Nashville Scene 1-28-21

CITY LIMITS: REPUBLICANS THREATEN DAVIDSON AND SHELBY COUNTIES OVER IN-HOME LEARNING

JANUARY 28–FEBRUARY 3, 2021 I VOLUME 39 I NUMBER 49 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE

MUSIC: WHAT WE LOSE WHEN WE ATTEMPT TO SILENCE AND SHAME CRITICS

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Tennessee State University is the heart and soul of Nashville’s hospitality and culinary industries | BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN cover_1-28-21.indd 1

1/25/21 5:42 PM

— John Prine Onstage at the Museum’s CMA Theater, with Marty Stuart, 2019

John Prine’s music and lyrics resonate with listeners around the world, and know no easy categorization. His tales of everyday living, imbued with heartfelt insight and emotion, have garnered fans among fellow artists of all stripes, from Bonnie Raitt, to Bobby Bare, to Bob Dylan. To learn more about John Prine’s work, and the evolving story of country music, visit the exhibition American Currents at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE Visit CountryMusicHallofFame.org to buy tickets.

Photo: Emma Delevante, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

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NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

CONTENTS

JANUARY 28, 2021

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22

Outreach Programs Are Helping Latinx Immigrant Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence ..........................................6

Defying the Logic of Love

CITY LIMITS

BOOKS

A debut story collection depicts magical metamorphoses in the wake of catastrophe

The pandemic is disproportionately affecting the Latinx community — including survivors of assault

BY SEAN KINCH AND CHAPTER 16

BY NATASHA SENJANOVIC

A poem illustrated by Savithri Velaga

Learning Curve ...........................................7

BY MAGGIE WELLS

Republicans threaten Davidson and Shelby counties over in-home learning

BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

Pith in the Wind .........................................7 This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

‘If You Disagree, Don’t Bother to Read the Rest of This Ad’

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MUSIC

Crossroads ............................................... 24

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Examining a hit from the past in considering the future of country-pop crossovers

Tiger Tales

What we lose when we attempt to silence and shame critics

BY MARCUS K. DOWLING

COVER STORY

Popular Opinion ...................................... 26

Tennessee State University is the heart and soul of Nashville’s hospitality and culinary industries

Tennessee Moves Corrections Officers Up on Vaccine Priority List, Leaving Prisoners Behind PizzeReal Concludes 16 Years of Business in Five Points Join Verge Theater Company and Shawn Whitsell for conVERGEnce: New Works as a Path Forward

The Spin ................................................... 27 The Scene’s live-review column checks out Volk and Lacquer at The 5 Spot

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BY CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

Watch “When We Gather,” check out Tennessee Playwrights Studio’s Virtual Reading Festival, stream Intersection’s Listen series commission: Cristina Spinei’s “Wall Flowers,” attend the benefit concert for Etta Britt, observe the 25th birthday of Lambchop’s How I Quit Smoking, participate in Hot Chicken Week and more

Margo Price Stares Into the Darkness in ‘Hey Child’

BY MEGAN SELING

BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

CRITICS’ PICKS

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:

28 FILM

Primal Stream 40 ................................... 28 Queer culture, Almodóvar, Verhoeven and more, now available to stream

BY JASON SHAWHAN

Cash on Demand .................................... 29 The money woes of Ousmane Sembène’s 1968 feature Mandabi remain universal

BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY

21

VODKA YONIC Mommy Issues

I’m worried about bringing children into this world

BY POOJA SHAH

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NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

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MARKETPLACE

Walk a

Mile

with J.R. Lind

With feet on the street, we discover Nashville’s own unique beat – one mile at a time

Call for take-out!

Authentic Mexican Cuisine & Bakery...Side by Side!

615-669-8144 PanaderiayPasteleriaLopez

615-865-2646 TacosyMariscosLindoMexico

917A Gallatin Pike S, Madison, TN nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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1/25/21 6:14 PM

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WEDNESDAY FEB 3 7:00PM FACEBOOK LIVE with MICHAEL ERIC DYSON Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America

THURSDAY FEB 4 6:00PM FACEBOOK LIVE with MICHELLE DUSTER Ida B. the Queen

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PHOTO: DAVID LIENEMANN

JUNEBUG HERE! I’m a sweet and cuddly 7 month old kind of gal who just wants to curl up in your lap and pretend that I fit!

Want to know some fun facts? I’m very responsive to commands like “no”, “come”, “go pee”, and “up”! Pretty smart, right?

If you like long walks in the neighborhood, look no further for your perfect walking buddy! I am GREAT on the leash and will never stray too far from your side! I even like to look up at you just to make sure you’re still there! I’m not a fan of are loud noises...Why do they have to exist? BUT I am a fan of finding a Forever Home - Paws crossed it’s with YOU!

WHAT CAN WE DISCERN FROM WEEK ONE OF BIDEN’S PRESIDENCY? More votes were cast in the 2020 presidential election than in any other U.S. election, with President Joe Biden earning more than 80 million of those — the most votes cast for any presidential candidate in U.S. history. I think Biden earned this support because of his experience and proven leadership, but more for his humility and transparency.

Biden’s emphasis on humility was on full display during his inaugural address.

Instead of running down the previous administration or boasting of his win, Biden spoke somberly — and accurately — of our need to unify and heal as a nation. The entire inauguration reflected that tone, particularly the reading from National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman — “The Hill We Climb” embodied the sentiment surrounding the inauguration.

Transparency and character are also vital leadership qualities, and in an October appearance on Pod Save America, former President Barack Obama highlighted those.

“A lot of times when you’re thinking about the presidency, it’s great to look at policy and 10-point plans. … But a lot of it is, what’s their basic character? Are they people who instinctively care about the underdog? Are they people who are able to see the world through somebody else’s eyes and stand in their shoes? Are they people who are instinctively generous in spirit? And that is who Joe is.”

Biden was a U.S. senator and our vice president prior to becoming the 46th president — his desire to serve is undeniable. Throughout his 50 years in public service, he has demonstrated flexibility and cooperation while working on behalf of the American people. The tragedies Biden has endured in his personal life have also made him even more empathetic and reasonable when making critical decisions. A president with criticalthinking skills, combined with compassion and clarity, will serve our country well.

Even with President Biden restoring valuable leadership skills to the White House, there is much work ahead in accomplishing the goals laid out in Gorman’s poem — to “rebuild, reconcile and recover.” With so much of our world in turmoil, and our nation so bitterly divided, Biden must take swift steps. But those swift steps must be careful ones. The balance between delicate and firm leadership might

be the most challenging any president since Abraham Lincoln has had to strike.

Biden struck the balance between careful and decisive on day one, as he signed a record-breaking 17 executive orders — nine of which reversed orders from the previous administration. That’s more than the past four presidents’ first-day actions combined, according to Yahoo News. The orders included halting the U.S.-Mexico border wall, rejoining the Paris climate agreement and stopping U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

The record number of executive orders already signed by President Biden is one of many historic moves for this administration, arguably the most significant being the election of Kamala Harris as vice president — the first female, first African American and first Asian American to hold this office.

Vice President Harris breaking this glass ceiling emphasizes this administration’s commitment to doing what is right.

The work to lead our nation and unite its people will be substantial, but Biden’s efforts and accomplishments thus far show he is working toward the goals outlined in Gorman’s poem: “We are striving to forge our union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man. … We know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. … It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into and how we repair it.”

Repair, heal and unite. That’s the task at hand. With his humility, transparency and determination to serve the greater good, President Biden is ready to take it on.

Bill Freeman Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and Home Page Media Group in Williamson County. He served on President Obama’s National Finance Council through both terms and was one of the country’s top 20 contributors to the Obama-Biden 2012 re-election campaign.

He personally hosted the second national fundraiser for President Biden’s election campaign in May 2019 and was one of the country’s first major contributors to the Biden Victory Fund when it launched in 2020. He was also a major investor in Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Senate Majority PAC.

Editor-in-Chief D. Patrick Rodgers Senior Editor Dana Kopp Franklin Associate Editor Alejandro Ramirez Arts Editor Laura Hutson Hunter Culture Editor Erica Ciccarone Music and Listings Editor Stephen Trageser Contributing Editors Jack Silverman, Abby White Staff Writers Stephen Elliott, Nancy Floyd, Steven Hale, Kara Hartnett, J.R. Lind, William Williams Contributing Writers Sadaf Ahsan, Radley Balko, Ashley Brantley, Maria Browning, Steve Cavendish, Chris Chamberlain, Lance Conzett, Marcus K. Dowling, Steve Erickson, Randy Fox, Adam Gold, Seth Graves, Kim Green, Steve Haruch, Geoffrey Himes, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, Christine Kreyling, Katy Lindenmuth, Craig D. Lindsey, Brittney McKenna, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Chris Parton, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Megan Seling, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Ashley Spurgeon, Amy Stumpfl, Kay West, Andrea Williams, Cy Winstanley, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian Art Director Elizabeth Jones Photographers Eric England, Matt Masters, Daniel Meigs Graphic Designers Mary Louise Meadors, Tracey Starck Production Coordinator Christie Passarello Events and Marketing Director Olivia Britton Promotions Coordinator Caroline Poole Publisher Mike Smith Senior Advertising Solutions Managers Maggie Bond, Sue Falls, Michael Jezewski, Carla Mathis, Heather Cantrell Mullins, Stevan Steinhart, Jennifer Trsinar, Keith Wright Advertising Solutions Manager Olivia Bellon, William Shutes Sales Operations Manager Chelon Hill Hasty Advertising Solutions Associates Aya Robinson, Price Waltman Special Projects Coordinator Susan Torregrossa President Frank Daniels III Chief Financial Officer Todd Patton Corporate Production Director Elizabeth Jones Vice President of Marketing Mike Smith IT Director John Schaeffer Circulation and Distribution Director Gary Minnis For advertising information please contact: Mike Smith, msmith@nashvillescene.com or 615-844-9238 FW PUBLISHING LLC Owner Bill Freeman VOICE MEDIA GROUP National Advertising 1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com

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In memory of Jim Ridley, editor 2009-2016

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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1/25/21 7:02 PM

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nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CITY LIMITS

OUTREACH PROGRAMS ARE HELPING LATINX IMMIGRANT VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE The pandemic is disproportionately affecting the Latinx community — including survivors of assault This story is part of the series Surging in Silence: Domestic and Sexual Violence in the Pandemic and was supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

See also: “How the Pandemic Has Affected Victims of Child Sexual Assault,” from the Oct. 8, 2020, issue of the Scene.

“N

o tengo ninguna herida física, pero heridas en el alma.”

Translated to English: “I don’t have physical injuries, they are in my soul.”

These are the words of a 44-year-old Mexican transplant who has asked that the Scene refer to her as just Paty, in order to protect her identity. She is one of roughly 33,000 Nashville residents without legal status, and one of the pandemic’s vulnerable survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

Native and foreign-born Latinx people in the U.S. have consistently low access to medical and psychological care, along with high unemployment and poverty rates — which means fewer financially independent women. Many are essential workers in low-paying industries.

Mary Held heads a master of social work program at the University of Tennessee’s Nashville campus. She says Latinx immigrants already account for much of the country’s “critical infrastructure” labor, in sectors such as agriculture, food service, manufacturing and construction. “Undocumented immigrants work in these jobs at a higher rate than either the general immigrant population or U.S.-born workers,” she tells the Scene.

That also means that they are exposed to — and getting sick from — COVID-19 at exceptionally high rates. In Nashville, Latinx residents (documented and not) make up about 10 percent of the city’s population, but 30 percent of all coronavirus cases. And that includes Paty, who is on the mend after a relatively mild case of COVID. She quarantined for two weeks in her bedroom and is thankful none of her sons have tested positive for the virus.

Paty left her partner in late 2019. She was already receiving therapy through the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Family Intervention Program (FIP) when she lost her two cooking jobs last spring — both at restaurants that folded quickly when the pandemic hit.

Though she has since landed a housekeeping job, she spent a couple of jobless months without enough distractions from the trauma of that recent relationship.

Miriam — we are referring to her by only her first name — ended her relationship in

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June. For her, even the pandemic couldn’t outweigh all the anxiety and emotional abuse she was suffering from a “controlling, philandering husband with drug and alcohol problems.”

Miriam is 28 and also a Mexican immigrant without legal status. When she called the police, she says, “I wasn’t sure what would happen, what I was doing. I was afraid, but I think it was the best decision I could’ve made.”

Like Paty, Miriam was surprised the officers didn’t care about the couple’s undocumented status. She was thrilled to discover that the FIP not only offers free therapy — in Spanish — but also helps in applying for a U visa (granted to victims of certain types of abuse, though she’s been waiting months for a reply) and navigating the courts. Police not only granted Miriam an order of protection against her ex, but also gave her a choice: send her husband of 12 years to jail, or make him go to therapy.

She chose the latter, because incarceration would mean deportation.

“He is, after all, the father of my children,” says Miriam, who gave birth to a baby boy in April. She says that her ex “is not a great father, but he’s a good father to them. He treats them better than he treated me. Also, I needed the financial support.”

He was ordered to pay the family’s bills and rent.

Miriam and Paty both received counseling from Janisca Williams, FIP’s only Spanishlanguage therapist for domestic violence victims. Paty reached the end of her sessions, but Miriam still talks to Williams once a week by phone. She says in-person appointments may be better for some things, but she likes not having to leave home, find transportation and get a sitter for her three children.

Despite the necessity and convenience of tele-therapy, last year’s FIP caseload was significantly lower than 2019’s, according to MNPD data: 2,545 clients in 2020 compared to 3,510 in 2019.

