SEPT. 15, 2016 KNOXMERCURY.COM
WE JUST HOPE WE CAN REACH 80 V.
2 / N.36
AT 80, STAN BROCK SHOWS NO SIGN OF SLOWING HIS EFFORT TO SAVE LIVES WITH REMOTE AREA MEDICAL • BY CLAY DUDA
NEWS
Knoxville College Faces More Delays and Contamination Woes
JACK NEELY
Thomas Wolfe’s Newfound Celebrity in the Post-Hero-Novelist Era
INSIDE THE VAULT
Remembering the Life of Knoxville Soul Legend Clifford Curry
PROGRAM NOTES
Old City Venue Pilot Light Incorporates as a Nonprofit
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
Sept. 15, 2016 Volume 02 / Issue 36 knoxmercury.com
CONTENTS
“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” —Dalai Lama
10 Survival Instinct COVER STORY
You’d be hard pressed to find Stan Brock somewhere else besides the 55,000-square-foot campus of Remote Area Medical headquarters in Rockford near Old Knoxville Highway. If he’s not here in East Tennessee, he’s likely out somewhere offering help—Guyana, Haiti, Baton Rouge, or some hollow in rural Appalachia—directing the latest batch of volunteers on a disaster relief mission, or helping lead pop-up clinics to provide free medical care to America’s uninsured. At 80, he’s not slowing down, as Clay Duda finds on a recent visit.
NEWS
8 Held Back
Wish Knoxville a Happy Birthday!
As the city celebrates its 225th anniversary on Oct. 3, we will be marking the occasion with a special history supplement on Sept. 29. And for $25 you can be in it with a birthday message to Knoxville. Go to: store.knoxmercury.com.
DEPARTMENTS
OPINION
A&E
4 Howdy
6 Scruffy Citizen
14 Program Notes: Pilot Light makes
Start Here: Dumpster Dive, Public Affairs, and PechaKucha Knoxville—each week, we run a slide from an interesting local presentation.
30 ’Bye
Finish There: Sacred & Profane by Donna Johnson. Plus Crooked Street Crossword by Ian Blackburn and Jack Neely and Spirit of the Staircase by Matthew Foltz-Gray
Jack Neely puzzles over Thomas Wolfe’s newfound fame—despite the fact that the late author has nearly no Knoxville connections.
Knoxville College will not be resuming classes online this fall as had been hoped. The historically black college, founded in 1875, lost its accreditation in 1997 and stopped holding classes last year. Meanwhile, the 39-acre Mechanicsville campus fell into disrepair while the college’s debt mounted. And its contaminated buildings are still contaminated, S. Heather Duncan reports. CALENDAR
its lack of profitability official, and Cereus Bright faces the destruction of its practice space.
15 Inside the Vault: Eric Dawson
18 Spotlights: Nonprofit fun with the Knoxville Writers’ Guild Adult Spelling Bee and the Goodwill Vintage Fashion Show and Sale
recalls the life and career of soul singer Clifford Curry.
16 Classical Music: Alan Sherrod
previews Knoxville’s fall season, starting with the KSO’s first Masterworks performance. PLUS: Carol Z. Shane talks with Jeffery Whaley, KSO principal horn player, with the debut of In the Pit.
17 Movies: April Snellings tries to gain
altitude with Clint Eastwood’s Sully. September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 3
HOWDY DUMPSTER highlights DIVE Weekly from our blog Read more at knoxmercury.com/blog MAKERS CITY SUMMIT The Makers City Summit will bring together small business owners, manufacturers, and local government officials to discuss public policy and how to better support Knoxville entrepreneurs. The summit, which will be hosted at the Mill and Mine on Sept. 19, will feature panels on starting and growing a small business, brainstorming sessions, and a ribbon-cutting with Mayor Madeline Rogero.
Photo by Michelle Bakewell
PECHA KUCHA NIGHT KNOXVILLE RED BIRD WATER KIOSK | Michelle Mokry | Presented Nov. 12, 2015 Michelle Mokry shares about the experience of building a water dispensing structure with UT students over the 2015 spring break. The location is in Red Bird Mission located in Clay County, Ky. This project also won a local AIA Award of Merit for the design (John McRae, FAIA is listed as the architect of record). | Watch the 6-minute presentation at pechakucha.org/cities/knoxville
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
9/15 YWCA TRIBUTE TO WOMEN THURSDAY
7 p.m., Bijou Theatre (803 S. Gay St.). $85. Since 1985, the YWCA has been honoring women who make a difference in Knoxville. This year’s list of finalists range from scientists to business leaders to minority rights activists. Note: All guests must check in at the reception held at the First Tennessee outdoor plaza from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Info: ywcaknox.com.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
9/17 MURAL PROJECT BLOCK PARTY SATURDAY
10 a.m.-4 p.m., Jerry’s Artarama (5220 Homberg Dr.). Free. This isn’t one of those controversial city Public Arts Committee-funded murals—no, it’s just a fun piece of outdoor art by local artist Curtis Glover on the side of Jerry’s Artarama in Bearden. They’re celebrating with a day-long party featuring a children’s sidewalk chalk contest, artist spray paint competition, and a community canvas project. Info: facebook.com/JerrysArtaramaofKnoxville.
KPD TOUTS RESTRAINT A Florida man pled guilty Monday to attempted murder in the 2015 shooting of a Knoxville Police Officer, leading to the release of video of the confrontation. Police Chief David Rausch touted the video as an example of “the reality of law enforcement in this country,” in contrast to videos that have surfaced showing apparently unprovoked police shootings of black civilians. (The perpetrator in question is white.) MUSIC SCENE SOCIAL About 30 musicians and music promoters gathered around tables at the Concourse at the International on Monday night to talk about the state of local music in Knoxville. The event was the second gathering in a new effort to bring together musicians, promoters, venue representatives, and radio hosts to come up with actionable solutions to common problems.
9/20 MEETING: KCS SUPERINTENDENT 9/21 THE WORKS DEMO DAY 2016 SEARCH TUESDAY
5:30 p.m., Bearden Middle School auditorium. Free. If you haven’t heard yet, the Knox County Board of Education is looking for a new school superintendent. Should be a fun process! But what sort of qualities would you like to see in the next education honcho? Here’s your opportunity to tell the school board what you think. There is a similar meeting on Thursday, Sept. 15, in the Central High School auditorium.
WEDNESDAY
10 a.m.-1 p.m., Scripps Networks Interactive (9721 Sherrill Blvd.). Free. The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center will unleash eight entrepreneurs from its Works startup program, who will be introducing their new media and technology business ideas. Ashley Capps, a local business owner in the entertainment field, is the keynote speaker. You must preregister by Sept. 16 to attend. Info: knoxec.com.
Knoxville Unearthed At McClung Museum, local history as it looks from underground This weekend, just in time for Knoxville’s 225th birthday, is the opening of an unusual new exhibit at the University of Tennessee’s McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, on Circle Park. It’s called “Knoxville Unearthed: Archaeology in the Heart of the Valley.” Featured will be artifacts rendered from scholarly archaeological digs in Knoxville, ranging from remnants of the earliest settlers to the early 20th century. It will include some interesting oddities, like Knoxville founder James White’s Masonic watch fob, discovered at the site of his country home in what’s now East Knoxville, as well as a surprising amount of imported Chinese porcelain of a quality usually found only in urban sites on the East coast—and Native American decorative items, like brass “tinklers,” indicating White’s enjoyment of trade with the Cherokee. Also included are items from slave quarters, like those of the Joseph Mabry, Sr., family who lived along Kingston Pike in the 1820s. For unknown reasons, the Mabry slaves had quantities of expensive decorative ceramics.
On Sunday, Nov. 6, Kim Trent, executive director of Knox Heritage, will speak at the museum on the subject of Historic Preservation in Knoxville. The exhibit runs through Jan. 8. For more information, see mcclungmuseum.utk.edu.
Some artifacts in the exhibit are from Marble Springs, which is hosting, on Sept. 17th and 18th, its annual family-oriented John Sevier Days Living History Weekend. Located just off John Sevier Highway on the south side of town, the John Sevier homestead, reconstructed on its original site with some historic cabins, is where Gov. John Sevier lived in his later years, just over two centuries ago. This 1790s China teapot, believed to be of English origin, features an architecturally whimsical Chinese scene. It was found in the excavation of a plot on Gay Street near Church Avenue, the site of the capacious office of federal agent Col. David Henley, who hosted the three-week Constitutional Convention of 1796. The broken pot was buried beneath downtown Knoxville for about 200 years. Did it witness the birth of the state of Tennessee?
John Sevier (1745-1815) for whom Sevierville and Sevier County are named, was born in Northern Virginia, the son of a immigrant from England who had previously lived in Baltimore, who was himself son of a Frenchborn refugee whose last name was Xavier, anglicized to Sevier.
The exhibit brings Knoxville subterraImage courtesy of McClung Museum of Natural nean history all the way into the early 20th History and Culture University of Tennessee century, with artifacts indicating advances Tennessee’s John Sevier was prominent in sanitation (like clay sewer pipes from the in regional history for more than 40 years, 1880s), architectural remnants, and bottles, showing the progressive from the pre-Revolutionary Watauga Association, an early experiment in advances in sealing containers for foods, medicines and carbonated drinks. self-government, to his heroic role fighting the British at the decisive Battle of The exhibit will present the artifacts within a larger context of Knoxville King’s Mountain in 1780. In the days when Knoxville was the state’s capital, history and archaeological science, with large maps and photographs. John Sevier served as Tennessee’s first governor. Accompanying the exhibit will be a series of talks about related subjects. On Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7:00, the museum’s curator of archaeology, Tim Baumann, and Charles Faulkner, author and semi-retired professor of anthropology, will speak in detail about their exhibit, “Knoxville Unearthed: Archaeology in the Heart of the Valley.” The talk is free to the public. Can You Dig It? Archaeology and Fossil Day is Sunday, Oct. 16, from 1:30 to 5:00. Visitors are invited to bring artifacts for identification by experts. Archaeologists will be on hand, as well as paleontologists and geologists, as well as games and activities for children. On Sunday, Oct. 30, at 2:00 p.m., Jack Neely, executive director of the Knoxville History Project, will speak on the subject “Subterranean Knoxville: The buried narrative of a distracted city.”
Gov. Sevier once planned to live in downtown Knoxville, but moved his family to this rural site, where he lived for the rest of his life. The restless Sevier never retired. In his final years, he represented his district in U.S. Congress. Sevier died at 70, on an expedition surveying the southern wilderness recently secured in the War of 1812, but not yet known as Alabama. His grave, once believed lost, was discovered decades after his death, and his remains were moved to Knoxville’s courthouse lawn. Sevier’s 271st birthday is Sept. 23. The Sevier Living History weekend celebrates the life and times of the Sevier family. The weekend will include open-hearth cooking, spinning and weaving, blacksmithing, and demonstrations of period weapons, both those of the settlers and of the Cherokee. For more information, see marblesprings.net.
Sources: McClung Museum, 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 September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 5
SCRUFFY CITIZEN
No Household Name Thomas Wolfe’s newfound celebrity BY JACK NEELY
A
movie called Genius was at Downtown West early in the summer. I missed my shot at Genius, and not for the first time. It got mixed reviews, in spite of its all-star cast: Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney. It was startling to hear that Firth, the dreamboat, plays a guy with a desk job, resourceful Scribners editor Maxwell Perkins. I’m told he doesn’t even take off his shirt. Even more remarkable was that another Englishman, Jude Law, who plays submarine captains, Russian counts, Victorian action heroes, London roués, and just every now and then, a pope, played Thomas Wolfe. That name ring a bell? When Matt Lauer interviewed Law on the Today Show in June, he said, “Thomas Wolfe, not a household name…who is this guy?” The novelist from Asheville was indeed a household name, almost a household god, 75 years ago, especially among literate young people. In his autobiographical novels, Wolfe wanted only to capture life, urgently, before it was gone. For him it was gone quickly. Not many followed in Wolfe’s footsteps. One was Jack Kerouac, who road-tested Wolfe’s approach to life. Twenty years after Wolfe died, he was a passionate writer who noticed everything, described everything, in a way that made life seem urgently important. He died young, too. Another was James Agee, whose
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A Death in the Family, published earlier the same year as Kerouac’s On the Road, could have been written by a slightly quieter, more contemplative version of Wolfe. Even more so, Agee’s mammoth work of journalism, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, on which Agee was working when Wolfe died, could be seen as Wolfean nonfiction. Many years, later, another novelist, James Dickey, compared them: “To care as much as Thomas Wolfe did and James Agee did is to be seen as a form of self-destructiveness.” Caring, Dickey believed, drove them to drink. And of course, Agee died young, too. It seems to me that was the end of the era of the hero novelist. There have been good novels written since then, but we no longer think of novelists as born geniuses, sacrificing their lives for a great book. Novels became more a commodity after that. We go to school to learn how to write them, usually specific varieties of fantasy, or mystery, or based on trying to personalize historical figures, or topical or political novels written just for people who already like your politics.
kids who read Look Homeward, Angel, almost as eagerly as pornography. But that was a long time ago. It’s been decades since I’ve heard anybody, young or old, talking about reading Look Homeward, Angel for the first time. Here’s where I talk about Wolfe’s connection to Knoxville. I don’t know that he had one, personally. He died at age 37, and had spent much of his adulthood in New York and Paris. If he ever gave a talk here, or even stepped off a train for a tamale and a Coca-Cola, I don’t know about it. In my life I’ve met only one person who ever knew Thomas Wolfe, and that was the late Wilma Dykeman, whose posthumous book, Family of Earth, a narrative of her childhood and a paean to the natural world, came out just this week. She met Wolfe in 1937, the year before he died. She told me once about Wolfe’s enormous hands, so big that hers vanished in his handshake. Asheville and Knoxville have one thing in common, and that’s the French Broad River. Her book about the French Broad is the best book ever written about that river, maybe the best book ever written about any river. She was well-known here, but she was, like Wolfe, an Asheville native. Look Homeward, Angel, his first novel, came out in 1929. For 30 years or so, it was one of those books all readers knew. It was set in Asheville, called Altamont. By most accounts the only things fictional were the proper names. He didn’t make Asheville sound like a fun place to spend the weekend. About 20 years ago, I spent a few days alone in Asheville, a town Wolfe
preferred to leave. But as it was becoming nationally trendy, Asheville was demonstrating a genius for a sort of cultural jiu-jitsu, using its associations with literature, flattering and not, to its advantage. I thought Knoxville could learn from that. Early in Look Homeward, Angel, he mentions an interesting adventure in Knoxville. Not his own, but his troubled big brother’s. In the book, the character Steve Gant is said to be based on the writer’s older brother, Frank Wolfe. His parents, who run a boarding house in Asheville, don’t know what to do with him. “Finally, he was told to go to work and support himself: he found desultory employment as a soda-jerker, or as a delivery boy for a morning paper,” Thomas Wolfe writes. “Once, with a crony, Gus Moody, son of a foundry-man, he had gone off to see the world. Grimy from vagabondage they had crawled off a freight train at Knoxville, Tenn., spent the little money they had on food, and in a brothel, and returned, two days later, coal-black but boastful of this exploit.” ‘I’ll vow,’ Eliza fretted. ‘I don’t know what’s to become of that boy.’” I’m guessing, based on the context, that that would have been around 1905-10. At the time, Knoxville did have a semi-legal red-light district of brothels, along Florida Street, and it was right by the train tracks leading to Asheville. Friendly Town, it was called, and it was in the middle of the Cripple Creek district, where there’s lately rumors of a baseball stadium in the perhaps distant future. ◆
“Grimy from vagabondage they had crawled off a freight train at Knoxville…spent the little money they had on food, and in a brothel, and returned, two days later,
Wolfe wasn’t like that. He wrote about ordinary life, but in a way so honest, describing everything, that it seems extreme. He wrote almost as if we might all die someday. He remained iconic for 25 years after his death, inspiring high-school
coal-black but boastful of this exploit.” —THOMAS WOLFE, Look Homeward, Angel
WHY KNOXVILLE MATTERS
Coming September 29th
Knoxville is celebrating its 225th Anniversary on October 3 and the Mercury will mark the occasion with a special publication. Jack Neely, Knoxville’s most popular historian, will present his picks for the
25
most significant turning points
in Knoxville’s history. He’ll tell fascinating stories about people and places in Knoxville that say somthing about who we are and how they can help us shape the future together.
