Nashville Scene 12-16-21

DECEMBER 16–22, 2021 I VOLUME 40 I NUMBER 45 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE

CITY LIMITS: STATE LAW NOW ALLOWS PARTISAN SCHOOL BOARD RACES. THIS COULD GET MESSY.

FOOD & DRINK: THE TIME LOCAL LEGEND PHILA HACH COOKED FOR INTERNATIONAL DIGNITARIES

PAGE 10

PAGE 47

We talk with Brittney Spencer, count down the year’s top local albums and much more

2021

Year in Music

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CONTENTS

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25

Walk a Mile: The Nations ..........................7

A Royale Holiday!, Aqua Velvet Christmas Show, Music City Christmas feat. Tituss Burgess, Batman Returns, The Wiz, LadyCouch residency, Faux Ferocious w/Snooper & Temp Job and more

CITY LIMITS

In the 24th installment of his column, J.R. Lind explores a West Nashville neighborhood with an inscrutable name and structures both old and new

BY J.R. LIND

Pith in the Wind .........................................8

This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

School Board Games .............................. 10 State law now allows for partisan school board races. That could get messy.

BY KELSEY BEYELER

Controversial Brookmeade Park Bill Passes in Scaled-Back Form .................. 10

A substitute version of the resolution to fund construction equipment and park cameras gets approved with a much narrower scope

BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

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COVER STORY 2021 Year in Music

The Table is Set ....................................... 12 Talking with Brittney Spencer about staking her claim in country music

BY BRITTNEY McKENNA

The Year in Country................................. 14 It’s tough to untangle good from bad in an industry where Mickey Guyton and Morgan Wallen both did well

BY BRITTNEY McKENNA

The Year in Hip-Hop ................................ 16 Nashville MCs and producers banded together to capitalize on the momentum they gained in 2020

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

The Year in Jazz, Blues and Soul ............ 16 Growth of new establishments like NMAAM and renewal of institutions like Nashville Jazz Workshop marked a busy year

CRITICS’ PICKS

33 47

GIFT GUIDE

FOOD AND DRINK Phila’s Legacy

On a legendary Nashville chef and the time she cooked for scores of international dignitaries

BY JENNIFER JUSTUS

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BOOKS

Storytellers With Loud Guitars

Stephen Deusner captures the Drive-By Truckers on the page

Brittney Spencer Photo by Daniel Meigs Hair and makeup: Marz Collins

54 FILM

Pros and Cons ......................................... 54 Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is all sophisticated splendor

BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY

Motherhood Revisited ............................ 54

Primal Stream 73 ................................... 55 A ’60s thriller, a ’90s thriller and the latest Resident Evil, now available to stream (and see in theaters)

A return to in-person shows felt like a triumph, even with pressure on venues from our bonkers real estate market

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

Remembering Tom T. Hall, Nanci Griffith, Ross Norton and others who died in 2021

ON THE COVER:

COMPILED BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

BY JASON SHAWHAN

Those We Lost ......................................... 22

Historic Nashville Inc. Announces 2021 Nashville Nine

The local music scene on the local music scene

From Allison Russell and Reaux Marquez to Tristen and Joy Oladokun, here are our favorite local LPs of the year

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

Black Abbey Revives Its Annual Beer & Hymns Event

The 2021 Rock ’n’ Roll Poll

BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

The Year in Ven-News.............................. 22

Nelson’s Green Brier Workers Seek Union Representation

MUSIC

Alanna Royale discusses working through her stress, touring during a pandemic and learning to honor her art

Top Local Album Critics’ Poll.................. 20

Thanx for the Ride: Michael Nesmith, 1942-2021

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Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter aims at a cherished institution

BY MEGAN SELING

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:

BY DAVID WESLEY WILLIAMS AND CHAPTER 16

BY RON WYNN

On the Road Again .................................. 18

DECEMBER 16, 2021

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MARKETPLACE

BY EDD HURT

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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FROM BILL FREEMAN NO-BID CONTRACTS DRAW SCRUTINY FOR LEE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY ASKED TO INVESTIGATE According to state Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville), an “alarming accumulation of suspicious contracts” — no-bid contracts approved by Gov. Bill Lee that are being renewed without oversight — has prompted her to ask Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk to investigate. Campbell joins others from both parties in her concern and criticism.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), who chairs the joint fiscal review committee, is also concerned over these emergency purchases, and tells The Tennessean the legislature should have more oversight in the state’s contracting process and strive for more transparency.

He’d also like to see no-bid contracts posted online to help alleviate concerns over what he calls “clandestine” deals made by Tennessee. Campbell wants to address the “liberties that have been taken under these emergency powers,” telling the paper: “We have found a lot of our contracts have increased the amount without consulting anybody that’s showing oversight. I would really like to know what we were getting for that money.” To that end, Campbell wrote a letter reaching out to District Attorney Funk, asking him to investigate these numerous bids.

Funk has said that he is in favor of a review and is currently considering which agency could best help conduct such an audit. Further, the DA would make any audit findings public, so that Tennesseans could finally have a look at what is going on with these “emergency no-bid” contracts. A veteran trial attorney for many years prior to becoming the DA, Funk has a reputation for fairness and for placing great value on the safety and livelihood of our residents.

Nashvillians may recall that he joined forces with then-Mayor Megan Barry and Judge Casey Moreland to launch a Human Trafficking Intervention Court in Davidson County in 2016.

Still, some Republicans are not enthused about getting the district attorney involved.

Though he too has expressed concern over these no-bid contracts, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) doesn’t mind the audit being handled by the comptroller and the state’s Fiscal Review Committee. But the comptroller’s own spokesperson John Dunn said that while certain expenditures are federally required to be audited, his office randomly chooses other line items to audit. In other words, it doesn’t sound like a deep investigative audit.

No-bid contracts are deemed necessary for emergency purchases and are not subject to legislative oversight. But Tennessee’s contracts are coming under scrutiny for all the right reasons. First, they delivered faulty services, like the Nomi Health debacle — a $26.5 million contract for ultimately faulty COVID-19 testing supplies. Some deals lack transparency, like the current $75 million no-bid contract for COVID contact tracing, awarded to Hendersonville company Xtend, which did not have prior experience in contact tracing. The initial contract with Xtend was for $20 million. We now have an entire list of no-bid contracts that seem unreasonable in cost — and that are being

STATE SEN. HEIDI CAMPBELL renewed even though Lee has allowed the state of emergency to end.

The governor used the “emergency” rule during his first year to hire McKinsey & Co. for more than $4 million. The company was hired to “study state government and see where costs could be cut.” That report has not been made public.

Further, as reported by Tennessee Lookout, lawmakers have approved $8 million more to be paid to TNTP Inc. in New York, despite a conflict of interest — education commissioner Penny Schwinn’s husband works for the firm.

Time after time, contracts under the guise of “emergency” usage appear to allow the powers that be to spend funds without any oversight and with little to no consequences. It’s little wonder these bids raise eyebrows among lawmakers from both parties, to the point that they have argued the process places few officials in charge of procurement, circumvents the state’s legislative branch and could lead to loss of taxpayer dollars. I agree.

Lee spokesperson Casey Black shrugs off the conflicts and lack of transparency and oversight, saying in a statement, “Departments are permitted to extend existing contracts.”

DA Funk should lift the curtain on these contracts and get to the bottom of what is going on. Someone has to hold our elected leaders accountable and make sure we are spending Tennesseans’ money wisely. Our governor’s behavior and decisions make him appear as though he cares far less for Tennesseans and their livelihood than any governor should.

Bill Freeman Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and Home Page Media Group in Williamson County.

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

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In memory of Jim Ridley, editor 2009-2016

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CITY LIMITS

THE NATIONS

Walk a

Mile

In the 24th installment of his column, J.R. Lind explores a West Nashville neighborhood with an inscrutable name and structures both old and new

BY J.R. LIND | PHOTOS BY ERIC ENGLAND

levard

ial Bou

Centenn

with J.R. Lind

49th Avenue North

51st Avenue North

THE ROUTE: From 51st and Centennial, south on 51st to Indiana, then left on Indiana, left on 49th and left on Centennial back to the beginning.

ABANDONED SCOOTERS: 0 CRANES: 0

Indiana Avenue

Once a month, reporter and resident historian J.R. Lind will pick an area in the city to examine while accompanied by a photographer. With his column Walk a Mile, he’ll walk a one-mile stretch of that area, exploring the neighborhood’s history and character, its developments, its current homes and businesses, and what makes it a unique part of Nashville. If you have a suggestion for a future Walk a Mile, email editor@nashvillescene.com.

“T

he Nations” is, bar none, the coolest — and most inscrutable — neighborhood name in Nashville.

The name resisted a bizarre attempt some years ago by real estate agents and developers — and their abettors at certain media outlets — at rebranding to “Historic West Town.”

Theories of course abound as to the origin, some of which are easy to dismiss. For example, it has nothing to do with the names of the streets. The streets are named for states, not nations, and despite insidious harhar Southerners are dumb though generalizations, the area was known as The Nations before the streets were laid out.

One of the other theories is that the historic Tennessee State Prison, which opened in 1898 a mile-and-a-half northwest, drew a diverse mixture of people to the area. This at least makes a little more sense, though Nashville’s immigrant communities at the time had established themselves elsewhere.

(For example, the Germans were in what we rather predictably now call Germantown and the Italians, delightfully, in Joelton.)

Perhaps the most compelling theory is that the name carried down from Nashville’s

earliest white settlers. James Robertson met with the Chickasaw at the Treaty Oak near West Park, suggesting the area was familiar to indigeneous people. Is it possible Robertson, Donelson, et al. considered the land to be “the nation’s”? Or that they spoke of it as the place they’d go to confer with “the nations”? A few capital letters here, a dropped apostrophe there, and our most charming neighborhood name is born.

In any event, The Nations spent the 20th century as a standard working-class neighborhood, with largely identical clapboard or cinder-block houses, some light industrial space along 51st and Centennial Boulevard with some heavy industry between Centennial and the river. The conventional wisdom is that in the recent “It” Era, postdiluvian Nashville, The Nations has transformed and is now nothing but tall-and-skinnies and juice bars and hip hangouts from Delaware to Centennial and from the railroad tracks to Morrow Road.

And it’s true, The Nations has changed, and changed a lot in the past decade or so.

Teardowns are common, third stories peek out over the old-growth oak trees, and Teslas and Land Rovers zoom on 51st Avenue. But at ground level, there’s a different reality: that the old character of The Nations is a stubborn thing indeed.

Standing at 51st and Centennial, yes, there’s a Frothy Monkey and Southern Grist’s taproom and Nicky’s Coal Fired Pizza in what was a hosiery mill. (Given the surfeit of former stocking manufacturing facilities, Nashville is lucky it didn’t end up as “Sock City.”) Project 615 is selling its “SMASH” hats and its “Spread Love” shirts and various 615-festooned doodads.

(Do in-movers saddled with 629 numbers buy 615-branded items?) But turn just a few degrees and there are the giant holding

tanks of Marathon Oil’s distribution point.

And across 51st from Stocking 51? A Dollar General. It’s relatively new, but it’s still an outpost of Middle Tennessee’s most successful discount store.

And across Centennial from that? The

Centennial. Its new coat of paint and Patrick Swayze murals notwithstanding, the hangout maintains a dive-bar vibe (as well as the former banned list from the bar that occupied the space beforehand — every name on that list tells a story, for sure). And next to

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CITY LIMITS

THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS AND POLITICS BLOG:

the bar? Laverte’s, where all manner of essentials (including liquor) have been sold for decades underneath one of Nashville’s coolest signs. Laverte, coincidentally, was the brother of Wendell, namesake of Wendell Smith’s, another old West Nashville mainstay at Charlotte Pike and Morrow.

The final corner of the intersection is the home of 51st Deli, its sign looking as if it were inked by a traditional-style tattooist.

The deli offers some of the city’s best sandwiches (the West Nasty and the Hot Cappy are both sensational), and the market within has an international flair to go with its kombuchas and craft beers.

There are still plenty of auto shops and salvage yards, particularly along the side streets and fronting the alleys. In the block of 51st between Louisiana and Tennessee, ModMan Guitars offers musical instrument repair next to a business with an extremely faded sign offering small-engine and other assorted light industrial maintenance 24 hours a day.

There are more residences the farther south 51st goes, but there’s still plenty of vacant lots surrounded by barbed wire. Rock’n Dough serves pizza and brews in what was most recently an outpost of The Corner Pub empire, but which began life as a Church of God — that is, before a 1952 court decision in Bradley County required certain congregations that had been calling themselves Churches of God, but who followed a different strain of the Holiness and Pentecostal movement than the main line of the Church of God, to add “of Prophecy” to their name.

In any case, the cornerstone of the church (of God of Prophecy) is still visible.

You can say this for the builders of the tall-and-skinnies: They seem to take Metro’s sidewalk ordinance seriously. At every property line where whatever was once

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there has been replaced by a set of identical homes, the old sidewalks give way to pleasantly wide and smooth new ones, which just as abruptly disappear at the opposite metes and bounds.

Despite its use as the only semi-truckfriendly connection between Charlotte, Interstate 40 and the industry on Centennial, 51st is what infrastructure enthusiasts would call a “complete street,” with sidewalks and bike and automobile lanes.

Perhaps as a concession to new owners who occasionally raise a bit of a stink about the noise and danger of the semis, Metro has installed stop signs at a few intersections and added crosswalks, which are bricked for reasons unknown. A visual metaphor for the transitioning of The Nations is at 51st and Michigan, where the sheet-metaled utility of Garland & Sons Body Shop (“since 1946”) is right next to a juice bar offering $12 pineapple juice and something the FDA makes them sell as “Mylk.” Yes, the place has a mural.

And on the other side of the street there’s a yoga studio next to the Stop-N-Shop, which is across the street from a Sherwin-Williams big box, which is maybe the most incongruous of them all. The Red Bicycle sells coffee and pastries and light fare in an old house at 51st and Indiana, where it took over the space from the much-beloved venue and restaurant The Stone Fox. But the property has been home to watering holes for years, at various times known as Area 51, Grandpaw Too’s and Len’s Den. Yes, there’s a mural. Yes, it is of the late Kobe and Gianna Bryant, and not Grandpaw Too or Len. Indiana Avenue itself is what would happen if those silly “House Divided” front license plates became a street. You know the ones: split with the logo of one spouse’s alma mater on one half and the other spouse’s

opposite. It’s the kind of thing affluent 20-somethings put on their cars to advertise they went to Ole Miss or Clemson or Dayton or wherever. (There is one car, spotted occasionally in Bellevue, that has a University of Georgia/Nashville Predators combo — those ancient rivals.) Almost none of the new builds fit the character of the neighborhood.

Almost none of them are appropriately sized for the lot. What vintage stock remains has been renovated (mostly), and to the credit of the owners and developers, those renovations do maintain the style of what The Nations was for so long. But too often these carefully maintained tributes are overshadowed (quite literally) by the shoved-in new builds, shoehorned so tightly it’s difficult to tell in many cases which street or alley they are meant to address.

Oh sure, there are holdouts. A clutch of new homes is being crammed into property near 49th and Tennessee — but not actually at the intersection, because there’s a clapboard-and-Breeko house at the corner with chain-link fence, clothesline and large beige outbuilding all but sticking out its lower lip.

The streets here are noticeably wide.

Wide enough that Swayze’s Road House nemesis Brad Wesley could do his swerving and singing no problem. While doing so, he could play Spot-the-STRP-DADU if he knew what that meant. (He would know.)

Industry looms moving north on 49th as the chug and grind of the semis and dump trucks mix with the construction noise of more new houses coming out of the ground, scaring birds from the dying and unkempt hedges around the few older homes holding their ground.

Sometimes The Nations is as hard to grasp as its name.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

There was much rejoicing throughout the land as the derided equestrian statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest overlooking I-65 near the Davidson-Williamson county line came down under orders from the executor of the estate of Bill Dorris, on whose land the Jack Kershaw “artwork” stood for more than two decades. Dorris, who died in 2020, left $5 million to his dog (despite his estate being valued at more like $500,000), and the statue to the Battle of Nashville Trust.

Given that A) Forrest wasn’t at the Battle of Nashville, and B) the statue is nightmare fuel, the trust asked for its removal. … Rep. Bruce Griffey, Republican of Paris, is proposing legislation that would would bar districts from receiving state funding for undocumented immigrants and from counting them in requests for funding, contrary to a decades-old Supreme Court ruling. Griffey proposed a slate of bills targeting undocumented immigrants in 2019, none of which got much traction even within his own party. … Metro police released body cam footage of a nonfatal Dec. 6 police shooting near Hunters Lane High School. The school’s resource officer, Byron Boelter, came upon a two-car crash and shot a 20-year-old man who was reaching into the passenger’s side of his car toward a gun. The video shows Boelter asking the man why he reached for the gun, to which he responded, “I was trying to get it out of the car, sir.” Boelter is on “routine administrative assignment” while the TBI investigates. … Hourly workers at Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey are organizing in an effort to make the Nashville distillery possibly the first in the state with union representation. Dylan Lancaster, a front-of-house employee and tour guide at Nelson’s Green Brier, says he hand-delivered a letter seeking recognition of a union organized with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1995 to his supervisor on Dec. 10. The distillery is owned by Fortune 500 company Constellation Brands. …

Longtime local nonprofit leader Hal Cato is stepping down from his position as CEO of Thistle Farms, but he’s not yet ready to say what’s next. “I’ve let my team here know that I will be moving on next summer to pursue my next opportunity,” Cato tells the Scene. “A potential mayoral run is one of the things I’m exploring, but I have other irons in the fire as well.” He has been CEO of the social enterprise since 2015. … Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery said that while he doesn’t agree with a deal arranged

by Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk to see Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman’s death sentence vacated, his office won’t be appealing it. That means nearly 20 years after coming within days of execution in 2002, Abdur’Rahman is staying off death row for good.

NASHVILLESCENE.COM/PITHINTHEWIND EMAIL: PITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM TWEET: @PITHINTHEWIND

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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A call for justice. Right Now! Given South Africa’s devastating political past, it’s no wonder so many South Africans dream of a better life for themselves and their country. Johannesburg-based artist Mary Sibande boldly captures this sentiment while confronting the racial, gendered, political, and economic inequities in South Africa through hyperrealistic sculptures and photographs that prominently feature powerful women of color.

THROUGH JANUARY 2

Her striking use of the colors blue, purple, and red in the clothing of her central character, a persona named “Sophie,” reflects various stages throughout South Africa’s political history. Come experience these stunning, emotional narratives of resignation, hope, and anger.

Downtown Nashville, 919 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 FristArtMuseum.org @FristArtMuseum #TheFrist #FristSibande

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nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

Mary Sibande. Right Now!, 2015. Color print (edition of 10 + 3 AP), 39 7/8 x 92 5/8 in. Courtesy of the artist and SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. © Mary Sibande

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10/13/21 2:54 PM

CITY LIMITS

SCHOOL BOARD GAMES

thrown by the Republicans in our General Assembly,” reads a statement issued Friday

by Tara Houston, chair of the Davidson County Democratic Party.

“The DCDP does not believe this law was passed in good faith,” Houston continues, “and stands firm in our stance that this decision runs counter to voting for school board members that will best serve the interests of our students and their education, not political parties. But if the Davidson County Republican Party decides to call for a primary, we are prepared to do the same. We must ensure voters know who is on the ballot so they can cast an informed vote for the candidate who will fight for their children’s right to have a meaningful, honest, and inclusive public education experience.”

The Democrats’ view on partisan school board races matches that of the current Metro Nashville Public School board — neither body wants partisan politics brought to the board.

On Dec. 6, District 7 school board member Freda Player-Peters sent an email signed by all nine board members to Davidson County’s Democratic and Republican executive committees explaining how they believe partisan politics “would have a deeply negative impact on the effectiveness of the board” and asking the parties not to call a partisan school board election. The email, obtained by the Scene, describes how politics could affect everything from students and schools to the budget process and the board’s relationship with the director of schools. It also expresses concern over how partisan elections might prevent “regular” people from running and instead “attract polarizing candidates,” enhance the possibility

of a state takeover and decrease diplomacy among board members.

Davidson County GOP chairman James Garrett views the situation differently.

“I don’t think partisanship will or should affect the focus of the school board,” Garrett told the Scene before either party had announced a decision about primary elections. He noted that the General Assembly’s decision to make school board elections partisan was “an interesting development,” and that making the decision in October “[is] forcing us to react quicker than we would’ve wanted to.”

Despite the late development on school board elections, Republicans have already hosted training for potential candidates in partnership with the Leadership Institute, a nonprofit that trains conservatives for political action. The Scene visited the Leadership Institute’s November training session just outside of Nashville, but none of the participants would agree to an interview.

When the Democrats announced their conditional plans regarding primaries last week, Garrett told the Scene he was “a bit disappointed.”

“We made our decision based solely on our concern for the students and parents of Davidson County, unencumbered by a political contingent,” Garrett continued. “To me, what [Davidson County Democrats] did was a political decision based totally on what they felt was best for their party and not what was best for the people.”

Houston told the Scene on Friday that the reasoning behind the Democrats’ decision took into account “the strategy behind this.”

“If we don’t meet their primary call,” said Houston, “are we helping [Republicans] win seats by not making it clear that there are Democratic candidates on the ballot, or by only having multiple independents potentially split a vote against a Republican?”

In 2022, four school board members’ terms will be up: District 2’s Rachael Elrod, District 4’s John Little, District 6’s Fran Bush and District 8’s Gini Pupo-Walker.

Each of them, except for Pupo-Walker, has confirmed their plans to run again.

in American Rescue Plan funding for construction equipment — including vehicles like Bobcats, which some councilmembers worried could be used for removing campsites used by unhoused Nashvillians.

The bill also sought to place cameras in parks across the city where homeless camps are located. The new version costs $1.26 million. Cameras will be placed only in Brookmeade Park, and the vehicles are limited to trash trucks and pressure washers. The bill also includes language that equipment will not be used to remove residents.

The Metro Council deferred the bill twice — the original delay prompted Mayor John Cooper’s office to invite councilmembers to tour encampments, which sparked backlash.

Councilmember Colby Sledge was an outspoken critic of the original bill, but he co-sponsored the substitution, describing it as a compromise at the Metro Council hearing.

“I wanted to see the park get the funding it needed for repairs,” Sledge tells the Scene via email, “but did not support some of the equipment items — like Bobcats — that could feasibly have been used for encampment clearance, and I certainly didn’t support creating a massive surveillance network across Metro Parks with no clear guidelines or boundaries regard-

ing data usage and storage.”

Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda was one of four who voted against the resolution, telling the Scene, “Neither HUD, [service] providers, or the Homelessness Planning Council recommended this as the best strategy.”

