Guy Clark’s ‘Homegrown Tomatoes’ Know Your Neighbor: Sara Morse Norbert Putnam’s ‘Music Lessons’ Margot Café’s fête de la tomate
JULY | AUGUST VOL.VII ISSUE 6
Tomato Art Fest!
‘WHOA, DUDE, THAT’S SOME TOMATO!’ HALL OF HISTORY For five decades the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has been telling the story of country music — and making its own history
BATTLING THE GREAT BLACK SNAKE Singer/activist Michael Younger mixes revolution and rock & roll
ART Á LA CARTE Red House Imaginarium offers kids a wide selection of creative activities
A GOOD & WATCHFUL NEIGHBOR Von Moye’s combination of neighborhood watch and social media is making the East Side safer
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS with Natalie Prass July 16 • Exit/In exitin.com
September 8 • Marathon Music Works marathonmusicworks.com
NAHKO & MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE with The Hip Abduction
BLEACHERS with Tove Stryke
July 26 • Cannery Ballroom mercylounge.com
September 13 • Marathon Music Works marathonmusicworks.com
J. HUMAN & LUTHI with Spice J & DJ Blackcircle
UB40 LEGENDS ALI, ASTRO & MICKEY
July 28 • The Basement East thebasementnashville.com
September 14 • Ryman Auditorium ryman.com
FOSTER THE PEOPLE with Alex Cameron
MISTERWIVES with Smallpools and Vinyl Theatre
July 31 • Ryman Auditorium ryman.com
September 21 • Cannery Ballroom mercylounge.com
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 LIVE
CAAMP
August 11 • TPAC’s James K. Polk Theatre tpac.org
September 26 • The High Watt mercylounge.com
JIM JEFFERIES
THE HEAD & THE HEART with Dr. Dog
August 12 • Ryman Auditorium ryman.com
MICHELLE BRANCH with Haerts August 13 • Marathon Music Works marathonmusicworks.com
September 29 • Ascend Amphitheatre ascendamphitheatre.com
RAC September 30 • The Basement East thebasementnashville.com
ROGER WATERS
CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD
August 13 • Bridgestone Arena bridgestonearena.com
October 1 • 3rd & Lindsley 3rdandlindsley.com
R. LUM R.
MOON TAXI with Too Many Zooz
August 23 • Mercy Lounge mercylounge.com
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PENNY & SPARROW
October 27 & 28 • Ryman Auditorium ryman.com
THE MAGPIE SALUTE
LORDE
August 25 • Marathon Music Works marathonmusicworks.com
April 15 • Bridgestone Arena bridgestonearena.com
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FILL YOUR SUMMER WITH CONTEMPORARY ART.
Looking for something to do this summer that’s fresher than squeezed lemonade? Come to the Frist to see amazing contemporary art now on display.
STATE OF THE ART
VADIS TURNER
Through September 10
Through September 10
Organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas
Organized by the Frist Center for the Visual Arts
DISCOVERING AMERICAN ART NOW
Platinum Sponsor
TEMPEST
DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE 919 BROADWAY NASHVILLE, TN 37203 FRISTCENTER.ORG
ANCESTRAL MODERN
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL ART FROM THE KAPLAN & LEVI COLLECTION Through October 15 Organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Seattle Art Museum
Contributing Sponsor
Hospitality Sponsor
Supported in part by
From State of the Art: Jonathan Monaghan (b. 1986). Rainbow Narcosis, 2012. High-definition computer-animated video, 8 minutes, 46 seconds. Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Curator’s Office, Washington, DC
July | August 2017 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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*Not really a drug. But we’d still love to have you as a customer.
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PUBLISHER Lisa McCauley EDITOR Chuck Allen ASSOCIATE EDITOR Daryl Sanders COPY EDITOR John McBryde CALENDAR EDITOR Emma Alford SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Nicole Keiper CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Emma Alford, Warren Denney, Randy Fox, Holly Gleason, James Haggerty, Nicole Keiper, Tommy Womack CREATIVE DIRECTOR Chuck Allen DESIGN DIRECTOR Benjamin Rumble PHOTO EDITOR Travis Commeau ADVERTISING DESIGN ILLUSTRATIONS Benjamin Rumble Benjamin Rumble, Dean Tomasek CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Travis Commeau, Chad Crawford, Eric England, Alan Messer, John Partipilo
©2017 Kitchen Table Media P.O. Box 60157 Nashville, TN 37206
ADVERTISING SALES Lisa McCauley lisa@theeastnashvillian.com 615.582.4187
The East Nashvillian is a bimonthly magazine
Kitchen
Table Media Company
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jaime Brousse
Est.2010
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Christina Howell
we’re moving! reopening late july/early august
the eastland 1043 west eastland ave. #104 east nashville herbookshop.com @her_bookshop
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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.
July | August 2017 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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EAST NASHVILLE
T MAT 5K Hosted by the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA Presenting Sponsor: • • • •
Saturday, August 12 East Park Kids Fun Run — 7:00 a.m. 5K — 7:30 a.m.
Proceeds from all YMCA Race Series events benefit programs at the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA such as After Breast Cancer (ABC), Diabetes Prevention and Open Doors. By participating, you are making an enduring, lasting impact in the East Nashville community.
SPONSORED BY: Delta Airlines • NLC Loans • Bootstrap Architecture + Construction Lockeland Table • Exit Realty • WilsonArt • Swamp's Diesel Spot’s Pet Supply • JRH Attorney • Waterstone Mortgage Publix • Escape Day Spa & Salon • Hot Yoga East Nashville Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Ugly Mugs • IHOP • Sunbelt Rentals • Hunt’s Brothers Pizza
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For more information and to register visit YMCAMIDTN.ORG/EVENTS/TOMATO5K THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2017
FEATURES
COVER STORY
35 AIN’T NOTHIN’ BETTER
Guy Clark’s ode to ‘Homegrown Tomatoes’ captures their literal and metaphoric deliciousness
58 OFFICIAL MAP 60 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 61
2017 TOMATO ART FEST
By Holly Gleason
39 ART Á LA CARTE
Red House Imaginarium offers kids a wide selection of creative activities By Tommy Womack
44 HALL OF HISTORY
COVER SHOT
For five decades, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has been telling the story of country music — and making its own history
JON LATHAM & ANDREW LEAHEY
By Randy Fox
starring in
‘Whoa, Dude, That’s Some Tomato’
72 BATTLING THE GREAT BLACK SNAKE
Photographed by Chuck Allen
Singer/activist Michael Younger mixes revolution and rock & roll
East Nashville, June, 2017
By Warren Denney
82 A GOOD AND WATCHFUL NEIGHBOR
Von Moye’s combination of neighborhood watch and social media is making the East Side safer By Randy Fox
87 A LITTLE CHERRY TOMATO ON TOP
Margot Café & Bar caps Tomato Art Fest with a fête de la tomate By Holly Gleason
91 A+ STUDENT
Norbert Putnam shares a lifetime of learning in his new musical memoir, Music Lessons, Vol. 1
Styling & rollers Lisa Ann’s Hair World™ Space provided by Bmerin Salon
By Daryl Sanders
Visit
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM for updates, news, events, and more! CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
July | August 2017 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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EAST SIDE BUZZ
21 Matters of Development By Nicole Keiper
IN THE KNOW
24 Ain’t No Better Bargain Than Free By Chuck Allen
Your Neighbor: 33 Know Sara Morse
Battle For Greer Stadium 26 The Has Begun
By Tommy Womack
By Randy Fox
95 East Side Calendar By Emma Alford
28 Light Rail Coming To Gallatin Pike By Randy Fox
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PARTING SHOT MAKE BEER GREAT AGAIN
COMMENTARY
Thirth of July Street Festival
14 Editor’s Letter
Photograph by Chad Crawford July 3, 2017
By Chuck Allen
18 From the Publisher By Lisa McCauley
30 Astute Observations 120 East of Normal By James “Hags” Haggerty
By Tommy Womack
Visit
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM for updates, news, events, and more!
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EDITOR’S LETTER C’mon get HAPPY
H
ola, ¿cómo estás? Espero que estés bien. ’Tis I, your friendly neighborhood enemy of the people! Today I bring you FAKE NEWS! from deep inside the Tomato Art Fest Interstellar Headquarters for the Bringing Together Of the Fruits and the Vegetables (TAFIHBTOFV – pr. “taffybetov”), which is located in a fifth dimension of space nestled between Jon Byrd almost rocking and full-on rocking. You may have noticed that I delivered my salutation in Spanish. This was done to pay homage to the Spanish Conquistadors who discovered the tomato in Central and South America and introduced it to Europe upon their return. Keep what I’m about to tell you to yourselves, because we wouldn’t want ICE raiding your tomato gardens: The tomato is an immigrant. (For further reading on the tomato’s long, strange trip, check out Tommy Womack’s “East of Normal” column on page 120.) No doubt you’re asking yourself, “What is it they do at TAFIHBTOFV?” Thanks for asking! In addition to planning the annual Tomato Art Fest (TAF), they advocate for a paradigm shift in human consciousness. Due to the rise of a rogue Orange Beefsteak, however, they’ve had to shift the bulk of their resources to American consciousness, since it has begun to lag behind the rest of the planet, as well as the local universe. My reporting finds that a key part of their strategy is finding ways to move Americans away from a consumer mindset into a citizen mindset. This is no small task as there are great powers arrayed against this change, not the least of which is the Association of Strategic Selfishness (ASS). ASS promotes the idea that individual agency alone is responsible for one’s financial success or failure, and that happiness
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corresponds directly to one’s accumulated wealth. This ideology has consumed vast swaths of our collective consciousness despite ample evidence that it undermines our democracy and, ironically, makes us really, really unhappy. An Elder at TAFIHBTOFV told me one of their ongoing research projects is looking into ways to counter the messaging of ASS, which has successfully manipulated reptilian-brain instincts like fear and tribalism to keep the people distracted while it robs them blind. This research indicates a major dysfunction with TAFIHBTOFV’s ability to appeal to the self-interest of the population while at the same time pointing out that pure self-interest is the root of the problem. I ask if, perhaps, they might want to start with a rebrand, since TAFIHBTOFV is as difficult to remember as it is to type. “Ah, yes,” the Elder replies, smiling. “As a matter of fact, we have been looking into that. How does the ‘Holistic Association of the Perpetually Peaceful Yogis’ sound?” “Complicated,” was all I could come up with. “That’s what we thought,” the Elder acknowledges. “But we were working backwards into the acronym and kept running into a wall with the ‘Y’. ” Of course! HAPPY. Now I understood. These days what the acronym represents isn’t nearly as important as the acronym itself. TAFIHBTOFV will be rolling out its rebranding effort at this year’s TAF, and I couldn’t be happier. I think HAPPY has a real shot at countering ASS, if for no other reason than most people would rather be associated with the former. Once again, the Elders behind TAF put the tomatoes where their mouths are to promote citizenry over consumerism, self-sacrifice over self-centeredness. An invitation is even extended to that rogue Orange Beefsteak, but with one caveat: He has to leave his cell phone at home.
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from the
PUBLISHER
It’s a five-year town thing
G
reetings. I’m Lisa McCauley, and the magazine you’re reading is my brainchild. Although I’ve been publishing The East Nashvillian for seven years, this is only the second time I’ve expressed my thoughts within the pages of the magazine. So as you might imagine, I have a few things to get off my chest. First, a little background: I’ve lived in Nashville my entire life, and since 2001, I’ve lived in East Nashville, where four generations of my family have called home. I grew up just a few miles north of here during a time when East Nashville was the area you avoided at all costs. When we visited a relative or had a doctor’s appointment in the ’hood (Miller Medical Clinic), my mom would always lock the doors around the time we hit Gallatin Pike and Ellington Parkway. The East Nashville you know now was far from being the East Nashville we knew then. It wasn’t until 1999 that I really started spending time in East Nashville. One of my best friends who I knew from working in the radio biz bought a house on Skyview Drive, and I started spending most weekends at his place. Around the same time, Mike Grimes and Dave Gherke opened Slow Bar at 5 Points in the location now occupied by 3 Crow Bar. At that point, I’d lived in just about every area of Nashville, but still hadn’t found the sense of community that I longed for — a creative scene in an up-and-coming area that was diverse and still a little on the edgy side. East Nashville was all of this and much more. I was living in the country in Williamson County at the time, but soon started spending as much time as possible in my newly discovered ’hood. In 2001, I bought my current house, and because my background was in advertising, I had the desire to start a newspaper, magazine, or some kind of media outlet dedicated to my new community. I started sharing my ideas, but I soon found that businesses that could or would spend money on advertising were few and far between. That dream ended up on the back burner. Fast forward to 2009. I was working for a large publishing company, and my work required me to regularly travel out of town. It definitely wasn’t my cup of tea, so toward the end of the year, I left that position without a new gig in hand. I did freelance media sales for a month or two, but one day it hit me: It was now the time to bring my idea to the front burner. My part-
ner thought I was crazy, but he supported the idea, provided I had enough advertising dollars to go to print for the first issue. I soon connected with Historic East Nashville Merchants Association and found that sense of community again with the local business folks. Some pretty amazing business owners welcomed me with open arms and, after a few months, we were able to publish our very first edition in August 2010. We barely had enough advertising revenue to cover our costs. Our first few years in business were amazing, and the love and support we received overwhelmed us. The magazine gave East Nashville a voice, and the business community embraced that. Now here we are seven years later and there have been a lot of changes since 2010 — some have been good, some not so much. I’m still so very impressed and in love with the EN music scene. It’s just as welcoming and loving as it ever was, and this truly touches my heart. The newcomers and the ones that came before them all support one another — void of jealousy or competition — and that’s not something you see in other music towns like New York, Los Angeles, or Austin. To the many businesses that have supported us over the years, I can’t begin to thank you enough. Without you we would have never made it this far. I will always be grateful for you. You got it, and I don’t just mean you got the magazine; you understood that here in East Nashville, we have something special that makes us the envy of the entire city, and that is our sense of community. This is who we are, and this is who we need to continue to be. If you’re new to the area, take the time to “get it” — listen and learn about this special place, our mindset, and get to know the trailblazers who helped carve out our unique East Side culture. Tim Carroll sings that Nashville is a “five-year town.” I don’t think he’s singing solely about those who move to Nashville seeking a career in music. It takes time to acclimate. Here’s my point in case you’re still wondering: Be mindful of the ones who came before you. They paved the way for you. The East Nashville you moved to would not exist if not for their efforts. To be part of this community, you have to learn about it, respect it, and appreciate it. Otherwise, you will destroy the very culture that brought you here. That said, welcome to the neighborhood. And if I haven’t already, I look forwarding to meeting each and everyone of you.
Lisa McCauley is the publisher of The East Nashvillian. She serves on the board of Fannie Battle Day Home for Children and is the president of the Historic East Nashville Merchants Association. A five-year breast cancer survivor, Lisa is also a warrior who advocates for breast cancer awareness and early detection, and supports other women facing this diagnosis by sharing her strength, experience, and dignity with them.
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Welcome Dr. Kelly Triana!
Dr. Kelly Triana is from South Carolina and completed her undergraduate studies at Clemson University and was a member of the school’s dairy science club and show team. She obtained her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at Oklahoma State University Center in 2011 and has worked in animal hospitals in Arizona, Texas and South Carolina before moving to Nashville. Dr. Traina cannot be any more excited to live and practice in this beautiful city. Dr. Triana has an interest in internal medicine, surgery and pet dentistry. Outside of work, Dr. Triana spends time with her husband and their two dogs, Sophie and Rez. One of the things Dr. Triana loves about Nashville is concerts and ability to grow vegetable gardens.
