Nashville Scene 12-30-21 by FW Publishing

DECEMBER 30, 2021–JANUARY 5, 2022 I VOLUME 40 I NUMBER 47 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE

Commemorating some of the irreplaceable Nashville figures we lost this year

IN MEMORIAM 2021

cover_12-30-21.indd 1

12/27/21 3:19 PM

GRAND OPENING Brentwood

Brentwood Place Shopping Center 330 Franklin Rd.

Pop the cork on savings! La Vostra Prosecco Italy 750ml

La Marca Prosecco Italy 750ml

MIX A CASE

11.42

10.49

7.55

Single btl 8.99

10.07

Single btl 13.59

Single btl 12.49

MIX A CASE

Korbel Brut, Extra Dry California 750ml MIX A CASE

Single btl 11.99

16% Off Wine

15.11

MIX A CASE

Single btl 51.99

MIX A CASE

1L Wine

1.5L Wine

BEVERAGE DYNAMICS

when you mix a case of the same size.

What’s a case?

12 per case, mix & match

6 per case, mix & match

3L Wine

4L Wine

5L Wine

4 per case, mix & match

750ml Spirits

1L Spirits

1.75L Spirits

12 per case, mix & match

6 per case, mix & match

Excludes items with prices ending in 7. This discount cannot be combined with any other offer or discount. Valid in TN only. Valid in-store, on the Total Wine app or at TotalWine.com.

VISIT TOTALWINE.COM FOR CURBSIDE PICK UP Drive

Old Hickor y Blvd

Brentwood Place Shopping Center 330 Franklin Rd., Suite 306C Brentwood, TN 37027

43.67

9% Off Spirits

when you mix a case of the same size.

terv

iew

Fra

nkli

Cen

BRENTWOOD

De Margerie Grand Cru Brut France 750ml

Single btl 17.99

BEVERAGE DYNAMICS

750ml Wine

Chandon California Brut Sparkling California 750ml

Grand Opening!

WE’RE HIRING Apply in store or online at TotalWine.com/Careers

Chic-Fil-A

Stock & Trade

Total Wine Nordstrom Rack TJ Maxx

Hours: Mon–Thurs 9am–10pm Fri-Sat 9am-11pm Sun 10am-8pm (615) 823-2504

Prices valid 12/29/2021 - 1/2/2022. Total Wine & More is not responsible for typographical or human error or supplier price increases. Prices may vary. Products while supplies last. We reserve the right to limit quantities. Loyalty points not redeemable on alcohol items, cigar boxes, gift cards, classes, tastings, deposits, rentals and ice Total Wine & More is a registered trademark of RSSI. © 2021 Retail Services & Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Please drink responsibly. Use a designated driver.

2021_1229GO_TAB_NSH_ID6222

Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut Spain 750ml

CONTENTS

DECEMBER 30, 2021

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:

CITY LIMITS

A Look at the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 572 From medical gas to plumbing, pipefitters set up and maintain structures we rely on every day — but almost never see BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

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

The Most-Read Nashville Cream Posts of 2021

The Matrix Resurrections Expands the Playing Field

The City Is Honoring Diane Nash and James Lawson.That’s a Good Start.

East Nashville Farmers’ Market Goes Year-Round

Eat at The Hart in January and Help Hawaiian Water Relief Efforts

COVER STORY In Memoriam 2021

Politics ........................................................8 Media & Entertainment ......................... 10 Music ....................................................... 12 Business .................................................. 17 Food ......................................................... 20 Around the City ....................................... 20 Sports ...................................................... 27

CRITICS’ PICKS Old Crow Medicine Show, Third Coast Holiday Show & Comedians and Made-Up Christmas Carols, Inebriated Shakespeare’s NYE Extravaganza, New Year’s Eve shows, do a tarot reading, Justin Townes Earle Tribute and more

34 FILM

Toil and Trouble The Tragedy of Macbeth is visually stunning but stuffy BY CORY WOODROOF

Primal Stream: The Best Films of 2021 To cap off our streaming column for the year, here are some of 2021’s (and 2022’s) best releases BY JASON SHAWHAN

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

MARKETPLACE

Call for take-out!

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

615-669-8144 PanaderiayPasteleriaLopez

615-865-2646 TacosyMariscosLindoMexico

917A Gallatin Pike S, Madison, TN

Cocktails Small Bites Intimate Atmosphere 4210 Charlotte Ave. | 615-678-4086 ottosnashville.com

nashvillescene.com nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

contents_12-30-21.indd 3

12/27/21 6:19 PM

PET OF THE WEEK!

FROM BILL FREEMAN

Adopt. Bark. Meow. Microchip. Neuter. Spay.

CUTTING THE RIBBON AT THE TENNESSEE TRIBUNE STORE

TENNESSEE TRIBUNE STORE OPENS AT BNA, HONORING MY FRIEND ROSETTA MILLER-PERRY AND THE LEGACY OF HER NEWSPAPER

vegan with gluten-free options Mask Appreciated

East Nashville | Wed-Mon (closed Tues) 615.262.2717 | thewildcow.com Follow us on F or Ï to see daily specials + hours!

PHOTO COURTESY OF NASHVILLE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (BNA)

MEET PRINCE. He is a 2-year-old Black Lab Mix who has lived at NHA for over a month. He is housebroken, walks well on the leash and doesn’t destroy his stuffed toys or rip up his bedding. So why is this handsome boy still here? Prince seems to show fear towards people when he is in his kennel. On a very positive note: This behavior is only displayed when he is in his kennel. So, we ask that you give Prince a chance since he does very well with everyone outside the kennel. We have a huge backyard/off leash area here at NHA and we would LOVE to show off Prince there. All you need to do is let us know. We will be more than happy to assist you. Please make a trip to NHA to specifically see him. We want to show him off. Plus let you see his smile when he sees a tennis ball! PS: Prince loves crunchy treats. Call 615.352.1010 or visit nashvillehumane.org Located at 213 Oceola Ave., Nashville, TN 37209

One of the great things about living in Nashville is our diverse community, and it’s rewarding to see that diversity recognized in different ways. In November, I had the honor of attending the opening of the Tennessee Tribune store at Nashville International Airport. Skyport Hospitality and Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise owner Jennifer Winchester was on hand Nov. 19 to open the first of two stores carrying the Tennessee Tribune name at BNA. She chose to name the stores after Tennessee’s Blackowned newspaper, which was founded by respected Nashville resident Rosetta Miller-Perry. I’m so proud, because not only is Rosetta a true entrepreneur and lifelong supporter of her community, she is also a good friend. Now opened for just a few weeks, the first Tennessee Tribune store is located in the Southwest Airlines hub between Terminals C and D. The second store, opening in September, will be located in a pre-security area and open to the general public, not just ticketed passengers. Anyone dropping passengers off or picking someone up will have a great place to wait and browse. In addition to selling copies of the Tribune, the stores will carry goods from 40 local minority vendors, giving all who visit the opportunity to experience and support local businesses. Brands that will be in the store include Winfrey Family Foods, Maggie Allen Candy, Kandles by Kierra, Kernels Nashville Popcorn, The College Crib and many others. I think everyone is going to enjoy being able to support local businesses from our diverse community. It’s truly exciting for all of us. The concept of a store featuring local Black-owned businesses is a great one, but I am truly excited that it also shines a light on Rosetta for her longstanding commitment to the African American community. Thanks to Rosetta and her years of dedication and hard work, the Tennessee Tribune is celebrating 30 years of success. Rosetta had a vision, and as she recently

explained to NewsChannel 5, she wanted young people to see something inspirational — that the African American community had “doctors, lawyers, ministers.” Rosetta and her staff at the Tribune have mentored dozens of future journalists for careers in the field by providing scholarships, internships, training and experience. The Tribune covers topics that other publications have not. “It has been a point of pride for us to serve communities across this state and to elevate those marginalized voices that need to and should be heard,” Rosetta has said. She has a right to be proud of the newspaper she started in an effort to speak to the issues facing families of color. The Tennessee Tribune has become the state’s largest minority-owned weekly newspaper, in part by developing stories that other publishers may never have pursued. Rosetta Miller-Perry has long been an incredible trailblazing member of our community, and I am thrilled to see her success continuing. Rosetta is indeed a lady who has pursued greatness and achieved it. As Fraport Tennessee vice president Matt Jennings said, “This new concept honors [Rosetta’s work] and the 30-year legacy she has built by serving the community and caring for others.” He added that with this initiative “visitors can learn about her tremendous contributions to African Americans and the community overall while experiencing Middle Tennessee’s diverse cultural offerings.” I’m very excited for Rosetta and her staff at the Tribune. These stores are a fine testament to her life’s work and to a job well done.

Bill Freeman

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 is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and Home Page Media Group in Williamson County. He is also chairman of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

letter_12-30-21.indd 4

12/27/21 5:11 PM

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 27, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

CITY LIMITS

A PIPEFITTER WELDING AT LOCAL 572

A LOOK AT THE PLUMBERS & PIPEFITTERS LOCAL 572 From medical gas to plumbing, pipefitters set up and maintain structures we rely on every day — but almost never see BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

hen Lacey Russell was in the Navy, her instructors showed her a video that stressed the importance of a proper weld on a submarine. It was the story of the USS Thresher, a nuclear sub that sank and imploded when a poorly welded pipe burst and leaked onto an electrical panel. Afterward, they played a sound bite of the sub sinking. “I remember it just being so surreal, and it made me sick to my stomach,” says Russell. “And I had an ‘aha’ moment.” She was inspired to keep the submarine safe and up to code, and that commitment stuck with her after leaving the Navy. Russell is a welder by trade and has worked at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., and other power plants since 2018. Now she’s transitioning into a new job as Sequoyah’s weld program manager — she’ll be in charge of testing new hires and ensuring the work at the plant is up to code, among other duties. But before she landed at Sequoyah, Russell spent years in the apprenticeship program at Local 572, the local union repre-

senting plumbers and pipefitters. Russell applied through programs like Veterans in Piping and Helmets to Hardhats, which allowed her to enter the five-year program as a second-year apprentice. Indeed, they take welding very seriously at Local 572, the union headquarters that doubles as a training facility. When it comes to certifications, welds aren’t just appraised visually — although a perfect weld should look like a stack of dimes, business manager Eric Coons says — but are subjected to third-party testing, which can include Xraying the pipes to check for defects. In the third year of the program, apprentices choose a path, like plumbing, and begin more specialized courses. They’re working the whole time too, going from a day job to night classes Monday through Thursday. Apprentices work with some partner contractors — companies that hire from Local 572. The building is full of classrooms with safety posters, computer labs and plenty of workshops to let apprentices get hands-on experience. Backflows, old tools and various pipes can be found throughout the hallways and rooms. There’s even a mock hospital wing used to train pipefitters to work with medical gas, since part of the job is safely routing oxygen and nitrogen supplies in settings like hospitals, clinics and dental offices. The setup includes a patient room, where the pipes and tubes normally hidden from sight behind a hospital bed are on display. “These things exist behind headboards and in cabinets where the people never see it,” says Coons. He says union members are in hospitals all over town, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center and TriStar Centennial. Training director John Sechler says the handling and transportation of the pipes used for medical gas is also important — pipes need to be properly prepared before use as well. Says Coons, “There’s a lot of honor in what we do.” “We keep the water clean, keep it pressurized,” he says. “We keep power plants

running, hospitals functioning.” Tennessee is a right-to-work state — meaning there are laws allowing workers to opt out of paying union dues even if they benefit from their collective bargaining — and the state government is historically unfriendly to unions. Coons says “it’s been a fight” to survive in Tennessee, but their partnership with contractors who believe in their work is a big benefit. Union workers are a bit more expensive, Coons says, but are worth it. “We do it right the first time, that’s our motto,” adds Sechler. They credit that to rigorous training. There’s a lot of hands-on work at the training facility, but sometimes apprentices have to hit the books, crunch numbers and improve their drawing skills. Graduates will even return to the site to train for new certifications. Troubleshooting is a big part of the training. Instructors will disable or bug various appliances in the HVAC course to be repaired — including the workshop’s space heater. Similarly, apprentices will have to figure out the best way to hook up or repair pipes, identify problem areas and navigate other difficult situations. Some apprentices may draw up the isometrics or blueprints for a network of pipes, while another group has to work from those plans. The most dramatic training exercise may be the rigging test, wherein a team of apprentices needs to get a big chunk of pipe craned up and over a tall structure, lowered into the structure and hooked up to another giant pipe. It involves a lot of math and coordination. Honestly, there’s a lot of math in each of the tracks. “Math gets beat into you,” says Mike Harvey, a certified plumber and former apprentice. Precision is crucial — you might have to make a 3.5-inch pipe fit inside a wall that’s 3.75 inches thick, for example. Harvey says the apprenticeship was “hell” — which elicits a grin from Sechler — and very demanding. Going from day jobs to night classes and commuting home late at night isn’t easy, but it builds camaraderie. “It’s grueling, it’s challenging, but you get a lot closer to your classmates,” says Harvey. Some of the apprentices even work the same job sites, and Harvey says it’s like gaining a second family. Harvey completed his apprenticeship seven years ago and is now a lead instructor at the school. He says he returned in order to “give back.” “This is bigger than just one person,” he says. “These apprentices are gonna top out and pay my pension. I’m gonna pay John [Sechler]’s pension. We’re all already paying for somebody’s pension.” Coons’ and Sechler’s fathers and grandfathers were in Local 572. Russell’s brother and father were also members. Russell says she is proud to follow in their footsteps, and that Local 572 opened up a lot of opportunities for her. That includes her upcoming weld program manager job, which she calls a “pinch me” moment. “I can’t believe that I was actually able to get where I’m at, and I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at,” says Russell. “It’s very humbling, and I’m excited to see where it takes me.” EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS AND POLITICS BLOG: It didn’t take long for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 to become the dominant strain in Tennessee. Just two weeks after the highly contagious variant was first detected in the Volunteer State, health commissioner Lisa Piercey estimated it already accounted for 80 percent of new cases. The state also did an end-of-year data refresh, which added nearly 2,500 more deaths to the state’s tally of COVID-19 fatalities that had previously gone unaccounted for. As of Dec. 22, health officials reported that 20,644 Tennessee residents have died after being infected with the virus. … Metro paused curbside recycling, diverting those resources to normal garbage collection. Officials blamed shortcomings from Red River, a city trash collection contractor that has missed collection days for several weeks. Metro Water Services, which runs curbside recycling, plans to resume pickup in late January or early February. … Metro Councilmember Dave Rosenberg recently aired concerns about the atmosphere at Bellevue Middle School during a Metro school board meeting. Rosenberg, whose District 35 includes the school, said one student reportedly called another a racial slur, saying the incident wasn’t properly addressed. He noted lockdowns and drug dogs, unpunished and unreported “nonconsensual sexual incidents,” and more. In a statement, MNPS said it was aware of the incidents Rosenberg addressed but that it had conducted an internal investigation, finding that protocols and procedures were properly followed. … Bedecked in festive raiment, the Metro Council approved funding for new SUVs for Metro police and $40.2 million for affordable housing as part of the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan. Councilmember Erin Evans proposed a change lowering the threshold needed to allow a public hearing on council bills to a simple majority from the current rule requiring a two-thirds vote. “I thought this would be a no-brainer,” Pith’s council observer @starleseasily noted. “I was wrong. Rules Committee members expressed a variety of concerns that mostly boiled down to, ‘We hear enough from people as it is.’ ” … Contributor Betsy Phillips writes that recent measures to rename the courthouse square for civil rights pioneer Diane Nash and to name the new Bellevue-area high school for James Lawson are a good start, but more can be done. “We need to keep these names — Diane Nash, James Lawson — and more in the forefront of the city’s conscience. Not because they were extraordinary in ways we could never hope to be, but because they believe that they are not unique. The work they do is doable by crowds of ordinary Nashvillians. That is, in fact, who has been doing it all along.” … Nashville is applying to host both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention in 2024. Butch Spyridon, CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, says Republican Gov. Bill Lee asked the organization to submit bids for both. NASHVILLESCENE.COM/PITHINTHEWIND EMAIL: PITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM TWEET: @PITHINTHEWIND

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

citylimits_12-30-21.indd 6

12/27/21 5:05 PM

B E T H E P L O W. B E T H E H A R V E ST.

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

DOWNTOWN MKTG_BeHere_SceneAd_Ephemera.indd 2

VISIT TODAY

CountryMusicHallofFame.org

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 27, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

12/17/21 3:40 PM

IN MEMORIAM 2021 Commemorating some of the irreplaceable Nashville figures we lost this year

A Freedom Rider and civil rights icon. An innovator of Nashville’s most famous dish. A former United States senator. Several widely celebrated songwriters, a former Tennessee Titans general manager, and the longest-serving woman in Tennessee state Senate history. These are just a few of the Nashvillians, former Nashvillians and other locally significant people our city lost in 2021. In our annual In Memoriam issue, we at the Nashville Scene commemorate some of the irreplaceable figures who died over the past year. Read on and remember.

POLITICS DR. ERNEST “RIP” PATTON

Freedom rider, teacher

“Buses are a-comin’, oh yes. Buses are a-comin’, oh yes. Buses are a-comin’, buses are a-comin’, buses are a-comin’, oh yes.” I can still hear Dr. Ernest “Rip” Patton belting out these words in his smooth, deep baritone as we took our road trip together back in May to Montgomery, Ala., for the 60th anniversary of the 1961 Freedom Rides. When he sang freedom songs, his voice had a unique way of opening portals that both beckoned listeners backward to

remember the struggle of where we’ve been and push us forward toward the vision of where we still must strive to go. Knowing Dr. Patton was a deep blessing for me and countless others. He was a sage, a mentor, a confidant, a light in troubled times, a giant yet humble hero committed to doing good in this broken world. He was a beloved elder in the truest sense of the word — someone with a sincere commitment to uplifting the rising generation of activists, not with an agenda or need for recognition, but because his heart was pure with the intention to see us on higher ground. When I last visited Dr. Patton in the hospital weeks before his passing, he was telling stories to the nurses about the movement and talking about his time while jailed at Parchman Farm during the Freedom Rides. It was a story he shared, often incorporating song, as a testament of hope and reminder for each of us to pick up the baton because the work is not done. This is who Dr. Patton was — a master storyteller and torchbearer,

who brought the spirit of redemptive love with him everywhere he went. He carried the movement with him in his being, and every audience he spoke to, in any conversation or speech, could feel it too. The wound from losing Dr. Patton is still raw, but I know with certainty that his legacy of liberation lives on in each of us who he inspired. I know he is smiling and encouraging us forward every time we sing those freedom songs he taught us, every time we show up on the front lines for justice. —Justin Jones

TODD J. CAMPBELL

Judge, adviser, family man Todd Campbell was an ideal judge — a person of intellect, judgment and humility. A brilliant lawyer who mastered difficult areas of the law — including Tennessee constitutional law, legal ethics and federal election law — Campbell earned the trust of his fellow lawyers and of his clients, includ-

ing former Vice President Al Gore, who recruited him to the White House in 1993. Judge Campbell and his beloved wife, Margaret Akers, made the decision to leave the White House and return to Nashville because his position as one of the most powerful people in the country left him too little time for his family. The emergency hospitalization of one of his young sons helped focus the issue, so after two years of sacrificial service to the country, he returned to Tennessee. Soon thereafter he was tapped as the youngest federal judge in the United States. As a judge, Todd Campbell was wise. Not only were his opinions rarely overturned by the appellate courts, but his work was even adopted by the United States Supreme Court (Brentwood Academy v. TSSAA). In a profession sometimes mocked for its verbosity, Judge Campbell had an approach to judicial opinions that was simple: “Think more; write less.” Judge Campbell’s origins were humble.

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 8

12/27/21 7:15 PM

An immigrant ancestor once spent a few days in debtor’s prison, so when the judge swore in new American citizens, he liked to observe that in a few generations his family had gone “from the jailhouse, to the White House, to the courthouse.” Campbell lived the American Dream, and he helped make the American Dream possible for the rest of us. —Byron Trauger

L.H. “COTTON” IVY

Comedian, veteran, legislator “Country comedian ‘Cotton’ Ivy dies at 91” read the headline on May 25 from WBBJ-TV. That writeup was a lot more concise than a full rundown of his accomplishments would have been, and he was no doubt chuckling over it from the great blue beyond. Lamarse Howard “Cotton” Ivy was born the son of a sharecropper in Decatur, Tenn. An Air Force veteran, Ivy — who earned the nickname due to his prematurely white hair — received an agriculture degree from the University of Tennessee, was an agent for Farm Bureau Insurance in Union City and successfully ran for the state legislature in 1984, serving two terms before Gov. Ned McWherter appointed him commissioner of agriculture. The L.H. Cotton Laboratory at the Ellington Agricultural Center honors his leading role in its creation. His years in state government were likely as instrumental to his comedy career as his rural upbringing and keen sense of humor. Signed to Top Billing booking agency by eagle-eyed talent scout Tandy Rice, Ivy recorded four albums, entertained at political and corporate conventions, appeared frequently on The Grand Ole Opry and Ralph Emery’s Nashville Now cable television show, and even popped up in Hee Haw’s cornfield. In 2000, he and Roy Herron, former chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, co-wrote Tennessee Political Humor: Some of These Jokes You Voted For. As Ivy would attest, politics is a lot of funny business. —Kay West

THELMA HARPER

Politician, community leader, matriarch Thelma Harper, who represented the Tennessee Senate’s 19th District for three decades, died on April 22. The longtime Democrat and North Nashvillian was the longestserving woman in Tennessee state Senate history. Known for her eye-catching wide-brimmed hats and no-nonsense rhetoric, Harper previously served two terms as a Metro councilmember in Nashville’s District 2. State Sen. Brenda Gilmore tells the Scene Harper was “an icon and a legend.” “I most appreciate her fight for the Bordeaux area in particular, the landfill and getting that landfill closed,” says Gilmore. “In fact, most people don’t recognize that was not her district, but she was so compelled to fight for the people that she stood up for the

people in Bordeaux. … She set the record of how to stand up and lay your life on the line. I have images of her laying in the street so the trucks wouldn’t come in with garbage for the landfill.” Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Raumesh Akbari of Memphis adds that Harper was “a trailblazing, ceiling-shattering LEGEND.” During her time in the state Senate, Harper served on numerous committees, including the Local Government Committee, the Corrections Oversight Committee and the Veterans Affairs Oversight Committee. She was president of the Women’s Suffrage Commission and vice chair of the Tennessee Black Healthcare Commission. She also owned the Jefferson Street diner Harper’s Restaurant with her husband, businessman Paul Harper, who died in 2018. Harper’s annual Easter egg hunt was started in 1983 as a resource for community children but also became a must-stop for aspiring politicians. Harper decided not to run for re-election in 2018, and then-Rep. Gilmore was elected to represent her Nashville district. As Gilmore notes to the Scene, Harper is the only female to be laid in state in the state Capitol. “Even in death,” says Gilmore, “she is paving the way for future legislators.” —D. Patrick Rodgers and Erica Ciccarone

DAVID SHEPARD

Pharmacist, state representative The numerous awards that longtime state Rep. David Shepard received in his lifetime catalog a wide breadth of service to country, community and children, and an impact in his field as a pharmacist: the Bronze Star with Valor for his four years of service in the United States Army in Vietnam; the Tennessee Pharmacy Association Bowl of Hygeia for Community Service and recognition by the same organization as Outstanding Pharmacist of the Year in 2000, plus a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012; the CASA Champions for Children Award in 2017; and the Dickson County Good Scout Award in 2019. Drawn to public office as a means of helping his community and advocating for veterans’ care, mental health and education, the Democrat spent more than 20 years on the Dickson City Council and as vice mayor before 16 years representing parts of Dickson, Hickman and Maury counties in District 69. After retirement from pharmacy, he regularly stored his golf bag to embark with wife Martha on medical mission trips to Belize, Guatemala and Haiti. One of his final accomplishments was bringing together the deeply divided Democrats and Republicans of the 112th General Assembly, who honored his memory in House Joint Resolution 193, signed by Gov. Bill Lee on March 22, 2021. In that document, he was remembered for “an indelible legacy of integrity and probity in public life, compassion and loyalty in private life, and diligence and dedication in all his chosen endeavors.” —Kay West

WILLIAM “BILL” BROCK III

Senator, secretary of labor, statesman

In 1970, Republican Bill Brock — a U.S.

Representative since 1962 — defeated three-term U.S. Democratic Sen. Al Gore Sr. for one of Tennessee’s two seats. The other was held by Republican Howard Baker from 1967 to 1985. In 1976, in the tumultuous wake of the Watergate scandal, Brock was denied a second term by Democrat Jim Sasser. In 1985, Baker’s Senate seat was won by Democrat Al Gore Jr. Such were the days long, long ago, when Tennessee was still a two-party state. Brock departed the Capitol but not Washington or politics, assuming the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee in 1977, zealously committing to rebuild the GOP that had been tarnished by Richard Nixon and his dirty tricks. Brock was credited with broadening the membership of the party and putting together a sophisticated, computerized fundraising operation. His work helped Republican Ronald Reagan overwhelmingly defeat incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter to become president in 1980. In turn, Brock was appointed U.S. trade representative by Reagan, and then secretary of labor. His next endeavor, serving as campaign manager in 1987 for Sen. Bob Dole’s bid for the presidency, was not as successful, with Dole dropping out after falling behind in the primaries. Brock resumed his personal political ambitions in Maryland, winning the Republican primary to run for U.S. Senate in 1994, but was defeated by the incumbent Democrat. While campaigning, he prophetically observed, “Politics has gotten increasingly mean and personal, partisan, divisive.”

