Vol. 2, Issue 49 Dec. 15, 2016

YOU CAN BUY STUFF ON OUR WEBSITE, TOO!

DECEMBER 15, 2016 KNOXMERCURY.COM V.

2 /  N.49

How can locally owned shops possibly compete against online mega-stores?

Retailers vs. the

THANK YOU!

by S. Heather Duncan

Internet $$$$$

NEWS

Developers Share Their Proposals for State Supreme Court Building

JACK NEELY

Two Rebels: Remembering Avon Rollins and Otis Stephens

INSIDE THE VAULT

Acetate Records From the 1940s Turn Up Unexpected History

FOOD

Tandur Aims to Bring Indian Cuisine to Fast-Casual Dining

RIDE THE FREE ALL DAY! Service throughout Downtown & UT

© 2016 KAT

#travelbytrolley

2

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

katbus.com 301 Church Ave., Knoxville, TN 37915 • T 865.637.3000

Dec. 15, 2016 Volume 02 / Issue 49 knoxmercury.com

CONTENTS

“Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.” —Mark Twain

NEWS

10 Hall of Justice Revamp

8 Retailers vs. the Internet

COVER STORY

A customer tries on a backpack or gets measured for a kayak in a local store—then orders it from Amazon for as little as a dollar less.

Sound familiar? Of course it does. Who hasn’t ogled something they want in a store and then later (or immediately) checked online for a cheaper price? But the online shopping industry that creates this mindset presents a mounting threat to local retail economies.

What can local businesses do to fight back? S. Heather Duncan presents three case studies of how local retailers make it work.

Help Support Independent Journalism!

Nobody said this would be easy. Turns out there’s a good reason why! But if you appreciate our effort to provide a locally owned media voice for Knoxville, consider pitching in. Find out how you can help: knoxmercury.com/donate.

The city has declined to release any of the responses to its request for proposals for mixed-use development of the old Tennessee Supreme Court building, which it bought from the state last year for $2.47 million. But Dover Development—which is first in line to have its proposal negotiated—and Knoxville firms Marble Alley and Commercial and Investment Properties released their visions for the block to the Mercury. Thomas Fraser reports.

DEPARTMENTS

OPINION

A&E

4 Howdy

6 Scruffy Citizen

18 Program Notes: Shane Rhyne

24 Spotlights: Kacey Musgraves, Suzy

19 Inside the Vault: Eric Dawson

FOOD & DRINK

Start Here: By the Numbers, Public Affairs, and PechaKucha Knoxville—each week, we run a slide from an interesting local presentation.

Jack Neely remembers Avon Rollins and Otis Stephens.

8 Much Ado

36 ’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.

9

Catherine Landis examines the hysteria over supposed “Islamic indoctrination” in our public schools.

P ossum City Eleanor Scott takes a canoe ride in Turkey Creek, of all places.

CALENDAR organizes regional comedians for the What a Joke festival. Plus: the scene at Arthur Q. Smith’s longbelated CD release party. finds some surprising history behind some acetate discs.

20 Movies: April Snellings visits Manchester by the Sea.

Bogguss’ Swingin’ Little Christmas Show, Circle Modern Dance: Modern Dance Primitive Light, and Mike McGill’s Holiday Spectacular.

32 Home Palate

Dennis Perkins investigates the adaption of Indian cuisine into the American “fast casual” format at Tandur.

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 3

thinkstock.com

HOWDY

BY THE NUMBERS

Online Shopping’s Real-World Effects

39,000

Number of retail storefronts (based on equivalent sales) that Amazon displaced in 2015

735

Number of Tennessee retail storefronts (based on equivalent sales) Amazon displaced in 2015

Photo courtesy of KBAS

PECHA KUCHA NIGHT KNOXVILLE KNOX 682 | Keith Kaseman | Presented Nov. 12, 2015 “The idea is that if we just use progressive design techniques and agile thinking that maybe we can reformat the city itself into new ideas of space.”

Kaseman, founding partner of the architecture and design firm KBAS, shares his first 682 days as a professor at the University of Tennessee School of Architecture and Design and as a resident of Knoxville, TN. | Watch the 6-minute presentation at pechakucha.org/cities/knoxville

222,000

Estimated number of retail jobs lost due to competition

with Amazon in 2015

172,000

Estimated number of retail jobs lost due to competition

with Amazon in 2014

51 54 20

Percent of total purchases online shoppers reported making online in 2016 Percent of purchases millennials say they make online Percent of “store-only” purchases made by consumers (with no comparison shopping

online) —S. Heather Duncan Sources: American Booksellers Association/Civic Economics report “Amazon and Empty Storefronts,” UPS 2016 “Pulse of the Online Shopper” report

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

12/16 TOUR DE LIGHTS FRIDAY

6 p.m., Market Square. Free.

Knoxville’s 10th annual Christmas bike parade is an equal-opportunity event: Bicyclists can don their weirdest holiday apparel and pedestrians can soak in the spectacle. The convoy heads out at 7 p.m. for a 5-mile loop through the downtown, Fourth and Gill, and Old North Knoxville.

4

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

12/17 FUNDRAISER: TICKET TO RIDE SATURDAY

5-8 p.m., Scruffy City Hall (32 Market Square). $10.

Help kick in funds to provide 40 charter bus tickets to Washington, D.C. for Knoxvillians to attend the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21. Bonus: rock out with the Pinklets, BARK, Jodie Manross, and Laith Keilany and Christina Horn.

12/20 MEETING: COOPER RIDGE SURFACE MINE

12/21 FUNDRAISER: WINTER SOLSTICE SUPPER

3-6 p.m., TDEC office (3711 Middlebrook Pike). Free.

This public hearing by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will discuss a proposed 1,500-acre mountaintop removal mine on Cooper Ridge in Claiborne County. The applications will be reviewed from 3-4:30 p.m.; public comment starts at 6.

6-9 p.m., OliBea (119 S Central St.). $75.

CAC Beardsley Community Farm is an indispensable resource, providing community farming opportunities, educational programs, and produce donations. And it could use our help, now more than ever. OliBea owner and chef Jeff DeAlejandro and Chef Winter Hose will be cooking up a grand dinner. Tickets: wintersolstice2016.bpt.me.

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

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 CONTRIBUTORS

Chris Barrett Ian Blackburn Patrice Cole Eric Dawson George Dodds Thomas Fraser Lee Gardner Mike Gibson Nick Huinker Donna Johnson Tracy Jones Catherine Landis

Dennis Perkins Stephanie Piper Ryan Reed Eleanor Scott Alan Sherrod Nathan Smith April Snellings Joe Sullivan Kim Trevathan Chris Wohlwend Angie Vicars Carol Z. Shane

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

Matthew Foltz-Gray

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

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 5

SCRUFFY CITIZEN

Two Rebels Remembering Avon Rollins and Otis Stephens

BY JACK NEELY

A

s several friends have remembered since his death last week, Avon Rollins was a key figure in local civil-rights history.

The Knoxville native was one of the University of Tennessee’s first generation of black students. In 1962, the engineering major was associated with the Knoxville Civic Improvement Committee when he was arrested for trying to integrate Byerly’s Cafeteria in Fort Sanders. The following year, he was arrested for picketing downtown movie theaters, famously lying down in front of the entrance to the Tennessee Theatre. Pretty tall, he formed a significant obstacle.

He would be famous locally if he’d quit after all that, but he didn’t. Most of the eulogies last week emphasized his significant activism in Knoxville. It was probably a decade after I first met him that I was startled to run across his name in some civil-rights histories.

He became a leader of the national Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and in the mid-’60s was causing stirs in Danville, Va.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Selma, Ala.; and in several places in Mississippi. He witnessed attack dogs, fire hoses, baseball bats, armored tanks.

The same year he lay down in front of the Tennessee, he was part of the leadership of the hugely successful March on Washington, which culminated in Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

He was friend of King’s, and the

6

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

two were fond of arm-wrestling. (Avon sometimes said he’d let the older man win when people were watching.) He worked with several of the legends of the era, including playwright Lorrane Hansberry, who he said got him involved in SNCC. Some colleagues found it remarkable that even in dealing with extreme situations involving people who wanted to hurt him, Avon liked to wear a jacket and tie. And he would wear that every day, back home in his career as an engineer at TVA. Later executive director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, he mellowed just a little, but still kept a bit of an edge to him, never content to rest on any laurels, or recite the obvious triumphs of the last 60 years.

Racial inequality has survived the era of fire hoses and attack dogs. He wanted us all to remember that.

Otis Stephens died early this month. He was one of the university’s leading scholars, remarkable in that he excelled in two different schools. In the Department of Political Science department, he taught for years, and eventually became department head, and also associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He earned multiple awards, once serving as UT’s commencement speaker.

Later, after he’d earned all the awards he could in political science, when he’d become known as a

constitutional scholar, he decided he’d rather teach in the College of Law. He was a professor there in his later years. He earned the title of Macebearer, UT faculty’s highest honor.

He authored or co-authored or edited about six scholarly books. All that would be enough to make you scratch your head at this one guy’s resourcefulness, even if you overlooked one detail. Otis was blind from birth.

That’s a disability, but to him that was also a responsibility, and he acted nationally. He was an advocate for Braille literacy, and in the 1980s he became president of the American Council for the Blind. In 2002 he became a plaintiff in a significant national lawsuit demanding that U.S. currency be more tangibly distinctive so that the sightless can discern a $100 bill from a single. They won some rulings, but the main issue remains to be resolved.

Born near Atlanta, he was first known as a talented pianist, a role that helped earn his way through the University of Georgia in the 1950s. He had a Johns Hopkins Ph.D. when he accepted a post at UT in 1967.

Being a celebrated poli-sci prof might seem a good enough job for anybody, but he never settled in. At age 47, Otis got his law degree at Harvard.

He was, for years, a neighbor of mine. We were on a city bus route, which made our neighborhood handy for Otis and a couple of other blind professionals. On the way home in the afternoon, he boarded at Cumberland and 16th Street. He and I used to ride home together, and always talked. He was curious about everything, and wanted to learn more.

Another blind neighbor was Brady Wilson, who was a masseur at

the downtown YMCA. Brady could get along well without help, and rarely asked favors. But he hated icy weather, a particular hazard to the blind.

One night when we’d been hit with a snow and ice storm, the power went out, and Brady asked me to walk him to Otis’s house.

They were both widowed older men, and liked to share company. I walked Brady over a couple of hills to Otis’s house, which was dark, as were all the houses in the neighborhood.

Otis was there at his door to greet us.

But I couldn’t see him. The sky was cloudy, the houses were dark, the streetlights were out, and the interior of his house was dark as a deep cave.

“Hello, Jack, good to see you,” the darkness said.

I walked in and ran into a wall.

The next five minutes were a comedy of errors. My errors, of course. Brady and Otis knew their way around the house. I didn’t. I was stumbling over ottomans, bonking into cabinets, knocking things off tables without even knowing what they were. I couldn’t tell where Otis and Brady were, but they seemed to know where I was.

“Sorry, Jack, I should have told you about that bookshelf,” Otis said. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body, and seemed genuinely concerned that I might hurt myself. “Be careful about the glass door to your left.”

I finally found the chair they directed me to and sat with them for a bit, chatting about the weather and contemplating this unexpected inversion. Our circumstance upended the unjust rules we’d all been living with for decades.

They were probably relieved when this sighted oaf found the door.

“You sure you’re okay?” Brady asked.

It was a memorable evening. ◆

I walked in and ran into a wall.

The next five minutes were a comedy of errors.

My errors, of course.

The best gifts are from M. S. McClellan

5614 Kingston Pike at Melrose Place (865) 584-3492 · www.msmcclellan.com

Thank you Knoxville for voting McGaha Electric Co. Top Knox Electrician.

Bach or Basie?

Your music, your choice.

Your classical and jazz station.

McGaha Electric Co. is a family owned business serving the Knoxville Community for over 35 years. We are a full service company with trained and insured technicians that can handle all your electric and audio needs:

• 24 Hour Emergency Service • Emergency Power • Sports Lighting • Residential • Institutional & Government

• Industrial and Manufacturing • Retail and Commercial • Worship Centers and churches • Structural wiring and cable management

Contact us and find out why Knoxville voted us Top Knox!

1409 N. 6th Avenue Knoxville, TN 37917 865.523.8373 • mcgahaelectric.com

FIX THIS BASTARD

December 15, 2016 WUOT_Ad_4.625x5.25_ClassicalJazz_KnoxMerc.indd 2

9/17/16 5:00 PM

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 7

MUCH ADO

Propaganda’s Casualties The politics of fearmongering are invading our schools

BY CATHERINE LANDIS

A

rhinoceros is terrorizing my mailbox! He’s down there right now, ramming at it, leaving me no choice but to harness the power of my wrath and indignation to force the government and anybody else who will listen to eradicate this scourge. If you don’t see the rhinoceros, that’s not my problem.

That’s absurd, but no more so than complaining about “Islamic indoctrination” inside Tennessee’s middle schools, and yet we have state legislators doing just that and more with straight faces. The fact that there’s no evidence of children converting after social studies class appears to matter not one bit. The hysteria harnessed last year by right-wing groups like the American Center for Law and Justice was enough to pressure the State Board of Education to speed up a review of social studies standards, particularly targeting a unit on Islam.

Some of the proposed changes regarding key events in Tennessee history proved controversial enough this fall to have triggered an extension to the public review period, but changes involving Islam in world history never became fuel for the same level of outrage. My concern is not over any specific change; all curriculum standards undergo periodic revision, but over the fact that

8

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

they were made in reaction to bullies engaged in fearmongering.

Islamic indoctrination? Do the flame-throwers hurling those accusations ever leave their TV sets and computer screens? Have they taken a walk around their towns lately? Have they been to the mall? Have they stepped inside any actual schools?

Have they noticed all the Christian churches in their neighborhoods? And do they have so little faith in their own religion that they worry it could be toppled by a social studies unit?

A bigger question is how we determine what to teach our children about the world they live in. Islam is a 1,500-year-old religious and cultural tradition, and its history, like all religions, is intertwined with the history of the world, including this country, which has been home for Muslims since before the Constitution was drafted. Thomas Jefferson wrote of religious freedom extending to “the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and infidel of every denomination.”

Terrorism is not the same thing as Islam. It is irresponsible to imply otherwise, to suggest that learning about a religion in history class is the same as indoctrination, or to hint that Islam, apart from all other religions, is inherently evil. It’s particularly irresponsible these days when fear

seems to be infecting our brains.

Fear is making us crazy. Here’s a Texas woman explaining to a New York Times correspondent why Islam is incompatible with Christianity: “It’s just a matter of time when someone gives the signal and we’re all going to be beheaded.”

Really? Is this a thing? How many people actually believe this? And it’s not just extreme cases that worry me. After a recent trip to Europe, I had more than one person ask me if I was afraid.

Afraid of what?

Terrorism.

No more than driving on I-40!

Any hope that reason might prevail died with the election of Donald Trump, who could not tell our Constitution from a grocery list, and who spews toxic, clueless, cruel, ineffective, and cowardly ideas, like Muslim bans and registries despite the fact that Americans are more likely to be killed by armed toddlers, lawnmowers, or falling out of bed than by Islamic immigrants. Climate change is a threat. No access to health care is a threat. Islam: no threat. But the days of looking to leaders in Washington or Nashville for guidance about how to treat our fellow human beings are over since the Republicans in charge have decided to play the game of using fear to maintain power.

Watch out for the rhinoceros! Watch out for the Muslims! Watch out for the immigrants! Watch out for the social studies textbooks!

It is exactly now, at this moment, when the grown-ups in the room need

to make sure the educational standards we use to teach our children do not get hijacked by exaggerated fears that happen to bolster a particular political ideology. Tennessee students deserve the opportunity to learn history, world religion, science, and everything else as thoroughly and honestly and accurately as possible and to develop the critical thinking skills they will need to navigate the world as it is. Not a world seen through a lens of propaganda.

Even more crucially since the post-election rise in hate crimes and thugishness, including at least one report out of Halls High School, we have an obligation to be careful.

Because if we signal to children that certain groups are so dangerous we can’t even talk about them in history class, what else should we expect but bullying and harassment?

I cannot believe I’m having to write this stuff down. Why is it so easy to imagine “Islamic indoctrination” or “threats” from desperate immigrants and refugees and so hard to imagine peace? These are mean times. And here it is Christmas, which is either the season for Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men or the season of hate and trumped-up fear. But it’s not both. ◆ With Much Ado, Catherine Landis examines how political decisions and social trends affect the lives of the people around her. A former newspaper reporter, she has published two novels, Some Days There’s Pie (St. Martin’s Press) and Harvest (Thomas Dunne Books/ St. Martin’s Press).

It is exactly now, at this moment, when the grown-ups in the room need to make sure the educational standards we use to teach our children do not get hijacked by exaggerated fears that happen to bolster a particular political ideology.

POSSUM CITY

Swimming Upstream Expanding nature conservation efforts at Turkey Creek

BY ELEANOR SCOTT

T

he morning after election day, I took a field trip to a unique wild area in the heart of developed West Knoxville. My guide, City Council member and conservationist Mark Campen, met me in a McDonald’s parking lot. America had elected a climate-change denier and opponent of environmental regulation, but Campen seemed optimistic. Keeping up a cheerful commentary on the nature and history of the area, he navigated a few blocks of harrowing traffic in his 1988 4Runner to arrive at a complex of warehouses and empty parking lots.

As we rounded the corner of an old spring house, the expanse of the blue pool opened up before us. In the clear water near the shore an otter popped his head above the surface, looked at us, somersaulted with a splash and swam away. We watched him break the surface once more in the distance, then he was gone.

“Did you see that? Did you see that? Wow, I’m glad I had a witness,” Campen says.

He had suspected the presence of otters—this was his first time seeing one here in the flesh. A few weeks later we canoed across the water and examined a burrow underneath a large, flat rock, the surface of which was filthy with scat full of fish bones and scales. Beyond a thin line of trees lay the fast-food restaurants and gas stations of Lovell Road.

