Nashville Scene 9-5-24

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LAWMAKERS HEMMER AND YARBRO PREVIEW

SAFE-GUN-STORAGE BILL

>> PAGE 8

A new podcast explores the history of Nashville’s enduring Black neighborhood in the residents’ own words

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WITNESS HISTORY

This 1967 Fender Coronado II hollow-body electric guitar, with distinctive “Antigua” sunburst finish, was played extensively by Charley Pride in the 1960s and ’70s.

From the exhibit Sing Me Back Home: Folk Roots to the Present

artifact: Gift of Marty Stuart, Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, and Loretta and Jeff Clarke. From the Marty Stuart Collection artifact photo: Bob Delevante

How Nashville Teachers Are Supporting Students With Interrupted Formal Education

An MNPS program assists students who are new to the U.S. and have gone without schooling for two or more years BY KELSEY BEYELER

Hemmer and Yarbro Preview

Safe-Storage Bill

Tens of thousands of guns have been stolen from cars in Tennessee over the past decade BY

Shift Nashville Coalition

Kicks Off Transit Push

Advocacy leaders lay grassroots groundwork for the mayor’s Nov. 5 transit referendum BY ELI MOTYCKA

COVER STORY

The Elders of North Nashville

A new podcast explores the history of Nashville’s enduring Black neighborhood in the residents’ own words BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

CRITICS’ PICKS

Middle Tennessee Highland Games & Celtic Festival, Common and Pete Rock, Musicians Corner, Clue and more

AND DRINK

Taste of Home

Edessa Restaurant welcomes all to Little Kurdistan BY KAY WEST

ART

Crawl Space: September Is Stacked With Local Favorites

Highlights include Brady Haston at Zeitgeist and Samuel Dunson at Julia Martin Gallery BY JOE NOLAN

BOOKS

Existing Within Each Moment

Wei Tchou’s experimental memoir speaks several languages at once BY CHRISTOPH IRMSCHER; CHAPTER16.ORG

MUSIC

Ready for the Country

Denitia stakes a claim on Sunset Drive BY RACHEL CHOLST

Swan Song

Giancarlo Guerrero prepares for his final season as music director of the Nashville Symphony BY JOHN PITCHER

Another Look

The Scene’s music writers recommend recent releases from $hrames and Chuck Indigo, Maren Morris and more BY SCENE STAFF AND CONTRIBUTORS

The Spin

The Scene’s live-review column checks out Steve Earle and special guests at the Ryman Auditorium BY BAILEY BRANTINGHAM

Splices

The ghost with the most hits theaters everywhere, while Megalopolis and the Nashville Film Festival loom BY D. PATRICK RODGERS

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

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ON THE COVER:

From left: Thomas Wilson, Melvin Gill, Barbara Jean Watson, Leitha Carter, Dr. Patricia Streator Jackson, Cheryl McReynolds, Larry Turnley Sr., Larry Turnley Jr., the Rev. Dr. Margreat Smithson (seated) Photo by Eric England

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Katmer at Edessa • PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND

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In memory of Jim Ridley, editor 2009-2016

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HOW NASHVILLE TEACHERS ARE SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH INTERRUPTED FORMAL EDUCATION

An MNPS program assists students who are new to the U.S. and have gone without schooling for two or more years

IN A DISTRICT as big as Metro Nashville Public Schools, it can be easy to forget the many diverse needs students bring to the classroom — and the many avenues the district takes in attempting to address them.

MNPS’ Students with Interrupted Formal Education program is designed to assist students who have gone without schooling for two or more years. Because SIFE students are typically also new to the country, the program focuses on everything from getting them acquainted with Nashville and its school system to teaching English, catching students up academically and connecting them with community resources. It’s an effort that requires schoolwide input, from bus drivers to teachers. But throughout the district, school staff members are eager to find ways to better support the students.

SIFE students represent a small portion of MNPS’ population of English learners. According to MNPS data, 29 percent (23,976) of the district’s students have limited English proficiency, meaning they are active English learners or have transitioned out of the EL program between one and four years ago. More than 130 different languages are represented in this group, from Swahili to Haitian Creole, Burmese, Spanish and Arabic.

MNPS EL coordinator Megan Trcka supervises the district-wide SIFE program and tells the Scene there are currently 93 students enrolled — but the program expects the number to grow closer to 300 by the end of the school year. New students arrive frequently; they could be refugees whose schooling was interrupted by conflict, children whose families lived in rural areas without access to consistent education, youth who came to the country as unaccompanied minors or those who had to forgo education to work and support their families.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 require students who are learning English to “participate meaningfully and equally in educational programs.” That means they must receive regular schooling while they’re learning English, and that’s where SIFE teachers come in — they provide extra support to both students and their fellow teachers. This includes weaving English instruction throughout the curriculum, using phrases from students’ native languages, inserting learning supports like adding visual aides above words, and addressing the social and emotional needs of the students, who oftentimes have experienced trauma.

The Scene recently visited two of the district’s eight SIFE locations: Antioch High School and John Early Museum Magnet Middle School. SIFE classrooms are decorated with flags representing El Salvador, Burundi, Honduras, Uganda,

Kenya and more. In one classroom, books about each student’s native country are on display, and a sign features the phrase, “You can do hard things,” in their native languages. SIFE classes create safe spaces for students to work through new challenges with classmates experiencing similar circumstances — led by teachers who are specially trained to support them. But like any program in a large school district, it’s not perfect. More resources are always needed, and the SIFE program lasts for only a year after students arrive. After that, students often switch to zoned schools and lose some specialized services.

SIFE teacher Addison Barrack created a program to address that issue. She wants to make sure students don’t feel like they’ve been, as she puts it, “shot out of a cannon and then told to sink or swim.” Through the Nashville Public Education Foundation’s Teacherpreneur program — which helps cohorts of teachers develop and pitch ideas to compete for seed funding and cash prizes — Barrack was able to implement the SIFE Transition Facilitator program. NPEF funding and partial buy-in from the district has allowed the program to continue past its pilot

year, though Barrack says she’s looking for more grants to sustain the work in future years. (Applications for the Teacherpreneur program open in the fall.)

Through the SIFE Transition Facilitator program, teachers take on a few extra hours of work each week to check in with former SIFE students who opt into the program. Through a case-management approach, SIFE Transition Facilitators monitor students’ attendance rates and grades, visit their homes, facilitate tutoring and goal setting, inform students about extracurricular options, check in with their teachers and more. A program impact report shows that participating students saw academic improvement, better attendance rates, more engagement with their schools and increased social confidence.

“I feel good about school,” one of the program’s sixth-grade students is quoted as saying in the impact report. “I can talk to my teachers more than before. … I ask for help more now like, ‘How do you say this word?’ My grades got better because the teachers teach me and help me.”

Despite the challenges SIFE students have faced, they bring many wonderful attributes with them, enriching the schools they attend

and Nashville as a whole. Barrack says her students’ resiliency, enthusiasm and optimism inspire her, and celebrating wins each day brings much joy and excitement.

“The goal is for them to feel that way all of the time, and feel successful and proud of themselves, and to feel welcomed and accepted and celebrated,” says Barrack. ▼

or wherever you get your podcasts.

NASHVILLE SCENE PODCAST
Check out Episode 11 of the Nashville Scene Podcast, featuring our transit-focused interview with Mayor Freddie O’Connell. It’s now available via nashvillescene.com, YouTube, Apple, Spotify
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
SIFE TEACHER ADDISON BARRACK

HEMMER AND YARBRO PREVIEW

SAFE-STORAGE BILL

Tens of thousands of guns have been stolen from cars in Tennessee over the past decade

NASHVILLE DEMOCRATS REP. CALEB

HEMMER (House District 59) and Sen. Jeff Yarbro (Senate District 21) are set to introduce a new safe-gun-storage bill in the next year’s state legislative session.

Gun safety has been a continued focus for the two lawmakers. Earlier this year, the pair introduced HB 1667/SB 1695, which would have allowed large cities and municipalities in Tennessee to regulate the safe storage of guns left in unattended cars. That bill failed to even make it to a floor vote in Tennessee’s Republican-supermajority General Assembly.

Yarbro and Hemmer held a joint press conference Aug. 28 in Nashville’s Cordell Hull State Office Building, where they said they are still “fine-tweaking” the legislation, which has not yet been filed. The new bill resembles previous attempts at ensuring safe storage of guns in motor vehicles. If passed, the legislation could see citizens who fail to secure guns in their vehicles sent to court-ordered training classes that promote safe storage of firearms.

“We’re not trying to punish people who are not breaking the law, except for this storage provision,” Yarbro said. “We’re trying to get them to be responsible, law-abiding gun owners.”

Hemmer spoke of his own personal experience as a student at Nashville’s John Trotwood Moore Middle School. In 1994, an accidental shooting at the school claimed the life of 13-year-

SHIFT NASHVILLE COALITION KICKS OFF TRANSIT PUSH

Advocacy leaders lay grassroots groundwork for the mayor’s Nov. 5 transit referendum

WHILE THE SUN set over a packed parking lot at the Ezell Road home of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Tequila Johnson rallied the crowd at Shift Nashville’s formal kickoff event.

“We are engaging in the community,” Johnson told the crowd on Aug. 29. “We are going to multiple churches every Sunday, because we have churches, but we don’t have sidewalks. If you want to join us, if you want to work with our organizations out in the community, sign up to canvass and volunteer.”

Johnson’s organization the Equity Alliance has joined fellow leading local advocacy groups TIRRC and Stand Up Nashville to form Shift Nashville, a campaign backing Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s transit overhaul plan. That plan, titled “Let’s Move Nashville,” will appear in front of Davidson County voters as a referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot.

old Terrance Murray — the first, and still the only, instance of fatal gun violence in a Metro Nashville public school. (A deadly Nashville shooting last year that claimed the lives of three students and three teachers took place at the Covenant School, which is a private school.) The gun that killed Murray, accidentally fired by a 13-year-old classmate, made its way into the building after it was left unsecured by an adult.

