Issue 34 - October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE’S SCARIEST WEEKLY PAPER

OCT. 29, 2015 KNOXMERCURY.COM

1 / N.34

V.

COSPLAY costumes

shopping for cReature seeker oddities

places to Go

e l ' s l i g V u ide to x o n k NEWS

Walmart Developer Seeks to Build Market at Nicholas Ball Park

JACK NEELY

Downtown’s a Good Fit for the World’s Biggest Cinema Company

MUSIC

White Gregg Survives Setbacks to Finally Deliver Its Debut Album

GEORGE DODDS

Knoxville Loses Another Fine Mid-Century Modern Building

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Oct. 29, 2015 Volume 01 / Issue 34 knoxmercury.com

CONTENTS

“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” —Edwin Land

NEWS

12 A Walmart Bargain?

COVER STORY

Walmart’s frenzy of “neighborhood market” expansion has touched yet another nerve locally, as a developer has approached Knox County about building a grocery store on part of what is now a neighborhood park in the Ball Camp area near Karns.

Halloween Special K noxville can be a creepy place—but in a fun way!— and we present the evidence in this issue:

18 Cosplay Warriors: Photographer David Luttrell aims

16 Blockbuster

his lens at local cosplay practitioners, while Mike Gibson asks them: Why?

Regal Entertainment Group, the country’s largest theater chain, will relocate its corporate headquarters from Halls to the South Waterfront in a deal heavily financed by taxpayers’ dollars.

22 Knoxville’s Halloween Horrors: Our complete guide to all the different ways to terrorize yourself and your loved ones this weekend.

24 Little Shop of Creepy Crawlers: April Snellings visits

17 Campus

South Knoxville’s new chamber of horrors: Creature Seeker Oddities.

Developments

Knoxville College’s board of trustees has delayed a decision to approve a redevelopment plan for the college’s 39-acre campus, waiting for three unnamed developers to submit proposals.

Join Our League of Supporters!

Support journalism not written by somebody out of town! Find out how you can help at knoxmercury.com/join.

DEPARTMENTS

OPINION

A&E

4 Letters 6 Howdy

8 The Scruffy Citizen

26 Program Notes: The end draws

10 Possum City

27 Shelf Life: Chris Barrett reveals

Start Here: Roadside Sketches

by Andrew Gresham, Believe It or Knox!, Public Affairs, Quote Factory

46 ’Bye

Finish There: Restless Native by Chris Wohlwend, Crooked Street Crossword by Ian Blackburn and Jack Neely, Spirit of the Staircase by Matthew Foltz-Gray

Jack Neely thinks downtown is a fitting home for a global cinema company.

Eleanor Scott forages for maypops and persimmons.

12 Architecture Matters

George Dodds laments the recent demolition of one of Knoxville’s finest mid-century modern buildings.

CALENDAR ever closer for Wil Wright’s rapper persona LiL iFFy, and we check into the Ghost Motel. new acquisitions at the public library’s A/V department.

28 Music: Eric Dawson finds White

32 Spotlights: Ben Folds and yMusic, The Forbidden Room

FOOD & DRINK

44 Sips & Shots

Rose Kennedy heads over to Boyd’s Jig & Reel to partake “Dram Day.”

Gregg to be a lot more complicated than you might expect.

29 Classical Music: Alan Sherrod

reviews the performance of KSO’s first guest director and previews Knoxville: Summer of 2015.

30 Video: Lee Gardner is entertained by Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films.

31 Movies: April Snellings is

surprisingly charmed by the reviled Jem and the Holograms.

October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 3

LETTERS Delivering Fine Journalism Since 2015

LET US HELP MAKE YOUR WEDDING-PARTY PLANS!

My best friend is getting married on Nov. 4, and she’s a little crazy and awesome. Her sister and I are trying to figure out something awesome to do for her bachelorette party. Her sister was considering a drag show (if there is one going on in the days coming up to the wedding). I’m mainly trying to get a list of exciting, colorful, outrageous events. Has anything been sent in to you that sounds like it fits the bill?

Shelly Burgoyne Knoxville

ED. NOTE: Why, of course, Shelly! Knoxville is a town of many unusual attractions, and a quick perusal of the most comprehensive calendar of cultural events in the area reveals many options for that weekend: • Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, a play based on The Simpsons, at the Clarence Brown Theatre.

• The Crest Hill Cinema Club’s showing of the 1933 live-action version of Alice in Wonderland, followed by Earthbound (1940), another unusual exercise in phantasmagoria.

• Volatomix Breakdance, which is Knoxville’s very own breakdance crew, will be performing with jazzy accompaniment by Kukuly and the Gypsy Fuego and Swingbooty.

• An improv comedy class at the Birdhouse community center in Fourth and Gill.

• The Knoxville Transit Beams’ live shadow-cast performance of the cult classic, Rocky Horror Picture Show, at Relix Variety Theatre.

And there’s much more! Simply turn to the back of this issue for our 10-day calendar of events, or log on to knoxmercury.com/events to find a searchable database of unpredictable activities in the Knoxville area.

SHAPESHIFTER DEUX

I had a similar, if shorter, history with E.W. Scripps. [“The Shapeshifter: E.W. Scripps, and Its 94 Years in Town,” The Scruffy Citizen by Jack Neely, Oct. 14, 2015] I was employed as a senior producer for HGTV and the Scripps family of networks. Our production team shot all of HGTV’s early interstitial programming, on 35mm film, employing local talent and crew. Over a four- to five-year run, many, many hard working Knoxville folks put their best into award-winning productions and without doubt helped create the 4

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

“look” of Scripps Networks.

We were also eventually subjected to performance reviews and required reading like “Who Moved My Cheese?”

Management required compliance with their culture of structured rule-making, like it or leave. We put “The Network” on the map. They put us on the street.

We were shown the door to appease a corporate effort to appear more attractive to Wall Street investors.

Shareholders were happy that the networks were “returning to their core business.” The whole of Scripps Productions, hundreds of people around the U.S., was dissolved. Outsourced production is cheaper, though not usually better. This was a corporate decision based on profit, not product.

Overall, I have few regrets—it was a great fun run and I am thankful for the experience, particularly the working relationships with people who gave their best, repeatedly, to the creative work. I doubt many viewers appreciate the level of consistent commitment that first-class film production requires. I can only point as evidence of excellence to the long “trophy wall” at Scripps headquarters.

(Is it still there?) Scripps Networks remains a giant success, thanks to Ken Lowe’s brilliance and the separation of Knoxville from Cincinnati. Wall Street still loves them. Their “formula” continues to be successful.

Meanwhile, I am happy to see that the Mercury has shouldered its way up from the ashes of Metro Pulse and that there is a thriving independent film business in town. I love to read the paper and I go to the movies.

I don’t watch a lot of TV. Bruce Glanville Lenoir City

CONGRESS SHOULD AMEND THE RAVE ACT

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act was passed to address a very specific problem, namely, underground “rave” parties whose promoters were accused of enabling the use and sale of illegal drugs. This act expanded “crack house” laws to apply to commercial venues, and gave federal prosecutors a new tool to go after

“rogue promoters” who were profiting from these events.

Under the current RAVE Act, owners and organizers are reluctant to implement common sense safety measures to protect their patrons and reduce the risk of medical emergencies, including those associated with drug use. They are concerned that they will be accused of “maintaining a drug involved premises” under the act if they institute such measures, opening themselves to criminal or civil prosecution. Legislators should clarify and amend the RAVE Act to ensure that owners and organizers can create safe environments for their patrons.

Free water, cool-down rooms, and other services could save lives at these venues. Offering these services should not be considered condoning drug use, rather they should be considered harm reduction: recognizing that people will choose to use drugs regardless of legal status, and that simple safety procedures can reduce the associated risks of drug use.

Language should be added to the law to make it clear that event organizers and venue owners can implement safety measures to reduce the risk of medical emergencies, including those associated with drug use, without fear of prosecution by federal authorities.

Miranda Gottlieb, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, University of Tennessee Knoxville

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR GUIDELINES

• Letter submissions should include a verifiable name, address, and phone number.

We do not print anonymous letters.

• We much prefer letters that address issues that pertain specifically to Knoxville or to stories we’ve published.

• We don’t publish letters about personal disputes or how you didn’t like your waiter at that restaurant.

• Letters are usually published in the order that we receive them.

Send your letters to: Our Dear Editor, Knoxville Mercury 706 Walnut St., Suite 404 Knoxville, TN 37920 Send an email to: editor@knoxmercury.com

EDITORIAL EDITOR Coury Turczyn coury@knoxmercury.com SENIOR EDITOR Matthew Everett matthew@knoxmercury.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Jack Neely jack@knoxhistoryproject.org STAFF WRITERS S. Heather Duncan heather@knoxmercury.com Clay Duda clay@knoxmercury.com CONTRIBUTORS

Chris Barrett Ian Blackburn Patrice Cole Eric Dawson George Dodds Lee Gardner Mike Gibson Carey Hodges Nick Huinker Donna Johnson

Rose Kennedy Dennis Perkins Stephanie Piper Ryan Reed Eleanor Scott Alan Sherrod April Snellings Joe Sullivan Kim Trevathan Chris Wohlwend

INTERNS

Jordan Achs Marina Waters

DESIGN ART DIRECTOR Tricia Bateman tricia@knoxmercury.com GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Charlie Finch Corey McPherson CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

David Luttrell Shawn Poynter Justin Fee Tyler Oxendine CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS

Ben Adams Matthew Foltz-Gray

ADVERTISING PUBLISHER & DIRECTOR OF SALES Charlie Vogel charlie@knoxmercury.com SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Scott Hamstead scott@knoxmercury.com Stacey Pastor stacey@knoxmercury.com

BUSINESS BUSINESS MANAGER Scott Dickey scott.dickey@knoxmercury.com

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 706 Walnut St., Suite 404, Knoxville, Tenn. 37902 knoxmercury.com • 865-313-2059 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR & PRESS RELEASES editor@knoxmercury.com CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS calendar@knoxmercury.com SALES QUERIES sales@knoxmercury.com DISTRIBUTION distribution@knoxmercury.com

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Terry Hummel Joe Sullivan Jack Neely Coury Turczyn Charlie Vogel The Knoxville Mercury is an independent weekly news magazine devoted to informing and connecting Knoxville’s many different communities. It is a taxable, not-for-profit company governed by the Knoxville History Project, a non-profit organization devoted to exploring, disseminating, and celebrating Knoxville’s unique cultural heritage. It publishes 25,000 copies per week, available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. © 2015 The Knoxville Mercury

Halloween Like most holidays, Halloween changes with each new generation.

Before about 1945, the holiday was usually spelled with an apostrophe, as “Hallow E’en” or “Hallowe’en,” to indicate that it was a shortening of the word Even, or evening.

Halloween was considered irrelevant to married people. “No provision is made for the married folk. So if you are wedded, you can toast your toes before the fire and think of the ‘has been.’”

Although it’s derived from an ancient holiday, Halloween is one of the newer holidays to be celebrated in Knoxville.

Halloween is rarely mentioned in Knoxville newspapers before the 1890s.

For most of the century, it was considered a Catholic observance.

That year, one of the first years that Knoxville publicly made a big deal of Halloween, a Catholic social club then located at the corner of Gay and Vine known as the Young Men’s Institute hosted a Halloween masquerade dance, attended by 20 couples. The same night, another young man announced an uncommon party. “There is to be holden at ye Mansion of Master Sanforde a gaie Gathering of ye Merrie Men and Maidens to pleye ye ancient Games of Hallow E’en.” The time was announced as “At ye earlie candle light” or “7:00 by ye town clock.”

Father Abram Ryan (1838-1886), who was the resident priest at Knoxville’s Immaculate Conception Catholic Church from 1865 to 1868, was an advocate for the celebration of Halloween in America.

Ryan’s parents were immigrants from Group in costumes at a Halloween party ca. 1920.

Ireland, and had celebrated the holiday Photo courtesy of the Thompson Photograph Collection there, but few native-born Americans in the cmdc.knoxlib.org mid-19th century knew what Halloween was.

Associated with the Catholic holiday known as All Saints Day, or All Hallow’s, the night before was called All Hallow’s Even, or Halloween.

“The town clock” probably referred to the clock on the steeple of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, which had been financed with Halloween wasn’t always considered scary. A century ago, it was not a city funding, because it was so high it was useful to the entire downtown day associated with death, evil, and fear. However, it was indeed associated area. It may have referred to the clock on the Knox County Courthouse with the supernatural, and it was a rare holiday that was considered not to tower. Remarkably, both are still there, and still keep the time. begin until sundown. An article in the Knoxville Tribune in 1893 remarks, “When old Sol planks his fiery head upon a pillow of gold in the west at “Each Maiden shall bring her favorite Ladde, but beware ye for all sparkinge sunset, this evening, Hallow-E’en will be ushered in with all its cranky will be repeated to ye parents.” notions, peculiar doings and absurd customs.”

Some of those were pranks played by boys, like stealing garden gates. A newspaper editor advised homeowners not get too upset about it. “It’s Hallow-e’en, and let it go at that.” Strangely, the same kinds of pranks were also associated with Christmas Eve, when they tended to be more destructive.

Halloween was often considered a romantic holiday. It was of special interest to young people, because it was believed that on Halloween night, if you went into your cellar with a mirror, you would see an image of your future spouse. Bobbing for apples was also considered a predictor of finding a mate.

It was a holiday, as an article in the Knoxville Tribune noted in 1893, “endowed with all the sweet nostalgia of love and romance.”

Master Sanforde was probably understood to be popular young attorney Edward Terry Sanford (1865-1930), who lived in a big house in Maplehurst with his wife, Lutie Mallory Woodruff, whose father started the hardware store whose building on Gay Street still bears their name. Sanford became, 30 years later, the only Knoxvillian ever to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. He was one of the nation’s highest judges from 1923 to 1930.

Trick or treating and jack-o-lanterns were not common here until the early 1900s. By the 1950s, Halloween vandalism was becoming so serious that the city and police department began hosting parties for teenagers, as many as five in different parts of town on the same night, to distract young people from getting in trouble.

Source: The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection.

The Knoxville History Project, a new nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of and education about the history of Knoxville, presents this page each week to raise awareness of the themes, personalities, and stories of our unique city.

Learn more on www.facebook.com/knoxvillehistoryproject • email jack@knoxhistoryproject.org October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 5

Illustration by Ben Adams

HOWDY

Believe It or Knox!

BY Z. HERACLITUS KNOX

Roadside Sketches by Andrew Gresham (agreshamphoto.com)

QUOTE FACTORY “ You know, you get up in the morning, you go to work, you do a good job, everyone feels you’re doing a good job, and now you’re hearing that you may have your legs cut out from under you when you’ve done nothing wrong.”

—Sen. Richard Briggs, speaking by telephone at a United Campus Workers town hall meeting on Monday, in which he expressed his sympathies for University of Tennessee workers who may find themselves out of work if Gov. Bill Haslam’s outsourcing plans come to fruition.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

10/29 ETCDC 2015 AWARD CELEBRATION 10/31 6TH ANNUAL SOLAR TOUR THURSDAY

5:30–8:30 p.m., Knoxville Museum of Art. $150.

At this fundraiser for the East Tennessee Community Design Center, the nonprofit planning organization will present the Bruce McCarty Community Impact Award to none other than Mr. Ashley Capps. Not bad for a former WUOT disc jockey and weekly newspaper publisher.

Info: communitydc.org.

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

SATURDAY

10 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Knoxville Transit Center (301 E Church Ave.). Free.

Want to learn more about utilizing solar power? The Tennessee Solar Energy Association has the bus tour for you! It will be taking 30 passengers to see solar-power installations everywhere from Ijams Nature Center to a solar-powered carport in Cedar Bluff. Info: tnsolarenergy.org.

11/1 EAST TENNESSEE CHILI COOK-OFF SUNDAY

Noon-6 p.m., World’s Fair Park, Performance Lawn. $15.

This 10th annual fundraiser for Second Harvest features over 30 amateur cooking teams brandishing their top-secret recipes to win the title of best chili in town.

Second Harvest helps feed the hungry in 18 counties in East Tennessee. Info: secondharvestetn.org.

The 1982 World’s Fair ended on Halloween night, 1982, after 11 million visitors had passed through its gates. Although dozens of buildings were built for the fair, the only ones that remain are the Sunsphere, the Tennessee Amphitheatre, and the nondescript building now known as the Holiday Inn Convention Center. A few buildings intended to be permanent, like the modernistic U.S. Pavilion and the nearby IMAX Theatre, were eventually torn down as expensive liabilities. However, most of the historic buildings restored for the fair are still in use today.

After local prohibition closed the saloons in 1907, the New Knoxville Brewery, located just northwest of downtown along Second Creek near Mechanicsville and later renamed East Tennessee Brewing Company, tried to stay in business with “temperance brews.” However, state authorities shut the brewery down when it was discovered to be brewing actual beer!

Aviator Amelia Earhart visited Knoxville by car in 1937, after driving alone through the mountains.

She stayed at the Andrew Johnson Hotel and met with reporters, admitting she didn’t expect to live long. She vanished the following year.

11/2 EAST KNOXVILLE COMMUNITY MEETING MONDAY

1 p.m., Burlington Branch of the Knox County Public Library. Free.

The East Knoxville Community Meeting always seems to book interesting guest speakers, and the November meeting features a couple of noteworthy local figures: the brand-spanking-new Metropolitan Planning Commission director, Gerald Green, and Knox County Law Directory Bud Armstrong.

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(310) 294-4119 charlie@knoxmercury.com

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S unday, Nov. 8 Noon to 4 p.m.

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October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 7

SCRUFFY CITIZEN

Regal Bearing Why the cinema giant belongs downtown

BY JACK NEELY

T

he commitment of Regal Cinemas to a headquarters on the south bank is about as good news as we ever deserve.

It is, to begin with, the elusive “corporate headquarters” that honchos in suits have been claiming is the prerequisite for downtown’s long-term success. Just as Whittle Communications seemed to fit the bill, and the city closed a 200-year-old street to make way for a grand headquarters palace, the big magazine and television company collapsed. A few years later, it sounded too good to be true when there were rumors that Scripps was going to move part of all of its newspaper or television operation to World’s Fair Park, and was. Since then, there have been hopes that Pilot would consider a downtown move. That hasn’t happened.

Somehow, though, as the years passed, and downtown became livelier than it’s been since the end of vaudeville, with thousands of residents and dozens of new restaurants and bars—without a corporate anchor—some of us stopped daydreaming about it much.

But every time I walk a newcomer around downtown, there’s a theme that’s hard to disguise: That used to be one of the biggest furniture companies in America. Now it’s condos. That was a regionally known coffee factory. Now it’s apartments.

That was a nationally famous flour mill. Now it’s apartments. That was the South’s biggest candy factory.

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

Now it’s condos.

All those residential conversions have been positive for Knoxville. In most cases, the original business left the building empty—for 20 years in Sterchi’s case—before anybody pictured it as a residence. These residential conversions have taken the place of downtown’s old townhouses and apartment buildings, which had for the most part been torn down, most of them so long ago that we forgot there was a time when thousands of people lived downtown.

I grew up with a downtown perceived to be mainly an office park.

But during the period when downtown was mainly an office park, with bankers’ hours, downtown declined.

In getting a city to care about a neighborhood, residences are much more effective than offices. Office workers have never proven they have much interest in what happens to the place at night and on weekends.

Residences are good for downtown; that’s may be the single most obvious lesson of the last 20 years.

However, a good mix is much better. Today it’s a challenge to describe downtown’s history without leaving the impression that downtown is where we used to do business.

The term “bedroom community” was coined to refer to the outer suburbs of a city. Now downtown has become a bedroom community. The suburbs are where the actual work is done, especially where it concerns our big, famous companies: DeRoyal,

Pilot, Clayton Homes, Ruby Tuesday, Scripps Interactive, Green Mountain, all those auto-parts manufacturers— and until now, Regal.

The initiative also represents a welcome second roll of the dice for the south side. The out-of-state student-housing developer who had control of the Baptist Hospital site never seemed likely to build anything much worth looking at across the river for the rest of our natural lives.

Maybe it’s hard to judge them before they’ve actually built anything, but I bet it will, at least, be “regal.” And it’s a company that likes to put on a show.

It’s surprising how many longtime Knoxvillians don’t know the largest cinema chain in the world is based in the Knoxville area. Now, I bet even one-day visitors will get that impression.

Regal’s prospective new home has a long cultural association with cinema. Few downtowns this far from a coast have as interesting a cinema heritage as Knoxville’s. My research for the recent Tennessee Theatre book surprised even me.

A century ago, a local cinema operator claimed Knoxville was one of America’s first cities to show movies.

It’s one of those opinions that’s very hard to check for strict veracity. We had permanent cinemas advertising by 1907, but there’s lots of evidence that movies were around here almost a decade before that. Around 1900, Knoxville showed movies in parks, in whorehouses, in the roller-skating rink on Gay Street. Knoxvillians were movie-crazy before most had ever ridden in an automobile or listened to a radio.

One of American literature’s few scenes of sitting and watching a movie is the opening several pages of a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. In A Death in

the Family, James Agee uses several pages to describe the autobiographical scene, a father and son watching a William S. Hart westerns and a Charlie Chaplin comedy, ca. 1916, at Gay Street’s Majestic Theatre. Agee’s scene of watching a film on Gay Street has actually made it into other feature films, notably All the Way Home (1963). By that time, the Majestic had been demolished, so they shot it at the Bijou.

Another of the four or five best-known Knoxville-based novels is David Madden’s Bijou, about a movie fanatic and his favorite movie theater in 1946, one of the most movie-oriented novels ever published.

Of course, the 1909 Bijou and the 1928 Tennessee both have a long cinema heritage. Robert Preston, Desi Arnaz, Tony Perkins, Kathryn Grayson, Merv Griffin, and others attended gala premieres at the Tennessee. Ingrid Bergman once planted a dogwood on Market Square.

In a brief scene in the movie October Sky, Jake Gyllenhaal crossed Gay Street to go to a movie at the Tennessee, but by the magic of cinema, the Tennessee was in Indianapolis, and called the Ennesse. It was the second time Hollywood film crews came to Gay Street to shoot a movie about someone watching a movie.