Campen has acquired 7 acres of this wetland for a rock-bottom price.

As part of the Blue Spring headwaters, the land cannot be developed.

For Campen, the value of the wetland lies not in its commercial exploitability, but in its vital role in the ecosystem as a tributary of Turkey Creek and home to a diversity of wildlife.

Through binoculars we watched red-bellied woodpeckers perch on the trunks of dead trees. Flocks of cedar waxwings twittered overhead while a blue heron stalked through the reeds.

This small wetland area is the first step in Campen’s ambitious vision for a half-mile wildlife corridor and walking trail extending along Turkey Creek from Blue Spring to the Turkey Creek Wetland Park behind the Tennova Medical Center on Parkside Drive.

The land along Turkey Creek is held by a patchwork of public and

private interests. A city greenway crosses the creek near the McDonald’s. Upstream, Harley Davidson of Knoxville has built a bandshell on piers extending into the floodplain.

The 58-acre Turkey Creek Wetland Park extends south of Parkside Drive nearly to Kingston Pike.

“Getting the easements and trails established will be a challenge, but I believe it can be done,” Campen says.

Campen, who represents the 5th District in North Knoxville, has a degree in wildlife and fisheries, and a minor in forestry. He’s long had an interest in the health of Turkey Creek as executive director of Tennessee Izaak Walton League, a conservationist nonprofit that managed land for organizations including Turkey Creek Land Partners, the group of developers and investors responsible for the largest commercial development in Knoxville.

Some may remember the controversy surrounding the Turkey Creek development, constructed throughout the early 2000s, with environmentalists raising concern over the ecological damage of a 400-acre complex of big-box retail, restaurants, and parking lots built on undeveloped land. The developers agreed to mitigate the effects of the development by creating a 58-acre wetland park “to ensure it continues to supply critical flood control, improve water quality, provide habitat for a variety of wildlife and recreational opportunities,” according to a brochure for the Turkey Creek Wetland Park. Last year, the Tennessee chapter of the Izaak Walton League dissolved and Campen formed his own company, Conservation Cooperative, which continues to work with the Turkey Creek Land Partners to monitor and reduce

pollution in the park.

As recently as the early 2000s, the wetland we navigated by boat was dry forest and farmland, with a man-made channel diverting the Blue Spring water to Turkey Creek.

Beavers took over the abandoned farm and created the body of water supporting our canoe. Now a dam of mud sprouting silky dogwood saplings holds back the seeping spring.

Campen tells me the wetland around Turkey Creek is larger now than before the development due to the flooding of this land. We circled the beaver lodge in the boat. Fresh tracks ran from the top of the mound of mud and sticks into the water. The pool was so clear, we could see the underwater entrances. A furry head disappeared behind the mound and did not resurface. Campen touched his oar to the outside of the lodge.

“They are in there right now!”

Campen says. “This is so cool.”

A kingfisher dove and came up with a fish in its peak. Wood ducks, coots, and mallards flopped squawking into the air, startled by the canoe. A small turtle circled under the oar and a large mouth bass patrolled the depths.

The loading dock of a freight company lay mere feet from the water, the gravel pad extending to the reeds. The young wetlands are wild and full of life, with white branches of drowned trees rising from the water. ◆ Eleanor Scott is a freelance writer and columnist living in East Knoxville. Possum City tells small stories of wildlife and people thriving on the edges of the city.

Left: Mark Campen, City Council member and conservationist, paddles across wetland in the Turkey Creek area. Right: The historic spring house at Blue Spring, a headwater of Turkey Creek.

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 9

Dover Development’s plans for the former Tennessee Supreme Court building (below) include a trendy Aloft Hotel, a 230-unit apartment community, a restaurant by Randy Burleson, a PetSafe pet daycare, and free office space for nonprofit Legacy Parks.

Image courtesy of Dover Development

Hall of Justice Revamp Developers share their proposals for downtown’s empty Supreme Court building

BY THOMAS FRASER

10

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

design the development.

“Our proposal will enhance downtown with a new and sophisticated upscale hotel, new highly-amenitized urban residences, an exciting restaurant concept, a bike shop, pet daycare and other amenities,” Dover says in his proposal packet. “It will be accessible, attractive, and a point of pride for those who enter downtown.

It will help downtown grow to the west, be accessible from all sides, and add amenities not currently available downtown.”

According to a press release from the city, officials will negotiate with Dover “with the intent of reaching an agreement to submit for City Council approval sometime in early 2017.” To

BNA Associates, did not share its proposal.) Here’s what could be in store for the building’s future.

Dover Development’s plans for the former Tennessee Supreme Court building include renovation of the structure and property into a trendy Aloft Hotel and a 230-unit apartment community. Restaurateur Randy Burleson would operate a restaurant planned for the former court chambers, and PetSafe would open an animal-daycare site. The building would provide free office space for nonprofit Legacy Parks, and feature solar power and other clean-energy features developed with assistance from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The site would also include 8,000 square feet of flexible meeting space.

The 527,000-square-foot development would represent an investment of $82.8 million, says Rick Dover, general manager of Dover Development, in a letter to the city that accompanied his proposal for the property. Dover declined additional comment for this story.

Knoxville Supreme Court LLC, an equal partnership between Dover and Bristol Development Group, based in Nashville, would undertake the project. Design Innovation Architects Inc. of Knoxville would

Image courtesy CIP

T

he city’s not talking, but developers are: Various proposals for reuse of a major downtown block range from a new hotel to a 10-story glass office and residential building with a park that fronts Henley Street.

Knoxville officials have kept a shroud over the initial process of selecting a firm to purchase and redevelop the 1.7-acre block between Locust and Henley streets anchored by the pink marble, 1950s-era, former state Supreme Court building. A five-person committee—the members of which the city will not identify—selected a proposal from Dover Development for further negotiation; it includes an Aloft Hotel, signature restaurant, and residential development on the site.

It’s an important block in the continued development of downtown, says Dawn Michelle Foster, city development director. She referred questions on details of the disposition of the property to the city purchasing department, which didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The city has declined to release any of the responses to its request for proposals for mixed-use development of the site, which it bought from the state last year for $2.47 million. But Dover and two of the other Knoxville fi rms—Marble Alley and Commercial and Investment Properties— released their visions for the block to the Mercury. (A fourth, Nashville-based

maintain the integrity of the purchasing process, details of the submitted proposals are not publicly available until a contract is submitted to City Council.

“The City’s intent has been to direct the scope and intensity of the redevelopment of the strategically important block, then to return the property to private ownership as quickly as possible,” says the city’s press release.

Dover Development this fall entered into an agreement with the city to renovate the South High building in South Knoxville; is currently renovating the Farragut Hotel downtown; and is proceeding with renovations of the old Knoxville High Building. Dover in June also announced his plans for a $9 million investment to turn the upper levels of downtown’s old Pryor-Brown parking garage into 30 residential units that will be packaged with retail storefront.

Nick Cazana, CIP president, says the city informed him via letter that his proposal was the second choice.

His $52.7 million vision is the Henley Center, a 10-story glass and concrete tower with a 450-space parking garage, and residential and office space, which he says the city center needs. The courthouse would only be preserved in small vestiges, such as use of the marble in the interior.

Should negotiations with Dover not

Meanwhile, Marble Alley wants to develop the northern side of the property into a 150-unit residential development called the Chambers Residences, which would include some storefront space and be similar to the company’s eponymous apartment building downtown, says Buzz Goss, Marble Alley president.

“The presence of that many new residents in an area of downtown with few should aid significantly in the

Images courtesy of CIP

succeed, Henley Center would be next in line, he says.

The winning proposal, Cazana says, will be more than a cog connecting downtown with the University of Tennessee and busy Henley Street.

“This is the best site in downtown Knoxville,” says Cazana, owner of the Holiday Inn across Henley Street.

“This is the most significant development in Knoxville since the convention center,” finished in 2002. His company is also building the Tennessean, an upscale hotel adjacent to the Holiday Inn expected to open in April 2017.

Cazana says his proposal is similar to a project he floated for the site around 2008, but that plan collapsed in the Great Recession. One difference is a lack of a hotel. Cazana is convinced that modern, environmentally friendly office space is a greater need for downtown, and he says he already has verbal commitments from one company to occupy 20,000 square feet of the 75,000-square-foot office building.

The complex could accommodate 500 workers.

“What we’re looking at is an economic development play for Knoxville,” says Justin Cazana, principal with real-estate firm Avison-Young, which would handle Henley Center leasing for CIP. The Henley Center would also include 70 residences on its upper six floors and a rooftop garden and restaurant on the fourth floor. The proposal calls for more than 25,000 square feet of retail space—some fronted, along with a park, on Henley.

The project would also include a 450-space parking garage that could be utilized as parking for the convention center, which Cazana called “a dire need.” A street-level covered pedestrian walkway would provide direct access to the convention center.

Commercial and Investment Properties proposed the $52.7 million Henley Center, a 10-story glass and concrete tower with both a 450-space parking garage and residential and office space. development of future, additional retail and services business in this sector of downtown,” the company says in its proposal to the city.

The court chambers and surrounding office space would be donated for use as a science, technology, math (STEM) center and demonstration laboratory.

“The vision is to have strong engagement between local industries and the facility to enable education and training regarding local manufacturing needs,” Marble Alley says in its proposal, referencing the proposed East Tennessee STEM Center.

“Examples can include composites, additive manufacturing, robotics…

By being centrally located in Knoxville, the facility can service industries from around East Tennessee. The close proximity to the University of Tennessee could likewise serve as a recruiting ground for UTK and Tennessee Tech. As the capabilities expand, the facility could serve as a satellite manufacturing lab for UTK.” Finally, BNA, of Nashville, submitted a proposal for a mixed-use project with 233 apartments, a 375-car garage, and 15,000 square feet of retail space. The design utilizes Dallas, Texas based Humphrey & Partners Architects e-urban program.

Whichever plan is selected, all

are pending City Council approval of the proposal and ultimate sale of the property.

The city this week stood by its refusal to release information on the proposals despite the fact they had been released by the firms.

“Again, once a contract is prepared and sent to City Council, all of this information—the proposals, who served on the internal committee, any supporting documentation—it all becomes public,” city spokesperson Eric Vreeland says in an email. “It’s not available now, because cities are careful in protecting the integrity of their procurement processes during the negotiation stages. Cities want to allow independent evaluation of

proposals, without any lobbying by any parties of the committee members. The firms that submit proposals sign affidavits, swearing that they will not contact City representatives or Council members to pitch their project(s).”

City Council member Nick Pavlis says he’s comfortable with the process.

“Bring it to me with a bow on it at the end, and my job is to determine whether that’s the best use,” he says.

“We’ve got plenty of time to look at it.”

He commends both apparent front-runners Dover Development and Commercial Investment Properties.

“Their track records speaks to their success,” he says. ◆ December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 11

How can locally owned shops possibly compete against online mega-stores?

Retailers vs. the

THANK YOU!

$$$$$

12

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

by S. Heather Duncan

Internet

Photos by Tricia Bateman

A

woman asks a local store clerk with more than 20 years of expertise for a recommendation: What would you buy for a 2-year-old?

Eager to help, the clerk points out some age-appropriate, mind-stimulating toys—and then watches in disbelief as the “customer” proceeds to immediately buy one of them online with her smart phone. In the store, right in front of the employee.

Shopkeepers have all seen it: A customer tries on a backpack or gets measured for a kayak in a local store, then orders it from Amazon for as little as a dollar less. Sound familiar?

Of course it does. Who hasn’t ogled something they want in a store and then later (or immediately) checked online for a cheaper price?

The online shopping industry that creates this mindset presents a mounting threat to local retail economies. This year, for the first time, shoppers in an annual United Parcel Service survey reported that they made more than half their purchases online. And Amazon is capturing half the total money Americans spend online, putting the company in a position to control the infrastructure its competitors depend on to reach the market, according to a report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Amid these pressures, ’tis the season for many local retailers to find out whether they will make it another year, since Christmas sales often float stores through those months when the bell over the door rarely jingles.

Luckily, there’s still a niche for browsing in a store full of products you can touch and feel, with a friendly expert to guide you and introduce you to other people with similar interests—possibly with a pint in your hand. Successful Knoxville retailers are fighting the online onslaught with a business model of building community and providing an unique experience to keep shoppers coming back.

And local entrepreneurs continue to take their shot at expanding Knoxville’s retail culture, with new stores like Tori Mason Shoes on Market Square, Nest Knoxville in the 100 block of Gay Street, or Backroads Market & Designs off Sutherland Avenue opening this year.

Here we present three case studies of how local retailers make it work, each store at a different phase in its history: Smart Toys and Books is

testing out a new business model.

Five-year-old Union Ave Books has profited from lessons the owner learned in previous bookstore ventures. And River Sports Outfitters has withstood the test of time, selling camping gear, boots, and kayaks at a cabin on Sutherland Avenue for 34 years.

SMART TOYS AND BOOKS

Ken Zhou, a restaurateur who owns Little Tokyo in Pigeon Forge, was intrigued by the idea of taking over Smart Toys and Books after its longtime owner retired and closed the store at the beginning of this year.

Lynda Blankenship had opened it “in a closet” in Western Plaza three decades earlier, and it had moved several times before settling in the center of Franklin Square in the 1990s, says Kelley Weatherley-Sinclair, Blankenship’s daughter and the current store manager.

Weatherley-Sinclair and Zhou sit a little awkwardly on the toddler-sized plastic chairs in one of the shop’s glass-walled “birthday rooms,” reflecting on the new business model.

A customer’s thwarted child wails

Smart Toys and Books in West Knoxville actually shut down early this year—then was brought back to life by new owner Ken Zhou.

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 13

Union Ave Books downtown doesn’t just sell books—it provides a place that fosters the culture of reading.

outside in the hallway while another bounces on a personal-sized trampoline. There is no spare quiet space in this store, which gave up 60 percent of its floor space to a playground dominated by a pirate ship.

Before Zhou and brother-in-law James Kao bought the store, they had no experience in the toy business. But Zhou had two kids he wanted to spend more time with, and his family had loved visiting the store. Blankenship offered to help him connect with her suppliers and select the items that sold best. Zhou’s hesitation was tied to worries about getting through the slow winter months and competing with online retail. (His own family had spotted toys there and then bought them online before, he sheepishly admits. They’ve since sworn off Amazon.)

Thus the idea for the playground was born.

Parents pay for their kids to play for two hours at a time, giving the store a second income stream while providing kids a chance to try out the merchandise. On a typical weekday, it’s a free-for-all: Toddlers are banging on drums, bigger kids are fleeing like Indiana Jones from the giant ball rolling toward them, and a squealing 14

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

crowd of tiny rowdies is storming the pirate ship. A boy of about three spins the ship’s wheel madly while singing to himself and doing a rocking dance. His mom laughs below, swapping advice with another mother while their other kids rocket through tubes and slides together in the “Adventure Playhouse.”

“The playground guarantees a certain amount of traffic after Christmas, in January and February when you’re crossing your fingers that people come in the door,” Weatherley-Sinclair says. She knows from experience, because she grew up there. Weatherley-Sinclair jokes that she started working at the store “in the womb” and was selling and wrapping toys by age 6—not to mention occasionally “firing” employees (until her mother intervened). Now that she’s the same age as many of the harried young parents who frequent the store, her no-nonsense attitude still prevails. Her ponytail bounces as she whirls from the register to the free wrapping paper, tying the enormous bows that have made Smart Toys and Books’ gifts instantly recognizable at West Knoxville birthday parties.

The store always offered Kindermusik and preschool Spanish classes, plus story times and “Mommy and

Me” art classes once a month, but Zhou has increased their frequency.

Birthday parties now include a big block of private playground time. That has made them a more significant source of revenue, especialy paired with birthday toy registries. (Plus, kids have birthdays even in the dead of winter.)

Smart Toys and Books always sold a small portion of its merchandise online from its website, mostly to accommodate distant relatives who want to take advantage of the toy registry. But without sophisticated software, it’s tough to track when store inventory sells and is no longer available online, says Weatherley-Sinclair.

Local stores give customers a chance to try before they buy. Smart Toys and Books had long been popular among the Goldfish-munching set for its well-equipped train tables. But it now offers play tables for tiny sandbox sets, magnetic building shapes, construction equipment—you name it.

“As a parent, so often I would get something I thought would be a good toy, and my kids would play with it a few minutes and that was it,” Zhou says. “If a parent sees that a kid really loves it and goes back to it again and

again, then they can buy it as an investment.”

UNION AVE BOOKS

Located in the Daylight Building a few steps from Market Square, Union Ave Books offers anarray of browsing choices in a buttery-warm atmosphere punctuated by the fluttery welcome of owner Flossie McNabb. She can be relied upon to ask after your grandchild and offer a bowl of water for your dog. A veteran of erstwhile local favorite Davis Kidd and a previous co-owner of Kingston Pike bookseller Carpe Librum, McNabb packages an unusual combination of knowing everyone in Knoxville and having a kind thing to say about them all.

[Full disclosure: I am related to McNabb by marriage—but in another contradiction of the norm, this has only increased my exposure to her general goodwill.]

The store is a family affair, with McNabb’s daughter Bunny Presswood handling much of the buying while Havanese pup Scout pulls greeter duty.

“Independent bookstores can’t afford discounts to lure some people over,” says McNabb, a small woman with a sharp mind full of literary

Union Ave Books provides a personal touch in its book selections, serving as a guide to readers looking for something special.

references and a voice that warbles like a bird’s. “We offer book-signings, readings, author events, children’s programs, wonderful displays, a cozy environment, all the things you can’t get online. That’s what we have to do our best at.”

McNabb and Presswood also choose carefully which categories to compete in: Union Ave specializes in independent bestsellers and doesn’t carry paperback romances (which are popular e-reader fodder) or mainstream bestsellers, both of which are usually cheaper online or even at grocery stores.