—Kay West

CORNELIA CLARK

Tennessee Supreme Court justice, trailblazer Early in her career as a trial judge in a rural Tennessee county, Cornelia Clark excused a woman from jury duty. Despite the woman disrespecting the court in her plea for dismissal — or perhaps because of it — Clark ordered her to observe proceedings the following day. In the morning, the woman indeed showed up to her assignment, with her young daughter. She told the judge: “I wanted my daughter to be able to see that there is a woman who can be in charge of this, because I want her to know that she can be anything she wants to be.” Known to be calm, precise and evenhanded, Clark was the longest-tenured member of the Tennessee Supreme Court, hearing more than 1,100 cases. She was first appointed to the high court by Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen in 2005 and was re-elected in 2006 and 2014 retention elections, despite a coordinated effort to unseat her and other Democratic appointees in 2014. Clark served as chief justice from 2010 to 2012. Born in Franklin, Clark graduated from Vanderbilt University and earned a master’s degree from Harvard before teaching history. She later attended Vanderbilt University Law School. Upon graduation, she specialized in municipal and employment law, and represented many cities, police

departments and several school boards. As a judge, she served in Williamson, Hickman, Perry and Lewis counties, and was the director of the Administrative Office of the Courts from 1999 to 2005. Clark served as the Supreme Court’s liaison to the Access to Justice Commission from 2014 until her death, pioneering the Faith and Justice Alliance, which pairs attorneys with community faith-based and civic organizations. Through Clark’s leadership, the ATJ Commission reached its goal of having at least half of Tennessee attorneys provide pro bono legal services each year. “Justice Clark was a member of the Tennessee judicial family for over 30 years and has mentored hundreds of judges,” said Chief Justice Roger A. Page after Clark’s death in September. “She loved the Tennessee judicial system and has made it better in immeasurable ways. As her colleague for the past five-and-one-half years, I observed her tremendous work ethic. Her keen mind was surpassed only by her kind and caring heart. She truly tried her best to decide each case based on the applicable law and nothing else. The Supreme Court will not be the same without her.” —Erica Ciccarone and

Stephen Elliott

HANK HILLIN

Lawman

Hank Hillin had a knack for putting the kibosh on corruption, but he didn’t set out to be a lawman. He grew up on the family farm in Neely’s Bend and matriculated at Lipscomb, where he starred for the Bisons baseball team, before taking a job teaching and coaching at old Hillsboro High School in Williamson County. But Uncle Sam came calling, and Hillin was drafted into the Army. After his discharge, he didn’t go back to teaching. Instead he joined the FBI and ended up in the middle of one of the biggest scandals in Tennessee history. Hillin investigated then-Gov. Ray Blanton and his scheme of selling pardons as his term wound down. Ultimately, Blanton’s tenure came to a close when the Democratic Party leaders in the legislature agreed to allow Lamar Alexander, a Republican, to be sworn in ahead of schedule. Hillin’s memoir Codename Tennpar, published in 1985, was an exhaustive look at the scandal that shocked the state and the investigation Hillin himself spearheaded. Three years later, he wrote a book about then-Sen. Al Gore Jr., who was in his first run for president. The book, Al Gore Jr.: Born to Lead, said the son of Tennessee was “destined to be president of the United States.” In 1990, Davidson County voters — weary from Fate Thomas’ tenure as sheriff, during which he was indicted on federal racketeering charges — picked Hillin, with his anti-corruption reputation, to be the disgraced Thomas’ replacement. Thomas later pleaded guilty to mail fraud, tax conspiracy and theft of government property and was sentenced to five years in federal prison. As for Hillin, he proved to be a transitional sheriff. He was defeated for reelection in

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 9

12/27/21 7:15 PM

1994 by Gayle Ray, the first woman elected to countywide office. Hillin remained mostly out of the headlines for the rest of his life, except for a rather shocking change of heart in 2000, when he began taking out classified ads in The Tennessean to express his displeasure with the man he’d once written so glowingly about. “Al, I mistook your ambition for leadership. Your struggle with the truth is depressing.” Hank Hillin died Feb. 10. He was 90.

—J.R. Lind

MARTHA HAYS COOPER

Lover of birds and a congressman

Martha Hays Cooper’s favorite bird was the Eurasian hoopoe. And that’s quite an endorsement, because Martha Hays Cooper loved birds. She even named her second son John James Audubon Cooper. After Martha graduated from Mississippi State with a master’s in ornithology, her first job was at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, where she worked on the first two editions of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. While she was there, she met the youngest member of the House of Representatives, 29-year-old Jim Cooper. Later, at a White House Christmas party, he proposed. (In classic bipartisan Cooper fashion, this was at a party hosted by Ronald Reagan.) The couple married in 1985 and had three children: daughter Mary and son Hays bookending the aforementioned middle son named for the famous ornithologist. Martha was by her husband’s side for 15 successful House campaigns and a failed Senate bid, despite being initially unsure about the rough and tumble of political life — that is, until meeting her future motherin-law, the indefatigable Miss Hortense, during Jim’s first reelection campaign in 1984. Martha died at home Feb. 4. She was 66.

—J.R. Lind

MEDIA &

ENTERTAINMENT WILLIAM “BILL” NELSON III

Sound engineer, distiller, businessman

In his later years, Nashvillian William “Bill” Nelson III was known for joining his sons Andy and Charlie in reviving the successful Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery, which was founded more than a century-and-a-half ago by his great-greatgrandfather. But long before that, Nelson received acclaim for work in a very different industry. After graduating from the University of the South and teaching English at Montgomery Bell Academy, Nelson studied film at the University of Southern California and began a career as a successful sound engineer. He received Academy Award nominations in the Best Sound category for his audio work on two films — 1986’s Heartbreak Ridge and 1987’s Lethal Weapon. But Nelson ultimately returned with his wife and sons to his home-

town, where he founded education production company Little Planet Learning. After battling serious illness for two years, Nelson died in August of this year at age 76. He leaves behind a large, loving family and a legacy of outstanding work.

—D. Patrick Rodgers

MICHAEL L. WALKER

Playwright, producer, director, poet, mentor This year, many in the Nashville arts community lost a father, uncle, brother, friend and mentor in playwright/producer/ director/poet Michael L. Walker. A sensitive, thoughtful and soulful human being with a quiet demeanor but plenty to say, Walker was a man on a mission to educate and empower his community through the force of his pen. As an undergrad at Lane College, Walker was known as “The Dreamer” among his fraternity brothers — and dream he did. Walker created characters fashioned after everyday people he encountered in his hometown of Los Angeles and his second home of Nashville. These characters ranged from preachers to disco dancers, scholars to gamblers, mothers struggling with addiction to activists fighting oppression. They are beautiful, flawed, complicated, resilient, bold and Black. In 2002, Walker corralled an ensemble of actors he worked with to create Dream 7 Productions, fulfilling his dream of establishing a Black-owned “teaching company” that provided opportunities in theater. Joining Dream 7 was informal. It didn’t require previous experience, a headshot or résumé, and rarely did it require an audition. The only prerequisite was a conversation with Walker and a genuine desire and commitment to the arts. Walker, a teacher, knew the rest could be learned. For 20 years, the members of Dream 7 have breathed life into Walker’s poetic language with plays like Cultural Millennium, Advisin’ Uncles and Pulpits. Now under the new leadership of Dream 7 founding member Vida Finley and Leonard Ledford III, the train isn’t stopping anytime soon — which is exactly the way Walker designed it. More important than establishing a company, Walker succeeded at building what he referred to as a spiritual family. The relationships and bonds cultivated within Dream 7 have proven to be strong and lifelong. This is a testament to Walker’s vision. It is his legacy. —Shawn Whitsell, director of Destiny

Theatre Experience

SHAUN CARRIGAN

Journalist, entrepreneur, deep thinker Not to say there weren’t a lot of bright minds scattered across the Nashville Banner newsroom in the 1980s, but Shaun Carrigan always seemed just a little smarter than everyone else. Carrigan was the type of guy who talked enthusiastically about taking a typewriter apart — piece by piece, down to every tiny screw — just to see how it was made. And then put it back together again. This was back in the waning days at 1100 Broadway when only the offices of the Associated Press and United Press International

separated the scrappy afternoon Banner newsroom from our rivals across the hall, the bigger and better-financed morning newspaper, The Tennessean. We shared bathrooms and a lunchroom and fought tooth and nail for news stories everywhere else. What a glorious battle. Rinse. Repeat. This was back when smoking was not just allowed but practically encouraged. A hazy blue cloud hung over the city desk as surely as smog over downtown Los Angeles at the time. There were three tight deadlines to meet back then. The stress and anxiety could get pretty heavy. Sitting smack-dab in the middle of all of this was Carrigan, who through the course of nine years had worked his way up to city editor and who always seemed to be cool, calm and collected while others around him were losing their ever-loving minds. He could have been sitting in a BarcaLounger. Maybe it was his background. He was something of a boy wonder growing up in rural Rushville, Ind., a town of 6,000 or so “that refuses to be defined by outside expectations,” as its current mayor is quoted on the town’s website. That description fits Shaun Carrigan. He went to college at prestigious Oberlin College in Ohio, majoring in French and creative writing, and soon found himself at the Banner. Years before the ongoing waves of layoffs at the newspaper, he eventually and suddenly was cut loose, along with some other notables, as part of what became known in-house as the Halloween Day Massacre of 1990. This was just weeks after Carrigan’s crackerjack city desk had overseen investigative coverage that helped lead to the conviction and resulting prison term of powerful Nashville Sheriff Fate Thomas, who had used city employees and money to repair his condo and lakefront cabin. Journalism can be a cruel business, in a number of ways. Carrigan, as it turns out, had an entrepreneurial spirit. And like so many colleagues, he thrived beyond the newsroom. He started a regional magazine (Eagle Communications), an early online publishing source (NewSource) and several more techoriented businesses (NetContent, MDP Incentives, Avant Resources), and co-founded Ruth Clinic, an outpatient program focused on opioid recovery for working people. Beyond his relentless business activity, though, he was most happy when playing the banjo, fly fishing, canoeing, kayaking and, above all, doting on his two daughters. Carrigan died Jan. 8. He was 62. —Pat Embry

ALBERT DAVIS

Journalist, friend

Albert Davis — the Nashville Banner’s second Black employee, after the legendary Robert Churchwell Sr. — was a cool guy, and so much more. As one longtime colleague has appropriately noted, Albert, who joined the Banner at age 17 freshly graduated from Cameron High School, controlled timing as well as the temperature of what could be a hotheaded newsroom. If you were lucky enough to know him and to work with him, though, Albert was a friend you could count on. Working the Banner’s early shift, you knew he doubled the coffee for the first several pots so it was like rocket fuel. Doing dreaded Satur-

day morning duty at least meant you could anticipate a splendid “soul plate” lunch of fried chicken, mac-and-cheese, greens and hot-water cornbread from the Daughters of Isis, courtesy of his many connections and his wheels. You just didn’t beat Albert Davis to work, even if you started your shift at 3:30 a.m. He had a different job title but in truth was the early-morning editor. He sorted the wire-service dispatches and monitored the local broadcast stations and police scanner for breaking news. You knew he’d call you at home if something big was happening or was about to happen, and that he’d help a reporter calling in a big story on deadline. Albert was looking after staffers in a literal sense too. The Gulch leading to 1100 Broadway — the former site of both the Banner and The Tennessean — was nothing like the glitzy Gulch of today. Gazing out the big picture windows, he watched us walk safely into the building and would lecture anyone who didn’t use the crosswalk on busy Broadway. “You can sue them if they hit you in the crosswalk,” he’d say. Albert had an unassuming strength and a well-defined sense of humor. As another colleague aptly recalled, he suffered quiet indignities every day just so we could do our jobs better. Some indignities were loud and crass. Devils once burned a cross in his yard after he moved to a new neighborhood. Those were the times when he would lean into one of his favorite songs, the one made famous by Archie Bell and the Drells. Time to “Tighten Up.” Davis died March 24. He was 74. —Pat Embry

LAQUITA JAMES

Voice-over artist, Renaissance woman LaQuita James’ journey from respected speechlanguage pathologist to rising voice-over artist may have been unexpected. But her success came as no surprise to those who knew her best. Originally from Decaturville, Tenn., James first moved to the area to attend Middle Tennessee State University, where she received a degree in speech and theater, with a concentration in communication disorders. A certified speech-language pathologist, she later earned a master’s degree at Tennessee State University, and spent many years working with patients in skilled nursing facilities. After college, James got involved in the local theater scene, performing with companies such as The Larry Keeton Theatre, SistaStyle Productions and KB Productions. After landing a small part in a music video, she found an agent and started working regularly in film and television, with supporting roles in Hap & Leonard, Still the King, Nashville and more. She was also a regular participant in Middle Tennessee’s 54 Film Fest, and won the festival’s Best Supporting Actress award in both 2020 and 2021. In 2014, a casting director overheard James talking with friends at a party and approached her about doing voice-over work. Always eager to explore new creative

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 10

12/27/21 7:15 PM

nashViLLe

Whiskey

b ottLe d by hand at o ur d oWntoWn m icro d istiL isti L L e ry

Live music every Wednesday

219 5th Ave N. • Nashville TN 37219 Also available at your local retailer standardproofwhiskey.com

@standardproof nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

opportunities, she recorded and edited her own demo, in which she read a scene from Kathryn Stockett’s bestseller The Help. She booked three major publishers with that demo, and went on to narrate projects for Time, HuffPost and Reuters, along with audiobooks for Audible, Hachette Audio, HarperCollins and other well-known publishers. Notable audiobooks include the Caldecott-winning Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora and the bestselling The Girlfriends’ Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine. She also landed a supporting role in the popular audio drama Margaritas & Donuts, which was featured in The New York Times. James was known for her quick wit and contagious laugh, and friends often referred to her as a true Renaissance woman. She enjoyed playing cello and was always trying out new instruments — from drums to piano to flute. She dabbled in watercolor painting, and was a voracious reader. And she often spoke of her love for animals — especially her beloved cat, Gracie Lou Freebush. James died in her home in Antioch on June 17. —Amy Stumpfl

JASON REYNOLDS

Reporter, children’s author Jason Reynolds, who had been a shoeleather reporter for local newspapers across Middle Tennessee for two decades, had finally landed an editor job, set to take the reins at the Shelbyville Times-Gazette in March. And then he was diagnosed with COVID-19. He fought double pneumonia in a Murfreesboro hospital for nearly a week before dying March 15. Reynolds had worked for the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, the Murfreesboro Post and The Tennessee Star, developing a reputation among newsmakers and colleagues as a hard worker, dedicated to accuracy, balance and the First Amendment. He loved taking on new projects and launched a blog and podcast called Followers of the Cross featuring interviews with Christian authors and musicians. He raised chickens on his farm and wrote a series of children’s books about a Chattanooga hot dog vendor in the late 21st century named Bob who battled aliens and bounty hunters. And he believed in local reporting by local reporters. Reynolds planned to beef up the Shelbyville paper with more of both, believing that community journalism still has a place in a world where seemingly every story is nationalized and what few local papers remain in places like Shelbyville rely more and more on wire stories. Jason Reynolds was 46. —J.R. Lind

NORMA ANN MORRIS

Country-music publicist, author and photographer Four decades ago, Norma Ann Morris had an award-winning career writing and editing college textbooks. Then, a few years after her husband Edward Morris began covering country music for Billboard in 1981, she launched Morris

Public Relations, a standout PR firm whose client roster has included Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Ralph Stanley and Exile among many others. Along the way, Norma Morris published photos with outlets like People and Billboard. The firm, currently headed by the couple’s daughter Erin Morris Huttlinger, still represents clients like Vince Gill and Teea Goans. Any of these could be considered major accomplishments to aspire to. The phenomenal strength of the Morris’ relationship over 61 years of marriage is likewise inspirational. As Edward Morris noted in an essay for Salon in 2014, they voluntarily lived apart in different areas of Nashville for several decades, preventing their divergent personalities from getting in the way of being in love. “Given our penchant for a no-strings existence, why do we even bother staying married?” he wrote. “The easy answer is that we’ve never stopped loving each other — and passionately so.” After Norma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease in 2015, Edward became her full-time caregiver, a part of their story detailed in Stardust: An Alzheimer’s Love Story, published in early 2021. Norma Ann Morris died Aug. 20 at her home in Kingston Springs at age 82, leaving generations of family and friends. —Stephen Trageser

PHIL VALENTINE

Conservative talk-radio host It would be easy to treat Phil Valentine as another data point, another conservative talk-radio host who died from COVID after spending weeks being skeptical of — even mocking — the vaccines and suggesting listeners find doctors who would write ivermectin prescriptions. Valentine was skeptical. Valentine did mock the vaccination campaign. Valentine did suggest people consider “alternative” treatments. And Valentine died from COVID after a weeks-long struggle in the hospital during which he relied on a ventilator and, later, an ECMO machine to breathe. Surely, Valentine himself would prefer to be remembered as one of the most important talk-radio hosts of all time, as Talkers Magazine declared him. He’d likely want to be known as the man who encouraged all the horn-honking protests against the effort to implement a state income tax in the late 1990s. He might like to be remembered for his documentary rebuttal to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth called An Inconsistent Truth. Heck, he’d probably rather be remembered for his spy novels. But as it is, he’ll be one of several conservative radio men who, like hundreds of thousands of other Americans, died from COVID-19. According to his brother Mark, who became the family spokesman during Phil’s hospitalization, dealing with the realities of the disease caused a change of heart. “He wishes he could do it over,” Mark told WPLN. “His regret [was] ‘I made the decision [not to get vaccinated] based on my situation, but I know now that a lot of people didn’t get the vaccine because I didn’t get the vaccine. And that is what I would like to correct.’ ” Phil Valentine was 61. —J.R. Lind

JOSEPH “JOCEPHUS” HUDSON

MUSIC

Wrestler, musician, actor, teacher When I first met Joseph Hudson, he drove a red Jeep with one blue door. It gave him an outsized presence and made it easy to spot him around town (often at the public library, where he then worked, or at Springwater). When he died unexpectedly at age 43 of an undiagnosed medical condition, he drove a car so neutral I can’t remember its color. White? Gray? Beige? But in the 13 years since I’d met him, he had become so big — physically at 6-foot-3 and 279 pounds, but also with a large persona — that he was easier to spot than that Jeep. Best known as wrestlers Jocephus and The Question Mark for the National Wrestling Alliance, he was Nashville-famous earlier in his career thanks to wrestling at the Stadium Inn and the fairgrounds as Jocephus the Shelby Street Brawler. Now, it’s not uncommon to see folks wearing T-shirts sporting his face, and they’ll talk about his high-profile antics, such as leading a Record Store Day crowd at The Basement in the hokey-pokey. In 2019 he lost a wrestling match to David Arquette, with Arquette shaving Joseph’s head bald on camera. While I wondered about a Samson scenario, even though he was 41 at the time, his brunette curls grew back just as thick and long, giving him strength for a career comeback. His performance of Voltaire’s Candide with NWA’s Billy Corgan provided a peek at his voracious appetite for reading. As an actor he appeared in a number of music videos, including Lambchop’s “Gone Tomorrow,” as well as on Billy Ray Cyrus’ CMT show Still the King and onstage in a number of local productions at the Darkhorse Theater. As a musician, he led the Xists, a synth band with his brother and his ex-wife, and played in a trio called Jocephus and the Nihilists with Jawws’ Hunter and Eli Tidwell. Wrestling fans particularly appreciated that Joseph never broke character even before getting in the ring. But I loved how he never confused real life for his act. Out of costume was when Joseph was a devoted caregiver, whether you were his grandfather, son or friend. When he listened to you, there was no one else in the world. You had his complete attention. At a May celebration of life at SAE Nashville — where he was a former student and then a favorite teacher — each speaker said a version of, “Joseph was my best friend.” It became a welcome bit of comic relief — “I thought he was my best friend.” A native Nashvillian both by birth — he lived in Donelson and attended Donelson Christian Academy — but also by his essence, Joseph was that breed of Nashvillian: a multihyphenate who believes in creativity for creativity’s sake. —Margaret Littman

TOM STARR

Music promoter A veteran music promoter with a passion for people, Tom Starr knew how to make real connections. Over the course of his 30-year career, he helped elevate artists from a range of formats to the top of the radio charts. He honed his skills at major labels including Interscope, EMI/Capitol, Jive, MCA and Elektra Records before starting his own marketing and consulting group in 2009. In 2014, he planted his feet firmly in the country music industry by taking a position with Warner Music Nashville, eventually becoming the company’s regional manager of radio and streaming. Starr wasn’t just one of the familiar faces at the label’s industry No. 1 parties — he forged personal relationships with Dan + Shay, Ashley McBryde, Chris Janson and Ashley Monroe, helping them build connections with the powerful players at country radio. Starr was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2019 but quickly returned to work after undergoing successful treatment. Sadly, the cancer returned in July 2020, and after a brave battle with the disease, Tom Starr died on Jan. 11 of this year. He was 56 years old. —Lorie Liebig

CONNIE DENNELL

Gospel diva, broadcaster Connie Dennell’s love for and knowledge of gospel music made her the epitome of broadcasting excellence for more than three decades. Nicknamed “The Gospel Diva,” Dennell — who died Aug. 25 at 65 — was the dominant voice on Sunday mornings for numerous listeners. Her show on radio station 92Q served as a showcase for both established greats and emerging stars, and was also a forum that she utilized in reaffirmation of her extensive faith. Dennell’s tireless advocacy for the idiom earned her national recognition and admiration, as well as both a Stellar Award and an NAACP Image Award. Her show aired for 37 years until her retirement. She had fans and admirers from across the media spectrum, and the statement issued by 92Q and Cumulus Nashville Urban Formats program director Kenny Smoov best describes Dennell’s impact. “It was amazing the power that she wielded, and it was just her faith,” said Smoov. “It was really through her faith; it wasn’t really Connie as much as she was following her orders to be a servant, and that’s what she was hands down.” —Ron Wynn

NANCI GRIFFITH

Singer, songwriter

Under the self-coined genre of “folkabilly,” Texas-born singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith created some of the most poignant

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 12

12/27/21 7:15 PM

and expertly written story-songs in modern folk music. She grew up in Austin, Texas, and came up through the city’s music scene, performing at open-mic nights from an early age. When she was a teen, her father took her to a Townes Van Zandt gig, an event that made a deep and lasting creative impact on her. Griffith released 17 studio albums across her impressive career, and recorded duets with icons like Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson. Griffith’s iconic 1993 Grammy Award-winning album Other Voices, Other Rooms was a treasure trove of reinterpreted tracks from artists like John Prine and Bob Dylan, who also appeared on the record. Her songs took on new life in the hands of other artists, too. Her trademark song “Love at the Five and Dime” was a hit for Kathy Mattea in the ’80s, while “Outbound Plane” became a Top 10 hit for Suzy Bogguss in 1991. Bette Midler’s version of “From a Distance” topped the Adult Contemporary chart in 1990. Griffith died of natural causes in her Nashville home on Aug. 13 at age 68.

—Lorie Liebig

RICHIE ALBRIGHT

Drummer, songwriter and producer Richie Albright, one of country music’s most influential drummers and a famed Nashville Cat, died at age 81 on Feb. 9. Albright is best known as Waylon Jennings’ drummer, having joined Jennings’ band the Waylors in 1964. Albright was raised in Bagdad, Ariz., before moving to Nashville to join Jennings. Many credit his playing as integral to the creation of the outlaw-country sound, as his approach to drums tended more toward rock ’n’ roll than did that of his peers. Albright also co-wrote the 1983 Hank Williams Jr. duet “The Conversation” and performed on many of Jennings’ studio recordings. He worked as both drummer and producer with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Jessi Colter, among other major country artists. Albright is survived by his wife Linda and three children. —Brittney McKenna

CONNIE BRADLEY

Music Row leader, country industry trailblazer Fans around the world have long been on a first-name basis with country music’s biggest stars — Dolly, Loretta, Patsy, Reba. But in the 1970s, as Music Row transitioned from the home of hillbilly honky-tonk into its vibrant contemporary era, it was one-name-wonder women Frances, Jo, Dianne, Donna and Connie who ran the show. In the good-ol’-boy-dominated enclave of the country music industry, Connie Bradley led ASCAP Nashville for more than three decades before retiring in 2010. She was an integral member of the female force field heading performing rights organizations (BMI, SESAC, ASCAP), trade groups (CMA) and publishing powerhouses (Tree Publish-

ing). Bradley died March 24 in Florida, where she had a home with husband Jerry. Born in Fayetteville, Tenn., and raised in Shelbyville, Bradley was country through and through — her deep Southern accent, impeccably coiffed blond hair, pageantqueen wardrobe, dazzling smile, easy laugh, verve and warm style connected her immediately to the small-town roots of the big-time songwriters she represented. But her professional performance was direct and to the point. She did not mince words or take no for an answer. Among the artists and songwriters signed during Bradley’s tenure were Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Amy Grant, George Strait, Garth Brooks, LeAnn Rimes, Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney. Her influence extended to the board of directors of the CMA, where she served as both president and chair. Joe Galante, a brash New Yorker who came to Nashville in the 1970s and remains Row Ruler Emeritus, last spoke to Bradley the Friday before she died. “She was the same Connie,” he says. “She was always the same Connie. There was no difference in her from when she was an assistant at RCA to when she was the head of ASCAP, except for the power she had. She used it well.”

