Nashville Scene 12-23-21 by FW Publishing

CITY LIMITS: MAYOR’S AIDE TALKS FRUSTRATIONS, PRIORITIES FOR NASHVILLE NEIGHBORHOODS

DECEMBER 23–29, 2021 I VOLUME 40 I NUMBER 46 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE

PAGE 7

FILM: READ OUR REVIEW OF LICORICE PIZZA AND OUR INTERVIEW WITH ITS STAR ALANA HAIM PAGE 30

NEW DISCOVERIES From the brand-new to the new-to-us, here’s a lineup of local gems we fell for in 2021

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CONTENTS

DECEMBER 23, 2021

Mayor’s Aide Courtney Pogue on Frustrations, Priorities for Nashville Neighborhoods ...........................................7

Lasting

CITY LIMITS

‘I’m patiently waiting. … We’ll see what happens.’ BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

Abolishing Late Fees Has Made the Nashville Public Library More Accessible Than Ever ....................................................8

ART

Kayla Rumpp’s playful sculpture-paintings bid a colorful goodbye to Channel to Channel

BOOKS

Shades of Humanity Ruta Sepetys’ young adult masterpiece becomes a graphic novel

BY LENA MAZEL

BY MICHAEL RAY TAYLOR AND CHAPTER 16

Step one of many arrived Friday afternoon and was met with outrage from Democrats BY J.R. LIND

COVER STORY

New Discoveries 2021 From the brand-new to the new-to-us, here’s a lineup of local gems we fell for in 2021

MUSIC

The Spin The Scene’s live-review column checks out Nashville Ambient Ensemble, Lou Turner and Jack Silverman at Drkmttr

Working Stiff Jamboree feat. The Cherry Blossoms, Holiday Classics: Fiddler on the Roof and Moonstruck, Chris Crofton, KDSML and Friends, sign up for a writing course at The Porch, make a cheap winter cat shelter, make Russian tea and more

Talking to Licorice Pizza’s Alana Haim about her feature-film debut

BY STEVE ERICKSON

Sugar Shock: Hip to Be Square

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

BY MEGAN SELING

Annual Homeless Memorial Remembers 194 People This Year

FILM

Paul Thomas Anderson lands another triumph with Licorice Pizza

Pastry chef Alyssa Gangeri spills the secrets behind The Butter Milk Ranch’s croissant cubes and mousse cakes

Citizen Market to Permanently Close on Christmas Eve

30 Pie in the Sky .......................................... 30

FOOD AND DRINK

These Weird Williamson County Flyers Echo a Racist Flyer From the 1950s

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

BY SCENE STAFF

CRITICS’ PICKS

The Scene’s Year in Music 2021 Playlist

BY JOE NOLAN

124,000 people have signed up for NPL cards since July 2017

Republican-Dominated Committee Reveals Proposed State House Redistricting Lines .....................................8

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:

BY D. PATRICK RODGERS

Slice of Life .............................................. 30 BY D. PATRICK RODGERS

Sex and Texas City .................................. 31 Sean Baker’s latest plays it safer than you might expect

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(500) Days of Bummer This is a story of ‘boy meets girl’ — but it’s not that kind of love story BY MINDA WEI

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On Dec. 15, the U.S. Congress raised the national debt limit by $2.5 trillion, and President Joe Biden signed the bill into law the next day. It was a matter of urgency, as the Department of the Treasury could not cover our nation’s bills past Dec. 15 and keep the government open for business. Basically, our home was in foreclosure and needed to be refinanced. The situation, had it not been remedied, would have put at risk Americans’ Social Security checks, veterans’ benefits and much more. The increase allows Americans to breathe a little easier and gives the U.S. government the ability to forego any default. Republican opposition to this bill was nearly unanimous, with just one dissenter. Democrats were united in support of the measure, which passed the Senate 50-49 along party lines last week and cleared the House 221-209. The legislation prevented our government from going into default, which — according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen — would have been “catastrophic” for the American economy. Secretary Yellen told Congress that inaction on raising the debt limit could lead to an economic recession and financial crisis. The situation should not have gotten this far. The American people should not have to worry about whether or not our government is open for business on any given day. For months, Republicans knew the debt limit needed to be addressed, yet they continued to use the filibuster to prevent any movement on the vote. During President Donald Trump’s term in office, of course, the debt limit was increased three times. But what is good for the goose is not good for the gander in the minds of our Republican members of Congress. Republicans wanted Democrats to pass the increase this time through budget reconciliation instead of joining in a bipartisan vote to raise it. Republicans used the filibuster to play partisan politics, basically rolling the dice on the outcome for the American people. They claimed their resistance was in response to the Democrats’ Build Back Better agenda, a plan that would

involve $1 trillion in green initiatives plus an expanded social safety net. But the debt limit needed increasing to cover debts already accrued — debt incurred by administrations from both parties. Ultimately, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) struck a deal. Republicans voted to lift the filibuster one time for the debt ceiling bill, which Democrats passed on their own. The increased debt limit should allow the government to operate without further action by Congress, at least until we are past the 2022 midterm elections. Unsurprisingly in this political environment, McConnell lost some support in the process — even from Trump, who now wants to see McConnell removed from his leadership position. The twice-impeached former president even said McConnell “didn’t have the guts to play the Debt Ceiling card, which would have given the Republicans a complete victory on virtually everything.” Question: What kind of “victory” can be trumpeted when the result is financial crisis and no help from the federal government for Americans like those in Kentucky who’ve lost everything in a devastating natural disaster? This kind of win is known as a “Pyrrhic victory,” one that comes at too great a cost to be worthwhile to the victor. We depend on our leaders to work the best way they know how to ensure our government continues operating and our citizens receive the benefits they’ve earned and are entitled to receive. The Republican strategy of brinkmanship with this issue could have resulted in economic disaster for many Americans. I’m thankful Democrats were successful in increasing the debt limit to prevent the government from closing down and Americans from losing their benefits. What a horrible tragedy that could have been — at any time of year, but especially at Christmas.

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

©2021, Nashville Scene. 210 12th Ave. S., Ste. 100, Nashville, TN 37203. Phone: 615-244-7989. The Nashville Scene is published weekly by FW Publishing LLC. The publication is free, one per reader. Removal of more than one paper from any distribution point constitutes theft, and violators are subject to prosecution. Back issues are available at our office. Email: All email addresses consist of the employee’s first initial and last name (no space between) followed by @nashvillescene.com; to reach contributing writers, email editor@nashvillescene.com. Editorial Policy: The Nashville Scene covers news, art and entertainment. In our pages appear divergent views from across the community. Those views do not necessarily represent those of the publishers. Subscriptions: Subscriptions are available at $150 per year for 52 issues. Subscriptions will be posted every Thursday and delivered by third-class mail in usually five to seven days. Please note: Due to the nature of third-class mail and postal regulations, any issue(s) could be delayed by as much as two or three weeks. There will be no refunds issued. Please allow four to six weeks for processing new subscriptions and address changes. Send your check or Visa/MC/AmEx number with expiration date to the above address.

In memory of Jim Ridley, editor 2009-2016

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.

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CITY LIMITS

MAYOR’S AIDE COURTNEY POGUE ON FRUSTRATIONS, PRIORITIES FOR NASHVILLE NEIGHBORHOODS ‘I’m patiently waiting. … We’ll see what happens.’ BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT the communities need, especially in North Nashville and Southeast Nashville, where support for those businesses is lacking.

How would you do that if you had your way?

small business, entrepreneurship — which is a concerted effort to focus on small businesses and provide ongoing resources both on a technical side and a capital formation side. There has never been an effort to do that in the city of Nashville.

Well, we’d allocate a plan. That was the first thing I wanted to lay out, a strategy for economic development. Look at your top 30 cities: They all have plans for economic development as it relates to the city itself. We have a regional plan for the Chamber, but not a localized plan to focus on the city itself and the various components of the city, being the various communities that make up a city. To address the needs of North Nashville, to address the needs of Southeast Nashville, to address food insecurity, to address workforce development, to address small business development, entrepreneurship, all those things that make up the various buckets of economic development. Typically you have a plan or strategy that relates to economic development and how we focus city investments on key areas, but also look at forming true public-private partnerships to address the needs of a community. Why did you want this job when you took it? I saw a new challenge. Dallas, when I came on board we kicked off the first plan. We kicked it off when we got there, but also we revamped a number of programs and policies around economic development along with housing. A number of things were reformatted in Dallas when I got there. There was support from the mayor, support from the city manager and various departments to get that done. We [were] making investments for large corporate attraction, but also we were making investments in supporting small businesses, entrepreneurship, workforce development, really supporting those considered hard to employ, from the formerly incarcerated to opportunity youth [ages] 16 to 24 to single-parent households. All those things aligned. Looking at major projects in the community in underserved markets and utilizing the city’s toolbox in terms of new market tax credits, tax increment financing, the opportunity zone program and other components to jump-start that in Dallas. I thought we could do the same thing here. It’s been a little slow going. I’m cautiously optimistic we can get something going in the near future, but it has been nine months.

Do you feel optimistic at all about the possibility of getting some of that done? I’m patiently

Is there a lack of interest from the council or the mayor? What’s slowing you down? Resources.

waiting. We’re in month nine. We’ll see what happens. That was one of the first things I laid out and noticed, that there was a lack of focus on small business, entrepreneurship and workforce development. [We need to] look at business attraction, the community attracting grocery stores and other retail and all the other amenities that some of

First and foremost, get the resources in place to really address what’s going on. We look at business here in Nashville and the need to recover — outside of the CARES program, we really haven’t done anything for them, especially when it comes to small businesses. You look at the data points of companies

What has your time as economic and community development director been like? It’s been different. [We’re] waiting on getting a strategy done for the city to talk about economic development, and Nashville’s never really had a strategy put in place for the city, per se. There’s a regional plan put out by the [Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce]. Mainly the Chamber does a lot of business-attraction work — what you see in the headlines — but as far as the nuances of doing the various buckets of economic development in the sense of workforce, small business and retention and expansion, that’s not really been a concerted effort in this city in some time. It is our hope to get that up and going. It’s been roughly nine months. In Dallas I was up and going with a plan in roughly five months. I guess we’re somewhat behind.

When a lot of people think of economic development and the type of job that you have, we think of those big recruitment pitches. And so you’re saying it’s the other side of that role that has not really been paid attention to? Yeah, basically

PHOTO: NATHAN ZUCKER

ourtney Pogue has been Mayor John Cooper’s director of economic and community development for about nine months, since he moved from a similar position in Dallas. He took over an office that had seen a lot of change under Cooper. Jamari Brown, a holdover from the Briley administration, stepped down a few months into Cooper’s tenure (and less than a year after starting the job). The position was vacant for more than six months before Pogue took over. But it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing, and Pogue opened up in a recent interview with the Scene. He expressed frustration about a lack of direction in city government and a tendency to focus on newsmaking economic development deals — like those with Oracle or Amazon — rather than the kind of work that can bring grocery stores or other vital businesses to under-served neighborhoods. Read our interview below.

COURTNEY POGUE that have 50 or less employees and have revenues less than a million dollars, that is roughly 60 percent of the businesses in Nashville. We’re really a small-business city. It’s really to our advantage to find resources to support small businesses throughout the city, but also really focus on some efforts to support businesses from a technical-assistance standpoint and a capital standpoint in some of those underserved areas — North Nashville, Southeast Nashville.

Do you see much interest on the funding side from either the council or the mayor? I think there’s momentum. I think it’s a little slow going, but there’s some momentum out there to really address those needs. I’m somewhat optimistic — somewhat. Is it going as fast as I’m used to? No. Hopefully we’ll get there sometime next year and jump-start some programming and really address the needs of the community based on the data points we’re seeing, from the standpoint of providing capital in North Nashville [and] 37208, to providing capital in Bordeaux, to providing capital in Antioch and other parts of Nashville to make sure there are resources to support businesses both from a technical side but also from a capital standpoint. I’ve been reading some articles in other publications about how some of the businesses feel neglected in the sense that there’s never really been an effort to address some of their needs. They feel [like they’re] not at the table. We’ve been really focused on largescale corporate attraction, which we do very well, but I think there’s definitely been a miss in the sense of how do we support our local and small businesses here.

Who has been a good partner either in or outside government? I think there’s definitely support. I think it needs to be coordinated. It’s a little uncoordinated right now. I think we’re all kind of saying the same thing, but we’re not in the same room saying it. That’s why I want to kick off a plan in which we’re all in the same room and realize who’s on first, who’s on second, who’s on third and so on. You have support, but it’s not coordinated. It’s been fragmented and a hodgepodge of things. The Chamber does a very good job at recruitment along with the state, but I think where we need to focus is who’s gonna do some of the other things that are really key

to having a well-balanced and successful Nashville, in the sense of small businesses and supporting entrepreneurship. And then you look at how do you support our workforce, in the sense of how do we find jobs and individuals in North Nashville and Antioch and get them connected to jobs in the core of the city, utilizing transportation and other aspects to make sure everyone is involved in growth in the city. There’s only one mainline grocery store in Bordeaux, so how do we address providing quality housing in Bordeaux but also providing places of quality retail in Bordeaux and North Nashville? And providing retail in Antioch and parts of Southeast Nashville by utilizing new platforms of development and redevelopment and incubating new developers to come to the table and provide new resources to help them launch and address the needs of their communities?

What is a way that government can incentivize something like the building of a grocery store in an underserved neighborhood? Typically you have a mandate from government if it’s an underincentivized or under-invested community. I’ve seen markets where you do really focus on certain sites, you work with local community developers and really help spearhead their efforts to attract the grocery store. There are ways to go engage with some of the groceries themselves, saying, “I have a site and I want to market my site to XYZ Corporation.”

Sort of like how you attract one of these larger businesses? It’s pretty much the same way. There’s a retail convention in Las Vegas. There are ways in which communities can market themselves. You engage with retailers and real estate developers about your community and pitch sites to them. It’s been successful. In Chicago we took a site on the South Side of Chicago, and we engaged with a few developers to market a site that was crime-infested, had a former liquor store on it and had not been invested in for a number of years. We were able to pitch that site to a developer. From there we brought in a Walmart neighborhood store, brought in 155 units of housing. There are ways to pitch a site to a developer to market that and attract a grocer or a retail tenant to an area. All the efforts must align. It has to be more of a concerted effort showing the

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CITY LIMITS retailers that the city is committed to this area, committed to providing resources. If you have a developer that’s really patient, willing to work with the community to attract this quality initiative, it’s a true public-private partnership. You look at Bordeaux, North Nashville — it needs to be a true public-private partnership in which Metro and the private sector and all our partners are at the table helping to attract what is needed in the community, and we know that’s a grocery store or some kind of quality retail.

