Still, Gresham is annoyed at how difficult it is for Black people, who have faced a huge amount of incarceration due to marijuana, to get ahead in the cannabis industry.

“You don’t want to give us inclusion, or you want to make us jump through hoops that you know we can’t get through. Nobody in our family has the type of money to get us into the game that is built on our backs.”

He was on a team that applied

for two dispensary licenses, but both were rejected. The application process was based on points, and Gresham’s team was told they didn’t have enough, but Gresham thinks that some of the people who were approved shouldn’t have had that many points either. He believes the system is rigged.

“I was put on the cross for this,” he says, reflecting on spending nine years away from his family. “And now I can’t even break into the industry.”

He hopes to apply for a microbusiness license since those fees are refundable, and as someone who was once incarcerated for selling marijuana, he is eligible.

Right now, though, Gresham focuses on consulting with larger facilities about cultivation and cannabis through his company Treehouse Exotics. He even wrote a book about cannabis cultivation: Standard Operating Procedures for Growing Cannabis: Operations, Growing, Troubleshooting

“I’ve fought all types of bugs, you name it: aphids, spider mites, gnats, white flies,” he says. “So you learn it’s not about just growing. It’s about standard operating procedures. It’s about integrated pest management and keeping your environment as clean as possible at all times.”

He also hosts pop up events, where he sometimes gives away his weed for free since he’s only licensed as a caregiver to sell to medical marijuana patients. To sign up for his mailing list go to jotform.com/230397788211058 and stay up to date on his events. In May, he hopes to host a Cannabis Community Fest event with other weed purveyors.

Last year, he held the first one and didn’t charge anyone to have a booth there. Gresham wants to make money, but he also wants people to have access to the healing power of weed.

One of his first clients was a friend with cancer who needed highly concentrated Rick Simpson Oil, which can be very expensive. At the time, the friend had to travel to Michigan to get it.

“I watched this man go from death back to life once he got on the oil,” Gresham says. So when he got the chance, Gresham started making some for his friend for free. “This is my passion,” he says. “This is my love. This is my artwork.”

Rasheed Gresham is building his brand Sheed with the Weed. | COURTESY PHOTO

Side By Side

Saint Louis Art Museum’s new show puts the work of Joan Mitchell in a context she sought to avoid: the work of Claude Monet

Written by JESSICA ROGEN

Joan Mitchell had enough of being compared to Claude Monet.

“[Monet] was not a good colorist. The whole linkage is so horrible … He isn’t my favorite painter,” she said in 1986.

But despite those fighting words, critics and contemporaries would not stop mentioning Monet when they talked about Mitchell. And who could blame them?

Not only are Mitchell’s active, abstract brushstrokes reminiscent of the famous Impressionist, but the two artists had many common interests — using nature imagery in their paintings, music, large scale canvases often painted in tryptic, etc. — and they also literally tread the same ground. Mitchell purchased a property in Vétheuil, France, in 1967 with close proximity to Monet’s longtime home in Giverny.

“Her house at Vétheuil actually looked down on his cottage,” says Simon Kelly, curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Saint Louis Art Museum. “Every time she sat out in the morning on her terrace drinking her coffee, she was actually looking down on his house.”

A new SLAM exhibit examines the connection between the two great painters’ works. Monet/ Mitchell: Painting the French Landscape opened over the weekend with a free, public preview.

It’s the first major exhibit in the U.S. to show the two in concert and was inspired by a show at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. For the St. Louis show, Louis Vuitton lent SLAM 10 major Mitchell works.

“It’s exciting that we have these

amazing paintings in St. Louis,” Kelly says. “I think it’s really great to have the work of a major Impressionist, Monet, who is so well known, but also having him with a really important Abstract Expressionist artist, who, to the general public, is not as well known as Monet. … People who come out of the exhibition, hopefully, will realize what a great artist she is.”

As Kelly says, arguably, no artist is known more than Monet. The French painter lived from 1840 to 1926 and was the originator of Impressionism, a style of painting that’s meant to capture the impression or essence of the subject, rather than be a realistic copy. St. Louis is lucky to have one of Monet’s most famous works — the center panel of his Water Lilies triptych — at SLAM.

Mitchell, despite being American, is much less known stateside. A painter in the Abstract Expressionism movement, she lived from 1925 to 1992 and is a significant figure and a master in her own right. Aside from one of Mitchell’s paintings in SLAM’s collection, Ici, her works have never been shown in St. Louis.

In the 1950s, when Mitchell was active, America went through a Monet revival, according to Kelly. The comparison between her work and his might have begun as something of a marketing ploy by her galleries to tap into that interest.

At times in Mitchell’s correspondence, she did express admiration for his art, especially his late paintings that are significantly more abstracted.

