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NEWS
TDOT Unveils Pending Road Improvements for Chapman Highway
JACK NEELY
Let’s Pick 25 Reasons Why America Should Care We’re Turning 225
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MUSIC
Zach and Kota turn their Sweet Life into Sweet Years
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CHRIS WOHLWEND
Touring East Tennessee’s Dive Bars With Jim Dykes
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
April 28, 2016 Volume 02 / Issue 17 knoxmercury.com
CONTENTS
“Violence is black children going to school for 12 years and receiving six years’ worth of education.” —Julian Bond
10 S.O.S. COVER STORY
NEWS
9 Prayers for
The stresses of multi-generational poverty and violence in neighborhoods like Lonsdale, Mechanicsville, and parts of East Knoxville have led to a disturbingly high rate of young black men killing each other in the city. Mayor Madeline Rogero’s Save Our Sons initiative aims to combat this crisis by dealing with the underlying problems that lead to a culture of violence. Despite being almost two years old, though, Save Our Sons remains little understood, partly because it keeps evolving and has spent a long time on gathering information. But its first high-profile, direct initiative was unveiled last week: A new $2.9 million “Change Center.” Can it make a difference? S. Heather Duncan examines the initiative.
Press Forward 2016
Our annual fundraising campaign is on! Donate to the paper: gofundme.com/pressforward2016. Buy an ad: sales@knoxmercury.com. Tax-deductible donations to KHP: knoxmercury.com/KHP. DEPARTMENTS
OPINION
A&E
4 6
7
16
36
Letters to the Editor Howdy Start Here: By the Numbers, Public Affairs, Quote Factory PLUS: “Ghosts in the Machine” by L. M. Horstman ’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
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Scruffy Citizen Jack Neely names a few contenders for Knoxville’s top 25 historic events and asks you to make your own suggestions. Perspectives Joe Sullivan talks with a Knoxville accountant who’s devoting himself to getting marijuana legalized for medical use in Tennessee.
17 18 19 20
Chapman
It’s not often that meetings of the Tennessee Department of Transportation turn spiritual, but for the approximately 200 people who filled pews at Valley Grove Baptist Church in South Knoxville on Thursday, April 21, the issue at hand was one close to many hearts—one that has affected most of them personally and, in some cases, claimed the lives of friends and loved ones. Clay Duda reports on TDOT’s plans to help prevent future tragedies on Chapman Highway.
CALENDAR Program Notes: Knoxville’s newest live-music venue unveils its first round of bookings.
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Spotlight: Ghost brings its Swedish prog metal to the Tennessee Theatre.
Inside the Vault: Eric Dawson tracks the career of the Southern Moonlight Entertainers. Music: Nick Huinker talks with Zack and Kota’s Sweet Years. Theater: Alan Sherrod appreciates the sense of optimism behind Clarence Brown Theatre’s South Pacific. Movies: Coury Turczyn was hoping for a bit more insight from Miles Ahead. April 28, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 3
EDITOR’S NOTE I
Knoxville Mercury Wins Big
n its first time entering the annual Golden Press Card Awards, presented by the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists, the Knoxville Mercury scored 13 wins in a variety of categories. Please note: We opted to compete in the “large daily newspapers” division rather than the one for non-daily publications. This means our entries for writing, design, and art competed head to head against the largest news organization in East Tennessee, aka the Knoxville News Sentinel. We’re especially proud of taking first place in our “big three” categories: investigative reporting, feature writing, and design. These are the cornerstones we launched our paper on: in-depth, long-form reporting of complex issues; well-written features that are entertaining to read; and superb, compelling design. We’re the one publication in East Tennessee where you can find all three of those elements, and we hope you find that level of quality worth supporting with donations to our Press Forward 2016 fundraising campaign. —Coury Turczyn, editor
1ST PLACE: AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Investigative Reporting: “Checks and Balances” by S. Heather Duncan The first chapter of Heather’s series on the Knoxville Police Department made an unparalleled examination into how the department is managed—and found that officers with disciplinary problems rarely face any career repercussions. Feature Writing: “Hemp Pioneers” by Clay Duda Did you know our rather conservative state Legislature legalized hemp farming last year? Neither did we—until Clay Duda let us know with this story portraying the first steps in local farmers’ attempts to plant a new cash crop. Page Design: Knoxville Mercury Covers by Tricia Bateman It’s not easy to create a beautiful 4
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
piece of cover art each week, especially on our budget, but Tricia surprises us with a fresh take every time—single-handedly making our stories about 100 percent better in the process.
SECOND PLACE: AWARD OF MERIT
General Reporting: “Moving Mountains” by Clay Duda It took a log of digging through bureaucracy, but Clay was able to show how guidelines for hilltop development—agreed-upon over a contentious years-long process—are virtually ignored by Knox County government and used inconsistently within the city. Feature Writing: “The Last Drive-In” by S. Heather Duncan Heather’s cover story detailing the conflict between a Maryville drive-in theater—the last in the area—and the bright lights of a new Walmart parking lot also revealed the debate over the future of a city that also serves as a gateway to the Smoky Mountains. Editorial Writing: “Why I Had to Leave the State to Get Married” by April Snellings Before the Supreme Court made its landmark decision that legalized marriage for everyone, April Snellings showed us what it means for state government to discriminate against you because it doesn’t approve of your lifestyle. Art Illustration: “Spirit of the Staircase” by Matthew Foltz-Gray Matthew upholds the nearly lost newspaper tradition of full-page color comics in a marvelous way every other week with his ongoing story of a bereft young man and his friend, the curious Mumford. (He also has four-panel black-and-white strips down on alternating weeks.)
THIRD PLACE
Sports Reporting: “The Quiet Fighter” by Brian Canever Brian’s profile of the local MMA fighter Ovince Saint Preux—who recently battled (and lost, with a broken
arm) for the UFC interim championship—provided an uncommon inside look at a relatively new sport. Personal Columns: “Sacred and Profane” by Donna Johnson Writing from a lifetime of misadventures, Donna gives us an uncommon view of Knoxville life—and its unique characters—that doesn’t exactly get written about elsewhere. Feature Photography: “Lost Knoxville” by Harlan Hambright The ’70s were not kind to downtown Knoxville, as people fled to the suburbs and buildings were replaced with parking lots, so there wasn’t much in the way of photographic documentation of that era. That is, until we stumbled across Harlan’s magical photos of places and people that live on as distant memories.
HONORABLE MENTION
General Reporting: “Crash Protection” by Clay Duda Clay’s news feature reported an interesting statistical and bureaucratic discrepancy: As work finally gets underway to improve the safety of Alcoa Highway, why does similar work on Chapman Highway lag behind—especially when Chapman has far worse fatality and crash rates? (Look for an update in this very issue.) Sports Reporting: “Class Rivals” by Matthew Everett Football is serious business in Tennessee, especially locally—beyond the Vols, there’s the new rivalry between Fulton and Maryville high schools, whose programs could not be more different. Matthew showed us what was at stake for both teams. Personal Columns: “The Scruffy Citizen” by Jack Neely Knoxville history contains a seemingly limitless number of surprises—especially when you have a writer of Jack’s caliber who’s devoted himself to uncovering them.
Delivering Fine Journalism Since 2015
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 Donna Johnson Ian Blackburn Rose Kennedy Brian Canever Dennis Perkins Patrice Cole Stephanie Piper Eric Dawson Ryan Reed George Dodds Eleanor Scott Lee Gardner Alan Sherrod Mike Gibson April Snellings Carey Hodges Joe Sullivan Nick Huinker Kim Trevathan Chris Wohlwend INTERNS
Hannah Hunnicutt Kevin Ridder
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
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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. © 2016 The Knoxville Mercury
Knoxville in Silents Movie-making in Knoxville is now 100 years old. Knoxville got interested in movies early. By one account, movies were being shown outdoors in Turner Park, along Broadway on the edge of what’s now North Hills, in the late 1890s.
He introduced electric streetcars to this city in 1890. He also served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and as a U.S. senator from California.
Short films were sometimes shown at vaudeville houses on Gay Street, between live shows, and at brothels on Central Street. Permanent cinemas were thriving by 1907. One of the first was called the Lincoln Theatre, run by former slave Cal Johnson. It was on Central Street, then still famous for its saloons. The first movie ever made in Knoxville was just over a century ago. Aunt Sally Visits Knoxville was a one-reel silent released in late 1915. Its plot follows a mountain lady who discovers oil on her property, becomes suddenly rich, and comes to Knoxville on a shopping spree. Some of the shooting was done at the Tyson house, which still stands on UT’s campus. Thousands of people saw the film at the Gay Theatre on Gay Street. Unfortunately, no copies of the film are known to exist. There may be no one alive who has ever seen it.
Former North Knoxvillian and UT graduate Clarence Brown (1890-1987) around 1921, when he was still working with pioneering French-born filmmaker Maurice Tourneur. He granted his alma mater the money that established Clarence Brown Theatre.. Image courtesy of wikimedia
One lead actor was locally well-known artist Hugh Tyler, James Agee’s uncle who appears as “Uncle Andrew” in the autobiographical novel, A Death in the Family—which has been made into four movies itself! (Knoxville’s first movie actor has himself been portrayed by several other actors, including John Cullum, James Woods, and David Alford.) James Agee himself (1909-1955) was later an important figure in films nationally, first as one of the first serious film critics, an essayist who reviewed hundreds of movies for Time magazine and The Nation, and who was a passionate advocate for the films of Charlie Chaplin, at a time when the comic silent star was neglected, partly due to his leftist political views. Their friendship is the subject of a 2006 book by John Wranovics called Chaplin and Agee. In 1919, five professionals founded what would be an influential new motion-picture studio called United Artists. Four were already famous in the movies: Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and D.W. Griffith. The only founder who was not already in show business was lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo (1863-1941), who as a young man had lived on State Street in Knoxville.
The most famous filmmaker from Knoxville was Clarence Brown (1890-1987), who was a prolific director for MGM during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Born in Clinton, Mass., Brown was 11 when his family moved to Knoxville, where his father took a job in management at Brookside Mills, the large textile factory on the north side of town. The Browns lived in the vicinity of the neighborhood now known as Old North. Of the four houses where they lived, two are still standing, on Scott Avenue, near Happy Holler. An extraordinarily bright child, Clarence gave dramatic performances in downtown theaters, and went to UT when he was only 15. He graduated with two degrees in engineering at age 20, in 1910. After a time trying to work as a car salesman in Alabama, he moved to New Jersey and began working in films, first with the famous French director Maurice Tourneur. He directed part of the classic silent epic, The Last of the Mohicans (1920). He’s credited with “discovering” Greta Garbo and nurturing her early career in movies like Flesh and the Devil (1926) and A Woman of Affairs (1928).
Brown, who loved special effects, was considered an early innovator in film, using his UT engineering savvy to experiment with machines in motion. Although Brown became more famous for his later sound movies, Agee, writing as a critic, considered Brown’s early silents like The Signal Tower and Smouldering Fires to be the director’s best. Karl Brown (1896-1990; no kin to Clarence) was considered a pioneering cinematographer when he came to Knoxville in 1926 scouting talent for an unusual silent film called Stark Love, about “hillbilly” culture. The film was shot in the Smokies near Robbinsville, NC, but Knoxville teenager Helen Mundy (1910-1987), a sometime local actor Brown found in a downtown pharmacy, earned the lead role in a sometimes shocking “naturalistic” movie that was a sensation in New York, albeit briefly. For 40 years the film was believed lost, but after a copy was found in Europe, it has enjoyed something of a revival in recent years. It earned a place on the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry in 2009, which called it “beautifully photographed...a maverick in both design and concept.”
Source: The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound.
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 April 28, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 5
HOWDY QUOTE FACTORY
GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE BY L. M. HORSTMAN
Andrew Jackson was a more significant figure in the history of this country. —U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Knoxville, in a News Sentinel story about Tennessee legislators’ disagreement with the U.S. Treasury Department’s decision to relegate Jackson to the back of the $20 bill and put Harriet Tubman on the front. But as a slave owner and the president who was responsible for the Trail of Tears, “honoring” his legacy is a bit, oh, complicated.
From August 27-31, 1929 and March 29-April 7, 1930, two of the last great location recording sessions of the era took place in Knoxville at the St. James Hotel, producing some of the finest old-time music on record. Introducing…
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
4/28 PUBLIC FORUM: EDUCATIONAL DISPARITIES THURSDAY
5:30-7:30 p.m., the auditorium at Vine Middle Magnet School (1807 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.). Free. The Disparities on Educational Outcomes Task Force is set to unveil draft recommendations for Knox County Schools to address disproportionate academic achievement amongst its students. Have a first look at the group’s proposals and offer feedback before its final May 12 meeting. Info: knoxschools.org/Page/12284
4/29 IRONWOOD ART FAIR FRIDAY
6-10 p.m., Ironwood Studios (119 Jennings Ave.). Free. This is not your average art show—the annual Ironwood Art Fair is also a rockin’ carnival, a true happening for Knoxville’s creative community. Hosted at welder/ artiste Preston Farabow’s studio in the Downtown North neighborhood, the fair will feature an amazing lineup of artists, live music, and Sweet P’s barbecue.
4/30 LECTURE: THOM MAYNE SATURDAY
3:30 p.m., Bijou Theatre (803 S. Gay St.). Free. Thom Mayne is the founder of the international architectural collective Morphosis and was the 2005 recipient of the Pritzker Prize. He’ll be addressing “Negotiating a Private Agenda” as part of the UT College of Architecture and Design’s 50th anniversary weekend.
5/3 PUBLIC MEETING: MIXED USE DISTRICT
6 p.m., Bearden United Methodist Church (4407 Sutherland Ave.). Free. The Metropolitan Planning Commission will present its proposed Mixed Use District zoning for the Bearden Village area. The plan intends to allow a range of uses (including residential) and to give greater priority to pedestrians. MPC staff will answer your questions. Info: knoxmpc.org.
81 1,100
$7.3M
91
—Clay Duda
Parks in the city of Knoxville, covering 1,943 acres.
Acres encompassed by the Urban Wilderness, a combination of public- and private-owned land.
Miles of greenway trails in Knoxville. One of the most popular, the Will Skelton Greenway in South Knoxville, recently reopened after some needed repairs.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
Lester McFarland
TUESDAY
BY THE NUMBERS
Green & Leafy
Robert Gardner
Annual operating budget for the city of Knoxville Department of Parks and Recreation, which oversees city greenspace.
Source: City of Knoxville Park & Recreation Department
T
he two men were ushered up the steps into the WNOX studio at the St. James Hotel and guided to their seats. Both were blind, but they were familiar with the studio layout, having appeared on popular WNOX radio shows since 1925.
Around 1922 they moved to Knoxville and played local events, hit the vaudeville circuit, and in 1926 began recording for Brunswick Records. Their popularity gave them a spot in the St. James sessions, where they recorded six sides.
Lester McFarland had been a musical prodigy attending the Kentucky School for the Blind in Louisville when he met Robert Gardner in 1915. They struck up an easy friendship, and McFarland taught Gardner how to play guitar; to help them write and memorize their songs, they adapted Braille to suit their needs.
While the record industry suffered through the Great Depression, radio shows thrived, and in 1931 McFarland and Gardner moved to Chicago and were featured for years on the WLS radio show, National Barn Dance. They never allowed their blindness to interfere with making music.
To be continued…
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner St. James Sessions Recordings: Where The Sweet Magnolias Bloom (1930) My Little Georgia Rose (1930) The Unmarked Grave (1930)
The Mansion Of Aching Hearts (1930) Will The Roses Bloom In Heaven (1930) Asleep At The Switch (1930)
The music of these artists will be performed live at Knoxville Stomp May 5-8, brought to you by the Knoxville Public Library’s Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound.
SCRUFFY CITIZEN
The Knoxville 25 Some reasons the world might care about our story BY JACK NEELY
T
he East Tennessee Historical Society’s new exhibit, Come to Make Records, is named for the entreaty that drew a diverse array of interesting musicians to the St. James Hotel on Wall Avenue in 1929 and 1930. It’s all about to be released in a handsome box set, thanks to an international effort, at next weekend’s Knoxville Stomp festival. The interactive exhibit offers lots of pictures and stories of musicians stirring the pot here even before the golden age of local radio. You can push a button and hear some of it. You might have to be a geek like me to gawk for more than a minute at the 78s made by Charlie Oaks (“Moonshine” and “Drunkard’s Dream”) and George Reneau (“Wreck on the Southern 97” and “Lonesome Road Blues”). Blind Knoxville street musicians, they both recorded in New York in 1925, before Nashville had a single recording studio, before even the landmark Bristol sessions of 1927. These ancient platters are rare testaments to these musicians who, after a moment of success in a fast-changing culture, died in obscurity—and to the overlooked role that Sterchi Brothers Furniture, who sponsored the records just after completing their big headquarters on Gay Street, played in the development of American popular music. We’re still discovering our history, and maybe our reason for being.
Over the next six months, Knoxville will be celebrating its 225th anniversary. It’s a mark most American cities haven’t reached. But what does it mean? Is it just a matter of endurance? Several events since the Chickamaugan invasion of 1793 could have removed this particular blot from the American map. There was a time, 25 years ago, that I suspected Knoxville was destined to one day be discernible mainly by its frequency of highway exits. The city likes to think of itself as remote and contrary—it’s our handy excuse—but our history has affected American history. A friend suggested we look for the 25 most significant events in the city’s history. That is, the 25 reasons America should care we’re turning 225. Some may be obvious. The launch of the Knoxville Gazette in 1791 marks the birthplace of journalism in this region. As the site of the three-week constitutional convention in early 1796, Knoxville is the birthplace of a state, the third state to be founded after the Revolution. Sen. Hugh Lawson White, a Knoxvillian, ran for president in 1834-36. His national campaign was unsuccessful, but may have marked the beginning of a reaction to the status quo that some historians see, for better or worse, as the beginning of America’s two-party system.
The Civil War is hard to ignore, even if, as historians often conclude, Knoxville’s significance to the war was distracting Longstreet long enough to assure the Union victory in Chattanooga. It was a noisy, interesting time, and we’re still arguing about its relevance. More historic here may be what happened after the war, when a Knoxvillian editor known as “Parson” W.G. Brownlow became a supporter of Reconstruction and hastened civil-rights legislation that brought Tennessee back into the Union before any other Confederate state, and brought blacks the right to vote, a right they still lacked in many Northern states. Then there was the surprise coalescence of the tiny college on the hill into the University of Tennessee, which is, we might forget in the seasonal agonies about athletics, an institution of considerable note. Knoxville’s railroad-fueled industrial boom after 1870 was, in tonnage and dollars, bigger than anything that ever happened here. But it’s hard to untangle one industrial development as more significant than another. Marble or beer? Iron or underwear? White Lily Flour or the first Dempster Dumpster? Or all those things? What happened here in 1913, the National Conservation Exposition, the last and largest of three big fairs of its era, drew a million visitors and several major progressive leaders to Chilhowee Park for a two-month conversation on the thoughtful and sustainable use of land and natural resources. It should have been groundbreaking, and maybe it was. Ten years later—10 years that included a major war, a deadly flu epidemic, and a couple of violent riots— Knoxvillians began in earnest on an effort to found a new national park. Led by Knoxvillians, including Annie Davis,
the state representative who was our first female elected official, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park movement created one of the most locally inspired parks in U.S. history. A more radical movement, the Wilderness Society, also coalesced in Knoxville, with the help of several TVA staffers, including Appalachian Trail founder Benton MacKaye, and also Knoxville attorney Harvey Broome. Then there’s music. Knoxvillian Roy Acuff took what had been a homely tradition, a style heard mainly from street musicians with a guitar and a tin cup, and made it a national sensation, years before anyone called it “country music.” And not long after, black musicians like Knoxville native Stick McGhee and white musicians like WROL broadcasters the Everly Brothers separately helped launch and refine something newer called rock ’n’ roll. In 1956, Clinton High School desegregated, the first white public high school in the South to do so, as the result of a decision passed down by a Knoxville federal judge named Robert Taylor. What difference did the 1982 World’s Fair make? As China’s first world’s fair since 1904, it was a step toward the world’s largest nation rejoining the world of nations. And the hypermodernist U.S. pavilion hosted what was also reputedly the first public demonstration of a touchscreen computer—though, as I recall, we weren’t encouraged to touch it. What do you think? I’d like to hear other opinions of the most significant events in Knoxville history. Why does Knoxville matter to the world? I’d like to present some sort of an answer this year, and you may know of something I haven’t thought about. We’ll publish it all in a future issue. ◆
We’re still discovering our history, and maybe our reason for being.