You said things are moving slower here than in Dallas. Have you felt stymied or sidelined or anything like that? I think everyone has a different style of managing. I look at my previous positions, I engaged with city officials, leadership, on a biweekly basis. I think we

all learned the styles of management here. I’m ... being a little patient here, learning some patience, and adjusting to that. In Dallas I met with city leadership and city management on a biweekly basis, met with the mayor on a monthly basis.

How frequently do you meet with the mayor here? I’m not even going to answer that question. I’m patient and looking for change. Nashville is growing, but how do we make sure that everyone benefits in the growth of Nashville? I’m hopeful next year we can address these things and make improvements that are sorely needed.

How is Nashville different from Chicago and Dallas? What are some of the different challenges? I think we’re growing at an accelerated pace. We’ve got a lot of people relocating. We need to make sure we’re providing all the

REPUBLICANDOMINATED COMMITTEE REVEALS PROPOSED STATE HOUSE REDISTRICTING LINES

resources and housing needs for everyone in Nashville and [everyone who’s] coming to Nashville. I’ve had my challenges trying to find a house. Here I am experiencing challenges finding housing, but I imagine individuals at different income bands are having the same challenges. It’s something we all need to address. We don’t really have a true housing policy in Nashville. I think that’s something we’re working on next year. It’s the goal here to have alignment between the housing policy but also having a plan for economic development, so I was hopeful we would have something kicked off earlier than where we’re at now, but hopefully we’ll have something kicked off in the first quarter of next year. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

Step one of many arrived Friday afternoon and was met with outrage from Democrats BY J.R. LIND

ABOLISHING LATE FEES HAS MADE THE NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY MORE ACCESSIBLE THAN EVER

124,000 people have signed up for NPL cards since July 2017

n July 2017, the Nashville Public Library made a revolutionary change to its services: It abolished all overdue fines. In the three-plus years since, the library has not charged any fines for overdue materials, though it does still charge patrons for lost materials. The removal of fines has helped make reading materials more accessible to many Nashvillians — for some, it was a crucial change that made using the library possible. Before the policy change, the library would “freeze” cards if patrons owed more than $20 in fees. At the time of the change, there were roughly 50,000 patrons with frozen cards. NPL was clear that removing late fees was an important step toward making the library accessible to all patrons. In 2017, library director Kent Oliver explained NPL’s motivation for the policy change to Metro councilmembers: “If you are an at-risk family or a family on a fixed income, and maybe through no fault of your own your kids check out a bunch of stuff that you’re not aware of and you suddenly have $30 or $40 in fines … chances are, you’re not going to come back.” “The initial motivation was to remove what we saw as a barrier to accessing our library,” library rep Ed Brown tells the Scene. “We don’t want to penalize people for their love of reading, and we were grateful that both the mayor’s office and Metro Council fully supported our decision.” Library systems in other cities have recently adopted no-late-fee policies as well, with many arguing that fines disproportionately impact lowincome patrons. In October, the New York Public Library went fee-free. New York libraries had previously frozen cards of patrons who owed more than $15, and at the time fees were abolished, about 400,000 cards were frozen.

PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

BY LENA MAZEL

DOWNTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY

“We don’t think there were any specific groups that benefited more than others,” says Brown. “Whether you’re a person struggling financially, or a busy mom who has difficulty finding the time to bring your checkouts back to the library, or anyone in between, everyone benefits from not having to worry about being charged a fee.” Sarah Atenhan, a patron of the Old Hickory Branch, says removing late fees has made using the library more possible for her family. “When my family moved to Nashville in 2017, we had limited resources and relied heavily on the Nashville Public Library to entertain ourselves and our young daughter,” says Atenhan. “Discouraged by the late-fee memories of our youth, my husband and I were reluctant to become members or check out books for our daughter. Our entertainment-industry schedules were precarious enough; we couldn’t trust ourselves to return books by a specific date. And we couldn’t afford the accompanying fees.” For Atenhan, eliminating overdue fines removed a psychological barrier. “The elimination of late fees created a safer space for our family to utilize the Nashville Public Library,” she says. “It provided us with peace of mind while our 2-year-old pulled books from the shelves with abandon.” Since July 2017, nearly 124,000 people have signed up for an NPL card. “We do believe that people

who were hesitant to sign up before, or hesitant to use us extensively because of overdue fees, were much more willing to take advantage of what we offer because we did away with them,” says Brown. Eliminating overdue fines is part of a wider accessibility effort by NPL, which includes recent extended hours at the Old Hickory and Pruitt branches as of Dec. 11, and upcoming extended hours at the North and Richland Park branches in January. The locations of NPL branches are also strategic. “Our ultimate goal is that everyone in Nashville and Davidson County is within 3 miles or 15 minutes’ travel time of an NPL location,” Brown says. NPL also has programs for people with disabilities, including the Nashville Talking Library, which provides free readings of newspapers, magazines, books and other materials — through online streaming, over the phone, or on an audio device that the library provides for free. Brown tells the Scene that NPL is also a “very active proponent” of Library Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a statewide library with materials specifically for people with hearing disabilities. According to the Nashville Public Library Foundation, more than 350,000 Nashville residents own a library card. According to the foundation’s annual report, patrons borrowed nearly 4.2 million items in the past year. Luckily, those items are more accessible than ever. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

ennesseans finally got a look at one set of proposed new district maps, as the Republican-dominated General Assembly unveiled the new lines for the state House. Bleating about the transparency and openness of the process, our solons boldly revealed their work in the middle of a Friday afternoon the week before Christmas. Of course, the GOP mega-majority gave due time to proposals made by the public and a proposal from Democrats, which the rump caucus said more fairly unites cities and counties torn asunder by the last set of maps following the 2010 census. The Democrats’ proposal produced 68 solid Republican seats, 23 solid Dem seats and eight competitive districts. Rep. Kevin Vaughn (R-Collierville) praised the presenter of the map, Nashville Democrat Bob Freeman, as a “great salesman” — much as you would tell a child that his drawing is a “good giraffe” — before moving on to the only map that actually matters, the one produced by the redistricting committee itself. As one might imagine, and as had been rumored, Democratic incumbents were drawn together, as the Republicans wield the pen of power. In Nashville, Bo Mitchell and Vince Dixie now share a district, as do John Ray Clemmons and Mike Stewart. Shelby County is set to lose a seat with London Lamar and Torrey Harris drawn together. In Knox County, Gloria Johnson and Sam McKenzie share a district. Knox County, in the heart of the longtime Republican stronghold of East Tennessee, picked up the seat lost in Shelby County. This is just step one of many, of course. As longtime Capitol Hill reporter Erik Schelzig of the Tennessee Journal rightly observed, Friday’s map produced predictable Democratic outrage — outrage being essentially the only tool left for a party rendered mostly irrelevant legislatively. But as tweaks come in the coming months, some of the more controversial choices will be erased. The Senate will get its say too. And this map isn’t even the most worrying one for Democrats. Like the rest of us, they’ll have to wait and see if legislative Republicans slice Nashville into slivers in a penny-wise and pound-foolish effort to squeeze an 8-1 split in the U.S. House. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/20/21 3:44 PM

BE HOPEFUL. BE HOME.

Sing Me Back Home: Folk Roots to the Present EXHIBIT NOW OPEN

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VISIT TODAY

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nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

12/17/21 3:40 PM

NEW DISCOVERIES From the brand-new to the new-to-us, here’s a lineup of local gems we fell for in 2021

As the clock runs out on 2021, you’re likely being hit over the head with countless year-end lists, countdowns and best-ofs. That’s all well and good — from our Top Local Albums Critics’ Poll last week to next month’s forthcoming annual Jim Ridley Film Poll, we at the Scene are responsible for a few yearly countdowns ourselves. But that’s not what you’ll find in this week’s issue. Instead, for our New Discoveries cover package, we’ve decided to simply gather up some of our favorite local finds from the past year. Some of them are brand-new, like Wedgewood-Houston bookstore The Green Ray and pop-up Japanese barbecue purveyors Kisser. Others, like outreach nonprofit Street Works and East Side grocer Uptown Fruit Market, are simply new to us. Graffiti artists, karaoke bars, pet photographers, vintage shops — you’ll find all that and more below. Read on to find out what we fell for this year.

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/20/21 2:03 PM

Sid Gold’s Request Room

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

Wander into the East Nashville location of Sid Gold’s Request Room on a random weeknight and you might think you’ve been transported to a piano bar in another city. Possibly Manhattan’s Theater District, or San Francisco’s Union Square — but certainly not the strip of Gallatin Pike businesses formerly home to a Radio Shack. The original Sid Gold’s opened in New York in 2015, with a Detroit spot following in 2019 and local partners Kira Small, Glen Pangle and “Cowboy” Keith Thompson opening the Nashville outpost late last year. Take a seat at the semicircular bar in Sid’s front room and order a high-end cocktail — I recommend the Penicillin, boozy with scotch and garnished with ginger candy — or head back into the piano room to see what entertainment is on deck for the evening. Some nights you’ll find live piano karaoke hosted by pianist Alan Pelno or the impossibly well-versed Nashville Predators organist “Krazy” Kyle Hankins; on others you can catch a burlesque show. It’s heaven for former high school theater nerds and current musical-theater obsessives. Not a Sondheim nut? Go early for a pre-dinner cocktail or snack and bask in the venue’s colorful retro decor. Sid’s offers small plates, as well as daily happy-hour specials from 6 to 7 p.m. It’s open Monday through Thursday 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. D. PATRICK RODGERS

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

A Shop of Things I am wearing a pink (faux) fur ponytail holder as I type this. I bought it at A Shop of Things, a new boutique in Inglewood right next door to Sid Gold’s Request Room on Gallatin Pike (see above). Since opening on Nov. 1, A Shop of Things has become my neighborhood go-to. The first time I walked in, I saw a piece of art reading “F**k you, pay me.” Seeing as how that’s the freelancer’s motto, I felt at home. And then I saw the bucket hats with smiley faces, funky needlepoint pillows, the aforementioned ponytail holders, and other things that I didn’t know I needed until I saw that they existed. Mia Calotta opened her online shop in 2015, expanding to brick-and-mortar this fall. She also owns a separate business called Burning Love, which bills itself as “the internet’s cutest headshop.” While there’s some overlap — like funky lighters and ashtrays — the two businesses have different stock, if a similar aesthetic. Calotta describes A Shop of Things as “a gift store for the modern adult.” I didn’t do much (any?) random browsing in stores for no purpose in post-March 2020. And while that’s good for my budget and my goal of having less stuff, sometimes you want a thing or two, and I’m happy such things are affordably available in my neighborhood. A Shop of Things is open seven days a week at 3239 Gallatin Pike. MARGARET LITTMAN

Nashville Public Library’s Digital Offerings For more than a year, my pandemic brain could not wrap itself around much after the workday ended. Past 7 p.m., I didn’t want to look at screens or pages of text. With my attention span frayed, I needed some easy listening. I borrowed audiobooks from the Nashville Public Library with a pretty little app called Libby. Audible looks cluttered and ugly compared to Libby’s clean, intuitive interface. You can browse the library’s collection, check out your title and listen or read — all on your phone or tablet. I listened to Louise Penny’s entire Three Pines series on Libby (17 books!), and the hours trickled by at a slightly more jaunty pace. An even bigger deal in the digital library scene is NPL’s Kanopy membership. The streaming service is available only through a public library or university, and it provides access to a treasure trove of films. You can access lots of titles otherwise only streaming with a subscription to The Criterion Channel (Fellini! Bergman! Kurosawa!). Plus you’ll be able to stream Frederick Wiseman’s 50-year catalog of films — the prolific documentarian never had his work distributed commercially, but Kanopy makes it accessible to anyone with a library card and a Wi-Fi connection. The service has plenty of contemporary gems as well, like Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood, Robin Campillo’s BPM and Sean Baker’s The Florida Project. The website can be browsed by category, so card holders can dip into topics as diverse as fashion, journalism and midwifery. Check out 12 films per month for free. ERICA CICCARONE

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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12/20/21 2:04 PM

Monday Night Jazz

The nonprofit Street Works is not new. The group has been quietly working on Nashville’s streets for more than a decade, trying to — among other things — prevent the spread of HIV among vulnerable populations. For many of those years, Street Works handed out clean needles and disposed of dirty ones in defiance of state law, pursuing a harm-reduction strategy despite the state’s insistence on pushing abstinence. The idea is straightforward enough: People addicted to drugs like heroin are going to use, whether they have a dirty needle or a clean one. Better that they have a clean one and that they get it from people who will try to connect them to resources like addiction treatment and housing. But in 2018, a new state law legalized needle-exchange programs like this one. I became aware of the organization this year while following the alarming surge in drug deaths in Nashville, largely due to fentanyl. (See our Nov. 4 cover story “The Other Epidemic” for more on that.) Amid this epidemic, the folks at Street Works have continued pursuing their radical, vital work. In 2021 alone, the organization tells the Scene, it has distributed around 1.3 million clean needles and collected close to a million dirty ones to be destroyed. In addition to that, they give out about 400 boxes — two doses each — of the overdose-reversing drug Narcan each month, and the organization says staff members have personally saved the lives of eight people this year. STEVEN HALE

The New-Look Nashville Predators Power Play There hasn’t been a fan base in the history of professional hockey that’s been satisfied with its team’s power play. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, because there have been some great power plays over the years. (Currently, for example, the Edmonton Oilers are clicking at 31 percent with the man advantage, and that’s down nearly 10 points from their season high.) Over the years, the Nashville Predators have had some good seasons on the power play, dozens of mediocre seasons and, particularly recently, some very bad ones indeed. The team seemed locked into the hit-and-hope strategy employed to some success when defenseman Shea Weber, who boasts one of the hardest shots in NHL history, was the one blasting away. There was a lot of standing around, maybe a few too many passes and lots of time wasted looking for the perfect shot. Preds coach John Hynes brought in assistant Dan Lambert at the end of the 2019 season (in which the Preds were dead-last on the power play by some distance) to breathe new life. It took some time and some tinkering, but Lambert’s scheme is working. Unlike most teams, the Predators don’t have set positions with the extra man. The defenseman doesn’t have to stay at the top of zone, the grubby forward doesn’t have to park himself in front of the net, the center doesn’t have to stay on the halfwall, the slick passer doesn’t have to stay below the goal line, the sniper needn’t remain at the top of the face-off circle and so forth. The positions are the usual ones NHL teams have been using for years, but the Predators rotate through them like a volleyball team. Roman Josi might end up parked in front of the goalie, while Mikael Granlund slides out high. It’s a beehive of motion with passes made for loftier purposes than “well, we haven’t passed in a while,” and it creates mismatches for the penalty killers. There’s room for improvement still, but Nashville is in the top 10 on the power play, and that’s something worth cheering. J.R. LIND

PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

Fredrick Weathersby and Stefan Forbus’ Monday Night Jazz is important in several ways. It’s a showcase and gathering place for talent. It helps bolster William Radford’s The Local Distro, the Black-owned business that hosts it, in the thoroughly gentrified North Nashville neighborhood Germantown. But what’s just as meaningful is that it is so casual and communal. During one event, you might sit in with the band, play a game of chess with a stranger and watch someone practice aerial dance moves on a giant hoop on the back deck. Even before I moved on from the latenight bar scene, I seldom spoke with as many people I’d never met before as I did on a recent visit to Monday Night Jazz; the atmosphere seems to encourage it. At a time when so many things push us apart, a happening that seems designed to pull people together feels very special indeed. STEPHEN TRAGESER

Street Works

WithCo Cocktail Mixers As the pandemic chased people from bars to making their own drinks at home, the ready-todrink and cocktail-mixer industry took off. But frankly, a lot of these products are overly sweet, pale versions of the drinks they’re supposed to represent, often made using inferior base spirits as the core of the cocktail. That’s why I was so excited to discover WithCo, short for “with company.” WithCo is local, employing displaced Nashville hospitality workers and renting multiple warehouse spaces as it rose to the top-selling cocktail mix on Amazon during the age of COVID. They developed their own flavor profiles in house using fresh ingredients and no preservatives or additives, but they still have a shelf life of a year unopened or a month in the fridge after cracking the bottle. WithCo also allows me to use multiple different spirits to create discrete versions of mules, sours or margaritas, and I can pick from my favorites depending on the situation. Looking to impress some guests? Choose a rare añejo to create a special top-shelf margarita. Buddies coming over to watch football? Set a handle of Evan on the kitchen counter and let them mix their own Old Fashioneds so you can concentrate on the game! It’s a win-win. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/20/21 2:05 PM

Uptown Fruit Market

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

After leaving South Nashville — and the all-star lineup of international markets on Nolensville Pike — for the East Side, I was overjoyed to find a Latin American market right on Dickerson Pike. Uptown Fruit Market opened in 2013, so it’s only new to me, not to Nashville. But they did expand into Antioch back in the spring with a new store on Apache Trail. The busy tienda has plenty to offer, from a butcher counter to household supplies and snacks to, of course, fruit. The produce is fresh and plentiful, and if you’re too impatient to cook your food when you get home, the market has its own food truck parked right outside. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

The Green Ray

East Nashville Antiques and Vintage Meandering through the aisles of an antique store is a lovely way to pass time in the winter months. It can also be a rather challenging test of self-control — but hey, if you’re going to buy something, it might as well be a gem from a local business instead of some mass-produced item via Amazon. A solid new spot to do so is East Nashville Antiques and Vintage, a nostalgic wonderland of furniture, art, media, clothes, trinkets and who knows what else. The store is owned by Ken Harrison, who owned the Eighth Avenue Antique Mall for about 18 years before losing the lease and closing in August 2020. But in May, he opened up the new spot on Gallatin Pike and brought over some of his old dealers — and picked up around 20 more. Harrison says his vendors are “all just very creative and exciting people.” Based on the selection of items at the store, I concur. KELSEY BEYELER

Backslide Vintage There are myriad vintage shops all over town, and especially along Gallatin Pike. They all have their own charms and specialties, but a spot that might have flown under your radar is Backslide Vintage, which opened in October 2020 in North Inglewood. Husbandand-wife owners — and Smooth Hound Smith bandmates — Zack Smith and Caitlin DoyleSmith wandered into lots of thrift shops throughout the country while on tour, bringing clothes home to Nashville to sell in other shops and pop-ups. When the pandemic hit and prevented them from touring, they opened Backslide, which has an eclectic, ever-changing lineup of clothes, accessories and home goods. If you make the trip there, you should also check out Backslide’s two neighbors — Speakeasy Vintage (which includes plus-size vintage wares among its inventory) and Nikki Lane’s High Class Hillbilly. KELSEY BEYELER

Kisser Japanese BBQ One of the absolute best bites I had in 2021 was something called a Rice Burger — a 6-ounce Bear Creek Farm burger slathered in sauce and placed between two rice patties rather than on a bun. Inspired by Japanese hamburger chain MOS Burger’s original creation, the Rice Burger was a collaboration between acclaimed chef Sean Brock’s Joyland and local pop-up specialists Kisser Japanese BBQ. Run by husband-and-wife team Brian Lea and Leina Horii — both of whom have worked at Wedgewood-Houston’s excellent Bastion, among other culinary outposts — Kisser started out as a pop-up at The Patterson House. There they’d sling salmon inari, black-garlic wings, cucumber salad and a slew of other tasty items that earned them a writers’ choice in our 2021 Best of Nashville issue. Kisser has since moved on from The Patterson House, opting to pop up at Bastion and Joyland and every Tuesday at the East Nashville Farmers’ Market. So far, everything Lea and Horii have served has been a home run: mazemen, bento boxes, fried chicken curry sandwiches, onigiri. Kisser plans to open a brick-and-mortar location in East Nashville’s Highland Yards complex in the spring, and Horii promises “a Japanese bento spot” that — like the pop-ups — has “a focus on grilling and smoking as the primary cooking methods.” Whenever it ultimately arrives, I’ll be the first in line. D. PATRICK RODGERS

The Green Ray founder Rebecca Moon Cullum has always loved books — she grew up in Murfreesboro and Nashville, where she scoured the shelves at Video Culture and Rhino Books from a young age. Still, she wished there was a dedicated space for the kinds of bookstores she would visit on trips to New York and L.A. — places that carry rare and specialty art books. “Dashwood Books is my dream shop,” she says. “Walking into shops like that, I always felt that we don’t have a place like this in Nashville — and we need it.” The Green Ray is located in WedgewoodHouston near the airy entrance of the May Hosiery Mill Co-Op — which also houses the fantastic Relic Home, Be Good Shop and n.b. goods, among others. The space is warm and inviting, without the stiff vibes and aloof staff you’ll sometimes find at specialty shops. “Anyone can walk in and find something they like,” Cullum says. While her tightly curated selection of books and records has wide appeal, it’s not particularly mainstream. A rare 1980 Kate Bush biography sits by a new graphic novel from Daniel Clowes. Among the gems of The Green Ray’s inventory is a second edition of Timothy Leary’s Psychedelic Prayers that’s designed to be read on an LSD trip — and is complete with embossed pages that mimic the waves of psychedelic tracers — and a vintage set of the iconic magazine Eros, a 1960s top-shelf literary-erotic hybrid. In the few weeks since The Green Ray opened, Moon has already established relationships with used-book sellers across the country — including a public library in New York’s Hudson Valley, where she sourced collections of erotica, pop-up books and obscure trade publications. But there are also new editions — several from TBW, the indie photo book publisher based in Oakland, Calif. “We’re their first vendor in all of the South,” Cullum says. The Green Ray recently hosted a signing for Nashville-based photographer Kristine Potter, whose book Manifest is a TBW publication. Musician Patrick Sansone’s 100 Polaroids is another new photography book on The Green Ray’s shelves — the Nashvilleresiding Wilco member heard about the store and dropped by with a handful of signed copies. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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12/20/21 2:06 PM

The Trails at Fontanel

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

Secrets abound at the former home of The Woods Amphitheater at Fontanel in Whites Creek. The venue closed a few years ago, but the grounds still make for a great place to take a stroll or walk your dog, as we noted in this year’s Best of Nashville issue. The stage is nothing more than a big platform with few clues to suggest it was once a stage at all. Old sinks and vanities are now slowly being deconstructed by nature. The skeletal remains of the venue’s hillside box suites — their wooden frames still displaying their section numbers — look down over the meadow, empty. As I wander through with my dog I can’t help but wonder, “Who sat here when Bob Dylan performed in 2016? Or when Willie Nelson took the stage in 2011?” A short jaunt down an always muddy trail ends with the biggest secret. Across another meadow, hidden a few hundred yards beyond the blacktopped trail sits what appears to be one of Alabama’s touring semi trailers. I assume it belonged to Alabama, because the band’s name is all over it. It’s dirty and being overtaken by bushes and vines. The back doors are open and there’s stuff inside, but I can’t tell from the ground what most of it is. Broken gear? Trash people have left? I’ve wandered those Fontanel trails for hours, concocting dozens of possibilities for how that trailer got there and why it remains. A friend told me his friend told him there’s a coffin somewhere inside, but I haven’t mustered up the courage to peek. Some secrets should stay secrets. MEGAN SELING

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

Just.Glass

British Bee Tea Company British Bee Tea Company is the best British tea shop in Antioch. Of course, it is almost certainly the only British tea shop in Antioch, but my point remains. It’s one of my favorite mash-ups — a gift shop/cafe combo where I can spend a little money, sit a while, and then leave with another treat. A good routine is to grab an Earl Grey tea latte, chat with the folks who work there about their recent tea faves, and then scoop up some dried flowers or loose tea for a friend. (And then maybe a little something extra for yourself.) The tins they package the tea in are super cute, the space itself is adorable, and honey, they sell honey spoons by the bundle. AMANDA HAGGARD

I’m a pretty voracious recycler, and I totally get why Metro long ago abandoned curbside glass pickup services — glass is heavy, difficult to sort and liable to hurt somebody if it breaks. So the onus on recycling that product falls on us as concerned citizens. Still, I think it’s precious how the folks at the recycling center in Green Hills skip from their Audis to the dumpster with a Whole Foods bag to gently drop their one bottle of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc and a thoroughly rinsed jar of Newman’s Own pasta sauce into the bin, but when I dump my bags it sounds like John Bonham attacking a crystal chandelier. I can now avoid that embarrassment by engaging Just.Glass for a bimonthly pickup. (That’s twice per month, not every other month.) Sign up for their service, and Just.Glass will provide you with a collection bin as well as a convenient schedule and service map. Your totally reasonable fee ($18.50 per month) goes to support Justice Industries’ efforts to offer employment to people who have been incarcerated or faced addiction, mental illness, domestic abuse or generational poverty. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

King Tut’s King Tut’s has been turning heads and turning people into falafel fans for years. But chef Ragab “Rocky” Rashwan finding a spot to set up shop on Nolensville Road a few miles from my house has made King Tut’s the place to go as often as possible. Those opportunities increased in the fall with new lunchtime hours. The King Tut’s crew is on a winter break right now — though the truck is parked at a brick-and-mortar spot with a wonderful patio, the indoor kitchen and dining room aren’t ready to go just yet — and I am counting down the days till they reopen on Jan. 18. While Rashwan cooks his meat dishes to perfection, he makes what seem like unassuming vegetable dishes that taste like nothing I’ve had anywhere else; it takes a master of techniques and seasonings to make me daydream about sautéed eggplant. The big pro tip: Gather a few friends and ask Rashwan & Co. to serve your party the daily special platter. There are plenty of places to have a great dining experience, fine or otherwise, but there are no more capable hands to put yourself in. STEPHEN TRAGESER

Community Supported Agriculture

VERN

Signing up for a CSA box or basket from a local farm is a neat way to guarantee a supply of fresh veggies and support local agriculture, but it’s also a gateway to adventure. When my girlfriend signed us up for a peck basket from Bloomsbury Farm, she told me to prepare to be a little creative, and I thought, “Fine.” However, coming up with ways to enjoy various greens, root veggies and other items we hadn’t yet cooked with has been one of the highlights of our 2021. Before, I’d never even heard of okonomiyaki (a Japanese savory fritter, which we made with napa cabbage from our basket) or shishito pepper hash (which has also turned us on to sriracha mayo as one of the best condiments ever), or considered enhancing a salad with endive or mizuna (a kind of mustard green, also from Japan). Now they’re some of our favorites — one more reason to eagerly await the spring, when things begin to grow again. STEPHEN TRAGESER

“VERN,” the colorful bubblish letters blurt out. On retaining walls, exit signs and, well, any number of hard surfaces between the 440 split and Bellevue, the bright graffiti proclaiming VERN started showing up in points westward in the fall. Who is VERN? VERN is VERN. What does he mean? His only message is VERN. What is he trying to tell us? That he alone is VERN. Spotting a new VERN tag — highly legible, always large and typically in an eye-popping shade, finding and identifying VERN is easier than any other tagger in town — is a fun way to pass the time on the commute. And VERN is a little bit of a daredevil, having VERNed the backside of elevated interstate signs a time or two. And VERN is a bit cheeky, a bit mischievous. He once tagged a wall just west of the White Bridge Road exit on I-40, which road workers promptly painted over. But VERN is not one to let The Man keep him down — it was but a few days later that a new VERN emerged, right next to the painted-over one. VERN, whoever you are (you are VERN, I know), keep it up and keep your head down. J.R. LIND

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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Random Sample Random Sample, a new spot located just off Charlotte Pike, is exactly what its name implies — a space to collect and display a random sampling of all kinds of art from budding creative types. You could call it a gallery or an event space or a music venue, because it hosts installations, concerts and other events. But pigeonholing it wouldn’t be quite right. Random Sample’s owner, Linda Parrott, describes it as a “multidisciplinary space” for Nashville’s DIY scene. “I really want it to be a space for newer artists, or artists who don’t really have any installation experience,” says Parrott. The space is rather small, but that makes it less intimidating than other art spaces, and that’s the whole point. It also has a small gift shop featuring items from local artists. Keep an eye on Random Sample’s Instagram account (@rand0m_sampl3) for upcoming events and hours, or to book an appointment. KELSEY BEYELER

Eat Well Nashville Like many others, at the beginning of the pandemic my family cooked. A lot. Then we became burned out on cooking, so we ate out. A lot. Enter Eat Well Nashville, which delivers fresh, pre-portioned homemade meals to your door each week, saving you from having to do the dishes and ensuring you consume at least some greens. My personal favorites include the Honey Sriracha Meatballs with Israeli Couscous, the Sweet Potato Nacho Chicken Bowl and the Alice Springs Chicken, which tastes so decadent it’s hard to believe it’s good for you. They’ve made my lunches fancier and my dinners healthier. Pickup options are also available on Sundays and Mondays. ELIZABETH JONES

A campus for music based in the historic heart Madison, TN. The Barn serves as a platform to emotionally connect performers with the audience, music and events venue.

