The East Nashvillian 9.4 March-April 2019 by The East Nashvillian

H I S T O R Y C H A N N E L E D : Louis Buckley

K N O W Y O U R N E I G H B O R : Crete the Cat

A R T I S T I N P R O F I L E : Michael Lapinski

MARCH | APRIL VOL. IX ISSUE 4

Heather Lose is guiding

The Tennessee Conservationist to 21st century sustainability

Nashville’s premier DIY venue

Drkmttr

is reborn on the East Side

Soft Junk Records’

Nic Schurman creates a space where artists can thrive

Steve Earle Steve Earle & The Dukes’ latest record, GUY, pays homage to legendary songwriter Guy Clark

The Breakfast Eight Egg samples from the hungry streets

Tommy Womack's

dust bunnies: a memoir clears out the cobwebs

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Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890). The Wheat Field behind St. Paul’s Hospital, St. Rémy (detail), 1889. Oil on canvas, 9 1/2 x 13 1/4 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 83.26. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Katherine Wetzel

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UPCOMING EVENTS

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Founder & Publisher Lisa McCauley

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We Three

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Calendar Editor

Emma Alford

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Dana Delworth, Warren Denney, James Haggerty, Joelle Herr, Brittney McKenna, Tommy Womack Creative Director

Chuck Allen

Benjamin Rumble Travis Commeau Illustrations

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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.

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COVER STORY

S H IEarle N I N&GTheLDukesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; I K E latest D I Arecord, M O GUY, N D Spays homage to 40 Steve legendary songwriter Guy Clark By Randy Fox

COVER SHOT

Steve Earle Photographed by Eric England

Visit theeastnashvillian.com for updates, news, events, and more!

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FEATURES

AGENT OF GREEN 50 Heather Lose is guiding The Tennessee Conservationist to 21st century sustainability By Leslie LaChance

THE ACCIDENTAL TASTEMAKER 56 Soft Junk Records’ Nic Schurman creates a space where artists can thrive By Warren Denney

THE BREAKFAST EIGHT 68 Egg samples from the hungry streets By Leslie LaChance

THERE, HE WROTE IT 75 Tommy Womack’s dust bunnies: a memoir clears out the cobwebs By Dana Delworth

A QUANTUM LEAP 63 Nashville’s premier DIY venue, Drkmttr, is reborn on the East Side By Brittney McKenna

CONTINUED ON 12

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EAST SIDE BUZZ 17 Matters of Development New Sheriff ’s Office Building Is on the Way Envision Cayce Update Metro Clears Ellington Parkway Homeless Camp Death Row Inmates Paint the Stations of the Cross

COMMENTARY

14 Editor’s Letter 26 Astute Observations 97 East of Normal By Chuck Allen

By James “Hags” Haggerty

IN THE KNOW Your Neighbor 29 Know Crete the Cat By Tommy Womack

Channeled 31 History The Emporer of Grooves By Randy Fox

in Profile 34 Artist Michael Lapinski By Brittney McKenna

77 Bookish A Long Way Down the Holiday Road By Joelle Herr

Photograph by Chuck Allen

81 East Side Calendar By Emma Alford

By Tommy Womack

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PARTING SHOT

Fairwell, friend.

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Editor’s

L E T T E R

For the love of records

n Saturday, April 13, legions of music lovers around the globe will join together in celebration of Record Store Day. According to the Record Store Day website (which contains a trove of valuable information about RSD releases, participating stores, and the like), events will be held on every continent except Antarctica, which for as yet unknown reasons doesn’t have a record store. The genesis of RSD is firmly rooted in the promotion of independent record stores of the brick-and-mortar variety, and the serendipitous vinyl resurgence since RSD’s inception in 2007 has only served to edify its position in the musical firmament. While global in scale, it could be argued that RSD is the preeminent proponent of shopping local. The Great Escape is the grand dame of Nashville’s independent record stores. I worked at the original store — located in Midtown where Division Street splits off of Broadway — back in the early ’80s. It’s where I met Grimey’s New & Preloved Music co-owner Doyle Davis, as well as a host of other music lovers with whom I’m still friends to this day. Making any money was problematic, though; I always blew my check on records. Vinyl records, that is, because even though CDs hit the market in ’82, no one I knew could afford to spend a grand on a player, and the early CDs really were noticably inferior — sonically speaking — to their 12" counterparts. Anyway, a decade or so later I’d gotten into the recording studio business and had a place in Berry Hill. One day while driving down Bransford I noticed a “Grimey’s” sign on a non-descript, mid-century-ranch house and decided to investigate. In I walked and was greeted by hand-me-down display racks filled to the brim with records. Actually, records were everywhere

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— in stacks on the floor, in boxes — there was nothing else in there. “Hello,” I called, and in walks Mike Grimes from the back of the house. “Hey man,” he said wearing his usual wry smile. “I don’t have any room left at my house for records, so I thought I’d open a store and sell some.” I seriously doubt he had any inkling of what his local empire would eventually become; nor did I, for that matter. The point is, Grimey and his partner Doyle do what they do for the love of music. And it shows — in the diverse collection at the new store on Trinity Lane and in the support they give artists. I can’t speak for them, but I would imagine they’d be the first to acknowledge they stand on the shoulders of giants. As Managing Editor and contributing writer Randy Fox’s story “The Emperor of Grooves” explains, independent record stores have had a presence in Nashville for well over a half century. Buckley’s Record Shop — along with Ernie’s Record Mart and Randy’s Record Shop — dominated not only Nashville’s retail-record landscape, but also, through their mail order businesses, the global one. Young British kids with names like John, Paul, George, and Ringo, and Mick and Keith, wouldn’t have had access to the music that inspired them were it not for these early pioneers. Needless to say, the world would be a much different place. So, while you’re out on Record Store Day visiting The Groove or Vinyl Tap or Grimey’s or the Great Escape, it might be worth remembering the fact that independent records stores don’t exist in a vacuum; they didn’t just pop into existence for the benefit of “new” Nashville’s trustafarian crowd. On the contrary, they are steeped in traditions. These traditions have always underpinned everything that’s cool and groovy and musical about our fair city.

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East Side B U Z Z FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ON EVENTS, AS WELL AS LINKS, PLEASE VISIT US AT: THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Matters of Development NEW & NOTEWORTHY The Getalong, a large retail and community event multi-use space located at the Shoppes on Fatherland, opened in February. Permanent shops in the space include Scout Baby, Hoop House, and January Moon. Scout Baby proprietor Jennifer Kite explained the permanent shops will be joined by pop-up stores and special events. “Retail-wise, we’ll have a focus on apparel and accessories for children, moms, and home,” Kite says. “With a rotating schedule of pop-up vendors, activities, and workshops, we’ll truly have something for everyone; books, instruments, house plants, homewares, toys, gifts, and much more. The back half of The Getalong will also be available for birthday parties and get-togethers. In a nutshell, we’re a fun community-minded space with a long list of folks involved, thus The Getalong.” Current scheduled activities include a movers and crawlers yoga class for ages 8 to 18 months and kids yoga for ages 3 and up by Blooma Nashville. Little Art House will be offering art classes for ages 10 months to 6 years. The Getalong is located at 1100 Fatherland St., Ste. 107 and is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., and closed on Mondays. Follow @thegetalong on Instagram for updates and more information. New restaurant Pelican & Pig opened in January. Owned by husband-and-wife team Nick and Audra Guidry, the new eatery joined the Guidry’s other business — bakeshop and café Slow Hand Coffee and tropical lounge The Pearl Diver — in the former auto upholstery shop at 1010 Gallatin Ave. Pelican & Pig focuses on live, wood-fire cooking via a raised brick grill used for everything

from hearth-baking bread, to ash-roasting vegetables, to smoking and grilling meats over embers. Nick leads the kitchen, Audra is the executive pastry chef and runs front-of-house. Pelican & Pig is open Tuesday – Sunday, 5-10 p.m., with a 4-5 p.m. happy hour. Reservation may be placed through their website at pelicanandpig.com. For more information, follow them on Facebook or Instagram @pelicanandpig. Residents of the Greenwood neighborhood won’t have to go far for their coffee fix. Kettner Coffee Supply located at 1045 W. Eastland Ave. is now open for business. Owned by public relations pro Hannah Schneider (of Hannah Schneider Creative and the new BRND House), Kettner is located within The Eastland building, joining established tenants, Darling Salon & Blowout Bar, Peninsula, and The Bookshop. Kettner will serve Nicaraguan coffee from New York City’s Café Integral, premium soft serve ice cream, and a selection of pastries from Sam Tucker of Village Bakery and Provisions. The focus is on a simple menu. “We’re keeping it classic,” says Schneider. “I really want the coffee to speak for itself, so we’re serving a small menu, but are happy to make any special requests if we can service it. As serious as I am about the coffee quality, I also want to serve what people love.” The space offers free high-speed Wi-Fi, local decor from Apple & Oak and Fort Houston, and features a connecting door with The Bookshop so patrons can grab a book cozy up with a coffee. Neighborhood residents will receive a locals’ discount, and Schneider plans to use the space for local community events further down the road. Kettner Coffee Supply is open 7 a.m-3 p.m, seven days a week. For updates visit kettnercoffee.com or follow them on Instagram @kettnercoffeesupply.

Atlanta-based software development company Band of Coders has opened an office in Center 615. According to their website, Band of Coders is, “an elite team of product managers, software architects, and developers who partner with business executives to build their next successful product.” The new operation is in the hands of Nashville native, Joseph Banta, who has more than 22 years of experience in software engineering and has served the Middle Tennessee community for his entire professional career. Plans call for it to employ up to 20 people. Also new to the neighborhood: TriStar Health opened its new CareNow® Urgent Care location in February. Ready to serve patients in the East Nashville community, the new clinic is located at 1214 Gallatin Ave., Ste. 101. LabCanna, a Nashville based CBD company, has opened their first brick-and-mortar store on 1006 Gallatin Ave. The liquidation company Suite Upgrades, Inc. has teamed up with Davis Cabinet Co. to share space in the Davis Cabinet warehouse located at 505 Crutcher St. The combined stores will be open five days each month for shoppers interested in the liquidated hotel furniture or cabinetry. For upcoming sale dates, check daviscabinetcompany.com. CLOSES & MOVES The East Nashvillian staff and longtime East Side residents were especially saddened by the news that Edgefield Sports Bar & Grill, the laid-back watering hole and East Nashville staple at 921 Woodland St., will close in early summer. For over two decades, Edgefield Sports Bar & Grill has been greeting regulars with their favorite libations, serving up burgers from their well-seasoned grill and playing host to March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

East Side B U Z Z a constant parade of old friends, local politicians, musicians, celebrities, and curious visitors to the Music City (as detailed in our feature story on Edgefield’s history in our November | December 2018 issue). Edgefield owner Charlie “Buzz” Edens says he will not seek a new location once his lease expires. Whether you’re a grizzled vet or have never enjoyed the authentic taste of an Edgefield burger, now is the time to say your farewell to this East Side institution. Speaking of sad farewells, beloved record store and DIY music venue, Fond Object closed up shop on February 17, followed by a farewell show on Saturday, March 2. The final bill was an all-star parade of local talent including Olivia Jean, Black Venus, Country Westerns, Tim Easton, Steve Forrest and the A-OKs, Chet Jameson, Dylan Lee Johnston, The Medium, Modern Convenience, Schizos, The Shitdels, and Teddy and the Rough Riders. Fond Object co-founder and co-owner, Jem Cohen, brought the curtain down with an inspirational message on Twitter, writing, “Don’t just sit at home complaining on Facebook, get up and do something positive and creative for your community and neighborhood. Start a local business, support local businesses, attend community meetings,

and get involved with local politics. You can make positive change happen, I’ve seen it first hand, and it’s truly incredible what a community can do when it comes together to effect change.” Turnip Green Creative Reuse, formerly located at 945 Woodland St. in the Five Points neighborhood, has reopened at 407 Houston St. in the Wedgewood Houston area. The unique non-profit reuse store is designed to divert usable material from landfills for creative endeavors through innovative programming, retail, and community education. Turnip Green opened for business in 2011 and has spent the last two years at the Woodland Street location. “We always knew there was a possibility of the building selling and us having to move out, so we were mentally prepared in that sense,” says Leah Sherry, executive director for Turnip Green Creative Reuse. “Our goal for quite some time has been to invest in our future by owning a building rather than leasing, so our building committee hit it hard last year working with realtors and property managers to explore buildings all over the city. We met regularly, especially when we received word we had to be out of our Woodland Street location.”

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The new location offers 4,500 square feet of space and is close to several galleries. “It was a natural fit,” Sherry says. “We will miss our [East Nashville] home, but we’ll still have our Green Gallery at Eastside Station at 803 Woodland St., so we’ll definitely still be a part of the amazing things happening in East!” For more information visit turnipgreencreativereuse.org or follow Turnip Green Creative Reuse on Facebook. COMING SOON Executive Chef Bryan Lee Weaver, known for his work at the Main Street favorite Butcher & Bee, is making headway on the highly-anticipated new restaurant, Red Headed Stranger. Butcher & Bee’s website describes the forthcoming eatery as, “A casual Southwestern taco shop in East Nashville, where Hatch green chilis, homemade tortillas, and outlaw country music feed the soul.” Named after Willie Nelson’s classic 1975 album, Red Headed Stranger is set to open this year at 305 Arrington St. in McFerrin Park. A key construction permit was recently granted with the build-out to proceed in the space formerly occupied by Meridian Street Café. Former East Nashvillian Business of the Year, Powell Architecture and Building Studio, have designed the space, marking the second time Powell has worked with Chef Weaver and Butcher & Bee owner Michael Shemtov. Currently there’s no official opening date for Red Headed Stranger, but for updates, follow their Facebook page. Manuel Delgado recently announced an expansion to his Delgado Guitars shop at 919 Gallatin Ave. Ste. 10. The expansion into a neighboring space (Suite 9) not only provides more room for the handcrafting of custom string instruments, repair, and restoration work and a larger retail space but will also serve as a music venue, radio production studio for Gina Frary-Bacon’s internet-radio show The Sit Down, and more. “Originally, we were going to have the downstairs area be more of a storefront where we’d have our instruments hanging, a couple of rooms in the back where we’d offer music lessons, and give Gina a home where she could broadcast her radio show from once a week in the evenings,” Delgado says. “Then it started morphing into more. Now we’re putting a stage in there, which Maker’s Mark is helping us with the building and wrapping of the stage, and we’re going to host writers’ rounds, album releases, showcases, and more.” The new location will be called The Music Makers’ Stage at Delgado Guitars and will feature approximately 1,700 square feet of space on two floors. All renovations

East Side B U Z Z are expected to be completed in the next few months with a projected opening date in the early summer. Business hours for the music store area will be 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday – Friday, and will be open in the evenings for other events. For updates visit delgadoguitars.com or follow Delgado Guitars on Facebook. The locally based Mexican restaurant chain Cinco de Mayo is slated to open a location in the Lockeland Springs neighborhood at 1313A Woodland St., an address that was once home to the popular brunch destination Mad Donna’s. “They will be moving from their Cummins Station location and can’t wait to open in East Nashville,” says Liz Gatlin, owner of locally based architecture and real estate firm Southern Athena, who handled the leasing of the Woodland Street building. “They should be open before June if all goes well. They’re completing renovations to the building to get it up and running quickly and have already applied for permits. The side patio is also going to be opened up to become a more inviting, vibrant outdoor space.” Before Mad Donna’s, the two-story, stone building housed Radio Cafe in various incarnations from the mid-’90s through 2007. (Radio Cafe reopened in 2016 at 4150 Gallatin Pike.) Following an extensive renovation, Mad Donna’s opened in 2008, but closed its doors without public notice in December 2016. The short-lived Wylee’s Café & Bar immediately took over the space, but was only open for only two months before shuttering in February 2017. The building has remained empty since that time. According to the Nashville Post, the owners of Cilantro Mexican Grill have purchased the equipment and lease for the former Five Points Cocina at 972 Main St. Remodeling of the interior and outdoor patio has begun, and the new tenants plan on remaining open during renovation. The new location will be called Cilantro Mexican Grill at Five Points, and upgrades to the building should be finished in early April. Hugh Baby’s BBQ and Burger Shop, known for their simple Tennessee and Mississippi-roots inspired menu, is slated to set up shop in Fresh Hospitality’s soon-to-open Hunters Station food court located at 975 Main St. According to the Nashville Post, a permit, valued at $184,200, has been issued to allow for the build-out of the approximately 860-square-foot space. Nashville-based Biscan Construction is handling general contracting work, and Pittsburgh-based Strada Architecture and Nashville-based Remick Moore Architect have been enlisted for design work. The new location will be the fourth Hugh Baby’s, joining the original spot

at 4101 Charlotte Ave., the 3001 West End Ave. location, and a recently opened spot in Berry Hill. Locally-based and James Beard Award-winning chef, Sean Brock, known for his work with Husk, is set to open a restaurant in the McFerrin Park neighborhood. Work has begun on a 10,000-square-foot industrial building located at 809 Meridian St., which was once the home of Jack Ward & Sons Plumbing. The currently nameless, two-story restaurant will have a casual dining room on the ground floor and a 26-seat restaurant on the second floor. The building will combine a modern Japanese aesthetic with elements of an old-fashioned Appalachian tobacco barn. The ground-floor dining room, built around an open kitchen, will offer modestly-priced fare while the 26-seat upstairs restaurant upstairs will take on a different direction, and feature a stand-alone cocktail bar. A portion of all restaurant proceeds will be donated to the Heirloom Foundation, which is a nonprofit focused on improving quality of life for culinary professionals. The restaurant is slated to open in winter 2019-20. In the meantime, Chef Brock is appearing in the sixth season of Netflix’s Chef ’s Table, which premiered on Feb. 22.

