January | February Vol. iii Issue 3
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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On Sale NOW! February 19-24 at TPAC
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January | February 2013
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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Presented by
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On Sale NOW! February 19-24 at TPAC
tpac.Org/traces | 615-782-4040 TPAC Box Office Downtown Groups of 10 or more call 615-782-4060
January | February 2013
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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Special guest George Takei will make a rare appearance in Nashville to narrate Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw, a moving tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. Also on the program are extraordinary works by Adams, Ives and Shostakovich.
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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
BUY TICKETS AT: NashvilleSymphony.org 615.687.6400 January
Mary C. Ragland Foundation CLASSICAL SERIES | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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Special guest George Takei will make a rare appearance in Nashville to narrate Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw, a moving tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. Also on the program are extraordinary works by Adams, Ives and Shostakovich.
4
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
BUY TICKETS AT: NashvilleSymphony.org 615.687.6400 January
Mary C. Ragland Foundation CLASSICAL SERIES | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PUBLISHER
Lisa McCauley EDITOR
Chuck Allen M ANAGING EDITOR
Joey Butler
10
CALENDAR EDITOR
Emma Alford DESIGN DIRECTOR
Benjamin Rumble S TA FF P H OTO G R A P H E R
Stacie Huckeba ADVERTISING DESIGN
Emily Marlow Benjamin Rumble CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Warren Denney Terri Dorsey Theresa Laurence Jennifer Lyle Catherine Randall Tommy Womack ADDITIONAL PHOTOGR APHY
Chuck Allen Tim Duggan Christopher Durst Michael Keen Marshall Skinner A DV E RT I S I N G CO N TAC T
Lisa McCauley lisa@theeastnashvillian.com 615-582-4187
w w w.theeastnashvillian.com
© 2013 Kitchen Table Media, LLC The East Nashvillian is published bimonthly by Kitchen Table Media, LLC. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission from the Publisher. All rights reserved.
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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
16 24 34 45 48 50 56 64 66
East Side Buzz East Nashvillian of the Year Awards 2012 Cars vs. customers on Fatherland The mystery of Edgefield Restaurant By Terri Dorsey
Cayce place revitalization Starting the conversation By Theresa Laurence
Breakin’ The Law Your home studio isn’t legit By Keith Gattis & Chuck Allen
The Warriors Their fight with breast cancer By Jennifer Lyle
Yoga An enlightened alternative to the gym By Catherine Randall
East Nashville Gets Efficient Inside the LEED house By Catherine Randall
The 5 Spot East Nashville’s smokin’ hot spot By Warren Denny
East Side Calendar East of Normal Who are you and what was I talking about? By Tommy Womack
Parting shot On the cover:
Photography by Tim Duggan
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
7
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PUBLISHER
Lisa McCauley EDITOR
Chuck Allen M ANAGING EDITOR
Joey Butler
10
CALENDAR EDITOR
Emma Alford DESIGN DIRECTOR
Benjamin Rumble S TA FF P H OTO G R A P H E R
Stacie Huckeba ADVERTISING DESIGN
Emily Marlow Benjamin Rumble CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Warren Denney Terri Dorsey Theresa Laurence Jennifer Lyle Catherine Randall Tommy Womack ADDITIONAL PHOTOGR APHY
Chuck Allen Tim Duggan Christopher Durst Michael Keen Marshall Skinner A DV E RT I S I N G CO N TAC T
Lisa McCauley lisa@theeastnashvillian.com 615-582-4187
w w w.theeastnashvillian.com
© 2013 Kitchen Table Media, LLC The East Nashvillian is published bimonthly by Kitchen Table Media, LLC. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission from the Publisher. All rights reserved.
6
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
16 24 34 45 48 50 56 64 66
East Side Buzz East Nashvillian of the Year Awards 2012 Cars vs. customers on Fatherland The mystery of Edgefield Restaurant By Terri Dorsey
Cayce place revitalization Starting the conversation By Theresa Laurence
Breakin’ The Law Your home studio isn’t legit By Keith Gattis & Chuck Allen
The Warriors Their fight with breast cancer By Jennifer Lyle
Yoga An enlightened alternative to the gym By Catherine Randall
East Nashville Gets Efficient Inside the LEED house By Catherine Randall
The 5 Spot East Nashville’s smokin’ hot spot By Warren Denny
East Side Calendar East of Normal Who are you and what was I talking about? By Tommy Womack
Parting shot On the cover:
Photography by Tim Duggan
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
7
Editor’s letter The Negotiation The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has the following definition for negotiate: to confer with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter. Although humans have been negotiating since Adam gave up a rib, the concept of negotiation theory has appeared only recently. Two key elements are explored by negotiation theory, one as old as the hills, the other young like the trees. The older one is a negotiating style based on a zero-sum game. Using the time honored pie chart metaphor, visualize a pie with two equal halves. One half is apple, the other half chocolate. I want a slice of your apple pie; you want a slice of my chocolate pie. If we are both equally motivated by the desire to have a slice of the other’s pie, then chances are it will be an even trade and we’ll both come out winners. On the other hand, what if we’re not equally motivated? What if we are nations, or worse, Congress? That’s when things get tricky, especially if both sides are focusing solely on the pie, which is finite and equally divided. A negotiating style long overdue and gaining acceptance (except, apparently, in Washington) shifts the focus away from the finite pie and instead seeks to explore ways in which, through a spirit of collaboration, both sides come out on top. Returning to the pie metaphor, you want a slice of my chocolate pie much more than I want a slice of your apple pie. If we are looking only at the pie then you’re at a disadvantage, because maybe I don’t like apples. But what if it were to be revealed that I’m short on flour for my next pie, and you have barrels of it lying around? So you can see that if both sides are willing to look past their initial demands they may end up with not only what they want, but also with having a need satisfied that would have been overlooked in a zero-sum game. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way because it takes having a willingness from both parties to collaborate imaginatively. And sometimes the other side is obstinate. As we begin the conversation about the revitalization of Cayce Place, let’s hope all of the stakeholders involved will do so imaginatively. Theresa Laurence speaks with some of these stakeholders in an effort to shine a light on some of the issues facing those involved. Our understanding of what works is based on our ability to honestly take stock of what doesn’t. Decades ago the social engineering that gave birth to government assisted housing like Cayce Place overlooked the consequences of concentrated poverty. As such, multi-generational poverty has become a trap for those born into it through no fault of their own. The problems this creates aren’t limited to the fence line surrounding Cayce — they are felt throughout our society. It costs far more to house an inmate than it does to educate a child. When we look at our stake in these negotiations perhaps some enlightened self-interest is in order; in somewhat crass
8
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
terms, how do we get the most bang for the buck? Think about it. When Keith Gattis and I attended the Metro Council meeting that had voting up or down on the home recording studio being sponsored by Councilman-at-Large Megan Berry we were dumbfounded, exchanging looks of “are you f**king kidding me?” while sitting uncomfortably in the pews. Not because it was a bad bill — we both thought it was quite reasonable, actually, but because in this land of a thousand home studios there were only four of us there showing our support. And this is a BIG deal, whether you like it or not. To have home recording studios be legally recognized is important to Nashville in many, many ways. The symbolism alone should be worth the price of admission. The landscape of the music industry resembles Georgia after Sherman’s march to the sea; budgets for debut records have plummeted from the $375k range in the early nineties to between 10k and 30k today. This has devastated the once thriving commercial studios around town; there are a few left, but things will never be the same. Keith and I decided to write a feature in two parts. His point of view is a more personal one, but he delivers the insight needed to understand how important a role home studios have taken on in recent years. For my part, I explore what studios are and the technologies that have allowed record production to move into your neighbor’s house. The bill was voted on, and the vote was to postpone it until a later date so that more information can be gathered and discussion can be had. There is no reason that this can’t be a win-win for everyone, so if you feel you have an interest at stake then now’s the time to get involved. Our cover story: The Warriors and Their Fight With Breast Cancer is near and dear to my heart, because one of the warriors in the story is our publisher, and the love of my life, Lisa McCauley. Talk about negotiations. My daily negotiation since January has been with God, and it goes like this, “Lord, watch over Lisa, give her strength and courage during this troubled time, and, Lord, just help me make it through another day.” Okay, it’s a prayer, but there’ve been plenty of times making it through another day has r equired negotiation. Jennifer Lyle does a terrific job conveying the strength, hope and courage of these four women. I’ve known all of them for many years and can assure you that this journey hasn’t diminished them in the least. I hope that we’ve given voice to the countless other women in our community that have shared this experience. And that leads me to the one negotiation in which we are all eventual losers, but should inspire us to never take those we love for granted — time.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
9
Editor’s letter The Negotiation The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has the following definition for negotiate: to confer with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter. Although humans have been negotiating since Adam gave up a rib, the concept of negotiation theory has appeared only recently. Two key elements are explored by negotiation theory, one as old as the hills, the other young like the trees. The older one is a negotiating style based on a zero-sum game. Using the time honored pie chart metaphor, visualize a pie with two equal halves. One half is apple, the other half chocolate. I want a slice of your apple pie; you want a slice of my chocolate pie. If we are both equally motivated by the desire to have a slice of the other’s pie, then chances are it will be an even trade and we’ll both come out winners. On the other hand, what if we’re not equally motivated? What if we are nations, or worse, Congress? That’s when things get tricky, especially if both sides are focusing solely on the pie, which is finite and equally divided. A negotiating style long overdue and gaining acceptance (except, apparently, in Washington) shifts the focus away from the finite pie and instead seeks to explore ways in which, through a spirit of collaboration, both sides come out on top. Returning to the pie metaphor, you want a slice of my chocolate pie much more than I want a slice of your apple pie. If we are looking only at the pie then you’re at a disadvantage, because maybe I don’t like apples. But what if it were to be revealed that I’m short on flour for my next pie, and you have barrels of it lying around? So you can see that if both sides are willing to look past their initial demands they may end up with not only what they want, but also with having a need satisfied that would have been overlooked in a zero-sum game. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way because it takes having a willingness from both parties to collaborate imaginatively. And sometimes the other side is obstinate. As we begin the conversation about the revitalization of Cayce Place, let’s hope all of the stakeholders involved will do so imaginatively. Theresa Laurence speaks with some of these stakeholders in an effort to shine a light on some of the issues facing those involved. Our understanding of what works is based on our ability to honestly take stock of what doesn’t. Decades ago the social engineering that gave birth to government assisted housing like Cayce Place overlooked the consequences of concentrated poverty. As such, multi-generational poverty has become a trap for those born into it through no fault of their own. The problems this creates aren’t limited to the fence line surrounding Cayce — they are felt throughout our society. It costs far more to house an inmate than it does to educate a child. When we look at our stake in these negotiations perhaps some enlightened self-interest is in order; in somewhat crass
8
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
terms, how do we get the most bang for the buck? Think about it. When Keith Gattis and I attended the Metro Council meeting that had voting up or down on the home recording studio being sponsored by Councilman-at-Large Megan Berry we were dumbfounded, exchanging looks of “are you f**king kidding me?” while sitting uncomfortably in the pews. Not because it was a bad bill — we both thought it was quite reasonable, actually, but because in this land of a thousand home studios there were only four of us there showing our support. And this is a BIG deal, whether you like it or not. To have home recording studios be legally recognized is important to Nashville in many, many ways. The symbolism alone should be worth the price of admission. The landscape of the music industry resembles Georgia after Sherman’s march to the sea; budgets for debut records have plummeted from the $375k range in the early nineties to between 10k and 30k today. This has devastated the once thriving commercial studios around town; there are a few left, but things will never be the same. Keith and I decided to write a feature in two parts. His point of view is a more personal one, but he delivers the insight needed to understand how important a role home studios have taken on in recent years. For my part, I explore what studios are and the technologies that have allowed record production to move into your neighbor’s house. The bill was voted on, and the vote was to postpone it until a later date so that more information can be gathered and discussion can be had. There is no reason that this can’t be a win-win for everyone, so if you feel you have an interest at stake then now’s the time to get involved. Our cover story: The Warriors and Their Fight With Breast Cancer is near and dear to my heart, because one of the warriors in the story is our publisher, and the love of my life, Lisa McCauley. Talk about negotiations. My daily negotiation since January has been with God, and it goes like this, “Lord, watch over Lisa, give her strength and courage during this troubled time, and, Lord, just help me make it through another day.” Okay, it’s a prayer, but there’ve been plenty of times making it through another day has r equired negotiation. Jennifer Lyle does a terrific job conveying the strength, hope and courage of these four women. I’ve known all of them for many years and can assure you that this journey hasn’t diminished them in the least. I hope that we’ve given voice to the countless other women in our community that have shared this experience. And that leads me to the one negotiation in which we are all eventual losers, but should inspire us to never take those we love for granted — time.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
9
EAS T SI D E B U Z Z
East Nashvillian of the 2012 Winners are: Year Awards 2012
Citizen Award – Elizabeth Chauncey Business Award – The East Nashvillian magazine
The Historic East Nashville Merchants Association has announced the winners of this year’s East Nashvillian of the Year Awards. This is the fifth year of an annual award highlighting people and businesses that exemplify the best of all the positive aspects of life in East Nashville. There is one winner in each of two categories. The first is for a business or business owner that in 2012 portrayed the best of what East Nashville has to offer. The second award is for a private citizen who best symbolizes what being a good East Nashville neighbor means. Winners will receive a $200 prize and recognition at the first HENMA meeting of 2013. The Historic East Nashville Merchants Association is a business collective formed in 2003 to foster a cooperative spirit between businesses located in Historic Nashville’s East Bank Business District. Its member businesses work in concert with government and neighborhood associations to improve the welfare, commerce and quality of life in East Nashville. For more information visit the website at http://www. eastnashville.org.
2012 HENMA East Nashvillian of the Year nominees:
Elizabeth Chauncey, East C.A.N. (Community Action Network) East C.A.N. founder Elizabeth Chauncey is the 2012 East Nashville citizen of the year. Perhaps she’s not gotten as much ink as her most (in)famous rescue, Rory, but Chauncey’s contributions to the neighborhood have not gone unnoticed. Despite her efforts (and the accompanying social media phenomenon) to rescue and find a home for the downtrodden Chow who had been on the lam since before the 2010 flood, Chauncey still says being named East Nashvillian of the Year is “quite a pleasant surprise.” Born in New Brunswick, N.J., Elizabeth headed off to London at the age of 30 to work for a year. After that she decided to continue her travels, seeing some 35 countries throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia. “Everyone says you’re crazy to do that kind of travel at that age,” she says, “but I did it!” Upon returning to the states, she settled down in New Hope, Pa., for a while, cleaning houses and doing musical theater, which was quite a change from the 17 years she worked for Johnson & Johnson. “I have a corporate background. It wasn’t always about the dogs,” Chauncey says. As so many do, in 2003 Chauncey found herself Nashville-bound. “I started over in Nashville,” she says. “I always thought I’d come here,
and when I did I was looking for my next life. I was burned out on the corporate thing.” She and some other East Nashville musicians formed the group East Side Story, even releasing an EP, but Chauncey says she doesn’t really do music these days. One day after her move, she was walking her roommate’s dog when she was approached by an unfamiliar car. She was literally handed a puppy through the car’s window. Then four years ago, a red Chow was badly hurt and seen by residents on Chapel Avenue. Chauncey noticed the messages about the dog streaming onto the listserv. People were aware, but no one really knew how to help. The dog was picked up by Metro and euthanized. That incident sparked the beginning of East C.A.N. “I realized something could be done,” Chauncey says. “I called a neighborhood meeting and we talked about the neighborhood animals and the need to try and do something. That night, people came up with the acronym — C.A.N.” East C.A.N. has had a definite impact. Metro Nashville Animal Control has publicly credited the network for creating a much lower percentage of pickups in the area (which roughly includes the 37206, 37207 and 37216 ZIP codes). The network has also been named as one of 10 “Humane Heroes” by Nashville Paw Magazine. In addition to running East C.A.N., Chauncey works as office manager at RE/MAX and runs a staging and organizing company called Spaces By Chauncey. In what can laughably be called her “free time,” she says she tries to stay in shape and runs with the East Nasty Running Club.
Citizen •
Carol Williams - A longtime resident who has led many efforts over the years, most recently Friends of Shelby Park.
•
Elizabeth Chauncey - East C.A.N. (Community Action Network)
•
Mark Miller - East Nasty Running Club
•
Tony Viglietti - President of Friends of Riverside Village
10
•
March Egerton - East Nashville developer
•
Matt Charette - Beyond the Edge, Drifter’s, Batter’d and Fried, Watanabe
•
The East Nashvillian Magazine
•
Matt Dudley - The Skillery
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
Photograph by Stacie Huckeba
Business
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
11
EAS T SI D E B U Z Z
East Nashvillian of the 2012 Winners are: Year Awards 2012
Citizen Award – Elizabeth Chauncey Business Award – The East Nashvillian magazine
The Historic East Nashville Merchants Association has announced the winners of this year’s East Nashvillian of the Year Awards. This is the fifth year of an annual award highlighting people and businesses that exemplify the best of all the positive aspects of life in East Nashville. There is one winner in each of two categories. The first is for a business or business owner that in 2012 portrayed the best of what East Nashville has to offer. The second award is for a private citizen who best symbolizes what being a good East Nashville neighbor means. Winners will receive a $200 prize and recognition at the first HENMA meeting of 2013. The Historic East Nashville Merchants Association is a business collective formed in 2003 to foster a cooperative spirit between businesses located in Historic Nashville’s East Bank Business District. Its member businesses work in concert with government and neighborhood associations to improve the welfare, commerce and quality of life in East Nashville. For more information visit the website at http://www. eastnashville.org.
2012 HENMA East Nashvillian of the Year nominees:
Elizabeth Chauncey, East C.A.N. (Community Action Network) East C.A.N. founder Elizabeth Chauncey is the 2012 East Nashville citizen of the year. Perhaps she’s not gotten as much ink as her most (in)famous rescue, Rory, but Chauncey’s contributions to the neighborhood have not gone unnoticed. Despite her efforts (and the accompanying social media phenomenon) to rescue and find a home for the downtrodden Chow who had been on the lam since before the 2010 flood, Chauncey still says being named East Nashvillian of the Year is “quite a pleasant surprise.” Born in New Brunswick, N.J., Elizabeth headed off to London at the age of 30 to work for a year. After that she decided to continue her travels, seeing some 35 countries throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia. “Everyone says you’re crazy to do that kind of travel at that age,” she says, “but I did it!” Upon returning to the states, she settled down in New Hope, Pa., for a while, cleaning houses and doing musical theater, which was quite a change from the 17 years she worked for Johnson & Johnson. “I have a corporate background. It wasn’t always about the dogs,” Chauncey says. As so many do, in 2003 Chauncey found herself Nashville-bound. “I started over in Nashville,” she says. “I always thought I’d come here,
and when I did I was looking for my next life. I was burned out on the corporate thing.” She and some other East Nashville musicians formed the group East Side Story, even releasing an EP, but Chauncey says she doesn’t really do music these days. One day after her move, she was walking her roommate’s dog when she was approached by an unfamiliar car. She was literally handed a puppy through the car’s window. Then four years ago, a red Chow was badly hurt and seen by residents on Chapel Avenue. Chauncey noticed the messages about the dog streaming onto the listserv. People were aware, but no one really knew how to help. The dog was picked up by Metro and euthanized. That incident sparked the beginning of East C.A.N. “I realized something could be done,” Chauncey says. “I called a neighborhood meeting and we talked about the neighborhood animals and the need to try and do something. That night, people came up with the acronym — C.A.N.” East C.A.N. has had a definite impact. Metro Nashville Animal Control has publicly credited the network for creating a much lower percentage of pickups in the area (which roughly includes the 37206, 37207 and 37216 ZIP codes). The network has also been named as one of 10 “Humane Heroes” by Nashville Paw Magazine. In addition to running East C.A.N., Chauncey works as office manager at RE/MAX and runs a staging and organizing company called Spaces By Chauncey. In what can laughably be called her “free time,” she says she tries to stay in shape and runs with the East Nasty Running Club.
Citizen •
Carol Williams - A longtime resident who has led many efforts over the years, most recently Friends of Shelby Park.
•
Elizabeth Chauncey - East C.A.N. (Community Action Network)
•
Mark Miller - East Nasty Running Club
•
Tony Viglietti - President of Friends of Riverside Village
10
•
March Egerton - East Nashville developer
•
Matt Charette - Beyond the Edge, Drifter’s, Batter’d and Fried, Watanabe
•
The East Nashvillian Magazine
•
Matt Dudley - The Skillery
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
Photograph by Stacie Huckeba
Business
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
11
EAS T SI D E B U Z Z
The East Nashvillian magazine First published in August 2010, The East Nashvillian was co-founded by Lisa McCauley and Chuck Allen as a bimonthly magazine designed to highlight East Nashville’s unique character through articles on the people, places, businesses and non-profits that bring life to the community. Distribution for the inaugural issue was 5,000 copies; by the third issue it became clear that this didn’t meet demand and that number was raised to 7,500. For the past year distribution has been 10,000 copies per issue, with distribution locations throughout the East
Nashville area. Locations “south of the river” include Marathon Village, The Gulch, Elliston Place and downtown hotels just to name a few. Lisa is particularly proud of the fact that the pick-up rate per issue has consistently been 95 percent or above. Beginning with the idea that strong, vibrant communities are the foundation for a strong, vibrant nation, Lisa and Chuck believed the time was right for a publication designed to give voice to what they perceived as being a collective vision in their community to “get things right” — whether it be in education, city planning, transportation, homelessness or
any of the other myriad things vital to creating a healthy community. For its part, The East Nashvillian is able to provide help with two key elements integral to achieving those goals: The first is information; the second —participation — can be viewed as the product of an informed community. With her background as a professional in advertising sales, Lisa brings nearly two decades of experience in the Nashville media market to her position as the publisher of The East Nashvillian. A Nashville native and fourth-generation East Nashvillian, her early experience includes sales for Williamson A.M., WSM, Thunder 94 and Lightning 100. More recently she worked for The Nashville Scene and its parent company, SouthComm. Finding herself unhappy with the amount of travel involved with selling ads, Lisa decided to approach Chuck about quitting the road to pursue a dream that had been incubating for a long time: starting a community magazine. Chuck, having no idea what he was in for at the time, said, “Sure … why not?” Bringing along a background as a musician, Chuck’s experiences adapted well to his position as editor. Always an advocate of the local music scene, his rock band Guilt landed a record deal with MCA in the early ‘90s with the help of Steve Earle. By mid-decade his long-standing desire to have a recording studio resulted in the creation of East Iris Studios (now House of
Blues Studios) in the Berry Hill area. Although making music remains his passion, Chuck finds his work with the magazine just as challenging creatively — opening up new, unlooked-for avenues for expression. Although there have been plenty of growing pains along the way, Lisa and Chuck can definitely agree that the sacrifice has been worth it. Now they’re trying to figure out how they can possibly fit a vacation into the production schedule!
Cars vs. Customers on Fatherland
A sure sign of success for any business is when the customers outnumber available parking spaces. By that measure some East Nashville eateries are off the charts, especially the ones in residential areas where the demand for parking is pitting neighbor against customer — or more specifically, their cars. Recently some neighbors tried a parking solution that may have backfired.
East Nashville residents, drawn to its setting of bygone days, also face a disadvantage of historic and urban zoning. Businesses aren’t required to accommodate parking like suburban sites. During peak hours, trendy dining spots like Mas Tacos/Pharmacy/Holland House on McFerrin, the Five Points eateries and Edgefield’s Sky Blue Cafe can turn quiet residential streets into busy parking lots. Neighbors who share the 700 Fatherland Street block with Sky Blue grew frustrated by no longer being able to park on the street near their homes when the cafe is busy. “Some of our neighbors are in ill health,” says Scott Gubula, one of the block organizers. “They’ve tried putting orange cones in the street, and appealing to the cafe owner, but nothing worked.” Sky Blue owner Chad Stuible is understandably pleased to draw more customers since he bought the business in 2010. He says he doesn’t perceive any problem with neighbors on his block. “We love the people in the neighborhood. We never saw an issue. But if people want to park on a public street, they should be able to park there.” As a final resort to protect their parking, neighbors on the 700 block followed the lead of the McFerrin area residents. They asked the Metro Traffic Commission to restrict their block as a Residential Permit Zone, meaning only residents with permits can park there during designated hours.
It was a simple process for the Fatherland Street residents. “We learned you have to petition public works and turn in signatures from 75 percent of the residents on the street,” Gubula says. Within a few weeks, after final approval from the commission, signs lined the street warning parking was restricted to cars with permits during certain hours. The signs stirred up a controversy among the Edgefield neighborhood board and neighbors on other streets. Some were concerned visitors would not feel welcomed. Others feared residential permit parking would apply to the entire neighborhood. Some felt a vote from the entire neighborhood should have been required. Association president Russell Dimmit says the concerns died down after they learned the permit-required parking applies only to the 700 block. Phillip Hill, who lives two doors from Sky Blue, says neighbors support the business. “We want local businesses to succeed as much as anybody. I live, eat and work on this side of town. But I don’t want cafe customers blocking my driveway.” Stuible says the signs have made “no impact” on his customers, and that “parking officers wrote tickets on the street only one time” during the months the signs were posted. Even the 700 block neighbors doubt the permit parking signs make a difference. They say some people pay no attention to the signs,
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EAS T SI D E B U Z Z
The East Nashvillian magazine First published in August 2010, The East Nashvillian was co-founded by Lisa McCauley and Chuck Allen as a bimonthly magazine designed to highlight East Nashville’s unique character through articles on the people, places, businesses and non-profits that bring life to the community. Distribution for the inaugural issue was 5,000 copies; by the third issue it became clear that this didn’t meet demand and that number was raised to 7,500. For the past year distribution has been 10,000 copies per issue, with distribution locations throughout the East
Nashville area. Locations “south of the river” include Marathon Village, The Gulch, Elliston Place and downtown hotels just to name a few. Lisa is particularly proud of the fact that the pick-up rate per issue has consistently been 95 percent or above. Beginning with the idea that strong, vibrant communities are the foundation for a strong, vibrant nation, Lisa and Chuck believed the time was right for a publication designed to give voice to what they perceived as being a collective vision in their community to “get things right” — whether it be in education, city planning, transportation, homelessness or
any of the other myriad things vital to creating a healthy community. For its part, The East Nashvillian is able to provide help with two key elements integral to achieving those goals: The first is information; the second —participation — can be viewed as the product of an informed community. With her background as a professional in advertising sales, Lisa brings nearly two decades of experience in the Nashville media market to her position as the publisher of The East Nashvillian. A Nashville native and fourth-generation East Nashvillian, her early experience includes sales for Williamson A.M., WSM, Thunder 94 and Lightning 100. More recently she worked for The Nashville Scene and its parent company, SouthComm. Finding herself unhappy with the amount of travel involved with selling ads, Lisa decided to approach Chuck about quitting the road to pursue a dream that had been incubating for a long time: starting a community magazine. Chuck, having no idea what he was in for at the time, said, “Sure … why not?” Bringing along a background as a musician, Chuck’s experiences adapted well to his position as editor. Always an advocate of the local music scene, his rock band Guilt landed a record deal with MCA in the early ‘90s with the help of Steve Earle. By mid-decade his long-standing desire to have a recording studio resulted in the creation of East Iris Studios (now House of
Blues Studios) in the Berry Hill area. Although making music remains his passion, Chuck finds his work with the magazine just as challenging creatively — opening up new, unlooked-for avenues for expression. Although there have been plenty of growing pains along the way, Lisa and Chuck can definitely agree that the sacrifice has been worth it. Now they’re trying to figure out how they can possibly fit a vacation into the production schedule!
