Nashville Scene 1-7-21

JANUARY 7–13, 2021 I VOLUME 39 I NUMBER 46 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE

IN MEMORIAM REMEMBERING THOSE WE LOST IN 2020

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NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

CONTENTS

JANUARY 7, 2021

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‘A Wakeup Call’ ..........................................6

The Spin

Telecom outages caused by the Christmas

The Scene’s live-review column checks out

bombing raise concern among experts

Jason Isbell at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville

BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

BY CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

CITY LIMITS

MUSIC

When the Smoke Cleared .........................6 Talking to downtown residents in the wake of Nashville’s Christmas Day bombing BY MATT MASTERS AND D. PATRICK RODGERS

Amid the Wreckage of the Christmas Day Bombing, Conspiracy Theories Abound ...7 Anthony Warner was a conspiracy theorist, and his final act inspired more bizarre conjecture BY STEVEN HALE

Pith in the Wind .........................................7

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NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

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MARKETPLACE

This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB: Second Stimulus Gives Nashville’s Independent Venues a Lifeline at Last Will Tennessee’s Senators Ever Stop Applauding Trump? Organizations Partner Up to Offer Rent Assistance to Hospitality Workers Unlikely Angel Delves Into Dolly Parton’s Formidable Skill as a Songwriter

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COVER STORY In Memoriam Remembering those we lost in 2020 Politics ........................................................8 Media & Entertainment ......................... 10 Music........................................................ 11 Business .................................................. 17 Food ......................................................... 18 Around the City ....................................... 18 Sports ...................................................... 22

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CRITICS’ PICKS Relive John Lewis’ 2016 trip to Nashville Public Library, tune in to an author event with Andrea Williams, check out Luis Alfaro’s Greek Trilogy, stream the Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, build your own streaming Studio Ghibli film festival, download media newly in the public domain and more

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FROM BILL FREEMAN NASHVILLE STRONG IN 2021 Nashville weathered so many storms in 2020 that it can be painful to look back at them. The destructive March tornado was the first event to knock us for a loop. Then a global pandemic struck, and we suffered devastating health effects while our city’s booming tourism and music industries were savaged. What’s more, a property tax increase was approved, and all the while our city struggled to survive the damage to its finances and employment opportunities. In the midst of these storms came outrage and protests over our country’s and our city’s responses to racial and societal inequity, which hastened the resignation of Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson. And then, on Christmas Day, an attacker set off a massive bomb in downtown Nashville. The tornado brought with it death, heartache, destruction and insurance claims to the tune of more than $1 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic has grown so vast that Tennessee made national news for being the worst location in the world for transmission of the disease. More than 7,000 Tennesseans have died from the virus since March. In the wake of the pandemic and the reported $4 billion loss in visitor spending, Nashville implemented a 34 percent tax increase to try and restore some balance to the city’s budget. Though considered a necessity to prevent Nashville’s demise, for many it could not have come at a worse time. The pain and heartache stirred by the unjust killing of George Floyd were made clear by both calm and violent protests — the latter causing damage to storefronts and struggling businesses. Just as hope began to come out of hiding, with vaccines appearing alongside the allure of Christmas spirit, a disturbed individual parked his RV on Second Avenue and began broadcasting a recorded announcement saying a bomb would explode in a matter of minutes. The bomb exploded at around 6:30 Christmas morning. In my shock and discouragement, I admit I thought, “We just can’t get a break.” But then I remembered how resilient Nashville has always been. While not dismissing the seriousness of these events, I’m optimistic about our recovery. With every incident we learn something new, improve safety measures and security protocols and find new ways to support our neighbors. We grow as a community. Somehow, we find greater strength than we had before. As Nobel laureate Albert Camus once wrote, “Carrying on, merely continuing, is superhuman.” This is what makes Nashville strong — our ability to always carry on. The tornado and the pandemic both brought forth new ideas for businesses. They’ve brought neighbors together to raise funds and rebuild. We’ve also witnessed the incredible courage of those who work daily to protect us. Before the bomb went off early Christmas morning, six Metro Nashville police officers responded to the suspicious activity on

Second Avenue, running to homes, waking people up and evacuating the area. These six officers did all they could to ensure no one would be killed. It worked. Only three individuals were mildly injured. The only apparent death was that of the attacker. The six officers to thank are Tyler Luellen, Brenna Hosey, Michael Sipos, Amanda Topping, James Wells and Sgt. Timothy Miller. Had it not been for these officers, the death and injury count could have been far worse. With their actions, these officers embodied their oath to “protect and serve.” Their actions were indeed heroic and have reflected well on our city and the ongoing perception of police officers. New Chief John Drake has also been a breath of fresh air, replacing Anderson, who resigned amid controversy. We’ve survived back-to-back-to-back blows this year. But our history has been made by pulling together to do what it takes to heal and move forward. We’ve pulled together to build greater unity in times of civil unrest; we supported each other with aid after the tornado outbreak of 1998; we worked shoulder to shoulder to rebuild from the 2010 flood. The Tennessee Titans, in honor of Nashville’s resilience, wore a “615 Strong” sticker on their helmets during Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans, with the digit 6 highlighted to honor the police officers. It was a respectful reminder that no matter what is stacked against us, together we can save and rebuild our city and our lives. Nashville will come back from these crises, and we will come back stronger. More importantly, we will be defined by our resilience. I don’t know about you, but I look forward to that — and to a better 2021.

Editor-in-Chief D. Patrick Rodgers Senior Editor Dana Kopp Franklin Associate Editor Alejandro Ramirez Arts Editor Laura Hutson Hunter Culture Editor Erica Ciccarone Music and Listings Editor Stephen Trageser Contributing Editors Jack Silverman, Abby White Staff Writers Stephen Elliott, Nancy Floyd, Steven Hale, Kara Hartnett, J.R. Lind, William Williams Contributing Writers Sadaf Ahsan, Radley Balko, Ashley Brantley, Maria Browning, Steve Cavendish, Chris Chamberlain, Lance Conzett, Marcus K. Dowling, Steve Erickson, Randy Fox, Adam Gold, Seth Graves, Kim Green, Steve Haruch, Geoffrey Himes, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, Christine Kreyling, Katy Lindenmuth, Craig D. Lindsey, Brittney McKenna, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Chris Parton, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Megan Seling, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Ashley Spurgeon, Amy Stumpfl, Kay West, Andrea Williams, Cy Winstanley, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian Art Director Elizabeth Jones Photographers Eric England, Matt Masters, Daniel Meigs Graphic Designers Mary Louise Meadors, Tracey Starck Production Coordinator Christie Passarello Events and Marketing Director Olivia Moye Promotions Coordinator Caroline Poole Publisher Mike Smith Senior Advertising Solutions Managers Maggie Bond, Sue Falls, Michael Jezewski, Carla Mathis, Heather Cantrell Mullins, Stevan Steinhart, Jennifer Trsinar, Keith Wright Advertising Solutions Manager William Shutes Sales Operations Manager Chelon Hill Hasty Advertising Solutions Associates Aya Robinson, Price Waltman Special Projects Coordinator Susan Torregrossa President Frank Daniels III Chief Financial Officer Todd Patton Corporate Production Director Elizabeth Jones Vice President of Marketing Mike Smith IT Director John Schaeffer Circulation and Distribution Director Gary Minnis For advertising information please contact: Mike Smith, msmith@nashvillescene.com or 615-844-9238 FW PUBLISHING LLC Owner Bill Freeman VOICE MEDIA GROUP National Advertising 1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com

Copyright©2020, Nashville Scene. 210 12th Ave. S., Ste. 100, Nashville, TN 37203. Phone: 615-244-7989. The Nashville Scene is published weekly by FW Publishing LLC. The publication is free, one per reader. Removal of more than one paper from any distribution point constitutes theft, and violators are subject to prosecution. Back issues are available at our office. Email: All email addresses consist of the employee’s first initial and last name (no space between) followed by @nashvillescene.com; to reach contributing writers, email editor@nashvillescene.com. Editorial Policy: The Nashville Scene covers news, art and entertainment. In our pages appear divergent views from across the community. Those views do not necessarily represent those of the publishers. Subscriptions: Subscriptions are available at $150 per year for 52 issues. Subscriptions will be posted every Thursday and delivered by third-class mail in usually five to seven days. Please note: Due to the nature of third-class mail and postal regulations, any issue(s) could be delayed by as much as two or three weeks. There will be no refunds issued. Please allow four to six weeks for processing new subscriptions and address changes. Send your check or Visa/MC/AmEx number with expiration date to the above address.

In memory of Jim Ridley, editor 2009-2016

Bill Freeman Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and Home Page Media Group in Williamson County.

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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The Curb Lectures – 2021

The Sermon on the Mount A 6-Week Judeo-Christian Perspective

You are invited to participate in this inaugural partnership between The Rev. Charlie Curb Center For Faith Leadership at Belmont & The Temple – Congregation Ohabai Sholom as they host this series to be held on th

Tuesday Evenings at 6:00 p.m. ~ January 12 - February 16th Leaders Include:

Dr. Jon Roebuck,

Executive Director of The Rev. Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership at Belmont University

Rabbi Mark Schiftan,

Senior Rabbi, The Temple – Congregation Ohabai Sholom This 6-part lecture series will feature an in-depth look at The Sermon on the Mount from both a Christian and Jewish perspective. Beginning in Matthew 5 and extending through the end of Matthew 7, this portion of Scripture contains the most complete and extensive look at the ethical teachings of Jesus. As a Jew, Jesus offered these lessons through the lens of His culture and faith experience. We will unpack the rich and deep meanings of His words as we explore their impact on all persons of faith. Each evening will feature a half-hour presentation, followed by open discussion and comments. (Lectures will be based on Amy-Jill Levine’s recent book – Sermon on the Mount – A Beginners Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven.)

Please join us each week as we learn together. Zoom Link: https://belmontu.zoom.us/j/6154179356 5015 Harding Pike ~ The Temple ~ (615)352-7620 nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CITY LIMITS

AFTERMATH OF THE CHRISTMAS DAY BOMBING

‘A WAKEUP CALL’

Telecom outages caused by the Christmas bombing raise concern among experts BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

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PHOTO: MATT MASTERS

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in place for a number of years, but it took a while to make the case, and boy we’re very happy that we were able to make the case.” Now that Durbin has had some time to consider the consequences of the Nashville attack, he wants the city to add a backup landline telephone provider. He also suggests that health systems and other large organizations that can’t afford to lose communications for several days invest in backup internet and phone systems like those used by Metro. “The entire removal of AT&T from the game is one of those [scenarios] that we

WHEN THE SMOKE CLEARED

Talking to downtown residents in the wake of Nashville’s Christmas Day bombing

haven’t necessarily gamed in the past, but you better believe we will now,” Durbin says. The wide-ranging effects of the bombing could put a new spotlight on higher-level tech policy in Nashville, according to some local officials. One former Metro Councilmember — Anthony Davis, who started a web design firm before being elected to the council in 2011 — says he hopes the bombing could bring about new conversations about the value of internet service as a public utility. While Davis admits it would be “very hard to pull off” something like Chattanooga’s public internet offering, there may be other

solutions city government could pursue. “It brought these kinds of issues back to the forefront — a vast part of the city being down for an entire weekend, people seeing the vulnerability,” Davis says. “If a suicide bomber can cut off the entire city’s infrastructure, then we are very vulnerable. … Maybe there’s an opportunity for something like Chattanooga with Gig City, or maybe that ship has sailed for us. With 5G technology, maybe there’s an opportunity there. Maybe it is the right time to bring up the conversation again.” EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

tops searching for evidence from the bombing. One person passing the nearby Metro Courthouse on Dec. 28 was 36-year-old Nate Frusti. He was hoping to get one last look at his apartment, which was severely damaged in the blast. Frusti and his fiancée were visiting family in Michigan on Christmas Day when they were notified about

the early-morning explosion by a friend who was dogsitting for the couple. Frusti said that their friend escaped uninjured, along with their dogs Bruno and Otis. Frusti’s apartment was one of several located above the businesses lining Second Avenue. He said the couple’s home has been listed by authorities as a total loss.

BY MATT MASTERS AND D. PATRICK RODGERS

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ashville’s downtown curfew was lifted at noon on Monday, Dec. 28, and by 1 p.m., tourists had returned to Lower Broadway’s bars. A police barricade of fences and Metro Nashville school buses blocked vehicle and foot traffic from Third Avenue to the river. This containment zone surrounded the blast site by at least one city block in all directions. The damage done to buildings by Christmas Day bombing suspect Anthony Warner was extensive — but with yellow tape sectioning off that part of downtown, the only damage most news media could make out was broken windows. Police and fire officials as well as investigators from the FBI and the ATF scoured roof-

WINDOWS ALONG LOWER BROAD WERE BLOWN OUT BY THE BLAST

PHOTO: MATT MASTERS

cott Augenbaum was one of the many area residents who lost cell phone and internet service in the wake of the Christmas Day bombing in downtown Nashville, an attack attributed by authorities to local man Anthony Warner. “For the first time ever, I had no telephone service, no internet service, where God forbid something happened I couldn’t pick up the phone and call anybody,” Augenbaum says. “That’s a pretty scary thing for me. I am personally going to rethink my cell phone provider being the same as my internet provider.” That sort of scenario was not completely unimaginable to Augenbaum, who spent more than two decades as an FBI special agent, mostly working on cybercrimes but also on the Eric Robert Rudolph and 9/11 terrorist attacks. Augenbaum now trains businesses on responding to cybercrimes, including those that result in significant interruptions to business operations. Though the attacks Augenbaum mostly worked on as an FBI special agent were — unlike the Nashville attack — virtual, he recognized some of the same outcomes for area businesses, government agencies and individual users like him. “We’re at the mercy of the providers,” he says. “This was a wakeup call. … This really opened up my eyes a little bit. I felt very, very vulnerable.” Though as of press time authorities have not said the AT&T facility was the Christmas bombing’s target, the fallout was widespread, causing telecommunications problems for the Nashville airport, area hospitals and 911 operators in neighboring states. Augenbaum went to a Verizon store to try to secure an internet hotspot, but says the line was hours long. Nashville government had a similar idea, but secured a backup phone plan from Verizon before the attack that crippled its existing AT&T mobile network. That’s according to Keith Durbin, Metro Nashville’s chief information officer and director of information technology services. “Luckily, we have a Verizon mobile contract as well, so I literally had employees driving phones on Christmas afternoon to other members of the senior team,” Durbin says. That wasn’t the only redundancy built into Nashville’s communications network. Durbin says the city added a redundant internet pipe in the wake of the 2010 flood that allowed key city sites to maintain connectivity after the Christmas bombing. “AT&T rules the world, and other providers share and use each other’s infrastructure to some extent, so we were careful about how we put that in place,” he says. “We’ve had [the redundant internet pipe]

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CITY LIMITS

AMID THE WRECKAGE OF THE CHRISTMAS DAY BOMBING, CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUND

Anthony Warner was a conspiracy theorist, and his final act inspired more bizarre conjecture BY STEVEN HALE

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hen an RV exploded on Second Avenue North around 6:30 a.m. on Christmas Day outside an AT&T switch facility, the blast rendered two buildings unsalvageable, damaged many more and sent debris and numerous conspiracy theories scattering into the morning air. With smoke still rising from downtown Nashville, devotees of such theories either sought to claim the bomber as one of their own or held his act up as evidence of the nefarious web of lies they believe they’ve uncovered. Meanwhile, speculation abounded about what set of convoluted tales the bomber himself might have believed — was he obsessed with 5G technology and its possible use in government surveillance? Still others online began to circulate the theory that the bomber was in on the conspiracy himself, falsely asserting that he had targeted the AT&T building in order to destroy voting machines that were being audited there. The bizarre details of the event only added fuel to those fires. Before it exploded, the RV broadcast a warning directing people to evacuate the area before playing a recording of Petula Clark’s rendition of “Downtown.” Police did manage to evacuate area residents before the explosion, and no one other than the bomber died when the RV detonated.

In the days that followed, law enforcement agencies identified 63-year-old Anthony Warner, a white Antioch resident, as the man they say blew up the RV and himself with it. Soon after that, more revelations about Warner drove the narrative right back into the conspiratorial fever swamps. On Jan. 4, NewsChannel 5 reported that an acquaintance of Warner’s received a package from the alleged bomber on New Year’s Day that was postmarked Dec. 23 and “contained at least nine typed pages and two Samsung thumb drives.” The station reported that the letters included long passages in which Warner detailed his belief in 9/11 and moon-landing conspiracies as well as aliens and “reptilians and lizard people that he believed control the earth and had tweaked human DNA.” “They put a switch into the human brain so they could walk among us and appear human,” Warner wrote, according to the station. The FBI has confirmed that the agency is aware Warner “sent materials which espoused his viewpoints to several acquaintances throughout the country,” though his motive in the bombing is still being investigated. Warner, it seems, was himself a deep believer in a number of conspiracy theories, making it darkly fitting that his final act should inspire or be adopted into a number of such theories. Conspiracy theories, es-

“We got back Saturday night,” Frusti told the Scene. “The city has really been taking care of us. We’re staying over at one of the [hotel] suites long term as long as we need to get things going.” Frusti and his fiancée are both bartenders downtown, and they’ve been given some support from the Nashville chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild. “We lost it all, but we’ve got renters insurance, we’ve got people helping us out,” Frusti said. “The USBG is a local community for bartenders that’s been helping everybody out since the tornado, and they gave us some temporary relief funds. We just got in

a local hotel, with several hotels offering rooms to people affected by this. Now we’re just trying to be positive and move forward.” Frusti said that while this year has been tough for all of Nashville, the service industry has endured especially extensive hardship — due to the March tornado, the COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions, and now the Christmas Day bombing. “This is an amazing town,” he said. “I never expected to be here, much less stay here for six years. I’m a Detroiter, I’m not a country fan, but life brought me here. I love it, I’ve never had more fun, I’ve never made more friends this easily, and we’re absolutely going to be stronger.” Another man, who asked to be referred to as J.C., said he’s been experiencing homelessness and had just started a job washing dishes at the Old Spaghetti Factory in the days before the bombing. He told the Scene he’d been walking down Second Avenue just a little more than an hour before the RV that housed the bomb parked on the street. J.C., who has lived in Nashville for 63 years, said he was blocks away when the blast occurred, hearing the enormous explosion and seeing a massive fireball rise above the buildings. “I knew it was a bomb, had to be,” J.C. said. “It shook me a little bit.”

PHOTO: MATT MASTERS

NATE FRUSTI

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

pecially in the wake of shocking events, are nothing new of course. But their reach is, as is their durability. “Newsletters kept conspiracy theories about Kennedy’s assassination alive,” says Mark Cheathem, a history professor at Cumberland University who teaches about conspiracy theories in American history, among other things. “Emails spread conspiracy theories about the number of people the Clintons allegedly murdered, and internet message boards helped to perpetuate anti-Islamic conspiracy theories following 9/11.” Cheathem permitted the Scene to pick his brain about the theories surfaced by the Christmas Day bombing. “Social media platforms have made it possible for conspiracy theories that used to have a limited audience of a few hundred or a few thousand people to reach billions,” Cheathem says via email. “Once a conspiracy theory enters the global ecosystem of information, it spreads fast and is almost impossible to disprove or refute.” The notion that the bombing was connected to an ongoing audit of Dominion voting machines by AT&T has been thoroughly debunked by multiple outlets. In short, AT&T did not have a contract to audit voting machines and was not storing any such machines in a building on Second Avenue. To Cheathem’s point, while trustworthy reporting has diminished theorizing to that effect, it has not completely stamped it out. Certainly, election-related conspiracy theories continue to spread unabated. It’s not yet clear what, if anything, Warner believed about AT&T or anything related to the communications networks his bombing knocked out across the Southeast. But there is that bit about the lizard people. “As recently as 2013, 4 percent of Americans believed in this conspiracy theory,” Cheathem tells the Scene. “These reptilians are allegedly aliens who live in bases beneath the Earth and who control the world’s governments. Allegedly, many famous politicians and celebrities are reptilians. This conspiracy theory is also sometimes connected to the Illuminati.” Cheathem notes he’s encountered the theory in some unexpected ways. “Interestingly, the first time I taught a course on the history of American conspiracy theories, I asked the students to share the reason they were taking the class. One student said they wanted to learn more about reptilians. I thought they were just curious; turns out, they actually believed in them.” As easy as it is to stigmatize people who believe in these bizarre theories, Cheathem notes the impulse can be quite natural. “Humans generally crave order, so we try to detect patterns and bring order to disorder,” he says. “We also want to make sense of tragedy and understand the world around us.” Reality, we learn again and again, can be much more mundane and frustrating. On Dec. 29, as first reported by The Tennessean and subsequently confirmed at a press conference by Metro Police Chief John Drake, we learned that Metro police had been warned in August 2019 by Warner’s then-girlfriend that he was building

a bomb. At the time, officers went to Warner’s home on Bakertown Road in Antioch. When the Scene visited the home in the days following the bombing, there were five “No Trespassing” signs and at least seven cameras in various places. The 2019 incident report says that officers knocked on his door and got no answer. They did not believe they had enough evidence to obtain a search warrant, according to Drake, and never spoke to Warner. The MNPD shared Warner’s name with the FBI. During the 2019 visit, according to an incident report, officers noted what was parked inside the home’s fenced in backyard — an RV. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS AND POLITICS BLOG:

In 2020, 132 Nashvillians who were experiencing homelessness or who had a history of homelessness died. To keep these people front of mind — not an easy task given the vulnerability of the population — Beth Shinn, a professor at Vanderbilt University, and India Pungarcher, a public health student at Vanderbilt and resource coordinator with Open Table Nashville, set up an online memorial and study. In a joint interview with the Scene’s Alejandro Ramirez, the two described the public health implications of the death toll — the life expectancy for a person experiencing homelessness is nearly 30 years lower than that for the public at large — and what must be done to bring down the number. Said Shinn: “We can prevent homelessness. We could end homelessness. We don’t have to have homelessness. … We have halved veteran homelessness over the last decade by putting in the resources. … We’re not seeing reductions in other kinds of homelessness because we’re not putting in the resources and we’re not listening to the research.” …. Tennessee’s Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty announced they’d be among the dozen members of the so-called World’s Greatest Deliberative Body to object to slates of electoral votes from certain states won by President-elect Joe Biden, and that they supported the creation of an 1876-style electoral commission to audit results — despite the more than five dozen court cases since Election Day that have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud or illegal voting. J.R. Lind writes: “Blackburn and Hagerty aren’t engaging in a courageous effort to stand up for what is right. They aren’t standing guard as bulwarks of conservatism. … They aren’t even passing a test of party loyalty. They are subverting an election ... and they are doing so at the behest of a man who has no concern for anything beyond his own interest.” … The Tennessee Titans won the AFC South title for the first time since 2008 by virtue of a narrow win at Houston in Week 17, courtesy of a doink off the upright by backup kicker Sam Sloman. The Two-Toners will host Baltimore Sunday in the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs, the first home playoff game for Tennessee since 2009. NASHVILLESCENE.COM/PITHINTHEWIND PITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM • @PITHINTHEWIND

nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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IN MEMORIAM REMEMBERING THOSE WE LOST IN 2020 A boundary-shattering country music superstar. A legendary folk songwriter. Two iconic leaders — and friends — from Nashville’s civil rights movement. Two personalities from one of Nashville’s most beloved longtime restaurants. An inspirational band director. A colorful drag queen. These are just a few of the many Nashvillians, former Nashvillians and other locally significant folks our city lost over the course of 2020. In our annual In Memoriam issue, we at the Scene commemorate some of the irreplaceable figures who died over the past year. Read on and remember.

