CITY LIMITS: CITY PLANS TO CLOSE JEFFERSON STREET BRIDGE ENCAMPMENT
MAY 27–JUNE 2, 2021 I VOLUME 40 I NUMBER 17 NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE
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FOOD & DRINK: IN JUST 10 YEARS OF COOKING, TAILOR’S VIVEK SURTI HAS COME A LONG WAY PAGE 22
How an informal collective of women photographers is bringing accolades to Nashville By Laura Hutson Hunter
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CONTENTS
MAY 27, 2021
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Two Nashville Events Draw Crowds in Support of Palestinians .............................6
Wherever You Go, There You Are
CITY LIMITS
A vigil and a protest were hosted the same week a cease-fire was agreed upon between Israel and Hamas BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT AND ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
At the Capitol, There Was Much Ado About Critical Race Theory — or Was There? ....6 Some Tennessee Republicans want to ban the theory from schools, but can’t seem to agree on what it even is BY LENA MAZEL
City Plans to Close Jefferson Street Bridge Encampment ..............................................7 Activists with Open Table Nashville decry decision, but city and police argue it’s for safety BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
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COVER STORY Girls on Film
How an informal collective of women photographers is bringing accolades to Nashville BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
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CRITICS’ PICKS
BOOKS
In The Marvelous Mirza Girls, a teenager explores her heritage and herself in Delhi BY TRACY BARRETT AND CHAPTER 16
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THEATER Road Trip
Sloppy Bonnie takes audiences on a wild ride BY AMY STUMPFL
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MUSIC
Key Personnel ......................................... 26 Matt Rollings moves from the liner notes to the marquee with Mosaic BY GEOFFREY HIMES
Principled Outlaw .................................... 28
Veg Out: The BE-Hive Deli — Nashville Hot Fried Chxn Sandwich........................ 23 This East Side plant-based deli offers a tasty seitan alternative to Nashville’s most famous dish
NewsChannel 5 Launders the Governor’s PR on Criminal Justice Reform
ON THE COVER:
Top from left: Christine Rogers, Vesna Pavlović, Kristine Potter Bottom from left: Beth Trabue Gorham, Julia Steele, Robin Paris, Tamara Reynolds Not pictured: Stacy Kranitz, Rachel Boillot Photo by Daniel Meigs
The Scene’s music writers recommend recent releases from Rahsaan Barber, Namir Blade and L’Orange, and more
The Spin ................................................... 31 The Scene’s live-review column checks out Styrofoam Winos, Josh Halper and Abby Johnson at The Chili Factory
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BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
Lou Plans Bake Sale to Support ACLU Tennessee’s Efforts to Fight Anti-Trans Legislation
Another Look ........................................... 30
BY JASON SHAWHAN
In just 10 years of cooking, Tailor’s Vivek Surti has come a long way
Let’s Talk About Just How Dumb Tennessee’s Anti-Transgender Laws Are
BY EDD HURT
BY CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
Tailor Made .............................................. 22
Stream The 5 Spot’s Telethon and Donate to Help the Venue Reopen
Shannon McNally turns Waylon Jennings to her own purposes on The Waylon Sessions
See Margo Price Above Ground at The Caverns, get spooked with Night of the Living Dead (1990) at Full Moon Cineplex, see the allstar benefit to preserve Exit/In, build your own streaming Charles Grodin film festival, play an 8-bit episode of The Mandalorian, watch The Criterion Channel’s Afrofuturism series and more
FOOD AND DRINK
THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:
32 FILM
The Last Picture Show Tsai Ming-liang’s 2003 film Goodbye, Dragon Inn is trippy, elusive and very moving
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NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD
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MARKETPLACE
MARGARET LITTMAN
nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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FROM BILL FREEMAN
GOV. BILL LEE
STATE SEN. JOEY HENSLEY IS FACING ‘CONFLICTING TESTIMONY,’ BUT GOV. LEE REMAINS SILENT State Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) is in the news again, and I’m not surprised. Is anyone? In December 2014, Hensley — a physician with a practice in Hohenwald — was accused of unethically prescribing opioids and other controlled substances to his family members, including his second cousin, with whom he was having sex. Hensley’s cousin also worked for him as a nurse and was his patient. In November, Hensley’s medical license was put on probation when the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners unanimously found him in violation of medical ethical standards. Last week we read that the senator is facing “conflicting testimony” relating to how long his relationship with his cousin actually went on and how often he prescribed the drugs to her. But we’ve heard not a peep from Gov. Bill Lee, or other Republican leaders, regarding this unacceptable behavior from an elected official. Knowing the kind of person the governor says he is when it comes to moral standards, ethics and family values, I’m surprised that he and the Republican Party leadership have not taken a position. Surely he’s reading and hearing the same news as the rest of us. For instance, The Tennessean notes that during a discipline hearing before the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, an investigator testified that between 2011 and 2018, Hensley wrote his cousin 47 prescriptions for controlled substances. Hensley had claimed that his relationship with his cousin was short-lived and that only two prescriptions fell into that time frame, and the medical board went easy — they fined Hensley just $2,000 and limited the time his medical license was put on probation to just three years. Now sworn documents from his cousin’s divorce are raising questions as to Hensley’s honesty. According to his cousin’s statements, their relationship went on for years, not months. In at least one case, the senator and his cousin stayed at a hotel in Nashville while he was in town for legislative duties, and the bill was presumably paid with legislative per diem, or state dollars. The overnight stay took place two years after the senator claimed the relationship had ended. A doctor may prescribe for family and friends — or even for himself — but it is certainly not recommended nor encouraged by professional regulatory boards. There
are conduct rulings that subject physicians to disciplinary measures if they prescribe narcotics. If the senator was indeed in a romantic relationship with his cousin for years and prescribing narcotics the entire time, that certainly could have changed the disciplinary actions of the board. So this “conflicting testimony” is being revisited in an effort to find the real truth of the situation. If Hensley lied under oath while appearing before the board, according to The Tennessean, the Tennessee Department of Health “would be responsible for re-examining his testimony.” The examiners board could restart the investigation by filing a new complaint with the health department — and invoke a harsher punishment. The cousin has testified in court that Hensley is her only doctor other than a cardiologist, and that he has regularly prescribed her the hydrocodoneacetaminophen pill Lortab — a Schedule II controlled substance — for “chronic back pain.” Further testimony revealed that her parents told her she needed to “rein in” her Lortab usage, but she argued she was only taking what Hensley had prescribed. The oddity in this case is that Hensley serves on the Tennessee Senate’s Health and Welfare Committee, where he considers legislation that regulates opioids. He knows the dangers of addiction, and knows that Tennessee sees many deaths as a result of opioid use. In 2017, nearly 1,800 Tennesseans died from drug overdose, including 1,268 from opioids, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. I am struggling to reconcile this man’s behavior with his sworn oaths. I also find it puzzling that Gov. Lee has not spoken up. To be silent on something like this is not good, and to me, implies consent or perhaps lack of concern about private behavior of public officials. This situation is about leadership, not politics. It’s about a guy who has misused his position for personal gain and who has disrespected all those in his district by doing so. It’s what some folks before my time would have called an abomination. This does not seem to be a “take one for the team” issue. It seems more of a “get this guy off the team” issue.
Editor-in-Chief D. Patrick Rodgers Senior Editor Dana Kopp Franklin Associate Editor Alejandro Ramirez Arts Editor Laura Hutson Hunter Culture Editor Erica Ciccarone Music and Listings Editor Stephen Trageser Contributing Editor Jack Silverman Staff Writers Stephen Elliott, Nancy Floyd, Steven Hale, Kara Hartnett, J.R. Lind, William Williams Contributing Writers Sadaf Ahsan, Radley Balko, Ashley Brantley, Maria Browning, Steve Cavendish, Chris Chamberlain, Lance Conzett, Marcus K. Dowling, Steve Erickson, Randy Fox, Adam Gold, Seth Graves, Kim Green, Steve Haruch, Geoffrey Himes, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, Christine Kreyling, Katy Lindenmuth, Craig D. Lindsey, Brittney McKenna, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Chris Parton, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Megan Seling, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Ashley Spurgeon, Amy Stumpfl, Kay West, Abby White, Andrea Williams, Cy Winstanley, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian Editorial Intern Diana Leyva Art Director Elizabeth Jones Photographers Eric England, Matt Masters, Daniel Meigs Graphic Designers Mary Louise Meadors, Tracey Starck Production Coordinator Christie Passarello Events and Marketing Director Olivia Britton Promotions Coordinator Caroline Poole Publisher Mike Smith Senior Advertising Solutions Managers Maggie Bond, Sue Falls, Michael Jezewski, Carla Mathis, Heather Cantrell Mullins, Jennifer Trsinar, Keith Wright Advertising Solutions Managers Olivia Bellon, William Shutes, Niki Tyree Sales Operations Manager Chelon Hill Hasty Advertising Solutions Associates Aya Robinson, Price Waltman Special Projects Coordinator Susan Torregrossa President Frank Daniels III Chief Financial Officer Todd Patton Corporate Production Director Elizabeth Jones Vice President of Marketing Mike Smith IT Director John Schaeffer Circulation and Distribution Director Gary Minnis For advertising information please contact: Mike Smith, msmith@nashvillescene.com or 615-844-9238 FW PUBLISHING LLC Owner Bill Freeman VOICE MEDIA GROUP National Advertising 1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com
©2021, Nashville Scene. 210 12th Ave. S., Ste. 100, Nashville, TN 37203. Phone: 615-244-7989. The Nashville Scene is published weekly by FW Publishing LLC. The publication is free, one per reader. Removal of more than one paper from any distribution point constitutes theft, and violators are subject to prosecution. Back issues are available at our office. Email: All email addresses consist of the employee’s first initial and last name (no space between) followed by @nashvillescene.com; to reach contributing writers, email editor@nashvillescene.com. Editorial Policy: The Nashville Scene covers news, art and entertainment. In our pages appear divergent views from across the community. Those views do not necessarily represent those of the publishers. Subscriptions: Subscriptions are available at $150 per year for 52 issues. Subscriptions will be posted every Thursday and delivered by third-class mail in usually five to seven days. Please note: Due to the nature of third-class mail and postal regulations, any issue(s) could be delayed by as much as two or three weeks. There will be no refunds issued. Please allow four to six weeks for processing new subscriptions and address changes. Send your check or Visa/MC/AmEx number with expiration date to the above address.
In memory of Jim Ridley, editor 2009-2016
Bill Freeman
Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post, and Home Page Media Group in Williamson County.
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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CITY LIMITS
TWO NASHVILLE EVENTS DRAW CROWDS IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINIANS
A vigil and a protest were hosted the same week a cease-fire was agreed upon between Israel and Hamas
T
he same week Israeli officials and Hamas leaders entered a cease-fire, bringing a tenuous halt to 11 days of fighting, two events in Nashville drew crowds in support of Palestinians, who have suffered the brunt of the conflict’s casualties and destruction. On Friday, more than 200 people turned out for a rally and march that began at the Estes Kefauver Federal Building on Broadway and included a stop for speeches and prayer in front of the Tennessee Capitol. Attendees waved signs and the Palestinian flag and chanted in English and Arabic, and many wore black-and-white keffiyehs to show their support. Protesters denounced the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians, citing the poor conditions and treatment facing residents of Gaza on a daily basis, and condemned the bombings that claimed the lives of more than 200 Palestinians in recent weeks (far more deaths and injuries than what Israel has suffered in recent fighting). Organizers led the way and kept the pace in a pickup truck, leading chants along the way. Some raised signs reading “Free Sheikh Jarrah,” referring to the Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem that is seeing its residents evicted and displaced. The removal of six families was one of several key events in the lead-up to fighting between Israel and the militant group Hamas. A police raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first day of Ramadan back on April 13 was another contributing factor. Hamas launched rockets at Jerusalem on May 10, and the Israeli government responded with bombings that decimated Gaza. According to the Associated Press, at
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least 230 Palestinians were killed, including 65 children and 39 women, with 1,710 wounded. Twelve people in Israel, including two children, were killed. The cease-fire began early Friday morning. Friday’s event was organized by Free Palestine Nashville, a group established by four young women: Sarah Alzabet, Bushra Alammouri, Haneen Ahmad and Fatima Razzaq. Not all of the organizers were Palestinians, and the crowd was also diverse, including teenagers and older adults. “Every single day innocent men, women and children are dying,” said Alzabet in a speech at the Capitol. “They are being imprisoned, they are being evicted from their homes.” “We know that in Gaza they’re bombing hospitals, their COVID clinics,” said Alammouri, who also described her own experiences visiting the region, including a visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Earlier in the week — days before the cease-fire agreement was reached — there was a vigil for killed and injured Palestinians. A candlelight vigil Tuesday night, also in front of the state Capitol, was barely underway before state troopers approached attendees and told them to put their candles out. Apparently open flames are not allowed on the plaza, though the rule has been selectively enforced in the past. The group of a couple dozen PalestinianAmericans and others improvised, turning instead to their cellphone flashlights (a few scofflaws relit their candles after the troopers left) as speakers called on the United States to stop supporting the Israeli military. Some passing cars honked in support of the group. One woman on a passing party bus started but suppressed a “Woo!” once
PHOTOS: MATT MASTERS
BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT AND ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
she realized she was directing it at a vigil. “It’s a very simple issue,” said Issam Bahour, an organizer of the Tuesday vigil. “It’s one where there’s state-sanctioned terrorism. It’s one where there’s apartheid and there’s people being oppressed and given a separate
AT THE CAPITOL, THERE WAS MUCH ADO ABOUT CRITICAL RACE THEORY — OR WAS THERE? Some Tennessee Republicans want to ban the theory from schools, but can’t seem to agree on what it even is BY LENA MAZEL
O
n May 5, state Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) stood before his colleagues with a serious message: Democracy is under attack in Tennessee. The culprit? A particular way of seeing history. “Critical race theory teaches American democracy is a lie,” he said. “It is harmful to our democracy, it is harm-
set of rights. It shouldn’t be difficult for the State Department to stand up and say, ‘The killing of innocent children is wrong, and we condemn that.’ It shouldn’t be difficult for our elected officials to say that Palestinian people are humans and they deserve human rights.”