But regardless of how she felt

about the comparison, those viewing their works side by side can’t miss the connection. The SLAM show makes that obvious through 24 paintings — 12 by each artist — of the landscape of northern France.

Each gallery in the exhibit is themed around a different concordance between the two artists. The first deals with gardens and trees. One striking combo is Monet’s Weeping Willow and Mitchell’s Red Tree.

“I like that juxtaposition,” Kelly says. He points out that Weeping Willow, which was painted in 1922 toward the end of Monet’s life, is an example of how the artist’s work became more abstract, possibly as his eyesight deteriorated and changed with cataracts and cataract surgery.

You really have to look at the image to understand where the tree and its trunk are within the wild brush marks. Mitchell’s red tree takes the next step, or a few steps, into abstraction. Yet it’s still undeniably a tree.

“It’s just incredibly vibrant,” he says. “You can see very clearly the trunk of the tree and the range of branches and also the light is teal blue as it is coming through the branches.”

Monet/Mitchell is full of moments such as these. In the third gallery, themed Field, Water, and Reflections, there’s a striking contrast between those famous Water Lilies and Mitchell’s Plowed Field. Both are giant multi-canvas pieces. And though the lilies are much less abstracted, the paintings are unified by a common color palette.

Critics in Mitchell’s time started calling her the heir to the color of Monet. “I think initially she liked it, but then she just got fed up,” Kelly says.

The last two galleries deal with aspects of abstraction: color and pictorial space. The final includes what Kelly says is “probably the most abstract painting ever” by Monet: Water Lilies circa 1917 to 1919. Painted squiggles suggest waves, and vertical lines evoke river grasses — but there is no consensus as to which side of the painting is up, so it’s anyone’s guess.

It pairs nicely with Mitchell’s River as well as Ici, the Mitchell piece from SLAM’s collection, which she painted toward the end of her life.

“She had cancer, and she was physically not strong,” Kelly says. “This painting still has this kind of incredible vibrancy and energy to it. I can still see references to nature, to the landscape … I’m glad that we can sort of culminate this show with a work which is from our collection.” n

Monet/Mitchell: Painting the French Landscape is open at the Saint Louis Art Museum East Building (1 Fine Arts Drive, 314721-0072) through June 25. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, $6 for children over five and free for those under five and for museum members. More information at slam.org/exhibitions/monet-mitchell-painting-thefrench-landscape.

Joan Mitchell’s Ici (left) ends the show next to Monet’s abstracted Water Lilies. | JESSICA ROGEN

Mitchell lived close to Monet’s Giverny home. | JOAN MITCHELL FOUNDATION / ROBERT FRESON

MUSIC

In-fleckingcredible

In advance of his St. Louis tour stop, Béla Fleck spills on returning to bluegrass after 22 years

Written by STEVE LEFTRIDGE

Béla Fleck might not only be the world’s greatest banjo player but also the instrument’s boldest explorer. As a synthesizing conceptualist, he has become the sole proprietor of any number of post-bluegrass genres, uniting with the world’s greatest jazz, world and classical masters to such an extent that Bélaphiliacs can hardly keep up with the breadth of Béla’s talent and ambition. It’s a boundless musical virtuosity that has bagged him 15 Grammys and 33 nominations.

In 2021, the Fellini of the Five released his first bluegrass album in more than 20 years. My Bluegrass Heart is a complex set of instrumentals featuring the only pickers on the planet who can play them, a roster of newgrass icons and their heirs apparent. A thrilla-second mix of composition and improvisation, the album is the jaw-droppingly hot, death-defyingly fast, in-Flecking-credible Bélagrass record of your dreams.

Fleck brings the project live to Powell Hall on Friday, March 31, backed by an all-star crew of phenoms: the astonishing Michael Cleveland, the most IBMA-decorated fiddler in history; mandolin queen Sierra Hull, a newgrass megastar as a solo artist; blazingly talented dobro hotshot Justin Moses, a sorcerer on anything stringed; guitarist Bryan Sutton, the flatpicking hero of his generation; and journeyman bassist and worldclass clogger Mark Schatz, a true bluegrass legend. Six of the world’s greatest musicians teaming up in St. Louis for a show for the ages? Be still my bluegrass heart.

I was able to catch up with Fleck ahead of his St. Louis stop.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You have said that My Bluegrass Heart is the third album in a trilogy that started with Drive and The Bluegrass Sessions. There was a 22-year gap since the last installment. What made you return to the project?

Returning to the bluegrass world is something I’d been eager to do for many years. The holdup was that my favorite guitarist, Tony Rice, was struggling with hand pain and other illness. I didn’t want to record this kind of music without what I thought of as his essential ingredient. So I waited, hoping things would come around, and I had plenty of compelling work to keep me busy, but the music was exerting a pull under the surface.

