WE WANT ANOTHER SNOW DAY
JANUARY 12, 2017 KNOXMERCURY.COM V.
3 / N.1
DREAMBIKES
NEW SERIES!
SEEED
Meet fellow citizens who are striving to move Knoxville ahead L5 FOUNDATION
TREES KNOXVILLE
NEWS
Does KCS Zoning Ensure Black Neighborhoods Never Get New Schools?
JACK NEELY
Knoxville, Naked: The Things You Notice When the Leaves Are Gone
MUSIC
Dweezil Zappa’s Legal Battle to Perform His Father’s Music
CATHERINE LANDIS
TN Billboard Owner Threatens the Highway Beautification Act
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
Jan. 12, 2017 Volume 03 / Issue 01 knoxmercury.com
CONTENTS
“There is only one day left, always starting over: it is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk.” —Jean-Paul Sartre
NEWS
11 Q&A: Amber Parker
14 Press Forward
COVER STORY
Amber Parker, a veteran naturalist with Smoky Mountain roots, will be Ijams Nature Center’s new executive director. Thomas Fraser chats with her about the new gig.
Good things are happening in Knoxville. Although our Facebook feeds may be overwhelmed with worrisome news from around the globe, we can all take some comfort in the fact that we can still make a difference right here at home. And that’s what we’ll be focusing on throughout 2017 in a new section called Press Forward: In each issue, we will put our spotlight on someone who is pursuing their vision for a better Knoxville and East Tennessee. In this issue, meet DreamBikes, SEEED, Trees Knoxville, and the L5 Foundation.
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.
12 Busing to the ’Burbs
How can black, inner-city neighborhoods get new schools if the Knox County school district keeps busing those students to the suburbs? This conundrum is causing frustration among some East Knoxville parents and the Knoxville branch of the NAACP, as Knox County Schools seeks feedback about rezoning most middle schools. S. Heather Duncan reports.
DEPARTMENTS
OPINION
A&E
4 Letters to the Editor 6 Howdy
8 Scruffy Citizen
20 Program Notes: Let’s all Testify! at
25 Spotlights: Inner Voices String
9 Much Ado
21 Inside the Vault: Eric Dawson
FOOD & DRINK
Start Here: By the Numbers, Public Affairs, and Local Life by Marissa Highfill
44 ’Bye
Finish There: Restless Native by Chris Wohlwend and That ’70s Girl by Angie Vicars. Plus: Crooked Street Crossword by Ian Blackburn and Jack Neely, Spirit of the Staircase by Matthew Foltz-Gray, and Mulberry Place Cryptoquote by Joan Keuper .
Jack Neely seeks a new architecture for Knoxville (that does not involve four wheels). Catherine Landis looks at a lawsuit that aims to deregulate billboards by defining them as “content.”
CALENDAR Scruffy City Hall’s new rare-groove dance party. Plus: more Big Ears announcements. screens some vintage Gatlinburg vacation films.
22 Music: Ryan Reed gets the
lowdown from Dweezil Zappa’s family feud.
23 Movies: Nathan Smith ponders Things to Come.
24 Art: Denise Stewart-Sanabria
previews the work of artists Gary Monroe and Timothy Massey.
Quartet, The Love Witch, Shelter From the Storm ACLU Benefit.
40 Home Palate
Dennis Perkins overcomes his resistance to cute names to enjoy some tacos at Chivo.
OUTDOORS
42 Voice in the Wilderness
Kim Trevathan stays inside to watch movies that make him want to go outside. January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 3
LETTERS Delivering Fine Journalism Since 2015
WE APPROVE THIS MESSAGE
Week after week, I pick up an issue of the Knoxville Mercury at Food City, Three Rivers Coop, or somewhere downtown, with palpable anticipation. There are dependably informative and/or entertaining history and/or journalistic articles by regular contributors; a fascinating full-page article of local history connected to some current event; a more-than-respectable collection of pieces about the local music, movie, and art scenes; thorough listings of local meetings and events; and on one of the back pages there is a weekly column of actual literary writing by one of several award-winning, locally-based, nationally published authors who offer their columns based apparently on their love of East Tennessee and its people, along with seeming respect for the Mercury. The point of this letter is to celebrate what an amazing and almost unique publication East Tennessee has with the Mercury. In an age of declining print journalism, the Mercury has a stronger, more literate, balanced, and experienced staff than many daily papers—in my humble opinion. But the Mercury is an expensive, high-quality operation, even though contributors and most of the staff work for little or no remuneration. If anyone is not aware of this by now, it’s time to wake up. East Tennessee needs to support this amazing weekly newspaper! And this is up to not only advertisers but also to us, the readers. The News Sentinel—even with its struggles to survive that plague most dailies across the country are experiencing— stays afloat in part by way of subscription payments. The Mercury is FREE! And it’s more satisfying to read! I encourage all readers to go to knoxmercury.com, click on “Donate” at the top of the page, and show your palpable support by throwing a few bucks their way periodically if not regularly. And/or Google Knoxville History Project, where you can make a tax-free contribution to the nonprofit owner of the Mercury. 4
KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
The outlets that I visit where the Mercury is dropped off each Thursday usually run out of issues before the following week’s supply arrives; a lot of people seem to be reading the Mercury. And many more of us must be reading online. So readers are out there; just because we can get the paper for free does not mean there is no cost! Of course, also support the advertisers—speak to them if you can, to let them know you are doing business because they support your favorite newspaper. All of us—the staff, the readers, and advertisers—must work together for the greater good. Just as our troubled country will thrive only if people become less self-centered and more cooperative, the microcosm of a caring community that practices beyond self-interest is required to keep this paper healthy. By extension, a healthy Knoxville Mercury supports a healthy metropolitan Knoxville. Every city of course needs a daily NEWSpaper, but the Mercury gives us stories, quality, and depth that we won’t see anywhere else. Don’t be one of the people who lets others be responsible; if we all give a little, it will make a difference. Then maybe someday, all the contributors can be paid what they’re worth. Chaz Barber Knoxville
ED. NOTE:
No, we did not pay Mr. Barber for his letter. (We can’t afford to.) If you are inspired by his message, then there are several ways you can support the Mercury and its mission to provide Knoxville with in-depth, independent journalism: • Send us a direct, non-tax-deductible donation! You can use your credit card in our online store, or you can send a check to: Knoxville Mercury 618 S. Gay St., Suite L2 Knoxville, TN 37902
• Take out an ad! Got a business or service you’d like to tell our readers about? We’ve got a variety of plans to make that happen. Want to support your favorite charity while also supporting independent journalism? We can craft marketing campaigns for them and help bump up the sizes and frequency. Just drop us a line: Charlie Vogel, publisher 865-313-2048 sales@knoxmercury.com • Make a tax-deductible donation to the Knoxville History Project! The KHP is an educational 501(c)(3) whose mission is to research and promote the history of Knoxville. It’s also our governing body, and we help fulfill its mission with our coverage of Knoxville history and culture. You can make online donations at knoxvillehistoryproject.org, or contact KHP director Jack Neely at: jack@knoxhistoryproject.org.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR GUIDELINES
• Letter submissions should include a verifiable name, address, and phone number. We do not print anonymous letters. • We much prefer letters that address issues that pertain specifically to Knoxville or to stories we’ve published. • We don’t publish letters about personal disputes or how you didn’t like your waiter at that restaurant. • Letters are usually published in the order that we receive them. Send your letters to: Our Dear Editor, Knoxville Mercury 618 S. Gay St., Suite L2 Knoxville, TN 37902 Send an email to: editor@knoxmercury.com Or message us at: facebook.com/knoxmercury
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 Thomas Fraser thomas@knoxmercury.com CONTRIBUTORS Chris Barrett Catherine Landis Ian Blackburn Dennis Perkins Patrice Cole Stephanie Piper Eric Dawson Ryan Reed George Dodds Eleanor Scott Lee Gardner Alan Sherrod Mike Gibson Nathan Smith Carey Hodges April Snellings Nick Huinker Joe Sullivan Donna Johnson Kim Trevathan Tracy Jones Chris Wohlwend Rose Kennedy Angie Vicars Carol Z. Shane INTERNS Hayley Brundige
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 PHOTOGRAPHY INTERN Marissa Highfill
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
TH E PR IDE OF TH E SOU THLA N D BA N D U T ’ s fa m o u s m a r c h i n g b a n d h a s a h i s t o r y m u c h o l d e r t h a n i t s n a m e .
Field, UT’s first on-campus football field, at the southeastern corner of Cumberland Avenue and what’s now Phillip Fulmer Way.
Just after the Civil War, when what was then known as East Tennessee University was partly military in its focus. The college sponsored a tiny “cadet band,” perhaps not a very good one. When the university needed a band for its ow n commencement ceremonies, they hired a local town band. However, by 1876, the cadet band accompanied some university functions. In 1879, the university, now called the University of Tennessee, hired a remarkable part-time music instructor. Originally from Leipzig, Germany, Gustavus Knabe (1817-1906) had once been a member of Felix Mendelssohn’s famous orchestra. Knabe—who probably pronounced his name like “Ka-nobbeh”—had served as a military musician for the Union army during the Civil War, and settled in Knoxville, where he founded a brass band of German immigrants and Knoxville’s first symphony orchestra. In 1871 he began working as a musical instructor at the university, training the cadet band and founding a “cornet band” in 1879. At f irst, t he un iversit y d iscouraged publ ic performances, refusing to let the band travel as far as Maryville for a show, insisting the musicians “needed every hour for their lessons.” However, by 1877, they were making regional concert tours. By the 1880s, Knabe’s band had grown to 15 members (one of whom was William Gibbs McAdoo, future U.S. Secretary of the Treasury!).
Knabe died suddenly at age 50 in 1914, succeeded by a series of directors who expanded the band to 85 members in the 1930s. By then, the band sometimes performed halftime shows at football games. A fter 1940, under “Major” Walter Ryba—a former member of the band of John Philip Sousa, America’s most famous military band — promoted the growth of the band to almost 100 members, many of them World War II veterans who had performed in military bands before.
Now boasting 330 members, and about 20 times bigger than some of its predecessors of the post-Civil War period, the Pride of the Southland Band has entertained football fans and marched in formation through much of American history, participating in 12—soon to be 13—presidential inaugurations.
UT’s band became known as the Pride of the Southland Band in 1949, reportedly at the suggestion of Knoxville Journal columnist Ed Harris. However, much of the modern Pride of the Southland Band evolved in the 1960s. W.J. Julian, a Navy combat veteran of World War II, had studied music at Northwestern University, near Chicago. Julian (1922-2015) took the job of band leader in 1961 and proceeded to make the Pride of the Southland Band what we know today, instituting the famous circle drill and the T. In 1972, he also introduced a rousing brass version of a recent country hit, “Rocky Top.”
According to the official UT history, To Foster Knowledge, Prof. Julian “produced a top-notch unit that could lay honest claim to its nickname.”
Several years after Prof. Knabe retired in 1887, another Knabe appeared. William Knabe, Gustavus’s son, was a UT graduate, a legal scholar who became a UT law-school instructor, a justice of the peace, and an elected representative who served for 20 years on Knox County Court, the county’s governing body. He was also a musician, and led a band for a Tennessee regiment in the Spanish-American War. In 1899, UT hired him to be the band master.
In 1965, at the inauguration of President Lyndon Johnson, Julian’s band began a tradition of marching in presidential inaugural parades. The Pride band performed in more consecutive inaugurals than any other civilian group, greeting eight presidents of both parties. However, in 2013 the inaugural committee opted to invite a Kingsport high-school band to represent Tennessee.
He trained the band’s 16 members, instituting daily practices (an hour every morning!) and a weekly “dress parade” every Wednesday at Wait
Next Friday’s presidential inauguration will be the marching band’s 13th inaugural parade.
The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Lawson McGhee Library Image courtesy of the Debra Hendrix Photography • flickr.com/photos/dhendrix
Source
T h e K n ox v i l l e H i s to ry P r o j ec t, a n o n p r o fi t o r g a n iz at i o n d e vot e d to t h e p r o m ot i o n o f a n d ed u c at i o n a b o u t t h e h i s to ry o f K n ox v i l l e , p r e s en t s t h i s pag e e ac h w e e k to r a i s e awa r en e s s o f t h e t h em e s , p er s o n a l i t i e s , a n d s to r i e s o f o u r u n i q u e c i t y. L e a r n m o r e at
knoxvillehistoryproject.org
o r em a i l
jack@knoxhistoryproject.org
January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 5
thinkstock.com
HOWDY BY THE NUMBERS
Snow Fight Through the first week of January, Knoxville saw a total of 2 inches of snow mercilessly descend upon its streets. Knoxville and Knox County were ready, by God. Here’s what those snow flakes had waiting for them. KNOXVILLE
20,000 gallons of brine 2,000 tons of rock salt 500 gallons of calcium chloride, used in
extreme temperatures
23 trucks used for plowing and salting 6 trucks used for brine application KNOX COUNTY
LOCAL LIFE | Photo by Marissa Highfill The Smoky Mountain Hiking Club ended the year with a special hike at Panther Creek State Park, joined by the East Tennessee Chapter of the Tennessee Trail Association. Organizers Chris Hamilton and Mindy Fawner said the group of over 600 members hikes every week and has been hiking as a group since it was establised in 1924. The group also helps maintain sections of the Appalachian Trail. To learn more and join a hike, visit their website at smhclub.org. To see more photos of the hike, visit knoxmercury.com.
30,000 gallons of brine 4,500 tons of road salt 5,000 gallons of calcium chloride in storage 14 trucks that can be equipped with spreaders for brine or granular road salt
17 snow plows that can be attached to dump trucks as needed
17 four-wheel-drive trucks that can be
equipped with smaller snow plows for narrow roads Sources: City of Knoxville and Knox County communications departments
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
1/12 MEETING: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN
1/13 PRESENTATION: COMMUNITY CONVERSATION
5:30 p.m., John T. O’Connor Senior Center (611 Winona St.). Free. The city of Knoxville’s Department of Community Development will present updates to its Five-Year Consolidated Plan, which focuses on strengthening neighborhoods; promoting economic development; reducing and ending homelessness; and promoting affordable housing.
6:30 p.m., Beck Cultural Exchange Center (1927 Dandridge Ave.). Free. The theme of this year’s Community Conversation series is “Standing Together For Justice and Equality.” Hosted by the Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center, the forum includes presentations by Clarence Vaughn, Rebecca Husain, Angel Ibarra, and Melanie Barron on the “elevated threat level to at-risk communities and people.”
THURSDAY
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
FRIDAY
1/19 MEETING: PARC
THURSDAY
6 p.m., Overcoming Believers Church (211 Harriet Tubman St.). Free. The city’s Police Advisory & Review Committee’s quarterly meeting is open to the public, inviting citizens to bring their concerns and questions regarding the Knoxville Police Department. To sign up to speak at the meeting, contact Lisa Chambers at 865-215-3966. Info: knoxvilletn.gov/parc/.
1/23 MEETING: HISTORIC EAST KNOXVILLE MONDAY
6 p.m., Burlington Branch, Knox County Public Library (4617 Asheville Hwy.). Free. Knox Heritage is hosting this forum to encourage dialogue and action-plans for the preservation and improvement of historic East Side neighborhoods. Bonus: a free dinner will be served! RSVP at hcook@knoxheritage.org.
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January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 7
SCRUFFY CITIZEN
Knoxville, Naked The things you notice when the leaves are gone BY JACK NEELY
I
t’s a new year. We need a municipal resolution. There’s a common assessment of my old employer, Metro Pulse, one of those paradoxical aphorisms that seems to explain the whole thing away: We were a victim of our own success. We should have known better, a friend said, than to be so convincing. All of our campaigns succeeded. People ride bikes to work 100 times more than they used to. We have many more microbreweries, now even wineries and distilleries. We have more live music in more nightclubs. We have much, much better festivals. Thousands live downtown now. It’s easier to walk around the city. Buying local is a thing. And, dear to my heart, Knoxville’s much more cognizant of its unique and sometimes peculiar history than it used to be, when people used to vaguely refer to it as a college town in the Appalachians. And that history is often instructive, even inspiring, about those other presumably modern ideals. Even the ancient Market Square farmers’ market, which when we started was represented by one stubborn old man with a few bushels of stuff in the corner, came roaring back and now draws thousands. All those ideals were throttled in cover stories and multiple columns in the 1990s. Columns are easy. Other people did the hard work. Movie theaters downtown? A radio station with a live daily show of indigenous music? A Knoxville Marathon? An avant-garde music festival
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
that’s internationally famous? An innovative local tamale stand? A quarter century ago, when I got into this weird business, all that was crazy talk. I sometimes thought people read Metro Pulse just to shake their heads and chortle. What’s next? Has Knoxville finally arrived? I hear my 26-year-old daughter and her friends talk about their hometown in very different tones than anyone did when I was that age. I’d be interested to hear from readers about what Knoxville still lacks. One persistent problem is most evident this time of year.
I’ve recently seen lots of out of state plates. People from all over the country, visiting Knoxville for the holidays. Winter is no time to show off our hometown. What colder months do, November through February, is demonstrate once again, as if we didn’t remember from last year, what we look like naked. We learn, again, how much we depend on natural foliage to consider ourselves presentable. Look around. Every neighborhood is gorgeous in July. I’ve driven travel journalists around town in summer. Even in our most modest, untended neighborhoods, they always say, “Wow, this is beautiful.” Everywhere there’s a forgiving canopy of green. Without the broad green leaves, though, we see ourselves as we really are.
It was in the bleak midwinter 36 years ago that Wall Street Journal writer Susan Harrigan had a look around and dismissed Knoxville as a “scruffy little city.” We’ve learned to be proud of that adjective, but she intended it in a limiting way, implying Knoxville was a disorderly, unkempt town with little curb appeal, and little potential. This time of year, we can still see Harrigan’s Knoxville clearly. In winter, most of Knoxville still looks like Anywhere, or worse. Anywhere with a nasty cold. I’m a little proud, and a little concerned, that there’s an official commercial paint color called “Knoxville Gray.” It’s a rich gray, with some greenish-bluish complexity to it. It looks better than most of Knoxville does this week. Knoxville in winter has a few agreeable spots. Almost all of them parts of town that we developed a long time ago, before I was born. With very few exceptions, we don’t build pretty anymore. And since there’s more and more buildings that are bland and unnoticeable, what we do notice are the bright colors. And for the most part, the bright colors are on things that aren’t supposed to be there. When the leaves are brown and the grass is beige, what we notice about Knoxville is the trash. Beer cans, 20-ounce plastic Coke bottles, a bright orange shredded-plastic pompom, Styrofoam cups from a drive-through that advertises on TV. It’s how we assert ourselves, prove to people of the future that we were here. Use a Styrofoam cup once. Whether it makes it to the landfill or not, it will outlast its user by several centuries. It’s in every neighborhood. Even wealthy people’s lawns. Maybe even especially wealthy people’s lawns,
because they’re the ones who are so often out of town, and not there to notice. In the commercial stretches, it’s worse. What Knoxville is, many visitors come to learn, is lots and lots of asphalt, plastic signage that was designed for us in South Bend or Anaheim, and cheap architecture that’s not architecture at all. And maybe, more than the bright-colored trash, the bright-colored cars. Modern automobiles are designed to intimidate. When we buy a car, it’s not just a means of transportation. It’s our personal monster, protecting us from a mean world, perhaps expressing the suppressed indignation almost all of us harbor about something. Cars look uncompromising and invincible. Until the first ding, at least. Even cars that appear to be designed for supersonic speeds spend most of their short lives sitting still, squatting in parking lots and driveways. In a parking lot, cars look like wasps who died angry. And in Knoxville, cars are our most conspicuous architecture. Drive down Kingston Pike just once, and you’ll see 20,000 of them. A favorite restaurant rebuilt, and over the holiday I heard about their heroic fight against a neighborhood’s new guidelines for improving itself. It’s their right to have a parking lot in front. That’s the way our granddaddies did it, dadburn it. It’s their right to make their city look like cars. Maybe that’s our next frontier. Suburban architecture that’s not designed in Detroit. If we can figure out how to do that, we can make this city look like something even in the wintertime. Let’s build some actual architecture, the sort of thing people will think of when they think of Knoxville. ◆
Winter is no time to show off our hometown. We learn, again, how much we depend on natural foliage to consider ourselves presentable.