“We’re really asking gun owners to do their part and make it a safer community,” said Hemmer, who touted recent gun-safety successes, including funding to provide free gun locks to citizens. “It’s really about personal responsibility.”

According to an Aug. 27 Metro Nashville Police Department release, the majority of reported gun thefts continue to come from vehicles, with 583 guns stolen from vehicles in Nashville so far this year. That is a 29 percent decrease in guns stolen from vehicles by the same date in 2023.

MNPD also reports that its “special initiative to combat car theft and related crimes” has resulted in 732 arrests and the recoveries of 384 stolen vehicles and 138 guns since Feb. 1 of this year.

Hemmer and Yarbro’s press conference also saw remarks from gun reform advocates from Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action.

“Let’s be clear: This is a problem that we in the legislature created,” Yarbro said, citing a

The same groups that are now set on turning out votes for the Nov. 5 referendum have more regularly served as harsh critics of the mayor’s office under Megan Barry, David Briley and John Cooper.

The event also featured remarks from Odessa Kelly, executive director of Stand Up Nashville, and several more members of each organization, who focused on connecting the referendum with broad goals for economic and racial justice in Nashville. Shift leaders repeatedly emphasized the ongoing need for community involvement in major city projects like the transit overhaul.

Toward the end of the meeting, organizers split the room into groups to hear individual concerns and priorities related to transit. Groups consistently brought up bike and pedestrian safety, bus reliability and affordable housing near the urban core. Some suggestions — like bus-only lanes on major corridors, sidewalks and better bus shelters — are existing elements of the current transit proposal. Others — like raising the minimum wage and increasing the supply of affordable housing — speak to a large cost-of-living crisis in Nashville.

“I spoke with TIRRC at the beginning of my term about a broad collection of issues,” Mayor O’Connell told the Scene the next morning. “They have raised this issue as something that’s of interest to their members, that better transportation options are meaningful to them. I haven’t had any conversations with Stand Up Nashville

2013 law that allows valid handgun permit carriers to keep guns in their vehicles in “any public or private parking area” — if the gun is “kept from ordinary observation and locked within the trunk, glove box, or interior of the person’s motor vehicle or a container securely affixed to the motor vehicle if the person is not in the motor vehicle.”

Yarbro called the law, which had no legal consequences for failing to secure guns in cars, “one of the most reckless laws that has the clearest data demonstrating its dangerous outcomes.”

In 2021, Tennessee’s permitless handgun bill was signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee in a ceremony inside Beretta USA’s firearms factory in Gallatin. That law was criticized by the Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association and Brentwood Police Department, among other law enforcement organizations.

Earlier this year, NewsChannel 5 reported that 46 guns were reported stolen from vehicles statewide in 2013. That number jumped to more than 2,000 in 2016, with nearly 30,000 guns stolen from vehicles between 2013 and 2022.

“This is one of those few places where there is an obvious, clear cause and effect of a law that was passed by the General Assembly and an effect that is felt in every one of our communities, and it’s time for the legislature to do something about that,” Yarbro said.

A 2024 report from Everytown for Gun Safety,

or The Equity Alliance.”

In April, O’Connell announced the transit plan in Southeast Nashville, one of the county’s few remaining enclaves for working-class and middle-class residents. High bus ridership numbers on Nolensville Road and

AT LEAST ONE GUN IS STOLEN FROM A CAR EVERY NINE MINUTES IN THE UNITED STATES

—STATISTIC FROM EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY

which uses 2022 Federal Bureau of Investigation crime data, detailed that on average, at least one gun is stolen from a car every nine minutes in the United States. Memphis ranks as the top city in America for reported gun thefts from cars, while Chattanooga and Nashville came in 12th and 13th, respectively.

“During this upcoming session, we will rewrite this narrative,” said Drew Spiegel, a Vanderbilt University sophomore and 2022 Highland Park, Ill., mass shooting survivor who serves as a Students Demand Action volunteer lead. “We can ensure that Tennessee is no longer a leader in stolen guns, but a leader of common-sense secure-storage policies.” ▼

Murfreesboro Pike routes, both of which are slated for extensive improvements under O’Connell’s proposed transit plan, indicate that the area relies more heavily on WeGo Public Transit than other parts of Nashville. ▼

SFALL BREAK CAMP

October 7–11

Blast off into the cosmos in this interactive week of space camp.

WINTER BREAK CAMP

December 30–January 3

Batteries, LEDs, capacitors...oh my! Go inside the world of electronics.

Friday, September 27, 7–10pm

Sample cocktails, mocktails, and spirits (all with a splash of science!)

FRIGHT LIGHT

October 19, 20, 26, 27

This family-friendly laser show is fun and a little bit spooky!

Recommended for ages 10+

HALLOWEEKEND

October 26–27

Trick-or-Treat at the science center as you explore seasonal science. This activity is included with general admission!

The Elders of North Nashville

BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ DR.
THE
CHERYL McREYNOLDS
LARRY TURNLEY JR.
LARRY TURNLEY SR.
LEITHA CARTER
THOMAS WILSON
BARBARA JEAN WATSON
MELVIN GILL

THE FOOD PANTRY at Watson Grove Baptist Church closes at noon, but the day is far from over for the Rev. Dr. Margreat Smithson. There are still knocks at the door and phone calls, and she might not make it to the Tuesday afternoon staff meeting — though the Scene can be blamed for the scheduling conflict.

The 76-year-old misses her old desk — a 20-year-old marvel of solid wood from her time working at General Motors — which was piled high with requests for help with rent and bills, reference letters and notices about deaths in the church community. (She’s got a new desk, and it’s clear of paperwork — for now.) That paperwork could paint a picture of all the souls who’ve come to church on DeFord Bailey Avenue seeking assistance both spiritual and material.

Smithson herself is full of stories about the North Nashville church and surrounding community. She remembers how she used to be able to walk south from her home on 14th Avenue North to a bus stop on Jefferson Street before the construction of Interstate 40 in the late 1960s cleaved her street — and the whole neighborhood — in half. The new highway displaced many North Nashville residents and throttled commerce on Jefferson Street. It changed the trajectory of a thriving Black neighborhood for decades to come.

“The interstate did do a number on us, but we survived,” Smithson tells the Scene. “And that’s what I like about North Nashville.”

A community like North Nashville has always stuck together, she says, and Watson Grove has been her home for more than 60 years. She greets strangers with hugs, and if someone asks her to pray for them, she’ll do it there on the spot. She often refers to herself as just a reverend.

Smithson worries that as new buildings go up and newcomers move in nearby, the folks she works with will get more scattered. But she doesn’t think the kind of help the community seeks has changed much. “Maybe it’s expanded, but it hasn’t changed,” she says.

M. Simone Boyd, a local storyteller, artist,

activist and occasional Scene contributor, coaxes more stories from Smithson. Sometimes Boyd, who attends services at Watson Grove, seems like a granddaughter eager to hear another story of days gone by; other times, it’s clear she’s urging Smithson to not be so humble, to not undersell her own accomplishments, to use her full title of “reverend doctor.” Boyd mentions that just a few nights ago Smithson was out by herself picking up groceries to help some unhoused neighbors.

“You run your mouth too much!” Smithson says, and the two erupt in laughter. The scolding is playful, but it does hint at the reverend doctor’s blend of compassion and firmness. Smithson adds that one of her children was “probably” with her for the grocery run.

“I think God sent her my way because she fusses at me a lot,” Smithson says about Boyd.

“She will tell me things that I’m doing, and … it’s not monumental, but she keeps reminding me that it’s helping somebody else.”

Smithson’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed. In mid-August she received a clear glass trophy commemorating her work as a co-founder of Suicide Prevention in the African American Faith Community Coalition.

Boyd has been gathering stories from people like Smithson — elders of the North Nashville community — for months now. The result is a five-episode podcast series titled We Are North Nashville, which premieres Sept. 5. Boyd cohosts alongside reporter, producer and engineer Andrea Tudhope.

“These are the people who knit our community and our society together, and I think it’s really important to celebrate them while they are here,” says Boyd.

BOYD IS INVESTED in North Nashville’s smallest details and biggest projects. When she noticed the awning outside the senior center at Elizabeth Park was in disrepair, she sent email after email to the city agitating to get it replaced. She headed up an art installation at

the senior center honoring several Black women who have been integral to the North Nashville community. Just a few blocks away, she helped bring a public art installation to the I-40 underpass at Arthur Avenue, which also meant repairs to that section of the highway. She’s also a novelist, speaker and all-around community advocate. But a podcast like We Are North Nashville is new territory.

The podcast began shortly after the death of Boyd’s mother-in-law in 2023 — and the ensuing realization that Boyd wanted to hold onto the stories that other elders in her life had to share before it was too late. She reached out to journalists Tudhope and Steve Haruch, both formerly producers of the WPLN daily show This Is Nashville and now part of the Nashville Banner team, though the project is separate from the recently revived outlet. (Haruch was also once an editor at the Nashville Scene.) The trio began meeting with North Nashville elders, some of whom had never been interviewed before, and asking them about the decades they’ve spent living in the community. They recorded stories about segregation, scenes of family life in North Nashville and memories of old businesses like the Ritz Theater on Jefferson Street.

Boyd says that, unlike with a traditional news project, the elders were involved in several “decision points” about the podcast, and the team sought feedback from the elders every few months. The goal was to let the subjects drive the podcast and keep them involved in the project from start to finish — rather than having the show’s producers parachute in and out of North Nashville like so many other reporters have over the years. Boyd is also a character of the podcast in the way, seeking stories and conversations with people she knows or has just met.

