Nashville Scene 4-17-25

SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK FEELS IMPACT OF FEDERAL CUTS >> PAGE 22 THEATER: I AM QUEEN: NASHVILLE ADAPTS REAL-LIFE STORIES FOR THE TPAC STAGE >> PAGE 70

From fish and chips to banana splits, here are 48 exemplar y takes on classic menu items

BORN & BREADED

WITNESS HISTORY

The lyrics to “Doin’ This,” a country radio hit Luke Combs took to #1, were written in this journal by co-writer Rob Williford.

From the exhibit Luke Combs: The Man I Am RESERVE

artifact: Courtesy of Rob Williford artifact photo: Bob Delevante

ONE STOP. INFINITE EXPERIENCES.

From seasonal dishes at 1 Kitchen to rooftop nights at Harriet’s and spa serenity at Bamford — it all starts here.

Paloma

2 OZ TITO’S HANDMADE VODKA

2 OZ GRAPEFRUIT JUICE

2 OZ SPARKLING WATER

½ OZ LIME JUICE

Add all ingredients to a glass with ice. Stir and garnish with a grapefruit and lime slice.

TITO’S HANDMADE VODKA IS EXCITED TO SUPPORT

David C. Driskell & Friends: Creativity, Collaboration, and Friendship emphasizes interconnectedness in Driskell’s artistic journey and his relationships with fellow artists. Meanwhile its companion exhibition, Kindred Spirits: Intergenerational Forms of Expression, 1966–1999, celebrates the legacy of Fisk University’s art department—on view at both the Frist and Fisk’s Carl Van Vechten Gallery. Featuring more than 120 artworks from over 40 prominent African American artists, the exhibitions together celebrate the reverberating impact of a prolific artistic community.

Left: David C. Driskell. Mask Series II, 2019. Relief woodcut; 14 1/2 x 11 in. The David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland, College Park.

Gift of Raven Fine Art Editions, 2019.10.002

Right: Ted Jones. Boy with a Feather Earring & Wearing Chains, 1999. Woodcut; 60 x 30 in. Courtesy of Fisk University Galleries, Nashville, TN. Photo: Jerry Atnip

The Frist Art Museum is supported in part by Supported in part by

The Sandra Schatten Foundation Joanne and Joan Whitney Payson in memory of John Whitney Payson

SYLVAN PARK GERMANTOWN BRENTWOOD

new restaurant in the gulch for handcrafted dishes and agave based cocktails. Visit our taco truck outside Chopper Tiki in East Nashville to try quesabirria and other street tacos. Pick up fresh tortillas in North Nashville at the Maiz Tortilla Shop.

Maiz De La Vida brings a vibrant atmosphere and fresh heirloom corn to Nashville. Chef Owner Julio Hernandez a James Beard Semifinalist for Emerging Chef in 2023 and Semifinalist for Best Chef Southeast 2025, leads the Maiz De La Vida crew. Check out our new restaurant in the gulch for handcrafted dishes and agave based cocktails. Visit our taco truck outside Chopper Tiki in East Nashville to try quesabirria and other street tacos. Pick up fresh tortillas in North Nashville at the Maiz Tortilla Shop.

Street View: Mobile Home Park Residents Organize Against Alleged Mismanagement

Folks living at Suburban Mobile Home Park in Antioch unite against what they describe as exploitation BY LENA MAZEL

Second Harvest Food Bank Feels Impact of Federal Cuts

USDA pulls millions in funding from the local nonprofit BY JULIANNE AKERS

Pith in the Wind

This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

Belle Meade Organizes Against New Infrastructure Proposals

Boulevard sidewalks and a new Cheekwood access road have run into staunch opposition from residents BY ELI MOTYCKA

COVER PACKAGE: THE FOOD AND DRINK ISSUE

Nashville Classics

From fish and chips to banana splits, here are 48 exemplary takes on classic menu items

Fork It Over

Meet this year’s esteemed Iron Fork competitors BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

CRITICS’ PICKS

Jack White, Nashville Earth Day, Duke’s 10th Anniversary, Erica & Blaine and more

For Your Loved Ones

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory confirm that friends are electric BY SEAN L. MALONEY

Centering the ‘West’ in ‘Country Western’ Talking with rising country ace Ian Munsick about his new LP Eagle Feather BY MARGARET LITTMAN

The Spin

The Scene’s live-review column checks out Record Store Day parties at Vinyl Tap and The Groove BY CLAIRE STEELE AND EDD HURT FILM

Here Come Those Santa Ana Winds Again A meditation on 1972’s underappreciated Play It as It Lays screening this weekend at the Belcourt BY JASON SHAWHAN

Something Old, Something New The Wedding Banquet remake is a charming and timely chosen-family love story BY QUINN HILLS

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In my 35+ years living and working in Nashville, I’ve navigated the twists, turns and now expansive growth of

Chicken at Tacos y Mariscos El Amigo • PHOTO BY ANGELINA CASTILLO

Split from Elliston Place Soda Shop; photo by Eric England

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MOBILE HOME PARK RESIDENTS ORGANIZE AGAINST ALLEGED MISMANAGEMENT

Folks living at Suburban Mobile Home Park in Antioch unite against what they describe as exploitation

BY LENA MAZEL

Street View is a monthly column taking a close look at development-related issues affecting different neighborhoods throughout the city.

STEPHANIE VERGARA, a student at Nashville State Community College, has lived with her family in Antioch’s Suburban Mobile Home Park since 2013. Last year, a tow truck started waking them up in the middle of the night.

The property, owned by North Carolina-based Stackhouse Management (and their associated development company Jones Properties LLC), had recently instituted a two-vehicle-per-trailer policy. Additional vehicles were towed, sometimes late at night. Releasing the vehicles cost between $450 and $500, Vergara says — and payments had to be in cash. The truck that showed up at Suburban was always from the same company: Boswell Towing.

“They had expired plates and tags, and they would come armed,” Vergara says. “If anyone tried to tell the employees of Boswell anything, they would get aggressive, and flash their gun to try to intimidate us.”

The ongoing scenario was frightening to many residents. But in recent weeks it has especially impacted the young people at Suburban — many of whom experienced the January shooting at Antioch High School.

Suburban residents had other issues too: Some water bills had increased, there was no physical office on the property, there was no visitor parking, rent had increased, and some residents were concerned about trees on the property falling during storms.

This isn’t the first time Jones Properties has been accused of mistreating residents of its mobile home parks. At one Ohio property, residents say they went without water for days. Back in 2021, Stackhouse used residents at a North Carolina mobile home park as a bargaining chip in zoning disputes, suggesting they’d lose their homes if Stackhouse couldn’t rezone part of the property to allow a gas station and apartment complex. And in 2022, residents of another Stackhouse-owned mobile home park in Ohio reported overcharging on utilities, failure to maintain common areas, racial discrimination and rent increases multiple times per year.

Residents of mobile home parks are in a unique and sometimes tenuous situation with landlords — they usually own their mobile homes but pay rent for the land they are on. This can lead to housing insecurity when properties change hands, and often leaves residents vulnerable to exploitation.

At Suburban, residents formed two groups to organize for better living conditions: Unidos por un Cambio and youth committee Justice de Jo-

venes. Together the tenant unions grew to more than 100 members.

“The process to form the youth committee was built on turning our frustration into action,” says Vergara. “We were tired of not only seeing our parents suffer through this injustice. … We were also tired of experiencing it ourselves.”

Alongside the two unions, local organizers Poder Popular got involved. They’d previously worked with tenants at Cedar Glen Mobile Home Park in La Vergne, who had formed a union called Unidos por Nuestras Familias to protest similar issues — including a two-car towing policy — from property managers Stockbridge Capital. “Companies like Jones Estates and Stockbridge Capital buy up the mobile home parks, and they start charging way more rent, and then they implement these policies like the towing policy, which specifically negatively impact working-class families and communities,” says Indu Kumar, a spokesperson for the group.

In February, the three groups created a petition with a list of demands. They collaborated with three North-Carolina based organizations to deliver the list in person to Stackhouse’s main office in Durham. And on Feb. 16, the groups met with Metro Councilmember Tasha Ellis to share their concerns.

Ellis — whose District 29 is home to Suburban — immediately went into action.

“A regular tow only costs between $75 and $100,” Ellis says. “So I felt like they were being exploited by that.” Ellis says residents also had water bills “at $300 to $800 a month,” and a few families said Lonnie Prevost, Suburban’s property manager, wouldn’t allow Metro Water to check water meters when they suspected leaks.

Ellis contacted Metro Water to inspect the leaks, and called the Nashville Electric Service to inspect a low-hanging wire. She also reached out to Legal Aid and the Nashville Hispanic Bar Association to help an evicted resident and advise about potential exploitation from the towing company. After that, she reached out to Melissa Solomon, director of corporate governance and transactions for Stackhouse Management in North Carolina.

On Feb. 25, residents received a response from Solomon. In an email shared with the Scene, Solomon writes that Stackhouse has a few next steps planned: creating several small guest parking areas at Suburban, looking into a “pocket park” that can provide a kids’ play area, and conducting an annual tree review to “identify and remove” any dangerous trees. Solomon also acknowledges that this action is “only a portion of concerns raised,” and that in the next 30 days,

Stackhouse would be sending out an invitation to each household to organize an upcoming community meeting to address the additional concerns; in early April, Stackhouse emailed residents an invite to a town hall on April 29 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Electronic devices won’t be permitted at the meeting, and only residents are invited. (A representative for Stackhouse Management declined to comment on the ongoing conversations with residents, but did confirm that a future meeting has been planned.)

Now the towing has also stopped overall — at least for the time being. “I want to think that me reaching out and letting Lonnie know that he had been exposed stopped that,” Ellis says.

While most of their direct action for Suburban has finished, the youth organizers in Justice de Jovenes have organized around other causes — like anti-immigration bills in the Tennessee General Assembly.

At home, Vergara hopes Suburban residents will “have a bigger involvement on what rules are placed for us.”

“It is easy for landlords to attempt to exploit and discriminate” against tenants, says Vergara. “Change only happens when the community organizes within themselves and stands united, through the struggles, and wins.” ▼

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

SUBURBAN MOBILE HOME PARK

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SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK FEELS IMPACT OF FEDERAL CUTS

USDA pulls millions in funding from the local nonprofit

BY JULIANNE AKERS

AS UNIVERSITIES, CITY And state governments and nonprofit organizations across the U.S. grapple with sweeping federal cuts imposed by the Trump administration, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee is among the latest local entities feeling the impact.

The nonprofit food bank recently discovered it would lose access to an estimated 30 percent of its food provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — a loss of about 700,000 pounds of food, which will cost about $600,000 to replace in this quarter alone.

Jessie Lumpkins, farm-to-families coordinator at Second Harvest, says they currently work with about 76 farmers. Twelve of those work from Davidson County.

While federal programs provide support to Second Harvest, the nonprofit receives the bulk of its funding from individual donors, corporations and foundations. The food bank serves 46 counties in Middle and West Tennessee and reported more than 41 million meals served in fiscal year 2024.

Keil says food bank data shows more than 93,000 people are facing food insecurity in Davidson County, with 55 percent of them ineligible for SNAP assistance due to being above the poverty threshold. Some 11 million pounds of food were distributed in Davidson County by Second Harvest last fiscal year.

Second Harvest has seen a 46 percent increase in people seeking food assistance since 2020. Representatives say the increase is due to factors including inflation, a reduction in public support and mass layoffs and closures.

As this year’s session of the Tennessee General Assembly winds toward its close, the Republican-supermajority body is considering legislation on immigration, reproductive health care and much more. Visit nashvillescene.com/state-legislature for our ongoing coverage.

Officials with Second Harvest say the ramifications of these cuts will be even more severe at the start of the 2026 fiscal year, which begins July 1. They expect to see a 4 million-pound food deficit and the end of another federal grant.

“We never like this kind of news, but we do prepare,” Keil says. “We’re working on our budget for next year, and we’re taking all this into consideration, just making sure that we do what we can to deliver excellence to our food-insecure neighbors.”

The office of Kelley Henry, a federal defender representing death row prisoners in Tennessee, has formally requested that Gov. Bill Lee pause executions through March 1, 2026, pending a court review of the state’s new lethal injection protocol Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti recently secured new execution dates for four men in 2025, including a date in May for Oscar Smith and in August for Byron Black Henry explains in a lengthy letter to Lee that, absent Lee’s immediate intervention, Smith and Black would both be executed by lethal injection before a court has approved the new state protocol.

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The USDA-provided food includes dairy, protein and fresh produce — items that Second Harvest president and CEO Nancy Keil says are critical to families facing food insecurity.

“The stigma of food banks when they first started was absolutely shelf-stable foods,” Keil tells the Scene. “Close to 40 percent of our food is fresh produce. You need both.”

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The federal cuts have also led to the cancellation of the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, another major USDA-backed initiative, resulting in the loss of an additional $3 million in funding that would have allowed Second Harvest to purchase fresh food directly from Middle and West Tennessee farmers. Keil says this is a loss not only for the families Second Harvest feeds, but also for local farmers.

“So not only is this obviously supporting small and midsized farmers, which in turn helps that local economy and it strengthens the food system logistics within that area,” she says. “But it also provides dignity, because these folks see that there is a really amazing, high-quality product that they’re allowed to receive because they are partnered with a farmer in that area.”

Keil says the organization is continuing conversations with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture in hopes that another source of funding can be found.

“We don’t ever give up — we’re food bankers,” says Keil. “We’ve got people who are counting on us to do our job, so we are knocking on doors and making phone calls and just engaging people and informing them of how wonderful and how impactful these programs are and how they really do touch lives, where food does provide hope to people.”

Slashes to federal spending have trickled down to the Nashville area in recent months. Metro is suing the Trump administration to recover $14 million in grants, university researchers are protesting cuts to National Institutes of Health, and threats to the Southern Festival of Books loom.

The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, run by billionaire Elon Musk, continues to eye other cuts and lay off thousands of federal workers in what they say is an attempt to save wasted taxpayer money. ▼

“WE’VE GOT PEOPLE WHO ARE COUNTING ON US TO DO OUR JOB, SO WE ARE KNOCKING ON DOORS AND MAKING PHONE CALLS AND JUST ENGAGING PEOPLE AND INFORMING THEM OF HOW WONDERFUL AND HOW IMPACTFUL THESE PROGRAMS ARE.”

—SECOND HARVEST

PRESIDENT AND CEO NANCY KEIL

The Calvert Street Group came under fire last week when Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland accused the prominent Nashville public relations firm of impersonating Murfreesboro residents at a town hall. Calvert Street was hired by waste management company Republic Services to advance a proposed expansion of Murfreesboro’s Middle Point Landfill, the latest chapter of Rutherford County’s ongoing trash drama. Rutherford County officials are currently weighing Republic’s proposal to expand the site, an unpopular garbage patch. The landfill is expected to hit capacity by 2029, a pending potential crisis for Nashville, which relies on the site for its own waste disposal.

In her latest column, Scene contributor Betsy Phillips explores the little-known story of trailblazing Black Nashvillian Duke Wellington Berry, who had bylines in the Nashville Banner and The Tennessean as early as 1910 — decades before Robert Churchwell, who is often cited as the first Black journalist employed at a white-owned metro newspaper in the South. “This story has it all,” writes Phillips. “A dude named Trout. A poolroom. Mail fraud. Handsomeness. Getting the hell out of Hopkinsville. Reporting for both The Tennessean and the Banner. An illness that required going to Denver to die. And then vanishing from the historical record.”

