The East Nashvillian 12.1 Jan-Feb 2022

KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR: JACKIE PAUL SIMS

ARTIST IN PROFILE: ANDEE RUDLOFF

JANUARY | FEBRUARY

VOL. XII ISSUE 1

THE 2021 EAST

NASHVILLIANS OF THE YEAR

Adia Victoria GIVES VOICE TO BEING BLACK IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH ON A SOUTHERN GOTHIC

4

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

theeastnashvillian.com

Contributing Writers Founder & Publisher

Lisa McCauley lisa@theeastnashvillian.com

Editor-in-Chief

Chuck Allen editor@theeastnashvillian.com

Jay Dmuchowski James Haggerty Jack Evan Johnson Leslie LaChance Andrew Leahey Chris Mara Tommy Womack

Associate Editor

Creative Director

Chuck Allen Layout & Design

Benjamin Rumble Photo Editor

Travis Commeau Illustrations

Randy Fox

Contributing Photographers

randy@theeastnashvillian.com

Chad Crawford Stacey Irvin Shance Ware

Benjamin Rumble Dean Tomasek Tommy Womack

Advertising sales@theeastnashvillian.com Ad Design Benjamin Rumble Distribution Manager Whit Hubner The East Nashvillian is a bimonthly magazine published by Kitchen Table Media. All editorial content and photographic materials contained herein are “works for hire” and are the exclusive property of Kitchen Table Media, LLC unless otherwise noted. This publication is offered freely, limited to one per reader. The removal of more than one copy by an individual from any of our distribution points constitutes theft and will be subject to prosecution.

Reprints or any other usage without the express written permission of the publisher is a violation of copyright.

©2022 Kitchen Table Media P.O. Box 60157, Nashville, TN 37206

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

5

6

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

Contents

9.

10.

13.

17.

18.

On the Cover Adia Victoria photographed by Shance Ware

Congrats!

24.

34.

45.

47.

50.

Editor’s Letter

By Chuck Allen

Astute Observations

By James “Hags” Haggerty

Matters of Development

By Randy Fox, Jack Evan Johnson

Know Your Neighbor

Jackie Paul Sims

By Randy Fox Artist in Profile:

Andee Rudloff

By Leslie LaChance

The 2021 East Nashvillians of the Year 26. Business: Mimi Gerber/ East Nashville Family Medicine

By Randy Fox

30. Citizen: Jessica Doyle

By Leslie LaChance

Cover Story

Walking With Grace

On A Southern Gothic, Adia Victoria gives voice to being Black in the American South

By Andrew Leahey

Top Five Analog Tape Myths

By Chris Mara

Out East Soundtrack Featuring Keshia Bailey

Curated by Andrew Leahey & Jay Dmuchowski

East of Normal

by Tommy Womack

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

7

8

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

Editor’s

Letter

May Grace Be Our Guide by

G

Chuck

race is the confidence born of humility. Your gifts don't make you special, but they do make you responsible for what you've been given. Certain gifts are more readily commodified than others, no doubt. This is the crux of it, this idea that every man is an island, whose rise or fall is based solely on the choices he makes.

Yet it belies the initial “gift” I was given: being born white. Having grown up during the 1960s and 70s in Jackson, Mississippi, I can assure you my advantage was noticeable.

I don't apologize for the color of my skin any more than I apologize for being a heterosexual male and, as far as I know, no one's ever asked me to. This isn't the point, although there are forces deployed throughout the infotainment universe demanding that it is.

They would also have us believe society and culture exist within a zero-sum game. The idea strikes me as contrary to enlightened self-interest. Why wouldn't I want everyone focused on taking responsibility for the gifts with which they were born — without regard to the color of their skin? If we’re to ever truly come to terms with the shared burden of the welfare state, we must first address the barriers preventing folks from participating fully in economic life.

Without diving into the nuances of the responsibilities our “individual liberty” demands of us, suffice it to say I’m a pragmatist in this regard. I stop at stop signs because it’s in my self-interest to do so. Feel free to extrapolate from that.

Allen

February is Black History Month. I was reminded of this by Joshua Black, the comedian/social media influencer/Metro firefighter/cover feature of our September-October issue. He also suggested Adia Victoria as a possible cover feature. And here we are. It turned into a two-for-one, since during the photoshoot for the cover, Adia’s mom, Jackie Paul Sims, stopped by. We struck up a conversation as I walked Sims to her car and, lo and behold, she’s a community activist!

I asked her on the spot if she’d be so kind as to allow us to feature her in this issue. “Sure,” she said.

Mother and daughter both possess great gifts, and we are blessed because they take responsibility for their gifts. They overcome and shine on.

Hags chimes in with a recognition of what African American music has meant to his life in “Astute Observations.” Without giving too much away, let’s just say it’s been foundational. Womack, on the other hand, grouses about winter in “East of Normal,” but with lines like, “No one over the age of 30 ever gets laid on Monday,” we’ll give him a pass.

Plus we have profiles of this year’s East Nashvillian’s of the Year, awards presented by the Historic East Nashville Merchant’s Association since 2008. You must read on to find out who they are! And don’t miss out on our “Artist in Profile” of muralist Andee Rudloff. She has a beautiful approach to inclusiveness when it comes to creating art.

Other goodies await. We’re proud of this one, and we hope you like it, too. I’ll be seeing you at the 4-way stop.

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

9

Astute Observations

by James “Hags” Haggerty

10

WITHOUT AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC, THERE WOULD BE NO AMERICAN MUSIC lla Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Louis Jordan, Duke Ellington Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dinah Washington, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin, Big Mama Thornton, Sam Cooke, STAX records, James Brown, The Drifters, Funkadelic, Michael Jackson, Bill Withers, Nina Simone, John Lee Hooker, The Spinners, Earth Wind and Fire, Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, The Impressions, The Ink Spots, Curtis Mayfield, The Staple Singers, The Meters, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Muddy Waters, Lena Horne, Etta James, Bo Diddley, Sly And The Family Stone, Bob Marley, Lee Perry, Bunny Livingston, Peter Tosh, Mahalia Jackson, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Quincy Jones, Dionne Warwick, The Isley Brothers, Prince, WAR …

E

I had to stop. This list could go on forever and each artist could fill a column on their own merit. My trusty editor suggested a recognition of Black History Month in this edition of "Astute Observations.” Easy. I venture to say that without African American music, there would be no American music. To put it simply, African American music is American music.

You may have noticed that I didn’t mention any Motown artists on this list, save for Michael Jackson ( Jackson 5). A glaring omission to be sure. This was not a clerical error nor a colossal blunder. I have a reason. The musician that has had the most profound effect on my musical life was a member of the classic Motown Studio band known as the Funk Brothers. His name is James Jamerson, and he was the greatest bass player of all time. His performances at Motown from 1959 through 1970 in Detroit and later in Los Angeles have done more for the way we listen to and experience pop music than any other musician I can think of.

His preternatural grasp of the groove, the melody, his ears, and his ability to make the bass part a song within the song, complementing and enhancing the vocal melody, inexorably changed the way bass is played. Before those Motown records hit the airwaves and became the sound of young America, pop music bass players played non-melodic patterns in support of the basic chords of the song. It served its

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

purpose in occupying the bottom end of a recording and not much else. James Jamerson changed all of that.

As a kid listening to the radio, buying records, and picking up my first bass in the early ’80s, I gravitated to the obvious bass heavyweights: John Entwistle of The Who, Geddy Lee of Rush, and most importantly, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. They formed the trinity of rock bass players for me, if you will. (What can I say, I went to Catholic schools.) I spent countless hours trying to master their parts, placing the needle down, picking it up, back and forth. I had cassettes too, of course. Play, rewind, play over and over. I liked the LP artwork much better. It sparked the imagination.

As I began to dig deeper, reading interviews in rock and musician mags, my heroes kept repeating the same mantra, Jamerson, Motown, Jamerson, Motown.

Of course I was familiar with Motown from oldies radio — and the ubiquitous Big Chill soundtrack — but I wasn’t listening to that music as intently as the rock stuff. Like most folks, I heard the singers and the songs and thought nothing of the players until John Paul Jones told me to listen closer. It was his playing in particular that led me to the maestro.

As I listened and began to hear and understand how Jamerson’s mastery influenced the bass players with whom I was so impressed and enamored, I was hooked on his playing from then on. There would be no “Lemon Song” without “Bernadette”. Listen to Paul McCartney’s melodic bass playing and you will clearly hear Jamerson’s influence.