MUCH ADO
The Common Good Can one billboard owner threaten Tennessee’s beauty? BY CATHERINE LANDIS
I
was only 9 when the Highway Beautification Act passed in 1965 but I remember it—not because I was some 4th grade public policy nut, but because the woman who championed it had such a pretty name. Lady Bird. The law itself may not have fascinated me as much as that name, nor can I claim to have thought much about billboards, public spaces, or the common good, but I grew up in an outdoors-loving family and spent half my childhood playing in the woods, so I understood natural beauty. When a cherished swath of farmland was sacrificed for a new freeway, I remember grieving as if I’d lost a friend. Had that freeway been littered by jostling billboards, the loss would have been even harder. But it wasn’t. Thanks to the Highway Beautification Act. We are coming close to gutting Lady Bird’s vision of a thriving country proud of its beautiful public spaces with a lawsuit brought by Memphis billboard owner William Thomas against the state. To understand the basis of his argument requires a leap into the twilight zone. Here goes: Specific regulations govern off-premise signs (for instance, a McDonald’s billboard not on McDonald’s property). But to know whether a sign is off-premise, you have to read it. In his lawsuit, Thomas is claiming that the very act of reading the sign turns it into content, so regulations based on location cannot apply. Regulating content violates free speech. Sound surreal? Yes, but this is no joke. The suit is more complicated,
involving Supreme Court rulings and technical distinctions between various types of signs, but in essence Thomas is attempting to demolish both state and federal Highway Beautification Act protections in the name of “free speech.” He has help. The Beacon Center of Tennessee, a libertarian group with Koch Brothers ties and a history of helping to defeat such “freedom killers” as Insure Tennessee, filed an amicus brief on behalf of Thomas. Scenic Tennessee and Scenic Knoxville, joined by multiple state and national organizations, filed amici brief in response. To our credit, the city of Knoxville was the only city to join, adding our East Tennessee voices to the cause of keeping Tennessee beautiful. An advisory jury unanimously ruled in September against Thomas, but the final decision is up to U.S. District Judge Jon P. McCalla. A ruling for the plaintiff could set a precedent nationwide, allowing for unbridled proliferation of billboards on federal roads, and that’s not just interstates. It’s Kingston Pike, Magnolia Avenue, Asheville Highway, Rutledge Pike, Chapman Highway, Clinton Highway, any many more. Behind the lawsuit is the belief that sign regulations are anti-business. Just the opposite, says Joyce Feld, president of Scenic Knoxville. “When you allow sign clutter and tawdry ugliness to populate your city, that’s anti-business. Because that’s not where people want to be,” Feld says. “That’s not where people want to
live, shop, and play. They’re looking for beauty. That’s what soothes their soul. Ultimately, if you create a beautiful city, you’ll draw in high-quality commercial investment.” Still, it remains popular these days, especially here in Tennessee, to characterize government regulations as tyranny. Until the day you might need one or two to protect you and your family—like when Mr. Hog Farmer wants to move in next door with his containment pond of feces. These same don’t-tread-on-me champions show their hypocritical stripes when they advocate for the “broken windows” theory of urban policing, suggesting that crackdowns on small crimes such as littering and vandalism create an environment that decreases serious crime. It also just happens to encourage stop-and-frisk, a favorite law-enforcement technique to control communities of color. So in one context, the litterers are criminals; in another they are freedom fighters? While the motivation for “broken windows” is dubious, the idea that beautiful spaces can make people feel better is not. Want to see how fast unrestrained billboard clutter could suck the soul from a city? In the Libertarian dream world, billboard owners like Thomas can shield themselves in gated neighborhoods protected by regulations—oops, I mean “neighborhood covenants”— while the rest of us chumps are left with their litter. Public spaces. The common good. I’m often struck by what happens on a crowded subway in a busy city when the train stops and more people get on than off. People make room. They scrunch up, turn sideways, draw bags closer, move
hands from poles to overhead rungs. They make themselves smaller. Kinder. They accommodate for the sake of the common good. Taking up more space, two seats instead of one, would be considered rude. We don’t have subways in Tennessee but we have kindergartens. And what do we expect from our 5-year-olds when the plate of cookies is passed around? Thomas and his friends at the Beacon Center want to live in a world where they get all the cookies. And they might get their wish. Our next president would fail the kindergarten cookie test but he’ll be appointing federal judges. The common good doesn’t mean just taking care of our own. It means understanding basic ecology. That we are dependent on plants and insects, on soil that grows our food, harvested by tractors made by somebody with government loans, transported on government roads to tax-subsidized supermarkets. It means understanding that polluting air and water is the same thing as stealing. Same for stealing the beauty of our shared natural world with unregulated clutter. “Ugliness is so grim,” Lady Bird Johnson once said. “A little beauty, something that is lovely, I think, can help create harmony which will lessen tensions.” She believed that beauty can improve our mental health and she worked to make the United States a more beautiful place. Why shouldn’t we? ◆ 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).
“When you allow sign clutter and tawdry ugliness to populate your city, that’s anti-business. Because that’s not where people want to be.” —JOYCE FELD, president of Scenic Knoxville
January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 9
advertorial
A forum for local marketing pros to share their ideas.
The Last Captive Audience
A
s you read this, we are just a few weeks away from the advertising industry’s holy day – Super Bowl Sunday. Coca Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft will spend more on one TV advertisement than many of your businesses will spend in a year, decade, or quite likely, a lifetime. If Fox has their way, those TV spots will ultimately cost north of $5 Million per 30 second spot. When questioned by industry publications, savvy brand managers and ad gurus will offer a variety of highly strategic reasons for purchasing the spots, but, at the end of the day, their rationale will align most closely to every business owner or manager’s advertising objectives –awareness and engagement. Regardless of the product or service you provide, driving and managing engagement is often times the key to ongoing business success. For a new businesses, your engagement efforts are focused on introductory advertising. You are likely making consumers or clients aware that you are offering a product or service, and hopefully highlighting how it is new, but more importantly, uniquely differentiated versus the existing competitive set. For established businesses, your engagement efforts are focused on targeting some blend of existing, lapsed, and incremental consumers or clients about how your product or service fits their needs, and the value that it will bring to their lives or business. At first blush, driving awareness and nurturing engagement seems like it should be easy. After all, we have more advertising opportunities than ever before. If you multiply the number of screens, channels, websites, and social media portals times the number of eyeballs, then awareness should be easy, right?
Nope, advertising pollution is at all-time high. The DVR and split screen viewing has made effective TV ad buying incredibly challenging. Digital Ad blocking software sabotaged the effectiveness of digital banner and video ads before we even knew if they were effective. How about the tried and true billboard or business sign? Your potential consumer just drove by it while snap-chatting. Super Bowl Ads are not escalating because Super Bowl LI will be more fascinating than Super Bowl L. Super Bowl ad costs are continuing to escalate because advertisers are chasing what feels like the last captive audience. The Super Bowl is one of the few remaining TV moments that consumers want to watch live. Yes, some are there for the game, and some are there for the commercials, but they are there. Oh, and if the ad is really good, the advertiser might get 3 million more views on YouTube. Very few of us will ever be confronted with the Super Bowl ad dilemma. However, many of
us are facing the same problem on a different scale – how can we sell more than yesterday? And that is where the NFL is offering a very valuable business reminder. We should spend our valuable advertising dollars, regardless of our company’s size, where they have the best chance to reach the best audience with the most impact. In some limited cases, that might be the biggest football game of the year, and the ad might feature some combination of dogs, babies, and a forgotten, but beloved celebrity being trotted out for one last act. SCOTT DANIEL works in New Business Development in Knoxville, TN and has worked in and around the advertising industry for 15 years. While he loves Super Bowl ads as much as anyone, he can’t, in good conscience, recommend ever spending $5 million on a 30 Second TV ad.
These columns do not represent the opinions of the Knoxville Mercury. 10
KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
Ijams’ new director returns home to lead Knoxville’s urban nature center BY THOMAS FRASER
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veteran naturalist with Smoky Mountain roots will be Ijams Nature Center’s newest executive director. Amber Parker, 45, most formerly executive director of the Chincoteague Bay Field Station at Wallops Island, Va., replaces Paul James, who resigned his post in late September after 12 years. Bo Townsend has been serving as interim director of the 300-acre Ijams Nature Center, which is an anchor in the city’s 5,000-acre Urban Wilderness. Parker, who has already made an offer on a house in South Knoxville, will start at Ijams on Feb. 20. She was special programs coordinator and education director at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont in Great Smoky Mountains National Park from 2001 to 2008, when she
started work at Chincoteague. The field station is near Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague Island National Seashore. Parker earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from North Carolina State University in 1994, as well as a master’s degree in environmental studies from Prescott College in Arizona in 2007, according to Ijams. She sat down with us for a question-and-answer session last week. Go to knoxmercury.com for the full interview.
Why did you get the job?
I think they were really looking for somebody who has a lot of partnership experience, and I do. I work a lot with university partners, as well as NASA, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and the park service, and the Nature
Photo courtesy Ijams Nature Center
Photo courtesy of Legacy Parks
Q&A: Amber Parker
Conservancy. It’s a lot of spinning plates you have to keep going, and that’s something I’m pretty good at. And they were also looking for someone who had a really strong environmental education and natural history background and was used to running programs like that, and I think all of those things combined, I guess they found in me.
What appealed to you about Ijams? Why did you pursue the job?
Ijams is beloved. Ijams is in the heart of everyone in this city, just about. And that really appeals to me, because when you can come into an organization that is so beloved, there’s so much support already, and that’s really exciting. But also when I look at Ijams I see an organization that is very well-grounded. It has the fundamentals in place.
Do you have passions you’d particularly like to put to work at Ijams?
Ijams already has a lot of my interests going on. They focus a lot on natural history education, and good science education. Ijams is doing a lot with adventure education now. I’m a kayaker, and they have kayaking programs, and they have hiking and mountain biking … A lot of my passion is involved in engaging underserved populations in the communities I’m in, and figuring out how we can be a resource for them, so that’s something I’d really like to bring to it.
What motivated you to become a scientist?
Well, if I talk about when I was a little-bitty girl (in central North Carolina), it really was my great-grandmother. She loved birds
and had a bird-feeding station, and that was the beginning, looking at the Golden Guide to Birds. And then I had some really important teachers in high school, who encouraged my interest in science and research and activities in high school. Having those people when you are young, those formative times, is critical, and that’s why I love being in this field is because we can be that for so many young people.
So you’re a fan of the STEM approach to education?
I’m a fan … but I’m also a fan of melding a lot different types of curriculum, making it multidisciplinary. One of my favorite programs I’ve ever done is taking a book called My Side of the Mountain—I was fascinated by it (as a child)—and creating an entire week-long day camp around that. We sent the book to the kids early, they read the book and then they came to camp, and every day we were doing activities based on what happened in that book. So we’re bringing in science, literacy, natural science and history, all those things combined so they get a full multidisciplinary approach.
Will the natural climbing routes be reopened to the public?
I’m not sure yet. I know a lot of that is an insurance-based issue, it’s a liability issue, obviously. But there’s a lot of great interest. I can’t tell you what will happen yet, but I know there’s an interest in getting it back open.
What role will you play in fundraising?
As an executive director, that’s a good chunk of what you do. You’re there to make sure the entire organization can run and meets its needs. It’s very early days yet, but I know the board is interested in growth and forward motion, and that requires money.
Do you believe that conservation and environmental education enjoy bipartisan support?
Absolutely. The important thing we have to understand about environmental education is that we’re not telling people what to think. We’re giving them good information, and good foundational work, and they make their decisions based on that. Our job is to share with them good science, and let them make their decisions. That’s never political when you do that. ◆ January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 11
inner-city neighborhoods, Butler says. “It’s zoning that works against us ever having a new school,” he says. “You can call it racism. You can call it discrimination. I call it wrong.” Thomas acknowledges, “That is a good point and something we want to address with this rezoning initiative…. I hear Rev. Butler and other parents’ concern that their children are being bused in places, to South Doyle Middle for example. And that is one of the things we are considering changing.”
COMMUNITY-WIDE IMPACT
thinkstock.com
Busing to the ’Burbs Does KCS zoning ensure black neighborhoods never get new schools? BY S. HEATHER DUNCAN
H
ow can black, inner-city neighborhoods get new schools if the Knox County school district keeps busing those students to the suburbs? This conundrum is causing frustration among some East Knoxville parents and the Knoxville branch of the NAACP, as Knox County Schools seeks feedback about rezoning most middle schools. The school district is halfway through a series of six public meetings before it floats a specific proposal for where students will attend school once the new Gibbs and Hardin Valley middle schools open in 2018. In response to parental concerns, interim superintendent Buzz Thomas says the district may also consider changing some zones that aren’t directly affected by the new schools. Gibbs Middle School has been particularly controversial because the school district’s own studies showed
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too little population growth to justify the school. Gibbs families, who are mostly white, have long objected to the 40-minute bus rides their children take to Holston Middle School. However, since there aren’t enough students in Gibbs to fill the new school, black inner-city students closer to Holston will probably end up taking an equally long bus ride in the opposite direction, points out Knoxville NAACP president the Rev. John Anthony Butler. The NAACP filed a complaint with the federal Department of Education Office of Civil Rights in November of 2015, alleging Knox County was discriminating against black residents by choosing to build new schools only in white neighborhoods. The upshot, Butler says, is that inner-city black kids mostly attend either distant schools or run-down ones. The OCR announced at the end of
2015 its intent to investigate whether the district’s plan to build Gibbs Middle School would result in resegregation. If the Office of Civil Rights identifies a civil rights violation that the district refuses to resolve, the district could lose its federal education funding, which amounted to about $31.5 million in fiscal 2017. (In fact, a similar OCR complaint, related to segregation in Knox County Schools, led to the closing of the old Gibbs Middle School in 1992. Those students were rezoned for Holston partly to create a more racially diverse student body.) The current school district policy, which was disregarded to build Gibbs, is that new schools be built only when existing schools overfill. By zoning so many inner-city students to schools on the outskirts, the school district ensures that there will never be a justification for building schools in
Evelyn Gill, who represents the 1st District on Knox County Commission, agrees that the rezoning discussion has bared broader disparities, such as the age of schools in her district. That’s why she is working with other stakeholders like the Knox County Education Association, churches, and the NAACP to follow the KCS January meetings with another series of public meetings in February, broadening the conversation to issues like transfers and unequal spending on new schools. The upshot is that rezoning is going to affect way more than who attends Gibbs or Hardin Valley. Among students who might shift, according to the district, are those at Gresham, Halls, Holston, South Doyle, Vine, Whittle Springs, Bearden, Cedar Bluff, Karns, Farragut and West Valley middle schools. Because of parent concerns about the effect on high school feeder patterns, Thomas says KCS might rework high school zoning at the same time. Zoning changes might not only seek to avoid new problems but correct existing ones, Thomas says. For example, some parents would like the district to stop zoning so many black students from the inner city to middle schools that are not the closest to their homes, Butler says. The Rev. Chris Battle and his wife Tomma Battle say their home is zoned for South Doyle Middle School, even though they are so near Vine that when their kids tranfsferred there, they were in the “parent responsibility zone”—close enough to walk. (Vine itself is located only a few blocks from the northern edge of the South Doyle attendance zone.) When the Battle kids were younger, they were zoned for Dogwood Elementary in South Knoxville, even though both Green and Sarah Moore Greene elementary schools are
“It’s zoning that works against us ever having a new school. You can call it racism. You can call it discrimination. I call it wrong.” —REV. JOHN ANTHONY BUTLER, Knoxville NAACP
practically visible from their house. “It’s ridiculous,” Tomma Battle says. “It would be different if you ever saw it going the other way,” with suburban white kids busing into schools with higher black populations. In fact, Thomas and district operations chief Russ Oaks say Gibbs students were the only suburban ones zoned to come into the city. Thomas adds, “We have bused plenty of white suburban kids downtown for magnet schools,” such as the arts program at Austin East High and the Fulton Magnet School of Communication. But Thomas admits that the magnets are not very competitive programs and don’t attract “a high percentage of kids.” School district data show 354 students currently come from outside the attendance zone to attend magnet programs at inner-city high schools or middle schools. (An additional 230 attend the Beaumont Elementary fine arts, museum and honors program.) Generally, racial balancing is achieved by busing black kids from East Knoxville to schools south of the river and kids from Mechanicsville, Western Heights, Beaumont and Lonsdale to the north—a situation that apparently began as an effort to address the previous segregation complaint 25 years ago. “Once they leave elementary school, they leave the community until they graduate,” says Butler, who is pastor of Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church in Mechanicsville. “That’s the most egregious thing: We’re just fulfilling their (racial) quota.” Chris Battle, who is pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., says he thinks the district is reluctant to bus privileged white kids into downtown neighborhoods that are perceived as sketchy. “I think it’s bathed in racism and
classism,” he says.
CIVIL RIGHTS AND NEW CONSTRUCTION
The NAACP complaint hinges on the district violating its own policies to build Gibbs. The complaint states: “Schools have been replaced and new schools have been built only in communities with 95% white population.” Butler says the last school built in a black community was Sarah Moore Greene in 1973. School district officials said they could not verify the most recent school built within the boundaries of the current District 1. (Their records indicate Sarah Moore Greene was built in 1972.) Oaks reiterates, “It has been our practice to build schools to accommodate growth, and we have not had the growth pressure in District 1 to cause us to build a school. But we have made significant investment in expansion and renovation and maintenance of existing facilities.” The district provided a summary list of capital investments in each county district between 2001 and 2015, showing District 1 receiving the second-highest level of investment (about $100,000 less than District 4, in the Bearden area) at close to $31.6 million. Presumably this is the kind of information the Office of Civil Rights has been evaluating. But its investigation has dragged on for more than a year, issuing no findings even as the district moved ahead with approval, siting, and construction of Gibbs Middle School. U.S. Department of Education officials this week would not answer specific questions about the timeline, simply reiterating that the investigation is ongoing and that some investigations take longer than others. Thomas says the school-district
attorney was informed that the Office of Civil Rights staffer handling the complaint retired in November and the case does not seem to have been reassigned yet. Given that, combined with potential shakeups in the wake of the new presidential administration, Thomas says he expects the case to move slowly. He adds, “Building schools does not elicit a response from OCR. Redrawing district lines might. I’m sure they will wait and see what our proposal is about how to redraw these zones.” After the board approves them, probably in late spring, Thomas says he expects the district will “resume our conversation” with the Office of Civil Rights. But Thomas, who is meeting with Butler this week, says he’s not waiting. He says he wants the district’s rezoning to address any disparities up front. “I’m very hopeful we’ll be able to work out a resolution that all parties will be happy with,” he says. “I want the feds to be happy, but first and foremost, we want families in our community to be happy. We’re building the best school system in the South, and it will only be best if it serves all our families, regardless of race and economic background.”
NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS
What Butler wants is “neighborhood schools with state-of-the-art buildings, a 21st century curriculum, and excellent teachers that look like our community.” He says the best decision would be for the school district to keep neighborhoods together and zone kids for the closest school. Any resulting overcrowding at inner-city schools would indicate that a new school should be built there, he says. Butler points out the advantages to attending a neighborhood school. Vine, for example, is a “community school” that provides safe early morning and after-school activities for students. Working families who live nearby but are zoned elsewhere miss out on those options. Although families can transfer to a closer school, many are unaware of that option or how to pursue it, Gill notes. Those who do must transport their child to school themselves, a challenge that creates disparity for parents who rely on public transportation or work evening and overnight shifts, she says. “The other issue all this zoning
stuff creates is lack of parent involvement,” says Tomma Battle. Parents are less likely to be able to volunteer or attend meetings at a distant school, and their kids may be unable to participate in after-school activities, especially if their family doesn’t have a car. Those students may also lose sleep and study time. Carley Ray, who works with inner-city youth on the East Side, told school officials at a December rezoning meeting that some students are waiting at bus stops by 6 a.m. and aren’t dropped off again until 12 hours later. A former bus driver at the meeting said drivers busing kids long distances must speed to get students to school on time. Two children and a teachers’ aid died in a Knox County school bus wreck in December 2015, and six children died in a Chattanooga bus accident caused by a speeding bus driver last November, making long bus rides seem like a safety risk to many parents. Gill says she is hopeful about the rezoning process because school officials are asking for community guidance up front. “We’re actually having a conversation prior to making a decision,” she says. “I think in times past, they would have just made the decision and presented it to the public.” After the final three public meetings, the district will put together a specific rezoning proposal that will be presented to the public for more feedback in the spring. ◆
Public Input Community meetings about middle school rezoning will be held at 6 p.m. on the following dates: • Jan. 17 at Hardin Valley Elementary School (with a primary focus on Hardin Valley Middle) • Jan. 24 at Holston Middle School (with a primary focus on Gibbs Middle) • Jan. 31 at Vine Middle School (with a primary Focus on Gibbs Middle) The meetings will be broadcast live on KCS-TV Comcast Channel 10 and streamed live at knoxschools.org/kcstv. Comments may also be submitted to rezoning@knoxschools.org.
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L5 FOUNDATION NEW SERIES!
Meet fellow citizens who are striving to move Knoxville ahead
SEEED
TREES KNOXVILLE DREAMBIKES
G
ood things are happening in Knoxville. Although our Facebook feeds may be overwhelmed with worrisome news from Washington, D.C. and around the globe, we can all take some comfort in the fact that we can still make a difference right here at home. And that’s what we’ll be focusing on throughout 2017 in a new section called Press Forward: In each issue, we will put our spotlight on someone who is pursuing their vision for a better Knoxville and East Tennessee. Their projects aren’t motivated so much by politics as they are by a
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common-sense desire to improve the quality of life here for everyone. If some these initiatives spark your interest, we’ll tell you how to get involved. If you know of other projects that deserve attention, we’ll examine them. If you have ideas for new efforts to get off the ground, we’ll help spread the word. Let’s work together to make sure Knoxville continues to progress toward an ideal we can all get behind: a place where good ideas still make sense. —Coury Turczyn, ed.
EDUCATION
SEEED Providing life skills for young people as well as environmental literacy
T
he name “Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development” gives you an immediate indication of SEEED’s many ambitions. Begun in March 2009 by current executive director Stan Johnson and co-founders Jarius Bush, Josh Outsey, and Jerome Johnson, it has taken on a dual mission of creating pathways out of poverty for young adults and equipping communities with environmental literacy skills. Projects include an eight-week career-readiness program for ages 16-28, a partnership with the Knoxville Extreme Energy Makeover (KEEM) funded by TVA, and a community garden in inner-city Knoxville with 52 fruit trees and six raised garden beds. Grants for SEEED’s work come from an ingenious variety of sources, including Bank of America and the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. So far, according to Johnson, the
program has resulted in more than 50 young people getting jobs and furthering their education.
What’s a big difference for SEEED students looking for work compared to previous generations?
The job market has changed so much since the economic downturn of 2007-8. A lot of people lost their jobs and went back for more training then, and now that’s who these 16-28-year olds are competing against for work. And having a skill set is now so important for young people, but not necessarily the ones you that require four-year degrees. It’s not like the days when we just heard we were supposed to go to college and we went. I still owe $40,000 from earning my degree—I’m still paying on it 20 years later. It used to be that a liberal arts degree was good enough, but that’s no longer true.
How did you come up with the idea of serving the 16-28 age group?
It’s the hardest group in America to work with, so there’s that. More seriously, the high-school dropout rate in the center city is in the double digits, for South-Doyle, West, Fulton High School, Central, Austin-East. Kids start dropping out at 16 and we’d like to catch them before they make that decision. Getting to the 28 part, even though kids in their young
“Your status doesn’t matter here; you should be able to sit across the table from our group and discuss. We come in with the idea that here are humans who need help and we have the ability to help.” —STAN JOHNSON
20s think they’re grown, they’re still living with Mom and Dad or Mom is bringing them back and forth to work. Until you’re turning your own key when you get home at night, you’re not an adult. Between me and the three young men who co-founded SEEED, we wanted to help that age group discover: How do I become an adult, and what does being an adult mean? Below 16 are still like little kids, and we don’t work with little kids. After 28, you’re set in your ways.