VALET I EVENTS I RESTAURANTS I BUSINESSES

BELLE MEADE ORGANIZES AGAINST NEW INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSALS

Boulevard sidewalks and a new Cheekwood access road have run into staunch opposition from residents

BY ELI MOTYCKA

Two major infrastructure proposals in Belle Meade have inspired litigious, organized opposition from residents worried about traffic and the enclave’s historic character.

Built from John Harding’s parceled-out antebellum plantation, Belle Meade has long prided itself on keeping its neighborhood frozen in time. Belle Meade has its own mayor, city council and police force, and retained significant zoning and land use control when Nashville and other Davidson County municipalities voted for a consolidated city-county government in 1962.

another slice of land bridging the plaza and Belle Meade Boulevard for $1 million. A boulevard bedecked with sidewalks might provide even greater quality of life to future Belle Meade Villagers.

“We do not have any comment on that right now,” AJ Capital’s Kerstin Hjelm tells the Scene when asked about the firm’s involvement in the sidewalk plan.

The case between Friends of Belle Meade Boulevard and the City of Belle Meade is currently kicking around Davidson County Chancery Court after Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal’s recusal.

Residents organized as the Friends of Belle Meade Boulevard sued the city of Belle Meade in March over a sidewalk proposal. The plan would put pedestrian walkways on either side of Belle Meade Boulevard, the grand artery connecting Harding Pike to the stone steps of Percy Warner Park.

The group alleges that Belle Meade violated its own 2018 law requiring written approval from all residents on the affected street before a new sidewalk can be put in. It’s a high bar for any new sidewalk, much less on Belle Meade Boulevard, home to around 100 stately residences.

“The Friends of Belle Meade Boulevard is a nonprofit group working to promote different, more effective safety improvements for the boulevard such as traffic-calming measures and increased police presence to enforce existing traffic rules,” says Steve Fridrich with the Friends of Belle Meade Boulevard. “Our group remains disappointed that, while nearly all of the property owners on Belle Meade Boulevard and hundreds more throughout Belle Meade oppose this sidewalks plan, those who were elected to represent us are ignoring the voices of their constituents in favor of other priorities and advocating for the development of a clearly unsafe plan.”

Sidewalk skeptics have even proposed a new ordinance to require 80 percent approval by referendum for any proposed “construction or infrastructure changes” to the boulevard. Legal documents also claim the city failed to give proper notice and did not follow certain environmental procedures. Finally, plaintiffs say sidewalks may constitute a public nuisance.

“The City’s plan to construct sidewalks in a predominantly residential roadway threatens increased pedestrian-vehicle conflicts and noise, unreasonably interfering with public safety and enjoyment,” reads one count in the legal complaint.

Suspicious opponents have connected the plan to AJ Capital, a real estate firm based in Wedgewood-Houston that is behind the project bringing residential condos to a redeveloped Belle Meade Plaza. Advertising copy for “Belle Meade Village” touts walkability to Sylvan Park and McCabe Park. In February, AJ Capital bought

Down the street, Metro planners are weighing options to connect Highway 100 and Cheekwood.

More than 4,000 people have signed a petition opposing a city proposal to cut a new access point through Percy Warner Park. The Metro Nashville Planning Commission adopted the “Belle Meade Highlands Design and Mobility Study” in January, which includes several connection options and has inspired fierce blowback.

The proposed route prompted the petition, which spread like wildfire under a “Protect the Park” rallying cry. Nashville’s plans center on a small trapezoid of land between Highway 100 and the City of Belle Meade’s borders. Right now, access from Highway 100 takes visitors through residential neighborhoods.

Cutting through the park, however, could trigger legal action from the descendants of Luke Lea, the prominent Nashville attorney, newspaper publisher and real estate developer who initially gave the park to the city and specified its uses in perpetuity. Violating Lea’s “expressed covenant” in the deed could void the deed and revert the land to Lea’s heirs.

“The family of Luke Lea simply wants the covenant to be honored,” says a spokesperson for the family.

Cheekwood Estate & Gardens, which struggles with peak traffic congestion at high-attendance events, emerges as the project’s main beneficiary — Cheekwood CEO Jane MacLeod has called parking an “existential issue” for the arts nonprofit. Advocacy group Friends of Warner Parks has stayed tight-lipped while the cut-through stays as an option, rather than the Nashville Department of Transportation’s definitive plan.

“Friends of Warner Parks supports proposed options that would not involve the construction of a roadway through Percy Warner property,” says Friends of Warner Parks president Jenny Hannon.

For now, both incidents prove the long odds for anyone up against wealthy, passionate and lawyerly residents unafraid to stake their claim. ▼

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From fish and chips to banana splits, here are 48 exemplary takes on classic menu items

FOR OUR ANNUAL Food & Drink Issue, we at the Scene decided to take you back to the classics — the quintessential, standard-setting examples of all-time menu items. From Old Nashville institutions like the Power Caesar Salad at Green Hills Grille and Sperry’s Bananas Foster to newer additions that feel timeless, like the classic steakhouse fare at Star Rover Sound, here we offer you 48 dishes that will never get old. And to preempt some angry emails: Yes, we know we left hot chicken off the list. We counter that enough ink has been spilled on the city’s flock of hot-chicken spots in the past few years. (Though if you still need a recommendation, you can never go wrong with Prince’s.)

Also in this issue we’ve got bios on all four of the chefs competing in next week’s Iron Fork competition — that Scene-presented event will take place Saturday, April 26, as part of the Music City Food & Wine Festival. Brought to you by the Scene’s parent company FW Publishing, MCFWF will feature an array of events from April 24 to April 27 at Centennial Park. Read more about those events in the MCFWF program that comes attached to this week’s print issue. Without further ado, here are 48 Nashville classics.

DICEY’S

diceystavern.com

Pizza slices are like OutKast albums or seasons of Survivor — even the bad ones are pretty good. So really, you can find a pretty damn solid slice of classic pepperoni pizza just about anywhere. As long as it has the right grease-to-cheese-to-sauce ratio, you’re probably in good hands — whether that means Nashville’s essential Five Points Pizza or the award-winning Smith & Lentz. That said, my go-to local slice is at Dicey’s. The pepperoni is cooked perfectly, it has just the right amount of sauce, and the size of the slice isn’t overwhelming like at some other restaurants. Add a little hot honey if you want to take it up a notch.

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO

Margherita Pizza

ROBERTA’S

robertaspizza.com/urban-cowboy

When it comes to pizza, I top mine with meat and veggies 90 percent of the time. The other 10 percent of the time, I eat the Margherita at Roberta’s. This pie defines the genre because it keeps things simple and flawless. The crust is handmade sourdough, chewy and tangy and just charred enough. The tomato sauce is bright, the basil is fresh, and the mozzarella is housemade and showstopping. Bonus: They use the scraps from making the savory, melty cheese for stracciatella, so you can get two classics at one stop.

ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Fruit Tea

CALYPSO CAFE

calypsocafe.com

Few simple pleasures compare to ice-cold fruit tea in the Nashville summer. Sweet tea’s juicier cousin is a beverage bridge that can span the young and old, new neighbors and old friends, equally appropriate at a wedding or a funeral. If you don’t know a family recipe, don’t look one up — you’ll realize just why it’s so refreshing. Just start at Calypso Cafe, a local favorite that threatened to become something of an endangered species after shuttering several storefronts in the past few years. (Ownership changed

hands at the top of the year, with the new owners planning to expand in the future.) Once a widely offered lunch complement, homemade fruit tea has slowly gone the way of Bread & Company. Calypso has you covered, even selling its concoction by the gallon jug for contingency preppers or adventurous at-home mixologists.

ELI MOTYCKA

Hummus

KALAMATAS

kalamatasnashville.com

If the first or last hummus you had was Sabra …

Caesar Salad

GREEN HILLS GRILLE ghgrille.com

Green Hills Grille is a restaurant with staying power. For more than two decades in three different locations, it has been delighting diners with unpretentious and consistent food and exemplary service. As a favorite spot for business lunches or casual hangs between carpool dropoff and pickup, Green Hills Grille’s menu absolutely has to have a solid salad offering, and the Power Caesar is a standout. This take on the midday classic combines Tuscan kale and shaved Brussels sprouts for the greens and adds red quinoa, avocado and Marcona almonds for textural contrast; red onion, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese for some tang; and bacon, for well … bacon. Tossed with anchovy- and garlic-infused dressing, it’s a Caesar worth hailing.

CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

hello, fellow white girl! It’s time to level up. For 22 years, Kalamatas has created dependable, delicious Mediterranean food for Nashville. All of it is tasty, but two of its offerings inspire a Pavlovian drool response: hummus and salad dressing. The former is creamy, tangy and effortlessly smooth — the texture of which you’ll deeply appreciate if you ever try to make hummus at home. (Peeling chickpeas is culinary waterboarding.) The latter — their zingy, addictive salad dressing — takes a classic Greek salad (feta, tomato, cucumber) to the gotta-have-one-more-bite level. Bottle it, Kalamatas, I beg you! ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Bagel

BAGELSHOP

bagelshopnashville.com

I feel grateful that there are now so many legit bagel places in town and several more opening.

To find the best, I considered only bagels that were boiled and then baked, with a slick, crusty exterior and a discernible texture difference between the outside and the inside. I ate them fresh and without toppings (a good bagel is tasty even if it’s not toasted). If you have to load it up to make it taste good, it can still be a good sandwich, but it’s not perfect. For day in, day out, classic bagel consistency, my pick is Bagelshop in Donelson. Yes, they do experiment with crazy flavors and combos, but they never skip the hand-rolled, boiled classic. MARGARET LITTMAN

Biscuits

BUTTER MILK RANCH

buttermilkranch.com

It’s been said that even a bad biscuit is better than the best piece of toast. (OK, maybe I was the one who said that, but I meant it!) Among all the great biscuits of Nashville, a relatively new version rises above the rest. Master pâtissière Alyssa Gangeri has revolutionized the art form by creating a multilayer laminated biscuit that does for breakfast what the Cronut did for dessert. Flaky and buttery and light and fluffy all at the same time, BMR’s biscuits can be improved only by the addition of what the restaurant calls “a gravy train” — a flight of gravies including traditional sausage and rotating seasonal specials. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Chicken Wings

GHOT WINGZ ghotwingz.com

The wings at Ghot Wingz are so good that we’ll even forgive the overuse of the letter “z” on their menu. (“Tenderz” and “Sidez,” sure. “Drinkz” and “Platterz” are perhaps a bit much.) However, abundance is part of the charm at this East Side staple, where you can order wings breaded or naked in your choice of more than two dozen

Summer Rolls

LOVE, PEACE & PHO lovepeaceandpho.net

There is some variance in what restaurants call them, but when I’m hitting up one of Nashville’s Vietnamese restaurants, I am ordering the summer rolls — crispy rolls be damned. Eighth Avenue restaurant Love, Peace & Pho calls them fresh rolls, and they are a triumph of their kind. The fresh rolls are stuffed generously with a mix of fresh herbs, veggies, vermicelli noodles and choice of shrimp or tofu. (I always choose shrimp.) Dunked in some peanut sauce, it’s a refreshing first course. It’s also the perfect appetizer to set the stage for the restaurant’s classic pho. HANNAH HERNER

flavors. With so many options, it’s nice that the kitchen allows patrons to split their order between multiple sauces or seasonings for quantities greater than 12 wings. Just make sure that at least one of them is the amazing spicy lemon pepper! CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Tomato Soup

THE GRILLED CHEESERIE

grilledcheeserie.com

When you need a tomato soup to dip your grilled cheese in, Noshville, The Food Company and even Zoe’s (RIP) have been strong local candidates. But once you’ve had The Grilled Cheeserie’s version, there’s just no going back. Two huge reasons for that: cream and country-ham stock. The use of the former is an open secret among chefs — it balances the acidity of the tomato with some much-needed fat — but the idea of creating your base broth with salty, umami-rich country ham? That’s a cheat code so brilliant it always gets the win. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Queso

REDHEADED STRANGER redheadedstrangertacos.com

If you complain about not having chips to eat Redheaded Stranger’s cheese dip with, you don’t deserve to eat it. Chips are, mostly, the best! What they’re not better than, though, is dipping freshly handmade and griddled-beforeyour-eyes flour tortillas into hot, melty queso. Redheaded Stranger executive chef Bryan Lee Weaver uses a mix of American and cheddar cheeses, and that twists the classic enough to make it somehow more authentic than the one you grew up on. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Gumbo

SPICY BOY’S spicyboysnashville.com

As contributor Danny Bonvissuto once wrote in these pages, “Spicy Boy’s (yes, just one boy) is as close as I’ve ever felt to New Orleans without a Southwest flight.” Indeed, Baton Rouge native Justen Cheney might be practicing some form of sorcery at his Cajun-inspired East Side spot. … Do diners pass through a portal to Louisiana when they step over the Spicy Boy’s threshold? However he does it, Cheney serves up authentic po’boys, debris fries and, perhaps most importantly, the quintessential chicken-and-andouille gumbo. Spicy Boy’s also has an excellent classic-cocktail lineup. A couple of Sazeracs or mint juleps and you’ll be ready to host your own private Mardi Gras. D. PATRICK RODGERS

Matzah Ball Soup

PROPER BAGEL properbagel.com

It’s hard to find something more classic than any food that tastes “just like Mom used to make,” which might be why Proper Bagel’s matzah ball soup is peerless. Co-owner Heather Speranza says this recipe has been in their family forever, and it’s clear why. The satisfying scratch-made broth; the tender, fluffy matzah balls; the juicy pieces of chicken; the toothsome curly noodles — all of it is perfectly balanced and essential for a sick day, a cold night or just a moment when you need a virtual hug from Mom. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO

Pimento Cheese

THE PICNIC thepicniccafe.com

While the roots of pimento cheese originate in the North, most would agree that it’s a Southern staple. In Nashville, the go-to place for the iconic dish — and conversation among regulars — is The Picnic. Since 1983, diners at the stalwart Belle Meade cafe have been found enjoying the pimento cheese — and the delicacy is also often spotted in the picnic baskets of many a Steeplechaser. Insiders also know to order the salad sampler — a scoop of their renowned chicken salad and a scoop of pimento cheese — accompanied by a homemade muffin. JANET KURTZ

bean sprouts, zippy white onion, jalapeños, scallions, lime and the hoisin sauce/Sriracha combo that brings the umami boost. But really? It’s all about the broth: simple, aromatic, savory and just the tiniest bit sweet. I didn’t grow up eating pho, but theirs somehow tastes like home.