A Fender bass pioneer in the early 1960s, Jamerson became a studio and ensemble virtuoso. In his own words, “The producer would give me the chord sheet, they’d let me go on and on and ad-lib. I created, man.

I’d hear the melody line from the lyrics, and I’d build the bass line around that. I always tried to support the melody. I had to. I’d make it repetitious, but also add things to it. It was repetitious, but had to be funky and have emotion.”

To me, that is the definition of a studio bass player.

Make it groove, support the melody, add little touches to keep it interesting throughout the song, and make it funky. James did it first and he did it best. Although largely and sadly unsung in his 47 years on the planet, he changed pop music forever. He is the definition of an artist and a hero. All I can say is, “Thank you, sir.”

Hags is a bass player, bread maker, and regular contributor to The East Nashvillian.

He believes the blessing music brings to humanity isn't fake news, nor is it a hoax.

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

11

12

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2022

By Randy Fox and Jack Evan Johnson

Tornado Recovery Updates The East End United Methodist Church at 1212 Holly St., has raised millions of dollars needed to rebuild its 114-year-old building, which was damaged by the March 2020 tornado and must be demolished. After receiving nearly $5 million from insurance, and $4.5 million from FEMA, the church still faced a funding gap of $1.75 million, said Pastor Rev. Schott Marshall-Kimball. “We were pretty well underinsured, as a lot of buildings around here are.”

The gap was closed by the church’s “Hope on Holly” campaign, which raised over $2 million (eastendumc.org/hopeonholly). $1.1 million came from the church’s own congregation.

An additional $1 million came in the form of a grant from the United Methodist Church’s Tennessee Annual Conference.

Construction of a new church at the same location, similar to the old church but with modern updates, is planned for early summer 2022, with an early summer 2023 completion. East End United Methodist Church currently holds service at Dalewood United Methodist Church, 2300 Ridgecrest Drive, on Sundays at 9:15 a.m.

No reopening date has been announced yet, but Drifters Tennessee Barbeque Joint at 1008 Woodland St. is getting closer to its return after a long road back. Its brother restaurant and bar, Beyond The Edge Sportsbar in Five Points reopened in September. Join Drifters’ email list at driftersnashville.com to get updates on the reopening date.

New & Noteworthy We missed this one in our last round-up, but Wild Berry Acai opened their East Nashville location a few months ago at 819 Main St. Follow them on Facebook @wildberryacai for the latest.

Fat Bottom Brewery founder Ben Bredesen made his business return to East Nashville in December with the opening of his a new, neighborhood bar, The Vic, and the adjacent event space, Emerson Hall. Both are housed in the former church complex at 2512 Gallatin Ave., which is also home to the recently opened Gallatin Hotel.

“The brewing here will be led by the guys from West Nashville but we won’t be making

Fat Bottom brew here,” Bredesen said, “We’ve got really artistic and creative brewers, but they do get a little bored just making an IPA every day. We didn’t have the set-up on the West Side to do more experimental things and let them get creative and do the things brewers really love. I thought about building a second brewhouse or opening a bar with a brewery attached, but this space was the right space at the right time.”

The Vic features approximately 40 seats, a long and roomy bar, and comfortable, homey tables. In addition to the on-site brewed beers (beginning 2022), The Vic features a variety of local craft brews, a full bar, flatbread pizzas, a spotlight meatloaf sandwich, small bites like baked wings, a cheese ball flight, and the →

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

13

Matters of Development 70s family den classic, Jiffy Pop Popcorn all in a setting that evokes a groovy, but not garish, 1970s feel. For more info, photos, and booking info for The Emerson visit thevicnashville.com.

Southern Grist Brewing’s new taproom, adjacent to their first restaurant concept, Lauter opened in December at 754 Douglas Ave. The taproom features two large patios, a spacious wraparound bar, ample parking, and up to 25

14

beers on tap. Lauter offers an internationally inspired menu with seasonal changes and rotating locally sourced ingredients supervised

by Executive Chef, Andrew Coins. The menu features a blend of four to five bar-centric snacks, a half dozen shareable appetizers, and a few larger dishes, which are encouraged to be shared amongst the table. For more info and a full menu, visit southerngristbrewing.com.

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

The long-awaited bowling alley/diner/entertainment complex/cool hang-out Eastside Bowl is now open at 1508 Gallatin Pike S. Several special events and concerts were held in December along with regular bowling. Visit their website at eastsidebowl.com or stay tuned to their socials @eastsidebowl for the latest hours, updates, and announcements of special events.

A new East Nashville preschool and childcare center, Bloom Academy at 4119 Gallatin Pike, is now open. The facility offers enrollment for children 12 weeks old to age five (there is a waitlist) and features a nearly a half-acre outdoor play area, with tree stumps, balance beams, a rock climbing wall, and an outdoor mud kitchen. More info at bloomacademytn.com.

A new Mexican food truck, Taqueria La Bonita, is now open in the Shell gas station parking lot at 4800 Gallatin Pike. The truck offers tacos, crunchwraps, burritos, tortas, quesadillas, and more. Check it out on Instagram at @TaqueriaLaBonita. You can call in your orders at 615-782-9702.

Elder’s Ace Hardware is now open at the old Save-A-Lot building located at 2622 Gallatin Pike. The Chattanooga-based franchise operates 22 Ace Hardware stores in Tennessee and Northern Georgia. More info at eldershardware.com.

A new local coffee shop, Madtown Coffee at 516 Gallatin Pike S., has opened in Madison.

More info at madtowncoffee.com.

The Groove Records, 1103 Calvin Ave., recently announced their landlord has decided to sell the property, and the business has the opportunity to buy it. The Groove, an LGBTQ+ owned record store known for hosting many community events, has launched an online fundraising campaign to raise the half-million dollars needed to purchase the property. If successful, the business has also pledged to return 70 percent of all donations if it ever sells the property, or closes. If those who donate do not wish to have their donation returned, the post states that the money will go to the charity of one’s choice. “We do not like the idea of taking from those who have already shown us so much love and support,” co-owner Jesse Cartwright wrote. For more info and to donate visit gofundme.com/f/keep-indie-alive-help-thegroove-buy-building.

Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea at 1886 Eastland Ave. announced the sale of their business to fellow East Nashville coffee shop Retrograde Coffee in November. Retrograde Coffee, owned by East Nashville natives Steve Mabee and Davey Rowe-Mabee, along with Nathan Weinberg, has been operating out of their Dickerson Pike location for the past 3 years. “We are thrilled to continue the tremendous legacy that [former owners] Jarod and Courtney [DeLozier] have left in our hands”, said Weinberg. “The first place I ever enjoyed a cup of coffee in Nashville was at Ugly Mugs, so it’s person-

Matters of Development ally very rewarding to be able to continue its operation.”

Retrograde intends to leave the Eastland Avenue coffee shop relatively unchanged. “We recognize that there is significant neighborhood vesting in coffee shops, and we don’t take that lightly,” said Weinberg. “Ugly Mugs will remain in its current location, with its current name, its current staff, and its outstanding offerings moving forward.”

son St. and 1106 Davidson St., have been purchased by Nashville-based CA South Development, for approximately $21.5 million.

• A 12.9-acre property with the main address at 2820 Dickerson Pike has sold for $8.5 million.

• A permit has been issued allowing construction to begin on a seven-story, 255-unit apartment building at 900 Dickerson Pike.

• A three-parcel East Nashville property, located at 2605, 2631, and 2635 Gallatin Ave., has sold for a combined $2.2 million.

• The FieldHouse Jones Hotel building, 811 Main St., has sold for $27.75 million.

• A 256-unit apartment building, “900 at Cleveland Park,” is set to be built at 900 Dickerson Pike. The $90 million development will offer 256 units of multi-family affordable housing.

Closings & Moves Dickerson Pike pizza restaurant/dive bar and DIY music venue, Bellshire Pizza — located at 2504 Dickerson Pike, announced it is being evicted and has launched a fundraising campaign to relocate and rebrand the business as a community art space. “While, yes, we still want to eventually make a profit, to sell pizza, to sell beer, and to be successful as a business, we are equally interested in re-investing in the community,” the business’s enthusiastic new music booker Ryan Sansiviero posted to a GoFundMe page seeking $20,000. “I want to foster a space where literally ANYBODY is welcome to perform. I want to host live music, comedy, drag, film screenings, community markets, meetings, fundraisers focusing on social justice and radical change, etc., all while serving good food, good beer, and having a good time.” For more info and to donate, visit gofundme.com/f/Bellshirepizza.

