Here’s what’s on deck this year in the state legislature — from vouchers and immigration to guns and health care
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EAST NASHVILLE
SHOOTING PUSHES METRO SCHOOLS TO ADOPT NEW SECURITY MEASURES
Last week’s shooting at Antioch High School reopens thorny school safety debates
BY ELI MOTYCKA
METRO NASHVILLE PUBLIC Schools Director Adrienne Battle addressed a tense press corps just 24 hours after a student killed himself and one other student in the cafeteria at Antioch High School.
“Historically our schools have been safe spaces,” Battle told reporters. “I have worked and learned in the very schools that we’re referring to. Over the last several months and years, we’ve seen a heightened sense around the safety and security in our schools, both with external and internal threats. We are continuing to research and study the most evolving technologies that will help us enhance the safety security measures within our school. There’s not anything that’s off the table for us.”
Battle shared the podium with Mayor Freddie O’Connell, whose two children attend Nashville public schools. Both Battle and O’Connell were visibly shaken.
The questions from local and national media focused on school security measures — specifically Omnilert, the visual gun detection system adopted by MNPS in 2023 for $1 million. The system is one of many new lucrative products sold to schools desperate to defend against the looming threat of a shooting. Others point to the state’s lax gun laws, a teen mental health crisis and social media’s role in online radicalization as problem areas when it comes to preventing more mass killing.
On Monday, MNPS announced that Antioch High School would pilot a new product: the Evolv weapon detection system. Evolv is the same security screening system people walk through at Nissan Stadium. It functions like a next-generation metal detector. Students walk through shoulder-height posts that scan belongings; if flagged,
they get a more invasive secondary screening.
“This pilot program demonstrates our unwavering commitment to safety and security,” says Battle in an accompanying statement. “Antioch High will serve as a critical testing ground for this advanced technology, allowing us to assess its effectiveness as we explore funding opportunities to expand its use across more schools.”
Later that day, students attended a rally and protest at the Tennessee State Capitol.
“The Antioch shooter, there was a whole thing with it being connected to a possible shooting at Hillsboro,” Sparrow Stone, a student at Hillsboro High School, tells the Scene. “I had to sit in my classes fearing someone would come and shoot up my school.”
Stone wants to see more restrictions on guns, including mental health screenings.
“I’m scared, and I want things to change, and I want kids to stop dying,” says Stone.
Educators, school districts and school safety organizations have resisted visible and imposing security measures like metal detectors, which they say create a hostile school environment. When schools physically resemble spaces such as border checkpoints or prisons, students can internalize such measures as evidence that going to school puts them in danger. Critics also bash technology like Omnilert, metal detection or the shatterproof windows installed in MNPS facilities, as reactive and imperfect forms of defense.
Annual school shootings more than doubled between the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary and the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School outside Miami in 2018. Then they nearly tripled in 2023, when a gun was fired or pointed at a person on school property — or a bullet struck school property —
Last week, President Donald Trump pardoned three Tennessee anti-abortion activists convicted for obstructing a health care clinic in violation of federal law: Paul Place and Paul Vaughn both of Centerville, as well as Chester Gallagher of Lebanon, who blockaded Carafem Health Center in Mt. Juliet in 2021. Trump pardoned a total of 23 individuals who were convicted of interfering with health care access under the Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act a federal protection passed in 1994 amid violence from anti-abortion activists. “Since the news of the pardons, we have heard from abortion providers across the country that they are terrified for the safety of their staff and patients,” says Nancy Northrup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a press release.
a record 349 times, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. America earns the tragic distinction of leading the world in mass shootings.
A fund launched by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee — the Nashville School Violence Support and Healing Fund — is raising money for Antioch High School families and students. This week, Antioch High School reopened to students on Tuesday and built in “grief counseling, mental health supports, restorative practices and community-building activities” through the end of the week.
Law enforcement believes that Solomon Henderson, the 17-year-old gunman at Antioch High School, had interacted with the 15-year-old perpetrator of a Dec. 17 school shooting in Madison, Wis. Henderson’s online activity and personal writings credit far-right media figures, including Candace Owens, for his antisemitic and white supremacist views. Owens is Black, as was Henderson. Law enforcement has given little information about Henderson’s firearm amid the ongoing investigation into the shooting. Nashville police arrested six students, including two as young as 12 and one who threatened “Antioch part two” when his backpack was screened, for school violence threats in the days following the shooting.
In addition to new security measures, Battle has repeatedly emphasized the safety of strong relationships between teachers and students.
“ This is a nightmare for us,” she said as she stood alongside the mayor. “This reinforces how important it is for us to know our students, build relationships and foster trust. Our students need us.”
Julianne Akers contributed reporting to this article. ▼
In the latest installment of her Metro Council column On First Reading Nicole “@startleseasily” Williams weighs in on a measure honoring local civil rights giant Vencen Horsely, plus Councilmember Jeff Eslick’s resolution to slow drivers down. “Pedestrian deaths and other traffic fatalities have remained stubbornly high in Nashville despite the city’s adoption of a ‘Vision Zero’ program that looks to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on Nashville’s roads,” writes Williams. “Eslick’s goal is a noble one, but the language of the resolution — which includes a statistic about the sharp decrease in traffic stops since 2018 — left members of the council’s Minority Caucus concerned that its passage could prompt a return to the discriminatory policing highlighted in the 2016 ‘Driving While Black’ report.”
“How many times do we have to do this?” columnist Betsy Phillips asks in the wake of last week’s shooting at Antioch High School “How many times do people in this city, this country, have to rush to the school, the church, the Waffle House, the park, in that torturous state of not knowing if their loved one is alive? How many times do we have to learn the names of ordinary people, sweet children, quiet heroes, too late? How much longer can the people with power to stop this continue to ignore the pain in their communities?”
PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER THE ANTIOCH HIGH SCHOOL
PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS
MAYOR O’CONNELL SPEAKS AT A
SHOOTING
PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS
SCENE FOLLOWING A SHOOTING AT ANTIOCH HIGH SCHOOL, JAN. 22. 2025
WITNESS HISTORY
This blue CD-R copy of The Way She Rides—Luke Combs’s three-song debut EP, independently released in 2014—was signed by Combs and friend Adam Church and given to Church’s parents.
From the exhibit Luke Combs: The Man I Am
RESERVE TODAY
artifact: Courtesy of Adam Church artifact photo: Bob Delevante
On the Hill
Here’s what’s on deck this year in the state legislature — from vouchers and immigration to guns and health care
THIS YEAR’S KEY piece of legislation to watch in the Tennessee General Assembly is Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Act — the centerpiece of a special session convened by Lee on Jan. 27, just hours before this issue went to press. Also being considered during the special session, likely still underway as you read this, will be a legislative package for disaster relief related to Hurricane Helene and legislation dealing with immigration-related public safety measures.
But the 114th Tennessee General Assembly will consider hundreds of pieces of legislation even after the special session has concluded. As has become de rigueur among the state’s Republican supermajority, many bills have been filed related to culture-war issues. Some target the state’s LGBTQ community, like Brentwood Republican Rep. Gino Bulso’s House Bill 64 — which would require “all residential educational programs [for minors] in this state … to segregate all restrooms, changing areas, and showers by immutable biological sex.” While the state isn’t targeting Nashville quite as much as it was just a couple of sessions ago, there are still the odd pieces of legislation filed by Republicans with the likely intent of sticking a thumb in the eye of liberal Davidson County — like, for instance, HB 217 from Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill), which would change Nashville International Airport’s name to Trump International Airport. (“Tennessee is Trump country, whether folks like it or not,” Warner recently told the Nashville Business Journal.) Activists, advocates and the state’s Democratic superminority — its senators and
State likely to pass education reform bill while grappling with HBCU’s financial instability
BY JULIANNE AKERS AND NICOLLE S. PRAINO
BY THE TIME readers have this issue in their hands, the special session to address Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Act — along with disaster relief and immigration — will already be underway. But as the Scene went to press on Monday, the first day of the special session, there were still a lot of unknowns about the future of the bill, which has seen fervent opposition.
Last year’s unsuccessful attempt at passing the Education Freedom Scholarship Act — often referred to as the universal voucher program
— failed in part because of disputes among Republican lawmakers on the expansion of the Education Savings Account program (ESA).
At the start of this year’s session, those same lawmakers appear to be on the same page and preparing to pass the newly written voucher legislation.
In its first year, the act would award 20,000 scholarships to families across Tennessee, half of which will go to any student without restrictions on household income or other criteria.
The other half of the scholarships would prioritize students with disabilities, those zoned for achievement school districts and those with an annual household income that does not exceed 300 percent of the amount required for the student to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Each following year, 5,000 additional scholarships could be added if at least 75 percent of the previous year’s scholarships were utilized. The scholarship amount allotted per student aligns with the state’s public school funding formula base amount and would be paid directly to the schools. The bill would also require scholarship applications to be denied if a student cannot establish a lawful presence in the U.S.
The legislation also includes a one-time $2,000
representatives concentrated largely but not exclusively in Nashville and Memphis — will of course push back against much of the above. Before the start of this year’s session, more than 100 Tennessee businesses, organizations and congregations issued a joint plea asking the General Assembly to curb “bills that limit life-saving health care for transgender and nonbinary people, create obstacles for LGBTQ students and faculty, discriminate in adoption and foster care, and challenge marriage equality.” Meanwhile, with Gov. Lee having seemingly abandoned any serious efforts at gun reform made during a 2023 special session called in the wake of the Covenant School shooting, state Democrats are offering a slate of gunrelated bills. Democrats will also once again make attempts this session to chip away at the state’s exceptionally restrictive abortion laws, though — outnumbered by Republicans 3-to-1 in the House and more than 4-to-1 in the Senate — that’s an uphill battle.
Vouchers, guns, culture wars and health care aside, the Tennessee Constitution’s sole requirement of the state’s two legislative chambers is that they balance the government’s annual budget. While that likely won’t be settled until the tail end of the session sometime this spring, it’ll be the best way to see where state lawmakers’ priorities lie.
Read on for details on what to expect in this year’s ongoing legislative session. —D. PATRICK RODGERS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
For ongoing updates related to the 114th Tennessee General Assembly, visit nashvillescene.com/state-legislature.
bonus for Tennessee public school teachers and allocates 80 percent of the tax collected from sports betting toward improvements to K-12 public school facilities and infrastructure. The total cost of the proposed legislation would be approximately $424.2 million, which includes $148.6 million for the scholarships, $198.4 million for teacher bonuses and $77 million for school facility maintenance.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Frank-
lin), who is carrying the Senate version of the bill, tells the Scene ahead of the special session that he feels confident they have the votes to pass it.
“I think there’s strong support to empower parents to make better educational decisions for their kids,” Johnson says. “I think there’s a lot of fear-mongering that this is somehow going to be detrimental to our local public schools, and it will not. We even have a funding floor built into the legislation that’s going to protect them.”
But many opponents nevertheless have concerns about funding for public schools, which receive money from the state based on the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula. The TISA formula weighs allocations to schools depending on several factors, including the number of students in a local education agency (LEA).
The new education legislation is expected to add $3.3 million to the TISA fund in its first year — however, there is an estimated net decrease in TISA funding each following year of at least $44.9 million, according to the fiscal note provided for the voucher bill by the state’s Fiscal Review Committee.