April 28, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 7
PERSPECTIVES
Legalize It Petition signatures needed for Knox marijuana referendum BY JOE SULLIVAN
S
teve Cooper suffers from a degenerative disc in his back that’s caused him no end of pain. After trying numerous drugs and other therapies, the remedy he’s found that gives him the most relief is marijuana. “It works a lot better and easier for me than anything prescribed by doctors,” Cooper says. Spurred by his own experience, the Knoxville accountant is now devoting himself to getting marijuana legalized for medical use in Tennessee. Twenty-three other states have already done so, and several more are heading in that direction. In many of them, it was done by the state’s voters in a referendum. But Tennessee doesn’t allow for this. So it will take an act of the Legislature to remove the state’s prohibition on the use or even the possession of pot for any purpose. And Cooper has been frustrated by the inaction he’s encountered from legislators thus far. A “Medical Cannabis Access Act” sponsored by Democrat Rep. Sherry Jones of Nashville and patterned after the laws of many other states got short shrift again this year. And a more limited measure sponsored by Republican Sen. Steve Dickerson of Nashville didn’t gain any traction either. So Cooper is now endeavoring to give the electorate a voice, albeit a symbolic one, in a place where voter-initiated referendums are permitted: namely, Knox County. Actually, he’s got two separate propositions that he’s seeking to get on this coming November’s ballot. One would be for medicinal marijuana; the other would be for recreational use. To get them on the ballot, Cooper
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
needs about 17,000 signatures on petitions from registered voters equaling 10 percent of the votes cast in the state’s last gubernatorial election. And he’s only got until June to get them signed, sealed, and delivered to the Knox County Election Commission. Petitions can be obtained from the website tennesseemarijuana.org, which contains instructions for mailing them to Cooper, who must then hand-deliver a sufficient number to the Election Commission. While Cooper claims to have a number of volunteers working with him, his outreach efforts at this point seem limited relative to the magnitude of the undertaking. A booth on Market Square last Saturday collected signatures, and another will be stationed near the UT Student Union this coming Saturday. Cooper has also been a featured guest on WBIR’s Inside Tennessee program, with other television and radio talk show appearances to follow, along with a social media presence. The ballot propositions are cast in terms of amendments to the Knox County Charter, but this is really just a contrivance to make them eligible for the one type of citizen-initiated referendum the charter authorizes. The two propositions are: • Shall the Knox County Charter be amended to allow the medical use of marijuana? • Shall the Knox County Charter be amended to allow the legal use of marijuana for recreational purposes by persons 21 years of age or older? No actual amendment to the charter has been framed and none would allow for any marijuana use
anyhow, since Knox County has no authority to do so. But a sizable majority in support could have a significant impact on state legislators when marijuana bills come before them again next year as they most certainly will. For my own part, I’m more partial to the medicinal proposition than the recreational one. Only four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) allow the latter, and the perception that it’s a hazardous drug is probably still too prevalent for a conservative state like Tennessee to allow its unfettered use anytime soon. On the other hand, there’s now widespread recognition that the cannabis plant contains therapeutic value, just as aspirin was derived the bark of a willow tree. Rep. Sherry Jones’ bill is fairly typical in its enumeration of “qualifying medical conditions” for which a “practitioner” could recommend marijuana to be dispensed to a “qualifying patient” by a “participating pharmacy.” The list of qualifying conditions includes cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, ALS, hepatitis C, Crohn’s disease, and Alzheimer’s. It would also encompass any “chronic or debilitating disease” that produces one or more of: severe debilitating pain, severe nausea, seizures, severe and persistent muscle spasms, or any medical condition for which a patient is receiving hospice services. In order to qualify to purchase marijuana, an individual would have to obtain an identification card from a participating pharmacy. In addition to specifying the condition for which the card was being issued, the pharmacy would also have to obtain a “full assessment of the qualifying patient’s medical history furnished by a practitioner with whom the patient
has a bona fide patient relationship.” The legislation also provides for licensing producers and processors of marijuana who would be regulated by the state Department of Agriculture. To be sure, marijuana is not widely considered to be the drug of choice for treating any particular disease or condition. A big reason is that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t even consider it to be a drug; therefore, doctors can only recommend but not prescribe it. However, the FDA, which had long opposed its use, has come around to the point of issuing a statement that “[t]he FDA is aware that caregivers and patients are looking for treatment options for unmet medical needs. In some instances patients or their caregivers are turning to marijuana in an attempt to treat conditions such as seizures and chemotherapy induced nausea.” And the FDA now professes to “support research into the medical use of marijuana.” Marijuana may not be as potent as an opioid painkiller, but it is far less dangerous. Hardly any deaths have been attributed to marijuana overdose, whereas opioid-induced fatalities have become a scourge. While marijuana has effects similar to alcohol and is similarly subject to abuse, a study conducted by the medical arm of the National Academies of Science concluded that “many of the drug’s ill effects are false or unsubstantiated by scientific evidence.” These include suppositions that “legalizing medical use of marijuana will increase overall use of the drug, that the drug is more addictive than other drugs available for prescription and that its side effects are more harmful than those of other drugs.” I hope Mercury readers will sign Cooper’s petition and seek others to do so as I have. ◆
It will take an act of the Legislature to remove the state’s prohibition on the use or even the possession of pot for any purpose.
Allen and Renea Preslar, of Seymour, examine a rendering that details planned roadwork along Chapman Highway between Simpson and Hendron Chapel roads during a public meeting on Thursday, April 21.
Photo by Clay Duda
Prayers for Chapman Hundreds gather for TDOT meeting on pending road improvements BY CLAY DUDA
I
t’s not often that meetings of the Tennessee Department of Transportation turn spiritual, but for the approximately 200 people who filled pews at Valley Grove Baptist Church in South Knoxville on Thursday, April 21, the issue at hand was one close to many hearts—one that has affected most of them personally and, in some cases, claimed the lives of friends and loved ones. The Rev. Keith Vaughan welcomed the crowd at the start of the meeting, leading a prayer that focused on a common goal for those in the audience and the dozen or so TDOT officials at the meeting: to make Chapman Highway a safer road. “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve just said a prayer and held on,” local resident Darius Hawkins told TDOT officials, describing the turn from Chapman Highway onto Simpson Street. The crowd was gathered to hear about the latest of four safety improvement projects planned over a 10-mile stretch of Chapman Highway. Within the last 10 years there have been more than 240 accidents with injuries on that length of road, including five fatalities, mostly due to the road’s winding configuration and natural barriers, TDOT Region 1 Director Steven Borden told the crowd.
“When you build in East Tennessee it’s really expensive. [That’s because] you’ve got a hill on one side and a creek on the other in most cases,” which holds true for much of Chapman Highway, Borden said. In all, the four improvements projects are estimated to cost a total of at least $33 million. This particular project would widen a one-mile stretch of Chapman Highway from just south of Simpson Road to Hendron Chapel Road, making room for a center turn lane, increasing visibility, and widening the shoulder. The plan also calls for decreasing the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph. The crowd heard designs plans for those improvements last Thursday night. TDOT officials say they hope to start acquiring rights of way for the project in the fall, after public comments are collected and the design plans are finalized. That process could take 12-14 months, and construction could start by early 2018. Anyone interested in weighing in on the plans can submit a written comment to TDOT before May 12 via email at tdot.comments@tn.gov or by snail mail to Project Comments, TDOT, Suite 700, James K. Polk Building, 505 Deadrick Street, Nashville, TN 37243. No one spoke in opposition to the plans during the meeting, though
several people called for more to be done sooner. “How about making an immediate impact and lower the speed limit right now? It’s dangerous conditions out there,” local resident Terry Guyse said. Mike Jones has lived on Pickens Gap Road for 30 years and travels Chapman Highway almost daily, “and you know how dangerous that is!” he said. “We’re concerned because we live it every day, and we hold our breaths sometimes. You sit there and think in the back of your mind, why do we not have the James White Parkway extension? That would take a lot of the traffic off Chapman Highway.” Public input during the meeting was limited to comments on the design for this segment of road work, but James White Parkway was the elephant in the room. Several people said after the meeting that they favored extending the parkway from downtown Knoxville to Seymour in order to alleviate traffic on Chapman Highway. “We’ve all lost loved ones on this highway,” said Brenda Cunningham, a longtime resident of Seymour and advocate for the extension. Plans for the extension were essentially killed in 2013 when, in response to lobbying by Knoxville officials and neighborhood advocates, it was removed from the regional transportation planning organization’s list of approved projects. The extension, they said, would slice through the Urban Wilderness and divide some South Knoxville neighborhoods. Last month TDOT Commissioner John Schroer reignited the debate when he argued in favor of the James White Parkway extension during a luncheon in Knoxville, saying the planned safety improvements along Chapman Highway wouldn’t do enough to protect motorists. Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, in turn, stood by her opposition to the parkway. TDOT ceased work on the parkway in 2013 after it was removed from the TPO’s list of projects, a requirement for any road work. “We’ve completed a portion of the environmental documents, but after a certain time frame we’ll have to go back and redo those evaluations,” if the project is ever revitalized, Regional Director Borden
said. “When we design a project we’re looking at the next 10, 15, 20 years. Seymour is a huge growth area, and that’s just going to continue.” So far TDOT has spent about $250 million on the James White Parkway, which crosses the river from downtown and dead ends a short distance into South Knoxville. The highway only made it that far in part because of the way transportation projects are funded in the state. By state law, TDOT cannot take on debt or sell bonds for road work or other transit projects—a “pay as you go” system. That lightens the burden on taxpayers since they’re not paying on debt, but also means some needed fixes along dangerous roadways like Chapman may be kicked down the road for years until funding becomes available. Even now there’s a chance these four planned projects along Chapman Highway may not be completed—it all depends on funding. TDOT takes it a step at a time, allocating money for each stage of its process: planning, then environmental reviews, design work, right-of-way acquisition, and finally construction. Right now the agency has guaranteed enough money to finish design work on the segment between Simpson and Hendron Chapel roads, and officials say they’re optimistic that funding will come through for the rest of the steps and other projects. Compared with just six months ago, TDOT transportation funding is a bit more consistent than is has been in years past. That’s because Congress in December finally agreed on long-term transit funding. Tennessee received about 53 percent of its infrastructure budget from the federal Highway Trust Fund in fiscal year 2013, according to a recent TDOT report. TDOT’s annual budget is up some this fiscal year as a result, $965 million for fiscal year 2016-17 compared to $660 for the current cycle ending in June. A chunk of that will also go towards the renovation of Alcoa Highway from downtown Knoxville to the Blount County line, a plan that has drawn some criticism, as the Mercury reported in December, because it took priority over work on Chapman Highway even though Chapman saw nearly three times as many accidents as Alcoa between 2012-2014. In November the state reported a backlog of 181 transit projects that likely would be funded until at least 2034, plus another 765 new projects that won’t be considered until 2022 or later. ◆ April 28, 2016
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Photo by Tricia Bateman
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
W
Candles spell out the anme of Jajuan Latham at a makeshift memorial that sprang up after the 12-year-old was caught in gang crossfire April 16.
Photo by Clay Duda
hen Dijon Andrews was 12 there wasn’t much to do for fun that was safe and legal in his East Knoxville neighborhood. But he didn’t have much time for fun, anyway. While some folks nearby were choosing drugs as a way to escape poverty, his mom was working two jobs. She relied on her eldest son to finish cooking dinner each night, feed and bathe his siblings, and try to put them to bed before she got home. Time for being a kid wasn’t scheduled. “I definitely felt overwhelmed,” he recalls. These pressures, compounded by the stress of physical danger, are a daily experience for young black men in Knoxville’s low-income neighborhoods. Andrews, now attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, made it out. Others lately haven’t been so lucky. When Jajuan Latham was 12, he was shot and killed in the back of his father’s SUV in a random gang drive-by shooting at Danny Mayfield Park in Mechanicsville. Latham’s April 16 death was the second recent high-profile gang shooting of an innocent in Knoxville. His cousin Zaevion Dobson died in December protecting two Fulton High School classmates from misdirected gang bullets. Neither young man was involved with a gang himself. The stresses of multi-generational poverty and violence in neighborhoods like Lonsdale, Mechanicsville, and parts of East Knoxville have led to a disturbingly high rate of young black men killing each other in the city. From 2003 to 2013, both victim and perpetrator were black in 56 percent of all murders committed with guns; 71 percent of the city’s gun killings were committed by people between the ages of 18 and 34, according to KPD statistics. Mayor Madeline Rogero’s Save Our Sons initiative aims to combat this crisis by dealing with the underlying problems that lead to a culture of violence. Despite being almost two years old, Save Our Sons remains little understood, partly because it keeps evolving and has spent a long time on gathering information. Its first high-profile, direct initiative was unveiled last week: A new $2.9 million “Change Center,” a hangout spot and job training initiative for teens and young adults, which aims to address some of the youth needs identified by Save Our Sons, particularly the need
for nearby safe places and activities for at-risk youth. So far, Save Our Sons has several elements: 1. City initiatives to help address problems that contribute to the crisis, such as job opportunities for former felons and recreational facilities for youth. 2. A staff coordinator, funded by a grant, who acts as a clearinghouse to connect community organizations with clients, volunteers, and donors. 3. A series of initiatives involving police, code enforcement, youth, and ex-convicts focused on specific neighborhoods. These are within about 2.75 square miles east and northeast of downtown, including parts of the Five Points neighborhood, Morningside, Edgewood, Parkridge, Park City and Burlington as well as Austin Homes and Walter P. Taylor Homes. The entire Save Our Sons effort was developed by an advisory committee appointed by Rogero, which includes Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch, Project GRAD executive director Ronni Chandler, City Councilman Dan Brown, and local pastors and black activists. “We’re not here to compete or replace groups that are already out there,” Rogero says. “We’re here to raise them up and connect them with resources.” Some in the black community say Save Our Sons has spent too long planning and needs to take decisive action. Jackie Clay, the Save Our Sons
coordinator, just completed drafting a set of measurable goals for the grant funds. The effort gained more urgency city-wide after Dobson’s death. “It was like wow, this is real,” says Andrews, who had been part of 100 Black Men of Greater Knoxville with Dobson. “When I was in middle school (at Vine) of course I heard stories of people getting killed, but it was like every two or three months. Now it’s like every month or three weeks,” he says. “Zaevion’s death was a spark that started a fire, but Zae was not the first kid that died,” says Pastor Daryl Arnold of Overcoming Believers Church in East Knoxville. “(The community) west of Papermill still doesn’t get that. There’s a lot of wailing mothers.” Arnold, a founding member of the Save Our Sons advisory committee, conducted Dobson’s funeral. “It’s not that rich white people don’t care,” he says. “They just don’t know.” Keira Wyatt, director of nonprofit C.O.N.N.E.C.T. Ministries, puts it more bluntly: “How many African American guys die every day, and nobody gives a crap? They really don’t. It’s just like, oh well, another one bites the dust. Awareness of [Dobson’s] heroic act caused people to look at young black men differently. People got to know all young blacks are not out to gang bang or kill or destroy.” Wyatt and Andre Canty, president of 100 Black Men of Knoxville, both praise Rogero for creating Save Our Sons even before Dobson’s death ignited broader community concern.
Canty, who serves on the dvisory committee, says the city has become more pro-active, especially since hiring Clay. But until the end of March, the committee hadn’t met for six months. Rev. John Butler and his wife Rev. Donna Butler, who serve on the committee, say there is some mistrust of Save Our Sons in the black community. The advisory committee needs to meet more publicly, at least monthly, and to add more people from the neighborhoods where youth violence prevails, they say. “It’s for us, but it’s not with us,” says John Butler, who is also president of the Knoxville chapter of the NAACP. As long as the organizers and grantees are outside the community, he says, “You lose the strength to understand what all the challenges are.” While enthused about the effort, these pastors of Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church in Mechanicsville want Save Our Sons actively working toward specific goals and funding organizations within low-income neighborhoods. “I am not pleased,” Donna Butler says. “I feel like we’re doing a lot of talking. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and do the work.”
ORIGINS
Save Our Sons was born out of Mayor Rogero’s interest in a group called Cities United, a national partnership to reduce violence-related deaths among young black men. Rogero asked Rausch whether this was a big problem in Knoxville, so Rausch had KPD crime analysts examine a decade’s worth of homicides, aggravated assaults, and robberies. He says the results were disturbing. From 2011 to 2013, the number of black offenders using a firearm to commit murder increased by 140 percent. In 2012 alone, 90 percent of homicides were committed by black males against each other. “That number just stood out at me,” Rausch says. “We are losing a generation to violence.” (It’s worth noting also that 12 percent of homicide victims were under age 18, according to a presentation Rausch put together for Save Our Sons.) April 28, 2016
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
Emerald Youth partnered with the city to run the refurbished pool at the E.V. Davidson Recreation Center, were all kids in Emerald Youth after-school programs learn to swim.
Photo by Shawn Poynter
Knoxville joined Cities United and Rogero convened what became the Save Our Sons advisory group to explore what role the city should play. The group met with nonprofits that serve at-risk black men and their families, officials from the district attorney’s office, public defender Mark Stephens, and Juvenile Judge Timothy Irwin. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama started the My Brother’s Keeper initiative, with similar goals. Save Our Sons held a summit of 180 service providers and community leaders in November 2014. A University of Tennessee College of Social Work report based on feedback from the summit concluded: 1. Interventions aren’t addressing the family as a whole. 2. Service providers aren’t coordinating or communicating with each other enough, and a clearinghouse is needed to direct clients through local support agencies. 3. KPD officers need to spend more time in the community building relationships. 4. Mentoring needs to start earlier and last longer. Shortly after graduating from the L&N Stem Academy last year, Andrews helped organize a “Sons Summit” of 150 black boys and men between the ages of 10-18 as part of the Save Our Sons initiative. Participants described pressure to provide for their family starting at age 14 or 15, while being hassled by addicts on the way home and sometimes being taken on drug runs without their consent. As Rogero, Rausch, and black community leaders discussed these issues, they began working together in different ways. Police hosted a free night for families at Chuck E. Cheese. Rausch and Arnold encouraged teens to plan a party at Skatetown. Then they provided transportation for 85 young people, and Rausch, Arnold, and Rogero stayed to skate. (Rogero outlasted the guys on the rink.) A joint church service was held at Overcoming Believers, with police officers welcoming visitors and singing in the choir. Rausch preached the sermon. “It was beautiful, and the police bluegrass band played in the ’hood church, and everybody was on their feet,” Arnold recalls. Afterward, officers and church members gave away 500 boxes of groceries in nearby low-income neighborhoods, he says.