“I don’t really see myself as a journalist,” she says. “I kind of see myself just as a neighbor, and I have a certain skill set that I’m using in service to my community.”

The team also secured financial support from The Frist Foundation, Just Economy Institute, the Tennessee Arts Commission and more. A launch

“The

party at the Frist Art Museum is planned for Sept. 5, emceed by Nashville-based poet Ciona Rouse.

AS THE PROJECT neared its conclusion in mid-August, the team hosted a dinner at the Germantown Inn for the nine elders they spoke to for the podcast, as well as other members of the community. They also previewed the podcast by playing snippets of a few of the interviews.

In one clip, sisters Leitha Carter and Barbara Jean Watson recall memories of their family home and a big kettle in the backyard that was used for making soaps and lotions, comparing it to a witch’s cauldron.

“Yeah there’s been some bad, but there’s been a lot of good,” says Thomas Wilson in another recording. “And that is reflected in the resilience of the people who are still there. And it needs to be pointed out, too, the things that were done to North Nashville, to sacrifice that part of Nashville in the name of progress.”

At the dinner table, Dr. Patricia Streator Jackson and Larry Turnley Sr. reminisce about their old North Nashville neighborhood, sharing memories about playing outside near Tennessee State University and listening to the historically Black school’s band practice. Streator Jackson remembers celebrating a birthday at The Fairgrounds Nashville after it had been desegregated. Turnley remembers how Streator Jackson’s father, a professional photographer, would take pictures of various childhood celebrations. Turnley shares with a younger attendee how

Live Music at ON BROADWAY

9.1 Joanna Cotten - The Gospel of Cotten

9.6 Ashley McBryde Fan Club Party for Members sold out

9.7 The Arcadian Wild

9.8 Pick, Pick, Pass "The Voice Takeover" w/ Kevin MaC, Craig Wayne Boyd, Jake Hoot

9.9 Kelly Willis

9.10 Guitar Town Hall w/ Driver Williams Special Guest Erik Dylan 9.15 Dale Watson & His Lone Stars w/ The Cowpokes

9.17 Buddy's Place Writers' Round w/ Alyssa Bonagura, Ben Danaher, Michael Logen

9.19 Americana Fest Showcase: Natalie Hemby w/ Kiely Connell

9.20 Americana Fest Showcase: Parker Millsap, Bryan Simpson, Caitlyn Smith w/ Laci Kaye Booth

SEPTEMBER LINE UP

9.21 Nashville Hall of Fame Round w/ Gary Nicholson, Beth Neilson Chapman, Rafe Van Hoy

9.22 Pick, Pick, Pass w/ Kevin MaC, Keith Stegall, Michael White

9.23 Kassi Ashton - "Made From Dirt" Album Release Party free show

9.24 Cigarettes & Pizza w/ Aaron Raitiere, Ashley Monroe

9.25 Casey Beathard w/ Special Guest Tucker Beathard

9.27 Waymore's OutlawsRunnin' w/ Ol' Waylon

9.28 Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde

9.29 Chuck Mead & The Stalwarts, Dash Rip Rock, Laid Back Country Picker GET TICKETS AT CHIEFSONBROADWAY.COM FOLLOW US @ChiefSBROADWAY

which is why our writers’ rounds are dedicated to celebrating the brilliant minds behind some of today’s most iconic songs. Cigarettes & Pizza

“I don’t really see myself as a journalist. I kind of see myself just as a neighbor, and I have a certain skill set that I’m using in service to my community.”

he got his nickname “Fever” on the basketball court: “Once I got hot, they couldn’t stop me!”

They’re eager to share stories about old neighbors and brag about their kids. The elders say they want people to know there’s more to the community than just crime. (A study found that the 37208 ZIP code sees the highest rate of incarceration in the country, which has also inspired projects to invest in and empower North Nashville residents.) North Nashville is also changing, with more upper-class white people moving in. Some of the elders still own homes in the community. Turnley’s son Larry Jr. owns property in North Nashville and says it’s an important way to secure a place in the community for his children.

An audio clip of Cheryl McReynolds played at the dinner mentions that point too.

ments will arrive. You can’t completely stop change. But she hopes newcomers will learn about the neighborhood and come to recognize and respect what was here before their new home was even built. Boyd is open about the political-minded aims of the project, the way it critiques land-grabs, discrimination and oppression. But there’s an emotional center to it all.

Boyd ends the evening in Germantown by reading a few lines from acclaimed Black feminist author bell hooks’ “Love as the Practice of Freedom,” an essay that makes the case for including love as part of the progressive movement.

“Without love, our efforts to liberate ourselves and our world community from oppression and exploitation are doomed,” writes hooks. “A love ethic emphasizes the importance of service to others.”

“I pray that my daughter will continue to hold this spot,” she says. “It was meant for us to be here. My parents purchased this spot and not even knowing what the future was holding, that times would change like it would. ... And people tell me all the time, ‘Girl, you on a gold mine! You got a gold mine!’ But before, y’all used to say this was on the terrible side of town.”

Boyd knows new people and new develop-

Parts of We Are North Nashville will show a time when a Black neighborhood was torn asunder to make commuting to work and to malls and to outlying lily-white suburbs easier. It’ll show life under segregation. But it’s also an act of service to an often misrepresented community and a love letter to the enduring people of North Nashville. ▼

Dale watson and the cowpokes
Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde
Natalie Hemby w/ Kiely connell

Nightfall at the Hall

FEATURING A PERFORMANCE BY JORDAN DAVIS

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023 • 6:00 pm AND A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY MILEY HENDERSON

PRESENTED BY AN AFTER-HOURS PARTY FOR TROUBADOUR MEMBERS SPONSORS

VII REBIRTH ORCHESTRA WORLD TOUR with the Nashville Symphony SEP 7 | 7:30 PM

Eric Roth, conductor

Opening Weekend: Rachmaninoff and Mahler with the Nashville Symphony SEP 13 & 14 | 7:30 PM

Giancarlo

Visit calendar.nashvillescene.com for more event listings

SEPT. 7-8

FESTIVAL

[TARTAN PARTY]

MIDDLE TENNESSEE HIGHLAND GAMES & CELTIC FESTIVAL

Driving down Hillsboro Pike a few weeks ago, I heard an unmistakable sound. “Bagpipes!” I exclaimed, and my roommate promptly pulled over into a church parking lot so we could watch. The pipers and drummers told us we could see another performance at the Middle Tennessee Highland Games & Celtic Festival. The festival is focused on Scottish and Celtic traditions, including Scotch whisky and Scottish ale tastings alongside Scottish athletic events. At the latter, expect lots of throwing things and kilts. I can’t decide if I’m more excited for the Celtic traditional and Celtic rock music — did you know Nashville has an Irish music school? — or if I’ll just park myself at the dance stage to enjoy the highland dance competition, tap along to Irish step dancers and figure out what cèilidh dance is. A single-day adult ticket is $25, and since my 23andMe told me that I am, in fact, Scottish, I need to go — at least to inquire about which tartan print is ours.

HANNAH HERNER

SEPT. 7-8 AT SANDERS FERRY PARK 513 SANDERS FERRY ROAD, HENDERSONVILLE

THURSDAY / 9.5

[RESELLER REVUE]

SHOPPING

POSH FEST

If you’ve been thinking about clearing out your closet, you’ve probably thought about selling goods on Poshmark, the online resale marketplace with more than 100 million users. (For the uninitiated, it’s like eBay with more fashion and fewer parts to repair your fridge.) Maybe your social media feeds are filled with people building side hustles thrifting, repairing and reselling used goods. But perhaps you have no idea how to go from selling that one random concert T-shirt that weirdly became a collector’s item into something that will help you earn actual cash. Enter Posh Fest. This two-day conference helps current and fledgling resellers learn tricks of the trade and find out about new features of the platform. The event travels to different cities each year; this year it’s at Nashville’s Music City Center. There are two days of workshops and sessions, plus a party Friday

BRUCE DUDLEY
ALBUM

night (you’ll get the location when you buy your tickets). Tickets are $299 and available online. Minimum age for Posh Fest attendees is 13, so if your kids have the reselling bug, they can see if they can earn more than that $299. (The Fridaynight party is 21 and up.)

SEPT. 5-6 AT THE MUSIC CITY CENTER

201 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY S.

MUSIC

[A SHOW FOR FEELING YOUNGER] COLONY HOUSE

A decade ago, Nashville-ish band Colony House made a splash on the alt-rock scene with their debut album When I Was Younger. Behind the album’s earwormy, earnest songs like “Silhouettes” and “Moving Forward,” Colony House began a steady climb toward a decadeplus of formidable success in the modern rock scene. Now the band’s looking back with a four-night run of shows at The Basement East celebrating 10 years of When I Was Younger At each sold-out show, the band will play the decade-old album from start to finish. When announcing the shows earlier this year on social media, Colony House shared: “This album means more to us than we really know how to express, and it will be an absolute joy to remember when we were all younger together.” The shows coincides with the release of an anniversary edition of When I Was Younger that includes orchestral versions of album songs, previously unreleased B-sides and a handful of reimagined tracks. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

SEPT. 5-8 AT THE BASEMENT EAST 917 WOODLAND ST

[ARE YOU THE KEY MASTER?]