Cars vs. Customers on Fatherland
A sure sign of success for any business is when the customers outnumber available parking spaces. By that measure some East Nashville eateries are off the charts, especially the ones in residential areas where the demand for parking is pitting neighbor against customer — or more specifically, their cars. Recently some neighbors tried a parking solution that may have backfired.
East Nashville residents, drawn to its setting of bygone days, also face a disadvantage of historic and urban zoning. Businesses aren’t required to accommodate parking like suburban sites. During peak hours, trendy dining spots like Mas Tacos/Pharmacy/Holland House on McFerrin, the Five Points eateries and Edgefield’s Sky Blue Cafe can turn quiet residential streets into busy parking lots. Neighbors who share the 700 Fatherland Street block with Sky Blue grew frustrated by no longer being able to park on the street near their homes when the cafe is busy. “Some of our neighbors are in ill health,” says Scott Gubula, one of the block organizers. “They’ve tried putting orange cones in the street, and appealing to the cafe owner, but nothing worked.” Sky Blue owner Chad Stuible is understandably pleased to draw more customers since he bought the business in 2010. He says he doesn’t perceive any problem with neighbors on his block. “We love the people in the neighborhood. We never saw an issue. But if people want to park on a public street, they should be able to park there.” As a final resort to protect their parking, neighbors on the 700 block followed the lead of the McFerrin area residents. They asked the Metro Traffic Commission to restrict their block as a Residential Permit Zone, meaning only residents with permits can park there during designated hours.
It was a simple process for the Fatherland Street residents. “We learned you have to petition public works and turn in signatures from 75 percent of the residents on the street,” Gubula says. Within a few weeks, after final approval from the commission, signs lined the street warning parking was restricted to cars with permits during certain hours. The signs stirred up a controversy among the Edgefield neighborhood board and neighbors on other streets. Some were concerned visitors would not feel welcomed. Others feared residential permit parking would apply to the entire neighborhood. Some felt a vote from the entire neighborhood should have been required. Association president Russell Dimmit says the concerns died down after they learned the permit-required parking applies only to the 700 block. Phillip Hill, who lives two doors from Sky Blue, says neighbors support the business. “We want local businesses to succeed as much as anybody. I live, eat and work on this side of town. But I don’t want cafe customers blocking my driveway.” Stuible says the signs have made “no impact” on his customers, and that “parking officers wrote tickets on the street only one time” during the months the signs were posted. Even the 700 block neighbors doubt the permit parking signs make a difference. They say some people pay no attention to the signs,
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EAS T SI D E B U Z Z getting a ticket means only a small fine, and no one can be towed. The one time parking officers ticketed cars on the street, both residents and visitors received tickets, because once the signs were up, many residents who live on the block did not get a $10 permit so that they could park on their own street.
The mystery of
Edgefield Restaurant
looked like they’d always known it was there,” he said. The restaurant didn’t post its hours or its menu to attract new customers. Some neighbors didn’t feel welcome. However Edgefield Restaurant did get a couple of online review postings years ago. The reviewers may have said it best: “Finally stopped in here for breakfast – and was surprised as I felt I had stepped back in time to the 1970s. This is an old, tiny diner that has not been updated. It was almost as if we had stepped into someone’s kitchen – TV blaring and no one around.” (Trip Advisor, 2009) Edgefield is really small. … The owner (at least I think she’s the owner/operator … she’s the only one always there) is sweet but seems perpetually exhausted. … I like taking my or-
ders to go so I can enjoy them somewhere a touch more upbeat.” (Yelp, 2008) The future of the restaurant site is a source of speculation. It’s the only piece of the retail strip along South 11th Street not owned by Bongo Java’s Bob Bernstein. He says he’s been talking with owner William F. Bailey for a couple of years, trying to buy the property. Actually, Bailey’s immediate family of four owns the site. A family member says they haven’t decided what to do next, whether to sell or to lease. But there’s one safe prediction about this prime site in Five Points: It will no longer be an obscure restaurant or shop, nor hidden in plain sight.
Photograph by Marshall Skinner
The vacant retail spot next to Bongo Java East in Five Points has set off a behind-the-scenes real estate scramble. 105 South 11th St. is the former site of the Edgefield Restaurant — a fixture of Five Points for the last 50 years. Yet many current East-siders never passed through its doors. The eviction notice posted on the door explained the vacancy: Metro court records show restaurant operator Chiquita Dunlap owed more than $40,000 in unpaid rent. But the larger story is why the restaurant, one of the last holdovers from Five Points’ down-in-thedumps days, failed to benefit when the neighborhood resurged. Other business community members said the restaurant operators couldn’t understand the changing trend in the neighborhood, nor the appeal of marketing events like the Tomato Art Festival. “They’d been here so long, they felt pushed,” says Meg MacFadyen, one of the main boosters of the Five Points economic revival. Scott deShon with Eastside Cycles, the business next door, rarely saw new customers go inside. “I saw older customers come in who
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EAS T SI D E B U Z Z getting a ticket means only a small fine, and no one can be towed. The one time parking officers ticketed cars on the street, both residents and visitors received tickets, because once the signs were up, many residents who live on the block did not get a $10 permit so that they could park on their own street.
The mystery of
Edgefield Restaurant
looked like they’d always known it was there,” he said. The restaurant didn’t post its hours or its menu to attract new customers. Some neighbors didn’t feel welcome. However Edgefield Restaurant did get a couple of online review postings years ago. The reviewers may have said it best: “Finally stopped in here for breakfast – and was surprised as I felt I had stepped back in time to the 1970s. This is an old, tiny diner that has not been updated. It was almost as if we had stepped into someone’s kitchen – TV blaring and no one around.” (Trip Advisor, 2009) Edgefield is really small. … The owner (at least I think she’s the owner/operator … she’s the only one always there) is sweet but seems perpetually exhausted. … I like taking my or-
ders to go so I can enjoy them somewhere a touch more upbeat.” (Yelp, 2008) The future of the restaurant site is a source of speculation. It’s the only piece of the retail strip along South 11th Street not owned by Bongo Java’s Bob Bernstein. He says he’s been talking with owner William F. Bailey for a couple of years, trying to buy the property. Actually, Bailey’s immediate family of four owns the site. A family member says they haven’t decided what to do next, whether to sell or to lease. But there’s one safe prediction about this prime site in Five Points: It will no longer be an obscure restaurant or shop, nor hidden in plain sight.
Photograph by Marshall Skinner
The vacant retail spot next to Bongo Java East in Five Points has set off a behind-the-scenes real estate scramble. 105 South 11th St. is the former site of the Edgefield Restaurant — a fixture of Five Points for the last 50 years. Yet many current East-siders never passed through its doors. The eviction notice posted on the door explained the vacancy: Metro court records show restaurant operator Chiquita Dunlap owed more than $40,000 in unpaid rent. But the larger story is why the restaurant, one of the last holdovers from Five Points’ down-in-thedumps days, failed to benefit when the neighborhood resurged. Other business community members said the restaurant operators couldn’t understand the changing trend in the neighborhood, nor the appeal of marketing events like the Tomato Art Festival. “They’d been here so long, they felt pushed,” says Meg MacFadyen, one of the main boosters of the Five Points economic revival. Scott deShon with Eastside Cycles, the business next door, rarely saw new customers go inside. “I saw older customers come in who
14
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For more than a decade, East Nashville has undergone a renaissance. Try telling that to the residents of its largest public housing project. By Theresa Laurence Photographs by Tim Duggan
E
xiting Interstate 24 onto Shelby Avenue, the gateway into East Nashville, the first thing you see is the aging, sprawling Cayce Place public housing complex. The next thing you may see is a 2,000+ square-foot home under construction or renovation on Shelby Avenue with a “for sale” sign out front. For the past decade or so, East Nashville’s rebirth has revitalized major pockets of the neighborhood, from the edges of Inglewood to Historic Edgefield. But one section of the East side that has been completely untouched by this renaissance, and the ensuing gentrification, is Cayce Place. The oldest and largest public housing project in Nashville, Cayce contains approximately 740 apartments, built between 1941 and 1954, and remains a cordoned-off borough of concentrated poverty. While other public housing in the city has been rebuilt or received major facelifts in recent years, Cayce’s barracks-style units haven’t been significantly updated in decades. That is about to change: Cayce Place is on the brink of a major revitalization. While it’s still too early to know exactly what that will look like, it’s not too early to strike up some conversations about what’s coming down the pike. The Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, which is overseeing the project, is currently reviewing proposals from
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For more than a decade, East Nashville has undergone a renaissance. Try telling that to the residents of its largest public housing project. By Theresa Laurence Photographs by Tim Duggan
E
xiting Interstate 24 onto Shelby Avenue, the gateway into East Nashville, the first thing you see is the aging, sprawling Cayce Place public housing complex. The next thing you may see is a 2,000+ square-foot home under construction or renovation on Shelby Avenue with a “for sale” sign out front. For the past decade or so, East Nashville’s rebirth has revitalized major pockets of the neighborhood, from the edges of Inglewood to Historic Edgefield. But one section of the East side that has been completely untouched by this renaissance, and the ensuing gentrification, is Cayce Place. The oldest and largest public housing project in Nashville, Cayce contains approximately 740 apartments, built between 1941 and 1954, and remains a cordoned-off borough of concentrated poverty. While other public housing in the city has been rebuilt or received major facelifts in recent years, Cayce’s barracks-style units haven’t been significantly updated in decades. That is about to change: Cayce Place is on the brink of a major revitalization. While it’s still too early to know exactly what that will look like, it’s not too early to strike up some conversations about what’s coming down the pike. The Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, which is overseeing the project, is currently reviewing proposals from
16
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firms to provide planning and redevelopment assistance for Cayce Place. While MDHA is driving the bus here, there are quite a few passengers who are making plenty of noise from the back seats. Two of those passengers are Randall Gilberd and Bob Borzak, president and vice president, respectively, of the Cayce Place Revitalization Foundation. Gilberd, managing member of Rockridge Investment Partners, is a newcomer to the area. Borzak, on the other hand, is a 27-year resident of East Nashville, community leader, onetime Metro Council candidate and owner of Borzak Design. The two met at a community meeting about a year ago, realized their mutual interest in re-imagining Cayce Place, and a new partnership was born. Their goal? Nothing less than a complete overhaul, rebuilding Cayce as a sparkling new mixedincome neighborhood complete with highquality schools, social services and access to parks, public transportation and healthy food. If you’re skeptical of this grand plan, you’re not alone. “When we first started talking about it we got a lot of eye rolls,” Borzak said. But, he added, “we’ve seen it happen and we know what works.” For the better part of a year, Gilberd, Borzak and others have been carefully studying models around the country that have successfully transformed areas of high crime and concentrated poverty. “We
want to see a safe environment where families thrive,” Gilberd said. Once the Cayce Place Revitalization Foundation had their sales pitch ready, they shopped it around to anyone who would listen: Metro council representatives, the city planning department, the mayor’s office, and the real power player here, The Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. So how much sway did the foundation, a newly formed independent neighborhood group, have on setting this whole process in motion? It’s hard to tell for sure. MDHA is not really saying whether Gilberd and Borzak jumpstarted the Cayce revitalization efforts, and the two aren’t claiming credit for it either. But considering the dialogue they’ve had and the timing of their efforts with the agency’s issuance of a Request for Proposals, “it’s hard to imagine we’ve had no impact,” said Gilberd. He and Borzak are quick to praise MDHA director Phil Ryan for acting now to move the project forward. “We’re actually ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point,” Borzak said. The Cayce Place Revitalization Foundation “was set up to do two things,” Gilberd said, “do everything we can do get the ball rolling, and make sure it rolls in the right direction.” Borzak said, “I’m feeling pretty good, but there’s a lot of work to be done.” When it comes time for open meetings to discuss the Cayce revitalization proposals,
Gilberd plans to be front and center. “It’s only natural for the community to be deeply involved with this process and I hope our organization can serve as an independent advisory to the broader community,” he said. MDHA’s Request for Proposals, which gives an overview of the scope of the Cayce project, lays out what a big-picture overhaul of the housing project may include: building adequate infrastructure; acquiring properties; demolishing or renovating existing buildings; revising street patterns; developing various types of residential, commercial, and service buildings; and creating a viable mixedincome community. The RFP also states that “although the units have been well maintained, the physical design is obsolete and dysfunctional. Individual units remain too small for contemporary residency, the buildings are too densely configured, off-street parking is limited, and its large-block configuration disconnects Cayce Place from the surrounding neighborhoods via its severed street grid. Lastly, Cayce Place represents an undue concentration of exclusively low-income families.” MDHA was reluctant to comment in detail about the revitalization plans, saying it was too early in the process. Spokesman Mark Drury did say, “The RFP issued for a consultant calls for a review of options for Cayce and is neither the start nor the end of the process, but part of an ongoing effort
Everyone deserves to live a long and happy life.
That’s why we only sell the best holistic foods, toys, treats, and accessories for dogs and cats! Our East Nashville location also offers a self-serve dog wash.
12 South: 2222 12th Ave. South (Backside of Building) (615) 292-9662
Five Points: 1008 Forrest Ave. (Backside of Building) (615) 228-9249
Hours for both: Weekdays: 10am-8pm Saturday: 10am-6pm Sunday: Noon-5pm
WagsAndWhiskersNashville.com
18
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
19
firms to provide planning and redevelopment assistance for Cayce Place. While MDHA is driving the bus here, there are quite a few passengers who are making plenty of noise from the back seats. Two of those passengers are Randall Gilberd and Bob Borzak, president and vice president, respectively, of the Cayce Place Revitalization Foundation. Gilberd, managing member of Rockridge Investment Partners, is a newcomer to the area. Borzak, on the other hand, is a 27-year resident of East Nashville, community leader, onetime Metro Council candidate and owner of Borzak Design. The two met at a community meeting about a year ago, realized their mutual interest in re-imagining Cayce Place, and a new partnership was born. Their goal? Nothing less than a complete overhaul, rebuilding Cayce as a sparkling new mixedincome neighborhood complete with highquality schools, social services and access to parks, public transportation and healthy food. If you’re skeptical of this grand plan, you’re not alone. “When we first started talking about it we got a lot of eye rolls,” Borzak said. But, he added, “we’ve seen it happen and we know what works.” For the better part of a year, Gilberd, Borzak and others have been carefully studying models around the country that have successfully transformed areas of high crime and concentrated poverty. “We
want to see a safe environment where families thrive,” Gilberd said. Once the Cayce Place Revitalization Foundation had their sales pitch ready, they shopped it around to anyone who would listen: Metro council representatives, the city planning department, the mayor’s office, and the real power player here, The Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. So how much sway did the foundation, a newly formed independent neighborhood group, have on setting this whole process in motion? It’s hard to tell for sure. MDHA is not really saying whether Gilberd and Borzak jumpstarted the Cayce revitalization efforts, and the two aren’t claiming credit for it either. But considering the dialogue they’ve had and the timing of their efforts with the agency’s issuance of a Request for Proposals, “it’s hard to imagine we’ve had no impact,” said Gilberd. He and Borzak are quick to praise MDHA director Phil Ryan for acting now to move the project forward. “We’re actually ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point,” Borzak said. The Cayce Place Revitalization Foundation “was set up to do two things,” Gilberd said, “do everything we can do get the ball rolling, and make sure it rolls in the right direction.” Borzak said, “I’m feeling pretty good, but there’s a lot of work to be done.” When it comes time for open meetings to discuss the Cayce revitalization proposals,
Gilberd plans to be front and center. “It’s only natural for the community to be deeply involved with this process and I hope our organization can serve as an independent advisory to the broader community,” he said. MDHA’s Request for Proposals, which gives an overview of the scope of the Cayce project, lays out what a big-picture overhaul of the housing project may include: building adequate infrastructure; acquiring properties; demolishing or renovating existing buildings; revising street patterns; developing various types of residential, commercial, and service buildings; and creating a viable mixedincome community. The RFP also states that “although the units have been well maintained, the physical design is obsolete and dysfunctional. Individual units remain too small for contemporary residency, the buildings are too densely configured, off-street parking is limited, and its large-block configuration disconnects Cayce Place from the surrounding neighborhoods via its severed street grid. Lastly, Cayce Place represents an undue concentration of exclusively low-income families.” MDHA was reluctant to comment in detail about the revitalization plans, saying it was too early in the process. Spokesman Mark Drury did say, “The RFP issued for a consultant calls for a review of options for Cayce and is neither the start nor the end of the process, but part of an ongoing effort
Everyone deserves to live a long and happy life.
That’s why we only sell the best holistic foods, toys, treats, and accessories for dogs and cats! Our East Nashville location also offers a self-serve dog wash.
12 South: 2222 12th Ave. South (Backside of Building) (615) 292-9662
Five Points: 1008 Forrest Ave. (Backside of Building) (615) 228-9249
Hours for both: Weekdays: 10am-8pm Saturday: 10am-6pm Sunday: Noon-5pm
WagsAndWhiskersNashville.com
18
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January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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to offer a range of safe housing options allowing people to live with dignity, no matter their means.” While all options are still on the table at this point, the Cayce Homes Revitalization Foundation’s favorite model is Atlanta’s Purpose Built Communities, which employs a “holistic revitalization” approach to community development and “strives to address the array of issues and challenges that trap families in intergenerational poverty.” One of the organization’s crowning achievements is Atlanta’s East Lake neighborhood, which Gilberd and Borzak visited. Impressed by what they saw, they hosted Purpose Built leaders in Nashville, taking them on a tour of Cayce and facilitating meetings with city officials. Once a violent and crime-infested neighborhood, the revitalized East Lake now includes affordable and market-rate apartments, the city’s first public charter school, year-round golf instruction and life skills program for area children, an early education and family center, and a YMCA. “A lot of pieces have to be in place for this to be a success,” said Gilberd. Gary Gaston, design director at the Nashville Civic Design Center, offers some other examples of public housing revitalization that might work in Nashville: Park Place in Birmingham and Humboldt Gardens in Portland. “These two offer good examples of developments that replaced aging public housing with new housing that incorporated mixed-income groups and some mix of uses. For instance, Park Place has a culinary school and a youth development center; while Humboldt Gardens features a multi-purpose garden, school, Head Start, Community Involvement Center and retail space,” Gaston said. The Civic Design Center’s Plan of Nashville has detailed plans to rethink some of the city’s trouble spots, including Cayce. “The changes to Cayce could mean a reconnection of East Nashville to the river and beyond,” said the CDC’s community outreach coordinator Stephanie McCullough. She is hopeful that the changes will ultimately “bring a higher standard of living for current residents that allows them to exit living in an area of concentrated poverty.” While the end results of these models are impressive, Cayce residents are apprehensive about the logistics necessary to bring such a massive plan to fruition in Nashville.
M
arilyn Greer is raising her six grandchildren in a three-bedroom apartment at Cayce Place. She hasn’t heard much yet about the revitalization plans, but she knows what she’d like to see happen. “It needs a very good uplifting. We need a good grocery store in the area … We need to beautify our neighborhood,” said Greer, who borrows her daughter’s car once a month to go grocery shopping. Greer’s fellow residents are eager to add to the wish list. “We need more lighting,” said Theresa
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Tarleton, who has lived in Cayce since 1987. “When people are doing something wrong, they hide in the dark.” Vernell McHenry, who has lived at Cayce for 10 years, would like to see stronger schools and accessible parks in the neighborhood, “to make it better for the kids to go out and play.” She’d like to see better landscaping, more flowers and spruced-up, more livable units. “You’re happy when your home is happy,” said McHenry, who is a volunteer at the Martha O’Bryan Center, a family resource agency located in the middle of Cayce Place. McHenry is working on earning her GED there. When informed that the upcoming overhaul of Cayce Place may include tearing down the existing structures in phases and dispersing current residents throughout the city during reconstruction, Greer, Tarleton, McHenry and others were skeptical. Cayce residents are a strong, proud bunch, ready to stand together and have their voices heard. “We have to know each other and work together. If we didn’t we wouldn’t make it around here,” says McHenry. Many residents of Cayce are elderly or disabled, or single mothers or grandmothers supporting multiple children on fixed incomes. Residents worry about where they might go during the construction projects, and whether or not they will be able to return. Talk of “mixedincome” housing immediately sounds alarm bells in residents that they may be priced out of the new Cayce. “We are concerned about reduction in the amount of housing for those getting by on $500-600 a month,” said Marsha Edwards, president of the Martha O’Bryan Center. “That won’t serve our city.”
W
ith its location immediately off of I-24, right across the Cumberland River with an excellent view of the downtown Nashville skyline, there is no doubt that Cayce Place sits on a tract of land that could make developers salivate. It’s located within a half-mile of LP Field and other riverfront amenities such as the new Cumberland Park. It’s also adjacent to Lockeland Springs, home to many lovingly restored Victorian homes, and a competitive real-estate market. Residents know what they’re up against. Gilberd insists he has no interest in investing in real estate, and that was not an impetus for pushing for the overhaul. “Our motivation begins with compassion for the kids who grow up in that environment,” he said. Ever since Gilberd volunteered as a Big Brother to a boy who grew up in the “cold, tough projects in Boston,” the wheels have been turning in his head about how to help people like his Little Brother break out of the culture of poverty perpetuated by inadequate, outdated public housing models. “I sort of feel an obligation to find a way to implement positive change,” he said. Cayce residents “don’t want anybody planning for them, they want to have a seat at the table,”
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to offer a range of safe housing options allowing people to live with dignity, no matter their means.” While all options are still on the table at this point, the Cayce Homes Revitalization Foundation’s favorite model is Atlanta’s Purpose Built Communities, which employs a “holistic revitalization” approach to community development and “strives to address the array of issues and challenges that trap families in intergenerational poverty.” One of the organization’s crowning achievements is Atlanta’s East Lake neighborhood, which Gilberd and Borzak visited. Impressed by what they saw, they hosted Purpose Built leaders in Nashville, taking them on a tour of Cayce and facilitating meetings with city officials. Once a violent and crime-infested neighborhood, the revitalized East Lake now includes affordable and market-rate apartments, the city’s first public charter school, year-round golf instruction and life skills program for area children, an early education and family center, and a YMCA. “A lot of pieces have to be in place for this to be a success,” said Gilberd. Gary Gaston, design director at the Nashville Civic Design Center, offers some other examples of public housing revitalization that might work in Nashville: Park Place in Birmingham and Humboldt Gardens in Portland. “These two offer good examples of developments that replaced aging public housing with new housing that incorporated mixed-income groups and some mix of uses. For instance, Park Place has a culinary school and a youth development center; while Humboldt Gardens features a multi-purpose garden, school, Head Start, Community Involvement Center and retail space,” Gaston said. The Civic Design Center’s Plan of Nashville has detailed plans to rethink some of the city’s trouble spots, including Cayce. “The changes to Cayce could mean a reconnection of East Nashville to the river and beyond,” said the CDC’s community outreach coordinator Stephanie McCullough. She is hopeful that the changes will ultimately “bring a higher standard of living for current residents that allows them to exit living in an area of concentrated poverty.” While the end results of these models are impressive, Cayce residents are apprehensive about the logistics necessary to bring such a massive plan to fruition in Nashville.
M
arilyn Greer is raising her six grandchildren in a three-bedroom apartment at Cayce Place. She hasn’t heard much yet about the revitalization plans, but she knows what she’d like to see happen. “It needs a very good uplifting. We need a good grocery store in the area … We need to beautify our neighborhood,” said Greer, who borrows her daughter’s car once a month to go grocery shopping. Greer’s fellow residents are eager to add to the wish list. “We need more lighting,” said Theresa
20
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Tarleton, who has lived in Cayce since 1987. “When people are doing something wrong, they hide in the dark.” Vernell McHenry, who has lived at Cayce for 10 years, would like to see stronger schools and accessible parks in the neighborhood, “to make it better for the kids to go out and play.” She’d like to see better landscaping, more flowers and spruced-up, more livable units. “You’re happy when your home is happy,” said McHenry, who is a volunteer at the Martha O’Bryan Center, a family resource agency located in the middle of Cayce Place. McHenry is working on earning her GED there. When informed that the upcoming overhaul of Cayce Place may include tearing down the existing structures in phases and dispersing current residents throughout the city during reconstruction, Greer, Tarleton, McHenry and others were skeptical. Cayce residents are a strong, proud bunch, ready to stand together and have their voices heard. “We have to know each other and work together. If we didn’t we wouldn’t make it around here,” says McHenry. Many residents of Cayce are elderly or disabled, or single mothers or grandmothers supporting multiple children on fixed incomes. Residents worry about where they might go during the construction projects, and whether or not they will be able to return. Talk of “mixedincome” housing immediately sounds alarm bells in residents that they may be priced out of the new Cayce. “We are concerned about reduction in the amount of housing for those getting by on $500-600 a month,” said Marsha Edwards, president of the Martha O’Bryan Center. “That won’t serve our city.”
W
ith its location immediately off of I-24, right across the Cumberland River with an excellent view of the downtown Nashville skyline, there is no doubt that Cayce Place sits on a tract of land that could make developers salivate. It’s located within a half-mile of LP Field and other riverfront amenities such as the new Cumberland Park. It’s also adjacent to Lockeland Springs, home to many lovingly restored Victorian homes, and a competitive real-estate market. Residents know what they’re up against. Gilberd insists he has no interest in investing in real estate, and that was not an impetus for pushing for the overhaul. “Our motivation begins with compassion for the kids who grow up in that environment,” he said. Ever since Gilberd volunteered as a Big Brother to a boy who grew up in the “cold, tough projects in Boston,” the wheels have been turning in his head about how to help people like his Little Brother break out of the culture of poverty perpetuated by inadequate, outdated public housing models. “I sort of feel an obligation to find a way to implement positive change,” he said. Cayce residents “don’t want anybody planning for them, they want to have a seat at the table,”
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
21
said Edwards. “These residents know what kind of community they’d like to see.” “Just ‘cause we’re over here and we don’t have a lot doesn’t mean we don’t matter,” said Tarleton. Edwards predicts that the community meetings to discuss the proposals “will be an opportunity for residents to exercise their civic muscles.” Cayce residents have natural anxieties about outsiders making promises or assuming to speak for them. Gilberd and Borzak are well aware, and are treading lightly. “We can’t just walk in and say we’ve got all the answers,” Gilberd said. “Getting residents behind this project is very important. “My goal in setting up this organization is to marry the needs of Cayce Place community with solutions we know are working around the country,” he said. MDHA’s request for proposals notes that “planning for this revitalization will need to carefully balance the interests of current residents, prospective residents and residents of the surrounding area against the realistic expectations of what can be accomplished with available resources.” Those familiar with the very early stages of planning assure that overhauling Cayce will take a long time. “This is an endurance run, not a sprint,” said Peter Westerholm, Metro Council representative for District 6, which encompasses Cayce Place. It could take up to a decade for Cayce to be entirely revitalized. Other major cities that have
undertaken similar public housing revitalizations have had to race to replace condemned buildings.