If you’re a Knoxville business owner, share your personal story or thank your community for their support with an ad in this keepsake issue. For more information, call 865-313-2048.
September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 7
Photos by Tricia Bateman
Held Back Knoxville College continues to delay resuming classes; campus contamination unresolved BY S. HEATHER DUNCAN
K
noxville College will not be resuming classes online this fall as had been hoped, a college official has acknowledged. The historically black college, founded in 1875, lost its accreditation in 1997 and stopped holding classes last year. The 39-acre Mechanicsville campus fell into disrepair while the college’s debt mounted. This summer, the city issued emergency cleanup orders for most of the buildings, indicating they are unsafe for use. The former A.K. Stewart Science Hall is believed to be so contaminated by chemicals that environmental regulators are considering listing it as a state Superfund site. Yet as late as July, college officials were still stating their intent to resume classes in the fall semester, albeit online. Now James Reese, chairman of the college board of trustees, says, “I don’t think we’re going to make it. Hopefully by the second semester.”
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
Reese says a committee of the board has been working on the curriculum and deciding which majors the college would continue to offer, but initial courses would likely be the same freshman general-education track as in the past. The difference is that all classes would be provided only via the Internet. Knoxville College must get authorization from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission before enrolling students again. When the college suspended classes, the commission downgraded its status to “conditional authorization,” which allows college leaders to work on restructuring but little else. If it wants to resume classes next semester, the college has less than a month to submit detailed information about its planned curriculum, finances, and physical condition of the buildings it is using, says Julie Woodruff, director of postsecondary school authorization and lead attorney
for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. “I don’t know if they are planning to restart programs they had before or if they are completely changing their focus,” Woodruff says. The college, which owes the federal government about $1 million and whose campus has been under a lien of $6 million more, would also have to show its financials are in order. “It’s almost like starting from scratch. It’s no easy task,” Woodruff says. “Basically, because of everything that has happened with them, they would have to establish that all our minimum requirements have been met, including that the facilities they plan to use are in accordance with local ordinances.” Reese has said staff would run the online courses from the college’s library building or an annex to its historic chapel. A large crack is visible in one brick outer wall of the library, where a few staff and volunteers still
According to one tip sent to TDEC, Knoxville College’s science building (left) was the site of secret research conducted between the 1960s and 1980s, which may have contributed to its toxic nature. The unresolved contamination issues have further stalled redevelopment plans for the campus. work in the basement. City building code enforcement officials had proposed labeling both buildings as too dangerous for people to enter. But at a Friday hearing the city’s public officer, David Brace, gave the college 90 days to repair them. (The officer also issued an emergency repair order for the science building.) Woodruff says she is not aware of another college in Tennessee that has switched from offering classes on campus to exclusively online. The college will have to submit additional information demonstrating that it can handle the technical aspects of this option, including proof that it is backing up data in multiple ways in case of a technical failure. “We have not finished the research needed for how we’ll do the online classes, but we have a feeling that we can,” Reese says, adding that he doesn’t know how much that step will cost. “Hopefully by the time we hear back from the state, we’ll have a better idea” of what the expense will be, he says. If the college provides all the required information by the Oct. 3 deadline set by the state, the commission’s committee on post-secondary educational institutions will review it in November and make a recommendation to the full commission, which could vote on it in November, Woodruff says. Reese says the next meeting of the Knoxville College Board of Trustees is scheduled for Oct. 22.
CONDITION OF CAMPUS BUILDINGS
Searching for income that would allow the college to pay its debts and
resume teaching students, Knoxville College struck a deal early this year with local developer Southeast Commercial. Southeast president and CEO Gary Smith has said he is close to arranging redevelopment projects that would turn most of the campus into a possible combination of senior or affordable housing, office space and a charter school. However, Jane Redmond, who heads up the college’s small local management team, indicated at the hearing Friday that Smith has been working directly with members of the college’s board of trustees, but no one has been communicating with the college employees here in town. This seems to have led to ongoing confusion. For example, Redmond told Brace that different people representing the college had contacted two different architects to evaluate the condition of the chapel and library. She asked the city to regard Bullock & Smith, which will start the work next week, as the college’s architect. But Gary Smith indicated in an email after the meeting that the college is using a different architect, Faris Eid with Design Innovation, to evaluate the library. Based on Eid’s conclusions, Smith wrote, Southeast Commercial will quote a price for completing the renovations. Even if completed in three months—which Redmond expressed confidence could be achieved—these improvements won’t solve the problem of what to do about the science building. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation held a public meeting early in July
about whether to add the science building to its list of the most polluted properties in the state, a proposal college officials and alumni argued against. Highly reactive hazardous chemicals were essentially abandoned in the building when science classes stopped, leading to a 2014 emergency cleanup by the federal Environmental Protection Agency that removed the most immediate dangers. TDEC officials say contamination, especially from mercury, still remains in the air and possibly soil. TDEC contacted federal environmental regulators in April requesting help to secure the science building from vandals, according to EPA documents. TDEC reported that trespassers were removing items from the building to sell and “there is a high risk these are contaminated with mercury.” EPA agreed to return for more sampling, which was done June 27. According to the EPA site report, these tests found mercury vapors at concentrations as high as 10.3 micrograms per cubic meter at floor level, and .5 micrograms per cubic meter at breathing height. (The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry indicates airborne mercury levels should not exceed 3 micrograms in a building.) Visible mercury of less than a teaspoon was observed in a hallway. EPA concluded that the mercury vapor levels meet the criteria for “a small-scale removal action.” But due to the small amount and isolated location of the contamination, EPA deemed action unnecessary as long as the building isn’t
“We have not finished the research needed for how we’ll do the online classes, but we have a feeling that we can.” —JAMES REESE, chairman of Knoxville College’s board of trustees
regularly occupied and its future use remains uncertain. If, however, the college decides to either renovate or demolish the building, EPA recommended it consult cleanup or disposal contractors to make sure the waste is handled appropriately. These conclusions appear to support Knoxville College claims that the remaining mercury contamination is minor, bolstering its argument that the building doesn’t need to be added to the state Superfund list. Such a move could stall efforts at redevelopment through the Southeast Commercial partnership. But on the other hand, it would provide the state more legal leverage to hand the bill to those who made the mess, rather that sticking taxpayers with it. Those responsible could include parties besides Knoxville College, which didn’t reimburse EPA for the 2014 cleanup and clearly doesn’t have the money to pay now. TDEC officials have asked for help from anyone who studied or worked in the science building and has information about the source or disposal of its chemicals. One commenter emailed TDEC with a tip about secret research at Knoxville College between the 1960s and 1980s. John Sibley reported that a 1973 Knoxville College graduate said the college conducted (possibly classified) research in partnership with the federal government, Union Carbide, and the University of Tennessee. The work, conducted in a room on the fourth floor of the science building, involved radioactive materials, Sibley wrote. “The metal doors to the room were locked at all times to shield the danger of any vapor, radiation, etc. that might escape,” the email stated. Sibley argues that the federal government should have overseen removal and disposal of unsafe materials associated with the project, and should now be responsible for any cleanup costs. TDEC responded with a request for documentation that could shed light on this. Although the public comment period ended July 21, TDEC has not made a decision about how to proceed, says Kim Schoetzow, TDEC communications officer. “We hope to have a discussion with college representatives in the near term,” she wrote in an email. ◆
Delivering Fine Journalism Since 2015
EDITORIAL EDITOR Coury Turczyn coury@knoxmercury.com SENIOR EDITOR Matthew Everett matthew@knoxmercury.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Jack Neely jack@knoxhistoryproject.org STAFF WRITERS S. Heather Duncan heather@knoxmercury.com Clay Duda clay@knoxmercury.com CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Barrett 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
INTERNS
Hayley Brundige Maria Smith
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 618 South Gay St., Suite L2, Knoxville, TN 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 Jack Neely Coury Turczyn Joe Sullivan 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
September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 9
AT 80, STAN BROCK SHOWS NO SIGN OF SLOWING HIS EFFORT TO SAVE LIVES WITH REMOTE AREA MEDICAL • BY CLAY DUDA
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
Photos by Clay Duda
ou’d be hard pressed to find Stan Brock somewhere else besides the 55,000-squarefoot campus of Remote Area Medical headquarters in Rockford near Old Knoxville Highway. If he’s not here in East Tennessee, he’s likely out somewhere offering help—Guyana, Haiti, Baton Rouge, or some hollow in rural Appalachia—directing the latest batch of volunteers on a disaster relief mission, or helping lead pop-up clinics to provide free medical care to America’s uninsured. Today, he’s in the corner parking lot of RAM HQ in his trademark safari gear, matching khaki pants and shirt, with RAM logos fixed above his breast pockets and on his shoulder straps. His silver hair is slicked back and well manicured, accenting the imposing demeanor he was known for as co-host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom in the 1960s. He’s looking over a newly purchased pull-behind trailer, one RAM volunteers will help retrofit to serve as a mobile command center during future disaster-relief operations, like the one volunteers are at now in Baton Rouge after flood water inundated parts of the city and some surrounding parishes. Well, the dingy camper isn’t new. It’s dirty and a little rundown and covered in dents and dings from a hailstorm—blemishes that allowed the penny-pinching nonprofit to purchase it second-hand for a steal, Brock says. “We’re still running this place on a shoestring, for the size of this operation, which is the biggest of its kind in America,” he says with a hefty British drawl. It’s been more than 60 years since Brock has lived in the United Kingdom, but he’s not one to forget where he came from, or the lessons he’s learned along the way. For the past three decades, Brock has devoted most every waking hour to helping RAM and its mission; from navigating red tape and regulations, to get volunteers on the ground, to volunteering himself and coordinating its latest relief efforts. Yet he still makes time to talk with the media, seeing it as mission-critical to get the word out and hopefully move people to open their wallets. Virtually all the organization’s funding comes from individuals who believe in its mission—small donations of $5, $20, $50. In 2014, those types of contributions made up 96 percent of its budget, state records show. It takes no money
from the government. Brock has managed to take an abstract idea to offer medical help and turn it into a multi-million-dollar relief operation, although he’s quick to duck credit for such a thing, instead pointing to the thousands of men and women, medical doctors and dentists and others, who have volunteered time and energy over the years, or donated money, to help those in need. RAM’s operating budget fluctuates year-to-year depending on when different disasters strike and what sorts of relief efforts may be needed, but it generally tops more than $1 million, Secretary of State filings show. “What is this, mission 810?” Brock asks a volunteer as they prepare for a weekend medical clinic in Macon County, Tenn. in late August. They’ll roll in with a convoy of trucks, setting up an impromptu complex offering medical, dental, and vision services for two days, treating as many people as they can. Just this past weekend, on Sept. 10-11, they were at it again, this time in Lee County, Va. Next weekend they’ll be in Pickett County, Tenn. doing the same thing, and then to Lyon County, Nev. the weekend after that. Now in his 80th year, Brock shows no signs of slowing down. All conversations circle back to RAM and its mission, and where he hopes to see things go from here. He seems reticent to open up about his personal life—but RAM is a cause he’s devoted much of his life to, and one that defines him. He has no hobbies other than fitness. He still wakes up early and works out seven days a week, he says, refusing to eat many processed foods. He has an interest in airplanes and horses, two things that have defined him as a cowboy and philanthropist. With a small administrative staff handling RAM’s day-to-day operations, Brock has the freedom and ambition to focus on plans for the future—and boy does he have more in the works. RAM has just started a horse breeding program, is hosting 4,000 Boy Scouts for a massive camporee in October on its 200-acre property near Blaine, is mounting yet another operation to help out in Baton Rouge, is expanding its footprint in the Philippines, and is lobbying for changes in federal law to cut red tape and make its relief efforts easier. It may sound like a plethora of
At Remote Area Medical’s headquarters in Rockford, just about every tool or instrument needed for their pop-up-style health-care operations is stocked, along with five box trucks and an 18-wheeler queued for upcoming medical missions. The trucks are outfitted with dental chairs and equipment, phoropters for eye examines and glasses frames, scalpels and sterilizers.
focus areas for one nonprofit, but don’t be so sure. All of these endeavors have a common thread, even if at times it’s Brock himself and his laser-focus on doing good in the world. But to really understand where the organization is heading, it’s important to understand its origins and the makings of its founding philanthropist. Now with a full-time staff, RAM may be poised to carry on the work Brock has dedicated himself to. But it’s hard not to wonder what might become of the nonprofit after its charismatic celebrity benefactor, who has been its public face for decades, is gone.
September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 11
FROM RUPUNUNI TO TENNESSEE
Remote Area Medical got its start in 1985 with a trip to the Rupununi Savannah, a vast plain along Guyana’s border with Brazil in the northern stretches of South America. For Brock, it was a sort of homecoming. He had spent 15 years of his early life playing cowboy on this desolate range, working as a vaquero on one of the world’s largest cattle operations, on the Dadanawa Ranch, where All the Cowboys Were Indians—except for him, of course—as the title of his most recent book reminds. When he originally showed up at Dadanawa in 1953 he was a British
“Even though I was a barefoot cowboy, I’m going to die with my damn boots on.” —STAN BROCK
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
expat, a 17-year-old school boy who had hopped a ship for Guyana (then British Guiana, and English territory) with a dream of being a cowboy. His dad worked with the provincial government in Guyana’s capital of Georgetown, giving Brock a reason to make it in such a remote stretch of the world. And that’s exactly what he did, landing a job at the ranch and learning the ways of the range from local Wapishana Indians, who herded cattle barefoot by horseback. From the Rupununi range it was, at the time, a 26-day journey to reach the nearest medical doctor in Georgetown—a disheartening fact Brock only came to realize after a near-fatal accident trying to tame a wild horse. He eventually recovered, though it was a wakeup call to the lack of medical access and what that means for people like the Wapishana, as well as others who live in rural enclaves around the world. “I actually told that story to astronaut Ed Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon, a couple of years ago,” Brock recounts. “He said, ‘Gosh, I was on the moon and was only three days from the nearest doctor.’ I said, ‘Well, for those Indians where I grew up, they might as well have been on the moon with the opportunity they had to see a doctor.’ Then I came to this country [the United States] and there are millions of people in the same predicament!” While working the ranch, Brock obtained his pilot’s license, number 92 issued by the British colonial government, he recalls. With it he ferried medical supplies and other goods to the ranch on a bi-weekly basis, a trip that had previously required pre-scheduled flights or nearly a month-long journey on foot from the coast. His work as a naturalist, animal collector, and wild game rustler eventually caught the eyes of the producers of Wild Kingdom, and they signed him on as a co-host in the 1960s. That work took him away from the range where he came of age, but he vowed to return one day, when he could, to help. And that’s where the seeds of Remote Area Medical took hold. Brock went on to play a host of roles on television and film up through the mid-1980s, when he decided to shift gears and refocus on fulfilling his promise to the Wapishana. By then he found himself settling in Knoxville, a
town he used to stop off at for fuel on trips between his home in Florida and the Wild Kingdom studios in Chicago, he says. “Well, I was low on fuel, stopped here, and liked the place,” Brock says about ending up in Knoxville, offering little else for explanation. “RAM is based here because I was living here. But the strategic advantage is you have a huge population east of the Mississippi River. For us it’s only a couple of hours in one of our airplanes all the way up to the Northeast or down to Florida.” Over the years it’s hosted missions to Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Greece, and other international destinations. Even today it keeps a plane and pilot staffed in Guyana, with a network of nearly 40 remote airstrips to ferry remote villagers in need of medical attention free of charge, fulfilling the promise Brock made to himself all those years ago. But as that work got underfoot, Brock saw there was the same crisis happening here in the United States. While keeping its original focus, RAM expanded operations in the U.S., and today about 95 percent of its work is centered on helping those in need in one of the most developed nations on Earth. He says 60 Minutes host Scott Pelley probably put it best in 2008, introducing RAM during a segment on the show that kick-started a flood of donations and national recognition for the organization: “Remote Area Medical sets up emergency clinics where the needs are greatest, but these days that’s not the Amazon. This charity founded to help people who can’t reach medical care now finds itself throwing America a life line.”