What finally got me to move on was a health scare we had with our son, who was a baby at the time. It somehow made me want to reconnect with that community, and the bluegrass folks are a big chunk of mine. Theo is fine now, by the way.

Since Tony Rice wasn’t going to be available, I evolved toward

a community album, collaboration with not only my old crew of earth shakers like Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Mark Schatz, Bryan Sutton, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan, but with a new crop of incredible musicians, such as Sierra Hull, Michael Cleveland, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Chris Thile and others.

Some purists might argue that

My Bluegrass Heart shows, despite the name, are not very bluegrass-y, at least in a traditional sense. How would you respond?

My Bluegrass Heart attempts to be inclusive rather than exclusive and looks for creative ways to incorporate the bluegrass ethos into new music, while deeply respecting the old. I believe there is a wide variety of bluegrass in the world, and this project embraces all of it.

Everyone has different mindsets about what they think bluegrass is. The band that is coming to St Louis has an incredible bluegrass pedigree. Also, the shows include some straight-up grass and some trad vocals, since there are

great vocalists in the band.

When you play the same song with each band, how would you describe the difference between the respective groups in terms of vibe, musicality, chemistry, improvisation, etc.?

The older gang has a certain feel and a warm and long friendship that comes out. The musical fireworks are there and a lot of depth in sound. They’ve been doing this for a long time — and it shows.

The younger players have these incredible hands that work perfectly and energy and joy to spare. They love to run and play fast. This is another great friendship at an earlier stage. I get to call the shots more here, and we focus on different tracks from the album as well as some straight-up stuff.

You have shows scheduled at least through this summer. Will My Bluegrass Heart continue as a project beyond this year?

I certainly hope so. As a banjo player with bluegrass roots, I don’t feel complete unless I am doing a certain amount of bluegrass playing. This will be my vehicle for

Béla Fleck and his band play Powell Hall on Friday, March 31. | COURTESY PHOTO

that for a good while. We’ve done a lot on this project, but there’s still quite a bit left. The show will continue to evolve and change.

You have been carrying around the “world’s greatest banjo player” title by popular consensus for many years now. How has that affected you personally or professionally?

I believe I am dealing with it better now than I may have in my youth. I figure there were times I was fairly cocky, and hopefully I wasn’t too much of a jerk to anyone. As good as I thought I was, I wasn’t actually that good. I still have tons to learn, and I see myself as a lifetime student.

It’s the music itself that I revere. It’s a joy to get to spend my life doing this, and I strive as hard as I can to make music that is at a high level so I can deserve this honor.

This summer is the 50th anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, which you haven’t missed in decades. Why is it such an unmissable festival for you? It’s a gathering point for a certain segment of the community. When I joined New Grass Revival in 1981, it was the central festival in their world. As time went on, the festival welcomed me doing my own thing, and that was a thrill. It’s a gorgeous place to play on top of the musical and community draws. As long as they want me to come, I will be there.

Some fans are surprised that a New Grass Revival reunion has never taken shape. With so much collaboration — at Telluride, for instance — between you, Sam Bush and sometimes John Cowan, why not play a set billed as New Grass Revival? Everyone would have to want to do it, and so far all four players aren’t in sync. I would be willing. ...

We are excited to see that the Flecktones will be back in action this summer. Can you tell us about the upcoming tour? Is there any new material on the way?

This tour was triggered by the Telluride 50th anniversary. The festival requested us and, knowing the band loves Telluride, I brought the offer to them. It was a resounding yes. In order to be

ready after so many years, we put together a set of shows leading into Telluride. We had some touring planned that was canceled by the pandemic, so this will be our first performing reconnection in many years. We are dear friends and very supportive of each other’s endeavors. I’m very happy that we will be doing this, and we’ll see if it leads toward more down the line.

Your son Juno will be 10 this year. Has he shown interest in the banjo or music yet? Or is having Juno feel pressure to be banjo royalty something you try to avoid?

He likes golf! But he’s very musical and is now playing some fiddle and sings very well. Sometimes he comes up and sings with my wife Abigail Washburn and me on our duo shows.

It is well-known that Sam Bush is an outspoken St. Louis Cardinals fan. Do you have any similar sports team loyalties? Nope. I do have great memories of going to a Cardinals game with Sam many years ago.

Do you remember the first time you ever played in St. Louis? Do you have any particular connection or memories of the city?

I have always loved playing St. Louis. I remember the Flecktones playing bars down by the river and so many great shows at the Sheldon. Playing in duo with Chick Corea at the Sheldon is a great memory. I’m looking forward to this show very much. n

“Everyone has different mindsets about what they think bluegrass is. The band that is coming to St Louis has an incredible bluegrass pedigree.”