There are various reasons for that. Some victims are locked down with abusers, while others have no internet access or the privacy for such intimate conversations.

Many won’t leave abusive homes because the alternatives — going to live with a friend or relative, or in a shelter — are complicated and scary in a pandemic.

For undocumented victims, there is the additional fear that with help comes jail or deportation. Yet Williams says she has been busier than ever in the pandemic. Her waiting list is only growing, because the demand from Spanish-speaking clients is far too great for a single counselor to meet. (MNPD doesn’t break down FIP data into demographics, but more than 3,000 people were placed on the program’s counseling waiting list in 2020. The

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

BY NATASHA SENJANOVIC

PATY year before, there were 848.)

Williams offers therapy to 15 to 20 clients weekly, while also responding to crisis calls and police reports and doing community outreach. The latter includes educational webinars for churches and community groups and “masking up and going with police detectives to apartment complexes and areas where they get a lot of [domestic violence] calls, to give out pamphlets about our services.”

Williams wasn’t the only Nashville service provider to see a spike in Latinx clients last year. The Sexual Assault Center’s three bilingual counselors worked with nearly 1,400 Latinx survivors or their family members in 2020 — 200 more than in the previous year.

Pam Crues is the head of Nashville’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners. She doesn’t have the demographic breakdown, but speaking anecdotally, she says she thinks they performed more forensic rape kits for Latinx patients in 2020 than ever before.

Williams attributes these “spikes” not to a surge in abuse, but in outreach and awareness.

It helps that Nashville police haven’t collaborated often with federal immigration authorities in recent years. Because domestic and sexual violence are among the most underreported crimes, advocates welcome higher numbers as a sign of improved legal and cultural norms, which long shamed or blamed victims. The same can be said for police, who in the U.S. have been taking the crimes seriously only for a few decades. And considering the fact that domestic violence can account for up to half of all emergency calls (MNPD responds to about 15,000 domestic incidents annually), police have nowhere near enough resources to investigate them all properly.

But Miriam doesn’t see it that way. She says most Latina immigrants come from cultures steeped in machismo, “in which the woman has to do everything the man says and keep her head down.”

“In Mexico,” Miriam says, “the law isn’t fair to women. In Mexico, police wouldn’t help me.”

Paty concurs. In her opinion, immigration

status isn’t the biggest barrier to seeking help, nor is language (though there’s clearly a need for more Spanish-speaking therapists). She thinks many undocumented Latina women may not admit to themselves or others that they’re being abused. She only recently found out that two friends also received counseling from Williams, though neither had ever shared their experiences.

In Paty’s case, she had been with the father of her five sons for nearly two decades when they split in 2017. They reconciled two years later: “My sons said, ‘Not again.’ I thought my ex had changed, but my boys realized before I did that he hadn’t.”

Shortly thereafter, Paty says her partner was again “constantly telling me I was worthless, I’d never amount to anything, my children would all leave me.” He tried to control aspects of her life, and when she had enough and tried to kick him out, he refused to leave.

Paty called the police and got an order of protection, initially just for six months. “The first judge didn’t believe he was a threat,” she says.

A second judge extended the order to a year after her ex tried to break into her home. Paty installed security cameras, and until recently she was terrified every time there was a knock at the door, or when she was out alone.

Like Miriam, Paty is getting child support, though it’s been spotty at best. She and her ex were due back in court in October, but like many hearings scheduled during the pandemic, it was delayed. That’s fine, says Paty with a laugh. There are worse things than not having to see her ex for a little while longer.

Paty and Miriam have had to process a lot of residual fear and trauma. Yet when asked about the biggest challenges of the past year, neither mentions the virus, isolation or money.

Instead, they talk excitedly, joyfully, about autoestima (self-esteem). To be given the support and tools to recognize their own selfworth is a precious discovery.

There are still plenty of bad days, says Miriam. But on the good days, “It’s like being reborn.”

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CITY LIMITS

GOV. BILL LEE ADDRESSES THE STATE LEGISLATURE’S SPECIAL SESSION ON JAN. 19

LEARNING CURVE

Republicans threaten Davidson and Shelby counties over in-home learning

BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

W

e weren’t far into the new year before the Tennessee General Assembly and Republican Gov. Bill Lee returned to a favorite pastime: singling out Nashville and Memphis for special treatment.

Lee kicked off a four-day special legislative session last week with a pointed critique of school leaders in the state’s two largest districts, where officials have mostly kept students at home due to COVID-19.

“You can’t say ‘follow the science’ and keep schools closed,” Lee said. “You can’t say, ‘I believe in public education,’ and keep schools closed. And you can’t say you’re putting the needs of students first and keep schools closed.”

Republican leaders in the legislature followed through on Lee’s rhetoric, introducing a bill that designed to allow state officials to strip funding from Nashville and Shelby County schools if they did not bring students back to classrooms this semester. Lawmakers did not ultimately take up the proposal during the short session, but House Majority Leader William Lamberth promised to bring it back when members return to regular session in the coming weeks.

The dispute over in-person learning loomed over each discussion during the special session, despite not producing completed legislation. Instead, lawmakers

passed a series of bills at Lee’s behest that will pump more than $100 million into literacy camps for struggling students and teacher raises, both promised before the pandemic. Legislation approved during the session would also pause teacher and school accountability measures tied to standardized testing, which is expected to show learning loss in conjunction with pandemic-related school disruptions. The legislature also erected taller barriers to advancement for third-graders who don’t meet reading standards.

Though some Democrats supported the bills — or at least their intention — they detailed issues with each of them. The testing portion of the legislation, for example, would require Nashville and Shelby County schools to bring at least 80 percent of their students to schools for standardized tests, despite the decision to do away with penalties for poor scores this year.

Though the business of the special session was described by Republican leaders as urgent, it came after another special session held in August, around the time many districts were bringing students back for inperson or virtual learning. But that session was focused on increasing penalties for protestors on state grounds and making it harder to sue businesses over COVID-19.

This special session, held in the middle of the school year, did little to address the practical challenges of holding school as a deadly airborne disease continues spreading around the state — another Democratic gripe.

House Democratic Caucus chair Vincent Dixie said he was hoping for legislation that would have offered assistance for schools wrestling with logistical and health challenges, including how to bus students to school without spreading the disease and how to ensure schools have masks and other gear necessary to suppress COVID-19.

“We all agree that in-person teaching is what we want for our students, but how do we get there?” asked Dixie, who represents part of Nashville. “All we did was say, ‘Get the kids back in school.’ ” James Brown, an IT specialist for Metro Schools, echoed Democrats’ concerns.

A health condition would keep him out of schools until vaccinations are more widespread, he said, but he worries about students, teachers and support staff like him should Nashville schools be forced to bring students back too soon.

“If I had my way, I’d have every kid that we serve in our classrooms, because that’s the best way we can serve them,” Brown said. “But the simple fact of the matter is it’s not that easy. It’s not that straightforward.

This is a complex situation, and a public school in Nashville is very different than a public school in Cookeville, and Lord knows it’s different than a public school in the middle of nowhere.”

The challenge of bringing a bunch of people into one room for full days of work was made obvious by the legislature itself this week, when Republican Sen. Ed Jackson tested positive for coronavirus after participating in special session meetings. But neither that nor the hospitalization of multiple House members could slow down the Tennessee General Assembly, which has further committee meetings this week as it prepares for the resumption of its regular session.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

PHOTO: STATE OF TENNESSEE

THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS AND POLITICS BLOG: Tennessee’s updated COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan moved corrections officers to the first priority phase, though incarcerated people themselves are still planned for the last phase before the shot is distributed to the general public. In May, two of the worst COVID-19 hot spots in the country were in Tennessee prisons. To date, 39 incarcerated people in the state have died after testing positive for the illness, along with four Tennessee Department of Correction staffers. Early on in the pandemic, jail populations were reduced across the state, but they have steadily risen since April, and Gov. Bill Lee has so far refused to use his commutation power to reduce the state’s prison population. Tennessee Department of Health commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey justified the decision as part of a risk-reward calculation. “Part of the calculus here is staffing officers, or officers staffing these prisons and jails, and what is the alternative?”

Piercey says. “There are very few alternatives to prison staffing, and so when these jailers become ill and cannot work there is very little ability to ramp up and be able to backfill those positions. When we can’t keep our inmates secure and safe, and because we can’t stop our prisons [and] our jails, that is a significant risk to both our society and perhaps even our economy, so that falls into that bucket of risk.” Piercey said because, by definition, incarcerated people are not coming and going, the primary way to keep prison outbreaks from spreading outside the walls is to vaccinate the officers. … Though President Joe Biden extended the eviction moratorium, affordable housing advocates remain concerned the still-raging pandemic will lead to a cataclysm of homelessness. It’s in this atmosphere that Mayor John Cooper announced the formation of a 20-plus-person affordable housing task force, which includes city officials, developers and activists. According to a Harvard University study, 44 percent of Davidson County renters were cost-burdened in 2018, spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

Nashville’s efforts at implementing inclusionary zoning, which would require a certain percentage of units in new developments to be affordable, have been hamstrung by state-level legislative interference. Initially, some activists were wary, as the task force did not include experts focused on people experiencing homelessness. Cooper invited Vanderbilt sociology professor Beth Shinn to join the task force at the suggestion of many of those activists. … Also this week, newly elected Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Hendrell Remus — whom the TNDP notes is its first Black leader — laid out his vision for the future of the foundering party in an interview with the Scene’s Stephen Elliott.

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nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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1/25/21 7:21 PM

MAKE MEMORIES CREATE ADVENTURES Love Your Home

EDDIE FERRELL

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NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

Tennessee State University is the heart and soul of Nashville’s hospitality and culinary industries

BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

The story of locals Gray, Derrick Moore and E.J. Reed is fairly well known: Three childhood friends started up a moving company while studying at TSU, and then parlayed the sale of that business into Slim & Husky’s — which now has seven locations in Tennessee, Georgia and California and plans for even more aggressive expansion.

Fellow Tiger Mignon Francois has earned legions of fans for her sweet creations at The Cupcake Collection in Germantown and New Orleans, and her alma mater gave her the title “Woman of Legend and Merit.”

Other notable TSU alumni thriving locally include Zyhir Baker-Elam of IT’Z A Philly Thing as well as Aqui Simpson, whose hot chicken at 400 Degrees earns an indisputable spot in the pantheon of piquant poultry along with OGs like Prince’s and Bolton’s.

Tiffany and Clifton Hancock are revolutionizing vegan soul food at The Southern V. On the beverage side are Joe Johnson

FROM LEFT: E.J. REED, CLINT GRAY AND DERRICK MOORE OF SLIM & HUSKY’S

SLIM & HUSKY’S

nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

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ithout Tennessee State University, there would be no Slim & Husky’s,” says Clint Gray, co-founder of the wildly successful pizza chain. “There’d be no Guidance Whiskey, no WKND lounge or Minerva Avenue. All of those hospitality concepts that came out of Tennessee State University, there’s a bit of those concepts that people learned and experienced while they were in school.”

When people think of successful business schools in Nashville, the names that come to mind are likely Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, or Belmont’s Jack C. Massey College of Business.

But much of the heart and soul of Nashville’s hospitality and culinary industries comes not from these private institutions, but instead from another Nashville gem — a historically Black public university.

The graduates of TSU are critical to the success of many local restaurants, bars, hotels and other food-and-drink-adjacent businesses, and part of the reason they’re so successful is what they’ve had to overcome in their own college careers. Without the benefit of the large endowments that many colleges and universities have, the faculty, staff and student body at Tennessee State have faced chronically under-resourced working conditions, developing an entrepreneurial spirit and a dedication to hustle that are unrivaled by the graduates of the ivory towers.

The spotlight rarely shines on these entrepreneurs, in part because they often set up their businesses close to campus — out of range of visiting food writers touring the town for “48 Hours In” roundup lists and foodie Instagrammers pushing out photos of adorbs milkshakes to their millions of followers. Occasionally, though, some TSU grads manage to grab at least a few pixels or ounces of ink from media outlets.

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PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

THE CUPCAKE COLLECTION

IT’Z A PHILLY THING

Washington (regional franchise director of operations at Dickey’s BBQ), Nigel James (franchise operations leader for Yum! Brands) and Alex Williams (Moe’s Southwest Grill’s chief branding officer).

Beyond those well-known alums are others who truly represent the backbone of the industry. “TSU has produced a lot of ‘mom and pop’ restaurants, food trucks and very successful catering operations too,” says TSU president, Dr. Glenda Glover. “Our hospitality program gives students opportunities to build management and operational skills for success in the industry at all levels.

All of our programs are designed to teach students to work together in a team environment. You may be a leader or a member of a team, but we like to think that our students are first among equals.”

Tennessee State graduates also run food, beverage and banquet operations at major hotel properties and country clubs across the region. Tim and Jewell Winn are a husband-and-wife team who met at TSU and succeeded in several entrepreneurial ventures, including bottled-beverage line Tim’s Southern Tea, a booming catering and private chef business, and their newest venture, Lighthouse on the Lake, a wedding/ events venue, restaurant and private club that opened in Hendersonville last year.

Other smaller operations worth mentioning include John Cathey’s popular Smokin’ Buttz barbecue food truck and Will Radford’s The Local Distro, a neighborhood market and restaurant in Salemtown.

The list goes on and on and on. So what is it about Tennessee State University that has ignited the entrepreneurial spirit in so many hospitality professionals?