Friendly Arctic Printing and Design will be opening a second location this summer called The Friendly Arctic at 1004 Gallatin Ave. The new site will serve as a sales office, retail storefront, and special events location for the Greenwood neighborhood and the surrounding areas. “This particular location is around the corner from our current space at 1045 Granada Ave., which is convenient, to say the least,” says Tom Oakes, head of sales and marketing for Friendly Arctic. “It’d be hard to pass up on such a great opportunity for foot traffic as Gallatin Avenue continues to develop.” With this new space, The Friendly Arctic will offer its own retail products, including t-shirts screen printed and designed in-house and screen-printed posters from many local concerts and events, designed by co-owner/ artist Andy Bird. Clients of the print shop, including local bands, clothing lines, artists, and designers, will also have an opportunity to sell their products through the Gallatin Avenue storefront on consignment. The retail location will also serve as a special events space with a generous, fenced courtyard in the back. For more information, visit friendlyarcticprinting.com or follow them on Instagram @friendlyarctic.

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East Side B U Z Z Dr. Jay B. Burton and his wife Sarah of SmileMaker Orthodontics will be expanding their East Nashville location from the rented space they currently occupy at East Side Smiles to a new space at the corner of Gallatin Pike and East Trinity Lane in a mixed-use building that is currently under construction. “Our grand opening target date is in May, but that depends on when the construction is complete,” Sarah Burton says. Dr. Jay B. Burton is a Tennessee native who grew up a couple of hours outside of Nashville in McKenzie. After completing his orthodontic residency at New York University in Manhattan, Burton and his wife Sarah made the move to Tennessee. For more information on SmileMaker and updates on the new location visit smilemaker.com or follow them on Facebook. Dr. Brian Rogers of Resolution Eye Care will be taking over the space at 960 Woodland St. recently vacated by Rudy’s Barbershop. A Kentucky native and graduate of Indiana University School of Optometry, Dr. Rogers practiced in corporate settings until 2017, when he conceived the idea of Resolution Eye Care. “I chose the name based on the idea of resolve,” Dr. Rogers says. “I resolve to put the good of the patient before profit. I resolve to listen to each patient and understand each patient is unique. It’s an ethical commitment, and it’s basically the heart of everything I’m doing. I resolve to do what most doctors do, try to treat patients fairly and without discrimination.” Resolution Eye Care is set to be open sometime this spring. For updates, follow Resolution Eye Care online at resolutioneyecare.com or on Facebook. Hawkers Asian Street Fare, a Florida-based Asian restaurant chain with a street food-based model, recently announced plans to take over the former Family Wash location at 626 Main St. A. According to the Hawkers website, they base their inspiration on the traditional street food served from hawker stalls in Southeast Asia with such offerings as dumplings, crisp pork belly, spicy curries, steamed buns, street tacos, and more. Hawkers is slated to open on an undisclosed date this year. Wade Kemp, owner of Inglewood vape shop, Hokus Pokus Vapor at 4118 Gallatin Pike, recently announced plans to convert the corner space next to the vape shop into a pinball room. “We’ll have five or six [pinball machines] and a change machine,” Kemp says. “The space isn’t big enough for high volume. This is a place for those that want to play pinball and don’t want to be bothered. You may want to come into the shop, pick up a bottle

of juice, and then go next door to play a few dollars in pinball.” The pinball arcade is set to open sometime between mid-March and the beginning of April. For updates, follow Hokus Pokus on Facebook. Nashville-based building services company ZMX Inc. recently began construction on a 71-unit condominium located at 1041 E. Trinity Lane. The project is their

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third in the East Trinity corridor, following the recently completed Edison and Trinity Commons Townhomes. The four-story building will focus on 470 to 550-squarefoot studio and 750 to 900-square-foot one-bedroom residences with starting prices of $160,000. David Latimer, CEO & Founder of New Frontier Tiny Homes, recently announced

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East Side B U Z Z plans to construct a tiny house hotel on Riverside Drive. The homes constructed by New Frontier range from 150 to 400 square feet and Latimer told WTVF-TV that the hotel will help introduce newcomers to the tiny house space. More information at newfrontiertinyhomes.com. Have any Matters of Development you'd like us to consider? Send us an email: liz@theeastnashvillian.com

New Sheriff’s Office Building Is on the Way

Demolition of the Jerry Newson Training Center at 710 S. Fifth St. is taking place to make room for the future Davidson County Sheriff’s Office building. At this time no finalized images have been released, and the Mayor’s Office and Sheriff’s Office haven’t announced a groundbreaking date. The DCSO property resides within Metro Councilman Brett Withers District 6. “The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office will consolidate several operations into the new facility once it is completed,” Withers says. “These should account for about 250 jobs total.” Withers supported a resolution approving the selection of the site as the future home of the DCSO headquarters after meeting with Sheriff Darron Hall. Withers encouraged Hall to work with the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency in order to prioritize the mentoring, training, and hiring of Cayce residents for new DCSO job openings for which they might be eligible. “Another factor that I considered was that the parcel across Summer Place from this location is prioritized for a future grocery store in the Envision Cayce Master Plan,” Withers continues. “Having an office building housing 250 jobs, and fairly heavy county-wide vehicle traffic counts located across the street, will help to make that site more attractive to a future grocery store tenant in order to strengthen the marketing, and potentially speed up the timeline for signing a lease with a potential grocery store operator. On the whole, I believe that bringing a $20M public-sector investment to South Fifth Street will help to encourage private investment along that corridor, and I’m already beginning to see signs of success in that endeavor. It also appears to be increasingly likely that Metro Government could make additional public-sector investments nearby for new Public Works or other Metro Department buildings and facilities in the coming years. Those are preliminary and long-range ideas.”

Envision Cayce Update

The Metro Development and Housing Agency recently released two images of Boscobel III, one of the new residential buildings set to be part of Envision Cayce, a planning process focused on revitalizing Cayce Place (Nashville’s largest public housing property, which is located on 63 acres in East Nashville). Boscobel I (consisting of three buildings) is due for completion by the end of 2019, and Boscobel II (two buildings and 13 townhomes) is scheduled for completion by early 2020. Boscobel III will join them by the end of 2020. Plans call for Boscobel III to sit at the northeast corner of the intersection of South Seventh and Lenore streets, across from the parking lot of the Martha O’Bryan Center and the new Explore! Community School campus. Dew Street will be reconfigured to extend past its current cul-de-sac end and continue west to South Sixth Street. The building will feature a private terrace, covered parking, and a new playground area located along the newly constructed Dew Street extension. Jamie Berry, director of communications for Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, says, “Explore! Community School,

currently grades kindergarten through third, is relocating to the Cayce campus next to the Martha O’Bryan Center. The facility is being built for grades kindergarten through eighth. The exterior of the school and interior for grades kindergarten through fifth are set to be complete by the start of the fall semester. The second and final phase, which is the interior for the sixth through eighth classrooms, is set to be complete before the end of the year.” Envision Cayce’s second residential construction and first mixed-income development is Kirkpatrick Park. “Phase I of Kirkpatrick Park is scheduled to open in early March, with all four phases completed by summer,” Berry says. “This is MDHA’s first mixed-income development for Envision Cayce. A total of 36 units are set aside for Cayce Place residents. There are also 20 workforce units for individuals and families earning 80 to 120 percent of the area median income, and 38 market rate units.” More information about workforce and market-rate units at Kirkpatrick Park is available at kirkpatrickpark.com. Information on the Envision Cayce project is available through the Metropolitan and Development Housing Agency website at nashville-mdha.org/envision-cayce-2.

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

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theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

East Side B U Z Z Metro Clears Ellington Parkway Homeless Camp

On February 19, 2019, Metro cleared the large homeless encampment beneath the Ellington Parkway overpasses near the intersection of Fifth Street and Main Street. According to outreach workers with Open Table Nashville, the camp’s residents were given a 30-day warning, and most had vacated the property by the time the bulldozers arrived. Mayor David Briley issued a statement that the camp was closed due to concerns over colder weather and flooding due to extremely heavy rainfall during the preceding month, and that no residents of the camp were arrested. Open Table Nashville countered with a statement on their Facebook page, attributing the “sweep” to a desire the clear the area of homeless individuals before the upcoming NFL Draft, to be held at Nissan Stadium on April 25-27, 2019. Their statement also noted that many of the former inhabitants of the camp had moved on to other camps, while others were able to enter programs or receive bus tickets home, and that in the last year, at least nine other residents moved into permanent housing.

faith communities, and concerned citizens in order to end mass incarceration in the State of Tennessee, restore families, and rebuild communities.” Vicar Bennett credits inmate Derrick Quintero as the person who spearheaded the project and worked to include all those in A-2 pod, where death row inmates reside, who wished to participate.

The display of the scrolls coincides with the season of Lent. After an initial display on Ash Wednesday, March 6, the scrolls will be available for viewing March 13 from 3-6 p.m. and on March 15 from 6-8 p.m., with Vicar Bennett present for community dialogue. —Liz Foster & Randy Fox

Death Row Inmates Paint the Stations of the Cross

Rosebank neighborhood Memorial Lutheran Church, in collaboration with inmates at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison, the nonprofit organization No Exceptions Prison Collective, and Borderland Mission, is hosting a community-wide viewing of the 12 Stations of the Cross. This exhibit will feature canvas scrolls that are hand-drawn and painted by inmates who live on death row at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison. “I learned of the scrolls last year during my work with the men living on death row,” Vicar Dawn Bennett of the East Nashville Memorial Lutheran Church says. “As part of my social justice ministry work, I’m always seeking out ways to educate the citizens of Nashville about the ways in which we live in society together. Most notably, it was the inmates at Riverbend who chose to collaborate with each other on the scrolls as a way to not only practice their faith but to also give back to their community by contributing artwork that carries a very powerful message.” According to their website, No Exceptions Prison Collection “is an interfaith prison ministry … led by both those living outside and inside the Tennessee prison system who collaborate with other prisoners, family members and loved ones of prisoners, local and national organizations, March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

Astute O B S E R V A T I O N S

A Confession in Ones and Zeros B Y J A M E S “ H A G S ” H A G G E R T Y

Hags is a a full-time bass player, shepherd of the sourdough, and goodwill ambassador for The East Nashvillian.

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

Illustration by

s it really 2019 already? As is customary at this time of year, I am looking inward; reflecting, if you will. The unexamined life is not worth living and so on. I think you dig what I’m driving at. The thing is, friends, my inward journey has led me to the realization I have become that which I’ve long despised. I have turned on my own ideals. I am a sellout, a turncoat, a traitor guilty of treasonous behavior. I am the Benedict Arnold of analog audio. I am the Sammy “The Bull” Gravano of the Grado, as it were. Bless me, Father Thorens, for I have sinned. It has been quite some time since I last placed a record upon your platter. That’s right, me, Mr. Vintage Tube Hi-Fi Guy has sold out to the man. I am waiting for Neil Young to show up at my door with a cease and desist letter. I’ve gone from analog boy to digital man. What’s next? Consciousness-upload to the cloud a la Ray Kurzweil? Each time I turn on my streaming device, my beautiful German precision turntable beckons to me in shock as if to say, “Et tu, Hags?” As I peruse the amorphous high-resolution files on my 4-terabyte hard drive, my LP brush and stylus cleaner, neglected and forgotten in the material world, pine for my touch and the good old days of daily sonic utility. My meticulously engineered Swiss reel-to-reel machine sits motionless while I callously parade around the house with some chick named Alexa? Is there such a thing as an audiophile midlife crisis? It seems so in my case. What have I done with my (listening) life? I’ve gone and traded in the old model for a sexy new chippie with a cute little place in the ether to which I surf. Look at me! I’m a surfer now! I’ve been seduced. I’ve strayed, and I can’t seem to stop. Tidal is my sporty

red convertible. Digital audio is my balding ponytail, stupid earring, and lightning-bolt bowling shirt all rolled into one. All those years I spent curating and collecting those first-pressing Beatles and Zeppelin albums, what was it all for? They sit like a book upon a shelf, singing their blues and crying for no one, respectively. My hot stampers have grown cold, and it’s nobody’s fault but mine. In spite of all this guilt and shame, I still press that button and sink into my Eames chair with a fresh beverage to browse the HD tracks. What has become of me? Am I digital junkie? Is there a program? Probably so, but I don’t want to stop, for I’ve succumbed to almighty convenience. I am like a diabolical genius in my top-secret hi-fi lair. I execute my sonic whims from a touch screen. Like a musical Veruca Salt, I sit on my mid-century throne and rub my greedy little hands together — that is if I’m not already twirling my mustache and laughing maniacally while touch-screening in a blur and screaming, “I want that one!” as a wave of zeroes and ones washes over my ears, ministering blindly to my every whim and fancy. All hail the king! Wow. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Better out than in, as they say. Somehow, in writing it down to share with you, it’s as if my shame has lifted. I thought admitting my sonic sins would shame me and bring me to my senses, but the effect is quite the opposite. It is freeing! No more hiding. No more guilt. I’m free to do what I want any old time! Fear not, dear reader. I know in time this newness will fade, and the warmth and lovely goodness of my records will welcome me home with their unconditional groove. The reel-to-reel will spin, dervish-like, and analog beauty will once again fill my home. This isn’t an audio crisis; it is source maturity!

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

KNOW your NEIGHBOR

“O

PH OTOGR AP H BY C HAD CR AW FOR D

ne time I saw Crete chilling in the dumpster alley. A mouse ran past, but he didn’t bother to go after it … too busy eating a slice of Five Points Pizza. We became friends after years of crossing paths. All it took was a chicken wing.” Todd Sherwood, of The 5 Spot

CRETE the cat

of Wags & Whiskers says, “more places to hide.” No confirmation has come but the preponderance of evidence suggests they By Tommy Womack had to leave their previous home under suspicious circumstances, this bolstered by the fact that Crete — who takes a long time to warm up to people — isn’t talking. Like most (if not all) cats, Crete refuses Cats, as Garrison Keillor to talk to the press, and best as once mused, are a beautiful anyone can tell, he can neither reminder that not everyread nor write. thing has a function. Of Crete is feral, as was his course, this isn’t too fair. mom, and when she died, it Some cats are mousers, excited the urge amongst the ever-mindful that where local humans to care for the there is a dumpster, there orphaned little guy — aloof is a tasty rodent. Some cats, and skittish as he was. Trish however, let the mice go Brantley of Hip Zipper and by, sitting sphinxlike, alone Amanda Beaty of Wags & with their thoughts (such as Whiskers have been heavily cats have them). involved in his well-being One thing, however, ever since capturing him unites all members of the many years back; the noble Felis genus: they stake a terpurpose of this intrusion ritory. What’s theirs is theirs, upon his independence being and other cats had best not to take him to the vet and encroach. Their constant have him neutered and vaccinated. Over time little mirpurring is not just a mouth acles happened, like the day thing; that’s just where the he came up and ate the food noise comes out. Purring is left for him, or when he first a vibration that ripples their let Amanda get near enough muscles from stem to stern, to him to scratch his head, or keeping them in constant the first day he deigned to taut physical shape and ready come into one of the stores. to spring into action against Somewhere near 17 years any interloper instantly, even old, Crete eschews mice in after four hours of doing absolutely nothing. favor of the many other culinary treats available in Five Crete is an elderly Points. He appears to enjoy Chartreux, best as anyone the attention and TLC, alcan tell; a gray, sedate, elder though, like most cats, he is statesman with tawny touches loathe to admit it. Either Amanda or Trish to his fur when seen in the (or some other concerned party) do their sun. His fiefdom is the alley that runs behind The 5 Spot on Forrest Street, where best to make sure he’s inside for the night. the adjacent stores Wags & Whiskers and “But he’s a rebel,” Kirt says, “he doesn’t always want to come in.” Hip Zipper have their front doors. On this Whatever the circumstances that asphalt haven of dumpsters, improvised brought Mom and Crete to the alley, he doesn’t seem inclined to parking spaces, and cigarette butts, Crete makes his home. As often spread his territory and stick his nose into the tawdry excesses of the as not he can be found inside Wags & Whiskers, in a room behind feline underworld. The lucrative bootleg catnip and leftover Star-Kist the counter, on a low shelf, regally reclining on a maroon velour rackets don’t seem to hold an attraction for him. He appears, in a pillow. If anywhere can be specifically pinpointed to be his mailing word, content. Crete doubtless knows that, in the increasingly upscale address, this is it, while also saying that he often goes upstairs to the Five Points milieu, he’s lucky to be grandfathered into the neighborHip Zipper and hangs out there on the couch, receiving visitors with hood, living on kitty rent control if you will. He appears to be healthy, mellow indifference. especially for his age, and happy to be where he is, maybe even enjoyCrete (named for sporting a coloring not dissimilar to concrete) ing the affections of those who have adopted him and christened him showed up in 2004 along with his mother, whom he declines to the coolest cat this side of the river. name. “It was more grown-over in the alley back then,” Kirt Littrell