—Kay West

TIM AKERS

Keyboardist, arranger, bandleader and lover of R&B Beloved keyboardist Tim Akers was only 59 years old when he passed away on Aug. 30. A native of Hendersonville, Tenn., Akers was an in-demand session player and arranger, as well as a songwriter and bandleader. He got his start as a studio musician in the mid-’80s working on Christian recordings, but by the mid-’90s, he was getting calls to record with big pop stars like Michael McDonald, Peter Cetera and Barry Manilow, and top country artists like Faith Hill, Wynonna Judd and Rascal Flatts. From 1997 to 1999, he served as music director for TNN’s Prime Time Country. “Tim was just a great keyboard player,” says guitarist Tom Hemby, who worked often with Akers. “He could play many different styles of music, but the jazz-R&B thing, pop-R&B, he just really shined at that.” Akers’ love of horn-driven R&B led him to form the 16-piece R&B band, Tim Akers and the Smoking Section, in 2009. The band, which includes Hemby and other top session musicians, was working on its first album at the time of his death. According to Hemby, the album will be completed and the group will continue to perform to preserve Akers’ musical legacy. —Daryl Sanders

JIM WEATHERLY

Songwriter, hitmaker Jim Weatherly, best known for writing the classic song “Midnight Train to Georgia,” died on Feb. 3 at age 77. The acclaimed songwriter was born in 1943 in Pontotoc, Miss., and considered a career in football — he quarterbacked for the University of Mississippi, where he won back-to-back SEC championships and a national championship — before ultimately choosing to pursue songwriting. Over the course of Weatherly’s half-cen-

tury career, his songs were recorded by artists including Garth Brooks, Glen Campbell, Neil Diamond and Ray Price. Weatherly also released a string of solo albums during his life and found success with the 1974 songs “I’ll Still Love You” and “The Need to Be.” “Midnight Train to Georgia,” famously performed by Gladys Knight and the Pips, won a Grammy in 1974, and the song itself was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Following Weatherly’s death, Knight tweeted: “I’m missing Jim Weatherly already. He was about life and love.” Weatherly is survived by his wife Cynthia and two children. —Brittney McKenna

KENNY MALONE

Inventive drummer and sessionplaying icon If you like a country or country-adjacent song recorded in the past half-century that somehow sounds “different,” there’s a decent chance Kenny Malone is one of the people you have to thank for it. The masterful Colorado-born drummer, who as a youngster fell in love with the jazz drumming of Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, joined the Navy as a teenager. In 1970, he moved his family to Nashville to try his hand at studio work. As quoted in The New York Times following his death in August at age 83, Malone once told Modern Drummer that it was a bit of a rocky start: “I was back there playing away, and the producer said, ‘What in the hell are you doing?’ I didn’t know you could overdub, so I was playing all of it at once — tambourines, you name it. I literally had to come down to one hand and one foot. I had to unlearn everything as far as technical stuff. There was a whole different feel in recording.” But he adjusted quickly. You hear Malone, doing much more than just keeping time, on such diverse hits as Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away” and Crystal Gayle’s “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.” He recorded with songwriters’ songwriters like John Prine, Guy Clark and John Hartford and singers’ singers like Alison Krauss, Ray Charles and Charley Pride, among many, many more. Kenny Malone was mindful of the need to keep his approach fresh. He limited the number of sessions he’d play in a day, briefly quit altogether to play in a jazz combo and even invented some of his own techniques and instruments. The world of country music is all the richer for it. —Ste-

phen Trageser

RON CORNELIUS

The man with the red Gretsch Guitarist, producer and publisher Ron Cornelius — who passed away on Aug. 18 two months after suffering a stroke — once told author Sylvie Simmons his job with Leonard Cohen “was not to bruise the music.” A native of Richmond, Calif., who first came to Nashville in the late ’60s and moved to the city in 1975, Cornelius was an instrumental figure in the early part of Cohen’s career. He recorded and toured with the celebrated singer-songwriter while serving as his music director in the early- to mid-’70s. Simmons, who got to know Cornelius while working on her definitive biography, I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, says,

“Ron was sensitive to Leonard having a very different style.” “He had a good feel for whatever artist he was working with,” says Michael Gray of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which featured Cornelius in its 2015 exhibit, Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City. His musical sensitivity appealed to producer Bob Johnston, who tapped Cornelius to play his red custom Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar on recordings by an array of artists in the ’70s including Loudon Wainwright III, Tracy Nelson, Hoyt Axton and Billie Joe Shaver. But Cornelius did his most lasting work with two other artists Johnston produced, Cohen and Bob Dylan. He appeared on Cohen’s Songs From a Room, Songs of Love and Hate and Live Songs and on Dylan’s Self Portrait, New Morning and Dylan. —Daryl Sanders

CAROLINE PEYTON

Singer, songwriter and actor The archivists at the Chicago record label Numero Group served history in 2009 by reissuing two albums by singer, songwriter and actor Caroline Peyton, who died in Nashville on Aug. 11 at age 69. Peyton was born in Brookhaven, Miss., on Oct. 8, 1951, and by the time she had decamped to Bloomington, Ind., in 1970, she was a trained vocalist who could sing virtually anything that was put in front of her. A stunning beauty who performed with supreme confidence, she joined songwriter-producer Mark Bingham in Bloomington, where they became the stars of a vigorous music community. Her 1972 debut album Mock Up showed off the chops of a singer who turned Bingham’s compositions into displays of pained virtuosity. Listening today, you can hear how effortlessly Peyton navigated knotty songs like “Between-Two” and “Hook,” and how strongly a sense of loss transpires in these tales of countercultural dislocation. Peyton’s second album, 1977’s Intuition, was a flawless jazz-pop collection. Its best track, the lucent “Call of the Wild,” deserves to live on, even if it never hit the charts. I knew Caroline for 15 years, and she always surprised me. The range of her accomplishments — she voiced characters in several Disney animated films, appeared on Broadway and held down a demanding singing job at Nashville’s St. George’s Episcopal Church for many years — was as impressive as her personality, which was huge. I used to think I knew something about music, but Caroline taught me how limited my scope really was. When I caught her ear — she and I loved to listen to the 1974 bossa nova album Elis & Tom — I knew I had done something good. She analyzed music as a professional who had seen it all, and I’m incredibly grateful for the time I spent with her. —Edd Hurt

CLARENCE DOBBINS

The Little Entertainer

Clarence Dobbins, who passed on July 31, was a dynamic entertainer and bandleader who was a favorite of Nashville’s R&B and soul community throughout his career. He started singing as a child and soon gained the nickname “The Little Entertainer.” He

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 13

12/27/21 7:15 PM

got his professional start as lead vocalist for The Kadillacs in 1977, then started his own band two years later. The Clarence Dobbins Revue could perform R&B, soul or funk with equal verve, and Dobbins’ charismatic personality and vocal flair made them a popular regional attraction. The Revue opened for a number of top artists, among them Rufus Thomas and Freddy Waters. Dobbins’ fame grew to the point he became a featured attraction as a solo artist, working alongside such stars as B.B. King, Al Green and Keb’ Mo’, as well as country artists like T. Graham Brown and Wynonna Judd. Dobbins’ first EP, 2001’s Goes Something Like This, garnered solid reviews and enough attention that he later remade it in expanded fashion, retitling it Soul of the Man. He also issued The Uprising in 2008 for CDS Records. His distinctive style and sound will be remembered and celebrated for many years to come. —Ron Wynn

J.T. GRAY

Station Inn owner, champion of the bluegrass scene

Born in Corinth, Miss., Earl “J.T.” Gray spent five decades of his life in Music City — and for four of those, he owned legendary bluegrass club the Station Inn. During the ’70s, Gray had gigs playing with the Misty Mountain Boys, Vassar Clements, the Sullivan Family, Tom T. Hall and Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys. But it was as the Station Inn’s owner and proprietor that he made his most lasting mark. A few years after the club’s founding, Gray turned the unlikely little building in Nashville’s Gulch neighborhood into ground zero of the bluegrass scene, a must-play venue for performers the world over and a home away from home for many pickers. “Even before I moved to Tennessee I knew I had a place to stay,” says rising bluegrass star Molly Tuttle. “The Station Inn made bluegrass musicians like me feel at home no matter where we hailed from. Our music has been so greatly enriched by the life’s work of J.T. Gray that I wonder if we’ll ever be the same without him. Thank you J.T. for giving bluegrass a home in Nashville.” Just a few months before his death at age 75 in March of this year, Gray was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Bluegrass Hall of Fame. “Bluegrass is like one big family, and we’ve all stuck together through the years,” Gray told the Scene in 2020. “If someone gets sick or down on their luck, their family is ready to come to their aid. It makes you appreciate your family.” —D. Patrick Rodgers

TOM T. HALL

Songwriters’ songwriter, storyteller Few songwriters have influenced country music like Tom T. Hall, who passed away at his home in Franklin on Aug. 20 at age 85. Hall’s hits include the landmark 1968 country crossover “Harper Valley PTA,” which

topped the Billboard Hot 100 for Jeannie C. Riley and remains a critical entry in the country music canon. Hall was born in Olive Hill, Ky., in 1936 and first began playing music as a teenager. After serving in the Army, Hall attended Roanoke College and became active in radio, work that laid his eventual path to Nashville and his first publishing deal. Over several decades, Hall penned songs for iconic artists including Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and many others, earning himself the nickname “The Storyteller” for his uncanny knack for writing vivid, narrative lyrics. Hall was a Grammy winner, a member of the Grand Ole Opry, a 2008 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and a 2019 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Hall married his second wife Dixie in 1968, and the pair remained married until her death in 2015. —Brittney McKenna

DUFFY JACKSON

Drummer, exceptional sideman Duffy Jackson didn’t start his exemplary career in Nashville, but he made such an impression and had so much impact that it seemed he was always part of Music City. The superb drummer and vocalist, who died March 3, excelled in numerous settings. Before completing high school, he’d already played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman and Buddy Rich. He would go on to work with Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, Lena Horne, Milt Jackson and Barney Kessel. He had two years in the band for Sammy Davis Jr.’s syndicated TV show before a return stint with Count Basie, plus engagements with Lionel Hampton, Al Jarreau, Illinois Jacquet, Artie Shaw, Harry Allen, Billy Ross and The Manhattan Transfer. But once Jackson became part of Nashville’s jazz community, he preferred looking forward rather than celebrating the past. He was very involved with both the Nashville Jazz Workshop and Rudy’s Jazz Room, helping out in multiple roles while frequently demonstrating in concert that he was still a masterful drummer and engaging singer. Though Nashville was his final stop, he made it every bit as memorable and exciting as every other one in his exceptional lifetime. —Ron Wynn

ED AND PATSY BRUCE

Legendary songwriting duo

As writer Michael Streissguth tells the story in his 2013 book Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville, it was RCA Records head Jerry Bradley who met with Waylon Jennings in late 1977, when Jennings was looking for some material. Bradley had already mocked up the cover of an album titled Waylon and Willie, and Jennings had cut a few songs for the record. What Waylon, Willie and Bradley needed was a surefire hit, and they found it with a song written by Ed Bruce and his wife Patsy

Bruce: “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” which Ed Bruce had taken into the charts in 1975. As Streissguth writes, “Bradley knew from the minute he heard Waylon play the song that it was as good as Elvis rising from the dead.” Indeed, Waylon and Willie’s duet hit No. 1 on the Billboard country chart in early 1978. Patsy Bruce started out as Patsy Ann Smithson, and she was a West Tennessean, born on March 8, 1940, in Brownsville. Meanwhile, William Edwin Bruce Jr. — who was born in Keiser, Ark., on Dec. 29, 1939 — spent his early years in Memphis. Patsy and Ed married in 1964, moving to Nashville in 1966. Patsy also collaborated with him on hit songs like “Texas (When I Die)” and “After All.” Ed scored a No. 1 country hit in 1981 with “You’re the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had,” did voiceover work and appeared in television shows and films. Patsy served as president of the Nashville Songwriters Association in the early ’80s. She also distinguished herself as a casting director and worked as a member of the Tennessee State Board of Probation and Parole for a decade in the Aughts. The couple divorced in 1987. Ed Bruce died in Clarksville, Tenn., on Jan. 8; Patsy Bruce died on May 16. —Edd Hurt

NIK SHARP

Musician and app developer Nik Panagopolous, better known as “Mr. Nik Sharp,” dreamed big. Following years hustling in the underground with rock bands like Suburban Tragedy, the Florida-born singer and some friends spent their COVID lockdown time developing an app that they envisioned as ’90s-era MTV for contemporary audiences. Called Audidio, the app offers a network of streaming music video channels introduced by a host. Though still in its early stages, the app has been gaining some traction; it’s available on Android and iOS platforms as well as devices like Roku and Amazon Firestick. According to a post on Audidio’s official Instagram, Panagopolous was in Florida to meet with investors when he died unexpectedly on Dec. 15. He was 42 years old. —Stephen Trageser

DON EVERLY

Rock ’n’ roll innovator It’s safe to say that all serious students of rock history recognize the importance of The Everly Brothers, whose hits in the late 1950s stand as classic examples of a version of rock that drew from country music. Certainly, the close-harmony vocals of brothers Don and Phil Everly are similar to those of, say, The Louvin Brothers, and the themes of the Everlys’ hits — “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie” — parallel those of straight-ahead rock, which often addressed the idea of teenage angst. Still, what happened to the Everlys in the 1960s was an example of how innovators and hitmakers can weather challenges in the face of changing fashion. For Isaac Donald Everly — who was born in Brownie, Ky., on Feb. 1, 1937 — being a musician meant striving to make innovative music, and he and Phil did some of their richest work in the decade of The Beatles and The Byrds. A

great rhythm guitarist, Don released one of his finest tracks, “Omaha,” on his first solo album, 1970’s Don Everly. It’s an ominous, haunted performance of great feeling and originality, and it’s worthy of John Lennon or Roger McGuinn. With Phil, who died in 2014, Don cut the essential rock albums Two Yanks in England, released in 1966, and Roots, a 1968 collection that summed up their career and thus the trajectory of rock ’n’ roll itself. Don Everly died in Nashville on Aug. 21 at age 84. —Edd Hurt

ROSS NORTON

Rapper, concert promoter, the world’s best friend On Aug. 8, the world lost a precious and rare soul who touched the lives of so many people through his music, film work and activism, as well as his beautiful sense of comradery as a fellow human. I always think back on the times when we would laugh to the point of tears about some crazy scheme that we would come up with. We walked together through different seasons of life and celebrated each other’s growth. Ross possessed a radical sense of empathy and community that pierced the superficial boundaries of society. When Nashville was devastated by a tornado in 2020 that carved paths of destruction through the city, Ross got off work and hit the ground with other first responders to restore the communities that were affected the most. Ross has left us with an incredible catalog of music, film work and memories. His friendship brought me joy, inspiration and hope. Ross was the best friend that a person could have. —Nathan Conrad

ROBB EARLS

Believer in Music City rock It’s easy to forget just how transgressive playing punk, New Wave and electronic pop seemed in the Nashville of the 1970s and ’80s. I remember sitting morosely at The Gold Rush in 1986, listening intently to Lou Reed’s New Sensations and drinking Irish coffee after wolfing down a bean roll. It was the era of long-gone venue Cantrell’s, where you could catch bands like The dB’s and Pylon. Here in town, the producer, studio owner and musician Robb Earls was busy creating synth-heavy, angst-driven and bracingly modern music. The Nashville native was born Robert W. Earls Jr. on Dec. 27, 1951. Earls was a versatile musician who sang, played synth, wrote songs and — most importantly — made things happen. At his studio, Sound Vortex, he produced and engineered records by the likes of David Olney and Lambchop. As a bandleader, he made memorable post-punk and electro-pop with Factual, whose 1984 track “For the Song” holds up well today. Factual made great records, but the band was also known as a superb live act, touring around the South and in New York. With vocalist Marilyn Blair, Earls formed another group, Warm Dark Pocket, which was followed by yet another band, This Midnight Stream. Earls was a tireless champion of the new sounds coming out of cities that, at the time, seemed so much more progressive than Nashville, and his work helped change Music City forever. Earls died in Nashville on March 11. —Edd Hurt

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 14

12/27/21 7:16 PM

2 2 0 2 n i k c o r ight NYE n id M il t n u n e Op 7:00-10:00 m o r f ic s u M Live od Menu o F t h ig N te a Night L ll A ls ia c e p S eer Drink & B e Toast n g a p m a h C Free

Celebrate e v E s ’ r a e Y w e N s n io t a n e h t with Us 1105 51st Avenue North • 615-383-9996

rockndoughpizza.com

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

ELLIOT MAZER

Legendary producer and engineer When record producer and engineer Elliot Mazer died of a heart attack at his home in San Francisco on Feb. 7, at the age of 79, he left behind a rich musical legacy. That includes important contributions in the ’60s and ’70s to Nashville’s evolution as a recording center. Most notably, Mazer helped develop the genre-busting session supergroup Area Code 615, launched Linda Ronstadt’s hitmaking career, produced Neil Young’s most commercially successful album (1972’s Harvest) and helped establish Quadrafonic Sound Studio as ground zero for the growing number of rock and folk sessions in the city in the 1970s. “I was enthralled with Nashville,” Mazer told me in a 2015 interview. “It was completely thrilling — great musicians and great studios, and you come out with tapes that are wonderful. As a producer, what else could you ask for? Every artist I worked with came out of Nashville with a unique, different-sounding record with wonderful stuff on it.” The musicians he worked with appreciated Mazer as well. “Elliot understood that the musicians here had good instincts, and if you close your mind to it, you’re probably missing a lot,” said master session musician Charlie McCoy following Mazer’s death. McCoy, a member of Area Code 615, worked on multiple records with Mazer. “A master in the studio, Elliot was a really good guy,” Neil Young wrote on his website after receiving word of Mazer’s passing. “He had a great way about him and I wish we had gotten to do more together. I am happy and thankful though that we got what we did get. Harvest is one of my most recognized recordings, and it all happened because of Elliot Mazer.” —Daryl Sanders

STONEWALL JACKSON

Grand Ole Opry legend

Over the course of his long career, which included a 60-year run as a member of The Grand Ole Opry, country singer Stonewall Jackson embodied the crowd-pleasing, unpretentious side of a genre that was designed to appeal to as many record-buyers as possible. He was born in Tabor City, N.C., on Nov. 6, 1932, and he moved with his family to Georgia when he was 2 years old. In Georgia, he worked on his uncle’s farm. After a stint in the Navy, he headed to Nashville in 1956. It didn’t take long for the country boy to become a star: He first hit with George Jones’ song “Life to Go” in 1958. Jackson recorded his signature song, “Waterloo,” in April 1959 at Nashville’s Bradley Film and Recording Co. with a band that included pianist Floyd Cramer, bassist Junior Huskey and drummer Buddy Harmon. Written by John D. Loudermilk and Marijohn Wilkin, “Waterloo” is one of the most pop of country hits, because the song casts history as a joke. “Little general Napoleon of France / Tried to conquer the world / But lost his pants,” Jackson sings. Jackson knew a good song when he heard it. His 1971 version of pop singer Lobo’s “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” is a classic. It was the singer’s final Top 10 hit. Jackson

memorably took on the Nashville establishment when he sued the Opry’s management in 2006, claiming age discrimination. He won, and continued his run at the venerable institution until he retired in 2012. Jackson died in Nashville on Dec. 4 at age 89. —Edd Hurt

KENNETH WAYNE “SCAT” SPRINGS

Soul man

When you hear that someone “grew up in a musical family,” that can mean a great variety of things. Kenneth Wayne Springs was absolutely steeped in music. He was known far and wide as “Scat,” a nickname reflecting the legacy of his father, Kenneth Springs Sr., who was the lead singer of a popular R&B band from Kingsport, Tenn., called The Scat Cats. The younger Springs displayed his talents in both arts and sports while he was a student at Dobyns-Bennett High School. He participated in local theater productions around Kingsport while performing at a phenomenally high level on the track team, with whom he won the state championship in 1979. Springs went to Appalachian State University on a track scholarship, but his love of music ultimately led him to move to Nashville and pursue a career as a singer. He sang jingles and did other commercial session work. He sang mostly background vocals on records for stars like Faith Hill and Vince Gill, as well as onstage with Garth Brooks and Aretha Franklin, to name just a few. Beginning in the early 1990s, he led his own popular soul, funk and R&B tribute, The Scat Springs Band. Among other gigs, they frequently appeared at Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar in Printers Alley, where — adorned with his customary fedora — Springs conjured singers from Louis Armstrong to James Brown to Stevie Wonder to Sly Stone with passion and finesse. He sang at church and he sang at home too, inspiring and cultivating another generation of Springs musicians. One of his three daughters is widely loved R&B and jazz pianist and singer-songwriter Kandace Springs, who in interviews is quick to credit her father’s encouragement as her reputation has grown internationally. She’s among the many, many family members, fans and friends who will miss Scat, who died Dec. 9 at age 61. —Stephen Trageser

JEFF LISENBY

Musician, educator and friend Jeff Lisenby was widely known as a consummate musician. And yet for many, he will best be remembered as a devoted friend, colleague and educator. Originally from Kansas City, Mo., Lisenby grew up in a musical family and learned to play accordion and piano at a young age. He met his future wife, Pam Kelsay, at a youth accordion orchestra rehearsal in sixth grade. (Family legend has it that he saw young Pam climb off the back of her father’s motorcycle with an accordion on her back, and knew she was the one.) Lisenby studied accordion performance and music composition at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and would go on to earn his master’s degree in music there. He was a two-time national accordion champion and a bronze medalist in the

Coupe Mondiale international classical accordion competitions — a hugely prestigious honor that most of his friends in Nashville knew little about. Lisenby married Pam in 1977 and moved his young family to Nashville in 1986, hoping to explore new musical opportunities. He soon found a job playing keyboards for The Way Out West Show at the Opryland theme park. It proved to be a good decision, and Opryland introduced Lisenby to many of the musicians and singers he would work with throughout the rest of his life. Over the next 35 years, Lisenby earned a sterling reputation as a composer, arranger, performer and music director. He performed with a wide range of artists, including The Mills Brothers, Mel Tormé, Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Drifters, The Coasters, Luciano Pavarotti, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Donna Summer, among others. He also served as music director and arranger and played keyboards in the 2006 Broadway production of Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, and later toured with that show. He also performed with touring productions of Wicked and Jersey Boys, and was regularly called upon to play with touring Broadway shows that stopped at TPAC. Lisenby played on numerous Nashville recordings — including the Grammy-winning Songs from the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers (which was recorded with his dear friend, producer Dennis Scott), along with his own albums Walkin’ the Winter Wonderland and A Spy in Tortuga. He was featured on several albums for Nashville’s Green Hill Records, and played as a sideman for Benson, Alfred, Universal and other labels. Lisenby also served on the faculty of Lipscomb and Belmont universities and was the choral accompanist at Father Ryan High School — where students affectionately referred to him as “Uncle Liz.” “‘Gentle’ is the word that keeps cropping up in discussions about Jeff,” Lisenby’s daughter, singer-songwriter Jaclyn Brown, tells the Scene. “In a field dominated by egos, he was truly all about the music. He was equally committed to playing well for Dolly Parton as for the Father Ryan sophomore prepping for the school musical. Talent aside, his true gift was that every person he came in contact with felt valued in his presence.” Lisenby died on Jan. 6 of COVID-19 complications. He was 65. —Amy Stumpfl

SYLVAIN SYLVAIN

New York Dolls co-founder, influential guitarist, guiding light Sylvain Sylvain Mizrahi left an indelible mark on the face of music and all who knew him. He was the guitarist and linchpin of the New York Dolls, who influenced generations of musicians. His clothing company Truth & Soul still serves as a primary source of rock ’n’ roll fashion inspiration as its singular look has been carried through from Sylvain to Izzy Stradlin to DeeOhGee’s Matthew Paige. There is no doubt rock ’n’ roll has seen its share of bright, sparkling personas, but Sylvain was a true North Star and to be in his orbit was pure pleasure. I have many fond musical memories of my time with Sylvain, whom I played with when the New York Dolls re-formed. Touring South America with the Dolls, playing

a soccer stadium in Peru with The B-52s, playing a double bill all-acoustic show with Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols and the great Kenny Aaronson on bass. My most treasured memories, though, are the moments where it was just me and Syl at the hotel after the show, or driving through the night in a station wagon across the Arizona desert. Sylvain was always teaching me in those moments: songs and bands I needed to know, the history of New York City, the secrets to living life as a musician outside the mainstream. Recently, I spoke to Kenny Aaronson about the time he and I spent together playing in one of Sylvain’s many solo projects. Kenny, an original member of the band Dust, saw the Dolls at one of their first gigs ever. (Kenny went on to play bass for Bob Dylan and The Yardbirds, among others.) During our chat, Kenny summed up Syl perfectly: “He’s the type of guy who will always live on in the hearts of those that knew him.” Those words truly encapsulate the man who was so much more than just a guitar player in a famously influential band. He had that spark within him that compelled him to share his gifts and inspire others. In popular music, much ado is made of what sells, what dominates charts and lists, racks up award nominations or goes viral. But any musician who truly loves music will tell you: True greatness comes from inspiring the music community with your work — using the gifts you have to make things better and cooler for future generations. Sylvain Sylvain did just that. He left this world in January at age 69 as a legendary guitarist, an innovative songwriter and a golden-hearted maker of rock ’n’ roll mischief. His most important accomplishment was being true enough to himself that he lit an enduring path for others. —Aaron Lee Tasjan