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

L and Adrian Granderson, the entrepreneurs behind a pair of WKND Hang Suite lounges on Church Street and in Memphis. There’s also Minerva Avenue owner Robert Higgins, and Jason Ridgel, recently profiled in these pages for his success with Guidance Whiskey, a brand now sold in 44 states.

TSU grads have made major impacts outside of Nashville as well. Rita Mack became the chair and CEO of the National Black

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McDonald’s Operators Association and endowed a scholarship at Tennessee State along with her husband Anthony. Zebbie Carney has popularized a Nashville staple in Alabama with two Eugene’s Hot Chicken locations around Birmingham, and Jerri Evans operates a chain of six Natural Juice Bars around Washington, D.C. You can find the school’s alums in leadership positions at major national brands as well: Johnathon

ike at many historically Black colleges and universities, the college experience at TSU is in many ways different than at other schools — often much more difficult. “HBCUs have been traditionally under-resourced and disadvantaged, and you have to catch up,” says Jewell Winn. “We started so far back we didn’t even hear the gun.”

But many TSU graduates speak with a sense of pride about how these difficulties encourage the student body to work harder to come together and succeed. Clint Gray believes that the work ethic he developed in college was the key to Slim & Husky’s achievements. “We all pride ourselves for coming from hardworking families,” he says. “None of us come from super wealthy families, but we’ve always, even as kids, been encouraged to focus on the bigger picture. Basically pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get to work.

“Though it’s not a huge institution with a massive endowment that can feed it and continue to create resources,” he continues, “the beautiful thing about TSU is the people.

The thing we learned most in school was how to work with people, how to live with people from different places. Being an HBCU, we are majority African-American. We have different personalities as African-Americans, different assets we bring to the table, different experiences, and we’re all able to put that in the pot, work together and learn about how to live, how to build, within America.”

That emphasis on teamwork is a necessity, and is quite intentionally developed by the administration at TSU. “So many of

our students are first-generation college students, and we have to build each other up to get along,” says Glover. “We make sure they know they’re not alone. HBCUs teach you how to work with others, and we hope to develop the spirit of togetherness.”

“We always say, ‘It’s not TS-me, it’s TS-U,’ ” says Guidance Whiskey’s Ridgel. “We do it together, and that’s whether the world knows it or not. Whether you talk about it or not, we’ve been doing it.”

Will Radford was also affected by that spirit early in his college career. “I learned everything I needed to know at freshman orientation at TSU,” he says. “They taught us the motto: Think, work, serve.” But in order to accomplish those objectives, TSU students have to overcome lots of obstacles along the way. Like, for example, “The Purge.”

Ridgel explains this speedbump — an unfortunate fact of life for many students at HBCUs whose school and student budgets operate at the margins. “If you went to TSU, you know about The Purge,” he says. “You put all your classes in, have your schedule sweet!

You have all your classes done on Tuesdays and Thursdays by 2, or no classes on Friday, [and then on] the first day of class ... your whole schedule [is] gone. You got ‘purged,’ and you’ve got to start over again. Going through those trials and tribulations just built you, and that’s what you’ve got to do now.”

As a scholarship football player for the TSU Tigers, Gray didn’t have some of the logistical and financial concerns of other students, but he certainly saw the effects.

“There was a time at the beginning of the year when people were going through admissions or getting their schedules, and you might be sitting in class one day, and the teacher would call your name up and let you know you need to go talk to financial aid,” he says. “I witnessed a lot of that in school. That forces you to adapt to make adjustments as an 18-year-old who’s been depending on family up until that point. I’m sure that a lot of people gained a lot of valuable lessons to get through life and make a way when things didn’t seem like they were there for you. I didn’t know that wasn’t a thing at other institutions.”

Like Ridgel and Gray, Radford pulled positive lessons out of the occasional tribulations.

“The Purge is a very TSU experience,” he says. “It’s a rite of passage. You have to hold your breath until the very last Purge. You may have to start over, but it’s a challenge in preparedness. I learned to trust but verify.”

With both students and the university operating on a razor-thin budget, TSU embraces the concept of hustle. “I was in school, and one of my boys had a car,” recalls Ridgel. “I was basically Uber Eats and Amazon combined back in college, because I knew the kids didn’t have cars. So we would go to Walmart and buy toilet paper and toothpaste and all that stuff, and then come back and sell it to the kids in school. Always hustling from the beginning.”

“I got my start in the food business serving beef stroganoff made with venison,” says Radford. “It was my way to get people from Detroit to try deer meat. I would bring deer back from Arkansas and make bowls of chili for people to eat while sitting around watching sports. You can imagine what they thought when I told him that they had just eaten Bambi, but it was our way of building community among people from dissimilar communities.”

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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GUIDANCE WHISKEY’S JASON RIDGEL

“You worked in the kitchen whether it was washing dishes or cooking food for your classmates, but you earned it and you didn’t give up,” Gray recalls. “You make sure that you remember those lessons moving on in your career.”

TSU’s sense of community kept many students close to campus and further built an attitude of self-reliance that served graduates going forward. “TSU was different when we went there,” says Ridgel. “It was a very old community. You didn’t have to venture outside of TSU to get anything. We had your barber. There were the girls to do nails, and the people that were making stuff in their rooms and selling it. It’s like its own little city inside of TSU. You had kids coming from all over the United States that didn’t have a car, so what are you going to do?

Most businesses are started by people that started doing their stuff in school. It’s like they took that little city and just expanded into their own city. I think that the decision to stay here is because the opportunity here has caught up with the hustle.”

PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

W

hen it comes time to strike out on their own after graduation, many TSU alums stick close to home. Glover attributes this to the overall prosperity of the city, noting that people want to

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

LOCAL DISTRO’S WILL RADFORD

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remain in a booming city like Nashville. But Gray thinks it goes deeper than that.

“As we started looking around town for spaces for Slim & Husky’s, our love for the community continued to resonate within us,” says Gray. “We just felt like instead of going somewhere that doesn’t need another pizza restaurant or a business, let’s go somewhere that does, and we didn’t have to look very far.

We could see the differences between one side of Nashville versus the other, and we’re the type of guys that don’t want any handouts. We just want to be able to have an opportunity to build for ourselves and build for our community. So that’s what we did.”

Gray continues, referencing the late1960s interstate construction that displaced many Black-owned businesses in North Nashville.

“A lot of people called us crazy for opening up on the corner of 10th and Buchanan,” he continues. “But when we were growing up, there were other Black-owned businesses on that street. There were Blackowned dry cleaners and Black-owned restaurants. We remembered that, and we remembered the sorts of stories that we heard about Jefferson Street in historic North Nashville before I-40 killed the economy. So part of our entire mission is to put that heartbeat back into North Nashville, and if it works here, we feel like it will work in other neighborhoods around the country in different cities that also suffered from the same issues of lack of resources and abandonment from the cities that house them. So that’s our mission: Build our communities one slice at a time.”

What’s more, returning TSU grads — particularly during homecoming season — provide an injection to the local economy.

“Homecoming is a huge piece of hospitality in Nashville,” Gray says. “The thing that is overlooked is the power of the Black dollar within Nashville and what we bring, how many hotels we fill up when it comes to that fall season. It’s very important that people understand that what you typically see and what the city pretty much promotes the most of is Broadway and downtown — Country Music U.S.A. But Tennessee State University has brought so much heritage through the city of Nashville, and it’s not shown enough.”

Winn concurs, but also includes fellow HBCUs Fisk and Meharry. “More people need to look at HBCUs and the greatness that comes out of them,” she says. “Their stories are rarely told. TSU teaches you to be resilient and persistent. People have to want to hear these stories.”

This isn’t to say that TSU graduates achieve success in spite of their struggles, but rather as a result of their entire college experience. Despite the paucity of available resources, the administration and faculty at Tennessee State work hard to support their students the best that they can. “When I talk about resources, I mean money provided from the state,” says Gray. “We don’t have the big alumni donors year in, year out, putting billions of dollars into the university like some of your predominantly white institutions do. But what we do have is a value in our people. And not just our students, but also the educators, the professors and the administration staff.

“People are there at Tennessee State not because they’re getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he continues, “but be-

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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Tennessee Performing Arts Center is bringing the party to you.

hosted by Tamiko Robinson Steele featuring performances by

Nashville Ballet • Nashville Opera • Nashville Repertory Theatre Tony-Nominee Susan Egan • Singer Diana DeGarmo • Spotlight Award-Winner Hatty King and a special birthday message from

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Saturday 7:00 p.m.

Our virtual celebration is FREE to enjoy from the comfort of your home.

Add-on gourmet dinner and appetizer packages are available with proceeds supporting TPAC’s nonprofit mission.

Reserve your access at TPAC.ORG/Celebrate Questions: Celebrate@TPAC.org

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cause they really care about what it is they do and the people that graduate through the programs. When I got to Tennessee State, there were professors there that forced me to apply myself and pretty much got the best out of who I was. … We are representations of our families, and if we want our communities to grow and to build them up, then it starts with us. That spirit is something that not only students that come through Tennessee State have, but also the administration as well as professors, coaches, mentors — the whole nine.”

“We all want the same thing,” Gray says.

“We want to create empowerment for our communities and to be self-empowered.

These are things that we saw that our communities didn’t have. We were able to go to Tennessee State University and continue to build that hunger, so that once we got out into the real world, we put it to work.”

Winn is also grateful for the support of the school. “There’s a lot of nurturing and extra care offered to the students at Black colleges,” she says. “People need to look at the excellence that comes out of TSU. They don’t want to talk about what we went through. It wasn’t easy, but we made it.”

From 1986 until 2017, the Nashville Business Incubation Center was owned and operated by Tennessee State University and housed as part of their downtown campus.

The NBIC has been a critical platform for teaching and nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit among prospective small-business owners, providing flexible and affordable office space to startups, networking opportunities, educational seminars covering topics like HR practices and insurance liabilities, and most importantly, a sense of community. In 2017, the NBIC board of directors decided to go in a different direction and moved off campus as a fully separate entity, with TSU’s blessing and permission to continue using the name. Tennessee State renamed its on-campus operations the TSU Incubation Center and continues to offer a

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

Find out what’s going on

TIM AND JEWELL WINN OF TIM’S SOUTHERN TEA AND CATERING CONCEPTS BY TIMOTHY

holistic approach to business startups from across the state.

“I think that one of the resources that we do have that isn’t highlighted enough is the Nashville Business Incubation Center,” says Gray, who spent time at the NBIC as he and his partners developed their first business together. “Without that program, we really would have been on our own. I think that definitely gave us a boost. That was a pathway to success for us. There’s something to be said for getting up in the morning and pulling into a building where it’s nothing but entrepreneurs trying to build their businesses. You pull in and you might see two or three cars already there, and you hear about their success stories or contracts that they might have signed, and you’re like, ‘You know what? I can’t let them beat me to work today. I got to get there before them, or I got to leave later than them!’ That spirit at the NBIC definitely built several great companies.

“We were there at the same time as The Grilled Cheeserie,” he continues. “Even though we weren’t in the food business at the time — we were in the moving industry — we saw the hard work that they were putting in. To see the growth that they’ve had and the growth that we’ve had, you understand that people build off of people and energy is real. So the energy that was at the NBIC is the same energy that we shared with our classmates at Tennessee State. It was like, ‘If you’re going to be successful I’m going to be successful!’ ” “It’s unique and special to Nashville for sure that you have a historically Black college that is putting out businesses,” says Ridgel. “And it’s all in the same type of industry that can support each other. And with that comes more jobs.”

“We’re your university,” says Glover. “We belong to Nashville, and we want people to know that we are producing talented students that stay as part of the community in which we live.”

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CRITICS’ PICKS R O U N D U P

T O

D O

‘WHEN WE GATHER’ THROUGH FEB. 15 whenwegather.art

Whitsell; Sandbags by Caitlin Myers; and Don’t Look Black by Preston Crowder.

Tickets are free, but you need to reserve them in advance on the TPS website, tnplaywrights.org. 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28-29 and Feb. 3-5 via tnplaywrights.org AMY STUMPFL

CHECK OUT TENNESSEE PLAYWRIGHTS STUDIO’S VIRTUAL READING FESTIVAL

MUSIC

[THE PLAY’S THE THING]

MARIA MAGDALENA CAMPOS-PONS; PHOTO: TOMMY OLIVER

WATCH ‘WHEN WE GATHER’

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

THEATER

T H I N G S

[HIGH ART CALLING]

The most potent works of art are often the products of hard times. From Picasso’s “Guernica” and Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath to punk rock and hip-hop, there’s something about trouble that inspires great art. The short film “When We Gather” is one of those artworks. The vision of Nashvillebased Afro-Cuban artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, the performance was created during the Trump administration’s last days, when COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. reached 400,000. But it was inspired by hope.