Meow, meow. Meow, meow, meow.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

HISTORY

Channeled B Y RA N DY F O X

The Emperor of Grooves The ballad of Louis Buckley, forgotten record king of Nashville

he recent opening of the relocated Grimey’s New & Preloved Music on Trinity Lane brought excitement and buzz to the East Side’s record collecting community, while the closing of Fond Object is a reminder of the precarious nature of the record trade even in the midst of the 21st century vinyl revival. With Record Store Day 2019 approaching on April 13, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the history of Nashville’s once and mostly forgotten record king, Louis Buckley. Buckley’s ascension to the throne began in 1929, at the age of 19. Having arrived in Nashville from his native Allensville, Kentucky a year earlier, Buckley was working at the downtown men’s wear store, Burk & Co., when he stumbled upon a business opportunity: 10 Seeburg jukeboxes, located in a handful of black diners and the brothels that lined the street behind the Tennessee State Capitol building. Borrowing $800 from his employer, Buckley entered the jukebox business — servicing the machines on his off hours and storing surplus records beneath his bed at the hostel where he resided. At the time jukeboxes were in their infancy. Early models were subject to frequent mechanical failures, but as the technology improved during the 1930s, the business rapidly expanded, and Buckley’s early investment paid big dividends in just a few years. In 1936, Buckley opened a small shop on Second Avenue for storing and repairing jukeboxes, renting phonographs, and selling used records. Three years later, he moved to a larger space on Eighth Avenue North near Demonbreun Street where he began selling new records. Although jukeboxes were Buckley’s primary focus, there's a strong argument that his Eighth Avenue shop was Nashville’s first dedicated record store. By 1946, new record sales were booming, and Buckley began advertising on DJ Gene Noble’s late-night broadcasts of rhythm and blues records on radio station WLAC’s powerful 50,000-watt clear channel signal. Initially, Buckley simply advertised his retail store, but based on a suggestion from Nobles, Buckley began offering mail-order grab bags of surplus records. Orders poured in for the discount specials, many with additional orders for the records played on Nobles’ show. This new world of mail order record retailing soon transformed Buckley’s shop and his two Middle Tennessee competitors — Ernie’s Record Mart in Nashville and Randy’s Record Shop in Gallatin — into the largest record retailers in the world, shipping millions of discs

to homes throughout the US and around the globe. Inspired by their success, country star Ernest Tubb launched a record shop in 1947, following a similar marketing model by advertising on Nashville’s other 50,000-watt powerhouse station, WSM. Ernie’s and Randy’s parlayed their mail order success into influential record labels (Excello and Dot, respectively). Buckley chose to expand his retail locations in Nashville. In 1947, he moved to a larger location at 1707 Church St. For the next 15 years, the re-branded “Buckley’s Discount Record Shop” dominated the local market, selling thousands of R&B, pop, jazz, country, and rock ’n’ roll records to Nashville music fans. In February 1962, Buckley’s largest expansion came with the opening of a new location in Harveys department store in downtown Nashville. Founded in 1942 by Fred Harvey, Harveys quickly became a giant Nashville retailer, occupying an entire block of Church Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. More than just a store, shopping at Harveys was an experience. The downtown location featured Nashville’s first escalators, a working carousel, elaborate holiday displays, and “The Monkey Bar,” a large, in-store restaurant featuring live monkeys in cages over the lunch counter. The Buckley-operated Harveys Record Shop was located on the ground floor at the Fifth Avenue corner and featured more than 2,000 square feet of retail space, stocking over 10,000 singles and nearly 7,000 LPs, making it the largest record shop in Nashville. The 10-day grand opening featured in-store appearances by a parade of country and pop stars along with live broadcasts on WLAC. The success of the new Harveys Record Shop led to a second location in the Harveys store in the Madison Square Shopping Center, northeast of downtown Nashville. Opening in September 1962, the shop became the premier record supplier for East Side neighborhoods. With three locations, Buckley solidified his position as the Record King of Nashville by offering deeply discounted prices on hit singles and albums, a practice that sparked a short but fierce price war in Nashville, making front page headlines in Billboard during the spring of 1962. Flush from his success and aware of recent R&B chart successes on the Excello label, Louis Buckley launched Buckley Records in 1962, with “She Wears My Ring” by Nashville R&B crooner and songwriter Jimmy Sweeney. The single fizzled on the charts and Buckley quickly returned to selling records rather than manufacturing them. →

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

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Clockwise from top right: Louis Buckley (third from right)with patrons during one of the many promotional events held at Buckley's; Mel Tillis greets a fan during an in-store appearance; “Whisperin’” Bill Anderson shakes hands with Buckley outside the Broadway store. Photographer: Bill Goodman Courtesy: Nashville Public Library, Special Collections Special thanks to Beth Odle, Nashville Public Library & Brenda Colladay, Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum

The next few years constituted a golden age for record retailing. With the arrival of the Beatles on American shores in 1964, the record business boomed at an unprecedented rate. In October 1966, Buckley opened a second standalone Buckley’s Record Shop at 410 Broadway, directly across the street from Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop. Buckley also became a major sponsor of the Grand Ole Opry on WSM, providing direct competition with Ernest Tubb’s mail order operation. But Louis Buckley’s reign as the Record King of Nashville was drawing to a close. Fred Harvey had severely underestimated the success of the expanded Harveys Record Shop and chafed as thousands of records flew out the door while Harveys received only a small percentage of sales revenue. In November 1967, Buckley’s contract with Harveys ended and the department store signed a new deal with Atlanta-based record distributor Sound Marketing to manage all of the chain’s record departments, along with a much larger portion of the profits for Harveys. Buckley retained his two standalone shops: The Church Street store that primarily focused on soul and rock, and the Broadway store that catered to country music fans. As the 1970s dawned, competition arrived via new, local chains Port O’Call and Cat’s Records, as well as the national chain invasion of shopping malls, shifting the focus of record retailing to the suburbs. On September 22, 1973, tragedy struck Buckley’s Church Street location. Long-time shop employee Iva Lee Burchfield was murdered during a robbery and attempted rape. In the aftermath, Buckley closed the store, bringing an end to over two decades of record retailing at the location. The Broadway location of Buckley’s Record Shop soldiered on until Louis Buckley’s retirement in January 1976. In addition to closing the store and selling the property, Louis Buckley attracted national attention from record aficionados by placing his personal collection of over 100,000 78’s and 150,000 45’s up for sale. Collectors flocked to Nashville from around the country to grab up the early and rare country, R&B, and rock ’n’ roll discs, providing Louis Buckley and his wife a healthy retirement. By the time of Louis Buckley’s death on April 25, 1985, at the age of 74, the former Record King of Nashville and the kingdom that he ruled were a fading memory, but for one important footnote. In the summer of 1992, Mary Mancini opened Lucy’s Record Shop at 1707 Church St., the former home of Buckley’s Discount Record Shop. For the next six years, the small store and all-ages music venue served as a crossroads for Nashville’s punk and indie rock scene, attracting national attention and sowing the seeds of future stores and DIY venues. Proving that like a record, there’s always a B-Side, and it only requires a re-set of the needle to start the music again.

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

ARTIST

I N

P R O F I L E

Michael

lapinski Animated Visions

By Brittney McKenna

i ART WOR K T HI S AND FAC IN G PAG E S COU RT ESY MI CHAE L LAP I N SKY

Photography Tr a v i s C o m m e a u

← Michael Lapinsky at home with the menagerie of characters he’s directed, along with his Emmy Award | Opening Title Design for Sesame Street’s “Elmo the Musical.” They include (clockwise from top left): Blake the Buck from Blake Shelton’s “Doing It to Country Songs” | Little Bird from Sesame Street’s “When You Wish Upon a Pickle” | The Llama from Hunter Hayes’ “One Shot!” | Bird from Sesame Street’s “The Magical Wand Chase” (on Lapinski’s elbow) | a Honker from Sesame Street’s “When You Wish Upon a Pickle” | Hummingbird for an AstraZeneca commercial | Pete “the Meat” Kaplan from “Passion Roxx.” This page is Fat Blue from Sesame Street’s “When You Wish Upon a Pickle.” Rocker and llama illustrations by Ashley Malone.

f you grew up watching Nickelodeon (or have kids who did), there’s a good chance you’ve encountered the work of Michael Lapinski. The Nashville-based artist, who now calls local digital animation and CGI studio Magnetic Dreams his professional home base, was the lead digital designer on “Blue’s Clues” — the wildly popular children’s television show, which ran from 1996 to 2006 and earned nine Emmy nominations. If you weren’t hip to “Blue’s Clues,” the odds are still good you’ve already encountered Lapinski’s work on a number of popular animation properties including “Doug” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” He also co-created the comic book series “Feeding Ground,” directed commercials for Firestone and the Tennessee Lottery, directed music videos (including one for Blake Shelton) — and those are just a few of the many projects Lapinski’s had a hand in since beginning his career. “Pretty early on I realized [art] was something I wanted to do for a living,” Lapinski says. “[I was] a fan of ‘Sesame Street’ and ‘The Muppet Show.’ Jim Henson was one of the first people I recognized as being the artist behind the work that I liked. It dawned on me that there was a guy who actually did this. That was what let me know, initially, that this was something I could turn into my life.” Lapinski got his start as a professional artist at Jumbo Pictures, painting cels (short for celluloid, the transparent film on which animation frames were painted prior to the digital age) for Disney’s version of the animated series “Doug,” which ran on ABC from 1996 to 1999. The job (which began as an internship while he was a graphic design student at Rutgers University) was a dream come true for Lapinski.

“For me, [working at Jumbo] was one of those amazing steps to realizing it was something I could do,” he says. “They were still doing cel painting at the time, so for me, it was a step into the animation world as I knew it to be. I was learning Photoshop at the time, and it was crucial because the studio went digital soon after [I started]. I was one of the first people there who knew the program and made it my first job, essentially going right from college into that studio. … It was amazing realizing, too, that it was this new era of television animation.” While working at Jumbo, Lapinski had a fortuitous night out. While at a show by the shock art rock band, The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, Lapinski ran into a co-worker, who told him about an opening at “Blue’s Clues.” “I think it’s so ironic that it led to working on ‘Blue’s Clues,’” Lapinski says, laughing. “The show was already in production for a season or two, but that was really crucial in terms of bringing animation [work] back to America. A lot of the 2-D stuff had been done overseas and, with the Adobe Suite, we were able to get the entire production pipeline back into the studio in the States.” Lapinski stuck around at Nickelodeon for several years, describing the network’s Manhattan studio as one of New York City’s great hubs for animation. From there, he moved across the river to Dancing Diablo in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood, where he did color work for a version of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” “That was another leap,” he says. “I had been working on pre-school shows up until that point, and I had to refine my background painting skills and learn to work in a style that was pretty removed from the kid stuff we had been doing.” →

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

ARTIST I N

P R O F I L E

ALL A RT WOR K T HI S AN D FACI NG PAG E S COU RT ESY MI CHAE L LAP I NS KY

Above and right: Pages from the comic book "Feeding Ground."

An animation frame from the video for Hunter Hayes’ “OneShot!” Characters by Ashley Malone, background by Michael Lapinski. theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

ARTIST I N

P R O F I L E

An animation frame from the video for Hunter Hayes’ “OneShot!” Illustrated by Keith Conroy, digital painting by Michael Lapinski.

The Sesame Street background from the opening credits to the HBO special “When You Wish Upon a Pickle.” Bird on lower left of page 39 is concept art from Sesame Street’s “The Magical Wand Chase.”

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

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ART WORK COURTE SY M ICH AE L LAPINSKY

ARTIST I N

Lapinski says that his early career path found him, “hitting these moments just at the right time — knowing the right software for these major changes that determined what jobs were even available,” strokes of luck (and talent, no doubt) that bolstered his ability to work on such acclaimed projects at a young age. During his studio days, when work was scarce, he still found his way to compelling, inventive projects. “Back in my Nickelodeon days, a friend of mine told me about an idea for a movie about werewolves on the U.S.-Mexico border,” he says. “I knew there wasn’t going to be a chance for him to make this movie, because it was pretty big in scope, but I was on break and had always loved comics. Alongside working on animated projects, I always had the idea to do a comic. And this was a chance to pitch that.” Lapinski and his friend, Swifty Lang, pitched the comic, “Feeding Ground,” at Comic-Con 2009 and sold the project to the publisher Archaia Entertainment. Once the pair began work, Lapinski found both creative fulfillment and a new set of artistic challenges in bringing the story to life visually. “It was cool to sit down and do this thing I had admired for so long,” he says. “But at the drawing table, it was a real effort.” It would take two years to complete the comic book series. Around that time, Lapinski got married, and with his wife’s desire to be closer to her home state of Georgia and her new job with CMT, they settled in East Nashville. A coldcall to Magnetic Dreams soon led Lapinsky to a new Nashville job of his own. “I was told to move out to L.A. if I wanted to make any kind of consistent living in animation,” Lapinski says. “I had been working on a comic book property, as well as children’s television and animation, and the studio here, Magnetic Dreams, has been around for 20 years and the two major properties they were working on were ‘Sesame Street’ and Marvel Comics. The idea that I could come from New York and find a nice hub in Nashville was really a gift.” Once again, Lapinski was in the right place at the right time; the move to Magnetic Dreams has proven fruitful for his career. He worked as art director on the “Sesame Street” segment “Elmo the Musical.” He directed the aforementioned Blake Shelton video, and the Oak Ridge Boys’ music video for “Doing It to Country Songs,” which features animated critters in humorous situations. He’s worked on commercials for major brands, including Coca-Cola and Crayola. And in his free time (if you can imagine him having any), he’s taught art workshops for kids and youth

P R O F I L E

eager to pursue his personal creative visions, a goal he believes he can achieve through his work with Magnetic Dreams. “I’m looking for a chance to work on my own series,” he says. “I’ve had ideas in the past, selling pilots to Nickelodeon and developing something from the ground up where it’s not just refining an idea that comes to us. That’s what I’m excited about.”

through the Nashville Public Library and at the Frist Art Museum. A prolific and energetic artist, Lapinski is always on the lookout for innovative new ideas in animation and graphic art. He sees the new era of streaming television content as a particular boon to animation. He’s also optimistic about the resurgent interest in graphic novels and comic books. More than anything, though, he’s

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SHINING LIKE

Diamonds Steve Earle & The Dukesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; latest record, GUY, pays homage to legendary songwriter Guy Clark S T O RY R A N DY F O X | P H O T O G R A P H Y E R I C E N G L A N D

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March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

“T

he last time I saw Guy Clark it was three nights before he passed away,” says Steve Earle, recalling his close friend and songwriting mentor. “I was heading back to New York, and I stopped by to visit Guy in the nursing home. He was really sick from the cancer, but there was a whole room full of people, and they had brought in barbecue. Guy was asleep, and I had to go see my mom in Cheatham County. I came back by the nursing home later to see Guy before I left Nashville and asked him how the barbecue was. He looked around to see if anybody else was listening and then leaned over and said, ‘Pork.’ Guy lived in Nashville for 45 years, but he never accepted pork as proper barbecue. He was a Texas beef brisket guy. So, the last thing my teacher said to me was ‘Pork,’ and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Single-minded devotion to “what’s right” — whether it’s barbecue, crafting songs, or passing knowledge on to others — is a value Earle learned firsthand from Clark. It’s also a debt Earle continues repaying, both through mentoring young songwriters and his new tribute album, GUY. Earle’s devotion to Guy Clark began as a teen in Texas, long before meeting Clark. “I started writing [songs] when I was 14,” Earle says. “I was trying to do it from the time I realized Beatles records said ‘Lennon-McCartney’ in the parenthesis, and it meant they were writing the songs. My dad would not let me have an electric guitar, so I started listening to acoustic stuff and kind of lost touch with rock ‘n’ roll. I began playing at the Gatehouse Coffee Shop in San Antonio and heard about the singer-songwriter scene in Houston.” The allure of Houston’s music scene proved irresistible. Running away from home in 1969 at age 14, Earle spent a month in Houston where he met and befriended Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Although Earle’s time as a teenage runaway was brief, his fascination for Houston’s music scene persisted. “I dropped out of school and moved to Houston when I was not quite 17,” Earle says. “My uncle had a rock band, and I was crashing with him, just down the road from Sand Mountain Coffee House [the center of Houston’s folk music scene]. There was a big mural in the back room featuring Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Mickey Newberry, Don Sanders, and Jerry Jeff Walker.” By the time of Earle’s second arrival in Houston, Clark had moved to the greener pastures of Los Angeles and then Nashville. But Clark’s profile as a songwriter was on the rise. In the fall of 1972, Jerry Jeff Walker recorded Clark’s song “L.A. Freeway.” Although the single only reached No. 98 on the Billboard Hot 100, it became one of Clark’s most venerated compositions. Written on the heels of a frustrating year that Clark and his soon-to-be wife Susanna spent in Los Angeles, “L.A. Freeway” tells the story of leaving the hard asphalt of the City of Angels for the green hills of Tennessee. Told through engaging couplets — “Throw out them L.A. papers and that moldy box of vanilla wafers”— the song is a joyous celebration of new horizons, and a spectacular kiss-off to bad times, instantly identifiable to anyone who’s been tempted to flip the bird to their life and circumstances. →

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

“

My belief in craft comes directly from Guy. —STEVE EARLE

The next year Walker recorded another Clark composition destined for legend, “Desperados Waiting for a Train.” Although Walker’s version failed to hit, Clark’s tale of the changing nature of friendship between a young man and a grizzled old-timer became a country favorite with covers by Rita Coolidge, David Allan Coe, and Tom Rush, along with an eventual No. 15 country hit by the supergroup The Highwaymen ( Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson). Clark recorded both “L.A. Freeway” and “Desperados Waiting for a Train” for his 1975 debut album, Old No. 1 — along with more examples of his trademark style — gritty ballads, with simple narratives revealing a masterful command of language, an eye for vivid detail, and universally appealing subtext. “I think the best thing for a writer to be born with is a memory for detail, and Guy had it in spades.” Earle says. “As much as I loved Townes’ songs, I didn’t fully understand what he was doing. What Guy did came naturally to me. Once I started trying to emulate Guy instead of Townes, things started clicking a lot faster.” After two years of working his way up in the Houston folk scene, Earle’s ambition and desire to meet his songwriting hero led him to Nashville.

