Nashville Scene 12-12-24

NEWS: NASHVILLE NOTARY CREATES SPACE AT THE ALTAR >> PAGE 8

Talking with stellar songsmith and producer Brittany Howard, counting down the year’s top local albums and more

YEAR MUSIC in

City Deliberating on New Amphitheater Operating Contract

Live Nation holds advantage over competitors in Ascend bid process BY ELI MOTYCKA

Contested Chamber Sinks Police/Fusus Contract

Split Metro Council rejects video integration technology by one vote despite plea from mayor BY ELI MOTYCKA

Nashville Notary Creates Space at the Altar Laura Huff battles marriage discrimination by marrying queer couples BY AIDEN

O’NEILL

Pith in the Wind

This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

COVER PACKAGE: YEAR IN MUSIC

Born in a Time to Change the Paradigm

Talking with Brittany Howard about her Grammy-nominated LP What Now, her new hardcore project and more BY HANNAH CRON

A Conversation With Nick Carpenter

Talking with the Medium Build songsmith about shaping his singular catalog BY JASON SHAWHAN

2024 Timeline

Hear Rock City!

Releases from Jack White, The Black Keys, Cage the Elephant, Brittany Howard and more made it another stellar year for Nashville rockers BY DARYL SANDERS

All That Jazz — and More

Nashville’s jazz, blues, soul and R&B communities preserved traditions and evolved them in 2024 BY RON WYNN

Top Local Albums Critics’ Poll

From Jack White and Brittany Howard to R.A.P. Ferreira, Katie Pruitt and beyond, here are our favorite local LPs of the year BY SCENE STAFF AND CONTRIBUTORS

The 2024 Rock ’n’ Roll Poll

The local music scene on the local music scene BY COMPILED BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

The Year in Hip-Hop

Six One Trïbe, Daisha McBride, R.A.P. Ferreira, Chuck Indigo and more showed off Music City’s rich rap talent BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

The Year in Country

A highlight reel including releases from Jett Holden, Alice Randall — and yes, Beyoncé and Post Malone BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

The Year in Ven-news

Drkmttr goes nonprofit, The Pinnacle sets opening, two studies release key data on local music and more dispatches BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

Those We Lost

Looking back on the impact of Kris Kristofferson, Mary Sack and many more BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

CRITICS’ PICKS

Grimey’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, Silent Book Club, Drew & Ellie Holcomb’s Neighborly Christmas and more

FOOD AND DRINK

Date Night: Frist Art Museum, Union Station’s ‘A Very Merry Bar Car’ and The Finch Squeeze in a holiday Date Night with three stops all within 500 steps of each other BY DANNY BONVISSUTO

BOOKS

Reddit Book Club

Discussing a new Music City guidebook with Nashville’s resident online cynic BY BEN ODDO

Hunger and Awe

Didi Jackson merges the sacred with the natural in My Infinity BY EMILY CHOATE; CHAPTER16.ORG

MUSIC

The Spin

The Scene’s live-review column checks out Kacey Musgraves at Bridgestone Arena BY SHERONICA HAYES

FILM

Let’s Get Physical

From All of Us Strangers to The People’s Joker, here are some of the best physical-media offerings of 2024 BY JASON SHAWHAN

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD AND THIS MODERN WORLD

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CITY DELIBERATING ON NEW AMPHITHEATER OPERATING CONTRACT

Live Nation holds advantage over competitors in Ascend bid process

BY ELI MOTYCKA

ENTERTAINMENT GIANT Live Nation has pole position to retain control of Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville’s 6,800-capacity outdoor riverfront entertainment venue. In addition to Live Nation’s renewal pitch, the city is considering at least three rival bids, with a final decision anticipated in early 2025 as Live Nation’s current 10-year contract expires.

A short bidding window and little information from the city about Ascend’s current operations give Live Nation a strong hand as the city deliberates. The Scene has confirmed additional Ascend bids from Opry Entertainment Group, Mammoth Live and AEG Presents — the latter widely considered Live Nation’s biggest competitor. Venue giant ASM Global did not submit a bid. A pre-offer meeting with the city included at least six potential operators.

Ascend’s size offers a sweet spot for artists who can’t fill stadiums but are too big for the city’s small- and medium-cap venues. The amphitheater has maintained a full calendar of events in recent years, including Hozier, Jack White, Noah Kahan, Maggie Rogers and Orville Peck’s Sixth Annual Rodeo. Its downtown location allows accessibility for tourists and multiple seating options across a pit, seated bowl and lawn space.

CONTESTED CHAMBER SINKS POLICE/FUSUS CONTRACT

Split Metro Council rejects video integration technology by one vote despite plea from mayor BY ELI

MOTYCKA

METRO COUNCILMEMBERS blocked a new contract with Axon that would have brought Fusus, a video integration system, to the Metro Nashville Police Department. Approval of the contract secured just 20 votes — one under the 21-vote threshold for passage. Every member’s position proved pivotal.

Several people spoke for and against the technology during the Dec. 3 public hearing, including concerned citizens and certain professionals. Anti-Fusus community members packed the gallery, identifiable with matching buttons.

Almost every councilmember spoke on the floor; some spoke twice, as members voted repeatedly to continue discussion. Debate became an abstract exercise in weighing relative fears, with members caught between the possibility that police will abuse surveillance power

Some point to The Greek Theatre, a 5,900-capacity venue in Los Angeles, as an appropriate comparison. That venue went through an extensive and controversial bidding contest in 2014, awarding an operating contract to Live Nation that was later rejected by city officials. Today the venue is booked and run based on agreements between several operators, including Live Nation.

Metro Nashville initially opened bidding in early August with a Sept. 9 submission deadline. The city later extended this window twice — once to Oct. 16, then to Oct. 23 — following requests from potential operators. One bidder, which requested anonymity as the contract has not yet been awarded, tells the Scene that it would not have been able to produce its proposal but for this extension.

Live Nation won a 10-year contract to operate the venue in 2014. The original deal required $400,000 per year from Live Nation plus a $2 ticket fee, which generated about $700,000 for the city in annual revenue. New proposals offer as much as $1 million per year for the city, according to individuals familiar with top bids.

The Metro Department of Parks and Recreation plans to ink an agreement in the first half of 2025. Similar to the way the Metro Sports Authority oversees Bridgestone Arena and Nis-

and the threat of violent crime, as many Fusus proponents believe stronger video tools could help prevent repeat offenders. Metro attorneys and Dave Rosenberg, a former Metro councilmember, answered questions in the chamber on behalf of the mayoral administration.

In February, Mayor Freddie O’Connell initially paused the city’s use of Fusus, an Axon product that combines hardware and software to allow police to view private video collection with owners’ consent. The city had been operating on an existing contract that counted hundreds of cameras across the city. Hours before the meeting, O’Connell leaned on members to extend the Axon contract, publicly expressing his confidence in additional guardrails to discourage inappropriate uses. Members considered new tweaks, including a “kill switch” enabling the chamber to immediately terminate the contract with a vote, which strengthened Metro oversight.

Both Rosenberg and O’Connell opposed expanding certain police technology as councilmembers, most notably during the chamber’s protracted adoption of automated license plate readers. One public speaker quoted O’Connell to the chamber, citing a 2020 Scene article in which O’Connell dismisses body-worn cameras as an insufficient tool for police accountability.

Similar to chamber debate on LPRs, supporting police technology became a proxy for supporting police. Councilmember Bob Nash, a former law enforcement officer, and longtime Councilmember Burkley Allen trusted police

san Stadium, Metro Parks technically oversees Ascend, which is nestled inside Riverfront Park and the downtown greenway system. Metro Parks assistant director Jim Hester, listed as the bidders’ Metro contact on the city’s contract solicitation, did not return the Scene’s request for comment in time for publication.

Live Nation, which also owns Ticketmaster, raked in $22.7 billion in revenue last year. Live Nation also promotes the majority of concerts at Bridgestone Arena. The corporation has faced intense scrutiny from artists and consumers over its wide-ranging control of concert bookings and pricing. The new contract comes as Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sits opposite Live Nation and Ticketmaster in an ongoing federal antitrust suit.

During the bid window, the city did not share certain operating information requested by prospective bidders, including existing security

with Fusus because they trust MNPD. Both spoke to that effect on the floor last week. Opting in to share your video with police is the right of a private business owner, firstterm Councilmember Jordan Huffman told colleagues, emphasizing that violent crime is often committed by repeat offenders.

“We have an opportunity tonight to move forward,” Huffman said. “To show Nashville citizens that we’re serious about the growing public safety crisis in our city. Public safety is not a partisan issue — or it shouldn’t be. We’ve got to get past this anti-police rhetoric, y’all — we’ve got a city to serve.”

Councilmembers Delishia Porterfield and Sandra Sepulveda continued their work as chief opponents of police technology, both delivering speeches about how police power can amplify the overpolicing and profiling of certain communities. Sepulveda specifically argued that Fusus would enable heightened scrutiny of renters at apartment complexes that house many Latino families in Southeast Nashville.

First-term Councilmember Olivia Hill, Tennessee’s first openly transgender elected official, inflected debate with her personal fear that Fusus could accelerate the state’s hostile legal environment. “It sounds very intuitive: ‘Olivia, the cameras are already there — you’re already going to be filmed, and it’s only going to be used to catch criminals and bad guys,’” Hill told colleagues, paraphrasing arguments for the technology. “I stand before you as one of

plans and required fees and permitting. Bidders are blind to Live Nation’s naming rights contract with Ascend Federal Credit Union, for example, which can be considered proprietary and confidential information. On Oct. 7, just before the bid deadline, Live Nation hosted Mayor Freddie O’Connell for an office happy hour.

“This is an active solicitation, so [we] are limited in what information we can provide,” Zak Kelley, a procurement adviser in the Metro Finance Department, tells the Scene in an email. “Proposal(s) received for this solicitation are currently in evaluation. We do not have a timeline for award.”

The city has not yet indicated when reviewers will make a final decision.

Live Nation is also the preferred booker and promoter for Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. The city will review that contract at a special-called meeting on Dec. 12. ▼

those criminals. I am illegally dressed in women’s clothes and drag. If some police officer has a problem with the trans community — that has happened in the past — or some other citizen decides they want to make a comment about something, a crime has been committed. I will be arrested. And because I will be arrested for impersonating a woman, I will be put in jail with men. That terrifies the heck out of me.”

Proponents also implied that Fusus would shore up policing power currently lacking in MNPD’s depleted officer corps. The city’s police department is aggressively hiring after years of high turnover.

O’Connell and Rosenberg, both of whom stressed robust data and usage guardrails, maintain that the benefits to police outweigh the dangers. After the vote, Mayor O’Connell released a statement.

“Over the course of the discussion about this technology, we heard concerns from the community and worked to strengthen the guardrails that prohibit its misuse,” reads O’Connell’s statement, in part. “The timing of Fusus legislation at council made it easy to attach fears about unrelated possibilities to it, but passage of this legislation would have allowed Metro Police to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively and keep Nashvillians — particularly those in vulnerable communities — safe. I hope we’ll have opportunities in the future to work together as a city to ensure that our police department has effective tools as we work to keep people safe.” ▼

PHOTO: STEVE CROSS

ASCEND AMPHITHEATER

NASHVILLE NOTARY CREATES

SPACE AT THE ALTAR

Laura Huff battles marriage discrimination by marrying queer couples

BY AIDEN O’NEILL

IN A HAZE of post-election anxiety, Laura Huff needed to find a way to support her community of fellow LGBTQ Nashvillians. She found her answer in an unusual place — her notary license.

Tennessee is one of six states that allow notaries to officiate weddings. During the most recent legislative session, the state passed and Gov. Bill Lee signed House Bill 878 — which grants officiants the power to refuse to officiate a marriage based on moral or religious objections. Even with federal protections in place for same-sex marriage, many advocates fear that the incoming conservative-led House, Senate, White House and Supreme Court could spell danger for those protections.

Huff decided to put her license to work.

“That was the easiest thing that I could think of that could, like, actually help ease people’s anxieties or give them options,” Huff says.

And so Huff did what many people looking to reach a large group would do: She posted about it on TikTok. On Nov. 8, she used 45 seconds to introduce herself, validate a post-election fear in the queer community and explain what this piece of legislation could mean for local LGBTQ couples.

“I will notarize your marriage for free,” Huff says in her TikTok video. “Let’s all share our resources and protect each other. Reach out to me, let’s get the girls married.”

With only a small following on social media, Huff didn’t know what to expect when she posted her video. But within hours, other notaries flooded the post with hundreds of supportive comments. Others chimed in by offering

their property for wedding ceremonies, or to serve as witnesses for couples who don’t have a support system.

“I feel like it has reached people beyond where I could physically reach them, and now I’m helping connect people,” Huff says. “It’s very overwhelming, but in a really beautiful, collaborative, community way.”

Huff was motivated in part by her personal desire to one day marry her own long-term girlfriend. But as she read through the comments, she developed a personal mission — to provide the same kind of comfort and support she received from her own family as a queer woman in the South.

A native of Meridian, Miss., Huff was raised by a conservative family in the heart of the Bible Belt. Even though her parents supported her coming-out journey, it was ultimately the acceptance of her 95-year-old grandmother — a woman raised with strict religious values — that most impacted her. The moment proved to her that conservative Southern Christians can be accepting of same-sex relationships.

“I don’t take that luck for granted either, because I know so many people have had such a difficult time,” Huff says. “If you don’t have a family that’s gonna support you, there are so many other people that will. … It’s really inspired me to keep the love going.”

Within days, Cassidy Etue found Huff’s TikTok video and sent it to her partner Stecher Timmons. Following the election, the queer couple wanted to expedite their wedding for fear of possible policy changes. The couple moved to

Tennessee dominated U.S. Supreme Court news last week as Chase Strangio of the American Civil Liberties Union argued against the state’s ban on certain health care options for trans youth. Tennessee Solicitor General J. Matthew Rice defended the law on behalf of state Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti to the court’s nine justices, emphasizing that state legislatures have the power to regulate medical procedures. Strangio argued that transgender youth are guaranteed equal access to medical care under the Constitution’s equal protection clause urging justices to recognize the law as discriminatory on the basis of gender. The justices’ ruling will set critical precedent regarding the legal rights and protections afforded to trans people. Conservatives have a 6-3 majority on the nation’s highest court, and court-watchers anticipate SCOTUS will side with Tennessee when it issues a formal ruling, expected in the late spring.

Nashville from Florida in June, a month after getting engaged. Before stumbling across Huff’s explanation of HB878, Etue and Timmons felt anxious about facing discrimination on what should be the best day of their lives.

“It was just a huge relief,” Etue says. “Laura obviously is just such an amazing, kind, warm person and just somebody that instantly gave us both such a feeling of safety. And kind of brought the magic back into being able to go and get married.”

Days of planning led to friendship between the couple and Huff, and resulted in Huff’s first time solemnizing a marriage. On Nov. 29, Etue and Timmons stood at the top of the Warner Park steps with loved ones by their side — Etue wearing a flowing white gown and Timmons in a studded leather jacket.

Huff read the vows written by Etue, and the couple signified their commitment with a kiss. Passersby and Huff cheered the newlyweds.

“I feel like I had nerves going into it just because we were in a public space and we are very obviously not a straight couple,” Timmons says. “I didn’t know [if] people in passing ... were gonna say anything, but people were wonderful. It was just better than I could have hoped for.”

“Obviously all of us are part of our own communities, and we all want to try to do something to help,” Etue says. “But it’s not super often that you get to have a real, direct and personal impact on somebody in your community’s life. We’re going to hold Laura in our hearts forever.”

Those interested in becoming notaries can find more information via sos.tn.gov. ▼

Nashville’s downtown East Bank riverfront is now home to Wasioto Park, the newly named successor to Cumberland Park, after a unanimous vote from the Metro Board of Parks and Recreation. “Wasioto” is a Shawnee word that, according to some sources, means “mountains where the deer are plentiful.” It’s also the name the Shawnee people gave to the Cumberland River many generations before white people arrived in what is now known as Tennessee. Discussions about the name change began in earnest a few months ago, led by noted attorney and advocate Albert Bender

Kathy Sinback executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee, is stepping down after just two years leading the local civil rights organization. The shakeup comes amid frequent and high-profile legal challenges from the organization that have contested recent laws passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature, including the trans health care ban currently in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Sinback replaced prior executive director Hedy Weinberg, who headed the ACLU of Tennessee for more than 37 years. Phyllida Burlingame will now serve as the organization’s interim executive director.

PHOTO : KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES)

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

LAURA HUFF

CHASE STRANGIO IN FRONT OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

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YEAR MUSIC in

Talking with stellar songsmith and producer Brittany Howard, counting down the year’s top local albums and more

IT FEELS LIKE 2024 just got started, but it’s already time to look back on what happened in this thing we call “Nashville music” via our Year in Music issue.

