East Nashvillian Issue 13 by The East Nashvillian

SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER VOL III, ISSUE 1

SHELBY PARK 100 & COUNTING

REEVES GABRELS THE CURE’S

WEIRD AMERICAN COUSIN

PLAYOFFS OR BUST TITANS PREVIEW

WILD, WILD EAST TALES OF THE JAMES GANG IN EDGEFIELD

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PUBLISHER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lisa McCauley EDITOR

Chuck Allen ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Daryl Sanders CALENDAR EDITOR

Emma Alford DESIGN DIRECTOR

Benjamin Rumble STAFF PHOTOGR APHER

Stacie Huckeba ADVERTISING DESIGN

Benjamin Rumble Emily Marlow CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Terri Dorsey Liz Jungers Hughes Robbie D. Jones Christine Kreyling Theresa Laurence Catherine Randall Ron Wynn ADDITIONAL PHOTOGR APHY

Chuck Allen Andrew Clark Javier Juárez Laurent Van de Kerckhove Thomas Petillo ADVERTISING CONTAC T

Lisa McCauley lisa@theeastnashvillian.com 615-582-4187

w w w.theeastnashvillian.com

CO RREC TI ONS The East Nashvillian regrets the following errors which appeared in the July-August issue: On Page 16, in the “Oprah back in the hood” piece, we failed to include a photo credit for the photos of Winberry Place. Those photos should have been credited to Theresa Laurence. In the cover story (“Hank3 Shakes Nashville with ‘One Big Wag’”) on Page 34, Tich McWilliams was misidentified in a quote from Hank3 as being an employee of 102.9 The Buzz. Mrs. McWilliams is an employee of WRLT, Lightning 100.

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East Side Buzz Westies turn up their noses at proposed East-West Connector Buffalo Festival an investment in the neighborhood Edgefield cottages get facelift Balancing act: Metro implements new school calendar East Nashville’s ‘Barber King’ Nicholson Cleaners Down-home dry cleaner has big-time clientele By Terri Dorsey

Playoffs or bust Titans Preview By Ron Wynn

Shelby Park 100 and counting

By Christine Kreyling

Our Weird American Cousin How East Nashville guitar god Reeves Gabrels became the newest member of the iconic British rock band The Cure By Daryl Sanders

Art in a Can Whether his ‘canvas’ is a building, a T-shirt or a surfboard, Troy Duff ’s graffiti art makes East Nashville more colorful

By Liz Jungers Hughes

Wild, Wild East Tales of the James Gang in Edgefield By Robbie D. Jones

East Side Calendar

Parting shot On the cover:

Playground at Shelby Park Courtesy of Metro Archives

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

September | October 2012

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

PUBLISHER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lisa McCauley EDITOR

Chuck Allen ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Daryl Sanders CALENDAR EDITOR

Emma Alford DESIGN DIRECTOR

Benjamin Rumble STAFF PHOTOGR APHER

Stacie Huckeba ADVERTISING DESIGN

Benjamin Rumble Emily Marlow CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Terri Dorsey Liz Jungers Hughes Robbie D. Jones Christine Kreyling Theresa Laurence Catherine Randall Ron Wynn ADDITIONAL PHOTOGR APHY

Chuck Allen Andrew Clark Javier Juárez Laurent Van de Kerckhove Thomas Petillo ADVERTISING CONTAC T

Lisa McCauley lisa@theeastnashvillian.com 615-582-4187

w w w.theeastnashvillian.com

9 19 22 26 34 39 41 44 50

Playoffs or bust Titans Preview By Ron Wynn

Shelby Park 100 and counting

By Christine Kreyling

Our Weird American Cousin How East Nashville guitar god Reeves Gabrels became the newest member of the iconic British rock band The Cure By Daryl Sanders

Art in a Can Whether his ‘canvas’ is a building, a T-shirt or a surfboard, Troy Duff ’s graffiti art makes East Nashville more colorful

By Liz Jungers Hughes

Wild, Wild East Tales of the James Gang in Edgefield By Robbie D. Jones

East Side Calendar

Parting shot On the cover:

Playground at Shelby Park Courtesy of Metro Archives

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

September | October 2012

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Letter from the Editor Fall is on the way. The air becomes crisp and clear, and the autumn leaves paint their postcard pictures. Life is livable again. Of course, this fall will also serve up its share of spitballs. Spitballs? Yes, you read that correctly, and I’m not talking about fourth graders. That would be giving fourth graders a bad name. No, I’m talking about election year. It has rolled around yet again, accompanied by all the pageantry, pomp, mudslinging, name-calling, misinformation spewing and hate mongering we as Americans have come to know and love. Admittedly, “love” might be a stretch — I’m reaching for the ibuprofen as I write this, but you get my drift. Honestly, if you ask me the entire affair has become one gigantic infomercial with everyone involved displaying an inordinate need for the supplication of his or her oversized ego. It’s a feeding frenzy for the rejected inner child. And then there are the politicians. That the right is might and the left is cerebral is old hat. These days it’s all about the Benjamins, and even our little neck of the woods isn’t immune to its evergrowing influence, as the results of the recent school board election demonstrate. I have no gripe whatsoever with winner Elissa Kim. For that matter her organization did a premium placement, full-page ad buy in our last issue. On the contrary, I wish her the very best and I hope she can do great things during her tenure. What should be pointed out though is there was a disproportionate amount of outside money invested in her candidacy. So that’s the long and the short of it really; do we really want disinterested outside groups influencing local election results? As a country, we’ve already become to a certain degree the land of homogeneity. East Nashville still stands firm against this trend for now. But remember the words of Gordon Gecko, “Money never sleeps, sport.”

Chuck Allen

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Chuck Allen

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

Westies turn up their noses • • • •

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at proposed East-West Connector APPARENTLY IT’S BEEN AWHILE SINCE the well-heeled of West Nashville have traveled across the river to the East Side. In a series of public meetings, Richland–West End neighborhood residents put up the biggest fight to the proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) connecting riders from Five Points via downtown to White Bridge Road, an eight-mile route considered Nashville’s “Main Street” by urban planners. Executive Director Ed Cole of Transit Alliance, the organization responsible for promoting mass transit, says neighborhood safety is the most common complaint from residents on the West Side. At the first meeting attended by mostly residential homeowners in the West End area, Cole says he was told, “We don’t want the riffraff from East Nashville in our neighborhood.” In a video posted online from that meeting, an upscale-looking woman, dressed in pearls and an orange dress, questioned why transit officials thought such public transportation was necessary. Then she complained a similar bus line had spoiled her former neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio. “We will have people coming off this bus like they do in Shaker Heights and they will ruin the neighborhood,” she said. “Here they all come, they hang around the bus station — we don’t like it!” Neighbors also worried about the cars that may park near their streets. Seriously? Bus-riding “riffraff ” already have 70 chances every weekday to ride 11 routes running east to west. Cole says there is no evidence of an increase in homeless ridership in other cities and this line would probably charge a premium fare, possibly in the range of $2.50. The reaction in East Nashville was in sharp contrast. Many of the 100 people who showed up at the East Community Center enthusiastically supported the $175 million transit proposal. Tentative plans show the East-West Connector running across the Woodland Street Bridge before veering to Main Street, with stops at 6th, 9th, and 10th streets. A park-and-ride lot would be located near East High School. Downtown merchants have a different concern. They’re worried a designated BRT lane with buses running both directions every 10 minutes will impede pedestrians. Store owners near Midtown and Vanderbilt don’t want to lose their street-side parking spaces for a designated BRT lane, even though it could transport thousands of passengers from downtown conventions into their area. Cole says Transit Alliance has heard strong support from West End hotels. Two new hotels are under construction now. The proposed East-West BRT will look nothing like the Gallatin Road BRT which does not have a designated lane. The East-West buses will

look more like rolling subways and be thinner, hybrid buses. MTA is requesting a federal grant to pay for half of the $175 million project. Metro officials will learn the outcome in December. If the money is approved, construction would be completed by 2015. — Terri Dorsey

Buffalo Festival

an investment in the neighborhood A SON OF EAST NASHVILLE, MICHAEL Douglas, owner of Charlie Bob’s restaurant and president of the Dickerson Road Merchants Association (DRMA), has seen the area “when it’s at its best and when it’s at its worst.” Douglas fondly remembers attending his neighborhood public schools, Shwab Elementary and Highland Heights Middle School. He also remembers, not so fondly, the more recent days when he didn’t feel safe going into work without his sidearm. Today, Douglas is confident that Dickerson Road is on the right track and that the worst days are behind. To showcase the continued redevelopment of the neighborhood, the DRMA will host the second annual Buffalo Festival on Saturday, Sept. 8 from 12-6 p.m. Vendor fees and proceeds from the Buffalo Festival will benefit Maplewood Comprehensive High School, specifically, they will go toward purchasing new weight training equipment for the school’s sports teams. The Mighty Maplewood Panthers football team ended last year’s season as runners-up for the Division 4A state championship, no thanks to the school’s sorely outdated weight training equipment. After meeting Maplewood principal Ron Woodard and touring the school, located near the intersection of Dickerson Pike and Briley Parkway, Douglas and his wife Tina were impressed with what they saw and encouraged the Dickerson Road Merchants’ Association to step up their involvement with the school. According to Woodard, who is just starting his second year as head principal of Maplewood, college scholarships awarded to graduating seniors jumped from $91,000 to $1.4 million in just one year. “We’re really pushing hard for college access,” he says. Maplewood, which has nearly 1,000 students enrolled, has only a 600-square-foot weight room. Expanding the space and updating the equipment is a priority for Woodard. When the revamping is complete, Woodard would like to open the new workout space to the community. “We want to create a healthy East Nashville,” he says. “It may take a couple of Buffalo Festivals to get them everything they need, because it’s not cheap,” Tina Douglas, a festival organizer, says. She notes the goal is to raise $20,000 at this

year’s festival. “You gotta think big.” The festival will be centered at Dickerson and Grace streets near the Salvation Army office and the Buffalo statues which welcome motorists to the neighborhood. There will be a variety of vendors and nonprofit organizations represented, children’s activities, and a stage featuring gospel, blues, bluegrass and rock music. The Maplewood marching band is also scheduled to perform. So, why buffalos? Well, when Michael and Tina were researching how to spend federal grant money allocated for streetscaping, they began digging deep into Nashville’s history. They learned that the modern day Dickerson Road was once a well-worn buffalo trail, one that herds used to get from north of the city to the salt licks of the Cumberland River. “We wanted something that meant something to the history of Nashville,” Tina says of the buffalo statues. The size, color and arrangement of the buffalos are also the result of a very deliberate decision making process, she explains. The white buffalo, she said, is a sign of The Buffalo sculptures at the beginning of Dickerson Road commemorate the thoroughfare’s early history as a buffalo trail.

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

EAST SIDE BUZZ

Westies turn up their noses • • • •

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Buffalo Festival

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EAST SIDE BUZZ change in the Native American tradition. Now the white buffalo statues symbolize the positive changes happening along Dickerson Road. Since 1997, when the Dickerson Road Merchants Association was founded, the area has seen tremendous change. Back then, blatant drug deals and prostitutes were all too common on Dickerson Road. But the Douglases, along with other merchants and local residents, could see the potential of the thoroughfare. The new community bookends — the Titans stadium and Skyline Medical Center — would bring more new people to the area, and Dickerson Road merchants wanted to put a public, united face on their commitment to the neighborhood. To erase the negative stigma attached to the area, the DRMA has worked closely with the Metropolitan Planning Department, the Metro Police Department, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods, local politicians, neighborhood groups, residents and community resource agencies. Positive change “never happens with just one person,” Tina says. “It boils down to cleaning up properties one block at a time,” Michael adds. “Property values are up and slumlords are gone.” Despite all the efforts of the Douglases and the DRMA, the perception of those across the river is still that Dickerson Road “is all crime,” Michael says, but “people who live here know better.” One business that has weathered the ups and downs of Dickerson Road is Charlie Bob’s restaurant, which Michael’s family has owned for 40 years. In business for over 60 years, the restaurant started as a small coffee shop when Highway 41 was the first paved road in and out of Nashville. In the ’50s, the restaurant was a carhop complete with waitresses on roller skates. In the ’60s, it transitioned to Charlie’s Restaurant. When Michael’s father, Bob Douglas, took over in the early 1970s, he changed the name to Charlie Bob’s to reflect the new ownership. Bob also ran two old motor lodges on Dickerson Road, the Savoy and the Key motels, which were once the go-to overnight accommodations for travelers coming to see the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium downtown. The motels have since sold, but Charlie Bob’s has remained in the family. The restaurant still relies on neighborhood old-timers for a good chunk of its business, the blue collar men and women who come in often, and still ask after Michael’s mother, and express condolences for the recent loss of his father. But Charlie Bob’s continues to evolve. It is now open at night, and has a pool table and a patio, in an effort to draw more young night owls to the restaurant. In his work with Charlie Bob’s and the Dickerson Road Merchants’ Association, Douglas strives to be a good citizen of the neighborhood. By working closely with area schools, the DRMA is giving a hand up to the next generation of good citizens.