BOB MOORE

Iconic session bassist Bassist Bob Moore, one of the most important musicians in Nashville history, died on Sept. 22 at age 88. Born and raised in Nashville, Moore was playing professionally by 15 and became a member of the original A-team of first-call session musicians who fueled the city’s rise as a recording center. He is one of the most recorded bassists in the history of popular music, playing on more than 17,000 sessions during a career spanning more than half a century. His session credits include influential recordings with Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Brenda Lee. In addition to countless hits by country legends such as Johnny Cash, George Jones, and Dottie West, he also recorded with an array of pop, rock, R&B and jazz greats, including Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ruth Brown. “Bob Moore was the bassist Nashville needed,” said bassist-producer Norbert Putnam after Moore’s death. “He wasn’t just a country guy — he could cover it all, you know. He could play light jazz, country, pop, rock. The early stuff he played on with Elvis was just excellent. But I thought the work he did with Brenda Lee and Owen Bradley was his greatest playing.” Moore, whose son is renowned home recordist R. Stevie Moore, was an investor when Monument Records first moved from the Washington, D.C., area to Nashville. Al-

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 16

12/27/21 7:16 PM

though he later sold his interest, Moore will always be identified with the company. His work as an arranger and session leader on recordings by Orbison, the label’s biggest star, helped forever broaden the scope of rock ’n’ roll. “Bob Moore played a huge role in Nashville’s evolution into Music City,” says bassist Dave Pomeroy, president of American Federation of Musicians Local 257. “His big sound, propulsive rhythms and melodic playing defined the role of the acoustic bass in thousands of recordings over his long and epic career. Records like Roger Miller’s ‘King of the Road’ and Patsy Cline’s ‘Crazy’ would never have been the same without his iconic bass parts, and those two examples are just the tip of the iceberg.” —Daryl Sanders

MICHAEL NESMITH

Country-rock innovator, “The Quiet Monkee” Robert Michael “Nez” Nesmith was an incredibly bright, vibrant, multifaceted human being — a “bona fide pop-culture polymath,” in the words of a recent profile in Vanity Fair — so it’s been gratifying to see the recent outpouring of writing that includes so many little-known particulars of his life beyond The Monkees. For the past few years I have been Nesmith’s pedal-steelplaying sidekick. It was hard not to be taken in by the obvious passion he showed for so many topics, even during his wildest, most fanciful flights of conversation. And there were many of those! One of Nez’s longest-lasting passions was the pedal-steel guitar, and without a doubt the most significant musical figure in Nesmith’s long post-Monkees career was pedal-steel guitarist Orville “Red” Rhodes, who died in 1995. Red’s pedal steel was the dominant musical voice throughout Nesmith’s prolific country-tinged period, which included studio sessions in Nashville like the one that led to the formation of Area Code 615. Nesmith’s symbiotic relationship with Red through the years and his love of the pedal steel were part of the context for every show we played together. It was never about mimicry; rather it was about encouraging the freedom to create and take chances. That musical trust and mutual respect was a living, breathing part of Nez and Red’s legacy for me until the end, even on the more structured Monkees shows. I’ve never really known that level of enthusiasm and support before. Nesmith could still be a delight to be around of course, but there was no mistaking that age, his heart issues and the multiple stresses of the pandemic had taken a substantial toll on him. But during the long Monkees tour we finished just a few weeks ago, he seemed to get soul sustenance from performing with Micky Dolenz again, from his interactions with the band and crew, and especially from the energy and obvious love of the crowds. By the end of the tour we were all delighted that he seemed so much more focused, healthy and happy than when we started. The trademark twinkle in his eye and infectious smile had returned. —Pete Finney

BUSINESS BEN RECHTER

Behind-the-scenes businessman, philanthropist, activist Few have loved Nashville as intensely and actively as Ben Rechter did. He had a big heart. He also had an impatient heart. He was proud of Nashville’s growth, but he also had an urgent sense that we are outgrowing the things that have made this city great in the first place — that the Nashville we all fell in love with will disappear unless we protect and preserve its special character. Our kindness, our generosity, our willingness to help those who live around us. Ben was particularly concerned about those neighbors who haven’t shared in the “It City” spotlight, affluence and selfesteem. He saw it as his quiet mission to try to change that. The organizations, institutions and lives that Ben Rechter touched are countless, from the Nashville Symphony and the National Museum of African American Music to Fisk University and the local chapter of the NAACP. He was one of the original founders of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and he was the driving force behind the more recent “We Are Nashville” initiative (wearenashville.com). Ben called that project a “family portrait” of a family grown too big to know each other, but one designed to help each of us finally see and meet others outside our usual ZIP codes. And to get us to use whatever resources we have, large or small, to make life better for everyone who lives here. Because as he said: “The only way we can get our community to change its behavior and become a truly great city … is by becoming a family. But we have to know each other first.” Ben Rechter spent a lifetime trying to achieve that. And he did it quietly, anonymously, and without attribution. You won’t find any buildings named for him, but the results of his generosity and selfless engagement for good have left a positive mark on this city that should never be forgotten. Rechter died May 7. He was 83.

—Kerry Graham

when he designed the fledgling company’s iconic logo; he then brought them to The Buntin Group, where he was proud to be “Employee Number One.” During his time there — nearly a half-century — he had a hand in building the brands for Red Lobster, O’Charley’s, Dollar General, Captain D’s, Shoney’s and Lowe’s. An honorable man who broke into the business in the Mad Men era, and a generous mentor to those who worked for him, he received the Nashville Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal for lifetime achievement in the field in 2006. In his acceptance speech, he shared the key to his success: “a career that made him feel like a kid going off to play in the sandbox every day.” —Kay West

FRED HARRIS

Recruiter, booster, businessman Before Nashville was an “It City,” its main economic-development assets were hardworking industrial recruiters with charts that showed that Nashville was (sort of, at least) the center of the population of the continental United States. One such recruiter was Fred Harris, who died on Feb. 10. Fred was in his mid-40s in 1979, when a Japanese company called Nissan was searching for a place to build a car assembly plant in the South. As chamber officials such as Harris took Nissan executives all over Middle Tennessee, secrecy and diligence were the orders of the day. “We’d get up early and go all day,” Harris later said. “Then we’d go out to dinner and have 14 drinks, and then we’d sit down and review what we’d done all day. The hours were so long, I almost had to get divorced.” Fred and his wife Laura went all-out to charm the Japanese car-company reps. They knew, in theory, what sushi was, but there was no place that made it in Tennessee back then. So Laura made sushi with freshwater fish caught in Tennessee. “I don’t remember how the sushi came out, but I think they appreciated the effort.” After Fred successfully recruited Nissan, he became the vice president of economic development for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. Eventually, the legend of Fred Harris grew. By the mid-1990s, when another wave of national companies moved to Nashville, he was known by just about everyone in economic development circles. His ability to keep secrets from reporters may have faded as the years went by. But he trusted people, and he was himself trusted by all. —Bill Carey

FORREST SHOAF

WILLIAM “BILL” HOLLEY

Attorney, businessman, storyteller

Bill Holley was raised the only child of sharecroppers on a farm in Petersburg, Tenn., before leaving the rural community of fewer than 500 people for big-city Nashville and the Harris School of Advertising Art. He learned the value of a good sales pitch when he paid a boy on a bicycle 50 cents to get the name of a girl he spied on a porch — a slick move that led to 59 years of marriage and two daughters. He was just as successful professionally, starting his career in advertising as a freelancer and striking Cracker Barrel gold

Nathan Bedford Forrest Shoaf — known to all as Forrest, mercifully — was in possession of one of the finer minds with which God ever graced a human. He was in command of a number of disciplines, including law, finance, politics, British and military history, Shakespeare, soul music and anything having to do with his beloved Tennessee and the broader South. His brilliance was often showcased through his gift at telling stories, whose plotlines most always involved close friends, brushes with the law (he and I were arrested together once), consumption of alcohol (which killed

Ad man

him ultimately), and the fact that Tina Turner babysat him as a child. Educated at West Point, Vanderbilt and Harvard Law, Shoaf began his career as an attorney at Bass, Berry & Sims, then became general counsel in Lamar Alexander’s presidential campaign, then found his true calling in investment banking at J.C. Bradford & Co., where he was able to combine his massive financial and legal brainpower with his inimitable sales charm, which usually relied on his aforementioned storytelling. His last stop was at Cracker Barrel, where he was CFO and general counsel. (Among other investment banking assignments, Shoaf handled the sale of the Nashville Scene by its founders — Albie Del Favero and me.) He was deeply conservative before deeply conservative was cool, and often destroyed armchair liberals on the old Teddy Bart’s Round Table radio show. He tried politics, once running for Congress against Marsha Blackburn, and after losing he called it an “exercise in narcissism.” God may never make another human being like Forrest. He grew up on a 2,000acre island in the middle of the Mississippi River, where his family grew cotton. It’s called Shoaf Island, and was settled by his ancestors, who had killed a Yankee after the Civil War and needed a place to hide. His ashes were distributed on the island, amid the stubble of cotton, surrounded by the great and mythic river. We read from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, that being the version that literate Episcopalians prefer. “Unto Almighty God we commend the soul of our brother departed, and we commit his body to the deep.” The river rolled on.

—Bruce Dobie

ALBERT HALE HOOPER JR.

Real estate agent, Nashville man in full

They just don’t make nicknames like they used to. Consider “Squatlow,” the sobriquet borne by Albert Hale Hooper Jr. from his time in college until his death New Year’s Day 2021 at the age of 87. Hale, as he was known professionally or by those who didn’t feel intimate enough to call him “Squatlow,” was the leadoff hitter for the baseball team at Vanderbilt University, where he matriculated after two years in the Army in Korea. Like all great leadoff hitters, he knew his primary job was to get on base by whatever means necessary. Hooper bent his body as low and tight as he could to minimize the strike zone and draw a walk, and in the process earned himself a legendary nickname. After Vanderbilt, the native Nashvillian — who’d attended old West High School — continued his extremely Nashville life by earning his law degree from the Nashville School of Law and then working for a decade at Genesco. He left Genesco in 1965 and founded Fridrich & Hooper Realty alongside Jerry Fridrich. The firm quickly became one of Nashville’s leading real estate agencies. In 1986, Hooper left the company he’d helped start and led the real estate group at Town & Country Realty, which similarly rose to local prominence. After decades of helping people find their dream homes, he moved to the finance side of the real estate process as a senior loan

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 17

12/27/21 7:17 PM

officer for PNC and Regions banks. Hooper’s passion for sports never left him. He’d starred at football at West in addition to baseball — it was there he developed the curveball and wicked knuckler he used as a starting pitcher for the Commodores — and he continued to play tennis and golf throughout his life. —J.R. Lind

JAMES CHEEK III

Attorney, business leader, family man In a 1996 Scene profile of the venerable Nashville law firm Bass, Berry and Sims, writer Bob Holladay noted that “an attorney who produces for the firm can expect, someday, to retire from Bass, Berry and Sims as a partner in the firm.” This was true of James Cheek III, who joined the firm (or “The Firm,” as the Scene christened it) in 1970 as an associate and retired as a partner nearly 50 years later. Cheek fit the mold at the time of hires for the firm founded by Frank Bass, Frank Berry and Cecil Sims in 1921: Nashville native, graduate of MBA, Duke University, Vanderbilt Law School and Harvard Law School. Cheek inarguably produced for the firm. In the Scene article, he recalled that when he started practicing there, “I did everything. Divorces, real estate titles, wills.” As his career progressed, he began to specialize in working with securities matters, mergers and acquisitions, and represented virtually every public company in Nashville and a number headquartered elsewhere. His reputation extended far beyond his hometown — he served as chair of the 40,000-member Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, as well as chair of the Legal Advisory Board of the New York Stock Exchange. He chaired the National Task Force on Corporate Responsibility, headed the Regulatory Auditor of the New York Stock Exchange for several years and was a founding fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel. At Vanderbilt Law School, he helped create the Elliott Cheatham Scholarship Fund, and in 2019 established the Cheek Business Law Scholarships and Cheek Scholars Summer Stipends to provide financial support to deserving students in Vanderbilt’s Law and Business Program. Cheek’s “retirement” was active — he taught, lectured and played competitive tennis regionally and nationally well into his 70s. An only child, Cheek built through marriages to two magnificent women — Sigourney Cheek, with whom he had three children and who died in 2012, and then Nicky Weaver, who survives him — an immediate, blended and extended family of 26 he titled the WeCheeks. He spent significant non-billable hours on them, planning memorable and adventurous trips that took the WeCheeks around the world.

—Kay West

JIMMY PHILLIPS

Longtime pre-press manager at Franklin Web Printing Co. Back when Franklin Web Printing Co. in Franklin was doing more high-volume printing, couple Jimmy and Renee Phillips were the king and queen of the pre-press. In printing, the folks who do pre-press work are incredibly important. They ensure that when an aluminum plate is made for a newspaper or magazine, it’s going to make the best print possible. Jimmy and Renee spent a lot of time learning new innovations in printing — moving from film to image setting to a process that’s used today called computerto-plate. Jimmy would work days getting files ready to be turned into plates, and Renee would work nights — they’d often overlap or pass each other coming and going to the shop. Over the years, as business slowed down, Renee went to part-time and Jimmy did most of the pre-press work for the company himself. When Jimmy died Nov. 4 at 72 years old, he had worked in the pre-press at Franklin Web for more than 22 years. He started his career in printing and photography at the Pulaski Citizen, first part-time while he was in school and later moving into full-time work for the paper. He also worked for Pulaski Web Printing before leaving to come to Franklin Web. “Since he passed, we’ve had so many people reach out to say just how instrumental he was in helping them get their paper off the ground,” says Chris Coyle, vice president of Franklin Web Printing Co. “He really enjoyed helping people make a paper look good and teaching them how to do it right.” His 50 years of learning and experience made him valuable, but his willingness to share it made him invaluable. Coyle recalls the time a local paper hired a new graphic designer fresh out of college to design the paper, and she was struggling to prepare the press files to send to Jimmy. Rather than getting irritated, Jimmy drove to the paper and spent a few hours helping her set up her computer and showing her how to do everything properly. If someone screwed something up, he didn’t care, as long as they cared enough to learn how to fix it. “And then later she called and she said she learned more in those three hours than in her whole four years of college,” Coyle says. “He loved it because then, you know, you’d see the paper a month later and it would just look amazing. It meant a lot to him.” When Jimmy found out he was sick earlier this year, Coyle says his biggest concern was his wife Renee. The couple lived rurally, loved and surrounded themselves with animals, and spent much of their time together. Coyle told Jimmy that they’d always be there for Renee: to help feed their animals, to mow the grass, to have a shoulder to cry on. And when she was ready, they’d have a spot ready for her running pre-press at Franklin Web. —Amanda Haggard

ALICE PEARSON CHAPMAN

Consultant, partner, mentor

I am writing this over Thanksgiving weekend, still in shock over the sudden death of Alice Chapman. She was a dear friend and business partner, the managing partner of our firm — MP&F Strategic Communications — and one of the most quietly impactful people I’ve ever known. She died on Nov. 9 at age 49. Alice joined MP&F in 1995 after graduating from the University of Tennessee, and we were fortunate to have a front-row seat as she grew into a consummate professional and a master communications consultant. Her career was already full of accomplishments: She was instrumental in the rollout of curbside recycling in Nashville (remember Curby?) and later played a very important role in the seven-year campaign to allow wine to be sold in Tennessee grocery stores. And she was just getting started. We also watched her grow in her faith and bond with her peers at work, many of whom would become her lifelong friends. We were thrilled when she met the love of her life and husband, Tom Chapman, and we celebrated with them the birth of their beautiful children, Ryan and Cate. Alice became an MP&F partner in 2012 and our managing partner in 2019. We thrived under her leadership. She touched so many through her work for Nashville’s nonprofit community. She mentored so many young members of our staff, and it was great to see so many former MP&Fers who moved on to new careers come back to town for Alice’s funeral. Alice died too soon. She was just hitting her stride, and it was glorious to share time with her. Our pledge to Alice is to appreciate every day we have on this earth and take nothing for granted. —David Fox

PATRICIA CHAMPION FRIST

Philanthropist; education, arts and business icon

Gabrielle Levon, Maroun Harb and Kaelen Cunnyngham — from Virginia, Texas and Kansas, respectively — never met Nashville philanthropy, education, arts and business icon Patricia Champion Frist. But the three Class of 2021 high school graduates were among the 588 recipients of the Patricia Frist Memorial Scholarship, founded as the HCA Healthcare Scholars Program in 2019 and renamed in her honor after her death in January. Since the program was founded, merit-based one-year scholarships totaling more than $7.5 million have been awarded to 2,168 dependents of HCA colleagues across the organization. Known as Trisha, she worked alongside Dr. Thomas Frist Jr. — the Nashville native she married in 1961 after graduating Vanderbilt with a B.A. in history and English — and his father, Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., in founding the Hospital Corporation of America in 1968. She also helped create

the HCA Foundation in 1982. Countless Nashvillians and visitors to Nashville have benefited from her vision, her largesse and her seemingly boundless energy, as the force behind the founding of the Frist Art Museum, United Way’s Alexis de Toqueville Society, the Thomas F. Frist Centennial Sportsplex, the YMCA Frist Teen Center in Green Hills and the Patricia Champion Frist Hall at Vanderbilt’s School of Nursing. She and her husband were major contributors to the Nashville Zoo, Second Harvest Food Bank, Cheekwood’s Frist Learning Center and, further from home, Princeton’s Frist Campus Center, as well as scholarships at Harvard Business School and Washington University. A charismatic presence at any gathering — from Nashville’s glamorous whitetie balls to blue-jean pickin’ parties in a field under a full moon — Frist had a dazzling smile that shone bright. She was the stunning and steadfast matriarch of her family, full partner to her husband of six decades, inspiring role model to their three children and nine grandchildren, and benefactor to millions who never had the pleasure of her acquaintance. —Kay West

SUE GOLDEN ATKINSON

PR powerhouse

It is an irony of the public relations industry that the most successful practitioners are sociable, engaging and magnetic, but must in turn be adept and diligent at deflecting the light that shines in their direction toward their clients. In her 30-year career, Sue Golden Atkinson was a master at subtly drawing people in, then turning their gaze to her remarkable roster — which included Nissan, First American Bank, the Nashville Predators, HCA Healthcare and TriStar Health. The onetime math and Latin teacher at John Overton High School entered the PR world with Holder Kennedy, becoming their first president and then breaking off to form Atkinson Public Relations in 1986. Her company not only represented A-list clients, but also trained multiple alums who took the lessons learned under her quiet tutelage and generous mentorship and created their own agencies as the industry grew in a burgeoning city. She and Marvin Runyon — the auto industry executive, former U.S. postmaster general and chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority, whom she married in 1987 — were among Nashville’s most dynamic power couples, concurrent with the city’s emergence as a vibrant Southern center of business and commerce. Together they supported numerous Nashville nonprofits, organizations and fundraising events and hosted one of the city’s most memorable and merriest Christmas parties every Dec. 23, with a 20-foot tree Atkinson decorated herself (presumably with the help of a ladder). The couple was deeply devoted to one another until his death in 2004. A devastating automobile accident in 2012 resulted in serious injuries and more than 25 surgeries in the nine years before Sue’s death. Her son Brannan Atkinson and daughter-in-law Amy Atkinson — successful PR professionals themselves — say she faced each day with grace, strength, an iron will and refusal to feel sorry for herself.

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 18

12/27/21 7:17 PM

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

3RDANDLINDSLEY.COM

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

GREAT MUSIC • GREAT FOOD • GOOD FRIENDS • SINCE 1991

FEATURED 12.30 12.31

Marc Broussard

12/30

Full Band with Horns (early & late shows)

12 AGAINST NATURE

1/1

12/31

12.31

THE LONG PLAYERS PERFORMING TOM PETTY’S “WILDFLOWERS”

GUILTY PLEASURES: NEW YEARS EVE WITH SAM HUNTER

1/4

THU

1/6

FRI

1/7 SAT

1/8

SUN

1/9

WED

1/12

ADDISON INNISS

7:00

8:00

WALKING MAN

7:30

1971 THE GREATEST YEAR IN MUSIC

8:00

JEFFREY STEELE BAND

WITH HOLLIS & BROOKE HATALA

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

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

THU

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

FRI

1/13

TWO SHOWS!

1/14

1.2

THE CLEVERLYS

8:00

OLIVER WOOD

SUN

LILLY WINWOOD

8:00

THE TIME JUMPERS

MON

DEREK ST. HOLMES BAND

8:00

7:30

BRASSVILLE

W/ CYRENA WAGES

SAT

1-29 1-31 2-4 2-9

COLIN RAYE & THE RIFF RAFF CHARLES WESLEY GODWIN VINYL RADIO BACKSTAGE NASHVILLE! DAYTIME HIT SONGWRITER SHOW RESURRECTION: A JOURNEY TRIBUTE THE TIME JUMPERS THE EAGLEMANIACS BRADY SEALS

2-10 2-12 2-17 2-20 2-24 3-3 4-8 4-9

1.7

The Purple Madness: Prince Tribute

1/15 1/16

GA-20 & JD Simo

1.8

DINING WITH DIVAS DRAG DINNER BENEFITTING NASHVILLE PRIDE

1.22 THE 8 TRACK BAND

1/17

1.8

INEBRIATED SHAKESPEARE PRESENTS: HAMLET IN THE LOUNGE

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

TUE

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

1.15

CHARLIE STARR - EARLY & LATE SHOWS

1.29 JIMMY WEBB

1.16

MARTIN SEXTON

2.1

SILVANA ESTRADA

1.17

WATKINS FAMILY HOUR BROTHER SISTER TOUR WITH COURTNEY HARMAN

2.2

LIZ LONGLEY & MATTHEW PERRYMAN JONES

1.19

DAN RODRIGUEZ IN THE LOUNGE

2.3

SUCH

1.21

LOCKELAND STRINGS

2.4

MYKAL KILGORE IN THE LOUNGE

1/18

COMING SOON 1-26 1-27 1-28 1-29

with Langhorne Slim & Friends

in the Lounge

8:00

1-19 TAMMIE SHANNON 1-21 DILLON CARMICHAEL AND FRIENDS BENEFIT FOR KENTUCKY CARES 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

7th Annual New Years Day

with Special Guest Lil Byron!

