The East Nashvillian | July-August 2016 by The East Nashvillian

Elect Christiane Buggs for MNPS School Board District 5 on August 4

As a Nashville native, graduate of Metro Nashville Public Schools, and former teacher, I am uniquely qualiﬁed to ﬁght for all stakeholders as a member of the school board.

EXPERIENCE Former MNPS math teacher for 6 years Assistant Director of TRIO Programs, Tennessee State University

EDUCATION M.Ed. in Urban Education Vanderbilt University

VOTE

M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction Tennessee State University

Election Day

BS. in Physics Tennessee State University

August 4

MLK Magnet graduate

Early Voting July 15 - 30

COMMUNITY LEADER YMCA Black Achievers board member MNPS basketball, cheerleading, and track coach Dance Instructor Lee Chapel AME Church

ENDORSED BY:

Paid for by Buggs For Schools. Chrystal Love Cunningham, Treasurer.

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JULY 23, 2016

AUG. 27, 2016

SEPT. 24, 2016

SUMNER COUNTY YMCA

EAST PARK COMMUNITY CENTER

BELLEVUE YMCA

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all workshops are from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Space is limited. Arrive early. visit nespowernews.com for more info.

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

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At 13, Margie Quin, Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the T.B.I., was playing basketball. Unfortunately for some, 13 is the average age of entry into human trafficking right here in our own state. But you can do something. Go to Whatis13.com to hear from Margie Quin on how you can help.

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

PUBLISHER Lisa McCauley EDITOR Chuck Allen ASSOCIATE EDITOR Daryl Sanders COPY EDITOR John McBryde CALENDAR EDITOR Emma Alford CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Sarah Hays Coomer, Collin Czarnecki, Randy Fox, Holly Gleason, James Haggerty, Dan Heller, Stacie Huckeba, Nicole Keiper, Suzanne Nahay, Tommy Womack CREATIVE DIRECTOR Chuck Allen DESIGN DIRECTOR Benjamin Rumble ADVERTISING DESIGN Benjamin Rumble

ILLUSTRATIONS Benjamin Rumble, Dean Tomasek

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Stacie Huckeba

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Dan Heller, John Partipilo, Jeremy Ryan SOCIAL MEDIA Nicole Keiper ADVERTISING SALES Lisa McCauley lisa@theeastnashvillian.com 615.582.4187

Kitchen

Table Media Company Est.2010

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Jaime Brousse DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Christina Howell

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©2016 Kitchen Table Media P.O. Box 60157 Nashville, TN 37206 The East Nashvillian is a bimonthly magazine published by Kitchen Table Media. This publication is offered freely, limited to one per reader. The removal of more than one copy by an individual from any of our distribution points constitutes theft and will be subject to prosecution. All editorial and photographic materials contained herein are “works for hire” and are the exclusive property of Kitchen Table Media unless otherwise noted. Reprints or any other usage is a violation of copyright without the express written permission of the publisher.

l Goodpasture is a debt free campus and is able to provide an exceptional education for a reasonable rate! l Goodpasture serves children from 12 months of age to 12th grade in a Christian environment with highly qualified teachers and low pupil teacher ratios. l Kindergarten students at the Little Red Schoolhouse are given a unique and special place all their own on the Goodpasture campus.

TOMATO ART FEST AUGUST 12 & 13 EAST NASHVILLEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FIVE POINTS

l Excellence begins in elementary school as students receive instruction in Mandarin Chinese, French, Spanish, STEM lab with robotics, art, music, technology lab, library, and physical education! l Goodpasture offers a unique pre-first grade experience for students who would benefit from a transitional year between kindergarten and first grade. l 1:1 iPads are incorporated for grades 7-12, and class sets of iPads are available for grades 1-6. l High school students can earn up to 48 hours of college credit prior to graduation. l Each year, graduating classes earn over $7,000,000.00 in scholarships averaging over $80,000 each. l A variety of electives are offered in high school including engineering, audio recording, video recording, graphic design, C++ programming, along with numerous dual enrollment classes. l Near future campus plans include a new building with an entrepreneurial center, makerspace lab, recording studio, and missions center!

CALL 868-2600 ext. 259 or email admissions@goodpasture.org to learn more about GCS.

ONLY 10 MINUTES from EAST NASHVILLE

Building Confidence, Intellectual Growth and Spiritual Strength.

Bus transportation available from Gallatin, Hendersonville, Springfield, Pleasant View, Joelton, Mt. Juliet, and Old Hickory.

619 Due West Ave. Madison, TN 37115 | www.goodpasture.org July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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COVER STORY

TOMATO ART FEST ISSUE

48 HARD WORKING AMERICANS

60 INTRO: TOMATO ART FEST! Lucky 13

Stick it to the man

By Collin Czarnecki

By Holly Gleason

FEATURES

46 STEADY AS SHE GOES

With her new book, author Sarah Hays Coomer is charting her own course By Suzanne Nahay

70 A SWEET COLLABORATION

Tending to Nashville’s most-numerous and least-noticed livestock is a ‘honey’ of a job By Randy Fox

62 OFFICIAL MAP 63 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 69 MUSIC LINEUP COVER SHOT

HARD WORKING AMERICANS

CALLED TO FOLLOW

Photograph by Stacie Huckeba

Throughout his career, Pastor John McCullough has been a force for social justice on the East Side By Randy Fox

82 WHERE NEEDS ARE NOURISHED

Fannie Battle Day Home has been taking care of at-risk children for 125 years By John McBryde

88 IMAGES OF CUBA A Photo Essay by John Partipilo

An Introduction By Dan Heller

Visit

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM for updates, news, events, and more! CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

EAST SIDE BUZZ

IN THE KNOW

23 Matters of Development By Nicole Keiper

Your Neighbor: 39 Know Sgt. Michael Fisher

Tennessee Foundation Partners 32 First With Martha O’Bryan Center

By Tommy Womack

By John McBryde

40 Artist in Profile: Jay Millar By Randy Fox

COMMENTARY

Your Neighbor: 109 Know Wendy Windsor

20 Editor’s Letter

By Tommy Womack

By Chuck Allen

113 East Side Calendar

34 Astute Observations

By Emma Alford

By James “Hags” Haggerty

37 Simple Pleasures

PARTING SHOT

By Sarah Hays Coomer

111

The Mavericks’ Raul Malo

w.t.f.?

By John Partipilo

By Stacie Huckeba

136 East of Normal By Tommy Womack

Visit

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EDITOR’S LETTER Boxcar Willie & the Golden Pear

ot so long ago, things were mightily unsettled in the land of Wolf Peach. There was a partisan divide. The Tomātoes insisted theirs was a land of vegetables, while the Tomãtoes claimed it was a land of fruits. Denny Diablo, a fire-red Boxcar Willie from the countryside, recalls, “I just didn’t like the fruit crowd back then. The idea that we could live in harmony seemed like a pipe dream.” On the other side of the divide, Ginny Golden-Seed was equally skeptical. “I thought they were crazy back then. Wolf Peach was founded on principles of inclusion, diversity, and plurality, but the Tomātoes were saying things like, ‘Deport the Fruits.’ It was brutal,” remembers the Beam’s Yellow Pear. But then something magical happened. A couple of dreamers had an idea. They thought it might be fun to start a festival and invite the Fruits and the Vegetables. Deciding a slightly off-kilter marketing approach would be in order, they came up with a slogan: A uniter, not a divider, bringing together the fruits and the vegetables. When Diablo first heard of the event, he was appalled. “I thought it was an affront to all the values I held dear at the time,” he remembers. “But I like to party, so I decided, what the heck, I’m in.” Golden-Seed was equally unsure. “I thought, ‘Right, so we’re gonna heal this deep cultural divide with a street fest?’ I thought it was ridiculous. Even so, I was curious — and I love to dress up — so I went.” And so it came to pass, 13 growing seasons ago: the very first Tomato Art Fest. It was a smallish affair at the time. In attendance were Tomātoes and Tomãtoes of all shapes and sizes and colors; there were, among others, Bella Rosas, Banana Legs, Sweet Chelsea, Zebra Cherries, Rambling Red Stripes, Wapsipnicon Peaches, Velvet Reds,

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

Tangerine Mamas, and even a Striped German and Cosmonaut Volkov Red or two. Golden-Seed, who’d just recovered from a recent Mercury-in-retrograde episode, was surprised by how well everyone got along. “Sometimes astrological events like that can really get me out of sorts,” she says. “Especially when it comes to personal interactions. So I was a little anxious about attending the event. But it wasn’t long before my inner extrovert took over, and I was having the time of my life. I forgot about our differences and realized we’re all just a bunch of Tomatoes” “I was nursing a serious hangover,” Diablo recalls. “Me and the bros had closed 3 Crow the night before, and I didn’t get much sleep. But I figured I could sleep all day Sunday, and I’m not one to miss a good party. After the first Bloody Mary of the day, I didn’t care if you were a fruit or a vegetable. We were all just having fun.” As fate would have it, Diablo and Golden-Seed met at the Tomato Art Show. “Denny bumped into me while I was checking out the first prize winner. At first I was like, ‘Dude, watch where you’re going,’ but he was actually quite charming about it. I mean, he actually said, ‘Pardon me, ma’am.’ Pardon me, ma’am? No one ever says that anymore! I was smitten at first sight.” “I knew she was a fruit. I mean, the tie-dye dress and the smell of patchouli were dead giveaways, but whatever. It was one of those love-at-firstsight kinda things.” Ginny and Denny were engaged a month later. They’ve attended every Tomato Art Fest since and will be doing so again this year. “It’s different now, of course, since we bring the kids along,” says Golden-Seed. “Yeah, it’s a different mindset,” agrees Diablo. “It’s about the kids. The Tomato Art Fest is such a great way for them to experience that sense of community and togetherness.”

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

You say tomato, we say east Nashville

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

Matters of Development NEW AND NOTEWORTHY IT WAS A BUSY SPRING ON THE EAST Nashville development front, from new restaurants and shops to growing restaurants and shops. Nashville vegetarians and vegans got another regular hometown haunt when “Plant-based Bistro & Bar” Graze opened in the former Silly Goose space (1888 Eastland Ave.) in late April. Led by the same folks who brought us the nearby Wild Cow, Graze serves fresh-made juices and smoothies, desserts, breakfast, entrees, and snacks, from breakfast burritos with seitan chorizo to a Goose’s Couscous dish that calls back to the space’s much-

loved former tenants. The restaurant is open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. More at grazenashville.com. East Side fitness fanatics also got another new option: New “boutique movement studio” Well Body Pilates hosted their grand opening celebration in April at 1000 Fatherland St., #202. Nashville-raised, New York-trained instructor Elizabeth Wilkinson leads Well Body, which offers individual, duet, and small group Pilates and Gyrotonic sessions, including introductory classes if you’re new to those methods. If you’re super into this stuff, Well Body also offers teacher training; the next session kicks off July 11. More on the studio and their classes at wellbodynashville.com.

Prefer more outdoorsy fitness options? Here’s some good news: In June, the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA cut the ribbon on a new urban park and trail, replete with open exercise areas, eight fitness stations and a quarter-mile trail. The park, at 2624 Gallatin Road, is available to members and open to the public, too. “This was all a dense thicket, and it’s been transformed into a really wonderful-looking, positive environment,” Maddox center board chair Neal Doherty told attendees at the ribbon-cutting celebration. “You can see how popular the pool is, and now we’ve got an outdoor space as well for kids to get stronger and healthier at a younger age.” The reimagination was made possible by a land donation from local real estate investor Jim Crossman and gifts from the Maddox

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

Charitable Trust and Memorial Foundation and other donors. We’ll see more improvements from the Maddox facility soon — next on the agenda is a renovation of their former preschool space (their preschool moved into 1008 East Trinity Lane) to accommodate more family programs. On to more holistic health: Chiro Nash recently joined the neighborhood, hosting a grand opening at 604 Gallatin Ave., Suite 100, in late April. They offer chiropractic care, nutritional recommendations, and other holistic/all-natural health care. More at chironash.com. From feeling good to looking good: Several new clothing/accessories shops joined the East Nashville scene. In May, Atlanta-bred vintage shop Gunstreet Goods started welcoming folks into their new East Side space at 3701 Gallatin. (At press time, they were still open by appointment and for weekend sales and events only.) Owner Keri Workley is filling the place with vintage clothes, accessories, home goods, and more, spanning various eras and various styles. In mid-June, musician Vero Sanchez

opened The Bowery Vault at 2905 C Gallatin Pike, behind Mickey’s Tavern and Nicoletto’s Italian Kitchen, and her approach marries a love of music with a love of fashion. The “Customized Rock ‘n’ Roll & Western” clothing boutique and private listening room includes lots of stage-worthy clothing and accessories, from boots to jackets, plus a full stage with a full backline. During business hours — noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 8 p.m. on weekends — songwriters are welcome to bring a guitar and give the stage a workout. Sanchez is also making the listening room space available for event rental after-hours. Facebook.com/theboweryvault gets you lots more info. In April, Eastside Nails, led by technician Michelle Pegues-Pruitt, joined the Shoppes on Fatherland (1006 Fatherland St., Suite 306-A), offering manicures and pedicures, from basic to deluxe. Hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jewelry designer Danica Van Horn opened “one of a kind men’s and women’s

THE LAST FIVE YEARS

NOISES OFF

POSTERITY

BOOK, MUSIC, AND LYRICS BY JASON ROBERT BROWN

BY MICHAEL FRAYN

BY DOUG WRIGHT

SEPT 10 - 24, 2016 PREVIEWS: SEPT 8 - 9

OCT 15 - NOV 5, 2016 PREVIEWS: OCT 13 - 14

FEB 11 - 25, 2017 PREVIEWS: FEB 9 - 10

jewelry” shop Doxahlogy in late May, sharing pieces that range from bold statement pendants to rugged men’s cuffs, crafted from gemstones and beads, metals, leather, wood, vintage/antique finds, and more. The unusual name, Van Horn told us, has spiritual underpinnings. “Doxah is Greek for glory and Doxology is an expression or a praise of something,” she said. “I wanted the jewelry I made to express individuality as well as bring glory to God; hence, Doxahlogy.” Doxahlogy isn’t new so much as all growed up, though: Van Horn has been creating/ selling online from her East Side home since 2012, so when it came time to go brick-andmortar, staying in the neighborhood was a natural choice. Peruse/shop/learn more at doxahlogy.com. Need a new option for getting your home looking good? Furniture Wholesale Plus took over the former Southern Thrift space at 2701 Gallatin Pike, adding a second location to their roster. The locally owned furniture sellers’ other store is over at 3870 Dickerson Pike, and in both locations you can find couches and tables and chairs and all the other pieces you might need to make your house a home. At press time, they were prepping for their grand opening celebration at the new East Nashville location. More: wholesalefurniturenashville.com. Another local business adding a second location: Remember the Green Wagon, which long held down the corner at 1100 Forrest Ave., but closed in 2014? Their former space has a new face: Nowadays, Gaslight Vapor Room is bringing “a next-level vaping experience” to that 5 Points building. The first Gaslight shop is in Gallatin; both offer “name-brand vaping hardware and boutique-quality handmade e-liquid.” Their initial hours were set to change, so check out gaslightvapor.com for the latest. CLOSINGS AND MOVES

A RAISIN IN THE SUN

A CHRISTMAS STORY

BY LORRAINE HANSBERRY

ADAPTED BY PHILLIP GRECIAN FROM THE MOTION PICTURE BY JEAN SHEPHERD, LEIGH BROWN, AND BOB CLARK

MAR 25 – APR 15, 2017 PREVIEWS: MAR 23 - 24

NOV 26 – DEC 21, 2016 PREVIEW: NOV 25

INFORMATION AT NASHVILLEREP.ORG 24

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

SORRY TO SAY, BUT LITTLE OCTOPUS is leaving us. After a year of serving seasonal and fresh food out of POP at 604 Gallatin Ave., chef Daniel Herget and his team are headed over the river, to take over the former Ru-San’s space in The Gulch, at 505 12th Ave. S. To be fair, it shouldn’t be too surprising — POP is meant as something of an incubator, so the intent is to road-test,

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

then graduate concepts there. The Gulch shouldn’t be too surprising either, since owners/operators Sarah and Brad Gavigan’s other concept, Otaku Ramen, is in that neighborhood. The last day to enjoy Little Octopus in East Nashville is July 31. But the POP space shouldn’t stay without a locked-down con-

cept too long — reps told us the plan is to debut a new one in August. Another impending move: In May, chef/owner Drew Bryant announced that French-inspired Porter House Bistro was losing its lease at 1115 Porter Road. “The landlord has decided our space is worth much more than we are currently

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

paying,” a social media update said. “We have tried to negotiate, in good faith, a more balanced rate, but it does not at this point look like we were successful.” Bryant said the French-inspired restaurant would be open in their current location until July 3, and noted that he and his team were “very interested in staying in East Nashville,” and that they were touring properties in the neighborhood. Another move: Sewing-and-more shop Nutmeg, which opened at the Shoppes on Fatherland in 2014, closed its doors in midJune, but isn’t shutting down. Owner Meg Anderson said she’d outgrown the shop’s cozy confines. While she searches for another location in the neighborhood, Anderson is continuing to work out of her dye studio, with plans to keep “grow, grow, growing our Nutmeg Fibers brand and (host) pop up shops and special events.” High Garden also outgrew their cozy confines, but the husband-and-wife team behind that herbal tea outpost has already secured a new, bigger space here in East Nashville. At press time, Joel and Leah Larabell were packing up their current location at 1006 Fatherland St., and getting ready to open their new High Garden home at 935 Woodland St. (barring any issues with Metro Codes) on July 11. The roughly 2,000-square-foot space will give the Larabells four rooms to flank with apothecary-style fun, including a root cellar where they’ll serve house-made kombucha and fermented herbal sodas on draft, and a tea drinking room outfitted with “little tea huts” Joel constructed out of trees from the couple’s property. They’ll have a new kitchen, too, that’ll lead to expanded food offerings, plus restrooms, a nonpay parking lot, and more. To keep up with the latest: highgardentea.com. And one more Shoppes on Fatherland business graduating to a larger space: Eastside Music Supply — a go-to spot for instruments, boutique effects pedals, and more since 2014 — took over the former Logue’s Black Raven Emporium space at 2915 Gallatin Pike. The new location ups the EMS square footage from 400 to about 900, which brings room to round things out. “Our new space is going to lift the restrictions of products and services we’ve had due to the small size at the Shoppes on Father-

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

land,” owner Blair White told us ahead of the move, noting increased space for repairs and building, and plans for a drum room. But “the vibe of the store is going to stay the same,” White said. “We are not trying to turn ourselves into a Guitar Center. We will still have very unique, curated, hand-picked guitars, basses, amps, and effects and will be

keeping the customer-focused vibe that the musicians in the community have grown to love and expect from us.” More: eastsidemusicsupply.com. And a closure: Restaurant and wine bar The Vine, open since 2014 in the 5th & Main complex, shuttered abruptly in late May “due to unforeseen circumstances.”

A message announcing the closure at v-thevine.com offered little info, but lots of thanks: “We cannot begin to express our gratitude to our customers, our staff, and our vendors for the past few years of service to our community.” This is the fourth concept to close in that location (501 Main was previously home to Feast, Germantown Cafe East, and Allium). COMING SOON PERHAPS THE BIGGEST COMING-SOON tidbit to get talked about recently — in the literal sense: The Wabash, a huge mixed-use project in the works at 901 Woodland St. from developers/onetime East Nashvillians of the Year March Egerton and Dan Heller. The building is set to include office, retail, and restaurant space over four stories and 40,000 square feet, its “elegant and modern with a nod to the past” design helmed by East Nashville’s Powell Architecture + Building Studio (also a onetime East Nashvillian of the Year honoree). It’ll be a minute before we see businesses moving in there — spring 2017 occupancy is the plan. Renderings and more detail at thewabash.com. The Wabash isn’t the only theoretical home for theoretical restaurants getting thrown around. The Tennessean reported in May that the Fresh Hospitality restaurant group was in the process of purchasing 969 and 975 Main St. (part of the Hunters Custom Automotive campus), with plans to develop them into “a multi-concept space with more than half a dozen fast-casual restaurants in addition to retail uses.” The FH folks, who are responsible for Biscuit Love, Cochon Butcher, and a slew of other concepts around town, aren’t the only ones to see food possibilities in that particular area, either. Late last year, the new owners of nearby 974 and 978 Main St. talked plans for a “casual dining restaurant.” From theoretical restaurants to more solid ones: The former home of Khan’s Desserts at 733 Porter Road should soon be home to husband-and-wife team Whitney and Khalil Davis’ new The Terminal Cafe. Whitney told us plans are to serve breakfast and lunch, and host theme nights led by guest chefs, as well as private dinner functions produced by her event company, Pink Mink Productions.

