MARCH 17–23, 2022 I VOLUME 41 I NUMBER 7 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE
CITY LIMITS: FUEL DEMAND, GLOBAL POLITICS AND PAIN AT THE PUMP PAGE 6
ART: BENJI ANDERSON MAKES MAGIC AT ELEPHANT GALLERY PAGE 31
THE
PEOPLE ISSUE
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GEROLD OLIVER
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NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
CONTENTS
MARCH 17, 2022
6
Professor and Mentor Tameka Winston ... 20
CITY LIMITS
Life’s a Gas .................................................6 Fuel demand, global politics and pain at the pump BY J.R. LIND
Pith in the Wind .........................................6
This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog
A Look at How Metro’s COVID-19 Financial Oversight Committee Makes Its Recommendations ...................7
An informal process leads to recommendations for funding that may not align with community priorities BY NICOLE WILLIAMS
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From humble beginnings, the TSU professor authors textbooks and mentors doctoral students across the country BY ERICA CICCARONE
23
CRITICS’ PICKS
Waltz With Bashir, Josh Halper w/Shane Parish & Ziona Riley, Ingram New Works Festival, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, The Book Was Better, Allegra Krieger w/Styrofoam Winos, Nichole Perkins, Soylent Green, Bob Dylan and more
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THIS WEEK ON THE WEB: Lower Broadway Staple Ernest Tubb Record Shop to Close Conservative Conspiracy Theories and John Murrell’s Mystic Clan Talking to Alton Brown About Beyond the Eats
ART
Far Out
COVER STORY The People Issue 2022
Spooky Drag Teen Trauma Queen ............8 Meet the Nashville teen with a growing following and a penchant for horrifying aesthetics BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
Hip-Hop Saxman Austin Willé ...................9 The jazz and hip-hop musician helps his peers define a new Nashville sound BY STEPHEN TRAGESER
Masters of Props Elaine Hensley and Scott Moore...................................... 10 The entertainment-industry vets behind Art Dogs Props — a wonderland of stuff
Mandalas, menageries and six Etch A Sketches make magic at Elephant Gallery BY JOE NOLAN
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Composer C.F. ‘Kip’ Winger’s newest work offers a coded message of sonic joy for Nashville Symphony fans BY JOHN PITCHER
Branching Out ......................................... 33 Trumpet virtuoso Jaimie Branch carries jazz’s social conscience forward
The Nigerian immigrant and engineering expert serves as chair of Nashville’s Parent Advisory Council
Amid a new wave of recognition, wildly inventive pop maestros Sparks head to Music City
The Maels Get Through .......................... 33
BY KELSEY BEYELER
BY JASON SHAWHAN
The longtime promoter and wrestler has seen the industry through countless changes over the past three-plus decades
The Scene’s live-review column checks out Gang of Four at Exit/In
BY NADINE SMITH
Former Miss Tennessee Brianna Broady .. 14 The first Black woman to win Miss Tennessee is now focused on a new goal — inspiring her students
The Spin ................................................... 34 BY P.J. KINZER
36 FILM
Swordplay
BY KATELYNN WHITE
Third Man Records kicks off its Creature Feature series with Thrilling Bloody Sword
In high school he auditioned for Oklahoma! just as ‘something fun to do.’ Now he’s one of Nashville’s most sought-after actors.
BY JASON SHAWHAN
Actor Gerold Oliver .................................. 16
BY AMY STUMPFL
WNXP Host Marquis Munson ................. 17 Evening DJ wants to share ‘weird mixes of music that everyone can love’ BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
Pasta Maker Aaron Distler ..................... 18 The jack-of-all-trades has turned his Mr. Aaron’s Goods into a hit
Gerold Oliver Photo by Eric England at Nashville Children’s Theatre
SOS .......................................................... 32
BY CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
Wrestling Legend Jeff Jarrett ................. 13
ON THE COVER:
MUSIC
BY D. PATRICK RODGERS
Parents’ Advocate Bibi Hines ................. 12
Dolly Parton and James Patterson Tell a Nashville Story in Run, Rose, Run
37 38
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nashvillescene.com nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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3/14/22 6:12 PM
OH LUNA LOVEGOOD!
A dog with a first and last name is truly special. And that’s exactly what Luna Lovegood is! Special. Those ears? Well, that’s just a bonus! Luna is a 2 1/2-year-old Bull Terrier Mix and weighs 50 pounds. She is spayed, up to date / current on all her shots, plus has a microchip! Currently in a NHA Foster Home, here’s what they have to say about her: “This dog is an absolute angel. She loves other pups, let’s our cat give her kisses, snuggles, potty trained, and follows us around everywhere! My heart is swollen for this sweet dog!!” Now that you’ve read this... don’t you just want to meet Luna Lovegood? We thought so. Please email foster@nashvillehumane.org and we’ll set it up! Call 615.352.1010 or visit nashvillehumane.org Located at 213 Oceola Ave., Nashville, TN 37209
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FROM BILL FREEMAN WHY DO LEE AND BLACKBURN STAY SILENT ON ORTAGUS AND SIDESTEP SUPPORT FOR HARWELL? Republicans are in a lather to take the redesigned 5th Congressional District, which hasn’t been in the party’s hands since Horace Harrison was redistricted into the 6th District almost 150 years ago. And it is not a pretty sight. The race is drawing widespread attention, particularly because of former President Donald Trump’s meddlesome interference, and has been described by national news outlets as “roiling Tennessee Republicans” and having triggered a “Tennessee MAGA carpetbagger fight.” Perhaps the most experienced candidate in the GOP field is former state House Speaker Beth Harwell, but neither Sen. Marsha Blackburn nor Gov. Bill Lee has stepped up to support her. Instead they sidestep showing their support. We should have expected endorsements, or quiet support at the least. What have we gotten? Crickets. While the race already has a bucketful of candidates, none has been as polarizing as Trump’s propped-up candidate Ortagus, a Tennessean for just about exactly the amount of time it takes to walk into the elections office for her filing paperwork. Famously unable to even name Nashville’s interstates — the ones running through the city she wants to represent in Washington — Ortagus stands in stark contrast to Harwell, who served this county and the state for two decades in the Tennessee General Assembly. (It’s worth noting that as this issue is going to press, the legislature is considering a bill to make very new Tennessee residents ineligible to enter congressional primaries.) Both Blackburn and Lee claim to have Tennesseans’ best interests at heart. Political experts say Lee in particular won his office because he refrained from playing politics during a primary campaign fraught with mudslinging. Remember that GOP primary? Lee won it by framing himself as the “good guy” — the one who aimed to do the right thing. But now that he is in office, our governor is playing politics, as is our senior U.S. senator. They avoid every opportunity to endorse Harwell or express any form of support. Blackburn has abandoned her independence and pledged her fealty to Trump. She recently hosted Ortagus on her political podcast, which is cutely titled Freedom Rings With Marsha Blackburn. Blackburn and Ortagus were in attendance at Trump’s recent shindig at Mar-a-Lago — the Take Back Congress Candidate Forum, where guests shelled out $250,000 to attend as VIPs. So it would seem Blackburn is throwing her support to the person perhaps least capable of representing our district. Blackburn’s lack of support for Harwell is especially odd, considering that the two have so much in common. They served in Tennessee’s General Assembly together. They’re both conservative politicians who’ve called Tennessee home since early adulthood. They’ve both earned places in the history books — Harwell as the first female state speaker of the House, and Blackburn as the first female Tennessean elected to Congress. You’d think Blackburn’s endorsement of Harwell would be a nobrainer, wouldn’t you? Nope. Trump’s
ILLUSTRATION: CAMILLE WALLIN
PET OF THE WEEK!