In this issue, we get perspective via a conversation with revered singer-songwriter and bandleader Brittany Howard after a year of touring around What Now, as well as Nick Carpenter, whose Medium Build project has skyrocketed in the wake of his LP Country and EP Marietta. We also count down our writers’ 10 favorite local albums and review happenings in hip-hop, country and rock, as well as jazz, blues, soul and R&B. Plus, we take stock of the people we lost and the ever-changing venue landscape, and we hand over the mic to folks across the kaleidoscope of local music for their take on what went down this year. —STEPHEN TRAGESER, MUSIC EDITOR

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO HAIR & MAKEUP: SHERITA LESLIE

Born in a Time to Change the Paradigm

Talking with Brittany Howard about her Grammy-nominated LP What Now, her new hardcore project and more

BY HANNAH CRON

BRITTANY HOWARD IS the truest form of an artist. You’d be hard-pressed to think of another musician with the ability to move between projects and sounds with such fluidity and ease. Howard made a name for herself with the lauded Southern soul-rock of Alabama Shakes, branching off to explore folk, punk and everything in between before releasing her first solo album Jaime in 2019. The follow-up What Now came out in February, stretching Howard’s territory into new worlds with influences from dance music to meditation. The Scene sat down with her on a cloudy Monday in late November to discuss the Grammy-nominated LP, her creative process and what she’s trying next. (Of note, shortly before our conversation, Howard got engaged.) Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The record opens with “Earth Sign.” Are you an astrology person? I know you aren’t a religious person, but you seem quite spiritual. Yeah, I was trying to do a little spell. You know, I believe in manifestation, sure, but I also believe you’ve got to be in that energy to receive that same energy back. So I was like: “I’m going to write a song that’s going to go at the top of my record, so when I perform live I’m going to do it first. And it’s going to be like I’m putting all this energy into these words, and then the crowd will sing it back.” And that’s a lot of energy, a lot of vibration. Because I was trying to meet me an earth sign, ’cause I was like, “I need somebody that’s dependable — they get things done, very grounded.” And I think it worked!

If I remember correctly, you don’t sing the lyric “what now” in the song “What Now” or anywhere else on the record. How did you decide on that title for the track and the album? “What Now” means a lot of different things. When I was creating the track “What Now,” the song kind of felt like exhaustion. There’s like this mechanical element to it — it’s very locomotive. I was just getting to the point of, “I don’t know what to do, I’m very stressed, I’m very anxious, what’s going to happen next?” That song in particular was kind of just about, like, not a singular relationship, but just being at that point in your relationship where it’s completely zapped and you don’t know what to do. … “Should I leave, should I stay? How do I make it work? Who have I become here?”

For the record, it was just like, to me, every song is very different from the next, and it’s kind of like you don’t know what to expect next. And so, within as without — within the world, you

don’t know what to expect next. Because at the time, it was in the pandemic, Black Lives Matter was marching in the streets, police brutality against protesters, you’ve got guys with guns walking around not minding their business — I don’t know what they were doing. In Kenosha, people just shooting each other. It was crazy. And then Donald Trump. [Laughs] It was wild times. … Still wild. I think it’s going to get weirder and weirder.

My impression of Jaime was that you were looking in the moment and into the past, and on What Now you’re in the moment and looking forward. Is that something that resonates with you? I think that’s partially true. I feel like Jaime for me was me getting to introduce myself more authentically — this is me, not necessarily Alabama Shakes, but Brittany Howard. “This is where I’m from, this is what I’m about, and this is what means a lot to me.” With What Now, it was more like I got to go through a lot of my different emotions, especially when it comes to getting through relationships. Because we learn most of our lessons in relationships with others, right? So it was just talking about all the things that I’ve learned, all the things I would like to see, and of course, there’s also just putting hope in the air for me.

I know that it’s translated to help a lot of other people too, which is great — that’s what you want. But for me, it was, “Who am I, how do I get through this, and what do I still believe in?” Because I think that matters. A song like “Another Day,” that was me being, like, “You know, the world isn’t all on fire.” I really believe there’s more light in the world than there is darkness in the world. Even though both have to exist, I don’t think it’s equally proportionate.

There’s a song on the record called “Samson.”

Throughout your work, you’ve made many biblical allusions. I understand the reference to the story of Samson and Delilah, but where were you going with it? So in that story, I feel like Delilah was telling him, “I’m trying to betray you,” over and over again, and Samson just kept letting her do it. It was like this weird dance between them.

“Samson” was one of these songs I didn’t really expect to happen. I didn’t really have lyrics for it. It’s kind of hard to believe, but I only had this one piano riff that repeats throughout the song and that was it. And I had this drum beat that I had, the drum is kind of off-kilter, and to me, it made the piano riff interesting so I repeated that. I had this really good trumpet player Rod McGaha come in and play on it, and

I was still in the studio trying to figure out what it was. Then I just went into the vocal booth and … I guess the best way I can describe it is, I’m in this room and there’s four speakers on the floor. It had a binaural microphone, which looks like a head, and I had this mixer that I’ve had for a long time. So basically what we’d do is live dubbing, which is where I’m mixing the song live and then I’m supposed to sing at the same time. I’ve got no lyrics so it’s really just off the top of the head. Luckily I had something that sounded like a hook, and luckily I was able to remember it, so we were kind of able to put it together instantaneously. Calling the song “Samson” just sounded like the appropriate title, after someone being kind of unable to make a decision about what to do.

The last song on the album is “Every Color in Blue.” I love the imagery of that title. Is color theory something you think about and incorporate into your creative process? Largely, yeah. I mean to me, music and color are the same thing. Painting, making a song — it’s just putting together different frequencies that we can pick up.

“Every Color in Blue” is a song talking about depression and how you go through life and there’s just a shorter range of emotions that can be felt — not all the time, but sometimes. It’s like your high highs aren’t as high as these other people’s, and your low lows might be lower than other people’s, and your excitement exists within this spectrum. I was just trying to find a way to write about it that wasn’t so, “I’m sad!” and speak about it a little more realistically, which is just that I’m existing with less dopamine, and this is what it looks like.

Recently you announced a hardcore benefit show with a new project called Kumite coming Jan.

12 at The Basement East. I’m so excited for that! I’m excited too because I’ve never done this type of thing before. I’ve always been a fan of hardcore music since I was in middle school, and it’s the kind of group I’ve always wanted to be in — I just couldn’t find the players. And then Alabama Shakes happened, and I just couldn’t find my footing in there.

And so what we’re doing is putting on a community fundraiser, if you will; it’s a show and we’re having some sick bands. We’ve got Snooper, who’s super dope, coming out, we have Second Spirit … that’s my friend Jared who plays with Alanna Royale, Alanna Royale’s husband. He’s awesome, he’s got Second Spirit, and they’ll also be backing me as Kumite. We also got Inner Peace, who is super sick. He’s like a really good rapper, Draco is his name, and he also has this hardcore act, which is awesome. So we’ve got lots of people of color in the room, and we’re raising money for Launch Pad, we’re raising money for Second Harvest, and we’re raising money for Southern Movement Committee. We wanted to put this together, me and my fiancée, because we were nervous about what was going to happen with the election, and it’s already kind of nervy living here being somebody who’s different. I’m very much a live-and-let-live type of person, but not everybody sees it that way, and we’ve got to share votes and share space.

We live in a red state, and in this community we’ve really got to look out for each other. The government, for whatever reason, they’re always trying to reach into our lives, and so that’s the whole thing of why we’re putting it on. I just want to make people feel good, feel protected, feel like you still have a place here — because this is my home. The South is my home, and we’ve always had to fight, for generations. That’s what we’re going to do, and I’m excited to do that. ▼

Brittany Howard’s Nashville Hardcore Benefit Show

7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12, at The Basement East

A Conversation With Nick Carpenter

Talking with the Medium Build songsmith about shaping his singular catalog BY

JASON SHAWHAN

NICK CARPENTER’S MEDIUM BUILD project had a huge year, including making a major label debut with fifth album Country, and then finishing up with a massive European tour in the wake of a new EP called Marietta. Carpenter’s nomadic background — his journey has taken him to the Marietta EP’s titular Atlanta suburb as well as MTSU; Anchorage, Alaska; and East Nashville — has given him quite the continuum of experience, and it’s all there in the music. It’s visceral, naked, kind, furious, horny and gifted with incredible turns of phrase and the kind of wry humor that throws together complex emotional responses and lets you feel it all. Medium Build is a lot, in the best possible way, but never so overwhelming you resent its power. You feel it in your spine, and your heart, and wherever you keep the emotions that don’t get to come out and run around in the yard every day. Carpenter spoke with the Scene while on his tour, shortly after the election. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How has it been to spend the past couple weeks of American history on your European tour? Oh, man. It’s a little bit bittersweet. It’s nice to be gone, it’s nice to not have to watch, but I’m also on my phone all day, so it’s not like I’m avoiding anything. Generally, Europe is being very empathetic. They feel for us. But I think they are curious, they want to know what we’re for — to which I respond, “You’ve listened to my lyrics, right?” It’s been all right. I try to stay optimistic.

Your album Country and John Grant’s The Art of the Lie have been what’s keeping me sane. And then you drop the Marietta EP. Holy fuck, man, “Triple Marathon”? That’s like Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting.” Whoever inspired that song may as well be immortal now. [Laughs] That is huge to me. “Cloudbusting” is one of my biggest references, that’s a huge compliment.

The soundscape on “John & Lydia” is unreal. It’s some Max Martin widescreen vistas with the most wrenching lyrics. It’s not possible to hear your stuff and not feel it. It makes for an immediate connection and it also triggers this empathy that only the best artists get at. [Laughs] That is very kind. I was very scared to put out something that sounded that poppy, but I figured if I could win the battle with the lyrics, then that song has several things and styles that I love in it.

People can and do get into your stuff because they love sad-boi indie, but there’s so much more to your sound. It’s also been really interesting looking at your music videos — particularly “In My Room,” “FatBrokeLoser” and “Crying Over You” — how there’s always something conceptual and kinesthetic there. Are you looking to expand further into visual arts, maybe make a film of your own? Yeah. My brother went to film school when I was a kid. He doesn’t do that anymore, but I watched a bunch of movies with him when I was a kid, and he worked at the local Blockbuster, so the access was there, and I was always watching movies. And then when I was in college I had the Belcourt, and if

2024 Timeline

JAN. 23

Melanie Safka dies JAN. 24

SunSquabi plays first show at Cannery Hall, at Row One Stage JAN. 26

R.A.P. Ferreira releases Fumitake Tamura collab The First Fist to Make Contact When We Dap FEB. 5

Toby Keith dies FEB. 9

Brittany Howard releases What Now; The Sleeveens release The Sleeveens FEB. 27

Brian Brown celebrates 10th anniversary of debut EP 7:22 at The Basement East

MARCH 22

I had my druthers, I would always be putting sound and picture together, whether it’s for my songs or for making things around tunes that I love. It’s why I love Kubrick and Tarantino, and how the first time I would hear these incredible songs in films. What’s the Stones song at the end of Full Metal Jacket … “Paint It, Black” — these things were meant to go together. I just watched Longlegs last night for the first time, and the impact of the T. Rex tunes and that ’70s Oldsmobile just driving through, and it feels so good, and I want my songs to do that. How great to have a song that lands in such a way, and makes a movie even better.

When I first encountered your work at the Orville Peck show downtown, my first thought was, “This guy’s badass.” Despite country and gospel powering the engine of Music City, it is a profoundly rockist space, so to take the stage without a drummer is gutsy as fuck. And then also when John Waters introduced you, it was all respect. ’Stache game recognize ’stache game. Best day of my life. What can you say about John Waters? I was probably like 15 the first time I watched Pink Flamingos Fifteen is too young for Pink Flamingos. Oh, it was way too young. I was freaked the fuck out. I didn’t know what anything was. It was definitely an awakening. But the fact that he did his homework on us, introducing me with a grain of salt — you know, taking the piss, but doing so with a great deal of love and care, and really having done his homework — how lucky to meet a hero and have them not be the worst.

When John Waters calls you “hot-ish,” that goes on your business card. I’ve got to thank Orville for that. He’s always farming and nurturing these relationships. It’s how he can bring out John Waters and Willie Nelson at the same show, it’s so powerful. ▼

Sierra Ferrell releases Trail of Flowers; Gov. Bill Lee signs ELVIS Act giving likeness, voice and image protections for musicians

MARCH 29

Dance-music-centric nightclub Night We Met opens in former 12th and Porter space

APRIL 5

Katie Pruitt releases Mantras; The Black Keys release Ohio Players

APRIL 7

Morgan Wallen arrested on felony charges for throwing a chair off the roof of Chief’s on Broadway

APRIL 12

Alice Randall releases My Black Country

APRIL 26

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opens revamped, expanded installation of landmark 2004 exhibit Night Train to Nashville

APRIL 27

The Protomen celebrate 20th anniversary at Eastside Bowl

APRIL 28

Jason Eskridge’s Sunday Night Soul celebrates 10th anniversary at The 5 Spot

MAY 23

Tennessee joins federal antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation

MAY 29-30

André 3000 plays four shows on the tour behind New Blue Sun at The Blue Room at Third Man Records

JUNE 6

Mary Sack dies

JUNE 6-9

CMA Fest fills up downtown Nashville

JUNE 13-16

Pretty Lights, Post Malone, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fred Again.. headline Bonnaroo

This jarana jarocha—or eight-stringed, guitar-shaped instrument originating from Veracruz, Mexico—was custom built for Louie Pérez of Los Lobos by “Candelas” Delgado in the 1970s. Delgado’s son Manuel continues to make instruments for Los Lobos to this day.

From the exhibit Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank

artifact: Courtesy of Los Lobos artifact photo: Bob Delevante

JUNE 15

Six One Trïbe headlines inaugural 615 Day celebration at The Basement East

JUNE 16

Buzz Cason dies

JUNE 20

Eastide Bowl opens 225-capacity room The ’58

JUNE 21

Rich Ruth releases Water Still Flows

JUNE 22-23

Tinashe and Billy Porter headline Nashville Pride

JULY 10

Nashville Independent Venues Study releases report

JULY 23

Jenny Lewis records a set live to VHS at Soft Junk

JULY 27

Jack White plays American Legion Post 82 supporting No Name surprise-released July 19

AUG. 15

Fanny’s House of Music co-founders announce retirement plan, search for new business owner

AUG. 23-25

Orville Peck’s Sixth Annual Rodeo comes to Nashville

SEPT. 12

Greater Nashville Music Census opens data portal

SEPT. 13

The Jesus Lizard releases Rack; La Danse hosts blowout celebration of life for DJ Svnny D

SEPT. 17

The Pinnacle, new 4,500-capacity venue in Nashville Yards, announces inaugural shows for March

SEPT. 17-21

AmericanaFest takes over Music City; Sierra Ferrell, Grace Bowers and more take home awards

SEPT. 20

Historic marker unveiled in North Nashville celebrating Jackie Shane

SEPT. 27

Styrofoam Winos release Real Time

SEPT. 28

Kris Kristofferson dies

SEPT. 28-29

Dave Matthews Band and Noah Kahan headline Pilgrimage

OCT. 1

Owsley Manier dies

OCT. 19-20

Hear Rock City!

Releases from Jack White, The Black Keys, Cage the Elephant, Brittany Howard and more made it another stellar year for

Nashville rockers

BY DARYL SANDERS

IF THE RECENTLY announced 2025 Grammy nominations are any indication, Nashville may be poised for its moment in the rock ’n’ roll spotlight. While there have always been important rock recordings made in the city, going all the way back to the early 1950s, that fact has not been widely known. But when not particularly with-it Grammy voters get the memo about Nashville’s vibrant rock scene, it suggests a turning point in public perception.

Four of Nashville’s heavy hitters — Jack White (No Name), The Black Keys (Ohio Players), Cage the Elephant (Neon Pill) and Brittany Howard (What Now) — all released records that got nods from the Recording Academy. So did The Black Crowes, who cut their latest, Happiness Bastards, in the city with producer Jay Joyce. This year saw Kings of Leon return in part to

All That Jazz — and More

Nashville’s jazz, blues, soul and R&B communities preserved traditions and evolved them in 2024

BY RON WYNN

Drkmttr celebrates federal nonprofit status with inaugural Drkmttr Fest fundraiser

OCT. 25

Sturgill Simpson, aka Johnny Blue Skies, throws down for three-and-a-half hours at Bridgestone Arena

NOV. 9

The Privates reunite at The Basement to celebrate comp We Are Really Rocking Now, Haven’t We?

NOV. 22

R.A.P. Ferreira’s Soulfolks Records and Tapes announces closure

THE CONSISTENCY OF impressive quality in the worlds of jazz and blues in Nashville allows fans to enjoy great music year-round. The amount of noteworthy events makes it impossible to cite everything and everyone, so here’s a sampling of 2024 items that deserved attention. Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music grew its reputation as a vital center for academic research and study in the jazz world as assets from the extensive and thoroughly unique Phil Schaap Jazz Collection — bequeathed to the school after Schaap’s death in 2021 — began to be available to the public. The undergraduate ensemble Blair Big Band, under the direction of Ryan Middagh, continued its tradition of excellence as well, with an array of performances and competition wins.

Another longtime local mainstay, the Nashville Jazz Workshop, added a new artistic

the rawer sound of their early records with Can We Please Have Fun, their first album in three years. In addition, we got a double dose of rock history from Nashville-based British rocker Robyn Hitchcock, who released his entertaining memoir 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left and an accompanying album of trippy, stripped-down covers from that same pivotal year, 1967: Vacations in the Past. And rising indie-rock star Soccer Mommy kept her mojo workin’ on Evergreen, her fifth and most intriguing release to date.

While the city’s stars had an impressive year, so did Nashville’s lesser-known rock artists. For example, The Weird Sisters emphatically answered the question they posed in the title of their second album Who Are The Weird Sisters? with an infectious blend of hard rock and dance music. On Crave On’s sixth album Fantasy Hall, Patrick Orr, Kate Richi & Co. fine-tuned their

director in David Rodgers. Co-founders Roger Spencer and Lori Mechem transitioned into full-time roles as mentors and performers while remaining active participants in the workshop’s various concerts and classes. The NJW’s Jazz Cave venue remains a hotspot for not only fine local artists, but top national performers as well. Their mission of presenting, extending and promoting the jazz message was buttressed by the continuing presence of Rudy’s Jazz Room, which once again offered shows six nights a week from local, regional and national artists. Outstanding releases from Jeff Coffin, Sofia Goodman, Kandace Springs and Ben Graves were part of a steady stream of notable homegrown jazz recordings.

