Nashville Scene 5-21-20

MAY 21–27, 2020 I VOLUME 39 I NUMBER 16

NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE

CITY LIMITS: STATE HOUSE AND SENATE CLASH OVER HOW TO RECONVENE

CAMP GUIDE INSIDE

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FOOD & DRINK: LOCAL CHEFS WORRY REOPENING TOO QUICKLY WILL PUT THEIR EMPLOYEES AT RISK PAGE 20

EXIT/IN’S HAPPENING 1970s SCENE LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR A CULTURE THAT STILL EXISTS TODAY

WHERE HAPPINESS REIGNED

BY DAVID HOLLERITH

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5/18/20 5:02 PM

MUSIC ENDURES

Watch and Listen This week, we’re putting a spotlight on artists, songs, and moments with a theme of endurance. Visit our Watch & Listen page to explore videos and podcast episodes that display the ability to weather challenges, and the patience to endure over a long period of time.

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NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 21 – MAY 27, 2020 | nashvillescene.com

above:

Willie Nelson

photo: leonard kamsler from the leonard kamsler collection at the country music hall of fame and museum

Contents

may 21, 2020

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24

Walk a Mile: Hope Gardens and Buena Vista ................................................6

Rediscovering the Delta

City Limits

In the fifth installment of his column, J.R. Lind visits a historic part of Nashville as it contends with rapid growth and post-tornado recovery

By J.R. Lind

Capitol Ideas ..............................................7 State lawmakers are returning to Nashville, but the two chambers disagree on what their scope should be

Books

A long-lost study of the Mississippi Delta reveals the source of the blues

By JonAthAn fRey And ChApteR 16

25

musiC

Saluting the Originator ........................... 25

By Stephen eLLiott

Looking back at the life of Little Richard, who gave rock ’n’ roll its transformative soul

Pith in the Wind .........................................7

By Ron Wynn

This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

Close Ties ................................................ 25

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Quez Cantrell explores black identity in Music City and beyond on 9

Where Happiness Reigned

Catching up on recent releases that flew beneath our radar

By BRittney mcKennA

Cover story

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

Exit/In’s happening 1970s scene laid the groundwork for a culture that still exists today By dAvid hoLLeRith

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this week on the web: Shreddin’Again: Get Ready to Stream Diarrhea Planet’s Final Exit/In Show The Nashville Food Project Introduces New ‘Side Dish’ Series Local Chefs Work to Help the Silver Sands Reopen on the Cover:

Calling All Artists: Out of Work?

Work for Free for MarketStreet Enterprises.

Exit/In in the mid-’70s Photo: Jackson DeParis Background mural photo by Eric England

By KeLSey BeyeLeR, mAmie dAviS, edd huRt, p.J. KinzeR, LoRie LieBig, Stephen tRAgeSeR, Ron Wynn, ChARLie zAiLLiAn And JACqueLine zeiSLoft

The Spin ................................................... 27

CritiCs’ piCks Check out New York’s cabaret scene, stream the Chattanooga Film Festival, listen to the Wind of Change podcast, read Taco Bell Quarterly, get a Slurpee, get into nature live cams, look at the planets and more

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The Scene’s live-review column checks out livestreams by Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Whoa Dakota and more

By Steven hALe, edd huRt And Stephen tRAgeSeR

28 fiLm

Primal Stream IX: Jason Goes to Hell ... 28 Zombies, blaxploitation and heavy metal, now available to stream

food and drink Reopening Woes

By JASon ShAWhAn

Local chefs worry reopening too quickly will put their employees at risk

By Steve CAvendiSh

Fancy-Free ............................................... 29 A new documentary about food writer Diana Kennedy is an intimate exploration

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By SAdAf AhSAn

Things Will Be Brighter

NEW YORK TIMES CrossWord

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art

A round of Metro Arts THRIVE awards uplifts Nashvillians sheltering in place By eRiCA CiCCARone

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marketpLaCe

23

danCe

Of Grace and Gratitude Company dancer Kayla Rowser says goodbye to Nashville Ballet

By Amy StumpfL

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Walk With feet ona

Mile

with the street, J.R. Lind we discover Nashville’s own unique beat – one mile at a time

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FROM BILL FREEMAN MEHARRY MEDICAL GRADUATES: LET’S CELEBRATE DREAMS FULFILLED, DESPITE COVID-19 Graduation is a very special moment in our lives. Our hearts go out to those hardworking graduates whose celebrations have been canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus.

My dear friend the Rev. Enoch Fuzz recently told me about the situation at Meharry Medical College, where Commencement Week 2020 activities have been canceled and the 86 graduates of the class of 2020 will not experience their traditional graduation ceremony.

Due to COVID-19, there will be no cheering crowds, no families shouting their graduates’ names, no walk across the stage, and no mortar boards tossed jubilantly into the air. Students will get their actual degrees and diplomas, but any celebrations to recognize the years of struggle, study and hard work will be small and private as families watch the video presentation on Saturday.

Founded in 1876, Meharry was the first medical school for African Americans in the South. Today it is the largest black academic health science center in the United States and boasts the highest percentage of African Americans graduating with Ph.D.s in the biomedical sciences. The school’s mission is to “serve the underserved,” and it does — 83 percent of Meharry dental and medical school alumni currently work in underserved communities. The graduates are investing approximately $30 million annually caring for those uninsured or impoverished. The school’s faith-based motto of “Worship of God Through Service to Mankind” inspires students and faculty to effect change.

Meharry graduate and adjunct faculty professor of internal medicine Dr. Rachel Thomas says: “Being a physician is a privilege. It’s a calling from God to take care of people who are someone’s loved one. COVID-19 has shown only a glimpse of what physicians and health care workers do on a daily basis. My medical students are very important to me, because it is hard to pursue a dream when there is a mountain of debt, pressure, and so many fears. We tend to miss many family celebrations and funerals on this journey. These are the reasons why I want to celebrate this moment in these students’ lives. I pray they won’t allow COVID-19 or any circumstances in life take away the success they have achieved and the greatness they have been called for.”

I’m sure we all join Dr. Thomas in that sentiment.

Training to become a doctor takes years of time, commitment and endurance.

There are also financial challenges, as indicated by the 87 percent of Meharrians who receive financial assistance. Yet they somehow find a way to stay the course.

Dr. Cecilia Jimenez had no guidance when starting out. But she entered a community college because, as she tells it, “I had no idea how to fill out the Federal Application for Student Aid and complete applications for four-year colleges.” She stayed in community college while completing transfer courses — and also became

a mother. Still, her desire to heal and serve helped her keep her resolve. As a Spanish-speaking Latina, she realized many would look to her as an example.

Her perseverance enabled her to reach her goal of being “the voice of change and inclusivity we need in medicine, as having representation is key to improving health outcomes.”

Dr. Nichelle Enata, president of the class of 2020, was told she could not succeed as an orthopedic surgeon because she was a woman. The insult only inspired her to work harder, motivating her to continue.

“My journey through medical school … taught me a lot about the field of medicine,” she says. “It’s taught me even more about myself. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have trained at Meharry Medical College … but even more for the motivation I needed to achieve my dream.”

Dr. Miguel Carpio, anesthesiologist and 2020 graduate, voiced an opinion echoed by many of his classmates, saying it “takes a village” to reach our life’s goals.

Like many, Miguel’s journey would have been impossible without love and support from his parents, siblings, classmates and mentors. But due to COVID-19, this same “village” of supporters will be denied the opportunity to join together in celebration with cheering, jovial hugs and handshakes.

Despite the lost festivities, these students are the key to our communities being uplifted, the key to creating positive change. They hold the power to “shine brightly,” as was noted in President Obama’s virtual commencement address to historically black colleges and universities last weekend. He added: “With everything suddenly feeling like it’s up for grabs, this is your time to seize the initiative.

More than ever, this is your moment, your generation’s world to shape. In taking on this responsibility, I hope you are bold. I hope you have a vision that isn’t clouded by cynicism or fear.”

COVID-19 has changed us in various ways, and it’s not over yet. It’s hard not to be discouraged by the things we can no longer do, especially when it means we’re unable to celebrate a loved one’s lifelong dream being achieved. But there are some things we can still do, including sending well wishes through social media, texts and phone calls. We can send a handwritten note or even put signs of congratulations in our windows.

But whatever we do, let’s follow in the Meharry mission to effect change.

Let’s throw our virtual caps in the air and shout out to all we know, “Well done, Meharrians! Well done!”

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 Editors Jack Silverman, Abby White 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, 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, Cy Winstanley, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian Editorial Intern Bronte Lebo Art Director Elizabeth Jones Photographers Eric England, Daniel Meigs Graphic Designers Mary Louise Meadors, Tracey Starck Production Coordinator Christie Passarello Circulation Manager Casey Sanders Events and Marketing Director Olivia Moye Events Manager Ali Foley Publisher Mike Smith Advertising Director Daniel Williams Senior Account Executives Maggie Bond, Debbie Deboer, Sue Falls, Michael Jezewski, Carla Mathis, Heather Cantrell Mullins, Stevan Steinhart, Jennifer Trsinar, Keith Wright Account Executive William Shutes Sales Operations Manager Chelon Hill Hasty Account Managers Emma Benjamin, Gary Minnis Special Projects Coordinator Susan Torregrossa President Frank Daniels III Chief Financial Officer Todd Patton Creative Director Heather Pierce IT Director John Schaeffer For advertising info please contact: Daniel Williams at 615-744-3397 FW PUBLISHING LLC Owner Bill Freeman VOICE MEDIA GROUP National Advertising 1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com

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NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 21 – MAY 27, 2020 | nashvillescene.com

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nashvillescene.com | MAY 21 – MAY 27, 2020 | NASHVILLE SCENE

5

city limits

Hope Gardens and Buena Vista

In the fifth installment of his column, J.R. Lind visits a historic part of Nashville as it contends with rapid growth and post-tornado recovery

Walk a

By J.R. Lind | photos by Eric england

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The route: From the Nashville Public Library’s North Branch, south on 10th Avenue to Locklayer Street.

Cross Monroe then north to Jackson Street. Left on Jackson to Warren Street. Right on Warren, then north to Jefferson Street. Left on Jefferson and then right at 11th Avenue. Right on Monroe, returning to the library.

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

L

ike a grande dame from Hollywood’s Golden Age with a cold sore, the classic beauty of the North Branch Library at Monroe Street and 10th Avenue is marred.

The 105-year-old Beaux Arts building is still beautiful, no doubt, though it is dark and empty inside. The loss of the unique gifts of public libraries — free and boundless democ-

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ratized knowledge available to all — is yet another concession made to the pandemic.

But the virus is invisible, and though it shatters our sense of safety, it cannot shatter glass. Instead of toppling walls, it has thrown up more, as we fight against the very human need to be around one another.

For all that the virus has broken, it did not break the windows at the North Branch Library. The March 3 tornado did that. The virus didn’t put the pox of plywood there, shutting out the sunlight that in normal times would flood the stacks with a golden glow.

The North Branch is one of six Nashville libraries built as part of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie’s ambitious international philanthropic effort to provide cities and institutions with libraries. Inspired by his lifelong love of books and an autodidactism that lifted him from poor immigrant to one of the world’s wealthiest men (plus a little self-righteous indignation at the prevailing view of the time that “working boys” didn’t deserve access to books), Carnegie built more than 2,500 libraries around the world.

In Nashville, there was North (officially, at first, the Nashville Carnegie Library), East on Gallatin Avenue, the Main Branch where the Music City Center now sits and the Nashville Negro Branch, now a parking lot behind the NES building. In addition, he funded libraries at Fisk University (that one is now the school’s Academic Building) and at the Peabody College for Teachers, which remains a working library.

The Nashville Public Library’s North Branch isn’t the only building in sight with damage. Tarps on roofs flap in the spring breeze, and pressboard has replaced glass in many windows. Recovery is ongoing all over Hope Gardens and Buena Vista, the two neighborhoods west of Rosa Parks Boulevard tucked northwest of downtown.

Walking south on 10th, the sound of construction and, disturbingly, the smell of sewage waft in the air. It’s not poststorm rehab bringing the noise but rather new development. Work on Ludlow Row, a townhome project, blocks 10th Avenue

between Monroe and Scovel streets. But the neighborhood as it was — and in many cases, is — stubbornly remains. Jones Towing, a shade-tree mechanic, abuts the shiny new homes, its parking lot full — almost exclusively — of Cadillacs in various states of disrepair.

Farther south, as Buena Vista gives way to Hope Gardens at Jefferson, a legacy barber sits across the street from a newer office building with tenants including a real estate agent and developer (of course) and a marketing firm (of course). Plinths announce the entrance to Hope Gardens, a once-poverty-stricken neighborhood now on the come-up. An old Family Dollar neighbors new condo projects and single-family homes. Construction trucks buzz down 10th as the grind of a saw and thuds of hammers pierce the otherwise quiet morning.

Not all the older homes here have fallen to the wrecking ball. Many of the vintage cottages remain, albeit with fresh coats of paint or new siding, preserving the character of the neighborhood instead of giving way to the exposed sheet metal and fauxreclaimed barnwood of the tall-and-skinny set. Whitewashed stone walls hold up several lawns, like dams pressing against rivers, and perhaps against the coming flood of gentrification. Other properties are framed by the exuberance of erupting bright-pink roses, so fecund the flowers are bursting everywhere. These aren’t the well-manicured bushes of botanical gardens or the pages of Southern Living. These are almost feral, the blooms stretching and twisting for the sun in competition with the trees, beguiling in the way they are rebelling against the domestication we’ve forced on the species for thousands of years.

Construction is underway at 10th’s intersection with Locklayer Street (one of the more subtly beautiful street names in the city) as men work outside Silver Sands Cafe, Hope Gardens’ only business, where they’ve been serving soul food to hungry residents for more than a half-century.

Catty-corner across 10th is the neighbor-

hood’s community garden, where a sign reads: “Free Food. Take Some.” All it asks in exchange is that browsers water some plants or pull some weeds. The little pocket of agriculture is impressive in its variety.

There are the usual tomatoes and carrots and pole beans and watermelon and greens and herbs of various description. But there are also potatoes, eggplant and the early shoots of corn stalks. And shockingly, there’s also a small effort at pineapple.

Just up the street at the corner of 10th and Jackson, two plastic bats form a rough saltire on a rubber home plate. A massive pile of mulch marks where second base ought to be, and a tiki torch is at first.

In the yard of a newer home at Jackson and Warren, a clutch of mushrooms grow where a tree once stood. They look vaguely like the psilocybin-bearing liberty caps. We didn’t confirm the identification. There are new homes on Warren Street, just as there are everywhere, but these have a sense of place. Cottages properly address the treelined street and wide sidewalks, Adirondack chairs sitting on their appropriately sized porches.

A cat eating from a paper plate left by a loving neighbor is the only patron of Hope Gardens Park. Cats do not particularly care about mandated closures, though they are quite fond of social distancing in general.

Police tape and warning signs decorate the playground equipment at the otherwise pleasant little pocket park with its charming pavilion, which in better times would be full of neighbors chatting as the kids swing.