The aforementioned 2504 Dickerson Pike will soon be home to version 2.0 of Fran's East Side. The long-time staple lost its lease and closed the OG location in December. A post on their website dated Jan. 4, states, “... closed and in the process of moving.”

Stay tuned to “East Side Buzz” for an opening date, as well as news on Bellshire Pizza's new location.

Coming Soon U-Haul Moving & Storage of East Nashville will be opening a new 200-room self-storage facility at 1031 Whites Creek Pike. The new facility will also serve s the new location for U-Haul’s rentals business. Their former location at 241 N. First St. was destroyed by March 2020 tornado, and the store had been operating out of a temporary trailer since that time.

Metro Planning Department has released a preliminary vision of the Imagine Eastbank infrastructure design, including a conceptual street grid, bikeway concept, greenway concept, open space/park concept, and crossriver connections.

Quick Bits • Two East Nashville industrial properties on the Cumberland River, located at 690 DavidJanuary | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

15

New Year New Website meet your new web guy WE'VE WORKED WITH THESE GREAT NASHVILLE BUSINESSES: GRIMEYS RECORD STORE OCHOA BROS HIFI COOKIES ROTIERS RESTAURANT BUTTONS AND PEARL MUSIC CITY EVENTS THE VOLTAGE EXCHANGE BMI GET IN TOUCH AT JUSTINMABEE.COM 267-632-4103

Jackie Paul

“

SIMS B Y

R A N D Y

KNOW your NEIGHBOR

F O X

I

don’t want to put people through the wringer to get assistance. The population we serve is dealing with enough. Poor people are burdened to death with measures of accountability before they can receive any kind of help. I think that is grossly wrong because people of means are not burdened that way.” — Jackie Paul Sims

As Executive Director of the Nashville-based non-profit People’s Alliance for Transit, Housing and Employment (PATHE), Jackie Paul Sims’ devotion to community activism and service is apparent, but it’s not something she was born to. A native of Philadelphia, she grew up shielded from many of the harsh realities of poverty in the US. “I was fortunate enough to grow up in what is considered ‘Black Middle Class,’” Sims says. “My parents always worked, we had two cars, we took vacations, we owned our home. My father was a cop and my mother worked for General Electric and had a very good job. I wasn’t lacking for anything in my little world, but I didn’t understand how the world really works.”

A move to South Carolina; college at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama; marriage; five children; divorce; and a successful career as a mental health professional working with law enforcement followed, and then, tragedy struck. “My oldest son was in a head-on collision at 16,” she says. “He came as close to death as you can get. My girls went to Atlanta to stay with my sister, and four weeks after the first wreck, my sister and one of my daughters were hit by a truck. I was a complete emotional wreck. I went into a downward spiral and I was let go from my job. I went through all my savings and retirement and in no time I was destitute.”

In early 2008, Sims decided to move her family to Nashville where her parents had recently relocated and another sister had lived for several years. “Moving to Nashville was part of finding my way back,” she says.

“My life became so desperate. All I had was to cling to God for dear life to pull me through a day at a time, sometimes an hour at a time, so I came to Nashville very intentional about being of service, but I wasn’t sure what that would look like. I knew I would not return to the role of therapist, so I began volunteering for various community organizations.”

Along with her volunteer work, Sims got the chance to learn about community organizing and activism from a master, Dr. James Lawson, one of the architects of the national Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins. She also found a specific focus for her activism.

Jackie Paul Sims, Executive Director of People's Alliance for Transit, Housing, and Employment (PATHE). Photograph by Shance Ware

“I eventually landed on housing because housing is where the most intentional harm has been done by both the public and private sector,” Sims says. “Secure, affordable housing was at the base of all the intersectional issues that I was working with.”

Sims’ commitment to housing and the various social issues accompanying the lack thereof led to her co-founding PATHE. The non-profit agency not only advocates for public policy change in support of safe and affordable housing but provides educational, legal, and financial assistance to residents facing housing insecurity, eviction, and displacement. Their most recent project is the Riverchase housing project in East Nashville. Current plans call for the existing apartment complex to be demolished and rebuilt with 1,000 brand new units. Only 150 of the units will be earmarked as “affordable” housing for lower-income residents, and none will be designated as Federal “Section 8” housing. Unless the plan changes, approximately 100 current Riverchase residents will be facing eviction with nowhere to go.

“I want to see an iron-clad right to return for those Section 8 residents that leave in good standing,” she says. “These are good people who have been there 10, 15, 19 years. They’re seniors now. If they want to return, they need to be able to return.

If they want to move, this old girl’s gonna help them move so they can enjoy the remainder of their time in something nice, new, beautiful, and comfortable.”

A fire of commitment and determination shines through when Sims speaks of her work. She’s not fighting for causes, she’s fighting for individuals with the passion and understanding of a survivor of the same challenges. “I am constantly reminded of my own experience,” Sims says. “You can have everything in the world going for you and something beyond your control can change your whole life and put you in the position I found myself in — not having the ability to keep a roof over your head.”

To learn more about PATHE and its mission, visit pathenashville.org.

ARTIST IN PROFILE

Photograph by Chad Crawford

ANDEE RUDLOFF 18

theeastnashvillian.com January January || February February 2022 2022

PAINTING MURALS BY, FOR & OF THE PEOPLE

By Leslie LaChance

A

ndee Rudloff brandishes a black Sharpie she’d just pulled from the front bib pocket of her paint-splattered Liberty overalls. “You’ll never ever see me without one of these,” she insists. “This is my main tool right here.

I always have one, and that’s what I use most of the time.

And anyone can. It’s a dollar. Maybe even less than a dollar.

And you can use it on anything, and you’re not intimidated.”

→

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

19

“

Photographs by Stacey Irvin. Courtesy Andee Rudloff

THESE ARE IMAGES THAT HAVE A DEEP MEANING FOR US AS INDIVIDUALS AND WHEN YOU SEE THEM ALL LINKED TOGETHER, THEY HAVE A VOICE INDIVIDUALLY AND A VOICE COLLECTIVELY.

20

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

20

theeastnashvillian.com January January || February February 2022 2022

T

ARTIST IN PROFILE

his points to the big idea in Rudloff ’s world where making art is the day’s plot: inclusivity. Anyone can participate.

Anywhere. The many murals she’s designed and executed in collaboration with communities in Nashville and Southern Kentucky are standing proof.

Her designs include images made by community members who also help paint the murals; it’s the work of many hands. “I’ve always thought that murals should be by, for, and reflect the community,” she says.

You’ll know a Rudloff mural when you see one — on a school wall, a fence, a retaining wall, or covering the entire side of a local business. The palette is vibrant and primary, with designs that feature geometrics, pictographs, hieroglyphics, and local iconography shaped with thick black lines.

Her bright designs dance and swirl across walls in a funky, childlike freestyle all over East Nashville.

You’ll see Rudloff ’s work at schools like Lockeland Design, where there are two projects on the back of the school facing the playground, one of which doubles as a climbing wall. Or stop by Warner Elementary and take in her murals on the back wall and retaining wall out front.

Check out pieces she did in collaboration with the Explore Community School around the foundation of Fanny’s House of Music, with panels that read “Beauty is having the courage to be you.”

Denizens of Riverside Village will recall her mural on the Riverside Drivefacing wall of the former furniture store, one that featured East Nashville-themed images — Tomato Festival tomatoes, guitars, craftsman bungalows, the railroad bridge. The building was demolished in 2021, but not before Rudloff salvaged the ten-year-old mural, pulling off the painted metal panels one by one. They are now in storage waiting for what Rudloff hopes will be a new incarnation somewhere else,

perhaps even as a re-purposed mural somewhere else in Riverside Village.

The joyful signature painting style is one Rudloff has developed over 25 years of making art. She cites influences like Keith Haring — for his use of thick black lines and collaborative projects, along with Myles Maillie and Red Grooms, known for their fabulous use of color and unconventional ways of working. “But also music,” she says.

“On any given night you can go out and hear some of the best songwriters in the world and get these great visuals from their songs, and we have wonderful radio stations like WXNA and WNXP that I have on all the time. It’s really a kaleidoscope of influences.”

Rudloff has had smaller works shown in regional galleries as well, but murals are her favorite projects; they are inherently inclusive, especially in terms of audience.

“Murals definitely became more and more of how I worked, because all my friends worked, and all my family worked, and when I put something in a gallery they never saw it because they were working when the galleries were open,” she says. “So I started thinking, well, I know how to do this stuff. My mom renovated old homes, and I had a knowledge of the equipment, and I wasn’t afraid of heights. I looked at that as being a fun part of it. And I love, love, love that people take it in when it’s right for them to take it in.”