“W

hen I got to town [in August 1974], Robert Altman was shooting the movie Nashville in Centennial Park,” Earle says. “[To attract a crowd to the park] they were advertising dime hot dogs and nickel Cokes. I had a $1.50, so there was lunch and maybe dinner too. I’m probably in the crowd scene somewhere. When it was over I was full, but I was broke. I asked someone where I could play and pass the hat. They pointed me to Bishop’s Pub [on West End] where Tin Angel is now. I walked in and Richard Dobson, a songwriter I knew from Houston, was behind the bar. He got me a gig there, and I spent a few weeks sleeping on his couch.” Since Bishop’s was one of the few songwriter hang-outs in Nashville at the time, it didn’t take long for Earle to meet his hero. “I walked into Bishop’s one day, and Richard said, ‘Guy’s here.’ I’d been waiting for it to happen. I walked into the pool room in the back, and there was Guy, [his wife] Susanna Clark, [singer-songwriter] Jim Stafford and [country singer] Deborah Allen. I wore a cowboy hat everywhere I went back in those days. Guy was leaning over to shoot, and he looked up at me and said, ‘I like your hat.’ I eventually introduced myself and told him I knew Townes.” By then, Guy and Susanna Clark’s Mt. Juliet home was a center of the Nashville hipster songwriting community, immortalized in the documentary Heartworn Highways, →

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March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

shot in Nashville in 1975 and 1976. As a talented and eager-to-learn songwriter, Earle fit neatly into the group. “The first big party I went to at Guy and Susanna’s house was Rodney Crowell’s going away party. He was leaving Guy’s band to move to the West Coast to join Emmylou Harris’ band. That’s when I took over as Guy’s bass player for the few live gigs he was doing. Guy got me my first publishing deal, and it was a real apprenticeship. He had done the same for Rodney, and later on, the same for Shawn Camp. Guy was always eager to help young songwriters. And the last few years of his life he got some of that help back when he started co-writing with younger writers. Writing gets harder as you get older and your brain starts to coagulate. I learned that from Guy, and it’s why I come to Nashville a couple of times each year to work with newer songwriters.” Although Earle continued to be influenced by many writers, including Townes Van Zandt, Clark’s influence and advice went far beyond an affinity for story songs he shared with Earle. “Townes was a big deal to me [as a writer] but I wasn’t stupid,” Earle says. “I knew to pay attention to what Guy was doing [in terms of his career] rather than Townes. Townes died when he was 51, but only wrote two songs in the last decade and a half of his life. The writing just went away because of his alcoholism.” “Not that Guy didn’t have problems with alcohol and drugs, but Guy was disciplined. He worked every day and pretty much did until he died. He painted and built guitars. For Guy it was about being an artist and doing work. The things artists do are called disciplines for a reason, because nobody tells you when to punch the clock when you’re making art. Guy showed me how he laid a song out on the page and taught me I needed an eraser. My belief in craft comes directly from Guy. I’ll turn a song over and over again until I max it out. If you come up with a really complicated rhyme scheme in the first verse, you have to duplicate it on the second verse. For Guy, it was not acceptable to slough it off. He taught me songwriting as literature.” Clark and Earle’s friendship continued throughout Clark’s life with the two performing with Townes Van Zandt at a 1995 writers-in-the-round show with a belated 2001 release as the live album, Together at the Bluebird Café. In 2011, Earle recorded Clark’s “The Last Gunfighter Ballad” for the multi-artist album, This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark, and following Clark’s death in 2016, Earle wrote and recorded a loving tribute to Clark, “Goodbye Michelangelo” for Earle’s 2017 album, So You Wannabe an Outlaw. Earle’s devotion eventually led to GUY, an album Earle knew was inevitable in the wake of his 2009 tribute to Townes Van Zandt, Townes. “I knew I had to record a tribute record for Guy,” Earle says. “I didn’t want to meet that

motherfucker on the Other Side having made the Townes record and not one for him. It was on the agenda for years, and as soon as Guy passed away, I started thinking about it.” Earle says many people were surprised his 2017 album, So You Wannabe an Outlaw, avoided politics, given the election of Donald Trump and Earle’s reputation as a take-no-prisoners supporter of progressive politics. “I was surprised it wasn’t more political, but every once in while I make a record that is

completely and totally personal, and that one was,” Earle says. “I said the next one would be just as personal but way more political, and I started writing it, but timing is important. I wanted that record to come out in 2020, so I then I thought, ‘Now is the time to make the Guy record.’ ” Despite Clark’s prolific catalog of songs, Earle found choosing the tracks for the album a simple process. CO N T ' D O N PAG E 9 2

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Agent o f 50

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

Heather Lose on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge overlooking Riverfront Park, which her father, David Lose, designed.

f Green Heather Lose is guiding The Tennessee Conservationist to 21st century sustainability

By Leslie LaChance | Photographs by Travis Commeau March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

eather Lose gets pretty excited about paper and ink, especially as she thumbs through the most recent issue of The Tennessee Conservationist, one of the state’s oldest and most important environmental publications. “We’re not just talking about trees here. We’re not just talking about electricity,” says Lose, the publication’s editor-in-chief. “All these other resources, this is what we save every time we go to press,” she observes, describing some recent production changes at the magazine that have made it more environmentally sustainable. If you subscribe to The Tennessee Conservationist, you may have noticed that your January/February issue looks and feels a bit different from any in recent years. Gone are the slick, glossy cover and formal-looking serif typeface of the old school magazine. A contemporary banner now incorporates a new logo with a clean, modern typeface, and matte paper melds a touch of design elegance into a substantive and beautiful print artifact. These are just a few of the important changes Lose brought after she joined the Department of Environment and Conservation Division of Tennessee State Parks, which publishes the magazine. “Here’s a magazine that’s been publishing in one way or another since 1937,” says Lose. “I think they were looking for someone who has extensive experience in the publications world, building things, being a change agent, who had deep ties with the people here in the media environment in Middle Tennessee, and who also had that background in understanding environmental concerns. And that’s my dream job. That’s all the things I love right there.” Lose, who took over as editor-in-chief in early 2018, earned her design credentials through academic training and professional practice — including work for the Nashville Scene, but love for the natural world came from her biologist mother and landscape architect father. “We were always on the water; we were always fishing; we were always camping,” she says. Her father, David Lose, specialized in designs for parks and outdoor recreational areas, many in Tennessee. Now his eldest daughter supervises a publication dedicated to promoting and conserving some of the very places her father helped shape. In this way, she has become a steward of his legacy, and she wants other people to enjoy those spaces. “Tennessee is one of only seven states that has managed to keep our park system free to all comers. We don’t charge admission, so there is no

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

income barrier to someone wanting to go out to the park and throw the Frisbee with the kids, or to go out with a pair of binoculars and look at some owls or go hike around Radnor Lake at the end of the day, every day, any day, and de-stress. These are resources anyone can use.” The Tennessee Conservationist, which has around 10,000 print subscribers and was just recently brought under the management of the State Parks division, is a mustread for anyone who cares about the state’s natural resources. Providing readers with well-researched, skillfully reported stories about Tennesseans and their relationship with the environment, the magazine is part ecology, part cultural history, and now, part go-see-do guide. Recognizing the unique skill-set and life experience she brings to bear, the publication tasked Lose with re-visioning the print publication and creating a more robust web presence. “We did a deep dive into the internal workings, along with a reader survey, to find out from the readers how they felt about the publication, maybe where we could do better, and looked at all the various pieces and aspects of the magazine, took it apart and put it all back together again,” explains Lose. “This includes the → digital publication, which is brand new.”

above: Heather Lose helping out with the decorative tiles for the dragon park sculpture, along her father, David, and mom, Betti. left: Lose in her father’s lap, with her sister, Shelley, and their mom. opposite: Lose today on the dragon she helped create in Fannie Mae Dees Park, colloquially known as “Dragon Park.”

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

Ever the collaborator, she’s quick to credit her team with bringing considerable expertise and knowledge to shaping the look and feel of the re-design, especially long-time editor Louise Zepp and art director Jeff Law. Law, in fact, designed the new logo. “They are the heart and soul of this magazine and great, dedicated, talented people who have over 20 years invested in this publication’s success,” Lose says. Many of the design changes came in response to reader suggestions, including the move to a new, environmentally sustainable paper. “Here’s the philosophy in everything I do,” Lose says. “Form follows function, right? So, what is the function of this publication, what is our message, how can we walk the walk? Luckily for me some of the comments that we got [from the readers survey] were echoing my thoughts, and that was a question: How can we build the most sustainable magazine on the planet?” Walking the walk meant leaving a smaller footprint. Hence the switch to Rolland brand recycled paper, which she discovered through a friend at Athens Paper. “It is 100 percent post-consumer, recycled paper,” explains Lose. “What that means is that this paper has already had at least one lifetime as a phone bill, as a phone book, as a magazine insert, as something. … I mean, I like to think about that; where has this paper already been?” The magazine had been printing on 50 percent recycled paper with only 15 percent post-consumer content, but if it could go greener, why not? Perhaps what thrills Lose most is how — and where — Rolland paper is made. “The paper mill is located eight miles away from a landfill,” she says. “They gather the methane from this landfill; they pipe it in, keep it out of our air, and they get 93 percent of the power for the paper mill from the methane that they harvest from the landfill. That’s what we need to be doing. That’s what everybody needs to be doing. We take a byproduct that we don’t want out of the air and put it where we want it.” Lose points to the infographic on page three of the January/February 2019 edition of The Tennessee Conservationist, which shows the environmental savings created by the switch to Rolland: 57 trees, 7,705 gallons of water, 75 pounds of garbage waste, 7,384 pounds of CO₂, 15-million BTU’s (the equivalent of 71,040 60-watt light bulbs burning for one hour), and 36 pounds of NOx indirect greenhouse gasses (equal to the output of an average car traveling 10,235 miles). That’s for just one issue. “This is what we can do,” she says. “This is the way that we can be The Tennessee Conservationist.” But Lose and her staff weren’t just making a decision about sustainability; they were making a design choice. “The icing on the cake for me is that this is a beautiful sheet of paper. It feels good to your fingers; you want to touch it. It has really given the magazine a presence

and, I think, a modernity when you stack it up against what else is on the market right now.” The magazine also switched to an environmentally sustainable ink, one cured by ultra-violet light, so it doesn’t release VOC (volatile organic compound) gases into the air. Lose is happy with the new look and believes the photos are truer to the real, non-glossy world. Some would argue that a truly green publication wouldn’t appear in print at all, publishing solely online instead. Some readers agreed

but Lose says the majority were of a different mind. “A lot of our readers said they worked at computer screens all day long and didn’t want to come home to another screen to read us. I get that. I am a print girl, myself; I love printed material, and I think a lot of other people do too, and they appreciate a thoughtful, beautiful design.” That said, Lose and her team are mindful of the opportunities having a web presence in the CO N T ' D O N PAG E 9 3

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THEACCIDENTAL

Tastemaker Soft Junk Recordsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; NIC SCHURMAN creates a space where artists can thrive

Story WARREN DENNEY Photography TRAVIS COMMEAU

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

S ome people are born to connect the dots.

They bring players to the table. There is no other way to describe tastemaker Nic Schurman of Soft Junk Records, the creative enterprise that masquerades as a label. Soft Junk produces music, books, art, and erstwhile digital projects, and plays host to singular, otherworldly events— a psychedelic salon, at its best. The space Schurman has called home for three years rests in the enclave at 919 Gallatin Ave., surrounded by a jumble of fast food joints, auto parts stores, quick-marts, and telephone lines, just beneath a hillside “HOWDYWOOD” sign of his own making — in other words, it’s the perfect location for a post-modern modern. Soft Junk dabbles in magic, its very shingle at the door an inside nod to the iconic image of the boxer carved into Charles Bukowski’s gravestone, which also bears the phrase “Don’t Try.” Witness the boxer. “The first event we ever did — I had no real intention of using this as a spot to throw parties and stuff,” Schurman says, nursing a beer, seated in front of several large art pieces. “Circumstances led to it. My roommate at the time, Joey Scala, and his band, Promised Land Sound, needed a space on short notice to do a record release show. They were getting rained out at Fond Object. “It was last minute, the day before. I agreed to do it, but wanted to know how to make it different. Joey’s dad is Mark Scala, Chief Curator for the Frist Art Museum, and an artist, himself. He never had his own show in town! We held his first show during the record release party. It was fantastic, and I said to myself, ‘Wait, this is going to be magic. We can do this other thing for people who want to be off the radar.’ “Things have grown from there.” Evidence of that growth is found in Soft Junk’s recent hosting of “Shrimp Cocktail,” a poetry and performance art experience, mashed up with a full-blown dance party

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

in January. The event, engineered by Maggie Wells and Meg Wade, featured readings and immersive art by Third Man Books’ Chet Weise, Brooklyn-based poet and artist Kiely Sweatt, local poet and artist Richard Harper, and visual essayists Sarah Minor, Laura Cavaliere, and Doug Lehmann. The term “immersive art” is fitting, though it bears the weight of the buzzword. Soft Junk was the vehicle, Schurman was the facilitator, and the mission was the collective blowing your mind. The event came on the heels of a lo-fi art show in which the artists locked themselves up in the space for 24 hours and created work to hang and show the following day. Spontaneity is a key theme here. “It feels good,” Schurman says. “I don’t know — so many people meeting for the first time. The events bring a lot of cool people together … and I know when you walk in the door, the space kind of snaps you out of your normal real world routine — you have to engage.” Schurman’s appearance invokes a certain bearishness, albeit a thinking man’s party bear. Big and bearded, he anchors Soft Junk’s space, his two-story cave accented with random artwork. The backdrop for the interview includes multiple hands standing upright, eliciting the impression of a strange tree line in Pee Wee’s Playhouse. Schurman is a music man at his core, though, having moved to Nashville after a history of building shows in the unlikely, and fertile, live scene of Carbondale, Illinois. “I was a punk rock dude,” Schurman says. “I was not going to move here, you know. Then, someone I had played in a band with moved here, and I was hosting all these shows in Carbondale in which more and more bands from Nashville were popping up. I was

working with Jeff the Brotherhood, Pujol, Promised Land Sound — all those guys are coming to Carbondale. I figured out there’s some shit happening down here. “I started visiting more and coming to shows here. We had always gone to Chicago. We started coming here, and it blew my mind. When I moved here, it took zero time to assimilate into a group of very creative people. I feel like I’m here to make things happen.” The band Clear Plastic Masks was Soft Junk’s first creative foray, with the release of Nazi Hologram in 2016, and established the label as one willing to take chances — at least one unafraid of perception. The band and the record were critically acclaimed, and set the stage for Soft Junk’s work with Champagne Superchillin’. In 2017, the label released Destino! on cassette only, which gained local notoriety, and introduced French singer Juliette Buchs to the world. Drummer Charles Garmendia of the Masks, and Ben Trimble of Fly Golden Eagle completed the trio, which produces a soulful pop mix sound, adventurous in its subject matter. The band relocated to Brooklyn, but still maintains a strong Nashville connection. The second album, Beach Deep, was released last summer on vinyl by Soft Junk, and distributed by New York-based Broken Circles. The first single, “Amor Fati,” according to Buchs, is based on Nietzsche’s concept of eternal return. Not the everyday fodder, though it certainly should be. “Life is like a chorus, a theme that comes back identically and that you have to listen, sing and love, again, again, and again, to the infinite,” Buchs told NPR Music upon the record’s release. “This repetition of the same theme is what Nietzsche calls the eternal return, like the back and forth motion of ocean tides I felt through the writing of Beach Deep.” Schurman somehow manages to find the edge between high art and the down and dirty details. When you get things done in that context, you are doing soul work. Things often hang on a small purse. “We went with vinyl and cassette on Beach Deep,” Schurman says. “For Destino!, we only did it on cassette because we were dealing with a limited budget. Then we had to decide whether to spend the rest of the money putting it out on vinyl or to make music videos. We stuck with cassette and started making music videos for it. I think they worked. It put them on the map.” For the ironic rock ’n’ roll band Country Westerns, Soft Junk tilts more old school in presentation. “We’ve released two 45s for them,” Schurman says. “We talked it out and decided to do a series of those. Like, it’s kind of a vibe. Big hole. Old school-style. And I printed all the covers here at Soft Junk. So it felt like it was really — we’re doing it from home here. It feels good.” Other artists in the Soft Junk pipeline include singer-songwriter Nick Woods and Jonathan Stone →

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

“

You can see we don’t move toward a specific style with the music. It just happens to be people I know and have fallen in love with their music, personally.