The discussions with these partners also led Rausch to pursue some new approaches to policing. Last summer, when downtown business owners complained about large groups of black kids causing disturbances in Krutch Park late on weekends, Rausch sent a diverse group of officers hang out with the kids. In the past, Rausch says, police would have just made arrests and written tickets. But Rausch had come to realize that these were just kids who needed a place to hang out. Nobody was arrested. Police (including Rausch in plain clothes) talked in a friendly way with the teens about cleaning up their language and talked with parents about picking their kids up before the midnight curfew. Arnold says the Save Our Sons effort has helped him, and other faith and nonprofit organizations, find partners and support. “It’s the glue,” he says of Save Our Sons. “I thought that I was the only one doing this work, and it wasn’t true.” After the Zaevion Dobson killing, Arnold and ministers at First Calvary Baptist Church in Lonsdale recognized they were each reaching out to their own neighborhood gangs. They put out a call to gang members to attend a community discussion at Overcoming Believers about ways to stem the violence. Rausch took some heat for agreeing that KPD would refrain from arresting wanted gang members for a few hours near the meeting. But Arnold and India McDowell, youth director at Calvary Baptist,
argue that the payoff was worth the risk. The meeting led to some fragile truces and a movement among local street gangs to reduce the violence. Dobson’s death “was a huge impact of opening the eyes of people in gangs,” McDowell says. “I think that ultimately in the long run, it’s going to really show.” “You had guys who were enemies for 20 years hugging and praying for each other,” Arnold says. Some of these coalesced into the group “Heal the Land,” which has brought together rival gang members to help the community (see sidebar).
MIND THE GAPS
Last October, Save Our Sons gained firepower in the form of a $600,000 grant from the federal Office of Criminal Justice Programs. Spanning three years, the funds are meant to reduce violence among young black men in specific geographic areas. Rogero says although the grant is focused on particular neighborhoods, many of the resulting initiatives will benefit young black men across the city. Clay’s personal experiences make her passionate about the goals of Save Our Sons. The East Knoxville resident raised a son on her own, while two of her brothers are in prison—one for 30 years, and one for life. “I understand how the judicial system can change a family’s life forever,” she says. Clay is also a social worker, instructor at the UT College of Social Work, and community organizer with four years’ experience as a project manager in
Rogero’s office. Under the grant, the city had six months to create an action plan, which Clay recently completed. It addresses the problem through prevention, intervention, support for young men leaving jail, and neighborhood revitalization. Although the action plan continues to evolve, it calls for increasing the number of black young people getting jobs, a GED, and/or post-secondary education; providing safe places and activities for black youth outside school; and increasing positive interaction between Knoxville police and residents in the target neighborhoods. Rogero and Rausch both say they want to see police officers out of their cars more, and are open to offering incentives for officers to volunteer in the same neighborhoods where they work. To help prevent crime, Save Our Sons set goals to increase KPD community policing patrols, as well as to increase collaboration with juvenile court and the public defender in providing alternatives to jail for at-risk youth. This diversion approach would offer outreach, job training and life skills classes to young men in trouble. The long-term goal is to reduce robberies, aggravated assaults, and murders in the target neighborhoods. Neighborhood revitalization goals call for spending money and developing partnerships to beautify blighted properties. Clay says this is an important step to helping young people feel a sense of ownership in their communities. The city will measure progress toward its goals using metrics like KPD crime statistics, internship and job fair records, graduation and GED records, records of complaints about police, code violation records and nuisance property complaints, and surveys. Leaders of some religious organizations say the lack of cohesive neighborhood support for black youth is partly a failure of its own faith community. “I think there is an erosion of some of the networks in Knoxville that were there in previous generations,” says Kevin DuBose, director of
church and community development for Emerald Youth. “The churches aren’t as strong as they used to be.” “Who is culpable is the question we need to ask,” says Keira Wyatt, who runs C.O.N.N.E.C.T. Ministries, a faith-based nonprofit that supports at-risk youth and those leaving jail. “That’s the church, because we are supposed to set a moral compass for how we live and our moral values…. Save Our Sons is part of the solution because they can work together with the people who are supposedly dealing with core values.” Arnold reflects on how his ministry has shifted its focus to the streets in the last decade. “The Lord spoke to me and said, ‘You’ve got to do more than preach funerals and start changing the city and changing minds, so people can come sit in the pews and not lie in a box.” Many organizations exist to address the challenges identified by Save Our Sons. But they often lack the resources to meet demand, and gaps remain: Adequate support for people returning from jail, teens with too much time on their hands, overwhelmed parents, and families reeling from trauma and loss.
RE-ENTRY
Will Luvene Jr. had been in and out of jail until his father died of cancer while Luvene was serving time. Although he’s from Chicago, Luvene came to Knoxville when he was released four years ago. His mother was in Tennessee and he found a small halfway house near one of the only Knoxville agencies focused on serving people leaving prison. C.O.N.N.E.C.T Ministries directs them to services that can help with finding clothes, housing, a job, addiction treatment, and legal help. “You get tired of the revolving door, so you got to move in a different direction,” Luvene says. “My father’s death played a major part. I wasn’t able to be there for him. I used that to move forward.” C.O.N.N.E.C.T. helped him find a job at Goodwill and provided him with a bus pass to get there. When Luvene found an apartment in Fountain City, he struggled to convince the landlord to rent it to him. An administrator at the halfway house and co-workers at Goodwill vouched for him. “The landlord said, ‘A lot of people are backing you,’” and he gave Luvene a
chance. At Goodwill, Luvene worked his way up from the warehouse to management, then became licensed in food service and sanitation. Now he’s a prep cook at Calhoun’s and rentingto-own in West Knoxville with his girlfriend and their daughter. Unfortunately Luvene’s success story is unusual. “A lot of places won’t take a risk to hire someone out of jail or allow someone to live there,” Wyatt says. The jobs available pay too little to live on, and struggling ex-cons become depressed and use drugs to cope. As many as 80 percent of them end up returning to prison, she says. “It is so easy for us to go back to our old ways simply because that’s part of what we know,” Wyatt says. C.O.N.N.E.C.T. serves many people who were imprisoned 10 years or more—almost all for drug convictions—who find themselves middle-aged with no job experience. Charjuan Hayes, 24, says many men who have served time have no alternative but to return to the same environment that landed them in jail. (Before you even have time to look for other housing, you have to provide an address so a parole or probation officer can find you.) “Most definitely one of the main issues is when you go back to your mom’s house,” says Hayes, who served a couple of years in jail for marijuana distribution. “You’re right there with the same people.” He says he resisted the temptations through prayer, keeping busy with his son, and volunteering as a kids’ basketball coach. “When you have time to do too much, that’s when you start getting back into the same things you used to do,” he says. Even Luvene, far from his old turf, had to resist the influence of the street. Some old friends from Chicago tried to follow him. “It’s on you to distance yourself,” he says. “I don’t hang out on Magnolia. I have no reason to come towards the East Side…. Trust me, I been on these streets for 31 years, been a gang leader. My family in Chicago and all over the world, they’re shocked.” To help support this kind of life change, Wyatt says, Knoxville needs a re-entry center funded by local, state, and federal government: something like a halfway house offering housing and resources to help people leaving prison transition into the community.
What Are Gangs Like in Knoxville? The “gang” label brings to mind everything from motorcycle rowdies to shootouts among L.A. thugs. In Knoxville, gangs run the gamut as well, including white supremacists, other ethnic gangs, typical street gangs, and teenage cliques with guns, says Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch. Although many in Knoxville perceived an uptick in gang violence since last fall, Rausch says it wasn’t that unusual. It just became more prominent as a result of the high-profile death of Zaevion Dobson, a Fulton High School sophomore shot protecting classmates from a random gang shooting. “Although, with the heinousness of the crimes, it did make me and my command staff try to see if we could do more,” Rausch says. He created a temporary gang task force to try to gather more intelligence about gang activity. Rausch says local gangs generally exist for the purpose of criminal activity, mostly drug sales but sometimes also gun sales or gambling. However, Knoxville gangs aren’t as organized as many in bigger cities and are often not part of a larger inter-city network, even if they share the same name with a nationally-recognized gang. The downside is that disorganization can make gangs more dangerous, because gang members don’t have a formal network of superiors to whom they answer, says Darryl Arnold, pastor of Overcoming Believers Church in East Knoxville. Arnold has presided over many funerals of young men killed on the streets. “It’s Wild West,” he says. Instead of killing over big money and with a boss’s permission, Knoxville gang members are shooting each other in the heat of the moment over colors or tweets, he says. And although many gang disputes involve who gets to sell drugs in a certain territory, young men are putting their lives on the line for small-time profits, Arnold says. Despite the stereotype that drugs will provide a quick route to a rich lifestyle, he says, “A guy sells all this dope and gets killed, and his homeboys got to catch a ride to the funeral. They don’t even own a car.” Many young people, pastors, and police agree that some crimes categorized as gang activity really stem from personal arguments between armed young people. “There are a lot of people in neighborhoods that are in gangs, usually people who get picked on their whole life and go get in a gang because then they feel safe,” says Charjuan
Hayes, 24, who grew up in East Knoxville. But he says he often sees members of rival gangs hanging out together, and many shootings and conflicts are not gang-related. “Its not gang beefs. It’s a personal beef,” he says. Rausch says gangs in Knoxville used to be oriented East Side versus West Side. But breaking up old public-housing models dispersed these groups around the city, with gangs controlling turf in four- to eight-block patches, he says. He observes that some gang members demonstrate the kind of interpersonal skills and entrepreneurship of a polished small businessman, making it clear they are capable of much more if they are given the right guidance. “All the skills you learn getting an MBA—building a customer base, managing income and payments—they’re the same, and if used positively, could do a lot of good,” Rausch says. Former gang members with a similar message are helping lead the group “Heal the Land,” formed shortly after the Dobson killing. India McDowell, youth director at First Calvary Baptist Church in Lonsdale, says Heal the Land has 17 core members, a combination of former gangsters, people who lived criminal lives in the streets outside of gangs, church members, and people who are passionate about youth. “This group is very powerful for Knoxville and the communities that it’s in, because these people are born and bred in these communities and they know the struggle,” McDowell says. Calvary Baptist held a youth summit with Heal the Land in February, where former gang members spoke with 87 teens about their own mistakes and making better choices, McDowell says. Heal the Land’s symbol is four different gang handkerchiefs tied together to form a cross. Wearing matching Heal the Land shirts, Bloods and Crips walked in January’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. Rival gangs joined forces with white West Knoxville church members to deliver 22,000 pounds of food to residents of Lonsdale and Walter P. Taylor Homes. McDowell says Heal the Land is incorporating as a nonprofit and hopes to provide mentoring programs for young men and hold social events, like skating parties and basketball tournaments, to continue forging relationships between youth from different gangs and turfs. —S. Heather Duncan
April 28, 2016
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“It needs to be a systematic continuum of care,” she says. “The gap is making sure we actually have a place for people to go.” One of the Save Our Sons action-plan goals is to increase collaborative efforts to identify services and job opportunities for parolees and probationers. This is an area where Rogero would like the city to provide more leadership. Knoxville began offering a “Second Chances” program last year that gives men leaving jail, including Hayes, a chance to try out a job in the public service department by filling in when a regular employee is on medical or family leave. If the temporary worker is a good fit, the city will hire him to fill a long-term job opening or provide him a reference for another job. Rogero says if the program continues to work well, she’ll look for ways to expand it. Rogero and Rausch want to see other employers follow this lead. “We’ve got to help employers understand that sometimes you’ve got to give people a chance,” Rausch says.
NO PLACE TO GO
Black boys and men at the Sons Summit at the Civic Coliseum last summer said they need more after-school social and cultural opportunities and more access to playgrounds and athletic fields. Canty says the city should host more of its festivals in inner-city parks instead of downtown. “On the East Side of town, there’s not a lot of places you can go to just go to have fun,” Andrews says. “When people get bored, they tend to follow and go in the wrong direction.” “I always push back when people say there’s nothing to do here,” Rogero says. “Look at Zaevion—he grew up in public housing in Lonsdale, but he had been on the swim team at Emerald Youth and he had a mentor.” But she acknowledges that there are not necessarily enough activities throughout the city or for all age groups. “We know everybody doesn’t play football, basketball, or baseball,” Rogero says. “We need more options.” A significant option will be added next year on Harriet Tubman Street in 20,000 feet of vacant warehouse space donated by Overcoming Believers. The Change Center will include a roller skating rink (a 14
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
Murders With a Firearm in Knoxville Offender and Victim Race (2003-2013) Black Offender, Black Victim
White Offender, White Victim
Black Offender, White Victim
White Offender, Black Victim
56%
18% 9% 17%
Offender Demographics
Percentage of Murders Using Firearm by Age Range, 10 Year Averages 45%
39%
40%
32%
35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10%
12%
10%
5%
5% 0%
Under 18
18 - 24
25 - 34
35 - 44
45 - 54
2% 55 - 64
0% 65 and over
Source: KPD, Save Our Sons: A Study of Violent Crimes in Knoxville, Tennessee, 2003 to 2013
repeated desire voiced by inner-city youth), a multi-purpose sports venue, a concert stage, a movie wall, a music mixing studio, a climbing wall, a game room, and a Hard Knox Pizza café. Planned to open in late 2017, the center will have free adminission and modest activity fees. In addition, there will be a major Change Center Jobs Initiative that will offer direct entry-level jobs, job training, job referrals, and an effort to partner with business mentors and community partners to develop jobs for entrepreneurial teens. Between 2011 and 2015, KPD records indicate 76 percent of all homicides occurred within the 3.25-mile radius around The Change Center. The Change Center is in the process of becoming its own nonprofit, not run by the church, although Arnold (and Rausch) will co-chair its board of directors. Among other board members are Mike Murray, president and general maanger of the Knoxville Ice Bears, Sterling “Sterl the Pearl” Henton, former UT quarterback and official DJ for UT, and Nathan Langlois, principal of Austin-East High School. Much of the funding for the Change Center must still be raised. But pending City Council approval, the city will chip in $500,000 over two years. Another $500,000 has been donated already, including major
commitments from the Haslam Family Foundation, Pilot Corporation, and Cornerstone Foundation of Knoxville. (The Haslam Family Foundation will also contribute $250,000 to operating expenses over five years, to prevent the Change Center from competing too much with existing nonprofits for donations.) Hayes and Canty had previously suggested a need for access to recording studios where young men can express themselves through music rather than violence, which it appears the Change Center will offer. Canty had also suggested that the city offer youth cultural programs and workshops on topics like entrepreneurship and songwriting. “Help kids create something— their own job, or a piece of art,” says Canty, who is also organizer of the Knoxville Hip Hop Forum. “Black men—we’re taught not to express ourselves. You can’t be emotional, or you’re looked at as less. Because we’re socialized to express ourselves in a certain way, those emotions come out in other ways.” Andrews says after-school programs really shaped him. “Programs like (Emerald Youth) really just brought in all these different speakers and allowed me to really think about where my life could really be besides Knoxville and Tennessee, even,” he says. Andrews says the experience also
inspired him and his friends to start a Southeastern Consortium of Minorities in Engineering Club at L&N Stem Academy. They wanted to educate minority students about “opportunities out there besides your typical black role.” He says sports is often presented to black boys as the only route to a lucrative job or a college education; although teachers talk about having a back-up plan, they rarely present white-collar options. “The essence of entrepreneurship could’ve been taught,” he points out. “Knoxville is the sort of place where small businesses thrive.” Working happens to be a good way to fill a teen’s time. But John Butler says that in many low-income neighborhoods there aren’t enough jobs within walking distance that employ high school students. He also sees a need for apprenticeship programs teaching skilled labor like plumbing. “A job is the biggest deterrent to a life of making marginal decisions,” DuBose says. “When they lose that hope, I think they are open and susceptible to some of the negative influences.” That’s part of the reason Emerald Youth tries to work with students from first grade through their first job.
PTSD AND FAMILY SUPPORT
Rausch and Arnold say they see a vast need for counseling. Young people and families that live surrounded by violence experience post-traumatic stress just like survivors of war. “These kids see death and hear gunshots every day,” Arnold says. “Counseling for this needs to be part of the school system curriculum—it shouldn’t happen only after DHS gets called in.” Young men who participated in the Sons Summit agreed, saying family counseling should be universal and mandatory. Rausch says he learned through Cities United about an approach called “violence interrupters,” counselors who come to a hospital after a shooting to talk with family members and help calm the situation, diffusing the urge to retaliate. “We have great conversations with families who have innocent victims,” Rausch says. “I’m not sure we do such a great job with families who don’t. It’s still a lost life. It’s still a person they loved. We’ve got a void in providing support for those families.”
Even young men who participated in the cycle of crime and violence were victims of it, Rausch says. Dobson and his killer, Brandon Perry, are an example. According to the description of events laid out by police, Perry, 23, took part in a gang-related shooting in Western Heights on Dec. 17. Those who were attacked retaliated by shooting at Perry’s house, wounding his mother, later the same day. In his own mistaken attempt at retaliation, Perry shot at a group of teens in Lonsdale Homes that included Dobson. (None of the teens were involved in the earlier shootings.) Perry himself was shot and killed a few hours later in what police say was further retaliation. “Brandon Perry’s dead,” says Canty, who is also a leader in the local Black Lives Matter movement. “He can’t speak for himself, but he was a victim too. They were failed too. They were also taught a culture of violence…. Not just gun violence but domestic violence and sexual violence, too. It’s not always to the point of death, but it’s a different kind of death. When the mind’s not healthy, everything else will fail.” Canty and John Butler say many parents grew up in the same environment, often in gangs themselves, and had children young. Butler would like more emphasis on educating the entire family of young children, including building parenting and conflict resolution skills, through day cares and public schools.
DIRECT WORK BY THE CITY
Under Rogero’s direction, the city has already begun to try to directly address some of gaps in youth activities and job opportunities (most recently with The Change Center initiative) as well as employment for ex-convicts. The Save Our Sons mini-grants could help. Wyatt wants to see that money stay in the neighborhoods. “I would like to see people who are actually doing the work get the funding,” she says. “A lot of nonprofits have received huge grants, and it hasn’t trickled down.” The city can also help with quality after-school programs at community centers, where it offers classes and sports leagues, sometimes through partnerships. For example, Emerald Youth and a church partnered to fix the pool at the city’s
E.V. Davidson Recreation Center, where Emerald Youth now teaches all the kids in its after-school programs to swim. In some cases, the city spends money on facility improvements spearheaded by its partners. The Boys and Girls Clubs received $250,000 from the city in Fiscal 2014 and $100,000 in Fiscal 2015. As of January, the city had also thrown in $508,047 for infrastructure and streetscape improvements around a new indoor soccer complex funded by Bill Samsun, where Emerald Youth now runs a league near the Fort Sanders neighborhood. At the Mechanicsville homecoming parade, several people approached Rogero to complain about the lack of a safe neighborhood hangout. Rogero says she has asked the Parks and Recreation Department to map all city parks and after-school programs so the city has a complete picture of where kids can go after school, what partners provide transportation and where. This could help identify kids that don’t have access to services, and lead the city to recognize where it needs to build new playgrounds or sports facilities, Rogero says. The city is trying to provide jobs and employment skills for teenagers through its summer internship program. It has served 15 high school and college students a summer in recent years, up from four in 2011. (Until two years ago, participants had to meet “disadvantaged youth” financial requirements, but that requirement ended.) The city tries to partner with employers to teach at-risk teens about career options. Clay worked with Project GRAD and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory on holding a My Brother’s Keeper day that brought 50 black students to tour the lab and meet with African American lab employees this winter. And Rogero wants the city to influence more employers to try their own versions of Second Chances and internship programs. “Maybe that’s our next big initiative,” she says. The Butlers say they are ready for more, and ready to see more results. Rausch argues that results will be better because of all the behind-thescenes groundwork. “Nobody has gone to sleep,” he says. “Nobody has put this on the shelf.” ◆
Knoxville’s Youth Agencies Save Our Sons seeks to partner with existing community organizations that serve at-risk young black men, from primary-school boys to ex-convicts. Here’s a selection of some you already know and some you might not, with contact information in case you need services or want to volunteer or donate to their efforts. For an even longer list or further information, see the City of Knoxville’s Save Our Sons website or call S.O.S. coordinator Jackie Clay at (865) 215-2831.