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

The two owners are longtime East Nashvillians, and bring other hospitality-biz experience to the new venture, too; Khalil is the former co-owner of Gulch spot Coffee, Lunch, and worked with Bongo Java for more than a decade, off and on. An opening date wasn’t set at press time, but they’re aiming for this summer.

Over where The Wabash is being built, another new neighbor is on the way: Eater Nashville reported that Philadelphia chef Michael Solomonov and his team were working on opening an East Nashville location of their Federal Donuts concept at 900 Main St., in the former Hot Yoga of East Nashville space.

Federal Donuts serves coffee, creative donuts, and fried chicken; Philadelphia has five locations, but this’d be the first Nashville outpost. No word on timing yet, but worth noting: Solomonov is a James Beard Award winner, which bodes well. Eater Nashville also got another hot coming-from-outta-town scoop: Popular New York cocktail bar Attaboy, they say, is planning an East Nashville location, too. Last we heard, plan was for late summer at 8 McFerrin Ave. All that food talk got you feeling a bit bloated? We’re also due to get a new “smartgym method” workout space. Quantify Fitness is aiming to open this summer at 224 South 11th St., in the Fatherland District, with an approach based on “optimal results in minimal time,” with workouts of as little as 10 to 20 minutes. Owner Josh Jarrett told us he was hoping to soft launch in mid-July. Lots of info at quantifyfitness.com. A chance to work out your brain, too: “A nook for people who love books” called Her Bookshop is slated to open this summer at 1006 Fatherland St., #103A, in the Shoppes on Fatherland. Owner Joelle Herr told us she’d have “a little of everything, with a slight focus on illustrated, gifty books” in the shop. At press time, the longtime publishing pro, author, and born-and-bred Middle Tennessean was shooting to get the doors open in late June. Another new addition to the Shoppes, Gift Horse, will be located at 1006 Fatherland St., #301 and has a grand opening planned for Saturday, Aug. 13. Long-time East Nashville residents Jessica Maloan, co-founder of Porter Flea, and Andy Vastagh of Boss Construction, a full-service design and screen print studio specializing in handprinted concert posters, have teamed to open the shop which will feature handmade greeting cards, art prints and other gifts. Hours will be 12-6 p.m.Tuesday - Friday; 10-6 p.m. Saturday; 12-5 p.m. Sunday. More info is available at gifthorsenashville.com — Nicole Keipe

Have East Side development news to share? Reach out to nicole@theeastnashvillian.com 30

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

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EAST SIDE BUZZ

First Tennessee Foundation Partners With Martha O’Bryan Center TO ENSURE ITS DONATIONS ARE BEING used efficiently in helping to improve the various communities it serves, the nonprofit foundation of First Tennessee Bank takes a measured assessment of any recipient it considers. When it came to the decision to grant

$500,000 to the Martha O’Bryan Center in East Nashville, the assessment didn’t take very long. “Half a million dollars is a sizable gift, and I think anytime you’re going to make a decision that involves that sum of money, you’re going to sit down and think through the potential impact you’re wanting to make,” says Carol Yochem, First Tennessee Bank president, Middle Tennessee.

July 23

DAVE BARNES with Lucie Silvas and The Shadowboxers

October 3

GAVIN DEGRAW & ANDY GRAMMER

August 16

GUY CLARK CELEBRATION with special guests Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle & more!

October 7

TODD SNIDER with Rorey Carroll

September 3

NATIONAL BEARD & MOUSTACHE CHAMPIONSHIPS

October 14

September 15

October 17

LAKE STREET DIVE

October 2

RYAN BINGHAM AND BRIAN FALLON & THE CROWES

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

LOCAL NATIVES

ELVIS COSTELLO Detour

November 10

INGRID MICHAELSON

“We were really impressed with the Martha O’Bryan Center.” Through a program known as the First Tennessee Foundation Success Generation, the grant will fund the Martha O’Bryan Center’s goal of helping at-risk youth gain admission to and graduate from college. Specifically, the program combines an in-school support program at Stratford and Maplewood high schools with a mentoring program on college campuses. “First Tennessee Foundation Success Generation is the perfect name for this program, because it is about making available a new level of success to an entire generation of the Nashvillians we serve,” Marsha Edwards, CEO of Martha O’Bryan Center, said in a statement released when the grant was announced in early May. “It’s hard to overstate what kind of breakthrough this is. Having a college degree opens up a whole new world of possibilities to the young people we serve. They move from a future of few choices, to one entirely of their choosing. We are grateful to First Tennessee for making such a significant investment in the future of our young people.” Martha O’Bryan Center, which was founded in 1894 and today primarily serves youth from poverty-ridden Cayce Place, had established some time ago a program known as Academic Student Unions. Designed to ensure students graduate from high school and make a smooth transition to post-secondary opportunities, it’s a “one-stop-shop” for high school students to receive academic, social and emotional, work and career, and college prep assistance. The success of the program is part of what led the First Tennessee Foundation to form a partnership with Martha O’Bryan, according to Yochem. “The program provides an opportunity for these students to be tutored, to be exposed to the idea of college,” she says. “For a lot of these students, no one in their family has ever attended college. That conversation really hasn’t taken place. You could see [the center] had had success and that they were on to something. That’s what attracted us.” Some 40 percent of the grant will be focused on the Academic Student Unions program, Yochem says, while the bulk of it will go toward postsecondary support. “These students are coming from a challenging environment, and a support system may not necessarily exist,” she says. “Their ability to stay and have a successful postsecondary experience relies a lot on a support network that is there for any number of things.” — John McBryde

JULY 22 â&#x20AC;¢ 8:00 PM THE CMA THEATER TICKETS ON SALE NOW CountryMusicHallofFame.org/EoL Downtown Nashville

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Astute OBSERVATIONS James “Hags” Haggerty

Hagzilla is on summer vacation

s it really Tomato Art Fest time again? To quote the great Phil Rizzuto, “Holy cow, unbelievable!” Where does the time go? One year ago, I told you the story of my family’s tomato sauce recipe. From Brooklyn to Queens to Long Island to Nashville it has traveled. Have you tried it? It’s amazing with fresh tomatoes. “Hags, cooking? Really? What gives?” I know it’s out of character, and it has come to my attention that some of you are concerned about the lack of vitriol in my observations of late. More than one of you have said to me, “Hey, man, you used to be funny. What happened?” I don’t know. I’m a little concerned myself. I’ve been meditating, self-actualizing, exercising. I’m feeling good. I can’t help it — I just can’t complain. In fact, the powers that be here at The East Nashvillian, sensing my new lightness of being, have hired a new curmudgeon, Stacie Huckeba, who is knocking it out of the park with an indignant bat. What can I say? It’s summertime. The scents of honeysuckle and charcoal are in the air, and it’s sundress season (cue Al Hirt’s “Music To Watch Girls By”). Whatever it is, East Nashville, you have my apologies. I’ve made peace with bulldozers, cranes, traffic, and artisanal everything. In honor of the festival, as well as the tomato itself, I would like to share with you what it is that I love about cooking. To me, it’s a metaphor for life. You get back what you put in. If you use good ingredients, fresh herbs, fresh vegetables, good meats, you get delicious, tasty, vibrant, nourishing food for body and soul. If you put crap in, you get crap out and a stomachache, like at McDonald’s. It’s like music. Some of it is art and some of it is product. It’s up to you what kind you make and consume. You could listen to Nat King Cole or Florida Georgia Line. You could have a great homemade

gazpacho in no time or you could have tomato soup from a can. I’ll take “Unforgettable” and gazpacho every time. Being a musician on the road and in the studio has allowed me to sample all manner of take-out options. But when I’m home in my own kitchen, with my own pots and pans, I like to go in there and get it on. Lately I’ve been eating a lot of fish. I figure the Japanese have figured a few things out, diet-wise. They smoke three packs a day, party all night, eat sushi, and live to a wizened old age. That jives with my sensibilities. Fish and rice with vegetables in a wok is my new favorite thing. I’ve been making my own almond milk, too. It’s easy. All it takes is a cup of almonds and four cups of water, throw in some vanilla and dates for flavor, blend it, and strain it. For a nice sauce, toss it in the iron skillet with some shallots, garlic, and habanera. “Hags, what’s become of your grumpiness?” I don’t know. It’s lying dormant, docile, pacified with mantras and regular cardio. What’s next for me? Linen suits and Yanni concerts? I’m as concerned as you are, readers. Have no fear, I’m sure that come winter my inner Matthau will resurface. When I’m freezing and bummed out, he will break free from the ice like Godzilla — Hagzilla, if you will. A scaly, green, angry monster named Walter that skewers hipsters and developers with fire-breathing fury. Like an angry Lou Ferrigno, I’m sure I will be back hurling figurative, flaming mustache wax at the teeming homogeneity with the flick of my massive tail (pen). But in the meantime, while the sun shines, I’ll be taking time to smell the roses, cook up a fragrant gumbo in the sonic soul kitchen, and watch the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes. Happy tomatoes, friends and neighbors. See you at the Tomato Art Fest!

Hagzilla is a part-time bon vivant, monster icon-about-town, and contributor to The East Nashvillian who earns his keep as a full-time bassist extraordinaire. He can often be seen while summering off the islands of Tierra del Fuego. At his nighttime day job, Hagzilla enjoys using his tail to sweep guitar players off their feet, preferably while they’re soloing.

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July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

“Ketchup” with us about your next move at The Tomato Art Festival!

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THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

simple PLEASURES By Sarah Hays Coomer

I’

Fashion freestyle

ve done a shit-ton of work on my body over the last few years, not muscle-building, weight-loss kind of work, but strengthening, supporting, and giving-myselfa-break kind of work. For most people, this sort of progress serves as an inspiration to dress that new body in beautiful, form-fitting clothes. But I find the simpler my relationship with my skin, the simpler I want to dress it. Having worked as a personal trainer for the past 15 years, I live in yoga pants. I never acquired any kind of fashion sense — never had to and never could abide by putting anything structured on my body. Even a button-up flannel is a step too far. Given all the money and time in the world to replace my current wardrobe with anything at all, I would fill it with jersey dresses, roll-top skirts, old jeans, and thin cotton T-shirts — the fashion equivalent of living in my pajamas. If you throw some sunshine and a lazy afternoon into the mix, nakedness seems just as reasonable. Toss a towel my way, and I’m good to go. I don’t like things tightly wrapped around my ribs, constricting my ability to breathe, or fitted at the shoulder, reducing the full range of motion in my arms. In fact, sitting in the coffee shop writing this column, I found it absolutely necessary to surreptitiously remove my bra. I’m a bit confused by these impulses to shed the trappings that could make my new body more obviously attractive to the outside world. I love a girly dress and can rock some wedges for an hour or two, but beyond that, keeping it together to appear even remotely fashionable on a daily basis leaves me exhausted. Fashion should be about lightness, not restriction.

My closet, once a sparse, well-laid-out grid of shelves and rods, is now barely visible for piles of sweaters that don’t fit, dresses that make me squirm with discomfort, and shoes that make me feel 15 pounds heavier when I put them on. I don’t like any of it. And I don’t like anything I see in stores either. I need help. I need a savior fashionista, who understands the intrinsic allure of organic cotton, to sweep in, take over, and tell me what to do. I have no idea what I like, but I do know that I yearn for each and every item of clothing I wear to liberate my body; though I’m pretty sure this impulse leaves me looking like I’m wearing a potato sack half the time. Maybe I’m alone in this. Maybe everyone else truly loves a pencil skirt with a nice, stiff, starched shirt and a tailored jacket on top. No question, there is power and elegance in that, but it’s not for me, at least not right now. I’ve done too much work on this body to lock it down in somebody else’s idea of beauty. For me, beauty is freedom, and fashion should be about freedom, too, whatever form that might take from day-today and year-to-year. Does this clothing free me? That’s my new criteria, and if that question lands me in an old maxi dress with a crossbody bag and a pair of flip-flops, so be it. I’m sticking with what feels right until the impulse strikes to don something more magnificent, something new that lightens my step and lifts my spirits. Where I will find clothes that make me feel that way is beyond me, but I do have faith that they exist somewhere out there. Somewhere, I hope, a magical designer is combining fluidity and form at an affordable price. Until I find that elusive clothing, my uniform may not be fancy, but at least it will allow me to move. In the meantime, I’ll glam things up a bit by doing my toes — a hint of earth-bound adventure and romance, purple glitter or bust!

Sarah Hays Coomer is an author, certified personal trainer, and nutrition and wellness coach. She kind of likes to exercise, kinda not. She runs a free wellness group in East Nashville for anyone looking to raise a glass to good health. Her book, Lightness of Body and Mind: A Radical Approach to Weight and Wellness, was recently published; read more about it in this issue on page 46. strengthoutsidein.com | instagram@strengthoutsidein | twitter@strengthoutside

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

KNOW your NEIGHBOR

PH O TO G R APH BY J O HN PAR TI PI L O

“I

t’s a really positive role to play within the police department, getting out and talking to

Sgt. Michael FISHER

neighborhood association,” he says. “You’ve got Cleveland Park, McFerrin Park, Highland Heights, and a whole list by Tommy Womack of them. All of those neighborhood groups, neighborhood associations meet quarterly, talking to schools. There’s if not monthly, so this huge variety of roles we attend all of their that we play in just meetings and make making sure businesses, sure that we’re actively neighborhood groups, communicating with and individuals have a those neighborhood point of contact when groups and that they need something, they’re getting answers but it doesn’t necessitate they need. And it can calling 911 or even the be something as little nonemergency number.” as people speeding in — Sgt. Michael Fisher the neighborhood. For three years, Sgt. “It’s a lot of communication — a lot Michael Fisher has of juggling concerns been the Community and making sure the Affairs officer for the right people within East Precinct, the point our department know man between East what the problems Nashville residents and concerns in and the Metro Police our community are. Department. Day in It’s busy — a lot of and day out, he attends emails, a lot of phone neighborhood watch calls, a lot of getting association meetings out and talking to and citizens group folks, and a lot of gatherings of every social networking.” type. When one such Outreach to group might complain schools is vital. “It’s about drugs in the important for us to neighborhood, Fisher have as much positive hears the complaint and interaction as possible with kids in the neighborhoods,” Fisher says. takes that concern to the narcotics squad; same with auto theft, gang “You’ve got a lot of children who only ever see the police in a negative activity, door-to-door scam artists preying on the elderly, and other situation, so we seize those opportunities to talk to them.” ills — each issue being ferried by him to the appropriate authorities within the department. In a society where there is all too often In the past, the Community Affairs sergeant flew solo, juggling all a disconnect between police and the public, Fisher has the job of the functions and responsibility; but now, thankfully, Fisher shares swimming against that tide. his office with Crime Prevention Officer Whitney Arnold. “She does “It’s been a really good position for me both professionally and a lot of the work with social media, she’s gotten plugged in with not at home,” Fisher says. It’s a 9-to-5, Monday through Friday job, and just Facebook, but also the online bulletin board NextDoor,” he with two small children, it’s a dream assignment after years in other says. “She’s gotten really active with that community and makes sure departments, pulling all sorts of shifts around the clock. the neighborhoods registered there are getting information. She’ll A youngish, affable fellow, Fisher grew up in Smyrna and gradpublish crime reports for them, and help me out with the precinct’s uated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in Facebook page. Monitoring and participating in social media is German. He got a job in a small town fire department and found practically a full-time job in itself. So she keeps that running.” it, frankly, rather boring (not a lot of fires in a small town); so when On the weekends, Fisher enjoys the great outdoors, bicycling a he heard that Metro Police was hiring — and saw how much better lot with his kids and enjoying a respite from the nonstop activity it paid — he applied and was accepted. Over the next few years, he when he’s on the job. There are upwards of two dozen neighborhood worked auto theft, undercover, and narcotics, until the opening in meetings every month, not to mention functions like ribbon-cuttings and other opportunities to press the flesh that come along. Sgt. Community Affairs came along. Fisher’s presence helps raise the police department’s presence in the The job is a whirlwind of action. “If you look at a map of community while forging relationships. East Precinct, almost every street is covered by some sort of Is there a builder working on Sunday? Drivers speeding down your road? Reach out to Sgt. Fisher at michael.fisher@nashville.gov. July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Artist in Profile

JAY Millar Pop art creations so cool, they’re refrigerated B Y R A N DY F OX

“I got one review,” Jay Millar says, recalling his first New York art show. “The guy said I take canvases, paint them, and then make them look like refrigerator doors. In the same column, they also said they needed a new art critic. I thought, ‘Yes, you do need a new art critic because what I’m painting on really are refrigerator doors.’ They were making my art a lot deeper than it actually was. “What was really more exciting to me was having Arturo Vega, the graphic designer who created the Ramones’ logo, say he liked my art at the show. That really floored me.” Millar’s appreciation for the opinion of a punk rock graphic designer over a New York art critic speaks to the ethos he brings to his art. However deep one might argue Millar’s art is, there’s little doubt that it’s immediately eye-catching and engaging — the hallmarks of great graphic design. His paintings are pure pop art — large, oversized recreations of familiar objects: a roll of Life Savers candy, a concert ticket, a package of baseball cards, or an old, often-played cassette tape. The surprise comes with the recognition of his unusual choice of surfaces. → P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y J O H N PA R T I P I LO

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016 2016

Jay Millar looking out the window of his workshop in the Shelby Park area.

July July | | August August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Clockwise from top: Millar cutting the stencils for a commission concert ticket piece; “Customatic Life,” painted on a 1940s era Norge Customatic door; the artist in the record room of his home mixing his art with his love for records. “Baseball,” Millar’s interpetation of a 1975 Topps baseball cards package and painted on a 1950s era door.

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

Artist in Profile “I like to think of it as double-take art,” he explains. “People will look at it and either like it or not, but they’ll recognize it as a Jell-O package or whatever. Then it hits them that it’s painted on a refrigerator door.” Growing up in suburban Detroit, Millar says his passion for art and the appeal of transforming items that others viewed as trash began at an early age. “I was always a garbage picker,” he says. “I would find stuff and make other things out of it, like accessories for my G.I. Joes or whatever. In high school, I took every art class they offered until I got to the point where they let me do whatever I wanted and they’d grade me on it. I was a member of the National Art Honors Society. I did get some small scholarship offers, but I was kind of immature, so I passed them up.” After graduating from high school in 1994, Millar put his interest in art aside when another obsession came to the forefront. “I got a part-time job with Polygram Records right out of high school,” he says. “They told me if I got a four-year degree, they’d find a permanent job for me, so I really didn’t have the standard college experience. I attended classes and finished my degree at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, but all my free time was spent going to concerts.” His plans for a career in the music business went temporarily off track when his position with Polygram was eliminated in a corporate merger. After graduation, Millar secured a position with BMG Music, which brought him to New York and eventually back to art. “My first year in New York, I was living alone in a little studio apartment, and then I got my first roommate,” Millar says. “At the time I had my refrigerator covered with magnets — mostly from the record company — and I was thinking I needed to have less clutter while I was walking down the street, and there was a set of refrigerator doors sitting out with the trash in front of a restaurant. I took them back, cleaned them, removed the inside so they would fit flush on the wall, and moved all my magnets to them. But I kept looking at them and thinking I needed to do something else with them.”

