The Pulse 12.34 » August 20, 2015

august 20, 2015

CHATTANOOGA'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE

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CHATTANOOGA'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE

EDITORIAL

Managing Editor Gary Poole Contributing Editor Janis Hashe

Contents

August 20, 2015 Volume 12, Issue 34

Music Editor Marc T. Michael Film Editor John DeVore Contributors Rob Brezsny • Steven W. Disbrow Matt Jones • Mike McJunkin • Ernie Paik Rick Pimental-Habib • Alex Teach Editorial Interns Ashley Coker • Shaun Webster Cartoonists Max Cannon • Rob Rogers Jen Sorenson • Tom Tomorrow Cover Photo Nerijus J

Features

Founded 2003 by Zachary Cooper & Michael Kull

4 BEGINNINGS: Chattanooga’s ethnic markets are treasure troves of food—and culture.

ADVERTISING

Director of Sales Mike Baskin Account Executives Chee Chee Brown • Linda Hisey Randy Johnston • Travis Jones Angela Lanham • Rick Leavell wKyle Richard • Stacey Tyler

CONTACT

Offices 1305 Carter St. Chattanooga, TN 37402 Phone 423.265.9494 Website chattanoogapulse.com Email info@chattanoogapulse.com BREWER MEDIA GROUP Publisher & President Jim Brewer II THE FINE PRINT: The Pulse is published weekly by Brewer Media and is distributed throughout the city of Chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concentrating on music, the arts, entertainment, culture and local news. The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. No person without written permission from the publisher may take more than one copy per weekly issue.

The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors.

Contents Copyright © 2015 by Brewer Media. All rights reserved.

8

The Watchdog

Helen Burns Sharp does not look ferocious. A pleasant woman with a gentle Southern accent, she seemingly would be at home in a gardening hat and pruning shears. But appearances are deceiving. Sharp is a passionate advocate for the public interest.

10

The Wow Factor on Frazier

I meandered around the AVA All-Member show opening a couple of Fridays ago, checking out the exhibit. The quality of the art was outstanding—but even more excellent was an energetic feeling that radiated through the room; a vibration, a creative buzz.

14

The Ramones of Jam Bands?

Joshua Griffith: musician, soundman, bartender and irresistibly likeable guy. He’s always smiling, always laughing, always quick with a joke. Over the years I have known him, his music has been an extension of that vibe.

6 JUST A THEORY: Prof. Disbrow heats up the subject of measuring temperature.

12 ARTS CALENDAR 16 MUSIC CALENDAR 18 REVIEWS: Gwenno’s cool playfulness, Pridjevi’s sonic incense cloud.

19 FREE WILL ASTROLOGY 19 JONESIN’ CROSSWORD 20 SCREEN: “Straight Outta Compton” could have been a truly great film.

22 on the beat: Officer Alex reflects on the good advice he’s actually listened to.

23 DIVERSIONS

We love our customers.

Customer Appreciation Day Saturday, October 3, starting at 11am

Giveaways, trivia, scavenger hunts, free hotdogs & drinks Celebrating 25 years in Chattanooga!

Used Books, CDs, Movies, & More

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news • views • rants • raves

BEGINNINGS

updates » CHATTANOOGApulse.com facebook/chattanoogapulse EMAIL LOVE LETTERS, ADVICE & TRASH TALK TO INFO@CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

To Market, To Small, Local Market Chattanooga’s ethnic markets are treasure troves of food—and culture

“

When people gather around a common table and a common love of food, boundaries begin to crumble and understanding begins to grow.”

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about Chattanooga’s growth during the past couple of decades is the variety of wonderful people from countries all over the world that have decided to make this city their home.

Chattanooga now has over 75,000 immigrants, speaking more than 70 languages. Each of these individuals and families are unique in that they mustered the strength and tenacity it takes to move to another country and start a new life.

These new residents come from a wide variety of cultures, each with its own rich culinary history that, many

times, is one of the few tangibles they retain from their country of origin. The food they eat and the recipes they recreate from their homelands are a powerful cultural comfort, yet many of these dishes are unknown to the average Chattanoogan. In fact, the cultures that many local immigrants hail from are unknown to most Chattanoogans.

Our city prides itself on its Southern hospitality and has made welcoming visitors part of our local brand, yet we mostly move and socialize in ethnically cloistered groups, watching celebrities on television taste mike mcjunkin food and experience cultures that we have right outside our own front doors.

The average Chattanoogan has never tasted the barbacoa at Guatamalteca on Main Street, or fresh Thai eggplant from Asian Food and Gifts on Hixson Pike. Most Chattanoogans do not know about the spectacular fresh bread from the Balkan bakery in East Ridge or the aromatic curry leaves from the cooler in the back of India Bazar in Brainerd.

The people who own and operate these markets are our neighbors. We will proudly support the “shop local” movement within our own circles, but overlook locally owned ethnic markets. By not stepping outside of our typical routines and boundaries when we shop for food, we are missing out not only on an opportunity to expand our world of flavors and foods, but also who we view as a neighbor.

Food can be a great unifier, bridging races, religions, languages and generations. When

Food

4 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com

people gather around a common table and a common love of food, boundaries begin to crumble and understanding begins to grow.

Shopping at local ethnic markets is a win-win for everyone.

Aside from the low prices on everything from meats and seafood to produce, sauces and spices, the selection of hard-tofind items and traditional ingredients for the dishes you have always wanted to try is spectacular.

When you shop at these markets, you’ll be helping small, local businesses, which feed the bloodstream of our city’s growth. You’ll also get the chance to meet new, interesting people, and will be helping break the cultural divide that stands as one of the obstacles to diversity, understanding and unity within our broader community.

My hope for Chattanooga is that it becomes a truly cross-cultural, diverse community with immigrant and non-immigrant businesses sharing in Chattanooga’s growth and prosperity. Breaking out of our comfort zones and embracing ethnic markets as part of our “shop local” philosophy is a great way to reach out and welcome the new. Chattanooga will be stronger for it.

EdiToon

by Rob Rogers

Come Meet The Mocs At The Market Every Sunday from the first sign of spring until the plants start to freeze over, the Chattanooga Market sets up house at the First Tennessee Pavilion.

In addition to the great food and live music that appear week after week, most Sundays have a specific theme.

This Sunday, it’s your chance to come hang out with

the Chattanooga Mocs.

Many of UTC’s sports teams will be represented, including football, basketball, volleyball, cheerleading, softball, tennis and golf.

This, coupled with savory local food and the EPB Sports Zone, makes this Sunday’s Chattanooga Market the ideal tailgate…minus all the work for you.

IN THIS ISSUE

Janis Hashe Feature columnist, arts writer and Contributing Editor Janis Hashe has been both a staff editor and a freelance writer/ editor for more than 25 years.

Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, AmericanStyle magazine,

The Mocs will be available for autographs and photo ops, making this a chance that any local sports fan or aspiring college athlete shouldn’t miss.

The teams will come and go throughout the day, with volleyball, women’s and men’s basketball, softball and women’s golf from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., football and the spirit team from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and wrestling, women’s tennis, men’s golf and men’s XC/track from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

— Ashley Coker

Sun, Aug 23 • 5:15 PM vs. Tennessee Smokies Suntrust Sunday

Mon, Aug 24 • 7:15 PM vs. Tennessee Smokies Downtown Night

Tue, Aug 25 • 7:15 PM vs. Tennessee Smokies Twitter Tuesday

Wed, Aug 26 • 2:15 PM vs. Tennessee Smokies

Rob Brezsny Sunset magazine, and the international magazine Monocle, among many other outlets. She has a master’s degree in theatre arts, is the founder of Shakespeare Chattanooga and a member of the Chattanooga Zen Group.

Her novel “The Ex-Club Tong Pang” was published in December of 2013 (we think it’s a great novel, but we may be just a wee bit biased).

Pick up a copy today, and tell all your friends about it.

“Free Will Astrology” writer Rob Brezsny is an aspiring master of curiosity, perpetrator of sacred uproar, and founder of the Beauty and Truth Lab. He brings a literate, myth-savvy perspective to his work. When Utne Reader named him a

“Culture Hero”, it observed: “With a blend of spontaneous poetry, feisty politics, and fanciful put-on, Brezsny breathes new life into the tabloid mummy of zodiac advice columns.” In its profile of Brezsny, the New York Times quoted a reader who compared his writing to that of the novelist Tom Robbins.

The horoscopes “are like little valentines, buoyant and spilling over with mischievousness.” It’s all in the stars. chattanoogapulse.com • august 20-26 • The Pulse • 5

Hot, Hotter, Hottest Prof. Disbrow heats up to the subject of temperature

“

Melting point of lead: 600.4 K, 327.5 °C, 621 °F. If you cast your own miniature dragons, you already know this.”