100 BLACK MEN OF GREATER KNOXVILLE
865-531-7370 220 Carrick St. The nonprofit group focuses on mentoring black boys and young men in the areas of education, health and wellness, money, and conflict management.
COMMUNITY STEP-UP
865-237-6936 Write c/o Dr. Joseph Kendrick 4516 Asheville Highway Volunteer organization aiming to stop the cycle of recidivism by connecting people leaving jail with services such as housing and help with child support payments and paying fines. It also conducts community education workshops and identifies at-risk kids, helping them access mentorship opportunities and other supports.
C.O.N.N.E.C.T MINISTRIES
865-851-8005 2340 Magnolia Avenue C.O.N.N.E.C.T. Ministries is a 10-year-old Christian ministry that serves more than 200 people a year through five programs to help youth, former convicts and veterans. Project Fresh Start provides at-risk youth with STEM through employment training, continuing education, personal development, and money management skills. C.O.N.N.E.C.T. is also one of the only agencies in Knoxville with a program to help people reintegrate into the community after serving time in jail, by connecting them with treatment, housing, and job placement services, among other supports.
EMERALD YOUTH
865-637-3227 1718 North Central St. Longtime Christian-based youth ministry offers three core programs: Just Lead, a multi-churchbased after-school program offering academic, health, and faith support to children from elementary through high school; the Emerald Sports program, offering a variety of sports leagues; and Emerald Youth Fellows, a mentorship and support program that guides high school seniors through the higher education process to their first job.
GIRL TALK, INC.
865-851-7064 P.O. Box 14634 Girl Talk is a faith-based nonprofit that focuses on mentoring at-risk girls. It introduces them to career and college opportunities to help them avoid the pitfalls of teen pregnancy and develop a strong sense of self-worth to lead them to success.
PROJECT GRAD KNOXVILLE
865-525-4030 700 E. Hill Ave., Suite 100 Project GRAD Knoxville works with children from kindergarten through post-secondary education to increase the number of inner-city students graduating and completing higher education. The program works with 14 Knox County schools and their students by providing career and college coaching plus social service support.
THRIVE LONSDALE
865-544-5881 1317 Connecticut Ave Thrive Lonsdale is a free Christian after-school and mentoring program based in the Lonsdale neighborhood, where it also runs a community garden. The program provides snacks, dinner, transportation, and tutoring to the children, as well as access to playing on community sports teams.
UUNIK ACADEMY
865-384-4475 P.O. Box 5872 UUNIK is a nonprofit program that meets at the Technology Cooperative at Emory Place once a week and also offers tutoring, counseling, and workshops to teach African American youth age 10-15 academic, leadership, and life skills. Its leaders intend for it to become a full-time after-school program.
April 28, 2016
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P rogram Notes
SYLVAN ESSO
GARBAGE M83
SILVERSUN PICKUPS
Mill Town Knoxville catches up to its neighbors with the new mid-size venue Mill and Mine
I
t’s been a truism among local music fans for years that Knoxville doesn’t get as many good concerts as nearby cities do—we’re particularly envious, it seems, of Asheville, which has less than half of Knoxville’s population but routinely hosts name-brand touring acts that skip us on the way to Nashville and Atlanta. But now Knoxville has a venue that’s designed specifically to attract those kinds of shows. When Ashley Capps, the founder and president of local powerhouse music promoter AC Entertainment, announced the 1,200-capacity Mill and Mine at a press conference in early March, he described the 1,200-capacity club as a “missing link” in the local entertainment infrastructure and compared it directly to the Orange Peel in Asheville, Track 29 in Chattanooga, and Marathon Music Works in Nashville. AC Entertainment books shows at all three venues. “My team, a week didn’t go by when they didn’t say, why can’t we be doing this in Knoxville?” Capps said then. “As we’ve noticed booking the
Orange Peel, there’s been a missing component. Many artists were skipping Knoxville, and we were tired of that.” This week, AC announced five concerts scheduled between June and October that indicate the company has finally convinced at least some of those artists to make stops in Knoxville. The initial schedule includes five mid-level summer festival-friendly, Pitchfork-approved indie bands: L.A. psychedelic dream-pop sister trio Haim (Friday, June 10); California alt-pop veterans Silversun Pickups (Tuesday, June 21); ’90s post-grunge comeback kids Garbage (Tuesday, July 19); indie/electro-folk newcomers Sylvan Esso (Friday, Sept. 9); and the L.A.-based, France-born synth-rock romantics M83 (Tuesday, Oct. 11). (Haim and Silversun Pickups are both scheduled to play at the Orange Peel in June.) Tickets for Haim, Silversun Pickups, Garbage, and Sylvan Esso go on sale Friday, April 29; tickets for M83 go on sale Friday, May 6. The Mill and Mine has already seen action—it was one of the venues
for AC Entertainment’s Big Ears in late March and early April, hosting Yo La Tengo, Kamasi Washington, Shabazz Palaces, and the Sun Ra Arkestra, among others. Jack Neely described it as a “fascinating” space: “Much bigger than it looks from the outside—a ‘hangar,’ as someone said—it was one of several buildings built in the 1920s for the cutting-edge automotive trade. I wandered around, as a few others did, too, like ghosts. Gutted in a fire a couple of years ago, developers David Dewhirst and Mark Heinz reimagined it, replacing the old-fashioned wooden ceiling just as it was, with fans and skylights, but added a mezzanine balcony. … For me it was a fine introduction to a historic space I’d never encountered before. And when I stepped outside, Knoxville, presented in such interesting accretions of irregular rectangles in the bright April sunshine, struck me as a beautiful thing.”
In the April 24 issue of The Tennessean, Nate Rau wrote about
tensions in Nashville between independent club owners and mega-entertainment corporations like Live Nation, which operates the city’s Ascend Amphitheater and the Municipal, and AEG. (Live Nation also owns a stake in AC Entertainment’s Bonnaroo festival, in Manchester, Tenn.) The story focused on Chris Cobb and Josh Billue, owners of the Exit/In and Marathon Music Works, who turned down a lucrative offer from Live Nation for their two clubs in January. “I never did any of this to make money. I still don’t,” Cobb said. “And when I realized that, I decided I didn’t want to sell.” Buried at the bottom of the story, though, was a bit of locally pertinent information. According to Nau, Cobb and Billue are planning to open new clubs in Kansas City and Knoxville, presumably mid-size venues similar to what they already operate in Nashville—and similar to what AC Entertainment just opened. Cobb didn’t respond to a request through social media for an interview. —Matthew Everett
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Inside the Vault: The Rainey Family
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
Music: Sweet Years
Theater South Pacific
Movie: Miles Ahead
Inside the Vault
Session Musicians The history of the Rainey family sheds light on the Knoxville Sessions of 1929-30 BY ERIC DAWSON
T
he Southern Moonlight Entertainers recorded 10 sides for the Brunswick-Vocalion recording sessions at the St. James Hotel. They were the second act to record on Aug. 27, 1929, the fi rst day of the sessions, following the Tennessee Ramblers. The group was made up of Coal Creek (now Rocky Top) fiddler George Rainey and his sons, Albert, Willie, and Marvin “Dude” Rainey, along with fiddler Luther Luallen. Coal miners by profession, music was a crucial part of the Raineys’ lives at home and as part-time entertainers. Marvin’s son, Virgil Rainey, remembers his grandfather “won every fiddle contest he ever entered.” “Every time he worried about something, he’d get his fiddle out and start playing,” Virgil says. Before recording in Knoxville, the brothers had recorded in Ashland, Ky., with the Cumberland Mountain Entertainers. They were some of the earliest stars of WNOX; flyers from the 1930s announce them as the Famous Rainey Brothers. Marvin was
killed in a car accident when he was 34, an event that so affected Willie that he gave up music. “They all played their whole lives, except Willie,” Virgil says. “Willie took his banjo to the pawn shop and never did play no more.” George’s house burned years ago, destroying much of the material related to the Raineys’ music career. But Virgil and Albert’s daughters, Becky and Mary, saved some of the family memorabilia. A scrapbook full of hand-written lyrics, flyers, posters, newspaper articles, ads, photographs, letters, and telegrams is an invaluable document of not just the Raineys’ lives in the 1930s and ’40s. Perhaps most intriguing is a series of telegrams and letters concerning the Brunswick-Vocalion records. In a letter from July 1929, Hal Petty, of Sterchi Brothers, the local company that facilitated the recordings, asked George Rainey to travel to Knoxville and make arrangements for his band. The following year, Petty
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followed up: “Dear Sir, The Brunswick Company are coming to Knoxville very soon to make some more phonograph records. Please advise if your band is still intact and give your telephone number.” George replied a few days letter, asking how many pieces Brunswick wants. Petty told George to prepare eight to 10 songs. “We do not want any blues nor late popular pieces, strictly old time, hilly billy selections.” He added, “Your other records would have been better if you had prepared for them last time,” a curious statement considering Vocalion released more records by the Raineys from the 1929 sessions than any other act. On April 4, 1930, the Southern Moonlight Entertainers would record only two songs, just before Leola Manning approached the microphone to sing “The Arcade Building Moan” and “Satan Is Busy in Knoxville.” (It’s only natural to wonder if the Coal Creek old-time musicians and the East Knoxville blues singer met or exchanged words.) The Rainey children had another surprise. Five acetate discs Marvin recorded in the late 1940s feature him playing with, among others, Fiddlin’ Bob Cox, a veteran of local fiddling contests. Albert Rainey’s voice retains its high, gentle quality as he works his way through 10 songs, including Hank Williams’ “Please Don’t Let Me Love You” and Bob Wills’ “Stay a Little Longer.” Virgil has a similar tone in his singing voice, as he demonstrated when he recently performed one of his father’s favorite gospel tunes, “Precious Memories,” at the opening of the Knoxville Sessions-themed Come to Make Records exhibit at the East Tennessee History Center. Becky, Mary, and members of the extended family were also in attendance, as were a few dozen other relatives of sessions performers, including Leola Manning’s daughter and granddaughter. It was the fi rst, and possibly the last time this group of people came together to celebrate events that happened almost 90 years ago. Many of them stuck around for a group photo, and it was an unlikely, moving, and slightly surreal moment. ◆
Knoxville’s BEST live music venue 6 nights a week!
Happy Hour 3pm to 8pm Huge selection of Craft, Import & Local beer Locally roasted coffee
thurs april 28 • 8pm $8 adv - $10 day of all ages magnolia motel w/ 7 horse & the royal buzz ( rock )
fri april 29 • 8pm $8 adv - $10 day of
Blue Mother Tupelo w/ Travis Meadows & Whiskey Jack ( americana )
sat april 30 • 7pm $7 • all ages 90.3 WUTK Exam Jam xii w/ Sang Sarah, The Harakiris, The Billy Widgets, Demon Waffle
( rock )
sun may 1 • 1pm brunch w/ morgan birdwell 8pm - Tim Halperin • $12 ADV - $15 day of ( pop / rock ) "Coolest venue in town! Not too big, not too small. Great sound system and audio engineers. Lights show, good food, cold beer and a music store in the back. Oh, and they give lessons, too. Seriously? I still can't believe this place is real." -Austin Hall of Sam Killed The Bear
Knoxville’s Best Musical Instrument Store
8502 KINGSTON PIKE • (865) 281-5874 openchordmusic.com
April 28, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 17
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Music
Band Name Alert! Zach and Kota turn their Sweet Life into Sweet Years BY NICK HUINKER
M
illions of throwaway conversations end with “Hey, that would be a good band name!” If you’ve not had one, you’ve likely overheard one. But naming one’s latest musical project can be a time-consuming effort deserving deep thought and consideration. Unless you’re guitarist Dakota Smith and drummer Zach Gilleran, who just settled for a goofy play on the name of a mid-’00s Disney Channel sitcom. “We were only supposed to be a band for two weeks,” says Smith of the duo that debuted as Zack and Kota’s Sweet Life—a pun on Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody—in 2012. “When we started we really didn’t think we’d play many shows.” But as the band’s frenetic jangle built them a reputation around Knoxville, they found their tossed-off
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moniker something of a liability. Besides its inaccuracy (bassist Travis Bigwood joined not long after the titular pair’s first shows) and practical issues like promoters chopping it down to “Zach and Kota” or “Sweet Life,” there was the obvious concern: The jokey name risked underselling what had become a very real band. “We do play a lot, and I would hate for people to be turned off just because of a name like that,” Smith says. “I don’t think that I would go see a band called Zach and Kota’s Sweet Life.” The problem was finally put to bed in January with an unceremonious Facebook post: “Enough with the whole deal. We are Sweet Years now.” (Smith says the similarity between the two names is about honoring the group’s sky-eyed vibe and also an effort to ease the rebrand.) It’s clear the change has been liberating for the band—they’ve
spent 2016 gigging around town as relentlessly as ever before. “We typically don’t say no to anything,” Smith says of the group’s schedule, which sees them playing several times a month everywhere from house shows to bigger venues like the Concourse at the International, where they’ll open for goofy Japanese punks Peelander-Z on May 2. “We do want to stay busy, and I feel like we have the set now where we can change it up.” That same work ethic extends to writing and recording. Last week saw the release of the band’s second EP, Tough Season, which offers a great overview of a sound that falls somewhere between early Merge Records alt-punk and earnest Polyvinyl-style arpeggiation. (Certain rough edges also directly recall Knoxville’s own Royal Bangs, with whom Smith joined up late last year.) Recording and releasing the five-song burst themselves in little over a month, the band was intent on having the music ready for Knoxville’s windows-down, fist-pumping warm weather needs. And they’re already hard at work on a follow-up EP that they hope to release in time for a late-summer tour. Smith says he and his bandmates hope to record something lengthier in the future, but he also likes the immediacy—and Internet-era viability—of shorter releases. “I’ve had a lot of conversations with people about how they digest music now,” he says. “You can release a single and it’s fine. It’s not like people are looking for some grand masterpiece. So we’ve got this summer thing, and we’ll probably have something ready for fall. More constant output is important. It keeps us fresh.” Though off-the-cuff charm is a big part of Sweet Years’ sound, that freshness doesn’t necessarily come easy. Despite their almost invariably short songs—Tough Season clocks in at around 13 minutes—the band has become known for its sudden jukes into unexpected territory. Though this is most often to do with on-a-dime shifts in mood and tempo, there are also moves like the climax of “Teal Jacket,” a
live staple from the band’s 2015 EP, Zach and Kota’s Sweet Life, in which Smith’s careful looping transforms one guitar lead into a poignant symphony that will have you re-checking how many people are on stage. Smith says this care in serving their songs, and by extension the audience’s investment, is key to what Sweet Years is out to accomplish. “It’s a matter of cutting it and twisting it to make it as tight as possible,” he says. “We try to switch the mood a lot. … We’ll turn and do something out of left field. Not necessarily experimental craziness, but you can tell the band has been practicing. You can tell that they care.” ◆
WHO
Sweet Years with Paperwork
WHERE
Star of Knoxville Riverboat (Volunteer Landing)
WHEN
Friday, April 29, at 10 p.m.
HOW MUCH
$10/$15 at the gate
WHO
Peelander-Z with Sweet Years
WHERE
The Concourse (940 Blackstock Ave.)
WHEN
Monday, May 2, at 8 p.m.
HOW MUCH
$10/$12 at the door
INFO
internationalknox.com
Theater
Some Enchanted Evening Clarence Brown’s new South Pacific uncovers the truth in entertainment BY ALAN SHERROD
W
hen one considers the music theater collaborations of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, there is simply no way to avoid a thread that runs through all of them—optimism. From the virtues of personal ambition in 1943’s Oklahoma! to the idea that positive thinking conquers fear in 1959’s The Sound of Music, the pair continually explored the idea that confidence in the face of adversity was a key building block of society’s enlightenment. In South Pacific, their 1949 hit based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Tales of the South Pacific, they even opened the show with a song titled “A Cockeyed Optimist.” Yet their most important
optimistic hope—expressed in one way or another in all of their projects—was that society’s hatred and bigotry could be overcome. In Clarence Brown Theatre’s skillful and energetic new production of South Pacific, which opened last weekend and runs through May 8, director Terry Silver-Alford has made sure that the audience walks away with that same hope. However, the show’s issues of intercultural relationships and interracial offspring, powerful and challenging surprises in 1949, are, for all intents and purposes, anachronistic in 2016. As a result, Silver-Alford has presented the World War II milieu and its once controversial material as color-faded history and pushed the music and ensemble
numbers to prominence downstage center where they belong—as Broadway at its tuneful and entertaining best. Silver-Alford and his design team—scenic design by Jack Magaw, lighting design by John Horner, and costume design by Kathryn Rohe— have filled the stage with a sunwashed South Seas environment of faded sand colors, palm fronds, and exotic wood grains, with Quonset hut gray, denim blue, and military khaki as contrasts. To aid that historic feel, both acts opened with vintage black-and-white military footage projected on a rough canvas screen during the overture and entr’acte music, as if it were a newsreel being watched by the soldiers and sailors. Like other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, South Pacific adds a layer of difficulty in casting the two romantic leads. Both must be singers with range and dramatic ability, but in this case one is a young navy nurse from Little Rock, Ensign Nellie Forbush, and the other is a middle-aged French plantation owner, Emile de Becque. Whether by design or by chance, this production is blessed with an ideal combination: Charlotte Munson as Nellie and Christopher Sanders as Emile. Munson gives us a Nellie who is an upper-crust Arkansan, thrown into a world that is challenging her both physically and philosophically. Munson balanced that dramatic challenge with vivaciousness and energy tinted with subtle detail—and a powerful soprano voice that could easily fill a theater, even without the contemporary vocal reinforcement liberally used in this production. Sanders possesses a strikingly rich baritone voice with plenty of range. Couple that with stature, attractiveness, and a credible French accent, and you have a seriously compelling Emile de Becque. Describing the quiet ecstasy of a fortuitous meeting, his Act I classic, “Some Enchanted Evening,” was deeply touching; his Act II regret, “This Nearly Was Mine,” was genuine and poignant. Skillfully and equally balanced
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against the romance are the production’s parallel stories and ensemble scenes, given marvelous continuity and energy by music director and orchestra conductor Melony Dodson. The crowd scenes involving the Seabees (with choreography by Casey Sams) flow like waves onto the beach. “There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame,” the classic show-stopper, is as fun as it needs to be, thanks in large part to a fine comic performance by Andrew Henry in the role of Luther Billis and the chorus of Seabees. Nellie and the nurses get into the action with a superbly staged “I’m Gonna Wash That Man.” Absolutely terrific, both vocally and dramatically, was Christine Jugueta as the native entrepreneur Bloody Mary. Of course, her big sales job in “Bali Ha’i” turns out not to be in selling souvenirs, but in convincing the young, handsome Ivy League Philadelphian Lt. Cable (Brian Gligor) to marry her daughter, Liat. Although lovingly staged, this production of South Pacific succeeds because it avoids the fanciful and sticks with the truth—yes, theatrically enhanced, but an honest look at genuine characters in relatable situations. This may be history for us in 2016, but there are universal truths here to be noted and remembered. ◆
WHAT
Clarence Brown Theatre: South Pacific
WHERE
Clarence Brown Theatre (1714 Andy Holt Ave.)