The Cayce units are functional, said Edwards, adding, “We can do this thoughtfully. We have time to really think this through.” The groundwork has already been laid in Cayce and the surrounding neighborhood that should help pave the path to a successful revitalization. In addition to the Martha O’Bryan Center, there is the Cayce Clinic and schools nearby. “The pieces of the puzzle are here,” Borzak said. Some of them, particularly the schools, need some rethinking
organizations in the country to receive the $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, to put into motion a new strategy to improve schools and communities. Defined by the borders of the Stratford High School cluster, the Promise Neighborhood in East Nashville could serve as the blueprint for other community investments in Nashville. It requires cooperation among a wide network of government departments, non-profit organizations, faith communities and more. “The strategy really requires you to do extensive research,” said Edwards, “and do what the community says is the highest priority.” Data gathered using the Promise Neighborhood planning grant could help inform revitalization plans for Cayce. Once MDHA decides on a proposal to move forward with, community meetings will begin to take place, possibly early in the new year. “It’s important for everyone to think big and try to attend the meetings where a lot of the details will be worked out,” said Westerholm. “Right now it’s just about having the conversation.” If the entire “holistic revitalization” idea for Cayce comes together, “it has the potential to be absolutely game changing” for East Nashville, said Westerholm. “We’ll push as hard as we can to make it happen,” Borzak promised. “East Nashville is just the right place to make something like this happen.”
“Just ‘cause we’re over here and we don’t have a lot doesn’t mean we don’t matter”
22
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
though. Kirkpatrick and Warner elementary schools, those closest to Cayce, are consistently the lowest performing in the district. But neighborhood schools can be improved if reclaimed by the parents and the community, Borzak said. “It can be done and Lockeland has proven it,” he said of the now in-demand Lockeland Design Center — once “at the bottom of the barrel” according to Borzak. Additionally, the Martha O’Bryan Center was awarded a Promise Neighborhood planning grant in 2011, one of only 15
January | February 2013
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
23
said Edwards. “These residents know what kind of community they’d like to see.” “Just ‘cause we’re over here and we don’t have a lot doesn’t mean we don’t matter,” said Tarleton. Edwards predicts that the community meetings to discuss the proposals “will be an opportunity for residents to exercise their civic muscles.” Cayce residents have natural anxieties about outsiders making promises or assuming to speak for them. Gilberd and Borzak are well aware, and are treading lightly. “We can’t just walk in and say we’ve got all the answers,” Gilberd said. “Getting residents behind this project is very important. “My goal in setting up this organization is to marry the needs of Cayce Place community with solutions we know are working around the country,” he said. MDHA’s request for proposals notes that “planning for this revitalization will need to carefully balance the interests of current residents, prospective residents and residents of the surrounding area against the realistic expectations of what can be accomplished with available resources.” Those familiar with the very early stages of planning assure that overhauling Cayce will take a long time. “This is an endurance run, not a sprint,” said Peter Westerholm, Metro Council representative for District 6, which encompasses Cayce Place. It could take up to a decade for Cayce to be entirely revitalized. Other major cities that have
undertaken similar public housing revitalizations have had to race to replace condemned buildings.
The Cayce units are functional, said Edwards, adding, “We can do this thoughtfully. We have time to really think this through.” The groundwork has already been laid in Cayce and the surrounding neighborhood that should help pave the path to a successful revitalization. In addition to the Martha O’Bryan Center, there is the Cayce Clinic and schools nearby. “The pieces of the puzzle are here,” Borzak said. Some of them, particularly the schools, need some rethinking
organizations in the country to receive the $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, to put into motion a new strategy to improve schools and communities. Defined by the borders of the Stratford High School cluster, the Promise Neighborhood in East Nashville could serve as the blueprint for other community investments in Nashville. It requires cooperation among a wide network of government departments, non-profit organizations, faith communities and more. “The strategy really requires you to do extensive research,” said Edwards, “and do what the community says is the highest priority.” Data gathered using the Promise Neighborhood planning grant could help inform revitalization plans for Cayce. Once MDHA decides on a proposal to move forward with, community meetings will begin to take place, possibly early in the new year. “It’s important for everyone to think big and try to attend the meetings where a lot of the details will be worked out,” said Westerholm. “Right now it’s just about having the conversation.” If the entire “holistic revitalization” idea for Cayce comes together, “it has the potential to be absolutely game changing” for East Nashville, said Westerholm. “We’ll push as hard as we can to make it happen,” Borzak promised. “East Nashville is just the right place to make something like this happen.”
“Just ‘cause we’re over here and we don’t have a lot doesn’t mean we don’t matter”
22
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
though. Kirkpatrick and Warner elementary schools, those closest to Cayce, are consistently the lowest performing in the district. But neighborhood schools can be improved if reclaimed by the parents and the community, Borzak said. “It can be done and Lockeland has proven it,” he said of the now in-demand Lockeland Design Center — once “at the bottom of the barrel” according to Borzak. Additionally, the Martha O’Bryan Center was awarded a Promise Neighborhood planning grant in 2011, one of only 15
January | February 2013
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
23
If you’re the proud owner of a home recording studio in Metro, you’re in violation of current Metro zoning laws. There is a bill before the Metro Council right now that if passed, means you won’t face a fine or be shut down for making music in Music City. Keith Gattis takes a look at the ramifications, and Chuck Allen explores how studios went from there to here.
Photograph by Chuck Allen
24
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
25
If you’re the proud owner of a home recording studio in Metro, you’re in violation of current Metro zoning laws. There is a bill before the Metro Council right now that if passed, means you won’t face a fine or be shut down for making music in Music City. Keith Gattis takes a look at the ramifications, and Chuck Allen explores how studios went from there to here.
Photograph by Chuck Allen
24
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
25
By Keith Gattis
W
hen I first moved to Nashville in the early ‘90s, the music industry landscape was much different. Singers sang, musicians played, writers wrote, producers produced, etc., etc. Other than a few exceptions, everyone had their place and knew it. In those days, the distinctions between individual professionals and their trades were fairly obvious. But that was then and this is now. I’ve often said that I felt like the local blacksmith who was just starting to find some success and prosperity at the trade of shoeing horses. Then, just when I thought I might have it all figured out, along came Henry Ford. For those of us in the business of music, our Mr. Ford was the World Wide Web. For many of us, the illegal downloads of mp3s and the rapid decline in sales of “hardcopy” albums looked to be our Armageddon. It changed virtually every aspect of the music industry, from how we recorded music to how we sold music and everything in between. For myself, and many others, in order to survive the Post-Apocalypse times, we’ve learned to become “jacks of all trades.” We had to. Now, most musicians in this town will tell you that without the ability to work and record at home, they would have to pack it up and leave. You see, the industry in general and especially a huge portion of our music industry — A.K.A. Music Row — used to work, and still does to some degree, under somewhat of a trickle-down system. This is how it used to work: The labels signed recording artists and
26
hired musicians to play on their recordings in professional studios with professional recording engineers and other staff. The labels then sold the vinyl, eight-tracks, cassettes and finally CDs to the public and in turn, paid the publishing companies and their writers for the use of the songs on those records. The publishing companies paid the writers to write and paid studios and musicians to record demos of their songs so that they could try like hell to get those songs recorded by major label artists. Anyone with a record deal, publishing deal or a major job with any Music Row entity inherently required lawyers to help them get in and out of their contracts. If an artist had a hit, he needed a booking agent to help him get gigs out on the road, which meant he needed a bus and a driver and a band. I can go on for days and include the stylists, photographers, accountants, rehearsal halls, cartage and rental companies, music stores and anyone who has reaped the benefits of the cash flow of Music Row, but it all starts with the labels. The Row still operates somewhat on this system but things now are night and day from the “good ol’ days.” Now labels are in the publishing business and publishers have taken on the role of artist development. Producers are also engineers and
the doors of a commercial recording studio open when the industry can no longer foot the bill. This is not only why the more efficient home studio is thriving right now in Nashville and abroad, but also why it’s vital to our culture, heritage and reputation as Music City. For the entrepreneurs and new-age pioneers with home studios who wanted to keep the dream alive, they didn’t give up — they adapted. They re-educated themselves. They invested in equipment and put a great deal of their hard-earned money back into the community. Now, almost every major-label album that is recorded in this town spends some stage of its evolution in a home studio. Almost every “indie” album that is made in Nashville now is recorded and mixed in its entirety in a home studio while the publishing company and aspiring artist demos that go through our town’s home studios every year number in the tens of thousands. Ironically, in Music City USA, it’s currently illegal to own and operate a home studio under the codes and zoning laws of Nashville freakin’ Tennessee. So what are the fears and concerns of actually allowing these to exist? Noise is one. But think about it: We use highly sensitive microphones and equipment to record, which means we actually need our facilities to be as soundproof as possible. This equipment can pick up sound that you probably wouldn’t notice with your own ears if you were in the same room. There’s an art and science to soundproofing and small fortunes are spent in studios to make them that way. The saying is, “If you can hear us, we can definitely hear you.” We also hear every car, train and plane that goes by. To do our job, we need soundproofing like firemen need water. Another concern has to do with how many people are allowed to work in the home studio at any given time. First of all, it’s a “home” studio. If you need to accommodate more than 10 people at any time in your studio, you need to find a commercial spot on the Row or in Berry Hill. Everyone’s needs are different but let me break down the numbers if I were to produce an album that took one month from start to finish. Three out of 30 days would involve tracking with a few musicians. Generally, there could be, at most, six to eight people at my place on those days. That’s 10 percent of the time. Then you could plan on another 12 days of overdubs, vocals, etc., where there may be three people max in the studio at any given time. That’s 30 percent of the time. The remaining 60 percent of the days in a month would involve one, maybe two people in the studio for editing and mixing. Fact is, most home studio owners really
without the ability to work and record at home, [local musicians] would have to pack it up and leave.
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
writers are also producers. And guess where most of their work gets done in Nashville? Home studios. The biggest problem now is that our “breadwinners,” the record labels, aren’t selling records any more … or at least not like they once did. The reality is that they don’t make near as much money now and that leaves less to “trickle down” to the rest of us. So there aren’t as many commercial studios left and there is a lot less money going around to pay for the ones that remain. Don’t get me wrong, we still have a few “world-class” studios in Nashville, but they’re just not building ‘em everyday like they used to. Actually, it’s not just a Nashville problem. Most of the great studios from Los Angeles to Atlanta and from New York to Miami are gone. When I first moved here, there were commercial studios everywhere. Now, most have vanished and have been replaced with high-rise condos, office buildings or some other more lucrative use of the real estate where they stood. Truth is, it’s hard to keep
January | February 2013
are “jacks of all trades” and have eliminated the need for the massive recording spaces and the large personnel capacity needed by the big studios. Most home studio owners engineer, produce, write, sing and play multiple instruments in order to make music. Look, Nashville’s music makers with home studios aren’t looking for a great deal of special consideration or elaborate exemptions. They just want to be able to work and are willing to do so within set parameters. Think of it this way: In Grayton Beach, Fla., a few locals have special permits allowing them to drive directly onto the beach, which is otherwise illegal. Many of these permit holders are independent owner-operator captains of small charter fishing boats. The general public and most of Grayton Beach’s residents are not allowed to drive on the beach, but these few are. Why? They’re providing a service that is a vital lifeline to the tourism, culture and community of the town. They are a major part of what defines Grayton Beach. I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say that the home studio has become a major part of Nashville. Just as people travel every day from near and far to charter Grayton’s fishing boats, people travel every day from all around the world to work in Nashville’s home studios. Did I mention that they are everywhere, in every neighborhood of the city, and that they number in the thousands? My guess is that from wherever you’re reading this, you can throw a rock and hit one right now. Nashville is enjoying its biggest boom since the ‘60s, when three different interstates brought the world to us. Now, once again Americans are flocking to Nashville from all over the country to call this town home. Not only are many of those incoming U-Hauls being driven by musicians, most of the others have been drawn to Music City USA because it really is Music City USA. If the city and its government are going to use the term “Music City” to promote tourism, to lure university students, businesses and individuals to relocate here and to throw it around as part of their general “bragging rights,” then shouldn’t they in turn do whatever is necessary to not only promote but to protect those who are MAKING the MUSIC in Music City? With all due respect to all of our friends and neighbors in the other great industries that help shape and define our town, music is THE reason why the name Nashville is known worldwide. The reality is that if all home studios in Nashville were to be shut down tomorrow, it would truly be the day the music dies. — Keith Gattis is a singer, songwriter, musician and producer living in Inglewood. He also happens to be an aspiring home studio owner.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
27
By Keith Gattis
W
hen I first moved to Nashville in the early ‘90s, the music industry landscape was much different. Singers sang, musicians played, writers wrote, producers produced, etc., etc. Other than a few exceptions, everyone had their place and knew it. In those days, the distinctions between individual professionals and their trades were fairly obvious. But that was then and this is now. I’ve often said that I felt like the local blacksmith who was just starting to find some success and prosperity at the trade of shoeing horses. Then, just when I thought I might have it all figured out, along came Henry Ford. For those of us in the business of music, our Mr. Ford was the World Wide Web. For many of us, the illegal downloads of mp3s and the rapid decline in sales of “hardcopy” albums looked to be our Armageddon. It changed virtually every aspect of the music industry, from how we recorded music to how we sold music and everything in between. For myself, and many others, in order to survive the Post-Apocalypse times, we’ve learned to become “jacks of all trades.” We had to. Now, most musicians in this town will tell you that without the ability to work and record at home, they would have to pack it up and leave. You see, the industry in general and especially a huge portion of our music industry — A.K.A. Music Row — used to work, and still does to some degree, under somewhat of a trickle-down system. This is how it used to work: The labels signed recording artists and
26
hired musicians to play on their recordings in professional studios with professional recording engineers and other staff. The labels then sold the vinyl, eight-tracks, cassettes and finally CDs to the public and in turn, paid the publishing companies and their writers for the use of the songs on those records. The publishing companies paid the writers to write and paid studios and musicians to record demos of their songs so that they could try like hell to get those songs recorded by major label artists. Anyone with a record deal, publishing deal or a major job with any Music Row entity inherently required lawyers to help them get in and out of their contracts. If an artist had a hit, he needed a booking agent to help him get gigs out on the road, which meant he needed a bus and a driver and a band. I can go on for days and include the stylists, photographers, accountants, rehearsal halls, cartage and rental companies, music stores and anyone who has reaped the benefits of the cash flow of Music Row, but it all starts with the labels. The Row still operates somewhat on this system but things now are night and day from the “good ol’ days.” Now labels are in the publishing business and publishers have taken on the role of artist development. Producers are also engineers and
the doors of a commercial recording studio open when the industry can no longer foot the bill. This is not only why the more efficient home studio is thriving right now in Nashville and abroad, but also why it’s vital to our culture, heritage and reputation as Music City. For the entrepreneurs and new-age pioneers with home studios who wanted to keep the dream alive, they didn’t give up — they adapted. They re-educated themselves. They invested in equipment and put a great deal of their hard-earned money back into the community. Now, almost every major-label album that is recorded in this town spends some stage of its evolution in a home studio. Almost every “indie” album that is made in Nashville now is recorded and mixed in its entirety in a home studio while the publishing company and aspiring artist demos that go through our town’s home studios every year number in the tens of thousands. Ironically, in Music City USA, it’s currently illegal to own and operate a home studio under the codes and zoning laws of Nashville freakin’ Tennessee. So what are the fears and concerns of actually allowing these to exist? Noise is one. But think about it: We use highly sensitive microphones and equipment to record, which means we actually need our facilities to be as soundproof as possible. This equipment can pick up sound that you probably wouldn’t notice with your own ears if you were in the same room. There’s an art and science to soundproofing and small fortunes are spent in studios to make them that way. The saying is, “If you can hear us, we can definitely hear you.” We also hear every car, train and plane that goes by. To do our job, we need soundproofing like firemen need water. Another concern has to do with how many people are allowed to work in the home studio at any given time. First of all, it’s a “home” studio. If you need to accommodate more than 10 people at any time in your studio, you need to find a commercial spot on the Row or in Berry Hill. Everyone’s needs are different but let me break down the numbers if I were to produce an album that took one month from start to finish. Three out of 30 days would involve tracking with a few musicians. Generally, there could be, at most, six to eight people at my place on those days. That’s 10 percent of the time. Then you could plan on another 12 days of overdubs, vocals, etc., where there may be three people max in the studio at any given time. That’s 30 percent of the time. The remaining 60 percent of the days in a month would involve one, maybe two people in the studio for editing and mixing. Fact is, most home studio owners really
without the ability to work and record at home, [local musicians] would have to pack it up and leave.
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
writers are also producers. And guess where most of their work gets done in Nashville? Home studios. The biggest problem now is that our “breadwinners,” the record labels, aren’t selling records any more … or at least not like they once did. The reality is that they don’t make near as much money now and that leaves less to “trickle down” to the rest of us. So there aren’t as many commercial studios left and there is a lot less money going around to pay for the ones that remain. Don’t get me wrong, we still have a few “world-class” studios in Nashville, but they’re just not building ‘em everyday like they used to. Actually, it’s not just a Nashville problem. Most of the great studios from Los Angeles to Atlanta and from New York to Miami are gone. When I first moved here, there were commercial studios everywhere. Now, most have vanished and have been replaced with high-rise condos, office buildings or some other more lucrative use of the real estate where they stood. Truth is, it’s hard to keep
January | February 2013
are “jacks of all trades” and have eliminated the need for the massive recording spaces and the large personnel capacity needed by the big studios. Most home studio owners engineer, produce, write, sing and play multiple instruments in order to make music. Look, Nashville’s music makers with home studios aren’t looking for a great deal of special consideration or elaborate exemptions. They just want to be able to work and are willing to do so within set parameters. Think of it this way: In Grayton Beach, Fla., a few locals have special permits allowing them to drive directly onto the beach, which is otherwise illegal. Many of these permit holders are independent owner-operator captains of small charter fishing boats. The general public and most of Grayton Beach’s residents are not allowed to drive on the beach, but these few are. Why? They’re providing a service that is a vital lifeline to the tourism, culture and community of the town. They are a major part of what defines Grayton Beach. I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say that the home studio has become a major part of Nashville. Just as people travel every day from near and far to charter Grayton’s fishing boats, people travel every day from all around the world to work in Nashville’s home studios. Did I mention that they are everywhere, in every neighborhood of the city, and that they number in the thousands? My guess is that from wherever you’re reading this, you can throw a rock and hit one right now. Nashville is enjoying its biggest boom since the ‘60s, when three different interstates brought the world to us. Now, once again Americans are flocking to Nashville from all over the country to call this town home. Not only are many of those incoming U-Hauls being driven by musicians, most of the others have been drawn to Music City USA because it really is Music City USA. If the city and its government are going to use the term “Music City” to promote tourism, to lure university students, businesses and individuals to relocate here and to throw it around as part of their general “bragging rights,” then shouldn’t they in turn do whatever is necessary to not only promote but to protect those who are MAKING the MUSIC in Music City? With all due respect to all of our friends and neighbors in the other great industries that help shape and define our town, music is THE reason why the name Nashville is known worldwide. The reality is that if all home studios in Nashville were to be shut down tomorrow, it would truly be the day the music dies. — Keith Gattis is a singer, songwriter, musician and producer living in Inglewood. He also happens to be an aspiring home studio owner.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
27
T
By Chuck Allen
28
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
o understand the debate over whether home studios should be legal, one must know how the evolution of the recording industry has made the home studio almost vital to doing the business of music. Like many of my fellow travelers who are denizens of the recording world, I am often guilty of living in an echo chamber. We’re so accustomed to hanging out with folks who understand us that we lose sight of the fact that most people don’t. Because of this, perhaps part of the blame for the fact that home studios aren’t a legally recognized entity sits
January | February 2013
on our shoulders. We need to shed some light on what may seem to the uninitiated a very opaque world — the world of the home recording studio. Anyone who takes a look at the charts — or for that matter this year’s AMA, CMA and Grammy winners — will see recordings made from start to finish in “home studios.” I would venture that the majority of today’s music has at some time during the production process utilized a home studio. What, exactly, is a “home studio” anyway? The answer depends upon whom you ask.
Some would say that the only requirement is the ability to record sound at one’s home even in the most rudimentary fashion. By this definition a basic recording device with a microphone, which can be had for less than $100, constitutes a home studio. Others would argue that the ability to either bill for time or have some other means of generating income is the basic requirement for being called a home studio. Such setups can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands — even millions — of dollars. It should surprise no
one that Nashville is home to some highly sophisticated home studio setups rivaling even the most expensive commercial facilities in town. Further complicating the definition of a home studio is the variety of work that can capably be done in small spaces with modern technology. There are countless engineers who once frequented the large commercial facilities as in-demand mix engineers, but have seen their clients’ budgets dwindle. The economics of the marketplace required them to overhaul their way of working,
which leads us to the modern home studio. In addition to mixing records, home studios are often used in the most time-consuming aspect of record production — overdubs. On average, 60 to 80 percent of the recordmaking process consists of overdubs. This is the stage during which vocal tracks are cut and extra guitars, keyboards, percussion, etc., are added. Home studios, particularly in the last 10 years or so, have even begun chipping away at that last bastion of full service commercial studios: the tracking session. It is often the
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
29
T
By Chuck Allen
28
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
o understand the debate over whether home studios should be legal, one must know how the evolution of the recording industry has made the home studio almost vital to doing the business of music. Like many of my fellow travelers who are denizens of the recording world, I am often guilty of living in an echo chamber. We’re so accustomed to hanging out with folks who understand us that we lose sight of the fact that most people don’t. Because of this, perhaps part of the blame for the fact that home studios aren’t a legally recognized entity sits
January | February 2013
on our shoulders. We need to shed some light on what may seem to the uninitiated a very opaque world — the world of the home recording studio. Anyone who takes a look at the charts — or for that matter this year’s AMA, CMA and Grammy winners — will see recordings made from start to finish in “home studios.” I would venture that the majority of today’s music has at some time during the production process utilized a home studio. What, exactly, is a “home studio” anyway? The answer depends upon whom you ask.
Some would say that the only requirement is the ability to record sound at one’s home even in the most rudimentary fashion. By this definition a basic recording device with a microphone, which can be had for less than $100, constitutes a home studio. Others would argue that the ability to either bill for time or have some other means of generating income is the basic requirement for being called a home studio. Such setups can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands — even millions — of dollars. It should surprise no
one that Nashville is home to some highly sophisticated home studio setups rivaling even the most expensive commercial facilities in town. Further complicating the definition of a home studio is the variety of work that can capably be done in small spaces with modern technology. There are countless engineers who once frequented the large commercial facilities as in-demand mix engineers, but have seen their clients’ budgets dwindle. The economics of the marketplace required them to overhaul their way of working,
which leads us to the modern home studio. In addition to mixing records, home studios are often used in the most time-consuming aspect of record production — overdubs. On average, 60 to 80 percent of the recordmaking process consists of overdubs. This is the stage during which vocal tracks are cut and extra guitars, keyboards, percussion, etc., are added. Home studios, particularly in the last 10 years or so, have even begun chipping away at that last bastion of full service commercial studios: the tracking session. It is often the
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
29
initial phase of making a record, when the band (or a group of session players) is assembled to lay down tracks together. Photographs of The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios during the sessions for their debut record come to mind; the youthful fab four in white button-down shirts and skinny black ties laying down the tracks that would forever change the musical — and cultural — landscapes. Of course, tracking sessions require quite a bit more elbowroom than either mixing or overdubs. Nevertheless, they can and are being pulled in home studios throughout the Nashville area on a regular basis. Modern home studios can literally take a project from start to finish: From composition to demos; tracking and overdubs; mixing and mastering. Every aspect of the record-making process can be achieved in one. So, back to the question at hand, “What is a home studio?” We’ve taken a look at what can be accomplished in a home studio, but to really understand what a home studio is we need to have a basic understanding of how it is accomplished. Think about this: The tape machines used to make the first Beatles records were 2-tracks; today’s basic computer-based recording software
can record 256 tracks. On a laptop! There’s a lot more to it than that, but it serves to illustrate that what once took a room full of equipment can now be accomplished in a much smaller space, provided one has the know-how. The basic components of recording audio are a microphone, a microphone preamplifier, and the medium onto which the sound will be stored for future use. Until digital recording technology arrived the medium was analogue. Simply put, analogue technology turns sound
used on these machines costs in the $200 range for between 15 and 30 minutes of recording. Today the medium is a hard disk drive, just like the one in your laptop or desktop. A 500-gigabyte hard drive can be used for many hours worth of recording, and costs less than $100. Sound recorded to a hard drive is done so digitally, as opposed to analogue. Digital technology converts the voltage analogue of a sound wave into ones and zeros; this becomes a representation of the sound that can exist on a hard drive and be manipulated by software applications. This conversion is a critical part of the process because it can have a major impact on the quality of the recording. Converter technology has come a very long way in the past two decades, and like everything else in computer-land, gets better and better and cheaper and cheaper — relatively speaking. Today’s high-end converters still have a hefty price tag, but they aren’t nearly as expensive as the best magnetic tape recorders were back in the day. Not to mention they’re small and portable. The most notable difference between a computer-based setup and the large commercial facilities would be the recording console.
An entirely new generation has grown up with the idea that music is theirs for the taking.
30
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
into a voltage. Sound is propagated through the air and captured by a microphone, at which point the sound wave is converted to a voltage wave that is analogous to the sound wave. When you hear music emanating from speakers or headphones you are experiencing this process in reverse. The medium used for analogue recording for more than 70 years has been magnetic tape. Magnetic tape machines used in studios are large, very heavy, and very expensive. The tape
January | February 2013
Definitely a most impressive piece of gear, the recording console has traditionally been the centerpiece of music studios. Without delving into all of its different functions, let’s instead picture the console as being where the driver (engineer) sits. This piece of gear can range from a few feet across to upwards of 20 feet long. They can weigh in at hundreds, and up to a couple of thousands, of pounds. Plus they take a whole lot of care and feeding, usually by an accomplished technical engineer who is either on staff (as is the case in multi-room facilities) or independent. Either way, they are expensive to own and operate, and can require large rooms. Enter the digital audio workstation, or DAW, as it is popularly known. This is an application just like Microsoft Word is an application. I’m writing this article in Microsoft Word but I could be using any number of word processors on the market; I use Word because of compatibility as well as functionality. The same holds true with DAWs. A wide variety of software developers produce them, but some are more popular than others. Of these, Avid’s ProTools is by far the most used in professional circles, to the point that “having a ProTools rig” has become part of the lexicon. So let’s say I want a ProTools rig configured in such a way as to compete with that 15-foot console and 900-pound tape machine, which set me back about a half million dollars 20 years ago. I would need to spend around $50,000. There are microphones, outboard gear and accessories that I still would need to buy, but the same goes for the console/tape machine setup. Again, it’s important to note that while this is an extremely simplified example, it demonstrates the point accurately enough.