ful to our citizens, and it is harmful to our students.” Tennessee should ban critical race theory in schools, Kelsey urged. Kelsey introduced new language to a piece of legislation that named a broad list of off-limits topics for teachers: Teachers must stick to state standards, facts and “impartial” discussion (though it is unclear who defines “impartial” in this context). The problem is, that makes it difficult to teach important topics like slavery, internment camps, redlining, the Three-Fifths Compromise or the Trail of Tears. But according to the legislation, schools will lose funding for discussing material that suggests “an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously,” “a meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist, or designed by a particular race or sex to oppress members of another race or sex” and other ideas. By outlawing some discussions of historical inequality, these new restrictions make it significantly more difficult to teach history courses. On May 5, the bill including Kelsey’s language was passed by the Tennessee legislature. On May 7, Kelsey tweeted: “Tennesseans asked us to ban Critical Race Theory in our public schools, and we
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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CITY LIMITS
CITY PLANS TO CLOSE JEFFERSON STREET BRIDGE ENCAMPMENT
PHOTO: ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
Activists with Open Table Nashville decry decision, but city and police argue it’s for safety BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
O
n June 1, the city plans to close down a campsite underneath the Jefferson Street Bridge, and one homelessness outreach organization is calling on officials to reverse the decision. “It is inhumane to close encampments when there is not enough affordable, accessible housing for those in need,” says a press release from Open Table Nashville, a nonprofit dedicated to homelessness outreach and alleviating poverty. The release notes that service providers are working with residents of the encampment to find them housing, but criticizes the fact that those who don’t accept the assistance will be relocated to Old Tent City, another encampment south of downtown for people experiencing homelessness. The organization also issued a call to action to organize around the issue. “Forcing the residents to move somewhere else is just adding more instability to their lives,” says India Pungarcher, who does housing navigation and street outreach for Open Table. “We know that a lot of folks do have housing navigators down there, but the reality is they’re not going to have housing by June 1.” She adds that moving more people to Old Tent City will also cause more stress for that encampment’s current residents, who are also worried about a potential closure. A statement from Mayor John Cooper’s office pushes back against Open Table’s press release. “We’re not content to let our unhoused neighbors live under a bridge or anywhere they’re exposed to extreme heat and other
dangerous conditions — especially not when we have an infusion of federal dollars to help encampment residents with alternative housing solutions,” says spokesperson Chris Song via email. Song adds that the city plans to fund housing efforts with federal dollars from the CARES Act, as well as with upcoming funds from the American Rescue Plan. The city says it is also looking for indoor facilities that can host nonprofits who provide food and resources to the encampment. Affected nonprofits would include The Bridge Inc., an organization that began in 2004 to assist the camp underneath the Jefferson Street Bridge. The Salvation Army has also been assisting with outreach and housing efforts at the encampment. Kris Mumford, a spokesperson with the Metro Nashville Police Department, says there were also concerns about crime and public health in the area. Residents of the camp have themselves been the targets of crime, she says, and earlier this month a woman staying there overdosed and fell into the river. “We’re not naive — we know there has been violence down there,” says Pungarcher. Staying out on the streets is “not safe,” she says, but “that’s the reality of the situation … when we don’t have enough affordable housing.” Open Table members were also frustrated by an email sent to homelessness service providers back in March about the plan to remove the camp before the summer. Open Table was not included among the recipients. “There is already a lot of pressure on the Mayor’s Office to have the camp removed,” reads the email from a police officer with
the Central Precinct’s Quality of Life Team. “If we form a plan and enact it we can end homelessness under the bridge in a manner that benefits the displaced individuals who live there.” The email, a copy of which was shared with the Scene, also says that closing the encampment would save lives and prevent crimes. “I have worked with Central Precinct as a patrol officer for 1 year and almost 6 months [as] an officer on the Quality of Life Team,” reads the email. “In that time I have seen several individuals die under the Jefferson Street Bridge from overdoses or more violent means.” Open Table would prefer that the city consider alternatives, like designating the site an “official, sanctioned encampment.” Pungarcher also points to a FEMA program that would reimburse counties that house the homeless in noncongregate settings like unoccupied hotels — a program that cities including Nashville have failed to tap into. While it would take money and effort up front, if done correctly, “Every single person under the bridge could be put up in a hotel through the end of September,” Pungarcher says. Mumford says June 1 is “not a hard date” and police won’t just “go in there and kick people out.” “There’s no enforcement planned, no arrests planned,” she says. The focus will be “to go in there, clean up, and effort to find people housing.”
A “no trespassing” sign near the encampment is postered over with notices about a community meeting on May 28. As of Friday, Mumford says there are currently 14 people under the bridge and all but two of them have accepted housing navigation help. MNPD says the current population is much lower than it was last summer. While Pungarcher agrees the population at the encampment seems lower than months ago, she says Open Table’s outreach teams have met more people at the encampment than the city’s headcount reported. The Scene visited the Jefferson Street Bridge encampment on Friday morning, and more than 20 tents were set up — though only four or five men appeared to be present at the time. A couple of men at the camp didn’t want to reveal their names but still agreed to speak to the Scene. One man says he hopes to be housed in about two weeks through Section 8 — he had avoided visiting the public housing office while waiting for his COVID-19 vaccine. Another man says he had been at the camp for eight months and was grateful for the help he received from outreach workers. He points to all the new developments going up in nearby Germantown, and says he understands why the encampment may get cleared as the neighborhood changes. Despite the uncertainties, he sounds optimistic. “It’s time to move on,” he says. “I’m ready to get some stability.” EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
answered.” But the actual amendment makes no mention of the theory, and Kelsey’s characterization of CRT is misleading at best. “Critical race theory is a theoretical framework that emerged from critical legal studies to analyze the ways in which race and racism intersects with laws,” says Rich Milner, the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Vanderbilt Peabody College. CRT does not teach that “democracy is a lie,” as Kelsey suggests, but instead attempts to make democracy work for everyone. “The framework is designed to expose racist policies and practices that harm people of color,” Milner explains. “For instance, as is evident in case after case, people of color receive harsher punishments for the exact same infractions. The framework exposes these patterns of discrimination and works to stop these practices.” Kelsey & Co.’s ban made it to the state legislature through somewhat complicated means. It began with an uncontroversial bill meant to clean up language around licensure, waivers and other clerical processes. In the House, sponsor Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge) amended the bill to include language about race, with further input from Kelsey. While the
amendment addressed Kelsey’s claims, critical race theory is not mentioned by name. By the time the bill reached the House floor, Ragan was caught in a long line of questioning about the amendment’s opaque language and purpose. Rep. Hardaway (D-Memphis) asked about the intent of the additions. “Does your legislation speak to critical race theory?” Hardaway asked. “Critical race theory is not mentioned anywhere in this legislation,” Ragan replied. “Did critical race theory play a part in the genesis of this legislation?” Hardaway asked. “I’m not sure I understand your question,” Ragan said, “since no one has defined critical race theory for me.” On May 7, Kelsey appeared on Memphis’ WREG defending his focus on the ideology, despite the fact that the bill’s lead sponsor, Ragan, would not say that it was in the bill at all. “It’s a Marxist theory that’s totally against everything we stand for,” Kelsey said. He also claimed that CRT proponents believe that Martin Luther King’s dream was “impossible” and “a lie.” But here Kelsey demonstrates a clear misunderstanding: Critical race theory does not claim
that some people are better or worse — it highlights unequal treatment under current laws. Critical race theory doesn’t challenge specific institutions unless those institutions perpetuate inequality. Why do lawmakers suddenly want to ban CRT? Milner suggests it makes them uncomfortable. “They fear it because it could disrupt their own privileges,” he says. HB0580 is not an isolated phenomenon: Several other states recently banned CRT from their own curricula. Over the past year, Fox News broadcasts mentioned critical race theory more than 150 times. Yet there is no evidence that CRT is taught in Tennessee schools at all. “The biggest misconception is that CRT is taught in P-12 schools,” says Milner. “I cannot name one public school across the nation teaching CRT — not one. Sadly, they are banning CRT and have no idea what it is. It’s a theory — an analytic tool, not a teaching approach or curriculum in P-12 schools.” While debating the new bill, Ragan championed what he called a “facts-only” approach, while many others stressed the importance of addressing historical injustices in classroom discussion. “We cannot create a more perfect union without recognizing, acknowledging and confronting the imperfections,”
Hardaway said. There were moments on May 4 when the House floor sounded like the best parts of history class: There was respectful debate, a passion for history and a commitment to reaching mutual understanding about justice and democracy — not characteristics that can always be found in the frequently contentious chamber. (Not that the debate was free from embarrassing moments, however. At one point during the bill’s discussion, Knoxville Republican Rep. Justin Lafferty contended that the inherently racist Three-Fifths Compromise, which prescribed counting enslaved people as less than a person for apportionment purposes, was actually a good thing.) Many legislators mentioned their respect for their colleagues, or hopes to bridge the divide between the Republican supermajority and the significantly smaller Democratic caucus. But ultimately, HB0580 passed 69-20. Gov. Bill Lee has expressed support for some of the Republican arguments in favor of the bill and is expected to sign it into law. Assuming he does so, this same sort of debate seen on the House floor will not be allowed in Tennessee classrooms. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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GIRLS
FILM
ON
How an informal collective of women photographers is bringing accolades to Nashville
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By Laura Hutson Hunter
n late April, a group of women gathered around a fire in an East Nashville backyard. They passed around chocolate cupcakes, wine and Topo Chico, and toasted Tamara Reynolds, who sat gleefully in the middle of the group. They were there to celebrate Reynolds’ Guggenheim Award — it’s one of the most prestigious honors in art that is given to only a handful of photographers each year (and includes a cash prize of approximately $50,000). The women discussed what Reynolds would do with the award, and acknowledged how hard she’d worked to get it. And then she asked for advice, because this unofficial collective of women photographers — which also includes Kristine Potter, Stacy Kranitz, Christine Rogers, Vesna Pavlović, Robin Paris, Rachel Boillot, Beth Trabue Gorham and Julia Steele — has an unusual amount of experience winning awards. In the past three years, two of the group’s other members have won a Guggenheim. There have also been two Fulbright fellowships, and more than a handful of other prestigious awards and recognitions. Potter and Kranitz — who won Guggenheim Awards in 2019 and 2020, respectively — joked that they needed to make some kind of crown to pass around, and maybe even create a ceremony. They could call themselves something over-the-top, like The Society of Tennessee Guggenheim Award Winners. That actually may be the closest they’ll come to settling on a name for the informal group of photographers — all of them women, all of them exceptional. And although they’ve considered calling themselves a “coven,” the fact that they’re all women is pure coincidence.
“CHENNAI ICE,” CHRISTINE ROGERS
SEE MORE WORK FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHERS MENTIONED IN OUR STORY:
BETH TRABUE GORHAM
ROBIN PARIS
KRISTINE POTTER
CHRISTINE ROGERS
BETHTRABUEGORHAM.COM
APEXART.ORG/PARIS-WILLIAMS.PHP
KRISTINEPOTTER.COM
CEROGERS.NET
RACHEL BOILLOT
STACY KRANITZ
VESNA PAVLOVIĆ
TAMARA REYNOLDS
JULIA STEELE
RACHELBOILLOT.COM
STACYKRANITZ.COM
VESNA-PAVLOVIC.COM
TAMARAREYNOLDSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
JULIAESTELLESTEELE.COM
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SELECTIONS FROM THE DRAKE BY TAMARA REYNOLDS
“It’s really just a fluke,” says Kranitz, “but it does create a different atmosphere. There’s a sweetness to the group — it’s very supportive. There’s a generosity that feels very feminine.” For the past year, the collective’s meetings have largely been virtual, but there have been occasions that warranted in-person gatherings. In January, they celebrated Rogers, a two-time Fulbright Award winner who was granted tenure at Belmont. Before that, they gathered to celebrate Potter’s inclusion in But Still, It Turns, a group show that’s on view through Aug. 15 at the International Center of Photography in New York. They got together once again to celebrate the publication of Pavlović’s book Stagecraft, a sumptuous capsule of four major photographic series. As Kranitz says, these are wellawarded women. Before the pandemic pushed their meetings online, the group usually met at Reynolds’ home, a West Meade ranch with a back porch that overlooks an expansive yard. The photographers would sit around a table in a kitchen with beechwood-panel walls, unchanged since Reynolds bought the home in 1998. A chandelier in the room made from antlers hints at the multitude of deer that regularly
graze through the yard, practically sniffing at her door. “They ruin the trees in the rutting season, rubbing their velvet antlers against everything,” Reynolds says with the casualness of someone accustomed to coexisting with wildlife. Reynolds’ photography studio is in the dining room. She’s working on the publication of The Drake, a photo series documenting a oneblock stretch that includes the historic Nashville motel. There are test prints pinned across the wall — a woman holding onto a chainlink fence smoking a cigarette; the front window of a bar called Your Place Cafe, which was converted from a Waffle House; a woman crouching in front of a pay phone, her shirt falling over her thin shoulders. “It’s very direct,” Reynolds says of The Drake. “There’s not a hidden message of any sort — it’s purely personal.”