Regal’s downtown theater honors still another theater, the 1920 cinema mecca known as the Riviera, on whose original site it sits. The first Riviera was, for eight years before the Tennessee, the largest and finest movie theater in the region.

I’m not sure what all that says about us, but downtown Knoxville has enough street cred in the movie-theater business to be a credible setting for the world’s biggest cinema company. ◆

Around 1900, Knoxville showed movies in parks, in whorehouses, in the roller-skating rink on Gay Street. Knoxvillians were movie-crazy before most had ever ridden in an automobile or listened to a radio.

NOV

14

THIS FALL’S PREVIEW DAY FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES

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“

T

hank you all for your support the past few years. Together we have reduced blight, encouraged redevelopment and invested in Knoxville’s visual arts and our growing identity as an outdoor recreation destination; let’s keep the momentum going.” – Mark Winner of the primary election receiving 67% of the votes.

PAID FOR BY CAMPEN FOR COUNCIL BRYAN FORD, TREASURER

www.markcampen.com October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 9

I have just learned a wonderful word: bletted. Bletted fruit has passed through the jolly ripe phase and has entered the first stage of decay. The tannins and acids that make the young flesh taste so sharp and puckery have broken down into sugars. Like your divorced grandma, persimmons are sweeter “past their prime.” That is, their prime is later, and more wrinkly than one might expect.

The skin of the fruit of the passion flower (passiflora incarnata) is not edible. Like a pomegranate, the thick covering is peeled away revealing hard, black seeds in sour-sweet sacs. It’s lean foraging, and one can only imagine going to the trouble if this was the only sugar around. Young children denied candy are especially patient in digging out the smidgen of pulp in each fruit.

Early settlers called it “wild apricot” and made it into jelly. The Cherokee called it “ocoee.” Maybe you’ve heard the word as a place name. The Ocoee River, beginning west of Chattanooga and flowing though North Georgia, is popular with rafters. Ocoee Trail is a street in North Knoxville.

The passion flower hosts an orange and black caterpillar, the larval stage of the Gulf Fritilary butterfly, distinctive for the bold orange and white markings on its wings and body. Frits and maypops go together like possums and persimmons: The Fritilary is also called the passion flower butterfly.

The passion flower, if you’ve never seen it, is a crazy-looking flower,

POSSUM CITY

Fall Forage The season for maypops and persimmons is upon us

BY ELEANOR SCOTT

A

childhood memory: It’s a warm fall afternoon following many cold days. I’m recently old enough to be left home alone. On the edge of the yard, bare branches with round orange fruit stand against a deep blue sky. I decide to climb the tall, thin trunk for the tree-top reward of melty sugar-pulp on my tongue. There’s flat brown seeds to spit out. Leathery skin leaves the mouth numb. Cold bare feet wedge into a forked branch. Persimmons are bittersweet incarnate—an autumn-time memory of learning to brave out loneliness.

The persimmon feeds everyone in the forest, even ostensible carnivores like coyotes. You can see the tell-tale seeds in the scat left on woodland trails. Persimmons (diospyros virginiana) are so beloved by possums that another name for the tree is possumwood. Although both are found throughout the Southeast, as you can see, they share the specific epithet “of Virginia.” Rightly so, Virginia is for lovers.

Down by Volunteer Landing, an old persimmon tree is dropping fruit on the riverwalk now, making a big mess. Both persimmons and maypops are best eaten late in the season when wrinkled and faded. Do not eat a persimmon that is shiny and taut; that young fruit is not fit for human consumption.

Signs of Persimmons: The Gulf Fritilary caterpillar, and the adult Fritilary butterfly, as seen in the author’s yard.

Plus: examples from under the persimmon tree by Volunteer Landing. (Photos by Eleanor Scott) 10

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

Photos by Eleanor Scott

I wrote my last two columns on regional wild crops gathered and cultivated by American Indians and early settlers: the sunflower and the pawpaw. Now two more are ready for the plucking: persimmons and passion flower fruit, aka maypops.

with whiskery purple and white striped filaments and an elaborate crown-shaped golden center. It blooms in summer on an unwieldy, tendrily vine. The fruit is smooth and eggshaped, and drags the vine down in a tangled heap in the fall.

Maybe this bizarre appearance and untidy habit is why prominent garden clubs opposed the passion flower as the Tennessee state flower (chosen by school children by write-in vote in 1919) and instead championed the iris, originally from the Eastern hemisphere. Following the (probably) fiercest political battle for state flower in American history, the garden club ladies had their way and the iris replaced the passion flower by legislative decree in 1933. But that wasn’t the end of hostilities in the “War of the Flowers.” Forty years later, a compromise: A 1973 bill designated the iris the state cultivated flower, and the passionflower the state wildflower. The coup still riles up some passion flower defenders, certain Southern intellectuals doomed to teach in small-town high schools, who resent that imposter, the iris, now symbolizing our state while the more useful and deserving passion flower is pushed into the fencerows of history. (I never forgot, Mr. Ham!) Foraging for food is romantic and interesting, and connects a person with one’s ancestors and animal kin.

Go on, eat something wild. ◆ Eleanor Scott is a freelance writer and columnist living in East Knoxville. Possum City tells small stories of wildlife and people thriving on the edges of the city.

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October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 11

Mind the Gap Knoxville loses another fine mid-century modern building— and an opportunity

BY GEORGE DODDS

T

here is a hole at the southeastern corner of Knoxville’s Western Plaza. On the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015, another building by of one of Tennessee’s finest 20th-century architects was lost in the gap between no-longer-new and not-quiteold-enough. The former Hamilton National Bank building was not the largest of Robert B. Church III’s buildings, nor was it his most elaborate. It was, however, the most distinguished of his extant buildings (particularly before its several “renovations,” first by United American Bank and later by First Tennessee) and easily the finest example of mid-century modern architecture along all of Kingston Pike. Kem Hinton, of Tuck-Hinton Architects of Nashville (who knew the building well as a student of architecture in Knoxville) characterized the demolition as a “tragic loss.” Hinton elaborated: “It was perhaps the finest statement of its kind in our entire state.”

Church (who would not live to see construction completed) designed the bank when he was a partner at the local firm of McCarty, Bullock, Church, Holsaple (MBCH). The new branch of Hamilton Bank was featured in August, 1974 issue of what was then the most important American architectural journal, Architectural Record, and went on to win a State of Tennessee AIA Award and a Gulf States AIA Award.

Two of Church’s assistants on the project, Charlie Smith and Robert French, remember vividly the design process and the experience of the newly-completed building. French, a local practitioner and longstanding adjunct faculty at the UTK School of

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

Architecture, recounts: “[H]ow ennobled and uplifted I felt every time I took those broad steps up to the plinth level, grasped the door handle, and pulled open one of those sparkling glass doors, crossed the threshold onto the cleft slate pavers beneath the warmth of the wood ceiling and [crossed the floor] to the beautifully designed and crafted business counters. I always had the feeling that it connected me, us, to the same stream of emotions and artistic and intellectual sentiments sought and experienced by the ancient Greeks.”

The wood ceiling and slate floor were among the first of the finely detailed interior finishes lost to the several alterations to the building, set in motion by the infamous bank fraud of the Butcher brothers, who acquired Hamilton in the late 1970s. The closure of 12 of the Butcher banks cleared a path for First Tennessee to acquire the building, ultimately repurposing it for financial planning. For a quarter of a century, they were its stewards.

Within little more than two years, Knoxville has lost two excellent Church-designed buildings, the second being his parking garage for the former Carolyn Brown University Center on the UTK campus. They were both demolished, in part, because they were caught in the gap between not-as-useful-as-they-once-were and not-oldenough-to-be-protected.

Were we living among great agglutinations of architectures piled high upon the sedimentation of continuously inhabited centuries, those of us so deeply unsettled by the recent razing may see things a bit differently.

Ours, however, is a relatively young

building has done nothing less.

There is a hole at the southeastern corner of Western Plaza where once stood a fine work of architecture.

If properly restored or repurposed, Church’s elegant building could have enjoyed a long and productive life in our community. That Biltmore Properties could not envision this path is a great loss to us all. Yet, those with control over the most money often seem to have the least idea as to how to best dispose of it.

That its previous owners—longstanding community benefactors— could not reimagine the building as a cultural surplus is an even greater loss.

For example, one could easily see the site reworked into any number of scenarios. The “First Tennessee Kunsthalle,” for example, a new venue for the Knoxville Museum of Art, in which art work is relocated from storage in the KMA building on the bluff above World’s Fair Park nearer the quotidian marketplace. These sorts of things have happened decades ago in other cities with great success. That path, however, is closed.

One path still open would be for we, as members of a locale that values such things, to start minding the gap between the no-longer-new and the not-yet-old-enough. We can begin by systematically identifying buildings and places of excellence caught in this shady interstitial space, to assure that we do not wake up one day to find yet another great building being carted off to a landfill in Murfreesboro. This challenge will remain unmet, however, as long as no one minds the sorts of gaps that create the sorts of holes made by the demolition of the former Hamilton National Bank. Another building can be constructed on that site, but the hole will never be filled.

George Dodds is the Alvin and Sally Beaman Professor of Architecture at the University of Tennessee. Architecture Matters explores issues concerning the human-made environment in Knoxville and its environs.

Photo courtesty of MHM

ARCHITECTURE MATTERS

and somewhat scattered environ, home to few excellent works of architecture.

There are scant buildings one can take a student to and ask, “What makes this one better than all the others?”

Church’s former Hamilton Bank was first among these. The parking garage, as odd as it sounds, was another.

It’s a truism of architectural practice that there are no great outcomes without great clients. Max Robinson, the former director of the UTK School of Architecture and once a lead designer with MBCH, now McCarty Holsaple McCarty, recalls how excellent were the leaders of Hamilton Bank as clients: “They trusted in Bruce McCarty to deliver what they needed and know how to get it built properly. And Bruce trusted Church.” As it turns out, Hamilton Bank was not only an excellent client, it was remarkably civic-minded as well. Robinson recalls how Hamilton required the inclusion of a basement meeting room carved into the plinth that could also be used by local community groups and operate separately from the bank, even when the bank was not open—a gesture difficult to imagine today. It is this sort of gesture that distinguishes a bank such as Hamilton from ordinary business enterprises.

That said, the buildings we wrap our institutions in, no matter how well built, tend to have far shorter lifespans than the institutions that build them.

That First Tennessee is the third bank to do business out of the Western Plaza location is a good case in point. Which is why it is so important that, in addition to their main charge—religious, commercial, educational, judicial—institutions act as good stewards of their property. When First Tennessee silently disposes of an important work of architecture and landscape such as the former Hamilton Bank, selling it to an out-of-town developer (Biltmore Properties Group of Asheville, N.C.), it does more than transfer the title to a property that no longer serves their purpose. It divests itself of the responsibility to maintain a valuable part of our community. It’s difficult to imagine this same institution casually ceasing its funding of the Knoxville Museum of Art, the Knoxville Symphony, or the Tennessee Theater, leaving a budgetary hole so big as to imperil their very existence, further diminishing the culture of our city. Yet, First Tennessee’s divestiture of their former branch

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 13

Photos by Tricia Bateman

A Walmart Bargain?

Knox County eyes land-swap deal to place Neighborhood Market at Nicholas Ball Park

BY S. HEATHER DUNCAN

W

almart’s frenzy of “neighborhood market” expansion has touched yet another nerve locally, as a developer has approached Knox County about building a grocery store on part of what is now a neighborhood park in the Ball Camp area near Karns.

County and Metropolitan Planning Commission officials say Gusto LLC wants to build a 46,000-square-foot grocery store at the corner of Ball Camp and Middlebrook pikes. Gusto has the same address as Chattanooga-based Hutton Co., which custom-builds stores for national chains like Family Dollar and AutoZone. Gusto is one of several LLCs with almost identical names seeking to build grocery stores in Tennessee. Other LLCs also affiliated with Hutton, most of them with names including the word “Polestar,” are building dozens of grocery stores across the South; those that have been identified are all Walmart Neighborhood Markets, a smaller model that Walmart is promot-

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

ing heavily as sales slide at its superstores. MPC planner Michael Brusseau says Gusto has never identified the retailer, “but everyone seems to know it’s a Walmart.”

Gusto has asked the county for 7.5 acres of the 28-acre Nicholas Ball Park—directly across the street from Ball Camp Elementary School and a few blocks away from a Food City supermarket—to accommodate the new store.

In exchange, Gusto has taken out an option to buy 103 acres of farmland for a new park on Hardin Valley Road near the intersection with Marietta Church Road, says Doug Bataille, director of parks and recreation for Knox County. The grocery store project would eliminate one of Nicholas Ball Park’s two soccer fields and a small parking area, but would not affect softball fields, the playground, or the adjacent AYSO youth soccer fields, he says.

Many local residents have heard

something about the possible new development, and the public response is mostly negative. A “Save Nicholas Ballpark from Walmart” Facebook page has more than 1,300 likes, and on Thursday residents of nearby neighborhoods such as Trails End and Denton Place offered to take petitions opposing the deal to their neighborhood association meetings. County Commissioner John Schoonmaker says the proposal was a hot topic at a community listening session held by several of his fellow commissioners earlier last week, although he noted several misconceptions: Many people seem to think the new store will be a Super Walmart and that it will take all of Nicolas Ball Park.

For the project to proceed, the park land, as well as three houses, would have to be rezoned from agricultural to general business, Brusseau says. The area’s sector plan would also have to be amended from low-density residential and greenspace use to commercial use, says MPC senior planner Liz Albertson. Both Gusto and the county have requested the changes, but this week asked that the commission delay considering it until December, he says.

Michael Grider, communications director for Knox County, says the delay was requested so a public meeting could be held to explain the proposal and answer questions. This meeting is not only “very much

desired” by county Mayor Tim Burchett and County Commission Chairman Brad Anders, it’s also required by the state and federal government because Nicholas Ball Park was acquired using federal funds, Bataille says.

The land was purchased in 1978, with half the cost covered by a federal Land to Water Conservation Fund Grant of $72,182, Bataille says. The county can’t sell it for another use unless it acquires a park property of equal or greater value and acreage.

State officials have done an official review and indicated everything looks good so far, he says. Still, he adds, “This process will not go fast. It will take at least a year to get approval.”

Bataille says he would like to have held a public meeting earlier, but the Hardin Valley property was also being considered as a location for the new Hardin Valley Middle School. The land, which had been advertised for sale by the Long family, is at 11952 Hardin Valley Rd. (Bataille says he’s not sure how long the Gusto option lasts; the company first made the offer to the county about six months ago.)

Officials in the county purchasing department have recently indicated the land doesn’t look favorable for the middle school, “because other properties are probably closer in and easier to develop,” Bataille says, so a November public meeting will probably be held on the park proposal.

The park is not the only controversial spot Walmart developers have pursued in East Tennessee this year.

Hutton-affiliated limited liability companies, which build stores to company specifications and then lease them to the retail tenant, also set their sites on a North Broadway location.

That project would involve demolishing a century-old Craftsman home to make way for a Walmart Neighborhood Market parking lot. Another neighborhood market, which has not yet prompted any high-profile opposition, is planned for the intersection of McKamey Road and Western Avenue. A Super Walmart is believed to be angling for a site in Blount County next to the last drive-in movie theater in East Tennessee, whose owner says its bright lights would put him out of business.

Kim Trent of Knox Heritage says Hutton officials told her last month they are abandoning plans for the North Broadway store, which met with opposition from neighbors concerned not only about the Howard House but also about traffic impacts.

Brusseau says MPC has never received any official application or site plan related to that store.

ROADBLOCKS

Brusseau says MPC staff is “highly unlikely” to recommend approval of the zoning change Gusto requested, which would allow the store to be built with no further public review. It also wouldn’t be required to submit a site plan with details such as whether the store would have a fuel center, Albertson says.

“We will more than likely recommend a planned zone, in which there would be a traffic study,” Brusseau says. Traffic already backs up when school lets out, and a nearby railroad crossing worsens the problem. “Then results of study would be incorporated into that plan review process. That’s where we’re heading.”

Ashley Thrift has lived across from Nicholas Ball Park for most of her life, and her daughter now plays softball there just as she did. In her letter to MPC protesting the project, her biggest concern was “traffic in that area and down Ball Camp is already beyond the level of dangerous…. The line to pick up and drop off children at the school sometimes reaches Whitmont Road.”

Anders says because Ball Camp Pike is already slated for widening to

“Here in this situation we’ve got a piece of property that is currently being used as park land and it could be put to higher use by opening it up for commercial development.”

—MICHAEL GRIDER, Knox County communications director

four lanes, with construction planned to start within the next 12 months, traffic shouldn’t be a big obstacle.

Brusseau says MPC has already received a lot of correspondence from neighbors like Thrift protesting the project for its impact on the park, traffic, and character of the neighborhood.

Josh Ballard wrote MPC in an email, “My 6-year-old daughter plays soccer there, plays on the playground, rides her bike, we take walks … we’re all over that park and I do not want to see any part of it go away,” noting that there are multiple grocery stores and Walmarts nearby already. “WE DO NOT NEED A COMMERCIAL PROPERTY IN PLACE OF OUR PARK!” But Lynn Davis, commissioner of the AYSO Region 275 soccer organization that uses adjacent fields, says development at that busy intersection may be inevitable. “I think it’s almost an offer they can’t resist,” she says.

Although she says she’s concerned about the store further complicating traffic around Ball Camp Elementary, she also sees new construction as a source of local jobs.

“If it was bad for families, for kids, (or) for exercise, I would jump on that band wagon (against it) so fast,” Davis says. But she trusts Bataille, who used to coach for AYSO 275 and lives in the area. She finds the new park possibility intriguing and notes that most people in West Knox County are used to driving to parks anyway.

Still, she does have questions she hopes will be answered during the process: Will the Walmart be open all night? If so, will that create dangers at the park? Will the park be fenced to keep children playing there separate from the parking lot?

In fact, Bataille says the county has talked with Gusto about maintaining the walking loop, which currently

wraps around the soccer field that would be destroyed, and also tying it to the sidewalk. Preserving the loop would make it hard to gate the park off from the grocery store and the existing Weigel’s, which would remain.

Davis notes that Karns maintains a rural feel, and the land swap may set up a kind of showdown between Karns and the richer Hardin Valley neighborhoods that would benefit from the big new park. “You’re taking this part of West Knoxville that still has this small-town feel, and people are willing to fight for that small-town feel,” she says.

SWAPPING LITTLE FOR BIG

While neighbors of Nicholas Ball Park are mostly focused on the drawbacks of the project, county officials are also excited about the possible benefits.

“From (Mayor Burchett’s) perspective, he has long had a position of taking publicly owned property, and if it could be better used in private hands, getting it back on the tax rolls, using it to fund schools and other projects,” Grider says. “Here in this situation we’ve got a piece of property that is currently being used as park land and it could be put to higher use by opening it up for commercial development, and at the same time we have potential to take 8 acres of park land and leverage it for over 100 acres.

That makes a lot of sense, especially because that (Hardin Valley) land is potentially undevelopable” because of the slope.

Not everyone agrees that commercial development is a boon to the tax base. In an email to MPC, Jake White argued that while rezoning might increase county tax revenue in the short term, commercial development might eventually drive down the value of the many nearby residential properties. “I am concerned in the

longer term a rezoning like this could actually lead to increased property taxes due to the eroded tax base,” wrote White, whose family lives off Ball Camp Pike.

From a recreation perspective, Bataille is enthusiastic about the big park the land swap could provide to a rapidly-growing part of the county with almost no parks.

As envisioned, the new park would include two soccer fields close to the road, and the rest would mostly be hiking and biking trails, Bataille says. “The acreage climbs up to a gorgeous hill view into Oak Ridge,” he says. A dog park and disk golf could also be included.

“As a whole, you look at Hardin Valley, and you would think a lot of people would support having a park in such a high growth area,” Bataille says.

The soccer field at Nicholas Ball Park that would be eliminated by the new grocery store is used mostly by FC Soccer Alliance. Bataille says the league supports the possible land swap because they would appreciate the two new fields in exchange for the old one (although it’s likely the Hardin Valley park would not be developed for some time).

The complex at Nicholas Ball Park actually includes three properties: Two soccer fields, parking lots, a playground, and a tennis court owned by the county; four softball fields that are privately owned and leased by the county; and soccer fields closer to Hitching Post Road, which are leased from the school by the county but operated and maintained by AYSO. There is recent precedent for this kind of park sell-off: About six years ago, the county sold another soccer field across Middlebrook Pike that was once part of Nicholas Ball Park and used the money to buy 32 acres from the Knoxville Utilities Board on Hickey Road about half a mile away.

That park, which is in the final planning stages now, is supposed to be a new passive park nearby with trails that will be built this year.

Anders, who represents the district that includes Hardin Valley and Karns, says he has heard “a lot of feedback” from residents who are mostly opposed to the swap. He says he hasn’t yet made up his mind about whether he supports it.

“As a county business deal, it’s a good deal,” he says. “As far as how it affects the community, we’ve got to measure that.”◆ October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 15

Blockbuster Taxpayers to pad Regal Entertainment’s move to South Waterfront

BY CLAY DUDA

S

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

other municipalities around the country as it looks to move and possibly expand its corporate headquarters, which currently employs about 325 people in a small unincorporated area about 10 miles north of Knoxville. Its move into the nine-story former medical building just east of the Henley Street bridge will give it room to add as many as 70 new employees, though the company has not committed to fully staffing those positions.

Under the agreement, the city of Knoxville will purchase and renovate the 178,000-square-foot building off East Blount Avenue, contributing a total of $9 million; Knox County is planning to pitch in $1.5 million; the state of Tennessee will provide $1.5 million; the Tennessee Valley Authority will contribute $80,000; and current property owner Southeastern Development Associates will put $500,000 toward exterior improvements, for a total incentives package of $12.5 million.

Renovation costs are estimated at $10-11 million. Of the city’s $9 million commitment, $3 million will go towards remodeling work, along with $3.5 million in public funds from the state,

Photos by Clay Duda

urrounded by a gaggle of reporters and government officials on top of a parking deck overlooking the former Baptist Hospital site in South Knoxville, Gov. Bill Haslam last week confirmed rumors that have been swirling around town since early October: Regal Entertainment Group, the country’s largest theater chain, will relocate its corporate headquarters from Halls to the South Waterfront in a deal heavily financed by taxpayers’ dollars.

