NOT THE BEST SUBJECT FOR A FUNNY TAGLINE
JUNE 2, 2016 KNOXMERCURY.COM V.
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Knoxville is a battleground against opiate addiction. As the death toll climbs, is there hope in sight? | BY CLAY DUDA
NEWS
Emotion and Criticism at Interior Department’s Forum on Federal Coal
JACK NEELY
West View Cemeteries, Fountain City, and More Digital Revelations
MUSIC
KSO Announces its New Music Director After Lengthy Candidate Tryouts
OUTDOORS
Going High and Low: Two Different Runs for Paddling on the Little River
Historic June Bikes, Boats, Barks, Brew–and Statehood June 1 is officially Tennessee Statehood Day, the day in 1796 that U.S. Congress, under the administration of President George Washington, ratified the new state of Tennessee, approving the state constitution completed on Feb. 6 of that year in Knoxville, by delegates from across the state, after three weeks of argument and discussion. There’s evidence that Feb. 6 was recognized as Statehood Day early in Tennessee’s history, but we now celebrate Congress’s approval of the proposal, when the weather is often better, anyway.
longer than cars. In fact, around 1899, bicycle mechanic Cowan Rodgers used Biddle’s shop to assemble Knoxville’s first automobile. - Boats have an even longer story. Many of Knoxville’s earliest settlers of the 1780s reached the area by flatboat from the Holston, which originates in Virginia, or the French Broad, which originates in North Carolina. Steamboats first reached Knoxville in 1826, and recreational steamboat trips, often with on-board musical entertainment or a picnic destination, were popular by the 1850s. Moonlight cruises, often to Lyons Bend and back, had a special appeal. Gamblers sometimes used riverboats to escape city restrictions.
This weekend, on June 4, the Historic Homes of Knoxville will celebrate the 220th anniversary of that official nod from Washington. Each of seven historic residences will be free to the - The city’s founding was likely accompanied public between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Among them by some barking. Dogs probably accompanied the are four sites associated with the era of statefirst settlers, and Knoxville’s regard for dogs is hood. Blount Mansion is the region’s oldest frame reflected in the fact that Knoxvillians founded a house; as home of the territorial governor Humane Society in 1885, rather early in the William Blount, who presided over the statehood history of that movement. It’s now known as the convention, the old home is believed to have been Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley. where constitutional documents were drafted in 1796. James White’s Fort is a reconstruction of - Knoxville has hosted commercial breweries the fortified home of Knoxville’s founder, using Knoxvillian Dick Simpson poses with his state-of-the-art since the 1860s, when the Union Brewery opened logs from his original 1786 cabin. Marble Springs bicycle in the 1880s. In the generation before automobiles arrived, bicycling was especially popular in Knoxville, along Second Creek, in the northwestern part of is a compound of historic cabins at the South especially among young men. what’s now World’s Fair Park. Several years later, Knox country home of Tennessee’s first governor, the Knoxville Brewing Company built a large John Sevier. And Ramsey House, the unusual Image courtesy of Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection industrial brewery at the corner of McGhee and stone home of Pennsylvania-born settler Francis cmdc.knoxlib.org Chamberlain, just up Second Creek from the Alexander Ramsey in the Forks of the River area, was built in the first year of statehood. Others Union Brewery. It stayed in business until after joining the party include Crescent Bend, the 1834 riverfront home of Drury statewide prohibition went into effect in 1909. Paine Armstrong on Kingston Pike; the Mabry Hazen House, the well-preserved antebellum home of Joseph Mabry, founder of Market Square; and As part of the festival, on Saturday, Jan. 4, at 1:00, Jack Neely of the Historic Westwood, the unique 1890 Victorian designed for artist Adelia Lutz. Knoxville History Project will host a first-time-ever trolley tour of downtown, Each host organization will interpret Tennessee’s birthday in its own way. promoting the Knox Area Transit’s new trolley routes, with stories about Knoxville’s history. This weekend is Visit Knoxville’s Bike Boat Bark and Brew event, celebrating several of summer’s joys. All of them have historic backgrounds: - Knoxville has been bicycling since the first velocipedes began showing up for sale on Market Square in the late 1860s. By the 1890s, it was a full-grown fad. One of the city’s first big bike races, in 1894, was named for a bicyclist shop on East Vine Street: The Biddle Bicycle Race traced a five-mile route from downtown to Fountain City, along Broadway. Bikes have been around much
The Knoxville area played a major role in World War II, some of which was remembered this week on Memorial Day. On June 15, authors Dewaine Speaks and Ray Clift will offer a Brown Bag Lecture on the subject “East Tennessee in World War II,” emphasizing the major contributions of the home front, including several Knoxville-area industries which manufactured weapons, airplane parts, and nuclear material for the Allied cause in history’s most momentous war. The talk is at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, at Gay Street and Clinch.
Source: The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection
The Knoxville History Project, a new nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of and education about the history of Knoxville, presents this page each week to raise awareness of the themes, personalities, and stories of our unique city. Learn more on www.facebook.com/knoxvillehistoryproject • email jack@knoxhistoryproject.org 2
KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
June 2, 2016 Volume 02 / Issue 22 knoxmercury.com
CONTENTS
“ You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” —Walt Disney
16 H-Town COVER STORY
“It’s a medical emergency,” declares KPD Chief David Rausch. In recent years, there has been an explosion of opiate use in Knox County and across the nation. A majority of people who end up on heroin start by using opiate-based prescription pills, and nationally Tennessee has been among the top states for the number of opiates prescribed. Here in Knox County, a larger percentage of people died from opiate-induced overdoses in 2014 than any other metropolitan county in Tennessee. Why? And what can be done about it? Clay Duda traces the epidemic from the streets to the recovery centers.
NEWS
14 Digging Deep The red velvet chairs under the glowing dome of the Tennessee Theater seemed an odd setting for a day-long hearing about what the U.S. government should do with its underground coal. But more than 60 people stepped to the front of the dimly lit, filigreed auditorium on May 26 to tell what were often strikingly personal stories as they made their cases. S. Heather Duncan reports from the Interior Department’s day-long forum of public coal leases.
23 2016 Bike Boat Brew & Bark Guide
Here it is: the One Festival to Rule Them All, with activities for adventurers of all types. Meet you down by the river!
DEPARTMENTS
OPINION
A&E
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Letters to the Editor Howdy Start Here: Believe It or Knox!, Public Affairs, Quote Factory PLUS: “Photo Recollection: Knoxville Streets,” a photo series by Holly Rainey. ’Bye Finish There: Sacred & Profane by Donna Johnson, 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 offers some notes on West View cemeteries, a new Fountain City book, and more digital revelations. Much Ado Catherine Landis looks back at our General Assembly’s busywork this past session to find more problemcreating than problem-solving. Guest Ed. KUB Senior Vice President Eddie Black shares the research behind the utility company’s Grid Modernization program and its use of smart meters.
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CALENDAR Program Notes: KSO announces its new music director, and Damian Messer departs the Marble City Radio Company. Inside the Vault: Eric Dawson does some crate-digging at TAMIS and comes up with a few rare 45s. Music: Matthew Everett psyches out with Baltimore’s Scroll Downers. Movies: April Snellings gets lost looking for a story in X-Men: Apocalypse.
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Spotlight: Knoxville’s newest festival: 2016 Bike Boat Brew & Bark.
OUTDOORS
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Outside Insider Kim Trevathan offers two different paddling routes—high and low— for the Little River.
June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 3
LETTERS Delivering Fine Journalism Since 2015
SMART METERS, NOT-SO-SMART COLUMN
I’m afraid your article [“Cellular Concerns,” guest editorial by Rachel Milford, May 26, 2016] lends far more credence to theory of carcinogenic RF radiation than any actual evidence or legitimate study has borne out thus far. Full disclosure: I work at the research reactor based at ORNL and I’m an avid advocate for nuclear power. I’m also a tree-hugging, dirt-worshipping environmentalist hippie. Yes, the World Health Organization and the American Cancer Society released statements remarking on the tenuous link between RF radiation and cancer. Careful reading of both statements reveals very conservative language and extensive explanations of non-ionizing radiation versus ionizing radiation, suggesting both these statements were merely butt-covering measures. Of course, prolonged exposure to any type of radiation, especially at high energies, will cause thermal damage if nothing else. If you hold your cell phone up to your head too long, your cheek will turn red from the heat, but you won’t get brain cancer. Non-ionizing radiation, like RF, just isn’t physically capable of inducing the kind of genetic damage that could cause cancer. The energies are too low. In their statement, the WHO says, “[R]esults of animal studies consistently show no increased cancer risk for long-term exposure to radio frequency fields,” and, “Further, research has not been able to provide support for a causal relationship between exposure to electromagnetic fields and self-reported symptoms, or ‘electromagnetic hypersensitivity.’” And the ACS iterates, “It would be nearly impossible to conduct a study to prove or disprove a link between living in a house with smart meters and cancer because people have so many sources of exposure to RF and the level of exposure from this source is so small.” According the National Institutes of Health, “Epidemiologic studies have been plagued by poor RF exposure assessment and differences in methodology. There are no high-quality epidemiologic studies that can be used to evaluate health risks from RF exposure.” 4
KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
The comparison of RF to known carcinogens like lead and chloroform is beyond the pale. In the IARC’s index, lead is classified in Group 2A (“Probable Carcinogens”) and chloroform is in a separate group of substances “reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens.” RF electromagnetic fields, on the other hand, currently resides in Group 2B (“Possibly carcinogenic to humans”), alongside coffee, pickled vegetables, and aloe vera. As far as the BioInitiative report, while its breadth is far-reaching, its depth is not as impressive. Though the language contained in the report is alarmist, much of the research therein consists of non-human studies where animals were subjected to RF levels far higher than the subjective risk, or dubious human studies either too broad to establish any conclusive causal links or the subjects’ conditions were far too extreme to consider applicable to everyday exposure. The studies cite numerous correlations between RF and myriad maladies, but none can actually demonstrate a causal relationship. This distinction is important. The problem is one of scale: Even in a neighborhood where every house has a smart meter, while the ubiquity of RF increases, the intensity of the energy waves remains the same. Unless you sat directly upon your smart meter most of the day, every day, your exposure to its radiation will be negligible. tl;dr? These studies aren’t based in reality. I’m not trying to argue RF radiation is completely harmless, but I suggest we keep the risks in perspective. I worry raising the alarm in the face of such uncertain documentation is all sound and fury, signifying nothing. Radiation is a much maligned and misunderstood phenomenon, but with better understanding, it can allow us to create carbon-free energy and cures for diseases like cancer and HIV. It’s a brave new world. The rapid pace of technological developments can be overwhelming, and the best way to protect yourself from detrimental effects is to arm yourself with
knowledge. Read more about the Smart Grid Project. Read more about RF radiation and its effects. Let’s worry about the over-prescription of antibiotics and opioid painkillers. Let’s worry about coral bleaching and climate change. Let us not make up more things to worry about based on dubious scientific evidence. And if you’re really concerned about protecting yourself from ubiquitous cancer-causing radiation, consider wearing sunscreen. Carolyn Corley Knoxville
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
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
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We are ecstatic to report that our Press Forward fundraising campaign for 2016 has met its goal. Between public donations via gofundme, private donations, and new ad sales, we’ve collected the capital we need to begin implementing our plans to make the Knoxville Mercury East Tennessee’s best weekly paper. In the coming weeks, expect to see big announcements from us about increasing our distribution, expanding our sales team, hiring a development director, and launching new weekly features to better serve our readers. As we dig into our second year of existence, we have high ambitions for what we want to achieve—and none of it would be possible without your direct financial help. This is a new way of looking at print and online journalism: as a community-wide effort rather than as just another impersonal corporate division. We’re doing our best to figure it out as we go along, and we appreciate your belief that we will get it right. Thank you one and all! —Coury Turczyn, editor
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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
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June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 5
Illustration by Ben Adams
HOWDY
Believe It or Knox! BY Z. HERACLITUS KNOX LIZZIE CROZIER FRENCH (1851-1926), Knoxville’s most famous advocate for women’s rights during the Suffrage era, lived for 75 years, but was married for only 19 months. Her husband, WILLIAM BAXTER FRENCH, died when she was only 22, leaving her as a single mother of one. She never remarried and spent the last 53 years of her life as a widow, carrying the name of her short-lived husband. She devoted her life to her son and to her cause. David Hayes leads a chant on Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee during the global strike for $15-an-hour minimum wage. PHOTO RECOLLECTION: KNOXVILLE STREETS by Holly Rainey (loveh865.com)
QUOTE FACTORY “ For all practical purposes, my dog could have stolen my truck that day and been driving it around.” —State Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden, in a Facebook video making his case against traffic-camera tickets, which he has taken to burning on video as well.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
6/2 FUNDRAISER: ART OUT IN THE CITY THURSDAY
6:30-9:30 p.m., The Standard (416 W. Jackson Ave.). $10. This kick-off event for Knoxville Pridefest features art, food, and drink—all for a mere $10. Proceeds go toward operating the big blowout Pride Festival at World’s Fair Park (June 18). Tickets are available at the event; 18+ to enter, 21+ to drink. Info: knoxvillepridefest.org.
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6/3 FREE ART FIRST FRIDAY FRIDAY
8 p.m., Market Square (in front of Scruffy City Hall). Free. South Knoxville’s Creature Seeker shop has started a new First Friday tradition: giving away free drawings, paintings, and prints. Of course, if you’ve ever visited Creature Seeker, then you know that these artistic creations may very well express the macabre. Which sounds pretty awesome, really. (Feel free to bring random weird stuff to trade.)
6/4 CHECKUP IN THE CITY SATURDAY
10 a.m.-2 p.m., Austin East Magnet High School (2800 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.). Free. Children on TennCare may receive free health and dental screenings at this checkup event presented by the Knox County Health Department’s TennCare Kids, regional managed care organizations, and the Five Points Up coalition. The program will also include interactive health learning stations.
At least five of Knoxville’s mayors had foreign accents! In the 19th century, immigrants from England, Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland, and Germany served as mayors of Knoxville. The last was PETER KERN, a German immigrant, who arrived in Knoxville during the Civil War. He was a well-known baker when he was elected mayor in 1890. The first actress ever nominated for an Oscar for a musical role was East Tennessee’s GRACE MOORE (1898-1947). Born in Cocke County, she spent most of her youth in Jellico, but as a young girl lived on Florida Street, a dangerous area on the east side of downtown, then known as Knoxville’s red-light district! In her memoirs, Moore skipped over her family’s time in Knoxville, thereby trimming her age by three years.
6/5 READING: LINDA PARSONS SUNDAY
2 p.m., Union Ave Books (517 Union Ave.). Free. Local author Linda Parsons will read from her fourth poetry collection, This Shaky Earth (Texas Review Press). It’s bookended by poems about her grandmother and granddaughters, “with the shaky earth steadied in between,” she says. Let’s reach for some mutual stability through her thoughtful words.
SOMETIMES DISCOVERY STARTS WITH A PATH. Right outside of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is your own o u t d o o r a m u s e m e n t p a r k . We o ffe r m i l e s o f g re e nw a y s p a c e s t o unwind and enjoy everything the outdoors has to offer. From stream side trails, wilddower elds, forests, waterways and open spaces; all loc located within just a few minutes of quaint neighborhoods and downtown. Walk , run or c ycle, the options are endless in the Peaceful Side of the Smokies. You’ll discover that you’re going to need a longer stay.
June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 7
SCRUFFY CITIZEN
Some June Notes The West View cemeteries, the new Fountain City book, and some digital revelations about James Agee and Cas Walker BY JACK NEELY
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t its messy, railroad-track-strewn intersection with Western, Keith Avenue offers the promise of a clever shortcut west. But follow it into West View, and it starts to look like a sleepy country road. If you can remember where it is, Keith is easy to get to, but it’s no beaten path. That makes it a perfect address for cemeteries. It’s been just that since the century before last. The first you encounter is the New Jewish Cemetery, many of the graves inscribed in Hebrew. It’s “new” because it dates only to 1893, not the Civil War, as is the case with the Old Jewish Cemetery, on the opposite side of town. In the vicinity of Keith are some older family and community plots, and even a yard-sized lumpy plot recalled as an unmarked slave cemetery. But the big northern hillside just past West View Park is an old cemetery that has changed its appearance so much in recent years it looks like a new one. It’s the largest African-American cemetery in West Knoxville, composed of three related cemeteries. The largest is Crestview, once a public cemetery in the era of segregation. On top is Longview. It’s the one that offers an unexpected and almost disorienting view of UT campus and parts of South Knoxville, with no suggestion of a river between. It was established a century ago by William Lillison, jack of many trades, teacher, longtime Knoxville police officer, and proprietor of a black mortuary. Adjacent is Southern Chain, an
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unusual name for a graveyard, a reference to a black chapter of the Odd Fellows fraternal organization. A century ago, fraternities often assisted members with burial plans. But fraternities don’t always last much longer than we do. The first time I ever had a close look at these graveyards, about 20 years ago, I was looking for the grave of a great blues singer named Ida Cox. It was like a nightmare. Much of the hillside was completely overgrown, like a young forest. I like forests, but this forest was full of stones you encounter too late and trip over, and oblong holes you fall into. Over the years, many of its inhabitants had been exhumed and moved, leaving coffin-shaped craters. It’s a sad but common story, the graveyard that advertised perpetual care but went out of business, thanks to some dishonest practices, decades ago. Today it’s hard to believe it’s the same place. Through a long community effort, much of it led by neighbor and former city administrator Ellen Adcock and her West View Community Action Group, the largest cemetery on the hillside is now clean and tidy, and appropriately marked as a historic cemetery. The group has gotten assists from the city, the county, and the state, and lately from Knox Heritage, which sees potential for a National Register of Historic Places designation, making some sorts of funding easier to contemplate. It’s still a little scruffy at the top of the hill, where West View’s view is most obvious. But it’s hard to com-
plain much about underbrush when most of it’s daisies and other wildflowers. There are more than a thousand stones, some belonging to once-prominent citizens. Among the best known is author and educator Charles Cansler, buried here in 1953. He was known for his interest in history; his narrative, Three Generations: The Story of a Colored Family of Eastern Tennessee, published in 1939, covered some of the themes Alex Haley explored for a bigger audience many years later. Cansler would have enjoyed browsing around this well-kept cemetery, looking at dates, making connections. Maybe you will, too.
If you have a dad who likes to brag about Fountain City and finds that the people who tolerate his stories think he’s lying, go to the bookstore and get him some backup. Just in time for Father’s Day, a new book called Fountain City: People Who Made a Difference makes Fountain City seem much more lively and creative and influential than any neighborhood has a right to be. Without Fountain Citians, UT would have neither its tallest building, McClung Tower, nor its McClung Museum (they’re named for different McClungs; it’s a long story). College football wouldn’t have its greatest lineman of 1940, Bob Suffridge; Nashville wouldn’t have its Roy Acuff; the Great Smoky Mountains National Park wouldn’t have its chronicler, Carlos Campbell; the national Wilderness Society wouldn’t have its co-founder Harvey Broome; the world, if it had its Dumpster at all, would have been obliged to call it something
else. My good friend Dr. Jim Tumblin has been collecting Fountain City stories for 80 years or more, and he tells them well. In recent years, he’s been publishing them in the Shopper News, and he’s selected his favorite 56 of them for this new book by a local publishing joint, Celtic Cat Publishing.
Last week we published James Agee’s letter about his grandfather’s false teeth, and their tendency to attract red ants. If it’s not Literature, it’s likely the first thing the future Pulitzer winner ever published. He was 13 when he wrote it. The grandfather in question was Joel Tyler, the Michigan-born industrialist who lived for a couple of decades at 1115 Clinch Ave., near his machine shop. Agee scholar Paul Brown, who’s working on a book, believes it to be the first time Agee is known to have signed his first name, James—not his middle name, Rufus, by which he was known for most of his childhood.
And I’ve been doing some more pearl diving in the public library’s “From Paper to Pixels” website. Look up Cas Walker, millionaire grocer, bluegrass impresario, and Knoxville’s longest-tenured city councilman. His first appearance in Knoxville’s public eye comes in September 1925. The 23-year-old newcomer from Sevier County “whipped” an 8-yearold boy, and was cited for assault. Back then, the fine for beating up a kid was $10. Being a good citizen, we have no doubt that Cas paid it. ◆
I like forests, but this forest was full of stones you encounter too late and trip over, and oblong holes you fall into.