One of her early projects in Bowling Green, known as the Cow Mural, was painted on the side of an ice cream shop and featured cows working behind and sitting on stools at a shop counter enjoying some soft-serve. That iconic piece was used as a backdrop for videos that aired on CMT, which led to offers of mural work at Opryland Theme Park for Rudloff and brought her to settle in East Nashville.

“I’ve had some amazing opportunities to focus just on my work when it goes up, but I also love to connect people to →

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

21

ARTIST IN PROFILE

22

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

Photographs by Stacey Irvin. Courtesy Andee Rudloff

the process,” Rudloff observes. “And you’re going to get a piece that’s even richer.

People like seeing themselves too. I mean, they like what I do, but they also like seeing themselves in it. They see a way to do it, art isn’t such a mystery to them anymore, they start to see that it’s about storytelling.”

One of those stories was about making a neighborhood safer through art. In 2019, the Safe Amqui project incorporated a street mural into a traffic calming project designed in part by students in collaboration with Walk Bike Nashville. Motorists regularly traveled over 70 mph in front of the school and threw trash onto the grounds, so Rudloff and the students painted a mural on the tarmac outside the school and reclaimed a bus lane that cars had been using as a passing lane. “It was not only about slowing people down but showing that someone cared,” she says.

This inclusive approach to making art has developed over time. “I would say some of my first murals were a definitive idea that a client or a community-approved, then typically I would grid the drawing and we would literally do the mural square by square,” Rudloff says. “I always have invited the community to come paint with me, but in that period of time, I was having to say ‘You have to paint red here and yellow there and black here.’ But the way I work now is so different and so fun because you get to watch people really discover how this creative chaos happens.”

Now when the community comes to paint a mural that she has worked with them to design, she sees herself more as a facilitator. The first thing she does is encourage the participants to create meaningful icons, like pictographs and hieroglyphics. “These are images that have a deep meaning for us as individuals and when you see them all linked together, they have a voice individually and a voice collectively,” she says.

“Part-two of that is bringing in the idea of color theory. Don’t make color theory this thing that only art students and college students and artists can talk about. Make it something everyone can talk about. There’s no doubt in my mind that a five-year-old understands color theory. You just don’t underestimate them.

They know how these colors connect. My idea is to remove the pressure

of creating art, to have people give me these pictographs that they’ve created based on a question or idea, and link them together so that it breaks up the space in an interesting way.

“I choose the palette, but then I say to the kids ‘Pick any color. There are just two rules. Don’t paint over the black lines and don’t put the same color beside the same color.’ It’s something anyone who has ever sat down with a coloring book and box of Crayolas can do. My hope is that when they come back to it, they don’t only see their drawing; they see their choices, they see the choice they made to make something a certain way, and they are empowered by that.”

Rudloff also turns to art to help inspire people in the face of disaster. When the tornado struck East Nashville in 2020, it decimated a community mural she’d helped to paint with visiting artist Max Grimm on a fence facing Smith & Lentz on Main Street.

Only one panel survived, and it featured the image of an eye. Rudloff took the panel and created a series of limited edition prints for sale to fund the eventual repainting of the mural and bringing Max Grimm back from Nashville’s German sister city Magdeburg to help. That project will happen once travel is safer post-COVID. When tornadoes hit Bowling Green in December 2021, Rudloff felt the waves of trauma from East Nashville’s 2020 disaster rising up in her again. She returned to her hometown and set about painting the Bowling Green Strong mural with community members to help inspire the recovery efforts. “With a tornado, the whole landscape changes, and anything you can do within that landscape to find that moment of connection is super important,” she says.

Nashville walls are filling up with murals these days, and Rudloff hopes some of her work over more than two decades has helped inspire that interest in public art. “I don’t take every wall,” she says. “I don’t want every wall. It’s not meant for me. There are certain little nuggets that are meaningful for me, and those are the ones that I go ‘yes’ to.”

Rudloff is looking forward to more mural projects and collaborations in 2022. Her name is in the hat for some big civic projects and work will continue in schools as well.

“I love it,” she says. “It’s some of the best art. I tell you these kids dig in and have no fear. And I want to be the conduit. I want to be part of why another person understands art and the impact it can make in your life and others’ lives, and how it tells our story.”

JANUARY 19, 20 & 21

DWIGHT YOAKAM FEBRUARY 3

JOSS STONE & CORINNE BAILEY RAE FEBRUARY 9

THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND FEBRUARY 22, 23, 25 & 26

TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND FEBRUARY 28

ELLE KING MARCH 3 & 4

YOLA APRIL 17

JERRY CANTRELL MAY 29

“WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC

MARCH 16

SLASH FT. MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS

APRIL 13

JOHNNYSWIM

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

23

ENO

Past Winners:

2008 BUSINESS: Meg & Bret MacFadyen CITIZEN: Bob Acuff

24

2009 BUSINESS: Dan Heller CITIZEN: Carol Norton

2010 BUSINESS: Alan Murdock CITIZEN: Catherine McTamaney 2011 BUSINESS: The Green Wagon CITIZEN: Eric Jans

2012 BUSINESS: The East Nashvillian CITIZEN: Elizabeth Chauncey 2013 BUSINESS: March Egerton CITIZEN: Carol Williams

2014 BUSINESS: Powell Architecture + Building Studio CITIZEN: Brett Withers

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

2015 BUSINESS: Matt Charette CITIZEN: Darrell Downs, Kelly Perry

2018 BUSINESS: Lockeland Table CITIZEN: Anthony Davis

2016 BUSINESS: The Basement East CITIZEN: Bonnie Bogen

2019 BUSINESS: Delgado Guitars CITIZEN: Marilyn Greer

2017 BUSINESS: The 5 Spot CITIZEN: Stacie Huckeba

2020 BUSINESS: Sweet 16th Bakery CITIZEN: Ronald Gooch, Jr.

OTY The East Nashvillians of the Year

In 2008, the Historic East Nashville Merchants Association (HENMA) began presenting annual awards to highlight “people and businesses who exemplify the best of all the positive aspects of life in East Nashville.”

Citizen Award: JESSICA DOYLE

And the winners are:

Business Award: MIMI GERBER EAST NASHVILLE FAMILY MEDICINE

20 21

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

25

2021

Photograph by Chad Crawford

ENOTY

26

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

S

E N O T Y B U S I N E S S AWA R D R E C I P I E N T

Mimi Gerber/

East Nashville Family Medicine

By Randy Fox

top by East Nashville Family Medicine for an urgent care issue and you’ll find that Nurse Practitioner Mimi Gerber is one of the most devoted healthcare providers and good neighbors you’ll ever meet. “She always treats her patients like family and the neighbors that they are,” says Dr. Rozmond Lewis, Gerber’s business partner. “When we first opened the office. She worked seven days a week for about six months until we could hire more people to help because that was the standard she wanted to set for urgent care.”

Gerber’s devotion to her patients extends far beyond the typical urgent care visit. Not only is she a healthcare provider, but she’s often a healthcare advocate, helping patients with more serious conditions navigate the often frustrating labyrinth of the American healthcare system.

“The motto for many urgent care providers is, ‘treat ’em and street ’em’; take care of the issue and move them out so you can get to next one,” Lewis says. “That is not Mimi at all. She really tries to figure out the issue and get the patient to the next level of care. She gets fulfillment out of helping people go full circle in their care.”

A native of Philadelphia, Mimi Gerber attended the University of Pennsylvania, securing a degree in biology with an emphasis in animal and bird behavior. “After I got out of school it was like, ‘What the heck do you do with a degree in biology?’ she says. “In my search for my next step, I stumbled upon nurse practitioner. At that point, it was an unheard-of field, or at least not very well known. I started applying to programs and discovered Vanderbilt’s Bridge to Nursing program.”

The concept of advanced practice registered nurses who are qualified to assess patient needs, diagnose disease, write prescriptions, and perform other medical duties traditionally assigned to a primary care physician, first evolved in the 1960s. It’s only in recent years, however, that the position has become commonplace in

I really enjoy this community, and it’s a pleasure and an honor to take care of our people.

American medicine. “When I first got into the field, I had a little speech I had to give to pretty much every patient,” Gerber says. “I don’t have to give that speech anymore.”