Brick-and-mortar stores like Union Ave can simplify gift-shopping when the customer isn’t sure what to buy. The bookshop has a wall of employee recommendations, a popular regional history section, and a wall of brainy children’s toys like magnet sets, organic baby blankets, and book-themed stuffed animals.

Although the store has plenty of regulars, a large portion of its sales come from out-of-town visitors attending downtown festivals or the Saturday farmers markets.

Immersive experiences through classes and events provide lots of opportunities for people to connect

with both the store and each other.

Union Ave Books hosts two different regular book clubs and holds four to eight events a month, often author book signings and readings, and occasionally performances.

And when the book store is presented with opportunities, McNabb always strives to take all her friends—in other words, everybody— along for the ride. This summer, she spearheaded a popular “Where’s Waldo” tour of downtown businesses, with participants getting stamps on their Waldo passport for finding him hiding not only in Union Ave but 20 other downtown businesses, boosting traffic for everyone. When the store sells books at major author events at the Tennessee or Bijou theaters, it shares the profits with the Friends of the Library, because that nonprofit support group does so much to promote literary events, McNabb says.

It’s a question mark from one

year to the next whether her store will break even, McNabb acknowledges.

But unlike big online retailers, that’s not why she runs it.

“After this election, at least I have a place where I can go with like-minded people and I feel like I’m doing something halfway good,” she says.

And although brick-and-mortar stores must fight for every sale, they may be making gains as the localism movement broadens, McNabb says.

Bookstore started seeing sales increase last year for the first time since the Great Recession. Their sales increased by 6 percent during the first half of 2016, according to U.S. Census bureau estimates. And the American Booksellers’ Association reported a 25 percent increase in membership since 2009.

RIVER SPORTS OUTFITTERS

Ed McAlister opened River Sports Outfitters 34 years ago when he got

tired of driving to Kentucky to buy his whitewater paddling gear.

“I bought this house at foreclosure,” recalls McAlister, referring to the home of his flagship store on Sutherland Avenue, complete with comfy front porch. “I had no clue what I was doing, but I did it.”

McAlister’s joy in converting others—and willingness to seize any excuse to get outside—has made River Sports one of Knoxville’s leading retailers for creating community through its many classes, excursions, rentals, and “pint nights.”

“Rentals and classes are a growing portion of our income,” says McAlister. “Look at stand-up paddling.

That’s one of our biggest rentals, and 10 years ago it didn’t exist here.”

That is a common trend in outdoor retail, says Rich Hill, president of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance. The group, with 62 member outdoor retailers from across the country, held its third week-long buying show in Knoxville last month.

The alliance began as a buying group seeking competitive prices from brands, but now members also share financial details and best practices with each other, Hill says.

“Our focus has always been December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 15

making sure we’re promoting the activities and people having the best possible experience when they come in our stores,” he says. “We are there to take you by the hand and guide you to the right choice. And then this is how you use it, and here are the people you can participate with. Every touch point has a transaction value.”

River Sports provides a lot of touch points. It now has three store locations. It rented kayaks from its Sutherland Avenue store from the beginning, but 15 years ago it also started renting kayaks right on the water, eventually in places from West Knox County to Morristown (including at the Cove, Mead’s Quarry, Seven Islands State Birding Park, and Panther Creek State Park). It also rents bikes at some of these spots. McAlister says he plans to add more rental opportunities next year at locations he’s not ready to announce yet.

River Sports holds events from yoga to triathlon training, both at the store and out in nature. It now has a full-time event director. McAlister says he’s also guided trips on the Mississippi River and in the Grand Canyon, among distant destinations. “Even in the business, you continually define new adventures,” McAlister says.

River Sports Outfitters opened 34 years ago on Sutherland Avenue when Ed McAlister got tired of driving to Kentucky to buy his whitewater paddling gear.

16

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

On one of the first really cold nights of the fall, the store held its popular Backpacking 101 class, this edition focused on stoves and water filters. Participants crammed between aisles of water bottles, a sunglasses rack, and the knife counter because the rockers and benches in the store’s courtyard were too chilly. Holding their fresh-drawn pints of local craft beer—one guy was even double-fisting it—they didn’t seem to mind.

Instructor Nick Waller handed around different filters for weight comparison and offered insider tips that aren’t printed on the instructions: If you’re using iodine to treat water, Crystal Light powder helps kill the taste. Batteries are less efficient in the cold, so wear them in your armpits for a while before using your ultraviolet light water treatment system.

UV is great at sterilizing. “It’s a good post-apocalyptic option,” Waller says. “Whatever spawns the zombies, this will take them out.”

Most participants have some experience, although it may be outdated. One woman asked frequent questions about what would work best on an Appalachian Trail through-hike, and requests good trail recipes.

(Waller shares a favorite one for trail

pizza.) Another guy explained a way to back-flush a dirty water filter with a Smart Water bottle.

Such classes not only forge relationships but also encourage people to try an activity that might intimidate them without a guide to get them started, McAlister says.

“To me, our business is not selling product necessarily. We sell product to survive,” he says. “It’s allowing you to experience something that may change your life or give you a great hobby.”

Seventeen years ago, River Sports became one of the first in the South to open an indoor climbing gym, offering what McAlister says was the first high school climbing league in the country. Today, 15 schools have climbing teams, much like a cross country team, competing nine months of the year.

“I look at kids that came in here as eighth-graders at Bearden or West, and now some of those people are winning the Triple Crown (southeast bouldering competition), and people

who were employees here are rising through ranks at major companies,” McAlister says.

This year has been tough for big outdoor retail chains. Eastern Mountain Sports, Sports Authority, and Sports Chalet went bankrupt and flooded the market with merchandise being liquidated at a discount—creating further challenges for independent outdoor retailers.

Still, Hill says the indies are doing well.

“Granted, it’s harder than it’s ever been,” he says. “But all the data we see is our stores are healthy. We connect with our local communities and we provide a service. Our store sales are up over last year, and our financial health is greater than a year ago.”

THE KNIFE FIGHT

In 1995, River Sports became one of the first outdoor stores to sell its products online, McAlister says.

While it remains in the game, he says, “We’re not a huge player. That is a vicious animal out there. If you don’t

have millions of dollars to throw at it, you probably don’t want to get in it.”

Hill says many of his organization’s members had moved into online Web sales but are now cutting back.

“It’s very competitive, very price-driven, so it’s kind of counter to how we operate,” he says. “We’re service, we’re experience. The Internet is a knife fight.”

Most American brands generally demand that retailers sell at or above an approved price. But then the companies often don’t police online retailers, which leaves rule-following local stores at a disadvantage.

“The problem is there are so many rogue seller on the Web,” McAlister says. “Amazon is one of them. They have a logarithm that if I change my price by a penny, they automatically go 10 percent down or more.”

Although River Sports is a third-party seller on Amazon, McAlis-

ter says some other third-party sellers are fly-by-night operations that swoop in to undercut prices, then disappear.

But outdoor retail stores are such players in creating brand loyalty that it gives them some leverage with brands, Hill says. “When a customer buys a sea kayak or Osprey backpack, that person will buy that brand the next 20 to 30 years,” he says. “Brands recognize that.”

That holds true in some other types of retail, too. Zhou’s store sells the popular Magformers building toys at the company-approved price, but Amazon sells them at almost wholesale, Zhou says. He called the manufacturer to discuss the problem, and Magformers representatives agreed to start following online prices and pursuing the retailers that are selling at unapproved discounts.

Smart Toys and Books also avoids competing with rogue pricing

by stocking toys that are hard to get online and in major toy stores, Zhou says. Among them are science and robotics kits and Breyer brand collectible horse toys, which people travel from Chattanooga to buy.

River Sports and other outfitters often focus on fashion and performance-driven items that change seasonally, Hill says. Those products don’t do as well online as items that are less specialized and unchanging, like an Igloo cooler.

Zhou says people sometimes ask him directly why they should shop at his store when they can find products cheaper online. He points out that those sellers aren’t vested in the community. For example, they don’t donate toys for gift basket raffles benefiting West Knoxville elementary schools, like Smart Toys and Books does. On Veterans Day, Zhou notes, some retailers were offering one-day discounts to vets. His store gives a 10 percent discount all year to veterans, teachers, and emergency personnel like police and fire fighters, to express thanks for what those folks do for the community.

The biggest events at River Sports Outfitters are pint nights that support local outdoors and environmental orga-

nizations and can attract from 250 to 400 people, McAlister says.

“When we first started these things it would draw just the people interested in that issue—the climbing community, or mountain bikers, or paddlers,” McAlister says. “And they had so much fun they started cross-coming. They all started networking, and as a result maybe a climber became a boater or a boater became a biker, and they made friends in those arenas.”

The pint nights began to support broader initiatives like the Cumberland Trail, bringing both donations and new volunteers to the cause. “People interact and end up doing positive things for the community and the outdoors,” McAlister adds.

After Smart Toys and Books reopened, Zhou and Weatherley-Sinclair were approached by many parents who wanted to hug and thank them. Weatherley-Sinclair recalls parents who reported weeping in the parking lot when they pulled up in January to find the store closed.

“People said, ‘I didn’t realize how important this store was to my family,’” Zhou says. “I had one person say to me, ‘I realized if I want stores to stay around, I need to support them.’” ◆

The biggest events at River Sports Outfitters are pint nights that support local outdoors and environmental organizations and can attract from 250 to 400 people.

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 17

A&E

P rogram Notes

The Best Remedy Regional comedians unite to support the ACLU at What a Joke festival

W

hen faced by the imminent collapse of civil society as we know it (or at least the federal bureaucracy), laughter may not be the first response most people think of—but it could be one of the more productive.

Soon after the election of reality TV star Donald Trump as president of the United States of America, New York comedians Jenn Welch and Emily Winter decided to be proactive: They immediately started planning a three-day benefit to support the American Civil Liberties Union. That idea quickly mushroomed into the national What a Joke comedy festival, taking place during Inauguration Day Weekend with shows in 29 cities—including Knoxville.

As soon as he heard about the effort, local comedian/RainShine Comedy talent booker Shane Rhyne jumped in and started assembling comedians for a potential Knoxville show. He was hoping to find enough local volunteers for a one-night event; instead, he’s been able to amass over 40 comics from five states and five venues to participate, and he’s still working to add more. Sponsored by the Mercury, the What a Joke festival

takes place Thursday, Jan. 19 at Pilot Light and Pretentious Glass Co. and Friday, Jan. 20 at the Central Collective, Ironwood Studios, and Modern Studio. (More days and venues may be added.) Tickets are $10-$25; advance tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 16 at whatajokeknox.bpt.me. A schedule will be announced at WhatAJokeKnox.com.

19

20

18

Inside the Vault: Acetate Records

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

Why did you want to produce a Knoxville show for this national event?

The results of the election showed me that much of the progress we’ve made as a society over the past decades was in a very real danger of being rolled back. I was impressed by how so many Knoxvillians immediately reached out to each other after the election in an attempt to find ways to organize and support each other through channels such as Facebook groups, public forums, and even informal lunch gatherings at places like Yassin’s. I don’t have a lot of skills to offer to the fight, but I do know how to tell jokes and I know others who also know how to make people laugh. So, here we are.

Will this be a political comedy show—or a comedy show with politics?

Movies: Manchester by the Sea

Actually, there’s no requirement for political content for any of the shows during the festival. Some comedians on the lineup rarely, if ever, discuss politics directly on stage. My priority was to find comedians who are funny no matter what subject matter they tackle. The goal for each night of the festival is to unite everyone in laughter. I’ll tell each comedian, “If you can make people laugh with a good joke about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 or your latest Tinder date, have at it.”

Won’t Donald Trump’s presidency provide comedians with at least four years of material?

I’m sure a Jill Stein administration would have been non-stop hilarity in its own way, but I’d rather find ways to crack wise about George W. Bush’s lack of familiarity with the English language than to craft jokes about the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act. It seems like the stakes are higher this time. But, yes, I have hopes that four years from now as we’re living in our caves, telling stories by the fire, we will be able to tell our fellow survivors a few good rib ticklers to take our minds off the other worries of the day.

What do you hope the festival will achieve?

First and foremost, I hope the festival will raise a bunch of money for the ACLU. I suspect they’re going to need it over the next four years. Second, I hope it will provide an opportunity to use laughter to build community, so people who are legitimately scared or frustrated by the turn of events our election brought, will find others who will agree to stand with them in the days to come. And, finally, perhaps selfishly, I hope it will serve as a way for people who enjoy comedy to discover they can enjoy it beyond watching it on Netflix at home. We are blessed to have many talented comedians working and living in a day’s drive radius of Knoxville. Here’s your chance to get to meet about 40 of them and let them make you laugh for an evening or two while also throwing your support to a worthy cause.

More info: whatajokefest.com or facebook.com/whatajokefest.

—Coury Turczyn

Arthur Q. Smith’s a Hit at CD Release Party Several venues were considered to celebrate last Friday’s release of The Trouble With the Truth, Bear Family’s Arthur Q. Smith CD set, with an accompanying book by Wayne Bledsoe and Bradley Reeves, but only one location seemed truly fitting. The Emporium sits directly across the street from the former Three Feathers tavern, where Smith (real name James Arthur Pritchett) did much of his drinking—while also selling songs to local country musicians. The WNOX studios once sat next to the Emporium, but burned down in the 1970s and is now the site of a courtyard.

Earlier in the day, Tennessee Commissioner of Tourism Development Kevin Triplett showed up to dedicate the Arthur Q. Smith marker, part of the downtown Cradle of Country Music tour, at the corner of Gay and Jackson. Given the history of that end of Gay Street’s 100 block, Reeves, who programmed the event, booked the cozy Black Box Theatre on the Emporium’s bottom floor.

The Black Box ended up being far too small for the 200 or so people who came out to the free event. Folks waited outside the entrance or milled about in the gallery. The Tennessee Stifflegs, who were scheduled for a brief 10-15 minute set later in the evening, agreed to perform on the third floor and give the overflow crowd some entertainment. Following an hour-long program of Smith- and WNOX-related films from TAMIS and a 20-minute set of Chet Atkins tunes, the remainder of the show was moved to the large gallery space outside the theater.

It was the right move. The show continued with Nancy Brennan Strange and Steve Horton performing a few songs by Carl and Pearl Butler.

Jesse McReynolds of legendary bluegrass duo Jim and Jesse was scheduled to perform but had to cancel at the last minute. Smith fan Tim Stafford of Grammy-nominated bluegrass band Blue Highway agreed to perform in his place, alongside songwriting partner Bobby Starnes.

Honky-tonk rock-and-rollers the Barstool Romeos closed out the evening with an electrified, up-tempo set.

Several of Pritchett’s children and grandchildren were in attendance. Son James Pritchett purchased artist Amy Campbell’s portrait of Arthur Q Smith, and the beaming extended family posed for a picture with the painting. The entire evening was worth it for that photograph.

—Eric Dawson

Inside the Vault

On the Record Fragile acetate records from the 1940s and ’50s turn up some unexpected history

BY ERIC DAWSON

A

cetate discs have been around since the 1930s. They were a relatively inexpensive and easy way to record before magnetic tape was invented. A thin sheet of cardboard, glass, or most often aluminum, is coated with a lacquer in which the grooves of the record are cut. Acetates are designed for only a few plays— they have a lot of surface noise, which increases with each play, and after time the lacquer starts to flake.

They’re not the ideal medium for reproducing sound, but for a time they were one of the best methods for recording outside of an expensive studio. (You really don’t want to mess with wire recording.) Some of the most interesting and culturally significant items at the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound are acetate discs. The archive’s collection of acetate recordings by Arthur Q. Smith and other country musicians covering his songs were the impetus behind The Trouble With the Truth, the German archive label Bear Family’s recent two-CD retrospective of the overlooked Knoxville songwriter.

Given how vulnerable the discs can be, it’s surprising how many continue to turn up. We’ve recently acquired a few other intriguing acetates. Will Cantrell called up to tell us he’d bought a batch of 78s from an antique store, including two acetate discs recorded in Knoxville. The performances were by a barbershop quartet, music he doesn’t particularly care for, and he wondered if we’d be interested in them. We’re always interested in old records recorded in

Knoxville, and these turned out to have unexpected historical significance.

The two 10-inch 78 rpm records were in fairly good shape. They don’t appear to have been played much.

They bore labels that read “City Recording Studio, 710 Henley St.” I searched for information on the studio in Paper to Pixels’ News Sentinel archive and found only one mention, an almost quarter-page ad on page 12 of the June 1, 1947, issue.

“Announcing the formal opening of City Recording Studio, 710 Henley Street between Church and Cumberland, Knoxville’s First Professional Recording Studio.” It advertises professional equipment, sound-treated studios, and master recordings. The studio was operated by Carlton W. Dobbs, who ran City Radio Sales and Service out of the same location. Today, most of that block is a parking lot, but at the time, Dobbs’ businesses shared a building with a real estate agent, painting contractor, and apartments.

There had been previous profes-

sional recording sessions in town, most notably when the Brunswick-Vocalion company hauled recording equipment from Chicago via railroad to set up shop at the WNOX studios in the St. James hotel in 1929-30. But that was never meant to be permanent. The number of pre-1947 acetates that survive suggest there was a good deal of recording going on around town, but most appear to have been recorded on primitive equipment in homes and radio studios. So this most likely was Knoxville’s first professional recording studio.

It doesn’t appear to have lasted long. The 1948 city directory lists City Radio Sales and Service, but the recording studio has already disappeared. This might help explain why we haven’t come across any recordings made there before now, or at least any with their label. There are some acetates without labels, so we don’t know the artists or locations.

As for the barbershop quartet, no names are listed, just the song titles: “Bill Bailey,” “Blue Heaven,” “Rainy Night in Rio,” and “My Happiness.” The latter was the first song recorded by Elvis Presley, to an acetate disc, at the Memphis Recording Service, in 1953, as a birthday present for his mother.

The barbershop-quartet recording is fine, but I don’t think any of its members went on to greater fame. The names of one local barbershop quartet are listed in a 1947 News Sentinel article about a Bearden PTA meeting. If you’ve heard talk of Dr. J.C. Miller, Joe Tapp, Hilton Smith, or Jim Lockett recording a couple of records, do get in touch.

