SPECIAL DOUBLE ISSUE! (DON’T LOOK FOR US NEXT WEEK)
JULY 21, 2016 KNOXMERCURY.COM V.
2 / N. 29
the r o f t s A que s e i r o t s n e t t o g r o F s s e e h t Te of River claybyduda
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NEWS
Owners of Howard House Want Property Rezoned Commercial
JACK NEELY
The Forgotten Origins of a Summer Icon: Polo Field
OUTDOORS
The Outside Insider on How to Buy Your First Kayak
STEPHANIE PIPER
Respect Your Elders: A New Approach to Cronedom
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?�
-Abraham Lincoln
Some lessons are worth revisiting.
Home to one of the most diverse Lincoln and Civil War collections in the country. Open seven days a week. Tours available. Call 423.869.6235 for info. www.LMUnet.edu/Museum 2
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
July 21, 2016 Volume 02 / Issue 29 knoxmercury.com “ The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.” —Voltaire
NEWS
10 Howard House Revisited
An estate controlling a historic Craftsman home on North Broadway has sent a letter notifying Knoxville City Council and Mayor Madeline Rogero of its plans to seek commercial zoning for the property. If approved by the Metropolitan Planning Commission and Council, the change would likely pave the way for demolition of the house built in 1910, as S. Heather Duncan reports.
11 Civic Disobedience
12 S hantyboat Dreams COVER STORY
Over the next few months, Captain Wes “Pancakes” Modes and a revolving cast of shipmates are going to pilot a ramshackle boat down the Tennessee River in search of history. They’re seeking out stories about people and towns tied to the river, of the forgotten families who once lived in not-dissimilar homemade river boats and eked out a living on the Tennessee. The tales of these folks and others, now mostly a relic of Americana folklore, are the types of “secret histories” Modes hopes to capture in interviews, videos, Instagrams, and artists’ renderings. Clay Duda joins the California artist for a few days on his journey down the river.
Over the past several weeks, dozens of protesters have taken to the streets of Knoxville in a continued push to draw attention to issues of race, systemic disparities, and also to remember victims of recent shootings in a call for nonviolence—including two black men killed during encounters with police and later police officers slain in shootings possibly sparked by those instances. They demonstrated with incidents of civil disobedience not often seen in Knoxville, gaining both attention and ire from observers and commenters. Clay Duda reports.
Still Want to Help Out? It’s never too late! Our Press Forward fundraising campaign may be officially complete, but you can still help the Mercury become a great paper for Knoxville! Go to: knoxmercury.com/donate.
DEPARTMENTS
OPINION
A&E
4 Letters to the Editor 6 Howdy
8 Scruffy Citizen
18 Program Notes: The dream of
9 Perspectives
19 Inside the Vault: Eric Dawson
Start Here: By the Numbers, Public Affairs, Quote Factory PLUS: “Photo Recollection: Knoxville Streets,” a photo series by Holly Rainey.
44 ’Bye
Finish There: At This Point by Stephanie Piper, Crooked Street Crossword by Ian Blackburn and Jack Neely, Spirit of the Staircase by Matthew Foltz-Gray
Jack Neely goes in search of the lost Polo Field of his youth.
Joe Sullivan musters at least a bit of hope that state legislators will finally try to close health-care gaps.
CALENDAR creating Modern Studio, and a radio tribute to folk singer Guy Carawan. uncovers mid-’60s UT folk singers tackling some unlikely blues.
20 Music: Matthew Everett catches a wave with Appalachian Surf Team.
21 Movies: April Snellings ain’t afraid of
22 Spotlights: Singer/songwriter
Sarah Jarosz, Summer Slaughter death metal festival with Cannibal Corpse, a Maori healers workshop, and the World Championship of Cornhole XI.
OUTDOORS
42 Inside Outsider
Kim Trevathan offers some tips on how to buy your first kayak.
no Ghostbusters.
July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 3
LETTERS Delivering Fine Journalism Since 2015
ENOUGH
The audience was brought to tears. Knoxville watched with pride and sadness. We are proud of our own Zaevion Dobson. We are proud of his mother for her rousing speech as she accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award on behalf of her son at the ESPY awards on July 13. But tears don’t answer her call. She asked us to join the movement to save innocent lives from gun violence. Zaevion made the ultimate sacrifice for his friends and his community. He was killed in December when he shielded three girls from a spray of bullets. I can’t match his courage. But I can honor his memory and his awe-inspiring bravery by standing up and saying, “Enough.” We have lost enough. We have mourned enough. 91
Americans are shot and killed every day and the United States has a gun murder rate more than 25 times higher than that of other developed countries. We need to stand up and make our voices heard. As a volunteer in the local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, I know that together our voices are making a difference. We work to prevent gun violence by promoting common-sense gun laws and by educating the public about safe gun storage. We are a bipartisan, grassroots group made up of gun owners and non-gun owners. We are your neighbors. We are your friends. We are asking you to join us now. We need you. Kendra Straub Sevierville
Hey, We’re Moving! That’s right—we’ll be picking up stakes (and all our stuff) to a new office/ world headquarters on the week of July 25. That means we will not be publishing an issue for July 28. But we’ll be back on Aug. 4, just in time to launch our Top Knox 2016 ballot. Not to worry, events-goers—this week’s edition is a double issue with an extra-long calendar section. Here’s our new address: 618 S. Gay St., Suite L2, Knoxville, TN 37902 (Yes, local historians, we’ll be moving into the Arcade Building, which was once the home of the Knoxville Journal!)
OPEN CALL FOR TALENT
Help us make the Mercury the best paper in East Tennessee! If you have an idea for a spectacular new department or column, then pitch us. All ideas will be considered! Or, if you’re an experienced reporter looking for assignments, let us know about your areas of expertise. We especially would like to find contributors in the following areas: • business • state politics • arts & entertainment • general funniness Send your pitch letter and writing samples to: editor@knoxmercury.com
HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR AWESOME KNOXVILLE MERCURY T-SHIRT YET?
We’ve probably mentioned this before. But even if you already own one of our highly collectible launch T-shirts, you’ll certainly want to pick up one of our new, extremely fashionable gray T’s. Guaranteed to make you 30 percent more sexy among people who like to read about Knoxville! Meanwhile, you can also shop for all of our Knoxville Mercury goods and services. We’ve got koozies, and amazingly enough, classified ads! And remember, all proceeds go to a worthy cause: keeping your favorite weekly paper in business. Go to: store.knoxmercury.com.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR GUIDELINES
• Letter submissions should include a verifiable name, address, and phone number. We do not print anonymous letters. • We much prefer letters that address issues that pertain specifically to Knoxville or to stories we’ve published. • We don’t publish letters about personal disputes or how you didn’t like your waiter at that restaurant. • Letters are usually published in the order that we receive them. Send your letters to: Our Dear Editor, Knoxville Mercury 618 S. Gay St., Suite L2 Knoxville, TN 37902 Send an email to: editor@knoxmercury.com Or message us at: facebook.com/knoxmercury 4
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
EDITORIAL EDITOR Coury Turczyn coury@knoxmercury.com SENIOR EDITOR Matthew Everett matthew@knoxmercury.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Jack Neely jack@knoxhistoryproject.org STAFF WRITERS S. Heather Duncan heather@knoxmercury.com Clay Duda clay@knoxmercury.com CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Barrett Ian Blackburn Brian Canever Patrice Cole Eric Dawson George Dodds Lee Gardner Mike Gibson Carey Hodges Nick Huinker Donna Johnson
Rose Kennedy Catherine Landis Dennis Perkins Stephanie Piper Ryan Reed Eleanor Scott Alan Sherrod April Snellings Joe Sullivan Kim Trevathan Chris Wohlwend
INTERN Josh Witt
DESIGN ART DIRECTOR Tricia Bateman tricia@knoxmercury.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Charlie Finch
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
David Luttrell Shawn Poynter Justin Fee Tyler Oxendine CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS
Ben Adams Matthew Foltz-Gray
ADVERTISING PUBLISHER & DIRECTOR OF SALES Charlie Vogel charlie@knoxmercury.com SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Scott Hamstead scott@knoxmercury.com Stacey Pastor stacey@knoxmercury.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Michael Tremoulis michael@knoxmercury.com
BUSINESS BUSINESS MANAGER Scott Dickey scott.dickey@knoxmercury.com
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 706 Walnut St., Suite 404, Knoxville, Tenn. 37902 knoxmercury.com • 865-313-2059 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR & PRESS RELEASES editor@knoxmercury.com CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS calendar@knoxmercury.com SALES QUERIES sales@knoxmercury.com DISTRIBUTION distribution@knoxmercury.com
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Terry Hummel Joe Sullivan Jack Neely Coury Turczyn Charlie Vogel The Knoxville Mercury is an independent weekly news magazine devoted to informing and connecting Knoxville’s many different communities. It is a taxable, not-for-profit company governed by the Knoxville History Project, a non-profit organization devoted to exploring, disseminating, and celebrating Knoxville’s unique cultural heritage. It publishes 25,000 copies per week, available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. © 2016 The Knoxville Mercury
Norris and Knoxville Norris Dam turns 80 this month. Norris Dam, on the Clinch River, straddles the borders of Anderson and Campbell Counties, about 30 miles from Knoxville, but it’s a major reason that the Tennessee Valley Authority established its headquarters here. Norris was TVA’s first big new project. Along with the planned town of Norris, built by TVA as an ideal community for dam workers, the Norris complex became a showplace for TVA’s accomplishments and promise. TVA found it useful to establish its headquarters in Knoxville, a city with office space and hotels within an easy drive of Norris. Several TVA leaders moved to the town of Norris, including some of its early directors, and commuted to Knoxville. Its namesake was not a Knoxvillian or even a Tennessean, but a hardworking, idealistic politician who represented Nebraska. Sen. George W. Norris (1861-1944) was a Progressive Republican and a broad-minded fellow who worried about the Tennessee Valley even though it was hundreds of miles from his constituency. (Norris Dam, in fact, is about 1,100 miles form Norris’s home.)
including all three TVA directors, former and future mayors, and university and business leaders. It was a greeting, a reporter remarked, usually reserved for a popular presidential candidate. Norris responded to the surprise with grace and an unprepared speech. “The TVA program calls for a navigable channel all the way from Knoxville to the Gulf of Mexico,” he said. “You’ll have almost the advantages of an ocean port. This means cheap transportation, and this coupled with cheap electric power should produce wonders for your people.” Then David Lilienthal, the youngest of TVA’s three directors, drove him to the brand-new town of Norris, Tenn., where workers were almost finished with TVA’s first dam. He toured Norris Lake via boat, and spent a week here, giving talks at a dinner at the Andrew Johnson Hotel and a large public meeting at the University of Tennessee.
Sometimes hailed as a work of modern art, Norris Dam was world famous, considered such a wonder that celebrities from around the world Completed in July, 1936, Norris Dam was often came to visit. Among them were Eleanor Roosevelt compared to modernist art. Photographs of it appeared For years before Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, (her famous husband Franklin saw it separately), at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and even the Norris had argued persuasively about the importance French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, newspaper hyper-modernist Swiss architect Le Corbusier visited of government control of the flood-prone Tennessee columnist Ernie Pyle, Olympic star Jesse Owens, the dam, and found it inspiring. This early photo, in River. As TVA developed, Norris advocated a chain Swiss architect Le Corbusier, and India’s first prime which you can read the word NORRIS in stylish of TVAs across the country to provide public control lettering, shows the corner of the dam and its powerminister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In early 1941, New of America’s rivers, for hydroelectric power and house, with the original visitors’ entrance. York’s Museum of Modern Art hosted a photograflood prevention. phy exhibit featuring photographs of Norris Dam Photo courtesy of Tennessee Valley Authority emphasizing its modernism. (The featured photograwww.tva.gov Much of the planning for Norris Dam was done phers were Knoxvillians Charles Krutch and Emil in downtown Knoxville, especially in TVA’s headquarSienknecht; 40 years later, Krutch left the endowters buildings, like the New Sprankle (now known as the Pembroke) on Union ment to establish downtown Knoxville’s Krutch Park). Avenue. Norris Dam was considered very modern in style. Its lead designer was young Hungarian-born architect Roland Wank (1898-1970), who lived Norris Dam became a prototype for several other dams that would be built in Knoxville for several years, in the relatively new community of Sequoyah in the decade after the Norris project, for both hydroelectric power and flood Hills, before moving to the town of Norris, which Wank helped design. control. Among them are Cherokee Dam (1941) on the Holston, Watts Bar Dam (1942) on the Tennessee, Douglas Dam (1943) on the French Broad, Fort Loudoun Once when Sen. Norris was with President Franklin Roosevelt visiting TVA Dam (1943) on the Tennessee, and Fontana Dam (1944) on the Little Tennessee. facilities at Muscle Shoals, he telephoned the office of the Norris Dam project. The federal energy available from TVA’s cluster of hydroelectric dams in the “Norris here,” answered a TVA official. “No, Norris here!” responded Norris. Knoxville area was a major reason Oak Ridge was chosen as the location of part of the Manhattan Project, and later Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In September 1935, the 74-year-old senator expected to get off the train at Knoxville’s Southern Railway station for a quiet automobile tour of Norris Dam. He was surprised on Depot Street by Mayor John T. O’Connor and a huge crowd, including a committee of 150 civic leaders and local celebrities,
Norris Dam will celebrate its 80th birthday on site on July 29 and 30 with what TVA promises will be a “big dam party.” For more, see tva.gov.
Source: 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 July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 5
thinkstock
HOWDY
BY THE NUMBERS
Taming the Tennessee
652
miles of Tennessee River, which starts in Knoxville at the confluence of the Holston and French Board rivers and ends near Paducah, Ky. where it meets the Ohio River.
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shanty boat brave enough to attempt to transverse the entire stretch of the Tennessee (see this week’s cover story).
David walks across Summit Hill Drive. PHOTO RECOLLECTION: KNOXVILLE STREETS by Holly Rainey (loveh865.com)
QUOTE FACTORY
39 9
tributaries (or more) across four states feed water into the Tennessee River.
dams installed by the Tennessee Valley Authority help regulate water flow, produce electricity, control flooding, and make the river navigable year-round. An additional 23 dams block water on its tributaries. —Clay Duda
“ We as a country need to take a stand to consider the effects of gun violence on families throughout America.”
Souce: Tennessee Valley Authority; Encyclopedia Britannica
—Zenobia Dobson, from her speech at the July 13, 2016 ESPY Awards, accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award on behalf of her son, Zaevion Dobson, who was murdered while protecting others in a drive-by shooting,
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
7/22 HEALTHY HAPPY HOUR BLOCK PARTY 7/24 READMISSION DAY 2016 FRIDAY
4:30-6:30 p.m., The Central Collective (923 N. Central St.). Free. We still need to recover from last week’s Richy Kreme 69th anniversary—and this block party celebrating family health is just the ticket. There will be low-cost yoga and children’s movement classes, health experts from the Knox County Health Department to answer questions, and WUOT’s TruckBeat team will be on hand to hear your health stories.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
SUNDAY
2 p.m., Old Gray Cemetery (at the William Brownlow Memorial). Free. Tennessee was the last state to secede and the first state to be readmitted to the Union after the Civil War. The Major William A. McTeer Camp No. 39 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will be commemorating the sesquicentennial of our re-admission with re-enactments, musicians, and speeches. Take that, Texas!
7/26 LECTURE: THE VIKING AGE TUESDAY
Noon, East Tennessee History Center (601 South Gay St.). Free. Did the Vikings establish colonies in the mountains of East Tennessee? Probably not! But we’re going to ask author and genealogist Ron Jones anyway because we’d like to believe they did. Jones will be examining the legacy of the Vikings, including current portrayals, common myths and misunderstandings, and the nature of their society. Info: easttnhistory.org.
7/29 NORRIS DAM CELEBRATION FRIDAY
10 a.m.-6 p.m., Norris Dam State Park (125 Village Green Circle, Rocky Top). Free. TVA is throwing a two-day “big dam party” to mark the iconic Norris Dam’s 80th anniversary, with tours of the powerhouse, food, live music, and the Big Dam 8K Race on Saturday morning. Parking for all events will be at the Museum of Appalachia (2819 Andersonville Hwy., Clinton, Tenn.), with shuttles running to and from the celebration site all day. Info: tva.com.
Your Downtown Experience Begins Here 612 Gay Street Make your new home in a stately and storied building with a colorful past, the old Mechanics Bank and Trust building, built in 1909 on or around the original Civil War-era edifice. Located in the heart of the historic theater district, steps from the Tennessee Theater, this historic landmark boasts a striking marble facade in the Beaux-Arts classical style with Corinthian columns. Each floor has been completely gutted and is ready for customization to your family's needs.
Full floor-size units available ranging from 3359-3489 sq ft each. This storied structure was the site of: The Mabry-O'Connor gunbattle of 1882—chronicled by Mark Twain in his book Life onthe Mississippi—that left two men dead. The headquarters of the committee that formed the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The first TV broadcast in East Tennessee. Dolly Parton's first TV performance. The teenaged Everly Brother's first broadcast. The private Old City Club where Knoxville's movers and shakers mingled.
Call today for an appointment! MELINDA GRIMAC | affiliate broker | o. 865.357.3232 | c. 865-356-4178 Melinda.Grimac@SothebysRealty.com | melindagrimac.alliancesothebysrealty.com
Jake Gyllenhall's first starring role, in the film October Sky, which was filmed here.
Each office is independently owned and operated
July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 7
SCRUFFY CITIZEN
The Polo Field The forgotten origins of a summer icon BY JACK NEELY
T
hat’s what they called the baseball field on the riverside flood plain below Cherokee Boulevard. Half a century ago, I played baseball down there. Framed by wooded residential lots on either side, the Polo Field was the bottom of a sort of half-bowl, with the big grassy slopes forming a natural amphitheater. In the league intended for boys who weren’t ready for Little League, we played in our tennis shoes, in colored T-shirts with neither numbers nor letters. I was grateful, because it made me harder to identify from a distance. Most of my teammates never learned my name, or had good reason to. I could hit the ball sometimes. I could run pretty fast. In the outfield, where I always ended up, I daydreamed. The Polo Field was a terrible place to concentrate. The river was right there, patrolled by exotic long-legged shore birds you don’t see in other parts of town. A barge would go by, with a flag that made you wonder how far it had come. Sometimes old guys were fishing on the bank with cane poles, enjoying life more than I was, standing in the hot sun with a mitt that didn’t quite fit. Baseball, I came to understand, was a dull sort of thing until it was suddenly alarming. On the rare occasions when a ball arrived in my mitt I never had a clear idea of what to do with it. Often I figured it would
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
probably help to hurl it in the general direction of the other boys, way over there. When I did, there was always a great deal of excitement over that way. There was no water fountain but a crude spigot sticking out of the ground in the woods, with warm water in it. I would slip over there when I could. When I was lucky, no one noticed me gone. I spent many summer hours on the bench, wondering about the Polo Field. Those who got to play more were likely too busy to wonder. Maybe I owe my career in local history to the fact I didn’t get the hang of baseball. I never saw any polo down there. Hooves would have torn up the infield. But the name seemed to fit. All kids knew that one of the shrines of pro baseball, New York’s old Home of the Giants, was the “Polo Grounds.” I’ve assumed that was why the name stuck here. Over the years, I came to conclude it was just a subtle joke. Manhattan had a polo field for baseball, and so did Knoxville. That was my operating theory for several decades. But some research surprised me. North Carolina developer Edward Vernon Ferrell drew up the original plans for Sequoyah Hills. Affluent people were getting cars and they wanted to drive them to new homes in this lovely tree-shaded peninsula by the river. For at least a few years, Ferrell’s intention was to establish a genuine riverside polo
field. He first announced it in 1925, perhaps the peak of fascination with polo in America. He got some encouragement. By 1926, local horse fanciers and frustrated polo players were looking forward to the amenity. Did it ever happen? Thanks to the public library’s “From Paper to Pixels” index, I’ve learned a few things just lately. In September 1929, a developer named W.C. Ruffin proposed an “airport,” with hangar, right on the Polo Field. That may suggest that Ferrell’s dreams of polo weren’t working out. A river’s flood plane is a perfect place for a landing strip, and this one was at least sometimes used for that purpose, for small planes taking off to map the soon-to-open Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A decade earlier, a developer would have just built whatever he wanted, without bothering the authorities. But by 1929, Ruffin had to deal with a brand-new organization called the City Planning Commission. The Commission’s engineer was going to look into the idea of whether an “airport” on Cherokee Boulevard would suggest a danger to neighbors, or pose “too much nuisance from the noise of planes.” Naturally, an airport might inhibit the safe and proper play of regulation polo. Even seasoned horses are skeptical of airplanes. A Snyder Buzzard or a Curtis-Robertson Skeeter might send the best polo ponies stampeding toward the river. We can guess at the City Planning Commission’s decision. Ruffin’s Sequoyah Hills airport never happened. But “the Polo Field,” as it was always called in the sports pages, did become a venue for city-league kids’
football. By 1935, likely earlier, baseball was being played on the Polo Field, too. In late December 1938, because Shields-Watkins Field was too muddy, Major Neyland’s Tennessee Vols used the Polo Field for scrimmages. One of the legendary teams of Vol history included Bob Suffridge, Bowden Wyatt, and George Cafego (the “Hurryin’ Hungarian” has a short downtown street named for him), the unbeaten Vols were preparing to challenge Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Their work on the Polo Field paid off. They blanked Oklahoma and topped some polls as the year’s national champions. Most of the football on the Polo Field was of the junior variety, though, with teams from all over the city— Happy Holler, Lonsdale, Vestal—and at least occasionally baseball games, too. Beginning in 1959, the Polo Field hosted Little League baseball—and my “minor league.” The name elicited a brief explanation from Recreation Bureau administrator Maynard Glenn. According to the reporter who interviewed him, “Nobody ever really played polo there.” Glenn may have been old enough to know. “But he said some people who rode horses and carried sticks did bang a ball about a bit there several years ago.” I’m no expert, but that sounds like polo to me. The name seems to have evaporated. The field that was one big baseball field now hosts three junior, fenced-apart baseball fields. The fanciest one is called Link-House Field. After all these years, I still call it the Polo Field, without thinking about it. I care less and less that people don’t know what I’m talking about. ◆
Over the years, I came to conclude it was just a subtle joke. Manhattan had a polo field for baseball, and so did Knoxville.
PERSPECTIVES
Slow Expansion Will legislators finally take steps toward closing Tennessee’s health-care coverage gap? BY JOE SULLIVAN
T
he path toward closing the health care “coverage gap” for low-income Tennesseans has been longer and more tortuous than it should be. But at long last a politically viable path appears to be emerging. People with incomes below the federal poverty line but previously ineligible for Medicaid were intended to be covered by its expansion under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). But when the state Legislature gave the back of the hand last year to Gov. Bill Haslam’s expansion plan, some 300,000 Tennesseans (mostly childless adults) were excluded. They were also quirkishly ineligible for the subsidized health insurance on government-run exchanges that the ACA has made available to people with incomes between 100 percent and 400 percent of FPL. Now, a legislative task force has come forward with a “phased approach” to closing the gap. In a Phase 1 “pilot,” TennCare benefits would be made available to veterans and “those with a qualifying diagnosis of mental illness or substance abuse disorder.” The pilot would have “measurable results with triggers and circuit breakers to make sure [it] is financially sound and controlled.” If these are satisfied—for which the “timetable could be 12 to 18 months”—Phase 2 would open the TennCare rolls to all Tennesseans with income up to 138 percent of FPL. All of this is contingent on approval both by the state Legislature
and by federal authorities for whom it represents a novel approach to Medicaid expansion. These are both big hurdles that can’t be cleared until the Legislature reconvenes in January. And if Donald Trump were to be elected president, all bets could be off. Still, the task force may be more noteworthy for how it was constituted than for what it recommended, which is still somewhat sketchy. Its members were handpicked by House Speaker Beth Harwell, who at best sat on her hands when Haslam made his ill-fated proposal in early 2015. She has now thrown her support behind the task force proposal. Its chairman, Rep. Cameron Sutton, is the House Majority Whip who is also very good at lining up Republican votes. Its four other Republican House members are also supportive, as is its lone Senate member, Knoxville’s Richard Briggs. The task force has already met with officials of the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. And Sexton has been quoted as recognizing that negotiations with CMS could take several months and lead to changes. Bolstering its chances in Washington, the task force proposal concedes that during Phase 1 the state won’t qualify for the much higher percentages of federal funding to which it would be entitled with full-fledged Medicaid expansion. These would cover all costs through 2016 after which the federal share drops to 95 percent in 2017 and thence to 90 percent by 2020. But
until Phase 2 of its proposal is implemented, the task force is only seeking the same 65 percent federal match rate applicable to nearly all other TennCare outlays. And it’s careful to characterize the proposal as a TennCare rather than a Medicaid expansion, let alone Obamacare. The higher state share supposedly won’t come at taxpayer expense because the Tennessee Hospital Association has agreed to cover it, as was the case with Haslam’s plan. At first blush, the selection of people with a “qualifying diagnosis of a mental illness or substance abuse disorder” as the guinea pigs for this piecemeal approach sounds unwieldy. However, this very term and its approval procedures have been used for a decade by the state Department of Mental Health/Substance Abuse Services to qualify people for a state-funded mental health “safety net” program that was established when former Gov. Phil Bredesen slashed TennCare enrollment in 2005. A CMS handbook contains a 14-page list of qualifying diagnoses. Along with getting partial federal funding for the safety net program (which has about 40,000 beneficiaries), Briggs ventures that another reason for leading off with this category is the promise of addressing the scourge of opioid addiction by covering the cost of addict treatment. But it bears repeating that under the proposal, anyone with a qualifying diagnosis (and income eligible) will be entitled to the full array of TennCare benefits. There’s also room for doubt how well qualified a task force of legislators is to oversee the formulative process of implementing such a complex proposal, as opposed to the
legislative process of getting it enacted. Along with initial eligibility determinations, the proposal calls for ongoing monitoring of enrollees’ income, tracking of their cost of care, and other performance metrics that would enter into a determination whether to proceed to Phase 2. At this point, it’s not even clear who would make that determination or when. Still, it’s not as if the task force has been proceeding without professional and technical support. An advisor from the get go has been Melinda Buntin, chair of the department of health policy at Vanderbilt School of Medicine. Top TennCare officials have also been involved but are keeping a low profile, as is Bill Haslam. According to Briggs, the task force is clear that whatever emerges from the formulative process would only be subject to legislative approval on a one-time basis, thus avoiding a second vote on whether to proceed to Phase 2. But such an automatic trigger could also be a stumbling block. Briggs reckons that as long as Harwell and Sexton remain supportive, assuming CMS concurrence, the prospects for House approval are quite good. However, he’s more doubtful about the outlook in the Senate where he’s the only member who has been engaged. My own guess is that turmoil will accompany this or any expansion plan every step of the way. But the sheer fact that conservative Republicans are taking the initiative is most encouraging. As Michele Johnson, the executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, puts it: “I think what is hopeful about this is that the politics of this issue are changing.” ◆
The task force may be more noteworthy for how it was constituted than for what it recommended, which is still somewhat sketchy.