How does the stipend work?
The students selected for the course get $100 per week for three days a week and from 10.5 to 12 hours a week of work. We have contracts from the city or individuals to be able to pay them. They go out every day and tell people about energy efficiency, from weatherization to the KEEM program.
We do it this way because our mission is to help young people get jobs and also get the community involved in environmental literacy. Having these young people as ambassadors is a super-cool way to get our point across.
Is there a spiritual component to your work?
There is. We believe that the best walk is your own walk and that the path out of poverty is not just a fi nancial journey. There is also spiritual poverty, there is emotional poverty, there is health poverty. We see so much environmental poverty— everything and everyone around you is poor and you’ve never left your environment. Your whole world circulates around a 4- or 5-mile radius of your house and you’ve never been to a nature center or a UT football game and you don’t have access to
SEEED 1617 Dandridge Ave. 865-766-5185, seeedknox.com PROGRAMS • Career Readiness Program offers training in resume writing, goal setting, cover letters, job applications, and various other life and job skills for young adults ages 16-28. • Knoxville Extreme Energy Makeover hosts home-energy workshops in low-income communities. • SEEED’s community garden encourages residents to use six raised garden beds to plant their own food.
Stan Johnson, executive director, SEEED
HOW YOU CAN HELP • Volunteers are needed in a variety of areas, from instructors and team leaders to gardeners and administrative helpers. See website for a full list. • Donations can be made on the group’s website, but help with fundraising is also appreciated.
January 12, 2017
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things within your own community. All this poverty speaks to the spiritual realm. We are more spiritual than religious. If part of your journey out of poverty comes from a spiritual walk, we want to hear it. But if you want to come and preach that John 3:6 says XYZ, there is no place for that here. We want personal testimony, not a quote from the Koran or the Bible. Another important aspect of our spiritual journey is that at SEEED we are socially equal. No one comes in as a mayor or a CEO with the idea of helping the poor little kids. Your status doesn’t matter here; you should be able to sit across the table from our group and discuss. We come in with the idea that here are humans who need help and we have the ability to help.
Tom Welborn, board chairman, Trees Knoxville
Where did you draw the most inspiration for the idea of establishing this project?
Really, God. I graduated Knoxville College in 1995 and became a salesperson. I soon bought my own dealership. I got to a point where I was glorifying myself. I even named my dealership Stan Johnson Super Auto Center and I always acted like I was literally doing this by myself. If someone gave me a pat on the back I was all, “Yep, you’re sure right! I’m the man!” It was bad. I hate to say it like this, but I was in step with corporate America, which tells you what to do to make a lot of money. It’s all about “I get mine, you get yours” and they don’t talk about happiness, or oneness with yourself. I was heading down that path—egotistical, prideful. God gave me a vision, an epiphany, not gradual at all. He literally said, “I can’t bless you for taking my glory and saying you did this on your own. There is no place in there for spiritual blessings.” He said, “This isn’t the path I want you on. Stop thinking about yourself and go help some other people.” And you know the wildest part? I started from there thinking I would be helping others. But it turned out, they were helping me. They’ve taught me languages, dances, handshakes—and the idea that we don’t always have four years to invest before getting into a job and out of the process. I have learned way more from the students and community than they have learned from me. —Rose Kennedy
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ENVIRONMENTAL
Trees Knoxville Protecting and expanding Knoxville’s urban tree canopy
T
om Welborn sees much more than a collection of foliage when he looks at trees. He sees a grove of economic benefits, improved air and water quality, and calming mechanisms for these turbulent times. The lifelong conservationist heads the board of Trees Knoxville, a new nonprofit organization devoted to protecting Knoxville’s urban forest and extolling the benefits of a treefilled and shaded community. Welborn earned a master’s degree in forestry and wildlife management from the University of Tennessee in 1975. After teaching forestry at a junior college for a while, he joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and later the Environmental Protection Agency, where he worked for 35 years, primarily in water quality and wetland protection. He retired in 2011 and returned to
Knoxville, joining the City Tree Board and helping form Trees Knoxville. Trees Knoxville seeks to preserve and increase the extent and health of the urban tree canopy on private and public land in Knoxville and Knox County. The greater Knoxville area is currently at about 50 percent canopy coverage, while the city itself is about 39 percent—which is actually pretty good, Welborn says, but the group wants to make sure that tree canopy is maintained amid development and improved where it can be. Trees Knoxville will be tackling this through educational outreach, tree giveaways, and planting events. It held its first event in December, giving away 300 redbuds, sugar maples, Shumard oaks, and tulip poplars to about 150 families.
Why do we need an intact urban tree canopy?
There’s a lot of benefits associated with it. There’s the health issue—control of air pollution and water pollution. In fact, it’s been shown that in areas that have greater canopy cover, there are less asthmatic children. Water quality is maintained better by canopy cover and trees. Other environmental issues are just diversity, a cooler environment. And the other thing is the economic benefits of it. It’s been shown that trees can improve … the economic benefits associated with landscaping as much
as 20 percent. And people get a sense of well-being from trees. It has been shown over and over that people who have trees, have parks, have open areas with trees involved, just have a better sense of well-being.
What do you hope to accomplish with Trees Knoxville five years from now?
We want to maintain the 40 percent, because 40 percent has been shown by the American Forestry Association to maintain good quality. And in those areas where we don’t have 40 percent we actually want to increase it. There are several neighborhoods in Knox County we are kind of focused on. We recently did a planting for Habitat for
TREES KNOXVILLE treesknoxville@gmail.com treesknoxville.org HOW YOU CAN HELP • Volunteer to help plant trees by signing up on the Trees Knoxville website. • Plant trees on your own property and learn how to properly maintain them. • Make a donation payable to the Legacy Parks Foundation, which serves as the group’s nonprofit umbrella as it seeks its own 501(c)(3) status, either at its website or at: Trees Knoxville PO Box 26313 Knoxville, TN 37912
Humanity—Silver Leaf. Basically when they went in and developed the site they had to clear it, and there were no trees at all, so we went in and planted about 60 trees along the streets. So that’s the kind of thing we want to continue to do. Where there are no trees, we want to plant trees, and provide the benefits to the local community.
What are the biggest threats to Knoxville’s tree canopy?
I would say introduced pests as well as poor development, or non-replacement of trees. We want to work with developers, to teach them, because really it’s been shown that a good development that leaves trees, or replaces trees, is an actual economic benefit overall. People like to shop longer when there are trees, when there’s a cool environment, so that’s actually one of the things we want to focus on, is working with developers.
What do you see when you look at a tree that others might not?
I guess I always look at the age of the tree. I really like old trees, and large trees, and I think people have an appreciation for that, especially when they see a large, mature tree. Unfortunately I also look for damage, what problems the tree is having. And I think that’s part of the importance of educating people. If you don’t take care of trees, they become unhealthy, and then they can cause problems. So that’s one the things we want to try and emphasize and look at, too: how to maintain trees in a healthy condition. And it does take some effort. Most people think you can just plant a tree and leave it, but you need to take care of that tree and make sure the area around it is not compacted and it’s not damaged by putting up structures around it and those kinds of things.
HEALTH
L5 Foundation Supporting cancer patients and their families when they need it most
K
noxville oncologist Susan Newman founded the L5 (Live Five) Foundation to help cancer patients and their families with basic needs like food, paying bills, affording gas to travel for treatment, and caregiving breaks. The foundation’s name comes from the five principles on which it was founded: the faith to believe, hope to endure, determination to overcome, strength to survive, and passion to win. Because hospitals and cancer treatment centers already have a system for identifying patients who need help, donations to L5 are then directed to these other foundations to further fund their support programs. L5 also partners with other support programs, which also use their existing criteria to identify needy
patients. Through these partners, L5 served helped more than 7,000 people last year. Newman says L5 gave $30,000 last year to Mobile Meals, more than $5,000 for Angels of Hope food baskets over Christmas, $10,000 in gas cards, and around $20,000 to a new program called Restful Respite that pays for a sitter to give family caregivers a break.
How did the idea for the L5 foundation come about?
I was inspired to start this foundation because of my patients and seeing the struggles they go through when they come in with a diagnosis of cancer. Most of the time when you talk about cancer you talk about cures and research and donating money to find ways to treat cancer. But … we have
L5 FOUNDATION 865-250-2684 livefivefoundation.org PROGRAMS • L5 cancer support programs provide gas cards, food baskets, meals, counseling, gift cards, and free caregiver services to cancer patients and their families. • The Chairman’s Club provides grants to youth sports, arts, education, and health care groups and associations. HOW YOU CAN HELP • Donate through the foundation website, and check its Facebook page (facebook. com/l5foundation) for periodic food-themed fundraisers you can attend to benefit the foundation.
“Even though we’re doing everything we can to offset the costs of their treatments, people are still struggling to make ends meet and be able to afford to exist.” —SUSAN NEWMAN
Do you think an appreciation for green space and our tree canopies is something that can bypass political division?
I think so. I don’t see a political divide there. I think people can realize the benefits associated with that. I don’t think there’s a political agenda with greenspace. I think that’s a benefit to everybody, and I think most people see that, no matter what their political leanings might be. —Thomas Fraser
Susan Newman, founder, L5 Foundation
January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 17
millions of people in this world living with cancer—not dying of cancer, but living with cancer as a chronic illness. Even when a patient comes in with insurance, when you take into account the cost of treatment being on average well over $100,000, you’re talking about somebody having to come up with 20 percent of that. That’s a huge fi nancial burden for a regular middle-class person. They may or may not be able to work, and they’re just wondering: How will I be able to make a living and pay my bills? How will I put food on the table?
Preston Flaherty Manager of Dream Bikes, Knoxville
Was there a particular situation that really brought this home to you?
I’ll never forget—I had a 23-year-old girl come in. She had a brain tumor. She had insurance—terrible insurance. We were able to get funding for a lot of her treatment through other foundations. She came in and said, “I appreciate what you did for me, but how am I going to live? I can’t work. I have nothing to live on.” It’s things like this that bring things into perspective for you. Even though we’re doing everything we can to offset the costs of their treatments, people are still struggling to make ends meet and be able to afford to exist. The L5 foundation was started back in 2015. It took us a while to figure out what we wanted our niche to be. She definitely helped put it in perspective where I wanted the funds to go to. It was me hearing stories of people going through treatment over the holidays and they don’t have the money to do Christmas for their kids or to get Christmas dinner. I had been doing Angel of Hope food baskets on my own for several years fi rst. A woman told me, “If you all hadn’t given me this basket, I wouldn’t have had anything under my tree this year.” It’s stories like that I hear every day that just truly break your heart, and you just want to do everything you can to help these people.
Often doctors seem too busy with the nuts and bolts of treatment to try to address the practical needs of the patient. Why do you think you responded differently?
I’ve dedicated my life to taking care of people. … Just taking care of their medical needs was just not enough for me. My job is hard. It’s an emotional roller coaster almost every day. I don’t 18
KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
get to give a lot of good news. But the things that I do with the foundation are happy things, even though I’m helping somebody who may possibly be dying from cancer. … That’s hard, but that’s part of my job. But I also enjoy getting to do the feel-good things that hopefully do impact these patients in one way or another that’s more of a positive.
What impact have you seen already? Are there some success stories you’d like to share? The Caring Plate provides food for a cancer patient during the time they’re going through treatment, but also for the family, at $6 a meal. That’s a very important thing, because if you’ve got a young female being treated for breast cancer, and she has kids and Dad is working all day, who’s going to fi x food for those kids? They made sure they got at least one good meal a day. We had a patient who lives in a small town in North Carolina and had radiation five days a week for seven weeks, driving four hours round-trip over the Dragon. So we made sure he had gas cards to get the treatment.
What are your long-term goals for the foundation? How do you envision your role over time?
We want to be able to expand what we’re doing as far as allocating more to emergency funds, expand our restful
respite program, and start offering new programs. I’m getting ideas all the time. Ultimately my goal for this foundation is to make it more than East Tennessee. I would love to see an L5 foundation in communities all across the nation. If we can set up chapters in other towns and other communities, our premise is what you make in your community stays in your community. —S. Heather Duncan
CIVIC & HUMANITARIAN
DreamBikes Putting kids on bikes— and showing them how to maintain and fix them
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reamBikes is a nonprofit, community-based bike shop that provides employment, job training, tutoring and career mentoring to area teens, sells bikes to pay for the teens’ salaries, provides free bike-repair services to kids in low-income neighborhoods, and organizes community biking events. DreamBikes was started in Madison, Wis., in 2008 by the president of Trek
Bicycle Corp. but it has since become an independent nonprofit. This year, it is expanding outside Wisconsin to three locations, including Knoxville. The Knoxville DreamBikes opened using profits from other DreamBikes locations, but it is expected to become self-sustaining. The local shop officially opened last week and is employing six teens (an even mix of girls and boys) recommended by the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley. Through the YouthForce program, they will work internships refurbishing bikes, helping customers, and learning bike maintenance and retail skills. Those that stick with it will job shadow and volunteer, receive help with applications to trade schools or college, and potentially even receive scholarship assistance. DreamBikes manager Preston Flaherty is a Knoxville native who attended West High School for several years before moving to Bell Buckle, Tenn., and then Laramie, Wyo., where his family owns a Tennessee walking horse ranch. After earning his bachelor’s degree in landscape ecology and watershed management and working out west, he moved back here to take the job managing the new DreamBikes shop.
Why did you decide to leave behind some of the fun jobs you had out West to
take such a different career path back in Knoxville? I had been working as a guide in Yellowstone, a raft guide in Colorado, and I did some water-conservation work in Montana. I met a girl in Jackson and decided I wanted to do something I care about and help people, maybe get involved with outdoor rehabilitation with kids. I had been out west seven years and I thought, I need to go home and give it a shot. Knoxville is just so much cooler than it was. The outdoor scene is getting huge. I talked with [Knoxville developer] David Dewhirst, a family friend, and he told me about this job. I want to feel fulfi lled at the end of the day. Doing this is an adventure I can feel good about.
Why was Knoxville chosen for the DreamBikes expansion? The only other new shops are in Rochester, N.Y., and just outside Chicago. Knoxville was chosen because of everything that’s happening with Legacy Parks, the Urban Wilderness, and Ijams. But the real reason is when you pick a DreamBikes location, you have to pick one where there’s a need for it, where there are disadvantaged or at-risk teens. But also it needs to be a community that can give and is willing to give. So Knoxville is perfect for that, along with the biking community developing here. It’s exciting. It’s a big leap, but it’s changed so many kids’ lives.
Are you an avid mountain biker? Is that part of what attracted you to the project?
I rode a bike to class every day in Wyoming. It’s great exercise and a great way to get out. But I’m not a bike geek. I have a passion for working with these kids, getting them out exploring on bikes and not having to pay for a car. That’s what’s great—we’re not putting out crappy bikes. We’re putting out commuter bikes people can rely on.
DreamBikes also takes its mission outside the shop, right? What will that look like??
We have the mobile bike-repair program, which is incredible. What we do is go into neighborhoods that are low-income with our truck. We take tires and tubes and brakes and fi x kids’ bikes for free. There was this kid that got hit in Wisconsin by a bus
because his bike didn’t have brakes, and this kind of came out of that. Maybe in a month we’ll start doing that once a weekend. We’ll announce ahead of time where we’ll be.
What other ways do you envision your mission in Knoxville being different from that of typical bike shops?
I’m trying to build this shop as a community, and I want people to feel welcome and comfortable here. The more volunteers that come in, the more it builds that community and helps this business flourish. I want us to do group rides for anyone in the community. The thing I want to be different from what other places already do is I don’t want group rides to be intimidating. Ours are to enjoy ourselves and get outside. We can ride to get ice cream or learn a greenway on a pretty day.
What’s your long-term goal for the shop and the kids you can employ?
We have a big shop, so I want to say 15 kids. But it’s not going to be any time soon. We really need bikes. We’re hoping after Christmas more people can dig their old bike out of the garage and donate it. —S. Heather Duncan
NEW SERIES!
Look for more inspiring stories in every issue this year! Know someone doing amazing things for the future of Knoxville? Submit your story suggestions to: editor@knoxmercury.com
DREAMBIKES KNOXVILLE 309 N. Central St. 865-474-1752 dream-bikes.org Shop hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays
Initiative Name
PROGRAMS • DreamBikes provides employment, job training and career guidance to underprivileged teens. • Other initiatives provide free kids’ bike repair in disadvantaged neighborhoods and community-building events like group rides. HOW YOU CAN HELP: • Donate your old or damaged bike (or bike accessories) to them to refurbish and resell, with the profits paying the teen employees. • Buy a refurbished bike or get your bike repaired at DreamBikes. • Volunteer to help repair bikes, tutor the teen employees in their schoolwork, train them in bike repair or sales skills, lead easy group rides, or make bike-related art to display in the shop. • Make a donation.
FIRST AND LAST NAME title, workplace whatever else you want to include
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY
March 12, 2015
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January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 19
Scruffy City Hall hosts the first in a series of new old-school dance nights
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fter surviving the tumult of 2016, we all deserve to roll up the rug and let loose. At the inaugural Testify! Vintage Soul and Funk Dance Party, on Saturday, Jan. 14, you can do just that. The event will be hosted at Scruffy City Hall and feature four DJs spinning the best soul and funk music from the 1960s and ’70s. For $5, attendees will be able to get down to Northern and modern soul, funk, and R&B, all played on original 45 rpm vinyl. Kevin Jones, who came up with the idea for Testify! last October, says he felt there was a gap in Knoxville’s music scene, which focuses largely on live music. Jones came to Knoxville from Chicago, where he was a founding member of the Windy City Soul Club, which regularly hosts a popular dance party. “I feel like Knoxville has a strong vinyl record culture,” Jones says. “It just isn’t really reflected in many of the dance nights or even just smaller bar parties that we have around town. But I feel like there is a yearning with people in the community to have something like this—it just hasn’t really happened before.” Jones partnered with Scruffy City Hall and Ellen Hyrka, the host of WUTK’s Soul Power specialty show, to bring the idea to fruition.