THIS WEEK TUE

1.1

Mr. Talkbox NYE Party

MCBRIDE & THE RIDE LOS COLOGNES HOGSLOP STRING BAND GOODBYE JUNE CLINT PARK TINSLEY ELLIS 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

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

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

Aside from family and friends, she found companionship and comfort with her French bulldogs — Simone, who preceded her in death, and Brie, who survived her. —Kay West

FOOD SANDRA AUSTIN

Banker, baker

After a successful career as a banker, Sandra Austin looked for a post-retirement challenge. She decided to turn her avocation as a baker into a vocation by opening Shugga Hi Bakery and Cafe with her sister, Kathy Leslie. From 2016 until her death in September, Austin helped run an important gathering spot in an underserved community that became popular as a joyful after-church destination during their Jazz Brunch. The sisters’ attitude toward hospitality was inspired by their mother. “Our mother was a full-time nurse,” says Leslie, “but she always made time to cook the family a full meal, including dessert. We wanted to create a place where people could enjoy what we experienced: eating, having fun, listening to music and dancing.” Even more impactful was Austin’s dedication to serving the community around Shugga Hi’s Dickerson Pike location. “She always said, ‘It’s not a shame to be hungry — it’s a shame not to be fed,’ ” says Leslie. Austin spearheaded an annual Community Harvest Meal around Thanksgiving, where the Shugga Hi staff fed hundreds of people for free. A connection with World Food Kitchen and local community development organization Rethink Nashville has allowed Shugga Hi to provide meals to neighbors struggling with food insecurity. Even after her sister’s passing, Leslie remains committed to her legacy of selfless hospitality. “We’re going to make it bigger and better,” she vows. “Sandra was the most kindhearted, loving person I’ve ever known, and she always looked for the opportunity to serve others. She was always doing, helping, working and blessing, and her angelic spirit lives with us all!” —Chris Chamberlain

BOLTON MATTHEWS

Restaurateur, community member Long before hot chicken became a flavor used to season everything from potato chips to ramen noodles — and long before it was appropriated by fast-food and chain restaurants — Nashville’s most famous culinary calling card was the domain of the originator Prince’s Hot Chicken as well as Columbo’s Hot Chicken. The latter was opened in the 1970s by former Prince’s fry cook Bolton Polk at the western foot of the Shelby Street Bridge. Nashville’s most ardent hot chicken promoter, former Mayor Bill Purcell, had his first hot chicken experience in that humble store, and told author Timothy Charles Davis for his book The Hot Chicken Cook-

book, “From the first bite of hot chicken, I knew life would never be the same.” When redevelopment in the newly branded SoBro neighborhood and Polk’s failing health closed Columbo’s, there was a hiatus until its glorious resurrection in 1997 as Bolton’s Spicy Chicken & Fish. His uncle’s recipe in hand, Bolton Matthews and his wife Dollye Graham-Matthews opened what was originally a take-out-only window at 624 Main St. in East Nashville. In 2007, Bolton’s and Prince’s laid the foundation for the first Music City Hot Chicken Festival, the annual event that attracts thousands to East Park every July Fourth. Though multiple hot chicken restaurants have been added through the years, Prince’s and Bolton’s maintain the most fervent fans. In 2018, Matthews was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer that had metastasized into his liver; a GoFundMe page set up to assist with the expenses of chemotherapy quickly raised more than its initial goal, then its second, much of it in small contributions from Bolton’s customers. In 2021, the city of Nashville passed a resolution honoring Matthews “for his contributions to the culture, economy, development, and panache of the city of Nashville.” Bolton’s, one of Main Street’s oldest Black-owned businesses, is recognized by the Southern Foodways Alliance as a Nashville Food Heritage Site. The resolution was presented to him in person at the restaurant on May 23. Ten days later, Bolton Leroy Matthews passed away. Lamar Hurt, owner of Hurt’s Hot Chicken food truck, remembers his friend and his succinct but sage advice for success in running a business: “Never let your feet off the gas, baby.” —Kay West

PRAYOTE “SAM” KOPSOMBUT

Restaurateur, beloved father Even before Prayote “Sam” Kopsombut opened The Smiling Elephant with his wife Boonjit in 2010 on pre-boom Eighth Avenue South, the sign outside of the tiny building proclaimed it as the “Best Pad Thai Restaurant.” Their son Guy Kopsombut laughs: “He was very confident in his pad thai — he knew it was the dish on the menu everyone would love.” So confident, in fact, that the menu then and still advises diners to “please note our Pad Thai is not the sweet/ sticky Americanized version but prepared traditionally with tamarind sauce and palm sugar.” Sam Kopsombut came to America from Thailand roughly 40 years ago with $500 in his pocket. His sister Patti Myint had opened Nashville’s International Market several years before, and though he was frequently there, Sam worked as a mechanic at the auto shop he owned, PK Imports. But Guy says his father’s passion was for cooking, so when he finished his work at the shop each day, he and Boonjit worked on the space above it to create the restaurant they dreamed of. They opened The Smiling Elephant with no marketing, relying on word of mouth

from the community, the lines that always snaked from the door of the 10-table restaurant through the parking lot, and the smells that drifted outside. Guy says his sister Gift remembers that the first time she cooked there, some people walked in and said, “We don’t know what you’re cooking, but we want it.” So many people wanted it, in fact, that The Smiling Elephant has regularly dominated the Scene’s Best of Nashville readers’ poll since it opened. They still serve just one curry a day, and the dishes are home recipes developed by Sam and Boonjit with the mantra “authentic and healthy.” Sam Kopsombut was happiest walking into the dining room, seeing people enjoying his food and talking with diners. “My father said when he had PK Imports, it was all business,” says Guy. “But when they opened Smiling Elephant, his customers became his friends.” —Kay West

JAMES “FRANK” HALL

Longtime Gold Rush manager, musician, raconteur When the Gold Rush closed permanently in February 2019, it was covered by every media outlet in town, and most of them interviewed Frank Hall, manager for the final 16 of its 44 years. Like the Exit/In across Elliston Place, the Gold Rush was a historic marker of the Rock Block. Unlike Exit/In — at least for now — the Gold Rush did not survive New Nashville. That’s how Hall saw it, and he wasn’t shy with his opinions. “Nobody wants the old Nashville right now,” he told WKRN. “They want the new. They want the fancy. They want the shiny.” Though he wasn’t from Nashville, Hall was familiar with its history, and was 74 when the bar closed. Fondly and with a laugh, Pamela Cole — co-owner of Fanny’s House of Music with Leigh Maples — recalls Hall as “an old folk singer and one of the gang of lonely old men who were our customers.” One of her best customers, in fact. Though he also did business with Gruhn Guitars, his affections lay with Fanny’s. “We liked the kind of guitars he collected, which were Harmonys and Kays, guitars like you’d get from Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs. He loved those. He would put an old solid birch-top Harmony against any Martin that existed. There are a lot of brand snobs in this business, but Frank was not one of them.” Cole says they could often cajole him into playing and singing when he came by the store, but they could not talk him into letting them catalog the 336 guitars he kept in his home. A stroke in late 2020 left him paralyzed on one side, and when he was transferred to rehab, Cole was unable to visit due to COVID, which is what he died from on Jan. 1. His ex-wife and son contacted Fanny’s to manage archiving and selling “his babies.” A member of the Serendipity Singers in the ’60s — a folk group that performed at Woodstock — Hall liked to tell people that right before the helicopter scene in the movie, his face was on screen for at least a second. “He had a lot of stories,” says Cole. “Some of them were true and some were long, tall tales. He was a special man, and we miss him.” —Kay West

AROUND THE CITY DR. MATTHEW WALKER III

Professor, mentor, intellect

In Nashville, great expectations have been connected to the name Matthew Walker through three successive generations. The Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center is named for Dr. Matthew Walker Sr., a prominent Black surgeon who worked to bring affordable health care to marginalized populations. Matthew Walker Jr. was a civil rights activist and Freedom Rider, one of the Black college students who in 1960 participated in the historic sit-ins that desegregated Nashville lunch counters. Matthew Walker III, a product of public education in Nashville and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, surpassed every expectation. He earned his doctorate in cardiovascular biophysics and pharmacology from Tulane School of Medicine, then completed his postdoctoral training in the Harvard-M.I.T. Division of Health Sciences and Technology. During his eight years at Merck Research Laboratories, he led a team of pharmacology and biomarker development imaging specialists in cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer and obesity-related drug discovery efforts, resulting in many medicine-related patents, including the codevelopment of the drugs Vytorin, Januvia and Candesartan. Dr. Andre Churchwell, Vanderbilt University’s vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion and a friend since the late 1980s, welcomed Walker back home in 2011. Walker became professor of the practice of biomedical engineering and associate professor of radiology and radiological sciences. In his decade at Vanderbilt, he created an innovative biomedical engineering design curriculum that leveraged connections between the Vanderbilt School of Engineering, the medical school and the biotechnology community, and served as the biomedical engineering department’s immersion coordinator. Walker was a mentor and role model for many of his students, tireless in promoting the urgent need for more diversity in medical school populations. His unexpected death at 56 years old resounded through the university, the community and the many fields he impacted. Nine distinguished colleagues and associates honored him at his memorial service at Benton Chapel on the Vanderbilt campus. “Matthew was a very unique person,” Churchwell tells the Scene. “He was very much a William F. Buckley Jr. disciple in the use of polysyllabic words when he was making a point. He was one of the most naturally curious people I have ever met in my life.” Walker is survived by wife Anna and his son — Matthew Walker IV. —Kay West

DR. SAM MARNEY

Allergist, doctors’ doctor Dr. Sam Marney’s sister called him “the smartest person ever to leave Bristol.” At his college graduation, Marney’s math professor said he was sorry to see Sam attend

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 20

12/27/21 7:17 PM

medical school because “he was the smartest math student I ever had.” But even Marney must have been surprised at the journey that brought him to the top tier of academic allergy studies as an expert in anaphylaxis. Before Marney’s career took an unexpected turn, Nashville, which is geographically a bowl and botanically full of pollen, had no proper allergy medicine, and no academic allergy department. Marney, having recently arrived from the University of Virginia college of medicine, joined Vanderbilt for his residency training, which was interrupted by two years’ service in the Air Force in Korea. He completed internal medicine and infectious diseases training, then spent a year in Oxford, U.K., researching hematology. He was working in infectious disease when he was asked to “babysit” the allergy clinic until a permanent leader could be recruited. Marney realized he liked the work and wanted to stay put in allergies. He again stepped away for more training, this time at Scripps Research Foundation in 1973 and 1974. He and colleague Dr. John Oates took on the topic of anaphylaxis, the fearsome and rapid onset of sometimes-lethal reactions to allergens. Marney worked on the problem from an environmental side of the issue, while Oates worked the medical angle. They “collected” patients together and produced a scholarly publication together. Patients from all over the country came to Marney’s office for consultation and treatment in mast-cell activation syndrome, a rare allergic reaction that involves several body systems. In addition, Marney was an attending on general medicine and residents at the Nashville VA hospital for two months each year, helping cultivate and educate young doctors. Marney’s daughter Annis called him “a doctors’ doctor.” He also sang in the choir at West End United Methodist church for 50 years. It would be omitting half the story not to mention his lifelong intellectual partner Betty Bingham Marney, who, like her husband, also collected degrees, accolades and careers. By 22, Elizabeth Bingham Marney had three degrees, was summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. It set a pattern of learning and achievement that would continue throughout her life. She taught at Southern Methodist University, leaving for a Ph.D. at the University of Texas. She taught at Harpeth Hall for a decade beginning in 1975, then attended law school at Vanderbilt. She practiced law first at King and Ballow, working on First Amendment matters, and was counsel for the Nashville Banner, where she wrote a brief and attended a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. (She and the paper won the case). She finished her career in the Criminal Appellate Division of the Tennessee Attorney General’s office. On her last day, in 2008, she put her law degree in the office trash, where it was retrieved by a colleague who had always wanted a Vanderbilt law degree. She went shopping on the day she died, in 2020. —Nicki Pendleton Wood

SHAYNE PARKER

Vintage dealer, friend Shayne Parker, owner of vintage retail shop Dead People’s Things, died on Sept. 15. He was 35 years old. Parker was a longtime

seller at the Nashville Flea Market, wellknown for his Dead People’s Things camper, which often caught the eye of folks who wandered over just to chat. Parker’s friend John Baker, a fellow vintage and antiques dealer, helped convince him to open his brick-and-mortar shops in Millersville and Goodlettsville. “We met at the flea market, and he was just such a funny and smart guy,” Baker says. “He had kind of a gruff exterior, but anyone who became his friend was his friend for life. He would just do anything for you.” Parker, who was from White House, gravitated toward all things dark: He liked skulls, swords and occult items. He was vaccinated against COVID-19, but died roughly a week after recovering from the illness. He had previously suffered some health problems, including seizures, before contracting the virus. “At first he loved the old bottles,” Parker’s sister Kelley Nelson says. “He knew about history, and loved to tell you random facts. He didn’t do well in school because he didn’t give a shit, but he was really smart.” Parker took on many jobs in his short lifetime: He got a certificate for welding. He drove an 18-wheeler for a while. He worked on airplanes, installed cable TV and learned to tattoo. But he loved nothing more than running his shop. “Shayne was very genuine,” Nelson says. “I felt he had the rare capability to understand anyone, to be openminded.” —Amanda Haggard

MARC BOYER

Community leader, hugger Teddy bears aren’t supposed to sweat. In fact, I’m probably not supposed to refer to people as reminiscent of teddy bears. But I can’t help it in the case of Marc Boyer. Marc was generous with hugs. The way I know that is that he was courageous for his community — he lived in Andrew Jackson Courts, where he served as a resident association president for MDHA. As far as I can tell, our first correspondence was when he invited me to a Christmas event. From the moment we met in person, Marc was never shy with me, nor was he shy later with my campaign staff. He let me know where we needed traffic calming and when the power was out, which was far too often. Marc had a sense of justice and accountability but translated these effectively to real-world needs that we could address together. And so Marc was one of the first people I thought of to be part of the North Nashville participatory budgeting pilot. I got legitimately concerned when neither the mayor’s office nor I could get a hold of him last winter. And that’s when I discovered that this big presence in his community had died in January. I don’t even really know how to explain the uncomfortable hole that’s left when someone you’ve forged a bond with and collaborated with and worked to support goes missing in your life and in the community. Marc deserves a memorial more profound than this little and late remembrance for the ways in which he stood up for people — people he knew might not raise their hands or their voices themselves. Quiet, anonymous memorials stand where improvements he sought will make his neighborhood safer for

years to come. But his name and hugs are worth remembering. —District 19 Councilmem-

ber Freddie O’Connell

CLIFTON MEADOR

Professor of medicine, health care executive Clifton Meador first came to Nashville in 1948 at age 16 to earn his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University. He went on to graduate from Vanderbilt School of Medicine with the Founders Medal in 1959, completing his residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after serving as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1957 to 1959. He began practicing medicine in Selma, Ala., and joined the University of Alabama College of Medicine in Birmingham as an assistant professor of medicine and director of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Center in 1962, then later became the dean. The next year, he became a Markle Scholar in academic medicine and was a fellow in nuclear medicine at Harvard’s Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and at Oak Ridge National Laboratories in East Tennessee. By 1973, he returned to Nashville to join the faculty at Vanderbilt and create a medical residency program at Saint Thomas Hospital (as it was called at the time). He served as chief of medicine at Saint Thomas, then chief medical officer, a role he held until 1998. In 1999, he became the first executive director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance and served as a professor of medicine at Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt School of Medicine until 2012. According to Virginia Fuqua-Meadows, administrative director for the alliance and a longtime colleague of Meador: “He was a talented, compassionate physician, author and mentor. Dr. Meador made an impact on many lives and made everyone feel good about themselves. His stories, Southern charm and contagious laugh will be forever missed.” During his tenure — and even into retirement — Meador was a prolific writer. He authored 14 books and more than 50 medical papers, including a memoir, Sketches of a Small Town. In a statement, his daughter Ann Shayne says Meador loved medicine, woodworking, writing and being a father. He led a yoga group among his friends weekly — his mantra being that “exercise was key to a long life.” —Kara Hartnett

FREDERICK S. HUMPHRIES

Fourth president of Tennessee State University, HBCU advocate

Among the individuals who have had the honor of holding the position of president of a university in the “Athens of the South,” none has stood taller than Dr. Frederick S. Humphries, the fourth president of Tennessee State University. Humphries served as president of TSU from 1974 to 1985. During his tenure, he became a stalwart advocate for the university, pressing the state of Ten-

nessee to provide it with the financial support that would enable it to become the premier urban university in Middle Tennessee. Perhaps the most lasting part of Humphries’ legacy — and the most endearing for Tiger alumni and currently enrolled students — is the legal battle he fought that ultimately led to the merger of Tennessee State University with the University of Tennessee Nashville. Tennessee State University still exists today as an HBCU because of Humphries’ tenacity, fighting spirit and refusal to allow the university’s history and legacy be minimized and erased from our collective memories during a period in which the importance of Black institutions like TSU were increasingly underappreciated and ignored. Dr. Humphries was our warrior; he was our champion. Dr. Frederick S. Humphries died on June 24. —Learotha Williams

JOSEPH SHARBEL

Veteran, coach, leader

In 2005, Nashville native Lt. Col. Joseph Sharbel retired from the military and joined the history faculty at Montgomery Bell Academy. Few came to the prestigious private all-boys school better prepared or left it with a more enduring legacy. A graduate of Father Ryan High School and Vanderbilt University’s Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, Sharbel earned an M.A. in military studies from the Command and Staff College in Quantico, Va. An outstanding career in the Marine Corps saw him serve in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Noble Anvil, Operation Allied Force and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2004, he served as operations officer, Iraq Survey Group, Baghdad, and in 2005 he was redeployed to the Horn of Africa to serve as information operations officer for Combined Joint Task Force — Horn of Africa. Sharbel brought the same sense of duty, leadership and intelligence — as well as a humble spirit and compassionate heart — to MBA, where he also served as dean of students and head rifle coach. Under his tutelage, the team won eight state championships and numerous national awards; he oversaw the creation and construction of the school’s state-of-the-art rifle range, regarded as second to none in the country. Five nights before his death from injuries he received in a motorcycle accident, he was with his rifle team — his band of brothers — celebrating another state championship. A service with full military honors was held April 24 at the Cathedral of the Incarnation and streamed to MBA’s dining hall for the entire school body. On July 28, Lt. Col. Sharbel was interred at Arlington National Cemetery. —Kay West

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 21

12/27/21 7:17 PM

DR. AKM FAKHRUDDIN

Co-founder of the Islamic Center of Nashville, elder, community leader On May 24, the Middle Tennessee Muslim community lost an elder, a pioneer, and a father and grandfather figure to many. I was nervous as a young mother moving to Nashville in the 1990s. I didn’t know anyone in town, but the Islamic Center of Nashville provided a welcoming environment for me and my family. As I think about Dr. Fakhruddin’s passing, I remember the many Sundays when I would take my kids to Sunday school and how we would go out afterward with others. The center enabled my family and me to not only learn about our faith, but also to make lifelong friends. Dr. Fakhruddin was born in Bangladesh in 1936 and was one of eight siblings. He received his medical degree in 1959. A Fulbright scholarship brought him to America in 1962 and later to Nashville in 1970, where he joined Meharry Medical College. Dr. Fakhruddin was a devout Muslim. After moving to Nashville, he felt the need for the growing Muslim community to have a dedicated space for prayers and other activities. In 1979, he and others established the Islamic Center of Nashville on 12th Avenue South. He was also instrumental in establishing the Islamic School in 1995. He went on to serve as president of ICN for 24 years. Dr. Fakhruddin was gentle, kind and caring to young and old. During his funeral, it was very uplifting to hear the imam of the Bellevue mosque, Omar Sharif, as he recollected Dr. Fakhruddin encouraging him to further his studies — and to hear the young man who said Dr. Fakhruddin used to take his siblings to school before he was born, and the group of young adults who proudly talked about being his prayer buddies. What was remarkable about Dr. Fakhruddin was his humility and accessibility. He made everyone around him feel welcome and special, regardless of their age, race or socioeconomic standing. Dr. Fakhruddin did so much and touched so many, including my family and me. I am beyond grateful for his foresight in creating a community so many years ago. His legacy lives on in his children Saeed, Rashed and Sabina, and his grandchildren. May Allah grant him the highest of paradise (aljannah firdaus) and grant his family peace. From Allah we come, and to Him is our return. —Councilmember At-

Large Zulfat Suara

IRA STEPHEN “STEVE” NORTH

Judge, attorney, Elvis fanatic Before he was an attorney, before he became the first person in 16 years to upset an incumbent and be elected to take Sam Felts Jr.’s seat as judge of the 5th Circuit Court, before serving on the board of the Metro Sports Authority just as the Predators were landing downtown, Steve North was a devout fan of Elvis Presley. That may not have sat well with his equally devout father, a powerful longtime pastor of the Madison Church of Christ. The preacher’s kid was so enamored of the King that as a teen in the ’50s, he fre-

quently drove to Presley’s manager Col. Tom Parker’s house at 1215 Gallatin Pike in Madison to see if a pink Cadillac was parked there. If so, it meant Elvis himself was in the building. Decades later, North bought Parker’s Nashville house and practiced law there for several years. Judge North lost his appeal to find a buyer who would preserve the home, and a car wash now stands on the property. Steve North was one-half of a Metro power couple: In 1979, he was a strong asset in his wife Jo Ann’s successful campaign for an at-large seat on Metro Council, making her Nashville’s first woman elected to countywide office. After leaving the bench, North continued to practice law as senior partner of the North Law Office. He was buried on the family farm in Neely’s Bend, on land he liked to roam with his dog Colonel. —Kay West

MOHAMAD AZIZ HALABJAYI

Kurdish activist and mustard gas survivor Mohamad Aziz Halabjayi survived a mustard gas attack in 1988, when Iraqi planes dropped chemicals onto the city of Halabja — but it caused lifelong damage to his lungs. He started receiving treatment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2001. His treatment at VUMC improved his condition considerably, and he was recorded as the first proven case in the U.S of a rare lung disorder developing from mustard gas. On March 18 of this year, at age 57, Halabjayi died from the injuries he first suffered all those years ago. Friends, neighbors and members of local Kurdish professional groups remember him as an active participant in the community. “He courageously shared his story in numerous public events on Halabja and genocide,” Nashville Kurdish activist Remziya Suleyman told Kurdistan 24. “The Kurdish community in the U.S. will forever be indebted to him for all his sacrifices.” “As a community and a larger displaced diaspora community, it’s important that we ask ourselves how we can contribute to the research, efforts and advocacy for victims of the Halabja Massacre,” the group Kurdish Professionals said in a statement on Halabjayi’s passing. “While this has been heavily politicized, we must act and encourage those in our communities who are in health care, research and politics to demand more efforts in providing treatment, health care and closure to these victims.”

—Alejandro Ramirez

CHARLES ROOS

Physicist, inventor, brilliant mind Charles Roos started young, entering Swarthmore College at age 15 before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin. At a brisk pace, he did graduate work in biology at Princeton, earned a Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University and spent

five years at the University of California and the Caltech accelerator in Pasadena. In 1959, he took a breath and accepted Vanderbilt University’s invitation to broaden the range of research in the physics department. He won the department’s first National Science Foundation grant to fund high energy and was immediately instrumental in bringing more research to the university. His team built a record-breaking 11 Tesla magnets, and he received one of the first NATO Senior Fellowships. In the late 1960s, Roos accepted a casual dinner-party challenge from his friend Noah Liff, owner of the huge Steiner-Liff scrapyard in downtown Nashville, to figure out how to sort and save the nonferrous metals out of shredded automobile scrap since magnets could only remove the steel. Roos applied for a grant and launched the Sorter Project at Vanderbilt. That eventually led to the formation of National Recovery Technologies, a company created to do research and development and bring inventions to the marketplace. In 1989, Roos took early retirement to focus on NRT. The company diversified its sorting capabilities to glass and plastic — NRT technology made the automated sorting of recycled plastic possible. By 2010, the company equipment sorted 70 percent of plastic bottles recycled worldwide. Roos led NRT as chairman of the board until he turned 85. Roos was irrepressibly curious and indisputably brilliant, remembered as simultaneously pragmatic and idealistic — a formula to change the world. —Kay West

EDGAR “EJ” UTLEY

Freshman, Hillsboro High School Edgar Utley — whose family and friends called him EJ — was just 15 when he died in February. A freshman at Hillsboro High School who was already playing on the varsity football team, he had so many games yet to play and many more days yet to live. Compounding the tragedy of his death was the way it came — EJ was shot while sitting on his front porch. Two other teens were arrested and charged with his murder. A cousin told WKRN that EJ was eager to try new things and to excel at them, and she mourned the future that had been taken from him — one she was sure would have been bright. “Oh promises, beyond promises,” she said. —Steven Hale

PENNY FELTS

Photographer, friend Just about anyone can find a Polaroid to snap pictures with, but few — if any — can do it as well as Penny Felts did. Felts was a local photographer who specialized in instant film, and she often used expired film to capture dreamy and ethereal photographs, most of which featured women as her subjects. “Penny was one of the first people I knew that took advantage of the pleasingly shitty technology of instant film, long ago expired with the demise of Polaroid at the hands of digital imaging,” local artist Buddy Jackson tells the Scene. “The unforgiving perfection of high-definition photography suddenly felt uncomfortably detailed and soulless

when viewed alongside the humanly flawed, painterly images that Penny made. … It’s heartbreaking to see her light go out while she’s so in her prime. This is a big, sad loss for our community.” Longtime friend and subject Elle Long admired that Felts was “always creating, always motivated. Even when she said she wasn’t feeling motivated, she would find a way to motivate herself.” One way Felts motivated herself and others was through the 12.12 Project, which challenged 12 photographers to respond to a monthly theme. The project generated international recognition and participation. Felts died of cancer at age 61, but her work will continue to inspire and motivate others. She is survived by her husband Mark Colbert, her children Caitlin and Max Nannini, and her father and siblings.

—Kelsey Beyeler

ELIZABETH DUFF

Pioneering bus driver

We all have our passions. Elizabeth Duff’s was driving, and she was good at it. “I love the feel of it,” Duff told The Tennessean in 2004. “I love to hear the sound of it. When you really drive, you feel the vehicle itself. You listen to the motor. You feel the road.” Hers is a chapter in the local story of integration and civil rights. As a Black child in segregated Nashville, Duff rode at the back of the bus with her mother. She was 12 years old when a small group of Black and white Nashville college students wrote their last wills and testaments and boarded a bus for Birmingham, Ala. The Freedom Riders — including Ernest “Rip” Patton, who also died this year — desegregated transportation across the country. Thirteen years later, Duff was a courtesy car driver for an auto dealership when the Metro Transit Authority announced that it would accept applications from women. She was hired a week later. It was 1974, and the transit authority’s headquarters did not yet have women’s restrooms. “It was a totally male-dominated field of work no matter where you were at in the U.S.,” her son Seneca Duff tells The New York Times. “To see a woman driving a bus as good as any guy would, if not better — some folks got jealous, some folks were shocked, some folks were really proud. She got it from both sides.” Duff was named Urban Driver of the Year by the Tennessee Public Transportation Association in 2004. She retired in 2007 and became financial secretary of the retiree chapter of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1235. The union honored her in 2018. She said at the luncheon that she “enjoyed driving the bus for MTA, but now I want to drive a tractor trailer.” She died in February as a result of complications with COVID-19. She was 72, grandmother to 16, and great-grandmother to seven. —Erica Ciccarone

VEREEN BELL

Teacher, mentor, author English professors can be profoundly impactful on our lives. They help us find our favorite authors and books, develop our

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 22

12/27/21 7:17 PM

JAN 31 - FEB 6

SPONSORED BY

As the temperatures are dropping, warm the cluck up with $7 hot chicken specials from dozens of restaurants for one week only!