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June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 9
MUCH ADO
Who Are the Barbarians? Our General Assembly tackles problems that don’t exist and creates new ones in the process BY CATHERINE LANDIS
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magistrate is peacefully overseeing the last outpost of the Empire when a state of emergency is declared. Rumors spread: the Barbarians are preparing an attack. The magistrate has seen no evidence of a threat from the indigenous people the empire calls the Barbarians; nonetheless he watches as Colonel Joll from the Third Bureau mercilessly tortures and kills his captive men, women, and children. Thus begins J.M. Coetzee’s novel Waiting For The Barbarians, and thus does the magistrate begin to question: Just who are the barbarians? “I observed that once in every generation, without fail, there is an episode of hysteria about the barbarians,” he says. Observing the end of a General Assembly notable for boldly working to marginalize the marginalized, I wondered if we might be in such an episode. Blathering and posturing about imagined threats, legislators managed to pass a resolution aimed at barring Muslim refugees, rejected a bill granting in-state tuition to undocumented students, passed legislation permitting counselors to discriminate, pilloried a social studies unit for “indoctrinating” children with Islam, nearly codified further stigmatization of transgender students, stripped funds from UT’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, made it harder to remove Confederate symbols from state property, and designated the Bible as a “state” book,
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all but putting a sign at the border: non-Christians not welcome. Gov. Bill Haslam found his backbone long enough to veto the “Bible” bill but quickly lost it again. Taken as a whole, these seemingly disparate measures wasted time and energy solving problems that don’t exist and ended up doing the same thing: separating people into who is legitimate and who is not by codifying fear. What concerns me beyond their specific ramifications is the tone at the top. Soon after Alabama passed its 2006 anti-immigration law, critics cited instances of store clerks demanding papers, of parishioners refusing to “pass the peace” with “foreign” congregants, of high school students banishing brown-skinned classmates to the top bleachers. In answer, the bill’s author—Kris Kobock, Kansas Secretary of State and father to a slew of bills designed to encourage “voluntary deportation”—said, “You can’t legislate what is in people’s hearts. And if people have those twisted ideas of the world and have those ill feelings toward people who have a different skin color, I don’t think you can say that the law has caused that. And I don’t think you can say that the law can ultimately stop that.” I think he could not be more wrong. I’m talking psychology 101 here. Context is everything. If you prepare a field for cotton, you’re growing cotton. If you create a climate
where “the other” is dehumanized, people will be dehumanized. When you fuel hate, you get hate. And when politicians ignore evidence to champion legislation based on sweeping generalizations of a group of human beings, there are consequences. Nobody I know is actually afraid of Syrian terrorists rampaging through Tennessee, or of some illusionary “gay agenda,” or of the demise of Christmas, but we do fear the recent rise in local hate groups (see Clay Duda’s March 2 Mercury article), and we are extremely wary of homegrown fundamentalists whose narrow definition of their faith includes a long list of things to hate. We have some legitimate fear of people working night and day to force their values onto everybody else because our state Legislature is full of them. Lawmakers interested in improving the health and safety of Tennesseans could actually increase healthcare access, do more to keep guns away from children, or enact any number of bills that would solve actual problems and save actual lives. They might try using evidence and statistics to assess risk. In Speaker Beth Harwell’s sunny wrap-up of the Legislature’s accomplishments, she conveniently fails to mention refugees or the discriminatory counseling bill or any of the other measures aimed at marginalized people. Is that because she knows it’s embarrassing? Are we to be fooled into pretending nothing ugly happened this year? Too late. The image that sticks with me is the unfurling of the Confederate flag over UT students peacefully demonstrating for diversity and inclusion. The legislators can’t pull off the “pay attention to what we
say, not what we do” routine. We know what they meant. Who are the barbarians? How about the sons and daughters of immigrants who, safe in the new world, callously pull up the ladder? Which is more barbaric, to flee from violence or to foment hatred in the name of false security? How is it not barbaric to condone discrimination? Some legislators claim they are responding to citizen demand, but responsible leadership does not rely on trumped-up threats and hysteria to divide people. Coetzee’s magistrate says of the Empire’s real barbarians, “I should never have allowed the gates of the town to be opened to people who assert that there are higher considerations than those of decency.” In the richness of literature I find universal themes that offer perspective for my own time. We have been here before. Turn the globe, pick a spot, name a year and you will uncover a moment when a dominate culture used language to strip the humanity from marginalized groups of people. Violence followed. Violence always follows. You can’t shoot flames from your mouth and then be surprised when the house burns down. As Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, has said: Accepting all humans as fully human is the challenge of our time. As we say goodbye to our latest General Assembly, remember that the Legislature we have is the Legislature we voted for. We don’t have to keep voting for these people. Let’s don’t. ◆ With Much Ado, Catherine Landis examines how political decisions and social trends affect the lives of the people around her. She is particularly interested in issues concerning feminism, civil rights, education, the environment, and immigration reform.
Some legislators claim they are responding to citizen demand, but responsible leadership does not rely on trumped-up threats and hysteria to divide people.
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Coming in Spring 2016: the Urban Wilderness’s newest Class A apartment complex, located in the heart of the upcoming G & O Trail along the banks of the Tennessee River. • • • •
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LEASING OFFICE NOW OPEN
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
June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 11
GUEST ED.
Smart-Meters Counterpoint KUB Grid Modernization: moving toward the future BY EDDIE BLACK
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UB’s mission is to serve our customers, improving their quality of life by providing utility services that are safe, reliable and affordable. To meet our mission, we not only look at our immediate needs, but we also plan for future generations. In doing so, we take a balanced approach that considers customer satisfaction, system, safety and financial performance. About 10 years ago, a number of studies pointed to the increasing deterioration of the nation’s infrastructure: roads, bridges, communication networks, and utilities. KUB had already begun to take action on its waste water system through its Partners Acting for a Cleaner Environment program. Century II, an infrastructure management program KUB launched in May 2007, is designed to be an investment in our next 100 years of quality service—and in the quality of life in our community. Taking the long-term view, KUB must also adapt to new technologies that provide benefits to our customers. For that reason, KUB’s Grid Modernization initiative was announced earlier this year as an integral part of the Century II program. Grid Modernization involves the deployment of advanced meters (sometimes referred to as “smart meters”) that are equipped with communication devices. These devices periodically send secured radio signals containing encrypted utility consumption data to receiving towers that have been strategically located throughout the KUB distribution system. KUB will use this information to detect electrical outages before being notified by the customer, and to respond and repair these outages more quickly and effectively than in the past.
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The information will also allow automated meter reading, and the ability to start and stop services remotely, which will lower KUB’s costs and result in increased convenience for our customers. Finally, it will allow customers to view their utility usage on a daily basis, and give them the ability to make changes to control their consumption and save money. Today, advanced meter technology is commonplace. At the end of 2015, over 65 million of these meters had been installed across the United States, and over 43 percent of U.S. households currently have one or more of these devices. After completing a successful pilot program in the Fort Sanders area in 2014 and years of research and planning, KUB made the decision to expand the program to install new advanced meters system wide through a four-year project to replace 400,000 electric, natural gas, and water meters starting this summer. KUB understands that some customers may not want to have an advanced meter. For that reason, we stated at the time of the Grid Modernization announcement in March 2016 that customers may opt out of the process. Since manufacturers are phasing out their production of old-fashioned analog meters, customers who choose to opt out must still have their old meters removed and replaced with a new digital meter. However, for opt-out customers, these digital meters will not contain the communication device that makes them an advanced meter. In the May 26, 2016, issue of Knoxville Mercury, a guest editorial raised questions about the safety of
advanced meters. KUB’s research of Grid Modernization technology included reviews of studies that had been performed on the safety of this technology, including the potential health effect of electromagnetic fields (EMF) and radio frequency (RF) found in the wireless networks of “smart grids.” A vast majority of independent studies have concluded that there are no known health effects related to the low levels of RF emissions associated with advanced meters. Based on these studies, we believe that this technology is safe and adds a number of benefits to KUB and to our customers. A complete report of KUB’s views on the health effects of Grid Modernization technology can be found at our website at kub.org. KUB focused on studies in which the researchers could not be perceived of having a bias for or against various types of Grid Modernization technology. For that reason, KUB relied on studies from highly-respected organizations that were neutral on the issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) studies were especially valued due to the balanced approach they employed. The WHO has conducted a number of studies on EMF and RF through the years. The one most applicable to Grid Modernization technology is titled “Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health: Base Stations and Wireless Technologies” and a four-page summary of this study can be found online at who.int. Quoting directly from this report: “From all evidence accumulated so far, no adverse short- or long-term health effects have been shown to occur from the RF signals produced by base stations. Since wireless networks produce generally lower RF signals than base stations, no adverse health effects are expected from them. “Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.” More recently, the WHO completed its mobile phone study in 2013 and published a summary of its findings in October 2014. That summary can also be found at who.int. Some have attempted to link the WHO Mobile Phone study to the issue of smart meters, claiming that smart
meters have the same level of risks to users as mobile phones. In a recent report, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) attempted to add some perspective to the issue. Their report can be found at edf.org. Quoting directly from the EDF report: “The WHO report did not explicitly address smart meters; it and the other commonly cited studies focused on cell phones, power transmission lines, microwave ovens, and other emitters of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) at various radio frequencies, including extremely low frequencies (ELFs). “Given that smart meters are also RF emitters, some have worried that if cell phones might pose a health risk, smart meters might do so as well. As with cell phones, a person’s exposure depends on the signal strength and distance: a report published by the California Council of Science and Technology (CCST) in 2010 included findings from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) that a person 10 feet from a smart meter would experience only a small fraction of the RF exposure—250 to 1,250 times less—than they would be exposed to using a cell phone. So whether or not future studies find the RFs present more health effects, smart meters make up a very small part of a person’s daily exposure.” The technologies associated with Grid Modernization and advanced meters have been studied extensively over the past several years. Of all the studies conducted by the WHO and its agencies, only one has shown a possible link between RF emissions and human health, and that study was limited to mobile phone usage. As the Environmental Defense Fund points out, there is a significant difference in potential exposure from a mobile phone placed in direct contact with the head and an advanced meter that is placed outside the home. KUB is supportive of continuing research into this field of study. Based on the results to date, however, KUB is comfortable with the opinion of most researchers that advanced meters and Grid Modernization technologies are safe for its customers. We see Grid Modernization as an important element of KUB’s commitment to provide reliable utility service to our customers, now and into the future. ◆ Eddie Black is KUB Senior Vice President and the executive sponsor of KUB’s Grid Modernization program.
2016 FUND DRIVE
PRESS FORWARD THANK YOU for supporting Knoxville’s best alternative to corporate news media and keeping our city moving forward. We are ecstatic to report that our spring fund drive met its goal! Between public donations via gofundme, private donations, and new ad sales, we’ve collected the capital we need to begin implementing growth plans. In the coming weeks, expect to see big announcements from us about increasing our distribution, expanding our sales team, hiring a development director, and launching new weekly features to better serve our readers. Thank you one and all!
<< TO DISTRIBUTION TO EDITORIAL >>
<< TO SALES TO DESIGN >> March 12, 2015
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 13
Members of the Sierra Club and Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) hold a rally at the East Tennessee History Center duringa public forum on federal coal mining leases.
Photos by Clay Duda
Digging Deep The Interior Department’s day-long forum on federal coal leases brought out criticism and emotion BY S. HEATHER DUNCAN
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he red velvet chairs under the glowing dome of the Tennessee Theater seemed an odd setting for a day-long hearing about what the U.S. government should do with its underground coal. But more than 60 people stepped to the front of the dimly-lit, filigreed auditorium on May 26 to tell what were often strikingly personal stories as they made their cases. The speakers were the sons and grandsons of coal miners, sharecroppers, farmers, root-gatherers. They were doctors, engineers, children with asthma. And they were almost all united in their plea for the government to stop allowing mining of taxpayer-owned coal, or in wanting the government to charge mining companies much more for the privilege. Retired nurse Richard Hennigan of Sevier County is the son and grandson of coal miners. “We need to celebrate the culture, the music, and the family history,” he said. “But coal has no place in our world any more.” Will Wilson took a day off work to speak about growing up in Scott County, one of the poorest and most heavily mined counties in Tennessee,
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“Where there were strip pits like moonscapes,” he said. “Twenty-five years later, it’s still there. It’s not reclaimed.” Vicki Terry of Clairfield fought back tears as she described the destruction of the ridge across from her home and her fears that the resulting air and water contamination is what’s causing her grandchildren to lose their gall bladders. Most of these speakers had experiences with coal mined on private land, although there are some federal leases in Alabama and Kentucky. The number of “active leases” in the East dropped from 27 to nine between 1990 and 2014, according to Bureau of Land Management data. But folks from East Tennessee, Kentucky, and Southwest Virginia emphasized that even if federally-owned coal is mostly mined in the west, it produces 43.5 percent of the coal mined in America—large amounts of which are burned in the South, where its effects on climate change are also felt. Halfway through the day, about 50 people affiliated with groups like
the Sierra Club and Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) held a rally across the street at the East Tennessee History Center. Jonathan Levenshus, a Knoxville-based representative for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign, told the crowd, “This is a great show of force. The Interior Department is blown away. They weren’t expecting this in Knoxville.” The hearing was one of six being held by the department, which is taking three years (starting in January) to reexamine its coal leasing
policies for the first time since the Reagan Administration. Mining companies pay for access to coal beneath national forests and other federal lands, with 570 million acres’ worth up for grabs. The process begins with creating a “Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement” to look at issues like how, when, and where to lease coal mining rights on federal land; whether taxpayers are receiving a fair deal for the leases; how to account for the environmental and public health impacts of federal coal production; what impact the federal coal program has on the development of cleaner energy sectors like wind and solar; and how changing the program would affect electricity costs. Knoxville’s hearing drew about 100 people, and less than 10 of the roughly 60 speakers spoke on behalf of mining interests. Among them were the representatives of two U.S. Congressmen, including Rep. Phil Roe of Johnson City, who argued that the leasing rules are working fine as they are. Dr. Mary Headrick of Union County later took a moment to criticize Roe, also a doctor, for denying that coal is a health hazard. “Is any job worth the illness and slow death of our children?” she asked. Dan Roling, CEO & CFO at Lancaster Energy Partners in Knoxville, said the hearing had focused too much on the environment over the economy, and argued coal companies should actually be paying less for government coal. He also took issue with commenters accusing the
“This is a great show of force. The Interior Department is blown away. They weren’t expecting this in Knoxville.” —JONATHAN LEVENSHUS, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign
government of subsidizing coal. As someone who works with both coal and renewable energy, he said renewable energy receives far more subsidies. Two previous hearings held in Wyoming and Utah were dominated by hundreds of coal industry supporters and workers. That’s because the region that produces the most coal from federal leases is the Powder River Basin, in Wyoming and Montana. Its surface coal is cheap to mine and produces less pollutants when burned. Power companies across the South, including the Tennessee Valley Authority, have come to rely heavily on Powder River Basin coal. According to the Sierra Club, 60 percent of the coal burned at the Kingston Plant near Knoxville comes from the basin. Some federal lands aren’t eligible for coal leases, including national parks, national wildlife refuges, federally-designated wilderness areas, and military installations. That kept the Great Smoky Mountains National Park free from mining even when Appalachia was a major coal center. However, Don Barger, Southeast senior regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association, points out that the air pollution generated by burning coal still affects parks. Visibility at GSMNP has increased from just 20 miles to 46 miles since the association won a lawsuit that led to tighter restrictions on coal-fired power plants, he says, but natural visibility is estimated at 112 miles. Criticism of the existing lease system has also come from the Government Accountability Office and the Interior Department’s Inspector General. Generally it focuses on two main issues: Adequate compensation to taxpayers for the use of the coal resource, and the climate change impacts of providing cheap coal to mining companies. Mining companies pay a bonus when they receive a lease, plus an annual rental payment and royalties on the coal removed. An analysis by the nonprofit Taxpayers for Common Sense found that mining companies frequently get waivers to pay far less than the 12.5 percent royalty required in the Mineral Leasing Act. The GAO found that the Bureau of Land Management was inconsistent in its methods for setting fair market value for the coal and might be underselling it.
A man listens to testimony from audience members during a hearing on federal coal leases at the Tennessee Theatre.
“This program is effectively a giveaway of my money, not to miners but to coal executives.” —WILL WILSON
“I’m concerned my coal rights are routinely sold for less than a cup of coffee,” Jack Pratt Jr. told government representatives Thursday. A recent New York University Institute for Policy Integrity report indicated that the minimum bid for a coal lease has remained at $100 per acre since 1982, an amount that should have risen to at least $247 an acre based on inflation. That means the coal is sometimes sold for $1 a ton, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell acknowledges. “This program is effectively a giveaway of my money, not to miners but to coal executives,” Wilson told government officials at the hearing. “They get to mine and declare bankruptcy, and leave miners without pensions and benefits.” A March Greenpeace report found that the three biggest coal companies in the U.S. get most of their coal from federal leases. The top two, Peabody Energy (which mines 68 percent, or 130 million tons, of its coal from federal leases) and Arch Coal
(which gets 83 percent, or 110 million tons, from federal leases) nevertheless declared bankruptcy earlier this year. This may end up leaving the feds with another financial burden, because some coal companies have been allowed to “self-insure” instead of putting up a financial bond to cover the costs of cleaning up and closing mines. Many at the hearing urged strict bonding rules, even arguing mining company CEOs and CFOs should be held legally liable. The second (and at the hearing, dominant) major criticism is that current policy makes it cheaper to continue spewing out climate-changing greenhouse gases. According to a study released in March by the nonprofits Center for American Progress and the Wilderness Society, taxpayer-owned gas, oil, and coal extracted from federal lands and waters creates more than one-fifth of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Greenpeace calculated that the federal coal removed by the three largest mining companies caused
$18.8 billion in damages when burned, using the federal government’s mid-range “social cost of carbon.” This is an actual price set on paying to cope with effects of climate change like storm recovery and crop loss. Currently, it’s median rate is $36 per metric ton of carbon dioxide. Activists claim the social costs are not spread evenly among Americans. Adam Hughes with SOCM talked about the ways the Kingston coal ash spill harmed two rural communities, Kingston and Uniontown, Ala., where the ash from the TVA spill was shipped to a landfill in a rural black residential area. “Black lives matter,” he emphasized. Many environmental advocates also talked about the social costs to miners themselves. “It’s not your fault,” said Amy Kelly with Appalachian Voices. She got choked up recounting her experience growing up with asthma worsened by the factory where her father worked. “You are supporting your family. What we need is for our government to invest in sustainable jobs you can be proud of, and still make the money you do now.” Jim Scheff, director of the forest protection nonprofit Kentucky Heartwood, criticized the Bureau of Land Management for granting leases without taking into account the safety record of applicants. He said Bledsoe Coal was granted a federal coal lease in Kentucky after the Mine Safety and Health Administration found such egregious safety violations (resulting in 10 injuries and a death) that it temporarily shut the mine down. The Bureau of Land Management indicated these behaviors were “outside the scope of relevant issues” it considers, according to Scheff. He told federal officials Thursday, “Coal companies that flaunt mine safety laws and put miners at risk should not be rewarded with a federal coal lease.” Comments from the hearings and those submitted in writing will be put together into a scoping report, which will likely be released in fall. ◆ Comments may be mailed to Coal Programmatic EIS Scoping, Bureau of Land Management, 20 M St. SE., Room 2134LM, Washington, D.C., 20003 or by email (preferred) at BLM_WO_Coal_Program_PEIS_Comments@blm.gov. June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 15
Knoxville is a battleground against opiate addiction. As the death toll climbs, is there hope in sight? | BY CLAY DUDA
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Photos by Clay Duda
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he back seat of James Gilman’s* car is filled with stolen meat, about $150 worth of prime-cut beef, as he whips his silver Chrysler into the side yard of a nondescript house in Mechanicsville, slams it into park, and jumps out the driver’s side door. “This is my meat guy. Then I got a guy I sell tools to. I got a guy for everything,” he says, scooping up packs of steak and heading for the front door. He means he knows people that will pay him—in either drugs or cash—for just about anything he brings them, regardless of how he acquires it. He hates thieving, he says, but he just got fired from a gig doing maintenance work, and even when he was pulling a $600 paycheck weekly it was hard to keep pace with the drug habit that’s been running his life. For Gilman, that mostly means shooting heroin, or at times prescription painkillers, though the pills tend to cost more and wear off sooner, he says. Today he’s landed a 30 milligram “Roxy,” or Roxicodone, a narcotic pain pill that Meat Man offered in lieu of cash (he also got $30 and a bag of clean syringes out of the deal, about half of what the meat would sell for in store). Gilman pulls his car behind a mostly boarded-up house nearby, drops the pill in the fold of a $10 bill, and uses a lighter to crush it against the dash. He dumps the powdery substance into a bottle cap filled with water and draws the greenish liquid into a syringe. “This probably won’t even get me high,” he says. “It’ll just make me feel better.” It only takes a few seconds for the drug to kick in. He’s not high, but says he feels less agitated, noticeably calmer. The cold sweats, jitters, and other symptoms of withdrawal ease as he leans back in the seat of his car. Gilman, now 28, has been using opiates since he was 13 years old, then an eighth grader in Massachusetts public school. He first tried it to fit in, at the advice of a friend, and didn’t think much of it. But since then it’s been a near constant in his life—and his foray into drug culture hasn’t been limited to heroin. Today he says he feels like smoking crack, in part because he owes “Dope Man,” his heroin dealer, $40 and only has $15 left in pocket. He’s only been clean during stints in jail, but recently he made it nearly a year sober on his
own after going through a Johnson City recovery program. He relapsed in March following a major surgery. He was given morphine and later prescribed Percocet, an opiate-based pill, to help manage the pain. “When they hit me with that morphine I just started crying because I knew what it would lead to,” he says. “I balled my eyes out to all the nurses. They just released a beast.” Relatively clean-cut, Gilman is a high school graduate from a stable, working-class family. His parents, who live in South Carolina, just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. He keeps his hair cropped short, today wearing a pair of brown shorts and a gray T-shirt that are fresh and unstained. Aside from small bags under his eyes (and a laser focus on finding his next fix), you might never suspect the life Gilman is leading. His story is unique and personal, but it’s not unlike the challenges and spiraling life choices faced by thousands of others in East Tennessee (and tens of thousands more around the country) since prescription opiates, and more recently heroin, have become widely available. It’s been a trend well documented over the past decade, as the human toll has slowly crept up and the scourge of drug addiction has touched more and more families. There are a number of contributing factors that has led to an explosion of opiate use in Knox County and across the nation in recent years. A majority of people that end up on heroin start by using opiate-based prescription pills, state health officials say, and nationally Tennessee has been among the top states for the number of opiates prescribed. Within the state, a larger percentage of people died from opiate-induced overdoses in Knox County in 2014 than any other metropolitan county in Tennessee, the most recent data shows. Opiates, or opioids, are blanket terms covering a wide variety of drugs, both legal and illegal, derived from opium, which comes from the poppy plant. They include prescription pills like Percocet, oxycodone, and fentanyl, and also heroin. Opiates work by attaching to specific proteins found in the brain and elsewhere in the body called opioid receptors, which reduces a person’s perception of pain and can trigger a sense of euphoria. At least for a while. They are also potentially addictive, and people that take
increased amounts or ingest them in ways not prescribed (such as snorting or injecting them) run an increased risk of overdose or other medical complications, various studies show. Since 2011, state legislators have been making policy changes aimed at stemming the flow of prescription painkillers from pharmacy to street, trying to strike a balance between cutting abuse while not blocking medications for legitimate patients. Some experts say cutting off pill pipelines will lead more people to turn to heroin, at least in the short term, and some trend data shows that holds true. But the outstanding question is whether these policy changes, coupled with treatment options and the criminal justice system, will be enough to turn the rising tide of opiate use and addiction in some of the state’s hardest hit communities, like Knoxville. Gilman came to East Tennessee in 2013 to get clean, but ended up stealing to fund his drug habit. He eventually landed in jail on 16 felony theft counts, pleaded guilty to two of those in court, and spent most all of 2014 behind bars. Now, he expects to celebrate his 29th birthday in jail. Or perhaps he’ll hit the road and head out west to visit some friends on the California coast. Or maybe he’ll get back in rehab—he knows a place he could get in today, if he wants. But today he can’t bring himself to face
“ THIS PROBABLY WON’T EVEN GET ME HIGH. IT’LL JUST MAKE ME FEEL BETTER.” —JAMES GILMAN*
* JAMES GILMAN IS AN ALIAS. SOME DETAILS HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT HIS IDENTITY. June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 17
E.M. Jellinek Center in North Knoxville has a waiting list of about eight months for a bed in one of its halfway houses.