July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 9
Photo by Tricia Bateman
Howard House Revisited The owners of North Broadway’s historic Craftsman want the property rezoned commercial BY S. HEATHER DUNCAN
A
n estate controlling a historic Craftsman home on North Broadway has sent a letter notifying Knoxville City Council and Mayor Madeline Rogero of its plans to seek commercial zoning for the property. If approved by the Metropolitan Planning Commission and Council, the change would likely pave the way for demolition of the house built in 1910 and owned by former city councilman Paul Howard until his death in 2014. During the past 18 months, the Howard House has become a lightening rod for the tension between private property rights and historic preservation. It has also been a driver in conversations about what businesses and neighborhoods in the North Broadway corridor want future development to look like. Howard’s will requires his three sons to sell the house and divide the profits. A development company that builds Walmart Neighborhood Markets offered the family $1.27 million for the property last year, before backing away from the deal in September in the face of public opposition. When the Walmart deal was still imminent, heir Tim Howard approached Knox Heritage for help finding an alternate buyer who would
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preserve the house instead of demolishing it for a parking lot. Knox Heritage launched an online crowdfunding effort to buy the house (as well as an online petition asking Walmart not to demolish it). The fundraising effort raised only about $8,000, an amount executor Nick Howard calls in his letter “a pathetic preservation effort” met by “an overwhelming wave of apathy.” The letter reproaches Knox Heritage for fighting the lucrative commercial purchase offer and then failing to buy the house, saying the nonprofit’s “interference… has resulted in devastating financial loss to the heirs.” “I doubt a single member of (City Council or the MPC) would want an outside entity dictating the disposition of your private property as Knox Heritage has done to the Howard family,” he writes. Nick Howard’s letter states that probate court is requiring the estate to be closed by Nov. 2. He says the family is “discounting” the selling price to $995,000 (or less, to a buyer who will move the house). Because the house is surrounded by property zoned commercial, Howard says he will be making a formal request for the same zoning.
MPC officials say they have not yet received such a request. Kim Trent, director of Knox Heritage, says the organization has tried to help the family sell to a buyer interested in using the house for an office, its current zoning. “Nobody’s trying to cheat the family out of anything,” says Charles Thomas, who is active in the Oakwood-Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association and is now also a member of the MPC board. “What they’re asking for is something they didn’t inherit: Property zoned commercial. They shouldn’t be angry because they’re not getting something they didn’t inherit.” Trent acknowledged disappointment that Knox Heritage was unable to raise enough money to purchase the house itself, but she says she has driven potential buyers to the Howard House as recently as the last few weeks. “We have been approaching potential buyers about purchasing that property, but Mr. [Nick] Howard has been so hostile that when we asked a Realtor to contact him, he would not even tell us a price,” she says, saying the letter is the first she learned of the cost. She says the family, which has not hired a professional Realtor, will show the house only to qualified buyers, but with no price it’s been impossible to tell who is qualified. She added, “I don’t know how effective it is to sell a piece of office property on a main thoroughfare without having a Realtor involved to help you navigate that.” Trent and others say the asking price seems to be based on the big-box offer, which was dependent on commercial rezoning. The house is appraised by the Knox County Assessor at $392,800 and Zillow’s market estimate is $341,764. “They can sell it for a more realistic price that would match the zoning as office space. Obviously, they want to get as much as they can for it,” says City Council member Mark Campen of Fountain City. “I think there’s a bigger issue for the long-term health of the Broadway corridor.” Thomas says changing the zoning to commercial would contradict the intent of the Broadway Corridor Task Force, on which he serves. The task force is working on a Broadway Corridor Enhancement Plan intended to guide the type of development desired by existing businesses and
neighbors. Its voluntary guidelines are intended to encourage redevelopment of vacant commercial property and increase the walkability and attractiveness of the corridor for shoppers and neighbors, says Lauren Rider, co-chair of the task force and resident of Old North Knoxville. The plan is close to completion but has not been made public. Rider says it suggests some approaches that might require changes to current zoning requirements (which MPC is already in the process of reviewing) that traditionally favored cars by requiring expansive parking and setbacks. “What the community doesn’t want to see is buildings bulldozed to make parking lots,” Rider says. “Demolishing that house and building a strip mall at the back of the property with a giant parking lot in front of it flies in front of the face of many things the city is looking at.” “I would love to see them commit to (a historic zoning) overlay to that property because of the commitment their father had to that house, and commitment he had to this community and to Knoxville. I don’t think that necessarily you can’t do one and do the other.” In the end, even if MPC agreed to the zoning change, City Council will have the final say. “I would very much like to see the home preserved and used as an office,” says City Council member Finbarr Saunders, who was a longtime member of the Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission and a former president of Knox Heritage. “I don’t know that typically we rezone just because somebody wants to increase the value.” But Council member Nick Della Volpe, who represents that stretch of Broadway, says he’s open to the family’s arguments. The Howards were patient in giving Knox Heritage time to raise money to buy the home, he says. “It’s hard to say it’s not a rational request. Everybody likes the house, but the reality is, if it’s your property you probably ought to be able to do whatever the hell you want with it,” Della Volpe says. “We can’t make everybody’s property a park. If they did it to your house, you’d be screaming. I would be.” He adds, “Just to say, ‘I wish we could preserve it’—I think that’s naive.” ◆
Civic Disobedience Local demonstrators bring attention to racial issues— as well as ire from those who disagree with their tactics BY CLAY DUDA
O
ver the past several weeks, dozens of protesters have taken to the streets of Knoxville in a continued push to draw attention to issues of race, systemic disparities, and also to remember victims of recent shootings in a call for nonviolence—including two black men killed during encounters with police and later police officers slain in shootings possibly sparked by those instances. They demonstrated with incidents of civil disobedience not often seen in Knoxville, gaining both attention and ire from observers and commenters. Activists with Black Lives Matter Knoxville, a local branch of a national network of community organizers, and other independent organizers have led at least three demonstrations in as many weeks declaring “Black Lives Matter.” Two protests were held the weekend following the police shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota (one was organized by BLM Knoxville, the other by a group of local teenagers with similar objectives). Another smaller march was held in East Knoxville a week later. Roughly 100 protesters turned out for the first demonstration, meeting near Market Square before marching to the intersection of Gay Street and Summit Hill Drive, where they blocked the intersection for about 15 minutes. BLM Knoxville formed last August and has since held regular meetings and taken part in community organizing and demonstrations. “When you see us taking over intersections or even buildings … that’s us occupying spaces and shutting down business as usual to send the message that black lives matter more than business as usual,” says Amelia Parker, a co-founder of
BLM Knoxville and director of Peace Brigades International-USA, a nonprofit dedicated to nonviolent activism and conflict resolution. “Tennessee, and Knoxville specifically, hasn’t seen much direct action [like this] at all,” she continues. “But we see these tactics used around the world by nonviolent, peaceful activists. We don’t really have a strong culture of organizing here in Knoxville, but we’re working to build that.” The approach is often direct and sometimes controversial—a take on activism likely not seen locally since civil rights demonstrations in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a legacy BLM organizers and some civil rights veterans say is being manifested in these present-day actions. “They’re using some of the same techniques—marches and demonstrations—though it may be ratcheted up in scale,” says Theotis Robinson, 74, a Knoxville native and former civil rights organizer. “We never tried to block interstates or things like that, but we did block businesses. Business as usual could not continue.” Robinson was the first black student to gain admittance to the University of Tennessee after campus was desegregated in 1961, eventually going on to hold the post of Vice President of Diversity before retiring in 2014. While the recent protests have sparked some exchanges about race and culture in East Tennessee, some of these tactics have drawn criticism—especially on social media sites like Facebook, where dozens of posts and comments on the group’s page take issue with its methods and objectives. Some posts deny racism even exists in East Tennessee, while others contain blatant racist remarks. Some more level-headed detractors
have said they agree with the overall mission of BLM, but still have issues with some of their methods. (Robinson says people should be less focused on the tactics used and think more about the issues demonstrators are attempting to draw attention to.) Those include blocking roadways, but also the emphasis BLM Knoxville has put on race, making it a black-only group, an approach Robinson has said could prove divisive in the long run. BLM Knoxville also issued a statement recently on its Facebook page saying the group was “outraged and disappointed” in the tack taken by Mayor Madeline Rogero and other city officials following those demonstrations, including the city turning the lights on the Henley Street Bridge blue to honor police officers killed in Dallas but not taking steps “to acknowledge the pain and suffering within the Black community with any substationial [sic] action.” In that same statement, BLM Knoxville voiced support for actions taken by unknown persons who “blacked out” the lights along Henley Street Bridge when they were lit blue. “In Memphis, we saw the police chief join hands with those who took to the streets to protest the heinous extrajudicial killings…” BLM’s statement reads. “In Knoxville, our leadership chose to choose sides on an issue that should have no sides. Any life lost to violence is a tragedy. However, the city chose to acknowledge the five officers who were killed in Dallas by changing the lights on the Henley Street bridge blue ‘in solidarity with the victims and their families’ while ignoring the pain and fear many of us are feeling after Philando Castile and Alton Sterling were extrajudiciously [sic] killed by police.” In an emailed response, Rogero says she didn’t see it as a matter of
“choosing sides,” adding that “we have all been deeply troubled by events of the past week, including the deaths of African-American men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and police officers in Dallas. “I absolutely respect and value our police officers for their dedication and service to the community,” she wrote. “I also respect and value diverse voices and perspectives on the many challenging issues we face as a community and a society. We can address these challenges only through mutual respect, understanding, and dialogue.” Parker says BLM Knoxville chose to be a black-only organization at least initially to provide a “safe space” for community members to come together, discuss issues of race, and figure the best way to approach those issues. “We need a safe space to heal and to grow and to instill community,” she says. “Part of that is recognizing that our [black] community has been under attack since we moved into this country, and we have to work on rebuilding that and strengthening the black love that we have. “Another reason we made that decision is because we have a lot of organizing in the white community here, but not so much in the black community. Our first BLM meeting, we were far outnumbered by our white allies, and that’s been the case in Knoxville for as long as I can remember. The white people in the room seem to have more experience simply being in meetings. You can see their confidence in participating, and we’re trying to engage black people in the room who don’t have as much experience and might be hesitant to speak up in a room full of passionate white people. There’s a chance that will change in the future.” ◆
”We don’t really have a strong culture of organizing here in Knoxville, but we’re working to build that.” —AMELIA PARKER, BLM Knoxville
July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 11
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Photo by We s Mo
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
des
“What the hell have I gotten myself into?” is all I can think
as I prepare to board the shantyboat Dotty.
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look. Jet skis pass and circle for a double-take, a sight to be repeated by swarms of maritimers in the coming days and weeks. A boating enthusiast ventures out onto the dock at Volunteer Landing Marina intent on learning specifics about its construction. Did you buy that thing? No, we built it. What’s the hull made of? Mostly douglas fir and fiberglass. What kind of motor you got on that thing? A late-’70’s Mercury, named Freddie. Onboard, Captain Wes Modes runs down the checklist. First mate Lauren Benz makes final preparations. Communication is key, both of them agree, and so is being nice and respecting each other’s space. There should be music. Oh, and let’s pay attention to safety so we all make it off of this river alive. Talk to each other and offer
Photos by Clay Du
This thing doesn’t even look like it could float, much less survive a 652-mile trek down the Tennessee River. But here it is, motored in from California and plopped in the water at Volunteer Landing, ready to embark on the meandering, months-long journey ahead. The homemade houseboat attracts voyeurs like flies. It basically looks like a shack on a raft, and by the simplest definition that’s what it is—a handmade vessel formed mostly from reclaimed materials: wood salvaged from the landfill, a repurposed 100-year-old chicken coup, and an assortment of found objects from federal mining claim signs to aging single-pane windows and a rusty ol’ tin roof. Paddle boarders venture over from the nearby landing for a closer
warnings when things go awry—because things will go awry. One of the first lessons learned is that there’s no room for stowaways on this voyage. The entirety of the boat measures just 20 feet by 8 feet, and living quarters inside the house accounts for about half of that. If I’m going to make this trip, even hitching along for just the first few days, I’ll have to learn the ropes and become
part of the crew. I get a crash course in maritime maneuvering 101. Port is left, starboard right. You always do the over-under maneuver when coiling rope so, in a pinch, you can toss a line to shore without tangle. There’s the bow and the stern, and something about staying between the green and red the barrels that line the riverway so you don’t run aground. I don’t fully understand, but I nod and say I’m up for the challenge. July 21, 2016
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Over the next few months Captain Modes, a California artist from Santa Cruz, and a revolving cast of shipmates are going to pilot this ramshackle boat down the Tennessee River in search of history. They’re seeking out stories about people and towns tied to the river, of the forgotten families who once lived in not-dissimilar homemade river boats and eked out a living on the Tennessee. The tales of these folks and others, now mostly a relic of Americana folklore, are the types of “secret histories” Modes hopes to capture in interviews, videos,
Instagrams, and artists’ renderings. He calls his project, aptly, The Secret History of American River People. It’s a multi-year endeavor that keeps building on its own history. He’s spent two summers already piloting the upper Mississippi, and has now set out on the Tennessee. Along the way he’ll play host and be hosted by people of all walks of life, archive some stories and folktales for posterity, and engage in a variety of art exhibits, interactive installations, and lectures. Today, he and his crew are shoving off from Knoxville. Captain Wes “Pancakes” Modes and first mate Lauren “Benzy” Benz pilot the shantyboat Dotty out of Knoxville on the Tennessee River. Over the next several months Modes and an alternating cast of crew members will transverse the length of the Tennessee in the homemade houseboat, ending at its confluence with the Ohio in Paducah, Ky.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
ANARCHISM A MIMOSAS
Downtown Knoxville rises high on the hills above the Tennessee as the shantyboat Dotty putters beneath the Gay Street Bridge, then passes under Henley Street as Thompson Boling Arena comes squarely into view through the shack’s front door. The kudzu-covered south shore seems to rise even higher as we make our way down the green-tinged river. Construction dust from the former Baptist Hospital site gives way to imposing rock faces overlooked by costly apartments. First-mate Lauren “Benzy” Benz is at the wheel, getting her own crashcourse in piloting the cumbersome craft. She is an artist and animator also living in Santa Cruz, and Modes’ partner in life and at sea. She is the first of five crew members who will help capture stories and keep the shantyboat on course throughout the trip. The steering wheel isn’t quite aligned, so you have to feel the ebb and flow of the houseboat, and the ebb and flow of the river, to keep due course. That often means a steady zig-zag pattern as we make our way down river, complicated by the wake left by passing speed boats and some fishermen. “Goodbye Knoxville!” Modes says as we arch along the waterway past the University of Tennessee campus. “We stole one of your reporters!” It takes more than a half-hour to make it around UT proper and sail under the Alcoa Highway overpass. The ship isn’t equipped with a speedometer, but Snapchat tells me we’re cruising at a steady 4.2 mph. The cabin contains just about everything you’d expect to find in a full-size house: a couch, a small kitchen table and two chairs, a loft above for sleeping, an outhouse outback, and a dog named Hazel. The walls are lined with books and other knickknacks, a surprising array of amenities given the tight confines. Oil-burning lanterns hang by the front and back doors, a ladder fastened to the wall offers access to the small loft nest above, and a rug covers the center floor. There’s a propane stove with two burners, a working sink, and a small plastic bucket packed with ice, a coconut, a bottle of champagne, and grapefruit juice. On the back roof a solar panel charges the ship’s batteries. Cleared of the city’s trappings, it’s time to celebrate. Mason jars fill with champagne and grapefruit juice with a splash of lime. “A Phillips with a
twist,” Benzy coins, an alternative take on a regular screwdriver. (Some of us have substituted gin for champagne.) Modes snaps a photo to send to his mom—and Instagram. Modes and Benzy pick up on a conversation about anarchism: what does it mean and what do we, as anarchists, want? “I always say it’s the free association of autonomous people working cooperatively as equals to create a world without domination through direct action and mutual support,” Modes explains. “It’s a belief to be autonomous, but also support others. There’s never a separation between an individual and the community.” I don’t disagree. A short time later a deep-hulled speedboat comes roaring past us port side (that’s to the left!) blaring country music. A woman wrapped in an American flag towel waves at us with one hand, the other clutching an iPhone to capture video evidence of the shantyboat. I wave back and wait for the wake, a huge double-set of waves that crash over the bow (that’s the front!) of the ship. We teeter totter and motor on. Inside this whimsical vessel everything seems to have its place. Rubber tire tubes have been stretched and fastened across the face of each bookshelf cubby, a DIY fixture that offers a surprising amount of stability as the small ship thrashes to and fro in the water. But there’s a freedom knowing these rules of organization, or any others, could be broken or reimagined on a whim. This journey is less about structure and more about the organic nature of existence, a folklorist quest to capture stories but also create them. It’s a search for tales of an earlier time, but also a reincarnation of them. By late afternoon we’re pulling into Duncan Boat Dock in West Knoxville. Our first day on the river and we haven’t even made it out of the city proper, though the old-timey feel of this 76-year-old harbor is like a page turned back in East Tennessee history. “Some people told us we should talk to Mr. Duncan—or is it Capt. Duncan?” Modes says. “I’m told he and some other old guys sit around on the dock and swap lies all day!” Ben Duncan, the proprietor of this boat dock, has run the place for more than 40 years, since taking over for his dad in 1974. He’s 91 years old now, and everybody who walks through the doors of his small bait and tackle shop
seems to know him by name. Homegrown corn, okra, squash, and South Carolina peaches sit out front. This is what’s left of the family farm, and Duncan still lives in the old farmhouse his kinfolk built on the property back in the 1800s, he says. “I went off to war [World War II] and came back and the farm was underwater,” Duncan says, a result of the Tennessee Valley Authority damming the river. “We had to move a barn, but otherwise we haven’t done much with it. The boats have gotten bigger. We sale 2,000 gallons [of gas] a week now!” He’s hard of hearing, the result of a war injury, but there are plenty of other Duncans around helping out in the shop and happy to answer questions about the river and family history. Today we meet four generations. There’s Diane, Ben’s niece; Mike, who is Diane’s son, and his wife Pam; then there’s Wit, a boy of 5, and a gaggle of other kids running in and out of the boat—so many I lose tracks of numbers and names. “I got a lot of ancestors, but I’ve managed to kill most of them,” Ben Duncan says with a laugh. Around dusk two guys show up at the dock. John Pittenger, of Maryville, and Jim Goddard, of Strawberry Plains, have tracked the shantyboat crew from Volunteer Landing to Duncan Boat Dock after learning Dotty had headed downstream earlier in the day. They’ve sought out Modes and Benzy to tell their own DIY rafting tales. In 1965, when the two friends were just 16 years old, they built their own shantyboat and set sail on Douglas Lake. They named it Rara Avis, which means “rare bird” in Latin. With the onset of night a light breeze blows across the cove, a few faint stars twinkling overhead. The dull glow of gas lanterns and a few electric bulbs illuminate the yellow interior of the shantyboat Dotty, enveloped by the pale blue of the early night sky. Through the house windows, overhung by drapes, Benzy and Modes undertake typical chores before bed, cleaning dishes, brushing teeth, finishing off a bottle of homemade plum wine. That’s when I realize; This is art!
ART A ADVENTURE
Wes Modes tells me that his hobo nickname is “Pancakes” as he flips a pancake in the cast-iron skillet aboard
the shantyboat Dotty. I can’t tell if he’s joking, but judging by the quality of our banana-peach-pancake breakfast it’s a title well earned. And he has some experience hobo-ing on land and water. This shantyboat thing isn’t such a gimmick. More than a decade ago he set out on his first bona-fide river odyssey, a week-long float down the fast-flowing Missouri River with a group of friends. They called it punk rafting, and it seemed he was on to something. A year later he floated California’s Sacramento River, leaving his hodge-podge vessel on its banks near Colusa for a new crew of adventure-seekers to salvage. Shantyboat Dotty got its start in 2012, when Pancakes concocted the idea to build something a little more stable than his earlier crafts. “I was building the boat before I came up with the concept for this project,” he explains. “I wanted more adventure. I wanted more excitement. That’s why I started building the boat. It was an escape from my crappy library job.” But as he thought through his ambitions Pancakes didn’t just want to cruise the river, taking advantage of folks’ hospitality along the way. He wanted to give something back, he says, an idea that eventually developed into this ongoing odyssey and art project. Dotty is a replica 1940s-era shantyboat, not unlike the type some families a generation ago called home along the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and other American rivers. It took two-and-a-half years of research, scavenging, tinkering, and building to complete the shantyboat Dotty. Her first long voyage was in the summer of 2014, when Pancakes and crew embarked on a section of the upper Mississippi. He returned the following year, conducting more than 50 total interviews during two summer voyages. Now, he’s on the Tennessee. Out of all the rivers crisscrossing the United States, Pancakes set his sights on the Tennessee because of its lore and history. “Well, after the upper Mississippi I decided on the Tennessee, which I’d been interested in ever since reading Suttree,” he says. (For those few yet uninitiated, Suttree is a semi-autobiographical novel by Cormac McCarthy about giving up a life of privilege to make a life on the Tennessee River.) “The Ohio River was probably an obvi-
Everything has its place in the shantyboat Dotty, and it also contains most of the amenities you’d expect to find in a regular home: a functioning kitchen, a couch and living space, a loft for sleeping, an outhouse, a growing to-do list, and a dog named Hazel. ous choice [after navigating the Mississippi], but I thought the Tennessee would be more personal.” When most people think of fine art, visions of gallery walls lined with paintings, photos, or installations are likely to come to mind. That’s part of Pancakes’ modus operandi as well, and while he does have several talks and exhibitions scheduled in towns throughout his trips, it’s not the only or even most prominent component of his art. That’s where Dotty comes in. According to his mission statement: “The shantyboat serves as the July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 15
primary artistic focus of the project, serving not only as the expedition vessel but the project library and archive. Visitors to the Secret History exhibition can explore the archives, see excerpts of interviews, explore the physical library of river-related books and materials, explore the boat, and talk with the artist.” Ultimately he’d like to see his growing trove of river stories turned into a series of books and documentaries, though he says the project has many layers and avenues for sharing different experiences. It’s still evolving. He hopes it will cast light onto these fading narratives but also lead folks to think about their own, present-day relationship with the river. “I hope people reconsider what it means to have a river and ask hard questions about who has the privilege of access to the river,” he says. “I mean, we just passed 20 miles of McMansions [coming out of Knoxville]. And we can get all romantic about people living in shantyboats 50 years ago, but then people don’t really get romantic about people living under bridges now.” In this way, life aboard shantyboat Dotty is like living in a gallery, a floating art installation tying up soon at a dock near you. Many of his exhibitions center on Dotty, while there is often an accompanying gallery installation on the mainland. The crew makes a brief stopover in Chattanooga by mid-July, then continues on for an exhibition at the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts in Florence, Ala., which opens Aug. 5. If all goes as planned, the voyage will reach its final destination of Paducah, Ky.—the end of the Tennessee River— by Aug. 22. There will be a showing there at the McCracken County Library and Maiden Alley Cinema through Sept. 7. But first, he’ll have to navigate the series of dams, locks, lakes, wakes, and other hazards along the waterway. The first real challenge comes on the second day, when Dotty attempts to cross Fort Loudoun Lake and pass through the dam in the midst of July 4 weekend celebrations. Shantyboat captain Wes Modes talks with Duncan Boat Dock owner Ben Duncan, at center, about the history of Duncan’s family farm and the Tennessee River. At bottom, John Pittenger shows off a picture of a shantyboat he and some friends built and sailed on Douglas Lake in the summer of 1965. 16
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
HIGH SEAS
At Duncan Boat Dock we hear plenty of warnings about the perils that await out on Fort Loudoun Lake, and unnerving accounts of locking through the dam, a necessary step to continue down river. We make it out of Duncan’s later than expected, around 11 a.m. as the sun burns hot into the day. We stop at a “secret” fishing hole and I cast out for lunch without much luck. I reel in a small striper not worth the effort to clean and eat. Then I cannonball into the murky water alongside Pancakes and Benzy. Hazel the ship dog doesn’t seem to like the water, but at Pancakes’ command she makes a leap onto a small floating inner tube and bobs just above the water line. The waterway opens up to Fort Loudoun Lake, an artificial bubble in the river created by Fort Loudoun Dam, just as the sky starts to gray. The atmosphere has been clear most of the day, but we don’t account for the seemingly daily afternoon thunderstorms that pound East Tennessee in summer. The sunny blue sky begins to dim, a pale blue mist covering the distant bluffs down river. It can only mean rain is on the way, and possibly thunder and lightening. As the gap between sun and cloud closes, boats zip past us in the opposite direction—a high-speed dash to escape the pending downpour. I check Snapchat. We’re putting along at a steady 6 mph, but as the weather worsens and more turbulence is kicked up by fleeing boaters, our calm afternoon turns into a struggle on the high seas. Our small vessel rocks violently with each passing boat, now coming every few seconds to every few minutes. We’re on constant guard. “Brace!” I scream, taking my turn at the helm. This thing handles like a box on skids. “Brace! BRACE!” Waves crash over the bow of the boat, washing across the short deck and into the cabin. “Towel!” Pancakes yells, looking for something to soak up the water. He slings it on the floor across the doorway in an effort to hold back the encroaching swells. We reach what seems to be the middle of the lake just as strong gusts begin, kicking up a series of larger, tougher, more frequent “wind waves” that begin pounding the shantyboat Dotty. Glasses and binoculars and books come crashing to the floor.