The four DJs for the first dance party are Greg Belson, from Los Angeles, Nick Soule, from Chicago, Daniel Mathis, from Memphis, and Knoxville’s own Nathan Moses. Jones says they are known for their skill as collectors of rare soul and funk records; their talent lies less with the technical aspects of deejaying and more with taste. “It’s like making the perfect mixtape,” Jones says. “That’s the skill that these guys have, and they do it by finding stuff that nobody’s ever heard before.” Belson, for example, is known for collecting divine disco, a subgenre of music created by gospel artists who wanted to extend their influence into clubs and onto the dancefloor. And Soule and Mathis have extensive regional collections from the music scenes of Detroit and Memphis. “I’m very particular about the types of DJs that I bring in because for me it’s important to have new music coming in all the time if I’m going to do this on a regular basis,” Jones says. Once the organizers see how the first dance party goes, Jones says they hope to make Testify! a seasonal event to get people out, dancing, and experiencing new/old music. For more info about the event, visit facebook. com/testifyknox. —Hayley Brundige
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Inside the Vault: Vacation Videos
KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
Music: Dweezil Zappa
GEORGE XYLOURIS
Photo by Lauren Dukoff
Something Old, Something New
Photo by Clay Duda
A&E
P rogram Notes
YOUNG THE GIANT
Bigger and Better Established Roots BIG EARS ADDS TO THE 2017 LINEUP
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C Entertainment has just announced a big round of additional performances—newly scheduled shows by artists already in the lineup and a handful of new artists—for this year’s Big Ears festival, scheduled for March 23-26. Highlights include a Sunday afternoon concert by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of new music director Aram Demirjian, at the Mill and Mine, featuring works by John Adams, Matt Aucoin, and J.S. Bach; Jeff Tweedy, of Wilco, pairing with the avant jazz-rock duo Chikamorachi; a performance by Arcade Fire drummer Jeremy Gara, who will release his first solo album, Limn, in March; appearances by free jazz giant Matthew Shipp; the return of Xylouris White, made up of Cretan lute player George Xylouris and Dirty Three drummer Jim White; and a solo performance by sound artist/saxophonist/bandleader Matana Roberts. “I could not be more thrilled for the KSO to participate in Big Ears, a signature annual event that highlights Knoxville’s growing status as a destination city for the arts,” Demirjian says in a press release. “It is essential for the continued vitality of our art form that we shine a spotlight on the music of our time through events like Big Ears.” Daily tickets for the festival will go on sale on Friday, Jan. 13, at 10 a.m. Visit bigearsfestival.com for the full lineup and the daily schedule. —Matthew Everett
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Movies: Things to Come
THE RHYTHM N’ BLOOMS FESTIVAL BLOSSOMS IN ITS SEVENTH YEAR
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f the past few years are any indication, we shouldn’t be surprised that 2017’s Rhythm N’ Blooms festival continues to stack its lineup with an eclectic mix of acts ranging from subdued singer-songwriters and rootsy rock bands to full-on pop. Now in it’s seventh year, the Dogwood Arts Festival’s three-day throwdown has largely shed the Americana focus of its folksy beginnings, instead opting to fill stages across downtown with a diverse set of national names. This year’s top acts include California indie rockers Young the Giant, whose 2011 power-pop tour de force, “My Body,” catapulted the college-radio favorites to mainstream success; punk/world festival staples Gogol Bordello; and Americana singer/ songwriter John Paul White, the soulful vocalist and guitarist who was half of the now-defunct Americana duo the Civil Wars. Staying true to the festival’s mission to showcase East Tennessee’s best alongside big-name artists, the lineup also includes local acts like Black Lillies’ frontman and local Americana ambassador Cruz Contreras, Knoxville native Dave Barnes, and the Pinklets. Other announced acts include John Moreland, Parker Millsap, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and Bonnie Bishop, with more to come. Rhythm N’ Blooms takes place April 7-9. Tickets are available at rhythmnbloomsfest.com. —Carey Hodges
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Art: Meandering Mythologies
Inside the Vault
Vacation Vistas Vintage vacation films from TAMIS support the Gatlinburg recovery effort BY ERIC DAWSON
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long with Christmas and trips to the beach, films of the Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg are probably the most common footage found in the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound’s home-movie collections. From the time 16mm cameras became affordable for the more well-heeled amateur filmmaker, holidays and vacations were some of the most well-documented events. This continued with the advent of the less expensive 8mm in the early 1930s and Super 8 in the mid 1960s, formats which made home movies more attractive to middle-class families. Film use began to dwindle in the 1980s, following the appearance of video camcorders, and now that people can make movies on their
phone, even few Hollywood filmmakers shoot on film. (Notice, though, how often people refer to shooting video as “filming.”) What hasn’t changed much over the last century are the subjects of home movies. Vacations remain a favorite subject, and around here, Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains are natural destinations. Home movies at TAMIS offer a unique look at how the Smokies and Gatlinburg changed throughout the 20th century. Local photographer Jim Thompson shot quite a bit of 16mm film, much of it in the Smokies. A founding member of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, Thompson loved photographing the mountains, and his images were instrumental in promoting the creation of the Great Smoky
Mountain National Park. His blackand-white 1920s footage of the hiking club, Cades Cove, and the balds and ranges of what would become the park remain some of the most striking moving images of the Smokies. Gatlinburg resident Jack Huff was also a Smokies enthusiast and booster who enjoyed filming around his home. Huff’s film collection is a large one—more than 70 reels of 16mm film, mostly of Gatlinburg and the Smokies. He filmed the earliest known color film in the Smokies, images from 1929 that include views of a snow-covered Mount LeConte Lodge, which he operated from 1926 to 1959. You think of Thompson and Huff hauling cameras and film reels up those mountains, and how difficult that must have been, but then remember that Huff carried his mother up LeConte strapped to his back in a wicker chair. The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts collection contains fascinating 16mm footage of Gatlinburg from the late 1920s, before it began its development as a tourist town. A 16mm camera inside a car filmed the entry into Gatlinburg (the hood ornament is visible throughout the shot), with just a few cafes, shops, and gas stations visible along the side of the road. The photographer filmed the grounds of Arrowmont and Pi Beta Phi Settlement School, along with the students and several Sevier County elders. A retreat to higher ground reveals expansive views of the small town and surrounding mountains. The Mountain View hotel looms large, but otherwise a few homes and churches are about all you can make out. Though usually not as aesthetically pleasing as 16mm, 8mm film is more plentiful, allowing a broader view of the area. Vistas are understandably popular places to film, and pans of distant mountains from peaks or lookouts are very common. In almost every Smokies home-movie collection you’ll also find shots of black bears, first-person shots of cars entering tunnels, and the Newfound Gap monument. You know it’s coming, but it never gets old. It’s the same subjects over and over, but each shot
A&E
and perspective is unique. There are frequent uncomfortable moments, too. Obviously the tourist boom was a boon to the local economy, but it’s still okay to feel a bit of a pang when watching motels, restaurants, and trinket shops replace bucolic landscapes. For obvious reasons, it’s difficult to watch white— invariably white—tourists interact with costumed Native Americans. One home movie lingers on a black bear chained to a platform, trained to drink bottles of Coke for bemused spectators. The film is from the 1960s, the damaged acetate giving it a beaten, cracked quality that makes the spectacle seem even more distant and surreal. But we’d do well to remember that not that long ago bears were still on display in cages or in chains in Pigeon Forge. Like just about everything else in America, we have a complicated history with the Smokies and Gatlinburg, and the recent wildfires have added a further troubling incident. There is no shortage of photographs or video, especially digital video, documenting the area, but film will be increasingly harder to come by. Thousands of visitors must have filmed their vacations there across the five or six decades film was in regular use. But much of that film has deteriorated, or was unknowingly thrown out, or is sitting in a basement or attic awaiting such a fate. Fortunately hundreds of film reels with images of the area are in a cold storage vault at TAMIS, much of it digitized and occasionally screened publicly. An hour of this footage was made available on Picturing the Smokies, a DVD assembled by TAMIS co-founders Bradley Reeves and Louisa Trott in 2009. Much of what’s described above can be found there, along with some surprises. We’re donating 100 percent of proceeds from sales of the DVD to the Pi Beta Phi Elementary PTA Student and Staff Fund. If you’d like to view this one-of-a-kind footage, you can purchase Picturing the Smokies for $20 at Lawson McGhee Library, the East Tennessee History Center, or online at knoxfriends.org. ◆ January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 21
A&E
Music
Shut Up and Play Guitar A Zappa family dispute can’t stop Dweezil’s touring tribute BY RYAN REED
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or more than a decade, Dweezil Zappa has revitalized his father’s music, joyously paying tribute to the near-manic eclecticism and complexity of the Frank Zappa catalog. But his latest tour is traveling beneath a storm cloud. Since the 2015 death of Dweezil’s mother, Gail, the Zappa family has split into two factions of feuding siblings: Dweezil and sister Moon Unit against Ahmet and Diva, chief shareholders of the Zappa Family Trust. The rival camps disagree about most matters of preserving Frank’s legacy, from an upcoming Alex Winter documentary about him to the branding of the Zappa name. For Dweezil, the matter is even more complicated. Since 2006, the guitarist has toured the world as Zappa Plays Zappa, a logical name for a son extending his father’s music onstage. But Dweezil has twice been issued cease and desist letters from
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
the trust, which was established after Frank’s 1993 death to protect his intellectual property. As part of a trademark complaint, Dweezil was forced to change the name of his project for the latest trek, but he ultimately did so with an irreverent kiss-off his father may have admired. His current sojourn is called 50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the Fuck He Wants – The Cease and Desist Tour. The trust followed by filing for a federal trademark for the surname Zappa, and Dweezil responded with a PledgeMusic campaign to help fund a legal battle to, in a bizarre sense, preserve his own name. “One of the things they’ve applied for is everything in music and entertainment, so if they were to be able to control the name, they could block me from using my own last name to perform anywhere,” the guitarist says. “I’d need a license or
some kind of permission. They’re trying to basically have their thumb over me for anything I ever do. I have to oppose this because it’s ridiculous, but it’s going to cost a ton of money to do it, and it’ll take months and months. “Their intent and hope is to create Zappa as a brand, like Chanel or something. They want to put ‘Zappa’ on anything. The very first project Diva did was make yoga pants with the We’re Only in It for the Money album cover on it. She didn’t realize the irony of that choice. What’s so crazy is, listen to the lyrics of ‘Cosmik Debris.’ Does that sound like somebody who would want his face on yoga pants?” Despite the numerous distractions, Zappa is refocusing his attention away from family drama toward the songs that altered his life’s course. “Frank’s music is very special, so when we get to play it, I’m not thinking about anything else,” he says. “I’m not onstage thinking about any of those other issues. It’s almost like a Zen thing.” Like the previous 50 Years dates, this two-leg North American tour covers music from Frank’s entire catalog, with a special focus on early albums like 1966’s Freak Out! “The first 45 minutes is from early Mothers of Invention stuff that we haven’t played on any other tour,” Dweezil says. “It has a certain energy that’s different from other areas of Frank’s music. It’s always been the goal for me to present what I feel are the most underappreciated or misunderstood or least well-represented parts of his career. The issue that occurs with Frank’s music is that he got on the radio sporadically, but not with songs that represented the mentality of his work. “Some people say, ‘I’ve heard ‘Yellow Snow’ or ‘Valley Girl’ or whatever, yeah, I get it. I know Frank Zappa’s stuff.’ But they really don’t. My goal was to play the music but focus on the underappreciated elements of Frank’s talents as a composer.” The harmonic and rhythmic sophistication of that music has
rubbed off on Dweezil’s own solo material, which has evolved substantially from his early hard-rock electric guitar workouts. His latest album, 2015’s Via Zammata’, is highlighted by a shapeshifting, symphonic-sized prog-fusion jam called “Funky 15” that echoes—but never imitates— Frank’s peak mid-’70s period. Later this year, Dweezil will debut some music onstage with a 100-piece orchestra. In the meantime, he is concentrating on his dad’s genius, cease and desist letters be damned. “When we started in 2006, we had no idea if it would go on beyond that year,” Dweezil says. “There’s enough music to explore to keep it going for decades, but the initial people who came out to see that were, at that time, mostly males in their late 50s and 60s. Fast-forward 10 years— we don’t see those exact same people. Demographically, people who are Frank’s core audience from back in the day, they aren’t going to so many shows anymore. Some of them might not even be alive anymore. That’s the importance of carrying the music forward to a new generation.” ◆
WHAT
Dweezil Zappa: 50 Years of Frank
WHERE
Bijou Theatre (803 S. Gay St.)
WHEN
Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 8 p.m.
HOW MUCH $30-$75
INFO
knoxbijou.com or dweezilzappa.com
A&E
Photos by L. Bergery
Movies
The March of Time Isabelle Huppert’s hot streak continues in the subtle character sketch Things to Come BY NATHAN SMITH
“T
ime marches on never ending/ Time keeps its own time.” Those are the first lines of “Finally,” the best-known single by house-music producer Sandy Rivera, which I first heard in French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve’s 2014 film Eden. These lyrics could provide an apt review of that film—one of my favorites of the current decade—which follows a semisuccessful DJ named Paul over years of almost but never quite making it. By the end of Eden, Paul’s dream has fully expired. There’s nothing left for him but the march of time. Things to Come, Hansen-Løve’s latest movie—for which she won the Best Director prize at last year’s Berlin Film Festival—is, like Eden, about time moving on. But unlike
Eden, whose young protagonist’s dreams fade over time, Things to Come is about a woman in her 60s, suddenly released from all of her responsibilities to find she has nothing but time. That woman, a philosophy professor named Nathalie, is played with profound care and insight by Isabelle Huppert, who has received rapturous acclaim for her recent performances here and in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle. Within a short period, Nathalie, an accomplished, composed woman in a 25-year marriage, with two grown children, loses everything that once meant something in her life: Her husband leaves her, her mother dies, book contracts fall through, and favorite
students graduate. Nathalie has learned to define herself through her responsibilities and the people she loves. She’s forgotten, as we all do, that few of those things were ever permanent. As a teacher, she embodies structure, but now every sense of structure in her own life is gone. She takes refuge with a favorite former student at an anarchist commune, but finds that she’s outgrown their rhetoric; the only revolution that interests her is inspiring students to think for themselves. For the first time in her life, as she notes to that student, she knows true freedom. Huppert’s performance deserves the praise it has earned. It treads the delicate line between recognizability and believability—we recognize Huppert, but we believe she is someone else. Huppert has not undergone any massive loss or gain of weight, employed facial prosthetics or computer wizardry, affected an accent, or feigned a disability. Her acting isn’t based on extremes or histrionics; it never announces itself as a great performance. Its confidence lies in nuance. Many of the film’s most powerful moments follow Nathalie alone, often moving from place to place, by foot, car, bus, and train. She is defined as a character as much by the literal action of moving herself as she is by her
reactions to other people. We see her crying on the bus, walking through the mud to find better cell service, warding off the unwelcome advances of a stranger at a movie theater. It is in these moments that we get a better sense of Nathalie than in scenes of obvious conflict or crisis; we watch as she adapts to the immediate challenges that life presents and forges a new identity alone. She, like time, must keep moving forward to survive. Each detail of Nathalie’s very presence is performed with precision, her back ever so arched, her stride ever so determined. But there’s a subtle precariousness to her actions, as if her entire being is on the verge of tipping over. She sets her cat’s carrier on the very edge of a chair, or places a pot haphazardly on a stove, and somehow, through force of will or cosmic coincidence, everything stays. Her life is unmoored, every bit of structure she once held onto gone out to sea, but nothing comes undone. Even when the people we know—even when we ourselves— leave our mortal shells, one last vestige of structure remains: time itself, the only thing dependable enough to set your watch to. As Huppert and Hansen-Løve instruct, time may move slowly, but it moves nonetheless, always coming forward, no matter our age or station. Time marches on, never ending. ◆ January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 23
A&E
Ar t
“Canto 6: Three Pit Bulls” by Gary Monroe, from Comedy Cocke County
Local Myths Two East Tennessee artists find mythological resonance in local folk culture BY DENISE STEWART-SANABRIA
B
oth Gary Monroe and Timothy Massey descend from families who have lived in Appalachia for generations. The history and folklore of the area is bound to them and heavily informs their art, and both artists use drawing on paper as their primary medium. The intensely narrative work they produce, however, is on very different ends of the spectrum. Their work on view at the University of Tennessee’s Downtown Gallery comes from two long-term themed series: Massey’s Apocrypha seeks to find authenticity in common folklore, and Monroe’s Comedy Cocke County uses exaggerated local characters to dramatize the individual cantos of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Massey, who teaches art at the College at Brockport, State University of New York, grew up a mile away from
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the French Broad River, near what is now Seven Islands State Birding Park. He observed local rural belief systems and wondered about the truth in them. If you buried a live bee, would it really rain the next day? How accurate is water dowsing? If a family member dies, what does it mean that you have to go outside immediately and whisper what happened to the bees? Would an orchard grove die if you didn’t? Fortified by his own experience and the advice documented in the Foxfire series of books, he went to find that place between science and faith. His Apocrypha series is based on the statements and phenomenon that rest between logic and faith. Employing the skilled but minimalist drafting methods used by the American Regionalists of the early 20th century, he brings to life images of
humans, dwellings, and the plant and animal life we depend on. He uses a combination of charcoal, India ink, Conte crayon, and gesso to create moody, monochromatic drawings that are rich in symbols. In “Sacrifice (Water Witch)”, a water dowser dressed in an old-time fedora holds a dowser stick in his mouth. A dying bee lies on the end of the stick, while a huge one that seems resurrected hovers overhead in gathering storm clouds superimposed behind a honeycomb grid. “In Two Crow Lunch (Dowser)”, a dour man walks under his own rain cloud, holding his dowser stick up to the sky, as two crows hop near his feet. One crow is bad luck, two crows good, but the man continues to rain on himself, while the crows enjoy the luck of drinking from his puddles. In “Big Fish,” he addresses the greatest statements of dubious authenticity ever regularly declared: how big was the fish you caught. A man with a malicious grin stands in a field, his face lowered, as a child looks on. The man’s arms are outstretched as wide as they can go, while the ghostly image of a much smaller fish hovers over him in the foreground. Massey also has several color drawings in the exhibit done with a mix of acrylic, color pencil, pastel, and gesso. The color adds an atmosphere of optimism to his narrative, even when the work contains heavy subject matter. Examining Gary Monroe’s work is an adult version of a child’s fascination with pages from vintage Mad magazines. There is so much going on, and so many layers of wit. There is the main image and text, and then the story spirals around it. Strange things go on in the corners. Characters are creepy. Behavior gets delightfully crude. The theme in Comedy Cocke County, however, is decidedly highbrow. Monroe has taken individual cantos from Dante’s Divine Comedy and has them enacted by a cast of exaggerated stereotypes from Cocke County, reinforced by actual articles pulled from The Newport Plain Talk newspaper. On top of that, he taps into European art history and appropriates compositions and classic poses from other artists who have depicted
the 14th century epic poem. The combinations of kitsch and esoteric delight Monroe. He likens it to Hee-Haw meets Dante. The first drawings in the series are executed in black and white, with subsequent drawings in a combination of pencil, chalk, and pastel. Monroe had begun to feel that working in black and white was a crutch, and the color does make elements in the complicated drawings more descriptive, such as the repeated inclusion of old television sets playing the talking-horse sitcom Mister Ed in black and white. The depiction of the characters, while decidedly skilled, veers deliberately into caricature, in the tradition of William Hogarth. All of the characters from the Divine Comedy are there, but their names have become anagrams. The text that scrolls across the body of each piece has been transcribed from Italian to English by Monroe. The French Broad River fills in for the river Styx, complete with billboards for moonshine and live bears. Elvis, Dale Earnhardt, and the infamous Del Rio cockfighting pit all take on significant roles. The richness of the details and complexity of Massey and Monroe’s work demands a long and indulgent time break in your schedule to absorb. ◆
WHAT
Timothy Massey and Gary Monroe: Meandering Mythologies
WHERE
Downtown Gallery (106 S. Gay St.)