FULL STEAM AHEAD
The numbers are staggering. Last year alone RAM provided medical aid to 28,000 people, totaling about $92.5 million in free healthcare services. It has amassed a fleet of seven airplanes, including “the big one,” a Douglas C-47 Skytrain that flew missions on D-Day during World War II, now stationed in Lethem, Guyana. Most of the other, smaller aircrafts are hangared at Knoxville’s Downtown Island Airport. At RAM HQ, there are five box trucks and an 18-wheeler queued for upcoming medical missions. They are outfitted with dental chairs and equipment, phoropters for eye examines and glasses frames, scalpels and steriliz-
ers. The trucks are flanked by shelves filled with such supplies, carts with a total of 138 dental chairs folded and labeled, racks upon racks of various prescription glass lenses, and pretty much every tool or instrument needed for their pop-up-style health-care operations. During clinics, it can produce about 400 prescription eyeglasses a day. The warehouse itself is an impressive show of logistics, a scene of organized chaos as workers get each truck loaded, moving, and to its destination each weekend in a fashion that allows it to be unpacked and put to use. This is the type of operation RAM has become known for, taking over convention halls or stadiums or whatever building can accommodate a crowd for a weekend, treating as many people as they can, and moving on. Still, its efforts aren’t enough to reach everyone. Brock jokes grimly that it could take $10 million to straighten out Appalachia alone, not to mention the scores of other un- or under-insured people across the country. Over the years, and with the addition of a small paid administrative staff, RAM has become wellversed at mounting such large-scale clinics, putting in place the framework for continued operations even without Brock’s charismatic candor. It’s also freed Brock to focus more on the organization’s future, expanding operations into other areas, and lobbying for revisions in federal law that would help streamline its work. He’d like to see a chapter in every state, and there already are some. It’s also in the process of boosting its operations in the Philippines. One of the biggest issues is the number of state laws preventing doctors and dentists licensed in other states from crossing state lines to work. That’s a big challenge in the wake of a disaster. RAM must get waivers from individuals states to bring in help, costing time. Over the years, he’s managed to get 11 states to change those laws. Tennessee was the first, back in the mid-1990s, he says. But what would really help out is a federal law clearing those regulatory hurdles, allowing doctors and dentists to move freely between states. One seemingly unlikely addition to its portfolio is a burgeoning horse breeding program. But for Brock, it makes perfect sense: It’s a renewed commitment to help the Wapishana
make a living of the Rupununi Savannah. The 50,000 head of cattle he and other cowboys herded back in the 1950s and ’60s are long gone, stolen by Brazilian bandits, as Brock tells it. So are the horses the cowboy Indians once rode, dissipating a way of life he still holds dear. That’s where the horses come in, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has plenty of them to spare. The federal agency is happy to provide wild mustangs to just about anyone willing to take them. There’s an estimated 33,000 wild horse roaming the United States, trampling the grasslands, and creating real problems, government figures show. RAM has already acquired four such mustang mares, which it plans to breed with a Lusitano stud to closely recreate the original horse brought to the Americas during the colonial days. Then, they’ll fly the offspring down to Guyana to help the Wapishana get back on their feet economically—that’s the plan at least, though it’s an ambitious one. Brock had an earlier scheme to take 200 such mustangs from the BLM and ship them down to Guyana, but the logistics proved too cumbersome and costly, even for a Brit known for getting things done and thinking outside the box. He even considered driving them down through Central America—a prospect he says would have been possible in his early life, even if it would take about six months—but when you factor in all the freeways, fences, and border crossings, it proved too much, he says. While RAM has not taken government grants in the past, Brock says he’d consider making an exception to fund what would likely be RAM’s biggest, most ambitious operation to date: a rolling, ongoing effort to vaccinate villages in Africa for malaria and Ebola, when and if those vaccines become available. Brock envisions taking a small fleet of aircraft and a revolving crew of volunteers over the Atlantic, starting somewhere in Northwest Africa and going from there. The groups of volunteers would rotate on an ongoing basis, vaccinating entire villages, then packing up and moving on to the next. “The airplane would fly from one dirt airstrip to another, where the airlines don’t go. The entire operation would last several years,” he says. “But that’s going to cost millions of dollars,
On a budget of about $1 million, RAM’s free health-care events helped 28,000 people last year, totaling about $92.5 million in free health-care services such as dentistry and vision correction.
so where would that money come from? It would have to come from either the United Nations, who is always short on money, or maybe U.S. AID [Agency for International Development].” Whether Brock’s latest ambitions will ever materialize remains to be seen, but it won’t be from a lack of trying if not. He doesn’t take vacations, saying he has no time or need for such things, and he has no plans to retire or cut back his workload. “Even though I was a barefoot cowboy, I’m going to die with my damn boots on,” he says. “If I even took a vacation, when I come back I’m flooded with emails. I wonder how many I have now… It says 7,878 emails, so I better get to work.” ◆ September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 13
A&E
P rogram Notes
From left: Eric Dawson, Liz Albertson, Executive Director Jason Boardman, and Natalie Caylor. Photo courtesy of Pilot Light.
Status Update Old City performance venue Pilot Light incorporates as a nonprofit
T
he small independent-music venue Pilot Light, operating for 16 years in the red as a “for-loss community center” as it is sometimes affectionately called by regulars, recently incorporated as an official nonprofit with hopes for tax-exempt status as a 501(c) (3) organization by the end of this year. Since its inception in 2000, Pilot Light has been a nexus of creative activity in the alternative scene, but also a volunteer-run, no-profit business, with owner Jason Boardman sinking much of his own money— earned from his day job at McKay’s— into keeping the venue afloat. “Year after year it seems more of an overwhelming task to bear on my own,” says Boardman, who recently turned 43, “I feel like I will be doing the place a disservice if I don’t respond to that by getting more organized and more help.” With the help of an accountant and a lawyer friend, Pilot Light, Incorporated is now formalized “for charitable, literary, and educational purposes only, and not for the private gain of any person or entity.” Boardman is executive director,
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Inside the Vault: Clifford Curry
KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
and Pilot Light’s three-member board is Liz Albertson, Natalie Caylor, and Eric Dawson. “I was at Pilot Light the day they opened, and have attended shows there regularly,” says Dawson, archivist at the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound, and the Mercury’s Inside the Vault columnist. “It’s been a crucial venue in the city for up-and-coming national and international acts that go on to play much larger venues. Perhaps its most important role, however, is as an incubator and support system for local talent. It has also been a space for artists, comedians, plays, films and other artistic endeavors that might otherwise not have an outlet.” Boardman hopes establishing Pilot Light as a nonprofit will strengthen the viability of the venue by fostering better organization and efficiency, finding new sources of financial support, networking with other nonprofits, and setting up a structure that can stand independent of its founder. “[Pilot Light] has always felt like an investment and not a loss of any kind to me. If it could exist into the future, whether I’m involved or not,
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that would personally be very satisfying,” Boardman says. The aesthetic and vision of Pilot Light should remain constant; Boardman will continue to book a diverse array of performers with a focus on unique or experimental acts. Albeit on a smaller, more humble scale, Pilot Light has more in common with a performance venue like the Bijou Theater, also a 501(c)(3) supported through donations and fundraisers, than with a nightclub or a restaurant with a stage. Pilot Light has a cash-only bar selling beer, but no food or liquor. The interior is absent jukeboxes, TVs, pool tables, or other features that would distract from the music. “When I was a student at UT I was taken to a show [at Pilot Light] by some friends,” says Albertson, senior planner at the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission. “It was such a different and wonderful scene from the bars on ‘the Strip.’ It felt intimate, like I was part of something hidden and magical. This tiny, crusty rock ’n’ roll venue is a pillar in this town and I want to help safeguard it for future young Knoxvillians.” Earlier this year, a local developer with increasing real-estate holdings in the Old City attempted to buy Pilot Light’s building, a small, nondescript brick storefront on Jackson Avenue. The owners refused to sell. “The importance of [the building owners’] support and belief in us cannot be overstated,” Boardman says. The nonprofit status alone can’t hold aggressive developers at bay, but it helps builds a case for the Pilot Light as an artistic entity worth preserving. “The city’s cultural landscape is far more interesting and richer because those who perform at, work for, and patronize Pilot Light are here,” Dawson says. (Eleanor Scott)
Classical Music: Rachmaninoff & Tchaikovsky
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ARSONIST DESTROYS CEREUS BRIGHT’S PRACTICE SPACE Knoxville Americana rock band Cereus Bright found out in hours how much their fans and friends love their music after their new rehearsal space was robbed and set on fire late last week. The band was playing a show in Connecticut on Friday when they learned about the crime, which also destroyed the personal belongings of band members Evan Ford and Luke Bowers, who were living in the building just north of the Parkridge neighborhood. Band frontman Tyler Anthony explained in a GoFundMe plea for donations that the band returned “to a soot-filled building, missing dozens of instruments and thousands of dollars in equipment. Luke and Evan, who live at the space, have burned-out beds, clothes, and missing valuables. What isn’t missing is, for the most part, irreparably damaged from the heat and soot.” Anthony posted a modest goal of $6,000 in donations at gofundme.com/cereusbrightfire. (“It feels so strange asking people for money,” he says, while acknowledging that the losses were much higher.) That goal was fulfilled so quickly, the band increased it to $10,000. Within 18 hours, 180 people had chipped in $11,362. “We’ve had a flood of generosity,” ranging from people offering furniture to the homeless band members, to musicians offering to share equipment, Anthony says. He wrote in an update on the GoFundMe page, “We weren’t expecting anything like this, and you all have turned a terrible situation into one of the most heart-warming and inspiring days in our lives.” Anthony says the band received confirmation Tuesday morning that the fire was arson. He says he thinks the crime was more personal than a simple robbery with the fire as a cover-up. The band had rented a building that had a large commercial space in front and an apartment behind, and fires were set in multiple rooms, including a band member’s mattress being torched. He adds that cars were parked in front of the building, so it wasn’t obvious that the band was out of town unless the perpetrator knew their schedule or saw them leave. “We felt this space really met our needs and never expected anything this dramatic to happen,” Anthony says. Due to the fire, Cereus Bright canceled a scheduled Ohio concert, part of a tour to promote its first record. Anthony says the band will play its other scheduled shows, including a Sept. 30 gig at the Bijou Theatre. (S. Heather Duncan)
Movies: Sully
Inside the Vault
Sweet Clifford Remembering Knoxville soul legend Clifford Curry BY ERIC DAWSON
K
noxville lost one of its great voices when soul singer Clifford Curry died on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at the age of 79, after a stroke several days earlier. Curry never achieved widespread fame, but he had a solid, consistent career that is hard to imagine anyone replicating in today’s music world. His recording career stretched from his teenage years to 2015 and covered more than a dozen labels. He wrote songs for everyone from obscure Knoxville acts to the Oak Ridge Boys, found popularity in Europe, sang soul, gospel, and country, and experienced that rare thing in the entertainment business: a second act. Curry loved soul music and immersed himself in it as a child,
buying the latest records at Tucker’s Record Store downtown. In a 2012 interview in American Songwriter magazine, Curry fondly recalled the R&B acts he heard on Acey Boy Wilson’s radio show. But he was too young to attend the concerts at Chilhowee Park that Claude “The Cat” Tomlinson promoted on his WIVK show Ebony Rhapsody. Curry even won a ticket to a Lloyd Price concert but had to sell it. Curry started singing when he was a student at Austin High School, as the sixth member of the Echoes, a doo-wop group that included John Myers and his brothers. The Echoes were managed by nightclub impresario Freddie Logan, who booked them on tours of the
Southeast and arranged for them to audition for Atlantic Records in New York. Taking a detour in Newark, N.J., they ended up recording for the legendary jazz/R&B label Savoy. By then, they were known as the Five Pennies; they recorded six songs for Savoy in 1956, including “Mr. Moon,” composed by the teenaged Curry. His next professional venture was as a member of the Hollyhocks, formerly the Bingos, who recorded one single for Nasco, the R&B subsidiary of Ernie Young’s great gospel label Nashboro. In 1959, Curry joined the Bubba Suggs Band, based in Clarksville, a combo that often backed touring singers such as Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, and Joe Tex. It wasn’t until 1963 that he set out on his own, cutting a pair of records for Young’s Excello label under the name Sweet Clifford. (The first single, “Baby! Just What Is Wrong” b/w “Just a Lonely Boy,” was erroneously credited to “Clifford Sweet.”) As Clifford Curry Jr., he recorded for the tiny Ridgecrest label out of Georgia and appeared on a few singles as a member of the Fabulous Six. Curry experienced segregation and racism early in his career, including an incident of violence in a Boston club. By the mid 1960s, he was performing as part of an integrated band, an uncommon arrangement in this part of the country at the time. The audiences, of course, were still segregated; the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound has film of a teen dance from around 1964, hosted by Johnny Pirkle, of WNOX, in which Curry is backed by the all-white band the Midnights and singing before an entirely white audience. In 1967 came “She Shot a Hole in My Soul” b/w “We’re Gonna Hate Ourselves in the Morning,” a record that changed Curry’s life. Rob Galbraith, the guitarist for the Midnights, was also a late-night DJ at WNOX; in the wee hours, he and Curry would write songs in the studio. The pair traveled to Nashville, where they met producer Buzz Cason, who tapped Curry to record a single for Bell Records subsidiary Elf. (Galbraith would eventually move to Music City
A&E
and become an influential songwriter and producer himself.) Recorded at Cinderella Sound Studios and featuring in-demand Nashville session musicians Kenny Buttrey (drums), Mac Gayden (guitar), and Norbert Putnam (bass), “She Shot a Hole” reached #95 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #45 on the R&B charts. Even the B-side was a popular radio hit, especially in Myrtle Beach, S.C., planting the seeds for a later career upturn for Curry. His records also found a receptive audience in the Northern Soul community of England and in Europe. He recorded seven more singles for Elf and then recorded for half a dozen small labels in the 1970s. In 1980, Curry released “Shag With Me,” a song capitalizing on the Carolina coastal dance craze. “Shag With Me” was written by Archie Jordan, who had penned hits for Anne Murray, Charlie Rich, and Curry’s friend Ronnie Milsap. Fans remembering him from the late 1960s loved the single and his live performances; he became known as “The King of Beach Music.” Curry moved to Nashville in the 1980s but returned to Knoxville often to perform, fronting local bands such as East Wind. He recently moved back to Knoxville to be near family. His later recordings include a six-song EP of tunes dedicated to Knoxville and the University of Tennessee, including one called “Pat Summitt (Dat Gummitt)” and a cover of “Rocky Top.” His final album, Cold Beer, Hot Women, won solo album of the year at the 2015 Carolina Beach Music Awards. But that’s just an outline of his remarkable career. What isn’t told in the grooves of the records is what a kind and generous person Clifford Curry was. Anybody who met him will tell you that. Stories and remembrances that have been flooding Facebook and elsewhere attest to his good nature and character. Sweet Clifford Curry has passed on, but he will always have a unique place in Knoxville music history, and his records will undoubtedly be listened to for years to come. ◆ Inside the Vault searches the archives of the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound for nuggets of lost Knoxville music and film history. September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 15
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Classical Music
Coming Attractions
KSO launches Knoxville’s fall classical music season BY ALAN SHERROD
W
e humans are a mess of contradictions. While we seem to be irresistibly attracted to change and things that are new, we also hold on tenaciously to the comfortable objects and traditions of the past. As art imitates life, we find ourselves exhilarated by the prospect and potential of new works, new artists, and new experiences, yet we invariably fall back on the comfort and satisfaction we receive from favorite musicians and time-honored masterpieces. This conflict between past, present, and future will ultimately be a theme in Knoxville’s classical music scene this fall as audiences and musicians confront a changing musical landscape. Leading these changes is the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra which opens its 2016-17 season on Thursday and Friday of this week under its new music director and conductor, Aram Demirjian. This season of introduction in which Demirjian will conduct five of the eight monthly Masterworks concert pairs and only one of the Chamber Classics concerts, is further complicated by the impending departure of Concertmaster Gabriel Lefkowitz, who will be dividing his time this season between the KSO and his new employer, the Louisville Orchestra. Lefkowitz’s six-year tenure as concertmaster has seen the KSO grow by leaps and bounds in terms of ensemble excellence and professionalism. Lefkowitz also gets credit for creating, programming, and performing the popular Concertmaster Series of chamber music, which will appear once again at KMA on Sept. 28 and 29, offering up Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet. With the audition process for the concertmaster position beginning later this season, filling his shoes with someone of equal artistic stature, exuberance, and charisma, will not be an enviable task for the KSO.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
For the opening KSO Masterworks concerts this week, Demirjian and the orchestra turn to a Russian theme with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with pianist Orion Weiss. In the absence of Demirjian, KSO resident conductor James Fellenbaum will be leading a number of events on the schedule, including the October Masterworks pair featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and a quasi-companion concert in the Chamber Classics Series titled The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires featuring works by Marquez, Romero, Copland, and Piazzolla. Demirjian will return in November for a Masterworks concert featuring American composers and for A Classical Christmas at the Bijou, a program that proved immensely popular last year as a counterpoint to the annual pops-heavy Clayton Holiday Concert in December. In addition to his position with the KSO, Fellenbaum is also Director of Orchestras for the University of Tennessee School of Music. In a new angle, his UT Symphony Orchestra will take music from Tchaikovsky’s notable ballets as a theme for its fall schedule. This Sunday’s 4 p.m. concert at Cox Auditorium will feature music from Swan Lake along with works by Shostakovich and Borodin. October’s concert will offer a suite from Sleeping Beauty, while November will have the orchestra working with the Oak Ridge Civic Ballet Association on a production of The Nutcracker. Opera is now a “thing” in Knoxville, thanks in large part to Knoxville Opera and its attention-getting Rossini Festival. With its fall slot often devoted to lighter fare, KO will perform the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, The Pirates of Penzance, at the Tennessee Theatre on Oct. 21 and 23. However, those interested in older and rarely performed, but newly resurrected
works should check out the UT Opera Theatre production of Monteverdi’s 1640 work, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (The Return of Ulysses) at the Carousel Theatre on Nov. 10, 11, and 13. On Oct. 12 and 13 at the Emporium, Knoxville’s chamber opera company, Marble City Opera, takes on the somewhat new with two one-act operas: Gallantry by Douglas Moore and La Divina by Thomas Pasatieri. Gallantry (1958) is a parody of TV soap operas, while La Divina (1966) is about the farewell performance of an aging diva. “Old and new again” is also an ongoing theme for the UT School of Music and their guest artist, faculty, ensemble, and student performances. This fall alone, the school is offering well over 50 events that are open to the public and that are Knoxville’s best enlightenment value—most are free. [Check out music.utk.edu/events] Those who have been discouraged in the past from attending UT music events by campus parking issues, take note: A new garage has just opened across Volunteer Boulevard from the Natalie Haslam Music Center. ◆
WHO
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
WHAT
Russian Passion: Rachmaninoff & Tchaikovsky
WHEN
Thursday, Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE
Tennessee Theatre (604 S. Gay St.)