As for the regular legislative session, one bill has been filed that would allow LEAs to provide real-time enrollment data so that TISA funding allocations are adjusted throughout the year — and so that state funding for students attending charter schools in an LEA is provided before the agency has to pay the school for its students. Another bill creates a 3 percent weighted allocation for students who live in districts that have between 1,001 and 1,250 members. There could be further legislation changing the funding formula as well. Johnson says he considers the voucher bill and making changes to the TISA formula two separate issues.
“I think school choice and empowering parents is a stand-alone issue,” Johnson says. “It’s a separate but very important conversation about how we’re funding public schools. And I’ve long said that Williamson County gets an unfair hand in terms of the funding formula, and so I’m hopeful we can take steps to rectify that this year.”
Funding for K-12 education isn’t the only concern the legislature has this year, as it continues to watch the state’s only historically Black public university go through a tumultuous transition.
After the resignation of Tennessee State University President Glenda Glover, the state legislature also vacated the university’s board of trustees, allowing the governor to name his own replacements. The new board selected an interim president, who has also since resigned. One of the board members, Dwayne Tucker, is now serving as interim president.
Gov. Lee received a letter from the U.S. Department of Education at the beginning of the year urging him to create a joint legislative committee to gather data and conduct a historical budget analysis for how the state has funded its land-grant institutions — TSU and the University of Tennessee. The letter references a 2021 report on the state’s underfunding of TSU and is frequently cited by the university’s supporters as just one example of how the university is continuously disadvantaged due to the state’s actions. So far, no legislative committee has been created related to TSU’s issues, and there is no legislation addressing the university’s funding filed as of the Scene’s press deadline. However, Rep. Harold Love (D-Nashville) tells the Scene he is planning to file legislation about TSU this year. The university is expected to give an update on its budget to the State Building Commission on Feb. 13. ▼
DEMOCRATS’ GUN REFORM STRATEGY EVOLVES WITH NEW LEGISLATION
MaKayla’s Law, illegal transfers and voluntary ‘do-not-sell’ list top Dems’ gun reform efforts
BY ELI MOTYCKA
DEMOCRATS WILL MAKE several attempts to reform Tennessee’s permissive gun laws this session while abandoning legislation that has stalled or failed in past legislative sessions. The state’s Republican supermajority, led by Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) in the House and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) in the Senate, has consistently opposed measures to restrict access to firearms.
Gov. Bill Lee made a weak effort to revive debate on red-flag laws in the wake of 2023’s Covenant School shooting in Nashville. But he has since signed into law SB2763, which preempts such local guardrails from going into effect across the state. Two years in a row, Tennessee Democrats have unsuccessfully pushed red-flag laws, which would allow courts to enact extreme risk protection orders to prevent individuals deemed an imminent risk to themselves or others from owning firearms. A stiff gun lobby, grassroots pro-gun activists and the threat of a far-right primary challenge scare Republicans who privately express support for gun reform, multiple lawmakers tell the Scene
“While I believe a red-flag law would be broader and more useful, today’s legislature is not going to support it — I’ve tried,” says Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville). (Disclosure: Freeman is also president of Scene parent company Freeman Webb.) “I was on the bipartisan committee that the governor put together after Covenant. We met at the governor’s house, we had experts come in, we had department heads speak to us, we spitballed different ideas, all out of session. As soon as I introduced the bill, it lost momentum immediately. If we’re not going to have influential lawmakers on both sides of the aisle extend a little bit of political capital to make this a priority, nothing’s gonna happen. They’re all too afraid of a primary from the right to do anything on gun legislation.”
This year, Democrats will advocate for three bills aimed at guarding Tennesseans against gun violence. The first, known as MaKayla’s Law, amends the state’s “reckless endangerment” offense to hold liable a gun owner whose firearm is used to commit violence by a child younger than 13. Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee killed the
bill last year — Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) has chosen to bring it back up.
“I just wanted to run legislation that has a chance of passing,” Campbell told the Scene earlier this month. “We’re focusing mainly on liability. That’s something that’s bipartisan. I’m hopeful we can move forward at least with some liability-related legislation. This is a time, because of the political climate, for us to look at trying to find compromise. To work with each other to see if there’s something we can agree on.”
Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) is carrying the legislation in the House, where it died in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee a year ago. Both have already been introduced this year.
Campbell has also offered a law banning illegal transfers of firearms. The short bill makes it a class-A misdemeanor to knowingly sell, transfer, lend or otherwise abet the acquisition of a firearm by someone prohibited from owning one. Both of Campbell’s bills codify the legal responsibility of gun ownership preached by many conservatives. She hopes logic will persuade her Republican colleagues. Mitchell will also carry it in the House.
Forthcoming legislation from Freeman would create a voluntary firearm do-not-sell list in Tennessee. As opposed to restriction by a court, Freeman’s bill would allow individuals to restrict themselves from being sold firearms, a precaution nationally known as Donna’s Law. Voluntary do-not-sell registries have passed in three states — including gun-friendly Utah — as well as Washington, D.C. It has failed in others,
including Louisiana, Michigan and Georgia. “Specialists, psychiatrists, therapists, they will rate a patient’s success — in terms of continuing to live and not attempting suicide — by their access to firearms,” says Freeman. “Allowing people to voluntarily put themselves on a donot-sell list during a healthy period or moment of clarity is going to save lives.”
In Tennessee, 833 suicides and 609 homicides were attributed to guns in 2022, per the most recently available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In November, Freeman’s father — Nashville businessman, Democratic megadonor and Freeman Webb owner Bill Freeman — died from suicide by a firearm.
“I’m actively aware of the role mental health plays in gun violence in Tennessee,” says Freeman, referring to his father’s death. “It is much clearer to me because of this experience, and it was something that I dealt with personally.”
A bill from Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) allows counties stronger sovereignty over local gun restrictions. Her legislation, SB 43, gives direct control over gun permitting to county legislative bodies like a city council. State law has allowed permitless carry since 2021, making Tennessee an outlier for its lax firearm regulation. Per CDC data, gun violence across the state increased by 33 percent between 2013 and 2022. Memphis, which Lamar represents, suffers from a particularly high homicide rate; victims are disproportionately Black men.▼
PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS GUN REFORM PROTEST, FEBRUARY 2024
IMMIGRATION
REPUBLICANS TARGET UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS WITH SLATE OF BILLS
From driver’s license changes to citizenship inquiries, the state GOP is following Trump’s lead on immigration
BY HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS
IMMIGRATION IS TAKING center stage at both the federal and state levels, with Tennessee Republicans working quickly to take advantage of President Donald Trump’s focus on the southern border — a focus he’s shown through a slew of sweeping executive orders.
Last week, Gov. Bill Lee’s office issued a release signaling its intention to “provide critical support at the Southern border and keep communities safe by ensuring our state is ready to assist President Trump in carrying out his immigration enforcement agenda.” Among the governor’s listed priorities is creating the Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division, a “division within the Department of Safety to ensure efficient resource allocation and effective enforcement of immigration laws.” Lee has
also suggested that local officials who adopt or maintain “sanctuary city” policies could be charged with a felony and removed from office.
More immigration bills could be filed ahead of the Feb. 6 filing deadline. But as of Jan. 21, the following pieces of legislation are among those that will be considered by legislators, both in the regular session and in the ongoing special session called by Gov. Lee.
House Bill 10/Senate Bill 6, sponsored in the House by Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) and in the Senate by Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald), aims to require local law enforcement agencies who have arrested undocumented people to “request an immigration detainer and detain such individual for the maximum period as specified in the detainer.” The bill also requires law enforcement to transport any undocumented defendant to a “sanctuary city,” if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not placed them into custody within 48 hours — on the dime of local agencies who could then refuse to pay federal taxes to recoup their costs.
Warner recently told Scene sister publication the Williamson Scene he plans to amend the bill to change its focus from sending immigrant criminal defendants to sanctuary cities to facilitating deportations.
HB 11/SB 5, sponsored in the House by Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) and in the Senate by Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald), would require the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security to redesign driver’s licenses, photo IDs and driver’s permits issued to lawful non-cit-
izen residents to be “easily distinguished” from driver’s licenses and photo IDs issued to U.S. citizens residing in Tennessee.
HB 144/SB 139, sponsored in the House by Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) and in the Senate by Sen. Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun), would require hospitals that accept Medicaid to “inquire about a person’s citizenship status and submit a quarterly report to the [Department of Health] on the number of hospital admissions and emergency department visits by persons lawfully and not lawfully present in the United States.” It would also require the department to submit an annual report to the governor and lawmakers “regarding the impact of uncompensated care for persons not lawfully present in the United States and other related information.”
HB 145, sponsored in the House by Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), would require a financial institution to verify the immigration status of anyone sending funds electronically outside of the U.S., as well as changing “the definition of resident or citizen of this state to mean citizens of the United States and aliens lawfully present in this state.” It would also require the parent, guardian or legal custodian of a student “who is not lawfully residing in this state” to pay tuition for public school. The bill doesn’t currently have a sponsor in the Senate.
HB 177, introduced by freshman Rep. Lee Reeves (R-Williamson County), “urges” the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security to “study the enforcement of federal
immigration laws, detentions and removals, investigations in this state, and immigration-related progress and challenges.” It would require the department to submit a report to the governor and General Assembly on or before Jan. 1, 2026. The bill doesn’t currently have a sponsor in the Senate.
SB 17, sponsored in the House by Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), would require law enforcement agencies and officials to report the immigration status of someone who has been arrested, “including reporting knowledge that a particular alien is not lawfully present in the United States or otherwise cooperate with the appropriate federal official in the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens not lawfully present in the United States.” The bill doesn’t currently have a sponsor in the House.
SB 227, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), would allow a “charitable organization that provides housing to a person who the charitable organization knows is unlawfully present in the United States” to be held liable for damages, a loss, injury or death committed by someone who is “unlawfully present in the United States while the person is receiving housing services from the charitable organization if the charitable organization’s conduct in providing housing constitutes negligence, gross negligence, or willful and wanton misconduct.” At this time, the bill does not have a sponsor in the House. ▼
PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS ANTI-IMMIGRATION RALLY, MARCH 2024
STATE REVENUE SHORTFALL CONTINUES
Franchise tax change puts strain on FY25 budget ahead of costly special-session topics
BY NICOLLE S. PRAINO
THE LEGISLATION DISCUSSED during the special session will have major implications on the state’s budget this year — from the cost of the governor’s education plans to East Tennessee disaster relief funds and even the potential financial implications of any immigration legislation.
As of this writing, those are all unknown factors, though it’s not unusual for details on the state’s budget to be unclear this early in a legislative session. During last year’s session,
HEALTH CARE
HEALTH CARE GETS IN THE WEEDS
Bills filed this session aim to protect birth control, outlaw abortion pill and loosen TennCare restrictions
BY HANNAH HERNER
IN PREVIOUS YEARS, abortion and gender-affirming care have each taken a turn dominating the headlines made by the Tennessee General Assembly. This year, legislators have introduced a smorgasbord of new bills in the health care realm that play off laws from past sessions.
Perhaps the most extreme bill comes from Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), who wants to create a $5 million civil penalty for companies or people who distribute mifepristone for the purpose of a medication abortion. As it stands, Tennesseans can order the drug in the mail, despite past attempts from the legislature to ban that capability. Since the end of last year’s legislative session, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that anti-abortion groups did not have the legal standing to challenge the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug too. Mifepristone can be used in pregnancies at fewer than 70 days gestation and accounts for nearly twothirds of abortions in 2023, but the drug is also used in hospitals during miscarriages.