WHEN
Through May 8
HOW MUCH $22-$32
INFO
clarencebrowntheatre.com
April 28, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 19
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Movies
Photo by Brian Douglass
So What Don Cheadle’s auteur take on the life of Miles Davis doesn’t quite hit enough high notes BY COURY TURCZYN
H
ow does the mind of a music visionary work, exactly? Acts of creative genius are an indecipherable code, known only to the artist, yet that doesn’t stop us from trying to decrypt them. How does someone manage to reconfigure our perceptions of what music can be—to shift our entire culture through the power of their singular expression? Why did they hear these sounds first? What made them so special? Those are the sorts of questions we ask about figures who become legends in their own lifetimes—often to ourselves during moments of insecurity about our place in the universe. But it’s also a frequent quest for directors of music biopics, resulting in a near-endless pursuit of important
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turning points that inevitably bore rather than inspire. But you have to hand it to writer/director/lead actor Don Cheadle: In tackling the life of one of the most imposing figures in music history, Miles Davis, he had little interest in staid reenactments of oft-repeated tales. No, he decided to come up with his own story—a sordid episode that’s purely imaginary. But that raises an additional set of questions: Does his reimagination of Mile Davis give us any insight into the real Miles Davis? Can his film get closer to the truth by not relying on the facts? Miles Ahead focuses on Davis’ seclusion in the late 1970s, a six-year stretch that saw him retreat from public life due to creative burnout, poor mental and physical health, and
a cocaine addiction. He mostly kept to himself in his Upper West Side apartment in Manhattan, neither recording nor performing. So, not exactly a period of notable accomplishment—particularly when contrasted with his previous 30 years’ worth of nearly unvanquishable brilliance. As a bandleader and a performer, he created entire genres of music, which he in turn grew bored with until he found his next new thing. Cheadle posits a bold scenario for how Davis renewed his interest in music and began recording again in the 1980s, but it’s simultaneously fanciful and unsatisfying. In Miles Ahead, Davis’ exile is suddenly interrupted by an obnoxious Scottish journalist, Dave, who bangs on his door, claiming he’s been assigned by Rolling Stone to write about the trumpeter’s “comeback.” Ah, you may think, Rosebud! But no—Dave serves more as an unlucky sidekick than as a journalistic catalyst for reminiscing. As he angles his way to exploit Davis into giving him a story to sell, he’s outmaneuvered by a shady talent agent who steals Davis’ supposed comeback tapes. Then, wouldn’t you know it, Dave is suddenly enlisted in Davis’ furious struggle to get his recordings back, a mission that entails gun battles, a car chase, and drug deals—which all sounds like more fun than it actually is. Ultimately, the misadventure results in Davis relocating his muse, though it’s all so unlikely that many jazz fans will be left thinking: Huh? Thankfully, Cheadle has not made a buddy comedy here, even with his touches of slapstick, nor a riff on low-budget Blaxploitation with a gritty ’70s New York milieu. But neither has he made his Citizen Kane, despite the dream-like flashback sequences that waft into the movie like Davis’ trumpet solos, fluid and wistful, taking us to the 1950s, when Davis first became a global superstar. While those scenes in studios and nightclubs give us hints of his achievements, what they truly explore is the dissolution of Davis’ marriage to Frances Taylor, a stage dancer who was presumably the love of his life—a love he managed to destroy through his possessiveness and
drug-induced paranoia. So what we have here is an intimate, experimental drama that could be subtitled: Miles Davis’ Worst Moments, Real or Imagined. That doesn’t exactly inspire much insight into Davis’ talents; rather, the impression we get is that the guy was kind of a grumpy jerk. Certainly, Davis was a taciturn, ornery, and sometimes aloof man—but he also assembled the greatest jazz bands in history, and guided those players toward achievements beyond themselves. He was absolutely sure of his vision, and never wavered from it, no matter who or what stood in his way. That inspirational figure is difficult to find in Miles Ahead, as are the answers to those aforementioned questions. For all of Cheadle’s effort as a writer and director to get inside Davis’ head, we’re still left looking at surface details—his funky hairdo/wig, his raspy voice, his favorite turn of phrase, involving matriarchs and sexual intercourse—and wondering what’s up with this guy. As an actor, Cheadle is much more sure of himself. He employs all of those devices to intuitively inhabit the character we know as late-model Miles Davis. Trouble is, when he starts talking, he doesn’t have enough to say, for which we can only blame the screenwriter. Meanwhile, his rapport with Dave the Scottish journalist doesn’t quite germinate beyond the “meet cute” stage. Played by a game Ewan McGregor, Dave doesn’t have much to do beyond get punched, run, drink, and drive recklessly (though McGregor does nail the accent). Ironically, there’s another biopic coming out now that imagines an episode in the “comeback” of a drug-addicted jazz trumpeter from the 1950s—Born to Be Blue, starring Ethan Hawke as the late Chet Baker. Taking liberties with Baker’s not-as-accomplished biography feels less awkward and more intriguing, perhaps because he was not so iconic as to inspire queries about his limitless genius. With Miles Davis, we expect a film as remarkable as his music, and perhaps that is not meant to be. ◆
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April 28, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 21
CALENDAR MUSIC
Thursday, April 28 SCRUFFY CITY FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Market Square • A celebration of film and music, Film Score and the Scruffy City Film Music Festival features live musical performances, music documentaries, music videos, animation, shorts and feature films that runs from April 26-May 1. Our festival is conveniently located in the epicenter of the Downtown Knoxville Renaissance, on Historic Market Square, where cafes, street musicians, magicians and shops keep our festival company; venues include Preservation Pub, Scruffy City Hall, and Knoxville Uncorked, with select film screenings at Regal Downtown West Cinema 8 on Thursday and Friday. Tickets to individual events will be available at the door. Visit scruffycityfilmfest.com for tickets and a complete schedule. • $40-$100 ANDREW MCKNIGHT WITH REAGAN BOGGS • 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 WARREN PINEDA AND JON MASON • Red Piano Lounge • 6PM NANCY BRENNAN STRANGE • The Orangery • 6:30PM ZACH JOSEPH AND THE SOCIETY • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • Zack Joseph is a 25 year old singer, songwriter, and guitarist based out of Nashville, TN. • FREE MIKE FARRIS AND THE ROSALIND RHYTHM REVUE • Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) • 7:30PM • Shine For All the People, Mike Farris’ 2015 Grammy Award winner for Best Roots Gospel album, bears witness to the determination of putting one foot in front of the other and to the power of music to get you there. • $15.50-$28.50 BREAKING BENJAMIN • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Six years have passed since Breaking Benjamin released their last album—2009’s Dear Agony—but one listen to their new album, Dark Before Dawn, and it becomes clear that time away from the music world hasn’t caused them to lose a step. • $40-$50 THE BLUE RIBBON HEALERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM MARK ARSHAK • Brackins Blues Club ( Maryville) • 8PM MAGNOLIA MOTEL WITH 7HORSE AND THE ROYAL BUZZ • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Magnolia Motel is an alternative-rock band from the Marble City of Knoxville. From funky bass lines and rocking drum beats to bluesy vocals and psychedelic guitar licks, Magnolia Motel’s sound will be sure captivate your attention along with their energetic stage presence. All ages. • $8-$10 BACKUP PLANET • The Concourse • 9PM • Backup Planet is a progressive funk-rock band based out of Nashville, Tennessee. To see Backup Planet perform live is to simultaneously travel back in time and forward into the future. 18 and up. • $5-$10 THE BROTHERS BURN MOUNTAIN • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Based out of Duluth, MN, The Brothers Burn Mountain are a soulful, energetic, eclectic duo of real-life brothers, Ryan and Jesse Dermody. J.C. AND THE DIRTY SMOKERS • Scruffy City Hall • 6PM FROGBELLY AND SYMPHONY WITH FALLOIR AND INDIGHOST • Pilot Light • 9:30PM • Falloir sails through proggy waters with tricky time signatures and dynamic shifts, knotty, cascading dual-guitar riffs, and dense, pummeling percussion. 18 and up. • $6 Friday, April 29 22
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
Thursday, April 28 - Sunday, May 8
SCRUFFY CITY FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Market Square • A celebration of film and music, Film Score and the Scruffy City Film Music Festival features live musical performances, music documentaries, music videos, animation, shorts and feature films that runs from April 26-May 1. Visit scruffycityfilmfest.com for tickets and a complete schedule. • $40-$100 • See previews on pages 22 and 34. DARRELL SCOTT WITH SCOTT MCMAHAN • 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 VOLAPALOOZA • World’s Fair Park • 5PM • Volapalooza is UT Knoxville’s biggest annual concert for the campus and the Knoxville community. Featuring Portugal. The Man, Raury, Niykee Heaton, Moon Taxi , The Royal Bangs, Tut, Three Star Revival, and Roots of a Rebellion!. ALIVE AFTER FIVE: DELTA MOON • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • Blues and Southern Roots sound with two slide guitars. Winners of the International Blues Challenge and Best Overall Music Act in Atlanta. • $15 KEVIN MCGUIRE • Red Piano Lounge • 6PM HAZEL • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE HANDSOME AND THE HUMBLES • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 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 JOHN PRINE WITH DARRELL SCOTT • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Two time Grammy-award winner, John Prine, is a singer songwriter who, from his eponymously titled first LP release in 1971, has continued to write and perform songs that have become central to our American musical heritage. Classics like, ‘Angel from Montgomery’,‘Sam Stone,’ ‘Paradise,’ and ‘Hello in There’ speak to the everyday experience of ordinary people with a simple honesty, and an extraordinary ability to get right through to the heart of the listener. • $49.50-$94.50 THE NAUGHTY KNOTS • Laurel Theater • 8PM • The East Tennessee trio The Naughty Knots bring together a blend of country, jazz and blues and old time fiddle tunes that are as homegrown as garden tomatoes. • $12 THE WOOD BROTHERS • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • The cover of The Wood Brothers’ gorgeous new album, ‘Paradise,’ is the band’s most sophisticated work to date and also their most rocking, with bassist Chris Wood playing electric on tracks for the first time. FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE BLUE MOTHER TUPELO WITH TRAVIS MEADOWS AND WHISKEY JACK • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Rising up from the bluffs of Memphis to the mountains of east Tennessee, through the Delta lowlands and muddy banks of Indianola, Mississippi along the way - comes the unique Southern Soul sound of Blue Mother Tupelo. • $8-$10 KIEFER SUTHERLAND • The International • 8PM • Kiefer Sutherland has been a professional actor for over thirty years. But unknown to many during the course of his career, he has taken on other vocations with the same kind of dedication and commitment, like his upcoming debut album: ‘Down In A Hole’. All ages. • $17-$20 HOLY WHITE HOUNDS WITH PLVNET AND ANNANDALE • The Concourse • 8PM • Holy White Hounds is an apt name for the quartet’s endearing but feral alt-rock. The moniker also conjures the band’s origins as small town underdogs
who are rising to earn national prominence. All ages. • $7-$10 KITTY WAMPUS • AC Band • 8:30PM • Classic rock, blues, and R&B. All ages. • FREE SPECTRUM • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE THE NATTI LOVE JOYS • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM THE ROMEO KINGS • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM BRIAN CLAY • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM CHRIS JANSON • Cotton Eyed Joe • 9PM • $20 THE AFRO-DISIACS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • A 12 piece Disco/Funk band playing music by James Brown, Earth Wind and Fire, Michael Jackson and many more classic artists. • $5 THE BLUEGRASS DRIFTERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 10PM THE PIPER JONES BAND • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE
Saturday, April 30 SCRUFFY CITY FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Market Square • A celebration of film and music, Film Score and the Scruffy City Film Music Festival features live musical performances, music documentaries, music videos, animation, shorts and feature films that runs from April 26-May 1. Visit scruffycityfilmfest.com for tickets and a complete schedule. • $40-$100 • See previews on pages 22 and 34. JASON WILBER WITH THE MICHAEL MARTIN BAND • 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 ELIZABETH COOK WITH DEREK HOKE • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson ( Maryville) • 6PM • $20 KATY FREE • Red Piano Lounge • 6PM BIG VALLEY MUSTANGS • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville)
GHOST Tennessee Theatre (604 S. Gay St.) • Wednesday, May 4 • 8 p.m. • $29.50
Ghost creeped out most of the Grammys audience this year while accepting their award for Best Metal Performance. “You know, a nightmare has just turned into a dream,” said frontman Papa Emeritus III, from behind his kitschy prosthetic skull face and papal garb. His band of Nameless Ghouls appeared to bounce with giddiness, but no one knew for sure—their faces, as always, were obscured by devil masks. While most in attendance were likely befuddled, the band’s fans let out a knowing chuckle. The past 12 months have been a whirlwind for the Swedish prog-metal outfit, whose third album, 2015’s Meliora, elevated their status from cult oddballs to a Grammy-winning, Billboard-blitzing rock enterprise. Ghost was prepared for this wider spotlight. Their newest songs are sculpted with arena-sized bombast—still built on devilish riffs, but with Queen levels of camp and brooding hooks that fit naturally in a playlist alongside Queens of the Stone Age. The members of Ghost have clearly always had a sense of humor about their image, hiding their faces in public with blasphemous, inverted Catholic visuals. Now their music has followed suit. Expect compelling tongue-in-cheek evil on their Black to the Future tour. With opening band Purson. (Ryan Reed)
CALENDAR • 7PM • FREE DOOM IN THE HILLS • The Bowery • 7PM • Enter the shadowy depths as Night Owl Music presents their 2nd installment of “Doom in the Hills,” a concert series dedicated to the celebration of all things doom metal. Guitarist of doom pioneers Pentagram, Victor Griffin brings his side project Place of Skulls to headline the event with support from the theatrical Summoner’s Circle, Swallow the Sky, and more. • $10 UT EXAM JAM • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 7PM • WUTK’s annual benefit blowout, featuring 332 Studios, the Harakiris, the Billy Widgets, Sang Sarah, and Demon Waffle. All ages. • $7 MY GIRL, MY WHISKEY, AND ME • Sugarlands Distilling Co. • 7PM • FREE KENNY MUNSHAW • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 7PM • The Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Refugee Task Force Committee announce a benefit concert featuring Canadian songwriter and recording artist Kenny Munshaw. All proceeds will be used to assist refugee families, as they settle in the Knoxville community. Munshaw is a native of Toronto and his commercial projects have included writing for Justin Bieber and The Tenors, and collaborations with Marc Jordan. Tickets may be purchased online at http://tvuuc.org/refugeeconcert. • $15-$20 RILEY BAUGUS • Laurel Theater • 8PM • Riley Baugus represents the best of old time American banjo and song. His powerful singing voice and his expert musicianship place him squarely in the next generation of the quality American roots tradition.• $14 MIDNIGHT VOYAGE LOCAL SHOWCASE • The Concourse • 8PM • Featuring Magmablood, Fast Nasty, Spooky Jones, J-Mo, Psychonaut, Ursa Major, Pool Pardy, Lunch Money, Peripheral, Remembering Humans, and more. 18 and up. • $5 SOUTHBOUND • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM HARPER • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM NEW RADIO DIALECT • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM HAYSEED DIXIE • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Hayseed Dixie was formed when, after drinking enough whiskey to float a battleship across the Sahara Desert, it became suddenly obvious to the boys that the “Lost Highway” of Hank Williams and the “Highway To Hell” of AC/DC were the same damned road. • $5 THE STOOP KIDS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 10PM LACHLAN • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE CANDACE MCQUEEN • Last Days of Autumn Brewery • 7PM JASON WILBER WITH R.B. MORRIS, THE TIM LEE 3, AND THE NEW OLD FASHION • Pilot Light • 7:30PM • 18 and up. • $7 REAGAN BOGGS • The Station • 8PM • Celebrating the release of her new CD, Empty Glasses. • $15 HAIR OF THE DOG • Paul’s Oasis • 9PM • Hair of the Dog performs classic rock hits from the Allman Brothers to ZZ Top and all the greatest bands in between. If it was never released on vinyl or 8-track, we probably don’t play it. Come get your classic rock fix. Sunday, May 1 SCRUFFY CITY FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Market Square • A celebration of film and music, Film Score and the Scruffy City Film Music Festival features live musical performances, music documentaries, music videos, animation, shorts and feature films that runs from April 26-May 1. Visit scruffycityfilmfest.com for tickets and a complete schedule. • $40-$100 • See previews on pages 22 and 34. SHIFFLETT’S JAZZ BENEDICT • The Bistro at the Bijou •
12PM • Live jazz. • FREE SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH • Downtown Grill and Brewery • 12:45PM • Knoxville’s coolest jazz artists perform every Sunday. • FREE MORGAN BIRDWELL WITH CAROLINE SMITH • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 2PM • All ages. • FREE SCHOOL OF ROCK: THE MUSIC OF PINK FLOYD • The Concourse • 6:30PM • Students from Knoxville’s chapter of the School of Rock present the music of Pink Floyd. All ages. • $7-$10 THE PAPER CROWNS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM TIM HALPERIN • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • With his distinctive voice, soulful piano vibe and acumen for writing original songs that tell a story, Tim Halperin has emerged as one of the brightest young singer/ songwriters in the United States. • $12-$15 LUPE FIASCO • The International • 9PM • Lupe Fiasco has been all over the place since his 2006 debut, Food and Liquor. But Lupe’s new album, Tetsuo and Youth is a welcome return to form, full of precise, literate rhymes and production that’s just ambitious enough without alienating mainstream listeners. 18 and up. • $29.50$74.95 Monday, May 2 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 FOSSIL CREEK WITH RAY HANCOCK • 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 VIENNA COFFEE HOUSE JAZZ TRIO • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 5PM • FREE PEELANDER-Z WITH SWEET YEARS • The Concourse • 7PM • Hyperactive neon-colored punk rock from Japan. 18 and up. • $10 • See Sweet Years interview on page 18. FOR TODAY WITH A MARCH THROUGH MAY, I, DIVINE, ILLUSTRIOUS, AND VIA VERA • The International • 7PM • The story of Sioux City, IA hardcore and metal outfit For Today remains one of triumph. Breaking out of Iowa is hard enough. When you’re playing heavy music with a Christian message, it’s even harder. All ages. • $16-$18 THE GHOST OF PAUL REVERE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 Tuesday, May 3 BRIAN ASHLEY JONES • 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 BRIAN CLAY • Red Piano Lounge • 7PM THE GHOST OF PAUL REVERE • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • Born on the banks of the Saco River, brothers in all but name, the Ghost of Paul Revere is Maine’s holler-folk band. • FREE TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION WITH SONS OF TEXAS, WILSON, VANKALE, AND BELFAST 6 PACK • The Concourse • 8PM • 18 and up. • $15-$17 BEN STALETS • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up. • FREE THE LOST DOG STREET BAND • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM LIVINGSTONE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • Blues rock from Paris. 21 and up. Wednesday, May 4 ANTHONY RAY WRIGHT • 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 FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 6:30PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE GROOVE THERAPY • Red Piano Lounge • 7PM TENNESSEE SHINES: FOLK SOUL REVIVAL • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7PM • Folk Soul Revival is one of the Southeast’s most beloved roots-rock performers. With memorable lyrics, driving melodies, and the distinct, velvety vocals of front man Daniel Davis, the band has garnered much success within their home base of Bristol TN/VA and beyond. • $10 GHOST WITH PURSON • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Are you ready then, to join Papa Emeritus III in the pit, to proclaim your own splendor, feeling your wings melt as the last breath of the exclamation leaves your mouth? • $29.50 • See Spotlight on page 22. LUCINDA WILLIAMS WITH BUICK 6 • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • Lucinda Williams’ The Ghosts of Highway 20 gives listeners a remarkably vivid look at how the highway has been a literal and figurative backdrop throughout her entire life. The intensely involving 14-song collection may be the most deeply felt, deeply affecting work of Lucinda Williams’ illustrious 35-plus-year career, a career that has been established on a foundation of remarkably personal songs. • $43 LUCIDEA • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. Thursday, May 5 KNOXVILLE STOMP FESTIVAL OF LOST MUSIC • Downtown Knoxville • The Knoxville Stomp is a four-day festival celebrating the re-mastering and release of a newly recovered collection of recordings made at Knoxville, Tennessee’s St. James Hotel in 1929 and 1930 known as the St. James Sessions. The citywide festival will highlight Knoxville’s varied musical heritage and the diverse voices that contributed to the city’s musical history. Dom Flemons headlines this exciting event, which also features a museum exhibition, record show, panel discussions and lots of live music. Visit knoxstomp. com. RUSSELL JAMES PYLE WITH THREE STAR REVIVAL • 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 WARREN PINEDA AND JON MASON • Red Piano Lounge • 6PM FILTER WITH ORGY, VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE, AND DEATH VALLEY HIGH • The Concourse • 7PM • 90s rock second-rans Filter and Orgy team back for the Make America Hate Again tour. Get it? It’s like Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan, except it’s “hate” instead of “great.” Good stuff. 18 and up. • $17 KITTY WAMPUS • Silver Dollar Bar and Grill • 7PM • Classic rock, blues, and R&B. KUKULY AND THE GYPSY FUEGO • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 Friday, May 6 KNOXVILLE STOMP FESTIVAL OF LOST MUSIC • Downtown Knoxville • Visit knoxstomp.com. MATT KINMAN WITH ROOCHIE TOOCHIE AND THE RAGTIME SHEPHERD KINGS • 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 CHRIS LONG • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE April 28, 2016