ASHLEY BRANTLEY

French Fries

GRILLSHACK FRIES & BURGERS

grillshack.wixsite.com/grillshack

KIEN GIANG

kiengiangtn.com

If you love pho, you know where to go: Charlotte Pike. The fact that Miss Saigon, VN Pho & Deli and Kien Giang are all within a quarter-mile of one another is an embarrassment of riches. But my true north will always be Kien Giang. They do every piece right: chewy rice noodles, juicy chicken or rare beef, fragrant Thai basil, crunchy

I am from Idaho, folks. I have eaten a lot of potatoes. Curly, matchstick, steak … even during that weird period in 2003, “freedom fries.” When I want the perfect fry, with the right ratio of crispy outside and fluffy inside, a little salty, but not too much, I head to Grillshack Fries & Burgers in East Nashville. These Idaho russets are hand-cut and cooked to order, so you never get stuck with a soggy fry or a cold fry. In fact, they even do the impossible as far as fries go: They taste good as leftovers reheated the next day … not that I usually have leftovers. MARGARET LITTMAN

Breakfast Plate

BROWN’S DINER

thebrownsdiner.com

Why stray from what works? If you want a classic American breakfast — I’m talking eggs any style, hash browns, a side of meat and some carbs — it’s hard to beat longtime Hillsboro Village staple Brown’s Diner. They’ve recently released a whole new menu, but they’re still doing the classics right. The best part here are the carb options. Sure, you can get toast or a biscuit, but you can also choose a pancake — for those times

Tuna Roll

SONOBANA JAPANESE RESTAURANT sonobananashville.com

Truthfully, any menu item at West Nashville institution Sonobana Japanese Restaurant could find itself on our list of classics. We picked the tuna roll because what sushi fan doesn’t appreciate a rock-solid version of sushi’s foundational roll? Open for decades and remodeled just this year, Sonobana offers what is, for my money, the best fresh, straightforward sushi in the city — from nigiri to sashimi to maki. Longtime sushi fan? You’ll love it. Easing in a sushi newcomer? Nowhere better to start. It stays pretty busy, but while you wait for a table, pop by the absolutely delightful Sonobana Japanese Market next door. D. PATRICK RODGERS

Hot Dog

DADDY’S DOGS daddysdogs.com

Sean “Big Daddy” Porter always lives up to his nickname. He’s got a big personality, a big heart and big dreams of world wiener domination. The all-beef franks at his brick-and-mortar Daddy’s Dogs restaurants — and satellite stadium and walk-up window locations and fleet of hot dog trailers — are also pretty massive. So when he named a dog after himself, you know it had to be epic. The Big Daddy is an oversized all-beef frank topped with a slather of cream cheese, plus bacon, pickles, grilled onions and jalapeños. A generous helping of “Daddy’s Secret Sauwce” completes the masterpiece. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Steak

STAR ROVER SOUND starroversound.com

Walking into Star Rover Sound feels like you’re stepping into another universe — or at least another era. With its checkered tablecloths, baskets full of dinner rolls and house-made steak sauce at every table, restaurateur Ford Fry’s Germantown listening room, bar and restaurant is the very definition of a classic steakhouse. Choose your cut (filet, ribeye, skirt steak, chopped steak or T-bone) and preparation (but know that anything past medium-rare is a cardinal steakhouse sin) and enjoy. The steaks aren’t cheap, but they also come with fries, onion rings and a big ol’ salad. Also in classic steakhouse fashion, plan on bringing a doggy bag home. D. PATRICK RODGERS

when you want a little something sweet. Which is all the time, in my case. Spoiled by choice! Hallelujah! ELIZABETH JONES

Salmon Croquettes

SILVER SANDS facebook.com/silversandscafe

There’s a certain nostalgia to a properly made salmon patty. It can evoke the sense memory of the aroma of a school cafeteria on Friday, where fish was on the menu during Lent. Sure, pizza day was always a big deal, but those lunch ladies made better salmon croquettes than they did pizzas. Nowadays, nobody makes a finer fish patty than the kitchen at Silver Sands. The third generation of soul food cooks is now manning the fryer, and they’ll drop the perfect ratio of fish to breading into the oil right when you order it so it comes out hot, crispy and delicious.

CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Fish and Chips

ROSIE’S TWIN KEGS rosiestwinkegs.com

As a New Englander who was raised Catholic, I have some high standards when it comes to fish and chips. And even though I’m no longer practicing, when I moved to town and Lent began, I was determined to find the kind of fish and chips my grandma would approve of. It’s not an easy task. But Rosie’s Twin Kegs brings me back to late Friday mornings accompanying my nagging grandmother to an unassuming seafood joint near our home. Rosie’s serves per-

fectly crispy but not dried-out cod (a perfectly acceptable fish, as is haddock) alongside a batch of delicious fries. I don’t avoid meat on Fridays in Lent — as Catholic tradition calls for — but it wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice anyway with this dish around. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

Enchiladas

LAS PALMAS

laspalmasnashville.com

In our house, comfort food often comes from the nearest of the many locations in Las Palmas’ citywide empire of Mexican cuisine. Their enchiladas supremas are delectable, hearty and reliable, even as a takeout or delivery item — so much so that I don’t think I’ve ordered anything else in the past two years. It’s an art to balance the cheesiness, meatiness and … uh, bean-iness of the four enchiladas that make up the dish, and Las Palmas is out here cranking them out like clockwork. STEPHEN TRAGESER

Mission-Style Burritos

BAJA BURRITO

bajaburrito.com

For 25 years, Baja Burrito has brought an absolutely essential West Coast staple to Music City:

Shepherd’s Pie

FLEET STREET PUB fleetstreetpub.com

We get it. You miss the shepherd’s pie at Family Wash. We also remember Pie & Pint Tuesday Nights fondly, and while you can still get Family Wash’s take on the pie at Eastside Bowl, there’s another worthy option to fill that pie-shaped hole in your heart (and stomach). The answer lies a few steps below Printers Alley in the subterranean oasis of Fleet Street Pub.

The rich St. James Shepherd’s Pie at Fleet Street features savory lamb stew ladled into a bowl and capped with mashed potatoes and gooey cheese. The kitchen also thoughtfully offers a vegetarian version made using lentils in place of lamb. Fleet Street also runs pie-and-pint specials on Tuesdays, so consider that void filled.

CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

top-of-the-line Mission-style burritos. Operating out of the former Calypso Cafe building in Berry Hill, Baja offers great tacos and the sneaky-popular Peasant Plate. But the Mission-style burritos — rice-loaded whoppers the size of a body builder’s forearm, popularized in San Francisco’s Mission District in the 1960s — are absolutely unbeatable. What makes them so good? Is it their size? The fact that you can customize them to your own precise specifications? Those perfectly warmed, perfectly chewy tortillas? What-

ever it is, Baja Burrito’s signature menu item blows similar fare at chain spots like Qdoba and Chipotle out of the water. D. PATRICK RODGERS

Pad Thai

THAI PHOOKET 2 thaiphooket.wixsite.com/thaiphooket

The best way to test the quality of a new or unfamiliar Thai restaurant is by ordering the pad Thai. There are great variations of pad Thai in restaurants throughout Nashville — from Smiling Elephant to the street-food version at Degthai — but none are as classic as the one served at Thai Phooket 2 in Rivergate. The national dish of Thailand, pad Thai finds perfect harmony with lightly cooked, seemingly disparate ingredients. Rice noodles, scrambled eggs and peanuts wouldn’t be side-by-side on most buffets, but woven together with delicious lime juice and tamarind sauce, then topped with fresh bean sprouts, this dish always hits the spot. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

Tikka Masala

GREEN CHILI INDIAN RESTAURANT greenchilitn.site

Tikka masala is one of those dishes that everyone makes a little differently, but for my money Green Chili’s is the standard by which all others should be judged. It’s creamy and tangy, buttery and spicy. I sometimes order the lamb tikka masala, but for the purposes of our list of Classics™, I’d suggest the chicken tikka masala over fluffy jasmine rice, with just a smattering of golden raisins to balance out all that savory stuff. Here’s a tip from a regular: Drop by M&K Wholesale next door for dessert — the Indian market is owned by the same family behind Green Chili, and it’s my favorite spot in the neighborhood for both incense and ice cream bars.

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

Spaghetti and Meatballs

NICKY’S COAL FIRED nickysnashville.com

“Sometimes, you like to occasionally get exactly what you expect,” Tony Galzin told the Scene before Nicky’s Coal Fired opened in 2016. No dish speaks to that ethos more than Nicky’s spaghetti and meatballs. Mama G’s meatballs — made with a recipe passed down from Chicago-native Galzin’s grandmother, Nanna Gattone — are a sure thing. Tender and seasoned and set off perfectly by a simple sugo (tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, basil), these are as pure and comforting as a hug from Grandma. Add Nicky’s toothsome spaghetti, always perfectly al dente, and you’ve got home cooking that’s better than anything you cook at home. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Lasagna

CAFFÉ NONNA caffenonna.com

Longtime Sylvan Park staple Caffé Nonna got a few updates this year when new owner Will Spiva took the helm. One thing he didn’t change is the restaurant’s intensive approach to lasagna, a recipe tracing back to founding chef Daniel Maggipinto’s very own grandmother. The trick is a delicate marinara that cooks for hours, fortified with dashes of red wine and rosemary. The dish has become a specialty for its current preparer, Chef Gino, who’s made lasagna for Nonna for 16 years. Between the classic beef Bolognese version and the vegetarian butternut squash, the restaurant estimates that lasagna accounts for about a quarter of total sales. A warm slice hits best in fall and winter. ELI MOTYCKA

Whole Chicken

TACOS Y MARISCOS EL AMIGO facebook.com/TacosElAmigo6

There’s a reason the test of a chef’s ability is often a French omelet or a whole chicken. When you keep things simple, you have to nail it, and that’s just what they do at El Amigo on Nolensville Pike. When you see the smoke billowing from the small kitchen and smell the roasting meat, you know that succulent, salty bird is calling. They gild the lily with buttery refried beans, pickled onions, homemade hot sauce, corn tortillas and other fixings so you can build the perfect smoked-chicken taco. But my favorite way to enjoy this classic dish is straight-up: golden-skinned, savory, finger-licking goodness. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Pulled-Pork Sandwich

MARTIN’S BAR-B-QUE JOINT martinsbbqjoint.com

Nashville is blessed with many great barbecue restaurants, many of which serve exemplary

Fried Chicken

ARNOLD’S COUNTRY KITCHEN arnoldscountrykitchen.com

When chef Sean Brock famously embarked on his quest for the perfect fried chicken to serve at Husk, he referenced a dive bar in Oregon as an important inspiration — but we know that Arnold’s Country Kitchen was also probably near the front of his mind. Kahlil Arnold takes great pride in his fried chicken, made from a family recipe for more than 50 years. In fact, he’s considering a new restaurant concept that would revolve around the perfect poultry: spicy but not “hot chicken” hot, with a shatteringly crisp crust and luscious, moist meat. You won’t find anything better in town. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

pulled-pork sandwiches. However, Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint stands above the rest for one simple reason: They put in the time and effort to offer a whole-hog option. Pork shoulders are absolutely fine, especially because large-volume restaurants can load them into rotisserie smokers, set it and forget it until it’s time to pull the meat for sammiches. Whole-hog cookery is a different animal entirely, more art than culinary science. Managing the meat without setting the smokehouse on fire yields a combination of luscious fatty belly meat and dense ham — and maybe even some cheek meat if you’re lucky.

Bologna Sandwich

ROBERT’S WESTERN WORLD robertswesternworld.com

While the concept of a “Recession Special” may not feel quite as funny as it once did, it’s nice to know that as long as you can scrape together $6 in change from the couch cushions or the glove compartment of your car, you won’t go hungry for at least a day in Nashville. Robert’s Western World is the city’s most beloved locals-approved honky-tonk, and its Honky Tonk Grill is the home of the aforementioned meal deal, a perfectly griddled pile of thinly sliced bologna piled on toast with lettuce and tomato and served with chips, a Moon Pie and a cold PBR. Let’s hope the aluminum tariff on the beer can doesn’t mess this up! CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Club Sandwich

THE ORIGINAL CORNER PUB originalcornerpub.com

You can judge three types of locale by their club sandwich: a bar, a hotel (via room service) and anywhere golf is played. The ingredients, on their own, aren’t anything special: turkey, ham, American cheese, Provolone, lettuce, tomato and mayo, the latter of which must be included for its critical addition of creamy sweetness. At The Original Corner Pub in Green Hills, they construct this all on three slices of grilled white bread, which is another non-negotiable — layers of crispness are key when you’re balancing (figuratively and literally) multiple meats and cheeses. Throw it in a basket with a red-andwhite liner, a pickle and potato chips? No better classic lunch. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Hot Fish Sandwich

CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Chicken Parmesan

NICOLETTO’S ITALIAN KITCHEN nicolettos.com

A good chicken Parm is one of life’s great indulgences. You’d be hard-pressed to find a dish on this list that so seamlessly combines two existing Classics™ — fried chicken and spaghetti. Add to that the culinary pièce de résistance — melted mozzarella cheese — and you’ve got yourself a champion classic dish. Nicoletto’s East Nashville location on Gallatin Pike, next door to Mickey’s Tavern, has been a favorite since its doors opened in 2016, and thanks to an additional spot on Lebanon Pike in Donelson, you can snag a Parm no matter where you happen to be. And since it’s Nicoletto’s, it’s ever-so-slightly elevated — the pasta (swap whatever noodle you like in place of spaghetti) and marinara are always freshly made, and the buttermilk-fried chicken breast is perfectly tender.

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

in the cultural zeitgeist, but the local tradition of hot fish sandwiches deserves a little time in the spotlight as well. Born as a staple of post-church potluck lunches, it is traditionally made using huge planks of fried whiting or cod balanced precariously on slices of spongy white bread, spiced up with tangy mustard, cayenne-based hot sauce and finished with sharp raw onions and melted cheese. For more than 50 years, Ed’s Fish & Pizza House has made the prototypical version of the classic, so much so that they stopped making pizzas years ago

Muffuletta

FATBELLY PRETZEL fatbellypretzel.com

It’s almost unfair to put other muffulettas up against FatBelly Pretzel's. The brand was launched on the strength of its soft pretzels, so stacking any meats and cheeses atop their chewy, fluffy, sesame-seeded pretzel bun is going to yield something tasty. But then you layer smoked bologna, spicy capicola, Genoa salami and Swiss and provolone cheeses. You smear the bun with piquant giardiniera and crunchy veggie-and-olive salad. And then you toast it. Not only does that step set FatBelly’s Hot Muff apart, but it also crisps the bread and turns the cheese into melty, pullapart goodness, giving it a pizza punch you never knew you needed. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

and dropped the word from the restaurant’s name. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Cheeseburger

FAT MO’S fatmos.org

Sure, it’s one of the most basic and all-American of meals, but a good cheeseburger is surprisingly hard to get just right. Some have fresh ingredients but too much mustard. Some go all out with a fancy bun that distracts from the

rest of the flavors. Fat Mo’s on Gallatin in East Nashville is the only place I’ve ever gotten consistently perfect (yes, perfect) cheeseburgers, every single time. The downsides — it’s drive-thru only, and they serve it in a styrofoam container — are small prices to pay for an affordable hitsthe-spot burger from one of Nashville’s most beloved classic spots. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

Baklava

JIHAN INTERNATIONAL MARKET jihan.market

When you pull up to Jihan off Nolensville Pike, you’re faced with a large roadside sign reading “BAKLAVA” — that’s how you know you’re in the right place. The food counter is usually swarmed with people buying shawarma, cakes and, yes, baklava. They’ve got classic pistachio, they’ve got walnut, and they’ve got “extra pistachio” flavors in a variety of shapes and sizes. The baklava itself has more layers than one could count, with a sweet and sticky, nutty honey filling and flaky golden top layers. It’s sweet, crispy on top, and the perfect amount of gooey. ELIZABETH JONES