Photo by Onur Mumcu Steven Disbrow is a computer programmer who specializes in e-commerce and mobile systems development. He’s also an entrepreneur, comic-book nerd, writer, improviser, actor, sometime television personality and parent of two human children.

Last month’s article(s) Those are: on climate change got me Fahrenheit (°F): This is thinking about “heat.” what we use here in AmerWhat is it exactly, and how ica. Strangely, it sets the hot can things actually get? freezing point of water at When I was a lad, my fa32°F and the boiling point ther told me something that of water at 212 °F. For me, blew my little a pleasant day mind: “There’s on this scale is no such thing as between 68 °F ‘cold,’ son. What and 82 °F. you call ‘cold’ is Celsius (°C): just an absence This is the scale of heat.” It took the the rest of STEVEN W. me a while to the world uses.

DISBROW process this, Once you get and it still floats through used to it, it makes a lot my mind whenever I think, more sense. Water freezes “It’s cold in here.” at 0 °C and boils at 100 °C. So, what is heat? It turns Simple. A nice day, meaout that this is a pretty comsured in Celsius, is between plicated question. In the 20 °C and 28 °C. simplest terms, heat is the Kelvin (K): This is the transfer of energy from an scale that Science (with a object with a higher temcapital “S”) uses to measure perature to an object with temperature. It starts by a lower temperature. That setting the coldest temperawarmth you feel coming ture possible at 0 K. This from your microwaved buris called “Absolute Zero.” rito? That’s heat.

Water becomes ice at 273.15 A better question is: What K and boils at 373.15 K. A is temperature? This is also nice day on this scale would pretty complicated. But, in be between 293.15 K and simple terms, temperature 301.15 K. (Note that Kelvin is the measure of somedoesn’t use the “degrees” thing’s ability to transfer symbol.) heat to the things around Now that we have our it. The “hotter” something scales, let’s look at some is, the faster it can transpoints of interest, temperafer heat to something else. ture-wise: Simplest version: The faster Absolute Zero: 0 K, -273 something can transfer heat °C, -459.7 °F. This is the to you, the worse it will burn lowest possible temperayou. ture. At this point, all moOver the years, we’ve tion stops. Atoms don’t come up with several scales move. Even outer space to measure temperature. isn’t this cold… it’s actually

6 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com

Just A Theory

a sweaty 2.73 K. Coldest official recorded temperature ever on Earth: 183.9 K, -89.2 °C, -109.3 °F. Recorded in Antarctica on July 21, 1983.

Mean temperature on Mars: 210 K, -63 °C, -80 °F. (Antarctica is seriously cold, y’all.)

Intersection of the °C and °F scales: 233.3 K, -40 °C, -40 °F. Skin freezes almost instantly at this temperature.

Mean temperature on Earth: 287 K, 14 °C, 57 °F. Wear a light sweater.

Average body temperature for a human: 310.0 K, 36.8 °C, 98.2 °F. My son’s average temperature is 0.5 °F cooler than this. Mine is about 0.5 °F higher.

Usually fatal fever for a person: 315 K, 42 °C, 108 °F. A horrible way to go.

(Not that freezing is much better.)

Third-degree burn: 333.2 K, 60 °C, 140 °F. Skin must be exposed to this temperature for five seconds to get a third-degree burn. Three seconds will get you a second-degree burn. So, keep your water heater set to 120 °F, just to be safe. (At this lower temperature, the time for a second-degree burn is

eight minutes, and it takes 10 minutes for a third-degree burn.)

Melting point of lead: 600.4 K, 327.5 °C, 621 °F. If you cast your own miniature dragons, you already know this.

Average temperature on Venus: 735.4 K, 462 °C, 864 °F. Global warming run amok.

Lava: 1,473 K, 1,200 °C, 2,192 °F. If you are thinking that this should be 7,800 °F, you are probably a Bon Jovi fan.

Surface of the sun: 5,778 K, 5,505 °C, 9,941 °F. Maybe not as hot as you thought it was. Still, hot.

Atmosphere of the sun: 2,000,273.15 K, 2,000,000 °C, 3,500,000 Million °F. Hot enough to complain about here, 93 million miles away.

“Absolute Hot”: A concept that considers the highest possible temperature for matter. It’s also known as the “Planck Temperature” and it has a value of 1.416785 × 1032 K. Toasty.

So, the next time someone complains about the heat, just remind them, “It could be worse. We could be on Venus...or listening to Bon Jovi.”

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COVER STORY

The Watchdog Helen Burns Sharp is looking out for your best interests. Why?

By Janis Hashe, Pulse Contributing Editor

H

elen Burns Sharp does not look ferocious. A pleasant woman with a gentle Southern accent, she seemingly would be at home in a gardening hat and pruning shears.

But appearances are deceiving. Sharp is a passionate advocate for the public interest. If that is threatened, to paraphrase the song: Watch out, boys, she’ll chew you up.

Those who follow civic business know that a year ago, Sharp won a lawsuit she filed to fight an approval to use taxpayers’ money to fund a road up Aetna Mountain into the proposed Black Creek Mountain housing development. The developers, who included several wealthy and wellconnected local businessmen as well as a New York-based hedge fund, had secured a $9 million Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement (see sidebar for terms explanation) from the city’s Industrial Development Board.

Sharp, a Chattanooga native who spent 16 years in the Tennessee State Planning Office as a principal planner, and 18 years as the community development director for the city of Albany, Oregon, is now retired. But she was galvanized into action by reading about the proposed TIF and the waste of taxpayers’ dollars she believed it was.

Her challenge was successful—but she then saw the same $9 million TIF agreement re-approved by the same Industrial Development Board, the proposal presented by former city attorney Mike McMahon, the same man “who admittedly violated the state’s open records law when he approved the TIF in 2012 without board hearing or a public hearing.”

(Editorial, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Aug. 19, 2014).

age Chattanooga resident should care about these decisions, and how your life is potentially impacted by them.

Sharp came prepared. A document she presented contained the following facts: “$16 million dollars in potential tax revenue was forgiven in 2014 alone; the county currently has more than $300 million committed in PILOT tax breaks.” And this, she says, translates directly into an issue of social justice.

“All of this money that we are not collecting—this is money that is not going into the general coffers to be used for community development, such as infrastructure improvements and better services,” Sharp says. “The city and county receive as much as 55 percent of their revenue from property taxes. What happens when they don’t get that money?”

Even beyond that is the question of misuse of the original purpose of these agreements, she says.

All of them need to be closely scrutinized for the number of new jobs they propose to create, the dollar amount of the investment involved, and the wage level of the jobs created. Sharp notes that

“All of this money that we are not collecting—this is money that is not going into the general coffers to be used for community development, such as infrastructure improvements and better services.”

What’s a watchdog to do? Sharp filed suit again against the Industrial Development Board, and the case is currently on appeal in Knoxville.

How does this directly affect you?

Sharp is well aware that for most people, the terms and concepts involved are opaque. We sat down with her to find out, in simple layman’s terms, why the aver-

8 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com

much more stringent “clawback provisions” (see sidebar for definition) need to be included and enforced.

TIFs and PILOTs need to be subjected to the “but/for” test, she explains, as in, “the project, having been determined to be in the public interest, would not go forward ‘but/for’ the city or county’s agreement to a TIF or PILOT.” In Chattanooga and Hamilton County, however, these agreements are proffered as virtual “gimmes,” she says. “The current PILOT and TIF process is broken. The vetting process is flawed. Performance monitoring is flawed; enforcement is virtually nonexistent,” states Sharp in notes taken from a June 19 meeting.

She also provided notes taken at the June 23 city council meeting, in which Nashville legal consultant James M. Waller made the following points: • Not every project needs an incentive.

• City encouraged to negotiate the smallest possible incentive.

• Companies will ask for more than they need and city should ‘push back.’

• City should study return on investment (ROI) to see if project needed.

• TIFs and PILOTS should be a “tool in the tool box, and the decision to use them should be decided case by case.”

It’s important to point out that Sharp is not against all tax incentives—just the ones that do not deliver what the business/developer part-

ner promises, are unneeded, or are egregious examples of crony capitalism. She notes that the Volkswagen incentives, for example, have in fact led to thousands of jobs and additional industry coming to the region. The problem, as she sees it, is that agreements such as that one are being used to justify many more that do not pass the “but/for” test.

Sharp also provided a copy of an Aug. 5, 2015 Wall Street Journal article titled “New Rule to Lift Veil on Tax Breaks,” which states, “Cities and counties have plied companies with tax breaks for decades hoping to attract jobs and commerce. A new accounting standard will force many to disclose the total annual cost.

“The rule approved by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board…will require government officials to show the value of property, sales and income taxes that have been waived under agreements with companies or other taxpayers. It kicks in next year.”

You’re now concerned. What can you do?