At Jefferson and Warren, the path of the tornado is obvious. Debris still flutters in the parking lot at the building shared by the Jefferson Street Sports Bar and Jefferson Street Bookstore, possibly the only such co-located businesses in the city. Branches hang low, obscuring a mural of Tennessee State and U.S. Olympic great Wilma Rudolph breaking the tape on her way to another gold medal. R&R Liquors is still recognizable, its multicolored castellations still bright and distinct, though its iconic vintage sign was torn from its pole by the tornado. It now lies flat in the parking lot, occupying a handful of spots mid-restoration.

What has to be one of Nashville’s last pay phones sits outside Phaze 1 Cutz across 11th. The phone’s receiver, broken at the earpiece, hangs down and swings like a pendulum. There’s no trade going on at Phaze 1 Cutz, of course, but the smell of hickory smoke from the legendary Mary’s Old Fashioned Pit Bar-B-Que reveals that it’s

Nashville Scene | may 21 – may 27, 2020 | nashvillescene.com

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CITY LIMITS

THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS & POLITICS BLOG:

ready for customers. Mary’s western wall is tagged with a plethora of bright colors and names and an admonishment to either “THRUST JAYDEN” or “TRUST JAYDEN.” It’s hard to decipher.

Like Hope Gardens Park, Monroe Park is closed as well, but it took far more storm damage than its southern brother. Unkempt weeds and grasses poke through cracks on the blacktop basketball courts, their hoops gone. The chain-link fences surrounding the courts are damaged or missing, one section blown so violently that its footings ripped up the sidewalk it borders.

As I turn east on Monroe, the stochasticity of the tornado is laid plain. Some homes have mere cosmetic damage, others none at all.

And yet others were ripped apart. The entire front of a house near Monroe and Arthur was blown away, its front room now open to the street. But for the coal-burning fireplace along the back wall, it’d be easy to mistake what was the den for the front porch. Build-

ing permits and “DO NOT CROSS” tape flap on the front of many houses, but others are instead fronted by those nearly ubiquitous red-and-white Metro Planning and Zoning signs, advising that a public hearing (in one virtual form or another, presumably) is in the offing. The entire nature of the specific request on each sign is squeezed in tiny typeface onto the sign, looking rather more like a Fiona Apple album cover than a legally mandated government notice.

On one side of the intersection of Monroe and 10th is Hopewell Baptist Church, which took the wind on the chin. But the sheer randomness that is so frightening about tornadoes is more obvious in the church’s overflow parking where two church vans sit — one with its windows blown out and bearing the scars of extensive body damage, the other pristine.

Across 10th from the library is what was clearly a once-gorgeous, sprawling 3,200-square-foot home. Roaring (or yawn-

ing) lions guard the stairs from the street to the yard, now overgrown and strewn with branches and shingles. The windows, like so many others in the neighborhood, are now boarded over. So much in the neighborhood is gone or damaged, shuttered due to one tragedy or another. But in the yard of this house, a sign of permanence and perseverance. A tree (though largely denuded, the remaining leaves make obvious it’s a magnolia) stretches for the zenith. Tall and wide and, having survived the storm, clearly strong, the magnolia has seen many storms and much change, the lower portion of its trunk twisted into a tight helix, evidence the tree fought for its survival as it grew.

And fight on it did and it will: Though it lost many of this year’s bounty of the waxy green leaves distinctive to its species, it grew more. Maybe this summer, only a few of the stunning white flowers will bloom.

But next summer will be better.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

CAPITOL IDEAS

sures unrelated to COVID-19 and its expected budget effects — while Senate leaders are planning for a short coronavirus-focused return to session.

“Lt. Governor [Randy] McNally prefers the rest of the legislative session mirror the week prior to recess in most, if not all, respects,” says Adam Kleinheider, spokesperson for the Senate speaker. “The economic disruption created by the virus will result in significant revenue shortfalls. The Senate expects to remain focused on the budget and a very limited number of bills which are either time-sensitive, related to the budget or deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

It’s an approach favored by the governor, who said he would put some of his pre-pandemic priorities — like abortion and gun rights — on the backburner during the resumed session, instead focusing on the budget and coronavirus.

But House Majority Leader William Lamberth, the Republican tasked with carrying the governor’s bills, has a different idea. He says House committees will take up “a number of big policy issues that are still worthy of debate.”

“There’s no reason why we can’t multitask,” Lamberth says. “We believe we can easily do both.”

Lamberth says the legislature has time to consider non-budget issues in part because revenue numbers from April will not be available until halfway through June. It doesn’t make sense to pass budget changes until lawmakers see that report, he says.

“I’m not sure that both the House and Senate are on the same sheet of music,” says House Minority Leader Karen Camper (D-Memphis).

One budget item that could be on the chopping block is the governor’s education savings account program, passed by the slimmest of margins last year.

Implementation of the private-school vouchers is currently enjoined by court order, though more than $30 million for the program is still included in the budget.

Lee has made no move to back away from what was a priority in his first year in office, but lawmakers concede that everything is on the table should more cuts be necessary.

Another dispute arises over operations at the Capitol. In the hurried week of work in March, only lawmakers, staff and the press were allowed to attend committee and floor meetings. Though Senate leadership acknowledges that remaining closed to the general public is “not anything anyone wants to do,” McNally is determined to do so “in order to prevent the spread of the virus.”

But House leadership believes keeping the doors shut to the general public is untenable.

“We do not want to go back to that,” Lamberth says. “We don’t think that’s reasonable. We don’t think that’s wise.”

The House majority leader maintains that the legislative buildings can be operated under restrictions similar to those imposed on businesses around the state: limited capacity, with masks and distancing efforts. As the House and Senate leaders jointly control building access, the dispute could come to a head in the coming weeks.

Yarbro agrees with House Republicans to a point, saying he is “deeply uncomfortable” at the prospect of remaining closed to the public, especially if a full slate of legislation is being considered. But he’s more worried about the ends than the means.

“My fear is that the legislature is going to be making big decisions in a hurried manner at a time of peak uncertainty,” he says.

State lawmakers are returning to Nashville, but the two chambers disagree on what their scope should be

BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

B

y now, the Tennessee General Assembly should have concluded its business for the year. Its members should have gone back to their districts and begun campaigning for re-election.

But the legislature, like nearly every institution in the state, was disrupted by the spread of COVID-19.

After initially downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic, legislative leaders — along with Gov. Bill Lee — spent one frenzied week in mid-March passing an emergency spending plan that stripped about a billion dollars from the original budget proposal.

Lawmakers are now readying for a late-May return to Nashville, though the House and Senate, both controlled by Republicans, differ on what to discuss and whether to allow members of the public into the building.

“It’s rarely good news when the Tennessee legislature has session during the summer months, and I don’t think this session is going to be an exception to that,” says Jeff Yarbro, the Nashville Democrat who serves as Senate minority leader.

In general, House leaders hope to return to normal business — including debating controversial mea-

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

Nashville finally turned all the benchmarks green May 18, a week after entering phase one of the reopening plan. The last of the six criteria — a two-week declining trend line for new positive cases of COVID-19 — flipped from yellow (“less than satisfactory”) to green (“satisfactory”). This came just days after NBC reported that a leaked White House memo showed Nashville as one of the places showing large spikes in new infections. That report, however, was for the entire metropolitan statistical area, as Metro Coronavirus Task Force chairman Dr. Alex Jahangair explained in a rather stern video posted to Mayor John Cooper’s social media pages. Thus, cases at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center and a new cluster of positives in Rutherford County were included in that count. … The Tennessee Department of Correction identified two new hot spots at its facilities after mass testing began. In addition to the aforementioned Trousdale County site and Bledsoe County Correctional Complex, where hot spots were already recognized, TDOC added Whiteville’s CoreCivicoperated Hardeman County Correctional Facility and the state-run Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville to the list. Only two state prisons — South Central Correctional Facility and Whiteville Correctional Facility — have had no positive tests, but both of those CoreCivicoperated sites have tested only two prisoners each. … Metro’s Homeless Planning Council met May 13, its first meeting since the beginning of the pandemic. The council raised concerns about Metro’s tiered shelter program at The Fairgrounds Nashville, particularly after a number of people were automatically placed into the “sick” facility after relocating from the Nashville Rescue Mission. Council chair Paula Foster says she was also concerned about the arrest of a man who attempted to escape the mandatory quarantine at the sick shelter. He was charged with attempting to escape a penal institution, which Foster called “the most ridiculous thing that I’ve ever heard.” … The chair of Nashville’s Community Oversight Board, Jill Fitcheard, says she was “shocked” to hear about the case of Gabriel Hines, a 42-year-old man who died days after he was arrested by Metro police officers in February. Fitcheard says no one had notified the board, which was created to investigate allegations of police misconduct. Hines’ death is now under investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. He and two other men were arrested on the night of Feb. 4, charged with stealing lumber from a West Nashville construction site as well as possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. Hines received medical attention several times while he was in Davidson County Sheriff’s Office custody. He was later transferred to Centennial Medical Center, where he died on Feb. 9. His co-defendants have alleged that officers used excessive force with Hines during the arrest. “I was really shocked to hear about this,” Fitcheard tells the Scene. “We were never notified of Mr. Hines’ death. I had no knowledge of this.

I’m disappointed that no one has considered the community oversight board during this time.”

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photo: Jackson DeParis

Where Happiness Reigned Exit/In’s happening 1970s scene laid the groundwork for a culture that still exists today

by DAvid hollerith 8

It’s a muggy night in the summer of 1975. A line of people swerves down a Nashville street leading to a black building with a marquee reading “Tonight: Comedy.”

The audience files inside, taking their seats in a dimly lit room. Imagine the scene: a table of lawyers loosening ties, plunging into their beer mugs; nearby are tables of bikers, college students, musicians, tradesmen, women’s liberation activists, health care workers. It’s a bipartisan spectrum of out-of-towners intermingling with locals.

Voices dwindle to whispers, then silence. The atmosphere thickens with cigarette smoke, body heat and that mysterious thrill of unpredictability. You’re here, watch-

ing, in the right place at the right time. This is the Elliston Place of an older Nashville — when entertainment took an unusual turn.

“Hi! Welcome to the Exit/In.” A red-faced man with a goofy tie and suit jacket pokes his head out from behind the curtain. “My name is Steve Martin, and I’ll be out here in a couple of minutes.”

Still a relative unknown on the national comedy circuit, the comedian has a grin that’s nevertheless well-known to Exit/In patrons. His past shows have become legendary — at one, he marched the entire audience up the street to order Krystal hamburgers.

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From backstage, Martin runs around the building to the main entrance, then slips into the sound booth. Owsley Manier, one of the venue’s owners — a frequent instigator of foolishness himself — is running sound.

“Hey Owsley, this mic’s not on, right?”

Martin’s voice booms through speakers into the listening room. “God, this crowd, what a bunch of assholes! Do you still have that number of that 13-year-old? God! He was great.” Laughter erupts from the audience.

“I know,” Steve jokes onstage later during that evening. “You people are sitting there saying, ‘Sure he’s pretty great. But can he make balloon animals?’ ” Infused with fumbling magic tricks, banjo licks and poor attempts at crafting balloon animals, Martin’s simple and absurdist humor destroys the oversold crowd.

Years later, the wild and crazy comedian would credit his shows during this era at this music venue as making him “really, really funny” — it was a breakthrough moment in his stand-up career.

Martin’s name, along with the names of dozens of other celebrated performers, now hangs above the bar at the Exit/In. They’re not just the names of comedians, but also of folk singers, blues purists, country songwriters, punk bands, jazz virtuosos and countless others who have etched their signatures into the American consciousness over the past 50 years.

Exit/In holds a rightful place in Nashville’s cultural mythology. But well before its reputation was established, the listening room was just a scrappy entrepreneurial idea tossed between two friends who saw opportunity in the lifting of a citywide liquor law.

It was 1970. Twenty-four-year-old Brugh Reynolds met his high school friend Owsley Manier at the long-gone local watering hole Bishop’s American Pub. Fresh off a “lamentable” stint in the Army, Manier itched to work in the music scene. Since high school, he’d been playing guitar and booking gigs for a psychedelic outfit known as The Lemonade Charades. As a cadet at Fort Benning in Georgia, Manier spent weekends plundering Atlanta’s underground, his favorite haunt an unusual establishment — half coffeehouse, half rock club — called the Bottom of the Barrel. This club featured a bar and separate listening room, where the crowd remained silent during and between performances. It was novel and crowded, but the atmosphere carried a sacred kind of quality, like a church where patrons kept silent for the music. Nashville needed something like it, Manier reasoned. Together he and Reynolds could build it.

Back then, Nashville was worlds away from the culturally vibrant, social-mediaand tourist-friendly destination it is now. In terms of music, the city was a rough-hewn gem whose self-contained country music industry proved somewhat opaque and difficult to enter to outsiders. That didn’t mean musical things weren’t happening.

By recording his album Blonde on Blonde here in 1966, Bob Dylan provided a catalyst for a budding music community outside of traditional country. If Dylan thought this rinky-dink Southern town had something special, then perhaps hillbilly music deserved a second look. Johnny Cash further bridged the cultural gap between country music’s old guard and talented newcomers

by filming The Johnny Cash Show (19691971) at the Ryman Auditorium — then still the home of the iconic Grand Ole Opry radio program. Dylan and Cash, as the two most notable examples, spotlighted Nashville as a place where incredible musicians seemed to congregate.

But as far as Manier and Reynolds were concerned, local nightlife still hadn’t caught up. When people went out, they hit up restaurants or the movies; intimate live music wasn’t much of a thing. This had a lot to do with a particular law: It was illegal to sell liquor by the drink inside Davidson County until 1967. Before then, drinkers could bring their bottles and pay to have their booze served back to them in one of the schmaltzy private clubs in Printers Alley. This was novelty, mostly done by conventioneers and not yet kitschy or ironic enough to be considered cool or cost-effective for locals.

The Ryman held shows and the Opry, but the Mother Church had fallen into disrepair, matching its largely decrepit downtown neighborhood surroundings. Honky-tonking was possible, but usually opened conversation to a string of knifing jokes — popping down Lower Broad wasn’t the breezy, tourist-friendly activity it would become decades later.

That night in 1970 at Bishop’s American Pub, Reynolds and Manier discussed how Nashville had few if any venues for small local and touring acts. As their reasoning went, if Nashville was indeed “the Athens of the South,” surely it had space for a live music listening room. The night ended with a handshake deal on a new venture, one that would shift the city’s culture far more than they could have guessed.

That summer, the guys cashed out their life insurance policies and leased a former film distribution company on Elliston Place.

(They would later lease the dilapidated pinball factory next door as well.) Not long after, during a tiring day building a plywood stage, a name for the venue came to Manier — one that would play off of the fact that the building’s back door and loading dock would be used as its main entrance: Exit/In. On another day of renovations when the guys were finishing the stage, a handlebarmustached stranger clad in tennis whites wandered in from the streets and asked for an audition. He was a college campus coffeehouse performer who played folky kind of stuff, Reynolds recalls. The stranger played a few songs on the half-built stage and was hired on the spot as Exit/In’s first performer on opening night. Many performances on that stage later, this stranger would sell out the Murphy Center, Tennessee’s largest venue at the time. The stranger was Jimmy Buffett.

“Our place is centered around the artists, and we do ask people to keep their talking down so that the performers can come across to everyone.”

—From one of Exit/In’s first advertisements

in The Tennessean

Within its first year, Exit/In quickly stood out for what it was not. It was no concert hall in size or character. It wasn’t a sports bar or old-fashioned nightclub. Modeled after Atlanta’s Bottom of the Barrel, it was a listening room where patrons behaved much like they would at the movie theater. It had a coffeehouse feel but sold liquor by the drink.