MUSIC

BRUCE DUDLEY TRIO PLAY THE BILL EVANS ALBUM

Though Bill Evans is remembered as an incredible composer, a brilliant band leader and one of the greatest jazz pianists to ever mount a bench, he was well into his career before releasing an album entirely of his own compositions. The 1971 recording The Bill Evans Album, released by the Columbia label at the end of that summer, earned Evans a 1972 Grammy in both the Best Jazz Instrumental Solo and Best Jazz Performance by a Group categories. Though the album was not technically released under the Bill Evans Trio flag, his normal arsenal of Eddie Gómez and Marty Morell accompanied Evans on bass and drums. Bill Evans is a fluid work that showcases the key master on both Fender Rhodes and traditional acoustic piano. It’s a strong sample of his best-loved work, like “Funkallero,” the melancholy ballad “The Two Lonely People” and “Waltz for Debby” — an Evans classic that he recorded for nine different releases and has been interpreted by artists like Kronos Quartet, Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson. Local pianist Bruce Dudley will lead his phenomenal trio, featuring bassist Jim Ferguson and drummer Joshua Hunt, to take on the album at Rudy’s, an intimate jazz space Nashville is fortunate to have. P.J. KINZER

9 P.M. AT RUDY’S JAZZ ROOM

809 GLEAVES ST.

FRIDAY / 9.6

MUSIC [CORNERED] MUSICIANS CORNER FEAT. BIRDTALKER, JULIA CANNON & MORE

Amid the lush greenery of Centennial Park, the 15th anniversary season for much-loved free concert series Musicians Corner rolls on with some folks you’ll want to know if you don’t already. Indie-pop-folksters Birdtalker are between tours in the wake of their January EP Movin’ On, and they’ll stop in to top Friday’s bill. Folk-leaning songsmith Dean Johnson is a relatively recent Nashville transplant whose 2023

LP Nothing for Me, Please opens with the poignant “Faraway Skies” — a song about feeling displaced sung by a cowboy no longer on the range, made all the more interesting by Johnson’s choice to enunciate crisply rather than affect a drawl.

Drumming Bird, self-described purveyors of “existential experimental cowboy country indie rock,” are gearing up for their own national club tour. Many of the tunes on Julia Cannon’s 2023 album How Many have a charming, bouncy lilt, but it’s the teeth in her lyrics that bring me back. (See: “These Dreams,” an upbeat ditty about a nightmare situation.) Rounding out the bill is philosophically inclined rocker Sam Hoffman, whose album Books on Tape was a 2023 standout; see him here before you catch him opening for Bob Mould at The Blue Room at Third Man Records in October. STEPHEN TRAGESER

5-9 P.M. AT CENTENNIAL PARK

2500 WEST END AVE.

[NASHVILLE ON A STICK]

FAIR

THE NASHVILLE FAIR

Fair season rolls on with The Nashville Fair,

a relative newcomer to the region’s deep-fried entertainment scene. Launched in 2022, this 10-day gathering takes place at The Fairgrounds Nashville, the site that for decades hosted neon-soaked midway rides, games of chance and plates of sugar-coated funnel cakes in midSeptember as part of the Tennessee State Fair. (The state fair relocated to nearby Lebanon in 2021, merging with the Wilson County Fair.)

Now The Nashville Fair upholds longstanding traditions with all the expected fair festivities, plus a lineup of country tunes, a local beer festival, a creative arts expo, barnyard activities, murder mystery dinners and, of course, a giant pumpkin contest — plus more. Grab a corn dog, spend $20 on a chance to win a stuffed Pikachu and enjoy the ride. Adult tickets cost $7 in advance and $10 after gates open; a four-pack of tickets can be purchased in advance for $22. More information and a full schedule can be found at nashfair.fun. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

SEPT. 6-15 AT THE FAIRGROUNDS NASHVILLE

401 WINGROVE ST.

FILM

[MORE NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN CUTS] ENO

Brian Eno is one of the most innovative musicians, recording artists and producers in the history of popular music, so it’s not surprising director Gary Hustwit’s careerspanning film about him is itself a cutting-edge work of art. Hustwit brings Eno, billed as the world’s first generative cinematic documentary, back to the Belcourt for screenings at which attendees will be treated to unique cuts of the film created live and in real time. (The film was first shown at the Belcourt in July.) Using a proprietary software system developed by Hustwit and digital artist Brendan Dawes,

the film has millions of possible variations drawn from the director’s original interviews and Eno’s extensive archives of never-beforeseen footage and unreleased music. “He’ll be basically compiling the film live at two separate performances,” Belcourt program director Toby Leonard explains to the Scene via email. “The version I saw at Sundance, one of six different versions to play there, included a number of edited sequences — a segment of him presentday at his farm giving an overview of the software that he uses to produce his more recent ambient material, a section on producing U2’s The Unforgettable Fire, another section on Fela’s influence on his work with David Byrne — all tied together with various clips and such.”

DARYL SANDERS

SEPT. 6-8 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

THEATER

[LOOKING FOR THE LIGHT] STREET THEATRE COMPANY: NEXT TO NORMAL

Street Theatre Company is back this weekend and ready to open its ambitious 2024-25 season with the acclaimed rock musical Next to Normal. Featuring music by Tom Kitt and book/lyrics by Brian Yorkey, this powerful work earned three 2009 Tony Awards including Best Original Score. Next to Normal also was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2010, making it one of only 10 musicals to ever receive the honor. The piece offers an intimate portrait of grief, mental illness and family marked by great honesty and emotion. But what really sets Street’s fresh staging apart is the decision to tell the story through the lens of a Black upper-middle-class family, deftly shining a light on the unique challenges and stigma

BIRDTALKER

WENDY MOTEN

OCTOBER

surrounding mental health issues within the Black/BIPOC community. Alicia Haymer directs a fabulous cast, including Jennifer WhitcombOliva, Leonard Ledford III, Jalen Walker, Ella Claybrooks, Jayden Murphy and DaJuana Hammonds. And audiences can also look forward to musical direction by Mike Sallee Jr., plus choreography by Tosha Marie. The show is recommended for ages 13 and up. AMY STUMPFL SEPT. 6-21 AT THE BARBERSHOP THEATER 4003 INDIANA AVE.

ART [BALANCING ACT]

YIN-YANG: A GROUP EXHIBITION IN BLACK & WHITE

You know how the Taoist symbol of yin and yang is visually simple but conceptually deep as hell? It’s one of the great philosophical ideas — that everything is connected through opposing forces — and it’s packaged inside this tidy and perennially cool design. That’s sort of like the art that’s in Yin-Yang: A Group Exhibition in Black & White at Bobby Hotel. Curator Joshua Edward Bennett organized the show around a very specific criterion — every piece in the show has to be black-and-white. What he ended up with is a deep investigation into the nature of good and evil, light and dark, right and wrong. Bennett was introduced to the yin-yang in the 1990s, back when American teenagers were taking cues from the 1970s (I blame Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused), and he curated the exhibition with an eye toward that nostalgic reframing of ancient wisdom. Yin-Yang features around 40 stellar pieces from 30 artists —

SATURDAY / 9.7

MUSIC [FLOWERS BLOOMING IN THE SCHERMERHORN]

FINAL FANTASY VII: REBIRTH ORCHESTRA WORLD TOUR

including Amy Pleasant’s sexy gouache-onink-stained-paper silhouettes and a sculpture of two bicycles neatly fused together by artist team Generic Art Solutions. As always, Bobby exhibitions are a collaboration with Tinney Contemporary, and this one will be up through March, so there’s ample time to drop in, grab a drink and see the work. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

SEPT. 6-MARCH 11 AT BOBBY HOTEL

230 FOURTH AVE. N.

Much like the film-scoring legends before them, video game composers have worked within their genre to introduce new audiences to the beauty of classical music. Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu is one of the best around. While his early compositions were almost exclusively heard through antiquated sound cards on old gaming systems, his work was so well-crafted that gamers weren’t distracted by the harsh beeps and boops of digital instruments. Instead, they imagined lush orchestras performing sweeping melodies — sort of like what they might hear at the Schermerhorn on Saturday. To celebrate the February release of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, conductor Eric Roth will lead the Nashville Symphony as they perform Uematsu’s iconic pieces while clips from the game are projected on a massive screen. It’s a special experience; single-player video games like Final Fantasy are usually a single-person experience, and it’s fun to be in a room full of people who love the genre as much as you do. Though I attended the similar concert for Final Fantasy VII: Remake, I probably won’t make it to this one since I haven’t played Rebirth. (On an unrelated note: If anyone sees me buying a PlayStation 5 this week and then coincidentally skipping every social obligation thereafter, mind your own business.) COLE VILLENA

7:30 P.M. AT THE SCHERMERHORN

1 SYMPHONY PLACE

THEATER

[BACK TO SCHOOL] THE WORST BEST SCHOOL YEAR EVER

The start of a new school year is always just a bit stressful. But things can get especially tricky when your classmates include the notorious Herdmans — aka “the worst kids in the world.”

Fortunately for us, Nashville Children’s Theatre is here to help with the world-premiere production of The Worst Best School Year Ever, onstage Sept. 7 through 29. Based on the popular children’s book by Barbara Robinson (and adapted to the stage by Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner), this charming new work takes us back to the 1980s and features the same wacky characters from Robinson’s beloved The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Directed by NCT’s outgoing executive artistic director Ernie Nolan, the cast includes Joy Pointe, Gerold Oliver, Tamiko Robinson Steele, Sejal Mehta, Brian Jones, Alisa Osborne, Erica Lee Haines, Will Henke and Natalie Rankin. It’s worth noting that this production marks NCT’s 20th and final world premiere under Nolan’s leadership. He announced earlier this summer that he would be stepping down after seven-and-a-half years with the company to pursue a new opportunity with the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. AMY STUMPFL

SEPT. 7-29 AT NASHVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE 25 MIDDLETON ST.