“It’s worth noting that this is a company that could be a lot of places, and a lot of places would love to have Regal call home in their town, but the fact that Regal would do this here means a lot,” Haslam said during the press conference, announcing a $12.5 million incentives package to keep the company from relocating elsewhere.

“It is economic growth, but it also is a really big deal, I think, to the city and the county to have them be the anchor on this side of the river.”

Two activists briefly interrupted Haslam early in his speech, screaming “Tennessee is not for sale” multiple times before quickly being ushered away by security. #TNisnotforsale has been a battle cry and hashtag for opponents to the governor’s plans to potentially outsource thousands of state jobs to private companies.

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero said Regal was “being courted” by

county, and TVA. Regal will pay for remaining renovation costs not covered by the incentives package, an estimated $4-$5 million, according to the city. The price total includes all office furniture, fixtures, and needed equipment.

“It’ll be great to look out my office and see your logo on this building,” Rogero said to Regal CEO Amy Miles.

SEDA (formerly Blanchard & Calhoun Commercial, Inc.) bought 23 acres along Knoxville’s South Waterfront, including the building to be Regal’s future home, for $6.25 million in 2013. The city will buy that building for $6 million—near the total SEDA paid for the entire 23-acre swath—as part of this deal, while SEDA will continue construction on the rest of the site, including an adjacent mixeduse development with 300 luxury apartments, 40,000 square feet in retail space, 230,000 square feet of office space, a riverwalk, and an entertainment plaza, and a 225-unit student housing complex west of Henley Street, according to its website.

Regal will pay no rent during its initial 10-year lease term, instead making payments equal to the amount the city would collect in property taxes on the improved value of the building. After the first decade, Regal has the option to extend the lease for two more 10-year terms, paying a rent of $1 per square foot for years 11-20, and $2 per square foot years 21-30, if it chooses to stay.

The theater giant may buy the building at anytime, city spokesman Jesse Mayshark explains, saying the

hope is the city will “be made whole” and not lose money on the deal in the long-run. Regal will be responsible for all building maintenance and repairs while it’s a tenant.

The city has signed a letter of intent to see the deal through, though it is still subject to approval from the City Council and the State Funding Board. The Knox County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to support its $1.5 million piece of the puzzle.

Mayshark says approval could come from the city in two parts, the first step involving a budget amendment to free up funding before voting on final approval. It could go before the City Council within two weeks, though it may take longer, he says.

“This is a major extension of the revitalization (we’ve seen downtown),” Mayshark says. “It brings a huge amount of energy and investment to this side of the river.”

While big news, last Friday’s announcement wasn’t exactly unexpected. Knox County Commission earlier that same week approved spending $1.5 million on “economic development on the South Waterfront,” finalizing its support with a unanimous vote on Tuesday, and speculation has been rampant since anonymous sources leaked tentative details of the deal to WBIR reporter Mike Donila earlier this month.

Like most things governmental, this deal is complex. Visit knoxmercury.com to read the city’s three-page explainer on some of the nitty-gritty terms and clauses. ◆

Photos by Tricia Bateman

Campus Developments Board hopes to decide the fate of Knoxville College’s 39-acre campus by year’s end

BY S. HEATHER DUNCAN

A

lthough the Knoxville College board of trustees met Friday expecting to approve a redevelopment plan for the college’s 39-acre campus, it has delayed its decision until after Nov. 28.

That’s when three unnamed developers will be submitting the final details of their proposals, says board chairman Rev. James Reese.

Officials with the historically-black college were close to a quiet deal this spring with Knoxville developer Southeast Commercial about turning all or part of the campus into something else—although exactly what was unclear. At about the same time, trustees voted to suspend classes until they could raise enough money for the crumbling college to operate.

Enrollment at the 140-year-old college had dwindled to fewer than a dozen, it was $6 million in debt, the college had lost its accreditation, and its buildings were being condemned.

Although Knoxville College was placed on “provisional” status by the Tennes-

see Higher Education Commission this spring, college officials have said they hope to enroll students again in 2016.

There was both a celebratory and mournful air at the college’s homecoming this weekend, as some alumni wondered whether it might be the last.

The Knoxville College board, trying to find a way for the college to recover, was receptive to the Southeast Commercial proposal. But when it was leaked, some locals met the secretive deal with skepticism and the board decided to slow down. They voted to create an advisory committee including local development and real estate professionals to take a broader look at options for the campus, Board chairman James Reese explained at the time.

This committee was to be appointed and led by Leonard Adams, vice-chair of the board and an Atlanta developer himself. Adams has not responded to numerous requests over the last several months for a list of the committee members. Reese says

there are seven of them, but he does not know who they are. Adams is in charge of a four-member board committee dealing with the campus and was a key player in talks with Southeast Commercial.

Reese says that after appointing the advisory committee, the college approached 12 to 14 development groups to ask if they’d like to submit redevelopment proposals. Reese says that number “has been narrowed to three,” although he would not say whether Southeast Commercial was among them. He says the developers have asked that their names not be shared. He wasn’t sure whether more than three responded.

Reese says not all the groups are local, but at least one is. As far as he knows, the college did not publish a public request for proposals online or in a newspaper.

Mechanicsville residents Bentley Marlow and his partner Scott Sherrill found out last spring about the impend-

ing Southeast Commercial deal and asked the Knoxville College board for time to put together their own proposal, but were given just eight days. They were interested in turning part of the campus into a large mixed-use development with a residential or hotel component as well as a music venue.

Marlow says he and Sherrill have not heard any more from the college and have focused their efforts elsewhere.

“Mechanicsville and Knoxville deserves better than a shoddy deal undertaken by shysters and charlatans,” Marlow wrote in an email last week. “We might be maverick developers without pedigree,” he argued, but he says he and his partner were well-equipped for the job by their advanced degrees, capital, and “our love and zeal for the most underrated, underrepresented, most disregarded neighborhood in town.”

Southeast Commercial president Gary Smith did not return a call last week inquiring about whether the company, whose local projects include the downtown YMCA, the Hilton, and the Marriott, remains interested in the project.

Southeast Commercial originally proposed a deal in March that would have given it exclusive “master developer” rights even before it decided what it wanted to put on the former campus. (As originally envisioned, Southeast Commercial would have provided those specifics in September if the college signed the memorandum of understanding in April.) The proposed agreement did not appear to include any payments to the college for these development rights. It was unclear whether the deal excluded the century-old buildings that are designated a National Historic District.

Reese says he hopes the board will be able to choose a partner by the end of the year to redevelop the college property. ◆ October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 17

Local genre fans tailor a lifestyle in tribute to their heroes and villains

BY MIKE GIBSON

R

PHOtOS BY DAVID LUttRell 18

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

oane County native Rip Elliott’s iteration of the Crown Prince of Crime may not be as raggedly unhinged as that of the late Heath Ledger’s, but it still offers a classic and highly credible take on the Batman’s infamous arch enemy.

“The first time I ever did this, I was the Joker at Fanboy in 2013,” says Elliott, garbed in a neatly-pressed Silver-Age Joker get-up that includes a purple suit, green tie, an orange flower on one lapel and, of course, the obligatory scrawl of red lipstick on a painted white face.

“Before that, I didn’t even know we had things like this around here.

I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Elliott is one of many costumed fan-boys and -girls making an appearance today at a costume contest, as part of Knoxville’s biannual Fanboy Expo (held last weekend).

Begun primarily as a convention to showcase slightly-past-their-sell-by TV and movie stars, Fanboy has expanded the scope of its convention offerings to incorporate more elements of fandom, including cosplay.

The word “cosplay,” a portmanteau of “costume play,” was supposedly coined by a Japanese anime artist, inspired by the costumed role-players he witnessed at a Los Angeles sci-fi convention in 1984. But the practice of genre fans displaying their passion through homemade costumes began much earlier than that—the website costuming.org cites 1939’s First World Science Fiction Convention in New York, where 22-year-old Forrest J. Ackerman (future editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland) created a stir when he and girlfriend/fanzine editor Myrtle R. Douglas showed up dressed as futuristic characters from the H.G. Wells movie, Things to Come.

But it gained traction as a cultural phenomenon in Japan, and then elsewhere, through the 1990s.

Now it rates as a mainstay of nerd culture, one that walks hand-ingloved/armored/furred-hand with

other staples—comic books and movies, for instance—all of which provide inspiration for the art. And for many practitioners, cosplay is an art.

“Some people buy their costumes,” says Clinton resident Elizabeth Martzin, garbed as DC Comics villainess Harley Quinn. “But there’s no fun in that.”

Martzin and her brother, Aaron Martzin—dressed as the Mayor of Halloween Town, from The Nightmare Before Christmas—began dressing up a couple of years ago, inspired by her love of anime, and his love of traditional American comics.

Both their outfits are largely homemade, including her Harley suit consisting of a jester-style black-onred leotard, plus a giant hammer, an impressive construction made from two five-gallon buckets secured with bolts, with duct-taped ends and a handle made of PVC pipe.

Knoxville’s Michael Sharp, 22, learned sewing as a means of making his own costumes, including the hand-sewn Spider-man outfit he’s wearing at Fanboy.

“This isn’t the best mask I’ve made,” he admits, tugging at the exposed end of Spidey’s head cover, which is hanging a little loose around his Adam’s apple. “I’ve made one before that actually fits around the neck.”

His friend Caitlin Copen of Maryville accompanied him to Fanboy, dressed in a red-spandex Lady Deadpool (Marvel Comics) costume. She says she’s been into cosplay since age 10—she’s 17 now— spurred by comics, manga, and YouTube.

“I’m not so good at sewing—he helps me as much as possible,” she says, pointing a red-gloved finger in Sharp’s direction. Then she shows off Lady Deadpool’s arsenal, an array of blades and guns of her own design, adding, “but I do make my own props.”

When it comes to sheer ingenuity, not too many cosplayers have it over R.J. Foster, making an appearance today as “Dirk Astor,” a steampunk character of his own creation. Unlike most of the costumed conventioneers, Foster’s dress-up was born from reenactments and Renaissance fairs, which his father exposed him to at the tender age of 6. Along the way, he learned pieces of trades such as leather- and metal-working.

“You learn a lot by doing the Renaissance fair circuit,” says Foster,

R.J. Foster (left) has devised his own character, Dirk Astor, as well as the mysterious devices attached to his arms. The 43-year-old Harriman resident and his wife Joanna also make steampunk accoutrement with their company, Steps in Tyme Designs.

October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 19

a burly bearded 43-year-old Harriman resident. “It allows you to learn some skills, and pick a direction you enjoy.”

For Foster, it also led to a sideline, of sorts—his main gig is as a pharmacy advocate for Roane County Medical Center—when he started Steps in Tyme Designs (One of a Kind Steampunk Creations). Through Steps in Tyme, Foster and wife Joanna engineer jewelry, leather pieces, and other accoutrements and gizmos for fellow steampunk enthusiasts.

He shows off several examples of his work on his Dirk Astor outfit—a 300-hour project, by his estimate. A war veteran with sundry combat-relatAs any fan of Tim Burton can see, Aaron Martzin (left) is dressed as the Mayor of Halloween Town, from The Nightmare Before Christmas. (It was not clear whether Martzin could rotate his head to appear as either happy or sad, like a good politician should.)

20

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

ed debilitations, Dirk has steam-powered prosthetics on each arm, complete with tiny spinning wheels, and an elaborate mechanical back-up system on his chest, all utilizing gloriously imagined state-of-the-art 19th century tech.

Like Foster, many of today’s conventioneers have business or group affiliations associated with their cosplay. The aforementioned Rip “Joker” Elliott, a 20-something voice actor and Tae Kwon Do teacher, works with Time for Heroes, a local group that provides costumed characters for various events. “Spider-man” Michael Sharp works for Character Innovations, a local business that makes costumes on commission.

And then there is Aaron Tuggle of Rockwood, strutting around the convention floor as a very smug-looking Lex Luthor, the cape of his (presumably vanquished) arch-neme-

sis Superman draped across one arm.

In a soft, decidedly non-villainous drawl, Tuggle describes how he was pulled into cosplay by a friend about two years ago. A strikingly handsome fellow with a perfect, hairless pate, Tuggle soon found himself in demand to play various iconic comic-book baldies.

“It started with Professor X, and then the Kingpin,” Tuggle says with a Michael Sharp (below) not only sews his own Spiderman costume, but also his friend Caitlin Copen’s Lady Deadpool outfit. (She provided the arsenal.) Meanwhile, Aaron Tuggle portrays a post-’90s-era Lex Luthor so successfully that he takes his character on the road to make appearances at fan conventions across the country.

October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 21

Knoxville’s

HALLOWEEN

Horrors Here aRe mUlTipLe waYs to scare yoURself And youR lovEd oNes This Weekend

smile. “Then came Lex Luthor. Any bald character, they’d pull me in.”

Now Tuggle makes appearances through The Big Bang Life, a website devoted to various “geek life” fixations, traveling as a sort of post-’90sera Lex Luthor (when Lex transitioned from the doughy middle-aged criminal of Silver Age lore to the Armani-suited P90X super-executive of Bruce Timm cartoons) to various fan conventions, including the Superman Convention, held annually in Metropolis, Ill. “I actually purchased this in Metropolis,” says Tuggle, grinning again as he holds up a polished gem made of green kryptonite, and perhaps lending an ominous clue as to how that red cape came into his possession.

Indeed, cosplay isn’t just a hobby anymore—it’s a multi-faceted business, as outlined in a 2014 Business Insider article, “An Introduction into the Wild World of Cosplay.”

Still, it seems like a business that 22

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

is likely to remain close to its hobbyist roots, dependent as it is on practitioners who have no qualms about walking around in public dressed as a super-villain, or spending countless hours assembling a tolerably authentic-looking Darth Vader outfit from a detritus of Halloween cast-offs and spare parts.

His mutton-chop sideburns dyed an appropriate shade of Joker green (“I’ve only shaved for the Joker once,” he chuckles), Elliott wears his nerdism like a badge of honor. “We do a lot of charity appearances with Time for Heroes, and the costumed ‘interactions’ are the best,” he says. “The kids will light up like candles. People will run up and hug you, just because they love the character you’re playing.

“I’m a grown-up playing make-believe, and I love it.” ◆

@KNOXMERCURY.COM See the full gallery of cosplay costumes from Fanboy Expo at knoxmercury.com!

Thursday, Oct. 29

Friday, Oct. 30

LITTLE TYKES HALLOWEEN HIKE

NOT-SO-SCARY SPOOKTACULAR EVENT

Ijams Nature Center (2915 Island Home Ave.) • 10 a.m. • Free • ijams.org A tour of the creepy crawlies that live at Ijams. For kids 2-6. Call (865) 577-4717 to register.

FLEET FEET HALLOWEEN RUN

Fleet Feet (11619 Parkside Drive) • 6 p.m. • Free Get dressed up to run in your favorite Halloween costume.

DOWNTOWN RANDALL BROWN’S HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR

Scruffy City Hall (32 Market Square) • 9 p.m. • $3 Quartjar and Evil Twin will co-headline this event, seeking to conjure the spirit of the 1976 Paul Lynde Halloween Special, which was notably the first network TV appearance of KISS. Knoxville bon vivant Ricky Moon will channel Paul Lynde for the evening. Comedians Shane Rhyne and Tyler Sonnichsen will be funny. Rus Harper of Evil Twin has offered to portray Witchie Poo for the occasion.

Costumes encouraged.

MIDNIGHT MONSTER MASH CRUISE

Star of Knoxville Riverboat • 9 p.m. • tnriverboat.com The Secret City Cyphers host a floating Halloween party with more than 30 local musicians and MCs.

Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge (461 W. Outer Drive) • 10 a.m.-1 p.m. • Free-$8 • childrensmuseumofoakridge.org Activities for preschoolers on Oct. 30 and fun for kids of all ages on Oct. 31. The event includes making trick-or-treat bags, a Great Pumpkin scavenger hunt, a costume parade, story time, walk of courage in the rainforest, a mad scientist lab, and, of course, access to all museum exhibits.

FREAKY FRIDAY FRIGHT NITE

Mayor Bob Leonard Park (Watt Road) • 5-7 p.m. • Free Trick or treat around the park’s walking trail. For kids 12 and under.

WDVX HALLOWEEN EVE HOOTENANNY

Market Square • 5 p.m. • wdvx.com Live music with the Talking Heads tribute band Same as It Ever Was and jazz/folk oddball Jack Rentfro and his backing band, the Apocalypso Quartet.

HISTORIC SOUTHERN RAILWAY FALL FESTIVAL

Historic Southern Railway (300 W. Depot Ave.) • 5-9 p.m. • southernstationtn.com Games, face-painting, costume contest, cider, and live music. Admission is free. Tickets for activities will be on sale at the event.

MALL-O-WEEN

Knoxville Center Mall • 5 p.m. • Free Indoor trick or treating and a costume contest for kids 12 and under.

HEARTHSCARES BALL

James White’s Fort (205 Hill Ave. Southeast) • 7-10 p.m. • $75 • jameswhitesfort.org Spooky surprises await you at the fifth annual HearthScares Ball. Come dressed in your most impressive costume for dancing, frightening finger foods, a silent auction, costume contest, and other Halloween high jinks. Proceeds benefit preservation at James White’s Fort. 21 and up.

CRESTHILL CINEMA CLUB: ALICE IN WONDERLAND AND EARTHBOUND

Windover Apartments Clubhouse (301 Cheshire Drive) • 7:30 p.m. • Free • cresthillcinemaclub.com Cresthill Cinema Club offers an evening of otherworldly film fare, a knockout double feature of mind-bending fables: the 1933 live-action version of Alice in Wonderland and Earthbound (1940), another unusual exercise in phantasmagoria.

NIGHT OWL O’WEEN

Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage (8502 Kingston Pike) • 8 p.m. • $10 • facebook.com/ openchordmusic A night of, appropriately enough, local metal, hosted by local promoter Night Owl Music, authorities on all things heavy. With Summoner’s Circle, Mass Driver, Among the Beasts, Amour, and the Guild. There’s also a costume contest. All ages.

INTERNATIONAL HALLOWEEN DANCE PARTY Baptist Collegiate Ministries (1811 Melrose Ave.) • 9 p.m.-midnight • Free An epic Halloween dance party on campus, co-hosted by Bridges, I-Navs and the BCM.

Saturday, Oct. 31 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: BOOGERMAN LOOP

8 a.m. • Free What better way to spend Halloween than on the Boogerman Trail? Come for a leisurely hike on what some call the prettiest trail in Great Smoky Mountains’ Cataloochee Valley. Perhaps you will learn something about the Boogerman himself. It’s a 10-mile loop, rated moderate. Meet at Comcast (5720 Asheville Highway) at 8 a.m. Contact hike leader David Smith at dcshiker@bellsouth.net.

NOT-SO-SCARY SPOOKTACULAR EVENT

Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge (461 W. Outer Drive) • 10 a.m.-1 p.m. • Free-$8 • childrensmuseumofoakridge.org Activities for preschoolers on Oct. 30 and fun for kids of all ages on Oct. 31. The event includes making trick-or-treat bags, a Great Pumpkin scavenger hunt, a costume parade, story time, walk of courage in the rainforest, a mad scientist lab,

and, of course, access to all museum exhibits.

HALLOWEEN METAPHYSICAL FAIR

Illuminations Alternative and Holistic Health (8078 Kingston Pike) • 10 a.m.-6 p.m. • $5 • illuminationsknoxville.com A day of metaphysical fun with local vendors and practitioners of the metaphysical arts. Don’t forget your favorite Halloween costume.

CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY FAMILY FUN ON HALLOWEEN

Cancer Support Community (2230 Sutherland Ave.) • 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. • cancersupportet.org Wear your Halloween costume and join other families for some Halloween fun and games. With cancer in your family, chances are there is more stress for everyone. This Saturday Family Fun Day is sure to scare away the stress at least for a few hours. Lunch provided. RSVP. Call (865) 546-4661.

All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer.

BOO AT THE BARN

Horse Haven (2417 Reagan Road) • 1-4 p.m. • horsehaventn.org • $10 per carload Enjoy trick-or-treating in the main barn, collecting candy at each decorated stall. Meet the horses, who will be wearing their favorite costumes. Also, for those brave souls, enter the Barn of Terror. Activities include trick-or-treating, a pony kissing booth, horses in costumes, face painting, and much more.

CAC BEARDSLEY COMMUNITY FARM HARVEST FAIR

CAC Beardsley Community Farm (1741 Reynolds St.) • 1-5 p.m. • Free • beardsleyfarm.org Come celebrate the fall harvest at with a free family-friendly community event celebrating the farm, the community, and all things fall. Enjoy free food, children’s activities, live music, garden classes, and tours of the farm and Habitat Urban Garden nurseries. Halloween costumes are encouraged.

FALL FESTIVAL AT FIRST

First United Methodist Church Maryville (804 Montvale Station Road, Maryville) • 2-4 p.m. • Free • 1stchurch.org Before the children head out for trick-or-treating Halloween night, they’ll be able to enjoy a couple of hours of free fun at First United Methodist Church – Maryville. This is one of the biggest free events in Maryville with more than a thousand people coming out to enjoy the inflatables, games, hot dogs, popcorn, trunk-or-treating and more.

UNKNOWN HINSON WITH THE SQUIDBILLIES World’s Fair Park • 7 p.m. • $15 While singing his own hilariously politically incorrect songs, Unknown Hinson plays guitar in a style incendiary enough to have Satan himself reaching for the antiperspirant. But don’t dismiss him as a novelty act. He’s one hell of a talent and

has the music to prove it. A benefit for Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee.

OPEN CHORD HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA

Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage (8502 Kingston Pike) • 7 p.m. • $5 • facebook.com/ openchordmusic Featuring music by La Basura Del Diablo, celebrating the release of their new EP, Mistress of the Dark, and opening acts Deconbrio and the Jank and burlesque with the Chica Negra. Plus a costume contest and more.

SAPPHIRE MAD MAX HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION

Sapphire • 428 S. Gay St. • 7 p.m. • sapphireknoxville.com Sapphire goes post-apocalyptic for its 10th annual Halloween event. Dressing up isn’t required, but it’s recommended for maximum fun. With music

by DJ 4matiks.