TAMIS cofounder Bradley Reeves

A&E

continues to drop off recordings and films he finds out there. He recently uncovered two acetates recorded by the black gospel quartet the Southern Travelers. The records were cut at Pollock Sound Service in Oak Ridge, run by William Pollock, co-owner of the Music Box record store.

Each side has two songs, all recorded in March 1955, presumably at one session. They’re evenly divided between slower hymns and faster-paced, upbeat songs, and though the records have a lot of scratches and surface noise, they still impress. “Get on Board,” in particular, features deft vocal interplay. It’s an excellent showcase for each member’s abilities.

There are several mentions of the Southern Travelers in the News Sentinel throughout the 1950s and ’60s, announcements of them appearing with other performers, such as God’s Gospel Singers, a group that included 1930 Vocalion recording session veteran Eugene Ballinger. They then disappear until the 1990s, when some of the Southern Travelers begin appearing in obituaries. Theotis Robinson Sr., who died in 1992, is the first. In 2009-10, three more obituaries appeared, for the Rev. Dexter Lee Jordon, Milton E. Hodges, and Lewis Logan. All were members of other gospel quartets, Logan in the famous Swan Silvertones, so their voices continue to live on in other recordings. ◆

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 19

A&E

Movies

Orphan Bleak Kenneth Lonergan upends Hollywood clichés in the heartbreaking and funny Manchester by the Sea

BY APRIL SNELLINGS

W

hen life hands you lemons, you should get yourself an orphan.

That’s the saying, right? Or at least it’s the Hollywood convention. It helps if you’re completely unprepared for the emotional and logistical demands of parenthood, and if the orphan you secure is wise beyond his years and mouthy. It hardly matters how you get him; dead relatives are the most reliable suppliers, or you can simply select one from a nearby orphan repository. Install orphan, wait 90 saccharine minutes, and you’re good as new.

Most of those conventions are thankfully upended in Manchester by the Sea, the marvelous new drama from writer-director Kenneth Lonergan. Both devastatingly sad and laugh-out-loud funny—sometimes in the same, wondrous beat—it’s a master class in the kind of character-based storytelling that earned him so much attention for his first film, 2000’s You Can Count On Me. Bolstered by a trio of great perfor-

20

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

mances, Lonergan’s third feature is a deeply humane, engrossing movie that, even at two hours and 17 minutes, leaves you wanting to spend more times with its characters.

Manchester hinges on a career-best performance by Casey Affleck, who plays a surly Boston janitor/handyman named Lee Chandler. When we first meet Lee, he’s tooling around Massachusetts Bay with his brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler), and Joe’s young son (Ben O’Brien); it’s a bright, warm(ish) day, and the three are laughing and happy. The story quickly jumps forward, and it’s clear that Lee isn’t the same person he was then. Now he spends his days unclogging toilets and shoveling snow for a succession of tenants—tasks that will feel Sisyphean in hindsight, as the film’s layers are gradually peeled back.

Lee’s Spartan existence is interrupted by a call from home, where his brother has been felled by congestive heart failure; by the time Lee makes the hour-and-a-half drive

to the North Shore fishing village of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Joe has died.

The real surprise comes at the reading of his will, when Lee learns that Joe has made him the legal guardian of the now-teenage Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Lee balks at the responsibility, and much of the story’s forward motion comes from his faltering attempts to parent the boy, who has clearly deferred his grief by throwing himself headlong into teenage pursuits: playing hockey, practicing with his awful post-punk band, and making exhaustive efforts to get it on with his two girlfriends.

The real meat of the film, though, is Lee’s backstory, which is revealed in jarring, piecemeal flashbacks that might leave you stumbling to keep up until a rhythm emerges. As Lee struggles to sort out Patrick’s future, he’s also forced to confront his own tortuous past. It’s best to know as little as possible about why Lee is the way he

is; suffice it to say that life has dealt him a blow so awful it might be described as unimaginable, had Lonergan and his cast not imagined it (and rendered its consequences) so vividly.

Perhaps in a larger city Lee could find solace in anonymity, but that’s not an option in Manchester. The tragedy that haunts him has become part of the town’s modern mythology to such an extent that he can’t walk down the street without someone whispering, “That’s the Lee Chandler!” The film offers no judgment of Lee or his actions—he, like nearly anyone who has endured a life-altering tragedy, has done plenty of that for himself, and Affleck packs the character’s painful history and constant self-recrimination into every gesture and glance.

It’s a performance that’s always in various stages of assembly and deconstruction as layers are peeled away and then replaced. Just as remarkable is Michelle Williams as Randi, Lee’s ex-wife, who will forever be tied to him, and cut off from him, by the ordeal they suffered. She isn’t the film’s heart, but the scalpel that exposes it.

It might be unbearably maudlin if it weren’t for Hedges, who frequently pivots scenes with a perfect, wiseass delivery, and Lonergan’s knack for finding absurdity in even the most harrowing moments. The film’s tone is tough to pin down, making for an unusually affecting experience. It’s a cliché that’s borne out by life: Sometimes it really is hard to tell whether you should laugh or cry, so you end up doing both. ◆

Both devastatingly sad and laugh-out-loud funny—sometimes in the same, wondrous beat— Manchester by the Sea is a master class in character-based storytelling.

Knoxville’s Holidays The Christmas holiday has a fascinating history in Knoxville. community leaders. Each weekly page is compiled and written for all ages, with an intent to broaden Knoxville’s knowledge of itself.

For the city’s first half-century, any mention of Christmas in newspapers or letters is rare. Early Americans considered it an Old World holiday. Local celebrations began around 1844, fueled two influences: Charles Dickens’ extremely popular novella, A Christmas Carol, and the arrival of European immigrants, especially from Germany, Switzerland, and Ireland, who brought their own holiday traditions.

By the late 1800s, Christmas was a major public holiday here, and Dec. 25 was a day for church services, dances, vaudeville comedies, costume parties, and even bowling tournaments! Thousands came downtown for Christmas Day, and some stores remained open during the morning.

German immigrant Peter Kern, whose Market Square bakery also sold candy and toys, was the first local merchant to depict Santa Claus in a newspaper advertisement.

Image courtesy of Knox County Public Library knoxlib.org

Knoxville’s strangest Christmas was Dec. 23-25, 1893, a sometimes terrifying week later remembered as the Saturnalia. During an unseasonably warm season, mobs of drunken men and boys wreaked havoc across downtown, setting off fireworks, some of which started fires. A bank building was partly blown apart by dynamite in the Christmas festivities. Policemen were called in to quell the riots, and some were injured. The Christmas “Saturnalia” of 1893 led to the city’s first strict anti-fireworks policies.

Each week, this page highlights relevant but little-known aspects of Knoxville’s history. Over the last 21 months, we’ve examined the little-known histories of Emancipation Day, the Knoxville Zoo, public running events, our Asian-immigrant community, local music festivals, and the founding of the city itself.

We research each page afresh, relying on the substantial resources of the Knox County Public Library, especially the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection.

It’s a weekly production of the Knoxville History Project, an educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit guided by a board of scholars and

The first organization devoted specifically to promoting the history and culture of the city of Knoxville, the KHP sponsors talks, tours, and research projects concerning Knoxville history for various groups, including schools. Last year, KHP helped launch the Knoxville Mercury, which has already won regional and even national awards for the quality of its work.

The Knoxville History Project purchases this page from the Knoxville Mercury to promote Knoxville’s history, and our investment in turn also helps the Mercury itself.

We need your help. Our contract with the Mercury is soon coming up for renewal, and we’d like to make this page a permanent weekly feature, exploring all aspects of the history of our hometown for an all-ages audience.

The Knoxville History Project has just launched its permanent website, knoxvillehistoryproject.org. Past KHP History Pages are there to review, as well as photographs, upcoming historical events, and other features. In months to come, it will feature much more.

To help the Knoxville History Project and its mission, please send a donation to KHP, 516 W. Vine Ave., Knoxville, TN, 37902— or visit our new website and try our PayPal option. All contributions to the Knoxville History Project are tax-deductible.

Please let us know if you want to earmark your donation for the History Page campaign.

Thanks!

Jack Neely Executive Director, Knoxville History Project

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 December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 21

CALENDAR MUSIC

Thursday, Dec. 15 SENORITAWESOME AND GEORGIO FEREIRA WITH THE LOST FIDDLE STRINGBAND • 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 SCOTT MCMAHAN • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 6PM • FREE THE TENNESSEE SHEIKS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM COLE SWINDELL • Cotton Eyed Joe • 9PM • In 2015, Swindell was a four-time BMI Award winner for No. 1 hits he wrote for Thomas Rhett, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line as well as his own No. 1 “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight.” He was also nominated for CMA Awards’ “New Artist of the Year” and named Music Row’s Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year, with celebrated songwriting credits which include “This Is How We Roll” by Florida Georgia Line, “Get Me Some of That” by Thomas Rhett, and several songs with Luke Bryan including his No. 1 single “Roller Coaster,” among others. 18 and up. • $27 ROCK THE BELLS HOLIDAY HIP HOPALOOZA • Pilot Light • 9PM • Celebrating Knoxville’s underground Hip Hop scene, with a strong lineup of very talented emcees to bring in the new year. Some well known veterans, some unheard voices. 18 and up. • $5 CIRCUS NO. 9 • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM VILLA*NOVA • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.

Friday, Dec. 16 JAKE JONES WITH MIKE MCGILL • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE THE FIRESIDE COLLECTIVE • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE SUZY BOGGUSS’ SWINGIN’ LITTLE CHRISTMAS SHOW • The Standard • 7:30PM • Suzy Bogguss’ Swingin’ Little Christmas is a joyous, festive evening of traditional songs and spontaneity with one of country music’s most pristine and evocative vocalists. Visit wdvx.com. • $25 LEVI KREIS: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS • Oak Ridge Playhouse • 7:30PM • Levi began here in Oak Ridge as a classical pianist studying under Anna Miller before receiving a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University for classical piano technique. A move to Los Angeles established his career as an film and stage actor as well as a singer/songwriter featured on many major network programs. In theater circles, Kreis is known for originating the role of Jerry Lee Lewis in Broadway’s Tony nominated musical Million Dollar Quartet. Visit orplayhouse.com. • $24 MAGNOLIA MOTEL WITH JOSIAH AND THE GREATER GOOD • The Concourse • 8PM • Magnolia Motel is an alternative-rock band from the Marble City of Knoxville. Their unique sound combines an array of diverse music genres. From funky bass lines and rocking drum beats to bluesy vocals and psychedelic guitar licks, Magnolia Motel’s sound will be sure captivate your attention along with their energetic stage presence. 18 and up. Visit internationalknox.com. • $5-$8 KACEY MUSGRAVES: A VERY KACEY CHRISTMAS TOUR •

24 22

Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Two-time Grammy award-winner Kacey Musgraves will be ringing in this holiday season by launching her very first Christmas Headlining Tour. • $35-$49 FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Jason Thompson’s band doesn’t play bebop, the mainstay of the American saxman for more than half a century. He prefers to do something different. Frog and Toad can sound more old-fashioned than bebop, with Dixieland and ragtime tunes. But then, in the same set, they’ll sound more modern than bebop, with funk or fusion, or something original he wrote last week. • FREE THE TERRAPLANE DRIFTERS • Last Days of Autumn Brewery • 8PM K-TOWN MUSIC • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM FAT PENGUIN • Bar Marley • 9PM KITTY WAMPUS • Spicy’s • 9PM PMA • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM SWINGBOOTY • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM • Swinging hot gypsy jazz.

FUNK YOU • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM THE BIG PINK • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE EARPHORIK • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.

KBJAM • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE Saturday, Dec. 17 JOSIAH WHITLEY WITH JAKE JONES • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE HOLY SMOKES AND THE GODFORSAKEN ROLLERS • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 7PM • FREE FEW MILES ON WITH MYSTIC RHYTHM TRIBE • The Open Chord • 8PM • A big night of local blues infused music featuring Few Miles On, with one of East Tennessee’s newest bands, Mystic Rhythm Tribe. • $6 ROMAN REESE AND THE CARDINAL SINS WITH URBAN SOIL • Preservation Pub • 8:30PM • 21 and up.

REBEL MOUNTAIN • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM SMOOTH SAILOR • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM THE OLD FIVE AND DIMERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 9PM SHORT TERM MEMORY • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM DONALD BROWN • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM • The king of Knoxville’s jazz scene.

UNSPOKEN TRADITION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE TRAVERS BROTHERSHIP • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM SUMMER PALACE WITH SHANKS AKIMBO • Pilot Light • 10PM • 18 and up. • $5 TICKET TO RIDE FUNDRAISER • Scruffy City Hall • 5PM • Join us to support the Women’s March on Washington (East Tennessee Chapter). We are raising funds to provide 40 scholarships to ride the charter bus to Washington DC for the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21. With musical guests the Pinklets, BARK, Jodie Manross and Laith Keilany and Christina Horn. Suggested donation to the event is $10 and goes directly to the scholarship fund.

• $10 NEW ROOTS • Bar Marley • 6PM PAT REEDY AND THE LONGTIME GONERS • Scruffy City Hall • 10PM SMOKY MOUNTAIN BREWERY FUNDRAISING CONCERTS • All Smoky Mountain Brewery locations • 12PM • A roster

Spotlight: Suzy Bogguss’ Swingin’ Little Christmas Show

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

Thursday, Dec. 15 - Sunday, Dec. 25

26

of area bands and solo artists including Dave Landeo, Jason Ellis, Cutthroat Shamrock, and Josiah Atchley perform all day long at Smoky Mountain Brewery locations in Turkey Creek, Maryville, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge to raise money for 12 brewery employees who lost their homes and belongings in the recent Gatlinburg fire. Visit smoky-mtn-brewery.com.

Sunday, Dec. 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 MIKE MCGILL’S HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM LAUREN ARP AND REMIX • Red Piano Lounge • 8PM SECRET GUEST WITH ZACK MEXICO • Pilot Light • 9PM • 18 and up. • $5

KACEY MUSGRAVES Tennessee Theatre (604 S. Gay St.) • Friday, Dec. 16 • 8 p.m. • $35-$49 • tennesseetheatre.com or kaceymusgraves.com

Just two years removed from her double Grammy win for Best Country Album (Same Trailer, Different Park) and Best Country Song (“Merry Go ’Round”), Kacey Musgraves sounds less like the future of Nashville than a voice from its past. Her brand-new album, A Very Kacey Christmas, harks back to the holiday entertainment of the 1960s and ’70s—the glory days of the pop Christmas album, as exemplified by records by Phil Spector’s girl groups, Vince Guaraldi, Stevie Wonder, Herb Alpert, and the Jackson 5—with punctilious versions of seasonal standards like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Feliz Navidad,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

The songwriter who scandalized the most conservative corners of the country-music industry with the pro-tolerance anthem “Follow Your Arrow” finds some room for personal expression among the chestnuts, though, collaborating with Willie Nelson, Bandy Clark, and the neo-soul singer Leon Bridges on a handful of winning Christmas-themed originals.

A Very Kacey Christmas might not be a timeless classic, but it’s among the best Christmas albums of the year, and it will do until we get another set of original songs. (Matthew Everett)

Spotlight: Circle Modern Dance: Modern Dance Primitive Light

28

Spotlight: Mike McGill’s Holiday Spectacular

CALENDAR DEAD BALLOONS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.

GET IN THE GROOVE: OLD-SCHOOL FUNK AND SOUL • Scruffy City Hall • 1PM • It’s time for Market Square to get funky. The School of Rock presents its fall seasonal show, featuring songs from Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, Parliament/Funkadelic, The Meters, Aretha Franklin, and many more. With an opening performance by members of the Rock 101 class, featuring hits by Talking Heads, Motley Crue, Guns n Roses, Queen and more. • $8-$10 Monday, Dec. 19 DREW GIBSON WITH JUDE • 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 AND VALERIE MAYFIELD • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 6PM • FREE Tuesday, Dec. 20 PISTOL CREEK CATCH OF THE DAY WITH MORGAN ALEXANDER • WDVX • 12PM • Part of WDVX’s Blue Plate Special, a six-days-a-week lunchtime concert series featuring local, regional, and national Americana, folk, pop, rock, and everything else. • FREE THE MARBLE CITY FIVE • Red Piano Lounge • 8PM • Groove to Vance Thompson’s small combo, an offshoot of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra.

Wednesday, Dec. 21 HANNAH THOMAS • 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 MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER CHRISTMAS • Tennessee Theatre • 3PM • Twenty five years since releasing the Christmas album that changed the music industry, Chip Davis, founder of the multi platinum selling group Mannheim Steamroller, reflects on the beginnings of what has become nothing less than an amazing musical journey. “I remember when I created Mannheim Steamroller Christmas,” Davis says of his landmark 1984 album. “I took it around to all the major buyers and distributors. Back in those days, there were about 20 or 30 independent distributors and hundreds of retail stores and chains. I remember taking it out and showing it off and playing it for people, and the first thing out of their mouths was: ‘This is a Christmas record; that’ll never work!’• $58-$98 FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 6:30PM • Jason Thompson’s band doesn’t play bebop, the mainstay of the American saxman for more than half a century. He prefers to do something different. Frog and Toad can sound more old-fashioned than bebop, with Dixieland and ragtime tunes. But then, in the same set, they’ll sound more modern than bebop, with funk or fusion, or something original he wrote last week. • FREE TENNESSEE SHINES: THE YOUNG FABLES • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7PM • East Tennessee’s own Laurel Wright and Wes Lunsford wear their country roots on their sleeves when they play, whether it’s a rowdy downtown bar in their current home of Nashville or an outdoor stage at the Dogwood Arts Festival. Their debut CD, Two, was released in early 2016. Part of Tennessee Shines, WDVX’s series of weekly live-broadcast concerts. • $10 GROOVE THERAPY • Red Piano Lounge • 8PM • It’s Soulful Wednesday at the Red Piano Lounge.