So, beginning next year, more governmental oversight will begin, but Sharp is convinced that the best oversight is local oversight. To that end, she’s formed Accountability for Taxpayer Money (ATM), a name she decided on after realizing that “businesses and companies were using the city and county as an ATM machine.”

A webpage devoted to the fledgling organization points out:

“Many of the subsidized jobs [of TIFs and PILOTs] are part-time without benefits. Some pay less than $15 per hour. Many of the jobs would likely be here anyway. The housing PILOT program for downtown allows developers to charge high rents for very small rooms and call it ‘affordable housing.’

“Many of the big companies with PILOTs fail to bring the jobs they promised. Yet our elected officials have never held these businesses accountable. They allow the tax breaks to continue when companies don’t meet their commitments.

“On the other hand, regular property owners who get behind on their taxes receive threatening letters and risk losing their property and have to pay fines and court costs.”

“Groups composed of people who ordinarily agree on nothing agree that something needs to be done about this,” she says, citing support from both Chattanooga Organized for Action (COA) and the local Tea Party as examples.

ATM membership is open to anyone who is concerned about better oversight of city and county revenue, she says. “Black Creek is the poster child of what is wrong with the current system,” she says. Asked if she thinks ATM will be a factor in local elections, she did not rule it out. City and county officials had better get used to the barking.

To find out more on how to join, visit helenburnssharp.com

TIFs, PILOTs and “clawback” explained Tax Increment Financing (TIF): An agreement allowing cities to borrow against an area’s future tax revenues in order to invest in immediate projects or encourage present development. “When used improperly, however, TIFs can waste taxpayer resources or channel money to politically favored special interests.” (Reconnectingamerica.org) Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT): An agreement made to compensate a local government for some or all of the tax revenue it loses because of the nature of the ownership

or use of a particular piece of real property; usually relating to the foregone property tax revenue. (US Bureau of Land Management) Clawback provision: “Clawback” provisions in IDA contracts can allow an IDA to recapture previously granted benefits, end the granting of additional benefits and/ or proportionally increase the amount of PILOTs due if the agreed upon job creation is not forthcoming or if the developer violates other parts of the project agreement. (oc. state.ny.us) chattanoogapulse.com • august 20-26 • The Pulse • 9

ARTS SCENE

The Wow Factor on Frazier Ave. AVA’s All-Member show is a showstopper

I

Must Be Jam, Cuz Jelly Don’t Shake Like That: Reviving the Big Nine

meandered around the AVA All-Member show opening a couple of Fridays ago, checking out the exhibit.

The quality of the art was outstanding—but even more excellent was an energetic feeling that radiated through the room; a vibration, a creative buzz. Looking at art is enjoyable and you can do it any time, but the real excitement happens when a bunch of artists and creative people get together in one room.

Jazzanooga’s Eclectic Jam Session cooks at the Camp House One of our favorite arts organizations, Jazzanooga, has really been ramping it up this year, and we especially love the effort being put into revitalizing what used to be the sizzling “Big Nine” neighborhood.

Jazzanooga’s “Live on the Big Nine” Performance Series includes the Big Nine Book Club, which last week featured a discussion of “Go Set A Watchman” at Wafflez Factory.

The Gospel & Soul Brunch is an ongoing monthly event as well at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, and there will be another “Juke Joint Session & Memo’s” on Aug. 27.

This week, however, is the time to

get yourselves to the Camp House for another “Eclectic Jam Session,” which is open to singers, musicians, spoken-word artists and other “creative performers to get together in impromptu collaborations or planned performances.” You can sign up to perform at the door, or just sit back and enjoy the swirling art vibes. We can’t dig it more.

— Janis Hashe “Eclectic Jam Session” Thursday, Aug. 20, 7 p.m.

The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. jazzanooga.org

Thu8.20

fri8.21

sat8.22

school tech

world's end?

flutter by

Art & Issues: Digital Literacy

Comedy with a Twist

Butterfly Garden Workshop

How do we integrate and navigate a constantly evolving technology in our public schools?

6 p.m.

Hunter Museum 10 Bluff View Rd. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org

It's the End of the World comedy troup presented by Full Circle Entertainment.

7:30 p.m.

Go Georgia Arts Studio 7787 Nashville St. (770) 380-0420 facebook.com/ gogeorgiaarts

Join naturalist John Jaeger in learning how to plant your garden to attract butterflies.

10 a.m.

Crabtree Farms 1000 E. 30th St. (423) 493-9155 crabtreefarms.org

10 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com

Arts tony mraz

“

Present in this show are a massive range of styles and mediums, including oil and acrylic painting, drawing, photography, ceramic sculpture and pottery, and mixed media that utilizes everything and the kitchen sink.”

As we talked about her piece (a delightful nonobjective painting made with ink, salt, and water), Fennel Blythe said, “It’s really nice to have a local community-oriented organization to represent us. This show is well done, and it shows the members’ work in a visually coherent fashion. I’m grateful to be a part of this.”

Michael Largent mentioned, “It’s a good connecting point to meet other artists, exhibit work, and see contemporary art in town,” as we looked at his colorful digital image.

Avant-garde painter Brent Weston told me, “AVA is a longstanding thing that brings the art community together, like a nexus or focal point.

When I first moved to Chattanooga, this was the first place I went. I’ve been a member for six years now.”

For over 25 years, the Association for Visual Artists has been providing Chattanooga-area artists with opportunities for advancement. The organization has a number of resources available to members, one of which is a professional gallery where work can be exhibited in a formal setting.

Through August, the AVA gallery is hosting the yearly All-Member Salon Show, an event that showcases a rich variety of local art. The 64 artists represented this year are Debbie Smith, Eric Greene, Fennel Blythe, Diana Edwards, Ellyn

Bivin, Thomas Shaw, Juanita Greenspan, Clint Frenchko, Pamela Glaser, David Allison, Carrie Pendergrass, Bonnie Vetterick, Lauralyn Drake, Catherine Stetson, Scott Henshaw, Jillian Walther, Billy Weeks, Bill McCord, Jan Burleson, Paulina Cassidy, Lauren Goforth, Michelle Kimbrell, Sandi Waters, Maddin Corey, Madeline Gavin, Julie Turner, Freddie Brewer, Jaye Harris, Margaret Park, Daniel Swanger, Michael Smelcher, Miki Boni, Arthur T. Reddy, Wes Rehberg, Shelby Turner, Desucre Anzman, Evie Durant, Mamie Biven, Andie Qualls, Robert Schoolfield, Erin Hall, Sally Fleming, Laylee Schoen, Mary Haberkorn, Claudia Moore, Charlie Pfitzer, Carol Kimmons, Olive B “Lolly” Durant, Caitlen Dickens, Myles Freeman, Michael Largent, Greg Haynes, Laurie Jo Raymond, Neil Grant, Brent Weston, Khambrel Green, Re-

nel Plouffe, Jillian Weathers, Heath Montgomery with Devon Kronenberg, Cara Halenar, Patrick Ironwood, Laura Cleary, and Mary B. Lynch.

Present in this show are a massive range of styles and mediums, including oil and acrylic painting, drawing, photography, ceramic sculpture and pottery, and mixed media that utilizes everything and the kitchen sink (Weston’s study of Velazquez’s “Las Menias” literally has a faucet adhered to its surface).

The processes that created each piece are as distinctive as fingerprints, and some of them are extremely specialized, like Patrick Ironwood’s electroformed metal, Juanita Greenspan’s carved alabaster, Freddy Brewer’s etched crayon drawing, and Eric Greene’s nail art.

There are many strong examples of representational painting, fine brush

work, and impressionism. Jan Burleson’s stunning oil on canvas, Pamela Glaser’s majestic acrylic on canvas, and Daniel Swanger’s classy oil on canvas are a few examples of this trend.

Desucre Anzman’s “Bar Scene” looks like a refined Cubist masterpiece, and Wes Rehberg’s “Accordionist on the Walking Bridge” feels like a Van Gogh reincarnation.

A nice array of classic and experimental photography can be seen next to the paintings. Catherine Stetson’s “I Concur” is a futuristic-looking composition of reflections in glass that challenges some of the more conventional shots, such as the gorgeous landscape captured by Jillian Walther and the highly contrasted portrait of a cowboy

by Billy Weeks.

Not to be outdone by a camera, Lauren Goforth’s photorealistic still life of a dinosaur toy is as good as graphite

can get. Neil Grant’s ceramic sculpture is extremely lifelike, well composed, and quite impressive, but not as functional as the sweet pottery of Charlie Pfitzer and Carol Kimmons.

The show’s body of nonobjective work is stimulating, energetic, and revolutionary. Margaret Park’s marks truly capture the essence of spilt milk.

Some of the most exciting pieces in the show are ones that incorporate elements of realism and recognizable images into abstract compositions.