“ IT’S A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. IT’S A HEALTH EMERGENCY. WE HAVE MORE ADDICTS TODAY THAN I HAVE EVER SEEN.” —KNOXVILLE POLICE CHIEF DAVID RAUSCH
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those demons, not again, at least not yet. His options are wide open, really, but the sirens’ call of the needle keeps dragging him back into a vicious circle of addiction day after day, heist after heist, hit after hit. He’s stuck in purgatory, though he may call it hell, looking for a way out but unwilling, or unable, to take the first step.
“IT’S NO SECRET”
Knoxville police in recent years have seen more heroin of higher potency finding its way into town, usually shipped in from Detroit or Atlanta, according to KPD Chief David Rausch. “It’s no secret. It’s here,” says Rausch, who also serves on the board of Knoxville’s Metropolitan Drug Commission, a nonprofit dedicated to drug abuse prevention, training, and awareness. “It’s a medical emergency. It’s a health emergency. We have more addicts today than I have ever seen [working with the Knoxville Police Department since 1993], and it’s cross-cultural and cross-economics. It used to be that there was a certain segment of society that delved into the drug world, but now that it’s being prescribed it cuts across everywhere. And that’s what’s caused the large number of addicts we have.” Over the past five years KPD has seen the number of incidents involving heroin increase more than 1,600 percent, department data shows. In 2011 it recorded just four run-ins with the drug, in 2015 there were 69. (It’s impossible to track data for opiate-based pills over the same time period because of the way the department classifies less common drugs, lumping them in with
“other narcotics.”) There are plenty of parallels between the proliferation of opiate prescriptions and the rise of heroin as a drug of choice, but it’s tough to say conclusively what is driving the surge, or why Knoxville in particular has been so hard hit. Some officials say it may be our nexus with major interstates like I-40 and I-75 and our position as a gateway to Southern Appalachia, a region that has grappled with substance abuse and poverty for generations. The New York Times surmised that Appalachia tends to have more blue-collar workers, a group that statistically is more likely to be injured on the job and prescribed some sort of opiate painkiller. The circumstances that lead each individual person to the drug are uniquely personal, though state health officials say that about 75 percent of heroin users got a start with prescription pills. In 2014 Tennessee ranked second in the nation in the number of prescriptions issued per capita, and third in opiate prescriptions. Only Alabama and West Virginia saw more opiates prescribed per person that year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures. “This rise has been an evolution over the past 25-30 years. People did various small studies and came out with wrong conclusions,” explains Mitch Mutter, medical director of special projects for the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH). “One was that opiate painkillers will relieve your pain, and another was that you can’t get addicted to them. We know today that you can’t relieve pain with them, you can only improve function, and you can get addicted.” In the mid-1990s the number of opiates being prescribed began to rise. The American Pain Society, a professional organization focused on efforts to “reduce pain-related issues,” started campaigning in 1995 to encourage doctors to treat pain as the “fifth vital sign,” contributing to a shift in professional culture. The following year Purdue Pharma went on a marketing blitz after the Federal Drug Administration’s approval of its new pill, Oxycontin. Purdue spent $207 million on its launch and doubled its national sales force. By 2010 it was pulling in profits of $3 billion annual-
ly, court records cited by the Los Angeles Times show. In 2001 Tennessee legislators passed the Intractable Pain Act, a law requiring doctors to either prescribe opiates for pain or provide patients with a list of places they could get the drugs, including pain clinics. When it was repealed in 2015, Sen. Janice Browling, R-Tullahoma, said the original bill had been “well-intentioned,” but was largely “based on intentional misinformation” provided by Purdue Pharma at the time. Its effects linger. A total of 1,263 Tennesseans died from an opiate-induced overdose in 2014, according to TDH figures. Of those, 133 were in Knox County, a rate of 29.6 overdoses per 100,000 people. Comparatively, it claimed 129 lives in Davidson County (19.3 per 100,000 residents) and 148 in Shelby County (15.8 per 100,000 residents), two metropolitan counties with significantly higher populations. It is impossible to calculate the per-capita overdose rate for every Tennessee county because the health department does not make data available for counties with fewer than 12 overdose deaths, citing privacy concerns. Statistics for 2015 are not yet available. That same year, in 2014, opioids killed more than 29,400 people nationally, of which some 18,890 were attributed to prescription pills. Drug overdoses now kill more people than automobile crashes, making it the leading cause of accidental death in the nation, according to the CDC. The agency now ranks it among the top five health challenges facing the U.S. Similarly, the percent of people being admitted to publicly-funded recovery programs for opiate addiction has continued to climb, and Tennessee has outpaced the national average, according to a report by the state’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. In 2014 more than half of people in Tennessee entering those programs were seeking treatment for opiate addiction. Yet some indicators show things may be on the upswing. Although deaths and arrests have continued to climb in recent years, the number of pain management clinics operating in Knox County has declined some since 2011. At its peak there were 39 pain clinics operating in the county; in 2015 that was down to 34. “We’ve seen the number of pills out on the streets go down, which is
great, but we’re still seeing too many,” says Knox County Health Director Martha Buchanan. “I really think we’ll see the number of pain clinics in Knox County continue to go down over the next year as some of those clinics close because they don’t meet the new requirements [taking effect in July]. That could create some new challenges because then you have these people who won’t have a supply and may be going out on the streets to get that.” The Prescription Safety Act of 2012 marked the first major shift. The state bill requires doctors to start referencing and updating the Controlled Substance Monitoring Database (CSMD), a statewide system that tracks each patient’s prescription history, in an effort to crack down on people “doctor shopping.” In 2011 doctors prescribing opiates were mandated to register with the state for the first time. Tennessee lawmakers continued to clamp down in 2013 by restricting pain clinics from dispensing medicine directly and limiting pharmacies to filling a maximum 30-day supply at a time, among other things. After the newest round of regulations take effect this July, medical directors for pain clinics will be required to be certified through the American Board of Medical Specialists or the American Osteopathic Association. Some studies and figures show the approach is starting to have an impact. A March report from ShatterProof, an organization dedicated to addressing addiction nationally, commended Tennessee’s progress. From 2012-2014 the number of opiate painkillers being prescribed decreased about 7 percent, and the number of patients “doctor shopping” dropped by 36 percent, according to the report. Researchers equate a 1 percent reduction in opioids prescribed with a projected 1-1.2 percent drop in future overdose deaths. Those early results may be promising, though many experts, law enforcement, and service providers say more needs to be done to fully address the issue. But often there are gaps in services or waiting periods for people seeking help.
“MY PARENTS PRAYED ME INTO JAIL”
Tiffany Lambert knows the impacts drugs and addiction can have on life and family. She saw her marriage fail (though not entirely due to drugs, she
Friends Tiffany Lambert, at right, and Stephanie Holmes have know each other since they were teenagers, but recently reunited while enrolled in Knox County Recovery Court. Holmes graduated from the drug treament program in May. Lambert hopes to graduate within a year. says), lost custody of her four kids, and ended up in jail on drug charges, and then later on probation warrants and additional drug charges—twists she says have helped turn her life around, though it’s an ongoing struggle. Lambert is eight months into Knox County Recovery Court, a supervision and treatment program commonly referred to as drug court, and she’s about seven months sober. If she keeps it up, stays clean, and keeps progressing through the program, she could be back out on her own two feet by year’s end, though she’s not trying to rush it. She knows that once the support system is gone, it will be up to her to maintain and rebuild what she’s lost. At 34, she’s excited to have just landed a job at Wendy’s, though a decade ago, if you were to ask her, she would have never imagined herself battling drug addiction, being caught up in the justice system, or working a minimum-wage job. She “grew up in church” with loving, supportive parents, and she held a good job at a bank before a medical condition at 26 started her down this unlikely path. She was prescribed Percocet to help manage pain associated with a bladder disorder and fibromyalgia, she says. From there things slowly began to unravel, though it took years on a downward trajectory before hitting bottom. “I say that my parents prayed me into jail, and God led me to recovery,” she says. “I could have done my prison time, but at the end of the day, if I don’t have recovery in my life I knew it wouldn’t matter.” Originally, her doctor prescribed her pain medication for about four months before referring her to a pain clinic, where practitioners are more skilled in long-term pain management techniques. But Lambert balked, saying she didn’t want to get hooked like so many others she knew. It turned out to be too late. Within a few days she started feeling sick and got the shakes. She was going through withdrawals. Feeling as though she had no other options, she started asking around, looking for a fix. “It went from one pill every couple of days, to one pill a day, to
several pills a day. Over the course of a year it just got worse and worse, until I finally told my dad that I’ve got a problem and need help,” she says. That was in 2009, though it would take several stints in rehab and, ultimately, enrolling in drug court (she was facing a potential prison sentence if not accepted) before she could truly start getting her addiction in check. She was eventually prescribed Suboxone, a semi-synthetic opioid derivative used to treat addiction, which she often used or traded for other drugs, including crack cocaine. It got that bad. She knows staying sober is going to take an ongoing effort, a never-ending commitment. It’s a daily struggle, but she says she’s optimistic, driven by the prospect that one day she may regain custody of her kids. Recovery Court in Knox County is strict, strenuous, and—for some—a daunting if not impossible feat. But Lambert knows it can be done, even if the overall odds may be against her. Her childhood friend, Stephanie Holmes, graduated from the program just last week after nearly two years of jail, halfway houses, 6 p.m. curfews, treatment programs, group meetings, weekly checks with the judge, countless drug tests, and other requirements. Drug court at the moment has a big enough staff to supervise up to 90 people at a time, with programs averaging 12-18 months, depending on the person and the progress he or she makes. Over the 16 years, since it was founded in 1999, about 150 people have successfully graduated from its ranks.
“ I COULD HAVE DONE MY PRISON TIME, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF I DON’T HAVE RECOVERY IN MY LIFE I KNEW IT WOULDN’T MATTER.” —TIFFANY LAMBERT, PARTICIPANT IN KNOX COUNTY RECOVERY COURT
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“It is effective. It reduces rearrest rates, and that’s mainly what we’re trying to get at with this,” explains Ron Hanaver, director of Knox County Recovery Court. “If we can halt that cycle, get some of these people back to being productive, law-abiding citizens, then we’ll really start seeing an impact.” There are several basic steps to recovery, though exact plans are usually catered to the individual. Generally, if someone has a physical addiction to opiates (or other drug) they first go through detox, the process of weaning off a substance and getting clean, which is usually medically supervised at a hospital or other facility. Then could come inpatient treatment, depending on the severity of a person’s addiction. Those usually average 21-28 days. The next step could be intensive outpatient treatment, which could involve living in a halfway house as the person continues attending meetings, counseling sessions, or other support services. Even after that, some people continue in transitional housing as they work to get their life back on track and eventually find a place to live on their own. It all takes time, but research shows treating addiction can be more cost-effective and produces better overall outcomes than just locking someone up in jail or leaving those issues untreated, according to a 2004 report from the Justice Policy Institute and other studies. As the number of people seeking help for opiate addictions have continued to climb, it has outstripped the capacity for many treatment programs, including drug court. That program is available for some caught in the justice system, if they meet specific requirements, but it faces many of the same challenges as many other recovery programs. A major issue is capacity, and that’s tied to funding. There’s far more demand than there is supply for drug treatment programs and halfway houses. At times, drug court participants have been forced to stay in homeless shelters while waiting for a bed at a halfway house. Lambert is fortunate to have stable parents and a supportive home environment, which allows her the unusual arrangement of being able to live with her folks while going through the program. Knox County is also looking at opening a “safety center,” or diversion center, a facility with a small number of 20
KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
“IF WE CAN HALT THAT CYCLE, GET SOME OF THESE PEOPLE BACK TO BEING PRODUCTIVE, LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS, THEN WE’LL REALLY START SEEING AN IMPACT.” —RON HANAVER, DIRECTOR OF KNOX COUNTY RECOVERY COURT
beds to accommodate and offer services to current county jail inmates with substance abuse or mental health issues. Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones has estimated about 25 percent of people currently in the county clink meets those criteria. The county has committed $1 million to opening that facility in the past, and Knoxville city officials have also said they support the idea. The county has earmarked $200,000 in next year’s budget to fund such a center, if it were to open, and Knoxville City Council recently gave initial approval to chipping in the same amount. It is set to make a final decision on June 7. Overall plans for the center are still in the works, and exact construction costs are unknown, but Jones has said he hopes to see it open before his term as sheriff ends in 2018. There are a number of private treatment facilities in East Tennessee and elsewhere that may have immediate openings, but they can also come with a hefty price tag. Publicly-funded programs, or those that don’t require insurance or a large lump-sum to get in, can have lengthy waits. “We definitely have a lot more people trying to get into the program than we have space for,” says Hilde Phipps, director of adult addiction services at the Helen Ross McNabb Center (HRM), a nonprofit that offers substance abuse, mental health, and social services in 20 East Tennessee counties, including Knox. HRM has a total of 15 detox beds, eight of which are “crisis detox beds” for circumstances that require immediate action. The other seven beds have a waiting list of more than 1,000 people vying for a spot.
Similarly, there are about 200 people waiting for one of 19 inpatient beds in its residential treatment program. It currently takes about eight months to get a bed in one of the halfway houses run by the E.M. Jellinek Center in North Knoxville. The nonprofit tries to get people immediately into one of 12 slots in its recovery program, a treatment that generally runs 21-28 days and costs $3,000, according to assistant director Sandy Kolinsky. “A lot of these people don’t have insurance, so they’re really between a rock and a hard place,” she says. At the end of the day, though, the road to recovery rests on the will and actions of the person taking that journey, something Lambert says she has come to realize as she’s started down that path. She has been through recovery before and relapsed, but she sees hope in her future. “Addiction is a disease. It can be put into remission, but it never goes away,” Lambert says. “I was obsessed with the thought of using, but I turned my life over to God.”