Advocates at Open Table Nashville — a nonprofit that conducts outreach to people experiencing homelessness — opposed the original bill and still take issue with its substitute.

“We strongly believe that until there is adequate affordable housing in Nashville, funding from the American Rescue Plan should be focused on building units instead of renovating a park where people are currently living,” says Open Table’s Paula Foster.

“Our primary concern is that despite assurances, our friends who live in Brookmeade Park will be forced to move before adequate housing is found for all the residents so that the park can be repaired.”

At a budget meeting in October, an officer with the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Quality of Life Team argued that people who live at the camps support the cameras, according to a survey police conducted.

The Scene obtained footage of the survey through a public records request.

The 45-minute recording shows two officers approaching more than 20 people at the Old Tent City

State law now allows for partisan school board races. That could get messy.

BY KELSEY BEYELER

W

hen Tennessee lawmakers called for a third 2021 special legislative session in October, much of the attention went to loosened COVID-19 restrictions. But that session also introduced legislation allowing for partisan labels in district school board elections in order to increase “transparency” among voters. At the time, our own Stephen Elliott described the bill as “among the most bitterly fought during the special session, with just 52 members of the House voting for it and 20 members of the Senate — especially close margins in a legislature dominated by a single party.” Gov. Bill Lee later signed into law a modified version of the original bill, making partisan school board elections optional rather than mandatory.

The new law generated some action last week leading up to the deadline to submit plans for primary school board elections.

Ahead of the Dec. 10 deadline, Davidson County’s Republicans and Democrats engaged in a game of chicken to see who would announce their decision regarding primaries first. While the Davidson County GOP met Dec. 7 to vote on the matter, they didn’t announce their decision until the Friday deadline, keeping their cards close to their chest so as not to influence their Democratic counterparts. The Democrats also waited until Friday to announce their decision — which was, essentially, that they would do whatever the GOP is doing.

“Our conditional call for a primary is not done in hesitation, but rather out of a deep reluctance to see our school board elections made partisan due to the collective tantrum

CONTROVERSIAL BROOKMEADE PARK BILL PASSES IN SCALED-BACK FORM A substitute version of the resolution to fund construction equipment and park cameras gets approved with a much narrower scope

BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

A

scaled-down version of a controversial bill to install cameras in parks and fund renovation equipment for Brookmeade Park passed at the most recent Metro Council meeting, following weeks of heated debate.

The original version of the bill sought $1.93 million

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“IF THE DAVIDSON COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY DECIDES TO CALL FOR A PRIMARY, WE ARE PREPARED TO DO THE SAME. WE MUST ENSURE VOTERS KNOW WHO IS ON THE BALLOT SO THEY CAN CAST AN INFORMED VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE WHO WILL FIGHT FOR THEIR CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO HAVE A MEANINGFUL, HONEST, AND INCLUSIVE PUBLIC EDUCATION EXPERIENCE.” —TARA HOUSTON, DAVIDSON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR

Despite the mixed reactions among political parties, candidates in Nashville’s upcoming school board races are going to have to play along with the partisan approach or take the risk of running independently. The political influence may prevent some from running, and embolden others who have the time, resources and political motivation.

Nashville’s Republicans might go against the grain in a predominantly blue county and try to win over moderates with topics like masks, critical race theory, charter schools and vouchers.

Meanwhile, students and teachers face myriad difficulties, from staff burnout and shortages to technology problems and transportation issues. Will adding more politics to the equation help any of these issues?

Unlikely.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

encampment, which is set to become Wharf Park, located near the Silliman Evans Bridge. The officers, after announcing that they’re recording, explain that the Metro Council is considering a bill to place cameras in parks. The officers also say that the cameras would not be monitored but that the footage would be reviewed if an incident occurred. During some interactions, an officer adds that the cameras would be for people’s safety or the safety of their belongings — “not for spying.”

Then the officers ask if people would support the bill — the vast majority say yes. One man even calls it a great idea.

One young man who is on the fence says he has concerns about “invasion of privacy” — like people being recorded using the bathroom on camera — and an officer responds that the cameras wouldn’t “be used day to day.” The man was ultimately listed as a yes vote, “with the right considerations.”

The police tallied up a total of four no’s.

Open Table’s Foster hasn’t seen the video but raises concerns about the survey.

“Police officers hold positions of power and authority, and that is going to seriously affect the responses they get from our friends on the street,” she says.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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2021

Year in Music We talk with Brittney Spencer, count down the year’s top local albums and much more

For the music industry in general and the Nashville music community in particular, 2020 was mostly about surviving massive disruption and unease wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic. As vaccines began to roll out early this year, it felt like the fourth act of Jurassic Park, in which our heroes turn the circuit breakers back on one by one. In the movie, the next task was to run like hell and leave the island to the dinosaurs. In real life, the island is all we’ve got.

It hasn’t been easy, with the Delta variant and lots more to contend with, but our conglomeration of local musicians and music-biz folks has made it through this year — and has a lot to show for it. In our Year in Music issue, we talk with rising country star Brittney Spencer and stellar soul singer Alanna Royale; our critics weigh in on the year’s best albums; singers, songwriters and others take stock of the year in our annual Rock ’n’ Roll poll; and much more.

The Table Is Set

Talking with Brittney Spencer about staking her claim in country music

BY BRITTNEY McKENNA

It seems like 2021 has been a whirlwind of success for you, and now you’re headlining The Basement East in a few hours. How are you feeling going into the show?

It feels unreal, the last year-and-a-half of my life.

I’m still trying to find ways to take it all in. And it’s pretty overwhelming to consider what the future

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PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS HAIR AND MAKEUP: MARZ COLLINS

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n Thursday, Dec. 9, Brittney Spencer played a triumphant headlining show at The Basement East, one of the first dates on her In a Perfect World tour.

The concert was something of a victory lap for the quickly rising country singer-songwriter, who grew up in Baltimore. Her 2020 EP Compassion and subsequent singles like “Sober and Skinny” have catapulted her from aspiring artist right onto the stage for the CMA Awards, her own solo tour and opening for Reba McEntire. The Scene linked up with Spencer before her Basement East show to talk touring, writing catchy melodies and country music’s issues with inclusion and representation.

looks like for me, in my artistry. For me, I find so much safety in staying in the present. I try to live in the moment as much as possible, because this is the only place where I can actually do something.

Willie Jones and Camille Parker are also on the bill tonight. What does it mean to you to have them join you for such a special show?

It means the world to me. They’re my really good friends. I love them. It’s really just like a family affair tonight. And I hope people feel that when they watch the show: It’s just friends who decided to do something together, and invite people to come and be a part, as well.

We love music. We love what’s been happening in country music. We love the new sounds that are really hitting country music hard right now. And we love that we get to be part of that. I’m not trying to make a statement at all. I just want to do stuff with my friends, my people.

Are you debuting new material?

Oh, yeah. I only have five songs out but I play for 75 minutes. I think the first time I realized, “Oh, whoa, you have to do more than five songs,” was when Jason Isbell asked me to open up for him at the Ryman. I found out my set was 45 minutes. And I’m like, “This man must really have faith in me, because I’ve only got a few songs out right now.” It’s been really cool, just building on the live show and building out something that I think will make sense for people and that people will hopefully enjoy, even though they don’t know all the songs. It’s been really fascinating, watching people still be intrigued and, hopefully, entertained during the show even though it’s mainly new songs. This is the fifth show tonight, and people are sticking around.

Sometimes people even start singing the songs towards the end. And that’s a dream.

It must feel so validating to have people respond to your new material like that.

PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS HAIR AND MAKEUP: MARZ COLLINS

Yeah, and we are recording right now. A lot of the songs that are going so well and

being so well-received [at live shows], we’re in the middle of recording. But even with that, I’ve just been experimenting. The one thing that I’m not experimenting with is the genre. I have always known that I wanted to do country music, since I was a teenager. So, I’m not experimenting with that. … I fuse different sounds together within the music that I perform and write.

And honestly, even just going on the road and deciding to do almost all new songs, that’s me experimenting. And I’m having a great time. I’m open. And I think people feel that, hopefully, in my personality and the music that I’m putting out and the shows I’m doing. I just want to do so many different things, and I want people to come along with me if they want to.

To your point about being a lifelong country fan, I’d love to hear more about what informed your sound. One of the first things that struck me about your music is your gift for writing melodies that are somehow both unexpected and familiar-feeling at the same time. What were some formative influences for your sense of melody?

I love a catchy hook. Like, love. I love how a lot of times in pop and R&B, the melody will catch you right away. But for me, lyric is king. That’s why I love country music so much. So fusing what I love so much about a catchy melody with a story that really brings the melody to life is so important for me. The lyric and the melody will go hand in hand, and if one is lacking, I just toss it out. If I can’t find the tune to make a section make sense, I let it go, because melody is just that important to me.

I grew up in church, and melodically, some of the older songs in church sound really similar. They’re melodies where you might not know all the words, but you catch on quickly.

And there’s something so beautiful about that, where people just gravitate to a song because it’s easy to sing, because the melody just flows in a way that even a person who doesn’t know music at all understands that it makes sense. I say all the time that country and church [music] are so similar. That’s

what drew me to country. I was just a kid in church and I heard The Chicks for the first time. I thought, “I love these melodies. I love the harmonies.” I just felt the commonalities in the music that I’d grown up on and country music, and it was beautiful. And I still do that to this day. I know some people don’t always like the fusion of pop and country, or using new technology in the studio, but I love it. I think it’s beautiful.

I’ve always thought it was interesting how country in particular is resistant to new ways of making music. There was a time when the guitar was a new piece of technology. When new tools are available to make music, and to make creating music more accessible than ever, why not use them?

Absolutely. This is a conversation I’ve had about so many other genres. “That’s not real hip-hop, that’s hip-hop,” or, “That’s rap, that’s not hip-hop,” or, “That’s not real R&B.” Pop is probably the one genre where people aren’t like, “That’s not pop,” because anything can be pop. Pop is just “popular,” right? Justin Timberlake, Adele and Olivia Rodrigo are all pop.

But in every other genre you hear that conversation all the time. And we always have.

So when I hear that conversation of, “What is country and what isn’t country,” it doesn’t really faze me, because everyone’s having that conversation about every genre. And it’s like, so what? Is it good? Is it telling the story? Is it honoring the traditions that made artists want to do this style of music in the first place? I just wish “good” was a genre.

You write with such vivid imagery and tell stories that don’t always go where a listener might expect.

“Sober and Skinny” has an especially powerful lyric that already seems to have connected with a lot of people. What is the story behind that song? And how does it feel to know it’s reached so many fans?

I get overwhelmed with gratitude when people tell me that they like a song, or that it connects with them, or that they found a part of their story inside of this song. I can’t really explain this song. I’ve tried so many times, but when people ask me, I can’t really explain the song. It’s this open-ended story, and it’s

not autobiographical at all, though some of my personal experiences helped inform the song. But it’s not something that I’ve actually experienced. I just wanted to write a story.

And that’s the beauty of storytelling for me. “Sober” and “skinny” are just metaphors. You can swap out those words for anything else that tells the story of a complex relationship. It’s not easy to be in love.

It’s not easy to be in a relationship and to see a version of yourself that sometimes you might not like. When you are in a relationship, sometimes it feels like holding up a mirror to yourself, and you don’t always like what you see. And sometimes we project that on other people. With the people we love most, it’s easy to fixate on their issues and their flaws. And I’m really particular about how I talk about things like body image, because I think that when people are talking about body sizes or anything like that they’re really talking about health. And it’s such a complex thing. … So I was really careful about how I approached that subject matter. So it’s this nuanced song, and I think that’s why people have gravitated to it.

I also wanted to ask about the song “Compassion.” That and the Compassion EP seemed like a real breakout moment for you. Did you expect it to take off the way it did?

The song is just a walk in somebody else’s shoes. I wanted to take everyday, routine, mundane things and compare them against the really big circumstances that a lot of people face. So starting the song off with “a half-empty stomach makes you hangry, imagine life for people on the streets,” you know. We joke so much, or we just exaggerate, like, “Oh, I’m starving.” And we’re not actually starving. … When I put out the song, I didn’t think anyone would really listen to it. I just thought this EP would be something I could put out and I would be able to pitch it for some late-night slots or early-day slots at festivals. I didn’t think anyone would listen to this for a plethora of reasons. I mean, I know that song spoke to the times, but I wrote the song in 2018.

“The one thing that I’m not experimenting with is the genre. I have always known that I wanted to do country music, since I was a teenager.” nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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That makes sense — it’s not like the issues you sing about didn’t exist before 2020.

They didn’t suddenly become new. I wrote this song around May of 2018. We recorded the whole EP in November of 2019, so I wasn’t expecting all these events to happen.

The idea was that we would record this project, and we’d take our time on post-production. We recorded all this stuff live — all the instrumentation, singing together, playing together, live in the studio in Knoxville, Tenn.

The idea was that we would do post-production after November, and then the pandemic happened. So I slowed down everything. And I always knew I wanted to put out “Compassion” first. I said, “If anyone does listen to this, I want people to know, right off the bat, who I am and what I stand for.” I’ve always wanted to be that kind of artist.

I’ve watched other artists not do that in the beginning of their careers, and I get why. This isn’t a judgment or comparison at all. But I’ve watched other artists not do that. And then they start doing it and their fan base acts like they’ve changed. … And I was like, “You know, this song really means a lot to me. I think this probably should go first.” … I submitted “Compassion” to a songwriting competition here in Nashville, and they scored it pretty low, like 5 or 6 out of 10. So I definitely thought Nashville would not like this, or anything that talked about something other than kindness. I did not want to write about kindness. I wanted to write about people who protest, because I’ve met some really kind racist people in my life. I’ve met some really kind misogynists. I don’t think kindness is the revolution.

Kindness has to be the gateway drug to bigger things, like compassion and real action.

Kindness is so important. But I don’t need anybody to be nice to me right now. I need systemic change.

What was it like to perform “Love My Hair” with Mickey Guyton at the CMA Awards, on the stage of what is one of Nashville country’s biggest institutions?

It was an absolute dream. I still cannot believe that Mickey asked Madeline Edwards and me to perform with her. She didn’t have to share her platform. She could have taken that moment for herself, and she decided to share it. And I will never get over that. It was just a beautiful moment, to be able to

The Year in Country It’s tough to untangle good from bad in an industry where Mickey Guyton and Morgan Wallen both did well

BY BRITTNEY McKENNA

A

s I first sat down to work on this piece, a tweet made the rounds on my timeline.

The account US Radio Updater posted Billboard’s year-end top 10 list of Country Airplay Artists, and every single artist is — you guessed it

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JAN. 8: Ed Bruce dies at 81

We’re in the middle of serious conversations about diversity and inclusion in country music, and it does seem like there have been some genuine glimmers of hope recently. Given that you’ve recently found yourself part of the mainstream country ecosystem, what is your take on what still needs to be done?

JAN. 30: National Museum of African American Music opens to the public

I think the CMAs having a song like “Love My Hair” be performed on the stage during “country music’s biggest night” is very telling of where we are and where the industry wants to go. I think that there are changes being made. I think that this space is becoming more inclusive. I think that it needs to continue to go in that direction.

I do see a lot of the tweets of people saying that not enough is being done. I get it. And I agree. But I also enjoy that this conversation is not a trendy one. It’s been going on for, like, a year-and-a-half, at least.

We need to keep putting the pressure on.

We need to keep putting the fire on. … I appreciate that this is a conversation, and that people are demanding more inclusion and more representation and more space to be made and more opportunities to be given.

Because artists can’t do it on our own.

You’re just barely into your tour and have already talked about having some new material in the can, so what can we expect from you in the new year?

Will there be an album?

There’s definitely lots of new music coming next year. This year I didn’t release a whole lot of music. I released “Sober and Skinny,” but I released two songs with Jason Isbell on his Georgia Blue record. Ashley Monroe and I did a duet that we released this year. I sang with The Highwomen for the Lady Gaga 10-year anniversary of Born This Way. But this year coming up, I really do want to put out more solo music as well.

I’m looking forward to more collaborations.

I’m looking forward to going on tour with Reba. In the meantime, I’m just just overthe-moon excited about getting these songs out to people. ■

— a man. More notably, out of those 10 men, only one artist, Kane Brown, is a person of color. Mediabase’s list of the 10 most-played country artists, released a few days later, is mostly the same, albeit ranked in a different order.

That data points to no change in the years-long trend of women and people of color being shut out of the country music mainstream, despite pleas for more diverse representation from factions of fans, critics and, recently, members of the country music industry itself. Some industry behemoths, like the Country Music Association and CMT, are inching toward something like inclusivity. The aging dinosaur that is country radio, however, grows less culturally relevant by the year.

According to a June 2021 report by consumer data firm Statista, there are more country stations in the U.S. than any other radio format. That gives coun-

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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2021 Timeline

sing about something that is so specific to the Black experience. But it’s also a song that’s so specific to so many other experiences. Like any kid with curly hair who’s teased … to be able to share that kind of story on the CMA stage, and to expand the representation of the kind of stories that can be told in this space — it was beautiful, honestly.

May

January

JAN. 13: Sylvain Sylvain dies at 69

FEB. 15: News breaks that Exit/In property will be sold

FEB. 24: Joseph “Jocephus” Hudson dies at 43

March

MARCH 11: Robb Earls dies at 69

MARCH 4-6: First shows at The Basement East since it was hit by a tornado in March 2020

July JULY 1: Exit/In property sale to AJ Capital formally closes

JULY 9: Joy Oladokun releases In Defense of My Own Happiness (Complete)

JULY 24-25: Nashville Jazz Workshop opens new headquarters on Buchanan Street JULY 24: Bobby’s Idle Hour hosts grand reopening

August MARCH 28: Girls Write Nashville hosts drive-in listening party for Sing Through the Quarantine

April

APRIL 23: Todd Snider releases First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder

JUNE 4: Tristen releases Aquatic Flowers

JUNE 4-5: Japanese Breakfast, Bully, more play OutLoud Fest

JULY 30: Yola releases Stand for Myself

MARCH 20: J.T. Gray dies at 75

APRIL 2: Exit/In property under contract to AJ Capital Partners

June

JUNE 25-26: Brooklyn Bowl Nashville celebrates grand opening

FEB. 19: Katy Kirby releases Cool Dry Place

MARCH 3: Duffy Jackson dies at 67

MAY 16: Patsy Bruce dies at 81

MAY 21: Allison Russell releases Outside Child

February FEB. 5: Reaux Marquez releases No Roads

MAY 7: L’Orange and Namir Blade release Imaginary Everything

APRIL 7: Metro councilmembers speak at a rally outside Exit/In

AUG. 2: City Winery’s proofof-vax policy, first at a Nashville venue, goes into effect AUG. 8: Ross Norton dies at 36

AUG. 13: Nanci Griffith dies at 68

AUG. 21: Don Everly dies at 84

AUG. 3: Florida Georgia Line, Maren Morris, more play inaugural show at FirstBank Amphitheater

AUG. 11: Caroline Peyton dies at 69

AUG. 20: Tom T. Hall dies at 85

AUG. 31: Bonnaroo 2021 canceled due to heavy rain

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PHOTO: JOHN RUSSELL / CMA

CMA AWARDS (FROM LEFT): MADELINE EDWARDS, MICKEY GUYTON AND BRITTNEY SPENCER

WALKER HAYES

try stations outsized power in the industry, which has played a major part in cultivating homogenous, whitemale-skewing playlists — not to mention a culture in which there’s a long history of sexual assault and harassment. Country radio seems to take its gatekeeper role almost comically seriously, ignoring the popularity of nonwhite and women artists to a degree that is intentional if not downright malicious.

Like much of 2021 across the board, the year in country music was a mixed bag. There were success stories, like Mickey Guyton finally releasing her longawaited debut album Remember Her Name, which was subsequently (and deservedly) nominated for three Grammys. And there were controversies too, many of which involved mullet-sporting, racial-slurhurling singer Morgan Wallen.

Let’s focus on the good first, even though it can be tough to isolate in the country world. In many ways, Guyton had the triumphant year she should have had a decade ago, finally earning mainstream attention that matches her long-standing critical acclaim. The album earned nearly universal praise; but that wasn’t enough for country radio, as the album’s two singles haven’t charted prominently.

At November’s CMA Awards, Black artists including Guyton, quickly rising newcomer Brittney Spencer (read our interview with her on p. 12), Madeline Edwards and Jimmie Allen enjoyed the spotlight. The three women offered a stunning performance of Guyton’s “Love My Hair,” and Allen nabbed the coveted New Artist of the Year trophy. Brothers Osborne’s T.J. Osborne made his first televised performance since coming out as gay and was greeted warmly. Wallen had been disqualified from receiving an award in categories where an individual is recognized, but his album Dangerous was still a quiet favorite for Album

of the Year; it was shut out by Chris Stapleton, who seems now to be firmly situated in the mainstream.

While these moments hint at moving in the right direction, the list of nominees (and particularly the winners) was still overwhelmingly white and male. Also, Carrie Underwood and Jason Aldean were chosen to host the ceremony. Aldean has been very open about opposing any kind of vaccine mandate, and while Underwood has kept mum about her views, evidence suggests she’s not in favor.

Elsewhere, longtime artist Walker Hayes finally scored a hit with “Fancy Like,” a ridiculously catchy, hugely successful crossover single (one version of which features an assist from Kesha) that’s mostly about the delights of dining at Applebee’s. It’s a polarizing song, inspiring dozens of repeat plays from some, passionate public proclamations from others about why the song is bad (and thus why the proclaimer’s taste is good) and not much in between.

It’s a big enough smash that the 41-year-old Hayes, whose Capitol Records debut was released in 2011, will be part of the 2022 New Faces lineup at the Country Radio Seminar in February. If that sounds absurd, it’s because it is.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to talk about country in 2021 without talking about Morgan Wallen. The singer-songwriter started the year on a high note, releasing his Dangerous: The Double Album in early January to immediate commercial success and some critical acclaim. In February, TMZ published a video of Wallen calling an acquaintance the N-word, an incident that resulted in repercussions that have so far been minor and temporary. Wallen was removed from radio playlists for a time, but fans more than made up for any actions taken against him by buying and streaming his music in rabid fashion. The fact that Dangerous is almost certain to be the bestselling album of any genre in 2021 tells you all you need to know about how seriously the country music establishment takes racism.