During the previous legislative session, Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), who is a physician, said he would introduce legislation to allow for abortions in the case of fatal fetal anomalies — fetuses with complications so severe that they could not sustain life outside of the womb. After tabling the bill following pressure from lobbyists, Briggs told the Scene it was his biggest disappointment of the session. He tells the Scene
the state preemptively set aside $144 million in the fiscal year 2025 budget for Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship legislation. That money will be returned to the general fund for the fiscal year 2026 budget, so it’s expected that — should the legislation pass this year — lawmakers will utilize those funds for the governor’s school voucher plan.
But those pending large-ticket items are concerning to state Democrats, who would seek to use the state’s revenues in other ways — ways that are unlikely to pass, since Tennessee’s Republican supermajority controls the votes.
In December 2024, the state’s tax revenues were $1.9 billion — $21 million less than in December 2023. Comparing August through December 2024 to the same period during 2023, total tax revenues decreased by 0.18 percent. Tax revenues for those months during 2024 were also considered under the budget estimate.
The state’s revenues are underperforming due to a change to corporate taxes made by the legislature last year. While sales, fuel and other taxes are coming in slightly above estimates,
the corporate franchise and excise tax numbers are significantly below estimates, and are down in year-over-year comparison. Franchise and excise tax revenue was down 12.59 percent, or $66.6 million, in December compared to the same month the previous year. And when comparing August through December 2024 to the same months in 2023, that tax revenue was down 24.92 percent, or $364.7 million.
In that same period of comparison, all other tax revenue was up $349.4 million — meaning the $15.3 million in decreased revenues was due to the franchise and excise tax revenue shortfall.
This decrease was something Democrats warned about when the legislature enacted changes to the franchise tax last year, calling the adjustment a “corporate handout.”
Businesses now pay franchise taxes based solely on their net worth, with the amount of property they own in the state no longer a factor. The fiscal year 2025 budget included a $150 million line item to make up for the fiscal year 2024 budget’s undercollection. Now, pretty early in the year, it’s looking like the fiscal year 2026
budget may require a similar item to make up for shortfalls once again.
The state is also eyeing a potential change to its real estate transfer tax this year. Right now, when a home is sold, taxes are collected by the state. But House Bill 95 and Senate Bill 126 would return half of taxes collected to the county in which the property was sold. As it stands now, that legislation is bipartisan and carried by Rep. Johnny Shaw (D-Bolivar) and Sen. Page Walley (R-Savannah) — which is no surprise, considering most legislators would be happy to return tax revenue to their home counties. The legislation is being supported vocally by political and business leaders in Williamson County, the home of Gov. Lee and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin).
That legislation, along with any other bills that have financial effects, will require a fiscal review, and the state will consider any potential decrease in state revenue or cost implications to the fiscal year 2026 budget. ▼
that, as of this writing, he is not prepared to release a statement on bringing similar legislation this year.
From the Democrats, a bill introduced by Rep. Yusuf Hakeem (D-Memphis) would allow for abortions in the case of rape and incest. Similar legislation, including a law that would allow abortions for children under age 13, was shot down in 2024. In addition, Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) has introduced a bill to protect the existing rights to IVF and hormonal birth control, following the failure of a similar effort in 2024. Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) and Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) are making a second symbolic attempt to
legalize abortion in the state as well. Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) and Behn have also introduced legislation that would make preschool free for every 4-year-old in Tennessee.
Tennessee is one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid coverage, and several pieces of legislation seek to slightly loosen the program’s restrictions. A bipartisan bill was filed by Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) and Rep. Charlie Baum (R-Murfreesboro) to establish a TennCare benefits program that could provide assistance on a temporary basis for those who don’t qualify for TennCare. Baum is also seeking to establish a statewide cost savings incentive program for
health care, a model that rewards individuals or groups for saving money. Another bill urges TennCare to cover testing for preeclampsia.
Additional legislation from Rep. Brock Martin (R-Huntingdon) and Sen. Ed Jackson (R-Jackson) would establish minimum and maximum reimbursement rates for rural hospitals, with other legislation focusing on TennCare reimbursement rates for air ambulances and ground ambulance services.
Lamar is also planning to build on her previous doula-related legislation with SB 44, which directs the Department of Health to provide a process by which doulas can be certified to be covered by TennCare. ▼
WOMEN’S MARCH NASHVILLE, JANUARY 2025
PHOTO:
NASHVILLE SYMPHONY
calendar.nashvillescene.com for more event listings
FEB. 2 - MAY 11
ART [POLAR PLUNGE]
JESSICA HOUSTON: …NO FOOTPRINTS, EVEN.
Montreal-based artist Jessica Houston makes work that focuses on climate justice issues — and that work is arriving on Vanderbilt’s campus at the perfect time. Her exhibition, titled …no footprints, even., brings together four bodies of work that employ collage, paintings, photographs and objects. The collage series Over the Edge of the World references the male-forward legacies of polar expeditions, and photographs like 2015’s “Place of Many Fish” use pieces of colored felt to filter and flatten the horizons. The resulting image, which Houston captured while sailing the Northwest Passage, withholds and erases information with an uneasy artificiality. It’s impressive work from an artist with an absolutely singular vision. Luckily, the Vanderbilt University Museum of Art has programmed a series of events to help facilitate conversation around these important topics. In addition to an opening reception on Saturday, Feb. 1, the museum will host the artist for the entire week of Feb. 17. During her stay in Nashville, Houston will lead a collage-making workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 18, followed by a tour of the exhibition. On Wednesday, Feb. 19, Houston will deliver a talk about her practice. And on Friday, Feb. 21, Houston will join astronomer Billy Teets for a special program at Vanderbilt’s Dyer Observatory. Additional events, including an exhibition tour by artist and exhibition co-curator Jana Harper, are scheduled throughout the show’s run. For more details on these events, follow the museum on Instagram at @vanderbiltartmuseum. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER THROUGH MAY 11 AT VANDERBILT MUSEUM OF ART
COHEN MEMORIAL HALL, 1220 21ST AVE. S.
THURSDAY
/ 1.30
THEATER [A SOUTHERN CLASSIC] STUDIO TENN: CRIMES OF THE HEART
With quirky characters and plenty of small-town turmoil, Beth Henley’s hit play Crimes of the Heart comes from a long line of Southern-fried tragicomedies that seamlessly balance humor and heartache with style. After premiering offBroadway in 1980, the play — which follows the hapless MaGrath sisters in Hazlehurst, Miss. — moved to Broadway’s John Golden Theatre in November 1981, earning four Tony nominations and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A successful film adaptation followed in 1986 starring Sissy Spacek, Jessica Lange, Diane Keaton and Tess Harper. Fans can revisit the tender tale this weekend at Studio Tenn Theatre Company in Franklin. Denice Hicks directs a terrific cast, including Katie Bruno, Delaney Keith, Mariah Parris, Taryn Pray, Jonah Jackson and Matthew Benenson Cruz. I’m also eager to check out Andrew Cohen’s scenic design, along with costumes from Devon Spencer. As a play that serves up all manner of Southern stereotypes and plenty of familial dysfunction, Crimes of the
Heart is a great choice for Studio Tenn — and a fitting showcase for some marvelous female talent. AMY STUMPFL
THROUGH FEB. 9 AT THE TURNER THEATER AT THE FACTORY AT FRANKLIN
230 FRANKLIN ROAD
[‘IT’S JUST A LOVE-IN’]
MUSIC
THE PISAPIA LOVE-IN FEAT. JOE, MARC’S BROTHER
The Pisapia Love-In returns to The 5 Spot this Thursday for the finale of a pair of January shows. “Hey, man, it’s just a love-in,” producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Pisapia tells the Scene with a laugh. There for certain will be a lot of love in the room, because as in past years, the love-in features Joe, Marc’s Brother, the beloved ’90s Nashville rock trio fronted by Pisapia and including his brother Marc Pisapia on drums and James “Hags” Haggerty on bass. “They are my soul brothers and my musical brothers,” Pisapia says. But it won’t be a JMB show per se — they will be primarily performing material from Pisapia’s five solo releases, which often go beyond the band’s brand of eclectic pop rock into more adventurous and sonically unexpected territory. “I struggle with what to call it,” Pisapia adds. “So many people still call it Joe, Marc’s Brother even though Joe, Marc’s Brother hasn’t done a record since 2000. But the core band is still Joe, Marc’s Brother.” JMB will be joined at Thursday’s show by stellar keyboardist Jen Gunderman.
DARYL SANDERS
6 P.M. AT THE 5 SPOT
1006 FOREST AVE.
FRIDAY / 1.31
[THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE] CHINESE ARTS ALLIANCE OF NASHVILLE & NASHVILLE SYMPHONY: LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
The Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville was established in 2012 with one simple mission in mind: to “promote the awareness, understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the Chinese visual arts and performing arts.” Over the years, the organization has presented a wide range of activities for both children and adults, including dance performances and workshops, educational programs and more. This weekend, CAAN is teaming up with the Nashville Symphony for a special Lunar New Year Celebration. Ming Luke will conduct the performance, and the evening promises a great selection of traditional Asian music along with Ravel’s “Empress of the Pagodas” from Mother Goose Suite and a solo performance of Yellow River Piano Concerto featuring guest artist Susan Yang. The program also includes three dance performances, all choreographed by CAAN’s own Jen-Jen Lin. And be sure to keep an eye out for other upcoming events to celebrate the Lunar New Year, including a 10-course banquet at Sichuan Hot Pot & Asian Cuisine Restaurant on Feb. 2, and a free celebration at Musicians
7:30
MUSIC
[BIG HEARTS]
JOHN MAILANDER’S FORECAST W/ KYLE TUTTLE BAND
The world of post-Newgrass keeps on mutating. For fiddler John Mailander — who grew up in San Diego, Calif., before honing his skills at Berklee College of Music — bluegrass is a stepping-off point for instrumentals that combine New Age aesthetics and jazz rigor, with plenty of bluegrassy flourishes. Mailander moved to Nashville in 2015 and began playing a series of local shows with his band Forecast in 2019. The sextet’s new album Let the World In sits firmly within the tradition of jazz albums like Bill Frisell’s 1991 Where in the World? and John Scofield’s 1992 Grace Under Pressure, not to mention vibraphonist Gary Burton’s 1967 jazz-meets-country collection Tennessee Firebird. Mailander & Co. come up with catchy, lightweight jazz-grass on Let the World In, and their brief forays into what I guess you’d call free
NASHVILLE SCENE JANUARY 30 – FEBRUARY 5, 2025 • nashvillescene.com
Live musical guest. Now she adds a new line to her résumé: Bridgestone Arena headliner. Ballerini plays the downtown room as part of an early-2025 tour in support of her latest LP, Patterns, which features “Cowboys Cry Too” — a detailed and grounded duet with folkpop sensation Noah Kahan. Ballerini co-wrote and co-produced Patterns alongside Alysa Vanderheym, who previously worked with the singer on her standout 2023 EP, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat. MaRynn Taylor opens the show, while Sasha Alex Sloan plays main support.
MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER
7 P.M. AT BRIDGESTONE ARENA
501 BROADWAY
[SCI-FI SENDUP]
FILM
CLONE COPS
jazz don’t detract from the total effect. There’s even a cover of Nick Drake’s “Road” thrown in for good measure. Meanwhile, banjo player and singer Kyle Tuttle goes from ECM-esque jazz impressionism to Garcia-style boogie on the seven-minute track “Two Big Hearts,” one of the standout tunes on his 2024 Labor of Lust, which features some nicely turned instrumental sections. Friday’s show marks the release of Let the World In. Also appearing will be Nashville folk duo Paper Wings. EDD HURT
8 P.M. AT EASTSIDE BOWL
1508 GALLATIN PIKE S., MADISON
MUSIC
[PATTERN
RECOGNITION]
KELSEA BALLERINI
Kelsea Ballerini has paid her dues in the mainstream country world. She’s headlined the Ryman Auditorium and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. She’s earned multiple Grammy Award nominations and collaborated with a nearly endless list of sought-after hitmakers. She regularly appears on network television, whether as a coach on The Voice, the host of the annual CMT Awards or as a 2023 Saturday Night
Unfurling its tendrils and making a nationwide flex is some low-key homegrown absurdist sci-fi. Bemusedly angry at the state of the world and the insane way that media works — with the same tired heroes and villains manufactured again and again from a decreasing supply of genetic material for all the bread-and-circuses action that the public can stream — Clone Cops hold sway. Director/ co-writer Daniel Dones finds the right strands, drawing from speculative works from all over the place, with big ups shown to Southland Tales, Series 7: The Contenders, Idiocracy and just a splash of Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy. Likewise, the film gets across that exact and specific Philip K. Dick experience of being caught up in the far-reaching, grandstanding madness that comes from living in Tennessee, with its inscrutable and petulant legislature. The sci-fi satire aspects play nice with the existential dread of the characters’ situation, and there’s an indescribable zing in seeing beloved local personalities get to “yes, and” in a big old genre sandbox — like Megalopolis if Spice J was playing Wow Platinum, RoboCop with Dean Shortland as Bob Morton, Star Wars with co-writer Phillip Cordell (who is absolutely having the most fun) as all the Fetts, or Henry Haggard as Dr. Moreau. JASON SHAWHAN
OPENING JAN. 31 AT THE MALCO 100 SMYRNA ROW, SMYRNA
SATURDAY / 2.1
THEATER
[A MUSICAL JOURNEY THROUGH TIME] WORLD PREMIERE: ELIJAH ROCK! A JUBILEE BATTLE
The Nashville Children’s Theatre is back this weekend with another exciting world premiere: Elijah Rock! A Jubilee Battle. Penned by awardwinning playwright, director and educator Gloria Bond Clunie (North Star) and developed right here in Nashville, Elijah Rock! follows a fiercely competitive middle school history student. But when Eli decides to enter a history competition with a “spiced-up version of past events,” he encounters a mysterious band of spirits who call themselves the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Directed by NCT favorite Bakari King (with musical direction by the always reliable
Corner in Centennial Park on Feb. 8. AMY STUMPFL
P.M. AT THE SCHERMERHORN 1 SYMPHONY PLACE
KELSEA BALLERINI
Piper Jones), the cast includes Jakholbi Murry, James Rudolph II, Alisa Osborne, Joy Pointe, Gerold Oliver and Amanda Rodriguez. Young audiences can look forward to a great mix of music, spirituals, rap and rhyme along with thoughtful designs from NCT’s creative team, with scenic/lighting design by Scott Leathers, projections by William Kyle Odum, sound by Marsalis Turner and costumes by Billy Ditty. Elijah Rock! is recommended for third through eighth grades and promises an entertaining journey through time — and a unique window into the remarkable legacy of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. AMY STUMPFL
THROUGH FEB. 16 AT NASHVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE 25 MIDDLETON ST.
[MAKE IT A DOUBLE]
FILM
2024 IN TRIBUTE: THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM AND THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
All of the selections for the Belcourt’s 2024 In Tribute series — which honors film legends who died last year — were thoughtful, but this Roger Corman double feature is especially inspiring. The Belcourt picked a pair of titles from Corman’s Poe cycle, which saw the legendary iconoclast direct eight Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, seven of which starred Corman’s ghoulish muse Vincent Price. Price stars in both of this double-header’s features: 1961’s The Pit and the Pendulum and 1964’s The Masque of the Red Death. Since they both run under 90 minutes, you can get in and out in less time than it takes to see The Brutalist. (No shade, I’m an ardent defender of long movies.) Each film will screen on 35 mm, which only adds to the macabre of it all.
LOGAN BUTTS
NOON AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.
[ATLANTIC LINERS]
MUSIC
YACHT ROCK REVUE
Yacht rock is a great example of a shoehorn genre — a musical style invented after the fact that has its own rules about what fits. Garret Price’s attempt to explain those rules, the 2024 movie Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, does a good job of charting the course of a lot of 1970s and ’80s music that put R&B and jazz elements into service of pop confections that seem definitively post-countercultural. You can point to early Steely Dan as proto yacht rock, and I made a playlist recently that contains the Dan’s 1972 “Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)” and Chunky, Novi & Ernie’s 1974 “Atlantic Liner.” As you might have heard, Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen blew off Price for Yacht Rock, telling him to go fuck himself and then later allowing the director to use six Steely Dan songs in the film. Leave the Dan out of the conversation — they achieve jazz-pop liftoff on 1977’s Aja, which transcends genre. Yacht rock as practiced by the masters — Christopher Cross and the Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brothers, to name two — was about partying in the ’70s in a hedonistic way the hippies of the ’60s could never understand. Saturday’s show at the
Ryman features the great Yacht Rock Revue, an Atlanta-based outfit whose members work hard to get everything just right. EDD HURT
8 P.M. AT THE RYMAN
116 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY. N.
[GON’ GIVE IT TO YA]
SPORTS
HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS
Sure, there were some major sports events last year: the Paris Olympics, a goal post procession down Lower Broadway, Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul breaking Netflix, etc. But for nonsports folks, the highest moment of athleticism was the scene in Challengers when the camera took viewers inside a tennis ball getting thwacked back and forth across the court. If your point of entry into sports also requires a game with a storyline and finely tuned choreography, get your body to the court to watch the Harlem Globetrotters play their long-standing rivals the Washington Generals. As talented athletes and classically trained entertainers, the Harlem Globetrotters have been dazzling fans for almost 100 years by putting on a show that doubles as a game. The team shows masterful comedic timing with every trick shot and slam dunk, and the games mix in audience participation and fun music for a show that could turn even the most reluctant non-sports fans into sports lovers. TOBY ROSE
2 & 7 P.M. AT BRIDGESTONE ARENA
501 BROADWAY
[ICE
TO
MEET YOU]
MUSIC
NORDISTA FREEZE’S SPACE PROM
Prom seldom lives up to the expectations we have for it, and there are plenty of flaws in the institution, from pressuring teens to spend lots of money to reinforcing the gender binary. Anyone organizing a high school dance could take some notes from the playbook of highoctane rocker Nordista Freeze and his annual Space Prom. Organized loosely around the principle of “songs you’d hear at your prom if it was held in space during the 1980s,” the show is an inclusive, expansive DIY costume dance party. It features a virtuoso house band playing a choice selection of covers — from disco to dream pop to metal and beyond —
NASHVILLE SCENE JANUARY 30 – FEBRUARY 5, 2025 • nashvillescene.com
Dinner With Your Dog, an all-dogs-welcome event featuring “a cocktail hour with treats for you and your dog, a delicious dinner, a celebrity-and-NHA-shelter-dog runway show, a silent auction and more.” This year’s Unleashed, featuring the theme “Yee Paw — a Country Western Mutt Gala,” will be hosted by legendary artist and noted animal advocate Emmylou Harris, with participants and speakers including Mayor Freddie O’Connell, Councilmember Rollin Horton, poet Ciona Rouse, restaurateur Anna Myint, country star Billy Ray Cyrus and more. “Western-themed looks” are encouraged for attendees, both four-legged and otherwise. Buy tickets and find more details via nashvillehumane.org.
D. PATRICK RODGERS
6 P.M. AT THE HILTON NASHVILLE DOWNTOWN
121 FOURTH AVE. S.
with a broad spectrum of guest singers. The roster for the seventh run of the event, set for Saturday, includes returning visitors like Jarren Blair, Sunshine Scott and members of Greta Van Fleet as well as newcomers like Chuck Indigo, massie99, Brian Brown, Katie Pruitt and Budge. Despite frigid temperatures, last year’s installment was packed to the walls, so don’t wait around to get tickets. STEPHEN TRAGESER
8 P.M. AT BROOKLYN BOWL
925 THIRD AVE. S.
[FUREVER
AND EVER, AMEN]
FUNDRAISER
UNLEASHED: DINNER WITH YOUR DOG
If your social media activity is anything like mine, at least a couple of times per week you find yourself on your app of choice, scrolling through animal-rescue videos — chasing after the sweet dopamine hit that lands anytime you see a formerly neglected, abandoned or abused critter find a happy home. Of course, there are people doing the good work of finding safe homes for in-need cats and dogs right here in our backyard. The Nashville Humane Association estimates that it rescues and rehomes thousands of animals per year, with a “99 percent save rate” — but it isn’t cheap work. Every year, the NHA raises funds via Unleashed:
SUNDAY / 2.2
[SKATETOWN, U.S.A.]
SPORTS
RIVERGATE SKATE CENTER ADULT NIGHT
Adult Night at Rivergate Skate Center is so fun that I gave it a Best of Nashville award for Best Skate-Spiration in 2023. I’m happy to report that not much has changed since then, and the weekly event can still be depended on to serve excellent ambience every time. I’m inspired by the more experienced skaters who move in sync with the music, incorporating spins, dips and jumps to go along with the mostly R&B playlist. Some link arms, combining forces for an endearing and advanced team routine. During an Adult Night, you do have to skate away from the wall (that’s where the faster skaters zip by) but I find it’s easier to skate among people who know what they’re doing. In the middle of the floor, skaters have space to practice their technique. Roller skating is really my new favorite form of exercise, and besides, nothing hits harder than a roller-rink slush. HANNAH
HERNER
8 P.M. AT RIVERGATE SKATE CENTER 119 GLEAVES ST., MADISON
PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO
RIVERGATE SKATE CENTER ADULT NIGHT
YACHT ROCK REVUE
From platinum-selling chart-toppers to underground , household names to undiscovered gems, Chief’s Neon Steeple is c bringing the very best national and regional talent back to Broadway.
FEBRUARY LINE
2.1 Karen Waldrup w/ Special Guest Joey Green
2.7 Aaron Nichols & The Travellers Chris Stapleton Tribute – Free Show
2.8 Livin’ the Write Life feat. Dave Gibson, Jet Harvey, Anthony Smith, Anthony Carpenter
2.11
Salute the Songbird with Maggie Rose, Special Guest: Brittney Spencer
2.12 Uncle B’s Drunk with Power String Band feat. Bryan Simpson w/ Ben Chapman, Thad Cockrell, Trey Hensley, Meg McRee
2.13 Chase Rice – Songs From I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go To Hell SOLD OUT
2.14 Chase Rice – Songs From Go Down Singin’ SOLD OUT 2.15 8Track Annual VD Party!
WRITERS’ ROUNDS AT CHIEF’S
2.16 Radney Foster w/ Special Guest Logan Mac
2.19 Heather Morgan, Tiera Kennedy, Iris Copperman w/ Ross Copperman
2.20 T. Graham Brown
2.21 James Esaw & Triad4Christ
2.22 Waymore’s Outlaws –Runnin’ With Ol’ Waylon
2.23 Pick Pick Pass w/ Kevin Mac, Craig Wayne Boyd, Jake Hoot
2.24
Buddy’s Place Writer’s Round w/ Girl Named Tom, Gina Venier, Sam Williams
2.26 Josh Weathers w/ The Lowdown Drifters
2.28 Jamie O’Neal Album Preview Show
are dedicated to celebrating the brilliant minds behind some of today’s most iconic songs.