After graduation, Gerber remained in Nashville, buying a house on the East Side in 1992 with her future husband. Gerber spent the first part of her career primarily working in emergency nursing and family medicine, but a

“

chance meeting led to her next big career step. “[Dr. Rozmond Lewis] and I both live in East Nashville,” Gerber says. “My husband, who’s a plumber, was working at her house. He introduced us and for about two years, we got together, drank coffee, schemed, and dreamed about opening a practice together. It was a scary prospect because neither of us are business people, and small practices have a very →

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

27

hard time making it, but in my heart, I knew there was no way this wouldn’t work in this community. I saw the need, I was tired of working for corporations, and it seemed like it would be a lot of fun.”

In 2008, Gerber and Lewis opened East Nashville Family Medicine. As a small, independent practice located far away from the West Side mega-medical-industrial complex, some might have predicted a short lifespan, but

East Nashville was prime for small, local, and sometimes maverick businesses.

“People were coming in the day we opened, and within a few months we were filling up our schedules pretty quickly,” Gerber says. “People were excited that we were close by in East Nashville. It immediately felt like we did the right thing.”

Providing professional care with a personal, neighborhood-focused flavor invokes the

archetypal “small-town doctor” — a neighbor and friend as well as physician. “If you’re taking care of people who you know you’re going to see on the street it is a lot of responsibility,” Gerber says. “We have three full-time providers — myself, Roz, and Dr. David Carrier — and we all live in East Nashville. So we’re taking care of the people we see at Kroger, at Tomato Fest, and on the street. There’s not a day that goes by that someone doesn’t come in that I know from elsewhere. One time I got some tests results back and it was an emergency. I was calling and calling the patient but I couldn’t get through, so I went and knocked on her door and shocked the hell out of her.”

Of course, the greatest challenge of the last two years for all medical professionals has been the coronavirus pandemic, especially during the early stages. As East Nashville Family Medicine’s office manager, Amy “Windy” Haggard, recalls Gerber was tireless in her determination to keep treating her neighbors.

“When the pandemic hit, we were coming off the tornado,” Haggard says. “We were shut down for seven days, we lost all our vaccines because we had no power. We were treating people by phone and Mimi was out on the street in the parking lot treating people. We came back after a week, opened on a Monday, and by Wednesday everything was shutting down. Mimi was on it, pushing the lab to get local testing rolling. I don't how many thousands of people she has personally tested for COVID, and then personally called the people who were sick to check on them.”

Even as the two-year mark for the pandemic approaches, many people continue to speak of “getting back to normal.” As Gerber points out, however, the old definition of “normal” simply does not apply. “We can no longer be complacent,” she says. “COVID is a part of our lives.

As a clinic, we have maintained our protocols and they may be here to stay, as far as always being masked and our patients being masked.

Omicron is pretty bad. We have seen record numbers in our office. … This surge will pass, but this is our way of life now.”

Despite the stress and challenges of COVID, Gerber and the rest of the staff at East Side Family Medicine remain committed to their practice, patients, and neighborhood. “You can call it an obligation but I really just love helping people, which is why I’m in this profession,” she says. “I really enjoy this community, and it’s a pleasure and an honor to take care of our people.”

East Nashville Family Medicine 801 Woodland St. Nashville, TN 37206 (615) 469-5555 eastnashvillefamilymed.com 28

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

C E LE B RAT I N G 10 Y E A R S O F O N E OF A K IND C U S TOM F U RNITU RE , U N I Q UE LUM B E R P U RVEYORS A ND SU P P LIERS, A N D R EC L A IM E D F LOORIN G .

CUSTOM FLOORS/FURNITURE/ACCENT WALLS AND NASHVILLE’S COOLEST LUMBER STORE. WWW.G O ODWOO DN A SHVIL L E.COM | 13 07 D IC K E RS O N P IK E , N AS H V ILLE T N 37207 January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

29

E N O T Y C I T I Z E N AWA R D R E C I P I E N T

Jessica Doyle

oT

By Leslie LaChance

be honest, East Nashville attorney Jessica Doyle is a little shocked that she’s being named East Nashvillian of the Year by the Historic East Nashville Merchants Association. “It’s a dream come true, of course; I’m elated,” she says.

“But it’s a little surreal because I just think our neighborhood is full of about 400 people who do things more applaudable than what I’m doing. I’m just doing what anyone here would

I’m just doing what anyone here would be doing …

It’s kind of the East Nashville way. be doing … It’s kind of the East Nashville way.”

“Her love of East Nashville and people is infectious,” says fellow East Nashvillian Ann Mayo, a long-time friend of Doyle. “If she’s on board with something, whatever it is, helping kids, raising money for people, she can get everyone around her to do it. She’s always been

Local eyecare.

Independent eyewear.

LOCAL EYECARE. INDEPENDENT EYEWEAR.

30

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

“

so proud of East Nashville, proud to be an East Nashvillian, and she is one of the most inclusive people I know.”

As another friend and East Nashvillian, Bethany Burns, put it, “She doesn’t care what you bring to the table, just come to the table.”

Take camping, for instance. Doyle loves the outdoors, and about five years ago, her love of camping led her to start an East Nashville community camping group that now holds two kid-friendly campouts each year at nearby state parks, featuring a community potluck (preCOVID) and hosting upwards of 80 people.

“She’s constantly trying to advocate for children, especially in her practice of family law,” Mayo says. “And she’s always helping the LGBTQ community in her law practice.”

In fact, through her small firm, Tennessee Adoption and Family Law, Doyle offers LGBTQ families free legal services for uncontested adoptions. “That directly affects some of our East Nashville community and spills out beyond East Nashville,” Mayo says. “She is making a huge difference in people’s lives every single day, especially with adoptions, but even helping people through a divorce, some very emotional things, and she handles it in a way that makes it less stressful,” Burns says.

Doyle was inspired to start offering free adoption services for families with same-sex parents during the summer of 2016 as she watched the horrific news unfolding of a mass shooting targeting patrons at Pulse, an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando. “I said, ‘This is crazy! We have to do something!’ And I thought about my skills, and this is what I could offer the LGBTQ community,” Doyle says. Her work is affirming for families who are marginalized by parental custody laws written → only with heterosexual couples in mind.

ENOTY

Photograph by Chuck Allen

2021

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

31

THE ROOTS BARN

MADiSON, TN A campus for music based in the historic heart of Madison, TN. The Barn serves as a platform to emotionally connect performers with the audience, music and events venue.

Opening 2022.

32

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

“Since Obergefell, the Supreme Court case that legalized marriage equality, a lot of samesex couples think they don’t need [legal adoption], but in my opinion they do. Finalizing the adoption protects your family, protects your kids, protects your rights as a parent.

And I do the legal work for free. They just have to pay the filing fee.”

When she moved to Nashville from East Tennessee in 2001, Doyle tended bar at Radio Cafe while working a day job as a probation officer and making plans for law school. “My first real job was working at the juvenile court,” Doyle says. “I worked only with foster kids; they called me a probation officer, but I didn’t have anybody on probation. The people that had been alleged to have done something were the parents. I just loved working with kids and teenagers.”

After completing her law degree at Nashville College of Law, she worked in the public defender’s office and served as guardian ad litem — an attorney who works for the best interests of kids. “I only represented kids in neglect and dependency cases or really contentious custody cases. The thing about juvenile court is they don’t do adoptions. We’d basically do all the hard work and then pass it on to circuit court to do the happy part.”

Doyle decided she wanted to be part of that happy part, and her passion for helping kids led her to found her own firm specializing in family law and adoption. “It’s everything to me to see kids thriving and parents thriving and we’re just walking through the muck that is parenthood together. You go into the trenches with people, and I always think it’s an honor to be invited there.”

And doing adoptions is fun, but not all the time. “Yes, on the day of the adoption it is fun. It’s pictures and balloons and cakes, but people — both the child and the parents — often come to adoption with a lot of trauma, so by the time they get to me, they have gone through things that no one should have to go through,” Doyle explains. “Even if a child is adopted from birth, the experiences they had in their birth mother’s body affect them.

People who are trying to adopt have gone through a lot to try to adopt. I always feel like it’s a quarter social worker, a quarter therapist, and half lawyer in the adoption world.”

She is glad to be serving so many East Nashvillians in her practice. Doyle fell in love with the neighborhood as soon as she saw it, but ultimately it came down to the people who make the community special. “I think everybody who moves here from somewhere else moves to East intentionally,” she says.

“Many of us are not from East Nashville; we chose it. There’s a lot of autonomy in that.”

But she worries rising housing costs will leave

East Nashville out of reach for the creatives who provide the neighborhood groove she loved at first vibe. “I love the diversity of art over here and intellects. I don’t think you necessarily get that everywhere. I’m worried that we are going to lose it because of the housing crisis in Middle Tennessee.”