POLITICS

C.T. VIVIAN

Freedom Rider, organizer, minister

Days before U.S. Rep. John Lewis died, during the proceedings of the 116th Congress, Lewis addressed the House of Representatives to pay tribute to the Rev. Cordy Tindell Vivian. It was a poignant moment of timing. Lewis and Vivian died within hours of each other on July 17, 2020. “Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to my good friend Reverend Cordy Tindell ‘C.T.’ Vivian,” said Lewis. “I appreciate the honor and privilege of sharing a few of my more than 60 years of warm memories of Vivian’s legacy and impact on our nation, people around the world and generations yet unborn.” Perhaps no one — other than Vivian’s beloved wife Octavia Jean Vivian, who died in 2011 — knew more about C.T.’s sacrifices as a nonviolent soldier in the movement for justice, equality and peace than John Lewis. Martin Luther King Jr. himself recognized his unusual courage and commitment to justice — moral courage that the world would see throughout Vivian’s life. King personally summoned C.T. Vivian to the executive staff of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and appointed him director of affiliates. In Nashville, Lewis and Vivian met as students at American Baptist College. The year was 1958 when they attended workshops on nonviolence conducted by the Rev. James Lawson. Those workshops on methods for resisting unjust laws through nonviolent civil disobedience became the moral trajectory and road map for social change. The campaign to end segregation in downtown Nashville — and later the bold venture of Vivian, Lewis, Diane Nash and James Bevel to continue the Freedom Rides into Jackson, Miss., Anniston, Ala., and Rock Hill, S.C., in 1961,

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willingly risking death and violence at the hands of mean-spirited segregationists — speaks to Vivian’s high level of commitment, fearlessness and passion. It was a movement that changed the country like no other movement in the nation’s history. It was on the courthouse steps in Selma, Ala., that the nation saw on public display Vivian’s blend of courage, Christian faith, and passion for voting rights and justice. It was a nation-changing event when Sheriff Jim Clark’s violent blow knocked Vivian to the ground, only to see him stand up again demanding justice. A year before Vivian’s death, I had the opportunity to visit him in his home in Atlanta. I asked him about the encounter in Selma. What gave him the courage to speak truth to power, I asked. “You cannot rest your voice when the voice is not yours,” Vivian said. “Leadership is found in the action to defeat that which would defeat you. You are made by the struggles you choose.” C.T. Vivian leaves us a profile in courage and leadership of choosing struggles for justice. Today, as we work for a more just society, the voice of C.T. Vivian speaks to those who believe in freedom and justice whose voices cannot rest until they come. —Forrest Harris, American Baptist College President

JOHN LEWIS

Civil rights leader, congressman, good troublemaker

There will never be another John Lewis. In the world of social justice, it is rare for our most prominent leaders to live a long life — think of Martin, Malcolm and Huey P. Newton. Seeing our leaders turn into elected officials is even more of a rarity. John Lewis was able to do both, and become a uniquely revered figure along the way. To those of us doing the work of social justice, Lewis was a freedom fighter and a mentor. To those

JOHN LEWIS

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who work in politics — regardless of party affiliation — he was a highly respected official. To those of us who have dabbled in both, he was a symbol of ultimate balance. As a young activist and leader in the civil rights movement, Lewis fought ever so diligently to ensure that Black people could obtain the right to vote. He never let the beatings from everyday white people defeat his spirit, and never saw the state-sanctioned brutality of attack dogs and water hoses as a deterrent from speaking truth to power. As an elected official, he continued to fight for fair voting laws and was unafraid of bringing acts of protest directly to the halls of Congress. While I may not have always agreed with Rep. Lewis (younger generations tend to be more radical than their elders), the respect I had for him and his legacy never left. In times of hopelessness and despair, it felt good to know that at least one person in Congress understood who I was, what I was doing, and the importance of the work of social justice. There’s truly only one way to honor John Lewis. In the midst of turmoil, belittlement, oppression and despair, we must continue to fight with hope, love, dignity and respect. And if all else fails, always be willing to cause what Rep. Lewis called “good trouble.” —Rondriquez White

CHARLIE WARFIELD Lawyer, citizen, gentleman

My family’s relationship with Charlie Warfield began more than 70 years ago, when Mr. Warfield and my father Cecil were classmates in Vanderbilt Law School’s Class of 1949, and continued until his death on Feb. 19. Knowing him was an honor. Mr. Warfield may be remembered as the last living member of the Metro Charter Commission that led to the formation of Metro Nashville in 1963, but that was just one of his myriad contributions to our community. His CV is far too long to recite, but consider this barely representative sample just a few things that Mr. Warfield did in his 95 years: founder of the Vanderbilt Law Review; president of the Nashville Junior Chamber of Commerce; president of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce; president of the Nashville Bar Association; founding member of the Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society; president of the Nashville Better Business Bureau; founder of the Farris, Warfield and Kanaday law firm; Sunday school teacher for more than 60 years; coach; and Boy Scout leader. But simply listing his many noteworthy accomplishments doesn’t adequately convey Charlie Warfield, the person. He will be remembered as a consummate gentleman who held true to his priorities: family, church, law practice and community. Mr. Warfield always had a genuine smile on his face and a kind word on his lips. Talking with him left you with the feeling that you were the most important person in the world to him, even if you knew you weren’t. As Cecil used to say about his old friend: “Charlie Warfield is the only person I know who could tell you to go to hell in such a way that you’d look forward to the trip.” Mr. Warfield is a sterling example of a well-lived life — wonderful husband to Martha and father to Charlie, Miles and Bill, a leader in his church, a leader in his profession, a leader in his community. He did all these things with great humility, with altruism, with kindness, and with appreciation for others. For 70 years, Nashville has been a better place because of Charlie Warfield, and we are the continuing beneficiaries of his desire to help his community. Job well done, good and faithful servant. Rest in peace. —Dewey Branstetter

KWAME LEO LILLARD

Metro Councilmember, freedom fighter

Kwame Leo Lillard, a pioneering community leader and political activist, died on Dec. 20 at 81 years old.

Lillard wore many hats during his life journey: civil rights activist, freedom fighter, cultural preservationist, mentor, advocate, baba, Metro Councilmember, spiritual leader, intellectual, Pan-Africanist and environmentalist. Born in 1939, Lillard was ordained into a life of activism by his trailblazing father, Robert Lillard, a political activist, city councilmember and judge. Yet it was his great-grandfather who the Lillard family credits with their lifelong commitment to justice. The elder Lillard, born into slavery, was reportedly buried alive for defending his wife from an assault by their slave master. Kwame Lillard’s refusal “to kneel” to injustice, he recounted years ago, was an ancestral inheritance passed down in the family for generations. Lillard was a core member of the Nashville sit-in movement that produced a politically astute group of young militants — the “special forces” of the Freedom Movement. The group later assisted in the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and resurrected the Freedom Rides of 1961. Lillard became a hero of the Freedom Rides after Sheriff Bull Connor expelled Nashville activists from Birmingham and sent them to a Klan-populated area along the Alabama-Tennessee border. Lillard drove from Nashville to Alabama in the middle of the night and retrieved the group. The rescue mission allowed the students to return to Birmingham and revive the Freedom Rides. Measuring Lillard solely by his role in the sit-ins and Freedom Rides, however, undervalues the depth of his activism, humility and humanitarianism. From the 1960s to his death, he was a master craftsperson, weaving together different strands of social activism. While remaining committed to progressive interracialism, he was entrenched in racial solidarity movements and championed Black cultural and political institutions. As the head of the African American Cultural Alliance, he was the architect of the city’s Kwanzaa celebration and the African Street Festival. Much as his father battled urban renewal, he too backed equitable development policies that preserved historic Black communities and institutions. In recent years, he helped defeat the mixed-use development plan for Fort Negley and organized against city officials’ attempt to locate a new police headquarters on Jefferson Street in North Nashville. A decade ago, Lillard co-founded the Nashville Student Movement Legacy Foundation to retell KWAME LEO LILLARD

the stories of the sit-ins. Even still, he was always looking forward and celebrating youth leadership. His motto of “never trust anyone over 30 years old” paid homage to young activists who were untethered to a managerial political class. The white backlash to racial justice and civil rights advancements was another concern of Lillard’s, best captured in his must-read essay published by the Urban League in 2010. Under the title “50 Years of Civil Rights, 1960-2010: So Little Gain, So Much Pain,” the piece indicted the city’s “political and economic elites” for perpetuating institutional racism and white supremacy. Dismantling systems of oppression, he wrote, requires “determination and steadfast commitment” — a daunting challenge that he believed young activists were best prepared to meet. Lillard and the lessons he passed were an embodiment of public truth-telling, prophetic wisdom and resistance. He will be forever remembered as the freedom fighter who taught us — in the spirit of his great-grandfather — to never “kneel” to injustice. Rest in power. —Sekou Franklin

THOMAS A. WISEMAN, JR. Judge

Judge Tom Wiseman was a true public servant. After service in the Army, he began his career as a lawyer in rural Middle Tennessee, but it was in Nashville that he made his mark. His neighbors sent him to the Tennessee House of Representatives, where his colleagues recognized his abilities and elected him state treasurer. In 1981, he was appointed United States District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, where he served for more than two decades. And he was a giant as a judge. Once he assumed his judicial robes, he put aside political ambitions. He presided over hundreds of trials and made thousands of rulings in both civil and criminal cases. That itself is impressive, but it’s not what makes Judge Wiseman a giant. Judge Wiseman understood that his job was more than simply trying cases and making rulings — he worked to dispense justice. He intended not just to resolve cases, but rather to do what was fair and what was right, all within the confines of the law. Judge Wiseman was wise. His knowledge of the law was prodigious and his analytical powers intimidating, but his intellect was tempered by practical common sense. He could analyze a complicated set of facts and a tangled body of law to reach the essence of the case. Then he would craft an opinion that was both erudite and understandable. Those skills were in evidence as he presided over cases that desegregated public education in Nashville public schools and Tennessee higher education. Judge Wiseman had the temperament of a good judge — no one ever doubted that he was in control of his courtroom, but he was unfailingly courteous. Despite having to render difficult decisions, he maintained a puckish sense of humor. He was fond of saying that in his 1974 gubernatorial bid, he was the “highest finishing non-felon in the race.” Early in his career as a judge, he arranged to visit the prison to which he would sentence many criminal defendants so he could be sure that he understood the conditions there. Years later, one of those he sentenced returned to ask him to preside over his wedding. Even today, that man stays in touch with Judge Wiseman’s son Tom. Sometimes during a trial, an unsuspecting lawyer might see Judge Wiseman leaning way back in his chair with his eyes closed and hope to take advantage of the situation by straying from the facts, only to have the judge, eyes still closed, bellow, “Lawyer, stick to the facts!” Judge Wiseman worked hard to build camaraderie among his colleagues. Every summer he and his wife Emily invited the entire court family — judges, law clerks, assistant U.S. attorneys, federal public defenders, court reporters, courtroom deputies, assistants and all their children — to their home for a cookout around the swimming

pool. He also generously distributed tomatoes from the massive plants in his garden. Throughout his political and judicial careers, Judge Wiseman was blessed to be married to Emily, herself a strong and independent woman, who took primary responsibility in rearing their three accomplished children. Judge Tom Wiseman was a model of a strong, wise, independent and compassionate jurist. —Byron Trauger

ANNA SHEPHERD

Metro Nashville Board of Education member and chair

There are many ways to remember Anna Shepherd: kind but tough; loyal to the people and institutions she loved, but always challenging them to be better; a diplomat who was ready to fight when necessary. But I think one description best sums up Anna’s deep, long-lasting contribution and commitment to Nashville and its schools: She was a public servant through and through. Whether serving as president of the McGavock High School Band Boosters or as chair of the Board of Education, Anna constantly worked to provide the resources and services Metro Nashville Public Schools’ students, staff and families need and deserve. The district Anna represented for 10 years encompassed Donelson, Hermitage and Old Hickory, which benefited every day from her passionate advocacy. But she could represent Whites Creek, Woodbine or West Meade just as effectively. In board meetings and budget hearings as well as in private conversations with mayors and Metro Councilmembers, she fought for every school and every neighborhood across the city. Anna was about halfway through her third term when she died in June at the too-young age of 68. It’s tempting to think about what else she might have accomplished with the opportunity to continue serving. We all should take comfort and inspiration from how much Anna got done in the time she had — and from how much compassion and love she poured into every day that she worked on behalf of Nashville’s students and schools. —Adrienne Battle, Metro Nashville Public Schools Director

TONY TENPENNY Metro Councilmember

Tony Tenpenny was just one of roughly 500 Nashvillians to die of COVID-19 this year, but his death struck a nerve. The former Metro Councilmember, who represented District 16 in the southern part of Davidson County from 2011 to 2015, was just 57 when he died in September. He spent more than a month hospitalized prior to his death, and his treatment included the use of a ventilator. Prior to his death, the staunch conservative, who unsuccessfully sought election to his old seat in both 2015 and 2019, was a COVID-19 denier. He criticized public health directives and spread misinformation about the deadly disease. And when it came for him, people were quick to point that out. But some of his friends sought to remember him for other things, like operating an addiction recovery center with his wife Robbie. “Best friend you can ever have,” Tony Watson, an old friend, told WKRN after his death. “I miss him pulling up in that driveway and taking me to go eat or discuss District 16.” —Stephen Elliott

MARY PRUITT State representative

Mary Pruitt did not come to the Tennessee General Assembly in the typical fashion. Following the death of her husband, Rep. Charles Pruitt, the widow ran in a special election to succeed him. But it wasn’t a temporary gig. She ultimately served as a Democratic member of the state House for nearly three decades,

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from 1985 to 2012. Though Pruitt died after falling in September at age 86, her memory — and that of her husband — lives on at the Pruitt branch of the Nashville Public Library, opened in 1993 and named in the couple’s honor. It’s an especially fitting remembrance, given the retired teacher’s longtime focus on education and the library branch’s role as a learning center for the surrounding community’s residents, young and old. Metro property assessor Vivian Wilhoite, a fellow TSU graduate, was one of many public servants to consider Pruitt a trailblazer. In a post following Pruitt’s death, Wilhoite remembered the former state representative as “a supporter, a listener, a fighter.” —Stephen Elliott

IRVIN CARNEY “RIP” RYMAN

Public servant An aide to three mayors — Richard Fulton, Bill Boner and Phil Bredesen — before himself taking the leap into elected office, Rip Ryman was a Metro Councilmember, Metro Sports Authority member and Metro Development and Housing Authority board member. He spent nearly all of his 86 years in Nashville and Goodlettsville. Retired Goodlettsville city manager Jim Thomas reckons that “no one was a stronger advocate” for his or her district than Ryman was for his. “He cared deeply about all of Davidson County, but he stood strong on issues affecting Goodlettsville.” Serving on the council from 2003 to 2011 wasn’t Ryman’s first foray in public service; he served in the Korean War after graduating from East High School. And though he dedicated much of his life to government work — on the council, he was conservative, occasionally a stick in the mud — a true passion was youth baseball. As a local and statewide leader of youth baseball organizations, “his love of baseball shone brightly,” Thomas recalls. His old colleague says Ryman, who died in September of pancreatic cancer, was “a true gentleman and a good friend.” —Stephen Elliott

LONNIE J. NORMAN

Public servant, mayor of Manchester, Tenn.

When Lonnie Norman was growing up in Manchester, Tenn., he dreamed of playing football for the Manchester High Red Raiders. Instead, he was a proud Tiger and 1959 graduate of segregated Davidson Academy High School. Thirty-two years later, Lonnie Norman became the first Black mayor of Manchester. The purposeful path he walked to that position was one marked by dedication to improving race relations in the rural counties of southern Middle Tennessee: 40 years of service at Arnold Engineering Development Complex, where he was instrumental in critical union negotiations and desegregating the workforce; his first foray into public office as alderman from 19841991; vice mayor through three administrations; and in August 1991, mayor. Norman never lost an election, including his final campaign in August, when he was re-elected as Manchester’s mayor for the fourth time. Through three-plus decades of public service, Norman was an advocate for indoor and outdoor recreational facilities, parks, small business and affordable and accessible health care. He was an ardent supporter and enthusiastic fan of Coffee County’s internationally recognized Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, and he delighted in welcoming musicians and Bonaroovians from all over the world to his beloved small town. A highlight, says daughter Priscilla Norman, was James Brown’s electrifying 2003 performance, which father and daughter watched together. On Oct. 1, Norman was admitted to the hospital due to complications from COVID-19. He died from the insidious virus less than two weeks later. His

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grieving family responded as Mayor Norman would have, reaching out and beseeching the community to follow CDC protocols in order to keep themselves and others safe. On Nov. 29, Priscilla and her brother Lonnie Jr. lit the city of Manchester’s Christmas tree in honor and memory of their father as well as all those lost and suffering from COVID. A favorite quote he often repeated to his four children? “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” —Kay West

MEDIA &

ENTERTAINMENT DAVID CLIMER Columnist

Almost from the start of his life, it was apparent how David Climer would spend the rest of it. He started writing for Lebanon Junior High’s newspaper The Chum even before he attended the school. He and a friend started their own newspaper. He wrote for Lebanon High’s paper The Devil’s Advocate. And he kept moving up, first to the Lebanon Democrat, and then a part-time gig for The Tennessean covering University of Tennessee sports. In the 1970s, that was the biggest, most important beat in sportswriting in the state. Climer did it as an undergrad. He joined the staff at 1100 Broadway covering TSU full-time after college — in 1994, just as Nashville was on the cusp of becoming a major-league city. By that time, Climer was one of the most wellinformed reporters in town, sports or otherwise. (One of journalism’s secrets is that sportswriters are frequently the most well-sourced folks on staff; they also know the best places to eat.) He covered the arrival of the Predators and the Titans, a UT national title, a Super Bowl and everything else that happened on a field, court or rink before his retirement in 2015. The changes in the city’s sports landscape in 40-some-odd years might have overwhelmed a lesser talent, suddenly finding themselves out of their depth. But David Climer set the modern standard for a Nashville sports columnist, winning award after award as well as the admiration of his colleagues and competitors. For a city that didn’t join the big leagues until the tail end of the 20th century, Nashville has been blessed in giving the world some of the brightest lights in sportswriting: Grantland Rice, Fred Russell and, yes, David Climer. Climer prided himself on being a journalist first, not just a sportswriter. To wit, he was nearby when the bomb exploded during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and he grabbed his laptop and wrote up a story while sitting on a curb. His sharp writing and deep reporting continued to be a welcome respite from the facile hot-takery and clickbait controversy-for-its-own-sake that became the unfortunate norm in sportswriting. Climer died Jan. 19 after a bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 66. — J.R. LIND

BARRY SCOTT

Actor, writer, producer, director, motivational speaker and voice-over artist

Nashville’s theater community lost a big, brilliant voice this year — both literally and figuratively. William Barry Scott — the veteran actor, writer, producer, director, motivational speaker and voice-over artist — died Sept. 10 at the age of 65. The Nashville native was the founder and producing artistic director of the American Negro Playwright Theatre at Tennessee State University, the same institution from which he, his parents and grandparents graduated. He took on many iconic roles locally — including works from Shakespeare, August Wilson and more — though his résumé also includes plenty of regional stage, film and television credits. He was an accomplished writer with a

BARRY SCOTT

number of scripts to his name, including Ain’t Got Long to Stay Here, a moving tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that Scott performed extensively throughout the nation. His rich, velvety voice could be heard on countless commercials and promotions — from spots for ESPN, the NFL and the NBA to work with the Nashville Symphony. But beyond his considerable creative endeavors, Scott remained focused on the needs of his community. Under his leadership, the ANPT consistently churned out ambitious and relevant work. And he took particular joy in having legendary Black theater artists such as Robert Guillaume and Woodie King Jr. come to Nashville to direct various productions. Offstage, Scott was widely known for his incredible warmth and generosity. No matter how busy he might be, there was always time to connect with former students and colleagues. And he constantly looked for ways to provide meaningful support — whether it was simply sharing a bit of encouragement or offering a free weeklong audition intensive for young artists. “As a young Black artist, I looked up to Barry,” director Jon Royal told the Scene in September. “I wanted to be him. So to sit there running lines with him, watching him do the work — it was amazing. It’s hard to express just how important ANPT was for this community. For Black artists to have that kind of training ground was everything. He was instrumental in the development of so many important local artists.” “It was always about community for Barry,” actor Tamiko Robinson Steele told the Scene. “He had such unabashed love for Nashville, and was such a positive influence for so many of us. My heart breaks to think that we’ll no longer be able to experience the brilliance of his artistry and humanity. But I’m so grateful for his love and friendship, and all that he taught me along the way.” —Amy Stumpfl