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In addition to supporting Maplewood through the Buffalo Festival, the DRMA is also partners with Shwab Elementary, and donated funds to help them start a school garden. “You have to invest in your neighborhood,” Tina says. “That’s what changes things.” — Theresa Laurence

Edgefield cottages get facelift

YES, THOSE ARE FAUX WALLS BUILT at taxpayers’ expense on some of the Edgefield cottages for senior public housing at the corner of 5th Avenue and Shelby Street. The hollow walls are much more durable than scenery on a movie set, but their purpose is the same — creating an illusion, in this case, of taller structures. Renovation of the 107 cottages cost $6.4 million dollars and was funded by a federal grant. According to architect David Bailey of Hastings Architecture Associates, the firm which designed the renovations, the exterior facelift is intended to blend the height of the one-story cottages with the high-rise in middle of the site, creating a “loft-like finish.” He describes the function of the faux walls as “taking these old, low-scale cottages that didn’t fit into the neighborhood and creating a streetscape — a better presence from the street.” The outside “design” walls add no space to the cottages and offer little energy savings. Made of wood frames and plywood, they are covered with a fiber-cement siding called HardiPlank,

September | October 2012

which is supposed to last for 50 years. Curb appeal is their main purpose. Bailey says the concept envisioned by Metro Development and Housing Administration (MDHA), which manages all the city’s low-income public housing, is creating a main entrance to Historic Edgefield while honoring the site’s mid-1960s origins. “That’s the time frame for the cottages and the tower, so we tried to create an architecture that is responsive to East Nashville,” Bailey said. The Historical Commission reviewed the plans, even though the site lies outside of the historic overlay zone. Their comment was the renovation “will have no adverse effect” on Edgefield’s National Register Historic District. The faux exterior of street-side cottages is not the only outdoor facelift. The metal posts, laundry lines and chain-link fences have been cleared to make way for landscaped courtyards with sidewalks and small garden areas. But it’s not all about the looks on the outside. Although the floor plans were only slightly altered, the interior modernization and functional improvements are undeniable. The architects maximized every square foot with customized kitchen cabinets, wider entrances and safer bathrooms. More importantly, all the appliances were replaced, including heat and air. The new AC units use a system called variant refrigerant flow in which a computer shifts the flow of air at various speeds. It is supposed to save more than 30 percent on the electricity bills which are paid by taxpayers. Overall, the interior renovations make the cottages, available for low-income seniors over 62, more cheerful, cozier and safer. Former residents were temporarily relocated into the tower where renovations were completed in phase one. Now the Edgefield Manor and Edgefield cot-

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The new “design” walls around the Edgefield Cottages were added to increase curb appeal.

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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Edgefield cottages get facelift

September | October 2012

CULT MOVIES Every Friday and Saturday Night

Showtimes start at 8:00 pm lounge opens at 6:00 pm 2915 GALLATIN ROAD BENEATH LOGUE’S BLACK RAVEN EMPORUIM ENJOY ICE COLD BEER, HOT POPCORN, HOT DOGS, AND NACHOS

IN THE BLACK RAVEN LOUNGE

MOV IES THAT CAN ’T BE SEE N ANY WHE RE ELS E!! UPSTAIRS - LOGUE’S BLACK RAVEN STORE HOURS 11:00 AM TILL 6:00 PM TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY VINTAGE CLOTHING, RARE BOOKS, MOVIES, ART AND MORE!!!

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The new “design” walls around the Edgefield Cottages were added to increase curb appeal.

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

EAST SIDE BUZZ

Scott-Ellis

School of Irish Dance Saturdays 10:30-11:00 a.m. for ages 3-6 11:00-11:45 a.m. for ages 6-9

Mondays 4:30-5:15 p.m. for ages 7-12 5:15-6:00 p.m. for teen/adult Above classes held at Eastwood Christian Church Fellowship Hall, 1601 Eastland Avenue Additional classes available in Brentwood, Pegram, and Vanderbilt University Wendy Ellis Windsor-Hashiguchi, TCRG (615)300-4388 • www.scott-ellis.com

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tages for seniors join a list of 13 public housing sites MDHA selected for renovations. Meanwhile, East Nashville remains one of the last areas of the city where a massive, antiquated public housing development like Cayce Homes, the largest low-income family housing site (710 units), remains unimproved. MDHA offers no predictions regarding renovations at Cayce. In fact their website says it will no longer accept applications at Cayce after 2012. — Terri Dorsey

Balancing act:

Metro implements new school calendar METRO STUDENTS WILL ATTEND four more days of school this year, thanks to the passage of a “balanced” calendar aimed at reducing summer learning loss for all students and increasing academic performance by underperforming students. Research into the benefits of nontraditional school schedules, however, remains inconclusive. After many years of consideration and being rejected, the Metro School Board finally garnered the support needed to pass the proposal. The basic difference between the traditional nine-month year and the balanced calendar is two fewer weeks in the summer break to allow for an additional fall break and an extended spring break. These breaks will include extra nonmandatory instruction days called intercessions which will offer some additional enrichment workshops. These will vary from school to school. A telephone survey of 21,000 families — 37 percent of the households within the Metro school system — conducted during the first week of school in 2011 registered a margin of 53 percent in favor to 47 percent against. A total of 79,000 students were enrolled during the 201112 school year. Two plans were considered for approval by the school board and Metro Council: one would begin the school year on July 25, the other on August 1. The plan with the earlier start date would cost an extra $20 million to extend the 172-day year to the average American school year of 180 days. The balanced option added four more days for a total of 176 for the 2012-2013 school year, and it was the one adopted. “We know here in the U. S. in general our students are in school less time than students in other countries,” MNPS Director of Communications Olivia Brown says. According to Brown, the primary reason for the change is twofold. The first is to reduce the “proven summer learning loss for all students.” Brown says Metro is interested in this “particularly when 70 percent of our students are economically disadvantaged.” She also notes Davidson County has the largest non-English speaking population in the state and long summers off

inhibit immersion into the English language. The second reason is to increase academic performance by underperforming students, measured by improved test scores. Former school board chairwoman Gracie Porter spoke as a former principal and a lifetime educator. “I’ve always been a strong proponent for the balanced schedule,” she says. “Children lose so much [knowledge] in the summer from not being engaged for over two months. I think we will see advancement academically.” National studies, however, are inconclusive about the academic benefits. According to an Associated Press report, “Research on whether learning improves in year-round schools is mixed, with some year-round schools reporting gains and others finding kids on traditional schedules do better.” Those students with high-needs, learning disabilities and/or gaps in their education perform

then compared achievement test scores of Title 1 schools in both calendars and they discovered the traditional calendar schools “were scoring slightly higher than those in year-round,” according to Olsen. “Based on these two key findings — cost savings and test scores — the board of education voted to move all schools in the Salt Lake City school district to a traditional ninemonth calendar.” On the local level, outcomes are disappointing. According to a recent article in The Tennessean, the calendar doesn’t seem to be producing the hoped-for results. Wilson County and Leba-

“Children lose [knowledge] in the summer from not being engaged for over two months.” better with constant reinforcement. Research indicates these are typically children from lowincome families. The students at Cameron Middle School are a prime example of who experts think will benefit most from the new plan. English is a second language for half the student body, and 98 percent are economically disadvantaged and receive free or reduced lunches. Asked if he thinks adopting the balanced calendar will actually increase academic performance, Cameron principal Chris Hames says, “I hope so. The reason is more about focus. Where our students struggle is with the literacy piece.” The shorter breaks will keep the students reading consistently. Cameron hosts a reading clinic overseen by graduate students from David Lipscomb University to help with the gap in literacy. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 14 percent of schools in the U.S. are on a year-round or balanced schedule. Some schools, however, are actually going back to the traditional calendar including Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and several in California. For example, Salt Lake City reversed their calendar for six schools after operating on the year-round plan for 20 years. While searching for budget savings because of the recession, they found they “could save $128,000 per year if we put all schools on a common calendar,” Jason R. Olsen, communications officer for the Salt Lake City school district, writes in an e-mail. They

non school districts, which have been on a balanced schedule for several years, have not shown improvement in academic performance. Those students with disabilities or those with English as a second language still performed below grade level on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) achievement tests. Principal Hames plans to use the extra time inspiring his students with activities like visiting colleges or job shadowing. “Our focus is on literacy and aspiration for our students,” he says. “We want to show them what they are working for, what their futures can be without getting so

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

EAST SIDE BUZZ

Scott-Ellis

School of Irish Dance Saturdays 10:30-11:00 a.m. for ages 3-6 11:00-11:45 a.m. for ages 6-9

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September | October 2012

Balancing act:

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

EAST SIDE BUZZ bogged down in test scores. We want them to see why we do what we do.” Perhaps a missing piece to the solution is the concept of intercessions. These academic enrichment and remediation sessions promise to fill in the gaps. The emphasis of the intercession is to “Learn More. Do More. Experience More.” The quality and selection of programming may differ dramatically from school to school. Each school will work with business partners to offer job shadowing or community service projects. Some sessions will be devoted to credit recovery and ACT or SAT preparation. How many students, teachers and families will take advantage of the intercession instruction is unknown. High school students may opt for the extra time off to work at their outside jobs. Middle school and elementary school working parents may use the intercession time as a free, convenient and quality alternative to child care. Teachers, however, although they will be paid additionally for these extra days, may decide not to sign up. “Part of the challenge is getting teachers willing to work it,” East Literature Magnet School principal Steve Ball says. “They like the time off.” As for Mr. Ball, he anticipates using intercession to also visit colleges. “A lot of kids have never set foot on a college campus,” he says. Mr. Ball envisions the first intercession on a smaller scale and building from there to see what works and what doesn’t work. The first intercession is scheduled for Oct. 8-10 which coincides with fall break. A catalog of options will be made available in the next few weeks. Area businesses are already planning partnerships to engage in a united effort to help our children enjoy their education. Some activities may be fee-based. As previously noted, attendance is optional. The calendar offers some practical advantages which aren’t measured by test scores and the amount of re-teaching that needs to be done. East Nashville families seem not only accepting of the plan, but are also excited by the possibilities for expanded travel times for vacations and the prospects of community involvement. Francie Hunt has two children in Metro Schools — Isaac (first grade) and Eliza (sixth grade). “I’m glad about the new schedule, just because typically summer is the only option to do anything,” she says. “We’ll be able to visit the grandparents more than once a year.” Hunt also mentioned a key advantage for other working parents — finding daycare and summer camp “runs into quite an expense.” There are many unanswered questions about this new schedule, like what will happen to the summer jobs for teenagers and teachers alike? What kinds of daycare options will be offered to accommodate the extended fall and spring breaks for families already struggling financially? Whether the balanced calendar will remedy any of the problems faced by Metro schools remains to be seen. “For the most part, all the parents I’ve spoken with are open with a ‘let’s try it and see what happens’ attitude,” Porter says. — Catherine Randall

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East Nashville’s ‘Barber King’

WITH A GRAND PRIZE WIN AT THE 65th annual Bronner Brothers International Hair Show, barber extraordinaire David Hiland of Winfrey’s Barber Shop says he has “reached the peak of barbering.” Hiland walked away from the show, held Aug. 4-7 in Atlanta, with a $25,000 cash prize, reveling in the glory of winning such a prestigious competition. One of the largest events of its kind in the country, the show is sponsored by Bronner Brothers, one of the world’s leading producers of black hair care products. Over four days in August, tens of thousands of spectators filled the Georgia World Congress Center to marvel at the outlandish creations on display by the many barbers, cosmetologists and fashion designers competing in the show. On Sunday night, Aug. 5, an estimated 8,000 people watched Hiland and his team of “Barber Kings” — which included 35 hair stylists, models and a support crew — win the Barber Battle. Much more Cirque de Soleil than Supercuts, the battle is a massive prize bout showcasing some of the most talented barbers in the country. Participants are encouraged to go over-the-top with hairstyles and costumes and do “whatever you can dream of that will wow the crowd,” says Hiland. A panel of judges, comprised of elite barbers and stylists, as well as voting by the audience, crowned Hiland and his Barber Kings the champs and bestowed on them a $25,000 prize. “It really is a team effort,” he says. “You

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can’t do it alone. It’s crazy.” Back in East Nashville, the oversized check is now proudly displayed in the front window of Winfrey’s Barber Shop in Cleveland Park. A barber for nine years, Hiland has worked at Winfrey’s since recently returning to his hometown of Nashville from Atlanta. Since Hiland joined the staff at Winfrey’s he has “bridged the gap and diversified the shop a lot,” he says. The only white barber at Winfrey’s, Hiland is also one of the very few white barbers who competes in the top-notch Bronner Brothers shows, which cater primarily to black audiences. With nearly a decade of barbering under his belt, Hiland has always been drawn to the showy side of the profession. “You name it, I’ve done it all over,” he says of the competitions he’s participated in. It’s where he’s found his niche. Hiland didn’t always aspire to be an elaborate stylist, putting on hair shows in front of thousands. His beginnings were much more humble — and practical. Growing up and “wandering around the neighborhood” as a kid, Hiland was always intrigued by the barbers he saw. “I’ve rarely ever seen a broke barber,” he says. “It’s a trade nobody can take from you.” Hiland says his late mother is the person who still inspires him. She died of a sudden illness when he was just starting his barbering career and always believed in him. “That motivates me to work as hard as I do.” While Hiland may have reached the peak of barbering, he plans to continue cutting and styling hair at Winfrey’s, as well as offering advanced boot camp classes at the shop. Hiland sees Winfrey’s as his home base for many years to come. “I plan to retire from here,” he says. — Theresa Laurence

The Barber Battle championship trophy David Hiland and his team won at the Bronner Brothers International Hair show is on display at Winfrey’s Barber Shop.

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

East Nashville’s ‘Barber King’

September | October 2012

The Barber Battle championship trophy David Hiland and his team won at the Bronner Brothers International Hair show is on display at Winfrey’s Barber Shop.

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

NO SOUND!? NO PICTURE!?

NO PROBLEM!

Under the direction of owner Linda Say, Nicholson Cleaners has become the go-to cleaners for the Titans, Predators and more.

Down-home

dry cleaner

has

big-time clientele

From Amplifiers to Turntables and much more!

By Terri Dorsey Photo by Chuck Allen

Get it Fixed Right By Nashvilles Oldest and Most Trusted RadioShack. Over 100 years Experience! Anything from 1929 to Present Day.

Ask us about our layaway plan!