Perhaps the civility of its patrons could be chalked up in part to the bar’s serving only top-shelf liquor. “Cheaper stuff brought bad vibes,” says Manier. There were also the house rules: no fighting, and no talking during performances. True to the owners’ plans, Exit/In would provide patrons with equal parts musical entertainment and education.

Inside, tapestries hung from wood-paneled walls and the ceiling. There was food service with a vegetarian option during lunch. Above the stage was an outstretched mural of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man spread-eagled inside a neon-yellow electric guitar. On the best of nights, the space was a hot, cramped, oversized Tennessee living room of the freespirit variety. Listening rooms were popping up across the country, but Nashville had never done entertainment quite this way.

Since the city was, and still is, the capital of country music, the early days at Exit/In seemed to breed a cultural crosscurrent.

What came to be known as outlaw country wasn’t widely tolerated yet, but as music journalist and publicist Dan Beck points out, country music was beginning to react to its own “rhinestone self-consciousness.”

Exit/In’s unique approach came as a welcome renewal for a small group of misfits who wanted variety, and their business needed it financially. Exit/In was limited by its capacity (roughly 120 people) and Nashville’s size at the time, and its business model hinged on selling out tickets nightly, then racking up meal bills and bar tabs during shows.

“The restaurant business is one of the highest-risk businesses out there, next to show business,” says Reynolds, who doubled as Exit/In’s accountant. Like so many smallsize venues later to come, his and Manier’s business model straddled both sectors.

To prevent audience burnout, the owners booked a range of artists to attract a wide range of showgoers from all walks of life. Having played music and booked gigs since high school, Manier took the lead. A warlock of eclecticism, Manier had a talent for conjuring outlandish experiences by curating a lineup of performers who bucked against convention as often as they mixed, blended and borrowed from different musical genres.

Exit/In’s approach brought a sea change to Nashville’s entertainment sector. Within its first two years, the listening room showcased traditional folk, Memphis blues, Kentucky bluegrass, bebop jazz, gospel, Southern rock, outlaw country and comedy to an ever-changing audience. As a result, the club garnered a distinct reputation for being remarkably different from what people expected. Stories spread of unusual and spontaneous occurrences rumored to happen there nightly.

“The music scene has changed a lot since those days,” performer Marshall Chapman would go on to write in her 2003 book Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller. “Now it’s all business. Nobody hangs out anymore. … [Back then] everything was bigger-thanlife. The Exit/In, in particular, contributed

to the magic.”

There were countless onstage cameos — the kind of unadvertised and often impromptu appearances that were much less typical at the time, but are now often obligatory at Nashville performances. In her book, Chapman recalls just “one of those nights” in 1974, when patrons bought tickets for a John Prine show and wound up seeing performances by Kris Kristofferson, Shel Silverstein, Linda Hargrove, Waylon Jennings and David Allan Coe, among others.

At one Allman Brothers performance, the band played so late that the owners ended up locking a willfully consenting band and audience inside the venue to hang out until dawn. When the sun rose, the musicians got back onstage and continued to jam through the morning.

Exit/In’s typical two-shows-per-night lineup gave local bands and budding local songwriters like Chapman a place of their own. A decade before The Bluebird Cafe opened, Exit/In’s writers’ nights were essential for unrecorded honky-tonk poets hustling to be heard and jonesing to perform in front of and alongside musical greats. As a consequence, music-industry gatekeepers couldn’t afford to miss out. That atmosphere opened the stage to a wellspring of lyricism, energy and originality. It also provided an outlet for those looking to push back against the more confining aspects of the “Nashville Sound.”

On the right night, Buffett, John Hiatt, Mickey Newbury, Charlie Daniels, Waylon Jennings, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle and John Prine all shared the stage or sat in the audience. Patrons caught performances from the likes of Marine drill instructor and Arthur Murray dance instructor “Cowboy” Jack Clement, who might dive into the Hamlet soliloquy before busting out a crazed instrumental with his eight-piece band, then belting out a gutbucket country ballad.

Still awaiting the release of his epochal Old No.1, Guy Clark started as the opener for his friend and mentor Mickey Newbury.

Like many performers, he and his wife Susanna were like family to the owners. Their private lives — full of sleepless nights at the Clarks’ house, the outlaw custom of swapping songs, drinking and raising hell in living rooms — bled through to Exit/In’s stage.

Out-of-towners like Gregg Allman, J.J. Cale, Silverstein and mercurial outlaw Townes Van Zandt would drop in to play between studio sessions. Rough-hewn and fresh from a stint at a Ohio penitentiary, David Allan Coe bred a cult-like following by using Exit/In like a theater and music as a prop. Coe later compared the Nashville listening room to New York City’s Gaslight and Los Angeles’ Bitter End, telling the Nashville Banner, “The Exit/In is the only place where the people sit and listen.”

As the venue’s reputation grew, so did its surrounding neighborhood. The Jan. 14, 1972, issue of The Tennessean speaks volumes on nightlife at the time: “Perhaps the most revolutionary of fun spots in Nashville are TGI Friday’s and the Exit/In, both located on Elliston Place.” Along with Friday’s and various music clubs going in and out of business, there was The Soda Shop, Hurry Back Market, Cat’s Records, Elder’s Bookstore and beloved bar and restaurant The Gold Rush, which until it closed just last year was famously known for offer-

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ing nachos, beer and a place to chain-smoke cigarettes late into the night. Elliston Place’s business ecosystem and the neighborhood’s bohemian culture were a departure from greater Nashville, and the neighborhood would later become known as the Rock Block. Writing for Billboard Magazine in 1976, Don Cusic would later compare ’70s Elliston Place to 1920s Paris — “Something out of an Ernest Hemingway novel,” he wrote.

While Exit/In served as the Rock Block’s crucible at the time, it also influenced a much wider community of radio listeners.

Once a week, the venue broadcast live performances via FM stations WKDA or WPLN — the latter now Nashville’s public radio outlet. As a stalwart Exit/In patron and later owner, Elizabeth Thiels remembers how she first discovered the listening room through these broadcasts. These shows also exposed radio listeners to less popularly consumed genres like jazz, and according to Thiels, they made a significant contribution to the growing interest in black music from Nashville’s predominately white culture. Says Thiels, “There was no other white-owned integrated club in Nashville at the time.”

Exit/In radio broadcasts were famous for their candidness, as displayed in the repeat performances by the blind African American jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Delivering satirical monologues on black history and the civil rights movement between songs, Kirk could dazzle audiences visually by walking blind through the crowd and simultaneously playing three saxophones.

Generally, the controversy and unconventionality of jazz proved a legitimate commercial success. During sound-check the day before an Exit/In performance, legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich inspired headlines, street protests and bomb threats when he told a Nashville Banner reporter, “Country music appeals to intellectuals with the minds of 4-year-olds.” Onstage the night of his first performance, Rich addressed the backlash: “I meant every word of it!” He sold out both nights.

Director Robert Altman filmed Keith Carradine’s performance of the Oscar-winning song “I’m Easy” on the Exit/In stage for the critically acclaimed 1975 ensemble comedy Nashville. But aside from that brief flirtation with Hollywood, the Exit/In’s first five years were mostly marked by less glamorous events. Economic factors included the Vietnam War and an ensuing stock market crash, the quadrupling of oil prices and rising unemployment. Essentially, it was a very uncertain time to start a business in America.

Nonetheless, inside the Exit/In someone graffitied a Traffic lyric on the wall: “I climbed on the back of a giant albatross and flew through a crack in the clouds to a place where happiness reigns all year round and music plays ever so loudly.”

There’s no better quote to sum up what Exit/In meant to Nashville during those days. The ’60s were over, but people still sought a sense of community and reprieve from an often unforgiving world. Exit/In’s owners were successful in making such a place in Nashville, but in their effort, they also went financially bankrupt.

By 1974 Exit/In’s popularity was undisputed. It was as close to the core of Nashville’s music scene as any place could be that wasn’t on Music Row. Wedged between its rising fame and a less-discussed stark

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The ’60s were over, but people still sought a sense of community and reprieve from an often unforgiving world. financial reality, the listening room hedged a bet that booking larger acts, despite the club’s limited size, would return investment.

The owners opened their doors to more touring greats: Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Joan Baez, J.J. Cale, Fats Domino, Barry Manilow, Charlie Byrd, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Al Kooper, Kansas, The Police and a beret-wearing Tom Waits, who chain-smoked Old Gold cigarettes until dawn.

But money issues loomed. Reynolds and Manier took on other business partners to stay afloat: Manier’s cousin Bill Manier, his wife Cat, and Harvey Magee, a friend working at what would become WKDF in 1976. In 1973, Thiels — a former PR professional — fell into an easy kinship amid the makeshift family of owners.

The expanded ownership soon doubled seating capacity, and the listening room grew its staff to 25 total employees. A shed out back doubled as business headquarters and a dressing room for performers. By most of the owners’ calculations, the waitstaff — mostly Vanderbilt students — made more money than anyone else, thanks to tips.

But having so many owners made finances difficult to track. Cash-register theft seemed typical. Friends got in free, as did musicians and music executives. Even as a Linda Ronstadt show in ’73 marked the first time the club had to turn away patrons, there were always “off nights,” as Thiels put it, when even a Guy Clark performance would draw fewer than 15 people. On the best nights, Exit/In proved to be a far more successful social experiment than it did a profitable enterprise.

1975 was Exit/In’s most bipolar year. The wild triumphs of sold-out shows, benefit concerts and accolades from music publications were ironically positioned alongside misleading headlines, money troubles and, ultimately, bankruptcy. On a chilly Tuesday night in January, donning a Native American war bonnet, Kinky Friedman lunged onto the stage clad in red-white-and-blue leather chaps, with a Star of David belt buckle. Backed by his band the Texas Jewboys, Friedman violently tuned a cherry-red guitar while juggling a brown-bagged bottle and a fat cigar between his mouth and his free hand. The audience was “bedecked with Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, Waylon Jennings, Billy Swan, Tompall Glaser, and the not-nearly-so great press and PR types,” wrote Eve Zibart in The Tennessean’s Sunday Showcase. “Ranging from raucous to quasi-religious,” Kinky’s material left the audience “no chance to catch its balance.”

When another headliner canceled that

summer, Exit/In booked The New Riders of the Purple Sage 24 hours before show time.

Unable to take a loss, the owners rented a sound truck and took to the streets. With big banners streaming, the truck rumbled across town with Manier’s voice booming through its PA so loudly that passersby cringed and plugged their ears: “One-nightonly special performance! Tonight, The New Riders of the Purple Stage at the Exit/In!” The show sold out.

Two months later, the Nashville Banner warned, “Nashville’s music industry is in trouble.” It was one of the earliest printed reports of Exit/In’s financial troubles. “We lost money serving vegetarian lunches and on some big-name acts,” Manier told the Banner. There were plenty of suspects to potentially blame, but the clear problem was four years of accrued debt incurred through trial-and-error operations. “While we feel the club was very unique and did extremely well business-wise, it was all done by trial and error,” Manier admitted.

Reynolds also recalls the stark contrast of this cycle — the venue would host big blowout shows, then feverishly try to make payroll and pay off bills the next day. Booking larger acts drew larger crowds, but that only exacerbated the problem. One sellout success would change everyone’s expectations; the owners had to hedge even more money to book bigger acts for next time.

The cycle never allowed them to get ahead.

“There’s a brutal disparity between the club’s philosophy and reality, between giant albatrosses and bill collectors,” wrote Eileen Putnam in Nashville! Magazine.

“Exit/In Beats Crisis — 4 Year Struggle Paying off Big & Unknown Acts.” That was the headline of an article in Billboard.

Fundraising efforts took the form of a “recession special” — tickets to five shows for $11 — and benefit concerts were put on by loyal Exit/In performers. “The Exit/In is an important forum for ideas,” Silverstein preached at one benefit concert. The same night Billy Swan and the band Barefoot Jerry called for help from “every artist, publisher, producer, songwriter and musician” who could be reached in Music City.

“Our position is vastly improved,” Manier insisted in the Billboard piece.

But in late November 1975, Exit/In filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Under Chapter 11, the listening room could stay open as long it stayed profitable each night and debts were paid off in a controlled manner. Unfortunately, most patrons assumed Chapter 11 meant the business wasn’t open, and the crowds seemingly thinned. “If you would like to keep the Exit/In around, now is the time to help, or remember it as something really

nice that we had in Nashville while it lasted,” wrote Dean Hitt in Hank magazine.

Still, the owners wouldn’t quit. “We’ll never close it,” read a Manier quote in Hitt’s piece. “We’ll either sell it or try to sell stock.” No matter how financially bleak their mornings seemed, each night

an ad in Hank Magazine, Sept. 1975

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PURCHASE TICKETS TODAY! The National Museum of African American Music opens in September. With over 1,000 artifacts on display, NMAAM will share a story never before told, celebrating the music we all know and love. Join us in Downtown Nashville, and experience our historic institution in person.

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A wall with band stickers and artist names backstage at Exit/In testifies to the venue’s illustrious history

But Exit/In did not go away.

After more renovations, the club reopened in 1980 with Chuck Berry duckwalking across the stage in front of a three-piece band. “The Exit/In has been important to the development of Nashville’s total music center,” said Music Row power player and BMI VP Frances Preston, speaking before Berry’s performance.

At a glance, new owners Joseph Sullivan and Wayne Oldham seemed better for business. Sullivan had managed Charlie Daniels, and Oldham had made a fortune bringing Wendy’s to Middle Tennessee. Even so, “fast-

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“There’s always been somebody crazy enough who cares enough about live music in Nashville to run it.” —Chris Cobb food and nightclub mentality are two different mentalities,” recalls music producer and historian John Lomax III, a die-hard patron of the club’s earliest days who was utterly disappointed with the Berry show.

“It was a complete disaster,” says Lomax.

“They insisted on church-pew style seating.

Nobody knew where to keep their drinks!”

As he remembers it, Berry played and the crowd screamed until finally a couple seized by the spirit hopped onstage and started dancing. They were immediately kicked out.

During the ’80s, Exit/In’s bohemian vibe dissipated, and the venue became a “big box-style club, more like the grubby, punk-friendly dives,” as critic and former Nashville Scene staffer Noel Murray wrote nearly two decades ago. By Murray’s account, ’80s Exit/In had a worsening sewage problem that reaffirmed why it was the performances — not the space itself — that made the club special.

By current owner Chris Cobb’s calculations, there have been a total of 26 Exit/In owners throughout the years. “That averages out to something like a new owner ev-

Photos: Eric England

produced musical revelry, or “awakening experiences,” as patrons later recounted. On Monday, Dec. 14, 1975, Don Cusic reported on a performance from a vast collective of songwriters: The Allman Brothers’ Dickie Betts, Jack Clement and a whole cadre of other known and unknown greats.

By mid-December, record labels banded together to organize a final benefit concert, where Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Vassar Clements, David Allan Coe and Shel Silverstein performed. The boost proved temporary. Billboard soon pointed to “difficulties caused by continued lack of capital, the effects of inflation, and inexperienced management.”