Let’s recap: Anything that can be recorded in a commercial studio can now be recorded in a home studio; advancements and improvements to digital recording technologies have now put audio quality that was previously available only in commercial studios within reach of home studios; said quality comes at a (somewhat) affordable price; the space required to house a DAW is insignificant when compared to the space required for analogue recording technology. When the DAW was initially introduced it was largely in the domain of professional engineers. As with most young technology, DAW software was expensive and troublesome but early proponents divined the latent potential it contained. Ironically, the first widespread use was in the very commercial studios it would come to replace, although that wasn’t necessarily the original intent of the folks that created it. Indeed, bringing in ProTools was like bringing in the Trojan Horse: welcoming the bringer of one’s demise into the city with open arms and not awakening from one’s folly until it was too late. Not that it would have mattered anyway. The fate of large commercial recording facilities had been more or less sealed in Steve Jobs’ garage 20 years earlier, because not only did the personal computer revolutionize the way music is recorded, it revolutionized the way it is delivered. Although fundamental change would have been inevitable as computer-based recording technologies reached maturity, the incredible pace with which the commercial studio industry has declined is due almost entirely to the decline in the music industry as a whole — not the other way around. An entirely new generation has grown up with the idea that music is theirs for the taking,
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
31
initial phase of making a record, when the band (or a group of session players) is assembled to lay down tracks together. Photographs of The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios during the sessions for their debut record come to mind; the youthful fab four in white button-down shirts and skinny black ties laying down the tracks that would forever change the musical — and cultural — landscapes. Of course, tracking sessions require quite a bit more elbowroom than either mixing or overdubs. Nevertheless, they can and are being pulled in home studios throughout the Nashville area on a regular basis. Modern home studios can literally take a project from start to finish: From composition to demos; tracking and overdubs; mixing and mastering. Every aspect of the record-making process can be achieved in one. So, back to the question at hand, “What is a home studio?” We’ve taken a look at what can be accomplished in a home studio, but to really understand what a home studio is we need to have a basic understanding of how it is accomplished. Think about this: The tape machines used to make the first Beatles records were 2-tracks; today’s basic computer-based recording software
can record 256 tracks. On a laptop! There’s a lot more to it than that, but it serves to illustrate that what once took a room full of equipment can now be accomplished in a much smaller space, provided one has the know-how. The basic components of recording audio are a microphone, a microphone preamplifier, and the medium onto which the sound will be stored for future use. Until digital recording technology arrived the medium was analogue. Simply put, analogue technology turns sound
used on these machines costs in the $200 range for between 15 and 30 minutes of recording. Today the medium is a hard disk drive, just like the one in your laptop or desktop. A 500-gigabyte hard drive can be used for many hours worth of recording, and costs less than $100. Sound recorded to a hard drive is done so digitally, as opposed to analogue. Digital technology converts the voltage analogue of a sound wave into ones and zeros; this becomes a representation of the sound that can exist on a hard drive and be manipulated by software applications. This conversion is a critical part of the process because it can have a major impact on the quality of the recording. Converter technology has come a very long way in the past two decades, and like everything else in computer-land, gets better and better and cheaper and cheaper — relatively speaking. Today’s high-end converters still have a hefty price tag, but they aren’t nearly as expensive as the best magnetic tape recorders were back in the day. Not to mention they’re small and portable. The most notable difference between a computer-based setup and the large commercial facilities would be the recording console.
An entirely new generation has grown up with the idea that music is theirs for the taking.
30
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
into a voltage. Sound is propagated through the air and captured by a microphone, at which point the sound wave is converted to a voltage wave that is analogous to the sound wave. When you hear music emanating from speakers or headphones you are experiencing this process in reverse. The medium used for analogue recording for more than 70 years has been magnetic tape. Magnetic tape machines used in studios are large, very heavy, and very expensive. The tape
January | February 2013
Definitely a most impressive piece of gear, the recording console has traditionally been the centerpiece of music studios. Without delving into all of its different functions, let’s instead picture the console as being where the driver (engineer) sits. This piece of gear can range from a few feet across to upwards of 20 feet long. They can weigh in at hundreds, and up to a couple of thousands, of pounds. Plus they take a whole lot of care and feeding, usually by an accomplished technical engineer who is either on staff (as is the case in multi-room facilities) or independent. Either way, they are expensive to own and operate, and can require large rooms. Enter the digital audio workstation, or DAW, as it is popularly known. This is an application just like Microsoft Word is an application. I’m writing this article in Microsoft Word but I could be using any number of word processors on the market; I use Word because of compatibility as well as functionality. The same holds true with DAWs. A wide variety of software developers produce them, but some are more popular than others. Of these, Avid’s ProTools is by far the most used in professional circles, to the point that “having a ProTools rig” has become part of the lexicon. So let’s say I want a ProTools rig configured in such a way as to compete with that 15-foot console and 900-pound tape machine, which set me back about a half million dollars 20 years ago. I would need to spend around $50,000. There are microphones, outboard gear and accessories that I still would need to buy, but the same goes for the console/tape machine setup. Again, it’s important to note that while this is an extremely simplified example, it demonstrates the point accurately enough.
Let’s recap: Anything that can be recorded in a commercial studio can now be recorded in a home studio; advancements and improvements to digital recording technologies have now put audio quality that was previously available only in commercial studios within reach of home studios; said quality comes at a (somewhat) affordable price; the space required to house a DAW is insignificant when compared to the space required for analogue recording technology. When the DAW was initially introduced it was largely in the domain of professional engineers. As with most young technology, DAW software was expensive and troublesome but early proponents divined the latent potential it contained. Ironically, the first widespread use was in the very commercial studios it would come to replace, although that wasn’t necessarily the original intent of the folks that created it. Indeed, bringing in ProTools was like bringing in the Trojan Horse: welcoming the bringer of one’s demise into the city with open arms and not awakening from one’s folly until it was too late. Not that it would have mattered anyway. The fate of large commercial recording facilities had been more or less sealed in Steve Jobs’ garage 20 years earlier, because not only did the personal computer revolutionize the way music is recorded, it revolutionized the way it is delivered. Although fundamental change would have been inevitable as computer-based recording technologies reached maturity, the incredible pace with which the commercial studio industry has declined is due almost entirely to the decline in the music industry as a whole — not the other way around. An entirely new generation has grown up with the idea that music is theirs for the taking,
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
31
a subject debated ad nauseam to be sure, but one that has concrete implications for commercial recording studios. However, one thing everyone seems to agree on is that in the last decade the music business turned upside down, forcing many to adapt or look for the exit. I recently ran into a guy who was once one of the top mix engineers in Nashville, a guy with plenty of gold and platinum records hanging on the wall. He was always working in the top studios, with the top artists and producers, and had more gear than you could imagine, which cartage companies moved from one studio to another at his request. “Where you working these days?” I asked. “Mixing in the box at home,” was his reply.
Mixing “in the box” means on a computer. “At home” means that he, like countless others, is billing for time from his home for the work he does, because he knows that to do it any other way would likely price him out of the market. Working in the world of recording studios has never been easy, and no one gets into the business looking for an easy way out. There’s still the potential to make piles of money; maybe that’s the come-on. Most of the people I’ve known do it because they love it, and to make a living doing what you love is the reward. For many years home studios were a luxury. Now they are a necessity. And therein lies that elusive definition we’ve been searching for.
We get by with a little help from our friends: Want to help? Contact your city council member, contact the president of your musicians union, tell your friends and when our city council does meet again over this issue, show up and speak up whether you have a home studio, have worked in or use home studios or simply want to support the arts.
Traditional Health Care with a Holistic Approach
WELLNESS CARE
WE TREAT THE FOLLOWING 615.732.1030 colefamilypractice.org
NOW OPEN! Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Thursday, January 24th 3 pm - 6pm. Come meet the staff and explore the clinic.
32
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
Amy T. Cole FNP-C, CNM
WOMEN’S HEALTH
January | February 2013
EE D I S R E RIV VILLAG You
Botox • Juvederm • Chemical Peels • Latisse Organic Skin Care Line • Spider Vein Treatment
Accepting New Patients & Most Insurance
ractice... P y l i m a F ith Cole w y l e s o l c ! ext door Working n t h g i r 're and they
ACY PHARM rhood Drug Store o r Neighb
Paps • Colposcopy for Abnormal Paps • Mirena® • Implanon® Birth Control • Prenatal Care • Menopause • STD Testing
AESTHETICS
1406 B McGavock Pike, Nashville, TN 37216
FREE IES DELIVER
operated d n a d e ns own ance pla r -Locally u s n i l l ept a -We acc
Physical Exams for Men, Women & Pediatrics • Sports Physicals DOT Physicals Nutrient Testing • Hormone Testing (Men & Women) Vitamins & Supplements B12 Injections • Weight Loss Program LipoB Injections • EKG & Stress Test • In-House Labs Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy • Natural Hormone Pellets
Chronic Illnesses: Diabetes • High Cholesterol Hypertension • Hypothyroid • Asthma & more Skin: Laceration Repair • Acne Care • Ingrown Toenail Mole & Skin Tag Removal
s Valentine s t Day gif available!
Mindy Weaver FNP-C
615.650.4444
Gary Williams, D.Ph.
Owner / Pharmacist
1406-A McGavock Pike Nashville, TN 37216
MON-THUR: 9-7 | FRIDAY: 9-6 | SAT: 9-5 | SUN: AVAILABLE FOR EMERGENCIES
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
33
a subject debated ad nauseam to be sure, but one that has concrete implications for commercial recording studios. However, one thing everyone seems to agree on is that in the last decade the music business turned upside down, forcing many to adapt or look for the exit. I recently ran into a guy who was once one of the top mix engineers in Nashville, a guy with plenty of gold and platinum records hanging on the wall. He was always working in the top studios, with the top artists and producers, and had more gear than you could imagine, which cartage companies moved from one studio to another at his request. “Where you working these days?” I asked. “Mixing in the box at home,” was his reply.
Mixing “in the box” means on a computer. “At home” means that he, like countless others, is billing for time from his home for the work he does, because he knows that to do it any other way would likely price him out of the market. Working in the world of recording studios has never been easy, and no one gets into the business looking for an easy way out. There’s still the potential to make piles of money; maybe that’s the come-on. Most of the people I’ve known do it because they love it, and to make a living doing what you love is the reward. For many years home studios were a luxury. Now they are a necessity. And therein lies that elusive definition we’ve been searching for.
We get by with a little help from our friends: Want to help? Contact your city council member, contact the president of your musicians union, tell your friends and when our city council does meet again over this issue, show up and speak up whether you have a home studio, have worked in or use home studios or simply want to support the arts.
Traditional Health Care with a Holistic Approach
WELLNESS CARE
WE TREAT THE FOLLOWING 615.732.1030 colefamilypractice.org
NOW OPEN! Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Thursday, January 24th 3 pm - 6pm. Come meet the staff and explore the clinic.
32
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
Amy T. Cole FNP-C, CNM
WOMEN’S HEALTH
January | February 2013
EE D I S R E RIV VILLAG You
Botox • Juvederm • Chemical Peels • Latisse Organic Skin Care Line • Spider Vein Treatment
Accepting New Patients & Most Insurance
ractice... P y l i m a F ith Cole w y l e s o l c ! ext door Working n t h g i r 're and they
ACY PHARM rhood Drug Store o r Neighb
Paps • Colposcopy for Abnormal Paps • Mirena® • Implanon® Birth Control • Prenatal Care • Menopause • STD Testing
AESTHETICS
1406 B McGavock Pike, Nashville, TN 37216
FREE IES DELIVER
operated d n a d e ns own ance pla r -Locally u s n i l l ept a -We acc
Physical Exams for Men, Women & Pediatrics • Sports Physicals DOT Physicals Nutrient Testing • Hormone Testing (Men & Women) Vitamins & Supplements B12 Injections • Weight Loss Program LipoB Injections • EKG & Stress Test • In-House Labs Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy • Natural Hormone Pellets
Chronic Illnesses: Diabetes • High Cholesterol Hypertension • Hypothyroid • Asthma & more Skin: Laceration Repair • Acne Care • Ingrown Toenail Mole & Skin Tag Removal
s Valentine s t Day gif available!
Mindy Weaver FNP-C
615.650.4444
Gary Williams, D.Ph.
Owner / Pharmacist
1406-A McGavock Pike Nashville, TN 37216
MON-THUR: 9-7 | FRIDAY: 9-6 | SAT: 9-5 | SUN: AVAILABLE FOR EMERGENCIES
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
33
and Their Fight with Breast Cancer By Jennifer Lyle
I
|
Photographs by Tim Duggan
f you’d stumbled onto the scene depicted in this spread, snapped late last December at Porter Road’s Dandelion Salon, you probably would have thought it was just another photo shoot for some new folksy, penchant-for-black-wearing musical troupe. Albeit one with a higher number of ‘X’ chromosomes than most. If you’d been near enough when the camera stopped flashing, you’d have overheard a couple of the women’s light-hearted lamentations about missing out on the Music City heyday of the 1950s, a time they heralded as the ultimate rock n’ roll scene. One ‘band member’ surely looked the part of a country
34
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
legend in her long black dress and matching black coif, bringing to mind a young Loretta Lynn. She casually let slip she was a singer for almost 15 years, no big deal. Another ‘member’ with an impressive, waist-length sheet of the blackest hair is one part of local duo The Smoking Flowers, and has worked as a musician most of her life. Even with these two talented pedigrees in the mix, it quickly became clear this wasn’t what it looked like at first glance. In between sipping wine and romanticizing the supposed glory days they never saw, the real reason these girls were all gathered finally started to reveal itself at first boob grab.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
35
and Their Fight with Breast Cancer By Jennifer Lyle
I
|
Photographs by Tim Duggan
f you’d stumbled onto the scene depicted in this spread, snapped late last December at Porter Road’s Dandelion Salon, you probably would have thought it was just another photo shoot for some new folksy, penchant-for-black-wearing musical troupe. Albeit one with a higher number of ‘X’ chromosomes than most. If you’d been near enough when the camera stopped flashing, you’d have overheard a couple of the women’s light-hearted lamentations about missing out on the Music City heyday of the 1950s, a time they heralded as the ultimate rock n’ roll scene. One ‘band member’ surely looked the part of a country
34
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
legend in her long black dress and matching black coif, bringing to mind a young Loretta Lynn. She casually let slip she was a singer for almost 15 years, no big deal. Another ‘member’ with an impressive, waist-length sheet of the blackest hair is one part of local duo The Smoking Flowers, and has worked as a musician most of her life. Even with these two talented pedigrees in the mix, it quickly became clear this wasn’t what it looked like at first glance. In between sipping wine and romanticizing the supposed glory days they never saw, the real reason these girls were all gathered finally started to reveal itself at first boob grab.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
35
Lisa McCauley, Kim Collins, Brandy Smiley and Tracy Hamilton at Dandelion Salon, December 2012 Photographed by Tim Duggan Hair by Kama Liberman/B-Side Salon Makeup by Kimberly Murrey 36 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM January | February 2013
When the women suddenly and playfully groped at their chests — pretty much in unison, as if reacting to a signal only they knew — things quickly turned into a ping-ponglike exchange of information and silliness. All of it related to those two, weird-looking little mounds roughly half the world’s population have sitting atop their ribcages. Next came the intentional cleavage baring and questions like, ‘So, how do they look?’ No, these women were clearly no band. And they weren’t talking music. They were talking boobs. Breasts, cans, twins, girls, melons — whatever nickname, crass or otherwise, by which you may refer to this particular part of the female anatomy. More specifically, they were talking implants and expanders. Stages, surgeries and scars. Plastic surgeons and chemotherapy. Yeah. They were talking breast cancer. As a conversation, it’s very personal for these women. But it’s a conversation that should also be personal for our community. If you’ve lived in any Eastside nabe for a while, you may recognize most, if not all, of these women. Lisa McCauley, a.k.a young Loretta Lynn, is a fixture in these parts, not to mention the hard-working publisher of this very magazine. Kim Collins, with the hair, is a multi-talented vocalist and instrumentalist who’s played in countless local bands through the years. Brandy Smiley, the jokester of the group, is a scissor-wielding hairstylist by day, fun-loving girl-about-town by night. And then there’s Twiggy look-a-like Tracy Hamilton, co-owner of the heavily trafficked watering hole, the Village Pub & Beer Garden. These women are our neighbors. And over the past two years, they’ve collectively experienced four breast cancer diagnoses; the removal of seven natural breasts; four “brutal” expansions; 20 weeks of chemotherapy; 28 days of radiation; hundreds of doctors visits; medications and supplements galore; five reconstructed breasts so far and immeasurable emotional, physical and financial distress. All that’s missing is the partridge in the pear tree. And while most of them have known each other casually through the years (this is Nashville, after all), this is their first planned get-together. Seeing them interact like this — goofing off, posing, chatting — you’d have thought they were the best of friends. With so many similarities in their circumstances, they were able to relate to each other naturally. For starters, all are East Nashville residents, all around the same age, all self-motivating types. However, it is their shared experience as breast cancer survivors that relate them the most. Fortunately, each woman’s cancer is currently in a state of remission. However, it’s still a seeming anomaly that all four would suffer from the same disease at a similar point
in their lives, one that raises a lot of questions. How did this happen to them? Given their relative ages, are breast cancer rates in younger women increasing? Is breast cancer tied to lifestyle? The environment? What are the survival rates for the disease? What are the treatment and reconstruction options out there? Perhaps most importantly, how can we prevent this from happening to more women? Women like Lisa, Kim, Brandy and Tracy. Women like our neighbors and our loved ones. Women like ourselves. Statistics say roughly one in eight women in this country will develop breast cancer at some point in her life. Of course, we tend to think that ‘some point’ will be well into the post-menopausal years, and typically it is, says Dr. Pat Whitworth, a 30-year veteran oncologist who has practiced breast-related surgical oncology at Baptist since the early 2000s. But sometimes, like for our foursome — the oldest only 45, the youngest clocking in at 36 — the bad luck strikes a little earlier, and more often than not, it’s totally out of the blue.
B
randy’s diagnosis two years ago, at 43, was definitely one that came out of left field for the spirited stylist, whose cancer was completely asymptomatic. After seeing a segment on Talk of The Town about a free mammogram service for uninsured women at Meharry Medical College, she decided to go. “I didn’t have any problems, it was just time, so I went,” she said. “And they told me they found something.” What they found was a slow-growing, invasive form of Stage I, estrogen-fueled breast cancer. While she says she was shocked at the news initially — after all, she had just gone in for a routine screening — it didn’t take her long to rally and start moving ahead with a plan of action. Brandy found assistance through a United Way-sponsored breast-health program at Vanderbilt. They immediately got to work chipping away at her ever-mounting medical bills and placing her in the care of some of the country’s best doctors. With that help, Brandy was able to put her diagnosis in perspective pretty quickly, being the ‘live and let live’ type she is, and easily decided on pursuing a double mastectomy. “To me, it was a no brainer, really. Why have to go through this again?” she asked. “Plus, they’re just part of you. I mean, there’s children losing their legs.” About four months after the bad news dropped, Brandy said goodbye to her inherited set for good. “Good times,” she laughed with sharp, discernible sarcasm about the recovery period following her April 2011 surgery. Now, Brandy said she feels confident she’s through the woods. Finished with the reconstruction process, the vivacious 40-something is happy and enjoying her new rack. “They
don’t look the same, of course. They’re scarred. But they’re boobs. They still serve the same purpose,” she joked. Her oncologist did prescribe chemotherapy as backup, but Brandy declined. “I said, ‘I’m a hairdresser, and I could make a lot of suggestions for your hair. But that doesn’t mean you’ll take them,’” she recalled, restating the past sentiment with just a touch of sass.
L
uckily we live in a time where early detection makes cures almost a certainty for most, and there are a number of different treatment options available. These strides have helped make every woman’s unwanted journey with the disease as personalized and comfortable as possible. Women diagnosed a few decades ago received a one-size-fitsall treatment plan, complete with mutilating mastectomies, shoddy reconstructions, across-the-board chemo and virtually no resources for support. Today they can choose more individualized surgical plans ranging from lumpectomies, partial, single or double mastectomies to even nipple- and skinsparing mastectomies, depending on their breast and tumor size. As for supplementary treatments, where doctors used to give some form of chemotherapy to every patient with a tumor bigger than a centimeter, Whitworth said they know now because of molecular testing, it isn’t necessary for every patient. According to Whitworth, it’s not these measures that have made the most indelible impact on how we treat breast cancer today. In his eyes, the best thing that has changed is the way women dealing with it are treated by his very profession. “We’ve gotten a lot friendlier in how we navigate women through this process and how we respect their preferences. Different women want different things.”
K
im Collins fits that bill to a T. As close to a health nut as you can get without being over the top, Kim said she’s lived more than half her 42 years in a consciously preventative way: becoming a vegetarian at age 20, staying fit with exercise, de-stressing with yoga and meditation, even using “green” products before they were mainstream. Kim made these efforts mainly because with her career choice as a musician, she knew money might be tight and affording insurance could be tricky. Along with these practices, Kim chose to avoid most traditional western medicine, opting to learn all she could about holistic and alternative remedies. Naturally she also avoided things like mammograms because of the radiation exposure, but after noticing a cyst-like bump during a self-exam in late 2011, Kim thought maybe a mammogram might be just what the doctor ordered, literally. But her screening came back negative, as did her ultrasound. That could have been the
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
37
Lisa McCauley, Kim Collins, Brandy Smiley and Tracy Hamilton at Dandelion Salon, December 2012 Photographed by Tim Duggan Hair by Kama Liberman/B-Side Salon Makeup by Kimberly Murrey 36 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM January | February 2013
When the women suddenly and playfully groped at their chests — pretty much in unison, as if reacting to a signal only they knew — things quickly turned into a ping-ponglike exchange of information and silliness. All of it related to those two, weird-looking little mounds roughly half the world’s population have sitting atop their ribcages. Next came the intentional cleavage baring and questions like, ‘So, how do they look?’ No, these women were clearly no band. And they weren’t talking music. They were talking boobs. Breasts, cans, twins, girls, melons — whatever nickname, crass or otherwise, by which you may refer to this particular part of the female anatomy. More specifically, they were talking implants and expanders. Stages, surgeries and scars. Plastic surgeons and chemotherapy. Yeah. They were talking breast cancer. As a conversation, it’s very personal for these women. But it’s a conversation that should also be personal for our community. If you’ve lived in any Eastside nabe for a while, you may recognize most, if not all, of these women. Lisa McCauley, a.k.a young Loretta Lynn, is a fixture in these parts, not to mention the hard-working publisher of this very magazine. Kim Collins, with the hair, is a multi-talented vocalist and instrumentalist who’s played in countless local bands through the years. Brandy Smiley, the jokester of the group, is a scissor-wielding hairstylist by day, fun-loving girl-about-town by night. And then there’s Twiggy look-a-like Tracy Hamilton, co-owner of the heavily trafficked watering hole, the Village Pub & Beer Garden. These women are our neighbors. And over the past two years, they’ve collectively experienced four breast cancer diagnoses; the removal of seven natural breasts; four “brutal” expansions; 20 weeks of chemotherapy; 28 days of radiation; hundreds of doctors visits; medications and supplements galore; five reconstructed breasts so far and immeasurable emotional, physical and financial distress. All that’s missing is the partridge in the pear tree. And while most of them have known each other casually through the years (this is Nashville, after all), this is their first planned get-together. Seeing them interact like this — goofing off, posing, chatting — you’d have thought they were the best of friends. With so many similarities in their circumstances, they were able to relate to each other naturally. For starters, all are East Nashville residents, all around the same age, all self-motivating types. However, it is their shared experience as breast cancer survivors that relate them the most. Fortunately, each woman’s cancer is currently in a state of remission. However, it’s still a seeming anomaly that all four would suffer from the same disease at a similar point
in their lives, one that raises a lot of questions. How did this happen to them? Given their relative ages, are breast cancer rates in younger women increasing? Is breast cancer tied to lifestyle? The environment? What are the survival rates for the disease? What are the treatment and reconstruction options out there? Perhaps most importantly, how can we prevent this from happening to more women? Women like Lisa, Kim, Brandy and Tracy. Women like our neighbors and our loved ones. Women like ourselves. Statistics say roughly one in eight women in this country will develop breast cancer at some point in her life. Of course, we tend to think that ‘some point’ will be well into the post-menopausal years, and typically it is, says Dr. Pat Whitworth, a 30-year veteran oncologist who has practiced breast-related surgical oncology at Baptist since the early 2000s. But sometimes, like for our foursome — the oldest only 45, the youngest clocking in at 36 — the bad luck strikes a little earlier, and more often than not, it’s totally out of the blue.
B
randy’s diagnosis two years ago, at 43, was definitely one that came out of left field for the spirited stylist, whose cancer was completely asymptomatic. After seeing a segment on Talk of The Town about a free mammogram service for uninsured women at Meharry Medical College, she decided to go. “I didn’t have any problems, it was just time, so I went,” she said. “And they told me they found something.” What they found was a slow-growing, invasive form of Stage I, estrogen-fueled breast cancer. While she says she was shocked at the news initially — after all, she had just gone in for a routine screening — it didn’t take her long to rally and start moving ahead with a plan of action. Brandy found assistance through a United Way-sponsored breast-health program at Vanderbilt. They immediately got to work chipping away at her ever-mounting medical bills and placing her in the care of some of the country’s best doctors. With that help, Brandy was able to put her diagnosis in perspective pretty quickly, being the ‘live and let live’ type she is, and easily decided on pursuing a double mastectomy. “To me, it was a no brainer, really. Why have to go through this again?” she asked. “Plus, they’re just part of you. I mean, there’s children losing their legs.” About four months after the bad news dropped, Brandy said goodbye to her inherited set for good. “Good times,” she laughed with sharp, discernible sarcasm about the recovery period following her April 2011 surgery. Now, Brandy said she feels confident she’s through the woods. Finished with the reconstruction process, the vivacious 40-something is happy and enjoying her new rack. “They
don’t look the same, of course. They’re scarred. But they’re boobs. They still serve the same purpose,” she joked. Her oncologist did prescribe chemotherapy as backup, but Brandy declined. “I said, ‘I’m a hairdresser, and I could make a lot of suggestions for your hair. But that doesn’t mean you’ll take them,’” she recalled, restating the past sentiment with just a touch of sass.
L
uckily we live in a time where early detection makes cures almost a certainty for most, and there are a number of different treatment options available. These strides have helped make every woman’s unwanted journey with the disease as personalized and comfortable as possible. Women diagnosed a few decades ago received a one-size-fitsall treatment plan, complete with mutilating mastectomies, shoddy reconstructions, across-the-board chemo and virtually no resources for support. Today they can choose more individualized surgical plans ranging from lumpectomies, partial, single or double mastectomies to even nipple- and skinsparing mastectomies, depending on their breast and tumor size. As for supplementary treatments, where doctors used to give some form of chemotherapy to every patient with a tumor bigger than a centimeter, Whitworth said they know now because of molecular testing, it isn’t necessary for every patient. According to Whitworth, it’s not these measures that have made the most indelible impact on how we treat breast cancer today. In his eyes, the best thing that has changed is the way women dealing with it are treated by his very profession. “We’ve gotten a lot friendlier in how we navigate women through this process and how we respect their preferences. Different women want different things.”