WHEN
Through Jan. 28
HOW MUCH Free
INFO
downtown.utk.edu
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
MUSIC
Thursday, Jan. 12 THE RAGBIRDS • The Open Chord • 8PM • For years, “home” was a place The Ragbirds rarely visited. The band’s music — a genre-bending hybrid of indie-pop melodies, global rhythms and songwriting styles influenced from all over the world — was as broad as their audience, which stretched from the group’s hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan, to the shores of Osaka, Japan (where they scored a Number One pop hot with the song “Book of Matches”). • $8-$10 FREEQUENCY • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 6PM • Acoustic Americana trio. Part of WDVX’s 6 O’Clock Swerve series. • FREE ASK YOUR FOLKS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM GRAVY • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM Friday, Jan. 13 SHILOH HILL • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 6PM • FREE ALIVE AFTER FIVE: THE STREAMLINERS SWING ORCHESTRA • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • The fabulous 17-member Streamliners perform the swingin’ hits of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Prima, and more. • $10-$15 THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • What does North Carolina sound like? In a state that’s also produced Doc Watson, James Taylor and the Avett Brothers, there’s hardly a more well-rounded answer than the Steep Canyon Rangers. A bluegrass band at their core, the Steep Canyon Rangers effortlessly walk the line between festival favorite and sophisticated string orchestra. They’re as danceable as the most progressive, party-oriented string band, and equally comfortable translating their songs for accompaniment by a full symphony. Visit steepcanyon.com. • $23 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 CYRUS CHESTNUT • The Square Room • 8PM • Cyrus Chestnut is quite simply one of the most dynamic pianists of his generation. The son of a church choir director and church organist, Chestnut combines deep-seated gospel roots, impeccable jazz artistry and fun-loving showmanship into an irresistible concoction that has been thrilling audiences worldwide for more than three decades. • $25 WEDNESDAY 13 WITH BOURBON CROW AND LA BASURA DEL DIABLO • The Concourse • 8PM • 18 and up. Visit internationalknox.com. • $12 JOSIAH AND THE GREATER GOOD WITH DYLAN MCDONALD AND THE AVIANS AND THE SEDONAS • The Open Chord • 8PM • All ages. • $7-$10 SHORT TERM MEMORY • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM JUBAL • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE BLUE PLATE SPECIAL ROAD SHOW: THE SOUTH CAROLINA BROADCASTERS WITH THE LONETONES • The Open Chord • 12PM • East Tennessee’s Own WDVX has been bringing you real live music from the heart of downtown Knoxville for more than a decade on the WDVX Blue Plate Special. As we head into the new year, the building that houses
the Blue Plate Special stage is being remodeled to create a more useful and comfortable space for visitors and Blue Plate Special attendees. This means our live noontime shows will be taking a break through February 2017. You will still hear Blue Plate programming and live in- studios on your radio, and we are planning Blue Plate Special Road Shows throughout our community. • FREE WILD BLUE YONDER • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • The four-piece Appalachian Americana group has endeared audiences with warm harmonies, sizzling fiddles and folksy original songs for the past 16 years. FILTHY BLONDE • Wild Honey Records • 7:30PM • A new local rock ‘n’ roll band. THE YOUNG FABLES • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 9PM CITY LIMITS • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM JEANINE FULLER • The Bistro at the Bijou • 9PM • FREE RAMAJAY • Smoky Mountain Brewery (Maryville) • 9:30PM REALM • Preservation Pub • 10PM • Heavy, head-nodding psychedelic rock that even people who don’t generally like heavy psychedelic rock would get into. And songs about Dune. 21 and up. KELSEY’S WOODS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • The latest album from Kelsey’s Woods, When the Morning Comes Around, has the full complement of roots-rock signifiers, from pedal-steel guitar, Hammond organ, and mandolin to songs about the open highway and references to Merle Haggard. SLIPPERY WHEN WET • Wild Wing Cafe • 10PM • A tribute to Bon Jovi. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 14 THE LOW COUNTS • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 6PM • FREE SOUTH CAROLINA BROADCASTERS • Laurel Theater • 8PM • Tight harmonies and exceptional instrumentation give the group a powerful old-time sound. They’ve played with some of the great string bands of the past-Ivy with the Roan Mountain Hilltoppers and Andy with Benton Flippen’s Smokey Valley Boys. Visit jubileearts.org. • $15 HILLBILLY JEDI • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM SUNDY BEST • Cotton Eyed Joe • 9PM • Since signing with eOne Music in 2013, the band has released three separate studio projects — a deluxe version of their independently produced album Door Without A Screen, early 2014’s Bring Up The Sun, and now, a brand new collection of songs titled Salvation City, their second effort working with veteran producer RS Field (Justin Townes Earle, Allison Moorer, Todd Snider, Webb Wilder, Sonny Landreth.) 18 and up. • $10 ADRIAN AND MEREDITH KRYGOWSKI • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE SHIFFTY AND THE HEADMASTERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM THE BURNIN’ HERMANS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. JUSTIN DUNCAN • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE BIJOU AWARDS SHOW • Bijou Theatre • 7PM • The Bijou Awards has been honoring great young artistic talent in the Knoxville area since 2013. Originally created as a way to bring a new generation of people into the historic Bijou Theatre in downtown Knoxville, the Bijou Awards has grown into a nine county search to find the best singers, actors, writers and film makers from all of the area high schools and middle schools. $12 MASS DRIVER WITH THE BILLY WIDGETS • Club 1341 • 8PM • $5 TOMMIE JOHN • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM LIONS WITH SPORTS • Pilot Light • 10PM • Lions’ music—an
CALENDAR
INNER VOICES STRING QUARTET: BARBER AT THE HAIR SALON GEO Hair Lab (300 W. Fifth Ave.) • Friday, Jan. 13 • 8 p.m. • $10 • facebook.com/innervoicesstringquartet
One measure of the health of a classical music scene is its ability to expand beyond the base provided by the established organizations and support new performers and ensembles. By that definition, the arrival last season of Inner Voices String Quartet onto the Knoxville scene was a sign of vibrant health, evidence that both performers and audiences were willing—and eager—for more and different experiences in music. Part of the charm of the Inner Voices experience is the ensemble’s willingness to forgo traditional performance norms and take the audience in alternative directions. For this week’s event, that direction would be north, to GEO Hair Lab at the intersection of Gay Street and Fifth Avenue, for a performance titled Barber at the Hair Salon. This Barber, though, is the composer Samuel Barber—and the work, his String Quartet in B Minor, whose slow second movement is the gorgeous “Adagio.” In addition to the Barber, their program includes a number of individual movements from larger works: the second movement of Ravel’s String Quartet in F major, the first movement of Debussy’s String Quartet in G minor, a movement from Haydn’s “Sunrise” String Quartet, Op. 76 No. 4, and the Larghetto from Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. Yet another part of the ensemble’s charm is their determination that performances not be a “sit down, shut up, and listen” concert experience. Small bites, desserts, and beverages will be on hand—and audiences are encouraged to eat, drink, stand, sit, or wander. The four members of Inner Voices are local musicians associated with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and other area orchestras: Rachel Loseke and Ruth Bacon Edewards (violins), Christina Graffeo (viola), and Jeanine Wilkinson (cello). (Alan Sherrod)
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Spotlight: The Love Witch
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Spotlight: Shelter from the Storm January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 25
CALENDAR emotional, caffeinated mix of twinkly emo, anthemic poppunk, and technically adept indie rock—promotes constant motion and scream-alongs. 18 and up. • $5 Sunday, Jan. 15 SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH • Downtown Grill and Brewery • 11AM • Knoxville’s coolest jazz artists perform every Sunday. • FREE SHIFFLETT’S JAZZ BENEDICT • The Bistro at the Bijou • 12PM • Live jazz. • FREE SHILOH HILL • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM GATLINBURG WILDFIRE BENEFIT • The Open Chord • 6PM • With music by Warclown, Divided We Stand, Killing Grace, Among the Beasts, Inward of Eden, and the Holifields. All proceeds will go directly to the Sevier County Humane Society, who are raising funds to build a new, more functional shelter after theirs was severely damaged in the fire. All ages. • $8 Monday, Jan. 16 THE EVENING NEWS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM Tuesday, Jan. 17 DWEEZIL ZAPPA: 50 YEARS OF FRANK • Bijou Theatre • 8PM
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
• Continuing the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Freak Out!, the debut from Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Dweezil Zappa: 50 Years of Frank has been described as a “loosely chronological tour of a Great American Songbook: the opening flush of doo-wop and dada from Freak Out!; a stroll forward through Frank’s 1971 cinema lark, 200 Motels; mid-Seventies fan favorites from Over-Nite Sensation; and a heavy chunk of the Eighties opera Joe’s Garage,” writes David Fricke for Rolling Stone. Visit knoxbijou.com. • $30 • See preview on page 22. BENJY FERREE • Pilot Light • 9PM • 18 and up. • $5 THE JONNIE MORGAN BAND • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. Wednesday, Jan. 18 FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 6:30PM • FREE THE CAM DUFFY BAND • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. Thursday, Jan. 19 PEAK PHYSIQUE • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 6PM • The WDVX 6 O’Clock Swerve is weekly musical trip with
THE PUBLIC CINEMA: THE LOVE WITCH Scruffy City Hall (32 Market Square) • Thursday, Jan. 19 • 8 p.m. • Free • publiccinema.org or lifeofastar.com/lovewitch
The Love Witch, Anna Biller’s second feature, about a sexy young woman in swinging California who deploys magic to seduce and ensnare attractive men, is an eye-popping feminist art-house comedy chiller. Elaine, Biller’s bewitching protagonist, turns the tables on the virile studs who pursue her with an enchanted concoction brewed up to turn lust into true love. But her potion has ghastly unanticipated results, and the corpses pile up inside Elaine’s Victorian apartment in an escalating comedy of grotesque occult miscalculation. For all its postmodern upending of genre and gender conventions, Biller’s meticulous production—she wrote, directed, and produced The Love Witch, and also designed the candy-colored midcentury sets and costumes—is a remarkable piece of old-fashioned auteurist filmmaking. The sets and sumptuous photography—the movie was shot on 35mm film—recall Hitchcock, Hammer horror movies, and the low-budget drive-in sex romps of the ’60s. (Matthew Everett)
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
talented regional artists featuring live performances and insightful interviews in a living room atmosphere. • FREE DALE ANN BRADLEY • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 8PM • Dale Ann has always expressed in her recordings the boundlessness of Bluegrass music and its musicians and vocalists by incorporating songs from all styles into her shows and albums. SUGAR LIME BLUE • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up. PRESSING STRINGS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM OPPOSITE BOX WITH ELECTROCHEMICAL • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. Friday, Jan. 20 SHELTER FROM THE STORM BENEFIT • Scruffy City Hall • 6PM • Join us on Jan. 20 to demonstrate commitment to equality for all people in our home town and beyond, with Cereus Bright, Hudson K, Bark, Black Atticus, Paul Lee Kupfer, and Shimmy and the Burns, with emcee Bill Foster and guest speaker state Rep. Rick Staples. All proceeds benefit the ACLU of Tennessee. Visit Facebook for more info. • $10 • See Spotlight on page 33. BLUE PLATE SPECIAL ROAD SHOW: HARDIN VALLEY THUNDER • Pellissippi State Community College • 12PM • East Tennessee’s Own WDVX has been bringing you real live music from the heart of downtown Knoxville for more than a decade on the WDVX Blue Plate Special. As we head into the new year, the building that houses the Blue Plate Special stage is being remodeled to create a more useful and comfortable space for visitors and Blue Plate Special attendees. This means our live noontime shows will be taking a break through February 2017. You will still hear Blue Plate programming and live in- studios on your radio, and we are planning Blue Plate Special Road Shows throughout our community. • FREE ALIVE AFTER FIVE: THE TOMMIE JOHN BAND AND CRAWDADDY JONES • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • Winners of the local Blues Challenge (band and solo/duo divisions) who will represent out area in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis at the end of the month. • $5-$10 DAVID ALLEN BUCKNER • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • FREE R.B. MORRIS • Laurel Theater • 8PM • Even before Mayor Rogero made the announcement last year, many of us figured R.B. Morris was already Knoxville’s poet laureate. • $13 THE DIRTY DOUGS • Casual Pint (Northshore) • 8PM BETTER DAZE • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM DR. BACON • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria (Maryville) • 9PM RICK RUSHING • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM THE 9TH STREET STOMPERS • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE ANCIENT CITIES • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM BADLANDS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. PEAK PHYSIQUE WITH TOM ATO AND ZAC FALLON • Pilot Light • 10PM • 18 and up. • $5 Saturday, Jan. 21 THE FORLORN STRANGERS WITH OLD SALT REUNION • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 6PM • FREE INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COLLEGIATE ACAPPELLA SOUTH QUARTERFINALS • University of Tennessee Alumni Memorial Building • 6PM • Featuring a cappella groups from the University of Birmingham, Appalachian State University, Vanderbilt, Belmont, and the University if Tennessee. The top two placing groups at this event will advance to the ICCA South Semifinal. Visit freshtix.com/
events/icca-south-quarterfinal-at-cox-2017. • $25 CHELSEA STEPP • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE RONNIE MILSAP • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Ronnie Milsap ranks as the pre-eminent country soul singer of his generation. He also represents much more than any two-word definition can convey: a humble, overtly friendly fellow with a talent as vast and multi-dimensional as the American South. • $39-$99 COMMUNITY CENTER • Preservation Pub • 8PM • 21 and up. WALLACE COLEMAN • Laurel Theater • 8PM • Growing up in East Tennessee, Wallace Coleman was captivated by the sounds he heard late at night from Nashville’s WLAC. It was on WLAC that Coleman first heard his greatest musical influences: Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters. Coleman left Tennessee in 1956 to find work in Cleveland. He began playing professionally with Cleveland’s Guitar Slim and caught the ear of audience member Robert “Jr.” Lockwood, joining his band in 1987. Still based in Cleveland, Wallace has been leading his own band since 1997. • $13 HAZEL WITH HUDSON K AND SENRYU • The Open Chord • 8PM • Synth-pop locals Hazel will make their official debut with the release of their single “Shadow.” All ages. • $7 DALE T. SHARP • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM CLAY WALKER • Cotton Eyed Joe • 9PM • Multi-Platinum country music artist and East Texas native, Clay Walker, rocked the country scene in 1993 with his debut album that included the smash hit “What’s It To You.” He continued to make a splash, releasing a string of number one hits including “If I Could Make A Living,” “This Woman and This Man” and “Rumor Has It.” In 1996 he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis but Clay did not let that set him back. 18 and up. • $10-$15 GREYHOUNDS • Scruffy City Hall • 9PM THE JUKE JOINT DRIFTERS • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM THE REFLECTORS • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE MASSEUSE WITH FRAZIERBAND • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. THE DANIEL KIMBRO BAND • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM • Appalachian inspired fusion from current and past members of the Jerry Douglas Band, Cadillac Sky, and The Jeff Sipe Trio. SUNDAY, JAN. 22 SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH • Downtown Grill and Brewery • 11AM • Knoxville’s coolest jazz artists perform every Sunday. • FREE SHIFFLETT’S JAZZ BENEDICT • The Bistro at the Bijou • 12PM • Live jazz. • FREE OLD SALT UNION • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM ADVANCE BASE WITH LIZA/LISA • Pilot Light • 9PM • 18 and up. • $5 Monday, Jan. 23 ERIN HARPE AND THE DELTA SWINGERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM Tuesday, Jan. 24 KNOXVILLE JAZZ ORCHESTRA AND PHILIP DIZACK • The Square Room • 8PM • In 2005, Milwaukee-born Philip Dizack became the youngest winner of the Carmine Caruso International Trumpet Competition. Since that time, he has caused quite a stir on the international jazz scene as a featured performer with the likes of Bobby Watson, Greg Tardy, Nicholas Payton and many others. • $34.50 DARRIN BRADBURY • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM LOVEWHIP • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.
CALENDAR Wednesday, Jan. 25 FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 6:30PM • FREE SAMMY ADAMS: THE SENIORITIS TOUR • The Concourse • 8PM • All ages. • $15-$400 AIRPARK • Pilot Light • 10PM • Inspired by minimalism, melody and groove-heavy percussion, bandmates Michael Ford, Jr. and Ben Ford launched Airpark in 2016, one year after their previous project, The Apache Relay, quietly called it quits. With The Apache Relay, the Ford brothers performed alongside the likes of Jenny Lewis, Mumford and Sons and more. 18 and up. Thursday, Jan. 26 THE TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND WITH JACK PEARSON • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • Driven by Susan Tedeschi’s impassioned, blues-soaked vocals and Derek Trucks’ virtuoso guitar, Tedeschi Trucks Band is a 12-member, American roots-rock tour-de-force. • $35-$79.50 RAT PUNCH WITH DAY AND AGE AND CONSENSUAL PISS • Pilot Light • 9PM • 18 and up. • $5 OOKAY WITH KILL REX, RA, AND IRELL • The Concourse • 10PM • 18 and up. • $10-$20 CRANFORD HOLLOW • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM Friday, Jan. 27 SNOW DAY 2017: A CAC BEARDSLEY COMMUNITY FARM BENEFIT • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 7PM • The ninth annual Snow Day, a CAC Beardsley Community Farm Benefit, will feature seven performances by a diverse group of local musicians, a soup contest between some of Knoxville’s finest restaurants, a Homegrown and Homemade Beard Pageant, and a silent auction. With performances by J-Bush, Big Bad Oven, Count This Penny, Kelle Jolly, the Pinklets, Pleases, and Matt Nelson and Caleb Hall and soup from Olibea, Tootsie Truck, Tupelo Honey, Lonesome Dove, and more. • $8 THE DEL MCCOURY BAND WITH VAN EATON • The Standard • 7:30PM • The Del McCoury Band may not play as many dates as some other hard-touring bands, or release as many albums, but the group has pretty much set the standard for high-quality traditional bluegrass for more than 25 years. McCoury is about as old-school as anyone whose last name isn’t Stanley or Monroe. Visit delmccouryband.com or wdvx.com. • $30-$35 DAVE EGGAR WITH KELLE JOLLY • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 12PM • East Tennessee’s Own WDVX has been bringing you real live music from the heart of downtown Knoxville for more than a decade on the WDVX Blue Plate Special. As we head into the new year, the building that houses the Blue Plate Special stage is being remodeled to create a more useful and comfortable space for visitors and Blue Plate Special attendees. This means our live noontime shows will be taking a break through February 2017. You will still hear Blue Plate programming and live in- studios on your radio, and we are planning Blue Plate Special Road Shows throughout our community. • FREE CHRIS LOVOY • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 5:30PM CARLY BURRUSS • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 6PM • FREE ALIVE AFTER FIVE: THE TENNESSEE SHEIKS • Knoxville Museum of Art • 6PM • The Tennessee Sheiks is an acoustic swing band led by mandolin maestro, Don Cassell, and singer, Nancy Brennan Strange, who have performed together in an assortment of bands for over twenty years and with the Sheiks, along with original member and gypsy jazz-style guitarist Don Wood, for ten years. • $5-$10
MICHAEL ROBERTS • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE MARSHALL CRENSHAW WITH THE BOTTLE ROCKETS • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Maryville) • 7PM • Over the course of a recording career that’s spanned three decades, 13 albums and hundreds of songs, Marshall Crenshaw’s musical output has maintained a consistently high level of artistry, craftsmanship and passion, endearing him to a broad and loyal fan base. • $20 FROG AND TOAD’S DIXIE QUARTET • The Crown and Goose • 8PM • FREE LUKE COMBS WITH MUSCADINE BLOODLINE • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • Luke began to develop his craft in the summer of 2011 while attending Appalachian State University and has been plowing ahead ever since. After 3 years playing with his band in his home state of North Carolina, Luke made the move to Nashville in September of 2014. Visit knoxbijou.com. • $12 SHAYLA MCDANIEL • Modern Studio • 8PM • Shayla McDaniel comes to Modern Studio for a special show to celebrate the release of her new EP 26 Letters. AVENUE C • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM SISTER HAZEL • Cotton Eyed Joe • 9PM • Over the years, the band has sold over 2 million albums and had six top 30 singles; they earned a platinum disc with 1997’s Somewhere More Familiar and a gold with 2000’s Fortress. 18 and up. • $10 THE PAUL WARREN PROJECT • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM JOSHUA POWELL AND THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE COPIOUS JONES WITH ROMAN REESE AND THE CARDINAL SINS AND KAREN JONAS • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up. Saturday, Jan. 28 THE BAILSMEN • Sugarlands Distilling Co. (Gatlinburg) • 6PM • FREE JON WHITLOCK • Vienna Coffee House (Maryville) • 7PM • FREE THE DIRTY DOORS • The Open Chord • 8PM • Celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Doors’ debut album. Performing the first album in its entirety along with all the hits and classics. All ages. • $12-$15 THE FREIGHT HOPPERS • Laurel Theater • 8PM • The Freight Hoppers have been presenting old-time string band music for more than 20 years. Their repertoire includes music that was first recorded in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, and spans geographically from Mississippi to West Virginia. • $15 THE SOUTHERN DRAWL BAND • The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Maryville) • 8PM • Local Southern rock. • $17 ZOE NUTT AND DEVIN BADGETT • Modern Studio • 8PM • Zoë Nutt is a storyteller. She likes to tell stories with music and poignant and meaningful lyrics, but it’s perhaps her vocal interpretation of those words that brings her musical tales to life. Simply put, Zoë Nutt is a voice you will not soon forget. CONSENSUAL PISS WITH HEADFACE, ARC WELDER, PALATHEDA, AERANITE, OOSTANAULA, RURNT, AND SEGAWORMS • Pilot Light • 8PM • 18 and up. • $5 CHRIS ELLIS AND THE WEEKENDERS • Two Doors Down (Maryville) • 9PM SOULFINGER • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM • Funky big-band soul and R&B. THE CARMONAS • Boyd’s Jig and Reel • 10PM • FREE AMBROSE WAY WITH CHARGE THE ATLANTIC AND DANIMAL PLANET • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.
THE EVENT SWEEPING THE NATION IS COMING TO KNOXVILLE!
ALL YOU CARE TO TASTE 60 BEERS/40 BOURBONS pLOTS OF BBQ pTASTING THEATER CLASSES pARTISTS & BREWERANIA pTHE SHRINE OF SWINE pLIVE MUSIC & MUCH MORE!
ADMISSION OPTIONS: VIP Tasting Glass: $49 advance
VALID NOON - 6PM, Includes admission into the event, a souvenir
tasting glass, unlimited beer and bourbon sampling, TWO EXTRA hours of tastes, a collectible lanyard and all live entertainment.
Regular Tasting Glass: $35 advance
VALID 2PM - 6PM, Includes admission into the event, a souvenir
tasting glass, unlimited beer & bourbon sampling, all live entertainment.
Designated Driver Ticket: $25
VALID NOON - 6PM, Includes admission into the event only. A portion of the proceeds to benefit:
WWW.BEERANDBOURBON.COM Tickets are non-refundable. Show is rain or shine. Please drink responsibly. Advance ticket sales close 05/17/17. On-site tickets subject to tax.
January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 27
CALENDAR SWAMP CANDY • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 10PM Sunday, Jan. 29 EX GOLD WITH CAPS AND ROMAN POLANSKI’S BABY • Pilot Light • 9PM • 18 and up. • $5 SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH • Downtown Grill and Brewery • 11AM • Knoxville’s coolest jazz artists perform every Sunday. • FREE SHIFFLETT’S JAZZ BENEDICT • The Bistro at the Bijou • 12PM • Live jazz. • FREE THE BROCKEFELLERS • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 8PM THE DAWN DRAPES • Preservation Pub • 10PM • 21 and up.
OPEN MIC AND SONGWRITER NIGHTS
Thursday, Jan. 12 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. Visit jigandreel.com. • FREE Sunday, Jan. 15 FAMILY FRIENDLY DRUM CIRCLE • Ijams Nature Center •
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
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 Tuesday, Jan. 17 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, Jan. 18 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. Visit Facebook.com/BrackinsBlues. • FREE Tuesday, Jan. 24 PRESERVATION PUB SINGER-SONGWRITER NIGHT • Preservation Pub • 7PM • 21 and up. Visit scruffycity.com. 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, Jan. 25 TIME WARP TEA ROOM OLD-TIME JAM • Time Warp Tea Room • 7PM • Regular speed old-time/fiddle jam every Wednesday. All instruments and skill levels welcome. BRACKINS BLUES JAM • Brackins Blues Club (Maryville) • 9PM • A weekly open session hosted by Tommie John. Visit Facebook.com/BrackinsBlues. • FREE Thursday, Jan. 26 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. Visit jigandreel.com. • FREE
DJ AND DANCE NIGHTS
Friday, Jan. 13 SOUTHBOUND FRIDAYS • Southbound Bar and Grill • 9PM • With DJ Eric B. 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. Saturday, Jan. 14 TESTIFY! VINTAGE SOUL AND FUNK DANCE PARTY • Scruffy City Hall • 10PM • Featuring some of the best regional and national DJs and collectors of northern soul, modern soul, funk, R&B, and Motown obscurities on original 45 rpm vinyl. DJs for Saturday, Jan. 14, include Greg Belson, Nick Soule, Daniel Mathis, and Nathan Moses. Visit Facebook. com/testifyknox. • $5 • See Program Notes on page 20. Thursday, Jan. 19 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
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Enjoy stand-up comedy on seven stages over two nights, and a late-night variety finale with comedy, burlesque, music, and other surprises. A full festival schedule is available at WhatAJokeKnox.com. Stand up for everyone. Join us in Knoxville for live comedy and to raise funds to defend our civil liberties at these venues:
28
Thursday, January 19
Friday, January 20
The Pilot Light Pretentious Glass Co.
The Central Collective Holly’s Corner Ironwood Studios Modern Studio Sassy Ann’s
www.whatajokefest.com www.facebook.com/whatajokefest twitter: @whatajokefest
Advance Tickets on sale now at whatajokeknox.bpt.me
*WHAT A JOKE is not an affiliated entity with the ACLU. We are an independent entity donating proceeds.