HANS ZIMMER LIVE
Nashville is a city so thoroughly involved in the arts and entertainment space, nobody is surprised by the number of film nerds throughout the city. (This might be you if you go to the Belcourt at least once a month and obsessively update your Letterboxd.) But for the film lovers who take that next step into being soundtrack-obsessed, here’s your moment. Hans Zimmer, one of the most accomplished and best-known film composers of all time, is bringing his show Hans Zimmer Live to the Nashville stage. The frequent Christopher Nolan collaborator has written music for epic films including Interstellar, Dunkirk and Inception — as well as Dune, Top Gun: Maverick and many more — so the performance is sure to put you in the center of all your wildest movie dreams. Though Nashville was not originally part of Zimmer’s 2024 North American fall tour, it was included as part of five additional shows in winter 2025. Zimmer, accompanied by Ukrainian symphony orchestra Lords of the Sound, will take over Bridgestone Arena Sunday night.
KATIE BETH CANNON
7:30 P.M. AT BRIDGESTONE ARENA
501 BROADWAY
MONDAY / 2.3
FILM [TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS IN THE MAKING] DIG! XX
In an age before algorithms and follower counts, psychedelic rockers The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre cultivated audiences with their looks, their sound and their often unsound decisions. Ondi Timoner’s 2004 documentary DIG! tracks the two fledgling bands from 1996 to 2003 as they wrestle with dreams, each other and a music industry hungry for the next big thing. Wielding a sitar and a penchant for ruining everyone’s day, Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre fancies himself a god. But there’s trouble in paradise when Newcombe’s Dandy protégés find success and stability he never could. What follows is raw, messy and a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Twenty years later, DIG! returns as DIG! XX, complete with 40 minutes of previously unused footage and new voiceover narration from The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s tambourine player, Joel Gion. Screening as part of the Belcourt’s Music City Mondays series, this super-sized rock doc will feature an introduction from local rabble-rouser/musician Coley Hinson.
QUINN HILLS
8 P.M AT THE BELCOURT
2102 BELCOURT AVE.
CIRCUS [DIAPERS AND DIPLOMAS]
NIGHT CIRCUS BENEFIT FOR ELLA’S HOUSE
If you’re looking for a fundraising event unlike any other that supports a unique and important cause in Music City, then the Night Circus benefit for Ella’s House promises a thrilling
evening of mystery, magic and performance at The Saint Elle downtown, all for a good cause. Ella’s House is a nonprofit organization focused on supporting pregnant and parenting mothers ages 18 to 24 in the Nashville area, specifically those who are students at local universities or community colleges. During one of the most challenging times of a young mother’s life, crucial resources for both mothers and children — such as safe housing, community events, health care services and financial assistance — can be hard to come by. The team at Ella’s House helps ease the burden with holistic support so parents can achieve their educational goals throughout pregnancy and the first year of parenthood. The Night Circus is an opportunity to support their mission in style: Hors d’oeuvres and cocktails will be served throughout the evening as circus acts perform. Black-and-gold cocktail attire is requested by event organizers.
JASON VERSTEGEN
6:30 P.M. AT THE SAINT ELLE 1420 THIRD AVE. S.
[ELECTRIC BOOGALOO]
MUSIC
LA CELOSA
A new monthly DJ night is coming to Gallatin Pike. While that sentence could be repeated ad nauseam in almost every issue of the Scene, La Celosa is not your typical Nashville dance party. Colombian producer, DJ and musician José Andrés presents the debut of La Celosa at Inglewood Lounge, featuring an all-vinyl set including selections from the swinging world of boogaloo, cumbia, Afro Latin rhythms and more. With the ’80s hotel bar ambience of Inglewood Lounge and special guests on turntables, Andrés will be making La Celosa the coolest spot for dancing and libations under neon lights. The East Side haunt’s low lighting, huge plants and tropical vibes create the perfect mood to listen to the funkiest sounds of South America and the Caribbean. La Celosa — slated for the first Monday night of each month — promises unique drink specials and the Lounge’s nightly menu, which features my favorite Brussels sprouts, from the Cumberland River to Madison. P.J. KINZER
9 P.M. AT INGLEWOOD LOUNGE 3914 GALLATIN PIKE
TUESDAY / 2.4
FILM
[SEEING CLEARLY] STAFF PICKS: SECRETS & LIES
The first time I saw Mike Leigh’s Secrets & Lies, when it was released in 1996, I didn’t exactly know what the hell was going on. With the cast speaking in sometimes-indecipherable British accents (not to mention the fact that they often talk in quiet, hushed tones), my neverbeen-outta-the-country ass couldn’t make out a lot of dialogue. (I also had the same problem that year with Trainspotting and Cold Comfort Farm, two other U.K.-based films filled with thick brogues that left me baffled.) Now that I’m older, wiser and the owner of a TV with closed captioning, I understand why this won the
ATHLETES UNLIMITED
Palme d’Or and received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. This is kitchen-sink drama (Leigh’s bread-and-butter!) at its most emotionally pulverizing, with Brenda Blethyn (as a needy working-class single mom) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (as the adult woman she gave up for adoption as a baby) giving careerboosting, Oscar-nominated performances. Now that Leigh’s latest, Hard Truths — which also stars Jean-Baptiste — is currently playing at the Belcourt, the theater will take you back this week to when their big-screen relationship began. The Belcourt’s very own Allison Inman will introduce this staff pick. CRAIG D. LINDSEY
8 P.M. AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.
WEDNESDAY / 2.5
SPORTS
[MAY THE BEST WOMAN WIN] ATHLETES UNLIMITED
If you haven’t hopped on the women’s basketball hype train — fueled in 2024 by talented young stars, an Olympic gold for Team USA and a scintillating WNBA Finals — you’re missing out. Nashville will become a station for that train this winter as the host of Athletes Unlimited, a competition between 40 hoopers vying for individual honors. The format is unusual: Each week of the season, four player captains choose teams to compete in five-onfive games. But since the teams shuffle each week, there are no team-based leaderboards. Instead, individual players are scored for their performance, earning points by making big plays, winning weekly MVP honors and — unsurprisingly — playing on a winning team. The top-scoring player at the end of the season is crowned as the season’s champion. There are some fascinating players to watch in the player pool, from WNBA champions (Sydney Colson, Theresa Plaisance and Kierstan Bell each won with the powerhouse Las Vegas Aces in 2022) to players with local roots (sisters Isabelle and Dorie Harrison are Nashville natives who played for the Lady Vols and the Lipscomb Bisons, respectively) to up-and-comers in the W (Alissa Pili was a first-round draft pick in 2024 for the
Minnesota Lynx). It’s a chance to see some elite players in action, as well as an opportunity to show the WNBA — which recently greenlit expansion franchises in Toronto and San Francisco — that there’s an appetite for women’s hoops in Music City. COLE VILLENA THROUGH MARCH 2 AT MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM 417 FOURTH AVE. N.
MUSIC [TRUE GEMS] TOGETHER BREAKFAST EP RELEASE
Grand gestures and the celebration of complexity made old-school progressive rock one of my first loves. But I also enjoy how mathrockers zoom in on the complexity part of that equation and draw from newer sounds that even contemporary prog bands don’t always consider. Together Breakfast — a Nashville instrumental trio who describe themselves as queer math rockers, whose name refers to Steven Universe and whose members are also trusted hired guns for a wide array of soul, rock, country and Americana acts — offers an excellent example. Their compositions and playing are intricate and precise but never clinical. You could say they never lose the feel in an effort to achieve a feat, and that gives room for the emotional arcs of their wordless songs to bloom. Three waypoints on their debut EP Lunch With Your Friends, Dinner With Your Ancestors are “Lunch With Your Friends,” “Dinner With Your Ancestors” and “Breakfast Together,” which tell a poignant story about trying to make connections across generations. Stating the obvious: That’s extra challenging and extra important in the social climate of fear and hate that’s recently started bubbling over again. Palo Brea and Demiatrix support at Wednesday’s release party. STEPHEN TRAGESER
8 P.M. AT THE EAST ROOM
2412 GALLATIN AVE.
RUM DIARY
Raul Malo teams up with local experts to create a unique new spirit in Trovador
BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
LIQUOR STORE SHELVES are crowded with celebrity spirits brands ranging from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Teremana Tequila to Alan Jackson’s Silverbelly Whiskey and Charles Barkley’s Vulcan Gin. Often, the star’s involvement with the product ends after the first tasting of samples mailed from some huge distillery that’s more than happy to slap a different label on spirits they already manufacture in return for a famous face in the ad campaign.
But there are cases in which the celebrity actually contributes to the spirit of the spirit.
Such is the case with Nashville-based Trovador Rum, a creation inspired by the music and Cuban American heritage of Raul Malo, longtime frontman of The Mavericks. The rum takes its name from the Spanish word for “troubadour,” a term often applied to the beloved singer, and Malo’s music was what led to the birth of the brand.
Chad Newton, owner of You Are Here Hospitality, is best known in town as the founder
of East Side Banh Mi along with his wife Gracie Nguyen. Malo has been a big supporter of the couple’s sandwich shop and a frequent customer for catering gigs through the years. Newton is a fan of Malo’s music, particularly his solo album Say Less, a pandemic-era instrumental project featuring Malo’s prowess as a guitarist.
“I was listening to the album a lot, and it suddenly occurred to me, ‘This is like the soundtrack of rum,’” says Newton. Indeed, much of the music on Say Less is inspired by the Caribbean, but that label itself is an oversimplification.
The islands of the Caribbean exhibit vastly different cultures, each influenced differently based on whether they were colonized by the Spanish, the British, the French or the Dutch. Rum shares a similarly complex background, and that’s what Malo and Newton wanted to explore with Trovador. After an initial pitch to Malo on a visit to Houston, Newton began to assemble a team to create and market their final product, rather than simply relabeling an exist-
ing spirit.
Newton reached out to Devon Trevathan and Colton Weinstein of Liba Spirits, a pair who already had experience exploring the concept of expressing location through distillation. Their Lafcadio Botanical Rum was created in New Orleans using local molasses and other regional flavoring ingredients like cardamom, white pepper and bay leaves. Louisiana native Beau Gaultier joined the team to contribute his mixology skills, creating new recipes for Travador — a crucial element, since rum is the base of so many classic cocktails. Trovador is aiming to become a staple ingredient in local bars. Jesse Goldstein handled the branding and design work, tasks he has taken on for many successful local culinary companies.
Malo was immediately impressed by the assemblage of talent. “Chad was the one that got this party started, and he has put together a team of young entrepreneurs that know this business inside and out,” says Malo. “From the
distilling side of things with Devon and Colton, to the marketing side with Beau and Jesse, everyone is hands-on and committed. As a member of this team I couldn’t be prouder of the work that they are doing.”
Together the production team sought out spirits to blend that could share the story and history of rum and the region. They settled on three different spirits, a base of Cuban-style rum produced using molasses and a special strain of yeast, an older Dominican rum that contributes more vanilla and butterscotch, and a pot-stilldistilled rum from Mexico made using fresh cane juice that accentuates the herbaceous and fruity notes of the sugar cane plant.