The sky opens up and rain begins to fall in sheets. Just then, the engine cuts out. The bamboo awning over the front deck crashes down. We’re out of gas and caught in the middle of the lake in a storm. Shantyboat Dotty rocks violently as boats continue to zip past. Her crew springs into action. Benzy makes for the stern (that’s the back!) to attempt a wet-weather fuel change over. Pancakes and I venture onto the front deck, clinging to the outside of the shack as we try to untangle the bamboo poles and secure the canvas awning as the boat teeter-totters and lurches with each bulge in the lake-turned-ocean. The rain hits harder and harder as we work this balancing act, trying to save the awning without losing a member of the crew. Finally we prevail. The cloth is fastened to the side of the house and bamboo poles slung inside. Benzy has managed to change over gas canisters, but now the boat still won’t start. Full-on downpour. Bottles clink against the side of the boat, books shift on shelves, water pours through the doors and windows. Pancakes fiddles with the controls as Benzy and I batten down the hatches, latching windows and doors. Turns out the shifter wasn’t quite in neutral, the finicky thing. Pancakes figures the problem and the engine rumbles to life. “We’re making a B-line for shore!” he screams over the deafening pelts of rain against the tin roof. We drop anchor in the shadow of a towering bluff, a silhouette through the thick blanket of rain. Here the winds are calmer. The weather whips outside our windows. There’s only one thing left to do: make hot toddies and ride out the storm. Team high-fives all around, dripping wet. “It’s hard to get out of trouble but it’s easier to prevent it,” Pancakes says, dubbing this backwater wisdom the quote-of-the-day. We should have followed that advice. Thirty minutes later and the clouds break. The dam is within sight. Unable to reach the staff there by radio, we call ahead to make arrangement for the lock. Good timing. A pontoon boat coming up stream is currently locking through. We’ll get there about the time the gates open. Fort Loudoun Dam is an imposing feat of human engineering. From the upper lake you barely see the top of the dam’s spillways, but entering
the lock you quickly realize its breathtaking scale and get a glimpse at the manpower it took to regulate the Tennessee River. Inside the lock we’re surrounded by concrete walls on two sides, with two large metal gates at either end. As the water starts to drain, dropping us down 72 feet to meet the next portion of the Tennessee River, the concrete encasement looms larger and larger. It towers above us little by little, foot by foot, gallon by gallon until it dwarfs our meager ship. The back gate, where we first entered, is now leaking a steady stream of water. The only thing between us and several billion gallons of lake water is one metal gate, one piece of human ingenuity installed more than a half-century ago, one that seems to have sprung a leak. We hold our breath until the horn sounds and the front gate opens, allowing us to continue on to the river below. The rough seas of Fort Loudoun Lake are a thing of the past, giving way to a placid, meandering river below. There is not a ship in sight, nor the ripple of a wake. We pull up at Rick Arp’s boat dock just as dusk turns to dark. Arp is the nephew of Vaughn Goodson, an old fisherman Pancakes met in Knoxville. He’s invited us to dock for the evening, and to take us fishing in the morning. Tired from the day-long ordeal, we gather in the dim cabin of shantyboat Dotty and eat barbecue leftovers Rick Arp and his wife, April, brought us down from the house—smoked chicken and balogna and steamed vegetables. Even on dry land my body feels like we’re still fighting waves on the lake. Just as I get my sea legs, my hitch down the Tennessee draws to a close. For the crew of shantyboat Dotty, the adventure is just getting started. Follow their journey online at peoplesriverhistory.us ◆ Fisherman Vaughn Goodson, at top, hangs with the crew and tells his own history with the Tennessee River. Goodson operated a fishing camp near Loudon for 12 years, and recently rebuilt a dilapidated pontoon boat which he now pilots up and down the river. At bottom, after surviving a downpour on Fort Loudoun Lake, the shantyboat crew poses for a picture inside the lock at Fort Loudoun Dam, a mechanism that lowers or raises boaters 72 feet allowing them to transverse portions of the July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 17
A&E
P rogram Notes
Modern Arts Ambitious entrepreneurial trio looks for funding for sewing-theater-digital media emporium in Happy Holler
B
urke Brewer and Victor Agreda Jr. have a dream. And that dream involves sewing, multimedia production, and live drama—all living in harmony at a currently ramshackle building in Happy Holler that once housed a dry cleaners. Fortunately, the former Colonial Cleaners at 109 West Anderson Ave. is being rehabbed by real estate agents/ developers Fox and Fogarty, so this is less a case of folie à deux and more one of big visions. In October, the creative partners aim to launch Modern Studio, a “co-working” space not unlike the nearby Central Collective or the Hive. But in this instance it will be intended for some of Knoxville’s most underserved makers: thespians and seamstresses. (Plus acoustic musicians and video streamers. And a retail shop for artists.) To do this, they are seeking to raise $75,000 through crowdfunding, including a silent auction on Tuesday, July 26, at Sugar Mama’s (135 S. Gay St.) from 6-10 p.m. The sewing and video-making elements are simple to explain: Brewer owns Modern Seamstress and makes custom clothing; Agreda owns Superpixel Studios, a small
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Inside the Vault: UT’s All Sing
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
video-production house—and they were both looking for office space at the same time. Also being partners in life, they decided to go in on a building together. From there, the concept grew—especially when they talked about it with Carolyn Corley, longtime local actress and founder of the Knoxville Performing Arts Exchange, a new collective for local theater troupes—it, too, was looking for performance space. Thus, a new sewing-theater-digital media synthesis was formed. “What we’re trying to do is really solve a problem that’s not just endemic to Knoxville—it’s a problem all over the country: Performing arts spaces are difficult to maintain financially,” Agreda says. “There’s a ton of distractions, so the community has a hard time supporting it financially—we’re pulled in so many directions for our entertainment dollars. So our thinking was, don’t just make it open four nights a week, because that’s where everyone loses their shirts. Make it a multi-use facility and use it 80 percent of the time. And that’s where the initial concept of this mixed-use space came from—that and my childhood. I grew
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up in a school with a cafegymatorium.” Beyond the incomes generated by their respective businesses, Agreda and Brewer hope to generate revenue through renting out the venue to private events in addition to performances by KPAX, which should begin its initial season in March of 2017. They also want to open a retail arm early next year, featuring handmade products by local artisans. Of course, before any of that can happen, much construction needs to be done. Agreda says they intend to keep the 2,200-square-foot space open and airy rather than being subdivided via walls—the performance area will be in the middle, sandwiched between the two businesses. A large chunk of the $75,000 they hope to raise will go toward building the stage itself. “So that’s a huge amount of money, especially for crowdfunding, or really for any funding,” Agreda says. “$25,000 of that is for stage build-out, based on some construction estimates we got from people who’ve actually built stages before. That includes sound, lighting, stuff that would support a play.” They also propose to budget $7,000 each on gear for their businesses, $7,000 for furniture, $4,000 on the retail area, $10,000 on four months’ rent, and $15,000 on operating expenses. However, their initial foray into crowdfunding, a campaign at Indiegogo, is at just 9 percent of its goal at press time (Tuesday), with $6,833 raised from 55 backers with four days to go. This has resulted in some tweaks to their plans, Agreda says, including widening the concept to include more “maker space” for other artists rather beyond just Modern Seamstress and Superpixel Studios. The Modern Studio fundraiser on Tuesday will also serve as an informational meeting for anyone interesting in learning more about this unique vision for Knoxville’s creative community. —Coury Turczyn
Music: Appalachain Surf Team
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They Shall Overcome LOCAL ARTISTS PAY TRIBUTE TO THE LATE GUY CARAWAN ON HIS BIRTHDAY The folk singer/folklorist/archivist Guy Carawan spent most of his life getting people to sing together. He helped popularize “We Shall Overcome,” a traditional American folk song dating, in part, back to the late 18th century, as an anthem of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and early ’60s, and spent almost 30 years on the staff at the Highlander Research and Education Center, the esteemed social justice education facility based, since 1971, in New Market, near Morristown. Carawan died in May 2015, at the age of 87. But his friends will be celebrating his next birthday next week with a concert and sing-along—on the radio. Steve Horton, of the Lonesome Coyotes and various other folk and country acts, and folk/jazz singer Nancy Brennan Strange are organizing a tribute to Carawan as part of WDVX’s Tennessee Shines series; it will be held on Wednesday, July 27, at 7 p.m.—Carawan was born on July 28, 1927—and will be broadcast live on WDVX. Tickets are $10. “We used to all go out there and play music with him, pretty much all through his career,” Strange says. “His whole thing was songs to bring people together—his thing was getting people to sing along. So we wanted to do something that would reflect that.” Horton and Strange, who knew Carawan since the 1970s, will be joined by Carawan’s widow, Candie, and his son, Evan, plus Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, Kelle Jolly, Danny Gammon, and George Reynolds to perform songs written by Carawan, and songs that he loved, for the birthday tribute. “We just wanted to do something to celebrate the music he loved and the work he and Candie did, and do it on the radio,” Strange says. “Since it is a radio show, it’s pretty structured for the first hour. But for the last half hour, after the broadcast ends, we’re hoping it’ll be more like a sing-along and other people can get up and play.” —Matthew Everett
Movies: Ghostbusters
Inside the Vault
Sing Out! Some surprising ’60s performances from UT’s choral contest BY ERIC DAWSON
I
am often amazed at the coincidences, synchronicities, and plain luck that happen around here at the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound. This is a minor instance, maybe, but it was still unusual when, a few days after we acquired a 1966 private-press record made in the garage studio of Loran Baker, our friend Paul West brought us a Loran Baker recording made around the same time. Paul’s always on the lookout for unique and unusual recordings; this one is a 10-inch record documenting the Phi Sigma Alpha men’s choral group competing at the University of Tennessee’s All Sing in 1966, 1967, and 1968. It’s not the most exciting record, but it offers an intriguing look at tastes in popular music on college campuses in the mid 1960s. Two of the six selections in particular piqued my interest. “Ald-Di-La,” was Italy’s entry in the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest. It’s a fairly mild-mannered romantic ballad that was recorded numerous times in the early ’60s. Emilio Pericoli reached number six on the Billboard pop charts with his version, which was featured in the Troy Donahue fi lm Rome Adventure. “Sunrise and Sunset” is from the musical Fiddler on the Roof; it appeared on the 1964 original Broadway cast recording, which was a surprise multi-platinum hit. Ed Ames’ “My Cup Runneth Over” held the top spot on Billboard’s adult-contemporary chart throughout February 1967. “You Were on My
Mind,” written in 1962 by Sylvia Tyson, of Ian and Sylvia, made it onto the easy-listening charts thanks to one-hit wonders We Five. Those four songs are exactly the kind of middlebrow fare one might expect from any glee club-type men’s singing group at the time. It’s a kind of contemporary parlor music. Two songs stick out, though: “Greenback Dollar” and “Bald Headed Woman.” Well, they don’t seem to belong at fi rst, until you remember how wide-reaching the folk revival was in the 1960s. Surely the Kappas took their version of “Greenback Dollar” from the Kingston Trio’s 1962 album New Frontiers. The Trio, of course, was one of the most popular acts in 1960s folk, giving a pop feel to traditional songs and pleasing large audiences with their smooth harmonies. The Kappas’ version sounds remarkably like the Trio’s, which—as their enthusiastic response suggests—was well known to the audience. As amusing as it is to hear these clean-cut guys robustly declare “Some people say I’m a no ’count” in “Greenback Dollar,” however, the group’s performance of “Bald Headed Woman’ is the true cultural curiosity. When I saw it in the track listing, following “Al-Di-La,” I didn’t initially believe it could be the blues song of the same name. The fi rst recording of the song was made by Alan Lomax at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in 1948, though then it was called
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“Black Gal” or “I Don’t Want No Jet Black Woman.” The lyrics are sung/ hollered by a leader and answered by a group, with axes striking wood as the only rhythmic accompaniment. Earlier instances of the song show up in written accounts, the lyrics cataloging the evil of black women. Odetta changed the title to “Bald Headed Woman” for a 1959 recording, but she may have heard that variation from somewhere else. It’s possible the Kappas heard Odetta’s song, but more likely they were working from the more popular Harry Belafonte version, from Swing Dat Hammer, his Grammy-winning 1960 collection of chain-gang songs. The Kappas imitate the chopping rhythm by clapping, and the leader is clearly imitating a bass-baritone black vocal style, reminiscent of Paul Robeson. The charts at the time were littered with white folkies performing black spirituals and blues, and many British and American rock bands were basing their entire repertoire on appropriations of blues. The Who and the Kinks both had versions of “Bald Headed Woman.” This kind of pop music cultural appropriation has been pointed out and commented on endlessly since it started happening but is now so ingrained in our culture that perhaps some of us no longer reflect on it as much as we should. This record can be a reminder of what a complicated subject this remains. At this point, it’s conventional wisdom that American folk and popular music is as amazing and rich and indestructible as it is because differing communities cross-pollinated, giving and taking from one another, though to be sure that give and take was not equitable. Be of some cheer that the Kappas did not win the All Sing contest. That honor went to Phi Gamma Delta. There’s a picture in the News Sentinel of a young Chris Whittle holding the Deltas’ trophy. I don’t know what they sang, but maybe there’s a record of it somewhere out there. ◆ Inside the Vault searches the TAMIS archives for nuggets of lost Knoxville music history.
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Music
Photo by Chris Morgan
Surfin’ Safari Appalachian Surf Team chases the perfect wave BY MATTHEW EVERETT
A
few years ago, guitarists Sean Sparbanie and Drew Fulton wanted to start an instrumental rock band, playing covers of ’50s and ’60s surf-rock and hot-rod instrumentals by Dick Dale, Link Wray, the Ventures, and the Champs, plus a few originals in the same style. Considering how much they love that kind of music, they expected a more vigorous response from other musicians. “We put an ad on Craigslist for a drummer and got two responses, and one of them was expecting to get paid,” Sparbanie says. “It was like, nope. You don’t play surf music and get paid.” They eventually recruited bassist Rodney Sheehan and drummer Austin Polley, Fulton’s bandmates in the stoner-rock trio Mass Driver, as the rhythm section for what became, in 2013, Appalachian Surf Team. Since then, Sparbanie and the rest of the Surf Team have learned that surf music is a calling, not a profession. They’ve played dozens of gigs around Knoxville, from just about every rock club to American Legion halls, and the lack of a singer has outright
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
stupefied some club owners and audiences. “A lot of venues have no idea what to make of it,” Sparbanie says. “There’s a running joke we have in the band—‘Y’all ain’t got no singer?’ We played a battle of the bands-type thing—I’m not going to name it, but it was rural—and we were doing our sound check and the guy who was running sound, he was dumbfounded that we didn’t have a vocalist. ‘They ain’t got no singer!’
“Some people have no idea. They missed the boat. They never heard of it. And there’s pockets of people who are just crazy about it. Small pockets. But those are the folks we’ll play for. We’ve done everything from car shows to wedding receptions to regular rock ’n’ roll venues, everything. Parties, you name it, we’ll play it.” The way Sparbanie describes the music, and his enthusiasm for it, he makes it sound more like a lifestyle, or even a spiritual mission, than just a genre of pop music. Just like surfers chase the perfect wave, Sparbanie’s spent a big part of his adult life searching for the perfect reverb-heavy guitar tone, the right amp, the right room, the right chord. He talks about the music in nearly metaphysical terms. “There’s an energy about it,” he says. “It’s hard to describe. It’s so electric, there’s so much energy in it, and above everything else, it’s fun. It’s difficult not to like this music. … It’s like a way of speaking without saying anything. It conveys a mood or just a vibe through chord changes and melodies. It’s a really neat concept.” If surf music is a mission, it’s one Sparbanie’s been on since first hearing Link Wray in a record store as a teenager. “I didn’t know what it was,” he says. “I walked up to the clerk and he says, ‘It’s Link Wray.’ I bought a Link Wray album that day, even though I’d never heard of him before. … And we’re big-time gear junkies. Trying not necessarily to
emulate someone specific but to catch that vibe—old Fender guitars and Fender amps and Ludwig drums and stuff like that. It’s a never-ending quest. But of course this isn’t something we’re ever going to make a living on. It’s purely for the love of it.” Sparbanie’s written a handful of original songs for the band, but he likes people to recognize the songs— it’s enough of a challenge to hold an audience’s attention without a singer, he says, so you have to give them familiar tunes. There’s no shortage of recognizable canonical surf- and hot rod-rock material, from Wray’s “Rumble” and Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” to “Pipeline,” “Wipe Out,” “Secret Agent Man,” “Apache,” and “Tequila.” But even dedicated 21st-century surf revivalists need to shake up the set list, so Sparbanie’s worked up some original instrumental arrangements of non-surf crowd favorites, like Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law,” and the Godfather theme song. Right now, he’s slowly making his way through a surf arrangement of “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” by Michael Jackson. “It’s killing me trying to do a Van Halen solo to a surf tune,” he says of “Beat It,” which famously features a guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen. “I think the solo’s about 35 seconds long and I’m about seven seconds into it. It’s been a lot of work. But if I can nail it, it will be so much fun.” ◆
WHO
Appalachian Surf Team with the Anarcticats
[Surf music] is like a way of speaking without saying anything. It conveys a mood or just a vibe through chord changes and melodies. —Appalachian Surf Team guitarist SEAN SPARBANIE
WHERE
Preservation Pub (28 Market Square)
WHEN
Tuesday, July 26, at 10 p.m.
INFO
scruffycity.com
Movies
Busted! Paul Feig’s all-female Ghostbusters reboot defies the trolls and haters BY APRIL SNELLINGS
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t’s hard to imagine a movie less deserving of an Internet hate campaign than director Paul Feig’s lighthearted, entertaining, and endlessly affectionate Ghostbusters reboot. In fact, “reboot” doesn’t even seem like the right word for a movie that’s so reverential of its source material. Think of it as side-loaded content that’s more concerned with expanding the original property than replacing or upgrading it. It’s clear from the get-go that Feig and cowriter Katie Dippold have used the original film as both a jumping-off point and a blueprint, and the new version opens with a scary-funny riff on the famous library scene. If it feels a little slavish, don’t fret; it’s just an excuse to reunite ghosthunter Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) with former colleague Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig),
who has traded haunted houses for the creakier halls of academia. A gooey encounter with a dead murderess—and the resulting YouTube fallout—accidentally lands them in the ghost-busting business, where they’re joined by resident mad scientist Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) and MTA worker/amateur historian Patty Tolman (Leslie Jones). The movie zips from one plot point to the next, serving up plenty of fan service along the way. For the most part, though, the story—which involves an angry geek intent on unleashing a ghostly apocalypse—is purely incidental to the real pleasures of the movie: the breezy interactions between the four women at its center and McKinnon’s breakout performance as the team’s unhinged nuclear engineer.