$10 (Thursday only); $15 (Friday only), $20 (Full Weekend Pass)
KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
PRODUCED BY:
ADDITIONAL SPONSORS:
ter,
CALENDAR Friday, Jan. 20 SOUTHBOUND FRIDAYS • Southbound Bar and Grill • 9PM • With DJ Eric B. 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. Saturday, Jan. 21 TEMPLE DANCE NIGHT • The Concourse • 9PM • Knoxville’s long-running alternative once night. 18 and up. Visit facebook.com/templeknoxville. • $5 Friday, Jan. 27 SOUTHBOUND FRIDAYS • Southbound Bar and Grill • 9PM • With DJ Eric B. 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.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Thursday, Jan. 12 ASHER ARMSTRONG AND MIROSLAV HRISTOV • University of Tennessee Natalie L. Haslam Music Center • 6PM • A piano and violin guest artist/faculty recital. • FREE Friday, Jan. 13 INNER VOICES STRING QUARTET: BARBER AT THE HAIR SALON • GEO Hair Lab • 8PM • The highly acclaimed Knoxville group Inner Voices String Quartet’s “Barber at the Hair Salon” will feature Samuel Barber’s String Quartet, which includes the famous and beloved “Adagio,” along with individual movements from the greatest pieces within the repertoire. • $10 • See Spotlight on page 25. Saturday, Jan. 14 KNOXVILLE OPERA: ‘LA BOHEME’ • Blount County Public Library • 11AM • Puccini’s “La Boheme” will be performed as a full opera by Knoxville Opera under the direction of Brian Salesky. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Monday, Jan. 16 A NIGHT WITH THE ARTS: A CELEBRATION CONCERT IN HONOR OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. • Tennessee Theatre • 6PM • The concert’s theme is “Honoring the Dream by Standing for Justice and Equality.” Resident Conductor James Fellenbaum conducts the KSO Chamber Orchestra joined by the Celebration Choir directed by Aaron Staple. The performance will include song and spoken word by members of the Carpetbag Theatre, directed by Linda Parris-Bailey. KSO musical works include gospel tunes with the Celebration Choir and movements from Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, and arrangements from the film Selma. For more information visit knoxvillesymphony.com or mlkknoxville.org. • FREE Thursday, Jan. 19 KSO MASTERWORKS: SIBELIUS VIOLIN CONCERTO • Tennessee Theatre • 7:30PM • The KSO’s January Masterworks concerts ring in the new year with the fabulous Violin Concerto by Sibelius, featuring soloist Bella Hristova. • $13-$83 Friday, Jan. 20 KSO MASTERWORKS: SIBELIUS VIOLIN CONCERTO • Tennes-
see Theatre • 7:30PM • The KSO’s January Masterworks concerts ring in the new year with the fabulous Violin Concerto by Sibelius, featuring soloist Bella Hristova. • $13-$83 Saturday, Jan. 21 CUMBERLAND PIANO TRIO • Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church • 7:30PM • The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association is pleased to present local favorites the Cumberland Piano Trio, consisting of violinist Sue Eddlemon, cellist Dan Allcott, and pianist Emi Kagawa will perform Faure’s Piano Trio in D minor and Brahms’ beloveds Piano Trio No. 1 in B major. • $25 Sunday, Jan. 22 EVELYN MILLER YOUNG PIANIST SERIES • University of Tennessee Natalie L. Haslam Music Center • 2:30PM • Chang-Yong Shin’s program for YPS will include selections from Bach, Busoni, Beethoven, Granados and Prokofieff. For more information, visit youngpianistseries. com or call (865) 408-8083. Friday, Jan. 27 DALI STRING QUARTET • University of Tennessee Natalie L. Haslam Music Center • 6PM • The Dalí Quartet brings its signature mix of Latin American, Classical and Romantic repertoire to stages and audiences of all kinds. Visit daliquartet.com. • FREE Sunday, Jan. 29 KSO CHAMBER CLASSICS: PRINCIPAL QUARTET PLAYS BEETHOVEN • University of Tennessee Natalie L. Haslam Music Center • 2:30PM • $13.50-$31.50 OAK RIDGE WIND ENSEMBLE/COMMUNITY BAND • First Baptist Church Oak Ridge • 3:30PM • The program will feature a number of entertaining groups performing a variety of musical selections including classical, jazz, swing, novelty, and show tunes. Admission is $5 for all adults over 18. For more information, visit www.orcb.org or call 865-482-3568. • $5
THEATER AND DANCE
Thursday, Jan. 12 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • All 37 plays in 97 minutes—three terrible actors decide to perform all of Shakespeare’s plays in comically shortened or merged form. Laden with physical comedy, fast and furious entrances and exits, popular and local references, and the actors changing costumes, characters, and plays at a hilarious pace, this is a wild and fun introduction to Shakespeare’s canon that is accessible to all. Jan. 6-22. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 Friday, Jan. 13 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Jan. 6-22. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 Saturday, Jan. 14 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Jan. 6-22. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 Sunday, Jan. 15 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)’ • Theatre January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 29
CALENDAR Knoxville Downtown • 3PM • Jan. 6-22. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 Thursday, Jan. 19 STEP AFRIKA! • University of Tennessee Alumni Memorial Building • 7:30PM • Step Afrika! is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Over the past 21 years Step Afrika! has grown to become one of the top 10 African American Dance Companies in the US and Washington DC’s largest African American arts organization. Step Afrika! began as an exchange program with the Soweto Dance Theatre of Johannesburg, South Africa, and has expanded to become a national and international touring company presenting performance, residencies and workshops worldwide. • $5 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Jan. 6-22. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 Friday, Jan. 20 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE SURPRISING STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Three classic fairy tales, with three famous trios (the Little Pigs, the Billy Goats Gruff, and the Three Bears) begin in their usual “once-upon-a-time” fashion... but things change on the way to “happily-ever-after.” Jan. 20-Feb. 5. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Jan. 6-22. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
Saturday, Jan. 21 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE SURPRISING STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 1PM and 5PM • Jan. 20-Feb. 5. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 8PM • Jan. 6-22. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 SALOME CABARET: ‘BOOBS OVER BROADWAY’ • The Edge • 11PM • Come chorus girls and leading ladies, protaganists and stage villians alike. There is something for everyone in this magical, musical show featuring newly conceptualized treatments of Broadway favorites and “All That Jazz.” 18 and up. • $10-$20 Sunday, Jan. 22 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE SURPRISING STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 3PM • Jan. 20-Feb. 5. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 THEATRE KNOXVILLE DOWNTOWN: ‘THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED)’ • Theatre Knoxville Downtown • 3PM • Jan. 6-22. Visit theatreknoxville.com. • $15 Thursday, Jan. 26 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE SURPRISING STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Jan. 20-Feb. 5. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12
Bach or Basie? Your music, your choice. Your classical and jazz station.
Friday, Jan. 27 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE SURPRISING STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 7PM • Jan. 20-Feb. 5. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 BROADWAY AT THE TENNESSEE: ‘42ND STREET’ • Tennessee Theatre • 8PM • The quintessential backstage musical comedy classic combines the fable of Broadway with an American Dream story and includes some of the greatest songs ever written, such as “We’re In the Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Shuffle Off To Buffalo,” “Dames,” “I Only Have Eyes For You” and of course “42nd Street.” • $37-$77 Saturday, Jan. 28 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE SURPRISING STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 1PM and 5PM • Jan. 20-Feb. 5. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12 BROADWAY AT THE TENNESSEE: ‘42ND STREET’ • Tennessee Theatre • 2PM and 8PM • $37-$77 Sunday, Jan. 29 KNOXVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE: ‘THE SURPRISING STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS’ • Knoxville Children’s Theatre • 3PM • Jan. 20-Feb. 5. Visit knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com. • $12
COMEDY AND SPOKEN WORD
Thursday, Jan. 12 PIZZA HAS • Pizza Hoss • 8PM • On the second Thursday of the month, Pizza Hoss in Powell hosts a showcase featuring sets from some of the best comedians in East Tennessee along with selected up-and-coming talent. FREE CHRISJONES • University of Tennessee Alumni Memorial Building • 7:30PM • chrisjones is one of the newest and most energetic performers in the college market. chrisjones has been taking his insane hypnosis show to high schools and universities across the country. Giving the audience an incredibly interactive show, his hypnosis show allows audience members to become the stars. • FREE ELECTRIC PHEASANT POETRY SLAM • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM • Electric Pheasant Dreamland, while nominally a slam-poetry event, is open to all comers — poets, spoken word performers, performance artists. Saturday, Jan. 14 RON WHITE • Tennessee Theatre • 7PM and 10PM • Comedian Ron “Tater Salad” White is best known as the cigar smoking, scotch drinking funnyman from the “Blue Collar Comedy” phenomenon. But with two Grammy nominations, a Gold Record, three of the top rated one-hour TV specials in Comedy Central history, a book that appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List, and CD and DVD sales of over 10 Million units, Ron has established himself as a star in his own right. Over the past 5 years he has been one of the top 3 grossing comedians on tour in the United States. • $49.50-$84.50
Save the Dates February 6 - 14
Sale The Annual
Everything in stock 20-50% OFF
Rick Terry Jewelry Designs
“We want to be your Jeweler” Farragut
FIX THIS BASTARD 30
RickTerryJewelry.com
KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
WUOT_Ad_4.625x5.25_ClassicalJazz_KnoxMerc.indd 2
Downtown Knoxville
9/17/16 5:00 PM
Lenoir City
CALENDAR DECADENCE: TOP SHELF CABARET AND BURLESQUE • Red Piano Lounge • 9PM • 18 and up. • $10-$20 MOXIE: ONE-WOMAN CABARET-SINGER WACKADOO SHOW • Red Piano Lounge • 6PM • Much like a cabaret-singer evening, this show features Moxie Easton, a woman with a heart of gold, a large lust for life and a “character-based” voice. She’ll sing some of her favorites and tell you stories about her life...or someone else’s lives. Either way it will be entertaining or...something else. • FREE Sunday, Jan. 15 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic. Visit scruffycity.com. Monday, Jan. 16 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, Jan. 17 EINSTEIN SIMPLIFIED • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM • Visit einsteinsimplified.com. • FREE OPEN MIC STAND-UP COMEDY • Longbranch Saloon • 8PM • FREE Thursday, Jan. 19 THIRD THURSDAY COMEDY OPEN MIC • Big Fatty’s Catering Kitchen • 7:30PM • FREE Sunday, Jan. 22 TIM HAWKINS • Knoxville Civic Auditorium • 7PM • Christian comedy for the entire family, with routines about the perils of marriage, homeschooling, and growing up in the Midwest. • $19 UPSTAIRS UNDERGROUND COMEDY • Preservation Pub • 8PM • A weekly comedy open mic. Visit scruffycity.com. Monday, Jan. 23 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, Jan. 24 EINSTEIN SIMPLIFIED • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM • Visit einsteinsimplified.com. • FREE OPEN MIC STAND-UP COMEDY • Longbranch Saloon • 8PM • FREE Wednesday, Jan. 25 FULL DISCLOSURE COMEDY • The Open Chord • 8PM • Full Disclosure Comedy is Knoxville’s long-form improvisational troupe, bringing together community members for laughs and overall general merriment. • FREE Thursday, Jan. 26 KNOXVILLE COMEDY EXTRAVAGANZA: A NIGHT WITH THE DELIGHTS • The Open Chord • 8PM • Celebrate the new year by laughing with a local comedy improv troupe. All ages. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 28 CHRIS TITUS WITH RACHEL BRADLEY • Bijou Theatre • 8PM • Employing what he’s labeled “hard funny,” Christopher Titus has released seven ninety-minute albums in as many years. $27-$102
FESTIVALS
Saturday, Jan. 14
YWCA PHYLLIS WHEATLEY DIVERSITY DAY AND RACE AGAINST RACISM • YWCA Phyllis Wheatley Center • 11AM • Diversity Day is a community event that celebrates diversity, wellness, and dignity for all people. Attendees and participants can expect food, entertainment, speakers and local exhibitors in addition to the certified 5K run, 1-mile walk, and Kids Fun Run. • FREE-$30 CABIN FEVER CAR AND MOTORCYCLE SHOW • Knoxville Expo Center • 8AM • Visit Facebook for information.
CAC Beardsley Community Farm Benefit
Monday, Jan. 16 UNITED CAMPUS WORKERS/JOBS WITH JUSTICE MLK CELEBRATION • Communication Workers of America Local 385 • 6PM • Join United Campus Workers and Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee in a celebration of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr and his connection with labor. This potluck event will feature a special guest speaker and door prizes. • FREE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. MEMORIAL PARADE AND MEMORIAL SERVICE • 10AM • The purpose of the parade is to offer the community a visual and audible display in tribute to the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The 2017 Parade route will stretch from the Tabernacle Baptist Church on Martin Luther King Avenue to Greater Warner Tabernacle AME Zion Church in Burlington, where we will present our annual Memorial Tribute Service. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 21 GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS OUTDOOR EXPO • Knoxville Civic Coliseum • 10AM • The Great Smoky Mountains Outdoor Expo is an all outdoors exposition showcasing vendors and exhibitors for outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds. Everything from hunting and fishing, hiking and kayaking, artisan knives, African safaris, four-wheeling, adventure parks, and more will all be at the Expo. To stay up to date on the Great Smoky Mountains Outdoor Expo’s latest news, visit facebook.com/GSMOutdoorExpo/. For more information or questions, call 865.414.6801. • $10 Sunday, Jan. 22 GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS OUTDOOR EXPO • Knoxville Civic Coliseum • 10AM • To stay up to date on the Great Smoky Mountains Outdoor Expo’s latest news, visit facebook.com/GSMOutdoorExpo/. For more information or questions, call 865.414.6801. • $10 Friday, Jan. 27 SNOW DAY 2017: A CAC BEARDSLEY COMMUNITY FARM BENEFIT • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 7PM • The ninth annual Snow Day, a CAC Beardsley Community Farm Benefit, will feature seven performances by a diverse group of local musicians, a soup contest between some of Knoxville’s finest restaurants, a Homegrown and Homemade Beard Pageant, and a silent auction. With performances by J-Bush, Big Bad Oven, Count This Penny, Kelle Jolly, the Pinklets, Pleases, and Matt Nelson and Caleb Hall and soup from Olibea, Tootsie Truck, Tupelo Honey, Lonesome Dove, and more. • $8
$
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$
soup
FILM SCREENINGS
Monday, Jan. 16 THE BIRDHOUSE WALK-IN THEATER • The Birdhouse • 8PM • A weekly free movie screening. Visit birdhouseknoxville. com. • FREE Thursday, Jan. 19 THE PUBLIC CINEMA: ‘THE LOVE WITCH’ • Scruffy City Hall • 8PM • Elaine, a beautiful young witch, is determined to
P r e o r d e r d i s c o u n t e d t i c k e t s at b e a r d s l e y fa r m . o r g
January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 31
CALENDAR find a man to love her. Directed by Anna Biller. Visit publiccinema.org. • FREE • See Spotlight on page 26. Sunday, Jan. 22 ISRAELI FILM FESTIVAL • Arnstein Jewish Community Center • 1PM • Rachel Harris, the 2016 Karen and Pace Robinson Lecture Series on Modern Israel speaker, will screen The Green Prince, a documentary about terrorism in Israel, and My Lovely Sister, a dramatic love story about the Mizrachi Jewish community, and lead a discussion after. • FREE WISE BLOOD • Lawson McGhee Public Library • 2PM • John Huston’s controversial interpretation of O’Connor’s controversial novel. Part of Knox County Library’s Finding Flannery series of film screenings and discussions in January. • FREE Monday, Jan. 23 The Birdhouse Walk-In Theater • The Birdhouse • 8PM • A weekly free movie screening. Visit birdhouseknoxville. com. • FREE Sunday, Jan. 29 THE PUBLIC CINEMA: ‘AQUARIUS’ • Knoxville Museum of Art • 2PM • A retired music critic fights to protect her apartment from developers. Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho. Visit publiccinema.org. • FREE
SPORTS AND RECREATION
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
Thursday, Jan. 12 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 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 BEARDEN BEER MARKET FUN RUN • Bearden Beer Market • 6:30PM • Visit beardenbeermarket.com. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 14 WEST BICYCLES SATURDAY ROAD RIDE • West Bicycles • 9AM • Visit west bikes.com. • FREE
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BIKE ZOO SATURDAY ROAD RIDE • The Bike Zoo • 9AM • Visit bikezoo.com. • FREE KNOXVILLE BICYCLE COMPANY SATURDAY RIDE • Knoxville Bicycle Company • 9AM • Visit Facebook.com/ KnoxvilleBicycleCo. • FREE YWCA PHYLLIS WHEATLEY DIVERSITY DAY AND RACE AGAINST RACISM • YWCA Phyllis Wheatley Center • 11AM • Diversity Day is a community event that celebrates diversity, wellness, and dignity for all people. Attendees and participants can expect food, entertainment, speakers and local exhibitors in addition to the certified 5K run, 1-mile walk, and Kids Fun Run. • FREE-$30 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: KNOXVILLE HISTORY HIKE • 9AM • We’ll begin marching east on Kingston Pike toward Knoxville’s central city passing locations significant in the Siege of Knoxville and the Battle of Fort Sanders. Expect an urban hike of 10-11 miles, with more hiking than history. Meet at Laurel Church of Christ, 3457 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, 37919, at 9:00 AM. Leaders: Claudia Dean, claudiadean0@gmail.com and Dan Feller. • FREE MONSTER JAM • Thompson-Boling Arena • 1PM • With Grave Digger, Monster Mutt, Bad News Travels Fast, and more. • $20-$50 Sunday, Jan. 15 KTC WANDERERS’ TRAIL RACE • Maryville College • 2PM • This race has been a four miler since its inception but this year we’re introducing a rip-snorter of a 5k trail course that still meanders through the woods, crossing hills, dales, rocks, roots, streams, and grassy knolls. •
$15-$20 Monday, Jan. 16 BEARDEN BEER MARKET FUN RUN • Bearden Beer Market • 6:30PM • Visit beardenbeermarket.com. • FREE KTC GROUP RUN • Mellow Mushroom • 6PM • Visit ktc.org. • FREE TVB MONDAY NIGHT ROAD RIDE • Tennessee Valley Bikes • 6PM • Visit tnvalleybikes.com. • FREE Tuesday, Jan. 17 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES TUESDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10:30AM • 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, Jan. 18 FLEET FEET WEDNESDAY LUNCH BREAK RUN • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 12PM • Visit fleetfeetknoxville.com. • FREE KTC GROUP RUN • Runner’s Market • 5:30PM • Visit ktc.org. • FREE TVB EASY RIDER MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • Call 865-540-9979 or visit tnvalleybikes. com. • FREE FEMINIST TRIVIA • Saw Works Brewing Company • 7PM • Presented by the Knoxville Feminist Action Brigade. Open to everyone. Questions on history, pop culture, politics, sexuality, and more. Visit Facebook for more info. Thursday, Jan. 19
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
BEARDEN BEER MARKET FUN RUN • Bearden Beer Market • 6:30PM • Visit beardenbeermarket.com. • FREE 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 • Visit cedarbluffcycles.com. • FREE
CALENDAR
and children into freedom. Freedom 4/24 is partnering with the Community Coalitition Against Human Trafficking and Street Hope. • $24 COVENANT KIDS’ RUN KICKOFF • Zoo Knoxville • 12PM • Join us on Saturday, January 28, at noon for our annual Covenant Kids Run Kickoff at Zoo Knoxville. This will be an opportunity for your child to run or walk one mile through the grounds of the Zoo. Upon completing that mile, we will give them a mileage log so that they can complete 26.2 miles over the course of the next two months, culminating with their last mile on April 1 at the Covenant Kids Run at Neyland Stadium. Visit knoxville-
marathon.com. Sunday, Jan. 29 KNOXVILLE WOMEN’S RUGBY BEGINNER’S CLINIC • South Knoxville Community Center • 2PM • Have you ever been interested in learning the game of rugby? Have a new year’s resolution to try new things or get in shape while having a blast with some pretty awesome people? If you answered ‘yes’ to any or all of the above, then this is your chance. FREE
Saturday, Jan. 21 KTC CALHOUN’S 10-MILER • Melton Lake Park • 7:30AM • Visit ktc.org. • $25-$35 WEST BICYCLES SATURDAY ROAD RIDE • West Bicycles • 9AM • Visit west bikes.com. • FREE BIKE ZOO SATURDAY ROAD RIDE • The Bike Zoo • 9AM • Visit bikezoo.com. • FREE KNOXVILLE BICYCLE COMPANY SATURDAY RIDE • Knoxville Bicycle Company • 9AM • Visit Facebook.com/KnoxvilleBicycleCo. • FREE SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: LOYSTON POINT • 9AM • The Loyston Point trailhead is at the end of a beautiful winding road through Anderson County with spectacular views of pastoral valleys and far-off mountains. Total hike: 7 miles, rated moderate. Meet behind the Shoney’s just off the I-75 Clinton/Norris Exit 122 ready to leave at 9:00 am. Leaders: Betty Glenn, glennbj@roanestate.edu and Doris Gove, dorisgove@aol.com. • FREE Monday, Jan. 23 BEARDEN BEER MARKET FUN RUN • Bearden Beer Market • 6:30PM • Visit beardenbeermarket.com. • FREE KTC GROUP RUN • Mellow Mushroom • 6PM • Visit ktc.org. • FREE TVB MONDAY NIGHT ROAD RIDE • Tennessee Valley Bikes • 6PM • Visit tnvalleybikes.com. • FREE YOGA FOR RUNNERS • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 7PM • Visit fleetfeetknoxville.com/training/yoga-for-runners. • $5 Tuesday, Jan. 24 CYCOLOGY BICYCLES TUESDAY MORNING RIDE • Cycology Bicycles • 10:30AM • 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, Jan. 25 SMOKY MOUNTAIN HIKING CLUB: NORTH BOUNDARY TRAIL • 8AM • We will hike the North Boundary Trail in Oak Ridge. Hike: 7 miles, rated moderate. Meet at the Oak Ridge Books-a- Million/Golds Gym parking lot, 310 South Illinois Avenue, at 8:00 AM. Leader: Yong Holland, kimholland55@gmail.com. • FREE FLEET FEET WEDNESDAY LUNCH BREAK RUN • Fleet Feet Sports Knoxville • 12PM • Visit fleetfeetknoxville.com. • FREE KTC GROUP RUN • Runner’s Market • 5:30PM • Visit ktc.org. • FREE TVB EASY RIDER MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE • Ijams Nature Center • 6PM • Call 865-540-9979 or visit tnvalleybikes. com. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 28 RUN 4 THEIR LIVES 5K • Market Square • 10AM • Run 4 Their Lives is a Freedom 4/24 event that raises awareness and funds to bring sexually exploited women
SHELTER FROM THE STORM BENEFIT CONCERT Scruffy City Hall (32 Market Square) • Friday, Jan. 20 • 6 p.m.-1 a.m. • $10 •
Now that the shock and surprise that ended 2016 have passed into the history books, the real and difficult business of living in a newly reordered world moves to the top of the agenda, with express urgency. Death, division, and the radical revision of political expectations marked last year; whatever it is that’s going to define the next year (or four) is up to us. But action doesn’t mean that we turn off the comfort and community that have gotten us through the last few months. That’s why the organizers of this local benefit concert have turned to Bob Dylan’s “Shelter From the Storm” for inspiration—the event’s designed to ease the toil and blood of the recent political season, but the money it raises is headed straight to the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee to support its fight to safeguard civil liberties, reform the criminal justice system, and protect voting rights. “We’ll rock and roll and shake our fists and lift up a torch against the things that would tear us apart,” reads the press release for the concert. “We hope every single one of you will take part in a night of celebration, commiseration, and positivity. Come in, we say, we’ll give you—and you, and you, and you too—shelter from the storm.” With music by Cereus Bright, Hudson K, Bark, Paul Lee Kupfer, Black Atticus, and Shimmy and the Burns and an appearance by state Rep. Rick Staples. Bill Foster will emcee. (Matthew Everett)
January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 33
CALENDAR ART
Art Market Gallery 422 S. Gay St. JAN. 3-30: Mixed-media art by Lynnda Tenpenny and fiber art by Julia Malia. Visit artmarketgallery.net. The Birdhouse 800 N. Fourth Ave. JAN. 13: Artifacts, paintings and photos by Jon Ferguson. Reception starts at 6 p.m. Broadway Studios and Gallery 1127 N. Broadway JAN. 6-31: Opportunity Knocks, an open-call competition. Visit broadwaystudiosandgallery.com. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Jan. 13, from 5-9 p.m. Central Collective 923 N. Central St. THROUGH JANUARY: Delays and Interruptions, an exhibit of collaborative drawings by Brian Hitelsberger and Jessie Van der Laan. The gallery is open by appointment. Visit thecentralcollective.com. Dogwood Arts 123 W. Jackson Ave. JAN. 6-31: Glass Guys, featuring work by glass artists Richard Jolley, Tommie Rush, Matthew Cummings, Matt Salley, Johnny Glass, and more. Visit dogwoodarts.com. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Jan. 13, from 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
Downtown Gallery 106 S. Gay St. JAN. 6-28: Meandering Mythologies by Gary Monroe and Timothy Massey. Visit downtown.utk.edu. See review on page 24. East Tennessee History Center 601 S. Gay St. NOV. 19-APRIL 30: Rock of Ages: East Tennessee’s Marble Industry. Visit easttnhistory.org. Emporium Center for Arts and Culture 100 S. Gay St. JAN. 6-27: Breaking Ground by the O’Connor Senior Center Painters; Beautiful Iron by the Appalachian Area Chapter of Blacksmiths; and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission Gallery of Arts Tribute. Visit knoxalliance.com. Ewing Gallery 1715 Volunteer Boulevard JAN. 11-FEB. 11: A Common Lineage, sculpture by Lee Benson and his family. Visit ewing-gallery.utk.edu. Fountain City Art Center 213 Hotel Road NOV. 18-JAN. 12: Fountain City Art Guild Annual Holiday Show and Sale. Visit fountaincityartcenter.com. Gallery 1010 113 S. Gay St.
