Nashville Scene 4-29-21

APRIL 29–MAY 5, 2021 I VOLUME 40 I NUMBER 13 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE

CITY LIMITS: PRESERVATION EFFORTS KEEP A NOBLE HISTORY ALIVE IN PROMISE LAND

CITY LIMITS: ANOTHER POLICE SHOOTING COMES AMID CALLS FOR PEACE IN NASHVILLE

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LOVE DEATH AMONG THE IRISH TRAVELLERS AND

More than a century ago, Nashville was chosen as a sacred place for a resilient group of nomads — and so it remains BY J.R. LIND cover_4-29-21.indd 1

4/26/21 5:27 PM

— Buck Owens From Dorothy Bull’s Hillbilly Hollywood: The Origins of Country & Western Style

Country Music Hall of Fame member Buck Owens clad himself, and his band the Buckaroos, in exquisitely tailored suits that reflected designer Nathan Turk’s eye for color and love of fine fabrics. Such outfits, as Owens expressed, proved essential for grabbing the attention of the honky-tonk crowd.

To learn more about the pioneering designers who revolutionized fashion making extravagant Western-wear for rodeo entertainers, celluloid cowboy stars, and country & western musicians, visit the Museum’s online exhibition Suiting the Sound: The Rodeo Tailors Who Made Country Stars Shine Brighter at CountryMusicHallofFame.org.

ONLINE EXHIBIT LIVE NOW photo: from the collection of the country music hall of fame and museum, courtesy capitol records

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NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

CONTENTS

APRIL 29, 2021

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23

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory ................6

The Play’s the Thing

CITY LIMITS

Preservation efforts keep a noble history alive in Tennessee’s historic Promise Land

THEATER

BY LENA MAZEL

Tennessee Playwrights Studio announces ambitious new collaborations, plus a full season of premieres

Young TIRRCs .............................................8

BY AMY STUMPFL

Artwork at the new Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition headquarters shows the resilience of the immigrant rights movement

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BY ERICA CICCARONE

On the Other Foot

A Most Violent Year....................................9 Another police shooting comes amid calls for peace in Nashville

BY STEVEN HALE

Pith in the Wind .........................................9 This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

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COVER STORY

Love and Death Among the Irish Travellers More than a century ago, Nashville was chosen as a sacred place for a resilient group of nomads — and so it remains

BY J.R. LIND

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CRITICS’ PICKS Check out the Music City Food Truck Park’s Parking Lot Party, watch the Best of Nashville Hip-Hop stream, enjoy upcoming arts programs at Cheekwood, watch the new Mortal Kombat, stream a conversation between Cate Doty and Nancy Floyd, read The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, listen to podcasts about disco and more

VODKA YONIC

A decade into my marriage, shoes remain a point of contention

BY JOY RAMIREZ

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MUSIC

Mixing the Alloy ....................................... 25 Ashley Monroe’s adventurous experimentation pays off on Rosegold

BY BRITTNEY McKENNA

Another Look ........................................... 26

ART

Crawl Space: May 2021

Susan Edwards Prepares Frist Exit

ON THE COVER:

From the Nashville Banner, April 30, 1938: “An Irish lassie and a laddie step to modern music while the other folk sit by and sigh for the old Irish dancers. Many of the men adhere to the old custom of wearing hats indoors.”

Image courtesy of Nashville Public Library, Special Collections

BY JOHN PITCHER

The Spin ................................................... 27 The Scene’s live-review column checks out Eve Maret at Queen Ave Collective

BY CHARLIE ZALLIAN

28 FILM

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Nashville Craft Relaunches Hands-On Distilling Experience

A new virtual concert series from chatterbird showcases the healing power of music

Broad Strokes

BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Community Activists Criticize, Raise Questions About Oracle Deal

Musical Balm........................................... 27

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A quick tour of the dining options at Fifth + Broad downtown

Moving Nashville Forward’s Sunday School Comes to Third Man Records

The Scene’s music writers recommend recent releases from Petty, Fancy Hagood, Morgan Wade and more

Primal Stream 52

FOOD AND DRINK

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:

A New Wave musical and Irish vampires, now available to stream

BY JASON SHAWHAN

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

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MARKETPLACE

May’s big-picture gallery exhibitions tackle ancient history and cosmic distances

BY JOE NOLAN

nashvillescene.com | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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FROM BILL FREEMAN BIDEN NOMINATES NASHVILLIAN BETH PRICHARD GEER AND THREE OTHERS TO TVA BOARD President Joe Biden earlier this month nominated four new members to the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, including Beth Prichard Geer of Nashville.

Other nominees include Robert Klein from Chattanooga, Kimberly Lewis of Huntsville, Ala., and Michelle Moore from LaGrange, Ga. The Senate must vote to confirm their appointments for a five-year term on the nine-member board.

Though I do not know all of the appointees personally, I do know Beth Geer, and I’m proud of her accomplishments and happy to see her nomination. She was chief of staff for Vice President Al Gore and an important asset to the ClintonGore administration, and I also know her to be kind, unpretentious and smart.

She is discerning and has a fondness for environmental justice, which made her a good fit to work with Gore and his efforts on the environmental front.

Per a White House briefing, Geer will replace Kenneth Allen, whose term will expire on May 18. Klein will replace chairman John Ryder, former Republican National Committee general counsel. As noted by the White House, Lewis has a 25year career spanning business operations and management, technology and federal government contracting. She is the CEO of PROJECTXYZ Inc. and “leads a workforce that supports federal and commercial customers across several diverse subsidiaries and at locations across the U.S. and around the world.” Lewis also became the first Black woman elected as board chair to the Huntsville/Madison Chamber of Commerce.

Moore is described by the White House as a “a social entrepreneur and former White House official with roots in rural Georgia.” She is CEO of the nonprofit Groundswell, which “builds community power through community solar, clean energy, and resilience programs.” As a senior executive with the U.S. Green Building Council, Moore has been instrumental in the “global green building movement.” She was also a leader of the sustainability and infrastructure delivery teams for the Obama administration.

In addition to her former roles with Vice President Gore and the White House, Geer has “extensive policy and outreach experience on issues including climate change, environmental justice and regenerative agriculture.” She is originally from DeKalb County, graduated with honors from MTSU and earned the Public Leadership Executive Certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School Senior Managers in Government program.

Klein started his career as an electrician and worked for the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, where he advanced through the ranks to journeyman lineman — which led him to being appointed as an international representative with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Eventually Klein was appointed international vice president of the IBEW, overseeing the union’s 10th district, which includes Tennessee, Arkansas and North and South Carolina.

BETH PRICHARD GEER

The Tennessee Valley Authority provides electricity for 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states, making an appointment to the TVA board an awesome responsibility. The responsibility starts with criteria that candidates must meet even before they can be nominated. And once on the board, according to the TVA, members work together to “establish broad strategies, goals and objectives; set long range plans and policies; and to ensure their implementation by the TVA Staff.” This will require teamwork and discerning minds — and if what I’ve read regarding all of the appointees is accurate, President Biden has made some very wise choices.

I congratulate all who were appointed to the TVA board.

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

Editor-in-Chief D. Patrick Rodgers Senior Editor Dana Kopp Franklin Associate Editor Alejandro Ramirez Arts Editor Laura Hutson Hunter Culture Editor Erica Ciccarone Music and Listings Editor Stephen Trageser Contributing Editor Jack Silverman Staff Writers Stephen Elliott, Nancy Floyd, Steven Hale, Kara Hartnett, J.R. Lind, 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, Geoffrey Himes, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, Christine Kreyling, Katy Lindenmuth, Craig D. Lindsey, Brittney McKenna, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Chris Parton, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Megan Seling, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Ashley Spurgeon, Amy Stumpfl, Kay West, Abby White, Andrea Williams, Cy Winstanley, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian Editorial Intern Diana Leyva 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 Promotions Coordinator Caroline Poole 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 Jeremy Aparicio, Olivia Bellon, William Shutes, Niki Tyree Sales Operations Manager Chelon Hill Hasty Advertising Solutions Associates Aya Robinson, Price Waltman Special Projects Coordinator Susan Torregrossa President Frank Daniels III Chief Financial Officer Todd Patton Corporate Production Director Elizabeth Jones Vice President of Marketing Mike Smith IT Director John Schaeffer Circulation and Distribution Director Gary Minnis For advertising information please contact: Mike Smith, msmith@nashvillescene.com or 615-844-9238 FW PUBLISHING LLC Owner Bill Freeman VOICE MEDIA GROUP National Advertising 1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com

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NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CITY LIMITS

Preservation efforts keep a noble history alive in Tennessee’s historic Promise Land

BY LENA MAZEL

I

n Dickson County, a 150-year-old African American settlement still stands. The unincorporated community of Promise Land, Tenn., is a piece of living history, carrying on a powerful story of freedom through the descendents of its founders, its educational programs and its ongoing volunteer efforts.

And recently, it has also become the site of collaboration between Nashville activists and Dickson County natives.

Promise Land was settled shortly after the Civil War by a group of freedmen, including at least six United States Colored Troops veterans, and it quickly became a self-sustaining community. In the early 1880s, brothers Arch and John Nesbitt used their war pensions to build a school and church. In the following decades, Promise Land thrived despite segregation and Jim Crow laws, and is reported to have included 1,000 acres, 50 homes, several stores, three churches and an elementary school. There was also the community’s renowned musical group, the Promise Land Singers. While most of the original land now belongs to new families, Promise Land’s original church and school remain intact.

Serina Gilbert, executive director of the Promise Land Heritage Association, is a direct descendant of Promise Land founders through both of her parents — her mother was Essie Vanleer Gilbert, a celebrated local figure who died in 2017 at 101 years old.

“Growing up we had separate schools, and we would not be able to go to the stores downtown,” says Gilbert of living through segregation. “But at the same time, we were also buffered from racism. We had our own restaurants that we went to. ... We had our own teenage hangouts. And you didn’t feel a loss with that.”

The Great Migration, integrated schools and new industries pulled Black residents away from Promise Land in the 20th century. Still, some community elders — many of them descendants of original residents — maintained the site. Other Promise Land descendants moved to different states and even countries, and the community began holding annual reunions.

Gilbert attended Tennessee State University, then moved to New York City for a few years before returning to an integrated Dickson County. In Charlotte, Tenn., she began her historical research, befriending a local archivist who made her feel at home again.

“I never felt like a stranger,” Gilbert says.

“I never felt any discomfort, and was not mistreated in any way. In fact, I felt embraced.”

Promise Land Heritage Association began a series of educational projects and preservation efforts. The site gained national recognition: It now has its own Civil War Trails marker and a sign from the Tennessee Historical Commission; the school and church are also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Over the past 20 years, Gilbert says she has witnessed newfound interest in Promise Land’s history, and not from “just those who had just a blood connection.”

“We were attracting a diverse group of people that were interested in saving this place,” she says.

The interest couldn’t come soon enough.

The Heritage Association is currently trying to raise at least $75,000 for necessary renovations, and the group needs volunteers to help clean and maintain the property.

Luckily, Promise Land recently gained the attention of members of People’s Plaza, the Nashville advocacy group formed during last year’s protests at Legislative Plaza. In March, a small group of Nashville-based activists visited Gilbert and explored the site.

Aaron Worley, one of these activists, felt “instantly captivated” by Gilbert’s stories of growing up in the area.

When the Promise Land Heritage Association organized a Big Spring Clean for April 17, Worley and others spread the word.

Volunteers from Nashville gathered amid community elders — raking leaves, painting steps, cleaning windows and removing

OVER THE YEARS, Promise Land became more difficult to maintain. The school needed repairs, and the church had a wasp infestation. But amid the challenges, the

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ON THE AFTERNOON of the 17th, Gilbert took a moment away from the busy scene outside. The Promise Land School was quiet and organized, and it felt like a time capsule.

The original sign still hangs on one wall, opposite the original “chalkboard” — wooden slats with a coat of black paint. Students attended Promise Land School from 1880 to 1957; in later years, teachers were sometimes bused from Nashville, and they lodged with local families. Gilbert herself attended until the fifth grade.

Looking around the room, Gilbert considered the future of Promise Land. “My hope is that it will continue to be preserved,” she says.

“That there will be more people standing up and wanting to take part, and to keep the his-

tory alive and work toward preserving it.”

While some historians call Promise Land’s founders “freed slaves,” Gilbert points out that the term is not accurate.

“I always correct people when they say ‘freed slaves,’ because it’s an oxymoron,” she says. “You can’t be free and enslaved.

They became free people. And I always want to put people first.”

This shift in terminology points to Promise Land’s power — it was, and is, a space built by and dedicated to true selfdetermination.

“They didn’t start out being slaves,” she explains. “That’s not a name that they called themselves. They were people. They were husbands, wives, mothers and fathers. So when they were freed, they were still people. The one thing that they had shaken was that connotation of being enslaved.”

To learn more about Promise Land and donate to its preservation effort, visit promiselandtn.com/support.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

APRIL 17 CLEANUP IN PROMISE LAND

PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS

MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY

wasps from the sanctuary.

“We came out here to learn about it, and then when we learned that there was gonna be this event, everybody was excited,” said volunteer Ruth Reeves during the event.

“We’re excited to know that it even existed.”

NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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nashvillescene.com | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CITY LIMITS

YOUNG TIRRCs

Artwork at the new Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition headquarters shows the resilience of the immigrant rights movement

BY ERICA CICCARONE

I

n November, Zhoobin Mohammadabadi’s mother was driving down Antioch Pike when she saw something that made her pull over and jump out of the car. An image of her son was painted on the side of the new headquarters of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

The colorful mural is emblazoned with the words “Welcome home.” The young man holds a megaphone.

“I grew up in this area and this neighborhood, and I drive by it almost every day,” says 20-year-old Mohammadabadi, who was born in Iran and volunteers with the TIRRC Votes program. “It’s really cool to see it and know that I’m part of this community.”