If there’s anything this year has taught us, it’s that if existing institutions — from the Country Music Association to country radio and beyond — won’t do the work to diversify in a meaningful way, it’s time to create new ones. Examples include the grassroots inclusivity of the Black Opry or the forward-thinking, history-informed work done by Country Soul Songbook. Changing systems from within only works when the systems themselves make a genuine, concerted effort to hire diverse A&R reps, radio programmers and the like. Putting artists of color on an awards show stage without offering them the same airplay and opportunities as their counterparts who are almost always white and most often male is like slapping a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. Yet the industry continues to pat itself on the back for doing what remains the bare minimum. ■

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nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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The Year in Hip-Hop

September SEPT. 2: Cedric Burnside, Brassville, more kick off in-person return of Musicians Corner in Centennial Park

Nashville MCs and producers banded together to capitalize on the momentum they gained in 2020

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

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ne of the most important things for the greater Nashville hip-hop scene to do in 2021 was keep its momentum, building on the incredibly strong work local MCs and producers did and the increased attention they got in 2020. The shout-outs from national media haven’t been as frequent this year, but there have been other kinds of recognition, including publishing deals and track placements in film and television.

While it’s not as exciting on the surface, that kind of progress is also very cool because it can be the financial foundation for the kind of infrastructure the scene needs to sustain itself in the long term.

In any case, artists and producers across the spectrum did their part, right from the jump: Virghost’s Shiloh Dynasty-inspired Searching for Shiloh EP and $hrames’ feature-heavy Get the Loot full-length both landed in the first few days of January. Petty launched his #53 Fridays series, in which he’s been releasing a new track every Friday, and it’s still going strong. In February, rapper-singer $avvy made a splash with his phenomenal EP Boys Wear Pearls and Reaux Marquez released his full-length No Roads.

No Roads is a masterwork of storytelling, and we crowned it Best Album in our Best

The Year in Jazz, Blues and Soul Growth of new establishments like NMAAM and renewal of institutions like Nashville Jazz Workshop marked a busy year

BY RON WYNN

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his was a year of rebirth and return across the music industry, both locally and nationally.

Nowhere was that more evident than in Music City’s jazz, blues and soul scenes. After months of pandemic limbo, performers were both anxious and happy to once again present events before audiences, even as venues crafted strategies to ensure folks could congregate without fear of widespread infection. No reasonable person thinks the pandemic is over, but the hope for 2022 is that the music industry can continue to operate without fear of another interminable slowdown or shutdown in touring or recording.

Perhaps the year’s most positive event was the opening of the National Museum of African American Music on Broadway, right across Rep. John Lewis Way (formerly Fifth Avenue) from the Ryman. The nation’s foremost locale for chronicling every aspect of the Black musical experience, NMAAM has quickly

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RASHAD THA POET AND S-WRAP

of Nashville issue; it also came in at No. 3 on our Top Local Albums Critics’ Poll, which you can see on p. 20. Throughout the record, Marquez draws on the strengths of others — MCs like The BlackSon, Tim Gent and Lul Lion as well as tremendous singers like Jamiah, Yours Truly Jai and Lauren McClinton — and makes sure they get the spotlight too.

It’s all about lifting everyone up, and that collaborative spirit has been at the heart of many outstanding Nashville hip-hop releases this year. Riding high on his 2020 solo release Aphelion’s Traveling Circus, Namir Blade teamed up with former Nashvillian L’Orange on Imaginary Everything (which took the No. 9 slot in our poll). Gee Slab and Negro Justice got together for the jazz-kissed EP Resplendent, while Heru Heru (rappers Ah-Deli and Foundation with producer Konscience Beatz) dropped their ’80s- and ’90s-leaning LP The Legacy. Rashad tha Poet and S-Wrap, who met while working with literacy program Southern Word, released a sterling record called The Other Side that puts a spotlight on the blurry boundary between spoken-word and hip-hop.

There are lots of other ways that the hiphop community is banding together too. An array of showcase livestreams and festivals

become the go-to spot for discovery and celebration of everything from jazz and blues to R&B, rock ’n’ roll and soul, hip-hop, country, folk and gospel. The fact that it resides in Nashville is a huge feather in the city’s cap and a worthy addition to the array of other great museums housed here.

The Nashville Jazz Workshop successfully relocated to new headquarters at 1012 Buchanan St. The NJW’s extensive live classes spanning the gamut of jazz history, performance and technique resumed at the new site. The new iteration of The Jazz Cave venue hosted weekly concerts featuring top local, regional and national players. The Workshop also expanded its outreach programs, with the launch of a new program for children called Jazz AM featuring special concerts for children at Hadley Park.

TSU alums Fredrick Weathersby and Stefan Forbus’ Monday Night Jazz marked the second major expansion of improvisational music into North Nashville this year. They brought their community-oriented live jazz event to William Radford’s Germantown market, restaurant and community space The Local Distro, which became a hot spot for starting the week. Yet another haven was Rudy’s Jazz Room, which reopened to the public and boasted its share of major jazz artists and events. In addition, drummer and artist manager Nioshi Jackson began booking the All That Jazz Lounge, situated in the Hendersonville private club and lounge The Lighthouse. In addition, there were some outstanding local jazz releases, most notably efforts by Jeff Coffin, Pat Coil and Rahsaan Barber.

Music City was home to several headline blues concerts by such stars as Christone “Kingfish” Ingram (who cut most of his acclaimed, Grammy-nominated

NAMIR BLADE

(like Live on the Cumberland and Unapologetically BLK) included Nashville MCs. The extended ThirdEye & Co. family, whose members include superb rappers Chuck Indigo, Ron Obasi and Intro, capped a banner year with a fantastic outdoor show at The Dive Motel.

All the same, sometimes you have to be on your own to dig down to new layers of introspection. The great Daisha McBride eschewed feature appearances on her second LP Let Me Get This Off My Chest, her rawest release to date.

Once again, we’re just scratching the surface of the wealth of hip-hop talent in the city, but that’s a great problem to have.

Mike Floss, long one of the strongest voices in Nashville hip-hop, began the year with a leaner, trap-inflected EP called God’s Leather, and finished it up with a warmer, richer-sounding EP called Oasis. The new records mark an inflection point — after a few years on the periphery of the local scene, as he’s strengthened connections in other cities like Atlanta, he’s refocusing his energy on Nashville. That’s a tremendously exciting prospect for anyone who appreciates incredible storytelling and powerful, thoughtful bars. ■

662 here), Mike Zito, Joe Bonamassa, Tab Benoit and Samantha Fish. Among the artists recognized at this year’s Americana Honors and Awards ceremony, a keynote event for a thriving industry that’s centered here, were Black Pumas, a band that blends blues, funk, soul, even psychedelic rock, and the prolific Charley Crockett. They’re only two among a host of Black artists whose visibility and popularity exploded across the Americana landscape in 2021, even though some argue that performers like Valerie June and Rhiannon Giddens are more country than blues or soul; to my ears, they’re both.

Ever-busy bluesman Keb’ Mo’ joined forces with rocker-turned-country-star Darius Rucker for the single “Good Strong Woman” in January, then capped the year with two concerts at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s CMA Theater. Ace drummer-producer Tom Hambridge joined the great Buddy Guy for several national appearances, while anticipation is high for the new LP he’s producing featuring American Idol runner-up Casey James.

Singer, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Jason Eskridge’s valuable Sunday Night Soul returned to East Nashville’s The 5 Spot, and a vast array of music from local and regional artists who are often ignored by mainstream radio were featured on such area radio stations as WXNA, WFSK, Lightning 100, WMOT and WNXP. It’s not mandatory to be a satellite radio listener to hear cutting-edge music, and these stations are a lifeline for fans seeking alternatives to corporate radio in all formats.

Though it would be foolhardy at best to make any predictions about what’s coming in 2022, there’s reason to enjoy some cautious optimism. ■

SEPT. 12: The Shindellas release Hits That Stick Like Grits

SEPT. 16: Nashville Symphony launches 75th anniversary season SEPT. 17: Adia Victoria releases A Southern Gothic SEPT. 18-19: Kim Petras, SaltN-Pepa, more play Nashville Pride SEPT. 22: Bob Moore dies at 88 SEPT. 22-25: Brittney Spencer, Lilli Lewis, many more play AmericanaFest

SEPT. 25-26: Maren Morris, The Black Keys, more play Pilgrimage

SEPT. 30: Mercy Lounge owners announce they will not renew lease for 2022

October OCT. 15-24: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s Ryman residency runs for eight nights OCT. 21: AJ Capital Partners files for historic protections for Exit/In building

November NOV. 15: The Groove launches crowdfunding campaign

December DEC. 4: Stonewall Jackson dies at 89

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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On the Road Again Alanna Royale discusses working through her stress, touring during a pandemic and learning to honor her art

BY MEGAN SELING

How did it feel to return to the stage?

ALANNA ROYALE AT EXIT/IN IN JULY

Now that you’re starting to get back into the swing of things, do you feel like that perspective and approach helped you?

When I went back to playing, there were so many difficult conversations that [had] nothing to do with the music. I had a really good time on the road. One of my favorite bands [Monophonics] took me on a West Coast tour, and it was just an amazing experience. … But the conversations that preceded touring were really hard because I had to tell my players, like, “Hey, we have to be so fucking on lock, because if anyone gets a positive result at any time, not only can you not come in a venue and you can’t work, but you have to quarantine for 10 days. I can’t afford to put you up for 10 days. … I’m not just gonna leave you somewhere, but you’re financially going to have to be responsible for yourself. I can’t carry that.”

Saying that to people was really uncomfortable, even though everyone was on the same page. … On tour, so much of the hard work is sort of balanced out by all these new experiences and these new places, and having that taken away really sucked.

That show in particular [at Exit/In] was really tough for me. I don’t want to say it was a struggle-bus show, but it was definitely like, “Cool, we are gonna play all these new songs, but we’re not gonna actuWere you able to feel safe while touring, knowally get into the flow of playing them night ing that you were vaccinated and shows required after night?” It was just a lot all at once. negative COVID tests or vaccinations?

Like so many artists, I went super inward Absolutely. So many people were like, at the start of the pandemic and for a lot “This is the first show [since the pandemic of the time after that, and I really did started]! I had tickets to this show a yearput down a lot of my responsibiliand-a-half ago!” And people were ties. I was like, “You know what? like, “I didn’t go anywhere leading There’s nothing I can do in this up to this show, so I could make situation. I am such a small artsure I didn’t miss this show.”

A ROYALE HOLIDAY! COMING THURSDAY, ist, and there are only so many There’s no word to describe DEC. 16, TO CITY WINERY resources out there for me, I people holding out on a social need to take the best care of life, like with public engagemyself as I can right now, rather ment to be like, “I just wanted to than trying to keep my business make sure I was here for this, and afloat.” I really honestly didn’t care now you’re here and I’m grateful about myself as an artist. I was like, “I and I’m so glad you made it.” There was just need to survive. I really can’t even think a lot of trauma bonding with strangers. about playing a show right now. … If I don’t take care of myself and preserve my brain Did everybody in your band stay healthy on tour? and my physical being then it won’t even Yes, everybody in my band came home matter when shows come back. I’d be like a 100 percent healthy. We took at-home tests total fucking nutcase.” when we got home. It was like a 7,000-mile

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PHOTOS: BRANDON DE LA CRUZ

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oul singer Alanna Royale spent the bulk of the past 20 months thinking about everything but music. In the early days of the pandemic, her mom, dad and brother in New York tested positive for COVID. They all recovered, but soon after that, her mom was diagnosed with cancer. Royale couldn’t travel to be with her, so she stayed in her Nashville home and tried to jump out her frustrations on a mini trampoline. She also tried to connect with her community, volunteering with voting advocacy group BriteHeart and a PrEP clinic and taking food, water and resources to protesters occupying Legislative Plaza downtown. “I did everything I could to give back and try and strengthen the community,” she says.

This summer Royale did finally get to return to the stage. In July she played a singlerelease party at Exit/In to celebrate her new song “Fall in Love Again,” and in October she and her band toured with Monophonics. But hitting the stage again was bittersweet. On a break from preparing for her upcoming Christmas concert — read more in our Critics’ Picks on page 25 — Royale opened up about some of the more difficult aspects of returning to life as a professional musician.

tour — we were so locked down, we didn’t fuck around at all. Honestly, after a while, the saddest part of touring outside of Tennessee and going to New York and Los Angeles and Seattle and Portland was, we feel less safe at home. I think that was the hardest part, coming home. Once we got on the road, it was like, “OK, the vaccine policies are working in the venues, we’re wearing the masks.” We didn’t even stay at hotels, we stayed in Airbnbs so we didn’t have to walk through hallways. We kept our engagement to a minimum. And then you get home and you’re like, “Whoa, yeah, back in the wild, wild Middle Tennessee.” Who’s vaccinated? We don’t know! Everyone’s just been going out and partying and eating and doing whatever.

Did losing access to live music and then getting it back change your relationship with that experience?

I think it made me realize that I need better balance. I don’t need to constantly be touring. I don’t need to constantly be playing. Like, I won’t just disappear into the fucking ether. It’s OK to not have to push, push, push constantly. And you’re better for it. You’re more clear-minded. You are showing up with a full cup rather than being constantly drained.

I just typed “You won’t disappear into the fucking ether” into a Google Doc to remind myself.

Hustle culture can be such a toxic way to live!

It kills artists, it kills creatives! Because instead of being moved to create something you feel like you have to create something.

If there was anything that I could say to another artist, it’s: “We took the audience away, we took the ticket sales away, we took all of this stuff away in the pandemic. And if you found through the loss of all of that, that you were still making music, and you were still singing to yourself in your kitchen and you were still picking up your instrument, and you were still fucking feeling something in you, then that’s something you have to get right with.” You have to give attention to that, you have to feed that because it really doesn’t matter at the end of the day if you think there’s an audience. Because I’m your audience. I really look forward to seeing your thing even if it only has 400 streams — I really look forward to it. So continue to make art for yourself, as hard as that can really be to put into practice. Make it for yourself, because we could go through this again tomorrow. So decide for yourself, who do you make art for? And do you live for that art? And then, like, really honor that. ■

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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Top

Local Album Critics’ Poll 8 From Allison Russell and Reaux Marquez to Tristen and Joy Oladokun, here are our favorite local LPs of the year

U

sing a highly scientific formula (read: spreadsheet) concocted back in 2010, the Scene has yet again tabulated ballots from our ace music writers to compile our list of the 10 best local albums of the year. With another bumper crop of releases, many excellent albums landed just outside the Top 10, including Julien Baker’s Little Oblivions, Styrofoam Winos’ Styrofoam Winos, Mickey Guyton’s Remember Her Name, Aaron Lee Tasjan’s Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! and Madi Diaz’s History of a Feeling. Without further ado, the Top 10:

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JOY OLADOKUN, IN DEFENSE OF MY OWN HAPPINESS (COMPLETE) (AMIGO/VERVE FORECAST/REPUBLIC) After Joy Oladokun released In Defense of My Own Happiness (The Beginnings) in 2020, the folk-pop singersongwriter’s career began to take off in exciting, unexpected ways. Her soul-baring approach to songwriting made her a favorite of newfound fans, including fellow musicians like Jason Isbell, Susanna Hoffs and Maren Morris.

Oladokun could’ve simply ridden that wave, but she’s one of Nashville’s most prolific songwriters, always writing and refining. She released a new version of the album this year as In Defense of My Own Happiness (Complete) with newer songs including her collaborations with Morris (“Better Man”), Penny and Sparrow (“Heaven From Here”) and Jensen McRae (“Wish You the Best”). Even as her fan base grows, Oladokun continues to give us her whole self.

MEGAN SELING

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L’ORANGE AND NAMIR BLADE, IMAGINARY EVERYTHING (MELLO MUSIC GROUP) Namir Blade’s emergence as a leading voice in Music City hip-hop — as original a voice as you’ll find anywhere — has been a joy to watch in 2021.

Before releasing his first widely distributed LP Aphelion’s Traveling Circus in fall 2020, he’d been best known as a producer; and that high-concept, genre-busting record showed the huge amount of potential he has as a frontman. In May, Imaginary Everything was released — a concise, captivating meeting of the minds between Blade and former Nashvillian L’Orange, another masterful producer with a knack for curating and manipulating pre-rock ’n’ roll samples. L’Orange handled production solo, leaving Blade free to revel in being a force of nature on the mic. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

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TODD SNIDER, FIRST AGNOSTIC CHURCH OF HOPE AND WONDER (AIMLESS/THIRTY TIGERS) I dare you to listen to Todd Snider’s First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder without laughing at one of the weirdest and most experimental singersongwriter albums ever made.

Snider is one of music’s most beloved humorists, but First Agnostic Church subverts the idea of sincerity and deep meaning through an unprecedented combination of music and lyrics.

Modified Funkadelic riffs elbow their way in amid guitar licks that stick out like pieces of straw from a pair of dirty blue jeans in some kind of new, strangely funky version of rock ’n’ roll. Snider’s musical vision is overwhelming, sloppy and funny as hell — and the lyrics are the work of a great humorist and spokenword artist who also sings. EDD HURT

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THE SHINDELLAS, HITS THAT STICK LIKE GRITS (WEIRDO WORKSHOP) The Shindellas open their full-length debut with a slinky, foreboding bass line, then announce in tight three-part harmony, “The Shindellas in the building, baby, make some room.”

There’s a promise inherent in that boast, one they fulfill with this sophisticated collection of neo-soul. Working with writerproducers Chuck Harmony and Claude Kelly, the trio — Tamara “Tam” Chauniece, Stacy Johnson and Kasi Jones — delivers an atmospheric album full of sonic shadows and light. And with it, they stake their claim as heirs to the legendary R&B vocal groups they grew up loving. DARYL SANDERS

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YOLA, STAND FOR MYSELF (EASY EYE SOUND/CONCORD) There’s been sign after sign this year that getting everything back to the way it was before the pandemic isn’t likely to happen — at least not anytime soon.

Yola’s second full-length Stand for Myself is a reminder that we have the power to make the “new normal” a better one.

You can hear it in the stories she tells about love and care between friends and couples, about economic equality and more. You can also hear it in the way her very danceable album, produced by Dan Auerbach, brings in some gorgeous soul and soul-inflected pop sounds and top-notch musicians from elsewhere in addition to excellent Nashville players. STEPHEN TRAGESER

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TRISTEN, AQUATIC FLOWERS (MAMA BIRD) A lot has changed in Tristen’s life in the 10 years since she released her debut Charlatans at the Garden Gate. She got married, started a business, had a kid. And yet so much of Aquatic Flowers, Tristen’s fourth album and first since 2017, feels as scrappy as that first record. Part of that is the nature of how it was recorded — during lockdown, in fits and starts between toddler naps — but it’s also a fitting vibe for new parents making sense of a new world. There’s no better example of that than “Julian,” a gorgeous lullaby that reconciles the love songs of Tristen’s past, present and future. Aquatic Flowers is a phenomenal parenthood record — not just about the act of being a parent, but about making sense of the complex, wrought feelings that come with it. LANCE CONZETT

KATY KIRBY, COOL DRY PLACE (KEELED SCALES) Intimate, thoughtful and clever, Katy Kirby’s debut album Cool Dry Place feels like a lengthy conversation with a close friend. The record was born out of a time of selfexamination and reinvention for Kirby, who began the project after moving to Nashville to attend Belmont University.

She created her own sound that in some ways reacts to the worship music and contemporary Christian music her deeply religious family played, while drawing on the secular songwriters she discovered as a young adult. Surprising elements like Auto-Tune and otherworldly synth sounds from a Therevox and an Omnichord lift up lyrical examinations of motherhood, capitalism, male privilege and broken relationships, making Cool Dry Place a joyful listen that’s accessible and relatable without ever feeling watered down. LORIE LIEBIG

REAUX MARQUEZ, NO ROADS (THE GARDEN) While making his way through the Nashville hip-hop scene and beyond, Reaux Marquez delivered one of the most eloquent releases of the year.

No Roads reflects Marquez’s personal journey while also encouraging the listener to think deeper than the surface of the issues and current state of the world. Through a story about a fire burning in the physical world, the 16-track offering examines the raging fires of unrest ignited in the Black community by police brutality, the worldwide pandemic and more. With features from some of the most impactful artists in the city — including The BlackSon, Brian Brown, Jamiah Hudson, Tim Gent, A.B. Eastwood and Namir Blade — the album shows that Nashville’s rap-renaissance garden continues to be well-tended.

D’LLISHA DAVIS ADIA VICTORIA, A SOUTHERN GOTHIC (ATLANTIC) “I’ve got it in me to burst into flames,” sings Adia Victoria on “Mean-Hearted Woman,” a moment of heartsick, bubbling-rage blues from her third LP A Southern Gothic. Victoria tends to that fire, which scorches and warms all at once, in a way that feels like a dance, bending it to her will. Propelled by the metaphor of the magnolia tree — which is both a creative muse for Victoria since childhood and a symbol of the Antebellum South — A Southern Gothic is a reclamation of the blues and Black Southern identity in its most modern, urgent form. With assists from guests like Kyshona, Margo Price, Jason Isbell and Matt Berninger, Victoria sings about how she can’t save you, and she shouldn’t have to. But she can teach us that the only way to really survive is to drain the dirty water so we all can walk to shore. MARISSA R. MOSS

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ALLISON RUSSELL, OUTSIDE CHILD (BIRDS OF CHICAGO/FANTASY) If one were to assess Allison Russell’s debut solo album Outside Child on musicianship alone, the record would likely still top this list. Russell is a singular vocalist, subtly shifting her agile voice from a bluesy ache to a velvety croon or joyful belt with grace, subtlety and precision. She’s also an ace banjo player, and she’s already proven her chops through work with other acts like Our Native Daughters. But Russell makes Outside Child so much more than a wonderful listen by plainly and compassionately laying bare her life’s greatest trauma — and perhaps more importantly, the journey she took to heal herself. Outside Child is a gift to music lovers, roots fans, trauma survivors, marginalized communities — simply put, a gift to us all. BRITTNEY McKENNA ■

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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The Year in Ven-News

A return to in-person shows felt like a triumph, even with pressure on venues from our bonkers real estate market PHOTO: BRANDON DE LA CRUZ

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

RECORD STORE DAY 2021 AT THE GROOVE

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hile the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, vaccines at least made it possible to cautiously pivot away from livestreams and back to in-person concerts this year. After 2020, that feels like a major win, even if it comes with caveats.

Federal funding from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program was welcome, but came at a painfully slow pace.

Though the aid was approved in December, the Small Business Administration didn’t begin taking applications until April, and funds didn’t come until months later. In some cases, member venues of the trade group Music Venue Alliance Nashville that were

getting by all right found themselves helping less-fortunate members pay rent while the grants were in bureaucratic limbo.

As the Delta variant reared its ugly head in late summer, independent venues across the city stepped up and put proof-of-vaccination protocols in place. It puts extra work on venue staffers and it’s not exactly convenient for audiences, but evidence suggests that fans are mostly happy to cope with the extra hoops. It means getting to see shows without them turning into superspreader events or precipitating lockdowns that could push the music ecosystem back to the brink.