Dr. Summer Mobley
Dr. Michael Brannom
Dr. James Fullerton
Dr. Georgia Parsons
Dr. Kimberly Sabo
Dr. Kelly Triana
4709 Gallatin Pike Nashville, TN 37216 615.262.0415 | mobleyveterinaryclinic.com July | August 2017 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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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 Spring and early summer were busy with openings in East Nashville, from restaurants to beauty stops, along with some shutterings and East Side musical chairs. NEW AND NOTEWORTHY The long-talked-about GReKo Greek Street Food opened its doors at 704 Main St. in late June to lots of local acclaim, with a mix of dishes “inspired by the street-side eateries of Athens” coming out of a kitchen led by chef Sal Avila (late of Prima, City House, and others). Specifically, Avila and team specialize in dishes that will be familiar to lovers of Greek food — souvlaki, tzatziki — with meats cooked over a live fire, stuffed (if you choose)
in a pillowy house-made pita. For extra East Nashville flair: Their initial dessert offering featured Pied Piper Creamery Greek frozen yogurt, topped with Baklava crumbles, honey or sour cherry syrup. The restaurant has an open, low-key dining room with seating for 40, and an expanse of al fresco eating space in its large back courtyard. Doors are open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 to 11 Friday and Saturday. Explore GReKo’s offerings at grekostreetfood.com. June also brought the opening of Marathon Pilates/b well massage/p3 physical therapy, at 968 Main St. (the former Horner Rausch Optical Co. space). The three companies/space-mates share a goal of working toward “alignment, balance, movement, efficiency,” and “whole-body health,” and do so via their three respective offerings
(pilates, massage, and physical therapy, if the names didn’t tip you off). More at marathonpilates.com, p3nashville.com, and bwellmassage.com. Hopefully by the time this issue is in your hands, you’ll also be able to visit the Cafe Roze, New York chef Julia Jaksic’s new cafe-style restaurant in the former Porter House Bistro spot (1115 Porter Road). Jaksic is best known for NYC’s Employees Only, which New York mag calls a “West Village hot spot with an old-world speakeasy feel.” As this issue was going to press, Jaksic was eyeing a July opening for Roze. She told the Nashville Business Journal to expect breakfast and lunch to start, then an all-day cafe approach (salads, sandwiches, eggs and bacon, and lots more) as things get settled. The restaurant’s internet home is at caferoze.com. Pet parents might want to take note of
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EAST SIDE BUZZ the new Mutts & Meows, a pet supply shop that opened at the beginning of July at 935 Woodland St., Unit H, behind High Garden Tea. They’re stocking cool collars, pup fashions, all kinds of holistic food and treats, and more. And if the location’s not convenient enough for you, bonus: They deliver around here, free with a minimum order of $30 ($3 otherwise). The shop’s open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Get to know Mutts & Meows at muttsandmeows.com. Maeva Movement had its grand opening in June at 604 Gallatin Ave., Suite 204, offering classes, workshops, and personal training with a focus on pilates, yoga, and dance. They’re shooting for “empowering individuals through the freedom of alignment and sprinkling it with creativity and fun.” More at maevamovement.com. In late May, the Walden development on Eastland got a new beauty and wellness-focused resident: Lemon Laine, at 1900 Eastland Ave., Suite 102. Led by founder Laura Lemon, a longtime “beauty junky” with a background in holistic nutrition and makeup development, the shop shares natural supple-
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ments, skincare products, makeup, and more. It’s open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 to 8 Friday/Saturday, noon to 5 on Sundays. More at lemonlaine.com. Nashville salon Parlor & Juke branched out with a second location, opening at 1101 Riverwood Drive in April. Their stylists offer cuts, color, and more, and the doors are open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 9 to 6 on Saturdays. More at parlourandjuke.com. Also in April: Nursery/produce market The Crop Shop opened its gates at 900 E. Trinity Lane, offering plants and flowers, as well as locally farmed fruits and vegetables. The Shop’s open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 to 6 on Saturday, and 11 to 5 on Sunday. Keep up at facebook.com/cropshopnash. MOVES AND CLOSINGS Defunct Books locked up for good at 118 S. 11th St. in late June, but the used bookshop isn’t shutting down, just moving down the way. At press time, owner Greg Delzer was in the process of moving to a cozier space in the Idea Hatchery, at 1108
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Woodland St., the former home of Camp Gypsy. (The Gypsy folks recently moved to a larger Hatchery space.) Delzer opened the South 11th Street shop in 2015, after running Defunct Books out of Iowa City, Iowa, for several years. Keep up with the latest at facebook.com/defunctbooks. Defunct wasn’t the only East Side bookstore making moves this summer. Her Bookshop, open for about a year in the Shoppes on Fatherland, moved out of its cozy space in June, and was prepping at press time for a move to a larger location, at 1043 West Eastland Ave., #104. Owner Joelle Herr said the larger space would allow for more inventory and more events, and that she hopes being on a busier thoroughfare can help Her Bookshop “become a true neighborhood bookstore.” As we were going to print, Herr was hoping to open the new space in late July/early August. While Her Bookshop was prepping to move, fellow East Nashville bookshop East Side Story was gearing up for its last month open at the Idea Hatchery. In late June, owner Chuck Beard announced plans to shut the doors at 1008 Woodland St., Unit B, on July 29, after five years there. Beard noted, however, that neighbors haven’t heard the last of East Side Story — he plans to keep the long-running live reading/ live music series East Side Storytellin’ going after the shop’s shuttered, and he said in an announcement that he has “a couple of next level plans in the works, too.” Read the full goodbye message and keep up with the latest East Side Story news at eastsidestorytn.com. Another Shoppes on Fatherland business making a move: Clothing/home goods shop Whiskey Water is also growing, but staying in the Shoppes. At press time, the smaller Shoppe was about to shutter, and plans were for a grand opening in the bigger Shoppe, Unit 103, on July 8. They’re at shopwhiskeywater.com, digitally. In late June, East Side bakery Couture Cakes & Sweets closed its Shoppes on Fatherland doors at 1006 Fatherland St., Suite 206. The company’s still up and running, despite the shuttered space, offering custom cakes while looking for a new place to call home. Neighbors interested in commissioning cakes/sweets can explore/order at designyouacake.com. The Fatherland space opened in July of 2016. The YWCA’s 2616 resale boutique was set to close its doors at the end of August, after three years in its space at 2616 Gallatin Pike. The clothing shop was opened with the aim
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EAST SIDE BUZZ of creating a revenue-generating business to help fund the YWCA’s women-focused aid work, but ultimately, an announcement said, “We have been unable to generate sufficient revenue to achieve the financial goals that were set.” The organization’s Dress for Success initiative, aimed at helping local women get professional attire, will continue in Nash-
ville, out of the YWCA’s Woodmont offices. Bagel Face Bakery closed its doors at 700 Main St. in late May, after more than a half-dozen years of slinging the hole-y baked goods here in the neighborhood. No official announcement about the closure was issued, but they did offer a brief tweet reply of “Bagel Face Bakery is no longer in business.”
COMING SOON Peace Love and Paws, a “brand-new, 8,500-square-foot facility offering a loving home-away-from-home for your beloved fur babies,” is in the works at 1221 Brick Church Pike (off Trinity and just west of Interstate 65). Longtime pet sitters Ann and Darlene Jacobs-Anderson are behind the facility, which’ll be offering daycare, boarding, and grooming for dogs, and cat boarding, seven days a week (including holidays). The space will be fully climate-controlled, with indoor and outdoor play areas. At press time, they were shooting for an early/mid-August opening, barring any more hiccups. Keep up with the latest/get to know Peace Love and Paws at peacelovepawsnashville.com. In late June, the Nashville Post dropped early hints on the new Nashville Urban Winery, in the works at the former Stephen’s Auto Paint and Body shop at 715 Main St. Details were still pretty scarce, but plans were for a combo restaurant/bar/boutique wine stop just across the way from the new GReKo Greek Street Food. Keep up with our blog at theeastnashvillian.com for more details as we know them. In June, The Tennessean shared news of New York-based music mastering mavens Sterling Sound coming East Nashville’s way. They’re working in a space at 805 Meridian St. in McFerrin Park, the paper said. Have any East Side development news to share? Reach out to: emma@theeastnashvillian.com
Ain’t No Better Bargain Than Free The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum announced some huge news at the beginning of July. The Community Counts program provides three different opportunities for area residents to gain free admission to the Museum. Executive Director Kyle Young told The East Nashvillian recently that he was “thrilled for the Hall to finally be in the financial position” to offer this new program. Those 18 and under who reside in Cheatham, Davidson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, or Wilson county will receive free general admission. Proof of residency is required — and that includes wearing a school T-shirt! Advance check-in 24
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EAST SIDE BUZZ is also available for the cool kids who prefer to be on the guest list. General admission tickets grant access to Museum exhibits — including the limited-run exhibitions happening throughout the year, the Taylor Swift Education Center, musical performances by must-see artists, and discussions with country music legends.
Youth admission tickets can be used as often as you like; they don’t expire, so as long as the doors are open, you’re in. Up to two accompanying adults can receive 25 percent off general admission tickets as well. In partnership with the Nashville Public Library, the Museum offers the Community Counts Passport. These passports are
only available for pick-up in person at any Nashville Public Library location and must be exchanged at the Museum’s Information Desk for actual tickets. Community Counts Passports offer the same access as someone paying full price for a general admission ticket. A third option is available for families in the aforementioned counties who desire a Family Membership and are receiving SNAP and Family First benefits. Qualifying households can pay just $5 for a membership level regularly priced at $100. Proper documentation (an EBT card plus proof of residency) is required. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is conveniently located near MTA bus lines, and parking is available at the Convention Center and other locations. ParkitDowntown.com is an easy way to access interactive parking maps should the need arise. Don’t miss our special feature “Hall of History” on Page 44 for a look inside the Hall’s 50-year legacy of preserving and archiving country music for current and future generations. For more information about the Community Counts program, visit: countrymusichalloffame.org/CommunityCounts. — Chuck Allen
The Battle For Greer Stadium Has Begun The ongoing conflict between development and use of public lands has found a new battlefield on one of Nashville’s most historic battlegrounds. A proposed lease and redevelopment plan for the Greer Stadium property, adjacent to the historic Civil War site Fort Negley, has drawn criticism from the Metro Council’s Budget and Finance Chairman, John Cooper. Cooper says the financial return proposed by the redevelopment plan is too low compared to the market value of the 20-plus-acre property. The Greer Stadium property has sat abandoned since the Nashville Sounds baseball club relocated to the newly constructed First Tennessee Park in early 2015. In May, Mayor Megan Barry’s administration announced it had chosen a redevelopment plan submitted by Cloud Hill Partnership — a group led by Nashville developer Bert Mathews, musician and producer T Bone Burnett, and investment banker Tom Middleton. The proposal included public open space and greenways, housing units, and a retail area, all designed as an “arts and music generator” offering class, maker, 26
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EAST SIDE BUZZ and performance space for musicians, artists, and filmmakers. Cooper, a frequent critic of Barry’s administration, says the proposed payment of at least $1 million over 10 years, $7 million in infrastructure work and a split revenue agreement would fall far short of the property’s appraised value of $31.8 million.
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Mayor Barry’s office has countered that a comparison of the expected revenue from the proposed plan to appraised land value is not a fair comparison, and using the land in a manner that is consistent with the needs of the community is a far better value for the city. Metro has not formally entered into a land
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2017
agreement with Cloud Hill, and negotiations are currently on hold. A rival development group has also filed a protest against the choice of Cloud Hill. — Randy Fox
Light Rail Coming To Gallatin Pike In the late 1980s, an album collection of up-and-coming Nashville rock bands was titled City Without a Subway. While the limestone bedrock that Music City is built upon may still prohibit visions of “riding the tube,” Nashville may be inching closer to an extensive mass transit system of light rail. In April, Mayor Megan Barry announced plans to make Gallatin Pike the first of five planned corridors of light rail. Extending from downtown along Main Street, through East Nashville, Madison, Rivergate, and eventually reaching all the way to Gallatin, the proposed light rail line system would allow commuters to board electric trains and zip quickly up and down the corridor, bypassing congested traffic on the existing roadways. While only preliminary design work has been completed to date, Nashville’s nMotion 25-year transportation strategic plan calls for light rail lines that would eventually run along Gallatin Pike, Murfreesboro Pike, Charlotte Pike, Nolensville Pike, and the northwest corridors, stretching from North Nashville to Clarksville. The light rail system would run on dedicated routes separate from vehicular lanes utilizing one to three cars. Stops would be expected every 10 minutes or less. The nMotion plan outlines a $5.97 billion regional transit system to be constructed over 25 years, with the light rail system as one component of a larger Middle Tennessee network. According to a story published in The Tennessean, Metro Transit Authority CEO Steve Bland said the preference would be to build all five rail lines simultaneously, but such a plan was “neither affordable nor practical.” Gallatin Pike was chosen as the first route for construction based on the present high rate of bus ridership along the corridor. At her April press conference, Mayor Barry noted that the light rail plan was essential to Nashville, saying, “I’m excited to have the city start the process of making light rail available to our citizens.” — Randy Fox
D RESSING D OWNTON AT T H E N E W LY R E S TO R E D C H E E K WO O D M A N S I O N
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6/14/17 5:53 PM
Astute OBSERVATIONS James “Hags” Haggerty
Here’s to good music, close friends, and fresh tomatoes
J
ust like Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia before me, I’ve got them old “U.S. Blues.” The multiple daily inanities, delusion, impetuous childishness, bullying, and hatred emanating from the most powerful office in the world has me stupefied, shocked, stymied, and generally bummed out. What’s a man to do? In my case, I’m counting on the midterms and 2020. I’ve got a slogan, “Foresight is 2020!” In the meantime, I’m sticking with what has always brought me solace, comfort, and joy, and that is music and community. Music is saving my psyche from the onslaught of insanity this summer. Much like when I started as an awkward preteen, music has been the thing that has carried me through the tough times and the thing that has made me laugh out loud. As a fan I have yelled and clapped and sung along in clubs, theaters, and arenas while my heroes bashed it out on stage to my delight. I once stood front row before Jimmy Page. When he started “Dazed and Confused” I fired something up to enhance the experience. He laughed at me. I imagine my teenaged grin looked pretty funny to him that night at the Nassau Coliseum. “Jimmy Page just laughed at me, man!” I have stood in line for tickets and camped overnight, and I bought the T-shirts and it was fun! As a sideman, that same energy goes into my playing these days. In these crazy times, I realize how valuable music is for all of us. It unites us, soothes us, excites us, connects us, and it’s really fun to dance to. It makes everything better. Cooking, cleaning, and many other household activities both ambulatory and otherwise are complemented with the right soundtrack. N’est pas? As you know from my last column, I’ve been covering some serious ground with a hard-hitting R&B outfit, with a movie to their credit. By the time you read this, I will have visited Germany, Russia, Japan, Norway, Esto-
nia, Latvia, Poland, and Spain with these bad cats. It is an incredible experience to tear into tunes like “Soul Man” and “Green Onions” with these fine gentlemen. From my perspective, I feel incredibly lucky to be there. Playing those songs with the people who wrote and arranged them is a thrill that is hard to describe. Playing music that was making people dance before I was born and will continue to years after I’m gone is a very cool experience. That is the heart of the matter. This spring and summer have given me the keys for my soul’s survival. Whether it was the shows overseas, festival gigs with The Autumn Defense, or joining The Pisapia Love-In here in town, music has given me hope. Simply put, in all of these performances there has been one constant: joy. Live music is cocreated. The band and the audience inspire each other. It is not a give and take. At its best, it is a continuous circuit between everyone in the room. There is not much that can beat that feeling. All summer long, I’ve had the privilege of making music with incredible singers and musicians for audiences that were excited to hear it. They have danced and shouted and sung along. It’s the simplest thing in the world, and it gives me optimism for the future. “Why is that, Hags?” I’m glad you asked! The spirit of music is uplifting. Live performance brings people together and celebrates community. There ain’t no discord when you’re grooving to your favorite tune in a room full of people doing the same. What my musical travels have shown me this summer is that people are people wherever you go. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all is what I have witnessed in this summer of music in spite of world leaders that would seek those ideals for but a privileged few. In short, friends and neighbors, do what you do best. Be a community. Get out and get down at the Tomato Art Fest. Be of good cheer, and when it comes time for the voting booth, pull the lever with gusto.
Hags is a part-time bon vivant, man-about-town, and goodwill ambassador for The East Nashvillian who earns his keep as a full-time bassist extraordinaire. .
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LIKE TOMATOES, THE BEST RADIO IS HOMEGROWN.
FOR LOCAL FREEFORM COMMUNITY RADIO FRESH OFF THE VINE, TUNE IN TO 101.5 FM. 32
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KNOW your NEIGHBOR
PH O TO G R APH BY CH A D C R AW FO R D
“A
Sara MORSE
3D printer, laptops, audio and vidyears, and has been in her current posieo gear — I’m just so jealous they tion at the corner of Forrest and Main didn’t have stuff like this at the for three years. “We’re the second oldest by Tommy Womack public library when I was a kid, still-standing Nashville Public Library branch,” she says. “Ninety-eight right? It’s so much fun. We years old, opened in April of 1919.” have a teacher on Wednesdays Morse’s journey to Nashville was during the school year who brings a roundabout one. She was born and MacBook Pros, and he teaches raised in Lawrenceburg, Ky., then kids how to make loops, teaches went off to get a college degree in how to be producers, how to write Wisconsin and set about making a their own songs, and they get to home for herself there. But all that record them. Kids also use our time, for whatever reason, there was laptops to do homework. We’ve a siren call from Music City. got a 3D printing pen, so instead “I moved back to Kentucky and of designing something on the got my masters in library science, computer and waiting for it to and then I moved here because my print out, you can just doodle, and sister was a senior at WKU,” she rethe 3D printer will carve the doodle out of plastic. If it turns out sucalls. “I went to visit her., we came percool the kids take them home. to Nashville to see The Shins at the We’ve also got Lego Mindstorms Cannery Ballroom, and I thought, robotics, with studio mentors two “Tall buildings, rock shows, and days a week teaching kids how to a great library. Maybe I could live here.” work with them. Depending on She weighed anchor and wasted the day and the weather, we may no time applying her talents and have 45 to 50 kids in here. We energy to the Metro Library sysset up different zones, so some tem. “When I first got here, I did kids will be here on the computers, some kids will be doing their children’s at Looby, I did teens at homework, and then some kids Madison, I was adult services librarian at Green Hills, but this is will set up music stuff on the stage, the first time I’ve been a manager,” so we’ll have multiple things going Morse says. on. I think it’s good that there are The current all-consuming ackids hanging out at the library after tivity at the library is the Summer school. Even if they’re not reading, Reading Challenge. There are comthey’re learning. We want them to petitive ranges from young students, see what all there is available, and older ones, and even adults who can widen their mindset, so that when they get in on the fun. The more books you start thinking about college or careers, read, the closer you get to the grand they’ll be able to say, ‘Oh, I have an idea prizes, which are actually kinda cool. of what this is!’ ” Morse and her staff of four, plus volunTalking, with no shortage of enthusiasm whatsoever, is Sara Morse, the ball teers, are riding herd on that competition as these summer days steep along. of fire manager of the East branch of While the prizes provide incentive, the Nashville Public Library. She gives the competition is really about acaa tour of the whole place, bopping up demic achievement itself. “There have one flight of stairs and bounding down been studies done that when kids don’t another, leaving a middle-aged scribe read, or when they get out of school and they don’t do anything, winded. Our tour started upstairs in the marbled classic library with they fall behind and it takes them two months to catch up once a high ceiling and lots of natural light, and culminated downstairs school starts again, while the other kids who’ve read during the in the nifty tricked-out magic room. summer are two months ahead,” Morse points out. “It’s cumulative. “In addition to the after-school activities, many more things go The kids who don’t read fall farther behind each summer. This is on in this room,” Morse says. “Performances on the stage, a free a way for us to keep everybody on board. For me, that’s what the meeting place for any 501(c)3 organization that needs one, and yoga library is all about. It’s a place you can go, it’s free, and you can learn classes, among other things.” anything you want to. We’ve got something for everybody.” Morse has been with the Metro Nashville library system for 12
We’re the second oldest still-standing Nashville Public Library branch. Ninety-eight years old, opened in April of 1919.