I’m not sure you can ask for a funnier cast these days, even if the script doesn’t always make the most of their abilities. Feig, who almost single-handedly revived the hard-R comedy, is a little confounded by the film’s PG-13 rating; there’s no room for the gross-out humor or cheerful vulgarity that he’s so good at. He also seems to get tripped up by the inherent difficulties of making a VFX-driven comedy—the careful planning required for elaborate special effects and action sequences is often at odds with the kind of improv-driven comedy that made his past films so successful. So Ghostbusters stumbles a few times, especially as it lurches into a wobbly third act that’s simultaneously too manic with its special effects (though they look nice) and too
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reserved with its characters. Ghostbusters’ biggest flaw, then, is that it leaves us wanting to see more of its characters, which is a good problem for an ensemble comedy to have. I guess the cast is the elephant in the room, and that’s a weird thing to still be saying in 2016. In fact, one of the best things about Ghostbusters is that its four stars have nothing to prove. If anything, it’s Chris Hemsworth, in a very funny turn as the ladies’ dim-witted but selectively savvy receptionist, whose comic chops are tested. (He passes.) And while the gender flip is the film’s most obvious nod toward widening the Ghostbusters world, it’s not the only one. As awesome as it feels to see four capable ladies cracking jokes and hefting proton packs through the streets of New York, it gets even better when you consider some of the ways the film busts Hollywood stereotypes about what kind of women can carry genre movies. Of the four principal cast members, three are women in their 40s, one is African-American, one is openly gay—if only her character were as out as the actress who plays her—and two are women whose body types don’t align with dumb, archaic notions of what women should look like. But if anything about this Ghostbusters seems subversive or aggressively political to you, I guess all I can do is welcome you to the 21st century and avoid making any sudden movements until you’re feeling a little better about all this equality stuff. Feig’s take is actually far less political than Ivan Reitman’s, which has often—and rightly, according to the director himself—been read as a love letter to Reaganomics and a libertarian polemic against government regulation. But I digress. Whatever you liked about 1984’s Ghostbusters—or at least, what I liked about it—is present in large doses in Feig’s good-natured update. Feig, like Reitman, intuitively understands that his best special effects are the four gifted comics who head up his cast, not to mention the chemistry that bubbles between them. The franchise is in very good hands. ◆ July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 21
MUSIC
Thursday, July 21 KAREN JONES WITH WESTWEND • 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 SHANE WITH MAE BETH HARRIS • New Harvest Park • 6:30PM • Part of Knox County’s Third Thursday concert series. • FREE THE HUMMINGBIRDS • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • Southern charm and rustbelt grit is the essence of this Americana duo. Their music grips both southern and midwest Americana roots, blending grit and self reliance with hospitality and charm. Their recordings (most recently 2015’s release, 13 Days) along with their live stage chemistry has garnered them the favorable attention of fans and music critics alike. • FREE KEVIN ABERNATHY WITH TODD MAY AND JEFF GERMAN • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • All ages. • $5 MATT HUTCHISON WITH THE WILL CARTER BAND, KAREN JONAS, AND ROMAN REESE • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM JULIE LEE • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM STONE KOLE’D • Wild Wing Cafe • 8:30PM • FREE DAY AND AGE • Pilot Light • 9PM • 18 and up. • $5 ANCIENT CITIES • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Formed by creative songster, DJ, and former actor Stephen Warwick, Ancient Cities melds well-crafted lyrics with synth-laden psychedelia and cinematic moodiness. SHANE SMITH AND THE SAINTS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 TUBA SKINNY • Historic Candoro Marble Company • 7PM • Hailing from New Orleans, and inspired by the early jazz and blues music of the twenties and thirties, Tuba Skinny -- which consists of tuba, trombone, cornet, tenor banjo/ guitar, vocals, washboard, and sometimes clarinet -evokes the rich musical history of the city. Since forming in 2009, the band has developed a following thanks to their performances on streets and stages around the world. All ages. • $6 Friday, July 22 JEFF GERMAN • 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 ALIVE AFTER FIVE: TEE DEE YOUNG • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Tee Dee Young is an internationally touring Blues artist with a dynamic stage presence and unique guitar style. His playing and singing are authentic to the Blues genre and oblivious to current industry trends, and he also includes some R&B classics to his repertoire for a change of pace and to spice up the show. His tight 5-piece band (with keyboards, saxophone, bass, drums, and guitar) puts on a stunning, high energy show guaranteed to stir up the dance floor and keep the ladies smiling. • $15 CHARLIE KATT • Wild Wing Cafe • 6PM • FREE THE DEADBEAT SCOUNDRELS • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • From the mountains of east Tennessee come a new band set to blaze a musical trail across the country. The Deadbeat Scoundrels combine
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Spotlight: Summer Slaughter
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
punk, folk, bluegrass, and rock to create a sound that is on the rise in popular music. The band is known for its energetic live show, which includes foot stomping originals, high energy, and cover songs in the band’s original style. • FREE BIG VALLEY MUSTANGS • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE LARRY GOODWIN • Jimmy’s Place • 7PM • Buffet covers and beach tunes. • FREE SARAH JAROSZ • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz’s new album, Undercurrent, features a newfound confidence and a more minimalist production, focused on Jarosz’s upfront vocals and most personal songwriting to date. Undercurrent reflects the unique way Sarah Jarosz combines her early roots-based background with new influences stemming from living in NYC, and her diverse group of musical friends and colleagues, many of whom are reflected in her 2016 tour collaborations. • $19.50 • See Spotlight FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE THE HARAKIRIS WITH THE FILTHY LOW DOWN, FINAL FIGHT, AND DOMESTIC DISPUTE • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • All ages. • $7 W. JAMES TAYLOR • Sugar Mama’s • 8PM THE HALFWAYS • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM • Psych rock from Austin, Texas. THE JEFF JOPLING BAND • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM KITTY WAMPUS • Spicy’s • 9PM • Classic rock, blues, and R&B. THE PAT BEASLEY BAND • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 9PM JOBS WITH WHITE GREGG AND CROWMEAT BOB • Pilot Light • 9PM • A typical White Gregg song, if there is such a thing, has multiple parts and changes—lots of twists and turns. If that makes them sound proggy, it would be an abrasive post-punk prog. And it’s nowhere near neat or nerdy enough to be called math rock. Antecedents might be Captain Beefheart, U.S. Maple, This Heat, and The Flowers of Romance-era P.I.L. 18 and up. • $6 THE BUDDY HONEYCUTT TRIO • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE PISTOL CREEK • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM DIRTY BOURBON RIVER SHOW • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM THE COVERALLS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • Knoxville’s long-running bar/wedding/special event favorites are masters of mood—they know what an audience wants, whether it’s Top 40 hits, Motown, classic rock, or jazz standards, and they deliver, on time, every time. 21 and up. • $5 FRAZIERBAND • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE THE VIBRASLAPS • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM • FREE Saturday, July 23 LOOSE HINGES WITH RAVEN AND THE WREN • 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 JAMES MCMURTRY • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson ( Maryville) • 6PM • “June could be hot in
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Austin what with the unexpected acceleration in climate change,” McMurtry says. “Time to tour, I say. Back before Napster and Spotify, we toured to promote record sales. Now we make records to promote tour dates.” • $15 JACKSON EMMER AND BRITTANY ANN • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • Jackson Emmer and Brittany Ann are two lighthearted songwriters based in Asheville, NC. Their songs are rooted in the Folk and Country music traditions, but gracefully re-invented for the modern day. • FREE ALICIA HARVEY • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE KUKULY AND THE GYPSY FUEGO • Casual Pint (Fountain City) • 7PM • Kukuly Uriarte leads the multifaceted jazz ensemble Kukuly and the Gypsy Fuego. Numerous titles from the Fuego’s long and varied set list are associated with—or performed in the style of—the late Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. • FREE
THE TRENT JAMES BAND • Jimmy’s Place • 7PM • Southern rock, outlaw country, and Americana. • FREE VALENTINE SALOON WITH THE TIP • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • $10-$15 THE NIGHT SHIFT • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up. • FREE KITTY WAMPUS • Roger’s Place • 8PM • Classic rock, blues, and R&B. JEANINE FULLER • Sugar Mama’s • 8:30PM KELSEY’S WOODS • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM • The new album from Kelsey’s Woods, When the Morning Comes Around, has the full complement of roots-rock signifiers, from pedal-steel guitar, Hammond organ, and mandolin to songs about the open highway and references to Merle Haggard. And, of course, there’s more than one drinking song. Its country roots are evident, but there’s plenty of heartland rock—think Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and John Mellencamp—in the mix, too, as
Photo by Scott Simontacchi/All Eyes Media
CALENDAR
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
SARAH JAROSZ Bijou Theatre (803 S. Gay St.) • Friday, July 22 • 8 p.m. • $19.50 •
At 25, Sarah Jarosz is already a seasoned pro—the Texas-born, New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist released her fourth album of tasteful chamber folk, Undercurrent, in June, following a whirlwind few years that included collaborations with virtuosic roots-music all-stars the Punch Brothers, Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, and Dan Tyminski. Undercurrent is Jarosz’s first album since graduating from the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music, in Boston, and moving to New York. It’s tempting, then, to call the new disc a breakthrough—it’s certainly one of the major releases of the year for fans of progressive folk and bluegrass, showcasing Jarosz as a top-level singer, composer, mandolin and banjo player, and bandleader. But that would overlook the strength of her Grammy-nominated 2013 album, Build Me Up From Bones, or even the less accomplished but incredibly promising Follow Me Down, from 2011, and Song Up in Her Head, from 2009, released when Jarosz was only 18. Jarosz has effectively been at the top since she started her career—and she’s just getting better. (Matthew Everett)
Spotlight: Maori Healers Workshop
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Spotlight: Cornhole Championship
CALENDAR well as echoes of everything from Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones to the Black Crowes. SHAUN ABBOT • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 9PM FAUN FABLES • Pilot Light • 9PM • A Table Forgotten is the first taste in an ongoing series of projects by Dawn McCarthy on a theme that’s been largely unexplored in recent times: the age-old practices of tending a home and its immediate impact upon our day to day lives. • $6 MARK BOLING • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE SHORT TERM MEMORY • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM SMOOTH SAILOR • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Smooth Sailor charts a course for pure listening pleasure. Presenting timeless 70s and 80s “yacht rock” at its finest. All aboard. • $5 BRENDON JAMES WRIGHT AND THE WRONGS • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE C2 AND THE BROTHERS REED WITH CHEW • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $5 THROTTLE 21 • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM • FREE SHOTGUN SHANE WITH WILL LUNDY, SHAUN ABBOTT, J.T. BATES, AND REAGAN WILLIS • Longbranch Saloon • 9PM Sunday, July 24 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 J. LUKE • Wild Wing Cafe • 6PM • FREE THE ROCK CANDIES • Sugar Mama’s • 6PM THE DANBERRYS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM • 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. ANGELA PERLEY AND THE HOWLIN’ MOONS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 YAK STRANGLER WITH CARPADIUM, VELOCIRAPTURE, AND LIGHT ARMOR +10 • The Birdhouse • 7PM • “Burned Bread Alarm,” the first track on Yak Strangler’s new album, opens with a short, jagged, jazzy guitar riff over a drum roll, followed by a brief guitar solo that suggests, in just a few bars, a blender full of Eddie Van Halen, Frank Zappa, the Butthole Surfers’ Paul Leary, psychedelic mushrooms, and Pat Metheny. Over the next half hour, guitarist Chris Newman and drummer/vocalist Rylan Bledsoe churn through a frantic and slightly demented mash-up of post-punk, art rock, funk, and whatever else seems to cross their minds when they’re writing songs together. Welcome to Fist Pump at the Pearly Gates, the noise-pop/ prog-punk twosome’s chaotic, bewildering, and abrasive second album. • $5 Monday, July 25 WALTER FINLEY WITH VALLIE • 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 ROOCHIE TOOCHIE AND THE RAGTIME SHEPHERD KINGS • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • We aim to mine the zaniest and most obscure songs from the early 20th century and record them for a new audience to underscore both the absurdity and importance of popular music in American history. • FREE THE BLUEPRINT • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Local pianist Keith Brown’s cool jazz combo. BEN SHUSTER • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM • FREE
THE MALLETT BROTHERS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 Tuesday, July 26 DONNA FROST • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE THE SUMMER SLAUGHTER TOUR • The International • 2PM • The 10th installment of the most extreme tour of the year, featuring Cannibal Corpse, Nile, After the Burial, Suffocation, Carnifex, Revocation, Krisiun, Slaughter to Prevail, and Ingested. All ages. Visit thesummerslaughtertour.com. • $29.50-$50 • See Spotlight on page 26. THE GRASSROOTS GRINGOS • Wild Wing Cafe • 5:30PM • FREE MARBLE CITY 5 • Market Square • 8PM • Live jazz every Tuesday from May 3-Aug. 30. • FREE APPALACHIAN SURF TEAM WITH THE ANARCTICATS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 • See Music story on page 20. Wednesday, July 27 MICHAEL LOGEN • 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 THE POSITIVE HITS TOUR • Knoxville Civic Auditorium • 7PM • With Passion with Kristian Stanfill, Danny Gokey, Hollyn, and Capital Kings. • $31.50-$63 WE SHALL OVERCOME: A GUY CARAWAN BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7PM • Nancy Brennan Strange, Steve Horton, Evan Carawan and other Knoxville musicians celebrate the life and legacy of Guy Carawan, who died last year and who would have turned 89 on July 27. A folk musician and musicologist, Guy and his wife Candie worked to organize leaders during the Civil Rights Movement. As a music director and song leader for the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle (now Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market), Guy introduced the song “We Shall Overcome” as an integral part of the movement. • $10 • See Program Notes on page 18. THE DANIEL RYAN TRIO • The Bistro at the Bijou • 7PM • Live jazz. • FREE INTRONAUT WITH ENTHEOS AND MOON TOOTH • The Concourse • 8PM • Intronaut’s new album, The Direction of Last Things, is, in their own words, “our most technical, brutal, catchy, and straight up fearless.” For a band that’s re-written the rules on technicality and brutality over the course of five albums—2013’s Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones) sent fans and critics alike in an Intronaut-rules-all frenzy—such a statement is either truth or insanity. 18 and up. • $12-$15 WAYLAND WITH SOMETHING WICKED, BELFAST 6 PACK, AND SHALLOWPOINT • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Wayland is a four piece rock n’ roll band consisting of Mitch Arnold on vocals, Phillip Vilenski on guitar, Dean Pizzazz on bass, and Tyler Coburn on drums. All four members have deep roots in the midwest, and the band is named after Phillip Vilenski’s hometown of Wayland, MI.All ages. • $10-$12 MIKE SNODGRASS • Wild Wing Cafe • 8:30PM • FREE THE PALMER SQUARES WITH BLACK ATTICUS • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM • Black Atticus, aka Joseph Woods, is a hip-hop/spoken-word artist heavily influenced by great
www.TennesseeTheatre.com Tickets available at the Tennessee Theatre box office, Ticketmaster.com and by phone at 800-745-3000. July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 23
CALENDAR jazz vocalists and timeless storytellers. He credits his approach to blending stories with song and rhythm to his 1999 understudy work with Knoxville-based Carpetbag Theatre. A six-time nationally ranked slam poet, Atticus hosts workshops and the monthly Po’ Boys and Poets event at Big Fatty’s. ANNI PIPER • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 Thursday, July 28 VICKIE VAUGHN WITH THE MOBROS • 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 KAREN E. REYNOLDS • Scruffy City Hall • 6PM • Singer/ songwriter Karen E. Reynolds performs on WDVX’s live-broadcast Six O’Clock Swerve, hosted by Wayne Bledsoe. • FREE THE LOST FIDDLE STRING BAND • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • A new four-piece band from Knoxville featuring bluegrass and fiddle tunes, but wait... where’s the fiddle? • FREE THE FOUNTAIN CITY RAMBLERS • Clancy’s Tavern and Whiskey House • 7PM THE BLUEGRASS OUTLAWS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM ANNI PIPER • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 8PM A SOCIAL FUNCTION • Wild Wing Cafe • 8:30PM • FREE THE JONNY MONSTER BAND • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Originally from the Hudson Valley in New York but now based out of Knoxville, Jonny Monster’s
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
original mix of acoustic blues and hard dynamic electric guitar are not to be missed. THE MOBROS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • FREE BOOMBOX • The Concourse • 10PM • BoomBox consists of versatile producers, DJs, songwriters, multi-instrumentalists and longtime friends Russ Randolph and Zion Rock Godchaux. Together they develop an electronic blend of vintage rock and blues made to move dance floors while incorporating their signature backbeat, psychedelia and funky house sounds. Applying a multi-track platform, they are free to create their hybrid style on the fly with a rhythm that moves fans and opens them up to Godchaux and Randolph’s overall vision. Derived from the rich musical history of Muscle Shoals, Ala., to the psychedelic rock and underground electronic scenes of the West Coast, their unique approach can only be achieved by the blending of sound and culture. 18 and up. • $15 Friday, July 29 CLAY PARKER AND JODI JAMES WITH KETTLE BLACK • 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 ALIVE AFTER FIVE: TENNESSEE SHEIKS • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • The Tennessee Sheiks is an acoustic swing band led by mandolin maestro, Don Cassell, and singer, Nancy Brennan Strange, who have performed together in an assortment of bands for over twenty years and with the Sheiks, along with original member and gypsy jazz-style guitarist Don Wood, for ten years. New
members, Ken Wood on percussion, guitarist Barry “Po” Hannah, and bassist Grant Parker, have injected new blood into the musical chemistry that makes this band special. • $10 KEVIN CARTER • Wild Wing Cafe • 6PM • FREE HEARTS GONE SOUTH • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE WALKER JOHNSON • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE MIKE MCGILL • Jimmy’s Place • 7PM • Original and classic bluegrass, country, and Southern rock. • FREE EMI SUNSHINE • Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center (Townsend) • 7PM • East Tennessee’s own classic country music prodigy. FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE THE CREATURES IN SECRET WITH MAGDALENE, CERULIA, AMONG THE BEASTS, AND THE PARAGON PROJECT • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • All ages. • $8 THE NATTI LOVE JOYS • Two Doors Down • 9PM ROOTS OF A REBELLION WITH TREEHOUSE AND POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM KEITH BROWN • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Keith Brown’s new solo release The Journey is ostensibly a jazz record, to be released on Space Time Records, a jazz label. But Brown’s musical footprint is much larger than the tag would seem to imply. A composer, bandleader, and pianist/keyboardist nonpareil, Brown is one of the busiest players in town. His involvement as both a leader and a sideman include soul-rock outfit Aftah Party, jazz
combo the BluePrint, and sideman gigs with Vance Thompson projects Five Plus Six and Marble City Five. • FREE THE JUKE JOINT DRIFTERS • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM KETTLE BLACK • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Kettle Black is a quiet dance, a tiny explosion expanding exponentially; it is funky, heartfelt, and unmistakably New Orleans. THE LONELY BISCUITS WITH BROTHERS AND COMPANY AND BROTHER MOSES • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $5 RUMOURS: THE ULTIMATE FLEETWOOD MAC TRIBUTE SHOW • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM • FREE Saturday, July 30 KNOXVILLE GIRLS ROCK CAMP SHOWCASE • Scruffy City Hall • 4PM • This showcase will feature a performance by the bands created during Knoxville Girls Rock Camp. Knoxville Girls Rock Camp is a week-long, intensive day camp for young women aged 8-17 that provides instrument instruction, workshops, and supports young women in forming a band to collaboratively write a song and perform it at this event. In addition to hearing some amazing young women rock, this showcase serves as a fundraiser for Knoxville Girls Rock Camp and will include a silent auction. We are asking for a $10 donation for admission. • $10 DANCING BEAR LODGE MUSIC AND FOOD FESTIVAL • Dancing Bear Lodge • 4PM • The first ever Dancing Bear Lodge Music and Food Festival will take place – rain or
We’re moving! FEATURING: DARRELL SCOTT • JAY CLARK & THE TN TREE BEAVERS LONESOME COYOTE • BOY NAMED BANJO • emily ann Roberts
We’re taking a week off to move our stuff and set up shop the week of July 25. That means we won’t have a new issue on July 28. We’ll be back on August 4 refreshed and ready for Top Knox 2016! New Address: 618 South Gay St., Suite L2 Knoxville, TN 37902
ALSO FEATURING AATURING GOURMET CONCESSIONS BY EXECUTIVE CHEF SHELLEY COOPER
7140 East Lamar Alexander ParkwayTownsend, TN 37882 1.800.369.0111 Ext. 2 dancingbearlodge.com | info@dancingbearlodge.com 24
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
Please make a note of it!
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
frontman and blues-harpist JD Wilkes, the Shack Shakers are a four-man wrecking crew from the South whose explosive interpretations of the blues, punk, rock and country have made fans, critics and legions of potential converts into true believers. 21 and up. • $5 THE BARSTOOL BLACKOUTS • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM • FREE Sunday, July 31 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 DIGITOUR SUMMER • The Concourse • 4PM • Featuring : Crawford Collins, Weston Koury, DuhItzMark, Loren Gray, and more. All ages. • $30-$129.99 J. LUKE • Wild Wing Cafe • 6PM • FREE LEE ROD AND THE FELLERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM • FREE
THE DONKEYS WITH PAPERWORK • Pilot Light • 9PM • The long legacy of music hailing from California – from Bakersfield to the Beach Boys, Sweetheart of the Rodeo through Slanted and Enchanted – has shaped our sense that everything and everyone “out west” is laid back, comfortable and cool. And to be fair, when it comes to the Donkeys, some of this mystique is true – two of the band’s members are indeed surfers, and all four have been known to down a six pack or two. But like California, the real-life Donkeys are much more... real. If their backstory contains those top-down cars and suntanned utopian surf tableaus, it also contains the malaise and the escape fantasies familiar to all suburban kids of the 80s and 90s. 18 and up. • $7 RED MOUTH • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 Monday, Aug. 1 MIGHTY MUSICAL MONDAY • Tennessee Theatre • 12PM • Wurlitzer meister Bill Snyder is joined by a special guest
Photo by Alex Morgan
shine – on the gorgeous Outdoor Pavilion Stage, and will be filled with phenomenal music as well as gourmet fare, complements of Executive Chef Shelley Cooper. Eat, drink and be merry with the greatness of headliner and music legend Darrell Scott. Scott’s unique music blend of blues, country, rock and folk has attracted a growing audience. Not only is he a powerhouse songwriter, vocalist and monster multi-instrumentalist, but he has also won numerous awards and received multiple Grammy nominations. He’ll be joined by Jay Clark and the Tennessee Tree Beavers, the Lonesome Coyotes, and Boy Named Banjo. • $25-$75 UNBRIDLED STRINGS WITH SEAN O’CONNELL • 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 JOHN ANDERSON • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson ( Maryville) • 6PM • To put it simply, John Anderson is one of the greatest country music singers to ever step up to the microphone, possessing one of the most instantly recognizable vocal instruments in the history of the genre.On his latest album Goldmine, released on his own Bayou Boys label, Anderson has completed a long overdue record of original songs. John Anderson is now the standard bearer for traditional country music, of the 100 proof variety. • $25 KUKULY AND THE GYPSY FUEGO • Hard Knox Pizzeria • 6PM • Uriarte sings in multiple languages, plays guitar in many styles, and, since 2011, leads the multifaceted jazz ensemble Kukuly and the Gypsy Fuego. Numerous titles from the Fuego’s long and varied set list are associated with—or performed in the style of—the late Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. FREE RICKY MITCHELL • Last Days of Autumn Brewery • 7PM HANDSOME AND THE HUMBLES • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • Handsome and the Humbles play old-fashioned heartland country-rock record, inspired by Uncle Tupelo, the Drive-By Truckers, Ryan Adams, and the Hold Steady, specializing in a kind of three-chord wistfulness. • FREE TRAV ARLIN • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE THE DEADBEAT SCOUNDRELS • Jimmy’s Place • 7PM • Folk/ punk/bluegrass/Americana from Jellico. • FREE NOAH GUTHRIE AND MATTHEW MAYFIELD • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • $15-$18 THE NEW SCHEMATICS WITH MOJO: FLOW • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM SOUTHBOUND • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM HUNTER SMITH’S MASS JAZZ • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE THE DIRTY DOUGS • Brackins Blues Club • 9PM AFTAH PARTY • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Funk, soul, hip-hop, jazz, rock and poetry combine when Aftah Party hits the stage with an eclectic sound that can’t be matched. This 10-piece band, with three-piece horn section, has set out on a mission to combine their wide range of musical experiences and influences into a single dynamic and soulful experience for audiences. • $5 THE CARMONAS • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE LEGENDARY SHACK SHAKERS WITH SKUNK RUCKUS AND BANDITOS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • The Legendary Shack Shakers’ hell-for-leather roadshow has earned quite a name for itself with its unique brand of Southern Gothic that is all-at-once irreverent, revisionist, dangerous, and fun. Led by their charismatic, rail-thin
CALENDAR
SUMMER SLAUGHTER The International (940 Blackstock Ave.) • Tuesday, July 26 • 2 p.m. • $29.50-$50 • All ages • internationalknox.com or thesummerslaughtertour.com
When four teenagers from Buffalo got together in 1988 to jam some low-tuned, hyperspeed songs about serial killers, mad scientists, zombies, and human flesh-eaters in a rented storage unit, it probably didn’t seem like a historic moment. But Cannibal Corpse has defied the odds—almost 30 years later, the godfathers of American death metal have released 13 albums, survived multiple lineup changes and controversies, won over a couple of new generations of fans, and become the best-selling death-metal band of all time, with an estimated two million albums sold. Depending on your perspective, Cannibal Corpse’s career is either a sign that the world’s gone to hell or standard-bearers—alongside George Romero, EC Comics, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the Evil Dead series—of gleeful, over-the-top, smart-as-a-whip low-brow pop horror. (If you’re on the fence, check out the unexpectedly charming three-hour documentary on the band’s 20th anniversary DVD set, Centuries of Torment, from 2008.) This year, the band is headlining the 10th annual extreme-metal festival tour Summer Slaughter, with a supporting lineup of nine other bands representing the full history of death metal, from old-school vets like Nile, Krisiun, and Suffocation to next-generation innovators like Revocation and After the Burial. That’s a lot of ferocious, guttural, gore-drenched brutality for a Tuesday. (Matthew Everett)
July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 25
CALENDAR on the first Monday of each month for a music showcase inside Knoxville’s historic Tennessee Theatre. • FREE TIM FAST • 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. • $0 THE SHOW PONIES • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • The Show Ponies are an indie-folk band with old time and bluegrass tendencies. • FREE Tuesday, Aug. 2 CLYDE AND THE MILLTAILERS WITH PRETEND SWEETHEARTS • 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 ANDREW LEAHEY AND THE HOMESTEAD • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE MARBLE CITY 5 • Market Square • 8PM • Live jazz every Tuesday from May 3-Aug. 30. • FREE SHIMMY AND THE BURNS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Simple arrangements of classic Folk, Country and Rock n Roll tunes as well as original songs about Love, Home and the way things oughta be. • FREE SELASEE AND THE FAF FAMILY • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 Wednesday, Aug. 3 ILONA • 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
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
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 TENNESSEE SHINES: ANDREW LEAHEY AND THE HOMESTEAD • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7PM • Rockin’ Americana band Andrew Leahey and the Homestead of Nashville include our show on their Skyline in Central Time CD release tour. The album’s first single, “Little in Love,” echoes Leahey’s appreciation for Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen. • $10 THE SKANATICS AND ROSSDAFAREYE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3
7PM • FREE BIRD IN HAND WITH HAZEL AND SUNSHINE STATION • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM • An evening of folk and synth-pop. • $3 MATT HICKEY • Wild Wing Cafe • 8:30PM • FREE EVAN TAYLOR JONES • Preservation Pub • 10PM • The Voice contestant Evan Taylor Jones is hitting the road this summer on his first North American tour, The Sunray Sessions Tour, in support of his new EP The Sunray Sessions Live. Jones’ incredible eight piece band is set to bring his vibing, soul-rock aesthetic to stages across the country. 21 and up.