Blues stalwarts Piper & the Hard Times began the year by winning the International Blues Challenge competition in Memphis, then capped it by releasing their marvelous, long-

eclectic brand of folk-rock that lands somewhere between Bob Dylan and Lou Reed. The Sleeveens dropped 11 tracks of irrepressible neo-punk on their eponymous debut. There also were a number of noteworthy roots-rock releases, including albums by local legends Kevin Gordon (The In Between) and Will Kimbrough (For the Life of Me), and blues-rock newcomers The FBR (Ghost).

If a reminder was needed of the foundation Nashville’s current rock scene is built on, a pair of bands from the past resurfaced in 2024 to provide it. White Animals, DIY pioneers of the ’80s, returned with Star Time, their first new album in more than 20 years and arguably their best ever. Meanwhile, Aughts favorites The Privates released their best-of collection We Are Really Rocking Now, Haven’t We?, featuring two new recordings showing off the power of the oldschool spirit. ▼

in-the-making debut Revelation. Nashville is blessed to have Carol Ann’s Home Cooking Cafe as well as Papa Turney’s BBQ/Miss Zeke’s Juke Joint. Both offer marvelous food, while Papa Turney’s features spicy blues concerts and Carol Ann’s is known for its R&B, soul and blues jam sessions. These locales are havens where those who treasure classic material can hear the real deal. Other memorable moments included a rare Dan Penn live performance with The HercuLeons at 3rd and Lindsley, the release of a fine new LP called Friendlytown from soul legend Steve Cropper and the 10th anniversary of Jason Eskridge’s monthly performance series Sunday Night Soul.

It’s unfortunate that reliable entities are often undervalued. But not every city has a radio station specializing in both contemporary and classic jazz, like Fisk University’s WFSK. Or shows on local outlets that spotlight blues, soul and R&B, such as DJ Erica’s Soul of the City, airing 5 to 7 p.m. Thursdays on community station WXNA (which also is home to Pete Wilson’s historic treasure trove Nashville Jumps, still airing Fridays from 8 to 10 a.m.), or Marquis Munson’s Soulphonic Sounds, airing 6 to 8 p.m. Fridays on WNXP. Original programming on local radio is becoming scarce in lots of cities, but Nashville DJs’ dedication to sharing the music they love is emblematic of the attitude across the spectrum of jazz, blues, soul and R&B communities in Nashville. ▼

SOCCER MOMMY

PIPER & THE HARD TIMES

PHOTO: ANNA POLLACK

PHOTO: NEILSON HUBBARD

TOP LOCAL ALBUMS Critics’ Poll

From Jack White and Brittany Howard to R.A.P. Ferreira, Katie Pruitt and beyond, here are our favorite local LPs of the year

USING A HIGHLY SCIENTIFIC formula (read: spreadsheet) concocted back in 2010, the Scene has once again tabulated ballots from our wrecking crew of music writers to compile our picks for the 10 best local albums of the year. With another bumper crop of releases, many excellent albums landed just outside the Top 10, including those from Eric Slick, Madi Diaz, Medium Build, Mama Zu and Emily Nenni. Without further ado, the Top 10.

10.

deeply personal issues. Mantras, which they co-produced with Collin Pastore and Jake Finch, is at times wistful and tender; at other times it simply rocks. D. PATRICK RODGERS

8.

The Black Keys, Ohio Players (Nonesuch)

soul-rock flair Howard brought to the Alabama Shakes, What Now introduces heightened levels of blues, psychedelia, funk-rock and house music. Howard unites these widespread musical flavors with her distinctive vocal delivery, which seamlessly switches from airy and languid to growling and soul-shaking. The result is a lavish candy store for music lovers, with Howard’s elasticity as a vocalist and bandleader in full effect. Through every kinetic groove, piano trill and distorted guitar lick, What Now establishes itself as an album meant to be felt. MADELEINE BRADFORD

5.

The Sleeveens, The Sleeveens (Dirtnap) Singer and songwriter Stefan Murphy captures the sound of punk in 1979 on The Sleeveens’ self-titled debut album. Murphy has a knack for writing songs that combine cultural commentary with the mutated Chuck Berry licks and RamonesClash-style backing he and his band — guitarist Eli Steele, bassist and producer James Mechan and drummer Ryan Sweeney — show off on songs like “Tales From the Megaplex” and the amazing “Metallica Font.” The guitar riffs will sound familiar to fans of The Undertones’ 1979 self-titled album and the early work of The Ramones, but Murphy conjures up a fictional Nashville that runs on post-punk energy throughout the album. All I could ask for is a lyric sheet. EDD HURT

9.

Katie Pruitt, Mantras (Rounder) Critics and tastemakers have applied a number of genre labels to Mantras, the second LP from Nashville’s Katie Pruitt: Americana, indie rock, alt-country. And those work, sure. But I’d like to posit that Pruitt also makes a pretty pure form of what we dweeby critic types like to refer to as “heartland rock.” Like icons Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Melissa Etheridge — not to mention latter-day acts like The War on Drugs — Pruitt fills songs like “White Lies, White Jesus and You,” “Worst Case Scenario” and “Phases of the Moon” with introspective themes, driving rhythms, howling lead-guitar lines and transfixing melodies. A Georgia native and Belmont University alum, Pruitt writes frequently about reconciling her Christian upbringing with her sexuality, among other

From the songwriting to the arrangements and production, The Black Keys’ Ohio Players is a sophisticated rock ’n’ roll record. It can be appreciated as high art, but also make you “shake your body to the ground.” With help from some of their musical friends — including Noel Gallagher, Lil Noid, Juicy J, and Beck, who’s featured on “Paper Crown” but performs on half of the album — the duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney broaden their signature groovy bluesrock sound on the album, integrating elements of psychedelic rock, classic R&B and hip-hop to great effect. As best evidenced by their cover of the 1969 William Bell R&B hit “I Forgot to Be Your Lover,” Auerbach also shows his continued growth as a soulful lead vocalist. DARYL SANDERS

7.

Rich Ruth, Water Still Flows (Third Man)

For his latest effort as Rich Ruth, guitarist Michael Ruth assembled an allstar squad of Nashville instrumentalists to create deep, spiritual ambient rock that oscillates between joie de vivre and heavy vibes. Water Still Flows combines jazz explorations and synth modulations with meditations on the beauty of overdriven guitar sustain that make for an intense and therapeutic listening experience. It rewards repeat listens, deep listens and background listens alike. It’s rich in texture and long on ideas, with harmonic narratives that propel the album forward without ever employing that laziest of musical storytelling techniques: the lyric. SEAN L. MALONEY

6.

Brittany Howard, What Now (Island)

Brittany Howard’s second solo album

What Now glides and ignites from start to finish. Playfully bouncing off the retro

The Jesus Lizard, Rack (Ipecac) OK, maybe The Jesus Lizard isn’t the first band that comes to mind when you think “Nashville.” Formed in the 1980s from the remaining pieces of Austin, Texas’ Scratch Acid before relocating to Chicago, the band initially dissolved in 1999. While the group was in suspended animation, guitarist Duane Dennison moved to Nashville, started playing with artists like Hank III and became a librarian. Rack, the first new studio offering since J-Liz returned to the road on a limited basis 15 years ago, was made in Music City at Audio Eagle with producer Paul Allen. And it’s everything fans hoped for, with brilliantly esoteric lyrics howled over razorsharp guitars and a massive rhythm section that delivers blunt-force trauma — and even, per tradition, a four-letter album title. P.J. KINZER

4.

R.A.P. Ferreira and Fumitake Tamura, The First Fist to Make Contact When We Dap (Ruby Yacht/Alpha Pup)

The latest full-length from R.A.P. Ferreira brims with the beauty and power of language, and it highlights the dangers words pose when used for ill or misunderstood. Just about every track could prompt a full essay, but the hook of “The Words of the Poem” cuts several ways and gets to the point: “Never will you figure us out / I don’t doubt / You don’t know what the fuck I’m talkin’ about.” While the album’s lyrics work as poetry, Ferreira’s performance and the production from his Japanese collaborator Fumitake Tamura — which feels like a seasoned rapper’s record collection has become sentient and is quietly observing you — bring them to life. STEPHEN

TRAGESER

3.

Styrofoam Winos, Real Time (Styrofoam Winos/Sophomore Lounge)

On their second album, Styrofoam Winos create a shimmering, utterly sincere work of alt-country. Each of the three members, all impeccable songwriters in their own right, work in the vein of John Prine or Vic

Chestnutt, painting vivid pictures of the world around them by weaving strings of words together that seem inevitable and organic. These idiosyncratic songs are full of warmth, capturing the here-and-now in the twang of a pedal steel, the stacking of harmonies or the jolt of the vibraphone. The result is incredibly charming: Real Time feels lived-in, as if the album has been around for years, not just three months. BEN ARTHUR

2.

Sierra Ferrell, Trail of Flowers (Rounder)

Devoted fans flood the comments of Sierra Ferrell videos on YouTube with the assertion that this is the “era of Sierra,” and it aptly captures this moment for the West Virginia-born Americana star. Ferrell flourishes on her second record Trail of Flowers. A slew of career milestones — her TV debut, two nights headlining the Ryman, a main-stage set at the Newport Folk Festival and an upcoming slot opening for Post Malone on his country stadium tour — feels like secondary achievements next to the magic she’s bottled up on the LP. Her lyrics stay true to her wry weirdness while honoring traditional roots songwriting on album standouts like “I Could Drive You Crazy” and “Dollar Bill Bar.” Ferrell’s voice belongs in a cadre of pure and uncanny phenomena like those of Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and Dolly Parton. Watching a grainy video of Ferrell performing in 2018 at Honky Tonk Tuesday at American Legion Post 82, you may at first squint and ask, “Is that unassuming woman with the massive hat really Sierra Ferrell?” Then she sings and you think, “Of course it is.” JACQUELINE ZEISLOFT

1.

Jack White, No Name (Third Man)

Though he’s had a hand in several releases that have made our annual poll since his arrival in Music City, No Name marks Jack White’s first time topping our tally as a solo artist — and that has nothing to do with him silently premiering the LP by handing it out for free. Twelve years after his solo debut Blunderbuss, White keeps drawing gracefully on his White Stripes roots and amps up the quotient of heavy blues that’s been further in the background over the past few years. Unbelievably earworm-y melodies complement White’s casually clever production mastery, which stands out on tracks like the slide-centric “Underground,” thunderous “That’s How I’m Feeling” and swaggering, howling assessment of what humans have wrought “It’s Rough on Rats (If You’re Asking).” BAILEY BRANTINGHAM ▼

The 2024 Rock ’n’ Roll Poll

The local music scene on the local music scene COMPILED BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

For our annual Rock ’n’ Roll Poll, we once again asked a select group of Nashville’s finest rockers, rollers, rappers, bookers and more to share their take on local music.

WHAT LOCAL ARTIST/BAND RULED NASHVILLE IN 2024?

Soot. —BLAIR TRAMEL AND CONNOR CUMMINS, JESS AWH, MICHAEL EADES

Styrofoam Winos. —KYLE HAMLETT, TYLER GLASER

Sierra Ferrell. —CELIA GREGORY, JERRY PENTECOST

Kyshona (told ya), Larissa Maestro. —JERRY PENTECOST

Meg Elsier. —EMILY YOUNG, MEGAN LOVELESS

Brennan Wedl. —JESSICA BREANNE, JORDAN VICTORIA

Snooper. —JARED CORDER, JESS AWH

Baby Wave. —JESS AWH

Bats. —JORDAN VICTORIA

Both The Weird Sisters and Flight Attendant saw an awesome growth in their audiences this year because of so much previous dedication to their craft. —TAYLOR COLE

Even though he didn’t release a bunch, Tim Gent has been putting in the work toward his upcoming album Change Is Good —CORDUROY CLEMENS Jelly Roll. Throw a rock and you’d hit him. —COLEY HINSON

Stuck Lucky have not only supported touring acts from around the map, they also dropped Counting Curses, a massively awesome record.

—NATHAN CONRAD

Zook, Volunteer Department, Revival Season,

RESPONDENTS:

DJ Afrosheen: DJ; designer; activist

Ellen Angelico: guitarist

Jess Awh: musician, Bats

Jesse Boo: deposed dictator; also bass in Boo Dudes, I guess

Jessica Breanne: singer-songwriter; staffer, the Belcourt

Ariel Bui: singer-songwriter; owner and piano teacher at Melodia Studio

Justin Causey: artist manager; entertainment production

Corduroy Clemens: rapper

Taylor Cole: talent buyer and general manager, The East Room; vocalist, Tayls

Nathan Conrad: rapper, Spoken Nerd

Jared Corder: producer; Polychrome Ranch; artist, *repeat repeat

Quez Cantrell, Mama Zu, Pressure Heaven and a bazillion more. Of course, all the YK releases — I’m biased but I stand by their greatness.

—MICHAEL EADES

The Robe’s run of monthly EPs has been a delight. —MIKE SHEPHERD

Afrokokoroot, Friday Night Funk Band, The Magi, MD and Cobalt Blue, Jo’shua Odine, Soul Chess. —SUNNY DADA (SHADDAI)

DJ Afrosheen, DJ Yoyaniii, DJ Croptop Tot. —JUSTIN CAUSEY

Allison Russell. —DJ AFROSHEEN

Medium Build, Madi Diaz. —CELIA GREGORY

Maggie Rose, Daisha McBride. —ALANNA ROYALE

Denitia. —BRYAN PIERCE

Jim Hoke’s The Floating Zone. —ZIONA RILEY

Molly Martin. —ANGELA LESE

Kacey Musgraves. —ARIEL BUI

Sizzle Went the VCR. —FATS KAPLIN

Massie99. —NORDISTA FREEZE

Laura Berens. —SOFIA GOODMAN

Total Wife!! —OLIVE SCIBELLI

WHAT LOCAL ARTIST/BAND IS GOING TO RULE IN 2025?

Six One Trïbe specifically, but I believe Nashville hip-hop will have a big year in 2025. —CORDUROY CLEMENS

Negro Justice has at least one great new project

in 2025 that is going to blow your mind! —NATHAN CONRAD

Sunny Dada (SHADDAI): musician

Evan P. Donohue: artist; songwriter; producer; engineer

Michael Eades: founder, YK Records

Nordista Freeze: experimental pop musician; founder, Space Prom

Sofia Goodman: drummer; composer; bandleader; international woman of mystery

Tyler Glaser: used vinyl buyer and event coordinator, Grimey’s

Celia Gregory: morning host, WNXP

Kyle Hamlett: songwriter; musician

Coley Hinson: producer; reverend

Fats Kaplin: multi-instrumentalist; prestidigitator

Angela Lese: drummer

Megan Loveless: girl boss, Third Man Records; talent buyer, The Blue Room at Third Man Records; cofounder, To-Go Records

All these cool new 20- to 25-year-old alt-rock bands. —TAYLOR COLE

Baby Wave. —MEGAN LOVELESS, MICHAEL EADES, BLAIR TRAMEL AND CONNOR CUMMINS

Massie99, Screen Star. —MEGAN LOVELESS

Lilly Hiatt. —COLEY HINSON, ARIEL BUI, TYLER GLASER

Body Electric, Hushhh, Zook, Phiz, Jessica Breanne, Spectral Waves, Qualls, Jordan Xx, Son of the Challenger, Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, ∞. —MICHAEL EADES

Anne McCue, Joelton Mayfield. —JESSICA BREANNE

Amanda Shires, Brittany Howard. —JERRY PENTECOST

Lips Speak Louder. (I may be biased.) —ANGELA LESE

Tim Gent. —JUSTIN CAUSEY

Emma Zinck. —ELLEN ANGELICO

Nathaniel Riley. —ZIONA RILEY

Kevin Coleman. —KYLE HAMLETT

Ziona Riley, Kyle Hamlett, Slow Shiv. —EVAN P. DONOHUE

Brennan Wedl. —JESS AWH

Mr. Mayo. —SOFIA GOODMAN

MT Tricky. —JARED CORDER

Daisha McBride. —BRYAN PIERCE

Kandy and the Kavities. —OLIVE SCIBELLI

Pressure Heaven. —JORDAN VICTORIA

The Sewing Club. —CELIA GREGORY

Elke. —EMILY YOUNG

Future Crib. —NORDISTA FREEZE

Crystal Rose. —ALANNA ROYALE

Wesley & the Boys. —RYAN SWEENEY

Waxed. —CHET WEISE

Jerry Pentecost: drummer; DJ; freelance badass

Bryan Pierce: chief curator, National Museum of African American Music

Ziona Riley: singer-songwriter; member, Heinous Orca; host, Ziona’s Sunday Springwater Salon

Alanna Royale: singer-songwriter; eternal beauty

Olive Scibelli: co-director, Drkmttr Collective

Mike Shepherd: bassist, Tower Defense; Nashville rock lifer

Ryan Sweeney: drummer, too many bands to list; retired show booker; label dude, Sweet Time Records; pizza man

Blair Tramel and Connor Cummins: Snooper

Jordan Victoria: techie; musician, Heaven Honey

Chet Weise: cat person; dog lover; guitarist for MAANTA RAAY and Immortal Lee County Killers; editor-in-chief, Third Man Books

Emily Young: events and promotions director, WNXP

THE YEAR IN Hip-Hop

Six One Trïbe, Daisha McBride, R.A.P. Ferreira, Chuck Indigo and more showed off Music City’s rich rap talent

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

IT WAS NICE To feel energy building at a steady pace around Nashville hip-hop in 2024. While we didn’t see local rappers on local stages every weekend, it felt like less and less of a surprise to see Nashville MCs booked at spots from The 5 Spot to The Blue Room at Third Man Records to The Basement East and beyond. See also: The Nashfeels dance party, which encompasses lots of genres but frequently centers hip-hop, sold out Brooklyn Bowl time and again, and the crew got tapped to participate in the super-size Blavity House Party at Municipal Auditorium

Continuing the theme of live events, Regeneration — aka the father-son duo of jazz trumpet master Rod McGaha and ace rapper Mike Floss — made its auspicious debut. Meanwhile Brian Brown celebrated the 10th anniversary of his first EP 7:22, and the Six One Trïbe collective spearheaded a new tradition with a massive 615 Day party, both at The Basement East. That went down the same day as Tennessee Equity Alliance’s fifth annual Black on Buchanan festival in North Nashville and the day before the second annual Bridge to Broadway block party outside the National Museum of African American Music.