HOW MUCH $15-$88
INFO
knoxvillesymphony.com
FROM THE PIT
Jeffery Whaley KSO principal horn player The French horn is one of the orchestra’s most skittish instruments, with a notoriously flighty temperament. It has the widest range of all the brass and an almost endless number of potential notes. Sometimes you just don’t know for sure what’s going to come out of that bell. Just ask Jeffery Whaley, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s principal horn player, who has wrestled with the instrument for much of his career. This week, in KSO’s first Masterworks Series concert, Whaley will play one of the jewels of the literature: the horn solo that opens the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. “Tchaikovsky is known for writing beautifully memorable melodies, and this one is no exception,” Whaley says. “It resides somewhere between a lullaby and a prayer. … Tchaikovsky wrote for the horn beautifully in all of his symphonies, with notable horn passages in each. He uses the horns very densely to create a wash of sound.” That can be gorgeous for the listener, but it’s taxing for the player. The only way to get any control is with embouchure—varied and exacting mouth muscle pressure. Like all musicians, Whaley is an “athlete of the small muscles,” he says. “To be able to take your lips and press them into a metal funnel and buzz them for two-plus hours, with accuracy and artistry, takes years of practice. A page of whole notes can feel like doing a plank with your face.” Part of Whaley’s challenge will be to fit his part into the greater orchestral fabric. Even with a clear beat from a conductor, 70 people playing an array of different instruments aren’t going to move in lockstep, especially in such a Romantic, push-me-pull-you piece. It takes a perceptive ear, well versed in the entire score, to recognize when, for instance, the horn is calling and the clarinet is answering. Whaley says the Tchaikovsky is an ideal piece for the Masterworks debut of Aram Demirjian as KSO’s new conductor. “It relies heavily on conductor interpretation, giving our new music director a perfect vehicle to begin shaping the orchestra.” —Carol Z. Shane From the Pit talks with orchestra players about the pieces they’ll be performing.
Movies
A&E
SHOCKING AND SE XY AS HELL
[MORGAN SAYLOR, DANA BRODY IN ‘HOMELAND’]
The Inquisition Tom Hanks’ charisma overcomes Clint Eastwood’s government straw men in Sully BY APRIL SNELLINGS
I
f you could somehow overlook the crazy-grandpa political asides that pop up so frequently during Clint Eastwood’s interviews and public appearances, Sully might make you wonder if he has gone soft. In many ways, his latest fi lm—his 35th as a director—seems more in line with Frank Capra’s upbeat reassurances about human decency and the rewards of duty than Eastwood’s own, considerably darker examinations of macho heroism. It stands in sharp contrast to the decidedly bleaker and more troubling American Sniper, and even if it’s not wholly successful, Sully is Eastwood’s best fi lm in years. Right off the runway, it faces a pair of daunting obstacles that it only overcomes about half the time: Not only must Eastwood and screenwriter Todd Komarnicki build a feature out of what boils down to 208 seconds, but they’re also trying to inject tension and suspense into an event that we all know turned out fine. There is, after all, a reason that Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s 2009 emergency water landing of US Airways Flight 1549 is known as “the miracle on the Hudson.” The success of Sully, then, largely begins and ends with its casting.
There was probably some sort of cosmic law preventing anyone but Tom Hanks from being cast as Sullenberger, and his charisma carries the fi lm when it’s at its thinnest. Sully stretches out its plot with a twisting chronological structure that loops back to the masterfully staged crash over and over again, rendering it each time from a slightly different perspective. Eastwood gets right down to business, opening the film with what seems like a recreation of the crash. The scene takes a horrific turn, though, and it’s revealed to be a nightmare—a device that Eastwood will use time and again throughout the movie, which focuses on the investigation that follows the crash and the psychological toll it takes on its hero. At first Sully is sure he made the right call—that there was no way he could have safely made it to an airport after a bird collision disabled both engines of his plane, forcing him to attempt an unprecedented “forced water landing” on the Hudson River. But the airline and the National Transportation Safety Board aren’t so sure, and an investigation soon turns up evidence that casts doubt on Sully’s
judgment: multiple computer simulations indicate that he could have safely landed the plane at a nearby airport. Much of the movie is dedicated to Sully and First Officer Jeff Skiles (a winning and prodigiously mustached Aaron Eckhart) defending their actions to a squad of cartoonishly hostile, thinly drawn investigators. There’s a troubling double standard at work here that makes the movie feel disingenuous at times—Sully and his crew are exalted for doing their jobs, but the NTSB investigators are excoriated for doing theirs. Duty, it seems, isn’t quite so honorable when it’s motivating government officials rather than Eastwood’s stoic heroes. It’s also a dramatic face-off that’s almost entirely manufactured for the purpose of injecting some bad guys into a story that neither has nor needs any. There’s plenty of drama in Sully’s more personal reckonings with the fallout of the crash, and in the possibility that he unnecessarily endangered the lives of the 155 aboard the plane. Besides what it would do to him psychologically, such an outcome could be fi nancially devastating for the pilot and his family—the fi lm is pointedly set in the wake of the 2008 recession, and the investigation threatens to put Sully on the brink of fi nancial disaster. His story hardly needs sneering government goons to raise the stakes. Fortunately, other aspects of the movie are considerably more graceful. In no small part, Sully is a fi lm about the monolithic shadow of 9/11, and it’s at its best when it pulls back to contextualize its hero’s feat as a city’s triumph. Hanks and his performance might be the main attraction here, but he isn’t even on screen during some of its most memorable moments, such as the quietly devastating shots of New Yorkers watching the crippled plane hurtling over streets and past office windows, or its elegantly choreographed scenes of emergency responders making their way to the crash site. Eastwood is ham-fisted at times but he can also be remarkably artful, and there are enough of these grace notes to make Sully a worthwhile experience. ◆
IN A CAREER-DEFINING ROLE
THAT SHE EMBRACES WITH A FEROCIOUS ENERGY
ELECTRIFYING...
AN INTOXICATING CLOUD OF VICE
THERE ARE SO MANY REMARKABLE
THINGS ABOUT SAYLOR’S LEAD PERFORMANCE...
FEW ACTRESSES HAVE BETTER NAVIGATED
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING
NAKED AND EXPOSED THE MOST EXPLOSIVE
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September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 17
CALENDAR MUSIC
Thursday, Sept. 15 THE WAY DOWN WANDERERS WITH MICK MCAULEY • 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 THE BLUEPRINT • Scruffy City Hall • 6PM • Local pianist Keith Brown’s cool jazz combo. Part of Wayne Bledsoe’s 6 O’Clock Swerve series on WDVX. • FREE STYX • Chilhowee Park • 7:30PM • Harmony. Chemistry. Balance. Grit. Dexterity. Determination. Solidarity. Terms that describe a Super Bowl champion? Well, almost. These are words that define the core essence of Styx, the multimegamillion-selling rock band that has forged an indelible legacy both on record and onstage. Part of the Tennessee Valley Fair’s concert series; a ticket to the fair is required for admission. Visit tnvalleyfair.org. • $10-$30 GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT • The Concourse • 9PM • God Is An Astronaut are a 4 piece band who hail from Glen of the Downs, Ireland. 18 and up. • $13 THE WILD REEDS • Pilot Light • 9PM • The Wild Reeds can be defined by one word: Harmony. However, the music is nearly indefinable. The sound from this LA based band fronted by Kinsey Lee, Mackenzie Howe and Sharon Silva dips in and out of multiple genres - some ethereal folk, a hint of country twang and some rock and roll rhythm (from Nick Jones and Nick Phakpiseth), but it all comes back to the root of this band’s power: harmonies that create an instrument in and of itself. 18 and up. • $8 THE GRAND SHELL GAME • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • The Grand Shell Game is set to release their bold debut album man on a wire on June 11th, 2016. Recorded at the renowned Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, CT (Interpol, The Head and the Heart, The National), the work springs from foundations laid by songwriter E.S. Guthrie (guitar and vocals, former co-founder of The New Familiars) and is fully realized with some of the best musicians to be found in central North Carolina • FREE THE CHARLES WALKER BAND • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 SETH WALKER • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM ALPHA DOGS • Wild Wing Cafe • 8:30PM Friday, Sept. 16 GROOVE JUNCTION • 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 ROYAL HOUNDS • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • After three years in Las Vegas, performing and touring with “The Million Dollar Quartet,” East Tennessee native Scott Hinds returns home to perform with his own stellar rockabilly band. • $10 BENJAMIN JACOB RUPE • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • Singer/songwriter from Nashville. • FREE THESE WILD PLAINS • Sugarlands Distilling Co.(Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE THE HAVANA CUBA ALL-STARS • Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) • 7:30PM • Cuba’s greatest musicians have created and maintained the songs and music of the rich culture of the Cuban people in the program, “Cuban Nights.” • $16.50-$29.50 NAUGHTY BY NATURE WITH DJ ERIC B • Chilhowee Park • 7:30PM • The Grammy Award winning, Platinum-album selling, New Jersey super-group, Naughty By Nature, is celebrating their twenty-year track record of creating the 18
KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
Thursday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 25
hits and party anthems that have become the soundtrack to our lives. Their music has smashed through mainstream barriers all while remaining true to the sound, message and grit of the hood. Part of the Tennessee Valley Fair’s concert series; a ticket to the fair is required for admission. Visit tnvalleyfair.org. • $10 FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Live jazz featuring a mix of original music, early jazz and more. • FREE SCOTT MILLER WITH PARKER MILLSAP • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • As much as Scott Miller loves Knoxville, and as much as the city loves him back—and as much as his songs seem tied to this specific place—you could always tell that he never quite gave up the idea of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley as his real home. Visit thescottmiller.com. ANDREW PETERSON • The Square Room • 8PM • Singer/ songwriter and author Andrew Peterson will present songs from his most recent album, The Burning Edge of Dawn. He’ll follow the Friday concert with an appearance at a symposium on the intersection of art and faith at Johnson University. Visit newcityresources.org. • $20-$30 MIC HARRISON AND THE HIGH SCORE WITH LLAMA TRAIN AND HANDSOME AND THE HUMBLES • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up. • $5 KNOXVILLE SECRET SHOWS: FIREKID • Knoxville Music Warehouse • 8:30PM • The musical brainchild of Dillon Hodges, firekid has fast earned applause for his transcendent fusion of country, indie, folk, bluegrass, and Southern rock. Part of the Knoxville Secret Shows series produced by Knoxville Music Warehouse and Rhythm N’ Blooms; the venue will be announced to ticketholders the day before the show. Visit knoxvillemusicwarehouse. com. • $10-$12 JEANINE FULLER • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE THE WHIGS WITH TINA TARMAC AND THE BURNS AND RED WINE HANGOVER • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM • On its self-titled debut EP, Tina Tarmac and the Burns offers a survey of classic ’70s and ’80s rock—proto-punk, punk rock proper, power pop, arena-ready hard rock. THE COVERALLS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 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. • $5 BLANK RANGE • Pilot Light • 10PM • Nashville’s Blank Range serves up an eclectic patchwork of music that recalls Wilco’s folky noise, Alabama Shakes’ groove-heavy soul, and the giddy classic-rock thrust of early Kings of Leon. 18 and up. GRANDPA’S COUGH MEDICINE • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE THE FLOOZIES WITH CHET PORTER AND DAILY BREAD • The International • 10PM • 18 and up. • $15 SHAUN ABBOTT • Wild Wing Cafe • 6PM AMONG THE BEASTS WITH MASS DRIVER, PREZZENCE, AND BELFAST 6 PACK • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • All ages. • $8 BRIAN DOLZANI • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 9PM NUTHIN’ FANCY • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM THE DIRTY DOUGS • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM MIKE SNODGRASS • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM Saturday, Sept. 17 BENJAMIN JACOB RUPE WITH SARAH SHOOK AND THE DISARMERS • 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 BENDER BASS AND COMPANY • Jimmy’s Place • 3PM • FREE
THE BAND TRIBUTE CONCERT • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Maryville) • 6PM • A tribute to the music of the Band, led by the Tim Lee 3. • $5 JIMMY AND THE JAWBONES • Last Days of Autumn Brewery • 7PM CORTEZ GARZA • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE SAM MORROW WITH BENJAMIN JACOB RUPE • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE PEABO BRYSON • Niswonger Performing Arts Center (Greeneville) • 7:30PM • Peabo Bryson has established a career as one of the premier male vocalists in contemporary music of the last quarter century. Possessing a beautifully rich, almost operatic voice, this two-time Grammy Award winner has survived and prospered despite the passage of time and changes in popular musical trends. • $35-$45 EMILY ANN ROBERTS • Chilhowee Park • 7:30PM • Emily Ann Roberts is a 17 year old singer/songwriter/musician. Growing up in East Tennessee Emily Ann has been influenced by a wide variety of music. Her true love lies in the old country sounds mixed with gospel and bluegrass influences. Visit tnvalleyfair.org. • $5 THE CHUCK MULLICAN JAZZ BONANZA • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE NEW POWER SOUL • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM SARAH SHOOK AND THE DISARMERS • Barley’s Taproom
and Pizzeria • 10PM • Sarah Shook and the Disarmers are a country band with a sneer, a bite, and no apologies. Shook’s original songs take on the usual country spin on shitty relationships, bad decisions, and excessive alcohol consumption for damn good reasons. • FREE DARSOMBRA • Pilot Light • 10PM • Darsombra is trans-apocalyptic galaxy rock, for dreamers and schemers and those seeking an audio-visual journey. 18 and up. • $5 THE KNOX COUNTY JUG STOMPERS • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE WAY SNEAKY EDDIE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $5 DAVID AND VALERIE MAYFIELD • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 9PM BETTER DAZE • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM THE TOMMIE JOHN BAND • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM REPLAYY • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 9PM • $10-$20 Sunday, Sept. 18 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 GROOVE JUNCTION • Star of Knoxville Riverboat • 4PM • Come join the Smoky Mountain Blues Society as they present some of the best known regional Blues Music
KNOXVILLE WRITERS’ GUILD ADULT SPELLING BEE Central United Methodist Church (201 E. Third Ave.) • Friday, Sept. 16 • 7 p.m. • knoxvillewritersguild.org