HANK ERWIN • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 10PM • FREE RICHARD “BLUESMAN” BRYANT AND THE HUMBLE JONES

HARDCORE BAND • Jazzy Lynn’s • 7PM • A blues and soul celebration of the winter solstice with Cal Robbinz, Jeanine Fuller, Bluegill, and more. • FREE Thursday, Dec. 22 THE WOOKS WITH SCOTT SOUTHWORTH • 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 BILLY STRINGS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 6PM • FREE OPEN CHORD SCHOOL OF MUSIC CHRISTMAS RECITAL AND CONCERT • The Open Chord • 7PM • Open Chord will be having it’s semi-annual student recital featuring our students. Music will start out acoustic and transition to electric as the night progresses. The teachers will close out the evening. This event is open to the public as well as family and friends. Come support our students as they play music for you.

THE BIG VALLEY MUSTANGS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM Friday, Dec. 23 EMI SUNSHINE • 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 WENDEL WERNER • Red Piano Lounge • 6PM LEAH GARDNER AND ONE BADASS BAND • Holly’s Corner • 7PM • Local Knoxville artist Leah Gardner will be performing soulful and folky swing with one badass band including Devan Jones, Seth Hopper, Jon Whitlock, Matt Coker, and Clint Mullican. • $10 HEADWATER • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • Jason Thompson’s band doesn’t play bebop, the mainstay of the American saxman for more than half a century. He prefers to do something different. Frog and Toad can sound more old-fashioned than bebop, with Dixieland and ragtime tunes. But then, in the same set, they’ll sound more modern than bebop, with funk or fusion, or something original he wrote last week. • FREE HAZEL WITH THE HOLIFIELDS AND BOYS WITH SHIRTS • The Open Chord • 8PM • Local bands plays your favorite holiday songs. All ages. • $5 TRACTORHEAD • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up.

MOJO:FLOW • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM THE COVERALLS • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM • 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.

CAPTAIN SUCK AND THE MEDIOCRE BAND • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM SPECTRUM • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM DEVAN JONES AND THE UPTOWN STOMP • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE SOULFINGER • Preservation Pub • 10PM • Funky big-band soul and R&B.

s y ! a d i l o h e h t r o f e m i t n i just

Long sleeve: orange.

Short sleeve: grey, black, and white.

ALL sales help keep WUTK on the air!

AVAILABLE AT: Planet xchange at 7240 Kingston Pike Fizz on Market Square • Raven Records and Rarities WUTK Office P105 Andy Holt Tower on campus

ORDER ONLINE AT www.nwiththeold.com!

Streaming 24.7.365 at WUTKRADIO.COM

Saturday, Dec. 24 TODD STEED AND THE CHRISTMAS SUNS • 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 Sunday, Dec. 25 SAM QUINN’S CHRISTMAS DEBACLE • Preservation Pub • December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 23

CALENDAR 10PM • Sunday night, Quinn will return to Preservation Pub in downtown Knoxville for his fifth annual “Christmas Debacle,” a night of music and merry-making featuring random guests, friends and musical compatriots who adhere to no particular setlist, no rehearsal and no planning. Despite the ramshackle nature of the performance, however, it always ends up being a whole lot of fun and, to the surprise of many who might come out just to watch a train wreck, it’s often pulled off with semi-professional aplomb. 21 and up. • FREE

Thursday, Dec. 15 - Sunday, Dec. 25

OPEN MIC AND SONGWRITER NIGHTS

Thursday, Dec. 15 IRISH MUSIC SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • Held on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Visit jigandreel.com. • FREE JON MASON BLUES SESSIONS • Red Piano Lounge • 8PM Saturday, Dec. 17

OLD-TIME SLOW JAM • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 4PM • A monthly old-time music session, held on the third Sunday of each month. Visit jigandreel.com. • FREE Sunday, Dec. 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 OLD-TIME SLOW JAM • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 4PM • A monthly old-time music session, held on the third Sunday of each month. Visit jigandreel.com. • FREE RED PIANO JAZZ JAM • Red Piano Lounge • 5PM Tuesday, Dec. 20 PRESERVATION PUB SINGER-SONGWRITER NIGHT • Preservation Pub • 7PM • 21 and up. Visit scruffycity.com.

OPEN CHORD OPEN MIC NIGHT • The Open Chord • 7PM • Both solo performers and bands are welcome to perform.

Signups start at 6 p.m. • FREE OLD-TIME JAM SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • The musicians sit together and pick and strum familiar tunes on fiddles, guitars, and bass. Open to all lovers and players of music. No need to build up the courage to join in. Just grab an instrument off the wall and take a seat.

Hosted by Sarah Pirkle. Visit jigandreel.com. • FREE Wednesday, Dec. 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.

SECRET CITY CYPHERS • The Open Chord • 8PM • Secret City Cyphers is Knoxville’s premier open mic-style event that allows emcees, poets, singers, musicians, dancers, comedians, visual artists, and others to not only have a place to showcase their talent, but a place to network with other artists, and build their fan base. Please remember the 3 SCC rules: No disrespecting anyone; no violence; and limited vulgarity. Other than that, everything’s game. • $5 BRACKINS BLUES JAM • Brackins Blues Club ( Maryville) • 9PM • A weekly open session hosted by Tommie John. • FREE

SUZY BOGGUSS’ SWINGIN’ LITTLE CHRISTMAS SHOW The Standard (416 W. Jackson Ave.) • Friday, Dec. 16 • 7:30 p.m. • $25 • wdvx.com or suzybogguss.com

Suzy Bogguss began her professional career in East Tennessee, as a featured performer at Dollywood during the theme park’s opening season in 1986. That exposure led to a contract with Liberty Records in Nashville, which led to Bogguss’ commercial breakthrough in 1991, with her third album, Aces, one of the highlights of early ’90s country radio.

Bogguss has never matched that success, but she’s remained active, charting a course that convincingly connects commercial country, Americana, and adult contemporary. In 2014, she released Lucky, a gritty and bluesy collection of Merle Haggard songs funded, in part, by a Kickstarter campaign. Some of her biggest 21st-century success has come from a pair of charming Christmas albums: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (2001) and I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas (2010). She’s bringing some of that down-home holiday cheer to Knoxville this weekend with her Swingin’ Little Christmas Show, an old-fashioned concert that combines her mainstream hits like “Outbound Plane” with her own “Two-Step ’Round the Christmas Tree” and “Mr. Santa,” written with Chet Atkins, and other traditional yuletide fare. (Matthew Everett)

24

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

Thursday, Dec. 22 SCOTTISH MUSIC SESSION • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 7:15PM • A proud tradition, Scots love nothing more than music and drink. The drink is strong and the music is steeped in the history of the green highlands and rocky cliffs.

Whether lyrics or no lyrics, every song tells a story. The hills of East Tennessee are a home away from home for this style. Pull up a chair to listen or play along. Held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. • FREE JON MASON BLUES SESSIONS • Red Piano Lounge • 8PM

DJ AND DANCE NIGHTS

Friday, Dec. 16 RETRO WEEKEND DANCE PARTY • Hanna’s Old City • 9PM • Hanna’s Retro Weekend dance party with DJ Ray Funk is where you will hear all of your favorite 80’s and 90’s dance hits. So get down to Hanna’s in the Old City this weekend to party like it is 1999.

SOUTHBOUND FRIDAYS • Southbound Bar and Grill • 9PM • With DJ Eric B. Saturday, Dec. 17

TEMPLE DANCE NIGHT • The Concourse • 9PM • Knoxville’s long-running alternative once night. 18 and up. • $5 SOUTHBOUND SATURDAYS • Southbound Bar and Grill • 9PM • With DJ Eric B. ART OF HOUSE • Bar Marley • 10PM Friday, Dec. 23 RETRO WEEKEND DANCE PARTY • Hanna’s Old City • 9PM • Hanna’s Retro Weekend dance party with DJ Ray Funk is where you will hear all of your favorite 80’s and 90’s dance hits. So get down to Hanna’s in the Old City this weekend to party like it is 1999.

SOUTHBOUND FRIDAYS • Southbound Bar and Grill • 9PM • With DJ Eric B. Saturday, Dec. 24 SOUTHBOUND SATURDAYS • Southbound Bar and Grill • 9PM • With DJ Eric B.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Friday, Dec. 16 KSO CLAYTON HOLIDAY CONCERT • Knoxville Civic Auditorium • 7:30PM • The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presents the 30th Annual Clayton Holiday Concert on December 16, 17 and 18 at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium.

Music Director Aram Demirjian conducts the Orchestra and special guests for “A World of Joy.” Musical selections include “Joy to the World,” “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” “Carol of the Bells” and many other traditional holiday carols. The KSO will be joined by special guests Knoxville Choral Society, Go! Contemporary Dance Works, the Powell High School Singers, mezzo-soprano Allison Deady, and Santa Claus. Visit knoxvillesymphony.com. • $16-$47 TENNESSEE CHAMBER CHORUS CONCERT: GAUDETE! • Church Street United Methodist Church • 7:30PM • The Tennessee Chamber Chorus will present a holiday concert titled Gaudete! as part of the Church Street Master Arts Concert Series. “Gaudete” is the Latin word for “rejoice” and the concert is a celebration of the season. The program will feature the music of Gustav Holst, Felix Mendelsohn, Charles Stanford, and many more. It will also include a carol sing-along and new arrangements of holiday favorites by Ola Gjeilo, Dan Forrest, Abbie Betinis, and others. More information about the TCC, including additional concerts in the area, is available online at TennesseeChamberChorus.org and at Facebook.com/TennesseeChamberChorus. • FREE Saturday, Dec. 17 KSO CLAYTON HOLIDAY CONCERT • Knoxville Civic Auditorium • 3PM and 7:30PM • Visit knoxvillesymphony. com. • $16-$47 Sunday, Dec. 18 KSO CLAYTON HOLIDAY CONCERT • Knoxville Civic Auditorium • 3PM • Visit knoxvillesymphony.com. • $16-$47 Tuesday, Dec. 20 MUSIC FOR THE MOUNTAINS: A BENEFIT CONCERT TO SUPPORT GATLINBURG DISASTER RELIEF • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 7PM • The musicians of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will be performing a benefit concert for the victims of the recent wildfires in Sevier County. The program will contain a variety of ensembles performing traditional chamber music as well as familiar holiday selections. The musicians are volunteering their performances for the

Thursday, Dec. 15 - Sunday, Dec. 25

cause in this musician-organized event. Admission is free but donations are encouraged.

THEATER AND DANCE

Thursday, Dec. 15 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘GODSPELL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Prepare ye for the timeless tale of friendship, loyalty and love based on the Broadway musical that inspired a generation. The disciples help Jesus Christ tell parables, using a wide variety of songs and comic timing. An eclectic blend of music, ranging in style from pop to vaudeville, is employed as the story of Jesus’ messages of kindness, tolerance and love come vibrantly to life. Dec. 2-18. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • The tradition continues – anew! With a brand new look and a new adaptation, we return with a classic holiday favorite. Join us as Ebenezer Scrooge gets one last chance for redemption when he sees his past, present, and the possibilities for the future with four persuasive ghosts.

Nov. 23-Dec. 18. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com.

RIVER AND RAIL THEATRE COMPANY: ‘THE UNUSUAL TALE OF MARY AND JOSEPH’S BABY’ • The Fifth Avenue House • 7:30PM • This December, River and Rail Theatre Company will premiere a new original folk musical The Unusual Tale of Mary and Joseph’s Baby. Written by Tennessee-based award-winning recording artist Don Chaffer and New York playwright Chris Cragin-Day, The Unusual Tale of Mary and Joseph’s Baby surprises virgin-believing and non-virgin-believing audiences alike, engaging this oft-told story with a sincerity and humanity that bursts with imagination and wonder. Dec. 8-18. Visit riverandrailtheatre.com. • $18-$25 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE: MODERN DANCE PRIMITIVE LIGHT • Laurel Theater • 8PM • This unforgettable performance includes works by area choreographers and dancers, as well as live music from local musicians. The venue provides audiences with a unique and intimate performance experience. Modern Dance Primitive Light conveys the warm inviting spirit of the holidays with respect to the diversity of our audiences. Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $15 Friday, Dec. 16 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘GODSPELL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Dec. 2-18. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • Nov. 23-Dec. 18. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com.

RIVER AND RAIL THEATRE COMPANY: ‘THE UNUSUAL TALE OF MARY AND JOSEPH’S BABY’ • The Fifth Avenue House • 7:30PM • Dec. 8-18. Visit riverandrailtheatre.com. • $18-$25 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE: MODERN DANCE PRIMITIVE LIGHT • Laurel Theater • 7 and 9PM • This unforgettable performance includes works by area choreographers and dancers, as well as live music from local musicians. The venue provides audiences with a unique and intimate performance experience. Modern Dance Primitive Light conveys the warm inviting spirit of the holidays with respect to the diversity of our audiences. Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $15 Saturday, Dec. 17 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘GODSPELL JR.’ •

CALENDAR

Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 1PM and 5PM • Dec. 2-18.

Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 7:30PM • Nov. 23-Dec. 18. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com.

RIVER AND RAIL THEATRE COMPANY: ‘THE UNUSUAL TALE OF MARY AND JOSEPH’S BABY’ • The Fifth Avenue House • 2:30PM and 7:30PM • Dec. 8-18. Visit riverandrailtheatre. com. • $18-$25 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE: MODERN DANCE PRIMITIVE LIGHT • Laurel Theater • 7 and 9PM • This unforgettable performance includes works by area choreographers and dancers, as well as live music from local musicians. The venue provides audiences with a unique and intimate performance experience. Modern Dance Primitive Light conveys the warm inviting spirit of the holidays with respect to the diversity of our audiences. Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $15 Sunday, Dec. 18 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘GODSPELL JR.’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 3PM • Dec. 2-18. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 CLARENCE BROWN THEATRE: ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ • Clarence Brown Theatre • 2PM • Nov. 23-Dec. 18. Visit clarencebrowntheatre.com.

RIVER AND RAIL THEATRE COMPANY: ‘THE UNUSUAL TALE OF MARY AND JOSEPH’S BABY’ • The Fifth Avenue House • 2:30PM • Dec. 8-18. Visit riverandrailtheatre.com. • $18-$25 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: AUDITIONS FOR CLYBOURNE PARK • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 7PM • TDK auditions for roles in its February production of Bruce Norris’ play about “the uncomfortable fault lines between race, community, and so much more.” Visit theatreknoxville.com.

COMEDY AND SPOKEN WORD

Thursday, Dec. 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 Saturday, Dec. 17 SMOKY MOUNTAIN STORYTELLERS • Vienna Coffee House • 7PM • FREE Sunday, Dec. 18 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic. Visit scruffycity.com.

BURLESQUE ALL STARS BENEFIT SHOW • The Concourse • 9PM • A burlesque and variety benefit for Chris MacPherson, who lost his home in the Gatlinburg fires.

Featured performers include Hellcat Harlowe, Siren Santina, and many more. 18 and up. Visit internationalknox.com. • $10 Monday, Dec. 19 ON THE MIC WITH MIKE • Scruffy City Hall • 7PM • Bee Valley Productions and Scruffy City Hall are proud to present an attention-deficit, topsy turvy take on the late-night talk show format. Mike Bartlett created the show as a way of marrying his passion for music and comedy; the purpose is to showcase the abundance of talented artists in the Knoxville music scene. Each episode features unique interviews and performances

from Knoxville’s best artists, as well as sketches, segments, games, and more. Visit beevalleyproductions. com/comedy/onthemicwithmike.

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, Dec. 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. Visit einsteinsimplified.com. • 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 Thursday, Dec. 22 GOOD MEDICINE: A PRESCRIPTION OF STAND-UP COMEDY TO BENEFIT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE • Scruffy City Hall • 7:30PM • Election woes and the entirety of 2016 got you down? We’ve got some good medicine for you. Join us for a night of stand-up comedy with all proceeds benefiting local reproductive health care providers and advocates: Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood; Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health; Knoxville Abortion Doula Collective; and Lady Parts Justice League.