Glazed Doughnut

FOX’S DONUT DEN foxs-donut-den.res-menu.com

It’s true — I sang the praises of the apple fritters at Fox’s Donut Den in last year’s Food & Drink Issue. But I just can’t miss an opportunity to shout out the longtime Green Hills staple, where everything is nearly as cheap and just as delicious as it has been for the past half-century. You can grab one of those aforementioned fritters, or a cruller, or one of Fox’s Bavarian-cream-filled Long Johns — or go nuts and get an assorted

Loaded Nachos

NECTAR URBAN CANTINA nectarcantina.com

While everyone knows Donelson’s Nectar Urban Cantina boasts one of the best patios in the city, they’re also scoring high in their nacho game. The Nectar Nachos have thin, light chips (can nachos be light? I say yes), piled high with black beans, pico, scallions, chipotle sauce, guacamole and drizzles of queso. I highly recommend adding some chipotle chicken for a huge meal or a great starter for the table. Grab a beer, play a yard game, and keep coming back for nacho breaks. The perfect spring night. ELIZABETH JONES

dozen. But you’ll never go wrong with a classic glazed, as delicious and soft here as anywhere you’ll find D. PATRICK RODGERS

Chocolate Chip Cookies

BRIGHTSIDE BAKESHOP

brightsidebakeshop.com

Small-batch artisan bakeries aren’t hard to find, but what does that actually mean? At Brightside

Chess Pie

OSBORNE’S BI-RITE

osbornefoods.com

Dessert doesn’t get simpler than chess pie, the gooey mix of eggs, butter and sugar claimed by the American South that is, after all, “just pie.” Osborne’s Bi-Rite still keeps a classic Nashville hot bar in its back corner complete with daily baked treats, including lemon and chocolate variations on this regional favorite. It’s sold for a crowd, Bi-Rite’s gift to the harried guest on the way to that last-minute function, and by the slice, a personal triangle able to be disposed of like pizza in the driver’s seat of one’s car. A quick Bi-Rite stop will soon work its way into your weekly routine, easy as pie ELI MOTYCKA

Frito Pie

DINO’S

dinosnashville.com

Nothing is more classic than a dish that can be explained in three words: Fritos. Chili. Velveeta. Obviously, dive bars are the right place for things to be covered in chili, cheese or both. But the thing that makes Dino’s Frito pie the paragon is that it’s in a pie tin, not a Frito bag. I know, I know: The bag is cute! It also kinda sucks. By the third bite, you’ve got chili on your knuckles, cheese is dripping out the ripped side, and you can’t get the perfect bite you want. By making the “pie” part of the Frito pie equation, Dino’s has actually improved upon the classic. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

Bananas Foster

SPERRY’S sperrys.com

The dessert menu at Sperry’s simply states “flamed table side” for its bananas Foster description, as if presuming just two possible questions: Where will my bananas be torched, and by what method of caramelization? Flambé, of course. And right in front of you. Such brevity underscores what a true classic Sperry’s has in the bananas Foster, a decadent sugar-rum molten magma spooned onto and around heaping vanilla ice cream scoops. Textures combine into something greater than the sum of their parts. Temperatures collide like a science experiment seeking equilibrium. Like any true classic, the dish has a survival streak — this one built on sugar, alcohol and ostentatious flair — that can captivate a dining room as tables look over and say, “We’re getting that.” ELI MOTYCKA

Bakeshop, it means using local produce and natural ingredients like unbromated flour, which can be more difficult to work with but is completely chemical-free. It also means using real European butter. This is crucial, because EU butter must be 82 to 90 percent butterfat, while the silly old U.S. requires only 80 percent. The higher fat content creates a richer flavor, especially in baking. Put that in cookie form, add three different kinds of chocolate and top it with flaky sea salt? You’ll remember why cookies and milk never go out of style. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Milkshake

BOBBIE’S DAIRY DIP facebook.com/bobbiesdairydipcharlotteave

I’m more-is-better about a lot of things — but not when it comes to those over-the-top milkshakes, with toppings and whipped cream that make them barely contained by the glass in

which they are served. There’s only one right answer to the classic milkshake that heralds the beginning of summer. That’s Bobbie’s Dairy Dip’s hot fudge milkshake, served in an oldschool patterned paper cup with a plastic lid. Ideally, you’ve stood in a moderate but fast-moving line to get to the window to order it. Sip it while strolling Sylvan Park or while sitting on the picnic tables planning your day. If you’re not a milkshake person, a soft-serve cone with a crunchy candy shell works too MARGARET LITTMAN

Banana Split

ELLISTON PLACE SODA

ellistonplacesodashop.com

This picture-perfect banana split starts with — you guessed it — a split banana. Then sandwich large scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream between the halves. It’s then topped with fresh strawberry and pineapple, piled with ample whipped cream, and covered in chocolate syrup. Topping it off are three cherries. When you bite into it, yes, of course it’s sweet. But it also has a little crunch from the fruit and a little fluffiness from the whipped cream. This one is big enough to share … not that you’re going to want to. ELIZABETH JONES ▼

Bushwacker

BREWHOUSE brewhousenashville.com

Nashvillians explain bushwackers many ways. Spiked shake. Adult Frosty. Or my new favorite shorthand: “The milkshake version of a Long Island Iced Tea,” which the Scene’s Abby White wrote back in 2013. But the fact that we’ve been talking about these booze-heavy frozen drinks for so long shows what a bona fide Nashville classic they are — and no one does a more classic take than Brewhouse. Obviously, the recipe is top-secret, but likely includes rum, milk, ice, crème de cacao, vodka, Kahlua, cream of coconut, Baileys Irish Cream, etc. (That “etc.” is doing a lot of heavy lifting, because this list could go on.) You kind of need that much booze to cut through all the dairy and sweetness — you just don’t need more than one Bushwacker if you want to walk out of Brewhouse straight. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Fork It Over

Meet this year’s esteemed Iron Fork competitors

BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

1 Kitchen’s

Chris Crary

Chris Crary is an experienced competition chef, named “Fan Favorite” on Season 9 of Bravo’s Top Chef: Texas — but his passion for cooking reaches far beyond winning prizes. Raised in small-town Ohio, Crary learned to cook at his mother’s and grandmother’s apron strings, mastering classic American recipes and developing a respect for regional and seasonal ingredients. He continued his education at Johnson & Wales University and took kitchen jobs all over the country, from Florida to California. Along the way, Crary began to refine his personal cooking style into an interesting melange of California cuisine and international elements from Italy, Iberia and Asia. His personal journey also included losing more than 70 pounds by paying close attention to what he ate and getting away from some of the Northern Italian food he had been cooking. As the culinary director at 1 Hotel, Crary is returning to his roots, particularly the Southern comfort food he learned about from his Tennessee-born grandmother. His latest menus reflect the property’s laser focus on sustainable practices as he sources ingredients from local producers to create healthy dishes that celebrate the region while creating minimal impact on the environment.

The Nashville Scene presents Iron Fork

5:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 26, as part of the Music City Food & Wine Festival’s Grand Tasting Event in Centennial Park (2500 West End Ave.)

Etch’s

Jess Lambert

As legendary local chef (and past Iron Fork champion) Deb Paquette gradually transitions from the kitchen to spending more time with guests in the dining rooms at Etch and etc., Jess Lambert has taken more responsibility over the menus and operations. Since starting out as a cook at Etch in 2014, Lambert has earned the trust and respect of her mentor along the way, rising to sous chef, chef de cuisine and now executive chef.

Paquette and Lambert still collaborate on seasonal menu creation, but Lambert now leads the process with Chef Deb’s input. Lambert shares the same passion for global ingredients and flavors that has set Etch above other Nashville restaurants for more than a decade, and the future is bright for the chef and the 4Top Hospitality concepts in SoBro, Green Hills and Franklin.

Lambert’s experience working alongside Paquette at last year’s Iron Fork could also prove beneficial in this year’s battle as she steps to the fore.

Tutti da Gio’s

Giovanna Orsino

As the namesake of Tutti da Gio, her Sicilian restaurant hidden in a tiny Hermitage strip mall off Old Hickory Boulevard, Giovanna Orsino used to be one of the city’s best-kept culinary secrets. Her status as an “if you know, you know” favorite among local foodies changed when she opened a new location in the former Half Batch Brewing space in Hendersonville, where she’s easier to find.

The ebullient chef has a fascinating background: born in New Jersey before moving to Texas, then Sicily, then Salt Lake City and finally to Nashville. Along the way, Orsino cooked for Catholic priests, converted to Mormonism, became the lead chef for a Sicilian restaurant group and married a man from Nashville whom she met in Utah.

Together they opened the first Tutti da Gio in a nondescript space with almost no seating, yet she still earned legions of fans who sought out her homemade pastas, pizzas and panini. Her brand of hospitality makes guests feel like they are dining with their nonna, and her personality is as sweet as the ricotta in her cannoli.

Alebrije’s

Edgar Victoria

Chef Edgar Victoria was born in Mexico City and has lived in Music City for more than 25 years. After working in kitchens across the city cooking other people’s food, he finally decided to build a business around the familiar (and familial) food that he enjoyed in his home kitchen after a long shift in a restaurant.

Alebrije started up during the pandemic as a series of pop-ups, serving from borrowed kitchens at spots like Bastion, Bar Sovereign, Never Never and Geodis Park or from food trucks and trailers at farmers markets in East Nashville and Richland Park. Using heirloom corn that he imported from Mexico and nixtamalized himself to create masa, Victoria introduced many Nashvillians to dishes that extended beyond tacos. His huaraches and tlayudas feature ingredients similar to typical taco truck offerings, but they more authentically reflect the street food of the chef’s native metropolis.

Now that Alebrije finally has a permanent space in East Nashville, Victoria can get more refined and experimental with his cuisine, which he describes as “if Momofuku was Mexican.” He has always made everything from scratch — his tortillas, moles, salsas, ceviches, pozoles and tamales. But now that he has his own kitchen to play in, expect even more magic from Victoria. ▼

SYMPHONY

THURSDAY / 4.17

SATURDAY, APRIL 19

FESTIVAL [ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND] NASHVILLE EARTH DAY

There’s a lot we need to be doing every day if we don’t want to destroy the incredible and fascinating balances on Earth — the planet we’re lucky enough to live on, and as far as we can tell, the only one with life on it. We have an even bigger reason here in Nashville, a place whose natural riches have been drawing people from elsewhere for more than a thousand years. Accordingly, the schedule for Nashville Earth Day — a free event, open to the public — is packed, including a suite of themed activities for the youngsters courtesy of Kidsville, a vendor market, a tree giveaway and more than a dozen speakers on topics from composting to preparing for severe weather to coping with anxiety about this overwhelming knot of issues. And as is only right and proper in Music City, USA, there is a certified humdinger of a local music lineup. Alt-R&B singer-songwriter and producer Jarren Blair kicks it off at 12:30 p.m.; then come rockers Cane + Cancino, followed by U.K.-born folk songsmith Josh Okeefe. Next is Kyshona, who released her landmark Legacy last year, while Erin Rae (whose 2022 record Lighten Up remains a highlight) closes it out. STEPHEN TRAGESER

11 A.M. TO 5 P.M. AT CENTENNIAL PARK

2500 WEST END AVE.

HISTORY

[YOM HASHOAH] TOVA FRIEDMAN

[IF THE SHOE DOESN’T FIT]

FILM

THE UGLY STEPSISTER

A new take on the classic fairy tale with an updated perspective, The Ugly Stepsister follows Elvira (Lea Myren) as she tries to prepare herself for the prince’s ball, where he will select his wife. Elvira plans to be ready for that moment at any cost. Similar to The Substance, Stepsister is part of a new wave of feminist body horror that highlights the torture women endure for the sake of unrealistic beauty standards. Director Emilie Blichfeldt has stated that the inspiration for the film came from her reading the original Brothers Grimm version of Cinderella and identifying with the stepsisters instead of Cinderella. The final result makes for something that will challenge the stomachs of audiences with its graphic imagery and the extreme measures used by Elvira in search of a storybook ending. The Ugly Stepsister will be available at select Regal and AMC locations and will screen in Norwegian with English subtitles. KEN ARNOLD OPENING APRIL 17 AT SELECT REGAL AND AMC LOCATIONS JACK WHITE PAGE 60

As a young child, Tova Friedman survived the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, including separation from her father, starvation, being sent to a gas chamber that then malfunctioned and hiding under corpses to escape. As an adult, Friedman has used her voice to tell those stories so they won’t be forgotten. On Thursday, Friedman will do so at Congregation Ohabai Sholom as part of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission’s Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) commemoration events. Friedman was a featured speaker at last year’s ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and has spoken in front of King Charles III, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelensky, so Nashville is lucky to have her come to us. The event with Friedman is free, but tickets should be reserved in advance online. After her talk, she will sign copies of her memoir, The Daughter of Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope MARGARET LITTMAN

7 P.M. AT CONGREGATION OHABAI SHOLOM

5015 HARDING PIKE

FRIDAY / 4.18

MUSIC

[I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR] CLEM SNIDE

& ABE PARTRIDGE

You never know exactly what you’re going to get at a Clem Snide show. And that’s a good thing. The alt-country trio featuring Eef Barzelay, Brendan Fitzpatrick and Ben Martin is coheadlining with folk artist Abe Partridge Friday at Riverside Revival — an East Nashville venue that doesn’t always get the props it deserves, with its high ceilings, stunning windows and intimate feel. Named for a William S. Burroughs character, Clem Snide plays songs that will make you laugh and songs that will make you cry, and probably a song or two that will make you scratch your head. (One reviewer noted last year that the band covered the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive,” for example.) The date is the last on the tour schedule with Partridge, so they’re likely to have some final-night surprises. Plus, the show takes place at an hour that gets you home early (or allows you to move on to a late-night spot, if that’s your jam).