Specifically, it came from Vice President Kamala Harris’ Nov. 7 speech, wherein she celebrated “the generations of women — Black women, Asian, white, Latina and Native American women throughout our nation’s history who have paved the way for this moment.” Harris called on mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and girls, cis and trans, to celebrate with her. And so they are. In “When We Gather,” CamposPons — in collaboration with artists Okwui Okpokwasili, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Dell Marie Hamilton, Jana Harper, Lisa E. Harris and Samita Sinha — answers Harris’ call with a choreographed series of circular movements and gestures that are based on storms, spirals and ancestral energy. The artists perform them counterclockwise — a designation that project sponsor Creative Time notes “recalls the Seven Powers in Yoruba religion” — and those movements create a concentric force upward from the past into the future. It’s high-art witchery, and you can be part of it. Visit whenwegather.art to watch the film, which remains on view through Feb. 15. Through Feb. 15 via whenwegather.art

[CULTURED]

STREAM INTERSECTION’S LISTEN SERIES COMMISSION: CRISTINA SPINEI’S ‘WALL FLOWERS’

Music is both a cultural activity and a Throughout the pandemic, Tennessee cultural product. But it’s difficult for artPlaywrights Studio has been hard at music ensembles to respond to and engage work, supporting in-state writers as they with our current culture when much of develop fresh new works that “reflect the best-known repertoire was written a changing world.” Established in 2018,

by Western European men who’ve been the burgeoning lab program and theater dead for centuries. To help combat this production company typically hosts problem, Nashville contemporary music monthly workshops, with playwrights group Intersection has launched a multiyear receiving valuable feedback from fellow program called Listen, which will yield 25 writers and a dedicated pool of actors. new works commissioned from women Like most things, those workshops composers. In December, the ensemble moved online in 2020, but premiered via Facebook Live its the work continued. And inaugural Listen commission, EDITOR’S NOTE: beginning this week, TPS’ a video of violinist Alicia AS A RESPONSE TO THE 2020 Fellows will see their Enstrom performing her new ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WE’VE CHANGED THE FOCUS OF plays presented in virtual piece “Fall.” On Thursday, the THE CRITICS’ PICKS SECTION TO staged readings that feature next piece in the series will INCLUDE ACTIVITIES YOU CAN some of Nashville’s top stage premiere on Intersection’s PARTAKE IN WHILE YOU’RE AT talent. The lineup includes Facebook page: Log on at HOME. Equinox by Christopher R.C. 11 a.m. to see a film of “Wall Bosen; Jump the Line by Greg Flowers.” It’s a short suite for solo Morneau; American Malady by viola by Nashville composer Cristina Brooke Bryant; Sins of the City by Shawn Spinei that will be performed by Carl

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Larson. Spinei is known for her fascination with rhythm and has often drawn on dance in her work, but each of this piece’s five movements was inspired by something that is still (though it might suggest movement): a set of new custom wallpaper designs by Nashville firm New Hat. Visit Intersection’s website for updates on Listen and more upcoming programming from the ensemble.

11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, via Intersection STEPHEN TRAGESER

FILM

ART

W E E K L Y

[FRIENDS INDEED]

WATCH ADVOCACY THROUGH THE ARTS: FILM FESTIVAL

Since 2008, Friends Life Community has been creating opportunities for teenagers and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to grow, learn and discover their full potential — often through the arts. And this week, audiences can get a glimpse of those unique

ADVOCACY THROUGH THE ARTS: FILM FESTIVAL

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CRITICS’ PICKS experiences and creative voices with Advocacy Through the Arts: Film Festival, hosted by the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Designed to empower those with disabilities, the festival features nine short films, all written and directed by the Friends and created in response to the question: “How do you want the world to see you?” The evening includes both the films and behind-the-scenes commentary on how the films were made. You can catch Advocacy Through the Arts: Film Festival at 7 p.m., Jan. 28, hosted by TPAC. The festival is free, but you must RSVP at tpac.org to receive a Zoom link and password for the discussion. To learn more about Friends Life Community and its mission, visit friendslife. org. 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, via TPAC

HATTIE B’S HOT CHICKEN

[BRITT CITY]

[IN LIKE A LAMB]

OBSERVE THE 25TH BIRTHDAY OF LAMBCHOP’S HOW I QUIT SMOKING

This week in 1996 saw the release of Lambchop’s How I Quit Smoking — the second album from the Nashville indiecountry crew led by the molasses-voiced Kurt Wagner, and the 97th issued by Chapel Hill’s influential Merge Records. Where the bands at Nos. 96 and 98 (Birmingham, Ala., power trio Verbena and Visalia, Calif., slacker rockers Butterglory) are long gone, Lambchop remains on Merge, still putting out quality records all these years later.

(2019’s This [Is What I Wanted to Tell You] and last year’s covers collection Trip are the band’s latest.) Wagner & Co. are walking proof of the virtues of a slow-and-steady approach, and How I Quit offers some clues to the group’s longevity. There is no trickery to its 14 supremely laid-back, orchestrally driven songs, which include the dissonant rave-up “The Militant (2),” the evocative and rambling “All Smiles and Mariachi,” and

[THE HILL WE CLIMB]

PARTICIPATE IN ANTIRACIST TEACHING, LEARNING AND LEADING FROM THE CLASSROOM

Racism in American schools is insidious, and the need to address, dismantle and heal from it is urgent. The Nashville-based nonprofit The Educators’ Cooperative has organized a series of panel discussions to help facilitate that process, and the group’s event on Saturday morning — titled Antiracist Teaching, Learning and Leading From the Classroom — will include a trio of impressive participants. Educator Dr. Ricki Gibbs II is the principal of Warner Arts Magnet Elementary in Davidson County, and has degrees from Lipscomb and TSU. Sociologist and historian Dr. James Loewen wrote Lies My Teachers Told Me, which has sold nearly 2 million copies worldwide, and was awarded the Spirit of America Award, which the National Council for the Social Studies also gave to Rosa Parks and Jimmy Carter. Minister and historian Elois Freeman grew up going to segregated schools and graduated from Fisk University in 1970, and is now a minister at Westwood Baptist Church. Together, they’ll lead a discussion about the legacies of segregation, white flight and white supremacy in the school system. Tickets are free for educators, and $30 for non-educators. When

you register, you’ll be able to submit a question or topic to the panelists. The live Q&A will be followed by an action-planning and resource-sharing session. Find out more information at educatorscooperative.com.

11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, via The Educators’ Cooperative LAURA HUTSON HUNTER MUSIC

the stunningly concise parable “The Man Who Loved Beer” — which was covered by David Byrne in 2017. The players simply listen intently and let it flow. How I Quit is a foundational album both for Lambchop — a gateway to the joyous experimentation to follow on records like 2001’s Nixon and 2016’s FLOTUS — and in the greater history of alternative music in Music City. There are no commemorative rerelease plans that I’m aware of, but chief among the life lessons recent times have taught us is to never take our local institutions for granted.

With that in mind, stream it this week — or better yet, spring for a download on the Merge site. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

[TILL THE TOWN GOES DARK]

WATCH AARON LEE TASJAN’S NASHVILLE SUNDAY NIGHT LIVESTREAM

It’s hard to identify what stands out most about Aaron Lee Tasjan, partly because he brings so damn much to the table. The Ohio native is a captivating performer, whether he’s got a full band behind him or he’s playing solo. That comes in part from honing his chops as both a musician and an entertainer in expert company. Between leaving his New York rock band Semi Precious Weapons and moving to Nashville in 2013 to start his solo career in earnest, Tasjan played guitar with hard-rocking Southern institution Drivin N Cryin and reincarnated proto-punks New York Dolls.

Since he struck out on his own, he’s proven supremely adept at writing catchy, powerpoppy songs about getting through life in this wild time on Earth with your body

and spirit intact. The tunes are frequently funny, often bittersweet and always honest. That feeling of sincerity anchors everything Tasjan does — he comes across as someone who’s singing with you and not just to you, and each of his records feels like a phone call from an old friend. On Feb. 4, he’ll release his latest, Tasjan! Tasjan!

Tasjan!, which adds more synthesizers and effects to the mix, bringing to mind the records Tom Petty made with ELO’s Jeff Lynne. Tasjan will celebrate a bit early on Jan. 31 with a live solo performance from venerable club 3rd and Lindsley.

The show is part of Lightning 100’s longrunning Nashville Sunday Night series, but thanks to the pandemic, there won’t be a live audience. A virtual ticket to the HD video stream on nugs.net is $7.99, and the performance will be broadcast on Lightning 100. 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31, via Lightning 100 STEPHEN TRAGESER

FOOD & DRINK

MUSIC

Blues, R&B and soul vocalist Etta Britt is a beloved figure among Music City performers and enthusiasts. She’s appeared with a host of greats — from Delbert McClinton to Bob Dylan — and excels in any context or situation. Britt has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and now her industry friends are uniting to help her.

Many of Nashville and Middle Tennessee’s finest musicians and vocalists are gathering at 3rd and Lindsley for a benefit on her behalf. The lineup includes Raul Malo, Jeffrey Steele, Seth Walker, Miss Jackie Wilson, Derek St. Holmes, The McCrary Sisters, Danny Flowers and Mabel Pleasure, Lisa Oliver Gray, The Howlin’ Brothers, Pat McLaughlin, Bekka Bramlett and Shane Dwight. There’s also an all-star band assembled for the occasion that features Kevin McKendree, Steve Mackey, Lynn Williams and Greg Foresman. There will be a live auction featuring signed merchandise, gift certificates and more. At a time when there’s precious little live entertainment available, here’s a chance for a great night of entertainment that also provides needed aid for a wonderful performer. Tickets are available through TicketWeb. 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 29, at 3rd and Lindsley, 816 Third Ave. S. RON WYNN

PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

ATTEND THE BENEFIT CONCERT FOR ETTA BRITT

COMMUNITY

MUSIC

AMY STUMPFL

[BIRD IS THE WORD]

PARTICIPATE IN HOT CHICKEN WEEK No dish is as inextricably linked to Nashville’s cultural identity as hot chicken. As legend has it, nearly a century ago, Nashvillian Thornton Prince’s then-girlfriend created the

AARON LEE TASJAN

nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CRITICS’ PICKS

[CHANGE GONNA COME]

TUNE IN TO AN AUTHOR EVENT WITH MICHAEL ERIC DYSON

Earlier this month, Vanderbilt University Divinity School welcomed Michael Eric Dyson to its faculty — a tremendous gain for the school and for Nashville. Dyson is an award-winning contributor to The New York Times and The New Yorker, and he has authored books about Malcolm X, Hurricane Katrina, Tupac and much more. His latest book, Long Time Coming: Reckoning With Race

MUSIC

CELEBRATE NATIONAL HOT CHOCOLATE DAY

in America, explores the uninterrupted history of racism in the U.S. by addressing each chapter to a Black American who was violently killed. Those addressed include Emmett Till, Breonna Taylor and the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, as well as lesser-known victims like 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot to death in Chicago in 2013. As critic Gabino Iglesias writes for NPR: “What makes this an important book is Dyson’s voice, which is strong but always pregnant with frustration, pain, admiration and, ultimately, hope.” Hope has been in short supply for some years now, and personally, I am ready to embrace it. Dyson will discuss his book with Andrea Blackman virtually via Parnassus, and the conversation will be archived on Parnassus’ Facebook page.

6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3, via Parnassus Books ERICA CICCARONE

who became part of the Special Operations Executive, a group charged with conducting sabotage and intelligence gathering in occupied Europe against Germany and its Axis partners. Exhaustively researched, Code Name Hélène paints Wake as a formidable fighter. Foul-mouthed and harddrinking, Wake killed a Nazi soldier with her bare hands and presided over a firing-squad execution of resistance fighters who raped women. She biked 500 kilometers to deliver a message and jumped out of an airplane with a hangover, wearing silk stockings under her coveralls. When she witnessed brazen cruelty, she didn’t just refuse to look away — she jumped into the fray and fought. Parnassus will celebrate the novel’s paperback release with a virtual event featuring Lawhon and author Helen Ellis. 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, via Parnassus Books ERICA CICCARONE

[VIVE LA RÉSISTANCE!]

WATCH AN AUTHOR EVENT WITH ARIEL LAWHON

Among a string of great local releases last year was Code Name Hélène, a historical novel by New York Times bestselling author Ariel Lawhon. It’s the story of Nancy Wake, an Australian journalist working in Paris in the 1930s

FOOD & DRINK

BOOKS

best slice of pie you will ever eat. This pie is perfect. A deep dish of Dozen’s expertly made buttery crust is filled with a cool, refreshing lemon filling and topped with a modest layer of not-too-sweet whipped cream, and a sprinkle of lavender gives the dessert a delicate floral flavor. It’s more like walking through a field of flowers and less like licking a Bath & Body Works candle. Just thinking about that tart, bright filling makes that little spot in the back of my jaw start to tingle. Also on the updated post-holiday menu is a cherry bourbon pie and a coffee toffee pie. Dozen has a limited supply of pastries — including pie by the slice — available for same-day purchase, so if you want to ensure some of that dreamy lemon lavender makes it into your mouth, you’d be wise to preorder a whole pie at dozen-nashville.com. We’re in a pandemic; there are no rules. Buy yourself the whole goddamn pie. MEGAN SELING

[FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT]

As I’ve written before, arbitrary food holidays are worth celebrating — especially in the midst of a seemingly endless pandemic in which hours blur into days into weeks into months and we’re all left with little time to pause, breathe and find comfort in a small, lovely thing. (See our Critic’s Pick on Hot Chicken Week for more praise for food holidays.) This week, take a break, take a breath, and celebrate National Hot Chocolate Day on Sunday, Jan. 31. If you hurry, you can still catch Sip Cafe’s annual Hot Chocolates From Around the World menu, which is available until February. This year, the cafe added a Belgium-inspired flavor that’s laced with cookie butter. Yum! Chocolate snobs will appreciate what Crema and Stay Golden have to offer — the former uses Missouri’s famous Askinosie Chocolate, while the latter features single-origin chocolate from Milwaukee’s Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company. To make your own decadent mug at home, check out the powdered sipping chocolate at Poppy & Peep, or for a very on-trend experience, swing by Citizen Market inside Hunters Station to grab some hot chocolate bombs. Those hollow chocolate shells filled with cocoa mix and marshmallows that “explode” when you slowly pour hot milk over them have been all the rage on social media this season.