Featuring Coor Cohen, Liz Brooks, Riley Fox, Gail Grantham, Drew Morgan, and Jessee Mutter. • $15-$20 SUGAR HIGH!: JAKE HEAD • Sugar Mama’s • 8:30PM • NYC comedian Jake Head brings his southeastern comedy tour to Sugar Mama’s on Gay Street for this month’s Sugar High! Joining Jake will be Atlanta comedians Paige Bowman and Andrew Michael, along with popular Knoxville comics Jeff Blank and Shane Rhyne. • FREE

FESTIVALS

Friday, Dec. 16 HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS • Concord Park • 6PM • The three-quarter-mile greenway trail will be illuminated nightly from 6 to 9 p.m. The Holiday Festival of Lights has grown over the past few years with illuminated displays and a series of lights coordinated to music. Visitors walk the three-quarter mile greenway trail to view the lights. • FREE Saturday, Dec. 17 HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS • Concord Park • 6PM • The three-quarter-mile greenway trail will be illuminated nightly from 6 to 9 p.m. The Holiday Festival of Lights has grown over the past few years with illuminated displays and a series of lights coordinated to music. Visitors walk the three-quarter mile greenway trail to view the lights. • FREE Sunday, Dec. 18 HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS • Concord Park • 6PM • The three-quarter-mile greenway trail will be illuminated nightly from 6 to 9 p.m. The Holiday Festival of Lights has grown over the past few years with illuminated displays and a series of lights coordinated to music. Visitors walk the three-quarter mile greenway trail to view the lights. • FREE Monday, Dec. 19 December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 25

CALENDAR

Thursday, Dec. 15 - Sunday, Dec. 25

HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS • Concord Park • 6PM • The three-quarter-mile greenway trail will be illuminated nightly from 6 to 9 p.m. The Holiday Festival of Lights has grown over the past few years with illuminated displays and a series of lights coordinated to music. Visitors walk the three-quarter mile greenway trail to view the lights. • FREE

HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS • Concord Park • 6PM • The three-quarter-mile greenway trail will be illuminated nightly from 6 to 9 p.m. The Holiday Festival of Lights has grown over the past few years with illuminated displays and a series of lights coordinated to music. Visitors walk the three-quarter mile greenway trail to view the lights. • FREE

Tuesday, Dec. 20 HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS • Concord Park • 6PM • The three-quarter-mile greenway trail will be illuminated nightly from 6 to 9 p.m. The Holiday Festival of Lights has grown over the past few years with illuminated displays and a series of lights coordinated to music. Visitors walk the three-quarter mile greenway trail to view the lights. • FREE

FILM SCREENINGS

Wednesday, Dec. 21 NARROW RIDGE WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 7PM • Narrow Ridge invites you to join us for our Winter Solstice Celebration. The Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year and has been a time of celebration since ancient times as people have looked forward to longer days or “the return of the light.” We will gather at Narrow Ridge’s Strawbale Lodge at 7:00 p.m. Contributions of finger foods for the snack table are appreciated but not required. Signs will be posted to lead you to our Strawbale Lodge. For more information contact Mitzi at 865-497-3603 or community@narrowridge.org. • FREE Thursday, Dec. 22 HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS • Concord Park • 6PM • The three-quarter-mile greenway trail will be illuminated nightly from 6 to 9 p.m. The Holiday Festival of Lights has grown over the past few years with illuminated displays and a series of lights coordinated to music. Visitors walk the three-quarter mile greenway trail to view the lights. • FREE Friday, Dec. 23 HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS • Concord Park • 6PM • The three-quarter-mile greenway trail will be illuminated nightly from 6 to 9 p.m. The Holiday Festival of Lights has grown over the past few years with illuminated displays and a series of lights coordinated to music. Visitors walk the three-quarter mile greenway trail to view the lights. • FREE Saturday, Dec. 24

Sunday, Dec. 18 WHITE CHRISTMAS • Tennessee Theatre • 2PM • After World War II, song and dance men Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) form a successful partnership eventually becoming top Broadway producers. • $9 Monday, Dec. 19 THE BIRDHOUSE WALK-IN THEATER • The Birdhouse • 8:15PM • A weekly free movie screening. Visit birdhouseknoxville.com. • FREE Tuesday, Dec. 20 NOKNO CINEMATECHQUE: ‘DIE HARD’ • Central Collective • 7PM • It’s John McClane vs. Hans Gruber in the most explosive holiday movie of them all. • FREE

SPORTS AND RECREATION

Thursday, Dec. 15 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 4PM • $7-$45 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES THURSDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10AM • Visit cycologybicycles.com. • FREE NORTH KNOXVILLE BEER RUNNERS • Central Flats and Taps • 6PM • Meet us at Central Flats and Taps every Thursday night for a fun and easy run leading us right through Saw Works for a midway beer. • FREE FLEET FEET GROUP RUN/WALK • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 6PM • Visit fleetfeetknoxville.com. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES DOWNTOWN GREENWAY RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:30PM • Join us every Thursday evening for our winter greenway rides to downtown and back.

CIRCLE MODERN DANCE: MODERN DANCE PRIMITIVE LIGHT Laurel Theater (1538 Laurel Ave.) • Thursday, Dec. 15-Saturday, Dec. 17 • $15 • circlemoderndance.com

Last year, Circle Modern Dance celebrated its 25th anniversary. This month, the company will commemorate a quarter-century of Modern Dance Primitive Light, its meditative winter showcase. The concert mixes modern, classical, and improv dance for a company of dancers with a range of experience—some professional, some beginners, all of them committed to the show. The pieces combine humor, emotional intensity, drama, and comedy.

The annual performance, held near the solstice, isn’t actually a Christmas event, but it’s become one of Knoxville’s treasured holiday traditions—a Nutcracker for the 21st century that inspires audiences with its earnest, open spirit. It feels especially necessary this season. (Matthew Everett)

26

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

Ride is 30+ miles at a 13/14 mph pace. Visit cedarbluffcycles.com. • FREE Friday, Dec. 16 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 10AM • $7-$45 TOUR DE LIGHTS • Market Square • 7PM • Join us for this fun, free bike parade through downtown, 4th & Gill and Old North Knoxville. Riders are encouraged to get creative with lights, costumes and decorations. The route is about 5 miles long. All streets will be completely closed for the event. www.ibikeknx.com/tourdelights for details. Free bike safety checks and judging for the decorating contest start at 6 p.m. Hot cocoa and treats are available thanks to Mast General Store and Three Rivers Market. • FREE Saturday, Dec. 17 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 10AM • $7-$45 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: GREENBRIER RAMBLE • 8AM • We will start at the Ranger Station in Greenbrier.

We will pass Glenn Cardwell’s childhood home site, the spring for this home, and maybe some remnants of an old Ford near the creek. Hike: about 4 miles round trip, rated easy. Meet at Comcast, 5720 Asheville Hwy at 8:00 am. Leader: Marti Smith, marti@gsmassoc.org. • FREE WEST BICYCLES SATURDAY ROAD RIDE • West Bicycles • 9AM • Join us every Saturday morning for a group road ride. Divides into two groups: A Group at 17-20 mph and B Group at 14-16 mph. Store open for pre-ride services including full service tech support, energy bars/gels/ chews, clean restrooms, plenty of parking, and terrific routes. Cookies and coffee on return. Visit west bikes. com. • FREE BIKE ZOO SATURDAY ROAD RIDE • The Bike Zoo • 9AM • Join us every Saturday for a group three-hour road ride of 50+ miles at a fast pace of 18/20 mph. Weather permitting.

Visit bikezoo.com. • FREE KNOXVILLE BICYCLE COMPANY SATURDAY RIDE • Knoxville Bicycle Company • 9AM • Join us every Saturday for a group road ride. Divides into groups: shorter route is 27 miles; longer route is determined at regroup at Melton Hill Dam. Weather permitting. Visit Facebook.com/ KnoxvilleBicycleCo. • FREE ROCKIN’ SANTA HALF-MARATHON AND SUNSHINE SANTA 5K • Victor Ashe Park • 9AM • Get into the holiday spirit with either a half marathon or 5K run. Events benefit the Sunshine Ambassadors - Enriching the lives of people with disabilities through dance.

Sunday, Dec. 18 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 1PM • $7-$45 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: BIG RIDGE STATE PARK • 8AM • Big Ridge State Park comprises historic cemeteries, a haunted house, the site of an eighteenth century fort, a CCC dam, and many other traces of nineteenth- and early twentieth- century inhabitants. Hike: 8-9 miles, rated moderate, however, there may be some very steep sections. Meet at Comcast 5720 Asheville Hwy at 8:00 am. Leader: Liz Parmalee, lizparmalee@comcast.net. • FREE Monday, Dec. 19 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 1PM • For questions about Knoxville’s Holidays on Ice please call 865-2154423. • $7-$45 KTC GROUP RUN • Mellow Mushroom • 6PM • Join Knoxville Track Club every Monday evening for a group run starting at the Mellow Mushroom on the Cumberland Avenue strip on the University of Tennessee campus. Visit ktc.org. • FREE TVB MONDAY NIGHT ROAD RIDE • Tennessee Valley Bikes • 6PM • The soon to be famous Monday night road ride

happens every Monday. We usually split into two groups according to speed. Both groups are no-drop groups. The faster group averages over 17 mph and the B group averages around 14 mph. Visit tnvalleybikes.com. • FREE Bearden Beer Market Fun Run • Bearden Beer Market • 6:30PM • Come run with us. Every Monday year round we do a group fun run through the neighborhood. Open to all levels of walkers and runners. Everyone who participates earns $1 off their beer. Visit beardenbeermarket.com. • FREE Tuesday, Dec. 20 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 1PM • For questions about Knoxville’s Holidays on Ice please call 865-2154423. • $7-$45 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES TUESDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 9AM and 10:30AM • Join Cycology Bicycles every Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. and 10:30 am for a road ride with two group options. Weather permitting. Visit cycologybicycles.com. • FREE HARD KNOX TUESDAY FUN RUN • Hard Knox Pizzeria • 6:30PM • Join Hard Knox Pizzeria every Tuesday evening (rain or shine) for a 2-3 mile fun run. Burn calories.

Devour pizza. Quench thirst. • FREE Wednesday, Dec. 21 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 1PM • For questions about Knoxville’s Holidays on Ice please call 865-2154423. • $7-$45 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: SEVEN ISLANDS STATE BIRDING PARK • 9AM • We will hike all the trails in the Park. Hike: 6 miles, rated easy. Meet at the Seven Islands parking lot at 9:00 am. Leader: Chris Hamilton, hikeintenn@gmail.com. • FREE FLEET FEET WEDNESDAY LUNCH BREAK RUN • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 12PM • Join us every Wednesday at for our lunch break run. All levels welcome. We’ll run 30-60 minutes. Visit fleetfeetknoxville.com. • FREE KTC GROUP RUN • Runner’s Market • 5:30PM • If you are visiting Knoxville, new to town, new to the club, or just looking to get more involved, this is the place to start. A festive and relaxed group get-together occurs every Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. at Runners Market.

Visit ktc.org. • FREE TVB EASY RIDER MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • On Wednesday nights we hit the local trails for an easy-paced mountain bike ride. Riders of all skill levels are welcome, and if you would like to demo a mountain bike from our shop this is a great opportunity to do so. Call 865-540-9979 or visit tnvalleybikes.com. • FREE Thursday, Dec. 22 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 1PM • For questions about Knoxville’s Holidays on Ice please call 865-2154423. • $7-$45 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES THURSDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10AM • Join Cycology Bicycles every Thursday morning for a road ride with two group options. A Group does a two- to three-hour ride at 20-plus mph pace; B group does an intermediate ride at 15-18 mph. Weather permitting. Visit cycologybicycles.com. • FREE NORTH KNOXVILLE BEER RUNNERS • Central Flats and Taps • 6PM • Meet us at Central Flats and Taps every Thursday night for a fun and easy run leading us right through Saw Works for a midway beer. • FREE FLEET FEET GROUP RUN/WALK • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 6PM • Join us every Thursday night at our store for a fun group run/walk. We have all levels come out, so no matter what your speed you’ll have someone to keep you

Thursday, Dec. 15 - Sunday, Dec. 25

company. Our 30 - 60 minute route varies week by week in the various neighborhoods and greenways around the store, so be sure to show up on time so you can join up with the group. All levels welcome. Visit fleetfeetknoxville.com. • FREE CEDAR BLUFF CYCLES DOWNTOWN GREENWAY RIDE • Cedar Bluff Cycles • 6:30PM • Join us every Thursday evening for our winter greenway rides to downtown and back.

Ride is 30+ miles at a 13/14 mph pace. Visit cedarbluffcycles.com. • FREE Friday, Dec. 23 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 10AM • For questions about Knoxville’s Holidays on Ice please call 865-2154423. • $7-$45 Saturday, Dec. 24 HOLIDAYS ON ICE • Market Square • 10AM • For questions about Knoxville’s Holidays on Ice please call 865-2154423. • $7-$45 WEST BICYCLES SATURDAY ROAD RIDE • West Bicycles • 9AM • Join us every Saturday morning for a group road ride. Divides into two groups: A Group at 17-20 mph and B Group at 14-16 mph. Store open for pre-ride services including full service tech support, energy bars/gels/ chews, clean restrooms, plenty of parking, and terrific routes. Cookies and coffee on return. Visit west bikes. com. • FREE BIKE ZOO SATURDAY ROAD RIDE • The Bike Zoo • 9AM • Join us every Saturday for a group three-hour road ride of 50+ miles at a fast pace of 18/20 mph. Weather permitting.

Visit bikezoo.com. • FREE KNOXVILLE BICYCLE COMPANY SATURDAY RIDE • Knoxville Bicycle Company • 9AM • Join us every Saturday for a group road ride. Divides into groups: shorter route is 27 miles; longer route is determined at regroup at Melton Hill Dam. Weather permitting. Visit Facebook.com/ KnoxvilleBicycleCo. • FREE

ART

Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge 461 W. Outer Drive (Oak Ridge) THROUGH DECEMBER: Parks in Focus Photography Exhibit.

Visit childrensmuseumofoakridge.org.

The District Gallery 5113 Kingston Pike DEC. 2-30: My Knoxville: Interpretations of Home, a group exhibit featuring artwork by Cinamon Airhart, Mike C. Berry, Gary Dagnan, Connie Gaertner, Kathie Odom, and Joe Parrott. Visit thedistrictgallery.com.

East Tennessee History Center 601 S. Gay St. NOV. 19-APRIL 30: Rock of Ages: East Tennessee’s Marble Industry. NOV. 19-JAN. 2: A Man and His Bike, an exhibit remembering Waymon Earl Terrell. Visit easttnhistory.org.

Emporium Center for Arts and Culture 100 S. Gay St. DEC. 2-23: Arts and Culture Alliance 2016 Members Show. Visit knoxalliance.com.

Ewing Gallery 1715 Volunteer Boulevard NOV. 7-DEC. 11: The View Out His Window [and in his mind’s eye]: Photographs by Jeffrey Becton and The Lure of Main: Work by Carl Sublett and Holly Stevens. Visit ewing-gallery.utk.edu.

CALENDAR

Fountain City Art Center 213 Hotel Road NOV. 18-JAN. 12: Fountain City Art Guild Annual Holiday Show and Sale. Visit fountaincityartcenter.com.

Knoxville Museum of Art 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive NOV. 25-JAN. 8: East Tennessee Regional Student Art Competition. ONGOING: Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in Tennessee; Currents: Recent Art From East Tennessee and Beyond; and Facets of Modern and Contemporary Glass.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture 1327 Circle Park Drive SEPT. 17-JAN. 8: Knoxville Unearthed: Archaeology in the Heart of the Valley. ONGOING: The Flora and Fauna of Catesby, Mason, and Audubon and Life on the Roman Frontier.

Pioneer House 413 S. Gay St. NOV. 4-DEC. 31: Folk art, clothing, Nativa American artifacts, and more from the personal collection of Marty Stuart. Visit pioneer-house.com.

Rala 323 Union Ave. THROUGH DECEMBER: Artwork by Brian Pittman and Cynthia Markert. Visit shoprala.com.

Westminster Presbyterian Church Schilling Gallery 6500 Northshore Drive NOV. 8-JAN. 2: Paintings by Rebecca Mullen. Visit wpcknox.org.

FAMILY AND KIDS’ EVENTS

Thursday, Dec. 15 LITTLE LEARNERS • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • Recommended for ages 3-5. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Friday, Dec. 16 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM • Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Saturday, Dec. 17 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 10AM • Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE BLOUNT COUNTY NERD GROUP • Blount County Public Library • 3PM • Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE S.T.E.A.M. KIDS • Blount County Public Library • 4PM • For grades K-5. Visit blountlibrary.org. • 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--all in a supportive, safe space. The Knoxville Literary Exchange meets every third Saturday in the fall (September, October, November, and December) and spring (February, March, April, May). For further information, please contact organizer Liam Hysjulien at KnoxLitExchange@gmail.com. • FREE Tuesday, Dec. 20

LITTLE LEARNERS • Blount County Public Library • 10:30AM • Recommended for ages 3-5. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS • Blount County Public Library • 5:30PM • Recommended for ages 10 and up but any age may join in the fun of this tabletop role-playing game by learning about the game and sharing your love of fantasy.

Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Wednesday, Dec. 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. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Thursday, Dec. 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. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Friday, Dec. 23 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Saturday, Dec. 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 • Starting this summer, students can learn the basic principles of computer programming, also known as coding. By participating in the newly-formed Blount County Nerd Group, students seventh grade and up can learn skills such as making simple games, developing professional websites and creating mobile apps. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE 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. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE

LECTURES, READINGS, AND BOOK SIGNINGS Saturday, Dec. 17 CARRIE E. MOHN: ‘SONG FOR THE MAKER’ • Southland Books (Maryville) • 1PM • Mohn will sign copies of her new book, Song for the Maker: An Alphabet. • FREE

CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS

Thursday, Dec. 15 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY CHAIR YOGA • Cancer Support Community • 10AM • Chair Yoga is one of the gentlest forms of yoga available. It incorporates yoga postures, breathing techniques, and ways of relaxation with the aid of a chair. This method of yoga is accessible to most everybody and builds strength while improving flexibility. RSVP. 865-546-4661. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer.

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 27

CALENDAR GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Balanced You Studios • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail. com. Donations accepted.

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.

CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: KNIT YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS • Cancer Support Community • 1PM • Call 865-546-4661. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer.

KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • This class is an hour of student-led training and review of Capoeira skills and exercises.

Come prepared to sweat. Visit knoxvillecapoeira.org. • $10 KNOXVILLE PERSONAL TRAINING PILATES • Beaver Creek

Thursday, Dec. 15 - Sunday, Dec. 25

Cumberland Presbyterian Church • 6:30PM • Every Tuesday and Thursday. First class is free. Call (865) 622-3103 or visit knoxvillepersonaltraining.com. • $4 ADULT COLORING SESSIONS • Blount County Public Library • 7PM • Remember the carefree joy of picking up your favorite crayon or marker and adding color to a beautiful picture? Experience the same fun and relaxation even though you are now an adult. • FREE BEGINNING ACROYOGA • Breezeway Yoga Studio • 7:30PM • This beginner level class is for those either brand new to AcroYoga or just starting out. Each class explores the foundations of the AcroYoga practice. • $15 BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 Friday, Dec. 16 “IT’S YOUR CAREER: MANAGING PEOPLE AND PERSONALI-

MIKE MCGILL’S HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (200 E. Jackson Ave.) • Sunday, Dec. 18 • 8 p.m. • $5 • barleysknoxville.com

Mike McGill, the burly and hirsute Falstaffian frontman for local hardcore honky-tonk barnstormers the Barstool Romeos, plays a hillbilly Santa Claus for the fourth year in a row at his annual Holiday Spectacular in the Old City, this time raising money for Second Harvest Food Bank. He’ll be accompanied by a bunch of local musicians—you’ll have to show up to find out who’s joining him on stage—for an evening of colossal Christmas merriment and cheerful debauchery.