MARGARET LITTMAN

6-10 P.M. AT RIVERSIDE REVIVAL

1600 RIVERSIDE DRIVE

MUSIC

[WHAT’S THE RUMPUS?] JACK

WHITE

Following the surprise release of his sixth solo album No Name in July, local physicalmedia advocate Jack White has been touring the world with his hard-changing lineup of seasoned vets: bassist Dominic Davis, Raconteurs alum Patrick Keeler on drums, and keyboardist Bobby Emmett. White and company will be returning to Nashville for a two-night stint at The Pinnacle this week. It will be the crew’s third stop in town during this whirlwind tour, following a fundraising gig at American Legion Post 82 in July — where guests unexpectedly had a chance to buy the new album on vinyl — and a pop-up show at The Basement East in August. If those shows are any indication of what to expect, make sure to bring your earplugs. No Name was a Grammynominated return to White’s garage-blues roots, and he and the band have been bringing the requisite noise you’d expect. LOGAN BUTTS

APRIL 18-19 AT THE PINNACLE

901 CHURCH ST.

FILM

[YOU HAVE BEWITCHED ME] PRIDE & PREJUDICE 20TH ANNIVERSARY RE-RELEASE

It’s been 20 years (!) since Matthew Macfadyen and Keira Knightley first graced the screen in Joe

Wright’s Pride & Prejudice adaptation. The 2005 take on the Jane Austen-penned classic is set to return to theaters for a short run to celebrate the anniversary of its release. The film follows the story of Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, which begins with them absolutely despising each other and slowly evolves. Apart from focusing on their love story — and those of the other Bennet sisters — the themes of social class, manners, love and, of course, pride are all confronted. Starting April 18, pop into one of our local Regal or AMC locations to enjoy the film. Fans of the movie should also keep an eye out for the limited-edition vinyl release of the soundtrack, due to arrive later this spring. And as a reminder: It’s definitely OK to gasp during the hand flex scene. Bonus points for swooning during the rain scene — for the first time or the millionth time. TINA DOMINGUEZ

APRIL 18-24 AT SELECT REGAL AND AMC LOCATIONS

FILM

[DOC

WATCH]

THE ENCAMPMENTS

The Belcourt was able to procure a oneweek engagement of one of the year’s buzziest documentaries, The Encampments. The film, directed by Michael T. Workman, details the 2024 pro-Palestinian campus protests, with a focus on the occupation protests that took place at Columbia University almost exactly one year ago. The documentary’s release was urgently pushed ahead to an earlier date because one of the film’s interview subjects, Columbia protest leader Mahmoud Khalil, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in March. The film also features interviews with other student activist leaders, professors, journalists, rabbis and more in what is an indepth and intimate look at the pro-Palestinian campus protest movement. LOGAN BUTTS APRIL 18-24 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

MUSIC

[DRACULA FROM DARKNESS] YOUTH LAGOON

In 2011, Youth Lagoon played at The Basement — the OG Basement, as there was only one back then. Trevor Powers, the Idahoan behind the project, was 22 and taking his debut

album The Year of Hibernation for a spin around the States. I was 16 and had taken extralegal measures to also be there. So I can tell you that Powers showcased then what has become a kind of blueprint for Youth Lagoon’s distinctive sound. Daniel Johnston is only an imperfect comparison, but helpful in capturing the high and hauntingly broken quality in Powers’ vocals. Synths and piano induce nostalgia for memories you never knew you had. The lyrics are obscure but arresting. Think: David Lynch, but make it noir indie rock. The good news is you don’t have to take my word for it. Fourteen years on, Powers is back on tour with two new albums: 2023’s Heaven Is a Junkyard and 2025’s Rarely Do I Dream. The blueprint has been refined to near perfection. The reminiscences are more vivid, more familiar. The otherworldliness, more filmic and even stranger. The voice, though still haunting, now suggests an arrival of sorts. And now, I have a Real ID. I guess that’s actualization. Time can do that. MALCOLM MOUTENOT

8 P.M. AT EXIT/IN

2208 ELLISTON PLACE

[TATTOO, BOO!]

FESTIVAL

FULL MOON TATTOO AND HORROR FESTIVAL

Once again, it’s that time when blood and body art merge in Nashville. The three-day 22nd annual Full Moon Tattoo and Horror Festival is going down this weekend at the Nashville Sonesta Airport Hotel, which means some of the special guests will also be at Full Moon Cineplex for screenings of their most memorable macabre work. Things start with a Wes Craven double feature: First, it’s his 1989 slasher Shocker, followed by a Q&A with the film’s resident baddie Mitch Pileggi (The X-Files). After that, it’s the 1996 comeback hit Scream, complete with a post-screening Q&A featuring Lee Waddell (aka the original Ghostface). As for recent horror pics, David Howard Thornton — Art the Clown himself — will be there for Terrifier 2, while lead killeron-the-loose Ry Barrett will be around for In a Violent Nature. A trio of retro-sequel/Q&A combos will close things out: Evil Dead 2 (Kassie DePaiva), Halloween II (Dick Warlock) and Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (Melanie Kinnaman, Tom Morga).

CLEM SNIDE

YOUTH LAGOON

PHOTO: PATRICK

PHOTO: TYLER T. WILLIAMS

APRIL 22

BENEFITING OASIS CENTER

BRELAND & FRIENDS

FEATURING VINCE GILL, JORDAN DAVIS, GRACE BOWERS, JOJO, MADELINE EDWARDS, TIGERLILY GOLD AND MORE

APRIL 25

STAVROS HALKIAS

MAY 6

LEA MICHELE

SEPTEMBER 16

MYLES SMITH ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

OCTOBER 8

THE TEMPTATIONS & THE FOUR TOPS

OCTOBER 31

STEVE HACKETT

MARCH 30, 2026 LIVE AT THE OPRY HOUSE CECE WINANS ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

SATURDAY / 4.19

MUSIC

[GIRL AT THE ROCK SHOW] PUNK & DRAG

At a time filled with controversial hot takes, allow me to add another one to the steaming pile of personal opinions — punk rock music and dressing in drag are the peanut butter and jelly of anti-establishment expression. Prominent punkers such as Iggy Pop, New York Dolls, Nirvana and NOFX have all famously donned pumps and/or push-ups onstage. This weekend, the freaky folks at Nashville Punk Rock Flea Market are set to present a night of wild drag-show antics soundtracked by live punk rock bands. Impresario Icky Stardust will host an absolutely banging lineup of drag performers featuring Salem LeStrange, Carnelian Clinique, Jupiter and Fiona Snapple making the trip out from Cocksville … whoops, I mean Knoxville, silly me. Bring on the bands — local rockers Boomstick will be joined by Scrooge Mandella from Louisville, Ky., skate punks Critter Brain, and Blitzkrieg Cop, who’ll be making their debut performance. All attendees ages 18 and up are welcome. JASON VERSTEGEN

7 P.M. AT THE COBRA

2511 GALLATIN AVE.

MUSIC [THE POWER OF POP]

BILL LLOYD & THE POP TARTS

Back in April 2012, the dean of Nashville power pop, Bill Lloyd, got together with guitarist-vocalist Jonathan Bright, bassist Preach Rutherford and drummer Brad Pemberton for an evening of Big Star songs billed as Big Star A-Z. The night was such a success that they soon did it again, billing themselves The September Gurls, after the Big Star song of the same name. Over the next decade-plus, the group became known as Bill Lloyd & The Pop Tarts and expanded their repertoire beyond the Big Star catalog, including material from Lloyd’s solo recordings. “It’s an outlet for me with my songs, but also for some left-of-the-dial college radio rock, like the Hoodoo Gurus, The dB’s, The Plimsouls and The Clash,” Lloyd explains to the Scene. “It’s just a lot of fun.” The group, which is often joined by special guests, is back in action Saturday night at Eastside Bowl’s Low Volume Lounge, and attendees can expect to also hear them perform material by artists such as The Kinks, Nick Lowe and Cheap Trick. Jamie Rubin & The 2020Hz open the show at 6:30 p.m. No cover charge, but tips are accepted. DARYL SANDERS

8 P.M. AT THE LOW VOLUME LOUNGE AT EASTSIDE BOWL 1508A GALLATIN PIKE S.

MUSIC

[DECADE OF DECADENCE] DUKE’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY

If you judge a pub based on the quality of its sandwiches, which I regularly do, then you

have to consider Duke’s a success. The Main Street tavern has made it a full decade, serving cheap beer and great subs to weirdos and freaks. To celebrate its aluminum anniversary, the bar will be hosting an all-day event with live music, DJs, tattoos and (I assume) more sandwiches. Reunited Nashville punk unit Heavy Cream, the mighty Be Your Own Pet and intergalactic countrypolitan William Tyler will all be onstage, as will Ch Jameson IV, New Yorkers The Piggies and former Strange Boys frontman Ryan Sambol. Handling DJ booth duties will be Sparkle City Disco, Amy Darling and Ryan Sweeney. There will be a special tattoo flash from the neighbors at Kustom Thrills. You can grab some pop-up Korean food from Duke’s sister bar Babo, and Guerilla Bizkits will be there to put some biscuit power in your big mouth. But you really should try the sandwiches. P.J. KINZER

NOON AT DUKE’S

1000 MAIN St.

MUSIC

[DAFT PUNK IS PLAYING AT MY FRENCH HOUSE] DAFT DISKO

It’s safe to assume that most people have heard of Daft Punk. Whether it’s through their familiar mega-hits (like 2013’s “Get Lucky”) or iconic samples (like the “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” loop on Kanye West’s “Stronger”), the duo’s French-house bops have most likely found your ears one way or another. If you’re like me, though, you were indoctrinated into the world of the French robots through the catchy “Da Funk” routine on Just Dance 3 Regardless of how you found Daft Punk’s easily danceable grooves, you’ll be able to celebrate them in Nashville on Saturday. Night We Met will host its second round of Daft Disko, the only French house and disco party to make its way to Music City in recent years. From 10 p.m. until the early-morning hours, the club’s signature palomas and on-tap espresso martinis will flow — as will the funky, dance-floor-focused tracks. Throughout the night, Daft Punk hits will bleed into throwbacks by Duck Sauce, which will eventually transition into Parcels classics, and so on, forming a free-flowing chain of disco-house champions. BAILEY BRANTINGHAM

10 P.M. AT NIGHT WE MET

114 12TH AVE. N.

LUNCH BUFFET

11AM - 2:30PM

WEDNESDAY - MONDAY

MONDAY / 4.21

[EXIT STRATEGY]

FILM

MUSIC CITY

MONDAYS:

THE DAY THE MUSIC STOPPED

Documenting the long-mounting battle between independent music venues and big corporate interests like Live Nation, The Day the Music Stopped focuses on longtime Nashville show space Exit/In in particular. The feature-length doc includes interviews with former Exit owner Chris Cobb, former Metro Councilmember Jeff Syracuse, former Nashville Mayor John Cooper and a host of artists — not to mention performances from the likes of Alanna Royale, JEFF the Brotherhood and more, plus some especially moving footage of scatologically named posi-punks Diarrhea Planet’s performance at Cobb and company’s run of farewell shows in 2022. The film, directed by Patrick Sheehan and produced by beloved local journalist and broadcaster Demetria Kalodimos (who also provides much of the documentary’s context), feels a bit like a time capsule, running through the multitude of hardships and complications that befell Nashville over the past half-decade — from COVID, the March 2020 tornado and the Christmas Day 2020 bombing to Music City’s rampant development boom. The documentary debuted at the Nashville Film Festival in September and will screen at the Belcourt as part of the theater’s Music City Mondays series.

D. PATRICK RODGERS

8 P.M. AT THE BELCOURT

2102 BELCOURT AVE.

[IMPROVI-CAL]

COMEDY

ERICA & BLAINE

Third Coast Comedy Club has been serving up plenty of big laughs lately, offering a wide variety of stand-up, improv and sketch comedy shows, along with great classes and workshops. One of its latest offerings is Erica & Blaine, which debuted in January and has quickly become an audience favorite. Each Monday, stage veterans Erica Elam and Blaine Swen create a

fully improvised two-person musical based on audience suggestions. Third Coast’s musical director Alex Dolezal is also on hand to provide fabulous live piano accompaniment. Every show is a little different — unscripted, unpredictable and oh so entertaining. Audiences can also look forward to an opening act that showcases the city’s burgeoning improv scene. April’s opener features the cast of the Third Coast Comedy Show — a terrific group of improvisers from all over the country. There’s not much that gets me out of the house on a Monday night, but I’ll make an exception for Erica & Blaine AMY STUMPFL 7 P.M. MONDAYS AT THIRD COAST COMEDY CLUB 1310 CLINTON ST.

TUESDAY / 4.22

[EVERYBODY, MOVEMENT!]

MUSIC

KYLE GORDON

Take one listen to DJ Crazy Times’ “Planet of the Bass” (feat. Ms. Biljana Electronica) and you’ll think, “I’ve heard this before, right?” It’s a perfect encapsulation of Eiffel 65- or Cascadastyle Eurodance absurdity, with an over-the-top catchy beat and lyrics that almost make sense (“When the rhythm is glad / There is nothing to be sad”). But the track isn’t an unearthed banger from the late ’90s: It’s a 2023 release from Kyle Gordon, a musical comedian and not-just-a-TikTokker (stop me if you’ve heard that one before). His TikToks are amusing, often featuring hammy characterizations that suggest his background in improv comedy. His strongest bits, though, feature hyper-specific writing that makes everything feel strangely authentic. “We Will Never Die,” for example, is a Mumford and Sons-esque stomp-and-holler track that takes millennial optimism way too far and was used in a recent TikTok trend skewering burger joints that “do things a little differently.” Recent release “Selekta” honors British hiphoppers who are so British you can’t understand what they’re saying. It has the secret sauce that made “Planet of the Bass” a viral smash: It’s a genuinely good, catchy song. Expect Gordon to bring the heat when he performs in Nashville, a

ERICA & BLAINE

From platinum-selling chart-toppers to underground , household names to undiscovered gems, Chief’s Neon Steeple is c bringing the very best national and regional talent back to Broadway.

APRIL LINE UP

4.2 Styles, James Slater, Rachel Thibodeau 4.3 Natalie Hemby –Truth About A Song

Dubliners 4.5 Jeff Hyde & Ryan Tyndell – The Songs of Eric Church

Chapel Hart 4.8 Heather Morgan, Tiera Kennedy, Iris Copperman w/ Ross Copperman 4.10 Casey Beathard w/ Tucker Beathard

4.11 The Ocean Blue –Performing The Ocean Blue and Cerulean Albums

4.12 The Warren Brothers

4.13 Pick Pick Pass w/ Kevin Mac, James LeBlanc, Jacob Lydia

4.15 Showtime: Nashville w/ Riley Anderson, Skyelor Anderson, Duke Jones, Will Moseley

4.17 Jammy Buffey w/ Special Guests Brendan Mayer and Coral Reefer Legend, Roger Bartlett

4.18 Ty Herndon – Celebrating 30 Years of “What Mattered Most”

4.19 Waymore’s Outlaws –Runnin’ With Ol’ Waylon

4.26 Melodies for Miracles: A Benefit for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

4.27 Corb Lund & Hayes Carll: Bible on the Dash Tour

4.28 Buddy’s Place Writer’s Round w/ Alyssa Bonagura, Fraser Churchill, Sean Kennedy

4.30 Uncle B’s Drunk with Power String Band Show feat. Bryan Simpson w/ Mae Estes, Lera Lynn

town of songwriters and discerning music fans who might appreciate his comedy more than most. COLE VILLENA

7:30 P.M. AT 3RD AND LINDSLEY

818 THIRD AVE. S.

WEDNESDAY / 4.23

BOOKS [QUIET TIME]

NOVELETTE POP-UP BOOK CLUB AT POINDEXTER

While most folks recognize the Graduate Hotel by the pink decor at White Limozeen or by the animatronic karaoke bar Cross-Eyed Critters, there’s a new offering for locals: a silent book club. Poindexter Coffee, located inside the lobby of the hotel, kicked off a biweekly silent reading night alongside co-host Novelette Booksellers in February. Every other Wednesday, you can pick a cozy spot to curl up with a good book and a beverage. Like many of the other reading nights around town, guests are encouraged to silently read their books. If you’d like to chat with other readers, you can, but this is definitely an introvert-friendly happy hour. Round out the snug reading vibes with a mango matcha or Bees Knees iced latte as part of their spring specials. If you want to grab an alcoholic beverage instead, readers can enjoy 30 percent off wine. Need a new title to read? Novelette will have 10 percent-off coupons available to all attendees. Make sure to follow @novelettebooksellers or @poindexternashville on Instagram for more details. TINA DOMINGUEZ

5 P.M. AT POINDEXTER

2004 WEST END AVE.

MUSIC [REAL LOVE]