The Nashville Public Library's Summer Reading Program runs through Aug. 12. Participants can earn points by completing the program's activities and can redeem those points for prizes, including tickets to area attractions. For more information, visit: https://library.nashville.org/event/summer-challenge-may-25-august-12
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Ain’t Nothin’
BETTER Guy Clark’s ode to ‘Homegrown Tomatoes’ captures their literal and metaphoric deliciousness
W
By Holly Gleason Up in the mornin’ out in the garden Get you a ripe one don’t get a hard one Plant ‘em in the spring, eat ’em in the summer All winter without ’em’s a culinary bummer… — “Homegrown Tomatoes”
hen one thinks of Guy Clark, the chiseled Texas songwriter, it is usually the grandeur and brio of “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train,” the wry romantic failure of “Rita Ballou,” or the gravitas and despair of “The Randall Knife.” Rarely did Clark opt for mirth, and yet, even in mirth, the Grammy-winner managed the same spare language perfection that defined his more famous work. “Homegrown Tomatoes,” which first appeared on 1983’s Better Days, felt like a jig in a fresh breeze. Beat-bopping along, acoustic guitar picked just so, with that oak-y voice, he celebrated life’s essence in the form of a juicy red orb. Because when you strip away the elegance of his word choice and the exactitude of his work, the most striking thing was the deep humanity in even Clark’s grandest work. Dignity defines Guy Clark, but not in the frumpy etiquette school way of diplomats and socialites. To him, it’s the beauty of a hippie mother making do (“Madonna w/Child ca. 1969”), the wino elevator man who never fell out of love (“Let Him Roll”), the awkward morning after table talk (“Instant Coffee Blues”) that gilds his songs with a grace that makes real life compelling. Even the steamroller hard work homage (“Heavy Metal”) and the wetback smuggling tale (“Coyote”) imbue the margins of who we are with a sense of distinction And it’s contrasting that for a seemingly little song like “Homegrown Tomatoes” that lifts the whimsy to genuine celebration. Opening with the enjoinder “Ain’t nothing in the world that I like better/ than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes,” this is a song that revels in the literal and metaphoric
deliciousness of what a tomato provides. Beyond the obvious — how good they taste — there’s also the satisfaction of cultivation. Get your hands dirty, smell the soil, pull the weeds, watch the plants shoot up! And in these days of Lord-knows-what pumped on to so much produce, even the stuff they say is organic can be hard to trust. Farmers stretched to make ends meet often pick before prime, knowing they need to transport with minimal bruising and waste. How many times have we left a tomato on the window sill or counter to finish ripening? Watching, waiting, hoping it will turn into the peak perfect, slightly tart, marvelously juicy, just firm enough flesh to make that first bite almost shudder-inducing. What Clark affirms with “Homegrown Tomatoes” is our ability to create our own magic. No guess work, no potential. Just walk out into the garden, poke among the stalks and leaves, then identify the most ripe and ready. Like a big red heart, it dangles, heavy with promise, waiting to be plucked and turned into something yummy. You can almost hear the saliva pooling when Clark hits that first chorus of “Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes?/ Only two things that money can’t buy — that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.” The first time I heard Clark sing this song, it was McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, Calif. The storied acoustic instrument haven with the performance space in back was legend on the West Coast. John Chelew, who ran the place, had a master’s sense of talent, especially post-folk songwriters.
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Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Peter Case, Townes Van Zandt, Gil Scott-Heron, Richard Thompson, the Knitters, Ralph Stanley, Shawn Colvin, X, David Lindley, Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson, John Hiatt, Harry Dean Stanton, as well as outliers from Pere Ubu to Huun-HuurTu: the Throat Singers of Tuva, are among the many who raised songs in that cramped wooden building on Pico Boulevard that always felt like one bad spark could set it blazing. A long way from where I grew up in Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida, I missed that rustic home cooking with vegetables so fresh they popped with flavor. It wasn’t anything fancy, and it wasn’t anything expensive, but you could taste the earth, the sun, and the care that went into every bite. I won’t say I was a little sad, but there was a distinct vein of homesick running through me, a real sense of how pretty people never seemed to reach beyond the surface for the stuff where things got good. Because it’s not the picture perfect that moves your heart (or palette), but the things where you can taste the essence, the depth, the flavor at its peak. “Homegrown Tomatoes” tickled me. While I’d known about the plucky “Texas Cooking,” I’d missed this song about a simple vegetable. And where “Cooking” felt like a novelty, “Tomatoes” was clearly a love song. Unabashed and unashamed, Clark rolled out three and a half minutes of pure homage to one of those vegetables — or is it fruits? — that defines summer. Here was a song that understood, far from all that gorgeous hydroponically grown perfection at Mrs. Gooch’s (the health food grocery store) or even the California abundance at the Gelson’s Grocery down the street, nothing supplanted the feel of squeezing a tomato on the vine, or taking that first slice off the top, knowing as the juice ran through your fingers, heaven was a bite away. And it didn’t matter how you ate it! Right there at the sink, slice by slice with a little salt. Laid on a platter with fresh mozzarella and fresher basil. In salsa or pasta sauce. Or on squishy white bread — never toasted — slathered with Hellman’s mayonnaise and a shake of dill, basil, or thyme. Num num num.
out of place wasn’t going to stop its momentum. When I die don’t bury me In a box in a cemetery Out in the garden would be much better I could be pushing up homegrown tomatoes There was a glint in his eye when he sang it. Not because he was fixing to check out, but because Guy Clark was a man who knows what he likes — and wasn’t afraid to put it in a song.
Like “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” he slung down low into a double chorus, relishing the fact that his song had become what the best campfire moments embody: a singalong. Raising their voices in a dog-patch howl, the mix of hipsters and folkies, the ones who came because McCabes was cool or Clark was someone they should know and the people who just might go to the Kerrville Folk Festival were on the same ground: “Only two things money can’t buy — that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.”
I’ve been out to eat, and that’s for sure But it’s nothing a homegrown tomato won’t cure Put’em in a salad, put’em in a stew You can make your very own to-mah-to juice Eat ’em with eggs, eat ’em with gravy Eat ’em with beans, pinto or navy Put ’em on the side, put ’em in the middle Put a homegrown tomato on a hotcake griddle. Guy Clark had a shock of hair fall across his brow when he tipped his head during the song. The meticulous man in the suit coat and crisp white shirt didn’t bother to flip his head back, he just smiled and kept going. The song had a trajectory of its own, and something like a hair July | August 2017 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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ART รก la carte Red House Imaginarium
offers kids a wide selection of creative activities By Tommy Womack
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GOODPASTURE q
Christian School
STEM LAB
PRE-SCHOOL PROGRAM STARTING AT 12 MONTHS q q
FOREIGN LANGUAGES STARTING IN KINDERGARTEN
q
OUTSTANDING FINE ARTS
q q
45 HOURS OF COLLEGE CREDIT
ATHLETICS STARTING IN 5TH GRADE
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Goodpasture Christian School
goodpasture.org
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From 12 months to 12th grade
2,000 HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE
“T
he arts (in public schools) have been cut and cut and cut, and it’s one of the most important parts of your education,” Mike Dominguez of Red House Imaginarium says. “It’s not testing scores that get you a job, it’s creative thinking, ability to think creatively and solve problems. And that comes from the arts!” And that’s where Red House Imaginarium comes in. “We are an arts education initiative, focused in East Nashville,” he explains. Along with Emily Dobson, Dominguez cofounded Red House Imaginarium to be a local educational service offering theater training, singing and songwriter sessions, improv, and visual arts guidance in painting, sculpture, and photography. The gamut, in other words. Students range from kindergarten-age through high school. And a concerted effort is paid to the youngest students, who too often never have the experience of being in a school play until high school, by which time their creative sides have already begun to calcify. The Imaginiarium seeks to awaken and nurture those passions in children early enough to make a difference for the rest of their lives. Dominguez and Dobson carried around virtually the same notions in their heads for years, but they didn’t know each other and life kept getting in the way. Artist instruction for people who can’t afford higher-end academies was the common goal for them, reaching children in time to unleash what’s inside, and raising it to life in teens and any adult who might be inclined to want to learn. “I just found my calling in teaching,” Dobson says. “I started teaching acting classes out of my house. It was a good way to supplement income and I still got to teach, and then a couple of years ago, I was homeschooling my oldest son, and that’s when I really started forming the idea of the Imaginarium. I decided to go back to school for a bit because if I was going to do this, I had to take some classes on nonprofit management and whatever else I needed to learn.” And then she and Dominguez met — in a champion example of networking — at a funeral. Dobson had just been making conversation about her brainchild to one of the fellow bereaved. Someone overheard and said, “Oh, you need to meet Mike over there. He’s only been talking about wanting to do that same thing for the last 15 years!” “So we went off and had a conversation,” Dobson says, “and the company that he had just started was called Redhouse. And so we just combined it. At first it wasn’t going to be a partnership, but somehow it just happened. “We did a lot of talking and we decided to start it out at the Tomato Art Fest (last
year),” Dobson continues. “I’d always wanted to do a little one-act play called Tomato Plant Girl, kind of an antibullying plot, and we cast it with some local girls and put it on at the 2016 Tomato Art Fest, and that was our start.” Dominquez and Dobson opened for business last fall, and essentially follow the Metro school schedules. Lacking a brickand-mortar to call their own, classes were taught during the 2016-17 school year at
the Eastwood Christian Church in their main meeting spaces and classrooms. (The church is expected to be the venue this coming academic year as well.) This summer they staged a two-week summer camp full of arts classes at the 3rd Coast Comedy Club in Marathon Village. They even got Radio Lightning in on the act, the station loaning the use of their offices upstairs for a mini-movie scene that needed an office setting.
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L
ike any business, things started slowly. Lessons began with an average of three kids to a class, but soon swelled to 12 and beyond. And for the program Dominguez and Dobson envision, that’s plenty per class, so that all who approach the well can drink. The two of them have defined their job boundaries as they naturally came to present themselves. “He (Mike) is more the technical side, whereas I am more of the programming side,” Dobson says. “I went to NYU for theater. I studied at David Mamet’s workshop. So I bring songwriting and voice and theater and costuming and makeup to the table. “Mike brings more sound and audio and digital film, the more technological side of it. And he can play any stringed instrument. He’s a great bass player, and his wife’s an amazing writer, so she helps out with a lot of the copy work we need for our website and other things. And I have worked for a lot of nonprofits, ran an HR department at one point, and also worked for a financial firm, so the administrative side is where I thrive. We’ve got to play to our strengths.” They’re looking forward to the new semester because, prayerfully, there will be others to come and help out with the tutelage, as the class numbers swell and mutate into two more classes, and three more classes, and so on. To date, Dominguez and Dobson have shouldered the herculean yoke of teaching them all. (Their website lists a half-dozen volunteers, including an improv comic and set builders, and more volunteers are coming on board.) First on their priorities list is to a) secure serious funding (once they solidify their 501c3 certification) from corporations, individuals, grants, prayer, and high hopes, and b) secure permanent lodgings for their new place for learning and for students of any age discovering the artistic sides of themselves they never knew were there. “Ultimately we want to be the first thing you think of for arts education in Nashville,” Dominguez says. “There isn’t an arts center in Nashville, which is crazy, because there are so many artists in this community! Murfreesboro has one, Dickson … we want to buy an old church and transform the classrooms, and turn the sanctuary into a big performance space. “Part of why we do it is that not every kid’s a basketball player, but now I’ve had parents tell me that this is where their kids have learned collaboration and teamwork, something they’d normally get from their sports program,” Dominguez continues. “So we want to be there to encourage creative thinking and collaboration for those kids who aren’t going to play sports, but don’t get to try theater until they get to high school. It’s for those younger kids, a safe space that they can come into.” Their ultimate endeavor is for the program to be affordable to the people in East
Nashville (and beyond) who aren’t living in a tall-and-skinny and pulling down $80,000 a year. Dominguez concludes: “There are places like this (The Red House Imaginarium) in town, but they’re not cheap. You can spend a lot of money to go into these audition schools that will fast-track you into being a Mouseketeer or whatever. There’s a lot of those in town, so we want to be here, to bridge that gap.”
Red House Imaginarium will be performing student selections at this year’s Tomato Art Festival. The 2017-18 schedule will be announced Aug. 10. which includes core weekly classes and workshops. Camps will begin in September. Guest classes will be announced throughout the year. To register, visit: redhouseimaginarium.org Red House Imaginarium scholarship fund donations can be made at: gofundme.com/ red-house-imaginarium-scholarships
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HALL of HISTORY For five decades the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has been telling the story of country music — and making its own history BY RANDY FOX 44
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2017
Executive Director Kyle Young has overseen a quarter century of growth at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Photograph by Eric England
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n April 1976, Kyle Young was a 22-yearold college student in search of a summer job when he spotted a “Help Wanted” ad for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “I was looking around for a job and I loved music,” Young says. “I had never been in the Hall of Fame, but they hired me. It was small, about 20 people on staff and they all loved music. I began to understand what the place was and what it meant, and I got hooked, but I had no intention that I would work there for the rest of my life.” Forty-one years after that fateful spring, Young discusses the institution’s history and his personal memories from his office in the Hall. Over the last four decades he worked his way up from ticket taker to executive director, guiding the museum’s course through two decades of its 50-year history, but some of Young’s fondest memories are from those early days. “There was a group of academics who were hell-bent on making people understand that country music was an important part of the culture and it needed to be studied and collected,” Young says. “And then you had people like Diana Johnson who wanted to make it a great museum. It was just cool being there.” That mission of advocating, preserving, and educating the world about country music has been the primary focus of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum since it opened its doors in 1967. The roots of the Hall lie in the formation of the Country Music Association in 1958. The CMA was a direct response to the beating that country music sales suffered during the rock & roll explosion, and its primary objective was promoting the country format to radio stations, as well as elevating the stature of country music. With that in mind, the CMA established the Country Music Hall of Fame in November 1961 with the unveiling of three bronze plaques honoring Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, and songwriter and publisher Fred Rose at the CMA annual banquet. Although the Hall of Fame existed on paper and in bronze, it had no physical home. For the next few years, the plaques resided in a special exhibit in the Tennessee State Museum. In the meantime, the idea of building a permanent museum began to ferment. The CMA briefly considered a country music exhibition at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, but decided the money would be better spent on a permanent museum in Nashville. Plans shifted into high gear in the fall of 1963 →
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Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
I
The original home of “The Hall,” located on the southeast corner of Division Street and 16th Avenue South, opened on April 1, 1967.
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Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of FameÂŽ and Museum
Kyle Young (L) in his first job at the Hall as a ticket taker. Across the counter (and masquerading as a visitor for the photo) is Alan Stoker, who started working at the Hall in 1974 as a courier. He now serves as the Museum’s music library cataloger.
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‘
Bob Pinson, the Hall of Fame’s first head of acquisitions, checks out an album by Uncle Dave Macon.