PAIGE TURNER

Drag queen, activist and entertainer

Paige Turner — born Darrell Lee Myers in Cookeville, Tenn. — died in her home on the Fourth of July at just 33 years old. She was an actress, activist, musician, dancer and aerialist. Most recognizably, she was a fabulous, bawdy and stunningly gorgeous drag queen whose short-lived but prolific career put her on every major drag stage in the city. She werked the nightclub stages of Play, Tribe, Ibiza and the now-defunct Mad Donna’s, where she regularly hosted bingo night, and even kiki’d the more do-it-yourself stages at clubs and event spaces that hosted pop-up drag nights. She recorded and co-wrote original music, appeared in music videos and ABC’s Nashville, and had notable screen time in Robin Williams’ last feature, Boulevard. Turner was known to be extremely generous, and often tied her performances to fundraising efforts

for people living with HIV or those experiencing homelessness. Turner was an animal lover and often volunteered at the Nashville Humane Society. In an interview with Out & About Nashville, fellow queen Raquel Redd recalled meeting Paige Turner for the first time. “I was a little fish out of water,” said Redd. “She was the first one to come over and say, ‘Hey, girl.’ ” Redd referred to Turner as her “drag sister,” describing her as “the one who would keep me under her wing.” Sisterhood is a term used in drag communities to signify the love, mentorship and mutual support that define the kinship bonds of family. In spite of the wildly successful empire created by RuPaul’s Drag Race, the paradox of drag culture is that it seems ubiquitous, yet it’s still misunderstood by many as an art form. As drag continues to slip into the mainstream, making celebrities of some, many queens still face the same neglect and abandonment from society and their nuclear families that LGBTQIA+ persons have long experienced. Queens can often face violence on two fronts — as both their persona and the individual behind that persona. And that’s why the kind of chosen-family bond shared by Raquel Redd and Paige Turner remains an essential part of the culture. We have come a long way, but we still have so far to go. Paige Turner understood that, and she lived by example. She will be remembered with honor by her community. May you rest in pride, Paige Turner, legendary sister, mother and queen. —Tiffany Minton

JIMMY DAVY Sportswriter

It’s rare that anybody stays in the same job for 45 years. But Jimmy Davy wasn’t just anybody. With his wide glasses and his gypsum-white hair, Davy was the dean of Nashville sportswriters when he retired in 1998, just on the cusp of his hometown’s move into the big leagues. Over five decades at The Tennessean, he covered golf and high school sports, but Vanderbilt sports was the beat he’d make his own. He gained national recognition — and a place on the Pulitzer Prize short list — for his reporting in 1985 on illegal steroid use in Vandy athletics. A graduate of old North High School, the lifelong Nashvillian became something of a public intellectual as his career went on. Sure, he knew damn near everything about Nashville sports (a decade after his retirement, The Tennessean brought him back to help select the all-time Nashville high school football team, because Davy never forgot anything), but he knew damn near everything else about his hometown too. He’d pop onto Teddy Bart’s Roundtable and give speeches to Rotary Clubs and Junior Leagues, his old-school, high-and-lonesome Nashville twang sharing stories long since forgotten. Davy died April 30. He was 87. — J.R. LIND

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a mercurial and genuine talent teetering perpetually on the edge of collapse. It’s a harsh role, and Garfield found his way through the many facets of that character, a performance that resonates to this day. Working even after a stroke paralyzed parts of his face in the late ’90s, and then fully retiring in the early Aughts, Garfield was but one of the many people we’ve lost to COVID-19. He died on April 7 in Los Angeles at age 80 — a remarkable life ending in preventable tragedy. —Jason Shawhan

JOHN PRINE

JONATHAN PIERCE

THOM W. KING

THOM W. KING

Writer, photographer, entrepreneur

Nashville lost an important contributor to the city’s arts and media communities with the April death of writer, photographer, videographer and entrepreneur Thom W. King at the too-young age of 65. King began his media career while in high school in the ’70s, writing a weekly teen-oriented column for the ReviewAppeal newspaper in Franklin. Thom opened the King Brothers Productions photography studio with his brother John and friend Tom Rutherford in the mid1970s. During the same time period, King formed the local rock band Hardscuffle, and also opened one of the first recording studios in Franklin. In 1977, King launched Take One, the first alternative magazine in Nashville, which ran until 1980, providing coverage of the city’s then-budding local arts and music scene as well as topical issues like the death penalty, political corruption and the environment. King later co-founded the short-lived Metro Reader with former Take One editor Daryl Sanders and writer/businessman John Lomax III. King served as the staff photographer for the U.S. Department of Commerce at the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville and continued to write throughout the ’80s, contributing to The Metro magazine and the Nashville Scene and also penning two books on personal relationships. In the early 2000s, King worked with several prominent Nashvillians in co-writing their memoirs, most notably country music legend Danny Davis of the Nashville Brass. King wrote or co-wrote a total of 53 books over his lifetime. In recent years, King worked to build a young independent film community in Nashville. With the Nashville Filmmakers Group, he mentored aspiring talents while keeping busy himself shooting “micro-budget” independent films, music videos, TV pilots and commercials. King’s influence on the local arts community is incalculable, and his presence will be missed. —Rev. Keith A. Gordon

A native of Odessa, Texas, Jonathan Pierce made the move to Nashville after high school and soon began singing with the Christ Church Choir. An introduction from the legendary Naomi Judd led to Pierce’s joining contemporary Christan group The Imperials, and soon he was cutting albums both solo and with the Gaither Vocal Band. Pierce’s journey eventually led him to interior design, a calling that landed him on CMT’s Ultimate Country Home, VH1’s LeAnn & Eddie and HGTV’s Interiors, Inc. “I cannot tell you how much I laughed with that man,” country star LeAnn Rimes told Out & About Nashville in May. “He was a joy to be around, and his joy is what I will miss about him the most.” Pierce died following complications from heart surgery. He was 52. —D. Patrick Rodgers

PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS

Contemporary Christan musician, interior designer, reality TV personality

MUSIC

TOM LESTER

DAVID OLNEY

For people of a certain generation, the rural South was what they saw on CBS — shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. Tom Lester, who played farmhand Eb Dawson on Green Acres and also appeared on Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies, was one of that era’s most visible representatives. Lester was born in Mississippi

The not-singing bird Fills the black eternal night With endless silence. —David Olney People say it was a poetic exit. I assure you, NOBODY wants to die onstage — figuratively or literally. On Jan. 18, Americana pioneer, singersongwriter, recording artist, pre-pandemic streamcaster, actor, and my longtime client and good friend David Olney died of an apparent heart attack midsong. He was center stage between Amy Rigby and Scott Miller at the 30A Songwriter Festival in the Florida panhandle. His last words: “I’m sorry.” His mantra, however, was, “Always be true to the song.” Understanding the covenant between the audience and performer, David earned rapt attention from folks wondering how to classify what they were witnessing. Was it country? Folk? Blues? Vaudeville? Scottish newspaper The Herald once declared that his shows were “packed with incident, amusement, contrast and fine, fine songsmithery.” Indeed. David fully embodied the characters and stories he presented. Folks often mistook whatever grit, gruff, derangement, love and tenderness he was projecting for his real persona. He explored overlooked and

Green Acres star

Extraordinary songsmith, singer and actor

underappreciated subjects, historical figures and moments in time, revealing our own humanity. Like Marcus Aurelius, he was all about perspective, as heard in songs about a love story between an ocean liner and an iceberg, a French prostitute during WWI and the ass Jesus rode on to Jerusalem. It was important to David to interpret songs written by others. No live set was complete without a nod to Townes Van Zandt. David claimed he was sending up a prayer, saying hello to an old friend. Others recognized that import, with David’s iconic music recorded by Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury, Linda Ronstadt, The Wailin’ Jennys, Kane/Welch/Kaplin and more. Leaving behind an extensive Body of Evidence (with more recorded material to come), David Olney also left a “God Shaped Hole” in many hearts. He sought to connect and be heard, and always be true to the song. —Mary Sack

JOHN PRINE

Legendary songwriter and beloved Nashvillian

The pandemic had just entered its second month when we lost John Prine, one of this town’s true treasures and a patron saint to generations of songwriters. A native of the Chicago suburbs, Prine made Nashville his home for 40 years, and despite his fame he became an intimate part of the community here. Stories abound of ordinary interactions with this extraordinary man, of quiet acts of kindness he extended to his neighbors. For

ALLEN GARFIELD Actor

TOM LESTER

in 1938, and moved to Hollywood after feeling called by God to become an actor. He died in Nashville at the home of his caregiver and fiancée Jackie Peters on April 20 from complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 81. —Laura Hutson Hunter

PHOTO: JOHN PARTIPILO

Allen Garfield was one of those actors who brought something special to every role he ever touched. Just about every actor strives to find that core of the real, and the relatable, in even the most baroque of performances. But when you step back as a viewer and look at a career that spans directors of all manner of philosophy and stylization, and you still perceive the throughline of this singular presence? That says something. He worked with Robert Altman, Brian De Palma, Robert Downey Sr., Francis Ford Coppola, Tony Scott, Wim Wenders, even Donald Cammell! Garfield will forever be tied to this city because of 1975’s Nashville, wherein he found some degree of humanity in that most disrespected of personae: the managerspouse. His Barnett in that film is a life hewn out of countless if/then situations, feeding on yet devoted to

DAVID OLNEY

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Southern Gentlemen” — if you’re a young songwriter reading this right now, open up a tab and watch that video. Every one of his tunes, from “Yuma” to “The Saint of Lost Causes,” is a master class in writing. Sometimes he wrote without a guitar. He would ride shotgun in the van with his nose buried in a composition notebook as he scribbled away. Those scribbles turned out to be songs like “Mama’s Eyes,” “Midnight at the Movies,” “Black Eyed Susie,” “Harlem River Blues.” I could go on and on. I learned so much in my time with him. And later on when we would become collaborators, he continued to teach me things I didn’t know, and he championed me. He looked at me like he was a proud papa, and honestly it felt a little like that. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be where I am and I wouldn’t know half the shit I know without him. But above all that, he was my friend. And I’ll never forget him. —Joshua Hedley

a man who was brilliantly efficient with words, his death prompted thousands upon thousands of them, tributes and remembrances — including some from the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen — that honored the songwriter and the man. The beauty of John Prine was in the way there seemed to be almost no distance between those two figures. “He told profound truths about the complexities of human nature in songs that feel as casual as a conversation with your favorite uncle,” Scene music editor Stephen Tragesser wrote in the paper’s obituary for Prine. “In lyrics that were often devastatingly sad and slyly funny at the same time, he made you feel proud of being human, and maybe even a little hopeful.” Prine turned his disciples in songwriting into friends and collaborators, with a humility and confidence many artists of his stature might not possess. In a post after Prine’s death, Margo Price recalled the legendary songwriter and his wife Fiona taking Price and her husband, Jeremy Ivey, out to dinner at The Catbird Seat. The man she describes, cracking wise about the fancy establishment, sounds every bit like a songwriter who could write genuinely funny lyrics without diminishing their depth or humanity. “John told some great stories that night,” Price wrote. “He kept cracking jokes about the fancy entrees, ‘We’re serving neck of owl in a swamp water consommé — with pretzels.’ ” In a remembrance for The New York Times, Jason Isbell — an obvious and proud descendant of Prine as a songwriter — reflected on the miracle of developing an intimate friendship with a man whose songs had themselves always been his intimate friends. “When I was a baby, my 17-year-old mother would lay me on a quilt on the floor of our trailer in Alabama and play John Prine albums on the stereo,” he wrote. “Forty years later, my daughter would call him Uncle John as he bounced her on his knee. My wife and I would sing his songs with him in old theaters or sometimes in his living room. In the summer, we’d all eat hot dogs with our feet dangling in his swimming pool. Now he’s gone and my heart is broken.” Prine’s legacy as a songwriter is better known, but it is matched by his legacy as a neighbor. When his sons were young they became friends with a young boy named Max Barry, whose mother Megan Barry would go on to become the mayor of Nashville. When Max died in 2017, Prine played at his funeral, hosted by the Belcourt Theatre, which Prine frequented. When Prine died in April, Barry and her husband Bruce remembered how an artistic genius was equally comfortable being just another dad. “When our son, Max, was young, he came home from a new friend’s house and said he had been at the Prines,’ ” wrote Barry. “We looked at each other and said, ‘John Prine? The musician? Like — THE John Prine?’ We were, and are, huge fans. We remarked to Max how cool it was, and asked if he knew how special it was to be in John Prine’s presence, to be hanging out with him. He looked at us and said, ‘Geez, guys, Mr. Prine is just Tommy and Jack’s dad.’ And that’s who he was to Max — a parent who, along with Fiona, welcomed our son into their home and lives, who invited him to meals … who loved him.” On “When I Get to Heaven” — the final song of his final album, 2018’s The Tree of Forgiveness — Prine sang of his plans after death. And then I’m gonna get a cocktail Vodka and ginger ale Yeah, I’m gonna smoke a cigarette that’s nine miles long I’m gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl ‘Cause this old man is goin’ to town May it be so. —Steven Hale

farewell concert in October 2017, his longtime musical partner and friend Dolly Parton joked that it felt like his funeral. “I’d be so heartbroken if something ever happened to you, so I have to go first,” she said before singing “I Will Always Love You” to the country crooner. But it didn’t work out that way. The country music legend died of natural causes at his Georgia home on March 20 at the age of 81. Given the fact that Rogers’ death came just a week after national lockdowns were instated, limiting his funeral to family only, that 2017 public send-off takes on an even more significant and somber tone in hindsight. It was a celebration of a career that lasted six decades and included more than 120 million albums sold, 24 No. 1 songs and 12 No. 1 albums. The Bridgestone concert was Rogers’ last official public appearance, and if there was ever any question about the impact of his decades-long musical career, the star-studded list of performers and the scores of fans in attendance silenced them at once. In addition to Parton, celebrities from every corner of the music industry showed up to pay their respects to the artist, including Kris Kristofferson, Reba McEntire, Wynonna Judd, Lionel Richie, The Flaming Lips, Chris Stapleton and Don Henley, showcasing the breadth of Rogers’ impressive legacy. Like most kids who grew up in the ’80s, I don’t remember a time when Rogers’ music wasn’t part of the soundtrack of my life. “Islands in the Stream” was my parents’ song, and when they died when I was just 7 years old, it became a bizarro life anthem for me — a song I listen to when I need to be pumped up, cheered up or simply feel closer to my mom and dad. I met and interviewed Rogers three times in the past decade and even had the opportunity to chat with him about my parents once. He was kind and gracious and seemed genuinely moved by my story — just one person’s story about one person’s song and how it made a difference. There are no doubt countless stories about the profound ways Rogers’ music has resonated with fans throughout the past 60 years. His life may have ended in March, but his legacy lives on. —Nancy Floyd

KENNY ROGERS

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE

When Kenny Rogers appeared at a sold-out Bridgestone Arena for the All in for the Gambler

Justin Townes Earle was my friend. He was one of the first people I met in this town, at a weird private gig

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The first Black country music superstar

Singer, songwriter, entertainer and friend

at the Ryman. I don’t recall what the event was, and I don’t recall what we played, but it didn’t take long for me to recognize his talent. He was a presence — tall and thin, he loomed over the microphone like he was going to attack it. And that’s exactly what he did. Justin attacked music with a fervent energy I’ve not seen before nor since. His right thumb moved like a jackhammer across his guitar strings, imitating the rhythmic drone of the bluesmen who inspired him, his Cheshire grin spread across his entire face while his left hand crawled around the fretboard contorting into chord shapes I’d never seen before. He commanded every stage he set foot on, and as soon as he stepped to the microphone every eye was on him. He also had the gift of gab like no other. I don’t even think Justin knew what he was saying half the time, but every word was gold. And it’s evident from his catalog that that gift wasn’t limited to stage banter. It’s my opinion that Justin Townes Earle should be regarded as one of our great songwriters. There’s a video on YouTube of a song called “Decimation of a

CHARLEY PRIDE

PHOTO: JASON KEMPIN | GETTY IMAGES FOR THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM

KENNY ROGERS

Charley Pride’s accomplishments in American music are every bit as significant and important as those of Charlie Parker or Muddy Waters, even if he didn’t single-handedly invent a new sound or fresh approach to an established genre. Pride, who died Dec. 12 at 86, still belongs in that company. What he did as a Black superstar in a musical form wrongly considered out of bounds for African Americans was every bit as daring as the innovators of bop stretching the boundaries of tempo and rhythm, or the pioneers of rock ’n’ roll not only challenging norms regarding sound, presentation style and lyrical content, but

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE

PHOTO: STEVE CROSS

Country music legend

CHARLEY PRIDE

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bringing audiences together across idiotic racial barriers. Pride wasn’t the first Black country artist, but he was the first who became a commercial force, sold records and consistently enjoyed No. 1 hits. He would also become a Grand Ole Opry member (the second Black artist to enjoy that status) and eventually a Country Music Hall of Famer. Growing up in Sledge, Miss., in a family of 11 children, Charley Pride once picked cotton as a youngster. He envisioned baseball as his ticket out of the Delta, and at one time was a good enough pitcher and outfielder to make a Negro League All-Star team. But the music world is forever grateful his fastball and curve couldn’t quite cut it the majors, because he certainly reached the top of the country universe. From 1966, when “The Snakes Crawl at Night” exploded on country radio without most folks even knowing a Black man was singing it, on into the mid’80s, Pride was a phenomenon and an institution. He’d eventually become RCA’s second-biggestselling artist after Elvis Presley, and the litany of firsts continued with him winning the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award and consecutive Best Male Singer honors, and even cohosting the awards telecast. He would subsequently earn Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the Grammys and CMA. Through the midst of all that, Charley Pride became a beloved figure in the country world, as demonstrated by the incredible number of tributes that have come his way from Dolly Parton, Ronnie Milsap, Marty Stuart and more. Because he preferred to present a constantly optimistic outlook, he got some of the same dismissive treatment in certain circles that was given to Louis Armstrong, the assumption being that here was a Black man who’d made it, and become so successful he’d forgotten where he came from and wouldn’t speak out for fear of damaging his popularity and status. That nonsense could easily be refuted by reading Pride’s mid-’90s autobiography, in which he reveals insults and mistreatment that would have long ago broken a lesser man. In interviews, he’d quickly let you know when the myths about his background were bogus. He represented a constituency that many often overlook — Blacks who grow up in the country or rural settings, and are every bit as knowledgeable and immersed in country music as anyone else. When you hear the testimonials of contemporary Black country artists, male and female, about how important Charley Pride was and is to them, you recognize just how misinformed and ignorant some of the rhetoric about him during the ’60s and ’70s really was. His loss is a huge one, but his influence and impact will never be diminished or questioned. —Ron Wynn

LITTLE RICHARD

The man who gave rock ’n’ roll a soul

No one embodied stylistic flamboyance more majestically than Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard. Whether it was pounding the piano, whooping and screaming, displaying eye-catching outfits, or constantly vaulting back and forth between personal ecstasy and heavenly salvation, Little Richard, who died May 9 at 87, was the essence of rock ’n’ roll freedom and individuality. Though influenced by Billy Wright’s rollicking boogiewoogie licks, Esquerita’s gender-warping personality and sartorial garb, and both the Rev. Julius Cheeks and Marion Williams’ evangelistic vocal fury, Little Richard took all those ingredients and created something fresh, exciting, dazzling and spectacular. In the process he helped make rock ’n’ roll not just the music of a new generation, but an art form that couldn’t and wouldn’t be stopped. Though his musical importance and distinctiveness extended far beyond the middle and late ’50s, it’s that period that forever made Little Richard an icon. Even today, listening to the volcanic

lessons from celebrated Ernest Tubb sideman Elmer Lee “Buddy” Charleton, Baxter performed with country stars like Jean Shepard, Johnny Paycheck and Steve Wariner. By the late ’80s he was playing in Steve Earle’s band, The Dukes. Baxter never talked about his time with Dylan except in the most professional of terms. “Sure, I got sick of playing ‘All Along the Watchtower,’ ” he told writers Scott Marshall and Laurie McCuiston in 2000. “But on the other hand, there are songs like ‘Tangled Up in Blue’ that we played seven nights a week and I never got sick of it.” That’s a true sideman speaking: Baxter always served the artist. Baxter, whose son is Nashville singer and songwriter Rayland Baxter, died May 25 in Sanibel Island, Fla. He was 65. —Edd Hurt

and flugelhorn soloist, and was Williamson’s close friend and musical comrade. Himself a veteran of multiple Nashville musical associations, Tidwell praises Williamson’s indomitable personality and caring spirit. “When I think of Jim a word comes to mind — essence,” Tidwell says. “He was the very essence of many things: a love of music of all kinds, plus the dogged determination to keep the music he loved most alive and well. … New musicians in town, fledgling arrangers — anyone, really, that he could help, he would help. One of the great results of Jim’s encouragement and mentoring was to add any number of fine new contributors to the Nashville jazz world — players who might have given up and moved on without the Jim connection.” —Ron Wynn

JIM WILLIAMSON

JOE DIFFIE

Keeper of the jazz flame

LITTLE RICHARD

might of “Lucille,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Rip It Up” and “Good Golly Miss Molly” is to hear sheer magic happening. The stiff necks and authority figures who mocked the lyrics as nonsensical missed the entire point of who he was and what he was doing. Little Richard was turning music and society upsidedown, demonstrating the seductiveness of physical movement and the hypnotic qualities of musical performance done at an intensity level many couldn’t even imagine. He took boogie-woogie, blues, gospel and country, mixed in a little traveling-show flair and theatricality, and had such extraordinary impact over the popular music world that his influence is still being felt today. The list of rockers who’ve covered Little Richard songs is extensive, from The Beatles to The Everly Brothers and Creedence Clearwater Revival. He toured with both Jimi Hendrix and the Isley Brothers, and it’s almost impossible to imagine a Prince without there being a Little Richard before him. Though many only remember the rock ’n’ roll hits, Little Richard also did exceptional vintage R&B, soul and gospel songs, served as a lay minister for decades, and appeared in films ranging from The Girl Can’t Help It to Down and Out in Beverly Hills. At heart he was first and foremost a transcendent performer, always able to summon the will and energy to thrill audiences even after hip surgery forced him to remain seated while playing and singing. Little Richard was one of the 10 original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys in 1993. Because he was quite conscious of his uniqueness and importance, Little Richard could ruffle feathers of those who prefer their heroes to be more humble and self-effacing. But that was never Little Richard. He was fiery, dynamic, combative and assertive, flouting conventions about race and sexual orientation long before folks developed rhetoric and vocabulary to define what he’d already accomplished. Little Richard was truly one of a kind, and his memory and impact will never be forgotten. —Ron Wynn

BUCKY BAXTER Pedal-steel master

Great instrumentalists who want to pay the bills often go on the road with well-known singers, and that was the case with pedal-steel master Bucky Baxter, who gained fame by touring and recording with Bob Dylan from 1992 to 1999. Baxter played steel and mandolin with Dylan, and you can hear his licks on the great songwriter’s 1997 album Time Out of Mind. He was born William Temple Alan Baxter in Melbourne, Fla., in 1955. After taking pedal-steel