Thursday, Aug. 4 EVAN TAYLOR JONES WITH RYAN SHELEY • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE THE DEAD RINGERS • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson • (Maryville) 6PM • FREE HOT SUMMER NIGHTS CONCERT SERIES • Blount County Public Library • 7PM • Thursdays in August, sponsored by the Blount County Friends of the Library. The performers will be 12-year-old Madisonville country singer Emi Sunshine (Aug. 4); jazz duo Wendel Werner and Alan Eleazer (Aug. 11); Nashville vocal family band Spencer’s Own (Aug. 18); Nashville country duo the Young Fables (Aug. 25); and Knoxville Opera’s preview of the 2016-17 season (Sept. 1). • FREE WONKY TONK • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) •
Friday, Aug. 5 STEPHEN SIMMONS • 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 ALIVE AFTER FIVE: THE STREAMLINERS SWING ORCHESTRA • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • Knoxville’s premier swing band was formed as a smaller band over 17 years ago years ago by bassist Mischa Goldman and trumpeters Mike Spirko and Thomas Heflin. The Streamliners soon blossomed into the fabulous 17-piece unit that they are today. This swingin’ big band plays the classics of Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Peggy Lee, with a little Louis Jordan and Louis Prima mixed in for extra fun. • $15 SHAUN ABBOT • Wild Wing Cafe • 6PM • FREE BAREFOOT SANCTUARY • 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 MAGNOLIA MOTEL WITH INDIGHOST • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • All ages. • $5 DIRTY POOL • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM THE DONNA HOPKINS BAND • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE WILD WOOD • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM • FREE Saturday, Aug. 6 ERIN MCLENDON WITH THE BAND CONCORD • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE THE SOUTHERN DRAWL BAND • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Maryville) • 6PM • FREE JANGLING SPARROWS • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE DENNY LAINE WITH THE CRYERS AND JOHN SALAWAY • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 7:30PM • Denny Laine played guitar in one of the great guitar bands of the 1970s. A founding member of the Moody Blues and a London scene journeyman through the late ’60s, Laine joined Paul McCartney in 1971 to form Wings, and, with McCartney’s wife, Linda, remained one of that band’s core members throughout its existence. His biggest credit during those years was co-writing “Mull of Kintyre,” Wings’ pastoral holiday ballad from 1977, but his distinctive guitar-playing on the band’s signature
SESSIONS Old Time Jam: Tuesdays Irish Session: 1st & 3rd Thursdays Scottish Session: 2nd & 4th Thursdays Mumbilly Session: 2nd Saturdays
located in the Old City jigandreel.com
THIS SPACE BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
JOIN US IN SUPPORTING THE KNOXVILLE MERCURY! 12 MARKET SQUARE 7240 KINGSTON PIKE #172 KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 37902 KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 37919 865-637-4067 865-584-1075 theTomatoHead.com 26
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
hits—“Band on the Run,” “Jet,” “Live and Let Die”—are an even more credible stake for rock immortality. • $20-$40 1964: THE TRIBUTE • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Since the early 80s, 1964: The Tribute has been thrilling audiences all over the globe with what Rolling Stone Magazine has called the “Best Beatles Tribute on Earth.” “1964” …The Tribute takes their audiences on a musical journey to an era in rock history that will live in all of our hearts forever. • $27 CYPHER: A HIP-HOP SHOW • The Birdhouse • 9PM • Open mic for the first half of the night, then two featured artists to close out the night. 18 and up. EXIT 60 • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM MOTEL MIRRORS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • A few years ago, John Paul Keith joined Amy LaVere, a Memphis singer known for her Mississippi River Gothic style of Americana, and drummer Shawn Zorn for an old-fashioned duet record under the name Motel Mirrors. Their self-titled debut album, also released in 2013, wouldn’t sound unfamiliar to fans of either Keith or LaVere. But Keith says the collaboration—the first time he’d worked with another songwriter since his time in the Viceroys—brought out new dimensions of his songwriting. • FREE THE JON STICKLEY TRIO • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE AUNT BETTY • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM • FREE ROSELIT BONE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • Gothic, cinematic country and western music influenced by Lee Hazlewood, swampy post-punk bands like the Gun Club or Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, mariachi/ranchera music, and midcentury singing cowboys like Marty Robbins and Roy Rogers. 21 and up. • $5
OPEN MIC AND SONGWRITER NIGHTS
Thursday, July 21 RED PIANO BLUES SESSIONS JAM • Red Piano Lounge • 7PM • The Red Piano Lounge has become Knoxville’s gathering spot for both blues fans and musicians on Thursday nights. Featuring the blues from Clapton to B.B. King to John Lee Hooker to Stevie Ray Vaughn and many more. So bring your axe, sticks, harps, and strings and come be a part of the jam. 21 and up. • FREE IRISH MUSIC SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Held on the first and third Thursdays of each month. • FREE REMEDY OPEN MIC NIGHT • Remedy Coffee • 5PM • Feel free to shrare music, poetry, stories, art, etc. • FREE Friday, July 22 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 Saturday, July 23 NARROW RIDGE OPEN MUSIC JAM • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 7PM • Guests are invited to share their talents in a forum that provides equal time to all who wish to participate. Our music gatherings are always a great way to get to know our neighbors and to witness first hand the amazing talent that exists here in our beautiful valley home. This is a non-alcoholic event that is free and open to all ages. Bring your friends, family, blanket or lawn chair, and good cheer. Contributions to the snack table are appreciated but not required (finger
CALENDAR
foods only, please). For more information call 865-497-2753 or email community@narrowridge. • FREE Tuesday, July 26 PRESERVATION PUB SINGER/SONGWRITER NIGHT • Preservation Pub • 7PM OLD-TIME JAM SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Hosted by Sarah Pirkle. • FREE Wednesday, July 27 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 Thursday, July 28 RED PIANO BLUES SESSIONS JAM • Red Piano Lounge • 7PM • The Red Piano Lounge has become Knoxville’s gathering spot for both blues fans and musicians on Thursday nights. Featuring the blues from Clapton to B.B. King to John Lee Hooker to Stevie Ray Vaughn and many more. So bring your axe, sticks, harps, and strings and come be a part of the jam. 21 and up. • FREE SCOTTISH MUSIC SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. • FREE Tuesday, Aug. 2 PRESERVATION PUB SINGER/SONGWRITER NIGHT • Preservation Pub • 7PM OPEN CHORD SONGWRITERS NIGHT • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 7PM • Hosted by Karen E. Reynolds. • FREE OLD-TIME JAM SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Hosted by Sarah Pirkle. • FREE Wednesday, Aug. 3 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. OPEN CHORD OPEN MIC NIGHT • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • It’s time once again for open mic night. This time we’re welcoming both solo performers and bands to perform. Come 30 minutes early to sign up for a 15-minute slot. • FREE BRACKINS BLUES JAM • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM • A weekly open session hosted by Tommie John. • FREE Thursday, Aug. 4 IRISH MUSIC SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Held on the first and third Thursdays of each month. • FREE BREWHOUSE BLUES JAM • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Join Robert Higginbotham & the Smoking Section at the Open Chord 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. Held the first Thursday of every month.
DJ AND DANCE NIGHTS
Saturday, July 23 DJ EARL GRAE • Scruffy City Hall • 10PM Sunday, July 24
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 Sunday, July 31 LAYOVER SUNDAY BRUNCH • The Concourse • 12PM • Enjoy good eats, refreshing libations, and the most appropriate afternoon tunes 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, Aug. 6 REWIND • The Concourse • 9PM • Featuring Z Is Not a DJ, DJ Darkness, and more. 18 and up. • $5
Knoxville’s BEST live music venue 6 nights a week!
Happy Hour 4pm to 8pm Huge selection of Craft, Import & Local beer Locally roasted coffee
THEATER AND DANCE
Thursday, July 21 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Harvard’s beloved blonde takes the stage by glittery pink storm. “Legally Blonde: The Musical, Jr.” follows Elle Woods as she tackles stereotypes, snobbery and scandal in pursuit of her dreams. When Elle’s high school boyfriend, Warner, dumps her and heads to Harvard, claiming she’s not “serious” enough, Elle takes matters into her own hands. As Elle begins outsmarting her peers, she realizes that law may be her natural calling after all. Songs from the junior version include “Serious,” “Bend And Snap,” “Daughter of Delta Nu,” “Chip On My Shoulder,” “Omigod You Guys,” and “Legally Blonde.” July 15-31. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. This year, Shakespeare on the Square presents The Merry Wives of Windsor, featuring one of Shakespeare’s funniest and most unique characters, the dissolute knight Sir John Falstaff, in what may be the original situational comedy, as Falstaff attempts to court two women at the same time behind their husbands’ backs; and King Lear, the classic tragedy of an aging and weary British king who divides his kingdom among his three daughters and realizes—all too late—that love is found in actions, not in words. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15 Friday, July 22 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • July 15-31. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15 OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 8PM • Tevye, an affable dairyman, must cope with the strong wills of his three eldest daughters - each of whom wish to defy tradition and marry for love –
wed July 20 • 8pm
Secret City Cyphers!!! $5 • all ages ( hip hop / open mic )
thur july 21 • 8pm
Kevin Abernathy $5 • all ages ( singer songwriter )
fri July 22 • 8pm The Harakiris $7 • all ages ( rock )
SAT july 23 • 8pm
valentine saloon $10 ADV | $15 day of ( rock n Roll )
tue July 26 • 8pm
Spike Collar Comedy FREE • 18+ ( comedy )
wed july 27 • 8pm
wayland $10 ADV | $12 day of ( rock )
thur july 28 • 8pm
full disclosure comedy free • all ages ( comedy )
fri july 29 • 8pm
the creatures in secret $8 • all ages ( rock )
sat July 30 • 8pm
Noah Guthrie & Matthew Mayfield $15 ADV | $18 Day of ( Singer Songwriter )
Knoxville’s Best Musical Instrument Store
8502 KINGSTON PIKE • (865) 281-5874 openchordmusic.com July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 27
CALENDAR while also attempting to maintain his family’s culture and faith as outside influences of Tsarist Russia encroach upon his little village. July 8-24. Visit orplayhouse.com. Saturday, July 23 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 1PM and 5PM • July 15-31. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15 OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 8PM • July 8-24. Visit orplayhouse.com. Sunday, July 24 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 3PM • July 15-31. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15 OAK RIDGE PLAYHOUSE: ‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’ • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 2PM • July 8-24. Visit orplayhouse.com.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
Tuesday, July 26 ENCORE THEATRICAL COMPANY AUDITIONS: ROCK OF AGES • Walters State Community College (Morristown) • 6:30PM • Are you ready to rock? Encore Theatrical Company is looking for rockers for their upcoming production of “Rock of Ages.” Set in L.A.’s infamous Sunset Strip in 1987, “Rock of Ages” tells the story of Drew, a boy from South Detroit, and Sherrie, a small-town girl, both in L.A. to chase their dreams of making it big and falling in love. The production team is looking to cast a total of 10 men and 8 women, ages 20s through 40s. The production will begin rehearsals in early August (with a modified rehearsal schedule for the month of August) and run through October 6. Performances are scheduled for October 7-16. For more information, please visit www. etcplays.org or call 423-318-8331. • FREE Thursday, July 28 ENCORE THEATRICAL COMPANY AUDITIONS: ROCK OF AGES • Walters State Community College (Morristown) • 6:30PM • Are you ready to rock? Encore Theatrical Company is looking for rockers for their upcoming production of “Rock of Ages.” Set in L.A.’s infamous Sunset Strip in 1987, “Rock of Ages” tells the story of Drew, a boy from South Detroit, and Sherrie, a small-town girl, both in L.A. to chase their dreams of making it big and falling in love. The production team is looking to cast a total of 10 men and 8 women, ages 20s through 40s. The production will begin rehearsals in early August (with a modified rehearsal schedule for the month of August) and run through October 6. Performances are scheduled for
October 7-16. For more information, please visit www. etcplays.org or call 423-318-8331. • FREE KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • July 15-31. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15 FOX AND BEGGAR THEATER: ‘TAROCCO: A SOLDIER’S TALE’ • Bijou Theatre • 7:30PM • The Italian tradition of Comedia dell’arte grows strange wings in Tarocco: A Soldier’s Tale, a mesmerizing fusion of circus arts, dance, mask-andpuppet theater, original music, elaborate costumes, and stunning animation. Tarocco tells the story of an Italian WWI infantryman, trapped behind enemy lines after barely escaping the gas attacks at Caporetto. To pass the time, the soldier comforts a dying comrade with stories using the images from an ancient deck of playing cards known as the Tarocco Piemontese (a predecessor of modern Tarot cards). What follows is a spellbinding and dark narrative based on the Fool’s Journey of the Tarot. • $28-$68 Friday, July 29 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • July 15-31. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12
SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15 Saturday, July 30 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 1PM and 5PM • July 15-31. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15 Sunday, July 31 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 3PM • July 15-31. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
Thursday, Aug. 4 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15 Friday, Aug. 5 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15 Saturday, Aug. 6 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SQUARE • Market Square • 7PM • Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly Thursdays through Sundays outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. July 14-Aug. 14. Visit tennesseestage.com. • FREE-$15
COMEDY AND SPOKEN WORD
Thursday, July 21 THIRD THURSDAY COMEDY OPEN MIC • Big Fatty’s Catering Kitchen • 7:30PM • We will showcase local and touring talent in a curated open mic of 6 to 8 comics. The event starts at 7:30, and there is no charge for admission. The kitchen will be open as well as their full bar. • FREE Sunday, July 24 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic. DAVE LOSSO WITH MAX FINE AND JEFF BLANK • Pilot Light • 8PM • 18 and up. • $5 Monday, July 25 ON THE MIC WITH MIKE • Scruffy City Hall • 7PM • Bee Valley Productions and Scruffy City Hall are proud to present an attention-deficit, topsy turvy take on the late-night talk show format. Mike Bartlett created the show as a way of marrying his passion for music and comedy; the purpose is to showcase the abundance of talented artists in the Knoxville music scene. Each episode features unique interviews and performances from Knoxville’s best artists, as well as sketches, segments, games, and more. Upcoming guests include Kukuly and the Gypsy Fuego (June 27), Maps Need Reading (July 11), Blond Bones (July 25), Rossdafareye (Aug. 8), and Electric Darling (Aug. 22). Visit beevalleyproductions.com/comedy/onthemicwithmike. QED COMEDY LABORATORY • Pilot Light • 7:30PM • QED ComedyLaboratory is a weekly show with different theme every week that combines stand-up, improv, sketch, music and other types of performance and features some of the funniest people in Knoxville and parts unknown. It’s weird and experimental. There is no comedy experience in town that is anything like this and it’s also a ton of fun. Pay what you want. Free, but donations are accepted. • FREE Tuesday, July 26
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 • Come laugh until you cry at the Longbranch every Tuesday night. 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 can email us at longbranch.info@gmail.com to learn more, or simply come to the show a few minutes early. • FREE SPIKE COLLAR COMEDY • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Spike Collar Comedy returns with (oddly enough) the members of the Spike Collar Comedy Tour bringing their friends. This special edition has headliner Mark Viola from Orlando, features J.C. Ratliff, Bridgette Martin, and host Jay Kendrick. 18 and up. Thursday, July 28 SUGAR HIGH! COMEDY SHOW • Sugar Mama’s • 8PM • A new comedy showcase at the brand new home of Sugar Mama’s on the 100 block. No cover. • FREE FULL DISCLOSURE COMEDY • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Full Disclosure Comedy is Knoxville’s long-form improvisational troupe, bringing together community members for laughs and overall general merriment. Sunday, July 31 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic. Monday, Aug. 1 QED COMEDY LABORATORY • Pilot Light • 7:30PM • QED ComedyLaboratory is a weekly show with different theme every week that combines stand-up, improv, sketch, music and other types of performance and features some of the funniest people in Knoxville and parts unknown. It’s weird and experimental. There is no comedy experience in town that is anything like this and it’s also a ton of fun. Pay what you want. Free, but donations are accepted. • FREE Tuesday, Aug. 2 CASUAL COMEDY • Casual Pint (Hardin Valley) • 7PM • A monthly comedy showcase at Casual Pint-Hardin Valley featuring a mixture of local and touring comedians. 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 • Come laugh until you cry at the Longbranch every Tuesday night. 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 can email us at longbranch.info@gmail.com to learn more, or simply come to the show a few minutes early. • FREE Friday, Aug. 5 FIRST FRIDAY COMEDY • Saw Works Brewing Company • 7PM • A monthly showcase featuring local and touring stand-ups comics. • FREE
FESTIVALS
Friday, July 22 NARROW RIDGE FUNDRAISING CONCERT • Tennessee
CALENDAR
Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 7PM • 81-year old internet sensation and guitar virtuoso Bob Wood will share original and favorite tunes. Bard College Conservatory of Music student pianist and composer Luke Haaksma will share original piano compositions, and Knoxville’s own Emancipators will perform a set of folk, blues, pop, traditional & original songs of peace & freedom. A $10 donation is suggested which will benefit Narrow Ridge’s work to promote sustainable living and Earth literacy. For more information call865-497-2753 or email community@narrowridge. • $10 Saturday, July 23 PARTY FOR THE PUPS PUB CRAWL • The Old City • 8PM • Party for the pups—we’re hosting an Old City-wide “pup” crawl to raise money and support for the Smoky Mountain Animal Care Foundation. There will be great Yazoo Brewing Company drink specials and raffle tickets available for purchase where you can win prizes such as dog houses, collars, leashes, coolers, and more. All proceeds from wristband sales and raffle tickets plus a percentage of drink special sales go to SMACF. Sunday, July 24 SONS OF UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR READMISSION CEREMONY • Old Gray Cemetery • 2PM • The Maj. William A. McTeer Camp No. 39 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War is presenting a major event commemorating the sesquicentennial of the readmission of Tennessee into the Union after the Civil War on 24 July, 1866. Tennessee was the last state to secede and was the first state to be readmitted. The Camp is calling the event Readmission Day 2016. The event will include re-enactors, musicians, period dress and military ceremony. Speeches will be made to commemorate not only the sesquicentennial of Tennessee’s readmission but also the sesquicentennial year of the Grand Army of the Republic, predecessor of the SUVCW. The event will conclude with a military ceremony like those of the GAR rededicating the Brownlow memorial. • FREE Friday, July 29 NORRIS DAM 80TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION • 10AM • Eighty years ago this month, Norris Dam, one of the largest in the world at the time of construction, began protecting downstream communities from devastating floods and providing low-cost power to rural communities and industrialized cities. TVA is celebrating the 80th anniversary of Norris Dam and its place in history with a two-day, fun-filled event, July 29-30. Activities will include self-guided tours inside the dam; high-voltage transmission crews with a helicopter and large boom trucks; underground and underwater unmanned vehicles used for dam inspections; interactive shows by Dr. Energy; interactive displays with fisheries biologist and archeologists; food and live music; the Big Dam Race, an 8K road race on Saturday, July 30, hosted by the Knoxville Track Club; and a family fun walk on nearby Songbird Trail on Saturday, July 30. More information about the celebration, including Big Dam Race information and registration, is available at tva.com/norris80. • FREE GRAINGER COUNTY TOMATO FESTIVAL • 12PM • The Grainger County Tomato Festival is an annual event held in downtown Rutledge in the agricultural region of Grainger County. Grainger is famous for its tasty tomatoes, and the festival is a celebration of this. The festival occurs the last full weekend of July. Visit graingercountytomatofestival.com. Saturday, July 30 NORRIS DAM 80TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION • 10AM • .More
information about the celebration, including Big Dam Race information and registration, is available at tva.com/ norris80. • FREE GRAINGER COUNTY TOMATO FESTIVAL • 12PM • The Grainger County Tomato Festival is an annual event held in downtown Rutledge in the agricultural region of Grainger County. Grainger is famous for its tasty tomatoes, and the festival is a celebration of this. The festival occurs the last full weekend of July. Visit graingercountytomatofestival.com. LITTLE RIVER FESTIVAL • 2PM • A fundraiser for Conservation Fisheries, held every year at River John Outfitters in Blount County. Family fun, music, food and beer, and river fun. DANCING BEAR LODGE MUSIC AND FOOD FESTIVAL • Dancing Bear Lodge • 4PM • The first ever Dancing Bear Lodge Music and Food Festival will take place – rain or shine – on the gorgeous Outdoor Pavilion Stage, and will be filled with phenomenal music as well as gourmet fare, complements of Executive Chef Shelley Cooper. Eat, drink and be merry with the greatness of headliner and music legend Darrell Scott. Scott’s unique music blend of blues, country, rock and folk has attracted a growing audience. Not only is he a powerhouse songwriter, vocalist and monster multi-instrumentalist, but he has also won numerous awards and received multiple Grammy nominations. He’ll be joined by Jay Clark and the Tennessee Tree Beavers, the Lonesome Coyotes, and Boy Named Banjo. • $25-$75
FILM SCREENINGS
Thursday, July 21 NOKNO CINEMATEQUE: ‘REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS’ • Central Collective • 7:30PM • An NYPD cop is “killed” in an accident. The death is faked, and he is inducted into the organization CURE, dedicated to preserving the Constitution by working outside of it. Remo is to become the enforcement wing (assassin) of CURE, and learns an ancient Korean martial art from Chiun, the Master of Sinanju. Based on the popular pulp series The Destroyer, by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy. Starring Fred Ward, Joel Grey, Wilford Brimley, and Kate Mulgrew. Friday, July 22 A1 LAB ARTS A.ONE/PRO/FORM/ARTS/FEST • Center for Creative Minds • 8PM • The A.One/Pro/Form/Arts/Fest will “celebrate the history of media and art” with showings of “bad” student art films, “funky documentaries,” surreal Betty Boop cartoons, early sitcoms first screened in movie theaters (like the Three Stooges), performance art, and the X-rated films of the edgy British director Ken Russell. The door price includes popcorn and peanuts; you can bring your own beer. Visit a1labarts.org for more info. • FREE-$5 Saturday, July 23 A1 LAB ARTS A.ONE/PRO/FORM/ARTS/FEST • Center for Creative Minds • 8PM • Visit a1labarts.org for more info. • FREE-$5 MONDAY, JULY 24 RAIDERS! THE STORY OF THE GREATEST FAN FILM EVER MADE • Scruffy City Hall • 7PM • The true, decades-spanning tale of the greatest fan film ever made. After Steven Spielberg’s classic Raiders of the Lost Ark was released 35 years ago, three 11-year-old boys from Mississippi set out on what would become a 7-year-long labor of love and tribute to their favorite film: a faithful, shot-for-shot July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 29
CALENDAR adaptation of the action adventure film. They finished every scene...except one; the film’s explosive airplane set piece. This is a special double feature with the documentary and the clip for clip adaptation with Eric Zala, director of the adaptation in attendance. There will be a Q&A after the documentary. Monday, July 25 THE BIRDHOUSE WALK-IN THEATER • The Birdhouse • 8:15PM • A weekly free movie screening. • FREE Friday, July 29 A1 LAB ARTS A.ONE/PRO/FORM/ARTS/FEST • Center for Creative Minds • 8PM • Visit a1labarts.org for more info. • FREE-$5 SUMMER MOVIE MAGIC: ‘BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S’ • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • The names Audrey Hepburn and Holly Golightly have become synonymous since this dazzling romantic comedy was translated to the screen from Truman Capote’s best-selling novella. Holly is a deliciously eccentric New York City playgirl determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire. George Peppard plays her next-door neighbor, a writer who is “sponsored” by a wealthy Patricia Neal. Guessing who’s the right man for Holly is easy. Seeing just how that romance blossoms is one of the enduring delights of this gem-like treat set to Henry Mancini’s Oscar-winning score and the Oscar-winning Mancini-Johnny Mercer song “Moon River.” • $9 Saturday, July 30 A1 LAB ARTS A.ONE/PRO/FORM/ARTS/FEST • Center for
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
Creative Minds • 8PM • Visit a1labarts.org for more info. • FREE-$5 OUTDOOR MOVIE NIGHT: ‘INSIDE OUT’ • Fulton High School • 7:30PM • Come watch Disney Pixar’s Inside Out on Fulton’s practice football field. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. Drinks, hot dogs, popcorn, etc. for sale. Please don’t bring outside food or drinks. All proceeds support Fulton High School volleyball. Thanks to Pilot/Flying J, Emerald Youth Foundation, and Chicken City. • $3 Sunday, July 31 SUMMER MOVIE MAGIC: ‘BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S’ • Tennessee Theatre • 2PM • The names Audrey Hepburn and Holly Golightly have become synonymous since this dazzling romantic comedy was translated to the screen from Truman Capote’s best-selling novella. Holly is a deliciously eccentric New York City playgirl determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire. George Peppard plays her next-door neighbor, a writer who is “sponsored” by a wealthy Patricia Neal. Guessing who’s the right man for Holly is easy. Seeing just how that romance blossoms is one of the enduring delights of this gem-like treat set to Henry Mancini’s Oscar-winning score and the Oscar-winning Mancini-Johnny Mercer song “Moon River.” • $9 Monday, Aug. 1 THE BIRDHOUSE WALK-IN THEATER • The Birdhouse • 8:15PM • A weekly free movie screening. • FREE Tuesday, Aug. 2 TWIN PEAKS VIEWING PARTY • The Birdhouse • 7PM •
Enjoy Our Spectacular
Brunch Menu! bistro
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$3 MIMOSAS
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
Saturday, July 23 SUP 101 • Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center • 10AM • We cover all the basics of standup paddleboarding in this introductory class. No experience required. • $45 BIKE ZOO SATURDAY MORNING RIDE • The Bike Zoo • 9AM • Join us every Saturday for a three-hour ride of 50 miles or more, usually at a fast pace of 18-20 mph. Visit bikezoo.com. • FREE KTC CADES COVE RUN AND POTLUCK BRUNCH • Unnamed Venue • 7AM • We’ll start at 7 a.m., meeting at the bicycle rental area. Run any of the loops—4, 7, or 11 miles. Potluck brunch in the picnic area to follow. Dates are May 21, June 25, July 23, and Aug. 20. • FREE PADDLE THE RIVER • Riverside Landing Park • 9:30AM •
ROBOTICSREVOLUTION A STEM AWARENESS EVENT PRESENTED BY
Y
August 6, 2016
JACOB BUILDING
This STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) awareness event is both entertaining and academic and GEARED to inspire young minds toward a college and career interest in a variety of STEM fields.