The mural was painted by Tallahassee, Fla.-based artist Cosby Hayes, and it’s one of 13 pieces of original art outside and within TIRRC’s brand-new headquarters. After years of operating within Conexión Américas’ Casa Azafrán, TIRRC is cutting the ribbon on the 1.4-acre site on Thursday, April 29. The location — on Antioch Pike between Haywood Lane and Harding Place — puts the nonprofit in the heart of Nashville’s immigrant community.

“Antioch has one of the highest concentrations of immigrants and refugees but the fewest community resources,” says TIRRC executive director Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus.

“By building this new thriving community hub on what was previously an overgrown vacant lot, we’re really hoping that we’ll encourage other community-based organizations to move to this area to better serve the community, as well as TIRRC being able to fill a gap that has existed.”

The new headquarters is a hopeful articulation of TIRRC’s mission “to empower immigrants and refugees throughout Tennessee to develop a unified voice, defend

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their rights, and create an atmosphere in which they are recognized as positive contributors to the state.” Actions taken by the Trump administration forced TIRRC to scale up its work significantly with efforts like the comprehensive Family Defense program, which includes services and training to prepare members for encounters with local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement agents.

“The four years under Trump were some of the hardest for the immigrant rights movement,” says Sherman-Nikolaus. “The constant attacks, the policy shifts changing so rapidly, were all very deliberate in order to weaken us.

But instead, what we found was how resilient we really are, and we were able to build more support. It was really a radicalizing moment for a lot of immigrants and refugees, so our movement has grown even stronger as a result of the challenges that we faced.”

Inspired by the Wynwood neighborhood in Miami, TIRRC staff commissioned artwork connected to the immigrant and refugee rights movement and themes of resistance and resilience. The large multiuse room inside will host organizing meetings, celebrations and even overnight guests traveling across the country for movement work. A legal suite and private rooms will provide space for consultations and citizenship preparation. A full kitchen will allow members to prepare meals, and a dedicated classroom will hold workshops and courses on language study and more.

Artist Andrés Bustamante has created a sculptural work that hangs along a wall in the main room. Large, ribbon-like fabric is folded and draped in bunches, and a black light overhead makes the pastel colors glow. Called “Nosotros Las Semillas: We the Seeds,” the piece expresses Bustamante’s vision of healing and growth. The intention

PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS

COMMUNITY MEMBERS PAINTING

ARTIST ANDRÉS BUSTAMANTE of the work, says the artist, is “to plant a seed of hope that says, ‘Even though we are buried in the dark, we are scared, we are sad, we are torn apart, we are ripped to shreds and they want to dehumanize us, let’s plant a garden.’ ” Bustamante first became associated with TIRRC in 2018, when he curated an exhibition and art sale to benefit the nonprofit.

Originally from Colombia, Bustamante joined his mother in the U.S. when he was 10 years old. He says he doesn’t like politics and doesn’t understand them. “I feel helpless, but I have creative play,” says Bustamante.

“I have art. I have a community around me that’s also enraged and also wants to see what can we do and where can we plant a seed.”

José F. Vargas, also from Colombia, has lived in Nashville for five years. He created three pieces for the new headquarters, including sculptural trees for the playground.

“I picked colorful imagery that would help kids interact with the art,” Vargas tells the Scene in Spanish via Sherman-Nikolaus, who interpreted. “So many times a lot of children don’t have exposure to art in their homes, so I wanted it to be an opportunity for them to interact with the artwork while they’re on the playground.”

The grounds also include a community garden and a soccer pitch, which is sponsored by Nashville SC. Community members have painted dozens of flags on short concrete walls around the pitch, representing all the countries where TIRRC members previously lived. Sherman-Nikolaus remembers playing soccer after church each Sunday growing up in Guatemala, and she says the soccer pitch will be a place for members

from different countries to come together.

“A lot of our organizing work happens on the soccer field,” she says, “and now we can bring that here, right to our doorstep.

“The new headquarters are such an emotional, hopeful thing for us,” ShermanNikolaus continues. “To come out of the last four years of the Trump administration and the pandemic, and be able to have a permanent home for the immigrants rights movement. … To have it here, located in the heart of the immigrant and refugee community in Middle Tennessee, is so important to us, because it brings not only our services and opportunities to interact with our organizing work and leadership development, but also for people to be able to have some green space and some community gardens and be able to be empowered and find meaning in the artwork here.”

Mohammadabadi echoes that sentiment.

“Everything is honestly amazing. … I can see the community organizing around this building and this being a real staple in the community that is Antioch and the immigrant community all across Nashville.”

Vargas has also painted the fence in the parking lot with a quote by poet Amanda Gorman, who performed at January’s presidential inauguration. The mural is blue and green, colors that Vargas associates with Tennessee’s landscape. He finished it off with a monarch butterfly — an animal with one of the longest known migrations, and the symbol of the immigrant rights movement.

It reads, “We will not march back to what was, but move forward to what shall be.”

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NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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4/26/21 5:52 PM

CITY LIMITS

amid calls for peace in Nashville

BY STEVEN HALE

I

n response to a rash of gun violence — including recent shootings in North Nashville that killed a local community activist and a 3-year-old girl — a coalition including members of Black Lives Matter Nashville, Black Nashville Assembly and others arranged for something as straightforward as it was radical: 24 hours of peace. They planned marches and rallies with the goal of interrupting the violence that has been breaking out with alarming regularity.

But shortly after activists kicked off the “24 Hour Display of Power” with a gathering at North Nashville’s Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Friday night, they began to hear news of another killing.

A Metro police officer had shot and killed a man following a traffic stop.

By Saturday morning, more information about the incident, including footage from the officer’s body camera, had been released. The footage showed Officer Christopher Royer firing three shots at a man holding a kitchen knife and running toward him. The man was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. On Monday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified the man as 32-year-old Marvin A. Veiga Jr., who was reportedly wanted on murder charges in Massachussetts. The TBI and the Metro

THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS AND POLITICS BLOG:

A Metro Nashville Police Department officer shot and killed a man Friday night in Bordeaux.

MNPD says the man was a passenger in a car stopped for having plates that didn’t match the vehicle and that he exited the vehicle wielding two butcher knives. MNPD Chief John Drake said Officer Christopher Royer, who is on administrative leave during the investigation per department policy, did everything right by retreating from the charging man and asking the man, who had not been identified at press time, to drop the knives.

Royer fired his gun three times. The man was pronounced dead at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The shooting coincided with the beginning of the “24 Hour Display of Power” event organized in part by Black Nashville Assembly in response to multiple violent incidents, including a March incident during which a police officer shot and killed a 31-year-old woman on Brick Church Pike. … In an increasingly rare show of bipartisanship on substantive legislation, the state Senate unanimously passed police use-of-force reforms. The proposed law would ban chokeholds unless an officer believed deadly force was

In Nashville, last week’s shooting was the second fatal police shooting of 2021, and the fourth known time that Metro police have shot a person this year. The details of the shootings vary: In January, officers shot and wounded a robbery suspect; in March, Officer Josh Baker, who is white, shot and killed a 31-year-old Black woman named Nika Holbert after an attempted arrest led to a shootout that wounded the officer; and hours after Holbert was killed, officers shot and wounded a woman who was wielding a pickax and threatening to kill herself.

In a fifth incident in February, a 21-yearold Black man appeared to accidentally shoot himself while running from police.

With all this in the background — and a still relatively new police chief trying to tout policy reforms — Officer Andrew Delke, the decommissioned cop who shot and killed Hambrick in July 2018, is set to go to trial this summer. Delke’s attorneys were unsuccessful in getting the trial moved to a different county, and jury selection is set to begin July 1.

In Nashville, the trial could simultaneously serve as a sign of progress toward police accountability and a reminder of the deeply rooted problems that lead to deadly encounters with police. The Hambrick shooting led to increased support for the creation of a Community Oversight Board, and Delke is the first officer in Nashville history to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting. At the same time, the trial looks set to take place with a backdrop of yet more shootings and more death.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

COMMISSIONED PORTRAITS

PHOTO: DAVID S. PIÑEROS

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR Another police shooting comes

“24 HOUR DISPLAY OF POWER” MARCH ON SATURDAY

Nashville Community Oversight board are investigating the shooting. “[Officer Royer] did everything he could, I felt,” Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters at a press conference.

“He retreated, he asked the individual to drop the weapon several times. [Veiga] continued charging at him, and he was left with no choice.”

Drake also said, “When I got the call this morning, I had mixed emotions, especially with all that’s going on around the nation and this city.”

The shooting came less than a week after former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted for the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a killing that set off a summer of protests around the country. The wave of demonstrations against racism and police brutality rolled through Nashville, where the fatal police shootings of Jocques Clemmons in 2017 and Daniel Hambrick in 2018 — both Black men killed while fleeing white police officers — have been a continual source of community activism and pressure on the MNPD. As Drake alluded to, Nashville’s most recent fatal police shooting occurred as the news is again dominated by similar incidents in other cities, from Columbus, Ohio, to Knoxville.

authorized, require the teaching of chokeholds at training academies, require law enforcement agencies to develop de-escalation policies, require other officers to intervene in cases of excessive force, prohibit firing at moving vehicles unless the officer believes deadly force is authorized, and prohibit the issuance of no-knock warrants.

The bill is moving through the House. … A piecemeal piece of medical marijuana legislation is working through the legislature. The bill would decriminalize possession of medical marijuana for certain patients if it was legally acquired in another state. … A bill requiring the burial or cremation of the remains of an aborted fetus passed the legislature. The legislation includes several carve-outs, including for emergency abortions occurring at hospitals and when law enforcement officers are seeking evidence in rape investigations. Anna Flores — an organizer with Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood who joined other protesters at the Capitol — said the bill was “an attack on abortion, nothing else.” … So-called “name, image and likeness” legislation, which would allow college athletes to earn money from — you guessed it — their name, image and likeness, has advanced. The NCAA is considering an NIL framework, but some states are taking the initiative. Four states, including Mississippi and Alabama, have NIL laws going into effect July 1. … Thelma Harper, who represented

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the Tennessee Senate’s 19th District for three decades, has died. She was 80 years old. The longtime Democrat and North Nashvillian was the longest-serving woman in Tennessee State Senate history. Known for her eye-catching widebrimmed hats and no-nonsense rhetoric, Harper previously served two terms as a Metro councilmember in Nashville’s District 2. … Metro officials announced Thursday their intent to shut down the Music City Center mass vaccination site by May 28, citing declining demand for COVID-19 vaccines in the region. The city will continue to operate its drive-thru vaccination site at the former Kmart location in Antioch and, with help from local health organizations, deploy mobile units mostly concentrated in North and Southeast Nashville. … Susan Edwards, the executive director and CEO of the Frist Art Museum since 2004, has told the downtown institution’s board of trustees she will retire in the coming year. … Leaders in the Tennessee General Assembly are backing a proposal to reduce the number of weeks residents can draw unemployment benefits while boosting the weekly payout by $25 or $50. According to Republican lawmakers, the goal of the move is to push people back to work amid ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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LOVE DEATH AMONG THE IRISH TRAVELLERS AND

More than a century ago, Nashville was chosen as a sacred place for a resilient group of nomads — and so it remains BY J.R. LIND

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PHOTOS: ERIC ENGLAND

I

n vacant lots and campgrounds along Murfreesboro Road, the green tents would appear, suddenly but predictably, the first weekend of May every year for decades. The road would swarm with hundreds of people greeting one another, hugging like family, dancing and playing the old music.

Their faces told a story of life on the road.

Their hands told a story of hard work. There was a familiarity in their countenances, as if all were leaflets clinging to different branches of a very expansive ancient tree.

When they first came, they came in wagons or on horseback, and when the 20th century aged, they came in trucks. The horses were still there, in trailers behind. Some came in dearer vehicles, and when they decamped, some left in “shiny new convertibles,” according to the newspaper.

Nashville’s papers gave an annual report on the visit — announcing the arrival and the departure and whether the weekend was a success. But in 1951, it wasn’t: “Cupid Fails To Make Score As Irish Nomads Leave Town,” The Tennessean reported.

“Irish Nomads” was the usual term for the clan for the first half of the century, and they didn’t seem to mind that, proud as they were of their link to the Emerald Isle. The group, however, would bristle at the name “Gypsy.” That term is long out of favor these days, but the Gormans, Costellos, Sherlocks, McNallys and Carrolls weren’t objecting to the term so much as being associated with a wholly different group of people.

Romani — the ethnic group most frequently associated with the word “Gypsy” — have a much-debated origin, though anthropologists more or less agree they came out of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The “Irish Nomads” — these days, the American branch prefers the term “Irish Travellers,” with two L’s, in the Old World fashion — are, as genetic testing has long since proven, exactly what they claim to be: Irish through and through. Even these days, even separated by an ocean from Ireland, there’s been little influx of non-Irish genes.

And that brings us back to 1951.

“The clan elders were at a loss to explain it,” the Tennessean story reads. “Every previous reunion here has climaxed in at least one, and usually several, marriages.”

The old-timers blamed the draft. One suggested that perhaps the young women were

CALVARY CEMETERY becoming more independent and less tied to the old ways of meeting their love match in Nashville.

THE WEDDING MASSES — and they were always Masses, as the Travellers were and are staunch Roman Catholics — were certainly a happy occasion, but that wasn’t the primary purpose of this annual confab in Tennessee’s capital.

In sections 14, 15 and 16 at Calvary Cemetery, the same names repeat: Costello, Gorman, Sherlock, McNally, Carroll. There are gravestones — often more elaborate and brightly colored than the rest nearby — dating back to the late 19th century, and they continue through the years. The latest burial was recent enough that on one April morning, the flowers were still at the plot, homage to the Royals and Chiefs showing that the decedent had ties to Kansas City.