K
im Collins fits that bill to a T. As close to a health nut as you can get without being over the top, Kim said she’s lived more than half her 42 years in a consciously preventative way: becoming a vegetarian at age 20, staying fit with exercise, de-stressing with yoga and meditation, even using “green” products before they were mainstream. Kim made these efforts mainly because with her career choice as a musician, she knew money might be tight and affording insurance could be tricky. Along with these practices, Kim chose to avoid most traditional western medicine, opting to learn all she could about holistic and alternative remedies. Naturally she also avoided things like mammograms because of the radiation exposure, but after noticing a cyst-like bump during a self-exam in late 2011, Kim thought maybe a mammogram might be just what the doctor ordered, literally. But her screening came back negative, as did her ultrasound. That could have been the
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
37
end of it. That it really was just a cyst on top of another cyst like she was told. Not being the type to take chances where her health is concerned, she pushed forward with a biopsy anyway. When she found herself sitting in the doctor’s office receiving a diagnosis of early stage, invasive breast cancer, she said it was “mindblowing,” especially considering how healthy her overall lifestyle had always been. She was further dumbfounded, though, by the fear that first doctor instilled, saying she needed to ‘get it out’ as soon as possible. “He frightened the living daylights out of me,” Kim said. It was that fear-based mentality that propelled Kim to look elsewhere for medical advice and find the strength to chart her own path to recovery. She chronicled her experience in a blog, The Warrior and The Wishbone: “I decided that I could choose to take one of two routes: I could pity myself and think it’s the end of the world and only listen to mainstream doctors … or I could step up, find strength and use the mass of information … out there on alternative cancer treatments and use it to heal and better myself… .” And step up she did, with the help of Dr. Stephen Reisman, who practices non-conventional medicine with a mind-bodynature orientation. It was he who encouraged Kim to take time and really delve into the abundance of literature available in order to find a treatment plan that most fit her life. “The first thing he told me was that time was on my side.” She quickly realized if that truly was the case, then she had the choice to battle her cancer with fear or without. She chose without. Kim immediately adopted a raw food diet to put her body in its most optimal state of health (which sounds ironic given the cancer) and prevent it from metastasizing. She also began a rigorous regimen of natural supplements and treatments. “I chose to do the therapies I thought would suit my type of breast cancer the best,” she said. She did elect for a single mastectomy in conjunction with these treatments as she said she’s fine with western surgery in most cases. And fortunately for Kim, reconstruction has made major advances even in the last five years, according to Dr. Kristina O’Shaughnessy, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon specializing in mammoplasty at Nashville’s Maxwell Aesthetics. “Patients today get a choice,” she said. “But you have to weigh out your risks and decide which option is right for you.” Choosing to pursue a single mastectomy instead of a double was just another decision that Kim felt best aligned with her overall attitude toward
modern medicine. With her small frame, she was a good candidate for a single mastectomy with reconstruction, a procedure that used to be plagued with problems like asymmetry and lop-sided nipple placement. But now, doctors are able to produce just as beautiful results with single mastectomies and even lumpectomies, said O’Shaughnessy. “Expander and implant-based surgery has come a lot further,” she explained, mainly due to the use of acellular dermal material, or cadaveric cells that function like a “musclein-a-box.” Where surgeons used to have to raise as many as three large muscles in the chest cavity to protect the expander and eventual implant, they now suture the expanders and implants to the chest wall, using this faux muscle to cover them. By not having to raise actual chest muscles, expansion before augmentation is not nearly as painful an experience. O’Shaughnessy reiterated that reconstruction is “a very difficult process, but it used to be a lot worse.” Working solely with the latest in breast-
it was probably just a clogged milk duct and applied a hot compress. After a week with no change, she went in to see her OB/GYN, not wanting to take chances since breast milk was her son’s sole diet at the time. Not convinced of Tracy’s theory, her doctor ordered an ultrasound, and with that, Tracy knew it couldn’t be good. Next came the biopsy and eventually her growing fears were confirmed when she was told she had a malignant tumor, 5 cm in diameter. Breast cancer. Stage III. “I had kind of prepared for it,” she said, “but I wasn’t prepared for how advanced it was. That part was unnerving.” A little less than two weeks later, Tracy had her first chemo treatment. She recalled that time as a real “nightmare,” one that kicked off with her diagnosis, then CAT scans, PET scans, MRIs — the full-on alphabet soup. In this situation, it seems only natural to wallow and indulge in a little self-pity, especially someone with an infant child. And wallow she did, but only for a brief moment, deciding rather quickly that she would be all right. She had to be all right, for Charlie. “It’s scary,” she said. “But after those first couple weeks, it became a lot easier. You flip a switch in your brain. You just have to deal with it.” “Dealing with it” for Tracy involved 20 weeks of intense chemo that eradicated every hair on her body, a double mastectomy in which they not only removed both her breasts but 18 of her axillary lymph nodes, and roughly six weeks of radiation. Her life became a never-ending parade of treatments and doctors’ appointments but Tracy refused to lose sight of what was important through it all: her family. That was her hope. That is her hope. Youth is her hope, too. Youth is hope for all these women and it has served them well, enabling them to bounce back from the incredible physical stress and trauma. It is their blessing. But it is also their curse, because the earlier breast cancer rears its ugly head, the more likely it is to come back later in life, Whitworth explained, partly because these women will most likely live longer in general. Still, the question begs to be asked: Is there really a growing prevalence of breast cancer in younger women? Whitworth doesn’t think so. “I don’t know of any data that shows women under 40 are having a spike in cases, or really under 50,” he said. In fact, according to The Maurer Foundation, a breast-health education resource, 95 percent of all breast cancer diagnoses occur in women over 40. Whitworth said what may seem like an epidemic is really due to so many advancements in diagnostic techniques, like better mammography and ultrasound imaging, which
“When something like this happens, it’s like a lightning bolt. You want an explanation for what the heck happened.”
38
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
health science and technology, O’Shaughnessy and her colleague, Dr. Patrick Maxwell, are taking reconstruction to another level. In fact, their office is the beta site for the nation’s only 40-imaging machine specifically designed for breast reconstruction. “It’s very difficult for women, after mastectomies, to think they will ever look normal again,” said O’Shaughnessy. “With this system, I can take a picture and virtually show them what they’re going to look like with implants,” giving them a better understanding of the process, helping turn devastation into hope for many women. As the youngest of the group, Tracy knows that devastation all too well; it was the hope that was a little harder to come by. Diagnosed exactly one year ago at 35, she and her husband, Jesse, were running a thriving business and had just become parents to their first child, Charlie. They were on top of the world. Or so they thought.
A
s a new mom, Tracy was always breastfeeding, so when she noticed some swelling under her right arm, she thought
January | February 2013
allows for earlier detection. Even if there isn’t evidence to support the idea that incidence rates are rising in younger women, there’s still something going on here. Whitworth cited the usual risks for women of all ages like being overweight or a heavy drinker. Of course, none of those risks apply to this group. But he also proposed the idea that high stress levels could potentially be a precursor for the disease. In today’s dogeat-dog world, it can be challenging for any woman to keep a handle on her stress, especially the independent types like this bunch.
end of the tunnel,” Lisa said. “And luckily the magazine has done so extremely well, but really, it’s been in spite of me.” Whitworth said that while stress is not a direct cause of cancer, “it’s better for your quality of life and health in general to be less stressed.” But the question remains, how did these women wind up with breast cancer? “When something like this happens, it’s like a lightning bolt. You want an explanation for what the heck happened,” Whitworth said. And these women are no different. Of course, they
all have theories on what triggered their bad luck. Brandy blames the doctor-prescribed hormone replacement therapies she started when menopause set in in her mid-30s. Tracy chalks it up to hormone therapies she took in order to conceive. Kim hypothesizes potential poisoning from mercury fillings in her teeth, which she says were improperly removed years ago. And Lisa, who grew up in the factory town of Old Hickory Village, believes it to be the result of some possible environmental pollution.
I
t was around the same time Tracy’s fate was becoming clear that self-professed workaholic Lisa was embarking on a similar misadventure. At 43, she was plugging away, turning her one-year-old baby, The East Nashvillian, into a relatable and successful read. An admitted type-A personality, Lisa had always been a go, go, go kind of girl, so when some soreness and pain in her right breast slowed her down, she went in for a check-up. Her doctor didn’t notice anything unusual, only advising the Diet Coke fiend to lay off the soda since high caffeine intake can cause pain in women with dense breast tissue, like Lisa. But since it was time for her yearly mammogram, he went ahead and set one up just to be safe. A couple weeks later, he called her back in to further investigate some abnormalities found on that first screen. After an enhanced mammography and ultrasound, her OB/GYN turned her over to Whitworth, who recommended a biopsy, saying she had a lesion that “looked highly suspicious for cancer.” “My heart sank,” Lisa said. Sure enough, the “highly suspicious lesion” was, indeed, cancer. Stage I. Even though Whitworth told her the tumor was slow growing, having been there for years maybe, they quickly got the ball rolling. “He was fast and furious with me,” she said, “but not because he had to get it out or I’d die, but for my sanity and peace of mind.” For Lisa, who is used to being in control, that was exactly how she wanted to play it. She underwent a double mastectomy about two months after she first heard the news, but being a naturally positive person, it didn’t take her out for long. This whole experience has changed her perspective on what really matters. Yes, work is important, she admitted, but it’s not the end all, be all and sometimes, she realized, all that self-imposed stress just isn’t worth it. Learning to let go of the control that she so fiercely held onto as an independent businesswoman and focusing less on the little things are perhaps the most positive things to come from her diagnosis, she said. Not that Lisa’s no longer prone to stress, but she is learning how to take it all in stride. “It’s been such a tough year, emotionally and financially, but I feel like I’m coming to the light at the
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
39
end of it. That it really was just a cyst on top of another cyst like she was told. Not being the type to take chances where her health is concerned, she pushed forward with a biopsy anyway. When she found herself sitting in the doctor’s office receiving a diagnosis of early stage, invasive breast cancer, she said it was “mindblowing,” especially considering how healthy her overall lifestyle had always been. She was further dumbfounded, though, by the fear that first doctor instilled, saying she needed to ‘get it out’ as soon as possible. “He frightened the living daylights out of me,” Kim said. It was that fear-based mentality that propelled Kim to look elsewhere for medical advice and find the strength to chart her own path to recovery. She chronicled her experience in a blog, The Warrior and The Wishbone: “I decided that I could choose to take one of two routes: I could pity myself and think it’s the end of the world and only listen to mainstream doctors … or I could step up, find strength and use the mass of information … out there on alternative cancer treatments and use it to heal and better myself… .” And step up she did, with the help of Dr. Stephen Reisman, who practices non-conventional medicine with a mind-bodynature orientation. It was he who encouraged Kim to take time and really delve into the abundance of literature available in order to find a treatment plan that most fit her life. “The first thing he told me was that time was on my side.” She quickly realized if that truly was the case, then she had the choice to battle her cancer with fear or without. She chose without. Kim immediately adopted a raw food diet to put her body in its most optimal state of health (which sounds ironic given the cancer) and prevent it from metastasizing. She also began a rigorous regimen of natural supplements and treatments. “I chose to do the therapies I thought would suit my type of breast cancer the best,” she said. She did elect for a single mastectomy in conjunction with these treatments as she said she’s fine with western surgery in most cases. And fortunately for Kim, reconstruction has made major advances even in the last five years, according to Dr. Kristina O’Shaughnessy, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon specializing in mammoplasty at Nashville’s Maxwell Aesthetics. “Patients today get a choice,” she said. “But you have to weigh out your risks and decide which option is right for you.” Choosing to pursue a single mastectomy instead of a double was just another decision that Kim felt best aligned with her overall attitude toward
modern medicine. With her small frame, she was a good candidate for a single mastectomy with reconstruction, a procedure that used to be plagued with problems like asymmetry and lop-sided nipple placement. But now, doctors are able to produce just as beautiful results with single mastectomies and even lumpectomies, said O’Shaughnessy. “Expander and implant-based surgery has come a lot further,” she explained, mainly due to the use of acellular dermal material, or cadaveric cells that function like a “musclein-a-box.” Where surgeons used to have to raise as many as three large muscles in the chest cavity to protect the expander and eventual implant, they now suture the expanders and implants to the chest wall, using this faux muscle to cover them. By not having to raise actual chest muscles, expansion before augmentation is not nearly as painful an experience. O’Shaughnessy reiterated that reconstruction is “a very difficult process, but it used to be a lot worse.” Working solely with the latest in breast-
it was probably just a clogged milk duct and applied a hot compress. After a week with no change, she went in to see her OB/GYN, not wanting to take chances since breast milk was her son’s sole diet at the time. Not convinced of Tracy’s theory, her doctor ordered an ultrasound, and with that, Tracy knew it couldn’t be good. Next came the biopsy and eventually her growing fears were confirmed when she was told she had a malignant tumor, 5 cm in diameter. Breast cancer. Stage III. “I had kind of prepared for it,” she said, “but I wasn’t prepared for how advanced it was. That part was unnerving.” A little less than two weeks later, Tracy had her first chemo treatment. She recalled that time as a real “nightmare,” one that kicked off with her diagnosis, then CAT scans, PET scans, MRIs — the full-on alphabet soup. In this situation, it seems only natural to wallow and indulge in a little self-pity, especially someone with an infant child. And wallow she did, but only for a brief moment, deciding rather quickly that she would be all right. She had to be all right, for Charlie. “It’s scary,” she said. “But after those first couple weeks, it became a lot easier. You flip a switch in your brain. You just have to deal with it.” “Dealing with it” for Tracy involved 20 weeks of intense chemo that eradicated every hair on her body, a double mastectomy in which they not only removed both her breasts but 18 of her axillary lymph nodes, and roughly six weeks of radiation. Her life became a never-ending parade of treatments and doctors’ appointments but Tracy refused to lose sight of what was important through it all: her family. That was her hope. That is her hope. Youth is her hope, too. Youth is hope for all these women and it has served them well, enabling them to bounce back from the incredible physical stress and trauma. It is their blessing. But it is also their curse, because the earlier breast cancer rears its ugly head, the more likely it is to come back later in life, Whitworth explained, partly because these women will most likely live longer in general. Still, the question begs to be asked: Is there really a growing prevalence of breast cancer in younger women? Whitworth doesn’t think so. “I don’t know of any data that shows women under 40 are having a spike in cases, or really under 50,” he said. In fact, according to The Maurer Foundation, a breast-health education resource, 95 percent of all breast cancer diagnoses occur in women over 40. Whitworth said what may seem like an epidemic is really due to so many advancements in diagnostic techniques, like better mammography and ultrasound imaging, which
“When something like this happens, it’s like a lightning bolt. You want an explanation for what the heck happened.”
38
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
health science and technology, O’Shaughnessy and her colleague, Dr. Patrick Maxwell, are taking reconstruction to another level. In fact, their office is the beta site for the nation’s only 40-imaging machine specifically designed for breast reconstruction. “It’s very difficult for women, after mastectomies, to think they will ever look normal again,” said O’Shaughnessy. “With this system, I can take a picture and virtually show them what they’re going to look like with implants,” giving them a better understanding of the process, helping turn devastation into hope for many women. As the youngest of the group, Tracy knows that devastation all too well; it was the hope that was a little harder to come by. Diagnosed exactly one year ago at 35, she and her husband, Jesse, were running a thriving business and had just become parents to their first child, Charlie. They were on top of the world. Or so they thought.
A
s a new mom, Tracy was always breastfeeding, so when she noticed some swelling under her right arm, she thought
January | February 2013
allows for earlier detection. Even if there isn’t evidence to support the idea that incidence rates are rising in younger women, there’s still something going on here. Whitworth cited the usual risks for women of all ages like being overweight or a heavy drinker. Of course, none of those risks apply to this group. But he also proposed the idea that high stress levels could potentially be a precursor for the disease. In today’s dogeat-dog world, it can be challenging for any woman to keep a handle on her stress, especially the independent types like this bunch.
end of the tunnel,” Lisa said. “And luckily the magazine has done so extremely well, but really, it’s been in spite of me.” Whitworth said that while stress is not a direct cause of cancer, “it’s better for your quality of life and health in general to be less stressed.” But the question remains, how did these women wind up with breast cancer? “When something like this happens, it’s like a lightning bolt. You want an explanation for what the heck happened,” Whitworth said. And these women are no different. Of course, they
all have theories on what triggered their bad luck. Brandy blames the doctor-prescribed hormone replacement therapies she started when menopause set in in her mid-30s. Tracy chalks it up to hormone therapies she took in order to conceive. Kim hypothesizes potential poisoning from mercury fillings in her teeth, which she says were improperly removed years ago. And Lisa, who grew up in the factory town of Old Hickory Village, believes it to be the result of some possible environmental pollution.
I
t was around the same time Tracy’s fate was becoming clear that self-professed workaholic Lisa was embarking on a similar misadventure. At 43, she was plugging away, turning her one-year-old baby, The East Nashvillian, into a relatable and successful read. An admitted type-A personality, Lisa had always been a go, go, go kind of girl, so when some soreness and pain in her right breast slowed her down, she went in for a check-up. Her doctor didn’t notice anything unusual, only advising the Diet Coke fiend to lay off the soda since high caffeine intake can cause pain in women with dense breast tissue, like Lisa. But since it was time for her yearly mammogram, he went ahead and set one up just to be safe. A couple weeks later, he called her back in to further investigate some abnormalities found on that first screen. After an enhanced mammography and ultrasound, her OB/GYN turned her over to Whitworth, who recommended a biopsy, saying she had a lesion that “looked highly suspicious for cancer.” “My heart sank,” Lisa said. Sure enough, the “highly suspicious lesion” was, indeed, cancer. Stage I. Even though Whitworth told her the tumor was slow growing, having been there for years maybe, they quickly got the ball rolling. “He was fast and furious with me,” she said, “but not because he had to get it out or I’d die, but for my sanity and peace of mind.” For Lisa, who is used to being in control, that was exactly how she wanted to play it. She underwent a double mastectomy about two months after she first heard the news, but being a naturally positive person, it didn’t take her out for long. This whole experience has changed her perspective on what really matters. Yes, work is important, she admitted, but it’s not the end all, be all and sometimes, she realized, all that self-imposed stress just isn’t worth it. Learning to let go of the control that she so fiercely held onto as an independent businesswoman and focusing less on the little things are perhaps the most positive things to come from her diagnosis, she said. Not that Lisa’s no longer prone to stress, but she is learning how to take it all in stride. “It’s been such a tough year, emotionally and financially, but I feel like I’m coming to the light at the
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
39
While there is an indisputable link between hormone therapies and breast cancer, for Kim and Lisa, who claim a potential environmental factor, Whitworth and O’Shaughnessy agree there just isn’t enough concrete evidence out there to prove that link, even with all the increased hormones in our food and higher levels of toxins in our world. “We just don’t have good evidence yet,” Whitworth said, “but we also don’t have proof against it.” His explanation? It’s just plain old biology. If a woman has a family history of breast cancer or a genetic predisposition with a BRCA mutation, it goes without saying that her likelihood of an onset is infinitely higher
than if she did not have those ties. This group of women, though, unanimously lacks both a family history and presence of the gene, making the onset of their illnesses all the more curious. At the end of the day, there is no known direct cause of breast cancer, but doctors agree that every single woman on this planet is at risk. Put simply, if you’ve got breasts, you’ve got risk. Still, getting a positive diagnosis can throw a wrench in any woman’s life. That’s why it’s so important to assess and monitor that potential risk as early as possible. Whitworth hopes to accomplish this by adopting a more individualized approach to how women are screened, profiling all
possible risks like their family history, first menstrual period, first pregnancy, etc., at a younger age. Because it is early detection that allows for the majority of women diagnosed to be cured. Of course for Brandy, Kim, Tracy and Lisa, and for all women who have had breast cancer, the latent possibility of another reoccurrence down the road never goes away. Unfortunately, it’s a cross they must bear, but they all bear it proudly. Even though they’ve been dragged through the mud that is breast cancer, each of them would surely admit to having come out the other side, the smarter and stronger woman for it.
A sunny new year is a great time
Mondays
to start a clean, renewable future.
4:30-5:00 p.m. 3-6 year olds
That’s what Sundog Solar calls
Barking up the right tree.
Above classes held at Eastwood Christian Church Fellowship Hall, 1601 Eastland Avenue
YOu Fish Like A Girl!
Additional classes available in Brentwood, Pegram, and Vanderbilt University
One Woman’s Pledge To Battle Breast Cancer, One Fish At A Time
B
reast cancer has received a lot of publicity in recent years, what with the Susan G. Komen Foundation and their ubiquitous pink ribbons, solidifying the prevalence of this predominantly female affliction in our culture. So naturally, the last thing most people think of in conjunction with the disease is something manly, like fly-fishing. But that’s exactly what comes to mind for Susan Thrasher, an East Nashvillian and co-founder of Music City Fly Girls, an all-girls flyfishing club. A civil engineer by trade and a fly-fishing enthusiast who has parlayed the hobby into a full-fledged second career, Susan has been working hard to link the sport with the illness for nearly five years. In association with the national organization Casting For Recovery, Susan and her Girls are helping to empower and change, for the better, the lives of local breast cancer patients and survivors with their yearly Middle Tennessee-area Casting For Recovery retreats. Casting For Recovery originated in Vermont in 1996 — the brainchild of a professional fly-fisher and a breast reconstructive surgeon. It quickly grew into a nationally recognized organization born from a simple belief in the therapeutic powers of nature in the lives of cancer patients and the idea that they deserve a weekend, free of charge and free of stress, to learn a new and challenging exercise while immersed in the beautiful tranquility of the natural world. So when Susan and her co-founder, Nikki Mitchell, started the Fly Girls in 2007 looking for female camaraderie among fellow would-be fly fishers, they also wanted an outlet through which they could give back to the community by utilizing the skills of their hobby. As a certified casting instructor, Susan had volunteered her services for the East Tennessee Casting For Recovery chapter retreats in the past. Realizing there was not yet a chapter in the Nashville area, she and the Girls thought it seemed like a serendipitous opportunity to start a charitable leg for their club. Working in union with the local Trout Unlimited chapter, a national organization that works to conserve and protect North American cold-water fisheries, the Fly Girls held their first Casting For Recovery retreat in Normandy, Tenn., in the spring of 2008. Of course, it’s not an easy task to put on a retreat, Susan
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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
5:00-5:45 p.m. 7 & up
said. Over the course of a weekend, with 14 participants — not to mention a slew of volunteers, fly-fishing experts, a medical facilitator and a psychologist — it’s “tough to raise that kind of money,” she admitted. The Fly Girls throw a yearly fundraiser at The Factory in Franklin, complete with musical performances, donated catering and live and silent auctions to help ease the burden. In addition, they gladly accept contributions, large and small, from the community. “It costs about $25,000 to put it on. But it’s one of those labors of love, you know?” she continued. “None of us ever thinks about not doing it.” Of course, it’s by doing it that they’re helping to boost the confidence of so many women whose lives have been acutely affected by the disease, empowering them for the challenges ahead. Also, through the retreat, these women get to meet with others in the same boat, make friends, network and just get their minds off their circumstances, if only for a weekend. “It’s a time of hope,” Susan said about the retreats. “We’re all very proud of what we do with CFR.” Clearly, it’s a winwin for everyone … and what could be better than that? If you or someone you know has dealt with breast cancer personally and you’re interested in participating or volunteering for a local CFR retreat, please visit www.castingforrecovery.org to sign up. Participants are chosen by a lottery system.
Solar PV design & installation
Patrick O’Dea Set Dance Workshop Friday, February 15, 6-9 p.m. at DancEast
For a free site consultation: info@SundogSolarEnergy.com 615-650-0540
contact Wendy at wendy@scott-ellis.com for more info
To learn more about solar energy: www.SundogSolarEnergy.com
YEAR ROUND TAX SPECIALISTS
Wendy Ellis Windsor-Hashiguchi, TCRG (615)300-4388 • www.scott-ellis.com 091209-195
Advanced Tax & Income Services
• Year-round Tax Specialists • e-file • Personal Returns • Partnership & Corporate Returns • Trusts & Estates • Corporation & LLC Setup • Payroll Services 1008-B Forrest Ave, Nashville TN 37206 615-227-5916 www.advancedtaxandincome.com January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
41
While there is an indisputable link between hormone therapies and breast cancer, for Kim and Lisa, who claim a potential environmental factor, Whitworth and O’Shaughnessy agree there just isn’t enough concrete evidence out there to prove that link, even with all the increased hormones in our food and higher levels of toxins in our world. “We just don’t have good evidence yet,” Whitworth said, “but we also don’t have proof against it.” His explanation? It’s just plain old biology. If a woman has a family history of breast cancer or a genetic predisposition with a BRCA mutation, it goes without saying that her likelihood of an onset is infinitely higher
than if she did not have those ties. This group of women, though, unanimously lacks both a family history and presence of the gene, making the onset of their illnesses all the more curious. At the end of the day, there is no known direct cause of breast cancer, but doctors agree that every single woman on this planet is at risk. Put simply, if you’ve got breasts, you’ve got risk. Still, getting a positive diagnosis can throw a wrench in any woman’s life. That’s why it’s so important to assess and monitor that potential risk as early as possible. Whitworth hopes to accomplish this by adopting a more individualized approach to how women are screened, profiling all
possible risks like their family history, first menstrual period, first pregnancy, etc., at a younger age. Because it is early detection that allows for the majority of women diagnosed to be cured. Of course for Brandy, Kim, Tracy and Lisa, and for all women who have had breast cancer, the latent possibility of another reoccurrence down the road never goes away. Unfortunately, it’s a cross they must bear, but they all bear it proudly. Even though they’ve been dragged through the mud that is breast cancer, each of them would surely admit to having come out the other side, the smarter and stronger woman for it.
A sunny new year is a great time
Mondays
to start a clean, renewable future.
4:30-5:00 p.m. 3-6 year olds
That’s what Sundog Solar calls
Barking up the right tree.
Above classes held at Eastwood Christian Church Fellowship Hall, 1601 Eastland Avenue
YOu Fish Like A Girl!