(Matthew Everett)

28

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

TIES” • Blount County Public Library • 7:30AM • “It’s Your Career: Managing People and Personalities” will be a part of an ongoing series of Soft Skill workshops designed to take your career to the next level. For class synopsis and registration information, go to blountchamber.com/ community/soft-skills or call 865-983-2241. • FREE Saturday, Dec. 17 YOGA AT NARROW RIDGE • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 9:30AM • For information call 865-497-2753 or email community@narrowridge.org. • FREE CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: MINDFULNESS IN EVERYDAY LIFE • Cancer Support Community • 10AM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer.

Sunday, Dec. 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 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 ACROYOGA FOUNDATIONS CLASS • Dragonfly Aerial Arts Studio • 5:30PM • Visit acroknox.com. • $5 Monday, Dec. 19 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: QUICK AND TASTY COOKING • Cancer Support Community • 12PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer.

RESTORATIVE YOGA • St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral • 5PM • Performance Training, Inc. offers yoga to St. John’s members and friends. This class is offered at a slower pace for those who want to learn to relax. It will focus on the restorative aspects of stretching and yoga.

Participants can expect to learn about proper breathing and body posture as well as basic mindfulness practices.

All ages and backgrounds are welcome to join. For more information or to reserve your spot, email sjc@ performancetraininginc.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 in a fun and simple combination. No dance experience is necessary. • $13 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Balanced You Studios • 6PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail. com. Donations accepted.

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 Tuesday, Dec. 20 OPEN PROFESSIONAL-LEVEL CONTEMPORARY DANCE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 9:30AM • Taught by Harper Addison. First class is free. Class is designed to develop a well-rounded set of technical skills as well as encourage individual artistic expression.

Her movement style and choreography highlight dynamic quality changes, level changes, and movement through space. • $10 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Balanced You Studios • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail. com. Donations accepted.

KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • Visit capoeiraknoxville.org. • $10 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 Wednesday, Dec. 21 AFFORDABLE CARE ACT ENROLLMENT • Blount County Public Library • 9AM • A qualified Navigator will be at the library to meet with individuals and families to help with registration for the Affordable Care Act. An appointment is required by calling 1-844-644-5443, or you can visit www.GetCoveredTenn.org/commit. • FREE CIRCLE MODERN DANCE INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED MODERN TECHNIQUE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 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 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE OPEN LEVEL BALLET CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 7:30PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 CLIMBING FUNDAMENTALS • River Sports Outfitters • 6PM • Come learn the basics of climbing every first and third Wednesday of the month. Space is limited so call 865-673-4687 to reserve your spot now. Class fee $20.

Visit riversportsoutfitters.com/events. • $20 Thursday, Dec. 22 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Balanced You Studios • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail. com. Donations accepted.

KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • Visit knoxvillecapoeira.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 BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM •

Thursday, Dec. 15 - Sunday, Dec. 25

Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 Saturday, Dec. 24 YOGA AT NARROW RIDGE • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 9:30AM • Narrow Ridge invites you to join us every Saturday morning for yoga instruction from Angela Gibson. This class can be tailored to each individual’s ability level. For information call 865-497-2753 or email community@narrowridge.org. • FREE CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: MINDFULNESS IN EVERYDAY LIFE • Cancer Support Community • 10AM • Life is full of challenges. What can we do when our lives feel out of control? A practice of mindfulness can help. RSVP. Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer.

MEETINGS

drinking of a relative or friend. Five different meetings during the week: Understanding Ourselves literature study (Sundays), fellowship family group (Tuesdays), literature study (Wednesdays), Beginning Again Family Group (Thursday), and Reflections book study (Saturdays).

Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@ Farragutalanon.org. • FREE CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT GROUP • Cancer Support Community • 6PM • CSC is committed to providing bereavement services to those who have lost a loved one to cancer. Please contact our clinical staff before attending. Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer.

BLACK LIVES MATTER • The Birdhouse • 7:30PM • #BlackLivesMatter is working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. Visit blacklivesmatterknoxville.org. • FREE Saturday, Dec. 17 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. Five different meetings during the week: Understanding Ourselves literature study (Sundays), fellowship family group (Tuesdays), literature study (Wednesdays), Beginning Again Family Group (Thursday), and Reflections book study (Saturdays).

Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@ Farragutalanon.org. • FREE

Thursday, Dec. 15 ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS/DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES • The Birdhouse • 6PM • A 12-step meeting for adults who grew up in alcoholic or dysfunctional homes.

The group offers a safe space for emotional healing.

Contact Laura at 706-621-2238 or lamohendricksll@ gmail.com for more information or visit the international ACA website at adultchildren.org. • FREE AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 6PM • Al-Anon’s purpose is to help families and friends of alcoholics recover from the effects of living with the problem

CALENDAR

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, Dec. 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 AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 5PM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE Monday, Dec. 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.

Tuesday, Dec. 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 DER GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS STAMMTISCH • Los Amigos • 6PM • A weekly gathering for Germans and anyone interested in German culture and the German language. • FREE AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 7PM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE THREE RIVERS! EARTH FIRST! • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM • 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 Wednesday, Dec. 21 AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 11AM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE 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

CIRCLE MODERN DANCE PRESENTS

ADS EQUAL SUPPORT

The Red Piano Lounge

Thanks to all of our advertisers.

Return the favor with your support of them.

Knoxville’s home for live Jazz, Blues and R&B The perfect intimate setting to unwind after work with friends or for that special night out.

4620 KINGSTON PIKE, SUITE #2 KNOXVILLE, TN 37919 865.313.2493 theredpianolounge.com Forest Park Blvd Kroger To West Hills

Earth Fare

X

To UT

Kingston Pike Lyons View Pike

*Mention this ad to receive special discounts on our famous made-from-scratch tapas.

Happy Hour Every N ight 5pm-8pm $5 House Martinis $4 House Wines $3 Select Import & Craft Bottles

Historic Laurel Theater 1538 Laurel Avenue

Thurs. Dec 15, 8PM Fri. Dec 16, 7PM & 9PM* Sat. Dec 17, 7PM & 9PM* Tickets $10 & $15 at the door Advanced tickets at CircleModernDance.com *Attend the Fri & Sat 9PM shows for $5 off! Advance tickets only.

For additional Information contact CMD at (865) 309-5309 or CircleModernDance@gmail.com

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 29

CALENDAR 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 • 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, Dec. 22 NARROW RIDGE COMMUNITY POTLUCK • Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center • 6:30PM • This fourth Thursday event is an opportunity to introduce folks to the Narrow Ridge community as well as for friends and neighbors to come together to share good food and conversation.

Guests are invited to bring a dish to share. For information, call 865-497-2753 or email community@ narrowridge.org. • FREE ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS/DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES • The Birdhouse • 6PM • A 12-step meeting for adults who grew up in alcoholic or dysfunctional homes.

The group offers a safe space for emotional healing.

Contact Laura at 706-621-2238 or lamohendricksll@ gmail.com for more information or visit the international ACA website at adultchildren.org. • FREE AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 6PM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE Saturday, Dec. 24 AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 11AM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email 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, Dec. 25 AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 5PM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE

ETC.

Thursday, Dec. 15 LOST CREEK FARM HOLIDAY DINNER • Central Collective • 7PM • It’s holiday season, and Lost Creek Farm is coming back to Knoxville to celebrate. Mountain trout, roasted game birds, heritage pork porchetta, fall ramps, wild cranberries, and Appalachian heirloom cornbread. That’s just a sampling of a seasonal menu Chef Mike Costello and Amy Dawson are preparing for a unique feast at the Central Collective on December 15. Continuing a popular series of dinners at The Central Collective, the Lost Creek Farm kitchen brings its signature farm and forage style back to Tennessee. A variety of wild harvested 30

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

Thursday, Dec. 15 - Sunday, Dec. 25

ingredients will be featured on the menu, along with pastured meats and hearty late season vegetables from small farms in West Virginia and East Tennessee. Dinner is BYOB. For this special event, we’re mixing things up and offering family-style service to our guests. Tables of six can be purchased at a $50 overall discount during pre-sale until December 3. As always, individual tickets are available, but we hope you’ll bring your friends and family to celebrate the holiday with The Central Collective and Lost Creek Farm. • $75 THE SPINS • The Open Chord • 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 Saturday, Dec. 17 MARKET SQUARE HOLIDAY MARKET • Market Square • 11AM • Local vendors will line Union and Market with farm-raised holiday decor, baked goods, artisan foods, crafts, and more. Enjoy hot beverages and food from local food trucks while you shop for holiday gifts and decor.

Visit marketsquarefarmersmarket.org. • FREE Tuesday, Dec. 20 TACKY SWEATER PARTY FUNDRAISER • Downtown Grill and Brewery • 7PM • A night of live music and fun to raise funds for The Love Kitchen. All while wearing the tackiest holiday sweater you can find. • FREE Wednesday, Dec. 21 BEARDSLEY COMMUNITY FARM WINTER SOLSTICE SUPPER • OliBea • 6PM • This festive dinner will be prepared by OliBea owner and chef Jeff DeAlejandro and Chef Winter Hose. The supper will include some of Beardsley’s own produce in addition to locally sourced ingredients.

Proceeds from this dinner will support the farm’s mission to address food security issues in Knoxville through produce donations, community gardening, and education opportunities. The supper will include meat, with a vegetarian and vegan options. We will serve water, tea, coffee, and beer from Crafty Bastard Brewery. Wine will be available for sale.Special requests: Please email beardsleyfarm@gmail.com if you have any dietary restrictions or needs, to request a vegan option, and for any special seating requests (i.e., you would like to sit with friends who purchased separate tickets). To learn more about Beardsley please visit: www.beardsleyfarm. org. • $75 Thursday, Dec. 22 HAPPY KNOXVOLLIDAYS • Central Collective • 8PM • Now that it’s coming to the end of another year, how about we all come together to celebrate the holidays? We’ll have a multitude of musicians performing their own special take on holiday and Christmas tunes at The Central Collective in North Knoxville. They’ll be performing “in-the-round” style, playing with others they may never have performed with together before! Not only will it be a wonderful evening of music, but we’ll also be giving all of the proceeds to help The Love Kitchen here in Knoxville. They have been working hard in order to help the folks of our community. • $6

Send your events to calendar@knoxmercury.com

THE LONG VIEW A guide to upcoming major concerts.

SATURDAY, DEC. 31 THE BLACK LILLIES WITH ALANNA ROYALE • The Mill and Mine • 9 p.m. • $30-$50 • 18 and up GRAN TORINO • Bijou Theatre • 9 p.m. • $37

Thompson-Boling Arena • 7:30 p.m. • $34.75-$54.75 MOON TAXI • The Mill and Mine • 9 p.m. • $25-$45

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 DEERHUNTER • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $20-$22

TUESDAY, FEB. 28 THE NECKS • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $21.50

FRIDAY, JAN. 13 THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $23

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1 THE GROWLERS • The Mill and Mine • 9 p.m. • $18-$20

TUESDAY, JAN. 17 DWEEZIL ZAPPA: 50 YEARS OF FRANK • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $30-$75

FRIDAY, MARCH 3 JOSEPH WITH KELSEY KOPECKY • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $19.50

THURSDAY, JAN. 26 TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND • Tennessee Theatre • 8 p.m. • $35-$79.50

SATURDAY, MARCH 4 ATTILA WITH NEW YEARS DAY, BAD OMENS, AND CANE HILL • The Concourse • 7 p.m. • $18-$20 • All ages

MONDAY, JAN. 30 GROUPLOVE WITH SWMRS • The Mill and Mine • 8 p.m. • $25-$28

MONDAY, MARCH 6 JIMMY EAT WORLD • The Mill and Mine • 8 p.m. • $28-$32 • 18 and up

TUESDAY, JAN. 31 MOE. • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $26-$30

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15 SON VOLT • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $20

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1 YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND WITH THE RAILSPLITTERS • Bijou Theatre • 7:30 p.m. • $27.50-$30

TUESDAY, MARCH 21 REVEREND HORTON HEAT WITH UNKNOWN HINSON, GODDAMN GALLOWS, AND BIRDCLOUD • The Concourse • 8 p.m. • $22-$25 • 18 and up EARTH, WIND, AND FIRE • Tennessee Theatre • 8 p.m. • $89.50-$125

FRIDAY, FEB. 3 LUCERO WITH ESME PATTERSON • The Mill and Mine • 8 p.m. • $20-$23 • 18 and up FRIDAY, FEB. 10 PAPADOSIO WITH JAW GEMS • The International • 10 p.m. • $15-$20 • 18 and up TUESDAY, FEB. 14 SWITCHFOOT WITH RELIENT K • The Mill and Mine • 7:30 p.m. • $33.50-$36 THURSDAY, FEB. 16 RUFUS WAINWRIGHT • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $42 FRIDAY, FEB. 17 EXCISION WITH COOKIE MONSTA, BARELY ALIVE, AND DION TIMMER • The International • 10 p.m. • $29.95-$60 • 18 and up MAREN MORRIS WITH DEVIN DAWSON • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $16.50-$20 SATURDAY, FEB. 18 ST. PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES WITH WILLIAM TYLER • The Mill and Mine • 8 p.m. • $25-$28 • 18 and up WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22 THE RECORD COMPANY AND JAMESTOWN REVIVAL • Bijou Theatre • 7:30 p.m. • $20 THURSDAY, FEB. 23 MARGO PRICE • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $18 FRIDAY, FEB. 24 DAN + SHAY • Tennessee Theatre • 8 p.m. • $25-$49 MOON TAXI • The Mill and Mine • 9 p.m. • $25-$45 SATURDAY, FEB. 25 DIERKS BENTLEY WITH COLE SWINDELL AND JON PARDI •

SUNDAY, FEB. 26 BEN FOLDS • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $40

THURSDAY, MARCH 23-SUNDAY, MARCH 26 BIG EARS FESTIVAL • Downtown • $50-$165 TUESDAY, APRIL 4 RICHARD THOMPSON • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $29.50-$45 THURSDAY, APRIL 6 I LOVE THE ’90S TOUR WITH SALT-N-PEPA, ALL 4 ONE, COLOR ME BADD, COOLIO, TONE LOC, ROB BASE, AND YOUNG MC • Knoxville Civic Coliseum • 7:30 p.m. • $43-$105 FRIDAY, APRIL 7-SUNDAY, APRIL 9 DOGWOOD ARTS RHYTHM N’ BLOOMS MUSIC FESTIVAL • Downtown • $65-$190 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19 NATHANIEL RATELIFF AND THE NIGHT SWEATS • The Mill and Mine • 8 p.m. • $25-$28 • 18 and up TUESDAY, APRIL 25 SURFER BLOOD • The Concourse • 8 p.m. • $12-$15 • 18 and up WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26 DAWES • Bijou Theatre • 8 p.m. • $29 SATURDAY, APRIL 29 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE WITH DUSTIN LYNCH AND CHRIS LANE • Thompson-Boling Arena • 7 p.m. • $25-$75 SATURDAY, MAY 6 BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS PET SOUNDS: THE FINAL PERFORMANCES • Tennessee Theatre • 8 p.m. • $60-$120

"Against the assault of laughter,

"Laughter is a force

nothing can stand.�

for democracy.�

- Mark Twain

- John Cleese

40 comedians from five states are gathering in Knoxville to stand up for civil liberties. Be a part of the WHAT A JOKE National Comedy Fest taking place Inauguration Weekend in 29 cities across the country, including here in Knoxville. Proceeds from all shows will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Stand up for everyone. Join us in Knoxville for live comedy and to raise funds to defend our civil liberties at these venues:

Thursday, January 19

Friday, January 20

The Pilot Light Pretentious Glass Co.

The Central Collective Modern Studio Ironwood Studios

A full festival schedule TBA on WhatAJokeKnox.com

Advance Tickets go on sale Friday, December 16 at whatajokeknox.bpt.me $10 (Thursday only); $15 (Friday only), $20 (Full Weekend Pass) PRODUCED BY:

www.whatajokefest.com www.facebook.com/whatajokefest twitter: @whatajokefest

ADDITIONAL SPONSORS:

*WHAT A JOKE is not an affiliated entity with the ACLU. We are an independent entity donating proceeds.

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 31

FOOD

Home Palate

Speedy Tikki Tandur aims to bring fine Indian cuisine to the fast-casual dining realm

BY DENNIS PERKINS

H

32

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

masala potato chip (which, by the way, is not all that bad).

I’ll admit, my first conversations with Mr. Patel weren’t promising. As a general rule, I don’t like to visit, let alone dedicate column space, to restaurants that identify themselves by business-segment monikers. And the word concept gives me gas.

Tandur looks even less promising when you see something on the menu called a Carolina Wrap—complete with pulled pork and slaw. So much for authentic Indian cuisine, eh? And did I mention the succotash?

Still, I’m all about Team Knoxville, and as this idea for Tandur was born here, and as the Patels seem have the business expertise and chutzpah to give it legs, I went forth with an open mind. The results were, mostly, happily surprising.

Tandur is an attractive place that looks like any number of nice fast-casual joints—except for the tandoor

Photo by Dennis Perkins

.P. Patel and his brother, J.T., hope that you and your friends want more of the rich and aromatic cuisine of India and that you want it fast—say, in about 8 minutes from the time you order. The brothers Patel, who own 13 Salsaritas around East Tennessee, are the co-owners of Bearden Hill’s newest eatery, Tandur Indian Kitchen. Tandur is a concept restaurant, and one that they hope will enter the hallowed pantheon of the franchisable fast casual, fine casual, whatever-it-is-don’t-call-it-fastfood segment of the restaurant business.

Indian food has its own subset of quick cuisine eaten by millions of people from equally numerous street vendors in the many cities of the great sub-continent. You can find some of these street eats around town, usually under the heading of Mumbai chaat.