vengeance is apparently more feared than the bonds of shared political experience, political party and adopted hometowns. It isn’t out of the ordinary for candidates to receive public endorsements from sitting and former officials during a campaign. Quite the opposite, in fact. Lee received an official endorsement from then-Gov. Bill Haslam. Marsha Blackburn received the support of former Gov. Don Sundquist during her 2018 Senate campaign. The deafening silence from Lee and Blackburn in this regard may be due to a number of factors, not the least of which is their hesitancy to draw the wrath of our former president. Trump’s involvement in state politics is becoming a political joke in many circles, and his attempts to strong-arm candidates and elected officials are beginning to go sideways. A biting Washington Post column recently described Trump as a “stray orange hair to be flicked off the nation’s sleeve” over his faltering attempts to meddle in multiple midterm elections. Tennessee has made national headlines due to our dissatisfaction with Trump’s attempts to shove Ortagus down our throats. The same can be said for his attempts in Georgia, Alabama, Pennsylvania and other states. Another potential explanation for Lee’s silence could be that recent polling shows his popularity slipping. Vanderbilt University political science professor John Geer says Vanderbilt’s polling project recently showed Lee doesn’t have the same bipartisan support that Haslam enjoyed during his time in office. “We now see Gov. Lee with a very polarized set of opinions on him as governor,” says Geer. “And that’s a big, big change.” Blackburn and Lee are fearful for their own political interests and fearful of the wrath of our former president. Regardless, as our political leaders, they should have been more forthright and supported Harwell in this race. There is still time for them to step up. The primary is in its early stages, and there are lots of GOP candidates in the race. That does complicate the endorsement equation for sitting officials, even when you don’t have an unhinged former president breathing down your neck. But both Blackburn and Lee have long touted their promises to “do the right thing” and to “protect Tennesseans’ interests.” I don’t think it’s asking too much to expect them to actually do it. Do you?
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 Editor Jack Silverman Staff Writers Kelsey Beyeler, Stephen Elliott, Nancy Floyd, J.R. Lind, Kathryn Rickmeyer, William Williams Contributing Writers Sadaf Ahsan, Radley Balko, Ashley Brantley, Maria Browning, Steve Cavendish, Chris Chamberlain, Lance Conzett, Steve Erickson, Randy Fox, Adam Gold, Seth Graves, Kim Green, Steven Hale, Steve Haruch, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, Christine Kreyling, Katy Lindenmuth, Craig D. Lindsey, Brittney McKenna, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Daryl Sanders, Megan Seling, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Nadine Smith, Ashley Spurgeon, Amy Stumpfl, Kay West, Abby White, Andrea Williams, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian Editorial Intern Ashley Barrientos 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 Britton Marketing and Promotions Manager Robin Fomusa Publisher Mike Smith Senior Advertising Solutions Managers Maggie Bond, Sue Falls, Michael Jezewski, Carla Mathis, Heather Cantrell Mullins, Jennifer Trsinar, Keith Wright Advertising Solutions Managers Richard Jacques, Deborah Laufer, William Shutes, Niki Tyree Sales Operations Manager Chelon Hill Hasty Advertising Solutions Associates Jada Goggins, Audry Houle, Alissa Wetzel 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
©2022, 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.
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NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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BE THE ROLL. BE THE CRUISE.