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CALENDAR THE MALLETT BROTHERS BAND WITH THESE WILD PLAINS • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • With songs that can range from alt country, to Americana, honky-tonk, jam or roots rock, theirs is a musical melting pot that’s influenced equally by folk and singer/ songwriter influences as it is by harder rock, twang and psychedelic sounds. • FREE JOHN MCCUTCHEON • Laurel Theater • 8PM • Legendary performer John McCutcheon is known for his interpretation on banjo and hammer dulcimer of Appalachian standards as well as for original songs such as the historical ballad “Christmas in the Trenches,” topical songs and children’s material. Early in his musical career he was active in exploring the folklore of East Tennessee, bringing traditional fiddlers, ballad singers, dancers and Old Harp singers to the Laurel Theater and associated venues as the first music director of Jubilee Community Arts. • $19 FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE AUTOMAGIK • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up. • FREE THREE STAR REVIVAL • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM • Local band Three Star Revival celebrates the release of its debut EP. ONE-HOUR PHOTO • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Good Guy Collective presents One-Hour Photo, unveiling the new video for “Slop,” from the upcoming EP Candlelight Vigilante. The show will feature performances by Mr. ILL, J-Bush, Black Atticus, and DJ Wigs. All ages. • $5
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
Thursday, April 28 - Sunday, May 8
THE SWORD WITH MONSTER TRUCK AND PURSON • The International • 8:30PM • Since first emerging with 2006’s Age of Winters, the group has been extolled by everyone from Rolling Stone and The Washington Post to Revolver and Decibel. Metallica personally chose them as support for a global tour, and they’ve earned high-profile syncs in movies including Jennifer’s Body and Jonas Åkerlund’s Horsemen. However, High Country is the band’s biggest, boldest, and brightest frontier. 18 and up. • $15 THE JEFF JOPLIN BAND • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM KITTY WAMPUS • The Rocks Tavern • 9PM • Classic rock, blues, and R&B. BETHANY AND THE SWING SERENADE • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM • $5 PAPERWORK WITH THE NEW ROMANTICS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM STYLES AND COMPLETE WITH DJ NEVY, EDE GEE, FRESHCUTT, AND KWIKFLIP • The Concourse • 10PM • Styles got his start in music playing in bands in high school and then began making hip hop beats for rappers. At the same time DJ Complete was becoming one of the more well known DJs in the region. In 2010 they connected through mutual friends and in 2011 they discovered electronic music and were inspired to merge their Southern hip hop sound w/ the EDM sound that was taking over in the US. 18 and up. • $10-$15 THE SLOCAN RAMBLERS • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE THE WILD THINGS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $5 Saturday, May 7
VESTIVAL • Historic Candoro Marble Company • 11AM • There are two stages of local musicians all day. Admission is by donation; a $5-$10 per person/family donation is requested to help support the programs of Candoro Arts & Heritage Center. For more information, visit CandoroMarble.org. KNOXVILLE STOMP FESTIVAL OF LOST MUSIC • Downtown Knoxville • Visit knoxstomp.com. THE CAROLINA CUD CHEWERS WITH UNCLE SHUFFELO AND HIS HAINT HOLLOW HOOTENANNY • 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 KATY FREE • Red Piano Lounge • 6PM SPARKLE MOTION • Last Days of Autumn Brewery • 7PM PEE SCHLEGEL • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE JARED HARD • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • The music that Jared creates has the undeniable red dirt stain of the Oklahoma prairie with the echoes of foothills and mountain roots, and if you listen real careful you might just hear the faintest whisper of a cornfield way back there somewhere. • FREE THE SQUARE ROOM • 8PM • Moakler’s highly embraced album, Wide Open, follows the success of his previous records, Watching Time Run and All the Faint Lights. • $12 CYPRESS HILL • The International • 9PM • With its stoned beats, B Real’s exaggerated nasal whine, and cartoonish violence, the group’s eponymous debut became a sensation in early 1992, several months after its initial release. The singles “How I Could Just Kill a Man” and
“The Phuncky Feel One” became underground hits, and the group’s public pro-marijuana stance earned them many fans among the alternative rock community. Cypress Hill followed the album with Black Sunday in the summer of 1993, and while it sounded remarkably similar to the debut, it nevertheless became a hit, entering the album charts at number one and spawning the crossover hit “Insane in the Brain.” 18 and up. • $30-$75 MOJO: FLOW • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM TRAVIS BOWLIN • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM • $5 FREAKBASS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Despite growing up in the same Cincinnati/Dayton funk hotbed that produced James Brown’s pioneering King Records catalog and Bootsy Collins and the Ohio Players, he’s produced a 21st century style over the course of six releases that meshes traditional elements of funk with decidedly more modern soundscapes. • $5 ABBEY ROAD LIVE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • A tribute to the Beatles. 21 and up. • $5 Sunday, May 8 KNOXVILLE STOMP FESTIVAL OF LOST MUSIC • Downtown Knoxville • Visit knoxstomp.com. SHIFFLETT’S JAZZ BENEDICT • The Bistro at the Bijou • 12PM • Live jazz. • FREE SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH • Downtown Grill and Brewery • 12:45PM • Knoxville’s coolest jazz artists perform every Sunday. • FREE THE JON WHITLOCK TRIO • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM • FREE LAWSON GARRETT AND THE LOVE • Preservation Pub •
CALENDAR 10PM • 21 and up. • $3
OPEN MIC AND SONGWRITER NIGHTS
Thursday, April 28 VIENNA COFFEE HOUSE OPEN MIC NIGHT • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • Visit viennacoffeehouse.net. • FREE SCOTTISH MUSIC SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. • FREE Tuesday, May 3 PRESERVATION PUB SINGER/SONGWRITER NIGHT • Preservation Pub • 7PM OLD-TIME JAM SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Hosted by Sarah Pickle. • FREE OPEN CHORD SONGWRITERS NIGHT • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 7PM • Support your favorite songwriter and come join us for the songwriters night. All original music performed by the songwriters themselves, and presented in the round. Hosted by Karen E. Reynolds. • FREE Wednesday, May 4 TIME WARP TEA ROOM OLD-TIME JAM • Time Warp Tea Room • 7PM • Regular speed old-time/fiddle jam every Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. at the Time Warp Tea Room. All instruments and skill levels welcome. BRACKINS BLUES JAM • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM • A weekly open session hosted by Tommie John. • FREE ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC NIGHT • Asia Cafe West • 7PM • Bring an acoustic guitar and a few songs every Wednesday. Sign-up sheet available 30 minutes prior to 7 p.m. start. Three songs or 10 minutes per performer. • FREE OPEN CHORD OPEN MIC NIGHT • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • It’s time once again for open mic night. This time we’re welcoming both solo performers and bands to perform. Come 30 minutes early to sign up for a 15-minute slot. • FREE Thursday, May 5 VIENNA COFFEE HOUSE OPEN MIC NIGHT • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • Visit viennacoffeehouse.net. • FREE IRISH MUSIC SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Held on the first and third Thursdays of each month. • FREE OPEN CHORD BREWHOUSE BLUES JAM • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Join Robert Higginbotham and the Smoking Section for the Brewhouse Blues Jam. Bring your instrument, sign up, and join the jammers. We supply drums and a full backline of amps. Sign-ups begin at 7 p.m. before the show. • FREE Sunday, May 8 EPWORTH MONTHLY OLD HARP SHAPE NOTE SINGING • Laurel Theater • 6:30PM • Visit jubileearts.org. • FREE SING OUT KNOXVILLE • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 7PM • A folk singing circle open to everyone. • FREE
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Thursday, April 28 PELLISSIPPI STATE SPRING CHORAL CONCERT • Pellissippi State Community College • 7PM • This musical
performance features our Concert Chorale and Variations Ensemble. • FREE Saturday, April 30 KNOXVILLE OPERA: ‘TOSCA’ • Downtown Knoxville • 2PM • Puccini’s masterpiece of corruption and intrigue. The audience will experience each act in a different venue in one amazing day—performed at Church Street United Methodist Church, Knoxville Convention Center, and World’s Fair Park. For the first time in history, Puccini’s dramatic Tosca will be experienced through an unforgettable one-day event. The audience will travel with the artists and orchestra between three unique locations to personally witness the suspenseful story of corruption, torture, murder and suicide as Puccini wrote it to be experienced. Visit knoxvilleopera.com for tickets and more information. Visit knoxmercury.com for a preview. Sunday, May 1 MC3 BAND: OH BONNIE DOON • Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) • 3PM • The MC3Band, under the direction of Dr. Eric Simpson, will present a spring concert titled “Oh Bonnie Doon,” featuring Scottish, Irish and Celtic music. For more information about the concert, please contact Maryville College’s Division of Fine Arts at 865.981.8150. • FREE Monday, May 2 KNOXVILLE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SPRING CONCERT • Tennessee Theatre • 7PM • The Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra Association consists of five orchestras and 300 students. • FREE Thursday, May 5 KSO: SYMPHONY ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7:30PM • This family-friendly springtime tradition features classics and pop tunes by the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra. Concertgoers are encouraged to arrive early and bring blankets and/or chairs to enjoy the concert. Admission is free. (Rain location: Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street) • FREE
THEATER AND DANCE
Thursday, April 28 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • From the haunting “Bali Ha’i” to the exquisite “Some Enchanted Evening,” this Rodgers & Hammerstein classic features some of the most beautiful music ever composed for the theatre. The Pulitzer Prize and 10-time Tony Award winner is set on a tropical island during World War II and tells the romantic tale of how the happiness of two couples is threatened by the realities of war and prejudice. April 20-May 8. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. • See review on page 19. OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘URINETOWN’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 8PM • This funny show with the funny name is a hilarious side-splitting take on greed, love, revolution - and musicals! Set in a time when water is worth its weight in gold, a Gotham-like city is facing a 20-year drought that leads to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. As a result, the citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. But those who fail to pay are sentenced to a dreaded penal colony. A hero decides he’s had enough, and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! An irreverently humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. April 22-May 8. Visit
orplayhouse.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘BETRAYAL’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Actors often have to face the challenge of growing older on stage, but Betrayal they have an even more difficult task: they must grow younger as the play progresses. Harold Pinter’s play tracks the course of an affair, but it does so backwards: it opens with a meeting between the two lovers some years after the affair ended; it finishes with the first erotically charged encounter between the two, nine years earlier. The classic dramatic scenario of the love triangle is manifest in a mediation on the themes of marital infidelity, duplicity, and self-deception. Pinter writes a world that simultaneously glorifies and debases love. April 22-May 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Friday, April 29 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • April 20-May 8. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘URINETOWN’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 8PM • April 22-May 8. Visit orplayhouse.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘BETRAYAL’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • April 22-May 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Saturday, April 30 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • April 20-May 8. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘URINETOWN’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 8PM • April 22-May 8. Visit orplayhouse.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘BETRAYAL’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • April 22-May 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Sunday, May 1 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 2PM • April 20-May 8. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘URINETOWN’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 2PM • April 22-May 8. Visit orplayhouse.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘BETRAYAL’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 3PM • April 22-May 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Wednesday, May 4 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • April 20-May 8. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. Thursday, May 5 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • April 20-May 8. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘BETRAYAL’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • April 22-May 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Friday, May 6 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Knoxville Children’s Theatre will present Snow White and Rose Red, a comic parody of all things 1980s, specifically created for children and families. The play’s subtitle is “Prince Ferris’ Day Off,” because the play is a witty and clever mashup of the Grimm fairy tales of Snow White and Rose Red, as well as the iconic 1980s movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. May 6-22. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ • Clarence April 28, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 25
CALENDAR Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • April 20-May 8. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘URINETOWN’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 8PM • April 22-May 8. Visit orplayhouse.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘BETRAYAL’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • April 22-May 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Saturday, May 7 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 1PM and 5PM • May 6-22. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • April 20-May 8. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘URINETOWN’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 8PM • April 22-May 8. Visit orplayhouse.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘BETRAYAL’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • April 22-May 8. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Sunday, May 8 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 3PM • May 6-22. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 2PM • April 20-May 8. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘URINETOWN’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 2PM • April 22-May 8. Visit orplayhouse.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘BETRAYAL’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 3PM • April 22-May 8. Visit
Thursday, April 28 - Sunday, May 8
theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15
COMEDY AND SPOKEN WORD
Thursday, April 28 SUGAR HIGH! COMEDY SHOW • Sugar Mama’s Bakery • 8PM • A new comedy showcase at the brand new home of Sugar Mama’s on the 100 block. No cover. • FREE Saturday, April 30 FRINGETASTIC! A CELEBRATION OF KNOXVILLE’S FRINGE ARTS SCENE • Kristtopher’s • 9PM • Come celebrate the wonderful talent of Knoxville’s Fringe Arts Scene with performances by a variety of performers from the Knoxville area. For more information visit us at MarbleCityPerformers.com. 18 and up. Sunday, May 1 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic. Monday, May 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. Free, but donations are accepted.• FREE
Tuesday, May 3 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 OPEN MIC STAND-UP COMEDY • Longbranch Saloon • 8PM • Doors open at 8:30, first comic at 9. No cover charge, all are welcome. Aspiring or experienced comics interested in joining in the fun email us at long branch.info@gmail. com to learn more, or simply come to the show a few minutes early. • FREE CASUAL COMEDY • Casual Pint (Hardin Valley) • 7PM • A monthly comedy showcase at Casual Pint-Hardin Valley featuring a mixture of local and touring comedians.
FESTIVALS
Friday, April 29 SOUTHERN TEQUILA AND TACO FESTIVAL • Gander Mountain • 6PM • Come join us for a very fun festival to raise funds for Remote Area Medical. This will be our 2nd annual event, and will continue growing to be the largest annual tequila and taco festival in the country. • $10-$125 ROCK AROUND THE DOCK FOR AUTISM • The Shrimp Dock • 6:30PM • Live entertainment by Tall Paul, Cajun shrimp boil by The Shrimp Dock, complimentary wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages, side dishes and dessert, and admission to the silent auction. All proceeds benefit the
Autism Society East Tennessee, a nonprofit that provides support, services, advocacy, education, and public awareness for all individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders For tickets, visit www.shrimpboilforautism.com. • $50-$55 RETROWEEKEND • LeConte Event Center (Pigeon Forge) • RetroWeekend offers great opportunities to learn, compete, dance and laugh, all while making a significant charitable impact in the community. To register or receive more information about RetroWeekend, visit: https:// goretrorunning.com/. GYPSY CIRCUS CARAVAN TOUR • Last Days of Autumn Brewery • 5:30PM • Join Tennessee’s first cidery, Gypsy Circus Cider Company for the roaming Caravan Tour. This is a free event as we start the Resist Prohibition movement. Starting with entertainment by Knoxville’s own, Kukuly and the Gypsy Fuego. East Tennessee made local cider by Gypsy Circus Cider Company can be purchased by the glass as well as soft cider (aka apple juice) for kids. Gypsy Circus, Tennessee’s Original Cidery. • FREE 2016 DOGWOOD ARTS FESTIVAL ON MARKET SQUARE • 11AM-9PM • With quality arts and crafts booths, arts in action, performing arts, culinary arts demonstrations and tastings, and an expanded children’s creation station, several blocks of downtown Knoxville are transformed into a lively street fair for the Dogwood Arts Festival. Visit dogwood arts.com. • FREE Saturday, April 30 RETROWEEKEND • LeConte Event Center (Pigeon Forge) •
gkids presents a riveting steampunk sci-fi adventure from the creators of persepoLis
MIYAZAKI MEETS PIXAR!”
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The movie so teems with delightful detail and has such an exuberant sense of play that it feels entirely fresh.” MARION
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CHRISTIAN DESMARES and FRANCK EKINCI
EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT STARTS FRI. 4/29 26
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
Knoxville Mercury Wednesday, 4/27 1/4Pg(4.625x5.25)
REGAL
DOWNTOWN WEST CINEMA 8 1640 DOWNTOWN W BLVD (865) 693-0505 KNOXVILL
CALENDAR To register or receive more information about RetroWeekend, visit: https://goretrorunning.com/. BREWHIBITION • Old City Courtyard • 1PM • Resist prohibition! Knoxville’s Spring Craft Beer Festival is not only a celebration to the end of Prohibition, but also an homage to the amazing Tennessee and regional brewers who were born out of Prohibition. Located in the Bowery area of Knoxville, Brewhibition promises to be a “one of a kind” event and a “must do” for craft beer lovers in the region. For more information, go to brewhibition.com • $35-$65 2016 DOGWOOD ARTS FESTIVAL ON MARKET SQUARE • 10AM-9PM • With quality arts and crafts booths, arts in action, performing arts, culinary arts demonstrations and tastings, and an expanded children’s creation station, several blocks of downtown Knoxville are transformed into a lively street fair for the Dogwood Arts Festival. Visit dogwood arts.com. • FREE
recovered collection of recordings made at Knoxville, Tennessee’s St. James Hotel in 1929 and 1930 known as the St. James Sessions. The citywide festival will highlight Knoxville’s varied musical heritage and the diverse voices that contributed to the city’s musical history. Dom Flemons headlines this exciting event, which also features a museum exhibition, record show, panel discussions and lots of live music. Visit knoxstomp. com.
Sunday, May 1 2016 DOGWOOD ARTS FESTIVAL ON MARKET SQUARE • 11AM-5PM • With quality arts and crafts booths, arts in action, performing arts, culinary arts demonstrations and tastings, and an expanded children’s creation station, several blocks of downtown Knoxville are transformed into a lively street fair for the Dogwood Arts Festival. Visit dogwood arts.com. • FREE
Sunday, May 8 KNOXVILLE STOMP FESTIVAL OF LOST MUSIC • Downtown Knoxville • Visit knoxstomp.com.