Phillips of Faux Ferocious — two disparate worlds, one creative umbrella. “Nick has written a lot of great songs, but never released them,” Schurman says. “He’s cut from the same cloth as John Prine, I’d say. And Cowboy Jack Clement is his personal hero. I think we can pull together a masterpiece with his songs — he’s a true storyteller, and we’re going to release something this year. “And, with Jonathan Stone Phillips — he’s coming from a bad-ass punk band. Tough stuff but he’s got this great deep, rich voice and what we’re doing is a mellowed out vibe where his voice really comes out. It’s just so cool. “You can see we don’t move toward a specific style with the music. It just happens to be people I know and have fallen in love with their music, personally. I want to help them all out somehow.” The personal approach seems to work best for Schurman. Soft Junk even offers some limited recording services to artists that match the aesthetic, providing the space and equipment. “I’m not engineering it myself, either,” Schurman says. “We’re letting the artist that I’m working with go for it. And so far that’s worked out really cool.” Another unexpected turn is Soft Junk’s plunge into book publishing with Rockaway, new fiction from Jeremy McAnulty, and To What Do We Owe the Pleasure, collected poems by the same Richard Harper who appeared at Shrimp Cocktail. Soft Junk facilitated the printing, including some limited-edition hardcovers, and placed them in local bookstores and bars. Not Random House, mind you, but a real, tangible street-level

effort. It’s all about the facilitation of dreams. Schurman sees Nashville from the inside out, and hopes to unlock the underground potential. “The majority of people I see aren’t from here,” he says. “They’re from everywhere else. Like me. So everyone’s just looking around, walking in circles, trying to figure out what they can tap into. They don’t even know, themselves. “So, I feel good having a place where a lot of people do come together, meet others, and feel excited about creating work with other people from different parts of the world. You know, it’s connecting humans. It makes me feel great. I love doing it, so I ain’t gonna stop.”

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A Quantum L E A P NASHVILLEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PREMIER DIY VENUE, DRKMTTR, IS REBORN ON THE EAST SIDE STORY

BRITTNEY MCKENNA PHOTOGRAPHY

JEREMY HARRIS

Olivia Scibelli (seated) and Kathyrn Edwards at the new incarnation of Drkmttr

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

“W

here we pick up in the story is the closing of Drkmttr last year — a year ago,” Olivia Scibelli says, laughing and a bit shocked when she realizes the date’s significance. “Literally, a year ago, today.” Scibelli and her business partner Kathyrn Edwards can be excused for losing track of the birth, death, and re-birth dates of Drkmttr — Nashville’s most persistent DIY community space and all-ages music venue. Like the renowned cat in physicist Erwin Schrödinger’s thought experiment, the current life or death status of Drkmttr has been in a constant state of flux throughout its existence. The comparison to the nebulous and often logic-defying realm of quantum physics is an apt one for Drkmttr. The venue’s name was inspired by the theory of dark matter, which posits that the matter forming a large percentage of the universe hasn’t yet been directly observed or understood. It’s a fitting metaphor for the DIY music community, which operates on the fringes of the corporate-controlled music industry through a network of house parties, commandeered public spaces, and idiosyncratic all-ages venues. The uncertainty has hopefully come to an end with the opening of Drkmttr’s new location at 1111 Dickerson Pike, just a stone’s throw from burgeoning new spots like Shugga Hi Bakery and Cafe and the growing Cleveland Park neighborhood. “So it’s actually taken us about a year to find a place,” Scibelli continues. “Just doing that, logistically, has definitely been a journey and a passion project for both of us — and a few of our friends who are integral parts to this whole thing. Right now, we’re figuring out how to marry DIY and legitimacy. I think that’s kind of an interesting place, and a very 2019 place to be in, in my opinion.” The saga of Drkmttr’s arrival on the East Side began with an earlier, similar space called The Other Basement, a Belmont-neighborhood gathering space that ceased operations in 2014. In the summer of 2015, Edwards, Scibelli, and the rest of their team reinvented the DIY venue as Drkmttr in a house on Third Avenue South. After that location was shuttered in late 2015, Drkmttr reappeared in a former barbershop on Indiana Avenue in The Nations. That incarnation lasted approximately two and half years until Edwards and Scibelli decided to close up shop again — largely due to logistical and financial reasons — with the goal of finding a more permanent home. The team scoured local real estate for months before landing on Dickerson, taking into account the size of the space, cost of rent, safety of attendees, and proximity to other like-minded businesses. Although the search was far from easy, both Edwards and Scibelli believe they’ve found something special in their new Dickerson home. → March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

“When it comes to the neighborhood, we looked at different ones based on general safety of our attendees, and also price,” Edwards says. “In Nashville, as it grows, those two things can be hard to marry. Somehow, we’ve managed to once again be down the street from [our former neighbor] Poverty and the Arts. It’s nice that we could find a neighborhood that was being revitalized at the moment more than it was being gentrified.” In addition to the difficulties posed by finding a space that was both safe and economical, problems arose when Edwards and Scibelli realized how exclusionary much of the development in Nashville can be to relative “outsiders.” Navigating the members-only landscape of commercial real estate further delayed the team’s process of finding a space.

artists who showcase at the space. One way they plan to do this is by aggressively expanding their content. “A lot of what we’re focusing on now is opening up our programming offerings,” Edwards explains. “We originally started just having music all the time. We always wanted to have workshops and movies and things like that, but we were limited in space, resources — things of that nature. With this space, we’ve already gotten a lot of good connections with people who want to start doing workshops and movie nights, things that will open us up more to the community and people who are interested in more than just music.” “Also, something we found to be really important is having a kitchen now,” Scibelli adds. “We’re going to be serving food once we get the permits, and we’ll have a bar with beer and sodas and things like that. We’re doing late-night vegan food and also renting out the kitchen during the day as a commissary for other predominantly female-owned companies. We want to cater to people who have limited resources like we do and are doing things more DIY or on a budget themselves, which is a huge part of what keeps people from L L I growing businesses: the financial barriers.” With this new space, the Drkmttr crew seems to have found a home that embodies the DIY ethos while, as Scibelli noted, edging closer to a kind of legitimacy that offers both financial security and opportunities to more deeply engage the Nashville arts community. But at its heart, Drkmttr is still an effort driven by an intense passion for music and musicians, and for serving as a platform for young and emerging artists to share their work with understanding audiences. “Most of the people that are starting from the bottom are kids,” Scibelli says. “There will be no trickle-up if the younger crowd doesn’t have a voice to play. Of course, there will always be house shows, but there should also be a place like Drkmttr for these kids to go.” “Drkmttr tries to bridge the gap of being on the stage and playing your music for people who are interested in your music without being able to draw in 250 people,” Edwards says. “The bottom line is both of us really want to see Nashville thrive and grow and diversify musically,” Scibelli continues. “It’s really important. We just want to be able to be a platform for that.”

Most of the people that are starting from the bottom are kids. There will be no trickle-up if the younger crowd doesn’t have a voice to play. — O L I V I A

S C I B E

“When we were looking, we ran into so many challenges,” Scibelli says. “We learned so much about things neither of us thought we would ever learn, like commercial real-estate prices and shit like that where you really realize how deep the sort of, I think, club-like atmosphere development can be. There are a lot of gatekeepers, and it was really hard for us to be taken seriously and to be able to find people to support us in this vision.” Fortunately, the team found allies in Mary Mancini and Donnie Kendall, former owners of Nashville’s premier DIY venue of the 1990s, Lucy’s Record Shop. Both understood Drkmttr’s mission and have years of experience running community-centered music spaces. “[Donnie and Mary] are invested in our future,” Scibelli says. “The [Dickerson] building is actually owned by them, so they could help us with rent control and guidance on how to do this. They know a thing or two about starting a business, too.” Part of the challenge in keeping this newest iteration of Drkmttr afloat will be developing and implementing a sound financial plan, one that will not only pay the rent but will also afford the team the ability to pay bands and

APRIL 2 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF CAR WHEELS ON A GRAVEL ROAD

LUCINDA WILLIAMS

AND HER BAND BUICK 6

with very special guests

APRIL 5, 6 & 7

GARY CLARK JR. APRIL 15 & 16

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

with My Brightest Diamond

APRIL 19

THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH APRIL 20

TODD SNIDER

with John Carter Cash

APRIL 23

SNOW PATROL

with We Are Scientists and Ryan McMullen

MAY 2 LIVE AT THE OPRY HOUSE

DEREK HOUGH

MAY 15

MAVIS & FRIENDS

Celebrating 80 Years of Mavis Staples

JUNE 2

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA SEPTEMBER 28

JOSH RITTER

& THE ROYAL CITY BAND

NOVEMBER 20

SYLVAN ESSO

with Flock of Dimes

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March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

THE

Breakfast Eight

⟫

Egg samples from the hungry streets

BY LESLIE LACHANCE PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN HELLER

Kolache is Czech for Comfort Food

Yeast Nashville 805 Woodland St. If you turn up Wednesday through Sunday, you’ll need to figure out your strategy for including a breakfast taco. You can get kolaches every day at Yeast provided you get there early in the day, because they go fast, and Yeast is closed by 1 p.m.

Putting the Dish in Traditional

Nashville Biscuit House 805 Gallatin Ave. You can get breakfast here all day, except Wednesday when they are closed.

Yes, of course there are good fluffy biscuits, and of course you can get them smothered in gravy. But don’t let the name be your prime directive. Order the pancakes or even French toast. Those are pretty good, too. So are the eggs, however you like them done. But let’s be clear; no matter what time of day you are eating your eggs and biscuits, with or without country ham or country-fried steak, at this particular establishment you are getting breakfast, never brunch. The fare is what some call country or homestyle cooking, except Nashville Biscuit House is not in the country, and you’re not at home. But if a hearty Southern American breakfast is what you’re after (and it is the sort most prescribed for hangovers, dontchya know), you’ll get it here. Also, the servers will keep your coffee cup full (brewed only, no espresso). From the outside, the Nashville Biscuit House may look like a windowless, gray bunker, but even so, the interior is

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

The kolaches have risen in the east, and they are damn good. This Old-World Czech comfort food is kind of like a Danish, except instead of flaky pastry dough, kolache bakers use a yeast rising dough. Yeast Nashville’s kolaches came to the East Side via Texas, where the bakery’s owner grew up eating these treats made from recipes brought to Lone Star country by Czech immigrants in the 1800s. Yeast’s traditional, or Bohemian kolaches are made with seasonal fruit (cherries, blueberries, apples, peaches) and/or seeds, nuts, cream cheese, and spices. These are the sweet kind, but not too sweet. Their Tex-Czech kolaches are a Southwestern take on the classic; instead of fruit, the kolache dough is stuffed with sausage, cheese, and jalapeño. As you gaze through the glass case at the doughy wonders, you may have a hard time choosing; are you feeling Bohemian or TexCzech this morning? It is entirely possible to feel both at once. In that case, the solution may be to breakfast with a buddy and share your sweets and savories. The two of you could probably take on one of Yeast’s Texas-sized cinnamon rolls, too, or a piece of crust-less quiche or sausage muffin.

surprisingly cheery and brightly lit. Don’t be surprised if you walk in and find a table full of Metro Police officers at their morning repast near the entrance; the restaurant is a long-established favorite of first responders. You’ll find yourself dining amidst native Nashvillians in the know and a few tourists who may or may not have gotten lost on the way to another joint with a similar name.

f you live on the East Side and want to find a breakfast joint without crossing the Cumberland, chances are pretty good there’s restaurant in your neighborhood that can hook you up. It wasn’t always that way. Some readers might recall a time when the area was practically a food desert for folks wanting to have chef-made breakfast. You could count on a very few fingers the number of (non-chain) places serving real omelets, pancakes, or scratch-made biscuits. No more. East Nashville is fairly teeming with good breakfast eats; if inclined, a person could have a different breakfast eight days a week, and then some, almost anywhere between Inglewood and South Fifth Street. And it’s not all just egg-on-a-biscuit fare either, though there are, indeed, some great biscuit-sammie varieties to

Brunch is a Lady

Marché 1000 Main St. Get your bistro brunch, petit or grand, any day of the week. Marché is especially bustling on weekends, so get on the list and enjoy a latte or mimosa while you wait. A vos sànté!

be had. In fact, there’s a little breakfast something for almost any palate, from grab-and-go-eat-in-your-driver’s-seat to a mimosadrenched, slow-food brunch. Do the deli dash or settle in for something more decadent; East Nashville’s got your breakfast on — and your brunch. In a little celebration of the most important meal of the day (and to prove our point about the eight-days-a-week thing), we took a whirlwind tour of eight well-established breakfast stops nestled within our little corner of the world. If a particular favorite doesn’t appear on this list, we would gently suggest that it only means you can eat a hell of a lot of breakfast in East Nashville. Of course, if you like your breakfast late at night or in the small hours of the morning after the bars throw you out, there’s always Waffle House.

Brunch is the elegant lady of breakfast. And when one brunches at Marché, it feels as if breakfast has dressed herself up in playful style to meet some dear friends for pastry and mimosas. Not that Marché is all high falutin’; it isn’t. But it is one of East Nashville’s most cheerful and busy all-day brunch bistros, with great big windows, lots of light and air and a steady, happy hum of conversation. There is something about the bustle and light, and the food that definitely makes the eatery feel rather, well, French, as this sister-restaurant to decidedly French Margot Café & Bar, just up the street, would sensibly be. That’s the point, of course, a touch of the 5th arrondissement in Five Points. There are the crepes, of course, one sweet and one savory, different each day depending on what’s in season and what’s fresh. There’s also an omelet of the day, spelled “Omelette,” the French way. The French Toast is made with croissant; the typical eggs and bacon dish is called “American Breakfast,” and you can

get a croque-madame with a bowl-sized cup of café au lait. There’s always a nice selection of breakfast cocktails, and, of course, sparkling wines. Save room for sweets: crème brûlée, tarts, croissants, cinnamon sugar brioche, cakes, cookies, lavender — lemon scones. So, yes, Marché feels a little French — and a whole lot festive.

Decadent Breakfast

Sky Blue Café 700 Fatherland St. Sky Blue is great for social diners who don’t mind sharing close seating with soon-to-be new friends. Misanthropes need not pen their names on the list. Sky Blue serves breakfast all day, every day. No reservations or call ahead seating.

Go early and … get on the list. Sorry, there’s nearly always a bit of a wait, but a lavish breakfast is to be had inside that very cozy and always-full, cheerful room. Once seated amongst your eggand-pancake-loving peers, have a well-earned Tokyo Sunrise (sake & grenadine-laced OJ) or Sky Blue’s Bloody Mary (also made with sake), and turn breakfast into brunch, just like that! While you’re sipping, decide which of the three ways you’d like to have your eggs benedict: classic, Florentine, or with salmon and goat cheese. Get your sweetie to order the Brie French Toast; then coax that nice couple next to you to order one each of the breakfast bowls (Em’s Bowl and Lo’s Bowl, both involve home fries) and have a little tasting party. Everyone will fight over the Brie French Toast — thick slices of French bread stuffed with brie arrive looking like adorable pillbox hats adorned with fresh fruit.

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

CONNECTING NASHVILLE TO THE WORLD.

flynashville.com BNA Vision is transforming Nashville International Airport with expanded concourses and parking, new concessions and amenities, additional security screening and more. For more information, visit BNAVision.com 70

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

THE BREAKFAST

Alone in a Crowd

Dose 1400 McGavock Pike. Breakfast is served all day every day. For those eating in, Dose also offers a creative selection of cocktails, aperitifs, and digestifs.