Additional classes available in Brentwood, Pegram, and Vanderbilt University
One Woman’s Pledge To Battle Breast Cancer, One Fish At A Time
B
reast cancer has received a lot of publicity in recent years, what with the Susan G. Komen Foundation and their ubiquitous pink ribbons, solidifying the prevalence of this predominantly female affliction in our culture. So naturally, the last thing most people think of in conjunction with the disease is something manly, like fly-fishing. But that’s exactly what comes to mind for Susan Thrasher, an East Nashvillian and co-founder of Music City Fly Girls, an all-girls flyfishing club. A civil engineer by trade and a fly-fishing enthusiast who has parlayed the hobby into a full-fledged second career, Susan has been working hard to link the sport with the illness for nearly five years. In association with the national organization Casting For Recovery, Susan and her Girls are helping to empower and change, for the better, the lives of local breast cancer patients and survivors with their yearly Middle Tennessee-area Casting For Recovery retreats. Casting For Recovery originated in Vermont in 1996 — the brainchild of a professional fly-fisher and a breast reconstructive surgeon. It quickly grew into a nationally recognized organization born from a simple belief in the therapeutic powers of nature in the lives of cancer patients and the idea that they deserve a weekend, free of charge and free of stress, to learn a new and challenging exercise while immersed in the beautiful tranquility of the natural world. So when Susan and her co-founder, Nikki Mitchell, started the Fly Girls in 2007 looking for female camaraderie among fellow would-be fly fishers, they also wanted an outlet through which they could give back to the community by utilizing the skills of their hobby. As a certified casting instructor, Susan had volunteered her services for the East Tennessee Casting For Recovery chapter retreats in the past. Realizing there was not yet a chapter in the Nashville area, she and the Girls thought it seemed like a serendipitous opportunity to start a charitable leg for their club. Working in union with the local Trout Unlimited chapter, a national organization that works to conserve and protect North American cold-water fisheries, the Fly Girls held their first Casting For Recovery retreat in Normandy, Tenn., in the spring of 2008. Of course, it’s not an easy task to put on a retreat, Susan
40
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
5:00-5:45 p.m. 7 & up
said. Over the course of a weekend, with 14 participants — not to mention a slew of volunteers, fly-fishing experts, a medical facilitator and a psychologist — it’s “tough to raise that kind of money,” she admitted. The Fly Girls throw a yearly fundraiser at The Factory in Franklin, complete with musical performances, donated catering and live and silent auctions to help ease the burden. In addition, they gladly accept contributions, large and small, from the community. “It costs about $25,000 to put it on. But it’s one of those labors of love, you know?” she continued. “None of us ever thinks about not doing it.” Of course, it’s by doing it that they’re helping to boost the confidence of so many women whose lives have been acutely affected by the disease, empowering them for the challenges ahead. Also, through the retreat, these women get to meet with others in the same boat, make friends, network and just get their minds off their circumstances, if only for a weekend. “It’s a time of hope,” Susan said about the retreats. “We’re all very proud of what we do with CFR.” Clearly, it’s a winwin for everyone … and what could be better than that? If you or someone you know has dealt with breast cancer personally and you’re interested in participating or volunteering for a local CFR retreat, please visit www.castingforrecovery.org to sign up. Participants are chosen by a lottery system.
Solar PV design & installation
Patrick O’Dea Set Dance Workshop Friday, February 15, 6-9 p.m. at DancEast
For a free site consultation: info@SundogSolarEnergy.com 615-650-0540
contact Wendy at wendy@scott-ellis.com for more info
To learn more about solar energy: www.SundogSolarEnergy.com
YEAR ROUND TAX SPECIALISTS
Wendy Ellis Windsor-Hashiguchi, TCRG (615)300-4388 • www.scott-ellis.com 091209-195
Advanced Tax & Income Services
• Year-round Tax Specialists • e-file • Personal Returns • Partnership & Corporate Returns • Trusts & Estates • Corporation & LLC Setup • Payroll Services 1008-B Forrest Ave, Nashville TN 37206 615-227-5916 www.advancedtaxandincome.com January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
41
Whether it’s for holistic healing, staying fit or simply de-stressing, there’s a style of yoga to suit every need. By Catherine Randall
L
ike so many devoted yogis, Elizabeth Davidson didn’t find yoga, yoga found her. Davidson started her yoga practice after she was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in August 2004. In her search for a holistic way to combat the illness she turned to natural foods, exercise and yoga. “What I learned was cancer can’t survive in oxygen-rich blood,” she says. “Yoga is all about the breathing.” For centuries people have practiced this ancient, artful exercise for many reasons, seeking many different results. All who do, reportedly, receive unexpected benefits. If you’re among those whose New Year’s resolution includes some form of a commitment to get fit, perhaps this alternative to the grunt-and-run of a treadmill will appeal to you. From novice to advanced yogi, there is a wide selection of studios, styles and class levels from which to choose right here in the East Nashville area and, with them, a wealth of stories that will inspire the courage to try. When scheduling changes prevented Davidson from attending her favorite teacher’s class at the Margaret Maddox YMCA,
42
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January | February 2013
she followed her instructor to Kali Yuga Yoga where, she says, “everyone was supportive.” Leah Lillios, the owner of Kali Yuga, likes the personal touch. On a cool Sunday morning last fall she met with the new student orientation group at her studio — the early hot yoga class members were wearing beads of perspiration, and the aromatic smell of some exotic and pungent sweet oil drifted past the newcomers. The group sat outside to listen and inquire while neighbors walked past. It was this atmosphere that led Lillios to open her shop in the area, because “community energy is very important.” As she explains to the new class, “Ten years ago I had a quarter-life crisis and turned to yoga. I was working in the music industry at the time. Yoga filled the void for me.”. Kali Yuga offers fast, slow or hot yoga. Students come with different intentions and needs; having a variety of classes helps them choose a balanced approach between sweat and relaxation. Lillios experimented in a variety of styles and disciplines, but felt limited when it came to teaching. “Many studios want only their particular
style taught. There was only one thing to do: Create the space where a teacher like me could dabble in the different types and styles. I think of it as ‘total yoga.’” One such traditional style is the Iyengar Yoga found at South11 Yoga and 12South Yoga. B.K.S. Iyengar, the author of Light on Yoga — considered the comprehensive text on the subject — brought his philosophy and practice of yoga to America. The 93-yearold yogi still practices and is considered the world’s foremost authority on this ancient meditative exercise. The focus is on skeletal alignment achieved, if necessary, by the use of props. All yoga uses some elements of this style of practice. A form of Hatha Yoga, Iyengar is a system of physical exercises or postures, called asana, combined with breath control exercises known as pranayama. Class instructions are referred to as practices because no one is perfect in their execution of the poses or the breathing exercises. Students “practice” based on their particular ability that day, disregarding expectations. Rachael Mathenia, the owner of 12South, says Iyengar Yoga is the perfect option for the
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
43
Whether it’s for holistic healing, staying fit or simply de-stressing, there’s a style of yoga to suit every need. By Catherine Randall
L
ike so many devoted yogis, Elizabeth Davidson didn’t find yoga, yoga found her. Davidson started her yoga practice after she was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in August 2004. In her search for a holistic way to combat the illness she turned to natural foods, exercise and yoga. “What I learned was cancer can’t survive in oxygen-rich blood,” she says. “Yoga is all about the breathing.” For centuries people have practiced this ancient, artful exercise for many reasons, seeking many different results. All who do, reportedly, receive unexpected benefits. If you’re among those whose New Year’s resolution includes some form of a commitment to get fit, perhaps this alternative to the grunt-and-run of a treadmill will appeal to you. From novice to advanced yogi, there is a wide selection of studios, styles and class levels from which to choose right here in the East Nashville area and, with them, a wealth of stories that will inspire the courage to try. When scheduling changes prevented Davidson from attending her favorite teacher’s class at the Margaret Maddox YMCA,
42
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
she followed her instructor to Kali Yuga Yoga where, she says, “everyone was supportive.” Leah Lillios, the owner of Kali Yuga, likes the personal touch. On a cool Sunday morning last fall she met with the new student orientation group at her studio — the early hot yoga class members were wearing beads of perspiration, and the aromatic smell of some exotic and pungent sweet oil drifted past the newcomers. The group sat outside to listen and inquire while neighbors walked past. It was this atmosphere that led Lillios to open her shop in the area, because “community energy is very important.” As she explains to the new class, “Ten years ago I had a quarter-life crisis and turned to yoga. I was working in the music industry at the time. Yoga filled the void for me.”. Kali Yuga offers fast, slow or hot yoga. Students come with different intentions and needs; having a variety of classes helps them choose a balanced approach between sweat and relaxation. Lillios experimented in a variety of styles and disciplines, but felt limited when it came to teaching. “Many studios want only their particular
style taught. There was only one thing to do: Create the space where a teacher like me could dabble in the different types and styles. I think of it as ‘total yoga.’” One such traditional style is the Iyengar Yoga found at South11 Yoga and 12South Yoga. B.K.S. Iyengar, the author of Light on Yoga — considered the comprehensive text on the subject — brought his philosophy and practice of yoga to America. The 93-yearold yogi still practices and is considered the world’s foremost authority on this ancient meditative exercise. The focus is on skeletal alignment achieved, if necessary, by the use of props. All yoga uses some elements of this style of practice. A form of Hatha Yoga, Iyengar is a system of physical exercises or postures, called asana, combined with breath control exercises known as pranayama. Class instructions are referred to as practices because no one is perfect in their execution of the poses or the breathing exercises. Students “practice” based on their particular ability that day, disregarding expectations. Rachael Mathenia, the owner of 12South, says Iyengar Yoga is the perfect option for the
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
43
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A
O
M
D
D
. C O N S A N
DASH express lunch wrap+fries+drink $7.95
TUES-FRI JOin OUr LUNCH CLUB ask a manager for details
1313 Woodland St 615.226.1617 44
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
“walking wounded,” or those who mistakenly think they are too unfit, heavy or limited by a physical condition to participate. “They can all benefit from an individualized practice,” she adds. Davidson completely agrees with this opinion. Despite the slow progression of the disease, her white count climbed to a dangerous level last June and the oncologist insisted she accept chemotherapy. “The day it reached 400,000, when it should be no higher than 1,100, he said, ‘Sweetie, that is enough. I let you do your holistic nonsense; it’s my turn now.’” But despite her oncologist’s dismissive remark, Davidson attributes her tolerance for the treatment to her healthy lifestyle changes and to yoga. “Having to do the conventional treatment I was so reluctant to do, I knew I did so well because I was so healthy going in,” she says. Davidson says the mantras used during class helped reinforce wellness. “You have everything you need” is her favorite. She loves the inversion poses because they flood the brain with blood, and says the headstands noticeably reduce the swelling in her lymph nodes. “Yoga is an antidote for stress,” she says, even relieving the stress of having an incurable (but treatable) illness. Mathenia mentioned that people who are not at their ideal body mass could sometimes feel too intimidated to participate. Curvy Yoga is specially designed for those who are overweight and need modifications to perform some of the asanas. Founder Anna Guest-Jelley explains that these modifications are designed to provide the full benefits of yoga by accommodating a larger-framed individual and to prevent discomfort, injury and, most of all, discouragement. She says she developed this program because she’s always been “curvy.” “I started doing yoga at 18 years old and I always felt out of place in class because there were no modifications offered for someone my size. I felt like the problem was with me, that I’ll get it when I am more fit.” As time passed, she thought, “Maybe it wasn’t my body; maybe modifications were the key,” so she began to research alternatives to the traditional methods and found a book entitled Mega Yoga by Megan Garcia. Guest-Jelley has been certified and teaching for four years. Curvy Yoga offers teacher training as well as supplementary training for already certified instructors to become more knowledgeable about how sometimes slight
January | February 2013
alterations can make the difference to deepen a pose. She also has a book on the subject titled Permission to Curve. Those who participate in yoga often become dedicated students. Libby Callaway, a lifelong friend to Leah Lillios of Kali Yuga, explains how her dedication to yoga evolved.“When she opened Kali Yuga studio I wanted to be supportive of my friend,” Callaway says. “I made a commitment to try yoga.” Callaway attended class only once or twice a week until last year, when she began working exclusively on writing her book. “That’s when I made yoga a real priority and started practicing four times a week. Life consisted of yoga, coffee, write.” Callaway unabashedly admits she is addicted to her practice. “I like the way it feels. I like the results. I get sort of squirrely if I miss a day.” According to the attendance records, she has participated in 335 yoga classes, a total of more than 502 hours of posing. She prefers the hot yoga and the flow classes. Callaway is in her forties and says, “I want to feel good as I age. Yoga is going to help sustain that.” For many years Callaway had a recurring thought: “I kept thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be the best life, to blend the job with a passion?’ I always thought maybe someday. Someday never comes unless you make it happen.” Brooke Asbury has another story of transformation and relocation because of yoga. She is moving across the United States from Seattle to open a new studio named Hot Yoga East Nashville, slated to open in February. At press time she had just completed her 200 hours of training. “I went to Bikram for six years and I really admired my teachers.” Bikram Yoga is a set series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises performed in a 105-degree studio with a humidity of 40 percent. It is the most popular form of hot yoga. Asbury says she fell in love with the East Nashville area two years ago when she was visiting friends; last year, she made the decision to follow her passion. Start practicing yoga and who knows, like these East Nashvillians, maybe you’ll be transforming more than your body. Maybe you’ll hold an illness at bay, or move across the country. Maybe you’ll be able to put your feet behind your head. Or perhaps your expectations are more modest: Maybe you just want to reduce stress, improve flexibility and build muscle strength. Yoga beats the alternatives.
“I like the way it feels. I like the results.”
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
45
M
A
O
M
D
D
. C O N S A N
DASH express lunch wrap+fries+drink $7.95
TUES-FRI JOin OUr LUNCH CLUB ask a manager for details
1313 Woodland St 615.226.1617 44
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
“walking wounded,” or those who mistakenly think they are too unfit, heavy or limited by a physical condition to participate. “They can all benefit from an individualized practice,” she adds. Davidson completely agrees with this opinion. Despite the slow progression of the disease, her white count climbed to a dangerous level last June and the oncologist insisted she accept chemotherapy. “The day it reached 400,000, when it should be no higher than 1,100, he said, ‘Sweetie, that is enough. I let you do your holistic nonsense; it’s my turn now.’” But despite her oncologist’s dismissive remark, Davidson attributes her tolerance for the treatment to her healthy lifestyle changes and to yoga. “Having to do the conventional treatment I was so reluctant to do, I knew I did so well because I was so healthy going in,” she says. Davidson says the mantras used during class helped reinforce wellness. “You have everything you need” is her favorite. She loves the inversion poses because they flood the brain with blood, and says the headstands noticeably reduce the swelling in her lymph nodes. “Yoga is an antidote for stress,” she says, even relieving the stress of having an incurable (but treatable) illness. Mathenia mentioned that people who are not at their ideal body mass could sometimes feel too intimidated to participate. Curvy Yoga is specially designed for those who are overweight and need modifications to perform some of the asanas. Founder Anna Guest-Jelley explains that these modifications are designed to provide the full benefits of yoga by accommodating a larger-framed individual and to prevent discomfort, injury and, most of all, discouragement. She says she developed this program because she’s always been “curvy.” “I started doing yoga at 18 years old and I always felt out of place in class because there were no modifications offered for someone my size. I felt like the problem was with me, that I’ll get it when I am more fit.” As time passed, she thought, “Maybe it wasn’t my body; maybe modifications were the key,” so she began to research alternatives to the traditional methods and found a book entitled Mega Yoga by Megan Garcia. Guest-Jelley has been certified and teaching for four years. Curvy Yoga offers teacher training as well as supplementary training for already certified instructors to become more knowledgeable about how sometimes slight
January | February 2013
alterations can make the difference to deepen a pose. She also has a book on the subject titled Permission to Curve. Those who participate in yoga often become dedicated students. Libby Callaway, a lifelong friend to Leah Lillios of Kali Yuga, explains how her dedication to yoga evolved.“When she opened Kali Yuga studio I wanted to be supportive of my friend,” Callaway says. “I made a commitment to try yoga.” Callaway attended class only once or twice a week until last year, when she began working exclusively on writing her book. “That’s when I made yoga a real priority and started practicing four times a week. Life consisted of yoga, coffee, write.” Callaway unabashedly admits she is addicted to her practice. “I like the way it feels. I like the results. I get sort of squirrely if I miss a day.” According to the attendance records, she has participated in 335 yoga classes, a total of more than 502 hours of posing. She prefers the hot yoga and the flow classes. Callaway is in her forties and says, “I want to feel good as I age. Yoga is going to help sustain that.” For many years Callaway had a recurring thought: “I kept thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be the best life, to blend the job with a passion?’ I always thought maybe someday. Someday never comes unless you make it happen.” Brooke Asbury has another story of transformation and relocation because of yoga. She is moving across the United States from Seattle to open a new studio named Hot Yoga East Nashville, slated to open in February. At press time she had just completed her 200 hours of training. “I went to Bikram for six years and I really admired my teachers.” Bikram Yoga is a set series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises performed in a 105-degree studio with a humidity of 40 percent. It is the most popular form of hot yoga. Asbury says she fell in love with the East Nashville area two years ago when she was visiting friends; last year, she made the decision to follow her passion. Start practicing yoga and who knows, like these East Nashvillians, maybe you’ll be transforming more than your body. Maybe you’ll hold an illness at bay, or move across the country. Maybe you’ll be able to put your feet behind your head. Or perhaps your expectations are more modest: Maybe you just want to reduce stress, improve flexibility and build muscle strength. Yoga beats the alternatives.
“I like the way it feels. I like the results.”
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
45
Photograph by Chuck Allen
East Nashville Gets Efficient By Catherine Randall
I
n the mid 1990s the vacant lot at 800 Fatherland Street was a dumping ground and an eyesore for the surrounding Historical Edgefield community. In 2010 Kristin Knoll purchased the property to construct a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired house. Knoll says she gained an appreciation for the legendary architect’s work when she lived in Chicago. Construction began in 2011 and when it was completed a year later the neighborhood not only gained a unique home architecturally, but also a building as energy-efficient as it is stylish. The house is the first LEED-certified home in the East Nashville area. Leadership in Energy and Environmental
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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
Design, or LEED, was introduced in 2000 by the U.S. Green Building Council. Points are earned for implementation of various green building methods like using recycled materials, energy efficiency and air quality, and water conservation. They are awarded on a sliding scale according to the square footage and the size of the footprint. Earning 45 points out of a possible 136 achieves basic certification. Silver level is 60-74 points, Gold is 75-89, Platinum is 90 points and above. As of May 2012, the Fatherland home is certified Silver. Knoll is an environmental engineer, so seeking this certification is second nature to her. “A home that achieves LEED
certification has been designed to maximize fresh air indoors, minimizing exposure to airborne toxins and pollutants. It also has the potential to use 20-60 percent less energy than a home built to code, which results in lower utility bills every month,” she says. The Energy Star Program is sponsored by the EPA, which has worked for more than a decade to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve a certification, Energy Star issues a performance rating between 1 to 100, based on energy use compared to similar facilities, indoor air quality and comfort. A score of 75 earns the certification. Energy Star is a baseline energy efficiency certification. LEED status is an additional layer of green quality
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
47
Photograph by Chuck Allen
East Nashville Gets Efficient By Catherine Randall
I
n the mid 1990s the vacant lot at 800 Fatherland Street was a dumping ground and an eyesore for the surrounding Historical Edgefield community. In 2010 Kristin Knoll purchased the property to construct a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired house. Knoll says she gained an appreciation for the legendary architect’s work when she lived in Chicago. Construction began in 2011 and when it was completed a year later the neighborhood not only gained a unique home architecturally, but also a building as energy-efficient as it is stylish. The house is the first LEED-certified home in the East Nashville area. Leadership in Energy and Environmental
46
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
Design, or LEED, was introduced in 2000 by the U.S. Green Building Council. Points are earned for implementation of various green building methods like using recycled materials, energy efficiency and air quality, and water conservation. They are awarded on a sliding scale according to the square footage and the size of the footprint. Earning 45 points out of a possible 136 achieves basic certification. Silver level is 60-74 points, Gold is 75-89, Platinum is 90 points and above. As of May 2012, the Fatherland home is certified Silver. Knoll is an environmental engineer, so seeking this certification is second nature to her. “A home that achieves LEED
certification has been designed to maximize fresh air indoors, minimizing exposure to airborne toxins and pollutants. It also has the potential to use 20-60 percent less energy than a home built to code, which results in lower utility bills every month,” she says. The Energy Star Program is sponsored by the EPA, which has worked for more than a decade to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve a certification, Energy Star issues a performance rating between 1 to 100, based on energy use compared to similar facilities, indoor air quality and comfort. A score of 75 earns the certification. Energy Star is a baseline energy efficiency certification. LEED status is an additional layer of green quality
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
47
January | February 2013
922 Main st East Nashville, TN 37206
e
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
Chiropractic Physician
nc
48
Dr. Christopher Clarke
ra
Sign Solutions have a variety of products including signs, banners, window clings and vehicle wraps. Create signs for good and call Sign Solutions at 615.346.1205 or visit goodwillsignsolutions.com.
energy-efficient products and technologies. Erik Daugherty, owner of E3 INNOVATE, agrees with Knoll’s recommendation. “So many of us are living in a poorly performing home and we can significantly improve this so it can be more comfortable, affordable and energy efficient,” he said. In existing homes energy specialists use The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index for inspecting and calculating a home’s energy performance. By conducting an evaluation and diagnostic testing to determine the trouble spots, a home can be retrofitted to dramatically improve the HERS score. When retrofitting a home, E3 checks for air leakage and drafts in the house and the duct system. Most homes are losing 20-25 percent of their energy in poor ductwork. “It’s like driving a car with a hole in the gas tank and losing one-third of the gas as you’re driving around,” Daugherty says. The final piece is to adequately insulate the home. Most homes have these leakage problems because HVAC contractors are not being monitored or evaluated by an outside consultant during or after installation. HVAC companies that want to offer this security as part of their services require their installers to go through training and certification to know the criteria and standard. Daugherty offers a few tell-tale signs of an energy-inefficient house. If the home is unable to heat or cool to a comfortable level, incurs high utility costs or has drafty areas, these are all indications of air leakage. Sometimes homeowners notice an odor coming from a moldy crawl space, which can be carried throughout the home by a leaky duct system. As an additional side benefit of having an energy-efficient home, pests like ants, spiders and mice relocate to more accessible homes. E3 INNOVATE serves the Middle Tennessee area and has a long list of impressive energy-efficient buildings to their credit, like the Nance Place Metro public housing, the Ryman Lofts and countless others. The average cost to retrofit a home, according to Daugherty, is between $4,500 and $5,500 for a cottage-size home. He says most homeowners are making the decision to invest in energy-efficient technology based on comfort; others want to upgrade a property for rental or resale purposes. The prospect of beginning a home project like this is daunting. The rating systems and standards can be confusing and overwhelming. Homeowners can get a virtual tutorial like “E3 Home Performance” located on E3’s website to get a basic idea of what is involved. Third-party energy consultants act as a liaison between the homeowner and the contractor to ensure the installation of a safe, properly vented and air-tight system.
ib
Every product you purchase helps create jobs and provide job training for thousands of Tennesseans who have barriers to employment because Sign Solutions is a division of Goodwill.
construction. “We were interested in building a residence to demonstrate that ‘Quality = Cost-Effective = Sustainable’ without adding a lot of unnecessary additional expenses to the project. We did not base decisions on various features in the home just to receive certification,” Knoll says. Knoll selected local businesses to plan and construct her dream home. Tommy Brown was the principal architect on the project. Because the lot was in the Historical Edgefield area, the “infill” building design had to be approved by the Metropolitan Historical Commission. Meeting the additional set of standards wasn’t easy. “It was a challenge to build a sustainable house that also met the requirements of MHC,” she says. Several revisions of the design plans were presented before it was finally approved. Construction was completed in January 2011. The hard work and compromise paid off. In May 2012, the residence was awarded the Metropolitan Historical Commission Infill Preservation Award and, according to Knoll, was the first infill award for new construction in Edgefield in more than 20 years. To be sure the construction was LEED and Energy Star quality, Knoll hired E3 INNOVATE to oversee this sometimes complicated and confusing process. E3 is a third-party independent integrated home-performance company that specializes in these types of certification projects. According to their case study report they are able to predict the efficiency rating compared to industry averages for a similarly sized home: The Fatherland home has an Energy Use (Kilowatt/hour/year) reduction of 53 percent for an average Energy Cost Savings of $1,036 per year. How is this achieved? The home has a list of these high-performance features, including geothermal heating and cooling; a De-Superheater hot water generation system with high-efficiency faucets and toilets; Energy Star appliances and windows; spray foam and cellulose insulation; a conditioned attic and crawlspace and drought-tolerant sustainable landscaping. These certifications are for new construction only, but that doesn’t mean an existing home cannot benefit from a home performance evaluation. Modifications and the proper repairs and upgrades can save on energy costs and add comfort to any older home. Knoll suggests upgrading to Energy Star windows and adding insulation and she highly recommends installing a geothermal heating and solar-electric cooling system. Many of these upgrades receive tax credits and rebates. The geothermal unit, for example, earns a 30-percent tax credit available to existing homeowners. The TVA and Nashville Energy Works offer other incentives for homes and businesses that convert to
www.vibrancefamilychiropractic.com
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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922 Main st East Nashville, TN 37206
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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
Chiropractic Physician
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Dr. Christopher Clarke
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Sign Solutions have a variety of products including signs, banners, window clings and vehicle wraps. Create signs for good and call Sign Solutions at 615.346.1205 or visit goodwillsignsolutions.com.
energy-efficient products and technologies. Erik Daugherty, owner of E3 INNOVATE, agrees with Knoll’s recommendation. “So many of us are living in a poorly performing home and we can significantly improve this so it can be more comfortable, affordable and energy efficient,” he said. In existing homes energy specialists use The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index for inspecting and calculating a home’s energy performance. By conducting an evaluation and diagnostic testing to determine the trouble spots, a home can be retrofitted to dramatically improve the HERS score. When retrofitting a home, E3 checks for air leakage and drafts in the house and the duct system. Most homes are losing 20-25 percent of their energy in poor ductwork. “It’s like driving a car with a hole in the gas tank and losing one-third of the gas as you’re driving around,” Daugherty says. The final piece is to adequately insulate the home. Most homes have these leakage problems because HVAC contractors are not being monitored or evaluated by an outside consultant during or after installation. HVAC companies that want to offer this security as part of their services require their installers to go through training and certification to know the criteria and standard. Daugherty offers a few tell-tale signs of an energy-inefficient house. If the home is unable to heat or cool to a comfortable level, incurs high utility costs or has drafty areas, these are all indications of air leakage. Sometimes homeowners notice an odor coming from a moldy crawl space, which can be carried throughout the home by a leaky duct system. As an additional side benefit of having an energy-efficient home, pests like ants, spiders and mice relocate to more accessible homes. E3 INNOVATE serves the Middle Tennessee area and has a long list of impressive energy-efficient buildings to their credit, like the Nance Place Metro public housing, the Ryman Lofts and countless others. The average cost to retrofit a home, according to Daugherty, is between $4,500 and $5,500 for a cottage-size home. He says most homeowners are making the decision to invest in energy-efficient technology based on comfort; others want to upgrade a property for rental or resale purposes. The prospect of beginning a home project like this is daunting. The rating systems and standards can be confusing and overwhelming. Homeowners can get a virtual tutorial like “E3 Home Performance” located on E3’s website to get a basic idea of what is involved. Third-party energy consultants act as a liaison between the homeowner and the contractor to ensure the installation of a safe, properly vented and air-tight system.
ib
Every product you purchase helps create jobs and provide job training for thousands of Tennesseans who have barriers to employment because Sign Solutions is a division of Goodwill.