It wasn’t very long before inspiration came from a ubiquitous source. “I got the idea while riding on the subway and it struck me that refrigerator doors were a rectangle just like the Metro card (the prepaid cards used for subway fares),” he recalls. “I made the stencils using just paper and an X-Acto knife, and then used spray paint. I decided to hang the two doors in a corner because you see hundreds of folded, discarded Metro cards in the subway. Once a card is used up people just fold them and drop them — that way the homeless people know it’s a dead card.” Pleased with the results, Millar decided to create more tributes to everyday New York “art.” “I made a series of New York images on New York refrigerator doors,” Millar says. “A New York parking ticket, the choking victim sign with instructions for the Heimlich maneuver that is posted in restaurants, the paper coffee cup that all the bagel vendors use, a sign for the ‘L’ train being out of service, the cleanup after your dog sign, and various subway signs.” Thanks to New York laws, the supply of refrigerator doors was seemingly endless. “Because of what they call the Punky Brewster law in New York, the doors of refrigerators have to be removed when you discard them,” he says. “At the first of the month, or the end of the month, you can just walk around Manhattan and find refrigerator doors sitting out with the trash.” In 2007, Millar accepted a position as the director of marketing for United Record Pressing in Nashville. With the move from the Big Apple to the Music City, he thought the door was closing on that portion of his artistic endeavors, but local inspiration soon led him to more cool designs. “When I moved to Nashville I was going to let go of it,” Millar says, “but I decided to do some Nashvillethemed pieces. The first was a ketchup package for the Tomato Art Fest in 2009.” His first Nashville piece opened up ideas for other graphic designs that appealed to him, such as consumer products and classic advertising images. His love of music also →

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

“ Artist in Profile

I like to think my art is more the Ramones than it is Sam Cooke. brought a unique idea that was a perfect match for refrigerator doors. “My first-ever trip to Nashville was to see Tom Waits at the Ryman,” Millar says. “I decided to commemorate the trip and my moving to Nashville by recreating my ticket with the fridge door as the main portion of the ticket and the freezer door as the tearoff stub. It’s since become a series of concert tickets. I did two more Tom Waits tickets from that show with different seat numbers, a James Brown ticket, and I’m working on a commission right now for a Danzig ticket.” Expanding his range of surfaces beyond refrigerator doors, Millar also produced several functioning rain barrels that recreated the classic Campbell’s Tomato Soup can and Morton Salt container for the 2012 and 2013 Tomato Art Fests. “Most of the doors I’ve done are from the 1970s,” Millar says. “They are my favorite to work with. They’re flat, smooth, with no texture, a really blank canvas, and they’re kind of ugly, so it’s easy to make it interesting. The ones that give me anxiety are doors from the ’30s and ’40s. They’re already beautiful

on their own and I feel like there’s a greater likelihood of screwing them up rather than improving them. I’ve done a Life Savers roll, and it was perfect because it was rounded like the package and one end was flat so that lent itself to the wrinkled foil at one end. On another, it had a rounded, concave area behind the handle, and I stared at it a long time before figuring out that it would be perfect for the baseball on a classic baseball card package from the ’70s.” Although the variety of Millar’s fridge door paintings has expanded, finding doors in Nashville proved to be more complicated than just walking down the street. “I’ve placed ads on Craigslist, and I found a local junk collector and offered him more than the recycling center would pay,” he says. “I have plenty of blanks on hand now, and in some commissions, people actually have their own doors.” In addition to his art hanging in several Nashville locations — the offices of Infinity Cat Records, Welcome to 1979 recording studios, radio station WXNA, and many East Nashville homes — Millar maintains a

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

rotating showing at Yeast Nashville. He also continues to work in the record business, currently as creative & catalog development director for reissue label Sundazed Music. While his paintings often draw comparisons to pop art great Andy Warhol, Millar doesn’t consider it a wholly accurate comparison. “I am a Warhol fan,” he says, “but I’m more a fan of the commercial artists whose designs I’m ripping off. I’m a real fan of utilitarian design. For a big chunk of my life there was a time I would look at advertising and think why would any artist not want to do advertising? It was art. I like celebrating the beauty of ‘mundane’ things, but I also really love the idea of taking something small and blowing it up so you can see the detail and beauty.” “My own opinion on my art is that I have a very unsteady hand and poor execution, but really good concepts. So I found a niche that works for me. This may sound pompous but I like to think my art is more the Ramones than it is Sam Cooke. I love both, but like the Ramones, I have a good idea, and I’m doing the best with what I got.”

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7/1/15 6:33 PM

PH O TO GR AP H B Y JO H N PAR TI P I LO

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

Steady As She Goes With her new book, author Sarah Hays Coomer is charting her own course By Suzanne Nahay

iscussions around fitness, nutrition, health, and wellness tend to lead average folks down a rather predictable path, one that’s been forged and monitored by a long line of lean, mean, and convincing experts. All along the way: strict rules, intense regimens, product prescriptions. Add to that the discussions dominating so much of the culture’s everyday conversation, which could easily be reduced to simple word association games: Goal. Skinny. Exercise. Boring. Diet. Guilt. Try. Fail. Repeat. With the just-released book, Lightness of Body and Mind: A Radical Approach to Weight and Wellness, personal trainer, nutrition consultant, and author Sarah Hays Coomer has leapt into the center lane and declared: Enough is enough! People are listening — perhaps because she’s not shouting. Instead, she’s inviting anyone who will listen into a new conversation, which she’ll initiate by seizing any opportunity to illustrate how pleasure and health merge in real yet profound ways. With Lightness, Coomer has crafted — from years of personal experience and clients’ stories, and with a refreshing cocktail of common sense, humor, and irreverent cool — a radical resource for personal wellness. Including “radical” in the book’s subtitle isn’t just a semantic play. There is a real rebel spirit at work here since Coomer reframes self-care as an act of defiance. She emphasizes strength, intelligence, satisfaction, fun, and forgiveness. She weaves lyrics from roots rocker Abe Wilson and the words of Where the Wild

Things Are author Maurice Sendak with hard neuroscience, and offers up just enough expert, actionable advice to serve as a practical guide. Coomer admits she hesitated to include anything close to instruction. In the end, however, the editors prevailed, and each chapter of Lightness concludes with assets for the reader’s toolbox. But even these aren’t strict instructions. Coomer offers questions and prompts like: “What makes you feel like crap?” “What makes you feel amazing?” “Pick your poison.” Suggestions and examples follow, along with user-friendly checklists for getting started. In a refreshing departure for the genre, diet plans, step-by-step workouts, or photos of a Spandex-clad model illustrating proper push-up position are nowhere in sight. Coomer’s credentials as a certified personal trainer and nutrition and wellness consultant are impressive, and her years of experience, clearly inform her simple yet unorthodox approach. She describes her core clientele as having a certain type of brokenness in common; however, the themes in the book have universal appeal. About one client, Coomer says, “[She] has a long road in front of her, but so do the rest of us who are striving to build new, neural pathways. … Her path is harder, but the pursuit is the same. We should all hope to be so irrepressible.” Coomer gives voice to the condition many of us living and loving in this place, in this time, know all too well, as she reminds us: “We are all essentially groundless. The world can drop out from under us at any time.” For those stuck inside a looping reel of diet, exercise, stagnation, exhaustion, and pants that fit and then, well, don’t — seasons of pain and loss are made that much worse when they haven’t established an infrastructure for self-care. With science to back her up, Coomer reminds readers that they are equipped with tools — built right into their brains — which allow them to break free of bad habits and create new ones. Her book doesn’t hawk false promises and quick fixes; there’s an acknowledgement that it’s not always easy, but it doesn’t always have to be miserable either. Lightness emphasizes responsibility without ever wagging a finger or belittling the reader. Coomer’s storytelling is imbued with empathy and compassion, no doubt due to her own self-described history of depression and food addiction. She combines a fearless memoir with unpredictable stories of real clients. In many ways, the book is a love song to those men and women and an expression of gratitude for all they’ve taught her. Through Lightness, Coomer hopes to invite others into the conversation and, eventually, to change it — to reconsider their priorities and, more importantly, to say them out loud. As a mother to a young son, she’s especially mindful of the language and behaviors parents model for their children and suggests “stretching and stimulating our bodies, never starving or sucking in” in front of them. Fortunately, she acknowledges a gaining momentum — the pendulum swinging in the right direction, especially in communities where creativity and individuality are highly valued. Still, the war against people’s own bodies — to restrict, to shrink, to deprive, to dominate — has had deep, long-lasting effects. As such, Coomer will continue to teach and train, and wave, wiggle, bounce, dance, twist, and shout, in a passionate attempt to inspire and equip others to keep that pendulum from swinging back. To help them see new possibilities and make their own way.

(Editor’s note: In addition to being a personal trainer, nutrition consultant, and author, Sarah Hays Coomer writes the “Simple Pleasures” column featured in each issue of The East Nashvillian.) July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Hard Working Americans in front of their world headquarters in East Nashville (L-R): Dave Schools, Duane Trucks, Todd Snider, Neal Casal, Chad Staehly, and Jesse Aycock.

Hard Working STICK IT 48

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

AMERICANS TO THE MAN

By Holly Gleason Photography by Stacie Huckeba

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

“I

’ve never really taken care of my voice,” Todd Snider offers, half charcoal rasp, half turpentine and sand paper vigor, into the microphone at Audio Productions. “I just have one of those voices that can get it from drinking coffee and smoking ... ” The obvious reference hangs in the air of the control room like a sweet cloud of cannabis drifting on late afternoon humidity. Everyone laughs in the sterile, professional, “taking care of business” environment of the storied studio where the BBC, NPR, and countless syndicated radio properties capture their business. Today, Snider — and the other members of Hard Working Americans — have set up for an interview and jam session for the NPR radio show World Cafe. Somewhere in Philadelphia, host Dave Dye laughs down the line. Snider, known for his acerbic social commentary, ironic take on the world, and yes, occasional illegal smiles, has found a muscular new flex with a contraband band of musical ninjas that includes Widespread Panic bassist and coconspirator Dave Schools, Chris Robinson Brotherhood guitarist Neal Casal, Great American Taxi keyboardist Chad Staehly, Oklahoma slide/steel/ stringed instrument wizard Jesse Aycock, and the band’s secret weapon, drummer Duane Trucks. To call them a jam band supergroup is just the sort of hyperbole they eschew. Yet, it’s hard to avoid the obvious credits of the assembled members — and even harder to miss the muscular way they collectively work out on songs like the percolating “Dope Is Dope,” the stampeding “Purple Mountain Jamboree,” or the sweeping rush and lumbering beat of “Opening Statement,” which kicks off Rest In Chaos with a sense that something portentous is about to happen. The far-flung collective’s origins stem from an unlikely one-off show in California’s wine country with Schools and Snider collaborating and reinventing songs. That would make it seem HWA was merely a feel good way to blow off steam. Think a group of cool guys, riffing on songs the troubadour Snider sniffed out and loved, pushing musical notions like some kind of six-stringed hacky sack with a killer rhythm section.

“They are a stellar collection of musicians’ musicians,” Relix Editor in Chief Dean Budnik says of the stealth supergroup. “People who listen closely to music, they can tell the difference. Everyone in this band is so accomplished. Plus, they are people who live and breathe the music — they’re all encyclopedic and their influences are manifested, certainly on that first album, and this new one, but especially onstage. ...” Certainly places to get one’s musical yayas out with the freedom and engagement Budnik describes gets harder as you get older: life encroaches, obligations to one’s own career, even finding players who are truly likeminded instead of merely “digging your band” and thinking their take on music is in sync can be nearly impossible. Schools, a tidal force of humanity who teeters between wildly chill and impossibly formidable, recognized there was more here than a handful of stellar songs loved by Snider. Yes, the diverse coterie — Kieran Kane, Hayes Carll, David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, Kevn Kinney, Randy Newman, as well as Will Kimbrough, Tommy Womack, Chuck Meade, and Kevin Gordon — spoke to the collective’s vast ethos. But beyond the good spirits working out on this eclectic patchwork, there was the combined chemistry that seemed to lift everything up. Alchemy, kineticism, magic, voodoo. Call it what you want, there was something more to the group assembled for 10 dates to celebrate Hard Working Americans — starting in December of 2013 at a benefit for Colorado Flood Relief in Boulder. If each of the hardcore musicians were used to serving a front man or larger aesthetic, Snider was finding himself buoyed and lifted by an oddly adhesive band of players who found inspiration and freedom in each other’s company. They recorded their debut at Bob Weir’s TRI Studio in Marin County — the ground zero where the band of gypsies, who worked relatively the same places, came together for the first time as players and people. By the time they hit Chicago’s I.V. Lab Studios in the bleak freezing cold of January 2014, they were blazing, without truly understanding the how or the why. But before we get into that, let’s look at the chemistry between Schools, Snider, and the Through the Looking Glass vision and White Rabbit magic →

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

Lead singer Todd Snider flashes the peace sign while relaxing during a break in the rehearsals for the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cavalcade of Chaos tour.

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Dave Schools

Chad Staehly 52

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

“

My favorite records of 51 years of loving music are records that seem unified. So as Todd kind of regards his as plays, that fascinates me. — Dave Schools

of the seemingly unlikely pair. Oh, and you get a side order of ... The Blind Lemon Pledge. Sitting in the ersatz Hard Working Americans’ world headquarters, the garishly painted building half a block from 5 Points, Schools laughs when asked to explain The Pledge. “I can’t,” he says. “Frankly, it’s absurd. Todd called me one day and said: ‘I’m now legally dead. The folk singer Todd Snider is dead; I’m now The Blind Lemon Pledge.’ It was a little later than 4:30 in the morning, which is morning for him — not the end of the day. It’s the end of the day for me, especially if I’m on the West Coast.” Ahhh, the communication tides of creativity beaming in across wavelengths — and disrupting each other’s wavelengths in the name of the songs, which ultimately is what this is about.

Schools continues, “I can only address the idea of song cycles and The Blind Lemon Pledge as it’s part of being receptive to Todd and being receptive to what he wants to do and be like. So ...” Snider laughs, too. Here amidst the vintage gear, hippie wall hangings, old rock posters, junk shop furniture, and worn-out Oriental rugs, a trust among comrades is on display. Snider starts to pick up, “As it was happening, he was like ...” But Schools isn’t surrendering his part of the narrative, recalling, “It ALL has to happen. The game has to happen. I begged him to finish this record over a year and a half ago.” Things had bogged down. Snider got lost in the maze, and perhaps some doubt. Schools knew what they had. Like a true coconspirator,

“

he knew Snider needed encouragement — and faith. “I didn’t beg,” Schools clarifies. “I said, ‘Please allow me to finish this record.’ Did I know what it was? Could I have put it down in a pitch? No. I just knew it meant something valuable, and it pushed a button in me that made sense.” Sense? Seems like crazy talk looking back. But Schools was undaunted. He knows what he knows, and he knows by drawing on the past, he can forecast. With the Buddha’s smile, sitting at a banged up table, he pushes the hank of dark hair that’s fallen in his face away — and drops a little bleach in the greasy thought-water. “Now to go back to the last record,” he says, “and talking about the songs and why →

Jesse Aycock July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

“

The part of the songs I gravitate to is the part where the person admits the thing. ... You have the details, but then you say the thing.

YOU THINK IT’S

HOT outside?

— Todd Snider

HOT CHICKEN BENEDICT

. C O N N A S

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DINNER T U E S D A Y -S U N D A Y

1313 WOODLAND ST 615.226.1617

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they were chosen or sequenced, the idea of — I think it was Chad who said — ‘Todd always envisions his albums as a play, or scripts from a movie, scenes from a play,’ which I took into account for sequencing. “My favorite records of 51 years of loving music are records that seem unified. So as Todd kind of regards his as plays, that fascinates me. Our first record: that’s not really a concept record, unless you wanna step way the fuck back: it’s just great songs, beyond Todd likes them and we became a band around them. That’s a concept.” Schools is on a roll now. Like a backwater preacher before the snakes are passed, he brings his narrative to a climax that’s both satisfying and true. “This is the story of Hard Working Americans becoming a band; it’s the story of Todd Snider writing a movie about his life. It’s the story of Todd Snider going from East Nashville to Hendersonville. It IS what it is. I don’t know if it’s pretentious or anything, but I knew I wanted to enable it, because it made me feel something in a certain way. I wanted to finish it.” Schools, growing more contemplative, or perhaps literal, continues, “And, the way the songs related to us as a band, Todd as a human being. This is what came out of Todd that was bubbling for decades in some cases — and he allowed it, trusted this band enough to let it solidify right here, right now.” Let’s circle back to The Blind Lemon Pledge, a mythic man, a serious board game (that has yet to be produced, but is absolutely sorted out), a subversive way of looking at fame, what we value, and how to kick-start insurrection while looking like the good kid who’d never do anything wrong. If it feels like the room went topsy-turvy, you were warned about Lewis Carroll’s famous children’s tale, its psychedelic metaphor and concepts. It’s whimsical, until you look closer. Looking closer, it’s surreal. Looking even closer, well, you, too, are through the looking glass.

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

“

hat started out innocently — and has nothing (and everything) to do with this story of The Pledge — is classic HWA; which is to say, how the boys in the band came to be the boys in this particular band. Neal Casal the solo artist originally signed to major label hipster outpost Zoo for Fade Away Diamond Time in 1994. He subsequently served as a journeyman songwriter/guitarist/photographer working with Tift Merritt, producer Jim Scott, acclaimed slide/lap steeler Greg Leisz, and Tom Petty’s Heartbreaker Benmont Tench; went on to play with Ryan Adams’ Cardinals, then The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, as well as working with Phil Lesh on the Dead & Company projects, even creating the instrumental music for the Grateful Dead’s recent Fare Thee Well shows, Circles Around The Sun. The fluid guitarist with a black belt in tone and the ability to know when to twirl, when to hang onto a single note, and when to be atmospheric, befriended a Tulsa kid named Jesse Aycock, then in junior high school. Aycock, growing up in the historically rich musical environs of Tulsa that gave the world Leon Russell, J.J. Cale, Bob Wills, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Shelter Records, and Flaming Lips, was also a songwriter/player — and to distinguish himself in a town of musicos, learned slide. He also reached out to his influences, and found himself as a teenager emailing with Casal, then hanging with his hero when Adams’ tour had a day off in Tulsa, ultimately hiring the surfer/songwriter/guitarist to play on his solo record. Together, they are a 1-2 KO punch. Aycock’s lap steel evoking David Lindley tangles in Casal’s silvery or serpentine solos with undulating muscularity. Duane Trucks, nephew of Butch, brother of Derek, grew up as part of The Allman Brothers extended family, was knocking out gigs, playing with Colonel Bruce Hampton’s Pharoah Gummit and his own Flannel Church. →

Todd Snider

Neal Casal July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

With Trucks’ precise timing and ability to hit hard and creatively, his name drifted to Schools — and before long, the youngest member of the Hard Working Americans was playing with Widespread Panic. Meanwhile, somewhere in Colorado, Staehly was watching Great American Taxi’s schedule thinning, as bandmate Vince Herman was getting more active with jam institution Leftover Salmon. Taxi had backed Snider on a Jerry Jeff Walker tribute project, and Staehly saw some room to help Snider with his business. Suddenly East Nashville’s poet laureate had

“

And there was more magic — or luck. Marveling, Staehly recalls reaching out to players. “I remember sending an email to Neal: ‘Hey, you don’t know me, but I work with Todd Snider. We’re doing this project with Dave Schools. Would you be interested?’ He sent me his phone number.” As the unlikely band fell together, people of similar aesthetics were meeting at Bob Weir’s studio — and a good time was had by all. “Down To The Well” from their eponymous debut got picked up by Chicago powerhouse WXRT-FM; a buzz was building. So the band

melodic lines in shaping his bands’ rhythmic skeleton. Staehly, whose keyboards are “the glue or a pillow the melody instruments sit on top of,” explains that as they were sorting out the musicians, skill and talent were important, but there was something else, too. “There was between Todd, David, and I this level of kindness and giving,” he continues. “In talking to Todd, he wanted kindness to be something that permeated this project. There was an idea everyone was here to serve the songs and play their guts out — and I’ve not seen one person who phones in a song, let alone a set.