The modesty that Doyle displayed when

she first learned that she was East Nashvillian of the Year remains unshakable even after a discussion of the many ways she gives back to her neighborhood. When it was pointed out the award is simply for someone who best symbolizes what being a good East Nashville neighbor means, she replies, “I’m so grateful because that’s all I want to be.”

Come have fun in the summer sun at Harpeth Hall!

At Harpeth Hall, we do everything that girls like to do!

From chemistry experiments to creative design, our unforgettable summer camp experiences offer adventures in academics, athletics, and the arts.

Registration opens January 15. To learn more visit:

HarpethHall.org/community/summer-camps

Harpeth Hall is a college preparatory school for girls in grades 5-12 where students learn to think critically, to lead confidently, and to live honorably.

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

33

Walkin With Grace On A Southern Gothic, Adia Victoria gives voice to being Black in the American South

Story by Andrew Leahey Photography by Shance Ware 34

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

g January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

35

I

t’s a week before Christmas, and Adia Victoria is riding out the final hours of an early-winter rainstorm in the home she shares with her mother and sister. Victoria moved here — to a historically black neighborhood on the border of North Nashville and Midtown — in November 2010. “I showed up in a Greyhound bus with my cat and my guitar,” she remembers, “and just walked into the city. I’ve been walking ever since.” Things have changed considerably since she took those first steps.

Victoria still winces at the memory of the 100-year-old bungalow that was recently torn down and replaced by her neighborhood’s first tall-and-skinny house, which looms above the block like a tone-deaf billboard advertising gentrification. In the distance, the downtown skyline remains in a constant state of reconstruction as new buildings sprout skyward from the concrete. For a hard-touring musician who spent more than 200 days on the road in 2019, it’s been shocking for Victoria to come home to such a rapidly changing landscape.

Several miles down the road, in the West Meade home of her fiancé and musical partner, Mason Hickman, Victoria spent much of 2020 not only sheltering from the global pandemic but also creating her newest album, A Southern Gothic. It’s a record steeped in postmodern blues and haunting folk-noir, filled with character-based stories that explore what it truly means to be Black in the American South. Call it a reclamation of Victoria’s Bible Belt roots, perhaps, or maybe just an honest look at an area whose own mythology — one that’s been perpetuated by centuries of white writers, politicians, and artists — all too often disregards the grittier reality of the Black Southern experience.

“I love the South,” she explains. “I was raised in South Carolina and will always be a Carolina girl. It’s a rich and amazing culture. I’m not walking away from it, but I think the area is haunted by its sins and by its past. I wanted to share the narratives of the Southern people who’ve been silenced, and I wanted to give myself grace, too.

That’s what this album is to me; it’s my grace album.”

Pausing to think about the days she spent recording A Southern Gothic in Hickman’s home, she adds, “It’s also my sweatpants album.”

To truly fall in love with the American South, Victoria first had to leave it.

She’d been raised with her five siblings in Campobello, South Carolina — a rural town in Spartanburg County, largely clustered around the intersection of two state highways — and brought up within the strict confines of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. “I always was curious about the world outside my community in Spartanburg,” she remembers, “but my church was attached to my school, so my → world was really limited.”

“

I wanted to share the narratives of the Southern people who’ve been silenced, and I wanted to give myself grace, too. That’s what this album is to me; it’s my grace album.

36

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

37

“

I travel because it allows me some distance. that are hard to gain at home.

Her first escape wasn’t a physical one. In search of something to soothe her mind after her parent's divorce, she turned to poetry and music as a middle schooler. “Playing the tuba in the middle-school band was a transformational experience,” she says. “This was in 1998, and at our Christmas program we played a very rusty rendition of Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On.’ Because, you know, the ’90s. I was floored by how much the low end mattered. It provided foundation and context for all the other sounds stacked upon it. I wasn’t playing a lot of notes, but whenever I changed, everything changed.

The tuba could shift the entire tide of the song.

That stuck with me — the bare bones of a composition, the roots of it, the grounding of it. I still jokingly consider myself more of a bass player than a guitar player. I’m all about the low end.”

M

usic helped give Victoria a glimpse of what lay beyond Spartanburg’s county limits, but her need to explore was still discouraged by those in charge. “There was so much energy put into warning me about the outside world,” she notes, “but I was a curious kid, and if you told me not to go see the outside world, it made me want to do it even more. I noticed that none of the adults around me seemed particularly happy or accomplished outside of the community, so at 18 years old, I saved up my money and went to Paris on my own.”

For seven inspired days, she listened, learned, and wandered through the streets of France’s capital city. “Experiencing a new world by myself was something I’d always wanted to do,” she says. “It was one of the best adventures of my life. There’s so much history there. So many stories. You’re walking amongst history in a different way than you do in the States. We’re such a young country over here. Being around people whose culture goes back thousands of years is very humbling.”

Although she returned home after a week, Victoria’s search for new horizons soon took her to Atlanta, where she moved at 21 years old. There, she dug into the bare-boned folk music of Gillian Welch, studied the songwriting of Johnny Cash, and had a transformative experience after hearing Skip → 38

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

A Southern Gothic: Adia Victoria wearing a dress courtesy Black Shag Vintage

It gives me new perspectives It helps me examine my Southern identity.

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

39

40

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

James’ “Hard Time Killing Floor” for the first time. Everything about the song sounded like home, as though James had funneled an entire landscape of dirt, blood, and sweat into three haunting minutes. Transfixed, she dove headfirst into the blues, playing her first 12-bar progressions on a Washburn acoustic guitar she’d inherited from a friend.

“There wasn’t any teacher or parent telling me to go take music lessons,” she says of those early days learning the guitar. “It was the first thing in the world that was completely and totally mine. It challenged me. It was like a partner; it pushed me to be honest with myself. There was no goal outside of me expressing myself.

I’d sit and listen to Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside, and I wouldn’t try to transcribe their songs note-for-note. I’d listen for the feel.”

creating here in Nashville. I love being able to lose myself in France. It’s a different pace of my life for me, but one that’s very conducive to creating.” And create she did, writing songs like “My Oh My” — a haunting ballad inspired by a Eudora Welty short story, its verses dotted with descriptions of kudzu and mountain hollers — while halfway across the world from the landscape her lyrics described. Years later, she credits that distance with helping her tap into a Southern muse.

“It’s a fish-out-of-water thing,” she says.

“You don’t know you’re swimming in water until you leave the water. That’s the moment you realize you’re a fish. I find the same thing whenever I travel because it allows me some distance. It gives me new perspectives that are hard to gain at home. It helps me examine my Southern identity.”

Back home in Nashville, Victoria continued writing A Southern Gothic while working a parttime job at an Amazon distribution center. →

eanwhile, most of her family had moved to Nashville, where her mother ( Jackie Paul Sims, who is the subject of our "Know Your Neighbor” profile in this issue on page 15) worked as an activist. Victoria eventually joined them, studying French at Nashville State with the goal of one day relocating to Paris as an English teacher. She began writing music and playing shows, too, finding a home amongst the countercultural crowd of garage punk-rockers, Americana rule-breakers, and other musicians who shared her desire to salute influences and subvert expectations.

One of those musicians — Jessi Zazu, who fronted Those Darlins for a decade before tragically passing away in 2017 — became a close companion and champion of Victoria’s art. “She encouraged me to get out of my own way and get to work,” Victoria remembers. “She told me I was good enough to be on stage.”

Atlantic Records agreed, and Victoria made her major-label debut with 2016’s Beyond the Bloodhounds. A second album, Silences, followed in 2019. Both records positioned her as a blues heiress for the modern age, focusing less on the technicalities of the genre’s cyclical form and, as mentioned before, emphasizing the feel instead. Her songs were urgent. They were unsettling. Equal parts Tim Burton film score, garage-rock exorcism, and poetry-slam soundtrack, they showcased a street-smart musician who was unafraid to stir big issues — from religion to race to sexual politics — into her own Southern brew.

After touring across Europe in support of Silences’ release, Victoria found herself in Paris once again. She’d just wrapped up a run of concerts with Calexico and Iron & Wine, and the urge to spend more time in France — the country that had first validated her childhood belief that a wider world awaited — was too great to ignore. “Our last show before COVID was in Paris,” she explains. “It’s still the place I like to go create, write, brood, and lose my associations that can sometimes distract me from

M

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

41

The coronavirus pandemic had turned Amazon into a madhouse, with thousands of lockeddown Nashville residents relying on the e-commerce company to deliver groceries and other essential items. It was demanding work. For Victoria, it also kept her creative instincts sharp.