OPENING 2022

PHOTO: STRAYS TO BAES PET PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

DOWNTOWN

Strays to Baes Pet Portrait Photography As I drove Jasper to his first photo shoot, I assured him that he’d do just fine. “You’ll be so handsome on this year’s Christmas cards,” I said, slipping a piece of freeze-dried raw chicken into his backpack. Jasper is my 5-month-old kitten. If you’re wondering who the hell brings a cat to a photo shoot, the answer is, the same person who signed up to foster kittens and adopted the third one she met. Plus, I felt confident in our photographer. Lacey Maloch of Strays to Baes Pet Portrait Photography had been over to our house already to shoot my cats Frittata (a ham) and Sunnyside (a hider). After working for two hours to entice Sunny out from beneath the couch, Maloch set up her mobile studio downstairs to take some photos of the foster kittens in my care. About 15 minutes in, she captured their personalities — Easy as a scamp pretending to be innocent, and Benny as a princess pretending to be aloof. Maloch used a lavender backdrop — a perfect complement to the dilute tortie and chocolate tabby. We paid a fair price for our upstairs cats, but photographing the rescues cost nothing at all. With Strays to Baes, animals up for adoption are always free. Maloch, who has a degree in film, was volunteering at an animal shelter in L.A. when she got to know a

cat who hadn’t gotten a single adoption application in three months. She decided to bring in her camera, some lights and a backdrop. “As soon as we posted pictures that I took, it went from no applications to three,” says Maloch. “It got adopted, and I was like, ‘Wow, this makes a really big difference for something that, to me, feels really easy and natural to do.’ So I just went gung-ho coordinating photo shoots.” Shortly after Maloch moved to Nashville a year ago, she began offering her services to local organizations like SOARescue, Wags & Walks and Saving Stevie. How a rescue pet is presented online can be key to adoption, especially for organizations without traditional shelters that rely heavily on their online presence to garner applicants. Pet owners have enough blurry photos on our camera rolls to know that it’s not easy to get a well-lit, in-focus shot that shows the animal’s personality. Maloch uses bright backdrops to help the adoptable pets stand out online. She has insight into the psychology of dogs and cats, and her goal is always for the shoot to end on a good note for everyone. “This has also been a learning experience for me,” she says, “trying to merge my film brain with my animal brain and all the behavior tips that I’ve learned.” A winter wonderland — complete with a Christmas tree, presents, a pink reindeer and enough tinsel to deck the halls — awaited Jasper and me at Maloch’s house. My perfect cat son did not disappoint — because Maloch pulled out all the stops to make him feel like the special boy that he is. ERICA CICCARONE

Saturday, January 1

Saturday, January 29

SONGWRITER SESSION

Ryan Larkins

Jim Collins

NOON – 12:45 pm

FORD THEATER

•

Saturday, January 8

•

FORD THEATER

Saturday, February 5

SONGWRITER SESSION

Frank Ray

Marc Beeson

NOON – 12:45 pm

•

FORD THEATER

•

FORD THEATER

Saturday, January 15

Sunday, February 6

SONGWRITER SESSION

INTERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE

Nicolle Galyon NOON – 12:45 pm

•

FORD THEATER

Friday, January 21 LIVE IN CONCERT

Big Band of Brothers

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

Florida Georgia Line

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

Saturday, February 12 SONGWRITER SESSION

Josh Jenkins NOON – 12:45 pm

•

FORD THEATER

Friday, February 25 LIVE IN CONCERT

Saturday, January 22 SONGWRITER SESSION

Leah Turner NOON – 12:45 pm

•

Colbie Caillat 8:00 pm

•

CMA THEATER

FORD THEATER

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

CountryMusicHallofFame.org/Calendar

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nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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coming soon

DVOŘÁK & MOZART

BALLET FOLKLÓRICO DE MÉXICO January 23*

FULL ORCHESTRA REUNITED

DISCO FEVER: GET DOWN TONIGHT February 3 to 5

SERIES PARTNER

January 7 to 9

SERIES PARTNER

January 13 to 15

Family Concert

CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS

February 5 at 11 am

PAT METHENY SIDE-EYE W/ JAMES FRANCIES & JOE DYSON February 7*

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

ROCKETMAN IN CONCERT

Presented without the Nashville Symphony SERIES PARTNER

January 15 at 11 AM

January 17

February 17 & 18

RONNIE MILSAP February 19

TCHAIKOVSKY’S PATHETIQUE

JOYCE YANG PLAYS GRIEG

February 24 to 26

PLUS SY MPHONY SOLOISTS ON MOZART’S CONCERTO FOR FLUTE & HARP

CELTIC THUNDER: IRELAND

with the Nashville Symphony

February 27*

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January 20 to 22

January 28

*Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

EXPLORE OUR CONCERT CALENDAR AND BUY TICKETS 16

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NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

WITH SUPPORT FROM

CRITICS’ PICKS W E E K L Y

R O U N D U P

Before you start up with the “Die Hard is/isn’t a Christmas movie” nonsense, you should know: IT! DOES! NOT! MATTER! Die Hard is for the people. Die Hard can be whatever you need it to be. A Christmas movie, an action movie, an exception to the ACAB rule. (To be clear, John McClane is the one cinematic exception. All the other cops in the movie are awful, and yes, I’m including the Twinkie-loving Sgt. Al Powell — he SHOT A 13-YEAR-OLD, PEOPLE.) That said, as a longtime Die Hard enthusiast, I feel obligated to assign a little homework before you attend one of Thursday’s two Holiday Classics screenings at the Belcourt — you must watch the Die Hard episode of The Movies That Made Us, the Netflix series that gives us a behind-the-scenes look at some of America’s most influential films. In it, you’ll learn how the Die Hard we know and love almost didn’t happen — producers were angling for a more traditional action hero like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone for the role. CAN YOU IMAGINE? A Stallone Die Hard would have been terrible! Knowing what Die Hard could have been will only help you appreciate all that it is — Christmas movie or not. 3:25 and 8:40 p.m. at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave.

FITNESS

MEGAN SELING [TAKE A HIKE]

MARSHMALLOW AND HOT CHOCOLATE HIKES AT OWL’S HILL NATURE SANCTUARY

Whether you’re looking for a way to get the family moving or perhaps just escape the holiday rush on your own for a bit, Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary has you covered with its annual Marshmallow and Hot Chocolate Hikes. You’ll discover the unique quiet and beauty of a winter trail with the guided hike, then gather around a toasty fire for hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows. It’s a great activity for the whole family.

T O

D O

AMY STUMPFL [LIGHT TOUCH]

JEREMY LISTER’S JAZZY CHRISTMAS

A master of pure pop, Mississippiborn singer, songwriter and producer Jeremy Lister brings his light touch to his new Christmas album Happy Holidays,

Everyone. It’s a delight: Lister sings in a perfectly modulated tenor voice that radiates happiness, and Happy Holidays is the rare modern Christmas album that manages to transcend what can be a pretty depressing genre. Lister moved to Nashville in 2003 after doing a stint in popular Mississippi band Geronimo Rex, signing to a major label and writing songs in earnest after he landed in Music City. He’s made his name as a songwriter — his “Sinking Stone” ended up on Alison Krauss and Union Station’s 2011 album Paper Airplane — and has also written for film and television. As Happy Holidays demonstrates, he’s a deft, engaging singer. The album sports a bossa nova Christmas tune, “Christmas in Rio,”

which is as well-turned as the rest of the album. It’s a record that could have been made in 1963, but Lister makes the oldschool usages his own. He’ll perform the album Thursday at 3rd and Lindsley with a big band — expect to leave the show happier than when you went in. 8 p.m. at 3rd and Lindsley, 818 Third Ave. S. EDD HURT

FRIDAY / 12.24 MUSIC

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: DIE HARD

And while you’re there, you can check out other upcoming activities —  from geocache games to building your own bluebird nestbox. Please note: In order to help protect the sanctuary’s diverse wildlife and fragile habitats, please leave all pets at home. Visit owlshill.org for complete details. Dec. 23 & 28-31; Jan. 8 & 15 at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary, 545 Beech Creek Road

MUSIC

FILM

[A.C.A.B.E.J.M.]

T H I N G S

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

DIE HARD

THURSDAY / 12.23

O F

[LOOSE TIME]

WORKING STIFF JAMBOREE FEAT. THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS

I’ve seen a few shows by Nashville band The Cherry Blossoms, and it’s always interesting to observe how their audience perceives their music. Some listeners are immediately alienated — even outraged — by the group’s approach to time, which can be, you know, pretty loose. Guitarist John Allingham plays anti-licks that allude to blues and jug-band music, an approach that embraces a certain formlessness. On the other hand, the artless singing of Peggy Snow often strikes music lovers as a charming take on old-time blues and folk styles. The Cherry Blossoms got together in 1993 as part of a scene that took the Centennial Park-adjacent dive bar and music venue Springwater Supper Club & Lounge as ground zero for a collection of anarchic weirdos whose legacy lives on today in the work of bands like The Styrofoam Winos. Before Allingham and Snow started the group, Allingham had begun participating in The Working Stiff Jamboree, an open-mic event at the club that started in 1985. The group’s drummer, Chris Davis, runs FMRL, an arts collective that has done good work in the community for years. Newcomers should start with the band’s 2013 collection Live in Amsterdam — it peaks with their cover of Mississippiborn bluesman Doctor Ross’ “The Boogie Disease.” As is often the case with avantgarde music, The Cherry Blossoms’ work challenges you to figure out how well unintentionality works in art, and how indiscipline can bleed into beauty. Also

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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FILM

SATURDAY / 12.25 [TRADITION!]

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

[MAKES ME LOOK THE WAY I FEEL]

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: THE APARTMENT

I always forget that Billy Wilder’s 1960 multiple Oscar winner is set during the hope-inspiring holidays, which makes the movie’s dark, lonesome tone (attempted suicide plays a prominent role) even more bleak and forlorn — even though it’s supposed to be a raucous rom-com. Jack Lemmon is a Big Apple-based insurance clerk who climbs the corporate ladder by loaning out his apartment to higher-ups so they can get their tryst on. Things get a bit hairy when he starts falling for Shirley MacLaine’s elevator operator, who’s hung up on Fred MacMurray’s caddish (and married) personnel director, who just happens to need a place so they can get together. This cynical love story is yet another classic movie I can’t believe Wilder (who previously dropped such morally ambiguous masterworks as Sunset Boulevard and Ace in the Hole) got made. It will screen four times as part of the Belcourt’s very clutch Holiday Classics series. Dec. 26-28 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. CRAIG D. LINDSEY

CHRIS CROFTON

It’s been seven years since Chris Crofton left Nashville for Los Angeles, but Music City will always claim the actor, stand-up, musician and longtime Scene “Advice King” columnist as its own. The 52-year-old Crofton’s last LP and first since the move, 2018’s pathos-filled but pop-minded Hello It’s Me, deservedly got

MUSIC

[EASY ROLLING]

MONDAY NIGHT: THE TIGER BEATS; TUESDAY NIGHT: DEREK HOKE

Even in its heyday more than a halfcentury ago, blues music was a good-time, unpretentious artform that was designed for dancers and drinkers who wanted to go out on Saturday night and rip it up at a local club. That time-honored approach lives on in Nashville, where you can hear the excellent blues-soul group The Tiger Beats on Monday nights at the East Nashville venue The 5 Spot. The band features guitarists and singers McKinley James and Patrick Sweany, who play danceable tunes that feature excellent guitar solos. Sweany has made a series of soul-blues albums that show off his expert licks and impassioned singing. Meanwhile, James — who is 19 and looks a year or two younger — sings and plays guitar like a person who might have haunted the Los Angeles R&B scene in

[I LOST MY HAND! I LOST MY BRIDE!]

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: MOONSTRUCK Tucked in amid the vast pantheon

MOONSTRUCK

[DON’T LEAVE CHRIS OUT OF YOUR CHRISTMAS]

him some traction, earning kudos from Pitchfork and others — but here’s hoping local filmmaker Seth Pomeroy’s long-inthe-works, super-intimate and thorough documentary on Crofton, Nashville Famous, gets a cinematic release soon so the rest of the world can learn what Nashville’s underground rock and comedy showgoers have long known. For now, we can laugh, cry and cringe along to his sure-to-be-brutalbut-true meditations on the past two years at this post-Christmas East Room gig. Crofton will play some tunes solo acoustic, and his sister Pam Crofton will open with a stand-up set. 9 p.m. at The East Room, 2412 Gallatin Pike CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

MONDAY / 12.27 FILM

There’s nothing quite like seeing an old classic on the big screen —  especially during the holiday season. On Saturday, you can catch Fiddler on the Roof at the Belcourt as part of its popular Holiday Classics series. For more than 50 years, Norman Jewison’s 1971 adaptation of the hit Broadway musical has enchanted audiences with its heartfelt story of a poor Jewish milkman named Tevye, who must struggle to hold onto his family and his religious traditions in 1905 czarist Russia. Based on the beloved stories by Sholem Aleichem, the film features Topol (reprising his London stage role) as Tevye and a musical score by (then-unknown) composer and conductor John Williams. This Academy Award winner features a host of unforgettable songs — including “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset” and “To Life.” Grab your tickets early, as these screenings tend to sell out. 1:30 p.m. the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. AMY STUMPFL

SUNDAY /12.26

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

on the bill are The Limitations. 8 p.m. at Springwater, 115 27th Ave. S. EDD HURT

of holiday movies is an entry you may have forgotten is technically a Christmas movie — Norman Jewison’s 1987 film Moonstruck, which is showing Dec. 27 as part of the Belcourt’s ongoing Holiday Classics series. The fact that the film’s events take place around Christmas is incidental. What’s far more memorable about the multiple-Oscar-winning rom-com is, well, everything. Peculiar but wildly entertaining, Moonstruck follows a young Italian American widow (Cher, who is not Italian American but did land one of the film’s three Academy Awards) who strikes up an affair with her new fiancé’s brother (Nicolas Cage, very much Italian American and nearly 20 years Cher’s junior). Both actors are vibrant, and their chemistry is off the charts, but it’s Cage’s captivating and unusual performance in this, his 10th film, that truly makes Moonstruck — even with a stacked cast that also features Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis and John Mahoney. Does Moonstruck exude Christmassy holiday spirit? No. Not really at all. But it is wonderfully weird and delightful. 3:20 p.m. and 8:20 p.m. at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. D. PATRICK RODGERS COMEDY

THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS

FILM

PHOTO: STEVE CROSS

CRITICS’ PICKS

CHRIS CROFTON

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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FRI 12.31  MY SO-CALLED BAND: THE ULTIMATE 90S NEW YEAR'S EVE! CANNERY BALLROOM

FRI 12.31  Y2K MADNESS: THE ULTIMATE

SAT 1.15  NORTH BY NORTH / THE INFAMOUS HER / BASIC PRINTER / GLAMPER THE HIGH WAT

NEW YEARS PARTY

MON 1.17  GUS JOHNSON: HERE I COME

MON 1.10  ALLEN STONE

TUE 1.18  MATT LOVELL: "NOBODY CRIES

MERCY LOUNGE

CANNERY BALLROOM

WED 1.12  ALMOST FAMOUS THE HIGH WAT

FRI 1.14  AN EVENING WITH E L E Y KINGSTON HYTHE

THE HIGH WAT

FRI 1.14  THE EAST SIDE GAMBLERS THE GREAT AFFAIRS

MERCY LOUNGE

CANNERY BALLROOM

TODAY" VINYL RELEASE SHOW THE HIGH WAT

WED 1.19  ALMOST FAMOUS THE HIGH WAT

THU 1.20  SHANNON LAUREN CALLIHAN & FRIENDS THE HIGH WAT

FRI 1.21  THE GHOST OF PAUL REVERE EARLY JAMES

SAT 1.15  LOST DOG STREET BAND MATT HECKLER

CANNERY BALLROOM

THE HIGH WAT

WED 1.26  BOY HARSHER · SOLD OUT HIRO KONE

THE HIGH WAT

SAT 1.15  SPORTS

OKEY DOKEY & LITTLE BIRD

MERCY LOUNGE M

FRI. 12/31

My So-Called Band:

Y2K Madness:

CANNERY BALLROOM · The Ultimate 90s New Year's Eve! The Ultimate New Years PartY · MERCY LOUNGE

FRI. 1/14

An Evening with E L E Y

East Side Gamblers

THE HIGH WATT · Kingston Hythe

The Great Affairs · MERCY LOUNGE

SAT. 1/15

Lost Dog Street Band

CANNERY BALLROOM · Matt Heckler

1.28  MELD: 30TH GOLDEN BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION MERCY LOUNGE

2.2  RED: THE ACOUSTIC TOUR MERCY LOUNGE

2.23  STOP LIGHT OBSERVATIONS

Sports

Okey Dokey & Little Bird · MERCY LOUNGE

2.10  CORDAE CANNERY BALLROOM

3.10  HEART ATTACK MAN THE HIGH WATT

3.27  THE DANGEROUS SUMMER THE HIGH WATT

THE HIGH WATT

FRI 1.28  HOTEL FICTION HAPPY LANDING & BEDON

THE HIGH WATT

JACKIE HAYES & BOYISH

MERCY LOUNGE

FRI 1.28  MELD: 30TH GOLDEN BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

AMANDA BROADWAY BAND & LAURA REED

MERCY LOUNGE M

SUN 1.30  MIKE MAINS & THE BRANCHES ABBY HOLLIDAY & ESSY

THE HIGH WATT

SUN 1.30  REMO DRIVE

THU 2.3  BROTHER MOSES THE HIGH WATT

SAT 2.5  YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN: A TAYLOR SWIFT DANCE PARTY

CANNERY BALLROOM

· SOLD OUT

SAT 2.5  DANIEL NUNNELEE · SOLD OUT THE HIGH WATT

MERCY LOUNGE

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

CRITICS’ PICKS

818 3RD AVE SOUTH • SOBRO DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE SHOWS NIGHTLY • FULL RESTAURANT FREE PARKING • SMOKE FREE VENUE AND SHOW INFORMATION

3RDANDLINDSLEY.COM GREAT MUSIC • GREAT FOOD • GOOD FRIENDS • SINCE 1991 8:00

W/ KRISTIAN DAMBRINO

7:00

JIMMY HALL & THE PRISONERS OF LOVE FEATURING KENNY GREENBERG GALE MAYES

7:00

TUE

THE PETTY JUNKIES

THU

12 AGAINST NATURE

SUN

12/26

MON

12/27 12/28 12/30 FRI

12/31

8:00

8:00 7:30

SAT

PERFORMING TOM PETTY’S “WILDFLOWERS”

1/1

ADDISON INNISS

TUE

WITH HOLLIS & BROOKE HATALA

1/4

WALKING MAN

THU

A NIGHT OF THE “MUSIC OF JAMES TAYLOR” FEAT. GENE MILLER

1971 THE GREATEST YEAR IN MUSIC

FRI

7:30

8:00

DEREK ST. HOLMES BAND

WED

7:30

TO ROD STEWART ROD TRIBUTE “TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT”

THU

8:00

7:30

HEART BARRACUDA AMERICA’S TRIBUTE WITH MUSIC CHILD’S ANTHEM THE OF TOTO

FRI

‘A STEELY DAN EXPERIENCE’

WITH SAM HUNTER

FEATURED

1/8

1/9

1/15 THE CLEVERLYS TWO SHOWS!

LILLY WINWOOD W/ CYRENA WAGES

1/7 1/12 1/13 1/14

1948, back when the genre known as jump blues was at its peak. With drummer Jason Smay (James’ father) hitting the skins like a guy who loves Chess Records-style blues, The Tiger Beats honor the legacy of Bobby Bland, Rufus Thomas and other soul and blues greats. In a similar vein, rock-bluescountry singer, songwriter and guitarist Derek Hoke began hosting an event called Two Dollar Tuesdays about a decade back. If you were asked to describe Nashville’s local music scene to an outsider, you might pick Hoke as an example of the easy-rolling performer whose forays into roots music are consistently interesting. Check out Hoke’s 2017 album Bring the Flood, which expertly reworks various rootsy genres. 6 p.m. Monday and 8 p.m. Tuesday at The 5 Spot, 1006 Forrest Ave. EDD HURT

TUESDAY / 12.28 MUSIC

JEFFREY STEELE BAND

THE TIGER BEATS

1/6

8:00

WITH THE REAL OLD HOUSEWIVES OF NASHVILLE

GUILTY PLEASURES : NEW YEAR’S EVE

THE LONG PLAYERS

1/27

2/20

CHARLES WESLEY GODWIN

3/3 GOODBYE JUNE

TINSLEY ELLIS

COMING SOON 1-16 OLIVER WOOD 1-17 THE TIME JUMPERS 1-22 BACKSTAGE NASHVILLE! DAYTIME HIT SONGWRITER SHOW 1-22 WORLD TURNING BAND “THE LIVE FLEETWOOD MAC EXPERIENCE” 1-24 THE TIME JUMPERS

1-25 SMITH CURRY, SAM HUNTER, CHARLIE WORSHAM, & RADNEY FOSTER 1-26 COLIN RAYE & THE RIFF RAFF 1-28 VINYL RADIO 1-29 RESURRECTION: A JOURNEY TRIBUTE

2-5 2-10 2-12 2-17 2-24 4-8 4-9

THE EAGLEMANIACS MCBRIDE & THE RIDE LOS COLOGNES HOGSLOP STRING BAND CLINT PARK RAY WYLIE HUBBARD RAY WYLIE HUBBARD

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

[MAKE A MEAL OF IT]

KDSML AND FRIENDS

For more than a decade, beat-crafter extraordinaire Jesse Shacklock (better known as KDSML) has stood out among the producers blurring the lines between Music City’s hip-hop and underground danceparty scenes. Like everyone else, he was sidelined from in-person performance by the pandemic; one of very few sorta-recent chances to catch him on the decks was at a March event in support of independent venues during which Exit/In briefly became a skate park. In the post-Christmas season, there’s traditionally been a reunion of some of the DJs and producers who picked up the beat for the instrumental hip-hop and dance scene here in the Aughts and early 2010s, and KDSML is taking up the mantle this year with Tuesday’s event at Exit/In. Dono Dagger will be your emcee, and a variety of DJs will man the decks: Rate (cofounder of massive hip-hop party The Boom Bap), OHB (the duo of rappers Sofa Brown and Evan Blocker), Spice J (Music City’s bounce ambassador) and Dread Savage (whose mixes lean toward the high-bpm end of the spectrum). Per tradition, there will also be live painting from muralist and graffiti artist Bryan Deese, known to the old Nashville heads as REX2. 9 p.m. at Exit/In, 2208 Elliston Place STEPHEN TRAGESER

EVERGREEN:

THINGS YOU CAN DO ANY TIME WRITING

JEREMY LISTER JAZZY CHRISTMAS

[POWER OF THE PEN]

I recently turned 40, so I am very much looking for ways to keep the old mind limber! (Over-40-year-olds: Feel free to roll your eyes in unison.) Whatever your age, The Porch Writers’ Collective’s new roster of classes is guaranteed to make you think. For starters, check out Picture It: VisionBoarding and Intention-Setting with poet Ciona Rouse, in which participants will “collage their desires and inspirations for the year ahead.” For total newcomers to The Porch’s magic, check out Story Starter, in which co-founder Katie McDougall will lead a 90-minute crash course in crafting fiction. For those who have the fundamentals down pat, there are loads of specialized courses and single-day workshops to choose from: Finding Humor in Pain, Tiny Fables and Other Everyday Magic, Queer Writing and other options are available. It’s no secret that being a writer no longer requires only a room of one’s own. You have to work the ’Gram too. Social Media Workshop for Writers will be led by Kim Baldwin, a social media strategist, book lover, contributor to the Scene’s column Vodka Yonic and woman-about-town. Some big names are on the roster too, such as Kiese Laymon, Lee Conell, Jenny Qi and Lydia Peele — you’ll want to register for their workshops now because they’re sure to fill up. Scholarships are available. Sharpen your pencils, folks, and find the schedule at porchtn.org. ERICA CICCARONE

STREAMING

THU

12/23

THIS WEEK

[DICKIE BIRD, THE CHRISTMAS WORM]

WATCH COMFORT AND JOY ON YOUTUBE

Whenever the holidays come around, a quiet little hobby of mine is to hip people to Comfort and Joy — aka the best Christmas movie you didn’t know about. It’s a charming, oddball 1984 comedy from director Bill Forsyth (Local Hero, Gregory’s Girl). It starts off melancholy, with Scottish radio DJ Alan “Dickie” Bird (Bill Paterson, best known as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s dad from Fleabag) burying himself in his work after his kleptomaniac girlfriend abruptly breaks up with him during the holidays.

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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thebasementeast basementeast thebasementeast

917 Woodland Street Nashville, TN 37206 thebasementnashville.com

how

12/22 Gucci Juice Xmas

s new

with Trap, Dot Way, Gucci (venue)

12/23 Battery House Electric Co

Q YEAR'S EVE // DEC 31

PARAMORE VS. AVRIL LAVIGNE // JAN 6

THE SHADOWBOXERS // JAN 7

THE EMO NIGHT TOUR // JAN 8

QUEEN TRIBUTE // JAN 15

SAM FISCHER // JAN 18

with Chemtrail, Monsters of Peyote (venue)

A TRIBUTE

QDP NEW YEAR'S EVE

12/30 Rough Dreams

w/ secondSELF, Bad Blood, Borrowed Sparks (venue)

12/31 The Cobra’s NYE Party

with She’s Lost Control & Thump (online tickets)

1/1 Mad Cabbage (ep release)

with Steadt Rorarion, Access Control (venue)

WWW.COBRANASHVILLE.COM

A NIGHT AT THE MIPS

Upcoming shows dec 28 dec 29 dec 30 dec 31 jan 6 jan 7 jan 8 jan15 jan18 jan19 jan 20 jan 23 jan 27 Jan 29 Jan 30

maddie poppe w/ Marielle Kraft live emo band karaoke live emo band karaoke QDP new year's eve paramore vs. avril lavigne tribute the shadowboxers the emo night tour A Night at the MipS: A Tribute to Queen sam fischer nita strauss w/black satellite & abby K jake scott w/josie dunne sold out! jive talk w/ future crib & cort tenille townes w/alex hall Genesis Owusu w/blake ruby Fit For an autopsy w/enterprise earth,

Feb 2 Feb 3 Feb 4 Feb 5

Current Joys w/dark tea nile w/incantation, sanguisugabogg, and I am The Weather Station w/cassandra jenkins powerslave: iron maiden tribute

Feb 10

w/symptom of the universe: black sabbath tribute Muna w/ Allison Ponthier sold out!

ingested, signs of the swarm, and great american ghost

SUPER FELON // DEC 28

Dec 29 Dec 30 jan 7 jan 7 jan 8 jan 9 jan 10 jan 12 jan 12

fleetwood mac tribute w/nomenclature K.Flay w/g.flip & corook Bendigo fletcher w/abby hamilton john moreland w/will johnson emily king obscura w/abysmal dawn, vale of pnath, & interloper gracie abrams w/ alix page sold out! valley sold out! samia w/ annie dirusso neal francis w/ Emily Wolfe brett dennen w/the heavy hours zachary williams drama Iceage w/ sloppy jane chap0 trap house podcast sold out! half•alive Inhaler w/junior mesa sold out! gary numan w/i speak machine goth babe kat von d w/prayers cults the dear hunter

THE DEAD DEADS // DEC 30

GRIMEY'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!

Dec 28

Feb 11 Feb 12 Feb 16 feb 17 feb 19 feb 20 feb 21 feb 22 feb 24 reb 25 feb 26 feb 27 mar 1 Mar 2 mar 3 mar 4 Mar 5 mar 7 mar 9 mar 10 mar 12 mar 13

W/ HURTS TO LAUGH, ROB ALDRIDGE AND THE PROPONENTS, & MIA MORRIS

UPCOMING SHOWS

Super Felon Celebrates Grimey's Birthday! the 1952 sold out! The Dead Deads w/ Hurts to Laugh, Rob Aldridge And The Proponents, & Mia Morris alex rahal w/ brad sample (7pm) eric slick w/jenny besetzt (9pm)

brandy zdan & rose hotel Kat Brock & Vaughn Walters w/Kristin Andreassen & Ziona Riley

mike frazier w/caitlin webster & tara dante natasha blaine w/ Dorian Lackey (7pm) ben chapman (9pm)

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

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 feb 6

savannah rae brandy zdan & ruby boots husbands

w/east nash grass

1604 8th Ave S Nashville, TN 37203 thebasementnash

thebasementnash

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

WE’RE BACK

CRITICS’ PICKS

Sports on 30 Screens

COMMUNITY

Soft-open menu of your BTE Favorites Now non-smoking Inside

MAKE A CHEAP WINTER CAT SHELTER

This one’s for all the suckers who put out food and water for the freeloading felines of Mewsic City. Community cats — that is, free-roaming cats who are unclaimed and live outdoors — come in all temperaments. You may be visited by a fat tomcat who, for all you know, goes from house to house, chowing down several times a day. Or maybe you cater to a shy girl who lounges in your garden and is slowly, slowly starting to trust you. (Keep going! It might happen in 20 years!) The truly crazed among us feed feral cats the only time they come out — in the dark of night. (In which case, we also feed unknown opossums and raccoons.) All of these cats could use a warm place to crash in the winter months.