Full Steam Ahead

The Repertory Theatre closes out its main-stage season with a stunning production of Murder on the Orient Express

Written

by

TINA FARMER

Murder on the Orient Express

der on the Orient Express. Director Hana S. Sherif and an excellent cast combine Gilded-Age style with the excitement of a noir thriller. The result is a truly entertaining ride that keeps audiences captivated.

World-famous detective Hercule Poirot is attempting to vacation in Istanbul when he is called to Scotland Yard for an urgent mission. To get there, he needs to book passage on the equally world-famous Orient Express. Poirot’s suspicions are raised when he’s informed that the train’s first-class section, usually underbooked at this time of year, is sold out. Luckily his friend Monsieur Bouc is able to secure Poirot’s passage and accompany his friend.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (130 Edgar Road, Webster Groves; 314-968-4925; repstl.org) closes out its main stage season with an engaging and visually stunning production of Agatha Christie’s classic Mur-

The detective’s suspicious nature is further aroused as the seemingly unrelated passengers board the train. Though everyone he meets has an interesting background, and he’s instantly smitten with the accomplished and attractive Countess Andrenyi, Poirot senses that all is not as it seems. An unexpected snowstorm and the violent murder of one of the passengers confirms that this is not going to be an ordinary trip.

Armando Durán is near perfec-

tion as the sophisticated French detective, with a cultivated manner that perfectly suits the period and style. He snarls only occasionally, but there’s a bite to his tone that puts everyone on alert. Jamil A.C. Mangan is delightfully accommodating and flattering as Poirot’s good friend Bouc while Janie Brookshire captivates as the countess who is as knowledgeable about Shakespeare as she is surgery. Ellen Harvey, as flamboyant rich American Helen Hubbard, and Gayton Scott as the perniciously refined Princess Dragomiroff are wonderful foils. Joel Moses oozes mistrust as Samuel Ratchet, Aria Maholchic, understudy for Margaret Ivey, is fantastic as Mary Debenham, and Michael Thanh Tran is perfectly animated as the Conductor and Head Waiter. Cameron Jamaar Davis, Fatima Wardak and Christopher Hickey complete the talented ensemble.

Director Sharif keeps the tempo and action high, successfully building tension in the well-constructed thriller. The performances feature an elevated style that’s never distracting and elevates the humor and mystery. There’s an opportunity to lean into the style that the

artists embrace without becoming campy. It works wonderfully well, ensuring the audience remains entertained and invested.

There is one additional character in the show and that is the swanky and elegant first class cars on the Orient Express train itself. Set designer Tim Mackabee uses the turntable with effortless ease and stunning effect. The train’s interiors are gorgeously detailed and lushly appointed, and the turntable ensures quick seamless transitions that create gasp-inducing revelations and appreciation throughout the performance. Fabio Toblini provides fashionable period costume design, complementary lighting design by Jason Lynch helps focus attention and composer and sound designers Charles Coes and Nathan A. Roberts provide the finishing touches.

Murder on the Orient Express is a much-loved mystery novel turned into a classic theatrical thriller.

The production at the Rep, with perfect guidance from director Sharif and expertly tuned performances led by Durán’s memorable Poirot, provides audiences of all ages with a gloriously memorable night of theater. n

Adapted for stage from the Agatha Christie novel by Ken Ludwig. Directed by Hana S. Sharif. Presented by Repertory Theatre of St. Louis through April 9. Times vary by date. Tickets are $23 to $92.

Murder on the Orient Express set designer Tim Mackabee uses the stage’s turntable to impressive effect. | PHILLIP HAMER PHOTOGRAPHY

Each week, we bring you our picks for the best concerts of the next seven days! To submit your show for consideration, visit https://bit.ly/3bgnwXZ. All events are subject to change, especially in the age of COVID-19, so do check with the venue for the most up-to-date information before you head out for the night. Happy showgoing!

THURSDAY 6

ANDY COCO’S NOLA FUNK AND R&B REVUE: 9:30 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

BAREFUZZ: w/ Colt Ball & Friends 8 p.m., $12$16. Central Stage, 3524 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, 314-533-0367.

CHEEKFACE: 8 p.m., $16. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

COHEN: w/ Smile on the Sinner, At My Worst 7 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

JACKIE GREENE, LILLY WINWOOD: 8 p.m., $29.50. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

MISSION TACO JOINT 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

PARTY: w/ My Posse In Efffect 8 p.m., $10. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

PIERCE CRASK: 4 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

PIPER ROCKELLE: 7 p.m., $25.99-$599.99. The Golden Record, 2720 Cherokee Street, St. Louis.