Electronic Adapters DBA

Radio Shack

(615)227-5441 3249 Gallatin Pike Nashville TN, 37216

ver wish you had your own personal wardrobe valet who could mend those small nagging problems — the missing button, the loosened hem, the oily stain. Wouldn’t it be great if those problems disappeared, simply by cleaning your clothes? Your wish can be granted at Nicholson Cleaners on Gallatin Road. Owner Linda Say and her team of cleaners and seamstresses make those small “stitches in time,” at no extra charge, when they clean your clothes. “I don’t think you can ever give away too much,” Say explains. “You’re already paying for the garment. My whole thing is give the clothes back, ready to wear, with no problems.” Neighborhood customers aren’t the only people who’ve discovered the wardrobe genie of East Nashville. She’s the go-to wardrobe mistress for the casts of stage, screen and playing surfaces — as in the playing surfaces that host our pro teams. Nicholson’s customers include the Tennessee Titans, the Nashville Predators, traveling Broadway shows, Tennessee Performing Arts shows, Tennessee Repertory Theater, the Nashville Ballet, the Rockettes, and now, the wardrobe

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September | October 2012

crew for the ABC series Nashville currently in production. Nashville production assistant Katherine Woodruff says Nicholson’s staff has been called to pick up costumes at crazy hours with quick deadlines, which is one of the demands in show business. “They’ve been great,” Woodruff says. According to Say, Nicholson’s staff has grown used to some crazy hours, picking up costumes and figuring out how to clean them. “When a show comes to town, they call us — like The Nutty Professor,” she explains. “They say, come pick up some costumes at 10:30 p.m. Thursday night. We clean them and have them back by Friday because they’ve got a show.” The ballet costumes are picked up at the end of the season. The tutus and costumes decorated with beads sometimes require hand cleaning with a sprayer and soft brush, but the cleaning bill for each is $14 to $20 dollars, not much higher than a formal dress. Wardrobe managers tell Say Nicholson’s prices “are a steal.” But she says, “We know how long it takes us, and that’s the base of our prices. We do it correctly, and right, and we don’t rob them.”

Life at Nicholson Cleaners can be more exciting than you might expect. The drama in early August involved the Titans’ new uniforms. All NFL teams changed manufacturers to the Nike Elite 51 designed to be more fitted, lighter-weight and cooler. With just a week to go until the first preseason game, Say and the Nicholson sewing crew waited anxiously for the jerseys to arrive. They knew they were racing the clock to turn out 300 jerseys within two weeks, sewing on as many as nine items, like names, numbers and badges. “They have to be precisely positioned,” Say explains. “Otherwise you can really tell something is wrong on camera.” One set of traveling jerseys arrived days before the first game in Seattle. Then it was time to turn out a whole new batch. “Key players will have four jerseys,” she continues. “Some of them like certain cuts for their sleeves. The quarterback wants his sleeves hemmed short. Eddie George used to have seven jerseys.” She says some players are very particular, with their own private rituals about which jerseys to wear for certain games. She stops short of describing them as superstitious. It was her single-mother, penny-pinching

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

NO SOUND!? NO PICTURE!?

NO PROBLEM!

Under the direction of owner Linda Say, Nicholson Cleaners has become the go-to cleaners for the Titans, Predators and more.

Down-home

dry cleaner

has

big-time clientele

From Amplifiers to Turntables and much more!

By Terri Dorsey Photo by Chuck Allen

Get it Fixed Right By Nashvilles Oldest and Most Trusted RadioShack. Over 100 years Experience! Anything from 1929 to Present Day.

Ask us about our layaway plan!

Electronic Adapters DBA

Radio Shack

(615)227-5441 3249 Gallatin Pike Nashville TN, 37216

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

September | October 2012

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

skills that landed Say the sports accounts for and curled when too much steam was used Nicholson Cleaners. During leaner times, on the press. Acting as a sleuth, Say figured she learned how to mend her son’s soccer out where to get the fabric. “I took the garsocks to save money. When another parent ment apart, made a pattern out of the pieces, involved with the Predators passed along and put it all back together using the same that information, the team signed up Say’s satin and lining. The customer never knew.” business. They wanted her to repair their Say’s experience as a troubleshooter for ruexpensive hockey socks, as well as do their ined garments has proven invaluable because cleaning. Later, the Titans asked the Preda- she’s learned what items can be cleaned and tors for a referral, landing Nicholson another what to be careful for at her own dry cleanmajor account. ing establishment. “I can’t tell you how many A few years ago, a competing company times we’ve removed belts, buttons and taken tried to lure the Titans away by offering big- off ornaments because I’ve learned what will ger discounts and a $20 thousand radio mar- withstand the cleaning process without any keting campaign. Say was given the chance risk.” Later the staff sews the items back on to make a counter offer. But she thought of the garment; many times without the cusall the sleepless nights and weekends she tomer ever being aware of their extra precauspent meeting last-minute demands: like tion. the time she stayed up all night attaching Sometimes it’s the customer who has to AFC championship badges on the Titans’ solve a dry cleaning problem. Say recalls the jerseys before their plane took off for their story of a father who failed to pick up his playoff game; and the times she rushed to daughter’s wedding gown before closing time the sidelines to make emergency repairs dur- on a Saturday. The wedding was that night. ing games. Say told her Titans contact, “If I Panicking, the father noticed who operated haven’t earned your business, I don’t want it.” the Nicholson’s security system. He desperYears later, their relationship with the Titans ately called the operators and begged them to is still going strong. contact Linda. She gladly came back to the “Nicholson and Linda Say are a valu- store and safely delivered the wedding gown able part of the team,” assistant coach Paul in time for the evening nuptials. Noska, the Titans equipment manager says. Say and her staff have plenty of wedding Noska is frequently gown stories: the amazed how fast the bride whose gown last-minute uniform was ruined when a alterations, like the guest spilled his wine hundreds of preon her dress (the stain season jerseys, are was removed); the sewn, pressed and bride who hoped to delivered on time for wear the fragmented, the game. tattered lace dress Say operates Nicholson with her grown worn by her grandmother (the dress was rechildren — son Marcus, daughter Andrea stored); and endless stories about altered and (and husband Rocky), son Mattie, along preserved wedding gowns. One wedding at with more than 20 steadfast employees Opryland Hotel required same-day delivery. who’ve worked at Nicholson for more than The gown was shipped from New York City 10 years. She and her ex-husband bought to Nicholson Cleaners and pressed right bethe business in 1997 from Tom Nicholson, fore the wedding. Say personally delivered who started it on Main Street in 1938. It’s the dress and hand-altered it on the bride, the oldest dry cleaning business in Nashville. minutes before she walked down the aisle. Although Nicholson Cleaners is a premiLast year she visited Nicholson, who is now nearly 80, sharing the news that the business um, specialized dry cleaning business sought he founded won an award called The Best of after by some of Nashville’s most elite customers, there’s no question it’s a down-home, Nashville. They both cried. Say did not have any direct experience East Nashville kind of operation. The main when she started running the dry cleaning facility is located at 419 Gallatin Rd., a few business alone, after her ex-husband “decided doors up from Dino’s diner. According to to move on to other things.” She was a tailor Say, Nicholson has no plans to expand bewho knew a little about accounting. But the yond their one satellite store on West End work she did at home while raising her four Avenue, even though 60% of Nicholson’s young children gave her the perfect training business is from West Nashville customers to run the type of business she later devel- — their clothes are picked up and returned oped — a dry cleaners catering to specialty on delivery routes. Say describes the Nicholson team’s phiitems. She spent several years as a troubleshooting tailor, repairing garments for premi- losophy: “It’s not all about money. It’s about um dry cleaners when they ran into problems. doing a really good job and being proud of “I made a living off of fixing things that dry what you do. I think that’s why our employees stay. They know that’s what we’re about.” cleaners had messed up,” Say explains. Their work epitomizes the essence of a lot Case in point: A dry cleaners ruined a $5,000 black sequined dress, with satin lapels of East Nashville businesses: Quality and and diamond buttons; all the sequins melted craftsmanship trump bigger and better.

“If I haven’t earned your business, I don’t want it.”

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September | October 2012

We’re Moving While our location is changing, our commitment to providing face-to-face personal service for your financial needs is still the same. We are extremely excited to be moving to the East Nashville Community and look forward to meeting everyone. Effective Sept. 5, 2012 our office will be located at 501 Main Street, Suite 100 Nashville, TN 37206 We hope to see you soon. SERVING MADISON, INGLEWOOD AND HISTORIC EAST NASHVILLE AREAS.

Frank Ballard Jr Financial Advisor .

1574-A North Gallatin Rd Madison, TN 37115 615-868-5704 www.edwardjones.com

Member SIPC

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

“If I haven’t earned your business, I don’t want it.”

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

September | October 2012

Frank Ballard Jr Financial Advisor .

1574-A North Gallatin Rd Madison, TN 37115 615-868-5704 www.edwardjones.com

Member SIPC

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

KEY GAMES The Titans have a tough schedule that includes six games against teams who made the playoffs a year ago, so equaling last year’s 9-7 record would be an achievement. 10 wins or more would qualify Munchak for Coach of the Year honors. The following are five key games whose outcome will likely determine whether the Titans will be playoff-bound, or at least avoid again the dreaded 8-8, also known as the Fisher seal of approval. OPENING DAY, SEPT. 9 TITANS VS. PATRIOTS LP FIELD

Andrew Luck. They also want to make it through the first half with at least a 5-3 or 6-2 mark. Anything less, and the playoffs will be in jeopardy. GAME 12, DEC. 2 TITANS VS. TEXANS LP FIELD If things have worked out as hoped, this rematch should be for first place in the AFC South. The Titans will be coming off road games against the Dolphins and Jaguars. If they haven’t beaten them both, their chances for the division title will be bleak at best. At the schedule’s three-quarter mark, injuries will also have played their part. Who’s still standing for both these teams will be a major factor in deciding who wins this annual grudge match between Houston’s past and present pro football teams.

The last time these teams met, the Titans were humiliated 65-0. The only question on that day was whether New England might put up 100. The Patriots have been undergoing some offensive and defensive transition, but still have three-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady at QB, and super coach Bill Belichick at the helm. Last year’s tight end sensation Rob Gronkowski had severe ankle problems late in the season, and was far less than 100 percent in their Super Bowl loss to the Giants. The Patriots are usually regular season dynamos who get off to flying starts. The Titans need to show fans right out of the gate they have moved from pretender to contender status. GAME 4, SEPT. 30 TITANS @ TEXANS RELIANT STADIUM, HOUSTON

TITANS PREVIEW By Ron Wynn ast season was the first for the Tennessee Titans in the post-Jeff Fisher era, and the team disproved a widely held notion (in some circles) that life couldn’t go on without their former longtime head man. After all, he was the only coach the city had ever known. Fisher did a solid job most of his 17 years with the Oilers and Titans. No fan will ever forget the excitement generated by the “Music City Miracle” and the 1999 dream season that culminated in a Super Bowl berth. But, like all things in pro sports, coaching tenures have shelf lives. Fisher’s final two seasons saw the

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Titans go a combined 14-18 and finish 3rd and 4th in the AFC South. After the desultory 6-10 campaign in 2010, both sides agreed it was time for a change of scenery. Now, one year into the Mike Munchak era, there are reasons for optimism. Though last year’s 9-7 resulted in a third straight season without making the playoffs, the Titans finished tied with the last team in, the Cincinnati Bengals. Losing the tiebreaker provided a nice lesson in taking care of business. The Titans blew a halftime lead and lost at home to the Bengals 24-17.

September | October 2012

This season everyone from Bud Adams to the vendors wants the Titans back in the playoffs. The margin for error in the ultracompetitive NFL remains smaller than ever. With only a 16-game season, teams can’t afford to muck around and try to survive a slow start like they can in MLB, the NBA or the NHL. In most years, if a team goes 6-2 home and away, it’s probably got a division title and first round bye at 12-4. Even a 6-2 home and 4-4 away record is usually good enough for a wild card berth at 10-6.

By the season’s fourth week, the Titans will have either displayed the necessary toughness and consistency to be a playoff team, or they will be so far behind the eight ball it won’t matter. After the Patriots, they travel to San Diego, then face the Lions at home. If they travel to Houston 2-1 — or best case scenario, 3-0 — it will be time to get excited. Plus, it is a division game. The Titans division record last year included losses to the horrific Jacksonville Jaguars and even worse Indianapolis Colts, as well as the Texans. Division contests are worth two games, and you don’t make the playoffs losing many of them, either at home or the road. GAME 8, OCT. 28 TITANS VS. COLTS LP FIELD Midseason. At this point, everyone will know a lot about the Titans, especially defensively. If they haven’t been overwhelmed by such passers as Brady, Matthew Stafford (Lions), Matt Schaub (Texans), Philip Rivers (Chargers) and Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers), they certainly should be able to handle a raw rookie in the Colts’ first-round draft choice

Jake Locker

GAME 15, DEC. 23 TITANS @ PACKERS LAMBEAU FIELD, GREEN BAY Whether they are in or out of the playoff race, going to Lambeau Field is always a hallowed occasion. If they’re in the playoff mix, it will make it even more intriguing. If the Titans don’t get pass rush and plenty of it on Aaron Rodgers, it’s lights out in terms of even staying in the game. Likewise, it’s good to score as many points against them as possible, because the Packers can score quickly, in bunches, or grind it out and eat up the clock.