Technical brilliance and virtuoso performance are sure to earn praise and grab attention, yet inspiration and mentorship are every bit as important to the expansion of any musical tradition. Trumpet and flugelhorn soloist Jim Williamson, who died Feb. 26 at age 78, helped keep the flame of jazz burning in Nashville for more than 25 years as leader of the Nashville Jazz Orchestra (NJO), and in the process influenced and encouraged generations of area jazz artists through his great spirit and engaging personality. Though Williamson would be the first to scoff at any comparison between himself and the likes of Duke Ellington, Count Basie or other big-band immortals, he excelled at the same mission: finding ways to embrace both the past and the present, recruit and nurture talent regardless of age or

Singer of evergreen hits from country’s 1990s golden era

If you walk down Lower Broadway on a bustling Friday night, you’re almost guaranteed to hear at least one Joe Diffie song. He first made his name in Nashville during the late 1980s as a demo singer, recording songs that would eventually be cut by major artists like Alabama and Ricky Van Shelton. After signing a recording contract with Epic Records, Diffie released his debut record A Thousand Winding Roads in 1990, quickly cementing himself as one of the most popular and recognizable voices of the decade. Over the course of his career, Diffie charted 35 songs on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including five No. 1 hits. He also earned an ACM Award and a Grammy. Many of his songs — including “John Deere Green,” “Pickup Man” and “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)” — stand as some of the most enduring cuts from country’s 1990s golden era. He remained active well after the big hits stopped coming. In 2019, he performed at the CMA Fest in support of what would be his final record, the vinylonly release Joe, Joe, Joe Diffie. On March 29, just two days after he announced that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19, Diffie died from complications of the disease at age 61. —Lorie Liebig

CHARLIE DANIELS Uneasy rider

JIM WILLIAMSON

background, encourage participation in the music among younger people, and keep their band’s menu fresh, vital, unpredictable and versatile. A Nashville Jazz Orchestra concert might go from celebrating show tunes to presenting the latest in edgy Afro-Latin selections. There would be intriguing arrangements of classic tunes alongside spirited originals. Williamson delighted in disproving the notion that the only thing 18-piece bands were good for in the 21st century was serving as “ghosts.” The NJO was every bit as contemporary and vibrant as any ensemble large or small, able to incorporate the visions of the region’s greatest players, and always idiomatically flexible and evolving. But more importantly, Williamson was someone everyone loved and admired. He’d never tell you he’d formerly played with the likes of Aretha Franklin, B.B. King or Randy Brecker. He’d much rather talk about a new arrangement someone had brought to the NJO, or an idea he had for an upcoming concert. “His tireless efforts helped develop and organize the creative side of jazz big bands and jazz events in Nashville for decades,” saxophonist and NJO band member Doug Moffet remembers. “It was an honor for me to be a close friend of his.” George Tidwell is a longtime fellow trumpeter

Charlie Daniels, who died in July at age 83, leaves a mixed legacy. On the one hand, as the leader of the eponymous band, he gave the world a host of kick-ass, fiddlefronted Southern rock classics. “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” is Faust-by-way-of-Faulkner, with the good ol’ boy getting comeuppance on the Dark Lord. “The South’s Gonna Do It Again” never explains what “it” is, but nonetheless is a toe-tapping tribute to the best of ’70s countrified rock. (Poor Elvin Bishop, forever remembered as “ain’t good looking.”) And “Uneasy Rider,” given that it came from the pen of a fiddler from Wilmington, N.C., was an unlikely countercultural anthem in which a bunch of racist Mississippi doofuses get had by a road-tripping protagonist. But then there was the elder Charlie, who in 1988 rewrote that song, with its themes of inclusion and tolerance, to be about the opposite of that. In the forgettable sequel, Daniels and a buddy end up at a New Orleans gay bar … you can imagine the rest. Daniels’ twilight years were spent railing on the internet about Barack Obama, safe spaces, Hillary Clinton, Colin Kaepernick and the rest of the usual bugbears (as well as, in one bizarre tweet, Taco Bell for its frivolity in regard to the Illuminati). Daniels had pride in where he came from and who he was, and that was evident all along. There was his pride in being a Southerner, his pride in being an American (in “In America,” a mostly we’re-all-in-thistogether kinda song with the bonus that he lyrically threatened his country’s enemies with Steelers fans), his pride in being his own man (in “Long Haired Country Boy,” the tale of a man who just wants to be left alone and ain’t asking nobody for nothin’). But as

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he aged, that pride often became ugly and exclusive, rather than the inclusive vision of “Uneasy Rider” and “In America.” And that’s a shame, because those earlier songs still kick ass. — J.R. Lind

called on him to keep guitars playing like extensions of their band members’ minds. Sadly, just after his 64th birthday in May, Garcia died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Oklahoma City. —Stephen Trageser

HAROLD REID

Country guitar hero

Subversive songwriter and bass singer extraordinaire

In their unassuming way, The Statler Brothers changed pop music in the 1960s. The quartet came from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, and they applied four-part gospel harmonies to songs that looked humorously at human foibles. What the Statlers achieved on country-flavored novelty tunes like 1965’s “Flowers on the Wall” was pure subversion, delivered gospel style. The voice and concept behind the group belonged to songwriter and bass singer Harold Reid, who wrote many of their hits, including “Flowers on the Wall.” He was born in Augusta County, Va., on Aug. 31, 1939, and by 1963 his gospel quartet was calling itself The Statler Brothers. They opened a show that year in Roanoke, Va., for Johnny Cash, who would employ them as his opening act from 1964 to 1972. Along the way, Reid guided the Statlers through a series of good-humored country hits that still sound funny — even subversive. Reid died at age 80 in Staunton, Va., on April 24. —Edd Hurt

CADY GROVES Star in the making

Cady Groves’ voice was silenced far too soon. The rising country singer died just before she was set to share the work she was proudest of with the public. The youngest of seven siblings, Groves initially pursued a culinary career, but ultimately opted to follow her passion for music full-time. The Kansas native quickly built a dedicated following online, thanks to her obvious musical talents and immensely kind spirit. In 2009, she independently released her first pop EP A Month of Sundays and continued making new music over the next few years before inking a deal with Vel Records. She toured with popular bands of the era like Good Charlotte and LMFAO, all the while spending more time exploring Nashville’s creative country music community. She worked with Jim Lauderdale as well as Shane McAnally’s SMACKSongs collective. Groves also worked with Maren Morris’ collaborator busbee before his death in 2019, and she signed a deal with Thirty Tigers ahead of her first country project, an EP titled Bless My Heart. On May 2, Groves died at her Brentwood home from what was later ruled to be alcohol abuse. She was 30 years old. A few weeks after Groves’ death, Bless My Heart was released posthumously as a gift to fans and to honor the singer’s long journey toward its completion. A project that should have been a new career chapter now stands as a tribute to a talent taken prematurely. —Lorie Liebig

Much-loved songwriter and Grand Ole Opry member

Grand Ole Opry house guitarist and Nashville A-team player Jimmy Capps died June 2 at age 81. Capps was born in North Carolina and made his way to Nashville at the age of 19, in 1958, to take a job as guitarist with The Louvin Brothers. A member of the Musicians Hall of Fame, Capps played on landmark country songs like George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” The Oak Ridge Boys’ “Elvira” and Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man,” among many, many others. He also played in sessions with legendary artists known for work in other genres, including Ray Charles, Dean Martin and Julie Andrews. His tenure with the Opry, which began in 1967, was the stuff of legends, spanning more than 50 years and earning him the record for most Opry performances by any musician. In 2018, the Opry named a rehearsal space after Capps, calling it the Jimmy Capps Music Room. He is survived by his wife Michele and sons Mark and Jeff. —Brittney McKenna

Country singer-songwriter Hal Ketchum died on Nov. 23 at age 67. In 2019, Ketchum was diagnosed with early-onset senile dementia, after which he was forced to retire from performing. He played his final show at the famed New Braunfels, Texas, venue Gruene Hall in late 2018. A Grand Ole Opry member, Ketchum was known for songs like “Hearts Are Gonna Roll” and “Small Town Saturday Night.” The latter tune was the first single from Past the Point of Rescue, his 1991 debut album for industry powerhouse Curb Records. The song also hit No. 2 on Billboard’s country chart. Ketchum was born in 1953 in the small town of Greenwich, N.Y., and made his way to Austin, Texas, in 1981 to pursue a career in music. It was there he grew serious about songwriting, eventually releasing his first LP Threadbare Alibis in 1988. Ketchum kept making records for the next three decades, with his final studio release I’m the Troubadour arriving in 2014. He leaves behind a legacy of honest, plainspoken songwriting that has influenced artists including LeAnn Rimes, Toby Keith and many others. Ketchum is survived by his wife Andrea. —Brittney McKenna

GIL VEDA

JONATHAN ODINE

A visual artist and musician, Gil Veda documented the growth of Nashville by painting a series of portraits of musicians, politicians and civic leaders. Veda was an innovative painter who believed in breaking the rules. In search for a medium that could convey his style, he used techniques that included working with acrylic paint on corduroy. As a musician, Veda made history as the first Latinx performer to appear on the Grand Ole Opry. He first played the Mother Church in 1962, introduced by legendary guitarist Pete Drake. In addition, Veda cut an album, 1974’s This Man, that holds up well today. Veda was born Luis Gilbert Sepúlveda on Dec. 13, 1933, in Puerto Rico. He grew up in New Jersey, and by 1959 he was operating a venue in Atlanta called The Peppermint Stick Lounge. A Nashville resident since 1962, he established himself as a drolly realist portrait painter who could render John F. Kennedy, Charlie Louvin and former Metro Nashville mayor Beverly Briley with equal panache. Veda was a poet, community leader, painter and songwriter — a true man of parts. He served on the board of the Nashville Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for many years, and that was just one of his many contributions to the texture of the city he loved. Veda died in Murfreesboro on July 30 at age 86. —Edd Hurt

Finding one community where you feel at home is a significant, enriching, sustaining achievement. Jonathan Odine made it his mission to share this feeling with seemingly everyone he met. He and his brother Jo’Shua shared a fascination with music, each making his own distinctive sound blending hiphop, folk music, different African pop influences and more. Jonathan played drums with prominent and exceptional Christian artists like Phil Keaggy. After meeting Jonathan when he bagged her groceries, Amy Grant personally recruited him to teach stomp classes at the summer camp Barefoot Republic, where he was widely loved by his young students. He also remained close to many members of Nashville’s hip-hop community. “One of the last times I saw Jonathan was when he and I ran into each other at a show and cypher,” recalls rapper Malcolm DeWayne. “It felt like a family reunion. I’m talkin’ hugs, daps, a li’l Kid ’N Play routine, just a whole celebration when we saw each other. Then Jonathan literally ran around the building telling everyone how legendary the participants were before the show even started. … He was a great friend, a good man and a heartbeat for the city that will be sorely missed.” Jonathan Odine was 32 when he died in August. He’s remembered by his parents Maurice and Colette,

JIMMY CAPPS

Singer, songwriter, painter and community leader

HAL KETCHUM

BENNY GARCIA

Guitar caregiver and friend

If you make a living playing an instrument, trusting a person to care for it can feel on par with putting the health of your spouse or child in their hands. For the past three decades, country singer’s singer and guitarist’s guitarist Vince Gill entrusted his guitars to Benny Richard Garcia. The two had been friends since they were teenagers in the early 1970s, playing in garage bands around their hometown of Tulsa, Okla. Garcia was an accomplished player himself, and could have chosen to follow the path of his father Benny Garcia Jr., a revered Western swing player who backed up icons like Bob Wills. Instead, the younger Garcia used his deep knowledge of the instrument to become one of the most loved guitar techs in the country music world. In addition to Gill, greats like Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood and The Chicks also

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HAL KETCHUM

Drummer, teacher and beloved friend

his brothers Jo’Shua and Jason, many other family members and a vast array of people who he made feel like family. —Stephen Trageser

W.S. “FLUKE” HOLLAND Fundamental rockabilly timekeeper

W.S. “Fluke” Holland played drums on a series of recordings, cut at Sun Studio in Memphis, that defined the wild new sound of rockabilly music in the 1950s. Holland lent his syncopated style to some of the best-known rockabilly records: Carl Perkins’ 1956 “Blue Suede Shoes,” Billy Lee Riley’s “Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll” in 1957 and the late Carl Mann’s “Mona Lisa,” a 1958 Memphis-fried reworking of a 1950 pop song. Mann and Holland both lived in Jackson, Tenn., when they died — Holland on Sept. 23 and Mann a few months later on Dec. 16. Holland’s pedigree as an empathetic drummer prompted another Sun Records titan, Johnny Cash, to enlist him in his touring band The Tennessee Three in 1960. He would play in various versions of Cash’s group until 1999. Holland was born in Saltillo, Tenn., in 1935, and grew up in the cotton-mill town of Bemis, which was annexed by nearby Jackson in 1977. By 1956, Holland had ascended to the peak of rockabilly, playing on that year’s famed “Million Dollar Quartet” session that featured Cash, Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. Holland also drummed on Bob Dylan’s 1969 album Nashville Skyline. His style exemplifies the combination of restraint and abandon that characterizes rockabilly, but he remained humble about his career. Talking to journalist John Connor Coulston in 2015, he said: “When ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ came out, I had to make a decision to either keep working on air conditioners or play in a band. So, I decided to play in a band.” —Edd Hurt

MAC DAVIS

Masterful country and pop songsmith

Above all, Mac Davis was a consummate pop musician. His songs — some of them recorded by Elvis Presley — are designed for maximum pleasure. Still, Presley’s 1969 version of Davis’ “In the Ghetto” exemplifies a time when pop stars began addressing serious subjects. Davis came up the hard way in the music business, writing songs and pitching them to the artists who could turn them into hits. As he navigated his career in the 1970s and ’80s, Davis scored plenty of his own hits, and he made his mark as a singer, songwriter and actor. Davis was a Texas boy, born in Lubbock in 1942. A promising athlete in his youth, he worked for Vee-Jay Records and Liberty Records in the 1960s. As a staff writer for Nancy Sinatra and Billy Strange’s publishing company B-n-B Music, he pitched his tunes to Kenny Rogers and Bobby Goldsboro. His co-write with Delaney Bramlett, “Hello L.A., Bye-Bye Birmingham,” was covered brilliantly by rockers Blue Cheer in 1970. By 1972 he had made his mark as a solo performer, with that year’s single “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me” establishing him as a major star. Davis made acting look easy: Watch him in the 1979 movie North Dallas Forty. He also made pop songwriting sound easy, and that’s a gift reserved for the greats. Davis died in Nashville on Sept. 29 at 78. —Edd Hurt

J.T. CORENFLOS

Guitarist, sideman and friend

J.T. Corenflos was a world-class guitarist, but he was also one of the most genuinely modest and humble people I have ever known. Originally from Terre Haute, Ind., J.T. moved to Nashville at age 18 in 1982. Over the ensuing decades he personified how a good attitude, hard work and perseverance can lead to a successful career in Music City. Whether it was a demo session for a new writer or a record date with a superstar, J.T. treated everyone with the same friendliness, integrity and respect. In a town full of guitar slingers, he could hold his own with anyone, but never bragged on himself.

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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J.T.’s discography includes 75 No. 1 singles and hundreds of albums with artists ranging from Alan Jackson, George Jones and George Strait to Bob Seger, The Doobie Brothers and Sheryl Crow. In 2015 he released the excellent instrumental album Somewhere Under the Radar, which showcased his superb guitar playing in a variety of settings. He was the 2012 Academy of Country Music’s Guitarist of the Year, and was inducted into Indiana’s Wabash Valley Music Hall of Fame in March of last year. J.T. courageously fought numerous health issues, but was never one to complain despite all that he was going through. He maintained an incredibly positive attitude to the end, and was still recording a month before he passed. He left us on Oct. 24 at the age of 56 after a long and heroic battle with pneumonia and lung disease, and was survived by his son Jacob and longtime companion Annabeth Robinson. People like J.T. are what make Nashville special. Those of us who were lucky enough to have known him and made music together will never forget that sly smile, killer tone and endless supply of tasty, funky and sweet guitar licks. —Dave Pomeroy

SHAWN SCRUGGS

Much-loved Lower Broadway bassman

Shawn Scruggs, a fixture of the Lower Broadway honky-tonk scene, died Oct. 25 at the age of 37 in an accident with a semi on I-65. Born in La Grange, Ky., the beloved bass player performed in and around Louisville before moving to Nashville and becoming a regular in honky-tonk house bands. He was known for his versatility as a player, particularly for his ability to play funky slap-style bass. Friends and fellow players remembered him as a “huge part of the scene.” Fellow musician John Stone told The Tennessean, “I would say there’s probably not a stage on Broadway that he hasn’t played.” The night of his passing, Scruggs played his final show at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock ’N’ Roll Steakhouse. Upon news of his death, members of the local music community — particularly other players on Broadway — rallied to honor his life and raise money for his family. Scruggs is survived by his two sons, Jude and Liam. —Brittney McKenna

DJ BRYANT D

DJ, voice-over artist, mentor and friend

Bryant Douglas Harlan, better known as DJ Bryant D, never hesitated to help. The effects of his efforts can still be felt not only in my life, but in the heartbeat of Nashville’s nightlife and entertainment scene. He was the voice of all voices, and he could be heard on mainstream commercials and local party advertisements. That is where we crossed paths: When my career was more party-promoteroriented, my team and I would employ Bryant D often. But not just us — you probably weren’t considered a pro promoter in this city unless you had his voice on the promo commercial for your event. I ultimately got into voice-over work with his help. Without pause, Bryant would offer advice from his years of experience. At one point, I felt I was not deserving of the success I’d achieved, but Bryant reminded me of the efforts I had made and how proud he was of me and my climb. That’s why I considered Bryant one of my “OGs.” That term is tossed around a lot, but the true definition to me is a person who was old enough and experienced enough to pass down wisdom and opportunity to others who are deserving — THAT was Bryant D. In my last text exchange with Bryant, I was seeking help for an individual who was trying to break into the industry. Bryant was the type of person who would light up the room with his smile, as if everything was OK no matter what was actually going on or what atmosphere he was in. Ironically

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enough, this Black man was one of the staples of Nashville’s Latinx nightlife culture. He was a beacon of light to everyone he interacted with, and I am proud to have known such a phenomenal individual. —Joe Major

BONES HILLMAN

Masterful punk and rock bassist

East Nashville transplant and Midnight Oil bassist Bones Hillman died from complications of cancer in Milwaukee, Wis., on Nov. 9 at age 62. Born Wayne Stevens in New Zealand in 1958, Hillman cut his teeth in the New Zealand punk scene, first performing with The Masochists and later with Suburban Reptiles and The Swingers. Hillman moved to Australia in the 1980s, where he joined Australian rock band Midnight Oil, with whom he played until the band’s hiatus in 2002; he returned for their reunion shows until his passing. Midnight Oil was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006. Hillman’s final project with the band was 2020’s The Makarrata Project, which was inspired by a desire for peace and collaboration between the indigenous people of Australia and the Australian government. Hillman moved to Nashville in 2007, and he quickly became active in the local music scene. During his time in Nashville, he contributed to projects by Elizabeth Cook, Sheryl Crow and Matthew Good, among others. Hillman is survived by his wife Denise. —Brittney McKenna

DOUG SUPERNAW

Country hitmaker of the 1990s

Alongside a wave of new artists climbing the country music charts in the mid-1990s, Doug Supernaw sang some of the era’s most earnest singles. The Texas native’s debut album, 1993’s Red and Rio Grande, features his first hit, “Reno,” as well as his lone No. 1 single “I Don’t Call Him Daddy.” The song, which Kenny Rogers had recorded in 1987, examines the complicated relationship between a son, his father and the boy’s stepdad. Supernaw’s heavy yet heartfelt vocal delivery earned him an ACM Award nomination for Top New Male Vocalist. Supernaw went on to release three more records, and he charted 11 singles on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs over the course of his career. His 1994 LP Deep Thoughts From a Shallow Mind included a cover of Steve Goodman and John Prine’s “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” featuring guest appearances from Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Charley Pride — as well as David Allan Coe, who’d had his first top 10 hit with the song in 1975. In recent years, Supernaw became a stalwart performer in the Texas country scene and released what would be his final record, a re-recorded collection of his greatest hits, in 2017. In 2019, Supernaw announced he had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung and bladder cancer. After being placed in hospice care in October, he passed away peacefully at his Texas home on Nov. 13. He was 60. —Lorie Liebig

WALTER MILLER

The man who shaped the CMA Awards show

When television producer and director Walter Miller began staging the annual Country Music Association Awards show in 1970, he wasn’t an expert on country music. Miller was a New Yorker, and he studied classical violin before joining NBC in 1949 to help produce variety shows like The Bell Telephone Hour. His experience in television made him an invaluable part of the country music community during an era of advancement for the industry. Walter Charles Miller was born in New York City on March 15, 1926. He joined NBC after a stint in the Navy, and he left the network to go freelance in 1967. Along the way, he directed specials featuring

Barbra Streisand, Johnny Cash and Rodney Dangerfield. By all accounts a forceful personality, he left his CMA position in 2004 after a career that included winning five Emmy Awards. He was a television pioneer who saw the medium change over six decades, working with such diverse figures as Cash, Streisand and actress Helen Hayes. Miller died in Los Angeles on Nov. 13. He was 94. —Edd Hurt

DAVID SOLDI

Standout musician, rock scene ringleader and friend

David Soldi had a catch phrase: “This is gonna hurt.” He would say it before giving a freelance body piercing or blasting into a blisteringly loud postpunk opus at Springwater. I recently read that he would say it before the Friday night dinner rush at the restaurant where he cooked in recent years. Dave moved away from Nashville quite some time ago, but I still see and hear his influence. He was the kind of person who decided early on that art and authenticity were the two most important things in existence, which made him an effective ringleader in Nashville’s ’90s underground music scene. Middle Tennessee wasn’t exactly considered a cool place back then, and indie music fans often had to travel elsewhere to see the bands we loved. But Dave was determined to inspire every creative person around him to either change the world or fuck the system. I met Dave when I was 15. He was only two years older than me, but he still called me “kid,” and I was one of many he took under his wing. Dave could play guitar, bass, drums and keys better than most, and wrote and sang as well. He was always going on about making music for the right reasons and Nashville’s “industry” problem. Between shows in Hendersonville houses, skate shops and Lucy’s Record Shop, he helped light the fire of an uncompromising, cool-as-hell independent rock scene in Nashville before he turned 20. He was in a slew of hard-hitting, eclectic bands that were always turned up loud, including: Amazing Burford, Ellipsis Union, Communist, The Brian Kotzur Band, Nothing Rhymes With Orange, Funiki, Govern, Dry Heaves and Freebase Masons. Badass, every single one, and Dave bled for them all. Dave had one of the biggest and best hearts and made friends everywhere he went. He could make you laugh while completely transforming your perspective on life. He encouraged people to be their best and not take any bullshit. As far as I know, he never quit writing songs. I’d love to get my hands on more of them. I love thinking about the music he brought to so many, and the paths he carved for every rock ’n’ roll weirdo in this town. This is gonna hurt. —Joel McAnulty