That energy that came forth? We couldn’t make it up, and those songs are odd, but they didn’t just happen. — Neal Casal a like-minded soul involved as a day-to-day manager under Burt Stein’s wing at Gold Mountain Entertainment. Not unlike peer-topeer counseling, the pair started dreaming out loud — and the gig in the Napa Vineyard with Schools materialized. Not just materialized, but crystalized. The folkie with the penchant for noisy, elbows ’n’ chunky acoustic-driven band gigs was working with a musician whose skills matched his own writing acumen. For Snider, whose greatest off-time pleasure is hanging out at jam gigs, being one of the people, windows flew open, and his already too vivid imagination fired on even more cylinders.

went to summer camp in the middle of the winter, traveling to a dozen cities, playing musical catch, and having a lot of laughs. For veterans like Casal, Schools, and Staehly, the chemistry was more undeniable. It was the sort of thing they had enough experience to realize rarely happens, especially after you’d done the road long enough to have all the “wow” and wonder knocked out of you. If they’d all had moments of intense adulation, acclaim, and — in their respective circles — fame, this was different. It also came with — and reflected — an ethos that drives both the hippie songwriter and the jam band bass player who rides wildly

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

“

“There’s no faking it with this bunch. These guys are all playing for their life. There’s a certain level of intelligence and sensitivity, good listeners as musicians — and also as songwriters, which just about everyone involved is as well.” Yes, Virginia, you can have a band of worldclass players, songwriters who’ve made their own records, folks who’ve toured with phalanxes of Prevost buses and five-star hotels — and have everything work out fine. Ego? No. Passion? Yes. Common goals? Why not? Especially when you’re hitting on all cylinders, and even when the songs aren’t quite done. “It was a foreign place in a very cold time,”

Duane Trucks

Casal recalls of Rest In Chaos’ origin. “Who goes into a studio with nothing? But we were so excited about being a band and how well it was going, just the response we were getting. And it was working at a level we never worked at before. ... So we went for it, and it went down like lightning. “Young bands do it — running on euphoria energy. But this was collective experience and knowing we’d get through it. There was a certain vitality to it. That energy that came forth? We couldn’t make it up, and those songs are odd, but they didn’t just happen.” Odd, indeed. Form defies convention. Time signatures change. Songs build, surge, recede.

In some cases, well, the lyrics are lumpy, and odd, and polaroid-y. As Staehly explains, “It’s a testament to the spirit of this thing: If it’s high art, they’re in. Everything else is secondary. It’s all about the creativity — and no focus on what we’re gonna get on the radio.” And so, the Hard Working Americans — fresh off 10 dates, barely past the honeymoon stage of swinging around a collection of obscure covers like they’re monkey bars — head into the studio to see what an album of their own songs might sound like. With plenty of musical muscle, warmed up from the shows and the chemistry, what they didn’t have in finished songs might not matter.

Todd Snider, the ersatz front man, had been trying to make a solo album that wasn’t quite working. He also had a collection of poems, deeply personal bits of his life that had been committed to notebooks. Emboldened by the thrust of being the singer in a band instead of shouldering the whole enterprise, he brought his pieces of life, reflections, and studies to the studio. Dave Schools knew what they had. “When Todd and I talked at the beginning, it was the story of the rebel as hero, the story of Elvis, who was fanning the flames of eroticism and the generation gap. It led to a room of people who don’t fancy that →

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

notion, so they ask, ‘How do we defuse the rebel?’ Enter Manson, and now the rebel is an antihero.” Schools stops, making sure the writer is keeping up, following the evolution of a concept the band didn’t even truly have during the recording. “Of course, look what happened. They now needed to geld the rebel, and they came up with the Fonz; that rebel-seeming-guy the parents can all love. Suddenly, he says, ‘Ayyyyyyyyy,’ and the threat of the cool guy is completely neutered.”

Schools pauses again. Leaning across a table in the corner of a downtown hotel, he whispers almost conspiratorially, “It’s absurd, the whole thing. And the final act in this cycle is for the Hard Working Americans to return music and thought to absurdity — because when absurdity becomes normal, there’s a need for something even more absurd. The train wreck is walking the fine line between reality and reality TV; you know, wrestling is real, the Moon Walk is fake — and a former Olympic hero becomes a woman!

“Isn’t the truth the most absurd of all? So the guy in the maelstrom of absurdity, yelling the truth? That’s an even deeper level. That’s when it all starts to get real again — because what is more out there than honesty at this point?” And The Blind Lemon Pledge? “The concept went a lot of ways: a board game, the Rothschilds’ impact on monetary systems, shadow governments — and there’s a layer that’s the dissolution of his marriage. And his family. “Todd’s smart; he studies a lot of things, pays attention, digs deeper than most people. It’s all in there.”

emorial Day. The sun is sinking, but the mercury refuses to secede its place north of 90 on a thermometer behind Acme Seed & Feed. The block out front has been closed down all day for a celebration that includes Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon — and yes, Hard Working Americans. All day, texts have been going back and forth about whether the show will go on. The night before, Snider had been seized by seizures — something the admittedly free-spirited, free-imbibing/toking, nondrinking songwriter had never experienced. Wait and see is all that can be done, and Snider, who’s rocked New York City, Chicago, and various spots between, is focused to finish HWA’s triumphant return to his hometown. A bit fragile stepping off the bus, face more grey than fleshy, he wears his signature flower-adorned fedora like a helmet against bad vibes. His clothes hang lank off his rangy body — and his feet, like always, are bare. Holding his energy in, he waits, watches. And then, he — along with his bandmates — take the stage. If the first notes are wobbly and Snider seems to be seeking his balance, the music swells around him, bolsters and lifts him. By the time he reaches Hayes Carll’s street hustle — “I’m like James Brown, only white and taller, all I wanna do is stomp and holler” — Snider is transformed. Swagger be thy name, and stompage be thy game. Reining in his traditional raps, Snider focuses on the undulations rolling off the wicked fat rhythm section — and moves to the side for the spiraling and twining guitar parts that rise like snakes and twist around the melodies and each other intuitively. He is a carny, canny in the ways of the musical sideshow. He draws the sunburned, buzzed, and wilting crowd into the playing — moving Brentwood yuppies with $3,000 purses and crisp gauze dresses and thick-waisted late middle-aged men gawking at the braless, tattooed hippie girls into pavilions of song architecture they might not cognitively recognize, but are somehow moving along to. To call the show a triumph is redundant. Snider is resplendent as the pace quickens

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

and the musicality grows. Smiling like a wino swaddled in the heart of Saturday night, he savors the taunt in “Half-Assed Moses” chorus, “You’re gonna need my help some day” as Casal’s electric solo flies and Aycock’s slide drives down into the figure, Truck’s slams into the beat like a wrecking ball. They all pile on with gusto, then the churning culminates into an almost foreboding take on Guy Clark’s “High Price of Inspiration.” It’s an austere arrangement, stark and haunted, as much a reckoning as a cautionary tale. Yes, the band will come back and revel through Chuck Berry’s “School Days,” all piss, sweat, and aplomb. But like a sock hop after a whiff of Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, the emotional pivot has already happened — and this was just feel good whipped cream and a cherry on something far more formidable. On the bus, after the crowd dispersed, Snider sat in the after-show daze of giving it all away. Thoughtful, wrung out, he wanted to talk about the band, the aborted solo album whose bones were surrendered to make Rest In Chaos, his emergence as a cocky front man who can shuck, jive, stomp, and yes, holler. “It’s all kind of a blur,” he concedes about the show’s thrust and his place as one guy on that stage. “But I really love the job of being that conduit. I’ve never been in a band that works so hard and rehearses like this. And they really want to know what the songs are about. They talk about the intention behind them.” He doesn’t miss the irony of being the man behind Peace Queer, East Nashville Skyline, Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables, and The Excitement Plan — all albums long on words, short on jam — fronting this hardcore band. With a big grin, he announces through the exhaustion, “I like letting go. Because I don’t talk and the goal is for people to dance, I love this shit!” Love it, he does. And he’s good at it. But even more telling is how Schools conjured these songs that consider love and rehab, pernicious gossip, the culture of fame and its corrosive nature, sex selling — and destroying, creativity’s inherent cost and the unbridled elation of playing down-home music full-tilt. “The poems we used to start, that was a new thing,” Snider says of the initial stuff for the Chaos sessions. “The part of the songs I gravitate to is the part where the person admits the thing. ( John) Prine got me interested in that. You have the details, but then you say the thing. “And Dave was taking out the We’s and the You’s, making it I. So as the song flies by, it’s like 11 songs to me — because all the lines (from all the poems) are from so many different things.” There’s a preppy-looking guy in a polo shirt on the bus, like a squeaky clean polemic to everyone else. He’s introduced as Todd’s brother; someone explains he’s an agent for Christian bands. In the moment, it’s a non sequitur; the contrast, though, remains.

The next day, Schools considers the songs from the groove up, the fact that they weren’t “done” in the traditional sense — and how he made them “work.” Looking back on the sessions, he marvels, “Todd has that Neil Young Tonight’s The Night thing about him — gather a bunch of musicians, and don’t let them rehearse. Just bring them together — and because he’s Todd, know that they’re really gonna listen. Then see what happens.” Did the band realize they were inside Snider’s book of poetry, things written to be

free of the constraints of Verse/Chorus/Verse/ Bridge/Chorus structure? Schools, the master architect, smiles. “No, I don’t think anyone knew Todd saw these as poems,” he says. “The bulk of the work was to find the melody, find where it felt good. “It became apparent to me in many ways really quick,” the Kodiak bear of a man continues, almost protectively, “this was very deeply personal for Todd. Some of it was old stuff, and not just someone observing, but someone really CO N T I NUED ON PAGE 128

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P HO T O GR AP H B Y J E R E MY RYAN

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

TOMATO

ART FEST! Lucky 13 By Collin Czarnecki

ome might think the number 13 is unlucky, but for Tomato Art Festival cofounder Meg MacFadyen, it’s just the opposite. With 2016 being the 13th year for the Tomato Art Fest, MacFadyen feels she has a bit of luck on her side. “I’ve actually always thought of 13 to be a lucky number,” she says. “And I think it’s going to be extremely lucky because auspiciously, it’s the 13th year for our festival and the fest also falls on the 13th of the month this year. And we didn’t plan on that, it just happened. It’s double lucky.” The 13th annual edition of the festival is set for Aug. 12-13 in 5 Points with a parade, concerts at two stages, food trucks, live art, and plenty of other entertainment to sink your eyes, ears, and teeth into. Last year’s festival drew nearly 45,000 to East Nashville, and MacFadyen says she expects this year’s East Side ode to the tomato to be juicier and riper than ever. The focus for this year’s fest isn’t to make the experience bigger in terms of new attractions, but instead, to make existing attractions better. “This year we’re not adding a lot of new things, but we’re just really focused on making existing things a whole lot better and improving them,” she says. For starters, this year’s parade and float competition will be a must-see event. The parade starts at the corner of 13th Avenue and Holly Street and ends in the center of 5 Points. MacFadyen says the float competition was such a hit last year that they’ve decided

to carry it on into 2016. “It turned out great last year,” MacFadyen says. “I have a really big soft spot for the parade. It just thrills me, and I love to see the neighborhood turn out for it.” Entries for the parade are limited so participants eager to show off their designs are encouraged to sign up early. The festivities kick off on Friday at 7 p.m. with the Tomato Art Preview Party and the Tomato King & Queen contest — as well as live music, which runs throughout the two-day event. Jeffrey James, Chrome Pony, Music Band, and Nashville Academy of Rock are among the acts scheduled to perform. The festival rolls on into Saturday with the East Nashville Tomato 5K, beautiful tomato contest, giant ice cream sundae extravaganza, bobbing for tomatoes/tomato toss, a bicycle decoration hosted by Eastside Cycles, YMCA’s Family Fun Open House, vendors, and the parade. MacFadyen says she still can’t believe how a small event to celebrate local art that began in 2004 grew into a destination festival for Nashville. “It was supposed to be a one-time art festival and here we are 13 years later,” she says. During those 13 years, the Tomato Art Festival has received praise from Southern Living, Epicurious.com, Travel + Leisure, and CNN, just to name a few. The fest was also voted “Best Festival” from 2007 to 2015 in the Nashville Scene’s Readers’ Polls. “Expect to have fun,” MacFadyen says. “And I’m working on the weather to be 75 degrees, but I haven’t quite figured out how to nail that down yet.”

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

TOMATO ART FEST 2016 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS TOMATO STORY TIME AT THE INGLEWOOD LIBRARY

Join the Inglewood Library for an entertaining storytime that celebrates the great uniter — the tomato! The library will have stories, songs and crafts for children ages 2-5, which will all feature the, library’s juicy garden friend. Don’t miss this fruit and vege-bration! WHERE: Inglewood Library | 4312 Gallatin Road

WED AUG. 10

TIME: 10:30 A.M. COST: Free

CONTACT: Mr. Andrew at 615.862.5866

TOMATO ART PREVIEW PARTY

(Sponsored by Art & Invention and Whole Foods Market)

FRI AUG. 12

A wonderful night of sights, sounds, and flavors. And a garden’s worth of tomato art. WHERE: Art & Invention Gallery | 1106 Woodland St.

TIME: 6 – 9 P.M.

COST: $25 (reservations required) CONTACT: 615.226.2070 | meg@artandinvention.com GET YOUR TICKETS: tomatoartfest.com/the-art/

TOMATO KING & QUEEN CONTEST (Hosted by Tomato Art Fest)

The contest is limited to 16 contestants who will be judged in two categories: Creative Costume and Tomato Q&A. The fee for entry is $20, with over $400 in prizes going to the winners. Don’t want to compete? Then come watch the show, have a cold beer, and cheer for your favorites! WHERE: Main Stage, Beyond the Edge parking lot

TIME: 7 P.M.

COST: Free to attend, $20 entry fee per contestant CONTACT: kristyn@appleroad.com

TOMATO ART FEST KICK OFF (Hosted by Tomato Art Fest)

Kick off the Tomato Art Fest weekend with live music, food trucks, and much, more. For the most updated entertainment lineup, visit tomatoartfest.com. WHERE: Main Stage, Beyond the Edge parking lot

TIME: 7 P.M. COST: Free

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

EAST NASHVILLE TOMATO 5K (Hosted by the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA)

SAT AUG. 13

Registration is $35 per runner until Aug. 11 and $40 on Aug. 12-13. Kids Fun Run is $10/first child; $5/additional children (up to four total). WHERE: The corner of Woodland Street and 7th Street

TIME: 7 A.M. Kids Fun Run

TIME: 7:30 A.M. Tomato 5K

CONTACT: Tim Wyckoff, 615.228.5525 or twyckoff@ymcamidtn.org

DECORATE YOUR BIKE FOR THE PARADE (Hosted By Eastside Cycles)

Come to Eastside Cycles at 8:30 a.m. and decorate your bike to ride in the Tomato Art Fest Parade! WHERE: Eastside Cycles | 103 South 11th St.

TIME: 8:30 A.M.

CONTACT: 615.469.1079 | bikeseastide@gmail.com

ANNUAL TOMATO ART FEST PARADE

This year’s parade starts at the corner of 13th Avenue and Holly Street and ends in the center of 5 Points. Team Tomato wants you to participate by building a float that can be pushed, pulled, carried, or worn on your body. Entries for the parade are limited so sign up early.

TIME: 9 A.M.

CONTACT: caleb@jdeventsandfestivals.com

KIDFEST

(Hosted by East End Methodist Church) Expect fun for children of all ages with inflatables, a water slide, hair painting, popsicles, crafts, and good ol’ storytelling. WHERE: The park at the corner of 12th Avenue and Holly Street

TIME: 9 A.M. – 2 P.M.

CONTACT: Kim Kennedy, 615.715.4164 or kjkennedy23@yahoo.com

TOMATO ART SHOW (Hosted by Art & Invention Gallery)

We think there is no finer collection of tomato art to be found east of the Mississippi, and maybe even in the entire tomato-eating world! WHERE: Art & Invention Gallery, 1106 Woodland St.

TIME: 10 A.M. – 7 P.M. COST: Free

CONTACT: 615.226.2070 | meg@artandinvention.com

TOMATO ART FESTIVAL

Over 200 vendors will arrive early to tempt and delight you with their wares! Come experience this wonderful collection of artists, small businesses, and fabulous food. WHERE: 5 Points, East Nashville

TIME: 9 A.M. – 6 P.M.

VISIT: tomatoartfest.com for a list of vendors and vendor map

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

FAMILY FUN OPEN HOUSE (Hosted by YMCA | YCAP )

YCAP staff and kids will be providing games and fun activities for families to enjoy inside the Ann Ragsdale Recreation Center located behind the YCAP building on Russell Street. WHERE: YCAP | 1021 Russell St.

TIME: 10 P.M. – 2 P.M.

CONTACT: Rachel Folk | rfolk@ymcamidtn.org

BOBBING FOR TOMATOES | TOMATO TOSS (Hosted by Wags & Whiskers)

Bobbing for (real) tomatoes, tossing (faux) tomatoes at a target, prizes, treats for the pooches, wading pools to cool hot paws — fun for pets and those who love them! WHERE: Wags & Whiskers (At 5 Points, between Red Door & The 5 Spot, under the Hip Zipper)

TIME: 10 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. CONTACT: 615.228.9249

CORNHOLE TOURNAMENT The Tomato is the uniter of all fruits and vegetables, and it also loves to celebrate even the simple grains. This fun event involves two players tossing bags of corn at a six-inch hole 10 yards away. Sound easy? Don’t be fooled! Come show off your skills and walk away king of the cornhole toss. (Participants must register in advance by filling out the online form available on the Tomato Art Fest website.) WHERE: Parking lot at 11th Avenue and Woodland Street

TIME: 11 A.M. - until a champion is crowned

GIANT ICE CREAM SUNDAE EXTRAVAGANZA (Sponsored by Pied Piper) Pied Piper is calling all kids ages 2-10 to help build the largest ice cream sundae in East Nashville. WHERE: Pied Piper Creamery | 114 South 11th St.

TIME: NOON

BEAUTIFUL TOMATO CONTEST (Hosted by the shops at The Idea Hatchery)

Costume contest for your tomatoes. Entries must be submitted by 1 p.m. at Alegria (located in The Idea Hatchery) to be eligible. WHERE: The Idea Hatchery |1108 Woodland St.

TIME: 1 – 2 P.M.

CONTACT: alegriagifts@yahoo.com | 615.227.8566

CONTACT: 615.227.4114

RED HEAD COMPETITION (Sponsored by Tomato Art Fest)

Just show up with your tomato red locks! This contest is open to all redheads — men, women, boys, and girls! WHERE: The Contest Stage

TIME: 2 – 3 P.M.

RECIPE CONTEST

(Sponsored by the Nashville Farmers’ Market) The best gazpacho recipes in East Nashville will duke it out in this year’s contest. Entries are limited to the first 25, so email Nashville Farmers’ Market today to reserve your spot. WHERE: Margot Café | 1017 Woodland St.

TIME: Drop off entries between 1:15 - 1:45 P.M. Judging starts promptly at 2 P.M. CONTACT: kay.west@nashville.gov

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

BIKE VALET

(Hosted by Tomato Art Fest) Why drive and struggle with parking when you can bike to the festival? Members of Walk/Bike Nashville will park your bike while you enjoy the festival. Choose from two locations: the corner of 11th and Forrest, or the corner of 11th and Russell. WHERE: Corner of Woodland Street and South 11th Street

TIME: 10 A.M. – 6 P.M.

FAUX PAW FASHION SHOW (Sponsored by LSNA)

STORY TELLING

(Sponsored by Explorastory)

If you like to dress up your pet and parade it around town, then this event was made for you!

Explorastory of Rock Castle is dedicated to the art of the oral tradition of storytelling and bringing stories to our community. Come hear our tales, so you can find a yarn of your own to share later.

WHERE: The Contest Stage (in the BP lot at the corner of 11th and Woodland Street)

TIME: NOON – 12:45 P.M.

TIME: 1 – 1:30 P.M.

BLOODY MARY COMPETITION

TOMATO-THEMED DINNER AT MARGOT CAFÉ & BAR

(Sponsored by 3 Crow Bar)

(Hosted by Margot Café & Bar)

Keep the tomato merriment going by enjoying a tomato-themed dinner menu on Saturday evening after all the daytime activities. Don’t worry! It isn’t too formal.

Try out the family recipe in a head to head competition. Tip: The judges like spice. WHERE: 3 Crow Bar | 1024 Woodland St.

WHERE: Margot Café & Bar | 1017 Woodland St.

TIME: 3 P.M.

TIME: 5:30 – 9:30 P.M.