KEY QUESTIONS Because football is the ultimate team game, it’s very dicey trying to predict results. Assuming good health and no freak accidents, here are five more questions whose resolution will go a long way toward determining if the Titans’ postseason drought ends. WAS IT THE RIGHT TIME TO MAKE THE MOVE TO JAKE LOCKER AS QUARTERBACK? Pro sports coaches and managers tend to be formulaic, by-the-book types, and none more so than those in charge of NFL teams. So it made news around the league that a secondyear head coach would change quarterbacks when his team was only a tiebreaker out of the playoffs last year at 9-7, plus has a murderers’ row four-game stretch to start the season. But Munchak wasn’t happy with incumbent Matt Hasselbeck’s TD pass-to-interception ratio (18-14), and very much liked what he saw from Jake Locker during five stints off the bench. Unfortunately, in the second preseason game of 2012 before Munchak announced his decision, Locker turned in a not-ready-forprime time performance against the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Titans still won 30-7, in large part because the Bucs looked like an expansion team much of the game. But Locker, while on the field for 20 points, made bad throws and showed even worse judgment. He only had one interception, but threw another pass into double coverage that was dropped. He had one nice 21-yard run, yet too often was indecisive, both in and out of the pocket. Despite his 4 for 11 showing (QB rating of 7.0, yes that’s a 7.0), Munchak has decided the future is now for the Titans. If Locker matures as quickly as expected, the move will be hailed. If he falters, or the Titans get off to a 1-3 or 0-4 start, he’s still got a reliable veteran at his disposal. But no one wants that to happen. It is clearly Jake Locker’s team now. What he does with it will not only determine the Titans’ prospects for a long time, it will be a major factor in the shaping of Munchak’s coaching legacy and reputation. WILL THE DEFENSIVE LINE IMPROVE? Somehow the Titans must get defensive pressure on opposing passers. They were adequate against the run, but finished near the bottom of the NFL in QB sacks. They’re hoping Karl Klug, who managed seven sacks despite missing plenty of time while learning the system, is ready to become a full-time lineman. Through constant rotation of ends and tackles, the Titans keep fresh legs on the field at all times. That didn’t help last year in some key games and situations. But with an additional

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Jake Locker

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year’s maturation, the team’s management thinks adopting more aggressive schemes and varying the personnel will give them a much better shot at causing turnovers and capitalizing on them. WILL A STAR RECEIVER EMERGE? Right before he was lost for the season due to injury, Kenny Britt looked ready to challenge for a Pro Bowl berth. He had 17 catches for 289 yards and three touchdowns in three games. Unfortunately, he’s also been in various scrapes, fights, conflicts, whatever you choose to call them. With Commissioner Roger Goodell obsessed with the league’s image and determined to do something severe to repeat offenders, Britt faces a hefty fine and suspension for his latest alleged DUI escapades at Fort Campbell. Nate Washington had his finest season a year ago, with 71 catches for 1,023 yards and seven touchdowns. There are two schools of thought on Washington. One says NFL teams weren’t game planning for him last year, and by the time they started, he was already off to the races. The other says he’s a career backup who had a career year and will revert back to type. The Titans clearly hope it’s the former and not the latter. There are also high hopes for first-round pick Kendall Wright will provide game-breaking plays.

$30 million of it guaranteed), but the doubters regarding his desire and motivation are increasingly making their voices heard. It wasn’t just the 4.0 average or 1,047 yards he gained last season that has people grumbling. It’s the fact it followed a season where he had a 4.3 average and gained 1,364, also quite a way away from 2,006. Another negative concerns the dip off in rushing touchdowns from 11 in 2010 to four last season. Johnson has also often looked unsure in the passing game, and dropped his share of catchable balls. If he explodes for a 1,500-1,800 season, all will be forgiven. A third straight subpar year and things will get ugly. WILL THE OFFENSIVE LINE IMPROVE? Not everything that went wrong with the rushing game could be blamed on Johnson. The Titans picked up longtime Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson, and immediately inserted him into the lineup. Eugene Amano, who didn’t exactly wow anyone at center last season, got hurt in camp and is out for the year.

WILL THE REAL CHRIS JOHNSON, PLEASE STAND UP? Many weeks last season Chris Johnson looked as if he were running in quicksand. On other occasions, it seemed he couldn’t be more bored. Coming only two years after the spectacular 2,006-yard season that earned him 2009 NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors, Johnson faces a crossroads. He’s gotten his money ($53.5 million over four years,

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Kendall Wright

September | October 2012

Fortunately, both the head coach and offensive line coach are Hall-of-Famers. If anyone can take underachieving linemen and turn them around, it should be this duo. Lastly, the Titans specialists both had exceptional seasons last year. If you told Mike Munchak he could get another 29-of-32 year from Rob Bironas on field goal attempts — six of seven from 50 yards plus, he would gladly take it. Likewise, punter Brett Kern’s 39.1 net average earned him a multiyear contract extension — he’s currently ninth among AFC kickers career-wise. Marc Mariani has been making noises about playing more at receiver, but he’s only two years off a Pro Bowl year as a returner. He gives the Titans a scoring threat from anywhere on the field. If everything comes together for the Titans, an 11-5 record is not out of the question. But likewise, they could just as easily go 5-11 if injuries or misfortune hit. That’s the beauty of the NFL. The teams really are so close to each other, the gap between mediocrity and a championship is ultra-thin. Don’t forget: The New York Giants were 7-7 last year at Christmas Chris Johnson and ended the season as Super Bowl champions.

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Kendall Wright

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By Christine Kreyling

ince I moved to Nashville in 1985, Shelby Park has been one of my favorite places

by Park much back then, except for baseball and softball after work, and the picnic shelters on weekends,” Steve recalls. He felt conflicted about the park’s best-kept-secret status. “I wanted more people to recognize what an asset the park is, because I wanted more people to realize that to dog walk. The Cumberland is a picturesque river, East Nashville is a great neighborhood. On the other hand, I really and in the park you can stroll along it beneath big, liked it when I had it to myself. It was just so peaceful.” Shelby Park is still peaceful on weekdays. But now the anglers share old trees, listen to the railroad chug over the trestles, admire the park with walkers, bikers and bladers, with kids hanging from the the historic proportions of Omohundro waterworks on the jungle gym and rocking back and forth on the swings. The park has west bank and recall it was river and then railroad that made seen a lot of changes in the 100 years of its existence. Those years illusNashville a city. trate in miniature evolutions in the whole philosophy of parks — how they should look and function — as well as the rise, ebb and rise again In the 1980s, however, I didn’t see many of my fellow East Nashvil- of the city’s early suburbs in general and East Nashville in particular. The occasion of Shelby Park’s centennial — a birthday bash sponlians when I soaked up this history. An exception was Steve Neighbors, one of the original Near East revitalizers, who would sit in his car near sored by the Friends of Shelby Park & Bottoms is planned for Oct. 13 — provides a good opportunity to look backward at some snapshots of the river and catch up on paperwork in those pre-laptop days. “Apart from the guys who fish at the lake, people just didn’t use Shel- the past as well as forward to the park of the future.

All photos courtesy of Metro Archives

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By Christine Kreyling

ince I moved to Nashville in 1985, Shelby Park has been one of my favorite places

All photos courtesy of Metro Archives

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September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE AMUSEMENT PARK Shelby Park, like the Nashville park system in general, had its origins in the suburban migration of the latter years of the 19th century, according to Leland Johnson’s The Parks of Nashville. Deteriorating living conditions in downtown prompted the migration. The business district expanded into previously residential areas. Soft coal for power and heat blackened the air and the lack of sanitary water delivered disease. Those with the funds for the fare — primarily the middle classes; the wealthy traveled in their own carriages — rode the streetcars to dwellings in the suburban fringe. Suburban real estate developers, who often also owned interests in the streetcar lines, discovered that setting aside some of their subdivision plats for green space stimulated sales — and prices — of the surrounding land. So they built parks at the end of their lines and staged weekend entertainments in them to entice city-dwellers to catch a ride. If the ’burbs were a fine place to spend a Sunday, living there would be even better. The original Shelby Park followed this pattern. In the 1890s, the Edgefield Land Company, with interests in Nashville Street Railway, developed a private amusement park near the end of the streetcar line on 19th Street. The company built an entertainment pavilion near the site of the current community center, staged plays and concerts there, and supplied free tickets to streetcar passengers. The developers named their venue after John Shelby, a prominent physician who served as military surgeon under Andrew Jackson, and subsequently, as a state senator and Nashville postmaster. Before his death in 1859, Shelby owned much of what is now Edgefield and built villas called Fatherland and Boscobel

railway who had served as director general — hence the street names. Contrary to local of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and legend, he never owned the land on which the was the first chair of the Park Board. Lewis, park lies, according to Deborah Cox of Metro in addition to designing the log shelters, was Archives, who has researched East Nashville land grants. But for a real estate company try- interested in reinforced concrete and used this material for the boathouse, the bridges, ing to convince prospective buyers forest and the windmill, the cave spring grotto and the farmland could become a neighborhood, the sulphur spring shelter still standing near the name Shelby had the right cachet. In 1903, the company that had developed Lillian Avenue entrance. The Park Board’s initial impulse to maintain the amusement park went bankrupt. Their Shelby Park in a largely naturalistic state was creditors received 151 acres, which Nashville’s Park Board discussed purchasing. But East consistent with the 19th century concept of Nashvillians — contrarians from the outset green space as respite for the contemplation of — objected to a park in their neighborhood. nature. In the early years of the 20th century, however, an alternative vision emerged. Called By 1909, however, Edgefield, East End and Lockeland Springs had seen rapid develop- “the playground movement,” its advocates campaigned for the exploitation of parks for vigorous, ment and were less sylvan. Residents told the supervised physical recreation “to materially aid Park Board they had reconsidered. The board the healthfulness of all our citizens, especially purchased the 151 acres for $40,000, plus an those of the poorer classes,” as the Park Board additional tract of 60 acres from J. P. Meredith explained to the city council in a request for in 1911. While there was public sentiment for a funding. The funds were to pay for playground renaming to Riverside Park, the board retained the original Shelby Park, which opened on July equipment and the fields for team sports in or4, 1912. As opportunities arose, the board pur- der to get children off the streets and keep young men out of saloons. chased additional tracts of land, and today, the Shelby Park accommodated active recreation park encompasses 336 acres. with the 1914 construction of a baseball field. The field was on the site of the current Old Timers field, and was called Shelby #1. The next year the park hosted the first city park baseball league. When the Park Board first acquired the land “It’s the oldest continuously used baseball field for Shelby Park, it was largely forest. They de- in Nashville and probably in Tennessee,” says cided to keep it that way, preserving most of Mickey Hiter, who for 13 years has operated the the trees while taming the acreage with walking field for the Old Timers Baseball Association. trails and over four miles of drives. A stream Hiter notes that the field has “a rich history,” was dammed to form Lake Sevier. Log shel- including a number of players who went on to ters were constructed including the tile-roofed major league careers. “I didn’t see it myself, but Mission House at the foot of Beech Grove hill people tell me that Ken Griffey Jr. hit one into and Sycamore Lodge by the river. A boathouse the Cumberland during a game,” he says. “And modeled after a steamboat was placed at the R. A. Dickey — an All Star pitcher with the edge of the lake and a decorative Dutch wind- [New York] Mets — says the first time he took mill was set on a promontory overlooking the the mound in Yankee stadium, he thought, ‘I’m park. a long way from Shelby Park.’” The park’s chief, if unofficial, planner was For Hiter, however, generational history has Eugene C. Lewis, an engineer with the L&N the most meaning. “I played here with my father, and 30 years later, I played here with my son. In a few years, God willing, I’ll play here with my grandson.”

NATURE VS NURTURE

THE LINKS In 1924, Shelby Park welcomed Nashville’s first municipal golf course. The nine holes were designed by Tom Bendelow, a native of Scotland widely recognized as the most prolific golf course architect in American history with upwards of 600 courses to his credit. Bendelow was a strong advocate for public golf courses, laying out the nation’s first 18-hole municipal course in New York. The Shelby Park course grew to 18 holes in 1927, when the Park Board acquired 60 acres for the expansion. Another nine holes came to the park in 1932 with the development of the Scotsman’s course, so called because there was no fee to play. This

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NATURE VS NURTURE

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course was closed during World War II due to manpower shortages, but was rehabbed for youth golf and reopened as the Riverview course in 1967. The site is currently occupied by Vinny Links, which opened in 2001 under the sponsorship of the Tennessee Golf Foundation as a venue to teach life skills, as well as golf skills, to young people. The greens of Vinny were modeled after original drawings by legendary golf architect Donald Ross for a course for the same area that was never built. The drawings were discovered in 1988 in a Metro Parks trash can.

