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THE LEDE

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“I’ve been a fan since 1997. I was only like seven [or] eight, and I have a big poster above my bed. I’m not the guy who likes the superstars. He’s the only one that I’m a fan.” LEI QIAN, PHOTOGRAPHED AT A KOBE BRYANT CANDLELIGHT VIGIL IN KIENER PLAZA ON JANUARY 27

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

COVER

The Car Thief’s Life James Harris has a long history of trauma — and impulsive decisions. Will he get one more chance at the future he wants? Cover photo by

E D I T O R I A L Managing Editor Liz Miller Arts & Culture Editor Paul Friswold Music Editor Daniel Hill Digital Editor Jaime Lees Staff Writer Danny Wicentowski Restaurant Critic Cheryl Baehr Film Critic Robert Hunt Columnist Ray Hartmann Contributing Writers Jeanette Cooperman, Thomas Crone, Mike Fitzgerald, Joseph Hess, Robert Hunt, MaryAnn Johanson, Roy Kasten, KE Luther, Bob McMahon, Christian Schaeffer, Ymani Wince Proofreader Evie Hemphill Editorial Interns Trenton Almgren-Davis, Kristen Farrah, Hanna Holthaus, Jenna Jones, Monica Obradovic A R T Art Director Evan Sult Contributing Photographers Virginia Harold, Monica Mileur, Zia Nizami, Andy Paulissen, Nick Schnelle, Mabel Suen, Theo Welling, Jen West P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Haimanti Germain

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M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Jackie Mundy

INSIDE

C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers E U C L I D M E D I A G R O U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein Creative Director Tom Carlson www.euclidmediagroup.com

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Our own senators hasten the dictatorship

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HARTMANN Tyranny Close to Home Nervous thoughts on America’s descent to dictatorship BY RAY HARTMANN

.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) made a prescient statement in August 2016 during his re-election campaign against Democrat Jason Kander. “I think I could be the 51st Republican in the Senate,” Blunt said, in the Springfield News-Leader. “And every voter that cares about the courts, that cares about what would happen if either Secretary [Hillary] Clinton or Donald Trump is president, there are lots of reasons to think about why you would want a Republican Senate in all of

those circumstances.” What a stunning comment in retrospect. Blunt, already fed up with defending Trump over insults to a Gold Star family and other political atrocities, had lumped his own party’s presidential nominee with Clinton as threats to the nation. And this was just 26 days after Trump won the nomination. Blunt could have been that 51st Republican last week. He could have been the one with the moral courage — actually, just the integrity — to ensure the U.S. Senate upheld its duty to country and Constitution by holding a serious impeachment trial. Forget disgraced Senator Lamar Alexander, he of the “well, the Democrats proved their case that Trump shook down Ukraine for personal gain, but so what?” excuse. Blunt, a respected leader among his peers, could have brought along some colleagues on the witness issue had he done the right thing. Instead, Blunt joined 50 of his Republican colleagues in voting

not even to consider the consideration of first hand e idence, pro or con, regarding the allegations against Trump. The Republican Senate which Blunt promised would protect the nation from Clinton or Trump instead betrayed it. It was a cover up that made Watergate look transparent. Republicans likely would have escaped politically by pondering the first hand e idence, as we know it, then deciding not to remove Trump. Their fear, however, was of the unknown. If former National Security Advisor John Bolton (or even Lev Parnas) had too much new information, a legislative jailbreak might have ensued as happened to Nixon. This was not an acquittal of Trump. It was a decision to replace a trial with an orchestrated political symphony conducted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Moscow Mitch made good on his historic public promise December 12 that the Senate would maintain “total coordina-

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tion with the White House counsel” for the stated goal of killing impeachment. He’s one formidable grim reaper. Barring a miracle, the Republicans will grant Trump a getout-of-jail-free card, one that will validate his terrifying, perverse proclamation that “I have an Article 2 where I can do whatever I want as president.” e first uttered that foulness last July 23 at a student action summit, two days before his infamous shakedown call with Ukraine’s president. Trump continues to spew authoritarian rhetoric at his fascist rallies, with no end in sight. Today isn’t the day that democracy died in America. But it truly might mark the beginning of an unrestrainable march to dictatorship. Trump has used his Twitter platform of 72 million followers magnified e ponentially by news coverage — to slander political foes, Republican defectors and media as “disloyal,” “human

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HARTMANN

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scum,” “traitors,” “spies” and “enemies of the people.” Worse yet, the vile, xenophobic rhetoric has been delivered with the cadence and hatred of an autocrat. With the “Dershowitz Doctrine” snugly in hand, Trump could act upon those “lock her up!” chants targeting political opponents or “fake news” media. He’d merely need to have decided it was best for himself, and thus the nation. Trump won’t impose tyranny before the November 3 election, although he’d obviously be delighted to have foreign pals help him cheat to win. But it’s anyone’s guess what might happen after a re-election. It’s depressing that all this treachery can be rationalized by the party of Abraham Lincoln just because members love their tax cuts, judicial appointments and the deregulatory freedom to have their way with Mother Nature. The road ahead is uncharted territory. The forecast isn’t sunny, not with the aggregation of narcissistic personality disorder, criminality, bigotry and unparalleled power residing within one twisted individual. If the nation wants to ponder how it got here, Missouri might be the show-me state for that. We have two Republican senators, one a decent man, the other not so much. Blunt has served faithfully for a good while. I endorsed him in this space twice as Republican candidate for Missouri secretary of state in 1984 and 1988, and he did a fine ob bac in the days when every matter wasn’t crassly partisan. Blunt’s career in Congress was meteoric, in both chambers, spanning a quarter century. His politics are awful, in this view, but not his intentions. On the other hand, there’s Josh Hawley, the youngest member of the U.S. Senate and arguably its most dangerous. Missourians are mostly oblivious to this, because in sharp contrast to Blunt, he did so little in his state career that he’s a mystery in his home state. Hawley’s two years as state attorney general were marked mostly by his disdain for coming to work in his first year and his absence while he ran for Senate in the second. Little of note happened, save jumping on the pile against disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens and some political theater such as joining the national legal attack on Obamacare.

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In contrast, Hawley has become an unbelievable juggernaut in the Senate. In barely more than a year as a freshman, he has already been dubbed “the thirstiest man in Washington D.C.” by Esquire magazine, stampeding toward any and every camera. Hawley is everywhere, ferociously battling tech giants on all subjects but Russian interference in our elections. That one gets a pass from our techno-Goliath slayer. Hawley holds forth on all matters headline-grabbing, if helpful to Trump. Did you know the sexual revolution of the ’60s is the culprit for se tra c ing years later? That’s a good one, dovetailing nicely with his longstanding abhorrence of LGBTQ rights. Hawley, a banker’s son educated at a private high school, Stanford and Yale, portrays himself as a farm boy challenging the “coastal elites.” The stew of high intellect and low principle is ghastly. Corollary to this demagoguery, Hawley injects anti-Semitic tropes about rootless “cosmopolitans.” That provides him victimhood from the “liberal thought police” for pushing back at the very moment a host of Nazi websites extol him as their great white hope for 2024. Not one of Hawley’s 3,460 tweets has disavowed any of that. Blunt and Hawley do have one fascinating connection: A couple of weeks ago, Hawley hammered away on Twitter about the horror of social media giants spending half a billion dollars on lobbyists. Funny thing: Two of the three Blunt children who are professional lobbyists — Andy and Amy — are registered lobbyists in Missouri for Facebook. Small world. So, Missouri is the test-tube case for Republicans. Does Roy Blunt, at 70, somehow get his moral compass to find rue orth again r does Hawley, at 40, lick Trump’s boots loyally enough to become positioned to carry on his dirty legacy, should Trump ever be willing to vacate the presidency? If Republicans keep control of the Senate, and Democrats don’t get their act together presidentially, Missouri’s senators will be worth watching. Here’s hoping if Roy Blunt has another opportunity to be that 51st Republican vote, he doesn’t let America down again. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or catch him on St. Louis In the Know with Ray Hartmann from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

NEWS

State Says Medical Marijuana Is Legal, If You Happen to Have It Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

issouri may not have any dispensaries capable of supplying patients with legal medical marijuana, but state health o cials support your right to have it — even though that means, by necessity, breaking the law. It’s an opinion shared by the St. Louis County Police Department, which issued a statement to RFT clarifying that its o cers will not arrest state-approved patients who’ve somehow come into possession of marijuana. “If individuals are in possession of marijuana and possess a valid and legal prescription we will uphold their constitutional rights and they will not be arrested,” writes department spokeswoman Tracy Panus. “We will not arrest individuals based upon the assumption the marijuana was obtained illegally.” The department’s position follows the release of a letter by the state’s top mari uana o cial, who weighed in last week on the strange legal situation faced by medical marijuana patients in Missouri. n one hand, the first of the state’s 192 approved dispensaries are still months away from opening. But as of this month, nearly 30,000 patients are holding medical mari uana identification cards. Right now, those cards are useless for their stated purpose. The predicament hasn’t gone unnoticed. Lyndall Fraker, who serves as the Department of Health and Senior Services’ aptly — and very awesomely — titled director of medical marijuana, wrote in a

Possessing medical marijuana is legal in Missouri, despite the absence of places in the state to get it legally. | LIZ MILLER January 28 letter that he had been moved to explain DHSS’s understanding of the issue “at the request of several law enforcement entities and legislators.” Fraker’s letter started by summarizing how Missouri got into this situation. Bound by Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution — which was amended in 2018 by the successful ballot initiative that legalized medicinal marijuana — the department was obligated to accept applications. Even without dispensaries, the DHSS followed the schedule laid out in the amendment, and so it went about appro ing its first mari uana patients this past June. It’s that constitutional obligation which, on paper, gives patients the right to have their own weed. Toward the end of the twopage letter, Fraker wrote (emphasis added): “For both facilities and patients, once in possession of marijuana, all of the rights and protections outlined in Article XIV apply without caveat ... “It is the opinion of DHSS that, pursuant to Article XIV, individuals who hold a valid medical marijuana identification card are cur-

rently authorized to possess and use medical marijuana, and the lack of a mechanism by which those individuals may legally come into possession of medical marijuana does not change their right to possess it.” In the letter, Fraker acknowledged that the situation “was inevitable” given the schedule determined by the state constitution. He noted that “the realities of preparing medical marijuana” include months of cultivation and testing, and the delay “guaranteed that medical marijuana would not be ready for sale in dispensaries until well after the first facilities were licensed.” Now, the inevitable has arrived. “Of course,” Fraker wrote, “ if medical marijuana patients are currently authorized to possess medical marijuana despite the lack of licensed dispensaries, then from where may a patient acquire medical marijuana?” That’s the contradiction, the red-eyed elephant in the room. “Article XIV does not address this question,” Fraker continued, adding that it’s a “di cult reality that there is no legal method of initially acquiring marijuana.”