“My back would be pounding at the end of my shifts,” she remembers, “but when you’re in touch with your body, you’re very present. I felt very rooted in my own body during a time when we were being killed by the air — by

things we couldn’t see — and that made me more grounded. In our culture, we’re often so thought-centric and head-centric, and I needed the mental flush that Amazon provided. I could clean my brain’s palate, turn it off, stop thinking so much, and get my head to shut the fuck up for a while. I would leave work and my brain felt very rested, so I could write once I got home.

That was a rare experience for me. I got out of my neurotic ticks. Working at that warehouse made me a better artist.”

CHANGING THE GAME Margaret Maddox YMCA Winter Youth Basketball Recreational League

The primary reason kids drop out of sports is because it’s no longer fun.

At the Y, we help children develop an enjoyment for the game. We listen to and encourage each player as they build character and gain a sense of accomplishment, no matter the outcome of the game.

TOP THREE REASONS TO PARTICIPATE:

1

SAFE AND POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT

2

SUPPORTIVE COACHES

3

DEVELOPING FRIENDSHIPS

Our leagues keep the focus on fun and healthy competition where every kid can thrive.

YMCA coaches care about your child’s development — creating a positive environment to build character and confidence in each player.

Sports offer the perfect setting for kids to make new friends while learning the importance of teamwork and good sportsmanship.

• Grades K-3 • League will take place at Jackson Park Church of Christ

REGISTER TODAY: YMCAMIDTN.ORG/YOUTH-SPORTS

42

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

She’d already tapped co-producer T Bone Burnett — one of the most sought-after architects of modern-day roots music — to help helm her new album, but quarantine restrictions prevented the two from getting together.

Likewise, it felt irresponsible to reassemble her band during such a dangerous time. Instead, she formed a quarantine bubble with Mason Hickman and his roommate, keyboardist Peter Eddins, and began making homemade recordings at Hickman’s home studio. The do-it-yourself tracking sessions required all three to become multi-instrumentalists.

Hickman learned to play the viola and banjo.

Victoria sharpened her piano and percussion skills. Steadily, A Southern Gothic took shape.

“We were able to craft the songs from the rhythm up,” she says. “It was a way for me to strip away a lot of pretensions and get back in touch with that middle-school girl playing the bass. I divorced myself from the idea of time and just took it day-by-day, hour-by-hour, breath-by-breath. It was a kind of grace I’d never felt with the creative process. T Bone said, ‘I can handle the label and get them off your back. You can take your time.’ He was so supportive of me and honored the process of creating a body of work you can stand behind. I had no external pressures on me. I was in complete control of how this art got made.”

Beginning with the slithering, slow-simmering “Magnolia Blues” — the story of a Southern woman’s return home after chasing a no-good lover to parts unknown — and ending with the campfire folk duet “South For the Winter,” A Southern Gothic both celebrates Victoria’s heritage and explores the complicated relationship many black Southerners have with their homeland. It’s a record of extremes — the claustrophobia of “Troubled Mind” giving way to the ethereal, dream-like soundscapes of “Please Come Down”; the stripped-down starkness of “Mean-Hearted Woman” set against the collaborative, cameo-filled “You Was Born to Die” — and its sound mirrors the duality of the South. There’s melody and menace, virtue and vice, devotion and defiance, all underpinned by an artist who’s using her own voice to amplify those that have long been muffled.

If there was ever a modern time for the blues, it’s now. As the entire world strains to return to some sort of normalcy, A Southern Gothic takes a close-up view of a region whose people have been struggling for decades. It’s a reminder to enjoy the present, without forgetting the past or abandoning the push for a brighter future.

“I’m learning to give myself grace,” Victoria says. “That’s the main lesson I’m walking with right now. All the things that prevent you from giving yourself grace — that’s all fucking fake. All you have is what you can hold, and that’s a lesson I had to be sat down and forced to reckon with. I’m learning to be right here, to enjoy the moment. I’m learning to just be here now.”

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

43

44

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y B E N J A M I N R U M B L E

BY CHRIS MAR A

Top Five Analog Tape Myths Tape machines break down all the time

Analog tape. What a seemingly straightforward, yet highly debated topic.

When The East Nashvillian reached out to me regarding my thoughts on the subject, I jumped at the chance to share them.

Ones that are in good working order and used a lot don’t. Besides, DAWs crash All. The. Time. My company, Mara Machines has almost 500 restored analog tape machines in use around the world. Last year we billed a total of less than $700 in repairs. At Welcome To 1979 we joke that we spend more time messing around with our Pro Tools rigs than we do our analog tape machines.

I’m one of the few people I know of who understand, love, and use both DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) and analog tape machines equally. I’ve taught countless people how to record with tape and how to calibrate tape machines.

I teach people about analog tape because a lot of people have a willingness to learn, but nowhere to actually learn about it. Between owning an analog focused recording studio (Welcome To 1979) and the largest analog tape machine restoration company in the world (Mara Machines), I’m exposed to analog tape myths on a daily basis. I thought I’d share with you the most common analog tape myths and why they are just that — myths.

Tape is hard to find

There are two companies that make analog tape: ATR (based in York, Pennsylvania) and Recording The Masters, based in France.

Both companies have tape readily available and solid distribution networks, including three dealers that stock analog tape right here in Nashville.

Tape is expensive

At a first glance, perhaps. A reel of tape that allows for 33 minutes of recording will set you back between $76 (1/4” width) and $345 (2” width). We live in a world that allows us to record onto tape, then play that tape into a DAW and re-use the tape over and over again.

So the tape costs aren’t really expensive at all.

Even if you didn’t reuse the tape, isn’t a song you wrote worth $13- $60 in tape?

If not, maybe write a better song.

Tape is hard to use

There are two sides to this myth: as a recording engineer and as a musician. If a recording engineer you are looking to use for your project says analog tape is too hard to use, it’s most likely because they are not comfortable using analog tape or don’t know how to use it at all.

In either case, seek out someone who is comfortable and agrees to record your music how you would like to record. You’ll find the engineer more present in your project because it does require more focus. This is a good thing.

From a musician standpoint, it’s very similar to recording in a DAW. If you mess up, you fix the parts you messed up. There’s no copy and paste, you simply play along and punch in/out to repair the mistakes. It’s more fun that way and you end up playing all the notes on your record. What a novel idea! Again, you can always dump the tape into a DAW and edit to your heart’s content.

Tape will make you sound ‘vintage’ or ‘dated’

No more so than playing a ’56 Tele makes you sound like a 1950s guitar player. It’s how you use it. Artists from all genres use tape machines because they like the process, not to narrow their sound to a specific decade. A proper tape machine will give you back very close to what you put into it, sonically speaking.

Sure, there are a lot of people that will give you a lot of reasons not to record onto tape, but you really only need one reason to do it — because you want to do it. Find people who record on tape well and just do it. Maybe you’ll love it, maybe you’ll hate it — there’s only one way to find out!

Contributor Chris Mara is the founder of Welcome to 1979 studios.

His company, Mara Machines, refurbishes a variety of analog tape recording equipment, with over 400 machines in use across the globe.

Find out more by visiting maramachines.com and welcometo1979.com January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

45

46

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

Out East Soundtrack

Keshia Bailey For Keshia Bailey, music and community have always gone hand in hand. LadyCouch, the southern-rock jam band that she fronts with Allen Thompson, is a community unto itself, with a vast lineup that features a dozen instrumentalists, songwriters, horn players, and soul singers.

Delaney & Bonnie and Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen.

As our current guest curator of the “Out East Soundtrack,” Keshia creates a playlist rooted in groove, swagger, and timeless songwriting. Some of these songs are childhood favorites. Others are staples of the LadyCouch catalog.

It’s a big group with an even bigger sound, bound by the same Together, they offer a glimpse into the musical tastes that collaborative spirit that anchored old-school revue bands like have shaped one of Nashville’s celebrated frontwomen.

By Andrew Leahey & Jay Dmuchowski

1

“They Say I’m Different” Betty Davis (1974)

This is one of the first songs that LadyCouch covered. I think it really applies to us as a band.

When people see us, they may have preconceived notions of who we are based on the way we look. When I suggested this song to Allen as one we could cover, he said: “You’re different, we’re different, so let’s do it.” Betty was such an incredible artist, and I sometimes wish that there was a Betty without a Miles.