“I REALLY HATE THIS GUY”
James Gilman shows back up in the late afternoon with $60 in cash. Earlier he set out for an unnamed suburb with a bold plan to heist a trunk full of power tools, but he changed course after growing paranoid that store employees were on to him. Maybe they were. This wasn’t his first rodeo. This is just another Thursday. So he cleaned out the meat section of a grocery store
instead, this time going for racks of ribs he knew Meat Man would be happy to pay cash for. He pushes on the gas as he merges onto I-40 West, eager to make good time to Morrell Road where he’ll call Dope Man and wait for further instructions on where to meet. It’s always in public, but sometimes involves a game of hopscotch: parking, waiting, getting a call, moving to a new location, parking again, waiting longer. This time it takes about 45 minutes and three parking lots. Gilman is anything but patient. He’s itching for the drug. He fidgets in the driver’s seat as he voices suspicion that the reporter riding shotgun may, in fact, be a KPD informant. A tidal wave of gray storm clouds start to roll in overhead as he sits and waits, a foreboding addition to this tumultuous day. It’s not even 4 p.m., a time when most people are still stuck at work daydreaming about life after hours. For Gilman, what happens after this doesn’t really matter, he says. His only goal is to connect, inject, and release. “I really hate this guy. I give him nearly every dollar that I make, and some that I don’t make,” he says waiting for Dope Man to pull up. “You know what I should have done? I should have told him it wasn’t for me. He usually hooks it up if you introduce someone new to it.” Finally he has it. That $60 only amounts to a $20 bag, about .12 grams, he figures, because he owed Dope Man the other $40. (He says he was “dope sick” a few nights before, out of cash, when the dealer fronted him a bag, putting him in debt. “He knew I was good for it,” he says.) Before the drug dealer’s car is even out of the parking lot, Gilman dumps the powder in a bottle cap and begins to rig up. He’s parked in front of a pizza shop in a tiny strip mall. When he was waiting on the dealer he seemed to be suspicious of everything, keeping a keen eye on his surroundings. But now, drug in hand, his focus shifts solely to satisfying the craving that has been gnawing at him all day. It’s the same craving that has put him at odds with family, led him to steal from friends and girlfriends, landed him in jail, and nearly cost him his life. It may still. None of that matters though, at least not here, not now. Gilman pokes the needle into his forearm, draws a small amount of blood into the syringe to make sure he’s in a vein, and pushes down on the plunger. ◆
Award-Winning Journalism for Knoxville Mercury Wins Golden Press Card Awards
In our first time entering the Golden Press Card Awards, presented by the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists, the Knoxville Mercury scored 13 wins— competing against the largest daily newspapers in East Tennessee. Beyond our three Awards of Excellence, we took prizes in general reporting, illustration, editorial writing, sports reporting, columns, and photography. 1ST PLACE: AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING “Checks and Balances” by S. Heather Duncan
FEATURE WRITING “Hemp Pioneers” by Clay Duda
PAGE DESIGN Knoxville Mercury Covers by Tricia Bateman
JOURNALISM ISN’T EASY. AND IT ISN’T FREE. Although we don’t charge for our content, it costs money to produce. So if you’ve ever thought, “I’d pay for this!” then now is the time to do just that. Please contribute at GoFundMe.com/PressForward2016
June 2, 2016
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Knoxville’s Morning Nerd Damian Messer becomes the Marble City Radio Company’s first “Host Emeritus”
Photo by Dasha Tammark
I
f you ever turned on the radio during your morning drive in the past year and wondered who had the pure, unmitigated balls to play “Star Wars Party” by Meco—a song that was not even on the original 1977 hit LP Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk—the answer is Damian Messer. Such programming chutzpah is actually quite rare in the supposedly “zany” world of morning radio shows, so the news that Messer’s last day as regular host of the Marble City Radio Company on WUTK 90.3 FM was Tuesday is bittersweet. While Messer has successfully graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in journalism and electronic media, it also means that a singular voice will be (mostly) leaving Knoxville’s radio waves—he says his new title will be “Host Emeritus” (and “Executive Producer, Twenty-Year Planning”) as he turns over the full-time reins to Barbara Gibson, Josh Cunningham, and producer Clay McCammon. [Full disclosure: Every Thursday at 7:45 a.m., the MCRC hosts interview me about the
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Inside the Vault: Rare 45s
KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
Knoxville Mercury’s new edition.] “My guiding principle for the show was to create a parody of a traditional morning zoo,” Messer says in an email interview. “I wanted the show to do for WUTK that which a morning drive-time show ought: get people to listen every day, and get people to stick around and listen to the station all morning.” Since launching on Sept. 1, 2014, MCRC has achieved that feat through Messer’s unique knowledge and appreciation for arcane pop-culture factoids, often expressed through his banter with co-hosts such as Matt Moon, on-air call-in quizzes, and an unpredictable playlist. A single show’s musical offerings can range from “Holy Wars … the Punishment Due” by Megadeth to a “Sweet Home Alabama” cover by the Moog Cookbook and then on to “The Minotaur’s Song” by the Incredible String Band. Truly, listeners cannot possibly know what’s coming next. So how did he come to store so much of what some would dare call useless information? “I know stuff. It’s a thing. Hard to explain to a normal,” Messer says. “I played a lot of Nerd Bowl in my life: aka Scholars’ Bowl, College Bowl, Academic Buzzer Bowl. It informs everything I do. But the research for the music has become so much the reason why I do this. Much like my straight job [at the Disc Exchange], I came into this thinking that I know things. I no longer think that is true. I have spent a year and nine months teaching myself everything I could about music.” When pressed, Messer will also
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Music: Scroll Downers
reveal that he has a shady background reading tarot cards on Jackson Square in New Orleans, not to mention participating in Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow casts. “Mostly I have a background in waiting tables,” he adds. “This has made me the ultimate party host, and I run the best dinner party in Knoxville, five days a week. But it’s the morning. And there’s nothing to eat or drink.” McCammon aims to continue that party atmosphere as the show’s producer (“I love the format of it already and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he says), and says Messer was an inspiring figure for him from the beginning. “When I first started on the show, I was terrified of everyone. Damian was so cool,” he says. “If I had to draw a comparison, I would say that Damian was Rizzo and everyone else was the other Pink Ladies. My being the new kid made me Sandra Dee. Pre-makeover. And without the potential to be a blonde bombshell.” McCammon says he’s learned much from Messer’s particular approach to broadcasting as well as WUTK’s student laboratory setting, where it is “okay to make mistakes.” “The number of times I have hit the wrong button thus making the song and the station ID play at the same time is more than I care to admit,” he admits. “But every time, Damian just laughs. Not in a mean way, but in a manner that lets you know that it isn’t a big deal. And when he laughs, you don’t have time to beat yourself up because you usually start laughing too. And, just like the end of every camp orientation, he taught me that the most important rule is to have fun. If you are stiff and trying to be perfect on air, no one will listen. If you are having fun, the audience will too. “We often joke about how few people are listening but that doesn’t bother us. We dance like no one is watching. And we wouldn’t be dancing without our choreographer, Damian Messer.” —Coury Turczyn
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Photo by David Bickley
A&E
P rogram Notes
New Direction KSO NAMES ARAM DEMIRJIAN NEW MUSIC DIRECTOR The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra picked youth over just about everything else earlier this week when Aram Demirjian was named as KSO’s music director, ending a year-long search that began with the resignation of Lucas Richman at the end of the 2014-15 season. Demirjian, 29, grew up in Boston and studied at the New England Conservatory there; he has spent the last four years as associate conductor of the Kansas City Symphony. “Orchestra music is about community, it’s about unity, and communication, it’s about many, many people all working extremely hard together as individuals to create something harmonious,” Demirjian said during a press conference for the announcement at the Tennessee Theatre on Tuesday afternoon. Demirjian was one of nine finalists for the job. He served as guest conductor at KSO’s January Masterworks Series concerts, leading the orchestra through a program he selected himself—works by John Adams, György Ligeti, and Max Bruch and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Mercury critic Alan Sherrod praised the “controlled wildness” of the orchestra under Demirjian’s direction in the Beethoven symphony. In his review, Sherrod wrote that Demirjian “made a compelling case for his candidacy” with his performance and “scored high marks for choosing a compelling and diverse program.” Keep an eye on Demirjian’s programming— his youth and his January program for his KSO audition suggest he might make interesting choices. So does his previous job in Kansas City—in 2007, New Yorker classical music critic Alex Ross cited KCS and four other orchestras outside major metropolitan areas for “imaginative programming.” —Matthew Everett
Movie: X-Men: Apocalypse
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VisitKnoxville.com
Visitors Center â&#x20AC;¢ 301 S. Gay Street 865.523.7263
June 2, 2016
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New and Improved
Downtown FREE Trolley Routes WW W. K A T B U S . C O M
To the Old City
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Hotel
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Parking Pedestrian Pathway
TROLLEY STOPS Green: Old City, Gay St., Market Sq. Blue: Knoxville Station, Civic Coliseum, Waterfront Connection Orange: UT, The Commons, World’s Fair Pk.
TROLLEY ROUTES Green Line Mon.–Thurs. 7 am–8 pm (Every 10 min.) Fridays 7 am–10 pm (Every 10 min.) Saturdays 9 am–10 pm (Every 10 min.) Summit Towers 9 am–4 pm, Mon–Sat. (Hourly) Blue Line Mon.–Thurs. 7 am–8 pm (Every 7 min.) Fridays 7 am–10 pm (Every 7 min.) Saturdays 9 am–10 pm (Every 15 min.) Orange Line Mon.–Thurs. 7 am–8 pm (Every 15 min.) Fridays 7 am–10 pm (Every 15 min.) Saturdays 9 am–10 pm (Every 15 min.) Trolleys do not run on holidays or Saturdays when a UT Football home game is played.
To the Coliseum
Volunteer Landing
To UT and University Commons
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Inside the Vault
Crosstalk International, an organization focused on teaching the Jewish origins of Christianity, and which now produces radio and television programs, and operates a leper clinic in India. He still performs—his latest album is Plantin’ Rocks.
JIM MUNDY “Hurting All the Time”/“Colorblind” (Hickory Records)
Single Minded Digging through the TAMIS crates for some rare 45s BY ERIC DAWSON
T
here are thousands of records at the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound. We acquire them in a variety of ways: Many are donated in bulk as collections; some are passed off individually; and, of course, there’s always thrift store- and estate sale-hunting. Any Knoxville or East Tennessee connection makes a record desirable, and we also look for records on obscure labels from small towns throughout the state. (We have to be a bit selective about Nashville records, though. There’s not enough room in the entire East Tennessee History Center to hold everything that’s come out of Music City.) Honestly, it’s hard to find the time to listen to them all, so some get shelved now and heard later. Records with odd sleeves, titles, labels, or artist names often get listened to first. Vanity records, too, always merit a listen. These are some of the rarest records out there—we’re unlikely to ever come across another copy, and once a little digging is done, it becomes even more
apparent how unique these records are. Here are a few 7-inch singles we’ve recently spun.
RANDY WEISS “Never Seen a U-Haul on a Hearse”/“Jesus Is Lord” (Crosstalkin’ Records)
Of course it was the title and sleeve photo that made me want to hear this mid-1980s record. The lyrics are about what you’d expect, a warning that you can’t take it with you, but the music is a surprisingly tight country-funk shuffle punctuated by soulful Mickey Raphael-like harmonica. The B-side is a fairly standard praise ballad, but the back sleeve implores, “Please Don’t Call This the FLIPSIDE,” citing the song’s importance to people in nations behind the Iron Curtain. (“8,000 Bulgarians sang this song in one of the largest Christian gatherings in Modern History.”) It was released by Weiss’ own Crosstalkin’ Records (get it?), who also released Weiss’s album Munchy Manna Spirit Flakes. From such humble beginnings Weiss built
Jim Mundy had a respectable, if brief, country music career in the 1970s, recording for ABC Records and charting a few times. Before that, though, he recorded several singles, including this one, for Acuff-Rose independent label Hickory Records. Released in 1969, “Colorblind” is a song about a man who prays to make sense of all the turmoil and unrest in the world and is informed that the Lord is colorblind. It’s not exactly “Mississippi Goddamn,” but for a 1969 country song, it’s fairly progressive. (Mundy also recorded a version of “Bo Diddley” for Hickory.) Five years later, however, Mundy would release a cover of Merle Haggard’s “I’m a White Boy”—a lament about a “white boy” who can’t get a fair shake in this country anymore, but who still won’t take a handout, that includes the line “I’m proud and white.” The contradiction echoes Haggard’s own peculiar decision to release the original version just five years after “Irma Jackson,” his hit about an interracial romance. What was going on with these guys in the 1970s? The familiar argument that Haggard was being ironic in “I’m a White Boy” and his other conservative-leaning songs, like “Okie From Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” doesn’t have much sway anymore. What was the appeal of “White Boy” to two men who a few years earlier had stood apart from their peers by releasing anti-racist songs? Commercial pressure or a change of heart? Did they end up finding the Black Power movement threatening? Or maybe Mundy thought that since the Lord has the colorblind thing covered we don’t have to worry about it so much down here?
A&E
The A-side is a decent lost-love heartache tune that recalls Tom T. Hall a bit.
AZALEA WESTPHAL “Four Walls”/“My Heart Is Lonely Tonight” (Westphal Records)
Issued on Westphal Records, this record is a bit of a mystery—the only information on the label is the artist’s name, the song titles and running time, and the catalog number, WR-001. The Internet is offering zilch, so I have no idea where this was recorded, but it’s a country record that looks to have been issued in the 1970s. It’s a perfect example of a self-released vanity record. Azalea Westphal does not have the most traditionally pleasing voice—she can’t really carry a tune, if we’re being honest—but she obviously felt some need to issue her take on Jim Reeves’ “Four Walls.” More interesting is the B-side, “My Heart Is Lonely Tonight,” whose very title lets you know it will cover the same emotional ground as “Four Walls.” She’s pining for someone who’s been called away for a year, though it’s never revealed who has called him or why. A search on Ancestry.com turns up an Azalea Westphal who died in Tupelo, Miss., in 1985, and was buried in Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, as the wife of Lt. Col. John Peter Westphal, who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. So it’s possible she recorded this as a gift to her husband, who might have been stationed in Vietnam at the time. A daughter died in 1970, at the age of 20, which must have made Azalea feel even lonelier. Vanity records are easy to make fun of, and there are plenty of writers, bloggers, and record store clerks who do just that. But occasionally it’s good to take a step back and consider the people behind the recordings and imagine what events and passions in their lives led them to commit their voices to vinyl. ◆ Inside the Vault features discoveries from the Knox County Public Library’s Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound, a collection of film, video, music, and other media from around East Tennessee. June 2, 2016
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A&E
Music
Winter’s Tale Baltimore’s Scroll Downers turn psychedelic jam sessions into apocalyptic rock BY MATTHEW EVERETT
L
ast fall, Lexie Macchi joined Zachary Utz and Dave Jacober for a series of informal jam sessions. For each of them, it was one of several ongoing creative projects: Macchi, who performs mostly as Lexie Mountain, is a conceptual artist, singer, painter, and stand-up comic; Utz and Jacober were two-thirds of the underappreciated (and now defunct) Baltimore noise-rock band Dope Body and filled their schedules with side gigs. Just eight months later, those informal jam sessions have become the trio’s main priority. Under the name Scroll Downers, they released their debut album, Hot Winter, in late May, with advance hype from Pitchfork, Stereogum, and Brooklyn Vegan, and they have just set out on an East Coast tour. (Plus, Dope Body played its final shows just a few weeks ago.) None of them are giving up their other pursuits, but, at least for the foreseeable future, Scroll Downers will be the main thing for all three of them. “I’ll be on tour, so I physically can’t do anything else except be in a car with my bros,” Macchi says. “I love going on tour—I really hope to be able to play with Dave and Zac as much as possible.” In December, after just a couple of months of playing together, the trio decamped from Baltimore to Utz’s grandmother’s house on Hooper’s Island, an isolated rural outpost on Maryland’s Eastern Shore near the Chesapeake Bay. Just three hours away from the city, they found themselves in a watery wilderness with nothing to draw their focus away from music.
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“There’s barely any cellphone reception, there’s no night life, no distractions,” Macchi says. “It feels like a giant marsh almost. It’s really swampy—it’s a delta region and a watershed. Where we were, you could see the Chesapeake Bay, the Hongo River, a lake, a pond, and a marsh.” They set up their gear and converted the living room into a makeshift studio, then spent a week shaping 20-minute psychedelic-punk jams into 4-minute rock songs and then turning those songs into an album. “We really wanted something to take on the moment,” Macchi says. “There’s nothing wrong with people taking a super-long time on their
records, but there was something that we wanted to capture that was really immediate and raw and fucked up—for the first couple of months that we were playing together, we’d just make some stuff up and play these 20- or 25-minute songs. We wanted something that spoke to that, but at the same time we found ourselves drawn to crafting songs, like picking out things in those improvised performances that we liked and then revisiting them and crafting them into a song.” It was an unseasonably warm December in Maryland—that gave Hot Winter its title—and the album reflects the weird wildlands in which it was made. “A lot of the inspiration for the songs comes directly from there— those were the moments when we were writing them and finishing them,” Macchi says. “We didn’t want something that was too polished but could still be raw and live and living.” Its improvisational origins give the album a hazy, spaced-out vibe, but there are hooks, too, some immediate (like on the first single, “Shake Off the Rays”) and some hidden under a cloud of heavy psychedelic guitar riffs. There are obvious antecedents and influences—Sonic Youth, Jefferson
Airplane, Blue Cheer, the Doors. It’s completely unlike the streamlined synth pop produced by the Scroll Downers’ better-known Baltimore peers, like Dan Deacon, Future Islands, and Lower Dens. There’s a dark undercurrent to Hot Winter, a sense of a backcountry Americana apocalypse—it could be the soundtrack for a Mad Max installment directed by Terrence Malick. It took some adjustment for Macchi—whose previous music projects included abstract collages, avant-garde vocal groups, and the long-form experimental improv group the Crazy Dreams Band—to make the transition from the music underground to the relatively straightforward rock-band approach of her new group. “The thing that I learned in the Crazy Dreams Band was that I enjoyed doing that—it was something that was in me, to sing in a rock band,” she says. “Dave and Zac are straight-up professional musicians. They do gigs in their off time, different types of jazz gigs—they play constantly and they’re incredibly good. I’m not a musician on that level, but I bring the animal.” ◆
WHO
Scroll Downers
WHERE
Pilot Light (106 E. Jackson Ave.)
WHEN
Wednesday, June 8, at 10 p.m.