The fact that a large, clannish family with ties crisscrossing across generations would all be buried together isn’t terribly unusual. What’s odd is that Nashville itself is not and has never really been a home base for the Travellers, though it’s obviously important to them.

These days, there are three main hometowns for the once-peripatetic group: Murphy Village, S.C.; White Settlement, Texas; and Memphis. In fact, they more or less live in the same neighborhoods in each of those three towns, be it in a subdivision of McMansions in South Carolina or in a mobilehome park near the airport in Memphis.

Nashville is relatively centrally located, yes, but the real reason for Travellers’ connection to Music City is, somehow, even more practical.

The story starts with Oliver Cromwell (naturally). In 1649, during the War of the

Three Kingdoms, Cromwell — perhaps the most humorless and unpleasant head of state Britain has ever had, and that’s saying something — set out to conquer Ireland for the forces of the English Parliament, which was then at war with, among other people, England’s Royalists. Cromwell succeeded and thus began the Protestant Ascendency, which — to put it mildly — caused a wee spot of trouble for the next three-and-a-half centuries. In short, Cromwell dispossessed Catholic landowners, particularly in Ulster, much of which is now Northern Ireland, and replaced them with Protestant settlers from Great Britain.

Among those forced from their homes and land were the foundation stock of the Irish Travellers. Forced off their farms, they turned to other lines of work, some more legal than others. Being a pastoral people, they knew that horses and mules

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and donkeys and buying and selling equids put them on the road and out from the hated gaze of the English in the cities and towns.

From the home base in Castlereagh, they did well for themselves for the next twohundred-odd years, though their seemingly rootless existence gave them a reputation for brigandage. They drove hard bargains too, which no doubt upset their more settled countrymen. And, yes, sometimes there was theft and fencing of stolen animals. There are no angels here.

The potato famine came in 1845, and like millions of other Irish people, Traveller Tom Carroll went west, across the Atlantic, landing in New York. He had success in the horse game in the New World, and more Travellers followed. Through the tumult of the Civil War, they moved steadily south, finding the agricultural economy of the Southern states more suitable to their trade.

They’d make the rounds, following the weather, never staying anywhere more than a few weeks.

Nashville’s reputation as a central location is no 21st-century creation of the economic development gurus; the Travellers realized it long ago. From Nashville, it was an easy ride to the mule sales in Columbia and Gallatin and to the horse centers in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro. The city became a regular stop and a relatively lengthy one — so much so that by the 1880s, there was a more or less permanent community of Travellers using Nashville as a home base.

In 1890, the Diocese of Nashville began building St. Patrick’s to serve the growing Irish population. (St. Lawrence’s in Joelton was built to serve the Italians and Assumption in Germantown for the Germans.) The local Travellers, of course, began attending Mass there, growing close to the parish priest, Father Timothy Abbott.

When the out-of-town Travellers came to Nashville to do business, it was only natural they too would attend church at St. Patrick’s.

Father Abbott dutifully ministered to them, taking confession and performing baptisms and marriages.

The post-Civil War economy in Nashville and the constant cycle of boom and bust during the Gilded Age put the diocese on rocky financial footing. Outside of tithes and

general generosity, one of the main sources of income was the selling of plots at Calvary.

And Abbott had a thought: Here’s a group of people who, unlike most of his parishioners, had hard cash. They were a large, tight-knit group, many with no true home parish. He convinced the Travellers to buy family plots at Calvary. And thus, no matter where they roamed, they always came back, settling on the first weekend of May, returning to Nashville to bury their dead.

Starting with Father Abbott, the parish priest at St. Patrick’s would say requiem Masses for everyone. No matter when they died, they’d be buried around the first of May, a local undertaker doing the preparation and then sending the body to Finley Dorris in Nashville, the Travellers’ local mortician of choice. They’d order elaborate floral arrangements depicting walking sticks or caravans or broken wagon wheels (symbolic of a journey completed) from Joy’s, which also constructed a huge horse made of flowers — one stood “five hands high,” according to The Tennessean — that was the centerpiece of the burial ceremony.

The register at Calvary isn’t sortable by date of burial. But if it were, the Gormans, Costellos, McNallys, Carrolls and Sherlocks would all group around May 1, with the notable exception of 1926, when the Travellers didn’t show up. Father Abbott told The Tennessean at the time that the group had been “unusually healthy this year.”

There’s a record at St. Patrick’s too, with a similar grouping of marriages and baptisms.

The former becoming an early-May Traveller tradition was an outgrowth of the funerals. With all the Travellers coming from “nine Southeastern states” — as The Tennessean and Nashville Banner dutifully reported every year — gathered together to bury their dead, the conclave became a reunion. And with the exception of the solemnity of the funeral, the weekend took on a celebratory vibe.

Eventually St. Patrick’s began hosting dances, sparking romances common enough that the local paper of record felt compelled to report when love didn’t bloom.

The Travellers both in America and the home country typically intermarry, thus the purity of their genetics. Of course, as

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

H

Europe’s royals taught us, potential partners must be extraordinarily careful when coming together in matrimony, lest two people too closely related end up at the altar. Thus, it helped having the elders around, with their lengthy memories of Traveller history and knowledge of the consanguinity of various septs.

LEFT: AN IRISH TRAVELLER’S NASHVILLE FUNERAL, 1938; VIA THE NASHVILLE BANNER ABOVE, FROM THE NASHVILLE BANNER, APRIL 30, 1938: “SCENES AT THE DANCE OF THE IRISH TRAVELERS LAST NIGHT WHEN THEY OPENED THE FESTIVITIES AT THEIR ANNUAL CONCLAVE IN NASHVILLE, WHERE THEY COME ONCE A YEAR TO HAVE THEIR BABIES CHRISTENED, TO MARRY AND TO BURY THEIR DEAD.”

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Because of the concerns about cousinmarriage, some weddings were — and are — at least “lightly arranged.” According to Irish Travellers: An Undocumented Journey Through History by South Carolina Traveller Mike Carroll, the practice is that the patriarchs of various families will sit down and negotiate an arrangement. These days, the would-be couple has the final say, though it’s rare that they’d reject the betrothal.

The Murphy Village Travellers caught the attention of South Carolina authorities in 2016 in part because of the practice. They were accused not of arranged marriages, which are legal, but of child marriage, which is not. The state’s Department of Social Services took six girls under allegations of sexual abuse. The girls were returned after three months. Travellers insist that while marriages may be planned while the wouldbe bride (and groom) are underage, none are actually married until the age of majority.

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OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP gotten away with it, were still at their encampment on Murfreesboro Road and were served with the lawsuit May 26.

By 1948, there was concern among Traveller elders that the old tradition of the pilgrimage to their most sacred space was dying out. Only 100 people came to Nashville for a funeral that year, according to the Banner. Fewer young people were speaking the distinctive cant of the Travellers — called “Shelta” in Ireland, though the American branch typically just calls it “the Cant” — and were resorting to the common slang of the U.S. instead of the odd mixture of old Gaelic, English and the coded language of the carnival. One of the old-timers was forlorn that fewer of his bloodline were trading horses; they’d gone into farm equipment sales. (That’s still a common occupation among Travellers; Lord knows what the oldtimer would have thought of complicated insurance swaps.)

That proved just a temporary blip, however, because the two best-attended Traveller gatherings came in the next three Mays.

Between 1949 and 1951, as many as 3,000 Travellers came to Nashville in early May, even though by then some had taken to staying at Moore’s Motor Lodge (now a Scottish Inn) on Murfreesboro Road rather than in the bright-green tents. Jack Costello, who served as something of a spokesman to the press for the group during the period, tried

to explain why it was so important to come to Nashville.

He said the plots at Calvary are “the nearest thing to the ould sod this side of the Emerald Isle.”

Life on the road began to hold less appeal by the 1960s. By then, more Travellers were settling down. Encouraged by a priest (again), many began settling outside North Augusta, S.C., naming their town Murphy Village after the encouraging priest.

There’s less need to have one big gathering once a year, so most of the time, the Travellers are laid to rest shortly after their death. Even so, as the aforementioned Kansas City Royals fan showed, many are still laid to rest here. Some of the Traveller families do make the trek to Nashville — funeral or not — in early May. The most recent interments that followed the May Day tradition were in 2005 and 2007. Oddly, both took place at Assumption with its priest — at the time Father Joseph Breen — saying the Mass, as St. Patrick’s was undergoing renovation.

But St. Patrick’s will always have a tie to the Travellers, who donated statues of the Infant of Prague and Our Lady of Perpetual Help to the parish as an expression to the decades of devotion and ministry the parish provided.

TRAVELLERS — LIKE MANY groups who stay isolated from broader society either

PHOTOS: ERIC ENGLAND

BECAUSE OF THEIR CLOSED NATURE, Travellers often catch the attention of authorities.

It’s not always unwarranted, but oftentimes news coverage and press releases from district attorneys and police departments focus on the fact it’s Travellers, rather than on the crimes themselves. An unusual — but profitable and legal — practice often grabs the eye of state insurance investigators. As Mike Carroll explains in his book, Travellers realized that, under American practice, it’s very easy to be the beneficiary of a life insurance policy if one is a blood relation of the insured.

Instead of horse and mule trading, many Travellers make their money off the deaths of their cousins or aunts or grandparents, with records of who is insured to whose benefit kept meticulously so it’s as fair as possible. But as with any group of people, temptation makes for malfeasance. Bernard “Little Joe” Gorman is in the fourth year of a 14-year sentence in Texas for murdering a housekeeper whom he and his father had insured — without her knowledge — for $1 million and then selling the policy on to a distant relation. The Texas Travellers do so much insurance investment, a Fort Worth agent did nothing but arrange policies for the Travellers of White Settlement.

Gorman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. His father Gerard died before his trial.

A review of Nashville’s newspaper archives, however, shows the Travellers more or less avoided running afoul of the law here.

One notable exception came in 1943. Local farmer Albert Smiley claimed that, while the Travellers were in town for their annual rites, two men came and traded him two young mules for his two aged mules and $125.

“When Smiley tried to work the new team,” The Tennessean reported, “he found one of the animals ‘broken winded’ and absolutely worthless, while the other was ‘so slow and apathetic it was with difficulty he could be made to move at all.’ ” Smiley claimed the Travellers returned a week later, saying that their conscience had worn on them for trading him bad mules.

Thus, they offered to trade him two other mules in exchange for the ones they’d traded him earlier — plus $50. Smiley, who was apparently a very trusting man, agreed, only to find the two mules were even worse than the other pair. He sought $625 in total damages.

The Travellers, perhaps thinking they’d

INFANT OF PRAGUE

by choice, coercion or some combination thereof — are often misunderstood, caricatured (e.g., the exploitive “reality” series My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding, which featured some Travellers and few Romani) or denigerated. Sometimes it’s easier to isolate and keep the old ways than risk persecution.

Mike Carroll is hard to track down, unless a newspaper or TV news report highlights the Traveller background of an alleged criminal. If it happens anywhere in the country, he fires off a letter to the editor, pointing out that Ireland, and by extension, the European Union, recognizes Travellers as an ethnic group and that characterizing them as a gang or a criminal enterprise is akin to suggesting, say, all Italians are mafiosi or that all Salvadorans are in MS-13.

Because they’ve been under the thumb of some external power structure since Cromwell’s forces won at Rathmines, the Travellers have found it necessary to keep to themselves. More than 400 years of often coldly rational decisions have kept them going, thriving enough that Murphy Village is dotted with as many million-dollar homes as it is mobile homes.

And it was a rational decision by a priest and his peripatetic parishioners more than a century ago that made Nashville a sacred place and sacred destination, even now, even if rarely.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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CRITICS’ PICKS W E E K L Y

R O U N D U P

O F

T H I N G S

T O

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MUSIC

Truck and more. The Facebook event page also promises beer, hard seltzers and cocktails, not to mention an “open-format” DJ — one of the more popular formats, I’d argue — and outdoor games. With more than 70 picnic tables and a 4,000-square-foot deck, even folks skittish about returning to in-person events ought to find plenty of room for distancing. Find more details about this and other events at the — you guessed it — plainly named but nevertheless enticing URL bestfoodtrucks.com/ musiccityfoodtruckpark. 5-9 p.m. Friday, April 30, at The Marketplace, 400 Davidson St. D. PATRICK RODGERS

STREAM THE NEW DIRECTORS/NEW FILMS FESTIVAL

Presented by the Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center every year since 1972, the annual New Directors/New Films Festival has always been grounded in New York City, but it’s of course gone virtual as has so much of the film world in the past year. But in some ways, it’s befitting of a festival that has long scoped out new voices and innovative authorial talent from all different parts of the world — over the years, it has introduced American audiences to distinctive artists like Chantal Akerman, Wong Kar-wai, Pedro Almódovar and Charles Burnett. As always, this year’s ND/NF brings together distinctive visions of cinema’s possibilities in a multitude of languages and styles, with truly global films like the Borges-inspired Aleph (a co-production between the U.S., Croatia and Qatar in eight different languages) alongside American documentaries like Theo Anthony’s surveillance-centered All Light Everywhere and Fern Silva’s geological survey Rock Bottom Riser. The real highlight of this year’s festival for me is Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, a hauntingly isolated and alienated portrait of how digital spaces can change us physically — a fitting film for a cinematic landscape now facilitated by Wi-Fi connections and virtual screening rooms. Visit newdirectors.org for a full schedule and ticketing information.

April 28-May 8 via Film at Lincoln Center

[SILVERMAN: GOLD STANDARD]

WATCH JACK SILVERMAN’S EP RELEASE STREAM FROM THE 5 SPOT

There are quite a few ways you might know Jack Silverman. In 2014, he ended a 17-year run as a Scene staffer — though he’s still a contributing editor and writes for us on occasion — to focus on his first love: playing guitar. Since then, much of his energy has been focused on Grateful Dead tribute band The Stolen Faces, a group we’d call pretty great whether or not he was in it. Among other projects, he also joined up with the Nashville Ambient Ensemble.