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“Unless,” he added, “that marijuana is somehow discovered in the wild.” So, yes, in the unlikely scenario that one stumbles into a wild bramble of free-growing vape cartridges and THC gummies, the Missouri Constitution would have your back. But taken in total, Fraker’s letter still leaves open the core contradiction facing patients. DHSS is declaring that the rights and protections “apply without caveat,” but Fraker’s letter ends with just that. “We realize this letter may not provide as much guidance as many have hoped to receive regarding how to proceed in this new legal environment,” Fraker wrote. He concluded by advising that anyone “navigat[ing] the many complex circumstances that will arise regarding possession” should ask a lawyer about their “specific circumstance.” So there you have it. Medical marijuana patients are legal. Their possession of marijuana is legal. There’s just no legal way to purchase it. It bears remembering here that Missouri’s health o cials and

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MEDICAL MARIJUANA Continued from pg 9

marijuana regulators are not in charge of police, prosecutors or your local municipal judge — and that this issue isn’t just playing out as a discussion of constitutional rights. Take Jamie Wilson. Charged with marijuana possession in December, his attorneys argue that his arrest was illegal because he is a card-carrying medical marijuana patient. In that case, Wilson was arrested in Daviess County, about an hour’s drive north of Kansas City, after he was pulled over by a state trooper. He was also apparently being tailed by the local drug task force, which had suspected him of buying marijuana in Independence. According to a report by Kansas ity B a liate S B, a search of Wilson’s truck found eight ounces of marijuana in a backpack, which is within the constitutional limits of Missouri’s medical marijuana law. Still, Wilson was arrested and charged not only with possession, but with child endangerment, as Wilson’s four-year-old grandson was reportedly riding in the truck during the incident. On January 30, according to online court records, Wilson’s lawyers submitted the letter by DHSS’s Fraker as an exhibit in defense of their client. Here in the St. Louis region, top prosecutors in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County set policies to not file charges on most marijuana possession cases. Still, possession is a crime that can get you cited or arrested by city police. In an email, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Evita Caldwell writes, “The police department is monitoring these changes and is prepared to adapt enforcement procedures accordingly.” She adds, “However, we will continue enforcing applicable local, state and federal laws which regulate controlled substances, including marijuana.” It’s not clear how the contradiction will be resolved in court. We reached out to DHSS by email to see further clarification on how patients can go about possessing weed that seems to be both legal and illegal at the same time. Spokeswoman Lisa Cox responded that, indeed, “Patients and caregivers with a valid department issued identification card may legally possess medical marijuana.” She adds, “However, we cannot advise anyone on how to obtain product.” n

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Feds Promise Juvenile Crackdown Written by

HANNA HOLTHAUS

federal judge sentenced a teenage carjacker last week to seven years in prison for a string of crimes in St. Louis and Illinois. Timothy Blassingame, nineteen, of Belleville pleaded guilty to two counts of carjacking and two counts of brandishing a firearm during the incidents. The sentence comes at a time when Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa says the federal government will be more “aggressively prosecuting” juveniles who commit violent crimes. Blassingame, who was seventeen at the time of the robberies, had an existing criminal history in Illinois, according to D’Agrosa. “I don’t think [Blassingame’s] case is typical,” D’Agrosa says. “I don’t think any case is typical, but, unfortunately, I would say he made decisions at a very young age that led to a life of vio-

Timothy Blassingame was seventeen at the time of a 2018 crime spree. | RANDOLPH COUNTY JAIL lent crime in the end.” Blassingame and co-defendant Andre King stole a 2004 Ford Escape and threatened the car’s owner on May 28, 2018, in St. Louis. Three days later, the pair carjacked Robert Wayne at a BP gas station at 14th Street and Chouteau Avenue in the city. Between those two crimes, Blassingame and King robbed two gas stations in Illinois with firearms. Blassingame has yet to be sentenced in Illinois, but D’Agrosa expects the judge in that case will add fifteen to eighteen years to the sentence he received in Missouri. King has already been sentenced in both states and will serve twenty years.

Murder Manhunt Ends in Suicide Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

Fenton man wanted for shooting his estranged wife and killing her dad committed suicide as police closed in on him in northwest Arkansas, authorities say.

James Kempf, 45, had been on the run since January 23 following the double shooting in Fenton. He and his wife had been in the midst of a divorce, and she had taken out an order of protection against him last fall, court records show. He had also been forced to move out of the couple’s home in the 1800 block of Charity Court and ordered by a judge to participate in a “batterers inter-

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James Kempf was wanted for murder and other crimes. | COURTESY ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE vention program.” Shortly before 6 p.m. on Janu-

ayne says he felt satisfied with the sentencing. Upon pulling up to the BP gas station on May 31, 2018, he recalls that he saw Blassingame and King but didn’t pay attention to them until one of the robbers knocked on his passenger-side window. Wayne tried to dismiss him, but the other carjacker forced open his driver’s side door and threatened him with a gun. “I gave him my phone and the car, just let them go about their business,” Wayne says. “There was a lot going through [my head]. I could either take the gun and hurt them or just go about my business. I just let them be because I thought about my kids.” n

ary 23, the wife called 911 after Kempf showed up at the house and attacked her, police say. Her father, 66-year-old John Colter, had tried to intervene, but Kempf shot him in the head, police say. The wife was shot in the leg, but she managed to escape and call for help. hen o cers arri ed, they initially thought Kempf was holed up inside. A police tactical team spent hours trying to negotiate with him before realizing that he had already fled. Police had been searching for Kempf ever since, focusing at one point on wooded areas around Fenton. On January 31, St. Louis County police announced that he had been located in rural northwest Arkansas where law enforcement o cers tried to ta e him into custody. He killed himself before that could happen, police said. Arkansas State Police are now conducting an investigation into his death. n

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the car thief’s

James Harris has a long history of trauma — and impulsive decisions. Will he get one more chance at the future he wants? BY DOYLE MURPHY

n a clear afternoon in September, a white Spire gas company truck sped through north St. Louis. A 27-year-old named James Harris was behind the wheel, steering along rough roads and occasionally swerving out of his lane or pausing at odd intervals. Harris was not, in fact, a Spire employee, which helped explain why two television news helicopters had been filming the truc ’s e ery mo e for the past 45 minutes and why police in unmarked cars were trailing behind, out of sight.

Harris had swiped the white pic up, embla oned with Spire’s orange logo, three hours earlier from a company parking lot in the St. Louis suburb of Shrewsbury. He drove east across the Mississippi River and wound through Illinois. His past misadventures had never attracted this much attention, but he was far from a rookie car thief. By his estimation, he had “test driven” more than 100 vehicles during the past decade. It’s impossible to say whether that’s accurate, gi en that Harris sometimes gets a little confused and overestimates his feats and abilities. Continued on pg 14

James Harris was the star of a KMOV live broadcast as he drove a stolen Spire truck across the Metro East. | ST. LOUIS POLICE/KMOV SCREENSHOT

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life

James Harris says his life has been “trauma, trauma, trauma” for as long as he can remember, but he is still hopeful that a better future awaits. | SHEILA LYNCH

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was pretty amazing,” Lynch says. he rehabilitation center’s staff threw Harris a party when he was finally ready to lea e them in ecember 2008. He was days from his seventeenth birthday and had progressed to using a wheelchair. Lynch knew the next steps would be hard. hoe er had shot him was still on the loose, and because police didn’t now the gunman’s motive, no one knew if the teen was still in danger. So Harris was being sent in protective custody to a youth home in aynes ille two hours away from St. Louis. He would not know anyone there or be allowed to contact any of his scattered friends and family. Lynch was one of the few people who would know where he was. Once a month, she and Harris’ speech therapist would dri e down to check in on him. “I new he wouldn’t ha e anybody,” Lynch says. “At the time, I thought he needed a lifeline.”

JAMES HARRIS Continued from pg 12

He was, however, proving difficult to corral. earing a red jersey and blackout sunglasses that concealed the wandering pupil of his blind right eye, he evaded a potentially tire-popping spike strip on Interstate 55 in the Metro East, kicking up a cloud of dust as he swerved through the grass and back onto the pavement of an off-ramp. The news choppers had at times clocked him at more than 90 miles per hour. hey filmed him rocketing across the majestic Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge and hovered overhead as he zipped past vacant buildings and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Their cameras zoomed in as he idled in rush hour tra c near Saint Louis University. “It would be really interesting, and of course we’re going to continue to wor to find out, what is the motivation for this?” KMOV reporter Chris Nagus said on air as he and anchor Claire Kellett narrated the action from the station’s studio. “ hat’s this person up to today hat’s their mindset hy are they doing this ” Shortly after 4 p.m., Harris parked behind a long blue dumpster on Locust Street in Grand Center, turned off the engine and slid out of the cab. He gave the pickup a final pat and started wal ing west. His right arm swung loosely at his side. His left, less so. He limped a little. “Just casually walking, Claire,” said Nagus, the surprise evident in his voice. “I mean, not in a hurry, not running anywhere. Just taking a casual stroll right down the sidewalk.” Harris had started to cross the street when a pair of unmarked police cars zoomed up on either side. Visibly startled, he raised his hands and dropped to his knees as a pair of plainclothes St. Louis police o cers ordered him to the ground at gunpoint. And suddenly it was over. Police loaded Harris into a transport van, and the live news broadcasts adjourned to a commercial break. Ten days later, Harris stole a silver Jeep.

t age sixteen, Harris ran away from a foster home and started living with his sevenyear-old cousin in an unfinished building in the ollege Hill neighborhood of north St. Louis. The utilities had been shut off,

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Harris at age sixteen when he was learning to walk and use his hands again. | SHEILA LYNCH but an extension cord into a neighboring building provided electricity. An adjacent restaurant was rumored to be a drug front for an older relative, and strangers drifted in and out. It was a dangerous spot, but a history of family trauma left the teens with limited options. arris’ mom had been a prostitute, and he and his siblings had been taken by the state several years before she died of AIDS when the boy was thirteen. He stayed with his grandfather for a while, but the grandfather was now dead, too. On the night of September 27, 2008, Harris and his cousin, Stephon “Red” Perry, were asleep when a gunman slipped in and shot them both in the head for reasons that remain a mystery to this day. Perry was killed. Harris survived, but barely. He had been shot in the face, the bullet entering alongside the bridge of his nose and exiting through the back of his head. He spent more than a week in Barnes-Jewish Hospital before he was transferred to the Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis. Sheila Lynch, an occupational therapist there, remembers when he arrived. “ e couldn’t do anything,” Lynch, , says. “ e couldn’t mo e anything, except a single toe.”

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t first, it was di cult to tell the extent of the damage. Harris could not talk, and Lynch and the other therapists were not sure whether anything they said was getting through. That continued for another week, until the teen started moving one of his hands. Lynch gave him a pen and he wrote down a phone number for a foster home where he had stayed. It was a lightbulb moment she still remembers more than a decade later. “ e new he was in there,” Lynch says. “ hat was the first time we knew his brain was working in any capacity.” Soon, Harris was writing down words like “Snickers” and “chicken” — all the foods he could not eat, because his meals were still being pureed into a liquid and fed to him through a tube. After several weeks, he began to regain his voice. “Once he got his voice back and could tal , you couldn’t shut him up,” Lynch says, laughing. His injuries were substantial, and some of the damage was permanent. Harris was now blind and deaf on his right side, and the long-term mental effects of a bullet ripping through his skull were murky. But the teen was enthusiastic and hardworking, eager to show off each new ability as his motor skills returned. “ e’s got a spirit about him that

ne of arris’ fa orite childhood memories is of driving. He is sitting on his grandfather’s lap, steering while the orld ar II et minds the gas and brake. “I used to love to drive when I was little,” he says, sounding almost wistful. Harris is now locked up in the city’s Medium Security Institution, better nown as the or house. He turned 28 in the jail and could spend another seven years in prison if a judge follows the recommendation of the St. Louis circuit attorney. But he’s hopeful he will be released again on probation. Seated on the other side of the visiting-booth glass from his attorney, assistant public defender ri a urst, he promises he is done stealing cars. “I don’t want to eep getting locked up,” he says. “I know I don’t ha e any more chances with the legal system.” His criminal record, lengthy as it is, doesn’t describe a man bent on iolence. nd he doesn’t seem to profit from stealing cars. he crimes seem nonsensical — high risk for little to no reward. Often, they occur simply because Harris happens to see a set of keys in a car and jumps in. “I guess it’s the release,” he says, struggling to explain his compulsion to drive away in someone else’s car. “It’s calming. I don’t now what it is. Maybe it’s the speed.” arris, who doesn’t e en ha e a dri er’s license, had seemingly caught a break after his arrest for stealing the Spire truck when the judge in his case issued an order

for inpatient mental health treatment at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. But Harris and his advocates say he was evaluated at the hospital and released within hours. “I feel like I got cheated,” Harris says. Instead of receiving treatment, he wandered St. Louis. He was not too surprised to find himself on the streets again. Harris and those who know him say he has endured repeated trauma, including childhood abuse and the killing of his cousin Red, who was Harris’ best friend. In 2018, Harris’ was thrilled to become the father of a little girl. But that too was fleeting. Before the girl turned two months old, she died in an accident while in the care of the her mother. Harris is aggressively positive, but he says the baby’s death made him suicidal for a time. “It’s always been trauma, trauma, trauma, trauma,” he says. “I’m just trying to live.” Over the years, he has developed a survivalist streak, facilitated by a relentless charm. He describes himself as a motivational speaker. “Pain is gain,” he likes to say. His audience is primarily comprised of MetroLink passengers and strangers along the Delmar Loop who he hopes will reward his wisdom and sidewalk musical performances with tips. In a Workhouse visiting booth, he beats a rhythm on his chest and snaps his fingers. “If I appreciate life, life appreciate me,” he raps. “It’s filled with love and hate, but it’s never easy.” He says he was performing along the Loop in September after his release from Barnes when he met a woman who worked in a cafeteria at Harris-Stowe State University. She told him to drop by the college the next morning and she would feed him breakfast, according to Harris. So he did. They talked some more, and she tried to hook him up with a job interview and told him to hang around for lunch, too. All he had to do was wait for her in the university’s library. Ever the charmer, he chatted up an employee, who let him use her phone. Police would later review footage from a security camera, watching closely as Harris placed his hat on the woman’s desk. After a moment, he picked it up again and walked off, seeming to take an object from the hat and put it in his pocket. By the time the woman realized her keys had disappeared, Harris was long gone. An exterior camera had recorded him as he climbed into her silver Jeep and drove away.