If you are barnausic, you may not be acclimatized to standing in front of a large crowd proving your spelling acumen. You might, in fact, feel impuissant. But it’s fun to watch other people demonstrate their supererogatory spelling skills, and the Knoxville Writers’ Guild is giving you the opportunity at its adult spelling bee fundraiser. Cash prizes and door prizes will be awarded to the most formidable of the 40 contestants. For just a $2 suggested donation, spectators can enjoy a brain sport usually associated with children—adult and senior national spelling bees have sprung up only in the last decade—but which actually has a rich history in our country. Spelling bees were a popular form of community entertainment more than a century ago, when it was cool to be smart (but long before the word “cool” meant “popular”). Remember when Pa won the De Smet, S.D., spelling bee in Little Town on the Prairie? Be part of a long, proud intellectual tradition, with the possible salubrious consequence of learning something to gasconade about later. If speller slots remain available, registration is $10. (S. Heather Duncan)
23
Spotlight: Vintage Fashion Show
CALENDAR artists performing on specialty cruises on the Tennessee River. From April through October, blues lovers will convene to celebrate this truly American art-form during a 3 hour Sunday afternoon cruise on the Star of Knoxville Tennessee Riverboat. Visit smokymountainblues.org. • $16-$20 DIAMOND RIO WITH HOMER HART • Chilhowee Park • 7:30PM • The band known for playing every note on every album recently celebrated their 25th Anniversary, has sold more than 10 million albums, won a Grammy Award, a Dove Award, and six Vocal Group of the Year wins (CMA and ACM). Part of the Tennessee Valley Fair’s concert series; a ticket to the fair is required for admission. Visit tnvalleyfair.org. • $15 THE LOST FIDDLE STRING BAND • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM • FREE COLE WITH CHIFFON • Pilot Light • 10PM • 18 and up. • $6 RADIO BIRDS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 J. LUKE • Wild Wing Cafe • 6PM • FREE JOE PURDY WITH AMY VACHAL • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 7PM • Joe Purdy, a singer/songwriter from Arkansas, put in his time working at a loading dock and as a counselor at a private high school before his song “Wash Away” became synonymous with the 2004 season of ABC’s Lost. All ages. • $20 Monday, Sept. 19 FAMOUS OCTOBER WITH CHRIS STALCUP AND THE GRANGE • 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 MAX AND IGGOR CAVALERA: RETURN TO ROOTS TOUR • The Concourse • 8PM • The Cavalera brothers celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sepultura album Roots—they’ll play it in its entirety. With Combichrist and Allegaeon. 18 and up. • $20-$25 THE PAPER CROWNS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM Tuesday, Sept. 20 THE CURRYS WITH BEN STALETS • 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 DAVID WEST AND THE CIDER MOUNTAIN BOYS • Wild Wing Cafe • 5:30PM • FREE POP EVIL WITH KYNG AND ANNANDALE • The Concourse • 7PM • 18 and up. • $17-$20 FORT DEFIANCE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. ROBBIE FULKS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Widely regarded by those who monitor such things as one of the most gifted songwriters to ever ply the trade, he can sing the kids ditty “Eggs” and Haggard’s “Sing a Sad Song” back to back and mean ’em both. While it is true he started off a honky tonk smartass, it quickly became evident that Robbie was a monster talent and some of his early Bloodshot albums have been rightly elevated to the status of “classic” and serve as their own Greatest Hits collections. Wednesday, Sept. 21 LOREN AND MARK WITH CHRIS BLUE • 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 BEAVER NELSON • Sweet P’s Barbecue and Soul House • 6PM • Based in Austin, Texas, the singer and songwriter was called a “songwriting prodigy” by Rolling Stone magazine when he was 19 years old. Nelson will play
songs from his new album, “Positive,” as well as popular songs from seven other studio albums. • 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 NOTHING MORE WITH TWELVE FOOT NINJA, DINOSAUR PILE-UP, AND TO WHOM IT MAY • The International • #N/A • All ages. • $15-$17 THE CASEY GREEN TRIO • The Bistro at the Bijou • 7PM • Live jazz. • FREE FAT PENGUIN WITH SECRET CITIES AND BLOND BONES • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • All ages. • $5 ARC WELDER • Pilot Light • 9:30PM • 18 and up. • $5 HARDCASTLE • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. • $3 Thursday, Sept. 22 THE CARLEANS WITH THE KENNY GEORGE BAND • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-aweek lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE CALE TYSON • Scruffy City Hall • 6PM • Part of Wayne Bledsoe’s weekly Six O’Clock Swerve show on WDVX. • FREE GREEN RIVER ORDINANCE • The Square Room • 8PM • At the core of ‘Fifteen,’ the third studio album from Green River Ordinance, is a simple message: hold fast to the things that are true. On album opener “Keep Your Cool,” over slow, smoky guitars and a clear, bright church organ they advise, “Get your head out the clouds/ feet on the ground/ pride don’t mean you gotta be too proud.” If there’s a single lyric that sums up the way Green River Ordinance have conducted themselves over the course of the last decade and a half, that’s it. • $12 THE ARMSTRONG LEGACY TRIO • Laurel Theater • 8PM • Sixteen years after Howard Armstrong’s legendary performance at the Laurel Theater, his son Ralphe Armstrong will perform with the Armstrong Legacy Trio along with Ray Kamalay and John Reynolds in a special performance to kick off the 10th Louie Bluie Festival. The original bassist in the Mahavishnu Orchestra with John MacLaughlin, Ralphe still plays with Aretha Franklin and James Carter. Visit jubileearts.org. • $25 THE GRASSABILLIES • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM SKYLA BURRELL • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 8PM TALL PAUL • Wild Wing Cafe • 8:30PM BACKUP PLANET • The Concourse • 9PM • 18 and up. • $10-$12 JONATHAN SEXTON • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM NEIL MICHAEL HAGERTY AND THE HOWLING HEX WITH PLEASES • Pilot Light • 9:30PM • Neil Michael Hagerty leads the Howling Hex back out into the sunshine for the first time since The Best of the Howling Hex back in 2013. Since then, they have refocused on the immediate pleasures found within the writing and playing of a single song. This direction, explored in a pair of limited-edition singles released over the past two years, reaches a populist zenith on the new album, Denver, in which an entire community and geographic region are tapped for their energy, the celebratory pulses of which feed the new music of Neil Michael Hagerty and the Howling Hex. Tickets are available at freshtix.com. • $8 CAPTAIN IVORY AND THE CARLEANS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. CALE TYSON • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM Friday, Sept. 23 SETH WALKER WITH STOLEN RHODES • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 19
CALENDAR lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE REBEL MOUNTAIN • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson • 6PM • FREE LINDSAY GEORGE • Wild Wing Cafe • 6PM B.B. PALMER • 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 THE WILD THINGS WITH THE EMPTY POCKETS • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up. THE DELTAS • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • All ages. • $8 JON LANGSTON • The Concourse • 8PM • Jon Langston’s unique voice and songwriting have sparked a wildfire fan base across the country. Langston, now a Music City resident, has created his own style and sound from a variety of influences. Growing up listening to everything from Alan Jackson to the Eagles, Langston has crafted a fresh, new country music sound that is ready for take off. 18 and up. • $10 CUMBERLAND STATION • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM GREG TARDY • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE MOJO: FLOW • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 9PM AVENUE C • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM THE JAYSTORM PROJECT • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM
Thursday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 25
HIPPIE SABOTAGE • The International • 10PM • Hip-hop from Sacramento, Calif. 18 and up. Visit internationalknox. com. • $17-$20 ROYAL BANGS WITH SWEET YEARS AND THE AMERICANS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM PSYCHIC BAOS WITH LA RAIDERS • Pilot Light • 10PM • 18 and up. • $5 SWING SERENADE • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE DAVE LANDEO AND THE SOL BEATS • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM Saturday, Sept. 24 LOUIE BLUIE ARTS AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Cove Lake State Park • 10AM • Campbell County’s homegrown celebration of one of its most famous citizens was founded to celebrate the artistic legacy of Tennessee native Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong, who spent his childhood years in LaFollette, learning to play music with his family and making art despite a lack of traditional art supplies. With Ted Bogan and Carl Martin, Armstrong played music in the streets, bars and barber shops of downtown Knoxville. In 1929, he recorded songs with the Tennessee Chocolate Drops during the Vocalion recording sessions at the St. James Hotel in downtown Knoxville. Festival information, including application forms for craft and food vendors, is available at LouieBluie.org. • FREE CLAUDE BOURBON WITH CRAIG MARSHALL • 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
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
THE RICKY MITCHELL BAND • Last Days of Autumn Brewery • 3PM BIG GUN • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson • 6PM • A tribute to AC/DC. • $10 CHELSEA STEPP • Vienna Coffee House • 7PM • FREE LOCUST HONEY • Sugarlands Distilling Co. • 7PM • FREE WARCLOWN WITH KINGSLAYER, BELFAST 6 PACK, AND AS THESE LAST SECONDS ESCAPE • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 7:30PM • 18 and up. • $8 MARK BOLING • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • Live jazz. • FREE THE SUN MACHINE • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM MIKE MCGILL • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 9PM SOUTHBOUND • Two Doors Down • 9PM CAPTAIN SUCK AND THE MEDIOCRE BAND • Brackins Blues Club • 9PM THE CLAUDETTES • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM THREE STAR REVIVAL • Preservation Pub • 10PM • Jazzy, jammy, funky Americana. Sunday, Sept. 25 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 NEEDTOBREATHE • Knoxville Civic Coliseum • 7PM • Needtobreathe is a Grammy-nominated American rock ‘n’ roll band from South Carolina, effortlessly woven from
the musical traditions of their upbringing in the Deep South of the United States.Photo by Sully Sullivan. • $29-$50 THE CORN POTATO STRING BAND • Sugarlands Distilling Co. • 7PM • FREE THE BROCKEFELLERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM THE WORKSHY • Preservation Pub • 10PM
OPEN MIC AND SONGWRITER NIGHTS
Thursday, Sept. 15 IRISH MUSIC SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Held on the first and third Thursdays of each month. • FREE Saturday, Sept. 17 OLD-TIME SLOW JAM • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 4PM • A monthly old-time music session, held on the third Saturday of each month. • FREE Sunday, Sept. 18 FAMILY FRIENDLY DRUM CIRCLE • Ijams Nature Center • 3:30PM • Drumming for kids of all ages on the third Sunday of the month. Bring a drum or share one of ours. Bring a blanket or chair. Open to drummers of all ages and levels. Free and fun. • FREE Tuesday, Sept. 20 OPEN CHORD OPEN MIC NIGHT • Open Chord Brewhouse
UT HEALTH CARE CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS We’re offering seven health care programs this fall: Clinical Medical Assistant, Dental Assisting, Medical Administrative Assistant, Phlebotomy Technician, Medical Billing & Coding, Pharmacy Technician, and EKG Technician. Most programs offer clinical externships.
LEARN MORE You’re invited to attend a free information session at the UT Conference Center in downtown Knoxville. Please call 865-974-0150, e-mail utnoncredit@utk.edu, or go online to make your reservation.
Tuesday, September 20 6-7 p.m. Course # 16FAHEALTH-2
www.utnoncredit.com
CALENDAR 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 OLD-TIME JAM SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Hosted by Sarah Pirkle. • FREE PRESERVATION PUB SINGER/SONGWRITER NIGHT • Preservation Pub • 7PM Wednesday, Sept. 21 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. SCHULZ BRÄU OPEN MIC NIGHT • Schulz Bräu Brewing Company • 8PM • Every Wednesday. • FREE BRACKINS BLUES JAM • Brackins Blues Club • 9PM • A weekly open session hosted by Tommie John. • FREE Thursday, Sept. 22 SCOTTISH MUSIC SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. • FREE Friday, Sept. 23 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
DJ AND DANCE NIGHTS
Friday, Sept. 16 TEKNOX V. 29 • The Birdhouse • 10PM • Knoxville’s monthly sounds of the underground, featuring techno, house, and more. With Justin Hand (Bangtech12/LFORadio) from Memphis and Oliver Dodd (Detroit Underground/ Konstructure) and Grey People (CGI Records/Proper Trax) from Nashville. 21 and up. • FREE Saturday, Sept. 17 ASCEND • The International • 9PM • Ascend is Knoxville’s interactive dance experience. Take it to the next level with us every Saturday night with the best music of today and your favorite throwbacks. 18 and up. • $5-$10 Saturday, Sept. 24 ASCEND • The International • 9PM • Ascend is Knoxville’s interactive dance experience. Take it to the next level with us every Saturday night with the best music of today and your favorite throwbacks. 18 and up. • $5-$10
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Thursday, Sept. 15 SCRUFFY CITY ORCHESTRA • First Baptist Church • 7PM • A new venue for musicians from the greater Knoxville metropolitan area. Scruffy City Orchestra kicks off with regular rehearsals on Thursdays beginning Aug. 25. Conductors are Mat Wilkinson and Ace Edewards. Prospective members, especially string players, are encouraged to contact Alicia Meryweather at ScruffyCityOrchestra@gmail.com for more information. • FREE KSO MASTERWORKS: RUSSIAN PASSION • Tennessee Theatre • 7:30PM • The KSO will open its 81st season with
a concert of Russian passion featuring Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. Guest pianist Orion Weiss returns to join the KSO for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. • $13-$83 Friday, Sept. 16 KSO MASTERWORKS: RUSSIAN PASSION • Tennessee Theatre • 7:30PM • The KSO will open its 81st season with a concert of Russian passion featuring Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. Guest pianist Orion Weiss returns to join the KSO for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. • $13-$83 Sunday, Sept. 18 CHIH-LONG HU: THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS • University of Tennessee Natalie L. Haslam Music Center • 2PM • The Sandra G. Powell endowed professor will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations, works by Liszt and Rachmaninov, and his own composition “Afterthought on Bach’s Goldberg Variations.” • FREE UT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA • University of Tennessee Alumni Memorial Building • 4PM • FREE Thursday, Sept. 22 SCRUFFY CITY ORCHESTRA • First Baptist Church • 7PM • A new venue for musicians from the greater Knoxville metropolitan area. Scruffy City Orchestra kicks off with regular rehearsals on Thursdays beginning Aug. 25. Conductors are Mat Wilkinson and Ace Edewards. Prospective members, especially string players, are encouraged to contact Alicia Meryweather at ScruffyCityOrchestra@gmail.com for more information. • FREE Saturday, Sept. 24 OAK RIDGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: PRIDE OF PLACE • Oak Ridge High School • 7:30PM • Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and the Manhattan Project National Historical Park collaborate to celebrates Oak Ridge’s scientific heritage with a world premiere performance of a new work by East Tennessee composer Mark Harrell and Peter Boyer’s Ellis Island: The Dream of America. Visit orca.org. • $25 Sunday, Sept. 25 KSO CHAMBER CLASSICS: MOZART AND HAYDN • Bijou Theatre • 2:30PM • The 2016-17 Chamber Classics series will open on Sunday, September 25 with music of Mozart & Haydn, conducted by James Fellenbaum and featuring two KSO soloists: Gordon Tsai, violin and Kathryn Gawne, viola. Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture will open the program, followed by Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante and Haydn’s Symphony No. 104, known as “London.” • $13.50-$31.50
by Arthur Miller An enduring masterpiece on the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations.