CONTACT: 615.262.3345

COST: Varies

CONTACT: 615.227.4668 | info@margotcafe.com (Margot Café & Bar does not accept reservations made by email — you must call for a reservation)

TOMATO ART FEST MUSIC LINEUP MAIN STAGE 10 AM HALFBRASS 12 PM MEET THE SEAVERS

2 PM JONELL MOSSER 3 PM GOTH BABE 4 PM

THAT’S MY KID

EDLEY’S BAR-B-QUE STAGE 5 PM FLORALORIX

6 PM CHROME PONY 7 PM MUSIC BAND

8 PM KANSAS BIBLE COMPANY

11 AM NASHVILLE ACADEMY OF ROCK 12 PM WESTERN MEDICATION

3 PM JORDAN HOBSON

5 PM ANTHONY BILLUPS

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Bee brigade (L-R): Todd Cantrell, Lee Tucker, Marc Cover, Mia Cover, Rose Mary Drake, Cayla Wilson, and in front, the Cover’s 9-year-old son, Benjamin.

A SWEET

Collaboration Tending to Nashville’s most-numerous and least-noticed livestock is a ‘honey’ of a job

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

n a sunny May morning, Rose Mary Drake was walking her dog in her Eastwood neighborhood. It seemed to be an ordinary day, but she soon encountered a very real threat to tens of thousands of lives. “I started seeing what I thought was smoke,” she says. “At first I thought my neighbor’s house was on fire, but as I got closer, I could smell pesticides. One of my neighbors was fogging his yard. I told him I lived just a few houses down and that I had beehives in my backyard. He said, ‘Oh, I’m just spraying for mosquitoes.’ I told him most pesticides that will kill mosquitoes will also kill bees, and in fact they’re even more effective against bees. He just said, ‘Well, I’m almost finished now.’ “I went home,” Drake continues. “Throughout the day when I walked outside, I could smell pesticides. I don’t know if there was any harmful effect on my hives. I had two at the time; one has been a really strong hive and still is. The other was my weakest hive, so I decided to move it out to the country.” As an urban beekeeper, Drake knows firsthand the havoc that the cavalier spraying of pesticides can have on bee colonies. The two hives that were tucked away in her backyard contained approximately 80,000 bees. More than just an interesting hobby or a source of homegrown honey, the bees were also good neighbors, instrumental in the pollination of flower and vegetable gardens throughout the neighborhood. Their hard work benefits everyone, but one careless or uninformed human can bring on the death of an entire colony. Urban-based beekeepers face threats to the survival of their hives every day. The strongest defense is knowledge, whether it’s educating their non-beekeeping neighbors or beekeepers gathering together to swap advice and stories of their personal experiences. On a recent humid evening, a group of East Side beekeepers met for just that reason. Sitting around a table on the patio of Todd Cantrell’s Lockeland Springs home, just yards away from the two working beehives in Cantrell’s backyard, the group of men and women shared their personal experiences as tenders of East Nashville’s most-numerous and least-noticed livestock. “I grew up on a horse farm in Whites Creek, Tenn.,” Cantrell says. “My father’s uncle had beehives, and I can remember looking up at the hill that was dotted with 20 or 30 of them. I was fascinated by them and wanted to try it for myself. For many years, I traveled for a living, and I had to put off a lot of agricultural interests that I had. When I got off the road, beekeeping was something I really wanted to do. I didn’t go to any classes, but I read every book I could find on the subject from cover to cover. Then I started talking with people online. In 2006, I got my →

By Randy Fox Photography by John Partipilo

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

“ Marc and Benjamin, prepare to “smoke” a hive, which calms bees for working.

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

“

It’s been said that if the bee disappeared off the surface of the Earth, then mankind would only have four years of life left. They’re simply vital to human existence. — Todd Cantrell

first two hives. They lasted a year and half and then died because I was learning.” That first lesson, on the precarious nature of tending and maintaining beehives, was an important one. Although beekeepers have dealt with hard winters, droughts, fungal infections, diseases, and parasites since the domestication of honeybees began over 10,000 years ago, bee populations began to decrease dramatically in the 1990s and into the 21st century. At first, losses by both commercial and hobbyist beekeepers were attributed to well-known factors such as urbanization, pesticide use, and the spread of invasive parasitic species. In 2006, the same year Cantrell began beekeeping, the decline in bee populations reached alarming proportions. The term “colony collapse disorder” came into common usage as beekeepers around the world reported the sudden die-out of 30 to 90 percent of their hives, often with no clear cause. Although the precise cause of colony collapse disorder remains a mystery, some of the primary suspects include the importation of invasive parasitic species, loss of habitat, genetic disorders in commercial honeybees due to overbreeding, the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides, or a combination of these and other factors. The dramatic decline in honeybee populations didn’t just raise alarm bells among commercial beekeepers and entomologists. Home gardeners also began to take note, as Holly Street resident Lee Tucker noticed in the spring of 2008. “My wife and I had a garden in our backyard,” Tucker says. “I started noticing there weren’t any bees. I did a Google search and found out about colony collapse disorder. The following week I went to a family reunion and overheard some relatives talking about their beehives. Low and behold, they were lifelong beekeepers. One had been doing it for 20 years and invited me to come see his hives. I had always been very afraid of bees. I had some very bad experiences as a kid, but seeing my cousins open their beehives up was an overwhelming experience. I got plans for a beehive online, built one, got a starter package of bees, and it just took off from there.” Tucker’s alarm over the declining bee

CONCERTS | RESTAURANT | PRIVATE EVENTS | WINERY

Uncle Earl

8.29

w/ opener Anna and Elizabeth

population was a very real concern. An average bee colony can collect 66 pounds of pollen from flowering plants in one year. Although bees use a portion of that pollen as food for the hive, a significant amount is returned to the very plants they collect it from, resulting in widespread pollination and larger crop yields for farmers. Bees are considered essential for successful yields of apples, apricots, avocados, blackberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cucumbers, mangos, peaches, pears, plums, pumpkins, various types of squash, turnips, watermelon, and many other fruits, vegetables, and nuts. For urban farmers Mia and Marc Cover, beehives were the perfect complement to the garden and chicken coops they maintain at their Inglewood home. “I wanted to keep bees for years,” Mia says, “but it took me five or six years to talk Marc into it. We’ve lived in our house since 2003, and I’ve seen a decrease in the number of native honeybees and bumblebees. It was important to get pollinators back into our garden. I finally got Marc to agree, and last year, I attended a class with the Nashville Area Beekeepers Association. We started out with two hives and are now up to five.” “After we got the bees last year, the crop from our garden was so much better,” Marc adds. “There was a huge difference. The bees were obviously doing their job. The thing about having bees is that whatever you expected, it’s so much more. Being a person that grew up in Los Angeles, I wasn’t an outdoor person. Now I find myself going outside every morning, sitting in the yard and just watching them.” Cayla Wilson is another avid East Nashville gardener who was attracted to beekeeping for practical reasons, but has found the experience to be far more than she expected. “I worked on a local farm some last year, and I noticed a decline in pollination and was very concerned about it,” Wilson says. “My close friend Marie had been interested in bees for years, but never had the land to keep them on. We decided to become partners in beekeeping, and we got our first hive a month ago, so we’re baby beekeepers. It has been a radically transformative experience. →

UPCOMING SHOWS 7.8

BILLY JOE SHAVER W/ OPENER THE HEART OF TEXAS BAND

7.8

WASABASSCO BURLESQUE

7.9

FOUST PARTY: TIM FOUST & FRIENDS

7.10

LEON RUSSELL W/ OPENER SCOTTY BRATCHER SOLD OUT

7.11

MY SIDE OF PARADISE: JANEY STREET CD RELEASE PARTY BENEFITING GILDA’S HOUSE NASHVILLE

7.12

ANNIE MOSES BAND - THE ART OF THE LOVE SONG W/ OPENER JOSHUA CARSWELL

7.14

CHEF GARRETT (CITY WINERY) VS. CHEF AATUL (CHAUHAN ALE & MASALA HOUSE) : BLENDED BURGER PROJECT SHOWDOWN TO BENEFIT THE MARCH OF DIMES

7.16

AN EVENING WITH MACY GRAY W/ OPENER SASHA AARON

7.17

MUSCLE SHOALS REVUE W/ THE AMY BLACK BAND

7.18

WRITERS ROUND FT. WILL KIMBROUGH, TOMMY WOMACK

7.19

CHUCK PROPHET & JOSEPH ARTHUR

7.21

THE REAL DEAL STARRING TEXAS LEGENDS REVEREND HORTON HEAT (SOLO) & DALE WATSON (SOLO) - AN EVENING OF SHORT SONGS AND TALL TALES

7.22

WEBB WILDER & THE BEATNECKS

7.23

SAM BUSH BAND ALBUM RELEASE SHOW FOR STORYMAN

7.24

ELDON THACKER SHOW W/ SPECIAL GUEST LINDI ORTEGA IN THE LOUNGE

7.25

NASHVILLE JAZZ ORCHESTRA

7.29

LORI MCKENNA’S WRECK YOU TOUR W/ OPENER RUSTON KELLY SOLD OUT

7.30

JD SOUTHER

7.31

LOUIS PRIMA, JR.

LOUNGE & WINE EVENTS 7.9

BLUEGRASS BRUNCH IN THE LOUNGE

7.10

THE ELDON THACKER SHOW W/ CHRISTIAN LOPEZ IN THE LOUNGE

7.13

WINE CLASS WEDNESDAY: WASHINGTON

7.23

WINE BOOTCAMP 101- LIFE BEYOND CHARDONNAY

7.27

WINEMAKING SUMMER CLASS SERIES: TAP WINES VS BOTTLED WINES

7.30

ANGIE KEILHAUER

8.3

WINEMAKING SUMMER CLASS SERIES: WINE FAULTS & FLAWS

609 LAFAYETTE STREET, NASHVILLE, TN 37203 615.324.1010 | CITYWINERY.COM

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

It’s almost like a spiritual event watching them work.” That sense of wonder at the “Zen” of beekeeping is echoed by Tucker. “The number one thing for me with beekeeping is I finally understand the seasons,” he says. “You know in February, they’ll start bringing the yellow pollen from oak trees. You hit March, and you’re driving to work, looking at other people’s yards’ wondering which flowers are in bloom. In late spring, you’re walking through the golf course looking at the clover and wondering when it will be done for the season. In fall, you wonder if there’s going to be enough moisture in the air to get a good nectar flow. I feel way more grounded to the seasons because of the bees. You start to look at the world through their eyes, and you see the connections between things that we ignore every day.” Although living and working with bees can inspire their keepers, it’s perhaps a different story with neighbors who may view the presence of a hive as merely a source for thousands of stinging insects. That’s why education and communication are so important. “My neighbors all know I have bees,” Cantrell says. “They bring their kids over to watch them from a distance. People walk right next to them, and I have never had a problem. The most important thing is communicating with your neighbors. Living in an urban neighborhood means I should be a good steward of the bees — and it also helps if all your neighbors get a jar of honey.” Tucker agrees with the importance of communication and education of his neighbors. “We’re open with it to our neighbors and try to educate them about the bees,” he says. “Unless they see the hives, most people don’t even know we have them. The most stressful time for me is during swarm season. The last thing you want to have happen is for a swarm of bees to end up moving into someone’s house. You’re technically not liable, but you’d feel guilty about it and you want your bees back.” Although swarming, the method by which new hives are established, is actually a time when bees are less likely to sting, the sight of 20,000-30,000 bees hanging from a tree limb or the corner eve of a house can be an alarming sight. Local organizations like the Nashville Area Beekeepers Association (nashbee.org) play an important role in educating the public about bees and beekeeping, as well as providing a central point of information for both experienced and beginning beekeepers and cosponsoring area classes with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and the University of Tennessee. While beekeeping is not a cheap hobby, it is one that is relatively easy to begin in an urban environment. Equipment, bees, and the necessary information are all easy to obtain, and no permits, licenses, or zoning variances are required, merely registration with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture so that beekeepers

can be informed of potential new threats to hives. Although colony collapse disorder and other threats continue to be a serious problem, neighborhood-based amateur beekeepers actually have advantages over their larger, professional brethren. “Urban, hobbyist beekeepers are surviving where the commercial beekeepers are not,” Cantrell says. “The highly bred honeybees that most commercial operations rely on are sort of like purebred dogs or thoroughbred horses with all the genetic problems. My queens are mutts, which is one of the reasons I think they are stronger.” “In an urban environment, we’re not dealing with all the neonicotinoid pesticides that are the issue in the rural areas where they are spraying them on corn, soybeans, and clover.” Tucker adds. Beyond awareness about the effects of pesticides, non-beekeepers can help their hard-working insect neighbors by planting bee-friendly plants such as borage, buckwheat, catnip, Russian sage, zinnias, and sunflowers. Late summer and fall vegetables such as cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins are also especially attractive to bees. In general, it’s best to grow flowers from seed, as the plants available at commercial nurseries are often treated with neonicotinoid pesticides. Simple awareness and communication are the best tools at improving the survival chances of bees and the increasing benefits they bring to us all. That’s what Rose Mary Drake discovered in the aftermath of her morning encounter with clouds of pesticides. “A big part of the problem is that people just don’t know or think about the effect that pesticides have on bees,” Drake says. “The same day I saw my neighbor spraying, I posted on East Nashville Facebook page, just wanting to educate people — letting them know that there are people keeping bees in East Nashville and that pesticides can kill bees and asking that people do their research before they spray or fog their yards. It’s led to a very good discussion. A lot of people that were using natural alternatives to pesticides spoke up and it turned out to be a really positive thing.” It’s no coincidence that the beginning of human agriculture and civilization occurred simultaneously with the domestication of honey bees. It’s been a sweet collaboration for over 12 millennia, and one that we have the power to continue or bring to an end. “Bees are such amazing creatures,” Cantrell says. “They have a society that works together as one organism. Most people simply don’t realize just how truly special they are. Especially with the disconnect that most people now have with their food and where it comes from. It’s been said that if the bee disappeared off the surface of the Earth, then mankind would only have four years of life left. They’re simply vital to human existence.” July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

For over three decades Pastor John McCullough ministered to the congregation of the Woodland Presbyterian Church. He was a pioneer in the outreach to Nashvilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s LBGT community and advocated for the underprivelidged. Photographed by John Partipilo in the sanctuary.

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016 2016

CALLED to Follow Throughout his career, Pastor John McCullough has been a force for social justice on the East Side By Randy Fox July July | | August August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

n 1976, Capt. John McCullough was serving in the Army Corps of Engineers. He was stationed at a small Army base in Germany, just weeks away from returning home to the U.S. One night, a visitor stopped by his quarters. “A young sergeant came by and asked to talk to me,” McCullough recalls. “We had met at the small chapel community on the base. He told me he was gay, and that he had been in a steady relationship with a German national. He was pretty sure that other people in his unit had found out about his relationship. At that time, just being gay was cause for dishonorable discharge from the Army. He was very afraid and just needed to confide in someone. Since he was not in my chain of command, I was under no obligation to report what he had told me. I could have, but I knew he was a very competent NCO, and he had trusted in me as a friend. I chose not to betray that trust.” Forty years later, Pastor John McCullough is telling that story of a frightened young man who placed his trust in him. While the incident wasn’t a turning point for McCullough, it was one of several experiences that led him from a career as an Army officer to 37 years as the pastor of Woodland Presbyterian Church in East Nashville. Throughout his ministerial career, Pastor

John — or simply “John,” as he prefers to be called — built a reputation as a dedicated advocate for social justice. He has forged partnerships with many nonprofits supporting homeless advocacy, antipoverty causes, community organization, and education. He was also a pioneer in church outreach to the Nashville LGBT community, helping establish Woodland as an “inclusive community of faith.” When he officially retired from his ministry on June 1, 2016, it was the close of an amazing career, but not the end of his story. A native of Chattanooga, McCullough set

“

Point, and our civilian advisor was a Southern Baptist home missionary. He told me that I would have to take my commission or serve as an enlisted man in the Army to pay back my education. So naturally I took the commission and just set aside thoughts of any other career.” Graduating in 1965, McCullough accepted a commission in the Army Corps of Engineers. He spent the next 11 years in the Army, with tours of duty in Vietnam in 1967 and 1970. “After my first tour in Vietnam, I came back and began having doubts about what I was doing,” he says. “Especially after what I observed

I began to look at the Gospel of Jesus as not a way to save your soul so you could go to heaven, but as a way to change the world for the better. his sights on a career in the military during high school. Securing a scholarship to the United States Military Academy at West Point, his future seemed certain. “In hindsight, I had several experiences that were calls to the ministry, but I ignored them,” McCullough says. “When I was about to graduate from West Point, I began to have second thoughts about a military career. I had been active in the Baptist student group at West

in Vietnam and how the ordinary people were pushed back and forth between the two warring sides.” Despite his doubts, six more years passed before a turning point arrived, shortly after he returned to the U.S. from his tour of duty in Germany. “I was expecting to be promoted from captain to major and got passed over, which just doesn’t happen to West Point graduates,” McCullough says. “I was forced →

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

STACIE HUCKEBA

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+1 615.516.4664 // stacie@staciehuckeba.com

staciehuckeba.com 80

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

P H OT OGRAP H BY JOH N PAR T IP ILO

to realize that I wasn’t pursuing my military career with my full zeal, and I started thinking about what it was that I ought to be doing. I decided to leave the Army and study theology. “I came to Vanderbilt in the summer of 1976 and graduated in the summer of 1979,” he continues. “About a month before I graduated, I heard about this church in East Nashville that was looking for a pastor. I made contact with them and was asked to preach on Easter Sunday. Then they asked me to come back on Pentecost Sunday, and I’ve been preaching there ever since.” The church that welcomed McCullough was Woodland Presbyterian Church in the heart of East Nashville. Founded in 1858 as the First Presbyterian Church of Edgefield at Fifth and Woodland, the church relocated to its present site at North 11th Street and Gartland Avenue in 1916. With its neoclassical architecture and prominent red clay dome capping the building’s sanctuary, it was an iconic landmark in East Nashville, but the well-being of the congregation was another matter. “In 1979, we had 110 members and the average age was 62, and counting my two children, there were only nine children in the church,” McCullough says. “The congregation had been dwindling since 1950 when they had 600 members. Throughout the 1970s, people had moved out of East Nashville by the droves. For the next couple of years, we had a net growth of one or two a year, and then we hit a wall when the newness of my pastorship wore off.” Although the prospects for the church’s future may have looked dim, forces were already at work that would eventually bring changes to the neighborhood. “Not long after I came to Woodland, the first urban pioneers moved into the neighborhood, buying old houses, rehabbing them and living in them,” McCullough

says. “It was a glimmer that the neighborhood did have a future. More folks began to move in and you could see the neighborhood gradually coming back to life. God was doing stuff, and I just got on board with it.” Part of that “getting on board” was finding

real world opportunities to make a difference in the surrounding neighborhood, and the lives of people who were already living in it. “A phrase I use quite often in sermons is, ‘We’re not called to worship Jesus; we’re called to follow Jesus,’ ” McCullough says. “I point to the character of Jesus as being four things

— feeding the hungry, healing the sick, liberating folks who are oppressed by social forces or their own inner psychic forces, and welcoming everyone. That’s what we tried do as a church.” With ample unused space in the church’s building, Woodland has opened its doors to many nonprofit agencies over the years, including Martha O’Bryan Center, Monroe Harding Children’s Home, Community IMPACT!, and Linden Corner School. Currently, the church provides offices for the Parents Day Out Program, the Urban Green Lab environmental education group, and the CWJC Southern Baptist job corps program. Woodland has also been a prominent supporter of several homeless outreach programs, including Room in the Inn, which provides overnight shelter during winter months. The church also holds Wednesday night suppers that are open to church members and visitors alike and Saturday night suppers for the homeless and hungry that are cosponsored with Church of the Redeemer, Trinity Church, Midtown Fellowship, and First Baptist Nashville. In addition to his work with social justice causes, an encounter with an old friend eventually led to one of the primary focuses of McCullough’s ministry. “In 1980, I got this call from the young sergeant I had known in Germany,” McCullough says. “He had been tossed out of the Army and was living in Oregon. He came to Nashville and visited with my wife and I. I didn’t hear from him after that and, a few years later, I got curious about him and found that his name was on the memorial AIDS quilt.” Shortly after that discovery, a gay couple began attending services at Woodland, and McCullough welcomed them. CO N T I NUED ON PAGE 130

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Where Needs

are Nourished Fannie Battle Day Home has been taking care of at-risk children for 125 years By John McBryde 82