HOW MUCH $5
INFO
thepilotlight.com facebook.com/scrolldowners
Movies
Apocalypse Whenever Bryan Singer trades wit for spectacle in X-Men: Apocalypse BY APRIL SNELLINGS
W
hile so many genre movies are happy to emulate the story structure and visual conceits of video games, X-Men: Apocalypse has a much more analog role model. It’s a cinematic pinball machine, all Day-Glo colors and flashing lights and kinetic fury as characters who are as durable (and this time around, about as interesting) as steel balls hurtle from one random plot point to the next, banging into things and ringing every possible superhero bell without sweating the small stuff like why the hell they’re doing any of it. Why, then, after two hours and 15 minutes of relentless motion, does it feel like the movie doesn’t actually go anywhere? It touches down in a lot of places, for sure—the plot, such as it is, bounces around between Cairo, Ohio, Poland, Berlin, and other locales at a dizzying pace as its heroes are tasked with no less than preventing the end of the world. But it does so in a haphazard, chaotic way, unfolding more as a series of non-sequiturs and fan-service tableaux than anything approaching a cohesive story. Sixteen years and nine movies in (counting a few solo spin-offs), it seems like the X-Men are finally losing their cinematic momentum. It’s too bad that this franchise, once
an innovator in the comic-book movie business, now seems desperate to keep up with everybody else. Part of the series’ charm—besides its inspired casting—has always been its relatively lo-fi and even experimental vibe, setting up such left-field creative successes as the hard-R, fourth-wall-smashing Deadpool and the quirky time-travel dramedy of Days of Future Past. With Apocalypse, though, it feels like director Bryan Singer just isn’t that interested in the property anymore. He trades in most of the franchise’s wit and charm for scale and spectacle, cramming in as many characters and as much wall-to-wall destruction as possible. There’s an astonishing array of super-abilities on display, and the cast is as strong as ever when they’re not tied up in baroque eye-laser-lightning fights. But without giving anyone anything interesting to do, it’s all just so much mutant soup. For an example of the movie’s ability to squander potential, look no further than its titular heavy. En Sabah Nur—or Apocalypse, as he’s sometimes known—may just be the blandest big-screen supervillain of the 21st century, but he’s played by one of its most interesting young actors. Poor Oscar Isaac might be acting his
A&E
brains out under all that blue makeup, but between his goofy, overwrought dialogue and weirdly modulated voice, no one will ever know. Apocalypse imagines his character essentially as an evil self-help guru, and his main business is to recruit his “four horsemen” by popping out of portals and telling them to find their inner strength. Once he’s assembled his mutant Manson family—for the small sliver of the population who cares but doesn’t already know, it consists of Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), and Angel (Ben Hardy)—they set about their assigned task of ending the world because…well, because it’s 1983 and En Sabah Nur really doesn’t like the ’80s. Seriously, that’s his motivation for wanting to kill every human on the planet. Which could have been pretty fantastic, if this movie had the scruffy charm and wry humor of Singer’s other three X-Men films. Those sensibilities pop up every now and then, most notably during a show-stopping set piece featuring Even Peters’ Quicksilver, and in a few throwaway moments showcasing new cast members such as Tye Sheridan and Sophie Turner (teenaged Cyclops and Jean Grey, respectively). But Apocalypse is more concerned with falling in line than blazing new trails. Some of that isn’t necessarily the film’s fault—it’s the third movie in as many months to center on a bone-crunching, city-smashing clash between super-powered characters who should be on the same side, and woe be to any movie that has to follow Captain America: Civil War’s terrific, inventive superhero showdown. But why does it have to buy into just about every superhero movie cliché that’s been bandied about over the last few years? Of all the comic book franchises that are tumbling into theaters these days, X-Men could be the most imaginative and potentially innovative of the bunch. Now that a promising new cast has been installed, Apocalypse makes it clear that the franchise needs new blood behind the camera as well. ◆ June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 29
CALENDAR MUSIC
Thursday, June 2 JERRY CASTLE WITH THE FUSTICS • 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 JAZZSPIRATIONS • Market Square • 7PM • Jazzspirations is a soulful, smooth mix of the two most heartfelt styles of music: Gospel and jazz. • FREE MATT HIRES • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE THE ELI YOUNG BAND • Cotton Eyed Joe • 9PM • Eli Young Band continues to evolve musically in fresh and exciting ways, debuting a Country collaboration with Andy Grammer of “Honey, I’m Good.” on The Valory Music Co. With a trio of platinum and multi-platinum #1 hits—“Drunk Last Night,” “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” and “Crazy Girl”—under their belts, their last album 10,000 Towns ranked #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, landed a coveted Top 5 spot on the Billboard 200 and claimed the #1 spot on the iTunes Country Albums chart. For tour dates and more, visit EliYoungBand.com. • $10 THE FRITZ • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 ALMOST DEAD • Scruffy City Hall • 10PM IF BIRDS COULD FLY • Scruffy City Hall • 6PM ALLMAN BROTHERS TRIBUTE BAND • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Maryville) • 6PM • FREE JAY CLARK AND THE TENNESSEE TREE BEAVERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM Friday, June 3 PARKER HASTINGS • 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 BOB DYLAN BIRTHDAY BASH • Market Square • 5PM • Free music event to celebrate the birth of a true Americana songwriter. An evening full of Bob Dylan’s music, as sung by local performing artists and in a variety of musical styles and genres. Lineup and more information to come. • FREE JEREMY MOORE • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE THE TERRAPLANE DRIFTERS • Last Days of Autumn Brewery • 7PM THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • While Dark Bird is The Tallest Man at his most personal and direct, deeper and darker than ever at times, it’s also an album with strokes of whimsy and the scent of new beginnings – which feels fresh for The Tallest Man on Earth, and well timed. Reliably, the melodies and arrangements are sturdy and classic, like old cars & tightly wound clocks. The lyrics and their delivery are both comforting and alarming, like tall trees & wide hills. • $30 FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE JACK’D UP • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM GUY MARSHALL • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Guy Marshall’s full-length debut, The Depression Blues, has an earnest arsenal of songs that touch on themes of whiskey and wallowing. • $5 BADLANDS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. BLACKBERRY SMOKE • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Maryville) • 6PM • Holding All the Roses compellingly captures the energy, attitude and honesty 30
KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
Thursday, June 2 - Sunday, June 12
that have already helped to make Blackberry Smoke one of America’s hottest live rock ‘n’ roll outfits, as well as a grass-roots phenomenon with a large and fiercely loyal fan base that reflects the band’s tireless touring regimen and staunch blue-collar work ethic. • $35 THE PARKWAY HANDLE BAND • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE HUDSON K WITH LITTLE WAR TWINS AND VIMANA • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM THE NEW APOLOGETIC WITH SAM HATMAKER, MICHAEL FAIR, AND CHELSEA STEPP • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • All ages. • FREE BEN COHEN’S ONE NIGHT STAND • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE JACOB JOHNSON • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 10PM PAUL LEE KUPFER • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE Saturday, June 4 KENTUCKY MOUNTAIN TRIO WITH OH, JEREMIAH • 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 SISTER HAZEL • Knoxville Civic Coliseum • 8PM • Sister Hazel is an alternative rock band from Gainesville, Florida, whose style also blends elements of folk rock, pop, classic rock ‘n’ roll and southern rock. • $28.50 FOREVER ABBEY ROAD • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Forever Abbey Road is a group of five professional musicians in Nashville who perform the music of the Beatles with sincere gratitude, heart and accuracy. All ages. • $15 KNOXVILLE GAY MEN’S CHORUS • Knoxville Civic Coliseum • 8PM • The Knoxville Gay Men’s Chorus is excited to announce its new production, Chandelier, an ambitious show full of popular music, from Simon and Garfunkel, to Sia, to Madonna. For concert and ticket information visit www.knoxvilletickets.com. • $20 WOZO ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY BENEFIT • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 9PM • Come celebrate the first year of Knoxville’s newest radio station, 103.9 WOZO. Featuring Mic Harrison and the High Score, Kukuly and the Gypsy Fuego, Bobby Fuego, Black Atticus, and many special guests. • $5 RISING APPALACHIA WITH AROUNA DIARRA • The International • 9PM • Rising Appalachia brings to the stage a collection of sounds, stories, and songs steeped in tradition and a devotion to world culture. Intertwining a deep reverence for folk music and a passion for justice, they have made it their life’s work to sing songs that speak to something ancient yet surging with relevance. Rising Appalachia headlines the International’s second anniversary celebration. 18 and up. Visit internationalknox.com. • $15-$20 ELECTRIC DARLING WITH THREE STAR REVIVAL • Scruffy City Hall • 10PM • The dissolution of long-running local blues-rock outfit the Dirty Guv’nahs boded that a handful of very talented free agents would soon be set loose on the local music scene. And now two of the band’s standout sidemen—guitarist Cozmo Holloway and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hyfantis—have already debuted a new project, in the form of female-fronted outfit Electric Darling. What is arguably most impressive about the Saturday night performance is that neither Holloway nor Hyfantis was the talk of the show.That honor belonged to 25-year-old newbie frontwoman Yasameen Hoffman-Shahin. With her powerful vocals and an insouciant charisma that belied her youth, Hoffman-Shahin led the band through an hour-long set of
2016 BIKE BOAT BREW & BARK Volunteer Landing • Saturday, June 4, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, June 5, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. • Free • bbbb.visitknoxville.com
Knoxville has a lot to celebrate, and it has a lot of festivals to do so. But, finally, Visit Knoxville has crafted One Festival to Rule Them All. Although that isn’t the actual tagline, it very well could be. All of Knoxville’s adventurers can stand united at BBBB: bicyclists, boaters, hikers, history buffs, dog lovers, and craft-beer enthusiasts. There’ll be something for every one of them to do, and it all revolves around Volunteer Landing—giving you a great excuse to get more acquainted with our riverfront. Both Saturday and Sunday feature spectator sports in addition to the activities: the Knoxville Powerboat Classic will unleash speedboats racing at up to 100 mph; the Smoky Mountain DockDogs club will share the fine art of dogs leaping into the Tennessee River; and Hoyt Hydrosports will demonstrate its amazing Flyboard. Otherwise, this inaugural festival features so many activities, it may not be humanly possible to tackle them all—but you can try. Here are some of the highlights—also look for the BBBB guide inserted in this issue for a complete schedule and a helpful map: • SLOW RIDES TO KNOXVILLE BREWERIES: Yes, BBBB dares to combine craft beer and (slow, very careful) bike rides. Meet up at Volunteer Landing at designated times (see schedule) to join group rides to nearby breweries: Balter Beerworks, Alliance Brewing Company, Last Days of Autumn Brewery, Crafty Bastard Brewery, and Saw Works Brewery. Meanwhile, Last Days of Autumn is hosting a Beer & Brats Picnic at their location (808 East Magnolia Ave.) at 4 p.m. on Saturday. • URBAN HIKE WITH TVA: Been meaning to get a feel for Knoxville’s urban hiking opportunities? TVA will lead the way, guiding you from downtown to Island Home Park in South Knoxville. You’ll go from charming cityscape to lush natural beauty in no time. The hike is about a mile and a half one-way; you can catch KAT Bus #40 for a ride back. Meet the TVA hiking guides on Saturday, 10 a.m., at the TVA Tower North on Wall Avenue. • TROLLEY TOUR WITH JACK NEELY: Get on the bus with the director of the Knoxville History Project for a colorful look at Knoxville history in the riverfront vicinity. Meet him on Saturday, 1 p.m., at the Market (504 S. Gay St.) and board the green-line trolley. • INSTAGRAM PET PHOTO CONTEST: While you’re out and about at BBBB, snap some cute photos of your beloved furry ones (with four legs) and tag them #knoxfido. The two photos with the most “likes” will win prize packages from downtown’s pet supply shop, CitiFid-O. Young-Williams Animal Center will be at Volunteer Landing with helpful props and water bowls. Photos need to be submitted by 11 p.m. Sunday. • INGRESS MISSION DAY: What is a “location-based augmented reality exergame” you ask? Players must explore the city on special missions to capture “portals” at places of cultural significance, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. Info and RSVP at missiondayknoxville. splashthat.com. There will also be free paddleboard lessons at Volunteer Marina (RSVP: paddleupright.com), guided bike rides to Volunteer Landing from YMCA Downtown, as well as the Market Square Farmer’s Market on Saturday. Info centers will be available at Visit Knoxville (301 S. Gay St.), Outdoor Knoxville (900 Volunteer Landing), and at Volunteer Landing. —Coury Turczyn
Thursday, June 2 - Sunday, June 12
groovy neo-soul. SWEETHEARTS OF THE SMOKIES MUSIC FESTIVAL • Dancing Bear Lodge • 4PM • The first ever Sweethearts of the Smokies Music Festival will take place on Saturday, June 4th – rain or shine – at the Dancing Bear Lodge Outdoor Pavilion Stage, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Appalachian Bear Rescue. This 18 and over, can’t-miss music event will take place at the foothills of the gorgeous Smoky Mountains and will showcase and celebrate bands that are led and co-led by women. The day will be filled with great food, drink, and music, featuring Robinella, The Whiskey Gentry, Shannon Whitworth & Barrett Smith, Cherohala, and Katie Pruitt. Visit dancingbearlodge.com. • $20-$75 BLACKBERRY SMOKE • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Maryville) • 6PM • Holding All the Roses compellingly captures the energy, attitude and honesty that have already helped to make Blackberry Smoke one of America’s hottest live rock ‘n’ roll outfits, as well as a grass-roots phenomenon with a large and fiercely loyal fan base that reflects the band’s tireless touring regimen and staunch blue-collar work ethic. • $35 TENN PAN ALLEY • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM TIME CAT • Preservation Pub • 8PM THE WILL YAGER TRIO • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE PROJECT WOLFPACK • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 10PM • FREE THE YOUNG FABLES • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE COMMON CENTER • Preservation Pub • 10PM Sunday, June 5 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 JAMES MCCARTNEY WITH 3 MILE SMILE • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 7PM • A British singer/songwriter with a heavy melodic bent tempered by slight indie-folk overtones, James McCartney took a little time to launch his career. The son of Paul and Linda McCartney, James was born on September 12, 1977; he certainly grew up with music all around him, spending his earliest years on tour with Wings before settling into a relatively normal schoolboy existence for the bulk of the ‘80s. As his father Paul returned to the road at the close of the decade, James came along, and as the ‘90s progressed, he became more serious about music. He played on his father’s 1997 album Flaming Pie, and not long after, he also appeared on his mother’s posthumous 1998 record Wide Prairie. All ages. • $15-$20 THE CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • The CRB, led by former Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson, describes itself as a “farm to table psychedelic rock band.” • $21.50 Monday, June 6 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 KEITH SYKES • 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 • Every Monday. Visit viennacoffeehouse.net. • FREE THE DIRK QUINN BAND • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria •
CALENDAR UPCOMING EVENTS
PAUL LEE KUPFER
JUNE 3
RISING APPALACHIA 10PM BLACKWATER MOJO AND PHILOS MOORE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. Tuesday, June 7 THROWING PLATES WITH BAREFOOT SANCTUARY • 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 MARBLE CITY 5 • Market Square • 8PM • Live jazz every Tuesday from May 3-Aug. 30. • FREE THE LOST FIDDLE STRING BAND • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • A new 4-piece band from Knoxville featuring bluegrass & fiddle tunes, but wait… where’s the fiddle? ANDREW TUFANO WITH THROWING PLATTERS • Preservation Pub • 10PM Wednesday, June 8 ADEEM • 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 STEPHEN SIMMONS • Sweet P’s Barbecue and Soul House • 6:30PM • Stephen Simmons was raised in the small town of Woodbury, Tennessee. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father held a factory job. In his family, they were the first generation that didn’t work the farm. As a songwriter and after 10 years as a road dog, Stephen’s vision has grown to entail more than just reflections of rural America. The songs on his recordings deal with existential realities that are familiar to country and city dwellers alike: redemption, heartbreak, hangovers and the loneliness of the road. • FREE TENNESSEE SHINES: THE DANBERRYS • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7PM • At the heart of The Danberrys is the Tennessee-born couple of Ben DeBerry and Dorothy Daniel, a truly unique pair of artists hailing from East Nashville. Drawing deep from the traditions of bluegrass, old-time country, blues, and funk/soul, the Danberrys offer inspired songwriting delivered with raw emotion, distinct vocal harmonies, and dynamic, top-notch musicianship.
We’ll hear tunes from their forthcoming CD, Give and Receive, out June 17. • $10 THE MATT NELSON SOUND • The Bistro at the Bijou • 7PM • Live jazz. • FREE THE ZAC FALLON PROJECT • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM B.O.B. • The Concourse • 9PM • The past half-decade has seen B.o.B devoted to one mission, to erase genre boundaries while simultaneously expanding the breath and scope of a distinctive creative vision. 18 and up. • $20-$25 THE SCROLL DOWNERS • Pilot Light • 10PM • $5 • See preview on page 28. Thursday, June 9 THE HORSE TRADERS WITH THE REV. JUSTIN HYLTON • 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 JOSH CANTRELL • Market Square • 7PM • Come enjoy local singer/songwriter Josh Cantrell and his indie, folk-style music. • FREE CORY BRANAN • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • Throughout his career, Cory Branan has been too punk for country, too country for punk, too Memphis for Nashville, and probably a little too Cory Branan for anyone’s damn good. • FREE EDGAR MEYER • First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge • 7:30PM • In demand as both a performer and a composer, Oak Ridge native Edgar Meyer has formed a role in the music world unlike any other. Hailed by The New Yorker as “…the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument”, Mr. Meyer’s unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the fore, where he is appreciated by a vast, varied audience. Tickets are available online at www.ORCMA.org or by calling (865) 483-5569. • $25 ROSCOE MORGAN • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM THE HORSE TRADERS • Preservation Pub • 10PM Friday, June 10 THE JOHN SUTTON BAND WITH SARAH MORGAN • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-aweek lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional,
THE YOUNG FABLES
JUNE 4
TENNESSEE SHINES PRESENTS:
THE DANBERRYS
JUNE 8
LITTLE TYBEE
JUNE 10
KUKULY AND THE GYPSY FUEGO
JUNE 11
FULL EVENTS CALENDAR AT JIGANDREEL.COM 865-247-7066 June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 31
CALENDAR
Thursday, June 2 - Sunday, June 12
THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE ADEEM THE ARTIST • Campbell Station Park • 6PM • Part of the Lawn Chair Concert series. • FREE THE OLD SCRATCH SALLIES • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE BAREFOOT SANCTUARY • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Local fiddler Evie Andrus will be releasing her first solo CD under the name Barefoot Sanctuary. • $5 HAIM • The Mill and Mine • 8:30PM • Haim is a LA-based band made up of sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim. Haim’s full-length debut album “Days Are Gone” showcases their music talent with influences of rock, pop and R&B that have made the band such a critical and commercial success. Known for their dynamic live shows, which feature their accomplished abilities as musicians, the trio have been featured at prestigious festivals like Glastonbury and Coachella. • $29.50 CUMBERLAND STATION • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM KINCAID • Two Doors Down • 9PM WILL BOYD • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE STRUTTER: A TRIBUTE TO KISS • The Concourse • 9:30PM • 18 and up. • $5 CABINET • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Cabinet is a band with roots firmly planted in the Appalachian tradition. They wear their influences like badges, honoring the canon of roots, bluegrass, country, and folk, weaving these sounds into a patchwork Americana quilt. SHAUN ABBOTT • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 10PM LITTLE TYBEE • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • Little Tybee’s music is the quirky love child of Fleet Foxes and Animals as Leaders, and the group has opened for acts including Kurt Vile, Of Montreal, Maps and Atlases, and Hundred Waters. • FREE LA INEDITA WITH PAUL EDELMAN • Preservation Pub • 10PM Saturday, June 11 JACKSON EMMER WITH THE FARMER AND ADELE • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-aweek lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, 32
KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE RAY WYLIE HUBBARD WITH AARON LEE TASMAN • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Maryville) • 6PM • With a keen eye of observation and a wise man’s knowledge, Ray Wylie Hubbard composes and performs a dozen songs that couldn’t spring from anywhere else but out of his fertile rock and roll bluesy poet-in-the-blistering-heat southern noggin. • $20 DELBERT MCCLINTON • Back Porch on the Creek • 7PM • Delbert McClinton has taken to that open road, full speed ahead. So what keeps the energy in more than 60 years of music? His incredible musical versatility has been a blessing and a curse. He has managed to stay ahead of the curve – rather than just riding the wave of musical popularity. He has paddled out and caught the wave as it is forming as an innovator in American music. • $22-$53 THE DIRTY DOUGS • Last Days of Autumn Brewery • 7PM JEANINE FULLER • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE THE PAPER CROWNS • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE OXYMORRONS WITH MR. ILL AND THE MEDICINE AND BLACK ATTICUS • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Alt-hip-hop from Queens, N.Y. • $8-$10 THE TEMPER EVANS BAND • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM HAROLD NAGGE AND ALAN WYATT • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE KUKULY AND THE GYPSY FUEGO • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE THE JOHN DOUGH BOYS • Preservation Pub • 10PM Sunday, June 12 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 INSANE CLOWN POSSE • The International • 7:30PM • Fucking magnets, how do they work? 18 and up. • $20-$25 PALE ROOT • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM • Aaron Freeman’s taste for contemporary songwriters like Ryan Adams and Darrel Scott provides a balance to Jordan Burris’ penchant for bluegrass and traditional folk. As
Pale Root, they’ve quietly settled into their own spot in Knoxville’s crowded Americana scene—intimate, confessional music grounded in tradition. At various times, the duo’s music recalls Neil Young, Jackson Browne, the Everly Brothers, and the Avett Brothers. It’s a surprisingly full and mature sound from just two people. CANVAS PEOPLE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.
Thursday, June 9 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
OPEN MIC AND SONGWRITER NIGHTS
Friday, June 10 TIME WARP TEA ROOM OPEN SONGWRITER NIGHT • Time Warp Tea Room • 7PM • Songwriter Night at Time Warp Tea Room runs on the second and fourth Friday of every month. Show up around 7 p.m. with your instrument in tow and sign up to share a couple of original songs with a community of friends down in Happy Holler. • FREE
Thursday, June 2 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 Tuesday, June 7 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 • Hosted by Karen E. Reynolds. • FREE Wednesday, June 8 TIME WARP TEA ROOM OLD-TIME JAM • Time Warp Tea Room • 7PM • Regular speed old-time/fiddle jam every Wednesday. All instruments and skill levels welcome. BRACKINS BLUES JAM • Brackins Blues Club ( Maryville) • 9PM • A weekly open session hosted by Tommie John. • FREE 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
Sunday, June 12 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
DJ AND DANCE NIGHTS
Sunday, June 5 LAYOVER SUNDAY BRUNCH • The Concourse • 12PM • Enjoy good eats, refreshing libations, and the most appropriate afternoon tunage in the company of this city’s most dedicated loafers. We’ll be serving our normal brunch in all it’s glory, courtesy of Localmotive. Musical accompaniment by the likes of Slow Nasty, Psychonaut, and a rotating list of special guests. All ages. • FREE Saturday, June 11 DJ AND DANCE NIGHTS • June 11 • Rewind Retro Dance Night • The Concourse • 9PM • Featuring Z Is Not a DJ and X1138. 18 and up. • $5 Sunday, June 12 LAYOVER SUNDAY BRUNCH • The Concourse • 12PM • Enjoy good eats, refreshing libations, and the most appropriate afternoon tunage in the company of this city’s most
BLACKBERRY SMOKE
Thursday, June 2 - Sunday, June 12
dedicated loafers. We’ll be serving our normal brunch in all it’s glory, courtesy of Localmotive. Musical accompaniment by the likes of Slow Nasty, Psychonaut, and a rotating list of special guests. All ages. • FREE
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Tuesday, June 7 NIEF-NORF SUMMER FESTIVAL • University of Tennessee • The nief-norf Summer Festival (nnSF) is an interdisciplinary summer music festival, bringing together dozens of performers, composers, and scholars to collaborate on the performance, creation, and discussion of contemporary solo and chamber music. The nnSF offers an intensive think-tank environment and presents inspiring and devoted performances of modern music, aiming to encourage both appreciation and support for live music and contemporary art. Through June 20. Visit niefnorf.org for a schedule and more information.
THEATER AND DANCE
Friday, June 3 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘LEADING LADIES’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • In this hilarious comedy by the author of Lend Me A Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo, two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing “Scenes from Shakespeare” on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady in York, Pennsylvania, is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. June 3-19. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Saturday, June 4 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘LEADING LADIES’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • June 3-19. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Sunday, June 5 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘LEADING LADIES’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 3PM • June 3-19. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 Friday, June 10 TENNESSEE VALLEY PLAYERS: ‘PIRATES OF PENZANCE’ • Carousel Theatre • 7:30PM • The 2016 collaboration between the Tennessee Valley Players and the University of Tennessee School of Music Choral Area is Gilbert and Sullivan’s farce of sentimental pirates, bumbling policemen, dim-witted young lovers, and an eccentric major general. June 10-26. Visit tennesseevalleyplayers. org. • $20 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘LEADING LADIES’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • June 3-19. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 ENCORE THEATRICAL COMPANY: ‘FOLLIES’ • Walters State Community College • 8PM • The time is 1971, and theatrical impresario Dimitri Weissmann hosts a reunion of ex-Follies performers in his crumbling theatre, setting the stage for a parade of brilliant pastiche numbers, including “Losing My Mind,” “I’m Still Here,” and “Broadway Baby.” Amid the reminiscing, two middle-aged couples confront some unpleasant truths about their past and present, and come face to face with the future. A true theatrical event, this legendary masterpiece is considered by many to be the greatest musical ever
CALENDAR
created. June 10-26. Visit encoretheatricalcompany.com. Saturday, June 11 TENNESSEE VALLEY PLAYERS: ‘PIRATES OF PENZANCE’ • Carousel Theatre • 7:30PM • June 10-26. Visit tennesseevalleyplayers.org. • $20 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘LEADING LADIES’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • June 3-19. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 ENCORE THEATRICAL COMPANY: ‘FOLLIES’ • Walters State Community College • 8PM • June 10-26. Visit encoretheatricalcompany.com. Sunday, June 12 ENCORE THEATRICAL COMPANY: ‘FOLLIES’ • Walters State Community College • 2PM • June 10-26. Visit encoretheatricalcompany.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘LEADING LADIES’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 3PM • June 3-19. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $13-$15 TENNESSEE VALLEY PLAYERS: ‘PIRATES OF PENZANCE’ • Carousel Theatre • 3PM • June 10-26. Visit tennesseevalleyplayers.org. • $20
COMEDY AND SPOKEN WORD
Friday, June 3 FIRST FRIDAY COMEDY • Saw Works Brewing Company • 7PM • A monthly showcase featuring local and touring stand-ups comics. • FREE THE OOH OOH REVUE: NIGHT OF NOIR • Cocoa Moon • 10PM • A variety show celebrating the sexy, sultry and darker side of human nature—femme fatales, dangerous dames, and men of mystery all in our signature blend of burlesque, song, dance and comedy. We are Knoxville’s only classy fringe-arts variety show held each month on First Friday. 18 and up. Visit oohoohrevue.com. • $10 Sunday, June 5 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic. Monday, June 6 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, June 7 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. Wednesday, June 8 FULL DISCLOSURE COMEDY • Open Chord Brewhouse and
Stage • 8PM • Knoxville’s long-form improv comedy troupe. Thursday, June 9 PIZZA HAS • Pizza Hoss • 8PM • On the second Thursday of the month, Pizza Hoss in Powell hosts a showcase featuring sets from some of the best comedians in East Tennessee along with selected up-and-coming talent. Each month one of the hosts of Rain/Shine Event productions (Shane Rhyne, Matt Chadourne, Tyler Sonnichsen, and Sean Simoneau) serves as your guide to introduce you the best of our region’s comedy scene. • FREE KAYA KOREAN Friday, June 10 SMOKY MOUNTAIN STORYTELLERS • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE Sunday, June 12 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic.