Four months later, even after reporting profits from returning acts like Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Barefoot Jerry and Guy Clark, Exit/In still owed a massive debt of approximately $125,000 (adjusted for inflation, that’s more than half-a-million dollars today), and the owners declared full bankruptcy in July 1976. Local real estate pros Vianda Hill and Nick Spiva bought the business and sold it two years later. Manier and Thiels lingered on as managers without pay. But ultimately they moved on, each going on to build a significant career in the music industry.

ery two years,” says Cobb, who also owns Marathon Music Works. Along with his former partner Josh Billue, Cobb bought Exit/In in 2012. They built an upstairs balcony, then took over the adjacent property, where they opened the bar and restaurant Hurry Back, paying homage to the original ’70s Elliston Place market. Cobb and his family now manage Hurry Back and Exit/ In independently. Cobb is still deeply attached to the venue — but he admits that, even without the current COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing stay-at-home orders, Exit/In could by no means support his family as a primary source of income.

In March of this year, Cobb closed the office, and then the club itself. The club’s booking schedule has been cleared through June. Nevertheless, Exit/In management still shares music with its patrons via email newsletters and livestream performances.

Cobb has downsized his working staff

from approximately 50 employees to three.

Though Exit/In has qualified for a PPP loan, Cobb says he hasn’t yet determined how to spend it.

What’s more, Exit/In is also one of several Elliston Place businesses concerned with ongoing development of the neighborhood, including JV Hospitality Group’s plans to replace a trio of brick apartment buildings on Elliston Place with a Holiday Inn Express.

Cobb is likely the best person to ask why Exit/In, through all its dysfunction, has hung on for so long. His answer? “There’s always been somebody crazy enough who cares enough about live music in Nashville to run it.”

It’s a sentiment reminiscent of something a young Reynolds told The Tennessean shortly after opening Exit/In: “We still aren’t finished.

I guess we will never be finished. That’s the thing I like about it. It keeps changing.”

Email editor@nashvillescene.com

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Critics’ Picks D IST A N C I N G

E D ITI O N

among the three institutions, and according to press materials, upcoming programs feature Adkins’ Lone Wolf Recital Corps, and his former collaborators, friends and family members are scheduled to be among guest participants. The artist, whose body of work blends sculpture, sound, performance, video and printmaking, devoted his practice to upholding the legacies of larger-than-life figures, often from the canon of African American culture. It’s fitting that this triple bill puts the artist himself in that category.

THEATER

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

Build Your Own Streaming Penny Marshall Film Festival

In recent weeks, we’ve advised you to put together your own at-home film festivals using the works of various filmmakers, from sci-fi-inclined writers and directors (Stephen King, Alex Garland) to deeply talented performers (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nicolas Cage, Jennifer Jason Leigh) and well beyond. This week, we’re heading in a heartfelt direction with the works of late, great multihyphenate Penny Marshall. The Bronx native and sibling of fellow legendary filmmaker Garry Marshall had a whole slew of television appearances under her belt by the time she landed a starring role in the Happy Days spinoff Laverne & Shirley, which ran for eight seasons on ABC. That series doesn’t appear to be available on any major streaming services, so you might as well jump into Marshall’s directorial catalog with either 1986’s widely panned Whoopi Goldberg vehicle Jumpin’ Jack Flash or 1988’s universally beloved Tom Hanks vehicle Big (both of which are available via Amazon Prime, YouTube and iTunes for $4). The latter is … well, significantly better, and aside from the questionable nature of Hanks’ character’s relationship with Elizabeth Perkins’ character, it really holds up. Up next is the only Marshall film to land a Best Picture nomination — 1990’s Awakenings, which is based on Dr. Oliver Sacks’ 1973 memoir of the same name and is available for $3 via Prime. It’s among the heavier works in Marshall’s catalog, but it features noteworthy performances from both Robin Williams and Robert De Niro.

Next, cue up another Hanks-Marshall joint with 1993’s unimpeachable A League of Their Own ($3 on Prime), which features fantastic exceptional turns from Hanks, Geena Davis and Lori Petty (great actors!) as well as Madonna. It’s a nearly perfect film. While the back half of Marshall’s directorial catalog is somewhat spottier (1994’s Renaissance Man and 1996’s The Preacher’s Wife received mixed reviews), a case can be made that 2001’s Riding in Cars With Boys ($3

on Prime) is a truly unique effort — Roger Ebert himself called that one “refreshing and startling in the way it cuts loose from formula and shows us confused lives we recognize.” D. PATRICK RODGERS [SONS AND DAUGHTERS]

Join Frist, Fisk and Pulitzer for A Zoom Conversation About Terry Adkins

In the Scene’s Winter Arts Guide back in January, I predicted that Terry Adkins: Our Sons and Daughters Ever at the Altar — the collaborative exhibition hosted at both the Frist Art Museum and Fisk University Galleries — would be the art event of the season. I wrote that its breadth would give the late, great artist the national attention he deserves. All that’s changed, of course, which makes the May 21 virtual happy hour even more essential — especially for those who weren’t able to see the exhibition before the venues temporarily closed. For the event, which will be hosted via Zoom, Frist curator Katie Delmez and Fisk curator Jamaal Sheats will be joined by Stephanie Weissberg of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis for a conversation about Adkins’ legacy. This event is the first in a planned series of cross-museum conversations

Terry Adkins

Check Out New York’s Cabaret Scene

[ALL ABOARD]

Stream the Chattanooga Film Festival

The many microscopic tendrils of COVID-19 have wrecked lives, destroyed jobs, killed people and upended just about every institution and event that humanity had set up for itself. For Tennessee, whose state government has never gone out of its way to value the arts, things are dire.

So in the spirit of taking chicken shit and turning it into chicken salad, let’s offer some love and relief to the Chattanooga Film Festival, which has reconfigured itself for the time being online, offering up films, panels and networking opportunities, as well as the genial and liberated vibe that the CFF is internationally known for. Over the past seven years, CFF has become the preeminent single-weekend genre-guided film festival in the eastern United States. Part of that is because of the stellar programming (courtesy of former Nashvillian and Belcourt staffer Chris Dortch II), and part of it is because it’s devoted to films of all sorts. It is not a place for starfuckers, nor is it a meat market for distribution (though several films do find homes for future release every year). The CFF has managed to weather the societydisrupting wake of COVID-19 and is rising again, all Jean Grey-like, to spread itself throughout the internet and the hippocampi of its viewers. I’ll be there, keeping the hope amped and the love unlimited. The festival runs May 22-25 — find out more at chattfilmfest.org. JASON SHAWHAN

Beyond the bright lights of Broadway, New York City is home to a vibrant cabaret scene. And while clubs are closed for now, you can still enjoy this unique blend of song and storytelling from home.

Iconic Broadway supper club Feinstein’s/54 Below is streaming a selection of past performances via its YouTube channel, and among the upcoming shows is I Wish: The Roles That Could Have Been on May 22.

Visit 54below.com/54belowathome for a complete schedule. Joe’s Pub Live! From the Archives is another great choice, offering a free series of livestreamed and archived performances. Tony nominee Sarah Stiles’ Squirrel Heart will be available on May 22 — find it at publictheater.org/programs/ joes-pub — but you can also check out the Joe’s Pub YouTube channel for gems like Alan Cumming: Legal Immigrant and Salty Brine’s Living Record Collection. And don’t forget the iconic Marie’s Crisis Cafe, which [DISTANT MEMORIES] is currently operating as a virtual piano bar Listen to Wind of Change with a slew of talented artists — including Podcast Nashville native Brandon James Now is a great time to get into Gwinn — livestreaming sets conspiracy theories. Can’t sleep?

Editor’s Note: As via Facebook. You can Use that time to hop online and a response to Metro’s tip performers through solve a cold case! Anxiety stay-at-home order to help Venmo, and sing along making it difficult to focus slow the spread of COVID-19, as loudly as you like. on anything? Quit fighting we’ve changed the focus of our Critics’ Picks section. Rather than it and just let your brain AMY STUMPFL pointing you in the direction of fall into a UFO wormhole! events happening this week in And here’s one more Nashville, here are some activities mystery for all you armchair you can partake in while you’re at home practicing social investigators: Did the CIA distancing. write the Scorpions’ 1990 hit power ballad “Wind of Change” as a way to bring about an end to the Cold War? That’s what investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe heard, and the new podcast Wind of Change is his eight-episode journey to try to uncover the truth. The entire season, co-produced by Pod Saves America’s Crooked Media, premiered on Spotify May 11, and within 24 hours Scorpions singer Klaus Meine chimed in, telling heavy metal historian Eddie Trunk, host of Sirius XM show Trunk Nation: “It’s a very entertaining and really crazy story, but like I said, it’s not true at all. Like you American guys would say, it’s fake news.”

Of course that’s what the CIA would want you to say, Klaus! Maybe it’s all goofy >> p. 18 podcast

[ARE YOU CRYING?]

ART

FILM

riding in cars with boys

[LIFE IS A (VIRTUAL) CABARET]

FILM

S O C I A L

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critics’ picks

FOOD & DRINK

CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

are philosophical. Contributor C. Michael Mincks shares a birth year with the Taco Bell chihuahua, Gidget. Mincks notes that Taco Bell’s founder died in 2010, the same year Mincks stopped believing in God. “My fate is Taco Bell’s fate,” he writes, “and vice versa.” If you’re inspired by these odes, write your own fast-food masterpiece. Taco Bell Quarterly is accepting submissions for its third “chalupa bomb” through July 1.

SPORTS

ERICA CICCARONE [KOREA OPPORTUNITIES]

Watch Korea Baseball Organization Games on ESPN

Baseball is back! Korean baseball, anyway. With Major League Baseball still suspended and fans fiending, ESPN shrewdly struck a deal to broadcast six games weekly from the KBO League — originally called the Korea Baseball

18

[SLURP IT UP AND START AGAIN]

Get a Slurpee

ALERT! ALERT! Big summertime news! SLURPEES ARE BEING SOLD IN NASHVILLE. This is a major, all-caps-worthy development, because Nashville has been infamously Slurpee-free ever since Circle K bought up all the 7-Eleven stores back in the ’80s. It’s been Icee City, baby. But Slurpees!

Have! Landed! In early 2018, 7-Eleven bought Sunoco, which owned Tiger Mart and A-Plus stores. Many of Davidson County’s locations have been selling 7-Eleven-branded products for a while now — and 7-Eleven appeared on receipts — though there was no sign of Slurpees. But last week, an eagle-eyed Reddit user finally spotted it: The TigerMart at 2022 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. is now home to a four-nozzle Slurpee machine, and at press time, it was serving up Coca-Cola, Fanta Wild Cherry and Fanta Blue Raspberry flavors. There’s also a stand-alone Frozen Lemonade Slurpee machine where you can add a shot of flavor — raspberry, strawberry, blueberry and mango — via touchscreen. With COVID-19 still, you know, existing, the store just asks that you limit the items you touch at the selfserve area and also use tissues and napkins when touching the machines. Keep Slurpees safe for all! MEGAN SELING

“July 22 2013 (dress),” Brady Haston

Surreal times call for surreal art. For a refreshingly original — and damn funny — read, check out the digital literary review Taco Bell Quarterly (tacobellquarterly.org).

With poetry, fiction, essays and visual art — including a short film in its first issue — the quarterly is a Triplelupa of fun. Founded by M.M. Carrigan, who assumes the mantle of Editor Grand Supreme, the publication is the arts and letters of fast food. “We’re a reaction against everything,” reads the introduction on the website. “The gatekeepers. The taste-makers. The hipsters. Health food.

Artists Who Wear Cute Scarves. Bitch-ass Wendy’s. We seek to demystify what it means to be literary, artistic, important, and elite.” Some poems parody classic works, like “This Is Less to Say … ” and “Thirteen ways to looking at a bean burrito.” Others drip with nacho-cheese-flavored nostalgia.

Timmy Sutton writes of “a time where fast food was more than a privilege / But a full on merciful gift.” In a story by Jessica Minyard, a woman stops at the drive-thru before a booty call: “i’m not leaving fire saucesmeared offerings and sacrifices.” Many

[LET’S ROLL]

Get Into Tabletop RPGs

We could all use a bit of escapism these days, but wouldn’t it be nice to bring some friends along for the ride? Playing tabletop roleplaying games (or TTRPGs) is a great way to gather a group of friends who like to play games and allow everyone’s collective imagination to run free — and right into the very geeky domains of sword and sorcery (or super herodom, or sci-fi).

But where to start? Dungeons & Dragons is the most iconic TTRPG, but also has a high barrier of entry, with its collection of hardcover books, array of dice and plethora of rules. Those more interested in roleplay than number-crunching may prefer alternatives with simpler rules like Dungeon World and Masks. Thanks to video chat and online dice rollers, all you really need is a character sheet and a dungeon master, but virtual tabletops like Roll20 can provide visuals and other tools. Those brave enough to plunge into D&D can get started with the free set Basic Rules (available online) and a number of free starter adventures available on DnDBeyond.com throughout May. Or you can buy the solid starter adventure The Lost Mine of Phandelver, which usually goes for about $20. And if you’re curious about D&D but not yet ready to roll the dice, you can always listen to a live-play podcast — Critical Role, which stars a crew of professional voice actors, is easily the most popular of the bunch, with an animated series from Amazon Prime on the way. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ [SOMETIMES A BLONDE]

Take a Deep Dive Into Robyn Hitchcock’s Catalog

During the pandemic, commonalities between what’s going on in our society and various masterworks of sci-fi seem to appear on a regular basis. In these circumstances, the work of London-born musician Robyn Hitchcock, who moved to Nashville to live with his partner Emma

Swift in 2015, feels particularly appropriate.

Hitchcock first became well-known in the late 1970s as frontman of The Soft Boys.

The group perfected a strain of rock that applies the snarling bite of their punk contemporaries to nimble R&B and late’60s psychedelic pop, with an off-kilter perspective that scans as surreal and often dark. There’s sex, bugs and angst writhing around a core of humanism, as in “I Wanna Destroy You,” an anthemic philippic about the dangers of nationalism and complacency from The Soft Boys’ 1980 swan song Underwater Moonlight.

Hitchcock’s 1984 solo LP I Often Dream of Trains is spare, melancholy and sardonic, as well as inventive and beautiful — it’s a nostalgic record, but it puts that nostalgia in perspective, another thread that runs throughout his work. On Trains, it’s also easier to hear folk influences that remain closer to the surface on later albums, especially acoustic-centric releases like 1990’s Eye and 2004’s Nashville-recorded Spooked. Hitchcock has a knack for putting together great bands, one of which included members of R.E.M. and was called The Venus 3; their 2006 album Olé! Tarantula is a Byrds-ian delight. Another great band, made up of local players, backs Hitchcock on his 2017 LP Robyn Hitchcock, his first since settling here. It’s as pointed, poignant and weird as anything he’s done, and there’s lots more where that came from. You can visit Bandcamp or the website of your favorite record store to find these and others among his more than 20 albums.

(Live records like 1985’s Gotta Let This Hen Out! are vibrant pieces of the story, too.)