The Trïbe celebrated their new LP Beginning of 4Ever, and individual members dropped lots of work this year as well, including Gee Slab’s first two solo releases in four years — Expect to Win and You Ain’t Gotta Like It — and Blvck Wizzle’s soulful Skoot Muzik Sweet Poison, who supported at 615 Day, has had a handful of strong singles and a great feature on 2’Live Bre’s “Cashville Chick,” while FoundHoney took charge on “Charlie Brown,” a single with a heavy beat about knowing what you want in a relationship. Daisha McBride dropped her most confident work yet on her People Like Me EP, and right before Thanksgiving The Rap Girl went viral once again with a freestyle recorded on the street in L.A. with Canadian pop duo Crash Adams.

Relative Nashville newcomer R.A.P. Ferreira’s The First Fist to Make Contact When We Dap, a collaboration with producer Fumitake Tamura, features some of the finest wordplay like swordplay in the game. Sadly, real estate issues led to the closure of Ferreira’s record shop and venue Soulfolks (where he recorded much of the album) in November. Starlito, now an elder statesman of Music City hip-hop, brought as many deep thoughts and powerful bars as ever to Imposter Syndrome, while Chuck Indigo brought all of his formidable storytelling skills to bear on Until I Get There Ron Obasi, K.O.N, Case Arnold and others also released excellent work this year that rewards a deep dive. There’s lots more room to grow, but the wealth of talent is unbeatable. ▼

BATS

TIM GENT

SIX ONE TRÏBE

Shelldhn. —DJ AFROSHEEN

Can’t wait to find out! —FATS KAPLIN

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DISCOVERY THIS YEAR, MUSICAL OR NOT?

Nashville. Every time that I got off the road for a moment in 2024, I “rediscovered” my city and appreciated its tight musical community even more —FATS KAPLIN

Mayor Freddie’s outstanding songwriter dad Tim O’Connell. —ELLEN ANGELICO

Albert Brooks movies; “Pink Pony Club.” —COLEY HINSON

Chappell Roan. (I know, late to the party.) —ANGELA LESE

Palo Brea, massie99. —TAYLOR COLE

Free Wednesdays at NMAAM. —JERRY PENTECOST

Eastside Music Supply’s new Dickerson Pike location. —BRYAN PIERCE

The Psycho’s Quiz Show series at Springwater. —ZIONA RILEY

DJ Erica’s Mode Radio late Saturday nights on WXNA. —DJ AFROSHEEN

Thanks to WNXP, I discovered artists like Medium Build, Elke and Remi Wolf this year. CORDUROY CLEMENS

Budge. —EMILY YOUNG

The Penguin on HBO. —JUSTIN CAUSEY

Mall Gag. —ARIEL BUI

Magdalena Bay. —BLAIR TRAMEL AND CONNOR CUMMINS

The Austin, Texas, band Die Spitz. <3 —MEGAN LOVELESS

Quinn Hills’ album Ignore All Previous Instructions —JESSICA BREANNE

Putting a little red cabbage in with your rice when you steam it turns it purple! —JESS AWH @maddiescakesandotherbakes. —NORDISTA FREEZE

Finding out Duke’s “leftover sandwich” special will be returning every year in November. —TYLER GLASER

The Lobster Martini at Tiger Bar. —JESSE BOO BE-Hive milkshakes. —JARED CORDER

Cauliflower gochujang and live poetry on the patio at Babo Korean Bar. —CHET WEISE

The Pitch Meeting. —SOFIA GOODMAN Circle in the Fire (Kevin Coleman, Scott Mattingly, Gray Worry). —KYLE HAMLETT McKay! The harmonies are illustrious. And Tanatswa Estina, who is an incredible oneperson band and producer. —OLIVE SCIBELLI Tuning out of social media is legitimately healthy. We should all try it despite the FOMO. —MICHAEL EADES

CA7RIEL, Paco Amoroso. —ALANNA ROYALE Screen Star. —NATHAN CONRAD

If you see the symphony, the cheapest seats are the front few rows. (Check your ticket before you get high out front and walk inside.) —EVAN P. DONOHUE The freedom of an empty inbox in my booking email. —RYAN SWEENEY

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE STORY IN MUSIC — LOCAL OR NOT — IN 2024?

Jack White’s No Name surprise album drop, American Legion Post 82 show and guerrillastyle tour. —EMILY YOUNG, FATS KAPLIN, MEGAN LOVELESS D. Watusi reuniting and finally releasing Watusioosie. —RYAN SWEENEY, TYLER GLASER, COLEY HINSON, MEGAN LOVELESS

The return of Oasis. —COLEY HINSON

Locally, the respective rise of Jelly Roll and Charlotte Sands has been really cool to watch. I also love Lupe Fiasco releasing music independently; Samurai is a great project!

CORDUROY CLEMENS

Neil Young having fun in Franklin, bantering with the audience, playing a greatest set of all time. —ZIONA RILEY

It was a good year for women fronting heavy bands, with OmenBringer, Thirdface and Husband Stitch all making their presence felt. More of this, please. —MIKE SHEPHERD

Bruce Fitzpatrick from The End getting his laurels on WNXP’s Music Citizens podcast. —JESS

AWH

“Looking Back at the Impact of Sweet Time Booking.” —CHET WEISE

“Emotional Warrior: More than six years after Jessi Zazu’s death, the local artist and musician’s final project is entering the world.” —ARIEL BUI

“Seeing Derv Gordon is the Ultimate AntiEstablishment Move.” —NATHAN CONRAD

The Scene cover story on women-owned venues in Nashville, of course! —OLIVE SCIBELLI

Jason Eskridge is opening a sandwich shop!

—ELLEN ANGELICO

Kendrick vs. Drake. —JUSTIN CAUSEY

Jackie Shane finally getting her historical marker! —JESSICA BREANNE

Nashville Drummers Podcast building community, doing the work to genuinely support each other and be awesome people.

SOFIA GOODMAN

Bob Dylan at Brooklyn Bowl. —JERRY PENTECOST

Brittany Howard is throwing a hardcore show with Second Spirit and Snooper. —ALANNA ROYALE

Random Sample’s upsizing. —KYLE HAMLETT

Blank Hellscape (Austin, Texas) playing ACL.

BLAIR TRAMEL AND CONNOR CUMMINS

Winona Fighter. They’re blowin’ up! —ANGELA LESE

Chappell Roan everything. —JARED CORDER

Polychrome Ranch and the community of artists recording there. —NORDISTA FREEZE

Godspeed You, Black Emperor! releasing an album and touring. —BRYAN PIERCE

The rise of streaming and Bandcamp alternatives! It’s great to see new destinations to discover music appear: Ampwall, Nina, Artcore, Mirlo, Subvert, etc. Ubiquity is great. —MICHAEL EADES

WHO IN NASHVILLE

MUSIC

DESERVES MORE ATTENTION THAN THEY GOT IN 2024?

PesoTaxin. He released videos and high-quality EPs/albums all year long. Definitely one of the hardest-working artists in the city. —CORDUROY CLEMENS

Rich Ruth. —CELIA GREGORY, TYLER GLASER

Bats. —EMILY YOUNG, COLEY HINSON

Make Yourself at Home. —JESS AWH

Dream Wave, Ornament. —COLEY HINSON

Nathaniel Riley. —ZIONA RILEY

Candi Carpenter. —ANGELA LESE

DJs Dame Luz and Dumb Groove of It’s Giving

Global —DJ AFROSHEEN

Screen Star. —BLAIR TRAMEL AND CONNOR CUMMINS

Slush. —MEGAN LOVELESS

The Other Nashville Society. —JUSTIN CAUSEY

John Alvey has greatly contributed to the jazz scene for years, and his new record Soft Glow is incredible. —NATHAN CONRAD

Rod McGaha, Abigail Flowers. —SOFIA GOODMAN

Tom Barrett, Jung Min-noh. —KYLE HAMLETT

Kyle Hamlett, Volunteer Department, Celltower, Thad Kopec, Jordan Xx, Heru Heru, Ronni Raxx, DTL Jams, No Sabes, Dialup Ghost. —MICHAEL EADES

Camper. —JARED CORDER

The ambient music community. —BRYAN PIERCE

Thirdface, the best hardcore band in Nashville.

—OLIVE SCIBELLI

Mike Good FM. —NORDISTA FREEZE

Leah Blevins. —ALANNA ROYALE

Stuck Lucky. —JESSE BOO

Electric Python. —RYAN SWEENEY

Charlie Worsham. —JERRY PENTECOST

Riley Parker. —CHET WEISE

WHAT’S

YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL RECORD OF 2024?

D. Watusi, Watusioosie —JESSICA BREANNE, TYLER GLASER, BLAIR TRAMEL AND CONNOR CUMMINS, JESSE BOO

Massie99, Alpha Beta Omegle —TAYLOR COLE, JARED CORDER

Thirdface, Ministerial Cafeteria —MIKE SHEPHERD, OLIVE SCIBELLI

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Woodland

—CELIA GREGORY, EMILY YOUNG

Volunteer Department, Fountainhead. —JORDAN

VICTORIA, MICHAEL EADES

HR Lexy’s Every Scar Is an Open Door is transcendental, and Soot’s Wearing a Wire is nightmare fuel in the best way. —MICHAEL EADES

Nick Larimore, Trio —JESS AWH

Bats, Good Game, Baby —COLEY HINSON

Three-way tie: Fantasy Hall by Crave On, Folk Guitar by Joseph Allred, Stars of Tennessee by The Cherry Blossoms. —KYLE HAMLETT

Crave On, Fantasy Hall —ZIONA RILEY

Quez Cantrell, N.I.N.E.; Chuck Indigo, Until I Get

There; Gee Slab, Expect to Win —CORDUROY CLEMENS

THE YEAR IN Country

A highlight reel including releases from Jett Holden, Alice Randall — and yes, Beyoncé and Post Malone BY

STEPHEN TRAGESER

DESPITE EARLY MUSIC marketers’ call to profit on racism by segregating “hillbilly” and “race” records, mainstream country and mainstream pop have kept a lot in common below the surface. This year, country albums by two pop megastars — Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion — drove much discussion about country music. The differences in the records and how they were received illustrates longstanding systemic issues in the industry: Bey brought a ton of Black collaborators into the mix and was all but ignored by institutions like the CMA, while Posty worked largely with established white folks and was welcomed in. But there was a great deal happening beyond these records (and beyond Morgan Wallen continuing to be a fool and a menace while selling out stadiums). Not all of it was great: Paramount Global, the parent company of Country Music Television, laid off a huge amount of the network’s staff, seemingly halting highly visible efforts to spotlight a broader diversity of country musicians.

In better news, Black Opry Records made its debut with incisive songwriter and gently drawling singer Jett Holden’s album The Phoenix Denitia brought ’90s R&B and other influences into the country sound of Sunset Drive, her first record since returning to Nashville. Chris Housman’s debut album Blueneck arrived feeling like the work of someone who’s been playing for decades, and Fancy Hagood’s American Spirit served as a stunning follow-up to his 2021 country debut Southern Curiosity Orville Peck chose Nashville for his Sixth Annual Rodeo, celebrating queerness and its rightful place in country music in a huge way with a threeday blowout.

Ellisa Sun. —ARIEL BUI

Paul Burch. —FATS KAPLIN

Candi Carpenter, Demonology. —ANGELA LESE

Mama Zu, Quilt Floor. —ARIEL BUI >>P. 22

Meanwhile Alice Randall, who was a commercial country songwriter before she became a revered author, shared the stories of Black country pioneers in My Black Country. Oh Boy Records released the companion album, featuring Black women performing songs Randall wrote that were originally recorded by white artists. The new singers restored perspective and meaning that were lost in the earlier versions, or as Randall put it, they “rode to the rescue” of her legacy. ▼

CANDI CARPENTER

D. WATUSI

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

MARCH

APRIL

JULY

SEPTEMBER

Meg Elsier, Spittake. —MEGAN LOVELESS

Reaux Marquez, 3 Pack. —JUSTIN CAUSEY

Jeff Coffin, Only the Horizon. —SOFIA GOODMAN

Live From Drkmttr Vol. 1. —BRYAN PIERCE

Backjarron, Lil Cat OK. —NORDISTA FREEZE

Soccer Mommy, Evergreen. —NATHAN CONRAD

Teddy and the Rough Riders, Down Home. —EVAN

P. DONOHUE

The Sleeveens, The Sleeveens. —RYAN SWEENEY

Eric Slick, New Age Rage —JERRY PENTECOST

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL SONG OF 2024?

Perfection lies in: Mama Zu, “Make a Joke”; Thomas Luminoso, “Speed Bug”; The Weird Sisters, “Waiting So Long”; Jordan Xx, “Born to Live Fly”; and Zook’s “Conversations,” among others! —MICHAEL EADES

Mama Zu’s “Make a Joke” (holy hell, I blasted this on repeat). Also couldn’t believe the stunning, gutting simplicity of Kacey Musgraves’ “Too Good to Be True” on first listen and it still stings, TBH. —CELIA GREGORY

Mama Zu, “Guitar World.” —ARIEL BUI Mama Zu, “Lip.” —EMILY YOUNG

Medium Build, “Crying Over You”; Six One Trïbe, “You Can Tell”; PesoTaxin, “Too OP.” —CORDUROY CLEMENS

Dream Wave, “Clear.” —COLEY HINSON

Ryan Scott, “Keep Pushing.” —ELLEN ANGELICO

Nathaniel Riley, “Turning Into Stone.” —ZIONA RILEY

Brennan Wedl, “Fake Cowboy.” —ANGELA LESE My Wall, “Evolve.” —CHET WEISE Shelldhn, “JUSLIKEDAT.” —DJ AFROSHEEN

The Medium, “Golden Angels.” —BLAIR TRAMEL AND CONNOR CUMMINS

Budge, “Hrtstrngs.” —MEGAN LOVELESS M.C. D, “Tennessee Pimpin.” —JUSTIN CAUSEY Lilly Hiatt, “Shouldn’t Be.” —JESSICA BREANNE Slush, “Shadow of Mine.” —JORDAN VICTORIA Heaven Honey, “Moan.” —JESS AWH Crave On, “Gondolier.” —KYLE HAMLETT LB Beistad, “Dogma.” —JARED CORDER General Trust, “A Season of Wrath.” —MIKE SHEPHERD Crumbsnatchers feat. Flight Attendant, “Saturday.” —NORDISTA FREEZE

THE YEAR IN Ven-news

Drkmttr goes nonprofit, The Pinnacle sets opening, two studies release key data on local music and more dispatches

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

D. Watusi, “Bluest Hour.” —TYLER GLASER

Dale J. Gordon, “It Doesn’t Light.” —NATHAN CONRAD

Wesley & the Boys, “King Size Candy Bar.” —RYAN SWEENEY

The Privates, “Don’t Take It Out on Me.” —JERRY PENTECOST

WHAT’S THE BEST PERFORMANCE YOU SAW THIS YEAR?

Kyshona at 3rd and Lindsley. Literally everyone cried. —ELLEN ANGELICO

MeMetheGoat guest appearance at 615 Day. She killed it!!! —CORDUROY CLEMENS

Richard Dawson opening solo for Mitski in the U.K.; Strawberry Guy with a string quartet. —FATS KAPLIN

CRYPTA at Marathon Music Works. Metalheads, you need to know this band. —SOFIA GOODMAN

Seeing Devo live for the first time was lifeaffirming stuff. —MIKE SHEPHERD

The Jesus Lizard at The Blue Room. It was insane!

—MEGAN LOVELESS

Phish at the Sphere; Bush with Jerry Cantrell and Candlebox at Municipal Auditorium. —COLEY HINSON

Charli XCX at Bridgestone. —TAYLOR COLE

Molly Martin at Tomato Arts Fest. —ANGELA LESE

Be Your Own Pet at Eastside Bowl; Gustaf at Drkmttr. —ARIEL BUI

Khruangbin at Ascend. —JUSTIN CAUSEY

Dion Lunadon at The Basement. —RYAN SWEENEY

Nate Smith (drummer) at The Basement East.

—JERRY PENTECOST

Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago at Bridgestone with MamaSheen. —DJ AFROSHEEN

D. Watusi’s record release show! —JESSICA BREANNE

Mike Floss at The Blue Room; Soot at Zeitgeist.

—JESS AWH

Styrofoam Winos, Crave On and Glam Campbell at Soft Junk for the Winos’ release of Real Time

—KYLE HAMLETT

New Translations at Bonnaroo. —JARED CORDER

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at Ascend.