Jo Walker-Meador, head of both the Country Music Foundation and the Country Music Association during the early days. Oct. 2 1968 Photo by Don Foster
Photos courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
A gathering of the new officers of the Board of Trustees at the Country Music Foundation. (standing L-R) Frank Jones, Francis Preston, and Bill Ivey; (seated L-R) Emmylou Harris and Diana Johnson. May 26, 1983
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‘‘
At the time, the Hall was doing very well financially, so that freed me up to concentrate on the library. We built the collection, hired academic staff, launched an oral history project, and started the Journal of Country Music. ... —Bill Ivey
Bill Ivey (right) and Jerry Reed standing in front of the Trans Am named “Bandit” from the Smokey and the Bandit films — which costarred Reed and Burt Reynolds — during the opening reception for the “Country Music & the Movies” exhibition. April 26, 1983 Photo by Paula Anderson
when newly elected — and first — mayor for Metro-Davidson County Beverly Briley offered a city park at the corner of 16th Avenue South (now Music Square East) and Division Street as a site for the museum. To facilitate fundraising, the nonprofit Country Music Foundation was chartered to oversee the proposed museum. Approximately two years of intense fundraising followed. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on March 13, 1966. The official opening followed slightly over a year later on April 1, 1967. From its debut, the Hall was a popular destination for country music fans, attracting over 70,000 visitors in its first nine months of operation. By 1970, total attendance topped half a million. The museum space included a permanent exhibit on the history of country music, a central hall spotlighting the Hall of Fame plaques, a small rotating gallery space highlighting specific artists, a 40-seat theater, and a small gift shop. A small library was maintained in the balcony over the central gallery, but little emphasis was placed on the research or academic mission of the museum. CMF board members Bill Denny and Francis Preston advocated increasing the Hall’s academic profile, and in the summer of 1971, the CMF hired Bill Ivey, a 26-year-old folklorist, historian, and bluegrass fan, as the Hall’s first librarian. “To me it was going to be a one-year job while I looked around for a full-time teaching position,” Ivey recalls. “I started in August 1971 and immediately asked who do I report to? No one seemed to know. Jo Walker-Meador was the head of both the CMA and the CMF, but most of her time was devoted to the CMA. In October 1971, the board moved Jo to the CMA full time and made me executive director of the CMF. This was only a couple of months after I had been hired as the librarian.” Ivey quickly began establishing a separate identity for the CMF and the Hall. The first step came with an expansion into 4,000 square feet of previously unfinished basement space for offices, the library, and archive. “At the time, the Hall was doing very well financially, so that freed me up to concentrate on the library,” Ivey says. “We built the collection, hired academic staff, launched an oral history project, and started the Journal of Country Music, basically things that would impress my former academic colleagues and establish us as a serious academic research organization.” One of the largest and most important acquisitions was the more than 13,000 records the Hall of Fame purchased in the fall of 1972 from California collector Bob Pinson, one of the foremost collectors of prewar country music in the world. After negotiating the sale, Pinson followed his collection to Nashville and was hired as head of acquisitions for the museum in the summer of 1973. “It was a great decision for the organization because it gave us first-class, in-house expertise, and it was great for Bob because he went from being a collector to being the confidant of major artists and a player in the music industry,” Ivey says. “Bob and I collaborated on The Bob Wills Anthology, a two-LP album that was the first real historical reissue to be produced by the Hall of Fame. I’m proud to say that album is still in print on CD.” →
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(L-R): Bill Ivey, Jimmie C. Newman, Jeanie Pruitt, Ray Benson, Diana Johnson, Jay Orr, and Carl Perkins at a conference for the relaunch of Dot Records. October, 1985 Photo by Beth Gwinn
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Photo courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
A Who’s Who of pickers gathered onstage to celebrate the grand opening of the Hall’s new home on May 17, 2001: (L-R) Earl Scruggs, Marty Stuart, Gary Scruggs, Vasser Clements, and Jerry Douglas.
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Photos courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
By the late ’70s, tourism as an automatic source of revenue was over.We had to worry about funding like any other cultural nonprofit. —Bill Ivey The atmosphere of music and academic research that Ivey fostered hooked Kyle Young when he began working at the Hall of Fame in the spring of 1976. “There were academic discussions about music constantly going on,” Young says. “Everybody was consumed by music. Doug Green, who was in charge of the oral history project, was also auditioning people for the band that would become Riders in the Sky. On Friday afternoons, Ivey, who was a great guitar player, and other guitar players would gather in the reading room in the library and play and talk about music.” Folklorist and music journalist Jay Orr discovered the same intoxicating atmosphere of music and knowledge when he joined the museum in 1983. “The library was like a crossroads,” says Orr, who left the museum in 1989 to work for the Nashville Banner, and later CMT.com, before returning in 2002. “If you went from one part of the office to another, you crossed the library and you would run into researchers who were doing interesting things. Alan Stoker had his audio restoration studio at the back of the library. So you would hear Hank Williams with just his guitar over and over again as Alan worked to get the clicks and pops out of the recordings. I worked the reference desk, and we would get calls from all over the world asking what was the No. 1 country hit in 1954 or whatever. You could not help but learn a lot from being there.”
A
s the museum’s stature as a research and academic organization continued to grow, the staff began to experience fundraising challenges as well as space issues. The financially flush early years faded as economic downturns, rising gas prices, and competing tourist attractions nibbled away at the museum’s attendance. Fortunately, Ivey’s business savvy kept the museum afloat. “By the late ’70s, tourism as an automatic source of revenue was over,” Ivey explains. “We had to worry about funding like any other
cultural nonprofit. It stayed that way for a long time. At one point in the ’80s, we desperately needed a small cash flow loan of $55,000 to make payrolls. We already owed First American National Bank some money, and we were working with a loan officer who was trying to be a tough guy. I got the word that he was going to turn down our loan. I went down the street to Brian Williams, who had just opened a new Commerce Union office on Music Row, and told him I wanted to move our banking, but we needed this loan. He agreed, so when I met with the First American loan officer, I said, ‘Before you start, we’re moving everything to Commerce Union. Thank you for all the help you’ve given us through the years,’ and walked out on him. I sounded tough, but it was actually a move of desperation.”
Along with cash flow problems, space — or lack thereof — continued to be an issue. Building expansions in 1977 and 1984 increased exhibit and meeting space, allowing in-depth rotating exhibits and an education program focused on local schools, but “if we only had more room” became a constant refrain for the museum’s staff. When the Hall received accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in 1987, the wish became more urgent. Young worked his way up through various positions and recalls the intense desire to give back to the city responsible for creating the Hall. “We desperately needed more space to really become a part of the community, rather than just this odd attraction on Music Row that you wanted to avoid during Fan Fair week →
HAPPY TOMATO FEST FROM LOCKELAND TABLE
thanks for five wonderful years! →
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Kyle Young surrounded by — literally — a museum’s worth of guitars in the exhibition archives. Many of the instruments in the collection are priceless, having been owned and played by the legends who left their indelible mark on American music. The Hall rotates the collection throughout the year, keeping the experience fresh for regular visitors.
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because of the traffic,” Young recalls. “We had a great education program, but we needed more space to engage the community.” Although several proposals were considered to expand, the real estate limitations of Music Row continued hampering improvements. The Hall attempted to expand its scope with the acquisition of RCA Studio B in 1977 and Hatch Show Print in 1987 by becoming a multi-stop experience through the use of shuttle buses, but logistics proved to be an ongoing issue. In the spring of 1992, Ivey received an auspicious phone call. “Phil Bredesen was mayor at the time, and he was trying to sell the concept for a downtown arena,” Ivey says. “There was going to be 150,000 square feet of open space in the arena building and he wanted to know if the museum would be interested in relocating. He wasn’t really serious. He just wanted to use the Hall of Fame as a selling point for the arena, but I took him seriously.” Over the next several months, Ivey and his staff worked with the mayor’s office and the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency to secure a new location for the Hall. The old Church Street Center, a failed mall that eventually was converted into the main
If we hadn’t moved when we did, it may have survived, but just barely.
She inspired us to dream big, too.” As plans proceeded, Ivey received another unexpected phone call from an elected official. President Bill Clinton offered Ivey the chairmanship of the National Endowment for the Arts. “I had to go to the chairman of the CMF Board and say we have all this rolling, but I’m out of here,” Ivey says. “It probably took Kyle Young a year to get up to speed (as the new director of the CMF), but it all worked out. The key was Diana Johnson. She had left the
Hall [where she had been associate director], but returned as the project manager on the relocation and expansion. She was the one who kept everything moving.”
O
n May 17, 2001, the new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opened with much fanfare. It was a dramatic reinvention, plainly evident in its grand design, massive CONTINUED ON PAGE 112
July 21
September 23
STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES
MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER
with Lucero
with John Paul White
August 5
JOHN KAY & STEPPENWOLF
September 29
August 7
October 3
BOZ SCAGGS
GILLIAN WELCH
THE HARROW & THE HARVEST IN CONCERT
MUTEMATH .
—Kyle Young branch of the Nashville Public Library, and several other locations were considered before settling on Demonbreun Street, between Fourth and Fifth avenues, catty-corned from the new arena. In 1994, the Hall officially announced its relocation plans, and the long process of design and implementation began. Securing the $37 million necessary for the new facility required fundraising at a level never before undertaken by the Hall. Money wasn’t the only obstacle; the transition from Music Row to downtown required a completely new vision for fulfilling their mission. “Looking back, I’m stunned that we had the conviction and the courage to stand up to people and explain what the new Hall could be,” Young says. “We had an opportunity to reposition and reinvent who we were, and (publicity director) Liz Thiels’ vision was so prominent. I’m glad she was a big dreamer.
100.1 fm
November 9
August 31
THE CADILLAC THREE with Ray Wylie Hubbard
COURTNEY BARNETT & KURT VILE (AND THE SEA LICE)
.
September 22
November 22
SYLVAN ESSO
ST. VINCENT .
100.1 fm
100.1 fm
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20 TOMATO
Photography by John Partipilo 58
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ART FEST!
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T O M AT O A R T F E S T SCHEDULE OF EVENTS WED AUG. 9 TOMATO STORY TIME AT THE INGLEWOOD LIBRARY TIME: 10:30 a.m. | WHERE: Inglewood Library | 4312 Gallatin Pike COST: Free! | CONTACT: Mr. Andrew, 615.862.5866
It’s tomato time at the Inglewood Branch of the Nashville Public Library! Join us for an entertaining story time that celebrates the great uniter, the TOMATO! We’ll have stories, songs, and crafts for children ages 2-5, all featuring our juicy garden friend! Don’t miss this fruit and vegebration!
FRI AUG. 11 TOMATO ART PREVIEW PARTY
TOMATO ART FEST KICK-OFF CONCERT
WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT
WHERE : Art & Invention Gallery | 1106 Woodland St.
WHERE: Beyond the Edge parking lot | 112 S. 11th St.
WHERE: 11th between Woodland & Holly
COST: $25 (reservations required)
COST: Free!
COST: Free!
CONTACT: 615.226.2070 | meg@artandinvention.com
Sit down and enjoy a delicious meal from our food vendors in our lighted food court next to Bongo Java East and cross the street for exciting performances from these talented local acts!
Largest gathering of people dressed as Fruits and Vegetables
TIME: 6-9 p.m.
Always a popular event, the Tomato Art Preview Party offers the art lover a wonderful night of sights, sounds, and flavors! Partygoers get to be the first to view this year’s tomato art while enjoying tasty tomato treats. Special thanks to our sponsors: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Walker Feed Co and Deep Eddy Vodka.
TIME: 6-11 p.m.
7:00 p.m. Waterfall Wash 8:15 p.m. Becca Mancari
TIME: 7 p.m.
Gear up and help us break the world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as fruit and vegetables. Don’t have anything to wear? Come out anyway, and we will help you get dressed up.
9:30 p.m. Futurebirds
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S AT U R D AY A U G . 1 2 EAST NASHVILLE TOMATO 5K Hosted by the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA
START TIMES: Children’s Fun Run: 7 a.m. | Tomato 5K: 7:30 a.m. WHERE: 7th & Woodland (East Park)
WHAT: Fundraising event for the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA in East Nashville REGISTRATION: http://give.ymcamidtn.org/events/tomato5k CONTACT: Ronald Gooch, 615.228.5225
Whether you jog, walk, or run, this exciting race will take runners through the heart of Historic East Nashville’s neighborhoods! After the race, stick around for the Tomato Art Fest and make a day of it!
TOMATO ART FEST “PUSH, PULL, & WEAR PARADE” TIME: Line up: 8:30 a.m. | Parade: 9 a.m. sharp
WHERE: Starts:12th & Russell | 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. It is free to participate.
DECORATE YOUR BIKE FOR THE PARADE! Hosted by Eastside Cycles
TIME: 8:30 a.m.
WHERE: Eastside Cycles | 103 S. 11th St.
CONTACT: 615.469.1079 | bikeseastside@gmail.com Come to Eastside Cycles at 8:30 a.m. and decorate your bike to ride in the Tomato Art Fest Parade! Just bring your favorite decorations, and we’ll have a supply of shiny, tomatoey things, too!
TOMATO ART FEST VENDOR MARKETPLACE TIME : 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
WHERE: 5 Points area
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. Our vendors aim to please!
EEUMC’S TOMATO ART KIDFEST 2017 Hosted by East End United Methodist Church
TIME: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. | WHERE: 12th & Holly
CONTACT: Kim Kennedy at kjkennedy23@yahoo.com or 615.715.4164 Once again, children of all ages are invited to the Tomato Art KIDFEST, a celebration of community fun just for kids (and their families) during the 14th Annual Tomato Art Fest in East Nashville. FREE activities will include inflatable fun with a water slide and bounce houses, FREE popsicles, FREE “tomato head” hair painting and a FREE kid’s craft.
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Saturday, Aug. 12 continued
BIKE VALET:
TOMATO ART FEST COOKING STAGE
TIME: 10 to 6 p.m.
TIME: 10 to 6 p.m.
Why drive & struggle with parking, when you can bike to the festival? Members of Walk/Bike Nashville will park your bike while you enjoy the festival.
Enjoy cooking demonstrations by chefs from your favorite East Nashville restaurants, including Two Ten Jack, Calypso Cafe East, Local Taco, Burger Up, Rumours East, The Pharmacy, and more.
Hosted by Tomato Art Fest
WHERE: 11th & Woodland
BOBBING FOR TOMATOES | TOMATO TOSS Hosted by Wags & Whiskers
TIME: 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Wags & Whiskers (At 5 Points, between Red Door
& 5 Spot, under the Hip Zipper) CONTACT: 615.228.9249
Bobbing for (real) tomatoes, tossing (faux) tomatoes at a target, prizes, treats for the pooches, wading pools to cool hot paws … it’s all about fun for pets and those who love them!
Hosted by Tomato Art Fest
WHERE: Grass lot next to Bongo Java
FAUX PAW FASHION SHOW: TIME: 10:30-11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Contest Stage
COST: $10 entry fee (Proceeds go to support EAST C.A.N.) If you like to dress up your pet and parade it around town, then this event was made for you! The Faux Paw Fashion Show is open to pets of all species and doubles as a costume contest to see who can dress their dog, cat, bird, monkey, lizard, ferret, reptile, marsupial, insect, etc. in the best-looking tomato-inspired outfit ever dreamed into existence!
TOMATO FAIRY & ELF CONTEST Hosted by Fairy Tales Bookstore
TIME: 11 a.m.
WHERE: Fairy Tales Bookstore | 114 S. 11th St.
CONTACT: 615.915.1960
Get out the glitter, gather your wings, hats, twinkle-toed shoes, and put on your elf ears, for Fairy Tales Bookstore is having a Tomato Fairy & Elf costume contest! The contest is open to all ages and genders, with prizes for all contestants. Judges will award GRAND prizes in 3 categories: • Most Creative • Best Costume (under 13 years old) • Best Costume (13 years and up) Grand Prize is a $30 gift card to Fairy Tales. Plan to join us for the Parade starting at 9 a.m.
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Saturday, Aug. 12 continued
CORNHOLE TOURNAMENT TIME: 11 a.m-noon
WHERE: Contest Stage
The Tomato, THE uniter of all fruits and vegetables, loves to celebrate even the simple grains. This fun event involves two players tossing bags of corn at a 6-inch hole, 10 yards away. Sound easy? Don’t be fooled! Come show off your skills and walk away king of the Cornhole toss. Advance registration is required. To register, visit tomatoartfest.com.
GIANT ICE CREAM SUNDAE EXTRAVAGANZA! Sponsored by Pied Piper
TIME: Noon
WHERE: Pied Piper Creamery | 114 S. 11th St. CONTACT: 615.227.4114 Calling all kids ages 2 -10 to help build the largest ice cream sundae in East Nashville! How do you get to be part of this fun event? Just SHOW UP! And what is the reward for all this “hard” work? You get to eat the ice cream! Really, how does it get any better than that?
TOMATO ART FEST HAIKU CONTEST
TIME: 11:30 am (deadline to submit entries is 6 p.m. CST, Sunday, Aug. 6) WHERE: Contest Stage
CONTACT: tomatohaikucontest@gmail.com Winners will share their poetic brilliance on-stage at the Tomato Art Fest, and snag some pretty sweet prizes. The annual Tomato Haiku Contest is back! Submit tomato-related haiku in classic 5-7-5 style in these three categories: Adults, Kids (16 & Under), Humor Or try the new fruits & veggies free form category limerick, sonnet, prose ... anything goes! It's free to enter the contest, and each person can submit up to five entries to the email address above. Winners will be announced — and prizes awarded — during the Tomato Art Fest on Saturday, Aug. 12, at the contest stage starting at 11:30 am.
BEAUTIFUL TOMATO CONTEST Hosted by Alegria
TIME: 1-2 p.m. (Entries must be at Alegria by 1 p.m. to be eligible) WHERE: Alegria in The Idea Hatchery | 1108 Woodland St. CONTACT: alegriagifts@yahoo.com | 615.227.8566 Here is how it works: Take an ordinary tomato and dress, adorn, and decorate it as if it were an entrant in a beauty contest, or headed to a costume party. (It helps to think of your tomato as a small, round person who is just ripe to get dressed up and go out on the town!) Winners receive praise and a bunch of swell prizes!
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BIGGEST/ LITTLEST/UGLIEST TOMATO CONTEST
TIME: Drop off entries from 9 a.m.-noon | Winners announced between 1-1:30 p.m.
WHERE : Info booth, 11th & Woodland CONTACT:
meg@artandinvention.com We love ugly tomatoes! That’s right, the uglier the better. We also love those big tomatoes and the teeny weenie ones, too! Enter your Ugliest Tomato, Biggest Tomato, and Littlest Tomato for a chance to win prizes!
TAF RED HEAD COMPETITION
Sponsored by Tomato Art Fest
TIME: 2-3 p.m.
WHERE: The Contest Stage
No registration needed, just show up with your tomato red locks! This contest is open to all redheads — men, women, boys, girls, and those whose red hair is just not real!
TAF BLOODY MARY COMPETITION Sponsored by 3 Crow Bar
TIME: 3 p.m.