Ellyn Bivin’s “untitled” is light, simple, and graceful, subtly echoing the feather that it depicts, while Heath Montgomery and Devon Kronenberg’s collaborative effort boldly catches the eye, yelling, “Look at me!!!”

This incredible collection of art will be on display until Aug. 28 at AVA, 30 Frazier Ave.avarts.org

The Galleries

on Williams Street

1403 Williams St | Chattanooga

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Open Tues - Sat 10:30 - 5:00 pm Thursday 10:30 - 6:00 pm (423) 521-4445 galleriesonwilliams@gmail.com thegalleriesonwilliams.com

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chattanoogapulse.com • august 20-26 • The Pulse • 11

Reserve your space online:

Butterfly Garden Workshop

thursday8.20

RubyFalls.com/lanterntours

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SUMMER SPECIAL Tower ZIP Ride

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ARTS CALENDAR

Experience Friday nights in a whole new light!

29.95!

423.821.2544

RubyFallsZIP.com

“On The Road Again” Book Signing Noon Olive Bean Natural Grocery and Café 1404 James Blvd., Signal Mountain (423) 805-4888 morganmurphy.com Ooltewah Farmers Market 3 p.m.

Ooltewah Nursery & Landscape Co. 5829 Main St. (423) 238-9775 ooltewahnursery.com Highland Commons Farmers Market 4 p.m.

2000 Union Ave. (423) 838-8904 Red Bank Farmers Market 4 p.m.

Red Bank United Methodist Church 3800 Dayton Blvd.

(423) 838-9804 “Most Likely To Succeed” Screening 5:45 p.m.

Museum Center at Five Points 200 Inman St. (423) 339-5745 www.mltsfilm.org Art & Issues: Digital Literacy 6 p.m.

Hunter Museum 10 Bluff View Rd. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org

12 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com RFZIPssLantern.375x9.8.indd 1

8/10/15 9:59 AM

Photographic Society: “Boot Camp on Gear Envy” 6 p.m.

St. John United Methodist Church 3921 Murray Hills Rd. (423) 344-5643 chattanoogaphoto.org Eclectic Jam Sessions 7 p.m.

The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. jazzanooga.org “PlantPure Nation” screening 7:30 p.m.

Majestic 12 311 Broad St. carmike.com Kurt Metzger 7:30 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233

Pulse Pick: Kurt Metzger Metzger is one of the people who can't quite make up his mind what he wants to be when he grows up: comedian, writer, actor or something else. So far, he's been able to do it all.

Kurt Metzger The Comedy Catch 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com

thecomedycatch.com

friday8.21 St. Elmo Farmers Market 4 p.m.

Incline Railway 3917 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 838-9804 Junior Achievement Superhero Bowl 6:30 p.m.

Holiday Bowl 5518 Brainerd Rd. (423) 899-2695 jachatt.org Movies in the Park: “Frozen” 6:30 p.m.

Heritage Park 1428 Jenkins Rd. (423) 463-0202 bridgechristian.com Bat Cave Canoe Trip

7 p.m.

Outdoor Chattanooga 200 River St. (423) 643-6888 outdoorchattanooga.com Comedy with a Twist 7:30 p.m.

Go Georgia Arts Studio 7787 Nashville St. (770) 380-0420 facebook.com/gogeorgiaarts Kurt Metzger 7:30, 9:45 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com

saturday8.22 Fast Break 5K 8 a.m.

Ross's Landing 100 Riverfront Pkwy.

(423) 400-6897 fastbreak5k.itsyourrace.com Butterfly Garden Workshop 10 a.m.

Crabtree Farms 1000 E. 30th St. (423) 493-9155 crabtreefarms.org Brainerd Farmers Market 10 a.m.

Grace Episcopal Church 20 Belvoir Ave. (423) 698-0330 saygrace.net Chattanooga River Market 10 a.m.

Tennessee Aquarium 1 Broad St. (423) 267-3474

ARTS CALENDAR

Amanda Brazier Paint-Making Demonstration chattanoogarivermarket.com Northside Farmers Market 10 a.m.

Northside Presbyterian Church 923 Mississippi Ave. (423) 266-7497 St. Alban’s Farmers Market 10 a.m.

St. Alban’s Church 7514 Hixson Pike (423) 842-1342 Found Your Park: 125th Anniversary Celebration 10:30 a.m.

Chattanooga National Military Park Battlefield Pkwy.

(423) 821-7786 findyourpark.com The Cat in the Hat Comes Back–Really!

11 a.m.

Barnes & Noble 2100 Hamilton Place Blvd.

(423) 893-0186 barnesandnoble.com Amanda Brazier PaintMaking Demonstration Noon River Gallery 400 E. Second St. (423) 265-5033 river-gallery.com Southern Brewer’s Festival 2 p.m.

Ross’s Landing 100 Riverfront Pkwy.

(877) 328-2783 southernbrewersfestival.com Kurt Metzger 7:30, 9:45 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 3224 Brainerd Rd.

(423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com

sunday8.23 Chattanooga Market: Meet The Mocs 11 a.m.

First Tennessee Pavilion 1826 Reggie White Blvd.

(423) 266-4041 chattanoogamarket.com Chattanooga Lookouts vs. Tennessee Smokies 5:15 p.m.

AT&T Field 201 Power Alley (423) 267-2208 lookouts.com Kurt Metzger 7:30 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com ESL One Cologne Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Finals Live 12:55 p.m.

East Ridge 18 5080 S. Terrace (423) 855-9652 fathomevents.com

monday8.24 Learn to Ride a Bicycle 6 p.m.

Outdoor Chattanooga 200 River St. (423) 643-6888 outdoorchattanooga.com

Vintage Swing Dance 7 p.m.

Clear Spring Yoga 17 N. Market St. (931) 982-1678 clearspringyoga.com Chattanooga Lookouts vs. Tennessee Smokies 7:15 p.m.

AT&T Field 201 Power Alley lookouts.com

tuesday8.25 WE: Women Entrepreneurs 8 a.m.

Celebration! Event & Conference Center 6425 Lee Hwy. (423) 424-4220 eventbrite.com East Brainerd Farmers Market 4 p.m.

Audubon Acres 900 N.Sanctuary Rd. (423) 838-9804 March of Dimes Fundraiser 5 p.m.

Flying Squirrel Bar 55 Johnston St. (423) 602-5980 flyingsquirrelbar.com Choral Arts of Chattanooga Auditions 7 p.m.

Brainerd United Methodist Church 4315 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-0333 signupgenius.com “The Silence Of The Lambs” 7 p.m.

Majestic 12 311 Broad St. (423) 826-2375 carmike.com Chattanooga Lookouts vs. Tennessee Smokies 7:15 p.m.

AT&T Field 201 Power Alley (423) 267-2208 lookouts.com

wednesday8.26 Middle East Dance 10:30 a.m.

Jewish Cultural Center 5461 N. Terrace (423) 493-0270 jewishchattanooga.com Main Street Farmers Market 4 p.m.

325 E. Main St. mainstfarmersmarket.com Wednesday Night Chess Club 6 p.m.

Downtown Public Library 1001 Broad St. (423) 757-5310 chattlibrary.org Chattanooga Lookouts vs. Tennessee Smokies 7:15 p.m.

AT&T Field 201 Power Alley (423) 267-2208 lookouts.com Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@chattanoogapulse.com

Presents

EVERY Friday, Saturday & Sunday until Labor Day!

Music F o od

Fun

For the Whole Family !

Taylor Kress

Tarryn Aimée Smith

Fridays 11am - 7pm

Saturdays 11am - 7pm

HIGHBEAMS Sundays 11am - 7pm

Old Time Travelers

Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays 9am - 3pm

Join us for old time, blue grass, and country music with a Seven States view during Summer Music Weekends. Come enjoy a summer day at Rock City Gardens, dine at Café 7, and catch a Rock City Raptor Show!

Community Partner:

Brews. Views. Chews. 11a-4p Daily Bar Open till 7pm on Fri, Sat & Sun.

For more info call: 706.820.2531

chattanoogapulse.com • august 20-26 • The Pulse • 13 RCsummerMusicBar.375x9.8.indd 1

7/23/15 9:40 AM

MUSIC SCENE

The Ramones of Jam Bands?

Newly formed Sof Srv kicks it beyond the usual pop-punk-jam-rock

Honoring A Fallen Bandmate Soul Mechanic plays memorial show for Clark Jackson Local funk band Soul Mechanic, known for its originality and colorful sound, has become something of a mainstay of Chattanooga’s music scene.

Earlier this month, fans and fellow musicians rallied around the band when guitarist Clark Jackson passed away. Jackson’s unexpected death rocked the local music community, but Soul Mechanic plans to honor his memory by doing what he loved to do most: play music.

The band, which has been touring across the Southeast all summer, will return to Chattanooga on

Saturday, Aug. 22 to play a memorial show in Jackson’s honor.