SLIDING DOWNHILL The fortunes of Shelby Park have always been intimately intertwined with those of the neighborhoods surrounding the park. In the early years of the 20th century, East Nashville was a tony place to live, and thus, a fitting setting for what Mayor Hilary Howse called “the most beautiful natural park in the southland” at the dedication in 1912. The Edgefield fire of 1916, which destroyed 648 homes, commenced the exodus of people of means from the area. The erosion became more visible after World War II, with widespread demolitions for public housing projects and the interstate. The perception of the park eroded as well. People started to fear that Shelby Park wasn’t safe, says Jim Fyke, who began working for Metro Parks in 1964 and served as director from 1978 to 2003. “I never knew that to be true. Of course, parks are no more or less safe than the society around them. But it became part of the East Nashville stigma.” The historic features of Shelby Park suffered from the problem chronically present in the Parks department budget: ever expanding acres to maintain without a proportionate increase of funds to maintain them. The Mission House decayed and died. In 1984, Sycamore Lodge, after repeated attacks by vandals, was dismantled. The natural aspects of the park declined with the addition of more and more playing fields. By 1985, the park had 10 ball fields. “You have to remember that in the 1980s, jogging hadn’t been invented yet, at least for most of Nashville,” says Tommy Lynch, the current Parks director. “People played organized sports, so we filled it up with organized sports.” Nearby residents who didn’t play ball often saw the park merely as a commuter cutthrough to downtown.

survive the dark age of the 1980s. In 1984, it was a land swap. The owners of the bottomland, led by the late Bobby Matthews, proposed surrendering their property for the construction of a new golf course for Shelby Park. In exchange, they would receive the existing 18-hole course for the development of a subdivision. Strident opposition from East Nashville residents killed this deal. In 1987, “the mound builders” scheme came. In this scenario, some of the bottomland would be dredged, creating canals, with the excess dirt used to elevate other sections above the floodplain for the construction of 4,000 dwelling units. Along the river, a “scenic parkway” — remember, I-440 was supposed to be scenic, too — and a bridge would connect downtown to Briley Parkway, Opryland and the airport corridor. More protests averted “Venice with a highway.” In 1989, the floodplain’s owners sold options for the construction of the bucolically named “Cumberland Oaks” private landfill. Due to concerns that the landfill would be located in an often-flooded area immediately upstream from the city’s primary intake for its water supply, this idea also went nowhere. Enlightenment came in 1992, when new mayor Phil Bredesen convened the first meeting of what he called the “Green Space Working Group.” He had charged the 10 members with identifying open space for conservation. “The real estate market was in the doldrums,” Bredesen says. “It seemed a good time to bank some land. We looked at the maps and Shelby Bottoms jumped right out at me. The extension of an existing park so close to downtown made it the one to go for.” Metro went for the 800 acres for $4 million and “got some grants which we matched with city money to lay some trails,” the former mayor says. Subsequent funding from various sources extended the trails to Forest Green, built the Nature Center and created the bike/ pedestrian bridge across the Cumberland to link the Bottoms with the Stones River Greenway, opening up the Bottoms to Donelson and creating a nonmotorized commuting route to downtown. The acquisition of

the flood-devastated Cornelia Fort Airpark in 2011 brought total Bottoms acreage to 960. For Bredesen, Shelby Bottoms remains a cherished project. As he said in his 1994 State of Metro address: “If I ever see any great-grandchildren, that parkland is probably what I’ll brag about from my years as mayor. A hundred years from now, when the arena has long since been torn down to make way for something else, children will be playing in the sun in that park.” The Bottoms drew people through Shelby Park to get to the main trailhead of the Bottoms. What they saw was beautifully sited public land that needed an overhaul.

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE That overhaul is set forth in the Master Plan for Shelby Park developed in 2009 by Metro Parks in consultation with EOA Architects and Hawkins Partners landscape architects. In a series of widely attended public meetings, a consensus emerged among park users on several key issues: • The circulation system puts walkers and bikers in conflict with cars. • Lack of easy non-motorized access from the surrounding neighborhoods. • Site drainage poor; lake needs dredging. • Better connections to lake and river for pedestrians. • Need for more green in the park. • Need for multipurpose open space. The master plan addresses these issues and goes beyond them to create a new look and layout for the park. Most park roadways will be converted from one-way to two-way to calm traffic. Pedestrian trails will allow people to walk all the way from Lillian Avenue to Shelby Bottoms. The parks water system will be naturalized and landscaped with aquatic and native vegetation. Other planned features include a bridge across Lake Sevier, new parking and a series of pedestrian access points from the neighborhoods.

SAVING SHELBY BOTTOMS The turnaround came with Shelby Bottoms. The idea of making a greenway in 800-plus acres of frequently soggy floodplain immediately adjacent to Shelby Park seems a nobrainer today. But first, the Bottoms had to

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According to Tim Netsch, Metro Parks’ assistant director for planning and facilities, the $1.5 million being spent this year in Phase I will include construction of a fiveacre multipurpose event field in the area beneath the lake dam on which everything from soccer to the symphony can be staged. The stream flowing from the lake will be daylighted and landscaped. New parking utilizes pervious paving to absorb rainwater. All these features are scheduled for completion in 2012. In what Netsch characterizes as Phase 1.5, a second adult baseball field will be added between the existing Old Timers field and the new event field. This is actually a restoration of sorts, because the field’s location was once the historic Shelby #2 baseball field. To guarantee progress on the implementation of the master plan continues, $2.5 million has already been allocated for Phase II in Metro’s capital improvements budget for 2013. Public art is also coming to Shelby Park. In honor of the centennial, Metro Arts is installing Reflection, a 12-foot-tall mockingbird of stainless steel atop a granite plinth by Denver-based artist Lawrence Argent, in a new plaza near the event field. Also, two works in Metro Arts Watermarks series commemorating the May 2010 flood, pieces by local artist Derek Coté and Christopher Fennell of Birmingham, will be placed in Shelby Bottoms near the ped/bike bridge over the river.

FRIENDS INDEED FOR A FRIEND IN NEED

Williams, the first president of FOS, who moved to Edgefield in 1975 and has long and broad experience in the way to get things done in this city. “Shelby Park needed a voice,” Williams says. Perhaps the best indication Shelby Park is on “The Metro Parks staff is the most dedicated the way up is that the park now has friends, and overworked in the city. What we needed to specifically the Friends of Shelby Park & do was to create a neighborhood organization Bottoms (FOS). Formed in 2008 under the to give them some support.” leadership of Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors Williams hopes that the occasion of the and then-councilman Erik Cole, the nonprofit Shelby Park centennial enables this voice to group’s first order of business was to serve as ring out load and clear all across the city. “We a liaison between Metro Parks and the com- have over 1,000 acres of green serenity along munity during the master planning process. the river a mile-and-a-quarter from downSince then FOS has garnered a grant for a bike/ town,” she says. “Few cities have this. I think ped connection between Riverside Drive and it’s worth celebrating.” Shelby Bottoms, put in work hours and solicited in-kind contributions for the new Beech Grove hill trails and path along Lake Sevier, planted trees and cleaned up after the flood, and sweated through the annual Hot Chicken festival on July 4th, the group’s primary fundraiser. But the group’s raison d’être is best explained by Carol

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Reeves Gabrels onstage in June at the Primavera Festival in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Javier Juárez)

‘

OUR Weird AMERICAN

t all began last spring with

‘

COUSIN HOW EAST NASHVILLE GUITAR GOD

REEVES GABRELS

BECAME THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE ICONIC BRITISH ROCK BAND

THE CURE BY DARYL SANDERS

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an exchange of emails between a pair of renowned rock guitarists.

Six-string innovator Reeves Gabrels, who has called East Nashville home since 2006, was planning one of his periodic trips across the pond and sent emails to several of his British friends to let them know when he was going to be in the U.K. One of those friends was singer and guitarist Robert Smith, leader of The Cure. Gabrels had met Smith in January of 1997 during a concert at Madison Square Garden to celebrate David Bowie’s 50th birthday. Gabrels, who spent more than a decade working with Bowie as a guitarist and coproducer, was the music director for the concert. Robert Smith was among the high-profile guests who performed, and during the rehearsals and concert afterparty, Smith and Gabrels became friends. Later that year, Smith called on his new friend to add guitar to The Cure’s next single, “Wrong Number.” “Robert and I stay in touch — it may be only a couple of emails back and forth a year, you know,” Gabrels says. “I come over to London a bunch, a couple of times a year. When I’m coming over, I’ll get in touch with people I know who are here, just to see if they want have dinner and hang out, or something. “After this winter, I was thinking about all the things I really enjoy doing, and I really enjoyed doing the ‘Wrong Number’ single with Robert and The Cure. And we also worked on another thing in the ’90s that we did for the movie Orgazmo that the South Park guys did; we wrote a song for that, Robert and I and Jason Cooper, the drummer from The Cure. “So I was thinking about stuff I had done that was fun or stuff I’d been wanting to do for a long time but it kept getting put on the back burner,” he continues. “So I sent Robert an email in March saying, ‘What are you doing? I think it’s time we do something just for the sake of doing it, and see what happens.’” Smith was busy with some Cure remixes at that time, but said he was interested and would be back in touch before Gabrels came to London. It wasn’t long before he heard from Smith again. “A couple of weeks later, he sent me another email and said, ‘What are you doing this summer?’” Gabrels recalls. “I thought he was still talking about us getting together and doing a little side project.” Their subsequent exchange went something like this: Gabrels: I’m planning to come over in July. Smith: No, what are you doing the whole summer? Gabrels: Nothing that I couldn’t put aside, if you’re asking me what I think you’re asking me. Smith: You know, we’ve been a four-piece for awhile and would like to add a guitar player for our upcoming shows, so would you want to come out and play with us for the summer? It will be like 30 songs and I realize it’s only twoand-a-half weeks till rehearsals start, but you can learn 30 songs in two weeks, can’t you. Gabrels: Sure, I’m in.

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Reeves Gabrels onstage in June at the Primavera Festival in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Javier Juárez)

‘

OUR Weird AMERICAN

t all began last spring with

‘

COUSIN HOW EAST NASHVILLE GUITAR GOD

REEVES GABRELS

BECAME THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE ICONIC BRITISH ROCK BAND

THE CURE BY DARYL SANDERS

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

September | October 2012

an exchange of emails between a pair of renowned rock guitarists.

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Gabrels and Robert Smith onstage during The Cure’s recent European tour. (Photo by Laurent Van de Kerckhove)

with them and having done some live shows with them in the ’90s. “Now it’s turned into an ongoing thing, so I guess I’ve been drafted,” he adds with a laugh. At first, Gabrels wasn’t sure he was a good fit for the group. “I said to Robert when he asked me to come on board, ‘You guys are such an English band, I feel a little odd about it.’ It’s one thing to have done a couple of shows with them in the ’90s and played on the single, but it’s another thing to be in the band.” Smith’s response was, “Well, you’re like our weird American cousin.” Gabrels is speaking from London in late July during a two-week break in the band’s touring schedule. Reflecting on the tour’s first leg, the guitarist has been impressed with the popularThe guitar god with his high-voltage weapon of choice. ity of the group. (Photo by Andrew Clark for Reverend Guitars) “It’s amazing how big their following is,” he says. “We’re headlining 80,000-capacity festiAs it turned out, Smith sent Gabrels more press that Gabrels had joined the band. “It was vals. It’s interesting just how huge The Cure is. than 50 songs to learn, not 30. “I haven’t lis- done in a very sort of low-key manner where “We were joking the other night about tened to anything but Cure music since May I just showed up onstage at the first gig unan- where’s the flying pig because it’s almost like 8,” he says and laughs. “The last gig I did in nounced,” he says. “The ego part of me wanted Pink Floyd or something,” he continues. “It’s Nashville was May 7. I’ve been bathing in The Robert to do a big announcement that I was one of those bands where you look out and Cure, trying to soak it all in since then.” playing with them, you know. His feeling is it’s there’s 12-year-olds and there’s 60-year-olds. It was a lot to soak in because The Cure likes an organic thing, it will be what it will be as it “There were points when it went through my to do three-hour-plus sets. After he arrived in becomes it, so I’ve just been slowly absorbed mind, ‘Now I know how Ron Wood felt, or London for the rehearsals, Gabrels learned the into The Cure. now I know how Mick Taylor felt,’” he adds gig would extend beyond the summer. “I couldn’t think of a more perfect band to and laughs. “Robert basically said, ‘As far as I’m con- be in because they’ve got a body of work that Musically, Gabrels is enjoying his new band. cerned, if you want to be, you’re in the band,’” I know and I respect and I love,” he continues. “Guitarwise, it’s an interesting history and styGabrels recalls. “Then he goes, ‘Do you want to “They’ve been doing it since the late ’70s, so I’ve listically pretty varied,” he says of the group’s be in the band?’ And I said, ‘Uh, yeah.’” heard those songs forever. And then I have repertoire. “What’s nice about it is I can be There was no big announcement to the music some history with them from having recorded myself, but a good chunk of the night I’m in

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Gabrels and Robert Smith onstage during The Cure’s recent European tour. (Photo by Laurent Van de Kerckhove)

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a support role because Robert is a great guitar player, and most people don’t realize what a great guitar player he is. One of the really interesting things about it to me is he’s one of those guys who is cliche-free. The stuff he plays that seems familiar to you is familiar to you because he’s defined the style. “What it’s made me do is hone in on what’s mine and if I play something that reminds me of somebody else, then I’m not doing what I’m there to do, which is be myself within the context of The Cure. “It’s a great family to be welcomed into, so I couldn’t be happier,” he continues. “When it happened I thought there’s not lot of bands left where I could find a home, and the fact I’ve found a home with these guys makes it that much sweeter.” Although the band is headquartered in England, Gabrels will continue to be based in East Nashville, the place he’s called home since moving here from Los Angeles in 2006. Gabrel’s oldest and closest friend is Jamie Rubin, owner of The Family Wash, and he first came to East Nashville to perform at Rubin’s club a couple of times in 2005. Near the end of that year, he was diagnosed with several debilitating ailments, including Lyme disease and cat scratch fever. Rubin suggested he come here to recuperate, which he did in February of 2006. After he had recovered, he decided to remain in East Nashville.