JAN HOWARD

Country hitmaker and Opry legend

Known as a stalwart of the Grand Ole Opry and one of the most popular country singers of the 1960s, Jan Howard left a lasting mark on the genre. Her career began after her then-husband, country songwriter Harlan Howard, recruited her to sing his compositions for demo tapes. Those recordings led her to a record deal and the release of her breakthrough single, 1959’s “The One You Slip Around With.” Over the course of her career, Howard placed 30 singles on the Billboard charts and forged close relationships with other artists of the time, including Patsy Cline and Bill Anderson. Howard was also a talented songsmith — she co-wrote Connie Smith’s hit “I Never Once Stopped Loving You” with Anderson, and wrote with Tammy Wynette on her 1980 track “Only the Names Have Been Changed.” Jan Howard died peacefully on March 28 at her Gallatin home. She was 91. —Lorie Liebig

LYNSEY McDONALD

Artist manager, supporter of dreams

Lynsey McDonald, a beloved member of the Nashville music community for more than three decades, died after a nine-year battle with multiple myeloma on Nov. 23 at the age of 58. Probably best known as an artist manager, McDonald cut her teeth in the late ’80s at Praxis International, working with the likes of Jason and the Scorchers and The Georgia Satellites. In the ’90s, she managed Todd Snider and Robbie Fulks. “If you play music for a living in this town, Lynsey McDonald helped you get here, whether you knew her or not,” former Satellites frontman Dan Baird says. “Might have been obvious or a six-degrees-ofseparation situation, but she helped. Always behind the scenes, but always working for us.” McDonald also worked in music publishing, most notably with rock manager Ken Levitan’s Crossfire Music. “She had a great ear for talent,” Levitan recalls. Crossfire’s roster of writers included Jay Joyce, Daniel Tashian, Tom Littlefield, Deanna Carter, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Crash Test Dummies. “Lynsey had influence on a lot more people than you would think,” says Joyce, still a songwriter and guitarist but today widely known as a country producer. “She was one of those people who didn’t have an angle. She just loved music and loved helping people make music. She was one of the good ones as far as the business side was concerned. I just thought the world of her, and I always did.” During her career, McDonald also worked at Rising Tide Records, CMT, Thirty Tigers and TomKats, where she helped open The Loveless Barn. In turn, she helped launch Music City Roots, which was originally staged at the venue. “Lynsey was an Americana music visionary, plain and simple,” says Snider. “She introduced me to Nashville and never stopped helping me make decisions about songs and sounds and styles. I will miss her; in fact, I already do.” —Daryl Sanders

K.T. OSLIN

Groundbreaking country singer-songwriter

K.T. Oslin was a charismatic and fearless country artist, but she didn’t become widely known in the genre until age 45. In her early years, she was a member of a folk trio with David Jones and Guy Clark in Houston, Texas, and recorded an album that is as yet unreleased. In 1987, she released her anthemic single “80’s Ladies,” launching her successful career as a solo artist. With the guidance of producer Harold Shedd, “80’s Ladies” became the first in a string of No. 1 singles, which also included “Do Ya,” “Hold Me” and “I’ll Always Come Back.” During her impressive career, Oslin won three Grammy Awards and four ACM Awards. “80’s Ladies,” which Oslin wrote on her own, also earned her a CMA Award for Song of the Year — the first time the association recognized a woman with its award for songwriting. In recent years, she was inducted into both the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2018, Oslin revealed that she’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She’d also been diagnosed with COVID-19 a week before her passing on Dec. 21, but it was unclear at press time what role the disease played in her death. She was 78 years old. —Lorie Liebig

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BUSINESS

BROWNLEE O. CURREY JR.

Philanthropist, businessman, former Nashville Banner owner

Brownlee Currey entered the Nashville Banner newsroom en route to his office with the quickstriding yet delicate confidence of an expert tennis player sizing up a drop shot at the net. In the last days of the old-time newspaper milieu of shouted commands, strong black coffee, cigarette-smoke

BROWNLEE O. CURREY JR.

haze and whiskey bottles hidden deep in desk drawers, Brownlee wore dapper custom suits and invariably had a smile on his face. Smiling! And we’re on deadline! Brownlee O. Currey Jr. — who died this year at age 91, followed several months later by the passing of his beloved wife Agneta — didn’t fit the mold of chairman and co-owner of an aggressive afternoon city daily. Brownlee kept a New York Stock Exchange ticker machine in his office, and he often checked the paper tape spewing from it. He came from old Nashville money and added to the family fortune, thanks in part to millions reaped from the Banner sale to Gannett and to his seemingly effortless but astute financial acumen, fostered during his time on New York’s Wall Street. “Say hello to my good friend Brownlee Currey,” Burt Bacharach, the legendary songwriter, composer and man-about-town, said once as a Banner entertainment reporter conducted a telephone interview. “We were running buddies in New York back in the day.” Brownlee mainly kept himself out of the newsroom’s operation, although there was extensive coverage of the Watkins College of Art and its annual student showcase — which his family started — and of his alma mater Vanderbilt’s tennis program, whose indoor tennis facility bore his name. Nashville society welcomed the sight of Brownlee and Agneta at charity balls, Williamson County equestrian competitions, on many a tennis court and golf course, and near courtside of basketball games at Vanderbilt, where he was a season ticket-holder and longtime member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust. As a philanthropist, he helped found and support Currey Ingram Academy. A few years after the newspaper folded, his generosity helped establish the Nashville Banner Room at the Nashville Public Public Library downtown, which houses and owns the newspaper’s archives. Thank you, Brownlee Currey, for being such a gentleman and for making the noble profession of journalism, during your time in the business, just a bit more noble. —Pat Embry

KEITH BLAYDES

Founder of Tribe, PLAY and Suzi Wong’s House of Yum

On Feb. 6, Keith Blaydes — co-owner and founder of Tribe, Play Dance Bar and Suzi Wong’s House of

Yum — passed away at age 57 after a long battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Blaydes is survived by his husband, partner and true love of more than 30 years, Bob Riedel. Well-known and respected within the LGBTQIA+ community, Blaydes and business partner David Taylor opened their trio of hybrid nightclub/ restaurants at the 1500 corner of Church Street in 2001. Back then, Church Street was a destination affectionately referred to as the “gayborhood,” a three-block corridor that became the epicenter of queer culture in Nashville for locals. Townies and ain’t-from-here LGBTQIA+ travelers alike heard — many times through word-of-mouth — about this respite of businesses meant to serve them. At the neighborhood’s pinnacle, you could visit OutLoud! Books and Gifts, The Café at OutLoud!, Blue Gene’s, Blu Bar and Night Club and others. You could truly make a day of it, immerse yourself in experience and feel affirmed in your identity. No small thing for a someone like me — a lesbian from a rural town who didn’t know anyone gay until I moved to Nashville. It’s no secret that as the internet has evolved over the past 20 years, the role of gay bars as meeting spots for queer folks has slowly declined. Thanks to Blaydes’ entrepreneurship, pioneering spirit and ability to keep his finger on the fluctuating pulse of the times, many of the most essential parts of Nashville’s LGBTQIA+ community and culture have been innovated, nurtured and sustained by his businesses while others have disappeared. And because of this, our city has evolved a lot in a few short decades. In 2013, Taylor described his and Blaydes’ trio of businesses in an interview as places “nice enough to bring your mama, but probably never would.” One way to honor Blaydes’ memory is to continue to support his legacy of businesses. Order some takeout from Suzy’s. And if you don’t feel comfortable showing up in person right now, when the pandemic lightens, get on down to the gayborhood and take your mama out. —Tiffany Minton

J. CLARK AKERS III

Businessman and conservationist

J. Clark Akers III was an accomplished businessman — but he’ll likely be best remembered for his conservation efforts as an early proponent of wetland protection and restoration. Akers, working with the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, built the legal team that fought against the channelization of the Obion and Forked Deer rivers in West Tennessee. He won numerous awards for conservation in his career and served on TWF’s board of directors. —J.R. Lind

GARY WALKER

A businessman who knew and loved music

I interviewed Gary Walker once, for a 2013 piece in this paper. I was writing about Nashville record label owner Bradley “Slim” Williamson, who had recently died after a long career in the music business. Walker had moved to Nashville in 1956, and he started Chart Records in 1958 as a way to record and lease recordings to other labels. After Walker sold Chart to Williamson in 1964, the label would produce hits by the likes of Lynn Anderson and novelty country singer Jim Nesbitt, but it operated on the fringes of the business. I got the impression Walker didn’t much care for any fringe operation. He was an intelligent person who saw the music business in terms of hard practicality. Gary Ray Walker was born in Romance, Mo., on Oct. 7, 1932. He got into the music business early, penning country songs for Carl Smith and Porter Wagoner in the mid-1950s. He helped discover Memphis singer Sandy Posey, who enjoyed success in the late ’60s. In 1977, Walker started The Great Escape, a Nashville music and memorabilia store that continues to operate today. Walker was a businessman, but he knew music,

and history looks upon him with favor for his coproduction of Memphis-born singer-songwriter Bob Frank’s eponymous 1972 debut album. It’s a brilliant 30 minutes of folk blues, but Frank sabotaged his career, and didn’t record again for more than three decades. A few years ago, filmmaker Isaac Pingree interviewed Walker about Frank, who died in 2019, for his documentary Within a Few Degrees: A Little Gest of Bob Frank, released in late 2020. Walker steals the show. He describes Frank’s self-implosion dispassionately, but it’s clear Walker loved Frank’s music and felt pained about his lack of commercial success. That’s why Walker was a giant in the music business. He died July 8 in Nashville. —Edd Hurt

KATHY SMARDAK

Co-founder of Outback Presents, a David in an industry of Goliaths

In addition to building a family together, Kathy Smardak and her husband Michael built a mighty company in a challenging industry. In 1997, the couple co-founded the concert promotions firm Outback Concerts, now known as Outback Presents. When trade publication Pollstar releases its annual list of the top 100 promoters worldwide, Outback appears among a contingent of independent promoters that give Live Nation and AEG Presents, the two leviathans of the industry, a run for their money. The 2019 report listed Outback as the No. 32 promoter on the globe, with more than 800,000 tickets sold. In October, Kathy Smardak died at 60, before she got a chance to see how the company she helped launch would recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the worst storms the industry has ever faced. —Stephen Trageser

SAMUEL HOWARD

Businessman, health care leader, philanthropist, community luminary

The legend of Mr. Sam Howard was introduced to me by my brother upon my moving to Nashville. Our parents felt it was always important to know who the top African American business leaders were where we lived — they felt seeing these leaders would help us stay focused and realize we too could be successful. Mr. Howard owned Phoenix Communications Group, which operated one of the top radio stations in Nashville. While I didn’t meet and get to know Mr. Howard for another decade or so, I got to know about him by the various moves and decisions I saw and heard of him making — for example, when he let his top DJ go because he played what was considered an inappropriate song at a private event. He wanted to maintain a good name and integrity within his organizations. He was also able to sell his multimillion-dollar radio stations and leverage those resources into founding one of the largest TennCare provider organizations, generating nearly $200 million — significantly more than his communications company. He did this with a young leadership team that was majority African American. This showed his keen business acumen and desire to mentor and advance young people, allowing them to maximize their skills and talents. More important than Mr. Howard’s business successes were his many spiritual, family and community successes. In Mr. Howard’s autobiography The Flight of the Phoenix, he acknowledges lessons from his mother, including the importance of maintaining a good name. This lesson was an important one as he and his wife of 57 years raised their two children and engaged in the many community initiatives that were strengthened because of the Howards’ involvement. Organizations Mr. Howard was involved in included 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, a group that mentored Black male kindergarteners and committed to help fund their college educations. Thirty years after being co-founded by Mr. Howard, this organization has

greatly expanded and still has the same mission. He mentored many young people who have now grown in their careers and businesses, and they carry on his legacy of serving others through mentorship and financial assistance. Those he inspired include Darrell Freeman, who has said Howard was the first millionaire he ever met — Freeman served as the second African American chair of the Nashville Chamber. Howard was the first. He also served the Urban League and Easter Seals, both locally and on their national boards. Sam Howard showed how a successful businessman could and should share the wealth with his community. He shared not just his financial wealth, but his time and talents as well. —Lee Molette

MICHAEL SAINT Saint Consulting CEO

Michael Saint served as the CEO of Saint Consulting, which claims to be the world’s largest and most experienced consulting firm working in land-use politics. The firm uses the local political process to help real estate developers win approval for projects — or stop approvals for competitors. “My strategy is to be the biggest, best, most successful land-use political consultancy in the world and to gather global and large national clients in various industries that need local permitting for their new real estate projects,” Saint told Venture Nashville in 2008. In 2009, Saint co-wrote a book called NIMBY Wars offering insight from his decades of experience working on land-use conflicts. In a review in the Financial Times, correspondent Jonathan Birchall called the book a handbook for winning local landuse battles. Saint died suddenly on Sept. 4. He was 71. —Matt Blois

TY OSMAN

Solomon Builders co-founder, philanthropist

Ty Osman was a co-founder of the Nashville-based Solomon Builders, which is perhaps best known for its construction of various animal exhibits at the Nashville Zoo. The company also built the Ramsey Solutions offices in Franklin and the American International Group offices near Brentwood. Osman died in a fishing accident on the Duck River in Hickman County on July 11. Nashville Business Journal reported that Osman was vice chairman of Both Hands — a nonprofit that aids widows, orphans and Christian families who are adopting — and a board member of Jovenes en Camino, which runs a nine-acre campus in Honduras for boys who are orphans, homeless or rescued from abusive situations. Osman and his wife formed the charitable Ty2 Foundation following the death of their son, also named Ty, in 2012. In the fall of that year, a group of 400 volunteers from the foundation renovated the Hard Bargain Association’s community center on Mount Hope Street in Franklin, which is now called Ty’s House. The foundation also donated more than $200,000 for the renovations. —Nashville Post

TY OSMAN

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close or be forced to move into some new strip mall location. He liked things exactly the way they’ve always been. —Chris Chamberlain

BEN MALONE

Cook, friend, patriarch

CHARLIE ROTIER (RIGHT) WITH HIS FAMILY

FOOD

FRANK HENRY “NICKY” BECKER SR. Becker’s Bakery owner

Once upon a time, in a Nashville long, long ago, one family-owned bakery in an unassuming cinderblock building at the corner of Montrose and 12th Avenue South was the source of white-on-white layered birthday cakes for countless Nashvillians. Becker’s Bakery was so famous for its cakes that in 1963 it was commissioned by another Nashville institution — the Life and Casualty Insurance Company — to create a scale replica of Nashville’s first downtown skyscraper to celebrate the company’s 60th birthday. Frank Becker Sr. and his brother Tom Becker, the second-generation operators of the bakery opened by their parents in 1925, oversaw the six-day construction of the 18-foot-tall, 5,400-pound model of the 31-story building. Frank — known as Nicky — and Tom started working in the business as children, picked up after school by the Beckers’ truck to help deliver loaves of bread to wholesale accounts. In 1964, they took over the business from their parents. Though the small building never expanded, the operation did, adding cupcakes, pies, tarts, pastries and cookies. Bread loaves were phased out, replaced by dinner rolls that became as iconic as the cakes. You are so Old Nashville if you stood in the line that stretched around the block from 8 a.m. until closing time on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or on Christmas Eve to buy bags of Castleberry and Parker House rolls. Tom Becker died in 1993, and Frank Jr. began helping out, eventually taking over with wife Bethe in 1995. Nicky still stopped by for his usual: a chocolate meringue tart. On Jan. 6, 2004, when the bakery was supposed to reopen after its traditional winter break, customers found a sign posted on the door that sent shockwaves through the neighborhood: “After 79 years, we are closing our doors. We have loved being part of your lives.” In an area of town rapidly transitioning into sizzling 12South, the building and land went for what in hindsight was a bargain at $705,000. Summer Classics has been selling “meticulously crafted outdoor furniture” from that address for more than 15 years, but for a vanishing sector of Nashville, it will forever be known as the corner where Becker’s used to be. —Kay West

ROBERT BALDWIN Pancake Pantry founder

There are very few Nashville restaurants as iconic — and as perennially packed — as the flapjackery Robert Baldwin opened in 1961 on 21st Avenue

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South. After growing up in his family’s diner business in Florida, Baldwin graduated from the hospitality and restaurant program at Cornell University. When he heard about a new concept called Pancake Pantry opening in Gatlinburg, Baldwin struck up a deal with the owner to open a location in Nashville. For more than 25 years he operated the restaurant, ultimately retiring after selling the business to his son David. Tourists and locals alike lined up along the sidewalk around that corner of Hillsboro Village, keeping warm with cups of hot coffee graciously supplied by Baldwin and his staff. While some may have made the pancake pilgrimage due to the legends of country music stars who could be spotted eating there (yes, Garth Brooks did eat here, but probably not this morning), longtime fans returned to interact with the amiable staff, who reflected Baldwin’s impish sense of humor. Customers could choose from the almost two dozen internationally inspired varieties of pancakes — not to mention the cinnamon cream syrup that elevated simple dough cakes beyond the ordinary. The Baldwin family sold the Pancake Pantry to new owners in 2017, and recently the restaurant has begun to stay open for dinner service. But it will always be Robert Baldwin’s spirit that makes the business so sweet. Well, that and the syrup. —Chris Chamberlain

CHARLIE ROTIER Rotier’s proprietor

As part of the second generation of the Rotier family to operate their iconic eponymous diner, Charlie Rotier was personally responsible for feeding decades’ worth of Vanderbilt and Father Ryan students (before the high school made its way out to the ’burbs in the early 1990s). Rotier’s signature French-bread burger has probably also been responsible for part of the earnings of some of those Vandy students who went on to become cardiologists, but it remains a beloved part of the city’s culinary history from long before retro “smashburgers” began to appear on the menus of fine-dining establishments. “Big Charlie” (his daughter “Little Charley” followed him into the business) prided himself on how little his restaurant — in a building that was once the carriage house of the Elliston Mansion — had changed since the days when it was a beer joint and pinball hall. The restaurant’s roster of burgers, fried chicken livers and gizzards has been on the menu for decades, with Charlie teaching the recipes to a long progression of cooks in the kitchen. Restaurants that offer little in the way of parking and don’t own their buildings have tenuous lifespans in the urban core, and Rotier’s may someday fall victim to “progress” — or perhaps the insatiable land lust of its university neighbors. Big Charlie likely wouldn’t be happy to see the business

Vandy kids, Parrotheads and old-school Nashvillians all agree — Rotier’s is an institution. That isn’t an easy status to obtain, but the Rotier family made it look easy, and they did it while raising a family, meeting payroll and doing the work it takes to operate a restaurant. Everyone knows how Miss Evelyn held down the cash register and Big Charlie worked the bar. But there was always another kindly, funny figure working back in the kitchen — Ben Malone. If you’ve eaten a cheeseburger at Rotier’s in the past 30 years, there’s a good chance Ben made it for you. (If you were really lucky, at some point you got some of Ben’s hot-water cornbread, an occasional special on the best meatand-three menu in Nashville.) Grabbing a bite before countless basketball games and high school dates, or just quick burgers with my dad — those were all moments made better by Ben and the rest of the extended Rotier’s family. Ben worked two jobs to provide for his family, also cooking at the Hooters on Second Avenue for many years — a reminder that it’s not the buildings but the people who make Nashville so great. Ben is survived by his wife Deborah, eight children and a host of grandchildren, nieces and nephews. As Ben used to say, “Nobody better than me.” —Andy Moore

TOM LOVENTHAL

Founder of Noshville, Tin Angel and more

When Tom Loventhal died in early November, he left a venti-sized hole in the Nashville restaurant scene. A member of a family that has been instrumental in the local insurance industry since the 18th century, Loventhal chose restaurants as his vocation and was instrumental in the founding of some of the city’s most beloved establishments, including Tin Angel, Noshville and Blue Moon Waterfront Grille. A champion for independent restaurateurs, Loventhal was among the founding members of the Nashville Originals collective of local restaurants in 2006. His friend and fellow Original Randy Rayburn recalls Loventhal this way: “He was a unique character on the stage of the hospitality industry, with an all-encompassing presence, his fondness for food, the Predators and his latest moonshine find. Noshville became an iconic gathering spot for groups, and Blue Moon became Nashville’s warm-weather hot spot with an environment that suited Tom’s relaxed lifestyle.” An active volunteer both inside and outside of the industry, Loventhal served as president of the Tennessee Hospitality Association and was on the boards of the Nashville Zoo, Special Olympics Tennessee, the Montgomery Bell Academy Alumni Association and more. The next time you crack the lid on a mason jar of moonshine, pour one out for Tom. —Chris Chamberlain

STEVE MULLER Margot sous chef

Steve Muller’s last job was as the a.m. sous chef at Margot Cafe & Bar. It was the sort of position where a chef could toil away in anonymity starting the long, slow cooks that were integral to Margot McCormack’s European menu, baking the bread for dinner service and disappearing before the first diners arrived. But you might remember Muller from his own restaurant, which he and his wife Shelley opened on the other edge of Five Points in 2003 — the gone-but-notforgotten Alley Cat Lounge. Although that restaurant closed in 2009, East Nashvillians who arrived prior to the It-Cityfication

of the neighborhood might recall his signature fried avocado dish, aka “The Fat Ball.” The chef explained the rationale behind his Fat Ball in a 2003 Scene article by Kay West this way: “I figured I’ll take nature’s highest-fat-content product and make it even fatter.” McCormack shared her memories of Muller in a Facebook post the day after his passing. “If you ate our pasta or braised pork or duck confit or the focaccia bread and so many other things, then you knew Steve,” she wrote. “He was a talented man with years of experience, and he understood how to be a valuable member of the team after having owned his own business, the Alley Cat. We were all very fond of Steve and his many contributions. He will be sorely missed.” In an email, McCormack explains the strangely close-but-distant relationship that exists between chefs working different shifts: “I think the thing I appreciated about Steve the most was his experience not just in the kitchen, but in life. He also owned a restaurant, so I knew he had my back. He was not showy and always wanted to know how I wanted him to do things and not plow ahead with his own assumptions. He was quirky, as we all are, and very lighthearted. We spoke every morning and saw each other for only about an hour every afternoon. His absence leaves a void.” —Chris Chamberlain