MARY J. BLIGE

In an effort to counterattack the tsunami of mind-boggling bullshit, we at the Scene have been trying our damnedest to be grateful. We are grateful for our rad friends, our wonderful coworkers and the coolest readers on the planet. (Yes, we’re talking about you.) But we are also grateful for Gratitude, the 2024 album that will bring the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul to Bridgestone on April 23. We’re grateful for every one of the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s albums (15 and counting!), but Gratitude’s combination of classic boom-bap textures, deep soul traditions and contemporary attitude feels as relevant and important as What’s the 411? did three decades ago. Plus, “Don’t Fuck Up” is a mantra that sounds much better when Mary sings it in our head (when the gratitude practice doesn’t quite cover all the emotional bases). Don’t fuck up and miss this one. Ne-Yo opens. SEAN L. MALONEY

7 P.M. AT BRIDGESTONE ARENA

501 BROADWAY

[GOOD MAN]

MUSIC

FANCY HAGOOD

No one can describe Fancy Hagood quite like the singer himself. In his online bio, the Arkansas-raised, Nashville-based artist selfidentifies as “just your (not so) average queer, tugging heart strings [sic] in the south.” Can confirm: This guy knows how to tug at those little strings of vulnerability that hold our emotions together. From self-aware songs that provide a perfect soundtrack for earnest reflection to moments of unmistakable selfawareness, Hagood is a songwriter who continues to diligently chronicle the all-toohuman condition of finding one’s way through life. Listen for yourself on American Spirit, the latest collection of songs released by Hagood. And you can live in Hagood’s musical world for one night when he plays Exit/In as part of a tour supporting American Spirit: The Last Drag, a deluxe edition of the new album that dropped earlier this month. Country artist Abbey Cone plays main support on the bill; Midwestern singer-songwriter Gina Venier opens the show. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

8 P.M. AT EXIT/IN 2208 ELLISTON PLACE

JOHNNY BYE-BYE

John Paul Kesling paints a farewell to Nashville at Bankers Alley

BY JOE NOLAN

I MET ARTIST John Paul Kesling almost nine years ago. We connected over a Sunday afternoon porter back when he was still pulling drafts at Vinyl Tap. Kesling was new to Nashville, but I’d seen his work online and recognized his name. The artist had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Tangerine in 2017, and the Kentucky-born painter quickly established himself among Nashville’s brush-slingers. During his time in Nashville, Kesling has formed an ongoing relationship with Red Arrow, and he’s one of the artists who helped build the East Nashville gallery’s ascendant reputation. It’s fitting, then, that Red Arrow partnered with the Bankers Alley Hotel for the painter’s latest exhibition, which is Kesling’s last show as a Nashvillian.

One of the most engaging aspects of Kesling’s productive practice is how his attention floats between pure abstraction, surreal narratives and emotive portraiture. All three are included in Dear John: Goodbyes, Portals and Paths Not Taken. The show is soaked with color, and Kesling’s unrestrained embrace of multiple media finds ripped canvas, graphite powder, glitter, plywood and cardboard all smeared, sprinkled and glued into the mix. But for all the show’s chromatic materiality, Dear John’s farewell themes hang a little heavy and gray. It’s not a sad display, but it’s melancholy and contemplative. It’s a perfectly programmed spring season art show that delivers the flowers as well as the rain.

Nashville in the summer of 2023. It occupies the historic Gray & Dudley Building, the former home of a 21c Museum Hotel. 21c boasts a worldclass, international, contemporary art collection that travels among the expansive gallery spaces featured at all the luxury chain’s locations. Bankers Alley preserves the hotel’s gallery spaces and art-forward aesthetic. But Bankers Alley curator Anna McKeown’s exhibition programming — as well as the hotel’s growing art collection — is admirably focused on artists working right here in Middle Tennessee. Bankers Alley is currently featuring a solo show by musician and multimedia artist Rod McGaha in its main gallery, along with smaller displays by Zoe Nichols, and Andrés Bustamante’s community art project, Persona Contemporary.

McKeown’s gallery design highlights two of Dear John’s large narrative canvases. Both feature bold palettes, with renderings of dreamlike stories that combine animals and natural spaces in scenes infused with equal measures of tragedy and salvation. In “Two x Two,” Kesling deploys oils, acrylic, chalk, colored pencil, fabric and more to evoke a verdant tableau featuring a small deer, deep woods and a tree bent in an arch. Indigenous Tennesseans traditionally bent and secured saplings to grow into trail-marker trees — landmarks denoting significant places or through-ways in the woods. Kesling paints the deer accompanied by an identical, transparent version of the animal standing behind it like a ghostly shadow. The painting is full of texture

and-graphite-on-cardboard piece is one of the rawest in the show — it’s displayed in an artist’s frame Kesling fashioned from wooden canvas stretcher bars. “No Safe Place” is an abstracted affair, but attentive viewers will discern a really big fish, a smaller shark, the ambiguous form of a person, and an inflatable raft. The whole scene gives big “Jonah and the Whale” vibes, but Kesling doesn’t make any particular reading easy. In one sense, the figure looks like it’s sinking into water. But it also looks like it’s crawling safely ashore on all fours. Is the shark smiling? Is the bigger whale-like fish nonthreatening? Or is it just biding its time until dinner?

For Kesling, death, grief, survival and painting all go together. His Pieta series memorializes the victims of mass shootings. Hometown Opioid Portraits is his ongoing documentary series of painted portraits memorializing people from Ashland, Ky., who have died in the opioid epidemic. Kesling grew up in Ashland, and his younger brother is one of more than a million Americans who’ve lost their lives in the drug crisis. In the midst of all Kesling’s success in Nashville and around the region — he’s represented by a handful of galleries throughout the South — his Kentucky roots have always been close to the surface. And recent posts on the artist’s social media pages read like a countdown before Kesling relocated back to the Bluegrass State to help care for aging family members.

FIONA,” JOHN PAUL KESLING

“DANCING

and light, but in the background, beyond a treeline, the picture plummets into a void of crimson. I was reminded of the red curtains on a theater stage hiding the mechanics of the surreal scene set before the viewer. “Two x Two” is spooky and hopeful all at once, and it’s emblematic of a display that’s not afraid of embracing contradictions.

“No Safe Place” is another large work that kept catching my eye while I was working through the rest of the exhibition. This paint-

The best example of Dear John’s divergent displays is “Exploding in Blues” — a diptych that pairs a still life of a vase of buoyant, blossoming flowers with a fully Abstract Expressionist panel that mixes plenty of gooey black, green and brown brushwork in with the title’s cool hues. Kesling uses oil sticks, acrylics and pearlescent pigments to render his flowerheads with a neon-like glow — the layering effect recalls the look of Warhol’s floral screen prints. The companion panel reads like the stinky, slimy, oxidized remnants of a bouquet that’s overstayed its welcome. The work, like this show, invites viewers with an enticing display, and the long corridor gallery at Bankers Alley is spacious enough for long looks and lingering. But with Dear John, every hello is bent like a sapling that grows into an old, twisted wooden arch that points to a goodbye.

Johnny, we hardly knew you. ▼

John Paul Kesling: Dear John: Goodbyes, Portals and Paths Not Taken Through Aug. 1 at Bankers Alley Hotel, 221 Second Ave. N.

The Bankers Alley Hotel opened in downtown

LONG LIVE THE QUEENS

I Am Queen: Nashville adapts real-life stories for the TPAC stage

BY AMY STUMPFL

EPOCH TRIBE UNDERSTANDS the power of storytelling. Cofounded by sisters-in-law Hannah and Shardae Hasan, the Black-womenowned production company based in Charlotte, N.C., has been lifting up the real-life narratives of people and places for nearly two decades. And as the pair prepares to bring I Am Queen: Nashville to TPAC’s Polk Theater for one night only on April 19, their mission remains clear: “Through the stories of a few, we tell the stories of many.”

“We started doing community arts engagement work back in 2008,” Shardae says. “At that time, we were both working other jobs, and just wanted to create space for arts programming that we weren’t seeing anywhere else. But in 2019, Hannah started working on another project — a coffee-table-style book that would celebrate the contributions and experiences of Black women in the city of Charlotte with interviews and photos. And once she started working on those interviews, she immediately realized that this needed to be more than just a book. These stories needed to be onstage. She got me involved, and in 2021, we did our first presentation of I Am Queen: Charlotte. It was a huge success. We had a nearly sold-out audience. I think we filled more than 1,800 seats at the Blumenthal Arts Center, and the response from the commu-

nity was just overwhelming.”

So far, Epoch Tribe has presented three different “classes” of Queens in Charlotte, with each production offering a thoughtful blend of theatrical storytelling, movement and music, all based on the experiences of local women. Hannah interviews each Queen, adapting their stories to the stage, while Shardae serves as creative director, working on costumes and other elements. I Am Queen: Nashville promises to build on that model, honoring the narratives of eight notable Queens currently making a difference in Music City.

“Obviously there are a lot of incredible women making their mark on the city of Nashville,” Shardae says. “But one of the things that makes our shows so unique is that we’re not just talking about these women’s accomplishments or the work they do in the community. We’re also looking at who they are as people. It’s important to us that we represent a wide range of experiences, different journeys and perspectives. Yes, they’re all Black women, but we try to cover a lot of ground, representing as many different ways of being a Black woman as we possibly can.”

The Nashville class includes eight fascinating Queens — from entrepreneurs like Mignon

François (of The Cupcake Collection) and Elisheba Israel Mrozik (founder of Queen Bee Ink) to voting-rights advocate Gicola Lane and Metro Councilmember At-Large Zulfat Suara. Nashville’s multitalented R&B trio The Shindellas also feature prominently in the production, which is directed by Frandasia Williams.

“We like to say that we are curating an experience — a very human experience,” Shardae says. “As Hannah and I sit out in the audience, we’re deeply hopeful that we’ve put forward something that can change people, opening their minds and bringing forth conversations. You’re going to hear some amazing stories, but there’s also music, movement and dancing, lighting, costuming. It’s truly a sensory experience, and this cast is just exceptional.”

One of those cast members is Danielle Houston, a Charlotte-based actress, singer, dancer and harpist. For Houston, I Am Queen: Nashville offers an interesting departure from standard theater productions.

“I typically do more traditional plays and musicals, which I love,” Houston says. “But it’s been exciting — and honestly, really freeing — to work on this piece, because I feel like there’s a lot of me in there. It’s not about mimicking or imitating the Queen that I’m portraying. It’s us-

ing my own voice and essence to bring the story to life. My creative process is still very much the same — working on lines, using good stage technique, being in touch with my body — but there’s a real freedom and honesty to it all. I think it’s been incredibly inspiring for all of us to see these women honored through our voices.”

And she’s hoping audiences will feel the same.

“No matter where you’re from or what your background, I think you’re going to recognize a bit of yourself in these women’s stories,” says Houston. “Success may look a bit different for each of them, but they’ve all gone through some of the same highs and lows and challenges. So I hope people will walk away feeling seen and heard, and realizing that they’re not alone in their struggles. It’s such a beautiful production. It almost feels like you’re stepping into another realm — something that’s very powerful and regal, but also very relatable.” ▼

I Am Queen: Nashville

8 p.m. Saturday, April 19, at TPAC’s Polk Theater

FROM LEFT: ELISHEBA MROZIK, ZULFAT SUARA, STEPHANIE JOHNSON, GICOLA LANE, CHAKITA PATTERSON, BRYNN PLUMMER, TEQUILA JOHNSON, MIGNON FRANÇOIS

MUSIC

SHARON VAN ETTEN has a band. Not just some folks who are backing her up, not some hired guns, but an honest-to-goodness band. And boy howdy have they elevated the New Jersey native and onetime Murfreesboro coffee-slinger’s work to another level. While we at the Scene have been fans of Van Etten’s since those late nights at the Red Rose Cafe, we are gotdamn gobsmacked by the evolution of this woman’s artistry and the magnitude of musicality and craftsmanship she has achieved on her latest album Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory

“It started when we were getting ready to rehearse to go on tour for the last record, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, in 2022,” says Van Etten, speaking in advance of a Nashville tour stop at Brooklyn Bowl. “We hadn’t run the songs from that record together in a room before, because we recorded that all from afar. Coming out of COVID, I thought a great way to reconnect — not just as musicians, but as human beings — would be to rent a place outside of a rehearsal space, and get more of a studio and house where we could have a literal band camp.”

While we expect big things from Van Etten — she’s carved out new artistic ground on each of her six previous albums — The Attachment Theory feels like something altogether different. Her performance has all the easy confidence of a woman who knows she’s playing with a brilliant ensemble. Her lyrics are still steeped in mood and mystery, still raw and deeply personal, but more taut, streamlined and focused as the band blurs around her. As a vocalist, she sits deeper in the pocket; it seems almost like the notes feel better in her throat, creating a different sort of catharsis than expected. Having ceded some control, she has found a sound that feels preternaturally focused, a record whose pop appeal comes without commercial pop intent.

“We had some extra time at the end of the week,” she says. “The joke is the first time ever in my life, the words came out of my mouth: ‘We could just jam.’ I was so tired of hearing myself and my songs. And I really just wanted to cleanse the palate, and just not think about me, and just have some time to reflect on the sonic palette that we had been developing that week. And in that sitting, we wrote two songs in an hour, and those songs became ‘I Can’t Imagine’ and ‘Southern Life.’”

While The Attachment Theory is certainly not a jam band — no noodles here, thanks — each song exhibits a group of folks dialed in and deeply aware of the sounds they are creating as an ensemble. In its most Jersey moments, the group manages to invoke The Feelies, Yo La Tengo and, believe it or not, Bruce Springsteen’s E Street-less Tunnel of Love. In other moments, the crew channels Cocteau Twins, Tubeway Army and Kate Bush, all without it feeling like hypercitational pastiche. While clearly of a lin-

FOR YOUR LOVED ONES

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory confirm that friends are electric BY

SEAN L. MALONEY

eage, the members of The Attachment Theory — bassist Devra Hoff, drummer Jorge Balbi and keyboardist Teeny Lieberson — sound like themselves more than anything.

“I feel like it can only benefit a writer, any creative, to collaborate with other people and open up their writing process to let other ideas in,” Van Etten explains. “As I’ve gotten older, just to learn to let people in has been major — just an overall message and methodology. Before I started writing with my band, I was learning how to write with other people for a different project: that practice of letting go of the ego,

that this isn’t about me anymore.

“What parallels that thought is when I’m becoming a parent, it’s kind of like, ‘Well, my life is also no longer just me — now I’m responsible for all these people,’” she continues. “It’s similar to having a band now. I feel like so many people have given up their time and have left their families to pursue this project. I also felt like I owed it to them to give them more, to feel more invested and trusted. It’s a constant letting go.”

That letting go is the sonic and philosophical thread that ties the album together. It feels like release — a never-ending free fall, or levitation

that never strays too far from gravity’s pull. “Something Ain’t Right,” “Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)” and “Idiot Box” all point to a bright future for artist and listener alike. There is something magical in the way Van Etten has leveled up, finding energy and excitement in the process — finding hope and purpose in the future.

“We’re just getting started. We’ve only done two weeks overseas and a few warm-up shows out on the East Coast, but I feel like we’re just scratching the surface of how we’re going to translate these songs live.” ▼

Playing 8 p.m. Friday, April 25, at Brooklyn Bowl

PHOTO: DEVIN OKTAR YALKIN

CENTERING THE ‘WEST’ IN ‘COUNTRY WESTERN’

Talking with rising country ace Ian Munsick about his new LP Eagle Feather

BY MARGARET LITTMAN

IAN MUNSICK’S NEW album Eagle Feather, out April 18, is more than a love letter to the West. Munsick lives in Nashville, attended Belmont University and in less than five years has become a country music star. But if you ask Munsick who he is, he’s a ranch hand.