Somewhere, he found time to work with revered producer Roger Moutenot (Yo La

NATHAN SMITH

JACK SILVERMAN

WATCH THE BEST OF NASHVILLE HIPHOP STREAM

There are far too many excellent rappers in Music City for a single event to feature all the best local MCs, but a streaming show this Friday is packed to the rafters with top talent. The scene has been growing steadily and so has its profile — thanks in part to an expansive deep-dive for NPR by journalist, author and WNXP music director Jewly Hight in the fall — meaning that despite Nashville’s general lack of hip-hop infrastructure, perhaps more of Tengo, Sleater-Kinney, Adia Victoria, many these artists are familiar to you than not. more) on an EP called Now What, released There’s the outstanding Daisha McBride,

by YK Records in March. The three-track who picked Nashville as the place to launch collection is built on a backbone of kinetic her career, and Music City native Chuck grooves and dark harmonies, but it feels Indigo, whose storytelling gets richer and neither rushed nor pretentiously moody. more complex with every release. You’ll see Opening track “Mixed Signals,” Lord Goldie, fresh off the heartfelt and built around some electronic insanely catchy single “Hey Now,” interference from a radio EDITOR’S NOTE: AS A RESPONSE TO preacher’s broadcast tower, THE ONGOING COVID-19 sets the tone, effortlessly PANDEMIC, WE’VE CHANGED THE conveying the feeling FOCUS OF THE CRITICS’ PICKS of being on the verge of SECTION TO INCLUDE ACTIVITIES YOU CAN PARTAKE IN WHILE discovering something big.

YOU’RE Thursday night, Silverman AT HOME. celebrates the record with a high-definition stream from The 5 Spot via the StageIt platform. He’ll be joined by drummer Robert Crawford (whom you’ll know from Altered Statesman), bassist Brook Sutton, keyboardist Jano Rix (of The Wood Brothers) and saxophonist Chris West. 8 p.m. Thursday, April 29, via The 5 Spot on StageIt STEPHEN TRAGESER FOOD & DRINK

[NEW FOUND LANDS]

MUSIC

FILM

ALL LIGHT EVERYWHERE

[ON THE SCENE]

[KEEP ON TRUCKIN’]

CHECK OUT THE MUSIC CITY FOOD TRUCK PARK’S PARKING LOT PARTY

Set for the last Friday of the month for the next several months, the plainly named but nevertheless enticing Parking Lot Party will kick off Friday at The Marketplace — or the Music City Food Truck Park, as it’s sometimes known — in East Nashville. This week’s rain-or-shine event is set to feature floats and ice cream from Bradley’s Curbside Creamery, savory and sweet empanadas from Chivanada II, sandwiches from Steaming Goat Food

CHUCK INDIGO

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CRITICS’ PICKS

CINEMA PARADISO

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[LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES]

SEE WEEKEND CLASSICS: CINEMA PARADISO AT THE BELCOURT

When I was a child, I thought actordancer-choreographer Ann Reinking was the height of sexiness, owing purely to her moves on the chaise lounge in 1982’s Annie.

Clad in a cream-colored slip, her curls bouncing on her bare shoulders, Reinking entranced little orphan Annie (and small children like me) with a song about the magic of cinema. “Let’s Go to the Movies” has been in my head all week, because the Belcourt is back, baby! The theater has limited seating and plenty of safety protocols in place, and the programming team has planned a slate of repertory screenings that celebrate cinema. First up is Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar-winning 1988 drama Cinema Paradiso. In it, successful film director Salvatore returns home for the funeral of an old friend, Alfredo, the former projectionist at the small Sicilian village’s movie theater. We’re swept back to Salvatore’s early days, when — as a cheeky bambino — he sneaks into the projectionist’s booth. Alfredo is forced to temporarily remove anything too steamy by the village priest, who unfailingly shows up to investigate, and Salvatore pockets the pieces of celluloid. The kid’s curiosity about French kissing leads him to an ardent love of cinema, and he comes of age as the theater’s new projectionist, watching the same movies over and over again while he dreams of his own films. In one scene, Salvatore turns his projector to the village square — much like Belcourt staffers did

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D. PATRICK RODGERS [I THEE DREAD]

STREAM A CONVERSATION BETWEEN CATE DOTY AND NANCY FLOYD Though its Modern Love column gets

to bring the magic of the theater to the parking during the height of the pandemic.

Cinema Paradiso is perfect for this moment in the lives of moviegoers. Keep up to date with the rest of the Weekend Classics: At the Movies series, which is set to include Fellini’s 8 ½ , Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show and more. May 1-2 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. ERICA CICCARONE [LIVE AND LEARN]

ENJOY UPCOMING ARTS PROGRAMS AT CHEEKWOOD

Whether you draw inspiration from Cheekwood’s spectacular scenery or its unique history, there’s plenty to keep you engaged and entertained at the popular botanical garden and art museum in May. You might start by checking out Art

FILM

AMY STUMPFL

ART

as well as $hrames, whose January fulllength Get the Loot features collaborations with an eye-popping list of top locals. Stellar Christian rapper Derek Minor, masterful wordsmith S-Wrap and party-starter 2’Live Bre, an MC with charisma to spare who appeared on Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow, will also be there, along with plenty of folks I’m eager to learn more about. Nathan Rose, Byron Juane, Aaron Dews, Jordan Xx, MUJA and TriplePlay Squeek round out the lineup.

The stream is set to run from 6:15 to 9 p.m. via Facebook — visit livefromthe615.live for all the details. 6:15 p.m. Friday, April 30, on Facebook STEPHEN TRAGESER

those aforementioned fightin’ words), along with bucketsful of gnarly gore and goofball CGI. Here’s the thing: As cineplexes begin to reopen and slowly roll out new releases, some will be more compelling than others.

If you’re vaccinated and comfortable with reentering the public sphere, is there really any better way to do so than with a delightful nostalgic bloodbath? Hell, maybe.

But this looks fun as shit. I’ve missed movies like this, and I bet a bunch of you have too. And if you’re still not ready to hit the theater, queue it up at home. Now playing area theaters and on HBO Max

BOOKS

al Fresco, a new monthlong event that promises a wide range of art programs and activities each day. There are plein air painting demonstrations with The Chestnut Group on Thursday mornings, and live instrumental performances by Midtown Jazz Quartet from the Nashville Jazz Workshop on Sundays. Thursday Night Out invites guests to grab a cocktail, stroll the grounds and enjoy live music and other specialized programming. Writers can sign up for Exploring Nature Through Poetry with The Porch (May 1 in the Sigourney Cheek Literary Garden), and other workshops cover everything from Floral Photography (May 8 with David Duplessis of Tennessee Photographs) to Pop Art Screen Printing (May 22 with Hip Hues) and Pop Reuse Sculpture (May 29 with Turnip Green Creative Reuse). For a complete calendar and details, visit cheekwood.org.

[FINISH HIM!]

WATCH THE NEW MORTAL KOMBAT

“Get over here!” To legions of ’90s kids, those three words conjure images of color-coded ninjas, four-armed dragon men and late nights spent memorizing finishing moves while guzzling sodas with names like Surge and Kick. It’s one of the more popular catchphrases from Mortal Kombat, the video game franchise about a mystical combat tournament that spawned a 1995 film adaptation and a brand-new reboot now available to watch via HBO Max and in the megaplexes. While that first cinematic iteration is far from high art, reviews of the new adaptation have been mixed to positive, bursting with phrases like “B-movie charm” and “aware of its limitations.” But it’s got exceptional Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada as legendary character Scorpion (utterer of

ART AL FRESCO AT CHEEKWOOD

NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CRITICS’ PICKS

MUSIC

[LONG GAME]

LISTEN TO BILL LLOYD’S COMPILATION ALBUM

BOOKS

From The Shazam to Aaron Lee Tasjan, Nashville boasts a slew of excellent powerpop artists. While The Shazam specializes in post-Cheap Trick variations on the British Invasion, and Tasjan often comes across like Tom Petty channeling Jeff Lynne (or maybe the other way around), Bill Lloyd has remained an exponent of the Big Star-Marshall Crenshaw school of power pop. A native of Bowling Green, Ky., Lloyd first hit in the late 1980s as half of country-pop duo Foster & Lloyd. His solo albums, starting with 1987’s Feeling the Elephant, hew to the more melodic side of power pop, but they sport plenty of advanced chord changes and hooky guitar riffs. He finally gets the compilation he deserves with his new A Selection of Power Pop 1985-2020, which includes tracks from superb full-lengths like 2012’s Boy King of Tokyo and 2018’s Working the Long Game. A Selection of Power Pop peaks with the 2004 track “Dial Nine,” three minutes of postBeatles bliss. Meanwhile, check out his other albums — Lloyd is a pop master who deserves wider recognition. EDD HURT [POWER TO THE PEOPLE]

READ THE DEVIL YOU KNOW: A BLACK POWER MANIFESTO

It has not been a great few weeks for Black people. It seems we all go through the same motions of seeing young Black males (or any young male of color — RIP Adam Toledo) get mowed down by cops.

Then comes the eventual protests/riots.

This ultimately leads to none of our elected leaders doing a goddamn thing to fix the immensely broken system that is the police. And as much as we should rejoice that Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, don’t forget that the officer who shot (seven times!) and paralyzed Jacob Blake didn’t face any discipline and is still on active duty.

Perhaps it’s time for Black folk to get together and change things on our own.

That’s what New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow suggests in his latest book, The Devil You Know: A Black

Power Manifesto. Blow (who recently had the culture warriors buzzing on social media when he wrote that Pepe Le Pew “normalized rape culture”) has some radical ideas on how African Americans can start getting some power in this godforsaken country — and we should seriously consider them. CRAIG D. LINDSEY PODCAST

more attention, The New York Times’ weddings section is the true standard for modern love. For 15 years, Cate Doty was knee-deep in the cutthroat world of high-society weddings as a reporter for the Times. As a weddings editor, Doty was responsible for: “reporting weekly on couples whose relationships seem enviable — or eye-roll worthy — and dealing with WASPy grandparents and last-minute snafus.” Her new book, Mergers and Acquisitions: Or, Everything I Know About Love I Learned on the Wedding Pages, is a behind-the-scenes memoir that explores all that. And there’s no better person to coax the stories out of her than Nancy Floyd, editor-in-chief of Nashville’s own luxury social and lifestyle magazine Nfocus. Join the pair for a conversation about all the status-signaling details that are involved in society weddings — and how likely they are to fall apart. The event streams live via the Parnassus Facebook page, where it will also be archived. 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 5, via Parnassus Books LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

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[DO ME RIGHT]

LISTEN TO PODCASTS ABOUT DISCO

In its late-1970s heyday, disco music was perceived by many listeners and critics as an aberration. These days I listen to Chic and Dr. Buzzard’s Savannah Band far more than I do The Allman Brothers Band, and this has everything to do with my taste for pop and, I guess, my deep empathy for aberration. Disco evolved partly from soul — listen to The Detroit Emeralds’ 1971 hit “Do Me Right” and Everyday People’s amazing 1972 Sly Stone-meets-power-pop single “I Like What I Like” for a taste of proto-disco. After the disco era peaked in 1979, the music evolved into House, space jazz and a thousand other variants of the style. Disco’s extended-play format seems suited for podcasters, and the current crop of disco podcasts covers contemporary sounds and the genre’s tangled history. DJ Kono Vidovic hosts the weekly Dirty Dozen podcast, where you’ll hear tracks like Ana Antonova’s spacey seven-minute song “More Than London.” Meanwhile, Soul Explosion runs every Monday, connecting vintage tracks like Roz Ryan’s 1980 “Sky High” with neo-disco on the order of Mad Honey’s addictive 2020 tune “Upward Bound.”

Sunrisa Disco is hosted by a trio of New York DJs and crate diggers who feature semi-obscure old-school jams. Sunrisa’s playlists are just aberrant enough: Tuning in recently, I discovered a great 1977 track

by South Africa’s Teaspoon and the Waves, “Oh Yeh Soweto.” Record producer Steve Greenberg gets the details right in Speed of Sound, which delves into virtually every aspect of disco history. His 2020 episode “Catch the Fever: The Rise and Fall of ’70s Disco Part 3” examines how the popularity of movies like 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and 1978’s Thank God It’s Friday helped revive a genre that had been left for dead by record labels and radio programmers.

Greenberg interviews a brace of disco pioneers that includes Chic guitarist and songwriter Nile Rodgers, whose biting electric-guitar sound remains as avantgarde today as it was 40 years ago. Find them on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you listen to podcasts. EDD HURT

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FOOD AND DRINK

BROAD STROKES

A quick tour of the dining options at Fifth + Broad downtown

BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

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PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

P

the Preds game that you’re missing across the street while you scarf down some spicy tenders.

Slim & Husky’s sticks with the tried-andtrue model from their original Pizza Beeria on Buchanan Street, with the same energetic vibe. Hip-hop lyrics are stenciled on the wall alongside striking original art, including

a stylized portrait of the restaurant’s three founders. Diners can still build their own pizzas from a long roster of unusual ingredients — ranging from vegan buffalo soy to shrimp to bean ragu sauce — and the addition of a roll-out station in the back of the restaurant for decadent cinnamon rolls perfumes the atmosphere inside.

Shake Shack also created some epic queues when it opened its first Nashville restaurant in Green Hills, and Shack No. 2 features a nice outdoor patio and a slightly industrial vibe in its dining room.