FREAKERS BALL PUB CRAWL

The Old City • 8 p.m. • carleoentertainment.com Get admission to seven Old City bars and clubs for the price of one $10 wristband. Six venues—Hanna’s, Southbound, Carleo’s, 90 Proof, the Bowery, and the Wagon Wheel—will host their own Halloween costume contests, with the winners moving on to the late-night finals at NV. First prize is $500 and trip to New Orleans. All venues are 21 and up only, except NV and the Bowery, which are 18 and up.

FREAKIVAL

The International (940 Blackstock Ave.) • 8 p.m.

• $10-$40 • internationalknox.com Midnight Voyage and Temple dance night celebrate their second Halloween at the International and its adjacent club space, the Concourse, with three stages of EDM. Highlights include HeRobust, Huglife, Paerbaer, Ede Gee, and DJ Fallen.

Pilot Light Halloween Masquerade Show Pilot Light • 8 p.m. • $10 • thepilotlight.com Pilot Light’s annual Halloween lineup features local bands dressed up as your favorite bands, performing your favorite songs. 18 and up.

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Relix Variety Theatre (1208 N. Central St.) • 9 p.m. • $10 The Knoxville Transit Beams present a live shadow cast performance of the Halloween cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Come take part in a Halloween tradition with some pelvic thrusting, some insult hurling, and some thrills and chills that are guaranteed to fulfill you. Doors will open at 9 p.m. Preshow festivities, performances, games, and other surprises to follow. Show begins at midnight.

Sunday, Nov. 1

Curiosities (2627 Sutherland Ave.) • 6-9 p.m. • shopcuriosities.com Celebrate the Thinning of the Veil—Samhain, Halloween, All Saint’s Day, and Dia de los Muertos.

“Join your brothers and sisters in celebrating the end of the pagan year, where we honor our ancestors and loved ones who’ve passed and where we break out the brooms and pointy hats to play on our most famous holiday.” No cost, though cash donations or energy exchange items are welcome .

Ongoing BLOUNT MANSION STORIES

Blount Mansion (200 W. Hill Ave.) • Oct. 28-30 • $10 • blountmansion.org Spooky candlelight and flashlight tours of Knoxville’s oldest home, with activities for kids.

HAUNTED HISTORY CRUISES

Volunteer Landing • Through Oct. 31 • $15-$17 • navcal.com Board the S.S. Nightmare for a 45-minute family-friendly tour through Knoxville’s haunted waters.

HISTORIC CHEROKEE CAVERNS TRICK OR TREAT IN THE CAVE

Cherokee Caverns (8524 Oak Ridge Highway) • Through Oct. 31 • $8 • cherokeecaverns.com

KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: QUOTH THE RAVEN: TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE

Knoxville Children’s Theatre (109 E. Churchwell Ave.) • Through Nov. 8 • $12 • knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com A kids’ theater adaptation of Poe’s most macabre stories.

THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: DIAL “M” FOR MURDER

Theatre Knoxville Downtown (319 N. Gay St.) • Through Nov. 8 • $13-$15 • theatreknoxville.com Frederick Knott’s hit play about a murder plot gone wrong, which Hitchcock adapted for the screen.

Haunted Houses, Trails, And Mazes

Haunted attractions, ranging from trails and mazes to elaborate indoor productions with actors and special effects, have popped up all over East Tennessee in the last few years. Here’s a guide to the scare factories that are running this season around Knoxville.

@KNOXMERCURY.COM

For our list of haunted attractions in the Knoxville area, go to the online version of this article at knoxmercury.com!

SAMHAIN ANCESTORS OPEN CIRCLE RITUAL October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 23

Little Shop of

p e y e C r ra w l e r s C W

ERIC BROWN AND DANA COBB

When you enter Creature Seeker Oddities, you also enter the weird world of visual artist Eric Brown

BY APRIL SNELLINGS 24

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

hen you walk into Creature Seeker Oddities, you can’t shake the feeling that you’ve finally stumbled across one of those mythic shops that wasn’t here yesterday and won’t be here tomorrow.

The miniature, mummified centaur in the brightly lit vestibule is just the beginning. Keep going—past the cozy velvet armchair, past the glassed-in diorama of fleshy, sad-eyed creatures in colorful costumes, past the flea-market painting of an autumnal countryside that’s been altered to include UFOs, Mongolian death worms, and other classic cryptids—and you’ll reach the dark heart of the shop: a cavernous, red-walled space where a few dollars will buy you a dream (or a nightmare) of your choosing. A werewolf leers from a painting above the cash register; tentacles curl in liquid-filled spice jars; gape-mouthed worm creatures and two-headed fetuses rest in bell jars amid a clutter of other macabre props and sideshow gaffs. If you were in a movie, you’d almost certainly go home with a

maniacal, man-eating plant, or perhaps a furry little critter with a strict feeding schedule and a nasty water allergy.

Nestled between Comics Exchange and Uncle Easy’s Pawn Shop on Chapman Highway, Creature Seeker Oddities is the brainchild of Knoxville-based visual artist Eric Brown.

Brown has been sculpting and painting bizarre creatures and strange “relics” for more than a decade, first as a hobby and then professionally, under the moniker Creature Seeker Studios. With Creature Seeker Oddities, he finally has a physical space—besides his home workshop—to hawk his weird wares.

But after talking with Brown for a few minutes, you may get the impression that having a space to display and sell his work is only a happy byproduct of the pursuit that really drives him: He seems more interested in turning his favorite film, TV, and literary tropes into a tangible, real-world experience.

“In movies, when a little kid’s eccentric relative dies, they move into

the house and they start exploring,” explains Brown. “You have your study area, where people can hang out and have a cup of coffee and there’s art on the walls, but then you walk through our big vault door that we have there, and that’s where the collections of all the creepy things and creatures are.”

Though Brown is a lifelong fan of genre movies and television shows— he cites ’50s B-movies and sci-fi programs as big influences—he’s only been making creepy art for about a decade. He experimented with various media and styles while he paid the bills as a massage therapist, but nothing really resonated, either with buyers or with Brown himself.

“I tried all sorts of things,” says the self-taught artist. “I did watercolor paintings, and then I tried lots of crafty things that I thought would be marketable, but I hated them. I didn’t sell that many, actually, until I started doing creepy stuff and it just kind of caught on.”

The real turning point came when Brown discovered a very specific

Photos by Tricia Bateman

sub-genre of weird art: sculptures inspired by 19th and 20th century carnival sideshows. Once Brown realized there was a market for (fake) shrunken heads and mummified mermaids, he never looked back. Even his media of choice—polymer clay and papier-mâché— make him something of a torchbearer to the likes of Homer Tate, the sculptor who created some of America’s best-known sideshow attractions.

“Back in the day, Tate was one of the first people to really make sideshow exhibits, and he did a lot of papier-mâché work,” Brown points out. “He would create things like the Fish Girl and the Devil’s Child and shrunken heads and the Birdman.

Some of those are still around. We even have some old Homer Tate pieces at the Tennessee Valley Fair that are traveling around in the little freakshow tent. It’s definitely a tradition that people still love, and still collect. They like the unknown,

so they’re still interested in it. It’s good to keep that alive.”

Besides Brown’s own work, Oddities will serve as a gallery space for a host of painters, sculptors, and printmakers from across North America. Brown would rather talk about his fellow sideshow artists and prop makers than his influences from the traditional art world—he mentions Salvador Dali before steering the conversation back to his contemporaries, such as Florida prop maker Mark Frierson. Both Brown and his financial partner, Virginia-based computer programmer Dana Cobb, stress the importance of the weird-art community, and their dedication to making space for these often neglected artists.

“Seeing Eric’s work at a horror movie convention kind of opened up this world to me,” Cobb says. “I started seeing more and more of this art, and I wanted a place to showcase it. We’re kind of collecting the weird art that

people don’t get to see, and it’s exciting.”

Time and again throughout our talk, though, Brown shifts the topic from his art itself to the experience he hopes to create around it. He has ambitious plans to blur the lines between the imaginary real estate he loves, and the brick-and-mortar gallery space where he’ll spend six days a week. He cites J.K. Rowling’s Knockturn Alley as a model for what he hopes to create: a place where the mundane world stops at the threshold and, for at least a few minutes, patrons can stroll through a realm where anything is possible. He’s even adding interactive features to the shop, such as a tiny door that will open onto a miniature fairy room, and planning themed events.

“It’s a nice escape from reality, and if you’re going to do something for a living, you might as well make it fun,” Brown reasons. “This is a fun, fascinating world, and it would be great if it existed.” ◆ October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 25

A&E

P rogram Notes

were the subject of a successful short documentary, and played Bonnaroo. I don’t feel like we’re leaving any bullets in the chamber here.

As for next, I’m going to refocus my energy on Senryu, who have been incredibly supportive and patient.

We’ve already recorded a new album for spring 2016. [LiL iFFy producer] Tom [Ato] and I are also moving into a new project called Nuit Nuit, which is hard to describe, but a fair amount of it is what I would call experimental, satanic pop music. We’ve already recorded a full-length debut album for that group and are working on a grandiose, interactive live experience.

A

iFFy Conclusions

s 2015 winds down, so does the career of Wil Wright’s rapper persona, LiL iFFy, which began as a Harry Potter-themed hip-hop project in 2011 but has long since graduated from Hogwarts. Wright has announced that he’s hanging up his wand at the end of this year; he has two more local shows, including one at the Concourse on Friday, Oct. 30.

(See calendar for details.) We caught up with him to discuss the end of iFFy and what comes next. (Matthew Everett)

How many more LiL iFFy shows are left?

There are three shows left, starting with this Friday at the Concourse to raise money for WUTK. After that, we’ll go to Nashville for the Spoken Nerd EP release. Then one last show.

There were so many more great markets we wanted to hit one more time, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

When will the last show be held?

The final show will be on New Year’s Eve.

27 26

Anything special about this next show, besides the fact that it’s the next-tolast one in town?

Shelf Life New Music

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

28

How much can you say about the last show?

Can’t say too much yet, but Chyna [Brackeen, LiL iFFy’s manager] is working hard to make it an unforgettable experience.

Why are you hanging up the LiL iFFy name, and what’s next?

The main reason, honestly, is that it feels complete to me. In five years, we put out three Harry Potter-focused albums, an album-length collection of B-sides, a non-wizard full-length, several loose singles, toured many times, were on MTV News, won all these local awards, were twice chosen for Daytrotter’s Songs of the Year list,

It is special, because we’re doing it to help out WUTK and Benny Smith.

They’ve pushed my ideas for most of two decades. I love using iFFy to pump them up in return.

Is there anything that would convince you to keep up the LiL iFFy persona?

I’ve asked myself that a lot since I announced my plan almost a year ago.

And the answer is a “yes, but.” It would have to be something so massive that, if it were coming, I would know already. I have adored this project and my friends and I have poured our life into it. Giving it the respect to a decent end, while it still feels so good, is important to me. I want to punctuate it and remember that it stopped in an exciting, intentional light.

The main reason, honestly, is that it feels complete to me. … I don’t feel like we’re leaving any bullets in the chamber here.

Streaming Music, Knoxville-Style A new kind of live show has taken residency in Knoxville: the Ghost Motel, a new local web series, will broadcast performances by Johnny Astro and the Big Bang, the Hotshot Freight Train, Adam Whipple, and more from the end of October to mid-December.

From indie rock and metal to Americana and folk music, the series is designed to showcase various genres and styles of music, with a focus on artists who are a little left of center.

Interesting stories and sounds will always be considered, says Dylan Terflinger, the creator, operator, and producer of Ghost Motel.

The combination of live performance in a recording studio has presented specific opportunities and challenges for the performers. Joey English, the front man of one of Ghost Motel’s featured bands, Nocatula, noticed a difference between filming the broadcast and performing a typical live show.

“Matching it with your live experience adds something more, I think,” English says. “I’ve always struggled with recording because it lacks the energy that a live performance delivers. I think video helps bridge that gap a little more.”

For Kyle Adem (whose real name is Adeem Bingham), the raw presentation of the studio performance brings out a different side of an artist.

“It’s kind of a strange feeling,” Bingham says. “I think it’s really all in the performance. You have to channel the energy of the songs you’re playing and put the music on display. There’s no room for conversational asides or elaborate framing.”

The first installment of the Ghost Motel series, featuring Johnny Astro and the Big Bang, will be available at theghostmotel.com on Friday, Oct. 30. New episodes will appear every Friday through Dec. 18. (Marina Waters)

—WIL WRIGHT on his plan to retire LiL iFFy

Music: White Gregg

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Classical: Knoxville: Summer of 2015

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Video: Electric Boogaloo

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Movie: Jem and the Holograms

Shelf Life

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Young and Old, Big and Bold New jazz and classical CDs at the public library

BY CHRIS BARRETT (Deutsche Grammophon, 2015)

HENRY THREADGILL’S ZOOID In for a Penny, in for a Pound (Pi Recordings, 2015)

Here is the sound of fearless and gleeful musical exploration. Composer, bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Henry Threadgill has been dodging stasis and predictability for some 50 years. Although he’s made some of his most memorable music with large ensembles (see Very Very Circus and Society Situation Dance Band), it’s a treat to listen to him lead this quintet through some rapid problem-solving drills executed in tight quarters. While much of the playing is improvised, there is a functional, flattering structure. Threadgill has composed preludes that introduce showcase pieces for each of his collaborators— Elliott Kavee on drums and percussion, Christopher Hoffman on cello, Jose Davila on trombone and tuba, and Liberty Ellman on guitar.

EMANUEL AX AND ITZHAK PERLMAN Fauré & Strauss: Violin Sonatas

Let us never refuse a lesson from a master. Or in this case, two masters.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman just entered his seventh decade and has been performing as a virtuoso soloist since the age of 13. Pianist Emanuel Ax has enjoyed an equally illustrious career.

They are at a point where they can kindly muscle a label like Deutsche Grammophon to record and release a program that combines two of their favorite recital pieces—Gabriel Fauré’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 13 and Richard Strauss’ Violin Sonata in E flat major, Op. 18—which they have performed together, know by heart, and believe complement each other nicely.

Perlman’s finesse and expansive command of tone enlarges and rescues the Fauré.

JOHN HOLLENBECK Songs We Like a Lot (Sunnyside Records, 2015)

Composer/drummer/arranger John Hollenbeck thinks big ideas. On this recording, he has a big band to help him express them—the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, some 20 strong, which also commissioned these arrangements of covers and original compositions. Also on hand are voice soloists Kate McGarry and Theo Blackman. McGarry has the ideal

voice for “How Can I Keep From Singing?,” the English folk song often associated with Pete Seeger, who made it popular in America. Also notably fine is the Hollenbeck composition “The Snow Is Deep on the Ground,” which sets to music the poem by the often-overlooked Beat poet Kenneth Patchen.

BUY LOCAL OR

BYE, LOCAL When you want

JOEY ALEXANDER My Favorite Things (Motema Music, 2015)

If any of your college time touched upon linguistics, you’re probably aware of the short-lived biochemical wonder that Noam Chomsky called the Language Acquisition Device. It’s been shown that a young person can learn a language just by hearing it spoken.

Bali-born piano prodigy Joey Alexander (age 11 when he made this record) demonstrates what happens when one of the speakers a child overhears and learns from is Thelonious Monk.

Alexander leads a small ensemble through a charming set of standards, wisely skipping any tricks. The title cut, which most jazz fans associate with John Coltrane, is a good example of Alexander’s judgment: He plays it straight out of Rodgers and Hammerstein. This is a great first record, and makes one wonder: How long until there’s a prodigy raised on Henry Threadgill? ◆

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For more information call: 865-313-2048 or email: sales@knoxmercury.com

October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 27

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Music

Dark Corners White Gregg survives setbacks and emergencies to finally deliver its debut album

BY ERIC DAWSON

E

ric Lee is fond of referring to White Gregg as a “dumb rock band.”

There might be some defensiveness in the guitarist’s self-effacing statement, a way to preemptively ward off criticism from those who don’t consider rock ’n’ roll a worthy artistic pursuit and anyone who might judge his band for sounding different than most other bands.

The other members of the group—Jason Boardman on drums, Maggie Brannon on vocals, Damion Huntoon on bass, and Tyler Mucklow on guitar—convey a similarly cavalier attitude about White Gregg, manifested in the deliberately ridiculous name, their sophomoric stage banter, and a casual attitude toward band business.

So far, so typical “rock band,” but all this is worth noting because the

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music they make together as White Gregg sounds like it takes a lot of thought, a lot of effort, and a lot of arguing to compose and execute. A typical White Gregg song, if there is such a thing, has multiple parts and changes—lots of twists and turns. If that makes them sound proggy, it would be an abrasive post-punk prog.

And it’s nowhere near neat or nerdy enough to be called math rock.

Antecedents might be Captain Beefheart, U.S. Maple, This Heat, and The Flowers of Romance-era P.I.L. Not that they necessarily sound like those bands, but they seem to share with them a need to interrogate the dynamics of rock music and song form, an abhorrence for playing things straight. Live, it seems as though they set traps for themselves in much of

their music, and they do often flub a part here and there. On a night when they’re hitting all the right notes, it’s about as good as rock music gets, though it may take seeing them a few times to realize some of those notes are meant to be there.

Unfortunately, you won’t get a chance to see White Gregg live anytime soon. A medical emergency this summer resulted in the amputation of the tip of Lee’s left middle fi nger, causing the band to go on hiatus. The last time they played together was back in June, opening for Danish punk heartthrobs Iceage in Asheville.

After the show, word got back to them that Asheville resident Don Howland, of seminal punk blues bands Gibson Bros. and Bassholes, and one of Lee’s personal heroes, had called them brilliant. Closer to home, Tim Lee recently named Eric Lee as one of his favorite guitar players in an article on Knoxville music for web magazine the Bluegrass Situation.

The band was also asked by drummer Jon Colpitts, of Spiritualized and Oneida (one of Boardman’s favorite bands), to back him on two tours of his Man Forever project; a Pilot Light recording, which Colpitts called “the defi nitive version” of his piece, was released on cassette by a Czech label (in an edition of 70, so scoring a copy might be a problem, though you can listen to it on Bandcamp).

Fortunately, White Gregg just put out an album, Nice Spread, the second release on Boardman’s Striped Light label. (It’s available at local record stores and stripedlight. com.) Recorded in May 2012 at Scott

Minor’s Wild Chorus Studio, multiple delays—including the continuing backlogs at vinyl pressing plants— kept the record from being released until now. Lee’s injury meant they couldn’t play their own release show; instead, they opted for a Sunday afternoon brunch at Pilot Light that included the premiere of a video in which the band members edited one of their songs over another local band’s video and a “bass clinic” that was really a stand-up comedy routine.

It’s somewhat surprising a record got made at all. Lee has been playing around town for more than two decades, and other than a single and a few CD-Rs and tapes, little recorded evidence of his playing exists. “For me, recording is barely part of being in a band,” Lee says. “Ninety-nine percent of it is about being in a room with people playing. The rest is empty ritual.”

Even more surprising, White Gregg had a double album worth of material they were planning to record with Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio studio before they were sidelined by Lee’s injury. He’s recently starting to play again, but there’s some uncertainty about when and if they can reschedule the recording sessions. For now, they plan on starting up practice again, but these aren’t the kind of songs you can just pick up and nail after considerable time off.

“We’ll just play badly until we play well,” Boardman says.

A refrain from Brannon in the band’s song “Dark Corner” probably gets to the heart of the band better than anything: “We’re never comfortable without something horrible.” ◆

On a night when White Gregg is hitting all the right notes, it’s about as good as rock music gets, though it might take seeing them a few times to realize some of those notes are meant to be there.

Classical Music

Endless Summer UT premieres a modern response to Samuel Barber’s iconic Knoxville: Summer of 1915

BY ALAN SHERROD

K

noxvillians have generally approached Knoxville: Summer of 1915—both the prose poem by James Agee and the Samuel Barber work for voice and orchestra that was based on Agee’s text—with a fair measure of affection and pride. We’ve also felt a certain detachment from them. Both works depict a Knoxville that exists for us almost exclusively in the muted colors of old photographs and in hazy images we’ve constructed with wishful thinking. On the other hand, what might a new work about the Knoxville of today suggest about our current lives?

This new work, Knoxville: Summer of 2015, by composer Ellen Reid and librettist Royce Vavrek, receives its academic premiere this week, back to back with the Barber piece, in a Knoxville-centric concert at the Tennessee Theatre. The concert is a result of a special collaboration between the University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra and the UT Department of Theatre.

The Reid/Vavreck Knoxville: Summer of 2015 was commissioned by the New York-based Beth Morrison Projects and Vision Into Art. Reid was born in Oak Ridge and lived there through high school. She earned an undergraduate degree in musicology at Columbia University and a master’s at the California Institute of the Arts. However, it was in those formative high school years in Oak Ridge that another connection was made—Katy Wolfe, now a voice faculty member in UT’s theater department, was her voice teacher. Wolfe subsequently spearheaded this concert collaboration and will be the vocalist in the performance of Reid’s work.

“The story of the piece is that a person returns to Knoxville for their

great-grandfather’s 100th birthday,” Reid says. “And the story deals with the difference between the two lives.

“My own great-grandmother lived to be 106. She was born when people were still riding horses. She lived through Model Ts, modern cars, and Google. That collapsing of intense technical progress creates a distance and disconnect that is specific to our time. … The piece deals with that conflict between modernity and nostalgia that I think Knoxville definitely has.”

This week’s audience has the opportunity to feel that conflict between nostalgia and modernity as well. Reid’s work uses the same instrumentation as Barber’s piece, but in a musical context that is undeniably modern. Yet there are connections to the Barber work that influenced Reid’s.

“The instrumentation alone creates similar colors,” Reid says.

“The image I get is golden, like the golden hour when the sun is setting.

So just by using the same instruments, you get the same colors. … The Barber is much more pastoral than the Knoxville I see and know, so I wanted to reflect more complexity in my piece.”

The concert will also include the orchestra and the UT Chamber Singers in a performance of music from Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land and Knoxville history-derived readings from local historians and guest speakers.

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nd so it begins. The search for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s new music director and conductor entered a final stage last weekend with the first of six Masterworks concert pairs to be conducted by the candidate finalists. This first candi-

date was Marcelo Lehninger, a 36-year-old native of Brazil, who until last May had been associate conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he had held since 2010.