AROUND THE CITY

PETE MEENEN AND THE TENNESSEANS WE LOST TO COVID-19 The state’s first resident claimed by a virus that went on to kill many more

On March 21, the Brentwood Family YMCA shared the news that Pete Meenen, a greeter at the gym and community center for more than 20 years, had died. He was the first person in Tennessee to die from COVID-19. “Perhaps few faces in a YMCA are as recognizable as the greeter who meets the morning faithful, the early risers who start their day with us when the Welcome Center is a little quieter than usual,” the Brentwood Y’s operations executive, Roger D. Grove, wrote on Facebook. “For more than 20 years, Pete was that face in our YMCA, and his loss will be deeply felt by all of us, our staff and our members.” The coronavirus that seemed to stop the world from spinning has killed nearly 7,000 Tennesseans now, but it was tragically fitting that Meenan, a familiar face in his community, was the first. In this pandemic year, so much that is familiar has been locked away from us, and the faces that bring us comfort and joy — those we haven’t lost — are hidden behind masks or confined to a video-chat window. Our friends and family have been forced to keep their distance. And while we wait for normal to return, we know that some things — and some people — will never come back. Pete Meenan was a beloved member of his community and a symbol of so much loss yet to come. “Pete was the very first person I met when we joined the Y almost 17 years ago,” reads one remembrance in a thread of more than 200 comments under the Y’s Facebook post. “He gave us our tour that day, scanned my card more times than I can count, and was one of the 3 wisemen in the live nativity 13 years ago when our family portrayed the holy family. He was a wonderful, kind man.” Thousands of families and communities across the state have mourned their own loved ones and familiar faces. The pandemic has meant that their grief — our grief — has often been felt in isolation. But may the memories of those we’ve lost be a blessing. —Steven Hale

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JEAN GREY LITTERER Longtime educator and leader

Early in 2020, Nashville lost a titan in its education sector with the passing of Dr. Jean Litterer, whose life’s work was dedicated to the service of tens of thousands of students in this city. Hailing from Lone Mountain in East Tennessee, Litterer went from a hometown, one-room schoolhouse to earning a doctorate in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. An educator for more than 58 years, Litterer began her career as a teacher at John Overton High School. While principal of Hillsboro High School from 1979 to 1999, she brought a sense of levity to an often austere role that made her approachable and evenhanded. The school greatly benefited from her direction and became one of the leading regional public education institutions under her guidance, even garnering national attention. Litterer carried herself with the formality of a stateswoman, whether she was tasked with recognizing students for academic excellence or navigating a deluge of seniors rolling the grounds with toilet paper at 3 a.m. Upon her retirement from HHS, Litterer continued on for years in interim director roles with University School of Nashville and Davidson Academy, and also worked with the Tennessee Department of Education. Her unwavering commitment to equitable education was apparent until the end. Dr. Litterer passed away at age 91 on Jan. 21, 2020, and was honored in a service at Christ Cathedral Episcopal Church, where she was a longtime member. Her family requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the church or the Hillsboro High School Parent Teacher Student Organization. —Erin McAnally

STANLEY COHEN

Researcher, Nobel laureate

Born in 1922 in New York City to Jewish Russian immigrants — his father a tailor, his mother a homemaker — Stanley Cohen rose from humble hardscrabble beginnings and a childhood bout with polio to the height of science. After attending the free Brooklyn College, graduating with a degree in biology and chemistry, Cohen got his first job inspecting milk trucks for bacteria. A teacher told him he ought to enroll at Oberlin, because the school would cover his tuition and pay him $300 while he worked on his master’s degree. So he left New York for Ohio and in 1945 earned his master’s in zoology. Then it was off to the University of Michigan for his doctorate. His thesis involved the metabolic mechanism of the earthworm. (Cohen spent his nights collecting earthworms — eventually some 5,000 of them — from the grounds at Ann Arbor.) Then he attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he discovered epidermal growth factor. That may sound either minor or obscure, but it’s neither. He studied EGF for years after he became a professor at Vanderbilt in 1959. He and his research partner shared the 1986 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine due to the discovery of EGF, because by that time it had been a critical discovery in the development of cancer-fighting medicines, as Cohen’s research demonstrated how and why cells divide the way they do. Cohen took emeritus status in 1999, but through the end of his life would still swing by campus to give a lecture or encouragement to those who stood on his shoulders. Cohen died in February. He was 97. — J.R. Lind

MARIANNE WHEELER

Band director, educator, saxophonist

By all accounts, Marianne Wheeler made magic in the classroom. The tribute wall on her memorial webpage is filled with memories. One former student from Wheeler’s first teaching job credits the band teacher with inspiring her to become a nurse. A percussionist notes that Wheeler realized

MARIANNE WHEELER

the student had a hard time seeing the board and needed glasses. A colleague recalls that Wheeler would regularly stroll into her classroom and break into song. A saxophonist who was the band director at McMurray Middle School for 12 years, Wheeler was born in Valdosta, Ga., and grew up in Germantown, Tenn. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis and her master’s degree in music education from Michigan State University. Her 30-year career as an educator began in Hernando, Miss. Wheeler’s vision as an educator was driven by providing meaningful experiences for her students. “She taught in one of the more underserved schools in the area,” says Frank Zimmerer, the band director at Antioch High School, “so I always knew that she was not going to be the one who had all the kids in the honor bands or the all-states, but she was someone who cared about her students to make sure that they had the best experience possible. It wasn’t about having the biggest band program, but about affecting students in a way that was meaningful.” Wheeler offered support outside the classroom — driving kids home after practice and to special district events, feeding them, and being a trusted confidant. She lived and breathed school band. In addition to her role as band director and music teacher, she was active in supporting the Antioch High School band when her son Alex was a student, and in the years following. Zimmerer notes that coffee pots, water jugs and other odds and ends in the band’s storage area bear her name. Wheeler died on April 16, just weeks before her retirement. She planned to move to Florida. —Erica Ciccarone

changed my life, and I miss them dearly. Mike and Albree were each other’s top priority, and they worked so hard every day toward their goal of opening their own bar, The Panamint. Off days were spent together, with their cats, wine and cheese. They led their lives with intention, discipline and grace, never wasting words or actions. Both had a gentle nature, but extremely strong resolve. So many life experiences were packed into too short a time. They became our best friends, our family. There is not enough space to describe the incredible human beings they both were. I write this only having known them a fraction of their lives — though they left an impact on me forever. Their love for each other, adventure, and truly living each day to the fullest will also live on forever. I can confidently say in the wake of losing them: To know them was to love them, and to love them means we will continue to share their stories, each and every day. They brought to Nashville, as Mike put it, positive vibes only. And as Albree always said, we love and miss them heaps and heaps. —Riley Perrin Ellis

MACK PRICHARD Conservationist, naturalist

For more than 50 years, Mack Prichard served as an effective thinker, teacher and advocate for conservation in Tennessee. Mack began his career with the Tennessee Department of Conservation when he was just 16 years old, as the seasonal naturalist at Shelby Forest State Park (now called MeemanShelby Forest State Park) near Memphis. In addition to developing extensive knowledge of natural and cultural history, he had a gift for connecting with people and instilling appreciation for everything natural and historic. He died on April 28 in Cookeville. Since Mack began his career in 1956, few people have been as instrumental as he was in promoting conservation, state parks and natural areas in Tennessee. Mack was actively involved in securing and protecting more than half of the areas in the state park system today. As state archeologist, he established the Tennessee Division of Archeology in 1971. Mack was natural areas administrator in

1973 and helped protect the first land under the Natural Areas Act. In the last decades of his career, he was known as the state naturalist. In May 2006, in anticipation of his retirement, the Tennessee General Assembly commended Mack’s half-century of being Tennessee’s “conservation conscience” and conferred upon him the title of Tennessee State Naturalist Emeritus through Senate resolution. Mack’s work outside of state government was also prodigious. He was one of three founding members of the Tennessee Trails Association and was actively involved in starting at least 30 conservation organizations statewide. Mack’s beloved and respected voice inspired a range of constructive work to advance natural resource preservation, resulting in more effective resource management across the state. —Randy Hedgepath, Tennessee State Naturalist

REAVIS MITCHELL Rememberer

Before I get started, I have a confession to make. Although I first met Dr. Reavis Mitchell shortly after I arrived at Tennessee State University in 2009, I don’t think I ever spoke to him on the telephone about African American history in Nashville or the Volunteer State. Ever. I would call his office at Fisk University and his administrative assistant would record my contact information, but before he could return my call, I usually had resolved to make my way to his office in Park Johnson for a face-to-face conversation. For me he was a Babalawo, a revealer of mysteries, someone through whom the ancestors of Black Nashville spoke. It was always best, I thought, to watch him smile, his brow furrow and his eyes twinkle when receiving these messages from the past. Dr. Mitchell had an infectious passion for history. I remember him sharing a story about James Crowley moving his successful 10-chair barbershop from Fourth Avenue North to Jefferson Street in 1954, into a building constructed by the Black architectural firm McKissack and McKissack. His telling of that move led me to make a call for the preservation of Nashville’s Black-built environment. His conversations

MIKE DOLFINI AND ALBREE SEXTON

MIKE DOLFINI AND ALBREE SEXTON Adventurers, cocktail and cat lovers, best friends, soul mates

I first met Mike and Albree at Attaboy. They stopped in one night on their road trip across the country, having left their family and friends in California to find a fresh start at life together. Their lives ended in the wee hours of March 3, Nashville’s sole victims of that night’s deadly tornado. Albree Sexton was the kindest, hardest-working human I’ve ever met, honest, humble and gracious to her core. She was artistic, intelligent and witty — reserved at first, but a force to be reckoned with. Her charming, baby-blue eyes mesmerized everyone. But she had a fierceness underneath. She was strong. She knew how to take care of herself, and that’s something I admire deeply about her. Mike Dolfini was larger than life — tall, dark and handsome. But he was so much more. Bear hugs, exotic shirts, belly laughs, stories of world travels, love of all things smoky — he was positively infectious. I was lucky to work many shifts alongside him, but even luckier to have him in my corner. He always let you know when he was proud of you, that he loved you, that you were appreciated. His daily reminders

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about Tennessee State University’s homecoming football game — an event that historically occurred during the Thanksgiving holidays — inspired me to think, teach and write about the intimate relationship between North Nashville’s historically Black colleges and universities, and the city’s Black community. Watching his visceral and physiological responses to talking about the histories of his beloved St. Vincent de Paul Church and Pearl High School helped me realize that the work we were doing had significance far beyond academia. In retrospect, I believe that Dr. Mitchell’s most lasting legacy to those of us who knew and loved him was his willingness to highlight African American history in spaces that had marginalized, obfuscated or ignored it. His presence on the many national, state and citywide commissions bore witness to the importance and centrality of African American history in Tennessee and the United States. Regardless of whether he was calling a meeting to order as chair of a historical commission, offering an insightful analysis of a National Register for Historic Places nomination or debating how to define a Reconstruction-era slaughter of African Americans in Memphis, Dr. Mitchell fought to ensure that these histories and their significance were not lost — and that they were, in many instances, recovered. I visited Greenwood Cemetery a few weeks ago to pay my respects to the matriarchs and patriarchs of Black Nashville’s rich history. Dr. Mitchell rests from his labors in Taylor’s Circle (roughly at the 9 o’clock position) among Nashville’s legendary citizens. Of all the greats who repose in this space — some of whom I have both a direct and indirect connection to as a Black man born in a society that has consistently struggled to deal with its racist past — Dr. Mitchell is one I can speak to my students about as a beloved colleague and friend. He will be sorely missed. — Learotha Williams

GUSTAVO ENRIQUE RAMIREZ

EDWARD KMIEC

Gustavo Ramirez was the youngest of six kids in a Puerto Rican and Colombian family. The 16-yearold loved soccer, played drums in a church group and had a reputation as a class clown. His sister, Jenifer Enamorado, told the Scene earlier this year he always kept his hands and feet busy. Having grown up in Kentucky, Ramirez and his family moved to Springfield, Tenn., in early 2020. His death in a construction accident on June 24 sparked conversations about safety and accountability during Nashville’s development boom. —Alejandro Ramirez

The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st were, it doesn’t need to be said, a time of tremendous change and growth in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. It was also a time of tremendous change in the Roman Catholic Church. The turning of a century seems to always have some kind of effect on the church, and the latest turn had the doublebarrel significance of bringing in a new millennium. In Nashville, there was growth in general, yes, but there was also specifically a suddenly flourishing Hispanic community, meaning a sudden influx of Catholics. Nashville may not seem like a Catholic city, even to those who call it home, but the fact is that there are more Catholics in Davidson County than any other religious group except for Baptists. And in 1992, Pope John Paul II sent Bishop Edward Kmiec, then the auxiliary bishop in his hometown of Trenton, N.J., to Nashville. It was he who was charged with overseeing the flock through the next 12 years of change and tussle. Notably, he led the charge to open Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, the first new Catholic high school in Middle Tennessee in 77 years. In 2004, he became Bishop of Buffalo, where he’s remembered as the first Polish bishop in what is, by percentage, the most Polish diocese in the United States. Kmiec died in July. He was 84. —J.R. Lind

High school student

DEDRIC HOLT Neighborhood kid

KELTIE PEAY (RIGHT) WITH GLORIA STEINEM

mind. Maybe that’s why she quit lawyering for bookslinging; it certainly wasn’t the pay. (And she bridged the worlds with her “Books for Lawyers” lists.) I’ll miss so much about seeing Keltie in her natural habitat at Parnassus — where, after foot surgery, everyone from Doris Kearns Goodwin to Faith Hill autographed her cast. But I’ll especially miss the way her eyes twinkled when she’d holler sweetly at customers as they wandered between the shelves: “Let us know if we can help!” She always could. —Steve Haruch

KATHERINE WILLIAMSDUNNING Fashion entrepreneur, daughter, granddaughter

It’s only natural that many of Hank Williams’ descendants would choose to pursue music, in spite of the trials and tribulations of that career. Two of his granddaughters, Holly and Hilary Williams, are musicians — but their sister, Katherine WilliamsDunning, had a different passion. She established a fashion brand with a generous purpose. Weston Jane, which borrowed its name from the middle names of her two young children with husband Tyler Dunning, promoted the work of mothers, with items designed, printed or handmade by moms. A car accident on June 13 in Henry County ended Williams-Dunning’s life before she could realize the business’s full potential. She was 27 years old. —Stephen Trageser

PHYLLIS WILLIAMS

Sheriff’s office employee, community member

It’s not often that a civilian’s death prompts official statements and remembrances from city leaders, but that’s what happened in December when Phyllis Williams, a longtime employee of the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office and quietly embedded community member, died after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Mayor John Cooper shared condolences from he and his wife Laura, mourning “the loss of a community legend, a person whose wisdom and compassion make her loss a terrible one, for all of us.” Williams was the longtime community outreach staffer at the DCSO, facilitating nonprofit and volunteer work through the department. Sheriff Daron Hall, who met Williams when he first ran for office in 2002, said she was “the epitome of dedication and spent her life volunteering and working in this community.” Elected officials including Metro Councilmembers and U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper remembered her as a fixture at community meetings with an endless supply of faith in civic engagement. She was 77. —Steven Hale

At 7 years old, Dedric Holt had tons of energy. Riding bikes, playing football and playing on run-down playsets, running the neighborhood looking for new friends to play with — it took a lot to tire the little guy out. He’d go from a crumpled crying mess, deeply hurt when a friend wouldn’t share a toy, to a new high scooting across the gym when it was his turn to play. His missing front teeth seemed to take forever to come in. He was known to run up for a hug and proceed to latch on and climb up into the hugger’s arms. I met Dedric through after school activities at the Martha O’Bryan Center, a nonprofit in his neighborhood, where I worked. He and his 9-year-old brother Junior stuck together. Junior was the decisive, level-headed calm to Dedric’s bouncy roller coaster of emotions. Their mother has the kids’ names tattooed on her arm. Known by his family as D.T., Dedric was a familiar face to many who lived and worked in James A. Cayce Homes, Nashville’s largest public housing complex. On June 11, Dedric was playing with his cousins when he got stuck in the motorized garage door on the property where he lived. He was rushed to the hospital and remained in the ICU due to a severe brain injury for just shy of three weeks. Dedric died on June 30. A GoFundMe set up by the family was funded over the $10,000 goal to cover hospital expenses and support Junior. Calls were made for MDHA to better secure its properties. “We are donating his organs so that someone else can take their child home and healthy,” his aunt Charkia Summers wrote on the GoFundMe page. “We want his heart to beat forever.” Dedric’s brother, cousins, mother and the rest of his family now have to cope with this terrible loss. His teachers and tutors as well as employees of area organizations will remember his adorable face. But most often I think of the neighborhood kids who are left to process the loss of their friend D.T., who was always down to play. —Hannah Herner

Former Bishop of Nashville

HECTOR BLACK

Civil rights activist, father

Born in Queens, N.Y., in 1925, Hector Black was a peace activist, organic farmer, World War II veteran and Harvard graduate, but he’s best known for his story of forgiveness. With his wife Susie, a Canadian Hutterite he met at a Quaker work camp, Black raised daughters Rose, Aggie and Annie. They adopted a fourth child, Patricia, in Atlanta’s inner city, where they’d moved to join the civil rights movement in 1963. Black was once arrested for trespassing while handing out blankets, and Dr. Martin Luther King picketed in protest. It’s difficult to honor Black’s legacy without recounting details of a violent crime. He spoke widely — everywhere from in prisons to on public radio — about his daughter Patricia’s 2000 murder and his decision to forgive the man who broke into her home, killed her and violated her body while high on crack. Black said that he would never want to be remembered for the worst thing he’d done, and he extended that mercy to Ivan Simpson. Black learned of Simpson’s mental illness, his mother’s schizophrenia and her drowning of Ivan’s younger sister, a fate Simpson narrowly avoided. Black wished for peace for all those affected by Simpson’s actions, including Simpson himself. He heeded the words of Quaker William Penn: “Let us see what love can do,” and corresponded with Simpson for the rest of his days. Hector Black died in August at his farm in Jackson County, where he’s buried in a wooded plot alongside his wife and daughter. He was 95. —Allison Inman, education and engagement director at the Belcourt Theatre

KELTIE PEAY

IRIS BUHL

I am often wary of cheerful people and lawyers. Keltie was the former, and had formerly been the latter, but I never had my guard up around her. If there is such a thing as a pure book lover, Keltie was one. She read relentlessly, catholically, unabashedly. It was impossible to believe you would not love a book if she said you would love it, because no one could smile that brightly and be lying. I will miss that wide disarming smile. We bonded over Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Kiese Laymon and Sarah M. Broom and Tommy Orange. If you didn’t love a book she loved, her first move was always toward understanding why, rather than trying to change your

Donelson native Iris Buhl will long be remembered as a fiercely determined, passionate and energetic supporter of dozens of local nonprofits throughout her life. “The truth is, you cannot summarize Iris Buhl in a mere few words,” says Judy Lojek, an executive with Cumberland Trust, in a video tribute announcing the Iris Buhl Philanthropic Award for Nashville CARES shortly after Buhl’s Aug. 11 death. “From her early beginnings in the civil rights movement in the 1960s to helping with women’s rights in the 1970s, to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and ’90s, Iris has shown she’s a champion of the underdog.”