“There’s this sense of community in East to release after the first of the year. Besides that, Nashville among the musicians, there’s a car- his life will be very much like it was before he ing for each other,” he says. “When there was became a member of one of rock’s most influthe flood, when someone’s dog goes missing, if ential bands. somebody gets sick in the middle of the night “Basically, I will be back in Nashville, I’ll be and needs to be driven to the emergency room, playing with Jamie, giving guitar lessons at we’re all there for each other. Rock Block [Guitars], and I’ll just go back to “The caliber of right-minded, wanting-to- life as it was.” That is until he gets a call from help, barn-raising people there — and we all his new bandmates. don’t share the same political views and we “It’s sort of like being a Minute Man,” he says. all don’t share the same religious views — but “You get the call and you go.” none of that matters. It’s people being After playing his first gig in Nashville there for people. there, The Family Wash has been home base for Gabrels. Music was a major (Photo by Thomas Petillo) factor in why we moved there, but it’s become this thing that is much larger than the music. “And that’s why I’m going back, that’s why that’s where I live — in East Nashville.” Gabrels will be back in town in mid-September, and one of his first orders of business will be to master a solo album he has in the can, which he plans

WHETHER HIS ‘CANVAS’ IS A BUILDING, A T-SHIRT OR A SURFBOARD, TROY DUFF’S GRAFFITI ART MAKES EAST NASHVILLE MORE COLORFUL BY LIZ JUNGERS HUGHES

hough always colorful, East Nash- access to all the top graffiti artists in the ville’s cityscape has become even world, can study their styles, right there on more vibrant lately, thanks in their computers or phones.” part to resident graffiti artist Troy Most cities now have legal places to Duff. Duff ’s murals can be seen at Fannie practice, called “yards,” and while Nashville Battle Day Home for Children, the build- has no such municipally-sanctioned facility, ing that was formerly Eastside Scooters and Duff enjoys visiting The Wash Yard, next the ever-changing “E20” fence at Eastland door to Phat Bites just off Donelson Pike, Avenue and North 20th Street, which he where artists are allowed to paint the walls and neighbor Philip Willis paint every few of a defunct car wash. weeks to commemorate holidays, neighborThings were different when Duff was a kid. hood birthdays, local events, and sometimes, Because there was no legal place to practice just their graffiti names: “Krest” and “Mope.” graffiti art, he was always looking over his “Most people’s graffiti name is a nick- shoulder, often in the middle of the night, name, or they think of letters they really like when he began painting murals underneath to do and put together a name. I love R, E, railroads and overpasses, around gullies & and S, so I took that name in ’93 and have ditches. For Duff, it was never about vandalused it ever since, either with a C or a K,” ism or doing damage to property — it was he explains. simply the only place he knew to practice his Now age 40, Duff has been practicing newfound passion. his art for over 20 years, and in that time, He was in school at Hillsboro High when has worked to change the perception that some friends introduced him to graffiti, and graffiti-style art is nothing more than van- he’d never seen anything like it before, not dalism. Recently, Duff has focused on his even in pictures. Though modern graffiti art canvas work, incorporating abstract lettering dates back to New York City in the 1960s and geometric shapes into elegant fine art and had spread to Los Angeles, Philadelphia, paintings. Since his first show at home last and Chicago, it was rare in Nashville in the summer, Duff has shown his work at Miami late ’80s and early ’90s. Beach’s Art Basel 2011 and Shimai Pottery “My first love for art was graffiti,” Duff and Gifts at the Loveless Café. says, “but the risk was always that my parents Call it what you will — Duff interchanges would kill me if I got caught.” graffiti art, street art and spray can art, deThat risk escalated after high school, when pending on who he’s talking to — his color- he moved to a suburb of Los Angeles, where ful compositions, created with sophisticated he lived with extended family. “Because of spray can and airbrush technique, elevate gangs, you just couldn’t go into any neightrain yard “tagging” to a whole new level. borhood and start painting,” he explains. “Graffiti has always been looked down Though Los Angeles is home to many of on,” he says. “It’s not one of those things the best graffiti artists in the world, whose you want to say right off the bat, that work has nothing to do with gang activity, it you’re a graffiti artist, because people just is hard for outsiders to know where it is and immediately put you in this category, this is not okay to paint. box, marked ‘knucklehead.’” Thanks to his job at an art supply store in That stigma is beginning to disappear Ventura, Duff discovered airbrushes, which among the younger generation, some of use compressed air to push atomized paint whom recently gathered at Fannie Battle through a needle, allowing for finer lines and Day Home for a graffiti art class Duff much greater control than spray cans. “Notaught using spray cans and butcher paper. body seemed to know anything about air“They ate it up,” he says. “Now, kids are so brushes,” he says. “People would bring them much more advanced because they’ve got in and say ‘this doesn’t work right,’ so I took everything at their fingertips. They’ve got a couple home and took them apart, cleaned

One of Duff’s most notable murals in East Nashville adorns the backyard privacy fence at the corner of 20th and Eastland. (Photo by Chuck Allen)

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WHETHER HIS ‘CANVAS’ IS A BUILDING, A T-SHIRT OR A SURFBOARD, TROY DUFF’S GRAFFITI ART MAKES EAST NASHVILLE MORE COLORFUL BY LIZ JUNGERS HUGHES

One of Duff’s most notable murals in East Nashville adorns the backyard privacy fence at the corner of 20th and Eastland. (Photo by Chuck Allen)

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September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

THE

them, started messing around with them.” Duff taught himself the medium, which allowed him to continue doing graffiti art at home, on small-scale surfaces such as canvas, surfboards and T-shirts. After returning to Nashville to attend Nossi College of Art, where he earned his degree in Commercial Art and Graphic Design in 1998, Duff moved back to Los Angeles and got a job at a postproduction house, but found that he didn’t really

like sitting behind a computer all day. At that point, he began acting and modeling, landing parts on television series including 24, Charmed and Arli$$, as well as many television commercials and print ad campaigns. He is most often recognized from his image in one of iTunes’ first iconic silhouette ads, dreads tossed energetically as he dances to the music in his small white earbuds. It was also around the same time, in 2003, that Duff launched his clothing line of one-of-a-kind pieces showcasing his graffiti artwork. (“You’ve got to have like a hundred hustles to survive in Los Angeles,” he says.) Duff Clothing got started when his cousin asked him to make some trucker hats for her dance company. They were an instant hit, and Duff began making all kinds of accessories to sell in a Beverly Hills boutique. His success with the clothing line gave him the spark he needed to focus on his career as an artist. “Art is just something that I know I can always do,” he says. “It’s not like showing up to an audition and there are 2,000 people like me wrapped around the corner trying for the same thing.” Five years ago, Duff was in his first season appearing in the UPN television series Second Time Around, when the show was cancelled midseason. “That lifestyle is very up and down,” he explains. “You book something, you think you’re good for a while, then it kinda falls through the floor.” When Duff ’s sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and he began visiting Nashville more frequently to help her through chemotherapy, he realized he was ready for a break from the Hollywood life. He reconnected with his high school sweetheart, and they married in 2009, settling in East Nashville. While he continues to model and act occasionally, Duff ’s focus these past few years has turned mainly to fine art. “I want to open people’s eyes and show them it’s not just vandalism, it’s an art form,” he says. “It’s just art with a spray can.”

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September | October 2012

Tales of the James Gang in Edgefield By Robbie D. Jones

or better or worse, East NashOn April 24, 1874, Jesse James married his ville has a reputation of being of the James brothers’ lives,” Yeatman wrote. first cousin Zerelda “Zee” Mimms in Kearney, home to gangs, outlaws, murder- “Usually they were depicted either as ‘American Mo. While in Nashville, Jesse and Zee went by ers and thieves. To be honest, it’s a

Robin Hoods’ or simply as ‘hoods,’ depending on the assumed names Thomas and Josie Howard. well-earned reputation that we wear the source.” According to Yeatman, their first son, Jesse as a badge of honor. We slap tongue-in-cheek Following the Civil War, Jesse James and the Edwards James Jr. was born on Aug. 31, 1875, slogans on bumper stickers, T-shirts and res- James-Younger Gang of Missouri terrorized the at 606 Boscobel St. in Edgefield; his assumed taurant menus. That’s OK. It’s who we are. country, robbing banks, trains and stagecoaches. name was Tim. After a move to Baltimore Few Nashvillians realize, however, that one The gang of a half-dozen former Confederate in 1875-1876, they returned to Nashville in of America’s most notorious outlaws and gang guerillas was led by two sets of brothers — Jesse 1877 where their daughter Mary Susan James leaders — Jesse James — once called our ’hood and Frank James, and Bob, Cole, Jim and John was born on July 17, 1879, at the Felix Smith home. After the Civil War, he and his brother Younger. Shootouts resulted in a string of dead House on West Hamilton Road in Nashville’s Frank lived in Middle Tennessee on-and-off bodies in Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, Whites Creek community. Their twin sons, from 1875 to 1881, including Gould and Montgomery James, several years in East Nashville’s were born in Nashville in FebruEdgefield neighborhood. His ary 1878; however, both died in son Jesse James Jr. was born in infancy at the W.H. Link Farm Edgefield, as was his nephew. near Hurricane Mills in HumHis daughter was born just phrey’s County, Tenn., where north of town in Whites Creek. Jesse lived as a gentleman farmer He also had twin sons who were and raced thoroughbred horses born in Nashville and buried on occasion. The twins were burnear Hurricane Mills after dying ied at the Link Farm. during infancy. On June 6, 1875, Jesse’s older Besides occasional newspaper brother Frank James married articles, the story of James’ life Anna Ralston in Omaha, Neb. Jesse James’ last known residence in East Nashville was at 711 Fatherland, shown at left as it looks in Nashville remained largely Frank followed Jesse to Nashtoday and at right, as it looked prior to its renovation in the 1980s. (Photo on left by Chuck Allen) a mystery, relegated to the ville, where he and Anna James realm of unsubstantiated legend and urban West Virginia, Kentucky and Texas. Jesse James went by the assumed names, Ben J. and Fannie myth. That is until 2000, when historian Ted became the leader of the gang, and much to the Woodson. Their son Robert is born in EdgeP. Yeatman published Frank and Jesse James: exasperation of law enforcement, he evaded ar- field on Feb. 6, 1878, probably in a rented The Story Behind the Legend, an exhaustively rest for 15 years, becoming one of America’s most house at 814 Fatherland St.. The James brothresearched 512-page classic that is the most successful and legendary bank robbers. ers were listed on the 1880 census as brotherscomplete record of the lives of the James Gang In order to elude authorities, the James broth- in-law and farmers originally from Maryland. ever published. A Nashville native, Yeatman ers and their wives stayed on the move and ad- At that time, they lived at the Jeff Hyde Farm earned two degrees from Peabody — a B.A. in opted assumed identities along the way. Here in on Hydes Ferry Road north of Nashville. By 1976 and a M.A. in Library Science in 1977. Nashville, they lived in the Whites Creek and 1881, they were renting separate homes on FaHe began researching the James Gang in Edgefield communities where they attempted therland Street in Edgefield. Nashville in 1975 and published his life’s work to lead relatively quiet lives and raise families. While the infamous brothers attempted to a quarter of a century later. According to Yeatman, the brothers chose Nash- stay under the radar during their Nashville “For many decades, these Tennessee years ville because it was near family in southern Ken- years, in September of 1875, Jesse was impliwere largely ignored by authors who preferred tucky and large enough to allow them to live in cated in the robbery of the Bank of Huntingto dwell on the blood-and-thunder aspects relative anonymity. ton in West Virginia. The following September,

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

September | October 2012

Tales of the James Gang in Edgefield By Robbie D. Jones

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

EAST SIDE CALENDAR Jesse and Frank led a gang in the failed robbery of the First National Bank According to Yeatman, the last known home of Jesse in Nashville in Northfield, Minn. This foiled robbery resulted in the capture and deaths was located at 711 Fatherland St. in Edgefield. The two-story, red brick of several members of the robbers and ultimately led to the breakup of the residence is one of several side hall-type homes in the neighborhood James Gang. built in the mid-to-late 19th century. The home survived the fire of According to Yeatman a Nashville bartender recollected that Jesse and 1916 and the tornado of 1933, only to be abandoned in the 1970s and Frank were “very quiet men” who minded their own business, but “gam- condemned in 1983. In 1984, a demolition permit was pulled, but the bled a great deal.” They were known to bet on quarter horses at the race- home was saved at the last minute from the wrecking ball by Bill E. track and were said to “play poker right smart and play all sorts of games Beard, who paid $16,000 for it. big and little.” On Oct. 4, 1879, Frank’s horse Jewell Maxey finished Beard undertook a three-year renovation, which was recognized with second in a race at the Tennessee State Fair, winning a $25 prize. Frank a Preservation Award in 1989 by the Metro Historical Commission. The also entered prize-winning Poland China hogs at local fairs. Apparently, home survived the May 1998 tornado with only minor damage. Still Jesse wasn’t as lucky at gambling since local court records indicate he had owned by the Beard family, the well-preserved home is listed in the several charges filed against him for unpaid debts. National Register of Historic Places as part of the Edgefield Historic Photographs of Jesse James are rare, but two of them were taken in District, the first residential historic district to be listed in Nashville in Nashville. The first was made by notable photographer C.C. Giers in 1977. Of the 10 Nashville landmarks documented by Yeatman as having 1867 when he was about 20 years old. The other was made in 1882 by historic associations with the James Gang, only one survives, the house Otto Giers right before James returned home to Missouri where he was at 711 Fatherland. All the others are gone. murdered by Robert Ford on April 3, 1882. Ford was a member of the In 1881, Frank, aka B.J. Woodson, was arrested for the robbery of the gang living in the James home who betrayed him in hopes of collecting Alabama paymaster in Muscle Shoals. He was tried in Huntsville, Ala., the award money on his head. James was only and acquitted by two juries at trial, due in large 34 years old. part to character witnesses from Nashville Jesse James Jr. became a well-known lawyer who helped convince jurors that he had settled in Kansas City and Los Angeles. In 1899, he who minded their own business, but down, focused on his family, and left his life of published a book about his father called Jesse ‘gambled a great deal.’ crime behind him. “In the Nashville area, Mr. James My Father: The First and Only True Story Woodson earned the reputation of an honest, of His Adventures Ever Written. In it, he recounts one of his earliest hardworking citizen,” Yeatman wrote. He worked as a sharecropper while memories in East Nashville, when a family friend, Dick Liddill, fired living in Whites Creek, “seldom failing to put in 10 hours in the field.” a shotgun through the front door at someone who had thrown a rock In October of 1882, Frank James told a reporter in St. Louis, “Those at the door. He fired a second round from the front porch, missing the four years [in Nashville]…were four of the happiest I have spent since purported assailant but rattling buckshot off a streetlamp. Jesse was about my boyhood.” When he was forced to flee Edgefield, “It was with defive years old at the time. According to Yeatman, the incident took place spair that I drove away from our little home … and again became a on Feb. 14, 1881, when they were living at 903 Woodland Street. wanderer.”