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
JAN. 12-14: Flourish, ceramics and paintings by Erin McCarty. A reception will be held on Friday, Jan. 13, from 6-9 p.m. JAN. 26-28: Available Means, drawings by Mary-Margaret Lucas. A reception will be held on Friday, Jan. 27, from 6-9 p.m. Visit art.utk.edu/ gallery1010. Knoxville Museum of Art 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive JAN. 27-APRIL 16: Outside In, new paintings by Jered Sprecher. 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 ONGOING: The Flora and Fauna of Catesby, Mason, and Audubon and Life on the Roman Frontier.
FAMILY AND KIDS’ EVENTS
Thursday, Jan. 12 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, Jan. 13 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 14 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 Martin Luther King Jr. Kids and Families Fair • Blount County Public Library • 2PM • This family-oriented fair for all ages will incorporate a variety of fun activities and educational displays to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE WDVX KIDSTUFF LIVE • WDVX • 10AM • Sean McCollough’s weekly kids’ music show hosts a live studio audience on the second Saturday of each month. Visit wdvx.com. • FREE GAMING @ YOUR LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library •
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
2PM • Games of all kinds! Board games, MarioKart, Super Smash Bros., Yu-Gi-Oh!, or bring your own game to share. • FREE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. KIDS AND FAMILIES FAIR • Blount County Public Library • 2PM • This family-oriented fair for all ages will incorporate a variety of fun activities and educational displays to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE YWCA PHYLLIS WHEATLEY DIVERSITY DAY AND RACE AGAINST RACISM • YWCA Phyllis Wheatley Center • 11AM • Diversity Day is a community event that celebrates diversity, wellness, and dignity for all people. Attendees and participants can expect food, entertainment, speakers and local exhibitors in addition to the certified 5K run, 1-mile walk, and Kids Fun Run. • FREE-$30 Monday, Jan. 16 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY TEEN NIGHT • Cancer Support Community • 6PM • A monthly networking group for teens ages 13-18 who have a family member with cancer. Teens come together to talk, have fun and find support from peers whose lives have also been impacted by cancer. Please call before your first visit and RSVP. 865-546-4661. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. • FREE Tuesday, Jan. 17 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 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, Jan. 18 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, Jan. 19 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, Jan. 20 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 1PM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 21 CHESS AT THE LIBRARY • Blount County Public Library • 10AM • For middle and high school students, with coach Tom Jobe. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE MCCLUNG MUSEUM FAMILY FUN DAY: CELEBRATE CHINESE NEW YEAR • McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture • 1PM • Join us for free a free Family Fun Day featuring activities, crafts, tours, and more. Come celebrate the Year of the Rooster. Visitors will learn about the different traditions associated with the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival), through tours, crafts, and story time. All materials will be provided. The program is free and open to the public. Reservations are not necessary. •
CALENDAR
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. Every week will be a different adventure, from science experiments to art projects and everything in between. Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE ERTH’S DINOSAUR ZOO LIVE • Clayton Center for the Arts • 7PM • Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live guides your family on a breathtaking tour that begins in pre-historic Australia. You’ll observe, meet and interact with an eye-popping collection of amazingly life-like dinosaurs and other creatures presented in a theatrical performance that will thrill and entertain kids while stimulating their imaginations in ways that will forever connect them to their world. Visit dinosaurzoolive.us. • $12.50-$24.50 Monday, Jan. 23 MCCLUNG MUSEUM STROLLER TOUR: YEAR OF THE ROOSTER • McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture • 10AM • Join us for a morning out as our museum educator leads engaging gallery tours for parents and caregivers and their young ones. Visit eventbrite.com. • FREE Tuesday, Jan. 24 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 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, Jan. 25 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, Jan. 26 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 SENSORY STORY TIME • Blount County Public Library • 6PM • An interactive storytime with stories, songs, movement, and activities designed to increase early literacy skills and provide a safe and open space for children and families to learn and interact. Open to children of all abilities but especially designed for the kids with special needs between the developmental ages of 3 - 5. • FREE WE READ YA BOOK CLUB • Lawson McGhee Public Library • 6PM • January’s book is “The Female of the Species” by Mindy McGinnis. Light refreshments will be provided. This is a free event, open to teachers, librarians, parents, young adults, and young adults “at-heart” who read YA and want to talk about it. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 28 COVENANT KIDS’ RUN KICKOFF • Zoo Knoxville • 12PM • Join us on Saturday, January 28, at noon for our annual Covenant Kids Run Kickoff at Zoo Knoxville. This will be an opportunity for your child to run or walk one mile through the grounds of the Zoo. Upon completing that mile, we will give them a mileage log so that they can
complete 26.2 miles over the course of the next two months, culminating with their last mile on April 1 at the Covenant Kids Run at Neyland Stadium. Visit knoxvillemarathon.com. Sunday, Jan. 29 TENNESSEE SPECIAL OLYMPICS WINTER GAMES • Over 150 athletes with intellectual disabilities will compete in Alpine Skiing, Snowboarding and Speed skating in divisions based on age and ability. On Sunday night, the public is welcome to witness the traditional Opening Ceremonies from 6:45 – 7:15pm at the Gatlinburg Convention Center. Here they will witness the March of Athletes, the Special Olympics Oath, a welcoming speech, and the presentation of the colors.
LECTURES, READINGS, AND BOOK SIGNINGS
Sunday, Jan. 15 GEORGE BOVE AND MARIA CORNELIUS • Union Ave Books • 2PM • Joint book signing with George Bove, author of Little Orange T, and Maria Cornelius author of The Final Season: the Perseverance of Pat Summitt. • FREE Tuesday, Jan. 17 UT HUMANITIES CENTER CONVERSATIONS AND COCKTAILS SERIES • Holly’s Gourmets Market and Cafe • 6PM • The Humanities Center at the University of Tennessee kicks off its annual Conversations and Cocktails series, an opportunity to interact with guest scholars as they discuss history, all while enjoying special dinner and appetizer selections. Reservations are required, and seating is limited. A reservation can be made by calling Holly’s Gourmet’s Market and Cafe at 865-330-0123. The first discussion of the series will feature guest scholar Michael Lofaro, professor of English, whose discussion is titled “James Agee Reviews the South: Films and Books (1927–1947).” • FREE UNCOMMON STORIES: FLANNERY O’CONNOR’S SHORT FICTION • Lawson McGhee Public Library • 6:30PM • Weekly discussions of O’Connor’s stories led by O’Connor scholar and Pellissippi State writer-in-residence Edward Francisco. The schedule includes “Good Country People” (Jan. 10); “A Displaced Person” (Jan. 17); “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (Jan. 24); and a concluding session on Jan. 31. Part of the Knox County Public Library’s Finding Flannery series of events in January. • FREE Thursday, Jan. 19 TIM GAUTREAUX: ‘SIGNALS” NEW AND SELECTED STORIES’ • Union Ave Books • 6PM • Well-known Southern author Tim Gautreaux reads and signs his new novel, Signals: New and Selected Stories. Visit unionavebooks.com. • FREE UT ARBORETUM SOCIETY GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAM • Roane State Community College (Oak Ridge) • 8PM • In addition to a discussion on global warming and other aspects of climate change on managed systems such as agricultural lands, forests, impacts on humans, sea level rise, Arctic sea melt, and severe weather such as hurricanes and droughts, UT associate professor Joanne Logan will also discuss other factors that are already threatening various species. To learn more about this lecture or the UT Arboretum Society, go to www.utarboretumsociety.org. For more information on the program, call 483-3571. • FREE Friday, Jan. 20 January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 35
CALENDAR KNOX HERITAGE LOST AND FOUND LUNCH • Knox Heritage • 11:30AM • Knox Heritage continues its series of educational lunches. A free lunch buffet will be served beginning at 11:30 a.m. and the program will begin at 12:00 p.m. Reservations for lunch are required. Call Hollie Cook at 865-523-8008 or email her at hcook@ knoxheritage.org to make a reservation. • FREE Sunday, Jan. 22 SUNDRESS READING SERIES • Bar Marley • 2PM • The Sundress Reading Series is excited to welcome three talented writers to share their work with us for our January installment of the series. L.A. Hoffer grew up on the state line between Tennessee and Virginia and writes about it and other places. Hank Backer teaches at the University of Tennessee. He recently graduated from Georgia State University’s creative writing program, where he worked as an editor for Five Points and New South. Katharine Johnsen received her MFA in creative writing as the Bernice Kert Fellow at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is the recipient of a Sewanee Writers’ Conference scholarship and a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize. • FREE Monday, Jan. 23 UT WRITERS IN THE LIBRARY SERIES • University of Tennessee • 7PM • The University of Tennessee’s annual Writers in the Library series features novelists, poets, and nonfiction writers from around the region and visiting writers at UT, reading from and discussing their work in the auditorium of the John C. Hodges Library. The 2016-17 schedule includes Joy Harjo (Jan. 23); Austion Kodra and
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
Linda Parsons Marion (Jan. 30); LeAnne Howe (Feb. 6); Ocean Vuong (Feb. 20); Maggie Shipstead (March 6); Kathering Smith and Tanque Jones (march 20); Bobby Caudle Rogers and Maria James-Thiaw (March 27); Manuel Gonzales (April 10); and graduate student award winners (April 17). Visit lib.utk.edu/writers/. • FREE Tuesday, Jan. 24 UNCOMMON STORIES: FLANNERY O’CONNOR’S SHORT FICTION • Lawson McGhee Public Library • 6:30PM •. Part of the Knox County Public Library’s Finding Flannery series of events in January. • FREE WARREN L. BINGHAM: ‘GEORGE WASHINGTON’S 1792 SOUTHERN TOUR” • Blount Mansion • 6:30PM • This dinner lecture will focus on Bingham’s latest work titled “George Washington’s 1792 Southern Tour.” Warren L. Bingham is an acclaimed speaker and writer with a commanding grasp of Southern history, culture, and lore.
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
Thursday, Jan. 12 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 • This class is an hour of student-led training and review of Capoeira skills and exercises.
Come prepared to sweat. • $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 • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 Saturday, Jan. 14 KNOX HERITAGE PRESERVATION NETWORK • Knox Heritage • 10AM • Preservation Network is a series of free workshops held once every month on the second Saturday. The monthly workshops feature guest speakers who are specialists in windows, flooring, roofing, stained glass, tile, plumbing, electrical, and more. For more information visit www.knoxheritage.org. • FREE Sunday, Jan. 15 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE BALLET BARRE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 1PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE: MODERN DANCE FOUNDATIONS CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 2PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 Monday, Jan. 16 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, Jan. 17 KNOXVILLE AREA URBAN LEAGUE FREE BASIC COMPUTER SKILLS CLASS • Knoxville Area Urban League • 8:30AM • Learn basic computer skills: Windows basics, files management, tools, programs, documents, email Internet and more. Small class, personal attention. Certificate from Pellissippi State upon completion. Space is limited. Registration required, call Bill or Jackie, 524-5511. • FREE 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, Jan. 18 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL? • Cancer Support Community • 12PM • 865-5464661. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. • FREE CIRCLE MODERN DANCE OPEN LEVEL BALLET CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6:30PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 CLIMBING FUNDAMENTALS • River Sports Outfitters • 6PM • Come learn the basics of climbing every first and third
ADS EQUAL SUPPORT Thanks to all of our advertisers. Return the favor with your support of them.
36
KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
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, Jan. 19 KNOXVILLE AREA URBAN LEAGUE FREE BASIC COMPUTER SKILLS CLASS • Knoxville Area Urban League • 8:30AM • Learn basic computer skills: Windows basics, files management, tools, programs, documents, email Internet and more. Small class, personal attention. Certificate from Pellissippi State upon completion. Space is limited. Registration required, call Bill or Jackie, 524-5511. • FREE GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Balanced You Studios • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail. com. Donations accepted. CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: KNIT YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS • Cancer Support Community • 1PM • Call 865-546-4661. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • This class is an hour of student-led training and review of Capoeira skills and exercises. Come prepared to sweat. • $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 • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12 Saturday, Jan. 21
KNOXVILLE BOTANICAL GARDEN WORM COMPOSTING WORKSHOP • Knoxville Botanical Garden • 9AM • Participants will learn how to transform their household kitchen scraps into a rich, fine, and nutritious soil amendment for their gardens. Come prepared to learn about worm care and compare vermicompost techniques. Participants who are interested in building their own bins can bring a 3 gal or 10 gal Roughneck Rubbermaid tote or a small, resealable container to transport worms. • $15-$20 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, Jan. 22 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE BALLET BARRE CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 1PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE: MODERN DANCE FOUNDATIONS CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 2PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY MINDFULNESS-BASED STREET REDUCTION EIGHT-WEEK SERIES • Cancer Support Community • 4:30PM • This series is a systematic practice that involves focusing attention in the present moment in order to relax the body and calm the mind. Evidence shows regular mindfulness practice helps us manage stress, reduce anxiety and depression and cultivate well-being. This series meets January 22-March 12. RSVP.
BE HEALTHY WHILE SAVING © 2017 KAT
That short walk from home to the bus stop can slash your risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 50%. In 2017, ride the bus more.
CALENDAR
865-546-4661. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. • FREE Monday, Jan. 23 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY: QUICK AND TASTY COOKING • Cancer Support Community • 12PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • 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 REI HANDS-ON BIKE MAINTENANCE: DRIVE TRAIN • REI • 6PM • Your bike’s drive train is a key component to efficient riding. Join our certified bike techs to learn about your drive train as well as how to inspect, maintain and adjust front & rear derailleurs to make sure your ride is as smooth as possible. $45 for members, $65 for nonmembers. Visit rei.com/stores/knoxville. • $45-$65 Tuesday, Jan. 24 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 THE NEXT STEP: PREPARING FOR LONG-DISTANCE BACKPACKING • Little River Trading Co. (Maryville) • 6:30PM • Join 2016 Appalachian Trail thru-hiker Laurel “Duchess of Slug” Seus to learn the art of preparing for a successful long distance backpacking trip. • FREE Wednesday, Jan. 25 CIRCLE MODERN DANCE OPEN LEVEL BALLET CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6:30PM • Visit circlemoderndance.com. • $10 MAKING THE ULTIMATE CUP OF CAMP COFFEE • REI • 6PM • The most common question we get about camping is How do you make a good cup of coffee? So we have set out to offer you the chance to learn how to make the ultimate cup of camp coffee. Join our Coffee Gurus and learn about what is needed and methods that will help you brew to your heart’s content. Visit rei.com/stores/ knoxville. • FREE Thursday, Jan. 26 GENTLE YOGA AND MEDITATION • Balanced You Studios • 12PM • Call 865-577-2021 or email yogaway249@gmail. com. Donations accepted. AARP DRIVE SAFETY SMART DRIVER COURSE • John T. O’Connor Senior Center • 12PM • Call (865) 382-5822. KNOXVILLE CAPOEIRA CLASS • Emporium Center for Arts and Culture • 6PM • $10 LOBBYING 101 • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 6PM • Learn the basics of defending the LGBT
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 37
CALENDAR community from state legislative attacks. • FREE KNOXVILLE PERSONAL TRAINING PILATES • Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church • 6:30PM • Every Tuesday and Thursday. First class is free. Call (865) 622-3103 or visit knoxvillepersonaltraining.com. • $4 BELLY DANCE LEVELS 1 AND 2 • Knox Dance Worx • 8PM • Call (865) 898-2126 or email alexia@alexia-dance.com. • $12
MEETINGS
Thursday, Jan. 12 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 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 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 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 Saturday, Jan. 14 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY PROSTATE CANCER NETWORKER • 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. AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 11AM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE Sunday, Jan. 15 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. Visit rationalists.org. • FREE AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 5PM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE Monday, Jan. 16 COMMUNITY DEFENSE WEEKLY MEETING • Tabernacle Baptist Church • 6PM • Are you facing criminal charges? Do you know someone who could use support with a criminal case? Community Defense of East Tennessee is a grassroots organization of community members who provide support for families and individuals facing charges in the criminal justice system. Contact us at communitydefenseET@gmail.com (865) 214-6546. • FREE GAY MEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 7:30PM • Visit gaygroupknoxville.org. 38
KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
Thursday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 29
Tuesday, Jan. 17 ATHEISTS SOCIETY OF KNOXVILLE • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 5:30PM • Visit meetup.com/KnoxvilleAtheists. • 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 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, Jan. 18 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 • 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, Jan. 19 CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY LEUKEMIA, LYMPHOMA, AND MYELOMA NETWORKER • Cancer Support Community • 6PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 6PM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT GROUP • Cancer Support Community • 6PM • Call 865-546-4661 for more info. All Cancer Support Community programs are offered at no cost to individuals affected by cancer. ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS/DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES • The Birdhouse • 6PM • Contact Laura at 706-621-2238 or lamohendricksll@gmail.com for more information or visit the international ACA website at adultchildren.org. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 21 AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 11AM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE STFK SCIENCE CAFE • Zoo Knoxville • 2PM • A free monthly discussion of science-related topics, hosted by the Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville. Email rsvp@ knoxsciencecafe.org. • FREE Sunday, Jan. 22 SUNDAY ASSEMBLY • The Concourse • 10:30AM • Sunday
Assembly is a secular congregation without deity, dogma, or doctrine. Our motto: Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More. Our monthly celebrations feature a different theme every month, with inspiring speakers and lively sing-alongs. To find out more, visit knoxville-tn.sundayassembly.com or email saknoxville.info@gmail.com. • FREE AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 5PM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE Monday, Jan. 23 COMMUNITY DEFENSE WEEKLY MEETING • Tabernacle Baptist Church • 6PM • Are you facing criminal charges? Do you know someone who could use support with a criminal case? Community Defense of East Tennessee is a grassroots organization of community members who provide support for families and individuals facing charges in the criminal justice system. Contact us at communitydefenseET@gmail.com (865) 214-6546. • FREE GAY MEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP • Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church • 7:30PM • Visit gaygroupknoxville.org. APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN BIKE CLUB • Sweet P’s Barbecue and Soul House • 7PM • Interested in getting involved with the mountain biking community here in Knoxville? The Appalachian Mountain Bike Club meets the fourth Monday of each month. Visit ambc-sorba.org. • FREE Tuesday, Jan. 24 ATHEISTS SOCIETY OF KNOXVILLE • Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria • 5:30PM • Visit meetup.com/KnoxvilleAtheists. • 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 • Call (865) 257-4029 for more information. • FREE Wednesday, Jan. 25 AL-ANON • Faith Lutheran Church • 11AM • Visit farragutalanon.org or email FindHope@Farragutalanon. org. • FREE KNOXVILLE WRITERS’ GROUP • Naples Italian Restaurant • 11AM • Guest speakers read from and discuss their work. All-inclusive lunch is $12.00. RSVP to 865-983-3740. THE BOOKAHOLICS BOOK GROUP • Union Ave Books • 12PM • Union Ave Books’ monthly book discussion group. Visit unionavebooks.com. • FREE KNOX HERITAGE PRESERVATION AND LIBATIONS • The Crown and Goose • 5:30PM • Join friends of historic preservation for a drink and good conversation. No need to RSVP, just stop by. Free and open to the public. Visit knoxheritage.org. • FREE AGAPE CAFE • St. Paul United Methodist Church • 6:30PM • St. Paul United Methodist Church seeks to combine TED Talks and the Chautauqua tents of the early 20th century into one package called the Agape Cafe, celebrating life through music, art, talks and performances. The upcoming schedule includes well-known writer, speaker and thinker Ina Hughes sharing her insights and thoughts on the church in these turbulent times (Jan. 25). • FREE
ETC.