He was arrested less than a week later. This time, there would be no order for inpatient treatment and no bond. Harris was shipped off to the Workhouse.

he theft of the Jeep played out like a condensed version of a cycle that has repeated for years: A collection of promising developments are undone in an instant by an impulsive, terrible decision. “It’s frustrating,” says Sheila Lynch, the occupational therapist who worked with Harris after he was shot. She knows it better than anyone. Lynch continued to visit Harris as he moved through youth homes and foster care. He loved to try to impress her, running around the gym and throwing a ball to show her how well his damaged left arm was working. Lynch encouraged him, bringing him a bike that she taught him to ride. Harris’ life had been filled with people who disappeared on him, or worse took advantage of him. But Lynch never disappeared. She never gave up on him. Harris was in high school in Springfield, Missouri, when he ran away again. He called Lynch after about a week, and she picked him up in St. Louis. She was able to persuade him that he was better off in a supportive program and helped place him with an organization in St. Charles. There, Harris had an apartment with a roommate for the first time. “That’s when he started to get into trouble,” Lynch says. Harris met another guy one day in St. Charles, and they got high and stole a car. After joy-riding around town, they brought it back and got caught. Harris spent months in jail waiting for a court date. He was eventually released but was soon arrested again when some friends broke into another friend’s home and stole video games. Harris was the lookout, Lynch says. By that time, he was eighteen and the state deemed him old enough to fend for himself. He emerged from jail with nowhere to go. Lynch was desperate to find housing for him, but there didn’t seem to be any options. So she let Harris move in with her until she could find another solution. It was meant to be a short-term solution. Her parents thought she was crazy and naive. At the time, Harris was already piling up a criminal record and Lynch lived alone in rural Jefferson County. They begged her to send him to someone else. Continued on pg 16

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FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

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Harris was enrolled in community college before he was sidelined by arrests. | SHEILA LYNCH

JAMES HARRIS Continued from pg 15

“I was like, ‘OK, well, tell me who,’” Lynch says. They came around after meeting Harris. The same broad smile and sweet personality that had touched Lynch’s heart uic ly won them over, too. That was also true for her neighbors in the mostly white community, who were at first curious about and then protective of the young black man from north St. Louis. “ hen you meet him, you can’t help but love him,” Lynch says. It was not long before arris’ cousin came to live with Lynch, too. They made an odd trio with Lynch taking on a parental role, setting household rules and trying to keep her new roommates on track. “Literally, I was like grounding 21-year-olds,” she says. “If there had been reality TV, it would have been the best show ever.”

fter Harris was shot, his injuries were easy to see. However, as he has healed physically, his needs have transitioned largely to the hard-to-spot emotional and mental. Lynch says it has been nearly impossible to find doctors, caseworkers or programs that will consider Harris in the larger context of family trauma, brain damage from the shooting, poverty, substance abuse and deteriorating mental health.

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FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

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“Because he’s the wal ing wounded, he doesn’t present li e he has a disability,” Lynch says. Part of the challenge is the pushpull of his personality. The same wit and charisma that makes people want to help him can fool others into thinking he is more capable than he is, Lynch says. Even at his best, few saw that his bed at her house was angled toward the door because he worried the gunman who shot him in his sleep would come bac . hey didn’t know about the bouts of paranoia or notice the child-like tendencies during their short conversations. “He had good street smarts, but there was other stuff that it was like, ‘Oh, this is what a thirteenyear-old or a twelve-year-old would say to me,’” Lynch says. arris’ older cousin, who li ed with him and Lynch, was better able to take care of himself and held down a solid job with a car dealership after moving out on his own. But Lynch was having a harder time keeping Harris focused. His mind was always racing, jumping over the calculations of consequences or skipping past social cues. That might manifest in running recklessly from task to task when he lands work or misinterpreting the kindness of a clerk as romantic interest. Or he might borrow a friend’s car and ne er return. Lynch sees him not as bad, but impulsive. “His intent is not to steal a car to sell it,” Lynch says. “It’s to dri e it. He loves to drive.” She has tried to combat those

knee-jerk decisions by having write down his goals and tasks, which slows him and helps him reason. He does well with that kind of structure, but Lynch could not watch him all the time. And as a man in his twenties, Harris wanted to follow his own rules. For one thing, he liked to smo e mari uana, which definitely wasn’t allowed at Lynch’s place. She had also begun to wonder where to draw the line between helping and enabling him. Harris, she knew, needed to understand there were consequences for his actions. If she picked him up after work and could tell he was high, she would not let him come home. They would argue. He would move out, return and move out again. A few years ago, Lynch stopped letting him stay there at all. She has become a foster parent to two young girls, and it doesn’t wor to ha e a young man floating in and out. She has occasionally put him up in apartments and hired lawyers when he is in trouble. She has also not taken his calls at times and let him be homeless, swallowing the crushing worry in hopes that he will be forced to make better choices. “It’s a really tough balancing act,” she says.

arris is set to plead guilty in the car theft cases in March. His attorney, Erika urst of the public defender’s o ce in St. Louis, says it appears he has a good chance of avoiding prison time if they can figure out a plan for where he will live and what he will do once he is released. The judge delayed the case last month to give them more time to put it together. It is not easy, but she assures Harris that she will contact his casewor er and they will figure it out. “ e’ll get something,” she says. Harris has been through a few lawyers and caseworkers. Some have been better than others, but urst has impressed Lynch with her earnestness and dedication. It’s no small tas to persuade the court to consider a decade of cases and see more than a criminal who has not learned his lesson. More than a few people have given up on Harris, including those who tried to help him, only to get burned. A pastor in Bond County, Illinois, let Harris live in an apartment in a building he owned in e change for labor. In arris’ telling, he handled a variety of skilled tasks and landscaping, but the man says it was more like carrying things every once in a while and raking leaves here and there.

One day, Harris became paranoid that a town police o cer was after him, so he stole one of the man’s ehicles and ept it for a month before crashing it while running from police. The man says he liked Harris and still believes Harris genuinely wants to do the right thing, but his problems are complex. “ id he tell you pain is gain’ ” he as s. “ hat’s his mantra, so he’s see ing pain, or if he inflicts pain on someone, he’s helping them out.” he man says he finally realized Harris was someone he just couldn’t help. e as ed that his name not be included in this story, because he wants Harris to know that there will not be another chance. “ his is a saga I don’t want to stay connected to,” he says.

arris says he regrets the damage he has done. “I don’t li e ta ing from people,” he says. “I don’t li e lea ing people without their cars.” But he also rationalizes his actions. Often, when he has stolen cars, he uses them to drive between crowded areas, such as MetroLink stations, where he can perform and collect tips. At night, he sleeps in the cars. Lynch says she has seen his mental health deteriorating. The good stretches between the bad decisions ha e become shorter. It’s wrenching, because he remains kind and heartbreakingly eager to impress. She worries about him all the time. In a way, knowing he is in jail is a relief, because at least she knows where he is. Sitting in the or house isiting booth, Harris says he can understand that. “I thin she’s able to breathe and live her life,” he says. His dream is to one day have the kind of “big beautiful family” that he never did. He will have a good job, and he will be the one taking care of everyone. But for now, he is working on the small steps, trying to slow down and think through his plan for when he is released again. In many ways, he is still like the kid Lynch cared for nearly a dozen years ago. She talked to him after the Spire truck theft, scolding him for another dumb move. She demanded in her tough love way that he tell her what he was thinking. “ ell, clearly I wasn’t,” he admitted. And yet he is still eager to impress. “Did you see,” he asked, “how good I drove?” n

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CALENDAR

BY PAUL FRISWOLD

The cast of Three Tall Women. | COURTESY OF STRAY DOG THEATRE

THURSDAY 02/06 Three in One Edward Albee’s drama Three Tall Women is that rare beast: a serious play with not one but three strong female leads. “A” is the eldest, and she’s nearing death. “B” is her middle-aged caretaker, sitting with A and helping her remember the past. “C” is a too-serious young lawyer, who needs to sign some o cial papers. A and B team up against C, chiding her for her earnestness and her discomfort with ’s infirmities. B and C sometimes team up on A, questioning her choices and attempting to unravel some of her more gnomic pronouncements. As the play progresses, you begin to see the outline of a single life, complicated by faithless men and a disobedient son, who was himself mistreated by his faithless mother. Stray Dog Theatre presents the fascinating Three Tall Women at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (February 6 to 22) at the Tower Grove Abbey (2336 Tennessee Avenue; www. straydogtheatre.org). Tickets are $25 to $30.

FRIDAY 02/07 Moveable Art Following the economic boom after World War II, artist Daniel Spo-

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erri realized that if artists could create sculptural works in large numbers, they could fill a burgeoning demand. Spoerri required that each of the objects have some built-in element that transformed their work, and artists responded by creating three-dimensional objects that incorporated a motor, pieces that were meant to be manipulated by the viewer and work that changed as viewers observed it. These kinetic sculptures, which Spoerri called “multiples,” were released in three separate series under the title “Edition MAT” (multiplication d’art transformable). Multiplied: Edition MAT and the Transformable Work of Art, 1959-1965, the new exhibition at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, features at least one example of each item created for Spoerri’s groundbreaking project. he e hibit is the first of its ind in the U.S. to gather all of the items together. Edition MAT features kinetic sculptures by Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Jesus Rafael Soto and Heinz Mack, among others. More than 100 multiples are included in the show. Edition MAT opens with a free public reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, February 7, at the Kemper (1 Brookings Drive; www. kemperartmuseum.org). The exhibit remains on display through April 19.

Keep Workin’ Peter Pranschke is an artist’s artist. With a craftsman’s sense of purpose and an artist’s eye for detail, Pranschke cranks out drawing after drawing for no one but himself. He’s also his harshest critic, referring to his accumulated work as “useless debris,” even as he labors over the next illustration. This “make work or die trying” attitude results in reams of drawings, each of which is another piece of a thriving body of work. Offer Box, Pranschke’s new solo exhibition, features several hundred individual pieces that have been slowly reworked over the past thirteen years. In them are moments of his own life all rendered in Pranschke’s smooth, cartoony style. Bodies are slender or stout, eyes are large, non-essential details such as a shoe or the folds of someone’s hoodie are rendered with exquisite detail, while people

FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

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Man Ray (American, 1890–1976), Objet indestructible (Indestructible object), 1965. Metronome, photograph, and paper clip, 40/100, 8 7/16 × 8 7/16 × 4 1/2 in. (21.4 × 21.4 × 11.4 cm). Published by “Edition MAT” / Galerie Der Spiegel, Cologne. Kern Collection, Großmaischeid, Germany. © Man Ray 2015 Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris, 2019. or objects fade at the edges, uninked and incomplete. Through it all run the ghostly marks of earlier drawings and erasure blur, which hint at previous attempts. Peter Pranschke: Offer Box opens with a free reception from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, February 7, at Monaco (2701 Cherokee Street; www.monacomo-

One of the hundreds of drawings in Peter Pranschke: Offer Box. | PETER PRANSCHKE

naco.us). Also opening on Friday is Vultures at Midnight, a four-person show curated by Edo Rosenblith. Both exhibits remain up through March 6.

SATURDAY 02/08 Locked Up ne of merica’s most powerful financial engines is the industrial incarceration complex. Many people are being held prisoner because they can’t pay fines and can’t afford cash bail. And with more forprofit prisons than e er, merica has created an increasing demand for prisoners to keep the machine working — and making money. America’s Mythic Time, a new art exhibition organized by the Luminary and the ArchCity Defenders a ci il rights law firm , e plores the effects of perpetual incarceration on minority communities. The title refers to the prison complex’s theft of a prisoner’s time and the gaps created in their loved ones’ lives. The show features work by artist-activists Maria Gaspar, Jordan Weber, Kahlil Robert Irving, WORK/PLAY and American Artist, as well as public programs de-

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 6-12

Kahlil Robert Irving, White matter white text [State of Missouri, {Jason Stockley}], 2019, from America’s Mythic Time. | COURTESY OF CALLICOON FINE ARTS, PHOTO BY JACKIE FURTADO veloped by ArchCity Defenders. America’s Mythic Time opens with a free public reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, February 8, at the Luminary (2701 Cherokee Street; www.theluminaryarts.com). The work remains on display through March 21.