Get all the spicy details at hotchickenweek.com #HotChickenWeek22

SLICE. DICE. CHOP. SAUTÉ.

NOURISH. NASHVILLE.

No matter how you slice it, Nashville has some of the best food around. We’ve compiled some of your favorite recipes from local restaurants and put them in our Nourish Nashville cookbook, which we’re packaging with a limited-edition apron and specialty spice blend.

Order now at nashvillesceneshop.com. nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

worldview and become better writers, and give us advice we carry for a lifetime. Vereen Bell, who died this year at age 86, did all of this and more for countless students. Specializing in British and American literature along with modern American poetry, Bell began working at Vanderbilt in 1961 as an assistant professor. In his more than 50 years there, Bell made the university a better place by championing diversity. “He did a lot towards helping Vanderbilt not be just all old white men,” says Janis May, who worked with Bell in Vanderbilt’s English department. Bell advocated for a more diverse faculty and a more rigorous Black studies program. While some people were directing slurs and profanities at Perry Wallace — the first Black student to play basketball in the SEC as a Vanderbilt Commodore — Bell befriended Wallace and welcomed him into his home. It was this kind of dedication to Vanderbilt’s students that won Bell Vanderbilt’s Chancellor’s Cup award in 1966. He also won the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award and the Madison Sarratt Prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching, plus a Guggenheim Fellowship for biographical research on W.B. Yeats. Bell wrote Robert Lowell: Nihilist as Hero, The Achievement of Cormac McCarthy and Yeats and the Logic of Formalism and co-edited On Modern Poetry: Essays Presented to Donald Davie. Along with his many professional achievements, Bell was known as a caring person who befriended many, went above and beyond to take care of his students and loved cracking jokes. Bell’s wife Jane passed away in 2012. They are survived by five children: Mary Vereen Bell, Leighton Alexander Bell, Eleanor Bell Hall, Julie Marx and Jonathan Marx. —Kelsey Beyeler

GARY R. HAYNES

Haynes Galleries owner Before he opened Haynes Galleries in 2010, Gary Haynes was a successful advertising executive — he was owner and operator of Ericson Marketing Communications, one of the South’s top agencies. But his lifelong love of art — particularly American realism — led to an organic shift toward starting a gallery. Among the artists the gallery housed were local favorites like Alan LeQuire and Paul Harmon, as well as internationally renowned artists such as the Wyeths (most notable of whom are N.C. and Andrew, but also Jamie, Henriette and Carolyn), Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargeant. He died from complications due to COVID-19 at age 75, and is survived by his wife of 43 years, JoAnne Haynes. —Laura Hutson Hunter

DEBBIE DAVIES

Teacher, inspiration After fighting cancer, former University School of Nashville math teacher Debbie Davies died in September at age 80. She moved to Nashville in 1975 with her husband Keith, who she’d met in Connecticut

at Wesleyan University’s master’s in education program. She spent more than three decades teaching at USN. But she did a lot more than teach. “The story with Debbie is the story of someone leading from the classroom,” says USN director Vince Durnan. “She has built tremendous credibility by virtue of putting in the time. She made life-changing differences for students, but also for faculty members [and] for colleagues.” Many former students, co-workers and friends echo this sentiment in their memories and comments shared on her memorial website. Davies also wrote textbooks and graded AP exams, and in 1989 she won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching — an extremely high honor. Davies fought for maternity leave in the ’70s through the Connecticut Education Association, and in the ’80s she went on a “strike from all housework … forcing her kids to learn how to do laundry and her husband to cook.” While receiving cancer treatment at Vanderbilt, she was known to give snacks to parking-garage attendants. Davies was a kind, driven and joy-filled woman who shared that spirit with others. She is survived by her brothers, her two sons and their families. —Kelsey Beyeler

a decade and an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences for four years. He died July 8 at age 78. —J.R. Lind

CARTER PHILIPS

Church of the Redeemer rector and his oldest child

Classicist, Vanderbilt commencement conductor It’s safe to say Carter Philips was the most recognizable member of Vanderbilt University’s classics department. Though a respected professor, he wasn’t well-known because of his lectures. Classical Greek isn’t exactly a course of study with a long waiting list. For years, Philips was the man who led soon-to-be graduates in the procession to commencement ceremonies. That was the public part of his job as university marshal, but there were hundreds of details under his bailiwick in this protocolary role: arrangement of the chairs, the music, the flowers; all had to have his imprimatur. So yes, a generation of Vanderbilt students crossed paths with Philips (or at least, followed his path), and doing so was the result of a great accomplishment. Philips was accomplished himself. A former professor who later became a colleague remembered the undergraduate Philips as one of the best students of the Greek language to ever matriculate at Vanderbilt. After graduating from Vanderbilt in 1965, Philips earned a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and came back to West End in 1969 as a specialist in papyrology, the study of ancient documents on papyrus. He went on to teach Greek language, literature and civilization, earning a reputation as a stickler for correct Greek pronunciation. His specializations included the origin of grammatical gender, preclassical Greek literature and Greek medicine. Philips became university marshal in 1981 and served in the role until 2002. He was the chair of the classics department for

JERRY SNYDER

Public Works employee Longtime Metro Public Works employee Jerry Snyder died in a traffic accident while on duty on Jan. 4, possibly after suffering a medical issue while behind the wheel. Snyder had been with Public Works for eight years, and a statement from the department praised his determination during the cleanup efforts following the city’s March 3, 2020, tornado. Snyder was picking up Christmas trees from a recycling plant when the traffic accident happened; no one else was harmed in the crash. Cortnye Stone, a spokesperson with the Nashville Department of Transportation, tells the Scene: “Mr. Snyder was a great employee and a great person. His co-workers miss him enormously, and he’s thought of daily by the people of NDOT.” Snyder was 60. —Alejandro Ramirez

THE REV. THOMAS MCKENZIE AND CHARLIE MCKENZIE

Late August was supposed to be a time the Rev. Thomas McKenzie and his daughter Charlie would look back on fondly. Ahead of Charlie’s senior year at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, N.M., the two had planned a road trip heading west from Nashville. “Driving with my kid to New Mexico,” McKenzie, the rector of Church of the Redeemer, tweeted on Aug. 23. “Today’s goal? Shamrock, Texas.” But they never made it there. Thomas, 50, and Charlie, 22, were killed in a car accident on the way. As the news spread, shock was accompanied by tributes on Twitter, where the reverend had been an active user. “Many of us will feel lost without his gentle yet courageous leadership,” tweeted Americana singer-songwriter Drew Holcomb. Speaking to the Scene, author and Belmont professor David Dark, who was close friends with McKenzie, remembered him as “a complicated man and also a deep seeker of righteousness,” adding that the reverend understood that “doctrinal disagreements between, within and among various faiths need not stand in the way of working righteously together with others.” Friends and classmates of Charlie’s from St. John’s College raised money to defer funeral costs for the family. Thomas and Charlie McKenzie were survived by their wife and mother, Laura, and a daughter and sister, Sophie. —Steven Hale

TAMARA PRICE

Social worker, mother, friend There was a time when it seemed like you couldn’t go to a show in Nashville without seeing Tamara Price. “If she was in the crowd, you knew it,” says longtime local musician and Scene contributing editor Jack Silverman. “You could hear her shouts of enthusiasm.” Price studied social work at Middle Ten-

nessee State University and earned a master’s degree in guidance and counseling at Tennessee State University, waitressing at Calypso Cafe as she earned her degree. As a social worker, Price advocated for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, working for 18 years in the field. In 2014, Price and her husband Lex traveled to Wuhan, China, to adopt their daughter Maya, who quickly became the love of Price’s life. Price’s friend Allison Inman describes Price as a force of nature. With a sharp wit and wry sense of humor, Price sized up every situation and had a read on everything. “She was smarter than everybody and knew everything all the time,” Inman tells the Scene. “You couldn’t tell her anything. She was always in charge.” Price was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2019. “A lot of what made Tam really special was how she chose to live the last 18 months of her life,” says Inman. “She knew she was going to die, and she knew that her daughter was going to lose her mom.” Price transformed her screenedin porch into “Camp Priceless,” a place where her family played games, watched birds, made art and congregated every evening to chat about their day. These “cabin chats” were a way to process what was happening, to prepare her daughter for a life without her. Price took an active role in her own treatment, advocating for metastatic breast cancer research and pursuing every option to extend her life. She was 53 when she died in March. —Erica Ciccarone

KAY SIMMONS

Development officer, school board member, role model Kay Louise Snyder Simmons was a big presence in the world of Nashville education. Simmons held many roles at many different local institutions, both public and private, throughout her career. She was a development officer at Vanderbilt, Montgomery Bell Academy, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Metro Nashville Public Schools and University School of Nashville. But she was more than a fundraiser. Without formal training as an educator, she served as interim director of USN from 1990 to 1991, and in 2003 became the founding executive director of the Nashville Alliance for Public Education, now called the Nashville Public Education Foundation. She was also the founding executive director of the Canby Robinson Society at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and of the Dean’s Council at Vanderbilt Law School, now known as the Board of Advisors. From 2007 to 2008, she served as the special assistant of former MNPS director of schools Pedro Garcia, and was elected to replace Alan Coverstone on the MNPS board from 2009 to 2012, representing District 9. Simmons also served on a variety of nonprofit and government boards. Simmons’ résumé is impressive, and reflects her deep commitment to improving her community. She was a kind, welcoming

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 24

12/27/21 7:17 PM

woman who, according to Coverstone, “was about identifying things that could be better and then going to do something about making them better. And doing that by building relationships, helping everybody to understand the situation and allowing everyone to contribute to the solutions.” She fostered community in whatever way she could, whether that meant creating an annual tradition of lining Richland Avenue with jacko’-lanterns or bringing people into her home for exquisite meals. “She was just down-to-earth and a real person who made you feel like you mattered,” says Coverstone. Simmons died at age 72 after battling progressive supranuclear palsy. She is survived by her husband, three children and many grandchildren.

—Kelsey Beyeler

ELAINE PARKER

Educator, advocate, leader Not everyone gets to start their career off with advice from Helen Keller, but Elaine MarilynParker did. When Parker graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education with a degree in teaching the blind, Helen Keller also received an honorary degree. According to one obituary, Keller told Parker “do not let this go to waste” after the ceremony. Parker took her advice, leading a colorful career serving the blind and others with hearing and mobility limitations. Parker’s interest in serving the blind came from her early life in Boston, where her father Maurice Goldman served as a Massachusetts state senator. Parker volunteered at the New York Lighthouse for the Blind and the Boston Veterans Hospital before earning a degree in special education and counseling at Boston University’s School of Education, which then led her to Harvard. Before moving to Nashville in 1967, Parker moved to Oak Ridge, Tenn., where she taught and created special education programming and founded a Recording for the Blind program. Tennessee Gov. Frank Clement appointed her as chairperson for the East Tennessee Employment of the Handicapped Program. In Nashville, Parker helped countless others through various education programs for the blind and disabled. She was also appointed commissioner of Tennessee Services for the Blind, worked at Nashville Tech and started a business planning weddings for couples with disabilities and those from diverse backgrounds. She wrote several books and manuals about wedding planning and weddings for those with special needs, and also contributed to a few cookbooks. Parker saw many opportunities to help others, which won her the Chesed Award from the Jewish Family Service. When she wasn’t working, she often traveled the world with her husband Frank Parker, who taught environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University. —Kelsey Beyeler

Wildlife rehabilitation center Walden’s Puddle admits more than 3,500 injured or orphaned animals per year. Once these red-tailed hawks, red-horned owls and other animals — numbering around 100 distinct species — have recovered or matured to be self-sufficient, they are released back into the wild. But the origins of Walden’s Puddle are humble. In 1989, Vicky Carder Arney began rehabilitating wildlife in her pantry. An occupational therapist, reader and quick learner, Arney worked with area vets and completed her own research to learn how to care for animals — like bottle-feeding orphaned squirrels, treating foxes for mange, and healing injuries and illnesses. “She started that place from nothing,” says friend and Walden’s Puddle volunteer and staff member Joane Gelep, who first met Arney when she brought her an injured scarlet tanager in 1998. “She was very kindhearted. … Everything about the animal came first. She would give up her sleep. She would give up eating. She would give up anything because that animal needed to be cared for, and it didn’t matter if it was the middle of the night or a weekend.” Arney operated out of Berry Hill in the early ’90s. In 1995, thanks to a generous gift from donors, Walden’s Puddle moved to a 14-acre piece of land in Joelton. When Gelep came on as a volunteer in ’98, the organization was still just Arney and a couple of volunteers. Since then, it has grown significantly. “The way she was with the animals,” Gelep tells the Scene, “it was like she was a whisperer of some sort. A wild-animal whisperer.” But what has stuck with Gelep most of all is something that Arney said about people. “She said, ‘I want you to know that we’re really here more for the people than we are for the animals. If you think about it, nature takes care of itself. These are wild animals. But I can’t bear to sit by and see people, especially children, who will come in with a baby bunny in a coffee cup, or someone who has accidentally hit a bird on the road, or somebody who found a baby racoon in their chimney.’ ” By treating the animals, the people who cared enough to get them help were left with a feeling of purpose. Arney retired from the organization in 2005 to her home in Shelbyville. Her memorial service was held at Walden’s Puddle — still located in Joelton — where her ashes were spread. At the time, her husband Luke Arney shared that the organization was Vicky’s life. —Erica Ciccarone

shot by Metro Nashville police. Jacob was deeply loved by me — his mother — as well as his siblings and family, and he will be forever missed. Jacob was smart and independent, even as a very young boy, determined to explore his world and leave nothing unchecked. He was always in such a hurry and learned very quickly. He grew into a clever, strong, confident boy who loved puzzles, games, books, animals and some people, approximately in that order. He amazed his family and friends by regularly building new computers or clocks from spare parts, as early as the sixth grade. He always kept a journal, even when he was very young, where he recorded ideas, drawings and reminders, and he was fascinated by origami. He also shared his dreams: He wanted to see a better, more loving world where people were less cruel to one another. He wanted peace in his own life but struggled to find it. Jacob was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 18. The last five years of his life, Jacob was hamstrung by confusion and isolation. He was very observant and liked to make puzzles of the things he didn’t understand — he joked that after his diagnosis, that was nearly everything. Jacob was aware that he was schizophrenic, but he didn’t like to discuss it or focus on it. He didn’t want people feeling sorry for him. He was proud of his ability to survive in a complex, unforgiving world, and often remarked on the skill and determination required for that. He felt lucky to be smart and capable, considering the difficulties he was up against. He was angry sometimes that his mind had betrayed him. All of his life, he had relied on his agile mind for guidance, and suddenly, the guide started giving him terrible advice and dangerous commands. He described his tormented discussions with the voice in his head as a losing battle, a series of arguments in which he would never prevail. He said his smile was his only weapon, his only answer, but it took enormous effort to keep going. He worked full time at Goodwill Industries in Brentwood for the last three years of his life, and by all accounts was valued by his colleagues and was a popular figure with regular customers. He was always smiling and laughing, and enjoyed interacting with the people who came and went. He was painfully aware of his unmet potential and described it as a burr under a saddle that was always with him. The greatest pain he experienced was knowing he could have had a different life without schizophrenia. Jacob’s family will continue to fight for changes in the ways police respond to calls involving people with mental illness. Jacob should be alive today and receiving treatment. —Karen Griffin

JACOB ALEXANDER GRIFFIN

Educator, poet

Jacob Alexander Griffin was a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew, a greatnephew, a cousin and a friend to many. He was just 23 years old when he was fatally

Susan Lantrip valued her freedom and dignity. She grew up in Memphis and in 2010 moved to Nashville, where she stayed on the streets, in campsites, on couches and in cheap hotels where she endured the

VICKY CARDER ARNEY

Wildlife advocate

Son, brother, friend

SUSAN LANTRIP

elements and all kinds of harassment. She moved into her own apartment in 2017. Susan had a gentle and compassionate spirit and often took people into her home when the temperatures dropped. She was a gifted educator as part of Open Table Nashville’s Education Team, and every time she told her story, she cried tears of both sorrow and joy. Sorrow for her regrets, many of which were about her family, and joy for what she had survived and where she was. “Just because I live under a bridge,” she would say, “doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings. I deserve to be treated with the same respect that you give to a man in a three-piece suit.” Susan sold The Contributor for several years and also wrote poems about her experiences that were frequently published in the paper. She was incredibly resilient and a wonderful advocate for others who were falling through the cracks. Susan’s smile is missed daily by those who knew and loved her. —Linda Bailey and Lindsey

Krinks, Open Table Nashville

FREDRICK RICHARDS

Veteran, character, friend

Known as Fred, Mr. Fred and, affectionately, Drop Dead Fred, Fredrick Richards was a veteran. Despite his physical disability, he was a force to be reckoned with. He is remembered for his wild spirit, humor and resiliency, which served him and his community well through so many tough years on the streets of Nashville. He could reliably be found sitting in his wheelchair flying a sign at the intersection of Nolensville and Harding on the southeast side of town, and never passed up the opportunity to exchange knock-knock jokes. He was sometimes caring and generous to a fault toward those he shared his camp with, first at the “Cut” and later at the soccer-field camp. Fred’s encampment was overcome by flash flooding at Seven Mile Creek in March, which took his life a week before he was to move into housing. He is survived by his adopted daughter Michelle. —India Pungarcher

and Lisa Avrit, Open Table Nashville

MELISSA CONQUEST

Neighbor

A tiny woman with a huge heart, Melissa Conquest is remembered for taking care of the dogs in her community. She was always smiling, talking about country music and pining over her one true love, Luke Bryan — Melissa collected his CDs and adorned her home with pictures of him. Melissa displayed bravery by leaving a living arrangement that she felt was not dignified. She made choices to take control of her own life and find a new community that, despite its own set of challenges,

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 25

12/27/21 7:17 PM

provided her with the autonomy, freedom, friendship and support she deserved. Tragically, Melissa passed away during the flash flooding of Seven Mile Creek in March that destroyed her encampment — her home.

—India Pungarcher and Lisa Avrit, Open Table Nashville

ANTHONY GUNTER

Contributor vendor and poet Longtime vendor and poet for The Contributor Anthony Gunter died in mid-June at age 59. Gunter was as much part of the street paper’s legacy as anyone, having sold copies since near its inception. “Anthony had an indefatigable spirit in the office and on his corner,” says Cathy Jennings, executive director of The Contributor. “His outgoing love of life carried him through his disability and hard times. Customers loved him. He chose everyday to see the positive and he loved that he could write for The Contributor and share that spirit.” When actress Connie Britton visited The Contributor’s offices, Gunter dressed in a suit and tried throughout the encounter to deliver his best lyrics and poetry to her. He was always looking for his next big break. Volunteers at The Contributor call him “part of the legacy” of the paper, and many say he will be remembered for his laugh. Gunter penned more than 100 poems for the paper — his poems were often in a lyrical style and almost always about romance. He would attend writers’ workshops for the paper and offer suggestions to other writers, sometimes sparking debate by bringing up hot topics or telling people that something they wrote wasn’t up to par. He often thought he

was being suave when he was being crass, but he was willing to talk about the ways he could and would change his behavior. During the pandemic, Gunter took to selling papers at one of the only places where people were still going: a grocery store. He would sell from his motorized scooter outside Osborne’s Bi-Rite on Belmont Boulevard. Gunter was interviewed in a feature The Contributor ran in the Japanese street paper The Big Issue. He said he was happy to have found a place to sell the paper successfully, but also lamented that “all his other honey holes are closed down.” At that time, he said he had been making more money than usual. He was feeling confident. Gunter died in housing, having lived decades of his life on and off the streets.

well as at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University. Melton was passionate about fostering a culture of inclusion at VUMC, and she organized the Healthcare Alliance of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders Employee Resource Group. The group celebrates Asian and Pacific Islander heritage and works to unify all cultures. Her colleagues remember her as authentic, energetic, joyful, bright and kind. Melton died from injuries sustained during the March flood in Maury County. She was 45. —Erica Ciccarone

—Amanda Haggard

Police believe Douglas Hammond was driving near his home during late March’s flash flooding when his car ran off the road and got stuck in a culvert. When he got out of the car, he was swept away by the floodwaters and drowned. His body was found on the Nashboro Golf Club course, where he — an avid golfer — had no doubt played many times. In an obituary, his family remembered Hammond’s love of baseball and Florida Gators football, which he developed during his upbringing in South Florida. He was also a longtime Nissan employee. He was 65 and is survived by two children, Hunter and McKenzie, and their mother Jackie. —Steven Hale

MARIA MELTON

Educator, organizer

Next time you’re greeted with a smile at Vanderbilt University Medical Center or go home feeling that you were heard and understood, think of Maria Melton. As director of the hospital’s Service Learning and Measurement team, Melton was driven by her belief that all people should be treated with kindness and respect. She imparted that to her colleagues through learning and development programs, such as the Defining Personalized Care: Elevating our Culture of Service initiative. Born Jan. 6, 1975, in Grosse Pointe, Mich., Melton attended Georgia Tech, Loyola University Chicago and Trevecca Nazarene University, where she earned a doctorate in education. Melton taught at Trevecca, as

MEMBERS OF THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY

In 2021, Open Table Nashville identified 194 members of the local homeless community who have died — the highest number on record. Some ages and full names are unavailable at the moment. The average age of death among those recorded is 54 — significantly lower than the average age of death in the U.S. Find the names below, including flood victims Melissa Conquest and Fred Richards, who are mentioned above. Timothy Abrams, 66; Yadelin Abreu; Justin “Tiny” Adams; Aguto Aguto, 39; Eduardo Alvarez; Jeffery Michael Anderson, 52; Tony Anthony, 48; Shavaun Atcitty, 42; Brittney Bannister, 31; Jeffrey Francis Bee, 57; Homer Bell, 51; Brian Berkley, 55; Kimberly Berlin, 25; Jackie Bess, 58; Charles Birdsong, 56; Douglas Bondie; Juanita Bowling, 33; William Brink, 74; Gregory Brinson; Nicholas Brown, 29; Richard Allen Brown, 68; Jake Stevens Brown, 35; James Brown Jr., 60; Tamarsha Bumphus, 44; Katherine M. Burdelsky, 37; Bryant Burton, 39; Danny Cantrell, 69; Joe Carey, 54; Ronnie Carney, 55; Joseph Clayton; Steven Clemmons, 56; Tony Coffey; David Wayne Coleman; Tony Collins Jr.; Jerry Combs, 44; Melissa Conquest, 46; Jewel Copeland, 61; Phillip Cornette, 34; Sylvester Cosby, 59; Carroll Crimmons, 51; Larry Criswell, 54; Terry L. Critchlow, 62; Robert Crowe; James Crowley;

DOUGLAS HAMMOND

Sports fan, father, flood victim

GARRY COLE

Husband, father, flood victim

her father, Garry Cole, to WSMV after he died in the March floods. Cole, a 70-year-old lifelong Nashvillian, was found in his car in Antioch after family members became worried when he didn’t come home. He’d been married to his wife Mary for 31 years and had two children. His family remembered how he “enjoyed vacations with family and his grandchildren, cooking [and] horror movies.” —Steven Hale

MARY BROWN

Beloved community member Mary Brown was well-known in the community, and everyone who knew her loved her. Ms. Mary came to Nashville from Michigan, where she had lived most of her life. She made the benches and storefronts of downtown Nashville her home. Mary was brave and resilient in her life during homelessness. She had a kind and gentle spirit and would not take anything she did not want or need to survive. Mary would always accept Oreos and fried chicken when it was offered. If you gave her a ride on a cold winter night, she’d ask you to play some country music on the radio. The journey to housing sadly never came for Mary, and she was hit by a car crossing a street downtown late last year. Mary is missed by everyone who knew her. The streets of Nashville are much gloomier without her presence. We celebrate knowing she is forever housed in heaven. —Tiffany