‘very quiet men’

The James brothers in popular culture For the past 135 years, the lives of the James Gang have been extolled in countless books, songs, dimestore novels, comic books, television and the silver screen. “The trend had actually started in 1877 with the release of John Newman Edward’s rambling Noted Guerrillas,” Yeatman noted. “In the early months of 1880,

The Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James and the Younger Brothers by J.A. Dacus” was published in St. Louis. Since the advent of silent movies, popular culture has been obsessed with Jesse who has been played by Roy Rogers, Robert Duvall, Kris Kristofferson, Rob Lowe, Colin Farrell, Sam Shepard, and Brad Pitt,

among many others. Johnny Cash and Henry Fonda have played Frank James. June Carter Cash played their mother. Songs about Jesse have been sung by Bruce Springsteen, Hank Williams, Jr., Cher, Linda Ronstadt, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Roseanne Cash and Charlie Daniels.

Emma Alford, Calendar Editor

UPCOMING

ville fest will kick things off with The Naked Foot 5K race. The race’s name says it all — you slide off your shoes and book it. Your kicks will be donated to the Soles4Soles foundation. You’ll run the 5K through the grass (or on a trail, if you prefer). It’s $40 to register, $25 for students, and kids run free. If you register with the group “TLC Runs,” you can get $7 off your fees. After the run, the real festivities will kick off. There will be live music all afternoon, including a Friday, Sept. 7 – Andrea Morrison Baker Block performance by Gabe Dixon. Vendors will be out in full force with their local and homemade goods for Party, 7-10 p.m. sale — and for the thirsty Nashvillians out there, the Eastwood Neighbors are throwing a shindig for East fest will have a beer garden with a selection of locally Siders. The party will kick off at 7:30 p.m. with a brewed craft beers and spirits. For more information, performance from Grammy award-winning singer- visit www.madeinnashville.org. songwriter Bob Morrison. Rockers Bullets to Spare will take the stage at 9 p.m. It’s free to attend, but $10 donations are encouraged. All the proceeds will go toward the Margaret Maddox East Nashville YMCA to support free swimming lessons for local kids and tweens. Come play and party with the locals. 1100 Saturday, Sept. 15 – Gift Of Life 5K walk/run, Shelby Park, 7 a.m. block of Granada Ave. Looking to run for a good cause? Then look no further — The Tennessee Kidney Foundation is hosting its annual Gift of Life 5K event in Shelby Park this year. This is the first time for the race to be held in East Nashville, so let’s show ’em how it’s done on the Sept. 12-15 – Americana Music Association mighty, mighty East Side. They hope to educate participants and the community about kidney disease, Festival and Conference early prevention, and the need for organ donors. Plus, funds raised will go toward providing services With summer winding down and the leaves chang- for kidney patients, free health screenings, and pubing colors, it’s time for the Americana Music Festival lic education on kidney diseases. Registration is only and Conference again. The festival will take place $15. Visit www.tennesseekidneyfoundation.org to over four days with educational sessions by day register. and oodles of musicians taking the stage in various venues across the city by night. Held at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel, the conference will feature an array of panels, seminars and lectures with top music biz professionals. Nearly 100 musicians will perform throughout the four-day event, includ- Saturday Sept. 22 – Dog Day Festival and Music ing songstress Brandi Carlile, Buddy Miller accompanied by Lee Ann Womack, and the North Mis- City Mutt Strutt, Centennial Park, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. sissippi Allstar’s Luther Dickinson. The fest is also partnering with the Live on the Green concert series It’s time to round up your pups and head to the park. to bring Delta Spirit to the steps of the courthouse Nashville Humane Association is hosting its 21st anon Sept. 13. The Live on the Green gig won’t cost nual Dog Day Festival and Mutt Strutt. You can regisyou any green, but if you want to check out the other ter your pup to walk the dogwalk and raise money for showcases, you might want to invest in the fest’s $50 the animals the humane association cares for every wristband. It will get you into all the shows—unless day. This year’s goal is $40,000, so they’ll need all the the place is packed out to capacity. For those looking help they can get from our furry four-legged friends. to get educated at the conference, you’ll need to reg- You can register for $25 on the day of the festival or ister online. Registration allows you to attend all the online. It’s $20 for ages 11-17 and free for the kiddies. conference events and gets you into the showcases as After the Mutt Strutt, the Dog Day Festival kicks off, well — it’ll cost $350 for Americana Music Associa- which no K9 wants to miss. They’ll have a shopping tion members and $450 for non-members. Log on to pavilion decked out with doggie goods, contests, a www.americanamusic.org to learn more, register, or pet portrait booth, and even arts and crafts activities for Picasso pooches. They’ll also offer training purchase wristbands. and agility clinics for the more rowdy Rovers. Oh, and they will be some music and food for the homo sapiens on-site. You’re dog-gone crazy if you don’t go. 2600 West End Ave. www.nashvillehumane.org.

ROCK AROUND THE BLOCK

RUNNIN’ DOWN A DREAM

GOD BLESS AMERICANA

GET DOWN WITH THE DOGS

LET’S HEAR IT FOR OUR HOMETOWN Saturday, Sept. 15 – Made in Nashville Fest/ The Naked Foot 5K, Centennial Park, 9 a.m.- 6 p.m.

PICNIC FOR THE PICKERS

pickin’ potluck for Nashvillians. They’re inviting all the string kings to come out, play, and enjoy some tasty food. If you can’t play worth a lick, listening is free. Bring your own potluck dish or mooch off the spread everyone else brings. Come help the park pick its way into fall. To register, call 615-862-8539 or email shelbybottomsnature@nashville.gov.

KICK IT WITH YOUR CHIROPRACTOR

Sunday, Sept. 30 – East Nashville Chiropractic’s anniversary celebration, 2-4 p.m. Dr. Kathleen Inman is celebrating the one-year anniversary of her chiropractic clinic, and she’s inviting her patients and the East Nashville neighborhood to celebrate with her. In September, she’s taking a break from fixing aches and pains to throw a party. Local bluegrass pickers Stopgap will be there strumming some tunes. If you throw your back out dancing, luckily, there will be a doctor on hand. Plus, there’s free food and drinks — and there ain’t no better bargain than free. 213 S. 17th St. 615-414-7914. www.inmanchiro.com.

ROCKIN’ ON THE RIVER

Saturday, Oct. 6 – Soundland Music Festival, Riverfront Park After Next Big Nashville changed its name to Soundland a year ago, the festival is back again and better than before. In previous years, the festival’s lineup has been spread throughout venues around the city, but for 2012, they’re bringing them all to one place. Now you won’t have to worry about running all over town to catch the next show. This year’s bill promises a good show with artists like My Morning Jacket and Young the Giant on the ticket. Some Nashville boys will be taking the stage too, including The Weeks and PUJOL. Johnny Corndawg will be there with his twangy hipster country as well. On top of the tunes, they will be local crafts and original prints for sale — and of course, food trucks. There might even be an inflatable dragon down by the riverside, but you’ll have to show up to find out. Early bird tickets have already sold out, but $45 advance passes are on sale now. The price will go up as Soundland nears and tickets will cost $65 at the gate. Visit www.nbnsoundland.com to purchase tickets.

MY MORNING JACKET

Saturday, Sept. 22 – Potluck & Pickin’, Shelby

It’s time to celebrate all things Nashville with the Park, 2-4 p.m. Tennessee Literacy Coalition. The Made In Nash- On the first day of fall, Shelby Park is hosting a

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

September | October 2012

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

‘very quiet men’

Emma Alford, Calendar Editor

UPCOMING

ROCK AROUND THE BLOCK

RUNNIN’ DOWN A DREAM

GOD BLESS AMERICANA

GET DOWN WITH THE DOGS

LET’S HEAR IT FOR OUR HOMETOWN Saturday, Sept. 15 – Made in Nashville Fest/ The Naked Foot 5K, Centennial Park, 9 a.m.- 6 p.m.

PICNIC FOR THE PICKERS

KICK IT WITH YOUR CHIROPRACTOR

ROCKIN’ ON THE RIVER

MY MORNING JACKET

Saturday, Sept. 22 – Potluck & Pickin’, Shelby

It’s time to celebrate all things Nashville with the Park, 2-4 p.m. Tennessee Literacy Coalition. The Made In Nash- On the first day of fall, Shelby Park is hosting a

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

September | October 2012

September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

EAST SIDE CALENDAR

WHO CUT THE CHEESE?

give you the chance to indulge without the guilty feeling later. Here’s the deal—participants will run approximately two miles through Shelby Park then Saturday, Oct. 6 – Southern Artisan Cheese Festival, stop to chow down on six Goo Goo Clusters (a Nashville’s Farmer’s Market, decadent combination of milk chocolate, peanuts, 3:30-7 p.m. caramel, and marshmallow Attention cheese heads: The Southern Artisan nougat). After scarfing down Cheese Festival is returning to Nashville for a secthe candy, they’ll run the two ond year. Over 20 cheese makers from six states miles back to the starting line. will bring their stinky stuff to the festival this year. Wednesday, Oct. 10 – East Nashville Farmers Mar- For those with strong mind and They will be a gaggle of over 100 cheeses to taste, ket Fall Fest, Freewill Baptist Church, 3:30-6:30 p.m. body-- and a stomach of steel, and other artisans will offer samples and sell their this is the perfect event. The Jog handcrafted accompaniments like breads, crackers, Feeling farmy? East Nashville’s Farmers Market will n’ Hog is part of Shelby Park’s pickles, jams and cured meats. Cheez whiz Gordon be hosting its sixth annual “Fall Fest” this October Centennial Celebration and also marks the 100 year Egar, author of Cheesemonger: Life on the Wedge, in the usual market location. Bring the kids for some birthday for Goo Goo Clusters, the first combinawill lead a taste testing and host a book signing. pumpkin and face painting, and pick up some fresh tion candy bar. Registration is $40 per runner until They also will be a full lineup of other educational locally produced goods while you’re at it. The Lov- Sept. 17, and $45 for those who register between sessions lead by food experts on various cheesy top- ing Touch Petting Zoo will be on site with a few of Sept. 18 and Oct. 7. If you want in on this Goo Goo ics. For the over 21 folks, there will be a generous their cuddly cuties -- hugs are free. There will even gallop, you must sign up before Oct. 7, so they’ll selection of wines and Southern craft beers to try. be a real tractor on site, courtesy of Delvin Farms, know how many faces to feed. For more information After sampling, you will be able to purchase larger for the city folk who have never seen one. 210 S. 10th or to register, visit www.jognhog.com. amounts of your favorite cheeses and other artisan St. www.eastnashvillemarket.com. crafted goods. A $44 ticket will cover all your samples, a $5 voucher towards any purchase at the festival, and a classy souvenir glass for wine and craft beer sampling. The VIP Saturday, Oct. 13—Shelby Park Centennial Celebraticket, priced at $114, will get you tion, Shelby Park, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. in 30 minutes before the crowd, Saturday, Oct. 13 – Goo Goo Clusters Jog n’ Hog, and includes a goodie bag and an This year, Shelby Park is celebrating its 100th invite to the Makers n’ Mongers Shelby Park, 8:30 a.m. birthday in a big way. There will be something reception on Friday. Barista Parlor will host the for everyone at their hundredth hurrah. They If you beat yourself up over every candy bar you exclusive party, with a full spread of cheese snacks buy at the convenience store, this running event will will be paying tribute to the long history of the and wine. Egar will also be at the party to give his thoughts on the American cheese revolution. You can purchase tickets online or at The Bloomy Rind. www.southerncheesefest.com. 900 Rosa L. Parks Blvd.

FARM INTO FALL

DON’T STOP TILL THE GOO GOOS 100 YEARS AND COUNTING ARE GONE

OFFERING CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS FOR ADULTS IN BOOKMAKING, CLAY, CREATIVE WRITING, PAINTING, PHOTOGRAPHY, PRINTMAKING, AND MORE! WAT K IN

615.383.4848 WATKINS.EDU/COMMUNITY COMMUNITY@WATKINS.EDU

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Monday — Keep On Movin’, The 5 Spot, 10 p.m. till close

A FIDDLE OF THIS AND A FIDDLE OF THAT

Wednesday — Old Time Jam, 5 Spot, 7 p.m. till close

The 5 Spot’s weekly “Old Time Jam” is a musical call to arms for all of East Nashville’s pickers and grinners. Bring your acoustic weapon of choice to play with the menagerie of musicians who turn up each Wednesday night. Share tunes and swap stories with the regulars. This bluegrass ball isn’t just for musicians though. Even if you can’t strum a chord, you can sit back and enjoy the rootsy jams. Three is no cover and beers are discounted a buck. 1006 Forrest Ave. 615-650-9333. www.the5spotlive.com.