Grouchy in the morning much? Best not spoken to until after coffee? The good folks at Dose understand. Sit at the counter or the community table, and no matter how crowded the place is, you’ll get to eat your Rosemary Biscuit (egg, ham, and remoulade sauce) and drink your cortado in peace. The gracious staff look after you and never pester; the creative class politely shift their devices out of your way without making eye contact. Of course, the busy, airy cafe is also a great place to take a meeting or visit with friends. And no one will judge if you order a little Amaro sidecar with your espresso. Cheer up your grouchy self with an order of beignets; break them open and fill the fluffy centers with some of that house-made sour cherry jam and … uh huh, you’re

welcome. Speaking of jam, you might want to have the Breakfast BLT just to sample the bacon-onion variety. On the way out, grab a coffee and a macaroon for elevensies. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, try your best to get to Dose before everyone else has eaten up all the weekend-only quiche and poutine.

All the Breakfast Sandwiches All the Time

Tower Market and Deli 1305 Gallatin Ave. Breakfast is served every day and evening too. For those eating in, Tower has a small seating area in a sunny spot by the windows, but most orders are to-go. If you’re in a hurry, call ahead for pick up. If you need some local produce or green house-cleaning products, you can pick those up at Tower, too. Yes, you can get an egg and sausage biscuit here, if you must. But there are so many more breakfast bread options, and so many other things you can put into those breads. For instance, at the risk of offending someone’s kosher sensibilities, you could have a bagel Italian style, with mozzarella and pepperoni. Or make it a Western bagel, stuffed with ingredients borrowed from the omelet of the same name. The beefy Tower Burrito or its Veggie Breakfast Burrito sibling put tortillas

to good use, and the English Fowl gets you a chicken sausage patty on an English muffin. Even the multi-grain croissant gets some action in the Cali Croissant, playing host to an egg, ham, spinach, and cheese mini omelet. Jostle in there with the blue-grey-uniformed, budding auto-diesel professionals from the Lincoln College of Technology across the way and order yourself a latte or an espresso. Yes, a real espresso, made by a real person, not a convenience store insta-brew. March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

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MAY 3

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theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

MAY 4

FESTIVAL & CRITERIUM

THE BREAKFAST

The Hygge Corner

Sweet 16th 331 N. 16th St. Best get to Sweet 16th early in the morning, as it’s a small-batch bakery, which means the delicious goods go quickly. There’s a little bit of seating, though most business is to-go. Still, it’s fun to eat in and greet the neighbors during that come-and-go morning bustle, or just gaze out the great big windows and watch the day roll in. Breakfast sandwiches and other goodies served while they last. As Americans have learned recently, hygge is a Danish word for the feeling of cozy contentment that results from partaking of simple pleasures. Like popping into the little corner bakery on a cold morning and admiring all the pretty cakes while you sip hot coffee and wait for a delicious breakfast sandwich to be handed over to you, all nice and warm. Perhaps said breakfast sandwich will be composed of a fluffy egg-and-cheese casserole sparked with mild green chilis, served on a cheddar cheese scone. Or it might be a cheesy, spicy, sweet and white potato burrito.

For some, hygge comes in the form of chili mac and cheese for breakfast (don’t judge!), and at Sweet 16th, you’ll find it in the bakery case as well, not too far from the gorgeous cupcakes, which, by the way, also make excellent breakfast fare. Or one could have a hygge-inducing muffin or coffee cake. Scones are super-cozy, and Sweet 16th’s Heavenly Scone lives up to its name. Oh, yes, and there are Danishes, very hygge.

Bagels and a Badass Breakfast Bar

Mitchell Delicatessen 1306 McGavock Pike. Grab yourself some local merch before you go – candy, coffee, tea, sauces, cheeses, breads, and even smell-good body-care stuff. Breakfast is served till 11 a.m. on weekdays and noon on Sunday. Most Mitchell fans over the past 10 years probably got there for the lunch rush and have a hands-down favorite of the 20 something sandwiches on the all-day menu. Deli sandwiches can, of course, make for perfectly good breakfast eating, especially if you’re a hard-core Asian Flank Steak fan. But early risers can enjoy more traditional morning fare at Mitchell. For the New York homegirl in your heart, there’s a nice selection of bagel sandwiches, including the classic lox and cream

cheese, a veggie bagel, and an egg-cheese-sausage-or-bacon breakfast bagel. And there’s a badass breakfast bar measured by the pound for when you’re feeling fierce: eggs, biscuits and gravy, home fries, cheese grits, French toast, sagey-delish house-made sausage, and the intensely smoke-tangy Benton’s bacon. On the weekends, add in breakfast burritos. If you’re feeling nostalgic for elementary school, you can use the pocket trays to keep your breakfast foods from touching.

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

a nook for people who love beautiful books 1043 West Eastland Avenue â&#x20AC;˘ East Nashville thebookshopnashville.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

There,

He Wrote It! Tommy Womack’s dust bunnies: a memoir clears out the cobwebs

By Dana Delworth

father, a beloved but poverty-stricken preacher living in a coal community, has become inaccessible to his family: Church folks always thought Brother Womack was the funniest, knee-slappingest preacher you ever could meet. They never saw him sitting in that recliner with his glasses reflecting ice-blue television flickers night after night. He was a preacher moonlighting as a potted plant and nobody knew it but Mom and us three kids. As the elder Womack watches his youngest son’s descent into anxiety and self-doubt, he undergoes a shift himself, led by love and packing an exquisite punch in the memoir better left to the reader to discover. After his arrest and subsequent stint in rehab in 2012, Tommy Womack played his first fully sober gig at that year’s Tomato Art Fest. dust bunnies concludes with Womack’s celebration of his 50th birthday that same year, grateful and alive. Tried by illness and injury, he remains resolute in living his life and in his reasons for sharing his story. “A lot of people [find emotional release in writing] letters to people that they never send, or they write journals that they never let anybody see,” says Womack. “Writing something doesn’t count for me — and I don’t get any catharsis — until somebody else reads it.”

Tommy Womack's dust bunnies: a memoir is available now at tommywomack.com

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

P H OTOG RAP H BY C HAD C RAWFOR D

or someone who has both said and sung that he’s “never gonna be a rock star,” Tommy Womack has had a ubiquitous influence over the music scene in Nashville and surrounding locales for decades. With a songwriting and narrative style along the lines of Frank Zappa by way of Jerry Clower, Womack — who also happens to be a columnist for The East Nashvillian — has returned to the book biz with dust bunnies: a memoir. One could say it’s a spiritual sequel to his first published memoir/confessional/history of local music, 1995’s Cheese Chronicles: The True Story of a Rock n Roll Band You’ve Never Heard Of. With his new tome, Womack charts his path to personal redemption and, in doing so, offers inspiration for countless others. Starting in the back of a police car after his bourbon-and-Xanax-fueled arrest in early 2012, dust bunnies traces Womack’s path to musicianship though a dizzying combination of missteps, misfortune, and redemption. What started as journaling prior to the arrest turned into full-blown memoir. “I think there was a therapeutic aspect to it,” relates Womack. “I don’t even know that was the primary objective. I was seeking to purge.

There was some stuff that had to come out, and there was some stuff I had to rationalize and reason out in my own hand — and writing is one of the most powerfully effective tools there is to organize your thoughts. You just write the first sentence down, and that sentence is a little length of train cars. And you’ll come up with the next sentence that logistically and verbally fits onto the last train car and suddenly you have a train — this and the next thought that carries the two thoughts you’ve already written carries it further; then the train gets longer.” This particular train provides quite a ride, with the expository switches between tracks shifting the narrative by decades. dust bunnies is part diary, part pure autobiography, and a heaping helping of whimsical self-observation via hilariously constructed narrative devices. One such episode is featured in the chapter “The Rolling Stoned Interview” about a Womack-created “Bucky Goldstein” (derived from a Steven Wright joke — look it up) conducting an interview with an absurdly out-of-control Womack in full nihilist mode. “This is the written version of someone looking in the mirror saying, ‘You’re fucking up, you know?’” says Womack. “And there’s denial in there. There’s shame. It isn’t an elaborate way of just doing journaling. It was a way of illustrating how far gone I was at the time. And some of my answers to “Bucky” were things that were going on in my head that had to come out — the interview motif just seeming the best and the least boring way to do it. And I could also hide behind a character, for a chapter, that was me.” Running parallel to Womack’s trajectory through substance abuse are his experiences, or lack thereof, with his parents. Although we learn what shaped his mother’s quiet passivity, the reader, like Womack, never knows why his

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

B Y

J O E L L E

H E R R

A Long Way Down the Holiday Road

elcome to National Celery Month, Easties. Seriously, it’s a thing. You may have noticed that we live in a time when every month, week, and day is a “holiday.” I’m talking about the untraditional, unofficial ones that you don’t have off from work. A few I’ll admit to having celebrated to varying degrees (if meme posting counts) are: National Grammar Day (March 4), National Introvert’s Week (the third week in March), and of course, Women’s History Month (all of March). Don’t get me started on all of the food holidays that are out there, though. For one, I worked on a book about them back in my days as an editor — trust me, there are a lot. And while I certainly can get behind the likes of National Pie for Breakfast Day (in November), thankfully, many of these new-fangled holidays are of the bookish variety (i.e. right up my alley), including some coming up soon. For instance: April is National Poetry Month. If merely reading the word “poetry” just sent a shiver of intimidation and/or aversion down your spine, it’s time to hit refresh on your view of this millennia-old genre. Poetry is actually kind of cool these days — and not just cool but popular. According to a survey by the National Endowment for the Arts (as reported by Publishers Weekly), 11.7 percent of adults said they read poetry in 2017, up from 6.7 percent in 2012. That’s a big jump, likely fueled by the rise of so-called Instagram poets, such as Rupi Kaur, whose two collections (Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers) have sold lots — millions — of copies worldwide. Sure, some poetry purists/scholars turn their noses up at Kaur for her lack of formality (or formal training), but if she’s getting more people reading, then that’s a good thing in my book (ba-dum-tss). Plus — and I’ve witnessed this firsthand in the shop — Kaur’s works have served for

many as a kind of gateway-poetry drug to exploring other poets, including Pulitzer and National Book Award winner Mary Oliver, whose recent passing has prompted the reappearance of her books on several bestseller lists. And reading Oliver’s works is definitely a good thing. Also coming up is National Library Week (April 7 to 13), which is intended to “celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians, and to promote library use and support.” I always chuckle a bit when folks in the shop take a hushed tone or apologize when they bring up checking books out of the library. They think that there’s some sort of turf war over books, and surely a bookstore owner must be anti-libraries. Hardly! Some of my fondest childhood memories are of trips to the public library out in Franklin, where I grew up — particularly back in the day, when it was located in a creaky-floored, 19th century home on Fifth Avenue North. That was last century (and another county), though. These days, we’re lucky to have access to the outstanding Nashville Public Library system, which was honored as Library of the Year by Library Journal in 2017. With its offerings of technology access, puppet shows, continuing education, and, of course, books, the NPL is an invaluable resource for folks of all ages, and I look forward fêting it in April. Finally, there’s the unofficial holiday that is nearest and dearest to my own bookish heart: Independent Bookstore Day. Held on the last Saturday of April (which is the 27th this year), IBD is a nation-wide party celebrating all of the good that bookstores bring to their communities. On offer at participating stores will be exclusive merchandise, like signed books, totes, pins, and more. There will also be giveaways and raffles. So, booklovers, you’re in, right? Mark your calendars and get ready to join the celebration at your → nearest, favorite indie.

“One thing I do know is that poetry, to be understood, must be clear.” — Mary Oliver

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

FOR MORE INFO, VISIT WSMONLINE.COM!

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

New &

notable

⟫ ⟫ ⟫

Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid Fiction. Los Angeles. The 1970s. The exciting, drama-filled, whirlwind rise of a rock ’n’ roll band. Yes, please!

{March 5}

American Moonshot Douglas Brinkley

⟫ ⟫

The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books Edward Wilson-Lee Portrait of a young explorer in search of books to create the world’s greatest library. The year? 1502. The young explorer? The illegitimate son of Christopher Columbus. Intrigued yet?

{March 12}

Normal People Sally Rooney

This much-lauded novel about friendship and family was published in the UK last year, and the anticipatory buzz preceding its stateside arrival has been electric.

{April 16}

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, so get ready for an inundation of commemorative books. This one promises a fresh look by an award-winning historian.

{April 2}

Helen Ellis

A sure-to-be-hilarious essay collection from Alabama-born Ellis, whose mantra is “If you don’t have something nice to say, say something not-so-nice in a nice way.”

{April 16}

⟫

Southern Lady Code

The Book Hog by Greg Pizzoli

Talk about a plot twist: This kids’ picture book stars a scooter-ridin’, book-lovin’ pig with one problem — he doesn’t know how to read.

{March 26}

Joelle Herr worked as a book editor and is the author of several books. She owns and curates The Bookshop in East Nashville. March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

East Side C A L E N D A R EMMA ALFORD CALENDAR EDITOR

M A R C H | A P R I L 2019

F O R U P -TO - DAT E I N F O R M AT I O N O N E V E N TS , A S W E L L A S L I N K S , P L E A S E V I S I T U S AT: T H E E A ST N A S H V I L L I A N .C O M

UPCOMING SCIENCE FOR SHELBY

Mr. Bond and the Science Guys 6th Annual Science Spectacular 10 a.m., March 9, April 13, Shelby Bottoms Nature Center

East Nashville’s, Mr. Bond’s Science Guys are back in the laboratory for their 6th annual “Science Spectacular” to benefit Shelby Bottoms Nature Center. This year the little science buffs will have 4 opportunities to see a “Science Edutainer” in action. Register in advance to get your edutainment on. Also, donations will be encouraged but not required. (Although, it is scientifically proven the donations will benefit the work Shelby Bottoms Nature Center does throughout the year.) 1900 Davidson St.

ROCK HARD, SPIN HARD, DRINK RESPONSIBLY Creamer & Pat Sansone Trio Thursday, March 21 Vinyl Tap

Local favs Creamer bring their classic rock 21st century sounds to everyone’s favorite neighborhood music venue/record shop/

watering hole with an opening set from the equally awesome Pat Sansone Trio. 2038 Greenwood Ave.

GET YOUR BRAIN & BODY ON

Nashville Community Education

Nashville Community Education is a program sponsored through Metro’s Nashville Community Education commission that offers classes to enrich the population of Nashville through professional and personal education. The full course offerings and sign-up page can be found at: nashville.gov/Nashville-Community-Education Inglewood Elementary School, 1700 Riverside Dr. Stretch and Restore Yoga Tuesdays, through March 26 6-7:15 p.m. | $50 Tai Chi for Energy Mondays, through April 15 6-7 p.m. | $65 Kung Fu Basics Mondays, through April 15 7-8 p.m. | $65

PICK A PLANT Perennial Plant Sale

9 a.m., Saturday, April 6, Nashville Fairgrounds For the green thumbs out there, you won’t

want to miss the opportunity for this shopping spree. Break out your green for the Perennial Plant Society’s yearly sale. This year they’ve got more plants than ever, offering over 450 varieties for gardens tiny and titanic. Added bonus, these folks can offer you some expert advice on choosing what to grow for this region. Gloves on and shovels out. 500 Wedgewood Ave.

UNDER THE NEEDLE Record Store Day

Saturday, April 13, The Groove, Vinyl Tap, The Great Escape - Madison, Grimey’s New & Pre-loved Music Record Store Day is spinning again this year. It’s time to go analog for your favorite local indie record shops in town. Head to your nearest respective spinners to celebrate National Record Store Day and hop on the exclusive releases of the day. Be doubly supportive and buy some local music. Our neighbors Vinyl Tap will open early at 10 a.m. and have live music and drinks all day long, plus 15 percent off all vinyl (save for the exclusive Record Store Day releases). If you head over to The Groove, you can catch more live music outdoors all day, food trucks, and fun giveaways. Their whole shindig will be streamed on Acme Radio, if you’re homebound. East Nashville haunts don’t have all of their details nailed down yet, but you can expect some sweet-sounding sales, craft brews

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East Side C A L E N D A R on-site, live music — and, of course, records. Check out all four: Vinyl Tap, The Groove, The Great Escape - Madison, and our new neighbor, Grimey’s, for noisy festivities.

BLOSSOMS UP

Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival

10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, April 13, Nashville Public Square Be it love of Cherry Blossom Trees or an interest in the Land of the Rising Sun, you can get your cultural fix at this annual festival. This free, family friendly showcase of Japanese culture is a one-of-a-kind event. The day kicks off at 9:30 a.m. with the 2.5-mile Cherry Blossom Walk along the Cumberland River Greenway. The real party gets started at 10 a.m.; you’ll see a sampling of Japanese culture, including martial arts displays, cuisine, music, and plenty of children’s activities. Proceeds from the festival go toward a city beautification goal: the planting of 1000 Cherry Trees across the city over 10 years. (Note: You reap the benefits of this every time you drive down Riverside Drive.) 10 Public Sq.