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nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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CITY LIMITS
LIFE’S A GAS Fuel demand, global politics and pain at the pump
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
BY J.R. LIND
O
n March 11, gas in Tennessee hit its highest average price ever — a little more than $4.11 for a gallon of regular, according to AAA. Nashville was no exception, running
close to $4.15. Here’s some good news, though: Adjusted for inflation — at its highest level since 1980, when it sounded the Carter administration’s death knell — gas was about 30 cents more expensive in 2008. Gas was already climbing before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s insidious invasion of Ukraine, feeling the pressure of the aforementioned inflation. So skyrocketing fuel costs are not simply a function of a supply squeeze caused by the economic sanctions levied by the United States. Depending on which cable news station you watch, or which of the major political parties you are inclined to believe, this could all be solved if either the government would ease regulations on fossil fuel companies, or if those companies would simply drill on the 8,000 unused tapped leases they already hold. Even in a perfect world, the latter would do little to cut prices in the short term, and the former ignores the big bet American oil companies made 20 years ago to build refineries to process lower-quality oil imported from Canada, Venezuela and, yes, Russia. The higher-quality oil that comes out of American soil quite simply can’t be refined on the equipment, so while the U.S. is now a
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net exporter of oil generally, a big reason for that is American refiners can’t refine their own product. Furthermore, people are going back to work, and fuel demand is approaching its pre-pandemic levels. But production isn’t yet back to where it was when production was at an all-time high in 2019. And it takes a lot longer to drill, refine and ship a tankful of gas than it does to use it up. In other words, everything was already leading to higher prices before Putin unilaterally rejected the world order. None of this is easing the concerns of people paying $45 to fill up when they could do it for $25 in the recent past, but facts are stubborn things. A popular proposal is to temporarily suspend state and federal gas taxes. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, introduced a bill in early February to put a moratorium on the 18.4 cents per gallon collected by Uncle Sam. Closer to home, state Reps. John Ray Clemmons and Bo Mitchell, both Nashville Democrats, asked Republican Gov. Bill Lee to issue a 90-day moratorium on the state’s 27 cent gas tax. Unlike most initiatives championed by Tennessee Democrats, this one may not be a dead letter: A spokesperson for Lee said the governor looks forward to reading the proposal. In that aforementioned perfect world, taken in tandem, prices would drop more than 45 cents a gallon instantly. That, of course, is dependent on service stations passing their newfound savings on to the
NONE OF THIS IS EASING THE CONCERNS OF PEOPLE PAYING $45 TO FILL UP WHEN THEY COULD DO IT FOR $25 IN THE RECENT PAST, BUT FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS. consumer, which isn’t guaranteed. It would also put a short-term crunch on infrastructure funding. The federal proposal calls for the U.S. Treasury to transfer the lost proceeds from the general fund into the transportation funds paid for by the federal tax. Since the federal government can and does run budget deficits, this is no problem. State governments don’t have that luxury, and Clemmons and Mitchell acknowledge that lost road funding would have to come from the state’s surplus, which governors have heretofore been loath to touch. In any event, studies show that changes in gas taxes — in either direction — very rarely have much impact on the retail price. After all, the fuel companies are the ones paying the tax when they purchase gas from the wholesaler. A 2020 study for the American Road and Transportation Builders Association looked at 113 state-level gas tax changes between 2013 and 2018 and the effect on end-user prices. Across the country, there were 75 gas tax increases in that period, averaging 3 cents per gallon, but consumers only paid an average of 1 cent more — suggesting stations are willing to eat a few cents to stay price-competitive. There were 38 gas tax cuts in the same period, averaging 1.4 cents per gallon. Consumers only paid a half-cent less on average afterward. Granted, that study was done for the benefit of the road builders, who ultimately have the most to gain from steady gas tax collections. But it certainly shows that even if the proposals go through — or if the Biden administration simply orders a moratorium on its own without legislative action — gas stations aren’t necessarily going to be racing to drop their prices. And economists say that lowering the price of gas could increase already high demand, further straining supply. So even if the stations temporarily lower their prices, as people get back on the road — and with spring break here and summer vacation looming, that’s not just people commuting back to work — the prices will rebound quickly. Before Putin crossed into the Donbas, experts said prices were likely to average more than $3 for the rest of the year. Now? It may be a while before we get back below $4, and there’s no guaranteed way out of it. The pain at the pump will be with us for the foreseeable future, and even the solutions have their own sets of problems. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS AND POLITICS BLOG: The state Senate’s health committee tackled a whopping 13 bills related to COVID-19, including one sponsored by Sen. Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) that would allow pharmacists to dispense ivermectin without a prescription. A Johnson City doctor testifying before the committee said she’d prefer people have another way to get the unapproved COVID-19 treatment beyond buying it as horse dewormer from Tractor Supply. … The legislature is also taking time making life easier for charter school operators, advancing bills that would allow them to, in many circumstances, bypass local school boards for approval and purchase unused school buildings for $1. … Nashville SC’s new stadium will be known as Geodis Park, with the local logistics firm paying for the naming rights. In related news, Fair Board Commissioner Jason Bergeron resigned, citing professional obligations in the days before the announcement. Bergeron is employed by Geodis and was the only member of the board not appointed by Mayor John Cooper. … The local Fraternal Order of Police will vote on its endorsement in the Democratic primary for Davidson County district attorney general, but the leading candidates aren’t exactly clamoring to get the police union’s imprimatur. Incumbent Glenn Funk and challenger Sara Beth Myers have both declined invitations to interview with the FOP before its vote. P. Danielle Nellis is on the fence. Myers, however, has received donations from the MNPD’s attorney as well as David Raybin, the local lawyer who defended former MNPD Officer Andrew Delke when he was charged with killing Daniel Hambrick. Myers said she did not solicit those donations. Raybin also held a fundraiser for Myers. … Following the split of Davidson County into three congressional districts, Odessa Kelly — the Nashville activist and Stand Up Nashville co-founder — is moving her congressional campaign from the 5th District to the 7th District, where she’ll seek the Democratic Party nomination to challenge incumbent Clarksville Republican Mark Green. The district loops from western Williamson County to western and northern Davidson County, then stretches west to the Tennessee River, reaching both the Kentucky and Alabama borders. … The latest conservative conspiracy theory making the rounds across Tennessee — that librarians are putting pornography on the shelves to groom children — reminds contributor Betsy Phillips of another that made the rounds nearly 200 years ago. In short, the conspiracy theory said that a horse thief named John Murrell ran a cabal of rich and powerful Middle Tennesseans who were going to free enslaved people and use them as an army to set up Murrell as a king in New Orleans. This, of course, made no sense. “We know that when Americans get caught up in these conspiracy theories, people’s lives get destroyed. And yet here we are, saying again, ‘The thing you think is happening makes no sense,’ and here we are, yet again, destroying each other anyway over it.” NASHVILLESCENE.COM/PITHINTHEWIND EMAIL: PITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM TWEET: @PITHINTHEWIND