THEATER AND DANCE
Thursday, Sept. 15 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘VIOLET’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • Music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Brian Crawley. Filled with bluegrass, folk, and gospel tunes from one of the most vibrant composers in modern musical theatre. Scarred in a farm accident, Violet takes a bus to Tulsa – via Johnson City, Kingsport, Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis – to be healed by an evangelical preacher. On the way, she learns the real meaning of love, courage, and beauty. Aug. 31-Sept. 18. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. APPALACHIAN BALLET COMPANY: BLUEJEANS AND BALLET • Clayton Center for the Arts (Maryville) • 6PM • A casual evening of dinner and contemporary dance—dinner and
Photo: Lauren Pennline, Grant Goodman, and Jenny McKnight; by Elizabeth Aaron September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 21
CALENDAR
Thursday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 25
CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘VIOLET’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • Aug. 31-Sept. 18. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘[TITLE OF SHOW]’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Sept. 2-18. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 THE WORDPLAYERS: ‘LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC’ • Erin Presbyterian Church • 7:30PM • Sept. 15-25. Visit wordplayers.org. • $15
drinks at 6 p.m., followed by a performance by Appalachian Ballet Company at 7:15. Visit appalachianballet.com. • $55 THE WORDPLAYERS: ‘LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC’ • Erin Presbyterian Church • 7:30PM • Arlene Hutton’s play explores the new relationship of two young people who meet in 1940 under the shadow of the threat of war. Sept. 15-25. Visit wordplayers.org. • $15 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘[TITLE OF SHOW]’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • [title of show] is the story of Hunter and Jeff, “two nobodies in New York,” who are writing a musical with the help of their gal-pals Heidi and Susan. Throughout the show we get to know the four with their goofy quirks and inside jokes, as they put together something they all believe in. Biting and witty, clever and inspiring, vulnerable and hilarious—this edgy musical comedy chronicles the serious and hilarious challenges of following one’s dreams. Sept. 2-18. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15
Sunday, Sept. 18 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘VIOLET’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 2PM • Aug. 31-Sept. 18. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘[TITLE OF SHOW]’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 3PM • Sept. 2-18. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 THE WORDPLAYERS: ‘LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC’ • Erin Presbyterian Church • 2:30PM • Sept. 15-25. Visit wordplayers.org. • $15
Friday, Sept. 16 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘VIOLET’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • Aug. 31-Sept. 18. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com. THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘[TITLE OF SHOW]’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Sept. 2-18. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 THE WORDPLAYERS: ‘LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC’ • Erin Presbyterian Church • 7:30PM • Sept. 15-25. Visit wordplayers.org. • $15
Thursday, Sept. 22 THE WORDPLAYERS: ‘LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC’ • Erin Presbyterian Church • 7:30PM • Sept. 15-25. Visit wordplayers.org. • $15 Friday, Sept. 23 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • The magic and mystery of the Great Lion Aslan and the struggle with the White Witch are what four children find when they inadvertently wander into an old wardrobe
Saturday, Sept. 17
and arrive in Narnia. The war in Narnia is consuming the magical animals of Narnia, and only Aslan can bring about peace. Sept. 23-Oct. 9. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 THE WORDPLAYERS: ‘LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC’ • Erin Presbyterian Church • 7:30PM • Sept. 15-25. Visit wordplayers.org. • $15 Saturday, Sept. 24 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 1PM and 5PM • Sept. 23-Oct. 9. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre. com. • $12 Sunday, Sept. 25 TENNESSEE CHILDREN’S DANCE ENSEMBLE • World’s Fair Park • 2:30PM • Children representing a broad spectrum of the performing arts, including classical and contemporary music, drama, and storytelling, will join the internationally acclaimed Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble in a one-hour performance designed to delight and inspire audiences of all ages. Adult tickets are $7, children’s tickets are just one penny. Tickets are available through TCDE in advance, or at the gate on the day of the performance. • $7 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 3PM • Sept. 23-Oct. 9. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 THE WORDPLAYERS: ‘LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC’ • Erin Presbyterian Church • 2:30PM • Sept. 15-25. Visit wordplayers.org. • $15
COMEDY AND SPOKEN WORD
Thursday, Sept. 15 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 SMOKY MOUNTAIN BURLESQUE FESTIVAL • The Edge • Knoxville is home to many festivals, but the newest addition—the Smoky Mountain Burlesque Festival—promises to be its most glamorous and glittery. This four-day festival starts on Thursday, Sept. 15, and will feature a lineup of 75 performers from 16 states. Nationally recognized striptease performers like Bazuka Joe, Mr. Gorgeous, and Ray Gunn will be joined by regional performers like Atlanta’s Lola LeSoleil and Truvy Trollop of Nashville. The festival will also offer a series of workshops at Broadway Academy of Performing Arts. • 18 and up. • $15-$80 Friday, Sept. 16 THE FIFTH WOMAN POETRY SLAM • The Birdhouse • 6:30PM • The 5th Woman Poetry slam is place where all poets can come and share their words of love, respect, passion, and expression. It is not dedicated solely women but is a place where women poets are celebrated and honored. Check out our Facebook pages for the challenge
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
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KNOXVILLE CIVIC COLISEUM SUNDAY, SEPT 25 • 7pm PURCHASE TICKETS at All Knoxville Tickets Outlets, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum Box Office, knoxvillecoliseum.com OR CHARGE BY PHONE AT 865-656-4444.
Thursday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 25
of the month and focus for our poetry every month. SMOKY MOUNTAIN BURLESQUE FESTIVAL • The Concourse • 8PM • This four-day festival starts on Thursday, Sept. 15, and will feature a lineup of 75 performers from 16 states. 18 and up. • $15-$80 Saturday, Sept. 17 SMOKY MOUNTAIN BURLESQUE FESTIVAL • The Concourse • 8PM • This four-day festival starts on Thursday, Sept. 15, and will feature a lineup of 75 performers from 16 states. 18 and up. • $15-$80
CALENDAR
Tennessee Valley Fair is a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing East Tennessee heritage, agriculture and the arts. Sept. 9-18. Visit tnvalleyfair.org for more info and a complete schedule. • $10 NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK • Turkey Creek • 3PM • Dealers will be on hand to provide test drives of electric vehicles and owners of EVs will be there to answer your questions about driving EVs daily. Located behind O’Charley’s in Turkey Creek next to the Tesla Super
chargers. Great event for family and kids to come look at all the different electric cars. • FREE Saturday, Sept. 17 TENNESSEE VALLEY FAIR • Chilhowee Park • 10AM • The Tennessee Valley Fair is a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing East Tennessee heritage, agriculture and the arts. From exciting rides, concerts, livestock shows, delicious fair food and so much more, there’s something for everyone at the Fair. Sept. 9-18. Visit tnvalleyfair.org for more info and a
Sunday, Sept. 18 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic. Visit scruffycity.com. CATTYWAMPUS PUPPETS IN THE PARK • Ijams Nature Center • 2PM • Join the Cattywampus Puppet Council for their second annual Puppets in the Park, with several puppet making stations set up to make your own puppet to bring to the show. All supplies are included with admission price. The show will feature both puppets from CPC’s spring show and some new ones they’ve recently dreamed up. • $10 SMOKY MOUNTAIN BURLESQUE FESTIVAL • The Concourse • 8PM • This four-day festival starts on Thursday, Sept. 15, and will feature a lineup of 75 performers from 16 states. 18 and up. • $15-$80 Monday, Sept. 19 FRIENDLYTOWN • Pilot Light • 7:30PM • A weekly comedy night named after the former red-light district near the Old City. Visit facebook.com/friendlytownknoxville. 18 and up. • FREE Tuesday, Sept. 20 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 Wednesday, Sept. 22 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 Sunday, Sept. 25 KRISH MOHAN • Preservation Pub • 8PM • When you’re born in India and immigrate to the U.S., it can be hard to find a place to fit in. Using his quirky attitude and intelligent comedy, Krish tries to find where he fits in. Is it with Americans or the Indians in the U.S?
FESTIVALS
Thursday, Sept. 15 TENNESSEE VALLEY FAIR • Chilhowee Park • 3PM • The Tennessee Valley Fair is a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing East Tennessee heritage, agriculture and the arts. Sept. 9-18. Visit tnvalleyfair.org for more info and a complete schedule. • $10 Friday, Sept. 16 TENNESSEE VALLEY FAIR • Chilhowee Park • 3PM • The
GOODWILL VINTAGE FASHION SHOW AND SALE Holiday Inn (World’s Fair Park) • Thursday, Sept. 22 • 5 p.m. • $40 • gwiktn.org
The fashion of your mother’s (or grandmother’s) youth is all the rage, and the wallet-savvy know that one of the best places to find a Jackie O. hat or square swing-dancing heels is at secondhand shops like Goodwill. The nonprofit takes its vintage and vintage-inspired goodies straight to the runway with its 32nd vintage fashion show next Thursday. “Vintage” in this case includes mostly couture of the 1950s through 1970s. Some of the choice finds this year include a 1960s-era aqua dress with a long tulle skirt and pearl-like beading on the bodice, and a sparkly gold cocktail dress with a champagne-colored fur coat. The event includes dinner, a runway show, and the chance to buy items right off the runway from a pop-up Vintage Boutique, all at the Holiday Inn at World’s Fair Park on Henley Street. This is a new location for the event that offers four times the boutique space as before, so there will be less need to throw elbows and more room to display additional jewelry and accessories. Those who want first crack at the boutique—even without tickets to the fashion show and dinner—can pay $5 to shop at 5 p.m., an hour before the main event. (The fashion show items won’t be rolled in until after they’ve strutted down the runway.) The carefully-curated boutique will also offer high-quality modern clothing from brands like J. Crew and Banana Republic. There might be a little extra spice in the knowledge that your “new” dress coat could actually have come out of the closet of the leading Cherokee Country Club débutante of 1965—maybe even the one who trashed your grandma in her yearbook. All the items are culled throughout the year from donations to Knoxville’s 28 affiliated Goodwill Industries stores, and the prices at the show are the same bargains. The dinner and fashion show starts at 6 p.m. Profits go to Goodwill, which helps residents with barriers to employment develop skills and find work. (S. Heather Duncan)
September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 23
CALENDAR complete schedule. • $10 JOHN SEVIER DAYS LIVING HISTORY WEEKEND • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 10AM • Marble Springs State Historic Site is pleased to host a weekend of Living History in celebration of the life and times of the first governor of Tennessee, John Sevier, in commemoration of his 271st birthday. Visit marblesprings.net. • $5 JERRY’S ARTARAMA MURAL BLOCK PARTY • Jerry’s Artarama • 10AM • Jerry’s Artarama of Knoxville will celebrate the nearing completion of its recently commissioned mural by local artist Curtis Glover. The event will include free face painting for children in addition to chalk and spray paint competitions as well as a canvas for artist to collaborate. Food trucks and sno-cone vendors will be on-site during the event. • FREE Sunday, Sept. 18 JOHN SEVIER DAYS LIVING HISTORY WEEKEND • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 11AM • Marble Springs State Historic Site is pleased to host a weekend of Living History in celebration of the life and times of the first governor of Tennessee, John Sevier, in commemoration of his 271st birthday. Visit marblesprings.net. • $5 TENNESSEE VALLEY FAIR • Chilhowee Park • 12PM • The Tennessee Valley Fair is a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing East Tennessee heritage, agriculture and the arts. Sept. 9-18. Visit tnvalleyfair.org for more info and a complete schedule. • $10 KNOSHVILLE KOSHER DELI • Arnstein Jewish Community Center • 12PM • If you’ve ever enjoyed an old-fashioned kosher deli sandwich from New York City, you’ll be
Thursday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 25
excited to find these sandwiches in Knoxville for one day only. The Knoshville Kosher Deli event is importing kosher corned beef, pastrami, roasted turkey, and salami straight from New York City. Vegetarians can enjoy local chef Marilyn Burnett’s delicious veggie chopped liver. The price range is $10-$20. Cash or credit cards are accepted at this fundraiser. Heska Amuna’s Sisterhood will host an arts and crafts fair featuring 20 vendors on-site. For more information, call (865) 690-6343 or email kja@ jewishknoxville.org. Saturday, Sept. 24 LOUIE BLUIE ARTS AND MUSIC FESTIVAL • Cove Lake State Park • 12AM • Campbell County’s homegrown celebration of one of its most famous citizens was founded to celebrate the artistic legacy of Tennessee native Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong, who spent his childhood years in LaFollette, learning to play music with his family and making art despite a lack of traditional art supplies. With Ted Bogan and Carl Martin, Armstrong played music in the streets, bars and barber shops of downtown Knoxville. In 1929, he recorded songs with the Tennessee Chocolate Drops during the Vocalion recording sessions at the St. James Hotel in downtown Knoxville. Festival information, including application forms for craft and food vendors, is available at LouieBluie.org. • FREE Sunday, Sept. 25 PICKLE FEST • The Riverdale School • 12PM • A celebration of the preservation of local food, with live music and puppet shows, food trucks, craft vendors, kids’ games and crafts, a poetry contest, and a pickle contest and
pickling demonstrations. Free and family friendly. • FREE
FILM SCREENINGS
Thursday, Sept. 15 SCHULZ BRÄU FILMNACHT • Schulz Bräu Brewing Company • 9PM • A free weekly movie screening—check social media for the week’s entry. 21 and up. • FREE Friday, Sept. 16 MOVIES ON MARKET SQUARE • Market Square • 8PM • Knox County Public Library’s Movies on Market Square is gearing up for its 13th season of family-friendly outdoor movies in the heart of downtown Knoxville. On six consecutive Friday nights from Sept. 9-Oct. 14, the public is invited to bring the whole family, including their favorite, well behaved four-pawed, tail-wagging companion, to see a free movie. The schedule includes Legally Blonde (Sept. 16); Up (Sept. 23); Night at the Museum (Sept. 30); Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Oct. 7); and Ghostbusters (Oct. 14). Movies begin at dusk. For more information, please call (865) 215-8767 or visit knoxlib. org. • FREE Monday, Sept. 19 UT OUT FILM SERIES: GROWING UP TRANS • University of Tennessee • 6PM • In Growing Up Trans, FRONTLINE takes viewers on an intimate and eye-opening journey inside the struggles and choices facing transgender kids and their families. Part of the UT OUT Film Series at John C. Hodges Library. • FREE
THE BIRDHOUSE WALK-IN THEATER • The Birdhouse • 8:15PM • A weekly free movie screening. • FREE Thursday, Sept. 22 SCHULZ BRÄU FILMNACHT • Schulz Bräu Brewing Company • 9PM • A free weekly movie screening—check social media for the week’s entry. 21 and up. • FREE
SPORTS AND RECREATION
Thursday, Sept. 15 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES THURSDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10AM • Visit 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 NORTH KNOXVILLE BEER RUNNERS • Central Flats and Taps • 6PM • FREE FLEET FEET GROUP RUN/WALK • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 6PM • Visit fleetfeetknoxville.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 • Join us every Thursday evening at Sequoyah Park for a beginner’s no-drop ride. Riders can ride at their own pace on Cherokee Boulevard and do as many laps as they choose. Visit cedarbluffcycles.net. •
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
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Thursday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 25
FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES THURSDAY NIGHT RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:20PM • Visit cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE Friday, Sept. 16 RIVER SPORTS FRIDAY NIGHT GREENWAY RUN • River Sports Outfitters • 6:30PM • 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 KNOXVILLE WRITERS’ GUILD ADULT SPELLING BEE • Central United Methodist Church • 7PM • The Knoxville Writers’ Guild is proud to present our version of this uniquely American, engaging, brain-powered sport. For more information, contact Pamela Schoenewaldt at p. schoene@comcast.net. • $2-$10 Saturday, Sept. 17 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 Monday, Sept. 19 CLIMBING AT IJAMS CRAG • Ijams Nature Center • 5PM • riversportsoutfitters.com/events/. • $10 KTC GROUP RUN • Mellow Mushroom • 6PM • 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 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 • Visit beardenbeermarket.com. • FREE Tuesday, Sept. 20 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES TUESDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 9AM • Visit cycologybicycles.com. • FREE CYCOLOGY BICYCLES TUESDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10:30AM • JVisit cycologybicycles.com. • FREE AMBC BIG GROUP MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • Visit ambc-sorba.org. • FREE HARD KNOX TUESDAY FUN RUN • Hard Knox Pizzeria • 6:30PM • Join Hard Knox Pizzeria every Tuesday evening (rain or shine) for a 2-3 mile fun run. Burn calories. Devour pizza. Quench thirst. Follow us on Facebook. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES TUESDAY GREENWAY RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:30PM • cedarbluffcycles.net. • FREE Wednesday, Sept. 21 KTC GROUP RUN • Runner’s Market • 5:30PM • 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, Sept. 22 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES THURSDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10AM • Visit 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 NORTH KNOXVILLE BEER RUNNERS • Central Flats and Taps
CALENDAR
• 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 FLEET FEET GROUP RUN/WALK • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 6PM • Visit fleetfeetknoxville.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, Sept. 23 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 Saturday, Sept. 24 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 PADDLE THE RIVER • Riverside Landing Park • 9:30AM • 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. 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. SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: OLD SUGARLANDS TRAIL AND CEMETERY • Smoky Mountain Hiking Club • 10AM • We will hike the Old Sugarlands Trail to see the Sugarlands Cemetery and other historic sites. Hike is about 5 miles. Meet at Sugarlands Visitors Center near the restrooms at 10:00 am. Leader: Charles Hurst, charlesbh@charter.net • FREE Sunday, Sept. 25 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: BASKINS CREEK/ GRAPEYARD RIDGE • Smoky Mountain Hiking Club • 8AM • For this outing we will utilize a car shuttle to hike from the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail to Greenbrier. We’ll start out on the Baskins Creek trail visiting Baskins Creek Falls and the Jim Bale Cabin along the way. Then we will continue on to the Grapeyard Ridge Trail that will take us into Greenbrier. Highlights along this portion of the hike will include the remains of an old Nichols-Shephard steam engine which was No. 4246, and a spot where Dolly Parton’s grandfather once lived. The hike will be approximately 11 miles and is rated moderate. Meet at the Comcast, 5720 Asheville Highway, at 8 am. Leaders: Billy Heaton, bheaton8@yahoo.com and Ron Blessinger, rblessinger@msn.com. • FREE BEGINNER AND OPEN PICKLEBALL • Arnstein Jewish Community Center • 12PM • A paddle sport for all ages and skill levels combining elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis. The beginners’ session runs from noon-1 p.m.; open play is from 1-3 p.m.