While there’s no telling when you’ll be able to see him in the flesh next, Hitchcock and Swift perform a livestream from home at 8 p.m. on Wednesday nights (and occasionally other days) via StageIt. STEPHEN TRAGESER [BUYING IN]

Check Out Zeitgeist’s Online Exhibition of Brady Haston’s Drawings ART

Read Taco Bell Quarterly

brady haston at Zeitgeist

gaming

[A LOVE SUPREME]

Championship — which resumed play this month. Presentation-wise, it’s a work in progress, with American announcers calling games remotely and learning the 10-team league’s players and traditions as they go. Sometimes it feels more like a talk show with a ballgame going on in the background. But baseball is baseball, and KBO offers a scrappy, energetic brand of it. Where modern-day MLB is rife with sluggers who strike out a ton and fireballers with suspect control, Korean hitters put the ball in play more often, and pitchers use a wily assortment of breaking pitches to try and get them out. Celebratory bat flips are common, and welcomed. The parks are an architecturally intriguing mix of futuristic enormo-domes like Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome, which is home to the Kiwoom Heroes, and scenic baseball-only venues like Samsung Lions Park in the landlocked city of Daegu, which recalls Kansas City’s verdant, cozy Kauffman Stadium. And though the stands are empty for now, cheer squads and colorful mascots support the home teams from a safe distance. (In some parks, cardboard cutouts even fill the seats.)

MLB is no doubt paying close attention as it sorts out the complicated logistics of salvaging its season. It might also have its eye on marquee players like Baek-ho Kang, the prodigious 20-year-old cleanup hitter for the KT Wiz, or NC Dinos’ Eui-ji Yang, a Golden Glove catcher and fearsome slugger.

The games air in the middle of the night, but that’s what the DVR is for. Games are scheduled Tuesdays through Fridays at 4:30 a.m., and are rebroadcast at 1 p.m. on ESPN2; Saturday and Sunday games are live at 3 a.m. on ESPN, with no rebroadcast.

MUSIC

Writing

fun, maybe there’s some legitimacy to the claims — but either way, Wind of Change is sure to spark some passionate debate within the internet’s conspiracy-theory circles. Get it via Spotify or iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts. MEGAN SELING

The past several weeks have given those of us who love spending time in art galleries and museums a lot of time to reflect on

Nashville Scene | may 21 – may 27, 2020 | nashvillescene.com

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critics’ picks

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

Grizzled veteran stargazers often see May as a month of disappointment. The winter giants — notably, Orion and his two pups Canis Major and Canis Minor — disappear, taking their stunning bright stars (Sirius, Procyon, Rigel, Betelgeuse) with them. Gemini’s twins Castor and Pollux and Taurus’ Aldebaran all head out as well.

Summer’s celebrities — Draco, Hercules, Scorpius — haven’t quite arrived, nor have the high-magnitude stars Altair, Deneb and Vega. Even Cassiopeia and Leo aren’t at their peak visibility. But May 2020 has something special. Conveniently, the big show is timed just right for both night owls and early risers, along with everyone else who has realized that time has no meaning anymore and it’s fine to stay up as late as possible or get up whenever. Jupiter and Saturn are alongside one another for most of May, rising in the southern sky just after midnight, and climbing to 30 to 35 degrees above the horizon (the width of your fist at arm’s length is about 10 degrees, the threefingered Boy Scout sign at arm’s length is about five) by 5 or 5:30 a.m. The two giants are paired together five degrees apart. They are impossible to miss, easily the brightest objects in that section of the sky (unless the moon is over there, but … well, you know what the moon looks like). With a fairly decent telescope or pair of binoculars, it’s even possible to see Jupiter’s four largest moons and a cloudy visual of Saturn’s famous rings. With low light pollution, Jupiter’s cloud bands are even visible. As a bonus, Mars is nearby as well, rising about two hours after its big brothers and just to their left. The Red Planet will be the big night-sky attraction in the fall as it swings closer to Earth. Not interested in pulling an all-nighter or tiptoeing out of bed at an unholy hour? Look for Venus in the first couple of hours after sunset in the western sky. Venus goes through phases like the moon, and it’s currently in a skinny crescent shape. But it’s quite bright nonetheless, because it is nearing its closest point of approach to Earth. Later this month, you might even catch a glimpse of tiny Mercury two degrees to either side of Venus (using our arm’s-length guide, one degree is about the width of a pinky). J.R. LIND

[ONLY FANS OF ANIMALS]

Get Into nature LIve Cams

BOOKS

My favorite cam girl of the pandemic is a bald eagle in Decorah, Iowa.

Sometimes at lunch, I’ll pull up the Explore.org live cam of her nest and watch for her to return with a meal for her three eaglets, which are typically huddled close together waiting on her. As I write this, she is away, maybe off looking for lunch — I don’t know what eagles do in their spare time. But one thing I’ve started doing with a lot of mine — along with some of my work time, and the times when I’m preparing lunch or dinner for my own brood — is watching animals, live, on the internet. I’d been doing this for a while in a more limited way. I am a regular viewer of the “Elecam” broadcast by The Elephant Sanctuary of Tennessee in Hohenwald. You have to get lucky, but as it happens, one of their African elephants is in view right now. Anyway, since the pandemic started, I’ve found Explore.org, which features hundreds of streaming live cams of animals of all kinds.

Birds are a great choice, since a camera pointed at a nest gives you a high chance of actually seeing the bird. But I’ve also watched baby elephants frolic in a watering hole at dusk in South Africa. You’ve got a lot of tabs open on your laptop anyway. Might as well make one of them a live shot of a bird or beast doing what it does, oblivious to human concerns. STEVEN HALE [GLITTERATURE]

CheCk out thIrd man Books’ vIrtuaL offerInGs

With Zoom workshops, online author talks and poetry readings, the Nashville literati have moved their offerings to the digital realm. Third Man Books, the literary imprint of Third Man Records, is no exception. The indie publisher digs deep to find incredible emerging authors, many of whom are local. The folks at the helm offer a salve for these fucked-up times with the Spread Beauty series. They’re posting videos of TMB authors such as Ciona Rouse, Paige Taggart, Benjamin Myers and Abraham Smith reading their work on Instagram — find them at @thirdmanbooks.

As an extra special treat, Forrest Gander, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in poetry, will read a poem from his forthcoming

nature

collection, due in 2021 from New Directions.

On Wednesday, TMB will release its latest title, Nine Bar Blues, a short-story collection

by Memphis-based writer Sheree Renée Thomas. Watch Thomas read an excerpt on Third Man Records’ Facebook page. TMB has converted some its best titles to digital downloads, including Rouse’s long-sold-out limited-edition chapbook VANTABLACK, Dan Hoy’s cerebral collection of poetry The Terraformers and Scene contributor Betsy Phillips’ essential book of short stories Jesus Crawdad Death. Buy those for $5 a pop at thirdmanbooks.com. If you’re still jonesing for a lit fix, get caught up on TMB’s podcast Re/VERB — which is hosted by Rouse and the wonderful poet Kendra DeColo — via thirdmanbooks.com/reverb or your favorite podcast platform. ERICA CICCARONE

nature

what exactly it is that we miss about it. We might as well indulge in some industry-wide navel-gazing and think about how we can construct a future in which we get more of what we miss, and leave out some of what we don’t. I’m glad to see so many online resources rising to the surface, especially when they actually move artworks into the world. Hence my appreciation for Past Observations, Zeitgeist Gallery’s online exhibition of Brady Haston’s works on paper. The first round of the drawings sold out, but the prolific artist has supplied the gallery with another equally compelling collection of abstract forms that work like sketches for his larger works about the gentrification of the artist’s Dickerson Pike neighborhood. Support your community, get some cool art, and contribute to a gallery system that’s going through major changes — all from the comfort of your own bedroom. Visit zeitgeist-art.com for details.

[SWIFTLY TILTING PLANETS]

Look at the PLanets

Support Local.

Save the dishwashing for later.

Visit nashvillescene.com for our daily takeout picks. nashvillescene.com | MAY 21 – MAY 27, 2020 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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food and drink

Reopening Woes Local chefs worry reopening too quickly will put their employees at risk

By Steve Cavendish

W

hen chef Jessica Benefield and her partners made the decision to reopen Two Ten Jack two weeks ago, it wasn’t without trepidation. While other restaurants had embraced the concept of takeout pretty quickly, Benefield held off, worried in part about working conditions for her staff.

The problem? Economics and geometry.

Restaurant economics is an exercise in maximizing square footage, and every inch devoted to a kitchen is an inch that can’t make money as part of bar or table space for customers. Of Two Ten Jack’s approximately 3,000 square feet of space, less than 750 of that is devoted to the kitchen and dry storage.

When you throw in social distancing guidelines on top of that, the geometry of safety begins to get difficult.

“Currently we have a 14-foot line, which typically has three line cooks, and we have two cold stations,” says Benefield, detailing changes she’s made to the setup. “We have cut out the middle hot station and one of the cold stations so there are two hot line cooks — who can feasibly stay six to seven feet apart — and one cold line cook. But during peak times, it takes two people to box, label

Black Rabbit

and bag everything, and there’s not much space for that.”

Benefield has changed her layout, changed her menu and tried to set reasonable expectations for her customers. But in the end, the thing that worries her the most

josh habiger

20

jessica benefield

is that none of it might matter when it comes to a contagious virus.

“The main problem is that we are all inside a building together with recirculating air for hours at a time,” she says. “So ultimately, it’s a moot point. We wear masks and

gloves and have a staff member totally dedicated to sanitization throughout the shift — your computer, phone, every surface, pens, staplers, et cetera, will be wiped down multiple times an hour. We take everyone’s temperatures upon arrival each day, but the

trey Cioccia

Nashville Scene | may 21 – may 27, 2020 | nashvillescene.com

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ramen at two ten jack recirculating air makes it impossible for us to truly stay away from each other.”

In conversations with a dozen chefs around the city, as restaurants began to reopen for either takeout or dining in, similar concerns cropped up again and again.

“I’m 38 years old, and I thought I had been through everything in the restaurant industry already,” says Trey Cioccia, who runs The Farm House and Black Rabbit. He and his staff completely rebuilt The Farm House’s kitchen over the past two months.

When his restaurants reopened on May 10, he paired his line staff to limit interaction with other employees — each of those cooks will work only with their partner and will share days off. In the dining room at Black Rabbit, distancing guidelines mean he’s down to just six tables.

Cioccia’s menu is pared down, in part because he has no idea what customer demand is going to be in the coming weeks. The events and tourist traffic that bolstered his downtown spaces are gone. How much business will come back? It’s anybody’s guess at this point, but Cioccia’s not rolling fresh pasta or investing a lot of money in expensive beef right now.

Customer expectations are a wild card.

What will patrons think when their server arrives wearing a mask? Will they expect the same menu even though the restaurant is taking in half of its pre-virus revenue?

One chef relays an anecdote about a regular customer demanding to order off the full menu — even though his restaurant was only serving a limited number of dishes for takeout. And will diners react poorly if they see a line cook raise their mask?

“The cooks still need to taste the food before we serve it,” says Bastion’s Josh Habiger. “I hope our loyal friends and guests understand.” The typical experience at his highly regarded, intimate restaurant is a lot of sharing between diners in front of an open kitchen. Will it change who comes in?

“It’s great if you’re sharing with someone you’re isolating with,” Habiger says. “Not so good if it’s a Tinder date.”

Henrietta Red’s Julia Sullivan says having

mainly locals as customers may cut down on some of the expectation problems — her biggest “challenges,” as she calls them, often come from tourists — but that’s a doubleedged sword. Like Cioccia, she points to the tourism that has fueled the city’s dining renaissance. She knows that many restaurants won’t make it through this downturn.

“The two things that are stressing me out the most are the purgatory we’re in, both with restaurants and public-health-wise,” Sullivan says. “You hear about restaurants staying open, with or without public help, but the big question is, will we be able to sustain a cashflow beyond the government [infusion of PPP funds]? And then, we can control what’s going on in our spaces, but we can’t control what customers do within those spaces.”

Pictures that surfaced a few weeks ago from crowded bars like Tin Roof in Williamson County did little to allay Sullivan’s and other chefs’ concerns.

Ultimately, Benefield’s anxiety comes down to what’s best for her staff.

“I feel they need to stop focusing on pushing restaurants to open so quickly,” says Benefield. “Guests can’t wear masks and eat, drink, converse freely, which puts our teams’ lives at risk. The way it’s set up now, a lot of hospitality-industry folks are getting shamed for making so much on unemployment and not ‘wanting’ to come back to work, when that isn’t the case at all. The reality is, most are faced with coming back, beginning work, coming off unemployment, and risking getting ill, not having insurance, so potentially acquiring major medical bills, having to stay home for two to three weeks or more to recover, all the while not making any money.

“The unemployment benefits are providing a sense of care and safety,” she continues. “Something most in our industry never feel. As we offer jobs back to our staff, if they don’t feel safe, they technically have refused work and have to come off unemployment.

“How is that fair if they don’t feel safe?”

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615-228-6600 nashvillescene.com | MAY 21 – MAY 27, 2020 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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art/dance

Things Will Be Brighter A round of Metro Arts THRIVE awards uplifts Nashvillians sheltering in place

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illustration: Elisheba Israel Mrozik

pacted their lives — for projects that could “uplift, support and connect the Nashville community while adhering to safer-athome social distancing recommendations.”

Awards range from $500 to $2,500.

We Lift Our Eyes provides a sense of connection to others whom we can’t be with at this time. For Reitmeyer, the sky is “seemingly unaffected by what’s going on down here.”

“If I think too much about it,” she continues, “it feels like the world is ending or it’s changing and out of my control. But meanwhile, spring is happening, and the birds are back, and the clouds are going right on by. If I stop to watch them, at first glance it looks like they’re not moving. But if I stand there for a minute or two, I can actually see they’re going by pretty fast.”

Reitmeyer plans to print out all the photos as iron-ons and transfer them to fabric to create tapestries that can be hung in the waiting rooms of government offices.

In another THRIVE project, Xavier Payne (aka XPayne) designed two billboards that speak to the resilience of Nashvillians.

In one, located on Jefferson Street and 11th Avenue North, Payne puts Tupac Shakur in

profile, a ball cap backwards on his head, looking at the words “Keep Ya Head Up,” which appear in Payne’s graffiti-inspired style. On another billboard on Main Street in East Nashville next to Jerry’s Artarama, a young boy appears in profile, a bandanna knotted on his forehead in signature Tupac style, next to the words “Ooh child, things’ll get brighter.”

In an Instagram post, Payne writes: “Tu-

pac watches over the city, facing a message from his Black Feminist manifesto, ‘Keep Ya Head Up.’ … I was born in Michigan and moved to Nashville when I was little, so most of my family still lives up north. It’s hard (and honestly scary) to tell you I have family affected by the virus, and I have friends affected by the tornado.”

The billboards act like a couplet, complementing one another in style and theme. It’s

Photo: Daniel Meigs

W

hether you live in a house, an apartment building or an RV, whether you have a yard, a balcony or a window, artist Beth Reitmeyer has one suggestion for you: Look up at the sky.

Reitmeyer is known for creating smallscale textile environments that have appeared at the Frist Art Museum, OZ Arts Nashville and more. Her tent-like structures are lit by string lights and contain dozens of plush sculptural pieces of varying sizes — stars with pockets for messages, pumpkins, geodes — and accompanied by ambient soundscapes. Reitmeyer encourages spectators to come inside, lie down or have a pillow fight. But now in the time of coronavirus, when close physical contact has the potential to be fatal, Reitmeyer has looked elsewhere.

With her recent project We Lift Our Eyes, Reitmeyer collects photos that others take of the sky. It began as a simple exchange with a friend, a way for Reitmeyer to pause, to mark time and to think about others.