SUNDAY / 9.8

MUSIC [MAN OF MANY SIDES] MARC RIBOT FEAT. SHAHZAD ISMAILY AND BUDDY MILLER

YIN-YANG: A GROUP EXHIBITION IN

As a prolific session guitarist for more than 40 years, Marc Ribot has made significant contributions to the discographies of iconic artists who have tended to overshadow his equally vast body of solo work. There’s no mistaking Ribot’s signature visceral sound on award-winning recordings by Tom Waits, Norah Jones, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The Black Keys, Neko Case, John Zorn and many more. A dig just below the surface, however, reveals the veteran artist’s eclectic catalog — one that plays like a survey of genres and cultures brought to life by the hands of a Jewish punk rocker born in Newark, N.J., during the ’50s. Whether through classical pieces, free jazz, improvised soundtracks, protest songs, uptown R&B, high-energy funk, Afrobeat or neotraditional Cuban music, Ribot continues to expand upon his complex sonic palette well into the latter part of his career. Longtime collaborators Shahzad Ismaily — who’s also a member of Ribot’s explosive noise-rock outfit Ceramic Dog — and legendary Americana songwriter/producer Buddy Miller will join Ribot onstage at East Nashville’s Riverside Revival. This unique combination alone promises for an especially memorable evening. JASON VERSTEGEN

8 P.M. AT RIVERSIDE REVIVAL

1600 RIVERSIDE DRIVE

MONDAY / 9.9

FILM [BAND IN DC] WE ARE FUGAZI FROM WASHINGTON, DC

I like to pretend that my discovery of punk in the ’90s didn’t steer my leftist political

Rock’s boom-bap swing as a producer and the supreme wordplay of Common, The Auditorium Vol. 1 absolutely refuses to let the artists rest on their laurels, but in fact offers listeners a contemporary reminder just why they’re two of the most trusted and accomplished savants of the genre. Rock and Common have both been very vocal about the excitement of working together. The record lives up to its potential, leaving a hopeful door open for a Vol. 2. PJ KINZER

8 P.M. AT BROOKLYN BOWL

925 THIRD AVE N.

TUESDAY

/ 9.10

FILM [OVERINDULGENT] STAFF PICKS: THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER

ideologies or resistance to corporate power. But the truth is that as a middle-aged man, I still have an imaginary little Ian MacKaye sitting on my shoulder like a talking cricket telling Pinocchio the difference between right and wrong. Though MacKaye’s Fugazi and Dischord Records have sometimes mistakenly been seen as dogmatic, their fiercely independent spirit established them as leaders of the DIY underground. Their pursuit of art and community over fame and commercial success is so much of why they are still beloved by old heads and new generations alike. Though the band’s “hiatus” began in November 2002, their bombastic live reputation has been carried on by enthusiastic fans, like folk heroes of an oral tradition. The 96-minute “non-documentary” We Are Fugazi From Washington, DC collects crowdsourced archival footage from those who experienced the band at their most exothermic. It offers an opportunity to see the band in a new and interesting way, whether you’re a weathered veteran of Fugazi gigs, a fledgling fan or just some ice-cream-eating motherfucker. As always, the Belcourt is still all ages. P.J. KINZER

8 P.M. AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

MUSIC [SHINE ON] NICKY DIAMONDS W/MARLEY HALE & DANI-RAE CLARK

During AmericanaFest, you get to see a lot of artists’ interpretations of country music. When he played the Black Opry showcase in 2022, Texas singer-songwriter Nicky Diamonds’ take stood out for the ways he weaves ’60s and ’70s pop and rock into his honky-tonk — and for his lilting high-register croon, which is smoother than crushed velvet as he shines a light into characters’ dark corners. I haven’t heard a spin on country quite like his since. If you want to hear it yourself, you’re in luck: He’s rolling through town again Monday in the wake of his March album Perdido en la Salsa. One of the highlights of the record is “Ballad of The Lonesome Rose,” named for a popular watering hole in his hometown of San Antonio; whether all the experiences are his or not, they feel like someone’s lived them. Marley Hale and DaniRae Clark, two more gifted storytellers who also sing and play guitar, will support. STEPHEN TRAGESER

9 P.M. AT THE BASEMENT

1604 EIGHTH AVE. S.

[DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK]

MUSIC

COMMON AND PETE ROCK: THE AUDITORIUM TOUR

The golden age of late hip-hop — what L.A. DJ and rap historian PJ Butta refers to as “The Fresh Era” — still hits just as hard as ever. You only have to see the recent successful Nas and Wu-Tang tour or A Tribe Called Quest’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction to be reminded that even when these artists weren’t on the charts, they were still on the tongues of critics and in the headphones of fans. Two of the perennial artistes of the genre have now partnered for an album, making their Nashville debut together at Brooklyn Bowl. Showing off Pete

Who the hell is ready for 124 minutes of sex and food? You’ll get both in copious, gluttonous amounts in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Peter Greenaway’s extravagant, darkly comic 1989 provocation. I still remember when the MPA went into pearl-clutching mode as this European production hit the States the following year, telling U.S. distributor Miramax they either had to release it unrated or get the dreaded X rating. (Miramax, run by the since-outed predator Harvey Weinstein, went unrated, making the film yet another cinematic cause célèbre that brought on the creation of the even-worse NC-17 rating later that year.) But if you’re a fan of Dame Helen Mirren when she’s butt-bald-nekkid (who isn’t?), you’ll enjoy seeing her let it all hang out as she creeps around on Michael Gambon’s brutish kingpin with Alan Howard’s amorous bookstore owner all around a hella fancy restaurant. See many of the seven deadly sins committed in this flick, chosen by Belcourt staffer Ter. CRAIG D. LINDSEY 8 P.M. AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

THEATER

[GET A CLUE] CLUE

Was it Professor Plum in the library with the candlestick? Or perhaps it was Mrs. Peacock in the study with the wrench. Theater lovers will find out next week as the Tennessee Performing Arts Center opens its 2024-25 Broadway at TPAC season with the Nashville premiere of Clue. Based on the 1985 cult-classic film and inspired by the Hasbro whodunit board game, Clue invites audiences to journey back to Boddy Manor — where “murder and blackmail are on the menu.” As the show opens, six guests arrive at a secluded New England mansion where nothing is as it seems. But when the mysterious Mr. Boddy turns up dead, the group must band together to find his killer. Directed by Casey Hushion, this fast-paced comedy offers plenty of slapstick fun and zippy one-liners. And I’m eager to check out some of the cheeky design elements, from Lee Savage’s clever sets to Jen Caprio’s color-coded costumes. AMY STUMPFL SEPT. 10-15 AT TPAC’S JACKSON HALL 505 DEADERICK ST.

FOOD & DRINK

WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE. Sitting at a crumb-covered, sauce-dripped table crowded with smeared plates and nearly empty serving dishes. So full you swear you might pop, then your hand pulls in a stray piece of bread, and your fork stabs another piece of meat. And when the server asks, “Would you care for dessert?” you reply, “We couldn’t possibly eat one more bite!” But then your friend counters, “What do you have?”

That was the four of us, seated in a (thankfully) roomy, cushioned booth at Edessa Restaurant, and — one would assume, looking at the proof of our plates — fully satiated. By most measures, we were full. But everything had been so irresistibly good so far, how could we say no to sharing just one dessert? Or maybe two? So we said yes.

Edessa’s sign features the subtitle “Kurdish & Turkish Cuisine.” The restaurant sits among many of Nashville’s authentic, ethnically diverse restaurants on Nolensville Road, in the area near Elysian Fields known as Little Kurdistan. Newcomers to Nashville may not know that the Athens of the South is home to the largest Kurdish community in the United States, currently counted at roughly 20,000. Kurdistan is not a nation but a region across four countries — Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria — and Kurds first began arriving here in the mid-’70s, refugees from the Second Iraqi-Kurdish War. More conflicts followed, and so did more refugees, who rooted families, built businesses and grew their community.

I’d wager that most have gathered for a meal or a celebration at Edessa since it was opened in October 2018 by Dilgeş Akgül, Mesut Keklik and Mehmet Alkan, three Kurdish men who emigrated from Turkey (six, nine and 10 years ago, respectively). Given how seamlessly Edessa operates, it’s surprising that this is their first restaurant venture. All front-of-house staff, many of them family members, are smartly attired in black, and they glide efficiently about the two dining rooms. Flames that leap from the large grill light the kitchen, tended by cooks and chefs from Kurdish, Turkish, Arab and Mexican backgrounds.

The leather-bound menu has 78 numbered items, each succinctly described and most with a tantalizing full-color photo. It’s a thoughtful consideration, for American diners and the unflappably patient servers, who won’t have to suffer locals mangling the pronunciations of sigara boregi (No. 10, rolled and fried phyllo dough stuffed with feta and parsley) or lahmacun (No. 42, ground meat, peppers, tomatoes, parsley and herbs on thin-crust dough); Akgül says the latter is one of their most popular items.

Seeing our eyes begin to glaze over, our server cheerfully suggested we take our time and start with the Edessa Appetizer Platter. I

TASTE OF HOME

Edessa Restaurant welcomes all to Little Kurdistan

recommend the same on your first visit. Four of the six items — humus, baba ghanoush, stuffed grape leaves and tabbouleh — will be familiar to most diners, and they’re clearly freshly made.

But I didn’t know about ezme — tomatoes, red and green peppers, onions and parsley are finely diced, and when mixed with olive oil, lemon and pomegranate molasses, they become nearly

a paste to spread on triangles of soft, warm house-made pita. Or haydari — think labneh — mixed with garlic, mint, chopped walnuts and a swirl of melted butter. Or this iteration of shak-
TESTI KEBABI SAC TAVA
Edessa Restaurant 3802 Nolensville Pike edessarestauranttn.net

shuka, which I’m accustomed to eating topped with poached eggs from a cast-iron skillet. No eggs in Edessa’s version, but rather a mound of chopped, sauteed eggplant, zucchini, onion, garlic and onions with a thick tomato sauce.

Next time — yes, I’m already thinking about next time — I’ll skip the full platter and go right for the appetizer-size orders of ezme, haydari and shakshuka.