The plan is to have several sit-ins with Jackson’s favorite musicians.

The show is scheduled for 10 p.m. at Rhythm & Brews, and will be one of the venue’s last shows before they close next month.

— Ashley Coker Soul Mechanic Sunday, 10 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644 rhythm-brews.com

thu8.20

fri8.21

SAT8.22

wick it good

soulful voice

loud & local

Wick It The Instigator

Jess Goggans

Wick-it the Instigator is a multi-genre DJ and producer known as a breath of fresh air in an otherwise overcrowded EDM scene. His SoundCloud page is one of the top 200 most active pages on the entire site.

9 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com

Jess Goggans will help to put the swing in your step and the soul back in the hollow.

Vibrant interpretations of well-known classics intertwined with original music that will captivate you.

9 p.m.

The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com

Genki Genki Panic, Treephort, Lookout Mountain Daredevils Chattanooga has been known for years for its vibrant local music scene, and here's a showcase that will prove why this is true. Local, loud and fun... what more do you need?

9 p.m.

Ziggy’s Underground 607 Cherokee Blvd.

(423) 265-8711

14 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com

J

oshua Griffith: musician, soundman, bartender and irresistibly likeable guy. He’s always smiling, always laughing, always quick with a joke. Over the years I have known him, his music has been an extension of that vibe. The guy writes tunes that are really funny—so funny, in fact, that it’s easy to miss how well-written they are.

Music marc t. michael

“

There’s just enough space to let the instruments stretch their legs a bit, but not so much that you find yourself wondering what you need from the grocery store and whether or not your hamster is experiencing ennui.”

That can be a problem sometimes.

See, I like funny tunes, and perhaps you do as well, gentle reader, but it is a niche after all, and playing in a niche has its own set of ups and downs. That’s why I was excited to hear that Josh has a new band, a new project, and a new album, all of which should conspire to give his considerable songwriting talent a broader audience.

The band is Sof Srv (pronounced sof-srv, Mr. G tells me). Besides Josh G. on rhythm guitar and vocals, the band features longtime collaborator Michael “Bean” Kerns (“Haricot” to his French fans) on lead and vocals, Matty Koff on bass and Pete Guild on drums and vocals.

Their new album is called Slf Srv Us, unless it’s called Fragile Egosystems (or possibly a third thing, should they think of something punnier).

Doesn’t matter what it’s called; it’s a pretty kick-ass collection of jams.

I was given a sampling of three tunes to listen to. I would have had more, but the album is still in the process of being mixed down. The guys are taking a collaborative approach to their songwriting which is a good thing in this case...it isn’t always. It brings a balance to the music, which

The Return of Celtic Harvest on WUTC

is itself a good indication of the balance between the players.

The right people are in this band, is what I’m saying. The music is a distillation of the various genres and backgrounds each man brings to the stage but overall, if we must use labels, I feel like it falls squarely in the jam band category.

Now hold on there, Chet! Odds are, half of you just went, “Oh, yay! Jam band music!” while the other half went, “Oh…yay. Jam band music.” I’m calling it that because that’s what I think it is. But as jam music goes, I think it has a much broader appeal than most, the result of the guys incorporating their own interests and styles into a sonic melting pot that works better than most I’ve heard.

In the first place, the tunes aren’t too long. Two of the three fell right around the five-minute mark, which kinda makes them the Ramones of jam music. There’s just enough space to let the instruments stretch their legs a bit, but not so much that you find yourself wondering what you need from the grocery store and whether or not your hamster is experiencing ennui.

My personal favorite tune of the lot is a twofer, “You and Me/Way Back Down.” Bean Kerns’ guitar tone is gorgeous, reminding me of nothing so much as a young David Gilmour. Don’t know if that’s what he was shooting for, don’t care, it’s what I hear and I love it. Halfway through, the song shifts gears into a much funkier jam, a sort of reg-

gae/ska affair, and it’s that kind of dynamic shift from Floyd to Marley that exemplifies the solid compositional skills of the band.

A style that is too inclusive can sound cobbled together from odds and ends, but the seamless (and thoughtful) transitions these guys manage denote a measure of maturity and experience worthy of respect.

The album is recorded and is now in the final stages of postproduction. While a release party with the one and only Hap Henniger is in the works, the date hasn’t been set yet. In the meantime, Sof Srv will be playing at JJ’s Bohemia on Sept. 8 with Shabti and Marbin and if the album is any indication, the live performance ought to be pretty damn fantastic.

After a sixand-a-half year hiatus, “Celtic Harvest,” one of WUTC’s most beloved local programs, is returning to the air. Starting Sunday, Aug. 23, from noon until 2 p.m. WUTC will once again broadcast the region’s only all-Celtic music show with series host Rabbit Zielke.

“Celtic Harvest” started as a 30-minute transition between new age music and urban jazz on the Saturday morning “Sunrise” program on 88.1 back in 1993. By October of 1995, it had grown into a one-hour show on Saturdays, eventually morphing into the twohour Sunday slot most people remember.

The popular show, which frequently featured local, regional and national acts as instudio guests, was eventually canceled to allow Rabbit the opportunity to focus on other on-air duties, particularly as a reporter for “Around and About.”

The final episode was broadcast in January 2009, and featured a live performance by local act The Molly Maguires, who will be returning for the inaugural broadcast of the all-new — MTM show this Sunday.

Brand New Home Same Great Music brewer media everywhere. every day.

chattanoogapulse.com • august 20-26 • The Pulse • 15

LIVE MUSIC AUGUST

20 THAT 90'S SHOW FRI 9:30p 21 SOUL MECHANIC SAT 10p 22 FRI FLY BY RADIO 10p 28 SMOOTH DIALECTS SAT 9p 29 DAVE MATTHEWS FRI 10p 4 SAT CHIG MARTIN 9p 5 WICK IT THE INSTIGATOR

THU OH YEAH...THIS IS GOING TO BE GOOD! 9p

HERE THEY COME AGAIN...

CLARK JACKSON MEMORIAL

FINAL SHOW AT RHYTHM & BREWS!

WITH SOCRO

ALL DAVE, ALL NIGHT

TRIBUTE BAND

AND THE ALABAMA OUTLAWS

9.11 RUBIK'S GROOVE: 80'S PARTY 9.12 VELCRO PYGMIES

COMING SOON

15

YELLAWOLF

TUE with RITTZ - A VERY SPECIAL NIGHT 9p

NATHAN ANGELO

ONE OF OUR FAVORITE SINGERS

THU 9p

24

ALL SHOWS 21+ UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED • NON-SMOKING VENUE

221 MARKET STREET

HOT MUSIC • FINE BEER • GREAT FOOD BUY TICKETS ONLINE • RHYTHM-BREWS.COM

MUSIC CALENDAR

CHATTANOOGA

Danimal Planet

thursday8.20 Robert Lee 6:30 p.m.

Sugar’s Downtown 507 Broad St. sugarsribs.com James Crumble Trio 6 p.m.

St. John’s Meeting Place 1278 Market St. stjohnsrestaurant.com Live Bluegrass 6:30 p.m.

Whole Foods Market 301 Manufacturers Rd. wholefoodsmarket.com Eclectic Jam Session 7 p.m.

The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. thecamphouse.com Jesse James & Tim Neal 7 p.m.

Mexi Wings VII 5773 Brainerd Rd. (423) 296-1073 Open Mic with Hap Henninger 9 p.m.

The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Wick It The Instigator 9 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com Jamaican Queens, Magic Birds, Chillhowie Royal 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd.

16 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com

jjsbohemia.com

friday8.21 Summer Music Weekends 8:30 a.m.

Rock City 1400 Patten Rd. seerockcity.com Jason Thomas and the Mean-Eyed Cats 5 p.m.

Chattanooga Choo Choo 1400 Market St. choochoo.com Eddie Pontiac 5:30 p.m.

El Meson 2204 Hamilton Place Blvd. elmesonrestaurant.com Binji Varsossa 6 p.m.

Cancun Mexican

Pulse Pick: Eric Nassau "Eric Nassau is the best friend you ain’t seen in a long time, a rock-salt and whiskey-dipped licorice, an Iowa radio tower at 2:35 a.m., and a buzzing honey goldenrod field high noon."

Eric Nassau Sunday, 12:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Market 1 Broad St. chattanoogamarket.com

Restaurant & Lounge 1809 Broad St. (423) 266-1461 Kishi Bashi with Butch Ross 7 p.m.

Miller Plaza 850 Market St. nightfallchattanooga.com Tim Lewis 7 p.m.

El Meson 248 Northgate Park elmesonchattanooga.com Kip Bradley, Birds with Fleas, Organ Stills, Nick Shanahan 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Jess Goggans 9 p.m.