Malo’s influence is evident in these very intentional choices of specific styles of rum in the blend. “My heritage certainly had an effect on all my suggestions for the creation of this rum,” he says. “From the label to the taste of it, the team felt it should reflect that connection. For example, Cuban rum tends to be sweeter
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
FROM LEFT: DEVON TREVATHAN, RAUL MALO, CHAD NEWTON
than others. We felt that it definitely should be smooth, but perhaps not as sweet as you might expect. I think we struck a beautiful balance between old and new.”
After blending the three spirits and proofing them down to an alcohol level appropriate for cocktails, the resulting product was bottled in Nashville for distribution locally through Lipman. Retailing in the mid-$20 range, Trovador is approachable and appropriate for home mixology or for a prime placement on cocktail menus. It’s already made the list at noted craft cocktail bars like Chopper, Coral Club, Maíz de la Vida, Martha My Dear, Hubba Hubba Tiki Tonk, Tall Tales Rooftop Bar, Cherries and other establishments that are serious about their cocktails.
Some of the rum used in the Trovador blend has been aged in new or used barrels, so there’s a little tinge of color to the final product. It’s not silver rum or gold rum, but Newton aptly describes it as “like a reposado rum for tequila drinkers.” Made without additives, Trovador has a flavor that comes from the interplay of cane juice, molasses, yeast and oak, which offer
undertones of tropical fruits like mango and pineapple, toasty coconut, honey and a touch of citrus and salinity.
Bartenders can draw on any or many of these characteristics to craft a new cocktail recipe, or amateur mixologists can pick up a bottle from local liquor stores to experiment with in the home bar. It’s also fantastic as part of a simple highball made with soda and a squeeze of lime.
The young brand is quickly gaining a reputation around Nashville, but placements in other regions are planned at a more deliberate pace. (Although it is available to ship online to 47 states.) Malo and the team are patient with the process.
“I am not one to give in to hubris or self-aggrandizing,” says Malo. “The fact that this beautiful product is real and has been bottled, created and stocked in certain stores and restaurants is not lost on me. These are small victories, for now. But they are important as we build this from the ground up. I’ve always believed that no matter what it is you do, do it right, and do it to the best of your ability — and everything will be fine.”
Saturday, February 1
HATCH SHOW PRINT Block Party
9:30 am, NOON, and 2:30 pm HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP LIMITED AVAILABILITY
Saturday, February 1 FAMILY PROGRAM
Riders in the Sky
10:00 am · FORD THEATER FREE
Saturday, February 1
SONGWRITER SESSION Ryan Beaver 1:00 pm · FORD THEATER
Sunday, February 2
MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT Fats Kaplin 1:00 pm · FORD THEATER
Saturday, February 8
SONGWRITER SESSION Abbey Cone NOON · FORD THEATER
WITNESS HISTORY
Sunday, February 9
MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT Jedd Hughes 1:00 pm · FORD THEATER
Saturday, February 15
SONGWRITER SESSION Kasey Tyndall NOON · FORD THEATER
Saturday, February 15
PANEL DISCUSSION
Johnny Bragg
They’re Talking About Me 2:30 pm · FORD THEATER
Saturday, February 15
HATCH SHOW PRINT
Block Party
3:00 pm · HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP
Sunday, February 16 HATCH SHOW PRINT
Family Block Party
9:30 am · HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP
Locals, Pay What You Want Daily pay-what-you-want Museum admission is available for Nashville-Davidson and bordering counties. Plus, PMC is offering locals parking for $10 in the Walk of Fame Park Garage. Now through January 31, 2025.
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for
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with us at our winter Fashion for a Fraction Boutique Warehouse Sale!
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LAST CHANCES AND FIRST GLANCES DOMINATE FEBRUARY’S ART CALENDAR
This month’s Art Crawl highlights include a group show at Zeitgeist and a farewell to Josh Black
BY JOE NOLAN
I’M HOPING WE’RE already through the frozen days of deepest winter after last week’s cold snap, because it feels like Nashville’s winter art scene is fully warmed up. Now we’re all just preparing for the great and powerful seasonal rite when a clairvoyant rodent from rural Pennsylvania will cast his shadow-working divinations, peering — Doctor Strange-like — into some future spacetime where/when spring will again kiss our amber waves and warm our purple mountains. God bless the U.S.A. Until then, I’m predicting cozy crawling this Saturday night, featuring some outstanding holdovers from January alongside several debuts.
EAST NASHVILLE
Red Arrow will finish out its winter calendar with a pair of two-artist shows, including a possibly super-twisted display by Jeremy Shockley and Brett Douglas Hunter opening in late March. For February, the gallery will host Demetrius Wilson and Dax van Aalten’s Visible Shifts. This is one of those two-person shows that thrives in comparisons, looking for the reflections and disconnections between works by two separate artists, and — hopefully — discovering a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Van Aalten’s abstract landscapes are distorted and dreamy — trees emerge from mist, hillsides glisten at first light. His best psychedelic plant forms recall Charles Burchfield, and don’t forget my predictions about American painting returning to an aesthetic that looks like early American modernism. These scenes are packed with recognizable trees, mountains and clouds, but also more abstract spaces where viewers might discern other forms and figures. In contrast, Wilson’s canvases are more abstract overall,
but not entirely unrecognizable as landscapes, animal forms and figures in obscure narratives. Wilson is emblematic of contemporary Black formalists whose abstract styles are unburdened by activist slogans and homages to Jean-Michel Basquiat. His work bucks gallery market trends that commodify readily recognizably Black art, while also upsetting cultural expectations about the kind of work Black artists are “supposed to make.” Wilson’s paintings are timely and sharp, full of movement and soft, warm palettes, aggressive marks and bundles of vibrant color. You can see trees here too. Figures and forms appear and dissolve, but they’re there alongside mountain shapes, under cloud blobs at implied horizon lines. Come compare and contrast.
Details: Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at Red Arrow, 919 Gallatin Ave.
WEDGEWOOD-HOUSTON
If you missed Jodi Hays’ Befores and Afters exhibition when it opened last month, be sure to hit this reception on Saturday night. Over the decades that I’ve followed Hays’ practice, it’s evolved from more traditional painting into 2D works boasting multitudes of reused materials, stepping well into collage but stopping short of assemblage on the painting-to-sculpture pipeline. That said, this show actually includes sculptural installations in the center of the gallery where Hays displays an arrangement of plants on stands along with a painting displayed lying flat on the ground (“Self-Portrait at 48”). I love the irreverence of installing a painting on the floor in a gallery full of people. It’s a great lesson in how perspective can change perception — looming over a painting is a totally different experience from mooning at an illuminated work of art hanging on a wall
from several feet away. For better or worse, paintings on the floor break that sublimesacred-space-spell that connects churchgoing and gallerygoing. I’ve only seen crucifixes on floors in horror films. Hays’ pieced-together installation isn’t meant to shock, but it’s literally and figuratively grounding — these are humble works, made with refuse, and they’re perfectly at home on the floor. “Poets, Teachers, Single Mothers” is the show’s signature image. It shouts out its titular vocational categories with colored text scrawled across a fractured, kaleidoscopic surface of colored paper squares and diamonds. As contemporary art trends toward the formal — that is, away from content and messaging — Hays’ title alone might have sufficed here, but spotlighting everyday people jibes with this show’s nothing-fancy vibes. The text is also written in loose script using colors that tend to blend into their backgrounds. It compels viewers to stop and really stare at the work as they try to make out what Hays has written. Rule No. 1: Make ’em look.
➨DETAILS: Reception 4-7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at David Lusk Gallery, 516 Hagan St. Exhibition closes Feb. 8.
Zeitgeist has always represented some of the best artists in the city, but I’d argue it’s the gallery’s commitment to connecting with
and nurturing the careers of emerging artists that’s kept it so relevant for so long. Zeitgeist celebrated its 30th birthday in 2024, and its February First Saturday opening features a guest curator and a group show with a great lineup. Rooted Chronicles is the dreamchild of local artist-curator Marteja Bailey. Bailey had work hanging in Zeitgeist’s Rise Above exhibition during December and January, and for February she’s assembled a large cast of Black artists working in various styles and mediums, spotlighting new creators and established artists during Black History Month. The show includes contributions from Alexis Jones, Alice Aida Ayers, Charles Key, Destiney Powell, Durrell Hunter, Elise Kendrick, James Brown, James Matthews, Jernicya Onyekwelu, Lance Scruggs, Lorenzo Swinton, Michael Mucker, Omari Booker, Phish Bone, Samuel Dunson, Saraya Charlton, XPayne and Bailey
➨DETAILS: Opening reception noon-8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at Zeitgeist, 516 Hagan St.
Lastly, stop by Julia Martin Gallery to see comedian Josh Black’s farewell to Nashville art exhibition, No Love Lost. The local funnyman has announced plans to move to Chicago in 2025, but not before one last hurrah in WedgewoodHouston.
➨DETAILS: Opening reception 6-9 p.m. at Julia Martin Gallery, 444 Humphreys St. ▼
(615)
Morton Plumbing
·
GROWING UP FAST
Nashville-based musician Lola Kirke’s Wild West Village recalls a glamorous, unsettling childhood BY
BIANCA SASS
THE FIRST SONG I ever heard by Lola Kirke was “Monster.” In it she sings, “No, I’m not a monster / Just someone who wants to belong.” Now, having read Wild West Village — her self-proclaimed “anti-memoir” — I understand her fear of becoming monstrous, as well as her yearning for belonging.
Kirke, who is also an actor and musician, is the daughter of famous British drummer Simon Kirke (of Free and Bad Company). Her father’s success meant Kirke grew up in a huge brownstone in New York’s West Village neighborhood with access to acting lessons, family trips to international spas and a star-studded rotation of houseguests. “Courtney Love both flooded and set fire to our sprawling home,” Kirke writes. “When Liv Tyler wasn’t filming installments of The Lord of the Rings, she babysat me. Did I just drop something? Yes, a bunch of names. Sorry! The housekeeper’s coming by later to pick them up.”
From afar, Kirke’s life was glamorous. Up close, her family’s rock ’n’ roll lifestyle meant constant exposure to drug use, rampant obsession with beauty and predatory older men. Kirke is well aware of her nepo-baby status, but she does not shy away from exploring its sinister underbelly. “I craved a safer kind of love,” she admits.
Wild West Village is a collection of stories that are at once unsettling, hysterical and endearing, providing access to Kirke’s musings as she retraces her steps from London to New York to L.A. to Nashville. Each tale is colored by self-analysis, as Kirke theorizes on how her deep-seated insecurities and wounds impacted her art, identity and relationships.
Reflecting on her struggles as an actor, Kirke writes: “I found myself feeling as confused about my place and my worth as I had once been at home: in the way, even though I was assured that I belonged. Important yet not. Was I doomed to recreate this dynamic over and over throughout eternity? Or was I just seeking out the spaces in which it already existed, to feel comfortable, because that discomfort was all I’d ever known?”
As a child, Kirke was routinely forced into situations for which she was not ready, striving to keep up with the escapades of her older sisters Domino and Jemima. In one anecdote, Kirke recalls winding up alone with an older actor, trying to charm him by dancing awkwardly.
“I wondered if my mother would be proud of
me. Or if she’d kill me,” Kirke writes. When the man asked her to sit on his lap, she refused: “I plopped onto the sofa across from him, like the tired child I hoped he’d see I was.” Wild West Village is rife with perturbing juxtapositions.