Ten out of Nine For many people, Beethoven’s ninth symphony is more immediately recognizable as “the music from Die Hard.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you want to really appreciate the mighty Ninth, you should hear the whole symphony front to back in a live setting. And guess what the St. Louis Symphony is doing next? Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 celebrates the joy that comes from believing God is above the stars in the sky’s vault, to paraphrase the fourth movement, and even if you’re not a believer, you’ll feel something during that incredible finale. he St. Louis Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony Chorus join forces (along with four esteemed guest singers) to perform the all-consuming work of art. Concerts start at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (February 7 to 9) at Powell Hall (718 North Grand Boulevard; www. slso.org). Tickets are $15 to $95.

MONDAY 02/10 No Laughing Matter The waters of Lake Constanze in Bregenz, Austria, are home to many of the most visually dramatic operas in the repertoire, thanks

to its floating stage. here’s little room for the typical opera house machinery that can move sets and reconfigure the scenery, so directors traditionally opt for enormous sculptural figures such as hands, skulls and, in the case of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, a grinning clown head that dwarfs the players, with a pair of hands floating on either side of the stage. The 2019 production of Rigoletto was recorded, and will be rebroadcast internationally at 7 p.m. Monday, February 10, at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema (1701 South Lindbergh Boulevard, Frontenac; www.landmarktheatres.com). The opera is a dark tale of love and revenge that spins around the tragic figure of igoletto, the hunchbacked jester whose beautiful daughter falls prey to a false man. Tickets are $15.

WEDNESDAY 02/12 Dance of Love orld ar II has finally ended, and the newly discharged American Jerry Mulligan decides to stay behind in Paris. It’s a good place to begin his new career as a painter, but it’s an even better place to fall in love. When he meets Lise, his fate is sealed. Unfortunately, their mutual attraction is trumped by her involvement with another man. Jerry’s not a man who gives up on a dream, however. The stage adaptation of the film An American in Paris features a gondola of Gershwin songs and a great deal of dancing, as well as romance. An American in Paris is performed at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 12, at the Stifel Theatre (1400 Market Street; www.stifeltheatre.com). Tickets are $35 to $85. n

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314.888.8688 9616 OLIVE BLVD OLIVETTE, MO 63132 The Kickin’ Crab has joined the Crustacean Nation and is here to satisfy your taste sensation. The Kickin’ Crab is a fun-filled Cajun seafood destination where patrons come and escape into flavor paradise. Offering a distinct ambiance to enjoy the finest and freshest Cajun seafood around! Kickin’ Crab is a great place to hang out with friends, family, or both! No plates...no utensils! Just your hands, a bib, and our unique and absolutely irresistible KC sauces - a combination of spicy, sweet and tangy flavors - over freshly prepared seafood that will give your taste buds satisfaction unlike anything else you’ve ever tasted. Join us and partake in the festivities and quality of seafood that The Kickin’ Crab has to offer.

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Housed in a retro service station, J. Smugs GastroPit serves up barbecue that can fuel anyone’s fire. Married teams of Joe and Kerri Smugala and John and Linda Smugala have brought charred goodness to the Hill neighborhood, nestled among the traditional Italian restaurants, sandwich shops and bakeries. Part of St. Louis’ ongoing barbecue boom, the J. Smugs’ pit menu is compact but done right. Ribs are the main attraction, made with a spicy dry rub and smoked to perfection. Pulled pork, brisket, turkey and chicken are also in the pit holding up well on their own, but squeeze bottles of six tasty sauces of varying style are nearby for extra punch. Delicious standard sides and salads are available, but plan on ordering an appetizer or two J. Smugs gives this course a twist with street corn and pulled-pork poutine. Several desserts are available, including cannoli – a tasty nod to the neighborhood. Happy hour from 4 to 7pm on weekdays showcases half-dollar BBQ tastes, discount drinks, and $6 craft beer flights to soothe any beer aficionado.

Poke Doke offers St. Louis their energized recipes intertwined in a fast-casual model. Best part is every bowl is customizable to the patron -- whether you know what you want and can come up with your own flavor pairings — but it’s certain your heart will be content with the rich, high-quality seafood. Customers choose a size, a base, (such as rice, greens, or soba noodles) and choose from proteins (such as salmon ahi tuna, spicy tuna, shrimp or tofu), then add as many toppings and drizzles as they wish. If you’re less interested in the simple pleasures of fish and more in playing around with accoutrements, both the shrimp and tofu are neutral enough that they benefit from the enhancements. The menu also offers appetizers such as pork-filled pot stickers, miso soup, and crab rangoon, along with an assortment of bubble milk teas and soft serve ice cream. With locations in both the Central West End and the Delmar Loop, Poke Doke is the perfect spot to grab a quick bite!

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Looking for the best seafood in St. Louis or the Midwest—don’t fret, Crawling Crab is now open! Here, we drizzle everything in garlic butter and then sprinkle on our magic dust! In a fun and casual atmosphere, you’ll enjoy fresh, hand-cleaned seafood ranging from lobster, shrimp, and of course crab legs. All platters come with corn sausage potatoes and Cajun boiled eggs and shrimp that won’t disappoint. For those pasta and veggie lovers out there, there is a spot for you here too! Enjoy our double dipped garlic butter rolls along side with your meal. And if you are still not stuffed, we have homemade dessert on the menu too! Have a big family coming in or an event coming up? Enjoy our family meal options and our beautiful seafood tables. As we continue to grow, we are excited to add new items to the menu, get creative with new recipes, and give back within the community. Join us on the first Tuesday of the month for $20 platter specials, and $5 appetizers on every Wild Wednesday! Open Tuesday thru Saturday 4pm-10pm, currently located in the 24:1 Coffee House Cafe.

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The fast-fresh, made-to-order concept has been applied to everything from pizza to pasta in St. Louis, but the sushi burrito surprisingly had no Gateway City home until BLK MKT Eats opened near Saint Louis University last fall. It was worth the wait, though, because BLK MKT Eats combines bold flavors and convenience into a perfectly wrapped package that’s ideal for those in a rush. Cousins and co-owners Kati Fahrney and Ron Turigliatto offer a casual menu full of high-quality, all-natural ingredients that fit everything you love about sushi and burritos right in your hand. The Swedish Fish layers Scandinavian cured salmon, yuzu dill slaw, NOT YOURAnother AVERAGE Persian cucumbers and avocado for a fresh flavor explosion. favorite, the OGSUSHI Fire, featuresSPOT your choice 9 SOUTH VANDEVENTER DINE-IN, jalapeño TAKEOUT and OR DELIVERY MON-SAT 11AM-9PM of spicy tuna or salmon alongside tempura crunch, masago, shallots, piquant namesake sauce; Persian cucumbers and avocado soothe your tongue from the sauce’s kick. All burrito rolls come with sticky rice wrapped in nori or can be made into poké bowls, and all items can be modified for vegetarians.

FILM

[REVIEW]

Arrhythmia The Rhythm Section lacks believability and intelligence Written by

MARYANN JOHANSON The Rhythm Section Directed by Reed Morano. Written by Mark Burnell. Starring Blake Lively, Jude Law, Sterling K. Brown and Raza Jaffrey. Now showing.

he Rhythm Section is a movie ostensibly about a grief so devastating, so soul-shattering, that it prompts its protagonist to undergo not one but two radical, life-altering personal paradigm shifts in the course of a few years, the sort of realignment after which one barely recognizes oneself. Surely, then, this is a film with a profound understanding of human relationships, of how we support one another and what we mean to one another and how slogging through this mortal existence is rendered meaningful because of whom we know and whom we love, and how ruinous it is when that’s all snatched away so cruelly. LOL. Not a chance. There isn’t a single human interaction in this disaster of a thriller that rings true. Not even the exploitive, baldly transactional ones that are all about exchanging money for a pretense of human interaction. Welcome to the January cinematic dumping ground. Poor Blake Lively: She does her best as Stephanie Patrick, a former top-of-her-class Oxford University student turned (checks notes) crack-smoking prostitute turned (checks notes) freelance intelligence operative/assassin. Even her fake British accent is, if not perfect, a little better than what usually happens when most American actors make such an effort. If The Rhythm Section appears to be an attempt for the actress to de-glam herself and get down and dirty — in that time-honored way that seems to be, sadly, the only way in which beautiful women can be taken seriously as actors — well, that’s more of an

Blake Lively plays a student-turned-prostitute-turned-assassin in The Rhythm Section. | JOSE HARO (C) EON PRODUCTIONS LIMITED indictment of Hollywood than it is any poor reflection on Li ely. She deserves to be taken seriously. But this ain’t gonna do it. The ham fisted script by Mar Burnell, based on his no el, is the first of four (so far) about Stephanie Patrick, which goes to show yet again that novelists should not adapt their own books. (Or else the book itself is shit. I haven’t read it. But both things could be true.) We’re supposed to belie e that the first of Patrick’s shifts — from elite student to crack-smoking prostitute — happens in the wake of her entire family (parents and siblings) being killed in a plane crash, perhaps compounded by the guilt that she was also supposed to be on that flight. cept she apparently also did not care enough about her family to prevent her blowing them off at the very last minute, while they were expecting her to meet them at the airport? One of these things is not like the other. his is but the first of many mysterious — nay, bizarre — instances of glossing over character motivations that you’d think were really vital and essential to understanding and empathizing with Patrick, and with any of the other “people” appearing onscreen. What the heck is driving Raza Jaffrey’s journalist, who decides to approach Patrick, now a sex worker, about the story he’s investigating, that that plane crash

If The Rhythm Section appears to be an attempt for the actress to de-glam herself and get down and dirty, well, that’s more of an indictment of Hollywood than it is a poor reflection on Blake Lively. wasn’t an accident but was, in fact, an act of terrorism that has been covered up at the highest levels? (What is the point of that, except to kickstart the plot?) What the hell is dri ing ude Law’s e MI agent (the journalist’s inside source) when he decides, seemingly randomly, and without any prompting on the part of anyone, to transform the waif who shows up on his doorstep in rural Scotland (Patrick, in case that’s not clear, and

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what with all of the absurdities of this movie, that’s not at all a given) into a kickass secret agent who can hunt down the perpetrators of that terror incident? Who can say? Certainly not this movie. The Rhythm Section — the title refers to something-something about one’s heartbeat being the drums and one’s breathing being the bass, or maybe it’s the other way around, and ya gotta learn to control ’em in order to become an e cient illing machine — is like a badly degraded Xerox of a spy thriller from the sub-genre of “Let’s Turn The Girl Urchin Into a Spy.” (There’s a reason why the phrase La Femme Nikita kept dancing through my brain during this movie, and it’s not only because Lively here looks so much like Bridget Fonda in the pale 1993 Hollywood remake of Nikita, Point of No Return.) Cinematographer turned director eed Morano, with her third feature, certainly has feminist chops. She’s produced and directed a few episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale and will be directing and producing all of Amazon’s upcoming series based on Naomi Alderman’s, er, electrifyingly feminist book The Power. But the only thing remotely feminist about this movie is Lively’s wardrobe, which mostly refrains from casting her as a fetish object. That’s nowhere near enough to make this worth anyone’s time. n

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THIS WEEK THE GROVE SELECTED HAPPENINGS

Day or night, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always something going on in The Grove: live bands, great food, beer tastings, shopping events, and so much more. Visit thegrovestl.com for a whole lot more of what makes this neighborhood great.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5

VARIETY NIGHT FT. AHNA SCHOENHOFF

BOB'S BIRTHDAY BASH - ROYAL REGGAE THURSDAY $7, 8 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

8:30 PM AT THE GRAMOPHONE

PLAYERS LEAGUE

4 HANDS BREWING CO.

$6, 8:15 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

FRESH PRODUCE BEAT BATTLE 02.05.20

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7

9 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

CHICAGO FARMER & THE FIELDNOTES AT THE BOOTLEG

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6

$12, 8 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

thur feb 6 bob marleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birthday bash

w/ Smokin lion and the driftaways plus ranking spence

Fri Feb 7 chicago farmer w/ special guests TBA

Sun Feb 9 PIP THE PANSY w/ KID SCIENTIST

Sat Feb 15 Missouri Muses:

A Celebration of MO Women in Rock Featuring: Aina Cook, The Burney Sisters, Molly Healey

FRI FEB 21 6th Annual DRE DAY

DJ Mahf & VThom (The Method)

SAT FEB 22 Post Parade Party w/ Funky Butt Brass Band

FRONTRUNNER: THE IMPROVISED POLITICAL DEBATE

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9

PARTY FUNDRAISER

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14

VALLOWEEN ART SHOW

7 PM AT THE READY ROOM

8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

4 PM AT HANDLEBAR

IMPROV SHOP OPEN MICROPHONE

BAD ROMANCE: A VALENTINE'S DAY SHOW OF LOVE & REVENGE

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8

PIP THE PANSY W/ KID SCIENTIST

8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

$5, 7 PM AT ATTITUDES NIGHT CLUB

$10, 7 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13

UNRAVEL: A DECONSTRUCTION

CHICK FLICK TRIVIA

$10, 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

7 PM AT TROPICAL LIQUEURS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15

HAROLD NIGHT

SATURDAY BLUEGRASS SESSIONS

$8, 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

1 PM AT GEZELLIG TAPHOUSE

SH*TSHOW | SKETCH COMEDY - ST. LOUIS 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

VIDEO DJ UPTOWN 10 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

OPEN MIC NIGHT 8 PM AT HANDLEBAR

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10

BEATS FOR BERNIE: A MOMO DANCE

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RRI IVVEERRF FRROONNT T T TI IMMEESS 2253

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

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CAFE

Right on ’Cue Knockout BBQ distinguishes itself in a city where great barbecue abounds Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Knockout BBQ 350 South Grand Boulevard, 314-300-2944. Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sat. 5-10 p.m., Sun. 5-9 p.m.

f you casually stroll down South Grand and catch the aroma of smoke wafting from the back of Rooster, you might think a new barbecue restaurant has opened up nearby. In some ways, that’s true. Last October, restaurateurs Dave and Kara Bailey converted the back part of their beloved brunch spot into a barbecue joint, complete with a bold red, orange and yellow sign, a menu of smokehouse staples and a line of sauces that represents a wide swath of barbecue styles. Lest you think the Baileys have suddenly jumped on the barbecue bandwagon, however, you’d be mistaken. Though Knockout BBQ has only been around for four months, the pair have been working on their barbecue craft for much longer than that — eight years if you count the smoked burger and pulled pork they served when Bailey’s Range opened in 2011. Though not a smokehouse, Range offered a e his first real opportunity to play around with barbecue, one of the many restaurant concepts the prolific restaurateur has had in his mind for as long as he can remember. However, the Baileys’ barbecue work began in earnest about fi e years ago when they opened Rooster on South Grand. With its large footprint, the space became not just a restaurant, but the commissary for their other restaurants (Range, Small Batch, Pop, Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar) and catering company. As part of the buildout, they installed a smoker and went all-in on barbecue, developing rubs, perfecting cooking times and concocting sauces and sides that they offered as an option for their catering and

Pictured from left to right, top to botom: loaded pulled pork sandwich, jalapeño-blueberry cornbread, mac ‘n’ cheese, slaw, pit beans, deviled eggs, a meat combo, Texas Twinkie, roasted green beans and tomatoes, and the egg and mustard potato salad. | MABEL SUEN events business. The ’cue was a hit, and it confirmed for them their long held desire to do a full-on barbecue restaurant. They had a venue in mind — the old National Cash Register Company Sales and Repair Building, a historic property on Olive Street — but the buildout would take some time to complete. In the meantime, the Baileys wanted to offer their barbecue to the public right away and felt that the underutilized space inside the South Grand Rooster would be the perfect place to do that. The Baileys did not fundamentally alter the Rooster building, but instead converted the back part of the restaurant and enclosed patio into a distinct space. Knockout BBQ has its own identity in the form of bold red, orange and yellow branding, warm orange paint and a three-part mural that says “BBQ” hung on a dark gray metal wall. Simple but sleek wooden tables provide seating inside the restaurant; on the patio, wooden picnic tables give off a rustic barbecue joint feel. Knockout may not yet be locat-

ed in the National Cash Register, or NCR. building (a location will open there in the future), but it takes a good deal of inspiration from the historic property. The dining room is decorated with old black-and-white photographs of local businesses, each one featuring an NCR cash register. Even more referential is the name itself. “Knockout” is a nod to the shady business practices of the former head of the NCR, who used hired guns called his “Knockout Squad” or “Knockout Department” to intimidate his competitors. The Baileys needn’t rely on such tactics to ensure Knockout BBQ’s success — the food does that for them. Drawing inspiration from multiple barbecue styles, the restaurant seems to be less married to producing the quintessential form of a particular genre and instead is having fun playing around with fla ors. ou see this in the Texas Twinkie, a playful appetizer consisting of a poblano pepper stuffed with brisket-laden cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. Though it sounds like a gratuitous mess, the dish is actually a

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well-executed balance of salt, fat, smoke and spice that sets the tone for what is at times a whimsical exploration of barbecue. The breading on the fried green tomatoes was thicker than what I’m used to — the cornmealbased black-peppery coating is as crunchy as what you get on chicken fried steak. It did not overtake the tart tomatoes, however, and instead offered intense crunch and seasoning. The bacon-ranch dipping sauce that accompanied the dish did not taste like either, but I’m not complaining. The sauce is like a rich, garlicky aïoli that was so fla orful, I found myself dunking scraps of breading into it when I ran out of tomatoes. That delectable breading foreshadowed Knockout BBQ’s outrageously wonderful cornbread. Served in a small, square castiron s illet, the fluffy cornbread is studded with green chiles, baked and then drizzled with honey butter so that the sweetness mitigates the peppers’ heat. It’s fiery, but the nutty bread and rich butter sauce are so comforting, you don’t mind

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KNOCKOUT BBQ Continued from pg 25

the sting. Smoked whole wings have a black-pepper and thyme-forward rub that clings to their sticky skin. Underneath this thin layer, the juicy meat is so tender it slides right off the bone. You don’t feel it on the first few bites, but there is a cumulative spiciness from the rub that sneaks up on you, a backof-the throat heat that is tempered with a side of zesty Alabama white dipping sauce. The smoke on the wings — Missouri hickory — is there, but it’s just a whisper. In fact, all of Knockout BBQ’s meats lean to this subtle smoke style. Like the wings, the chicken is a standout, rubbed with sage, thyme and pepper that infuses the meat with intense, saory fla or. hat it’s smo ed so that the meat is impossibly juicy and pulled to order, however, are the keys to its success. The pulled pork is just as succulent. Here, the seasoning is much subtler, allowing for the meat’s fla or to shine through. I appreciated how rustically the pork was pulled apart; the plump, fat-laden pieces of meat were the size of rib bones. Knockout BBQ’s fatty brisket (is there another kind?) is fall-apart tender like Texas-style brisket, but it deviates from the form in that it does not have the characteristic intense, black-peppery bark around the exterior. Purists may miss that, but this die-hard Texas brisket fan appreciated the different approach that allows for simple, beefy enjoyment. As much as I enjoyed the brisket, my favorite dish at Knockout is its burnt ends. Here, a thick, blackpeppery rub completely encrusts the hunks of fatty beef. The meat is lightly tossed in a slightly sweet sauce that mingles with the rendered fat, forming a spicy glaze that turns these beautiful nuggets into mildly spicy meat candy. They are intensely decadent but so wonderful you can’t help but devour an entire order. Ribs are offered in two styles. There’s a classic smoked style that has the right amount of chew and pull to them, the meat rubbed with a warm spice blend that enhances, but does not cover, their sweet por fla or. If these are meant to be subtle, the smoked and fried Trashed Ribs are meant to hammer you with more heat and a touch of sweetness. Both are worthy offerings, but Knockout BBQ’s best pork dish is its pork steak, a thick slab of meat slathered with

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

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Trashed ribs are smoked, sliced, seasoned, fried and sauced with Texas-style sauce. | MABEL SUEN a sneakily hot glaze. The spice isn’t overly powerful, but there is enough of it to cut through the fatty pork, balancing out the dish. Of Knockout BBQ’s sandwiches, the Cuban stands out with its smoky ham and pulled pork, pressed together onto crusty Cuban-style bread with tangy Swiss cheese, pickles and beer mustard that brighten the meat’s fla ors. The Red Bird features the restaurants wonderful pulled chicken, here presented as a loaded grilled cheese with fontina, cheddar, tomatoes and sweet pickles on Texas toast. It’s a fla orful sandwich, but without adding sauce, it’s a bit dry. Instead of offering a simple smashed burger, Knockout BBQ’s version features two smashed patties on a butter-griddled hoagie roll, topped with a rustic tomato and lettuce slaw that evokes a gyro garnish. Rich pub cheese is drizzled over the patties, soaking into every nook and cranny. It mingles with the zesty Knockout Sauce to form a decadent, gooey glaze. Sides are expected, but for the most part done well, including tangy pit beans, rustic-chopped slaw and skin-on, smashed potatoes smothered in peppery chicken gravy. Collards lean to the sweet but are balanced with large pieces of savory smoked pork — my favorite side dish by far. There were a few missteps along the way. On both visits, Knockout’s smoked turkey was extraordinarily dry; even a generous smother of

sauce did not help matters. I also found the smoked fried chicken to be overwhelmed by an overlyseasoned and thick batter. The accompanying Alabama white sauce mitigated the heavy seasoning, but the herb-forward coating was still overpowering. Mac ‘n’ cheese, however, could have benefited from some e tra est. he velvety texture was spot-on, and I appreciated the contrast provided by the bread crumb topping, but the cheese sauce itself was bland. Once the KO Cobbler hits the table, all memories of anything less than perfect quickly fade away as the scent of dark fruits and lemon-scented biscuits envelope you. Served in a small cast-iron skillet, the crumbly crust is like a toasty lemon blanket atop tart blackberries and blueberries. The best part are the outer edges, which are like little crusts of berry-kissed shortbread. It’s pure, sweet comfort. That cobbler evokes honest, easy joy much like Knockout BBQ itself. By taking a tack that’s less about rigid, genre defining ’cue in favor of a playful approach that celebrates the beauty of barbecue in general, the Baileys have distinguished themselves in a city where great barbecue options abound — no Knockout Squads required.

Knockout BBQ Texas Twinkie ............................................. $6 Burnt ends ................................................ $16 Four-meat combo platter.......................... $21

SHORT ORDERS

[SIDE DISH]

Cooking Connects Tiny Chef With Her Roots Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

elanie Meyer realized early on in her cooking career the power that food has to make people’s lives a little more joyful. Even in a humble hospital cafeteria, she couldn’t help but see herself as an ambassador of joy — and her customers took notice. “ ne of my first obs was wor ing overnights in a hospital cafe,” Meyer recalls. “I was just a kid, but all of the nurses and staff knew to come to me. I figured, ey, these people are working overnights too, so I’m going to hook them up!’ They would all tell each other to get their food from me because I took care of them. What I learned is that the one underlying thing about food is it can bring people together. The love just grew from there.” These days, Meyer is showing that love as half of Party Bear Pizza and Tiny Chef (4701 Morganford Road), the combination pizza-joint-Korean-spot inside the Silver Ballroom. Tasting Meyer’s wonderful cooking, you’d think she’d been making Korean food her entire life, but as she explains, it’s a culinary style she came to as an adult after beginning to explore her identity. “I was adopted [from South Korea] as a baby and grew up in rural Missouri, surrounded by predominantly white people,” Meyer explains. “I’d get bullied a lot for being different; when I was a kid I hated the fact that I was different. I wanted to fit in and be that girl with the blond hair and blue eyes, but instead, people made fun of me. I never embraced my culture.”