The menu of burgers, hot dogs, frozen custards and shakes (including the denser “concretes”) is familiar, and special cubbies

PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

eople look down their noses at Las Vegas as a dining destination. But outside of maybe Manhattan and Chicago, there aren’t many places that offer as many notable restaurant opportunities in a twomile stretch as the Vegas Strip. Sure, you have to remember that it’s a Restaurant Guy Savoy, not the Restaurant Guy Savoy, and that Jean-Georges Vongerichten probably won’t happen to be working the line at his eponymous steakhouse the night you visit — just like how you probably won’t see him all that often in his upcoming restaurant in the Hermitage Hotel. But the standards of these eateries aspire to the same world-class levels as their mothership locations.

At the new Fifth + Broadway entertainment, retail and dining complex downtown, Nashville is seeing a tiny sliver of the sort of culinary abundance that packs the Sin City Strip, with the Assembly Food Hall housing outposts of some of your local favorites, plus newcomers to the city and another wing slated to open in late May. Outside of the food hall, Fifth + Broadway is home to almost a dozen standalone restaurants with a few more still in various stages of completion. Also a mix of Nashville standards and new brands, there are more interesting restaurants here in two square blocks than anywhere else in town.

So here’s a quick overview of your new dining options if you’re ready to dive back into downtown.

Three of the restaurants most likely to have a line of people waiting to get inside are Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Slim & Husky’s and Hattie B’s — so what do you think would happen if you opened new locations of all three of them at the same time within a couple hundred feet of each other? Delicious commerce, that’s what. The latest Jeni’s scoop shop is the chain’s ninth in Middle Tennessee, and it’s pretty small compared to some of Jeni’s other spots. That doesn’t mean it’s not a welcome option for a cold treat on a hot day downtown, and tourists and locals alike have quickly discovered that they can grab a bowl of delicious frozen butterfat while they take a passeggiata through the madness of Lower Broad.

Speaking of tourists and frozen treats, the new Hattie B’s should be absolutely printing money thanks to its prime location right across the street from Bridgestone Arena — not to mention the addition of frozendrink machines (labeled “ice cold booze”) serving rum, vodka and whiskey slushies to help folks cool down after a basket of fiery hot chicken. Large garage doors along the front of the restaurant open to the sidewalk along Broadway, offering some prime people-watching. The attractive interior of the restaurant features bold black and red accents and huge televisions to keep up with

NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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PHOTOS: ERIC ENGLAND

FOOD AND DRINK

patisseries. Their macarons are produced using an authentic French recipe at a confectionary and delivered to the storefront, and their croissants are actually made in France and shipped to Nashville for daily baking. Le Macaron also offers coffee and espresso drinks along with a rotating selection of gelatos.

Elixr is another caffeination destination for Fifth + Broad visitors, serving coffee drinks made from beans roasted at the shop’s Philadelphia headquarters. Elixr offers a free coffee drink to anyone who buys a bag of beans or ground coffee, and local artisan baker Brightside Bakeshop provides gorgeous food options to go with your cup of joe.

In addition to these smaller restaurants, Fifth + Broad offers higher-end dining

PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

set aside for customer carryout orders and the various delivery services are a nice amenity for downtown diners looking to minimize contact.

Cava is another fast-casual option opening its second Middle Tennessee spot. As at Cava’s Green Hills location, diners pick from a plethora of healthy options to fill pitas and top grain bowls and salads.

Interesting flavor combos include a harissa honey chicken and avocado bowl or the popular jalapeño-infused feta mousse. Cava is the parent company of Zoe’s Kitchen, so you can expect to see more Cavas in Nashville soon as they begin to transition that legacy brand to the new concept.

The Le Macaron location is the first entry into the Nashville market for the Sarasota, Fla.-based chain of French

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options at a few recently opened spots.

Despite its unfortunate name choice considering it’s right next to the new National Museum of African American Music, Blanco is a pretty solid choice for Mexican food. Blanco is a product of Fox Restaurant Concepts, which was started by multiple James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur Award nominee Sam Fox. Both Fox and Blanco are now owned by The Cheesecake Factory, which explains their slightly over-the-top attitude toward people-pleasing flavors. The queso flows like a river over many of the dishes on the menu, but the airy dining room with its large four-sided bar should be a great place to indulge in some comida mexicana and taste an impressive collection of agave spirits.

Right next door to Blanco is Sam Fox’s first new venture since his Cheesecake windfall. The Twelve Thirty Club is billed as a sort of elevated honky-tonk and features live music every day and night, providing the soundtrack to (Upper?) Lower Broad as the tunes filter out into the street through huge open windows paralleling the thoroughfare. Currently, only the ground floor has opened as a cozy music room with elevated diner food, cold local beers and cocktails. Future plans include an intimate second-story cocktail lounge opening in May and an expansive upperlevel supper club with a larger stage and a rooftop patio over the new Apple Store, which should begin to welcome guests later this summer. Who knows, maybe Twelve Thirty Club investor Justin Timberlake will jump up on that stage for some impromptu performances soon.

The most upscale fine-dining opportunity at Fifth + Broadway is doubtlessly the new Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, a massive opulent steak and seafood restaurant that aims to bring some glamour to the block. Entering into the V Lounge to the sounds of a musical trio, I was immediately struck by the massive chandelier that hangs from two stories above the bar. Eddie V’s massive wine cellar also stretches from ceiling to floor, including a glass-floored second level that’s reminiscent of the terrifying Grand Canyon Skywalk. The cellar is packed with high-end wines and brandies, including lots of celebratory large-format bottles.

Servers in formal vests and white coats take orders from a menu featuring globally sourced seafood and oyster options along with classic chophouse fare of USDA prime beef and sides for sharing. The sultry, almost velveteen dark-blue walls provide a dramatic dining environment, and there is also some outdoor terrace seating upstairs if you want to watch the rabble while you dine.

Coming attractions to Fifth + Broadway include the California cuisine of Sixty Vines, which will dominate the upcoming South Hall of the Assembly, and a Spanish tapas concept called Boqueria. But there are plenty of options to explore while we wait for these new additions, so make a date for a dine-around at Nashville’s version of the Strip.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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ART

May’s big-picture gallery exhibitions tackle ancient history and cosmic distances

“PITCH DREAM,” TOM WHITE

BY JOE NOLAN

AFTERIMAGE: SENSATIONS OF COLOR AT CHAUVET ARTS

DOWNTOWN

Andy Harding’s Arrokoth opened at Tinney Contemporary on April 16, and continues at

the 5th Avenue of the Arts space through May 29. Harding forms his sculptures from the wood of fallen trees, turning them into extraterrestrial-seeming artifacts on metal stands that look a lot like the landing gear on sci-fi Golden Age-era flying saucers. The show’s title references the most remote celestial object ever visited by a space probe.

The exhibition’s natural materials and Harding’s smooth-rounded forms emanate a still calm, but the titular implications of transNeptunian isolation charge this display with existential anxieties and cosmic horror.

Tinney will host a socially distanced reception on Saturday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Visitors are asked to schedule a time slot for their visit via tinney.com.

Chauvet Arts will be open for gallery-goers on Saturday night from 6 to 9 p.m. The gallery will be unveiling a newly renovated exhibition space called The Cave, and will also continue its display of chromatic art, Afterimage: Sensations of Color. One highlight of the exhibition is Tom White’s “Pitch Dream.” The print explores the algorithmic gaze in its Lacanian reflection on machine perception and concepts of artificial beauty. White’s print depicts a couple of colorful, entangled

22

biomorphic forms, which an algorithm would likely mistake for a pornographic image, earning it tags like “Explicit Nudity,” “Adult Content” and “NSFW.”

HOW LONELY SITS THE CITY THAT WAS FULL OF PEOPLE AT DAVID LUSK GALLERY

WEDGEWOOD-HOUSTON

The title of Rob Matthews’ How Lonely Sits the City That Was Full of People, which is on view through May 29 at David Lusk Gallery, might immediately call to mind thoughts about the public spaces we’ve abandoned during the pandemic. But in science and in art, correlation is not causation. The title is actually the truncated opening line of the Book of Lamentations — the Old Testament collection of verses written in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians circa 586 B.C. The centerpiece of Matthews’ exhibit is “The Forest” — a sprawling mixed-media work spanning five large panels that Matthews completed before the pandemic. One of the defining qualities of Matthews’ practice is its self-conscious relationship with art history. “The Forest’’ was inspired by a 17th-century French painting, “Feast of Wine (The Procession of the Ram)” by the Master of the Processions.

It’s a vivid, colorful work depicting a group of men and boys carousing, raising glasses of wine and leading a ram to slaughter for a feast day celebration. The theme of sacrifice runs through the show — from the looming gravitas of “The Forest” to several collections of abstract portraits picturing a selection of historical figures who were also “sacrificed” in one manner or another. Matthews’ take on “Feast of Wine” is a succession of interlocking rectangles and curves rendered in a black-and-white palette. In fact, this whole large display is mostly black and white, reminding viewers how we naturally associate color with life — both biological and social. The gallery will host an open house from noon until 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 8, and a live virtual artist talk at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12.

Zeitgeist Gallery will open a trio of exhibitions on Saturday: Lanie Gannon’s new display of painted, hand-cut paper works called Flowers for Queenie (A Royal Portrait); ceramicist Rami Kim’s display of her signature “Blobby” works and portrait sculptures, Small Pause; and Kate Roebuck’s Mischievous Company — a graphic-arts-inspired display of ink drawings of stylized fruit and flower forms. Gallery-goers are invited to drop in and see the

shows on opening day, this Saturday, May 1, from noon until 6 p.m.

While you’re in Wedgewood-Houston, be sure to stroll behind The Packing Plant for the latest installation at the art bunker’s 185 Alley Gallery. Reflections is a collaboration between DaShawn Lewis, Kim Manson, Caitlin Mello, Justin French and Shadale Smith. The wheat-paste collage mural features drawn and photographed images reflecting on the beauty of the natural world and the ways that running water, blowing breezes and blossoming buds ground us in the fullness of the present moment. Reflections was installed last month, and will remain on display through May. Inside The Packing Plant, Channel to Channel opens Inside Out, a new exhibition by two women painters with an opening reception on Saturday. Elizabeth Winnel explores notions of vulnerability in a feminist context by examining the gendered stereotypes we associate with colors, symbols, expressions and gestures. Ellie Dent explores the sensation of vulnerability vis-à-vis her experiences of medical care as a woman. The exhibit runs through May 29.

Last but not least, Coop will host a closing for Joe Devera’s Paper Tiger, along with a printmaking workshop by Yanira Vissepo on Saturday afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m. Coop will also open a new exhibition by Nick Doty and rescreen its 2020 microcinema program on May 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. — that reception will coincide with the gallery’s The Big Payback Fundraiser.

EAST NASHVILLE

John Paul Kesling’s Tippy Toes opens at The Red Arrow Gallery on Saturday night. The large, colorful landscapes and portraits in the exhibition were created during the pandemic.

But like Rob Matthews’ show at Lusk, this isn’t an exhibition reflecting on masks, protests or elections — or bombings, tornadoes or floods. Instead, Kesling gives us languid scenes and still faces rendered in soft lines and soothing colors. Red Arrow will host an opening reception this Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. The show runs through May 29.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

ROB MATTHEWS

CRAWL SPACE: MAY 2021

NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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THEATER

THE PLAY’S THE THING

Tennessee Playwrights Studio announces ambitious new collaborations, plus a full season of premieres

THE “BEST FREE FUN” EVENT OF THE SUMMER IS BACK!

BY AMY STUMPFL

W

hat started as a small playwright development lab has emerged as a burgeoning theater production company, marked by dynamic partnerships, unique process-based programming and plans for an ambitious season of new work.

“It’s been a challenging, but really productive year,” says Molly Breen, who cofounded Tennessee Playwrights Studio with Kenley Smith in 2018 and currently serves as TPS producer and program coordinator.

“Despite the pandemic, we’ve continued to do the work, developing new scripts and building new partnerships. We’re really excited about all the possibilities and opportunities, particularly as live theater resumes.”

Many of those opportunities stem from a partnership TPS has formed with two of Nashville’s most TPS TALKS KICKS OFF 7 P.M. prolific BlackFRIDAY, APRIL 30, WITH “7 owned theater comPLAYS IN 7 DAYS WITH SHAWN panies — Shawn WHITSELL.” LEARN MORE AT Whitsell’s Destiny TNPLAYWRIGHTS.ORG. Theatre Experience and Mary McCallum’s SistaStyle Productions. Breen sees the move, first announced in January, as “a natural next step.”

“Kenley and I have worked with Shawn and Mary for years. So when I started thinking about the wealth of knowledge and experience we’ve collectively built over the last 20 years or so, it just made sense to band together — supporting one another where we can, and getting the word out about our respective companies. Of course, we’re still committed to the development and production of new works, but I think it’s also important to shine a light on these incredible Black theater artists and the work they’ve been doing all along. If you’re serious about sharing diverse stories, we have more than 40 scripts available for theaters or colleges and universities to produce.”

Beyond this considerable body of work, TPS also has introduced a new initiative called TPS Talks, which explores realworld experiences from theater professionals. The program — which opens this weekend with a trio of free virtual talks (plus readings of accompanying plays and films) — covers a wide range of topics, including everything from the playwright’s process and running your own theater to adapting stage plays for the screen and using theater for social change.

At the first virtual TPS Talk (7 p.m.

Friday, April 30), Whitsell will discuss his experiences in producing a festival of seven original plays that were performed in seven days back in 2014. Immediately following the presentation, there will be a virtual reading of Whitsell’s Beyond Loose Ties — one of the plays featured at the festival — along with a brief Q&A. At McCallum’s upcoming talk (7 p.m. Friday, May 7), titled “Stage to Screen,” she’ll discuss the process of adapting her own

27th Annual

SHAWN WHITSELL award-winning stage plays into screenplays.

The evening is also set to include a screening of McCallum’s film SingleVille — billed as a raucous comedy that follows “three feisty ladies who … become the subjects of a low-budget documentary on single life.”