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Nonprofit activist, philanthropist

PHOTO: HANNAH HERNER

Bookseller

DEDRIC HOLT

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IRIS BUHL

Iris attended Donelson High School and George Peabody College for Teachers, now Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development. While an undergrad, she participated in the civil rights movement, as well as working with a project studying changes in racial attitudes. After graduation, she worked at the Regional Intervention Program training parents of developmentally disabled children. In 1987 Iris began volunteering at the then-2-yearold Nashville CARES — the premiere HIV/AIDS service organization in Tennessee — where she eventually became development director and twice sat on the board of directors. She also was a longtime supporter of immigrant communities in Nashville and of the nonprofit Family of Abraham, which seeks to build understanding and to advance relationships among all people with a special commitment as Americans to religious liberty. In 2007 she was appointed to the Metro Nashville Human Relations Commission by Mayor Bill Purcell. Her honors included Community Nashville’s 2013 Human Relations Award. Iris’ LGBTQ advocacy led her to become volunteer chair of The Brooks Fund History Project at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Established in 1995, The H. Franklin Brooks Philanthropic Fund encourages the inclusion, acceptance and recognition of Middle Tennessee’s LGBTQ residents by supporting a variety of nonprofit programs that enhance the quality of life for the LGBTQ community and build bridges between all segments of the community. Iris’ work with Nashville CARES and fundraisers such as the long-running Artrageous fundraiser introduced her to a whole wave of Nashvillians committed to inclusiveness and LGBTQ rights. “One of the things that impressed me in working with Iris with Nashville CARES is that there were no barriers for her as far as societal or money or cultural,” says local realtor Allen DeCuyper in the Nashville CARES tribute film. “If she wanted to do something, she would open her home, and everyone would be invited. It was there for everyone, and everyone was included.” —Ellen Lehman, president of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee

LILY SHAW

Disability justice activist

For many disabled people, disability justice is in our blood and bones. It is a labor of love, and a lifelong struggle that fills us with joy and fire and deep compassion. These virtues shone brightly in my friend Lily Shaw, who died on Aug. 19 at age 22 in her childhood home in Nashville. The namesake of Lily’s Garden Playground — the accessible playground in Fannie Mae Dees Park — Lily made an indelible mark

wherever she found family, friendship and community. In high school, she interned in the Nashville’s mayor’s office, developing a universal ADA compliance checklist for all government-funded construction projects. When I met Lily in March of this year, she had just returned to Nashville from California, where she worked as UCLA Student Association Council Facilities commissioner for access and equity on campus, co-founding the UCLA Disabled Student Union. Lily was an active member of Nashville Mutual Aid Collective and Nashville Disability Justice Collective, with whom she planned and co-facilitated a virtual march with Black Lives Matter Nashville to center Black disabled lives in the fight against police brutality and systemic racism. LILY SHAW

The COVID-19 pandemic robbed Lily and me of the chance to embrace in person, but she was a true friend who I was honored to work with, laugh with and get down to brass tacks with. As her friends, family and comrades mourn her death and celebrate her life, we know her strength, wit and humor will be carried forward in our lives, our play and our work for hope and justice. —Beth Thielman, co-founder of the Nashville Disability Justice Collective

LYON GARDINER TYLER JR. Lawyer, historian, genealogical marvel

America is a young country, and though we often forget it, every now and then some minutiae or coincidence shocks us into remembering. For example, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes lived from 1841 to 1935, remarkable enough on its face. Even more remarkably, Holmes managed to shake hands with former President John Quincy Adams as a young boy and future President John F. Kennedy near the end of his life. And then there’s Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr., who died in

Franklin in September at the age of 95. Tyler was the grandson of a president. The 10th president. John Tyler, notably remembered as the back end of the catchy slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too,” became president upon the rather rapid death of William Henry Harrison in 1841. The move wasn’t without controversy, as the Constitution wasn’t terribly explicit about whether the vice president became the Actual President or just the Acting President. But Tyler made up his mind, refusing any mail addressed to “Acting President Tyler” and being chided by his political opponents with the charming nickname “His Accidency.” President Tyler lived until 1862 (he was, by this time, serving in the Confederate Congress), having married his second wife, Julia (30 years his junior), during his last year in the White House. Julia and the president had seven children to go with the eight from his first marriage. The fourth-born, Lyon Gardiner Tyler Sr., became president of the College of William & Mary (the Tyler family had attended William & Mary for generations; as if this story needed to be more remarkable, President Tyler’s father, thus Lyon Jr.’s great-grandfather, was Thomas Jefferson’s roommate at the college), and like his father before him, married twice, his second wife being 35 years younger than him. She bore him three sons, one of whom died in infancy. The eldest was Lyon Jr. (The second son, Harrison, is 92 and still living; for years, he lived at the family home, Sherwood Forest, which must have been something for the tourists to learn.) The surviving Tyler brothers earned a modicum of fame in the internet era when an article about them in Mental Floss went viral — a sentence that would have been absolute gibberish to their granddad. As one might expect, Lyon Jr. was a history buff, chairing Virginia’s Civil War Centennial Commission. In 2018, he and other presidential descendents gathered at the White House, signing the drawer of the Resolute Desk. —J.R. Lind

DOLORES SHOCKLEY Educator, pharmacologist

Dolores Shockley was born and raised in Clarksdale, Miss. — a town that, at the time, did not have a drugstore that would serve Black customers. Shockley decided she’d change that, and the trail she blazed included being the first Black woman to earn a doctorate in pharmacology in the United States. “[The civil rights movement] was why I was inspired to become a pharmacist and open my own drugstore in my hometown,” Shockley told author Diann Jordan in her book Sisters in Science: Conversations With Black Women Scientists About Race, Gender, and Their Passion for Science. “Blacks were not given access and resources to truly be successful. I was one of the lucky ones that had a family or professional people who had some access and privilege.” Shockley earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmacology in 1951 at Xavier University in New Orleans, graduating first in her class. She went on to earn a doctorate from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Purdue University in 1955. As a Fulbright Fellow, she studied at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark for two years. She then continued her research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, N.Y. After that, she began her job at Meharry Medical College as an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology. At Meharry, Shockley studied how drugs like cocaine and amphetamines affect the brain. She created joint programs with Vanderbilt University and grew Meharry’s doctoral program. Meanwhile, she married a fellow Meharry scientist and raised four children, but she never stopped working: “Science changes too rapidly,” she told Ebony in 1977, “and I wanted to continue working to stay on top of those changes.” Shockley felt she had a responsibility to

participate in outreach programs in which young girls might learn about science. With Meharry, she participated in a partnership with The Links, a national volunteer service organization. She also tutored students from her church congregation, St. John A.M.E., in math and science. When visiting other colleges, Shockley sometimes found that faculty attitudes were not supportive of students of color. “It’s amazing what some of them can do,” Shockley told Jordan, “but they need a little more nurturing, time, and exposure. I believe that all of the students that I train should be able to go much further than I did. “They should never be afraid to try what they really want and never be discouraged,” she continued. “They should close their ears to discouragement and negativity from others. After they have done this, they need to study hard and be prepared.” Shockley died on Oct. 10 in Nashville. She was 90 years old. —Erica Ciccarone

JIMMIE BENNETT Character

After 33 months in the Coast Guard in the Second World War, Jimmie Bennett found himself in a business class in San Antonio, Texas. But Bennett, a good-looking man with the acting bug, wanted adventure. In a flash he had an idea: He’d go back home to Williamson County, work on the farm for a while — and then ride a horse to California. So he did. Well, he rode 11 horses to California, to be accurate, including one given to him by the citizens of Ft. Worth, Texas. In 1946, this handsome vet going horseback from Franklin to the Golden State was a big deal, his progress tracked in newspapers and parades given in towns on his route. Some cheeky railroad workers put up a sign at the crest of the Rockies that said, “Hey Jimmie, next time try the train.” It took three months, but he made it to California. His fame, and an encounter with Gene Autry, earned him an audition at MGM — but it didn’t work out, so back home he went. He was a keen dancer, later making appearances on Hee Haw, but he never quite got the big break in Westerns he thought his famous ride would get him. He did serve as Williamson County’s register of deeds for nearly three decades. And he kept farming. And dancing. And telling that old story. Bennett died in November. He was 98. —J.R. Lind

DAVID McMURRY Activist, advocate, optimist

For the past five years or so, a crew of folks has been lovingly referred to as “The Madison Mafia.” David McMurry was our chief optimist. Whenever one of us was faced with a personal or professional moment of frustration, we could count on David to slap us with a “McMurryGram” to get up and do better. As his friend Mayor Megan Barry says, “He cared deeply about each person, saw their humanity, and knew their name.” From his time serving on the boards of Nashville Pride, the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Historic Nashville and the Nashville chapter of the Human Rights Campaign — and as a proud

DAVID McMURRY

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Madison-Goodlettsville Rotarian — David was all about community. David earned a living in marketing — including at Freeman Webb, the Scene’s parent company — and Real Producers magazine recognized his work. He acted as president of the MadisonRivergate Area Chamber of Commerce in a year that significant, necessary, pivotal and generational change took place in the suburb north of Briley Parkway. He valued and understood that community is about connection, and David was a connector. David was appointed to the Convention Center Authority in 2016 and was still serving when he died on Nov. 16. His perspective and desire to make sure that all of Nashville benefited from our visitors was just one of the many reasons he was appointed. He brought his passion and service for the community to everything he did. People are discovering what makes Madison — an area with five councilmanic districts and over 40,000 Nashvillians — so special. We call it the Madison Renaissance or Madison Rising. I am confident that our progress as a community in the 37115 ZIP code would have never happened at the pace it did without David McMurry’s infectious optimism. The nonprofit Neighbor 2 Neighbor has arranged the David McMurry Memorial Fund to support ongoing efforts to preserve and improve neighborhoods in the Madison area through a training scholarship fund, as well as to host the David McMurry Good Neighbor Day Festival set for Cedar Hill Park in Madison in September. You can pay tribute to David with a donation at bit.ly/DavidMcMurry. And next time you are in Madison, go to a local business and tell them David McMurry sent you. They will treat you like family, because it’s about building community. —Hon. Nancy VanReece, Metro Nashville’s District 8 Councilmember

EDIE McBRIDE BASS

Philanthropist, community leader, devoted letter writer

When Nashville was a big small town on its meandering path to becoming a small big city, a group of well-born and well-bred women laid the foundations, built the walls and kept the lights on for many of the Athens of the South’s iconic cultural, educational, medical and philanthropic institutions and endeavors. Most of them didn’t work in the traditional sense, but few toiled harder, put in more volunteer hours and, when needed, gently but firmly twisted more well-connected arms to support their causes. Like celebrity mononyms, one name identified them in their rarefied circles: Jane. Alyne. Clare. Martha. Sigourney. And Edie.

EDIE McBRIDE BASS

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A Chicago native educated at Miss Porter’s School and Vassar, newlywed Edie Bass made her Nashville entrance in 1955, had five daughters in six years and later a son, all of whom attended the Ensworth School where Edie was omnipresent in multiple roles. A member of Cheekwood since 1959, she was also ubiquitous there — chairing the Swan Ball and serving on countless ball committees and as an honorary trustee. She held a seat at numerous board tables covering a broad swath of causes and needs, including Planned Parenthood, STARS, Alive Hospice, The Cancer Society and Park Center, and was the founding co-chair of the Once in a Blue Moon event for the Land Trust of Tennessee. On a personal level, she was well-known for her skills as a hostess and devotion to snail-mailed personal correspondence, particularly thoughtful thank-you notes and humorous birthday cards. In 2019, family and friends filled the Belcourt’s 1925 Hall to honor Bass for her enduring contributions to Old and New Nashville. Introducing her dear friend of many years, Barbara Daane put it best: “Everybody loves Edie!” —Kay West

ASHANTI “ACE” HARRIS POSEY

Student, friend, basketball player, victim of gun violence

When I was asked to write about Ashanti, I wanted my response to be that I can’t. But my heart soon opened up, because I knew this is what she would want. Ashanti was a daughter, sister, friend, fashionista and philanthropist. When she started playing for me, we instantly had a bond. She called me “Pops” and I called her “Big Baby,” not knowing that’s what her parents called her as well. Ashanti was the oldest child on our team, TN Lady Hooperz, and a leader to her younger AAU sisters. When she started with my team, Ashanti asked if we could have a chant before games. I told her that was fine, but she would be responsible for teaching it to everyone. It always seemed like no matter what anyone asked of her, it was no problem at all. She came back a few days later with a chant: “Every time I think about all the good God has done for me, all I can say is thank you. Thank you. There is no secret what God can do, and what He’s done for Hooperz, He can do for you. Amen Team. Amen Hooperz!! Oohwee, Oohwee, Hooperz on 3.” I loved it. We started saying it, and it’s been our team chant before every game. Ashanti went through so much over the past couple of years, having issues with her own personal health while still trying to be there for her peers as a good friend and confidant. In the eighth grade she was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, or MVP. We used to laugh about it because she was such a star on and off the court — it just seemed fitting that an MVP in the community would have a diagnosis of MVP off the court. We went to a big tournament in Kentucky called Run 4 Roses. Ashanti was in the top 10 players for the tournament out of thousands of kids nationwide. But what no one knew was that she was playing with a broken thumb. We would later find out that not only was her thumb broken, but she had torn several ligaments in her hand and required surgery. This is just one example of her character and dedication. Although her surgery went well, her personal health continued to decline. Still, Ace — as she was sometimes called — overcame that and still continued to try to play ball. It was not until she decided to go to Western Kentucky University to further her basketball and schooling that she decided to walk away and focus on her health. This was not an easy decision for her. This was her senior year, and the last year she would be able to play with most of her AAU sisters on the same team. She sought guidance on school options when she started being recruited.

She wanted to further her basketball career and was focused on maintaining being a great student athlete while in college. Ashanti scored high on her ACTs, and despite working two jobs to fund her personal shopping habits, she maintained an A/B average through high school. Then all of our lives turned upside-down on April 10. My daughter — Ashanti’s teammate — came and woke me up with tears in her eyes. All she could say was “Ace is gone.” Within minutes my phone rang, and it was Ashanti’s mom. I knew what she was going to say, but I still didn’t want to believe it. “She’s gone, our Big Baby is gone.” My heart dropped, and a piece of me left this earth. To have overcome so many health concerns and be taken away from us by gun violence — it seemed like a nightmare we all wanted to escape. Ashanti was so loving and caring that it was hard to believe anyone could take her life the way they did. I know that God doesn’t make any mistakes, but sometimes you want to know why — or at least why like this. She was a child who gave back and helped others, never expecting anything in return. A child who placed God first, family second, then school, and basketball last. To her AAU family, her community, her school, her friends and most importantly her family, she was more than just our loved one or student. She was our Ace in the hole. If anyone has any information in Ashanti’s case, please come forward and contact Nashville Crime Stoppers at 615-862-7400, or Det. Carter at the North Nashville precinct. —Anthony Petway, basketball coach

SPORTS

LEN ROSSI

Wrestler, natural foods pioneer

Wrestlers don’t often get a second act — they either fade into obscurity or just stay in the business forever. Sure, there are some who pivot into acting (credit to Vince McMahon for recognizing the star power of The Rock and John Cena long before Hollywood did), Steve Austin has a brilliant podcast, and Jesse Ventura and Glenn “Kane” Jacobs went into politics. But these are exceptions. In 1972, Len Rossi — then one of the most popular and successful wrestlers in the South — was driving to a card in Tupelo, Miss., and was in a serious car accident, breaking both arms, some ribs, an ankle and bones throughout his feet. He managed to pull himself from the car and crawl to safety, narrowly avoiding being hit by a passing semi, but the injuries ended his time in the squared circle. Rossi, who was born Rinaldo Leonard Rositano but shortened his name because it wouldn’t fit on promotional posters, retired with 46 title reigns, most of them in tag-team wrestling. Tag teams were a staple of the art in the South, and most of his tag titles were with Bearcat Brown, who was Black. Despite the racial animus of the 1960s South, the integrated pair was overwhelmingly popular. During his recovery, Rossi became interested in the impact food had on health and healing. In 1974, he opened Len Rossi Health Foods in Brentwood. Now there’s a GNC in every strip mall, but in 1974, there was Rossi. His store operated in Brentwood for 43 years. It was the oldest operating merchant in the city. But in 2016, he got a 90-day notice from his landlord. At 86 years old, Rossi did what he’d always done: He got off the mat and fought back, relocating his store to Nolensville, where it remains, still with his name on the shingle. Rossi died in October. He was 91. —J.R. Lind

TRACY SMOTHERS

TRACY SMOTHERS Wrestler, mainstay

It wasn’t really a Nashville wrestling card unless Tracy Smothers was working. Smothers, who died of lymphoma in October at age 58, had shots in the big time. He worked for the WWE and WCW both, billed with the nickname “The Wild-Eyed Southern Boy” and, in one improbable angle, as part of the tag team The Full-Blooded Italians. (Smothers was announced as being from “Nashville, Italy.”) During those stints with the major players, he was mostly used to get young wrestlers over, which is a euphemistic way of saying he lost. A lot. But Smothers’ longevity was a gift to the up-and-comers. His knowledge of wrestling, of match construction, of the best places to stay in various towns were the invaluable currency of the veteran grappler. Sure, Smothers worked stiff — a euphemistic way of saying he might genuinely hurt his opponent through either carelessness or will — but that was the price of his wisdom. And he occasionally got rewarded. He once scored a win over the future HHH (also the future sonin-law of Vince McMahon and almost certainly The Old Man’s successor) at Madison Square Garden. Not many guys can say that. Smothers kept working almost to the end of his life, showing up on indie cards in Nashville basically every time there was one. He had wisdom to pass on, and there was also a new crop of fresh-faced wannabes he might help turn into stars. —J.R. Lind

FARRELL OWENS

Former Nashville Sounds general manager

Farrell Owens passed away on Nov. 20, 2020, succumbing to a heart attack at age 76. His life was one of family and friendships, and baseball was a passion he shared along the way. He once fondly related a gesture from his father, explaining how his life was rooted in local sandlots. “In the summer of ’56,” Owens said, “my dad bought me a first baseman’s mitt at Friedman’s on Charlotte Avenue after I did not make the team I had tried out for. It was my first year to try to play organized amateur baseball, and I was really down. “That new mitt picked me up. I played all summer

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in the neighborhood with that glove,” he continued. “I can hardly remember a day I didn’t have a baseball in my hand.” From that foundation, his story never journeyed far from baseball, as he played in just about every amateur league in Nashville. Junior and senior Knothole teams were his pathways to Cohn High School, the Larry Gilbert and city summer leagues, Austin Peay and Lipscomb, where the Bisons made their very first NAIA regional tournament appearance in 1966. Managing and playing in Nashville’s Tri-State League, Owens was selected Player of the Year in 1969. His teams went to the Stan Musial World Series on numerous occasions. Those paths led him to a new chapter: becoming the first general manager of the Nashville Sounds, working with Larry Schmittou to bring the ball club to fruition beginning with the 1978 season. At the time of his death, Owens served on the Cohn High Alumni Association board as president. He was a member of the Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association, serving as president from 1987 to 1988, and was chairman of the group’s Hall of Fame committee. He was named Nashville’s “Mr. Baseball” in 1997 by the organization. Farrell was a member of the Lipscomb University Athletics Hall of Fame and the Old Timers Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, and he served on the advisory board for Music City Baseball, an organization committed to bringing Major League Baseball to Nashville. Farrell had an eagerness to play and enjoy the game he loved, but his greatest joys were his daughters Paige Patton and Ashley Thomas and grandchildren Charlotte and Foster Patton. —Skip Nipper

TERRY COMPTON Vanderbilt’s Long Rifle

Nashville has a very good history of nicknaming athletes. The best, perhaps, is “The Lord’s Prayer,” the sobriquet given to TSU quarterback Eldridge Dickey because he could be used in any situation. But on that list, too, is Terry “The Long Rifle” Compton. These days basketball players of all sizes have figured out the simple math that shooting threepointers is the way to scoring success. The fling-it-up style that led the Golden State Warriors to the NBA title is mimicked all the way down to little-kid church league ball. But when the 6-foot-5-inch Horse Cave, Ky., native Compton played in the early ’70s, guys his size weren’t supposed to shoot from range. And what was the point? The three-pointer wouldn’t come to college ball until 1986. Compton could shoot from anywhere with accuracy that frightened opposing defenses. He scored more than 1,300 points in his time on West End in an era that not only lacked the triple — which would have dramatically increased that total — but also at a time when freshmen weren’t eligible to play varsity. He led the Commodores in scoring in his three years on the team, despite playing with the famed F-Troop and Jan Van Breda Koff, all great players in their own right. In fact, Compton led every team he ever played for in scoring from the time he debuted for his high school team in the eighth grade until his graduation from Vandy. Compton died in November after a COVID-19 diagnosis. He was 68. —J.R. Lind

RASHEED WALKER

Founder of Nashville Pro-Am Basketball League, mentor and friend

With the loss of Rasheed Walker (aka Jose Hustle, Mr. Been Had, Big Jose and more), the city of Nashville lost a true hometown hero. Rasheed supported the city in countless ways, from providing opportunities for up-and-coming business owners trying to make a way for themselves to launching

the Nashville Pro-Am Basketball League, which hosts a free series of basketball games and gives Nashvillians a positive alternative activity on Sunday nights in the summer. He also started the Hustle Strong Foundation, which provides financial support to youth athletic teams to offset the cost of participation fees. He did this so that the youth had access to positive outlets of engagement. In 2019, Rasheed gave me, a rising chef, the chance to run the hospitality room at the Nashville Pro-Am games all summer long. It was my first major and consistent catering event. He filled the room with some of Nashville’s top business people, entertainers and athletes in order to provide me networking opportunities to expand and grow my business, Chef Big Poppa. He would pull me to the side after every event and let me know how well I was doing and how good the food was. He was an honest friend and a confidence builder. Rasheed was a pioneer who pushed people of all ages to bring the best out of themselves, and he radiated a light of positivity that people couldn’t help but be drawn into. He was bringing change to a city that desperately needed it. He was a motivational speaker, business owner, opportunity provider and life changer, but most of all he was a TRUE friend. The city lost a legend and a brother, and he will forever live on in our hearts. #HONEST —Donovan Holt

RICHARD “RICK” REGEN JR. Nashville sports booster

When planning a big event in Nashville — whether a fundraiser or a wedding — the first and most crucial step is choosing a date, which requires consulting calendars for conflicts. From August through June — if the hockey gods are smiling — that means navigating Titans, Predators, SEC and even some high school schedules. And so, says Greg Bailey, his good friend Rick Regen would have “rolled his eyes to the heavens if he knew that his memorial service was on a ‘Football Saturday’ in November.” Thankfully, someone had the sense to schedule it at 12:30 p.m., leaving plenty of time for his friends to make it back to their big screens to catch the SEC game of the week. For more than two decades, the Titans and the Predators have been on the list of lures used by economic development leaders and headhunters to recruit business and people to Nashville; they and the thousands of fans who fill the seats at Nissan Stadium and Bridgestone Arena owe a tip of their team-branded ball caps to Regen. Sales and marketing were his profession; Nashville and sports were his passion. Regen was the face and the very large presence in every room in the mid-’90s “Yes for Nashville” campaign that resulted in a successful countywide referendum that brought the then-Houston Oilers to town. It was Regen, writes his friend Keel Hunt, who in 1997 helmed a spectacular welcome by thousands of NHL-regalia-wearing fans boisterously greeting the NHL Expansion Committee visiting a then-empty hockey arena that showed them Nashville could be a hockey town. Regen was a founding member and chair of the Nashville Sports Council, instrumental in bringing the Music City Bowl and Country Music Marathon to town. He was also chairman of the Clinic Bowl and president of the Nashville Athletic Club. Regen never threw a pass for his beloved Tennessee Vols, ran a marathon or skated a puck down the ice to the net, but in growing the wide world of Nashville sports, he was the irrepressible and indefatigable captain of the team. —Kay West

and member of the Nashville Sheriff’s Department boxing team. The southpaw qualified for the 1980 Olympic team but didn’t get to compete, as the U.S. would boycott that year’s games, which were held in Moscow. With a daunting 341-16 amateur record, Bumphus went pro. While professional boxing is a different beast, that long amateur career was helpful for Bumphus’ textbook style — you can see how the lanky 140-pounder took advantage of his height and reach with crisp jabs and tight hooks in bouts against Marlon Starling and Willie Rodriguez. He claimed the WBA belt in a victory over Lorenzo Garcia in 1984, and proved a boon to promotions company Main Events, which would go on to become a powerhouse in the sport. In 1987, he retired with a 29-2 record (20 knockouts), a decision that also reflected problems with substance abuse. He died in Tacoma, Wash., at the age of 59. —Alejandro Ramirez

ROBERT “WOODY” WIDENHOFER Vanderbilt football coach

Robert “Woody” Widenhofer led the Vanderbilt University football team from 1997 to 2001, compiling a 15-40 record. Prior to that, he served as the defensive coordinator from 1995 to 1997 after serving as an assistant coach under Bill Belichick with the Cleveland Browns. In a statement, Steelers president Art Rooney II said: “Woody played an important role coaching our famed Steel Curtain defense when he helped us win four Super Bowls in the 1970s. He coached some of the best linebackers in NFL history during his time in Pittsburgh.” Widenhofer’s Commodore defenses were regularly ranked in the top of the Southeastern Conference. He was Pittsburgh’s linebackers coach from 1973 to 1978, coaching Hall of Fame linebackers Jack Lambert and Jack Ham and seventime Pro Bowler Andy Russell en route to three straight championships, including back-to-back titles in 1974 and 1975. He died of a stroke on March 22 at age 77. —Michael Gallagher