Ladd, The Salvation Army, Nashville Area Command

“He was just a warm, kindhearted, goofy guy.” That’s how Miracle Berry described

Donald Crutcher, 68; Paul Cunningham III; Darr; Steven Denson, 36; Larry Gail Dowell, 62; Lee Duffield, 42; Daniel Dyer, 64; Daryl Ellis; Gary Ernissee; “Fast Blacc”; Gary Foriest, 55; Andrew Eugene Fox; Joe Franklin, 65; Ralph Freeman, 71; Stephan Fuller, 64; Mingcorya Gaddes, 44; Jackie Gainous; Robin “BillBill” Garrett, 57; Michael Garschagen, 65; Joshua Grier; Jacob Griffin, 23; Anthony Griffin, 55; Anthony Gunter, 59; Larry Guthrie, 57; Jewel Hackworth, 71; Sammy Haddock, 70; Jacob Hale; Cindy Ann Hall; Rodger Halpin, 65; Nathanial Hargrove, 46; Timothy Hatfield, 56; Alicia Head, 42; Daisy Hendershot; Gail Heumann, 54; John “Dr. John” Holder, 66; Eric Hudson, 44; Keith Hughes, 57; Leland K. Humphrey, 32; Darrian Humphries, 40; Brodge Hurst, 54; Lewis “Louie” Jennings, 61; Stephanie Jetton, 56; James Johnson, 64; Jason Johnston; Crystal Jones, 48; Michael Earnest Jones, 53; James Keniston, 63; Norris Kenner, 73; Marvin Kimbrough; Richard Kimery, 56; Robert Kiningham, 38; James Robert Kinney, 36; Joseph Knight, 59; Joseph Koschmider, 50; Susan Lantrip, 58; Robert Lasater, 56; Brian Lawrence, 40; Arthur M. Lawson, 58; Christopher Ledwell; James P. Lee, 46; Walter Lewis, 31; LaVonda Lindsley, 56; Timothy Lofton, 46; Thelma Lynch, 62; Roy Madison, 55; Steven “Chichi” Martinez, 25; Larry Mashburn, 55; Jairus C. Mathis, 49; Larry Lee McConnell III; Kelvin McCullough, 56; Jaritha McCutheon-Cousin, 64; Kenneth “Kenny” McKimmy, 47; Michael Meeks; Mark Meyers; Hyman Miller, 68; Richard Miller, 67;

Larry Mintlow, 56; Joshua Mitchell; Michael Moss, 55; Jay Mountjoy, 63; Tammy Murrock, 57; Franklin “Don” Nash, 62; Freeman Nation, 62; Fred Ngongi, 63; John Noel, 56; Melissa Orrick,42; Larry Parker, 66; Jerry “Montana” Paschall, 72; Richard Paul, 54; Rufus Peaks, 60; Robert Perry; “Chaplain” Charles Phipps, 70; Simone Pierson, 53; Hans Polak; Archie Powell; Ricky Prock, 62; Bobby Putman, 68; Keith Ramey; Otis Randolph, 60; Nelson Ray, 67; Fredrick “Fred” Richards, 64; Jeff Richardson, 58; Jeffrey Roberts, 55; Mario Robich, 29; Tiffany Rolle; William Ross; Nicholas Rummel, 40; David Rye, 60; Colton Sanders; Matthew Schmidt, 55; Sean Sehorn, 43; Jeremy Shivers; Jeremy Shivers, 40; Edward Smith, 48; John Spencer; Danny Spencer, 68; James Spratt, 63; Frederick Stevenson, 49; Michael Storey, 61; Lawrence Stout, 68; James Stutts, 61; John Sugg, 53; Roy Swafford, 50; Harold Thompson, 62; Joseph A. Tidwell; Joe Tinsley, 69; Thomas “Tommy” Toombs, 52; William Christopher Tucker Jr., 32; Marice Underwood, 40; Alfonzo Valencia; Holly Vantrease, 27; John Velez, 52; Lacie Waldrop Hayes, 36; Kenneth Robert Wayne Walter, 42; Lonnie Warren, 60; Steven Warren, 43; Eugene Douglas Wells, 39; Charles White, 72; Shameka White, 45; Rodney Whitehead, 55; Cornelius Whitlock, 51; Tony Williams; Kenneth “Kenny” Williams; Willie Wilson, 60; Tia Winford, 34; Keith Winston, 56; Mitchell Wolfe, 63; Patrick Wooden, 60; Preston P. Woods; Anthony Young, 66.

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 26

12/27/21 7:18 PM

SPORTS

CHARLIE ANDERSON

Coaching legend

Charlie Anderson won. A lot. Born in Plant, Tenn. — that’s just east of New Johnsonville, where Old State Route 1 and Henpeck Lane intersect, near Bone Hollow, of course — in 1934, Anderson moved with his family to Nashville, where he graduated from Cohn in 1952 and then almost immediately joined the Navy. After three years in the service, he did what thousands of would-be educators and coaches had done before and have done since: He went to Middle Tennessee State. For good measure, he added two graduate degrees from Peabody. And then the winning started. For the next four decades, Anderson stalked the sidelines all over Davidson County. He coached boys’ basketball at old Central High and old Bellevue. He was the first coach at Stratford, and he coached the Burros at Hillsboro, racking up a record of 409-132. Because it’s rare for a coach to be just the coach of one thing (and it was even rarer then), Anderson also led various schools’ girls’ basketball, tennis, baseball and softball teams and was a football assistant. In 1981, he left preps and went to Aquinas Junior College. In 20 years, he won 451 games and turned the little Dominican school into a JuCo power, winning the 1991 junior college national title — the first men’s hoops title by any Tennessee college. When Aquinas changed to a four-year school, it eventually dropped its athletic program, so Anderson went back to preps and coached at Nashville Christian and Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet. He was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Junior College Hall of Fame and the National Junior College Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Charlie Anderson died Jan. 27. He was 86. —J.R. Lind

FLOYD REESE

General manager, radio host, coach Few people have the ability to impact lives beyond football from an NFL front office, and former Houston Oilers/ Tennessee Titans general manager Floyd Reese was one of them. Reese died on Aug. 21 at age 73 after a battle with cancer, but he built a legacy through his relationships with people that won’t soon be forgotten. Sure, Reese was excellent at his craft, and the Titans’ results on the field were proof of that. He was responsible for 111 wins, 11 playoff appearances and two AFC Champion-

ship appearances. In addition, he constructed the best team in franchise history in 1999 — the only team to reach a Super Bowl. He also drafted 27 Pro Bowlers, three Rookie of the Year winners and an NFL Co-MVP. But as a person, Reese touched lives in many ways that went beyond simply what happened between the sidelines for three hours on a Sunday afternoon. He cared about people, and he cared about his friends. Perhaps no story better illustrates that fact than the one Titans general manager Jon Robinson shared shortly after Reese’s death. “I think to speak to the character of what Floyd means to me, when I was interviewing for the job to come home to Tennessee, he picked up the phone and called [then-CEO] Steve Underwood for me,” Robinson said. “The last time Steve Underwood talked to Floyd Reese was when he let him go. That’s the type of man that Floyd Reese was. He believed in me, he believed in what we’re about. … I can’t say enough good things about Floyd.” Those closest to Reese light up as they talk about how important football was to him. Football was his family, and his family was football. The two intertwined regularly but were never separated in Reese’s mind. Reese was a coach, a general manager, a senior adviser and, later in his career, a radio host. Regardless of what role he was in or what title he had, Reese always sought to make those around him better, and make the environment in which he worked a positive one. Many former players, coaches and media members typically have a favorite memory or an amusing story that sticks out above the rest. But sometimes, a person’s legacy isn’t boiled down to just one moment in time or a singular instance that made her or him more appreciable than before. Sometimes the person’s legacy lies in the consistency of her or his character. —Michael Gallagher

JOSH EVANS

Tennessee Titan It always seems like every team that makes a deep playoff run has that one player who comes out of nowhere to shine in the postseason. Atlanta Braves fans of a certain vintage remember diminutive all-glove-no-bat second baseman Mark Lemke hitting .417 in the 1991 playoffs, for example. When the Tennessee Titans miracled their way to Super Bowl XXXIV, that player was Josh Evans. Undrafted out of Alabama-Birmingham in 1995, Evans was a sometimes-starter on that first Titans team. But when the games got big, the undersized defensive tackle (he weighed “just” 275 pounds) got big, too. He had a critical sack against the Buffalo Bills in the legendary wild card game. He had a sack for a safety in the AFC title game against the Jaguars. And he had three tackles in the Super Bowl loss to the Rams. “I played in a Super Bowl and had a great game,” Evans said in a press release when he retired in 2004, having spent the final three seasons of his career with the New York Jets. “That was a dream of mine since I could remember dreaming. I was blessed enough to experience that. There’s 100 million people growing up wishing to experience something like that, and fortunately for me, I got that chance.” In 2019, tumors were found on Evans’

kidneys, gallbladder, intestine and pancreas. In June 2020, doctors discovered the cancer had spread to his spine and liver. Josh Evans died Feb. 4. He was 48. —J.R. Lind

VAN HEFLIN

Barrier breaker, Vanderbilt Commodore Van Heflin didn’t come to West End looking to break down any barriers. He didn’t even come to West End to be a quarterback. Heflin was recruited by then-Vanderbilt football coach Fred Pancoast to play defensive back. But one day, the story goes, he and receiver James Threalkill were on the practice field a little early, and Heflin told the wideout to run a few routes. Heflin started throwing bullets — pictureperfect spirals with oomph and accuracy — and his friend convinced him to try out for quarterback. Pancoast was impressed and penciled in the freshman as the Commodores’ starting quarterback. In 1978, Heflin became the first Black quarterback to start consistently for Vanderbilt. (Current

Houston Texans coach David Culley started a game for Vandy in 1975, but was primarily a backup.) In a 2015 interview with The Tennessean, Heflin said the fans weren’t exactly on board with Pancoast’s decision from the getgo. “It was crazy because nobody wanted to give me credit for being a great passer. I could pass with the best of them and run and do all the different things a quarterback needs to do. After we played Alabama and I threw three touchdowns, everybody was like, ‘Whoa, maybe he can throw.’ ” When Whit Taylor arrived on campus in 1981, Heflin moved to running back and led the ’Dores in touchdowns and rushing — though with just 374 yards, because Pancoast’s replacement, George MacIntyre, and his offensive coordinator Watson Brown loved to heave the ball around. Heflin had a brief career in pro football, primarily with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL. After playing corner, quarterback and running back in college, he was a tight end in the pros. Heflin died after a heart attack in July. He was 62. —J.R. Lind EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

coverstory_12-30-21.indd 27

12/27/21 7:18 PM

coming soon FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE ORCHESTRA WORLD TOUR

DVOŘÁK & MOZART

January 28

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 February 27*

Presented without the Nashville Symphony. SERIES PARTNER

January 20 to 22

January 23

*Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

EXPLORE OUR CONCERT CALENDAR AND BUY TICKETS 28

NashvilleSymphony.org/Tickets | 615.687.6400

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 27, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

WITH SUPPORT FROM

CRITICS’ PICKS R O U N D U P

O F

T H I N G S

T O

OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW

[WHEEL’S ON FIRE]

OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW

Old Crow Medicine Show has been playing the Ryman on and around New Year’s Eve for more than a decade, and the long-running country-folk band continues to define the genre of Americana. In some ways, Old Crow is a throwback to an earlier time in folk-country history. The band’s leader, singer and multi-instrumentalist Ketch Secor, tapped into the modern folk tradition when he reworked a rough sketch of a song Bob Dylan had recorded in 1973. The Secor and Dylan tune is one you may know — “Wagon Wheel” has become a modern standard. The song harks back to ancient folk-blues sources by Arthur Crudup and Big Bill Broonzy, but it’s also the kind of thing tourists will hear when they visit venues on Nashville’s Lower Broadway. Old Crow Medicine Show are members of the Grand Ole Opry, and you could view them as a modern country band — if country hadn’t developed its symbiotic relationship to pop in ways that purists find problematic. They’ve got an album, Paint This Town, set for release next year, and the title track sounds something like John Mellencamp. Although their studio albums have their moments, I think they come across most effectively onstage: Secor is a compelling entertainer. In a way, Old Crow seems like a distant relative of The Band, because their music expresses communitarian impulses. Go see them — you’ll have a great time. Neo-country star Sierra Ferrell opens on Thursday, and blues singer and guitarist Keb’ Mo’ opens on Friday. 7:30 p.m.

[ALL IN FOR LAUGHS]

THIRD COAST HOLIDAY SHOW & COMEDIANS AND MADE-UP CHRISTMAS CAROLS

Who couldn’t use a good laugh this holiday season? Thankfully, Third Coast Comedy Club has you covered with a great pair of performances on Dec. 30. You can kick off the evening with the Third Coast Holiday Show, which serves up both shortand long-form improv comedy with the help of audience suggestions. Then at 9 p.m., you can check out Comedians and Made-Up Christmas Carols with Jessica Watkins and friends. Watkins is a Nashville native, now

ST. PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES

living and performing in NYC. Her film SPECIALish — which documents an eightmonth walking comedy tour across America — is currently available on streaming and on-demand platforms. Thursday’s show promises plenty of stand-up and improvised holiday songs, with a lineup that is set to include Marie Anderson, Josh Black, Laura Peek, Brad Sativa and Corey Perry, with music by Robbie and Sarah Harris. Holiday Show 7 p.m.; Made-Up Carols 9 p.m. at Third Coast Comedy Club, 1310 Clinton St. AMY STUMPFL

MUSIC

Thursday and 9 p.m. Friday at the Ryman, 116 Rep. John Lewis Way N. EDD HURT COMEDY

MUSIC

THURSDAY / 12.30

[DISCO MOVES]

ST. PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES

Just about the only thing the Alabama soul-Americana band St. Paul and the

DUE TO INCREASED CONCERNS ABOUT COVID-19 TRANSMISSION, PLEASE CHECK WITH VENUES ABOUT POTENTIAL CANCELLATIONS BEFORE MAKING PLANS.

D O

Broken Bones can do now is star in a late-1970s-style exploitation movie about the ups and downs of a hard-working soul-Americana band from Birmingham. The band has already become a favorite of music fans by virtue of singer Paul Janeway’s post-Darondo vocals and arrangements that reference soul as it existed in the ’70s. Janeway leads a good — and even imaginative — band that strikes a balance between retro leanings and innovative music. On their forthcoming album The Alien Coast, Janeway & Co. tackle disco on a tune called “The Last Dance” and get into futuristic, post-Stylistics soul with the excellent track “Love Letter From a Red Roof Inn.” Maybe the Americana powers that be will create a disco category, and give Nile Rodgers some kind of lifetime achievement award — you can just imagine how the dancing might go down on the solemn pews of the Ryman during the ceremony. The Alien Coast promises to lift St. Paul and the Broken Bones into new levels of popularity. Janeway has said the album contains a dystopian undercurrent, which you can hear on the track “Bermejo and the Devil.” It sounds like classic over-the-top ’70s rock music, as if they’ve been listening hard to David Bowie’s Low. What’s next for these guys? Their decadent Berlin period? Cece Coakley opens on Thursday, with The Medium filling the slot on Friday. 8 p.m. Thursday and 9 p.m. Friday at Brooklyn Bowl, 925 Third Ave. N. EDD HURT

FRIDAY / 12.31 THEATER

W E E K L Y

[DRUNKEN KNAVES]

INEBRIATED SHAKESPEARE’S NYE EXTRAVAGANZA

Inebriated Shakespeare is back and ready to ring in the new year in decidedly bawdy fashion. For the uninitiated, the setup is simple — eight actors begin the evening by drinking shots and then attempting to “soliloquy under the influence.” Audience members are encouraged to get in on the fun by purchasing shots for the actors (a $5 donation, which helps support the nonprofit theater company), and maybe even a few for themselves. The New Year’s Eve show features an abbreviated version of Macbeth, and the cast offers a great mix of talent, including Dillon Davis, Angela Gimlin, Jared Taylor, Bryan Royals, Storm Sloan, Logan Dowlen, Kelsie Wallace and Riley Bayer. It’s important to note that Inebriated Shakespeare encourages responsible drinking and designated drivers for both cast and audience. And masks are required to help stop the spread of COVID-19. To learn more, visit inebriatedshakes.com. 9 p.m. at Love & Exile Bar, 715 Main St. AMY STUMPFL

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

criticspicks_12-30-21.indd 29

12/27/21 3:20 PM

CRITICS’ PICKS

MUSIC

DIERKS BENTLEY

It is time to spend that giftcard! Shop in store or online at parnassusbooks.net

UPCOMING EVENTS MONDAY, JANUARY 3

CAROLINE FAUSEL at PARNASSUS Prep, Cook, Freeze TUESDAY, JANUARY 11 6:30PM

GWEN E. KIRBY at PARNASSUS with KEVIN WILSON Shit Cassandra Saw 6:30PM

WEDNEDAY, JANUARY 12

DONALD MILLER at PARNASSUS Hero on a Mission: A Path to a Meaningful Life 6:00PM

MORE NEW YEAR’S EVE SHOWS

If watching Old Crow Medicine Show at the Ryman or St. Paul and the Broken Bones at Brooklyn Bowl doesn’t sound like the way you’d like to say goodbye to 2021, you have plenty of additional options. We’ll round up some of our favorites here. Be advised that, as usual, NYE events tend to sell out early, so check with venues before you head out; also make sure you’re aware of their proof-of-vaccination and masking protocols. Head down to Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park (600 James Robertson Parkway) to see Dierks Bentley, the Fisk Jubilee Singers and more perform in the city’s free New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash event. But you don’t even have to leave your house, as several parts of the show will broadcast live on CBS stations and stream on Paramount+. There are also several flavors of dance party on tap. The recently opened East Side Bowl (1508A Gallatin Pike S. in Madison) hosts vinyl-toting disco-heads Sparkle City Disco, and QDP is bringing Q Year’s Eve back to The Basement East (917 Woodland St.). Want something a little darker? Head over to The Cobra (2511 Gallatin Ave.) for a one-two punch: “Body horror on the dance floor” at New Flesh Eve, the party from goth/post-punk DJ crew She’s Lost Control in the back room, with the Thump party offering house, jungle and other club music in the front room. How about bands? Oli Endless, The Admiral Phunk Brass Band and more are playing the Rock Block at The End (2219 Elliston Place). If electronically enhanced pop is more your speed, check out Juliana Hale, Ali Henderson and Arlo at NashLive’s New Year’s Experience at The East Room (2412 Gallatin Ave.). New Year’s is always popular for shows either explicitly or loosely organized around a decade. The Y2K Madness show, a live-band and DJ hang up the stairs of 1 Cannery Row at Mercy Lounge, brings you the hits of the Aughts, while My So-Called Band parties like it’s the Clinton era downstairs at Cannery Ballroom. Guilty Pleasures, playing 3rd and Lindsley (818 Third Ave. S.), have your ’70s and ’80s rock ’n’ pop tunes covered. And while Flooded Sun Liquid Light Show’s party at The 5 Spot (1006 Forrest Ave.) isn’t strictly ’60s, headliners The Stargazer Lilies make heavy-psych-influenced shoegaze, while The Minks’ blend of bluesy rock draws heavily on that period . They’re joined by Nü Mangos, who operate more in a goth-dance vein, and Scene contributing editor Jack Silverman and his band laying down the vibey instrumentals he’s described as “crime jazz.”

Treat Yo Shelf!

6:30PM

[OUT WITH THE OLD]

STEPHEN TRAGESER

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13

ASHLEY HERRING BLAKE & REBECCA PODOS Fools in Love

TAROT

2:00PM - 3:00 PM

SATURDAY, JANUARY 15

SIGNING with KATHLYN J. KIRKWOOD at PARNASSUS Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round

GET TICKETS & LEARN MORE AT PARNASSUSBOOKS.NET/EVENT 3900 Hillsboro Pike Suite 14 Nashville, TN 37215 (615) 953-2243 Shop online at parnassusbooks.net

@parnassusbooks @parnassusbooks1 @parnassusbooks

[SEASON OF THE WITCH]

DO A TAROT READING

There’s something about New Year’s Eve that brings out all the latent superstitions that have been simmering just below the surface during this extremely tradition-heavy season. To satisfy that supernatural curiosity — and to alleviate some winter doldrums — I’ve gotten into the habit of giving myself a tarot reading every New Year’s Eve. It’s fun to dedicate some time to self-reflection and indulge in my witchiest impulses. If you don’t have your own deck — or if you’re looking for

a new one — I recommend shopping at East Nashville’s Draconis Arcanum (214 East Trinity Lane). It’s a great occult shop that keeps a full stock of cards, whether you’re looking for the traditional RiderWaite-Smith or Golden Dawn cards, or my favorite — the Aquarian Deck, with David Palladino’s Art Nouveau-via-1970spsychedelia illustrations. If you’re not sure about doing your own readings, setting up a professional reading might be just the thing — I recommend contacting Tania Smith at rainbowlovina.com. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

criticspicks_12-30-21.indd 30

12/27/21 7:00 PM

thebasementeast basementeast thebasementeast

917 Woodland Street Nashville, TN 37206 thebasementnashville.com

Q YEAR'S EVE // DEC 31

PARAMORE VS. AVRIL LAVIGNE // JAN 6

THE SHADOWBOXERS // JAN 7

QUEEN TRIBUTE // JAN 15

SAM FISCHER // JAN 18

NITA STRAUSS // JAN 19

A TRIBUTE

QDP NEW YEAR'S EVE

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.

A NIGHT AT THE MIPS

OPENING 2022

W/ BLACK SATELLITE & ABBY K

Upcoming shows DOWNTOWN

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

dec 30 dec 31 jan 6 jan 7 jan 8 jan 12 jan15 jan18 jan19 jan 20 jan 22 jan 23 jan 27 Jan 29 Jan 30

live emo band karaoke QDP new year's eve paramore vs. avril lavigne tribute the shadowboxers the emo night tour Grunge night VI: a tribute to Alice in chains & Stone temple pilots 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! the vegabonds & Grady spencer 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 w/symptom of the universe: black sabbath tribute

Saturday, February 12 SONGWRITER SESSION

Josh Jenkins NOON – 12:45 pm

•

FORD THEATER

ALEX RAHAL // JAN 7

SONGWRITER SESSION

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

Museum Membership Museum members receive unlimited Museum admission, ticket pre-sale opportunities, and much more. JOIN TODAY: CountryMusicHallofFame.org/Membership

ERIC SLICK // JAN 7

W/ BRAD SAMPLE (7PM)

LIVE IN CONCERT

Leah Turner

Muna w/ Allison Ponthier sold out! rumours 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! soulfly w/ 200 stab wounds & more tba gary numan w/ i speak machine mipso w/ bella white goth babe

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

Friday, February 25 Saturday, January 22

ingested, signs of the swarm, and great american ghost

Feb 10 Feb 11 Feb 12 Feb 16 feb 17 feb 19 feb 20 feb 21 feb 22 feb 24 feb 25 feb 26 feb 27 mar 1 Mar 2 mar 3 mar 4 Mar 5 Mar 6 mar 7 mar 8 mar 9

Dec 30 jan 7 jan 7 jan 8 jan 9 jan 10 jan 12 jan 12 jan 13 jan 13 jan 14

W/ JENNY BESETZT (9PM)

UPCOMING SHOWS

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) will overman (7pm) nolan taylor w/TheJenkinsTwins,LaurelLewis (9pm) loving sons w/juke of june (7pm)

jan 14 jan 15 jan 15 jan 19 jan 20 jan 20 jan 22 jan 23 jan 27

step sisters w/heinous orca & crave on (9pm) brandy zdan & molly martin (7pm) the kernal & friends (9pm) wilby, girlhouse caleb lee hutchinson w/gavin powell (7pm) pip the pansy (9:30pm) brandy zdan & megan mccormick hew g w/ 2'Live Bre & Special Guests arkensauce & armchair boogie

jan 28 jan 29 Feb 4

savannah rae brandy zdan & ruby boots palm palm

w/east nash grass

1604 8th Ave S Nashville, TN 37203 thebasementnash

thebasementnash

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

Country songs available for artists

MIRACLE IN MILAN

GUITAR LESSONS

with former Musicians Institute and Austin Guitar School instructor

MARK BISH.

NOW OPEN 209 Printers Alley candycanejanes.com

Jazz, Rock, Blues, Country, Fusion, Funk, Flamenco, etc. Technique, theory, songwriting. Programs available. 40 years exp.

512-619-3209

markbishmusic@gmail.com

THE SPIN

YOUR TICKET TO SHOWS...