However, Nashville’s wild real estate market has continued to affect the independent venue scene. Word came in February that the property home to Exit/In and its

Those We Lost

Remembering Tom T. Hall, Nanci Griffith, Ross Norton and others who died in 2021

BY EDD HURT

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ashville lost some great singers, songwriters and musicians in 2021, and such losses diminish the city’s musical community while reminding us of the unparalleled depth of talent Nashville has always boasted. Rock ’n’ roll pioneer Don Everly made history as the elder half of The Everly Brothers, whose close-harmony sound helped define rock in the late 1950s. Along with his brother Phil (who passed away in 2014), Don influenced countless musicians, including The Beatles, whose sound owes a huge debt to the Everlys.

A superb rhythm guitarist and forward-thinking songwriter, Don died on Aug. 21 at 84. One of the era’s most revered songwriters, Tom T. Hall told stories that were as complex as the human condition itself.

He’s best known for the 1968 song “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” but adepts of songwriting also treasure such deep cuts as “The Year Clayton Delaney Died.” Hall died on Aug. 20; he was 85.

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sister bar Hurry Back was going up for sale.

Though they’d acquired financial backing to make an offer, club proprietors and longtime music-scene stalwarts Chris and Telisha Cobb were turned down. Developer AJ Capital Partners now owns the site; the firm has filed for historic protections, but concerns remain about what changes they might make and how that could affect the culture the venue is a part of, even though the building can’t be altered. The Cobbs’ crowdfunding campaign, intended to raise money to sweeten a potential offer to AJ, is also still active.

The property housing the three-venue Mercy Lounge complex, another longtime staple of our bustling music scene, sold in 2019. In September of this year, the proprietors of The High Watt, Mercy Lounge and Cannery Ballroom announced that their lease was ending in May 2022 and they would not be renewing with their new landlord Zach Liff. While the Mercy crew hopes to relocate, Liff announced plans to open new venues in the existing space.

One more concerning story — about longrunning East Nashville record store The Groove, known for a variety of shows and community events in addition to stocking LPs — rounds out the trifecta. Store owners Michael Combs and Jesse Cartwright were given the first right of refusal on buying their building when their landlord puts it up for sale; they’ve launched a crowdfunding

Country-folk singer Nanci Griffith was a consummate professional who could hold an audience with the slightest gesture.

She quietly revolutionized country in the 1980s with thoughtful songs like “Outbound Plane,” which is one of several of her tunes to achieve classic status. She died Aug. 13 at 68. Stonewall Jackson sang country hits that were infused with his downhome, unpretentious personality. The North Carolina-born singer was a member of the Grand Ole Opry for 60 years, and he’ll be remembered for his 1959 smash “Waterloo,” among many other songs. He died on Dec. 4 at 89.

Music City also lost wrestler, punk-rock performer and writer Joseph “Jocephus” Hudson, a larger-than-life figure who excelled in many fields. He died on Feb. 24; he was 43. A founding member of proto-punk band New York Dolls, Sylvain Sylvain played rhythm guitar in the group, and in later years joined the re-formed Dolls and sang in The Batusis with Cheetah Chrome. He died Jan. 13 at 69. Bob Moore was a native Nashvillian whose bass performances stood out on innumerable country and pop recording sessions, including many by Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline. The father of lo-fi rock pioneer R. Stevie Moore, Bob Moore died Sept. 22 at 88.

Rapper, concert promoter and music-video director Ross Norton performed as kidDEAD, and he helped elevate Nashville as a center

campaign to raise $500,000 before Jan. 31 to make their bid.

Not all of the venue news this year was apt to put you on edge. The Basement East suffered major damage in a tornado that hit just before the pandemic, but came back strong. FirstBank Amphitheater, a 7,500-capacity outdoor venue in Franklin, began its first run of shows in August. Venerable Music Row bar and songwriter hangout Bobby’s Idle Hour finally got to host its grand reopening in July, and Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, which was originally slated to open in March 2020, had its grand opening in June. The venue — adjacent to the home of the Sounds at Germantown’s First Horizon Park — is a partnership between the owners of the original Brooklyn Bowl and ticketing and touring giant Live Nation. But the space has solid sound and a ton of options for sightlines, and they have booked local bands among scores of nationally touring acts. We crowned it Best New Venue in our annual Best of Nashville issue.

Meanwhile, Mercy Lounge co-founder Chark Kinsolving (who left that business several years ago) and founder of the late, great Family Wash Jamie Rubin recently opened Eastside Bowl, a venue and bowling alley in a former Kmart in Madison. The spot has already hosted a variety of shows and appears to be a promising place to spend some quality hangtime — and get one of Rubin’s much-missed shepherd’s pies. ■

of innovative rap and hip-hop creativity. He died Aug. 8; he was 36. Drummer Duff Clark “Duffy” Jackson embodied the soul of Nashville’s jazz community with his ebullient personality and his relentlessly swinging style of big-band playing. He worked with greats like Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald during his distinguished career. Jackson died on March 3 at 67. Among many other endeavors, musical and otherwise, Ed and Patsy Bruce co-wrote country hits like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson’s 1978 single “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” Ed Bruce died on Jan. 8; Patsy on May 16. Both were 81. A versatile singer and actor whose 1970s folk-rock albums became cult classics when they were reissued decades later, Caroline Peyton also shone as a Broadway actress and as a singer in a string of Disney animated films in the 1990s. She died on Aug. 11; she was 69.

Robb Earls recorded synthesizer-laden rock in the 1980s, at a time when Music City hadn’t yet developed a thriving rock scene. The studio owner and mentor to many aspiring musicians died March 11 at 69. Earl “J.T.” Gray transformed Nashville venue the Station Inn into a world-class destination for bluegrass fans. He took over the club in 1981, and worked tirelessly on behalf of musicians throughout his career. He died March 20 at 75.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/13/21 6:09 PM

AN ALL-NEW GAYLORD HOTELS ® ORIGINAL EXPERIENCE

Discover a world of endless fun as you follow Buddy on his journey to save Christmas. You’ll travel to Central Park, where you will take on a pack of elves in a wildly fun virtual snowball fight. Try your hand at the super-charged snowball cannons inspired by Buddy’s incredible arm. These are just some of more than a dozen fun-filled challenges you’ll complete in this all-new, multisensory experience - only at Gaylord Hotels.

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nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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WE TH EK IS EN D

coming soon TITUSS BURGESS IN

TCHAIKOVSKY'S ‘PATHÉTIQUE’

MUSIC CITY

January 20 to 22

Christmas

BALLET FOLKLÓRICO DE MÉXICO

with the Nashville Symphony

January 23* Presented without the Nashville Symphony SERIES PARTNER

December 16 to 19

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE ORCHESTRA WORLD TOUR

December 20

January 28

DISCO FEVER: GET DOWN TONIGHT

DVOŘÁK & MOZART

February 3 to 5 Family Concert

CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS

FULL ORCHESTRA REUNITED

SERIES PARTNER

February 5 at 11 am

January 7 to 9

SERIES PARTNER

PAT METHENY SIDE-EYE W/ JAMES FRANCIES & JOE DYSON

January 13 to 15

February 7*

BRAHMS, BIRDS & ‘BLUE CATHEDRAL’ February 11 & 12

ROCKETMAN IN CONCERT

February 17 & 18

RONNIE MILSAP February 19

Presented without the Nashville Symphony SERIES PARTNER

January 15 at 11 am

January 17

*Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

EXPLORE OUR CONCERT CALENDAR AND BUY TICKETS 24

NashvilleSymphony.org/Tickets | 615.687.6400

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

WITH SUPPORT FROM

CRITICS’ PICKS W E E K L Y

R O U N D U P

O F

T H I N G S

T O

D O

THEATER

Hoke comes up with such excellent ideas as combining “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” with The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black,” which you’ll want to hear. His group will also dive into traditional Christmas songs and secular classics by the likes of Joni Mitchell.

An innovative musician with a sense of humor, Hoke has contrived something titled “The Santa Claus Boogie,” a retro confection that’s as much fun as it sounds.

Rose is a superb singer who knows how to keep things light, and this is likely to be the kind of Christmas event that will leave you energized for the grim days of shopping, drinking, eating and talking to family members that lie ahead. 6 p.m. at The 5 Spot, 1006 Forrest Ave. EDD HURT

DEC. 16-22

TPAC’s Polk Theater

[UNCONVENTIONAL TRUTHS]

KATIE PRUITT

MUSIC

Katie Pruitt’s 2020 album Expectations fits into the timeless category of confessional singer-songwriter albums that expose the ambiguities of human behavior, but it’s not a particularly idiosyncratic record. Unlike the most radical works by fellow post-Christian seeker Judee Sill or committed individualist Joni Mitchell, Expectations fits nicely into the prevailing musical and verbal fashion of the day. Of course, I’ve loaded the equation just a bit: Mitchell’s Court and Spark exemplifies Los Angeles singer-songwriterdom in the mid’70s, just as Pruitt’s debut works off of the sort of Nashville-centric fusion of country,

pop and rock that you hear on records by Brandy Clark and Kacey Musgraves. Pruitt grew up in Atlanta and came to Nashville to start her career, and she’s signed to Rounder Records, which gives her the glow of an artist who industry folk believe has a bright future.

If Expectations isn’t idiosyncratic, it’s highly evolved music that nods to both post-Roy Orbison usages and newer strains of indiefolk-country-pop. It’s a richly textured, wellconstructed album, and Pruitt knows how to place interesting chord changes in songs that are several cuts above any kind of standard three-chord tune you might hear in Music City. Since Pruitt’s subject is her struggle to free herself from her conservative upbringing, the slight unconventionality of her music fits her lyrics perfectly. Opening will be fellow singer-songwriter Tré Burt, who released the full-length You, Yeah, You in August. 8 p.m. at The Basement East, 917 Woodland St. EDD HURT [THE ROYALE FAMILY]

A ROYALE HOLIDAY!

What can showgoers expect from soul and R&B singer Alanna Royale’s holiday extravaganza at City Winery this week?

During a recent phone interview — which you can read in this week’s Year in Music cover package on p. 18 — she filled me in on some of the fun details. “There’s a Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra Christmas special that’s kind of legendary,” she says. “I really wanted to lean into that. There’s a 13-person

band, special guests, there’s a set being built, there are costume changes. … I really wanted to get into that and also feature other artists that I think are doing dope shit.” Aside from a festive performance that recalls midcentury variety shows, there will also be an opportunity to do a little holiday shopping. Royale invites small businesses to set up shop at her merch table at all her shows, and this week TNT Goods will be there selling handmade jewelry, accessories, and prints of contemporary illustrations of inspirational women including Michelle Obama, Cicely Tyson, Beyoncé and Eartha Kitt. 8 p.m. at City Winery, 609 Lafayette St. MEGAN SELING MUSIC

MUSIC

THURSDAY / 12.16

[HOLIDAY LOUNGE]

AQUA VELVET CHRISTMAS SHOW

Christmas can be the most stressinducing of holidays, and here’s a show that’s guaranteed to lighten your spirits as you contemplate the end of the year. Led

by Nashville multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Jim Hoke, the Aqua Velvet Orchestra has recorded and performed a lot of sprightly — and very hip — music in recent years. Hoke is a versatile musician with chops on saxophone, pedal steel and harmonica, and that’s just the tip of the rockin’ iceberg. Thursday’s show will feature Hoke, along with a slew of Nashville greats including vocalist Kristi Rose, getting down with ultra-loungey Christmas music that’s suitable for cool kids of all ages.

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

It’s been 56 years since A Charlie Brown Christmas first debuted on television.

But this delightful animated special continues to charm, with many families still making it part of their annual holiday celebrations. And this weekend, families can add to the fun with A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage, a new touring production featuring all your favorite Peanuts characters. The story follows the Peanuts gang as they put together their own holiday show, while learning the true meaning of the season. There’s even a threepiece band playing the iconic “Linus and Lucy” theme by Vince Guaraldi. Audiences are invited to stick around and sing along with familiar Christmas songs immediately following the performance. And for more of a local twist on the Charlie Brown vibe, check out The Ornaments’ 16th anniversary performances of the classic Guaraldi album live at The Wash at Eastside Bowl — shows start Friday and continue through Monday.

Dec. 16-22 at TPAC’s Polk Theater, 505 Deaderick St. AMY STUMPFL MUSIC

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

[GOOD GRIEF]

[SAINT TITUSS]

MUSIC CITY CHRISTMAS FEAT. TITUSS BURGESS

Nashville Symphony is back this weekend with its always popular Music City Christmas, featuring special guest Tituss Burgess. Audiences will likely remember Burgess as the outrageous Titus Andromedon from the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, but the versatile performer actually made his Broadway debut in 2005 as Eddie in Good Vibrations. Over the years, he has taken on memorable roles in big hits like Jersey Boys and Guys and Dolls, and even originated the part of Sebastian the Crab in The Little Mermaid. More recently, the Emmy- and SAG-nominated actor appeared as Rooster Hannigan in NBC’s Annie Live! musical event. This year’s Music City Christmas promises a full evening of holiday fun — with principal pops conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez, Broadway singers, dancers and perhaps even a visit from Santa himself.

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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12/13/21 2:58 PM

CRITICS’ PICKS

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FRIDAY / 12.17 [GEORGE LASSOS THE MOON]

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Every year, I write a Critic’s Pick about It’s a Wonderful Life, and every year, I feel

[PARALLELOGRAMS]

NASHVILLE AMBIENT ENSEMBLE W/ LOU TURNER & JACK SILVERMAN

The pandemic put a delay loop on a lot of things we had taken for granted, and Friday’s show at Drkmttr features three acts whose record-release shows were pushed back because of pandemic disruptions. Released by Nashville smallrun label Centripetal Force Records, the albums show off a mildly experimental side of the city’s music. On Cerulean, Nashville Ambient Ensemble puts forth what amounts to a modern take on New Age music. Led by composer Michael Hix, the group makes gently undulating tracks that seem plucked out of the collective unconscious. Released in March, Cerulean is a record of rounded sounds that never

SATURDAY / 12.18 FILM

PALM GHOSTS ALBUM RELEASE

Although the concept of a fun but somewhat challenging dystopian future reached a peak in the 1980s, the idea started to take hold within popular music in the late ’60s. Zager and Evans’ 1969 hit single “In the Year 2525” paved the way for a pair of 1974 albums that darkly hinted at an uncertain future, David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs and The Kinks’ Preservation Act 2, neither of which was as silly as Jethro Tull’s 1972 Thick as a Brick. In the ’80s, Pink Floyd and The Psychedelic Furs helped define a decade that also saw the release of films about avenging machines that were really Arnold Schwarzenegger and journeys into the uncomplicated past with Michael J. Fox. So it’s fitting that the most interesting song on Nashville doom-pop masters Palm Ghosts’ new album The Lost Frequency is about film director John Carpenter, whose 1981 movie Escape From New York exemplifies the decade’s obsession with capitalizing on notions of societal breakdown. “No comfort in the world can seem / As real as this dystopian dream,” sings bandleader Joseph Lekkas in “John Carpenter.” The Lost Frequency continues in the vein of Lifeboat Candidate, which the band released in March. These guys have the sound of The Psychedelic Furs, New Order and The Cure down cold, and songs like “Under the Tenuous Ether Rest Soundly” and “Young Empire” are unfailingly dour. In an era when a pop star like Billie Eilish bemoans the impossibility of relationships, Palm Ghosts go one step further: They imply that what we need is a new world order, with a danceable backbeat. Where are Zager and Evans when you need them? Full Mood and Cold Equations open. 9 p.m. at The 5 Spot, 1006 Forrest Ave. EDD HURT

FILM

10% OFF DINE IN TOTAL BILL

[BACK TO THE FUTURE]

an aching longing for my New England home. Maybe it’s the quaint New Englandness of Bedford Falls — even though New York state is not technically New England.

Maybe it’s the Northeasterner in me hoping against hope for a white Christmas. Or maybe it’s the simple fact that my father, my brother and I have nearly every line of this magical film memorized and can recite them as one. Even if you didn’t grow up watching Frank Capra’s ode to human decency each year, you’ll find something to love in George Bailey and the “crummy little town” he never managed to escape.

Small-town hero George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart, incomparable) has sacrificed all of his dreams for the family business, and thanks to the meddling of capitalizing curmudgeon Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), George finds himself at the end of his rope.

But before he can drown himself in freezing waters, goofy guardian angel Clarence Odbody (an unforgettable Henry Travers) arrives and cleverly shows George what the town would be like if he’d never been born.

There’s something of all of us in George Bailey, the everyman who turns out to be exceptional, and learns that no man is a failure who has friends. The Belcourt has 27 screenings scheduled, so you’ll have plenty of chances to visit Bedford Falls and George’s wonderful old Building and Loan. And who knows? Maybe I’ll get my white Christmas after all. Dec. 17-24 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. ERICA CICCARONE MUSIC

MUSIC

Dec. 16-19 at the Schermerhorn, 1 Symphony Place AMY STUMPFL

[FOZZIE WAS DEAD, TO BEGIN WITH]

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL

Years ago, one night during the holidays, I went to a video store (yes, it was that long ago) to see if they had a copy of The Muppet Christmas Carol, which the Belcourt will be playing this weekend. They didn’t have it, but the store did have those Kim Kardashian and Dustin “Screech” Diamond (R.I.P.) celebrity sex tapes in stock. I couldn’t believe the store didn’t have what I thought would’ve been a universally in-demand holiday item despite an otherwise … thorough selection. I mean, it’s the Muppets re-creating Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic. In this version, on-camera narrator Dickens is played by beloved whatzit Gonzo, with that wiseass Rizzo the Rat tagging along for comic relief. The movie also has Sir Michael Caine as a very convincing Ebenezer Scrooge, getting sent on a redemptive, heartstring-tugging journey the night before Christmas. Carol shows as part of the Belcourt’s ongoing Holiday Classics series. Dec. 18-19 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. CRAIG D. LINDSEY MUSIC

PALM GHOSTS

get weird, and it’s something more than background music. Meanwhile, guitarist Jack Silverman, who wrote Cerulean’s title track and plays on the record, leads his own band, which specializes in funky jazz that you might imagine on a soundtrack for a modern mystery film set in, well, Nashville.

(Full disclosure, Silverman writes and edits for the Scene.) Silverman’s music brings to mind the funk-lite of Medeski Martin & Wood and Oz Noy, and his rhythm section keeps things in the pocket. Live at The 5 Spot, which hit the market in November, documents his band’s casual expertise. On the pop side of things, Lou Turner’s 2020 album Songs for John Venn finds the singer and songwriter paying tribute to folkinfluenced eccentrics like Margo Guryan, who died in November, as well as cult singer Linda Perhacs, whose 1970 album Parallelograms remains an unheralded delight. Turner’s gift is for making the quotidian seem mystical — John Venn glides through what you might call reality with sure feet. 7 p.m. at Drkmttr, 1111 Dickerson Pike EDD HURT

[HOLDING ON TO ROCK ’N’ ROLL]

FAUX FEROCIOUS W/SNOOPER & TEMP JOB

Faux Ferocious doesn’t write songs you’d describe as literary, but they lean hard into singing about things that are important to them on their 2019 LP Pretty Groovy. “Chase the Dream,” the choogling, shape-shifting album opener, stands tall among tunes about the complex nature of life for a professional musician. The work can be grueling and seldom pays enough, but for most who stay involved in it, it’s a calling — provided you don’t pin all your hopes on becoming a star, nothing else could be as satisfying.

Over more than a decade as a band, they’ve fine-tuned a blend that includes old-school punk, krautrock and rollicking early rock ’n’ roll, making for one hell of a live show.

The hometown heroes’ first local gig since the pandemic swooped down in early 2020

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/13/21 2:58 PM

LOCAL L O C A L LO OC CA AL LOVE LO OV VE EVERY R TUESDAY RY A @ 7 PM AY

RYA N GAR RET T SIC ARD HOL LOW

12/21

12/28

MEGG FARRELL

BERNADETTE BOOKING SHOWCASE

KEV IN DUG GAN

12/14

FEBRUARY 10

ZACH BRYAN

ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM FREE SHOW with LOCAL BANDS playing ORIGINAL SONGS acmefeedandseed.com @acmenashville

Where the locals go since 1890

MARCH 9

BOBBY WEIR & WOLF BROS FEATURING THE WOLFPACK ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM MAY 5

MELISSA ETHERIDGE ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

DOWNTOWN

Friday, December 17

Friday, January 21

LIVE IN CONCERT

LIVE IN CONCERT

Mike Farris Sings!

The Soul of Christmas 7:30 pm • CMA THEATER

Saturday, December 18 SONGWRITER SESSION

Tigirlily NOON – 12:45 pm

•

SONGWRITER SESSION

Ryan Larkins •

FORD THEATER

Saturday, January 8 SONGWRITER SESSION

Frank Ray NOON – 12:45 pm

•

FORD THEATER

Saturday, January 15 SONGWRITER SESSION

Nicolle Galyon NOON – 12:45 pm

•

A Jazz Celebration of the Allman Brothers Band 8:O0 pm • CMA THEATER

Saturday, January 22 FORD THEATER

Saturday, January 1

NOON – 12:45 pm

Big Band of Brothers

SONGWRITER SESSION

Leah Turner NOON – 12:45 pm

•

FORD THEATER

Saturday, January 29 SONGWRITER SESSION

Jim Collins NOON – 12:45 pm

•

FORD THEATER

Sunday, February 6 INTERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE

Florida Georgia Line

MAY 9

PRIMUS

WITH SPECIAL GUEST BATTLES ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM MAY 12

DON McLEAN

50TH ANNIVERSARY “AMERICAN PIE” TOUR ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM MAY 26 & 27

BONNIE RAITT

Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley 2:00 – 3:15 pm • CMA THEATER

WITH SPECIAL GUEST LUCINDA WILLIAMS ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

Friday, February 25

JULY 24

FORD THEATER LIVE IN CONCERT

Colbie Caillat 8:00 pm

•

CMA THEATER

Check our calendar for a full schedule of upcoming programs and events.

ANDREW BIRD AND IRON & WINE ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

CountryMusicHallofFame.org/Calendar

Museum Membership Museum members receive unlimited Museum admission, ticket pre-sale opportunities, and much more.