construction. “We were interested in building a residence to demonstrate that ‘Quality = Cost-Effective = Sustainable’ without adding a lot of unnecessary additional expenses to the project. We did not base decisions on various features in the home just to receive certification,” Knoll says. Knoll selected local businesses to plan and construct her dream home. Tommy Brown was the principal architect on the project. Because the lot was in the Historical Edgefield area, the “infill” building design had to be approved by the Metropolitan Historical Commission. Meeting the additional set of standards wasn’t easy. “It was a challenge to build a sustainable house that also met the requirements of MHC,” she says. Several revisions of the design plans were presented before it was finally approved. Construction was completed in January 2011. The hard work and compromise paid off. In May 2012, the residence was awarded the Metropolitan Historical Commission Infill Preservation Award and, according to Knoll, was the first infill award for new construction in Edgefield in more than 20 years. To be sure the construction was LEED and Energy Star quality, Knoll hired E3 INNOVATE to oversee this sometimes complicated and confusing process. E3 is a third-party independent integrated home-performance company that specializes in these types of certification projects. According to their case study report they are able to predict the efficiency rating compared to industry averages for a similarly sized home: The Fatherland home has an Energy Use (Kilowatt/hour/year) reduction of 53 percent for an average Energy Cost Savings of $1,036 per year. How is this achieved? The home has a list of these high-performance features, including geothermal heating and cooling; a De-Superheater hot water generation system with high-efficiency faucets and toilets; Energy Star appliances and windows; spray foam and cellulose insulation; a conditioned attic and crawlspace and drought-tolerant sustainable landscaping. These certifications are for new construction only, but that doesn’t mean an existing home cannot benefit from a home performance evaluation. Modifications and the proper repairs and upgrades can save on energy costs and add comfort to any older home. Knoll suggests upgrading to Energy Star windows and adding insulation and she highly recommends installing a geothermal heating and solar-electric cooling system. Many of these upgrades receive tax credits and rebates. The geothermal unit, for example, earns a 30-percent tax credit available to existing homeowners. The TVA and Nashville Energy Works offer other incentives for homes and businesses that convert to
www.vibrancefamilychiropractic.com
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
49
By Warren Denney photography by Michael Keen
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January | February 2013
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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By Warren Denney photography by Michael Keen
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January | February 2013
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A
long about ten, the freaks start coming out. Beneath the moon, on Forrest Avenue, and situated between Woodland Street and Main, The 5 Spot holds forth. White brick and glass. There are golden hours in a rock ‘n’ roll club — golden hours in rock ‘n’ roll — and they usually fall between midnight and three in the morning. That’s the guts. Not every night is magic, but that’s the guts. It’s the thing that keeps them coming back, and it’s the thing that club owners chase their entire lives. The 5 Spot is a classic. A neighborhood fixture for years, in one form or another, it’s a club that offers loud, live music — music that emanates from almost every strata of the street. A club where locals jam and dance, where one might find the Black Keys sitting at the bar, or scattered members of R.E.M., just hanging out. A club prominently featured on ABC-TV’s hit series Nashville, and one in which you can party most Sunday nights away with Heath Haynes and the Hi-Dollars, of Wanda Jackson fame, or experience hip hop’s Boom Bap, featuring DJ KDSML, on another. It is a dive bar extraordinaire. “That was the original idea,” says co-owner Todd Sherwood, “an awesome local dive bar with the best sound system you could possibly have. Let’s cater to the people in the neighborhood — party all night long. Sleep all day and play great music.” Sherwood is sitting at the bar on a random Tuesday night. A band is setting up and the PA is cranking through the veil of ever-present cigarette smoke. “It’s still very centric to the neighborhood. Through neighborhood bands and the people who live around here, we draw from all over the city. Everyone knows someone. As long as we have good music on stage then people are going to come.” The 5 Spot has certainly earned the reputation as a throwback, an accessible haven for the neighborhood. Pretense is left outside the door. The bar is long and often crowded, and tables are few. Easier to dance. The lighting is low, the stage simple. Funky to the eye, perhaps, but reassuring to the heart — and the ears. It is usually crowded, especially during those golden hours. In early 2007, original owners Dianne Carrier and Bill Verheide were considering closing the club and leasing out the space when Sherwood and Travis Collinsworth approached with a business plan, and the four assumed co-ownership together. “This neighborhood wasn’t really recognized as a destination yet,” Sherwood says. “There was the Slow Bar [at Five Points] and that was what people knew. We were a fun
place to hang out, but we weren’t really drawing them in. We were in a couple of different bands, and one night people just started playing some covers — some Huey Lewis, I think — and everyone started dancing. This was maybe 2008, and it caught on as far as neighborhood people showing up and partying and dancing, listening to old music. “The next week, there was like a hundred people here! A couple of months later The Nashville Scene wrote us up and said something was going on here. That was the beginning of things really starting to take off.” Of course, East Nashville has become the hot nexus of the hipster universe in recent years, ordained by no less an authority than The Village Voice. The Guardian of London recently declared this side of the river the last bastion of true garage bands, and perhaps the most densely guitar-laden place on Earth. And here sits The 5 Spot. It’s almost as if everyone woke up one morning in the Golden Triangle. The club has been featured in Rolling Stone and GQ, and of course, is streamed into our living
were a couple of years when Travis and I were working every night — running sound, running the bar, making sandwiches. I was sleeping out back in my car. We wanted this place to be as much of a party as it could be, but if we hadn’t been as lucky, or did not get this staff together, it wouldn’t have worked. We rely on a great core of people — Zach Setchfield and Diego Vasquez have been a huge help in every step of our growth.” Collinsworth agrees. And he believes that the staff, and its connection to the community, has created a scene that can’t be found anywhere else. “I’m incredibly proud of the staff we’ve assembled,” Collinsworth says, from unknown and fleeting whereabouts in Florida. “Both in terms of their contributions to our business endeavors, and also in their contributions to the local music scene. When Todd and I realized … we needed, and could afford, to bring people on board, we were very conscientious in who we brought in. Zach and Diego typify that pride.” It’s important to note that Setchfield is a popular guitarist and Vasquez a powerful horn player; both are an integral part of the music at The 5 Spot, as well as the day-to-day life of the club. “I like to think they’ve gotten opportunities to play and develop as musicians, as human beings, that they might not otherwise have had,” Collinsworth says. He recalls the night the two of them performed The Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” with Bobby Keys on tenor sax. “I sat there as a fan, watching as one of my favorite local guitar players — Zach — played one of his favorite guitar player’s lines while Diego, on trombone, supported the orignal horn player from that album. “I love East Nashville for scenes like that. It’s surreal. It’s entirely symbolic as to why I choose to live here.”
“There’s so much music [in East Nashville] — it’s always been here — and as it continues to grow, it helps our cause.”
52
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
rooms every Wednesday night on ABC. Not bad for a club that spends no money on local advertising — no press, no radio. The gambit works, and ownership would rather put that money into the collective pockets of a loyal staff. “You know, people first moved over here I think to find a cheap place to live and to play music. Now people are moving here because it’s cool,” Sherwood says. “Whatever the reason, there’s just way more people in East Nashville now. There’s so much music — it’s always been here — and as it continues to grow, it helps our cause.” The 5 Spot is a fundamental part of the original, and still-burgeoning East Nashville scene — pioneering in a sense. It hasn’t been an easy road, and this city has a graveyard full of the ghosts of clubs past. It takes a certain type of person to take on the challenge in the first place. “Dianne and Bill persevered and took a big risk in opening up the place, back when,” Sherwood says. “We’ve gotten it to where it is now. We’re at a point where we’re learning how to let it go and live its own thing. There
January | February 2013
T
he 5 Spot’s aura, the vibe — whatever you want to call it — certainly struck a chord with the location scouts from Nashville. Within the show’s storyline are characters who represent the younger, struggling artists that are, of course, an organic part of this town’s landscape. Viewers are treated to scenes inside The 5 Spot featuring the more rocking side of town. “They came in here and liked the place, they liked how it looked,” Sherwood says, laughing. “They spent a few nights shooting. They have a character that is a musician who lives in East Nashville so it made sense. It’s hilarious to us because it’s all barely hung together with bailing wire and duct tape.” It’s not lost on anyone — you can’t buy that kind of publicity. And, of course, The 5 Spot does not buy publicity anyway.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
53
A
long about ten, the freaks start coming out. Beneath the moon, on Forrest Avenue, and situated between Woodland Street and Main, The 5 Spot holds forth. White brick and glass. There are golden hours in a rock ‘n’ roll club — golden hours in rock ‘n’ roll — and they usually fall between midnight and three in the morning. That’s the guts. Not every night is magic, but that’s the guts. It’s the thing that keeps them coming back, and it’s the thing that club owners chase their entire lives. The 5 Spot is a classic. A neighborhood fixture for years, in one form or another, it’s a club that offers loud, live music — music that emanates from almost every strata of the street. A club where locals jam and dance, where one might find the Black Keys sitting at the bar, or scattered members of R.E.M., just hanging out. A club prominently featured on ABC-TV’s hit series Nashville, and one in which you can party most Sunday nights away with Heath Haynes and the Hi-Dollars, of Wanda Jackson fame, or experience hip hop’s Boom Bap, featuring DJ KDSML, on another. It is a dive bar extraordinaire. “That was the original idea,” says co-owner Todd Sherwood, “an awesome local dive bar with the best sound system you could possibly have. Let’s cater to the people in the neighborhood — party all night long. Sleep all day and play great music.” Sherwood is sitting at the bar on a random Tuesday night. A band is setting up and the PA is cranking through the veil of ever-present cigarette smoke. “It’s still very centric to the neighborhood. Through neighborhood bands and the people who live around here, we draw from all over the city. Everyone knows someone. As long as we have good music on stage then people are going to come.” The 5 Spot has certainly earned the reputation as a throwback, an accessible haven for the neighborhood. Pretense is left outside the door. The bar is long and often crowded, and tables are few. Easier to dance. The lighting is low, the stage simple. Funky to the eye, perhaps, but reassuring to the heart — and the ears. It is usually crowded, especially during those golden hours. In early 2007, original owners Dianne Carrier and Bill Verheide were considering closing the club and leasing out the space when Sherwood and Travis Collinsworth approached with a business plan, and the four assumed co-ownership together. “This neighborhood wasn’t really recognized as a destination yet,” Sherwood says. “There was the Slow Bar [at Five Points] and that was what people knew. We were a fun
place to hang out, but we weren’t really drawing them in. We were in a couple of different bands, and one night people just started playing some covers — some Huey Lewis, I think — and everyone started dancing. This was maybe 2008, and it caught on as far as neighborhood people showing up and partying and dancing, listening to old music. “The next week, there was like a hundred people here! A couple of months later The Nashville Scene wrote us up and said something was going on here. That was the beginning of things really starting to take off.” Of course, East Nashville has become the hot nexus of the hipster universe in recent years, ordained by no less an authority than The Village Voice. The Guardian of London recently declared this side of the river the last bastion of true garage bands, and perhaps the most densely guitar-laden place on Earth. And here sits The 5 Spot. It’s almost as if everyone woke up one morning in the Golden Triangle. The club has been featured in Rolling Stone and GQ, and of course, is streamed into our living
were a couple of years when Travis and I were working every night — running sound, running the bar, making sandwiches. I was sleeping out back in my car. We wanted this place to be as much of a party as it could be, but if we hadn’t been as lucky, or did not get this staff together, it wouldn’t have worked. We rely on a great core of people — Zach Setchfield and Diego Vasquez have been a huge help in every step of our growth.” Collinsworth agrees. And he believes that the staff, and its connection to the community, has created a scene that can’t be found anywhere else. “I’m incredibly proud of the staff we’ve assembled,” Collinsworth says, from unknown and fleeting whereabouts in Florida. “Both in terms of their contributions to our business endeavors, and also in their contributions to the local music scene. When Todd and I realized … we needed, and could afford, to bring people on board, we were very conscientious in who we brought in. Zach and Diego typify that pride.” It’s important to note that Setchfield is a popular guitarist and Vasquez a powerful horn player; both are an integral part of the music at The 5 Spot, as well as the day-to-day life of the club. “I like to think they’ve gotten opportunities to play and develop as musicians, as human beings, that they might not otherwise have had,” Collinsworth says. He recalls the night the two of them performed The Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” with Bobby Keys on tenor sax. “I sat there as a fan, watching as one of my favorite local guitar players — Zach — played one of his favorite guitar player’s lines while Diego, on trombone, supported the orignal horn player from that album. “I love East Nashville for scenes like that. It’s surreal. It’s entirely symbolic as to why I choose to live here.”
“There’s so much music [in East Nashville] — it’s always been here — and as it continues to grow, it helps our cause.”
52
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
rooms every Wednesday night on ABC. Not bad for a club that spends no money on local advertising — no press, no radio. The gambit works, and ownership would rather put that money into the collective pockets of a loyal staff. “You know, people first moved over here I think to find a cheap place to live and to play music. Now people are moving here because it’s cool,” Sherwood says. “Whatever the reason, there’s just way more people in East Nashville now. There’s so much music — it’s always been here — and as it continues to grow, it helps our cause.” The 5 Spot is a fundamental part of the original, and still-burgeoning East Nashville scene — pioneering in a sense. It hasn’t been an easy road, and this city has a graveyard full of the ghosts of clubs past. It takes a certain type of person to take on the challenge in the first place. “Dianne and Bill persevered and took a big risk in opening up the place, back when,” Sherwood says. “We’ve gotten it to where it is now. We’re at a point where we’re learning how to let it go and live its own thing. There
January | February 2013
T
he 5 Spot’s aura, the vibe — whatever you want to call it — certainly struck a chord with the location scouts from Nashville. Within the show’s storyline are characters who represent the younger, struggling artists that are, of course, an organic part of this town’s landscape. Viewers are treated to scenes inside The 5 Spot featuring the more rocking side of town. “They came in here and liked the place, they liked how it looked,” Sherwood says, laughing. “They spent a few nights shooting. They have a character that is a musician who lives in East Nashville so it made sense. It’s hilarious to us because it’s all barely hung together with bailing wire and duct tape.” It’s not lost on anyone — you can’t buy that kind of publicity. And, of course, The 5 Spot does not buy publicity anyway.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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solu+ ons
“I don’t know how to gauge the impact of the show,” he says. “The nature of it is that every night is totally different so it’s hard for me to tell how that affects us. But, we know it’s a good thing.” Collinsworth knew East Nashville was a good thing when he visited in the summer of 1999. He was dragged into the now-defunct Radio Café by the late Skip Litz, local soundman and East Nashville fixture. There was a couple onstage playing some cover tunes — Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Chuck Berry — for a handful of patrons. They had a Dylan songbook with them and would ask the audience to call out page numbers before proceeding to play the selected song. “Come to find out, that couple was Gillian Welch and David Rawlings as The Esquires,” Collinsworth says. “It was then and there that I decided to move to Nashville. Took a couple more years, but I made it.
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“And it’s that aesthetic that I’ve wanted us to retain, that I’ve wanted to foster. I can’t tell you what The 5 Spot means to the neighborhood, but the fact that the neighborhood supports us, that I see people wander into this random bar and decide, just like I did, to relocate to East Nashville so as to join that neighborhood — that indicates to me that we’re keeping an aesthetic alive and we’re on the right track.” As people continue to seek out East Nashville, and the scene continues to grow, The 5 Spot is finding its groove. The club is unique and fundamental to the neighborhood and the community, making it fundamental and unique to Nashville. The winning formula for the club seems to be the diversity of the live music that it showcases. Everything from rockabilly to classic rock, Americana to classic country, to hip hop, disco and beyond, can be found
January | February 2013
here. There are Dance Party nights on Mondays, crowd favorite $2 Tuesday hosted by Derek Hoke, and the Old Time Jam on Wednesdays. Thursdays through Saturdays, the club tries to book local bands, followed by the regular Heath Haynes and the HiDollars show on Sundays. The QDP (Queer Dance Party) is once a month, and the aforementioned Boom Bap rounds out the distinctive scene. “Diversity!” Sherwood says. “No one, I believe, has as broad a range of things going on as we do. We do QDP once a month — it’s huge. Boom Bap brings guest DJs in here from all over the country. There’s so much that we want to bring in. “We couldn’t just go drop The 5 Spot down in some other city and make this happen. It works because of all the music here in East Nashville — in Nashville. We’re the city’s independent music laboratory.”
organic garden maintenance • environmental landscape design & installation • landscape renovation & clean-up • residential master planning • raingardens • native planting
8525009 landscapeTN.com
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
55
LANDSCAPE
solu+ ons
“I don’t know how to gauge the impact of the show,” he says. “The nature of it is that every night is totally different so it’s hard for me to tell how that affects us. But, we know it’s a good thing.” Collinsworth knew East Nashville was a good thing when he visited in the summer of 1999. He was dragged into the now-defunct Radio Café by the late Skip Litz, local soundman and East Nashville fixture. There was a couple onstage playing some cover tunes — Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Chuck Berry — for a handful of patrons. They had a Dylan songbook with them and would ask the audience to call out page numbers before proceeding to play the selected song. “Come to find out, that couple was Gillian Welch and David Rawlings as The Esquires,” Collinsworth says. “It was then and there that I decided to move to Nashville. Took a couple more years, but I made it.
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“And it’s that aesthetic that I’ve wanted us to retain, that I’ve wanted to foster. I can’t tell you what The 5 Spot means to the neighborhood, but the fact that the neighborhood supports us, that I see people wander into this random bar and decide, just like I did, to relocate to East Nashville so as to join that neighborhood — that indicates to me that we’re keeping an aesthetic alive and we’re on the right track.” As people continue to seek out East Nashville, and the scene continues to grow, The 5 Spot is finding its groove. The club is unique and fundamental to the neighborhood and the community, making it fundamental and unique to Nashville. The winning formula for the club seems to be the diversity of the live music that it showcases. Everything from rockabilly to classic rock, Americana to classic country, to hip hop, disco and beyond, can be found
January | February 2013
here. There are Dance Party nights on Mondays, crowd favorite $2 Tuesday hosted by Derek Hoke, and the Old Time Jam on Wednesdays. Thursdays through Saturdays, the club tries to book local bands, followed by the regular Heath Haynes and the HiDollars show on Sundays. The QDP (Queer Dance Party) is once a month, and the aforementioned Boom Bap rounds out the distinctive scene. “Diversity!” Sherwood says. “No one, I believe, has as broad a range of things going on as we do. We do QDP once a month — it’s huge. Boom Bap brings guest DJs in here from all over the country. There’s so much that we want to bring in. “We couldn’t just go drop The 5 Spot down in some other city and make this happen. It works because of all the music here in East Nashville — in Nashville. We’re the city’s independent music laboratory.”
organic garden maintenance • environmental landscape design & installation • landscape renovation & clean-up • residential master planning • raingardens • native planting
8525009 landscapeTN.com
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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EAS T SI D E C A L E N D A R Emma Alford, Calendar Editor
UPCOMING A WINTER WONDERLAND, UNDER ONE ROOF
Saturday, Jan. 12 — Walking in a winter wonderland, Shelby Bottoms Nature Center, 12-3 p.m.
Shelby Park is hosting its own winter wonderland—indoors. They’ll have themed arts and crafts, a story station, movies and much more. There will even be an indoor scavenger hunt. If you’re looking for a way to pass the dead days of winter, stop on by and enjoy the free entertainment. Email shelbybottomsnature@nashville.gov for more information.
HERE COMES THE BRIDE
Sunday, Jan. 13 — Top O’Woodland Historic Inn Bridal Open House, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Looking for that perfect place to tie the knot? If you want to keep your nuptials nestled in East Nashville, check out Top O’ Woodland’s open house. The gorgeous Victorian inn and wedding chapel is opening its doors for prospective brides, grooms, families and wedding planners to take a gander at the estate and see if it fits their needs. Come pull the veil back on this place and see if it’s the one. 1603 Woodland St. Nashville, TN 37206. www.topofwoodland.com
Welcome The Raconteurs (no, not those Raconteurs) Sunday, Jan. 13 — The Building, 7:30 p.m.
Get yer story on! The Unchained Tour brings three celebrated storytellers to Five Points. Inspired by New York’s famed storytelling series The Moth, Unchained aims to bring the art of the raconteur—the telling of unscripted, personal, porch-style stories— along with musicians and writers and other artists, to towns large and small across the South. 1008C Woodland Street, Nashville, TN, 37206. theunchainedtour.org
BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR
Montessori doesn’t believe in the “spare the rod, spoil the child” mantra. They’ve got a nuanced way of teaching children self-discipline, with a positive vibe. Marty and Lisa Quinn will be hosting this seminar, which is for parents and caregivers. They’ll teach a course on parenting that helps promote the development of life skills and respectful relationships in children between their families and the schools they attend. Register ahead of time by calling the school. 801 Porter Rd. 615-226-4588. www.monteastnash.com
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DO A JIG
Friday, Feb. 15 — Irish Set Dancing Workshop, DancEast Studio, 6-9 p.m.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Wednesday, Feb. 6 — Open House, Montessori East, 5:30-7 p.m.
Montessori East will be opening up its facilities for interested families to come by and check out the school to see if it’s the right fit for their little ones. Montessori accepts children ages 2.5 to 6 into their program, which offers a holistic approach to education. Montessori’s lead teachers will be there during the open house so that parents can have a chance to meet and greet; they can also ask them any questions they may have. Children are also welcome to attend so they can explore the classrooms and get a feel for the place. 801 Porter Rd. 615-226-4588. www.monteastnash.com
WHEN IN ROME
Saturday, Feb. 9 – il Carnivale, East-Centric Pavilion (no time or cost announced yet)
Thursday, Jan. 24 — Positive Discipline Seminar, Montessori East, 6 p.m.
panel discussions, and creative workshops with pros in the industry. The Sunday line-up will give you a chance to get more hands-on with classes and workshops hosted across the city— whether it’s a lesson on deciphering WordPress or a how-to crash course in bookmaking, there’s something for every creative mind. Pick your poison and register for the conference online. www.creativitysummit.theskillery.com.
Nashville is bringing a little piece of Italy to the Eastside. The East-Centric pavilion will be hosting its own version of il Carnivale this February. Prepare yourself for a masquerade ball, complete with music, specialty Italian foods, and drinks. Take off for an evening in Italy in your own backyard. Further details about the event will be posted to the pavilion’s website as the event nears. 1006 Fatherland St. www.east-centric.com.
You’ve got to dig out your green leggings and that silly-looking floppy leprechaun hat you wear every year for St. Patty’s Day, so you might as well learn to do the appropriate dance to boot. Dance Master Patrick O’Dea will be teaching an Irish set dancing workshop for all levels and ages this February. Don’t worry, this steppin’ routine is a social form of dance that’s simple enough for most everyone — you won’t be doing any double-pirouettes. Email wendy@ scott-ellis.com for registration info. 521 Gallatin Ave. www.danceast.org.
CIRCUS FOR THE STAGE
Feb. 19-24, Traces, Tennessee Performing Arts Center
Think about combining the vibe of Cirque du Soleil, acrobats at a traveling carnival show, and a smattering of urban energy and you get the floor-shaking production Traces. The 90 minute show combines the theatric and acrobatic elements of the circus with the hi-octane, raw elements that make street performers so alluring to us all. If you’re looking for something off the beaten path of most theater productions these days, check it out. Grab your tickets online or visit the box office. 615-782-4040. 505 Deaderick Street.
LETS GET CREATIVE
Feb. 9 & 10 — Creativity Summit, city-wide
The Skillery is presenting a two-day conference to celebrate all facets of handmade culture and creative entrepreneurship. The Saturday portion of the event will be held at the offices of Emma. It’s an all-day conference of speakers,
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EAS T SI D E C A L E N D A R Emma Alford, Calendar Editor
UPCOMING A WINTER WONDERLAND, UNDER ONE ROOF
Saturday, Jan. 12 — Walking in a winter wonderland, Shelby Bottoms Nature Center, 12-3 p.m.
Shelby Park is hosting its own winter wonderland—indoors. They’ll have themed arts and crafts, a story station, movies and much more. There will even be an indoor scavenger hunt. If you’re looking for a way to pass the dead days of winter, stop on by and enjoy the free entertainment. Email shelbybottomsnature@nashville.gov for more information.
HERE COMES THE BRIDE
Sunday, Jan. 13 — Top O’Woodland Historic Inn Bridal Open House, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Looking for that perfect place to tie the knot? If you want to keep your nuptials nestled in East Nashville, check out Top O’ Woodland’s open house. The gorgeous Victorian inn and wedding chapel is opening its doors for prospective brides, grooms, families and wedding planners to take a gander at the estate and see if it fits their needs. Come pull the veil back on this place and see if it’s the one. 1603 Woodland St. Nashville, TN 37206. www.topofwoodland.com
Welcome The Raconteurs (no, not those Raconteurs) Sunday, Jan. 13 — The Building, 7:30 p.m.
Get yer story on! The Unchained Tour brings three celebrated storytellers to Five Points. Inspired by New York’s famed storytelling series The Moth, Unchained aims to bring the art of the raconteur—the telling of unscripted, personal, porch-style stories— along with musicians and writers and other artists, to towns large and small across the South. 1008C Woodland Street, Nashville, TN, 37206. theunchainedtour.org
BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR
Montessori doesn’t believe in the “spare the rod, spoil the child” mantra. They’ve got a nuanced way of teaching children self-discipline, with a positive vibe. Marty and Lisa Quinn will be hosting this seminar, which is for parents and caregivers. They’ll teach a course on parenting that helps promote the development of life skills and respectful relationships in children between their families and the schools they attend. Register ahead of time by calling the school. 801 Porter Rd. 615-226-4588. www.monteastnash.com
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DO A JIG
Friday, Feb. 15 — Irish Set Dancing Workshop, DancEast Studio, 6-9 p.m.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Wednesday, Feb. 6 — Open House, Montessori East, 5:30-7 p.m.
Montessori East will be opening up its facilities for interested families to come by and check out the school to see if it’s the right fit for their little ones. Montessori accepts children ages 2.5 to 6 into their program, which offers a holistic approach to education. Montessori’s lead teachers will be there during the open house so that parents can have a chance to meet and greet; they can also ask them any questions they may have. Children are also welcome to attend so they can explore the classrooms and get a feel for the place. 801 Porter Rd. 615-226-4588. www.monteastnash.com
WHEN IN ROME
Saturday, Feb. 9 – il Carnivale, East-Centric Pavilion (no time or cost announced yet)
Thursday, Jan. 24 — Positive Discipline Seminar, Montessori East, 6 p.m.
panel discussions, and creative workshops with pros in the industry. The Sunday line-up will give you a chance to get more hands-on with classes and workshops hosted across the city— whether it’s a lesson on deciphering WordPress or a how-to crash course in bookmaking, there’s something for every creative mind. Pick your poison and register for the conference online. www.creativitysummit.theskillery.com.
Nashville is bringing a little piece of Italy to the Eastside. The East-Centric pavilion will be hosting its own version of il Carnivale this February. Prepare yourself for a masquerade ball, complete with music, specialty Italian foods, and drinks. Take off for an evening in Italy in your own backyard. Further details about the event will be posted to the pavilion’s website as the event nears. 1006 Fatherland St. www.east-centric.com.
You’ve got to dig out your green leggings and that silly-looking floppy leprechaun hat you wear every year for St. Patty’s Day, so you might as well learn to do the appropriate dance to boot. Dance Master Patrick O’Dea will be teaching an Irish set dancing workshop for all levels and ages this February. Don’t worry, this steppin’ routine is a social form of dance that’s simple enough for most everyone — you won’t be doing any double-pirouettes. Email wendy@ scott-ellis.com for registration info. 521 Gallatin Ave. www.danceast.org.