I’ll also likely pass on the fresh lavash (aka balloon bread), which we ordered based entirely on its amusing name and photo — both accurate depictions of the sizable balloon of charred bread, strewn with black sesame seeds. Our server said she likes to poke a hole with a fork, then tear off pieces to butter or dip into sauces. Good advice, but the almost cracker-like consistency of the deflated bread didn’t lend itself well to spreading or dipping and was one of only two dishes we didn’t polish off.

The other dish we left unfinished — not for lack of trying or due to a kitchen fail — was the lamb liver kabob. Bite-size chunks of tender liver grilled over flame are plated off the skewer and piled on strips of paper-thin lavash, with saffron rice, pickled red cabbage and sliced white onion, doused with vinegar and sprinkled with herbs, with a ramekin of cacik, the Turkish version of tzatziki. All of us are lamb and liver lovers, but a little liver goes a long way, and this was a lotta liver.

When I was growing up in suburban Delaware, no one stretched a $35-a-week food budget like Joyce Shaw, who for special occasions could turn two frozen little Cornish hens into dinner for seven. At Edessa, the entire cut-up, sauced-up, fired-up hen is laid out on a rectangular plate — juicy and perfectly charred, with the same set as the lamb liver.

Testi kebabi had me at “finely chopped marinated pieces of lamb cooked with special Anatolian spices and vegetables in delicious

sauce for hours to maximize the taste.” We took the option (for an additional $4.95) of having it poured into a ceramic dish, covered and sealed with dough and returned to the oven, resulting in the world’s best-ever lamb pot pie. Peel back the layer of bread to release the most heavenly aroma of those special Anatolian spices from the still-simmering stew of meat, peppers, peeled tomatoes and white onion. You’ll want a large spoon to scoop it all out.

We could have also ordered the saç tava (as described on the restaurant’s very lively Instagram account, “the star of Edessa”) topped with bread. But no need to gild the lily, so we ordered without bread. Diced and seasoned beef is stir-fried with red and green peppers, onion, garlic and crushed tomatoes, spooned around a mound of saffron rice centered on a round iron pan. The heat in the meat — likely from dried red pepper — gave it a nice edge. About those desserts. I’m a sucker for a dish named for the restaurant, but the Edessa Baklava was a little over-the-top for my lessis-more taste. Katmer — squares of phyllo dough filled with ground pistachios, sugar and kaymek (clotted cream), brushed with melted butter, baked and topped with more crushed pistachio — was simply perfect.

Driving to Edessa on Nolensville Road, I was reminded of how 30, 25 or even 20 years ago, the thoroughfare was marked by the gradual emergence of little businesses in strip centers, and on the side of that gritty artery that signaled the arrival of new waves of immigrants, a place for the displaced. Tiny markets crammed with imported goods and restaurants to gather together for a taste of home, in food, language and culture. With great generosity, hospitality and pride, they hold a place at the table for all, a reminder that New Nashville is also Little Kurdistan. ▼

EDESSA APPETIZER PLATTER PHOTO:

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EXISTING WITHIN EACH MOMENT

Wei Tchou’s experimental memoir speaks several languages at once

“I’VE SPENT MY entire life translating myself into a language the outside world speaks,” laments Wei Tchou, familiar to a broad audience for her articles about food and drinks for such publications as The New York Times and The New Yorker. Tchou’s new memoir Little Seed is, on the surface, precisely such an attempt at self-translation — an effort to prove to the world “that I am here in sentences and paragraphs and words.” But it is a deeply unconventional one, in which the author comes to us speaking, indeed, several languages at once.

Little Seed creatively interweaves the author’s personal history — her growing up, the daughter of Shanghainese immigrants, in an “Appalachian enclave in Tennessee,” her undergraduate years at the University of North Carolina, the life she creates for herself as a writer in New York — with forays into, of all things, the natural history of ferns. Rather than merely making herself intelligible to her readers, Tchou actively challenges them, with often lengthy digressions on ferns, their beauty, their resilience and their evocative names, which roll off the tongue like a list of ingredients for a witch’s brew: maidenhairs, glassworts, spleenworts, moonworts, adder’s tongues and rabbit’s foot. Ferns, for the author, represent an alternate realm of overwhelming beauty, exuberant diversity and infinite magic. A world fundamentally different, then, from the one in which young Wei Tchou, who calls herself “Little Seed” throughout most of the book, has to learn how to function, where her best chance of survival is to make herself look, as much as she can, like everyone else. In that world, she is “a little seed that is just blowing around,” forever frustrated in her search for the blend of safety and freedom her actual Chinese name (Wei Tchou) signifies but her family can’t or won’t give her. The mental toll of such an unmoored life becomes painfully evident in her brother’s psychotic breakdown and in the author’s own traumatic relationship with her journalism instructor at UNC, appropriately called “the Spider” — an inveterate mansplainer and master of abusive manipulation.

No wonder that Little Seed feels drawn to the quieter charms of the fern world. Reproducing through spores, not seeds, ferns resist the traits humans project onto them. And they are supremely adaptable: Writing about the iridescent ferns that thrive in the shadows of the rainforest where only a little light will reach them, Tchou marvels at their ability “to grow so lushly given so little.” Tchou’s effortlessly poetic descriptions of ferns reveal the love she feels for them: Maidenheads have pinnules (leaflets) that look like “heavily lashed eyelids or folding fans,” while

the brackens — their sturdier relatives, familiar from fields, pastures and parks — sport leathery fronds that, once the spores have come in, shine as if they had been embroidered with gold.

To cope with the void left by her brother’s mental crisis, the author — switching to first-person narration — travels to Mexico, where she heard she might find a “density of ferns.” She is not disappointed. Somewhere near Oaxaca, we see her hiking through a jungle stocked with all kinds of ferns: ferns “in the shape of clover, rising up on tall spindly legs,” ferns shaped like “talons padding around a mossy thin tree,” ferns “glowing like phosphor.” Here she finally discovers why these plants — both archaic and brand-new — have so consistently given her calm and peace: “the feeling of wholeness, knowing that this place stood as it did and had always been so.” She picks up a translucent fern growing under a boulder and twirls it in the air to see how the sun filters through it — illuminating the leaves as if from the inside, making them shimmer in shades from emerald green to dark purple. And that just so happens to be an excellent description of Tchou’s exquisitely textured prose too. The therapeutic effect of the Mexico visit is immediately evident in the book’s “Epilogue,”

in which the author accompanies her parents to Shanghai, “the biggest city that humans ever built,” a place she is and isn’t from. On the eve of a pandemic that will change everyone’s lives forever, she has already turned her own life around, having learned to exist “only within each day, within each moment.” As she does everywhere, she finds a fern she likes in her father’s ancestral village, a little thing hiding under some steps in a cousin’s courtyard. Wrapping it gently in a piece of paper, she takes it home with her, wherever that might be. A fitting ending for an extraordinary first book.

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

Little Seed By Wei Tchou Deep Vellum 150 pages, $18.95

MUSIC

READY FOR THE COUNTRY

Denitia stakes a claim on Sunset Drive

DENITIA KICKS OFF her new album Sunset Drive with a sparkling pedal-steel riff before launching us on a 12-song cruise through the byways of roots music. The album incorporates the singer-songwriter’s winding journey from Texas to Nashville, New York City, the Hudson Valley, and back to Music City with a wide array of sounds that pull from indie rock, folk and, of course, country.

In the fall, she’ll be joining country great Mickey Guyton on tour. A breakout set coupled with a meet-and-greet at CMA Fest helped cement Denitia’s country bona fides (for any doubters remaining after she was named a member of CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2024). And just a few weeks after CMA Fest, there was also her Grand Ole Opry debut.

“Man, the Opry was incredible,” says Denitia. “It was an honor to be allowed to stand in that circle and be a part of the legacy of country music.”

Denitia can’t remember a time when she wasn’t surrounded by music — especially country. She grew up an hour outside of Houston and spent plenty of time in the car with a listening diet of Smokey Robinson, Al Green and ’90s country. She picked up a guitar in high school, inspired by the likes of Reba and George Strait, and found her way to R&B and rap.

“From there, my taste just became so eclectic,” she recalls. “I started absorbing all different kinds of music. My discography has really run the gamut of different genres and different formats.”

That sense of exploration is evident on Sunset Drive. “Don’t Let Me Go” is as much inspired by ’90s R&B group harmonies as it is by the sharp percussion and tempo changes of indie-rock in the 2000s. Of course, the catchy pop groove and pedal steel of “I Won’t Look Back” proclaim the triumphs of “two cowgirls in luck” — a cheerful upending of classic country sounds and lyrical content.

“My aim with this record is to take my conception of country music and let it flow from there,” she says. “But it all’s got to have pedal steel on it.”

Denitia crafted the album with her “co-conspirator” and longtime songwriting partner Brad Allen Williams, who tours with Brittany Howard. A few months after Denitia settled back in Nashville, the pair crafted an album that captures Denitia’s ambivalence about leaving behind the people and beauty of the Hudson Valley. In spite of saying goodbye to a place she loved, Denitia feels more rooted than ever before. Sunset Drive helped her get there.

“I’m just going to keep following my intuition,” she says. “I’m getting more ruthless with my work. If it doesn’t give me chills, then we got to keep it moving.”

Although Denitia follows those instincts using every musical tool at hand, she plans to dig more deeply into the trad-country prowess she displays

on the working-class anthem “Gettin’ Over.”

“I’ve actually found a lot of liberation in discovering my identity as a country singer,” says Denitia. “It’s like the confines of the genre have actually been freeing — because I can do every type of music possible, and finding this smaller space to zoom in on has been so fun to me.”

The vinyl has barely had time to cool on copies of Sunset Drive, but she is already planning her next project: a trad-country album that tells the story of her family and her own past. One thing that’s encouraged Denitia to take on work like this is that, since returning to Nashville, she has been embraced by many communities, including Black Opry.