“When Molly first approached me with the idea for TPS Talks, I was really excited,” says McCallum, who founded SistaStyle Productions in 2001 and has written 14 plays over the past two decades. “There are just so many great topics, which could appeal to a variety of audiences — whether you’re a student, a young writer or actor, or just someone who loves the theater. Our goal is to provide a real, practical behind-the-scenes view of what we do as theater professionals.”

And while these initial talks (including a presentation from Smith on May 8) will be presented virtually, Breen is hopeful that once live, in-person theater returns, the program will provide a unique offering for classrooms, corporate events and more.

“We’re in the process of reaching out to colleges and universities across the country,” she says. “Not only theater departments, but also areas such as Black studies, women’s studies, English, history — I think the possibilities are really endless.”

Plans also are underway for a full season of world premieres to run at the Darkhorse Theater in 2022, including new works developed or co-developed by TPS. The lineup includes That Woman (a monologue play co-produced by Angela Gimlin and TPS, and featuring a companion dance piece that will run in tandem June 16-25, 2022); Preston Crowder’s Don’t Look Black (a TPS production running Aug. 19-Sept. 4, 2022); and Whitsell’s Sins of the City (co-produced by Destiny Theatre Experience and TPS, and running Oct. 20-29, 2022).

“I think the season really reflects our commitment to both new works and local artists,” Breen says. “And we’re eager to get started. But for now, we’re focused on building up our partnerships and resources, and creating new opportunities.”

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NED STAY TU R 2021 FOR OU INEUP, MOVIE L COMING SOON!

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VODKA YONIC

ON THE OTHER FOOT

A FREE FEST VodkaDOGS Yonic FOR

(and their humans)

A decade into my marriage, shoes remain a point of contention

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

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efore you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. The saying was popularized by a poem published in 1895 by American poet, preacher and suffragist Mary T. Lathrap. Originally titled “Judge Softly,” it’s simply a plea for empathy.

Judging softly is decidedly not what I’ve been doing during the past year’s challenging period of quarantine life, snowy shut-ins and general chaos.

Lathrap’s poem has not cured me of my judgmental ways — not even close — and I have decided this is something I need to work on. Starting with my husband.

I still remember the first shoe-related argument we ever had. We had been dating for three years when we took a trip to Italy together — the last big trip before our daughter was born — in the fall of 2008.

I had been going to Italy for many years by then, first to study, then for work and travel, but it was his first Italian vacation.

I don’t count the time he passed through with his friends and camped in the forest outside Genoa. I do have standards.

We were in the town of Monte Argentario, a sleepy fishing village turned glamorous hot spot located on the Tuscan coast about halfway between Florence and Rome. It was September — the offseason for Italian beach resorts — and one afternoon we found ourselves wandering the streets window shopping. I was used to strolling in Italian cities while ogling the beautiful things I longed to own and could never afford. But I could tell it was making my husband — then boyfriend — nervous. Just the previous year we’d blown everything we had on purchasing a home in East Nashville. Neither of us was making any money.

I spotted the burgundy leather Chelsea boots in a window, and my body instinctively followed my eyes until I was standing in the shop trying them on.

I bought the boots. When I rejoined him outside, my guy was not happy with me.

He could not understand how I could have spent “that kind of money” on shoes when we had just splurged on this expensive vacation. He had a valid point. However, I still have those boots — the leather is holding up beautifully — and I wear them at least a couple of times a year.

This dynamic has repeated itself on every trip we’ve been on since then. We’ll celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary

in April — and 16 years as a couple. Shoes — mine and his — continue to be a point of contention. He owns a construction business, and it has always struck me as odd that he does not wear protective boots to work. Instead he sports the same pair of running shoes until they deteriorate, and then he’ll buy another pair. He is fine with it, so why do I care?

Sometime during that interminable but beautiful week in February when most of the Southeast — and much of the country — came to a screeching halt because of snow and ice, my husband and I went on a lovely, some might even say romantic, walk with the dog. We chatted about life and our desires for the future. Like most people, the challenges of the past year had us thinking big-picture: where we would move if we could and what we both liked and disliked about Nashville. For me, the weather has always been a complaint. I love snow, and the shoes and clothes that go with it. I wasn’t feeling judgy, but then it happened.

About a block from home, I looked down at my husband’s feet. He was wearing a pair of thin, bright-blue “athleisure” sneakers more appropriate for mini golf than a walk in the snow. I proceeded to lecture him about how, if we ever did move to a place with real winters, he would need a whole new wardrobe, including proper boots, and he still probably wouldn’t wear the right thing. This upset him and left a sour note at the end of our walk.

I spent the rest of the day regretting my behavior but also wanting to figure out why I cared so much about what my husband, a grown man, chose to wear and when.

Was I rude because I was closed-minded?

Insecure? Overprotective? There was a lot to unpack. My parents loved to shop and were always dressed impeccably for every occasion, and they dressed their children with equal attention. My dad owned a clothing shop for a few years in the late 1960s right after he married my mom. My husband grew up with parents who let him wear whatever he wanted and grow his hair out long and curly. They even allowed him to paint the walls of his room black in high school. They wanted him to be able to express himself freely. And although I’m loath to admit it — and I’ll probably slip up in the future — I want that for him too.

If we can outlast a horrible year of tornado, global pandemic, social unrest, political upheaval, violence and bombings — just to mention the things that have happened outside the walls of our home — then we can probably get through anything. The ground beneath us has been disturbed, and there is no going back. Going forward — me in Italian leather boots, him in beat-up sneakers — is, for now, our only option.

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NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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4/26/21 4:25 PM

MUSIC

MIXING THE ALLOY Ashley Monroe’s adventurous experimentation pays off on Rosegold

BY BRITTNEY McKENNA

I

n February, Ashley Monroe released “Drive,” the first single from her new album Rosegold, which is out Friday. The song employs a trippy, Portishead-esque sound, marking a major sonic departure for Monroe. Up to this point, she’s been ROSEGOLD OUT known as a standout FRIDAY, APRIL 30, VIA MOUNTAINROSE country singer-songSPARROW/THIRTY TIGERS writer who’s also part of the stellar trio Pistol Annies.

“Drive” could easily have been an outlier on a more traditional country album. Instead it’s one of 10 ambitious, genre-agnostic tracks that allowed Monroe to explore the breadth of her musical influences. Like many artists, those influences span far beyond country, and in Monroe’s case, they include contemporary pop, hip-hop, R&B and alternative rock.

Monroe began writing Rosegold not long after the release of her 2018 album Sparrow, a critically acclaimed LP produced by Dave Cobb that features input from country and Americana mainstays like Anderson East, Waylon Payne and Monroe’s Pistol Annies bandmate Angaleena Presley. Though Sparrow has a decidedly moodier sonic palette than Rosegold, hints of the new record appeared in its predecessor’s lush atmosphere.

Monroe’s label at the time, Warner Music Nashville, released her from her contract shortly after Sparrow came out. She admits that the decision hurt initially, but she harbors no ill feelings.

“They had me for so long, and I understand I’m not a big money-making act,” she tells the Scene. “And they’ve put so much money and invested so much into me, so I get it. … I love everyone there. And every label I’ve ever had has been so supportive of me and what I’ve done, and worked their butt off to get me on radio — worked their butt off to get me a ton of stuff. So I’m so grateful, because they got me where I am now.”

Where other artists might have felt discouraged by such a change, Monroe felt inspired to put pen to paper. “Once that ‘feelings hurt’ moment wore off,” she says, “I was like, ‘Well, you aren’t going to stop making music just because you don’t have a label, so just write. Open up your heart.’ ” She wrote prolifically, penning five of Rosegold’s songs very quickly. That early time period was a fruitful one that yielded many more songs that didn’t make it onto the LP. Monroe explains that this has been a common theme throughout her career.

“I chase whatever melodies come to me, and that’s what I write,” she says. “I started hearing these melodies early in the morning, then I would take an idea or a melody to some of my favorite writers.”

The array of writers Monroe worked with also helped her develop the sound of the record. She recruited Tyler Cain, Nathan

Chapman, Jake Mitchell, Mikey Reaves, Jordan Reynolds and Ben West to write with her and to co-produce Rosegold.

The team Monroe assembled helped her achieve her sonic vision, which incorporated influences from Lil Wayne and Kanye West (“I listened closely to all of Kanye’s music,” Monroe says) to Beck, The Beach Boys and Queen, among others. Monroe’s appreciation for hip-hop shows itself in tracks like opener “Siren,” whose vocal rhythm veers into an almost rap-like cadence at times.

Standout track “ ’Til It Breaks” uses a dark, Beck-esque beat and layered vocals to craft a slow-burning soundscape for a message of moving forward after hardship.

Despite the many contributors, Rosegold is a cohesive listening experience. Engineer Gena Johnson — a friend and collaborator

of Monroe’s who’s also known for her work with John Prine, Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton and many more — was key to making that possible. “[Making] Sparrow was the first time I met Gena,” Monroe recalls. “She was in my vocal booth, and she had set up a Zen garden. I was like, ‘I like this girl.’ [When it came time to record Rosegold] I called her and I was like, ‘Gena, this stuff is very different. It’s not normal “me,” but I have a really good feeling about it. Do you want to dig into it with me?’ And she did. Then she went and bought a subwoofer for all my big bass so we could really mix well.”

While exploring new sounds was one of Monroe’s missions as she made Rosegold, her primary motivation was to make music that made listeners feel good. Inspired both

by the birth of her son Dalton in 2017 and feeling as though she’d exorcised much of her past pain on earlier albums, she set out to write an album grounded in love and positivity.

“I lost my father when I was 13, and life was a big, fat mess and really dark. That’s when I wrote my favorite sad country songs.

Those songs helped me get through those moments. Sparrow was a lot of release and forgiveness of those emotions. … [On Rosegold] I wanted to hyper-focus on joy. And I wanted to freeze it and put a beat behind it and harmonize to it and put on another layer of something else. I wanted it to be a miraculous joy surge for anyone who heard it. I love to give people chills, so this time I wanted to give people chills from a place of joy.”

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MUSIC

ANOTHER LOOK

The Scene’s music writers recommend recent releases from Petty, Fancy Hagood, Morgan Wade and more

BY KELSEY BEYELER, EDD HURT, OLIVIA LADD, BRITTNEY McKENNA, STEPHEN TRAGESER AND CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

S

lowly but surely, the live-music economy is starting back up in a limited capacity — and in enough places that artists are planning tours! But musicians across Nashville’s constellation of music FIND LINKS TO STREAM scenes continue AND BUY THESE RECORDS AT to release great NASHVILLESCENE.COM/MUSIC records at a brisk pace, and our writers have seven new titles to recommend. Add ’em to your streaming queue or get a physical copy from your favorite record store. Or drop them on your wishlist for #BandcampFriday — the promotion in which the platform waives its cut of artist fees — coming up on May 7.

PETTY, #53 FRIDAYS (SELF-RELEASED)

a short, energetic burst resembling the cathartic celebration one might experience after recovering from a debilitating injury — or, y’know, coming toward the end of a global pandemic. It’s an EP for getting back out and dancing again. KELSEY BEYELER

For most musicians, releasing one new song every week for a year sounds like a recipe for disappointment. When ace rapper Petty announced his #53 Fridays project, it didn’t seem like something remotely beyond his scope, as he’s been one of Music City’s most consistent and most prolific artists for years. The tracks he’s released in the series (which, by the way, is not his only project this year) feature a ton of collaborators working in an array of styles. Some standouts include “Through Your Mind,” a slowjam-schooled piece with athletic verses from Tim Gent and Gee Slab, and “I Exist,” a dark and complex track produced by The Pro, but the whole project is appointment listening. STEPHEN TRAGESER

MORGAN WADE, RECKLESS (LADYLIKE/THIRTY TIGERS) Singer-songwriter Morgan Wade made a strong solo debut with Reckless, a no-skips listen if ever there was one. Produced by Paul Ebersold and Sadler Vaden (of Jason Isbell’s backing band The 400 Unit), Reckless is a succinct country-pop record tinged with soft-rock and alt-pop influences. Wade, who grew up in Virginia schooled in bluegrass, paired with Vaden to co-write most of the songs. What resulted are vulnerable, conscientious reflections on love, sobriety and other very personal habits. Songs like “Wilder Days” and “Take Me Away” emulate the soulfulness of Tom Petty and Lucinda Williams, while “Mend” and “Met You” pack the raw emotion and goosebump-inducing melodies of Isbell’s early albums. OLIVIA LADD

FANCY HAGOOD, SOUTHERN CURIOSITY (MICK MUSIC) The fact that Fancy Hagood’s music is unclassifiable is one of his greatest strengths, but for a time, it was the singersongwriter’s greatest obstacle. Originally performing under the name Who Is Fancy, Hagood had a couple of pop hits in the mid2010s but couldn’t find a label — in Nashville or Los Angeles — that knew what to do with his genre-fluid music. Hagood finally makes his proper debut with Southern Curiosity, a glittering wonderland of pop, Southern rock, country and psychedelia. Since many of his songs tell raw, honest queer narratives, it’s hard to pin down just what’s more powerful: Hagood’s soulful, acrobatic voice or his knack for translating emotional experiences into catchy, expertly crafted songs. BRITTNEY McKENNA

DD ISLAND, SCAPHOID (SELF-RELEASED) The latest release from DD Island continues to showcase Brandon Rhodes’ affinity for the wide, morphing spectrum of psych rock. Named after the wrist bone he broke in a skateboarding accident, Scaphoid features five songs that reflect a youthful perspective on life, love, friends and drugs.