As part of the process, each of the six candidates selected his own program. Lehninger’s picks—early 20th-century works by Shostakovich, Ravel, Debussy, and Respighi—indicated his skill in constructing programs that are focused, thematic, and entertaining without being repetitious.

Lehninger also revealed his willingness—perhaps even eagerness—to depart from the conventional concert sequence—overture, concerto, symphony—by opening with the Shostakovich Symphony No. 1 in F Major, a work that itself twists convention a bit. The symphony, the composer’s graduation exercise from the Leningrad Conservatory at the age of 19, shows remarkable inventiveness and imagination in both structure and in assured writing for exposed solo instruments. It was in those exposed moments, underlined

by Lehninger’s beautifully chiseled balance, that practically every KSO principal had an eloquent or audacious phrase or two to contribute.

The second half of the program opened with Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane, a work originally written for violin and piano, but later orchestrated as a Concert Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra. In a move both logical and smart, Lehninger chose KSO concertmaster Gabriel Lefkowitz as his soloist, knowing full well Lefkowitz’s ability to captivate audiences with technique and musicality.

The first half of the piece is an extended violin solo, cadenza-like, that then sets up an energetic and colorful journey through gypsy-esque passages. The beauty of this piece is its seemingly brash, reckless abandon, but with judiciously applied brakes. Friday evening’s audience, relieved at having arrived at the conclusion without bodily harm, showed their own abandon with a substantial ovation for Lefkowitz and Lehninger.

Yet another showcase for the KSO players was the featured work of

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the evening, Ottorino Respighi’s orchestral tone poem, Pines of Rome.

While calling this work a showpiece is an understatement, the dazzling orchestration also demands that the conductor become a textural storyteller. Lehninger wove the instrumental colors in and out, allowing dynamics and punctuation to keep the tonal variety fresh.

The closing section, “Pines of the Appian Way,” was powerful, with extra trumpets and trombones positioned at the left and right of the Tennessee Theatre balcony. Although I was expecting, and listening for, the theater’s Mighty Wurlitzer (the score calls for pipe organ) to be used in that finale section, I never heard even a hint.

Although Lehninger was only the first of six KSO music director candidates appearing this season, he made a strong case for himself with his particular strengths: a crisp directorial technique, communicative body language, an impressive and entertaining interpretative grasp of the works on his program, and a warm and friendly stage persona.

Stay tuned for chapter two of the conductor search saga next month. ◆

WHAT

UT Symphony: Knoxville: Summers of 1915 and 2015

WHERE

Tennessee Theatre (604 S. Gay St.)

WHEN

Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m.

HOW MUCH $20

INFO

tennesseetheatre.com

October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 29

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Videos

Cannonball Run Cannon Group doc Electric Boogaloo shows today’s B-movie auteurs how it should be done

BY LEE GARDNER

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hypothesis: The streaming era has forced moviegoers into watching more mediocre movies than any other development in the history of cinema. Channeled into the limited options offered by online movie services, and faced with the poor job the services do in presenting their catalogs to viewers, we often wind up settling for sub-par indie dramedies, uninspiring documentaries, and cruddy horror and action.

Worst of all, most of these films are joyless exercises, not nearly as go-for-broke fun as they should be.

No one went for broke quite like Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus, two Israeli film lovers/hustlers who landed in Hollywood in 1979 by buying floundering schlock studio the Cannon Group. For the next decade, they would pump out dozens of the lurid, lowball flicks upon which the straight-to-video market was built, including such titles as American Ninja, The Last American Virgin, Deathwish 4: The Crackdown, and yes, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Along the way, they carved their names into the yielding young brain tissue of a generation. Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (Amazon, iTunes) tells their story in a way that’s more entertaining than many of their productions, which is actually saying something.

Neither the larger-than-life Golan nor Globus cooperated with filmmaker Mark Hartley, but many of their former collaborators and stars did, and their stories enliven a classic rise-and-fall yarn. Golan and Globus plied the exploitation trade, selling movies based on the posters and preying on the base desires of young filmgoers—boobs, blood, violence, monsters. But their genuine love of film and their thirst for success led

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them into spending too much money trying to make some good flicks instead of just making even more bad ones. Not that their decade-long run produced nothing worth savoring.

Tobe Hooper’s space-vampire epic Lifeforce lingers in many a nerdy heart, as do Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves and the slept-on action classic Runaway Train, among other less ironic winners. Jean-Luc Godard made a film for Cannon (King Lear), and so did Norman Mailer (Tough Guys Don’t Dance).

Hartley came to the Cannon story from having made the even more essential Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation, and he brings much of the same energy and glee to Golan and Globus’ careen through Hollywood’s triple-A league. While many of the former lackeys and B-movie stars who do talking-head turns here tell tales about the moguls’ pig-headedness or shady dealing, it sounds like everyone had a lot of fun, and it’s infectious.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about streaming services’ overwhelming catalog of low-budget single-set-small-cast horror flicks is that so few of them seem worth watching, even for free. But a few gems sparkle through now and then.

From the Dark (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, iTunes) explores the hitherto little-known concept of Irish vampires, as a peaty bloodsucker stalks a young couple lost in the depopulated countryside. Sometimes the things that make a movie work are so simple: Here, the vampire not only fears the sun, he’s repelled by any light, which leads to a string of tense and clever set pieces where survival hangs on a guttering candle or a dying cellphone.

Director Conor McMahon offers little

polish but plenty of rough urgency and dank dread.

Hidden (Amazon, iTunes) takes a less straightforward approach. Demistars Alexsander Skarsgard and Andrea Riseborough play parents living with their little girl in a vintage bomb shelter, hiding out from … something.

Writer/directors Matt and Ross Duffer work up to a big twist that isn’t quite as satisfying as it wants to be, in part because they do so well throughout the film’s first three quarters in resisting explanation, sprinkling information, building unease, and delivering up some big, organic scares. Not bad for a weeknight.

But the streaming services do deserve our thanks for disseminating some good/badness that’s gone unseen for years. Not that everyone’s going to fill their queues with the work of Walerian Borowczyk.

Argos Films recently restored Borowczyk’s Immoral Tales (1974) and The Beast (1975), and they have popped up for streaming (Netflix, Amazon, iTunes). Calling the films arty ’70s softcore is accurate, though

it doesn’t get at their beguiling power.

Both draw from classic European history and folklore—the former includes segments on Elizabeth Bathory and Lucrezia Borgia, while the latter reinterprets “Beauty and the Beast.” Both feature rampant nubile nudity and lurid sexual activity. Both are kind of nuts.

But that obsessiveness lends them oddball heft. Borowczyk trained as an artist, and his films are visually sumptuous by any standard. He has a way with landscape shots and gorgeous grace notes—the way the light from a stained-glass window falls on a priestly procession in Immoral Tales, say, or an insert of a snail crawling over a discarded silk slipper in The Beast. Yet he’d just as soon linger on a pert ass or a full-on ’70s pubic thicket, or lavish screen time on the giant oozing prosthetic phalli of the shaggy title creature in The Beast. Incest, bathing in blood, catfights, deformity, bestiality, all rendered beautifully by a skillful filmmaker, for some unfathomable but tantalizing reason. ◆

Movies

Unpolished Jem Jem and the Holograms’ epochal box-office failure isn’t quite deserved

BY APRIL SNELLINGS

B

y now, you’ve probably heard that Universal’s big-screen adaptation of Jem and the Holograms wasn’t just a box-office bomb; it was a suitcase nuke of terrible marketing and moviegoer apathy that barely managed to cross the $1 million mark, making for one of the worst wide-release openings in film history. The Internet was awash in schadenfreude Monday morning—when isn’t it?—as fans of the gloriously weird ’80s cartoon, already primed to hate the movie after its decidedly un-Jem-like trailer dropped in May, reveled in its failure.

I think that’s a shame, because the movie is actually a lot of fun, if you can somehow manage to divorce it from its source material. It’s sweet and dopey and charming and positively awash in glitter and things that are

pink. It’s not the movie Jem fans wanted; I know because I’m one of them, and I would’ve loved a live-action feature that was as bat-crap crazy as the show could be. Sign me up for the robot sharks and the friendly yetis and the guy who cheats on his girlfriend with his girlfriend in a holographic disguise—I loved it in 1985, and I love it now.

But that was never going to happen, even if director Jon M. Chu had been given more than $5 million to work with. Instead, he’s made a good-natured melodrama that wavers between winking camp and wide-eyed sincerity. Its setting is pointedly present day, with YouTube, Google Earth, and Snapchat figuring prominently in its gossamer-thin plot. But its glitter-and-glam visuals and

weirdly dated portrayal of the music industry are all ’80s.

Ryan Landels’ often saccharine and occasionally zippy script is a standard-issue rags-to-riches story.

(An immediate departure from the show’s arc, which was from riches to even more riches.) There’s not much by way of plot, but here goes: Aubrey Peeples stars as Jerrica Benton, a shy but talented suburban teenager who’s part of a tight-knit family that includes her younger sister, Kimber (Stefanie Scott), her Aunt Bailey (Molly Ringwald), and her two foster sisters, Aja (Hayley Kiyoko) and Shana (Aurora Perrineau). When a YouTube video of Jerrica performing a song she wrote goes viral, the girls are whisked off to Los Angeles and prepped for stardom by music mogul Erica Raymond

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( Juliette Lewis, who oozes malice and seems to have more fun than everyone else in the movie put together).

There’s a weird subplot involving a robot—the film’s version of Synergy— and a scavenger hunt; some brief and tension-free conflict that sees Aunt Bailey in danger of losing the family home; a few flashy musical numbers; and an awesome mid-credits tease for a sequel that’s never going to happen.

And then you get to go home.

Everything tells me I should’ve hated it, and I certainly went in thinking I would. But somehow—and, I suspect, completely by accident—it appealed to my undying nostalgia for ’80s pop culture. The look of it is partly responsible; the glitter and glamour departments are on point here, and if you like that sort of thing, Jem is worth seeing just for its vibrant, candy-store color palette and its New Wave-inspired makeup, wigs, and costumes. Whether or not it does so on purpose, it also taps into a specific kind of nostalgia by mimicking the cheese factor of teen-centric sitcoms from the ’80s and ’90s; some of its messaging is so heavy-handed, not to mention oft-repeated, that it makes Jessie Spano’s caffeine-pill freak-out seem subtle in comparison. It’s also loaded to the gills with nods to the show, so that’s something.

What ultimately makes it work for me, though, is its handling of the family dynamics at its center. As uneven and schmaltzy—and, yes, dumb—as this Jem can be, it still radiates warmth and positivity when it comes to how the girls relate to one another. Besides Erica’s delightfully campy brand of evil, there’s not an ounce of cattiness or spite on display.

It’s a movie about girls helping women, women helping girls, and girls helping each other. It would have been more at home on the Disney Channel than in a multiplex, but it’s nice enough for what it is.

I wish someone had had the guts to make a faithful Jem movie, and that the filmmakers had enlisted the show’s original writer, Christy Marx, for more than a cameo. But as a minor exercise in glitz and girl power, you could do a lot worse. ◆ October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 31

CALENDAR MUSIC

Thursday, Oct. 29 TYLER BRYANT AND THE SHAKEDOWN • The International • 8PM • Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown is a rock & roll band based out of Nashville. All ages. • $7-$10 JAY CLARK • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM DENDRITIC ARBOR WITH DOLORES DE HUEVOS AND COFFINWOMB • Indigenous Vibes Studios • 9PM • Black metal headliners from Pittsburgh are joined by Mexico City hardcore punks Dolores de Huevos and local electro punk wild men Coffinwomb. Donations will be accepted.

• $5 THE FRITZ • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 ANNA HAAS • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE HANDSOME AND THE HUMBLES • Market Square • 7PM • Handsome and the Humbles play old-fashioned heartland country-rock record, inspired by Uncle Tupelo, the Drive-By Truckers, Ryan Adams, and the Hold Steady, specializing in a kind of three-chord wistfulness. • FREE THE HOWLIN’ BROTHERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • The Howlin’ Brothers are a Nashville based string band composed of Ian Craft, Ben Plasse and Jared Green.

Anchored in a bed of old-time blues and bluegrass, their upbeat shows are heavy with original and traditional music, featuring the sounds of slide banjo, harmonica and old-time fiddle.

MIDNIGHT MONSTER MASH CRUISE • Star of Knoxville Riverboat • 9PM • The Secret City Cyphers host a floating Halloween party, with more than 30 local musicians and MCs. CHUCK MULLICAN JAZZ BONANZA • Red Piano Lounge • 8PM THE NEW APOLOGETIC WITH BRISTON MARONEY AND MOJO FLOW • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Join The New Apologetic to celebrate the release of “You’re Gonna Be Okay,” their second EP. • $5 QUARTJAR AND EVIL TWIN • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM • Quartjar and Evil Twin will co-headline the “Downtown Randall Brown Halloween Spooktacular” at Scruffy City Hall. The event will seek to conjure the spirit of the 1976 Paul Lynde Halloween Special, which was notably the first network TV appearance of KISS. Knoxville bon vivant Ricky Moon will channel Paul Lynde for the evening.

Comedians Shane Rhyne and Tyler Sonnichsen will be funny. Rus Harper of Evil Twin has offered to portray Witchie Poo for the occasion. Costumes encouraged.

Cover will probably be $5. •$5 THAT’S MY KID • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up.

THIRD EYE BLIND • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Since 1997, San Francisco’s Third Eye Blind have recorded four best-selling albums and assembled one career retrospective. •$35-$45 THE THIRST QUENCHERS • Mind Yer Ps and Qs Craft Beer and Wine Lounge • 8PM • The Ps and Qs house band.

A THOUSAND HORSES • Cotton Eyed Joe • 10PM • A Thousand Horses is a fresh fusion of classic sounds – a hybrid of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, Black Crowes and Exile on Main Street-era Rolling Stones, wrapped up in a modern-country context. •$10 YOUNG WIDOWS WITH REVERSE THE CURSE • Pilot Light • 9PM • Disregarding all boundaries and pushing forward with a masterful command of post-punk, noise rock, pseudo industrial, experimental doom, and goth, Young Widows emit the intimidating force of a 10-piece with the 32

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

Thursday, Oct. 30 - Sunday, Nov. 8

heart and soul of a classic power trio. •$10 Friday, Oct. 30 BACKUP PLANET WITH THE GREAT BARRIER REEFS • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM THE PAT BEASLEY BAND • Big Fatty’s Catering Kitchen • 6:30PM BOYS’ NIGHT OUT • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • Come in costume or as you are for a Carolina Beach Music party. •$15 KEITH BROWN • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM DIRTY POOL • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 10PM FREEQUENCY • Mulligan’s Restaurant • 8PM • Acoustic Americana trio.

FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE THE GEE BEES • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $5 KITTY WAMPUS • Rooster’s Sports Bar • 9PM • Classic rock, blues, and soul.

LIL IFFY WITH GAMENIGHT AND THE BILLY WIDGETS • The Concourse • 10PM • The end is upon us—Wil Wright, aka LiL iFFy, aka the world’s first Harry Potter-themed rapper, is retiring his hip-hop persona at the end of this year.

After four years and four full-length releases (nobody in town puts out more records than Wright), the scope of the project has grown wider and deeper, no longer limited to the wizard-school shtick. LiL iFFy’s fourth (and, barring any surprises, final) album, LiL iFFy, is an ambitious collection of woozy bass and alt-hip-hop, featuring guest appearances from Playboy Manbaby, Brandon Gibson, and Wright’s own long-running indie-rock band, Senryu. Proceeds benefit WUTK. 18 and up. • $5 • See Program Notes on page 26.

MARBLE CITY SHOOTERS • Casual Pint (Fountain City) • 7PM MAYFIELD WITH THE SKITZOIDS AND SHOCK AND AWE • Longbranch Saloon • 9PM MISERY AND GIN • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • • FREE NIGHT OWL O’WEEN • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Featuring Summoner’s Circle, Mass Driver, Among the Beasts, Amour, and the Guild. All ages. •$10 NOMARA WITH TRANSPARENT SOUL AND REIGN THE RAIN • The Bowery • 8PM • NoMara is a hard rock band with its roots planted in both Columbus, Ohio and Little Rock, ARK. Driven by lead singer Kelly Burdge and guitarist/producer John LeCompt (Even Devils Die/Evanescence/ Machina) the band recently completed their second CD and released a 5 song EP in January 2015. • $5-$9 CLARK PATERSON • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • • FREE BARRY ROSEMAN • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE JORDY SEARCH WITH EMISUNSHINE • WDVX • 12PM • FREE DAVE SLACK TRIO • Pero’s on the Hill • 7PM • Instrumental and vocal jazz standards.

WENDEL WERNER • Red Piano Lounge • 6PM TENNESSEE SHEIKS • Laurel Theater • 8PM • The Sheiks are mandolinist Don Cassell, singer Nancy Brennan Strange, lead guitarist Don Wood, bassist Will Yager, guitarist Barry “Po” Hannah, and percussionist Ken Wood.

Taking inspiration from the great Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, they describe their music as “acoustic swing.”

The Sheiks are known individually for their work with area bands and musicians for over 20 years working in bluegrass, old-time, jazz and swing idioms, including the Dismembered Tennesseans and Strange Company.

•$13-$14 TRAVIS PORTER WITH DJ DIRTY AND DJ A-WALL • The International • 10PM • Comprised of three unique

20-year-old MCs—“Strap” (Harold Duncan), “Quez” (Donquez Woods) and “Ali” (Lakeem Mattox)—the Atlanta rap trio is packing club-ready hooks, intricate rhymes, and down south swagger. • $10-$20 THE VALLEY OPERA • The Square Room • 8PM • After releasing their self-titled, debut demo in early 2015, The

Valley Opera hits the stage at the Square Room for the first time. The Valley Opera is a Knoxville area Americana/Roots band with lyrics that are honest, relatable and supported by contagious rhythm and raw passion in the instruments. TVO is excited to bring their growing fan base a show right here in the heart of

BEN FOLDS AND YMUSIC Tennessee Theatre (604 S. Gay St.) • Wednesday, Nov. 4 • 8 p.m. • $39.50-$54.50 • tennesseetheatre.com

Of all the people you might expect to hear on NPR arguing for the relevance of classical music, Ben Folds might not be on the list. But there he was in September, telling Linda Wertheimer that he’s become an unlikely advocate for high culture; when he performs with metropolitan orchestras at pops concerts, he says, he begs the audiences to come back for the serious stuff, like Shostakovich, Beethoven, and Mahler.

The subject of classical music came up, of course, because Folds was doing publicity for So There, his new album with the New York new-music ensemble yMusic. Much of So There sounds like standard Folds music, brittle and sometimes bitter little pop songs about despair and loneliness, this time augmented by a full chamber orchestra—strings, horns, percussion, the works. It’s not a big stretch from what Folds has done before, but it is another notable entry in the recent indie-classical crossover spearheaded by Bryce Dessner and Johnny Greenwood (and on which yMusic seems to have established its thriving young career). Closing the new album, though, is a full-fledged three-movement piano concerto composed by Folds and performed by the Nashville Symphony. It’s not a masterpiece—full of romantic flourishes and modernist digressions and quotes from film scores, it’s neither original nor particularly cohesive. But it’s a grand statement on Folds’ part—considerably easier to stomach than, say, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer’s Pictures at an Exhibition. (Matthew Everett)

35

Spotlight: Public Cinema: The Forbidden Room

CALENDAR downtown Knoxville. • $8 VOLATOMIX BREAKDANCE • Relix Variety Theatre • 8PM • Knoxville’s very own breakdance crew, with a mission to create an atmosphere that fosters self-expression, creativity, and originality. The crew performs with accompaniment by Kukuly and the Gypsy Fuego and Swingbooty. •$7 WENDEL WERNER • Red Piano Lounge • 6PM THE WHISTLES AND THE BELLS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM •The Whistles and the Bells is the redirection of artist Bryan Simpson. The forthcoming eponymous debut was engineered by multi-Grammy winner Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Thile, Keb Mo, Jars of Clay).

Saturday, Oct. 31 JOHN CONDRONE • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE THE DIRTY DOUGS • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM Fort Defiance • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • Fort Defiance is high-energy folk trio from Nashville, Tennessee, born from the solo careers of multi-instrumentalists Jordan Eastman and Laurel Lane. • FREE FREAKIVAL • The International • 9PM • The International opens up both venues for its second annual Halloween blowout, featuring Herobust, Huglife, Paerbaer, and many more. 18 and up. • $10-$40 HARRISON ANVIL WITH THE COVERALLS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. •$5 KITTY WAMPUS • Billiards and Brews • 8PM • Classic rock, blues, and soul.

OPEN CHORD HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 7PM • Featuring music by La Basura Del Diablo , celebrating the release of their new EP, Mistress of the Dark, Deconbrio, The Jank, and burlesque with The Chica Negra. Plus a costume contest and more. •$5-$10 PILOT LIGHT HALLOWEEN MASQUERADE SHOW • Pilot Light • 8PM • Local bands pay tribute to their favorite local bands at this annual Halloween costume show. • $10 THE RERUNS • Pero’s on the Hill • 7PM • Knoxville’s premier TV band plays your favorite television themes.

SHIFFTY AND THE HEADMASTERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria •10PM •A 10-piece tour de force covering the gamut of classic mid ‘70s to ‘80s rock.

BEN SHUSTER • Bearden Field House • 9PM • • FREE SIDECAR SYMPOSIUM • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up. • FREE SOUTHBOUND • Two Doors Down (Maryville) •10PM VANCE THOMPSON • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE TINA TARMAC AND THE BURNS WITH HUDSON K • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM • On its self-titled debut EP, released in December, Tina Tarmac and the Burns offer a survey of classic ’70s and ’80s rock—proto-punk, punk rock proper, power pop, arena-ready hard rock. You can hear echoes of the Ramones, Kiss, the Runaways, Patti Smith, the Dictators, Sonic Youth, and Cheap Trick in the Burns’ hard-charging, melodic riff rock. A cover of the Shangri-Las’ deep cut “Heaven Only Knows” gets a treatment that’s halfway between early Clash and Joan Jett. It’s so straightforward and accessible that it defies description beyond just “rock ’n’ roll.” 21 and up.