The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com

The Communicators: That 90’s Show, Danimal Planet 9:30 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com Cranford Hollow 10 p.m.

Clyde’s On Main 122 W. Main St. clydesonmain.com

saturday8.22 Eric Nassau 12:30 p.m.

Chattanooga River Market 1 Broad St. chattanoogarivermarket.com Summer Music Weekends 8:30 a.m.

Rock City 1400 Patten Rd. seerockcity.com Flow Tribe, Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles, Hard Working Americans, The Motet, Lotus 2:30 p.m.

Ross’s Landing 190 Chestnut St. southernbrewersfestival.com Jason Thomas and the Mean-Eyed Cats 5 p.m.

Chattanooga Choo Choo 1400 Market St. choochoo.com Eddie Pontiac 5:30 p.m.

El Meson 2204 Hamilton Place Blvd. elmesonrestaurant.com

MUSIC CALENDAR

The Lower Caves Binji Varsossa 6 p.m.

Cancun Mexican Restaurant & Lounge 1809 Broad St. (423) 266-1461 Tim Lewis 7 p.m.

El Meson 248 Northgate Park elmesonchattanooga.com Jam Session Nights 8 p.m.

The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. thecamphouse.com Sailor 8 p.m.

The Wired Coffee Bar 9447 Bradmore Ln., Ooltewah thewiredcoffeebar.com The Lower Caves 8 p.m.

Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. granfallooncha.com The Other Guys 8 p.m.

The Car Barn 6721 Heritage Business Ct. thecarbarnchattanooga.com Genki Genki Panic, Treephort, Lookout Mountain Daredevils 9 p.m.

Ziggy’s Underground 607 Cherokee Blvd.

(423) 265-8711 The Boulevard Bards, Front Porch Junkies 9 p.m.

T-Bones 1419 Chestnut St.

tbonessportscafe.com Rims and Keys, Superbody, Kindora and Rock 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Soul Mechanic 10 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com Irenka* 10 p.m.

The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com

sunday8.23 Summer Music Weekends 8:30 a.m.

Rock City 1400 Patten Rd. seerockcity.com Eric Nassau, Slim Pickins 12:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Market 1829 Carter St. chattanoogamarket.com Tommy Jett Entertainer’s Reunion 1 p.m.

Sky Zoo 5709 Lee Hwy. skyzoochattanooga.com Open Mic with Jeff Daniels 6 p.m.

Long Haul Saloon 2536 Cummings Hwy. (423) 822-9775 Robert Lee

6:30 p.m.

Sugar’s Downtown 507 Broad St. sugarsribs.com January May 8 p.m.

Granfalloon 400 E Main St. granfallooncha.com

monday8.24 Lost Element, The CRY! 8 p.m.

Granfalloon 400 E Main St. granfallooncha.com Monday Nite Big Band 7 p.m.

The Coconut Room 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Very Open Mic 8 p.m.

The Well 1800 Rossville Blvd. # 8 wellonthesouthside.com

tuesday8.25 Bill McCallie & In Cahoots 6:30 p.m.

Southern Belle Riverboat 201 Riverfront Pkwy. chattanoogariverboat.com Open Mic with Mike McDade 8 p.m.

Tremont Tavern 1203 Hixson Pike tremonttavern.com Underwear Comedy Show

901 Carter St. Inside City Cafe (423) 634-9191

Thursday, August 20: 9pm Open Mic with Hap Henninger Friday, August 21: 9pm Jess Goggans Saturday, August 22: 10pm Irenka* Tuesday, August 25: 7pm Server/Hotel Appreciation Night

9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com

$5 Pitchers $2 Wells $1.50 Domestics ●

●

Wednesday, August 26: 8pm Blues Night feat. Yattie Westfield

wednesday8.26 Eddie Pontiac 5:30 p.m.

El Meson 248 Northgate Park elmesonrestaurant.com The Other Guys 6 p.m.

SpringHill Suites 495 Riverfront Pkwy.

The Collection & Lowland Hum, Sinai Vessel 7 p.m.

The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. thecamphouse.com Dan Sheffield 7:30 p.m.

Sugar’s Downtown 507 Broad St. sugarschattanooga.com Wednesday Night Jazz 8 p.m.

Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org Blues Night with Yattie Westfield 8 p.m.

The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com

Happy Hour: Mon-Fri: 4-7pm $1 10oz drafts, $3 32oz drafts, $2 Wells, $1.50 Domestics, Free Appetizers

citycafemenu.com/the-office

Thursday • August 20

Jamaican Queens · Chillhowie Royal · Magic Birds

Friday • August 21

Kip Bradley · Birds with Fleas Organ Stills · Nick Shanahan

Saturday • August 22

Southern Brewers Afterparty: Rims and Keys · Superbody Kindora and Rock

Tuesday • August 25

Underwear Comedy Show

Thursday • August 27

Diarrhea Planet · Music Band, Canopy · Mad Libre

Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send event list-JJ’s Bohemia JJ’s Bohemia • 231Blvd.

E MLK Blvd.

• 231 E MLK ings at least 10 days in advance to: 423.266.1400 • jjsbohemia.com 423.266.1400 • jjsbohemia.com calendar@chattanoogapulse.com chattanoogapulse.com • august 20-26 • The Pulse • 17

Back To School CASH BONUS!!!

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Record Reviews

ernie paik

Welsh Electro-Pop Sci-fi, Croatian Hazy Psychedelia Gwenno’s cool playfulness, Pridjevi’s sonic incense cloud

RILCD AKNDDDIAAMVONIDSS GO

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Gwenno Y Dydd Olaf (Heavenly)

T

his writer was surprised to learn that singer Gwenno—best known as the lead vocalist of the polka-dot-wearing ’60sgirl-group-inspired The Pipettes—actually started a solo musical career in 2002 with electro-pop material sung in Welsh and the obscure language Cornish.

In 2014, she released her debut solo full-length album Y Dydd Olaf on Peski Records, which has recently been re-released by Heavenly Recordings, and it offers more pleasant surprises, the first being a concept album based on Welsh author Owain Owain’s dystopian science fiction novel of the same name (translated as “The Final Day”), and the second being that it’s actually pretty darn good.

Here, Gwenno sings with a soft yet perky, somewhat whispery voice, offering a few subtle inflections to entice, going beyond any de-

18 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com

Pridjevi Pridjevi (Trouble In Mind)

tached, blasé method. The synthetic sounds bring to mind a wide range of nostalgia, from ’80s new wave to early analog synth pioneers from the mid-20th-century, and although Y Dydd Olaf does not exactly sound like Stereolab or Broadcast, it may appeal to fans of those aesthetics. Possibly a closer point of comparison would be synth-dance-pop artist Annie (from Norway) mixed with the Krautrock and crate-digging angles of Caribou.

The opener “Chwyldro” wastes no time in painting a vivid picture of Gwenno’s new sonic clothing, conveying sophistication and cool playfulness, with a backbone supplied with a motorik beat and smooth, minimal bass line; a piano’s pulse echoes amid frolicking electronic sparklers and ambient background tones.

The interlude “Dawns Y Blaned Dirion” uses a

murky hand-muted bass and fog of mystery to evoke perhaps some unused early ’70s library music. The weird cuteness of “Stwff” has quirky details and a compelling tug that promises further oddities; it strangely brings to mind David Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” on an alien planet.

This writer never knew he needed a Welsh electropop sci-fi concept album in his life until Y Dydd Olaf came along.

N

o corner of the world seems to be untouched by the hazy charms of psychedelic rock, from Nigeria to Finland to Cambodia, and now at hand is an example from Croatia, in the form of the debut self-titled album by the sextet Pridjevi.

With the two lead vocalists Ivana Picek and Nina Romi singing exclusively in Croatian, plus a guitar/bass/ keyboard/drums combo, Pridjevi takes a basic structure and aurally dances around it, like the equivalent of the closed-eyes, sway-andmove-arms hippie gait seen at outdoor concerts. It has a penchant for applying a liberal reverb fog like a zealous smoke-machine operator, and while the group largely stays in one key, the electric guitarist has a predilection for modal noodling.

The album was originally

self-released last year as a digital download before Trouble In Mind recently gave it a proper physical release on vinyl and CD, and it takes a few tracks before it finds its way, with the ambling number “Pjesma O Drvecu,” which could be a distantly relative of Mazzy Star’s track “She Hangs Brightly.” “Svijet Na Dlanu” features a funk-pop rhythm and artificial flutey goodness, while “Ubila Sam Cvijet” conjures an urgent locomotive vibe and crunchy texture with a constant snare drum tapping; the blurry jazz of “Lucifer I Ja” brings to mind certain Krzysztof Komeda soundtracks.

Each song is around three or four minutes long, and unfortunately, in several cases that’s actually not enough time to unfurl and stretch their arms out, to bring the listener fully into the immersive zone-out state; although the song endings aren’t violently abrupt, it’s jarring to switch gears after one has acclimated to each dreamy soundpool.