Melanie Meyer is chef-owner of Tiny Chef inside the Silver Ballroom. | ANDY PAULISSEN That would change when Meyer discovered a Facebook group for Korean-American adoptees. There, she found a community of people who had experiences similar to hers, and she was struck by the shared identity issues they had growing up in predominantly white neighborhoods. As she began connecting with people through the group — some of whom had traveled to South Korea to find out more about themselves — she felt the pull to dive in and learn about Korean history and culture. As it had throughout her life, food captured her, and a lightbulb went off. “When I started learning about my roots and my culture and where I came from, I realized something,” Meyer says. “It made sense, li e, his is why I lo e this.’ I’ve always loved spice and pickles and fermented foods and pork. It all made sense.” By the time she started her exploration of Korean cuisine, Meyer was already a proficient coo and had spent most of her working life in kitchens. This background gave her tools to di e headfirst into learning how to prepare Korean specialties, and the more she got

into it, the more she felt like important aspects of her life were coming together. Meyer dreamed that, one day, she would be able to have her own Korean restaurant, and she even tried her hand at catering. owe er, it wasn’t until an opportunity at the Silver Ballroom presented itself that she decided to go for it in earnest — with a little prodding from her partner in life and in business, Chris Ward. “Chris and I were in a pinball league at the Silver Ballroom, and another business was running the kitchen,” Meyer recalls. “They left and it was acant, so we figured we should jump on it. Chris wanted to do pi a, and at first I told him we should go with that and that I would support him, but he was adamant that I should create my own food. I realized that it was now or never. I could either keep working for other people and produce their food or see if people li e mine. I figured, hy not ’ eryone should try to follow their dreams in life.” Meyer and Ward decided to team up and combine their concepts into Party Bear Pizza and Tiny Chef, a food counter that would serve

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the food that they both best liked to make. Last April, they opened their window to the public, an experience that Meyer admits was completely nerve-wracking. “I was terrified,” Meyer says. “I even had a job lined up if we failed. I didn’t ha e full confidence, but we sold out the first wee , and it was a ma or confidence boost to keep going. The same happened the next week, and after that I started doing specials that were warmly recei ed. I felt li e, , this is great. I’m doing this.’ It was so surprising.” Now, almost a year later and with a legion of loyal followers, Meyer feels as if she has hit her stride while learning something new every day. The more she learns, the more she feels connected to her heritage, which is the reason she takes the time to make everything from scratch — even the ingredients that are readily available premade, like tteokbokki, the Korean rice dumplings. “People ask why I go through all of this work, but I feel like I am learning about myself when I make things from scratch,” Meyer says. “Now I’m so proud of being

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TINY CHEF

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Korean and my culture. I still put my own spin on the food, but I respect the tradition and the history. I’m having so much fun and want to keep learning and doing as much as I can.” Meyer recently took a break from the restaurant to share her thoughts on the St. Louis restaurant scene, her not-so-secret dance talent and why she’d use her superpowers to feed the world. What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did? I’m self-taught! I don’t have an omma or halmoni I can refer to for family recipes, so I’m creating my own through research and practice. While I’m prepping, I love having street-food videos playing in the background. If anything sparks interest, I’ll pause and mentally take notes. I also remember every recipe for every special I do by memory. What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you? Walks and playtime with my dog, Molly. She’s the longest relationship I have ever had, and she’s my baby! If you could have any superpower, what would it be? So, Japan has this superhero named npanman. e was created by bakers and is a man with a giant red bean bun for a head. e li es in the ba ery with his creators and his dog, Cheese. is main superpower is literally breaking off pieces of his head so he can feed the hungry. When his head is depleted, he just has a new head baked for him. It’s incredible! I’m always trying to feed everyone I’m around, so I can relate most to Anpanman. I would just love to feed all the hungry people, everywhere and all the time. Everyone needs to eat. What is the most positive thing in food, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the past year? St. Louis and its food, to me, is a giant celebration of cultures and their histories. In south city, I lo e that you can find an ama ing Asian grocer and just down the street, Latin and African grocers close by. I love that you can get a dish and learn about the history of it from the creators. There’s a passion here for food that I’ve found hard to find elsewhere, and I am so proud and honored to be a part of it. Since opening my own place, I have received a lot of love

from local restaurant owners as well. I love that we all have a passion for supporting one another. What is something missing in the local food, wine or cocktail scene that you’d like to see? More food shelters or pantries for those who need it for themselves and their families. Again, everyone has to eat! Who is your St. Louis food crush? Well, of course, my partner Chris Ward will always be my number-one crush. However (sorry Chris), I have been going to ruc Lam for the past fifteen years, and the women that run and cook there are always on point with fla or and uality and they’re incredibly kind and beautiful. They have been my crush for a very long time. Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene? h, this is a doo y of a uestion. There are so many amazing and talented people working in the industry right now, so it’s impossible to narrow it down to just one. Nick Bognar and his staff at Indo have been getting so much deserved attention. The food there is like a beautiful dance in your

mouth. Ben Welch of the Midwestern has my favorite pastrami in the world. Casey Jovick of Jovick Brothers [Spice Blends and Spice Rubs] is doing amazing things with spices and dry rubs. Eugene Kolb is super inspiring and has natural talent and drive that you can’t teach. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality? This is hard, but I think rice. Rice needs time to grow. A single grain may seem small, but after time, it can be the main part of a dish while still lifting and supporting those that surround it. If you weren’t working in the restaurant business, what would you be doing? I would still be doing something to express myself artistically. I’ve been in multiple local bands and also used to tap dance! I still will occasionally bang on a drum kit and break out the tap shoes. Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant. Well, I know Chris and I are both owners, but you will never see ranch on my side of the menu. idden Valley should have remained hidden. I realize it’s a lot of people’s go-to dipping sauce, but once

you cover something in ranch, it just tastes like ranch. It doesn’t lift fla ors it co ers them. What is your after-work hangout? I will either go straight home to my dog or sometimes to the gym. I don’t have much of a social life anymore. Also saying I sometimes go to the gym is a good reminder that I need to go to the gym. What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure? Instant noodles! But the ones you can only find at an sian market — not that Top Ramen stuff. I don’t cook big meals for myself, and they are my favorite alone meal. I e en ha e a specific ramen pot designed only for noodles. You’d be surprised at how many different amazing instant noodles there are. If you need any recommendations, come see me. What would be your last meal on Earth? Whatever it may be, may anyone’s last meal be surrounded by the people they love. People are also a key ingredient to a great meal. For me, it would be at a local Korean barbecue place with my partner and friends, complete with plenty of soju! n

[FOOD NEWS]

Zenwich to Open in the CWE This Spring Written by

LIZ MILLER

hai Ploentham has already made his mark on our local culinary scene with his sushi hotspot the Blue Ocean (6335 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-726-6477) — and now he’s ready to introduce a new culinary concept to St. Louis. This spring, Ploentham will debut Zenwich (8 1/2 South Euclid Avenue), a ramen and sandwich shop, in the Central West End, as first reported by Sauce Magazine. Located in the space formerly occupied by Taze Mediterranean Street Food, Zenwich will serve a sandwich menu similar to the flagship in Elmhurst, Illinois, which Ploentham purchased last year. (The concept has been in business in the Chicago area for almost a decade.) In addition to a selection of Asian-inspired sandwiches and wraps, the fast-casual spot will also serve a selection of ramen, something not currently offered at the other outpost. “When my friends come to Chicago and visit [Zenwich], they’ve all said, ‘It’s so

Zenwich will specialize in gourmet Asian-inspired sandwiches and ramen. | COURTESY CHAI PLOENTHAM good; you have to bring this to St. Louis. It would do so well; nobody is doing this there,’” Ploentham says. “It’s different flavors on sandwiches — it’s not just sliced ham. It’s house-marinated meat, and all of our sauces are made in house. The menu is really small — we only have six items — and all of them can be totally vegetarian or in a gluten-free quinoa-rice wrap.” In addition to sandwiches and wraps packed with fillings such as Thai barbecue pork, Korean cheesesteak and spicy garlic shrimp, Zenwich will offer a small menu of ramen, a specialty at Ploentham’s Blue Ocean. He hopes to soon add ramen to the menu at his Chicago spot as well. “At Blue Ocean we serve a lot of ramen — almost every day we sell [tons of] bowls of the spicy beef ramen,” Ploentham says.

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“We use noodles made from Missouri rice, and people love it. And nobody does much ramen in the Central West End yet, so I’m thinking if I can add ramen to the sandwich shop, that would [work well].” To complement the eats on offer, the shop will also serve beer and wine. “We’re going to have a lot of fun beer,” Ploentham adds with a laugh before adding that Blue Ocean debuted a new cocktail menu last week. Ploentham says he’s targeting a spring opening for Zenwich — possibly as early as March. In the meantime, you can keep updated on Zenwich’s progress by following its official Facebook page. “Our sandwiches are gourmet,” Ploentham says. “We don’t have a lot of menu items, but each one is high quality.” n

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[FOOD NEWS]

New Hotel, BourbonThemed Concepts for Ballpark Village Written by

Live! by Loews will open in downtown St. Louis on February 26. | COURTESY LIVE! BY LOEWS

LIZ MILLER

he next phase of Ballpark Village expansion will debut on February 26 when Live! by Loews opens in downtown St. Louis at 799 Clark Avenue. The luxury eight-story hotel features 216 rooms and plenty of opportunity to pamper yourself, apparently, with “upscale amenities,” as well as a “sleek minimalistic design and spacious layouts with

floor to ceiling iews of neighboring Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village,” according to a release. In addition to the hotel, Live! by Loews will introduce four new dining and drinking destinations all themed around bourbon: Clark & Bourbon, Bar Bourbon, the Bullock and River Market. Executive chef Matt Lange will lead the kitchens at all four spots, with Geneya Sauro working as general manager.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the revitalization of downtown St. Louis and Ballpark Village and look forward to bringing a new standard of hospitality to the area when we open our doors,” Sauro said in the release. “We look forward to being a destination for the community to gather and be entertained, as well as a soughtafter home base for visitors exploring downtown St. Louis.”

[FOOD NEWS]

After 11 Years, Steve’s Hot Dogs & Burgers Has Closed Written by

LIZ MILLER

ne of our favorite local spots closed up shop for good last weekend. On January 26, Steve Ewing, owner of Steve’s Hot Dogs & Burgers (3457 Magnolia Avenue, 314-7629899), announced that his namesake business would be closing after service on Saturday, February 1. Well before opening Steve’s, Ewing was well known around town for his work with rock band the Urge. As he told the Riverfront Times a few years back, he first got the idea to open his hot-dog joint more than a decade ago after a show with his band. “We’d finish playing a show and I would turn to my guitar player and ask him, ‘Why are we not feeding people here?’” Ewing told the RFT in 2017. “We’d be in a bar, the show would let out and all of these people would be looking for something to eat. They’d end up at

Steve Ewing of Steve’s Hot Dogs. | SARA BANNOURA White Castle or some place like that, and I couldn’t help but think that if there was something to eat here, they’d eat it.” Ewing started small, first opening a hot-dog cart outside of a soap factory in north St. Louis. Bolstered by its success, however, he added more gourmet dogs and began vending at local festivals. In 2011 he decided to take the leap and open a brick-and-mortar location on the Hill. In 2015, Ewing expanded again, this time with a second brick-and-mortar location connected to Tick Tock Tavern in Tower Grove East.