Within her family, Kirke also grew up at an accelerated rate. As a child, Kirke worshipped her alluring, unavailable older sisters. But following their father’s descent into addiction and adultery, Kirke became her mother and sisters’ emotional caretaker, relegated to “the one who’d believed she had to hold it all together as others tore it apart.” Later in life, Kirke also cared for the severely disabled son her father had with his mistress.
Luckily, distance from the tribulations of her youth enables Kirke to find the humor in the disturbing. “‘You either have to accept him as he is or just leave,’ I often found myself saying, though I still wasn’t even sure how to correctly use a maxi pad,” Kirke recalls telling her mother. “Solving the problems of my parents’ marriage was trying work, but it had to be done.”
While Kirke too dipped her toe into self-destructive tendencies — forays explored in Wild West Village — she felt like she did not have the luxury of losing herself in her vices: “I needed to be there for my sister and my family. Even if I
was left to wonder: Who was going to be there for me?”
Eventually, Kirke learned to be there for herself, turning to her childhood fantasies of normality, honesty and love — dreams she realized in Nashville. “Throughout my teens, country remained to me what New York City is to a lot of people,” Kirke writes. “A world that I fantasized would accept and understand me more than my own.”
In Wild West Village, Kirke presents a vision of country music that diverges from its typical depiction as a beer-guzzling boys’ club. “I had always been drawn to dynamic female characters. In country, I found them,” Kirke writes. “Not to mention, in country, men cried and apologized.”
Ultimately, Kirke’s story is a testament to the power of introspection to interrupt the harmful cycles of family dysfunction and fame. Plus, she got to perform at the Opry in June Carter’s dress. What else can a girl ask for?
For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. ▼
Wild West Village: Not a Memoir (Unless I Win an Oscar, Die Tragically, or Score a Country #1)
By Lola Kirke
Simon & Schuster
272 pages, $28.99
Kirke will appear at Urban Cowboy 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, in an event sponsored by The Bookshop
PHOTO: OHAD KAB
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Because Nashville is so
an independent bookstore for independent people UPCOMING EVENTS
PARNASSUSBOOKS.NET/EVENTFOR TICKETS & UPDATES
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31
8:00PM NEKO CASE with ANN POWERS at OZ ARTS The Harder I Fight the More I Love You
6:30PM JULIAN WINTERS
6:30PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3
with MATTHEW HUBBARD at PARNASSUS I Think They Love You
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4
CHARLIE PEACOCK with SPECIAL GUESTS at PARNASSUS Roots and Rhythm: A Life in Music
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5
6:30PM LIBBA BRAY with SHARON CAMERON at PARNASSUS Under the Same Stars
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6
6:30PM SASHA PEYTON SMITH with HANNAH WHITTEN at PARNASSUS The Rose Bargain
10:30AM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8
SATURDAY STORYTIME with EMILY EGGEBRECHT at PARNASSUS How Gemma Found Her Sparkle
Friday featuring TAI SHAN, SUEDE, ‘LENE & THE DOOHICKEYS
PAT MCLAUGHLIN BAND featuring KENNY GREENBERG, GREG MORROW & STEVE MACKEY THE TENNESSEE WARBLERS with JUDY PASTER
EDDIE 9V with BROTHER ELSEY
MVAN & VISIT MUSIC CITY Presents 615 INDIE LIVE featuring SIXWIRE & FRIENDS
PARK AVE WEST FEST 2 featuring COLLIN NASH, MAURA STREPPA, CHRIS CANTERBURY, ANISTON PATE, SADIE CAMPBELL, JACK MCKEON, SHANTAIA & ELVIE SHANE
JAMIE MILLER with Special Guests ALEX SAMPSON and GARRETT ADAIR
LIVE ACTION
615 Indie Live aims to put the spotlight on independent stages at a bargain price
BY MARGARET LITTMAN
LAST YEAR, two reports were published — the Greater Nashville Music Census and the Nashville Independent Venues Study — that collected data and made recommendations on the state of independent music venues in town. The resulting information was multifaceted, but there were a few findings that immediately resonated with supporters of those efforts.
“If the New Year’s Eve Big Bash is the top end of the live ecosystem, then Rudy’s Jazz Room and The 5 Spot are the foundation,” says Chris Cobb, president of the nonprofit independent venue organization Music Venue Alliance Nashville. The artists and musicians who play small stages work their way up the live music ecosystem, he says. “Jelly Roll is not on that Big Bash stage if it were not for the independent stages 20 years ago. If we want more Jelly Rolls on Big Bash stages, then we have to ensure that there are opportunities to get there.”
Jamie Kent, a communications consultant and founder of Backstage Strategies, adds that respondents to the Music Census point out a disconnect. They feel that the city infrastructure supports tourists going to big-name and big-budget venues on Broadway, but doesn’t prioritize getting tourists to the independent venues, where original music is more likely to be played.
The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp and
MVAN worked together on Music City Bandwidth, a series of virtual concerts that took place during COVID lockdown in 2020. Based on the feedback from the 2024 studies, the two organizations have teamed up again to launch what they hope will be the first run of an annual event called 615 Indie Live.
On Saturday, Feb. 1, 17 independent venues — some within multi-venue complexes — will host more than 50 musicians for a day of original music, with a wristband to access all the shows at the low price of $15 (including fees). The cost of the event, including paying musicians, is being funded by the NCVC. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit MVAN, including the organization’s Emergency Relief Fund, which helps the city’s independent venues keep their doors open during times of financial crisis. The timing of 615 Indie Live was intentional, to boost business at a time of the year that is typically slow.
“The Music Census highlighted even more what we already knew — that there are financial pressures on these venues,” says Deana Ivey, president and CEO of the NCVC. “They are important to this city, and that makes them important to us.”
The decision to charge $15 rather than subsidize a free event was intentional too.
“Music has value,” Cobb says. “It has brought me so much in my life. We thought having this
event be free would accidentally devalue it. Nashville has a world-class music scene. People should spend money on music.”
Shows start at noon at Eastside Bowl (which will host shows in its main room as well as the Low Volume Lounge stage and The ’58) and end at 3 a.m. at Night We Met. Other participating venues include 3rd and Lindsley, The 5 Spot, Acme Feed & Seed, The Basement, The Blue Room at Third Man Records, Cannery Hall venues The Mil and Row One Stage, Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, Drkmttr, The East Room, The End, Music Makers Stage at Delgado Guitars and Rudy’s Jazz Room.
The venues booked the acts on their own stages and worked collaboratively to develop a citywide lineup that represents the variety of music in Nashville. Working with other independent venue owners was part of the fun, says Lauren Morales, COO of TomKats Hospitality and owner of Acme Feed & Seed.
“I was excited for us all to be in one virtual space, getting to connect,” Morales notes. “It is 24/7 to run a venue, and it was special to be able to collaborate.”
At Acme Feed & Seed, musicians were selected to reflect the decade of original music being performed at the Broadway venue. Acts include Space Capone, who performed at Acme during its first week (and many times since) as
Noon to 3 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at independent venues all over Nashville
well as Honky Tonk Women. Striking Matches will perform new music at Music Makers Stage at Delgado Guitars, and The Wooten Brothers will head to Rudy’s. A lineup curated by the Black Opry takes the stage at Cannery Hall’s The Mil, and Lillie Mae plays at Dee’s.
Other artists scheduled to perform include Alanna Royale, Davidson County String Band, Funky Good Time, hip-hop collective Six One Trïbe and The Pink Spiders. An official event app, available for both iPhone and Android, will help concertgoers build their schedule. While some hardcore fans may be able to work in more sets, Cobb expects most folks will be able to catch three to four acts. Shows at Acme Feed & Seed are typically free, and Morales didn’t want to change that, so a wristband is not required for entry — but show it at the bar and you’ll get a free beer.
Ivey and NCVC staff will be headed to the shows — not just because they like live music, but because they book acts for shows they produce throughout the year, including the city’s annual Fourth of July party and the aforementioned Big Bash on New Year’s Eve. She hopes they will discover locals who can grace more of their stages.
“All of us have been begging the city to do something like this for a long time,” Morales says. “We hope it becomes an annual thing.”
SIX ONE TRÏBE PERFORMS AT THE BASEMENT, JANUARY 2024
PHOTO: STEVE
A MIGHTY LONG TIME
On Forever, Lilly Hiatt revels in the good things
BY SHERONICA HAYES
WHEN IT COMES to writing a damn good song, longtime Nashvillian Lilly Hiatt is going to do it every single time. The Scene caught up with the singer-songwriter and rocker amid preparations to hit the road in the wake of Forever. It’s her sixth solo LP and first since 2021’s Lately, which was followed in 2023 by the self-titled debut from Domestic Bliss, her duo with husband Coley Hinson. Forever is dripping with sweet sentiment for the raw human condition, but maintains all the alt-rock swagger we’ve grown to love from Hiatt. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Let me just fan out for a second and tell you how much I fucking adore Forever. This album is jampacked with so much relatable emotion, and none of it is compromised by how easy it is to listen to. Aw, thank you so much! Truly. We had fun making it, and it is upbeat, but overall the tone is laidback. I think a lot of that is probably because I am older now, so I feel a little more chill. And we made it at home, and the people I made it with are pretty chill too. Nobody was overly precious about the process of it. But also, we were doing this in our pajamas sometimes and stuff, so it’s hard not to be a little more lighthearted. I always have fun recording, and this one was a track at a time as opposed to “making a record.” So each song could be our little world for a few weeks since we had the luxury of stretching it out in our space.
It’s cliché to call an album “mature,” but I would be remiss to not acknowledge that there seems to be a certain sense of resolve and self-reflection. Forever doesn’t give off the impression that you’ve got it all figured out, but more that you feel a little more at ease with what you have figured out. Also, there are things you may never know, and that’s cool too. Haha! I’m glad you think it’s mature! Sometimes I feel childlike, so that is nice to hear. I do my best to be a grownup. And a hard lesson I’ve learned in the past three years is that shit that used to make people well up with sympathy for me just doesn’t anymore. Like whining and playing a victim to life. It just doesn’t look so cute on me these days. Not that it was my M.O. before, but the brooding has lifted just a little, because it’s time! It’s time to laugh and enjoy my life. I am healthy and have a great deal of love around, so trying to just soak that in while I can. Granted, there are esoteric meltdowns that occur, and things about the world that trouble me. … But overall, things feel stable on a personal level.
Forever was produced by Coley Hinson, an incredible musician who is also your husband. I think I hear him singing backing vocals on a track or two. Care to speak to the intersection of your personal and professional relationships? Coley is my best bud, and
he is a muse. He has been from the get-go, and working with him is easy. It really is. He can play everything, and his ear is awesome. He comes from generations of musicians, so it is just inside of him. And he doesn’t like to dwell on things in the studio, which thrills me. I get so frustrated doing take after take, and he only wants to do a few anyway. So it just works out. He is a great harmonizer and loves to sing. Personally, I have always had a major twinkle in my eye for him, and it inspires all I do.
I love the track “Kwik-E-Mart” and the colorful and nostalgic-feeling music video by Joshua Shoemaker. In a town like Nashville where whole- and healthfood stores are popping up left and right — which is good, but complicated — it’s cool to see an ode to old-school neighborhood convenience stores. The gas station can be a sanctuary. And who doesn’t love a little treat or some gum on their way home? Also, lovely conversations with strangers tend to happen at those spots. There isn’t a pretentious air about it. It’s come-as-you-are.