UNKNOWN HINSON WITH THE SQUIDBILLIES • World’s Fair Park • 7PM •While singing his own hilariously politically incorrect songs, Unknown Hinson plays guitar in a style incendiary enough to have Satan himself reaching for the antiperspirant. But don’t dismiss him as a novelty act.

He’s one hell of a talent and has the music to prove it. A benefit for Second Harvest.

THE WILL YAGER TRIO • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM Sunday, Nov. 1 JEREMIAH DALY • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 THE RANSOM NOTES • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM • Drawing inspiration from genres such as bluegrass, folk, Americana, and Celtic fiddling, The Ransom Notes has enthralled audiences for nearly two decades SHIFFLETT AND HANNAH • The Bistro at the Bijou • 12PM • Live jazz. • FREE DAVE SLACK TRIO • Pero’s on the Hill • 1PM • Live jazz.

SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH • Downtown Grill and Brewery • 12:45PM • Knoxville’s coolest jazz artists perform every Sunday. • FREE YOUNG THE GIANT WITH WILDLING •Tennessee Theatre •8PM •Young the Giant’s sound is as uniquely diverse and eclectic as its five members. Sameer Gadhia, Payam Doostzadeh, Jacob Tilley, Francois Comtois and Eric Cannata hail from, surprisingly, Newport Beach, California. An assembly of international names and assorted backgrounds that combine to produce a refreshing brand of sun soaked Indie rock. With lush experimental compositions complimented by subtle yet infectious pop hooks and unique, soothing vocals, it is a sound all their own. •$28 Monday, Nov. 2 ALL THAT REMAINS AND WE CAME AS ROMANS: THE HARDDRIVE LIVE TOUR • The International • 6:30PM • Given the world’s unpredictability, survival requires reaction.

With so many factors beyond our control, the focus of life often becomes about how we respond to these outside forces. The same can be said for music. Regardless of how trends ebb and flow, artists must react appropriately in order to thrive and survive. Since 1998, All That Remains continue to progress, while clenching steadfast to the principals that etched their place at the forefront of 21st century hard rock. On their seventh full-length album, The Order of Things [Razor & Tie], the Massachusetts outfit—Phil Labonte [vocals], Oli Herbert [guitar], Mike Martin [guitar], Jeanne Sagan [bass], and Jason Costa [drums]—preserve an ethos of evolution. All ages. • $21.50-$79 DOLLYWOOD STRING BAND • WDVX • 12PM • FREE JOSIAH EARLY • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Josiah Early hails from Linville, Virginia, a small farming town nestled in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. The son of a Mennonite Minister, he grew up listening to hymns every Sunday at church and bluegrass and country music just about everywhere else. This rich tapestry of sound is the inspiration for Josiah’s music.

MIGHTY MUSICAL MONDAY • Tennessee Theatre • 12PM • Wurlitzer meister Bill Snyder is joined by a special guest on the first Monday of each month for a music showcase inside Knoxville’s historic Tennessee Theatre. • FREE SCRUFFY CITY JAZZ BAND AND JAM • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM Tuesday, Nov. 3 DAISY HEAD WITH FOSSIL YOUTH • Longbranch Saloon • 10PM KNOXVILLE JAZZ ORCHESTRA: THE CARIBBEAN TINGE • The Square Room • 8PM • Elio Villafranca is at the forefront of the latest generation of remarkable Cuban pianists, composers and bandleaders that has been making major creative contributions to the international development of October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 33

CALENDAR modern jazz. His unbelievable command of the instrument and deep understanding of a diverse array of musical styles makes him a favorite of musicians, critics and audiences alike. The program will feature brand new arrangements exploring the richness and vitality the Caribbean musical tradition. • $15-$32.50 MARYLEIGH ROOHAN • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE MARYLEIGH ROOHAN • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • “The wisdom of an old soul in the body of a young, yearning individual.” Whether it’s her dynamic and passionate performances, or her poignant and honest songwriting, this sentiment has been expressed throughout Roohan’s career. With a style that shifts seamlessly from sunny indie pop to heartfelt Americana and a stage presence that’s full of dynamic soul, she’s an entrancing presence who is making waves.

Wednesday, Nov. 4 DEAD MAN STRING BAND • Longbranch Saloon • 8PM EARPHUNK • The Concourse • 9PM • An organic balance of heavy-pocket funk and reckless prog-driven guitar explosions, or “prog-funk”, as the band refers to it. 18 and up. • $10-$15 BEN FOLDS AND YMUSIC • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • $39.50-$54.50 • See Spotlight on page 32.

THE PHILLIP FOX BAND • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.

FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose •

Thursday, Oct. 30 - Sunday, Nov. 8

6:30PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE KJO JAZZ LUNCH • The Square Room • 12PM • On the first Wednesday of every month, Knoxville Jazz Orchestra presents Jazz Lunch. Every month we will bring you a new performance to serenade you with a mix of classical and modern Jazz music. The schedule includes a tribute to Gene Harris with pianist Keith Brown (Oct. 7); Spirko & Boyd play the music of the Adderley Brother(Nov. 4); a tribute to Woody Shaw with Alex Norris (Dec. 2); Kayley Farmer sings the Rodgers and Hart songbook (Jan. 6); a tribute to Ethel Waters with Tamara Brown (Feb. 3); a tribute to Ahmad Jamal with Justin Haynes (March 2); and Mike Baggetta plays Patsy Cline (April 6). • $15 KELSEY’S WOODS WITH TRAE CROWDER • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7PM • Knoxville alt-country band Kelsey’s Woods plays songs from their rowdy and rockin’ record, When the Morning Comes Around. “Intellectual redneck comic” Trae Crowder of Knoxville performs around the country and at various comedy festivals. He’s currently in the NBC Universal Talent Infusion Program, and his set on Tennessee Shines will preview his performance at the upcoming Scruffy City Comedy Festival, November 11-13. • $10 SCRUFFY CITY JAZZ BAND • Red Piano Lounge • 8PM PRESTON SHIRES • The Bistro at the Bijou • 7PM • Live jazz.

• FREE TOUGH OLD BIRD WITH JESSE DANIEL EDWARDS • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-aweek lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything

else. • FREE Thursday, Nov. 5 DAVE GLEASON • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE MIC HARRISON AND THE HIGH SCORE • Scruffy City Hall • 6PM • Part of WDVX’s 6 O’Clock Swerve series.

THE HIGH DIVERS WITH CAITLIN HARNETT • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.

KITES • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM AUSTIN MILLER • Sugarlands Distilling Co.(Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE KIP MOORE WITH MICHAEL RAY • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Singer-songwriter Kip Moore combines a raw and rustic voice with compelling lyrics of honesty to create a unique sound that’s simultaneously hypnotic and edgy. • $32.50-$119 MOTION THEATRE • Longbranch Saloon • 9PM RODNEY PARKER AND CHARLIE SHAFTER • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM SANDY PATTY • Niswonger Performing Arts Center (Greeneville) • 7:30PM • $30-$100 SIOUX CITY KID WITH RYAN MARTIN • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up.

THE THIRST QUENCHERS • Mind Yer Ps and Qs Craft Beer and Wine Lounge • 8PM • The Ps and Qs house band.

WDVX WORLD CLASS BLUEGRASS: BLUE HIGHWAY AND TONY JOE WHITE • Bijou Theatre • 7PM • WDVX presents World Class Bluegrass featuring an evening with Blue

JOIN US THIS FRIDAY for smoked chicken sandwiches from the former Rouxbarb smoker!

NON SMOKING INSIDE

Highway and American music legend Tony Joe White at the Bijou Theatre on Thursday, November 5th. Blue Highway will preform familiar favorites and new songs.

Tony Joe White will play his classic hits like “Rainy Night in Georgia”, “Polk Salad Annie” and songs from his recent Hoodo release. • $28.50 WSP TRIO • Red Piano Lounge • 8PM Friday, Nov. 6 AMERICAN FOLK • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up. • FREE BADLANDS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.

BOLING-HAMMER-HARRIS • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM BOYD’S JIG AND REEL • 10PM • • FREE FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE MARK HOSLER • Pilot Light • 10PM • Mark Hosler is a founding member of the group Negativland, which since 1980 has created records, video, radio and live performance using appropriated sound, image and text.

18 and up. • $6 JASON ISBELL WITH CORY BRANAN • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • $35-$45 J. LUKE • Bearden Field House • 9PM • FREE KELSEY’S WOODS • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 10PM • The new album from Kelsey’s Woods, When the Morning Comes Around, has the full complement of roots-rock signifiers, from pedal-steel guitar, Hammond organ, and mandolin to songs about the open highway and references to Merle Haggard.

CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN EARLY THIS SATURDAY WITH OUR 3RD ANNUAL PIG ROAST!

We will be opening early at 11am and will start serving at NOON.

LIVE TRIVIA EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT AT 7:30PM WITH T.N.T. Free to play.

• GREAT NEW HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS EVERY DAY 4PM-8PM ALL DRAFTS $1 OFF • DAILY SPECIALS Est. 1997

NEW PAT

Mon-Sat: 4pm-3am Sun: 6pm-3am 124 Northshore Dr NW, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919 865-584-5161

Check our facebook page for upcoming events!

34

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

IO

(SMOKIN G NON-SMO & KING)

Thursday, Oct. 30 - Sunday, Nov. 8

PAMELA KLICKA • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz.

• FREE CHUCK MEAD AND HIS GRASSY KNOLL BOYS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM MIDNIGHT VOYAGE LIVE: GOVINDA AND MAGMABLOOD • The Concourse • 10PM • Presented by Midnight Voyage and WUTK. 18 and up. • $10-$15 THE STACY MITCHART BAND • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • The “Blues Doctor” comes to Knoxville to make a much needed house call. • $10-$15 MATT PRATER WITH CITY HOTEL • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE ROOTS OF A REBELLION WITH TREEHOUSE • Scruffy City Hall • 10PM DAVE SLACK TRIO • Pero’s on the Hill • 7PM • Instrumental and vocal jazz standards. • PAUL THORN • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • $20-$22 TUT AND THE HOUSE BAND WITH THELO-QUE • Longbranch Saloon • 9PM WILLIAM WILD • The Square Room • 8PM • William Wild’s inaugural release pays homage to the musical pioneers of the counterculture revolution with their uniquely dynamic synthesis of 1960’s folk and 1970’s rock ‘n’ roll. • $12 MATT WOODS WITH JEFF SHEPHERD AND RYAN SHELEY • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8:30PM • After the 2014 release of With Love From Brushy Mountain, Matt has done little else but tour constantly and, before getting to work on his 3rd studio album, he’s taking the show on the road one more time with the band in tow, presenting the songs like you’ve never heard them before.

Saturday, Nov. 7 AMERICAN FOLK WITH ADDISON JOHNSON • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE WILL BOYD • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM THE BURNIN’ HERMANS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM THE CELTS • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • • FREE STEVE KOVELCHECK • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE JEFFREY LEWIS AND LOS BOLTS • Pilot Light • 10PM • Born and raised New Yorker Jeffrey Lewis leads a double-life, as both a comic book writer/artist and a musician (or is that a triple-life?). His band also has a multi-faceted existence, restlessly exploring a stylistic swath from contemplative folk narratives to distortion-fueled garage rock to soundscape abstractions and more. 18 and up. • $6 SAM LEWIS WITH RYAN JOSEPH ANDERSON • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Maryville) • 8PM • $10 MARADEEN WITH FRAUG • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.

NUTHIN’ FANCY • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 10PM RODNEY PARKER, CHARLIE SHAFTER, AND RED SHAHAN • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • For over a decade, Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward have lingered on the fringes of the Texas Music Revolution, building a cult following of fans who thirst for a sound more cerebral and musical than what the status quo has had to offer. Charlie Shafter is a young singer-songwriter with an old soul – and a knack for forging a connection with just about anyone who crosses paths with his songs. And while Red Shahn has only a total of seven recorded

CALENDAR

songs to date, he’s arguably the most influential voice Lubbock has seen in the past decade. • FREE PLACE OF SKULLS WITH ENCOUNTER ETERNAL AND CRITICAL SITUATION • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Local Christian doom band Place of Skulls, led by guitar hero Victor Griffin (of Pentagram) headline a heavy-music benefit for Share Our Soles. Admission is one pair of new or lightly worn shoes, or a cash donation.

THE RERUNS • Pero’s on the Hill • 7PM • Knoxville’s premier TV band plays your favorite television themes. • BEN SHUSTER • Bearden Field House • 9PM • • FREE SMOOTH SAILOR • Scruffy City Hall • 10PM WINTER SOUNDS • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up.

Sunday, Nov. 8 LOOK HOMEWARD • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM • Look Homeward is a band of brackish brethren hailing from the piedmont of North Carolina.

SHIFFLETT AND HANNAH • The Bistro at the Bijou • 12PM • Live jazz. • FREE SIRENS WITH THE FINE CONSTANT, THE ART OF, VERSE

VICA, AND DIALECTS • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 6PM • All ages. • $10 DAVE SLACK TRIO • Pero’s on the Hill • 1PM • Live jazz.

SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH • Downtown Grill and Brewery • 12:45PM • Knoxville’s coolest jazz artists perform every Sunday. • FREE

OPEN MIC AND SONGWRITER NIGHTS

Friday, Oct. 30 TIME WARP TEA ROOM OPEN SONGWRITER NIGHT • Time Warp Tea Room • 7PM • Songwriter Night at Time Warp Tea Room runs on the second and fourth Friday of every month. Show up around 7 p.m. with your instrument in tow and sign up to share a couple of original songs with a community of friends down in Happy Holler. • FREE Sunday, Nov. 1

PUBLIC CINEMA: THE FORBIDDEN ROOM Pilot Light (106 E. Jackson Ave.) • Tuesday, Nov. 3 • 7:30 p.m. • Free • publiccinema.org

Darren Hughes, one of the organizers of the Public Cinema series, describes Guy Maddin’s new feature, The Forbidden Room, as “insane, even by Guy Maddin standards.” If you’ve seen My Winnipeg, Cowards Bend the Knee, The Saddest Music in the World, or any of the Canadian director’s other features, you’ll realize that’s a powerful declaration. And based on the trailer, it’s accurate.

For his entire 30-year career, Maddin has been obsessed with antiquated methods of filmmaking—his movies, often free of dialogue and set to classical music scores, tend to look old as soon as they’re finished, and mix surrealism with slapstick and Eisenstein-style montage, all reflecting his interest in history and memory. The Forbidden Room promises to take it all up a notch—it appears to be a heady, brain-warping assemblage, inspired equally by instructional filmstrips, sci-fi serials, Das Boot, Jack London, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Fritz Lang. Count on it being unlike anything else you’ll see on a big screen (well, a medium-sized one, anyway) this year or any other. (Matthew Everett)

October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 35

CALENDAR NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE CIRCLE •Ijams Nature Center •4PM •Meets the first Sunday of the month. All levels welcome. Call Ijams to register 865-577-4717 ext.110.

Tuesday, Nov. 3 PRESERVATION PUB SINGER/SONGWRITER NIGHT • Preservation Pub • 7PM • A weekly open mic.

OLD-TIME JAM SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Hosted by Sarah Pickle. • FREE Wednesday, Nov. 4 TIME WARP TEA ROOM OLD-TIME JAM • Time Warp Tea Room • 7PM • Regular speed old-time/fiddle jam every Wednesday. All instruments and skill levels welcome.

BRACKINS BLUES JAM • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM • A weekly open session hosted by Tommie John. • FREE LONGBRANCH ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC NIGHT • Longbranch Saloon • 9PM Friday, Nov. 6 TIME WARP TEA ROOM OPEN SONGWRITER NIGHT • Time Warp Tea Room • 7PM • Songwriter Night at Time Warp Tea Room runs on the second and fourth Friday of every month. Show up around 7 p.m. with your instrument in tow and sign up to share a couple of original songs with a community of friends down in Happy Holler. • FREE

Thursday, Oct. 30 - Sunday, Nov. 8

Top 40 hits with DJ Ray Funk.

Saturday, Oct. 31 RETRO DANCE NIGHT • Hanna’s Old City • 9PM • 80s and Top 40 hits with DJ Ray Funk.

Sunday, Nov. 1 LAYOVER BRUNCH • The Concourse • 12PM • Brunch food

By Localmotive. Music on the patio. Presented by Midnight Voyage Productions. All ages. • FREE Friday, Nov. 6 RETRO DANCE NIGHT • Hanna’s Old City • 9PM • 80s and Top 40 hits with DJ Ray Funk.

Saturday, Nov. 7 RETRO DANCE NIGHT • Hanna’s Old City • 9PM • 80s and Top 40 hits with DJ Ray Funk.

NOVEMBER 7 • Temple Dance Night • The Concourse • 9PM • Knoxville’s long-running alternative dance night. 18 and up.

Sunday, Nov. 8 LAYOVER BRUNCH • The Concourse • 12PM • Brunch food

by Localmotive. Music on the patio. Presented by Midnight Voyage Productions. All ages. • FREE

DJ AND DANCE NIGHTS CLASSICAL MUSIC Friday, Oct. 30 RETRO DANCE NIGHT • Hanna’s Old City • 9PM • 80s and

Thursday, Oct. 29 MARBLE CITY OPERA: GHOSTS OF CROSSTOWN • Scruffy City Hall • 7 p.m. • The art deco Sears Crosstown Building

in Memphis is one of those structures that, in having a life, has affected many other lives. In 2010, after sitting unused for 17 years, the building began to see a new life with the formation of Crosstown Arts, an organization with the goal of resurrecting the building using arts and culture as a catalyst for creating “a mixed-used vertical urban villageâ€? called Crosstown Concourse. The effect that the building had on lives was the basis for The Ghosts of Crosstown, a cycle of five short operas created in 2014 under the auspices of Opera Memphis. The libretti for all five pieces was written by Memphis writer Jerre Dye and tell stories of people who worked in, shopped in, or lived near the majestic old building. Each short piece has a different composer.. Visit marblecityopera.com. • $20 Friday, Oct. 30 UT VIOLA CELEBRATION • University of Tennessee • The Viola Celebration is a weekend workshop of master classes, recitals and ensemble performances with renowned guest violists. Registration and fee are required. For more information and to register, see: music. utk.edu/violacelebration.

UT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: “KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 2015â€? • Tennessee Theatre • 7:30PM • The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Symphony Orchestra is poised to present the academic premiere of “Knoxville: Summer of 2015,â€? a musical sequel to Samuel Barber’s famous “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,â€? which featured lyrics borrowed from James Agee’s prose poem of a similar name. The concert is a collaboration of the School of

Music and the Department of Theatre and will feature instrumental, vocal and text performances. •$20 • See Classical Music on page 29.

Saturday, Oct. 31 UT VIOLA CELEBRATION • University of Tennessee • For more information and to register, see: music.utk.edu/ violacelebration.

Sunday, Nov. 1 UT VIOLA CELEBRATION • University of Tennessee • For more information and to register, see: music.utk.edu/ violacelebration.

KSO CHAMBER CLASSICS: MOZART AND MORE • Bijou Theatre • 2:30PM • The Chamber Orchestra will perform Mozart’s Serenade K. 525, known as “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.â€? The program continues with Wagner’s Seigfried Idyll and will conclude with two Mozart pieces, Serenade No. 12 and Symphony No. 35, “Haffner.â€?

Sunday, Nov. 8 KNOXVILLE CHORAL SOCIETY: IN PRAISE OF HEROES • Tennessee Theatre • 6:30PM • The Knoxville Choral Society, accompanied by members of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presents its fall concert, “In Praise of Heroes,â€? with a pre-concert talk by Dr. Eric Thorson at 5:45 P.M.. This concert pays tribute to heroes throughout our nation’s history, from the forging of our nation through the tragedy on 9/11. The program is comprised of musical Americana and patriotic pieces, including Crocker’s “Festival of Freedomâ€? and Kirkland’s “Salute to the Armed Forcesâ€?. The concert will conclude with a tribute to the

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THEATER AND DANCE

Thursday, Oct. 29 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: QUOTH THE RAVEN: TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Knoxville Children’s Theatre will present Quoth The Raven: Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, a stage adaptation of the writings of Edgar Allan Poe for children and families, especially for Halloween. Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 RISING SUN THEATRE: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE •Rising Sun Theatre •7:30PM •Two charming and innocent ladies who populate their cellar with the remains of socially and religiously “unacceptable” roomers; the antics of their brother who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt; another brother who is a drama critic (who hates the theatre) and another brother who cringes when people say that he resembles Boris Karloff. A tried and true comedy. Oct. 22-31. Visit risingsuntheatre.com. • $15 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • It’s the end of everything in contemporary America. A future without power! What will survive? In post-apocalyptic Northern California, a group of strangers bond by recreating an episode of “The Simpsons.” From this meeting, memories of Marge and Homer become the basis for shaping a new society as the play travels decades into the future. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com.

Oct. 28-Nov. 15.

THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: DIAL “M” FOR MURDER • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Tony Wendice has married his wife, Margot, for her money and now plans to murder her for the same reason. He arranges the perfect murder. Unfortunately, the murderer gets murdered and the victim survives. Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit theatreknoxville. com. • $15 Friday, Oct. 30 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: QUOTH THE RAVEN: TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. •$12 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. Oct. 28-Nov. 15.

RISING SUN THEATRE: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE • Rising Sun Theatre • 7:30PM • Oct. 22-31. Visit risingsuntheatre.com. • $15 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: DIAL “M” FOR MURDER • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. •$15 Saturday, Oct. 31 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: QUOTH THE RAVEN: TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 1PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. Oct. 28-Nov. 15.

RISING SUN THEATRE: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE • Rising Sun Theatre • 7:30PM • Oct. 22-31. Visit risingsuntheatre.com. • $15 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: DIAL “M” FOR MURDER • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. •$15 Sunday, Nov. 1 LET IT SHINE •Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) •2PM • Let It Shine is a play to raise your hearts and spirit in

CALENDAR

song and fellowship. Nov. 1-8. Visit www.claytonartscenter.com. •$14 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 2PM • Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. Oct. 28-Nov. 15.

KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: QUOTH THE RAVEN: TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 3PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: DIAL “M” FOR MURDER • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 3PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13

in song and fellowship. Nov. 1-8. Visit www.claytonartscenter.com. • $14 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 2PM • Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. Oct. 28-Nov. 15.