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
FESTIVALS
Saturday, June 4 LENOIR CITY ARTS AND CRAFTS FESTIVAL • Lenoir City Park • 9AM • TAll funds raised by this event are donated throughout Loudon County and surrounding communities to benefit local organizations and charities. Please come for crafts, food, music and fun. Crafters and food vendors are always welcome to submit applications to the Club for review, as we are always seeking new and unusual handmade crafts and wares, as well as food items. Please visit our website at www.lenoircityartsandcraftsfestival.com for more information or for vendor applications. • FREE SWEETHEARTS OF THE SMOKIES MUSIC FESTIVAL • Dancing Bear Lodge • 4PM • The first ever Sweethearts of the Smokies Music Festival will take place on Saturday, June 4th – rain or shine – at the Dancing Bear Lodge Outdoor Pavilion Stage, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Appalachian Bear Rescue. This 18 and over, can’t-miss music event will take place at the foothills of the gorgeous Smoky Mountains and will showcase and celebrate bands that are led and co-led by women. The day will be filled with great food, drink, and music, featuring Robinella, The Whiskey Gentry, Shannon Whitworth & Barrett Smith, Cherohala, and Katie Pruitt. Visit dancingbearlodge.com. • $20-$75 BIKE, BOAT, BREW, AND BARK • Volunteer Landing • Bike, Boat, Brew and Bark celebrates the best of what Knoxville has to offer. Whether you are a local, a tourist, an outdoor adventurer, a dog lover, a craft-beer enthusiast or any combination of the above, you’ll be able to discover something new! The Knoxville Visitor Centers will be open on Gay Street, Volunteer Landing, and at Outdoor Knoxville where staff can help guide you on your next adventure. Returning for the third year in a row, powerboats will be racing up and down the Tennessee river at Volunteer Landing all weekend. Grab your friends and watch the races from the water before you head out for the day. Grab a home-brewed specialty from any of Knoxville’s esteemed breweries. Plan an outing at the river with your four-legged friends. Later on, you can tucker out the kids by taking them to watch the Smoky Mountain Dock Diving Dogs at the riverside. TERRAHOOLIE FESTIVAL • Ijams Nature Center • Join River Sports Outfitters, outdoor recreation industry vendors, and Dirty Bird Events for one amazing weekend full of adventure races, paddleboard races, scavenger hunts,
thurs JUNE 2 • 8pm
the Brewhouse Blues Jam w/ Robert Higginbotham & the Smoking Section free • 18+ ( blues )
fri JUNE 3 • 8pm
the new apologetic w/ sam hatmaker, michael fair, & chelsea stepp FREE • All Ages ( Indie/Americana )
free summer concert
SAT JUNE 4 • 8pm
Forever abbey road tribute to the beatles $15 • All Ages ( the beatles )
SUN JUNE 5 • 7pm James McCartney
w/ 3 Mile Smile $15 adv | $20 day of all ages ( singer / songwriter ) "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
June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 33
CALENDAR trail runs, rock climbing, and a triathlon. Complete with awesome prizes from our sponsor vendors. Visit ijams. org. STATEHOOD OPEN HOUSE AT BLOUNT MANSION • Blount Mansion • 10AM • Come join us for our Open House on June 4th from 10:00 to 3:00 as we celebrate our Statehood. Bring your friends and family and come see the home of William Blount, the man who helped Tennessee become a state. • Free REMOTE AREA MEDICAL SALUTE TO SERVICE • Downtown Island Airport • 10AM • Remote Area Medical will hold a special event inside RAM’s hangar at the Knoxville Downtown Island Airport in South Knoxville in observance of the 72nd anniversary of D-Day to honor our country’s military veterans.Gates will open at 10 a.m. to allow the public to view a variety of military vehicles, historical photographs, and wartime memorabilia from multiple eras. RAM’s flagship humanitarian relief plane, a C47/DC3 which flew on D-Day, will be on display. A ceremony to give special recognition to WWII veterans and to honor men and women of all branches of our armed forces will begin at 11 a.m. The ceremony will include a speech by RAM founder Stan Brock. Music will include the 80-piece Tennessee Wind Symphony, the Smokyland Sound Barbershop Chorus, and a bagpipe performance. The ceremony will conclude with a RAM Airborne Delivery Team parachuting onto the airfield immediately following the ceremony (weather permitting). All events are free and open to the public. • FREE ART ON MAIN ARTS AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Maynardville •
Thursday, June 2 - Sunday, June 12
9AM • Arts, crafts, kids’ activities, and music—featuring 15-year-old national thumb-picking champion Parker Hastings, 16-year-old Eli Fox, the Knox County Jug Stompers, the Valley Boys, and more—in downtown Maynardville, the home of Chet Atkins. Produced by the Union County Arts Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich cultural heritage of Union County, Tennessee. • FREE Sunday, June 5 LENOIR CITY ARTS AND CRAFTS FESTIVAL • Lenoir City Park • 10AM • All funds raised by this event are donated throughout Loudon County and surrounding communities to benefit local organizations and charities. Please come for crafts, food, music and fun. Crafters and food vendors are always welcome to submit applications to the Club for review, as we are always seeking new and unusual handmade crafts and wares, as well as food items. Please visit our website at www.lenoircityartsandcraftsfestival.com for more information or for vendor applications. • FREE BIKE, BOAT, BREW, AND BARK • Volunteer Landing • Bike, Boat, Brew and Bark celebrates the best of what Knoxville has to offer. Whether you are a local, a tourist, an outdoor adventurer, a dog lover, a craft-beer enthusiast or any combination of the above, you’ll be able to discover something new! The Knoxville Visitor Centers will be open on Gay Street, Volunteer Landing, and at Outdoor Knoxville where staff can help guide you on your next adventure. Returning for the third year in a row, powerboats will be racing up and down the Tennessee
river at Volunteer Landing all weekend. Grab your friends and watch the races from the water before you head out for the day. Grab a home-brewed specialty from any of Knoxville’s esteemed breweries. Plan an outing at the river with your four-legged friends. Later on, you can tucker out the kids by taking them to watch the Smoky Mountain Dock Diving Dogs at the riverside. TERRAHOOLIE FESTIVAL • Ijams Nature Center • Join River Sports Outfitters, outdoor recreation industry vendors, and Dirty Bird Events for one amazing weekend full of adventure races, paddleboard races, scavenger hunts, trail runs, rock climbing, and a triathlon. Complete with awesome prizes from our sponsor vendors. Visit ijams. org. Friday, June 10 SECRET CITY FESTIVAL • Oak Ridge • Originally known as the Azalea Festival, a small one day arts and crafts show that started in 1982 before evolving into Mayfest in 1990, the name was changed to the Secret City Festival in 2003 to showcase Oak Ridge’s nuclear history.Featured Entertainment:The Charlie Daniels Band, Grand Funk RailroadOther Attractions: Activities include food, arts and crafts, a petting zoo, inflatables, water slides, and a World War II reenactment. Visit secretcityfestival.com. Saturday, June 11 SECRET CITY FESTIVAL • Oak Ridge • Originally known as the Azalea Festival, a small one day arts and crafts show that started in 1982 before evolving into Mayfest in 1990, the name was changed to the Secret City Festival in 2003 to showcase Oak Ridge’s nuclear history.Featured
Entertainment:The Charlie Daniels Band, Grand Funk RailroadOther Attractions: Activities include food, arts and crafts, a petting zoo, inflatables, water slides, and a World War II reenactment. Visit secretcityfestival.com. TENNESSEE POLK SALAD FESTIVAL • Riverfront Park (Harriman) • 9AM • The Tennessee Polk Salad Festival is an arts and crafts event with performing artists in the covered pavilion, visual artists and artisans around the park, a free Fun Train running throughout the park for both children and adults, and various locations for free arts and crafts activities. Featured is a regional food pavilion with plated meals of polk salad “poke sallet,” pinto beans, cornbread, and desert to support the local American Legion Ladies Auxiliary. • FREE MARBLE SPRINGS STATEHOOD DAY CELEBRATION • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 11AM • As part of Knoxville’s 225th anniversary celebration, Marble Springs will continue the Statehood Day celebration on June 11th from 11 am till 4 pm. Along with scheduled guided tours, guests will get to walk through Living History encampments, view open hearth cooking demonstrations, and enjoy some 18th century music. Details are subject to change. Both of these are free events and open to the public. Donations are appreciated. For more information please email info@marblesprings.net, call (865) 573-5508, or visit our website at www.marblesprings.net. • FREE BIG KAHUNA WING FESTIVAL • World’s Fair Park • If you love wings, then this is the festival for you! The Big Kahuna Wing Festival will be featuring over 10,000 pounds of wings, a wing eating competition, a wing
SKEE BALL TOURNEY! FUNDRAISER FOR WUTK!
WITH EMCEES ROB & DEREK FROM THE FUNHOUSE
PRESENTED BY
®
ThurSDAY, June 16 @ SUTREE’S registration 5pm-6pm - Tourney starts at 6
Teams of two - $10 entry fee all proceeds benefit WUTK! Great prizes for Final 4 teams - Raffle prizes for all
Streaming 24.7.365 at WUTKRADIO.COM 34
KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
JUNE 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25 AT 8:00 PM JUNE 12, 19, 25, 26 AT 2:00 PM
WALTER STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR TICKETS, VISIT WWW.ETCPLAYS.ORG OR CALL 423-318-8331
CALENDAR cooking competition, live music, a kids corner, and a silent auction. • $10-$150
FILM SCREENINGS
Monday, June 6 THE BIRDHOUSE WALK-IN THEATER • The Birdhouse • 8:15PM • A weekly free movie screening. • FREE FANTASTICK! FILMS SUMMER SERIES • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 6PM • Join us on select Mondays this summer for local films and filmmaker Q&A and discussions and a featured nationally or internationally acclaimed film. Features include John Legend’s Can You Dig This? (May 23) and More Than Honey, directed by Markus Imhoof (June 6). MONDAY MOVIE MADNESS • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM • Campy horror, thrillers, and more every week. Plus beer! • FREE Tuesday, June 7 TWIN PEAKS VIEWING PARTY • The Birdhouse • 7PM • Bi-weekly viewing parties for every single episode of the cult TV series. Attendees encouraged to dress as their favorite characters. Trivia, Twin Peaks-themed giveaways, donuts and coffee, plus some surprises. Trivia begins at 7:00pm with viewing to follow at 8:00pm. • FREE Friday, June 10 CRESTHILL CINEMA CLUB: ‘CARNIVAL IN COSTA RICA’ • Cresthill Cinema Club • 8PM • A merry musical comedy beyond compare, Carnival in Costa Rica turned its attentions to a heretofore untapped source of colorful spectacle and rhythmic richness, the fabulous Caribbean. Our location: The spacious clubhouse of the Windover Apartments. The journey there will take you to Cheshire Drive (off Kingston Pike, near the Olive Garden); going down Cheshire, turn right at the Windover Apartments sign, then go to the third parking lot on your right, next to the pool. There, the building that houses the clubhouse and offices of the Windover will be just a few steps away. • FREE SUMMER MOVIE MAGIC: ‘SOME LIKE IT HOT’ • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Maybe “nobody’s perfect,” as one character in this masterpiece suggests, but some movies are perfect, and Some Like It Hot is one of them. When Chicago musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) accidentally witness a gangland shooting, they quickly board a southbound train to Florida, disguised as Josephine and Daphne, the two newest and homeliest members of an all-girl jazz band. Some Like It Hot is the quintessential madcap farce and one of the greatest of all film comedies. • $9 Sunday, June 12 SUMMER MOVIE MAGIC: ‘SOME LIKE IT HOT’ • Tennessee Theatre • 2PM • Maybe “nobody’s perfect,” as one character in this masterpiece suggests, but some movies are perfect, and Some Like It Hot is one of them. When Chicago musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) accidentally witness a gangland shooting, they quickly board a southbound train to Florida, disguised as Josephine and Daphne, the two newest and homeliest members of an all-girl jazz band. Some Like It Hot is the quintessential madcap farce and one of the greatest of all film comedies. • $9
SPORTS AND
RECREATION
Thursday, June 2 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 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
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Friday, June 3 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 Saturday, June 4 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB ANNUAL APPALACHIAN TRAIL WORK DAY • 7:30AM • Join us to celebrate this 23rd annual National Trails Day. It will be SMHC’s 20th annual NTD event. We will meet early at Sugarlands Visitor Center and carpool to the Smokies crest for trail work. The day will be capped by a picnic where we can brag about our day’s work. Please bring work gloves in addition to normal hiking gear; no open-toed shoes please. Please see www.smhclub.org for more information, and to download and submit the registration form. Leader: Phyllis Henry, phyllishenry@yahoo.com. • FREE Sunday, June 5 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 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: RICH MOUNTAIN LOOP • 8AM • This very popular loop hike will begin at the entrance of the Cades Cove Loop Road. We’ll start out on June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 35
CALENDAR the Rich Mountain Loop Trail, following it to the Crooked Arm Ridge Trail. From there we will begin our ascent of Rich Mountain, passing Crooked Arm Falls along the way. Next we will access the Indian Grave Gap Trail that will lead us to Cerulean Knob. At 3686 feet, this is the highest point on Rich Mountain and is the site of the old Rich Mountain fire tower. Here we will enjoy lunch and beautiful views of Tuckaleechee Cove to our north. And then it is back down the Rich Mountain Loop Trail which will take us to the John Oliver Cabin, and back to our cars. This loop hike is 8.5 miles, rated moderate. Meet at the Alcoa Food City, 121 North Hall Rd, at 8:00 am. Leaders: Rebekah Young, rebekahy27@aol.com, Billy Heaton, bheaton8@yahoo.com. • FREE Monday, June 6 KTC GROUP RUN • Mellow Mushroom • 6PM • Visit ktc.org. • FREE BEARDEN BEER MARKET FUN RUN • Bearden Beer Market • 6:30PM • Visit beardenbeermarket.com. • FREE TVB MONDAY NIGHT ROAD RIDE • Tennessee Valley Bikes • 6PM • The soon to be famous Monday night road ride happens every Monday. We usually split into two groups according to speed. Both groups are no-drop groups. The faster group averages over 17mph and the B group averages around 14mph. • FREE Tuesday, June 7 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, June 8 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 TVB EASY RIDER MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • On Wednesday nights we hit the local trails for an easy-paced mountain bike ride. Riders of all skill levels are welcome, and if you would like to demo a mountain bike from our shop this is a great opportunity to do so. Rides are weather permitting. If the trails are too wet, we do not ride. Check out our Facebook page or give us a call at 865-540-9979 for more info. • FREE SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: JAKES CREEK AND BLANKET MOUNTAIN • 8AM • This hike will follow the Jake’s Creek trail and the manway to Blanket Mountain. Hike: 9 miles, rated moderate to difficult because of altitude gain. Meet at the Alcoa Food City, 121 North Hall Road, at 8:00 am. Leader: Ron Brandenburg, ronb86@ comcast.net • FREE Thursday, June 9 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 36
KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
Thursday, June 2 - Sunday, June 12
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 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 Friday, June 10 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 Sunday, June 12 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
ART
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts 556 Parkway (Gatlinburg) 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. MAY 21-AUG. 20: Arrowmont’s annual instructor exhibit. Art Market Gallery 422 S. Gay St. MAY 31-JUNE 26: Artwork by Pat Herzog and Diana Dee Sarkar. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 3, at 5:30 p.m. Bliss Home 24 Market Square JUNE 3-30: Photography by Brian Murray. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 3, from 6-9 p.m. Downtown Gallery 106 S. Gay St. JUNE 3-AUG. 19: Through the Lens of Ed Westcott, an exhibition of photos taken by the official photographer for the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 3, from 5-9 p.m. East Tennessee History Center
601 S. Gay St. 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. Emporium Center for Arts and Culture 100 S. Gay St. MAY 13-JUNE 27: Tennessee Watercolor Society 35th Biennial Exhibition. JUNE 3-24: Through Our Eyes, paintings by Kim Emert Gale and Janet Weaver; A Mosaic Journey, glass art by Judy Overholt Weaver; and the fourth annual Knoxville Photo Exhibition. Opening receptions will be held on Friday, June 3, from 5-9 p.m. Envision Art Gallery 4050 Sutherland Ave. JUNE 10-JULY 8: The Nature of Power, paintings by Marc H. Cline. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 10, from 5-8 p.m. Fountain City Art Center 213 Hotel Road MAY 20-JUNE 16: Fountain City Art Guild Spring Show and Sale. 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. McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture 1327 Circle Park Drive JUNE 4-AUG. 28: Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas. ONGOING: The Flora and Fauna of Catesby, Mason, and Audubon and Life on the Roman Frontier. Westminster Presbyterian Church 6500 S. Northshore Drive THROUGH JUNE 26: Artwork by Donna Conliffe and Ann Dally.