—EMILY YOUNG

Ken Vandermark and PNL at Rice Vice. —CHET WEISE

Cardiel. —BRYAN PIERCE

and volunteers have been showing up for Nashville in all kinds of ways for nearly a decade, and this move opens up many more opportunities for the place to thrive. Meanwhile, the revamped and rebranded Cannery Hall suite of venues hosted its first shows in January. While an array of musicians from Hanson to Lilly Hiatt has played, the quantity of electronic dance producers and DJs is noteworthy, and the space joined the also-new Night We Met nightclub in hosting events around the Deep Tropics festival. Over the river, Eastside Bowl scuttled its sitdown restaurant and repurposed the 225-capacity room as The ’58, which has remained busy.

Mk.gee at Marathon Music Works. —JORDAN VICTORIA

Pylon at Drkmttr Fest! Honestly, everybody at Drkmttr Fest! :) —OLIVE SCIBELLI

Husband Stitch at Drkmttr Fest, no question.

MICHAEL EADES

Jack White at The Basement East, burstin’ eardrums up close and personal like the old days; Sturgill Simpson’s unrelenting and awesome marathon at Bridgestone. —CELIA GREGORY

The Jam at Inglewood Lounge, featuring Jarren Blair. —NORDISTA FREEZE

Dan Reeder at Soft Junk. —TYLER GLASER

Missy Elliott on her first-ever headlining tour.

—ALANNA ROYALE

Catbite opening for The Bouncing Souls. —JESSE BOO

Mr. Bungle at Brooklyn Bowl! —NATHAN CONRAD Machine Girl at Brooklyn Bowl. —BLAIR TRAMEL AND CONNOR CUMMINS

The Nashville Symphony performing Carlos Simon, Antonín Dvořák and Rachmaninoff on my birthday with my girlfriend. —EVAN P. DONOHUE ▼

READ MORE QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES FROM OUR POLL AT NASHVILLESCENE.COM/MUSIC

Those We Lost

Looking back on the impact of Kris Kristofferson, Mary Sack and many more BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

IT NEVER CEASES to amaze us just how many people doing different kinds of work make up the conglomeration of music scenes in Nashville. It hits home even harder when we look back at the lives of even a few contributors to the ongoing story of “Nashville music” who died this year.

Some were stars who reached thousands of fans, like Kris Kristofferson, Melanie Safka, J.D. Souther and Toby Keith. Buzz Cason may not be a household name, but “Everlasting Love” — a song he co-wrote amid an extensive career that dates back to the 1950s and touched just about every part of the music business — most certainly is.

When beloved father and mentor Zachary Boetcher took the mic, he became K.I.N.G. the MC, whose mighty bars shared an astute social conscience. Deandre Haynes, who played football while he studied at TSU and picked up the apt moniker DJ Svnny D, was a warm presence in and a staunch supporter of Nashville’s hip-hop scene.

Others’ work took place behind the scenes but still touched lives deeply. Owsley Manier co-founded hallowed venue Exit/In with his friend Brugh Reynolds. As an artist manager and in other executive positions, Mary Martin helped a slew of musicians through key steps in their development, including Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell and Bob Dylan.

Peter Collins, who came here from the U.K., produced albums for an array of bands including Indigo Girls, Rush and Queensrÿche. One highlight of Mark Moffatt’s early career in Australia was producing the landmark punk single “(I’m) Stranded” for The Saints; later, he was an early champion of Keith Urban.

ONE OF THE MOST exciting bits of good news in the Nashville music venue landscape in years was all-ages DIY spot Drkmttr becoming a federally recognized nonprofit organization. Founder Kathryn Edwards, fellow owners Olive Scibelli and Chappy Hull and their staff

Deeper into Madison, the former Timberhawk Hall project has been reimagined under new ownership as Harken Hall, though its official opening was not announced at press time. Downtown, the Nashville Yards complex has been in development since well before the pandemic. A key component is a 4,500-cap venue called The Pinnacle, operated by ticketing and promotions

giant Live Nation’s rival AEG, which has its first shows scheduled for March. Dance-rockers COIN, expert songsmith Jason Isbell and rock champion Jack White all have dates on the books. On a related note, Tennessee joined other states and the District of Columbia in signing on to a Department of Justice antitrust suit against Live Nation.

The Nashville Independent Venues Study and Greater Nashville Music Census both released extensive reports on the music business in Nashville, the people who are part of it and the vital role indie venues play. There’s a lot of data here that can help us figure out what to do, but it all supports the concerns people have been raising for years: While music plays a huge role in the city’s cultural identity and our economy, it’s increasingly hard for people and small businesses to participate. The state legislature voted to create a Live Music Fund; while it doesn’t directly solve any of the problems that are now represented in data, it’s one step in the right direction. ▼

Helping Third Man Records establish its liveto-disc recording program is a big deal, but it’s just one of thousands of lines on mastering engineer George Ingram’s decades-long CV. Nearly 50 years ago, Larry Garris launched one of Nashville’s longest-running instrument shops, Corner Music. Joe Dorn was beloved by clients of Fork’s Drum Closet for the depth of his kindness as well as the depth of his knowledge of instruments and performing.

While music communities need a lot of things to thrive, one thing they can’t survive without is enthusiastic, devoted support. Emily Bradley was selfless and dogged in promoting dance music, and documentarian and photographer Kerstin Rupprecht’s generous spirit was wind in the sails of underground rockers and songsmiths who frequent spots like Betty’s Grill. Though Mary Sack’s work was managing and promoting artists like David Olney, her passion for their art was abundantly clear, and it was infectious even in the briefest conversation. ▼

JACK WHITE

SPECIAL ACTIVITY AREAS

VICTORIAN VILLAGE

Victorian Village is back with a full block of holiday fun on Main Street

filled with holiday dancers, characters, and entertainers! Travel back in time as our streets are transformed into a Victorian Christmas scene, including strolling performances by The Yuletide Carolers

STORYTIMES Presented by ATMOS ENERGY & HART AND HOME

Enjoy timeless holiday stories all festival long! Find these classic tales in Victorian Village with storytellers from Franklin Special District from 12pm to 2pm.

THE FRANKLIN THEATRE

Stop by The Franklin Theatre during the festival! All weekend long you can shop theatre-themed holiday gifts and take a behind the scenes tour. PLUS they’ll be showing a full slate of holiday cartoon classics beginning at 10AM each day.

SNOW PHOTOS at the COURTHOUSE

Get your 2024 family Christmas photos at the courthouse in a winter-wonderland scene!

MAIN STAGE Presented by NISSAN USA

You can’t have Dickens without MAIN STAGE! Rock on over to the Square to see a variety of bands, acts, and performances take center stage.

KIDZONE Presented by THE FRIENDSHIP FACTORY

Looking for endless fun at Dickens? Look no further than KidZone! With exciting games, creative crafts, and engaging activities, KidZone is the ultimate destination for your little adventurers.

*Located in the Landmark Booksellers parking lot

NUTCRACKER CRAWL

Enjoy Discounts & Win a Movie Ticket to The Franklin Theatre! Grab a passport and follow the Nutcracker Crawl to find the unique Nutcracker at each destination and write its code on your passport to claim your prize!

•Franklin Vision Care

•Hollie Ray Boutique

•Olivia Olive Oil

•McGavock’s Coffee

•Saint Goose

•The Coffee House

•Sweethaven

•Posh Boutique

•Shuff’s Piano Showroom

•Twine Retail

•Molly Green

•The Registry

•Vinnie Louise

•Visit Franklin

•Puckett’s

•Kilwins

•Walton’s Jewelry

•McCreary’s •Finnleys

•Frothy Monkey

•The Statement Society

Passports available at the DFA tent on the square or at each shuttle stop entrance.

FOOD VENDORS

Aces Kettle Corn

Big Bad Breakfast Franklin Buffalo Texas Sausage

Cheesecake Society

Claremont Street Bao

Cousins Maine Lobster

Eat Bubbles

Ellies Doughnuts

Faith's

Flour and

Fox Fudge

Fruitfully

It’z a

Woolson Concessions

Mama Yang & Daughter

NUJO Super Brew

Poppa 'D'oo: Mamma 'D' Unique Funnel

Cake House

Rice Rice Baby

Salsa Franklin Taco

Smokey Dawgg's Gourmet Hot Dog Co.

Smokin' Buttz BBQ

The Steel Pony

The Street Food Connection

Triple Crown Bakery Sugarplum Cart

wacamole

Whitney's Cookies

Wild Bill's Olde Fashioned Soda

PUBLIC WIFI ACCESS

Scan the QR code above for free public wifi access while at our festival! Provided by United Communications.

MAP LEGEND

FIRST AID

INFORMATION

RESTROOMS

SHUTTLE STOP

ATMS

NUTCRACKER CRAWL

5TH

400s

VICTORIAN

BOOTH & PARTNER DIRECTORY

VILLAGE SQUARE

DEC. 13-JUNE 1

ART [AMUSE-BOUCHE]

CHRISTY

LEE

ROGERS: THE MUSES

The Parthenon is the perfect setting for Christy Lee Rogers’ theatrical dreamscape photography. The series is called The Muses, after all. What better context for works inspired by classical mythology than our beloved replica of a literal temple of a Greek goddess — and in the Athens of the South, no less? Rogers, who currently lives in Leiper’s Fork, has a splashy signature style — her portraits are staged underwater, and she shoots them with an eye toward capturing the fluidity of her subjects amid colorful, billowing fabric. The resulting works are over the top and complement masters like Rubens and Caravaggio. She’s worked with everyone from Apple to Lavazza. She was even commissioned to photograph the female stars of James Cameron’s 2022 blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water for a special project that supported ocean conservation. This exhibition has what it takes to be its own kind of blockbuster — the museum will host an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12. RSVP for the free event at nashvilleparthenon.com. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

THROUGH JUNE 1 AT THE PARTHENON

2500 WEST END AVE.

Visit calendar.nashvillescene.com for more event listings

which accompanies the exhibit. “Although he’s not a household name, he is quite a story. He won a Grammy Award for his one and only album [1966’s Blues in the Street].” Clark would take familiar songs from a variety of genres and arrange them in his own style, sometimes adding new lyrics that spoke to his personal experiences. The artifacts on display include a pair of Clark’s guitars — the Kay 6116 Super Auditorium model guitar he’s playing on the cover of his album and a Kay 5113 Plains Special. The exhibit also features his broken Grammy, which was damaged in the 1969 house fire that left him badly burned and led to his death a few weeks later on Christmas Eve. DARYL SANDERS THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2025 AT THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM

222 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY S.

FRIDAY / 12.13

STORYTELLING

[SAY IT] NEVER

SENT

THURSDAY / 12.12

[CELEBRATING THE GRAMMY-WINNING BLUES BUSKER]

CORTELIA CLARK’S EVERYDAY BLUES

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum recently unveiled Cortelia Clark’s Everyday Blues, a temporary exhibit that runs through September 2025. The exhibit explores the story of Cortelia Clark, the Grammy-winning blind blues busker who spent a couple of decades playing on the streets of downtown Nashville. “Cortelia Clark is a Nashville legend in certain circles,” says vice president of museum services Michael Gray in the museum’s short documentary “Cortelia Clark: A Nashville Busker, A Broken Grammy, A Burned Guitar,”

We can all think of a time we typed out a message that we never sent, whether it was to a friend, an enemy, a crush or a coworker. The Never Sent storytelling series and accompanying zines are a chance to let those feelings out. The locally founded series is an opportunity for people to submit texts, emails and messages they’ve never sent, and brave participants can take it a step further by reading the messages and showing other works not yet seen by an audience during a three-show event. Never Sent also publishes a zine with the same theme. During the late show on Friday night, the group will try a new hot-mic model, during which unscheduled performers can share something they’ve never sent before. The result is a refreshing mix of heartfelt and heartbreaking stories with enough comedy and self-deprecating statements to bring levity. Within the wideranging stories, you’re still bound to find a thread of familiarity, and since the event won’t be recorded, it feels intimate and important. A highlight of a previous show I attended was when Never Sent creator Allie Stewart read some of her own diaries for the audience. She’s really on to something here. HANNAH HERNER DEC. 13-14 AT THE FORGE 217 WILLOW ST.

MUSIC [THE SOUL OF CHRISTMAS]

MIKE FARRIS

Soul man Mike Farris returns to 3rd and Lindsley Friday and Saturday for the 12th edition of his annual The Soul of Christmas shows. Farris and his band The Fortunate Few — guitarist Kevin Clayborn, bassist Walter Blair,

keyboardist Jeremy Nixon, drummer Jordan Hymon and vocalists Saunya Clayborn, Samson White and Kimmi Mont — take traditional Christmas songs like “White Christmas” and “Winter Wonderland” and give them R&B and funk arrangements. “We wanted to make a Christmas show that’s more like a Christmas party,” Farris tells the Scene. “Like the best Christmas party you’ve never been to.” In addition to Farris and his band, the two-hour shows will feature percussionist Giovanni Rodriguez, who has appeared at all 12 Soul of Christmas shows, on sleigh bells, etc., plus a five-piece horn section and five additional vocalists. While they will primarily focus on the aforementioned funked-up Christmas fare, Farris says they also will play “a couple of songs” from his forthcoming album The Sound of Muscle Shoals. The album, which was recorded at legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala.,is set for a March 7 release. DARYL SANDERS

DEC. 13-14 AT 3RD AND LINDSLEY

818 THIRD AVE. S.

SATURDAY / 12.14

FILM [LA LA TERRE]

RESTORATION ROUNDUP: THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG

I still remember when brand-new prints of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Jacques Demy’s 1964 musical masterwork (and a fave film of the Scene’s late, great editor Jim Ridley), were touring rep houses back in 1996. After Demy’s death in 1990, his widow Agnes Varda supervised a restoration that brought the confectionary color back to this visually vivacious film, with Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo as young lovers whose fairy-tale romance comes to a bittersweet end, though all of the dialogue was dubbed using professional singers. (A recent 4K restoration was supervised by the couple’s kids, Mathieu and Rosalie.) Since the movie was originally shot on Eastman negative stock that Demy knew would fade over time, I can’t help but think he wanted to make a damn-near-operatic love story that disintegrates to the point where even the film print withers away. Nevertheless, Cherbourg became a glorious (and gloriously sentimental) opus that won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, got nominated for five Oscars and was basically ripped off by Damien Chazelle when he did La La Land. Visit belcourt.org for showtimes.

CRAIG D. LINDSEY

DEC. 14 & 16 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

[PLATTERS THAT MATTER]

MUSIC

GRIMEY’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

While the internet and streaming have changed so much about the music industry over the past quarter-century, mom-and-pop record shops are playing a role in supporting community around music that’s hard to overstate. Just ahead of the 1999 holiday season, Grimey’s New and Preloved Music opened its original location in Berry Hill and quickly

NASHVILLE

became the standard-bearer for indie record retail in town, setting the table for the feast of record stores we enjoy today — new ones keep growing, and older spots have survived and thrived. Saturday night, The Basement East hosts a massive party celebrating Grimey’s founder and namesake Mike Grimes, vinylist-inchief Doyle Davis and their stalwart crew with performances from a wealth of friends of the shop. Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor will join in, as will DJ and drummer-about-town Jerry Pentecost (who’s been on tour with Bob Dylan and others this year), bassman supreme Dave Guy, guitar wizard Jeremy Fetzer and multi-instrumental phenom Robbie Crowell (who’s been backing up Sturgill Simpson on the road). Stellar songsmiths Robyn Hitchcock, Tristen and Devon Gilfillian will be there too, alongside erstwhile surf-rockers The Beech Benders (reuniting to spread holiday cheer in the guise of The Ventures) and The Volcano Brothers’ Holiday Eruption featuring inimitable instrumental ace Jim Hoke. Proceeds benefit Trans Aid Nashville, and more surprises are promised, so don’t snooze on it. STEPHEN TRAGESER 7:30 P.M. AT THE BASEMENT EAST 917 WOODLAND ST.