SHARON & DOUG FOEHNER: 7 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

TOM HALL: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA: 8 p.m., $28-$35. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

WALTER PARKS: w/ Jody Redhage Ferber & Ben Dicke 7:30 p.m., $15-$20. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

FRIDAY 7

AEDFX.: w/ Cvndles, Pollux, Letters 8 p.m., $15$20. Central Stage, 3524 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, 314-533-0367.

THE BREAKDOWWNS: w/ The Intrusion, Chronyx 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

CHASING THE MILKY WAY: 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 S. Kingshighway, 2nd floor, St. Louis, 314-376-5313.

THE EMO NIGHT TOUR: 8 p.m., $13. The Hawthorn, 2225 Washington Avenue, St. Louis.

END OF THE LINE: AN ALLMAN BROTHERS TRIBUTE: 8 p.m., $22-$28. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

GIMME GIMME DISCO: 8:30 p.m., $15. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

GRAHAM CURRY & THE MISSOURI FURY: 7:30

p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

HARD BOP MESSENGERS: 7:30 p.m., $15-$20. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

HUDAI: w/ Chain Link, At My Worst, Revelations 8 p.m., $12. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

KINGDOM BROTHERS: 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

MONGOOSE: w/ War Druid, Cloud Machine 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

MS. HY-C AND HER FRESH START BAND: 7 p.m.,

$25. National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Ave., St. Louis.

PICK]

Lady J Huston: Tribute to Billie Holiday

7 p.m. Friday, March 31. National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Avenue. $25. 314-925-0016.

Billie Holiday was one of the greatest singers of all time, full stop. By delivering her lilting, timeless vocals in a style inspired by the jazz instrumentalists of her era, she changed the name of the game, massively influencing jazz and pop music in America while pioneering a rhythmic, improvisational approach to tempo and phrasing. In so doing, Lady Day definitively secured her legacy before her death at just 44 years old, with posthumous honors including inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame and the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, not to

MURIEL ANDERSON: 8 p.m., $21-$25. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, 314-560-2778.

PIRATE SIGNAL: 8 p.m., $10. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

SCRUB: w/ DJ Chilly C, Jonezy, ATG, Egan’s Rats, Smiley Boy, Comp Da Great, Squires X Dude Its Nolan, City FME 8 p.m., $15-$20. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

TEEN MORTGAGE: w/ No Antics, WeedTüth 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

THE 15TH ANNUAL GATEWAY BLUES FESTIVAL: 8 p.m., $59-$125. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600.

SATURDAY 8

THE 45: 8 p.m., $10. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

ALL ROOSTERED UP: noon, free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

BEST NIGHT EVER: 8:30 p.m., $15. Delmar Hall,

mention the numerous statues erected in her honor. This Friday, March 31, one of St. Louis’ finest blues singers, Lady J Huston, will tackle Holiday’s oeuvre for a special tribute at the National Blues Museum, a captivating evening of jazz classics spanning the late singer’s impressive career. Lady J has often cited Holliday as one of her favorites, and her passion for the songs she’ll be singing ensures that this will be a show that local jazz lovers will be talking about for some time.

Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888.

MILD CARTOON VIOLENCE: w/ Last Time Down, Mid Tempo Death March 8 p.m., $12. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

THE POTOMAC ACCORD: w/ Sole Loan, 33 on the Needle 7 p.m., free. Platypus, 4501 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-359-2293.

THE ROAD TO POINTFEST 2023: SESSION 3: 7 p.m., $8. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

ROCKIN RASCALS: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

SHANA FARR: 7:30 p.m., $25-$30. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

SWAMP LION: w/ Nolia, Mindclot, Murtaugh, Karenocalypse 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

SUNDAY 9

AVERY*SUNSHINE NIGHT 1: 7 p.m., $45-$50. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

ERIK BROOKS: 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

POLYPHIA: 7:30 p.m., $29.50. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

PRODUCTS: w/ Crisis Walk Ins, Pealds, Lucky Shells 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

RICH MCDONOUGH & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

THE SNOZZBERRIES: 7 p.m. Central Stage, 3524 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, 314-533-0367.

THREE OF A PERFECT PAIR: 10 a.m., free. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

MONDAY 10

AVERY*SUNSHINE NIGHT 2: 7 p.m., $45-$50. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

BLAZE & ABK: 7 p.m., $15. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

D.R.I.: 7 p.m., $15. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

MONDAY NIGHT REVIEW: w/ Tim, Danny and Randy 7 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

SOULARD BLUES BAND: 9 p.m., $8. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

TUESDAY 11

—Daniel Hill

Speaking of Honors: Lady J is a bit of a star in her own right, having toured as music director with blues legend Albert King and as a winner of numerous Blues Music Awards as the Las Vegas Queen of Blues during a 25-year stint. Now back in her native St. Louis, she’s ready to deliver the music of one of her idols. It’s sure to be a night to remember.