Filet and Eggs
ACTIVITIES AND DEMONSTRATIONS FOR ALL
Industry Technology Demos FIRST Robotics Challenge Demos FIRST Lego League Demos Lego Creative Build Challenges SPHERO Chariot Challenge ORNL Travelling Science Fair SUMO Bot Robot Arena Lego Landscapes, Trains, STEAM-filled Fun Great Ball Contraptions BAXTER the Robot with with with TN Valley Lego Club Bertelkamp Automation The Muse And of course...a DANCE PARTY!
French Toast Breakfast Sandwich
TURKEY CREEK 11383 Parkside Dr. ■ 865-671-6612 DOWNTOWN 141 S. Gay St. ■ 865-544-1491 www.crubistroandwinebar.com 30
Friday, July 22 RIVER SPORTS FRIDAY NIGHT GREENWAY RUN • River Sports Outfitters • 6PM • riversportsoutfitters.com. • FREE YMCA SOCIAL RUN • Lindsay Young Downtown YMCA • 6:30PM • Weekly social run meeting in the lobby of the downtown YMCA. We will be running through downtown and greenways, ending at Sugar Mama’s with $2 off of the first craft beer for runners. • FREE
@ CHILHOWEE PARK
½ PRICE SELECT WINE BOTTLES 4PM–10PM
(SUNDAY ONLY)
dtrail.com. • FREE FOUNTAIN CITY PEDALER THIRSTY THURSDAY ROAD RIDE • Fountain City Pedaler • 6PM • Visit facebook.com/ Fountain-City-Pedaler-Bike-Shop. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES THURSDAY NIGHT RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:20PM • Visit cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES BEGINNER ROAD RIDE • Sequoyah Park • 6:20PM • Visit cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE
Bring the family for the 3rd Annual Robotics Revolution, presented by TVA.
TURKEY CREEK $3 BLOODY MARYS
Thursday, July 21 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES THURSDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10AM • cycologybicycles.com. • FREE FLEET FEET GROUP RUN/WALK • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 6PM • 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 CLIMBING AT IJAMS CRAG • Ijams Nature Center • 5PM • You can register online or by calling 865-673-4687. riversportsoutfitters.com/events/. • $10 BILLY LUSH BOARD SHOP SUP AND SUDS • Billy Lush Board Shop • 5:30PM • Join us for your choice of a group paddle or SUP yoga class followed by cold beer from our taps at the shop. We will launch from the dock for a one-hour group paddle or yoga class then meet back in the shop for suds. • $19-$25 BEARDEN BIKE AND TRAIL LAPS ON CHEROKEE BOULEVARD • Bearden Bike and Trail • 6PM • Visit beardenbikean-
10-3
Saturday 11AM – 2PM Sunday 10AM – 2PM
■
SPORTS AND RECREATION
SATURDA
DOWNTOWN
Sunday 11AM – 2PM
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
Hosted By
Entertaining, Educational and FUN for all ages! Buy tickets at the event or online at www.themuseknoxville.org
Sponsored By
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
Come paddle with us every fourth Saturday of the month. We will be paddling from Holston River Park to Ned McWherter Dock. We will meet at 9:30 a.m. at McWherter Landing and set up our shuttle system. We will put in at Holston River Park and paddle down and take out at Ned McWherter. Come on out and paddle with us. Cost is $20 per person. Boat/paddle/PFD will be provided. Show up with your water attire and bring something to drink and sunscreen for those sunny days. Visit riversportsoutfitters.com. MOONLIGHT BOOTLEGGER 5K • Ijams Nature Center • 9PM • Call it white lightning, call it mountain dew, or hooch. Whatever you call it moonshine is a part of the heritage of Tennessee and the perfect setting for the Moonlight Bootlegger 5K. Just like our bootleggin’ ancestors, see if you can make it through the moonlit woods to get to the stompin’ grounds, where you can enjoy some moonshine cocktails and flatfoot it to live music. Monday, July 25 CLIMBING AT IJAMS CRAG • Ijams Nature Center • 5PM • Come top rope with us at Ijams Crag. Monday and Thursday evenings from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Cost is $10 per person. Gear will be included (we provide helmet, harness, rope). Please wear appropriate shoes, comfortable stretchy climbing apparel and bring water. Pre-registration is advised. You can register online or by calling 865-673-4687. riversportsoutfitters.com/events/. • $10 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 17 mph and the B group averages around 14 mph. • FREE KTC GROUP RUN • Mellow Mushroom • 6PM • Join Knoxville Track Club every Monday evening for a group run starting at the Mellow Mushroom on the Cumberland Avenue strip on the University of Tennessee campus. Visit ktc.org. • FREE BEARDEN BEER MARKET FUN RUN • Bearden Beer Market • 6:30PM • Come run with us. Every Monday year round we do a group fun run through the neighborhood. Open to all levels of walkers and runners. Everyone who participates earns $1 off their beer. Visit beardenbeermarket.com. • FREE Tuesday, July 26 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF CORNHOLE XI • Knoxville Convention Center • Cornhole players of all skill levels will compete for multiple titles on the sport’s biggest stage. For more information about the ACO, visit AmericanCornhole.com. • See Spotlight on page 34. CYCOLOGY BICYCLES TUESDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10:30AM • Join Cycology Bicycles every Tuesday morning at 10:30 am for a road ride with two group options. Weather permitting. Visit cycologybicycles.com. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES TUESDAY GREENWAY RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:30PM • Join us every Tuesday evening for a greenway ride at an intermediate pace of 14-15 mph. Must have lights. Weather permitting. cedarbluffcycles. net. • 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 Wednesday, July 27
CALENDAR
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF CORNHOLE XI • Knoxville Convention Center • Cornhole players of all skill levels will compete for multiple titles on the sport’s biggest stage. For more information about the ACO, visit AmericanCornhole.com. • See Spotlight on page 34. SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: RAMSEY CASCADES • Smoky Mountain Hiking Club • 8AM • Hike: 8 miles, rated moderate to difficult with a steep climb near the top. Meet at Alcoa Food City, 121 North Hall Road, at 8:00 am, Sugarlands Visitors Center near restrooms at 9:00 am, or trailhead at 9:30 am. Leader: Ron Brandenburg, ronb86@ comcast.net. • FREE KTC GROUP RUN • Runner’s Market • 5:30PM • If you are visiting Knoxville, new to town, new to the club, or just looking to get more involved, this is the place to start. A festive and relaxed group get-together occurs every Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 pm at Runners Market. Visit ktc.org. • 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. We meet near Mead’s Quarry. • FREE Thursday, July 28 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF CORNHOLE XI • Knoxville Convention Center • Cornhole players of all skill levels will compete for multiple titles on the sport’s biggest stage. For more information about the ACO, visit AmericanCornhole.com. • See Spotlight on page 34. 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+ mph pace; B group does an intermediate ride at 15/18 mph average. Weather permitting. cycologybicycles.com. • FREE CLIMBING AT IJAMS CRAG • Ijams Nature Center • 5PM • Come top rope with us at Ijams Crag. Monday and Thursday evenings from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Cost is $10 per person. Gear will be included (we provide helmet, harness, rope). Please wear appropriate shoes, comfortable stretchy climbing apparel and bring water. Pre-registration is advised. You can register online or by calling 865-673-4687. riversportsoutfitters.com/events/. • $10 BILLY LUSH BOARD SHOP SUP AND SUDS • Billy Lush Board Shop • 5:30PM • Each Thursday at 5:30 p.m. May through August. Join us for your choice of a group paddle or SUP yoga class followed by cold beer from our taps at the shop. We will launch from the dock for a one-hour group paddle or yoga class then meet back in the shop for suds. Rentals are $19 for the group paddle and $25 for the yoga class and includes a complimentary beer. Those who join the group paddle with their own board get $1 off pints till close. • $19-$25 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 BEARDEN BIKE AND TRAIL LAPS ON CHEROKEE BOULEVARD • Bearden Bike and Trail • 6PM • Visit beardenbikeandtrail.com. • FREE FOUNTAIN CITY PEDALER THIRSTY THURSDAY ROAD RIDE • Fountain City Pedaler • 6PM • Visit facebook.com/ Fountain-City-Pedaler-Bike-Shop. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES BEGINNER ROAD RIDE • Sequoyah Park • 6:20PM • Visit cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES THURSDAY NIGHT RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:20PM • Visit cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE Friday, July 29 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF CORNHOLE XI • Knoxville Convention Center • Cornhole players of all skill levels will compete for multiple titles on the sport’s biggest stage. For more information about the ACO, visit AmericanCornhole.com. • See Spotlight on page 34. RIVER SPORTS FRIDAY NIGHT GREENWAY RUN • River Sports Outfitters • 6PM • Greenway run from the store every Friday evening. Work up a thirst then join us for $2 pints in the store afterwards. riversportsoutfitters.com. • FREE YMCA SOCIAL RUN • Lindsay Young Downtown YMCA • 6:30PM • Weekly social run meeting in the lobby of the downtown YMCA. We will be running through downtown and greenways, ending at Sugar Mama’s with $2 off of the first craft beer for runners. • FREE Saturday, July 30 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF CORNHOLE XI • Knoxville Convention Center • Cornhole players of all skill levels will compete for multiple titles on the sport’s biggest stage. For more information about the ACO, visit AmericanCornhole.com. • See Spotlight on page 34. SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: MOUNT LECONTE • Smoky Mountain Hiking Club • 7AM • The Alum Cave trail has some of the most spectacular scenery of any trail in the park, and easy access makes it one of the most popular. After a break at Alum Cave we will continue on to Mt. LeConte where we will stop for lunch either at Cliff Top (with a view) or at the lodge. We will then retrace our steps down the mountain on the same trail. Hike: 11 miles rated moderately difficult due to the rocky 2800 ft. climb. Because of the popularity of this trail and the crowded parking lot at the trailhead, we will meet at Comcast, 5720 Asheville Hwy, ready to leave at 7:00 am, or at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in the bus parking lot at 8:00 am. Leaders: Ron Blessinger, rblessinger@msn.com. • FREE BIKE ZOO SATURDAY MORNING RIDE • The Bike Zoo • 9AM • Join us every Saturday for a three-hour ride of 50 miles or more, usually at a fast pace of 18-20 mph. Visit bikezoo.com. • FREE WWE LIVE SUMMERSLAM HEATWAVE TOUR • Thompson-Boling Arena • 7:30PM • Featuring Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho, Kane and Neville, the Vaudevillains, Kaliston, Alberto Del Rio, and many more. • $15-$95 Monday, Aug. 1 CLIMBING AT IJAMS CRAG • Ijams Nature Center • 5PM • Come top rope with us at Ijams Crag. Monday and Thursday evenings from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Cost is $10 per person. Gear will be included (we provide helmet, harness, rope). Please wear appropriate shoes, comfortable stretchy climbing apparel and bring water. Pre-registration is advised. You can register online or by calling 865-673-4687. riversportsoutfitters.com/events/. • $10 July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 31
CALENDAR KTC GROUP RUN • Mellow Mushroom • 6PM • Join Knoxville Track Club every Monday evening for a group run starting at the Mellow Mushroom on the Cumberland Avenue strip on the University of Tennessee campus. Visit ktc.org. • 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
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
according to speed. Both groups are no-drop groups. The faster group averages over 17 mph and the B group averages around 14 mph. • FREE BEARDEN BEER MARKET FUN RUN • Bearden Beer Market • 6:30PM • Come run with us. Every Monday year round we do a group fun run through the neighborhood. Open to all levels of walkers and runners. Everyone who participates earns $1 off their beer. Visit beardenbeermarket.com. •
FREE Tuesday, Aug. 2 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES TUESDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10:30AM • Join Cycology Bicycles every Tuesday morning at 10:30 am for a road ride with two group options. Weather permitting. Visit cycologybicycles.com. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES TUESDAY GREENWAY RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:30PM • Join us every Tuesday evening for a greenway ride at an intermediate pace of 14-15 mph. Must have lights. Weather permitting. cedarbluffcycles. net. • 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 Wednesday, Aug. 3 KTC GROUP RUN • Runner’s Market • 5:30PM • Visit ktc.org. • FREE TVB EASY RIDER MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • Check out our Facebook page or give us a call at 865-540-9979 for more info. We meet near Mead’s Quarry. • FREE
MAORI HEALERS WORKSHOP Knoxville Healing Center (313 N. Forest Park Blvd.) • Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31 • knoxvillehealingcenter.com • $350-$460
The Maori healers, who come through Knoxville on a semi-annual basis, generally gather a crowd—and/or even bring one with them. They have a cult following, which shows up wherever they go when they’re in the U.S. to tap into their physical, psychic, energetic, and astral healing, which is based on the ancient ways of their culture. To say that this healing method is unique doesn’t quite capture it. It is profound, it is beautiful, it is brutal, it is deep, it is powerful, it is weird—and beyond, it is all love. And, no, I’m not making any of that up. Maori healers use every tool at their disposal: hands and feet, sticks and rocks, water and smoke, voices and drums, prayers and incantations, scents and songs. To be healed by them is to submit to total transformation, not only of body and will, but of spirit. Maori healing is not always comfortable, but is always earth-shattering—they aim to heal at the cellular level, and they quite often achieve their mark. The best way to understand Maori healing is to simply to undergo it, which Knoxvillians will have the chance to do when the healers return to the area to provide “family-style” private sessions (that is to say, you’re on a private table or mat in a room with others). They’ll be at Gypsy Hands Healing Art Center (707 N. Central St.) July 24-26 and at the Knoxville Healing Center July 27-29. If you’re interested in learning more, they will be leading a two-day workshop (July 30 and 31) aimed at teaching the Maori healing way to any and all comers, no bodywork or energy-work background needed. According to KHC bodyworker and Maori-trained healer Ana Gonçalves, it is part of the Maori tradition to transmit light and love everywhere. “The Maori don’t like to hold on to information; they want to spread it because it is needed,” she explains. “Their mission is to heal the world, and that starts with you, and then the person next to you—and then it spreads from there.” This seems prescient in these troubled times. Peace is needed and the Maori are here to deliver. You can work toward change on your own with a personal session ($160), or with others during the weekend workshop, which will equip you to work on friends and family ($350 without a bodywork session; $460 for workshop with bodywork). (Hillari Dowdle)
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
Thursday, Aug. 4 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES THURSDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10AM • cycologybicycles.com. • FREE CLIMBING AT IJAMS CRAG • Ijams Nature Center • 5PM • You can register online or by calling 865-673-4687. riversportsoutfitters.com/events/. • $10 BILLY LUSH BOARD SHOP SUP AND SUDS • Billy Lush Board Shop • 5:30PM • $19-$25 FLEET FEET GROUP RUN/WALK • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 6PM • 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 BEARDEN BIKE AND TRAIL LAPS ON CHEROKEE BOULEVARD • Bearden Bike and Trail • 6PM • Visit beardenbikeandtrail.com. • FREE FOUNTAIN CITY PEDALER THIRSTY THURSDAY ROAD RIDE • Fountain City Pedaler • 6PM • Visit facebook.com/ Fountain-City-Pedaler-Bike-Shop. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES BEGINNER ROAD RIDE • Sequoyah Park • 6:20PM • Visit cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES THURSDAY NIGHT RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:20PM • Visit cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE Friday, Aug. 5 RIVER SPORTS FRIDAY NIGHT GREENWAY RUN • River Sports Outfitters • 6PM • Greenway run from the store every Friday evening. Work up a thirst then join us for $2 pints in the store afterwards. riversportsoutfitters.com. • FREE YMCA SOCIAL RUN • Lindsay Young Downtown YMCA • 6:30PM • Weekly social run meeting in the lobby of the downtown YMCA. We will be running through downtown and greenways, ending at Sugar Mama’s with $2 off of the first craft beer for runners. • FREE Saturday, Aug. 6 BIKE ZOO SATURDAY MORNING RIDE • The Bike Zoo • 9AM • Join us every Saturday for a three-hour ride of 50 miles or more, usually at a fast pace of 18-20 mph. Visit bikezoo.com. • FREE RUNNER’S MARKET SATURDAY GROUP RUN • Runner’s Market • 9AM • Every first Saturday of the month at 9:00
am, join us for a relaxed-pace run of 3 to 5.5 miles or beyond along the Third Creek and Sequoyah Hills Greenways. Afterwards, enjoy coffee and refreshments provided by the gang at Runner’s Market. Visit runnersmarket.com. • FREE CATALYST ADAPTIVE CLIMB • River Sports Outfitters • 10AM • Join us the first Saturday of every month as we climb with Catalyst Sports. This event is for anyone with physical disabilities. All ages are welcome to come and climb our rock wall. • $10 TENNESSEE ASSOCIATION OF VINTAGE BASE BALL • Historic Ramsey House • 12PM • Vintage base ball, played according to the rules and customs of 1864, returns to Tennessee for its fourth season, offering 55 regular season matches in 2016. • FREE
ART
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts 556 Parkway (Gatlinburg) MAY 21-AUG. 20: Arrowmont’s annual instructor exhibit. JUNE 29-AUG. 4: 2016-17 Artists-in-Residence Exhibit. Art Market Gallery 422 S. Gay St. JUNE 28-JULY 31: Artwork by Sandra Abraham and Elaine Fronczak. AUG. 2-28: Paintings by Kate McCullough, glass art by Johnny Glass, and Who, What, Where, a member exhibit focused on East Tennessee people and places. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Aug. 5, at 5:30 p.m. Bliss Home 24 Market Square JUNE 3-JULY 30: Photography by Brian Murray. Broadway Studios and Gallery 1127 N. Broadway July 1-30: Paintings and drawings by Beverly Duncan Gleason. Center for Creative Minds 23 Emory Place JULY 1-30: A.One/Pro/Form/Arts/Fest, a month-long film, video, and performance art festival. 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. 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. AUG. 1-7: Photo Recollection: Eighth of August Jubilee, an exhibition of photos by Holly Rainey of Emancipation Day celebrations in Newport and Greeneville. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Aug. 5, from 5-9 p.m. Emporium Center for Arts and Culture 100 S. Gay St. JULY 1-29: A Sense of Community, a group show by the Townsend Artisan Guild; sculpture by Ty Crisp; Small Stories, mixed media and collage by Renee Suich; Faces of Jazz, photos by Daniel Taylor; and Service, Sacrifice,
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
Honor, photographs of member of the military and their families by Cheryl Sharp. AUG. 5-26: A Plen Air Show, featuring paintings made outdoors by the Tuesday Painters group; Expressions, abstract paintings and urban landscapes by Terina Gilette; The Wonder of Birds, featuring photos by Melinda Adams and woodcarvings by Marjorie Holbert; A Gathering of Goddesses, mixed-media artwork by Sheryl Sallie; and Glasslike Surfaces, glass art by Yvonne Hosey. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Aug. 5, from 5-9 p.m. Ewing Gallery 1715 Volunteer Boulevard JULY 15-AUG. 28: Encore, an exhibit of artwork by 11 University of Tennessee graduates living in Nashville. Knoxville Arts and Fine Crafts Center 1127B Broadway AUG. 1-OCT. 31: Whimsical Creatures, paintings and photographs by Lela E. Buis. A reception will be held on Friday, Aug. 19, from 5:30-8 p.m. 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. THROUGH JULY 31: An exhibit on human trafficking by members of the Central High School National Art Honors Society. 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. JULY 12-OCT. 19: Land, Sea, and Spirit: Alaska Native Art From the 19th and 20th Centuries. ONGOING: The Flora and Fauna of Catesby, Mason, and Audubon and Life on the Roman Frontier. Westminster Presbyterian Church 6500 Northshore Drive JULY 1-AUG. 31: An exhibit of contemporary quilts by Melissa Everett.