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27

CRITICS’ PICKS is Saturday at The East Room. Two of FF’s fellow inventive and multifaceted punkadjacent acts — Nashville’s Snooper and Knoxville’s Temp Job — will be there to support. 8 p.m. at The East Room, 2412 Gallatin Ave. STEPHEN TRAGESER FILM

917 Woodland Street Nashville, TN 37206 thebasementnashville.com

livestream tickets also available

RARE HARE // DEC 20

JD MCPHERSON CHRISTMAS SHOW// DEC 19 W/ JOEL PATERSON

A HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL TRIBUTE

livestream tickets also available

MADDIE POPPE // DEC 28

THE EMO BAND // DEC 29 & 30

Q YEAR'S EVE // DEC 31

THE SHADOWBOXERS // JAN 7

A NYE EVENT BY QDP

EMO & POP PUNK LIVE BAND KARAOKE

Upcoming shows

dec 20 dec 28 dec 29 dec 30 dec 31 jan 7 jan 8 jan18 jan19 jan 20 jan 22

katie pruitt w/ Tré burt dopapod jd mcpherson- sockschristmas show w/joel paterson

jan 27 Jan 29 Jan 30

rare hare maddie poppe live emo band karaoke live emo band karaoke QDP new year's eve the shadowboxers the emo night tour sam fischer nita strauss w/black satellite & abby K jake scott w/josie dunne sold out! the vegabonds & grady spencer and the work tenille townes w/alex hall Genesis Owusu w/blake ruby Fit For an autopsy w/enterprise earth,

Feb 2 Feb 3

Current Joys w/dark tea nile w/incantation, sanguisugabogg, and I am

ingested, signs of the swarm, and great american ghost

Feb 4 Feb 5

The Weather Station w/cassandra jenkins powerslave: iron maiden tribute

Feb 10 Feb 11

Muna sold out! rumours: fleetwood mac tribute

Feb 12 Feb 16 feb 17 feb 18 feb 19 feb 20 feb 21 feb 22 feb 24 reb 25 feb 26 mar 1 Mar 2 mar 3 mar 4

SARAH BUXTON // DEC 18

w/nomenclature K.Flay w/g.flip & corook Bendigo fletcher w/abby hamilton john moreland w/will johnson mansionair w/may-a

Plenty of directors have taken on Gotham’s chiropteran superhero, but in my view, Tim Burton’s 1992 Batman Returns is by far the most fun. That’s less due to Michael Keaton, who plays the titular role, than it is to two of his co-stars. Danny DeVito is Oswald Cobblepot, better known as the Penguin, a deviant who was born with flippers, abandoned by his parents, and raised in the sewers beneath an abandoned zoo by, you guessed it, penguins. (As a child who loved — loved! — penguins, I was fascinated and horrified.) DeVito plays the psychopath with a lascivious gusto that could curdle milk. Speaking of milk, he’s matched by Michelle Pfeiffer as secretary-turned-feline-villain Selina Kyle, whose origin scene is among the best in all of superherodom. (Just try to forget that feral cat gnawing on her finger, I dare you.) Pfeiffer’s purrs (and her skin-tight latex get-up) make her a great foil to the Penguin’s incel energy, and by the end of the twisty-turny movie, you’ll find yourself wondering, “Batman who?” Batman Returns shows as part of the Belcourt’s ongoing Holiday Classics series. Dec. 18 & 22 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d swear the tunes from Oklahoman rock ’n’ roller JD McPherson’s 2018 Christmas record SOCKS are all old standards. The swinging jump-blues and classic R&B of songs like “Hey Skinny Santa!” and “Every Single Christmas” sound like long-lost midcentury Johnny Marks B-sides, while slower blue-Christmas tunes like “Ugly Sweater Blues” and the titular track would sound right at home on the speakers at a holiday party from any of the past six or seven decades. On Sunday, McPherson and his band will wrap their 11-date SOCKS: A Rock ’n’ Roll Christmas Tour with a show at The Basement East. In a recent social media post, the frontman noted that three longtime members of his touring band moved on to other projects during the course of the pandemic, so fans will see a different lineup than the one they’re used to — but if this group is anything like the last, attendees can expect some goodspirited classic rock ’n’ roll delivered by a batch of top-shelf players. Similarly retro Chicago guitar man Joel Paterson — whose album of solo acoustic Beatles covers Let It Be Acoustic Guitar features some delightful arrangements — will open. 8 p.m. at The Basement East, 917 Woodland St. D. PATRICK RODGERS

ERICA CICCARONE

emily king obscura w/abysmal dawn, vale of pnath,

& interloper

gracie abrams w/ alix page sold out! valley sold out! samiaw/ annie dirusso neal francis brett dennen w/the heavy hours drama Iceage w/ sloppy jane chap0 trap house podcast sold out! half•alive

W/ MOSE WILSON & TOMMY ALEXANDER

UPCOMING SHOWS

jd clayton (7 PM) William Elliott Whitmore w/ miss tess (9 PM) nané w/emily deahl (7 PM) the swell fellas, soot, & eddas (9 PM) sarah buxton w/lera lynn (7 PM) weekend jimmy & the easy party (9 PM) emily nenni w/mose wilson & tommy alexander the 1952 sold out! palm palm eric slick w/jenny besetzt brandy zdan & rose hotel Kat Brock & Vaughn Walters w/Kristin Andreassen & Ziona Riley

jan 10 jan 13 jan 14 jan 14 jan 15 jan 15 jan 20 jan 20 jan 22 jan 27

mike frazier w/caitlin webster & tara dante will overman loving sons w/juke of june (7pm) step sisters w/heinous orca & crave on (9pm) brandy zdan & molly martin (7pm) the kernal & friends (9pm) caleb lee hutchinson w/gavin powell (7pm) pip the pansy (9:30pm) brandy zdan & megan mccormick arkensauce & armchair boogie

jan 28 jan 29

savannah rae brandy zdan & ruby boots

w/east nash grass

1604 8th Ave S Nashville, TN 37203 thebasementnash 28

JD MCPHERSON’S SOCKS: A ROCK ’N’ ROLL CHRISTMAS TOUR

EMILY NENNI // DEC 19

W/ LERA LYNN

Dec 16 Dec 16 Dec 17 Dec 17 Dec 18 Dec 18 Dec 19 Dec 29 Dec 30 jan 7 jan 8 jan 9

w/symptom of the universe: black sabbath tribute

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: BATMAN RETURNS

[STOCKING STUFFERS]

thebasementnash

thebasementnash

JD MCPHERSON

PHOTO: JOSHUA BLACK WILKINS

Dec 16 dec 18 Dec 19

[THE BAT, THE CAT AND THE PENGUIN]

SUNDAY / 12.19 MUSIC

thebasementeast basementeast thebasementeast

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/13/21 2:58 PM

Combining New England and Southern flavors ...for a unique, yet familiar seafood experience.

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Reservations recommended for dining. Our bar is always open.

MON

12/20

TUE

12/21 WED

12/22

THIS WEEK

THE PIANO MEN

8:00

7:30

THE MUSIC OF ELTON JOHN & BILLY JOEL

PAT MCLAUGHLIN BAND

8:00

BACKSTAGE NASHVILLE!

12:30

DAYTIME HIT SONGWRITERS SHOW

8:00

7:30

THE CLEVERLYS

8:00

THU

12/23 SUN

12/26

GALE MAYES

MON

7:30

THE PETTY JUNKIES

TUE

7:30

NYE EVE!

7:00

RUBIKS GROOVE CHRISTMAS SHOW ANNIE & THE BIG BAND CHRISTMAS FAB A BEATLES CHRISTMAS

JEREMY LISTER JAZZY CHRISTMAS JIMMY HALL & THE PRISONERS OF LOVE WITH THE REAL OLD HOUSEWIVES OF NASHVILLE

8:00

8:00

12/28

12 AGAINST NATURE

THU

GUILTY PLEASURES : NEW YEAR’S EVE

FRI

‘A STEELY DAN EXPERIENCE’

7:30

12/27

12/30

12/31

FEATURED

In Five Points at 1008 Woodland St, East Nashville | 615.226.9283

12/31

1/9

GUILTY PLEASURES : NEW YEAR’S EVE

1/16

1/12 DEREK ST. HOLMES BAND

LILLY WINWOOD

3/3

4/8 & 4/9 TINSLEY ELLIS

OLIVER WOOD

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD

COMING SOON 1-1 1-4 1-6 1-7 1-8

THE LONG PLAYERS : TOM PETTY’S ‘WILDFLOWERS’ ADDISON INNISS WITH HOLLIS & BROOKE HATALA WALKING MAN : THE MUSIC OF JAMES TAYLOR 1971 JEFFREY STEELE BAND

1-13 ROD : A TRIBUTE TO ROD STEWART 1-14 BARRACUDA : AMERICA’S HEART TRIBUTE W/ CHILD’S ANTHEM: THE MUSIC OF TOTO 1-15 THE CLEVERYS (TWO SHOWS) 1-16 OLIVER WOOD 1-17 THE TIME JUMPERS 1-22 WORLD TURNING : FLEETWOOD MAC TRIBUTE

1-26 COLLIN RAYE AND THE RIFF RAFF (A SALUTE TO CLASSIC ROCK) 1-27 CHARLES WESLEY GODWIN 2-10 MCBRIDE & THE RIDE 2-12 LOS COLOGNES 2-17 HOGSLOP STRING BAND 2-24 CLINT PARK

LIVESTREAM | VIDEO | AUDIO Live Stream • Video and Recording • Rehearsal Space 6 CAMERAS AVAILABLE • Packages Starting @ $499 • Cinematic Focus Our partners: Nugs.tv

PRIVATE EVENTS

FOR 20-150 GUESTS SHOWCASES • WEDDINGS BIRTHDAYS • CORPORATE EVENTS EVENTSAT3RD@GMAIL.COM

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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C A N DY C A N E JA N E ' S

Roof-Top Christmas Pop-Up Bar

Soft-open menu of your BTE Favorites Now non-smoking Inside Come have a drink with us: M-F 4:30p-1a | S-S 11a-1a

Heated | BACK FOR 2021

209 Printers Alley candycanejanes.com

Five Points at 112 S. 11th St. 615-226-EDGE

[USE MY IMAGINATION]

PERIOD BOMB W/FLESH EATER & RONIN BLACK

Some folks identify the difference between ambient music and New Age music as intent. That’s a useful frame of reference for distinguishing Period Bomb from other groups that make music in a similarly noisy space between post-punk and hardcore. Led

by Cami Alvarez and currently based in Baltimore, the band is in a constant state of evolution. But their fundamental principles haven’t shifted, and they’re as important now as they’ve ever been. Since there isn’t a better way to say it, I’ll quote a little preview I wrote ahead of their 2017 show at all-ages space Drkmttr: “They use every part of whatever medium they’re working in, whether it’s audio recordings, videos or live performance, to interrogate and tear

PERIOD BOMB away at a culture that wants to exert control over your body and dictate your way of thinking. On first listen, the results can be disorienting (in a good way), but once you understand that they’re trying to convey a complete experience, the ideas snap into focus.” If you’re going to take the stage, why not use that platform to the fullest?

On Sunday, Period Bomb comes back to Drkmttr (this time to the venue’s hopefully permanent home on Dickerson Pike) with some excellent local support. Be there on time for experimental pop trio Flesh

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Eater and inventive rapper Ronin Black.

7 p.m. at Drkmttr, 1111 Dickerson Pike STEPHEN TRAGESER

MONDAY / 12.20 FILM

FREE CONCERT IN SUPPORT OF THE CONTRIBUTOR FEAT. PAUL CARDALL & MATT HAMMITT

There’s an array of institutions in our fair city that help individuals experiencing homelessness, and they’re all doing vital work. One stands out in a very special way.

The long-running street newspaper The Contributor offers a means of employment that helps its vendors get access to housing. But when a Contributor vendor greets you at an intersection, it’s a visible reminder that unhoused Nashvillians aren’t just numbers in a report — they’re our neighbors. Sunday, Dove Awardwinning inspirational pianist Paul Cardall and contemporary Christian singer Matt Hammitt are the marquee guests at a thank-you party and seasonal celebration for Contributor vendors and their families that’s also open to the general public.

Immanuel Nashville pastor T.J. Tims will read the Nativity story from the Gospel of Luke. Admission is free for all, though you must RSVP for the limited seats via Eventbrite — see thecontributor.org for details. However, if you’ve got something to give, there’s no better time to make a donation to help the paper keep going until it’s no longer needed. 7 p.m. at Downtown Presbyterian Church, 154 Rep. John Lewis Way N. STEPHEN TRAGESER MUSIC

NOW OPEN

[COME IN AND KNOW ME BETTER]

[EASE ON DOWN THE ROAD]

MUSIC CITY MONDAYS: THE WIZ

The all-star 1978 movie adaptation of the 1974 Broadway musical The Wiz will be the Belcourt’s holiday-themed Music City Mondays selection this week, but the question of whether that’s good or bad depends on who you ask. There are cult fans who adore this Black-and-proud retelling of The Wizard of Oz, with A-list Motown stars Diana Ross and Michael Jackson easin’ on down the road and singing tunes produced

by Quincy Jones. But there are those who say this big-budget flop is the movie that killed the blaxploitation genre, ruining the chances of Black folk making Black movies all through the ’80s. The production already had a rocky start, with the 30-something Ross making some Machiavellian moves in order to get the lead role of Dorothy, which was originally designated for Stephanie Mills, who played the role on Broadway.

This prompted director Sidney Lumet to step in when original director John Badham walked away. But if you’re in the mood for a colorful, funky fantasia this holiday season, this will be waiting for ya on the big screen.

The Wiz shows as part of the Belcourt’s ongoing Holiday Classics and Music City Mondays series. 7:30 p.m. at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. CRAIG D. LINDSEY

TUESDAY / 12. 21 MUSIC

Sports on 30 Screens

MUSIC

WE’RE BACK

CRITICS’ PICKS

[OPTIMISTIC SOUL]

LADYCOUCH RESIDENCY

What’s striking about LadyCouch’s new full-length The Future Looks Fine is the way the Nashville soul-rockAmericana band’s music puts forth an idea of community. Led by singers Keshia Bailey and Allen Thompson, LadyCouch specializes in optimistic songs that aren’t sententious.

The Future Looks Fine reconstructs the sound of circa-1970 soul without turning the enterprise into a retro exercise — an achievement that’s not easy to manage in a city that often looks to the storied past for inspiration. With a horn section that complements the guitar-bass-drumskeyboards bottom that soul bands have been using for decades, the group evokes, say, The Electric Flag and maybe even Sly and the Family Stone. There’s also a slight jam-band overlay that doesn’t get in the way of the album’s concise tunes, and at its best — the sprung-rhythmed “Free to Breathe” and the post-Stax Records groover “Good God” — the trickiness of the horn licks merge with the communitarian lyrics in fine fashion. The band is playing a Tuesday night residency at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge this month, and it should be something like a party. This week the opener will be AT Bluegrass Band, and you can catch them on their final night with Mike Ford Jr. and Friends filling the slot. Dec. 21 & 28 at 8:30 p.m. at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, 102 E. Palestine Ave. EDD HURT

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/13/21 2:57 PM

NOW ACCEPTING SPRING 2022 VENDOR APPLICATIONS

APRIL 9 + 10

ONEC1TY / 10 AM - 4 PM

It’s back — be a part of our Nashville spring fair! Nearly 100 artisan craft vendors set up shop for a 2-day craft goods extravaganza with food trucks, craft beer + cocktails, live music and more!

A P P LY N O W AT C R A F T Y B A S TA R D S . C O M

on the

Shop the swag that shows you’re a local, cool and connected.

T-shirts . Cookbooks Mugs . Hats . More

 available in 3 colors

p.com nashvillescenesho nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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Shop local

GIFT GUIDE

e h t e v i G ift of G  i h C

NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

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NEW! EXIT/IN BEANIES

EXIT/IN | 2208 Elliston Place | exitin.com Stay warm and look cool with the new Exit/In 50th Anniversary beanies, available in black and orange decorated with an Exit/In 50th-anniversary patch.

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51 NOURISH NASHVILLE COOKBOOK NASHVILLE SCENE | nourishnashville.com

C B D & B O TA N I C A L B L E N D S F R O M EXIT/IN D AY T O 50TH N I G H ANNIVERSARY T

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MUG

EXIT/IN | 2208 Elliston Place | exitin.com

It’s no secret, Nashville is delicious. Now you can make some of Music Everyone loves some warm hot chocolate or cider in the cold V I S I T U S D E C . 1 0 T H + 1 1 T H AT City’s best dishes from the comfort of your own home! The Scene’s new weather! Take a sip out of your new favorite mug, representing 50 cookbook, Nourish Nashville, is available now. Inspired in part by the years of Exit/In. time we’ve all had to spend at home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — experimenting and honing our home-cooking skills while social distancing — this cookbook features 40-plus of the city’s most celebrated chefs sharing their most beloved recipes.

PROMOTIONAL | INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN THE SCENE SHOP LOCAL GIFT GUIDES? EMAIL MIKE AT MSMITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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GIFT GUIDE NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

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MISTLETOE

MOXIE & GRACE | www.moxieandgrace.co @moxiegraceco

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DREAM 1200MG FULL SPECTRUM TINCTURE

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HEMP FACTORY OUTLET 6165 CLARKSVILLE PIKE, JOELTON, TN 37080 | WWW.HEMPFACTORYOUTLET.COM | @hempfactoryoutlet @xtractsllc

Top notes of camphor, eucalyptus, and redcurrant create a heartwarming aroma. Festive and flirty, this candle will have you longing to meet under the mistletoe on a romantic winter night.

14K ROSE GOLD “AFGHAN PEAR” FROM BVLA WITH MORGANITE ICON TATTOO & BODY PIERCING | 1925 Church St. Nashville, TN 37203 | www.icontattoo.com 14K rose gold “Afghan Pear” from BVLA with morganite

Dream has been formulated to create deep relaxation, without the use of melatonin, to help you get to sleep – and stay asleep.

Price: $45.00. 15% Off at check out with code BON21 and FREE SHIPPING.

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NEST CANDLES AND FRAGRANCES

GREEN PEA SALON | 2900 12th Ave South, Nashville, TN 37204 | www.greenpeasalon.com With a cult-like following, these beloved and beautifully fragranced candles crafted with a premium wax that burns cleanly and evenly.

Shop our best-selling holiday collections or perennial faves such as wild mint & eucalyptus, Moroccan amber & more.

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EGGNOG

CHOPPER | 1100 Stratton Ave B | choppertiki.com Chopper’s eggnog is rich, frothy, and served chilled. Brandy and rum is whipped with whole eggs, milk, cream, and sugar for a classic holiday treat. $35 for 750ml.

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EXTRA JOLLY PEPPERMINT BARK (DELTA-9 THC CHOCOLATE BAR)

BY CONSIDER IT FLOWERS

CONSIDER IT FLOWERS Order at ConsiderItFlowers.com | Same Day Delivery A festive cannabis infused treat for a jolly-good time! It’s made with layers of artisan chocolate, 50mg of Delta-9 THC, and a dusting of peppermints. $40.

PROMOTIONAL | INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN THE SCENE SHOP LOCAL GIFT GUIDES? EMAIL MIKE AT MSMITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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GIFT GUIDE NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

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THE DAILY DOSE COLLECTION

YUYO BOTANICS | 6165 Clarksville Pike, Joelton, Tn 37080 www.yuyobotanics.com

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ANTIQUES, ESTATE JEWELRY, SILVER, SPORTS MEMORABILIA, BOOKS, ARTWORK AND COLLECTIBLES

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GASLAMP ANTIQUES & GASLAMP TOO 100 & 128 Powell Place, 37204 615.297.2224 | 615.292.2250 GasLampAntiques.com

Our full line of our best-selling CBD products, a $200 value for $170.00, includes our 30mL AM Formula, 30mL PM Formula, and 2oz Turmeric Salve. USE CODE SCENE10 FOR 10% OFF.

THE ROOTS BAR SOAP

THE ROOTS BARN | 514 Madison Station Blvd. therootsbarn.com The barn is so authentic, it needed its own scent based off of the 100-year-old barn wood of The Barn. My Cluck Hut is an artisan soap company based out of East Nashville, TN. Palm Free. Vegan.

Recycled Packaging.

Shop for unique holiday gifts and festive home décor from GasLamp Antiques and GasLamp Too. Voted Nashville’s BEST antique store – and so much more -- open daily!!

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MADISON POSTER

THE ROOTS BARN | 514 Madison Station Blvd. therootsbarn.com Designed by Benjamin Rumble, we wanted to pay homage to the great, Madison, TN based off of the John Hartford song, ‘Madison Tennessee”

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HANDMADE CERAMICS BY PAPER & CLAY TENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM | 1000 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. http://tnmuseum.org

Memphis-based Paper & Clay makes small batches of handmade functional ceramics, like these mugs, vases, and ring holders.

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BOOKS FOR GIFTING

PARNASSUS BOOKS | 3900 Hillsboro Road, Ste 14 Nashville, TN 37215 www.parnassusbooks.net There’s something for everyone! From cooks to art lovers, bibliophiles to nature enthusiasts, we have gift books for everybody on your list.

PROMOTIONAL | INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN THE SCENE SHOP LOCAL GIFT GUIDES? EMAIL MIKE AT MSMITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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GIFT GUIDE NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

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14K ROSE GOLD “ATHENA” BY BVLA WITH ROSE CUT LABORADITES AND GRAY SAPPHIRES.

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ICON TATTOO & BODY PIERCING | 1925 Church St. Nashville, TN 37203 | www.icontattoo.com

RECOVERY GEL 1000MG FULL SPECTRUM HEMP FACTORY OUTLET 6165 CLARKSVILLE PIKE, JOELTON, TN 37080 | WWW.HEMPFACTORYOUTLET.COM | @hempfactoryoutlet @xtractsllc

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14K WHITE GOLD “KRYSTAL” FROM ALCHEMY ADORNMENT WITH GREEN ONYX ICON TATTOO & BODY PIERCING | 1925 Church St. Nashville, TN 37203 | www.icontattoo.com

14k white gold “Krystal” from Alchemy Adornment with green onyx 14K rose gold “Athena” by BVLA with rose cut laboradites and gray sapphires.

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BIGGEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

PARNASSUS BOOKS | 3900 Hillsboro Road, Ste 14 Nashville, TN 37215 www.parnassusbooks.net From your longtime favorite authors to talented up-and-comers, there is no shortage of incredible titles from this year. Need recommendations? Come chat with us. Our knowledgeable staff would love to help!

Recovery Gel 1000mg Full Spectrum works well after strenuous activities to soothe and cool tired and achy muscles and joints.

Its cooling effect and aromatic qualities provide a unique blend of relief. Price:$55.00. 15% Off at check out with code BON21 and FREE SHIPPING.

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COFFEE LIQUEUR

CHOPPER | 1100 Stratton Ave B | choppertiki.com A Barista Parlor x Chopper Collab-- enjoy a creamy coffee liqueur, a blend Belsnickel coffee, coconut cream, Demerara rum, vanilla bean, and amaro. $35 for 750ml.

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PAMPER WITH POTIONS

GREEN PEA SALON | 2900 12th Ave South, Nashville, TN 37204 | www.greenpeasalon.com Gift the gift of sustainable beauty with gift sets from Davines.