6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

CITY MORGUE: 8 p.m., $30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

THE COMMODORES: 8 p.m., $65-$125. Lindenwood University’s J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts, 2300 W. Clay St., St. Charles, 636-949-4433.

EUGENE & COMPANY: 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

FUTURE/MODERN: w/ Judson Claiborne, Two Hands/One Engine 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

THE GASLIGHT SQUARES: 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

HELL NIGHT: w/ Bastard Squad, Killing Fever 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

THE HOMEWRECKERS: 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 S. Kingshighway, 2nd floor, St. Louis, 314-376-5313.

JEREMIAH JOHNSON: 7 p.m., $25. National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Ave., St. Louis.

LEGENDS NEVER DIE TOUR: w/ Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Boosie Badazz, T.I., Webbie 8 p.m., $65-$225.

ADAM MANESS & FRIENDS: w/ Erin Bode, Kevin McBeth 10 a.m., $20-$23. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

ANDREW DAHLE: 9 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

NAKED MIKE: 7 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

NICK SHOULDERS: 8 p.m., $20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

WEDNESDAY 12

DAWES: 8 p.m., $35-$40. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

THE ENGLISH BEAT: 8 p.m., $30. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

JOHN MCVEY BAND: 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

MARGARET & FRIENDS: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

RAUL MALO OF THE MAVERICKS: 7:30 p.m., $65. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

VOODOO LADIES NIGHT: 9 p.m., $14. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

THE WAILERS: 8 p.m., $25. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

Lady J Huston. | COURTESY PHOTO

Deterioration w/ Active Shooter, Animated Dead, Death Pose

8 p.m. Tuesday, April 4. CBGB, 3163 South Grand Boulevard. $10. No phone.

To most ears, Deterioration’s music is nothing short of an absolute cacophony, the type of racket that might result if you dumped an entire utensil drawer into a running garbage disposal while revving up a dirt bike and beating a snarling dog with a screaming seagull. But to the more sophisticated, the Minneapolis twopiece’s relentless grindcore stylings are positively sublime. Drummer Joe Kahmann’s impossibly fast blastbeats undergird the brutal, tight riffs delivered by his brother, guitarist/bassist/vocalist Jim Kahmann, who in turn alternates back and forth between growling Cookie Mon-

OUT EVERY NIGHT

Continued from pg 43

THIS JUST IN

ADAM MANESS & FRIENDS: W/ Erin Bode, Kevin McBeth, Tue., April 11, 10 a.m., $20-$23. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

ALLIE KRAL AND MIMI NAJA: Fri., April 28, 8 p.m., $28. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

AVERY*SUNSHINE NIGHT 1: Sun., April 9, 7 p.m., $45-$50. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

AVERY*SUNSHINE NIGHT 2: Mon., April 10, 7 p.m., $45-$50. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

FISTER: W/ Ilsa, Hot Corpse, Furnace Floor, Thu., June 1, 8 p.m., $15. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

FLYING HOUSE: Fri., June 9, 7:30 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

HARD BOP MESSENGERS: Fri., April 7, 7:30 p.m., $15-$20. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

JIMMY GRIFFIN AND THE INCURABLES: Fri., June 23, 8 p.m., $20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

LESS THAN JAKE: Fri., Aug. 11, 8 p.m., $27. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

LINDSEY STIRLING: Mon., Aug. 14, 8 p.m., $29.50-

ster vocals and blood-curdling shrieking over the course of the band’s blinkand-you’ll-miss-them songs. An ongoing concern for more than 20 years now, Deterioration has made quite a name for itself in punk and metal circles through its constant release schedule, which has seen the group put out more than 60 projects, many of them splits with likeminded acts. On Tuesday, April 4, the group will return to St. Louis to fill CBGB with a beautiful sort of earsplitting noise that’s guaranteed to get some heads banging (while likely also causing some unsuspecting bar patrons to take their business elsewhere for the evening).

First Things First: Houston powerviolence act Active Shooter will join Belleville death metal band Animated Dead and upstart St. Louis hardcore group Death Pose to open the show.

—Daniel Hill

$195. St. Louis Music Park, 750 Casino Center Dr., Maryland Heights, 314-451-2244.

NITE OWL: A TRIBUTE TO HIP HOP: Sat., June 3, 8 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

OWL CITY: Sat., Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m., $32. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

PRODUCTS: W/ Crisis Walk Ins, Pealds, Lucky Shells, Sun., April 9, 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

THE SAINT LOUIS CHAMBER CHORUS: Sun., April 16, 3 p.m., $10-$30. Immanuel Lutheran Church, 115 S. 6th St., St. Charles, 636-946-2656.