ART
A1 Lab Arts 23 Emory Place SEPT. 2-30: Signification, an exhibition about art and language featuring work by Shannon Novak, Aaron Olden-
burg, Norman Magden, Sara Blair McNally, Grayson Earle, Michael Arpino, Robert Thompson, Tracy Riggs, Elizabeth Mcnall, Beth Fox, Melanie Eichholz, Heath Schultz, Monique Grimord, Carson Grubaugh, Anna Ursyn, Peter Whittenberger, and the Bureau (Liat Berdugo, Josh Finn, Leora Fridman, and Shawn Manchester). Arnstein Jewish Community Center 6800 Deane Hill Drive AUG. 29-SEPT. 30: Artwork by David Barnett. Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts 556 Parkway (Gatlinburg) AUG. 15-OCT. 5: A retrospective exhibition featuring artwork by Bill Griffith, former Arrowmont program director. Art Market Gallery 422 S. Gay St. SEPT. 1-30: Paintings by Kathy Holland and gourd art by Jeannie Gravetti. Broadway Studios and Gallery 1127 N. Broadway SEPT. 2-30: All Scapes, an art competition featuring work by local artists in any -scape format: landscape, cityscape, seascape, etc. Downtown Gallery 106 S. Gay St. SEPT. 2-30: Persona: Process Portraiture, an exhibition of work by Leah Schrager, Marcia Goldenstein, Judith Page, and Gail Skudera. East Tennessee History Center 601 S. Gay St. APRIL 16-OCT. 30: Come to Make Records, a selection of artifacts, audio and video recordings, and photographs celebrating Knoxville’s music heritage and the 1929-30 St. James Hotel recording sessions. Emporium Center for Arts and Culture 100 S. Gay St. SEPT. 2-30: Slot Machine, coloring pages by Stephen Reid Carcello; We the People, by Antuco Chicaiza; artwork by Emily Taylor; A Time of Recent Creativity, new paintings by Anthony Donaldson; and Cosmic Order, artwork by Eurichea Showalter Subagh Ball. Ewing Gallery 1715 Volunteer Boulevard SEPT. 6-30: The Unbearable Flatness of Being, an exhibit of paintings by Sarah Emerson. Emerson will discuss her work on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. Knoxville Arts and Fine Crafts Center 1127B Broadway AUG. 1-OCT. 31: Whimsical Creatures, paintings and photographs by Lela E. Buis. Knoxville Museum of Art 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive AUG. 26-NOV. 6: Romantic Spirits: 19th-Century Paintings of the South From the Johnson Collection SEPT. 12-OCT. 7: Frutos Latinos, Hola Hora Latina’s 10th annual art exhibit and contest. 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 September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 25
CALENDAR Natural History and Culture 1327 Circle Park Drive SEPT. 17-JAN. 8: Knoxville Unearthed: Archaeology in the Heart of the Valley. 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.
FAMILY AND KIDS’ EVENTS
Thursday, Sept. 15 LITTLE LEARNERS • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • 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. Visit blountlibrary.org. • 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, Sept. 16 S.T.E.A.M. KIDS • Blount County Public Library • 4PM • For
Thursday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 25
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, Sept. 17 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 10AM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE BLOUNT COUNTY NERD GROUP • Blount County Public Library • 3PM • 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 KNOX LIT EXCHANGE • Central Collective • 11:30AM • The Knoxville Literary Exchange is a free, monthly poetry and prose writing workshop open to high school age students. The workshop will focus on giving students the opportunity to engage in writing, share their writing, and receive encouraging feedback. For further information, please contact organizer Liam Hysjulien at KnoxLitExchange@gmail.com. • FREE Sunday, Sept. 18 GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS SALAMANDER BALL • Zoo Knoxville • 5PM • Hosted by conservation group Discover Life in America, this fundraiser features the Vibraslaps and a Smokies Critter Parade. • $75 for adults, kids FREE
Monday, Sept. 19 MCCLUNG MUSEUM ENHANCED LEARNING HOMESCHOOL PROGRAMS • McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture • 1PM • These 90 minute sessions cost $5 per student and give students a chance to experience hands-on learning in the museum’s galleries. See the museum’s events calendar for various sessions and dates. Online reservations at eventbrite.com are required, payment must be made in advance, and the fee is nonrefundable. • $5 Tuesday, Sept. 20 LITTLE LEARNERS • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • 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, Sept. 21 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, Sept. 22 LITTLE LEARNERS • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • Recommended for ages 3-5. Interactive sessions focus on language acquisition and pre-literacy skills incorporating stories, music, motion, play, crafts and more. • FREE
Lantern and Carriage Tour — Old Gray Cemetery —
CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. Visit blountlibrary.org. • 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, Sept. 23 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, Sept. 24 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 10AM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE BLOUNT COUNTY NERD GROUP • Blount County Public Library • 3PM • 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
Tommy Schumpert Park 6400 Fountain City Rd.
“Landmarks of the Cemetery and the City” 543 North Broadway, Knoxville, TN Sunday, September 25, 2016 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM
SUNDAY, SEPT. 18, 2016
— Rain or Shine —
REGISTRATION & PACKET PICK-UP: 2:00-2:45 PM
RACE STARTS @ 3:00 PM
Adults: $10 Students: $5 Carriage Ride: $5 Information: (865) 522-1424 www.OldGrayCemetery.org Sponsored By: East TN Public Television, and WUOT. 26
KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
$25 Pre-register online until September 15, 2016 $30 Race Day Fee $10 Youth Fee Team Registration $20/person (4 or more) Register: HumaneSocietyTennessee.com/5kreg/ Presented by:
Sponsored by:
Thursday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 25
LECTURES, READINGS, AND BOOK SIGNINGS
Friday, Sept. 16 UT SCIENCE FORUM • Thompson-Boling Arena • 12PM • The University of Tennessee Science Forum offers a weekly lecture on current science, medical, or technology developments. The UT Science Forum was established in 1933 to share scientific research with the public. It was and continues to be an excellent opportunity for students, UT professors, and the general public to learn about cutting-edge research at UT, ORNL, and other local facilities on Fridays over lunch during the UT academic year. Held in Thompson-Boling Arena Dining Room C-D. Visit scienceforum.utk.edu. • FREE Sunday, Sept. 18 MELANIE K. HUTSELL: ‘THE DEAD SHALL RISE’ • Union Ave Books • 2PM • Book-signing and reading with Melanie K. Hutsell author of The Dead Shall Rise, published by Celtic Cat Press. • FREE SAFTA READING SERIES • Bar Marley • 2PM • The Sundress Reading Series is excited to welcome Charles Dodd White, Sybil Baker, and Randon Billings Noble for the September installment of our reading series. • FREE Monday, Sept. 19 UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE WRITERS IN THE LIBRARY SERIES • University of Tennessee • 7PM • The University of Tennessee’s annual Writers in the Library series features novelists, poets, and nonfiction writers from around the region and visiting writers at UT, reading from and discussing their work in the auditorium of the John C. Hodges Library. The 2016-17 schedule includes Leah Stewart on Sept. 19. Visit lib.utk.edu/writers/. • FREE Tuesday, Sept. 20 TIM BAUMANN AND CHARLIE FAULKNER: “KNOXVILLE UNEARTHED: ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE HEART OF THE VALLEY” • McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture • 7PM • Join Tim Baumann, Curator of Archaeology at McClung Museum and Charlie Faulkner, Distinguished Professor of Humanities in UT’s Department of Anthropology, for a lecture on their special exhibition “Knoxville Unearthed: Archaeology in the Heart of the Valley.” In addition to exploring the themes and objects in the exhibition, the curators will also talk about historic archaeology and the light it sheds on everyday life right here in Knoxville and further afield. • FREE Friday, Sept. 23 UT SCIENCE FORUM • Thompson-Boling Arena • 12PM • The University of Tennessee Science Forum offers a weekly lecture on current science, medical, or technology developments. The UT Science Forum was established in 1933 to share scientific research with the public. It was and continues to be an excellent opportunity for students, UT professors, and the general public to learn about cutting-edge research at UT, ORNL, and other local facilities on Fridays over lunch during the UT academic year. Held in Thompson-Boling Arena Dining Room C-D. Visit scienceforum.utk.edu. • FREE
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS Thursday, Sept. 15
CALENDAR
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 and 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 SIX-WEEK STRENGTH AND BALANCE WORKSHOP • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • Join Erik Andelman and Stephanie Leyland, certified Onnit instructors with South Knox Healing Arts, for a six-week course featuring bodyweight workouts combining yoga, calisthenics, flexibility training and traditional exercise forms from around the world. All ages and levels of fitness are welcome. Join us for an hour every Thursday evening from Aug. 11-Sept. 15. $100 for the full course or $20 for drop-in students. • $20-$100 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 JUBILEE COMMUNITY ARTS CONCERT SOUND ENGINEERING WORKSHOP • Laurel Theater • 6:30PM • This workshop will present the basics of microphone usage, gain settings, monitor and house mixing, house and channel EQ, and use of mixing boards. There is no charge for the workshop, but all participants are requested to volunteer 6 hours of time over the next year to aid production of Jubilee Community Arts activities. The workshop will be presented by Dr. Lou Gross, Volunteer Sound Engineer for the Laurel Theater. To register call Jubilee Community Arts at 522-5851 or email concerts@ jubileearts.org. • FREE KNOXVILLE PERSONAL TRAINING PILATES • Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church • 6:30PM • Every Tuesday and Thursday. First class is free. Call (865) 622-3103 or visit knoxvillepersonaltraining.com. • $4 BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 Saturday, Sept. 17 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 LISA SOLAND: “SHARE WELL AND SELL” • Central United Methodist Church • 1PM • Award-winning author and playwright Lisa Soland will lead a workshop for writers making presentations to any kind of invited audience. Visit knoxvillewritersguild.org for more info. • $40 SUP 101 • Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center • 10AM • We cover all the basics of standup paddleboarding in this introductory class. No experience required. All instructors
are PaddleFit and WPA (World Paddle Association) certified. Classes are offered every Saturday at 10 a.m. through September. • $45 Sunday, Sept. 18 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 SUNDAY SAVASANA • Central Collective • 3PM • In restorative yoga you use all the props (blankets, blocks, bolsters, straps) to be fully supported in each pose for one to five minutes, which promotes complete relaxation. The goal of restorative yoga is to restore your body back to homeostasis and full relaxation. • $15 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE IMPROVISATION CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 3:30PM • Our improv classes offer an introduction to dance improvisation as a movement practice, performance technique, and a tool for creating choreography. Class involves both structured and free improvisations aimed at developing creativity, spontaneous decision-making, freedom of movement, and confidence in performance. No dance experience is necessary—only the desire to move. 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. The cost is $5 per lesson (the first 2 lessons are free). Bring a partner or we can provide one for you. Contact Jo Anne Newby at (865} 539-4150 or email KnoxvilleBridge@gmail.com. • $5 Monday, Sept. 19 KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: VERMICULTURE • Davis Family YMCA • 1PM • Join Master Gardeners Marsha Lehman and Sandra Lee to learn how to do smaller scale compositing with worms. It is a bit different than the traditional composting. Come and learn how. Call 865-777-9622. • FREE GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 5:30PM • Call 865-5772021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. BEGINNER MODERN BELLY DANCE • Broadway Academy of Performing Arts • 6PM • Tribal fusion belly dance is a modern blend of traditional belly dance infused with hip-hop, modern dance, and more to create a new, unique dance form. Each class will include an invigorating warm-up designed to increase flexibility and strength followed by an overview of posture, isolations, and basic footwork. At the end of class we put the moves together in a fun and simple combination. No dance experience is necessary. • $13 KNOXVILLE PERSONAL TRAINING BOOT CAMP • Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church • 6:30PM • First class is free. Call (865) 622-3103 or visit knoxvillepersonaltraining.com. • $15
Knoxville’s BEST live music venue 6 nights a week!