“Growing up on a ranch in Wyoming with my dad, my brothers, my mom and the whole community out there,” Munsick says, “even if you’re not a working cowboy, you’re still a cowboy.”

With Eagle Feather, his third studio album, Munsick wanted to show Nashville what the West is really like and tell a more nuanced story of actual cowboy life — not as part of Lower Broadway cowboy cosplay. Eagle Feather illustrates and embraces that wide-open, big-sky

remoteness that is part of the Munsick family experience. One of his brothers lives on a ranch that’s a 90-minute drive each way from his kids’ school. Their parents still live on a ranch. If it is light outside, he says, his parents are out working.

“They’re just always doing something to improve the ranch, and just being around that every day really inspired me to not waste,” Munsick says, noting that a work ethic is part of what he sees as the Western way. It’s what has helped him succeed.

Last year, he crossed off a career bucket-list item when he sold out his Red Rocks Amphitheatre debut. The Colorado venue is a Western pinnacle for artists and audiences. And this year, he’s crossing another Western dream off the list: headlining Wyoming’s Cheyenne Frontier Days. And he’s done it without a hit single; he’s had three tracks certified gold by the RIAA, but country radio remains a key metric in the industry.

“Long Live Cowgirls,” his 2023 release with Cody Johnson, represents his best performance there so far, peaking at No. 54 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.

The 20 tracks on the album document a kind of West that doesn’t show up much in Nashville’s country Western vision. Munsick wrote, performed on and co-produced most of the songs on Eagle Feather — more evidence of that work ethic. The album’s title nods to the actual

feather in his signature cowboy hat, and appropriately, highlights include “Feather in My Hat.” He co-wrote the song with Caitlyn Smith and Marc Scibila, and the track features Grammyand CMA Award-winning megastar Lainey Wilson. When Munsick was on tour with Wilson, she expressed interest in the song, and they recorded it together on her tour bus. In addition to Wilson, the album features other Nashville names including Charlie Worsham and Flatland Cavalry lead singer Cleto Cordero.

“Horses Not Hearts” depicts cowboys as they are to Munsick: reliable Renaissance men, the people you call when you are in a jam. When Munsick first heard the song, which was written by Andy Albert, Michael Tyler and Ben Stennis, he says he was a little bit mad that he had not written the line, “I swear on these stars this cowboy breaks horses not hearts.”

“I was just pissed off,” Munsick says, “because I was like, ‘Man, why didn’t I think of that title?’ It was just kind of a no-brainer to cut that song.”

As the cover of Eagle Feather depicts, Munsick gets all the inspiration for his music from being surrounded by mountains and open sky. But he comes back to Nashville to be in the studio. Wyoming time is for being in Wyoming, riding horses and being outside.

“I know I’m only going to be there for a week or two before I have to go play my next gig, so I

want to go out there and experience Wyoming, being out on the land,” he says. “It’s really a blessing being able to go back there and harvest all of these creative experiences and then come back to Nashville and my studio.”

He feels his connection to the land, to “living with the earth, not on the earth,” comes through in his music. And he can’t wait to hear audiences across the country — from Nashville, where he’ll close his winter headline tour on Thursday at The Pinnacle, to Cheyenne and beyond — sing along with “God Bless the West.”

“There’s a spirit attached to it,” Munsick says of the worldwide appeal of the West. “It’s that freedom that we feel in the West — people want to live like that. Even if they’re in New York, they want to live like that.” ▼

Playing 8 p.m. Thursday, April 17, at The Pinnacle Eagle Feather out April 18 via Warner Music Nashville

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

BY CLAIRE STEELE AND EDD HURT

RECORD STORE DAY continues to be a remarkably popular event in Music City. Saturday’s parties at Vinyl Tap and The Groove brought thoughtfully curated live sets that emphasized how mom-and-pop shops make record collecting about more than just owning stuff you can show off.

For this year’s shenanigans at Vinyl Tap, Greenwood Avenue was once again closed so an overwhelming array of dogs, their people and said people’s takes on fringed attire could more easily mingle in and out. Even before reaching the gate, we dodged a gang of punk toddlers running a circle pit in the middle of the street and observed a chance meeting of five identical-looking maltipoos, whose owners remained completely nonchalant like this was totally a thing that happens all the time.

Inside, Alanna Royale was at the wheels of steel, gearing up for some performances by drag aces Lucy Skrews and Coqueta. While Royale dropped the needle on Mark Ronson’s brilliant version of Brittney Spears’ “Toxic,” an old friend sidled up and offered a drink. The anxiety-inducing chaos of the world beyond the neighborhood faded away for a while.

Outside, Mount Worcester was warming up to deliver their brand of instrumental soul. The sound — the kind of groove that’ll draw you in immediately if, say, the impeccable Dap-Kings and the late, great Sharon Jones opened up the world of soul to you — was excellent. And it remained so despite Eric Slick breaking the head on his kick drum after the first song. The group carried on undaunted, weaving in an excellent interpolation of “As Long as I’ve Got You” by The Charmels (aka the source of the fundamental sample in Wu-Tang’s “C.R.E.A.M.”) in the process.

Next up, the semisweet snot punk of Winona Fighter took off like a graffitied rocket. They wasted no time punching right into “You Look Like a Drunk Phoebe Bridgers” from their debut album, February’s My Apologies to the Chef Frontwoman Coco Kinnon lit the crowd up immediately, setting a high bar for en-

ergy that the trio maintained throughout the set. Then Nashville stalwart Tristen followed up her recent celebration of newly unearthed music (see her single “Zenith”) with a set that segued seamlessly between different eras of her career. She only stopped to wish everyone calm in these turbulent times and entreat the audience to move closer: “I need you to move up. I’ve seen your band, I know you’re not shy.”

Rounding out our day (but not before Weird Pals’ tribute to “Weird Al” Yankovic capped the festivities) was eminent bluesman Bobby Rush, fresh off the March release of his Kenny Wayne Shepherd collaboration Young Fashioned Ways Decked out in a sharp sparkling jacket and performing solo, the Grammy winner played against his name. Lacing his brilliant harmonica and guitar playing with ribald jokes, he let all the elements of his set linger, combining music, stories, lectures and sermons reflecting a career dating back to his youth in the late 1940s. The only thing that could’ve been better: Some of those folks (you know the ones) who just have to talk through a set decided to stand nearby, laying down a constant murmur that threatened to undercut the legend.

The light of the waning afternoon on this truly gorgeous day was perfect for the fans waiting to see Tennessee rapper Case Arnold on the Acme Radio Live-curated bill unfolding in the shady backyard at The Groove. Arnold has been on the scene for more than a decade, making waves in his native Clarksville as far back as 2011 with his mixtape The Bedhead Diaries He’s since released a string of full-lengths, mixtapes and singles that includes his 2023 collaboration with producer Ron Gilmore Jr., “Tequila Diaries.” His live show incorporated jazzy keyboard samples into the boom-bap rhythms, and the words both flowed and signified as he welcomed fellow Clarksville-born MC Tim Gent for a guest appearance.

Each of the several times we’ve seen guitarist, singer and songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan in the past few years, we’ve come away remarking on how easy he makes it all look. Like great forebears on the order of The Move and ELO’s Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood, Big Star founder Alex Chilton and all-around pop master Marshall Crenshaw, Tasjan writes succinctly brilliant songs and plays a lot of guitar that never gets in the way. With drummer Doni Schroader and bassist Ted

Pecchio providing perfect backup, Tasjan rounded out the show with a set that included songs from his fifth solo LP, last year’s Stellar Evolution. When the band got into “Sunday Women,” a standout song from 2021’s Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!, the perfection of the music — and Tasjan’s jangly guitar — put us in mind of the holy power-pop trinity: The Beatles, Badfinger and Big Star. It was as great as you’d expect from a Nashvillian

who made a power-pop album that’s the epitome of the genre, 2018’s Karma for Cheap. And he’s such a tasteful guitar god that he managed to make every biting solo different from the others. When he laughingly referenced Lee Greenwood and sang a satirical tune called “I Love America Better Than You,” he made you feel like you’re part of something worthwhile, which is what rock ’n’ roll is all about. ▼

PHOTO:

VICTOR J. REED

PHOTO: VICTOR J. REED

TIM GENT AND CASE ARNOLD AT THE GROOVE

AARON LEE TASJAN AT THE GROOVE

COME AT ME: WINONA FIGHTER AT VINYL TAP PHOTO: H.N. JAMES

Saturday, April 19

SONGWRITER SESSION Scoot Teasley

NOON · FORD THEATER

Sunday, April 20

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT Becky Buller

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, April 26

HATCH SHOW PRINT Block Party

9:30 am, NOON, and 2:30 pm

HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP

LIMITED AVAILABILITY

Saturday, April 26

WRITERS ROUND On the Rise

Featuring Seth Costner, Dan Harrison, Sydney Shae, and Zoee

11:30 am · FORD THEATER

WITNESS HISTORY

Museum Membership

Receive free admission, access to weekly programming, concert ticket presale opportunities, and more.

INEBRIATED SHAKESPEARE SAT, 4/19

Sunday, April 27

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT Justin Moses 1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, May 3

SONGWRITER SESSION Noah Thompson

MUSICIAN

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MARCO WITH LOVE W/ LANEY JONES SAT, 5/3

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HOT TO GO: CHAPPELL ROAN PARTY FRI, 5/9

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FOR A FILM that so expertly captures the sunblasted anomie of Southern California and its habit of desaturating whatever shades and emotions trespass into its path, it’s the bookending moments in labyrinthine, verdant gardens that shape the emotional space we find ourselves in. One of the greatest and most difficult-to-see films of the 1970s, Play It as It Lays is finally receiving its laurels in the form of a 4K restoration, with four upcoming screenings at the Belcourt. There is simply no offering more essential to be found in theaters.

There’s a melancholy to this film that feels undiluted by the intervening five-plus decades. Part of that is because of its unavailability outside of repertory theaters (and one open-matte Sundance Channel broadcast that flitted around the internet for years like a tulpa, kept in existence thanks to cinephiles, Joan Didion readers and those tuned into Anthony Perkins’ legacy or some of that distinctive Tuesday Weld-schmerz). But that’s not to say Play It as It Lays was exceptionally desolate and matter-of-fact in comparison to the other films of the ’70s, which were exploring domestic angst and the alienation of success without love — it’s just that unfamiliarity has kept the film out of reach.

The film’s wrenching death by a hundred-thousand sharp slices from each grain of sand propelled by the Santa Ana winds hasn’t been allowed to symbolize anything in mass culture, and as such it feels like nothing else. It is somehow both the opposite of and a perfect companion piece to 1968’s Pretty Poison — the

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

The Wedding Banquet remake is a charming and timely chosen-family love story

BY QUINN HILLS

PEOPLE NEED EACH other. We gravitate to one another. We form relationships, families and communities. But we’re messy. We make mistakes. And sometimes we feel trapped.

Loosely based on Ang Lee’s 1993 film of the same name, writer-director Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet brilliantly navigates the messiness, compromises and radical acceptance it takes to have and to hold each other without losing ourselves in the process.

Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and Lee (Lily Gladstone) are a lesbian couple trying for a baby, but they’ve had little success with Lee’s IVF and can’t afford another treatment. Their friends Chris (Bowen Yang) and Min (Han Gi-chan) live in their garage and have their own relationship troubles. Min comes from a wealthy family in

HERE COME THOSE SANTA ANA WINDS AGAIN

A meditation on 1972’s underappreciated Play It as It Lays, screening this weekend at the Belcourt BY

JASON SHAWHAN

first pairing of Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins, five years prior, which is also essential viewing.

There isn’t anyone quite like Weld. An object lesson in how to control one’s image, career and legacy, she was a massive star who simply stepped away. She did things her way, letting what was available of the work (as well as the 1991 Matthew Sweet album she graced the cover of) speak for itself. Her hair in this film is sculpture, a tear in space wrought by wind and sheer will, and her character Maria (pronounced with that second vowel lengthened) is somehow fighting for resonance and relevance as her marriage and career teeter above oblivion. Weld is simply superb. Truthfully, she always is.

South Korea, but he’ll soon be forced to leave the United States when his student visa expires. Min’s famously homophobic grandfather holds the key to his financial future, so coming out of the closet and marrying Chris is off the table.

A few drinks and a whole lot of desperation lead to an unorthodox proposal: Min will pay for Lee’s next IVF treatment if Angela agrees to marry him. A simple courthouse wedding seems sufficient to seal the deal, but the plan goes awry when Min’s grandmother Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung) flies into town unannounced and expects a big traditional wedding celebration. The chaos that ensues deviates from the original film in new, surprising and extremely satisfying ways.

If the conventional shorthand of what Weld was doing in the ’70s and early ’80s focused on her willingness to explore the role that abortion played in women’s lives during that transitional time in history, so be it. It’s an exceptional body of work, one that lingers when we talk about how cinema was absorbing and processing the social movements of that era. But that’s in no way meant to shortchange what Perkins is doing here.

Long an incarnation of complicated sexuality and the baroque behind-the-scenes lives lurking behind Hollywood gossip columns, his performance as the nominally closeted producer BZ is offering something that aches for a different era. There are emotional notes here that break your

heart, wicked humor, even for the ’70s, and an ongoing sense of pervasive sadness that makes you wish BZ and Maria could have together found a new path — a different one where they could have both found some kind of happiness on their own terms.

As for director Frank Perry, there are some who still like to beat his corpse with the club that is 1982’s Mommie Dearest. These are the same people who haven’t forgiven Robert Altman for songwriting choices when he made Nashville, the bleating of those put upon by having been challenged. Perry’s work, both with his ex-wife Eleanor and his later material, accesses emotions that don’t normally lend themselves to the realm of the visual, and anyone whose career encompasses David and Lisa, Last Summer, Doc, Rancho Deluxe and The Swimmer is not someone who needs to have their reputation defended by me.

Screenwriter Joan Didion would often disparage the adaptation she and her husband John Gregory Dunne made of her own novel, and I am in no position to speak to this. The film holds such power (at least in the electrified goo of my own brain) that it precludes me from reading the book, echoing its need for empathic connection across the years. It’s the call of the void, whatever it is the voices on desert winds may say. A road trip with a scenic route of the abject, and an easy (at first) melancholy, and the roads all converge on that blinding horizon, just out of sight. ▼

it — people who span generations, genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities and nationalities. This film needs its ensemble as much as we need each other.

Ahn and co-writer James Schamus (who also cowrote Lee’s version of the film) do not shy away from the current heaviness of issues surrounding immigration or queer parenthood in their screenplay — but these lovingly drawn characters had me laughing as often as I was crying. Tran and Yang play the self-proclaimed screw-

ups of the group, and they radiate incredible amounts of natural sweetness toward each other. Gladstone brings gorgeous emotional depth and heartache to their part, and Han deftly balances the sincerity and whimsy his role requires. Min’s grandmother Ja-Young and Angela’s misguided mother May (the excellent Joan Chen) share some beautifully written and acted moments together, and Bobo Le leaves a lasting impression as Chris’ Gen-Z cousin Kendall with a fun and touching performance.