FAMILY AND KIDS’ EVENTS
Thursday, July 21 LITTLE LEARNERS • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30 a.m., “Little Learners,” recommended for ages 3-5. Interactive sessions focus on language acquisition and pre-literacy skills incorporating stories, music, motion, play, crafts and more. • FREE CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. • FREE LEGO CLUB • Blount County Public Library • 4PM • LEGO
CALENDAR
Club will take place in the children’s library. Kids will complete different-themed and timed LEGO Challenges, as well as have some time for free building. The library will provide the LEGOs, so all you have to bring is your imagination. • FREE CRUSADING 4 CHESS • St. Luke’s Episcopal Church • 9AM • Chess camp at St. Luke’s is a safe place for your child to develop an appreciation for chess through the history, hands on demonstration, and old world tactics that date back hundreds of years. Your child will meet new friends and dutifully continue the study of the game. Space is limited to 20 children, so r Register by contacting Michael Moore at mmoore4ube@gmail.com or call 865-360-6706. Ages 6-18. July 20-22. Friday, July 22 ETTAC FRIDAY FUNDAY • East Tennessee Technology Access Center • 9AM • For parents of children with and without disabilities, the East Tennessee Technology Access Center opens its doors to them during the summer through July on Fridays with lots of activities to keep them entertained and stimulated. For children age 5 to 10. Parents must register for all sessions by the Thursday before the session. Call (865) 219-0130 and press 3, email lorriec@ ettac.org, or go to www.ettac.org. • $5 S.T.E.A.M. KIDS • Blount County Public Library • 4PM • For grades K-5. Every week will be a different adventure, from science experiments to art projects and everything in between. Materials will be limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. • FREE CRUSADING 4 CHESS • St. Luke’s Episcopal Church • 9AM •
Chess camp at St. Luke’s is a safe place for your child to develop an appreciation for chess through the history, hands on demonstration, and old world tactics that date back hundreds of years. Your child will meet new friends and dutifully continue the study of the game. Space is limited to 20 children, so r Register by contacting Michael Moore at mmoore4ube@gmail.com or call 865-360-6706. Ages 6-18. July 20-22. HEALTHY HAPPY HOUR BLOCK PARTY • Central Collective • 4:30PM • Join WUOT’s TruckBeat team and the Central Collective for a free family-friendly afternoon block party. There will be fun and healthy activities for adults and kids, face-painting, low-cost yoga and children’s movement classes, and more. And make sure to bring your health questions – we’ve lined up a roster of public health experts from the Knox County Health Department who will be available to answer your health and wellness questions one-on-one. They’ll also provide information and resources for eating healthy on a tight budget, helping your baby grow up strong, and the latest on the Zika virus. • FREE Saturday, July 23 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 10AM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. • FREE BLOUNT COUNTY NERD GROUP • Blount County Public Library • 3PM • Starting this summer, students can learn the basic principles of computer programming, also known as coding. By participating in the newly-formed Blount County Nerd Group, students seventh grade and up
Check out our Brand New Bourbon Bar
at Uncorked
Part of the Scruffy City Bar Hop
July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 33
CALENDAR can learn skills such as making simple games, developing professional websites and creating mobile apps. Participating students are encouraged to bring their own technologies including a laptop. However, students who do not have adequate technology will be provided a laptop by the library when necessary. • FREE DANCE THROUGH THE DECADES • Blount County Public Library • 5PM • To finish off the Summer Reading program for teens, you are invited to a library party where you can dress your fanciest and learn a few dances from past decades including the Charleston, Swing dancing, plus more. This isn’t just a dance instruction, though. There will be masquerade mask making, a photo booth, and more! The Bookmark Café will be catering fancy treats and Italian sodas. The grand prize winner of the Teen
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
Summer Reading program will be announced at this event, so be sure to have all of your reading logs turned in. This event will take place in the Sharon Lawson Room. • FREE Tuesday, July 26 LITTLE LEARNERS • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30 a.m., “Little Learners,” recommended for ages 3-5. Interactive sessions focus on language acquisition and pre-literacy skills incorporating stories, music, motion, play, crafts and more. • FREE Wednesday, July 27 BABY AND ME • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • Recommended for ages 2 and under. These lapsit sessions for baby and caregiver feature short stories,
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF CORNHOLE XI Knoxville Convention Center (701 Henley St.) • Tuesday, July 26-Saturday, July 30 • Free • americancornhole.com
It’s a game mostly reserved for backyard barbecues and tailgating parties, but, believe it or not, cornhole is making a toss into the mainstream. Over the next week nearly 300 players will return to Knoxville for the annual World Championship of Cornhole—it’s the 11th installment of this competition pitting the best of the bag-chuckers against each other for cash prizes and bragging rights, and the second championship in a row held here in Knoxville. (Last year it was covered by ESPN.) The rules are pretty simple: Two players or teams face off, tossing four beanbags per round at a wooden board with a 6-inch hole in it. A bag on the board is worth one point; get it in the hole and earn three points. The first player to 21 wins—in this case, that could mean a championship prize of $10,000 in the singles competition, among other prizes. After three days of qualifying bouts, the battle of the baggers culminates on Friday and Saturday when the championship rounds play out. It’s billed as family-friendly fun and free to watch (with free parking in the Poplar and Locust street garages). (Clay Duda)
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
action rhymes, music and pre-literacy tips and tricks for caregivers. It is also a great time for caregivers and babies to socialize. • FREE Thursday, July 28 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. • FREE LEGO CLUB • Blount County Public Library • 4PM • LEGO Club will take place in the children’s library. Kids will complete different-themed and timed LEGO Challenges, as well as have some time for free building. The library will provide the LEGOs, so all you have to bring is your imagination. • FREE Friday, July 29 ETTAC FRIDAY FUNDAY • East Tennessee Technology Access Center • 9AM • For parents of children with and without disabilities, the East Tennessee Technology Access Center opens its doors to them during the summer through July on Fridays with lots of activities to keep them entertained and stimulated. For children age 5 to 10.The Friday Funday activities vary every week. No food will be served, but parents can stay afterwards if they wish to provide lunch for themselves and their children. The June 17 session’s theme is Scientist Day, June 24 is Eye Spy With my Little Eye, July 8 will be Christmas in July, July 15 is Artist Day, July 22 is Water Day and July 29 is End of Summer Celebration.On July 1, no session will occur so we can all celebrate the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Each session costs $5, but scholarships are available. Parents must register for all sessions by the Thursday before the session. Call (865) 219-0130 and press 3, email lorriec@ettac.org, or go to www.ettac.org. • $5 S.T.E.A.M. KIDS • Blount County Public Library • 4PM • For grades K-5. Every week will be a different adventure, from science experiments to art projects and everything in between. Materials will be limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. • FREE Saturday, July 30 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 10AM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. • FREE BLOUNT COUNTY NERD GROUP • Blount County Public Library • 3PM • Starting this summer, students can learn the basic principles of computer programming, also known as coding. By participating in the newly-formed Blount County Nerd Group, students seventh grade and up can learn skills such as making simple games, developing professional websites and creating mobile apps. Participating students are encouraged to bring their own technologies including a laptop. However, students who do not have adequate technology will be provided a laptop by the library when necessary. • FREE Tuesday, Aug. 2 LITTLE LEARNERS • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30 a.m., “Little Learners,” recommended for ages 3-5. Interactive sessions focus on language acquisition and pre-literacy skills incorporating stories, music, motion, play, crafts and more. • FREE Wednesday, Aug. 3 BABY AND ME • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • Recommended for ages 2 and under. These lapsit sessions for baby and caregiver feature short stories, action rhymes, music and pre-literacy tips and tricks for caregivers. It is also a great time for caregivers and babies to socialize. • FREE
Thursday, Aug. 4 LITTLE LEARNERS • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30 a.m., “Little Learners,” recommended for ages 3-5. Interactive sessions focus on language acquisition and pre-literacy skills incorporating stories, music, motion, play, crafts and more. • FREE CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. • FREE LEGO CLUB • Blount County Public Library • 4PM • LEGO Club will take place in the children’s library. Kids will complete different-themed and timed LEGO Challenges, as well as have some time for free building. The library will provide the LEGOs, so all you have to bring is your imagination. • FREE Friday, Aug. 5 S.T.E.A.M. KIDS • Blount County Public Library • 4PM • For grades K-5. Every week will be a different adventure, from science experiments to art projects and everything in between. Materials will be limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. • FREE Saturday, Aug. 6 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 10AM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. • FREE BLOUNT COUNTY NERD GROUP • Blount County Public Library • 3PM • Starting this summer, students can learn the basic principles of computer programming, also known as coding. By participating in the newly-formed Blount County Nerd Group, students seventh grade and up can learn skills such as making simple games, developing professional websites and creating mobile apps. Participating students are encouraged to bring their own technologies including a laptop. However, students who do not have adequate technology will be provided a laptop by the library when necessary. • FREE
LECTURES, READINGS, AND BOOK SIGNINGS
Sunday, July 24 BIRDHOUSE SUNDAY DINNER POTLUCK AND PRESENTATION • The Birdhouse • 6PM • Every month, the Birdhouse hosts a Sunday dinner program. It begins with a potluck dinner, followed by a speaker and presentation on a wide range of timely topics. Sunday dinner is always free and open to the public. Please bring a dish to share—but if you are for some reason unable to contribute food, please just bring yourself, and share in our feast. Children are especially welcome here. • FREE Tuesday, July 26 RON JONES: “THE VIKING AGE AND NORSE GENEALOGY” • East Tennessee History Center • 12PM • Local author and genealogist Ron Jones will examine the legacy of the Vikings, including current portrayals, common myths and misunderstandings, the nature of their society, and the extent of their travels. The Vikings are remembered in history as ruthless invaders and plunderers. Yet they also left a legacy of craftsmanship, poetry, superior ships, and seamanship. Who were they, what was their ancestral heritage, and what can modern DNA testing tell us about our Viking ancestry?A member of the First Families of Tennessee, the Scottish Society of Knoxville, and several Scottish clan societies, Ron Jones is the author of three historical novels and is a frequent speaker about the Civil
CALENDAR War, the American Revolution, and the Scots. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www. EastTNHistory.org. • FREE Wednesday, July 27 BOOKS SANDWICHED IN • East Tennessee History Center • 12PM • The Friends of the Knox County Public Library’s monthly reading series this summer and fall includes University of Tennessee professor Margaret Lazarus Dean on her 2015 book Leaving Orbit: Notes From the Last Days of American Spaceflight (July 27); Mike Cohen of Cohen Communications Group discussing Lawrence Lessig’s Republic, Lost: The Corruption of Equality and the Steps to End It (Aug. 24); Knoxville attorney Tammy Kaousias on Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America, by Ari Berman (Sept. 28); Vrondelia Chandler of Project Grad and Jackie Clay of the Save Our Sons initiative on Rac(e)ing to Class: Confronting Poverty and Race in Schools and Classrooms, by H. Richard Milner IV and Tyrone Howard (Oct. 26); and UT journalism professor Stuart Brotman on Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World, by Timothy Garton Ash (Nov. 16). • FREE Saturday, July 30 DAVID BURNSWORTH, BRYAN ROBINSON, AND DANNY BERNSTEIN • Union Ave Books • 2PM • Book signings and readings with David Burnsworth, author of Burning Heat; Bryan Robinson author of Limestone Gumption; and Danny Bernstein author of Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey Through the National Parks of the South. • FREE Sunday, July 31 SUSAN BENJAMIN: ‘SWEET AS SIN’ • Union Ave Books • 2PM • Book signing and reading with Susan Benjamin author of Sweet as Sin: the Unwrapped Story of How Candy Became America’s Favorite Pleasure. • FREE Wednesday, Aug. 3 RANDI NOTT: “THE HEART OF THE HOUSEHOLD” • East Tennessee History Center • 12PM • “The Heart of the Household” is the story of Sam, Dolly, and William Johnson in their own words. Randi Nott will present direct quotes from these three individuals who were enslaved, then emancipated, by President Andrew Johnson. Speaking for themselves on a variety of subjects, the Johnsons’ story will give examples of Sam’s independent nature and his work to establish Greeneville’s first Freemen’s school. Dolly, as a domestic servant with her more subtle brand of independence and William’s visit with President FDR and his work to maintain his family’s story for posterity.• FREE Thursday, Aug. 4 DAN ZAK: ‘ALMIGHTY: COURAGE, RESISTANCE, AND EXISTENTIAL PERIL IN THE NUCLEAR AGE’ • East Tennessee History Center • 7PM • Zak will discuss his new book, Almighty: Courage, Resistance, and Existential Peril in the Nuclear Age, which begins in 2012 on the night when a trio of elderly peace activists infiltrated the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge to draw attention to a costly military-industrial complex that stockpiled deadly nukes and drones. The book re-examines the 70-year history of America’s nuclear weapons program and worldwide weapons proliferation. • FREE
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
Thursday, July 21 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. AARP SMART DRIVER DRIVER SAFETY CLASS • John T. O’Connor Senior Center • 12PM • Call 382-5822. PORTRAIT AND LIFE DRAWING SESSIONS • Historic Candoro Marble Company • 12:30PM • Portrait and life drawing practice at Candoro Art & Heritage Center. $10. Call Brad Selph for more information (865-573-0709). • $10 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. 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 • 6:30PM • 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-$25 to partake in the libations. • $20-$25 VICTORIA FARLEY: A COURSE IN MIRACLES • Illuminations Metaphysical Center • 6:30PM • $10 BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 STANDUP PADDLEBOARDING 101 • Sequoyah Park • 6PM • Have you been wondering where you can get a few tips on how to stay standing on one of those “surf board things”? We have you covered. Come learn to paddle with us every other Thursday at 6 p.m. We meet at Sequoyah Hills Boat Ramp. Cost is $35. Paddle board is included. Just show up and learn. You’ll be paddling around in no time. You must register for this event so we know to bring you a board. Visit riversportsoutfitters.com. • $35 SUP YOGA • Concord Park • 6PM • Yoga on a SUP board? Come join us every Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Cove. We will meet at the River Sports Outfitters building. Cost is $25 and includes board, paddle and PFD. Register at barrebelleyoga.com/class-schedule. • $25 SUP YOGA • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • Yoga on a paddleboard! Meet us at the Meads Quarry every Thursday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m. Cost is $25 and includes board and PFD. Personal boards are not permitted on the quarry. Get a great core workout and expand your flexibility. Register at barrebelleyoga.com/ class-schedule. • $25 Saturday, July 23 YOGA AT NARROW RIDGE • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 9:30AM • Narrow Ridge invites you to join us every Saturday 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 IMPROV COMEDY CLASS • The Birdhouse • 10:30AM • A weekly improv comedy class. • FREE KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: PRUNING HYDRANGEAS • Cedar Bluff Branch Library • 10:30AM • Hydrangeas: when to prune these bloomin’ shrubs? If you
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July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 35
CALENDAR have hydrangeas, then you need to know that there are two distinct types—which are pruned very differently. Join Master Gardener Carolyn Kiser to learn the difference between “old wood” and “new wood” bloomers, as well as when and how to prune each of these types. Call 865-470-7033. • FREE BEARDSLEY COMMUNITY FARM WORKDAYS AND GARDEN CLASSES • Beardsley Community Farm • 9AM • CAC Beardsley Community Farm Saturday Workdays are from 9 a.m.-noon, followed by a garden class from 12:15-1:30 p.m. The upcoming schedule includes “Beat the Bugs … With Bugs” (July 23); “organic Disease Control” (Aug. 13); “Preserving the Harvest” (Sept. 10); and “Green Manure: Build Your Soil With Cover Crops” (Oct. 8). For more information visit beardsleyfarm.org, email beardsleyfarm@gmail.com or call 865-546-8446. • FREE SUP YOGA • Ijams Nature Center • 9AM • Yoga on a paddleboard! Meet us at the Meads Quarry every Thursday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m. Cost is $25 and includes board and PFD. Personal boards are not permitted on the quarry. Get a great core workout and expand your flexibility. Register at barrebelleyoga.com/ class-schedule. • $25 SUP 101 • Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center • 10AM • We cover all the basics of standup paddleboarding in this introductory class. No experience required. We will teach you: equipment overview, safety and awareness of the conditions, balancing, correct stance, four different paddle strokes, steering and turning, proper paddling form and more. All instructors are PaddleFit and WPA (World Paddle Association) certified. Classes are offered every Saturday at 10 a.m. through September. • $45 WEST BICYCLES MONTHLY BIKE CLINIC • West Bicycles • 11AM • Free monthly bicycle service clinic, including flat tire repair, gear and brake adjustment, pre-ride check list, and custom emergency tool/convenience kit recommendations. Every fourth Saturday of the month through August. Call (865) 671-7591 or visit westbikes.com. • FREE TRAVELING YOGA • Krutch Park • 8AM • Join us for our monthly traveling yogi series. This month’s practice will be held in Krutch Park, led by our very own ambassador Catherine Widner. Sunday, July 24 SUN ILLUMINATED SPIRIT COMMUNITY • Illuminations Metaphysical Center • 11:15AM • With Victoria Farley. 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. Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $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. Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE IMPROVISATION CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 3:30PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 BEGINNING BRIDGE LESSONS • Knoxville Bridge Center • 1:30PM • The Knoxville Association of Bridge Clubs is offering an in-depth, 17-week course on duplicate bridge, with a focus on learning the modern two over one bridge system. Taught by certified instructors, these lessons are 36
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
a fun and informative way to learn the basics of modern bridge. Contact Jo Anne Newby at (865} 539-4150 or email KnoxvilleBridge@gmail.com. • $5 Monday, July 25 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: QUICK AND TASTY COOKING • Cancer Support Community • 12PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 5:30PM • Call 865-5772021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. NIA CARDIO-DANCE WORKOUT TECHNIQUE • Broadway Academy of Performing Arts • 10AM • Blending dance arts, martial arts, yoga and healing arts in a 55-minute mindful fitness fusion. Email emilybryant24@yahoo.com. Tuesday, July 26 KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: GINSENG • Karns Senior Center • 11AM • Join Master Gardener Janie Bitner (who is also a volunteer in the GSMNP) to learn some of the history of ginseng, why it is protected and what is so special about the ginseng in GSMNP. Call 865-951-2653. • FREE GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • Visit capoeiraknoxville.org. • $10 ACROYOGA • Dragonfly Aerial Arts Studio • 6PM • 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 BEGINNING BRIDGE LESSONS • Knoxville Bridge Center • 6PM • The Knoxville Association of Bridge Clubs is offering an in-depth, 17-week course on duplicate bridge, with a focus on learning the modern two over one bridge system. Taught by certified instructors, these lessons are a fun and informative way to learn the basics of modern bridge. Bring a partner or we can provide one for you. Contact Jo Anne Newby at (865} 539-4150 or email KnoxvilleBridge@gmail.com. • $5 Wednesday, July 27 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 knowledge of modern dance technique and vocabulary, but is open to any mover who is willing to be challenged. Visit circlemoderndance.com. 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. Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 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 NIA CARDIO-DANCE WORKOUT TECHNIQUE • Broadway Academy of Performing Arts • 6PM • Blending dance arts, martial arts, yoga and healing arts in a 55-minute mindful fitness fusion. Email emilybryant24@yahoo.com. Thursday, July 28 AARP DRIVER SAFETY SMART DRIVER CLASS • Everett Senior Center • 9AM • Call 382-5822. GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. PORTRAIT AND LIFE DRAWING SESSIONS • Historic Candoro Marble Company • 12:30PM • Portrait and life drawing practice at Candoro Art & Heritage Center. $10. Call Brad Selph for more information (865-573-0709). • $10 KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: PRUNING HYDRANGEAS • Humana Guidance Center • 3:15PM • Hydrangeas: when to prune these bloomin’ shrubs? If you have hydrangeas, then you need to know that there are two distinct types—which are pruned very differently. Join Master Gardener Carolyn Kiser to learn the difference between “old wood” and “new wood” bloomers, as well as when and how to prune each of these types. Call 865-329-8892. • FREE 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 • 6:30PM • 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-$25 to partake in the libations. • $20-$25 BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 I BIKE KNX BIKE CLASSES • Safety City • 9:30AM • Our classes are customized based on what you want to learn. We can help your child learn to ride without training wheels, teach basic traffic rules for riding on the road, get you back on the bike if you’re dusting the cobwebs off, and much more. You can choose from six different class times, all taught by instructors who are certified as League Cycling Instructors by the League of American Bicyclists. You must RSVP to ambassadors@knoxtrans. org and specify which time you wish to attend in order to have a spot in the class. If you need to borrow a bicycle, email us by July 25 and let us know what size you need. Class times are 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.; 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.; 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.; 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.; 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.; and 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. SUP YOGA • Concord Park • 6PM • Yoga on a SUP board? Come join us every Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Cove. We will meet at the River Sports Outfitters building. Cost is $25 and includes board, paddle and PFD. Register at barrebelleyoga.com/class-schedule. • $25 SUP YOGA • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • Yoga on a paddleboard! Meet us at the Meads Quarry every Thursday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m. Cost is $25 and includes board and PFD. Personal boards are not permitted on the quarry. Get a great core workout and expand your flexibility. Register at barrebelleyoga.com/ class-schedule. • $25 Friday, July 29 AARP DRIVER SAFETY SMART DRIVER CLASS • Everett Senior Center • 9AM • Call 382-5822.
Saturday, July 30 YOGA AT NARROW RIDGE • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 9:30AM • Narrow Ridge invites you to join us every Saturday 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 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: MINDFULNESS IN EVERYDAY LIFE • Cancer Support Community • 10AM • Life is full of challenges. What can we do when our lives feel out of control? A practice of mindfulness can help. RSVP. Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. IMPROV COMEDY CLASS • The Birdhouse • 10:30AM • A weekly improv comedy class. • FREE SUP YOGA • Ijams Nature Center • 9AM • Register at barrebelleyoga.com/class-schedule. • $25 SUP 101 • Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center • 10AM • We cover all the basics of standup paddleboarding in this introductory class. No experience required. We will teach you: equipment overview, safety and awareness of the conditions, balancing, correct stance, four different paddle strokes, steering and turning, proper paddling form and more. All instructors are PaddleFit and WPA (World Paddle Association) certified. Classes are offered every Saturday at 10 a.m. through September. • $45 MAORI HEALERS WOMEN’S WORKSHOP • Knoxville Healing Center • All welcome, any level of experience. The mission of Maori Healers is to heal the world by spreading their ancient knowledge and working their craft on one person at the time. Please contact Ana Goncalves to book your appointment and register for the workshop. • See Spotlight on page 32. Sunday, July 31 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE BALLET BARRE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 1PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE OPEN LEVEL MODERN TECHNIQUE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 2PM •. Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE IMPROVISATION CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 3:30PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 BEGINNING BRIDGE LESSONS • Knoxville Bridge Center • 1:30PM • The Knoxville Association of Bridge Clubs is offering an in-depth, 17-week course on duplicate bridge, with a focus on learning the modern two over one bridge system. Taught by certified instructors, these lessons are a fun and informative way to learn the basics of modern bridge. Bring a partner or we can provide one for you. Contact Jo Anne Newby at (865} 539-4150 or email KnoxvilleBridge@gmail.com. • $5 MAORI HEALERS WOMEN’S WORKSHOP • Knoxville Healing Center • All welcome, any level of experience. The mission of Maori Healers is to heal the world by spreading their ancient knowledge and working their craft on one person at the time. Please contact Ana Goncalves to book your appointment and register for the workshop. • See Spotlight on page 32. Monday, Aug. 1 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 5:30PM • Call 865-5772021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. Tuesday, Aug. 2 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
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 movements as well as its own philosophy, history, culture, music, and songs. Visit capoeiraknoxville.org. • $10 ACROYOGA • Dragonfly Aerial Arts Studio • 6PM • 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 BEGINNING BRIDGE LESSONS • Knoxville Bridge Center • 6PM • The Knoxville Association of Bridge Clubs is offering an in-depth, 17-week course on duplicate bridge, with a focus on learning the modern two over one bridge system. Taught by certified instructors, these lessons are a fun and informative way to learn the basics of modern bridge. Bring a partner or we can provide one for you. Contact Jo Anne Newby at (865} 539-4150 or email KnoxvilleBridge@gmail.com. • $5 Wednesday, Aug. 3 AARP DRIVER SAFETY SMART DRIVER COURSE • Oak Ridge Senior Center • 9:30AM • Call 382-5822.
CIRCLE MODERN DANCE INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED MODERN TECHNIQUE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. CIRCLE MODERN DANCE OPEN LEVEL BALLET CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 7:30PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 Thursday, Aug. 4 AARP DRIVER SAFETY SMART DRIVER COURSE • Oak Ridge Senior Center • 9:30AM • Call 382-5822. GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: KNIT YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS • Cancer Support Community • 1PM • Call 865-546-4661. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • Visit knoxvillecapoeira.org. • $10 THIRSTY (FOR KNOWLEDGE) THURSDAY • Old City Wine Bar • 6:30PM • 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-$25 to partake in the libations. • $20-$25 BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 STANDUP PADDLEBOARDING 101 • Sequoyah Park • 6PM • Visit riversportsoutfitters.com. • $35 SUP YOGA • Concord Park • 6PM • Register at barrebelleyoga.com/class-schedule. • $25
CALENDAR
SUP YOGA • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • Register at barrebelleyoga.com/class-schedule. • $25 Saturday, Aug. 6 YOGA AT NARROW RIDGE • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 9:30AM • For information call 865-497-2753 or email community@narrowridge.org. • FREE IMPROV COMEDY CLASS • The Birdhouse • 10:30AM • A weekly improv comedy class. • FREE MARBLE SPRINGS BEEKEEPING WORKSHOP • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 11AM • Marble Springs State Historic Site will be hosting a beekeeping workshop run by local beekeeper Lynda Rizzardi, president of the Knox County Beekeepers, and will cover the basics on how to start keeping your own strong and healthy bees. For more information or to register for this event please email info@marblesprings.net, call (865) 573-5508, or visit our website www.marblesrprings.net. • $20 SUP YOGA • Ijams Nature Center • 9AM • Register at barrebelleyoga.com/class-schedule. • $25 SUP 101 • Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center • 10AM • We cover all the basics of standup paddleboarding in this introductory class. No experience required. • $45
MEETINGS
Thursday, July 21 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT GROUP • Cancer Support Community • 4:30PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals
affected by cancer. ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS • The Birdhouse • 6PM • A meeting group for adults who grew up in alcoholic or dysfunctional homes. The group aims to bring emotional healing to those who have been or who are in these situations and have experienced any level of trauma or abuse as a result. Led by Laura Moll, the class is free to attend. • FREE TRANSGENDER DISCUSSION GROUP • Maryville College • 6:30PM • Join us for fellowship and conversation and help guide a new dialog within the LGBT community of Blount County by sharing your story with friends and allies. This group will meet biweekly June 23-Aug. 18 at the Clayton Center lobby at Maryville College. • FREE Saturday, July 23 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 NARROW RIDGE SILENT MEDITATION GATHERING • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 11AM • Narrow Ridge invites you to join us for our Silent Meditation Gathering. 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 Sunday, July 24
Join us in celebrating our new location!
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 37
CALENDAR SUNDAY ASSEMBLY • The Concourse • 10:30AM • Sunday Assembly is a secular congregation without deity, dogma, or doctrine. Our motto: Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More. Our monthly celebrations feature a different theme every month, with inspiring speakers and lively sing-alongs. Our community is also involved in rewarding service projects, with various discussion groups and events planned throughout the month. To find out more, visit our web page (http://knoxville-tn.sundayassembly. com) or email saknoxville.info@gmail.com. • FREE THREE RIVERS! EARTH FIRST! • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 7PM • Three Rivers! Earth First! is the local dirt worshipping, 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 REFUGE RECOVERY • Losel Shedrup Ling • 8:30PM • A peerled weekly group gathering to supplement your dedicated practice (AA, NA, Smart Recovery, etc.) for recovery from addictions of all kinds. Contact David at 865-306-0279 for any further questions. • FREE Monday, July 25 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.