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

PH O T OG R APH CO UR T ES Y FA NN I E B ATT LE DAY HOME FOR CH ILDREN

t’s been 25 years since her father died, but Nettie Black can still remember the advice he had given her when she was at a crossroads in her career. “Ms. Nettie,” as she is known by the children and parents she has served at Fannie Battle Day Home for Children for the past quarter-century, was weighing a couple of job offers she had received back in the early 1990s. She had just left a position at a daycare in Nashville, and one of the moms from there had asked her to start immediately as her full-time nanny for her child. The other opportunity was with Fannie Battle, at the time a 100-year-old child care center serving at-risk children primarily from East Nashville. The latter held the more attractive offer, but it meant waiting a while before the job would actually become available. Dad’s advice was to be patient. “I talked to my dad, and he said I should wait on Fannie Battle,” Black recalls, as she takes a break from disciplining some boys

directly served by the day home have perhaps participated in — or are at least familiar with — Fannie Battle Caroling for Kids, the center’s annual fundraiser which is also commemorating a milestone this year with its 100th anniversary. “For an organization to have served the community for that many years is pretty amazing,” says Melanie Shinbaum, who has been with Fannie Battle since 2013 and became executive director in June 2015. “You would love to say the need doesn’t exist anymore, but it does, and we’re serving the same needs (as were served 125 years ago). I think throughout the years, Fannie Battle has always had this core of serving at-risk working families, providing care while the parents work. “For parents and families to improve for themselves, they need to be able to work, but they also need to know their children are cared for in a quality way,” Shinbaum adds. “Otherwise, if it weren’t for Fannie Battle and programs like us, they might make choices to either not work or leave their children in care that certainly wouldn’t be as educational or as enriching.” The dynamics may have been different, but the concerns Miss Battle faced as a teacher and social worker in late 19th century Nashville were at their core the same as to-

“

The goal is for kids to start kindergarten with their peers regardless of their backgrounds. We have great results on those outcomes. — Fannie Battle Executive Director Melanie Shinbaum who aren’t exactly getting along on the center’s playground. “ ‘I think that would be better for you,’ he told me. ‘That way you can go on vacation, you can have insurance, and other benefits.’ So I came here, and two weeks after that my dad passed. And this has been my home ever since. I love it here.” Fannie Battle has served as home to thousands of children since it was founded 125 years ago by Miss Fannie Battle, a children’s advocate who saw a need to help kids who were unsupervised while their parents went to work. Now the oldest child care center in Middle Tennessee, the Fannie Battle Day Home is as iconic to Nashville as are the Ryman Auditorium, the Parthenon, and The Hermitage Hotel. Even those families not

day’s. She observed young children roaming the streets while their parents were away at work, so to help address that condition and to protect at least some of the children from possible danger or other consequences, Miss Battle rented a room and began caring for children at what was then called the Addison Avenue Day Home. Miss Battle was also part of an effort to open what was known as the Fresh Air Camp in the Craggie Hope community west of Nashville. It was used as a vacation spot and convalescence facility for impoverished mothers and their children, and in the early part of the 20th century, it served as a place for recuperation during the tuberculosis outbreaks of the time. The day home took on its current →

July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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P H OT OGRAP H S COUR TESY FANNIE B ATTL E DAY H O ME FO R C H I L DR E N

name upon the death of Fannie Battle in 1924, and 34 years later the organization moved to Shelby Avenue and expanded its care to a greater age range of children. It stayed in that facility until 2011, when it relocated to its current home at 108 Chapel Ave. in what was originally a church and later a small private school. “Our square footage was approximately doubled, and as we moved, we increased the number of children that we served,” Shinbaum

The playground at Fannie Battle — both the more rudimentary one from years ago and today’s eco-friendly area — is a key part of the children’s development.

says. “We have increased [enrollment] two more times, and still have room to expand, and we now have 126 students (ages 6 weeks to 12 years) fully enrolled.” Fannie Battle has a staff of between 25 and 30 people, depending on needs and time of year, and it benefits from around 2,000 volunteer hours every year. Some on the staff have been with the organization long enough to now be seeing children of former students come through the day home. Nettie Black has seen it all. “I’m all over the place,” she says of her various duties, adding that her favorite part of her job is “when I get here in the morning and

see the smiles, the families waving out of their car, saying, ‘Hey, Ms. Nettie.’ I enjoy watching my kids grow up, move on, get married. Some even come back and say they want to work in daycare because of me. ‘You inspired me to do this,’ they’ll tell me. It’s rewarding in itself. It’s not about the pay. Your heart has to be in it, and my heart is really in it.” One of the students who returned to Fannie Battle as a young adult is Ameera Northern, now 20 and a rising senior majoring in psychology at Tennessee State University. She participated in a Nashville Public Library program known as TOTAL (Totally Outstanding Teens Advocating for the Library), and one of the group’s projects was going to various schools and daycare centers to talk about →

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bullying and internet safety. It included a stop at Fannie Battle, where Northern had attended as a preschooler and for after-school care. “[Fannie Battle] was a really good experience for me,” says Northern, who grew up in East Nashville. “I really liked it. When I found out we were going to go to Fannie Battle to talk about bullying, I was excited because I hadn’t been back in a long time.” Like Northern, most of the current and

21 percent are working and attending school, and 4 percent are in school. The day home provides many families with tuition aid, and less than half of that funding and other costs comes from corporate or individual donors or in the form of grants. Some 60 percent of Fannie Battle’s operating budget is through fundraising, and a key component of that over the last century has been the Fannie Battle Caroling for Kids campaign held each December. Miss Battle’s day home was starting to hit hard times financially, and by 1916, the organization was on the verge of having to close its doors. To prevent that from happening, some associates came up with the idea of caroling as a fundraiser, enlisting volunteers throughout Nashville to carol door-to-door on Christmas Eve. The fundMiss Fanny Battle helped to start the Fresh Air Camp just west of raiser now runs Dec. 1-24, Nashville around the turn of the 19th century, and it was used to with volunteers in nearly a help mothers and their children to recuperate from the outbreak dozen different districts in of tuberculosis in the early 1900s. the city participating. “I think the way the community has supported Fannie Battle [has been here for a number of years has some sort of a key to the day home’s longevity],” Shinbaum story about caroling for Fannie Battle.” says. “That’s really where it gets into our hisCassie Morgan, the day home’s developtory of caroling for kids. To have a fundraiser ment manager, happened to meet someone that’s still your largest fundraiser after 100 whose mother had worked for Fannie Battle years really speaks to the involvement of the back in the 1950s and ’60s, and the person community. Just about anybody who has lived CO N T I NUED ON PAGE 131

“ I enjoy watching my kids grow up, move on, get married. — Nettie Black

former students at Fannie Battle are from the East Side. “The majority of our families live fairly close by,” Shinbaum says. “Most are from East Nashville, Inglewood, and Madison. We have some from the downtown loop area. They’re primarily at-risk children. That has always been our mission, and it is still the core of who we serve.” Ninety percent of the children enrolled at Fannie Battle are from poverty-level or low-income families, 86 percent are minorities, and nearly 80 percent are from single-parent homes. One of the stipulations for enrollment is that families must be working and/or in school — 75 percent are currently working,

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IMAGES OF

CUBA A Photo Essay by John Partipilo

July July | | August August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

An Introduction If you’ve never been to Cuba, the photographs on these pages will nearly take you there. The colors of the cars and buildings penetrate your brain, and you can almost smell the rich, warm sweetness of the Vinales Valley tobacco. These photographs are transportive and gorgeous, and engage the senses. But take a moment and look again. With another glance you might feel the two-dimensional boundaries dissolving, pulling you into the photographs themselves. Somehow, you are riding in the backseat of a 1953 Thunderbird. By some curious switch, you are now standing beside a bleary-eyed woman in the doorway of her home, sensing her everyday hopes and hardships. Viewing these photographs you might wonder, “How am I actually in these photographs? What magic is this?” While the magic itself cannot be named, the magician can. He is John Partipilo, two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, an 18-year resident of East Nashville, and a contributing photographer for The East Nashvillian. If you fancy yourself a photographer as I do, you might find his work as much intimidating as it is inspiring. As most photographers know from repeated failures, capturing “the decisive moment” with regularity is incredibly difficult. But, as I learned firsthand in Cuba, John makes it look easy. For three weeks this past spring, I bore witness to John’s creative process. Together we drove nearly the entire length of Cuba — from Havana to Guantanamo — documenting a wide assortment of people and situations: backstage at a drag show; a wedding party; an open-casket funeral; families in their homes. We shot cockfights and ballet rehearsals, cliff divers, urban farmers, street kids, club musicians, and much, much more. Cuba is what photographers might call a “target-rich environment,” hyperstimulating and rife with opportunities. But for me, a newbie shooter with much to learn, the greater value and privilege, frankly, was the opportunity to absorb wisdom directly from a true professional possessing what seems to be several lifetimes of finely tuned talent. Time and again during our Cuban journey, I observed John doing what great artists/photographers do: the bending of light into stories by turning mundane moments into intimate and mesmerizing photographs that reveal inner worlds and larger truths.

— Dan Heller

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Learning to see through the eyes of a Master: John Partipilo photographed by Dan Heller in Cuba, spring 2016.

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Havana, the capitol of Cuba, has much historic charm, but has lost much of its lustre because Fidel Castro redirected the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary resources toward the improvement of conditions in rural Cuba after the Revolution. Many of the buildings are falling apart. The Cuban Capitol can be seen under reconstruction. July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Juan Perez lights up a cigarette in his apartment in Havana. Like many other Cubans, he lives in a rundown building that needs much work. He struggles to make money everyday. Even though he gets benefits from the government, it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough to live on. Everyone in Havana seems to be hustling to make more. I am not convinced that for common people much has changed since the Batista government. 94

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Raul is a vendor at the Mercado Agropecuario — or farmers market — in the city of Camaguay. Onions and garlic are some of the most expensive items to buy at the market at around $3 a pound. It’s very hard for many families in Cuba to afford them, so you see a lot of garlic and onions hanging about. July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

Mercedes Lugones is a Santeria practioner in Trinidad. Santeria, also known as Regla de Ocha or La Regla de Ifa, is a religion of Carribbean origin that developed in the Spanish empire among West African decendents. Santeria is also a Spanish word that means the Worship of Saints. Santeria is influenced by and syncretized with Roman Catholicism. 98

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Dayana Chevavez Toledo was my interpreter. She speaks four languages, and like many Cubans, idolizes Che Guevara, one of the heroes of the Revolution. She took us to the Che Guevara Mausoleum, which is the most revered place in Cuba. It contains the remains of Che Guevara, who was killed in1967 in Bolivia. No one is allowed to speak in the mausoleum. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If anyone asks you where you are from, say Canada, not the United States,â&#x20AC;? Dayana warned.

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Mamino Gonzalez Gomez, 85, has been rolling cigars at the famous Alejandro Robaina Tobacco Plantation since he was 20. I was taken by how his hands looked very similar to the tobacco he was rolling.

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The fashion in the windows is not for Cubans — they couldn’t possible afford clothing like this. It is for tourists to buy. Most Cubans don’t make enough money to afford clothes like this. July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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On the way to Vinales, where the best tobacco is grown, it occurred to me that I was in some kind of time warp from the ’50s. Most of the cars one might see are old American cars from the ’50s and ’60s. The Cubans are very resourceful and have fashioned their own parts to fix the cars because American parts are not available.

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WED, JULY 27

WED, SEP 14

FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

WED, AUG 3

WED, SEP 28

(LAST DAY/SUMMER)

THE SANDLOT WED, AUG 24

THE GOONIES WED, SEP 14 (LABOR DAY)

PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE

108 108 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July July| |August August2016 2016

THE PRINCESS BRIDE WED, OCT 5 (FALL BREAK)

HOOK

WED, OCT 12

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (RAIN DATES: WED, OCT 19 & WED, OCT 26)

KNOW your NEIGHBOR

“T

PH O T OG R APH BY J O HN PAR TI PI L O

here’s a lot of math in choreography. Basically, you’re just trying to solve a puzzle. You’ve got six or eight dancers, and you’ve got this much music to deal with, and this much space to deal with, and what do you want to do with it? Unlike the math where at the end of the day you have to make a decision and send in the answers — actuarial stuff, underwriting stuff, it is sort of an art form. It’s not like accounting where there’s a right answer and a wrong answer and it’s all black and white — there’s a lot of gray in underwriting and a lot of gray in actuarial stuff, so with regards to dancing, it’s the same thing.” — Wendy Windsor

Wendy WINDSOR

care industry doing underwriting in the daytime, and divides the rest of her time between studying for her exams and, as by Tommy Womack mentioned, teaching Irish folk dancing on Sundays at DancEast on Woodland. Windsor was a math major with a music minor in college (probably the only person in her class with that cobination) and fell in love with Irish dancing around the age of 30. “I saw my first Irish step dancer back in ’86 or ’87, here at TPAC, and I said, ah — that’s what I want to do,” she recalls. “And there wasn’t anyone teaching, so I ended up doing Scottish Highland dancing for seven or eight years, and then I started doing Irish step dancing; I just The average Joe just really loved it and got lost in the middle loved the music. I of that first paragraph. haven’t done much “Actuarial” would refer with the hammered to the work done by an dulcimer because actuary, and an actuary these actuary exams analyzes risk, as in risk require so many for businesses. For hours of study, and instance, an insurance when you add in the company needs to calculate how much it can charge consumers verfull-time job, the teaching kids, you have to kind of run a tight ship, sus how much it can afford to pay out in claims. Such calculations not much time for a lot of other stuff.” extend to other businesses too. Performances for the public come here and there, for schools, “It depends on what kind of risk you’re looking to price,” Wendy nursing homes, etc.; but the major activity for Windsor and other Windsor, your local risk analyst and Irish dancing instructor, says. dancers kicks in during the St. Patrick’s Day season, when they often “Whether you’re trying to price pension and retirement risk, or gig several times a day for green beer-drinking revelers. They’ve invaded Bongo Java annually at 9 a.m., completely unannounced, and health care risk, yeah, you could do property and casualty kind of dance for all the hipsters and regular folks all sipping their wake-up risk. I’ve just been in health care so long that I’m probably going to joe, rubbing their bleary eyes and wondering if they’re really seeing work with a consulting firm eventually.” what they’re seeing. “That’s always fun,” Windsor says. This field of endeavor would extend to any business that has to A Monroe, La., native, Windsor came to Nashville for Vanderbilt reckon how much can go out based on how much is likely to come undergrad studies in 1983, fell in love with the town, and has been in. This prognostication is what an actuary does. And of course, it a resident of the East Side ever since. So what does she do for fun? goes hand in hand with Irish folk dancing. Sure it does. “I like to bake,” she says, “and I love going to shows and supporting Windsor sits at a table at The Family Wash, long hair past her the local music scene.” Perhaps she could maybe someday turn her shoulders. It should be noted that she’s not a full-fledged actuary yet; she has two exams yet to take and pass, and they’re muther-humpin’ actuarial services toward musicians, and we can all figure out how to not lose any more money than we already do. exams — comparable to passing the bar. She works in the health To learn more about Windsor’s dance studio, vist scott-ellis.com.

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YOU SAY TOMATO WE SAY RADIO

MORE SPECIFICALLY. . .WE SAY JUICY, DELICIOUS, HOMEGROWN RADIO 110

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w.t.f.? By Stacie Huckeba

An East Nashville Field Guide

ey, did you guys hear that Steve Poltz moved here? That’s so kick-ass and crazy. Lots of good people have moved here, and I’m happy for it. You old-timers know most of this stuff, but for all you newbies, welcome, and here’s my field guide to East Nashville.

Driving: My friend Aaron Lee Tasjan once dedicated a song to “all the people trying to take a left on Gallatin.” Traffic is a situation. The lights make no sense. I’m pretty sure that the best parties in town take place at the traffic planning committee meetings. There’s no way sober people are making these decisions. 5 Points: 5 Points is the command post. You got your Purple Building (even though it’s not purple right now). Stick an ear on the door from time to time. Some great bands jam in there. Cumberland Hardware is awesome and has cats. I buy all my hammers there. There’s great food. I’ll lay money on the 3 Crow having the best burger in town. Try the catfish at TENN16, the BLT at Marché, and you are crazy town if you don’t get a dog from I Dream of Weenie. There are great bars. The 5 Spot is my bar. If you know who Townes Van Zandt is, it’s probably your bar, too. If not, you might be more comfortable at Margo. I can’t say for sure, I was only in there once, but I could tell that those weren’t Townes’ people. The gas station there is technically called “Benny’s Market.” Benny runs it and he’s amazeballs and has great stories. Say hello and introduce yourself. He’s lovely!

bagging groceries or bringing in carts. He’s recognizable as he is clearly operating on another vibrational level. I love him. Fun fact: He’s also a brilliant organist. Ask him when he plays next and go. Your mind will be blown! The Hang: Live music? The Basement East — or The Beast, as locals call it. No live jams your jam? Mickey’s. It’s a good, old-fashioned, sit-and-talk-shit bar. The Family Wash is just home. Go for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Go for the Carpetbaggers Local 615 — they play every Tuesday night — and kiss Jamie Ruben for being a hero. Tips and Tricks: Riverside can make a good alternative to Gallatin. So can Ellington Parkway. Bolton’s is it for Hot Chicken. Shelby Park/Shelby Bottoms has some damn beautiful trails and running paths. Hair World by the Firestone across from No. 308 is a gold mine. The Tomato Art Fest is a must. This magazine is a great resource. Be Cool is kind of our motto, and “Play a Train Song” is our theme. Some of us get kinda sensitive about it. Developers can’t block roads without a permit. Make them show it or let you through. FYI, it’s illegal for them to work on Sunday.

Coffee: I don’t want to disparage anyone here; I’ve been down that road with this publication before, and it was a mess. So I won’t mention Barista Parlor, but I will say there is a parody Instagram account for them, and it rules. I love the upstairs at Portland Brew, the patio at Ugly Mugs. The Post is growing on me, and Sip Café has ice cream. If you are into brewing your own, check out Bean Central.

Rumors and Lies: Skip Litz (RIP) was and will always be the unofficial Mayor of East Nashville. I will forever mourn the loss of the Flatlander Enchiladas at the Alley Cat. You’re so East Nashville if you have a dog that came from the upstairs of the Radio Café. Todd Snider did indeed host many a fireworks show on the golf course. And yes, we were high as hell. There was door-to-door caroling on the night of Christmas Eve. It started in Little Hollywood and made its way to the 3 Crow. We picked up all kinds of characters along the way. I loved it. There were front porch parties where people like Cowboy Jack and WS Holland would jam. Everyone was invited. Summer nights used to sound like cicadas, garage bands in the distance, and Phoenix Radio. … OK, I’m just getting sentimental now.

Kroger: OK, here is the truth. It’s not a good or bad situation. They both have their charms. The Inglewood one is bigger and brighter and always has the sodas I use to make my evening cocktail with. The one at Eastland is a bit … um … rougher. But George works there. He’s amazing. You’ll know him from

Shit Happens: This is a neighborhood in transition. It’s a weird ’hood. Always has been, and I suspect always will be. That’s its beauty. But in case of emergency, there’s 911 or 615-862-8600, the direct line to the nonemergency dudes. I’ve used it for some weird shit. You probably will, too.

Stacie Huckeba is a photo-taking, rock star wrangler who is a teller of tales and a notorious instigator. Her hobbies include shenanigans, cocktails on the patio, pottery, and properly planned capers. In spite of her ramblings here, she thinks you are perfect. Go to staciehuckeba.com for pictures of famous people and links to her social media.

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EAST SIDE CALENDAR EMMA ALFORD CALENDAR EDITOR

J U L Y | A U G U S T 2016

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

UPCOMING

FARM TO LOCKELAND TABLE

FARM FRESH

10 a.m.-noon, Saturday, July 16, Lockeland Table

CSA Discussion

East Nashville Farmers Market 3:30-7 p.m. Wednesdays, Shelby Park

Amqui Station Farmers Market 12-3 p.m., Sundays through August, Amqui Station, Madison

Take a detour from your usual trek to Kroger and stop by these markets. They offer the “cream of the crop” in locally grown organic and fresh foods. Peruse the local cheeses, milk, breads, herbs, fruits, vegetables, jams, and jellies. A few merchants even sell handmade goods, such as soaps, candles, pottery, and jewelry. Go out and meet the farmers who make your food. They also accept SNAP (food stamp) benefits. Grocery shopping has never been this fun — or homegrown. The East Nashville Farmers Market will run through the end of October, Amqui will run until Aug. 30. Double down and visit both.