CIRCUS FOR THE STAGE
Feb. 19-24, Traces, Tennessee Performing Arts Center
Think about combining the vibe of Cirque du Soleil, acrobats at a traveling carnival show, and a smattering of urban energy and you get the floor-shaking production Traces. The 90 minute show combines the theatric and acrobatic elements of the circus with the hi-octane, raw elements that make street performers so alluring to us all. If you’re looking for something off the beaten path of most theater productions these days, check it out. Grab your tickets online or visit the box office. 615-782-4040. 505 Deaderick Street.
LETS GET CREATIVE
Feb. 9 & 10 — Creativity Summit, city-wide
The Skillery is presenting a two-day conference to celebrate all facets of handmade culture and creative entrepreneurship. The Saturday portion of the event will be held at the offices of Emma. It’s an all-day conference of speakers,
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EAS T SI D E C A L E N D A R
Recurring STOP, SHOP AND SWAP FOR THE SONGSTERS
Sunday (first of each month)—Nashville’s Musician’s Swap Meet, The Building, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
If you’re among the sea of musicians and songwriters in Nashville, you might want to drop in on the monthly Musician’s Swap Meet at The Building in 5 Points. The musically inclined gather to buy, sell and trade their gear. There’s always a smattering of various musical odds and ends—guitars, drums, amps, fiddles, horns— you name it. You’ll also find vinyl, artwork, clothing, and other music-related memorabilia. This folky flea market of sorts is free and open to the public. Stop by, grab a coffee at Bongo Java, grub down at Drifter’s and check out the musical arsenal. If you’re interested in renting a booth for the swap, contact Dino Bradley at 615-593-7497. 1008C Woodland Street.
SHAKE A LEG
Monday — Keep On Movin’, The 5 Spot, 10 p.m. till close
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-school soul, funk and R&B. Don’t worry, you won’t hear Ke$ha — although you might see her — and you can leave your Apple Bottom jeans at home. If you have two left feet, then snag a seat at the bar. They have two-forone drink specials, so you can use the money you save on a cover to fill your cup. 1006 Forrest Ave. 615-650-9333. www.the5spotlive.com.
HAVE YOUR PIE AND DRINK A PINT, TOO
Tuesday — $10 Pint & Pie Night, Family Wash, 6 p.m. till midnight
Every Tuesday night at The Family Wash, you can score a pint of beer and a shepherd’s pie for just $10. The reigning music venue on the East Side, The Wash is home to an abundance of good music, and on Tuesdays, the club plays host to the long-running songwriter series, Shortsets, hosted by Cole and Paul Slivka. They offer a wide selection of craft beer, and they even
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have a vegetarian shepherd’s pie for herbivores. So sit back and enjoy the show, along with your pint and pie. 2038 Greenwood Ave. 615-2266070. www.familywash.com.
p.m. 700 Fatherland St. 615-770-709. www.skybluecoffee.com.
TELL ME A STORY
Wednesdays 6-8 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. – John Cannon Fine Art classes, The Idea Hatchery
Tuesday (first and third of each month)—East Side Storytellin’, Rumours East, 7 p.m.
Looking for something to get your creative juices flowing? East Side Story has got you covered. They’ve partnered with WAMB radio and Rumours East to present an all-out affair with book readings, musical performances and author/musician interviews all in one evening. They host this lovely event twice each month, usually on the first and third Tuesday. Check the website to see who the guests of honor will be for each performance. The event is free, but you’ll have to reserve a spot by calling Rumours. In January, they’ll be holding the sessions on Jan. 8 and 22. The program will resume its regular schedule in February. 1112 Woodland St. 615-262-5346. www.eastsidestorytn.com
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. 615-6509333. www.the5spotlive.com.
LEND ME YOUR EAR
Wednesday – Sky Blue Café, Supper and Song, 7 p.m.- 9 p.m.
The neighborhood restaurant Sky Blue Café has begun opening its doors in the evening for the dinner crowd. Audrey Auld, an Australian singer-songwriter, saw this as an opportunity to liven up the café with some tunes. Auld is a country/Americana performer and each week she plays and invites other musicians to join in on the fun. Stop in, savor a good meal with some beer, wine or coffee, and enjoy the music. There is no cover and dinner is served till 11
ART IS FOR EVERYONE
If you’ve been filling in coloring book pages for years, but you’re too intimidated to put actual paint to canvas, it might be time you give it a try. Local artist John Cannon has been teaching art classes at The Idea Hatchery since September. These are small, intimate classes; this keeps the sessions low pressure and allows for some individual one-on-one instruction. If you’re feeling like you could be the next Matisse with a little guidance, sign yourself up for some of Cannon’s classes. 1108-C Woodland Street. 615-496-1259 www.johncannonart.com.
HONESTLY, OFFICER ...
Thursday – East Nashville Crime Prevention meeting, Beyond the Edge, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Join your neighbors to talk about crime stats, trends and various other issues with East precinct commander David Imhof, community affairs coordinator Dan Ogren and head of investigation Lt. Greg Blair. If you are new to the Eastside, get up to speed on criminal activity in the area. If you are a recent victim of crime, they want to hear your story. 112 S. 11th St. 615-226-3343.
BRINGIN’ DOWN THE HOUSE
Thursday – After-Hours Jams, The Fiddle House, 7 p.m.
Every Thursday, The Fiddle House, a fullservice acoustic string shop, keeps its doors open for an after-hours jam. Each week, they alternate between “old time” and “bluegrass” sessions. Sometimes only a few fiddlers show up for the soirees, but other nights 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 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
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. 615-226-6070. 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 more than 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.
GET YOUR CREEP ON
Friday and Saturday – The Cult Fiction Underground, Logue’s Black Raven Emporium, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
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 $5. There is a gothicstyle bar and lounge area downstairs also, so you can socialize and have a drink before (or after) the film. The dim basement creates an intimate gathering space for cult and horror fans. It looks like the kind of place Edgar Allen Poe might’ve stumbled out of over 150 years ago. The entrance is behind the building and parking is free. Check out Black Raven’s Facebook page to see what films they’re screening each week. 2915 Gallatin Rd. 615-562-4710.
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EAS T SI D E C A L E N D A R
Recurring STOP, SHOP AND SWAP FOR THE SONGSTERS
Sunday (first of each month)—Nashville’s Musician’s Swap Meet, The Building, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
If you’re among the sea of musicians and songwriters in Nashville, you might want to drop in on the monthly Musician’s Swap Meet at The Building in 5 Points. The musically inclined gather to buy, sell and trade their gear. There’s always a smattering of various musical odds and ends—guitars, drums, amps, fiddles, horns— you name it. You’ll also find vinyl, artwork, clothing, and other music-related memorabilia. This folky flea market of sorts is free and open to the public. Stop by, grab a coffee at Bongo Java, grub down at Drifter’s and check out the musical arsenal. If you’re interested in renting a booth for the swap, contact Dino Bradley at 615-593-7497. 1008C Woodland Street.
SHAKE A LEG
Monday — Keep On Movin’, The 5 Spot, 10 p.m. till close
For those looking to hit the dance floor on Monday nights, The 5 Spot’s “Keep on Movin’” dance party is the place to be. This shindig keeps it real with old-school soul, funk and R&B. Don’t worry, you won’t hear Ke$ha — although you might see her — and you can leave your Apple Bottom jeans at home. If you have two left feet, then snag a seat at the bar. They have two-forone drink specials, so you can use the money you save on a cover to fill your cup. 1006 Forrest Ave. 615-650-9333. www.the5spotlive.com.
HAVE YOUR PIE AND DRINK A PINT, TOO
Tuesday — $10 Pint & Pie Night, Family Wash, 6 p.m. till midnight
Every Tuesday night at The Family Wash, you can score a pint of beer and a shepherd’s pie for just $10. The reigning music venue on the East Side, The Wash is home to an abundance of good music, and on Tuesdays, the club plays host to the long-running songwriter series, Shortsets, hosted by Cole and Paul Slivka. They offer a wide selection of craft beer, and they even
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have a vegetarian shepherd’s pie for herbivores. So sit back and enjoy the show, along with your pint and pie. 2038 Greenwood Ave. 615-2266070. www.familywash.com.
p.m. 700 Fatherland St. 615-770-709. www.skybluecoffee.com.
TELL ME A STORY
Wednesdays 6-8 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. – John Cannon Fine Art classes, The Idea Hatchery
Tuesday (first and third of each month)—East Side Storytellin’, Rumours East, 7 p.m.
Looking for something to get your creative juices flowing? East Side Story has got you covered. They’ve partnered with WAMB radio and Rumours East to present an all-out affair with book readings, musical performances and author/musician interviews all in one evening. They host this lovely event twice each month, usually on the first and third Tuesday. Check the website to see who the guests of honor will be for each performance. The event is free, but you’ll have to reserve a spot by calling Rumours. In January, they’ll be holding the sessions on Jan. 8 and 22. The program will resume its regular schedule in February. 1112 Woodland St. 615-262-5346. www.eastsidestorytn.com
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. 615-6509333. www.the5spotlive.com.
LEND ME YOUR EAR
Wednesday – Sky Blue Café, Supper and Song, 7 p.m.- 9 p.m.
The neighborhood restaurant Sky Blue Café has begun opening its doors in the evening for the dinner crowd. Audrey Auld, an Australian singer-songwriter, saw this as an opportunity to liven up the café with some tunes. Auld is a country/Americana performer and each week she plays and invites other musicians to join in on the fun. Stop in, savor a good meal with some beer, wine or coffee, and enjoy the music. There is no cover and dinner is served till 11
ART IS FOR EVERYONE
If you’ve been filling in coloring book pages for years, but you’re too intimidated to put actual paint to canvas, it might be time you give it a try. Local artist John Cannon has been teaching art classes at The Idea Hatchery since September. These are small, intimate classes; this keeps the sessions low pressure and allows for some individual one-on-one instruction. If you’re feeling like you could be the next Matisse with a little guidance, sign yourself up for some of Cannon’s classes. 1108-C Woodland Street. 615-496-1259 www.johncannonart.com.
HONESTLY, OFFICER ...
Thursday – East Nashville Crime Prevention meeting, Beyond the Edge, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Join your neighbors to talk about crime stats, trends and various other issues with East precinct commander David Imhof, community affairs coordinator Dan Ogren and head of investigation Lt. Greg Blair. If you are new to the Eastside, get up to speed on criminal activity in the area. If you are a recent victim of crime, they want to hear your story. 112 S. 11th St. 615-226-3343.
BRINGIN’ DOWN THE HOUSE
Thursday – After-Hours Jams, The Fiddle House, 7 p.m.
Every Thursday, The Fiddle House, a fullservice acoustic string shop, keeps its doors open for an after-hours jam. Each week, they alternate between “old time” and “bluegrass” sessions. Sometimes only a few fiddlers show up for the soirees, but other nights 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 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
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. 615-226-6070. 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 more than 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.
GET YOUR CREEP ON
Friday and Saturday – The Cult Fiction Underground, Logue’s Black Raven Emporium, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
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 gothicstyle bar and lounge 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.
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NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS & events Greenwood Neighborhood Association
Tuesday, Feb. 12 (second Tuesday of every month), 6:00 p.m.
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. There will be no January meeting. 909 Manila St. www.greenwoodneighbors.org.
Soup Sunday is fantastic family fun featuring delicious soups from over 50 local restaurants. February 24, 2013 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM LP Field (Club Level West) Free parking
Don’t miss the children’s activities, silent auction and celebrity judges! SPONSORS
Cleveland Park Neighborhood Association
Thursday, Jan. 10 and Feb. 14 (second Thursday of every month), 6:30 p.m. The Cleveland Park Neighborhood Association meets monthly at the Cleveland Park Community Center. 610 N. Sixth St. www.facebook.com/groups/ClevelandPark
McFerrin Neighborhood Association
Thursday, Jan. 4 and Feb. 7 (first Thursday of every month), 6:30 p.m.
The McFerrin neighborhood association meets monthly at McFerrin Park Community Center. 301 Berry St.
Shelby Hills Neighborhood Association
Monday, Jan. 21 and Feb. 18 (third Monday of every month) Shelby Community Center, 6:30 p.m.
The Shelby Hills Neighborhood Association meets each month to discuss matters of concern to residents in their area. 401 S. 20th St. www.shelbyhills.org.
Rosebank Neighbors
Thursday, Jan. 17 and Feb. 15 (third Thursday of every month), Memorial Lutheran Church, 6:30 p.m. Proceeds benefit Our Kids serving Middle Tennessee with medical exams and crisis counseling for children and caregivers in response to child sexual abuse
Discounted tickets available at
www.ourkidscenter.com
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The Rosebank Neighbors group holds a meeting and potluck each month. Guest speakers are frequently invited to lead meetings. Metro Council members Peter Westerholm and Anthony Davis attend the meetings as well as East Precinct police officers to address and discuss issues pertinent to the neighborhood. 1211 Riverside Drive.
MARKETPLACE
Eastwood Neighbors
Tuesday, Feb. 12 (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. 1601 Eastland Ave. www.eastwoodneighbors.org.
Dickerson Road Merchants Association
Thursday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 28, Metro Police East Precinct, 4 p.m.
The Dickerson Road Merchants Association holds meetings the last Thursday of every month. 936 E. Trinity Lane. www.dickersonroadmerchants.com.
East Nashville Caucus
Wednesday, Feb. 6 (first Wednesday of every month), 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 caucus will not meet during January. 936 E. Trinity Lane.
Chamber East
Wednesday, Feb. 6 (first Wednesday of every month), Fannie Battle Day Home for Children, 7:30-9 a.m.
Chamber East meets every month for a networking coffee to discuss community updates, and how to grow and improve the East Nashville area. 711 S. 11th St. www.nashvillechamber.com.
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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NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS & events Greenwood Neighborhood Association
Tuesday, Feb. 12 (second Tuesday of every month), 6:00 p.m.
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. There will be no January meeting. 909 Manila St. www.greenwoodneighbors.org.
Soup Sunday is fantastic family fun featuring delicious soups from over 50 local restaurants. February 24, 2013 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM LP Field (Club Level West) Free parking
Don’t miss the children’s activities, silent auction and celebrity judges! SPONSORS
Cleveland Park Neighborhood Association
Thursday, Jan. 10 and Feb. 14 (second Thursday of every month), 6:30 p.m. The Cleveland Park Neighborhood Association meets monthly at the Cleveland Park Community Center. 610 N. Sixth St. www.facebook.com/groups/ClevelandPark
McFerrin Neighborhood Association
Thursday, Jan. 4 and Feb. 7 (first Thursday of every month), 6:30 p.m.
The McFerrin neighborhood association meets monthly at McFerrin Park Community Center. 301 Berry St.
Shelby Hills Neighborhood Association
Monday, Jan. 21 and Feb. 18 (third Monday of every month) Shelby Community Center, 6:30 p.m.
The Shelby Hills Neighborhood Association meets each month to discuss matters of concern to residents in their area. 401 S. 20th St. www.shelbyhills.org.
Rosebank Neighbors
Thursday, Jan. 17 and Feb. 15 (third Thursday of every month), Memorial Lutheran Church, 6:30 p.m. Proceeds benefit Our Kids serving Middle Tennessee with medical exams and crisis counseling for children and caregivers in response to child sexual abuse
Discounted tickets available at
www.ourkidscenter.com
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The Rosebank Neighbors group holds a meeting and potluck each month. Guest speakers are frequently invited to lead meetings. Metro Council members Peter Westerholm and Anthony Davis attend the meetings as well as East Precinct police officers to address and discuss issues pertinent to the neighborhood. 1211 Riverside Drive.
MARKETPLACE
Eastwood Neighbors
Tuesday, Feb. 12 (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. 1601 Eastland Ave. www.eastwoodneighbors.org.
Dickerson Road Merchants Association
Thursday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 28, Metro Police East Precinct, 4 p.m.
The Dickerson Road Merchants Association holds meetings the last Thursday of every month. 936 E. Trinity Lane. www.dickersonroadmerchants.com.
East Nashville Caucus
Wednesday, Feb. 6 (first Wednesday of every month), 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 caucus will not meet during January. 936 E. Trinity Lane.
Chamber East
Wednesday, Feb. 6 (first Wednesday of every month), Fannie Battle Day Home for Children, 7:30-9 a.m.
Chamber East meets every month for a networking coffee to discuss community updates, and how to grow and improve the East Nashville area. 711 S. 11th St. www.nashvillechamber.com.
If you have an event you would like to have listed, please send information about the event to calendar@theeastnashvillian.com.
January | February 2013
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MARKETPLACE
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MARKETPLACE
to be a part of Marketplace Call Lisa at 615-582-4187 or email lisa@theeastnashvillian.com
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MARKETPLACE
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MARKETPLACE
to be a part of Marketplace Call Lisa at 615-582-4187 or email lisa@theeastnashvillian.com
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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E a s t o f N o r ma l
Who are you and what was I talking about?? By Tommy Womack
T
he best thing about Attention Deficit Disorder is that it never bothers you for too long at any one time. I’ve aced every ADD test I’ve ever taken, most of them in magazines like my wife’s Redbooks and other sundry such. Friends and strangers who are medicated within an inch of their consciousness often regard me as a long lost brother. They see from a mile away that I am obviously One Of Them. They assume I must have been on Ritalin since childhood. Not so, actually. I can’t be medicated for it, never have been, because to introduce an ADD med into my regimen would cause a catfight with my anti-depressants, and we can’t have that. In order for my self-talk not to be “I want to die!” I have learned to accept “Things are OK. Ooh look, cows!” Mood steroids artificially prop up my world view while I juggle multiple projects and have spirited conversations with people that I lose the thread of two or three paragraphs in, my eyes glazing over while I try to remember what the hell we’re talking about, and for that matter, what the hell your name is. It probably hasn’t helped that I stayed stoned every day I could get my hands on some weed from 1986 to 2003. Then again, I was tagged as a flake long before I ever toked, and still my flake flag flies high to this day. (Say that five times fast!) So I don’t know of the long-term effects of channeling Willie Nelson. All I know is my life is a slideshow of images and topics. One minute I’m thinking and talking about one thing, the next minute I’m thinking and talking about something else entirely. To understand Lincoln’s cabinet you have to understand this: Imagine five singer/songwriters who have paid their dues in Nashville, and each of them has an established reputation and a devoted following. One of them is a phenomenal guitarist, one a harmonica virtuoso, one a solid bass player, another a terrific keyboard player, and the last one is that most evil and pernicious vermin — a drummer who sings and writes songs. Each of these performers has record label interest and killer hit songs to his credit. Then this rube comes to town. He’s a hick with illfitting clothes and, on top of that, he’s ugly. The five
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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
local stars pay him no mind, and initially no one else does either. Now guess who winds up getting the record deal — the new guy, the guy without a fan base, the guy who hasn’t paid his dues, the clueless hick from out of town. It’s outrageous! The local top guns go from turning up their noses at the rube to actively hating him. They vow never to gig with him. But they have no idea how the rube is capable of thinking how they might think, and they don’t know how wise he can be, or how capable he is at turning a blind eye to slights against him. The rube needs a band to cut a record with, a band who’ll go on the road with him, and he needs the best musicians in town. So he picks the five top guns. He knows they hate him, and yet he knows he needs the best and they are that. The top guns are appalled, but seeing how it might benefit their own careers down the line, they hold their noses and take the gig. Even as they’re all in the studio, the top guns snub the rube, leaving him out of their little clique, making faces behind his back. He knows all of this and takes no umbrage. It is only as the record progresses that the top guns begin to, however gradually, realize they’re making a great record. The songs are so great that, though they initially dismissed them as simplistic fluff, now they hear the brilliance therein. Then they go on the road and learn over time that the rube’s gawky act is genuine, heartfelt and talented. They see how he connects to people, and how he is able to articulate how the people feel, far better than their own abilities to do such. The top guns learn to love the rube, and years later, when he is assassinated by a crazed fan at a Bonnie Raitt show, they appreciate the true weight of his presence and know they have been honored to stand in the shadow of a giant. When I picture the guitarist, I see Secretary of State William Seward. The keyboardist I see as the corpulent Salmon P. Chase; and only the hotheaded War Secretary Edwin Stanton could have been the drummer who sings. This is my first column. I hope you enjoyed it. I didn’t get to talk about cinnamon rolls as much as I wanted to, but maybe next time.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
65
E a s t o f N o r ma l
Who are you and what was I talking about?? By Tommy Womack
T
he best thing about Attention Deficit Disorder is that it never bothers you for too long at any one time. I’ve aced every ADD test I’ve ever taken, most of them in magazines like my wife’s Redbooks and other sundry such. Friends and strangers who are medicated within an inch of their consciousness often regard me as a long lost brother. They see from a mile away that I am obviously One Of Them. They assume I must have been on Ritalin since childhood. Not so, actually. I can’t be medicated for it, never have been, because to introduce an ADD med into my regimen would cause a catfight with my anti-depressants, and we can’t have that. In order for my self-talk not to be “I want to die!” I have learned to accept “Things are OK. Ooh look, cows!” Mood steroids artificially prop up my world view while I juggle multiple projects and have spirited conversations with people that I lose the thread of two or three paragraphs in, my eyes glazing over while I try to remember what the hell we’re talking about, and for that matter, what the hell your name is. It probably hasn’t helped that I stayed stoned every day I could get my hands on some weed from 1986 to 2003. Then again, I was tagged as a flake long before I ever toked, and still my flake flag flies high to this day. (Say that five times fast!) So I don’t know of the long-term effects of channeling Willie Nelson. All I know is my life is a slideshow of images and topics. One minute I’m thinking and talking about one thing, the next minute I’m thinking and talking about something else entirely. To understand Lincoln’s cabinet you have to understand this: Imagine five singer/songwriters who have paid their dues in Nashville, and each of them has an established reputation and a devoted following. One of them is a phenomenal guitarist, one a harmonica virtuoso, one a solid bass player, another a terrific keyboard player, and the last one is that most evil and pernicious vermin — a drummer who sings and writes songs. Each of these performers has record label interest and killer hit songs to his credit. Then this rube comes to town. He’s a hick with illfitting clothes and, on top of that, he’s ugly. The five
64
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
local stars pay him no mind, and initially no one else does either. Now guess who winds up getting the record deal — the new guy, the guy without a fan base, the guy who hasn’t paid his dues, the clueless hick from out of town. It’s outrageous! The local top guns go from turning up their noses at the rube to actively hating him. They vow never to gig with him. But they have no idea how the rube is capable of thinking how they might think, and they don’t know how wise he can be, or how capable he is at turning a blind eye to slights against him. The rube needs a band to cut a record with, a band who’ll go on the road with him, and he needs the best musicians in town. So he picks the five top guns. He knows they hate him, and yet he knows he needs the best and they are that. The top guns are appalled, but seeing how it might benefit their own careers down the line, they hold their noses and take the gig. Even as they’re all in the studio, the top guns snub the rube, leaving him out of their little clique, making faces behind his back. He knows all of this and takes no umbrage. It is only as the record progresses that the top guns begin to, however gradually, realize they’re making a great record. The songs are so great that, though they initially dismissed them as simplistic fluff, now they hear the brilliance therein. Then they go on the road and learn over time that the rube’s gawky act is genuine, heartfelt and talented. They see how he connects to people, and how he is able to articulate how the people feel, far better than their own abilities to do such. The top guns learn to love the rube, and years later, when he is assassinated by a crazed fan at a Bonnie Raitt show, they appreciate the true weight of his presence and know they have been honored to stand in the shadow of a giant. When I picture the guitarist, I see Secretary of State William Seward. The keyboardist I see as the corpulent Salmon P. Chase; and only the hotheaded War Secretary Edwin Stanton could have been the drummer who sings. This is my first column. I hope you enjoyed it. I didn’t get to talk about cinnamon rolls as much as I wanted to, but maybe next time.
January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
65
PAR T ING SH O T
Get Ready! It's Coming!
NASHVILLE'S BIGGEST AND BEST AUTO SHOW!
MARCH 9 & 10, 2013 •
Keith Gattis & Odly freed THe East Nashvillian yuled tide bash at the family wash Photograph by Christopher Durst
Tennessee State Fairground, Nashville, TN
• •
ADMISSION: Adult $12.00 • Kids 12 & under FREE Lunch
Happy Hour
Dinner
Saturday March 9 - 9am - 7pm • Sunday March 10 - 9am - 4pm Over 120,000 sq. ft. of custom cars, classic cars, street rods, rat rods & trucks on display! Check out the Manufacturer’s exhibits showcasing custom automotive accessories & trends for 2013! And don’t miss the vendor area! ALL INDOORS! Be there! Protect your truck bed with a rugged drop-in bedliner
O
PE
N DAIL
Y
Where Downtown Meets East
Aluminum panels operate from either side of the truck with full access to stake pockets and 100% unobstructed access to your entire truck bed.
NEW! Tonneau Cover
Let us install yours today!
www.feastonfifth.com 615-252-254 2 | 501 Main street, 37206 in Fifth and Main 66
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
Don’t trust your tint to just anybody. Let our professional installers tint your windows the right way!
975 MAIN ST. 227-6584 hunterscustom.com January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM Serving East Nashville for 45 Years
67
PAR T ING SH O T
Get Ready! It's Coming!
NASHVILLE'S BIGGEST AND BEST AUTO SHOW!
MARCH 9 & 10, 2013 •
Keith Gattis & Odly freed THe East Nashvillian yuled tide bash at the family wash Photograph by Christopher Durst
Tennessee State Fairground, Nashville, TN
• •
ADMISSION: Adult $12.00 • Kids 12 & under FREE Lunch
Happy Hour
Dinner
Saturday March 9 - 9am - 7pm • Sunday March 10 - 9am - 4pm Over 120,000 sq. ft. of custom cars, classic cars, street rods, rat rods & trucks on display! Check out the Manufacturer’s exhibits showcasing custom automotive accessories & trends for 2013! And don’t miss the vendor area! ALL INDOORS! Be there! Protect your truck bed with a rugged drop-in bedliner
O
PE
N DAIL
Y
Where Downtown Meets East
Aluminum panels operate from either side of the truck with full access to stake pockets and 100% unobstructed access to your entire truck bed.
NEW! Tonneau Cover
Let us install yours today!
www.feastonfifth.com 615-252-254 2 | 501 Main street, 37206 in Fifth and Main 66
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
January | February 2013
Don’t trust your tint to just anybody. Let our professional installers tint your windows the right way!
975 MAIN ST. 227-6584 hunterscustom.com January | February 2013 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM Serving East Nashville for 45 Years
67
Look for the Blue Door An Association of Independent Local Law Offices Each Serving the Unique Needs of East Nashvillians
2013 New Year Special Offer
$249 Basic Will & Testament + 50% Off Estate Document Preparation
(Power of Attorney, HIPAA Authorizations, Hospital Visitation Agreements, Etc)
Offer Valid from the Law Office of Your Choice Until Feb 28th, 2013
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Immigration - Civil Litigation - Small Business
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(615) 800-2348 307 North 16th Street 37206 Walk-Ins Are Always Welcome 68
If You Come By and We Can’t THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM January | February 2013Help, We Will Help You Find Someone Who Can