They’re fun! MEGAN SELING

20

DOZEN’S LEMON LAVENDER PIE

BOOKS

FOOD & DRINK

spicy dish as a means of enacting vengeance upon her philandering beau — but Prince liked it, and as a result opened the stillthriving Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack.

Now, hot chicken is a Music City export as ubiquitous — and divisive — as country music itself, having reached foreign shores and even inspired KFC to make a version of its own. But rather than trying KFC’s “Nashville Hot Chicken” (please, don’t), why not take advantage of the Scene’s annual Hot Chicken Week festivities? From Feb. 1-7, more than 20 local restaurants will participate in the fiesta of fiery fowl by offering lunch and dinner specials. Also a part of the celebration: Take a photo of your hot chicken, check in at one of the participating restaurants, post your pic to socials (tag @NashvilleScene and include the hashtag #HotChickenWeek21), and you could win prizes including gift cards and Scene swag. For more details, visit hotchickenweek.com. Also at that link, vote in our three Hot Chicken Week categories — Best Unique Dish, Best Traditional Dish and Best Overall Dish. Word to the wise: Go on and stock up on Pepto now. Feb. 1-7 at participating restaurants D. PATRICK RODGERS

PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

CRITICS’ PICKS

[EASY AS PIE]

GET A SLICE OF LEMON LAVENDER PIE AT DOZEN

Spring hasn’t sprung quite yet, but January days feel a little brighter now that Dozen has put its seasonal slice of sunshine back on the menu. I’m talking about that lemon lavender pie — aka the

[CAN YOU GET TO THAT?]

DELVE INTO THE MUSIC OF 1971

A half-century ago, rock musicians released work that managed to harken back to the 1960s while looking to the future.

The ’70s began with soul music, hard rock, jazz-rock and singer-songwriters, and ended with the ascendency of disco, yacht rock, punk — and singer-songwriters. In 1971, David Bowie released what is arguably his best full-length, Hunky Dory, a record that still sounds fresh today. Meanwhile, singer Harry Nilsson made one of the best postBeatles Beatles albums, Nilsson Schmilsson, a record that proves the Fab Four’s 1970 breakup was in name only — the ’70s just kept recycling their innovations. Delve into those classics, and don’t forget Miles Davis’ jazz-rock masterpiece Jack Johnson — one of the greatest albums of any decade. The Flamin’ Groovies’ Teenage Head anticipates punk, while the female-led California band Joy of Cooking made a superbly nuanced feminist statement on its eponymous debut album. It could be that Funkadelic’s 1971 envoi to the ’60s, “Can You Get to That,” stands as the greatest three minutes of the decade. If you want more, read about the year in David Hepworth’s fine 2016 book Never a Dull Moment: 1971, the Year That Rock Exploded, which covers the era with style — it’s available via Parnassus Books. EDD HURT

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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VODKA YONIC

MOMMY ISSUES

I’m worried about bringing children into this world

c

BY POOJA SHAH

Vodka Yonic features a rotating cast of women and nonbinary writers from around the world sharing stories that are alternately humorous, sobering, intellectual, erotic, religious or painfully personal. You never know what you’ll find in this column, but we hope this potent mix of stories encourages conversation.

O

n Jan. 6, I watched the insurrection play out in the U.S. Capitol in horror, shock and fear. Footage of broken windows, destroyed federal property and thousands of protestors fueled by hatred was, to say the least, overwhelming.

That same day, one of my friends from high school announced her pregnancy on social media. As I enlarged the photo of my friend standing with her husband, his arm posed sweetly over her growing baby bump and their golden retriever beaming in the background, I wondered: What type of mother will I be?

We are living in uncertain and contentious times. Every day, news networks broadcast heartbreaking stories about how our world is plagued by raging political tensions, a global pandemic, increasing unemployment rates, social and racial injustice, and the climate crisis — and that’s just the beginning. I don’t know what will remain for future generations.

My partner and I want to have children of our own one day. At the beginning of our relationship, we watched Michelle Obama’s Today show appearance on the International Day of the Girl in 2018. Fierce in her power suit and with a determined expression on her face, the former first lady asked: “If you think about how you want your kids to be raised, how you want them to think about life and their opportunities, do you want them afraid of your neighbors? Do you want them angry? Do you want them vengeful? We think of the values that we try to promote to our children.”

Her words touched me. I looked at my partner with renewed positivity and commitment to giving our future children all the right guidance, training and knowledge we possibly could for them to live safe and trouble-free lives. I aspired to be the type of role model Michelle is to her two daughters. I was empowered back then.

Now I feel jaded. I worry that I will be unable to shield my future children from the disorder and disruption that currently exists in the world. I fear that I won’t be able to teach them that words are more powerful than fists, that we can disagree in nonviolent ways. I wonder how they will use their privilege to uplift others and have the power to speak up on behalf of those without. I am terrified that they will be embarrassed by their Indian heritage and only recognize their cultural roots when

it might be trendy. How will I teach them to be kind and accepting of their bodies and identities if they do not conform to society’s version of “normal”? I struggle with how I will protect them from social media addiction and online bullying while still recognizing the benefits of technology and staying connected.

I think back to my childhood, one that was not stifled by technology, when I was free to play with other kids and allowed just one hour of television a day. Those times felt simpler, more innocent. Danger and evil felt imaginary. How could I give my future children that modest life in light of current world events?

I shared my premature concerns with my best friend, wondering if these thoughts crossed her mind.

“We’ll figure it out,” she said. “Everyone does.”

Maybe she’s right.

Our parents somehow did. My dad came to this country with a $20 bill and a change of clothes. My mom gave up her accounting career to raise me and my brother because child care was too expensive. My parents, like countless others, selflessly sacrificed their dreams and health for the betterment of their children. And they’re still learning, because parenting never stops.

As much as I want to prepare for what hopefully one day will happen, the truth is I don’t think anyone can truly ever be ready.

I can only hope that I follow in the footsteps of all those parents before me who instilled in their kids an unshakable moral compass with which they can distinguish between right and wrong. I could probably read every parenting book available in the library, but only gain that experience once I assume the role of Mom. On that same episode of the Today show, Michelle also said: “Fear is not a proper motivator. Hope wins out.”

I was reminded of that quote last week as I watched 22-year-old poet Amanda Gorman recite a powerful poem at the presidential inauguration. My faith is renewed when strangers on the internet stick up for each other against bullies.

Recently, the man in front of me at the coffee shop bought me a cup on an especially bad day.

These moments, as fleeting as they may be, give me the comfort that I too will raise children who will be good human beings. I’m giving myself permission to view motherhood as a blank canvas that I will paint with my own principles for my children: a stroke of dignity here, a brush of kindness there, a belt of gratitude in the middle.

It may take me a while to fully feel that confidence, but I’ll get there eventually — and if you share these same concerns, so will you.

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BOOKS

DEFYING THE LOGIC OF LOVE

A debut story collection depicts magical metamorphoses in the wake of catastrophe

BY SEAN KINCH

N

athan Elias’ debut work of fiction, The Reincarnations, is billed as a story collection, but it feels like a coherent whole. The 12 stories feature recurrent characters and incidents described from multiple perspectives. While the settings range south to Florida and west to California, the collection’s home is Toledo, Ohio, where most of the characters spend their youths and where, as broken adults, they limp home to lick their wounds.

THE REINCARNATIONS: STORIES

BY NATHAN ELIAS MONTAG PRESS 190 PAGES, $14.95 The title announces the central problem that winds through all of the tales: how to reinvent oneself after calamity.

These stories focus on the aftermath of catastrophe as characters stumble in their attempts to process loss. In the opening piece, “The Alligator Theory,” a documentary filmmaker believes he has found evidence that his missing daughter, who disappeared from a park near their Tampa home, has transformed into an alligator.

He knows he sounds insane — “I can’t tell what’s real anymore” — and his grip on reality loosens further when a fellow bar hound shares a Seminole legend of a child who is adopted by an alligator mother.

In “Property Damage,” a handyman named Mark stays busy renovating houses to expunge the memory of finding his fiancée naked in bed with another man. He wants to move past the fury that caused him to burn their bed in her front yard, “but ever since the incident, if I’m thinking of Lorraine, chances are I’m also thinking of fire, because that’s what she feels like inside my head.”

Some of the transformations that Elias depicts are abetted by technology that verges on the fantastical. Another parent mourning a lost child, mother Darryl in “The Al Capone Suite,” meets a scientist who has built a device that, with input of “fragments of data from people’s lives,” can “recreate a digital, interactive persona of an individual.” Elias wastes no time explaining how the automaton works, leaping instead to a scene where it begins speaking in the voice of Darryl’s dead son, explaining his suicide as the result of a broken heart. “I’m sorry, Mom,” the computer says. “I just wanted her to love me back.” “This was a bad idea,” Darryl says in response. “Turn it the hell off.”

These ventures into alt-reality are a quarter-turn from our world, recognizable but

22

‘IF YOU DISAGREE, DON’T BOTHER TO READ THE REST OF THIS AD’ A poem illustrated by Savithri Velaga

BY MAGGIE WELLS

with twists that push them to the threshold of magical realms. “Halcyon” begins as a story about a young woman, Alice, who finds peace and purpose at a California commune called the Sanctuary. When Alice disobeys the community’s rules and gets on the bad side of the leader, Juno — a two-bit guru who spouts platitudes about discovering “oneness” — she learns that the Sanctuary is not an oldfashioned cult but a mad-science project to turn unwilling subjects into human-animal chimeras. Alice learns a hard lesson with profound metaphorical implications: If you wake one morning to find that a lunatic has sewn wings on your back, your best move may be to climb a tower and fly away.

The Reincarnations is filled with startling images that help us make sense of the painful and outrageous in our lives — one of literature’s most important functions. Some mornings we really do feel as if we have been turned into an enormous bug; fighting for justice in an indifferent world feels exactly like charging at massive windmills with a wooden sword. Elias’ collection makes signal contributions to this repertoire of symbols. How does it feel to be separated from the woman you love? It hurts like being swallowed by a 39-foot anaconda named Roxie (“The Naga Dreams”).

Falling in love for the first time makes you feel like Peter Pan and Wendy, floating over Toledo: “Flying above the Maumee River, we defied the logic of love, reinvented the laws of physics,” Elias writes in “Taking Flight.”

In “Love Drugs,” Elias, a Nashville resident, uses a marvelous pharmacological premise (“a pill that could make you stop loving someone forever”) as a counterfactual that draws our attention to the actual dynamics of love. Far from becoming “a universally synthetic experience” or a matter of “emotional convenience,” love in these tales remains natural and messy.

Though the characters in The Reincarnations often attain states of grace, Elias acknowledges that heartache can be permanent. In “Right Now at This Very Moment,” Athen tries to soothe Sylvia after her boyfriend Sam, also Athen’s best friend, dies in a car accident. With the aid of vodka and Vicodin, Sylvia reaches an altered state in which she thinks Athen has become Sam. “Oh, Sam,” she says to Athen. “It’s always been you.” Already ambivalent about masquerading as his dead friend, Athen is jerked back to reality when Sylvia emerges from her trance. “You don’t care about me,” she says.

“Or Sam. You’re a goddamn liar.” Sometimes the reincarnation doesn’t happen; sometimes you’re stuck with who you are.

For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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Maggie Wells is the co-founder of Be Witched, a poetry, art and performance party machine, and author of Sex Rules, forthcoming from Milk Press.

Savithri Velaga is a local artist working with an illustrative approach to graphic/product design, textiles and ceramics. Learn more at savithrivelaga.rodeo and @betty.factory on Instagram.

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC

CROSSROADS Examining a hit from the past in considering the future of country-pop crossovers

BY MARCUS K. DOWLING

2

020 marked the fourth consecutive year in which a single that had a strong showing on Billboard’s weekly Hot Country Songs chart also appeared in the top 10 of the trade magazine’s all-genre Year-End Hot 100 Songs chart. Maren Morris’ “The Bones,” which had a 19-week run in the No. 1 spot on Hot Country Songs, came in at No. 9 on the Hot 100 wrap-up in 2020. In 2019, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” was a record-setting hit on the Hot 100, and climbed to No. 19 on Hot Country Songs before its controversial removal from the chart. Florida Georgia Line and Bebe Rexha’s chart-topping single “Meant to Be” and Sam Hunt’s smash “Body Like a Back Road” both set records for their number of weeks at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs. They were also in the top 10 of the year-end Hot 100 Songs for 2018 and 2017, respectively.

This is evidence of a significant crossover between the worlds of country and pop in recent years. But if you were thinking that’s an entirely new thing, you’d be wrong.

Over the past two decades, a handful of powerhouse country singles have also done very well in pop chart rankings — see Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise,” Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” or Faith Hill’s “Breathe.” Though “Breathe” came in at No. 1 on the Year-End Hot 100 Songs chart in 2000, another single made history that year, and its story gives us a look at a possible future for the intersection of pop and country.

Released in March 1999, Lonestar’s rocktinged country ballad “Amazed” hit No. 1 on Hot Country Songs that July. It continued a long, slow climb, ending 2000 at No. 8 on the Year-End Hot 100. The song did something else special as well: For the first two weeks of March 2000, it was also the No. 1 song on the weekly Hot 100. Though “Breathe” came close a few weeks later, it never quite achieved that feat. “Amazed” was the first country song to take the top spot on the pop chart since Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ “Islands in the Stream” in 1983. “Amazed” earned Lonestar — as well as songwriters Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo and Marv Green — a variety of other accolades, including the Academy of Country Music’s awards for Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year and a Grammy nomination for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal.