FAMILY AND KIDS’ EVENTS
Tuesday, June 7 MCCLUNG MUSEUM DINO EXPLORERS CAMP • McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture • 9AM • For ages 4–5. Scientific inquiry in activities, stories, make-andtake projects based on our new exhibition Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas. June 7–9. Deadline for registration: May 31, 2016. For more details and registration information visit mcclungmuseum.utk. edu. • $35 Wednesday, June 8 MCCLUNG MUSEUM DINO EXPLORERS CAMP • McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture • 9AM • For ages 4–5. Scientific inquiry in activities, stories, make-andtake projects based on our new exhibition Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas. June 7–9. Deadline for registration: May 31, 2016. For more details
and registration information visit mcclungmuseum.utk. edu. • $35 Thursday, June 9 MCCLUNG MUSEUM DINO EXPLORERS CAMP • McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture • 9AM • For ages 4–5. Scientific inquiry in activities, stories, make-andtake projects based on our new exhibition Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas. June 7–9. Deadline for registration: May 31, 2016. For more details and registration information visit mcclungmuseum.utk. edu. • $35 Saturday, June 11 MCCLUNG MUSEUM FAMILY FUN DAY: IN THE LAND OF THE DINOSAURS • McClung 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 our special exhibition, Dinosaur Discoveries, with the theme “In the Land of the Dinosaurs.” All materials will be provided. The program is free and open to the public. Reservations are not necessary. • FREE Sunday, June 12 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
LECTURES, READINGS, AND BOOK SIGNINGS
Thursday, June 2 THE BEAUFORD DELANEY PROJECT • Beck Cultural Exchange Center • 5:30PM • The public is invited to get an inside look at the emerging Beauford Delaney Project and learn more about exciting plans for the hometown celebration of a Knoxville cultural hero. Beck Cultural Exchange Center President Rev. Reneé Kesler and Knoxville Museum of Art Curator Stephen Wicks will talk about Beauford Delaney’s life, art, and significance. Beauford lived his final decades abroad in Paris (he died there in 1979), but maintained close ties to Knoxville and family here throughout his life. His brother Joseph, also a distinguished artist, is perhaps better known locally than Beauford, because Joseph eventually returned to his hometown, where he died in 1991. This event at the Beck Center is free and open to the public. To reserve a seat or for more information, contact ddbubose@knoxart.org or 865-934-2036. • FREE Sunday, June 5 RICK YANCEY: ‘THE LAST STAR’ • Barnes & Noble • 2PM • Rick Yancey is the author of The 5th Wave and The Infinite Sea, the first two books in this bestselling series. His debut young-adult novel, The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, was a finalist for the Carnegie Medal. In 2010, his novel The Monstrumologist received the Michael L. Printz Honor, and the sequel, The Curse of the Wendigo, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. When he isn’t writing or thinking about writing or traveling the country talking about writing, Rick is hanging out with his family. • FREE JODY SIMS: ‘SOUL PROVIDER’ • Historic Southern Railway Station • 2PM • South Knoxville resident Jody Sims, artist/ author of the award-winning book Soul Provider: Conversations With My Cat, will present at a National Cancer Survivors Day event. Jody presents an
CALENDAR extraordinary visual and honest account of her experience with loss, filled with inspiration from someone who forged it for herself. Soul Provider has been described as “both simple and deep; delightful and desperate; clever and beautiful; inviting the reader to share a dynamic tug- of-war between courage and surrender.”Jody grew up in a small farming community in western Illinois. After college, she moved to San Diego, CA and worked for many years for the Girl Scouts. She was their Chief Advancement Officer when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. In 2014, Jody moved to Knoxville, TN where she is a full time artist and writer. LINDA PARSONS: ‘THIS SHAKY EARTH’ • Union Ave Books • 2PM • Poetry Reading and signing launch with Linda Parsons, author of a new collection of poems, This Shaky Earth. • FREE Thursday, June 9 DANNY BERNSTEIN: ‘FORESTS, ALLIGATORS, BATTLEFIELDS’ • Union Ave Books • 6PM • Book signing with Danny Bernstein, author of Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey Through the National Parks of the South. • FREE Friday, June 10 WENDELL POTTER: ‘NATION ON THE TAKE’ • Union Ave Books • 6PM • Book signing with best-selling writer Wendell Potter, reading from his new book, Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It. • FREE
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
Thursday, June 2 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 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 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 THIRSTY (FOR KNOWLEDGE) THURSDAY • Old City Wine Bar • 6PM • Join our sommelier, Matt Burke, every Thursday in the cellar of the Old City Wine Bar for our ongoing wine education series. Free to listen and only $20 to partake in the libations. AARP DRIVER SAFETY SMART DRIVER CLASS • Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church • 12PM • Call (865) 382-5822. CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: KNIT YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS • Cancer Support Community • 1PM • Whether you are a novice knitter or an old pro, you are invited to bring your own project or join others in learning a new one. Special attention will be provided to beginners interested in learning how to knit and experience the meditative quality of knitting. Supplies provided. Call 865-546-4661. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. Saturday, June 4
IMPROV COMEDY CLASS • The Birdhouse • 10:30AM • A weekly improv comedy class. • FREE SMART RESEARCH TACTICS FOR WRITERS • Central United Methodist Church • 10AM • The Knoxville Writers’ Guild will host a research workshop titled Smart Research Tactics for Writers. The workshop will be led by historical novelist Pamela Schoenewaldt and research librarian Jamie Osborne from the Knox County Public Library. Writers of any genre, any age, and any level of experience are welcome. To register for the workshop, visit knoxvillewritersguild.org or send a check to KWG Workshops, P.O. Box 10326, Knoxville, TN, 37939-0326. Cost is $35 for KWG members, $40 for nonmembers, and $15 for students. • $40
Business
Product awareness
Company goodwill
Sunday, June 5 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 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. The class includes floor and standing work to build WUOT_Ad_5.5x4.25_WhyWUOT_KnoxMerc.indd 1 9/7/15 9:52 AM proficiency in alignment, balance, initiation and articulation of movement, weight shift, elevation and landing, and fall and recovery. Instruction is adjusted to meet the experience and ability of those in attendance. • $10 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE IMPROVISATION CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 3:30PM • Our improv classes offer an introduction to dance improvisation as a movement practice, performance technique, and a tool for creating choreography. Class involves both structured and free improvisations aimed at developing creativity, spontaneous decision-making, Robinella - The Whiskey Gentry - Shannon Whitworth & Barrett Smith - Cherohala - Katie Pruitt freedom of movement, and confidence in performance. No dance experience is necessary—only the desire to This intimate, outside performance will be presented move. • $10 I BIKE KNX OPEN HOUSE BIKE CLASSES • Earth Fare FEATURING: on the stage of the beautiful Dancing Bear Lodge. (Bearden) • 2PM • Whether you haven’t been on a bike in Robinella - The Whiskey years, only ride on greenways, or never learned to bike, Gentry - Shannon Whitworth & we have a class for you! Our Open House–style Barrett Smith - Cherohala FESTIVAL GROUNDS instruction allows you to choose from any of these and Katie Pruitt OPEN AT 3:00PM, classes. Bring your kids and your friends —all to the MUSIC STARTS same class. At our Open House sessions, you can choose AT 4:00PM 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 TICKET PRICES 3, May 1, May 15, and June 5.Meet us at Third Creek Greenway trailhead near Earth Fare in Bearden. Adults Tickets are Admission: available for purchase General $20on-line: - $30DancingBearLodge.com | VIP: $75 are $20; kids are $10. (Your kids are welcome to come General Admission: $25 in advance | VIP: $75 ride around while you are in class, even if they aren’t taking a class. There is a parking lot behind the shopping ONLY 500 center with no traffic.) • $20 TICKETS AVAILABLE Monday, June 6
There’s never been a better time to “go public.”
music festival • june 4th
GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 5:30PM • Call 865-5772021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted.
A portion of the proceed will benefit the Appalachian Bear Rescue. AppalachianBearRescue.org
June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 37
CALENDAR
Thursday, June 2 - Sunday, June 12
KNOXVILLE KETTLEBELL CLUB BEGINNERS CHALLENGE: STRENGTH AND STABILITY • Bullman’s Kickboxing and Krav Maga • 9:30AM • Have you been looking for a way to get fitter, happier, and healthier? Do you have any nagging injuries and are looking for a program that will accommodate your current level of fitness and also take you to the next level of strength and stability? Join us for this six-week series introducing the ancient strength-training kettlebell workout to make modern life feel better. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m., starting May 23. • $180 SIX-WEEK CREATIVE WRITING INTENSIVE CLASS • The Birdhouse • 6PM • This summer, join journalist and poet Holly Haworth for a six-week creative writing intensive. This very exciting course will focus on establishing a regular practice, honoring the wildness of the entire writing process, writing as discovery, finding your most important stories, making space for your creativity, and sustaining inspiration. Entire course is $250. Participants must sign up for entire six-week course. Pre-registration required. Contact instructor Holly Haworth at olmountaingal@gmail.com or at (865) 801.0806. • $250
movements as well as its own philosophy, history, culture, music, and songs. Visit capoeiraknoxville.org. • $10 ACROYOGA • Dragonfly Aerial Arts Studio • 7PM • Fly with us! Each class is beginner friendly, incorporating intermediate options for more experienced fliers. New content is explored each week while reviewing components taught in previous classes, providing a space for students to form strong foundational skills in flying, basing, and spotting. Each session ends with therapeutics or Thai massage. Please bring a mat, close fitting long pants, and water. No partner needed. • $15 SIX-WEEK NATURE-WRITING COURSE • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • This summer, join journalist, poet, and Southern Appalachian naturalist Holly Haworth for a six-week nature-writing course at Ijams Nature Center. Your writing desk will be 300 acres of protected wildlife habitat along the Tennessee River (or, in the case of rain, an open-air covered pavilion at the old Ijams homesite). Entire six-week course is $250. For more information or to register, please contact Holly directly at olmountaingal@ gmail.com or (865) 801.0806. • $250
Tuesday, June 7 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 • Capoeira originated in Brazil and is a dynamic expression of Afro-Brazilian culture. It is an art form that encompasses martial arts, dance, and acrobatic
Wednesday, June 8 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED MODERN TECHNIQUE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • A rotation of core members and guest artists of Circle Modern Dance teach this class. They present a variety of modern and contemporary styles, including Bartenieff and release-based techniques. This class is primarily designed for students with a basic
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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, build coordination and flexibility, and learn choreography. • $10 KNOXVILLE KETTLEBELL CLUB BEGINNERS CHALLENGE: STRENGTH AND STABILITY • Bullman’s Kickboxing and Krav Maga • 9:30AM • Have you been looking for a way to get fitter, happier, and healthier? Do you have any nagging injuries and are looking for a program that will accommodate your current level of fitness and also take you to the next level of strength and stability? Join us for this six-week series introducing the ancient strength-training kettlebell workout to make modern life feel better. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m., starting May 23. • $180 CLIMBING FUNDAMENTALS • River Sports Outfitters • 6PM • Come learn the basics of climbing every second and fourth Wednesday of the month. Space is limited so call 865-673-4687 to reserve your spot now. Class fee $20. Visit riversportsoutfitters.com/events. • $20 Thursday, June 9 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 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 THIRSTY (FOR KNOWLEDGE) THURSDAY • Old City Wine Bar • 6PM • Join our sommelier, Matt Burke, every Thursday in the cellar of the Old City Wine Bar for our ongoing wine education series. Free to listen and only $20 to partake in the libations. CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: HEALING THROUGH ART • Cancer Support Community • 1PM • No experience necessary. RSVP. Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: KILLER TOMATOES VS. TOMATO KILLERS • Humana Guidance Center • 3:15PM • Join Master Gardeners Joe Pardue and Marcia Griswold for a presentation on caring for tomatoes, including identifying tomato diseases and methods for protecting your plants. Call 865-329-8892. • FREE Saturday, June 11 IMPROV COMEDY CLASS • The Birdhouse • 10:30AM • A weekly improv comedy class. • FREE KNOX HERITAGE PRESERVATION NETWORK • Knox Heritage
CALENDAR • 10AM • Preservation Network is a series of free workshops held once every month on the second Saturday. The monthly workshops feature guest speakers who are specialists in windows, flooring, roofing, stained glass, tile, plumbing, electrical, and more. Other guest speakers have included those in real estate sales and appraisals, or city codes and zoning officials discussing historic overlays and building requirements.Knox Heritage preserves, restores and transforms historic places. For everyone. Forever. The nonprofit organization was founded in 1974 and now serves the entire 16-county Knoxville region. For more information visit www. knoxheritage.org. • FREE KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: KILLER TOMATOES VS. TOMATO KILLERS • Bearden Branch Public Library • 1:30PM • Join Master Gardeners Joe Pardue and Marcia Griswold for a presentation on caring for tomatoes, including identifying tomato diseases and methods for protecting your plants. Call 865- 588-8813 or visit knoxlib.org. • FREE unday, June 12 S 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 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. The class includes floor and standing work to build proficiency in alignment, balance, initiation and articulation of movement, weight shift, elevation and landing, and fall and recovery. Instruction is adjusted to meet the experience and ability of those in attendance. • $10 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE IMPROVISATION CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 3:30PM • Our improv classes offer an introduction to dance improvisation as a movement practice, performance technique, and a tool for creating choreography. 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
MEETINGS
Thursday, June 2 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT GROUP • Cancer Support Community • 6PM • CSC is committed to providing bereavement services to those who have lost a loved one to cancer. Please contact our clinical staff before attending. 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 • This drop-in group is an opportunity for women who have or have had breast cancer to come together to exchange information, offer support, education and
encouragement. Bring your favorite seasonal snack to share. 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. KnoxvilleWritersGuild.org. Saturday, June 4 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 GERMAN TREFF • GruJo’s German Restaurant • 2PM • Whether you have lived in Germany and would like to share some memories, would like to explore your roots, practice the language, or if you are just curious and like to meet new people, this monthly meeting, held on the first Saturday of each month, is a great opportunity to have a wonderful time. • FREE SEEKERS OF SILENCE • Church of the Savior United Church of Christ • 9AM • Seekers of Silence is an ecumenical and interfaith gathering of men and women who come together to listen. We listen to presenters speak on spirituality topics; we listen to God in silent prayer; we listen to each other in small group sharing.Participants come from a variety of religious traditions. Members of several denominations as well as followers of other faiths come from all over East Tennessee to attend. All are welcome. Our meetings are on the first Saturday of each month (except July). Meetings start with 20 minutes of silent meditation, followed by a talk and small group discussions. We end with another 20-minute meditation and a shared lunch. The meetings are open to all and free of charge, although donations are accepted. Visit sosknoxville.org. • FREE Sunday, June 5 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 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
Great Food, Great Service, Great Value!
WORMWOOD • Angelica • MACE • CORIANDER • CINNAMON • Citrus
GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR
OUTDOORSY SIDE! Our New Release
Urban Wilderness HERBAL LIQUEUR A portion of the proceeds from each sale will benefit The Legacy Parks Foundation.
LEGACY PARKS BENEFIT BALTER BEERWORKS
Thursday, June 2nd from 5pm-7pm For the launch of Urban Wilderness Herbal Liqueur, please join us in the Beer Garden at Balter Beerworks. Socialize, support Legacy Parks, and imbibe with friends!
Schedule a distillery tour online! 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 June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 39
CALENDAR Monday, June 6 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, June 7 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. STFK SCIENCE CAFE • Knoxville Zoo • 5:30PM • A free monthly discussion of science-related topics, hosted by the Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville. Email rsvp@ knoxsciencecafe.org. • FREE Thursday, June 9 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY LEUKEMIA, LYMPHOMA, AND MYELOMA NETWORKER • Cancer Support Community • 6PM • This drop-in group is open for those with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and myeloproliferative
Thursday, June 2 - Sunday, June 12
disorders and their support persons. Participants will be able to exchange information, discuss concerns and share experiences. Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. Saturday, June 11 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 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY PROSTATE CANCER NETWORKER • Cancer Support Community • 10AM • This drop-in group is an opportunity for men to network with other men about their experiences with prostate cancer. Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. Sunday, June 12 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 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 SKEPTIC BOOK CLUB • Books-A-Million • 2PM • The book club of the Rationalists of East Tennessee meets on the second Sunday of every month. Visit rationalists.org. • FREE
ETC.
Thursday, June 2 MARBLE SPRINGS SHOPPING AT THE FARM FARMER’S MARKET • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 3PM • Marble Springs State Historic Site is proud to present the sixtth season of Shopping at the Farm, the Marble Springs Farmer’s Market for our South Knoxville community. The market will be held Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. beginning on May 19 and continuing weekly through Sept. 22. All vendors will be selling fresh, locally-produced products, and artisan crafts. This year we will be allowing the addition of antiques vendors. • FREE Saturday, June 4 MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 9AM • 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. Products vary by the season and include ornamental plants, vegetable and herb starts, produce, dairy, eggs, honey, meats, baked goods, jams/jellies, coffee, & artisan crafts. Every Wednesday from 11a.m. to 2p.m. and Saturday from 9a.m. to 2p.m., May 4 – November 19, 2016. Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE 100 BLACK MEN OF GREATER KNOXVILLE 2016 GALA • Holiday Inn (World’s Fair Park) • 7PM • Continuing with last year’s theme, I Am My Brother’s Keeper, our guest speaker will be former University of Tennessee standout and current AAU Basketball Coach Bobby Cornell Maze, a director of BMAZE Elite AAU Basketball Club. Maze will offer words of encouragement for our youth and the community at large.The entire evening will be in dedication to The 100 Black Men’s recently dearly departed young brother, Zaevion Dobson, a Fulton High School sophomore who died in 2015 while protecting friends from gunfire. Event proceeds support the primary focus of 100 Black Men of Greater Knoxville Inc. which is to prepare young people who may be at risk for the future by assisting in the enhancement of their academic skills and by increasing their educational opportunities. • $60 SEYMOUR FARMERS MARKET • First Baptist Church Seymour • 8AM • Open from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday from June to the second Saturday in October. Locally grown fruits, vegetables, eggs, honey, baked goods and crafts sold by the person who produced it. • FREE
ADVERTISING EQUALS SUPPORT. Thanks to all of our advertisers for their help in keeping our presses running. Return the favor by supporting them.
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CALENDAR Sunday, June 5 FEAST FOR THE FARMERS • The Old City • 6PM • Join Chef Tim Love will host an outdoor five-course dinner benefitting surrounding farms. Love’s full menu for Feast for the Farmers will be inspired by the seasonal bounty and ingredients from local growers and artisans, boasting bold flavors, wood-fired cooking techniques, and wild game offerings. Tickets cost $200 per person and include a five-course dinner with beverage pairings. Feast for the Farmers will take place on N. Central Street between Jackson and Willow. For an official invitation, please complete the online form here: http://cheftimlove. com/feast/. • $200 SLOW FOOD TN VALLEY SUMMER GARDEN SOIREE • Unnamed Venue • 5PM • Slow Food TN Valley is hosting an intimate five-course meal and wine pairing in the beautiful gardens of a private Knoxville residence on Sunday, June 5, from 5-9 p.m. The meal will be prepared by to innovative and artistic “mystery” chefs and will consisit of locally sourced and foraged ingredients. For details, menu, location, and purchasing tickets go to sftvsummersoiree.brownpapertickets.com. Tickets are limited. • $85 Wednesday, June 8 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. Products vary by the season and include ornamental plants, vegetable and herb starts, produce, dairy, eggs, honey, meats, baked goods, jams/jellies, coffee, & artisan crafts.With interactive fountains, live entertainment, delicious local groceries and tasty lunch options from some of Knoxville’s best food trucks, the MSFM is a perfect family destination. Every Wednesday from 11a.m. to 2p.m. and Saturday from 9a.m. to 2p.m., May 4 – November 19, 2016. Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE UT FARMERS MARKET • University of Tennessee • 4PM • Since 2010, the UT Farmers Market has provided a venue for area producers to sell healthful, local food to the greater Knoxville area. This year the market is expanding its community offerings. The UT Farmers Market is free and open to the public every Wednesday from 4-7 p.m. in the UT Gardens off Neyland Drive. Market activities will be scheduled through Oct. 19. For more information about the UT Farmers’ Market you can visit the market website: vegetables.tennessee.edu/utfm.html or find it on Facebook. • FREE Thursday, June 9 MARBLE SPRINGS SHOPPING AT THE FARM FARMER’S MARKET • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 3PM • Marble Springs State Historic Site is proud to present the sixtth season of Shopping at the Farm, the Marble Springs Farmer’s Market for our South Knoxville community. The market will be held Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. beginning on May 19 and continuing weekly through Sept. 22. All vendors will be selling fresh, locally-produced products, and artisan crafts. This year we will be allowing the addition of antiques vendors. • FREE THE BIG FAKE WEDDING • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 7PM • Brides- and grooms-to-be are invited to attend Knoxville’s inaugural The Big Fake Wedding. “Wedding guests” are brides- and grooms-to-be who enjoy an emotional vow renewal ceremony, a tasty cocktail-style dinner, and a dance-party reception while
experiencing local wedding vendors in action. Tickets for this event are $25 and may be purchased at www. thebigfakewedding.com. • $25 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, June 10 EAST TENNESSEE WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT • Hilton Knoxville Airport • 8AM • Michelle Stacey and Joan Wright are just the women you need to share perspectives on this year’s East Tennessee Women’s Leadership Summit. Stacey, who is the luncheon speaker, has a 35-year leadership career that culminated in her being president of Keurig, Inc. During a morning session, attendees will hear from Joan Wright, who led the executive leadership development program at Wachovia. Wright understands all about taking action, as she demonstrated when she summited Mount Kilimanjaro. Registration for the full day is $99 until April 30th; $129 from May 1st until June 3rd; $200 after June 3rd. To register, or to find more information about the conference go to www. easttnwomensls.com. • $99-$200 Saturday, June 11 SEYMOUR FARMERS MARKET • First Baptist Church Seymour • 8AM • Open from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday from June to the second Saturday in October. Locally grown fruits, vegetables, eggs, honey, baked goods and crafts sold by the person who produced it. • FREE MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 9AM • 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. Products vary by the season and include ornamental plants, vegetable and herb starts, produce, dairy, eggs, honey, meats, baked goods, jams/jellies, coffee, & artisan crafts. With interactive fountains, live entertainment, delicious local groceries and tasty lunch options from some of Knoxville’s best food trucks, the MSFM is a perfect family destination. Every Wednesday from 11a.m. to 2p.m. and Saturday from 9a.m. to 2p.m., May 4 – November 19, 2016. Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE
Send your events to calendar@knoxmercury.com
OUTDOOR EVENTS Part of our purpose in creating shops that service the outdoor enthusiast was to connect with our community, and fulfill a need to “know thy neighbor”. One way we do that is by hosting a slew of outdoor events to get folks together. Social media and email make it easy for you to stay up-to-date on the latest company-wide events like shop-led hikes, opportunities to participate in our shop rides, and when to join us on the water to paddle at our new rental boat house at Louisville Point park! If you are in need of trekking poles, daypacks or even a boat, paddle board or bike, we offer a competitive rental program. Join the Little River family and help us celebrate our 20th year!