SHANA FARR: Sat., April 8, 7:30 p.m., $25-$30. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

SLEEPSCULPTOR: W/ So Hideous, Nolia, SCUZZ, Wed., May 10, 8 p.m., $12. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

SUBHUMANS: W/ Cop/Out, Mon., May 29, 8 p.m., $20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

SWAMP LION: W/ Nolia, Mindclot, Murtaugh, Karenocalypse, Sat., April 8, 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

SWEETMELK: W/ The Boy (That I Once Knew), Sat., May 6, 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

UNWED SAILOR: W/ NightSwim, Wed., May 24, 8 p.m., $15. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

WEEN: Sat., Aug. 5, 8 p.m., $34.50-$74.50. St. Louis Music Park, 750 Casino Center Dr., Maryland Heights, 314-451-2244. n

Deterioration. | VIA ARTIST BANDCAMP

SAVAGE LOVE

Coming Around

BY DAN SAVAGE

Hey Dan: I’m a straight cis woman who could never orgasm from vaginal penetration alone. But suddenly I am able to come just from vaginal penetration now that I’m middle-aged! This was never the case for me before — I could never come from PIV all by itself — and I’ve never heard another cis woman talk about suddenly being able to come during PIV after hitting her late 30s. Is this common?

Suddenly Having Intensely Felt Tremors

“We too often think about orgasms as stable or unchanging,” says Dr. Debby Herbenick, a professor at the Indiana University of Public Health, a prolific and widely published-and-cited sex researcher, pundit, author and director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion. “In fact, orgasms sometimes shift over time or in response to certain life stages or body experiences experiences such as pregnancy, the postpartum period or menopause.”

While Dr. Herbenick can’t say for sure why you’re so suddenly able to come from PIV alone, she shared some possiblities.

“First, it may just be learning over time, especially if SHIFT has a new partner, is exploring in new ways with a long-term partner or is paying attention to vaginal sensation in ways SHIFT perhaps didn’t before,” Dr. Herbenick says. “Or maybe SHIFT’s just open to the experience now in ways she wasn’t earlier.”

Basically, SHIFT, if you ran out of fucks to give — something most women eventually do — and became more vocal and assertive about your pleasure and the positions, speeds, etc., that work best for you, you could be experiencing PIV differently.

“Another option is anatomical change,” Dr. Herbenick says. “While the changes are slow-moving, cisgender women do experience anatomical shifts — the angle of vagina in the body can change over time. I’ve always found this fascinating, and this may be contributing to how intercourse feels for SHIFT. Because along with changes in vaginal angle come changes in how the vagina and cervix may be stimulated during intercourse.”

If the angle of your vagina has shifted even slightly, SHIFT, the angle or angles of penetration that work best for you now — new angles that hit you just right — could be stimulating your clit, internally or externally or both, in ways PIV didn’t use to.

“Another possibility could be shifts related to hormones and the brain,” Dr. Herbenick says. “If SHIFT is around perimeno-

pause or menopause, no doubt she’s noticed a range of ways that hormonal changes are affecting ways that her body feels. Orgasm is not just about the clitoris or vagina; these are stimulating points, but they’re only one part of what contributes to orgasm. How we sense and perceive those sensations are influenced by our brain, which is also influenced by hormones.”

Finally, SHIFT, assuming you can still come from oral, manual and vibrational stimulation, I think we can safely file your question — suddenly being able to come from another kind of stimulation — in the “good problem to have” drawer. Enjoy!

Follow Dr. Herbenick on Twitter @DebbyHerbenick and on Instagram @DrDebbyHerbenick.

Hey Dan: I began getting massages to help with my back pain and discovered how utterly relaxing they are. But I also get a sexual charge from them. I’m a gay male, and every time I go, I’m hard from the moment the massage therapist touches me until the moment it ends. One masseur took this as a green light and gave me a happy ending, which I didn’t ask for or expect. I’m worried that by getting hard I may be making some massage therapists uncomfortable. Is that a possibility? Or are massage therapists used to that type of response? I’ve tried jerking off beforehand but still got hard during my session. I even got a massage from an older woman once and somehow still got hard! I leave these sessions and feel guilty, which sort of negates some of the calming aspects of a massage. Am I a terrible person? Should I stop getting massages? Should I warn them? Bothered Over Needlessly Erect Dick

Erections happen for non-sexual reasons spontaneous erections, reflexive erections, nocturnal erections — and most professional massage therapists know to ignore them. While you may be getting a sexual charge during your massage (or you may be assuming you’re getting a sexual charge when you’re actually having a reflexive erection), your massage therapist is going to give you (and your boner) the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re not intentionally doing something to make them uncomfortable. The therapist who took your erection as a “green light” to give you a handjob took a wild guess, BONED and seems to have guessed correctly — you don’t seem traumatized. But if that massage therapist had guessed incorrectly, he could’ve lost his job or worse.