THE GROUP STARTED MEETING in 2018, when Kristine Potter moved to Nashville from New York, where she’d lived since finishing graduate school at Yale about 13 years earlier. Potter’s photography examines the relationship between
nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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LEFT: “DEEP RIVER (WHERE NAOMI WAS FOUND)” RIGHT: “KNOXVILLE GIRL” FROM DARK WATERS BY KRISTINE POTTER
landscape and violence — her series Manifest explores the consequences of Manifest Destiny. “It’s about what became of that enormous white-male energy,” she says. “It’s basically portraits of men and landscapes — but not typical of most stories we hear about the West.” Her most recent body of work, Dark Waters, has similarly macabre undertones. The black-and-white series includes studio portraits of women dressed in wet clothing, and landscape photographs of bodies of water. The connection between them is ambiguous, but undeniably eerie. “The bodies of water that have violent names,” she explains, “like Bloody River, Murder Creek, Dead Man’s Pond. I see them as holding a particular energy in the landscape, and I’m also thinking about the storytelling that happens in the periphery of that energy.” Potter speaks about her hesitancy to leave New York City with candor and self-awareness. She sees the irony in the fact that some of the highest points of her career arrived after she left the city, seen by many as the center of the art world — she won a Guggenheim Award (on her first try, as it happens) in 2019, and in 2020 she won the international photography award Grand Prix Images Vevey. “When I left New York,” Potter says, “I was kind of afraid of leaving the art world behind. I had my community in New York, and my friends are everything to me. And when I left that, I didn’t want to lose those conversations. “But of course,” she continues, “there are smart, interesting people everywhere.” Kranitz notes that the photo group lacks the hypercompetitive element that tends to infiltrate artist com-
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munities in bigger cities. “We’ve all been doing this for long enough to know that [being competitive] does not work,” Kranitz says. “That’s why I don’t live in New York or L.A. — I didn’t want to be part of that constant clawing, ladderclimbing struggle. But that’s what’s so crazy — we’re all climbing the ladder anyway.” Kranitz introduces herself as a sixth-generation Southern Jew. Her family emigrated to Kentucky from Germany in the 1800s, and eventually started Kuhn’s Department Store, which merged with Walmart in 1981. Her unusual but deep-seated Southern ancestry informs much of her work, which documents various cultures around the region — particularly Appalachia. “I was making work in Appalachia,” she says, “and one of the concepts in that series is about how my fantasy of a place collides with the actual reality of my experience of a place. I’m sure that’s true for everyone — we read books, we watch movies. But I was interested in objectivity — and there is no objectivity, because we all have our own conceptions of these places, in particular in Appalachia, where there is a lot of writing done about it, a lot of films, a whole genre of Appalachian horror films. So for me, what I knew of Appalachia was from Christy.” Christy is a 1967 historical novel about a missionary teacher that became a CBS series that aired from 1994 to 1995, and starred Kellie Martin as the title character. It was canceled after 20 episodes, but remained beloved among its fan base, particularly Tennesseeans. That show was the partial inspiration for her series of self-portraits. “I’m a contemporary version of Christy,” Kranitz says. She goes on to acknowledge the complicated and
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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COURTESY OF STACY KRANITZ AND TRACEY MORGAN GALLERY, NC
“STACY AS CHRISTY” PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ARTIST BY MARISHA CAMP
sometimes problematic nature of documentary photography. “Christy is a missionary, and she is asserting a right and wrong onto a group of people — because that’s what the missionaries did, under the guise of capitalism and morality. And I am — as a photographer, with the history of photojournalism in the region — I’m part of that legacy.” Kranitz began work on this series of self-portraits in the late Aughts. She’s petite with a sharp jaw, and tends to pile her hair on her head in a style that’s already a rough approximation of Christy’s Gibson Girl hairstyle. Kranitz bought dresses from vintage stores in the towns where she was working, and making the transition to a storybook character was more of an organic process than you might expect. Still, when it came time to publish her work in the photo book she’d been working on for more than a decade, Kranitz wasn’t sure if the self-portraits belonged. She asked the group for help. “Half the group thought they should be in the book, and half of them thought I needed to take them out — it was actually kind of heated,” she says. “I mean, we don’t normally have opposing views like that. But I realized that what I want is that contention. So I had to keep them in. Because I don’t mind if they make people uncomfortable — that’s working, for me. If people are judging me, that’s kind of the point of it. My arrogance is the point of it. “The conversation about including this was so inter-
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esting to me. I was talking to people one on one, but I needed the group. Not just to tell me their feedback, but to interact with each other and have the discussion.” Kranitz plans to include a mention of the group in her book’s acknowledgements. “You don’t feel put-down,” she says of the group’s critiques. “You’re uplifted and filled with possibility. You walk away thinking of the way to move forward.”
LATER THIS YEAR, Reynolds plans to begin the project that she proposed to the Guggenheim judges — documenting the Melungeon people in Northeast Tennessee. The Melungeons are a group of multiracial Americans who are said to be of mixed European, African and Native American ancestry. They’re a historically guarded group, but Reynolds is determined to win their trust. She credits photographs from The Drake, which were included in her Guggenheim application, with showing the judges that she is capable of gaining access to hidden communities. “A lot of it is about empathy,” she says. She tells the story of showing the Drake series to fellow photographer Alec Soth. She gave him no biographical information, and no background about her motivation. Still, Soth recognized something. “Without any explanation,” she says, “he asked me how long I’d been sober.” Reynolds has been sober for nearly two decades. “When I got into recovery,” she says, “I realized that
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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BE REAL.
BE INSPIRED.
Photo of Waylon Jennings by Raeanne Rubenstein
SING ME BACK HOME: FOLK ROOTS TO THE PRESENT EXHIBIT NOW OPEN
V I S I T T O D AY
CountryMusicHallofFame.org
DOWNTOWN nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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“FOTOTEKA (PROJECTION STILL IV)” FROM FABRICS OF SOCIALISM BY VESNA PAVLOVIĆ it’s that lack of connection, that shame that we carry, that keeps it going. And then society helps perpetuate that shame, and we look down on those that are addicted like it’s a question of willpower, or laziness. There’s a lot of judgment around it. “That’s the reason, or one of the reasons, that I photographed what I did — to give [the subjects] the option and the opportunity to be viewed in another way. And then, hopefully, people will look. “My ability to speak the language somewhat, that I’ve been there, that I related, that I understood that feeling — I think that helped give me entrance into the world, and I gained some of their trust. I don’t shoot down at them, I’m typically at their level — I didn’t want to make them grandiose, nor did I want to demean them.” The Drake series includes portraits and street scenes, but it’s Reynolds’ portraits of women that are the most memorable. One photograph shows a woman with a swollen black eye, her wrinkled red halter dress blowing with the same wind that’s moving the leaves behind her. “This was the first photograph I took of her,” says Reynolds. “It reminds me a little of Marilyn Monroe standing on the grate. It’s very feminine. She’s holding her dress down, but she’s missing a finger.” That small detail is something Reynolds discovered later, but it stuck in her head, telling a small part of the woman’s life story. On this day, she’d just been released from the hospital following a violent interaction — you can see she’s wearing an ID bracelet and disposable booties. But the dress wasn’t hers — it was Reynolds’. “That was Fourth of July weekend, and I happened to have some clothes that I was taking to Goodwill in my car,” she says, looking at the photograph. “She
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hadn’t let me take a picture of her, and I didn’t know her very well yet.” When the woman pulled that particular red dress out of the Goodwill pile, Reynolds could tell she liked it. She tried it on, and it fit perfectly. She told Reynolds, “You can take my picture now.” “When you’re doing it, you’re there as a photographer,” Reynolds says. “It’s not until you come back and look at the images, and especially when you’re talking about the images, that you begin to realize what it is. There’s this thing that happens inside of you. There’s a guilt about that. My intention is to bring empathy. ‘Where’s my emotion here?’ I had to really work at looking at my images.” Reynolds plans to donate a portion of her Guggenheim Award to Thistle Farms, the local nonprofit dedicated to helping women recover and heal from trafficking, prostitution and addiction. “Photography is an adventure to me,” she says. “It gives me an invitation into people’s lives, and they’re so willing. That’s what breaks my heart sometimes, that I’m so invited into these people’s — into anyone’s — lives, because of my camera. I love people, I’m fascinated by them, and I identify with them. I don’t know what I would do without photography, honestly. That’s why getting this Guggenheim has been so special to me. It’s given me a stamp of, ‘Yes, continue.’ ” EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
VISIT NASHVILLESCENE.COM TO SEE A SLIDESHOW FEATURING MORE OF THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS’ WORK.