“I’ve made some really great friends,” she says. “I moved back to Nashville because I knew that some of those artists lived here and that they were working and making music here. What’s so cool about [Black Opry] is that you have a group of passionate and talented individuals who are just continuing to create art and it makes the group better.”

As a member of the 2023-24 cohort of Mtheory’s Equal Access Development Program, Denitia learned the often-opaque workings of main-

Sunset Drive out Friday, Sept. 6, via County Road Playing 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at The Basement and 5 p.m. Sept. 7 at Grimey’s

SWAN SONG

Giancarlo Guerrero prepares for his final season as music director of the Nashville Symphony

GIANCARLO GUERRERO HAS enjoyed considerable success with the Nashville Symphony. Since taking the helm as music director in 2009, he’s conducted 11 world-premiere performances, led the orchestra in 15 critically acclaimed recordings and earned six Grammy Awards. So why’s he calling it quits?

“Post-pandemic, I began thinking that it’s perhaps time for me to move on,” Guerrero tells the Scene “I’ve accomplished all of my goals here as music director, and I’m excited about the possibility of conducting more concerts in Europe and elsewhere. And besides, by now the orchestra musicians know all of my jokes.”

stream country.

“I came to them with a vision, and then they helped me get there,” Denitia explains. “It’s really hard to do it all by yourself. I come from the DIY ethos, but having that support from them was really impactful.”

Fellow Equal Access member Chris Housman will warm up the crowd at Denitia’s album release party Friday at The Basement. It’s a full-circle moment for Denitia, who cut her teeth years ago at the venerable venue’s long-running New Faces Night showcase, known for showcasing a wide array of styles of music. She loves the diversity of fans her music continues to draw into her world; if they come for country and Americana, they’ll get indie rock and some R&B too. The eclectic nature of her sound is part of her mission to claim space as more and more conversations about country recognize and celebrate the long-standing contributions of Black artists.

“Black folks have been involved in country music since day one, and it hasn’t stopped. There are Black folks who listen to country music and love it and cherish it, and then also there are so many Black artists that are making it now.”

Many Guerrero fans were surprised when the maestro revealed last summer that he would be leaving the Nashville Symphony at the end of the 2024-25 season. Arguably, they were even more astonished to learn that their favorite conductor would soon take up residence in Florida as the new music director designate of the Sarasota Orchestra. His tenure as full-time music director there officially begins at the start of the 2025-2026 season, according to an announcement released in August.

The fact that Sarasota would be attracted to Guerrero is hardly shocking. The Florida ensemble is currently advancing plans to construct its own purpose-built symphony hall, the first on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Guerrero has already shown that a maestro conducting adventurous music in an acoustically marvelous hall can achieve wonders. The same thing happened in Nashville. Kenneth Schermerhorn, the Nashville Symphony’s late, great music director and namesake of its concert hall, understood implicitly that to succeed, a regional orchestra needed two things: a great acoustical space (so the musicians can hear one another) and programming that goes beyond the usual classical chestnuts.

For Schermerhorn, who had been a protégé of Leornard Bernstein, adventurous programming

THE MAYOR OF GUITAR TOWN

MANY PERFORMERS COME and go through the stage doors of Nashville’s Mother Church, but you can always expect something special when the artist has roots planted deep in Music City. Crowds can usually look forward to a story as well as a show, and, if you’re lucky, expect a few local special guests to grace the stage at the Ryman Auditorium

The cowboy-hat- and flip-flop-clad crowd at Steve Earle’s Ryman show on Aug. 28 was able to witness all three of these Nashville concert ingredients in one night, creating the perfect culmination of country, blues and a little bit of rowdy stomping.

Legendary Nashville singer, songwriter and producer Buddy Miller opened Earle’s show along with his string-picking, fedora-wearing band, immediately transporting the crowd to a retro Southern folk music scene with his opening riffs. The only aspect of the performance that kept me tethered to the 21st century was Miller’s longtime friend and one-third of the McCrary Sisters, Regina McCrary, with her bedazzled shirt and silver bangle bracelets catching the light every time she banged her tambourine.

After a few story times and heart-to-hearts with his “favorite room,” Miller welcomed Nashville treasure and former bandmate Emmylou Harris to the stage for a duet rendition of his song “Wide River to Cross.” Harris was the first of multiple guests throughout the night, and we certainly hadn’t seen the last of her yet.

Two tuning battles with his guitar and a tambourine jam session later, Miller and company dismantled their close-knit setup to clear the stage for the acoustic main show.

Following a brisk walk and a few waves to the crowd, Earle wasted no time on talking as he opened with a goodbye tune: his farewell ode to Nashville, “Tennessee Blues.”

Although the set unfolded a bit backwards, Earle’s goodbye was just the beginning of a set that would span his 20-plus-album career. With only a guitar, a harmonica and a mysterious extra microphone to his left, it was a performance that showcased the true integrity of the phrase “less is more” and left nothing to be desired.

Earle is a rare type of master storyteller, sharing the legacy of his life and honoring his mentors through song. He mastered the twang of classic country with albums like Guitar Town and continuously expanded into folk and Americana territory throughout his 50-year career, all while continuing to maintain a steady grip on the country music charts decade after decade.

“Would you please make welcome Emmylou Harris,” Earle said. “You think she could come out and sing with Buddy and not sing with me? She sings with everybody.”

Longtime friend and former tourmate Harris

re-emerged onstage as Earle’s first special guest to take up a place at the mysterious extra microphone. The two greeted each other with a salute and joined in a duet of “Goodbye.” Earle then welcomed his sister Stacey Earle as the second mystery-microphone guest of the night, and she joined him for their transcendental brother-sister ballad “When I Fall.”

Stacey Earle, Harris and Miller all reconvened onstage to join Earle in a dedicated rendition of “Harlem River Blues,” written by his son Justin Townes Earle, who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2020.

“I’m kind of an expert on these things … so what you can do for me is hear me when I say, ‘It’s out there,’” Earle explained during a heartfelt speech about his late son’s cause of death. “So just hear me when I say ‘Be careful,’ and help me sing this song.”

After the emotional moment, Earle switched gears and instruments to accompany an upbeat performance of his Celtic-folk ballad “Galway Girl,” and ended the show with a bang: his biggest, catchiest and line-dancing-est hit “Copperhead Road.” Seeing as how there wasn’t much room for full-on dancing, fans shook the pews as they got about as rowdy as they could manage while sitting down in packed rows.

Earle reappeared for a two-song encore, bringing back Miller for a cover of “Sin City” by The Flying Burrito Brothers. The real final song of the night called for a little extra help, with Earle inviting Stacy Earle, Harris, Miller and the final special guest, guitarist and singersongwriter Lucinda Williams, to the stage. The Nashville hero quintet performed an ethereal, stripped-back version of “Pilgrim,” a song from Earle’s 1999 collaborative album with the Del McCoury Band, The Mountain

Although Earle has left his Nashville nest behind, with such an extensive Music City family supporting him both in his recorded music endeavors and at his live shows, it’s becoming increasingly clear that he’ll always have time for a pit stop in his good ol’ “Guitar Town.”▼

Saturday, September 7

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Saturday, September 7

SONGWRITER SESSION

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Sunday, September 8 MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT Ross Holmes 1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

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Saturday, September 14 BOOK TALK

Tyler Mahan Coe

Discusses George Jones and Tammy Wynette 2:30 pm · FORD THEATER

WITNESS HISTORY

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Sunday, September 15

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

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Thursday, September 19 PANEL DISCUSSION

Austin City Limits Fifty Years 10:30 am · FORD THEATER AS PART OF AMERICANA FEST

Thursday, September 19 CONVERSATION AND PERFORMANCE Swamp Dogg 2:00 pm · FORD THEATER AS PART OF AMERICANA FEST

Friday, September 20 INTERVIEW

David McClister 10:30 am · FORD THEATER AS PART OF AMERICANAFEST

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO
SMELL THE WHISKEY BURNIN’: STEVE EARLE

SPLICES

The ghost with the most hits theaters everywhere, while Megalopolis and the Nashville Film Festival loom

THE BIGGEST EVENT coming to Nashville cinemas this month is, of course, the Nashville Film Festival. The longtime local fest — slated for its 55th installment Sept. 19 through 25 — will take place at the Belcourt Theatre, Regal Green Hills, the Franklin Theatre and elsewhere and will feature nearly 50 feature-length films and a slew of shorts and music videos.

Among this year’s most anticipated NaFF selections are music documentaries Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, Devo, Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, Rebel Country, This Is a Film About the Black Keys, The Day the Music Stopped and Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken But it won’t just be music docs at the fest — NaFF’s lineup also includes documentaries like A24’s The Last of the Sea Women and Will Ferrell’s Will & Harper, along with narrative features Bob Trevino Likes It, Jazzy, Universal Language and a handful of horror and thriller selections. Find more titles and more details at nashvillefilmfestival.org.

Before the festival lands later this month, beloved local arthouse the Belcourt is offering a grip of promising new releases. Still currently showing at the Hillsboro Village theater are the critically acclaimed prison drama Sing Sing (which our own Craig D. Lindsey recently called “raw, moving and human”), the Carol Kaneand Jason Schwartzman-starring Between the Temples, and coming-of-age drama Good One (which, according to Scene contributor Hannah Cron, features a shining performance from newcomer Lily Collias). Coming to the Belcourt in the coming days are encore screenings of director Gary Hustwit’s technologically groundbreaking Brian Eno documentary Eno (Sept. 6-8) and rock doc We Are Fugazi From Washington DC (Sept. 9) — see our Critics’ Picks section for more on both of those.