How has the experience of sharing these songs with an audience been in the run-up to releasing the album? It’s been awesome! It’s always exciting to play new songs, because it is scary too. And that makes the show more fun to me. And then I am not burnt out on them yet, so it’s a breath of air in the set and a sliver of a different mood. I have a new band for this tour, and that’s keeping me on my toes too. I like playing the drop-D stuff … “Kwik-E-Mart,” “Ghost Ship” and “Somewhere.” The audience is sweet and likes to hear new stuff usually.
As we kick off a new year, what are you looking forward to, and what are you dreading? I’m excited about all the music that’s gonna come out this year. I am dreading the end of winter. Hoping people start listening to each other and trying to find some common ground. Also, I want people to think for themselves. It’s easy to get carried away with messages we see every day, and be connected to opinions. But there is an inner knowing, and I hope somehow we learn to trust and tap into that. ▼
Forever out Friday, Jan. 31, via New West Playing Jan. 31 at The Blue Room at Third Man Records
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THE 2024 JIM RIDLEY FILM POLL
Dedicated to the Scene’s late longtime editor and critic, our poll asks cinephiles, critics and industry insiders about 2024 in film COMPILED BY JASON SHAWHAN
WE UNDERTAKE THE Jim Ridley Memorial Film Poll both to honor the memory of our late, beloved editor, and to gather the opinions of critics, filmmakers, artisans, playwrights, musicians, teachers, exhibitors, podcasters and various and sundry gadabouts across three continents (so far) and figure out where cinema is at.
THE TOP 25 OF 2024
1. The Substance
2. Anora
3. I Saw the TV Glow
4. Challengers
5. Hundreds of Beavers
6. Nickel Boys
7. Dune: Part Two
8. Sing Sing
9. Love Lies Bleeding
10. The Brutalist
11. The People’s Joker
12. Conclave
13. Flow
14. Longlegs
15. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
16. Red Rooms (Les Chambres Rouges)
17. Evil Does Not Exist (悪は存在しない)
18. Nosferatu
19. Queer
20. A Real Pain
21. The Beast (La Bête)
22. Close Your Eyes (Cerrar los Ojos)
23. Thelma
24. Wicked Part 1
25. Smile 2
PARTICIPANTS
Sean Abley, Jason Adams, Kevin Allen, Ken Arnold, Sean Atkins, René Baharmast, Kim Baldwin, Jess Bennett, Brooke Bernard, William Bibbiani, Billy Ray Brewton, Heather Buckley, Sean Burns, Logan Butts, BJ Colangelo, Harmony Colangelo, C.K. Cosner, Jacob Davison, A.A. Dowd, Alonso Duralde, Steve Erickson, Dom Fisher, Dr. Gangrene, Zack Hall, Sheronica Hayes, Odie Henderson, Quinn Hills, Josh Hurtado, Sam Inglis, Michael Jay, Bede Jermyn, William Keaton, Brennan Klein, Rob Kotecki, Benjamin Legg, John Lichman, Craig D. Lindsey, Brian Lonano, Wolfe MacReady, William Mahaffey, Richie Millennium, Eli Motycka, Noel Murray, Brian Owens, Bob Roberts, D. Patrick Rodgers, Witney Seibold, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Sam Smith, Charlie Spector, Super Marcey, Scout Tafoya, Kyle Turner, Dave White, Lisa Ellen Williams, Cory Woodroof, Ron Wynn, Tony Youngblood
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CREATURE, OUTFIT, MONSTER, SUPPORTING CHARACTER OR CONCEPT FROM CINEMA OF 2024?
Monstro Elisasue! My favorite part of watching The Substance at the Belcourt was hearing the (sorry to be binary on main) gender division of reactions. In so many scenes, I heard men groaning in concert with women laughing, plus the differences in facial expressions as we all walked out of the theater. So many men looked horror-stricken, while so many women, especially those of us in middle age, were stonefaced, like, Yes, that was correct KIM BALDWIN
The outmatched beaver defense lawyer in Hundreds of Beavers gave us the most rigorous critique of the criminal justice system we’ve gotten in some time. CORY WOODROOF
The concept I am fascinated with and will continue tracking is the jarring transition from the films made between 2020 and 2022-ish that emphasize isolation and loneliness as sources of existential crises and potential self-destruction to the current trends in “post-pandemic” films (e.g., The Substance, Trap and Smile 2) that feature shared public spaces as the potential threat or villain, particularly in this contentious political environment. LISA ELLEN WILLIAMS
My favorite monster is Bobita, the bald incel gnome who serves as Angela’s alter ego in Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World — an unholy blend of Andrew Tate and Fenway Bergamot, the virtual imp played by Laurie Anderson. MICHAEL SICINSKI
By far, the beaver costumes in Hundreds of Beavers — when the Holmes and Watson beavers came into the picture, I lost it in my seat watching the film at the Belcourt. SEAN ATKINS
Mr. Sprinkly, the ice cream monster from I Saw the TV Glow, is legit scary! TONY YOUNGBLOOD
Terrifier’s Art the Clown. I know he’s from a sequel, but this was the first time he was given a thematic function. He is the face of extreme cinema. WITNEY SEIBOLD
There are too many real monsters now in power for me to get much joy or enjoyment from fictional ones. I guess if forced to find something to celebrate within this question, it would be the notion there are still superheroes willing to use their powers for the good of others rather than simply to line their pockets or enhance their status. RON WYNN
It has to be oversized spiders from the French film Infested. They were used as part of commentary on xenophobia, but they will also make your skin crawl. DOM FISHER
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist comes to mind with the idea of the cornered animal. Acts of violence stemming from being cornered is an idea that keeps coming back to
me as I see recent events unfold and the violence in the news, from Hamas to Luigi Mangione, and it can all be boiled down to humans feeling trapped like gunshot deer. KEN ARNOLD
WHAT’S THE MUSICAL MOMENT, DIEGETIC OR OTHERWISE, THAT RESONATED THE MOST WITH YOU?
Harris Dickinson dancing to “Father Figure” in Babygirl was pretty transcendent. LOGAN BUTTS
The “Rock DJ” musical moment in Better Man is better than anything in Wicked! MICHAEL JAY “Il Mio Prossimo Amore” by Loretta Goggi in Cuckoo. “One for You, One for Me” by La Bionda in The Brutalist. “GGBG” by Mz Burn in Anora. “Ôi Tình Yêu” by Anh Tú in Viet & Nam. I saw Devara Part 1 on opening night in New York City, and the sold-out 4DX crowd already knew all the songs. After the press screening of Better Man, in my car, where I had a profound sing-along to the Take That reunion song “The Flood.” When Timestalker drops Propaganda’s “Duel” and I screamed. But above all things, the immediate and unmistakable impact of what Alien: Romulus does to the Fox Fanfare. JASON SHAWHAN
“Uncle Ace” by Blood Orange has been embedded in my brain and a big hit at parties since Challengers came out. KEVIN ALLEN
The ending song choice for The Brutalist is one of the best musical stingers of the year, but it’s the lead-up narration to the film’s intermission that still has me quietly chanting: “STEEL! STEEL! STEEL!” JOHN LICHMAN
Cynthia Erivo’s complete performance in Wicked. I’m someone who can take or leave (mostly leave) musicals, but she was riveting. RON WYNN
“September” from Robot Dreams. It hits differently each time it plays. By the final time, you’ll be bawling your eyes out. TONY YOUNGBLOOD
I have to go out on a limb and say the laser room dance scene in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Maybe it’s recency bias, but the overall unhinged silliness of that moment just hit the perfect storm of dumb fun that I found oddly captivating in a way that only Jim Carrey can provide. KEN ARNOLD
BOLD STATEMENTS!
It’s not necessarily bold, but it needs to be said: Support original ideas and indie films. If you’re tired of remakes and reboots, you have to show up when it matters, and bring your friends with you. DOM FISHER
Robert Eggers can’t write women, full stop. WOLFE MACREADY
No superhero movie will move the needle again. The new Superman universe will tank. And because Superman goes into the public domain in a decade, this will be the last one. WITNEY SEIBOLD
The cowardly retreat from the worthy goals of diversity, equity and inclusion occurring in the corporate business world is sadly starting to trickle into the arts and entertainment industries. Which means those whose stories and viewpoints have historically been marginalized may soon have tougher times getting studios to greenlight the films and productions that have provided inspiration, motivation and encouragement to generations of audiences. RON WYNN
They should’ve put a gaggle of therapists outside each theater of Inside Out 2 because I don’t think, as a collective people, we were ready for the panic-attack scene in the hockey game. CORY WOODROOF ▼
TO READ THE FULL, UNCUT VERSION OF OUR POLL, VISIT NASHVILLESCENE.COM.
ANORA
THE SUBSTANCE
ACROSS
1 Targets of crunches, informally
4 “Smart” guy
8 Vibes
13 Hawaiian dish with cubed fish
15 Perceptive
16 End-of-year hope
17 Lawyers, collectively
18 Astronauts’ outpost, for short
19 Like the last name of swimming legend Diana Nyad
21 Original N.Y.C. subway line
22 Vampire hunter’s weapon
25 “Well, that’s just perfect”
27 Telluride maker (that’s 6,000+ miles away from Telluride)
28 Faith Hill hit with the lyric “It’s perpetual bliss”
29 Slim-fitting bottom
31 Humorist Bombeck
32 Spoiled
33 Forgo a ring, maybe
35 Fills in the gaps of, in a way
37 Futuristic zappers
39 Samira Wiley’s role on “The Handmaid’s Tale”
40 Pops
41 A thing of the passed?
42 Wetland fuel source
44 Breaking the fourth wall, say
45 Cartoon frame
47 Snarkily disparaging
48 Like a baby in need of burping
49 Dismiss abruptly
50 Dutch banking giant
51 Get to 21 first in cornhole, e.g.
52 Oscar nominee for “Carrie”
55 Peak picker-uppers, as depicted three times in this puzzle’s grid
60 “Money talks”
61 Unapproved, pharmaceutically
62 Remained home for supper
63 CBS drama with five spinoffs
64 In need of salt, say DOWN
1 Home screen selection
2 Stole onstage
3 Difficult area of a jigsaw puzzle, maybe
4 Humble
5 Lane in DC?
6 Grossed-out cries
7 Given the go-ahead
8 Pizza oven residue
9 Beehive State native
10 Toys once marketed as having “Over three billion combinations, but only one solution”
11 Chess : check :: go : ____
12 Tempur-Pedic competitor
14 Early 20th-century composer who introduced the typewriter as a percussion instrument
15 Negative campaign tactic
20 Signature item
22 Prefix with any family member
23 Steady engine sound
24 Focus on making others happy
25 They might accompany SAT scores
26 Minute
30 Slangy term for an obsession with branded fashion items
32 Coffeehouse poets
34 Sweaters and such
36 401(k) alternatives
37 Short-lived fashion
38 Court-ordered delay
40 Lewis Carroll’s real last name, hence Lewis’s last name in “Jurassic Park”
43 Hamper, e.g.
45 Caesar’s first stabber
46 One living abroad
48 Bass organs
51 Something that’s often free in airports but expensive on airplanes
53 Life force
54 Köln one
56 Fast-food chain with 30,000+ locations
57 “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity” org.
58 Gumshoe
59 Roguish
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