A perfect indulgence that nourishes and enhances lovely locks, packaged in a beautiful and artistic box-- no gift wrap needed!

PROMOTIONAL | INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN THE SCENE SHOP LOCAL GIFT GUIDES? EMAIL MIKE AT MSMITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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GIFT GUIDE NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

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WILDFLOWER™ CARAMELS (DELTA-8 THC)

BY CONSIDER IT FLOWERS

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CONSIDER IT FLOWERS Order at ConsiderItFlowers.com | Same Day Delivery

This sweet, salty and psychotropic treat is a slightly naughty stocking stuffer! These are highly potent Delta-8 THC infused caramels made with all organic ingredients. $50 for a pack of 6.

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TURMERIC+ FORMULA

YUYO BOTANICS | 6165 Clarksville Pike, Joelton, Tn 37080 www.yuyobotanics.com We have combined Turmeric, Ginger, and Black Pepper with hemp extract to provide a super-effective balancing, anti-inflammatory formulation. USE CODE SCENE10 FOR 10% OFF.

PICTURE BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS PARNASSUS BOOKS | 3900 Hillsboro Road, Ste 14 Nashville, TN 37215 www.parnassusbooks.net

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FIRST EDITIONS CLUBS

PARNASSUS BOOKS | 3900 Hillsboro Road, Ste 14 Nashville, TN 37215 www.parnassusbooks.net The perfect gift for readers of all ages! Get a hand-picked book delivered to your door every month. Choose from the First Editions Club (literary fiction), ParnassusNext (teens), and Spark (middle grade). Memberships are available in 3-, 6-, and 12-month increments.

YUYO BOTANICS | 6165 Clarksville Pike, Joelton, Tn 37080 www.yuyobotanics.com We packaged our best-selling Turmeric Salve with our new Plain Jane into one stylish gift set perfect for any occasion. A $120 value available for $90.00. USE CODE SCENE10 FOR 10% OFF.

Fun for family read-alouds and beginning readers, our children’s section is full of modern classics in the making!

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THE ESSENTIALS COLLECTION

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PEDAL STEEL NOT TAVERNS HAT

THE ROOTS BARN | 514 Madison Station Blvd. therootsbarn.com The infamous black foam trucker hat with gold rope and detailing.

Adjustable snapback closure.

PROMOTIONAL | INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN THE SCENE SHOP LOCAL GIFT GUIDES? EMAIL MIKE AT MSMITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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GIFT GUIDE

ST GIFT SHOP BE

NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

PRESENTED BY

Tennessee’s

gift to you.

WE HAVE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST.

EXPLORE OUR GIFT GUIDE AND BUY TICKETS

Free Admission. This, and Every Season.

Free Parking, Too.

Rosa L. Parks Blvd (at Jefferson St.) TNMuseum.org

NashvilleSymphony.org/GiftGuide | 615.687.6400 | Tickets@NashvilleSymphony.org

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Cheers to a Season 50 full of Giving

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NEW! EXIT/IN BEANIES

NOURISH NASHVILLE COOKBOOK

Stay warm and look cool with the new Exit/In 50th Anniversary beanies, available in black and orange decorated with an Exit/In 50th-anniversary patch.

It’s no secret, Nashville is delicious. Now you can make some of Music City’s best dishes from the comfort of your own home! The Scene’s new cookbook, Nourish Nashville, is available now. Inspired in part by the time we’ve all had to spend at home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — experimenting and honing our home-cooking skills while social distancing — this cookbook features 40-plus of the city’s most celebrated chefs sharing their most beloved recipes.

EXIT/IN | 2208 Elliston Place | exitin.com

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NASHVILLE SCENE | nourishnashville.com

Gifts at

EXIT/IN 50TH ANNIVERSARY MUG EXIT/IN | 2208 Elliston Place | exitin.com

Everyone loves some warm hot chocolate or cider in the cold weather! Take a sip out of your new favorite mug, representing 50 years of Exit/In.

Find the perfect gift!

SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT: PARNASSUSBOOKS.NET/ HOLIDAY-CATALOG-2021

12SO UTH 1113 12th Ave S, Nashville (615) 297-6878 WE ST NASHV IL L E 4105 Charlotte Ave, Nashville (615) 292-8648

greenpeasalon.com

PARNASSUS SUBSCRIPTION BOX CLUBS JAN/FEB 2022 SNEAK PEEK Subscription boxes make great gifts!

Available in 3, 6, or 12 month gift subscriptions.

Order before December 19th to lock in 2021 prices! parnassusbooks.net/first-edition-clubs

3900 Hillsboro Pike Suite 14 Nashville, TN 37215 (615) 953-2243 Shop online at parnassusbooks.net PROMOTIONAL | INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN THE SCENE SHOP LOCAL GIFT GUIDES? EMAIL MIKE AT MSMITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

@parnassusbooks @parnassusbooks1 @parnassusbooks

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GIFT GUIDE NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

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WARM-UP GEL 1000MG FULL SPRECTUM HEMP FACTORY OUTLET 6165 CLARKSVILLE PIKE, JOELTON, TN 37080 | WWW.HEMPFACTORYOUTLET.COM | @hempfactoryoutlet @xtractsllc

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COQUITO

CHOPPER | 1100 Stratton Ave B | choppertiki.com

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CONSIDER IT FLOWERS Order at ConsiderItFlowers.com | Same Day Delivery

Shake things up with an island style eggnog. A Puerto Rican specialty made of coconut cream, eggs, evaporated milk, rum, island spices. $35 for 750ml.

Gummy Bears that pack more than just a sugar high. Each bear is bursting with 25mg of Delta-10 THC to keep you rocking around the Christmas tree. $30 for a pack of 10.

Warm-up Gel 1000mg Full Sprectum is great pre-game, before or during workouts, sports activities, or anytime when joint or muscle exertion may happen. It can also be applied to tired, sore muscles and joints. Price: $55.00. 15% Off at check out with code BON21 and FREE SHIPPING.

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18K WHITE GOLD “MIRO STAR” FROM ANATOMETAL WITH SWAROVSKI CUBIC ZIRCONIAS ICON TATTOO & BODY PIERCING | 1925 Church St. Nashville, TN 37203 | www.icontattoo.com

18k white gold “Miro Star” from Anatometal with Swarovski cubic zirconias

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3000MG MAX STRENGTH

HEMP FACTORY OUTLET 6165 CLARKSVILLE PIKE, JOELTON, TN 37080 | WWW.HEMPFACTORYOUTLET.COM | @hempfactoryoutlet @xtractsllc This highly refined Full Spectrum is powerful tincture that allows more flexibility in adjusting your daily dose to find what works best for you. And it’s a value-added bargain for the price. Price: $40.00.

15% Off at check out with code BON21 and FREE SHIPPING.

WILDFLOWER™ DANCING GUMMY BEARS (DELTA-10 THC) BY CONSIDER IT FLOWERS

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14K YELLOW GOLD “MARILYN” FROM BVLA WITH GENUINE AAA WHITE OPALS AND MERCURY MIST TOPAZ ICON TATTOO & BODY PIERCING | 1925 Church St. Nashville, TN 37203 | www.icontattoo.com

14k yellow gold “Marilyn” from BVLA with genuine AAA white opals and mercury mist topaz

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GIFT GUIDE NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

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NOVELTY DRINK TUMBLERS

VIVA NASHVILLE! BOUTIQUE 2808 Bransford Ave. | @vivanashvilleboutique

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Customize your holiday spirits with these cute 12 oz. insulated mugs.

Real Housewives of Nashville cups are available or create your own! $28 each / 2 for $50

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NASHVILLE SYMPHONY GIFT CERTIFICATE NASHVILLE SYMPHONY | One Symphony Place nashvillesymphony.org/GiftGuide

Give the gift of music, and treat someone special to a spectacular evening with the Nashville Symphony. With a $200 gift certificate, they can choose from a wide range of concerts, from classical to jazz to pops.

THE TURMERIC SALVE

YUYO BOTANICS | 6165 Clarksville Pike, Joelton, Tn 37080 www.yuyobotanics.com

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BELLE MEADE PREMIUM CIGARS AND GIFTS | Beale Meade Plaza | 4518 Harding Rd, Nashville TN 37205 | www. bellemeadecigars

We like to use our Turmeric Salve as our own version of ‘tiger balm’ applied directly to the skin. This formulation works best with tackling inflammation, sore muscles, aching joints and helps with muscle recovery post-workout. USE CODE SCENE10 FOR 10% OFF.

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FLICKER – GIFT BOXED CANDLE FLIGHT

CLIFTON + LEOPOLD | Nashville | cliftonandleopold.com Our boxed candle flight includes one of each of our four scent profiles, One, Deux, Tres, and Tessera, along with a glass vial of matches. This discovery collection is ideal for travel or gift-giving.

PREMIUM CIGARS AND GIFTS FOR THOSE WITH THE FINEST TASTE

Belle Meade Premium Cigars and Gifts is a locally owned store that sells the finest cigars, gifts, pipes, and tobacco-related products.

Stop by today to purchase the finest tobacco in town ... you don’t even have to leave the store to sample your purchase! Complete with a smoking lounge where cigar connoisseurs relax, smoke and enjoy themselves. Join us here this holiday season.

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FUNCTIONAL ALCOHOL-INK ARTWORK BY NATALIE CORWIN

TENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM | 1000 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. http://tnmuseum.org The Museum gift shop features gorgeous alcohol-ink coasters, trinket trays, and artworks by Natalie Corwin, like these 8” x 8” landscapes on mahogany or maple.

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GIFT GUIDE NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

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LIMITED EDITION VINTAGE STYLE HOODIE FROTHY MONKEY | 201 Hill Blanton Ave. Nashville, TN 37210 | frothymonkey.com

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EXIT/IN: 50 YEARS

EXIT/IN | 2208 Elliston Place | exitin.com Book available in limited and standard editions, This commemorative book tells the history of one of Nashville’s most important cultural institutions through a well-researched narrative text and never-before-seen photographs of the shows and people who made Exit/In legendary.

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GREEN PEA SALON | 2900 12th Ave South, Nashville, TN 37204 | www.greenpeasalon.com

This Frothy Monkey limited edition vintage style hoodie is a crowdpleaser. It has a roomy fit that’s perfect for lounging in or layering on a chilly day.

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MALIN + GOETZ EXCLUSIVELY AT GREEN PEA SALON

HOLIDAY COOKIES FOR DOGS

MISS KITTY’S DOG RESORT | 4308 Kenilwood Drive Nashville, TN 37204 | misskittysnashville.com Indulge your pup this holiday season with some decadent holiday cookies baked just for them. Makes for the perfect stocking stuffer!

CLIFTON + LEOPOLD | Nashville | cliftonandleopold.com This formal western tie is quintessentially dapper. The banded collar makes looking brilliant easier than ever. One caution - be ready to turn heads and start conversations when you walk into the room.

A collection of eau de parfume, perfume oils, and candles inspired by traditional apothecary ingredients + favorite memories, each dynamic scent is formulated for everyday wear and becomes a favorite in anyone’s home with gender-neutral appeal.

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FORMAL WESTERN TIE

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NASHVILLE SYMPHONY GIFT CERTIFICATE NASHVILLE SYMPHONY | One Symphony Place nashvillesymphony.org/GiftGuide

Give the gift of music, and treat someone special to a spectacular evening with the Nashville Symphony. With a $200 gift certificate, they can choose from a wide range of concerts, from classical to jazz to pops.

PROMOTIONAL | INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN THE SCENE SHOP LOCAL GIFT GUIDES? EMAIL MIKE AT MSMITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

Shop local

Their Moment Had Arrived GIFT GUIDE NASHVILLESCENE.COM/GIFT_GUIDE

Shop for your last minute Christmas Gifts!

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Congratulations to the Phila Awards honorees!

Readers’ Choice Honorees Charlotte Miller and Jason Luntz of Yay Yay’s

Chef Karla Ruiz of Karla’s Catering

PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

The Nation United

Celebrates a person, group, or organization using food to bring people together to discuss issues related to justice, equity, and inclusion.

The Patti Myint

Celebrates the person, group, or organization that best exemplifies Patti Myint and Phila’s spirit for using their cooking skills to improve, assist, and support their community.

The Ruth

The Healing Oracle Herbal Apothecary

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Chef Bianca Morton of The Nashville Food Project

Celebrates a person, group, or organization that uses food to inspire, empower and support women seeking a better future.

The Serving Spoon

Celebrates a person, group, or organization that uses food to address hunger, food insecurity, and self-sufficiency.

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

Phila’s Choice Honorees Brooklyn Heights Community Garden Sheila Bennett of Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE) Melissa Thomas of The Branch of Nashville

The Store

Photo: Nina Covington

Honorees have celebrated the life of Phila Rawlings Hach by continuing her legacy of using food and cooking virtuously.

PHILA HACH

CARTER HACH

PHILA’S LEGACY

On a legendary Nashville chef and the time she cooked for scores of international dignitaries

BY JENNIFER JUSTUS

I

n 1976, Apple sold its first computer.

Family Feud debuted on American television. The Ramones released their first record. And in Nashville, the entire delegation of the United Nations descended on Centennial Park for a grand ol’ dinner on the grounds.

Just one year earlier, Robert Altman had primed the space for the international stage when he shot part of his film Nashville in front of the Parthenon. At the U.N. dinner, the fashions looked much the same — wide lapels and long sideburns along with the added chic of worldly wraps and prints reflecting a kaleidoscope of nations. More than 1,600 people — the delegates, their team members and other guests — gathered under white tents for a rare meeting as a group not in the U.N.’s New York headquarters. Nashville was much sleepier then than it is today. This dinner was a big deal.

Chef Phila Hach had been asked by for-

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

PHOTO: MICHAEL W. BUNCH

FOOD AND DRINK

mer U.S. Sen. Howard Baker to cater the feast. Already a local legend at the time, Hach had starred in one of the first cooking shows in the South, which was on WSM-TV, and had authored several cookbooks as well as the first catering manual for the airline industry. She was a pro caterer and inn owner, but the dinner still demanded all of her reserves. She pulled in local purveyors to donate meats, dairy and produce to serve a spread of country ham, beef tenderloin, fried catfish, hushpuppies, turnip greens, corn on the cob, yeast rolls, corn light bread, deviled eggs, potato salad, chess and fudge pies and more. “I wanted to serve mint juleps,” she told the Southern Foodways Alliance for a short film in 2015. When Mayor Richard Fulton told her no, she suggested he maybe look the other way. She placed a couple calls to Jack Daniel’s and a friend at the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Clarksville.

“Bill, I need to use your Coca-Cola company

in the middle of the night,” she remembered telling him. “I can’t tell you for what, I just need it.” As legend goes, the booze arrived by state-trooper escort.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the United Nations dinner in Nashville. It’s also the fourth year of The Phila Awards, which celebrate the late chef’s life by honoring the people and organizations nourishing our community. Chef Carter Hach, Phila’s grandson, carries on her legacy by running her inn, Hachland Hill. He recorded many of her tales before she died in 2015, and lucky for us, he’s recounting them in his forthcoming book The Hachland Hill Cookbook via Blue Hills Press, which is set for release next year. Here’s Phila from Carter’s book recalling the dinner: “We didn’t have a budget worth a penny but using what you have and making something out of nothing was my business,” Phila said. “It was country cooking for the world.”

Phila’s career trajectory made her perfect for an international dinner in the heart of the South. A lifelong Middle Tennessean, she knew the traditional dishes of this region like the back of her strong hands, but she also tasted and cooked across the world

while working as an international flight attendant in the 1940s. She invited herself into kitchens to informally stage during layovers at hotels such as The Savoy in London and George V in Paris. These experiences were reflected in her plates and cookbooks for years to come, with biscuits and sock sausages cozying up to a continental vegetable mold, a preparation she might have learned in a place like Vienna.

Phila’s grandson Carter caught the cooking and travel bugs too. In his book, you’ll find recipes for fried catfish and a trio of hoecakes as well as smoked goat mulligatawny and banh meatloaf, inspired by travels in Vietnam. During Phila’s final days, her grandson corresponded with her while studying abroad — an adventure she naturally encouraged even as she battled cancer.

These days if you visit Carter at Hachland Hill in Joelton, you’ll often find him in the kitchen working where his grandmother once stood. Surrounded by the old log walls where family quilts hang and with the aromas of holiday spice and freshly baked bread in the air, he chops Brussels sprouts near a pan of gnocchi and a tray of French onion soup blanketed with cheese. Above him sits a stack of his grandmother’s cookbooks, and now he’s got one of his own coming.

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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“I like doing things she did,” Carter tells the Scene. And while he owns fancier knives that sit nearby, he often chooses to chop with her older knife instead.

Carter, 28, cooked along with his grandmother from a young age, but he never planned on a path that followed in her footsteps and led him back here. He remembers pacing in his backyard in Oxford, Miss., where he studied journalism in college, hearing the news that the family inn would need to be sold after Phila’s death. Rather than graduate school, he changed course to come home and continue her work.

He tells a full-circle story in the intro to his book about the first recipe he made with his grandmother for chocolate nut drop cookies. In “barely legible handwriting” and before he knew how to spell the words correctly, he scribbled the cookie name in the front of one of her cookbooks. Carter writes: Years later, in 2001, Phila found the note and transcribed her own message on the page. “To Hachland Hill’s next Chef.” Phila never gave it to me herself, but a former employee unearthed the book while looking for my grandmother’s fudge pie recipe and returned it to me in 2017. Little did Phila know that her prediction would come true.

After the U.N. dinner in 1976, Phila published a United Nations cookbook with recipes collected from Afghanistan to Zambia.

It led to a World’s Fair cookbook just a few years later, bringing her total to nearly 20 cookbooks in her career. Then in 2016, less than a year after her death, Southern Foodways paid homage to Phila and the United Nations event with a dinner for the organization’s summer symposium at the Parthenon. Chefs Kahlil Arnold, Tyler Brown and Lisa Donovan prepared a meal including many of those earlier menu items — country ham, catfish, deviled eggs, corn light bread, fudge and chess pies. Donovan, a James Beard Award-winning writer, also penned the forward to Carter’s book.

In a changing Nashville, it’s comforting to know that the people before us — and the quainter days of smuggled whiskey for an international picnic — can be conjured occasionally when we gather as a community or take the painstaking time, as Carter has done, to record stories and revised recipes rooted

in family and experience old and new.

As Carter watches over pots for his own catering orders and dinner guests, he takes a second to reflect on how it all feels.

“It means, kind of, the world.”

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

Each year, the Phila Awards — presented by the Scene in partnership with the Nashville Farmers’ Market and the Metro Human Relations Commission — honor people and organizations continuing Phila Hach’s legacy of using food and cooking virtuously. Below are this year’s recipients by category.

THE RUTH Phila’s Choice: Melissa Thomas of The Branch of Nashville Readers’ Choice: The Healing Oracle Herbal Apothecary THE NATION UNITED Phila’s Choice: Brooklyn Heights Community Garden Readers’ Choice: Charlotte Miller and Jason Luntz of Yay Yay’s THE PATTI MYINT Phila’s Choice: Sheila Bennett of Children of Restaurant Employees Readers’ Choice: Chef Karla Ruiz of Karla’s Catering THE SERVING SPOON Phila’s Choice: The Store Readers’ Choice: Chef Bianca Morton of The Nashville Food Project

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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BOOKS

STORYTELLERS WITH LOUD GUITARS

Stephen Deusner captures the Drive-By Truckers on the page LIVE MUSIC | URBAN WINERY | RESTAURANT | BAR | PRIVATE EVENTS

BY DAVID WESLEY WILLIAMS

W

here the Devil Don’t Stay: Traveling the South With the Drive-By Truckers, music journalist Stephen Deusner’s saga of the greatest WHERE THE DEVIL DON’T American rock band STAY: TRAVELING THE ever (there, I said it), SOUTH WITH THE DRIVE-BY is filled with wonder TRUCKERS and wander.

BY STEPHEN DEUSNER UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS Wonder, as in PRESS it’s a wonder how 286 PAGES, $27.95 Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley persevered through the hostile indifference toward their early musical endeavors to even form the Drive-By Truckers. First at home in the Shoals area of Alabama and then during “a brief, miserable sojourn” in Memphis, Hood and Cooley were thwarted and denied, their music ignored, their vehicles stolen and stripped for parts. Their souls and psyches fared even worse. Serious depression set in, darkness descended. Hood was suicidal. It’s a wonder — a miracle, really — they didn’t just do what the world was telling them to do and bag it. How many other bands would have?

How many other potentially great bands we’ve never heard of did?

Of course, then we would have been denied a quarter-century canon shot through with myth and truth, courage and dark humor, and Southern storytelling worthy of the masters of the page but set instead to loud guitars.

Deusner does a crack job of chronicling the wonder of it all: how the Drive-By Truckers came to be, at once haphazardly and by design; how a band with a name like that became synonymous with socially aware, politically astute and deeply insightful songs of empathy and knowing; how they named and navigated, explained and explored the “duality of the Southern thing,” in Hood’s famous phrase, as a loud Southern rock band and survived with their hides intact.

It’s a book worthy of the band’s catalog, as essential in its way as such classic DBT albums as Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day and American Band.

But best of all is how Deusner frames the story: He wanders.

He sets each chapter in a specific place that was central to the band in some way — including The Shoals; Memphis; Athens, Ga.; Birmingham, Ala.; and the author’s native McNairy County, Tenn., the setting for multiple DBT songs.

“It’s kind of a travelogue,” Deusner said during a recent Memphis appearance to promote the book.

It was an inspired decision, for all sorts of reasons. This is a band shaped by a region, raised on its thorny past, and attuned to its

tense present. But they also know it as home — and as a place that’s produced much of America’s most significant (and thrilling) writing, art and music. Complicated place, the South, and the Truckers have set it to song, inspired and unsparingly, again and again.

As Deusner writes in the introduction: The idea of place has always been inseparable from the Drive-By Truckers.

It determines how I hear them, how I think about them, and how I recommend them to readers and friends. I’m not alone. In fact, in order to fully understand their music, it helps to consider it in geographic and cultural terms, each song depicting another acre of their Dirty South.

This travelogue approach also allows Deusner to linger or roam, as the spirit of the story moves him. Or circle back, as in the Memphis chapter. As young men, Hood and Cooley were demoralized and nearly destroyed by the city. But it also, Deusner surmises, educated them on matters of race in ways their smaller-town upbringings had not. They lived in Memphis during the 1991 mayoral election in which Willie Herenton became the city’s first elected Black mayor, beating incumbent Dick Hackett by 172 votes.

At chapter’s end, the DriveBy Truckers are something of a rock institution, returning to Memphis to record their 12th studio album, The Unraveling. By now, Hood and Cooley are increasingly writing of national concerns — mass shootings, the border crisis, income and other inequalities, the drug epidemic and, yes, race.