Coming to the Belcourt later this month are Canadian psychological thriller Red Rooms (Sept. 11-15), documentary ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! (Sept. 13-15), documentary Seeking Mavis Beacon (opening Sept. 13), Demi Moore-starring body-horror flick The Substance (Sept. 19),

Aubrey Plaza-starring comedy-drama My Old Ass (Sept. 26) and Francis Ford Coppola’s longawaited epic Megalopolis (Sept. 26). In anticipation of that film — whose rollout has been fraught with AI-related promotional mishaps, allegations of strange on-set behavior and inconsistent early reviews — the Belcourt is showing several of the celebrated director’s best films as part of its Essential Coppola series. Between Sept. 13 and the Megalopolis premiere, Belcourt moviegoers can catch all three installments in the Godfather series as well as The Conversation, Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut, The Outsiders: The Complete Novel, Peggy Sue Got Married and Bram Stoker’s Dracula

In the megaplexes, summer blockbuster season is winding down, but a few big titles are still on the docket. Tim Burton reanimates one of his most beloved characters this week, as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (don’t say it a third time) hits theaters everywhere on Sept. 6. While Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis didn’t return for the sequel, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara and — most importantly — Michael Keaton did, prompting last month’s Venice Film Festival audience to go a little nuts for Beetlejuice. (Oops, I said it again.) Also opening this weekend is A24’s The Front Room, a psychological horror film starring Brandy (yes, the “Boy Is Mine” Brandy) as a pregnant woman “forced to take responsibility for an estranged stepmother.”

Also opening wide later this month is yet another psychological thriller, Speak No Evil (Sept. 13). That remake of a 2022 Danish film of the same name sees James McAvoy returning to creepo territory as a manipulative — and possibly deadly — patriarch. Transformers One will also land Sept. 13, and the aforementioned Megalopolis will also hit Regal and AMC theaters on Sept. 26.

Meanwhile in Hermitage, Full Moon Cineplex has a handful of fun repertory screenings slated for the month. Catch Friday the 13th Part III (in 3D!) and Part VI on Sept. 13 (naturally), and see Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal the following weekend. ▼

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE

9/7 Intro MIG Welding

9/8 Intro Classical Drawing & Oil Painting

9/10 Create Your Own End-Grain Cutting Board Part 1

9/12 Intro to MIG Welding

9/14 Intro to Wood Turning

9/14 Fused Glass Workshop

9/15 Intro to Wood Turning Workshop

9/15 Lamp Making in Metal, Part 1

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9/17 Intro to Adobe Illustrator

1 Tools for making belt holes

5 Cocktail served in a copper mug, familiarly

9 Like a kite

14 Signal to stop, say

15 Common ___

16 Tiny pest

17 *They’re found next to cabarets

19 Airpods come in them

20 Nearsighted sort

21 Neighbor of Ursa Major

23 Champagne name

24 *Viable investment plans

28 Kind of protein for bodybuilders

31 Split

32 Occupants of 53-Across

33 Like pomegranate seeds, but not apple seeds

34 Many a flower girl

38 *They might be marked as absent

40 *Baby talk

41 Measure the depth of

42 Like corduroy fabric

45 Show signs of mythomania

46 Racetrack leader

48 Google ___

49 *Like some nasty habits

53 Subjects of Project Blue Book

54 Isaac Newton, from the age of 62 onward

55 Tedium

59 Puts up on Zillow, perhaps

61 Many a gymgoer’s goal … or what the starred clues in this puzzle must have for their answers to make sense?

64 [$@#%!]

65 Lead-in to skeleton or scope

66 Where Columbus thought he had landed in 1498

67 Junipero ___, known as the “Apostle of California”

68 Trick-taking card game

69 Feature of a witch costume

DOWN

1 Interjection that might serve as a mild warning

2 Like some kitchen paper

3 Cosmetic procedure, for short

4 Not careful

5 Fannie of the finance industry

6 Popular subject for still-life drawing

7 Spare, perhaps

8 Makes a gradual entry

9 Psych (up)

10 Middle ground, from the Latin

11 Bad apple or sour grapes, e.g.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/studentcrosswords.

12 What subjects and their verbs should always does ... er, do?

13 Things weavers weave

18 ___-soul (music genre)

22 Condition associated with hyperawareness, for short

25 Documents that ensure secrecy, for short

26 Target of benzoyl peroxide

27 Novelist Miller

28 Go “Boo-hoo!”

29 Many pages are written using this

30 Isaac’s firstborn

33 Endpoint of a radius

35 ___ the Elephant, children’s TV character

36 Excerpt

37 They may be locked or rolled

39 Fraud

40 Man-eating menace

42 Brings back on

43 Where you might find yourself on edge?

44 Approximate recipe measure

47 Superiors of sgts.

48 Stylized name for a caffeinated soft drink

49 Flower shop purchases

50 Meet a mid-April deadline, say

51 Who pays all legal costs under the so-called “English rule”

52 “Twisters” director ___ Isaac Chung

56 Zilch

57 Company that acquired Postmates in 2020

58 “___ that nice!”

60 Word with dog or day

62 Open show of intimacy, for short

63 Flower shop purchase

NANDEZ, HENRY TOL ALVIZUREZ, RAFAEL MENDOZA MARTINEZ, and GILMER PACHECO

EK v. Defendants RAYMOND CLARANCE PARADISE, GREYHOUND LINES, INC., a Foreign Corporation, AMERICANOS U.S.A, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company, FLIX NORTH AMERICA, INC., a Texas corporation, ABDIKADIR A. IBRAHIM, MZ CARGO, INC., an Ohio Corporation, EVERETT SHARP, RICHARD, INC., an Ohio Corporation, RICHARD WOLFE TRUCKING, INC., an Ohio Corporation, DAVID CHERNO, and ROBERT BRANUM TRUCKING, LP, a Texas Limited Partnership. PERSONAL INJURY/MOTOR VEHCILE ACCIDENT. NOTICE BY PUBLICATION. The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN YOU, ABDIKADIR A. IBRAHIM, the Defendant that a Complaint at Law has been filed in the CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD JUDICIAL CIRCUIT MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS by Plaintiff against you for: PERSONAL INJURY/MOTOR VEHCILE ACCIDENT and for other relief; that summons duly issued against you as provided by law, and such Complaint is still pending. NOW THEREFORE, unless you ABDIKADIR A. IBRAHIM, the Defendant, file your answer or otherwise file your appearance in this case with the Office of the Clerk of Madison County Circuit Court, 155 N. Main Street., Edwardsville, IL 62025 on or before October 10th, 2024. A JUDGEMENT OR ORDER FOR DEFAULT MAY BE TAKEN AGAINST YOU FOR THE RELIEF ASKED FOR WITHIN THE COMPLAINT.

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IT Developer III – ETL (Multiple Positions, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, Brentwood, TN): Reqs Bach (US/frgn eqv) in CS or rel; 4 yrs exp implmntg Data Warehouses in cmrcial envrn; exp w/RDBMS; Unix envrn, install of SW in Unix envrn; ETL tool ODI, IBM DataStage or Informatica; strong knwl of writing queries w/PL/SQL&T-SQL. Mail CV to Sharon Barrow, 7101 Executive Center Dr, Ste 333, Brentwood, TN 37027. Ref# ITDEV040797.

Database Applications Developer. Develop applications and provide database resources such as queries, stored procedures, and functions in accordance with customer requirements. Employer: Applied Health Analytics, LLC. Location: Headquarters in Nashville, TN. May telecommute from a location within normal commuting distance of Nashville, TN. To apply, please mail a resume to R. Sloan at 480 James Robertson Parkway, Ste. 200, Nashville, TN 37219.

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PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD JUDICIAL CIRCUIT MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. Plaintiffs, INDIRA VASQUEZ, guardian of the Person and Estate of FIORELLA CAJAN CUEVA, a disabled person, INDIRA VASQUEZ, independent administrator of the Estate of JUAN ERNESTO VASQUEZ RODRIGUEZ, deceased, DIANA HUAMAN VERLADE, ERICARDO MENDOZA MARTINEZ, ANGEL DAVID HERNANDEZ, HENRY TOL ALVIZUREZ, RAFAEL MENDOZA MARTINEZ, and GILMER PACHECO EK v. Defendants RAYMOND CLARANCE PARADISE, GREYHOUND LINES, INC., a Foreign Corporation, AMERICANOS U.S.A, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company, FLIX NORTH AMERICA, INC., a Texas corporation, ABDIKADIR A. IBRAHIM, MZ CARGO, INC., an Ohio Corporation, EVERETT SHARP, RICHARD, INC., an Ohio Corporation, RICHARD WOLFE TRUCKING, INC., an Ohio Corporation, DAVID CHERNO, and ROBERT BRANUM TRUCKING, LP, a Texas Limited Partnership. PERSONAL INJURY/MOTOR VEHCILE ACCIDENT. NOTICE BY PUBLICATION. The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN YOU, ABDIKADIR A. IBRAHIM, the Defendant that a Complaint at Law has been filed in the CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD JUDICIAL CIRCUIT MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS by Plaintiff against you for: PERSONAL INJURY/MOTOR VEHCILE ACCIDENT and for other relief; that summons duly issued against you as provided by law, and such Complaint is still pending. NOW THEREFORE, unless you ABDIKADIR A. IBRAHIM, the Defendant, file your answer or otherwise file your appearance in this case with the Office of the Clerk of Madison County Circuit Court, 155 N. Main Street., Edwardsville, IL 62025 on or before October 10th, 2024. A JUDGEMENT OR ORDER FOR DEFAULT MAY BE TAKEN AGAINST YOU FOR THE RELIEF ASKED FOR WITHIN THE COMPLAINT.

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Larry’s

COMMUNITY AMENITIES

Indoor swimming pool and hot tub

Outdoor swimming pool Ping pong table Fitness center Gated community

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