EAT WITH INTENTION Dining Out For Life Tuesday, April 16, various locations

If you’re looking for a date night that gives back, make it out on this Tuesday. Across the country, restaurants will participate in this nationwide fundraiser to raise money for HIV/ AIDS services and organizations. Participating Music City restaurants will donate a portion of all sales on this day to Nashville CARES, an organization that provided services to over 50,000 middle Tennesseans suffering from the HIV virus and AIDS in 2018 alone. Don’t feel bad if you order appetizers and dessert; it’s for a good cause. Restaurants will donate 30-100 percent of proceeds to Nashville CARES. Their goal is to hit the $120,000 mark this year. Check www.diningoutforlife.com for a full list of participating restaurants.

LIVING AT NIGHT REDUX

Walk the West & Cactus Brothers w/The Wills Saturday, April 20 The Basement East

One the first class of Nashville ’80s alternative rock bands, Walk the West mixed the cowpunk atheistic with an engaging, radio-friendly rock sound. Despite stellar reviews and frequent exposure on MTV, they couldn’t break free of the “too rock but too country” conundrum. In the late ’80s, Walk the West morphed into the more twang-ified Cactus Brothers and recorded two 82

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critically acclaimed albums that crafted a precise blueprint for the Americana sound before the genre officially existed. The band’s first reunion in 25 years will feature fellow ’80s rock veteran Joe Blanton (The Ratz, Royal Court of China, The Bluefields) filling in for the late Paul Kirby, with special appearances from Bobby Bare, Jr. and Mike Grimes. Sure to be a sell-out. 917 Woodland St., 615.645.9174

nostalgia we all so desperately need. Rolling onto day two, there will be a free, day-long festival, featuring tasty eats and drinks, artisan vendors, live music, and kid’s activities. 2031 Lealand Lane

CHICKEN PICKIN’ & ROCKIN’

DEE’S COUNTRY COCKTAIL LOUNGE

American Roots Hoedown IV A Benefit for the Ben Eyestone Fund at Music Health Alliance April 26 and 27 The 5 Spot

This American Roots music fest is flavored with the deep grooves of the South and an occasional West Coast psychedelic twirl. Featuring 12 artists including: Arkansas Dave, Bonnie Blue, Bryan Haraway, Chris Wilson & The Heresy, Don Gallardo & How Far West, Funkyjenn & The Fringe Benefits, Jason Daniels Band, Jeff Mix & The Songhearts, Lady Couch, Mike Younger, Rich Mahan Band, and The Truehearts. Presented by Magnolia Roads. 1006 Forrest Ave., 615.650.9333

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAY Independent Bookstore Day

10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, April 27, The Bookshop Any day can be one to celebrate the rare birds that are independent bookstores, but funny enough, there is a day for it! This particular holiday is a celebration of all things indie bookshop. Our local spot, The Bookshop will be throwing a hoorah of their own. Details are still being hammered out, but we can confirm treats, giveaways, and readings! They will have exclusive Indie Bookstore Day merchandise, a story time for the kiddos, and a happy hour for the grown folks. Stick your nose in a book (or our magazine). 1043 W. Eastland Ave. 615.484.5420

RESIDENCIES deeslounge.com 102 E. Palestine Ave., Madison

Sunday Rock ‘n’ Roll Gospel Brunch w/Tim Easton Brunch: Noon to 4 p.m. Music: 2-5 p.m.

World-Class Bluegrass Jam Hosted by East Nash Grass Mondays, 6-8 p.m.

Madison Guild Hosted by various songwriters Mondays, 8:30-11 p.m.

Jon Byrd and Paul Neihaus Tuesdays, 6-8 p.m.

Kenny Vaughan Tuesdays, 8-10 p.m.

Laur Joamets’ Bypolar Bear Tuesdays, 10 p.m. to midnight

The One and Only Bill Davis Hump Day Happy Hour Wednesdays, 6-8 p.m.

Songwriter Showdown hosted by Andy Beckey Wednesdays, 8-10 p.m.

Don’t Ease at Dee’s Wednesdays, 10 p.m. to midnight

Buffalo Gals Residency Thursdays, 6-8 p.m.

Farmer and Adele Residency Thursdays, 8-10 p.m.

Secret Show Thursdays, 10 p.m. to midnight

Andrew Shepard Every Thursday in April, 10 p.m.

Hoedown with the Dee’s House Band Fridays, 5:30-8 p.m.

THE COBRA NASHVILLE

SEVIER-IOUSY THOUGH?

thecobranashville.com 2511 Gallatin Ave., 629.800.2518

May 3-4, Sevier Park

Sundays, 7-9 p.m.

Sevier Park Fest

While we don’t condone leaving this neck of the woods often, good things DO happen across the river on occasion. One you’d be remiss to pass up is Sevier Park Fest, which takes place in the West, in 12 South. This one is a two-fer. On Friday, they’ll have a ticketed music festival. This year they’ve locked in Gin Blossoms, serving up every bit of ’90s

Comedy Open Mic Another Night, Another Dream DJ Dark Heart & DJ Gravy Wednesdays, 10 p.m.

Funk Night Nashville Thursdays through March, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

East Side C A L E N D A R She’s Lost Control

Georganna Greene

DJ Orlock & DJ Dark Heart Last Saturday of the month 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Opening reception 6 p.m., April 5; through May 5

THE 5 SPOT

the5spot.club 1006 Forrest Ave., 615.650.9333

Sunday Night Soul Hosted by Jason Eskridge Every second and fourth Sunday, 6 p.m.

Two Dollar Tuesday Hosted by Derek Hoke Tuesdays, 9 p.m. to close

A Red Arrow Gallery art talk series Every month—check the website for details

ART & INVENTION GALLERY

artandinvention.com 1106 Woodland St., 615.226.2070 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday through Saturday; noon to 5 p.m., Sunday

RAVEN AND WHALE GALLERY

ravenandwhalegallery.com 1108 Woodland St. Unit G, 629.777.6965

Tim Carroll’s Rock & Roll Happy Hour Fridays, 6-8:30 p.m.

Works from Zach Hutchinson

Strictly ’80s Dance Party

Through March Noon to 5 p.m., Thursday through Sunday 6-10 p.m., second Saturday of every month

First Friday of the month 9 p.m. to close

The 5 Spotlight Artists vary First Saturday of the month 6-8:30 p.m.

LANE MOTOR MUSEUM lanemotormuseum.org 702 Murfreesboro Pike

Funky Good Time First Saturday of the month 9 p.m. to close

VINYL TAP

vinyltapnashville.com 2038 Greenwood Ave.

The Caprice Classics March 19, April 2, 16 & 30 8:30-11:30 p.m.

ART EXHIBITS EAST SIDE ART STUMBLE

6-10 p.m., second Saturday of every month at multiple East Nashville galleries We don’t art crawl on the East Side, we art stumble. Every month, local galleries and studios open their doors after hours to showcase some of the fabulous work they have gracing their walls. You can expect to see a diverse, eclectic mix of art, and to get the opportunity to meet local artists and support their work. Local retail stores are stumbling as well, with some businesses participating in a “happy hour” from 5-7 p.m., offering discounted prices on their merchandise to fellow stumblers. Be sure to check out the happy hour deals in The Idea Hatchery.

The Dan Auerbach Collection: Vintage Harley-Davidson Motorcycles from 1937-1950 Through May 6

FRIST ART MUSEUM fristartmuseum.org 919 Broadway

2018 Young Tennessee Artists: Selections from Advanced Studio Art Programs Through March 17

Dorothea Lange: Politics of Seeing March 17 through May 5

A Sporting Vision Through May 5

Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Their Times: The Mellon Collection of French Art Through May 5

2018 ARTlab: Youth Reflections of Mental Health and Violence Through June 30

THEATER/OPERA NASHVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE Presents

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Through April 7

RED ARROW GALLERY

Tomas and the Library Lady

“Panic and Purpose”

Evenings and weekends are open to the public. nashvillechildrenstheatre.org 25 Middleton St.

theredarrowgallery.com 919 Gallatin Ave., Ste. 4, 615.236.6575

John Paul Kesling Through March 31

April 25 through May 19

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East Side C A L E N D A R

THE THEATER BUG

NASHVILLE OPERA

NASHVILLE REPERTORY THEATRE

Much Ado About Nothing

Tales of Hoffman

Shakespeare in Love

March 23 through 30

Thursday, April 4, 7 p.m. Saturday, April 6, 8 p.m.

March 23 through April 13

Presents

Dates subject to change thetheaterbug.org 4809 Gallatin Pike

Presents

Season tickets on sale now nashvilleopera.org 505 Deaderick St.

Presents

nashvillerep.org 161 Rains Ave.

CONCERTS EXIT/IN

exitin.com 2208 Elliston Place

Cass McCombs Thursday, March 14, 8 p.m.

Molly Nilsson Tuesday, March 26, 8 p.m.

As I Lay Dying Thursday, April 4, 7 p.m.

Tauk Saturday, April 27, 8:30 p.m.

MARATHON MUSIC WORKS marathonmusicworks.com 1402 Clinton St.

Nuit Belge Friday, March 8, 7 p.m.

Gogol Bordello Sunday, March 31, 8 p.m.

Dark Star Orchestra Tuesday, April 9, 8 p.m.

Neko Case Wednesday, April 24, 8 p.m.

Lightning 100â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Music City Mayhem Thursday, April 25, 7 p.m.

RYMAN AUDITORIUM ryman.com 116 Fifth Ave. N

Amos Lee: My New Moon Tour March 8-9, 7:30 p.m.

Maren Morris Wednesday, March 13, 7:30 p.m.

Kurt Vile & The Violators Saturday, March 16, 8 p.m.

The John Mellencamp Show March 19-20, 8 p.m.

Jackson Browne Monday, March 25, 7:30 p.m.

Jenny Lewis Sunday, March 31, 7:30 p.m.

Lucinda Williams and her band Buick 6 Tuesday, April 2, 7:30 p.m

Gary Clark Jr. Sunday, April 7, 8 p.m.

Death Cab for Cutie April 15-16, 7:30 p.m.

The Tallest Man on Earth Friday, April 19, 8 p.m. 84

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East Side C A L E N D A R Todd Snider Saturday, April 20, 8 p.m

Snow Patrol Tuesday, April 23, 7:30 p.m.

Live From Here with Chris Thile Saturday, April 27, 4:45 p.m.

Buddy Guy Wednesday, May 1, 7:30 p.m.

NASHVILLE SYMPHONY

success as a singer in a traditional style of country music with #1 hits “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” “When You Say Nothing at All,” “I’m No Stranger to the Rain,” “I Wonder Do You Think of Me” and “I’m Over You.” The installation will also look at Whitley’s influence on the country singers who followed him.

PANEL & CONCERT

Shake Your Hips: The Excello Records Story 3-4:30 p.m., Saturday, April 6 This tribute to the pioneering Nashville-based R&B, gospel, blues, and soul label Excello Records will feature a panel discussion on the label’s history and influence by Nashville soul legends Jimmy Church and Freddie North; gospel singer Regina McCrary;

nashvillesymphony.org One Symphony Place

Experience Hendrix Sunday, March 10, 7:30 p.m.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert with the Nashville Symphony March 14-17

The Music of Aretha Franklin with the Nashville Symphony Tuesday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.

Tchaikovsky’s Fourth April 11-13

Once Upon a Time … A Symphonic Fairytale Saturday, April 20, 11 a.m.

ABBA The Concert with the Nashville Symphony May 9-11

COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM countrymusichalloffame.org 222 Fifth Ave. S.

EXHIBITS Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s Ongoing This major exhibition, slated for a minimum three-year run, explores the artistic and cultural exchange between Nashville, Tennessee, and Austin, Texas, during the 1970s.

The Judds: Dream Chasers Through July 14 The exhibit will follow the popular duo from their mother-and-child beginnings as Diana Judd and daughter Christina Ciminella to their chart-topping career peak as one of the most successful duos in country music history.

Emmylou Harris: Songbird’s Flight Through August 4 This exhibit explores the musical and personal journeys of an artist who has, for nearly fifty years, captivated both her industry peers and her music fans. Johnny Cash called Harris his favorite female vocalist, and Bruce Springsteen hails her as a national treasure.

Keith Whitley Opens Friday, May 3 The exhibit encompasses Whitley’s entire career, from his bluegrass roots to his March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

East Side C A L E N D A R musician and record producer Bob Wilson; and songwriter, producer, and performer Jerry Williams aka “Swamp Dogg.” Excello historian (and Managing Editor of The East Nashvillian) Randy Fox will moderate. A short concert by the Jimmy Church Band will follow with performances from the McCrary Sisters and Swamp Dogg. Presented in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music.

SHELBY BOTTOMS NATURE CENTER 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday Noon to 4 p.m., Wednesday and Friday Closed, Sunday and Monday The Nature Center offers a wide range of nature and environmental education programs

and has a Nashville B-Cycle station where residents and visitors can rent a bike to explore Nashville’s greenways. 1900 Davidson St., 615.862.8539

EVENTS & CLASSES Young Birder’s 4-H Club 9:30-11:30 a.m., Saturday, March. 16 Ages 10-18

Saint Patty’s Day Open House 1-3 p.m., Saturday, March 16 All ages, registration required

Campfire Commemoration-Spring has Sprung! 1-2 p.m., Saturday, March 23 All ages, registration required

Marsh Madness Hike & Picnic 1-2 p.m., Saturday, March 23 All ages, registration required

Mr. Bond and the Science Guys 10-11 a.m., Saturday, April 13 All ages, registration required

Young Birder’s 4-H Club 9:30-11:30 a.m., Saturday, April 20 Ages 10-18

SHOP AROUND SUNDAY Sundays at Porter East

Noon to 4 p.m., First Sunday of every month, Shops at Porter East The Shops at Porter East open their doors the first Sunday of every month for a special parking lot party. You can expect to enjoy a selection of rotating food trucks (and usually a flower truck), fix-ups from Ranger Stitch, and often some good tunes, too. 700 Porter Road

RINC, Y’ALL

Scott-Ellis School of Irish Dance

You’re never too young — or too old — to kick out the Gaelic jams with some Irish Step dancing. No experience, or partner, required. Just enthusiasm, a heart of gold, and ScottEllis School of Irish Dance classes, and you’ll be dancing in the clover in no time. danceast.org

Sundays: DancEast 2-2:30 p.m., Beginner Class; 2-3 p.m., Intermediate/Advanced Soft Shoe Class; 3-4 p.m., Intermediate/Advanced Hard Shoe Class 805 Woodland St., Ste. 314, 615.601.1897

Mondays: Eastwood Christian Church 5-5:30 p.m., Beginner Class; 5-6 p.m., Intermediate/Advanced Class Eastwood Christian Church, Fellowship Hall 1601 Eastland Ave., 615.300.4388

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East Side C A L E N D A R

HAVE IT YOUR WAY

East Vaudevillian: An Absolutely Open Mic

8-11 p.m., Second Sunday of every month, Radio Café Like the Burger King slogan, the mantra of this night is “have it your way.” This shindig welcomes tricks and trades of all kinds. Everyone has six minutes of stage time to sing, dance, juggle, talk European trade policy, or express themselves in whatever way seems fit. Anything goes, as they say. It’s $3 at the door and 100 percent free to hop on stage. 4150 Gallatin Pike 615.540.0033

R&B. If you have two left feet, then snag a seat at the bar. They have two-for-one drink specials, so you can use the money you save on a cover to fill your cup. Get up and get down and go see why their motto is “Monday is the new Friday.” electricwesternrecords.com 1006 Forrest Ave., 615.650.9333

TELL ME A STORY East Side Storytellin’

7 p.m., first and third Tuesdays, The Post East Looking for something to get your creative juices flowing? East Side Story has partnered with WAMB radio to present an all-out affair with book readings, musical performances, and author/musician interviews in just one evening. Look for this event twice each month.

ANSWER ME THIS Trivia Nights

8 p.m., each week, various locations East Siders, if you’re one of the sharper tools in the shed (or not), stop by one of these East Side locales to test your wits at trivia. They play a few rounds, with different categories for each question. There might even be some prizes for top-scoring teams but remember: Nobody likes a sore loser.