In the Athens chapter, Hood, working and playing in a club called the High Hat, “started to dream up a new band, one with no fixed lineup and no rehearsals, one that could swing from hard-crunching southern rock to jangly acoustic alt-country, one that would specialize in barely keeping it between the ditches: raw, powerful, gloriously sloppy.”

And so the band was born and named and began to become a bit of a thing. In Birmingham, they recorded Southern Rock Opera, a crackpot idea: Wait, a concept album about Lynyrd Skynyrd, sort of, but really about the South itself, in all its duality? What?! By an obscure band whose previous albums were called Gangstabilly and Pizza Deliverance?

But it’s not enough to say the album made the band. It was essential to their survival and to everything that followed.

And back in The Shoals, they … well, read the book. It’s all in there, the story of a great American rock band.

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

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

12.18

12.17

Ron Pope Presents:

Mac McAnally

The Christmas Musical

12.20

12.21

Morgan James:

How Does Christmas Sound?

with Kirk Whalum

A Very Magnetic Christmas Tour

12.26

Avery*Sunshine early & late show

12.27 Nashville Jazz Orchestra Boxing Day Concert featuring Special Guest Vocalist Sandra Dudley

12.17

LAUGHS IN THE LOUNGE

12.31

MARC BROUSSARD FULL BAND WITH HORNS - LATE

12.18

DINING WITH DIVAS DRAG BRUNCH BENEFITTING NASHVILLE PRIDE

12.31

MR. TALKBOX NYE PARTY WITH SPECIAL GUEST LIL BYRON! IN THE LOUNGE

12.19

SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS HOLIDAY CARAVAN TOUR 2021

1.1

7TH ANNUAL NEW YEARS DAY WITH LANGHORNE SLIM & FRIENDS

12.19

NASHVILLE BEATLES BRUNCH FT. FOREVER ABBEY ROAD

1.7

GA-20 & JD SIMO

12.19

A SONGWRITERS CHRISTMAS FEATURING JAY BRAGG AND SPECIAL GUESTS IN THE LOUNGE

1.8

DINING WITH DIVAS DRAG DINNER BENEFITTING NASHVILLE PRIDE

12.28

AN EVENING WITH SHAWN MULLINS

1.8

INEBRIATED SHAKESPEARE PRESENTS: HAMLET IN THE LOUNGE

12.29

PETER MAYER - RING OUT THE BELLS

1.9

WEBB WILDER AND THE BEATNECKS

12.30

MARC BROUSSARD FULL BAND WITH HORNS

1.9

NASHVILLE BEATLES BRUNCH FT. FOREVER ABBEY ROAD

12.31

MARC BROUSSARD FULL BAND WITH HORNS - EARLY

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nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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12/13/21 3:00 PM

GUITAR LESSONS

with former Musicians Institute and Austin Guitar School instructor THU 12.16  CHARLIE PARR & DEAD

SAT 1.15  LOST DOG STREET BAND

HORSES

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NEW YEARS PARTY

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THE HIGH WATT

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NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC

THE 2021 ROCK ’N’ ROLL POLL

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

F

or 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 2021?

Allison Russell —Tristen, Ellen Angelico, Tim

Easton, Marquis Munson, Larissa Maestro, Tyler Glaser, Jerry Pentecost, Samantha Zaruba Styrofoam Winos —Cam Sarrett, Megan Loveless, Loney John Hutchins, Mike Mannix, Kyle Hamlett, Asher Horton, Ryan “Domo” Donoho, Josh Halper Joy Oladokun. She remains disarmingly humble and herself on her astronomic rise, and you love to see it. —Celia Gregory Joy Oladokun —Wes Davenport, Ellen Angelico,

Chris Martignago

Tristen —Dillon Watson, Asher Horton, Caroline

Bowman

Adia Victoria —Kyle Hamlett, Jessica Breanne Daisha McBride —Gee Slab, Caroline Bowman

Namir Blade —Virghost, Taylor Cole Nordista Freeze —Tyler Walker, Taylor Cole Tayls —Caroline Bowman, Samantha Zaruba Snooper — punk without the corny machismo and a genuinely fun band with killer songs. —Ben Swank Emma Lambiase (bass boss for Jake Wesley Rogers, Oginalii, Amythyst Kiah), The Criticals —Samantha Zaruba Yautja —Cam Sarrett Brassville —Eric Holt Black City, Funky Tenn. —Justin Causey-Bullock Becca Mancari, Jamie Wyatt, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Bully, Briston Maroney, Samia

—Michael Combs Jive Talk, Volk —Mike Grimes The Shindellas are EXACTLY what we needed this year! —Chris Cobb Oginalii, Red Feather —Todd Sherwood Tim Carroll brought back his Rock ’n’ Roll Happy Hour at The 5 Spot. A singular reason to visit Music City. —Mary Sack Cristina Spinei —Chet Weise

Every year I find this question harder to answer. Negro Justice and Gee Slab absolutely crushed it with Resplendent.

Houston Kendrick created a stone-cold classic with Small Infinity. Nashville Ambient Ensemble is still in heavy rotation — and there are so many more worth mentioning. —Michael Eades Every single band and artist who wrote, recorded or performed live in the face of the ongoing pandemic. —Rodrigo Avendano

WHAT LOCAL ARTIST/BAND IS GOING TO RULE IN 2022?

If there’s any justice in the world, Snooper will take it all. Their Devo-on-45 RPM jams are just TOO GOOD to stay under the radar. Fingers crossed they’re ramping up to something big. —Mike

Shepherd

Snooper —Eve Maret, Asher Horton Erin Rae —Dillon Watson, Josh Halper, Doug Hall,

Tristen, Asher Horton, Tyler Glaser

Daisha McBride —Tristen, Celia Gregory, Chris

Cobb

Tim Gent —Eric Holt, Chris Martignago, Chris Cobb Kyshona —Jerry Pentecost, Jessica Breanne Caroline Spence —Tyler Glaser, Jessica Breanne Tayls —Samantha Zaruba, Chris Cobb Abby Johnson —Caroline Bowman, Ryan “Domo”

Donoho

Rich Ruth —Tyler Glaser, Luke Schneider Hans Condor —Ryan Sweeney, Chet Weise Teddy and the Rough Riders are sitting on two great new records. —Loney John Hutchins Julia Cannon — beautiful music plus she’s hilarious; Caroline Culver — she’ll make you cry and you’ll be happy about it.

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO

—Samantha Zaruba

JOY OLADOKUN

Midwxst. He’s attending Belmont, putting out an eclectic range of hyperpop sounds and starting to sell out club shows across the country. —Wes Davenport Rumor has it the Six One Tribe collective has an absolute treasure trove of material for next year. —Michael Eades Brassville, Bryant Taylorr, A.B. Eastwood, Petty —Eric Holt Namir Blade —Gee Slab Brandy Zdan —Ellen Angelico Molly Tuttle —Jerry Pentecost Gayle —Liz Meade TheyNeedWeez —Virghost Brainweight —Tyler Walker Ri¢hie, BYRD —Todd Sherwood Girlhouse —Jared Corder The Kentucky Gentlemen —Ale Delgado I said it last year and I will say it again: all the queer musicians we have in Nashville!

—Michael Combs Could be The Criticals, who sold out Beast first time through. Could be Sierra Ferrell. —Mike Grimes

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DISCOVERY THIS YEAR?

SistaStrings, new arrivals from Milwaukee.

They’re going to kick all of our asses.

Also, Daisha McBride came on my radar this year, and OMG she is powerful.

—Larissa Maestro

PHOTO: BRANDON DE LA CRUZ

Total Wife —Loney John Hutchins, Caroline

Bowman, Patrick Orr, Todd Sherwood

STYROFOAM WINOS

Nashville’s emerging noisy shoegaze scene courtesy of Tape Deck Mountain, Total Wife, Your Gaze, Rig B and Kentucky Derby Con Man in particular. —Michael

RESPONDENTS Ellen Angelico: musician at large; whippersnapper, Fanny’s House of Music; That’s-CommissionerAngelico-to-You, Metro Arts Rodrigo Avendano: music enthusiast; musician Caroline Bowman: Cold Lunch Recordings; Vinyl Tap; graphic designer; your No. 1 fan Jessica Breanne: songwriter; musician; Belcourt staffer Ariel Bui: activist; singer-songwriter; owner and music educator, Melodia Studio Justin Causey-Bullock: artist manager; footwear designer; hip-hop journalist Chris Cobb: Exit/In; Bonafide Live Taylor Cole: musician, Tayls and Creature Comfort; talent buyer and general manager, The East Room Michael Combs: co-owner and public relations coordinator, The Groove Jared Corder: performer, *repeat repeat; producer, Polychrome Ranch Wes Davenport: curator, No Country for New Nashville; founder, PØPSQUAD, culture marketing, °1824/UMG Ale Delgado: mosh-pit enthusiast; bass, Dim Salon Ryan “Domo” Donoho: producer, performer and entertainer, Ornament Michael Eades: curator, YK Records and We Own This Town Tim Easton: songwriter; musician Tyler Glaser: record store staffer; Belcourt staffer; baseball enthusiast Celia Gregory: morning host, 91.One WNXP Mike Grimes: co-owner, The Basement, The Basement East and Grimey’s Doug Hall: music PR consultant, Big Feat PR Josh Halper: guitarist; songwriter; WXNA DJ Kyle Hamlett: songwriter; musician Eric Holt: managing partner, The Lovenoise Group Asher Horton: musician, Rainsticks, Sun Seeker and Hot Car Loney John Hutchins: owner-producer, Cleft Music and Appalachia Record Company Megan Loveless: co-founder, To-Go Records and Nashville Show To-Go Menu; marketing and events, Third Man Records Maddy Madeira: musician, Thirdface and Sallow Larissa Maestro: composer; band member, Allison Russell and My So-Called Band Mike Mannix: founder of the Centripetal Force record label and host of “Psych Out!” on WXNA Eve Maret: composer, producer, synthesist Chris Martignago: A&R, Prescription Songs; artist manager, LikeVines MGMT; founder, HELL YES! interview series Liz Meade: music publicist; founder, Threebrand Media; curator, PØPSQUAD Marquis Munson: production coordinator and evening host on 91.One WNXP Patrick Orr: singer, Crave On Jerry Pentecost: drummer, Old Crow Medicine Show; your favorite DJ! Mary Sack: founder and artist manager, Mary Sack Management Cam Sarrett: sales and distribution, Third Man Records; drums, Safety Net and Snooper Luke Schneider: multi-instrumentalist; Third Man Records artist; founder, Forestdale Incense Mike Shepherd: bass and vocals, Tower Defense; Nashville rock lifer; certified cat dad Todd Sherwood: co-owner, The 5 Spot; father; skateboarding enthusiast Brian Siskind: maker of new nostalgia in electronic music, documentary film, video art, drone cinematography and photography Gee Slab: rapper; producer; founder, Believe in New Opportunity Ben Swank: janitor, Third Man Records; drummer, Rayon City Ryan Sweeney: most of the things at Sweet Time; pizza man; drummer Tristen: musician; songwriter Jordan Victoria: musician, Heaven Honey Virghost: creator and host, Villematic Hip-Hop Showcase; artist and songwriter, Capitol Minds Entertainment Tyler Walker: DJ, producer and Vibe Coordinator, Sessy Dillon Watson: musician; songwriter Chet Weise: guitar and vocals, Kings of the Fucking Sea; Third Man Books Samantha Zaruba: Best Visual Artist in Nashville (allegedly, according to some of you); recovering label owner

Eades

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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MUSIC Loney Hutchins —Jessica Breanne, Caroline

Bowman

Jo Schornikow —Ariel Bui, Tim Easton The BLVCK Wizzle Experience —Gee Slab No Milk —Eve Maret $avvy —Justin Causey-Bullock Namir Blade —Eric Holt DIY venue/art gallery Sometimes —Tyler

Walker

—Ellen Angelico

T Lynn the Undergoddess —Virghost Rockabye Baby!, Monday Night Jazz

—Jerry Pentecost

The joy of owning three donkeys. —Jared

Corder

There are at least three parents at my daughter’s school that operate DIY/indie record labels. —Mike Mannix Ryan Scott Mattingly, who leads experimental ensemble In Place and makes many a musical situation feel more like itself; Adia Victoria’s Call and Response podcast —Kyle Hamlett The mom of the little girl I used to babysit made the most beautiful album ever.

(That’s Allison Russell.) —Samantha Zaruba

WHAT’S HELPED YOU THE MOST IN COPING WITH THE ONGOING PANDEMIC? Working on music and having real conversations with people in real life.

—Jordan Victoria Band practice twice a week, therapy, starting medication, going outside.

—Maddy Madeira Antidepressants and weed. —Ben Swank The vaccine has allowed me to feel safer being with loved ones, recording music, going out and teaching in person again.

—Ariel Bui MVAN, the moral support of our local music community and the Save Our Stages money we received. —Mike Grimes WXNA DJs showing up each day, trying to bring a little joy through the airwaves.

—Jessica Breanne Building WNXP and connecting with creatives. And my staffy-border-colliehusky mix Ruby, a singer in her own right. —Celia Gregory Recording music and lots of therapy.

—Virghost Practicing and exploring new instruments, moving to Greenbrier. —Luke Schneider Going on as many hikes as possible with my family and checking out a ton of new releases and reissues. —Ryan Sweeney Watching every Judas Priest concert available on YouTube. —Chet Weise I always look forward to Bandcamp Friday and posting about the deluge of discoveries. —Michael Eades Wednesday songwriter night at Springwater. —Patrick Orr, Kyle Hamlett Painting naked people. —Samantha Zaruba Scouting and booking 25 diverse artists on

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TAYLS the summer Shakespeare Festival preshow concert series. This town has so many layers. —Mary Sack Christina Norwood’s piano playing. —Dillon

Watson

Will Powers’ 1983 self-help/disco record Dancing for Mental Health. —Ale Delgado Going through the music archives and revisiting/organizing the past in a healthy way, while also taking on entirely new endeavors. —Brian Siskind

ONE THING YOU HOPE DOESN’T COME BACK ONCE THE PANDEMIC ENDS? Another pandemic. —Todd Sherwood, Mike

Shepherd, Virghost, Josh Halper, Eric Holt

School shootings —Gee Slab Romanticizing being overworked. Self-care is important! —Caroline Bowman Working a shitty job for less than a living wage! —Tristen Working in an office setting when we’re all just as productive at home. —Liz Meade Hard pants —Tyler Walker Zoom meetings —Marquis Munson, Patrick Orr The common cold. I’m all about masks. I haven’t been sick in ages. —Ellen Angelico Shaking hands —Rodrigo Avendano, Eric Holt Bullshit —Michael Combs My writer’s block. —Maddy Madeira Festivals having to cancel due to weather.

—Jared Corder We must save our independent venues before all we have are big venues and very expensive beer. —Doug Hall Developers buying buildings, raising the rent, then “transforming” the spaces to make their own more-Instagrammable versions. —Wes Davenport I’m really hoping we can put an end to shows that go beyond midnight and have more than three bands on the bill. —Mike Mannix Matinee shows. It would be nice to be able to set up and soundcheck like a professional for an evening show that will draw well and do great bar sales, instead of being forced to navigate around a softly attended early show and settle for a frantic, last-minute line check. —Luke

Schneider

The same damn $5 club cover that has been in place since the 1970s. —Mary Sack Our arts and music scenes have been so supportive and collaborative these

PHOTO: LANCE CONZETT

—Celia Gregory The rehearsal hall at the Nashville Musicians Union, which is free to union members. Join Local 257, musicians!

PHOTO: JAKE MATHEWS

Full Mood —Jordan Victoria Greasy Neale at Wilburn Street Tavern on Tuesday nights —Josh Halper Liza Anne (I admit I was sleepin’ on her before Bad Vacation, but never again!), Girlhouse, Terry Presume and Houston Kendrick — and that’s just the locals.

NAMIR BLADE past couple of years, creating space for vulnerability, experiments, failures and successes. I’d like to keep that going. —Ben

Swank

WHO DESERVES MORE COVERAGE THAN THEY GOT IN 2021?

Petty —Gee Slab, Eric Holt Tristen —Celia Gregory, Tyler Glaser Crave On —Dillon Watson, Kyle Hamlett In Place —Eve Maret, Kyle Hamlett Volunteer Department —Asher Horton, Jordan

Victoria

Crib, FU Stan and BeHoward, Anchor Thieves, St. Slug, Zwil AR, Thad Kopec and more. —Michael Eades

WHAT’S THE BEST MUSIC STORY OF THE YEAR?

The independent music community, ecosystem and working-class creative people — when at their most vulnerable ever — showed how much love and support they have for each other and truly saved their entire industry. —Chris

Cobb

Georgia English’s new record Pain and Power has an illustrated book, and it’s just such a beautiful and complete piece of art. —Ellen Angelico The Springwater. It’s real-ass Nashville, full stop. —Loney John Hutchins Online shop Byrd Finds. Nick has such a creative and positive approach to connecting musicians to unique and affordable gear. —Rodrigo Avendano Every BIPOC, LGBTQ+, femme and NB person who made music in 2021 — especially in Nashville. —Larissa Maestro DJ AfroSheen —Justin Causey-Bullock Darrin Bradbury —Tim Easton My Wall —Ryan Sweeney Thomas Luminoso —Patrick Orr Maxwell Wheeler’s thoughtfully booked shows at the Villager and elsewhere. —Kyle

The return of in-person shows! —Eve Maret,

Connor Cummins. He’s an international punk hero. —Ben Swank Taco Mouth. Best little rock ’n’ roll band in town! —Chris Cobb Pretty much any artist that is not a 1-percenter pop star. —Luke Schneider Bantug’s 12 Songs About Loneliness. —Wes

Jake Wesley Rogers blowing up. It’s so good to see local talent win big. —Liz Meade Allison Russell and Yola sharing lockdown in Madison and then releasing two of the most triumphant, liberating albums of 2021. We at WNXP took note and so, now, has The Recording Academy. —Celia

Joe McMahan is one of the most authentic and talented guitarists/producers in Nashville. —Brian Siskind Po’Boys & Poets Nashville —Virghost BadCulture —Jared Corder Love Montage, Lawndry —Caroline Bowman Jefferson Street Sound Museum —Ariel Bui Ohphelia; Yanira Vissepo’s art —Cam Sarrett A.B. Eastwood, Brigetta —Chris Martignago Brennan Wedl —Ryan “Domo” Donoho Houston Kendrick, Alex Rahal —Liz Meade Bobby Peppermint —Tyler Walker There’s a ton of albums that flew under the radar, from Les Ailes, Lawndry, Future

Black artists getting more attention, en masse, in country/Americana rather than isolated breakthroughs. —Loney John

Hamlett

Davenport

Caroline Bowman, Luke Schneider, Maddy Madeira

The reopening of The Basement East. —Jerry

Pentecost

Fisk Jubilee Singers celebrating 150 years.

—Eric Holt Charles and Roger reuniting to resurrect Hans Condor. —Ryan Sweeney The National Museum of African American Music opening in Nashville. —Marquis

Munson

The swan song of Queens of Noise. What a triumphant arc for a band of high schoolers! —Ellen Angelico Local venues reopening and requiring proof of vax or negative test result. Boycotts of the venues by those who didn’t agree with the policy made the clubs even safer.

—Chet Weise

Gregory

Hutchins

Nashville’s hip-hop scene just keeps giving.

—Wes Davenport Jimmy Matt Rowland and Micah Hulscher becoming the Nashville Sounds’ organists. —Tyler Glaser Allison Russell curating the most diverse headlining set in Newport Folk Festival’s history; Kyshona Armstrong getting 501(c)(3) status for her new nonprofit, Your Song! —Larissa Maestro

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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PHOTO: PEYTON DOLLAR

MUSIC

DAISHA McBRIDE

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL RECORD OF 2021?

Allison Russell, Outside Child —Jerry Pentecost,

Lilly Hiatt, Lately —Jessica Breanne Belly Full of Stars, Aura —Eve Maret Tommy Womack, I Thought I Was Fine —Mary

Styrofoam Winos, Styrofoam Winos —Kyle

Katy Kirby, Cool Dry Place —Josh Halper

Larissa Maestro, Tim Easton, Ellen Angelico

Hamlett, Mike Mannix, Michael Eades, Patrick Orr, Cam Sarrett Tristen, Aquatic Flowers —Jessica Breanne, Ariel Bui, Dillon Watson, Tyler Glaser Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection —Jessica Breanne, Tristen

Sack

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL SONG OF 2021?

Volunteer Department and Heaven Honey, “Cows of Tomorrow” —Caroline Bowman,

SNOOPER

Daisha McBride, Let Me Get This Off My Chest —Tristen Trevor Nikrant, Tall Ladders —Kyle Hamlett,

Volunteer Department, “Robert Downey Jr.” —Jordan Victoria Safety Net, “Be With You” —Ben Swank, Megan

the ’70s U.K. folk-rock band Trees —Mike

Bantug, 12 Songs About Loneliness —Caroline

Tristen, “Complex” —Luke Schneider, Jared

FU Stan and BeHoward, Claude & Ray D’Wynter Cold, Love You Later —Virghost Loney Hutchins [Sr.], Buried Loot —Luke

Tristen, “Wrong With You” —Tyler Glaser Erin Rae, “Modern Woman”; Aaron Lee Tasjan, “Up All Night” —Tristen Styrofoam Winos, “Stuck in a Museum”

Madi Diaz, History of a Feeling —Jared Corder,

Styrofoam Winos, “Skyline Top Removal”

Asher Horton

Bowman, Ale Delgado

—Virghost, Michael Eades

Schneider, Loney John Hutchins

Cam Sarrett, Josh Halper

Loveless Corder

—Caroline Bowman, Michael Eades —Loney John Hutchins

Megan Loveless, Celia Gregory Total Wife, Total Wife —Jordan Victoria, Maddy Madeira Yautja, The Lurch —Maddy Madeira, Tyler Walker

Styrofoam Winos, “Once”; Trevor Nikrant, “Tall Ladders” —Kyle Hamlett The Ragcoats, “I Need Your Love” —Caroline

Juan Solorzano and Ross McReynolds, Instrumentals —Caroline Bowman, Michael

Jasmin Kaset, “Have You Met Me Yet?”

Eades

L’Orange and Namir Blade, Imaginary Everything —Marquis Munson, Virghost Tayls, Have You Ever? I’ve Always

—Samantha Zaruba, Taylor Cole Nightingail, Strange Love —Caroline Bowman Bled to Submission, Bury Them in the Graves They Dug for You —Maddy Madeira Spodee Boy, Rides Again —Ben Swank Reaux Marquez, No Roads —Justin Causey-

Bullock

Aaron Lee Tasjan, Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!