While this writer is usually all for pop-music conciseness, this music might benefit from more time to wander. Despite this, its exotic touches and blissful, sonic incense cloud cast spells of temporary relief from reality.

Free Will Astrology LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): English author Barbara Cartland published her first novel at age 21. By the time she died 77 years later, she had written more than 700 other books. Some sources say she sold 750 million copies, while others put the estimate at two billion. In 1983 alone, she churned out 23 novels. I foresee a Barbara Cartland-type period for you in the coming months, Leo. Between now and your birthday in 2016, I expect you to be as fruitful in your own field as you have ever been.

And here’s the weird thing: One of the secrets of your productivity will be an enhanced ability to chill out. “Relaxed intensity” will be your calming battle cry.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): ‘’On or about December 1910, human character changed,’’ wrote English author Virginia Woolf in 1924.

What prompted her to draw that conclusion? The rapidly increasing availability of electricity, cars, and indoor plumbing? The rise of the women’s suffrage movement?

Labor unrest and the death of the King? The growing prominence of experimental art by Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse, and Picasso?

The answer might be all of the above, plus the beginning of a breakdown in the British class system. Inspired by the current astrological omens, I’ll borrow her brash spirit and make a new prediction: During the last 19 weeks of 2015, the destiny of the Virgo tribe will undergo a fundamental shift. Ten years from now, I bet you will look back at this time and say, “That was when everything got realigned, redeemed, and renewed.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “The greatest and most important problems of life are all in a certain sense insoluble,” said psychologist Carl Jung. “They can never be solved, but only outgrown.” I subscribe to that model of dealing with dilemmas, and I hope you will consider it, too—especially in light of the fact that from now until July 2016 you will have more power than ever before to outgrow two of your biggest problems. I don’t guarantee that you will transcend them completely, but I’m confident you can render them at least 60 percent less pressing, less imposing, and less restricting. And 80 percent is quite possible.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Hundreds of years ago, Hawaiians celebrated an annual holiday called Makahiki. It began in early November and lasted four months.

No one worked very much for the duration. There were nonstop feasts and games and religious ceremonies. Community-building was a featured theme, and one taboo was strictly enforced: no war or bloodshed. I encourage you Scorpios to enjoy a similar break from your daily fuss. Now is an especially propitious time to ban

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conflict, contempt, revenge, and sabotage as you cultivate solidarity in the groups that are important for your future. You may not be able to make your own personal Makahiki last for four months, but could you at least manage three weeks?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Museum of Failed Products is a warehouse full of consumer goods that companies created but no one wanted to buy.

It includes caffeinated beer, yogurt shampoo, fortune cookies for dogs, and breath mints that resemble vials of crack cocaine. The most frequent visitors to the museum are executives seeking to educate themselves about what errors to avoid in their own companies’ future product development. I encourage you to be inspired by this place, Sagittarius. Take an inventory of the wrong turns you’ve made in the past. Use what you learn to create a revised master plan.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” Virtually all of us have been guilty of embodying that well-worn adage. And according to my analysis of the astrological omens, quite a few of you Capricorns are currently embroiled in this behavior pattern. But I am happy to report that the coming weeks will be a favorable time to quit your insanity cold turkey. In fact, the actions you take to escape this bad habit could empower you to be done with it forever. Are you ready to make a heroic effort?

Here’s a good way to begin: Undo your perverse attraction to the stressful provocation that has such a seductive hold on your imagination.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it,” confessed the late, great author David Foster Wallace. Does that describe your experience, too? If so, events in the coming months will help you break the pattern. More than at any other time in the last ten years, you will have the power to liberate yourself through surrender. You will understand how to release yourself from overwrought attachment through love and grace rather than through stress and force.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Most people love in order to lose themselves,” wrote Hermann Hesse in his novel Demian. But there are a few, he implied, who actually find themselves through love. In the coming months, Pisces, you are more likely to be one of those rare ones. In fact, I don’t think it will even be possible for you to use love as a crutch. You won’t allow it to sap your power or make you forget who you are.

That’s good news, right? Here’s

Jonesin’ Crossword

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the caveat: You must be ready and willing to discover much more about the true nature of your deepest desires—some of which may be hidden from you right now.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You’d probably prefer to stay in the romantic, carefree state of mind.

But from what I can tell, you’re ripe for a new phase of your longterm cycle. Your freestyle rambles and jaunty adventures should now make way for careful introspection and thoughtful adjustments. Instead of restless star-gazing, I suggest patient earth-gazing. Despite how it may initially appear, it’s not a comedown. In fact, I see it as an unusual reward that will satisfy you in unexpected ways.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In accordance with the current astrological omens, I recommend the following activities: Sing a love song at least once a day. Seek a message from an ancestor in a reverie or dream. Revisit your three favorite childhood memories. Give a gift or blessing to the wildest part of you. Swim naked in a river, stream, or lake. Change something about your home to make it more sacred and mysterious. Obtain a symbolic object or work of art that stimulates your courage to be true to yourself. Find relaxation and renewal in the deep darkness. Ruminate in unbridled detail about how you will someday fulfill a daring fantasy.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The ancient Greek epic poem the Iliad is one of the foundation works of Western literature. Written in the eighth century BCE, it tells the story of the ten-year-long Trojan War. The cause of the conflict was the kidnap of Helen of Troy, reputed to be the world’s most beautiful woman. And yet nowhere in the Iliad is there a description of Helen’s beauty. We hear no details about why she deserves to be at the center of the legendary saga. Don’t be like the Iliad in the coming weeks, Gemini. Know everything you can about the goal at the center of your life. Be very clear and specific and precise about what you’re fighting for and working towards.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The comedian puppets known as the Muppets have made eight movies. In The Great Muppet Caper, the muppets Kermit and Fozzie play brothers, even though one is a green frog and the other a brown bear. At one point in the story, we see a photo of their father, who has the coloring and eyes of Kermit, but a bear-like face. I bring up their unexpected relationship, Cancerian, because I suspect that a similar anomaly might be coming your way: a bond with a seemingly improbable ally. To prepare, stretch your ideas about what influences you might want to connect with.

“Free Kee”—another freestyle rife with words.

ACROSS 1 Birthday command 10 Letter between rho and tau 15 Time for a late lunch 16 Violinist Zimbalist or actor Zimbalist, Jr. 17 Comedian who once stated “I’m the luckiest unlucky person” 18 “___ hound dog lies a-sleepin’ ...” (folk song line) 19 Blue book composition 20 Grow in status, perhaps 22 Pre-calculator calculator 23 Game full of zapping 28 Grass wetter 29 Tethered 30 High poker cards 34 By all odds 38 Incan sun god

39 Disc jockeys, slangily 40 Cpl.’s underling 43 Metric measures of area 44 Finish up 47 Jodie Foster thriller with locked doors 48 Beyond gung-ho 53 Sharp as ___ 54 Whet 56 Peony part 57 Cartoonish cry while standing on a chair 58 She released the albums “19” and “21” 59 In the costume of DOWN 1 Bit of dust 2 Flavoring for a French cordial 3 Gastropub supplies, maybe 4 Europe’s tallest active volcano 5 Sailor’s greeting

6 Oscar Wilde’s forte 7 “This American Life” radio host 8 Honest sort 9 Lingual bone that’s not attached to any other bone 10 Always, in music 11 Tentative offer 12 Junkyard dog’s warning 13 Chaotic mess 14 NAFTA part 21 Simpsons character that all members of metal band Okilly Dokilly look like 22 Take top billing 23 City SSE of Sacramento 24 “Author unknown” byline 25 It may be in a pinch 26 Machine at the gym 27 “V for Vendetta” actor Stephen 31 Line feeder

32 Peut-___ (maybe, in Marseilles) 33 Sound of an air leak 35 Venue for testing out new jokes, perhaps 36 Gamers’ D20s, e.g.

37 Blue Jays’ prov.

41 Capricious 42 Headquarters, for short 44 Like some communities 45 Maternally related 46 Sprayed via inhaler, perhaps 47 Letter after Oscar 48 Assortment behind the bartender 49 Succulent houseplant 50 Modem’s measurement unit 51 “___ possibility” 52 “Disco Duck” man Rick 55 End of the holidays?

Copyright © 2015 Jonesin’ Crosswords. For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+ to call. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle No. 0741 chattanoogapulse.com • august 20-26 • The Pulse • 19

SCREEN SCENE

A Fractured American Dream “Straight Outta Compton” could have been a truly great film

Come "Let It Go" One More Time Movies in the Park at Dark screen new Disney classic Even if you never actually saw the movie in theaters, chances are you couldn’t escape the monster hit song “Let It Go” that helped propel Disney’s “Frozen” into a global phenomenon.