Thursday, May 5 KNOXVILLE STOMP FESTIVAL OF LOST MUSIC • Downtown Knoxville • The Knoxville Stomp is a four-day festival celebrating the re-mastering and release of a newly
Friday, May 6 KNOXVILLE STOMP FESTIVAL OF LOST MUSIC • Downtown Knoxville • Visit knoxstomp.com. Saturday, May 7 VESTIVAL • Historic Candoro Marble Company • 11AM • For more information, visit CandoroMarble.org. KNOXVILLE STOMP FESTIVAL OF LOST MUSIC • Downtown Knoxville • Visit knoxstomp.com.
FILM SCREENINGS
Thursday, April 28 SCRUFFY CITY FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Market Square • A celebration of film and music, Film Score and the Scruffy City Film Music Festival features live musical performances, music documentaries, music videos,
www.TennesseeTheatre.com
April 28, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 27
CALENDAR animation, shorts and feature films that runs from April 26-May 1. Visit scruffycityfilmfest.com for tickets and a complete schedule. • $40-$100 A DAY’S WORK • Beck Cultural Exchange Center • 6PM • This is the tragic story of a young man who wanted to earn extra money but was killed within hours of reporting for work because he was assigned to a highly dangerous machine without any training whatsoever. It has been chosen by film festivals across the country, winning the Audience Award at the Workers Unite Film Festival in New York City. This film screening kicks-off the annual Workers’ Memorial Day observance in Knoxville that honors Tennessee workers killed on the job. • FREE Friday, April 29 SCRUFFY CITY FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Market Square • A celebration of film and music, Film Score and the Scruffy City Film Music Festival features live musical performances, music documentaries, music videos, animation, shorts and feature films that runs from April 26-May 1. Visit scruffycityfilmfest.com for tickets and a complete schedule. • $40-$100 • See previews on pages 22 and 34. Saturday, April 30 SCRUFFY CITY FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Market Square • A celebration of film and music, Film Score and the Scruffy City Film Music Festival features live musical performances, music documentaries, music videos, animation, shorts and feature films that runs from April 26-May 1. Visit scruffycityfilmfest.com for tickets and a complete schedule. • $40-$100 • See previews on pages
Thursday, April 28 - Sunday, May 8
22 and 34. Sunday, May 1 SCRUFFY CITY FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Market Square • A celebration of film and music, Film Score and the Scruffy City Film Music Festival features live musical performances, music documentaries, music videos, animation, shorts and feature films that runs from April 26-May 1. Visit scruffycityfilmfest.com for tickets and a complete schedule. • $40-$100 • See previews on pages 22 and 34. Monday, May 2 THE BIRDHOUSE WALK-IN THEATER • The Birdhouse • 8:15PM • A weekly free movie screening. • FREE Tuesday, May 3 PUBLIC CINEMA: ‘THE SKY TREMBLES …’ • Pilot Light • 7:30PM • “In a cafe in Morocco, around 50 years ago, Paul Bowles overheard a man, high on kif, say the full title of this film, The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers. And so he wrote a story around this statement, a story that moves between different planes of reality. I read the story (“A Distant Episode“), and the story behind the story, and the strange phrase kept circling around my mind, creating images and dreams. This film is a manifestation of these images, along with obsessions about cinema and how far we will go to make it.”—Director Ben Rivers. Visit publiccinema. org. • FREE
SPORTS AND RECREATION
Thursday, April 28 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES THURSDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10AM • Join Cycology Bicycles every Thursday morning for a road ride with two group options. A Group does a 2 to 3 hour ride at 20+ pace; B group does an intermediate ride at 15/18 mph average. Weather permitting. cycologybicycles.com. • FREE FLEET FEET GROUP RUN/WALK • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 6PM • Join us every Thursday night at our store for a fun group run/walk. We have all levels come out, so no matter what your speed you’ll have someone to keep you company. Our 30 - 60 minute route varies week by week in the various neighborhoods and greenways around the store, so be sure to show up on time so you can join up with the group. All levels welcome. fleetfeetknoxville.com. • FREE NORTH KNOXVILLE BEER RUNNERS • Central Flats and Taps • 6PM • Meet us at Central Flats and Taps every Thursday night for a fun and easy run leading us right through Saw Works for a midway beer. • FREE RIVER SPORTS THURSDAY EVENING GREENWAY BIKE RIDE • River Sports Outfitters • 6PM • Every Thursday night from 6 to 7:30 join River Sports Outfitters on an easy paced, beginner friendly Greenway Ride. Bring your own bike or rent one for $15. Lights are mandatory on your bikes from September through March. After ride join us at the store for $2 pints. riversportsoutfitters.com/events. • FREE
Coming in Spring 2016 RIVER’S EDGE APARTMENT HOMES RIVERSEDGEKNOX.COM
Coming in Spring 2016: the Urban Wilderness’s newest Class A apartment complex, located in the heart of the upcoming Rail Trail along the banks of the Tennessee River. • • • •
1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units available Class A apartments Brand new construction Amenities to include over-size pool, bike- and pet- iendly community, patios / porches, grill area, river ont access, directly on the Rail Trail.
LEASING OFFICE OPENS MAY 2, 2016 28
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
865-225-9838 | M-Fri. 9am-5pm | Sat. 10am-12pm 1701 Island Home Avenue Knoxville, TN 37920 Virtual Tours and more information at riversedgeknox.com
KNOXVILLE BICYCLE COMPANY THURSDAY GRAVEL GRINDER • North Boundary Trails • 6:30PM • Join Knoxville Bicycle Company every Thursday evening for their gravel grinder. Meets at 6:30 pm at North Boundary in Oak Ridge, park at the guard shack. Cross bikes and hardtails are perfect. Bring lights. Regroups as necessary. Call shop for more details. Weather permitting - call the store if weather is questionable. knoxvillebicycleco.com. • CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES THURSDAY GREENWAY RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:30PM • Join us every Thursday evening for a greenway ride at an intermediate pace of 14-15 mph. Must have lights. Weather permitting. cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE SOUTH KNOXVILLE TRASH RUN • Alliance Brewing Co. • 5:30PM • KKB Trash Runs are fun-runs where runners pickup litter along the way. This a family friendly and all runner levels event. Participants will be able to collect raffle tickets based on the amount of trash they collect for some awesome prizes. Runners will get $1 off beers from Alliance after the run. $5 suggested donation to participate. Friday, April 29 RIVER SPORTS FRIDAY NIGHT GREENWAY RUN • River Sports Outfitters • 6PM • Greenway run from the store every Friday evening from 6-7:30 pm. Work up a thirst then join us for $2 pints in the store afterwards. riversportsoutfitters.com. • FREE VALOR FIGHTS 32 • Knoxville Civic Coliseum • 5:30PM • The event will benefit www.fightingforautism.com.au and will feature a main event pitting former training partners Adam Townsend vs Steven New at a 150lb. catchweight.
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AP PE AP RI N RI L 2 HO L 9 TH U 30 T ( S H 1 E (1 2-7) 15)
CALENDAR In a battle of light heavyweights, Isaac Fine will meet Cody Bruce, both men are currently 3-0. For information on purchasing tickets fans can visit www.valorfights. com, there is also an option to watch the event via live stream. Please follow us on Twitter, on Facebook and on YouTube under Valor Fights. • $15-$100 Saturday, April 30 WALK MS: KNOXVILLE 2016 • Sequoyah Park • 9AM • Walk MS is a charity walk series to that take place in over 550 locations with more than 330,000 people participating annually. Together, we will end MS forever. Registration starts at 9 a.m. Walk starts at 10 a.m. KTC DOGWOOD CLASSIC 5K • Sequoyah Park • 8AM • The splendor of spring in East Tennessee comes alive with the blooming of the Dogwoods. • $20-$30 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: OLD SETTLERS TRAIL • 8AM • Hike: 10 miles, rated moderately difficult due to downed timber and numerous rock hops. Meet at Comcast, 5720 Asheville Hwy, ready to depart at 8:00 AM. Leader: Claudia Dean, claudiadean0@gmail.com. • FREE Sunday, May 1 KNOXVILLE HARDCOURT BIKE POLO • Sam Duff Memorial Park • 1PM • Don’t know how to play? Just bring your bike — we have mallets to share and will teach you the game. • FREE Monday, May 2 KTC GROUP RUN • Mellow Mushroom • 6PM • Visit ktc.org. • FREE BEARDEN BEER MARKET FUN RUN • Bearden Beer Market •
Business
6:30PM • Visit beardenbeermarket.com. • FREE Tuesday, May 3 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES TUESDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10:30AM • cycologybicycles.com. • FREE HARD KNOX TUESDAY FUN RUN • Hard Knox Pizzeria • 6:30PM • Join Hard Knox Pizzeria every Tuesday evening (rain or shine) for a 2-3 mile fun run. Burn calories. Devour pizza. Quench thirst. Follow us on Facebook. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES TUESDAY GREENWAY RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:30PM • cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE Wednesday, May 4 KTC GROUP RUN • Runner’s Market • 5:30PM • Visit ktc.org. • FREE FOUNTAIN CITY PEDALERS SHARPS RIDGE MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE • Fountain City Pedaler • 6PM • Visit fcpedaler.com. • FREE Saturday, May 7 TIE DYE DASH 4K COLOR RUN • West Side YMCA • 8:30AM • All proceeds from the Tie Dye Dash 4k Color Run benefit the Y’s Annual Campaign to provide Y programs and services to those in our community who need us most. • $20-$90 MUDDER’S DAY MADNESS 5K • Montvale • 10AM • Join us for the 2016 Mudder’s Day Madness 5K and enjoy new obstacles, reduced pricing, new trails, food trucks, and kid friendly activities. Proceeds from the Mudder’s Day Madness 5K benefit Harmony Family Center and their service to children through foster care, adoption, and post adoption counseling and programs. Please contact
Product awareness
Company goodwill
There’s never been a better time to “go public.”
April 28, 2016 WUOT_Ad_5.5x4.25_WhyWUOT_KnoxMerc.indd 1
9/7/15 9:52 AM
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CALENDAR Beverly Gonzalez at 865-981-3953 or via email at beverly@harmonyfamilycenter.org. • $35-$45 KTC WILD HANN JIVIN’ IN THE DARK TRAIL RACE • Urban Wilderness • 8:45PM
ART
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts 556 Parkway (Gatlinburg) MARCH 19-MAY 14: Not to Scale, artwork by Arrowmont artists in residence Charlie Ryland, Drew Davis Johnson, Julia Gartrell, Sarah Rachel Brown, and Skye Livingston. APRIL 27-JUNE 25: Arrowmont staff exhibit, featuring artwork by Jeda Barr, Nick DeFord, Kelly Sullivan, Vickie Bradshaw, Bill Griffith, Kelly Hider, Jennifer Blackburn, Ernie Schultz, Heather Ashworth, Laura Tuttle, Bob Biddlestone and Jason Burnett. Art Market Gallery 422 S. Gay St. MARCH 29-APRIL 30: Artwork by Lisa Kurtz and Dennis Sabo. MAY 3-28: An exhibit by the Tennessee Watercolor Society. An opening reception will be held on Friday, March 6, at 5:30 p.m. Bennett Galleries 5308 Kingston Pike MARCH 15-APRIL 30: Masterworks From the Estate of Carl Sublett From the 1950s Through the End of the 20th Century.
Thursday, April 28 - Sunday, May 8
The Birdhouse 800 N. Fourth Ave. April 1-30: Artwork by Susan Jenkins. Bliss Home 24 Market Square MARCH 4-APRIL 30: Artwork by Lindsey Teague. MAY 6-31: Artwork for the International Biscuit Festival by Hannah Holder. An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 6, from 6-9 p.m.
APRIL 16-OCT. 30: Come to Make Records, a selection of artifacts, audio and video recordings, and photographs celebrating Knoxville’s music heritage and the 1929-30 St. James Hotel recording sessions.
Broadway Studios and Gallery 1127 Broadway APRIL 1-30: Artwork by Owen Weston. MAY 6-31: Body as Art, featuring clay figure work by Annamaria Gundlach. An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 6, from 5-9 p.m.
Emporium Center for Arts and Culture 100 S. Gay St. APRIL 1-29: Dogwood Arts Regional Fine Art Exhibition, a juried show featuring artwork by more than 40 artists from the Southeast and beyond, and Whimsical and Reflective, paintings and drawings by Stephanie Robertson. MAY 6-27: Recessive, photographs by Abigail Malone; photography by Rachel Quammie; and International Latino Art Exhibition. An opening reception for all three shows will be held on Friday, May 6, from 5-9 p.m.
The District Gallery 5113 Kingston Pike APRIL 22-MAY 31: Along the Way, oil paintings by Kathie Odom.
Envision Art Gallery 4050 Sutherland Ave. APRIL 22-MAY 20: Find Ourselves, paintings and drawings by Sarah Moore.
Downtown Gallery 106 S. Gay St. APRIL 8-30: Japanese prints from the University of Tennessee permanent collection. MAY 6-28: Artsource 2016, featuring artwork by Knox County art educators. An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 6, from 5-9 p.m.
Flow: A Brew Parlor 603 W. Main St. APRIL 1-30: The Art of Cynthia Markert: Representing 40 Years of Painting.
East Tennessee History Center 601 S. Gay St.
Knoxville Museum of Art 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive MAY 6-AUG. 7: Full Stop, a large-scale installation by painter Tom Burkhardt, and Contemporary Focus 2016,
with artwork by installation/video/sound artist John Douglas Powers. 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 APRIL 28-MAY 21: Paintings and photography by by Ursula Brenner, Elaine Clark Thomas, Jillie Eves, Ted Borman, and Ann Allison-Cote. Pioneer House 413 S. Gay St. APRIL 1-30: Photos by Darrell Cecil Belcher. McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture 1327 Circle Park Drive JAN. 23-MAY 22: Maya: Lords of Time. ONGOING: The Flora and Fauna of Catesby, Mason, and Audubon and Life on the Roman Frontier.
LECTURES, READINGS, AND BOOK SIGNINGS
Friday, April 29 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
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CALENDAR research with the general public in a conversational presentation. Free and open to the public, each Science Forum consists of a 40-minute presentation followed by a Q-and-A session. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch or purchase it at the cafe in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Science Forum, sponsored by the UT Office of Research and Quest magazine, is an initiative to raise awareness of the research, scholarship and creative activity happening on campus. • FREE Saturday, April 30 UT COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN 2016 LECTURE SERIES • Bijou Theatre • 5:30PM • General Shale Lecture featuring Thom Mayne, design director of Morphosis. • FREE Sunday, May 1 LIN STEPP: ‘WELCOME BACK’ • Union Ave Books • 1PM • Book signing with local author Lin Stepp, author of Welcome Back, the newest novel in the Smoky Mountain series. • FREE Wednesday, May 4 BOOKS SANDWICHED IN • East Tennessee History Center • 12PM • Knox County Public Library invites you to join Pastor Chris Battle, Tabernacle Baptist Church, and Chris Woodhull, former Knoxville City Councilman, for a discussion of Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a program series sponsored by the Friends of KCPL. • FREE Thursday, May 5
MARGARET BAKER: ‘FEEDING WILD BIRDS IN AMERICA’ • Union Ave Books • 6PM • Book signing with Margaret Barker, one of the authors of Feeding Wild Birds in America: Culture, Commerce, and Conservation • FREE SCOTT SCHLARBAUM: “TENNESSEE WILDERNESS—WHAT IS REALLY BEING PROTECTED” • University of Tennessee Arboretum (Oak Ridge) • 7PM • Co-sponsored by the Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, the talk, “Tennessee Wilderness – What Is Really Being Protected,” will be given by Dr. Scott Schlarbaum, director of the UT Tree Improvement Program. A faculty member of UT’s Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries since 1984, Dr. Schlarbaum has served in a variety of professional positions and committees regarding forest and health genetics. To learn more about this event or the UT Arboretum Society, go to www.utarboretumsociety.org. For more information on the talk, call 483-3571. • FREE Friday, May 6 KNOXVILLE STOMP PANEL DISCUSSION • East Tennessee History Center • 12PM • The Knoxville Stomp Festival of Lost Music (May 5-8) celebrates the release of the Bear Family Records’ boxed set The Knoxville Sessions, 1929-1930: Knox County Stomp. The festival opens to the public on Friday, May 6, at the East Tennessee History Center with a panel discussion featuring old-time music scholar Dr. Ted Olson, historian Tony Russell, and Bear Family Records founder and CEO Richard Weize.For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 31
CALENDAR EastTNHistory.org. • FREE
SATURDAY, MAY 7
COURTNEY LIX: ‘WOMEN OF THE SMOKIES’ • Union Ave Books • 1PM • Book signing with Courtney Lix, author of Women of the Smokies: No Place for the Weary Kind • FREE Sunday, May 8 William Morris: ‘Memphis Bar-B-Krewe’ • Union Ave Books • 2PM • Book signing with William Morris, author of Memphis Bar-B-Krewe • FREE
FAMILY
AND KIDS’ EVENTS
Saturday, April 30 SMOKY MOUNTAIN BICYCLE RODEO • Downtown Maryville • 9AM • The Rodeo is open to all children ages 7-12. The mission is to teach participants the primary bicycle handling skills and traffic concepts that will help them to avoid the most common types of crashes. East Tennessee Children’s Hospital will provide free bike helmets or adjust helmets as needed. • FREE Saturday, May 7 FAMILY FUN DAY: MOTHER’S DAY CELEBRATION • McClung
Thursday, April 28 - Sunday, May 8
Museum of Natural History and Culture • 1PM • Join us for free a free Family Fun Day featuring activities, crafts, tours, and more. We’ll celebrate moms this month with a Mother’s Day Celebration. All materials will be provided. The program is free and open to the public. Reservations are not necessary. • FREE Sunday, May 8 KMA ART ACTIVITY DAY • Knoxville Museum of Art • 1PM • Every second Sunday of each month, the KMA will host free drop-in art activities for families. A local artist will be on-site to lead hands-on art activities between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. • FREE
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
Thursday, April 28 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 SESSIONS • Historic Candoro Marble Company • 2PM • Portrait and life drawing practice at Candoro Art & Heritage Center. $10. Call Brad Selph for more information (865-573-0709). • $10 KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: HOW TO BUY A
HEALTHY PLANT • Humana Guidance Center • 3:15PM • Be alert when buying veggies, annuals, perennials, trees or shrubs. Join Master Gardener Barbara Emery to learn what to look for, how to look for it, and what to do when you get those items home. 865-329-8892. • FREE MOUNTAIN BIKING BASICS • REI • 6PM • Join REI Mountain Bike experts to learn about the bikes, essential gear, safety & responsibility on the trail, basic bike maintenance and more. • $20 KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • This class is an hour of student-led training and review of Capoeira skills and exercises. Come prepared to sweat. Visit knoxvillecapoeira.org. • $10 Friday, April 29 AARP DRIVER SAFETY SMART DRIVER CLASS • Farragut Town Hall • 8AM • Call (865) 382-5822. Saturday, April 30 IMPROV COMEDY CLASS • The Birdhouse • 10:30AM • A weekly improv comedy class. • FREE LEARN TO MEDITATE WORKSHOP • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 2PM • By the author of “800 Stepping Stones to Complete Relaxation.” Info & 12-easy meditations: mikewright102348@gmail.com or 865-851-9535. • FREE BEARDSLEY COMMUNITY FARM SKILL SHARE AND PLANT SALE • Beardsley Community Farm • 10AM • We have three workshops scheduled for the spring Skill Share. Our Spring Skill Share will also feature our plant sale. Choose from a wide variety of herbs, heirloom tomatoes and
peppers, strawberries, ornamentals, and more. Activities will be provided for kids, too. Tickets available here: http://beardsleyskillshare2016.brownpapertickets.com/ FIRST TIME 411 • Trotta Montgomery Real Estate • 12PM • This is a class for first time home buyers instructing attendees about the whole process of home buying. What will be offered: The opportunity to speak to agents, lenders, title specialists, and inspectors. Also, there will be free coffee and snacks. It will last 3 hours but the attendees can come and go as they please. Totally free. • FREE Sunday, May 1 YOGA AT NARROW RIDGE • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 9:30AM • Narrow Ridge invites you to join us every Sunday morning for yoga instruction from Angela Gibson. This class can be tailored to each individual’s ability level. For information call 865-497-2753 or email community@narrowridge.org. • FREE SLOW FOOD TN VALLEY MOTHER’S DAY BISCUIT-MAKING WORKSHOP • Just Ripe • 10AM • Come dig your hands into some biscuit dough and learn the Southern tradition of biscuit making with your child/children for a fun family activity. Participants will have the opportunity to sample their biscuit creations, with some added biscuit toppings, as well as enjoying some additional breakfast snacks courtesy of Just Ripe. To accommodate everyone there will be two sessions offered: 10-12 or 1-3, so be sure to mark the appropriate time you will be attending. Let’s butter some biscuits together. • $15 I BIKE KNX OPEN HOUSE BIKE CLASSES • Earth Fare
GEOTHERMAL HVAC • RADIANT FLOORING American Made Energy Right Under Your Feet.