But that’s not exactly what the Patels have in mind. They’re after the sit-down deal—authentic dishes with familiar names like tikki masala, vindaloo, korma, and kadai. Dishes that require careful consideration with a proper approach to toasting spices and a cooking technique that builds big flavors without big pinches of salt. And they expect to do it better and quicker than anybody else.

H.P. Patel is all business. From the moment he begins talking about the restaurant, he becomes an encyclopedia on the subject of restaurant trends, about how Americans eat out, and what the future holds. He’s a man of the franchise, and he’s studied this business from every angle to create a niche he hopes you’ll buy into. He’s convinced that “Indian food is the next big thing.”

After all, even Lay’s has a tikki

ovens, the visible spice kitchen, and the window into the meat storage. All the animal proteins are prepped on large kebabs and hang in a chilly closet right next to the oven, so you can watch the cooking process from cold to cooked. Likewise, just to the right of the cash registers and the menu boards above them, there’s a window into the spice kitchen where the real magic of India lives.

H.P. explains that in addition to the drive for bold flavors, “The other thing that’s happening in our industry is transparency. Everybody wants to see, everybody wants to know where everything comes from, so that is why we designed the entire kitchen open… people are not as comfortable going to something that they can’t see.”

So, if you order Goan lamb, you can watch your kebab as it descends to the fiery pit of the oven. You can also see your bread being made. Tandur will offer both plain and garlic naan (but no papadum and puri) that gets patted out by hand and cooked right before your eyes in a second tandoor.

Fortunately, in addition to the business brains behind the project, there’s a culinary mind at work, too.

Hari Nayak is a successful cookbook author and restaurant consultant who, according to H.P., is in demand from Philly to Kuwait City. Chef Nayak, despite his slick Web image, is a down-to-earth, earnest guy who’s

particularly interested in getting the flavors of his homeland into the mouths and minds of as many people as he can reach.

When confronted with a little skepticism about whether Indian food, like tikki masala, is really adaptable to the fast-food format while also maintaining a genuine flavor profile, Hayak smiles and offers up a few cooking secrets.

“We do it differently here than any other restaurant,” he says. “We roast [the chicken] in the tandoor—we don’t make it and keep it ahead of time; we cook it and put it right in the sauce and serve it. The advantage of that is that the meat is juicy and tender.”

Hayak seasons the chicken with the same spices that he uses to create the signature sauce, and then uses the cooking liquid from the chicken in the sauce, too, in order to create depth and uniformity of flavor.

“It’s fine dining in terms of food, but in a quick and casual way,” he says.

“So we had to approach each of our dishes to see how we can do it quickly without losing any of the flavor.”

As we chatted, H.P. shared some chicken tikki masala along with basmati rice and a piece of naan—all

TANDUR INDIAN KITCHEN 6502 Kingston Pike 865-249-7254, tandur.com Sun.–Thu.: 11 a.m.–9 p.m., Fri.–Sat.: 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Home Palate

very nicely done. This meat was utterly tender and surprisingly moist—but, of course, it hadn’t actually been sitting in the sauce for hours with the concomitant risk of drying out. Both chicken and sauce were richly flavored and aromatic and utterly satisfying. Was it authentic?

Pretty close, I’d say, and certainly worth coming back to try again once the restaurant has settled.

I’ll certainly return for a side of okra fries—I think I could eat them as a meal. These crispy strips of okra were salty, crunchy-from-start-to-finish delights that put to shame most other attempts at crisp vegetable alternatives to French fries and chips. They tasted of okra, yes, complete with its slight earthy taste, but this incarnation highlights its nutty side. If you have trouble eating one potato chip, you may fall into a horrible addiction here.

As for other menu items, Hayak says that “When it comes to wraps and salads we’re trying to be more mainstream. People tend to think about Indian cooking as ‘oh, it’s all curry, it’s all about chicken tikki masala or heavy sauces, and, oh, I don’t like curry.’ Indian cooking is not just about curry, and when we go home we don’t eat curry as much.”

H.P. and chef Hayak also shared a steak wrap which was slathered with a yellow mustard aioli—a flavor that has strong associations for me—so instead

FOOD of having a taste of Hayak’s home I was more reminded of my own and its population of country delis serving ham sandwiches on white bread.

Likewise, the Carolina Wrap, apropos of its name, was very familiar, though seeing it on an Indian menu was strange.

“We wanted to do something with barbecue, and we wanted to do something local,” Hayak explains. “So essentially the pork is slow-cooked in Indian spices and we use a tamarind chutney and we blend it with our own recipe for barbecue [sauce].”

Still, the wrap is full of the taste of home—my home, that is; even the tamarind chutney seems like something an adventurous Maryville cook might use for an edge in a BBQ challenge.

And what about that succotash… ?

“Home cooking in India is very different [from restaurant food],” Hayak says. “Our succotash is basically what we call in India subji—a vegetable dish which we eat at home as an everyday meal where there’s no sauce. But here we use the familiarity of things that people like to eat but give it a core Indian flavor without diluting what Indian cooking is all about. The fi rst time someone walks in here we want then to feel as comfortable as somebody who knows Indian food. We want everybody to be here and enjoy. That’s why the menu is very diverse.”

The difficulty about franchises and chains is that when they strive to appeal to as many eaters as possible, they suffer an almost inevitable disconnect from real food and a true sense of place.

Furthermore, they often fall victim to supply chains and corporate demands for ever-escalating profit margins mandate economies of scale. Once upon a time, Taco Bell received daily produce deliveries with full heads of lettuce, boxes of tomatoes, and bags of onions that had to be washed, shredded, sliced, and diced daily. Even the beans arrived dried and awaited their turn in a couple of giant pressure cookers before a powerful swirl with the fabulous bean drill. I understand that these are now quaint customs lost to the mists of time. Let’s hope Tandur walks a different path.◆

OYSTERS & BEER EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR! $1 SELECT FRESH OYSTERS & DOMESTIC DRAFT BEER EVERY DAY FROM 4-6 PM $5 SMALL PLATES

To include Shrimp or Fish Tacos, Crawfish Dip, Seasonal Scallops, Shrimp Skewers & Fried Oysters

HOLIDAY GIFT CARDS! $5 Free with every $25 Purchased

5200 Kingston Pike • 219-5714 (next to Nama Sushi Bar) A NAMA AFFILIATED CONCEPT

A NAMA AFFILIATED CONCEPT

shuckrawbar.com

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 33

shop local

THIS SPACE BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Dine. Shop. Play.

Downtown & Market Square

Tis the season to

JOIN US IN SUPPORTING THE KNOXVILLE MERCURY! 435 Union Ave. nothingtoofancy.com

“ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE ACCURATE. NONE OF THEM IS THE TRUTH.” — RICHARD AVEDON

for the

Holidays!

517 Union Ave Knoxville, TN 37902 865.951.2180

www.unionavebooks.com

34

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

12 MARKET SQUARE 7240 KINGSTON PIKE #172 KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 37902 KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 37919 865-637-4067 865-584-1075 theTomatoHead.com

*We are closed for holiday from 12/25/2016 and we reopen on 1/9/2017

865-387-8275 706 Walnut St, Knoxville, TN

yassin’s falafel house

Do you have an existing photo series of life around Knoxville?

We’re on the lookout for new views of our city’s many different neighborhoods—and we’ll feature them in our Howdy section.

For more information or to submit samples, email tricia@knoxmercury.com.

TOP BREAKFAST TOP MEAL THAT’S A STEAL

Great Food, Great Service, Great Value!

from your friends at Pete’s!

540 Union Ave. Knoxville, TN 37902 (865) 523-2860

www.petescoffeeshop.com Monday-Friday: 6:30 am-2:30pm Saturday: 7 am-2 pm

Open Lunch & Dinner

Tuesday - Saturday Lunch 11:30 - 3 •|• Dinner 5 - 10, Open until midnight on Saturday Take-Out Available | Gift Cards Available W CLINCH AVE NEXT TO THE YWCA

- - WWW KNOXKAIZEN COM

Curated libations for all your holiday occasions.

Downtown Knoxville's only wine + spirits shop since 2007.

Offering artisan spirits, naturally made wines and a rotating beer selection.

Follow us on Instagram (@dtwineandspiritsknox) for weekly specials and tastings.

407 S. Gay Street • 865-525-7575 • Mon - Thurs 11AM - 10PM • Fri - Sat 11AM - 11PM December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 35

’BYE

Sacred & P rofane

Lit From Within A Christmas parade of Knoxville moments

BY DONNA JOHNSON

O

n the Saturday morning after Knoxville’s annual Christmas parade, I saw a mournful-looking paper plate with two half-eaten Christmas cookies on it, one with green icing and one with red. Having forgotten to eat breakfast, I thought about eating the cookies myself—and even looked around for witnesses— but I was able to restrain myself.

There is something so melancholy after a great celebration is over, as if the place itself feels abandoned and forlorn, with crumpled, colored napkins blown this way and that, a child’s antlers dropped and left behind, red and green lights turning on and off in the rain under the morning’s dark sky. It was hard to imagine the joy and laughter from last night’s festivities in the leftover gloom of a rainy winter’s day.

The previous night was an altogether different story…

Dutifully trudging up the street for First Friday, exhausted, I was surprised when a very nice woman invited me to come and have cookies and hot chocolate in the Presbyterian church on the way from the KAT bus station to Market Square. Although I didn’t much feel like going, I didn’t want to refuse such graciousness.

Walking up the steps, I was led by guides to the majestic white church at the top, and for an instant I imagined I was walking into the many mansions of heaven. There were brownies and cookies of all sorts served by kind women, and there was a feeling of love and goodwill all around.

Back outside on Gay Street, little girls and mothers wore matching

36

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

antlers that flickered on and off in the dark. Little boys sat cross-legged, fidgeting with great excitement as they waited for the parade to begin. With their innocent, shining eyes and rosy cheeks, they seemed lit from within by some secret essence of purity that set them apart from the adult world.

Where does it go, I wondered?

Did we get too smart, too sophisticated that we lost the joie de vivre that is our natural birthright? Perhaps if we simplified our lives, ran less hard and fast, had less meaningless conversations, and settled down inside ourselves, we might regain the joy of children. We have not lost it, we have only lost contact with it for a time.

Onward I walked, through vendors selling all kinds of Christmas lights: some to put on dogs along with jingling bells, others for around the wheels of bicycles, yet more to put in your hair. I love those kinds of things, and after awhile the Christmas spirit began to take hold of me as I stood watching the ice skaters—some falling, some skating, and some holding onto the rail.

I never learned to ice skate, but my greatest joy as a child was roller-skating ’round and ’round the rink as Ray Charles sang “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” It was a great heartbreak for me when they folded up the tent over the rink, packed up, and moved on to another town, allegedly because the skating rink owner (who was quite glamorous) was having an affair with the organist of the First Baptist Church, who was married.

As soon as the parade began, I walked away, for even as I child I did

not like parades. I didn’t like cartoons, either, and even less so the circus, except for the lady riding bareback on a horse. I was obsessed with horses for awhile, and when I got a life-size, walking, talking doll on my 10th Christmas, I almost wept with disappointment. I had wanted a magnificent, white Lipizzano stallion, which I would name Forio, after Tippi Hedren’s horse in the movie Marnie— the one she rode wildly down the meadows until he stumbled and fell, and she had to shoot him.

In Krutch Park, someone had set up a manger scene with a photographer. A young father called out to his bride and four children, “They’re taking pictures and they’re free.”

Hearing this, people fell over each other to be first in line for a free photograph with their family.

On a telephone pole next to the skating rink was an exquisite shawl with muted colors of gray, pale pink, and blue. On it was a note tied with a ribbon, which read: “I am not lost. If you are cold, please take me and warm yourself.”

I was unable to stop myself. I took the shawl and wrapped it around my shoulders. Its softness and beauty made me feel as if a tender lover had just wrapped his arms around me. I felt so cared for—but every act has a consequence, and within seconds I was suffused with guilt. I went to Fizz and gulped down a couple of glasses of wine. The guilt was too much for

me. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and said: “You know very well that shawl was not meant for you, you low-life scoundreless!”

So for once I did the next right thing. Not only did I pin the shawl and the note back on the telephone pole, I also nailed my favorite leather coat with the hood next to it and added my own note: “May grace abide in you and yours.”

I walked away feeling as holy as the Virgin Mary, and I was rewarded—for on South Gay Street I walked inside a store where there were paintings of women so eloquent and moving that they took my breath away.

I sat and stared at these paintings for a long while. There was suffering in the faces of these women, but there was also joy, power, and everything that women have endured over the ages. But most of all, there was a great love of humanity and a deep comprehension of the human condition. I felt transported, enlightened, and transformed.

Finally, I left the store and walked away from all the tinsel and bright lights—which are the antithesis of Christ, in my opinion—and into the darkness of night. Remembering the paintings on South Gay Street, I felt I had been given a great gift. I touched my heart and did the sign of the cross for the painter, who must surely be intimately acquainted with everything that Christ was about: love, compassion, and forgiveness. ◆

On a telephone pole next to the skating rink was an exquisite shawl with muted colors of gray, pale pink, and blue.

On it was a note tied with a ribbon.

A vibrant district along Central Street and Broadway.

Downtown North

consistently voted

HOLIDAY TREATS

TUESDAY 25% Off Bottles Of Wine

headed your way!

WEDNESDAY Trivia Night & Pint Night THURSDAY Whiskey Night $1 off all Artist: Tommy Davis

1020 N. Broadway 865-971-3983 www.sainttattoo.com

MAKE EVERY DAY A

HOLLY DAY!

MONDAY Central Originals for $5 after 7pm

Happy Hour 3-7pm

Savannah Mercantile specializing in Sizes XL - 3XL

1211 N. Central St Knoxville, TN 37917

Stop in Late for Nightly Specials

’

$6 Daily Lunch Specials Ever changing. Always delicious.

Created only from the freshest local ingredients.

842 N. Central Ave 851-7854 AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE PARTIES!

hollyseventfuldining.com

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/savannahmercantile for new arrivals and promotions

Open till 3am Wed-Sat Open till 1am Sun, Mon, & Tue 1204 Central St., Knoxville 865.247.0392 flatsandtaps.com December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 37

’BYE

Spir it of the Staircase

BY MATTHEW FOLTZ-GRAY

38

KNOXVILLE MERCURY December 15, 2016

www.thespiritofthestaircase.com

’BYE

BY IAN BLACKBURN AND JACK NEELY

CLASSIFIEDS

Support the Knoxville Mercury and sell your stuff by purchasing an ad in our classifieds section.

HOUSING

JOBS

NORTH KNOXVILLE’S PREMIER RENTAL HOMES Leasing adorable and affordable homes in north Knoxville since 1977.

PittmanProperties.com

FOR SALE

MARYVILLE’S FAIR TRADE SHOP. Unique gifts from around the globe. Hours: Wednesdays 2-8 pm and Sundays 8:30-9:15 am and 11:30 am-12:15 pm. Monte Vista Baptist Church 1735 Old Niles Ferry Road. For more information call 865/982-6070.

WHOLE FOODS PREP PERSON NEEDED - NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. 865-588-1010. Sprouting, fermenting, dehydrating skills helpful. Flexible PT schedule.

We’re in the process of adding more locations, so if the distribution point closest to you is all out, check our map for another place nearby.

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

PART-TIME RETAIL MERCHANDISER needed to merchandise Hallmark products at various retail stores in the Knoxville area. To apply, please visit: https://hallmark. candidatecare.com EOE Women/Minorities/ Disabled/Veterans.

JUDY - is a gorgeous 6 yr old domestic shorthair mix looking for her new family! Does your family have room for this wonderful girl? She is free with our Merry Cat mass’ adoption special.

Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.

TINSEL - is a gorgeous 2 yr old Domestic shorthair mix. He loves to play and is ready to grow up with a loving family. Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-2156599 for more information.

LIZ - is a fun loving, curious 3 yr old looking for her forever home!

This lady is microchipped and UTD on shots. She can’t wait to find a family to snuggle and play with.

Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.

LUCKY - is a gentle, snuggly, 7 yr old Retriever mix who’s UTD on shots and ready to rock ‘n roll! Don’t miss out on all the fun you can have with this guy! Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.

PLANNING YOUR HOLIDAY GIVING? give the gift of local, Independent Journalism By making a donation to the Knoxville Mercury, you’ll help us fulfill our mission to report stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told. You’ll be teaming up with an entire community of engaged citizens who want more from their local media.

DONATE

We’ve got a map for that!

COMMUNITY

NEED PART TIME OVERNIGHT CAREGIVERFriday & Saturday nights 6pm - 7am. $9.00/hr. In Knoxville College area.

865-384-7857.

YAMAHA HTR 5750 RECEIVER - 350 Watts, Front, Rear, Surround & Bass. Speakers not included. $150.00 call 865-235-4968.

IS YOUR LOCATION OUT OF THE KNOXVILLE MERCURY?

Place your ad at store.knoxmercury.com

knoxmercury.com/donate

For information on tax-deductible donations, contact us at info@knoxmercury.com

December 15, 2016

KNOXVILLE MERCURY 39

Your Downtown Experience Begins Here 129 S. Gay St # 201

Selling?? I will market your property here!

Considering Buying or Selling a Downtown property? Call Melinda Grimac today for a personal property evaluation.

Call today for an appointment!

MELINDA GRIMAC | Affiliate Broker | o. 865.357.3232 | c. 865-356-4178 Melinda.Grimac@SothebysRealty.com | melindagrimac.alliancesothebysrealty.com Each office is independently owned and operated

Nestled in the 100 Block of Gay Street, owners enjoy the vibrant residential scene with wonderful restaurants and shops. Just a short walk away are both Market Square and The Old City adding to the list of fun downtown activities. Original hardwood floors glow from the natural light from the large front windows back to the multiple French doors that lead out onto a private covered balcony just off the oversized master suite.

Solid wood cabinetry, granite countertops, ss appliances, extra storage, and an open floor plan are just a few more wonderful traits of this great space!

Only 1 unit available, at 1,771 sq ft