TENNESSEE STAGE COMPANY: MY THREE ANGELS • Historic Southern Railway Station • 8PM • Nov. 5-15. Visit tennesseestage.com. • $15 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: DIAL “M” FOR MURDER • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. •$15

Wednesday, Nov. 4 LET IT SHINE • Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) • 7PM • Let It Shine is a play to raise your hearts and spirit in song and fellowship. Nov. 1-8. Visit www.claytonartscenter.com. • $14 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. Oct. 28-Nov. 15.

Sunday, Nov. 8 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: QUOTH THE RAVEN: TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 3PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 LET IT SHINE •Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) •2PM • Let It Shine is a play to raise your hearts and spirit in song and fellowship. Nov. 1-8. Visit www.claytonartscenter.com. •$14 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 2PM • Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. Oct. 28-Nov. 15.

TENNESSEE STAGE COMPANY: MY THREE ANGELS • Historic Southern Railway Station • 3PM • Nov. 5-15. Visit tennesseestage.com. • $15 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: DIAL “M” FOR MURDER • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 3PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13

Thursday, Nov. 5 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: QUOTH THE RAVEN: TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. •$12 LET IT SHINE • Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) • 7PM • Let It Shine is a play to raise your hearts and spirit in song and fellowship. Nov. 1-8. Visit www.claytonartscenter.com. • $14 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 2PM • Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. Oct. 28-Nov. 15.

TENNESSEE STAGE COMPANY: MY THREE ANGELS • Historic Southern Railway Station • 8PM • The Tennessee Stage Company, known to Knoxville audiences for Shakespeare on the Square and the New Play Festival, returns to our Timeless Works series this autumn with the Sam & Bella Spewack’s classic comedy, My Three Angels. This (almost) gentle comedy is the story of a three desperate, but unconventional, criminals who provide a loving, but struggling family with a most happy and unexpected Chruisdtmas. Nov. 5-15. Visit tennesseestage.com. • $15 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: DIAL “M” FOR MURDER • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. •$15 Friday, Nov. 6 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: QUOTH THE RAVEN: TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. •$12 LET IT SHINE • Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) • 7PM • Let It Shine is a play to raise your hearts and spirit in song and fellowship. Nov. 1-8. Visit www.claytonartscenter.com. • $14 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 2PM • Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. Oct. 28-Nov. 15.

TENNESSEE STAGE COMPANY: MY THREE ANGELS • Historic Southern Railway Station • 8PM • Nov. 5-15. Visit tennesseestage.com. • $15 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: DIAL “M” FOR MURDER • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. •$15 Saturday, Nov. 7 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: QUOTH THE RAVEN: TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 1PM and 5PM• Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre. com. • $12 LET IT SHINE • Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) • 7PM • Let It Shine is a play to raise your hearts and spirit

COMEDY AND SPOKEN WORD

Sunday, Nov. 1 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic.

Monday, Nov. 2 QED COMEDY LABORATORY • Pilot Light • 7:30PM • QED ComedyLaboratory is a weekly show with different theme every week that combines stand-up, improv, sketch, music and other types of performance and features some of the funniest people in Knoxville and parts unknown.

It’s weird and experimental. There is no comedy experience in town that is anything like this and it’s also a ton of fun. Pay what you want. Free, but donations are accepted. • FREE Tuesday, Nov. 3 OPEN MIC STAND-UP COMEDY • Longbranch Saloon • 8PM • Come laugh until you cry at the Longbranch every Tuesday night. Doors open at 8, first comic at 8:30. No cover charge, all are welcome. Aspiring or experienced comics interested in joining in the fun email us at longbranch.info@gmail.com to learn more, or simply come to the show a few minutes early. • FREE EINSTEIN SIMPLIFIED • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM • Einstein Simplified Comedy performs live comedy improv at Scruffy City Hall. It’s just like Whose Line Is It Anyway, but you get to make the suggestions. Show starts at 8:15, get there early for the best seats. No cover. • FREE LAST COMIC STANDING • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Season 9 of Last Comic Standing premieres July 22 on NBC. The Emmy-nominated laugh-fest returns with an all new group of the world’s funniest comics. Watch the series this summer on NBC, then see the finalists perform live as the Last Comic Standing Live Tour appears at the Tennessee Theatre November 3. • $29.50-$44.50 October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 37

CALENDAR Friday, Nov. 6 FIRST FRIDAY COMEDY SHOW • Saw Works Brewing Company • 7PM • Give thanks for a November edition of the First Friday Comedy Show at Saw Works Brewing.

This month’s show is headlined by Columbus, Ohio’s Sumukh Torgalkar, along with performances from Asheville, North Carolina’s Minori Hinds, and Knoxville’s own Matt Chadourne. Tyler Sonnichsen is hosting this month’s show.

Sunday, Nov. 8 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic .

FESTIVALS

Thursday, Oct. 29 EAST TENNESSEE COMMUNITY DESIGN CENTER 2015 AWARDS CEREMONY • Knoxville Museum of Art • 5:30PM • The East Tennessee Community Design Center (ETCDC) will present the Bruce McCarty Community Impact Award to Ashley Capps at its 2015 Award Celebration. The Bruce McCarty Community Impact Award is granted to individuals the ETCDC believes have demonstrated a commitment to building a better future for this region.

The award is a tribute to the legacy of architect Bruce McCarty and the contributions he made to this region through his vision as the leading founders of the ETCDC, through his professional accomplishments, and the many lives he touched throughout his career. Mr. Capps will

Thursday, Oct. 30 - Sunday, Nov. 8

join past recipients of the award, which include David Dewhirst, Randy and Jenny Boyd, Carol Evans, and Paul James. •$150 Saturday, Oct. 31 CAC BEARDSLEY COMMUNITY FARM HARVEST FESTIVAL • CAC Beardsely Community Farm • 1PM • Enjoy free food, children’s activities, live music, garden classes and tours of the farm and Habitat Urban Garden nurseries. Come dressed in your Halloween costumes! Please checkbeardsleyfarm.org and our Facebook page for updates. Call 865-546-8446 or email beardsleyfarm@ gmail.com with questions. • FREE Sunday, Nov. 1 EAST TENNESSEE CHILI COOK-OFF • World’s Fair Park • 12PM • Second Harvest Food Bank, Bush Brothers & Company and Kroger will partner for the 10th Annual East Tennessee Chili Cook-Off. Over 30 amateur cooking teams will whip up their tastiest recipes to compete for the best chili in town. For more information, please contact Blaire Hall at blaire@secondharvestetn.org.

Thursday, Nov. 5 KNOXVILLE SOUP • Woodlawn Christian Church • 6PM • A dinner and micro-funding event designed to raise money for creative projects that are proposed, voted on and enacted by members of the community. Diners will have about an hour to eat, share and connect with others while voting for the project they like best.

SOUL OF CREATIVITY ART AND YOGA EVENT • Breezeway Yoga Studio • 4PM • Local artists will display and sell

their work, there will be a yoga class and Qi Gong demonstration and a performance by NAMA winning (Native American Music Awards) recording artist Randy McGinnis. Food and beverages will be offered at the event. The event will be located in the breezeway area between Ross the Boss and Petco in Knox Plaza, 4830 Kingston Pike. • FREE

FILM SCREENINGS

Friday, Oct. 30 CRESTHILL CINEMA CLUB: ALICE IN WONDERLAND AND EARTHBOUND • Windover Apartments • 7:30PM • Halloween is fast approaching – and the CCC will once again be offering an October evening of other-worldly film fare for your viewing pleasure. It’s a knockout double feature of mind-bending fables – and it begins with one of the most famous of all time: Alice in Wonderland.

You’re going to be dazzled by the now almost-obscure, 1933 live-action version of Alice, followed by Earthbound (1940), another unusual exercise in phantasmagoria. Our location: The spacious clubhouse of the Windover Apartments. The journey there will take you to Cheshire Drive (off Kingston Pike, near the Olive Garden); going down Cheshire, turn right at the Windover Apartments sign, then go to the third parking lot on your right, next to the pool. There, the building that houses the clubhouse and offices of the Windover will be just a few steps away.

Saturday, Oct. 31

KNOXVILLE TRANSIT BEAMS: THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW • Relix Variety Theatre • 9PM • The Knoxville Transit Beams present a live shadow cast performance of the Halloween cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Come take part in a Halloween tradition with some pelvic thrusting, some insult hurling, and some thrills and chills that are guaranteed to fulfill you. Doors will open at 9 p.m. $10. Preshow festivities, performances, games, and other surprises to follow. Show begins at midnight. •$10 Monday, Nov. 2 THE BIRDHOUSE WALK-IN THEATER • The Birdhouse • 8:15PM • A weekly free movie screening. • FREE Tuesday, Nov. 3 THE PUBLIC CINEMA: THE FORBIDDEN ROOM • Pilot Light • 7:30PM • A submarine crew, a feared pack of forest bandits, a famous surgeon, and a battalion of child soldiers all get more than they bargained for as they wend their way toward progressive ideas on life and love in Guy Maddin’s new feature. • FREE Wednesday, Nov. 4 SCRUFFY CITY CINE-PUB • Scruffy City Hall • 7PM • Free Wednesday movie screenings. • FREE INDEPENDENT LENS: MIMI AND DONA • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 7:30PM • For 64 years, 92-year-old Mimi has cared for her daughter Dona, who has an intellectual disability, and now faces the inevitable: to find Dona a home. This alternately heartbreaking and heartwarming film by Mimi’s granddaughter tells the

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

Thursday, Oct. 30 - Sunday, Nov. 8

CALENDAR

story of a quirky and deeply connected mother-daughter duo, and their effect on three generations of a Texas family. Screening is free and open to the public, followed by discussion. • FREE

SEPT. 28-NOV. 1: Paintings by Marie Merritt and pottery by Millie Derrick. NOV. 3-29: Artwork by Nelson Ziegler and jewelers of the Art Market Gallery. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Nov. 6, at 5:30 p.m.

SPORTS AND RECREATION

Clayton Center for the Arts 502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway (Maryville) OCT. 3-31: Townsend Artisan Guild: A Sense of Place. A closing reception will be held on Friday, Oct. 30, from 6-9 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 29 WHOLE FOODS GAME NIGHT • Whole Foods • 6PM • Join us for everything from Candy Land to chess, and feel free to add a pint and a pizza. • FREE Saturday, Oct. 31 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: BOOGERMAN LOOP • 8AM • What better way to spend Halloween than on the Boogerman Trail. Come join us for a leisurely hike on what some call the prettiest trail in Cataloochee. Hike: 10 mile loop rated moderate. Meet at Comcast, 5720 Asheville Highway, at 8:00 AM. Leader: David Smith, dcshiker@bellsouth.net • FREE Sunday, Nov. 1 VMC DUNKIN’ DONUTS 5K AND RUN AND EAT 5K RACE • Hardin Valley Elementary School • 2PM • Monies raised help fund VMC’s two-fold mission of preventing and ending homelessness.

Tuesday, Nov. 3 WHOLE FOODS GAME NIGHT • Whole Foods • 6PM • Join us for everything from Candy Land to chess, and feel free to add a pint and a pizza. • FREE Wednesday, Nov. 4 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: LITTLE GREENBRIAR TRAIL • Smoky Mountain Hiking Club • 8AM • This hike will follow the Little Greenbriar Trail up to the tower. Hike: 10.4 miles, rated moderate due to distance. Meet at Alcoa Food City, 121 North Hall Road, at 8:00 AM. Leader: Elfie Bealle, elfiebeall@comcast.net. • FREE Thursday, Nov. 5 WHOLE FOODS GAME NIGHT • Whole Foods • 6PM • Join us for everything from Candy Land to chess, and feel free to add a pint and a pizza. • FREE Saturday, Nov. 7 AMBC FALL FESTIVAL • Urban Wilderness • 11AM • Join the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club for a day of bikes, beer, food and music. We’ll meet up at 654 Helix Lane in South Knoxville, with group rides starting at 11:30 am, open pump track and food all day, and live music into the night. Onsite parking is limited, so please park at Anderson School and bike in on the Lost Chromosome trail. Ample camping is available, and our friends at Tennessee Valley Bikes will even cook breakfast for campers on Sunday morning.

ART

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts 556 Parkway (Gatlinburg) AUG. 29-OCT. 31: MATERIALITIES: CONTEMPORARY TEXTILE ART; SEPT. 11-NOV. 7: TIME, A COLLABORATIVE EXHIBIT OF CERAMIC WORK BY BLAIR CLEMO AND JASON HACKETT. Art Market Gallery 422 S. Gay St.

The District Gallery 5113 Kingston Pike OCT. 2-31: In My View, new oil paintings by Bill Suttles.

Downtown Gallery 106 S. Gay St. OCT. 2-31: Artwork by sculptor and installation artist Lorrie Fredette and painter Larry Brown. NOV. 6-28: Mixed-media art

by John Messinger. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Nov. 6, from 5-9 p.m.

Emporium Center for Arts and Culture 100 S. Gay St. OCT. 2-30: Tennessee Artists Association Fall Juried Show; Tennessee River: Gem of the South, photographs by Ron Lowery; sculpture by Anna Wszyndybyl; Letters From Vietnam Project; Vols: A 25-Year Retrospective, photographs by Patrick Murphy-Racey. NOV. 6-8: 18th Master Woodworkers Show Ewing Gallery 1715 Volunteer Blvd.

OCT. 5-31: infra_eco_logi urbanism, an exhibition of speculative urban design.

Fountain City Art Center 213 Hotel Road OCT. 30-NOV. 30: Fountain City Art Guild Annual Holiday Show and Sale. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Oct. 30, from 6:30-8 p.m.

Knoxville Museum of Art 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive AUG. 21-NOV. 8: The Paternal Suit, paintings, prints, and objects by conceptual artist F. Scott Hess. ONGOING: Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in Tennessee; Currents: Recent Art From East Tennessee and Beyond; and Facets of Modern and Contemporary Glass.

Liz-Beth and Co. 7240 Kingston Pike SEPT. 28-OCT. 24: Knoxville: A Work of Art, featuring Knoxville’s urban landscapes in work by Jillie Eves, Sandy Brown, Jim Gray, Caitlin Painter, Rex Redd, and David Patterson.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture 1327 Circle Park Drive SEPT. 11-JAN. 3: Embodying Enlightenment: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas. Ongoing: The Flora and Fauna of Catesby, Mason, and Audubon and Life on the Roman Frontier.

Zach Searcy Projects 317 N. Gay St. OCT. 2-31 : Phantom Buoy, new paintings by Thomas Wharton.

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church 2931 Kingston Pike

SEPT. 11-DEC. 3: An exhibit of artwork by TVUUC members.

University of Tennessee John C. Hodges Library 1015 Volunteer Blvd.

THROUGH DEC. 11: Marginalia in Rare Books, a display of centuries-old books with notes, ownership marks, and inscriptions.

LECTURES, READINGS, AND BOOK SIGNINGS

Thursday, Oct. 29 BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY • University of Tennessee Alumni Memorial Building • 2PM • Widely known as “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” Nye is the creator and host of the Emmy Award-winning children’s television show of the same name, which aired on PBS from 1992 to 1998. A scientist, engineer, comedian and inventor, Nye has authored five children’s books about science. His mission is to make science entertaining and accessible and to foster a scientifically literate society by helping people understand and appreciate the science that makes the world work. • FREE Friday, Oct. 30 UT SCIENCE FORUM • Thompson-Boling Arena • 12PM • The Science Forum is a weekly brown-bag lunch series that allows professors and area scientists to discuss their research with the general public in a conversational presentation. For more information about the UT Science Forum, visit http://scienceforum.utk.edu. • FREE Monday, Nov. 2 WRITERS IN THE LIBRARY: COLUM MCCANN • University of Tennessee • 7PM • McCann is the award-winning author of three collections of short stories and six novels, including the international bestseller “TransAtlantic” (2013) and the National Book Award winning “Let the Great World Spin” (2009). Stories from his most recent collection, “Thirteen Ways of Looking,” just published this month, have garnered a Pushcart Prize and selection in the Best American Short Stories 2015. • FREE Wednesday, Nov. 4 BRANDON PRINS: ‘THE CHANGING FACE OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY’ • Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy • 10AM • Prins is a Baker Fellow in global security and a political science professor who will be speaking on ‘Partisan Opposition to Presidential Diplomacy’ in the Baker Center Reading Room. • FREE Thursday, Nov. 5 JOHN MESSINGER ARTIST LECTURE • University of Tennessee Art and Architecture Building • 7:30PM • John Messinger combines elements of photography and tapestry to create large-scale, 3-dimension mixed media artworks. Messenger’s work will be on display at the Downtown Gallery from Nov. 5-28. • FREE

FAMILY AND KIDS’ EVENTS

Thursday, Oct. 29 BABY BOOKWORMS • Lawson McGee Public Library • 11AM • For infants to age 2, must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. • FREE

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October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 39

CALENDAR CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM. • FREE TODDLER’S YOGI YOGA • Shanti Yoga Haven • 9AM Friday, Oct. 30 SMART TOYS AND BOOKS ART CLASS • Smart Toys and Books • 10AM • Reservations and payment are required in advance. Class fees are non-refundable. Ages 2+. • $10 Saturday, Oct. 31 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 10AM • FREE SATURDAY STORIES AND SONGS • Lawson McGee Public Library • 11AM • A weekly music and storytelling session for kids. • FREE CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY FAMILY FUN ON HALLOWEEN • Cancer Support Community • 11AM • Wear your Halloween costume and join Kathleen and other families for some Halloween fun and games. With cancer in your family chances are there is more STRESS for everyone. This Saturday Family Fun Day is sure to “scare away” the stress at least for a few hours! Lunch provided.

RSVP. Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer.

BOO AT THE BARN • Horse Haven of Tennessee • 1PM • Dust off your pointy hat and broomsticks, because it’s time for Horse Haven of Tennessee’s Boo at the Barn. Activities include: Trick-or-Treating in the Main Barn; Pony Kissing Booth; Horses in Costume; Face Painting; Paint a Pony; Donuts, Popcorn, and Candy; A Pony Carousel; A Petting Zoon; Spooky Storytelling; Halloween Music; S’more

Thursday, Oct. 30 - Sunday, Nov. 8

making by the Campfire; Halloween Games; Barn of Terror - enter if you dare!

FALL FESTIVAL AT FIRST • First United Methodist Church Maryville • 2PM • Before the children head out for trick-or-treating Halloween night, they’ll be able to enjoy a couple of hours of free fun at First United Methodist Church – Maryville. This is one of the biggest free events in Maryville with more than a thousand people coming out to enjoy the inflatables, games, hot dogs, popcorn, trunk-or-treating and more. • FREE

childrensmuseumofoakridge.org/toddlers-playtime/ • PRE-K READ AND PLAY • Lawson McGee Public Library • 11AM • Pre-K Read and Play is a pilot program specifically designed to prepare children to enter kindergarten. While the format of the program will still feel like a traditional storytime with books, music, and other educational activities, each weekly session will focus on a different standard from the Tennessee Department of Education’s Early Childhood/Early Learning Developmental Standards.

• FREE EVENING STORYTIME • Lawson McGee Public Library • 6:30PM • An evening storytime at Lawson McGhee Children’s Room to include stories, music, and crafts. For toddlers and up. • FREE

Monday, Nov. 2 MUSICAL MORNINGS • Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge • 10AM • This activity is designed for toddlers and their caregivers. Children can explore tone, melody, and rhythm in an age-appropriate environment. Singing and dancing are encouraged. Musical Mornings also are free with paid admission or museum membership. http:// childrensmuseumofoakridge.org/musical-mornings/ • SMART TOYS AND BOOKS STORYTIME • Smart Toys and Books • 11AM • Storytime with Miss Helen is every Monday at 11:00am. No charge. No reservations required. • FREE

Wednesday, Nov. 4 BABY BOOKWORMS • Lawson McGee Public Library • 10:20AM • For infants to age 2, must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. • FREE PRESCHOOL STORYTIME • Lawson McGee Public Library • 11AM • For ages 3 to 5, must be accompanied by an adult.

• FREE

Tuesday, Nov. 3 TODDLERS’ PLAYTIME • Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge • 10AM • Toddlers’ Playtime is designed for children aged 4 and younger, accompanied by their parents, grandparents, or caregivers. Little ones have an opportunity to play with blocks, toy trains, and puppets; they can “cook” in the pretend kitchen, dig for dinosaurs, and look at books. The adults can socialize while the children play.

Free with paid admission or museum membership. http://

Thursday, Nov. 5 BABY BOOKWORMS • Lawson McGee Public Library • 11AM • For infants to age 2, must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. • FREE CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM • Middle and high school students (or any age) are invited to play chess. Tom Jobe coaches most Saturdays in the Teen Central area of the library. On one Saturday of every month, there will be a rated tournament at the

Blount County Public Library. • FREE

CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS

Thursday, Oct. 29 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted.

BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 PORTRAIT AND LIFE DRAWING PRACTICE SESSION • Historic Candoro Marble Company • 2PM • Portrait practice session. Call Brad Selph for more information 865-573-0709. • $10 AARP DRIVER SAFETY CLASS • Halls Senior Center • 12PM • Call (865) 382-5822.

KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: WINTER’S COMING • Humana Guidance Center • 3:15PM • Cold temperatures and winter weather are just around the corner, but there is plenty the smart gardener can do now to ease the garden into winter. Come learn how to clean up, improve, protect and prepare the garden for a fabulous year ahead! Join Extension Master Gardeners Don Cathey and Brian Townsend for great inspiration. 865-329-8892. • FREE SALVAGE JEWELRY CLASS • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • Join artist/designer Sarah Brobst in this class that uses

ADVERTISING EQUALS SUPPORT. Thanks to all of our advertisers for their help in keeping our presses running.

Business

Product awareness

Company goodwill specia l introd uctory offer : b r i n g i n t hi s ad t o r e ce i ve

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

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old keys, broken jewelry, old watches and other junk drawer finds into one of a kind beautiful creations. Feel free to bring your own “ treasures” to transform but there will be plenty of bins to dig through to help you transform your pieces into real masterpieces. Class size limited. Call 865-577-4717 ext. 110 to register. • $20 Friday, Oct. 30 YOGA AND QI-GONG BASICS • Shanti Yoga Haven • 6PM AARP DRIVER SAFETY CLASS • Halls Senior Center • 12PM • Call (865) 382-5822.