TARVARIS JACKSON

Tennessee State University quarterbacks coach

Tarvaris Jackson, a nine-year NFL veteran, joined Tennessee State University in 2019 after serving as an assistant coach at Alabama State in 2018. He was a second-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2006 and spent the first five years of his career in Minnesota before finishing his final four years with the Seattle Seahawks. He compiled a 17-17 record as a starting quarterback, passing for 7,263 yards and 39 touchdowns with a 78.5 career QB rating. In 2019, under Jackson’s tutelage, Cameron Rosendahl set a school record for single-season

JOHNNY BUMPHUS

Junior welterweight boxing champ

Johnny “Bump City” Bumphus spent several years in Nashville as a standout amateur boxer

TARVARIS JACKSON

completions (241), and he had the second-most passing yards in TSU history (3,023). He was the fourth Tiger to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season. TSU director of athletics Teresa Phillips said in a statement: “We were blessed with him for a short time, but he did make an impact with our young men in this one season at TSU. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his young family and all who knew and loved him.” Jackson died in a motor vehicle crash on April 12. He was 36. —Michael Gallagher

JOHNNY MAJORS

Legendary Vols football coach

As the UT Vols’ head coach, Johnny Majors had a 116-62-8 career record with three SEC championships and seven bowl wins — including five straight from 1985 to 1990 and two Sugar Bowl wins in 1986 and 1991. Tennessee’s 1985 SEC title was the Vols’ first in 16 years. Majors’ time with the Vols began years earlier, as a star tailback for the team from 1953 to 1956. He was the SEC Player of the Year in 1955 and 1956, and was runner-up to Paul Hornung for the 1956 Heisman Trophy. “I am deeply saddened by the loss of coach Majors,” Vols football coach Jeremy Pruitt said in a statement. “Not only was he a Hall of Fame player and a legendary football coach, he was a great man, leader and visionary. In my short time at the University of Tennessee, I really enjoyed our conversations about life, football and our shared passion for the Vols. “He would light up talking about what football and the University of Tennessee meant to him,” Pruitt continued. “I will miss seeing him at our practices and around our building. My condolences and prayers go out to his family, his former teammates, players and coaches, and the entire Vol Nation.” Majors died on June 3 at the age of 85. — Michael Gallagher

KEN “RED” MURPHY Captain, builder, giver

Before there were 17,000 gold-clad crazies at Bridgestone Arena, there were hundreds of slightly confused people at Municipal Auditorium. In 1962, the Nashville Dixie Flyers took the ice in the old Eastern Hockey League, bringing hockey to Music City. In a time when the NHL only had six teams, the Dixie Flyers and their EHL competitors were loaded with mostly Canadians just out of reach of the big leagues, making $150 a week in the minors. Toronto-born Ken Murphy was one of them. The team’s first captain, he was a longtime EHLer and averaged better than a point per game in his best years, and no doubt would have made an NHL roster in a more expansive time. The EHL was tough. No helmets, no mouth guards, no glass between the fans and the rink. Players used to sharpen the toes of their wooden sticks to use as weapons. The games were extremely pugilistic. And Murphy, despite a good scoring touch, also fired up the fans with his fists. These days, it’s commonplace for our ex-pro athletes to stick around once they hang up the cleats or skates. Despite the cultural divide, plenty of Dixie Flyers did the same. Flo Polite opened a bar called The Penalty Box. Red Murphy helped start the city’s first youth hockey league in 1964 and opened a construction company. Murphy started Vanderbilt’s club hockey team in the 1970s, and for decades he quietly supported all youth sports in Donelson and Hermitage. Joe Dubin, now a WSMV sportscaster, said kids didn’t know him as a hockey player or as Red. He was Mr. Murphy, and his sponsorships helped the kids who didn’t have much money play ball. Murphy died Jan. 1. He was 85. —J.R. Lind EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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more interested in her team winning than in self-promotion, and Williams brings her untold story to light. In so doing, Williams also recounts the history of Black baseball, from its early stars in the Reconstruction years to the segregation of players in 1887 — and on to the formation of the Negro Leagues, the leagues’ heyday and their dissolution. Manley, writes Williams in her introduction, “saw the Negro Leagues as a vehicle to transport the Black community to a position of equality in American society, to provide jobs and financial stability where they were sorely lacking, and to give Black boys and girls regular opportunities to witness victory when so much of their lives was mired in defeat.” Williams is an outspoken music critic and journalist who has written about racial discrimination in country music and shined a light on some of country’s lesser-known — but no less talented — pioneers. She takes a similar stance as a baseball scholar, viewing the sport’s history through the lens of equity and documenting the contributions of Black players and team owners to correct the historical record. Manley’s story is one that will appeal to a broad range of readers — from sports addicts to feminists to historians, from scholars to kids who are in love with the game. Don’t miss her virtual author event, brought to us by Parnassus Books. 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, via the Parnassus Books Facebook page

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RELIVE JOHN LEWIS’ 2016 TRIP TO NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY

STREAM FRIST AT HOME: RINA BANERJEE

I can’t wait to be able to safely crowd into an art museum, but until then, I’m taking full advantage of the hoops museum professionals are jumping through to make exhibits accessible from home. Case in point: the Frist at Home series, which offers free in-depth virtual tours and conversations for current exhibitions. For the virtual event focused on Rina Banerjee’s retrospective Make Me a Summary of the World, expect a deep dive into the contemporary artist’s 20-year career, which includes sculptures, paintings and installations. They’re all intricately assembled works that comment on the complex symbolism of objects. The exhibition closes on Jan. 10, so get your last looks in now while there’s still time. And if you’re still on the fence about seeing it in person, the free Zoom event will likely give you the necessary impetus — it’s an incredible installation, but definitely one that rewards IRL viewing (which the Frist is allowing with a limited capacity). The event is free, but registration is required. Visit fristartmuseum.org for details. 1:30-2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, via fristartmuseum.org LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

STREAM FRIST AT HOME: RINA BANERJEE THURSDAY, JAN. 7

via fristartmuseum.org

This was the case with baseball’s Negro Leagues. The engrossing new book by local author (and Scene contributor) Andrea Williams, One of the ironies of midEDITOR’S NOTE: Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa 20th-century racial integration AS A RESPONSE TO THE ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, Manley and the Rise and was that it dissolved Black WE’VE CHANGED THE FOCUS OF Fall of the Negro Leagues, institutions that were places THE CRITICS’ PICKS SECTION TO is a primer on the leagues of belonging and power, INCLUDE ACTIVITIES YOU CAN and their societal impact. where Black Americans could PARTAKE IN WHILE YOU’RE AT HOME. Manley, co-owner and business accumulate wealth and find manager of the Newark Eagles, opportunities not afforded to was a trailblazing pioneer who was them in the white power structure. [INSIDE BASEBALL]

TUNE IN TO AN AUTHOR EVENT WITH ANDREA WILLIAMS

[ANCIENT STRUGGLES LIVE ON]

CHECK OUT LUIS ALFARO’S GREEK TRILOGY

You may know Luis Alfaro as a MacArthur “Genius Grant”-winning playwright, poet and performing artist. But Alfaro is also a respected activist whose work often digs into complicated issues of identity, cultural practice and social power. And with his stunning Greek Trilogy, he “transplants themes of the ancient Greek tragedies of Oedipus the King, Medea and Electra into the 21st-century streets of Los Angeles, giving voice to the concerns of the Chicanx and wider Latinx communities.” Now, L.A.’s Center Theatre Group (which includes the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum and the Kirk Douglas Theatre) has partnered with the Getty Museum to present Oedipus El Rey, Mojado and Electricidad in streamed readings filmed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. The readings are free on demand through Jan. 20, and include an option for Spanish captioning. For complete details, visit centertheatregroup.org. Through Jan. 20 via Center Theatre Group AMY STUMPFL BOOKS

[RIGHT AT HOME]

THEATER

ERICA CICCARONE

BOOKS

ART

Even though the late, great John Lewis was Atlanta’s congressman, Nashvillians still claim him as one of our own. As a shy, serious undergrad at American Baptist Seminary, Lewis was among the leaders of the city’s civil rights movement, and he helped change the world. Although the iconic freedom fighter hadn’t lived in Nashville for several decades, his November 2016 visit to our downtown library felt like a homecoming. The Medal of Freedom recipient was recognized as the Nashville Public Library Literary Award honoree, and his graphic novel trilogy March was chosen as the 2017 Nashville Reads selection. The books were written for all of us, but Lewis especially hoped they would invite children to learn about the civil rights movement. The illustrated trilogy covers everything from the Nashville sit-ins to the Freedom Rides, Mississippi Freedom Summer and Selma. Those friends of mine who attended his Salon@615 talk at the library in 2016 describe it like it was a holy day — like they were blessed by Lewis and forever changed. The folks at the Nashville Public Library are releasing Salon@615 Favorites — popular author events of the past — via YouTube, and Lewis’ is the first of the year. Wrap yourself in a quilt and tune in. You’ll be glad you did. 6:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, via the Nashville Public Library YouTube channel ERICA CICCARONE

“IMPERIAL AND IMPOSING . . .”, RINA BANERJEE. COURTESY OF ISABEL STAINOW WILCOX. PHOTO: JOSH NEFSKY

COMMUNITY

W E E K L Y

[RUFFIN UP]

WATCH AMBER RUFFIN AND LACEY LAMAR IN CONVERSATION

Just a few weeks ago, I was telling y’all to get on NBC’s streaming service Peacock and watch The Amber Ruffin

nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CRITICS’ PICKS

FILM

OZ Arts has teamed up with a unique network of global partners for New York’s innovative Under the Radar Festival, which is produced each year by The Public Theater. The 17th annual festival is taking place virtually this year, with a combination of livestreams and on-demand performances. But festival director Mark Russell remains committed to showcasing cutting-edge works and artists that represent a wide range of disciplines and aesthetics. The 2021 lineup includes work from 600 HIGHWAYMEN (A Thousand Ways [Part One]: A Phone Call); Teatro Anónimo (Espíritu); Javaad Alipoor (Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran); Inua Ellams (Borders & Crossings); Alicia Hall Moran (the motown project); Piehole (Disclaimer); and Whitney White and Peter Mark Kendall (Capsule). Viewers also can check out some great online panel discussions, which will explore some of the challenges currently facing contemporary artists — and what the future may hold. To learn more — and to reserve free tickets — visit publictheater.org/UTR21. Through Jan. 17 via OZ Arts AMY STUMPFL [THANK THE BOILER MAN, YOU IDIOT]

BUILD YOUR OWN STREAMING STUDIO GHIBLI FILM FESTIVAL

As we sail on into the new year, an answer to the question “When can we safely return in droves to movie theaters?” continues to elude us. And so we’ll keep issuing our build-your-own-streamingfilm-fest recommendations right here in the Scene’s Critics’ Picks section. Rather than a single filmmaker, we’ll focus this installment (our 30th!) on a studio — built largely around a single filmmaker though it may be. Co-founded by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki in 1985, Studio Ghibli has revolutionized the world of animation with its deeply imaginative works, many of which were written and directed by Miyazaki himself. Very fortunately, all 21 of the Studio Ghibli films made between 1985 and 2014 are available to stream via HBO Max, though many of the titles can also be found for rental on other streaming services. It’s an intimidating lineup for a newcomer,

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[EXPAND THE PANTHEON]

BUILD A PLAYLIST OF PIONEERING WOMEN IN ELECTRONIC MUSIC

I am eagerly awaiting a chance to watch Sisters With Transistors. It’s a documentary about women who’ve broken ground in electronic music — they aren’t necessarily unknown, but they deserve to be recognized in the pantheon with innovators like Karlheinz Stockhausen, Brian Eno and Bernie Worrell. Directed by Franco-American filmmaker Lisa Rovner and narrated by legendary composer and performing artist Laurie Anderson, the film appeared at several virtual festivals in 2020 but has not yet been scheduled for a wider release. While I wait, I’m going to school myself on the film’s subjects by making a playlist of their work. Some of the artists profiled are more familiar: Doctor Who fans have almost certainly heard the work of Delia Derbyshire, who recorded the original theme. Getting a handle on others’ work will take a little more effort:

[PUBLIC ACCESS]

DOWNLOAD MEDIA NEWLY IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

The twin resolutions of reading more books and saving money are on my list almost every New Year, and this year I’ve decided to combine them into one: reading books that are in the public domain. As of Jan. 1, a whole slew of media has made it to the public domain — namely, music, literature and film that was published in 1925 and is newly available to use and build upon for free. The BBC Culture website has called 1925 a golden moment in literary history, and for good reason: Among the books published that are now now available in the public domain are Ernest Hemingway’s first book, In Our Time, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. I’ve always meant to read all three of these, and now I have no excuse not to. It’s even possible to access facsimile copies of the books via an ongoing Duke University project. Also on my list of media to consume is the first adaptation of the stylish Stella Dallas (not to be confused with its 1937 Barbara Stanwyck vehicle), plus a handful of films from silentera greats like Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Lon Chaney. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

Ind., started picking up a following with their reaction vids. (Even Obama’s a fan!) Siblings Tim and Fred Williams are 22-yearolds who constantly drop videos on their TwinsthenewTrend YouTube channel, which has almost 800,000 subscribers. Their stockin-trade is reacting to songs their young ears have not heard, and the fun obviously comes from seeing them react to tunes your old ass most likely grew up on — whether it’s Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” or Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” But it’s also their open-mindedness that has made them such viral darlings. I mean, do you know any 20-somethings who are willing to check out music that’s not only from unfamiliar artists and genres, but that’s also more than five years old? These boys prove that there are young folks out there who don’t mind listening to something other than Top 40 radio. Start with the Phil Collins video — it went viral over the summer, and for really good reason. Visit youtube.com/c/ TwinsthenewTrend for more. CRAIG D. LINDSEY PODCAST

STREAM THE PUBLIC THEATER’S UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL

BOOKS

[SOMEWHERE UNDER THE RADAR]

Influential and inventive composer Pauline Oliveros has a massive catalog, running the gamut from compositions on modular synthesizers to collaborations with avantgarde dance troupes to solo improvisations for accordion and voice. Theremin master Clara Rockmore, commercial composer and solo artist Suzanne Ciani, and film composer Bebe Barron (whose work you heard in Forbidden Planet) are just a handful of the additional musicians profiled in Sisters With Transistors. Read some biographical sketches at the film’s website (sisterswithtransistors.com) and get busy building your own playlist. Want to go deeper? Here’s a side quest: Check out a range of women from Tennessee currently making electronic music, like Sewaneeresiding Linda Heck and Nashville’s own Diatom Deli, Dream Chambers and Eve Maret. STEPHEN TRAGESER

YOUTUBE

THEATER

CRAIG D. LINDSEY

to be sure, but a great spot to dive in is with 2001’s Spirited Away, an enchanting fever dream of a film that takes place in a bathhouse in the spiritual realm and won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Like the rest of the Ghibli films, Spirited can be viewed via HBO Max in Japanese with English subtitles, or via an English dub. If you opt for the latter, you’ll hear the voice of Nashville’s own Jason Marsden as the fearless Haku — a great performance amid a ton of great performances. Next, go for my favorite, 1997’s gorgeous dark fable Princess Mononoke, before plunging further back into the Ghibli catalog with 1988’s My Neighbor Totoro and 1989’s Kiki’s Delivery Service. Other musts include 2004’s wild fantasy Howl’s Moving Castle and 1992’s adventurecomedy Porco Rosso, as well as 1988’s tragic Grave of the Fireflies, which was directed by Miyazaki’s late collaborator Isao Takahata. At this point you’ll be a practical expert, so just dive into the remaining titles at will. And if you find yourself fiending for more info on the 79-year-old Miyazaki — who, by the way, has come out of retirement to direct How Do You Live?, currently set for a 2023 release — Scene culture editor Erica Ciccarone recommends 2013’s The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness. That documentary follows Miyazaki and his colleagues as they work to complete two films, and it’s available to rent for $3 via Amazon Prime and YouTube. D. PATRICK RODGERS MUSIC

Show, the weekly late-night show hosted by the Black-and-proud Late Night With Seth Meyers player — which I’m happy to say has since been renewed for a second season. This week, thanks to the folks at Parnassus Books, you can see her and Lacey Lamar discuss their new book, You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism. It turns out Lamar and Ruffin are sisters, and — as they lay out in this book — they have a lot to say regarding the racist shit they’ve had to deal with. Anyone who watches Ruffin’s show knows the woman gets fed up with white people’s passive-aggressive bigotry on a regular basis. With this book, her big sis gets in on the fun, dropping dime on everything from racist doughnut shops to people trying to touch her damn hair. Honestly — didn’t Solange teach these guys anything?! 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, via Parnassus Books

[POD PEOPLE]

LISTEN TO CHAMELEON: HOLLYWOOD CON QUEEN

Sometimes you want to listen to a truecrime podcast without all the parts where children are abused and heads are severed and cooked on the stove. If you want a relatively gore-free true-crime tale to binge, I recommend the 10-episode series Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen. The story unravels a long-running scam that has

[YOUTUBE TOPS]

WATCH TWINSTHENEWTREND VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE

For so long, the Fine Brothers had the lock on reaction videos online. But in 2020, a pair of twin brothers from Gary,

been plaguing the industry for the past five years — hundreds of low-rung Hollywood players are tricked into flying to Jakarta for a shoot that doesn’t exist by someone pretending to be high-profile producers such as Amy Pascal and Kathleen Kennedy. In a November Vanity Fair piece about the series, reporters and showrunners Vanessa Grigoriadis and Josh Dean summarize the scam thusly: “Using their own money, victims flew across the world while the catfishing Pascal kept in constant contact, sending them elaborate sides of dialogue, asking them to make inspirational mood boards for shoots at Hindu temples, and sometimes, even asking them to ‘audition’ on the phone with dirty sex scenes.” It’s weird, well-reported and compelling without the elements that can sometimes make true-crime pods a tough listen. Stream all 10 episodes via Spotify or iTunes. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

SPIRITED AWAY

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC

THE SPIN

WHERE THE HIGH ROAD LEADS BY CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

J

ason Isbell’s New Year’s Eve livestream from Brooklyn Bowl Nashville succinctly summed up what

musicians and music lovers missed out on in 2020. Here was an artist in the prime of his career, performing material from an excellent album he and his band can’t tour on, at a pristine new venue that can’t hold in-person shows. The Alabama-born, Nashville-residing Isbell and his fiddle-wielding wife, bandmate and fellow singer-songwriter Amanda Shires have streamed from this stage before. In May, they commemorated the release of

cuts or extended jams — the 17-song performance was loose and unselfconscious. Viewers were treated to soaring versions of fan faves like the rowdy “Super 8” and wistful “24 Frames,” as well as a show-stopping “Cover Me Up,” which has become the Shoals native’s signature tune. A crystalclear mix spotlighted Shires’ violin countermelodies, which served songs like the title number from 2015’s Something More Than Free faithfully while raising the emotional stakes considerably. At times it felt like eavesdropping on a band rehearsal, with good-naturedly sarcastic running commentary on the Groundhog Day-like drudgery of the past nine-and-ahalf months. “This year has been a grueling tour,” said Isbell, pausing a beat, “of my home.” Later, he pondered updating the lyrics to the soulful “Traveling Alone” to reflect current events: “Halfway through that song, I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, right.’

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FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD: JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT Reunions — Isbell’s sixth LP with his band The 400 Unit, which ranked second in the Scene’s Top Local Albums Critics’ Poll — with an unplugged two-piece set from the 1,200-capacity Germantown bowling alley and venue. A few months later, Isbell, Shires and the rest of the band (keyboardist Derry DeBorja, drummer Chad Gamble, bassist Jimbo Hart and guitarist Sadler Vaden) finally got to debut the new tunes in front of a live audience. They handily sold out a fournight test run of socially distanced concerts at The Caverns in Pelham, Tenn. The experience, Isbell told the crowd during the fourth and final show, “felt like Christmas.” From his perceptive, cogent lyrics to his just-as-pithy tweets and stage patter, Isbell is a master at reading the room. That’s a little harder when you’re onstage in an empty, cavernous club, playing to invisible fans. But the even-keeled songsmith, who turns 42 next month, took the less-than-ideal circumstances in stride. “Happy to be joining you virtually, in sound and in spirit,” Isbell announced before the band kicked things off with “Overseas,” a melancholic rocker from Reunions. “I can’t think of a single New Year’s Eve I have anticipated with the ferocity of joy that I’ve anticipated this one.” While not a marathon gig — no deep

Traveling at all would be great. ‘I’m tired of not traveling at all’ — how about that?” Jokes aside, the time away from the road hasn’t made the band rusty. The Reunions material sounded lively and colorful Thursday. The standouts: “Be Afraid,” a fiery callto-arms for artists to use their platforms to speak their truth, and “What’ve I Done to Help,” a stirring six-minute meditation on privilege and slacktivism. Both are peak Isbell, proof of his uncanny ability to use timeless sounds to explore timely subjects. There’s hope that live music, a major driver of the music economy, will be able to recover in 2021. Count the last-minute pandemic stimulus bill passed in December, which includes federal aid for independent venues, as one blessing among many. Isbell & Co.’s NYE performance offered yet another reminder of just how much that hoped-for recovery will mean for fans, too. EMAIL THESPIN@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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SCENERY

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Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 9,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/ crosswords ($39.95 a year). Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/ studentcrosswords.

Arts and Culture News From the Nashville Scene

Looking for the latest on art and culture in Nashville? Subscribe to Scenery, our weekly newsletter that covers visual art, theater, comedy, books, film and more. Subscribe at nashvillescene.com/subscribe nashvillescene.com | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 13, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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Rental Scene

Welcome to 2100 Acklen Flats

Your Neighborhood Local Attractions: · Vanderbilt University and Hospital · Belmont University · Hillsboro Village · Music Row

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Enjoy the outdoors: · St. Bernard Park · Fannie Mae Dees Park · Centennial Park · Centennial Dog Park

Best local family outing: · Adventure Science Center

Best places nearby to see a show: · Belcourt Theatre · The Station Inn · The Basement · Ryman Auditorium

Your new home amenities: · Green Pet Area · Controlled access parking garage · Outside lounge area with gas grill and TV · Washer and Dryer in each apartment

Favorite local neighborhood bar: · Double Dogs Restaurant

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NASHVILLE SCENE | JANUARY 7 - JANUARY 13, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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