Happy Hour 4pm - 8pm | mon - fri Huge selection of Craft, Import & Local beer Locally roasted coffee
wed sept. 14 • 8pm
Full disclosure comedy long-form improv free • all ages ( comedy )
thurs sept. 15 • 8pm
vinyl me, please presents the spins w/ hazel free • All Ages ( indie rock )
spinning glass animals
how to be a human being *LIMITED COPIES OF THE NEW ALBUM WILL BE GIVEN AWAY!
fri sept. 16 • 8pm Among the Beasts Mass Driver Prezzence Belfast 6 Pack $8 • All Ages ( rock )
sat sept. 17 • 9pm replayy $10 ADV / $20 Day of all ages ( Hip hop )
sun sept. 18 • 7pm Joe Purdy w/ Amy Vachal $20 • all ages ( americana )
"Coolest venue in town! Not too big, not too small. Great sound system and audio engineers. Lights show, good food, cold beer and a music store in the back. Oh, and they give lessons, too. Seriously? I still can't believe this place is real." -Austin Hall of Sam Killed The Bear
Knoxville’s Best Musical Instrument Store
8502 KINGSTON PIKE • (865) 281-5874 openchordmusic.com
September 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 27
CALENDAR Tuesday, Sept. 20 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY NUTRITION AMMUNITION • Cancer Support Community • 12PM • Call (865) 546-4611. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: VERMICULTURE • Cansler YMCA • 1PM • Join Master Gardeners Marsha Lehman and Sandra Lee to learn how to do smaller scale compositing with worms. It is a bit different than the traditional composting. Come and learn how. Call 865-637-9622. • FREE GENERATIONS GENEALOGY RESEARCH GROUP • Beck Cultural Exchange Center • 5:30PM • Generations Genealogy Research Group is open to people of all ages interested in genealogy and family history. 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 KNOXVILLE PERSONAL TRAINING PILATES • Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church • 6:30PM • Every Tuesday and Thursday. First class is free. Call (865) 622-3103 or visit knoxvillepersonaltraining.com. • $4 BEGINNING BRIDGE LESSONS • Knoxville Bridge Center • 6PM • The Knoxville Association of Bridge Clubs is offering an
Thursday, Sept. 15 - Sunday, Sept. 25
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. The cost is $5 per lesson (the first 2 lessons are free).Two class sessions are offered. The first begins Sunday, July 17 at 1:30 p.m. The second begins Tuesday, July 18 at 6 p.m. 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, Sept. 21 AARP DRIVER SAFETY CLASS • John T. O’Connor Senior Center • 12PM • Call 382-5822. 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. BEGINNER MODERN BELLY DANCE • Broadway Academy of Performing Arts • 6PM • Tribal fusion belly dance is a modern blend of traditional belly dance infused with hip-hop, modern dance, and more to create a new, unique dance form. Each class will include an invigorating warm-up designed to increase flexibility and strength followed by an overview of posture, isolations, and basic footwork. At the end of class we put the moves together
2016 A NNU A L
in a fun and simple combination. No dance experience is necessary. • $13 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 Thursday, Sept. 22 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail.com. Donations accepted. AARP 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 and Heritage Center. $10. Call Brad Selph for more information (865-573-0709). • $10 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: HEALING THROUGH ART • Cancer Support Community • 1PM • No experience necessary. RSVP. Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. KNOX COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS • Humana Guidance Center • 3:15PM • Join Master Gardener Alice Greene to learn what to do with bulbs. Plan and plant the spring bloomers, and dig up and store those tender summer bloomers like gladiola, caladium, and dahlia. 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 KNOXVILLE PERSONAL TRAINING PILATES • Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church • 6:30PM • Every Tuesday and Thursday. First class is free. Call (865) 622-3103 or visit knoxvillepersonaltraining.com. • $4 BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12
MEETINGS
Thursday, Sept. 15 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT GROUP • Cancer Support Community • 4:30PM • CSC is committed to providing bereavement services to those who have lost a loved one to cancer. Please contact our clinical staff before attending. Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. 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
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
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abuse as a result. Led by Laura Moll, the class is free to attend. • FREE Saturday, Sept. 17 100 BLACK MEN OF GREATER KNOXVILLE • Beck Cultural Exchange Center • 10AM • The 100 Black Men of Greater Knoxville’s purpose is to serve as a catalyst to empower African-American and other minority youth to individually and collectively reach their full potential through maximizing their resources that foster and enhance achievement in education and community and economic development. To accomplish this objective, we partner with primary and secondary schools and community organizations engaged in similar activities. 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, Sept. 18 RATIONALISTS OF EAST TENNESSEE • Pellissippi State Community College • 10:30AM • The Rationalists of East Tennessee focus on the real or natural universe. The group exists so that we can benefit emotionally and intellectually through meeting together to expand our awareness and understanding through shared experience, knowledge, and ideas as well as enrich our lives and the lives of others. The Rationalists do not endorse or condemn members’ thoughts or actions. Rather it hopefully encourages honest dialogue, analytic discussion, and responsible action based on reason, compassion, and factual accuracy. Visit rationalists.org. • FREE THREE RIVERS! EARTH FIRST! • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 7PM • Three Rivers! Earth First! is the local dirt worshiping, tree hugging, anarchist collective that meets every Sunday night on the second floor of Barley’s in the back room (when its available) to organize against strip mining, counter protest the KKK and Nazis, to clean up Third Creek and to fight evil corporations in general. Open meeting, rotating facilitation, collective model. Y’all come. Call (865) 257-4029 for more information. • FREE 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. Buddhism recognizes a non-theistic approach to spiritual practice. The Refuge Recovery program does not ask anyone to believe anything, only to trust the process and do the hard work of recovery. All are welcome to join us in investigating the practices of mindfulness, compassion, forgiveness, and generosity to heal the pain addiction has caused in our lives and the lives of others. Contact David at 865-306-0279 for any further questions. • FREE Monday, Sept. 19 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.
CALENDAR
Tuesday, Sept. 20 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 KNOXDEVS QUARTERLY MEETUP • Relix Variety Theatre • 6:30PM • Anyone interested in software development, technology or entrepreneurship is welcome. We have a world-class speaker, Paul Singh, lined up to speak, plus free beer and appetizers and door prizes. • FREE Wednesday, Sept. 21 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY WOMEN WITH ADVANCED CANCER NETWORKER • Cancer Support Community • 1:30PM • Join other women who are living with cancer as a chronic illness to discuss feelings and experiences that are unique to women with advanced cancer. Please call before your first visit. Call 865-546- 4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. THE SOUTHERN LITERATURE BOOK CLUB • Union Ave Books • 6PM • Union Ave Books’ monthly discussion group about Southern books and writers. Visit unionavebooks.com. • FREE ORION ASTRONOMY CLUB • The Grove Theater (Oak Ridge) • 7PM • ORION is an amateur science and astronomy club centered in Oak Ridge that was founded in April 1974 by a group of scientists at the United States Department of Energy facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We serve Oak Ridge, Knoxville, and the counties of Anderson, Knox, and Roane.We meet on the third Wednesday of each month for coffee and conversation, and our program begins 15 minutes thereafter. • FREE Thursday, Sept. 22 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 K-TOWN SOUND SHOW CHORUS OPEN HOUSE • Fountain City Presbyterian Church • 6:30PM • Join us for a night of fun and education. Our chorus is a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, an innovative group of women bringing every era and genre of music to life in the barbershop style. As a member of our chorus, you’ll discover educational opportunities, fun social activities, an enlarged circle of friends, and exciting performances and competitions that rival the best a cappella choruses in the world. For more information please contact Rachel Coker, 765-606-1424. • FREE
ETC.
Thursday, Sept. 15 MARBLE SPRINGS SHOPPING AT THE FARM FARMER’S MARKET • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 3PM • FREE THE SPINS • Open Chord Brewhouse and Stage • 8PM • Vinyl Me, Please presents a monthly record night with giveaways, a preview of a newly released record, and live music performances. Visit openshordmusic.com. • FREE Friday, Sept. 16 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, Sept. 17 SEYMOUR FARMERS MARKET • First Baptist Church Seymour • 8AM • FREE OAK RIDGE FARMERS MARKET • Historic Jackson Square • 8AM • 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. Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE Tuesday, Sept. 20 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, Sept. 21 MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET • Market Square • 11AM • The MSFM, a project of Nourish Knoxville, is an open-air farmers’ market located on historic Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE OAK RIDGE FARMERS MARKET • Historic Jackson Square • 3PM • 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, Sept. 22 COMMUNITY PARTNERS 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 Yakima, features Good People beer; proceeds benefit the Blount County Appalachian Mountain Bike Club. Visit littlerivertradingco.com. • FREE GOODWILL VINTAGE FASHION SHOW AND SALE • Holiday Inn (World’s Fair Park) • 6PM • The show will feature hundreds of vintage and vintage-inspired modern looks. See Spotlight on page 23. Visit gwiktn.org/vintage or call 865.588.8567 to purchase tickets. • $40 KNOXVILLE STARTUP DAY • Bijou Theatre • 2PM • Knoxville’s Startup Day was rebranded in 2016 as a week-long series of events taking place Sept. 19-23. Officially known as Innov865 Week, the new format will feature nationally recognized entrepreneur and investor Paul Singh and the North American Tech Tour, and will kick off with the Kauffman Foundation’s Mayors Summit on Entrepreneurship and end with the signature event, Startup Day. MARBLE SPRINGS SHOPPING AT THE FARM FARMER’S MARKET • Marble Springs State Historic Site • 3PM • FREE 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
Send your events to calendar@knoxmercury.com
ARAM
The
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 29
’BYE
Sacred & P rofane
Subsidized Housing Tour Fair and equal housing or a modified version of prison? BY DONNA JOHNSON
O
n my first night at Cagle Terrace, a subsidized housing facility off Sutherland Avenue, I was awakened by the sound of loud, repetitive sirens. Over and over they went, like the sudden alarm of a surprise inspection in a correctional facility. I hurriedly threw on a robe and grabbed my dog, Mallory, who was hiding in the corner of the closet trembling with fear. I became even more alarmed when I found that the elevators were not in use. What to do next? Trudging down six flights of stairs, I finally saw throngs of people, also in their nightclothes, laughing and drinking various alcoholic beverages for all the world like it was an elegant, formal tea party outside. Had they lost their minds? Had I? One beautiful girl, whose looks were marred when she opened her mouth by the fact that she had no teeth, told me, “It’s only a fire drill. They happen once or twice a month.” Once or twice a month? This gruesome violation of the senses?
Still, I felt some relief, and despite my irritation at this unnecessary, rude awakening at 4 in the morning, began to take stock of my surroundings. The grounds of Cagle Terrace are large and sweeping. Under the light of the full moon, it looked as though the flowers had been ever so gently dusted by fairy dust. The effect was startling and otherworldly, as were the residents scattered about the lawn like figures in a George Seurat painting— only instead of wearing fancy dress clothes and top hats, they were in pajamas and robes. A young girl with honey colored hair that fell in a tangled mass down her back played a guitar and sang: “I woke up and said today is going to be great…I’ll do the laundry and bake you a birthday cake…” Though she, too, lifted a shot of whiskey in her hand, her eyes were clear and her countenance pure, untainted by the debauchery around us. Next to her sat a young man in his mid-20s, wearing a plaid shirt and
BY MATTHEW FOLTZ-GRAY
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY September 15, 2016
www.thespiritofthestaircase.com
striped shorts. Such a miscue of style usually disturbs my obsessive-compulsive self, but on him it worked. This pair was somehow set apart from the others; I suspect they will eventually question the rules here and depart from the world of subsidized housing, where at least a pretense of mild submission is advisable to be a favorite with management. That’s the thing about subsidized housing: It’s fair and equal housing for some, but if you stand up for yourself, there is no question that the squeaky wheel will be the next one out on the street. At Cagle, which is in a prime neighborhood of Bearden, I found the waiting list to be about a year. At Summit Towers, which is downtown, the wait is generally shorter, as evictions are more frequent. In the projects, such as Western Heights or Isabella Towers, there is rarely a waiting list at all, as these are considered to be higher-crime
neighborhoods. There are inspections, sometimes surprise ones by HUD or KCDC, at which apartments must be clean and free of bedbugs. As I experienced at Summit Towers, if an apartment is even suspected of having bedbugs, you must bag up all of your belongings so that a team of inspectors can burst into your apartment and demand an accounting. If you actually do have bedbugs, your belongings must remain in plastic garbage bags for days. I think Westview Towers, a high-rise near West Town Mall, is by far the nicest subsidized housing facility in Knoxville, with beautifully decorated lobbies (which unfortunately cannot be enjoyed after 9 p.m.). Tobacco products of any kind—cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco, and even vapor cigarettes—are not allowed, and if one is caught breaking this rule in even the slightest infraction, you guessed it: out. At Isabella Towers, you must be
The residents were scattered about the lawn like figures in a George Seurat painting— only instead of wearing fancy dress clothes and top hats, they were in pajamas and robes.
’BYE greeted by a resident in order to gain access. This is a good thing, for it is used as a protective device for the residents. But if you happen to be let in by a stranger and management fi nds out, all hell breaks out—you may even fi nd yourself escorted out as though you were a common criminal. How did I escape from subsidized housing? I fell asleep in the bathtub with the water running. The tub overflowed, flooding three floors, and I awakened to see men in orange suits and hoods using large, noisy machines to soak up the excess water. (Aren’t tubs supposed to have an outlet for the water to go through before it overflows?) Summit Towers sent me a bill for $25,000 and banned me from the building permanently. As the scent of marijuana still wafted down the hall of the sixth floor, I questioned this bill, stating that
BY IAN BLACKBURN AND JACK NEELY
surely a subsidized housing facility funded by HUD would be covered by insurance in the event of such disasters. Oddly enough, I never received any answers to these questions, and now I have an outstanding debt of $25,000 added to my already poor credit. Am I happy to be out of subsidized housing? You bet! No more unwelcome inspections, no more “three strikes and you’re out.” Though I still have a couple of friends there that I would like to visit, many have since died or moved on to greener pastures, like me. In a much larger apartment in Fourth and Gill, I am as happy as a lark. People smile there and really do try to do the right thing. Plus, for once in my life, I have a landlord who likes me. And that is nothing short of a miracle! ◆
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HOUSING
PARKRIDGE APARTMENT, $485 / 2BDR. MINUTES TO UT. AVAILABLE NOW. Upstairs unit is clean & ready to lease. First/Last and Deposit required at signing. Enjoy good neighbors & rooms with a view. Pets accepted with $300 pet rent. Call (865) 438-4870 ext. 865.
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COMMUNITY
HOLLY - is a 4 month old sassy youngster who will blossom in any home! She loves to be held and starts her purr engine anytime you pet her. Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
MEG - is a gorgeous young Domestic Shorthair / mix. Just look at her spots! She was found as a stray Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-2156599 for more information.
MOOSE - is ready to be your best friend and explore the world by your side! She’s a bright-eyed 2 year old American Pit Bull Terrier. Visit YoungWilliams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
JIFFY - is a spunky wee guy who loves to play, give kisses and exercise. He’s a three year old Bull Dog. Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
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