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865-588-1333
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32
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
CALENDAR (Bearden) • 2PM • At our Open House sessions, you can choose from: Biking for Beginners, Getting Back on a Bicycle, Learning to Ride: Adults, and Freedom from Training Wheels: Children. Classes will be held on March 6, April 3, May 1, May 15, and June 5. Meet us at Third Creek Greenway trailhead near Earth Fare in Bearden. Adults are $20; kids are $10. (Your kids are welcome to come ride around while you are in class, even if they aren’t taking a class. There is a parking lot behind the shopping center with no traffic.)• $20 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE BALLET BARRE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 1PM • This open-level barre class is designed to help students build and maintain strength, flexibility, and coordination for ballet technique. This is a great class for beginning and experienced students alike. • $10 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE OPEN LEVEL MODERN TECHNIQUE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 2PM • This class is open to all. Teachers cover basic technique and vocabulary for modern and contemporary dance. . • $10 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE IMPROVISATION CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 3:30PM • Class involves both structured and free improvisations aimed at developing creativity, spontaneous decision-making, freedom of movement, and confidence in performance. No dance experience is necessary—only the desire to move. • $10 Monday, May 2 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley
Unitarian Universalist Church • 5:30PM • Call 865-5772021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. NIA CARDIO-DANCE WORKOUT TECHNIQUE CLASS • Broadway Academy of Performing Arts • 10AM • Email emilybryant24@yahoo.com. Blending dance arts, martial arts, yoga and healing arts in a 55-minute mindful fitness fusion. Tuesday, May 3 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • Visit capoeiraknoxville.org. • $10 Wednesday, May 4 NIA CARDIO-DANCE WORKOUT TECHNIQUE CLASS • Broadway Academy of Performing Arts • 6PM • Email emilybryant24@yahoo.com. AARP DRIVER SAFETY SMART DRIVER CLASS • Oak Ridge Senior Center • 9:30AM • Call (865) 382-5822. CIRCLE MODERN DANCE INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED MODERN TECHNIQUE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • This class is primarily designed for students with a basic knowledge of modern dance technique and vocabulary, but is open to any mover who is willing to be challenged. CIRCLE MODERN DANCE OPEN LEVEL BALLET CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 7:30PM • This is a basic ballet class open to students of all levels of experience and ability. Students will learn new steps,
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 33
CALENDAR build coordination and flexibility, and learn choreography. • $10 Thursday, May 5 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 AARP DRIVER SAFETY SMART DRIVER CLASS • Buckingham Retirement Center • 9AM • Call (865) 382-5822. AARP DRIVER SAFETY SMART DRIVER CLASS • Oak Ridge Senior Center • 9:30AM • Call (865) 382-5822. CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: KNIT YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS • Cancer Support Community • 1PM • Call 865-546-4661. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • Visit knoxvillecapoeira.org. • $10
MEETINGS
Thursday, April 28 SCRUFFY CITY ORCHESTRA • First Baptist Church • 7PM • A new venue for musicians from the greater Knoxville metropolitan area, Scruffy City Orchestra, kicks off with regular rehearsals on Thursdays. Conductors are Matt Wilkinson and Ace Edewards. Prospective members, especially string players, are encouraged to contact Alicia Meryweather at ScruffyCityOrchestra@gmail.com
Thursday, April 28 - Sunday, May 8
for more information. • FREE KNOXDEVS QUARTERLY MEETUP • Scruffy City Hall • 7PM • This is a technology-neutral meeting intended to bring together Knoxville-area software developers of all skill levels under one roof to network and learn. Whether you’re a student or a senior specialist, come get inspired, build some new relationships, and help make an impact in the local software development community. Join us for free beer and appetizers from Premier Staffing Partners, CodeStock, and CodeTank Labs. We’ve also got door prizes to give away. RSVP at Eventbrite• FREE Saturday, April 30 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 Sunday, May 1 NARROW RIDGE SILENT MEDITATION GATHERING • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 11AM • Narrow Ridge invites you to join us for our Silent Meditation Gathering on Sundays. 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 information call 865-497-2753 or email community@ narrowridge.org. • FREE THREE RIVERS! EARTH FIRST! • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 7PM • Three Rivers! Earth First! is the local dirt worshiping, tree hugging, anarchist collective that meets
rose petal, lavender, red clover, hibiscus, chrysanthemum
GIVE HER FLOWERS FOR MOTHER’S DAY
... IN A BOTTLE!
every Sunday night on the second floor of Barley’s in the back room (when its available) to organize against strip mining, counter protest the KKK and Nazis, to clean up Third Creek and to fight evil corporations in general. Open meeting, rotating facilitation, collective model. Y’all come. Call (865) 257-4029 for more information. • FREE Monday, May 2 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 gaygroupknoxville.org. Tuesday, May 3 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 COMMUNITY STEP UP • Beck Cultural Exchange Center • 11AM • Do you have an incarcerated relative, friend, or loved one? Do you need a support system to keep your relative, friend, or loved one from going or returning to prison? Then come and join us! Our goal is to connect ex-offenders to established organizations offering the needed services that will provide the support and resources to prevent them from re-entry into the prison system. Membership is a one-time fee of $5. Thursday, May 5 SCRUFFY CITY ORCHESTRA • First Baptist Church • 7PM • A new venue for musicians from the greater Knoxville
metropolitan area, Scruffy City Orchestra, kicks off with regular rehearsals on Thursdays. Conductors are Matt Wilkinson and Ace Edewards. Prospective members, especially string players, are encouraged to contact Alicia Meryweather at ScruffyCityOrchestra@gmail.com for more information. • FREE CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT GROUP • Cancer Support Community • 6PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY BREAST CANCER NETWORKER • Thompson Cancer Survivor Center West • 6PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. NAACP • Beck Cultural Exchange Center • 6PM • The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. Join the fight for freedom by becoming a member of the NAACP. Regular individual annual membership rates vary. KNOXVILLE WRITERS’ GUILD • Central United Methodist Church • 7PM • The Knoxville Writers’ Guild exists to facilitate a broad and inclusive community for area writers, provide a forum for information, support and sharing among writers, help members improve and market their writing skills and promote writing and creativity. A $2 donation is requested. Additional information about KWG can be found at www.
Gore Vidal’s THE
BEST MAN
Our New Release
Fleur de Vie Join us in the tasting room to try this rich floral liqueur echoing the flavors of an East Tennessee Spring. Join the party at Union Ave Books on
April 29, 30, May 6, 7 at 8:00 P.M. May 1, 7, 8 at 2:00 P.M. WALTERS STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE JUDGE WILLIAM H. INMAN HUMANITIES THEATRE FOR TICKETS, VISIT WWW.ETCPLAYS.ORG OR CALL 423-318-8331
National Independent Bookstore Day! Saturday, April 30th 10-8pm Refreshments, prizes, and 10% off everything in the store all day! Many thanks to our loyal customers for shopping at Union Ave Books.
Proudly sponsored by:
Mother’s Day Distillery Tours from 1pm-6pm Tasting Room Open 7 Days A Week 516 W. Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee • Phone (865) 525-2372 www.KnoxWhiskeyWorks.com • Get Social With Us: @KnoxWhiskey 34
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
Morristown Pediatric JTEKT Dentistry Tarr Chevrolet Lake Dermatology McKenna Orthodontics Litz Turf Farms TN Arts Commission MAHLE WCRK FM 105.7 Produced through special arrangement with Dramatist Play Services, Inc.
517 Union Ave Knoxville, TN 37902 865.951.2180 www.unionavebooks.com
CALENDAR KnoxvilleWritersGuild.org.
ETC.
Thursday, April 28 LITTLE RIVER TRADING COMPANY PINTS WITH A PURPOSE • Little River Trading Co. (Maryville) • 5PM • The next Community Partners Pints for a Purpose will benefit Keep Blount Beautiful. Sponsored by Little River Trading Co., Blount Partnership, and Merrell; 100 % of beer sales are donated to KBB. With beer from Devil’s Backbone, food by the Dinner Bell Fresh truck, and music by Cats Away. • FREE Friday, April 29 KNOXVILLE BOTANICAL GARDEN SPRING PLANT SALE • Knoxville Botanical Garden • 12PM • This year’s sale will be held on the Welcome Center’s patio with a wide variety of plants to choose from, including hydrangeas, native perennials, annuals, shade plants, herbs and vegetables. On Friday, members and donors can come out for a first choice of this year’s offerings. On Saturday, everyone is welcome. For more information, contact Ann White, by calling (865) 862-8717. • FREE Saturday, April 30 KNOXVILLE BOTANICAL GARDEN SPRING PLANT SALE • Knoxville Botanical Garden • 8AM • For more information, contact Ann White, by calling (865) 862-8717. • FREE ORTHOTENNESSEE RUMMAGE SALE FOR CHARITY • Knoxville Orthopedic Clinic • 8AM • All proceeds from the event will be donated to Lost Sheep Ministries. All OrthoTennessee Associates have come together to donate to this worthy cause. Treasures galore: furniture, toys, decorative items, housewares, electronics, clothes, and more. • FREE MASTER GARDENERS OF ROANE COUNTY PLANT SALE AND GARDEN SHOW • Roane County Park • 9AM • Shop for plants and other gardening items, attend gardening demonstrations, have lunch or sweet treats from our food vendors, stop by and visit with our other community vendors, and get your gardening questions answered by the experts. All proceeds from this event helps support our community projects. • FREE RETROPOLITAN CRAFT FAIR • Historic Southern Railway Station • 10AM • Vendors from around the southeast will be there selling high quality handmade and vintage items in this fun familyfriendly atmosphere. With goods such as prints and posters, apparel, home decor, ceramics, vintage furniture and clothing, there is a little something for everyone. Learn more about the Retropolitan Craft Fair at retropolitancraft.com. • FREE WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE • Knoxville-Oak Ridge Area Central Labor Council • 12PM • The annual Workers’ Memorial Day observance honors Tennessee workers killed on the job. The annual report, Tennessee Workers: Dying for a Job, is also released. It identifies workers who were killed in 2014-2015 and contains specific recommendations for improving workplace safety in Tennessee.Light lunch will be provided by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Local families of deceased workers will be honored. Tennessee Workers: Dying for a Job will be released and discussed. • FREE Sunday, May 1 FREE PEOPLES URBAN HOMESTEADING MAY DAY MARCH • Downtown Knoxville • 4:30PM • Rally begins on the north side of W. Fifth Avenue at Richards Street. March to the Federal building, then to Market Square for camaraderie
Be a winner with the Mercury and
and fellowship. Share the word with the peoples of the mall. Afterward, meet at the Public House on Magnolia. Details and updates: rogerostan.blogspot.com. • FREE EAST TENNESSEE HOSTA SOCIETY ANNUAL PLANT SALE • University of Tennessee • 12PM • At the UT Trial Gardens on the Ag campus. Featuring Hosta of the year Hosta Curly Fries. For more info call 591-6774. • FREE Tuesday, May 3 EAST TENNESSEE HISTORIC SOCIETY ANNUAL DINNER • The Foundry • 5:30PM • “Telling the Story of Tennessee: New Places, Big Stories” will be the topic of Dr. Carroll Van West’s address at the annual dinner of the East Tennessee Historical Society. Both members and the general public are invited to attend. To make reservations or for additional information call 865-215-8883 or visit our website at www.eastTNhistory.org. • $40 Wednesday, May 4 MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 11AM • The MSFM, a project of Nourish Knoxville, is an open-air farmers’ market located on historic Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. We are a producer only market – everything is either made, grown or raised by our vendors all within a 150 mile radius of the MSFM. Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE Thursday, May 5 KNOXVILLE SQUARE DANCE • Laurel Theater • 8PM • Jubilee Community Arts presents Knoxville Square Dance with live old-time music by The Helgramites and calling by Stan Sharp, Ruth Simmons and Leo Collins. No experience or partner is necessary and the atmosphere is casual. (No taps, please.) • $7 Friday, May 6 SCARECROW FOUNDATION KENTUCKY OAKS PARTY • Silo Cigars • 4PM • Join the Scarecrow Foundation on May 6th at Silo Cigars for this limited ticket fundraiser for Second Harvest. Contact Jimmy Bucker for tickets or more information (865) 250-3313. • $40 NOSTALGIC NIGHTS OUTDOOR MARKET • Nostalgia on McCalla • 6PM • Nostalgia on McCalla will be hosting a First Friday event on Friday, May 6 from 6:00pm till 9:00pm. Join us for a day after Cinco de Mayo party with taco bar and beverages.During the festivities the Nostalgic Nights Outdoor Market will be open. Shop local artisans, vintage, retro, industrial, repurposed, shabby chic, and antique booths. Call 865-622-3252. • FREE
Come celebrate 15 years of magic with Pearl Jam, Dead & Co., LCD Sound System and so much more!
Enter to win tickets to Bonnaroo! (2 pairs of general admission weekend passes will be given away)
Enter any time between April 15th - May 8th. Winners will be chosen on May 12th.
To enter, visit either:
Open Chord Music 8502 Kingston Pike, Knoxville
or
Boyd’s Jig and Reel 101 S. Central St, Knoxville
*Disclaimer: Winners will be chosen at random by the Knoxville Mercury from all submissions. Winners will be notified in advance. (1 pair of tickets per winner.) NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Must be a legal U.S. resident, 18 years of age or older, and not be a sponsor or an employee, family member, or household member of a sponsor. Once notified, winner has 24 hours to respond. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. Sponsor: Knoxville Mercury, 706 Walnut Ave., Suite 404, Knoxville, TN 37902. April 28, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 35
’BYE
R estless Nat ive
Roadhouse Blues
Touring East Tennessee’s dive bars with Jim Dykes
T
BY CHRIS WOHLWEND
he first bar that Jim Dykes introduced me to was a dark, dusty dive on Gay Street, about a block away from the newspaper building. It was called Lockett’s, and according to the sign in the window, it offered more than cold beer. The place was in the business of “novelties.” And there were numerous things inside that fit that description. The bartender, to start with—he looked as if he had never been exposed to daylight. He didn’t say much, either, but he didn’t have to. There was a parrot, named Polly, that did most of the talking, though the bird had a decidedly limited vocabulary. But when Dykes was present, there wasn’t much opportunity for a parrot, or anyone else, to talk. My first encounter with Dykes came when I started reading some of his work in the News-Sentinel. He was covering the courts and I had recently been promoted from copy boy to state-desk reporter at the Journal. That meant that sometimes we would be writing about the same case. I quickly noticed that Dykes’ work was most interesting when the case he was covering tended toward the scandalous. Like most successful journalists of the time, he was quick to recognize the quirks and twists that define the best stories. And he had the chops to deliver the tale in the most compelling way. He could present lurid details in an understated, matter-offact way that avoided sensationalism. Plus, he had a reputation as a hard-drinking, hard-living character, the kind of reporter immortalized in Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s great Broadway play, The Front Page. Though we were sometimes competing, Dykes and I became good friends, having a beer at various spots around town and, later, all over East Tennessee. Though he could fit in at the swankiest gathering, I quickly learned that Dykes had more than a passing
36
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
interest in places like Lockett’s. One favorite was Opal’s Tap Room on Chapman Highway, a sad spot whose owner tried to keep up with the times by featuring go-go dancers. Dykes believed the effort was commendable and deserved our support, so we periodically stopped in to check out the entertainment. We finally gave up—every night we visited there was only one dancer, and it was always the same girl. Good reporters that we were, we introduced ourselves and proceeded to interview her. Our first discovery was that her name was not Opal. “Well,” Dykes told her, “you’re still a jewel.” And then there were the roadhouses: bars that were out in the country. Once, when he and I were driving a back road in the mountains east of Tellico Plains, he pointed out the weeded-up remains of such a spot, long since abandoned. “I got in one of the worst fights of my life in there,” he said. Of course, I asked what it was about. “I was in no shape to care,” he said, adding only that there “were lots of broken beer bottles.” Another time we had just crossed back into Tennessee from Kentucky, up in Scott County, when we came upon a cinder-block building with a big sign that said “First beer in Tennessee.” “Pull in here,” he said, so I did. Then, before he got out of the car, he paused, looking the place over. “You had better go in and get a six-pack to go. I’m not welcome here.” Though his notoriety seemed to cover most of southern Appalachia, Dykes was most famous in the joints closer to his Blount County home, including the string of nightspots that ran up what was then state Highway 73, on the stretch from Maryville toward Townsend and the mountains. One night, exploring the area, we went into one of those spots that met most of our criteria: the gravel parking lot featured several pickup
trucks and there was a tasteful neon Pabst Blue Ribbon sign. (“Tasteful” meaning that it was non-blinking.) But when we entered, everything stopped. As non-regulars, we found that we were the center of attention. The bartender, especially, kept looking our way. Dykes was unperturbed. A waitress took our order and things seemed to get back to normal— pool game resuming, jukebox playing. But when our beers were delivered, the server wasted no time in letting us know that we should hit the highway. “I don’t guess you all want another one,” she said, staring hard at Dykes. We took her hint and made our way out. Of course there were other places where Dykes was welcome. One was the Duck Inn in Alcoa. Long after he had left the News-Sentinel, long after Lockett’s had closed, Dykes began writing a column for the Journal
BY IAN BLACKBURN AND JACK NEELY
called Without a Paddle, where he frequently made fun of his fellow East Tennesseans, especially politicians. It proved popular with the Duck Inn regulars, and they would tell him how he nailed this congressman or that councilman. Once, he and I stopped for a hamburger and beer a couple of days after a scathingly sarcastic takedown of Lamar Alexander. Two regulars stopped by our table and told Dykes how much they agreed with his support of the Maryville native son. He looked at them, then at me, and said, “I was being sarcastic.” They apparently didn’t understand what he meant, chuckling before taking their leave. “Sarcasm, I guess, is wasted in Blount County,” Dykes said. “Readers like these make me appreciate Lockett’s. At least the parrot had a clear understanding of what East Tennessee politics is all about.” ◆
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38
KNOXVILLE MERCURY April 28, 2016
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