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
#MIP21 FOOD VENDORS
I N PA R T N E R S H I P WITH
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MUSIC
O F
T H I N G S
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[GONE TO STAY]
SEE MARGO PRICE ABOVE GROUND AT THE CAVERNS
[LONG LIVE ROCK]
SEE TOMMY WOMACK AT DEE’S COUNTRY COCKTAIL LOUNGE
FRIDAY, MAY 28 The Caverns
home-supply store for minimum wage. Both songs are about the dimming of the rock ’n’ roll dream as it existed for a generation of thwarted Nashville bands and performers, and only a true rocker could have written them. Womack has continued on his journey, releasing albums like 2016’s Namaste, which peaks with “End of the Line,” a song worthy of Gerry Rafferty or Alex Chilton. Womack is also a funny, pointed prose writer: Read his 2018 memoir Dust Bunnies, a moving account of his misadventures as an under-capitalized rock star. Womack’s music draws upon the boomer rock of the Stones and The Beatles, but it’s his light touch as a songwriter that saves him from the dead hand of retro rock. Maybe you want to be a rock ’n’ roll star, but you might want to check out Womack’s music before you make the leap. 6 p.m. Saturday, May 29, at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, 102 E. Palestine Ave., Madison EDD HURT FILM
On his 2007 album There, I Said It!, Nashville rocker Tommy Womack cut two of the greatest songs ever written about Nashville rock. Listening to the record’s “Alpha Male & The Canine Mystery Blood” and “I’m Never Gonna Be a Rock Star,” you might be inspired to sell your guitar and your Faces albums and go work for a
MARGO PRICE PHOTO: BOBBI RICH
As we get more and more chances to see live music in person, it remains difficult to safely host a show for a large crowd. Pelham, Tenn.’s The Caverns, the home of PBS’ Bluegrass Underground, has coped by moving shows outside to a sort of natural amphitheater on the grounds. And if October’s Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit shows or the slew of performances The Caverns’ Above Ground Amphitheater has hosted in the spring are any indication, they’ve got it pretty well figured out. As the summer gets off to an unofficial start on Memorial Day weekend, the Above Ground Amphitheater will offer your first chance to go to a Margo Price show since before COVID-19 and the release of her third solo album That’s How Rumors Get Started. The standout singer-songwriter and her co-producers Sturgill Simpson and David R. Ferguson turned away from the tradcountry-informed tunes of Price’s previous two albums and straight into fire-breathing, anthemic Petty-esque rock — without losing sight of the power Price’s platform grants her to spotlight what needs to change. Expect to hear lots of those stadium-ready Rumors songs alongside catalog classics and live favorites like “Long Live the King,” a studio recording of which appears in Price’s new A Series of Rumors 7-inch subscription series. Also get there on time for the opening set from Jeremy Ivey, Price’s husband and frequent collaborator, who’s got two great LPs (2019’s The Dream and the Dreamer and 2020’s Waiting Out the Storm) and many more songs besides. 7 p.m. Friday, May 28, at The Caverns, 555 Charlie Roberts Road, Pelham, Tenn. STEPHEN TRAGESER
PHOTO: SCOTT WILLIS PHOTOGRAPHY
R O U N D U P
TOMMY WOMACK
[THEY’RE COMING TO GET YOU, BARBARA]
GET SPOOKED WITH NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990) AT FULL MOON CINEPLEX
George Romero’s low-budget 1968 thriller Night of the Living Dead still remains the gold standard when it comes to unsettling zombie flicks. And like so many horror classics, it spawned a remake a couple decades later. Romero made sure he had a hand in the 1990 reworking, which is playing at Full Moon Cineplex this Friday
and Saturday night, by writing the script. style of artists like The Residents and Horror makeup legend Tom Savini, who Snakefinger — The Mouthhole started collaborated with Romero on subsequent operating in 2013, and their house shows Dead sequels, handled the directing duties. have featured a lot of progressive and, This Night of the Living Dead — in which you know, downright weird bands over future Candyman star Tony Todd assumes the years. Saturday’s show is a socially the role of the African American distanced outdoor event that’s protagonist that Duane Jones invitation-only, but you can coolly played in the original stream the proceedings at 8 p.m. EDITOR’S NOTE: AS A RESPONSE TO THE — amps up the bloodshed, by going to The Mouthhole’s ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, especially when hillbilly Facebook page. The bill WE’VE CHANGED THE FOCUS OF vigilantes show up with hella features Chew, an Atlanta THE CRITICS’ PICKS SECTION TO artillery. (Fans of The Walking trio that plays math-jazz on INCLUDE ACTIVITIES YOU CAN PARTAKE IN WHILE YOU’RE Dead will find this most its 2020 album Darque Tan. AT HOME. appealing.) The film didn’t The record’s “Trucker Jesus” win over folks during its initial is what you might get if you ran release — it only made $5.8 million, Jeff Beck’s 1976 jazz-fusion record while critics collectively wondered Wired through a special processor that why it even came to exist. (Entertainment turned it into something by The Minutemen, Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman said it ranks and the vocal tracks are bent and a little “right up there with New Coke.”) But if shoegazey. Meanwhile, Nashville group you’re a zombie junkie who misses going to Butthole released a gloriously ragged, movie theaters, Full Moon has you covered out-of-tune and brilliant punk-rock album, this weekend. 7 p.m. May 28-29 at Full Moon 2016’s Butthole, that threatens to fall apart Cineplex, 3455 Lebanon Pike CRAIG D. LINDSEY at any moment. It doesn’t, however, and tracks like “She Boop She Boo Thang” and [WEIRD SCENE] “90s Sad Boy” combine the approaches of The Ronettes and Liliput in a way I can STREAM THE MOUTHHOLE’S HOUSE only describe as scintillating. Rounding out SHOW W/CHEW, BUTTHOLE & the bill is Apocalyptic Pimple, a duo that APOCALYPTIC PIMPLE combines guitarist Joseph Page’s noise Nashville experimental rock lives at The rock with singer Lisa Rau’s performance Mouthhole, one of the city’s most interesting art. Weird’s all right with me. Streaming 8 performing spaces. Run by Nashville rock p.m. Saturday, May 29, at The Mouthhole via band The Chewers — themselves bracingly Facebook EDD HURT experimental exponents of the disjunctive MUSIC
MUSIC
W E E K L Y
nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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[THE INSIDE SCOOP]
EAT SOME OF NASHVILLE’S BEST ICE CREAM
Nothing says summer like ice cream. And with the weather heating up, this is the perfect time to check out all that Nashville has to offer in the way of tasty frozen treats. Whether you’re looking for nostalgia, unique flavor combos or even vegan options, Nashville has plenty of homegrown businesses to help you keep your cool. For example, Bobbie’s Dairy Dip has been a local tradition since 1951, with delicious soft-serve ice cream, shakes and more. (Don’t forget the sprinkles!) Soft-serve fans also will want to stop by Sweet & Three, a great new spot tucked inside TailGate Brewery, where you can sample
LEGENDAIRY MILKSHAKE BAR
THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER Monster Shakes (with or without the liquor) or build your own Stacker (picture parfaitstyle layers of ice cream and your choice of toppings). When it comes to old-school soda fountains, Elliston Place Soda Shop is hard to beat. A Nashville staple since 1939, this iconic shop just reopened earlier this month, with hand-dipped sundaes, sodas, floats, egg creams and a first-rate banana split. If you don’t mind battling the crowds downtown, Mike’s Ice Cream & Coffee Bar offers 36 gourmet flavors, plus a full espresso bar. (Be sure to try the frozen cappuccino.) Pied Piper Creamery is an East Nashville favorite, with fun flavors like Trailer Trash and Red Velvet Elvis. Milkshake connoisseurs swear by Legendairy Milkshake Bar and Gracie’s Milkshake Bar — both known for their over-the-top, picture-perfect creations. Keeping it dairyfree? Kokos Plant Based Ice Cream is incredibly creamy and satisfying, with flavors like Purple Rose Lemonade and Matcha Mint. Here’s to a sweet summer, Nashville!
FILM
AMY STUMPFL [JUST LEAVE THE DINOSAUR OVER THERE]
BUILD YOUR OWN STREAMING CHARLES GRODIN FILM FESTIVAL
The world lost a real one on May 18, when the legendary Charles Grodin died from bone marrow cancer at age 86. The Pittsburgh native, actor, comedian and talk-show host left behind an immense body of work — one filled with what film critic Scott Tobias once described as “an instinct for creating a riveting air of comic tension” and “the comedy of awkwardness.” So let’s take a quick tour through some highlights for you to queue up at home in his honor. Start with one of Grodin’s early-career performances — perhaps his wonderfully dry 1970 turn as Catch-22’s Captain Aardvark (see that one for free with an Amazon Prime Video subscription), or his leading role opposite Cybill Shepherd in Elaine May’s 1972 black comedy The Heartbreak Kid (which isn’t streaming officially on any platforms, but can unofficially be found on YouTube, at least for the time being). The actor did plenty of strong work in the ’70s — Heaven Can Wait (available to rent for $4 via Amazon Prime and YouTube), for starters — but it’s hard to beat the delightful commitment on display in his turn as a jewel thief who falls in love with Miss Piggy in 1981’s The Great Muppet Caper (available with a Disney+ subscription). Just as essential is 1988’s Grodin-De Niro teamup Midnight Run (currently on HBO Max). Most of us
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’90s kids will insist you hit either 1992’s family romp Beethoven (free on Peacock, or $4 via most streaming services) or 1994’s absolutely unforgettable weirdo comedy Clifford (HBO Max) — in both of which, Grodin plays the flummoxed straight man better than just about anyone since Margaret Dumont. Of course, there are loads more performances to choose from in Grodin’s six-decade-spanning filmography — and that’s not to mention his myriad appearances on Letterman and Carson, in which he makes performative passive aggression an absolute art form. Do a YouTube search if you don’t believe me. D. PATRICK RODGERS
GAMING
Chris and Telisha Cobb have mounted a massive effort to buy the Elliston Place property that’s been home to Exit/In — the historic club that the couple now owns and operates — since Brugh Reynolds and Owsley Manier opened it in 1971. The Cobbs have vocal support from members of Metro Council for their desire to preserve the culture of the venue as well as its building. The family has also received nearly $270,000 in donations from more than 4,000 donors to sweeten the offer (backed by Grubb Properties’ Live Venue Recovery Fund) that they hope to make to AJ Capital Partners, the developer to whom the property has gone under contract. More than a few musicians have expressed their moral support for the Cobbs’ endeavor, and on Sunday, many will participate in an event that’ll offer financial support too. Nashville Helping Nashville: An All-Star Musical Benefit brings an array of topflight local musicians to East Park, organized into two tribute sets. Under the name No More Depression, rockin’ roots group Dirt Reynolds is set to salute Uncle Tupelo with help from Aaron Lee Tasjan, Lilly Hiatt, Luke Schneider and many others. Also performing is End of the Line, an Allman Brothers Band tribute, which includes former Gregg Allman Band keyboardist Peter Levin as well as bassist Jimbo Hart and drummer Chad Gamble; you’ll know those two as the rhythm section of Jason
Isbell’s longtime band The 400 Unit. The show was organized by Music Venue Alliance Nashville, of which Exit/In’s Chris Cobb is president. The 15-member trade group was founded last year to support area independent venues as they remained shuttered during the pandemic — a kind of local analog to the National Independent Venue Alliance. Tickets are $25 via Eventbrite. This show comes just ahead of Out/Back, Exit/In’s summer outdoor concert series. Out/Back begins June 2 with Bay Area touring band Midnight North and continues with locals like The Shindellas, Daisha McBride and Gyasi. See exitin.com for complete details on Out/Back. 2-9 p.m. Sunday, May 30, at East Park, 700 Woodland St. STEPHEN TRAGESER
[THIS IS THE WAY]
PLAY AN 8-BIT EPISODE OF THE MANDALORIAN
The Star Wars franchise first took flight in 1977, and almost immediately there were video game adaptations — as rudimentary as the medium was at that time. As the series and its universe of sequels, prequels and spin-offs grew, so too did the amount of games exploring its lore. Fans have also made unofficial contributions to the legacy over the years — in fact, the first Star Wars game was an unlicensed release from Apple in 1978. One of the more recent fan entries comes from an artist named Eric C. Wilder, who started making games as a pandemic-era hobby. Crafted in retro Gameboy style — 8-bit green-and-black graphics with a chiptune soundtrack — the game is a reimagining of the third episode of Disney+’s The Mandalorian. You’ll travel through a dusty one-road town, drop off Baby Yoda with the obvious villain, regret the decision, and blast your way through stormtroopers to save the little guy. Overall, a playthrough won’t take much longer than 30 minutes, though the promise of an Easter egg to play as Ahsoka Tano (portrayed by Rosario Dawson in The Mandalorian) will also encourage a replay. Find it at eric-cwilder.itch.io/mando. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ FILM
[IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR]
SEE THE ALL-STAR BENEFIT TO PRESERVE EXIT/IN
FOOD & DRINK
MUSIC
CRITICS’ PICKS
[AFRONAUTS]
WATCH THE CRITERION CHANNEL’S AFROFUTURISM SERIES
“It’s after the end of the world. Don’t you know that yet?” That mantra — which repeats a dozen or so times in the opening scene of the 1974 Sun Ra masterpiece Space Is the Place — hits different after COVID. As we head toward the summer, it does kind of feel like the world nearly ended,
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615-669-8144 PanaderiayPasteleriaLopez THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET but we’re coming out the other side. That makes it an ideal time to give the film a rewatch — and while you’re at it, dive into The Criterion Channel’s entire Afrofuturism series. There are 28 films in the collection, as well as a short introduction by Criterion curatorial director Ashley Clark, who says one of the key through lines of the genre is “the possibility of Black people imagining ourselves in a future where we have not been imagined.” The selection of films is broad — beloved works like 1984’s The Brother From Another Planet and a documentary about Ornette Coleman are included, but so is a five-minute live-action animated film from U.K. filmmaker Kibwe Tavares called “Robots of Brixton,” which powerfully unpacks the history of police violence. The series ends with its most recent element: The 2019 visionary tone poem “I Snuck Off a Slave Ship” by Atlantabased artist Lonnie Holley, who makes an ideal bookend to match with Sun Ra. The program is worth the subscription cost on its own. Visit criterionchannel.com for more. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
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JULY 29-31, 2021 HIDEAWAY FARM BON AQUA, TN
[HOGWASH]
HAVE ALONE TIME (WITH PIGS, GOATS, TURKEYS AND MORE) AT PICCOLO FARMS
Piccolo Farms Animal Sanctuary is home to pigs, goats, chickens, turkeys, horses, sheep, a 40-year-old tortoise named Tank and more. All the animals have one thing in common: They were taken in by
owners Bonnie and Jeff Glueck because they had nowhere else to go. Some were found roaming residential neighborhoods or public parks; others were retired from commercial farms; a few were rescued from the slaughter line. In the case of Tank, he outlived his owner. The Whites Creek nonprofit offers sanctuary to animals we are more accustomed to seeing on our plates, and a visit to Piccolo Farms might even make you rethink your food options. The Gluecks offer tours to small groups, but there’s also Nourish, which is for patrons looking for a more personal experience. With Nourish, you can have the whole farm to yourself for two hours. Can you bring a friend? No. Your child? No. The Gluecks want to encourage people to connect with nature, animals and themselves. What will you do? For starters, you can give pets to a blind quarter horse named Buddy and belly rubs to pigs Brick and Twinkie. There are sure to be chicks afoot, so watch your step, and the Piccolo goats will definitely nibble on your clothes. But it’s all in good fun, and the bucolic nine acres of land offer plenty of shady and sunny spots to enjoy a complimentary glass of wine, relax, read, sketch and snack — again, just watch for goats. The suggested donation is $25 per visit. The Gluecks are currently raising funds for a bulk grain bin that they say will cut feed costs by 45 percent. Nourish is offered every day from 5 to 7 p.m. Visit piccolofarms.org to book. ERICA CICCARONE