And whether you saw it or not, now’s your unique chance to see it outdoors on a large inflatable screen in the finale of Moves in the Park at Dark at Heritage Park.

The event is free, open to the public and popcorn and drinks will be available for $1 each. Families are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy the show.

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As for the movie itself (for those who somehow escaped seeing it the first time around), when the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home with infinite winter, her sister, Anna, teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition. And sing. A lot.

“Frozen” Friday, 6:30 p.m.

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But he's too well-trained and too high for them to handle.

Director: Nima Nourizadeh Stars: Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Topher Grace, Monique Ganderton

20 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com

A

rtists are performers. Their art comes from experience. Many times this experience is a collective reflection of their environment; the storytellers may be telling tales and exaggerations of those that surround them, rather than exact representations of the truth.

Screen john devore

“

The best performance of the film is given by Jason Mitchell as Eric Wright, aka Eazy-E. Wright has the greater dramatic arc, as he was the original financier and defacto star.”

It’s interesting that in “Straight Outta Compton,” the new biopic about the founding of NWA, the media refers to their music as “gangsta rap,” whereas the artists themselves referred to it as reality rap. “Reality” might be a slight misnomer, as only one of the famed group was an active gang member and drug dealer, and much of the street language was created for esthetic reasons within the songs themselves.

But their message, the truth of their lives, was mostly on point. They lived in a world where the police drove tanks through houses and harassed teenagers for walking down the street and gang members hijacked schools buses to teach respect to the students by giving motivational speeches at gun point.

The reaction to the music, the argument that it glorified a dangerous lifestyle and encouraged profanity as an acceptable form of communication missed the point entirely. NWA was revealing a culture of poverty that most of America wanted to ignore. For that reason alone, their music was important.

“Straight Outta Compton” develops these themes well. Had it left it at that, or focused more on the origin and less on the rise to fame, it might have been a great film. But like all musicians who come from obscurity and are thrust into wealth and power, the story of NWA’s members follows a trajectory of excess, exploitation, and tragedy, and the result is an oft-repeated narrative that’s all too

familiar.

There are many places like Compton in the United States. It’s replicated in at least one or two neighborhoods in every medium-to-large city.

The middle and upper classes avoid these neighborhoods out of fear, the police rule them with an iron fist, and the residents scrape by with high amounts of cyclical poverty, homelessness, and violence. Drugs are both an escape and an important source of income.

Ignorance is rampant and combated by bussing students to neighboring schools in an effort to place them in a better environment. But even in places like this, true talent can grow.

If the Beatles had been born in Compton rather than Liverpool, they would still be musicians, although Pete Best might have started a deadly street fight with Ringo Starr before fading into obscurity. “Straight Outta Compton” tells the story of how Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren formed NWA and founded Ruthless Records between 1988 and 1993. Their rise to fame is nothing new in the music industry, especially for black musicians.

The group finds a new sound and gains popularity through local radio play, attracting the attention of a white manager who opens all the right doors for them; they tour and become a sensation that shocks the establishment; they find out they were taken advantage of by their manager, fight about money, and go their separate ways. It’s the same story played out over and over again in the industry.

The difference is the way the movie

brings the reality of their origins into focus.

Perhaps the best performance of the film is given by Jason Mitchell as Eric Wright, aka Eazy-E. Wright has the greater dramatic arc, as he was the original financier and defacto star of NWA who failed to find lasting financial success. As Dr. Dre and Ice Cube went their own way and become superstars, Wright remained loyal to Jerry Heller, his slippery manager. It is a much more difficult role to play, especially given the tragic end, and Mitchell shows his talent by playing the part well.

The film runs nearly two-and-half hours and the last hour seems to drag—the back-and-forth arguing on solo albums and the increasing menace of Suge Knight are less interesting than the filmmakers realize. Once the NWA crew becomes rich, the stakes drop dramatically.

The present for both Ice Cube and Dr. Dre are probably the best examples of the American Dream in recent memory. Through hard work and luck, two men that were born into the some of worst conditions that can be found in the U.S. overcame their upbringing and became massively successful musicians. They’ve now entered middle age—becoming a mediocre movie star and a purveyor of high-cost, lowquality headphones respectively. It’s the kind of story that makes America great. “Straight Outta Compton” tells that story well enough, but it needed tighter editing. There is likely enough material to make two films. The first in that series might have been transcendent.

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On ‘The Job’ Training Officer Alex reflects on the good advice he’s actually listened to

“

Loyalty is as rare as a fit fireman or an empty methadone clinic parking lot, and I get that now. It is a gift difficult to bestow and easy to withdrawal, and its absence is as telling as its presence.”

Photo by Tracy Scott-Murray When officer Alexander D. Teach is not patrolling our fair city on the heels of the criminal element, he spends his spare time volunteering for the Boehm Birth Defects Center.

out, and the lesson pretty I have had a very fortumuch unfolds from there. nate career.

Straightforward, to the Oh, it’s been extremely point, but otherwise tough unfortunate at times as well, to forecast. I get it. but those times are to be Other bits of advice are expected. (I’m not in the less esoteric. I know that teddy bear manufacturing you’re not supposed to date business, after all.) the victim of the suspect What I’ve come to apyou arrest, and that it’s a preciate in my usual happy, bad idea to glass-is-halflie about befull “peppy ing involved demeanor in a shootand outlook” ing, however isn’t just the ALEX TEACH justified, occasional because you were scared food discount so much as of being caught working an the people I have been surunauthorized side job in the rounded by through this dewrong part of town, no matmented journey. Advice beter how ridiculous either fore the job, during training, sound. You live, you listen, after training…good and you experience, you learn. bad, I’ve taken it all in. For That is “The Job,” as I prea few sparkling moments, I fer to call it. thought it had made me a The stuff I did not take fairly wise person, but fate for granted but nevertheless has always intervened and put less emphasis on, howhit my invisible reset butever, is what’s come into the ton and put me in my place spotlight in the latter part of when I needed it to—usumy career. ally before I even realize Part of this good fortune it, but I appreciate it all the lay in working for very sesame. nior people early on in The Some advice is fairly Job. Then and particularly straightforward. In the acadnow, I find that it is nothemy, for example, they just ing short of stunning how can’t teach you that people resistant new employees are are pretty much made of the to listening to senior ones, very stuff “Liquid Drano” no matter the profession, as is designed to dissolve. You if you receive some sort of have to respond to a suicide monetary bonus for unneccall (not to be confused essarily repeating mistakes. with an “attempted suicide” You’d think new technolcall, mind you) to figure this

On The Beat

22 • The Pulse • august 20-26, 2015 • chattanoogapulse.com

ogy was invented to allow them to do so, but whether it’s a slapjack or a Taser, you could lift the narrative of a bad example from 1980 and lay it over a poor choice in 2015, and you’d have about the same thing for the same reason.

Back to the wandering point, though.

I got a view of my job from the top down when most only see it from the boot-heel up, and despite my comparative youth, I actually tried to learn from it, and especially in this last year, a fairly innocuous line from years ago has come back to me over and over and over.

When asking a former police executive why he made a particular personnel selection and allowed some mistakes to take place more often with this person than others, he gave an answer I wouldn’t come to grasp for quite some time: “I am well aware of their failings,” he said. “But one day, you will come to understand the value of loy-

alty.” He left a pause at the end and smiled, letting me know that he didn’t need to say another word and that I didn’t need to say anything further either.

First, imagine the comfort zone I was in to ask my boss’s boss’s boss such a thing. This query came after a few years of working around him, mind you, but it was still telling. Second… he was right, but it took me a while to learn why.

Loyalty is as rare as a fit fireman or an empty methadone clinic parking lot, and I get that now. It is a gift difficult to bestow and easy to withdrawal, and its absence is as telling as its presence.

Keep your circle small, your ears open, treat “the help” well, and never underestimate both the value and the absence of loyalty.

Does that makes sense?

If you’re smiling right now, yes. If not? Tuck this away, Constant Reader: Like an ingrown hair (or a weather balloon for my positive crowd), it will eventually come up.

Diversions

Consider This with Dr. Rick

by Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D.

“What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.”

We are wonderful, unique works in progress. Our thoughts, feelings and imagination are powerful and transforming, not only to ourselves, but to all other beings sharing the energy of life, and the silence that we all know in the deepest part of our souls.

The problem is, no one tells us this. So let me.

We have so much more power than we think we do. And that can be scary. But it can also be freeing. To pay close attention to our thoughts gives us the opportunity to be kinder than we think we can be. To be in touch with our feelings lets us know ourselves, and then make healthier choices. And knowing that our imagination is but the first step toward creating something wonderful...the life we truly desire.

This is not only possible, it’s happening all the time. The key is to be conscious. chattanoogapulse.com • august 20-26 • The Pulse • 23

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