Come have a drink with us: M-F 4:30p-1a | S-S 11a-1a

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

[FERAL FRIDAY]

this trouble only to find your favored stray snoozing on a snowbank instead — that’s cats for you! ERICA CICCARONE FOOD & DRINK

Bird eventually gets shaken out of his funk when — and this is one of the most insane narrative 180s I’ve ever seen in a film — he suddenly becomes the unlikely mediator in a turf war between rival ice-cream truck vendors (which, believe it or not, was a real problem in 1980s Glasgow). Unlike Forsyth’s other, more acclaimed films, Comfort never got a big Blu-ray/DVD rollout in the States. And for a while there, the only streaming service that carried it was digital library app Hoopla. Thankfully, some kind soul uploaded the movie on YouTube, where it remains for those who want to spend Christmas taking in all its wonderful weirdness. CRAIG D. LINDSEY

[GLAD TIDINGS]

MAKE RUSSIAN TEA

My mom’s mother, known to everyone younger than her as Baba, came by a long route from Russia to Alabama. Sadly, Baba died when I was very little, and I didn’t get to know her myself. I’ve heard she was a character who taught herself to draw via a correspondence course and supported her three kids when they were young by illustrating newspaper ads for local department stores. Among the things of hers I have is her recipe for Russian tea, a spiced fruit tea made with such reverence in our house around the holidays that I thought she’d invented it. Your equipment: a big pot, a big bowl, a strainer, a zester and a juicer or reamer. Your ingredients: Earl Grey tea (Twinings preferred, loose if you can find it), cinnamon sticks, cloves, four big oranges, three hefty lemons, sugar and three cups of pineapple juice (you can eyeball a little more than half of one of those 46-ounce cans you see at the store). Heat one gallon of water in the big pot until it’s boiling. Then, add three tablespoons of loose tea (or 15-18 bags), a stick-and-a-half of cinnamon and a teaspoon of cloves. Turn the heat down and let it simmer with the lid off for 15 minutes. Cut the heat entirely, put on the lid and let it steep for 45 minutes. Meanwhile,

nashvillescene.com

MAKE A CHEAP WINTER CAT SHELTER

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

Roof-Top Christmas Pop-Up Bar Heated | BACK FOR 2021

NOW OPEN 209 Printers Alley candycanejanes.com 22

As anyone who knows cats knows, if you spend more than a few bucks on a cat, it will render the product unusable. Just ask my stray girl, Quiche, who chooses a cardboard box over her cute, blue “Cat’s Home” again and again. A box is fine for summer, but the winds of winter require more insulated options. You can make a cat shelter using things you have around the house or you can buy cheap. A Styrofoam cooler will do the trick nicely. Cut an entrance hole that’s 6 inches in diameter and stuff it with straw. For a shelter that’s a bit more advanced, insert a plastic tote into a larger plastic tote. Fill the space between them with straw to provide insulation, and cut out your entrance hole. A note about material: A blanket or towel will absorb moisture and freeze, but straw stays nice and dry. There are loads of tutorials online to guide you, and you can of course snazz it up with some color and signage. (But writing “No Opossums Allowed” might not get you very far.) Of course, you might go to all

zest the fruit until you have a tablespoon of orange peel and a teaspoon of lemon peel, then juice all the fruits; don’t worry about straining unless you really dislike pulp. The measurements aren’t exact, but I usually end up with between three and four cups of juice; I have heard of people making Russian tea with Tang, and as long as you don’t do that, you’ll be fine. Once steeping is done, you should have a rich, dark, spicy tea; pour it through the strainer into the big bowl to catch the spices and tea leaves, then dump it back into the pot. Add all the juices and the zest. Baba’s instructions call for two to three cups of sugar, but she had a sweet tooth, and I usually find a cup-and-a-half is plenty. Let it heat through, enough to dissolve the sugar and get steamy, and serve. The drink has a balance of sweet, tart and spicy that is both comforting and refreshing whenever it’s dreary outside. As a bonus, it makes your house smell like Christmas for a good while after. STEPHEN TRAGESER

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/20/21 1:52 PM

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Order now at nashvillesceneshop.com. nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

FOOD AND DRINK

HIP TO BE SQUARE Pastry chef Alyssa Gangeri spills the secrets behind The Butter Milk Ranch’s croissant cubes and mousse cakes BY MEGAN SELING

nside a renovated midcentury building in 12South that was once home to beloved vintage clothing shop Katy K Designs and Ranch Dressing sits a new kind of eye candy. The best kind of eye candy — edible eye candy. THE BUTTER MILK The Butter Milk RANCH 2407 12TH AVE. S. Ranch is where BUTTERMILKRANCH.NET dessert dreams OPEN WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY, come true. The 8 A.M.-4 P.M. cafe and bakery opened in October and serves breakfast, lunch and desserts Wednesday through Sunday, with a special emphasis on the sweet side of the menu. The front counter displays an array of baked goods, from cookies and something called Southern Lard Bread to more than half a dozen different kinds of croissants — twicebaked almond, lemon poppy, maple bacon, raspberry pain au chocolat, butter pecan and more. On the other side of the front counter is the refrigerated pastry case, where a colorful selection of pictureperfect single-serving mousse cake entremets shine brightly from behind the glass like valuable artifacts in a gallery. Unseen until you order it: the croissant cube, The Butter Milk Ranch’s take on the breakfast sandwich. A cube-shaped croissant — yes, cube-shaped — is split in half and filled with eggs, cheese and your choice of meat. This is a life-changing invention for anyone who clamors to get the corner piece of anything, as there are eight crunchy corners that burst into delicate buttery flakes with each bite. It is fantastic. All of this is made by pastry chef Alyssa Gangeri, a New York transplant who came to Nashville in 2018. Gangeri has been baking since she was a child, having first developed her skills while hanging out in the kitchen with her grandmother. She learned more trade secrets at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, N.Y., and eventually worked with some of New York’s best chefs, including Tom Colicchio, Norman Van Aken and Gray Kunz. In 2015 she also launched a series of children’s cookbooks called Mimi’s Adventures in Baking, in which a young girl named Mimi learns how to make everything from New York-style pizza to gingerbread men. The Butter Milk Ranch’s desserts aren’t the kind of sugary delights I’d ever attempt on my own — I tried to make croissants exactly once. It was a disaster, and I promised to never do it again because it was an insult to butter for me to even attempt. But Gangeri was kind enough to spill some of her kitchen secrets anyway. See our conversation below.

I need to know more about your croissants. What is the key to getting a really, really good croissant? Croissants are a serious labor of

love and dedication. I was lucky enough to train under the famous Antonio Bachour in Miami, where I learned how to make croissants and viennoiserie. There are so many variables that go into ensuring the perfect croissant — a slight change in temperature can affect your dough and end product in a big way. Our croissants at The Butter Milk Ranch are a three-day process. Lamination is a delicate process that takes a lot of patience and attention to ensure you are creating the perfect layers. At BMR we are really trying to focus on small-batch baking to ensure that no matter what time you visit, you get to enjoy a croissant that is less than two hours out of the oven. The fresher the better. If you eat a croissant and don’t make a flaky mess you aren’t enjoying a fresh croissant!

I have sampled several of the entremets from the pastry case, and I think one of my favorites is the black forest cake. It is so flavorful, and that mousse is the perfect texture — what is the secret to good flavor balance? There are a lot of components in the entremets, and I’d imagine it can take some experimentation to ensure they all work well together. Our entremet case was always meant to be similar to a jewel case that was bright, colorful and happy. Almost like small edible pieces of art. There is nothing better than something that catches your eye and tastes even better. Developing new desserts is something I am constantly doing. Both our entremet and baked-good cases change all the time. I love experimenting with new flavors and techniques, but I focus heavily on making sure the flavors are balanced. Not too sweet, not too heavy — it has to be just right, which takes some trial and error sometimes. Luckily I have a great team that is always willing to taste test and give feedback! I believe if you aren’t learning and growing you become stale. I strive every day to be better than yesterday. Developing new flavor combinations is something we are constantly working on. The key is focusing not only on flavors that work well together but textures as well. I am a big texture person. I love creating the perfect mousse and pairing it with a delicate cake, along with a softer filling and maybe a light crunch component as well. I believe taking it to another level is what separates a good dessert from a great one.

ALYSSA GANGERI

I loved the Yule log too — what are some of the spices in it that make it taste extra Christmassy? The Yule log is one of our bestsellers currently! When I opened up Butter Milk Ranch we brought in some of the amazing High Garden Teas. One of my favorites was the Bergamot Chai, and the moment I tasted it I wanted to transform it into a dessert. I find inspiration all over for new desserts. Our Yule log is made with a flourless dark chocolate cake, bergamot chai cream cheese mousse and finished with a chocolate caramel ganache. The bergamot

CROISSANT CUBE

PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS

SUGAR SHOCK

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/20/21 4:27 PM

FOOD AND DRINK

LIVE MUSIC | URBAN WINERY | RESTAURANT | BAR | PRIVATE EVENTS

12.27

12.26

Nashville Jazz Orchestra

Avery*Sunshine

Boxing Day Concert featuring

early & late show

Special Guest Vocalist Sandra Dudley

BLACK FOREST CAKE

12.28

12.29

Peter Mayer

An Evening with

Shawn Mullins

Ring Out The Bells

12.30 12.31

Marc Broussard Full Band with Horns

PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS

MR. TALKBOX NYE PARTY WITH 12.31 SPECIAL GUEST LIL BYRON! IN THE LOUNGE

YULE LOG chai I felt gave the perfect subtle holiday flavor without it being overpowering. The flavors of cloves, orange peel, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom are married perfectly with the citrus flavor of bergamot and the subtle sweetness of cream cheese.

Are you working on any more books for the Mimi’s Adventure in Baking series? Mimi’s Adventures in Baking has been a huge passion project for me. I always wanted to write a cookbook but never knew what was going to separate mine from the thousands of others. I spent countless hours in Barnes & Noble, wandering around the cooking section trying to figure out what I wanted to write. One day I ventured into

the kids’ section and realized there was a huge lack of children’s cookbooks. The thing with baking is, it is perfect for core STEM learning. There is so much hands-on learning in baking all while children get to do a fun project. From science to math to following directions. I knew at that moment that I wanted to develop the firstever children’s storybook cookbook. I am working on my fifth book, which is slated to be all about learning how to make biscuits. At the BMR we are working on perfecting a laminated biscuit to stay in line with our other laminated products, and my hope is to create a version of that recipe for the newest book! EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

1.15

CHARLIE STARR - EARLY & LATE SHOWS

1.1

7TH ANNUAL NEW YEARS DAY WITH LANGHORNE SLIM & FRIENDS

1.16

MARTIN SEXTON

1.2

THE PURPLE MADNESS: PRINCE TRIBUTE

1.17

WATKINS FAMILY HOUR BROTHER SISTER TOUR WITH COURTNEY HARMAN

1.7

GA-20 & JD SIMO

1.19

DAN RODRIGUEZ IN THE LOUNGE

1.8

DINING WITH DIVAS DRAG DINNER BENEFITTING NASHVILLE PRIDE

1.22 THE 8 TRACK BAND

1.8

INEBRIATED SHAKESPEARE PRESENTS: HAMLET IN THE LOUNGE

ANNUAL ‘FOR PETE’S SAKE’ 1.23 4TH BENEFIT

1.9

WEBB WILDER AND THE BEATNECKS

AILI, ERIC ERDMAN, & SHELLY 1.27 SARAH RIFF: OUR SONGS IN THE LOUNGE

1.9

NASHVILLE BEATLES BRUNCH FEATURING FOREVER ABBEY ROAD

1.28 ANTHONY RODIA

1.11

THE IGUANAS AND KEVIN GORDON

WITH DIVAS DRAG BRUNCH 1.29 DINING BENEFITTING NASHVILLE PRIDE

609 LAFAYETTE ST. NASHVILLE, TN 37203, NASHVILLE, TN 37203 @CITYWINERYNSH / CITYWINERY.COM / 615.324.1033

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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12/20/21 4:28 PM

VODKA YONIC

1106 Woodland St - Ste. 1 East Nashville | Five Points

(500) DAYS OF BUMMER

This is a story of ‘boy meets girl’ — but it’s not that kind of love story

Vodka Yonic

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

B U R G E R &

(1)

C O MP A N Y

It’s July 2020. The collective We is settling into our cruel new reality (the one in which we’re forced to know who Chet Hanks is). In January, I had quit my full-time job building supercomputers to pursue comedy, a thing that now no longer exists. I’m disabled due to a chronic condition, and I’m catatonically depressed. I’m 26 years and two months old. I turn to Juan, my fiancé, and say I don’t think I believe in marriage. He doesn’t know what to do with that. I don’t either. But we both know I need health insurance. Que romantique.

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He accompanied me to New York when I was performing in a comedy festival in December 2019. There he tried proposing three separate times. First, on the rooftop of The Met: too many people and an iPhone camera snafu. Second, at the ice rink in Central Park. The, to our surprise, Donald Trump-branded ice rink in Central Park. I’d finally given up hope when we arrived at the Bethesda Fountain. It was midnight, and we were the only ones there. He had a speech, but he forgot it. His ankle was chafed from holding the ring, which we’d picked out together, in his sock. We ugly-cried and it started to drizzle. Skateboarding teenagers emerged from the terrace and asked if we wanted a picture.

(99)

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We say our vows under a big oak tree, which we both agree is perfectly us. It’s a small outdoor wedding that I’d tried to postpone, but the down payments were sent before COVID arrived and the situation’s been changing month to month. I think everybody secretly wanted me to have a little depression project. The delivery man dropping off the wine tells me I’m “the most beautiful bride [he’s] ever seen.” I find that hard to believe: I’m wearing an N-95 and fumbled through styling my own hair and makeup. Juan tears up reading his vows. I don’t, but I ugly-cried privately while writing them. We split off after the ceremony to make our rounds. We accidentally don’t talk to each other all night. At 11:30 p.m., our officiant pulls us aside: We forgot to sign the marriage certificate. When I go to USPS the next week, I bargain with the mailbox before dropping the envelope in.

(170)

It’s January and we’re camping at Palo Duro Canyon, a mesmerizing chasm you can fall into if you aren’t paying enough attention. It’s freezing cold. Juan wakes me up with a hot coffee. He’s been up for two hours. He’s cut the sleeves off of his hoodie to give to our dog Tessa to wear. I sketch the view from our campsite. This is our mini honeymoon. We’re planning to go on a Southwestern road trip when things go back to normal.

(198)

It’s Valentine’s Day, and Juan’s fire chief sends him home early because Winter Storm Uri is about to hit Texas, where we live. I’m surprised to feel sad that I can’t spend Valentine’s Day watching rom-coms alone. I make us a cute dinner, and we celebrate by dripping our pipes and wrapping our hose line. Things we don’t prepare for: the collapse of our entire state’s electrical grid for a week; the loss of safe, drinkable water; and the realization that everyone I’ve ever loved — friends, family and enemies — can die at any moment, and there is nothing we can do about it. Juan drags me out of bed with coffee every morning, but I fight it. The bed is warm, and I deserve to be horizontal at a time like this. We cook spaghetti on a camp stove, and I light candles. We drink leftover wedding wine and pretend we’re in a French bistro. I’m getting bored of Uno and Phase 10, so I ask him to play The Question Game, a game I invented for road trips. You ask a question, everyone answers, and so on. He says he hates that game. It’s too scary.

(205)

I ask him for a divorce a week after the snowstorm. It is simultaneously shocking and not shocking for both of us. But I just woke up one day and I knew. I make him watch (500) Days of Summer with me, and we cry together for the first time since the proposal.