—Doug Hall

Mike Floss, Oasis —Gee Slab Quinn Lewis, When I Was Sad —Chris

Martignago

Dreamer Boy, All the Ways We Are Together

—Liz Meade

Bowman

—Patrick Orr, Michael Eades “All of the Women” by Allison Russell. I’ve been playing in her band for the past year and have literally cried onstage several times while performing this song with her. —Larissa Maestro Keb’ Mo’, “The Medicine Man” —Jerry

Pentecost

Bryant Taylorr, “Fan” —Eric Holt Adia Victoria feat. Stone Jack Jones, “My Oh My” —Rodrigo Avendano Sassyopathic, “In Heaven” —Ryan “Domo”

Donoho

Reaux Marquez feat. Yours Truly Jai, “On My Side” —Justin Causey-Bullock Frau, “Pipebomb” —Tyler Walker Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection’s cover of “The Road,” originally performed by

Mannix

Netherina Noble, “I Am Not Afraid” —Eve

Maret

Joy Oladokun and Maren Morris, “Bigger Man” —Chris Martignago The By Gods, “Black Wave”; Jake Wesley Rogers, “Pluto” —Taylor Cole Teddy and the Rough Riders, “Don’t Say Sorry” —Asher Horton Yola, “Stand for Myself” —Doug Hall Briston Maroney, “It’s Still Cool If You Don’t” —Marquis Munson Bantug, “High Worry” —Celia Gregory

BEST PERFORMANCE YOU SAW THIS YEAR?

Jake Wesley Rogers at The Basement East — truly incredible. I am now writing differently and editing my own stage performance after watching that show.

—Taylor Cole Brittany Howard at 3rd and Lindsley for Girls Write Nashville —Tristen Portrayal of Guilt at Drkmttr —Maddy Madeira Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel at Darkhorse Theatre —Josh Halper Fisk Jubilee Singers during the Americana Awards —Jerry Pentecost The Serfs —Cam Sarrett Snooper opening for The Serfs —Ben Swank Marshall Chapman opening up for Indigo Girls at the Ryman. She was by herself, barefoot, with a caution-tape guitar strap and she made me cry twice. —Ellen Angelico Tristen’s record release show was a bit

of true magic. Being back home at The 5 Spot, seeing so many familiar faces, hearing such lovely music. —Mike Shepherd Infanta Silhouette at Electric Shed —Eve Maret Brian Brown opening for Freddie Gibbs; Joe Kay’s after-party at The Back Corner

—Justin Causey-Bullock

$avvy —Gee Slab Noga Erez at The Basement East —Chris

Martignago

The Rolling Stones at Nissan Stadium —Ryan

“Domo” Donoho, Tyler Glaser

Nas and the Nashville Symphony, with Tim Gent opening, at Ascend —Eric Holt, Marquis

Munson

As someone who could not wait to see her phavorite touring band after two years, I found to my surprise and delight that the rowdy Idles show at Cannery Ballroom rivaled Phish’s Ascend shows in energy and crowd connectedness. —Celia Gregory PMRnB at the Capitol Minds Brunch

—Virghost Margo Price and Jeremy Ivey at Ghost Ranch, Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in New Mexico —Ariel Bui Locally, the debut of Super Felon; nationally, Madison Cunningham at Beast was one of the greatest performances I have ever seen. —Mike Grimes Thankful to have Nashville Concerto Orchestra concerts back. —Dillon Watson JEFF the Brotherhood, Kent Osborne and Snooper at Exit/In. Pure joy!!! —Ale Delgado EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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FILM

PROS AND CONS Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is all sophisticated splendor

BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY

W

ith Nightmare Alley, Oscar winner and highbrow genre director Guillermo del Toro has finally made the film noir of his dreams. He teamed up with film critic/noir historian Kim Morgan to adapt William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel of the same name, which became a skeevy-ass bit of postwar pulp when British filmmaker Edmund Goulding (Grand Hotel) brought it to the big screen the following year. The ’47 version featured swashbuckler Tyrone Power in the NIGHTMARE ALLEY lead role, a con man R, 150 MINUTES OPENING WIDE FRIDAY, who picks up some DEC. 17 things while working at a carnival and pushes his luck when he uses them to become a successful, swindling medium.

Producer Bradley Cooper assumes the con-man role of Stanton Carlisle, a mysterious drifter who gets wrapped up in the carny life, learning the tricks of the trade from an impressive lineup of actors (Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette, David Strathairn, Ron Perlman) who cynically entertain and hoodwink folks. Carlisle falls in love with electricity-absorbing performer Molly Cahill

(Rooney Mara), who becomes his assistant when they leave to make it as a big-city nightclub act. Things get dirty and dangerous when Cooper’s faux psychic falls in league with a psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett, once again working that crazy white-girl magic of hers) who feeds him info on grieving patients willing to pay top dollar to communicate with their deceased loved ones.

As twisted and trashy as this sounds (Goulding’s 1947 version indeed fully embraced that energy), del Toro — as he always does — concentrates more on turning this into a visually ambitious morality tale. He brings along previous collaborators — cinematographer Dan Laustsen, production designer Tamara Deverell, set decorator Shane Vieau — and allows Cooper’s drifter to dip into a curious, intriguing carnival world in the first half. In Nightmare’s back half, Carlisle is morally adrift in his snowy, swanky, Art Deco’d-tohell surroundings.

The story itself is a bit obvious, as Carlisle’s greed-fueled manipulative skills inevitably lead to serious consequences.

The performances also show that del Toro

isn’t the only one indulging in noirish theatrics — Blanchett goes so full-tilt with her cunning scenery-chewing, almost like she’s delivering some histrionic performance art.

Nevertheless, del Toro uses all of this to create sequences in which we can marvel at all the sophisticated splendor, both visually and formally. There’s one scene where Cooper chases Mara through the men’s bathroom of a bus station — as del Toro’s camera chases the both of them — that’s such an elaborate

MOTHERHOOD REVISITED Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter aims at a cherished institution

BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

W

ho wouldn’t want to spend a month by the Mediterranean — reading, floating, eating ice cream delivered by Paul Mescal? It’s a dream, really, and Olivia Colman seems like the perfect person to experience it on my behalf. She’s moody, curmudgeonly, occasionally stricken with joy by the warm Greek light or the sound of softly crashing waves. She’s an expert people watcher — and people watching is one of life’s great pleasures, especially on a beach.

But she’s sick, and so is the picturesque seaside town where first-time director Maggie Gyllenhaal sets The Lost Daughter. The THE LOST DAUGHTER surface-level serenity R, 122 MINUTES promised by the mere COMING TO NETFLIX idea of beautiful, wellFRIDAY, DEC. 31 read people hanging out in Greece is just that — a promise, and one that is not kept even from the first moments of the film.

The Lost Daughter, and the 2006 Elena Ferrante novel on which it is scrupulously based, is a beach read in the literal sense. But in practice, both works are the antithesis of the beach read, leaving one considering life’s greatest regrets, the shortcomings of family and a dark sense of loss that is somehow both ambiguous and achingly specific.

Upon reading, the novel does not seem like a good candidate for adaptation. I’m a great fan of

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Ferrante’s work, and so the natural inclination is to reject someone else’s visualization of the intensely personal material. Her stories usually rely on the interior monologue of girls becoming women, sometimes prematurely, trying to make a place for themselves in a world that already knows what that place should be. They’re not about much of anything. But thanks to Ferrante’s unmatched world building, the tiniest detail — the rustling of leaves on an empty street, or the particulars of a dress’s hem — takes on the urgency of a thriller. We think of Game of Thrones or Star Wars when we talk about world building, but no one is better at it than Ferrante. It’s just that her worlds are overlooked, in part because there are no swords or spaceships, but mostly because they center women and the poor or formerly poor.

The only way, then, to adapt a Ferrante story is

to cast people like Colman, who plays 48-year-old literature professor Leda, spending time alone in the seaside town on a “working holiday.” Colman, unlike a lesser actor, can use a grimace or longing glance to convey the pain or anxiety or yearning of the source material. Gyllenhaal turned to flashback to flesh out the rest of Colman’s character’s story, with the electric Jessie Buckley playing a younger version of the professor.

Gyllenhaal is right to leave the book more or less intact, and to turn its material unmolested over to masters like Colman. Her adaptation takes Ferrante’s Italians and makes them English speakers, though little is lost in translation, at least to someone who read it in translation to begin with. It might take an imaginative leap, but Gyllenhaal is also right to plop Mescal and Ed Harris into this small Greek town.

sight, you’d swear ol’ boy is just showing off at this point.

In true del Toro fashion, Nightmare Alley is yet another film in which morally bankrupt folks who play God end up paying the price. It may not have the sort of freakish monsters del Toro has previously brought to the big screen, but it does continue the tradition of stories where the real monsters turn out to be the human ones.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

Mescal is playing the Sally Rooney Extended Universe character he was meant to play, forever, and that’s just fine. In terms of adaptability, what the book does have is its brevity — no epic novel can be adapted for film to the satisfaction of its biggest fans — and Ferrante’s descriptions: a how-to guide for the actors on when to sweat and sigh and let their eyes droop.

Buckley and Colman are never on screen together, but the two unite to tell a radical story of motherhood. It’s not radical in the sense that it’s unusual.

We just don’t see stories like this very often. At the movies or in life, motherhood is a virtue, a golden calf, something to be worshiped and pined for without question. To wonder whether you were right to have kids is not allowed. Regrets, pain and second guesses are brushed under the rug in favor of Rockwellian bliss. Buckley’s younger Leda finds some joy in raising her two daughters, but she doesn’t really come to life until an esteemed figure in her field sprinkles praise on her. Nothing could be better than that. But years later, sitting on a perfect beach, it’s not the praise she remembers. She can’t help but wonder what her daughters are doing. She can’t help but see herself in Dakota Johnson’s Nina, a young mother whose family and their problems interrupt the peace of the beach.

Nina too is pained by the life that’s been given to her, even though she chose parts of it. Her daughter is inconsolable at the loss of a doll, and Colman’s Leda tries to help.

Their relationship, more than that of mother and daughter, creates the central drama of the film. They are the same in many ways, and they pursue one another like lovers. But like the actual mothers and daughters elsewhere in the story, their relationship is permanently scarred by willful transgressions.

“I’m an unnatural mother,” Colman’s Leda tells Nina, incorrectly.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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FILM

TO OUR VERY SHINY SPONSORS

RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY

PRIMAL STREAM 73

A ’60s thriller, a ’90s thriller and the latest Resident Evil, now available to stream (and see in theaters)

BY JASON SHAWHAN

A

s it is wont to do, December has swooped in with all its chaotic energy and left no emotional stone unturned. Low-level holiday energy gets swirled in with ongoing pandemic unease, and to remain an informed citizen requires a surprising deal of personal girding just to get through the day. On the one hand, there’s a lingering sense that everyone’s in the process of cashing out just before the value plummets, but on the other hand, eggnog is plentiful. Even if you’re trying to give a carefully selected present to those you love, seditious agent Louis DeJoy is derailing the very foundation of domestic communication. So it’s not exactly an uplifting journey here.

Anyway, as always, find some recommendations of what to stream below, as well as some thoughts on the latest Resident Evil installment, which is now in theaters. Look back at past issues of the Scene for more recommended titles.

RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY IN THEATERS Pros: Avan Jogia (Now Apocalypse) plays a noble fool who ends up having to respond to much of the evil-in-residence in Raccoon City and has a big, dumb action moment that still made me smile. Writer-director Johannes Roberts (The Strangers 2, 47 Meters Down and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged) knows how to work a left-field needle-drop.

Nathan Dales (Darry from Letterkenny) has a two-scene cameo as this film’s Cpl. Ferro equivalent.

Cons: No Milla Jovovich as Alice. Granted, this reboot was meant to realign the Resident Evil series to the plots of the video games, but none of the characters resonates with you like Milla (though Jogia’s Leon Kennedy really tries). Messy, messy effects. A sense of pointlessness that extends throughout the scene-setting all the way through the grand conspiracy by which the Umbrella Corporation unmakes the titular

city. And building on that, there is a sinking sensation that it doesn’t matter if they make another one of these, because this one feels like treading water.

EVEN THE WIND IS AFRAID VIA TUBI Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo (English title Even the Wind Is Afraid) is a 1968 supernatural thriller that takes place in a semi-remote Mexican school for girls, where it turns out something unspeakable happened five years ago. And wouldn’t you know it, the coterie of bad girls (more accurately, the interesting members of the student body) just got themselves confined to the grounds while the rest of the girls go on a 10-day break. Has one of them been experiencing prescient dreams in which she walks with the dead? Oh, yes indeed. This atmospheric, windswept shocker from director Carlos Enrique Taboada feels like a direct influence on so many classic examples of girl-school cinema, with an elegant and earthy approach to its central haunting. If you’ve been looking for a classy ghost story with some palpable queer undertones, this is a great way to spend less than an hour-and-a-half. (Note: Non-Spanishspeaking viewers will need to activate the English subtitles manually.)

Tennessee Photographs

congratulations to overall winners greg black and hannah stockdale!

IN DREAMS VIA AMAZON PRIME VIDEO Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, The Good Thief) took an interesting but messy Bari Wood novel, Doll’s Eyes, and turned it into one of the greatest thrillers of the ’90s. After a horrifying tragedy, children’s book author Claire Cooper (Annette Bening, never better) finds herself seeing the world through the eyes of a murderer. Vivian Thompson (Robert Downey Jr., not giving a fuck and resolutely iconic because of it) has been waiting, you see, for someone just like Claire. So what starts out as an exquisite ’90s Gothic becomes a cat-and-mouse chase that is steeped in swoony, fecund imagery that lends itself to fairy-tale and murderscape interpretations. A drowned town, the apple-orchard equivalent of a body farm, an immersive children’s theater performance in the middle of the woods, a bravura hospital escape and some Jungian dreamscapes make In Dreams a singular and unique undertaking. That’s also thanks to Darius Khondji’s magnificent lighting. But Bening is absolutely amazing in this — on par with Virginia Madsen in Candyman ’92 as far as unforgettable actressing in genuinely disturbing genre cinema.

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nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | nashvillescene.com NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER DATE

JAN 31 - FEB 6

CROSSWORD EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ ACROSS 1

A test of one’s humanity?

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Holding in a cryptocurrency wallet

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Emphatic refusal

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Winter Olympics events since 1988

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“I suppose”

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Cartwheels and such

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Intensifies, with “up”

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It might be on the nose

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Staff

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Back in college?

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Noble title

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Fats Domino’s “___ That a Shame”

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There are 5,164 along the Great Wall of China

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Hard-hit line drives, in slang

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KFC side dish

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Grub

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Hardly a green vehicle

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Nitpickers

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Put on the schedule

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California ___

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Provider of directions … or a hint to the four “+” shapes in this puzzle’s grid

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It’s on the plus side

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Paroxysms

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Business that makes cuts in order to turn a profit?

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Double figures?

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Kind of justice or license

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Red Cross fluids

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Former senator Trent

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Puerto ___

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Complaining fish?

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Car radio button

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Acronym in academics

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Smooth, lustrous material

Bygone game show with a mobile set

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Be informed, perhaps

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Olympian, e.g.

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School houses?

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Accommodations on a scouting trip

Like many paper handouts

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Breaks down

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Homeland of gymnast Nadia Comaneci

DOWN 1

Land: Sp.

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“___, Red-Hot & Live” (1982 soul album)

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Driving needs

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It covers 90+ million acres of the U.S.

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Extent

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Exactly right

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Change states, perhaps?

___ Jass, subject of one of Bart Simpson’s prank calls

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OK

Jostle

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Circus venue

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Send out

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They go to great heights

Onetime radio host Don

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Many a TikToker

Second or third person?

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Mama of pop

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Making a scene, say

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___ Grande, city south of Phoenix

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It’s got you covered

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Phone meeting, briefly

Chinese restaurant fare

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Arabian gulf port

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Colossal

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Repeat

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Place to perform figure eights

___ Smith, star of Tyler Perry’s “For Better or Worse”

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Philippines battle site of W.W. II

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“A Death in the Family” writer

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Issues while fishing

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Columbia 1006 Carmack Blvd Columbia, TN 931-398-3350

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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Marketplace

Rocky McElhaney Law Firm InjuRy Auto ACCIdEnts WRongFul dEAth dAngERous And dEFECtIvE dRugs

Voted Best Attorney in Nashville Call 615-425-2500 for FREE Consultation

www.rockylawfirm.com LEGALS Non-Resident Notice Fifth Circuit Docket No. 20D1696

Rental Scene

TANESHA TUCKER vs.

JOSE ANTONIO PAGEN JR. In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon JOSE ANTONIO PAGEN, JR.. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein with thirty (30) days after December 16, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on January 17th, 2022.

It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.

In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon JOSE ANTONIO PAGEN, JR.. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein with thirty (30) days after December 16, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on January 17th, 2022.

It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.

Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell Deputy Clerk Date: November 18, 2021 D. Scott Parsley Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 11/25,12/2,12/9,12/16/2021 Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 21D1177 KARLA YESENIA GARCIA vs.

NICOLAS GARCIA PEREZ In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon NICOLAS GARCIA PEREZ. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein with thirty (30) days after December 16, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on January 17th, 2022.

It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.

Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell Deputy Clerk Date: November 18, 2021

this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.

Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell Deputy Clerk Date: November 18, 2021 Morgan E. Smith Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 11/25,12/2,12/9,12/16/2021

If you or anyone knows the whereabouts of Dwayne McKinney, please contact Attorney Gavin Richard via email at gavinrichard@icloud.com or by telephone at 504-799-2288.

EMPLOYMENT naviHealth, Inc. seeks a Sr. Software QA Engineer – (multiple positions) in Brentwood, TN to design test plans, scenarios, scripts and procedures. Reqs. MS+2 or BS+5 yrs. exp.

100% telecommuting role. Reports to company headquarters in Brentwood, TN. Can work remotely or telecommute. To apply mail resume to naviHealth, Inc., Attn: Jean Marie Viljoen, 210 Westwood Place, STE 400, Brentwood, TN 37027. Must reference Job Title & Job Code: 000012.

Sr. Developers, IT Store Systems.

Create, design, and support software running on various platforms used in a major retailer’s stores. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/e-mails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0217.

Sr. Developers, IT Mobile Apps.

Design, develop, and maintain a major retailer’s consumer facing mobile applications. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Headquarters in Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to S. Case, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0238.

major retailer’s consumer facing mobile applications. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Headquarters in Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to S. Case, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0238.

Sr. Engineers, IT Search and Relevance. Responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of a relevant and reliable search experience for a major retailer’s ecommerce applications. Employer: Tractor Supply Company.

Location: Headquarters in Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to S. Case, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0263.

Sr. Developers, IT Data Integration.

Design, prototype, create, and modify data integration interfaces for a major retailer. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/e-mails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0248.

Data Architect. Engage in the entire data integration process, building high-performance, scalable, and reliable data integration and business intelligence solutions.

Employer: PopHealthCare, LLC. Location: Franklin, TN. May telecommute on occasion from any location in the Southeastern United States. To apply, mail resumé (no calls/e-mails) to T. Cunningham, 113 Seaboard Lane, Suite B200, Franklin, TN 37067.

Sr. Developers, IT Mobile Apps.

Design, develop, and maintain a major retailer’s consumer facing mobile applications. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Headquarters in Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to S. Case, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0238.

Welcome to Gazebo Apartments Morgan E. Smith Attorney for Plaintiff

NSC 11/25,12/2,12/9,12/16/2021

Managers, IT eCommerce Development.

Manage the development and deployment of WebSphere Commerce and contribute to the overall architecture of the eCommerce landscape for a major retailer. Employer: Tractor Supply Company.

Location: Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/e-mails) to S. Case, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0169.

Managers, IT MDM & Site Planning Systems. Responsible for the oversight and development of applications for use in and to support Merchandising Systems for a major retailer. Employer: Tractor Supply Company.

Location: Headquarters in Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0217.

Director (Healthcare Management Partners, LLC, Nashville, TN): Reqs Bachelor’s (US/foreign equiv in Econ, Finance, Social Sci, or related; 3 yrs exp in healthcare industry; exp in or knowledge of US GAAP or CMS rules for healthcare service reimbursement & reporting; background in change mgmt &/or proj mgmt; excellent written & oral communication skills; demonstrated leadership ability, team mgmt, & interpersonal skills; excellent analytical & abstract reasoning skills + excellent organization skills; strategic, critical thinker. Position reqs domestic travel 20% of the time. Email resume to jscouten@hcmpllc.com.

Sr. Engineers, IT Data Analytics.

Expand and optimize data analytics and support data engineering and business analytics teams for a major retailer. Employer: Tractor Supply Company.

Location: Headquarters in Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN and reference job code 0273.

Sr. Engineers, IT Data Analytics.

Expand and optimize data analytics and support data engineering and business analytics teams for a major retailer. Employer: Tractor Supply Company.

Location: Headquarters in Brentwood, TN. May telecommute from any location in the U.S. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN and reference job code 0273.

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Your Neighborhood Local attractions: · Broadway · The Nashville Zoo · The Escape Game

Best place near by to see a show: · Zanies Comedy

Neighborhood dining and drinks: · Big Machine Distillery · 12-South Tap Room · Tin Roof · Brother’s Burgers · Southside Kitchen & Pub · Eastern Peak

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Southaven at Commonwealth 100 John Green Place, Spring Hill, TN 37174

The Harper 2 Beds / 2 bath 1265 sq ft $1700

The Hudson 3 Bed / 2 bath 1429 sq ft $1950

3 floor plans southavenatcommonwealth.com | 629.777.8333

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

2 bed 1.5 / 2 bath 1025 to 1150 sq ft $1227+ per month

3 bed / 2.5 bath 1650 sq ft $1670+

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The Jackson 1 Bed / 1 bath 958 sq ft $1400

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

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

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

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gazeboapts.com | 615.551.3832 Sunrise Apartments 189 Wallace Rd Nashville, TN 37211 1 Bed / 1 bath 600 sq feet $950 - $1150

1 Bed / 1 bath 630 sq feet $999 - $1200

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sunrisenashville.com | 615.333.7733 Cumberland Retreat 411 Annex Ave Nashville, TN 37209 2 Bed /1 Bath 1008 sq ft from $1349

1 Bed / 1 Bath 675 sq ft from $1159 2 floor plans

cumberlandretreatapartments.com | 615.356.0257 Brighton Valley 500 BrooksBoro Terrace, Nashville, TN 37217 1 Bedroom/1 bath 800 sq feet $1360

2 Bedrooms/ 2 baths 1100 sq feet $1490

3 Bedrooms/ 2 baths 1350 sq feet $1900

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

Studio 330 sq feet $900 - $1000

3 floor plans

brightonvalley.net | 615.366.5552 nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 16 - DECEMBER 22, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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S U H P I TC

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

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