For those looking to hit the dance floor on Monday nights, The 5 Spot’s “Keep on Movin’” dance party is the place to be. This shindig keeps it real with old Saturday, Oct. 20 – 2012 Halloween 5k/10k run/ school soul, funk and R&B. Don’t worry, you won’t hear Ke$ha — although you might see her — and you walk, downtown Nashville, 5 p.m. Monster Energy is sponsoring a spooky sprint in the can leave your Apple Bottom jeans at home. If you heart of the city this year. Pull out your costume and have two left feet, then snag a seat at the bar. They have head for the hills, but don’t dress up as Usain Bolt, two-for-one drinks specials, so you can use the money you’re not fooling anyone. In this race you’ll be gal- you save on a cover to fill your cup. 1006 Forrest Ave. Wednesday — East Nashville Farmers Market, loping alongside other ghosts and ghouls haunting 615-650-9333. www.the5spotlive.com. the track. Post-run, there is an after party at Tin Roof. Freewill Baptist Church, 3:30-6:30 p.m. Registration online is $35 and race-day registration is $40. If you’re not too much of a scaredy cat, come run Take a detour from your usual trek to Kroger and for your life. www.irunfortheparty.com. stop by the East Nashville Farmers Market. They offer the ”cream of the crop” in locally grown organic and fresh foods. Peruse the local cheeses, milk, breads, herbs, fruits, vegetables, jams and jellies. A Tuesday — $10 Pint & Pie Night, Family Wash, 6 few merchants even sell handmade goods, such as p.m. till midnight soaps, candles, pottery, and jewelry. Over 30 vendors Saturday, Oct. 20 – Grizzlies Reddress Rampage, haul out to the lot beside Free Will Baptist Church to Every Tuesday night at The Family Wash, you can Beyond the Edge, 10:30 a.m. provide the Eastside with their fresh goods. Go out score a pint of beer and a shepherd’s pie for just and meet the farmers who make your food. They also Ladies—and gents—it’s time to pull out that little red $10. The reigning music venue on the East Side, The accept SNAP (food stamp) benefits. Grocery shopdress. The fourth annual Grizzlies Reddress Rampage Wash is home to an abundance of good music, and ping has never been this fun — or homegrown. The calls on everyone, men and women alike, to strap on on Tuesdays, the club plays host to the long-running Farmer’s Market will run through the end of October. their favorite red dress and run through the streets. songwriter series, Shortsets, hosted by Cole and Paul 210 S. 10th St. www.eastnashvillemarket.com. The “fun run” will kick off in the five points area and Slivka. They offer a wide selection of craft beer, and will go throughout East Nashville. But unlike other they even have a vegetarian shepherd’s pie for herbiruns, you’ll stop at a handful of local bars along the vores. So sit back and enjoy the show, along with your way. The event is sponsored by Yazoo Brewing, so at pint and pie. 2038 Greenwood Ave. 615-226-6070. each “watering hole,” you’ll get a cold one and have www.familywash.com.

FARM FRESH

SEEING RED

HAVE YOUR PIE AND DRINK A PINT, TOO

HONESTLY, OFFICER ...

Thursday — East Nashville Crime Prevention meeting, Beyond the Edge, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

GET FIT

Join your neighbors to talk about crime stats, trends and various other issues with East precinct commander David Imhof, community affairs coordinator Dan Orgen and head of investigation Lt. Greg Blair. If you are new to the East Side, get up to speed For all the would-be yogis out there, Shelby Bot- on criminal activity in the area. If you are a recent toms Nature Center will be offering beginner classes victim of crime, they want to hear your story. 112 S. through the fall. Certified Hatha yoga instructor Ali- 11th St. 615-226-3343. cia Jones will be leading the donation-based sessions. There is a suggested donation of $8 per class, but they also accept non-monetary donations, including books for the nature center, food or other needed Saturday, Oct. 27 – Pumpkins and Pickin’, Shelby supplies. The classes will focus on traditional posThursday — After-Hours Jams, Park, 1-3 p.m. tures, breathing, and mindfulness, so they’re open to BYOP, bring your own pumpkin, to Shelby Park for all skill levels. The session times will alternate every The Fiddle House, 7 p.m. another one of the back porch pickin’ parties at the other Tuesday, with morning classes from 9:30-10:30 nature center. You bring the pumpkin; they’ll provide a.m. one week, and afternoon classes from 2:30-3:30 Every Thursday, The Fiddle House, a full-service, the tools and tunes. If you feel like pickin’ around too, p.m. the next. Enjoy the many benefits of yoga while acoustic string shop, keeps its doors open for an afterhaul out your string instruments and jam along. The soaking up the scenery of the park. To register for the hours jam. Each week, they alternate between “Old carver with the best punkin’ masterpiece will win a classes, call 615-862-8539 or email shelbybottomsna- Time” and “Bluegrass” sessions. Sometimes only a prize. To register, call 615-862-8539 or email shelbybot- ture@nashville.gov. few fiddlers show up for the soirees, but other nights tomsnature@nashville.gov. the House is packed out. If you like to pick or if you just want to hear a good jam, check this place out next

JACK-O-LANTERNS AND JIVING IN THE PARK M U N IT Y

Recurring

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE

a short break to enjoy your brew and socialize. All proceeds from the race will go toward the Nashville Grizzlies Rugby Football Club and Friends of Shelby Park. They will give out a number of prizes at the end of the day, including some for the best male in touch with his feminine side, best coiffure, and best female as female. Strap on your Sunday best and go strut your stuff. 112 S. 11th St. www.grizzliesreddress.org.

E I L L H V S N A RESSES.

DS. SM BIG MIN

park with a display chronicling its past, but there also will be an assortment of other activities, too, including disc golf, horseshoes, and even their own interpretation of Angry Birds. You can watch some talented local groups bust a move during the dance performances or you shake a leg yourself while listening to the musical acts slated to play. There will also be an art show in the nature center featuring the works of 14 different artists. For more information, visit www.shelby100.com.

Tuesday — Beginner Yoga Classes, Shelby Bottoms Nature Center, through Nov.13

BRINGIN’ DOWN THE HOUSE

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September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

EAST SIDE CALENDAR

WHO CUT THE CHEESE?

FARM INTO FALL

DON’T STOP TILL THE GOO GOOS 100 YEARS AND COUNTING ARE GONE

OFFERING CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS FOR ADULTS IN BOOKMAKING, CLAY, CREATIVE WRITING, PAINTING, PHOTOGRAPHY, PRINTMAKING, AND MORE! WAT K IN

615.383.4848 WATKINS.EDU/COMMUNITY COMMUNITY@WATKINS.EDU

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September | October 2012

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Monday — Keep On Movin’, The 5 Spot, 10 p.m. till close

A FIDDLE OF THIS AND A FIDDLE OF THAT

Wednesday — Old Time Jam, 5 Spot, 7 p.m. till close

FARM FRESH

SEEING RED

HAVE YOUR PIE AND DRINK A PINT, TOO

HONESTLY, OFFICER ...

Thursday — East Nashville Crime Prevention meeting, Beyond the Edge, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

GET FIT

JACK-O-LANTERNS AND JIVING IN THE PARK M U N IT Y

Recurring

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE

E I L L H V S N A RESSES.

DS. SM BIG MIN

Tuesday — Beginner Yoga Classes, Shelby Bottoms Nature Center, through Nov.13

BRINGIN’ DOWN THE HOUSE

, 20 6 5 . T OC

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EAST SIDE CALENDAR

time you’re free on Thursday night. All skill levels are welcome and this pickin’ parlor is free. The music kicks off at 7 p.m. and ends whenever they feel like calling it a night. 1009 Clearview Ave. 615-730-8402. www.thefiddlehouse.com.

KICKS FOR THE KIDS

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS GREENWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

Tuesday, Sept. 11 and Oct. 9 (second Tuesday of every month), 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, Professor Smartypants, The Family Wash, 6-8 p.m. It’s only appropriate that a venue named The Family Wash hosts a family night once a week. Every Wednesday, kids eat free at The Wash and Professor Smartypants hosts. They call him the “master of disguise and intrigue.” He tells jokes and sings songs, but his comedy isn’t just for the kiddies; parents will enjoy his humor, too. Professor Smartypants goes on at 6:30 p.m. sharp; so don’t be late. 2038 Greenwood Ave. 615226-6070. www.familywash.com.

CHICKS AND GIGGLES

Friday (last of each month) — Girl on Girl Comedy, Mad Donna’s, 8 p.m. Once a month, Mad Donna’s hosts a standup comedy series, Girl on Girl Comedy. Nearly all the performers are women, although sometimes a guy is brave enough to take the stage. Girl on Girl is the brainchild of Christy Eidson, who hosts the show. Eidson has been doing comedy for over 10 years. Once in awhile, they mix things up a bit with music, burlesque and the occasional male pole dancer. They even hand out prizes Be forewarned, this is an R-rated event, so if you can’t handle anything raunchy or risqué, Girl on Girl is not for you. The show is 18 and up. Admission is $10 a head or $15 for couples. Show up early, snag a good seat, and have a nice dinner before the debauchery begins. 1313 Woodland St. 615-226-1617. www.maddonnas.com.

The Greenwood Neighborhood Association meets the second Tuesday of every month to discuss topics and developments relevant to their community, such as parking and neighborhood cleanup. They also highlight new businesses and establishments and invite local speakers to lead the meetings. 909 Manila St. Visit www.greenwoodneighbors.org for more information.

SHELBY HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

The Cult Fiction Underground is housed beneath Robert Logue’s Black Raven Emporium off Gallatin Road. Every weekend they host screenings of rare and classic horror and cult films under the shop for $5. There is a gothic-style bar and longue area downstairs also, so you can socialize and have a drink before (or after) the film. The dim basement creates an intimate gathering space for cult and horror fans. It looks like the kind of place Edgar Allen Poe might’ve stumbled out of over 150 years ago. The entrance is behind the building and parking is free. Check out Black Raven’s Facebook page to see what films they’re screening each week. 2915 Gallatin Rd. 615-562-4710.

EAST NASHVILLE CAUCUS

Wednesday (first Wednesday of every month), Oct. 3, Nov. 7, Metro Police East Precinct, 5 p.m. The East Nashville Caucus meets the first Wednesday of each month to provide a public forum for East Nashville community leaders, representatives, council members, and neighbors. The Sept. 5 meeting has been moved to 6 p.m. and will be used as an opportunity to discuss the recent I-24 construction. 936 E. Trinity Lane.

EASTWOOD NEIGHBORS

Tuesday, Oct. 9 (second Tuesday of every other month), Eastwood Christian Church, 6:30 p.m.

The Eastwood Neighbors group holds a regular meeting at Eastwood Christian Church every other month. The preliminary topic for the October meeting is fall lawn care and home winterization The Shelby Hills Neighborhood Association will tips. 1601 Eastland Ave. Visit www.eastwoodneighmeet on Sept. 17. 401 S. 20th St. www.shelbyhills. bors.org for more information. org

Monday, Sept. 17, Shelby Community Center, 6:30 p.m.

DICKERSON ROAD MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION

POST 1-24 CONSTRUCTION MEETING

Thursday, Sept. 27 and Oct. 25, Metro Police East Wednesday, Sept. 5, Metro Police East Precinct, 6-7 p.m. Precinct, 4 p.m. The Dickerson Road Merchants Association holds meetings the last Thursday of every month. They will not be meeting during the months of November and December. 936 E. Trinity Lane. Visit www. dickersonroadmerchants.com for more information.

GET YOUR CREEP ON

Friday and Saturday, The Cult Fiction Underground, Logue’s Black Raven Emporium, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

MARKETPLACE

Tennessee Department of Transportation representatives will hold a meeting with East Nashville residents to discuss the I-24 bridge rehabilitation project over Woodland and Main Streets. They’ll listen to resident’s opinions and feedback on the project to determine what worked well and what didn’t work at all during the construction period. 936 E. Trinity Lane

TITANS FOOTBALL TSU TIGERS FOOTBALL @ LP FIELD @ LP FIELD Sun. Sept. 9 at 12 p.m. vs. New England Patriots Sat. Sept. 15 at 1 p.m. vs. Austin Peay Sun. Sept. 23 at 12 p.m. vs. Detroit Lions Thurs. Oct. 11 at 7:20 p.m. vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Sun. Oct. 28 at 12 p.m. vs. Indianapolis Colts Sun. Nov. 4 at 12 p.m. vs. Chicago Bears

Sat. Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff homecoming Sat. Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. vs. Eastern Kentucky Sat. Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. vs. Tennessee Tech

If you have an event you would like to have listed, please send information about the event to calendar@theeastnashvillian.com.

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EAST SIDE CALENDAR

KICKS FOR THE KIDS

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS GREENWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

Tuesday, Sept. 11 and Oct. 9 (second Tuesday of every month), 6:00 p.m.

CHICKS AND GIGGLES

SHELBY HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

EAST NASHVILLE CAUCUS

EASTWOOD NEIGHBORS

Tuesday, Oct. 9 (second Tuesday of every other month), Eastwood Christian Church, 6:30 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 17, Shelby Community Center, 6:30 p.m.

DICKERSON ROAD MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION

POST 1-24 CONSTRUCTION MEETING

GET YOUR CREEP ON

Friday and Saturday, The Cult Fiction Underground, Logue’s Black Raven Emporium, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

MARKETPLACE

Sat. Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff homecoming Sat. Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. vs. Eastern Kentucky Sat. Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. vs. Tennessee Tech

If you have an event you would like to have listed, please send information about the event to calendar@theeastnashvillian.com.

TO BE A PART OF MARKETPLACE CALL LISA AT 615-582-4187 OR EMAIL LISA@THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM 46

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September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

MARKETPLACE

MARKETPLACE Melissa lundgren Realtor,CRS,ABR,ePro,EcoBroker direct/text/vm 615 405-4784 melissa@MelissaLundgren.com www.MelissaLundgren.com Your east nashville Homes specialist!

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September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

MARKETPLACE

MARKETPLACE Melissa lundgren Realtor,CRS,ABR,ePro,EcoBroker direct/text/vm 615 405-4784 melissa@MelissaLundgren.com www.MelissaLundgren.com Your east nashville Homes specialist!

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September | October 2012 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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PARTING SHOT

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JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE Wanda Jackson video shoot Charlie Bob’s Restaurant, Dickerson Pike Photo by Chuck Allen 50

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