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NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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PRESENTED BY: nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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VIVEK SURTI
TAILOR MADE
In just 10 years of cooking, Tailor’s Vivek Surti has come a long way BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
A
t a glance, chef Vivek Surti seems to have had a meteoric climb at his Germantown restaurant Tailor, where he shares his first-generation American’s version of his ancestral Gujarati TAILOR cuisine in a jovial 1300B THIRD AVE. N. dinner-party atmoTAILORNASHVILLE.COM sphere. But his path to becoming an award-winning restaurateur and chef has been far from direct or sudden. Ten years ago, Surti was still living at home with his parents and sister, using the money he was saving on rent to buy all sorts of fun exotic ingredients while learning to cook for himself. “I started cooking by watching TV shows like Emeril and Bobby Flay,” Surti recalls. “Mom would help me with some ingredients, but I wasn’t cooking Indian food.” He wrote about his experiments on his blog, Vivek’s Epicurean Adventures, and joined a cadre of local food bloggers who would become fast friends. Unlike many aspiring food writers populating the Blogger and WordPress platforms, Surti didn’t really like sharing his recipes. “I stopped writing about recipes,” he
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explains. “I was more into playing with new ingredients and techniques. Indians don’t really cook with recipes. With my mom, it’s all just a handful of this and a pinch of that, so it’s hard to communicate that. Americans like to follow recipes!” Surti grew close with his food-blogger friends and became more interested in the people behind the food. “I’m not really a writer,” he says. “I was more interested in creating an experience and exploring the community and local farmers. I was intrigued by the idea of cooking for small groups, and there were only a few supper clubs in town. I’d been reading about Brooklyn house parties where people paid what they could, and I figured I could make that work.” With an email list of 30 friends, Surti launched his first VEA Supper Club series. “I planned nine [dinners] and executed four because nobody bought tickets to the other five,” he says. Hosting out of his home kitchen, Surti executed his first four-course dinner for six friends in May 2011. While it was convenient to work from home and lean on his talented mother for assistance, Surti knew he couldn’t grow from there. Fortune shined on him with Laura Wilson,
a talented chef with experience working at local standouts like Ombi and Holland House who had recently started up a new demo kitchen called Grow Local Kitchen in the Nashville Farmers’ Market. Surti explains his luck: “I ran into Laura, and she offered to let me use the space. Then she offered to help out in the kitchen because she didn’t want to go back to cooking full time. She has been a great teacher and friend through the years.” Even at the bargain price of $55 for five courses and cocktails, Surti still had trouble selling all 25 seats to most of his dinners, but he persisted at the market until 2015. Then another stroke of luck changed his entire model. “All my friends I loved cooking with started opening their own restaurants,” he says with a laugh. “Karl Worley opened Biscuit Love and [Matt] Bolus started 404 Kitchen, so I got to actually learn from them. I had always wanted to cook in a professional kitchen.” Access to more than a few induction burners and a hot box really upped Surti’s cooking game as he started to put on larger events. He popped up at POP, Sarah Gavigan’s East Nashville restaurant space, where he could finally host two seatings in a night serving themed menus. He partnered with Hattie B’s to serve an Indian fried chicken dish that attracted more than 250 diners in a single evening, and offered up a “Biryani and Beer” night at The Family
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
FOOD AND DRINK
Wash and other special menus at his friends’ restaurants. His first full restaurant takeover was a night at City House where he combined Tandy Wilson’s Sunday Supper menu with Indian elements like lamb meatballs, chicken with Indian spice gravy and a masala chai cake. Stints at Butcher & Bee and Le Sel bolstered Surti’s confidence that he could actually run a restaurant kitchen. Surti began a semipermanent residency cooking brunches at East Nashville’s The Treehouse in the mornings before the regular kitchen crew came in for the evening meal. He hired Heather Southerland to run the front of the house while he managed the kitchen, and the two remain a strong team at Tailor. “It was my first time running a full kitchen by myself,” Surti recalls. “I loved it, but I didn’t love the experience of cooking for à la carte service. I lost the connection between cooking and serving that I enjoyed at my supper clubs.” Caroline Galzin of Nicky’s Coal Fired suggested that he start looking for a dedicated restaurant space in the Nations. “It would have been a fullservice lunch and dinner restaurant, and we ran the numbers, but it just didn’t feel like the right thing for me. The debt scenarios were imposing, and what I really wanted was to find a permanent home for my supper club. “Obviously the supper club put a ceiling
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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on what we could do because of capacity constraints,” he continues, “but it was a model I knew how to run and make money doing. When I started asking for just a 1,000-square-foot space, real estate brokers stopped calling me back.” Again, good luck shined on Surti when he heard that Tandy Wilson was planning to take over the former Kuchnia & Keller restaurant space for his project Mop & Broom. “Tandy wanted to rent out a third of the space, and we could share the main kitchen,” Surti says. “It was a way to get in without spending a bunch of money, and I knew I’d be comfortable working with him and his staff.” He hashed out the details with Wilson, and Tailor opened in December 2018. The restaurant was an immediate hit. “All my experiences led to what I really loved doing — throwing a dinner party. The format lets me cook and share the context of the food, the story of its creation.” Surti named the restaurant Tailor after his grandfather, and that really affected the direction of his cooking. “Once I saw our family name on the door, I knew I wanted to showcase my version of first-generation American food. I wanted to show people what the food of India is at home and create a unique experience for our guests.” Tailor drew plaudits, including being named the No. 7 Best New Restaurant by Bon Appétit magazine. Surti’s first year culminated in a James Beard semifinalist nod for Best Chef: Southeast. Then … 2020 hit. The March tornado barely missed his building, but the pandemic made a direct hit on his business. “We had no power for a week after the storm, and then reopened for four days before the mayor’s press conference shut us down again,” he says. “We crunched the numbers, but the best decision was to shut down. It was better to lose money
rather than expose our staff to risk.” Surti managed to keep everyone on the payroll until Tailor reopened with limited seating in July. “We felt it was important to provide a safe dining experience and some escapism,” recalls Surti. His business had doubled after all the awards were announced, but it’s been a bit of a struggle since reopening. “We’re not back to where we were when we first opened,” he says. “But it’s improving month over month. The pandemic forced us to slow down and think about our systems a little more. We’ve switched to individual plating instead of family-style and concentrated on focusing even more on our guests to offer a comfortable and homey experience.” Through June, Tailor is offering an elevated reimagining of Surti’s menu from his first supper-club party in 2011. A simple chilled pea soup has morphed into an elegant first course of Ōra King salmon with a peashoot chutney. The shrimp and grits now showcases Mama Surti’s favorite “green-garlic-marinated shrimp” over fluffy semolina upma. Surti’s admirable early experiments in a “charcutapalooza” course can’t measure up to his 2021 offering of aged Bear Creek pork loin spiced with fennel, Thai bird chili and fenugreek honey. His original dessert of lemon pudding now presents as a technically challenging lemon pudding cake separated into two layers: a tier of cake and a lemon curd garnished with marigolds, an Indian symbol of the guest of honor. “We want to leave people knowing that they’re now part of the Tailor family,” says Surti. “After we lost all our momentum, we asked how we could rebuild it. We decided that the most important thing is making sure that every person who walks through the door leaves happier than when they came in!” EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
TAILOR
PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS
FOOD AND DRINK
VEG OUT THE BE-HIVE DELI — NASHVILLE HOT FRIED CHXN SANDWICH
This East Side plant-based deli offers a tasty seitan alternative to Nashville’s most famous dish
N
ow that folks are making good on the travel plans they talked about all last year, Nashville is a hot vacation destination again. For me that means friends and family THE BE-HIVE DELI coming to visit. And 2414 GALLATIN AVE. that means more hot 615-733-9609 chicken in my future. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I love watching a friend’s eyes water as we work our way through all the pan-fried, white-bread-soaked classics. But it is a lot of chicken. Fortunately, now that the BE-Hive Deli has its cheery, cherry-red dining room open on Gallatin Avenue, there’s a plant-
based alternative. BE-Hive is known for its seitan, a whole-wheat protein that is used as a vegan meat substitute by The Wild Cow, Duke’s, Culture + Co. and others across the country. BE-Hive’s vegan Nashville Hot Fried Chxn sandwich ($9) is spicy — but not so much that it’s a dare — served on a soft, shiny, slightly sweet bun that cuts the heat with, of course, the traditional pickle. It has the look and feel of the poultry-centric real deal with darker areas signaling bites with the most spice. The menu includes a Plain Gain version, plus other vegan sandwiches and sides, if you want to tap out of the hot chicken craze for a meal. The BE-Hive is open Wednesday through Sunday. MARGARET LITTMAN
nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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BOOKS
WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE YOU ARE
In The Marvelous Mirza Girls, a teenager explores her heritage and herself in Delhi BY TRACY BARRETT
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verything should be looking rosy for Noreen, the protagonist of Sheba Karim’s The Marvelous Mirza Girls. She has just graduated from high school and been accepted into college. She has THE MARVELOUS good, understandMIRZA GIRLS ing friends. She and BY SHEBA KARIM her mother Ruby QUILL TREE BOOKS have a close rela391 PAGES, $17.99 tionship. She hardly knows her father but is fine with keeping things distant. Still, she’s having a hard time getting over the death of her beloved aunt, a fun-loving, successful physician who died a year ago. Noreen doesn’t have any great passion to throw herself into. She’s a runner who joined the cross-country team only because the school counselor suggested it to round out her résumé — though running has become “a respite from the grief and the doubts and the dark.” She enjoys screenwriting but hasn’t felt inspired to write in the wake of her aunt’s death. She’s had only one boyfriend and doesn’t seem to be mourning the loss of the relationship. In spite of all the good things in Noreen’s life, sorrow has left her in a deep funk: “She couldn’t write, wasn’t sure what to say, and the idea of College was more exhausting than exhilarating.” When Ruby suggests that Noreen accompany her on a months-long business trip to Delhi — a place her late aunt had always wanted to visit — Noreen sees no reason not to go. She defers her first year of college, and the two of them depart on their adventure. Despite Noreen’s claim that she and her mother don’t act like the Gilmore Girls, they do seem like best friends rather than mother and daughter. They appear to have no secrets from each other and speak openly about sex, pot smoking and other sometimes touchy subjects with affection and lighthearted banter. In India, Ruby is engaged in some vaguely defined work with an NGO, and Noreen is often left on her own without much to do. Fortunately, Kabir — the son of a friend of a friend of her godfather — gets in touch and offers to take her around. Having grown up in New Jersey, Noreen doesn’t know what to expect from Delhi. She’s a good observer, though, and through her sharp eye and Kabir’s knowledge of Delhi’s history, the beauty and ugliness of this large, ancient city are depicted in vivid and realistic detail. Together, the two visit wildly disparate places: an art gallery where a central piece is a huge phallus made of car parts, a ruined temple where visitors leave letters for the local jinn, an ancient palace, a celebrity photo shoot and more. Soon, Noreen and Kabir are spending
most of their time together. He is an excellent tour guide, and easygoing and handsome as well. And when Noreen discovers that her crush on him is reciprocated, their wanderings take on a romantic aspect. Noreen has to learn to juggle the unfamiliar expectations and standards of a traditional society with the concerns of a modern teen — forming a relationship with a partner, dealing with an absentee father and encountering the #MeToo movement, which makes an unexpected intrusion into her relationship with Kabir. Readers looking for the standard YA fare of teen rebellion, illicit love, peer-pressure issues, high stakes and the like will find their expectations shaken by this tale of a well-centered and confident young woman. Noreen is faced with very few risks compared to the heroines of most YA novels — no world to save, no injustice to right, no great lesson to learn — so the reader can concentrate on following her exploration of the city and herself. Despite its 400-page length, The Marvelous Mirza Girls — the fourth novel by Karim, who is a writer-in-residence at Vanderbilt — is a light, quick read, with many touches of humor. Noreen is an engaging narrator. It’s unclear what, if anything, she is looking for in India and whether she finds it. But sometimes you don’t need a big plan; you just need to get away and recharge. In this ancient and modern, holy and unholy city, Noreen finds the will to move on with her life. For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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THEATER
ROAD TRIP
Sloppy Bonnie takes audiences on a wild ride BY AMY STUMPFL
P
oor Bonnie. All she wanted to do was take a little road trip to surprise her fiancé Jedidiah, who’s off training to be a youth pastor at a mountain retreat (and who seems to have stopped SLOPPY BONNIE RUNS returning her calls). THROUGH JUNE 5 AT I mean, what could OZ ARTS go wrong? Decked out in gingham and go-go boots, Bonnie takes off in her pink ’72 Chevy Nova in search of a happy reunion. But the road’s a tricky place, and at every turn Bonnie’s “cookie-cutter femininity” seems to get her into trouble, eventually turning her into an “accidental serial killer.” In fact, it’s often hard to tell whether Bonnie (that’s Sloppy Bonnie, when she’s drunk) is victim or predator in Krista Knight and Barry Brinegar’s quirky new musical, premiering outdoors at OZ Arts through June 5. Billed as a “roadkill musical for the modern chick,” Sloppy Bonnie is certainly not your standard theater fare. But it has playwright Knight’s fingerprints all over it, exploring big issues such as Southern patriarchy, self-determination and the dangers of female subordination through the lens of goofy, often absurd humor. Composer Brinegar leans heavily into the fun with catchy, irreverent tunes like “Jesus Riding Shotgun,” “You Don’t Get to Ghost Me,” “100 Proof Gospel Truth” and “McNugget of Your Love.” And director Leah Lowe makes the most of the unconventional space, with OZ Arts’ parking lot doubling as an outdoor
honky-tonk for this crazy country musical. Part morality tale, part hootenanny, Sloppy Bonnie is a wild ride for sure — running roughly 90 minutes, with no intermission. And I haven’t even gotten to the part about the nativity chicken. (It seems that our sweet Bonnie undergoes a “Kafkaesque transformation” in which she becomes an animal to “escape from oppressive social norms.”) But as with most road trips, there does come a point when things start to drag just a bit, and you might even question where all these off-road shenanigans and cosmic communiqués are leading. (I’m still scratching my head about the “Ghostie on My Rope-sie.”) It’s definitely worth checking out the digital program prior to the performance, where dramaturge Joy Brooke Fairfield provides some valuable context. The opening-night performance suffered just a couple of technical hiccups, but I expect those will be resolved as the run continues. And as much as I enjoyed an evening of theater under the stars, I can’t help but wonder if a more traditional space might provide greater opportunity in terms of design. That’s not to take away from Phillip Franck’s illumination work, but I’d love to see some projections or other clever imagery to help reinforce and clarify some of the story’s intriguing themes. I know we’re rather spoiled here in Music City, but I dearly wish that this hardworking cast had a live band backing them up — particularly in such a wide-open setting. Nashville newcomer Amanda Disney is a real find as Bonnie, bringing strong vo-