Monday: Drifters Tuesday: Edley’s BBQ East, Lipstick Lounge (7:30 p.m.) Wednesday: Nobles Kitchen and Beer Hall, The Mainstay (7 p.m.) Thursday: 3 Crow Bar

BRING IT TO THE TABLE

Community Hour at Lockeland Table

4-6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, Lockeland Table Lockeland Table is cooking up family-friendly afternoons to help you break out of the house or away from that desk for a couple of hours. Throughout the week, they host a community happy hour that includes a special snack and drink menu, as well as a menu just for the kiddies. A portion of all proceeds benefits Lockeland Design Center PTO, so you can feel good about giving back to your neighborhood while schmoozing with your fellow East Nashvillians. lockelandtable.com 1520 Woodland St., 615.228.4864

SHOUT! SHIMMY! SHAKE! Motown Mondays

9:30 p.m. to close, Mondays, The 5 Spot For those looking to hit the dance floor on Monday nights, The 5 Spot’s Motown Mondays dance party is the place to be. This shindig, presented by Electric Western, keeps it real with old-school soul, funk, and March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

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East Side C A L E N D A R If you want some adult beverages, feel free to BYOB. Check the website to see who the guests of honor will be for each performance. The event is free, but you may want to reserve a spot by calling ahead of time. The Post East theposteast.com 1701 Fatherland St., Ste. A, 615.457.2920 East Side Story eastsidestorytn.com 615.915.1808

BLUEGRASS FED & BRED

Bluegrass Wednesdays 8 p.m., Wednesdays, American Legion 82

Been searching for a midweek jam pick-me-up? Wander no more. Scoot and pick on down to American Legion Post 82 for their bluegrass night. The lineup changes each week, but you can check out their Facebook for the week’s grinners. Admission is free, but tips for the pickers are encouraged. Don’t forget to sign the mandatory guest log on your way in. Happy strumming — and don't forget the Honky Tonk Tuesdays for your Tennessee twostep needs! 3202 Gallatin Pike, 615.228.3598

WAIT FOR THE PUNCHWINE

Punchwine Comedy Hour

8 p.m., third Friday of each month, The Tank Room at Nashville Urban Winery Few things in life are as fine as a good laugh and a tall glass of wine. You can snag both at these stand-up nights — a laid-back evening of laughs brought to us by local comedians Connor Larsen and Lucas Davidson. If you’re looking for a few laughs over some vino, look no further than Main Street. The cost is 10 bucks and each night they’ll have a lineup of four national comedians (with some local jokesters occasionally). Check in online to see who’s on stage each month. Nothing to wine about here. 715 Main St., 615.619.0202

A DANCE PARTY WITH STYLE Queer Dance Party

9 p.m. to 3 a.m., third Friday of every month The Basement East On any given month, the QDP is a mixed bag of fashionably clad attendees (some in the occasional costume) dancing till they can’t dance no mo’. Shake a leg, slurp down some of

the drink specials, and let your true rainbow colors show. thebasementnashville.com 917 Woodland St., 615.645.9174

PICKIN’ YOUR BRUNCH Bluegrass Brunch

10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturdays, The Post East What could make brunch even better, you might ask? Bluegrass. For a pickin’ and grinnin’ kind of meal, join the folks at The Post East every Saturday. They’ll have a few jammers there to complement the toast (and jam). P.S.: For those just focused on snacking, brunch runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. theposteast.com 1701 Fatherland St., Ste. A, 615.457.2920

ONCE UPON A TIME … Weekly Storytime

10 a.m., Saturdays, The Bookshop The Bookshop has a story to tell us each and every weekend. On Saturdays, they sit down for a good old-fashioned story time for young East Side bookworms, occasionally welcoming special guests (learn more about that on the

WALK, EAT, REPEAT Walk Eat Nashville

1:30 p.m., Thursdays; 11 a.m., Fridays, Five Points What better way to indulge in the plethora of East Nashville eateries than a walking tour through the tastiest stops? Walk Eat Nashville tours stroll through East Nashville, kicking off in 5 Points, with six tasting stops over three hours. You will walk about a mile and a half, so you’ll burn some of those calories you’re consuming in the process. This tour offers the chance to interact with the people and places crafting Nashville’s culinary scene. You even get a little history lesson along the way, learning about landmarks and lore on the East Side. Sign up for your tour online. walkeatnashville.com Corner of South 11th and Woodland Streets 615.587.6138

HONESTLY, OFFICER ...

East Nashville Crime Prevention Meeting 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thursdays, Noble’s Kitchen & Beer Hall

Join your neighbors to talk about crime stats, trends, and various other issues with East Precinct’s Commander David Imhof and head of investigation Lt. Greg Blair. If you are new to the East Side, get up to speed on criminal activity in the area. 974 Main St., 629.800.2050

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LIKE DESPERADOS WAITING FOR A JAM

FREEFORM RADIO FOR FREE SPIRITS 90

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East Side C A L E N D A R shop’s website). One thing is certain: These are solid Saturday plans for wee bibliophiles. thebookshopnashville.com 1043 W. Eastland Ave., 615.484.5420

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS HISTORIC EDGEFIELD NEIGHBORS historicedgefieldneighbors.com Board Meeting 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 19 Turnip Truck 701 Woodland St. Neighborhood Meeting 7 p.m., Tuesday, March. 26 East Park Community Center 700 Woodland St.

LOCKELAND SPRINGS N.A. lockelandsprings.org Neighborhood Cleanup Day 8 a.m., April 13, Bass Park 1701 Fatherland St.

SHELBY HILLS N.A.

shelbyhills.org 6:30 p.m., third Monday of every month Shelby Community Center 401 S. 20th St.

MAXWELL HEIGHTS N.A.

6 p.m., second Monday of every month Metro Police East Precinct 936 E. Trinity Lane

EASTWOOD NEIGHBORS

eastwoodneighbors.org Neighborhood Storytelling event: Eastwood Roots 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 19 location TBD Business Meeting 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 9 Eastwood Christian Church 1601 Eastland Ave.

ROSEBANK NEIGHBORS

6:30 p.m., third Thursday of every month Memorial Lutheran Church 1211 Riverside Drive

HENMA

6 p.m., second Tuesday of every month East Precinct 936 E. Trinity Lane

eastnashville.org Dates and locations vary Historic East Nashville Merchant’s Association (HENMA) is a cooperative formed among East Nashville business owners to promote collaboration with neighborhood associations and city government. Check the association’s website to learn about the organization and where meetings will be held each quarter.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS N.A.

MOMS Club of East Nashville

GREENWOOD N.A.

6 p.m., third Thursday of every month Trinity Community Commons 204 E. Trinity Lane

CLEVELAND PARK N.A.

6:30 p.m., second Thursday of every month Cleveland Park Community Center 610 N. Sixth St.

INGLEWOOD N.A.

inglewood37216.org 7 p.m., first Thursday of every month Isaac Litton Alumni Center 4500 Gallatin Pike

MCFERRIN N.A.

6:30 p.m., first Thursday of every month (Location may vary though summer) McFerrin Park Community Center 301 Berry St.

Monthly business meetings at 10 a.m., first Friday of every month, location varies by group MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) Club is an international organization of mothers with four branches in the East Nashville area. It provides a support network for mothers to connect with other EN mothers. The meetings are open to all mothers in the designated area. Meetings host speakers and cover regular business items (including upcoming service initiatives and activities), and also allow women to discuss the ins and outs, ups and downs of being a mother. Check their website for the MOMS group in your area. Would you like to have something included in our East Side Calendar? Please let us know — we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us at: calendar@theeastnashvillian.com

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

ST E V E E A R L E CO N T ' D F RO M PAG E 4 9

“I knew there were some songs I had to do,” he says. “Like when I made the Townes record, the first track I recorded was ‘Poncho and Lefty.’ It’s like when they lock your ass up and they put you out in the yard the first time. You pick out the biggest motherfucker out there and you knock him out and get to keep your radio. It’s the same deal. I decided to make the core of it songs I actually knew by heart, which were mostly Guy’s earlier songs.” By focusing on songs Earle already knew,

preparing for the album was particularly easy for his band, The Dukes. “When we were out doing the Copperhead Road 30th anniversary tour [in 2018], we started rehearsing the Guy stuff on every soundcheck. We would practice a song a day and then go back and refine them. There were a lot of songs that only required one take. There were only a couple of songs we decided to add during the sessions — ‘The Ballad of Laverne and Captain Flint’ and ‘New Cut Road.’ It was

pretty easy — 16 sides recorded in five days.” On the 16 tracks of GUY, Earle and The Dukes present straightforward, keep-it-simple covers of several Guy Clark classics, tailoring the arrangements and performances to Earle’s personal style. The Dukes — Chris Masterson, Eleanor Whitmore, Ricky Ray Jackson, Kelley Looney, and Brad Pemberton — also preserve the band’s signature sound through both delicate acoustic takes on their masterful cover of “L.A. Freeway” and such raucous country rockers as “Out in the Parking Lot.” “It’s just me and my band on most of the tracks,” Earle says. “Shawn Camp played on the two bluegrass songs (“New Cut Road” and “Sis Draper”) because I needed a real bluegrass guitar player. Also Mike Bub plays bass on “Sis Draper” because Shawn wrote the song with Guy, and Mike plays with Shawn all the time.” Although Earle kept it simple for the majority of the album, he felt the closing track, “Old Friends,” Clark’s solemn ode to the rough-hewed, steel-clad bonds of friendship required a larger cast. Recruiting Terry Allen, Jerry Jeff Walker, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Shawn Camp, Gary Nicholson, Verlon Thompson, and Jo Harvey Allen to sing alternating lines of the song with Mickey Raphael and Jim McGuire (on harmonica and dobro) joining The Dukes, the assembled group delivered a moving, poignant finale, perfectly capturing the exquisite joys and sadness of friendships punctuated by the long goodbye. Throughout Clark’s career as a singer-songwriter, he never lost sight of the professions on both sides of the hyphen. In Clark’s view, the process of songwriting is a literary endeavor but only stage one of crafting great songs. A songwriter creates the body, but the singer endows that skeleton with life and sinew. “He always knew he was Guy Clark, the singer-songwriter,” Earle says. “He knew he came from a tradition that was important and he tried to live up to it and keep it going. What I learned from Guy more than anything else is that songs are not finished until you play them for people.”

Steve Earle & The Dukes' GUY is available now on New West Records

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

H E AT H E R L O S E C O N T ' D F R O M PA G E 5 5

form of a digital edition of the magazine can provide. In addition to a digital archive, she wants to use the website to do more outreach and have more conversations with readers. “It’s hard to have a conversation with your readers when you only publish six times a year. I want to hear more from our readers and to create a platform where they can participate. I want their comments; I want their photos; I want to post the latest environmental news and happenings between print issues.” Lose is taking the same community-building, collaborative approach to re-visioning The Tennessee Conservationist that she demonstrated as a cofounder of Nashville Community Darkroom and community radio station WXNA. She credits her civic-mindedness, environmentalism, and builder impulses to her parents, Betti and the aforementioned David Lose. “My mom’s the biologist. She loves the natural world. She collects rocks, and she loves bugs, and she loves birds. She was a barrel racer, a horsewoman. She’s a helper, she’s a doer, she made me learn how to change my own oil and taught me ‘you can do anything a boy can do, honey,’ including going out there and mowing the whole yard. She was the one who had the corncob yellow Volvo with the ecology sticker on it.” While working as a landscape architect for Miller, Wihry & Lee, David Lose created construction drawings for Fannie Mae Dees Park (better known as Dragon Park) before the dragon was added, and then helped bring artist Pedro Silva to Nashville to create the famous sculpture. Young Heather Lose got to help make some of the mosaic tile designs on the dragon. “I got to do a lion’s face and an iris,” she says. “That whole project was about the community participation, so I learned young that was important.” One day David Lose came home from work and announced that he was opening his own landscape architecture firm, Lose & Associates. “My mom asked, ‘Who are your associates?’ and my dad said, ‘Well, Betti, you and the girls.’” says Lose with a laugh. Betti quickly learned bookkeeping, and daughters Heather and Shelley helped out around the office, which at first was part of the Lose living room and, later, over Mosko’s Muncheonette on Elliston Place. The list of federal, Tennessee State, and Metro Nashville parks for which David Lose created master plans and designed trails, open spaces, and park structures is long, with examples extending from East to West Tennessee. They include, for example, the master plans for Stones River National Battlefield, Edgar Evins State Park, and Nashville’s Beaman Park, not to mention designs for the Stones River and Lytle Creek Greenways. Sadly, David Lose died suddenly in June of 2017, and his daughter still tears up when she talks about him. But, when she wants to feel

close to him, Heather Lose walks out of her downtown office and heads over to Riverfront Park, which he also designed. “That was his gift to our city,” she says. “I think how many people have enjoyed that space, just walking there, or sitting there near the water, or going to a concert. He left that for us, and that’s huge to me.” There’s no doubt in her mind that watching her parents build her father’s practice and seeing the lasting impact of their work set her on the

path leading to The Tennessee Conservationist. “It’s amazing,” Lose says. “these gifts you are given, without even really knowing it at the time, how they carry forward.” The Tennessee Conservationist is published bimothly by the State of Tennessee, Department of Environment and Convservation. To subscribe, visit: tnconservationist.org, or call: 615.532.0060

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

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Misty Waters Petak M.S., CFPÂŽ, CLUÂŽ Financial Advisor (615) 479-6415 mistypetak.nm.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

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March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

E A S T OF N O R M A L Screaming for Comfort BY TOMMY WOMACK

ome people — many people, actually — scream a lot. They don’t necessarily make any noise or open their mouths; their faces may be blank or even rigidly pleasant, but inside themselves they’re screaming. They howl to the moon: for safety … or fortune, love, health, food, a clear conscience, respite from grief, a relief from terror — an infinite number of things they wish they had but don’t. People you pass on the street are bent over double even as they walk upright. I scream for common sense, of which I have little. I’m not a very intelligent guy. I’m glib, but not intelligent. There are so many little things in life that most people confront and deal with daily; whereas I flounder like a drunk duck in the face of life’s little teachable moments. I thank God every day I’m married to the wife I have, for many reasons, but one aspect of our relationship that comes into play every day is the yin and yang of Tommy Womack is it. I don’t fix the kitchen sink drain; a Nashville-based she does. (I write the songs.) Going singer-songwriter to Home Depot and buying the and author. His right hex nut is beyond my seeming new book, dust capabilities. John Lennon said he bunnies: a memoir, hoped to die before Yoko because is available around he was terrified of life without her town and at to take care of him. I can relate. tommywomack.com. His 7” single “We’ll Get Henry David Thoreau wrote, Through This Too”/ “The mass of men live lives of quiet “Feel Beautiful” will be desperation,” and that is true. Of released in early 2019. course, some people don’t feel that way. Some people are carefree, but not many. Many people put on their resumes that they relish challenges and are great fans of problem-solving, and they’re full of crap. Challenges are a pain in the neck. Others say problems are disguised opportunities, and they say that because they read it in a self-help book somewhere. It pumps them up with a measure of enthusiasm to read some aphorisms from Tony Robbins or Norman Vincent Peale, and those aphorisms help people. There’s nothing wrong with that. Without fear — and inward screaming — there would be no

religion. Why would we need it if everyone felt serene and confident all the time? Millions (me included) live with the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads: the fear of dying and then frying in a lake of fire for eternity like a slice of country ham. To a lot of people that’s silly — what kind of god would permit such a thing? But when you’re raised to think that way, as I was, the feeling never quite leaves you. For thousands of years now people in power have used fear as leverage to keep people in line. And with good reason: It works. So people go to church, or drink, or both, or take Xanax, or write songs, or sing loudly in traffic stopped at a red light, or jog, lift weights, pursue coitus at every turn, hug their kitty cats while zoning out in front of the TV — whatever it takes to cope in a world that is not so much cruel as it is indifferent. Many others simply do nothing. Scientists have placed dogs in crates separated down the middle by a short wall. The floor on one side would be electrified, and the dogs jolted by an electric shock, which they learned to avoid by leaping over the wall to the other side of the crate, which was not electrified. Then both sides would be electrified, and the dogs learned they were screwed no matter what. Then the scientists would turn the electricity back off on one side, but the dogs no longer hopped over the wall to avoid it; they sat there and took the shocks without moving. Learned helplessness, they call it. Quiet desperation. So, Tommy, you’re depressing the hell out of me. Don’t you have anything positive to say? Isn’t there a way out? Perhaps. The Buddhist monastic student said, “Master, what do I need to do in order to be enlightened?” The master asked, “Have you eaten breakfast yet?” “Yes,” said the student. The master yelled, “Then wash your dishes!” And the student was enlightened. From my vantage, that’s about all there is to it. Feeling afraid? Wash your truck. And talk to somebody. It’s important to know you’re not alone. People scream, but some learn to do it together in silent harmony, and in that there is comfort.

March | April 2019 theeastnashvillian.com

PARTING SHOT

Fairwell, friend. F ond O bject March 3, 2019

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHUCK ALLEN

theeastnashvillian.com March | April 2019

Still in the groove (since 1984)

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2 0 1 9 F E AT U R E D A R T I S T

VESELA BAKER Vesela is a full time artist currently working from her studio in Chattanooga, TN. She studied art at the University of Art in Sofia, Bulgaria. Her work includes large scale botanical, landscape and abstract art.

@VESELABAKERART

May 2-4 May 2 3 4 •

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3 Days. 75 Artists. 14 States. Celebrating it’s 44th year, The Harding Art Show is the oldest school-sponsored fine art show in Middle Tennessee. Featuring more than 70 artists from 14 different states, this three-day event brings together the greater Nashville community for a weekend of art and celebration at Harding Academy.

MR. & MRS. JAMES F. TURNER JR. & FAMILY

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thehardingartshow.com | @TheHardingArtShow

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