FILM [SEASON’S SCREAMINGS] MIDNIGHT MOVIES/HOLIDAY CLASSICS: DEEP RED

There’s nothing quite like a horror movie set around Christmas. Films that take place during the holiday season often have a warm glow or a comfy vibe that makes you want to revisit them over and over. When you add a dash of blood and guts and an undercurrent of evil to that recipe, it makes for an inspired pairing for an acquired taste. Dario Argento’s 1975 giallo Deep Red finds the Italian horror maestro deep in his proto-slasher bag. With an acclaimed prog-rock soundtrack from Goblin, an engaging mystery at its center and some extremely vivid colors (including, yes, some very deep reds), Argento perfected the giallo with this partially Christmas-set classic. Forget the tired “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” argument. I’d rather have a holiday slasher any day. There will be an introduction from Scene senior film critic Jason Shawhan prior to the screening. LOGAN BUTTS

MIDNIGHT AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

MUSIC [SANTA CLAWS] EAST NASHVILLE KRAMPUSLAUF AND SHOW

It’s time for a cameo from everyone’s favorite bearded, bell-adorned, folklore-inspired winter icon! No, not Santa Claus. And OK, fine. Krampus — the mythical wintertime creature of Central European lore — isn’t quite as popular as his companion St. Nick. But the demonic Alpine beast known for punishing ill-behaved children has had a cultural resurgence over the past decade or two, inspiring cosplayers, goth types and other darkness-embracers to celebrate the creepier side of Christmas tradition. We Music City dwellers even have our very own Nashville Krampus, who’ll be joining his pal,

local burlesque luminary Lux-O-Matic, for a day of ribaldry and excess this weekend in East Nashville. From noon until 5 p.m. on Saturday, Krampus will be available for photos ($15 a pop) at Honeytree Meadery. Around 5:30, it’s time for Krampuslauf — something of a Krampus crawl through Five Points, during which, in Lux’s words, “We all rage dressed in all our chains and bells with sharpened claws as individual Krampuses.” After that, it’s back to Honeytree at 9 p.m. for a slate of burlesque and “sideshow” performances from Lux, Pyroglyphics, Bonnie Valentine and La Reine the Thrill. While the late-night revelry is free, tips are welcome and encouraged, and there will be a donationbased raffle with all proceeds benefiting the very worthy Trevor Project. Costumes are encouraged, naturally. D. PATRICK RODGERS NOON UNTIL LATE AT HONEYTREE MEADERY AND IN FIVE POINTS

918 WOODLAND ST.

MUSIC

[STAR TIME] STARLITO

If you’ve ever noticed the pendant that hangs off famed Nashville rapper Starlito’s chain, you’ll know his motto has always been “Grind Hard.” Starlito has been one of the most industrious rappers in Music City for decades, but his new album Imposter Syndrome is more about working smarter than harder. Entering his middle-aged era — a tricky transition for any musician associated with a youth culture like hip-hop — his lyrics now boast of his meditation sessions, parenting and personal growth. It’s a big step away from a time almost 20 years ago

when Cashville’s Prince was rapping about Grey Goose vodka with Yo Gotti and Jeezy. But for fans who might worry that Imposter Syndrome is too adult, don’t fret. Starlito can still make bangers, even if those bangers might make you stop and think about your priorities shifting as you mature. The show is presented by long-running promoters Nashfeels on the eve of Starlito’s 40th birthday, meaning fans can see ’Lito onstage in a rare hometown appearance. P.J. KINZER

8 P.M. AT THE BLUE ROOM AT THIRD MAN RECORDS 623 SEVENTH AVE. S.

Now living in Austin, Texas, Theo Lawrence is a French Canadian country singer whose music draws from the Nashville Sound of the 1960s and the Texas shuffles of Ray Price and Johnny Bush. Lawrence made the move from Bordeaux, France, to Austin in 2023 and cut that year’s excellent full-length Chérie with co-producer Billy Horton, who also worked with country singer Charley Crockett on his 2024 release $10 Cowboy. Lawrence has the vibe of circa-1967 pop country down cold on the Chérie track “The Universe Is Winding Down,” which swings like Bush’s “What a Way to Live” and, for that matter, recent work by Nashville singer Josh Hedley. Chérie tunes like “California Poppy” and the title song sound fine in comparison to the music Lawrence references throughout the album. Opening for Lawrence will be California-born singer-songwriter Willy Tea Taylor, who has been playing shows around Nashville over the past few years. Taylor essays rock-influenced country on his 2023 album The Great Western Hangover, credited to Willy Tea Taylor & The Fellership. A track titled “National Treasure” is a rocking tribute to a musician who goes fishing to get inspiration for his material. Taylor delivers his lyrics in a slightly raffish voice that suits his relaxed, funny songs — hangovers have rarely sounded so good. EDD HURT

6:30 P.M. AT THE BASEMENT

1604 EIGHTH AVE. S.

[WHAT’S THE PIG DEAL]

FILM

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: BABE

While some people may remember 1995’s George Miller-written-and-produced Babe as the adorable talking-pig movie that they most likely watched over and over when they were kids, I recall a time when it was both an Academy Award-winning sleeper hit and a lightning rod for controversy. In order not to offend Muslims, the movie was originally banned in Malaysia. Folks young and old were shifting over to vegetarianism after seeing it; even James Cromwell — who scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role as the ornery farmer who has a pig for a sheepdog — went meatless. But Babe was also seen as a wholesome beacon of hope for conservative moviegoers. Back in the mid-’90s, thenRepublican presidential candidate Bob Dole went after Hollywood, pressuring the industry to make all-ages entertainment like Babe while condemning them for enabling sicko auteurs like Quentin Tarantino. (Interestingly enough, Tarantino actually loved Babe.) But even though this darling little piglet briefly got swept up in our culture wars, Babe continues to be a beloved family favorite. Visit belcourt.org for showtimes.

CRAIG D. LINDSEY

DEC. 14 & 16 AT THE BELCOURT

2102 BELCOURT AVE.

SUNDAY / 12.15

[HOW BAZAAR, HOW BAZAAR]

SHOPPING

HOLIDAY BAZAAR AT THE GREEN RAY

Is it just me or does the holiday season seem

this friday!

BIG BAND HOLIDAYS: JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA

DEC 13 | 7:30 PM

Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

JAN 9 TO 11 | 7:30 PM

Classical Series

Manny Plays Mozart with the Nashville Symphony & Chorus

Choralperformancesaregenerouslysupported byC.B.RaglandCompany.

FEB 6 TO 8 | 7:30 PM

Classical Series

Beethoven's Ninth: Ode to Joy with the Nashville Symphony & Chorus

Choralperformancesaregenerouslysupported byC.B.RaglandCompany.

HOLIDAY BRASS SPECTACULAR with members of the Nashville Symphony

DEC 15 | 7:30 PM

Chris Norton conductor this sunday!

COMING SOON

JAN 16 TO 18 | 7:30 PM

Pops Series

The War and Treaty with the Nashville Symphony

FEB 13 TO 15 | 7:30 PM

Pops Series

West Side Story Film with Live Orchestra with the Nashville Symphony

JAN 24 & 25 | 7:30 PM

JAN 26 | 2 PM

Classical Series

SOUND JOURNEY AT THE SYMPHONY featuring Kayce Laine

JAN 5 | 2 PM

Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

Julia Wolfe’s Flower Power and Beethoven's Seventh with the Nashville Symphony

FEB 16 | 7:30 PM

Presentation

Vitamin String Quartet: The Music of Taylor Swift, Bridgerton, and Beyond

PresentedwithouttheNashvilleSymphony.

FEB 1 | 7:30 PM Special Event

Ravel’s Bolero

Celebrating 150 years of Ravel with the Nashville Symphony

FEB 18 | 7:30 PM

Special Event

Itzhak Perlman: Cinema Serenade with the Nashville Symphony

Giancarlo

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busier than usual this year? I don’t know if the dust from the COVID years is finally starting to settle or what, but my calendar has been packed nonstop since around Halloween, and the idea of going to multiple locations to get all my Christmas shopping done is overwhelming. A well-curated holiday market is exactly what I need — I get to nab presents for loved ones and also possibly myself, all while supporting a shop I really love. The Green Ray might be my favorite shop in the city, and I’m counting on Sunday’s Holiday Bazaar to help me tick all my holiday-shopping boxes. Vendors include Slow Hand Ceramics, Studio Kelsey, Lu Land Vintage and Ellie Caudill, who recently got a Best of Nashville award for Best Portraitist. Come save time, get cool stuff, stay off the internet, support local small businesses and hang out with some really fun and interesting Nashvillians.

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

NOON-4 P.M. AT THE GREEN RAY 3237 GALLATIN PIKE

FILM [SILENT NIGHT]

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: BLAST OF SILENCE

If you’re like me, you don’t look for holiday movies starring comedians past their prime dressed as Santa. I prefer holiday films that still appeal to the same filmic sensibilities I look for the other 11 months of the year. As usual, the Belcourt has a lineup of Yuletide movies that aren’t just about flying reindeer or the exploitation of elf labor. The roster includes ’80s Valley-girl apocalypse Night of the Comet, Terry Gilliam’s masterful Brazil and (obviously) Die Hard. But one movie you might not know is Allen Baron’s 1961 Christmas gangster movie Blast of Silence. Too early to be neo-noir and too late to be part of the original crop of pulp mafia stories, the poetic, low-budget gangland film never got the attention it deserved upon initial release. With a simple narrative and a lot of style, the film follows a hit man around Manhattan through the week of Christmas. The overlooked Blast of Silence finally started getting its due when Martin Scorsese began citing it as a big influence on his work. A new 4K restoration from 2023 released by arthouse tastemakers The Criterion Collection is finally bringing this noir masterpiece back into theaters, for those of us who may not want every Christmas story to have a happy ending.

P.J. KINZER

7:15 P.M. AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

[HOLIDAY HARMONIES]

MUSIC

NASHVILLE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA HOLIDAY SHOWS AND DOCUMENTARY

Nashville’s premier all-volunteer orchestra will perform holiday favorites at Plaza Mariachi on Sunday at 2 p.m. and at Casa de Dios USA on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Nashville Philharmonic has been uniting amateur and professional musicians across Middle Tennessee for 20 years now, bringing symphonic scores to audiences free of charge. Ahead of this pair of concerts,

you can also watch a new documentary about the NPO called Room to Play, streaming at roomtoplayfilm.com. The black-and-white movie by local filmmakers Joe Gomez and Vanita Joines follows the musicians ahead of their 2022-23 season, showcasing their passion for bringing orchestral music to their communities. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

DEC. 15 AT PLAZA MARIACHI (3955 NOLENSVILLE PIKE)

DEC. 17 AT CASA DE DIOS USA (3030 DICKERSON PIKE)

MONDAY / 12.16

MUSIC [RAMBLIN’ ON] ALLMAN BETTS FAMILY REVIVAL

The long-celebrated sounds of The Allman Brothers Band play on this week inside the Ryman Auditorium. The annual Allman Betts Family Revival — fronted by Devon Allman, son of Gregg Allman, and Duane Betts, son of Dickey Betts — rolls into town with an eclectic lineup of sought-after pickers and world-building songwriters. These include rock legend Slash, head-turning noisemaker Grace Bowers, bluegrass ace Sierra Hull, folk crooner John Moreland, pedal-steel player Robert Randolph and roots storyteller Maggie Rose. These artists join a touring lineup that includes guitarist Luther Dickinson, drummer Alex Orbison (son of Roy Orbison), singer Jimmy Hall and Nashville’s own “Queen of Time” Lindsay Lou, among others. The Allman Betts Family Revival website describes the show as “an annual live event extravaganza … based loosely on vibes that recall The Last Waltz.” I’m sold! MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

7:30 P.M. AT THE RYMAN

116 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N

BOOKS [SHH!] SILENT BOOK CLUB

Before the holiday season kicks off into full swing, enjoy a cozy and quiet night in with Silent Book Club Nashville. The club, which heralds itself as the “Introvert Happy Hour,” rotates through different venues around the city and invites folks to read for two hours with fellow bookish friends. Depending on your social battery, you can choose to tuck into a corner and read on your own, or you can pick a spot on the couches to chit chat with someone new on their latest favorite title. Feel free to bring your own book or stop by their local partner, The Bookshop, to pick up your next read. This month their East Nashville spot will be Waymore’s Cafe, located inside Waymore’s hotel. The menu includes small bites and drinks that pair perfectly with the cozy reading vibe. Spots are free but limited, so an RSVP is highly encouraged. You can follow the club on @ silentbookclubnash for details on upcoming events. TINA DOMINGUEZ

6 P.M. AT WAYMORE’S HOTEL

811 MAIN ST.

COMMUNITY

[ONCE UPON A TIME] TENX9

If you’ve been meaning to get to one of the monthly Tenx9 storytelling events all year, this is your chance. The local storytelling event based on a Belfast, Northern Ireland, tradition invites nine people to spend 10 minutes each telling a true personal story. It’s been going on in Nashville for 11 years, and people have shared more than 1,000 engaging, moving and satisfying stories. There’s something comforting about hearing a true story and then realizing that, even if you’re having a tough or ridiculous time, you could someday share that story (at Tenx9 or otherwise) and people will relate. There are interesting directions the participants could go as part of this month’s theme, “That’s a Wrap.” It could be about a gift you wrapped up, or an ending — which Tenx9 suggests could be about a job, a relationship or even a TV show. It’s certainly a Monday night well spent. HANNAH HERNER

6:30 P.M. AT JACKALOPE BREWING CO.

429B HOUSTON ST.

TUESDAY / 12.17

FILM [I BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF SOME KIDS TODAY] HOLIDAY CLASSICS: BAD SANTA

Hear me out: 2003’s Bad Santa is essential Christmastime viewing — and the fine folks at the Belcourt seem to agree with me, as they’re including it in their ongoing Holiday Classics series. Despite the fact that it’s wildly vulgar and borderline nihilistic, it’s got a genuinely wholesome message at its core, and it eschews the treacly tropes that so often appear in holiday fare. Featuring Billy Bob Thornton in a role he was born to play (an obscene, scummy, sex-addicted, alcoholic con man posing as a mall Santa), Bad Santa was produced by the Coen brothers and is one of just three feature films made by documentarian and arthouse legend Terry Zwigoff (of Crumb and Ghost World fame). It also features late-career performances from comedic geniuses John Ritter and Bernie Mac, both of whom died far too young (Ritter weeks before the film’s release and Mac five years later), as well as a star-making turn from Brett Kelly as Thurman Merman — one of the decade’s most memorably weird characters. If you need an antidote to the more saccharine elements of the holiday season, look no further. But don’t bring Grandma. Visit belcourt.org for specific showtimes. D. PATRICK RODGERS

DEC. 17 & 20 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

ART [TELL OF CHRISTMAS TREASURE] DECK THE BALLS

If you know Nashville’s fashion marketing and secondhand shopping expert Libby Callaway, you’ve probably seen her and thought, “I wish I could dress like that.” If you’ve seen photographs of her house, you’ve

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December 15, 21, 22, 28 & 29

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Explore the science center this holiday season.

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Closed: Dec. 24, 25, 31, & Jan. 1.

probably thought, “I wish I could decorate my house like that.” Even if you’re not a fullblown maximalist (like she is), you might have wanted just a little bit of her bling. Well, now’s your chance. Callaway has been making what she calls Christmas balls — sparkly, bedazzled ornaments decked with vintage glass beads and other unusual elements. She’s teaching a class at Poindexter at The Graduate hotel on how to replicate their beauty. Not only will you be able to take one with her sense of style to your house or Christmas tree, but you’ll also learn how she does it so you can make more on your own. The $125 class price includes all the materials you need, plus you’ll get 30 percent off wine if you want to sip while you sequin. Email libby@thecallaway.com to reserve your spot. MARGARET LITTMAN

5-7 P.M. AT POINDEXTER AT THE GRADUATE NASHVILLE 101 20TH AVE. N.

COMEDY

[AN IMPROVISED HOLIDAY TREAT] LIGHTS UP & AN IMPROVISED

HALLMARK MUSICAL

joy and it’s a privilege to make music. It’s a nice way to put a period on the end of every year.”

MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

7:30 P.M. AT THE SCHERMERHORN

1 SYMPHONY PLACE

From platinum-selling chart-toppers to underground icons, household names to undiscovered gems, Chief’s Neon Steeple is committed to bringing the very best national and regional talent back to Broadway.

From pla hif’N h t

DECEMBER

12.15 The Heart Behind the Hits Featuring James Otto, Jet Harvey, Terri Jo Box, Russell Sutton, D. Vincent Williams, Michael Cef, Emily Henline, Joe Bizelli, Justin Love

12.17 Cigarettes & Pizza w/ Aaron Raitiere, Shelly Fairchild

12.18 Uncle B’s Drunk with Power String Band Show Featuring Bryan Simpson w/ Adam Chaffins, Jenee Fleenor, Brit Taylor

12.19 Tom Douglas - Love, Tom

12.20 Jason D. Williams & Special Guest Rev. Horton Heat

11.20 Tom Douglas – Love, Tom

12.21 Ty Herndon & Jamie O’Neal “Merry Christmas, Baby”

12.28 Waymore’s Outlaws - Runnin’ with Ol’ Waylon

Holiday Show

12.29 Pick Pick Pass w/ Jeff Middleton, Wil Nance, Steve Williams

12.30 Buddy’s Place w/ Lauren Mascitti, Jack McKeon, Dan Smalley GET TICKETS AT

Still searching for your holiday spirit? Third Coast Comedy Club has you covered with the perfect holiday double feature. The evening kicks off with Lights Up, a clever setup in which three actors from Nashville Rep’s current production of A Christmas Carol are paired with three Third Coast improvisers. Each Rep actor comes in ready to perform a specific scene from the time-honored tale, which of course has not been shared with the fearless improvisers. Promising a great evening of “classic theater and beautiful chaos,” it’s sure to be a Dickens of a good time. And as if that weren’t enough, Third Coast favorites Margaret French, Seth Nathan Green, Erica Elam and director Alex Dolezal will be on hand to improvise a brand-new musical in the style of a Hallmark holiday movie. I predict major meet-cute vibes and wholesome romantic tropes, along with plenty of laughs. What could be sweeter? AMY STUMPFL

7 P.M. AT THIRD COAST COMEDY CLUB 1310 CLINTON ST.

MUSIC

[IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME] DREW & ELLIE HOLCOMB’S NEIGHBORLY CHRISTMAS

WEDNESDAY / 12.18

HOLIDAY

[IT’S FRUITCAKE WEATHER!] DAVID ALFORD’S SOUTHERN CHRISTMAS SAMPLER

It’s funny how the holidays can get you thinking about distant childhood memories — the special people and places that shaped our lives. Perhaps that’s what makes David Alford’s Southern Christmas Sampler so irresistible. It doesn’t matter where you grew up or what traditions your family might have embraced. Alford’s wistful brand of storytelling, underscored by original music from Paul Carrol Binkley, has the power to warm your heart. This year’s edition was inspired by the team’s holiday performances with Mockingbird Theatre back in the ’90s, and it offers a great mix of seasonal stories and songs from long ago. It’s lovely to have Jenny Littleton and Erin Ramsey returning, along with musicians Antonia Ferguson, Russell Davis and Brad Albin. And of course, the evening would not be complete without Alford’s tender rendition of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory.” It’s hard to imagine a better way to welcome the holiday season than this event, presented in the Grand Salon of the historic Belmont Mansion. AMY STUMPFL VARIOUS DATES THROUGH DEC. 29 AT THE BELMONT MANSION

ON BELMONT

Amy Grant and Vince Gill aren’t the only couple serenading locals each holiday season. This week, Americana troubadour Drew Holcomb and Christian singer-songwriter Ellie Holcomb return to the Schermerhorn for a night of holiday crooning and Yuletide cheer. Dubbed Neighborly Christmas, this mostly annual shindig started in 2007 (at the Belcourt Theatre, no less) and bounced around local venues before finding a regular home inside the Schermerhorn, where the couple perform with Drew Holcomb’s trusted band The Neighbors. The show should offer equal parts “Run Rudolph Run” and “O Holy Night” — the type of holiday gig that balances festive sing-alongs and snowy-eyed ballads. Talking with the Scene last year, Drew Holcomb described the show as “a reminder that it’s a

TWINNIE, JILLIAN JACQUELINE, JANELLE ARTHUR & ADAM HAMBRICK

my so-called

90's new year's eve karrot: a tribute to korn & shake my tomb: a tribute to the deftones nile / six feet under w/ PSYCROPTIC & EMBRYONIC AUTOPSY

A Nirvana Tribute Experience

ethan samuel brown w/ the prescriptions & zach torres brittany howard's nashville hardcore benefit show w/ second spirit, kumite, inner Peace, & Snõõper lily rose magic city hippies w/ mustard service

improvement movement w/ the medium (7PM)

cris jacobs (9PM)

rr party w/ d. striker, hands down eugene, justin webb & the noise, ct stephenson, & jason crawford

theo lawrence w/ willy tea taylor (6:30PM)

jack philly w/ rick west & bedon (9PM)

abby k ft. ginn & robin august

Slow parade & grayson jenkins w/ will overman

grlwood & hussy fit

Big, If True w/ Critter Brain, Cluester

Nora Belle w/ Zoë Dominguez,

starring ALANNA ROYALE AND FRIENDS! A Holiday Toy Drive!