The walls around the country genre seem evermore flimsy these days. Thanks in part to streaming, “Old Town Road” became the most-certified song in RIAA history earlier this month, racking up 14 million sales. Morris’ “The Bones,” winner of two CMA Awards and nominated for a Grammy, topped four different Billboard charts and peaked at No. 12 on the weekly Hot 100. “The Middle,” her 2018 dance-pop collaboration with producers Zedd and

24

Grey, peaked at No. 5 on the weekly Hot 100 Songs and was nominated for three Grammys.

There are some interesting similarities between the conditions we’re seeing now and what things were like around the turn of the millennium. “Amazed” co-writer Chris Lindsey hosts a songwriting podcast called Pitch List, and he recently spoke with Dann Huff, who produced Lonestar’s hit recording of the song. Huff discusses the state of the bustling country industry at the time.

“We could fail 70 percent of the time, as long as we were hitting it 30 percent of the time — it was like baseball,” Huff says on the podcast. He worked with Lonestar at a time when he was just getting established as a producer. “We were just lucky enough to have not turned [‘Amazed’] down like so many other acts did — I’m sure most of them have hit themselves in the head several times. ... All of a sudden, I became a producer that was sought-after because of ‘my brilliance’ on that. The ‘brilliance’ was basically that I didn’t say no to a very good song.”

A Nashville native, Huff worked as a guitarist on sessions with groundbreaking producers like Quincy Jones, Arif Mardin and Mutt Lange. Thus he played on “very good songs” for artists including Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Whitesnake.

“Just like me, Lonestar was new to Nashville, and they were looking for a hit,” Lindsey says, responding to Huff. The band came to Music City from Texas. “I had a nontraditional point of view of songwriting, and that sort of freshened things up.”

Even when the marketplace is ripe and the talent is present, the magic that allows a song to achieve universal praise is tough to put your finger on. To gain a deeper understanding of how this works today, I reached out to Rachel Whitney, Spotify’s head of editorial for Nashville.

“One of the unwritten rules of both country and pop music is ‘never get in the way of a hit, no matter where it’s coming from,’ ” Whitney tells the Scene by phone.

“In country music, crossover hit singles

are growing, and streaming is playing a major role.”

MRC Data/Nielsen Music research shows that country listenership on streaming platforms grew at an astonishing rate in the early weeks of the pandemic, with an increase of more than 20 percent from March to May. By the end of 2020, country music’s share of the total number of songs streamed worldwide had jumped about half a percentage point over the 2019 figure. Streaming has been a huge driver of revenue at the upper echelons of the music industry for several years, and streams are counted in Billboard’s charting system.

As country music is reestablishing itself on the pop chart, it’s hard to overstate the importance of streaming for country artists. The recent spate of country songs placing in the top 10 of the Year-End Hot 100 Songs suggests that country music’s rising popularity on streaming could cement a bridge between country and pop for years to come.

Whitney is also quick to note that country music’s relationship with pop has always been “like a swinging pendulum.”

In the late 1950s and early ’60s, country’s traditional blues- and folk-driven sounds were being overtaken by rock ’n’ roll, a defining sound in pop at the time. This led country producers to establish the Nashville Sound, a cosmopolitan update of country that featured strings and other lush elements more common in pop. “Country needed to compete in the commercial market,” says Whitney.

For many country fans, radio is still king. But as the marketplace shifts toward streaming, the radio-oriented power structure in country has been disrupted by streaming. This scenario reduces the influence of gatekeepers like radio programmers — who have proven to frequently uphold racist and sexist policies — allowing a broader diversity of sounds and styles to filter in.

Morgan Wallen and Gabby Barrett are two rising country stars who bring pop-trap, funk-aided R&B and power ballads — all styles that are drawn into contemporary

mainstream pop — into their mix. They both had big country hits with respectable performance on pop charts in 2020. Both appeared further down in 2020’s Year-End Hot 100 Songs, but could easily rise to the top by the end of 2021.

According to Whitney, at least some parts of the country world are “always aiming to reflect what is most popular.”

Discussing “Amazed” with one of its cowriters proves Whitney’s point. Along with Marv Green, Lindsey worked on “Amazed” with his now-wife Aimee Mayo, who published her memoir Talking to the Sky in late 2020.

“Once it became a hit, everybody wanted another ‘Amazed,’ ” Mayo tells the Scene. “Because we wrote about how much we loved each other with honest energy that you can feel, it became one of those songs where the stars align. When you add that vocal part where [Lonestar’s Richie McDonald] goes up an octave in the bridge? That’s magical. Thankfully, my husband and I didn’t mind writing love songs back and forth to each other in the year that followed!”

Intriguingly, there’s reason to believe that the future evolution of the pop-country relationship won’t be just about country taking cues from mainstream pop. Whitney notes that Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, The Highwomen and Margo Price — artists who “push the edge” of country audiences’ expectations — are surging onto more playlists, regardless of genre.

In discussing the potential for the expansion of the country-pop crossover, Mayo offers a note of advice for future artists hoping to achieve Lonestar-level popularity.

“Country songs that stick around for a long time tell great stories about things that everybody goes through. It’s not enough to talk about being in a pickup truck on a dirt road in a small town on a Friday night.

You can write that song a thousand times. … Songs, like ‘Amazed,’ that talk about honest truth, are the ones that resonate — regardless of the chart — forever.”

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NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC

POPULAR OPINION

What we lose when we attempt to silence and shame critics

BY MEGAN SELING

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: ELIZABETH JONES

O

n Nov. 12, the day after the 54th Annual Country Music Association Awards, Grammy-winning Americana songwriter Jason Isbell made an announcement to his 375,000-plus Twitter followers. He and his wife, fellow musician and songwriter Amanda Shires, were turning in their CMA membership cards. They were inspired to do so, Isbell wrote, after being disappointed by the organization’s “failure to mention John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Billy Joe Shaver at the CMA’s last night.”

The praises poured in via the replies.

“Good on you both.” “More people with integrity is what is needed in this world.” “You two are great people. Respect.”

Thirty minutes later, author and culture critic Andrea Williams — who has written several stories for the Scene, including last year’s feature “Why Haven’t We Had a Black Woman Country Star?” — quoted Isbell’s tweet and offered another point of view: “Interesting how the one-time erasure of beloved white men did what generations of white supremacy could never.” She later added, “I know Jason Isbell is one of y’all’s ‘woke’ faves, but if leaving the CMA was an option and the org’s racism didn’t make him leave before, an ally he is not.”

It was legit criticism. The annual awards show’s lack of racial diversity is no secret.

Charley Pride is the only Black artist yet to win Entertainer of the Year, which he won in 1971, and he’s also the only Black man to win Male Vocalist of the Year, a title he took in both 1971 and 1972. Only white women have won the Female Vocalist of the Year award since the show’s inception in 1967. What’s more, the organization is acutely FOLLOW ANDREA WILLIAMS (@ANDREAWILLWRITE) AND aware of its repuLORIE LIEBIG (@LORIELIEBIG) tation. During ON TWITTER 2014’s ceremony, host and “Accidental Racist” singer Brad Paisley cracked: “If any of you tuned in to ABC tonight expecting to see the new show Black-ish, yeah, this ain’t it. In the meantime, I hope you all are enjoying White-ish.”

Isbell wholeheartedly agreed with Williams. “You’re right, Andrea,” he wrote on Twitter. “Withdrawing my membership honestly never occurred to me until last night, but that’s my mistake. Should’ve done more to encourage inclusion, and I should’ve done it a long time ago.”

That could’ve been it. That should’ve been it. But for days after their exchange, Isbell’s fans continued to fill Williams’ mentions.

They questioned her authority, called her a “lunatic,” “gatekeeper” and “woke Nazi.”

The mob, which appeared to be predominantly made up of white men, attempted to tell Williams, a Black woman, what should and shouldn’t be considered racist.

It wasn’t the first time Williams had experienced pushback online, she says, but it was the first time it came from “masses and

masses of people.”

“I’m talking about stuff that people rarely talk about, that’s the reality of the situation,” Williams tells the Scene. “I come to it as a fan. I also come to it as someone who has been in this town for over a decade, who’s been boots-on-the-ground. You can’t tell me that I don’t know. You can not like what I’m saying, you can not want to engage with me, you can wish that I wasn’t saying it, but you can’t say that I’m not right, because I’ve got a decade in this, up close, and yes, I care enough to push back on it.”

Williams isn’t the only target of a recent feeding frenzy by country music fandom.

Lorie Liebig, another Nashville-based music critic who has covered country and Americana music for the Scene, The Boot and Rolling Stone Country, was harassed and had private information published on the web. The event that set things in motion: She created the Country Music Accountability Sheet, a document that tracks which mainstream stars had or had not made a public statement about the reignited Black Lives Matter movement.

“I didn’t really expect anyone to care except for my journalist friends who follow me on Twitter,” says Liebig. “It was just a thing I put together more for myself because there were a lot of little articles coming out like, ‘This person posted this,’ and ‘Why isn’t this person saying anything?’ ” Kyle Coroneos, who uses the pen name Trigger, wrote an op-ed about the list on his website Saving Country Music, which has more than 100,000 followers across various social media platforms. He called the document “completely inappropriate, unconscionable, and arguably libelous” and suggested the list was going to be “used to determine who receives coverage by certain media members, and how favorable that coverage is.” Liebig denies that was her intent, and says that’s when a horde of angry fans started to harass and threaten her on social media.

“I logged on that morning and my Twitter feed was just all these mentions,” she says. “[The list] had been shared on all these con-

servative websites. It was endless. People called me every name you can think of — calling me racist against white people, comparing it to Schindler’s list, crazy stuff.”

It can be startlingly easy to get swept up in a storm of online fury. I’ve fallen for it before, and you might have too. The phenomenon of “group madness” has been studied for decades, and how it relates to the age of social media is cleverly explored in journalist Jon Ronson’s 2015 book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. But our society’s growing habit of attempting to quiet culture critics for daring to make contextual observations about musicians, public figures and their art — which is critics’ job, by the way — feels different. It seems more dangerous than the average rando mocking a stranger on the internet for their poor choice of words.

We need music and cultural criticism.

History needs music and cultural criticism.

Williams, Liebig and so many of the other critics who’ve been harassed are the eyes and ears for how today’s stories will be told tomorrow. “[2020] is gonna be a moment that people look back on, 100 percent,” Williams says.

“And what are we gonna say about country music? What are we going to say about this reckoning? Will we have a full accounting?

I want to make sure that we do. I want to make sure that we’re not just saying, ‘Yes, oh my gosh, now there’s more attention being paid to Black artists than ever before,’ but also, ‘Here are the struggles we’re still having,’ ‘Here are the hurdles that still have to be cleared,’ ‘Here are the people standing in the way,’ ‘Here are the ways people contribute to this even if they are not doing so maliciously or intentionally.’

“I want to make sure we have an accurate accounting of that,” she continues, “for no other reason than for the people who come later, who want to know what it was really like.”

We can’t afford to lose these vital voices to throngs of fans unable to grapple with their own shortcomings. So whose job is it to educate foaming-at-the-mouth fans with

itchy Twitter fingers that journalists aren’t the enemy?

“I definitely think the responsibility falls on the artists, but I think that the responsibility falls on the artists before we get to these moments where there’s this brouhaha on Twitter,” says Williams. “What does it say about Jason Isbell that these are the people who are riding so hard for him that even when he says, ‘No, Andrea has a point,’ they are still continuing to question that, to attack? Why do they feel comfortable doing that? What brand or community have you created around yourself and your ideology that these people are not just showing up, but they are loud?”

They’re fair questions, but especially hard questions to grapple with when they’re pointed at an artist you admire. At its core, the music we love is a reflection of who we are.

“A lot of people who are my fans, they want to be told that they’re doing a good job,” says Isbell, speaking with the Scene by phone. “They want to be told that they’re not participating in systemic racism or bigotry.

They want to feel OK with themselves. And I understand that — we all want to feel OK with ourselves. But when they see Andrea correcting me or speaking about me in a way that’s critical, even if it’s constructively critical, they think, ‘OK, I’m going to defend this guy because at heart I’m defending myself.’ ” Many of Isbell’s fans would probably agree with Williams that the CMAs — and mainstream country music as a whole — can and should do more to recognize and include artists of color. And I’d bet that some of the country music fans who attacked Liebig wouldn’t have been nearly as invested in her accountability list had it focused on, say, pop stars or famous athletes.

If country music is going to change, the culture as a whole has to stop attacking the critics who are pointing out where the foundation is starting to crumble. Accept that your fave is flawed. You’re flawed too. The work can’t begin until we all acknowledge there’s work to be done.

EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC

THE SPIN

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

BY CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

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ach streaming performance from The 5 Spot is like a new keepsake being tucked into a time capsule that represents a music scene rising to the occasion. Since co-owner Todd Sherwood got his multi-camera rig up and running in the summer, the Five Points neighborhood bar and venue has hosted more than 40 live or taped sets, streamed via Facebook or StageIt. In times when there’s not a global pandemic going on, dozens of acts that call Nashville home might be playing competing gigs on a given night. Sometimes they’re spread

Highlights of the 40-minute set included an amped-up adaptation of Texan songsmith Ray Wylie Hubbard’s 2006 tune “Snake Farm”; “Atlanta Dog,” which repurposed the riff from Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way” for its middle section; and “Honey Bee,” a call-and-response scorcher recalling early White Stripes tunes. You could also draw a line to Boo-Tay, Bobby Bare Jr.’s grunge-blues gem from ’98. All three can be heard on Cashville, out March 13.