•

RAY LAMONTAGNE FRIDAY, JULY 29

CSA, community supported agriculture, is in keeping with the current farm to table trend. If you’ve ever been to Lockeland Table, then you’ll know they’re firm supporters of this edible ideology. Chris Winters of White Squirrel Farms will give the rundown on his methods and approach to small farming vs. commodity farming. Lockeland’s Chef Hal Holden-Bache will share his tips and tricks to preparing White Squirrel’s veggies. You can expect to go home with a belly full of tasty samples, a bundle of vegetables, and some fresh knowledge about how to prepare them. Reserve your spot today for $50 by calling Lockeland Table. 1520 Woodland St.

spoken. We can promise crowd favorites and family-friendly films on the big LED screen. Food trucks and local vendors will provide concessions. Don’t forget about the full beer garden for you of-age folks. Shop at the East Nashville Farmers Market earlier in the day and you can get a $2 discount on movie concessions with your receipt. The park opens at 5:30, but movie start times will vary with twilight; check the website for screening times. Wednesday, July 27

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Wednesday, Aug 3

The Sandlot

Wednesday, Aug 24

The Goonies Sunday, Sept. 4

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure Wednesday, Sept. 14

Guardians of the Galaxy

CINEMA AT SHELBY

Shelby Park Picture Show 5:30 p.m. (movie start times vary) Old Timer’s Baseball Complex (Shelby Park)

With summer winding down, what better way to spend it than outdoors? The Shelby Park Picture Show series is back with more dates, more vendors, and of course, more movies. We took some polls to find the best flicks for this year’s lineup and the people have

BEN RECTOR

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27

Wednesday, Sept. 28

The Princess Bride Wednesday, Oct. 5

Hook

Wednesday, Oct. 12

Raiders of the Lost Ark

✳

AMOS LEE

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

310 1st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37201 • AscendAmphitheater.com @AscendAmphitheater

/ascendamphitheaternashville

Ascend_amphitheater

Charge By Phone: 800-745-3000. All dates, acts and ticket prices subject to change without notice. Ticket prices subject to applicable fees.

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PICKIN’ AT THE AIRPARK

Cornelia Fort Picking Parties 6 p.m., July 30, Aug. 27, Sept. 17, Cornelia Fort Airpark

The Airpark’s Pickin’ Parties have made their return. There are three more shows left this season, with some great local acts filling out the bill. Bring a banjo, fiddle, or whatever stringed instrument tickles your fancy, you’ll even get an extra drink ticket if you do. Starting at 6 p.m., there will be food trucks and beer on the tarmac, music kicks off at 7. All ticket purchases come with a drink ticket. Bring that favorite blanket or fold-out chair and soar with the music. 1199 Shadow Lane

July 30: Luke Bell w/ The Farmer and Adele Aug. 27: The Howlin’ Brothers w/ Bill and the Belles Sept. 17: Brazilbilly (feat. Jesse Lee Jones) w/ Ashleigh Caudill

•

EARFULLS FOR FREE

Live On The Green

5-11 p.m., Aug. 11, 18, 25, and Sept. 1-3, Public Square Park

No reason to be green with envy over these shows because they’re free. Live On The Green is back, kicking off in August. There will be free shows every Thursday in August, ending with a three-day festival the first weekend of September. The full schedule can be found at liveonthegreen.com. 408 Second Ave. N.

TIME OF THE TOMATO

Tomato Art Festival Aug. 12-13, 5 Points

What’s big, red, juicy, and hot? The Tomato Art Festival, of course. Anyway you serve it, we love those ’maters. The Tomato Art Festival is returning this August, redder and better than ever. Nestled into 5 Points, you’ll be able to find a smattering of live entertainment, choice local tomato art, food vendors, contests, and games. It’s probably

the only time of the year it pays off to be a ginger — the brightest of the bunch can enter the fest’s annual Red Head competition, just don’t forget your sunscreen. Get there in time to catch the ’mater parade. And if you’ve been eating your tomatoes, join in on the 5K to kick off the festivities. We guarantee you’ll find some of the tastiest Bloody Marys there, too.

REMEMBERING WORLD WAR II

World War II Remembrance Day & Encampment Weekend Aug. 12-13, Amqui Station and Visitor’s Center

Madison is paying homage to our military history this August with a special remembrance day weekend. Friday, they will kick off the weekend with a 1940s-esque movie night, including a news reel, Tom & Jerry shorts, and the classic Arsenic and Old Lace. Saturday, there will be a “living history” event with reenactors and an encampment, plus more military exhibits and museum theater. There will also be a recognition ceremony for local World War II veterans. They’ll end the evening with the Stage Door Canteen Dance, complete with big band music for optimal rug cutting. Don your best 1940s attire for this USO-style shindig, dance scoots from 7 to 10 p.m. All veterans are encouraged to attend the event with their families and share their stories. 301-B Madison St., Madison, 37115

PORTER EAST POWWOW

Sundays at Porter East

12-4 p.m., first Sunday of every month through summer at the Shops at Porter East

The Shops at Porter East are bringing their own version of “Sunday funday” to us this summer. Throughout the warmer months, they are hosting a parking lot party of sorts. All the shops will have drinks and treats for Sunday shoppers, plus a food truck or two will roll into the parking lot. Shop on by. 723 Porter Road

TAKE ME TO THE PICTURE SHOW

Grassy Knoll Movie Nights 7 p.m., second Sunday of every month through October, side lawn @ Bongo Java East

Bring your own blanket, relax, and enjoy the show. 5 Points’ favorite sit-in picture show has returned. They’ll be playing our favorite cult classics into the fall. Who needs IMAX, 114

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EAST SIDE CALENDAR

anyway? Park it on the grass next to Bongo East instead. It’ll only cost you $5 to watch, or $4 with a canned food donation to Second Harvest. Only $1 for the kiddies. Food trucks and local brews will be on standby, so you won’t go hungry or thirsty. Check Grassy Knoll Movie Nights’ Facebook page for what they’re showing each month. 109 South 11th St.

in a “happy hour” from 5-7 p.m., offering discounted prices on their merchandise to fellow stumblers. Be sure to check out the happy hour deals in The Idea Hatchery.

PICTURE PERFECT

Amelie Guthrie “Light from Light”

Nashville Community Darkroom Presents: Deadline Today 9 a.m., second Saturday of every month, Nashville Community Darkroom

This pop-up photography scramble is the best way for those folks always staring through a lens to spend their Saturday. Here’s the idea: photographers are tasked with shooting, processing, printing, and displaying their photographic interpretations of a theme revealed to them the morning of the competition. The rendezvous spot is Nashville Community Darkroom at 9 a.m., where you will be given the topic. You’ll have the afternoon with East Nashville as your canvas. Take photos that you feel fit the theme, then truck it back to the darkroom to process your film. Prints will be hung in the darkroom’s adjoining gallery space. Since Deadline Today is hosted in coordination with the East Side Art Stumble, stumblers will judge the photos that evening and choose the winner from 6-9 p.m. Go analog, baby. 1143 Gallatin Ave.

• UPCOMING

ART EXHIBITS East Side Art Stumble

6-10 p.m., second Saturday of every month, multiple East Nashville galleries

We don’t art crawl on the East Side, we art stumble. Every month, local galleries and studios will open their doors after hours to showcase some of the fabulous work they have gracing their walls. Participating venues stretch across East Nashville — Gallery Luperca, Modern East Gallery, Red Arrow Gallery, Sawtooth Printshop, and Main Street Gallery, to name a few. You can expect to see a diverse, eclectic mix of art, affording the opportunity to meet local artists and support their work. Local retail stores are stumbling in as well, with some businesses participating

Red Arrow Art Gallery

919 Gallatin Ave., Suite 4 (new location)

Olivia Hill “Holocenia” July 9-Aug. 7 July 9-Aug. 7

Alic Daniel “The Next Step” Aug. 8-Sept. 4

CG2 Gallery One Night POP UP Aug. 8

Modern East Gallery 1006 Fatherland St. #203

Wanderlust Imagery’s “Spanish Summer”

July 1-30 Opening reception 6-9 p.m. , Saturday, July 9

Gallery Luperca 604 Gallatin Ave. #212

Wine & Design

5:30-8:30 p.m., monthly event, date TBD

“Trumped Up” – various artists

July 9-Aug. 10 Opening reception 6-9 p.m., Saturday, July 9

• SHELBY PARK EVENTS & CLASSES

Birdwatching-Morning Walk in Shelby Park 7-8:30 a.m., Saturday, July 16 All ages, registration required

Painting on the Back Porch

1-2:30 p.m., Saturday, July 16 All ages, registration required

Public Canoe and Kayak Trip

Time TBD, Sunday, July 17 Time TBD, Sunday, Aug. 21 Call 615-429-3549 for details and registration

Bike Ride: Full Moon

8-9:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 19 All ages, registration required

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Body Works

Color Me Happy: Coloring on the Back Porch

Mussel and Flow

9:30-10:30 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 27 Ages 18+, registration required

“Sleep Tight Nashville” Book Reading

9:30-10:30 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 27 All ages, registration required

9:30-10:30 a.m., Saturday, July 23 Ages 18+, registration required 11 a.m.-noon, Saturday, July 23 All ages, registration required 6-7 p.m., Friday, July 29 All ages, registration required

Tree ID in the Shade

2-3 p.m., Saturday, July 30 All ages

Star Gazing

10:30 p.m.-12 a.m., Saturday, July 30 All ages, registration required

Kayaking the Cumberland

8-10:30 a.m., Friday, Aug. 5 Ages 12+, registration required

Sunflower Power!

2-3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 6 All ages, registration required

Storytime!

2-3 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 10 All ages, registration required

Documentary: Florida Wildlife Expedition CorridorEverglades to Okefenokee 7:30-9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 11 Ages 8+, registration required

6-8 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 24 Ages 21+, registration required

Body Works

WILDflower Power

• RECURRING TELL ME A STORY East Side Storytellin’

7 p.m., the first and third Tuesdays, The Post

Looking for something to get your creative juices flowing? They’ve partnered with WAMB radio to present an all-out affair with book readings, musical performances, and author/ musician interviews in just one evening. If you want some adult beverages, feel free to BYOB. Check the website to see who the guests of honor will be for each performance. The event is free, but you may want to reserve a spot by calling East Side Story ahead of time. 1701 Fatherland St. Suite A, 615.915.1808 (East Side Story)

Tiny Tomato Time

ANSWER ME THIS

Perseids Meteor Shower

8 p.m., each week, 3 Crow Bar, Edley’s East, Drifter’s, Edgefield Sports Bar & Grill, The Lipstick Lounge

10-11 a.m., Friday, Aug. 12 3-5 years old, registration required 3:30-5 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 13 All ages, registration required

Birds Eat Tomatoes?

9-10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 13 All ages, registration required

Creative Ice Cream

6-7 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 17 All ages, registration required

Trivia Time!

East Siders, if you’re one of the sharper tools in the shed (or not, it’s no matter to us), stop by one of the East Side locales to test your wits at trivia. They play a few rounds, with different categories for each question.There might even be some prizes for top scoring teams, but remember: Nobody likes a sore loser. Monday at Drifter’s Tuesday at Edley’s East, Edgefield Sports Bar and Grill, and The Lipstick Lounge (7:30 p.m.) Thursday at 3 Crow Bar

Full Moon Hike Along Cumberland + Ice Cream! 7:30-9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 18 All ages, registration required

Full Moon Morning Hike

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SING US A SONG

M.A.S.S. (Mutual Admiration Society of Songwriters) 7-10 p.m., every other Sunday, Mad Donna’s

Join Mad Donna’s for their night dedicated to

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all you songwriters out there (which is most of Nashville, right?). The first half of the night is dedicated to a singer-songwriter set, with an open mic at the end of the night. Check out the sweet drink specials, too. 1313 Woodland St.

HIP-HOP AT THESPOT

SHAKE A LEG Keep On Movin’

10 p.m. until close, Mondays, The 5 Spot

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-for-one drink specials, so you can use the money you save on a cover to fill your cup. 1006 Forrest Ave., 615-650-9333

→

The Boom Bap

9 p.m., fourth Sunday of every month, The 5 Spot

Once a month, The 5 Spot brings the beats and you bring the moves. Think of it as a hip-hop roundtable. A mess of DJs — resident hosts and guests — spin their favorite tracks, rotating throughout the night. Let their records bring the ruckus to you. This soiree was so popular it’s spread to other cities, but you can catch it where it started here in East Nashville. 1006 Forrest Ave., 615.650.9333

EAST ROOM HAS JOKES

Spiffy Squirrel Sundays 6 p.m., Sundays, The East Room

The East Room is making a name for itself in Nashville’s comedy scene in part through Spiffy Squirrel Sundays, started up by The East Room head honcho Ben Jones through NashvilleStandUp.com. Hosted by local comedian Chad Riden, the shows bring in an array of national and local funny guys and gals, and it’s quickly become one of the best places in town for up-and-coming comics to flex their funny bones. If you’re looking for a laugh, check it out. Five bucks gets you in the door. They usually have some music planned for post-laughs, so stick around to see the bands. 2412 Gallatin Ave.

BRING IT TO THE TABLE

Community Hour at Lockeland Table 4-6 p.m., Monday through Friday, Lockeland Table

Lockeland Table is cooking up family-friendly afternoons to help you break out of the house or away from that desk for a couple of hours. Throughout the week, they host a community happy hour that includes a special snack and drink menu, as well as a menu just for the kiddies. A portion of all proceeds benefits Lockeland Design Center PTO, so you can feel good about giving back to your neighborhood while schmoozing with your fellow East Nashvillians. 1520 Woodland St., 615.228.4864 July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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RINC, Y’ALL

Scott-Ellis School of Irish Dance

Just you, some enthusiasm, and a heart of gold will have you dancing in the clover before you can say “leprechaun.” 1601 Eastland Ave., 615.300.4388

JAZZY BOTTOM FOR YOUR BUCK

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Q: What’s even better than cheap craft beer and a tasty meal? A: Cheap craft beer, a tasty meal, and a jazz jam. Fat Bottom Brewery offers their $10 pint and entrée special accompanied by a jazz jam hosted by local drummer Nicholas Wiles. It’s a chance to meet some other jazz cats and play your poison. Peruse their menu and beer garden and pick a brew. 900 Main St.

4:30-5 p.m., ages 3-6, and 5-5:45 p.m., ages 7 & up, Mondays, Eastwood Christian Church Fellowship Hall You’re never too young — or too old — to kick out the Gaelic jams with some Irish Step dancing. No experience, or partner, required.

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East Nashville Jazz Jam

7-9:30 p.m., Tuesdays, Fat Bottom Brewery

DRAG B-I-N-G-O WAS HER NAME-O Drag Bingo

8-11 p.m., Tuesdays, Mad Donna’s

Drop by Mad Donna’s Loft for the rotating cast of Drag Bingo-callin’ queens. Each week, they’ll have prizes for the first to get to B-I-N-G-O, plus drink specials. They’re calling your name — and possibly your number/letter combo. 1313 Woodland St.

NO LAUGH TRACK NEEDED

Ultimate Comedy Show by Corporate Juggernaut 8:30 p.m., Tuesdays, The East Room

Local jokesters have taken up residency in The East Room for Corporate Juggernaut, a weekly series of open-mic comedy shows put on by Gary Fletcher, Jane Borden, and Brandon Jazz. Brad Edwards is your host and his backing band is The Grey Grays. Doors and sign-up are at 8 p.m. Help support Nashville’s growing comedy scene. 2412 Gallatin Ave.

GONE IN 60 SECONDS

60 Seconds to Show

9 p.m., third Wednesday of every month, The 5 Spot

You can drop in at the Spot pretty much any night and expect to catch some live music. This evening is no different. Another monthly staple for you music lovers, “60 Seconds to Show” features David Newbould & The Stowaways hosting the evening and backing friends, plus performances from other acts each month. You can typically expect three bands bringing some Americana, folk, and rock sounds. You can catch a different earful each installment. Just $5. 1006 Forrest Ave.

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july 16 th 40+ beers Tacky sweaters x-mas karaoke snow machines costume contest Food trucks christmas lights keg tree santa claus

**************************** at **************************** the pavilion east 21 & over get weird $ 40 Advance tickets

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SPINNING SMALL BATCHES Small Batch Wednesday and Vinyl Night

6-9 p.m., Wednesdays, Fat Bottom Brewery

Fat Bottom has plenty of things happening on Wednesday nights — reason enough to move your own bottom over there. Each Wednesday

they have food specials and a small batch brew release. They’re called small batch for a reason, so get there early enough to sip one. They’ll also have special guest DJs every week spinning their own vinyl, but you can even bring your own records if you’ve got a special song request. It’s an excellent way to get through hump day. 900 Main St.

FLYING STAND-UP Flying with Jaybird

7:30 p.m., third Wednesday of every month, Mad Donna’s

Another evening of stand-up takes off the third Wednesday of every month, hosted by local comedian Mary Jay Berger. You can expect to see a fresh lineup each month full of local and national funny dudes and dudettes. Laughs with just a $5 price tag. 1313 Woodland Ave.

ART IS FOR EVERYONE

John Cannon Fine Art classes 6-8 p.m., Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2-4 p.m., Saturdays, The Idea Hatchery

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 to give it a try. Local artist John Cannon teaches intimate art classes at The Idea Hatchery, and the small class size keeps the sessions low-pressure and allows for some one-on-one instruction. If you’re feeling like you could be the next Matisse with a little guidance, sign yourself up. 1108-C Woodland St., 615.496.1259

WALK, EAT, REPEAT

Walk Eat Nashville

1:30-4:30 p.m., Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Fridays, 5 Points

What better way to indulge in the plethora of East Nashville eateries than a walking tour through the tastiest stops? Walk Eat Nashville tours stroll through East Nashville, kicking off in 5 Points, with six tasting stops over three hours. You will walk about 1.5 miles, so you’ll burn some of those calories you’re consuming in the process. This tour offers the chance to interact with the people and places crafting Nashville’s culinary scene. You even get a little history lesson along the way, learning about landmarks and lore on the East Side. Sign up for your tour online.

HONESTLY, OFFICER ...

East Nashville Crime Prevention Meeting

11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thursdays, Beyond the Edge Join your neighbors to talk about crime stats, trends, and various other issues with East Precinct commander David Imhof and head

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of investigation Lt. Greg Blair. If you are new to the East Side, 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 South 11th St.

ROCKIN’ AT THE SPOT

Tim Carroll’s Friday Night Happy Hour 6-8:30, Fridays, 5 Spot

Your local watering hole has rocker Tim Carroll’s band playing their way through happy hour every Friday. It’s a great Spot to grab a beer and hear some tunes to kick off the weekend — drinks are discounted and the music is free. 1006 Forrest Ave., 615.650.9333

SHAKE YO’ FOOBAR Sparkle City

10 p.m., Friday, fooBAR

Foo’s best dance party with their freshest DJs happens every Friday night. Spinmasters David Bermudez and Jonas Stein drop the needle on vinyl all night with the numbers that’ll make you shake what ’yer mama gave you. 2511 Gallatin Road

CAN’T FORCE A DANCE PARTY Queer Dance Party

9 p.m. to 3 a.m., third Friday of every month, The 5 Spot

On any given month, the QDP is a mixed bag of fashionably clad attendees (some in the occasional costume) dancing till they can’t dance no mo’ at The 5 Spot, which was coincidentally named the second-best place to dance in Nashville. Help pack out the cozy club, shake a leg, slurp down some of the drink specials, and let your true colors show. 1006 Forrest Ave.

CALL IT DIVINE SONGWRITING

Divine Art Café’s Songwriter’s Round in the Fireplace & Brunch 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturdays, Divine Art Café

Every Saturday gather round the fire with the toffee gurus at Divine Art Café. The Café

serves up their brunch, smoothies, coffee, AND toffee for the afternoon while East Nashville songwriter David Llewellyn hosts special musical guests each week. Take your brunch with a side of music. 604 Gallatin Ave., Suite 109

SAY YES TO IMPROV Yes and Improv

7 p.m., second Saturday of every month, Mad Donna’s

The crew of Yes and Improv are sticking to their guns about true improv. They go into each performance blindly, only knowing what stage their supposed to show up on. Their set consists of short form games that last 4-5 minutes, which are fueled entirely by audience suggestions. We think that opens the door to some pretty hilarious possibilities. Show up early for a good seat and throw back some of those 2-4-1’s. 1313 Woodland St.