When she became stuck at home, the ritual took on new meaning. “I was realizing that when I lift my eyes up, that’s a hopeful thing, and it’s also an attentive thing,” says Reitmeyer.

The collection, which you can view at weliftoureyes.com, includes photos of a stunning blood-orange Mother’s Day sunset, a faint rainbow overlaying a pink-andgray sky, and fluffy cumulus clouds that surround a bright sun, like you’d see in a Renaissance-era painting.

The project is funded by the Metro Arts Commission’s THRIVE program, which provides microfunding for individual artists and nonprofits that aren’t already receiving granting support from the commission. Soon after the March 3 tornado and Metro’s shelter-in-place order, the commission called a board meeting and decided to reallocate $50,000 of operational funding to a round of THRIVE awards. This time, the commission asked artists to propose a project showing how the tornado and pandemic have im-

Photo: Beth Reitmeyer

By Erica Ciccarone

Nashville Scene | may 21 – may 27, 2020 | nashvillescene.com

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5/18/20 2:28 PM

art/dance

Of Grace and Gratitude

Company dancer Kayla Rowser says goodbye to Nashville Ballet

By Amy Stumpfl

I

t wasn’t exactly the farewell that Nashville Ballet company dancer Kayla Rowser had envisioned when she first announced her plan to retire at the end of the 2019-20 season. But last weekend, as the organization presented a digital version of Emergence — the popular choreographic workshop, which was originally scheduled to run May 14-17 at the Martin Center for Nashville Ballet — Rowser found herself feeling grateful.

“I had the opportunity to work with [company dancer and choreographer] Julia Eisen for Emergence,” Rowser says. “At such a difficult time, it was a relief to be working with a friend who has been so supportive throughout my career and was also eager to make the best of the situation. I’m so grateful for the positive and encouraging energy Julia brought to our Zoom rehearsals, and even though we weren’t physically together in the studio, I could feel a glimmer of the camaraderie that makes life in a ballet company so special.”

Such grace and professionalism is typical of Rowser, who has performed with the Nashville Ballet since 2007. Originally from Conyers, Ga., Rowser says she started ballet classes at age 4 and was immediately hooked.

“I was that kid who was always wiggling and dancing around, so I absolutely loved the movement. But I think it was the aim for perfection that really drew me to ballet. Dancers are all recovering perfectionists, and even though that’s not really attainable, I definitely connected with the idea of constantly working to be better. Plus, as a very shy kid, ballet gave me a way to find my voice without actually having to speak out, and that was incredibly powerful.”

After graduating from high school, Rowser joined Charleston Ballet Theatre for one season before joining Nashville Ballet’s second company, NB2.

Since being promoted to full company-member status in 2010, Rowser has taken on big roles such as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in Nashville’s Nutcracker, and the title role in Paul Vasterling’s Cinderella. Other notable performances include Russian Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade, the title role in Vasterling’s Firebird and a principal in Christopher Wheeldon’s Ghosts. And in 2019, Rowser premiered the role of Lucy in the world premiere of Vasterling’s acclaimed Lucy Negro Redux.

“When I first arrived in Nashville, I immediately fell in the love with the company and the city, but I still wasn’t sure that I had what it takes to make it as a professional dancer,” admits Rowser, who’s been featured in publications including Dance Magazine, Dance International, Pointe, The Washington Post, HuffPost and The New York Times. “But I thought, As long as the opportunities keep presenting themselves, I think I’ve found a home.

“There’s nothing quite like professional ballet in terms of the physical and mental challenges,” she adds. “It’s just incredibly intense.

But I’m such a goal-oriented person, always looking ahead to what’s next. I remember getting my apprentice contract — that was so exciting. And then being promoted to full company felt like such an accomplishment. Those first big roles were so important, and then to have roles created on me — it’s just

Photos: Daniel Meigs

also a nice touch that Tupac’s “Keep Ya Head Up” samples The Five Stairsteps’ “O-o-h Child.”

“I just want to help people forget, maybe for just a second, how scary this place can be,” writes Payne. “I hope you all stay happy and safe. Wash ya hands.”

Among the list of THRIVE projects are “Zoom-prov” — virtual improv classes hosted by the group Unscripted; video classes on the craft of luthiery and songwriting with Delgado Guitars; and a visual-art educational video series called D.I.Y. Not? With Emily Sue Laird. One of the best projects comes from Elisheba Israel Mrozik, artist and owner of One Drop Ink Tattoo Parlor and Gallery.

Mrozik created a coloring and activity book called Nashville Strong. As a founding member of the Jefferson Street Art Crawl, Mrozik has made her business a hub of creative activity, though it has been closed since the city issued its stayat-home order. Despite these restraints, Mrozik wanted to focus her energy on rebuilding the city and boosting community engagement. She started driving around Nashville, snapping photos of people and places she came across.

Among the many illustrations inspired by those photographs are a man standing on a ladder beside a house, hammer in hand; smiling health care workers; and the activist group Gideon’s Army standing together, its leader Rasheedat Fetuga talking to two kids. The book makes use of several of our official state symbols — irises, a mockingbird and a catfish among them, plus a cut-out of our state wild animal, the raccoon.

“Kids ain’t in school,” says Mrozik, a mom of two herself. “But they can learn something from this little coloring book.”

One Drop Ink has not received a loan from the Small Business Administration, nor has Mrozik received unemployment assistance as an independent contractor.

She hopes to reopen the shop at some point in June, pending the city’s phased reopening plan, and she’ll of course do so with new procedures and restrictions in place. Mrozik says springtime is the shop’s busiest season, and she has continued to receive inquiries throughout the pandemic. She’s grateful for the THRIVE award, but frustrated that it’s difficult for artists to get financial assistance through other channels. Mayor John Cooper’s recently proposed budget cuts discretionary spending — including Metro Arts’ granting program — by 50 percent.

“The creative people are the last people to have any safety net,” says Mrozik. “I will continue to say that art is skilled labor, and it should be paid just like an electrician or a plumber or anything else that is a skilled labor.”

Meanwhile, artists are continuing to engage Nashvillians through their practices, and Reitmeyer sees an opportunity for increased participation in the arts.

“I think people are re-examining their lives and how they find meaning, and they don’t want to just live practically,” Reitmeyer says. “That’s the hope.”

Find the full list of THRIVE projects at metroartsnashville.com.

Email arts@nashvillescene.com

been an amazing journey. But along with all those milestones, I still found such joy in process. That’s what keeps you going.”

Rowser points to The Sleeping Beauty as one highlight.

“[The 2012 production] was my very first fulllength ballet, so I was really nervous. And Aurora is such a demanding role. It felt like a huge makeor-break moment to me. I really wanted to prove to myself — and to audiences — that I was ready. And as a dancer of color, it’s not a role that I ever thought I would do, so that made it even more special.

“Diversity is so important in dance — in any art form, really — but it’s a multifaceted issue,” she continues. “It’s skin color and body type and all sorts of things. People must be able to see themselves represented onstage. And by challenging perceptions and celebrating diversity and inclusivity, we open doors for others.”

As she looks to the future, Rowser says she is eager to focus on new challenges. She plans to stay in Nashville with her husband, Nick Tazik, as she pursues a bachelor’s degree in communications through the University of Arkansas’ online program.

“I’ll miss being in the studio daily,” she says.

“There’s something so powerful about the mind/body connection of dance. And, of course, I’ll miss performing. I’m naturally introverted, so when I’m onstage I get to be the biggest version of myself. This has been such a strange way to end things, and I’m really sad about all the performances we had to cancel this spring. But I’m not going to let that overshadow all that I’ve accomplished. For the past 14 years, I’ve lived my wildest dreams, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”

Email arts@nashvillescene.com

nashvillescene.com | may 21 – may 27, 2020 | Nashville Scene

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books

RediscoveRing the delta A long-lost study of the Mississippi Delta reveals the source of the blues

By Jonathan Frey

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n the early 1940s, Fisk University scholars undertook a multifaceted sociological study of Coahoma County, Miss. The project, known as the Coahoma Study, contained far-reaching revelations about the Mississippi Delta region and its culture, particularly its African American musical traditions. Yet remarkably, its results lay unpublished for more than 60 years.

In 2005, editors Robert Gordon and Bruce Nemerov compiled the material from this extraordinary study in Lost Delta Found: Rediscovering the Fisk University-Library of Congress Coahoma County Study, 1941-1942, published by Vanderbilt University Press.

The book was recognized by The Blues Foundation in 2019 as a Classic of Blues Literature and has been reissued this year in paperback.

The original stimulus for the Coahoma Study was an event in a totally different Mississippi county, Adams, 200 miles south.

In 1940, an accidental fire at the Rhythm Club Lost DeLta FounD: ReDiscoveRing the Fisk univeRsity-LibRaRy oF congRess coahoma county stuDy, 1941-1942

By John W. Work, LeWis Wade Jones and samueL C. adams Jr.; edited By roBert Gordon and BruCe nemerov vanderBiLt university Press 344 PaGes, $18.95 in Natchez, Miss., took more than 200 lives. John W. Work III, a musicology professor at Fisk University, proposed to examine the cultural ramifications of the calamity a year later, with the goal of capturing the expected folk memorials. Owing to the exigencies of time and resources, the original proposal instead evolved into a series of research field trips, in collaboration with famed Library of Congress folklorist Alan Lomax, focusing on Coahoma County.

This new focus was fortuitous. The broader scope produced a rich trove of material, including an overview of the Delta region

by Fisk sociologist Lewis Jones; Work’s untitled manuscript of sociological and musical findings; Work’s transcriptions of more than 150 songs; and Fisk graduate student Samuel Adams’ master’s thesis, which drew on a survey of 100 plantation families in the region.

As the editors’ introduction to Lost Delta Found notes, “John Work’s interest in folk music sparked one of the earliest, most important, and comprehensive studies of folk music culture in the United States.” The ensuing research documented the genesis of the blues, a genre with a profound and enduring influence on American popular music.

The study identified some of the earliest blues musicians, tracing their music to postCivil War African American life, especially

among Mississippi sharecroppers and levee mule skinners. The study revealed African American contributions to developing the Delta economically, as well.

Owing to personality conflicts among the investigators and the demands of World War II (both Lomax and Adams were drafted), the Coahoma Study discoveries were never published in unified form, though the Library of Congress released field recordings of the Delta bluesmen as early as 1942. In 1993, more than 50 years after the fact, Alan Lomax would incorporate his and others’ Coahoma observations in his award-winning opus, The Land Where the Blues Began.

Meanwhile, the notes, manuscripts and transcriptions went separate ways, each getting lost in different places, some lost permanently to fire (but thankfully not before being microfilmed). The Jones and Work manuscripts were rediscovered accidentally by Lost Delta Found co-editor Gordon, tucked in the back of a file cabinet at the Alan Lomax Archives at Hunter College in New York.

Perhaps the most famous outcome of the study relates to the discovery of one McKinley Morganfield, a 29-year-old sharecropper, musician and singer, soon to be known worldwide as Muddy Waters. As Lomax would describe it in Where the Blues Began, this “session has become a holy occasion in the minds of blues lovers, so much written-about and discussed that young blues scholars seem to know more about what went on than I do.” Indeed, two of the cuts recorded at that time were to launch Waters’ career, resulting in his relocation to Chicago, where he became perhaps the best representative of that city’s blues sound.

That famed Waters session is not without controversy, however. Work conducted the interview with Waters, who during the recorded session clearly identified himself as Muddy Water, singular. However, the liner notes to the Library of Congress recordings released a year later identify Waters in the more commonly known plural form. The editors of Lost Delta Found credit this discrepancy to a typographical error of Lomax’s, suggesting that it established Morganfield’s ultimate professional name, now known the world over.

That odd fluke befits a project with such a complicated history — one that wandered far from its initial focus and then saw much of its original material lost or unrecognized for 60 years. Music lovers and scholars of Delta life can only be grateful for its rediscovery and belated recognition as an essential contribution to our understanding of this piece of American culture.

For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee.

Email arts@nashvillEscEnE.com

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 21 – MAY 27, 2020 | nashvillescene.com

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5/18/20 1:33 PM

music

Saluting the Originator Looking back at the life of Little Richard, who gave rock ’n’ roll its transformative soul

By Ron Wynn

“T

itanic” might not be an adequate enough word to describe the impact of Little Richard on the course of American popular music. Born Richard Wayne Penniman in Macon, Ga., the artist fused a host of elements into a majestic, totally distinctive, personal approach. Richard continually alternated between the search for salvation and the pursuit of ecstasy, blurring and obliterating gender norms while combining boogie-woogie and gospel piano licks with robust shouts and theatrical flamboyance, melding influences from the church, strip joints and dirt-floor honkytonks. He spent much of the last decade of his life in the Nashville area, and on May 10, he died at age 87 of bone cancer at a family member’s home in Tullahoma, Tenn.

While Richard certainly absorbed aspects of other artists’ styles — notably Billy Wright’s piano pounding, Marion Williams’ gospel whoop and Esquerita’s androgynous flair — he accelerated and converged those qualities. The persona he created electrified and galvanized generations of youngsters and performers while simultaneously horrifying moralists and puritanical types.

The rebellious and innovative nature of his music was groundbreaking during an era of overt segregation and extreme social restrictiveness. To this day, there are people who are highly uncomfortable or even offended by artists — from Prince and David Bowie to Frank Ocean and Janelle Monáe — who’ve embraced Richard’s conventionstomping ethos.

As a teen, Richard worked the rigorous and often combative Chitlin’ Circuit of black clubs across the South, polishing an act that needed exactly the right recording environment to flourish. He found it in 1955, when he recorded for Art Rupe’s Specialty Records in New Orleans with members of Fats Domino’s band and producer Robert “Bumps” Blackwell. What initially seemed a lackluster session became a landmark event in rock ’n’ roll when they tracked Richard’s song “Tutti Frutti” — albeit with lyrics edited to tone down the overt sexuality of the original. It was the foundation for a string of transformative singles, and the elevation of Richard into a mega-star.

Between 1955 and 1957, Specialty released “Long Tall Sally,” “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Rip It Up,” “Lucille” and the titular tune from Frank Tashlin’s 1956 rock ’n’ roll flick The Girl Can’t Help It. Then came the first of Richard’s departures from the world of secular music. Following events he saw as signs during a tour of Australia, he enrolled at Oakwood College, a Seventh-day Adventist institution in Huntsville, Ala., and was later ordained as a minister.

Some folks believe that Richard never made any great records after his peak years in the ’50s, which is a woeful misreading of his career and accomplishments. Beginning

in the 1960s, he made several superb albums of both gospel music and soul music — see the Quincy Jones-produced The King of the Gospel Singers from 1961, as well as 1964’s Little Richard Is Back, which is believed to feature the lineup of Richard’s band that included Jimi Hendrix. On Jerry Lee Lewis’ 2006 album Last Man Standing, Richard turned in a triumphant cover of the Lennon/ McCartney tune “I Saw Her Standing There.”

Yet he never completely left the pulpit, finding time to deliver sermons, distribute religious literature and even officiate marriages.

Richard toured with artists he influenced, like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Isley Brothers, and did some acting. Around a string of outstanding releases in the early 1970s, he also made celebrated talk show appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Dick Cavett Show.