Saturday, Oct. 31 IMPROV COMEDY CLASS • The Birdhouse • 10AM • A weekly improv comedy class. • FREE NARROW RIDGE SOLAR WORKSHOP • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 9AM • In this workshop, participants will observe and assist with the installation of a simple photovoltaic system for an off-the-grid home located in one of the three community land trusts held in conservation by Narrow Ridge. $20 per participant for workshop instruction and a tasty lunch. Overnight accommodations are available for an additional $20 per person. Deadline for registration is Friday, October 23 at 5:00 p.m. For more information contact Mitzi Wood-Von Mizener at (865) 497-3603 or community@narrowridge. org. •$20 LEARN TO MEDITATE WORKSHOP • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 2PM • Led by Michael Wright, author of 800 Stepping Stones to Complete Relaxation. Info & 3-easy meditations, email: mikewright102348@gmail.com or call 865-851-9535. • FREE Monday, Nov. 2 BASIC HAND-BUILDING AND SCULPTURE • Knoxville Museum of Art • 10AM • Learn basic hand building and sculpture while creating figurative sculptures, masks, garden art and functional objects. No experience necessary, tools, materials and firing included. Led by Annamaria Gundlach. Visit knoxart.org. • $90-$110 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 5:30PM • Call 865-5772021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted.

Tuesday, Nov. 3 CREATIVE MIXED-MEDIA PAINTING • Knoxville Museum of Art • 10AM • Have fun learning to develop and express your creativity using a variety of personal materials and layering techniques. Led by Donna Conliffe. Visit knoxart. org. • $130-$150 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted.

YOGA WITH SUBAGHJI • The Birdhouse • 5:15PM Wednesday, Nov. 4 AARP DRIVER SAFETY CLASS • Oak Ridge Senior Center • 9:30AM • Call (865) 382-5822. • FLOW AND GO YOGA • Illuminations Alternative and Holistic Health • 12:15 PM • Call 985-788-5496 or email sandylarson@yahoo.com. • $10 BELLY DANCING CLASS • Illuminations Alternative and Holistic Health • 7PM • Call 985-788-5496 or email sandylarson@yahoo.com. • $15 Thursday, Nov. 5 AARP DRIVER SAFETY CLASS • Oak Ridge Senior Center • 9:30AM • Call (865) 382-5822. • BACKPACKING BASICS II: WHAT’S IN YOUR PACK? • REI • 7PM • So you have your backpack loaded with all the

CALENDAR

necessary items for your next backpacking trip. Still think you might be carrying too much? Join REI for this small group session on how to cut weight and tailor your gear to best suit your needs. Registration required at www.rei. com/knoxville. • FREE BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted.

Saturday, Nov. 7 MARBLE SPRINGS OPEN HEARTH COOKING WORKSHOP • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 10AM • This hands-on workshop will teach visitors about open hearth cooking methods of the 18th century, focusing on cooking with the Dutch oven. Space is limited to 10 guests so make your reservations by Tuesday, Nov 3. To register for the workshop or to find out more information email info@ marblesprings.net or call (865)573-5508. • $20 IMPROV COMEDY CLASS • The Birdhouse • 10AM • A weekly improv comedy class. • FREE

MEETINGS

Thursday, Oct. 29 OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS • Recovery at Cokesbury • 5:30PM • This is an OA Literature Meeting. After a short reading from a book, members may share their experience, strength and hope. • FREE ATHEISTS SOCIETY OF KNOXVILLE • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 5:30PM • Weekly atheists meetup and happy hour. Come join us for food, drink and great conversation.

Everyone welcome. • FREE Saturday, Oct. 31 AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 11AM • Al-Anon’s purpose is to help families and friends of alcoholics recover from the effects of living with the problem drinking of a relative or friend. Visit our local website at farragutalanon.org or email us at FindHope@ Farragutalanon.org. • FREE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION ANNUAL LUNCH BANQUET • Bearden Banquet Hall • 11:30AM • Guest speaker Paul Dye has over 40 years of aviation experience as an aerospace engineer, builder and pilot.

He retired from NASA in 2013 as their longest-serving Senior Flight Director in U.S. history. Please pre register at: banquet@eaa17.org or call 865-789-0899 for information. •$24 Sunday, Nov. 1 SILENT MEDITATION SUNDAYS • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 11AM • The gatherings are intended to be inclusive of people of all faiths as well as those who do not align themselves with a particular religious denomination. For more information contact Mitzi Wood-Von Mizener at 865-497-3603 or community@ narrowridge.org. • FREE Monday, Nov. 2 ASPERGER’S SUPPORT GROUP • Remedy Coffee • 6PM • Are you an adult with asperger’s and looking for others who have the same strengths and challenges in life? Contact Saskia at (865) 247-0065 ext. 23. • FREE GAY MEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 7:30PM • We hold facilitated discussions on topics and issues relevant to local gay men in a safe and open environment. Visit

Find us in the Old City or at OliBea.net

gaygroupknoxville.org.

EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION MEETING • Sky Ranch Airport • 7PM • Guest speaker Ranger Roy Appulgliese will give survival tips and suggest emergency equipment that can be stored in your airplane to help assure survival if isolated in our nearby wilderness areas. Pat ROush will assist by giving some basic first-aid tips. eaa17.org or contact Jerry Depew 865-789-0899. • FREE Wednesday, Nov. 4 COMITE POPULAR DE KNOXVILLE • The Birdhouse • 7PM • A weekly meeting of the local immigrant advocacy organization.

DECEMBER 4TH 1 st.

BIRTHDAY A AY PARTY

Thursday, Nov. 5 OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS • Recovery at Cokesbury • 5:30PM • This is an OA Literature Meeting. After a short reading from a book, members may share their experience, strength and hope. • FREE ATHEISTS SOCIETY OF KNOXVILLE • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 5:30PM • Weekly atheists meetup and happy hour. Come join us for food, drink and great conversation.

Everyone welcome. • FREE KNOXVILLE WRITERS’ GUILD • Laurel Theater • 7PM • The Knoxville Writers’ Guild’s monthly program will feature special guest Tawnysha Greene, author of “A House Made of Stars” (Burlesque Press, 2015). Additional information about KWG can be found at www.KnoxvilleWritersGuild. org.

7am til the pig passes out

OliBea is turning one and Piggie Smalls wants to celebrate with you!

Complete the puzzle and bring it in anytime before 12/4 to receive

Saturday, Nov. 7 AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 11AM • Al-Anon’s purpose is to help families and friends of alcoholics recover from the effects of living with the problem drinking of a relative or friend. Visit our local website at farragutalanon.org or email us at FindHope@ Farragutalanon.org. • FREE SEEKERS OF SILENCE • Church of the Savior United Church of Christ • 9AM • Brenda Rasch, a certified Healing Touch practitioner and instructor, will give an “Introduction to Healing Touch.” The ecumenical group’s program begins at 9 a.m. and is free and open to all. More information at www.sosknoxville.org. • FREE

FREE BREAKFAST

Sunday, Nov. 8 SILENT MEDITATION SUNDAYS • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 11AM • The gatherings are intended to be inclusive of people of all faiths as well as those who do not align themselves with a particular religious denomination. For more information contact Mitzi Wood-Von Mizener at 865-497-3603 or community@ narrowridge.org. • FREE

*

1

ETC.

Thursday, Oct. 29 NEW HARVEST PARK FARMERS MARKET • New Harvest Park • 3PM • The New Harvest Park Farmers Market will be open every Thursday through November from 3 to 6 p.m. The market features locally-grown produce, meats, artisan food products, plants, herbs, flowers, crafts and much more. • FREE Friday, Oct. 30 LAKESHORE PARK FARMERS’ MARKET • Lakeshore Park • 3PM • FARM vendors will offer a wide variety of spring bedding plants, fresh produce, grass-fed and pasture-raised meats, artisan bread and cheese, local honey and fresh eggs. As the season goes on, they offer

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October 29, 2015

*Limited offer. Find the clues & more details on Facebook.

Thursday, Oct. 30 - Sunday, Nov. 8

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 41

CALENDAR the freshest produce possible, including just-picked strawberries, peaches, sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes. • FREE UNION COUNTY FARMERS MARKET • Maynardville • 4PM • Fridays through October at 1009 Main St. Downtown Maynardville 4 to 7 pm. More info call Union Co. Extension Office at 865-992-8038. • FREE Saturday, Oct. 31 OAK RIDGE FARMERS’ MARKET • Historic Jackson Square • 8AM • FARM vendors will offer a wide variety of spring bedding plants, fresh produce, grass-fed and pasture-raised meats, artisan bread and cheese, local honey and fresh eggs. As the season goes on, they offer the freshest produce possible, including just-picked strawberries, peaches, sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes.

MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 9AM • The MSFM is a producer only market; everything is either made or grown by the vendor in our East Tennessee region. Products vary by the season and include ornamental plants, produce, dairy, eggs, honey, herbs, meat, baked goods, jams/jellies, coffee, & artisan crafts. • FREE KNOXVILLE SOLAR TOUR • Knox Area Transit Center • 10AM • The Tennessee Solar Energy Association (TSEA) in collaboration with the City of Knoxville will meet for the tour in the public room of the Knox Area Transit (KAT) center. We will be viewing the following 5 sites: Ijams Nature Center, Home2 by Hilton Hotel, Three Rivers Market charging stations, a private home in the city with an

Thursday, Oct. 30 - Sunday, Nov. 8

advanced solar installation, and a solar powered carport in Cedar Bluff. • FREE HALLOWEEN METAPHYSICAL FAIR • Illuminations Alternative and Holistic Health • 10AM • Join us as we welcome local practitioners and vendors for a day of metaphysical fun. Wear your favorite Halloween costume, as we will have prizes for the best outfits. Check our website for a list of participants. • $5 Tuesday, Nov. 3 EBENEZER ROAD FARMERS’ MARKET • Ebenezer United Methodist Church • 3PM • FREE Wednesday, Nov. 4 MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 9AM • FREE Thursday, Nov. 5 NEW HARVEST PARK FARMERS MARKET • New Harvest Park • 3PM • The New Harvest Park Farmers Market will be open every Thursday through November from 3 to 6 p.m. The market features locally-grown produce, meats, artisan food products, plants, herbs, flowers, crafts and much more. • FREE Friday, Nov. 6 LAKESHORE PARK FARMERS’ MARKET • Lakeshore Park • 3PM • FARM vendors will offer a wide variety of spring bedding plants, fresh produce, grass-fed and pasture-raised meats, artisan bread and cheese, local honey and fresh eggs. As the season goes on, they offer the freshest produce possible, including just-picked

strawberries, peaches, sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes. • FREE UNION COUNTY FARMERS MARKET • Maynardville • 4PM • Fridays through October at 1009 Main St. Downtown Maynardville 4 to 7 pm. More info call Union Co. Extension Office at 865-992-8038. • FREE BARNES & NOBLE MINI MAKER FAIRE • Barnes & Noble • 9AM • Barnes & Noble will hold the first-ever retail Mini Maker Faire, from Friday, November 6, through Sunday, November 8. Throughout the weekend, customers will have the opportunity to participate in interactive product demonstrations to learn about programming, coding and 3D printing, and to take part in collaborative hands-on experiences designed to stretch their imaginations and creative thinking as they work cooperatively to make something original. Customers should contact Barnes & Noble Knoxville to find out event times and visit BN.com/ MakerFaire for more information on the Mini Maker Faire.

• FREE Saturday, Nov. 7 CRYSTALLINE LIGHT ANGEL CONFERENCE • Holiday Inn (Cedar Bluff) • Join Speakers Charlaine Jones, Maureen Aruta, Michael Lott, Pamela Nine, Randy and Victoria Farley, & Theresa Richardson for a day of Angel fun. Must pre-register by 10-31 to guarantee your reservation. www. theresarichardson.com. • OAK RIDGE FARMERS’ MARKET • Historic Jackson Square • 8AM MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 9AM • FREE

BARNES & NOBLE MINI MAKER FAIRE • Barnes & Noble • 9AM • Customers should contact Barnes & Noble Knoxville to find out event times and visit BN.com/ MakerFaire for more information on the Mini Maker Faire.

• FREE Sunday, Nov. 8 BARNES & NOBLE MINI MAKER FAIRE • Barnes & Noble • 11AM • Customers should contact Barnes & Noble Knoxville to find out event times and visit BN.com/ MakerFaire for more information on the Mini Maker Faire.

• FREE ALTERNATIVE GIFT FAIR • First United Methodist Church Maryville • 9AM • This year more than 15 vendors representing non-profit, fair trade and church groups come together in one place to help you find just the right gifts for people on your Christmas list. By shopping at the AGF, your purchases actually help you “give twice.” • FREE

Send your events to calendar@knoxmercury.com

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Monday, Nov. 2 & 9

6:30 p.m. — COMMUNITY READINGS

The Sufferings of Young Werther KNOX. PUBLIC LIBRARY

Sequoyah Branch 1140 Southgate Rd, Knoxville TN 37919

Thursday, Nov. 12

4:30 p.m. — OPENING RECEPTION 5:15 p.m. — FILM SCREENING INTERNATIONAL HOUSE

1623 Melrose Ave, Knoxville, TN 37996

Friday, Nov. 13

3:45 p.m. — KEYNOTE

“Goethe and the Anthropocene” 5:15 p.m. — RECEPTION McCLUNG MUSEUM

1327 Cir Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916

mfll.utk.edu/goethe 42

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 43

DRINK

Sips & Shot s

herself, one bourbon and three Scotches (one of them a blend).

She was generous with her knowledge, kindly with my more naive questions, and most importantly, had a great technique. These are the five steps we followed:

Photo by Rose Kennedy

Sipping Like the Scots An educational visit to the Jig & Reel’s “Dram Day”

BY ROSE KENNEDY

I

would say Kerry Schumacher has forgotten more about whiskey than most of us will ever know, but it’s not true.

Listening to her talk about anything from how Scotland requires Scotch to be made in used casks to why bourbon is bourbon, it’s readily apparent that the Edinburgh native has not forgotten one iota of the whiskey theory she says she learned from bottles, blogs, and books—and from tasting whiskies and visiting distilleries in Scotland.

Now the woman with the dreamy Highlands accent is assisting Boyd’s Jig & Reel in the Old city in promoting its vast array of whiskies, particularly “Dram Day,” aka Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. when customers can sample Scotches at 50 percent off the whiskey list price, along with halfprice appetizers.

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

She is in good company. Co-owner Randy Boyd’s fascination with all things whiskey has resulted in the bar owning more than 580 bottles—some average, some of the sort that figure on posh bucket lists. And J&R barkeep Nathan Johnson knows lots about most of them.

Nathan estimates that even in the throes of a diminishing supply of aged labels worldwide, Jig & Reel is receiving two to three new bottles every Friday, “and Randy can pretty much get whatever he wants.”

But Boyd is a sharer by nature, hence the Dram Day idea, intended to help whiskey lovers expand their knowledge and take some risks without breaking the bank.

Schumacher is a sharing type, too, and kindly led me and two Mercury friends through a swell tasting of four varieties she selected

1. The Glass: We sampled from tulip-style whiskey glasses that Boyd had delivered for the bar’s use in cases, from Scotland. The shape allows a swirl of the liquid and also concentrates the scent in the narrowed lip at the top.

2. The Pre-taste: We swirl the glass to observe the “body” of the whiskey, our eyes preparing our taste buds—for example, a leisurely swirling liquid might make us imagine the contents to be a bit sweeter. Then we hold the lip of the glass right up to our noses with our mouths open—this is not considered rude at all—and breathe in so that the “aroma pushes right up into your nose.”

3. The Swish: We take a big mouthful of the whiskey without swallowing, and then swish it around to all parts of our mouths. “You want it to touch all of your taste buds—the bitter, the salty, the sweet.” Then we do swallow, noting the burn or the smoothness, the smoky sensation or the kick.

4. The Water: For a second taste, we hold a finger over one end of a straw in a glass of ice water, and then daub just a few drops of water into the glass, just to “open the flavor up, maybe take away some of the alcohol burn.” Swish again, taste again, note again. “But always be careful with the water. It’s dangerous. You may use too

much and cause the Scotch to start to lose its essence.”

There are plenty of other steps to this warm, hospitable afternoon of tasting, but those are the basics.

Schumacher lets us know that this ritual is not even meant to be the same for everyone. “Just because I taste frangipani or marzipan notes doesn’t mean you will.”

You are meant to strike your own style, develop your own preferences, keep track of them, allow them to expand. For my part, just in this one session, I moved even further into liking bourbon and Scotch with absolutely no H2O (before I had at least added ice). I liked the smoky taste of one Scotch and the floral taste of the other so well I didn’t want to change a thing.

Scotch or whiskey these days is no longer about “your grandpa drinking it alone in a pub,” she tells us. “It’s more about the personal experience, the personal stories that come up, the memories.”

Schumacher’s preference is for the Scotches aged in wine casks, which impart some of the previous occupant’s flavor, and she says since she’s had two babies she’s developed more of a taste for sweet takes on whiskey.

She prefers neat, too—no need for ice, which can concentrate the flavor in an undesirable way. But one mixed drink she loves, especially in these fall months, is a take on a Spanish cafe con miel, which she makes with honey, whiskey, espresso, steamed vanilla milk, and cinnamon.

Now we know. ◆

You are meant to strike your own style, develop your own preferences, keep track of them, allow them to expand.

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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 45

’BYE

R estless Nat ive

Miss December From Jefferson County to the Playboy Mansion

BY CHRIS WOHLWEND

T

he building on Dale Avenue between the interstate and the chemical plant long known as Rohm & Haas is a pile of rubble now, and the tenants who called it home in its last incarnation as Volunteer Studios are long gone.

The building had a mixed past— home to a Job Corps group involved in a grisly murder and later occupied as a kind of halfway house by registered sex offenders.

But the building was built as a Holiday Inn, and as such occasionally played host to the famous. One such celebrity occupant for a couple of days in the fall of 1971 was one of Playboy magazine’s most popular Playmates—a native of Jefferson County who was returning to her home turf for a few days.

How, you may ask, did a girl from East Tennessee become not only a centerfold, but the 1962 Playmate of the Year?

That was the question I put to my editors when I discovered that June Cochran was coming to Knoxville as an ambassador of Hugh Hefner’s magazine, to grace a car show at the Civic Coliseum. My boss at The Knoxville Journal decided to indulge

me and agreed that I should interview her and find out.

So, accompanied by photographer Al Roberts, I met with Miss Cochran and her traveling companion, a woman from Playboy who described herself as the chaperone. The resulting story—and Al’s photo—was published in early December of 1971.

What did I find out? How did she escape small-town Appalachia and get to the big city of Chicago and its spacious and ornate and notorious Playboy Mansion? Well, there was an early appearance on the Cas Walker TV show with her grandfather, a Jefferson County constable, but it is not likely that Playboy representatives were familiar with the Farm & Home Hour’s reputation as a talent showcase. It was Miss Cochran’s showing as Miss Indiana in the Miss Universe pageant in Miami that caught the attention of Hefner. (She had moved to Indianapolis after her sophomore year in high school.)

After Hefner found her through the director of the Miss Indiana pageant, Miss Cochran told me, “my mother talked me into posing” for the Playboy photographer.

There followed a reader contest to

BY MATTHEW FOLTZ-GRAY

46

KNOXVILLE MERCURY October 29, 2015

www.thespiritofthestaircase.com

determine the ’63 Playmate of the Year, the first-ever runoff for the title. In announcing the contest, the magazine’s writer described Miss Cochran as a “silver-haired Hoosier with a modeling-and-movie career in mind.” She received, according to the magazine, “the lioness’ share of reader votes” with her “perfect blend of little-girl charm and big-girl proportions.”

After spending a couple of hours talking with her, I can attest to that description—I was certainly charmed, as was Al Roberts, who did not want to leave even though he had other assignments.

During my interview, she said that Warner Brothers had offered her a seven-year movie contract, but she had turned it down because of the restrictions it would have placed on her time. But the modeling career move came easy for Miss December, and she became one of the magazine’s most in-demand Playmates.

Reportedly, she was the basis for artist Harvey Kurtzman’s long-running “Little Annie Fanny” cartoon strips in Playboy. And, nine years

later, she was still representing the magazine at such events as the car show that brought her to Knoxville.

One question that I put to her at the time, which did not make the published story, involved the more explicit photos that Playboy’s chief competition, Penthouse, was featuring.

“Would you pose nude today, when the pictures are more revealing?” I wanted to know. Her answer reflected the standard answer of the time. It was something like, “Why should we be ashamed of our bodies—that’s the way God created us?” My editor decided against using that part of the story.

Many years later, a friend from her hometown told me that Miss December’s successful move from the hills of Appalachia caused a bit of scandal at the time. But as far as she was concerned when I met her, she had no regrets.

And four decades after her Playboy debut, June Cochran was still a popular former Playmate, easily making the transition to the Internet. When she died in 2003, she had more than 1,000 followers on her Yahoo page. ◆

How, you may ask, did a girl from East Tennessee become not only a centerfold, but the 1962 Playmate of the Year?

’BYE

BY IAN BLACKBURN AND JACK NEELY

me as we celebrate a community of giving on November 12.

Philanthropy is what we are all about. We devote our careers to bringing abou

Friday, November 13, 2015

at the Knoxville Marriott • 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM our community.

HONORING THESE INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Legacy Award Recipient

Dr. Joe Johnson

President Emeritus of the University of Tennessee

WANT TO FIND A COPY OF THE KNOXVILLE MERCURY?

We’ve got a map for that!

Please confirm the names of y Outstanding Corporate Philanthropist

Outstanding Philanthropist

Outstanding Foundation

Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy

Women’s Fund of East TN

Meredith Maroney

DENSO Manufacturing TN

It’ll be updated as we add more locations.

If you’ve got suggestions, let us know. knoxmercury.com/find-us

Betsey Bush

Angelia Jones FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: amjones@alz.org • 865-765-9208

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BURNS

DESIGN PRINT

MAILING & PRINTING, INC. MAIL

United Way of Greater Knoxville

October 29, 2015

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 47