Thursday, Jan. 12 KNOXVILLE SQUARE DANCE • Laurel Theater • 8PM • Jubilee Community Arts presents Knoxville Square Dance with live old-time music by the Helgramites and calling by Stan Sharp, Ruth Simmons and Leo Collins. No
experience or partner is necessary and the atmosphere is casual. (No taps, please.) Visit jubileearts.org. • $7 MERCHANTS OF BEER CIGAR AND BEER SAMPLING EVENT • Merchants of Beer • 6:30PM • Email events@ redboothgroup.com. Saturday, Jan. 14 NOURISH KNOXVILLE WINTER FARMERS’ MARKET • Central United Methodist Church • 8AM • The Winter Farmers’ Market, held in the Historic 4th and Gill neighborhood, will host farm & food vendors selling pasture-raised meats, eggs, winter produce, honey, baked goods, artisan foods, and more. Outside, food trucks will be serving up lunch from locally sourced ingredients. Visit nourishknoxville.org. • FREE Tuesday, Jan. 17 ACA ENROLLMENT • South Knoxville Community Center • 3PM • Navigators from Cherokee Health System will assist with ACA enrollment. • FREE Thursday, Jan. 19 BLOUNT COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY PRE-OWNED BOOK SALE • Blount County Public Library • 12PM • A fundraiser for the library, with more than 50,000 books available—$1 for softcover and $2.50 for hardcover, plus movies, audiobooks and specially priced rare books, collectibles and others. Hosted by the Friends of the Blount County Public Library. Thursday, Jan. 19, from noon-6 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 20, and Sunday, Jan. 21, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (Thursday’s sale is Friends of the Library members only.) Visit blountlibrary.org. • FREE Friday, Jan. 20 BLOUNT COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY PRE-OWNED BOOK SALE • Blount County Public Library • 9AM • Visit blountlibrary. org. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 21 BLOUNT COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY PRE-OWNED BOOK SALE • Blount County Public Library • 9AM • Visit blountlibrary. org. • FREE Thursday, Jan. 26 PINTS FOR A PURPOSE • Little River Trading Co. (Maryville) • 5PM • Pints for a Purpose will be held every fourth Thursday of the month. It’s a win-win event—good company, a chance to win awesome prizes, and of course enjoyment of delicious New Belgium Brewing beer all in efforts to help out a wonderful community organization. • FREE Saturday, Jan. 28 A NIGHT IN KNOX VEGAS • Knox Heritage • 6PM • See if Lady Luck is on your side as you test your skills at poker, roulette, and blackjack. The money is fake but the prizes are real. Quench your thirst with martinis, beer, wine, or other refreshing beverages. Delicous buffet dinner provided by Holly Hambright and Holly’s Gourmets Market. A whiskey tasting and Park City Cigar bar will add an extra touch of class to the evening. Proceeds benefit Positively Living and Project ACT. • $125 NOURISH KNOXVILLE WINTER FARMERS’ MARKET • Central United Methodist Church • 8AM • Visit nourishknoxville. org. • FREE
Send your events to calendar@knoxmercury.com
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FOOD
Home Palate
Taco Loco Chivo Taqueria’s crazy names are attached to some standout tacos
A
lthough it sits along a happily modern Gay Street, there’s something about the approach to Chivo Taqueria that makes me feel like I’m riding into the Wild West. Maybe it’s because there are no attached or adjacent buildings that it recalls an isolated town in a Clint Eastwood film, perhaps Pale Rider, where hope and disappointment live in close proximity. Inside, although there are no spittoons, it’s easy to imagine that you’ve walked into a saloon where everyone is packing a couple of six-shooters and a few chips on their shoulders. Regardless of my imagination, the image of the Old West fades as soon as the menu is in hand and you get used to the font. I’m sure that Clint or even John Wayne may have eaten a few tortillas in a Western or two, but I sincerely doubt if any were filled with beer-battered avocado. The menu, as befits a taqueria, is concise and to the point: a few starters and sides, a fleeting nod to salads, and a compact selection of tacos with cute names. Despite my general suspicion of cute names, Chivo, like its brother Stock and Barrel, generally manages to deliver quality sufficiently serious enough to mitigate the silliness. And, admittedly, it’s fun to order a Clusterduck, and I’ll further admit that Frying Nemo has been on my mind many times. The starters menu is a standard blend of queso, wings, guacamole, and chips with salsa. It’s nice to see queso fundido, but I was only really tempted
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
by the presence of chicharrones—big ol’ pork skins liberally dressed with generous dollops of Valentina hot sauce. In addition to its bright flavor and very mild heat, the pools of sauce created nifty little pockets of chewiness in the midst of the crackle. The chicharrones are seemingly unsalted, but who cares—these are nice bites of good, rustic flavor. Lunch is a fine time to visit Chivo—the current special includes two tacos of your choice and a side for $9. It’s a filling lunch and an attractive one, too. The side choices include white beans with tomato and poblano; Brussels sprouts with olive oil, garlic, and ancho chile; and a dish of street corn. One of my dining partners liked the sprouts, which are served whole and often blackened, though the char, which I’m told is typical, was a little too bitter for me—I never quite tasted garlic or ancho or even much of the sprout save a few bites from the underdone heart. The street corn is more successful, especially if you’re into the goop of the dish. It’s served off the cob and abundantly dressed with chile mayo and queso fresco, which lent it an almost casserole-like visage. I’ll have to own up to a bias here—I’ve never liked this dish when the corn is cut. Leaving it on the cob forces some restraint in the application of mayo, and my relationship with mayonnaise is tenuous at best. As for the meat of the matter, the taco selection has some real winners. One is Mr. Panos, which combines
Photos by Dennis Perkins
BY DENNIS PERKINS
CHIVO TACQUERIA 314 S. Gay St. 865-444-3161, chivotaqueria.com Sun.–Thu.: 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri-Sat: 11 a.m.–11 p.m.
wonderfully braised lamb, pico de gallo, tzatziki, and feta. Surprisingly, the pico de gallo made a fine complement to the other ingredients, which are tried and true—almost heavenly matches to lamb. Tender and juicy without being messy, it was a paragon of taco creativity and taste. All of the tacos are well served by the house-made tortillas, which manage to accomplish that most respectable feat for edible food wrap: to be both tender and sturdy. In the case of Mr. Panos, just picking the taco up was a pleasure—it was full enough to be plump without exploding over the table, or me. And they’re tasty, too.
The Taters Gonna Tate was a little less manageable, but chorizo will act that way, I suppose. It’s a good choice for the meat-and-potatoes eater in your squad, but the mention of both potato confit and salsa verde gave me false hope of a more complex bite. As it was, there was plenty of chorizo flavor. Texturally speaking, your best bet
Home Palate
is to go Gangnam Style—and your taste buds may dance like Psy and his merry mallgoers, too. The magic here is that the pork belly is exceptionally well cooked and crispy about the edges, and supplemented by some little bits of chicharrones. When that combo meets up with silky avocado and a perky citrus slaw, it creates a nice harmony, in both texture and taste. Right on its heels comes the No Meat? Guacward! I have no idea what that name means, but the bite to which it refers is a very sensible tidbit. The ethereally thin and crispy shell of fried batter around such a luxurious avocado interior creates a textural allure that almost defines hedonism. I’m a victim of its charms whenever it’s done well—and this was done
FOOD
quite well. Again, the house slaw lends a little more crunch and bright splash of acidity that brings additional character and balance—there’s a lot of action in this meatless wonder. Dessert, flan and churros, fits the mold of the place, though Chivo’s flan is no delicate and wobbly little disk of custard—instead, it’s a big honkin’ slab sawed generously from a pan and drenched in a caramel sauce that was a bit overcooked, ergo bitter, on my visit. The description promised that the flan somehow included jasmine tea, which is partly why I ordered it, but, alas, it was a promise left undelivered. Still, if quantity is your aim, there’s plenty here to share. And the churros were crispy with a delicious dark chocolate sauce— though, in retrospect, I’d rather use those calories for another bite of fried avocado. As for the rest of the tacos, they’re fine—everything is well cooked and enjoyable, if not always thrilling. Perhaps it’s too much to expect culinary epiphany in a simple bite from a place that offers more selections of tequila than actual food. Still, when there’s a duck taco on the menu, it’s hard not to let one’s expectations soar. But if you’ll place your food order after a few shots (of tequila—not your six-shooter), I imagine it’ll work out just fine. ◆
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY 41
OUTDOORS
Voice in the Wilder ness
Winter Listicle The top five movies that make you want to go outside (even if that’s not their point) BY KIM TREVATHAN THE THIN RED LINE
I
f you’re not up to facing the actual outdoors during these dark winter days, I’ve made a short list of viable movies that will make you feel as if you’ve been outdoors. I’ve left off beloved movies that many already know about: A River Runs Through It, Into the Wild, Wild, Cast Away, and yes, Deliverance. Instead, I’m focusing on some maybe lesser-known feature films (not documentaries) that may provoke you into thinking about nature and the wilderness in different ways.
1. EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (2015)
Director Ciro Guerra intertwines two Amazonian narratives: one set at the turn of the 20th century, about a dying German ethnologist in search of yokruna, a rare curative plant; and the other narrative, set 40 years later, in which an American botanist seeks the plant for more dubious reasons. Each white man is led upriver in a dugout canoe by the same shaman, Kara-
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT
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mate, the lone survivor of the Cohiuano people. It’s difficult to isolate one emblematic segment of the movie since the setting is so intertwined into each quest, but there is one scene about halfway through that illustrates the film’s magnificent scale, profundity, and economic storytelling. Karamate and Manduka (friend and guide of Theo the German) are dragging the canoe around an impassable section of whitewater. Theo stumbles along behind them, loaded down with his boxes. Karamate says, “Leave all that. They’re just things.” Theo, gasping, says he cannot because the boxes contain the knowledge he’s gained in the jungle, that without these things, no one in Germany would believe him. Contemplating the river’s turbulence nearby is Manduka, his back deeply scarred. Karamate remarks correctly that the rubber barons did this to him. Manduka nods, turns back to the river, and says, “Is
this the spot where the anaconda descended from the Milky Way, carrying our Karipulakena ancestors?” Looking over Manduka’s scarred shoulder at the powerful churning river, you can believe it is true, that this is the perfect spot for an origin myth. This is one of those rare films that manages to encompass so much—the cultural devastation of colonialism, the degradation of the environment, an inquiry into nature and spirituality—with deft and concise strokes. Its grandiose scope is managed so impeccably that the characters stand out in sharp relief, flawed and dynamic and dignified like the landscape that envelopes them.
2. THE THIN RED LINE (1998)
People do horrible things to each other in Terence Malik’s film (based on the James Jones novel) about the American invasion of Guadalcanal in World War II. But as a matrix for the horror, the island’s landscape is so vibrant that the characters—in the midst of dodging bullets—stop to consider the tall, undulating fields of grass where they cower and the strange plants that close up when touched by humans. The movie begins with smiling Pvt. Witt paddling a dugout canoe across a bay of turquoise water, and then frolicking underwater with native (Melanesian) children. Soon enough, Witt, who happens to be AWOL, is back in the dark chaos of battle. It’s tempting to sum up the film as an indictment of industrialized warfare
and its power to destroy Edenic places and cultures. That’s there, I think, but the film is most intriguing when nature comes to the foreground as a powerful force separate from human folly. A group of bats, hanging upside down, stare at Witt and his dying friend, who lie in a shallow stream awaiting a Japanese battalion. Later, an iguana stares down at a soldier in the same detached way. Often, bolts of sunlight shine through the tropical flora, piercing smoke and fog, as if to shed light on the absurdity below.
3. FROZEN RIVER (2008)
Directed and written by Courtney Hunt, this is a tightly focused story about crossing borders and overcoming barriers. Set in upstate New York near the Canadian border, its main character, Ray Eddy, a single mother played by Melissa Leo, is struggling to scrape together enough money to buy a new double-wide trailer. She’s so desperate that she forms an uneasy confederacy with a Mohawk woman, Lila Littlewolf, also a single mother, to smuggle illegal aliens in the trunk of her car across the frozen St. Lawrence River. This may be the most understated and unsentimental movie of all time, the snow and ice establishing the film’s hard, brittle tone. Still, by the end, it might make you cry. The last trip across the river, in the middle of a blizzard, is fraught with bad decisions, dire consequences, and quiet heroism. It’s a story of desperation and risk, and the landscape raises the stakes.
OUTDOORS town to trail
20% OFF INSOMNIA
4. INSOMNIA (2002)
Tough and brilliant Los Angeles detective Will Dormer (Al Pacino) is summoned to Nightmute, Alaska to help solve a murder case. At a fishing cabin stakeout for the suspected killer (Robin Williams), Dormer drops through a trap door into an old mining tunnel in pursuit. Thick fog whites out distinctions between pursued and pursuers as the streetwise city cop stumbles across the rocky terrain and fi res an ill-advised round. Dormer battles a decline in professionalism and confidence, and his insomnia provokes hallucinations that obscure reality in this bleakly beautiful landscape. Director Christopher Nolan tells the suspenseful story as if we’re right there with Dormer, fumbling our way through the fog and icy water, gulls mocking from above.
5. TRACKS (2013)
Based upon Robyn Davidson’s nonfiction book on her 1,700-mile trek, this came out a little before Wild, and I think it’s better, though I loved Cheryl Strayed’s book about hiking the Pacific Coast Trail and the fi lm with Reese Witherspoon. Tracks is set in a more challenging landscape in terms of storytelling and cinematography: the Australian desert. You might think, at fi rst, that a journey across the desert would be boring sameness and monotony, wind and dust and fl ies. Those things are there, on the surface. The longer you accompany Davidson (played by Mia Wasikows-
ka), the more the landscape’s personality emerges: terrain, animals, people begin to stand out in stark relief. Canyons, bare trees, a stream with white birds, kangaroos, an Aborigine village, a cistern of water, the intermittent appearance of National Geographic photographer Rick Smolen (Adam Driver), and fi nally the Indian Ocean are just a few of the highlights we dwell upon. Director John Curran’s vision captures the difficulty of Davidson’s undertaking, including her arduous preparation for the journey, which included obtaining and training feral camels to carry her supplies. By the end, after many trials, some heartbreaking, you marvel not only at “the camel lady’s” toughness, but also her insight; and like her, you’ll be mesmerized by the landscape, the “hard country” as one of the Aussie characters calls it. Aside from that, this movie will warm you up on a cold day. ◆
TRACKS
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January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 43
’BYE
R estless Nat ive
The Big Bear From Peanut’s Wall of Death to a sad end with Paranoia Racing BY CHRIS WOHLWEND
O “ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE ACCURATE. NONE OF THEM IS THE TRUTH.” — RICHARD AVEDON
Do you have an existing photo series of life around Knoxville? We’re on the lookout for new views of our city’s many different neighborhoods—and we’ll feature them in our Howdy section. For more information or to submit samples, email tricia@knoxmercury.com.
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n a late-summer day in the late 1960s, I found myself trying to keep my dad’s Ford station wagon moving along a sandy trail through the brush outside of Gainesville, Fla. I was on the way to pick up a motorcycle, looking for a beat-up mobile home that I had been told was at the end of the trail. The bike was a Yamaha 250 Big Bear; if I could find it and its owner, I was to transport it back to Knoxville for my friend Grady. It belonged to a man known to everyone as Peanut, a legend to motorcyclists around Knoxville. His reputation had been cemented when he participated in a Wall of Death attraction at the Tennessee Valley Fair a few years earlier. The Wall of Death stars bikers who go fast around a silo-shaped, wooden-floored track; the motorcycles and their riders are held up by friction and centrifugal force. Stories of Peanut’s Wall of Death skills had quickly spread through Lincoln Park, where he grew up, and by the fair’s third day, he was drawing big crowds. But his stint soon ended— the Wall’s operators discovered that he was only 15 years old. Knoxville police were also well aware of Peanut’s riding skills. He was adept at off-roading through North Knoxville neighborhoods with cops— limited to the streets—trying to pursue.
By the time of my trip to Florida, Peanut was in his mid-20s and had moved to Florida several months after the demise of a partnership with Grady. The pair had pooled resources to buy a 1948, a purchase they made though neither knew how to fly. The deal died when Peanut crash-landed it while showing an official that it was air-worthy. The Yamaha was to pay Grady for his half-interest in the Aeronca. I found the mobile home and Peanut, loaded up the bike, and eventually got it to Grady. Several months later, after getting hit by an un-seeing motorist on Atlantic Avenue, Grady worked out a deal with me: I traded him a set of drums for the now-banged-up Yamaha. The Big Bear was designed for street travel, but one of my friends was into motorcycle off-roading, so we turned the Yamaha into an incongruous dirt bike. Basically, I had next-tonothing in it and saw its role as providing adventurous fun. Soon, my roommate and I were regulars at the dirt farm on top of Cherokee Bluff, a popular gathering spot for motorcyclists. Jumps had been built up and there was plenty of space for playing around. Since the Yamaha was unregistered, I avoided riding it on the streets—we would load it into the International Scout I was driving at the time and take it up to the Bluffs.
The engine was a two-stroke, which meant oil had to be added to each tank of gas. For that purpose, I carried an old Coca-Cola bottle, its 6.5-ounce capacity perfect for that task. Eventually, we broke the end of the gear-shift foot peg. Replacements, I discovered, were not to be had. So we bent the rod out enough to get our foot under it to shift. Then the brake peg suffered the same fate—and the same fix. On the bluffs, the Yamaha—easily recognized because of its touring design (complete with a headlight) and its off-kilter front fork—was soon a star. The dirt-bikers couldn’t believe we actually did some of the things we did on it. They didn’t know we were attempting such tricks out of sheer ignorance. Crashes in the dirt were, generally, no big deal—riders weren’t going fast enough to do much damage. And I had learned how to stay on top when I had to lay down the bike on my first day of ownership—I had to put it in a ditch when the car in front of me on Rutledge Pike suddenly stopped. Eventually, another friend and I decided to enter an enduro that was set up on wooded acreage at the foot of Chilhowee Mountain in Blount County. He not only had a dirt bike designed for such activity, but he also knew how to ride it. We formed Paranoia Racing and paid our entry fees. Unfortunately, the Yamaha developed a problem with the throttle cable—it started sticking. Riding it became decidedly dangerous. So I had to scratch. The other half of our team made the race but failed to finish, though he did limp back to our vehicle covered in mud and looking like a veteran motorcycle racer. I never solved the sticking cable and, after nearly breaking my neck kicking it off on a hill near my house, sold it for $50, my dream of a Wall of Death appearance at an end. ◆ Chris Wohlwend’s Restless Native addresses the characters and absurdities of Knoxville, as well as the lessons learned pursuing the newspaper trade during the tumult that was the 1960s. He now teaches journalism part-time at the University of Tennessee.
That ’70 s Girl
#SideBunNation Let’s all follow a certain princess’ lead BY ANGIE VICARS
T
he summer of 1977 was a bleak time for the Rebel Alliance. The evil Galactic Empire had the upper hand. Although its James Earl Jones-voiced villain, Darth Vader, was only still breathing thanks to life support, he did whatever he wanted anyway. He picked fights with everyone who opposed him, belittled people he didn’t like, bragged about what he considered accomplishments, and insisted his way of doing things was best no matter what anyone else told him. To make matters worse, you couldn’t get away from him. No matter how much you tried to avoid him, you would get sucked in by something he did. Either he sucked up your spaceship with his giant tractor beam or he sucked up your attention with his dastardly deeds, like when he choked an Imperial officer just by staring at him. But Princess Leia was not impressed by anything Darth Vader did at any time to anyone. I never saw her give him the middle fi nger—probably because of that PG rating—but you could tell she imagined it all the time. She was determined to do him in or at least die trying. Darth Vader accused her of wrongdoing several times a day, tried to hack into her stash of secret
messages, and loomed over her every time they met face to face, but Princess Leia kept lying for the Rebel cause instead of crying over her mistakes. So what if she put her faith in a white-haired guy with a funny accent who took one for the team at a crucial time? She still had his help when she needed it most. No matter that the Empire blew her home planet to bits right in front of everyone and ordered her to be executed. She went back to her cell and took a power nap. Princess Leia didn’t stand there helplessly when her rescuers showed up and screwed up the escape plan.
’BYE
She told them off, grabbed one of their guns in the middle of a shootout, and blasted them a new way out right down the Imperial garbage chute. She wasn’t one to wallow in the Imperial trash compactor either. Not a single stain stuck to her white dress when she got away. Yes, the Death Star blew up thanks to an upstart pilot too short to be a storm trooper, but it was Princess Leia who gave him a medal—and who had delivered the stolen plans that made it all possible in the fi rst place. She accomplished all this as a fashion icon whose most famous line was a plea for help. Legions of fans have plastered buns the size of doughnuts to the sides of their heads while reciting, “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” Princess Leia became a role model for generations of admirers, thanks to a brilliant portrayal by the late Carrie Fisher. If Disney had owned Princess Leia back then, she might have passed her time singing about her hardships to a bunch of animals that scampered around admiring her. Instead she announced, “Someone has to save our skins!” and blasted her way to a better outcome. #SideBunNation, let’s follow her lead. ◆ Angie Vicars writes humorous essays and seriously good Web content for UT. In a former incarnation, she authored My Barbie Was an Amputee, Yikes columns for Metro Pulse, and produced the WATE website.
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No matter that the Empire blew her home planet to bits right in front of everyone and ordered her to be executed. She went back to her cell and took a power nap.
January 12, 2017
KNOXVILLE MERCURY 45
’BYE
Spir it of the Staircase
BY MATTHEW FOLTZ-GRAY
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KNOXVILLE MERCURY January 12, 2017
’BYE BY IAN BLACKBURN AND JACK NEELY
CLASSIFIEDS
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COMMUNITY
OTIS - is a happy-golucky, playful 7 month old who’s ready to learn manners and grow up in a loving family. Play groups with other dogs is his favorite time of the day. Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
NORRIS - Stop by our Division Street location to meet our sweet boy, Norris. He’s a 9-year-old Domestic Short Hair/mix . The best part-his adoption fee has been sponsored by a Furry Friend! Visit Young-Williams Animal Center / call 865-215-6599 for more information.
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January 12, 2017
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