cals and solid comedic instincts to the title role. I have no doubt we’ll be seeing more from this talented performer in the future. Curtis Reed and James Rudolph II are both hilarious, taking on more than a dozen roles with little more than a quick change of a hat or wig. Rudolph is especially good as Jesus, delivering cheeky lyrics with devilish delight. And Reed is great fun as Youth Pastor Chad (a radio personality who takes mansplaining to a new level with his archaic advice to young women) and Bonnie’s mysterious fiancé Jedidiah. Yes, it’s outrageous at times. But with just a few adjustments and a bit more polish, Sloppy Bonnie could really shine. After the year we’ve had, it’s so nice to share a laugh with fellow audience members. It’s also wonderful to know that OZ Arts (working in association with Vanderbilt University Theatre) is here to support new work and help get local theater back behind the wheel. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
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nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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MUSIC
Matt Rollings moves from the liner notes to the marquee with Mosaic BY GEOFFREY HIMES
H
e’s been one of the top session musicians in Nashville for three-plus decades. His name has appeared on the back (or on the inside) of more than a thousand albums, usually in MOSAIC OUT NOW VIA some variation on DUALTONE RECORDS this phrase: “Piano: Matt Rollings.” But with his first solo album since 1990, Rollings’ name is now on the front of the record. The new record was released on streaming services last year, but it was only this month that it was released on vinyl. And there it is: a black-and-white photo of his fingers on the keyboard, the title Mosaic in big blue letters, and his own name in orange. On first listen, the recording doesn’t sound that different from Rollings’ usual work. His skillful and imaginative piano parts frame the vocals of Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss and others he’s worked with in the past. But the sensibility that bonds these songs into a unified album is Rollings’ taste. He chose the songs and musicians, arranged the tunes and produced the sessions. “I treated myself as an equal partner on this record, not as a sideman,” Rollings explains over the phone from his Nashville studio. “The singers and I were equal artists. When I’m hired as a sideman, I’m there to help the singers realize their vision. This time, it was my vision. We started every session with, ‘This is my arrangement of the song.’ Sometimes they made good suggestions, but that was always the starting point.” His first rule was that his singers couldn’t sing their own songs; they had to do one of the songs he suggested. Thus Rollings’ longtime employer Lovett doesn’t sing one of his classic compositions, such as “If I Had a Boat” (that’s done here by Ramblin’ Jack Elliott). Instead, Lovett sings Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” (listed on the jacket as “Accentuate the Positive”). Nelson, who has won two Grammys with Rollings-produced albums, joins Lovett and Elliott to sing “That Lucky Old Sun,” the 1949 standard Nelson had once sung with Kenny Chesney. Nashville duo The War and Treaty sing Paul Simon’s “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” and then join The Blind Boys of Alabama on the old spiritual “Wade in the Water.” Krauss joins Vince Gill to sing “Stay,” a song Rollings wrote with Alisan Porter, the 2016 winner of The Voice. It’s no accident that these songs all reside in the overlap between jazz, blues and country — the land of extended chords, syncopated rhythms and accessible storytelling — because that’s where Rollings feels most comfortable. That’s why Nelson has turned to Rollings to co-produce the legend’s three latest American Songbook albums. The first, 2016’s Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings
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MATT ROLLINGS AND LYLE LOVETT Gershwin, won a Grammy, and so did the 2018 Sinatra tribute My Way. Rollings’ third collaboration with Nelson and co-producer Buddy Cannon is That’s Life, another Sinatra tribute released just this year and a likely contender for next year’s Grammys. “When I started with the arrangements for the Gershwin album,” Rollings recalls, “I was looking for a sound that felt at home in the jazz world, where the musicians knew that vocabulary and knew how to swing. But I also wanted it to be accessible to a nonjazz audience. That reminded me of Half the Perfect World, that Madeleine Peyroux album produced by Larry Klein. It sat in just the right place: It swung but didn’t go too far out. So I hired the rhythm section from that album: Jay Bellerose on drums, David Piltch on bass and Dean Parks on guitar.” To this foundation, Rollings added steel guitarist Paul Franklin to echo the countryjazz fusion that Nelson grew up on as a Bob Wills fan. Rollings then wrote charts for a horn section and a string section to fill out the sound. But in the end, all three titles were unmistakably Willie Nelson albums. “There are three things that make an album a Willie record: Willie’s voice, his guitar Trigger and Mickey Raphael’s harmonica,” Rollings says. “Once Willie starts singing, it feels like he was always meant to sing that song. Lyle’s like that. And Mickey knows how to play around Willie; he’s got great radar in that way. That mixture of jazz, blues and country is such an interesting hybrid. I never knew what to call it, so I just refer to it as Texas music, because most people from there seem to have it.” In 1981, Rollings was an aspiring 17-yearold jazz pianist, when he was asked to audition for the suddenly vacant piano chair in J. David Sloan & the Rogues — the house band at Mr. Lucky’s, the biggest honky-tonk in Phoenix. The gig was playing whatever the top-40 country hits of the day were, as well as country standards from the past. He was soon told by the band’s veterans: “What you’re playing is great for jazz, but your job here is to play rhythm.” So he mastered that job. The band was hired as the country band at an international festival in Luxembourg. When the band took a break, a skinny Texan fresh out of college would play solo acoustic songs between sets. Almost completely ignored by the crowd, the kid asked Rollings and his bandmates if they would learn five of his songs and back him up. They agreed. The kid was Lyle Lovett, and the songs in-
cluded “Cowboy Man,” “God Will” and “If I Were the Man You Wanted.” “I had never heard anything like him,” Rollings remembers. “The songs were country but not really. He’s an amazing singer, but he doesn’t wear it like that. It was really compelling to hear this unassuming young guy sing these compelling songs. His hair was really high even then. He was the complete package.” The musicians bonded, and Lovett traveled to Phoenix to cut his audition demos for a Nashville publishing deal. Rollings played electric keyboards and recommended a local singer, Francine Reed, to sing backup. The pianist then went off to study jazz at Berklee in Boston. It was there he got a call from Lovett, who said that he landed not only the publishing deal but also a record deal with MCA. Producer Tony Brown wanted to use the Phoenix demos as the basis of Lovett’s first album, but wanted to replace the keyboards with acoustic piano. Lovett insisted that they use Rollings. Rollings went on to play on every album Lovett has ever made. “In addition to being a jazz guy,” Rollings recalls, “I liked Steely Dan, James Taylor and Jackson Browne. I noticed that a lot of the same names played on those records, and I realized that playing on records might be a career. When I got a bigger-than-expected check from the Lyle record and Tony invited me back to Nashville for some more work, that convinced me where my career was
going. And at the end of 1986, I left Berklee after five semesters and moved to Nashville. I had just bought a pickup truck, so perhaps I was destined to go into country music.” After a transition period, Rollings was working three sessions a day behind artists such as George Strait, Randy Travis, Patty Loveless, Wynonna Judd and Clint Black. “I loved it,” he says. “That time period in the ’90s was a really amazing era for country music. I usually got hired as a pianist, not a keyboardist, so not only did I get to be on some classic country recordings, but I also got to develop a unique voice in town. And I got to play with literally the best session players in the world: Steve Gadd, Brent Mason, Larrie Londin, Michael Rhodes and many more.” Working in the studio with producers such as Tony Brown, Jimmy Bowen and Garth Fundis, he got interested in producing himself. After some indie projects, Rollings got the shot to produce Keith Urban’s first American solo album, a self-titled effort, in 1999. That record yielded three top-five singles, and Rollings was on his way as a producer. He wound up producing three albums for Mary Chapin Carpenter, including 2014’s Songs From the Movie, a lavish orchestral reinterpretation of her earlier songs. Carpenter, Rollings and co-producer Vince Mendoza toured behind the album with a different orchestra in each city. In England, their opening act was a Lovettlike kid named Benjamin Scheuer. Rollings bonded with him and recently contributed piano to Scheuer’s “Empty Stage,” a song about all the theaters left vacant by the pandemic. It was turned into an extravagant video that became a minor sensation in the U.K. “Benjamin is this amazing composer and singer-songwriter — an extremely talented storyteller,” Rollings says. “He writes songs that make me cry. He’s just one of those people.” Scheuer joins the hundreds of singers who have benefited from Rollings’ piano playing. And now Rollings is being helped out by some of those singers on his own record. It’s not an easy journey to move your name from the small type on an album’s back cover to the large type on the front. But Rollings has pulled it off and few have deserved it more. EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
PHOTOS: MICHAEL WILSON
KEY PERSONNEL
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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MUSIC
PRINCIPLED OUTLAW
Shannon McNally turns Waylon Jennings to her own purposes on The Waylon Sessions BY EDD HURT
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PHOTO: ALYSSE GAFKJEN
“Y
ou have to have some charm to play classic country — you have to have respect for your instrument,” says Shannon McNally, who is talking to me on the phone about her new full-length The Waylon Sessions. The album features songs written and recorded by the great outlaw-country singer Waylon Jennings. I’m catching up with McNally as she’s making her way up I-55 out of Jackson, Miss., where she’s played a show, back home to Nashville by way of Memphis. THE WAYLON SESSIONS OUT FRIDAY, MAY 28, VIA I think I get what she’s telling me about charm. Indeed, COMPASS RECORDS; McNally found her own way to perform the Jennings songs RELEASE SHOW FRIDAY, that make up her latest album. McNally and I trade travel MAY 28, AT CITY WINERY notes about the impossibility of splitting the right angle to save time between Jackson and Nashville, and you can tell she knows the territory. She lived in New Orleans and Mississippi before moving to Nashville in 2017. As I tell her, The Waylon Sessions is a remarkable recasting of well-known material. It was cut in Nashville, and it’s a Nashville kind of idea, but the concept doesn’t get in the way. McNally recorded The Waylon Sessions over four days in September 2019 in Nashville with a group of musicians that included guitarist Kenny Vaughan, bassist Chris Scruggs and former Jennings sideman Fred Newell, who played pedal steel. The Waylon Sessions also includes guest turns by the likes of Jessi Colter and Rodney Crowell — and it’s not hackneyed, as in the tradition of tribute albums featuring many famous people who usually add nothing to the proceedings. It’s a work that matches McNally’s planed, underplayed vocal style to the minimalistic sound of the session cats, who render Jennings’ music in strict time, with few flourishes. The Waylon Sessions gives McNally a chance to make like a country singer, right down to her subtle phrasing and gift for understatement. Listen to the way she finesses the album’s opener, “I’ve Always Been Crazy,” a 1978 country hit Jennings wrote. Her performance captures the vulnerability that lay beneath Jennings’ bravado. Her Nashville move clarifies the artistry of a vocalist and guitarist who has — like many other artists who have been slotted into the Americana category — proved elusive as a marketable commodity. McNally was born in New York in 1973, and signed her first record deal in 1997. Her major label debut, 2002’s Jukebox Sparrows, bears the mark of corporate interference, but at least one tune, the gorgeous “Start All Over,” gave a hint of her future style. She had been playing and recording Jennings material before she started work on The Waylon Sessions a couple of years ago. She cut a version of Steve Young’s “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean,” which Jennings covered in 1973, with pianist and producer Jim Dickinson in Mississippi in 2009, and the song has long been a staple of her live show. As McNally tells me, she was inspired to record The Waylon Sessions after she sang two country tunes at a June 2019 benefit at Nashville’s The Basement East that also featured Luther Dickinson and Joshua Hedley. “As I was coming off stage, I thought, ‘Man, those guys [in the band] are really good,’ ” she says. “It sounded fantastic, and I thought, ‘I could have done anything I wanted with that band. I could’ve done Waylon Jennings songs.’ ” She made the deal with her label, and she says the project came together fast. The Waylon Sessions adds McNally’s sensibilities to a set of songs that combine romanticism with a feel for the steep downside of self-determination. It’s her most straightforward record to date, and its pared-down sound feels suitably Waylonesque. Her new record makes a nice contrast with her 2010 Western Ballad, on which producer and co-writer Mark Bingham functioned in much the same way as did, say, Daniel Lanois when he added texture to Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball and Willie Nelson’s Teatro. McNally is a savvy record maker who has always had good taste in producers. Her work with Bingham takes her into the pop-blues-country avant-garde. On the other side of the equation, she’s collaborated with Mac Rebennack (better known as Dr. John), who co-produced her 2013 album of Bobby Charles songs, Small Town Talk, and with Crowell, who produced 2017’s Black Irish. “He was a radical purist, let’s put it that way,” she says about Jim Dickinson. “He liked everything raw and meaningful. I’ve come to realize I have a bit of a type, I guess, for producers. They’re characters, you know — they’re mad scientists, all of them, and principled outlaws who paint outside the lines.” McNally produced The Waylon Sessions, and it sounds like she’s learned the lessons of Dickinson and Bingham. In one sense, the album doesn’t sound produced at all, but the decision to make the performances streamlined and disciplined keeps her within the strict aesthetic Jennings applied to his classic records. The Waylon Sessions stands tall with Chuck Prophet’s idiosyncratic 2007 Jennings album Dreaming Waylon’s Dreams, making it no ordinary tribute record. The album proves that, even in modern-day Nashville, you can still be an outlaw, as long as you don’t try too hard. EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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MUSIC
ANOTHER LOOK
The Scene’s music writers recommend recent releases from Rahsaan Barber, Namir Blade and L’Orange, and more BY EDD HURT, LORIE LIEBIG, DARYL SANDERS, STEPHEN TRAGESER, RON WYNN AND CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
T
here’s lots of live music to look forward to through the summer — see our Summer Guide from May 20 for recommendations on outdoor and reducedcapacity shows. But Music City musicians FIND LINKS TO STREAM AND continue to BUY THESE RECORDS AT NASHVILLESCENE.COM/MUSIC release stacks of great music, and our writers have eight new titles to recommend. Add ’em to your streaming queue, get a physical copy from your favorite record store. Or drop them on your wishlist for #BandcampFriday, the promotion in which the platform waives its cut of artist fees, the next installment of which is June 4.