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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CITY LIMITS
A LOOK AT HOW METRO’S COVID-19 FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MAKES ITS RECOMMENDATIONS An informal process leads to recommendations for funding that may not align with community priorities BY NICOLE WILLIAMS
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he COVID-19 Financial Oversight Committee — a nine-member group of Metro councilmembers and mayor-appointed community leaders established in 2020 — makes recommendations to the council regarding how federal relief dollars should be spent. Requests for funding must go through the committee before making their way to the council for final approval. With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, the committee wields immense power, and its work could ultimately shape Nashville’s future. But the process through which requests make their way to the committee for review may stymie the potential for truly transformative investments. The committee’s origins date back to the receipt of roughly $121 million in CARES Act funds in early 2020. Councilmember At-Large Bob Mendes, the chief architect of the committee, says he wanted to set up a transparent process for determining how to spend federal relief funds that would generate buyin from the community and the council. CARES Act funds had to be expended by December 2020, and by the time the money made it to Nashville, there were fewer than eight months left in the year. Rarely is a city tasked with this type of rapid-fire deployment of such huge sums of funding, and Mendes thought establishing a solid process would ensure broad support for the expenditures. “For the first round,” Mendes says, referring to the CARES Act funding, “I think it worked. You can find low-grade griping about how the money got deployed, but we got $121 million deployed into the community in what turned out to be six months — from July to the end of the year — and by and large, no substantial controversy over how that happened.” With the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the hundreds of millions in additional funding coming to Nashville, the committee was reconvened. The process stayed the same, but differences in the CARES Act and ARPA led to some controversial recommendations and heightened scrutiny from councilmembers. One committee recommendation to use $6 million to purchase TASER weapons faced such public backlash that the administration abandoned it before it reached the council. ARPA funds come with far fewer strings attached, opening the door to a wide variety of funding requests that wouldn’t have been allowable under the CARES Act. The timeline for expending ARPA funds is also elongated; local governments have until December 2024 to allocate the funds, and until December 2026 to spend them. And the anticipated total amount of ARPA funding for Nashville — roughly $260 million, to be disbursed in two equal tranches of funding — is more than twice what Nashville received through the CARES Act. District 30 Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda says, “This amount of money cannot only be used to save lives, but to cause generational change.” Her focus is on community benefit, with an eye toward bolstering historically underserved communities. District 26 Councilmember Courtney Johnston is concerned with serving the community in a fiscally responsible
way. “These dollars are a gift,” Johnston says, “and it’s incumbent upon us to make sure that we allocate in an impactful way that not only meets the current need but also leverages these dollars into the future.” Councilmember Mendes thinks disputes over funding recommendations are largely a result of mission drift in the mayor’s office. “I think they started running it like it was purely their deal,” he says, “and somehow the committee members got themselves in a position of, I think, saying yes without enough critical thinking.” With all the talk of generational change and leveraging funds for maximum impact, it’s unclear whether the requests that make it to the committee — and the recommendations that make it out of the committee — fit the bill. And the process for making those requests may exclude potentially transformative proposals from nongovernmental entities. According to deputy finance director Mary Jo Wiggins, who staffs the committee, department heads make requests to the finance department, and the department filters those requests based on perceived urgency and alignment with administration priorities. There’s no formal application available for nonprofit organizations to request ARPA funds. Instead, those requests come through an informal network of contacts with Wiggins, councilmembers or the mayor’s office. Since there is no clear overarching public strategy for appropriating ARPA funds — aside from a broad “guiding principles” document with a bulleted list of suggested priorities — some councilmembers have taken it upon themselves to try to direct the work of the committee. Councilmembers Kyonztè Toombs and Sharon Hurt recently filed a resolution requesting that the committee recommend a $70 million appropriation to the mayor’s office of economic and community development. Toombs says that while she has “full faith” in the committee, “with so many requests coming in and the balance of the first half of our ARPA funds dwindling down, I wanted to make sure that small businesses were addressed, especially those in my district.” The resolution has since been withdrawn, after ECD received $20 million in ARPA funds for a small business recovery fund, but it signals a tension between the committee’s recommendations and the priorities of councilmembers and the communities they represent. At a recent meeting of the committee, Wiggins reported that lawmakers in Congress were considering rescission of some ARPA funds as part of budget negotiations. While it appears that particular threat has been avoided — the proposed rescission was removed from the bill passed by the House — it does indicate that the second round of funding might be more tenuous than previously anticipated. Only $4.9 million remains from the first tranche of funding. Asked if he would have pushed back harder on some funding requests — like $8.5 million for police vehicles — had he known the second round of ARPA funding might not come, Mendes responds: “Like in A Few Good Men, where she objected, and then she strenuously objected? Yeah, I would’ve strenuously objected.” EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
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nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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3/14/22 5:46 PM
THE
PEOPLE 20 22
ISSUE
OUR PROFILES OF SOME OF NASHVILLE’S MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE, FROM A SOUGHT-AFTER LOCAL ACTOR TO A WRESTLING LEGEND, A FORMER MISS TENNESSEE AND MORE
SPOOKY DRAG TEEN
TRAUMA QUEEN