He recorded for numerous labels in his various journeys between spiritual and secular music, among them Vee-Jay, Mercury, Atlantic, Okeh, Brunswick, Reprise and Warner Bros.

What irritated some latter-day fans and commentators about Richard was that he understood how innovative he’d been, and how much he influenced so many artists, and that he didn’t hesitate to speak up about it. He was a superb technical vocalist, something that sometimes got overlooked or totally ignored because of the focus on his rapid-fire wordplay and verbal gymnastics.

Between acrobatic antics that had him rippling from octave to octave and stomping on the piano keyboard, he delivered splendidly crafted boogie-woogie and barrelhouse blues licks and melodies. Although he was an inaugural inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, Richard had to wait until 1993 to get a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy — recognition that the Grammys’ awarding body should have given decades before.

Richard also had extensive connections to Nashville. In his authorized biography, written by Charles White, Richard credits Nashville radio station WLAC and DJ Gene Nobles with helping break “Tutti Frutti” as a national hit. Michael Gray of The Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum interviewed Richard in 2003, in preparation for what would become the museum’s seminal Night Train to Nashville exhibit centered on the city’s R&B scene. Gray recalls that Richard talked at length about visits here in his early years, staying at the YMCA across the corner from the Baptist Publishing House along with B.B. King, and performing at and visiting staples of the city’s thriving black music scene like the Bijou Theater, Grady’s Blues House, The Club Revillot and the New Era Club. Richard also talked about his personal friendships with Nashville R&B musicians like Christine Kittrell, Larry Birdsong and Ted Jarrett.

Longtime Nashville R&B musician Jimmy Church had a deep friendship with Richard that dated back to the ’60s. Despite

being in poor health, Richard attended the funeral of Church’s wife in 2019; a few months later, Church performed a tribute to Richard at the governor’s mansion during a ceremony in which Richard and others were recognized with Governor’s Arts Awards.

“Being the superstar he was, he never showed that around me,” Church tells the Scene. “He treated me with respect as if I was his equal in the business. He had a wonderful spirit.”

The list of top stars who’ve sung Rich-

Close Ties Quez Cantrell explores black identity in Music City and beyond on 9

By Brittney McKenna

O

n his 28th birthday in October 2018, Quez Cantrell made a choice that would change the course of his life.

He was a lifelong hip-hop fan with myriad connections to Nashville’s booming Find links to stream 9 at nashvillescene.com hip-hop scene, and he decided it was finally time to try his hand at making music. He began writing songs in short order, and found that he had a lot of stories to tell.

“I was going to sit down and see what I could come up with, and give it a year before I even let anyone know I was working on anything,” Cantrell tells the Scene via phone.

In January 2020, he released 9, a six-song project that establishes him as a preternaturally

ard’s praises since his death includes Mick Jagger, Brenda Lee, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan — and even Pat Boone, whose atrociously sanitized versions of Richard’s hits still rankle Richard admirers. But none of the praise can fully quantify the impact of a man who showed generations of artists and fans an otherworldly, liberating vision of rock ’n’ roll. Little Richard was genuinely one of a kind, and it’s unlikely that we’ll see or hear anyone like him ever again.

Email music@nashvillescene.com

gifted MC. The record showcases Cantrell’s natural prowess at powerful storytelling and a deep, authoritative delivery that adds a meaningful heft to the yarns he spins.

Sports figure heavily in Cantrell’s lyrics. They are his way of “putting the candy in the medicine,” as he says, so that he can riff on weightier topics like systemic racism and gentrification. He also made a lot of his musical connections, including his long-standing friendship with top-shelf Music City rapper Petty, through playing sports as a youngster.

“We met when we played football and baseball on the same team,” Cantrell says. “We grew up playing together. So our relationship is deeper than rap. Rap is just something we both love to do, so it makes sense to do it together.”

Cantrell studied computer science at Austin Peay State University. His studies led him to developing websites for Petty and other local MCs, and those early connections have been integral in developing his career. “I’ve been able to grow a network and relationships with people musically, just by being helpful to the culture,” he says.

Cantrell wrote 9’s six tracks between October 2018 and February 2019, using borrowed beats while he made plans to work with producers on original tracks.

nashvillescene.com | may 21 – may 27, 2020 | Nashville Scene

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5/18/20 6:11 PM

music

Another Look

Catching up on recent releases that flew beneath our radar

By Kelsey Beyeler, Mamie Davis, Edd Hurt, P.J. Kinzer, Lorie Liebig, Stephen Trageser, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian and Jacqueline Zeisloft

A

few weeks ago, we wrote up a handful of records that hadn’t gotten the attention they deserve — simply a function of the volume of good work being done in Nashville’s rich and diverse music scene.

Find links to buy That hasn’t changed, these albums at even during the nashvillescene.com COVID-19 pandemic.

And considering that many musicians remain out of work, we’ve rounded up thoughts on nine more noteworthy releases that you can purchase online right now.

Hailey Whitters, The Dream (self-released) When rising country ace Hailey Whitters sings, “I’m 12 years into a 10-year town,” you can hear the frustration and determination in her voice. That lived experience powers the superbly crafted stories and character sketches that make up her LP The Dream. Whitters is clearly in this for the long haul, and the quality of co-writes with fellow lyrical powerhouses Lori McKenna and Brandy Clark suggest we’ve got a lot to look forward to. LORIE LIEBIG

GRUMPY

Jamiah, 22 (self-released)

Grumpy, Loser (Acrophase) The full-length debut from Grumpy offers intimate narratives wrapped up in full-flavored, multilayered pop with stacks of guitars, keyboards and percussion. Frontwoman Mason Schmitt’s songs are confessional, carefully picking apart the layers of uncomfortable situations and awkward feelings and folding them gently into clever sing-along hooks. As hilariously gross as things get sometimes (a memorable romantic encounter is spoiled by a gassy dog), she’s always working hard to find balance, give herself grace and tune out the

things that ultimately don’t matter. STEPHEN

TRAGESER

Declan Kennedy, Guilty as Anybody (selfreleased) Folk-rocker Declan Kennedy’s second full-length release has a refreshingly conversational feel that belies the weight of what he’s singing about. The lyrics of “Warning Signs” hit home for a lot of young folks feeling lost as they try to find their way, and though the record’s been out for nearly a year, they feel especially poignant in a time when none of us feels confident in what our future looks like. MAMIE DAVIS

There are lots of flavors of psych rock, and it’s impressive that one man can cover so many. The latest release from DD Island, aka Brandon Rhodes, is called 2015-18 Demos, and as the title suggests, it’s a 13song collection of lo-fi, effects-laden odds

He wrote “Max Contract$” to the beat of Brian Brown’s “Stoop Kid” before enlisting Chino to produce the track you hear on the final project. When it was time to share his demos with loved ones and collaborators, he was surprised by the encouragement he received.

“I’m [almost] 30 years old,” he says, laughing. “To go to someone and say, ‘I’m making music’ — even the people closest to you might look at you like, ‘Huh?’ “ The centerpiece of 9 is its title track, which pays homage to late Titans quarterback Steve McNair.

The magic of “9” is how Cantrell takes a snapshot of present-day Nashville (and all its problems) while drawing a line back to McNair’s historic career and the aftershocks of his untimely death. After lamenting the loss of several locations of the restaurant Mrs. Winner’s (“They took Mrs. Winner’s from the culture / And we been struggling with defeat”), Cantrell compares the opening of the pizza parlor Slim & Husky’s on historic Buchanan Street to a cousin coming home. The story revolves around the tools you use to form your identity.

“At least for me personally, [McNair] is the first black male figure someone can tie to the city of Nashville globally,” he says. “I wanted to find one symbol for all blackness in Nashville. … That’s to lead [listeners] to the water — then they realize I’m trying to be more informative. I sat down and wrote

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from a place of frustration, living here my whole life and seeing the collective struggle of blackness. I felt like that was a necessary song. I wanted this project to feel like a ride through Nashville from the black perspective.”

Cantrell has an uncanny knack for turning the timely into timeless. On “The Black Today,” which also features local vocalist Dee Grand, he laments the assassination of hip-hop artist and activist Nipsey Hussle, who was gunned down in front of his South Los Angeles store Marathon Clothing in March 2019.

“It hurt being black today,” raps Cantrell as the somber track begins, gentle keys and an understated beat rolling out around him.

“It was a really touching moment for me and everybody around me, because we hold him in a very high light,” says Cantrell. “He gave me a lot of context to my story through his story. That situation ended up presenting that song.”

The song has other echoes that don’t die down. A few days before this interview, the story of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by two white men while he was out for a jog in Brunswick, Ga., became national news. When asked if that horrific story makes “The Black Today” resonate in a different way for him, Cantrell looks closer to home.

Turning 22 doesn’t carry the same cultural gravitas as the previous birthday, but Nashville-by-way-of-Georgia R&B singer Jamiah’s accomplished debut EP titled 22 makes the occasion a major event. She distills raw feelings of anxiety and excitement that come with the boundless potential of being in your early 20s. In the laid-back “L.A.,” featuring a verse from rapper Tim Gent, Jamiah toys with moving to a new city and never looking back; in “Make Time” and “Up to You,” she stresses over the fate of a fragile romantic relationship. In the lofty, SZA-influenced “Twenty2,” Jamiah confronts anxiety directly. The sophisticated and accessible EP is a great place to start if you want to learn more about Nashville R&B.

JACQUELINE ZEISLOFT Skin Tension, Observe/Mimic/Mutate and Skin Vision (self-released) Skin Tension’s superb 27-minute set closed out one of the most memorable recent showcases of Nashville experimental music: Local Fest, which ran in July 2019 at Betty’s Bar & Grill. The duo of drummer Josh Byrd and guitarist Edward Longo played post-free-jazz patterns in tandem with Music City saxophonist JayVe Montgomery. This year, Skin Tension has released a pair of excellent sets that illustrate their work ethic. On the March EP Observe/ Mimic/Mutate, “Hidden Village” takes a discursive look back at Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way and Agharta. They embark on equally discursive — but even darker — journeys on their 15-track full-length Skin Vision,

photo: andre shipp

PHOTO: HARPER SMITH

DD Island, 2015-18 Demos (self-released)

HAILEY WHITTERS

and ends covering the whole rainbow of psych. Tracks like “12” and “Falling in Love” represent a more flowery, pastoral variety, while “Heavy Slam” and “Smurf Cabbage” are more fuzzy and gruff. There’s no pressure for Rhodes to be cohesive here, and that’s fine. He’s got a new EP called Scaphoid on the way soon — we’ll see what vein he decides to mine this time. KELSEY BEYELER

“In the second verse I say, ‘How many of our brothers do we have to pick up off the pavement / Before we realize this shit don’t make sense,’ ” he says. “I had a cousin murdered in June, and my brother was murdered in July. I had to live the reality

of that song. … I feel like that’s a song we’ll still relate to 10 years from now. When I wrote it I felt it would always be relatable, because it talks about collective black struggle as a whole.”

Email music@nashvillescene.com

Nashville Scene | may 21 – may 27, 2020 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC released in April. The music recalls musicians running the gamut from Four Tet to Autechre, but the underlying free-jazz pulse comes through. EDD HURT

DUO TACHOIR, SHADES OF BLUE (AVITA) Shades of Blue, the 10th album featuring the husband-and-wife duo of vibraphonist Jerry and pianist Marlene Tachoir, offers intimate, superbly executed material that’s nicely balanced between improvisational edge and classical precision. The seven originals range from the pensive, thoughtful mood of the three-part “Reflections for Vibraphone and Piano,” to the more playful tone expressed in “Cat Step” or “A Greener Blues.” All seven compositions were penned by Marlene Tachoir, and the session was recorded at the couple’s Good Vibes Sound Studio in Hendersonville. It’s alternately entrancing and compelling, a nice blend of elegance and energy. RON WYNN

LOGAN LEDGER, LOGAN LEDGER (ELECTROMAGNETIC/ROUNDER)

PHOTO: CHRIS TURPIN

California native Logan Ledger may be new to Nashville, but he’s made himself right at home. Ledger worked on his self-

LOGAN LEDGER titled record with producer extraordinaire T Bone Burnett, and the singer’s spectral croon is surrounded by all the lush reverb and walking bass you could hope to squeeze into the grooves around the lovesick narratives. Ledger’s backing band, fluent in both classic country and ’60s pop, could be the children of two legendary studio outfits, Nashville’s A Team and L.A.’s Wrecking Crew. It’s a fresh approach to a very classic, melancholy sound. P.J. KINZER

THE SPIN SPINNING IN INFINITY

BY STEVEN HALE, EDD HURT AND STEPHEN TRAGESER

M

ost of us are balancing multiple anxieties at the moment. Those include, but are certainly not limited to, how to stay sane during a nerve-racking event like the COVID-19 pandemic, and what our society and our economy are going to look like after we get it under control. Kelly Hoppenjans has some experience with this kind of lingering anxiety. A few years ago, the singer, songwriter and power-pop-schooled guitarist had multiple surgeries to repair a broken arm, and during the healing process, it wasn’t clear when she might be able to perform again.

Thankfully, she healed up, and was even able to get an album out of the experience: She released OK, I Feel Better Now in October. On May 12, she performed as part of the Scene’s No-Contact Shows livestream series, with an eight-song set of tunes that were comforting in different ways — some were cathartic, while others offered reminders that it’s OK to feel … well, less than OK about all that’s happening.

One highlight was the pairing of the OK song “Band-Aid Girl” with a newer one called “Stain,” both of which look at the aftermath of the same romantic relationship.

She explained that one line near the end of “Band-Aid Girl” — “If you burn me, it’s a little bit my fault” — reflected how she felt when she wrote the song. Though she still loves to sing “Band-Aid Girl,” she said, doing it over and over has helped her investigate those feelings and question why she’d blame herself for someone being a jerk to her, and “Stain,” which looks at the lasting damage of toxic behavior, was the result.

Self-quarantine can mean a lot of new feelings to process. Someone who’s exceptionally skilled at navigating this kind of complicated emotional territory is singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jessica Ott, better known as Whoa Dakota. Her 2018 LP Patterns brims with emotionally honest, frequently fun and danceable

MY WALL, MINE (NO SABES) It doesn’t seem coincidental that Nashville trio My Wall put their debut LP out into the world on 4/20. Mine is a 45-minute tone massage in five movements: all buzzsaw riffs, low-end murk and forwardlurching drums, with a raw, unprocessed recording courtesy of Shibby Poole, main man of ominous thrashers Yautja and goto recordist for all things local, heavy and DIY. Mine’s feedback-punctuated nineminute centerpiece “Crash Site” in particular reaffirms the timeless combo that is low-tuned guitars and the devil’s lettuce.

File next to Cavity — the sludgy Florida outfit that spawned doom-pop legends Floor — and Sleep’s almighty Dopesmoker.

CHARLIE ZAILLIAN EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

DO IT ANYWAY: JASON ISBELL AND AMANDA SHIRES

THE BIG DOOR PRIZE: WHOA DAKOTA songs about understanding yourself better in order to have better relationships with other people. During another NoContact Show on May 14, she played a few of those tunes and others with partner Collin Gundry, who also performs and records as Tuxedo Wildlife.

In addition to older songs like “Patterns” and “Baggage” and a cover of John Prine’s beloved “In Spite of Ourselves,”

Ott and Gundry shared several works in progress. One of the new songs that may resonate the most strongly — with musicians especially, but also with anyone who’s grappling with the meaning of life right now — is called “Out of My Mind.”