REVIEWED nashvillescene.com/music/spin

[WICKED PARTY]

TUESDAY / 1.04

NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH STUDIO TENN

Break out the beads and bangles and put on your dancing shoes, because Studio Tenn is throwing a big, glitzy New Year’s Eve party. The evening kicks off with live performances at the historic Franklin Theatre, featuring artistic director Patrick Cassidy, along with Studio Tenn favorite John-Mark McGaha and Broadway’s own Jackie Burns — perhaps best known as Wicked’s longest-running Elphaba. Following the show, the celebration continues at the nearby Harpeth Hotel with dancing, entertainment, a hosted premium bar, hors d’oeuvres and even a glass of bubbly to welcome the new year. 8 p.m. at the Franklin Theatre, 419 Main St., Franklin; after-party 10 p.m. at The Harpeth Hotel, 130 Second Ave. N., Franklin AMY STUMPFL

SATURDAY / 1.01 [WHEN DOVES CRY]

HOLIDAY CLASSICS: MIRACLE IN MILAN

Leave it to an Italian to follow gritty realism with whimsy. Vittorio De Sica’s 1951 follow-up to Bicycle Thieves takes place in postwar Italy and stars a Chaplinesque Francesco Golisano playing Totò, a kindhearted man who lives in a homeless encampment on the outskirts of Milan. His livelihood — along with that of his many friends and neighbors — is threatened when oil is discovered on the land. The investorvultures descend, and the band of vagabonds must stand their ground. It sounds like a pretty typical Italian neorealist story, right? But wait! Totò is given a magical dove that can grant wishes, and the encampment becomes a surrealist fantasy land. “The mood is buoyant and satirical,” wrote Michael Atkinson in The Village Voice, “but the social commentary comes packed in grenades.” The delightful Brunella Bovo (The White Sheik) supports as Totò’s sweetheart Edvige. The film has recently been restored, and it’s sure to be magical. 3:35 p.m. Friday and 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. ERICA CICCARONE

MUSIC

Heated | BACK FOR 2021

uscp123@gmail.com THEATER

Roof-Top Christmas Pop-Up Bar

scan here to listen

FILM

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

CRITICS’ PICKS

[UNGUARDED MOMENTS]

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE TRIBUTE

The death of singer, songwriter and guitarist Justin Townes Earle in August 2020 deprived the world of a superbly talented musician who was just getting started. By the time of his death, Earle — the son of Steve Earle — had been in something of a career lull after making his mark with the 2010 album Harlem River Blues. I think this was the result of changing fashions and not a commentary on the quality of the younger Earle’s work, which remained excellent throughout his career. Justin Townes Earle was 38 when he died, and that’s an age when many musicians are forced to rethink their approaches. In some ways, Earle embodied the impulses of Americana music — a genre that had changed considerably in the decade after the release of Harlem River Blues. As a musician committed to writing frankly about the unguarded moment, Earle was a student of the way blues musicians combine candor and deception, and he may not have felt at home in the expanding universe of Americana. After the pandemic began to change the music business, he seems to have been affected by the isolation it required. Talking to Rolling Stone’s Jonathan Bernstein about Earle in early 2021, Nashville musician Steve Poulton said: “He needed an audience. He was used to having one: putting that energy out, and getting it back.” Steve Earle recorded an album of his son’s songs, J.T., that was released in 2021. It’s loose, intense and superb — one of the best records of the year. Tuesday at the Ryman, Steve Earle heads up a tribute show to Justin Townes that will feature Jon Langford, Old Crow Medicine Show, Elizabeth Cook and Emmylou Harris. They’ll play songs from his songbook on his birthday. 7:30 p.m. at the Ryman, 116 Rep. John Lewis Way N. EDD HURT

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

criticspicks_12-30-21.indd 32

12/27/21 3:20 PM

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

12/30 Rough Dreams

with secondSELF, Bad Blood (venue)

12/31 Cobra NYE Party

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

01/01 Steady Rotation

with Mad Cabbage, Access Control (venue)

CANNERY BALLROOM

FRI 12.31  Y2K MADNESS: THE ULTIMATE

and The SS-SR, Taxiway (venue)

01/08 Crooked Pointer with The Bluesdog (venue)

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 TODAY" VINYL RELEASE SHOW

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

01/07 YANCEY

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

FRI 1.14  THE EAST SIDE GAMBLERS THE GREAT AFFAIRS

MERCY LOUNGE

CANNERY BALLROOM

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

SAT 1.15  SPORTS

THE HIGH WAT

OKEY DOKEY & LITTLE BIRD

WWW.COBRANASHVILLE.COM

MERCY LOUNGE M

an unabashed, finger-on-the-pulse,

live-liKe-You-

FRI. 12/31

can’t-get-enough

supporter of the arts

for 30 Years.

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

nashvillescene.com FRI. 1/14

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 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

FILM

TOIL AND TROUBLE

The Tragedy of Macbeth is visually stunning but stuffy BY CORY WOODROOF

he Bard is hard. Adapting William Shakespeare for film is a bit like riding a unicycle while trying to defend your doctorate thesis. Joel Coen, despite being a generational talent behind the camera, took a risk in bringing one of the best known and most significant Shakespeare plays to the big screen, and the brand-new The Tragedy of Macbeth is his first directorial at-bat without his brother Ethan by his side since 2004’s Intolerable Cruelty. To borrow a line from a Coens film, would that it were so simple. You can’t say The Tragedy of Macbeth whiffs on the aesthetic terror of its source material. Coen speaks a haunting language here, compressing the grand drama of the Scottish Play into tight and suffocating sets. Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel’s stunning black-and-white lensing pays homage to the days of Orson Welles, when that auteur adapted a chunk of Shakespeare’s catalog with austerity and a hint of mischief. Coen’s Macbeth feels a bit like a Welles film sprinkled with the hipster terror of an A24 horror movie. Interestingly, the Oscarwinning director’s work here most resembles Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, which used those tight B&W corridors to freak out its landbound seadogs. Coen cast megastar Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand (Coen’s longtime collaborator and wife) as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and of course they’re both excellent. Washington restrains himself just enough to make the big exclamations count, and he nails his character’s seeping guilt and disillusionment

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH R, 105 MINUTES OPENING NEW YEAR’S DAY AT THE BELCOURT AND AMC THOROUGHBRED 20

after he makes his play for the throne. McDormand gives her Lady Macbeth an icy air — it’s not quite one of her best performances, but she’s still, as always, commanding. But this isn’t a particularly accessible interpretation. Sometimes to connect with modern audiences, Shakespeare films need passionate overacting, robust production design, orchestral scores. Those lacking a doctorate in classical literature (most of us) often need a SparkNotes handy to interpret the work, and Coen’s film doesn’t meet us in the middle in that regard. Had he made a bigger, grander movie and engaged the audience with pomp and circumstance, we could feel the emotion of each scene even when the language loses us. Perhaps the distant, emotionless approach is to blame. Coen re-creates more

than he stages, letting the dialogue and the austere production design drive too much of the film’s pacing. If anything, he doesn’t give enough autonomy to Washington and McDormand. Seeing Shakespeare live, the audience at least gets a moment to breathe between scenes, to soak in what just happened — but there’s no such luxury here. Coen’s ideas are sometimes nifty, as when he depicts Macbeth’s unwise encounters with the Weird Sisters (all three played by famed stage actor Kathryn Hunter, known for her physical performances). Hunter’s contorting, menacing witches give Coen his most inspired visual moments — you really do feel immersed in the drama whenever they’re on screen, or when Washington and McDormand are playing off of one another’s confusion, anger and fear.

PRIMAL STREAM:

But most times the film isn’t quite so immersive. Being distant and rigid doesn’t work when the audience will by default not understand half of the dialogue — we should be transported. This film stumbles a bit in that crucial regard. Perhaps it isn’t fair to judge which Coen brother brings what to the table based solely on this film, but it’s hard not to wonder how The Tragedy of Macbeth would’ve worked if both Coens had been involved. The film is missing the fleetness of the duo’s best films; Macbeth is, of course, dour material, but it would have been possible to have a little bit of fun with it. Even so, don’t resign yourself to seeing this one at home — for all the movie’s faults, you can always trust a Coen to make the most of a big canvas. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

1. BEGINNING ON MUBI AND BLU-RAY

THE BEST FILMS OF 2021

Not a day goes by that this film doesn’t rear up in the back of my mind. Beginning is a work of pure transcendence that doesn’t play it safe at any moment. Director and co-writer Dea Kulumbegashvili made her feature debut with this instant classic, which is as wrenching and elegant a first effort as one could hope for from a film so deeply, deeply upsetting; I will watch anything Kulumbegashvili makes from this point forward.

To cap off our streaming column for the year, here are some of 2021’s (and 2022’s) best releases BY JASON SHAWHAN

love hierarchical foolishness. As far as making lists, I’ve been doing that for decades — since long before I was a published critic. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the only thing that tops ordinal list-making is thematic grouping in conjunction with traditional Casey Kasem-style countdown theory. So gear up, and be ready for the results of the Scene’s annual Jim Ridley Memorial Film Poll, which we’ll publish in a couple of weeks. There’s a lot of great art to see and experience. Also: My deadline required compiling this list of titles before Warner Bros. made The Matrix Resurrections available, so we’ll see how things shake out once that’s part of the equation. Anyone responsible for directing one of the

INSIDE

2. INSIDE ON NETFLIX BEGINNING

films on this list deserves credit for doing so. Some entries, as you’ll see, contain multiple films (I will ex-

plain); some feature films that I have seen but will not be widely available until next year.

Inside is an overwhelming experience that lingers and mutates in the back of the brain as time passes. A combination state of the world and exorcism, this is somehow both Bo Burnham’s 1999 and his Rhythm Nation 1814. To call it the zenith of pandemic art seems like an arbitrary limitation — the fact that it’s

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

film_12-30-21.indd 34

12/27/21 3:22 PM

FILM canonically an Elm Street sequel helps expand its vast reach even further, beyond the realm of conventional reality.

3. WOJNAROWICZ: F**K YOU F*GGOT F**KER VIA VIDEO ON DEMAND AND DVD; PLAYDURIZM VIA VIDEO ON DEMAND AND BLU-RAY

The Wojnarowicz documentary is a crystallized shell of righteous queer rage that spares no one, even as it protects the delicate visions of a film like Playdurizm, a singular exorcism of Cronenbergian gay trauma that pulls no punches whatsoever and leaves the viewer struggling to wrestle its narrative into something able to be compartmentalized. The two complement one another beautifully, portraits of blood and bruises that the visual arts aim to encapsulate. Special points for Wojnarowicz’s meticulous takedown of how right-wing censorship regrouped and decided to let arts funding come under the control of the donor class.

8. COME TRUE ON HULU AND BLU-RAY; MAANAADU NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

These two are as pleasurable as genre scripts got in 2021. Come True’s endeavor to map the structure of nightmares blazes whole new trails and plays deliriously fucked-up games with the subconscious, and Maanaadu completely deconstructs and then reenergizes time-loop cinema, innovating in ways that mainstream domestic cinema won’t even go near.

10% OFF DINE IN TOTAL BILL

$5 OFF TO GO ORDERS

9. PARALLEL MOTHERS COMING TO THEATERS IN JANUARY; THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST COMING SOON TO THEATERS; SPENCER VIA VIDEO ON DEMAND

ON PURCHASE OF $25 OR MORE

MUST BE PRESENT AT SITAR (EXP 2/28/22)

WE DELIVER WITH

Here we have a triptych of women’s lives under extreme circumstances; internal dramas exacerbated and constantly besieged by the malign grind of both history and patriarchal violence. Haunted lives, finding joy where possible because to do so is a subversive act. Drama at its highest, with impact immeasurable, and incredible feats of tonal balance.

GRUBHUB | POSTMATES DOOR DASH | UBER

116 21ST AVE. N. | 321-8889 | SITARNASHVILLE.COM CLOSED ON TUESDAY

TO ORDER CALL 615-321-8889 E PARKING FRE

10. BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN, NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL 2022

If ’60s Godard had made a COVID-era riff on Harper Valley PTA, but with hardcore sex and a sense of humor equally playful and scabrously furious.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

MEMORIA

4. MEMORIA, NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL 2022

How can something so soothing and subtle reach into your brain and shake you to your very DNA? A cosmic film in the sense of its mood and its message, Memoria is director Apichatpong Weerasethakul working on a whole other level than his previous work, incorporating those films and installations, building upon them, and achieving something magical and mysterious while at the same time changing the viewer into something new and different.

Annette, Candyman, Censor, Drive My Car, Dune, In and of Itself, In the Earth, In the Heights, Lux Aeterna, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To, The Night House, Plan B, El Planeta, Sator, Scenes From an Empty Church, Siberia, The Sparks Brothers, Titane, The Velvet Underground, The Vigil, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, Zola and the Lil Nas X episode of Maury.

5. BENEDETTA VIA VIDEO ON DEMAND; DEAR EVAN HANSEN VIA VIDEO ON DEMAND AND BLU-RAY

How far will gifted drama kids go when faced with a society that only loves you when you’re useful? When your words or voice or visions can calm the chaos and turn hurt into hope — why would you stop? Inspiration stokes many fires, all of them right behind you, nipping at your heels. Both of these films are remarkable crosssections of society looking for something — anything — to believe in. This is absolutely the double feature of 2021.

6. THE POWER OF THE DOG ON NETFLIX

There are few things in the world better than a kinky Western.

7. BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR ON HULU AND BLU-RAY

If it had featured nothing else but “Edgar’s Prayer” — a Ryan Tedder parody of immeasurably specific precision — Barb and Star would be one of the greatest films of the year. But there’s so very much more to this weird, wild ode to friendship, comfy clothes and the inherent power of women named Trish. Bring on the sequel.

...Just

Better

905 51st Ave N. Tues. - Sat. 4 pm-9 pm @elpaseoCANTINA

Easy ordering for curbside pick-up or delivery

COMING IN 2022 AND ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT:

After Blue (Paradis Sale); Black Medusa; Jane by Charlotte; Mom, I Befriended Ghosts; Saloum; She Watches From the Woods; We’re All Going to the World’s Fair; The Yellow Night; You Are Not My Mother

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES:

BENEDETTA

s Still U

Ben Affleck (The Last Duel/The Tender Bar); Nina Arianda (Being the Ricardos); Betsey Brown (The Scary of Sixty-First); Austin Chunn (Playdurizm); Jim Cummings (The Beta Test), Brenda Deiss (Red Rocket); Jamie Dornan (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar); Mike Faist (West Side Story); Andrew Garfield (Spider-Man: No Way Home); Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza); Rebecca Hall (The Night House); Patti Harrison (Together Together); Ts Madison (Zola); Oliver Masucci (Enfant Terrible); Olga Merediz (In the Heights); Katia Pascariu (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn); Martha Plimpton (Mass); Charlotte Rampling (Benedetta/Dune); Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World); Kristen Stewart (Spencer); Ia Sukhitashvili (Beginning); Vanessa E. Williams (Candyman).

OUTSTANDING RESTORATIONS:

Arrebato; Le Cercle Rouge; Chess of the Wind; Eyes of Fire; Get Crazy; Goodbye Dragon Inn; Killer Party; Silent Madness 3D.

FILMS I REALLY DID NOT CARE FOR:

Death Rider in the House of Vampires; Lair; Malignant; Silent Night; Space Jam: A New Legacy; and that Matt Damon Crypto ad.

OUTSTANDING PHYSICAL-MEDIA PRODUCTS:

All the Haunts Be Ours (Severin Films); Celine and Julie Go Boating (The Criterion Collection); L.A. Plays Itself: The Films of Fred Halsted (Anus Films/Altered Innocence).

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

SCENERY Arts and Culture News From the Nashville Scene

Looking for the latest on art and culture in Nashville? Subscribe to Scenery, our weekly newsletter that covers visual art, theater, comedy, books, film and more. Subscribe at nashvillescene.com/subscribe nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

film_12-30-21.indd 35

12/27/21 3:22 PM

NASHVILLE'S FAVORITE DESIGNER BOUTIQUES TOGETHER UNDER ONE ROOF OFFERING DEEPLY DISCOUNTED ITEMS.

a boutique warehouse sale

CLOTHING

HANDBAGS

ACCESSORIES

& MORE

FEBRUARY 12, 2022 10AM-2PM | CITY WINERY

FASHIONFORAFRACTION.COM

on the

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

T-shirts. Cookbooks. Hats. More

 available in 3 colors

p.com nashvillescenesho 36

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

CROSSWORD EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ 1 5 11 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 23

27 29 30 31

32 35 39

40 42 43 45 46 47 49 51 54

56 57 59 60 63 66 67

68 69 70 71

ACROSS Builder of a papery nest Brand of imported “bier” Stadium souvenir “Hairspray” mom “High Sierra” co-star Make, in math Go-getter Wood nymph / Independent person Cold-blooded killer “The King ___” It gives many Scotches their smoky taste Win at the Olympics / Cheap jewelry material “I’d be delighted” Impish sort Grandson of Adam Prophet who said “But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” “Darn!” Request from Location for roundthe-clock monitoring, in brief Drove a golf ball / Gain strength from ___ pro nobis Numbers game ___ Point, Calif. Praise loudly Misfortunes Old Spanish coins Wagner heroine Goodyear blowout / “Everything must go” event Zap Act of digitization Chocolate ___ Waterworks parts / Amygdalae Openings for “To Tell the Truth” Frozen dessert eponym Rapper who had an infamous rivalry with Tupac Brand with a paw print in its logo Hi-___ School board? One of two options in five squares in this puzzle

18 20

Don’t make it another boring year. New year, new pleasures!

19 22

$25 off your purchase of $100 or more.

54 57

44 47

NO. 1125

71 PUZZLE BY CHASE DITTRICH

DOWN 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 19 21 24 25 26 28 30 33 34 36

37 38

Join Kerfuffle Breaks curfew, maybe Han Solo claims to have made the Kessel Run in less than 12 of these PC key / Sitcom ET Many a work by Banksy Devote, as time All square Iago, under Othello Hack Felt something Common default font Trivial “Not for me” ___ Tour Lag behind / Weak Transmission repair franchise Renaissance Faire adjective Lollygag Boris Johnson’s alma mater Traffic lights you can’t go through Nabokov title character Nonprimate with fingerprints that are nearly identical to a human’s Bay window One of two options in five squares in this puzzle

40 41 44 46 48 50 51 52 53 54

Snitched / Throw in the cards Jamie of “M*A*S*H” Backsplash installer Attacks a job with gusto Nielsen of “The Naked Gun” Caterpillar roll ingredient Lay to rest / Deduce Tannery product Green-lights Zesty flavors / Part of a Dracula costume

58 61 62 64 65

Country with the largest population of vegetarians Pen “Pygmalion” author’s monogram Darn, e.g. Land-bound bird Glasgow-to-London dir.

25 White Bridge Rd., Nashville, TN 37205 615-810-9625 MyPleasureStore.com *Offer Ends 2/10/2022. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Discount Code: NSNEW

PRB_NS_QuarterB_112921.indd 1

11/30/21 7:30 PM

ABS ABS ABS ABS ABS ABS EXPERTS EXPERTS EXPERTS EXPERTS EXPERTS EXPERTS

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE A R M

P S S T

F I L C H

F I R S T L A D Y

N O B E L

L A O

I O N I A

S A I D O K

B I L L

A N I T A A S S

I D A H O

L I E

R E D

S E C O N D R A T E O A R S

L A I T

A T O M

U M P

M I D D L E C L A S S G A R

O T T O

R O T I

E D E N

T H I R D P A R T Y T E D

A S L

A M B E R

W A I V E

A N T E D

E V A

D I M L Y

L I O N

E A S I N G

99 99 99 9999 $$$89 $89 $89 99 $ 89 89 $$$59 $ $ $ 99 99 99 99 9999 59 59 59 59

L A S T L A U G H

A L T E R S A S S

$15 $ $$15 FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE $$15 $$$10 $10 $$10 15 15 OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF 10 10 OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF 2/28/22. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021.

2/28/22. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021.

D E E

E R R

Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 9,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/ crosswords ($39.95 a year). Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/ studentcrosswords.

2/28/22. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021.

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

nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 – JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

crossword_12-30-21.indd 37

12/27/21 4:06 PM

Marketplace

EMPLOYMENT

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

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

www.rockylawfirm.com LEGALS

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

Looking for a good granita?

SICK OF SOUS VIDE?

Rental Scene

NashvilleScene.com

HealthStream, Inc. seeks a Advanced Product Solutions Developer in Nashville, TN to design, develop, and maintain the software products offered. Reqs. BS+5 yrs. exp. To apply mail resume to HealthStream, Inc., Attn: Whitney Drucker, 500 11th Ave N Suite 1000, Nashville, TN 37023. Must reference Job Title & Job Code:000069.

DirecTV Satellite TV Service Starting at $59.99/month! Free Installation! 160+ channels available. Call Now to Get the Most Sports &

Advertise on the Backpage!

Entertainment on TV!

It’s like little billboards right in front of you!

SAVE MONEY ON

877-310-2472 (AAN CAN)

EXPENSIVE AUTO REPAIRS! Our vehicle service

Contact:

program can save you

classifieds

up to 60% off dealer

@fwpublishing

prices and provides

.com

you excellent coverage! Call for a free quote:

SERVICES EARN YOUR HS DIPLOMA TODAY For more info call 1.800.470.4723 Or visit our website: www.diplomaathome.com

866-915-2263 (Mon-Fri :

NEVER PAY FOR COVERED HOME REPAIRS AGAIN!

COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM!

Complete Care Home Warranty COVERS ALL MAJOR SYSTEMS AND APPLIANCES. 30 DAY RISK FREE. $200.00 OFF + 2 FREE Months!

Train ONLINE to get the skills to become a Computer & Help Desk Professional now! Grants and Scholarships available for certain programs for qualified applicants. Call CTI for details!

1-877-673-0511. Hours Mon-Thu, Sun : 9:30 am to 8:00 pm Fri : 9:30 am to 2:00 pm (all times Eastern) (AAN CAN)

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available.

9am-4pm PST)

Call: 1-877-649-5043

(AAN CAN)

Welcome to Cumberland Retreat

Your Neighborhood Local attractions: · Nashville West Shopping Center · Hillwood Country Club · Cumberland River

Neighborhood dining and drinks: · Tequila’s Mexican Restaurant · Hillwood Pub · Buffalo Wild Wings Enjoy the outdoors: · Elmington Park · Centennial Park · Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery Best place near by to see a show: · Belcourt Theatre

Favorite local neighborhood bar: · Hillwood Pub Best local family outing: · Centennial Park Your new home amenities: · Cumberland River views · Vaulted Ceilings · Washer/Dryer connections · Playground · Sparkling Pool · On-Site Laundry · Renovations coming soon

1-855-554-4616 The Mission, Program Information and Tuition is located at CareerTechnical.edu/ consumer-information. (AAN CAN)

HughesNet Satellite Internet Finally, no hard data limits! Call Today for speeds up to 25mbps as low as $59.99/mo! $75 gift card, terms apply.

DONATE YOUR

BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!

CAR TO KIDS. Your donation helps fund the search for missing children. Accepting Trucks, Motorcycles & RV’s , too! Fast Free Pickup

We edit, print and distribute your work internationally. We do the work… You reap the Rewards!

– Running or Not

Call for a FREE Author’s Submission Kit:

- 24 Hour Response -

844-511-1836.

Maximum Tax Donation

(AAN CAN)

Call 877-266-0681

CASH FOR CARS!

(AAN CAN)

We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled – it doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too!

4G LTE Home Internet Now Available! Get GotW3 with

Call 866-535-9689 (AAN CAN)

lightning fast speeds

VIAGRA and CIALIS USERS!

plus take your service with you when you travel! As low as $109.99/mo!

1-844-416-7147

1-888-519-0171

(AAN CAN)

50 Pills SPECIAL $99.00 FREE Shipping! 100% guaranteed.

NASHVILLE SCENE | DECEMBER 30, 2021 - JANUARY 5, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

(AAN CAN)

FEATURED APARTMENT LIVING

Call the Rental Scene property you’re interested in and mention this ad to find out about a special promotion for Scene Readers

411 Annex Ave Nashville, TN 37209 | cumberlandretreatapartments.com | 615.356.0257 38

CALL NOW!

888-531-1192

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

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

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

3 floor plans southavenatcommonwealth.com | 629.777.8333

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

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

3 bed / 2.5 bath 1650 sq ft $1670+

Rental Scene

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

5 floor plans

britishwoodsapartments.com | 615.205.1862

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

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

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

5 floor plans

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

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

3 floor plans

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

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

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

2 Bedrooms/ 2 baths 1100 sq feet $1490

3 Bedrooms/ 2 baths 1350 sq feet $1900

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

Studio 330 sq feet $900 - $1000

3 floor plans

brightonvalley.net | 615.366.5552 nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 - JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

S U H P I TC

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

Read more at our new pitch guide: nashvillescene.com/pitchguide BOTH LOCATIONS OPEN DAILY 11-9 FOR TAKE-OUT YOUR FAVORITE MEXICAN FOOD & ‘RITA, TOO!

Happy Hour monday - Thursday 3-6 taco tuesday 3-6

2330 8th AVE. SOUTH 615-988-0404

EAST/Five Points: 972 Main St. (615) 434-6000

scan here for menu

Nashv il stron le g!

MUSIC CITY

PSYCHIC

New Year’s Predictions

OF F

a tarot card reading 615-915-0515

284 White Bridge Rd Reach more than

Flat.

Studio.

Apartment.

Home.

400,000

Scene readers. Plugged-in, educated, active consumers who support local businesses.

Whatever you call it, find yours in the Rental Scene.

Email Mike at msmith@nashvillescene.com to get started planning for a BIG 2022!

Nashville Scene’s Marketplace on pages 38 - 39.

TEXT FROM T HE

SCENE

Text SCENE to 888-111 to receive the latest updates on all things:

BREAKING NEWS

FREE DEALS

TICKETS

EVENTS & PROMOTIONS

Msg frequency varies. Reply STOP to cancel, HELP for Help. Msg & data rates may apply. nashvillescene.com | DECEMBER 30, 2021 - JANUARY 5, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE 40