WHERE: Bloody Mary Stage behind 3 Crow Bar | 1024 Woodland St.
CONTACT: 615.262.3345
Who has the best Bloody Mary recipe in all the land? Come to the Bloody Mary Stage as 10 finalists vie for the title of BEST Bloody Mary of 2017. Who knows, if you get lucky, you might just get to taste the winning entry! Emceed and judged by a panel of experts! *Call 3 Crow Bar for details on how to apply online for entry in the contest.
BAND TOGETHER
BECOME A MEMBER TODAY
Museum members enjoy unlimited access to rotating exhibitions, as well as exclusive performances and programs, discounted tours of Hatch Show Print and Historic RCA Studio B, shopping and dining deals, and more.
#PressPlayRecord • #CMHOF50 • @CountryMusicHOF CountryMusicHallofFame.org/Membership • Downtown Nashville
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T O M AT O A R T F E S T M U S I C L I N E U P 37206 STAGE PRESENTED BY XFINITY Presented by Tomato Art Fest
TIME: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
WHERE: Beyond the Edge parking lot | 112 S. 11th St.
11 a.m. YEAH! Southern Girls Rock Camp Noon
Academy of Rock
1 p.m. Fanny’s House of Music presents Queens of Noise (Teen Runaways Tribute Band) 2 p.m. Jess Nolan 3 p.m. Parker Gispert of The Whigs 4 p.m. Josie Dunne 5 p.m. Morgan Bosman 6 p.m. Skyway Man 7 p.m. Okey Dokey 8 p.m. Smooth Hound Smith
COLD LUNCH RECORDS STAGE TIME: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
WHERE: 12th & Woodland
10 a.m. Jacob Disedare 11 a.m. Telefones Noon
The Burps
1 p.m. Lean 2 p.m. The Inscape 3 p.m. Big Surr 4 p.m. Microwave Mountain 5 p.m. Ian Ferguson
WOODLAND STAGE
MUDDY ROOTS STAGE
TIME: Noon-6 p.m.
WHERE: 11th & Russell
Presented by The Basement East
TIME: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: 10th & Woodland
9 a.m.
1 p.m. Jon Latham
11 a.m. DJ Mudfather
2 p.m. New Respects
Noon
Noon
Cali Rodi
3 p.m. Daddy Issues 4 p.m. Them Vibes 5 p.m. Caleb Groh 6 p.m. Eclectic Tuba
DJ Mudfather
10 a.m. Dylan Walshe Pat Reedy & the Longtime Goners
1 p.m. DJ Jason Galaz 2 p.m. Tommy Ohs 3 p.m. DJ Jason Galaz 4 p.m. Smoky White Devils
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Battling the
GREAT BLACK SNAKE Singer/activist Michael Younger mixes revolution and rock & roll By Warren Denney
Photograph by Alan Messer
“
What kind of world are we leaving behind? What kind of world will the next of us find? p
”
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T
hese two simple questions — sung by Nashville musician and environmental activist Mike Younger on the song “What Kind of World” from his new release, the rootsy and insightful Little Folks Like You and Me — strike deeply for those who care about the environment in which we live, and reveal a lamenting heart which Younger wears on his sleeve. There is also tucked within the lyrics, perhaps even between the lines, an acknowledgement of the pitched battle in which he finds himself. His foe, the mythological black snake of Native American prophecies, comes to do harm to their peoples and land. By standing ground locally against the construction of one of the largest natural gas compressors in the country, and by helping to organize and deliver Middle Tennessee support for those who fought construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, N.D., Younger sounds a real alarm on behalf of the greater Nashville community, and beyond. Of course, humankind and the snake are often at odds. The relationship runs deep within our collective psyche — from the days when the Judeo-Christian serpent walked upright, offering a certain fruit to the susceptible, to the asp in Cleopatra’s chamber, to the American colonial defiance of “Don’t Tread on Me,” and beyond, the bond holds a special place of dread in our world. Yet, spiritually, the snake’s presence is often subjugated, or denied, even as it lies on the path ahead. Many Native American tribes, including the Sioux Nation, equate the Dakota Access Pipeline to the great black snake of a generations-old prophecy, and hold that it must be defeated in order to prevent destruction of the land and its people. The notorious pipeline is now operating and set to move more than 500,000 gallons of crude oil every day from the oil fields of North Dakota to Illinois, crossing the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s traditional lands near its reservation and sacred water source of the Missouri River. Though now operating, a federal judge has recently ordered more review of the pipeline’s environmental impact on the lands, potentially halting operation. By making the connection between the fight at Standing Rock in North Dakota against Energy Transfer Partners, and the effort to stop the construction of the natural gas compressor in the Joelton area by energy giant Kinder Morgan, Younger is attempting to harness and galvanize a grassroots sense that all society is negatively affected by the aggression of the oil and gas industry. He lives near the Kinder Morgan site, just north of downtown Nashville, which will also feel the effects of the toxic emissions from the natural gas compressor. “In the spring of 2015, Kinder Morgan →
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Photographs by Eric England
When Michael Younger inspected the pipelines running through the Joelton area, he found them to be aging and corroded. Many of the pipelines that crisscross Tennessee are 50 to 60 years old.
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Photograph by Eric England
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The basic elements of life were restricted. Cell phones and social media were jammed and under surveillance.
notified a handful of residents in the vicinity of Whites Creek Pike and Greenbrier Lane, out in a rural community, that it was going to be the site of one of the largest natural gas compressors in the country,” Younger says during breakfast recently at The Family Wash. “We have a series of seven interstate pipelines that travel from the Pennsylvania and West Virginia shelf down to Texas and the Gulf Coast where they process. These pipelines join others passing through Tennessee on their way to Texas. The additional gas capacity that they are trying to produce is for export, not for domestic use, which makes their use of eminent domain even more dubious. “Kinder Morgan notified the community that it was coming, and there was nothing the community could really do about it. We
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had 30 days to respond with comments to the federal regulators.” Though always a champion for the environment, that was the beginning of Younger’s journey to a greater understanding — and his fight against the black snake. He began to embrace his community in a way he had not before, and to connect the dots. Common ground can be an interesting space. “Joelton is really an impressive community,” Younger says. “It’s a rural, conservative, Christian community and not really too keen on environmental activism [as a general rule] — and sort of a lower-income, working class community. But the people recognized the threat this poses. We had joined the ranks, and become another vulnerable population in the path of fossil fuel — sort of the same way
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as with Standing Rock and numerous other communities across the country. “I met a longtime local resident, J.H. Armstrong, when we started to organize as a community,” he continues. “We began to look at what we could do on the legal side and came to the agreement that the state of the existing pipelines passing through Tennessee are exposed in creek beds and ravines and are in terrible, corroded conditions. They were put in the ground originally between the mid1940s and the mid-1960s, and we believed they couldn’t possibly meet regulatory standards today. As a strategic channel, we photographed and documented the most egregious sites in the vicinity to show why a compressor station wouldn’t be a good idea in the area.” To prove the infrastructure was being poorly maintained, Armstrong and Younger conducted the field study, meant to buttress legal challenges that began to unfold at the state and federal levels. Tragically, Armstrong was killed in a car accident before the release of the study’s findings, and Younger submitted that report in November 2015. “I submitted the report to the authorities at the federal, state, and the local levels, Younger says. “It took me 3 1/2 months to get federal regulators to come from the Pipeline [And] Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in Atlanta — the pipeline regulator under the U.S. Department of Transportation. It took them that long to take me seriously enough to dispatch agents. “In May of 2016, Cliff Hadley, J.H. Armstrong’s son-in-law, and I took the agents into the backcountry to show these terrible conditions we had reported — obvious corrosion and exposed welds in creek beds, advanced external corrosion. These are the same pipelines that are being counted on for increased capacity. They were flabbergasted … and they spoke of the authority to fine companies retroactively. “I was hoping they were going to step in and do something, but instead, nothing. It was a bit of a peek behind the curtain.” Younger was frustrated by the failure of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or PHMSA to move forward and felt like the bureaucracy fostered inaction. Investigation was always “in the works,” and he →
Photograph by Eric England
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Heavily militarized police prepare to advance on unarmed protesters at Standing Rock.
The Oceti Sakowin Camp at Standing Rock.
believes a landscape of close industry relationships at federal and state levels creates a permissive regulatory environment, keeping much real work in stasis. To Younger and the entire community, which was well acquainted with the pipeline problems, the influence of the oil and gas industry was overwhelming. He, and others supporting the fight, turned back to the local government and the question of air pollution in a quest for any remaining options. The Southern Environmental Law Center’s Ann Davis represented the community and mounted a legal challenge regarding the air quality impact. The Metro Council petitioned the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board to enforce local zoning considerations
and block the necessary permits required by Kinder Morgan. Kinder Morgan had maintained that it would contain emission levels from the compressor at 9 parts-per-million (ppm), a level below the 25 ppm that removes any grounds for challenge at the federal level. Still, the city hoped the local zoning laws would hold sway. The company filed two federal lawsuits against the city of Nashville for withholding those permits, and the state board voted 10-2 in March in favor of Kinder Morgan. “Local government here was great,” Younger says. “City councilmen passed ordinances and did not bend to the pressure from the industry. The council looked at clean air
standards. Since federal regulators seemed to have no appetite to protect the public interest, the next step was to go to the state level. The city tried to implement the ordinances of containment of emissions, and the enforcement of industrial projects only being allowed to build in industrial zones. “Nothing radical — this is policy in places like Mississippi where they don’t have a reputation of support for this kind of thing — even they have these policies in place,” he says. “We went before the air pollution control board, asking the state to adopt our two metro ordinances [into the State Implementation Program]. They [the board] refused. There were several of them on the board with open
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Younger with the borrowed truck and trailer he and Mack Wilson used to transport food and supplies to the Native Americans and other protesters at Standing Rock.
ties to industry, and they did not recuse themselves. Then, Kinder Morgan’s people in our statehouse introduced and passed legislation under Republican leadership to permanently strip Tennessee communities of any local control over air quality standards tied to the Federal Clean Air Act and local zoning. Whose interests were they protecting? Certainly not the public interest. “Some board members had conflict of interest, and rode the vote to be pro-industry. [Gov. Bill] Haslam appoints those people. It’s wrong that pro-industry people are sitting on the boards that control our air quality.” Following that vote and a 45-day EPA review, the Metro Nashville Health Department
approved the permits, and Kinder Morgan is now clear to begin construction on one of the largest fracked-gas compressor stations in the country (60,000 horsepower), soon to be followed by another, slightly smaller compressor station in Cane Ridge. “The mayor (Megan Barry) and her administration had to green-light the project at the 9-ppm levels to avoid getting hit really hard by those lawsuits,” Younger says. “The problem with the emission levels, though, is that there is no one looking over their shoulder to make sure they hit the mark, at the local, state, or federal level. “We know the impact it will have on the city of Nashville — the downtown area as well
as outlying areas,” he continues. “Scientific studies have made the comparison of roughly 18,000 cars sitting stationary with the engines running 24 hours a day. Add that to the state of the Nashville air quality index, in which we are always on the cusp of standard compliance, and you can see what this will do.” Younger, and others, intend to continue to fight, though the path of meaningful resistance is very narrow. He clearly believes it to be a moral obligation, one partly borne of his personal experience at Standing Rock in the fall of last year. “It was an honor to deliver my community’s support for Standing Rock,” he says. “I CONTINUED ON PAGE 114
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A GOOD Watchful NEIGHBOR Von Moye’s combination of neighborhood watch and social media is making the East Side safer 82
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sk Von Moye for a good example of the East Nashville Neighborhood Watch Facebook group in action and he immediately delivers. “Back in November, over near Stratford High School, we had a 92-year-old gentleman who took his trash to the road,” Moye says. “As he was coming back in, he noticed three boys walking down the road and messing with trash cans. He went back in his house and watched the boys through his window. “He saw them go in the neighbor’s house across the street and leave the door open. He knew this was not right and called 911. The boys left with a laptop and some other items. When the alert went out, Sandra, the lady that monitors the police scanner for the East Nashville Neighborhood Watch group, posted it on Facebook and it went out to over 6,000 people. A lady on Riverside saw the post and the descriptions and spotted the three boys in the creek behind her home. She called the police and they arrested them. That’s how neighborhood watch works.” Moye speaks with formal, intensely focused sentences and an attention to details, often peppering his stories with informational asides. A landscaper by trade, Moye also spends over 20 hours a week pursuing his primary passion — making East Nashville a safe neighborhood. As the founder and one of the administrators of the East Nashville Neighborhood Watch Facebook
group, Moye disseminates information about crimes, suspicious activity, and emergency situations to over 6,000 members of the group and the Metro Police Department. A native of West Virginia, Moye settled in East Nashville in 1987. “At the time, I was working in retail management in pharmacies,” Moye says. “That was my introduction to dealing with crime — shoplifting, employee theft, and even armed robbery. I got to know many police officers and saw some of the challenges they face.” Although his former profession provided some exposure to law enforcement, a very personal and frightening incident transformed Moye into a community activist. In October 2012, he was visiting his mother in West Virginia when two neighborhood children spotted a man walking through his mother’s backyard and looking in her bedroom window. When they told Moye about the incident, he had some concern, but put it down as a neighbor taking a shortcut to the nearby public library. “Four nights later, it was about one o’clock in the morning,” Moye says, “the windows were open, but we had screens in them. My mom yelled for help; there was a man in her room with a light in her face. I thought she was dreaming, but when I got up and went to her room, he jumped out of the window. He was there to steal my mom’s jewelry which you could see through the window. I called the sheriff and five deputies came out.” →
By Randy Fox Photograph by Travis Commeau
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Moye soon discovered that late night breakins were becoming common in the neighborhood. But with no central source of information, few of his neighbors knew about them. Moye was aware of traditional neighborhood watch programs, but monthly meetings or simply calling a hotline to report suspicious activity did not provide citizens or the police with the up-to-date knowledge required to make a difference. Perhaps social media could provide the much-needed conduit between citizens and law enforcement. “I started a neighborhood watch Facebook group with 58 people I knew,” Moye says. “By the end of the week we had 150. People that knew my mother started calling me, and soon people started posting information about burglaries. I talked with the officer who had investigated our robbery and began to coordinate the group with the sheriff ’s department. That officer still monitors that page today.” After working with the West Virginia Facebook group for several years, Moye decided to follow the same model for East Nashville. Although the ongoing revitalization of the East Side has improved the reputation of East Nashville, the influx of new residents has also created new opportunities for crime to flourish. “East Nashville used to catch a lot of bad rap from the other side of town, but we’ve always had good people here” Moye says. “What’s happening now is all these new homes are being built and young people are moving in, but they’re not aware of what goes on in the neighborhood. You have to make people aware that they live in a city where crime can happen. They have to lock their doors and be aware of their surroundings. Launched in July 2014, the East Nashville Neighborhood Watch Facebook quickly expanded its membership. After reaching 800 members, Moye arranged a community meeting with Metropolitan Police Department East Precinct Commander David Imhof and Community Affairs Liaison Sgt. Michael Fisher to ask for their cooperation. Covering the area from Dickerson Road east to the Cumberland River and from Nissan Stadium north to Briley Parkway, the East Nashville Neighborhood Watch group now has over 6,000 members reporting suspicious activity, posting questions about neighborhood incidents, and sharing news stories from media outlets and alerts from the Metro Police Department. As a closed group, all membership requests are screened by Moye or one of the four other page administrators. “We try to screen people and make sure they live, work, or have ties to, or family in East Nashville,” Moye says. “In the beginning we had some people that just wanted to cause trouble by accusing us of being vigilantes or Barney Fifes. We do not patrol. We do not want people to patrol with guns. Once you have a gun you become 10 feet tall and you’re
going to get yourself in a bad situation. We just want people to watch, call the police, and then post what they saw on the page. We also understand that some people don’t want their name public, so many people private message their reports to the administrators and we post the information to the group. We stay focused on reporting and getting the word out.” Part of that focus is avoiding editorializing in regards to the reports and information posted to the page. As stated in the group’s statement of purpose, “There are plenty of places to share opinions. This page is for sharing facts and observations that help us protect ourselves, our property and protect others.” “When I started the group, some people would report every time their dog barked,” Moye says. “That probably wasn’t suspicious, but I still thanked them for reporting it. I never talk down to people because participation is what makes this work. Some people ask questions that might sound crazy, but it’s not crazy to the person asking the question. What is really bad is when someone reports something and someone else ridicules them. We push the idea of reporting everything because you never know when something suspicious will turn into bad stuff. If you get police out there, they can stop it before it becomes bad. Some people accuse me of encouraging fear, but being aware of what can happen is what makes people safer.
People don’t think it’s going to be them, but it will be, or somebody that you know or care about. When there’s a crime, somebody knows something about it.” In addition to the Facebook group, Moye publicizes awareness of neighborhood watch with specially designed signs sold at cost and available at Cumberland Hardware in 5 Points. The eye-catching blue and white signs serve as a warning to any potential troublemakers that neighbors are watching and suspicious activity will be reported. “It is a team effort and that’s what’s going to make it work,” Moye says. “My goal is 20,000 people on the page within three years. It’s getting awareness out there and making people feel comfortable about talking to officers. A lot of people don’t go to church. It used to be where everybody congregated, got to know each other, and trusted each other. That’s what neighborhood watch has to be — a group of people that reach out and look after each other. “Like just today, this wasn’t a crime, but a man with dementia wandered away from his home,” he continues. “We posted the report to Facebook, and luckily, a member of the group spotted him on Gallatin Road. The old man had fallen down and broken his hand and our member probably saved his life. That’s the power of social media and neighborhood watch.”