Last September, though, Ewing shuttered the flagship location on the Hill and announced he was expanding hours at the Tower Grove spot. In his announcement last week about the Tower Grove closing, Ewing said that “we tried to stay nimble by offering delivery and implementing a number of creative promotions, but in the end, we couldn’t find a way to make the business sustainable.” Patrons and longtime customers celebrated the shop on February 1 with a farewell “blowout” party, including live music by Steve Ewing and the Dead Roses. n

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To learn a little more about the mostly bourbon-focused concepts opening soon at Live! by Loews, we now turn to the concept descriptions as outlined in the release: Clark & Bourbon: “Downtown’s only classic steakhouse will feature an exposed kitchen, a variety of high-end cuts of meat, delectable sides and a mixology prep lab in the bar where chefs and mixologists work side by side. The centerpiece will be the Bourbon Room, also available for private dining, which will offer an extensive selection of bourbons, both mainstream and rare finds.” Bar Bourbon: “Referred to as the hotel’s li ing room,’ Bar Bourbon will be a stylish central gathering place and double as an exclusi e aging room filled with a ast bourbon selection and pre-batch barrels. Located in the center of the open concept lobby, Bar Bourbon will feature communal seating, a dramatic fireplace and an indoor and outdoor bar space, with a patio facing Busch Stadium.” The Bullock: “Perched on the second floor terrace, the Bulloc will be an indoor and outdoor bar and lounge that overlooks all the action of Cardinal Nation, Ballpark Village and Busch Stadium. The prime space, also available for private celebrations, will serve a mix of handcrafted cocktails and classic American cuisine.” River Market: “Grab-and-go experiences will be convenient and easy at River Market, an organic bistro experience featuring handcrafted coffees, fresh juices, sandwiches, salads, pastries and St. Louis local retail offerings.” Live! by Loews is a joint venture between Loews otels o., he Cordish Companies and the St. Louis Cardinals. n

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FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

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MUSIC + CULTURE

[HOMESPUN]

For the Record Niche local labels Distant Bloom and It Takes Time create space for musicians whose work is off the beaten path Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

n a recent Monday night, Fitz Hartwig packed his tiny Korg synthesizer into his backpack, got onto his bike and pedaled in the January cold from his Tower Grove South home to the Carondolet venue the Sinkhole. After performing an instrumental ambient set as Oxherding, he didn’t even walk away with a cut of the door proceeds; since he had booked the show, he passed the money along to the other bands and back to the venue itself. After that, he got back on his bike and headed home in the ten-degree evening. Perhaps that’s all in a day’s work for an experimental musician, but it speaks to Hartwig’s vision both as an artist and as the head of local label Distant Bloom. His imprint focuses on largely amorphous, electronically generated compositions; the physical releases are limited to between 50 and 100 copies of cassette tapes, and all releases live online at the label’s Bandcamp site. “Cassettes are really big in a lot of underground music these days,” Hartwig says. “A lot of people see it as bullshit retro hipster kitsch, and that’s a valid point of view. But tapes are cheap, they’re analog, and for the kind of music I put out, the slightly mu ed, washed-out sound you get from a cassette tape works perfectly; it gives it this dreaminess.” Hartwig notes that the genre his label specializes in is notoriously hard to classify: “‘Experimental’ is a loaded term in that it can connote such a broad spectrum of things,” he says. “So far, the label focuses

Fitz Hartwig (pictured left) releases his output as Oxherding on his own label, Distant Bloom, while St. Louis’ Frankie Valet will see its latest released by the St. Louis arm of It Takes Time. | VIA THE ARTISTS on spacious experimental music. It’s a little hard to pin down what it is, exactly, that I’m looking for. A lot of what we’ve put out so far could be called ambient, though that’s another loaded term.” If words fail him, Hartwig goes for a feeling — something almost spiritual, he says, that speaks to him in the music. That guidepost has led Distant Bloom to issue algorithmic sequences by local programmer Bret Schneider and delicate, slowly blossoming modular synth excursions from Denverbased artist Ann Annie. Hartwig’s own Oxherding project has just released a new tape, comprising two “sides” of music between ten and fifteen minutes each, and he has a slate of new releases for 2020, both from St. Louis and abroad. “This [experimental music] community can feel overwhelmingly homogenous with bearded white dudes, and it’s a goal of mine to expand that,” Hartwig says. To that end, forthcoming releases from the label will highlight works of acts like the U.K.-based soundtrack artist Norah Lorway and a collaboration between St. Louis artists JoAnn McNeil and Michael Williams. “There are a ton of really talented people in this field who are not white and not male and are doing really great work, and I want to be part of supporting that,” Hartwig says. Distant Bloom is not a local la-

bel, purely speaking — about half of Hartwig’s current roster is composed of Missouri residents — but he proudly reps the talents and work ethic of his fellow St. Louisans. “It might sound weird to say, but I’m super influenced by anyone who is doing music here in St. Louis and hasn’t taken off for the coasts,” Hartwig says. “It’s super inspiring to see people who have stayed here, grinding away at a super small scene when they might be talented enough to go somewhere else and do their thing.” To that end, Hartwig can recognize the grit it takes Mickey Yacyshyn to hold down the St. Louis arm of It Takes Time records. Founded by Jordan Weinstein, who now resides in Brooklyn and is still involved with the imprint, It Takes Times specializes in hazy, lo fi bedroom pop. Local acts Ronnie Rogers and Jaques Limon have released albums through the label; like Distant Bloom, cassettes and digital-only releases are the norm. But, in a first for It a es Time, local quartet Frankie Valet is releasing its next album, Waterfowl, on vinyl this month. “It’s a very expensive hobby,” Yacyshyn, who uses they/them pronouns, says with a laugh. Still, they recognize the ability of the label to elevate smaller, scene-less acts. “I think in terms of the conversation about accessibility in the music community, some people don’t

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know where to start. Doing super limited presses helps bands that wouldn’t have merch in any way.” Any label-head working and releasing physical products in 2020 must have the zeal of a true believer, and in conversation Yacyshyn doesn’t try to contain their enthusiasm for the music the label releases. “I think for us, we just put stuff out that we’re really, really passionate about,” Yacyshyn says. “That passion, no matter what the art is, is important to help art be heard. We’re really emphatic people and we’ve had luck making connections in and out of St. Louis.” Like Distant Bloom, a good number of It Takes Time’s roster comes from outside the area, including the U.K.-based Trust Fund and Boston’s Squirrel Flower, which recently released an album on respected indie label Polyvinyl Records. The forthcoming Frankie Valet release marks the 24th project that It Takes Time has issued, and the vinyl edition, coupled with the band’s forthcoming tour, marks a new level of visibility for the label. “We’ve seen them put in insane amounts of work,” Yacyshyn says of the band. “They just are exactly what I see and love about this community. They’ve really pushed themselves and grown as musicians — it’s really been emotional to watch.” n

FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

[PROFILE]

Balancing Act St. Louis musician and producer Mad Keys delivers faith, love and ambition on Balance Written by

YMANI WINCE

lone in a secluded section of a St. Louis County park, Brandon McCadney is keeping the beat. Playing his keyboard in freezing temperatures, the artist known as Mad Keys pays little mind to the snow and ice surrounding him. As the beat continues for several minutes, McCadney puts his signature synthesizer pulse onto the instrumental he’s playing. The camera pans out, and McCadney continues. It’s a scene from St. Louis filmmaker Jon Alexander’s “Nature of Sound,” a short documentary showcasing musicians from the local scene in serene settings. Mc adney is featured first in the film, performing li e music in the middle of nature and bringing a balance between the park’s natural beauty and that of his keys. Creating balance is a struggle. And McCadney acknowledges that struggle, most notably with his newly released LP, aptly titled Balance. As he explains it, what was the most exciting time of his life has also brought on new responsibilities. In 2018, McCadney married his love, Chelsea, and has since discovered the importance of maintaining a healthy balance of family and music aspirations. prolific musician, iolinist and producer, McCadney says it’s been a welcome adjustment. “Balance is essentially something I’ve been more so struggling with since I got married,” he says. “But balancing my life from being married to working on music, and working toward these different goals, is something Chelsea and I have been talking about.” And that’s what the project is really about: maintenance. McCadney says he’s learned that regardless of his own ambitious goals for his music, the life he plans to create with his wife is what’s most important. He says that her support is what’s allowed him to push ahead with his creative ventures. “ he way that I’m finding balance is eeping first things first,”

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Mad Keys’ instrumental new album was written in the wake of his 2018 marriage as the artist worked to make time for both his new responsibilities and his art. | ERICA JONES McCadney says. “That’s your health, your spirituality and those around you.” McCadney is revered in St. Louis for his innovative musical pieces, and Balance is nothing if not innovative. The eleven-track offering ticks several boxes in terms of genre signifiers, including jazz, gospel, hip-hop, soul and electronic. Like most artists, McCadney’s music is undoubtedly a reflection of his life. It’s intimate, and taps into the heart and spirit of a man who loves several things: his wife, his family and his music, in that order. While the album is completely instrumental, each trac has a title that reflects the emotions the musician was feeling during its composition. “‘Rejoice’ is about being able to celebrate where you are in life,” he says as an example. “It’s important to be able to celebrate everything we’re doing at this moment, no matter if we’re in a season where our heads are down.” Much of what Balance is about echoes the many reminders from social media and wellness experts about the importance of selfcare. It’s not just lighting candles and drinking wine; it’s checking in with oneself and evaluating what’s most important. McCadney illustrates this. Throughout the LP, soulful storytelling is at play, even without lyrics. It’s a reminder to be kind to ourselves, to keep the faith, remain ambitious and persevere. “Those are the themes that really inspired me,” he says. “Being

able to have balance in all these different moving parts in your life, with family and your creative endeavors, and your friends — it’s all very important. The more intentional you get about how you spend your time, the more intentional you’ll get about how you move.” All told, Balance is a collection of tracks suitable for the commute or some Saturday morning house cleaning, as well as playing softly before bed with a lavenderscented diffuser enticing you to sleep. In short, it’s a beautiful body of work in which to get lost and found. McCadney says his evolution as an artist is something that he’s proud of. Although musically gifted since childhood, he has only been producing for a few years. is first release, LoveWaves, was named one of RFT’s best albums of 2017 (and, notably, features his wife, Chelsea, at the forefront of the cover art). And he’s only grown from there. Since creating his latest album, McCadney says the biggest lesson is that he knows he can never be perfect. It will always be a challenge to make every part of his life fit together, but he’s got some exciting musical opportunities ahead of him, and chooses to focus on how his decisions will affect the people he loves most. “There are those times where it feels like I’m working aimlessly,” he says. “But the beauty of it is that it’s not true. ou ha e to find purpose in all that you do.” n

OUT EVERY NIGHT

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Jade Jackson. | VIA WME AGENCY

Jade Jackson 8 p.m. Thursday, February 6. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $10. 314-773-3363. Given Jade Jackson’s career-launching association with Mike Ness of iconic Southern California band Social Distortion, you’d think she had her sights on punk iconography herself. And while Jackson can rock convincingly, she’s most impressive on last year’s Wilderness when she embraces hardcore twang, a kind of Bakersfield-meetsaching-Americana sensibility that matches her soul-scouring lyrics with glinting

THURSDAY 6

ADAM GAFFNEY: 8:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. BILLY BARNETT BAND: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. BROTHERS LAZAROFF: 8 p.m., $15. Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave, St. Louis. JADE JACKSON: 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. JOE METZKA BAND: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. NASCAR ALOE: 8 p.m., $17. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. SLOW HOLLOWS: 8 p.m., $12-$15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

FRIDAY 7

BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. BRETT YOUNG: w/ Matt Ferranti 8 p.m., $35-$75. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600. CHICAGO FARMER AND THE FIELDNOTES: 8 p.m., $12/$15. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775. GLORIA ATTOUN: 8 p.m., $10-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. GOST: 7 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. GRANGER SMITH: 8 p.m., $20. Ballpark Village,

guitars, spacey pedal steel and melodies that can make you shiver along with her own shivering, rasping voice. While many of the songs were inspired by a devastating accident and just as devastating physical and emotional recovery, Jackson makes every line universal, wise and unforgettable. Hopes and Heroes: When Jackson was thirteen, she went to her first Social Distortion concert on her own. Ness and the band blew her way. Years later she was blowing her punk-rock hero away with her songs and voice. —Roy Kasten

601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, 314-345-9481. JON BONHAM & FRIENDS: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. JULIANA HATFIELD: 8 p.m., $25-$28. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. L.T.H.: w/ Cetaurettes, Bradtholomew, the Open Books, On All Sides 6:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. LARRY GRIFFIN & ERIC MCSPADDEN: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. MARLEYFEST 13: 9 p.m., $20. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE MATCHING SHOE: 10 p.m., $10. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. MINIATURE TIGERS: 8 p.m., $18-$20. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. POST MALONE: w/ Swae Lee, Tyla Yaweh 8 p.m., $50.50-$500.50. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888. ROYAL NOIRE CONCERT: w/ Eldraco, BlvckSpvde, Elle Patterson and the Focus 7 p.m., $5-$10. The Chapel, 6238 Alexander Dr, Clayton. SILVI SILVI: w/ Kangaroo Pocket, Lindsey and the ireflies p.m., . he ea y nchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. TOO MANY ZOOS: w/ Birocratic 8 p.m., $18-$20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

Continued on pg 38

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Bob Marley. | ALBUM ART

Marleyfest 13 8 p.m. Friday, February 7. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Boulevard. $20. 314-726-6161. It is certainly possible to be a rock & roll cover band and not perform the songs of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones; the best interpreters of blues music need not know the complete works of Robert Johnson. But if you’re a reggae band, you’d better have your Bob Marley down pat, from the frat-boy favorites to the Wailers deep cuts. And as St. Louis’ longest-running reggae band, the Murder City Players have internalized and

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 37

SATURDAY 8

120 MINUTES: 9:30 p.m., free. Stagger Inn Again, 104 E. Vandalia, Edwardsville, 618-656-4221. BADFISH: A TRIBUTE TO SUBLIME: w/ Little Stranger 8 p.m., $20-$25. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE BLUE STONES: w/ JJ Wilde 8 p.m., $12-$15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. CHRISTIAN SANDS’ HIGH WIRE TRIO: 8 p.m., $15$40. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. CYCLE OF RUIN: w/ Animated Dead, the Delirium Effect, Emaciation, Despised Mourning 6:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. THE DUST COVERS: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. GENE JACKSON & SOUL REUNION: 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. HARRY NILSSON’S “THE POINT” LIVE: 8 p.m., $15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. THE ILL-MO BOYS: w/ Rum Drum Ramblers 8 p.m., $25. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. MARQUISE KNOX BLUES BAND: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. MIKE ZITO AND FRIENDS: A TRIBUTE TO CHUCK BERRY: w/ Mike Zito and his Big Blues Band, Walter Trout, Robben Ford, Eric Gales, Joanna Connor, Charlie Berry III 8 p.m., $25-$30.