RAHSAAN BARBER, MOSAIC (JAZZ MUSIC CITY)
The two-disc set Mosaic illustrates how formidable multi-instrumentalist and composer Rahsaan Barber has become during the more than 10 years since his previous release. He’s working here with several excellent contemporaries, including his trombonist brother Roland, trumpeter Nathan Warner, pianist Matt Endahl, bassist Jack Aylor and drummer Derrek Phillips. This is also completely original fare: 15 tunes penned by Barber and all recorded in a two-day period. This is rich, harmonically and rhythmically ambitious material with expressive, extensive solos by all the musicians, and with Barber not only playing his familiar tenor sax but also alto and baritone. There are also many intriguing moments, among them Roland Barber’s conch shell contributions to “Jambo Rafiki,” the gospel-tinged “Sunrise Service” and the rich blues fervor of “Pink Piranha,” as well as the robust and earthy feel of “Swang That Thang.” RON WYNN
JILLETTE JOHNSON, IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY AND I LOVE YOU (MOSS ROSE)
On her third album It’s a Beautiful Day and I Love You, Jillette Johnson offers the kind of songwriting that can make a record feel truly timeless. From the sometimes reckless freedom of youth (“Many Moons”) to the guilty ache of wishing you had another person’s good fortune (“Jealous”), Johnson looks at our own collective faults with grace and wisdom. With a soundscape that often harkens back to the best of ’70s folk-pop — anchored by floating piano and Johnson’s smooth, flawless vocals — it’s a record that was tailor-made for a Sunday morning spin on the turntable. LORIE LIEBIG
TOMAHAWK, TONIC IMMOBILITY (IPECAC)
The title of hard-rock supergroup Tomahawk’s brilliant new album Tonic
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Immobility refers to a state of temporary paralysis due to fear, so it’s not surprising the record is a sort of sonic snapshot of the times. Probably no song reflects the mood we’ve been living with more than “Doomsday Fatigue,” with vocalist Mike Patton’s abstract lyrics — “Sometimes the truth don’t rhyme” — and Nashvillian Duane Denison’s foreboding spy-movie guitar lines riding a hypnotic groove, courtesy of drummer John Stanier and bassist Trevor Dunn. Provocative lyricism, muscular and inventive guitar riffs, and tight rhythms abound on the album’s 12 tracks, which were recorded in Nashville and San Francisco. DARYL SANDERS
VOLK, CASHVILLE (ROMANUS RECORDS)
The release of Cashville is both a coming-out party and big exhale for Volk, the Nashville-residing duo of East Texas native and Townes Van Zandt obsessive Christopher Lowe (guitar and vocals) and California-born theater kid and Motor City garage-punk fanatic Eleot Reich (vocals and drums). Reich and Lowe have spent the past several years jamming econo with their crude but effective drums-and-guitar setup, but on Cashville they harness their unique backgrounds and skill sets, ramp up the fidelity and swing for the fences. The bombastic, AC/DC-indebted lead track “Welcome to Cashville” clocks in at six minutes, feeling like both a statement and a dare. Later they cover Ray Wylie Hubbard’s 2006 tune “Snake Farm” with sass for days, and channel early White Stripes as well as Alison Mosshart’s pre-Dead Weather band The Kills on the call-and-response barnburner “Honey Bee.” The vinyl version of Cashville even has shredded dollar bills pressed into the record. Ambitious DIY concerns like Volk took a big hit in 2020 — sidelined from touring, the duo sat
on Cashville for more than a year — but whatever the post-COVID landscape holds for Lowe and Reich, their chemistry and personality are sure to sustain them as they navigate it. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
L’ORANGE AND NAMIR BLADE, IMAGINARY EVERYTHING (MELLO MUSIC GROUP)
Namir Blade and former Nashvillian L’Orange have each established a reputation for extraordinarily immersive instrumental hip-hop. If you’re familiar with their independent work, it won’t come as a surprise that the two getting together yields a full-tilt movie for your ears. Blade, also an accomplished MC and singer (as you hear on his 2020 LP Aphelion’s Traveling Circus), serves as the lyrical and vocal talent on Imaginary Everything. He parkours his way around the funky, gritty beat environment L’Orange built for him, while he fleshes out the story of a character who seems to be trying to decide whether or not to make some big changes in his situation. STEPHEN TRAGESER
DARA TUCKER, DREAMS OF WAKING: MUSIC FOR A BETTER WORLD (GREEN HILL PRODUCTIONS)
Vocal stalwart Dara Tucker, a former Nashvillian now in New York, has delivered perhaps her finest collection of updated and reworked classics adapted from nonjazz genres with Dreams of Waking, out May 28. The songs are performed in ways that celebrate the rigorous jazz tradition of excellence while speaking to contemporary social and political issues. Prime examples are her takes on Stevie Wonder’s denunciation of hypocrisy and decades of injustice “You Haven’t Done Nothing” and Donny Hathaway’s proclamation of impending freedom “Someday We’ll Be Free.” Tucker’s original “Do We Sleep” poignantly addresses the tendency many
Americans — particularly those in power — have to ignore or gloss over simmering problems and unresolved issues still plaguing this nation. RON WYNN
WELLSPRINGS LTD., HELL OF A RIDE (PRODUTRON REX)
What transpires clearly throughout Wellsprings LTD.’s debut full-length Hell of a Ride is the gestalt of soul music as it existed between the early-1960s era of Ray Charles and Solomon Burke and the ’70s, when Willie Mitchell produced Al Green’s work. Some of this rawly produced album amounts to a canny recasting of the soul subgenre called Northern soul — a category invented in the ’70s by English devotees of semi-obscure records by performers like The Parliaments and Dobie Gray. Wellsprings LTD. comprises Nashville singer-guitarist Patricio Johnson alongside bassist Mike Therieau, who lives in Texas, and drummer John Kent, a Californian. They all pitch in on the songwriting, and the record’s finest track, “Doing the Best I Can,” finds Johnson evoking, say, the post-pubrock snarl of Graham Parker. EDD HURT
PILE, IN THE CORNERS OF A SPHERE-FILLED ROOM (SELF-RELEASED)
If Boston-founded, Nashville-residing rock outfit Pile is a universe unto itself, In the Corners of a Sphere-Filled Room is the background radiation that echoes from their acts of creation. The release consists of 14 tracks of improvised sonic experiments, incorporating found sounds and tape loops, mostly captured during the making of their 2019 LP Green and Gray. While In the Corners doesn’t tell stories in the same way as Pile’s songs, it does open a window into the group’s creative process. STEPHEN TRAGESER EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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MUSIC
HOMECOMING BY CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
I
n the dog days of last year’s COVID summer, seated in front of my TV scrawling out notes on one of the many local-band livestreams I covered for the Scene, I wondered what my first intimate in-person concert would feel like. Sunday’s triple bill with Styrofoam Winos, Josh Halper and Abby Johnson, in a backyard in Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, answered that. The pandemic isn’t over, but those I talked with among the 40 or so showgoers at the afternoon gig concurred that it felt at once ordinary and surreal to be there. A weather-beaten, gear-strewn carport surrounded by overgrown grass, with a tree canopy helping temper the late-spring humidity, was the setting on Sunday — a tableau reminiscent of shows at Riverside Village’s much-missed Fond Object. The Vietti Foods plant looming directly behind the house explained the venue’s name: The Chili Factory. Whirring machinery, incoming and outgoing trains and interstate traffic in the distance gave all three sets an ambient backdrop. The show hosts generously sated guests with fresh pulled pork, potato chips, cookies, ice water and cold beer.
NOTHING UP HIS SLEEVE: JOSH HALPER
GOOD VINTAGE: STYROFOAM WINOS
I arrived as Abby Johnson was wrapping up her opening set. Though I was preoccupied scanning the grounds for familiar faces, the electric-folk singer-songwriter’s closing tune stuck. It was an escapist road song in the spirit of Springsteen’s Nebraska, and ended things on a promising note. Josh Halper and Styrofoam Winos are both local acts I’d never met or seen live before writing features on their respective recent releases — Halper’s late-2020 Alrightnik and the Winos’ early-’21 self-titled LP. But even though we’d only previously spoken over the phone and on Zoom, their presences felt warm and familiar. Leading a four-piece band through selections from Alrightnik was ex-Western Medication axman Halper. Wielding a black Strat, he brought energy and zeal — my notes include “skronk,” “wah” and “choogle” — to the album’s unlikely but effective combination of moods. The set included laid-back story songs like the gentle, meandering “Who Knows” and stirring, intricate instrumentals like “Reflections.” Halper’s stage banter was also top-tier, hinting at a possible side career in stand-up comedy for the 26-yearold Music City native. Not unlike how a stand-up might perform more loosely when they know they aren’t being taped, the Winos’ set was easygoing, charming and joyous. Multi-instrumentalists Lou Turner, Trevor Nikrant and Joe Kenkel, joined Sunday by regular collaborator Ross Collier, all have albums of their own to draw from in addition to the full-band material from Styrofoam Winos. I imagine every Winos set is a little different, but this one felt like something of a cross between the late-’60s West Village and early-’90s Olympia, Wash. The tunes split the difference between raucous and vibey. Album opener and fan favorite “Stuck in a Museum” and Turner’s acute critique on New Nashville “Skyline Top Removal” got the crowd moving. Kenkel’s SW standout “Once” and a Nikrant tune that could’ve passed for a lost Silver Jews song wound things down. (That Nikrant song is slated for his next solo album, due in November.) As I walked out to the street, I heard a voice — presumably one of the show hosts — say into the mic, “Welcome back, everyone.” After a year no one would want to live through again, it felt like the opening proclamation to a summer to remember. EMAIL THESPIN@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
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FILM
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Tsai Ming-liang’s 2003 film Goodbye, Dragon Inn is trippy, elusive and very moving BY JASON SHAWHAN
T
sai Ming-liang, more than any other contemporary director, understands water. Dripping, pooling, cascading from the skies, hurtling curbside down every street, measuring time as surely as a clock or the celluloid pulled through a projector does. Taipei, Taiwan’s FuHo Grand theater is a shelter from the downpour in the way that humanity has always sought a dry place to just hang out and be dry in — but we’ve complicated the scenario with our art and obtrusive instincts and with candies and corn and, because this is a film from the Aughts, cigarettes. Since making movies involves illusion and sleight of hand so that nothing registers beyond the frame, showing movies requires similar rituals, though they’re not nearly as glamorous. For a poetic meditation on the nature of cinema and the theatrical experience, Tsai’s 2003 film Goodbye, Dragon Inn (the original title translates as “No Leaving”) does a great job at depicting the countless little rituals that go into making a movie theater work. The countless procedures going on behind the scenes (often quite literally) are a riff on the filmschool axiom about editing — if it’s being done right, the viewer doesn’t even notice it. Emptying trash cans and mop buckets, maintaining snack resources, making sure
everyone is having a good time — it’s a very specific kind of job that, when depicted on screen, is usually played for laughs. Not so here. At times, one could imagine a David Attenborough-style narrator deployed to map out the ecosystem of the movie theater, so rigorously composed and tonally exact are the proceedings. The Fu-Ho is a presiding sprawl of a theater going to seed, and it’s easy to imagine a time when its efficient majesty was a gem in Taipei’s social scene. Single-screen movie caverns were already a rarity in the ’90s, so by 2003 this theater was already a dinosaur inviting the imaginations of patrons and passersby alike to slip back in time. So for the last night before it all closes down, the theater is screening a classic. King Hu’s 1967 Dragon Inn is a barnstormer of a film, a wuxia epic about family, betrayal and bureaucracy. The theater patrons are a motley bunch. Loud snackers, frustrated cruisers, forgotten stars, ghosts. At times it’s very difficult to determine who among the few folk in the theater’s fading seats are actively alive and who are recursive fragments of past experiences. Even among the theater’s two staff members it’s hard to discern the assertive traits so often used to define narrative agency. Routine can become a surprisingly comfy cushion, even if we know, ultimately, we’ll be sitting on it alone. The ticket lady’s kindnesses are the foundation for the understated grace and diffuse horniness that comes to power what’s happening on screen, as well as what’s happening to the audience — both those watching Dragon Inn and those watching Goodbye, Dragon Inn. The 4K restoration does something interesting, beyond crafting a dialogue between the speckled, vintage film print of Dragon Inn that the Fu-Ho is showing, the 2003 negative that Tsai and his cinematographer Liao Pen-Jung shot, and the current high-
end digital exhibition standard of 4K DCP. (It’s a visually elegant illustration of what the old Mr. Show sketch “The Pretaped Call-In Show” was putting across about the shifting nature of media and how we perceive it.) It does, from the tech end of things, what happens within the film when we see Jun Shih watching Dragon Inn, or Miao Tian having brought his grandson to the screening. Both were actors in the original film, now experiencing something fraught, and so intertextual there isn’t even a name for it, and it’s completely overwhelming, yet somehow soothingly chill. There’s a feeling that cinema excels at conveying — a collective isolation that paradoxically allows a viewer to experience art on an individual basis, even when surrounded by others (the Eraserhead effect), while at the same time providing a soft, slack link between everyone who ever watches a film at any point in time. Because film depicts the act of living, to view a film while alive creates a connection. And that connection is what Goodbye, Dragon Inn excels at. The film has never played Nashville before, at the old Belcourt or at Sarratt, yet I have memories of seeing it there. It wouldn’t have played a press screening at the 2003 New York Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theater or in Alice Tully Hall — but memory disagrees, letting fuzzy edges and the comforting casserole of the past turn us all into the unreliable narrators of our experience. The only thing concrete about the film is that which was used in construction of the theater and the city around it. This is a trippy, elusive and ultimately very moving film that will start pollinating your dreams and quite possibly change the way you experience going to the movies. See it with someone you would climb untold stairs to share your lunch with. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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ropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on July 5, 2021. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.