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN BIKE CLUB • Central Flats and Taps • 7PM • Interested in getting involved with the mountain biking community here in Knoxville? The Appalachian Mountain Bike Club meets the fourth Monday of each month. Visit ambc-sorba.org. • FREE Tuesday, July 26 EAST TENNESSEE CIVIL RIGHTS WORKING GROUP • Beck Cultural Exchange Center • 3:30PM • ETCRWG is an informal networking group of community leaders, civil rights advocates, area law enforcement agency representatives, and concerned citizens. It was founded on the principle that unity is our greatest asset in ensuring the civil rights of all persons in East Tennessee. • FREE ATHEISTS SOCIETY OF KNOXVILLE • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 5:30PM • Weekly atheists meetup and happy hour. Come join us for food, drink and great conversation. Everyone welcome. • FREE Wednesday, July 27 KNOXVILLE WRITERS’ GROUP • Naples Italian Restaurant • 11AM • Guest speakers read from and discuss their work. All-inclusive lunch is $12.00. RSVP to 865-983-3740. THE BOOKAHOLICS BOOK GROUP • Union Ave Books • 12PM • Union Ave Books’ monthly book discussion group. Visit unionavebooks.com. • FREE KNOX HERITAGE PRESERVATION AND LIBATIONS • The Crown and Goose • 5:30PM • Join friends of historic preservation for a drink and good conversation. No need to RSVP, just stop by. Free and open to the public. • FREE Thursday, July 28
WELCOME BACK BASH! UST 19 Your friends G U A , AY D I R at WUTK are F throwing a party on a riverboat to welcome the students back to town! FEATURING Three Star Revival PLUS Josiah & The Greater Good, WUTK The Rock presents a night of music and dancing on the beautiful Tennessee River aboard the riverboat Star of Knoxville.
Party starts at 10pm! Don’t be left on shore! Tickets: $10 Advance, $15 Day of Event You must be 21 or over with valid ID.
Streaming 24.7.365 at WUTKRADIO.COM 38
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
NARROW RIDGE COMMUNITY POTLUCK • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 6:30PM • This fourth Thursday event is an opportunity to introduce folks to the Narrow Ridge community as well as for friends and neighbors to come together to share good food and conversation. Guests are invited to bring a dish to share. For information, call 865-497-2753 or email community@ narrowridge.org. • FREE ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS • The Birdhouse • 6PM • A meeting group for adults who grew up in alcoholic or dysfunctional homes. The group aims to bring emotional healing to those who have been or who are in these situations and have experienced any level of trauma or abuse as a result. Led by Laura Moll, the class is free to attend. • FREE BLACK LIVES MATTER • The Birdhouse • 7:30PM • #BlackLivesMatter is working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. Visit blacklivesmatterknoxville.org. • FREE Saturday, July 30 AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 11AM • Al-Anon’s purpose is to help families and friends of alcoholics recover from the effects of living with the problem drinking of a relative or friend. Visit our local website at farragutalanon.org or email us at FindHope@ Farragutalanon.org. • FREE NARROW RIDGE SILENT MEDITATION GATHERING • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 11AM • For information call 865-497-2753 or email community@narrowridge.org. •
FREE Sunday, July 31 THREE RIVERS! EARTH FIRST! • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 7PM • Call (865) 257-4029 for more information. • FREE REFUGE RECOVERY • Losel Shedrup Ling • 8:30PM • Contact David at 865-306-0279 for any further questions. • FREE Monday, Aug. 1 GAY MEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 7:30PM • Visit gaygroupknoxville.org. Tuesday, Aug. 2 KNOXVILLE COMMUNITY STEP UP • Beck Cultural Exchange Center • 11AM • 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. 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 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, Aug. 4
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
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. CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT GROUP • Cancer Support Community • 6PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY BREAST CANCER NETWORKER • Thompson Cancer Survivor Center West • 6PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. TRANSGENDER DISCUSSION GROUP • Maryville College • 6:30PM • Join us for fellowship and conversation and help guide a new dialog within the LGBT community of Blount County by sharing your story with friends and allies. This group will meet biweekly June 23-Aug. 18 at the Clayton Center lobby at Maryville College. • FREE 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, Aug. 6 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.Visit sosknoxville.org. • FREE AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 11AM • Visit our local website at farragutalanon.org or email us at FindHope@ Farragutalanon.org. • FREE NARROW RIDGE SILENT MEDITATION GATHERING • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 11AM • For information call 865-497-2753 or email community@narrowridge.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
ETC.
Thursday, July 21 MARBLE SPRINGS SHOPPING AT THE FARM FARMER’S MARKET • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 3PM • The market will be held Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. beginning
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on May 19 and continuing weekly through Sept. 22. All vendors will be selling fresh, locally-produced products, and artisan crafts. • FREE Friday, July 22 LAKESHORE PARK FARMERS MARKET • Lakeshore Park • 3PM • Offering a wide variety of hand-picked produce, artisan breads, grass-fed beef, natural pork and chicken, farm fresh eggs and farm-based crafts. • FREE QUEENS OF VINTAGE SHOW AND SALE • Broadway Academy of Performing Arts • 5PM • Some of us lady folk have decided it’s time to share our love of vintage with the good folks of Knoxville—we’re loaded down with eclectic, unusual, and interesting finds. Vintage clothing, piles of “vintage” letterpress paper goods, religious art, kitsch, retro, vintage toys, craft supplies, sewing stuff, decorative arts, mid-century furniture, lamps, antique toys, retro kitchen, Christmas in July, pinups, handmade hairpieces, jewelry, and much, much more. • FREE Saturday, July 23 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 OAK RIDGE FARMERS MARKET • Historic Jackson Square • 8AM • The market offers seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruits and berries, honey, artisan bread and cheese, grass-fed beef and naturally raised chicken, pork and lamb, farm-based crafts, flowers and potted plants. •
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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. Every Wednesday from 11a.m. to 2p.m. and Saturday from 9a.m. to 2p.m., May 4-Nov. 19. Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE QUEENS OF VINTAGE SHOW AND SALE • Broadway Academy of Performing Arts • 10AM • Some of us lady folk have decided it’s time to share our love of vintage with the good folks of Knoxville—we’re loaded down with eclectic, unusual, and interesting finds. Vintage clothing, piles of “vintage” letterpress paper goods, religious art, kitsch, retro, vintage toys, craft supplies, sewing stuff, decorative arts, mid-century furniture, lamps, antique toys, retro kitchen, Christmas in July, pinups, handmade hairpieces, jewelry, and much, much more. • FREE Tuesday, July 26 EBENEZER ROAD FARMERS MARKET • Ebenezer United Methodist Church • 3PM • The market offers hand-picked produce in season, artisan breads and cheese, grass-fed meat and farm fresh eggs. • FREE Wednesday, July 27 MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 11AM • Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE OAK RIDGE FARMERS MARKET • Historic Jackson Square • 3PM • The market offers seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruits and berries, honey, artisan bread and cheese, grass-fed beef and naturally raised chicken, pork and
historic buildings, including one of the South’s oldest libraries on fresh local dishes and classic British favorites for antiques, art, and crafts from Appalachian artisans trails that lead into a national park and state natural area In vintage accommodations dating back to the 1880s in one of the most stunningly beautiful places in Tennessee
rcury. swer to contests@knoxme event. Enter by sending the an to r prio ted tac nners will be con away. Wi Two pairs will be given
will be notified in advance. ry from weekly submissions. Winnersreside nt, 18 years of age or older, n at random by the Knoxville Mercuwhere prohibited. Must be a legal U.S. r has 24 hours to respond. *Disclaimer: Winners will be chosePURC Void Y. SSAR NECE HASE winne (1 pair of tickets per winner.) NO yee, family member, or household member of a sponsor. Once notified, Suite 404, Knoxville, TN 37902. and not be a sponsor or an emplo er of entries received. Sponsor: Knoxville Mercury, 706 Walnut Ave., numb on d depen g winnin of Odds 75 minutes from Knoxville. For special events and offers visit our website or Facebook
July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 39
CALENDAR lamb, farm-based crafts, flowers and potted plants. • FREE UT FARMERS MARKET • University of Tennessee • 4PM • 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, July 28 PINTS FOR A PURPOSE • Little River Trading Co. • 5PM • Join us for a monthly beer event to benefit local nonprofits and try out local and regional breweries. This month’s Pints With a Purpose, sponsored by Little River Trading Company, the Blount Partnership, and Chaco, features Sweetwater Brewing Company; proceeds benefit the Little River Watershed. Visit littlerivertradingco.com. • FREE MARBLE SPRINGS SHOPPING AT THE FARM FARMER’S MARKET • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 3PM • 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. • FREE Friday, July 29 LAKESHORE PARK FARMERS MARKET • Lakeshore Park • 3PM • Offering a wide variety of hand-picked produce, artisan breads, grass-fed beef, natural pork and chicken, farm fresh eggs and farm-based crafts. • FREE Saturday, July 30 SEYMOUR FARMERS MARKET • First Baptist Church Seymour • 8AM • Open from 8 a.m. to noon every
Thursday, July 21 - Saturday, August 6
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 OAK RIDGE FARMERS MARKET • Historic Jackson Square • 8AM • The market offers seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruits and berries, honey, artisan bread and cheese, grass-fed beef and naturally raised chicken, pork and lamb, farm-based crafts, flowers and potted plants. • FREE MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 9AM • Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE ARTS AND ANTIQUES IN JACKSON SQUARE • Historic Jackson Square (Oak Ridge) • 9AM • Join the merchants of Jackson Square on the last Saturday of each month, as we celebrate local talent and enjoy fresh produce at the Arts and Antiques in the Square. For more info visit jacksonsquareoakridge.org. • FREE Tuesday, Aug. 2 EBENEZER ROAD FARMERS MARKET • Ebenezer United Methodist Church • 3PM • The market offers hand-picked produce in season, artisan breads and cheese, grass-fed meat and farm fresh eggs. • FREE Wednesday, Aug. 3 MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 11AM • Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE OAK RIDGE FARMERS MARKET • Historic Jackson Square • 3PM • The market offers seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruits and berries, honey, artisan bread and cheese, grass-fed beef and naturally raised chicken, pork and
lamb, farm-based crafts, flowers and potted plants. • FREE UT FARMERS MARKET • University of Tennessee • 4PM • 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, Aug. 4 MARBLE SPRINGS SHOPPING AT THE FARM FARMER’S MARKET • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 3PM • 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. • FREE
FREE OAK RIDGE FARMERS MARKET • Historic Jackson Square • 8AM • The market offers seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruits and berries, honey, artisan bread and cheese, grass-fed beef and naturally raised chicken, pork and lamb, farm-based crafts, flowers and potted plants. • FREE MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 9AM • Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE
Send your events to calendar@knoxmercury.com
Friday, Aug. 5 LAKESHORE PARK FARMERS MARKET • Lakeshore Park • 3PM • Offering a wide variety of hand-picked produce, artisan breads, grass-fed beef, natural pork and chicken, farm fresh eggs and farm-based crafts. • FREE Saturday, Aug. 6 A MAROON AND WHITE AFFAIR • Bridgewater Place • 6:30PM • A fundraising galley for the Zaevion Dobson Scholarship—organizers hope to raise enough money for an endowment for the scholarship, which is named in memory of Fulton High School student and 2016 ESPN Arthur Ashe Courage Award winner Zaevion Dobson, who was killed by gun violence in 2015. • $50 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. •
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
“ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE ACCURATE. NONE OF THEM IS THE TRUTH.” — RICHARD AVEDON Do you have an existing photo series of life around Knoxville? We’re always on the lookout for new views of our city’s many different neighborhoods—and we’ll feature them in our Howdy section. For more information or to submit samples, email tricia@knoxmercury.com.
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Photo by Charles Woody
How to Buy a Kayak Here’s what to look for when selecting your first kayak BY KIM TREVATHAN
W
hen I transitioned from canoeing only to mostly kayaking about 10 years ago, it greatly expanded what I could do on the water. I could cover more territory in the kayak (a Dagger Blackwater), it was lighter and easier to load and portage, and I could go upstream and maneuver better in moving water. First-time kayak shoppers might be a bit bewildered by all of the choices out there. Salespeople want to know, first off, what you want to do in the boat to determine what kind of boat is right for you. I usually shrug my shoulders and say “a lot of stuff:” flatwater trips, gentle rivers, multi-day expeditions, wildlife photography, fishing, going upstream, and so on. If, unlike me, you have a more specific idea of what kind of water you want to paddle (lakes or rivers), how far you want to go, and how serious you are about getting a workout in a boat, the salesperson will be able to help you more. For people just starting to paddle, I’m going to give a brief rundown on a few recreational boats to help you think about what to look for in a kayak.
SIT-ON-TOPS
Kevin Hill, co-owner of Uncle Lem’s Mountain Outfitters in Knoxville (9715 42
KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
Kingston Pike), says that sit-on-tops far outsell any of the sit-in boats that he has on hand. Hill, whose store carries only Jackson kayaks (made in Sparta), showed me the Riviera as the beginner sit-on-top he recommends for people interested in short excursions on the lake ($519). It’s relatively light, it’s stable, almost impossible to turn over, and it’s much easier to get in and out of than a sit-in boat. He invited me try out the high-back seat, and I agreed that it was very comfortable, with multiple foot rests for different-sized paddlers. When I stood up in the boat to get out, he commented on how the thick hull construction makes for a sturdy and durable boat. Even on a rough day at Fort Loudoun Lake, with 3-foot boat wakes coming at you, the Riviera will likely not capsize, and if you fall out, Hill says, it’s easy to get back into it. Whether you fall out or not, you’re likely to get at least a little wet in a sit-on-top, so it’s mainly recommended for warm-weather excursions. At 11 feet long and 58 pounds, with handles on the side and at each end, the Riviera is fairly easy for one person to carry or to drag. Little River Trading Company (Highway 321, outside Maryville), which has just re-entered the boating busi-
Photo by Kim Trevathan
OUTDOORS
Out side Insider
ness, offers Ocean Kayak’s Scrambler 11 ($599) as its featured sit-on-top. It’s a little lighter than the Riviera (47 pounds) and it is self-bailing with scuppers on the bottom. Instead of the Riviera’s molded-in seat, the Scrambler is outfitted with a padded fabric seat with adjustable straps. There are many, many sit-on-top recreational boats out there; the best thing is to try one out before you buy it. Both Uncle Lem’s and Little River Trading Company rent boats and deduct the rental fee from the purchase price.
FISHING KAYAKS
Hill says the largest growth category in kayaking is fishing. These boats are almost always sit-on-tops that are heavier, more intricately engineered, and more tricked-out than boats like the Riviera and the Scrambler. For example, Hill’s best-selling boat is the Coosa HD, which includes, among other doo-dads, rod holders, adjustable foot pads, a mesh fabric adjustable seat, hinged hatches in the bow and stern, as well as a day hatch and a large tank well behind the seat. At 34 inches, it’s wider than the Riviera (29 inches), which gives fishermen the stability to stand up. It’s also more maneuverable in current. At 12 feet, it’s longer than the Riviera and tracks better in flat water. Hill calls it “the Swiss Army knife of kayaks.” The Coosa HD is $1,749, perhaps more than you want to spend on a first boat, though it is considerably less expensive than a bass boat with a motor. Uncle Lem’s has many other fishing
kayaks: the Cuda 12 (as in, 12 feet long) and 14 ($1,539 and best for lake fishing), the Big Rig ($1,749, the most stable of boats but also the heaviest at around 90 pounds) and the Cruise Angler 10 ($999) and 12 ($1,099), the entry level fishing kayak that has less accessories than the other models. Now, you can fish out of any kayak, including the Riviera or a sit-in kayak, but the fishing kayaks are built with accessories, stability, and engineering focused on angling. I catch fish out of my Dagger sit-in kayak, without the benefit of rod holders or other accessories, but I’ve always been jealous of fishing buddy Terry Bunde’s Future Beach Trophy 126 (around $350), a 10-and-a-halffoot-long sit-in kayak with rod holders and two dry hatches, “one of which,” he says, “can double as an ice chest for food and libations.”
SIT-IN KAYAKS
Recreational kayaks that you can sit inside tend to be more maneuverable than sit-on-tops and since you’re sitting lower in the water, you’re less affected by wind and less exposed to the elements in general. Because you’re inside the boat, you can use your hips and your weight to steer or turn the boat better than most sit-on-tops, an advantage in moving water. Sit-ins also tend to be more efficient than sit-ontops, meaning that with each paddle stroke, your boat tracks better on flat water. The main disadvantage is that sit-ins are less comfortable and not as easy to get into and out of. The sit-in that Hill recommends
OUTDOORS town to trail Photo by Kim Trevathan
for beginners is the Tupelo, which comes in two lengths, 11 feet, 10 inches; or 12 feet, 5 inches. It’s got a removable “Elite Seat,” with lumbar support and a dry hatch in the rear. All of the boats I’ve mentioned have varying degrees of dry storage, as well as bungee cords for securing gear on decks. The Tupelo weighs about 50 pounds. If a beginner wanted a boat for fitness, to paddle longer distances than around the boat slip with the grandkids, Hill would recommend this one. It’s $899.
SAFETY
I made the mistake of putting my recreational boat in Oregon’s Rogue River, without the spray skirt (cover that fits over the cockpit). Waves churning 2 feet high filled my boat in about five minutes. I turned over and took a long “swim” in the frigid Rogue. With the wrong boat and minimal whitewater skills, I had been lucky. Mark Parker, who has kayaked for over 40 years and is on the pro staff of Uncle Lem’s, says he often sees people endangering themselves in boats that are not made for rivers with Class I/II rapids, such as the Hiwassee and the Nolichucky. Cheaper kayaks (under $300) are often made of plastic that’s not as durable as it should be, he says, putting paddlers at risk in swift rivers with obstacles such as deadfall and rocks. He also sees people in kayaks on lakes not wearing life jackets, which irks him as well. Having the right boat and the right amount of
Opposite page left: Little River Trading Company rents kayaks at Louisville Point. Opposite page right: Kevin Hill, owner of Uncle Lem’s. Above: Little River Trading Company’s Deborah Duda with the Ocean Kayak Scrambler 11.
UNCLE LEM’S MOUNTAIN OUTFITTERS
KAYAK DEMO DAY
Have some fun on the water with free demos on our Jackson Kayak fleet and SUPs! - Saturday, July 30th from 10am-2pm at Rocky Point off Northshore Dr. in Farragut
experience for the river or lake you’re on is essential for staying safe in a kayak. Parker highly recommends that beginning paddlers be instructed on wet exits (falling out and/or capsizing) and re-entry. This process is easier in a sit-on-top than a sit-in kayak, but if you’re in the middle of a lake, in water over your head, Parker says you should have already tried getting out of the sit-on-top and getting back in. Same goes for a sit-in kayak. Most beginner recreational boats like the Tupelo aren’t made for the roll (which requires professional instruction and practice) and require a wet exit, which means extracting yourself from the cockpit and securing the boat so that you can get back into it. Parker also cautions that some of the cheaper sit-in kayaks do not have watertight bulkheads and hatches, which enable the boat to stay afloat if it capsizes. So…happy paddling out there. There are many places to explore via kayak in this area. Just be sure you that you have a boat, equipment, and experience suitable for the situation. Kayaking has a reputation as a dangerous sport, but as Parker says, if you take the proper precautions, recreational kayaking on lakes and gentle rivers is safe and fun. ◆ July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 43
’BYE
At This Point
Resident Crone Respect your elders BY STEPHANIE PIPER
“I
’m the resident crone,” a lady of a certain age announced to me recently. She hastened to add that crone no longer means toothless old hag who haunts the forest. Instead, after a long and distinguished career, she now dispenses hard-won wisdom to her younger colleagues. There’s a job description I’d like to see on LinkedIn. Resident Crone: Fount of discernment, intuition, perception. Spiritual midwife. Keen judge of character. References on request. In ancient cultures, elders were honored for their life experience. They sat at council fires and comforted the dying and guided wayward youth. Today, not so much. Popular media seems to suggest that anyone over 40 is irrelevant, unless they happen to be presidential candidates. Otherwise, bring on the arthritis meds and scout out the assisted-living facilities. Someone once told me this about growing old(er): You become yourself, only more so. I have been pondering this in light of the new approach to cronedom, and wondering if it means I get to go back to the person I was before
people started telling me who I was supposed to be. Since my unrevised self went undercover at about age 6, this could be quite a trip. It’s not that I long to return to the seesaw and the jungle gym and Saturday morning cartoons. What I would like is to experience again the bubbly enthusiasm I felt for those pursuits, the little internal leap of joy triggered by the bell for school dismissal. I would like to feel the thrill of riding the Ferris wheel at the Fireman’s Carnival on a summer night, and the taste of a Good Humor Chocolate Cake ice cream bar. I would like to cross the Bourne Bridge to Cape Cod and flash back to childhood vacations when my only concern was whether we would, in fact, get to swim every day in the bay, the ocean, and Gull Pond. And I would like to revisit the handful of things I began to discover then, and which my years on Earth have confirmed to be true. The world is a dangerous, ambiguous, and unbearably beautiful place. There are safe havens. Some-
A poem you commit to memory is a hedge against sorrow and an investment in sanity.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
times they appear as pure gifts. Sometimes you have to find them, which requires courage and persistence. Sometimes you have to create them, which requires imagination and unfailing generosity. People will disappoint you. They will promise to be there and fail to show up, leaving you sitting on the curb when everyone else has gone home. They will profess love and fail to practice it. They will be asleep when you need them to be awake and silent when you need them to speak. People will astonish you. The least likely rescuer will pull you from the edge of the cliff. The former Mean Girl will invite you to her birthday party. The troublemaker will turn up one day transformed, admirable, clothed in light. Families are rarely what they are supposed to be and never what they
BY IAN BLACKBURN AND JACK NEELY
appear to be. But once in a while, the sharp edges smooth into a circle and you understand why a circle is the perfect shape. A good poem can redeem a bad day. A poem you commit to memory is a hedge against sorrow and an investment in sanity. A daily dose of silence fosters clarity in thought and deed. Grace cannot be earned, bargained for or attained through force of will. It can only be accepted. So there it is, my crone PowerPoint. I’m hoping it wins me a place at the council fire. I’ve put in some time in this dangerous, ambiguous, and unbearably beautiful world, tested the truths that formed me all those years ago. Late in the game and after many a false start, I have a pretty good idea of who I’m supposed to be. Myself. Only more so. ◆
YOUR OWN OUTDOOR AMUSEMENT PARK . Discover the enchanting waterways along the Peaceful Side of the Smokies. Where visitors can embark on anything from stand-up paddle boarding, rafting and kayaking adventures to good old-fashioned canoeing trips. Our waterways are overrowing with opportunities for recreational and serious paddlers alike – from beautiful, yet varied paddling conditions on the lake at Louisville Point, to the ever popular tubing on Little R iver. The options for adventure are endless. You’ll discover that you’re going to need a longer stay.
For more information waterway adventures, visit: http://www.facebook.com/SMOC.townsend h t t p : / / w w w . l i t t l e r i v e r t r a d i n g c o . c o m
July 21, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 45
’BYE
Spir it of the Staircase
BY MATTHEW FOLTZ-GRAY
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY July 21, 2016
www.thespiritofthestaircase.com
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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
PRECISION MOBILE BLASTER AND OIL FREE QUIET AIR COMPRESSOR. Paid $550 for both; sell for $400. 2 years old; kept indoors. Great for sand etching glass and stone. Contact: rnajar7@gmail.com.
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.
COMMUNITY
WILLOW - is a 2 year old Jack Russell Terrier/ Australian Shepherd mix. His eyes are the window to his soul. He’s as sweet as he is kind. Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
HOLLY - is a 4 year old sweetheart still waiting on a home. She’s been at Young-Williams for several weeks, and deserves to be spoiled. She is free! Visit YoungWilliams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
KATHY - is a spunky, fun, energetic 2 year old Pit Bull Terrier mix. She would make a great workout buddy and partner for life. Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
JOHN WAYNE - is a cool 12-year-old senior man looking for a loving home to spend his last years rock-n-rollin’ in. He loves everyone and keeps staff laughing with his lively personality. Visit YoungWilliams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
Sales • Service Gear & Accessories 24-Hour Repair Greenway Bike Shop next to Earth Fare on the Third Creek Greenway
ROAD BIKE SALE!
Save up to 50% off Pinarello, Fuji, BMC, Masi, KHS, and Colnago bikes.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 47
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