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A Little Cherry Tomato On Top
Margot Café caps Tomato Art Fest with a fête de la tomate
By Holly Gleason
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efore Nashville was an “It” city, before Nashville realized fine dining didn’t have to be cream-sauced ’n’ butter-basted, Margot McCormack opened a quaint restaurant in a slightly sprawling, cottage-feeling former gas station. Margot Café & Bar served French cuisine in the range of Berkeley’s legendary Chez Panisse, which resulted in Time magazine dubbing McCormack “Nashville’s Alice Waters.” Using locally sourced ingredients, she stressed fresh and flavor and focus on preparations, building on her classic Culinary Institute of America training. But just as importantly, the dark-haired chef who opened Margot Café in East Nashville in 2001, long before hipster status descended on the neighborhood, wanted to give back to the community. Beyond sitting on the board of the Nashville Farmers Market, McCormack can be found trading with local farmers for Margot and the all-day bistro Marché. As Time wrote, “McCormack’s technique, influenced by years working in New York, helped usher a new era for food in the country music capital. … Over time, her local, sustainable, farm-to-table cooking — ‘all those catchphrases,’ she says — earned her restaurant a reputation as Nashville’s answer to Chez Panisse, the famed → Berkeley dining destination.”
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o when the woman who hosts theme dinners honoring Julia Childs and Bastille Day turns her attention to tomatoes, you can imagine the excitement it generates. Leave it to Margot Café to come through with a special dinner to celebrate East Nashville’s annual Tomato Art Festival, an annual repast that considers the succulent red fruit as something meal-defining. “We’ve done gazpacho, pasta telefono with fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella that gets all stringy like telephone wires, margherita pizza, bruschetta, steakhouse salads with Vidalia onions, tomato bread pudding, even green tomato curry,” McCormack, a multiple James Beard Award nominee, says of past dishes. “They’re all pretty simple things, but done with varietals, different kinds of tomatoes. “We try to have as many varietals to make the dinner unique as possible without hitting you over the head with a tomato,” she explains. “Tennessee for a long time was Bradley tomato country; but over the last several years, Cherokee Purple, Black Cherry, even Green Zebra Striped are becoming popular. It’s like a kid in a candy store — you don’t choose just one.” For the restaurant, the dinner is its way of being part of the festivities. But on a personal note, the tomato stands out as a symbol of transition for the chef. “When I came back (from New York, where she’d run the East Village jewel Danal’s kitchen), it was winter time and I was given the task of taking over F. Scott’s kitchen,” McCormick recalls. “I told them, ‘We’re not going to serve things out of season. That wasn’t what we were about.’ “I had a couple who came in every Friday night who wanted tomatoes on their salad,” she continues. “It was a big deal, and I remember thinking about those grocery store tomatoes (you can buy year-round) — and what a perfect tomato in season was like. I was not accepting anything less.” Not that she had to! McCormack, who has grown over a hundred plants at a time, admits the best way to enjoy a tomato “is right off the vine, with a little bit of salt. It really is just like candy.” This year, she’s raising a completely reasonable 10 to 15 plants. But don’t think her passion has waned any. As she explains indulgently, “They’re just so good. Everybody wants to grow tomatoes and be able to pick their own. This year, we’ve got these Sun Golds, these little orange balls, like a cherry tomato. But you pop one in your mouth, and it is like candy.” As much as she savors her tomatoes, McCormack isn’t getting ahead of herself. Cautioning that July Fourth is just over and Bastille Day is to come, she’s not truly drawn out her menu for this year’s tomato feast. “We have BLTs,” she says. “BLTS are so
classic, and so perfect. … We take it one menu at a time. But tomatoes are woven into the entire meal.” Pausing, she laughs a little. “Think of this meal as the little cherry tomato on top of several days spent celebrating the tomato,” she says. “It’s that one last little thing that marks the festival.” Indeed. So, on Saturday, Aug. 12, after all the merriment and “festivus tomatous” fades, the ambience will continue in high style.
Once again, look to Margot Café & Bar to host their annual Tomato Dinner from 5:309:30 p.m. The emphasis of the meal will be what many might consider the humble tomato, just arriving in its peak glory, and prepared — in classic Margot style — in myriad ways to elevate its flesh to something divine. • Reservations may only be made by phone. 615.227.4668
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A+ Student Norbert Putnam shares a lifetime of learning in his new musical memoir, Music Lessons, Vol. 1 By Daryl Sanders
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ne of the magical moments recalled in platinumplated producer-bassist Norbert Putnam’s new book, Music Lessons, Vol. 1: A Musical Memoir, took place at East Nashville’s Woodland Sound Studios in 1970. “I played on hundreds of sessions at Woodland; I was at Woodland as often as I was at RCA or Columbia,” Putnam says, speaking by phone from his home in Florence, Ala. This particular date was for Linda Ronstadt, who had just wrapped up sessions with producer Elliot Mazer at Cinderella Sound in Madison for her album, Silk Purse. “Elliot had hired me to arrange, write charts, and lead the band on Linda’s record,” he recalls. Although the album was considered finished, Mazer and Putnam both knew it didn’t have an obvious hit. So when songwriter Gary White sent a demo of “Long, Long Time” to Ronstadt, who in turn played it for Mazer, the producer asked Putnam to arrange a last-minute session on a Saturday morning at Woodland — not an easy task among Nashville’s session players who liked to relax on the weekends. He struck out with the musicians who had worked on the album, but was able to book guitarist Pete Wade, violinist Buddy Spicher, and pedal steel guitarist Weldon Myrick, who used an effect on his instrument to make it sound like a cello. With Putnam playing bass and harpsichord, as well as scoring the string arrangements, the session was a success, resulting in Ronstadt’s first Top 40 hit. Music Lessons, Vol. 1 is full of such stories from Putnam’s celebrated career as a session ace and hit record producer, stories that involve the likes of The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, Ray Charles, Dan Fogelberg, Jimmy Buffett, Joan Baez, Michael Jackson, and Ronstadt. The title was inspired by the fact Putnam
dropped out of college his freshman year to become a professional musician — he was one of the players who made up the first Muscle Shoals rhythm section in the early ’60s — and begin his musical education. Despite his amazing professional journey, Putnam never really imagined himself writing a book, much less receiving invitations to appear at book festivals, such as Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago, to talk about it. As he tells it in the introduction to his memoir: I do not consider myself a writer. As a matter of fact, I’ve hardly written a legible letter in the past thirty years. I will admit, however, after a glass or two of good Bordeaux, I can recite with great gusto some old long-lost music story. The seeds for Putnam’s book were sewn two decades ago on the South Carolina coast when his wife, Sheryl, after hearing another entertaining story from her husband, suggested he begin putting them in writing. “That was when we lived in Hilton Head, over 20 years ago, and it was the first time I was among normal people, OK,” he says and laughs. “I mean it was the first time I was away from the music community is what I really should say,” he quickly adds,
then laughs again. “We were invited to dinner parties with business people. There would be CEOs, local guys in real estate, a few lawyers — the funny thing was I would always be the only musician there. They would never ask me to play, but invariably at the end of a dinner party, someone would say, ‘Norbert, did you ever work with so-and-so,’ and the crazy thing was, I →
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usually had. I would recite some six- or seven-minute story, and they would say, ‘Norbert, do you realize what an amazing life you’ve had?’ And I guess to these business people, it really was something. “So that was the genesis of it,” he continues. “One night going home, Sheryl said, ‘You know, that was a great story. You need to start writing this down.’ ” The book is divided into three sections. “The first part is Muscle Shoals, Ala., and how I began, and how Muscle Shoals began,” Putnam explains. “Then after we played The Beatles concert in ’64, [drummer Jerry] Carrigan, [keyboardist David] Briggs, and I were lured to Nashville by people like Felton Jarvis, who hated coming to Muscle Shoals to work because of the amenities; but he loved the rhythm section. So, at the encouragement of Felton and Ray Stevens, who was a great arranger at that time, and Bob Beckham, who ran Combine [Music], we made the move to Nashville, and almost immediately, we were successful. “So, the second part of the book is Nashville studio musician, and that part is a little slim,” he says. “I talk about my favorite people, like Linda Ronstadt, Ray Charles — and Presley’s in that section. “And the last section is record producer, which happened to me at the age of 28. When I tell people I retired as a bass player when I was 28 years old, they look at me like I’m crazy. But the truth of it was after that, I only played for Elvis Presley and Dan Fogelberg, and occasionally something for Briggs.” While Putnam writes about more than 30 different artists in his book, three are the subject of multiple chapters, artists he had long associations with: Presley, to whom he devotes four chapters, and Fogelberg and Buffett, who get two each. Although he didn’t begin working with Presley until 1970, Putnam would end up playing on more of The King’s recordings than any other bassist. He produced Fogelberg’s debut album and worked with him for a decade, contributing either production or bass or both to his first seven records, and becoming lifelong friends in the process. He became Jimmy Buffett’s producer because the man who had helmed Buffet’s three previous albums didn’t want to record with Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band. Putnam checked out The Coral Reefers in concert and decided he could work with them, a decision that led to him producing six albums on Buffett and his band. One of the more touching moments in the book is Putnam’s recollection of receiving the news of Presley’s death while on vacation with his family in Hawaii. Another special moment is when he spent time with George Harrison over the Christmas holidays in the mid-’70s. Other highlights include the stories behind the making of a number of iconic
singles and albums, such as Joan Baez’s biggest hit, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” Jimmy Buffett’s signature recording, “Margaritaville,” New Riders Of The Purple Sage’s classic album, Panama Red, and Dave Loggins’ soft rock staple, “Please Come To Boston.” “I’ve started volume two,” Putnam confides as the phone call draws to a close. “In the second volume, I’m writing about Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, The Pointer Sisters, Jerry Jeff
Walker, Peter Sellers. I’ve got about 10 chapters roughed out. “I’m hopeful it will be interesting to people.” Putnam pauses, then adds with a laugh, “I know it was for me.” Music Lessons, Vol. 1: A Musical Memoir is available at norbertputnam.com and Amazon.com.
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J U L Y | A U G U S T 2017
FOR UP-TO -DATE INFORMATION ON EVENTS, AS WELL AS LINKS, PLEASE VISIT US AT: THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
UPCOMING PORTER POPPIN’ BOTTLES Champagne Saturdays 12-4 p.m. Saturdays through July, Shops at Porter East
Buyers beware: Bubbly makes everything better. Throughout July, the businesses of Porter East will serve champagne cocktails for thirsty patrons. It’s a worthy incentive to get out and support some local establishments. Grab some gifts at Pony Show, head down to DCXV to get your Nashville gear, then grab a treat for yourself at Terminal Café. The smell of mimosas is in the air. Check out this hoorah before they switch it up for Saturdays in August. 700 Porter Road
FRESH-CUT BLUEGRASS
The Amqui Station Pickin’ Party 6 p.m., July 14, Aug. 11, Sept. 22, Amqui Station and Visitors Center
Bluegrass is back in full swing for summertime in Madison. Fans of all sounds
enter at:
Americana, “new grass,” and good ole traditional bluegrass are invited to the Station’s front porch and lawn for summer strumming. This pickin’ party will have headlining acts for each night, but they invite musicians to bring out their axes to jam along. If you’re participating in a “jam circle,” you’ll get a halfpriced ticket. Check Historic Amqui’s website for more details. amquistation.org 303 Madison St., Madison, 615.891.1154
PICKIN’ AT THE AIRPARK
Cornelia Fort Pickin’ Parties 6 p.m., July 22, Aug. 19, Sept. 23, Cornelia Fort Airpark
Say Airpark’s Pickin’ Parties five times fast. The annual jams have made their return. Some top-notch local acts are landing on this year’s bill — with Brazilbilly rounding out the season closer in September. Bring a banjo, fiddle, or any axe of choice, 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, with music kicking off at 7:30 p.m. All ticket purchases come with a drink ticket. Bring a folding chair and let the pickin’ ensue. 1199 Shadow Lane
July 22:
Allen Thompson Band w/Rorey Carroll
Aug. 19:
50 Shades of Hay w/Justin Hiltner Band
Sept. 23:
Brazilbilly w/The Cowpokes
FIGHTING CRIME IS FUN Night Out Against Crime Tuesday, Aug. 1, East Park
East Nashville is celebrating National Night Out in its own way. A few local neighborhood organizations have teamed up to present East Nashville’s Night Out Against Crime. This event gives everyone a chance to meetand-greet with East precinct police officers, firefighters, and other local officials. Specific police resources that will be on-site include the Mounted Patrol, Nashville’s Mobile Forensic Crime Lab, recruitment services, and youth organization Police Explorers. You’ll be able to pick up a few pointers from local nonprofits on the basics of crime prevention, too. This will be a family-friendly event, so bring the wee ones along. 700 Woodland St. p
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FLAY AWAY ON THE EAST SIDE Chef Hal on Bobby Flay’s “Throwdown” Viewing Party 6-9 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 9, Lockeland Table
Culinary connoisseurs of the East Side, one of our very own is getting some recognition.
Chef Hal Holden-Bache will make his television debut on Throwdown with Bobby Flay (a la Food Network) on Thursday, Aug. 3, at 9 p.m. A week later, the foodies of Lockeland Table will host a viewing party of the episode with play-by-play, slice-by-slice commentary of the day’s taping with Chef Hal himself. We imagine there will be plenty of tasty bites involved. The event’s seating is
limited, so RSVP and snag your tickets sooner than later. Throwdown with the best of ’em. 1520 Woodland St.
TALL TALES OF THE TOMATO Tomato Story Time
10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 8, Inglewood Library
Harpeth Hall
If your family wants to explore your tomato roots before the annual Tomato Arts Festival, the Inglewood Branch Library can color you red (or read). They’ll have an interactive storytime sesh for all you would-be ’maters. There will be stories, songs, and crafts for the kiddos ages 2 to 5 years old, with our beloved tomato as the star. It’s a vegebration. 4312 Gallatin Pike
EARGASMS FOR FREE Live On The Green
5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Aug. 10, 17, 24, and Aug.31Sept. 2, Public Square Park
INSPIRATION for GIRLS WHO
DREAM
BIG AND GO FAR
Admission Preview Day Sunday, November 5 Registration at 1:30 p.m; Program at 2:00 p.m. www.harpethhall.org For girls and young women in grades 5-12 • Financial Aid Available 3801 Hobbs Road • Nashville, TN 37215 • 615-297-9543
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What better place for free, live music than Music City? You don’t have to get your skivvies in a bunch over the cost of tickets to these gigs because they won’t cost you a dime. Nashville’s free outdoor concert series Live On The Green is back again, kicking off in August. There will be free shows every Thursday through September, ending with a three-day festival over Memorial Day weekend. A few of the acts to look forward to include Spoon, Sheryl Crow, Local Natives, and Iron & Wine (plus oodles more). 408 Second Ave. N.
RETURN OF THE TOMATO Tomato Art Festival Friday-Saturday, Aug. 11-12, 5 Points area
’Tis the time of the tomato again, East Siders. The big, red, hot, juicy Tomato Art Festival returns again this August. Whether you’re an Heirloom, Roma, Carolina Gold, or Cherry, this vivacious veggie celebration has something for everyone. Rooted in 5 Points, the ever-growing festival will have a smorgasbord of live entertainment, choice local tomato art, food vendors, contests, and games. And to those of you who’ve endured years of redheaded stepchildren jokes, you can enter the fest’s annual Red Head
EAST SIDE CALENDAR
Competition to claim your deserved title (don’t forget the SPF). Get there early to catch the ’mater parade and if you have been eating your vegetables, join in on the 5K. Bloody Marys and delectable tomato delicacies will abound at this year’s celebration, so come hungry. Check out the full lineup of festivities beginning on page 61. tomatoartfest.com
BEER YA ’MATER Beer and Tomatoes with Smith & Lentz Brewery Friday-Saturday, Aug 11-12, Smith & Lentz Brewery
If you need to take a break during your Tomato Fest romp, skip on down to Smith & Lentz Brewery. Beat the heat of the festival that has us all seeing red. The S&L crew has crafted a delicious Bloody Mary beer concoction. These kind folks will also be “running” a promotion for the 5k runners — buy one get one free on any of their tasty brews. 903 Main St.
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE PARK
Love & Unity Under One Sun Solar Eclipse Celebration
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday, Aug. 21, Hadley Park
Quick science lesson: A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between our tiny blue dot and the sun — obscuring the sun for us Earthlings. Also of note, they don’t come often. In fact, us Southerners haven’t seen one since the ’70s. If you’re looking for a way to enjoy this sol occasion, Hadley Park will play host to a viewing party and celebration of all things humankind in partnership with Worldwide Music Ventures, Tennessee Activist Coalition, Nashville Peace and Justice Center, and New Earth Matters TN. The actual eclipse may only last a few moments, but there will be entertainment throughout the afternoon. Speakers will take the stage to discuss matters of our planet — peace, justice, sustainability, and equality. There will also be song and dance performances, food vendors, and good vibes galore. 1037 28th Ave. N.
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SHOPPIN’ FOR SPOT East C.A.N. Annual Yard Sale 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 30, Eastwood Christian Church
The dog lovin’ folks at East C.A.N. are having their annual yard sale to raise money for the furry friends they work to foster and rehome across this fair East Side. Hand-me-down lovers and bargain hunters, take heed. If you aren’t looking to buy, but looking to purge, the organization is accepting donated items to resell now through September. Email info@ eastcan.org for more information. Donations accepted now through September. All proceeds go to support animal welfare and fostering for local dogs. 1601 Eastland Ave.