Sonically, it highlights the commonalities between R&B and country, and lyrically, it addresses the friction that can come with trying to make a living from an activity that you’re passionate about.

It’s not often you run into a well-made pop album that takes its mastery as a point of departure for an inquiry into the mind of its creator. On his new full-length Going to the Movies, Nashville keyboardist, singer and songwriter Mark Fredson creates pop that is impeccably formalist and psychologically deep. Going to the Movies references yacht rock, soul, Billy Joel and The Beach Boys.

On the evening of May 15, Fredson appeared at Acme Feed & Seed as part of Acme Radio Live’s Social Distancing Sessions, following an opening set from indie-rock quartet Keeps. Fredson’s set was just a man and his piano: He went solo with the material he wrote for Going to the Movies. Fredson has presence as a performer, and he possesses a subtly subversive genius that might make you rethink any facile comparisons with Joel or Elton John.

Fredson, who moved to town from Washington in 2010 with his band The Lonely H, doesn’t exactly rock on Going to the Movies, but his new music does evoke, say, Joel’s normal-guy psychodramas. For example, “Loud and Clear” turns out to be about a woman who keeps giving Fredson advice he may not heed.

At Acme, Fredson proved himself a worthy successor to John and Joel, complete with a falsetto he used to drive home the emotional points of his music. The selfanalysis came through even on songs like “Bitchin’ Summer,” which on the surface seems trivial. He ended the set with two examples of his tuneful pop psychology.

“Thoughts and Prayers,” about complacency in the face of chaos, went perfectly with one about putting yourself first, titled “Only the Best (From This Point On).”

A little later that night, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires walked onstage at the mostly empty Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, hamming it up and pretending to receive the thunderous applause from a crowd that wasn’t there. Isbell noted wryly that the view from the stage looked “a lot like all the CD release shows we did before Southeastern came out.”

Before the 2013 album he mentioned, which was his commercial and critical breakthrough, Isbell was still drinking and was still mostly the beloved secret of a niche audience — a generational talent flying below the radar of the people who hand out such titles. This time, the reason Isbell and Shires were playing in front of no more people than it took to run the sound and lights was quite different.

Thanks to the closing of public spaces to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which began right around the time the Germantown-area venue was supposed to have its grand opening, Isbell and Shires christened the venue with a livestream, giving an acoustic duo performance of Reunions, the characteristically excellent new album Isbell recorded with his band the 400 Unit and released earlier that day. In lieu of buying a ticket, fans were able to donate money to support Isbell’s touring crew and MusiCares’ COVID-19 relief fund.

After the pair played through the record’s first three songs — “What’ve I Done to Help,” “Dreamsicle” and “Only Children” — Shires told a story of taking David Crosby to dinner in East Nashville. She watched in awe and admiration as the legendary singersongwriter lit a joint in the restaurant.

“Overseas” maintained its power in an acoustic setting via Shires playing the indelible guitar riff on violin. A little later came the recovery anthem “It Gets Easier,” and Isbell offered his support to people fighting to stay clean and sober while under quarantine. The songs are still brand-new, and given the circumstances, Isbell hasn’t played many of them live. Two or three times during the set, he stopped a song to request a do-over after a missed transition or misplaced a lyric.

“Sometimes in the middle of a song, I will try to do something to demonstrate to you all that I’m not just playing to backing tracks,” he said.

After playing the album’s heartfelt closer “Letting You Go,” dedicated to their young daughter, Isbell and Shires re-emerged for an encore that you might have missed, since the stream seemed to indicate the show was over. They signed off, for now, with their cover of Warren Zevon’s “Mutineer” and the fan favorite “Cover Me Up.” The latter song hits a bit differently now than it did when Southeastern was released, as so many of us find ourselves locked inside, waiting for a worldwide fever to break.

EMAIL THESPIN@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | MAY 21 – MAY 27, 2020 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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film

Primal Stream IX: Jason Goes to Hell Zombies, blaxploitation and heavy metal, now available to stream

By Jason Shawhan

I

hope you’ve found a way to figure out how to manage and express your emotions during this global crisis. This week’s offerings share a common theme of outrageousness.

Nothing is sacred, and all emotional responses can be useful in figuring out the absolute moral truth of yourself (or as I call it, Mulholland Drive Syndrome). Stay safe if you can, and visit past issues for more recommendations of what to stream.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot on Amazon Prime One of the most essential and beloved documents of suburban ’80s culture, Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a slice of life in the Landover, Md., Capital Centre parking lot before a 1986 Judas Priest concert. It’s a portrait of humanity that never fails to entertain, to endear and to induce cringe.

This is the joy of metal, and hedonism, and the power of power chords, and it has rightfully become immortal. It’s also a trenchant illumination of Reagan-era white America that provokes necessary questions for the viewer watching with a critical eye. It’s the sound of addled youth communing with their pleasure centers underneath the yoke of the daily fear of nuclear annihilation. It’s also a testament to Rob Halford’s power as

blood quantum are out to destroy and consume everything.

Director Jeff Barnaby made the singular Rhymes for Young Ghouls back in 2013, and he has a gift for artfully visceral mayhem as well as expressing the social history of indigenous people in a way that feels like an exposé and an exorcism at the same time. If at times Blood Quantum slips into nihilistic Walking Dead-adjacent territory, it remains an essential horror film that gives the viewer unexplored angles on a scenario we think has been done to death. The first half-hour of this film is close to perfect, and it serves up gore and bleak atmosphere with style and verve.

This was one of the secret surprises at the Belcourt’s 12 Hours of Terror overnight horror marathon in October, and it knocked the theater on its emotional ass.

Darktown Strutters on Amazon Prime

heavy metal parking lot a (then-closeted) icon who moved hearts and bodies in the midst of the AIDS pandemic, during which the emotionally lazy ignored an entire community to death with homophobia. Heavy Metal Parking Lot is all of that, but it’s also a great deal of fun, and if you haven’t found some kind of fashion inspiration — whether a do or a don’t — by the time it winds up, then as your film-critic abstract friend, I’m concerned.

Darktown Strutters is a legendary blaxploitation sci-fi musical allegory that deserves all the trigger warnings and content warnings despite having a playful and sweet spirit at its depraved core (and a 1975 PG rating, which can mean absolutely anything). The fact that this movie is even available to stream is staggering. Syreena (Trina

Blood Quantum on Shudder There’s a worldwide outbreak of degenerative zombiism, and the only place where civilization is entrenched and resistance against the shredding, flesh-eating menace is holding is in a Mi’kmaq reservation in Canada. Something about the genetic markers in this plague have left First Nations peoples immune to this bite-borne pathogen, and so hordes of rampaging white zombies

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Petey Wheatstraw, the devil’s son-in-law

Parks), leader of a Frazetta-ish motorcycle gang, is out to rescue her mother Cinderella (Frances E. Nealy) from a deranged and racist fast-food entrepreneur and his plantation fantasies. Along the way, there are pie fights with the police, car chases with the KKK, funk throwdowns, imprisoned R&B groups, a science-fiction conspiracy and amazing outfits that will inspire your deepest sartorial dreams. Darktown is for anyone who saw Blazing Saddles and thought, “Are there any other movies that do this?” With Frankie Crocker, The Dramatics and Dick Miller!

Petey Wheatstraw, the Devil’s Son-in-Law on Fandor/Tubi The cinematic legacy of Rudy Ray Moore is thankfully within reach for pandemic-era streaming culture. The original Dolemite endures as a testament to persistence and recognizing an unfulfilled audience, but sometimes it’s OK to want a little more from the films you enjoy when it comes to narrative intricacy. The end result can often be something like Petey Wheatstraw, the Devil’s Son-in-Law. A riff on the story of Faust that also at times feels like a takedown of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” this

film finds our murdered protagonist Petey pledging to wed the devil’s daughter in order to avenge himself (and the massacre of his funeral party) with the power of Satan’s pimp cane. There’s an army of kung fu demons, children in crisis, a punishing audition sequence and surrealist exercises of supernatural power. It’s pretty awesome.

And if you haven’t seen Dolemite Is My Name on Netflix, then you really should.

Email arts@nashvillescene.com

Fancy-Free

A new documentary about food writer Diana Kennedy is an intimate exploration

By Sadaf Ahsan

I

n Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy, Elizabeth Carroll’s documentary on the titular 97-yearold food writer, one question hovers over the otherwise charming portrait: How can it be that a white British woman knows more about Mexican food than anyone else?

In fact, that question is asked directly by Frances McCullough, Kennedy’s longtime editor.

Certainly, a title as lofty as “the authority on Mexican food” — as Kennedy has been labeled by numerous publications and in profiles over the decades — is not one she granted herself. But it did amplify her career, which has spanned nine books, including 1998’s My Mexico, 1989’s The Art of Mexican Cooking and, of course, 1984’s Nothing Fancy. In many ways, and as is often the case in food journalism, Kennedy’s status as the “authority” on another culture’s food is more an issue to take up with white media than Kennedy herself.

In a 2012 Saveur profile, Kennedy called the label “inaccurate nonsense.” And in an ode to Kennedy in the book My Mexico City Kitchen, chef and restaurateur Gabriel Cámara (who is featured prominently in the doc) writes: “Diana

Nashville Scene | may 21 – may 27, 2020 | nashvillescene.com

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film

disagrees when people call her ‘the Julia Child of Mexican cooking.’ ‘I’m the Mick Jagger of Mexican food, because I wear leather pants’ she likes to say.”

Indeed, if Nothing Fancy exudes anything most of all, it’s Kennedy’s particular brand of sass. The woman is frank, and doesn’t take a fraction of anyone’s shit, whether it’s at a street market where she — perhaps ironically — laments encroaching signs of gentrification, or in her kitchen, where she can be seen skewering a beginner cook’s garlicky rice during a class. There’s an incredibly likable punch to her, and while it’s unfortunate that Kennedy herself never addresses the subject of appropriation, much of Carroll’s film is spent showing just why she’s been an inspiration to so many in the industry.

Kennedy spent six decades living in and traveling through Mexico, learning the origins of the region’s cuisine — the writer couldn’t possibly be more educated on the subject. She’s NothiNg FaNcy: DiaNa interviewed and KeNNeDy learned from some of NR, 81 miNutes; iN eNglish aNd spaNish with the country’s greats. eNglish subtitles Over the years, at available to stReam via belcouRt.oRg begiNNiNg the suggestion of New York Times food FRiday, may 22 critic Craig Claiborne, Kennedy began teaching Mexican cooking classes, first from her New York apartment and later from her rural, ecologically constructed Michoacán home.

Through it all, her focus has been on authentic techniques and ingredients, citing the people throughout the country from whom she’s borrowed her recipes. Having dedicated herself to preserving and sharing regional dishes, Kennedy proves to be

an anthropologist above all — or as chef José Andrés notes, an “Indiana Jones on food, trying to search for that precious gem, the diamond, that is somewhere in the forest or mountains of Mexico.”

While beginner cooks might find Kennedy’s approach intimidating, I’d say it’s all in an effort to get it right, which is what one hopes when recipes cross borders.

“You can’t always turn out a good meal,” she says, her resting scowl twisting into a smirk.

“You’ve got to realize cooking is the biggest comeuppance. You can’t always say that it turns out perfectly or deliciously.”

Watching Kennedy traipse through her gardens and drive down the narrow, colorful streets of her village, reminiscing on the “quixotic, adventurous” life she’s led — this is as close as most of us will ever get to Kennedy’s kitchen table. Quick and feisty, she doesn’t once betray any regrets or sorrows. Even when she tells the tale of how she met and married Times correspondent Paul P. Kennedy, who died in 1967, her face is colored with joy. Rich in love and food, she never remarried. When asked why not, she responds: “I was not the marrying kind. I didn’t want children or to cook three meals a day. I worked, you know. And he was the love of my life.”

What Nothing Fancy manages is an intimate exploration of Kennedy’s life, home and — most importantly — hunger, which is as ferocious as it was when she began her career many decades ago.

“When I can’t cook, I can’t eat, I can’t see and I can’t walk, long before that, I’m going,” she assures Carroll with a casual shrug while in the kitchen.

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crossword EditEd by Will Shortz Across

Ties to the Japanese? order 10 some shells 15 Malodorous 16 Go ___ (be green, in a way) 17 opposition bloc 18 “Well, well, well!”

19 “Don’t be a stranger!”

21 starting points 23 Fading light 24 “Bel ___” (Guy de Maupassant novel) 25 Put down in words 27 shade of red 31 Divine nourishment 33 & 35 cole Porter musical 36 Undisturbed 38 ___ Na Na 41 Increase in size 42 & 44 “You can wait to show your gratitude” 46 Like 48 repeated word in the Ten commandments 51 Least polluted 54 & 56 clothing item for the youngest in the family 58 It may fool you 59 Denial of responsibility 62 Low-lying wetland 64 Best ___ Album (Grammy category) 65 “I’ll think about it” 67 Thumbs-up, e.g.

69 “Don’t be a stranger!” … or what you have to do three times in this puzzle 73 Gets a move on 74 country/rock singer steve 75 connected to a hipbone 76 To be where people sing of amour?

77 It’s snowy in Florida 78 o’Hara’s portrayer 79 P.D.A. component: Abbr.

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M R T O A D

N A U T I L I Y O U L I E

O P T I M I S M F A T I M A

L A U R A A S S A D O N H O L D N A P I E S C H N P L O S C O E R A A D E A C H R I P L I A U L T T D M A R K E B U N V E M O R A T P L U N S S L E

It is my privilege as your elected Criminal Court Clerk to notify all citizens of Davidson County, that relative to grand jury proceedings, it is the duty of your grand jurors to investigate any public offense which they know or have reason to believe has been committed and which is triable or indictable in Davidson County. In addition to cases presented to the grand jury by your District Attorney, any citizen may petition the foreperson (foreman) of the grand jury for permission to testify concerning any offense in Davidson County.

This is subject to provisions set forth in Tennessee Code Annotated 40-12-105. Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated 40-12-104 and 40-12-105, the application to testify by any citizen must be accompanied by a sworn affidavit stating the facts or summarizing the proof which forms the basis of allegations contained in that application.

Your grand jury foreperson is Larry Stephenson. His address is 222 Second Avenue North, Washington Square Building, Suite 510, Nashville, Tennessee 37201. The grand jury will meet at 8:00 A.M. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays for three (3) months. Submission of an affidavit which the applicant knows to be false in material regard shall be punishable as perjury.

Any citizen testifying before the grand jury as to any material fact known to that citizen to be false shall be punishable as perjury. For a request for accommodation, please contact 862-4260.

2000

EMPLOYMENT

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE U M P I R E D

910

LEGAL NOTICE Howard C. Gentry, Jr., Criminal Court Clerk

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A S A N R E M I T E A C Z O Z Z O L A I N E N L I C E E H A C R T I M A C L A L A E C O D T N A S E S

A X H E A D K E Y W E S T

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

Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/ studentcrosswords.

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. Nashville, TN. Associate Attorney Global Business Team. Performs substantive legal functions in client matters & maintains positive contact w/ clients while observing confidentiality in client matters. Req. a Juris Doctor (JD). Qualified candidates must be & remain licensed to practice law & in good standing in Tennessee. 2 yrs’ exp. in general business practice (drafting commercial contracts, draft labor & employment documents, responding to government investigations).

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