Though the songs touch on different emotional states, some more hopeful than others, they’re all backed by catchy and fast-paced riffs, layered with chaotic drumming and fuzzy vocals. Each track passes quickly in

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CRISTINA VANE, NOWHERE SOUNDS LOVELY (BLUE TIP RECORDS) Because she functions as a singersongwriter who plays various pre-WWII guitar styles, Nashville singer Cristina Vane sounds like a convincing Americana artist on her new full-length Nowhere Sounds Lovely. During a pair of live Nashville performances I recently saw — one solo, and the other with a tactful drummer — Vane played in a masterfully understated style, and I got the idea that she’s a picker who knows her Skip James and Robert Wilkins licks. Her immaculate touch helps make Nowhere Sounds Lovely an updated version of ’70s English folk-rock, with plenty of sharp blues licks. Vane, who was born in Turin, Italy, moved to Nashville in 2018 with an impressive pedigree as a student of blues and folk guitar. Her studied approach to those idioms adds some mojo to a set of thoughtful songs about the wonders of the North American landscape. “Badlands” is pop blues with an edge, and even her relatively sappy singer-songwriter tunes have their charms.

Catch her live — she can play. EDD HURT

THE MINOR SECOND, EVILOLIVE (self-released) Looking for something Smiths-y, but don’t want to support Morrissey? Nashville pop-rock ensemble The Minor Second’s palindromically titled second album EvilOlive has you covered. Beyond its Anglophile influences, the band nods to Yo La Tengo and The Dream Syndicate with the alternately swirling, skronky six-string interplay between lead axman Mike McDonald and frontman, rhythm guitarist and bandleader Trevor Evans-Young. Bassist Jon Bynum and drummer Alex Nixon, meanwhile, clearly paid attention to Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz’s contributions to golden-era Talking Heads, adding a welcome funkiness to the jangly, moody proceedings. EvansYoung’s songwriting meanders some — the hooks are there, but they don’t come out and take you by the hand. But with months of too-hot-to-live evenings imminent, EvilOlive should make a good companion for “spending long summer days indoors,” to quote a certain gifted-if-problematic ’80s tunesmith.

CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

RHIANNON GIDDENS (WITH FRANCESCO TURRISI), THEY’RE CALLING ME HOME (NONESUCH) Sometime Nashvillian Rhiannon Giddens has proven time and again that being both an incredible musician and a diligent, thoughtful musicologist aren’t mutually exclusive. Giddens, known for her scholarship on Black musicians’ overlooked contributions to the string-band tradition, made They’re Calling Me Home with partner Francesco Turrisi during lockdown in Ireland, an adopted home for both. The songs present a wide range of expressions of grief for things we’ve lost or that we’re bound to lose, running the gamut from Monteverdi’s 17th-century aria “Si Dolce è’l Tormento” to the folk staple “O Death” to the Giddens and Turrisi original “Avalon.” As we’re trying to figure out how to put our world back together once the pandemic is over — hopefully better than it was before — I expect to turn to this record often. STEPHEN TRAGESER EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC

MUSICAL BALM

A new virtual concert series from chatterbird showcases the healing power of music

BY JOHN PITCHER

PHOTO: KAITLYN RAITZ

T

he summer of 2020 was a dark time for many of America’s performing arts organizations.

With theaters and concert halls closed in the wake of a worldwide pandemic, many performers and PLAYING EVERY FRIDAY, APRIL organizations 30-JUNE 18, AT NOON VIA faced economic FACEBOOK.COM/ACHATTERBIRD ruin. At the same time, the social unrest following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery was taking an emotional toll on artists, especially Black and brown people and members of the LGBTQ community. Celine Thackston, artistic director of Nashville’s alt-classical chamber ensemble chatterbird, was keenly aware of the stress facing her musicians, and she had an idea about how to address it.

“Artists everywhere were hurting,” Thackston tells the Scene. “I felt they needed a creative project to help them start the healing process.”

That feeling became the inspiration for a new series of concerts that the musicians themselves would curate. Chatterbird’s new Virtual Chamber Music Series debuts Friday, with performances streamed live on the ensemble’s Facebook page. These free, bitesize, musician-curated concerts, which will take place on Fridays at noon through June 18, will feature multiple world premieres, including new works composed by chatterbird musicians.

Each concert will focus on themes and emotions that the musicians experienced during the pandemic and social unrest.

Performances will delve into such issues as civil rights, gender-spectrum education and environmental justice. The concerts will also highlight various local nonprofits — such as the Nashville Public Library’s Civil Rights Collection and the National Museum of African American Music — that work with the relevant causes.

One name that figures prominently in the series is Joshua Dent, a nonbinary composer who is also chatterbird’s cellist. Dent will open the series Friday with their own cello music, which will accompany a performance by dancer Madeleine Gregor. She’ll dance to the modern choreography of Christin Call and Natascha Greenwalt, founders of Seattle’s Coriolis Dance company. The concert benefits Nashville’s Oasis Center, an organization that is focused on empowering youth and is especially affirming to LGBTQ youth.

Dent will also be one of several nonbinary composers whose work will be on the program of Maeve Brophy’s solo piano recital

on May 7. Brophy specializes in the music of composers from underrepresented groups.

She has emerged in recent years as a prominent champion of 20th-century African American composer Florence Price, whose music is in the process of being rediscovered by music historians and performers.

For her chatterbird recital, Brophy will perform two world premieres — Dent’s Drifting and brin solomon’s Atwood Pastorale.

Piano compositions by Ahmed Alabaca and Chrysanthe Tan are also on the program; each piece will have a video introduction from the composer. The recital will spotlight the work of the nonprofit Gender Spectrum.

Other performances during the series will feature composer and guitarist Mark Volker (May 14), flutist Molly Barth (May 21), percussionists Jesse Strauss and Sebastian Buhts (May 28), and bassoonist Maya Stone (June 11). Some of the most emotionally riveting music of the series will no doubt come from African Ameri-

THE SPIN ZONING HEARING

BY CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

E

ve Maret belongs at the forefront of any discussion about synthesizer-based music in Nashville. Since she returned to Music City from a 2019 stint at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., (which announced last month that its 2023 graduating class will likely be its last), the quality of the 27-year-old’s output has been rivaled only by her drive to keep creating more of it.

On her fall 2020 release Stars Aligned, Maret’s second full-length album, concise and ebullient pop songs sat side by side with long-form avant-garde jam-outs.

Meanwhile, February’s propulsive and psychedelic “Space Freeway” — the debut single from The Feature, Maret’s duo with friend and collaborator Adrienne Franke — tapped into the St. Louis native’s deep love of krautrock. The past month saw two more new releases from Maret. There was Multiplicity — a collab with her partner, visual artist David Onri Anderson, under the name Body Horse — as well as The Zone, a collection of

ON HER OWN: EVE MARET

four solo improvised pieces recorded at home during quarantine and released via Curious Music.

The Zone was a work in progress when I spoke with Maret in the fall. She explained that each track was a “one-synthesizer, one-take” affair, an adventure into new territory that she found time to take during quarantine downtime. Maret held an online launch party

Sunday for The Zone, taped at Queen Ave Collective in East Nashville and streaming via Bandcamp. The half-hour set, which was followed by a live Q&A I unfortunately missed out on, highlighted the sense of pride and personality that informs all of Maret’s work.

It’s a quality that sets her apart from the often overly mysterious pack of solo home recordists.

can composer Dave Ragland, who wrote the music for Nashville Opera’s recent premiere One Vote Won. Ragland, a composer steeped in both classical music and African American spirituals, is creating a two-movement work that includes a prayer written by Jerome Del Pino and poetry by 2021 Nashville Youth Poet Laureate Marie Shields, who developed her talents through the nonprofit Southern Word.

A Nashville-based appellate lawyer, Del Pino often represents death row inmates.

During a church service last year, Del Pino recited one of his own prayers, which noted that even a half-century after passage of major civil rights legislation, America still had a long way to go. His prayer deeply impressed fellow congregant Emily Wasson Bowland, chatterbird’s clarinetist, who will perform Ragland’s piece as the series finale on June 18. “It was beautiful verse,” says Bowland.

“These are words people need to hear.”

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Working with a compact synthesizer, a mixer, a sampler and a laptop, she played two improvisations that were along similar lines to The Zone. Droning single notes gradually opened and closed around glimmering synth figures that recalled the power-up sound a vintage arcade game might make when the player picks up an extra life. I heard shades of Tangerine Dream’s celestial electronic psych in the dramatic builds. A viewer in the chatbox also drew a comparison to another 1970s influence, analog synth pioneer and composer Suzanne Ciani.

While you could argue that The Zone is the least accessible of Maret’s recent releases, it retains the audible joy in sonic exploration that made Stars Aligned and “Space Freeway” as fun to listen to as they seemingly were to make. And though the production wasn’t over-the-top, it did add an extra dimension to the show. The close-up-heavy camerawork put the viewer right in the room, and a backdrop of blinking strobe lights and undulating, kaleidoscopic black-and-white patterns were projected behind Maret and overlaid on the screen. The display made it feel like the tones and textures the artist coaxed from her equipment were able to breathe and move. It was the kind of multisensory art experience that won’t be easy to replicate at an in-person show.

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FILM

PRIMAL STREAM 52

A New Wave musical and Irish vampires, now available to stream

BY JASON SHAWHAN

I

had a dream recently, of empty luxury condos filled with dandelions. Like, so choked with them that it looked like a pulsing white carpet. And you couldn’t really step anywhere without stirring up cascades of dandelion seeds, and even the slightest movement made you feel like Winona Ryder dancing in the ice-snow in Edward Scissorhands.

I’ve started going back to in-theater movies. I’m fully vaccinated, but still doublemasked because so very many have made grand dramatic pronouncements of exactly who they are in ignoring mask mandates and CDC guidelines. I’m not ready for concessions yet, and my heart is with anyone who loves the movies but is still negotiating what’s safe. I’m happy to keep writing these collections of what all is available at home as long as people still want to read them.

Long before the pandemic, I’d made a point of reviewing titles that weren’t going to get a high-profile crack at anything, and that hasn’t changed. Including today’s offerings, I’ve done 280 of these mini-reviews, and it brings me a great deal of joy to do so. See this week’s recommended titles below, and as always, look at past issues of the Scene for more suggestions.

BREAKING GLASS VIA VIDEO ON DEMAND

You can see this 1980 British musical’s influence filtering down into films like Pink Floyd — The Wall, Liquid Sky, Tron and Starstruck, and it’s certainly something that any fan of punk or New Wave should

BREAKING GLASS check out. Singer-songwriter/actress Hazel O’Connor made her debut with Breaking Glass, a nervy, wild-hearted neon scream of a movie; she wrote and performed all the songs (with Bowie producer Tony Visconti behind the boards), and there’s never a moment when she doesn’t command the screen.

She is Kate Crowley, struggling through the underbelly of London’s punk scene as it mutates into something new, besieged by fascist cops and brazen mobs of racists even as technology and drugs are fueling even wilder transformations. O’Connor is a captivating presence. Her bandmates and compatriots — particularly manager Danny (Phil Daniels) and junkie saxophonist Ken (Jonathan Pryce, absolutely magnetic and heartbreaking, think John C. Reilly in Georgia) — make the rougher music drama clichés (add drugs, subtract “integrity,” make problematic socially conscious anthem) go down more smoothly. But there are moments in this that you won’t forget, including a set piece that turns a festival event into a race riot, Altamont on an immediate and personal level. What I wouldn’t give to see the uncut version (the U.S. cut, released by Paramount, omits the last 10 minutes of the film) on as big a screen as possible. Writer-

THE POWER

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BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL director Brian Gibson would go on to make Poltergeist II, What’s Love Got to Do With It and The Josephine Baker Story.

THE POWER (2021) ON SHUDDER

In The Power, because of ongoing strikes, massive blackouts have been scheduled to keep power demands low. Across the board, the government has decided that rather than negotiate with coal miners unions, it’s better to shut down the power grid across England.

(For much of 1973 and some of 1974, that actually happened.) It’s happening at the hospital where Val (Rose Williams) has just started work. The majority of patients and staff are being moved to another location, thankfully, but the intensive care and newborn wards can’t be. So there are generators and a skeleton crew who’ll be staying in an otherwise abandoned and pitch-black hospital. Because this is a scary movie (on

multiple levels), Val ends up having to stay.

In the night. In the dark. In this place where something unspeakable has happened. And continues to happen. The titular “power” can mean several things — and this moody fright of a film accomplishes a lot, though there will be some who complain about what it’s trying to uncover. Williams is absolutely exceptional, and I’m very interested in what writer-director Corinna Faith creates from this point on.

BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL ON SHUDDER

Live your life long enough and you might think you’ve seen every possible way to tell a vampire story. It’s a fount of a concept that has kept giving to the shadowy side of human imagination for centuries, and there’s no genre that hasn’t cross-pollinated with blood-drinking creatures of the night in some capacity. But Irish import Boys From County Hell — in addition to offering a new spin on the vampire myth that draws on folk horror and human habit — starts off with an opening sequence that will snatch your wig. It’s beautiful, hypnotic and upsetting, and it tickles the center of scientific curiosity, then hits you with a very specific horror that registers deep down in the ancient crannies of the brain. From there you get a solid scary movie, aiming for a more economically depressed Shaun of the Dead amble and more often than not sticking the landing — lads adrift in 21st-century freefall, at odds with family traditions and generational expectation. Six Mile High is a vaguely pleasant rural-ish village whose claim to fame is twofold — a cairn of rocks supposedly marking the tomb of Abhartach (the very first vampire mentioned in human record) and the pub where Bram Stoker stopped in and heard the legend before he went on to write Dracula in the late 19th century. The pub, now called The Stoker, is the enduring landmark in Six Mile High. But development looms large, threatening to tear through the land itself, and perhaps unleashing something upon the land even more voracious and bereft of reason or sense than real estate profiteers. An imaginative nightmare with a few good laughs, Boys From County Hell is one for the books because of its mercurial vision and innovation with the undying myths. And the subtle shocks that never fade.