Get ready for your next outdoor adventure here! 2408 E Lamar Alexander Pkwy 725 Watkins Road Maryville Maryville Store Hours: M-Fri 9-7pm Store Hours: M-Sat 10-7pm Sat 9-6pm • Sun 12-6pm Sun 12-6pm 865.681.4141 865.983.8095 www.cycologybicycles.com www.littlerivertradingco.com June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 41
THANK YOU
We would like to extend a big to all of our advertisers, supporters, and readers for supporting independent journalism! @ Home Audio/Video 420 Festival 5 Bar A & C Trades Geothermal AC Entertainment Always In Bloom American Institute of Architects Appalachia Business Communications Archer’s BBQ Architectural Antics Armada Bar Army Of TN Arnwine’s Furniture Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts Artoberfest Ashe’s Wines & Spirits Association Of Fundraising Professionals Atom Tickets Attack Monkey Productions Audi of Knoxville Barley’s
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Barnes and Barnes Salon Barre Belle Beardsley Farm Bennett Galleries Bijou Theatre Bike & Trail Blackhorse Brewery Bliss Home Blount Partnership Blue Gill Productions Blue Slip Winery Bob’s Liquor & Wine Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Boyd’s Jig & Reel Brackins Blues Club Brewhibition Bridals By Connie Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Broadway Family Karate Buzz Nabers DDS Calhoun’s Callan Advertising Carson Newman University Central Flats & Taps
Chandler’s Cherokee Distribution Chilhowee RV Chop Shop Hair Studio Church Street United Methodist Church Circa Wear Circle Modern Dance Clancy’s Tavern Clarence Brown Theater Clayton Center For The Arts Clinch River Custom Builders Club XYZ Colony Place Coolato Gelato Copper Cellar Corporation Courtland Group Covenant Health Crossfit Ex Libro Crown and Goose Cru Bistro Cruze Farms Dancing Bear Lodge Daniel F. Duncan Cabinet Maker
David Williams Dawn Coppock Dewhirst Properties Diana Warner Boutique Disc Exchange Dogwood Arts Festival Drake’s Restaurant Drink Eagle Distribution Earthadelic Earthfest East End Liquor East TN Film Gala Echelon Bikes Eldridge & Blakney Elizabeth Eason Architecture Encore Theatrical Company Est8te Everything Mushrooms Exclusive Fitness Farm To Griddle Crepes Ferment Station Fieldhouse Social Finbarr Saunders
First Neighborhoods Realty / Jennifer Rodocker Fisher Tire Folly Boutique Foothills Community Players Frameworks Friends of the Library Frussie’s Fulin’s Asian Restaurant G & G Interiors Gallaher Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Garden Montessori School Gifty Girl Go Contemporary Dance Goodwill Industries GoTeez Gourmet’s Market Graphic Creations Grayson Hyundai Greekfest Grow Salon Gypsy Hands Harb’s Rugs
Hardee’s Harper’s Auto Square Harper’s Bike Shop Harvest Towne Wine & Spirits Hilton Hotel Holiday Inn World’s Fair Park / Windows on the Park Hollerpalooza Holly’s 135 Holly’s Corner Holyland Market Humane Society Of TN Valley Jessica Weiss Jewelry Jim McKairnes John Black Photography John Coleman Bookseller Just Fer Paws Just Ripe K-Brew Kelly Absher Kimberly Dixson / Knoxville Downtown Realty Kindred Health Care Knox Brew Tours Knox County Health Dept. Knox County Schools Knox Heritage Knox Whiskey Works Knoxville Area Reproductive Rights Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) Knoxville Acupuncture Knoxville Bicycle Knoxville Botanical Gardens Knoxville Brewfest Knoxville Healing Center Knoxville History Project Knoxville Horror Film Fest Knoxville Institute Of Hair Design Knoxville Jazz Fest Knoxville Museum of Art: Alive After 5 Knoxville MPC / Smart Trips Knoxville Noodle Bowl Fest Knoxville Opera Knoxville Stomp Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Knoxville Tattoo Convention Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union Knoxville Uncorked Knoxville Walking Tours Koko Fit Club
Kristi’s Lincoln Memorial University Lisa Ross Birth & Women’s Center Little River Trading Co. Little River Watershed Association Liz-Beth & Co Lizard Thicket Longevity Massage Specialists Lost & Found Records Louie Bluie Festival Luttrell’s Eyewear Madeline Rogero Magpies Mango’s Decor & Co Maple Hall Marble Springs Mark Campen Market House Cafe Markman’s Marshall Stair Maryville College Mast General Store Master Woodworkers Show McGaha Electric Company McKay’s Me & Co Meadowbrooke Kennels Meadowsweet Massage & Wellness Melinda Grimac / Alliance Sotheby’s Mid-Mod Collective Mike Lewis Mind Yer P’s and Q’s M.S. McClellans Naked Foods Naples Italian Restaurant Nash For Men National Parks Conservation Association National Shows Neal Law Firm North Corner Sandwich Shop Nothing Too Fancy Nourish Skin Care Oak Ridge Playhouse Old City Java Old City Luxury Condos Olibea Open Chord Music
ORNL Federal Credit Union Outback Concerts Patricia Nash Designs Pellissippi State Community College Pete’s Coffee Shop Pilgrimage Festival Pilot Light Plainview TV Planet Xchange Poutine Food Truck Precious Metals Jewelry Preservation Pub Prestige Cleaners Pretentious Glass Company Project Brand Aid Prospect Mortgage Public House Purple Heart Tattoo Rala Raven Records and Rarities Red Bull Radio Regional Greenways Council Retropolitan Craft Fair Retrospect Rhythm N’ Blooms Festival Richard Barbee DDS Rick Laney Marketing Rik’s Music River’s Edge Apartment Homes River Sports Rocky Hill Hardware Runner’s Market Saint Tattoo Sally’s Alley Salon Visage Salvation Army / City Of Hope Gala Sapphire Sawworks Sawyer Studios School Of Rock Scruffy City Film & Music Festival Scruffy City Hall ScruffyCity.com See America Posters Senior Stay Home Sergeant Pepperoni’s Shaky Beats Festival Shaky Knees Festival Shawn Poynter Photography Shoney’s
Shuck Raw Bar Ski/Scuba Center Soccer Taco Southern Market Southland Spirits & Wine Spex St. James Episcopal Church St. John’s Cathedral Stanley’s Greenhouse Starhill Brewery Stephen A. Burroughs Straight Talk Studio 6 Sugarlands Distilling Co. Summit Healthcare Sunrise Supermarket Sunspot Survature Suttree’s Sweet P’s BBQ Taste Of Thai Ted Russell Nissan Tennova The Arts Center The Daniel The District Gallery & Framery The District In Bearden The Flower Pot The French Market The Gentle Barn The Glowing Body The Grill Store The Happy Envelope The Melting Pot The Mill & Mine The Neal Law Firm The Rationalists of East TN The Salvage Shop The Southern Market Three Rivers Market Three Rivers Rambler Thunder Road Distillery Thrifty Nickel TN Clean Water Network TN Medieval Faire TN School Of Beauty TN State Bank TN Tech / Appalachian Center For Craft TN Theatre TN Theatre Foundation TN Valley Bikes TN Valley Fair
Tomato Head Trailhead Beer Market Trio Cafe Trowbridge Furniture Tune Junkie Tupelo Honey Cafe TVA Uncle Lem’s Mountain Outfitters Union Ave Books Union Jacks UT Arts & Sciences UT Author Festival UT Center for Student Engagement UT Culinary Program UT Dept. of History UT Dept. of Religious Studies UT Federal Credit Union UT Opera UT Poetry Week UT Press UT Research Foundation UT Tolstoy Festival VG’s Bakery Vickie Jarnigo Realtor Vienna Coffee Company Visit Knoxville VMC Volapalooza Walker Creek Candies WDVX Webb School West Knoxville Rotary Club Westwood Antique & Design Market Which Way Out White Fox Beads Whittington Creek Art Show Winston Eye & Vision Center WKCE Mid Century Radio WNFZ Wood Realtors WUOT WUTK Yassin’s Falafel Ye Olde Steak House Yee Haw Brewing Company YMCA Young-Williams Animal Center Youth Pride Fest / First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge Zipcar
June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 43
OUTDOORS
Out side Insider
Photos by Kim Trevathan
High or Low Here are two different runs for paddling on the Little River BY KIM TREVATHAN
P
addling on moving water versus flat water tends to be more fun because of the surprises that pop up on a bending, swirling, wavy waterway. For example, a couple of minutes after putting in at Townsend on the Little River, I was surprised to find my boat pinned against a standing rock and filling up with cold water. I’d gone right when I should have gone left. After disengaging from the rock and wading to a grassy island to empty my boat and catch my breath, I headed downstream again with a keener eye on the river’s mischief. This was the second of two shuttle trips that I took with Drew Crain and his son Jared on the Little River in May. Although the two trips are only a dozen or so miles apart, they offer strikingly different experiences on the same river, each of them in Blount County less than an hour from Knoxville.
LOWER RUN
The first trip, what I’ll call the lower run, starts at River John’s Outfitters (865-982-0793, riverjohns.com) northeast of Maryville and ends at the Alcoa Water Treatment Plant. The 44
KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
river gauge above Townsend was below 2 feet and a bit under 200 CFS (cubic feet per second). On this part of the river, with several easy shoals and rocky passages, the relatively low water would not be a concern. River John’s has a mown lot and a bank that slopes down to sand bars where it’s easy to launch a kayak. He charges $10 to launch there and leave your vehicle, and he will also run a shuttle for you if you’re in one vehicle ($20). Drew and I were fishing for smallmouth in recreational kayaks 10 to 11 feet long. Jared, not fishing, scouted the crossings for us. The fishing wasn’t great, but it was a relaxing run past farmland and steep rocky bluffs. I caught one bass about the size of a sardine while Drew caught a couple slightly larger, and lost a few that promised to be keepers. He blamed a dull hook for preventing him from landing these potential trophies. We took our time, fishing on the long and frequent pools, bird watching (great blue herons, hawks, kingfishers, geese), turtle watching (one big snapping turtle), and exploring a cave,
though it was Jared alone who was brave enough to back into the dark opening at our coaxing. It took us about three hours to float down to the water plant at Singleton Bend, a paddle of a little more than 4 miles. A couple of things to keep in mind on this run: at about the halfway point of the trip, you’ll see a small wooden cabin on the right bank and up ahead the tip of Brakebill Island. Take the left passage around the island; the right is blocked by deadfall. A couple of miles later, when you see a concrete, tower-like structure on the left bank, look for the takeout ramp in the shady narrow chute just a few yards downstream of the tower. Overall this is a gently flowing section with deep pools and plenty of time for fishing, photography, and daydreaming. Because there is very little development on this run, you’ll feel far away from traffic and commerce and dry land worries. How to get to the lower run from Knoxville: Go to the end of Pellissippi Parkway and take a left on Highway 33. Go about a half-mile to a stoplight and take a right on Sam Houston School Road. Look for the water plant on your left and a chain link fence. When you see a gap in the fence and a gravel road, turn there and this will lead you to a small parking area near the river. This is the takeout, where I left my car. To get to the put-in: Take a left on Sam Houston School Road and drive until you get to a stop sign, a couple of
miles. Take a left there (Wildwood Road) and drive until you cross the river. Take the first right after the river crossing (Cave Mill Road). River John’s is on your right about a half-mile down this road.
UPPER RUN
The upper river run, starting in Townsend, is much more eventful. We ran it at about minimum flow. The gauge above Townsend was at about 2 feet, the current running at about 250 CFS (cubic feet per second). Any lower than this, and you’d be wading more than paddling. While you don’t feel near as isolated on this run—with Highway 321 a continual presence on the left, Old Walland Highway on the right— the river itself is much wilder than on the lower run. Because of frequent shoals and shallow ledges and chutes, you have to continually scout the best passages and look for the “V” where the most water seems to be flowing. For me, scraping over rocks and gravel and bumping into boulders was fairly commonplace. The river, so clear that you can see to the bottom of the deepest pools, had a mesmerizing effect on me as I watched it slide over rocks and raise its hackles into chop that splashed into my cockpit. Downstream of the Cameron Road bridge, about a half-hour into our run, Drew had some luck fishing the eddies below the shoals. He caught two rainbow trout (stocked) on
OUTDOORS
a rooster tail and farther downriver a hefty smallmouth. After the Cameron Road bridge, we passed under a concrete foot bridge, and then a swinging foot bridge, the community of Kinzel Springs on the right bank. Not far downstream of the swinging bridge is a boulder field about a quarter mile long, which requires a lot of zigging and zagging at the level we were running the river. Class V boater and kayak instructor Kirk Eddlemon, who gave me a lesson on this run, says that 450 to 800 CFS (at the Townsend gauge) is the optimal level for running this section in a recreational boat. Anything above that, he says, will be “pushy” for a non-whitewater paddler in a rec boat. After a couple of miles, there’s a picnic area on the left bank, which requires a right passage around the island just downstream. Further on, you’ll see a cairn in the middle of the river, which means you’re a quarter mile or so from the takeout. For a rec boater like me, this was an exhilarating run of about 4 miles that left my arms and back sore for a couple of days. It helped ease the pain that I did catch one rainbow (on a Little Cleo spoon) so that Crain didn’t skunk me. To get to the Upper River from Knoxville: Take 321 north out of Maryville, as if you’re going to the Smokies. After 9 miles or so, take a left at Walland. You’re on Old Walland Highway. Cross the river and bear
right. Take it slow on this road, popular with cyclists and bank fishers. After about a mile you’ll see the Foothills Parkway overpass (graffiti marks the spot) and a place to pull over on the right side of the road. This is your takeout where you can leave a vehicle. To get to the put-in: Go on down Old Walland Highway about 4 miles to Cameron Road. Take a right and cross the river. Take a left on 321 and after about a half mile look for a parking lot/picnic area across from Apple Valley Country Store and Cafe for the put in. There is a dirt path leading down to the river and a good level spot at an eddy for launching. A big help on each of these trips is the Little River Blueway map, available for free at, among other places, Uncle Lem’s Outfitters (865-357-8566, unclelems.com), REI (865-584-1938, rei.com), and River Sports Outfitters (865-523-0066, riversportsoutfitters. com) in Knoxville, and at Little River Trading Company (865-681-4141, littlerivertradingco.com) just outside Maryville on 321. With the map, created by the Little River Watershed Association (littleriverwatershed.org), you can create your own itineraries and discover a lot more about the river’s history and wildlife. ◆ A writing instructor at Maryville College, Kim Trevathan is the author of Paddling the Tennessee River: A Voyage on East Water and Coldhearted River: A Canoe Odyssey Down the Cumberland. June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 45
’BYE
Sacred & P rofane
If Dogs Could Fly The struggle to save a free spirit BY DONNA JOHNSON
T
here are beings who are not quite earthly, who exhibit qualities a little more evolved than those of the inhabitants of this planet. They are viewed by others as odd, their main characteristic being a solitary, intense quality that sets them apart. They are generally not ambitious, for their main impulse is a powerful longing for home, to go back where they came from—although they are clueless as to where their home is. The only thing they know with certainty is that this is not it. So it was with the wild dog I would later name Abraham, for like the Abraham from Biblical times, he was looking for a country to call his own. It was in late October that I saw a beige, shaggy, unkempt creature galloping across the railroad tracks near Amhurst Road in Northwest Knoxville, his attention focused on only one thing: escape from the clutches of the Animal Control officer in hot pursuit. Until our eyes met. “That your dog?” a tidy woman in
the brown uniform asked. She looked tired and disinterested, except for a gleam of malice in her eyes. I already had two cats and two fox terriers at home. “Why, yes,” I said, reaching out to touch the dog, but at my sudden movement he skirted away in a slightly lopsided lope back across the railroad tracks. The Animal Control officer looked at me. “That’s not your dog,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’ve been trailing that dog for six weeks. He’s completely wild. It’s gonna freeze soon and since that dog hasn’t anybody or anywhere to stay, it would be better off if we caught him and put him down, ’cause he’s liable to freeze to death.” I gasped. It was unimaginable that this wild, wonderful creature with his fierce desire to live should not be able to do so. Abraham studied me as he paused to get his breath. “Please, please don’t do that,” I begged. “Give me a chance to catch him and I promise he won’t cause you any more problems.”
BY MATTHEW FOLTZ-GRAY
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY June 2, 2016
www.thespiritofthestaircase.com
“I’ll give you two weeks, no more,” she said, and left. I leaned against the trunk of an old oak tree to watch Abraham, who had curled up on the porch of one of my neighbors. We didn’t move. He lifted his head a few times during the night to see if I was still there. I did the same with him. We spent the night like that, each watching the other. By the time the sun rose, this wild dog who had to struggle so hard just to have the right to exist had captured me—body, mind, heart, and soul. Abraham’s luck was about to change in a radical way. No more garbage cans and dumpster food. I bought whole chickens from Gourmet’s Market, plus T-bone steaks and lean hamburger. This dog was eating better than I was, all the while watching me out of the corner of one shaggy eye. Each time I would come almost near enough to touch him, off he would go. I got a large net and tried to scoop up this 90-pound dog, but he was too smart for me. Time was running out, so I went to my supervisor at the Department of Human Services where I worked and said, “I’m going to need the next week off to catch this dog.” “You’re kidding,” she said. Everyone in the office already knew about Abraham because I talked about him all the time. People in the neighborhood often stood on their porches and watched my efforts. At one point a man called out to me: “You’ll never catch that dog. He’s
too wild.” I ignored him and soldiered on. I was getting closer, for he began sleeping on my porch, but still I couldn’t get near him. I slept in a sleeping bag at the bottom of the porch. And still we watched each other. Three or four trucks from Animal Control came to the neighborhood but Abraham outwitted us all. They had become so attached to this marvelous creature that they kept extending his deadline. I engaged everyone and everything I could think of. UT veterinarians came out and shot him with a tranquilizer gun. Even in his drugged state, he roused himself and fled when they came near. I got him drunk on beer while I myself drank shots of whiskey at a safe distance. All the while he watched me, eating his gourmet meals and drinking beer while I myself was eating ramen noodles. After almost four months, he growled at a neighbor’s child who had thrown a ball at his head. Animal Control said: “We’re sorry. People are afraid for their children. We’re going to have to shoot him.” I wept, the fox terriers howled, and the cats went into a frenzy. It stormed that night, terrible flashes of lightning, hail stones as big as your fist, and all the while I wept. I got on my knees and told God I would read the Bible cover to cover if He would let me have this dog. And I did this—the King James version, no less.
’BYE Well, my neighbor was right about one thing: I never did catch that dog. Maisie did. She went into heat and I put her into the garage. Without realizing it I had left the garage window open, and when I went down to feed Maisie, there was Abraham inside my garage just getting ready to make baby Abrahams. All I had to do was slip the collar around his neck. He looked up at me and I looked back, and I finally knew that God does answer prayers. I slept the whole night with him wrapped in a blanket on the basement floor, and by morning he was all mine. And I was his. On the day when I walked a proud Abraham around the neighborhood on a leash, my neighbors came out on their porches and clapped. I had an 8-foot fence built in the back yard and put Abraham in it, but guess
BY IAN BLACKBURN AND JACK NEELY
what: Within seconds, he had sailed over it. That’s when I knew that dogs could fly. Abraham was a free spirit and could not be contained. But he never left me. He didn’t trust anyone else, but he trusted me with his whole heart and I gave him mine. Abraham lived with me for 16 years. One day, he couldn’t get up and I took him to the vet to be put down. Even at the end, this noble animal fought to live. As I walked away, I shed no tears, for I knew he would be back. Days later, I picked up a small orange kitten from a feral colony at Isabella Towers and placed him in a cardboard box, which he rocked back and forth with his small self as if to say, “You think you can keep me in this nasty old box? Well, think again.” “Calm down, Abraham,” I said to the kitten. “We’ll be home soon.” And so we were. ◆
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FUN AND FESTIVE JEWELRY, local and handmade, unique and modern, repurposed vintage beads, hand-painted geometric necklaces, and more. etsy.com/shop/triciabee
HOUSING
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SERVICES
DANE KRISTOF, The popular Nashville psychic and clairvoyant that the tabloids call,” the Seer of Music Row,” is accepting appts. for when he is in Knoxville this month. One Nashville paper said, “This guy’s the real deal. He starts by telling you little known things that only you could know not to impress you but to add validation to the reading.” Call (615)4294053 for a Knoxville appt. – www.DaneKristof.com. PLACE YOUR AD AT STORE.KNOXMERCURY.COM
COMMUNITY
DANDIE - is a 4 y/o female Hound/mix who would just love to play with your family! She is spayed, microchipped, and up-to-date on shots! Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
LILY - is just 2 m/o and looking for playmates for life! She’s already had her spay surgery, and is ready to go home! Visit YoungWilliams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
HOBBS - is a 4 y/o male DSH looking for his forever home! He is neutered, microchipped, and up-to-date on shots! Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
DUMBO - is a Rhodesian Ridge Back / Labrador Retriever mix ready to wiggle into your heart! He is neutered, microchipped, and up to date on shots! Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
Saturday, June 4th, 2016 3PM - 10PM Dancing Bear Lodge Outdoor Pavilion Stage Robinella - The Whiskey Gentry - Shannon Whitworth & Barrett Smith - Cherohala - Katie Pruitt
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June 2, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 47
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