(500)

I live in Los Angeles now. I moved here four months ago. I sold the house in Austin that I bought in my past life as a hardware engineer, and even though I didn’t have to, I gave Juan enough money to put a down payment on his own home. He’s getting the ranch he’s always wanted. I’m getting the shot at a career in TV comedy writing that I’ve always wanted. The love we had for each other isn’t gone, it’s just different. Tomorrow, I’m going to go to Angelus Plaza. I’m going to sketch the skyline. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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12/20/21 1:55 PM

ART

LASTING

Kayla Rumpp’s playful sculpturepaintings bid a colorful goodbye to Channel to Channel BY JOE NOLAN

“GYNOID” it is affecting and thought-provoking. “Gynoid” is the most sculptural piece in the show. This collection of painted wooden slats leans in a corner of the gallery, forming a dress-like shape radiating from a cinched waistline. The title refers to the layer of fat at the hips, and Rumpp gives viewers a hard linear masculine form to evoke voluptuous femininity. It’s a sleek sculpture, but it’s speaking sexy messages to those with the ears to hear it. “Xenia” is another ingenious exploration of the mushy border between painting and sculpture. Here, Rumpp treats viewers to a colorful range of painted rectangles that are stacked to create a totemic form. The individual rectangles speak to the expectations of traditional painting on four-cornered canvases or panels, but simply by stacking these together, Rumpp completely recontextualizes them into a sculptural space. Soma calls to mind both entheogenic liberation and chemical control. Painting and sculpture aren’t set at such divergent extremes, but there’s a whole spectrum of expression between image-making and object-making. Rumpp reminds us of the materiality of paintings, but also of the imagistic possibilities in sculpture. Her work highlights the way space — and its absence — are articulated in both mediums through textures and tones, and she manages to center all of this heady and heavy stuff while utilizing candy colors and cartoon aesthetics. See Soma before Channel to Channel closes its last Nashville show — the exhibition will be available for viewing by appointment through Dec. 27. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

“FINA”

THE PURE FORMALISM OF RUMPP’S SOMA EXHIBITION IS THRILLING, AND THE ARTIST’S PROVOCATIVE PUSHING AND PULLING IN THE VENN OVERLAP BETWEEN SCULPTURE AND PAINTING IS PRECISELY BALANCED TO DELIGHT.

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

art_12-23-21.indd 27

KAYLA RUMPP

n a city full of dynamic exhibition spaces, it’s reductive to call just one of them the best. But if I were making a list of must-see local art spaces, Channel to Channel would be at the top. It’s sad, then, that Channel to Channel’s current exhibition KAYLA RUMPP: SOMA BY APPOINTMENT THROUGH by painter Kayla DEC. 27 AT CHANNEL TO Rumpp will be its CHANNEL, last in Nashville 507 HAGAN ST. CHANNELTOCHANNEL.COM — the gallery has relocated from The Packing Plant to a new space in Chattanooga. Channel to Channel began as founder Dustin Hedrick’s painting studio in the May Hosiery Mill building back in 2011. The gallery’s run of shows helped define and cement Wedgewood-Houston’s rise to the center of the city’s contemporary art scene in the 2010s. Rumpp’s signature sculpturepaintings are emblematic of the gallery’s excellent abstract painting and sculpture programming, and it’s a great example of the kind of display that embraces both mediums at once. Soma is the psychoactive ritual beverage that’s described as an extraction from an unknown plant in the Vedic tradition. It’s also the name of the happy pill in Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World. Somewhere between stoned immaculate and psycho-pharmacalogical enslavement, we find Rumpp’s exquisitely smooth chromatic surfaces decorating shapely constructions of wood and polyurethane board. The pure formalism of Rumpp’s Soma exhibition is thrilling, and the artist’s provocative pushing and pulling in the Venn overlap between sculpture and painting is precisely balanced to delight. Rumpp is currently in an MFA program at the University of Iowa, but she earned her undergraduate degree and a master’s in art education at the University of Tennessee. As Channel to Channel’s final artist at The Packing Plant, Rumpp reminds us that one of the gallery’s key accomplishments has been its facilitating of creative cross-pollination between Nashville and Marble City. “Fina” is roughly 2 feet square, and it’s shaped like a cartoon cloud. Rumpp decorates it minimally with a pink outline framing successive vertical stripes of blue ranging from midnight to powder, reading the work from left to right. “Echelon” offers up just the opposite — a square picture plane with a squiggly shape cut from the center, which leaves a cartoonish hole where the art used to be. The hole is outlined in lavender against a background of Joker purple. Hedrick has always had an eye for artists who make intelligent, insightful work that’s also — crucially — formally engaging. I’ve described other exhibitions in the space as examples of “smart fun,” and Rumpp’s work is typical of Channel to Channel’s programming of contemporary art that’s as eye-catching as

12/20/21 3:43 PM

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SCENERY Arts and Culture News From the Nashville Scene

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decade ago, Nashville writer Ruta Sepetys enjoyed “the kind of year every debut novelist dreams of” with the publication of Between Shades of Gray, a young adult novel. The story, which follows a 15-year-old girl deported from Lithuania to Siberia during Stalin’s reign of terror, became a Golden Kite winner and an international bestseller, published in more than 60 countries and 40 languages. It led to the 2018 feature film Ashes in the Snow. Now, 10 years after its original release, Between Shades of Gray has been adapted to a graphic novel by Andrew Donkin, with illustrations by Dave Kopka, color by Brann Livesay and lettering by Chris Dickey. BETWEEN SHADES OF The visual format GRAY: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL makes Sepetys’ difBY RUTA SEPETYS, ficult tale of a harsh, ILLUSTRATED BY DAVE largely forgotten KOPKA PHILOMEL BOOKS history more ac160 PAGES, $18.99 cessible to teens, but beyond that it allows the protagonist, a talented young artist, to come alive in a way that transcends the original novel. A love of art gives young Lina the strength to live in the face of constant deprivation. As she draws, her work develops literally on the page, softening the terror of her world. At the same time, Kopka’s watercolor style softens the vast Siberian landscape surrounding her. Graphic novels have successfully portrayed other dark periods of modern history, of course. Noted examples include the Holocaust of Art Spiegelman’s Maus, the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer, and the American civil rights struggle as lived by the late John Lewis within the March trilogy. Josh Neufeld, author of the graphic novel A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, calls the form “one of the most personal and intimate ways to tell true stories.” Before Sepetys, herself the daughter of a Lithuanian immigrant, created the fictional Lina, she spent five years researching the reality of Lina’s world, interviewing survivors of the gulags and traveling to Lithuania and the locations of prison camps depicted in the novel. The intimacy of the graphic form delivers that reality viscerally, transcending even film as an engrossing medium. Kopka takes full advantage of arresting double-page spreads, unusual perspectives, action details, silent landscape panels and other tools of the comics artist, while Donkin’s spare adaption pares the best dialogue and observations of the novel to fit the visual richness of the pages. In two long vertical panels that float over a map of the Baltics, Lina reflects on what has become her daily routine as the prisoners, weak from lack of food, work in a field of beets while watched over by young Soviets with rifles. “Every other night they woke us to sign the document that would sentence us to twenty-five years,” reads a text box

near the top of the page. And further down, above two women bent low over the plants: “We escaped to a stillness within ourselves and found peace there.” Despite the deprivations of the camps, Between Shades of Gray is also a teenage romance, as Lina first befriends an older boy named Andrius, then rejects him as a spy and traitor, and eventually comes to understand and love him. The story escapes the drudgery of camp life with flashbacks to Lina’s carefree youth, scenes that will feel familiar to contemporary teens despite vast differences of time and place. Lina’s fascination with Edvard Munch allows bits of the artist’s life and work to appear throughout the book. As Lina furiously sketches scenes of camp life, the artist becomes more than his famous existential painting “The Scream.” Readers look over Lina’s shoulder to a face emerging on scrounged paper, her fury expressed in four small text boxes that conclude: “I thought of Munch and his theory that pain, love, and despair were links in an endless chain.” While the story is not one that can possibly reach a “happy” ending, it does allow satisfying resolution for some — if not all — of its characters. In a two-page author’s note at the end, Sepetys herself, drawn documentary style in her library, speaks directly to readers. She addresses the reality of the Baltic peoples deported by Stalin and reveals that one of the book’s characters — among the many good, bad and in-between — was an actual person realistically portrayed. She explains that for surviving families, even referring to an imprisoned person remained a dangerous crime in the Baltic region for decades after World War II. “Please research it,” she says of the book’s historical sweep. “Tell someone.” Readers of all ages who follow this beautiful, painful book to its conclusion will be moved to do exactly that. For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC

THE SPIN

WIDENING VENN DIAGRAM BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

PHOTOS: BRANDON DE LA CRUZ

he conversation about “Old Nashville” and “New Nashville” — discussion about how things like gentrification and lots of people moving here have altered the character of the city — has been going strong for about a decade now. Some of what has been thought of as “new” doesn’t feel all that new anymore, and it’s not a huge surprise; change, after all, is constant. And while change certainly is not always good, every development isn’t for the worst, either. Friday night’s show at Drkmttr, the all-ages space that set up shop in its third and hopefully permanent home on Dickerson Pike in 2019, was a prime example of respecting what’s good about old traditions while exploring new territory. The event was an in-person celebration for three recent releases from Centripetal Force, a relatively new independent label run by Mike Mannix, who also hosts the show Psych Out! on community radio station WXNA. Said releases were Scene contributing editor Jack Silverman’s Live at The 5 Spot (a recording of the release livestream for his studio EP Now What, which came out early this year via alsolocal indie YK Records), the vinyl edition of Lou Turner’s Songs for John Venn (released digitally in 2020 via Spinster Sounds) and Nashville Ambient Ensemble’s Cerulean, which Centripetal Force released in March. Ahead of Silverman’s opening set, the small room was flooded with fog and light from the Crescent Sun Lighting rig, which was brought in for the occasion. The murmur of friendly conversation blended with the meditative drone of the music playing over the P.A., and the band — Silverman along with Rob Crawford on drums and Brook Sutton on amplified upright bass, a trio version of the five-piece group that played the release stream — seemed to materialize onstage. “Crime jazz,” the descriptor Silverman has given to his recent solo material, feels accurate if not complete. The guitar-based instrumental pieces play with complex harmonies that scan as ominous, giving a noirish impression that’s accentuated as ghosts of his spiraling melodies chase after him through the rolling and shimmering waves of sound from his effects devices. But chord progressions can resolve in lots of ways, including not resolving at all — some very old-school ways to convey emotion — and that felt like the jumping-off point for exploration throughout the 45-minute performance. The trio weaved around the beat, changing textures and rhythms with subtlety and drawing strength from their ability to play off of each other while improvising. There were some jammy moments here, to be sure. But jams get boring when you can feel the players get lost or start to navel-gaze; these three players seem to know where the doldrums are, and they steered clear. About half of the full house stepped out

BEAM ME UP: NASHVILLE AMBIENT ENSEMBLE

BACK IN A FLASH: LOU TURNER for a little air (and perhaps a break from the masks that seem like they’ll be a fact of life for the foreseeable future) while Lou Turner and her band took the stage. In the past, she’s performed live backed by her fellow songsmiths in Styrofoam Winos, who have played around town a few times this year following the release of their excellent self-titled album. This was the live debut of a new backing band for Turner; as usual, her Winos bandmate and life partner Trevor Nikrant played bass, with Anson Hohne on drums and Andie Billheimer (who would play a little later with Nashville Ambient Ensemble) on synth and a second guitar. The Winos songwriting universe brims with rock- and folk-leaning tunes that groove and amble as they seek out the soul of a world that is frequently harsh and often unpredictable. Turner displayed a special knack for this on Songs for John Venn, whose name comes from the 19th-century priestturned-mathematician who came up with the idea to use overlapping circles to represent what entities have in common, and the music resonated brilliantly in person. The emotional peak of the set was the one-two

combo of the choogling “Flickering Protagonist” and the spoken-word piece “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” In “Circle,” Turner has dinner with visual artist and musician Peggy Snow, known for her long-running experimental folk group The Cherry Blossoms and for painting buildings around Nashville that have been slated for demolition. The conversation the two have in the piece offers an enlightening look at finding spiritual sustenance in an environment that seems bereft of it. Sometimes when a crowd gets quiet, it feels like we’re holding our breath; you could feel the stillness in the room during that performance, but it was a different, more open kind. After another short break, it was time for Nashville Ambient Ensemble, a group led by composer and synthesist Michael Hix that seems on paper like it shouldn’t work. Ambient pieces tend to be about conveying an atmosphere, painting an emotional landscape with sound. Even when more than one person collaborates on an ambient piece, as in Nashville duo Hammock, the source of a given sound tends to be obscured by design. How the hell do you pull that off with seven

people onstage? You don’t, exactly, but Hix and the group followed the theme of the evening, pushing at the boundaries of the tradition to create something new while honoring the past. The lineup on Friday was somewhat different than on the Cerulean LP, but each player still worked with the others to create a unified expression. Hix and Kim Rueger, alias Belly Full of Stars, generated clouds of harmony with their synthesizers, as Silverman and Billheimer played melodies and made textural accents that alternated between interlocking and reflecting off of each other. Bassist Sarah Saturday created a foundation and drove most of the glacially paced changes in the music, while Scott Mattingly occupied the highest ranges with ethereal sounds he coaxed from pedal steel and electric mandolin (occasionally using a violin bow or a screwdriver, as one does). Vocalist Deli Paloma-Sisk, who recently left Nashville for New Mexico but was back on a Yuletide visit, sang so gently that it felt like voices in my head. At this reflective time of year, it’s good to remember what has come before. In the case of our collection of music scenes, which are coping with rising costs of living, the ongoing pandemic and more, that’s finding a sense of connection and belonging that cultivates the creative work that keeps inspiring people to listen — and to move here, in more than a few cases. It’s going to take more than just this year to recover from a pandemic that is clearly not over yet. There is no guarantee for what the landscape of the music business in general or our scenes in particular will look like going forward. But the ingenuity and resilience of so many of the players, label heads, venue folks and more who are out there doing the work makes it feel like there’s a chance to make something even more equitable and inclusive than before — to borrow Lou Turner’s metaphor, to widen the Venn diagram — as we try to fill the spaces left by the loss. EMAIL THESPIN@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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FILM

PIE IN THE SKY Paul Thomas Anderson lands another triumph with Licorice Pizza BY D. PATRICK RODGERS

or his ninth feature, writerdirector-cinematographer Paul Thomas Anderson once again returns to the well of Southern California in the 1970s. It’s a setting that the filmmaker exploited with aplomb in his wildly dispaLICORICE PIZZA R, 133 MINUTES rate Boogie Nights OPENING CHRISTMAS DAY and Inherent Vice, AT THE BELCOURT, REGAL and indeed was the AND AMC LOCATIONS setting of his own early childhood. In Licorice Pizza, Anderson follows precocious force of nature Gary Valentine (late, great, frequent PTA collaborator Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son Cooper Hoffman in his first feature role) and rudderless, explosive 20-something Alana Kane (played by Alana Haim of familial pop trio Haim, also in her first feature role — read our interview with her below). Valentine — based on real-life child-actorturned-film-producer Gary Goetzman — is a 15-year-old hustler who commands a fleet of unsupervised Valley children as henchmen in his various schemes. The cast is littered with show-biz kids and other Hollywood near-royalty (Leonardo DiCaprio’s dad! Tim Conway’s son! Steven Spielberg’s daughter!), giving it a patina of vintage Southern California authenticity. Licorice Pizza, named for a now-nonexistent chain of record stores that never appears in the movie, is a wandering collection of SoCal anecdotes and opportunities for set pieces featuring charismatic performers. Tom Waits and Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper all chew the scenery here, and that’s as much fun as anything else in the