Because Volk’s music lends itself to audience participation, the lack of a crowd diluted some of its visceral power. But to their credit, the pair leaned into the absurdity of the situation. Hollered Reich to the invisible fans: “I want to see you jumping off your couches now, c’mon!” Lowe broke the fourth wall for the finale, “Welcome to Cashville,” exiting the stage with his guitar and venturing out into the empty room with help from what appeared to be a wireless transmitter as the camera crew trailed behind.

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across the city, sometimes they’ll be in different rooms of the same venue (see The Cobra’s fest-friendly main and side stages) or different venues on the same site (like Cannery Row). Throw friends, alcohol and deafeningly loud volumes into the mix, and it can be harder than it should be to give any one group your undivided attention.

Several times a week, The 5 Spot streams performances from a single artist, which start at 8 or 9 on the dot and give the floor to one group or solo performer for up to an hour. The opportunity to play a longerthan-usual set, essentially unopposed, is a welcome change of pace for local pavementpounders like Volk, who broadcast from The 5 Spot Friday, and Lacquer, who played Saturday. It’s no substitute for an in-person show and doesn’t profess to be, but as the pandemic drags on, these shows are giving restless musicians an outlet and viewers a way to engage differently.

Volk is a little band with bold style and a big sound — think AC/DC-gone-outlaw-country.

Guitarist-vocalist Christopher Lowe and singerdrummer Eleot Reich took the stage in full cowboy-glam regalia and commenced tearing through material from their forthcoming full-length debut Cashville. With Lowe’s stout, searing tone pulling the weight of two guitarists and Reich effortlessly keeping time while belting out the tunes in a dramatic vibrato wail, the duo played off each other naturally and wore their influences proudly.

On Saturday, Lacquer’s Micah Mathewson (vocals and guitar), Cole Cosby (guitar), Zane Lake (bass) and Luke Fedorko (drums) gave a 35-minute clinic in quiet-loud dynamics. The quartet’s texturally murky sound and distinctly Southern slant recall the mighty All Them Witches and the more experimental side of Queens of the Stone Age. This came through particularly on a raga-esque piece played early in the set that began slowly with heavy drones but accelerated into a feedback-drenched blues-psych freakout.

Later, the foursome covered Drive-By Truckers’ “Lookout Mountain” (from the 2004 classic The Dirty South). They followed the Patterson Hood-penned number with a similarly fatalistic original written in the desperate voice of someone driven to commit “a true highway robbery.” The song began right with the chorus — “I don’t wanna rough nobody up / But I will, I will” — which Mathewson delivered in a guttural howl that grew more unhinged each time it came around. His cohorts were feeling it too — especially Fedorko, a crafty heavy hitter who you could see singing along with every word from behind the kit. Lacquer, an underrated band, delivered a solid performance through the entire set. The tune in question had an immediacy and intensity that would be exciting to hear them keep exploring going forward. Fingers crossed that it’ll be safe for them to do so for an in-person crowd sooner than later.

EMAIL THESPIN@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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FILM

PRIMAL STREAM 40 Queer culture, Almodóvar, Verhoeven and more, now available to stream

BY JASON SHAWHAN

QUEER JAPAN

QUEER JAPAN VIA VIDEO ON DEMAND

STARSHIP TROOPERS

H

opefully now we’ve got some folks in charge who are at least trying to help facilitate the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, and hopefully we can have this one thing as a foundation to build on. But it’s Tennessee, so even that is a big question mark doing a lot of conditional heavy lifting.

If things have got you stressed, then the following streaming selections should help you decompress, either by thwarting your anxieties or fulfilling them in increasingly baroque ways. As always, visit past issues of the Scene for many more recommendations.

up to battle superbugs for the good of a fascist global government is a wild concept that hasn’t lost any of its bite in the intervening 24 years, and the many creatures are a marvel of malignant design. The fact that this film lost the Best Visual Effects Oscar to Titanic remains a bunch of bullshit. Also featuring special appearances by a Golden Girl and Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You.” Like Lost Highway, Se7en, Intimacy, Basquiat and the SpongeBob SquarePants stage musical, Starship Troopers is subject to the rule of 1.

Outside, whereby any film or artistic work that features a song from David Bowie’s 1995 album 1. Outside is a masterpiece.

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THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC ON SHUDDER

Part of The Criterion Channel’s exceptional program on Afrofuturism, “T” is a haunting and dynamic short film from director Keisha Rae Witherspoon. It’s a documentary about a community commemorating those who have been lost with an event called “T Ball,” with remembrances emblazoned on T-shirts, as well as an exploration of how grief fuels art. In a little less than 15 minutes, Witherspoon depicts a world of boundless imagination and the deepest of emotional stress. Do not miss this — or Witherspoon’s other short, “1968 < 2018 > 2068,” which uses a protean series of Aretha Franklin performances of “I Say a Little Prayer” to demonstrate retrocausality.

It wasn’t specifically the centipedes that did it. But they were certainly part of the unsettled spell that this Indonesian horror epic wrought, leaving me at several different points covering my eyes because what was happening was completely overwhelming. There’s a lot to be said for Indonesia’s willingness to confront a lot of the horrors in its past, and like its thematic sibling May the Devil Take You Too (also on Shudder), The Queen of Black Magic (Indonesian title Ratu Ilmu Hitam) features a visit to an orphanage with secrets that respectable society would prefer remain buried. It shares a title (and some credits-sequence imagery) with the 1981 film of the same title starring South Asian cinema legend Suzzanna (note: anything starring Suzzanna is worth checking out, especially Perjanjian Dimalam Keramat, which is like a simultaneous remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Last House on the Left with big Elaine Stritch energy).

But this is its own nightmare, built on the foundation of institutionalized patriarchy and exploitation, and it is not here to fuck around. Director Kimo Stamboel and writer Joko Anwar (he directed 2019’s Impetigore and the exceptional remake of Satan’s Slaves) tap directly into the part of the brain where nightmares live, and they shower your cerebral cortex with it.

STARSHIP TROOPERS VIA AMAZON PRIME, STARZ, TUBI, SLING, MORE It’s impossible to express how far ahead of its time this film was. But I do recall the day after 9/11 thinking, “Why is Dubya lit like Sky Marshal Tehat Meru now?” That’s why Starship Troopers director Paul Verhoeven and writer Ed Neumeier are treasures; there’s no other filmmaking team whose run of science-fiction films has ended up becoming prophecy with such gonzo wit and not the slightest hint of taste (see also: RoboCop, which launched in theaters as raucous satire and now just looks like real life). A cast of 90210/Melrose Place synthetic youths dolled

28

There’s incredible art on display in Queer Japan, and conceptual drag like nothing you’ve quite seen before. There’s performance art from the incredible visionary Saeborg (who merits their own documentary), a remarkable interview with Gengoroh Tagame (even if you don’t recognize the name, if you’ve been on the internet, you know his art), and countless instances of creativity leaping over the limitations of the conventional and coming up with something delightful and provocative — the stories of the Department H fetish extravaganzas and how the Boyish Friend events came to be are captivating tales for viewers of any situation. But what director Graham Kolbeins has done with this enthralling portrait of the many facets of the queer experience in contemporary Japan is impressive from a structural perspective as well, because there is no aspect of the modern queer experience (nomenclature, incorporating trans issues, racism, fighting discriminatory laws, STI education, evolving perspectives on intersectionality, the protean nature of gender) that doesn’t find a place in the discussion. That’s what lots of documentaries and social movements aim for. But Kolbeins makes it all fit effortlessly and sensibly, finding space for all the voices in a way that lets the film work as a discussion rather than a lecture. A remarkable documentary.

LABYRINTH OF PASSION VIA TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES TCM has been doing the world a solid with its recent programming of Pedro Almodóvar’s ’80s films, leading up to his 1988 international breakthrough Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. This programming is essential both for showing us the artistic foundations of one of global cinema’s most endearing personalities and for giving audiences the world over a look at La Movida Madrileña, the artistic revolution that swept Madrid (and the rest of Spain) following the death of fascist dictator Francisco Franco. The director’s second feature, Labyrinth is a farce that believes wholeheartedly in mercurial identities of all kinds, a cruisy approach to daily life, a bemused ambivalence toward drugs, and the knowledge that terrorist plots and the machinations of previous generations still caught up in fucked-up right-wing fantasies can pop up at any moment to wreck your day. And while not as rough around the edges as the John Waters-y bad-girl picaresque of his first feature Pepi, Luci, Bom, this film is still more than shocking enough for the modern palate. Have a mental margarita and check this one — or the myriad Almodóvar films TCM Is currently showing — out.

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LABYRINTH OF PASSION

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CASH ON DEMAND

The money woes of Ousmane Sembène’s 1968 feature Mandabi remain universal

BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY

I

n his second full-length feature, the 1968 dramedy Mandabi, Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène presents a land that’s filled with both beggars and choosers. That’s what chief protagonist/unemployed family man Ibrahima Dieng (Makhouredia Gueye) discovers when he receives a money order for 25,000 francs from his nephew (Mouss Diouf), who’s trying to MANDABI NR, 91 MINUTES; IN WOLOF make a life for himAND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH self over in Paris.

SUBTITLES Since Dieng AVAILABLE FRIDAY, JAN. 29, lives in a run-down VIA BELCOURT.ORG part of Senegalese capital Dakar, word travels fast about his newly acquired wealth. People come out of the woodwork looking for a piece of the loot, from family members to neighbors to, of course, hustlers and con men. (As it happens, some of those con men are also his family members and neighbors.)

Mandabi is being rereleased this week in a crisp-ass 4K restoration via the Belcourt’s virtual cinema ahead of The Criterion Collection dropping the Blu-ray next month. Adapted from Sembène’s own 1966 novella The Money-Order, Mandabi is both a comedy and tragedy, and it’s the director’s first film in his native Wolof language.

He finds a willing, oafish lead in Gueye, who plays Dieng as a slothful, self-centered sumbitch who’s too stubborn and slow on the uptake to realize when he’s getting played. In an obvious fuck-you to Senegal’s problematic — and patriarchal — social norms, Sembène also gives him two wives (Ynousse N’Diaye and Isseu Niang) who,

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despite waiting on him hand and foot, are savvier and have more sense than this socalled king of the castle.

Despite Mandabi’s sunny scenery, Sembène continuously lets us know that darkness is always afoot for this fella. This is especially the case when he gets out in the city and comes across swindlers, be they small-time grifters or bureaucratic schemers — the guys he encounters when he tries to get the identification needed to cash the damn thing. While Sembène presents a side of Africa (West Africa, specifically) many in the Western world were most likely not hip to at the time, the themes established here are undoubtedly universal. I mean, who among us hasn’t been flanked by folks in the neighborhood every time we get a few dollars in our pockets? Who hasn’t been betrayed by people we thought were loved ones the minute money enters the picture?

Who hasn’t thought that the scavengers and scoundrels seem to get away with murder while decent, down-on-their-luck folk constantly get shafted? Who hasn’t felt like — to paraphrase Cyndi Lauper — money changes everything, but not for the better?

Near the film’s end, Sembène gets a supporting character to dispense some advice to the figuratively and literally poor schnook (as well as the audience) as cynicism starts to sink in. Even though Sembène was obviously reaching out to his African brothas and sistas with this coda, considering the hell we’ve all been through these past four years, I’m sure American viewers who are desperate for a hopeful future will also take Mandabi’s final words of wisdom to heart.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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ACROSS Wild party With 5-Down, some emergency bulletins Certain breakdancing move Piece by Puccini Lover of Giorgetta in Puccini’s “Il Tabarro” Native language of 50 million citizens of India Spill a shipment of bowling balls?

Gets down cold Kind of engine Person not to be trusted “I knew I was going ___ when it was taking longer and longer to wash my face”: Harry Hill Works during a slow day at the restaurant?

Hidden drawback “Paradise Lost” and others Certain deposit “The Game of Strategic Conquest” Word with rule or tackle Advantage Do drugs Piece of curling equipment Poker slang for three of a kind Go on a date with a honeybun?

Body part that’s also a woman’s name SOS response A bit of resistance Gets away Is unable to get away, say … or a hint to 17-, 24- and 40-Across?

One target of doxycycline French setting for Puccini’s “Il Tabarro” “This round’s ___” Sad sound Half of a 1960s folk/ pop group Run over DOWN Lip ___ Concentration

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Plops down Series of goals See 5-Across Makes a duck face, say Part of an Instagram profile Part of one’s mental life “Good ___!”

“You got that right about me!”

Advantages Not going anywhere Zero Tract of low-growing vegetation Separates, in a sense There are more of these in the U.S. in October than any other month, surprisingly Pants measure Adrift Cons Speak out “Honest!”