WMOT Roots Radio Presents Finally Friday feat. NEW EARTH FARMERS, SUZIE CHISM & TIFFANY WILLIAMS MIKE FARRIS Sings

MIKE FARRIS

FRIST ART MUSEUM, UNION STATION’S

‘A VERY MERRY BAR CAR’ AND THE FINCH

Squeeze in a holiday Date Night with three stops all within 500 steps of each other

BY DANNY BONVISSUTO

Date Night is a multipart road map for everyone who wants a nice evening out, but has no time to plan it. It’s for people who want to do more than just go to one restaurant and call it a night. It’s for overwhelmed parents who don’t get out often; for friends who visit the same three restaurants because they’re too afraid to try someplace new; and for busy folks who keep forgetting all the places they’ve driven past, heard about, seen on social and said, “Let’s remember that place next time we go out.”

Dear Santa,

It’s been a few decades since I last wrote. Making a wish list isn’t as easy as it was when all I wanted was a Barbie Dream House or a big-girl bike with blue-and-white handlebar streamers. I suppose that’s because what I really need can’t be made by elves.

For example, I want:

• Christmas to stop feeling like an unpaid part-time job.

• To feel something besides being

overwhelmed during the month of December.

• The gifts to wrap themselves. (On second thought, the elves might be helpful here.)

• To snuggle up with my husband Dom and our teen on a comfy couch in a dark room with a lit Christmas tree, the original version of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! on TV and an oversized bowl of heavily buttered popcorn. And if it wouldn’t be too much to ask, it’d be nice if everyone, including the dog, would refrain from passing gas during those few moments of merriment.

Santa, we both know you can’t pull off this list. Don’t feel bad — I can’t either. But there’s still magic to be made. I recently realized there’s a sweet little sliver of town where you can hit an art museum, a holiday pop-up bar and an American grill, all within a few steps of each other. And you only have to pay to park your sleigh once.

STOP 1: FRIST ART MUSEUM

The Frist closes at 5:30 p.m. on the weekends, so plan ahead for an early start and give yourself enough time to wander through all three exhibitions — María Magdelena Campos Pons: Behold in the Ingram Gallery; LaJuné McMillian: The Portal’s Keeper-Origins in the Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery (a blink-and-you-miss-it secret gallery within the Ingram space); and Myths to Manga in the Upper-Level Galleries — and enjoy Martin ArtQuest, my favorite part. Through Feb. 16, activities in ArtQuest reflect the Myths to Manga exhibit. Create your own anime character and manga comic strip. Work with woodblocks. Sketch a mannequin dolled up in Harajuku street style. So what if you, like me, can’t draw a straight line with two hands and a ruler? The point is to play. I can’t speak intelligently about art. I just know what strikes me and what makes me feel like I wandered into someone else’s fever dream. Discussing what we saw and how it made us feel made a great conversation starter at our next stop, 330 steps away.

STOP 2: UNION STATION’S ‘A VERY MERRY BAR CAR’

There’s so much history between the Frist and Union Station. Just as the Frist was the main post office in Nashville for many years, Union Station was Nashville’s central terminal where trains arrived and departed from 1900 to 1979. I learned this fact from the train schedule board in “A Very Merry Bar Car,” Union Station’s holiday pop-up bar, and tried to relate it to Dom.

Frist Art Museum 919 Broadway fristartmuseum.org

Union Station’s “A Very Merry Bar Car” 1001 Broadway unionstationhotelnashville.com

The Finch American Grill 111 10th Ave. S., Suite 310 thefinchnashville.com

FRENCH ONION SOUP AT THE FINCH AMERICAN GRILL

UNION STATION’S “A VERY MERRY BAR CAR” PHOTOS:

Me: Look babe. It says it cost $200,000 to build Union Station in 1898, which is $6.8 million today. Trains arrived and departed here.

Him: What departed here?

Me: Trains, babe. Trains.

Him: Do you think women gave their husbands lip like that in 1898?

Me: I think every woman should give her husband lip like that if he asks the kind of question you just asked me.

Him: You started talking to me before I started listening!

Back to the board, which also informed me there was an alligator pond between the train platforms to entertain travelers way back when. That’s weird. And it’s no less weird that, 124 years after this beautiful structure opened, I drank a Grinch-fur-green $15 cocktail called Tropical Ride topped with whipped cream at a Christmas-themed bar while listening to two guys play Dave Matthews covers and a rocking rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

“A Very Merry Bar Car” juts out into Union Station’s lobby, which is massive, brightly lit and difficult to fill with enough holiday decor to make it feel warm and fuzzy. So it’s natural to gravitate toward the Bar Car, a darker nook with two giant sparkling walk-through ornaments on either side, golden train tickets, bells and snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, snowy scenes on the walls and poinsettias on the bar. It’s a little hokey, but it’s wholesome, and a fun way to spend a half-hour before heading to the Baggage Building.

STOP 3: THE FINCH AMERICAN GRILL

While walking through this area a few weeks prior on a Friday night, Dom and I noticed The Finch. Best I can tell, there’s no signage facing Broadway — only a small sandwich board facing the Frist parking area, and a temporary sign above the door — and yet the place was packed with people.

From 1900 to 1979 it was packed with train travelers’ baggage and those who worked for Amtrak. From 1998 to 2021 it was packed with people and plates on the wall as Flying Saucer Draught Emporium — one of Nashville’s first craft beer bars. In March, Milkshake Concepts Hospitality Group put their third Finch in the revamped space. (The other two are in Texas.)

If J. Alexander’s had a younger, hipper cousin, it’d be The Finch. It has something for everyone and solid service, but is more modern in terms of its design and menu. We started with the tzatziki and spicy feta (a both-in-the-same-bowl combo bordered by mini naan bread, crackers and cucumbers) and the salmon crudo (a large plate of cured salmon with nice heat from salsa macha, perfect for passing around a table). The French onion soup, with the beefiest beef broth I’ve ever had, was exactly what I wanted on a cold night. I ordered the short ribs, but they’d just run out, so I subbed with the white-wine shrimp scampi on our server’s recommendation. I wanted to pout about it, as I was excited for something deep, rich and warm, but the scampi had a healthy helping of red pepper flakes that gave what’s normally a light, slightly sleepy dish enough heat to keep it interesting. Dom went with one of the “handhelds,” a French dip he said was the best version he’d had, due to the soft bun and generously sized bowl of au jus for dipping. No one wants to cram a big sandwich into a tiny ramekin.

Should you try a flight of mini martinis: classic, lemon drop, cosmopolitan or salty dog? Or a Champagne mini with a cotton candy glitter bomb? Maybe wait and toast the new year with those. For now, The Finch is doing a Polar Express pop-up — in keeping with the train theme — with holiday cocktails and desserts, and a complimentary hot cocoa bar with toppings. Treat yourself to a mug filled with marshmallows, then head home to wrap gifts — or give yourself the gift or putting it off a little longer. ▼

FRENCH DIP AT THE FINCH AMERICAN GRILL

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HE GOES BY the username rocketpastsix

We meet on the patio outside Village Pub. He’s wearing a bright-red shirt and has a jolly, round face — not unlike that of a cherub, or a little angel boy.

But this is no little angel boy. This is Nashville’s resident online cynic. A hardened 37-year-old man who regularly traffics on the r/ nashville and r/movetonashville subreddits and posts things like:

“They all suck.” (On Nashville roads.)

“Tell the Titans to pound sand and fund their own play palace.” (On the new stadium deal.)

“This state isn’t exactly at the top of the education charts. Unless you have a damn good reason to move here, I’d look elsewhere.” (On getting a teaching job in Nashville.)

“Your aunt is a fucking moron.” (Unsure.)

For more than a year I have been monitoring his online activity, looking for the right occasion to meet. Now I have one: a new Nashville guidebook by local author Michelle Spiva called Music City Musings: Old Nashville Knowledge for Newcomers (Full disclosure: I also have a personal connection to the project, as I contributed jokes to Michelle’s book.) If anyone was going to have strong opinions on a guide designed to help transplants navigate the unique norms, customs and habits of Nashvillians, it was rocketpastsix. So I dropped off a copy to an address he provided, and we sat down two weeks later to discuss it. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

First off, kudos to you for being open to this. I was trying to think back to when you first messaged me [in 2023], and you were like, “I just want to get to know one of Nashville’s trolls.” And I was like, “All right, first off: I guess I am a troll.” I wanted to meet you in person because Lord knows what the review would have been like on Reddit. There were some witty parts of this book, I thought. I actually have two-and-a-half pages of notes.

Let’s get into it. It was witty enough that it kept my attention. It was short enough — and it’s only, what, 120-ish pages? She nailed it on the “sidewalks to nowhere” thing. I loved that she shouted out Nashville Severe Weather. I thought the Citizenship Test was hilarious. Is it something you would recommend to a newcomer who moves to Nashville? Yeah, I would give it to people who moved here. However,

REDDIT BOOK CLUB

Discussing a new Music City guidebook with Nashville’s resident online cynic

BY BEN ODDO

however … I feel like there’s a few things that were missed.

OK. So first off, there’s nothing about how the city works — the council. Did you know we have one of the largest city councils in the entire nation? And that’s also why there’s so much gridlock there, because you have to get 26 people to vote for something.

If I may, would that be a little too inside-baseball for the average newcomer who’s just trying to figure out their social and nightlife? I mean, Michelle talks in the book about how we have meetings upon meetings upon meetings upon meetings. That is because the city demands it to be. And it’s like, we’re going to be dead by the time we have these meetings. It makes it hard not to be cynical.

What else was missed? You wanna talk about the social calendar, I’m a little sad that Daddy’s Date Night [at Daddy’s Dogs] didn’t make it in. It’s on Valentine’s Day, it’s like a four-day event. They bring out actual tables, put tablecloths on the whole thing, candles, and for $69 you get two hot dogs, tater tots, salads and your choice of an “adult Kool-Aid” or 40 of High Life. Back to the cynicism: Do you think it’s a mischaracterization on my part to be like, “rocketpastsix points out the problem, but he’s not part of the solution”? No. I mean, like, that’s the thing. That’s why I campaigned so hard for Freddie [O’Connell]. It’s like that sign, “I Believe in Nashville.” I believe that Nashville can be

better, and I believe my Reddit commenting is not going to get us there, but even through the sarcasm and cynicism, if it gets one more person involved in the grand scheme of life here in Nashville, I see that as a win.

To me, the idea of being perpetually online is agonizing. Of constantly refreshing your feed, constantly getting into arguments with people. What do you get out of it? Is it the dopamine hit? It can’t be fun. No, it’s not. There are times where, if I’m having a bad day, it’s like the Eye of Sauron posted up on the Batman Building, and I’m like “which bar on Broadway am I about to destroy?”

So there’s a little bit of dopamine when you see the upvote counter go up and up and up and up. There’s also a little bit of digging in my heels when I see the downvote counter go up and up and up and up, too. If I’m going to be wrong, I’m going down with the ship. But I have backed out of comment threads because I realized what I didn’t know.

Do you notice a difference between how you are online versus real life? I don’t know if you’re familiar with this or not, but there’s a thing called the CliftonStrengths, and one of my strengths is “includer,” and one skill that people really see in me is empathy. Interesting. Yeah, you wouldn’t know that in my Reddit comments. In my real life I’m introverted, I’m really shy, and like everyone else I want to feel like I belong. So when I see those upvotes, in my head I have concocted a

story that says, “Oh, people are laughing at that comment where I level and attack somebody.” So of course I’m like, “I belong. I belong in a Nashville community where people are never going to know who I am.”

Any final words? We all should go to Chili’s and get a frosty frozen marg and enjoy ourselves.

And then if you’re in the mood, is there a book you’d recommend? I mean, Music City Musings: Old Nashville Knowledge for Newcomers is a great stocking stuffer, great little book under the tree. You might roll your eyes a little bit, but I think Michelle did a great job covering the basics, and even old people like myself can learn something new.

And you weren’t coerced into saying this? No. ▼

Music City Musings: Old Nashville Knowledge for Newcomers By Michelle Spiva Evie Publishing 148 pages, $14.99

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each copy will be donated to the Nashville Musicians Association Crisis Assistance Fund

HUNGER AND AWE

DIDI JACKSON’S LUMINOUS new collection My Infinity opens with a poem titled “Witness,” signaling the fiercely attentive series of observations to come. In the poem, set on a lush day in Vermont’s Green Mountains, the leaves on the birch trees surrounding the speaker “clap at the sun with their gilded hands … these trees too raise their open palms / to pray.”

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Another early poem, “Awe,” provides a different kind of personal invocation, directing us to notice darker and stranger occurrences in the natural world, when mortality seems ever-present: “In these moments, I need to know / why the Luna moth has no mouth, // or if it was a sapsucker not a downy woodpecker / half decayed on the street near the elm. / For I too have held the dead in my bare hands.”

But the poem ends on a striking note that initiates us into the book’s fusion of the material and spiritual worlds: “I want / to bury all that I find with my hunger and awe.”

This collection follows Jackson’s debut, 2020’s Moon Jar My Infinity deepens Jackson’s already memorable explorations of grief and nature through a rich companionship with the work and life of visionary Swedish painter and mystic Hilma af Klint. In these poems, Jackson — who currently teaches writing at Vanderbilt University — finds elegant expression for the complex interdependence between the outer world and our myriad inner worlds.

Hilma af Klint, whose innovative works may be the earliest known examples of modern abstract painting, worked in obscurity, steeped in the spiritualist movement well known at the time. She helped form The Five, a small group of women artists who experimented in trance and automatic drawing and channeled instruction from spiritual beings they called High Masters. As depicted by Jackson, af Klint’s perspective — “her wind chime mind reaching the between” — prizes receptivity and abundance as it evolves to include new shapes, lines and subjects.

Born in 1862, af Klint displayed exceptional insight into how painting, physics, botany and her own mystical cosmology could fuse and transmute into new forms so disruptive to the received ideas of her time that she left instructions for most of her work to be held back from the public until decades after her death, when society would be ready to embrace it.

Remarkably, that’s what happened. During the past decade, af Klint has blazed into art history on the strength of exhibitions like 2018’s record-setting Guggenheim Museum show, Paintings for

the Future. Her vision found its way beyond death, just as she foresaw. Af Klint’s work contains a fascinating interplay between hiddenness and exposure — the profound need to communicate a grand communal vision and the intensity of private revelation and underground germination, waiting for the season to turn.

Jackson writes deftly insightful ekphrastic poems that engage several of af Klint’s painting series, including Primordial Chaos, Eros, The Swan and perhaps her best-known series, “The Ten Largest,” which depicts an entire lifecycle — childhood, youth, adulthood and old age — in bold abstract forms. Jackson chooses one painting from each category, and these poems are perhaps the most energetic and seamlessly written of her af Klint poems.

The poems of My Infinity must also reckon with the death of their speaker’s first husband.

“After My Husband’s Suicide I Visited a Psychic in Cassadaga, Florida” recounts a disappointing attempt to locate “a way / into the dark, // an escape hatch from this world / toward his spirit, a handle // to pull that might open / a trap door into eternity.” “Two-headed Woman” imagines poet Lucille Clifton moving her fingers across a Ouija board. These poems also offer links to af Klint’s encounters with the High Masters.

Several poems refer to the speaker’s recurrent painful experiences with migraines — an affliction sometimes linked with mystical visions. Jackson describes flinching as bright light “shatters / into murderous cracks and angles, / vibrating metal shards, chromatic devils / from beyond.” Still, such visions can provide a dark but potent road to illumination — “an abstract pageant of pain, a prism / of colors as sharp as any knife.”

In these poems, nature reminds us of our deeply ingrained drive toward newness, however marbled by losses or fears. In “Fall,” the speaker declares that “it is the darkest days / I’ve learned to praise.” Moments like these, which exist on thresholds of potent change or revelation, occur again and again throughout My Infinity.