Meet the Nashville teen with a growing following and a penchant for horrifying aesthetics BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER TRAUMA QUEEN RECENTLY celebrated their 18th birthday. Like a lot of teenagers, they posted pics and videos from their party on social media. Go to their Instagram or TikTok pages (@traumaqueen144 on both) and you’ll see them in a tastefully ruffled pink chiffon gown, tenaciously trying to get the trick candles to stay unlit. The candles are also pink, but all 18 are stuck like spikes into their head and onto their face — their bald head looks gooey, with a cratered texture like the Lady in the Radiator from David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Their lips are pulled away from their mouth with a plastic mouthpiece that has lit candles sticking out of its sides. They shake their head to snuff out the candles, clapping ferociously with a face frozen in a menacing Cenobite chatter. It’s really cool. “I love scary things,” Trauma Queen tells the Scene. “I love horror movies and horror manga. I love gore. And I wanted to incorporate that into drag.” It’s the intersection of gore and glamour that excites Trauma Queen most. You’ll often see pink flourishes or girlish elements in their looks, even ribbons and lace — but it’s always with a hint of menace. Or perhaps, the look is sinister with a hint of sweetness. “I get a lot of inspiration from manga — especially Junji Ito. I’m obsessed with him, I’ve read all of his work.” Trauma Queen used body-horror manga authors as inspiration for their early looks, but always prioritizes being an original. “I really like to customize things and make them my own — really put some effort into it,” they say. “Because, for me, drag is all about DIY. It’s not about paying someone to do everything for you — to do that kind of loses the true spirit of drag.” Their next step is learning to make their own costumes, but for now they buy from places like Depop and Amazon, then customize the garments with spray paint or fake blood or stuffed animals stitched onto them with wire. It’s that expansive, inclusive approach to both drag and horror that is most compelling about Trauma Queen’s aesthetic. “I think that the way that people view drag reflects the way they view women,” says Trauma Queen. “I think that drag can really be whatever you want — drag is a performance. I don’t think drag should reinforce gender roles, like, ‘All drag queens should wear dresses and heels, because all women should wear dresses and heels,’ you know?” Drag is an essential part of contemporary queer culture that evolves with each generation. Trauma Queen isn’t subverting drag or reinventing it to fit a horror aesthetic — drag has become an inseparable extension of queer identity, so even as they bind their torso with a latex corset or slash through a Freddy Krueger sweater, drag fits them like a loose garment. “Drag rules should be flexible, so that we can also be flexible in our own lives.” PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND IN MADISON 8 NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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3/14/22 5:36 PM
HIP-HOP SAXMAN
AUSTIN WILLÉ
The jazz and hip-hop musician helps his peers define a new Nashville sound BY STEPHEN TRAGESER “IF YOU TRY to do trap rap, or you try to do boom-bap, people say, ‘Oh, you’re trying to be like you’re from Atlanta, you’re trying to be like you’re from New York,’ ” says Austin Willé, better known as AyyWillé, who’s seated on a bench on First Avenue North, overlooking the Cumberland. “But when we do this music that involves the musicians, and it’s kind of jazzy, and it’s kinda funky and bluesy … now that becomes, ‘Oh, those are legitimate artists from Nashville.’ That melting-pot sound, just including musicians in the mix, creates the Nashville sound.” If you’ve been to a recent show featuring Nashville rappers like Brian Brown or Ron Obasi, you’ve probably seen Willé onstage, sharply dressed and wielding his tenor sax. He’s not just joining in, but making his smooth-edged, athletic sound — influenced in part, he says, by players who deep jazz-heads are most likely to know, like Ronnie Laws and John Klemmer — an integral part of the performance. Born and raised in East Nashville, Willé grew up with kids who would become outstanding MCs and producers across
Music City’s diverse collection of hip-hop scenes. Willé developed a love for rap along with his peers, but his love of jazz began with his mom’s record collection. It grew through lessons at the nonprofit W.O. Smith Community Music School, where he teaches today. As a youngster, he took advantage of every ensemble he could join at the school and every chance it offered him to see or talk with pro musicians. These experiences gave Willé a nuts-and-bolts understanding of being a pro musician to go along with his passion for playing; he honed both as a teenager at Nashville School of the Arts. At Tennessee State University, Willé and some friends — including drummer Timothy Beaty, violinist Riz Oshe’ and saxophonist Chazen Singleton — formed a group called The Street Band Clan. They performed through much of the 2010s on the sidewalk opposite the Sbarro at the corner of Commerce Street and Second Avenue. Their goal was eventually to bring their blend of jazz, R&B and hip-hop sounds into the rap world. They repeatedly dominated the open mic at now-shuttered venue Jazz and Jokes, which was emceed by outstanding rhymesmith Rashad tha Poet; he hired the group as his backing band. Circa 2018, Willé, Singleton and Beaty toured the world as bandmates of blues-expanding phenomenon Adia Victoria. Willé is quick to credit those who nourished his potential, gave him gigs or simply gave him a good example. He points to Victoria for the way she approaches branding herself as an artist and commanding respect for herself. “When I got back to Nashville, I had a different spirit about myself,” Willé says of returning home from tour. “The first thing I
thought about was, ‘Wow, I’m gonna come back to a city where there are so many world-renowned musicians, and nobody knows their names.’ ” Going forward, when he got asked to record, he asked to have his name included as a featured artist on the track, sometimes instead of payment. So far, artists he’s worked with have been receptive, and he encourages other musicians to ask for the same. If you search for AyyWillé on streaming services, in addition to his own music you’ll see him listed as a featured guest on releases like Brian Brown’s Journey, Tim Gent’s In Every Fall and Quez Cantrell’s In the Rou9h. All are excellent examples of that aforementioned Nashville hip-hop sound that’s in the process of being born, and has been getting well-deserved national attention. The pandemic has been especially difficult for Willé, whose livelihood and personal expression are both bound up in performing. As he struggled with depression, he began to study Buddhist teachings and various aspects of Japanese culture. An artistic practice called kintsugi, in which broken pottery is repaired with precious metals, caught his attention. After our conversation, Willé says he’s headed to the studio to work on a new solo EP titled Kintsugi. “The idea is not to put something back together as if it was not broken in the first place — but to show that it did break. And it was not only fixed, but has been fixed with gold, and now becomes a one-of-one piece, because nothing will be broken in the same way.” PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND IN DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE
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nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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MASTERS OF PROPS