Not hold back fury High-quality French vineyard Start of this clue Endurance of hardship without complaint Polar bear, to seals Font flourish

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How often Bette Davis won Best Actress Baby rabbit Pageant identifiers Kind of artist Dish that might be seasoned with adobo sauce Actress Kendrick of “Pitch Perfect” It destroyed the town of Mascali in 1928

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What benchwarmers ride, with “the” 1815 novel made into films in 1996 and 2020 Provide initial funding for Org. whose vision is “a great public school for every student” Barely perceptible, say

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE A C H Y

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nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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Rental Scene

Welcome to Dupont Avenue Apartments

Your Neighborhood Local attractions: · Cedar Hill Park · Amqui Station and Visitor’s Center · Madison Farmers Market (Sundays June through August) Neighborhood Dining and Drinks: · Chef’s Market · Blue Crab Shack The Ville · Grams Coffee and Tea

FEATURED APARTMENT LIVING

Enjoy the outdoors: · Treetop Adventure Park (Hermitage, TN) · River Queen Voyages · Nashville Fly Board Best place near by to see a show: · Grand Ole Opry

Best local family outing: · Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park (Old Hickory, TN) Your new home amenities: · On-site laundry · Dog park

Favorite local neighborhood bar: · Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge

601 N. Dupont Avenue. Madison, TN 37115 | www.dupontavenue.com | 615.285.5687

To advertise your property available for lease, contact Keith Wright at 615-557-4788 or kwright@fwpublishing.com

British Woods 264 British Woods Drive Nashville, TN 37217 1 bed / 1 bath 725 sq ft $1084+ per month

2 bed 1.5 / 2 bath

3 bed / 2.5 bath

1025 to 1150 sq ft $1227+ per month

1650 sq ft $1670+

5 floor plans

www.britishwoodsapartments.com | 615.205.1862 Dupont Avenue Apartments 601 N. Dupont Avenue Madison, TN 37115

1 bed / 1 bath 650 sq ft $872 to $1184 3 floor plans

www.dupontavenue.com | 615.285.5687

Gazebo Apartments 141 Neese Drive Nashville TN 37211 1 Bed / 1 Bath 756 sq ft $1,119 +

2 Bed / 1.5 Bath - 2 Bath 1,047 – 1,098 sq ft $1,299 +

3 Bed / 2 Bath 1201 sq ft $1,399 +

5 floor plans

www.Gazeboapts.com | 615.551.3832 30

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

IN RE: HAILEY KAY HAGEWOOD, DOB: 02/20/2007 BRAYDEN RICHARD KEY, DOB: 01/19/2008 Children Under Eighteen Years of Age

It is further ORDERED that if Respondents do not enter an appearance or otherwise answer the petition, further personal service or service by further publication shall be dispensed with and service of any future notices, motions, orders or other legal documents in this matter may be made upon Respondent by filing the same with the Clerk of the Juvenile Court of Dickson County, Tennessee.

NOTICE TIFFANY KEY BYRON HAGEWOOD

IN RE: HAILEY KAY HAGEWOOD, DOB: 02/20/2007 BRAYDEN RICHARD KEY, DOB: 01/19/2008

Tina Romez, has filed a petition seeking custody of Hailey Kay Hagewood and Brayden Richard Key. You are hereby ORDERED to appear for trial on that petition on February 16, 2021, at 1:00 PM, at Dickson County Juvenile Court, 4000 Highway 48 North, Charlotte, 37036, phone number 614-7890250, or to otherwise enter an appearance in this matter. If you fail to do so, an order may be entered against you for the relief requested in the petition. You may view and obtain a copy of the petition and any other subsequently filed legal documents in the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office at the address shown above.

Children Under Eighteen Years of Age

ENTER this the 4th day of January, 2021.

IN THE JUVENILE COURT FOR DICKSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE AT CHARLOTTE Docket No.: 09-20-100-DN

InjuRy Auto ACCIdEnts WRongFul dEAth dAngERous And dEFECtIvE dRugs

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It is further ORDERED that if Respondents do not enter an appearance or otherwise answer the petition, further personal service or service by further publication shall be dispensed with and service of any future notices, motions, orders or other legal documents in this matter may be made upon Respondent by filing the same with the Clerk of the Juvenile Court of Dickson County, Tennessee.

NOTICE TIFFANY KEY BYRON HAGEWOOD

IN RE: HAILEY KAY HAGEWOOD, DOB: 02/20/2007 BRAYDEN RICHARD KEY, DOB: 01/19/2008

Tina Romez, has filed a petition seeking custody of Hailey Kay Hagewood and Brayden Richard Key. You are hereby ORDERED to appear for trial on that petition on February 16, 2021, at 1:00 PM, at Dickson County Juvenile Court, 4000 Highway 48 North, Charlotte, 37036, phone number 614-7890250, or to otherwise enter an appearance in this matter. If you fail to do so, an order may be entered against you for the relief requested in the petition. You may view and obtain a copy of the petition and any other subsequently filed legal documents in the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office at the address shown above.

Children Under Eighteen Years of Age

ENTER this the 4th day of January, 2021.

www.rockylawfirm.com LEGALS

IN THE JUVENILE COURT FOR DICKSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE AT CHARLOTTE Docket No.: 09-20-100-DN

ORDER for PUBLICATION It appearing to the Court from the sworn allegations of the Pro Se Petition for Dependency and Neglect and Custody that the whereabouts of the Respondents, Tiffany Key and Byron Hagewood, is unknown and cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence, it is, therefore, ORDERED that Respondent be

NSC 1/21, 1/28, 2/4, 2/11/2021

NSC 1/21, 1/28, 2/4, 2/11/2021

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS AND COMMENT PERIOD In continuing efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, WeGo Public Transit will have an open public comment period from Monday, January 25, 2021 until Monday, February 15, 2021 and virtual public meetings on the next round of COVID-19 response service changes.

Virtual public meeting, times and dates are listed below. Meeting details can be found at WeGoTransit.com: Thursday, January 28, Nashville MTA Board Meeting Public Comment Period, 2:30 p.m.

(Commenters must register in advance of this meeting.

Comments are limited to three (3) minutes each.)

Thursday, February 4, Webex, 121 p.m.

Tuesday, February 9, Webex, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Proposed service changes would go into effect April 11, 2021.

Impacted routes that may include Routes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 34, 35, 38, 41, 42, 43, 50, 52, 55, 56, 72, 73, 76, 77.

For detailed information on proposed changes and meeting access, visit WeGoTransit.com or call Customer Care at 615-8625950.

Please note that attendance at the above meetings is not required for comments. You may mail comments to WeGo Public Transit Community Engagement, Attn: Public Meeting Comments, 430 Myatt Drive, Nashville, TN 37115; call Public Comments at 615-8625686; or email comments to WeGoTransit@nashville.gov through February 15, 2021. For ADA accessibility information, contact the ADA Coordinator at 430 Myatt Drive, Nashville, TN 37115 or call 615-862-5950.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS AND COMMENT PERIOD

Studio In continuing efforts to respond 325 sq ftto the COVID-19 pandemic, WeGo Public Transit will have an open $850 public comment period from

1 bed / 1 bath 630 sq ft $960

Monday, January 25, 2021 until Monday, February 15, 2021 and virtual public meetings on the next round of COVID-19 response service changes.

Virtual public meeting, times and dates are listed below. Meeting details can be found at WeGoTransit.com: Thursday, January 28, Nashville MTA Board Meeting Public Fairfax Comment Period, 2:30 p.m.

(Commenters must register in advance of this meeting.

Comments are limited to three (3) minutes each.)

Thursday, February 4, Webex, 121 p.m.

Tuesday, February 9, Webex, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

2 bed / 1 bath 810 sq ft $1130

5 floor plans

www.madisonflatsapartments.com | 615.285.5981

Proposed service changes would go into effect April 11, 2021.

Impacted routes that may include Routes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 34, 35, 38, 41, 42, 43, 50, 52, 55, 56, 72, 73, 76, 77.

For detailed information on proposed changes and meeting access, visit WeGoTransit.com or call Customer Care at 615-8625950.

Flats 206 Fairfax Ave Nashville, TN 37212

1 bed / 1 bath $1200 to $1375 634 sq ft 1 floor plan

www.fairfaxflats.com | 629.702.2840

GEODIS Logistics, 2100 Acklen Flats 2104LLC., Acklen Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212 Brentwood, TN. Implementation Analyst II – Manhattan.

Participates in all aspects of business syst. solution implementations incl. process design, system set-up & configuration, user training, testing, go-live support, & contin. improvement. Req. a bachelor’s in Info. Tech., Electronics Engin. or rltd field & min. 3 yrs. of 3PL or MIS exp. & 3 yrs. of Manhattan WMS exp. Exp. w/ Supply Chain Execution apps (e.g. Warehouse Mgmnt Systems, Transportation Mgmnt Systems, Order Mgmnt Systems, etc.). Exp. in Third Party Logistics or sophisticated supply chains of a manufacturer or retailer.

PC literate to include proficiency w/Microsoft Word, Excel, Visio, Project, PowerPoint & Outlook. Qualified candidates may apply by mailing your resume to: ATTN: Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027..

Studio / 1 Bath 517 sq ft $1600 - $1625

Please note that attendance at the above meetings is not required for comments. You may mail comments to WeGo Public Transit Community Engagement, Attn: Public Meeting Comments, 430 Myatt Drive, Nashville, TN 37115; call Public Comments at 615-8625686; or email comments to WeGoTransit@nashville.gov through February 15, 2021. For ADA accessibility information, contact the ADA Coordinator at 430 Myatt Drive, Nashville, TN 37115 or call 615-862-5950.

1 Bed / 1 Bath 2 Bed / 2 Bath HEALTHCARE: Vanderbilt University Medical Center seeks 700 sqAssistant ft Professor in Nashville, 1036-1215 sq ft TN, responsible for diagnosis & treatment of patients who have or $1825 - $1975 $2400 - $2800 show signs of suffering a stroke or general neurological condition,

among other duties. PhD in 12 floor plans Medicine, Surgery, or related field

req + 3 years exp. as a resident or

in a related position in neurology www.2100acklenflats.com | 615.499.5979 clinical medical practice.

EMPLOYMENT Systems Analyst II Manhattan (Multiple positions. GEODIS Logistics, LLC, Brentwood, TN): Reqs Bachelor’s degree (U.S. or foreign equiv) in Computer Science or a related field and 3 years related exp.

Alternatively, will accept Master’s degree (U.S. or foreign equiv) in Computer Science or a related field and 1 year of related exp.

Position also reqs exp w/ Warehouse Management Systems; exp w/ Manhattan EIS, SCI, LMS, & WMS; exp w/ small parcel routing system Connectship; exp w/ Oracle SQL & Shell Script; knowledge of Manhattan WMS tables; PC literacy w/ a command of MS Office to include: Word, Excel, Visio, Access, PowerPoint & Project. Reqs domestic travel up to 50% of the time.

Qualified applicants mail resume to Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027 Ref#:SYSTE14602.

GEODIS Logistics, LLC., Brentwood, TN. Implementation Analyst II – Manhattan.

Participates in all aspects of business syst. solution implementations incl. process design, system set-up & configuration, user training, testing, go-live support, & contin. improvement. Req. a bachelor’s in Info. Tech., Electronics Engin. or rltd field & min. 3 yrs. of 3PL or MIS exp. & 3 yrs. of Manhattan WMS exp. Exp. w/ Supply Chain Execution apps (e.g. Warehouse Mgmnt Systems, Transportation Mgmnt Systems, Order Mgmnt Systems, etc.). Exp. in Third Party Logistics or sophisticated supply chains of a manufacturer or retailer.

PC literate to include proficiency w/Microsoft Word, Excel, Visio, Project, PowerPoint & Outlook. Qualified candidates may apply by mailing your resume to: ATTN: Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101

Developer II - .Net (Multiple positions. GEODIS Logistics, LLC, Brentwood, TN): Reqs Bachelor’s (U.S. or foreign equiv) in Comp Sci or related & 4 yrs web app development exp and/or training. Alternatively, will accept Master’s (U.S. or foreign equiv) in Comp Sci or related & 2 yrs web app development exp and/or training. Also reqs 1 yr app development using C#; 1 yr exp w/ SQL and/or PL/SQL; exp w/ JavaScript, CSS, jQuery, & Ajax; knowledge of leading industry tech w/ strong knowledge around IT governance, project planning, & the tech usage/alternatives available in a multi-platform environment. Qualified applicants mail resume to Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027 Ref #: DEVEL14667.

HEALTHCARE: Vanderbilt University Medical Center seeks Assistant Professor in Nashville, TN, responsible for diagnosis & treatment of patients who have or show signs of suffering a stroke or general neurological condition, among other duties. PhD in Medicine, Surgery, or related field req + 3 years exp. as a resident or in a related position in neurology clinical medical practice.

Certification in neurology from American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology req. VUMC, Attn: Contact Jessica Lucas-Stroud, 2525 W. End Ave, Ste 500, Nashville, TN 37203. To apply for this posting, please go to www.vumc.org/careers and search for posting number 2100163.

Certification in neurology from American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology req. VUMC, Attn: Contact Jessica Lucas-Stroud, 2525 W. End Ave, Ste 500, Nashville, TN 37203. To apply for this posting, please go to www.vumc.org/careers and search for posting number 2100163.

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ORDER for PUBLICATION It appearing to the Court from the sworn allegations of the Pro Se Petition for Dependency and Neglect and Custody that the whereabouts of the Respondents, Tiffany Key and Byron Hagewood, is unknown and cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence, it is, therefore, ORDERED that Respondent be served by publication of the following notice for four (4) consecutive weeks in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper of general circulation published in Davidson County, Tennessee.

Madison Flats Brinkhaven Ave Madison, TN 37115

Rental Scene

ORDER for PUBLICATION It appearing to the Court from the sworn allegations of the Pro Se Petition for Dependency and Neglect and Custody that the whereabouts of the Respondents, Tiffany Key and Byron Hagewood, is unknown and cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence, it is, therefore, ORDERED that Respondent be served by publication of the following notice for four (4) consecutive weeks in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper of general circulation published in Davidson County, Tennessee.

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nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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Nashville is a diverse city, and we want a pool of freelance contributors who reflect that diversity. We’re looking for new freelancers, and we particularly want to encourage writers of color & LGBTQ writers to pitch us.

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