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NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 – MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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ACROSS They can be found just above a six-pack China/North Korea border river Area named for gynecologist Ernst Gräfenberg Brazilian export Standing above Standing by Opposite of [circled letters] Nick who voices Kuiil on “The Mandalorian” Pest control brand “You betcha!”

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NASHVILLE SCENE | APRIL 29 - MAY 5, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

the Trustee; and WHEREAS, default having occurred with respect to the note secured by the Deed of Trust, and the full balance owing having been accelerated; and WHEREAS, Wilson Bank & Trust, as the owner and holder of said note, has demanded that the real property covered by the Deed of Trust be advertised and sold in satisfaction of said debt and the cost of the foreclosure, in accordance with the terms and provisions of said note and Deed of Trust;

East End Village Townhomes 307 E Village Lane Nashville, TN 37216

1700-1820 sq ft plus 400 sq ft attached garage NOW, THEREFORE, notice is

hereby given that I, Robert Evans Lee, Substitute Trustee, pursuant to the power, duty and authority WHEREAS, Vinod T. Zaver and vested in and imposed upon me in wife, Manglaben V. Zaver, by a said Deed of Trust, will on June 4, Deed of Trust, dated July 27, 2005, 2021 at 10:00 A.M., Central Time, of record in Book 1129, Page 1562 at the front door of the Courthouse and Modification of record in Book in Lebanon, Wilson County, Ten1473, Page 2407, Register’s Office nessee as to the 5 acres on Sparta for Wilson County, Tennessee AND Pike, Lebanon, Wilson Co. property of record in Instrument No. AND at 12:00 P.M., Central Time at 20050803-0090649 and Modificathe front door of the Courthouse lotion of record in Instrument Fairfax No. catedFlats at 1 Public 206 Square, Fairfax Nashville, 20111205-0094622, Register’s OfDavidson County, Tennessee as to fice for Davidson County, Tennesthe 1.74 acres on Billingsgate see, conveyed to Randall Clemons, Road, Antioch, Davidson Co. propTrustee, the hereinafter described erty, offer for sale to the highest and real property to secure payment of best bidder for cash and free from a promissory note as described in all rights and equity of redemption, said Deed of Trust; and statutory or otherwise, homestead, dower and all other rights and exThe notice required by 26 U.S.C. emptions of every kind as provided Section 7425(b) to the United in said Deed of Trust, certain real States has been timely given, that property situated in Wilson and Dathe sale of the land thus advertised vidson County, Tennessee, dewill be subject to the right of the scribed as follows: United States to redeem the land as provided for in 26 U.S.C. Section MAP 104 GROUP PARCEL 7425 (d) (1).

023.00 PARCEL I WHEREAS, Robert Evans Lee havA parcel of land situated in the 19th ing been appointed Substitute TrusCivil District of Wilson County, Tentee by Wilson Bank & Trust, the nessee, and more particularly deowner and holder of said note by an scribed as follows: instrument of record in Book 1600, Page 153, Register’s Office for WilBeing a tract or parcel of land situson County, Tennessee AND in Inated and lying on the northerly side strument No. 20140714-0061742, of Sparta Pike and bounded generRegister’s Office for Davidson ally on the north by Forbes and County, Tennessee, with authority Spring Creek, East by lands of to act alone with the powers given Smith and South by Sparta Pike, the Trustee; and the same being a triangular tract running to a point at the westerly WHEREAS, default having ocend, containing by estimation five curred with respect to the note se(5) acres, more or less. cured by the Deed of Trust, and the full balance owing having been acBeing the same property conveyed celerated; and to Vinodkumar T. Zaver and wife, Manglaben V. Zaver by deed to creWHEREAS, Wilson Bank & Trust, ate tenancy by the entirety, dated as the owner and holder of said 8/13/04, of record in Book 1067, note, has demanded that the real Page 2192, with further reference at property covered by the Deed of Book 1065, Page 2103, in the RegTrust be advertised and sold in satister’s Office for Wilson County, isfaction of said debt and the cost of Tennessee. the foreclosure, in accordance with the terms and provisions of said Subject property is unimproved note and Deed of Trust; property and has the address of Sparta Pike, NOW, THEREFORE, notice is Lebanon, Wilson County, TN 37087 hereby given that I, Robert Evans Lee, Substitute Trustee, pursuant to MAP 149 GROUP PARCEL the power, duty and authority 340.00 vested in and imposed upon me in PARCEL 2 said Deed of Trust, will on June 4, 2021 at 10:00 A.M., Central Time, Land lying and being situated in the at the front door of the Courthouse Second Civil District of Davidson in Lebanon, Wilson County, TenCounty, Tennessee, described acnessee as to the 5 acres on Sparta cording to a survey made by James Pike, Lebanon, Wilson Co. property L. Terry and Associates, dated June AND at 12:00 P.M., Central Time at 12, 1985, described as follows, tothe front door of the Courthouse lowit: cated at 1 Public Square, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee as to Beginning a point living on the westthe 1.74 acres on Billingsgate erly line of the Pebble Creek ApartRoad, Antioch, Davidson Co. propments at the southeast corner of the erty, offer for sale to the highest and Ervin Entrekin, Trustee property as best bidder for cash and free from of record in Book 4940, Page 721, all rights and equity of redemption, Register’s Office of Davidson statutory or otherwise, homestead, County, Tennessee; thence running dower and all other rights and exwith the said line of Pebble Creek emptions of every kind as provided Apartments South 2 degrees, 53 in said Deed of Trust, certain real minutes, 47 seconds West a disproperty situated in Wilson and Datance of 375.21 feet to a point lying vidson County, Tennessee, deon the northerly line of Terragon scribed as follows: Trails, Section I, as of record in Book 4860, Page 61, Register’s OfMAP 104 GROUP PARCEL fice of Davidson County, Tennes023.00 see; thence leaving the said line of PARCEL I Pebble Creek Apartments and runA parcel of land situated in the 19th ning thence with the said northerly Civil District of Wilson County, Tenline of Terragon Trails North 43 denessee, and more particularly degrees, 57 minutes, 06 seconds scribed as follows: West a distance of 555.18 feet to a point lying on the southerly line of the Ervin Entrekin, Trustee, propBeing a tract or parcel of land situerty; thence leaving the said Terraated and lying on the northerly side gon Trails and running with the Enof Sparta Pike and bounded genertrekin Property south 86 degrees, ally on the north by Forbes and 28 minutes, 03 seconds East a disSpring Creek, East by lands of tance of 405.05 feet to the point of Smith and South by Sparta Pike, beginning, containing 1.74 acres, the same being a triangular tract more or less. running to a point at the westerly end, containing by estimation five Being the same property conveyed (5) acres, more or less. to Vinod T. Zaver and Manglaben V. Zaver, by Final Decree Confirming Being the same property conveyed Sale from Clerk and Master, recto Vinodkumar T. Zaver and wife, orded on February 26, 2004 and Manglaben V. Zaver by deed to crefiled for record in Instrument ate tenancy by the entirety, dated 20040226-0021868, said Register’s 8/13/04, of record in Book 1067, Office for Davidson County, TenPage 2192, with further reference at nessee.

Book 1065, Page 2103, in the Register’s Office for Wilson County, Vinod T. Zaver and Vinodkumar T. Tennessee.

Zaver is one and the same person.

Subject property is unimproved Subject property is unimproved and property and has the address of has the address of Billingsgate Sparta Pike, Road, Antioch, Davidson Co., TN Lebanon, Wilson County, TN 37087 37013 MAP 149 GROUP PARCEL

$1950-$2400

FORECLOSURE SALE NOTICE

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Entrekin, Trustee property as 1 bed / 1 Ervin bath

Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 21D104 MEGAN RENEE PRISCO vs.

DANIEL EDWARD ARMSTRONG PRISCO

Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 20D1979 HAWRI KAK HUSSEIN vs.

MATEEN BILBAS

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www.rockylawfirm.com LEGALS Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 20D1979

HAWRI KAK HUSSEIN vs.

MATEEN BILBAS In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon Mateen Bilbas. It is ordered that said Defendant enter his appearance herein with thirty (30) days after May 20, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on June 21, 2021.

It is therefore ordered that a copy of

Richard R. Rooker, Clerk W. North, Deputy Clerk Date: April 22, 2021 Bethany Peery Glandorf James L. Widrig Plaintiff NSC 4/29, 5/6, 5/13 & 5/20/2021

Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 21D104 MEGAN RENEE PRISCO vs.

DANIEL EDWARD ARMSTRONG PRISCO In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon Daniel Edward Armstrong Prisco. It is ordered that said Defendant enter his appearance herein with thirty (30) days after May 20, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on June 21, 2021.

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

Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell, Deputy Clerk Date: April 22, 2021 Paul W. Moser Plaintiff NSC 4/29, 5/6, 5/13 & 5/20/2021

Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell, Deputy Clerk Date: April 22, 2021 Paul W. Moser Plaintiff NSC 4/29, 5/6, 5/13 & 5/20/2021

FORECLOSURE SALE NOTICE WHEREAS, Vinod T. Zaver and wife, Manglaben V. Zaver, by a Deed of Trust, dated July 27, 2005, of record in Book 1129, Page 1562 and Modification of record in Book 1473, Page 2407, Register’s Office for Wilson County, Tennessee AND of record in Instrument No. 20050803-0090649 and Modification of record in Instrument No. 20111205-0094622, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee, conveyed to Randall Clemons, Trustee, the hereinafter described real property to secure payment of a promissory note as described in said Deed of Trust; and The notice required by 26 U.S.C. Section 7425(b) to the United States has been timely given, that the sale of the land thus advertised will be subject to the right of the United States to redeem the land as provided for in 26 U.S.C. Section 7425 (d) (1).

WHEREAS, Robert Evans Lee having been appointed Substitute Trustee by Wilson Bank & Trust, the owner and holder of said note by an instrument of record in Book 1600, Page 153, Register’s Office for Wilson County, Tennessee AND in Instrument No. 20140714-0061742, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee, with authority to act alone with the powers given the Trustee; and WHEREAS, default having occurred with respect to the note secured by the Deed of Trust, and the full balance owing having been accelerated; and WHEREAS, Wilson Bank & Trust, as the owner and holder of said note, has demanded that the real property covered by the Deed of Trust be advertised and sold in satisfaction of said debt and the cost of the foreclosure, in accordance with the terms and provisions of said note and Deed of Trust; NOW, THEREFORE, notice is hereby given that I, Robert Evans Lee, Substitute Trustee, pursuant to

minutes, 47 seconds West a dis-

tance of 375.21 feet to a point lying 1 floor plan on the northerly line of Terragon Trails, Section I, as of record in Book 4860, Page 61, Register’s Office of Davidson County, Tennessee; thence leaving the said line of Pebble Creek Apartments and running thence with the said northerly line of Terragon Trails North 43 degrees, 57 minutes, 06 seconds West a distance of 555.18 feet to a point lying on the southerly line of the Ervin Entrekin, Trustee, property; thence leaving the said Terragon Trails and running with the Entrekin Property south 86 degrees, 28 minutes, 03 seconds East a distance of 405.05 feet to the point of beginning, containing 1.74 acres, more or less.

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2100 Acklen Flats 2104 Acklen Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212 Studio / 1 Bath 517 sq ft $1600 - $1625

1 Bed / 1 Bath 700 sq ft $1825 - $1975

2 Bed / 2 Bath 1036-1215 sq ft $2400 - $2800

Being the same property conveyed 12 floor plans to Vinod T. Zaver and Manglaben V. Zaver, by Final Decree Confirming

Clerk and Master, rec2100acklenflats.comSale | from 615.499.5979 orded on February 26, 2004 and filed for record in Instrument 20040226-0021868, said Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee.

Vinod T. Zaver and Vinodkumar T. Zaver is one and the same person.

Subject property is unimproved and has the address of Billingsgate Road, Antioch, Davidson Co., TN 37013 The right is reserved to adjourn the day of sale to another day and time certain, without further publication and in accordance with law, upon announcement of said adjournment on the day and time and place of sale set forth above, and/or to sell to the second highest bidder in the event the highest bidder does not comply with the terms of the sale.

Substitute Trustee will make no covenant of seisin or warranty of title, express or implied, and will sell and convey the subject real property by Successor Trustee’s Deed, as Substitute Trustee only.

THIS sale is subject to all matters shown on any applicable recorded Plat or Plan; any unpaid taxes which exist as a lien against said property, including without limitation city and county property taxes; any restrictive covenants, easements or setback lines that may be applicable; any statutory rights of redemption not otherwise waived in the Deed of Trust, including rights of redemption of any governmental agency, state or federal; and any prior liens or encumbrances that may exist against the property. This sale is also subject to any matter that an accurate survey of the premises might disclose.

INTERESTED PARTIES are Mary Caraker; Dept of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service; Community First Bank & Trust; and Bone McAllester Norton PLLC THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT, AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE. THIS 21st day of April 2021

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Work with SQL Server, Teradata and Oracle databases. Work in Agile environment using TDD methodology. The employee may work remotely from home within commuting distance of Nashville, TN up to 3 days per week. Must have a BS degree in computer science or engineering and 5 yrs. of overall progressive IT exp. in the Advertise skill sets listed in the job description.on Will also accept a MS the degreeBackpage! in computer science or engineering and 3 yrs. of IT exp in the It’s skills like listed above. littleSend resumes billboards rightto: elaine.healy@hcahealthcare.com

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In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon Mateen Bilbas. It is ordered that said Defendant enter his appearance herein with thirty (30) days after May 20, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on June 21, 2021.

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

In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon Daniel Edward Armstrong Prisco. It is ordered that said Defendant enter his appearance herein with thirty (30) days after May 20, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on June 21, 2021.

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

of record in Book 4940, Page 721,

Register’s Office of Davidson $1200 to $1375 County, Tennessee; thence running with the said line of Pebble Creek 634 sqApartments ft South 2 degrees, 53

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