In the final poem, “Mercy,” the speaker recalls cherished sensory impressions — “the charred smell of old fire rings,” “the kingfisher’s rattle at the water’s edge” — but recognizes her own perspective’s limits to perceive or understand any realm beyond these observations: “How do I pray / to anything larger than this? Everything / is of me and so much greater / than me.”

To read an uncut version of this review — and more local book coverage — please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. ▼

UPCOMING EVENTS

PARNASSUSBOOKS.NET/EVENTFOR TICKETS & UPDATES

MONDAY, JANUARY 6

6:30PM

ADAM ROSS with MAYOR FREDDIE O'CONNELL at PARNASSUS Playworld

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7

6:30PM

ADAM HASLETT

with ANN PATCHETT at PARNASSUS Mothers and Sons

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15

6:30PM TYLER MERRITT at BELMONT UNIVERSITY This Changes Everything

THURSDAY, JANUARY 16

6:30PM KWAME ALEXANDER with ROD MCGAHA at PARNASSUS How Sweet the Sound

FRIDAY, JANUARY 17

6:30PM

6:30PM

Saturday, December 2, 2023 9:00 AM

MUSIC: THE SPIN

REFRESHING

BY SHERONICA HAYES

DISTRESSED FLAT-BRIMS, rhinestonestudded cattlemans and a sprinkle of brightred Santa caps brimmed the heads of fans filling the stands and GA pit of Bridgestone Arena Friday night. Nashville’s own sweetheart Kacey Musgraves returned home to close out her Deeper Well World Tour with two soldout shows at the downtown Enormodome, of which this was the first.

In the aftermath of COVID-19, the threeband bill has become a dying tradition for large-scale tours, but perhaps the practice is seeing a comeback. And with the ultratalented opening acts stacked up on this tour, I for one rejoice at its return. Kicking the night off promptly at 7:28, bluegrass quartet Nickel Creek hit the stage with a warm and twangy instrumental jam as the house started to fill up. Bright tones from Sara Watkins’ fiddle wafted over the massive space, coalescing with Chris Thile’s mandolin and Sean Watkins’ vintage Gibson guitar, rounded out by bass from Nashvillian Jeff Picker. The band played toetapping numbers from records spanning their 25-year career, including fan favorite “The Fox,” and threw in an unforgettable bluegrass cover of Brittany Spears’ “Toxic.”

Shifting the mood to something slightly more somber, Lord Huron took over for Act 2 of the evening. Frontman Ben Schneider stated that regardless of whether you came to dance, cry, make out or ponder the mysteries of the universe (which is kinda their sweet spot), they had a song for you. The Los Angelesbased band made good on their word, moving theatrically through titles from their debut

Lonesome Dreams to their latest release Long Lost. The screens transmitted the group in grayscale as Schneider sang catalog standout “The World Ender” through a fuzzy-sounding pay-phone receiver, making the entire ordeal feel like a badass scene from a neo-noir film.

When the house lights went down for the third time Friday evening, the curtains drew back to reveal a thousand twinkling stars. The arena felt enchanted like the ceiling of the Great Hall in Hogwarts, and adoring fans whooped and cheered as Musgraves’ band played the opening notes of the heartwarming “Cardinal,” the opener of Musgraves’ latest album Deeper Well. At the end of the opening number, the singer gracefully tiptoed onto a mysterious half-moon-shaped orb nestled at the rear of the main stage and levitated in midair, with her limbs and long brown hair cascading around her.

Although the stage production was minimalistic throughout most of the set, with light design and whimsical backdrops doing most of the heavy lifting, the tone it allowed to take shape in the massive space was one true to the spirit of Deeper Well — meditative and reflective. While I wouldn’t call the crowd anything less than enthusiastic, mystified and wholeheartedly engaged, there was a peculiar kind of sereneness that settled into the arena, making it feel quaint and safe. Musgraves insisted, “None of the bullshit in the world happening outside of these walls matters for the next 90 minutes.”

As familiar chords from the song “Golden Hour” blanketed the arena, the energy in the house heightened dramatically, and suddenly people were singing louder than before. There was choir-like participation in the outro of

“Happy & Sad” as Musgraves crooned gentle “la la las” while an enormous model of Saturn descended over a small circular stage in the middle of the pit. Musgraves and a few members of the band made their way to the B stage for the acoustic portion of their set. This featured beautiful, stripped-down renditions of tunes like “Follow Your Arrow” and “Dinner With Friends.” Nickel Creek joined Musgraves onstage for what they teased as a “murderous ballad,” which turned out to be a respectable folky cover of SZA’s “Kill Bill.”

Things got a little sober during this segment of the show when Musgraves explained that she was in Nashville working on Deeper Well when the tragic events of the Covenant School shooting occurred. The country star confessed that it felt wrong to be writing songs during that moment. However, she was reminded that art is exactly where we should turn to help us through dark times. She was inspired to write “The Architect,” in which she questions the meaning of God and His will. While the song offers no real resolution in the matter, her performance provided a brief respite for showgoers to open ourselves up to catharsis and emboldened us to be inquisitive about the state of our world.

Returning to the main stage for the final songs of the night, Musgraves livened up the mood with a nod to her album Star-Crossed and the band performed the poppy, self-validating anthem “Justified.” Bouncy beach balls bopped across the audience as confetti rained from the rafters during “Deeper Well.” Last but certainly not least, the lullaby-esque “Rainbow” closed out the night with Musgraves singing the final lyrics in the sweetest soprano: “It’ll all be all right.” ▼

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Saturday, December 14

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Saturday, December 14

SONGWRITER SESSION

Jamie Floyd

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Sunday, December 15

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Alisa Jones

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, December 21

SONGWRITER SESSION

Matt Warren and Dave Pahanish

NOON · FORD THEATER

Sunday, December 22

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Cody Kilby

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

WITNESS HISTORY

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Saturday, January 4

SONGWRITER SESSION

Brinley Addington

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Sunday, January 5

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Lee Turner

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, January 11

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Tommy Karlas

NOON · FORD THEATER

Sunday, January 12

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Justin Schipper

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, January 18

SONGWRITER SESSION

Caylee Hammack

NOON · FORD THEATER

LET’S GET PHYSICAL

From All of Us Strangers to The People’s Joker, here are some of the best physical-media offerings of 2024

BY JASON SHAWHAN

CALL IT A GIFT GUIDE and a salute to excellence — as well as a lament that it’s so hard to shop for new Blu-rays and 4Ks in person in the city anymore — but these are among the best releases of 2024 and worthy of your attention. The format of the release is listed next to each film’s title.

FILM

All of Us Strangers (Criterion UHD/Blu-ray)

One of last year’s best films, reprieved from the Searchlight digital graveyard thanks to the Criterion Collection, All of Us Strangers is an empathetic and profound work that somehow gathers even more strength and cumulative power with the passage of time and the general enshittification of the world around us. A strong belief in something more than this, freed from the vicissitudes of the streaming era. Simply essential.

All the Haunts Be Ours: Volume Two (Severin Blu-ray)

Nobody does an expansive box set like distribution company Severin Films. Like Volume One of this series back in 2022, like that unreal Laura Gemser/Emanuelle Nera box last year, Severin takes a concept, a mood, a genre, and applies the Jim Steinman axiom of more being better than less. Volume One of this folk-horror collection was an incredible flex, bolstered by the staggering array of material here. My first stop was the documentary about Suzzanna, the Queen of Indonesiansploitation cinema, and there’s so much more — 23 more films, in fact.

Brokeback Mountain (Kino Lorber UHD/Blu-ray)

The Brokeback Mountain UHD does an incredible job with Rodrigo Prieto’s Oscarnominated cinematography, with the kind of textures you get from Apichatpong or Clare Denis films. And, well, the film remains a remarkable portrait of trying to find a way through society at its most unfriendly. The loss of Heath Ledger is still painful, because he knocks this one out of the park.

Can’t Stop the Music (Kino Lorber UHD/Blu-ray)

You’ve never seen anything quite like Can’t Stop the Music — a biopic of the Village People in which everyone is straight. It features quite a few extravagant musical numbers (yes, “YMCA” is done bathhouse Busby Berkley style, and you will find it difficult to get “Milkshake” out of your head), and stars Steve “Police Academy” Guttenberg, Valerie “Superman” Perrine and a pretransition Caitlyn Jenner. This is absolutely what happens when some of the filmmakers behind Grease try to recapture lightning in a bottle — to unreal effect.

Forgotten Gialli: Volume Seven (Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray)

If it had done nothing else but provide a proper cinemascope restoration of 1987’s Obsession: A Taste for Fear, this would be one of the most essential offerings of the year. But this remarkable trio of ’80s Italian slashers is an impeccable survey of elegant trash and gutter glory, with 1987’s Sweets From a Stranger being one of the biggest surprises I’ve seen in years — a remarkable film where a gang of sex workers team up and form a vigilante squad to take out a bike-riding, straight-razor-wielding murderer. 1983’s Mystère is a fun riff on Beineix’s Diva, but Obsession: A Taste for Fear is a majestic sci-fi fashion-future giallo where being a model is a death sentence, breakfast is Champagne and strawberries, and a murderer is recording their crimes on LaserDisc. This is the exploitationcinema Holy Grail of 2024.

The People’s Joker (Altered Innocence Blu-ray)

This one features the most astonishing menu screen since the early Aughts. An essential work of queer cinema at its most Bugs Bunny wiseassed, The People’s Joker is capable of refreshing comic-book films on the whole, and this Blu-ray is stacked with extras.

Produced by Val Lewton (Criterion UHD/Blu-ray)

Val Lewton was the master of low-budget, high-concept productions for RKO in the ’40s, and this exquisite pair of 1943 shockers delivers atmosphere and elegant menace like few other films ever have. I Walked With a Zombie is a creepy look at voodoo conspiracies and the way colonialism absorbs and weaponizes whatever spiritualities and traditions it encounters, and The Seventh Victim is like no satanic cult film you’ve ever seen — a jaw-dropper of a film that feels unmatched in the intervening 80 years. And this UHD is giving high-contrast black-andwhite nightmares that stay with you.

Scala! (Severin Blu-ray)

If FOMO were a documentary — a mood, a space in time of limitless artistic and horny potential, told with love and packaged with lust. Tens across the board for anyone with one foot in the grindhouse and one foot in the arthouse.

Werckmeister Harmonies (Criterion UHD/Blu-ray)

Despite its inexplicable choice for a cover image (one utterly meaningless to anyone who hasn’t already seen the film), this languid and pitiless diagram of society slipping into fascism finally has a gorgeous English-subtitled transfer. In the 24 years since it was first released, what was an austere allegory has become something unspeakably real — a slow-motion collapse before our very eyes.

BEHIND THE BEADED CURTAIN

A peek in the primo offerings from the video store backroom, for adults only …

Hard Wood (Severin Blu-ray)

Hard Wood is a collection of beloved weirdo Ed Wood’s later, naughtier work, presented with love and a discerning eye for those who dig deeper than Plan 9 or Glen or Glenda. Both a scholarly trawl through the Hollywood gutter and a reassessment of the man’s postinfamy years, this is made with care, not irony, and is a fascinating look into the industry’s transition into hardcore and what that meant to subsistence-level filmmakers of the era.

Sex Demon and Other Hauntings (AGFA/ Mélusine Blu-ray)

That old axiom that you can make porn out of anything with an adventurous enough spirit is proven true by this trio of ’70s horror-themed shockers. Sex Demon gets the pole position (ha!) because of its rescue from oblivion by disc host and commentator Liz Purchell (alongside the velvet-voiced KJ Shepherd), and also because it’s a gay version of The Exorcist, but all three of the films are unexpected backroom bangers.

As well as the previously discussed Closed Circuit, Daniel Isn’t Real, The Devil’s Honey, The Drifter, eXistenZ, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Leviathan

BOOKS

Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras by Odie Henderson

A delightful history that is both densely informative and laugh-out-loud witty (do not pass up the audiobook, read by the author), this is as comprehensive a survey of the Blaxploitation movement as one could hope for. Author Odie Henderson has a gift — he conveys social history and economic theory and diagrams the parallel histories of Hollywood with an incisive eye and the timing of a peerless comedian working blue at the late show.

This is a remarkable gift for anyone who wants to complement an evening movie’s horrors with the perfect libation, with maximum creativity and a stunning amount of aesthetic adventurousness. Your movie may be gross, but there’s no reason for your drink to be so, and Dehaan and Elizabeth really do the work.

Corpses, Fools & Monsters: The History of Transness in Cinema by Caden Mark Gardner and Willow Catelyn Maclay

A perceptive and thoughtful look at what trans film is, has been and could be. This is probably banned somewhere in Tennessee, so get it while you can.

Dayspring by Anthony Oliveira

Marvel comics author, Toronto film programmer and onetime Scene contributor Anthony Oliveira has crafted one of the most important theological works of the year, and it’s the kind of book that’ll make closed-minded brains explode. An unexpected gospel that serves as the latest ecstatic testament in a tradition that goes back millennia.

Hallyuwood by Bastian Meiresonne

This is an impressive dive into the cinema history of South Korea, compiled with enthusiasm and a sense of historical perspective. Anyone looking to take a leap into Korean film after dipping their toes would be well-served by Meiresonne’s work here, of coffee-table book ambition but of a slightly more reasonable size.

The Queer Film Guide by Kyle Turner

A great companion to Alonso Duralde’s Hollywood Pride (mentioned below), this dives deeper into its selected titles, letting Kyle Turner (a gifted critic of the driest wit) explore aspects of LGBTQ cinema in whichever way the muse directs.

As well as the previously discussed Hollywood Pride and With Love, Mommie Dearest ▼

Cocktails From the Crypt by Jonathan Dehaan and Kimberley Elizabeth

1 Not quite burnt, say

4 “The Joy of ___” (“The Simpsons” episode about a cult)

8 Not genuine

14 Subject of many a grainy video

15 Dungeons & Dragons beast

16 Made do?

17 Developer’s purchase

18 Fills in with the latest

20 “Fannn-tastic!”

22 Yesterday, in Spanish

23 Et ___

24 Lilliputian

26 They might clash on a starstudded team

30 Petty complaint

32 Gochujang paste or hoisin sauce

35 Genius Bar staffer, perhaps

38 Mario Kart character with a pink outfit and a mushroom cap

39 Encyclopedia division: Abbr.

40 Given name of baseball’s Ozzie Smith

42 Body shop offering

43 Greek language?

45 Deep cuts

47 Home to the Van Gogh Museum

49 Meet up with

50 Will of “The Waltons”

51 Thornfield Hall governess

53 Place for a Lady chapel

56 No challenge

59 “Hold your head high!”

61 Result in a photo finish

65 Banking giant based in 47-Across

66 “Likewise”

67 Touched down

68 San Antonio-to-Dallas dir.

69 Shaky start?

1 Midwest city known as the “Capital of Route 66”

2 On the bad side (of)

3 Freedom, per Janis Joplin

4 Stylish Miami neighborhood, in brief

5 Everglades hunter

6 Rave party?

70 ___ deal 71 Carol contraction DOWN

7 Pink-colored euro banknote

8 Online shop for some vintage items

9 Got up

10 Topping-laden pizza variety

11 Sight in Congo’s Virunga National Park

12 ___ shot

13 Debut character for Zadie Smith?

19 “I Will Survive” Grammy winner

21 Gaming console that preceded the Switch

25 Totally unacceptable

27 Not beat around the bush

28 How ballerinas often dance

29 Cooks, as tomatoes

31 Frequently recurring theme

33 “Rats!”

34 Noodle nuggets

35 Drip source in an E.R.

36 Crooner Mel

37 Beta tester, e.g.

41 One might require a higher prescription

44 Grid components

46 Prepare, as scallops

48 Claymation character of old “S.N.L.”

52 Chilling

54 Like the majority of Egyptians

55 Crimped parts of ravioli

57 Subject of the obsolete “plum pudding model”

58 “Beat it!”

60 Org. with a white rabbit in its logo

61 Not trans

62 Written homage

63 L’état, à Louis XIV

64 2020 #1 hit for Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion

past

nytimes.com/ crosswords ($39.95 a year). Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay. Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/studentcrosswords.

PUZZLE BY JOE DEENEY

LEGAL

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF SUMNER COUNTY, TENNES -SEE, AT GALLATIN RULE NO: 23AD-30

IN RE: THE ADOPTION OF TYLER TURNER (dob: 01/09/2014)

TYLIN PATTERSON (dob: 01/23/2013)

TRACTOR TRAILER ACCIDENTS Voted Best Attorney in Nashville

Call 615-425-2500 for FREE Consultation

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BY: TYLA CHAMPACO and JESSE CHAMPACO PLAINTIFF vs. TELVIN TURNER DEFENDANT

ORDER OF PUBLICATION

In this action, it appearing to the satisfaction of the Clerk and Master, from the Plaintiffs’ complaint which is sworn to that the whereabouts of Telvin Turner are unknown and cannot be ascertained after diligent search and inquiry so that the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon him.

It is therefore, ordered that publication be made in the NASHVILLE SCENE, a newspaper published in Davidson County, Nashville, Tennessee, for four consecutive weeks commanding said defendant to file an answer to the Petition for Termination of Parental Rights and Adoption with the

Clerk and Master whose address is 155 East Main Street, Suite 3600, Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee 37066 and a copy to Plaintiff’s attorney, according to law within thirty days from December 12, 2024. If the Defendant fails to do so, judgment by default will be taken against him for the relief demanded in the complaint.

This the 15th day of November, 2024

MARK T. SMITH, CLERK AND MASTER

Insertion Dates:

November 21, November 28, December 5 and 12, 2024

ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF

Clare A. Zanger 135 Clif Garrett Drive White House, TN 37188

615-6720511

email: clare@zangerlaw.com

NSC 11/21, 11/28, 12/5 & 12/12/24

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