“EDUTAINING” THE EAST SIDE
Mr. Bond and the Science Guys “Tomorrow’s World” Summer Reading Programs Locations and times vary
Mr. Bond and his crew are back with their summer reading program to remind kids that science IS fun. The East Side has its very own Bill Nye of sorts. Mr. Bond is back again, touring around East Nasty pushing his own scientific agenda in a fun, new way. He calls it “Edutaining” — educating and entertaining. He and his Science Guys host shows across the area. This year’s program, “Tomorrow’s World,” will show audiences how science is working to build a better world through new technologies and energy forms. Young Einsteins can check out the schedule of performances below.
Martin Curtis-Hendersonville Library 1 p.m., July 8 Inglewood Library 10:30 a.m., Aug. 5 Madison Branch Library 4:30 p.m., Aug. 10 Tennessee State Fair, Green Collar Stage Performances daily: Friday, Sept. 8-Sunday, Sept. 17 Monday-Friday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
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PRESENTS
LATHAM & LEAHEY
GREAT SONGS. GREAT VENUE. GREAT HAIR. Thursdays
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July 13, 20, 27
EAST SIDE CALENDAR
•••
≥
•••
THE 5 SPOT
RESIDENCIES AND SHOWCASES
Mark Robinson Band "Live at The 5 Spot" CD Release Show
THE BASEMENT EAST
Sunday Night Soul
Charlie Worsham: Every Damn Monday Mondays in July, 6:30 p.m. ≥
Saturday, July 29, 6-7 p.m.
Jackie Wilson & Jason Eskridge 2nd & 4th Sundays, 6-8:30 p.m.
Stolen Faces
3rd Sundays, 8:30 p.m.
DRIFTERS
$2 Tuesdays Hosted by Derek Hoke
Mary & Your Choice of Three Sides
Tim Carroll’s Rock & Roll Happy Hour
Tim Carroll & Luella
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BAR·B·QUE JOINT Sundays, July 16 & 30, Aug. 6 & 20, 6-8 p.m. Thusdays, 7-10 p.m. ≥
Tuesdays, 9 p.m.
Fridays, 6-8:30 p.m.
ART EXHIBITS DON’T FORGET TO STUMBLE ON 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. 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 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.
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THE FAMILY WASH Family Night w/Bill Crosby Sundays, 4 p.m.
Vinyl Night w/Hags Mondays, 11 p.m.
Lightning 100 Writers' Night Wednesdays, 6 p.m.
The East Nashvillian Presents Great Music, Great Venue, Great Hair!
Latham & Leahey Residency Thursdays in July, 9 p.m.
Finally Fridays
Live Broadcast: WMOT 89.5 FM Roots Radio Fridays, noon-2 p.m.
Happy Hour w/Crackerboots Saturdays, 5-6:30 p.m.
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CONCERTS | RESTAURANT | PRIVATE EVENTS | WINERY
july 31
RED ARROW GALLERY Vicki Sher Opening reception July 8, 6 p.m. July 8-Aug. 6 Amelia Briggs and Joey Brock Opening reception Aug. 12, 6 p.m. Aug. 12- Sept. 3 theredarrowgallery.com 919 Gallatin Ave. #4, 615.236.6575
get your tickets at citywinery.com/nashville
blended burger project 2017 vote now!
ART & INVENTION GALLERY Gallery hours are: Thursday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. artandinvention.com 1106 Woodland St., 615.226.2070
RAVEN AND WHALE GALLERY Executive Chef Garrett Pittler’s beer cheese cremini burger Share #BlendedBurger Project - Contest ends July 31
vote at: jamesbeard.org/blendedburgerproject
Works by Kate Harrold and Jason Brueck Thursday- Sunday from 12-5 p.m. Extended hours during East Side Art Stumble, second Saturdays 6-10 p.m. ravenandwhalegallery.com 1108 Woodland St. Unit G, 629.777.6965
CLOSET CASE VINTAGE/NASHVILLE DRY GOODS Most Curious Art of Sarah Mason Walden Saturday, Aug. 5, 5-9 p.m.
We Sell Wine
Wine delivered right to your doorstep.
join vinofile reserve
ON SUNDAYS!
609 LAFAYETTE STREET, NASHVILLE, TN 37203 615.324.1010 | CITYWINERY.COM
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Digital assemblage art, dangerous knicknackery, and time travel accessories all for your perusal and purchase. Part of the WEHO art crawl. Enjoy drinky treats, oddities, and a chance to talk to the artist. You can buy the art or order a customized one of a kind version. Art prints, cards, notebooks, cards, puzzles, pillows, mugs, fabric, bags, and more! 1117 3rd Ave. S.
•••
THEATER|OPERA
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2017
THE THEATER BUG PRESENTS If I Were You
July 13 - Aug. 5, 7 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays 4809 Gallatin Pike
•••
SHELBY BOTTOMS NATURE CENTER 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Noon to 4 p.m., Wednesday and Friday Closed, Sunday and Monday
The Nature Center offers a wide range of nature and environmental education programs and has a Nashville B-Cycle station where residents and visitors can rent a bike to explore Nashville’s greenways. For more information, as well as the online program registration portal, visit: nashville.gov/Parks-and-Recreation/NatureCenters-and-Natural-Areas/Shelby-BottomsNature-Center 1900 Davidson St., 615.862.8539
EVENTS & CLASSES National Ice Cream Month 6-7 p.m., Saturday, July 15 All ages, registration required
The Archaeology of Tattooing 10-11 a.m., Saturday, July 15 Ages 8+, registration required
Ecology Trail Nature Walk 1-2 p.m., Saturday, July 15 All ages, registration required
Farmers Market Mash-up 5-6 p.m., Wednesday, July 19 All ages, registration required
Wildlife: Tragedy of the Trade 6:30-8 p.m., Thursday, July 20 Ages 10+, registration required
Crafting the Naturalist Way 10-11 a.m., Friday, July 21 All ages, registration required
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EAST SIDE CALENDAR
Watercolor in Nature Series 2-3 p.m., Saturday, July 22 Ages 10+, registration required
10-11 a.m., Friday, Aug. 11 Ages 3-5, registration required
Our Tiny Lil’ Hummingbirds
Creek n’ Splash
6-7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 11 All ages, no registration
Eclipse Countdown
Opening Reception for “Abstractions of Nature” by Jordan Martin
10-11 a.m., Saturday, July 29 All ages, registration required 2-3 p.m., Saturday, July 29 All ages, registration required
Moving Like Nature 10-11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 5 Ages 5-12, registration required
‘Mater Madness
1-3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5 All ages, registration required
Summer Moonlight Hike 8-9 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 8 All ages, registration required
Tiny Tomatoes
7-9 p.m., Friday, Aug. 11 All ages, registration required
Eclipse Countdown 1-3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 12 All ages, no registration
Crafting for Wildlife
6:30-8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 15 All ages, registration required
Storytime
2-3 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 16 All ages, registration required
Insects in the Meadow 10-11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 19 All ages, registration required
Passionflower Party
11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19 All ages, registration required
National Honey Bee Day 1-3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19 All ages, no registration
Total Eclipse of the Sun Party 11:58 a.m. to 2:54 p.m., Monday, Aug. 21 All ages, registration required
Bike Ride: Birds of the Night 6:30-8 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 23 Ages 12+, registration required
Wonderful (or Wicked!) Weather with NWS 10-11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 26 All ages, registration required
Puppy Pageant
1-2:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 26 All ages, registration required
RECURRING FARM FRESH
East Nashville Farmers Market 3:30-7 p.m., Wednesdays, Shelby Park, Davidson Street next to the baseball fields
Amqui Station Farmers Market Noon to 3 p.m., Sundays Amqui Station and Visitors Center, 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 the end of August. Double down and visit both.
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SHOP AROUND SUNDAY
Sundays at Porter East
Noon to 4 p.m., First Sunday of every month, Shops at Porter East
The shops in Porter East open their doors the first Sunday of every month for a special little parking lot party. You can expect to enjoy a selection of rotating food trucks (and a flower truck), fixups from Ranger Stich, and occasionally catch some good tunes. Amelia’s Flower Truck will let you build your own bouquet while Ranger Stich weaves some amazing chain stich on your favorite denim. You can also grab a bite to eat from some of the on-site food trucks. 700 Porter Road
TEA TIME
Sweet Tea Dance
4-7 p.m., last Sunday of every month, The Beast Pub
Looking to enjoy a dance party outside of the nightlife? I think we can all agree that the late-night, all-night club parties can sometimes be a little intense. For a more laid back Sunday afternoon soiree, head to The Beast Pub. This dance party is set in the early evening and will have you home before dinnertime (if you so please). No cover and 2-4-1 drinks! Time for tea. thebasementnashville.com 917 Woodland St., 615.645.9176
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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 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. facebook.com/TheEastRoom 2412 Gallatin Ave., 347.559.6031
RINC, Y’ALL Scott-Ellis School of Irish Dance
Sundays at DancEast: 2-3 p.m., 7-12 years; 3-4 p.m., teen/adult Mondays at Eastwood Christian Church: 5-6 p.m., all ages
You’re never too young — or too old — to kick out the Gaelic jams with some Irish Step dancing. No experience, or partner, required. Just you, some enthusiasm, and a heart of gold will have you dancing in the clover before you can say “leprechaun.”
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2017
DancEast
danceast.org 805 Woodland St. Suite 314, 615.601.1897
Eastwood Christian Church, Fellowship Hall 1601 Eastland Ave. 615.300.4388
BRING IT TO THE TABLE
Community Hour at Lockeland Table
4-6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, Lockeland Table
Lockeland Table is cooking up family-friendly afternoons to help you break out of the house or away from that desk for a couple of hours. Throughout the week, they host a community happy hour that includes a special snack and drink menu, as well as a menu just for the kiddies. A portion of all proceeds benefits Lockeland Design Center PTO, so you can feel good about giving back to your neighborhood while schmoozing with your fellow East Nashvillians. lockelandtable.com 1520 Woodland St., 615.228.4864
ANSWER ME THIS Trivia Time!
8 p.m., each week, various locations
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.
EAST SIDE CALENDAR
Monday
SHAKE A LEG
TELL ME A STORY
Tuesday
10 p.m. until close, Mondays, The 5 Spot
7 p.m., the first and third Tuesdays, The Post East
Drifter’s Edley’s BBQ East, Edgefield Sports Bar and Grill, Lipstick Lounge (7:30 p.m.) Thursday
3 Crow Bar, The Beast Pub
CAN’T SPELL BINGO WITHOUT BEAST Beast Bingo
Keep On Movin’
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 twofor-one drink specials, so you can use the money you save on a cover to fill your cup. the5spot.club 1006 Forrest Ave., 615.650.9333
LET’S GET FREAKY Freak Me
Mondays, 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., The Basement East
The one and only Freak Me party leaves it all on the dance floor at The Beast. They tout themselves as the “freakiest dance party in Nashville.” This hip-hop and R&B jive gyrates every Monday for free, 21 and up. Shake your tail feathers on over. thebasementnashville.com 917 Woodland St. 615.645.9174
Looking for something to get your creative juices flowing? East Side Story has partnered with WAMB radio to present an all-out affair with book readings, musical performances, and author/musician interviews in just one evening. Look for this event twice each month. 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.
The Post East
7 p.m., Mondays, The Beast Pub
We don’t have to explain Bingo, it’s simple enough. The Beast Pub turns Bingo hall every Monday night, but it ain’t yer grandma’s game. Show up, eat, drink, and spell out the magic word. Drinks specials from local breweries, prizes, and show tix all at your fingertips … need we say more? Just G-O. thebasementnashville.com 917 Woodland St. 615.645.9176
East Side Storytellin’
HAGZILLA ROCKS! Hags’ Late Nite Moonglow LP Record Show
11 p.m. to 1 a.m., Mondays, The Family Wash
East Nasty bon vivant and our favorite astute observer James “Hags” Haggerty caps off Monday evenings at The Wash spinning, as he puts it, “whatever comes straight out of my head” — which could be anything from Iggy Pop to Andrew Gold to Dizzy Gillespie to The Bee Gees. Whatever is on Hags’ playlist, rest assured, the vibe will be cool. $2 domestics, and it’s free. Be there or be square! familywash.com 626A Main St., 615.645.9930
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theposteast.com 1701 Fatherland St. Suite A, 615.457.2920
East Side Story
eastsidestorytn.com 615.915.1808
JOIN THE LEGION Honky Tonk Tuesdays
8 p.m., Tuesdays, American Legion Post 82
Every Tuesday, the usually members-only American Legion Post 82 opens its doors for a hipster hoedown. They play the oldies and goldies of country music, a night filled with Merle Haggard, Ray Price, and maybe a little Hank Williams. What else makes this one-off, open-door policy night stand out? FREE parking, NO cover, and CHEAP drinks — all of which are getting harder to come by here in East Nashville. facebook.com/thelegion82 3204 Gallatin Pike, 615.228.3598
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EAST SIDE CALENDAR
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. You can always expect to see fresh material and new talent. Doors and sign-up are at 8 p.m. Get out and help support Nashville’s growing comedy scene. facebook.com/TheEastRoom 2412 Gallatin Ave., 347.559.6031
GET YOUR GREEN ON Engage Green
First Wednesday of each month, locations vary
Tap into your eco-consciousness every month when Urban Green Lab and Lightning 100’s Team Green Adventures join forces for Engage Green. Join these enviro-crusaders for a discussion that highlights government agencies, businesses, and organizations that practice sustainability. They will provide you with info on these trends and a way to make them an affordable and a convenient part of your own life. You can expect an hour-long presentation or demonstration with a fun, hands-on component. Green looks good on you! urbangreenlab.org
HOPPIN’ & HOWLIN’ Laugh It Off Open Mic Comedy Smith & Lentz Brewery
7-9 p.m., Wednesdays, Smith & Lentz
Cheers to laughing, we could all use a little more of it these days. Smith & Lentz is presenting a night to split your sides with some open mic standup comedy. The evening is hosted by local funny guy Josh Wagner. Show up early to sign up if you fancy yourself a comedian or just drop in to enjoy a few rounds and a couple of laughs. Shotgun Willie’s will be on hand slaying with their Texas-style BBQ. Admission is free. smithandlentz.com 903 Main St.
TRANSFORMING AT THE POST Free Conscious Transformation Groups
7-8:30 p.m., Second Wednesday of every month, The Post East
Looking for a supportive environment to focus on your professional and personal development? These monthly meetings foster a place to focus on conscious transformation teaching, tools, and meditation practices to promote and hone in on a plan of action to support your transformation. The meetings are led by Energy Healer Ben Dulaney. Think of it as conscious coupling with other like-minded folks. theposteast.com 1701 Fatherland St., Suite A, 615.457.2920
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EAST SIDE CALENDAR
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. johncannonart.com 1108-C Woodland St., 615.496.1259
WALK, EAT, REPEAT Walk Eat Nashville
1:30 p.m., Thursdays; 11 a.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. walkeatnashville.com Corner of 11th and Woodland Streets 615.587.6138
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CINEMATIC HOP-STERPIECES
AFTER-HOURS SHOPPING
Brew & View — Movie Nights at Smith & Lentz Brewery
Third Thursday at Porter East
They’ve got some good things brewing for viewing over at Smith & Lentz these days. The hop-masters are throwing their own movie night each month with two back-to-back pictures. Flick picks chosen from the suggestion box at the brewery. They’ll show the films on their 120inch projector screen, serve up their delicious beer and free popcorn. Shotgun Willie’s will be dishing out their BBQ, too. Even better—it’s free. smithandlentz.com 903 Main St.
The Shops at Porter East are extending their hours for you weekday warriors pushing that 9-5 job. The third Thursday of every month they’ll keep their doors open until 8:30 p.m. to give folks the option to shop at a later hour, for the peeps that can’t make it in during typical business hours. The shops will offer refreshments and treats, plus food trucks. A selection of vendors and music will also be on hand to keep things interesting. 700 Porter Road
6:30-11 p.m., first Thursday of every month
Till 8:30 p.m., third Thursday of every month, Shops at Porter East
FIND YOUR STATION HONESTLY, OFFICER... Songwriters Night at The Station
7 p.m., third Thursday of every month, The Engine Bay of The Station
They’re not fighting fires anymore, but the folks at The Station are on to something hot. Every third Thursday they host a writer’s round of local musicians. Jason Eskridge typically hosts the evening and several songsters join in. The Engine Bay provides a cozy, intimate setting and there is no cover — though they encourage donations for participating musicians. You can check the monthly lineup on The Station’s Facebook. Tip: There is limited parking behind the building, but overflow parking is available across the street at Eastland Baptist Church. thestationnashville.com 1220 Gallatin Ave.
THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM July | August 2017
East Nashville Crime Prevention Meeting
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thursdays, Turnip Truck
Join your neighbors to talk about crime stats, trends, and various other issues with East Precinct’s Commander David Imhof and head of investigation Lt. Greg Blair. If you are new to the East Side, get up to speed on criminal activity in the area. If you are a recent victim of crime, they want to hear your story.