Wednesday Feb. 5 9PM

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Bob Marley Birthday Bash

Thursday Feb. 6 9PM

Mom’s Kitchen

Tribute To Widespread Panic

Friday Feb. 7 10PM

Matching Shoe Saturday Feb. 8 10PM

Grooveliner 5th Anniversary Show

with Special Guests Hazard To Ya Booty

Sunday Feb. 9 8PM

Soul, Pop and Blues Diva Kim Massie Wednesday Feb. 12 9PM

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To Dave Mathews

Thursday Feb 13 9PM

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expanded upon the genre’s biggest legend. Each year’s Marleyfest gives the band a chance to celebrate Marley’s legacy as well as other examplars of the form like Dennis Brown and Peter Tosh. For this year — the thirteenth Marleyfest to date — MCP will be joined by Dubtronix’s Russ Rankin and Al Gibbs from Chicago’s Dub Dis. Reggae Selector: Local record-store impresario, drive-time KDHX DJ and the only man in town to coordinate his own Trojan Records comp Tom “Papa” Ray will be spinning deep dubby cuts from his vast archive between sets. —Christian Schaeffer

Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. OVERHEAD DOG: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300. RICHARD MARX: 8 p.m., $32. Blanche M Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural Bridge Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949. THE RICTERS: w/ Through Burning Eyes ,The Left Hooks, 1781, Ashwood, Pioneer Salesmen 6:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. SKEET RODGERS & INNER CITY BLUES: 4 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. STELIOS PETRAKIS CRETAN QUARTET: 8 p.m., $20. Blanche M Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural Bridge Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949. VOODOO FLEETWOOD MAC: 9 p.m., $12-$15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. WHISKEY & THUNDER: w/ Kill the Creature 8 p.m., free. Red Fish Blue Fish, 7 Hawks Nest Plaza, St Charles, 636-947-4747.

SUNDAY 9

BLUNTMAN10 BENEFIT SHOW: 7:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. BUSHFIRE BENEFIT CONCERT: 2 p.m., $10-$15. Compton Heights Christian Church, 2149 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314-771-5071. GENESIS JAZZ PROJECT FEATURING ROBERT NELSON: 5 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. JILL SCOTT: 7:30 p.m., $46-$196. The Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314-534-1111. LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Jill Scott and a fine-ass Lincoln Continental. | ALBUM ART

Jill Scott 7:30 p.m. Sunday, February 9. The Fox Theatre, 527 North Grand Boulevard. $46-$196. 314-534-1111. When singer/songwriter/actress/certified diva Jill Scott comes to your town, you stand at attention. That’s because Scott has been churning out silky smooth, grown-folks neo-soul ever since she was discovered way back in 2000 by none other than Questlove of the Roots. Back then Scott was performing as a spoken-word artist after becoming disillusioned by her teaching career, and if her spoken-word PIP THE PANSY: w/ Kid Scientist 7 p.m., $10/$12. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775. QUEENSRŸCHE: w/ Eve to Adam 8 p.m., $35$37.50. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. RECESS: A MUSICAL PLAYGROUND: 7 p.m., free. Schlafly ap oom, Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. WINTER JAM TOUR SPECTACULAR 2020: 6 p.m., $15. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St. Charles, 636-896-4200.

MONDAY 10

BEATS FOR BERNIE: A MOMO DANCE PARTY FUNDAISER: 7 p.m., $5-$250. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. ERIC SLAUGHTER PROJECT: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. GHOST LIGHT: 7 p.m., free. Tick Tock Tavern, 3459 Magnolia Ave, St. Louis.

TUESDAY 11

JESSE GANNON & THESE HANDS: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. KY RODGERS: 7 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. SHAKEY GRAVES: 8 p.m., $30. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. VEAUX: w/ Thames, Dear Genre 6:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

WEDNESDAY 12

BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. JOSEPH: 8 p.m., $22-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND: 8 p.m., $30-$35. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St.,

output was remarkable, it was doubly so when paired with a melody. Scott helped pen the Grammy-winning “You Got Me,” performed by the Roots and Erykah Badu, the very same year she was discovered by the band (that’s good looking out, fellas) and made her performing debut with the group shortly after. It’s been nothing but uphill ever since, to the delight of her legions of fans. Dress to Impress: The Fox Theatre is the rare venue that is as beautiful as Scott’s soprano voice. This would be an ideal time to don your finest stepping-out clothes. —Daniel Hill St. Louis, 314-588-0505. SHAKEY GRAVES: 8 p.m., $30. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. TOM HALL: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

UPCOMING

ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO: Fri., Feb. 14, 8 p.m., $45-$60. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. BODYSNATCHER: Tue., Feb. 18, 6:30 p.m., $13. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. FUBAR FAREWELL SHOW: W/ Fister, Ultraman, Slow Damage, the Disappeared, Sat., Feb. 15, 8 p.m., $8. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. HIP-HOP FOR HOUNDS: Sun., Feb. 16, 2:30 p.m., $35-$100. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. LEAGUE 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY: Fri., Feb. 14, 8 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314289-9050. MISSOURI MUSES: A CELEBRATION OF MO WOMEN IN ROCK: W/ Alna, The Burney Sisters, Molly Healey, Sat., Feb. 15, 6 p.m., $10/$13. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775. SLLAW IN SPACE: W/ Bates, Sat., Feb. 15, 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. SLOAN: Sat., Feb. 15, 8 p.m., $22-$25. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. SONGBIRD CAFE: Wed., Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m., $20$25. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. SWITCHBACK ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: Sat., Feb. 15, 8 p.m., $25-$30. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. T.J. MULLER’S VALENTINES DAY SHOW: Fri., Feb. 14, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. n

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FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

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SAVAGE LOVE CAM WHAT MAY BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I started reading your column when I was a twenty-yearold kid. Now I’m an old married lady with twenty years of (more or less) blissful married monogamy behind me. My oldest daughter, who is 23, just came out to me as a sex worker. She’s been making a slim living as a cam girl. She recently graduated with a marketable degree, but she hasn’t been searching for a job in her field because, as she puts it, “It’s hard to want to apply for a minimum-wage job when I make the same working from home.” I’m finding this very hard to process on a number of levels. First, and I hope you will believe most importantly, it’s very hard for me to see her giving up what used to be her dreams. But that’s not the part I think you can help me with. I used to be a sex worker. For three years in the early ’90s, I was a dancer at the Lusty Lady on First Avenue in Seattle. That was before the internet really existed, but I think the job is actually fairly analogous to cam work: nudity and masturbation for the pleasure of others, with no actual physical contact. I found sex work to be corrosive to my personal goals. As a heterosexual woman, I hoped to fall in love with a man and have a family, and for me, the longer I did that type of work, the more impossible those goals seemed. I saw men at their worst 40 hours a week. As time went by, I felt myself withdrawing more and more from the possibility of any kind of affectionate relationship with a man. Quitting for me was an act of self-preservation. I did my best to react nonjudgmentally when my daughter confided in me, but truthfully I’m really unhappy about it. I worry about the effect sex work will have on her future — both her intimate relationships and her professional goals — and while there are people working to reduce the stigma attached to sex work, that stigma still exists. I worry that she will become mired in poverty, barely getting by, and I worry that she will not be able to find loving relationships with men who value her worth.

What do I do, Dan? Do I stand back and love her? Do I try to give her the benefit of my experience, even if that seems shame-y? Is this even any of my business, given that she’s older now than I was when I gave birth to her? The Cam Girl’s Mom Your daughter made this your business when she shared it with you, TCGM. So my advice would be to lean in (not stand back), love your daughter and share your own experiences with her. But the goal shouldn’t be to get your daughter to stop doing sex work — that’s not the “benefit” you’re after but rather to open the lines of communication and keep them open. ooming out for a second ... he ind of se wor you did decades ago at the Lusty Lady was different in important ways. I isited the Lusty Lady a few times in the early ’90s, TCGM, which ma es you one of the few letter writers that I might’ e seen na ed who didn’t enclose photos.) The women who danced at the Lusty Lady were behind Plexiglas walls, men pumped quarters into slots to lift partitions that allowed them to see the women, and there were private booths for solo shows. But while you saw men “at their worst” men can and have done worse), your daughter doesn’t have to look at the men she’s performing for. er clients her fans, if she has a following — aren’t on camera themselves. They may send her messages, and she may interact with them via DM, but she doesn’t have to watch them ac off. nd unli e a performer in a peep show, your daughter can block guys who give her the creeps or who are in any way pushy or disrespectful. But while she doesn’t have to see men leering at her or watch come drip down Plexiglass walls, she does have to worry that someone out there might be recording her sessions and posting them online. nd unli e the Lusty Lady .I. . , the internet is fore er. But the stigma around sex work is decreasing — Elizabeth Warren recently said she’s “open to decriminali ing” se wor a tiny step in the right direction) — and with people of all ages furiously sexting each other, we’re quickly reaching the stage where everyone has nudes out there some-

The stigma of sex work is decreasing, and with people of all ages furiously sexting each other, we’re quickly reaching the stage where everyone has nudes out there somewhere. where. Pretty soon it won’t be in anyone’s interest to punish or harass people whose pics or videos go big or viral because you could be next. Something else to bear in mind: ou worry that doing this ind of sex work — roughly the same kind you did — may make it impossible for your daughter to fall in lo e, create a family, pursue her professional goals or even make a decent li ing. But you fell in lo e, created a family and presumably ma e a good li ing yourself. nd while it’s possible that doing this kind of wor delayed achie ing those goals, TCGM, you weren’t derailed or destroyed by it, and your daughter doesn’t ha e to be either. nd is less likely to be with her mom in her corner. lso, your daughter may not want the same things you did. Not everyone wants one committed, long-term partner, and not e eryone wants ids. nd while you’re understandably distressed that she isn’t doing anything with her degree at the moment, it’s possible your daughter’s ideas about what she wants to do with her life ha e changed since she picked a major. Working as a cam girl may give her the time and space she needs to figure out a new dream for herself. nd as cra y as it sounds to some ... there are women and men out there whose dream job is sex work. Your daughter opened a door when she shared this with you, and there must be a reason she shared it with you. ell, it’s pos-

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sible she may want to be talked out of doing it. So don’t hesitate to share your experiences and perspecti e with her. It’s not shaming to tell her you did this ind of wor and found it dehumani ing and corrosi e. hat’s the truth of your e perience. But after you share your perspective, TCGM, listen to hers with an open mind. nd as all parents of adult children know or soon learn, TCGM, your kid gets to make their own choices and quite possibly their own mista es. nd sometimes what looks like a mistake to a concerned parent turns out to be the right choice for the adult child. Hey, Dan: I am a heterosexual male. My wife has been dating other men for the past year. When she started dating her first boyfriend, she told me she wasn’t ready for me to date other people but would process through it and then we could open up the relationship for me, too. After about six months, her first relationship ended and we both started looking for other partners. She found another guy pretty much right away and it took a few months before I started dating. I had a couple dates with this woman and then kissed her at the end of our second date. When I told my wife what happened, she got jealous and angry. A day later, my wife stole my phone and sent a message to the woman I’d been dating ending our relationship, and then she blocked the woman from my social media accounts and deleted her number from my phone. She broke up with her boyfriend and is insisting that our relationship is closed now. I love my wife, but I feel violated in so many different ways and I’m unsure what to do. Married A Dictator our wife should’ e married a cuckold — a man who wants to remain faithful to a woman who fuc s around on him and dates other men — and you should’ve married a woman who isn’t a controlling, manipulative, unhinged hypocrite. Luc ily for you both, M , a di orce that would allow each of you to find a new partner a cuc for her, a sane person for you is still an option. Listen to Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. @FakeDanSavage on Twitter mail@savagelove.net

FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

riverfronttimes.com

FEBRUARY 5-11, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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