SLICE OF LIFE Talking to Licorice Pizza’s Alana Haim about her feature-film debut BY D. PATRICK RODGERS

an Fernando Valley native Alana Haim is no stranger to the spotlight. The youngest sister in acclaimed sibling pop trio Haim and the daughter of musicians, she’s been performing most of her life. But before shooting on Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza began last year, she’d never acted in a feature film. Now she’s nominated for a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Award for her role in the movie, in which she plays a listless 1970s Valley girl also named Alana, and which features her real immediate family as her onscreen immediate family. After a series of special preview screenings and limited release in various cities, Anderson’s latest film will hit screens everywhere on Christmas Day. (Read our review above.) The Scene caught up with Haim by phone two days after her 30th birthday amid a whirlwind media tour, and we talked about how

Master. Nothing in Licorice Pizza is quite so heavy and consequential, but thanks to the performances of its two leads, the film nevertheless feels urgent and vital. Some ado has been made in certain corners of the internet about the inappropriate and unethical nature of Alana and Gary’s relationship. But these are fictional characters. Bad decisions and messy relationships and immoral activity make for compelling fictional narratives. Anderson isn’t condoning the relationship — which, make no mistake, is bound to make you uncomfortable — but rather asking, “How does this make you feel?” As much as Licorice Pizza is about the uncertainty of youth, it’s also about what it’s like to care so much about another person that everything else fades into the background. Even, or perhaps especially, when it’s messy, problematic or wrong.

film. Gary sells waterbeds and auditions for boyswear commercials and opens a pinball parlor — endeavors that lead to plenty of opportunities for hijinks. But the emotional axis on which the whole thing turns is the relationship between Gary and Alana — him an impossibly ambitious industry kid, her a brooding slacker who can’t seem to figure out what it is she wants to do. This is a very distinct film, as all of Anderson’s films are distinct. Where his previous effort Phantom Thread was a quiet, restrained chamber orchestra of a movie, Licorice Pizza is sunny and bombastic, punctuated by Nina Simone, David Bowie, Doors and Wings needle-drops. Some filmmakers build a universe within which all of their work lives and interacts, but each of PTA’s movies exists in its own unique world. Licorice Pizza is at times juvenile and absurd, but it is always bursting with life. Its

closest kin in Anderson’s catalog is perhaps 2002’s weird, funny and underappreciated Punch-Drunk Love — in which Cooper Hoffman’s dad excelled as an enraged mattress salesman. Really, if anything unites all of Anderson’s films, it’s his ability to pull deeply intimate performances from his actors and capture breathtaking moments that make it feel as though you’re watching your own memories projected on screen: in Inherent Vice, when Joaquin Phoenix and Katherine Waterston get caught in the rain; in Phantom Thread, when Daniel Day-Lewis searches for Vicky Krieps at a lavish New Year’s Eve party; here, when Hoffman and Haim sprint madly toward each other after a long night of searching for and just missing one another in the greater Los Angeles area. PTA sometimes makes films with life-anddeath stakes, like There Will Be Blood or The

the film came to fruition, driving a 1970s moving truck in reverse down a steep incline (one of Licorice Pizza’s most impressive sequences), shooting her first feature film during a pandemic with her family and much more. Read our full interview online at nashvillescene.com, and check out an excerpt below.

working for the picture people, and he saw this kid the film? kind of pestering this girl, and thought, “That’s a My parents were so excited. They’re always excited good idea for a movie,” but that was years and years — they just want to be involved in everything we do. ago. He always collects stories and images They love coming on tour, they love playing in his brain, because he’s just Paul and music, and sometimes we let them come amazing. I think the reason he thought onstage and play some shows with us, of me was because we had done so which is very funny. I think a lot of our READ OUR FULL INTERVIEW many music videos together, and our fans love my parents more than they WITH ALANA HAIM AT working relationship has always been love us, and they get upset when my NASHVILLESCENE.COM like, “Where and when?” [Paul will parents don’t play with us. But they say] “OK, you’re going to go across the were completely up for it, and it was so street and do this crazy thing.” I’ve never great, because at that point it was almost said no. I’m always like, “Yeah, let’s go, let’s the very beginning of the pandemic, and I do it.” I have a very vivid memory of us shooting the wasn’t allowed to see my parents for a very long time, back cover of [the Haim album] Women in Music because [we were] making sure that they were safe. Pt. III, and I was on the floor at Canter’s Deli, holding We were very lucky to have an incredible COVID team two lights, and shining a light on this window so he that kept everybody safe. And that Shabbat dinner had enough light to shoot the back cover. That’s very scene was basically the first time that my whole much our relationship. There’s no job too small or too family was sitting at a dinner table for, maybe at that big. “What do you need, Paul? I’m here. I got you.” And point, months. We hadn’t been at a dinner table for a that really inspired him to make this movie, because very long time, so we were just happy to be together. I was very much up for driving a truck backwards, It was of course Cooper Hoffman’s first time you know? [Laughs] Why not? I never say no to a in a starring role as well. Your two performances challenge. And that was really where it started. I got here are so dependent upon one another. Did you this script in my email one night, and I read it and I approach it as a learning experience together? loved it, and we were off to the races. Did you get much time to rehearse ahead of And none of your family was hesitant to be in time?

You and your sisters have collaborated a lot with Paul Thomas Anderson on music videos, and that’s a relationship that seems to have been evolving for a couple of years now. But how did he pitch you on the premise of Licorice Pizza and the idea of starring in a film for the first time? You know, it’s a crazy story. Paul is so secretive and never fully comes out and is like, “Here you go, this is happening.” It’s always very much in puzzle pieces that you kind of have to put together in your brain. And I’m also insanely oblivious — he said, like, “Alana, it was blatantly clear that I wanted you to play Alana.” But for me, I feel like he was putting out breadcrumbs for me that I was not picking up on. I mean, it’s a crazy thing to even imagine. I’m a musician, I’ve been in a band since I was a kid, and I never thought that I would act in something. Not in a bad way, I just never thought I could act. [Paul] was running around this school that was having picture day, and there was this girl that was

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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FILM I was so lucky that me and Cooper were in the same boat. We both had never done this before, and we both had the same insecurities. If I felt like I wasn’t having a good day, he was my cheerleader. And when he felt like he wasn’t having a good day, I was his cheerleader. I would be lying to you if I said to you that every day we were 100 percent confident, because we had never done it before. I would love to meet a person who doesn’t have insecurities in something new. But it was great, because every day we would call each other and we would go, “Oh, I screwed up today,” and he would go, “No you didn’t! I was the one who screwed up.” … It was constantly just us apologizing to each other for not knowing what we were doing. But really our anchor was Paul. He always believed in us, and every time we felt insecure would reassure us. If anything, he probably got annoyed by how many times we asked him if we were doing a good job. “At some point you’ve gotta believe in yourselves, guys! There’s only so many times I can reassure you that you’re gonna be OK.” But Paul really did believe in us from the beginning, which is what we needed to do this movie. Talk about insecurity — if it’s your first movie and you’re in a scene with Sean Penn, how are you not going to be like, “This is insane.” Exactly. I was like, “This is insane.” That week of shooting at Tail o’ the Cock [a long-shuttered restaurant and bar in the San Fernando Valley that features prominently in the film] was maybe the greatest week of my life. To have the legend Tom Waits and the legend Sean Penn — to be sitting at a table with them, it actually feels like you’re in a dream. Thank God there’s video evidence of that week, because [otherwise I’d be like] “That never happened.” You mentioned the truck sequence. Surely there’s a stunt driver, but is any of that you? Oh yeah! I would say 80 to 85 percent of that driving was me. I’m exactly like you in the sense that, when I was reading the script I was like, “Oh a stunt driver is going to do all these things, I’m not going to do it.” And Paul was like, “Oh no, you’re doing it. You can do it.” Also — and I feel like I’ve just been gushing about Paul — but it really does go back to Paul. When PTA says you can do it, you really feel like you can. I think he’s the only person in my life who’s been like, “Oh no, you can do this,” and I’m like, “I can do this. I think I can do this! OK, I think I can do this.” I went to truck school. I spent months with that truck before we even began filming. Just putting it into reverse took me months, because it was a real ’70s moving truck. It was real, and it was from that era, and it took my whole body weight to put it in reverse. That took me a very long time. All of the super-crazy

stunts where I’m doing a doughnut in the truck, that is not me. But everything else is me. Which is crazy. And I’m also a terrible driver, which I didn’t let anybody know. That was the first week of shooting, with all the truck stunts, which I’m actually very thankful for. Because that was the one thing that I was like, “Oh my goodness, I’m just going to be nervous until this is over.” So the fact that it was the first week and I got it over with, I was very thankful. I was like, “If I can safely drive Bradley Cooper in this truck with a film camera strapped to one side and a bunch of movie lights on the front, I think I can handle anything.” How does it feel to finally see Licorice Pizza on screen? I was shocked — it was kind of the same way I felt the first time I shot anything with Paul. We did a short film called “Valentine,” funny enough — another full-circle [thing]. The film was called “Valentine,” and it was just [Haim] playing in the studio. I remember watching that and being like, “Is that me? That’s crazy. That is how I’ve always wanted to look. Oh my God, is that me?” And seeing the movie as a finished product, I said the same thing. “That’s me?! We did all that? That’s crazy.” It’s just mind-blowing. Even showing my parents for the first time, they had the same reaction. “What?! Wait what, that’s us?” It was just very shocking in the best way. Do you have plans to do more acting? Obviously you and your sisters are hopefully returning safely to touring. But are there plans after that? Yes, I mean. After everything comes to a close with Licorice Pizza, I go right back on tour. But if Paul ever wanted to work with me again, I would a thousand times say yes. Because it was just such an incredible experience, and I would love to act again. I would love to work with Paul again, period. Do you have any favorite films of the year that have stuck with you? I think I’ve watched Spencer like 15 times at this point. It’s such a beautiful movie, and I think Kristen Stewart is an incredible actress. I’m so in awe of her. I’m obsessed with Spencer, and I can’t wait to see every other movie — I’m just waiting to see all the movies. But Spencer, I’ve seen it so many times and I’m so in awe. It’s an incredible film, and also an incredible score by Jonny Greenwood [who also scored Licorice Pizza]. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

SEX AND TEXAS CITY Sean Baker’s latest plays it safer than you might expect BY STEVE ERICKSON

rreverence has been the hallmark of Sean Baker’s best films. But where his 2015 breakthrough Tangerine mixed farce with the grimmer realities of being a Black transgender sex worker, his new Red Rocket goes much easier. It also RED ROCKET R, 128 MINUTES avoids the poisoned OPENING SATURDAY, candy-floss look of DEC. 25, AT THE his previous film, BELCOURT 2017’s The Florida Project. Baker has specialized in nonjudgmental films about sex workers and other marginalized members of society, but Red Rocket presents the predatory flip side of the porn industry, as opposed to the sweeter version shown in his 2012 film Starlet. He’s engaged in some interesting casting here as well — lead actor Simon Rex is perhaps as well-known for the handful of solo adult films he made in the mid-’90s as he is for his career as an MTV VJ in the years after. Baker sketches in the background of Texas City, Texas, where oil refineries are the only thriving business. Returning from California to live with his ex Lexi and her mother, Rex’s character Mikey exhausts his opportunities for work in the town with a handful of job applications — just as well, as he prefers mooching off women and dealing weed anyway. But when he meets 17-year-old Raylee (Suzanna Son) working at the local doughnut shop, he puts on as much charm as he can. They sleep together, and she’s willing to eventually move to California, with Mikey managing her debut as an adult film performer. Red Rocket can’t exactly present Mikey as a lovable — or even likably sleazy — dirtbag since he’s engaged in predatory behavior toward a teenage girl. Unlike the sex workers in Starlet, Tangerine and The Florida Project, he’s a man, and although he’s hardly a winner in economic terms, he’s in no danger of becoming a victim. (Baker is careful to minimize female nudity, though

Rex shows his penis several times, and even runs naked down the street.) Baker’s continual resistance to place blame on his characters is laudable, but it results in a slightly bland film here. There are parallels here between Rex’s role and the actor’s need for a comeback vehicle, and it’s no surprise that ’N Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye” is Red Rocket’s theme song — played in its original form at the beginning, later by Raylee on the piano, and in reverse at the film’s end. The film is set in 2016, and scenes from Trump’s presidential run play on televisions in the background several times, although the characters don’t seem to care about it. But the similarities between Trump’s and Mikey’s mediocrity, sexism and egomania are hardly coincidental. Rex sinks his teeth into this role as though his career as an actor depends on it, with Mikey talking a mile a minute, boasting about achievements easily proven to be exaggerated or nonexistent. (One of the film’s comic highlights is his discussion with Raylee about the meaning of his “Best Oral” AVN Award, wherein she wonders if he did anything aside from sit back and receive a blow job to earn it.) It’s anyone’s guess whether Mikey buys his own bullshit, but he seems to get higher on his own ego than he does on his ever-present joints rolled with American-flag rolling papers — and it’s also anyone’s guess whether Raylee can see through him. For the first time in his career, Baker repeats his ideas. The doughnut-shop setting is transplanted from Tangerine’s L.A. to Texas City. The depiction of poverty through a flashy, pop-inflected background is recycled from The Florida Project. Baker seemed more comfortable depicting the lives of Tangerine’s sex workers than he does here, and the ambiguous conclusion of Red Rocket is no match for the wild rush into Disney oblivion that ended The Florida Project. Part of the problem is that Texas City, dominated by power lines and passing trains, seems dreary and far less visually interesting than those films’ settings. Despite the film’s narrative, there’s less of a sense of danger here, and also less wild humor. Baker remains a strong director, but Red Rocket plays it safer than anyone would’ve expected. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 23 – DECEMBER 29, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CROSSWORD EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ ACROSS 1

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___-tzu

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Inventor of dynamite

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Sellers of airtime, informally

Slip

___ of honor

Richard who wrote “Revolutionary Road”

In which four raised fingers and a curved thumb is “B,” in brief

Long-snouted fish

Had the courage

Dance-offs, e.g.

Approved, with “to”

40 46

NO. 1118

25 White Bridge Rd., Nashville, TN 37205 615-810-9625 MyPleasureStore.com *Offer Ends 1/10/2022. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Discount Code: NSNLIST

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