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Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 21D156
PUZZLE BY JEM BURCH
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ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE S U R E D I D O V E R U S E T A X I C A B H A R P U S S Y C A O P T S S T O N E P I W O M E A T O P S E C R I N T R G O R D O T R I O A H A L C Y O N I S E C O N D S P R O U T S
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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.
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ANGELA P. BAILEY vs. ALBERT E. DIXON, JR. In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon ALBERT E. DIXON, JR. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein within thirty (30) days after June 17, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on July 19, 2021. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville. Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell, Deputy Clerk Date: May 19, 2021 Mary S. Foust Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/27, 6/3, 6/10 & 6/17/2021 Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 20D1328 THOMAS CHRISTIAN vs. KARLA CHRISTIAN In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon KARLA CHRISTIAN. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HER appearance herein with thirty (30) days after June 3, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on July 5, 2021. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville. Richard R. Rooker, Clerk M. De Jesus, Deputy Clerk Date: May 5, 2021
crossword_5-27-21.indd 33
Elizabeth Woodard Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/13, 5/20, 5/27 & 6/3/2021
Elizabeth Woodard Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/13, 5/20, 5/27 & 6/3/2021
Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 21D228 TINA GAYLE GRESHAM vs. CURTIS LEON GRESHAM In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon CURTIS LEON GRESHAM. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein with thirty (30) days after June 3, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on July 5, 2021. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville. Richard R. Rooker, Clerk M. De Jesus, Deputy Clerk Date: May 5, 2021 John B. Iwu Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/13, 5/20, 5/27 & 6/3/2021
Non-Resident Notice Third Circuit Docket No. 20D1966 BARBARA CARUTHERS vs. ISIAKA BAMIDELE In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon ISIAKA BAMIDELE. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein within thirty (30) days after May 27, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on June 28, 2021. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville. Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell, Deputy Clerk Date: April 29, 2021 William H. Stover Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/6, 5/13, 5/20 & 5/27/2021
Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 20D54 DARIUS J PARHAM vs. NOVINA R KING
Richard R. Rooker, Clerk M. De Jesus, Deputy Clerk Date: May 12, 2021 Ellis H. Marshall. Ill Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/20, 5/27, 6/3 & 6/10/2021
IN THE JUVENILE COURT FOR DICKSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE AT CHARLOTTE Docket No.: 01-21-008-DN JESSIE SCOTT KEVIN SCOTT 1184 PACK RD. WHITE BLUFF, TN 37167 Petitioners, v ANDREA ZELTNER WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN Respondent.
Marketplace
EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ
is ordered that said Defendant enter HER appearance herein with thirty (30) days after June 10, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on July 12, 2021. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.
IN RE: JACK INGRAM, Jr., DOB: 04/25/2007 A Child Under Eighteen Years of Age ORDER for PUBLICATION It appearing to the Court from the sworn allegations of the Pro Se Petition for Dependency and Neglect and Custody that the whereabouts of the Respondent, Andrea Zeltner, is unknown and cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence, it is, therefore, ORDERED that Respondent be served by publication of the following notice for four (4) consecutive weeks in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper of general circulation published in Davidson County, Tennessee. It is further ORDERED that if Respondent does not enter an appearance or otherwise answer the petition, further personal service or service by further publication shall be dispensed with and service of any future notices, motions, orders or other legal documents in this matter may be made upon Respondent by filing the same with the Clerk of the Juvenile Court of Dickson County, Tennessee. NOTICE ANDREA ZELTNER Jessie and Kevin Scott, have filed a petition seeking custody of Jack Ingram, Jr. You are hereby ORDERED to appear for trial on that petition on June 22, 2021, at 1:00 PM, at Dickson County Juvenile Court, 500 Spring St., Charlotte, TN 37036, phone number 614-7890250, or to otherwise enter an appearance in this matter. If you fail to do so, an order may be entered against you for the relief requested in the petition. You may view and obtain a copy of the petition and any other subsequently filed legal documents in the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office at the address shown above. ENTER this the 4th day of May, 2021. Judge Honorable Michael Meise
NSC 5/13, 5/20, 5/27 & 6/3/2021 In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the deAdvertise fendant is a non-resident of the on the State of Tennessee, therefore the Backpage! ordinary process of law cannot be served upon NOVINA RAE KING. It It’s like little is ordered that said Defendant enter billboards right in HER appearance herein with thirty front of you! (30) days after June 10, 2021 same being the date of the last publication Contact: of this notice to be held at the Metclassifieds@ ropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 fwpublishing Public Square, Room 302, Nash.com ville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on July 12, 2021. | MAY 27 - JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE It is therefore ordered that a copy of nashvillescene.com this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville. Richard R. Rooker, Clerk M. De Jesus, Deputy Clerk Date: May 12, 2021
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Marketplace
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS AND COMMENT PERIOD WeGo Public Transit will hold virtual public meetings and have an open public comment period from May 26 through June 16 regarding fall service changes. Virtual public meeting times and dates are listed below. Tuesday, June 8 from 12-1:30 p.m., Webex Wednesday, June 9 from 6-7:30 p.m., Webex For detailed information on proposed changes and meeting registration, visit WeGoTransit.com or call Customer Care at 615-8625950. WeGo is proposing service changes including a return to preCOVID-19 service levels on most routes, extended span, frequency improvements, routing adjustments, later Access-onDemand service, and a new connector route between Hunters Lane High School and Madison Library to be effective October 3, 2021. Changes are being proposed for the following routes: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 28, 29, 34, 42, 50, 52, 55, 56, and Access. Please note that attendance at the above meetings is not required for comments. You may mail comments to WeGo Public Transit Community Engagement, Attn: Public Meeting Comments, 430 Myatt Drive, Nashville, TN 37115; call Public Comments at 615-8625686; or email comments to WeGoTransit@nashville.gov through June 16, 2021. For ADA accessibility information, contact the ADA Coordinator at 430 Myatt Drive, Nashville, TN 37115 or call 615-862-5950.
EMPLOYMENT
Scene Rental Marketplace
Change Healthcare seeks a Software Engineer in Nashville, TN to contribute to design, implementation, test, and maintenance of complex systems. Reqs BS & 3 yrs or MS & 1 yr; Add’l specific exp. Req’d. Multiple positions. To apply mail resume to Change Healthcare, Attn: Dale Lineberry, R20274, 5995 Windward Parkway, Alpharetta, GA 30005.
Change Healthcare seeks a Software Engineer in Nashville, TN to contribute to design, implementation, test, and maintenance of complex systems. Reqs BS & 3 yrs or MS & 1 yr; Add’l specific exp. Req’d. Multiple positions. To apply mail resume to Change Healthcare, Attn: Dale Lineberry, R20274, 5995 Windward Parkway, Alpharetta, GA 30005.
Sr. Technical Testing Analyst (QA Engineer) needed for HCA/Management Services, Nashville, TN. Provide Quality Assurance services and engage in Functional testing and development of Automated Testing Applications. Write SQL scripts and engage in VB scripting. Utilize Visual Studio, JAVA script, and .Net. The employee may work remotely from home within commuting distance of Nashville, TN up to 3 days per week. Must have a BS degree in computer science or engineering and 5 yrs. of overall progressive IT exp. with QA which includes at least 2 yrs. of exp. in the skills listed above. Must also have at least 2 yrs. of exp. in the healthcare domain. Send resumes to: elaine.healy@hcahealthcare.com naviHealth Inc seeks a Database Administrator in Brentwood, TN primarily responsible for basic dayto-day Oracle administration. Reqs. MS+2 or BS+5 yrs. exp. To apply: Mail resume to naviHealth Inc, Attn: Jaclyn Langsedar, 210 Westwood Place, STE 400, Brentwood, TN 37027. Must reference Job Title & Job Code: 000034.
Sr. Data Analysts, IT BI. Assist developers, analysts, and designers in conceptualizing and validating reporting and analytical solutions that meet business requirements for a major retailer. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Brentwood, TN. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/e-mails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0368.
GEODIS Logistics, LLC. Brentwood, TN. Director of ITDevOps. Resp. for directing GEODIS’ IT operations to provide continuous delivery solutions that align with business & technical goals. Req. a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, CIS or rltd field. Min. 8 yrs exp. in IT infrastructure, Development, server technologies, or rltd tech. discipline. Exp. w/ Continuous Development, Continuous Integration, & Continuous Testing (using GIT, Jenkins/ GoCD & Selenium). Exp. w/ Configuration Management & Continuous Deployment (using Puppet, Ansible & Docker). Exp. in running &/or maintaining private & public cloud infrastructure using Kubernetes & Docker. Exp. w/ app. monitoring & system reliability engineering processes & practices. Knowledge of 3rd party logistics, transportation systems, &/or warehouse mgmnt. Knowledge of leading industry technologies w/ a strong knowledge around IT governance, project planning, & the technological usage/alternatives available in a multi-platform environment. Qualified candidates may apply by mailing your resume to: ATTN: Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027. Reference req. DIREC17129.
GEODIS Logistics, LLC. Brentwood, TN. Director of ITDevOps. Resp. for directing GEODIS’ IT operations to provide continuous delivery solutions that align with business & technical goals. Req. a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, CIS or rltd field. Min. 8 yrs exp. in IT infrastructure, Development, server technologies, or rltd tech. discipline. Exp. w/ Continuous Development, Continuous Integration, & Continuous Testing (using GIT, Jenkins/ GoCD & Selenium). Exp. w/ Configuration Management & Continuous Deployment (using Puppet, Ansible & Docker). Exp. in running &/or maintaining private & public cloud infrastructure using Kubernetes & Docker. Exp. w/ app. monitoring & system reliability engineering processes & practices. Knowledge of 3rd party logistics, transportation systems, &/or warehouse mgmnt. Knowledge of leading industry technologies w/ a strong knowledge around IT governance, project planning, & the technological usage/alternatives available in a multi-platform environment. Qualified candidates may apply by mailing your resume to: ATTN: Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027. Reference req. DIREC17129.
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NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 - JUNE 2, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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gazeboapts.com | 615.551.3832 nashvillescene.com | MAY 27 - JUNE 2, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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