POETS WHO KNOW IT

Poetry in the Brew

5:30 p.m. Second Saturday of every month, Portland Brew

Wordsmiths out there: East Nashville’s own open mic poetry night goes down at Portland Brew once a month. A poet is featured every month, with a chance to promote their work and read for 15 minutes — all the other poets get five minutes live. Arrive early because this poetry powwow fills up fast and there is limited seating. Sign-up for the open mic begins at 5:30 p.m., with reading starting at 6. 1921 Eastland Ave.

CYCLE OF LIFE

Cycle Nashville

6 p.m., first Saturday of every month, Eastside Cycles

Let the good times roll … or pedal. Cycle Nashville is a meet up for East Side pedal pushers that love to ride and want to meet other cyclists. You’ll take a laid-back romp through the city. All riders welcome — expect things to move at a slow pace with good tunes and good peeps. If you don’t have wheels of your own, you can rent some right there in 5 Points from B Cycle. After a leisurely ride, everyone will head back to 5 Points to grab dinner and drinks. Pedal on. 103 S. 11th St. July | August 2016 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM

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THE GREATEST AMERICANA AND ROOTS MUSIC EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 7PM CST. 7/13: Erin Rae and The Meanwhiles - The Honey Dewdrops - Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley - Col. Bruce Hampton 7/20: Matt Brown and Greg Reish - Major and the Monbacks - Bart Crow - Matthew MayďŹ eld - Noah Guthrie 7/27: The Revelers - Anthony Adams and The Nite Owls - Luella 8/03: Granville Automatic - Elise Davis - Henry Wagons - Jim Lauderdale 8/10: The Sweeplings - O'Connor Band - Albatross - Cha Wa 8/17: The Pollies - Tim Carroll - Matt Andersen 8/24: Geoff Achison - Willy Tea Taylor - Jars of Clay musiccityroots.com 124

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EAST SIDE CALENDAR

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS & EVENTS

East Nashville Caucus

6 p.m., quarterly meetings on Wednesday July 6, Oct. 5, Metro Police East Precinct The East Nashville Caucus provides a public forum for East Nashville community leaders, representatives, council members, and neighbors. 936 E. Trinity Lane

Chamber East

8:15-9:30 a.m., first Wednesday of every month, location changes monthly The Chamber East meets every month for a networking coffee to discuss community updates and how to grow and improve the East Nashville area. nashvillechamber.com/calendar

Lockeland Springs Neighborhood Association

6:30 p.m., second Monday of each month Quarterly meetings are held at Mad Donna’s Locations vary, visit lockelandsprings.com for more information.

Shelby Hills Neighborhood Association

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

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

Eastwood Neighbors

6:30 p.m., second Tuesday of every month, Eastwood Christian Church 1601 Eastland Ave. eastwoodneighbors.org

Greenwood Neighborhood Association 6 p.m., second Tuesday of every month, House on the Hill 909 Manila St. greenwoodneighbors.org

Highland Heights Neighborhood Association 6 p.m., third Thursday of every month Kipp Academy 123 Douglas Ave.

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now leasing 1 & 2 bedroom apartments in east nashville

www.stacksonmain.com

East Hill Neighborhood Association

6:30 p.m., second Wednesday of every month, Metro Police East Precinct 936 E. Trinity Lane

Cleveland Park Neighborhood Association

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

Inglewood Neighborhood Association 7 p.m., first Thursday of every month, Isaac Litton Alumni Center 4500 Gallatin Road inglewoodrna.org

McFerrin Neighborhood Association 6:30 p.m., first Thursday of every month, McFerrin Park Community Center 301 Berry St.

Rosebank Neighbors

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

HENMA

6-8 p.m., second month of every quarter, locations and days vary HENMA is a cooperative formed among East Nashville business owners to promote collaboration with neighborhood associations and city government. Check the association’s website to learn about the organization and where meetings will be held. eastnashville.org

Dickerson Road Merchants Association

4 p.m., last Thursday of every month, Metro Police East Precinct 936 E. Trinity Lane dickersonroadmerchants.com

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MOMS Club of East Nashville

10 a.m., first Friday of every month, location varies by group MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) Club is an international organization of mothers with three branches in the East Nashville area. It provides a support network for mothers to connect with other EN mothers. The meetings are open to all mothers in the designated area. Meetings host speakers, cover regular business items of the organization including upcoming service initiatives and activities, and also allow women to discuss the ins and outs, ups and downs of being a mother. Check their website for the MOMS group in your area. momsclubeast.blogspot.com

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Would you like to have something included in our East Side Calendar? Please let us know — we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us at calendar@theeastnashvillian.com For club listings and other events visit our Do615powered calender online at theastnashvillian.com

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Hard Working Americans Stick It To The Man CONTINUED FROM 59

working through it. Just like engineers and producers use tools to evoke emotions in a listener, Todd uses the way he sings.” It’s true. If the funky “Dope Is Dope” is the big fun novelty record inspired by a small town mom’s thinking her touring son’s marijuana stash is heroin — launched by the irrepressible

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“Dope is dope and you’re high up ON it” chorus — the yearning “Opening Statement” tugs with the realization of one shipwrecked with the knowledge the wreckage is just the beginning. As Casal’s guitar slithers up the track, the raspy howl confesses, “I may never know this road I’m on/ The here and now are gone/ The coming

THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2016

home or the running away/ But you’re going to miss my laugh some day.” Snider recognizes the people shutting him out don’t understand what they’re losing, which tempers his resolve with sadness. If the unspoken trope on Rest In Chaos is being adrift in one’s life and the hurt of being cut off from the things people believe they’re cut off from, and its undertow — no one’s saying. Schools will admit tapping Elizabeth Cook, Snider’s co-lightning rod for small town gossip, was intentional. “That tongue twister way the rumor mill grinds every other couple down, I thought, ‘Why not just go right to the heart of [‘Massacre’]?’ I said to Todd, ‘How do you feel about bringing Elizabeth in here to sing this with you?’ Two people who’re basically brother/ sister, but experiencing this pain arm and arm.” Snider got it, and agreed. What emerges — against the subdued track, lumbering toward the next morning, clinging to whatever shreds of dignity and pledging their friendship to each other in spite of pettiness around them — are two scratchy voices, trying to find absolution for those who don’t consider the human cost. Cook is especially heartbreaking, her gutter alto porous for the truth in the song. “Here’s Todd and Elizabeth — and what they went through in real time,” Schools marvels. “She has the same process he does: it hurts. It’s not just that it was a pretty part, she knew those words — how it felt to be talked about in town. She brought it; he did, too. Everything you hear, it’s real.” Hardly what one expects on an album where the slinky love on the run from rehab “It Runs Together” sits near the down on it rock surge of “Throwing Goats” with its chorus of “Shake shake shake” or the sprightly Petty-esque fizz of “Something Else.” Even the moody “Roman Candles” evokes postcoital bliss as much as coping with the ashes after fireworks, knowing everything in its own time. A week later, sitting on the patio of the Family Wash, the sky turning from bruised purple to night, Snider has come into town to finish talking. He is certifiably proud of the music, the writing, the blistering onstage chemistry. Conversation turns to the guy on the bus, how unlikely he seemed as Snider’s kin. There’s a rueful laugh. “Oh, yeah,” he acknowledges, “my family ...” He talks about years when they refused to speak to him; holidays that came and went without a call; weathering his divorce without their support; a story in The New York Times that sent them scrambling for the hills. Exhaling, he explains, “When things are going well, they have a way of showing up. “I really ended up being the exact opposite of

everything I was raised to be,” he says. “I find the lifestyle off-putting ... and I didn’t fit in with my own family. I was into music, and not into Reagan. So I had to let go, because I come with some bells and whistles. I am a flamboyantly fucked up person, and I don’t apologize for it. Some people go, ‘Well, there’s the other side of it.’ But I’ve had the same manager for 10 years, the same agent for that long, too.” When the revelation hits that some of the songs come from his family dynamic, the profound undertow of Chaos makes a new kind of sense. While Schools admits that tracking was “a tightrope walk — working with the poetry and converting that to songs as Todd was going through his stuff,” making the record was more of an exercise in self-actualization for the front man, who will celebrate his 50th birthday with a show at the Ryman Auditorium on Oct. 7. Texting Schools as the transcripts are being sorted, it’s obvious there was more to the story than the guy who said, “Basically, I try to create a safe place for artists — where they can let it out. I’m there for them, not some joker with a Brownie camera recording the wreckage of their lives. I’m the one saying, ‘It’s OK to feel all this, to get it all out,’ because having that safe place to unburden yourself as an artist sets you free was letting on.” The response to the text was almost immediate. “Once you’re my friend, I’m taking the bullet for you,” he begins, when asked about the deeper-masked reality of the lyrics. “Todd and I came from vastly different forms of family dysfunction — and we dealt with it in vastly different ways. But the dysfunction can be the thing that defines you — or absolutely crack you to pieces. “If you ask me, Todd put himself out on a ledge, and he knows the whole band really got his back.” In retrospect, Schools’ comment — “Shame is the great destroyer of the moment, and of lives. Festering old cesspools of shame that bubble up can ruin the moment, indeed, that destroys everything” — makes sense. A realist who realizes great art sometimes comes from painful places, Schools was going to fight not only for this band, but for his friend who he believes “is on the verge of the greatest output of his career. The masterworks are coming, not just a bit, but a lot. Think American singer-songwriter recordings, but spoken word, ‘prosetry’ — yes, prose that is poetry. “I’ve seen it up close,” he continues. “The wheel’s been turning. Rest In Chaos is dark, a hard pill to swallow in some places, but it’s also healing if you listen. And for Todd, it probably removed some blockages that’s been holding back some other material.” →

As is the flow with Schools, there’s a pause, then a confidence is shared. “Todd has this death-defying dedication to life and work and putting it all together. He can be so clever and so humorous, then he makes me so sad. And he’s just — there ... spilling it all onstage. It’s only rock & roll, but it’s so much more

if you’re paying attention. “I give Todd permission to do anything he wants,” says the veteran bass player who can roll a song with a very deep groove. “I’ve been watching him morph from a folk singer into a front man. Yes, he’s a fan of the band, up there taking it all in when we jam, but he’s also

Nashville’s Japanese-style pub and social house twotenjack.com

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Hard Working Americans Stick It To The Man the writer, dreamer, and force making all this come together! “We’re all witches at the cauldron, and the spell we’re trying to conjure is pretty simple: freedom of expression and reality. Canned perfection and those things people think move product? I’m not the guy. I’ll clutch and fight and struggle with the artist, I’ll go all the way to the edge of the cliff — because I’m not going to let any artist in my protection drown. But I

want them to get it out, to relieve the pressure and let it out. It may not taste good, but you do a lot of people a lot of good. “And that’s really the value of art. Like the blues makes it OK to feel the way you feel, this validates being real.” Watching Snider onstage pawing at the ground, arms akimbo, wrists jammed onto his hips, it’s obvious: It’s not just catharsis, you can dance to it.

“Dave won my heart,” Snider confesses as the night winds down. “This guy comes in and sees the movie better than I do. He’s read the script more than I have, has a sequence. I spent six years on the poems, and it was time to let another person in. “I wanna be understood, and a lot of my music was trying to explain my way back home. That ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’ thing — but then you know there’s no going back.”

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“One of the couple eventually was ordained as an elder. We did that, knowing that he was gay, and knowing that it was not allowed by the Presbyterian Church at the time. It was an act of civil disobedience. We were pretty sure they wouldn’t do anything to us, but theoretically, they could have dissolved the session (the governing body of elders in a Presbyterian congregation) and removed me as pastor.” Seeking to make a stronger stand for inclusion, Woodland Presbyterian Church voted

in 2007 to join the coalition of congregations known as More Light Presbyterians. The work of More Light congregations eventually led to the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopting a policy of full inclusion in 2010. Although the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality in June 2015 brought a change that McCullough had long hoped for, on a personal level, it was anticlimactic. “I’ve only performed one (same sex) marriage,” he says. “I was kind of disappointed because a number of our couples didn’t want

HAPPY TOMATO FEST FROM LOCKELAND TABLE

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to wait, so they went to other states before the court decision made it legal in Tennessee. We do have another couple in the church that is planning on getting married, and I will be involved in their wedding.” Although McCullough is now enjoying retirement, his personal ministry is far from over. One place he won’t be found, however, at least in the near future, is in the congregation of Woodland Presbyterian Church. “The usual policy for Presbyterians is a retired minister should stay away from their former church for a year to give the new minister a chance to get established,” he says. “That’s a wise policy. It will be fun to go to other churches, and I’ll also get on the pulpit supply list to do some occasional preaching when someone goes on vacation.” The changes McCullough has witnessed and played a part in over the 37 years of his ministry have been nothing short of amazing. While there are still issues of injustice and inequality, he’s kept his perspective on the long view. “The first four or five years of my ministry,” he recalls, “I would drive from the church building to my home in Inglewood, and I would pass all the pawn shops on Gallatin Road. I would say to myself, I don’t want to be in East Nashville. I wanted to be in Green Hills or somewhere like that. Thirty-seven years later, I am so thankful that I stayed here. I got to observe a tremendous transformation. “Although the neighborhood is nicer now, there are still a lot of people here who are not very affluent. They’re getting pushed out of the community, and we need to make sure there is still affordable housing for everyone. Part of my becoming a Presbyterian was having my perspective on how things shift from a belief in sudden, dramatic events to a belief in a gradual process. It was at that point I began to look at the Gospel of Jesus as not a way to save your soul so you could go to heaven, but as a way to change the world for the better. And that’s what I still believe.”

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said she remembers caroling for the organization as a child. “She had just moved back from the West Coast a few months ago,” Morgan says. “She took some information and said she wanted to do it again. It was so cool to meet someone who had done it so long ago and it had impacted her life to the point that she wanted to come back and do it again.” A more recent fundraiser for Fannie Battle is the annual Yum!East festival, which features food and drinks from more than 30 restaurants and breweries as well as live music. Held at Pavilion East on Fatherland Street every June, the event has become a “must-do” on the East Side and typically sells out. Fannie Battle Day Home has, indeed, enjoyed the buoyancy of community support through the years, and results have continuously shown an impressive return on investment for not only East Nashville, but also the whole city. The facility is licensed by the state with the highest 3-Star Rating and has maintained that level since the rating system was implemented in 2001. “We have organizational outcomes that we commit to both as an organization and to our funders,” Shinbaum replies when asked how Fannie Battle measures success. “For our youngest children, we do a developmental assessment called the Brigance, which we do in the fall and the spring. It measures infants and toddlers to make sure they’re developing as they should and lets teachers and parents know if there is something they may want to work on or reach out for additional help. “In our pre-K and preschool classes, we partner with United Way’s Read to Succeed literacy program and Metro Nashville Public Schools,” she continues. “The goal is for kids to start kindergarten with their peers regardless of their backgrounds. We have great results on those outcomes. For our school-age program, we receive money from the [state] lottery’s after-school funding. It allows a lot of enrichment opportunities. We track their report cards with the goal that they’ll maintain or improve grades.” The Fannie Battle facility itself is warm and inviting, whether it’s in the darkened gymnasium where toddlers are taking afternoon naps, in the various classrooms where age-appropriate activities are being conducted, or in the eco-friendly playground area with raised garden beds, beautiful landscaping, and eye-catching murals. Children and families also benefit from a caring staff and a first-class roster of volunteers, who are called on for everything from tutoring to IT support. “Ms. Nettie,” whose hugs are as warm as a

July morning, says she tries to make a connection with every single child. “They’re all different individuals, and you have to talk to them individually,” Black explains. “They come from different families, different places, different cultures. That’s my

big thing — getting to know the moms, the dads, the grandmothers, the aunts. That helps me to know the children as well, and it helps them to open up a little bit more when the families talk to me. It helps the kids to feel more comfortable.”

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East of NORMAL TOMMY WOMACK

‘AC/CD’ and the devil

hirty-six years ago right now, “Funky Town” by Lipps Inc., “Call Me” by Blondie, and “Fame” by Irene Cara were on the radio 24/7, and I was a 17-year-old foureyes wearing a tie at Payless ShoeSource saying “May I help you?” time and again, with the radio in the store playing those three songs over and over. I was helping people try on shoes, or ringing them up at the register, or patrolling the aisles straightening out shoes knocked askew and spacing them out so that it looked like the racks were fuller than they really were. For lunch I’d walk over to the Captain D’s and come back with a greasy face. This was Madisonville, Ky., a coal town in the western part of the state — 18,000 rednecks year after year. The population never went up and never went down. The town motto was “The Best Town on Earth” and it was perfect — short, snappy, and an outrageous lie. Madisonville wasn’t even the best town in western Kentucky, much less the entire planet. I swear to God the following is true: I once parked outside a Pantry convenience store and in front of me was the white cinderblock wall on the side of the building. It was decorated with spraypaint graffiti. The graffiti said, and I quote, “AC/CD.” If I’m lying I’m dying. I understand misspelling “receive,” or using “there” instead of “their,” but how do you misspell AC/DC? That takes a special talent. I remember blinking and rubbing my eyes; I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “AC/CD.” I swear to God. The town was hyper-psycho Christian. The major vices were Jesus, pot, and beer. Oh yeah, and Quaaludes. I was a Jesus junkie, too, but I’d never taken a drug in my life. Beer was another matter. My friends and I were in a constant quest to get someone to buy us beer, or Bacardi. Getting hold of illegal booze was the greatest thing in the world. We threw up a lot. My boss was Linda Mitchell, a brown-haired Pentecostal transferred from Somerset. She had actually a rather nice body, if a little plump, and was boy crazy. Not only was she a longhaired, skirtbelow-the-knee Pentecostal, she was a demented mystic as well, telling me she’d seen a ghost in a cemetery one Halloween night: a maiden in a billowy white gown floating a foot in the air. Then there was the time a spirit sat on her while she was in bed and she couldn’t

move her arms. She had a lot of stories like that. One night when she was on dinner break, I was minding the store alone. There was no one in the place but me, and I knew that because I’d been patrolling all the aisles arranging shoes so they stood at attention. If someone had come in, I would have heard the door chime. On the far left wall were thick wooden dowel pegs driven into the wall. They pointed slightly upward and had little knobs every 3 inches or so. These held the handbags we sold. I heard something hit the floor over by that wall and I came out of a far aisle, stepping in front of the shelves to investigate what could have happened. Again, if I’m lying I’m dying. I watched three or four purses rise up in the air, travel up the dowel sticks and drop to the floor. I blinked my eyes like I’d just seen “AC/CD” on the wall, and — inexplicably — I ran toward the poltergeist customer instead of away. I got to the far wall and looked down the aisle, and I saw a half-dozen pair of shoes knock themselves askew going down the aisle, like an errant child running with his arm out slapping shoes. Call me nuts, but I was drug-free and sober, and I know what I saw. I was out of the store like a shot. I ran outside, locked the door, and frantically scampered to the Super X next door. I got a piece of paper, a pen, and a little bit of cellophane tape. I scrawled, “Linda, I’m not going in there!” I taped it to the front door glass, and paced feverishly out front. Linda returned from dinner and I told her what had gone down. She wasn’t fazed at all. I unlocked the door and she strolled blithely inside. She inspected the scene and believed everything I had to say. Then we sensed a presence behind us. We turned around to see a little boy, a devilish looking little boy about 6 years old. He had a crew cut and thin wide lizard eyes like the guy in Supergrass. We didn’t know how he got in; there’d been no chime. “Why is that song playing?” he asked, pointing up to the radio speaker hanging high in a corner. “Excuse me? Why is that song playing?” “Yeah,” he said. The song was “Misunderstanding” by Genesis. I don’t get back to Madisonville much, and I never darkened the door of that Payless again once I quit and went to college. I get back there for the holidays, but that’s about it. Can you blame me? AC/ CD? Besides, I saw the devil there once.

Tommy Womack is a Nashville singer-songwriter, musician, and freelance writer. His new album, NAMASTE, was released on May 20. Keep up with his antics on Facebook and at tommywomack.com.

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PARTING SHOT

MALO ROCKS THIRTH The Mavericksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Raul Malo 3rd of July Block Party 2016 Photographed by John Partipilo 138

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