East Precinct
615.862.7600
Turnip Truck
701 Woodland St., 615.650.3600
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Rustique
East Nashville Paper + Gifts Boutique 700 Fatherland Street
Most Likely* Hours: Thur-Fri:10-4pm Sat:10-2pm
keep up with us:
@rustiquenashville
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EAST SIDE CALENDAR
END THE WEEK ON A HIGH NOTE Family Wash Fridays
Noon to 2 p.m., every Friday, The Family Wash | Garage Coffee
Friday lunch never tasted so good with these weekly lineups of music featuring a “Secret Special Guest” at The Family Wash/Garage Coffee. This end-of-the-week event is presented by WMOT/Roots Radio 89.5 and hosted by Roots Radio DJ, Whit “Witness” Hubner. familywash.com 626A Main St., 615.645.9930
ROCKIN’ AT THE SPOT Tim Carroll’s Friday Night Happy Hour 6-8:30 p.m., Fridays, The 5 Spot
Your local watering hole has rocker Tim Carroll continuing his long tenure as the musical host for happy hour every Friday evening. The fabulous Luella sometimes joins Carroll on vocal duites, and you can catch The Cure’s Reeves Gabrels sitting in with some otherwordly guitar riffing when he’s in town. If you’re looking for a local musical institution, the search is over. And
speaking of local institutions, did we mention it’s at The 5 Spot? the5spot.club 1006 Forrest Ave., 615.650.9333
CAN’T FORCE A DANCE PARTY Queer Dance Party
9 p.m. to 3 a.m., third Friday of every month, The Basement East
On any given month, the QDP is a mixed bag of fashionably clad attendees (some in the occasional costume) dancing till they can’t dance no mo’. The dance party has migrated over to The Beast, which gives shakers and movers even more space to cut up. Shake a leg, slurp down some of the drink specials, and let your true rainbow colors show. thebasementnashville.com 917 Woodland St., 615.645.9174
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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, with reading starting at 6 p.m. portlandbrewcoffee.net 1921 Eastland Ave. 615.732.2119
NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS & EVENTS HISTORIC EDGEFIELD NEIGHBORS 7 p.m., Tuesday, July 25 East Park Community Center 700 Woodland St.
historicedgefieldneighbors.com
LOCKELAND SPRINGS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION Date & Time TBA The Post East, 1701 Fatherland St. lockelandsprings.org
SHELBY HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
6:30 p.m., third Monday of every 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
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EAST SIDE CALENDAR
EASTWOOD NEIGHBORS Business meeting 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 8 Eastwood Christian Church
eastwoodneighbors.org 1601 Eastland Ave.
MCFERRIN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
6:30 p.m., first Thursday of every month McFerrin Park Community Center, 301 Berry St.
ROSEBANK NEIGHBORS
GREENWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
6:30 p.m., third Thursday of every month Memorial Lutheran Church, 1211 Riverside Drive
greenwoodneighbors.org
Dates and locations vary
6 p.m., second Tuesday of every month House on the Hill, 909 Manilla St.
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIAITON
6 p.m., third Thursday of every month Kipp Academy, 123 Douglas Ave.
EAST NASHVILLE CAUCUS
Metro Police East Precinct, 936 E. Trinity Lane
HENMA
HENMA is a cooperative formed among East Nashville business owners to promote collaboration with neighborhood associations and city government. Check the association’s website to learn about the organization and where meetings will be held each quarter. eastnashville.org
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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 four branches in the East Nashville area. It provides a support network for mothers to connect with other EN mothers. The meetings are open to all mothers in the designated area. Meetings host speakers, 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
fin. 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 Do615-powered calender online at theastnashvillian.com
The East Nashville Caucus provides a public forum for East Nashville community leaders, council members, and neighbors. Contact East Precinct for meeting times, or check their Facebook page. facebook.com/East-Precinct-MetropolitanNashville-Police-Department (615) 862-7600
EAST HILL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION 6:30 p.m., second Wednesday of every month Metro Police Precinct East, 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/Cleveland Park
INGLEWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
7 p.m., first Thursday of every month Isaac Litton Alumni Center, 4500 Gallatin Pike inglewoodrna.org July | August 2017 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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open spaces, and three floors of exhibits, archives, and program space. More than a museum, the new Hall was a living celebration of the past, present, and future of the music that transformed the “Athens of the South” into “Music City, U.S.A.”
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The transformation was not without problems. A few months after the move, Young found himself embroiled in controversy after the firing of five longtime employees, followed by Bob Pinson’s resignation in protest. According to Ivey, discontent among some
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members of the academic staff over changes in the Hall’s mission had been simmering for some time. Several outside critics demanded Young’s resignation over the firings — leveling accusations that the Hall’s days as a research and educational entity had been sold out. “I didn’t comment on the specifics then, and I don’t think I should do so now, but the environment changed a lot when we moved,” Young says. “We were moving from a 25,000-squarefoot building to a 140,000-square-foot building. We had $31 million in debt, and I needed people who were really tuned into and understood what was in front of us. I didn’t take it lightly and the decisions I made were, I thought, for the good of the place. There was never anything personal in it.” Despite the prognostications of doom, the new Hall continued refining its mission. With room for large exhibits exploring specific chapters of history, the Hall’s staff created landmark historical exhibits leading to ancillary programs, concerts, and products, including books and historical reissues of music. The high profile of such exhibits also served as a marketing tool for the museum’s fundraising. This combination of scholarship and education with entertainment and marketing came together fully in the 2004-05 exhibit, Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues — an exploration of Nashville’s once thriving African-American music scene and the synergy that existed between soul and country. “Night Train was a game changer,” says Orr, who is now the executive senior director for research, editorial, and content. “It embraced a local music community that the museum had never embraced, and the curators, Daniel Cooper and Michael Gray, were excellent stewards of that story. There’s a phrase that they give me credit for coining, “confounding expectations.” I think the Night Train exhibit confounded expectations more than any other exhibit. It preserved an important story that was in danger of being lost, and it gave us something to talk about with granting agencies and arts councils.” Young also views the Night Train exhibit as a major turning point. “It demonstrated that this was a great museum that does what it’s supposed to do,” he says. “It was cool to make people think about us differently, and that worked not only in Nashville, but across the country.” The Country Music Hall of Fame continues confounding expectations with major exhibits focusing on Hank Williams and his family legacy, the country music recordings of Ray Charles, the California country music of Bakersfield, the influence of Bob Dylan’s Nashville recordings, and many other smaller
exhibits focused on both classic and new artists. The mixture of popular topics and untold stories has established the Hall as one of the top music-themed museums in the world. In addition to these triumphs, the Hall has also found financial stability. “Rolling the dice for the expansion paid off very well, but it was incredibly risky at the time,” Young says. “If we hadn’t moved when we did, it may have survived, but just barely. Even after opening the new Hall in May 2001, money was an issue for a long time. Midway through 2007 was when it seemed like the incremental gains were continuing and we were probably going to be OK. That was also when we began talking about expanding again. We knew that the convention center was going to happen, and we didn’t want to be left behind again like we were on Music Row.” The most recent expansion of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was completed in 2013 and 2014 and features more exhibit space, the Taylor Swift Education Center, and the 800-seat CMA Theater. Hatch Show Print was also relocated from a separate location on Broadway to its own space in-house. The museum’s artifact collection continues growing and features over 2 million items, including instruments, clothing, periodicals, film and videos, photographs, letters, journals, and over 200,000 sound recordings, many of which have been digitized for online access.
Despite the thrill of successes and accomplishments over the last five decades, the former ticket taker still acknowledges the small moments and memories as the sweetest. “We recently received a letter from a woman whose grandfather played country music on the radio,” Young says. “She was browsing our digital sound archive online and discovered a radio transcription. It was the first time she heard her grandfather play. How can you place a value on that? It truly is priceless.”
For more about the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, including information on current and upcoming exhibitions, performances, and the new Community Counts free ticket program visit countrymusichalloffame.org.
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s for “The Hall’s” continued success through all its incarnations, Ivey says: “Looking back over the decades, I think the key reason for the success of the Hall of Fame/ CMF was the fact that we built the institution from the inside out. That is, our library holdings, museum collections, and staff capabilities were developed before the physical plant. Most modern museums — think Rock Hall, Experience Music Project, Grammy Museum — are built from the outside in: hire a big-name architect; construct an eye-popping shell; try to figure out content. The Country Music Hall of Fame had great programming, great collections, highly competent staff early on, and whenever the physical plant grew, the institution was more than capable of making new space great. To me this truth is really important.” “Our main mission is telling the story of country music, not judging it or evaluating it,” Young says. “A balance of depth and texture is always important whether we’re telling a little-known historical story or spotlighting a modern artist. Last June, our Blake Shelton exhibit tied with the Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats exhibit in our surveys on why people came to the museum. But all those Blake Shelton fans discovered things they didn’t know before and learned that if all this other music hadn’t come first, this would not be the ‘It City.’ ” July | August 2017 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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wasn’t sure they would make the connection between what we were facing here and what they were facing there, but they did. The farmers and residents of Joelton and North Nashville and really, Middle Tennessee, were so generous with their support of Standing Rock. We made a donation of seven live hogs and hitched a livestock trailer to a cargo truck. The truck was packed to the rafters with dry goods, canned goods, fuel, tents, blankets. I was very proud of that. “I made that delivery with Mack Wilson, who’s the head of the Davidson County Council of Community Clubs. We stayed in camp for 10 days.” During that time, Younger witnessed what he considered heavy-handed tactics by North Dakota law enforcement and private security firms in breaking up the resistance at the original Sacred Stone Camp, and two supporting camps. “The airplane that was flying over the camp never stopped and was flying very low,” he recalls. “The basic elements of life were restricted. Cell phones and social media were jammed and under surveillance. I was so inspired to see so many diverse people from all
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across America. I personally didn’t jump the fence to get down to where the pipeline was, but some people who were returning from there were injured and some were gassed, and some had been pepper-sprayed. “On the day we left, Oct. 27, all hell was breaking loose. People were shouting orders to shut off access to the camp from all directions so the elders, and the women and children, could be spared the brutality of the riot police, armed with tear gas and rubber bullets, bean bag rounds, and shotguns. They were shooting people at pointblank range. “What I witnessed were women and children and elders linking arms, singing songs, and creating a wall. Armored personnel carriers were pushing them back and armored police were waving batons, and all manner of high-tech ‘war-on-terror’ equipment was being used on American citizens.” Younger and Wilson made it out with the borrowed truck and trailer intact, and a new appreciation of sacrifice and commitment. Younger had been especially moved by the reception the pair had received at the camp, an experience that allows him to carry the fire
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today. They were called before the tribal council after they had been in camp a few days, a ritual that was required of all arrivals. “We spoke through a bullhorn to the entire camp,” Younger says. “We told them we were from Tennessee and the community of Tennessee supported them, and that farmers and residents had contributed supplies, and we stood by them one hundred percent, and acknowledged we were also fighting the black snake. There was a thunderous welcome and applause when we were speaking — they danced and they drummed and applauded. The whole camp erupted around us, and it made my hair stand on end. I felt this tremendous honor to be there on behalf of my community. “I returned home and relayed that to the people in the community, and I know the people that contributed to the load felt that same pride and honor that I felt at that moment. I tried to convey that — the honor and the gratitude and the feeling of community of connection that was palpable in Standing Rock. It wasn’t just among the people who lived there, but was extended to all the people that had joined them and those who supported them from different places.” Back home, it wasn’t just a sense of commitment that stuck with Younger when facing the construction of the Kinder Morgan gas compressor. A strategy employed by the opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline rang true. “I believe when this type of corruption overplays its hand, it inevitably leads to a backlash,” Younger says. “Our community has embarked on a divestment campaign. We learned from the Standing Rock people. They went to the financial institutions and identified the underpinnings that allow these corporations to go around and bully and corrupt our public institutions. We need to go after the hundreds of millions they get in advance while their pipelines are under construction. We have identified the main institutions that provide the underpinnings for Kinder Morgan, and we are talking to city council members who are going to spearhead this effort. “The Trump administration may have pulled us out of the Paris Accord, but I believe our mayor’s vision of this city is part of the greening of America and that Nashville doesn’t want to go backwards in terms of pollution and dirty energy. We want to keep moving forward. The conditions are right to create this divestment campaign.” Younger, of course, has no problem standing — or delivering. No tin soldier, he. And, it
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Great Black Snake is the same sense of purpose that informs his music. Cut from the same socially conscious cloth as Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, or more accurately, as fellow native Canadian Neil Young, Younger believes his environmental activism and music are two parts of the whole. “You see the overwhelming nature of this,”
he says. “It’s so daunting, that as a musician I really felt I could get diverted away and sidetracked from my primary ambition, which is to be a musician and to deliver a message, yes, but to deliver something uplifting and positive to the public sphere. “Coming from the musical tradition — I tip my hat to Woody Guthrie, John Lennon,
and Bob Dylan, and other songwriters who always wrote about the contentious issues of their time. My generation and young artists have shied away from it so not to hurt their career. I have decided I won’t turn my back on my activism because they’ve become one and the same. For artists to bite their tongue and not stand up for something — that idea has become outdated and we don’t have time anymore for that.” Younger believes there’s no higher calling than to be a voice for those who have lost theirs. His songs are often written for those systematically marginalized in our society. It’s not a put-on. “On the subject of songwriting there’s the personal and the universal — the collective experience,” he says. “The two types of songs can be broken into the two categories like that. You don’t have to be bashing someone over the head, but I really believe in the bottom of my heart, that if you’re not standing for something, then you stand for nothing. “Let’s put a little bit of revolution back in our rock & roll. We did it a generation ago and ideas transformed our society. People need to have enough clear perspective on it, and enough courage to be willing. It’s really that simple.”
The Family Wash will be hosting Michael Younger’s Little Folks Like You And Me album release show at 9 p.m. on Friday, July 21. More information is available at mikeyounger.com For more information about the Oceti Sakowin Camp, visit ocetisakowincamp.org As always, stay informed and make your voice heard.
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East of NORMAL TOMMY WOMACK
You say ‘tomato,’ I say ... What would you think if I sang out of tune? Would you all throw tomatoes at me?
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hat was the original lyric. Ringo refused to sing it. At the time, it wasn’t definite that the Beatles would never perform live again, and one of the facets of their shows is that crazed fans very often threw things at the band, especially jelly beans, because the Beatles had said in an interview that their favorite candy was jelly babies, which are actually much softer than jelly beans. Can you imagine getting hit in the eye with a jelly bean while crooning “All My Loving”? Or with your mouth wide-open, a jelly bean shoots right down your throat, aspirates into your left lung, inflames air sacs, morphs into pneumonia, fevers, coma, and death in an Omaha Holiday Inn. (BUT, since you’re bigger than Jesus, you rise again on the third day and finish the tour.) So Ringo, half-naked, crazed on acid, smoking two cigarettes at once, and digging his fingernails into the studio wall, demanded a lyric change, since he could just see himself winding up being pelted with tomatoes at shows. It was a wise move. The replacement was a much better lyric. Botanically, the tomato is a berry. It grows on a vine, it contains an ovary — I don’t know who’s — and the seeds of a flowering plant. But it is actually termed a “culinary vegetable,” because its sugar content is much lower than what we would consider a fruit and it is cooked into savory meals. In New York City in 1885, an argument in an Irish bar over the It’s a fruit! No! It’s a vegetable! matter spilled into the street and touched off the so-called “Tomato Riot” that lasted four days, killed over 7,000 people, and caused $40 million in damages. The vine itself is known (fittingly) as the “tomato plant,” or in Latin, Solanum lycopersicum, which is also the title of a papal encyclical on foot care delivered by Pius II in 1136 AD.
The tomato is so closely identified with Italian cuisine that one might be surprised to learn it is not indigenous to Europe. The first tomatoes were brought from the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan by Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes in 1521 and it was called tomatl, leading historians to believe that Welshmen were involved in the expedition because who else would put incompatible consonants together without a vowel. In Europe, it came to be named pomi d’oro, or “golden apples.” It was a much better, more lyrical name. Prior to the tomato’s entrance onto the European table, Italian pizza was a matter of drenching the dough in olive oil and plopping anchovies on it. (It was unfortunate that they had to wait 200 more years for the Altoid.) Nevertheless, the Italian tomato-less pizza was widely popular and most were delivered within 20 minutes. This is the 14th year of East Nashville’s Tomato Art Fest. The Oxford American and Southern Living have given it high marks, and it has been voted “Best Festival” in the Nashville Scene many times over its lifespan. It was the brainchild of gallery owners Meg and Bret MacFadyen, who over the years had amassed a huge collection of tomato-related attire with no place and time to wear it all. The result was to discover that so many Nashvillians and people from surrounding areas also have intense desires to express a lycopene sartorial flavor. The costumes get cleverer every year. Some of them are so good they ripen in the sun. The MacFaydens also sought to improve relations between the tomato and citizens who are put off by the world’s largest tomato, a bloviating narcissistic gargantuan beefsteak with incomprehensible straw-colored hair who stiffs contractors. We salute you, fair tomato, a uniter, not divider, and thank you for your service to our country.
Tommy Womack is a Nashville singer-songwriter, musician, and freelance writer. Keep up with his antics on Facebook and at tommywomack.com.
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presents
wherever your song takes you, acceptance has you covered. acceptance.com
Download the Roots Radio App on ITunes or Google Play Store July | August 2017 THEEASTNASHVILLIAN.COM
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PARTING SHOT
MAKE BEER GREAT AGAIN
Thirth of July Street Festival
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You say tomato, we say east Nashville
r cks! GraffitiIndoorAd.com
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You say tomato. We say tomeyeto.
Proud sponsor of Tomato Art Fest and supporter of East Nashville, homegrown tomatoes, high quality eye care and independant eyewear since 2016.
LOCAL EYECARE. INDEPENDENT EYEWEAR.
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