So you are not a terrible person, and you may keep getting massages. And since the only thing more awkward than a client getting an erection during a massage — at least according to a massage

therapist pal of mine — would be a client saying something like, “I just wanted to let you know that I sometimes get an erection during a massage,” no advance warnings.

Hey Dan: While trying to fall asleep the other night, insomnia struck again, and I decided to use the masturbation trick to knock myself out. I must have struck a creative nerve because a question popped into my head: Could I penetrate myself with my own penis? I’m a straight male, and I’ve never received anal, but the thought of giving has always aroused me. Could I give it to myself? Since fully erect obviously wouldn’t work, I relaxed, lubed up and only massaged myself to a state of semi-engorgement. And I was able to do it! And then, after applying a little pressure to the base of my cock, I was able to create an in-and-out pistonlike action that made me come right away! In my own ass! Does that have a name? Could I hurt myself if I do it a lot? Despite being a straight male, I’m not at all bothered by what I did — if anything, I’m bothered it took me 30 years to figure this out. Did I miss the boat by not watching any gay porn? Please enlighten me! Gone And Fucked Myself

Last week a hateful rightwing troll told me to go fuck myself — again, not something I need to do for myself, as I have people for that — and this week a straight reader of mine goes and fucks himself. Coincidence? Or did reading my column last week plant a seed in him?

Anyway, GAFM, hung dudes who can fuck themselves were the crazy new thing in gay porn for 10 minutes 20 years ago. While I’m sure there are still plenty of porn performers out there fucking their own asses and uploading videos to PornHub and OnlyFans, it’s not the crazy new thing anymore and doesn’t get the attention (or the clicks) it once did. It’s still fucking crazy, though — crazy to do (requiring a degree of flexibility at the root of the cock that not all men possess) and crazy to think about (some people really can go fuck themselves). Since I’ve haven’t heard from or about someone who accidentally snapped his dick off trying to fuck his ass, GAFM, I’m gonna assume this is relatively safe — just take it slow, be sober and use lube.

Hey Dan: I’m a woman in my late 40s, married 20 years. My husband is in his late 50s. My sex drive was low for a while but now is quite high. I’m not sure exactly what accounts for the change, but some marriage counseling improved communication, which no doubt helped, and I got into porn and vibrators, which increased my pleasure and therefore my interest. Now, I like to have sex or mas-

turbate once a day. I’m going to reach menopause in a few years, which could make things more difficult, so I’m anxious to enjoy as much as I can now. However, this has caused some friction between me and my husband. He just doesn’t want sex as often as I do, and he doesn’t want me masturbating as often as I’d like to. He claims the noise from the vibrator is distracting. I’ve tried to be flexible, but he needs more sleep than I do, so sex and masturbation are off the table between at 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., which are both good times for me right before sleep, right after waking up — which leaves during the day, while our children are at school, but he’s not always interested during the day. But if I masturbate before I head to work, he says the noise disturbs him. (He works from home.) I think he’s being selfish. Most of the time when I approach him for sex — or mutual masturbation, which I also enjoy — he has trouble maintaining an erection. He says he doesn’t want to “deal with a doctor” about getting a medication that might help. I say if he doesn’t want to deal with doctors, let me use my toys! But he insists the noise disturbs him while he’s working. How do we remedy this situation? Am I unreasonable?

Buzzing Sounds

You’re up for fucking and/or messing around all the time lately, your husband’s not and you’re happy to take care of yourself routinely — which is an entirely reasonable solution, BS. Your husband should invest in a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and/or get out the 10 minutes it takes for you to get yourself off in the morning. I will take your husband’s side on the nighttime masturbation blackout no vibrator use in your shared bed between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. — as it can be difficult to get to sleep when someone is using a vibrator beside you. But you should be free to take your vibrator elsewhere when you wanna vibe one out at 10 p.m … if you’re not free to do that, well, there are worse problems in your marriage.

Finally, you don’t have to “deal with a doctor” to get E.D. meds anymore, as E.D. meds can be prescribed and ordered online. But there has to be an interest … and it doesn’t sound like your husband is interested, at least not right now. It’s possible your husband feels sexually inadequate and worries he’s disappointing you, and the sound of your vibrator makes it harder to ignore those feelings — something to talk about with a couples counselor.

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