2 3

“We’ll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning”

Gram Parsons w/Emmylou Harris (1973) I really love storytelling, and I think this song paints a really vivid picture. I can see a couple, home from work, sitting at the kitchen table and discussing their day. It can really apply to any scenario, though. Whatever happened, good or bad, tomorrow is a brand-new start.

There is a sense of resolve to this tune that I really love, and Emmylou sells it.

If You Want Me to Stay Sly and the Family Stone (1973)

This is such a groove. I’ve loved this song since I was a little kid. It is my ‘family reunion’ song.

It brings me right back. The vocal range, the way it moves, it’s “un-fuckwith-able.” You can’t touch it. I love the bassline so much, and I remember being a little kid thinking, “What is that sound?” I didn’t even know what a bass guitar was! LadyCouch covers this — and you need a real bassist to pull this one off; luckily, we have one.

4

“Time (You and I)” Khruangbin (2020)

Clint Maine (LadyCouch guitarist) introduced me to this band. They are a trio, but they sound like a 10-piece band.

They create different sounds, and the guitars use pedals so cleverly it sometimes sounds like a different instrument altogether. They played the Brooklyn Bowl this summer, and I had a LadyCouch rehearsal the same night as the show. I called Allen and said, “I love you man, but I have to see this show!” He let me go because he remembers that he missed some rehearsals when Phish was in town.

5 6

“Mother Freedom” Bread (1971)

It’s funny, I hate bread (the food), but I love the band. Say what you will but David Gates is a brilliant writer. He explains freedom in such a fresh and different way. He’s not coming at you mad. I really feel like he gets me, so I just want to say on record “Thank you for understanding, David Gates, thank you!”

“New Year’s Resolution”

Otis Redding and Carla Thomas (1967) This is the first tune that Allen and I sang together. I just love the way certain voices can blend so perfectly. Otis and Carla had it. This song is a template for LadyCouch’s sound. It’s big, it grooves, and we are a festival band, so you have to have that energy. My new year actually doesn’t begin in January, it begins in October, because that’s when you start gearing up for the next festival season. My New Year’s resolution this year is to shop locally — keep it in the family. I have pretty much stopped buying any product that has a commercial. I also haven’t stepped foot in a Walmart in three years.

»»»»»

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

47

48

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

7 8

Out East Soundtrack

“I Feel for You” Chaka Khan (1984)

This is me cleaning the house with my mom on a Saturday morning. I really love that Prince wrote this song. Chaka does it perfectly. I prefer her version to his. I also like the way The Bangles do “Manic Monday.” After Prince died, Mike Grimes asked me to put a band together for a Prince tribute show.

The only songs that I sang myself were songs that he wrote for other people. But he is that great. His own songs are so important to me, but I am so blown away by how versatile he was as a writer.

9

“Never Too Much” Luther Vandross (1981)

My mother loved Luther. I didn’t really like this song as a kid, though I’ve made up for lost time. I listened to it so many times that my mom started to get tired of it. I told her that you can’t enough of a good thing. Never too much, Dorothy!

»»»»»

10

Be sure to check out the cover feature on LadyCouch in the latest edition of The Madisonian!

“Dirt to Dust”

Allen Thompson Band (2012) Such a pretty song. I loved this song before I had the honor to sing it. It’s a song for Nashville. It’s also about life and death, the idea of us starting as dirt and dissolving to dust. I feel the idea kind of mimics what happened with where I am musically as well; how the ATB sort of dissolved into Lady Couch. At its heart though, the song is really about this city we live in. For a while we wondered if we were actually going to be able to continue living here with all the changes happening, but here we are. “This old town can’t seem to turn around, the waiting is a curse …” Man, it is so fucking good!

“The Future Looks Fine” LadyCouch (2021)

The title track off of the latest LadyCouch record. I remember when this song was written. We were trying to make sense of this situation we’ve been facing as a planet. It can really get you down if you let it. But Allen is such a strong light. He was like, “Life is not perfect right now but it’s fine.” It’s OK to simply be ‘fine.’

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

49

IT’S THE MOST NOT WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

I

t happens once a year. And here we have dove into it. We had no choice. We never do.

After the festivities and bonhomie of the holiday season, here we are, back in Shitville.

Shitville is where everyone lives until Spring. From New Year’s Day until the first day of Spring, nothing happens that’s worth a damn.

Valentine’s Day? Valentine’s Day can piss up a rope. Oh yay, let’s spend a lot of money on roses, a lot of money on a restaurant, spend money at CVS for those little mint hearts that say “Be Mine”, spend money for enough cards for each classmate the rug-rat has multiplied by how many rug-rats you have, get the crappy candy in the heart-shaped box, pay the babysitter, spring for the good wine at dinner, schvitz in your woolen winter suit, pay between one and two C-notes for the whole shebang, and maybe – MAYBE – you get laid. And for what it’s worth, Valentine’s Day falls on a Monday this year. Nobody over 30 gets laid on Monday.

St. Patrick’s Day. Oh boy, another chance for all the amateur drunks to bend their elbows. People who don’t drink regularly should be required by law to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day within the confines of their own houses or gated communities. They don’t drink well because they don’t know-how. Me, I drank well (before I had to stop). You’d never know I was hammered until I stood up to walk. I wasn’t one of those amateur assholes who gets two inches into a green beer and starts laughing like a gassed-up dental patient. Remind me on March 17th to avoid Lower Broad like the plague. I can do without a sea of loud people in green party hats and those “Kiss me! I’m Irish!” buttons. I’m sorry to break it to you Mr. O’Brien, Ms. McSorley; you’re not Irish.

I’ve been to Ireland several times and

50

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022

you’re not even in the same libationary ballpark. Irish people start drinking at the age of five. Go there, try it, step inside a pub in Belfast and belly up to the bar next to a guy whose name really is Paddy. After the first Guinness, he’s your new best friend. After two, you wind up paying for your third while buying him one too, as is his plan. Sometime in that third Guinness everything will go black like the end of the Sopranos finale, and you’ll wake up on the sidewalk soaked in the morning rain with no wallet and no shoes. THAT’S Irish. You’ll be lucky if Paddy doesn’t take your pants. Amateur.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Shitville. I’d like to announce my candidacy for Mayor of Shitville. My first promise I can’t keep is a warm sunny February.

With no rain! No running to the car in a cold downpour with your shoulders hunched up. And that reminds me of something: why do we hunch up our shoulders when walking in the rain? It doesn’t keep you the slightest bit drier to hunch up your shoulders when walking in the rain. I wish the local weathercasters would just be honest in February: “Well Ron, the weekend’s going to suck with a rainy high of 42 and a low you don’t want to think about. Looking to Monday, a high-pressure wave of suck will be moving in from the northwest and the sky will be the color of your grandfather’s underpants. I’ll be back with the extended forecast right after this from Bart Durham.”

“Oh, it can’t be that bad, Tommy. Lighten up!”

Lighten up my ass. You don’t remember Shitville last year? Or Shitville the year before that? Only now do we have the added bonus of masks and social distancing and me playing gigs for seven people who don’t care if they live or die.

But at least we have Groundhog Day, right Tommy? Oh goodie, the morning when they name a poor mistreated varmint Phil and hold its terrified ass up in the air for all the cameras. When it comes up to bigwigs ripping off my top hat vibe gauging how much winter we’ll have left by the sunshine on a mammal that looks like a throw pillow with eyes … You can’t get much more useless outside the halls of Congress. Besides, every day in February IS Groundhog Day. We’re all Bill Murray and when the digits flip to 6 a.m., we hear the same song. Oh yeah, sing a song of Shitville, oh baby yeah yeah.

There is ONE good thing that happens in Shitville though. The weather draws a moratorium on bridal parties on top of busses hollering, “Woo Woo Woo Woo Woo!” Thank God for small favors. See you in the spring.

EAST OF NOR MAL

by Tommy Womack

In case you hadn't noticed, Tommy Womack is allergic to winter. He's also a singer/songwriter and author whose “East of Normal” column appears in each issue. His latest album, I Thought I Was Fine, is available on Schoolkids Records.

marketplace Misty Waters Petak M.S., CFP ®, CLU® Financial Advisor (615) 479-6415 mistypetak.nm.com

NETHERANIUM PHOTOS For the weirdo, for the artist, for the unconventional human

catch me on IG under the same name

January | February 2022 theeastnashvillian.com

51

JEWELRY & ACCESSORIES

NOW OPEN! 1004 Gallatin Ave Nashville, TN 37206 615-249-0203

WWW.KINGBABY.COM 52

theeastnashvillian.com January | February 2022