The Wedding Banquet thrives because of the people in

Queer and immigrant communities today face prejudice, legal challenges and state-sanctioned violence. For better or worse, love does not acknowledge borders or constructs. Love grows where it pleases. Unfortunately, we can’t always control what happens to us or our families and friends. But we can control how we react and how we choose to move forward. The Wedding Banquet sees us with all of our power and frailty, and urges us to press on together toward a future where love is enough. ▼

Wedding Banquet R, 103 minutes

Opening Friday, April 18, in Regal and AMC locations

The

Play It as It Lays R, 99 minutes

Showing April 19-20 at the Belcourt

1 Give up

5 Datum on a dating profile

8 Delivery people?

13 Eye part

14 Presently, in the past

15 Choose

16 Aired in multiple places at the same time

18 Oil and water, to a painter

19 Nationalist grp. founded in 1964

20 Collectors of forensic evidence, for short

21 Sorts with unruly hair

22 Hit up privately on “the socials”

24 Some lighters or pens

26 Potpourri

27 Tries to win

28 Close-up shots, of a sort

30 Homemade bombs, for short

31 Lout

32 Identity associated with a blue, pink and white flag

37 Burning glow

39 Toy shooter

41 Cays, e.g.

42 “That’s my cue!”

44 Possible sleeping spot for a partner who’s in the doghouse

45 Still to be filled, as a role

47 Put out

48 “if u put it that way, however ...”

52 Tag sale disclaimer

53 Eye part found in the 13-Across

54 Items for babies on board

56 Night light?

58 Vital force in Taoism

60 Farmworker organizer Chavez

61 Commit a party foul, in a way … or what five answers do in this puzzle?

63 Last word of the last multiple-choice option, maybe

64 Month with the newest federal holiday, recognized in 2021

65 Hyundai S.U.V. named after a region in Hawaii

66 Green

67 Assume the lotus position, say

68 Things to brood over DOWN

1 Point of transition

2 Bad actors

3 Try-before-you-buy option

4 What un sachet de thé is put into

5 Bug killers?

6 Hits the exchange, in Wall Street lingo

7 ___ around (football trick play)

8 Many a work message

9 First Hebrew letter

10 Companion of Jason in the search for the Golden Fleece

11 Complements to salts and fats in the kitchen

12 Trove

14 Some smallish batteries

17 TV screen option, in brief

21 Windows portal, in brief

23 Big name in nail polish

25 Juggling chain saws on a tightrope, for instance

27 Hotel amenity

28 “No lie ...,” in texts

29 Speedway additive brand

33 Stand onstage, perhaps

34 1982 George Clinton hit with the refrain “Bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yay”

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

35 Cautionary sign at a pier

36 Blind part

38 Atlanta sch. whose teams are the Panthers

40 Quick to learn

43 “Surely!,” in Orly

46 Rapper for whom Harvard’s Hip-Hop Fellowship is named

48 Logician who hypothesized that the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is usually the best

49 Kickin’ cardio option

50 Director Welles

51 Chuck

53 Online shorthand for “off-line”

55 Deuce beater

57 Face on a fiver

59 Six-pack that might be in the “Craft” section, for short

61 Record setters?

62 Barely make, with “out”

SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE SALE

Default having been made in the payment of the debts and obligations secured to be paid by a certain Deed of Trust made as of February 19, 2021 (“Deed of Trust”), by M5 ROCHESTER CLOSE, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company (“Borrower”), in favor of Mark L. Puryear, III, Trustee for the benefit of David Chadwick Taylor (“Original Lender”), recorded September 23, 2021 at Book 8737, Page 673 in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Williamson County, Tennessee (“Register’s Office”); the Deed of Trust having been assigned to Note Investor, LLC, a Florida limited liability company (“Lender”) by Assignment of record at book 9513, page 791, in the Register’s Office; and said Trustee in the Deed of Trust having been replaced by the appointment of Joseph R. Prochaska as Successor Trustee; and the owner of the debt secured having requested the undersigned to advertise and sell the property described in and conveyed by said Deed of Trust, all of the said indebtedness having become immediately due and payable by default in the payment of a part thereof, at the option of the owner, this is to give notice that the undersigned will, on May 8, 2025, commencing at 1:30 p.m. at the main north door of the Williamson County Judicial Center, 135 4th Ave South, Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee 37064 proceed to sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for cash, by Trustee’s deed pursuant to the terms and conditions announced at such sale, all of Trustee’s right, title and interest in the following described property situated in Williamson County, State of Tennessee (“Real Estate”), to wit: LAND SITUATED IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE: A tract of land in the 6th Civil District of Williamson County, Tennessee, being Lots No. 1 and 2, of a subdivision of the P.M. Chaffin Farm, and described as follows: Beginning with a point in the center of Temple Road in line with the stone wall along Temple’s East boundary line, said point being the same point as the point indicating the Northeast corner of a parcel designated for future development, (adjacent to the Mary L Rudolph property), of Temple Hills Country Club Estates of record in Plat Book 11, Page 136, sheet#3 of 5, Register’s Office of Williamson County, TN, running thence with the center of said road South 80 degrees 15 minutes East 350 feet to an iron pin; thence Southwardly 1555 feet to an iron pin; thence North 60 degrees West 256.0 feet to a corner post in Temple’s East line; thence North 4 degrees East 1455 feet to the point of beginning.

Being the same property conveyed to M5 Rochester Close, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company, by Deed from Katherine Harper Morales, unmarried, dated 02/19/2021 and appearing of record in Book 8433 page 266 Register’s office for Williamson County, Tennessee; and then conveyed to 6394 Acquisitions, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company, by Quitclaim Deed from M5 Rochester Close, LLC, recorded October 17, 2024 and appearing of record in Book 9587, page 284, said Register’s office. WITH A MUNICIPAL ADDRESS OF 6394 TEMPLE ROAD, FRANKLIN, WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE 37069. The foregoing shall be sold together with any and all other property, real and personal, which constitutes the Property as that term is defined in the Deed of Trust, but specifically excluding any cash, accounts, deposits, escrows, refunds reserves, impounds and other cash or cash equivalents.

such sale or for such postponed or adjourned sale. All announcements made at the sale shall take precedence over the terms and conditions of this notice. In said Deed of Trust, Borrower expressly waived the statutory right of redemption, and any and all rights of homestead; dower; all other exemptions and marital rights. Title is believed to be good, but the undersigned will sell and convey only as Trustee. Title is to be conveyed without any covenant or warranty, express or implied, and any matters having priority over the Deed of Trust and matters which may affect or encumber the Property following the sale, such as rights of parties in possession; rights of tenants in possession under unrecorded leases or rental agreements; visible and apparent easements; portion of the property within any roadway; any encroachment, encumbrance, violation, variation, or adverse circumstance affecting the title that would be disclosed by an accurate and complete land survey of the land; all leases, grants, exceptions or reservations of coal, lignite, oil, gas and other minerals, together with all rights, privileges and immunities relating thereto, appearing in the Public Records; all matters shown on any applicable recorded plat; taxes or assessments that are not shown as existing liens by the records of any taxing authority that levies taxes or assessments on real property or by the public records; proceedings by a public agency that may result in taxes or assessments, or notices of such proceedings, whether or not shown by the records of such agency or by the public records; taxes assessed by correction pursuant to the provisions of T.C.A. §67-5-603, et seq.; matters that an accurate survey of the premises might disclose; any facts, rights, interests, or claims that are not shown by the public records but that could be ascertained by an inspection of the Property or that may be asserted by persons in possession of the Property; any encroachment, encumbrance, violation, variation, or adverse circumstance affecting the title that would be disclosed by an accurate and complete land survey of the Property and not shown by the public records; any mineral or mineral rights leased, granted or retained by current or prior owners; prior liens, claims and encumbrances including, without limitation, leases and other agreements; assessments, building lines, easements, covenants, and restrictions that may exist; any lien or right to lien for services, labor or material imposed by law and not shown by the public records; and, statutory rights of redemption of any governmental agency including, but not limited to, the right of redemption of the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §7425(d)(1), of the State of Tennessee pursuant to T.C.A. §67-1-1433(c)(1), or of any other taxing authority.

Joseph R. Prochaska, as Successor Trustee Reno & Cavanaugh, PLLC 424 Church Street, Suite 2910 Nashville, TN 37219 Telephone (615) 866-2322 Publication On: April 10, April 17, and April 24, 2025

Interested Parties: 6394 Acquisitions LLC M5 Rochester Close, LLC Benjamin & Darlys, LLC Capital Funding Financial, LLC Jesse D. McInerney Cara E. McInerney The Real Estate will be sold to the highest and best bidder for cash (or for credit against the Obligations if Lender is the highest bidder). All bidders must (a) register at the sale; (b) execute a bidding agreement; (c) provide the Trustee with sufficient information to the Trustee so that he may determine that the bidder is not on the list of sanctioned entities maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of Treasury; and (d) provide the Trustee with a bidder’s deposit of $25,000 by cashier’s or certified check, payable to the Trustee (except for the party secured

PUZZLE BY RICH PROULX AND SIMEON SEIGEL

SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE SALE

Default having been made in the payment of the debts and obligations secured to be paid by a certain Deed of Trust made as of February 19, 2021 (“Deed of Trust”), by M5 ROCHESTER CLOSE, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company (“Borrower”), in favor of Thomas Pennington, Trustee for the benefit of CAPITAL FUNDING FINANCIAL LLC, a Florida limited liability company (“Lender”), recorded February 24, 2021 at Book 8433, Page 269 in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Williamson County, Tennessee (“Register’s Office”); and said Trustee in the Deed of Trust having been replaced by the appointment of Joseph R. Prochaska as Successor Trustee by appointment of record at Book 9361, page 682 in the Register’s Office; and the owner of the debt secured having requested the undersigned to advertise and sell the property described in and conveyed by said Deed of Trust, all of the said indebtedness having become immediately due and payable by default in the payment of a part thereof, at the option of the owner, this is to give notice that the undersigned will, on May 8, 2025, commencing at 3:30 p.m. at the main north door of the Williamson County Judicial Center, 135 4th Ave South, Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee 37064 proceed to sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for cash, by Trustee’s deed pursuant to the terms and conditions announced at such sale, all of Trustee’s right, title and interest in the following described property situated in Williamson County, State of Tennessee (“Real Estate”), to wit: LAND SITUATED IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE:

A tract of land in the 6th Civil District of Williamson County, Tennessee, being Lots No. 1 and 2, of a subdivision of the P.M. Chaffin Farm, and described as follows:

Beginning with a point in the center of Temple Road in line with the stone wall along Temple’s East boundary line, said point being the same point as the point indicating the Northeast

corner of a parcel designated for future development, (adjacent to the Mary L Rudolph property), of Temple Hills Country Club Estates of record in Plat Book 11, Page 136, sheet#3 of 5, Register’s Office of Williamson County, TN, running thence with the center of said road South 80 degrees 15 minutes East 350 feet to an iron pin; thence Southwardly 1555 feet to an iron pin; thence North 60 degrees West 256.0 feet to a corner post in Temple’s East line; thence North 4 degrees East 1455 feet to the point of beginning.

Being the same property conveyed to MS Rochester Close, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company, by Deed from Katherine Harper Morales, unmarried, dated 02/19/2021 and appearing of record in Book 8433 page 266 Register’s office for Williamson County, Tennessee; and then conveyed to 6394 Acquisitions, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company, by Quitclaim Deed from M5 Rochester Close, LLC, recorded October 17, 2024 and appearing of record in Book 9587, page 284, said Register’s office.

WITH A MUNICIPAL ADDRESS OF 6394 TEMPLE ROAD, FRANKLIN, WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE 37069.

The foregoing shall be sold together with any and all other property, real and personal, which constitutes the Property as that term is defined in the Deed of Trust, but specifically excluding any cash, accounts, deposits, escrows, refunds reserves, impounds and other cash or cash equivalents.

Interested Parties: 6394 Acquisitions LLC

M5 Rochester Close, LLC

Benjamin & Darlys, LLC Note Investor, LLC Jesse D. McInerney

Cara E. McInerney

The Real Estate will be sold to the highest and best bidder for cash (or for credit against the Obligations if Lender is the highest bidder).

All bidders must (a) register at the sale; (b) execute a bidding agreement; (c) provide the Trustee with sufficient information to the Trustee so that he may determine that the bidder is not on the list of sanctioned entities maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control

of the U.S. Department of Treasury; and (d) provide the Trustee with a bidder’s deposit of $750,000 by cashier’s or certified check, payable to the Trustee (except for the party secured by the Deed of Trust). The bidding agreement may be obtained in advance of the sale by request to the undersigned. Additional terms may be announced at the sale. The right is hereby reserved to postpone or adjourn this sale, without further publication or notice, by public announcement at the time and place appointed for such sale or for such postponed or adjourned sale. All announcements made at the sale shall take precedence over the terms and conditions of this notice.

In said Deed of Trust, Borrower expressly waived the statutory right of redemption, and any and all rights of homestead; dower; all other exemptions and marital rights. Title is believed to be good, but the undersigned will sell and convey only as Trustee. Title is to be conveyed without any covenant or warranty, express or implied, and any matters having priority over the Deed of Trust and matters which may affect or encumber the Property following the sale, such as rights of parties in possession; rights of tenants in possession under unrecorded leases or rental agreements; visible and apparent easements; portion of the property within any roadway; any encroachment, encumbrance, violation, variation, or adverse circumstance affecting the title that would be disclosed by an accurate and complete land survey of the land; all leases, grants, exceptions or reservations of coal, lignite, oil, gas and other minerals, together with all rights, privileges and immunities relating thereto, appearing in the Public Records; all matters shown on any applicable recorded plat; taxes or assessments that are not shown as existing liens by the records of any taxing authority that levies taxes or assessments on real property or by the public records; proceedings by a public agency that may result in taxes or assessments, or notices of such proceedings, whether or not shown by the records of such agency or by the public records; taxes assessed by correction pursuant to the provisions of T.C.A.

§67-5-603, et seq.; matters that an accurate survey of the premises might disclose; any facts, rights, interests, or claims that are not shown by the public records but that could be ascertained by an inspection of the Property or that may be asserted by persons in possession of the Property; any encroachment, encumbrance, violation, variation, or adverse circumstance affecting the title that would be disclosed by an accurate and complete land survey of the Property and not shown by the public records; any mineral or mineral rights leased, granted or retained by current or prior owners; prior liens, claims and encumbrances including, without limitation, leases and other agreements; assessments, building lines, easements, covenants, and restrictions that may exist; any lien or right to lien for services, labor or material imposed by law and not shown by the public records; and, statutory rights of redemption of any governmental agency including, but not limited to, the right of redemption of the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §7425(d)(1), of the State of Tennessee pursuant to T.C.A. §67-1-1433(c)(1), or of any other taxing authority.

Joseph R. Prochaska, as Successor Trustee Reno & Cavanaugh, PLLC 424 Church Street, Suite 2910 Nashville, TN 37219 Telephone (615) 866-2322 Publication On: April 10, April 17, and April 24, 2025.

Landscape Designer. Plan and design landscape architectural site plans for land area projects. Employer: Hawkins Partners, Inc. Job location: Nashville, TN. Mail resume to: Will Marth, Hawkins Partners, Inc, 110 S 10th Str., Nashville, TN 37206

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