ELAINE HENSLEY AND SCOTT MOORE The entertainment-industry vets behind Art Dogs Props — a wonderland of stuff BY D. PATRICK RODGERS NESTLED IN AN INDUSTRIAL PARK near the Nashville International Airport is a 3,200-square-foot warehouse brimming with hundreds of thousands of sundry items, stored away by category. Shelves packed with religious items like menorahs, crucifixes and holy texts are just a few feet away from another section housing medals, trophies and sports memorabilia. There are park benches, vintage and modern lamps, rugs, fans, surfboards, jukeboxes, candles, incense, pet costumes, street signs, holiday decorations and all manner of glimmering knickknacks. A shelf at the back of the warehouse is home to a pair of bins labeled in Sharpie “PROP MISC. DRUGS” and “PROP COCAINE.” This is Art Dogs Props, the prop house run by entertainment-industry veterans Elaine Hensley and Scott Moore. For more than a quarter-century, the two have worked in production design and art direction on music videos, commercials, photo shoots, TV series, feature films and more. In the ’90s, as they amassed more and more specialty props and furnishings for their own gigs, they — along with a third partner, with whom they’ve since parted ways — realized they could split a storage facility for their curated collections. Ultimately, they began to rent out their wares to other folks in the industry. Hensley says in the early days, their bread and butter was “music videos — by the beaucoup.” “Three or four a week,” adds Moore. “And photo shoots. Not so many commercials back then, I would say. What’s interesting for us now — it’s branched into online stuff. For Instagram, for TikTok, for streaming projects.” These days, music videos account for about a third of Art Dogs’ business, and commercials are another third. And the final piece of the puzzle? “Here lately, tons and tons of interviews,” says Hensley — for TV shows, web series and promotional materials. “During COVID,” says Moore, “the Carrie Underwoods, the top stars were going in studios and shooting performances and interviews for Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show, the Today show, all those things.” About two years ago, Art Dogs moved from its location in WedgewoodHouston’s Houston Station to its current spot at the western edge of Donelson in a process that Hensley characterizes as both exciting and grueling. They’re currently in the process of doing inventory, and while they don’t have every single item cataloged, they have more than a few. “We probably do have 20,000 photographs on our phone that are categorized,” says Moore. “We have all of our sofas, all of our rugs, all of our lamps.” Higher-end furniture pieces are among the most popular items they rent out, and people like their collection of taxidermy. (An especially popular taxidermy piece features a pair of stuffed squirrels in a canoe — when the Scene asks what the squirrels are named, Hensley says “Scott and Elaine,” of course.) But neon signage is probably their most-rented of all. On a wall near the loading bay of the warehouse are a few dozen custom-made neon pieces. Some sport all-caps slogans like “COLD BEER,” “COUNTRY MUSIC,” “BURGERS” and “HONKY TONK,” while others are in the shape of guitars, martini glasses, bowling balls or cowboy boots. To avoid trademark issues, most productions avoid filming signage with slogans like “Drink Coors Light” or “Enjoy Jack Daniel’s” when they’re on location. You’ve probably noticed that food and drink in films and TV shows are often “Greeked out” — meaning trademarked logos are covered over with generic labels. Hence the popularity of Art Dogs’ extensive collection of generic but glorious neon pieces. Unfortunately for random Nashvillians who might like to sort through Art Dogs’ massive, expertly curated collection, the space is open by appointment only, and there’s a rental minimum. Moore and Hensley simply stay too busy with their own projects to keep it open for walk-in perusing, and they do a sort of consulting to art-department folks who might have a general idea of what they’re after but need some guidance. “You know, there’s plenty of projects,” says Hensley, who has an Emmy for something she shot with Monday Night Football a couple decades back. “Someone’s always looking for a prop. It’s definitely increasing, especially since COVID has slowed down. … Because of our experience and everything, we do consider this helping people.” Hensley and Moore note that out-of-towners seem to enjoy shooting in Nashville not only for aesthetic reasons and, shall we say, after-hours entertainment opportunities — but also for just how agreeable the city’s production folks are. “It’s a tight-knit community here,” says Moore. “The whole film community is. And we all have our little niches — there’s the movie people, there’s the commercial people. We all work together.” PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND AT ART DOGS PROPS
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PEOPLE ISSUE 20 22
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
11
PARENTS’ ADVOCATE
BIBI HINES
The Nigerian immigrant and engineering expert serves as chair of Nashville’s Parent Advisory Council BY KELSEY BEYELER IT’S BEEN A difficult year for parents navigating their children’s education. From changing COVID-19 protocols to contentious school board meetings, an education funding overhaul and censorship efforts, many difficult conversations are happening — some that may distract attention from student learning. Elizabeth “Bibi” Hines and the other leaders of Nashville’s Parent Advisory Council are working to keep parents informed, facilitating conversations between parents and the school district. “If you take the district-wide [Parent Advisory Council] meeting or school board meeting — it’s just so big,” Hines tells the Scene. “The topics are kind of over your head, it may not help you prepare to meet the needs for your child.” Hines says the council combats that by operating in clusters so parents can support and advise each other about nearby schools. Hines has served as the chair of the Parent Advisory Council since last March. When she first learned about the group, it wasn’t fully functioning — it only had two active clusters. After the pandemic-necessitated virtual school year, parents wanted to get the council fully up and running. Hines initially wanted to run for the District 7 school board seat vacated by Will Pinkston, but she hadn’t lived in Nashville long enough. And so she ran for the Parent Advisory Council chair and won. Though Hines didn’t grow up in the Metro Nashville Public Schools system, she comes from a family of educators. She had family members who taught in Nigeria, where Hines was born, and her mother has also worked at several universities here in the U.S., and is currently at Meharry Medical College. Hines obtained a civil engineering degree from the University of Virginia. After she graduated, she says, “The intent had been to go back to Nigeria and complete this dam in the city I grew up in. But as probably most immigrants find out, once you get your degree in the States and you start working — unless you work for maybe U.S. aid or an international company — the chances of going back [are] slim to none, because you have a life here now, and this is the only life you’ve known.” When Hines became pregnant with twins, “It was clear that I wasn’t going to go back to that engineering life as I’d known it.” She moved to Nashville in 2017, and her twin boys were ready for school. Hines had worked as a substitute teacher and tutor, and she “knew about PTAs from movies” — and that she wanted to be part of one. “I came in hot [to] the first PTA meeting, because I had been hearing all of these things about no funding … and teachers are leaving and school board members are upset. And I came into the PTA meeting, and we were talking about … selling cookies or T-shirts or something. … I thought we were coming to a meeting to solve world problems. And we were here to fundraise. So I was in the wrong room.” Eventually, she found the Parent Advisory Council. In her time as chair, she has facilitated town halls before board meetings that have covered topics like student dashboards and academics, provided parents with information about district operations, led a panel discussion about COVID-19 and hosted viewings of the Nashville Public Education Foundation’s By Design: The Shaping of Nashville’s Public Schools documentary. Leading the council is a volunteer position. Hines also works for the nonprofit Braver Angels, a group that defines itself as a “citizens’ movement to bring liberals, conservatives and others together at the grassroots level.” She says her job has helped her as the chair of the Parent Advisory Council. “You have all these individuals who are very passionate about all their ideas. … And [I ask], ‘How can we get all these different people to agree to something to come to a compromise?’ ” Hines notes that she wants to follow the lead of Nashville’s student board members: “Angelie [Quimbo] and Abenezer [Haile] are setting an example of students. I don’t think it will be beneficial for students coming to the school board meeting and screaming at the board for what they want. So Abenezer and Angelie are going in and approaching it with what I would consider dignity and integrity, and it’s admirable. So that’s the same thing I want for our group.” Moving forward, Hines wants to be a teacher and interact with the district from the inside. In the fall, she’ll start working toward a master’s degree in education at Vanderbilt. She received a scholarship, which is geared toward training more science, technology, engineering and math professionals to become educators. Her long-term goal is to become a principal at Croft middle school — when current principal Dr. Jeremy Lewis is ready to pass the baton, of course. PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND
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PEOPLE ISSUE 20 22
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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WRESTLING LEGEND
JEFF JARRETT
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PEOPLE ISSUE 20 22
The longtime promoter and wrestler has seen the industry through countless changes over the past three-plus decades BY NADINE SMITH IN JANUARY, Jeff Jarrett stood in New York City’s legendary Hammerstein Ballroom — just a stone’s throw from Madison Square Garden, the longtime cradle of his former employer WWE. A thirdgeneration wrestler and promoter from Hendersonville, Jarrett has worked everywhere from churches to stadiums, from lucha shows in Mexico to historic wrestling halls in Japan. But this was his first appearance at the Hammerstein in a decades-long career. As Jarrett describes the evening — his first performance inside the ring since 2019 — the whole affair felt a little bit like a “paradox.” It was one of the biggest nights for indie wrestling in a long time: the first wrestling show at the Hammerstein since 2019 and by far the biggest show ever for Game Changer Wrestling, a scrappy New Jersey-born outfit that over the past several years has transformed into a cult movement. Many now consider GCW the third-biggest wrestling promotion in the United States, behind WWE and All Elite Wrestling — and here, waiting in the wings, was an old-school cowboy and one of the last real connections to wrestling’s Southern past. So many of the wrestling fans in the audience had grown up with Jarrett — whether they knew him as the curly-haired would-be country star Double J of 1990s WWF or “The Chosen One” of WCW, the more ruthless “King of the Mountain” in his own company TNA, or his brief turn as a youth pastor “jacked up on Jesus” in Harmony Korine’s 2012 movie Spring Breakers. For his return, he introduced an updated gimmick: “The Last Outlaw,” cloaked in black like a living Johnny Cash song, toting a guitar that just begged to be bashed over someone’s head. His opponent, on the other hand, seemed to embody the new school: Effy, an openly gay indie darling who walks out to “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road” and brutalizes and flirts with his opponents in equal turn. Jarrett could feel the overpowering nostalgia from the moment he stepped into the ballroom, as the crowd roared with chants of “Double J” and “King of the Mountain.” But in Jarrett’s view, that night wasn’t all too different from wrestling’s past. “GCW says they’re pioneers of what they call deathmatch wrestling, which back in the ’90s people called hardcore wrestling,” Jarrett tells the Scene. “However you describe it, we were really doing the same thing back in Memphis, taking the fight outside the ring and brawling in the concession stand or in the crowd. What they’re doing seems new, but it’s also old-school.” After the bell rang, Jarrett unbuckled his leather belt and started to whip Effy, bringing that old-fashioned Southern strap-match flavor to the 21st century. There might be some deliberate homoeroticism to Effy’s gimmick, but his hard-brawling, full-bodied style of violence is as classic as rasslin’ gets. “Paradoxical” is a pretty good word to describe Jarrett too, if not wrestling itself. In an industry so often dominated by nostalgia, Jarrett has constantly looked to the future. He’s got the good humor and easygoing charm of a Southern good old boy, but he speaks like a media mogul, effortlessly riffing on digital media and marketing strategies. Business is in his blood as much as wrestling. Decades ago, Jarrett’s grandmother supported her children as a single mother selling tickets for wrestling shows at Nashville’s Hippodrome, working her way up through the ranks in an industry historically dominated by “the boys” to start promoting shows across the Mid-South. Her son Jerry, Jeff’s father, started slinging programs at wrestling shows at an early age, and would eventually found the legendary Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association in 1977. CWA was home base for legends like Jerry Lawler, Jimmy Hart, Terry Funk and even Andy Kaufman — and it’s where Jeff got his start, first as a teenage referee, and then as a championship-winning wrestler with luscious blond locks. In the 1990s, Jarrett became a television star with the WWF, where he wielded his guitar as a weapon, came to the ring with a “roadie” instead of an enforcer, and even performed a Clint Blacksound-alike single called “With My Baby Tonight.” After WWE solidified its wrestling monopoly in the early 2000s, Jeff and his father co-founded Total Nonstop Action Wrestling — mostly referred to by the provocative acronym TNA — which is now known as IMPACT Wrestling under different ownership. But the Nashville-based company wasn’t a vanity project for Jarrett. TNA was a training ground for so many wrestling icons, including future WWE superstars AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, as well as Tennessee’s own beer-swigging hellraiser James Storm. It provided the only real televised wrestling alternative to the Disney-fied WWE in the United States for more than a decade. Though he’s no longer directly in the business of booking or promoting wrestling, Jarrett is keeping himself more than occupied with a number of new ventures. During the pandemic, he launched a storytelling podcast called My World, in which he spins fascinating yarns from his life on the road and opens up about his countless years at every level of the wrestling world. He’s also parlayed his years as a television and media executive into a new company called Moonsault Digital, which is investing in and developing digital wrestling collectibles and games — and which purchased the Springfield, Ill., minor-league baseball team the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes. Jarrett has seen firsthand the evolution and development of broadcast entertainment. He was there when wrestling was filmed in small TV studios; he was there during the cable boom years when Monday Night Raw & WCW Monday Nitro were two of the biggest TV shows — period — and he was at the forefront of the transition to streaming. FITE TV is now the primary on-demand home for combat sports — Jarrett was the first person in wrestling to partner with them. “When TV was first invented, wrestling was one of the first kinds of programming, because you can get a massive return for a relatively low cost,” he says. “Wrestling has grown exponentially because of streaming — you can dial up any promotion around the world, from Japan to Mexican lucha libre, and be connected at any time. The business is probably the healthiest it’s ever been.” For as much as wrestling has radically changed, the heart of the medium is still the same for Double J. “Sting is still out there in his 60s, every week on AEW, and the emotional connection is still the same with the crowd that it was years ago,” Jarrett says. “The athletic move sets and the styles might change like they do in any sport or entertainment, but the basics in this industry of emotionally connecting with an audience will always be the same.” PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND AT JEFF JARRETT’S HOME
nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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FORMER MISS TENNESSEE
BRIANNA BROADY The first Black woman to win Miss Tennessee is now focused on a new goal — inspiring her students BY KATELYNN WHITE
THE 14
PEOPLE ISSUE
BRINGING HOME the Miss Tennessee crown three years ago was a life-changing experience not only for Brianna Broady, but for many other Tennesseans. In her fourth time competing, Broady — who then went by Mason, her maiden name — won the pageant in 2019, becoming the first AfricanAmerican woman in the statewide pageant’s 84-year history to win the title. Broady believes it’s important for her portrait to hang alongside those of other Miss Tennessee winners, to show little girls who resemble her that it can be done. Broady was a part of the Black Girl Magic that reigned through many pageants in 2019 — the Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA winners were all Black women that year. But even though she is grateful to leave her footprint in history, she is more passionate about teaching it to her students. Before embarking on her pageant journey, the University of Tennessee graduate was a first-grade teacher. She has now returned to that passion, and is currently teaching at Robert Churchwell Museum Magnet Elementary School in North Nashville. “I decided to go back because I wanted to continue to grow in my career,”says Broady. “Pageants are not forever, and I felt I made the impact I wanted to make and I wanted to continue to make the impact in the classroom.” Broady’s love for children goes beyond teaching, and she often participates in fundraisers for children diagnosed with autism. She and her husband T.J. Broady started the nonprofit Advocates for Autism after being inspired by her sister-in-law, who is autistic. “I just wanted to make the state of Tennessee and the surrounding community more inclusive to those on the spectrum,” she says, “whether that is going into places like the aquarium and having a sensory-friendly day where families can go in and explore, or just talking to teachers or people in public places about how to cater to those on the autism spectrum. It has always been something that I have been passionate about.” “I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a lot of children on the autism spectrum, from summer camps to babysitting and to my classroom,” says Broady. “Being able to meet and work with so many people on the autism spectrum helped me become a better teacher. It teaches me so much about people who are on the autism spectrum and people who may need different services and have different needs in the classroom. Overall, it has made me a more inclusive teacher, just being able to make sure everybody gets the support that they need.” Broady understands that generations to come will read about her historic win. It was a proud moment, and she tells students that her journey was proof that overcoming obstacles is possible. “What I want to tell them is they can do whatever they want,” she says. “It doesn’t matter what color your skin is, how tall you are, how short you are or what sport you play, it doesn’t matter. Anything you put your mind to, you can do it. Even if you don’t see someone like you doing that, you can be the first. You can do whatever you want to do and be the inspiration for others.” Broady recalls being shy as a child, and admits she needed motivation to try new things. “I would tell myself to not be afraid, if I could go back and encourage myself.” Even with her Miss Tennessee win under her belt, there are a few things Broady says she’d still like to accomplish. Winning the pageant, she says, was only a part of her purpose. “I would like to become a mother and grow in my profession. Maybe one day I will win teacher of the year. I would love to work on the school board or represent the community of educators and speak for teachers.” PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND
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3 0 0 + S O N GW R I T E R S 9 LOCAL VENUES 1 EPIC WEEK
SCAN THE QR CODE TO DOWNLOAD APP OR GO TO WWW.TINPANSOUTH.COM/FESTIVALAPP AT T H E D O O R A D M I S S I O N I S A V A I L A B L E AT M O S T S H O W S T H E W E E K O F T H E F E S T I V A L
nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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ACTOR
GEROLD OLIVER
In high school he auditioned for Oklahoma! just as ‘something fun to do.’ Now he’s one of Nashville’s most sought-after actors. BY AMY STUMPFL
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PEOPLE ISSUE 20 22
VERSATILITY IS an important measure of success for any actor. But it’s rare to find someone who is uniformly enthusiastic about the work, whether he’s portraying a beloved character from children’s literature or a tragic Shakespearean hero — or even tackling the world of burlesque. “I feel like I still have so much to learn as an actor, so there’s really value in all of it,” says Gerold Oliver, who’s currently playing Peter Pan in Nashville Children’s Theatre’s world premiere of Peter Pan: Wendy’s Adventure to Neverland. “I love comedy, but I also like the challenge of a good drama. And there’s nothing like being part of an ensemble as we create something totally new together.” Growing up in Smyrna and Murfreesboro, Oliver focused on music and sports. He played football and ran track for Riverdale High School. But after breaking his ankle his senior year, Oliver — who played piano and guitar, and started writing his own music at a young age — decided to audition for the spring musical. “Just as something fun to do,” he says. “I really didn’t have any big expectations,” says Oliver, who would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in theater from MTSU. “It was Oklahoma!, and I was just hoping to be part of the ensemble. But at auditions, the director was like, ‘Oh, you can really sing?’ And they cast me as Will Parker. It was kind of crazy, but so much fun. After that, I helped out with a couple of shows at the Arts Center of Cannon County. And then a friend suggested I audition for Dogfight at Street Theatre. I didn’t think I had a chance, but [Street Theatre founder and director] Cathy Street must have seen something in me. One show led to another, and before I knew it, I was pretty busy.” Since then, Oliver has performed with Nashville Repertory Theatre, Nashville Children’s Theatre, Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Verge Theater Company and Studio Tenn, among others. He’s even tried his hand at burlesque, performing under the stage name Teddy Cocoa. “Burlesque gives me a sort of validation that I didn’t know I needed — it’s just a rush,” he says. “But there’s a real sense of exhilaration that comes with any performance. I definitely enjoy making people laugh and think. But I also love the idea that someone in the audience might be at the theater for the very first time — that this show might actually open them up to the arts.” When asked about favorite roles, Oliver is quick to point to NCT’s 2019 premiere of Ghost, in which he played a talented young track star trying to outrun his troubled past. “Ghost was special for many reasons,” he says. “I think that’s when my mind opened up to the idea that I could actually do this as a professional. And the cast was incredible. I mean, I would catch myself watching them and have to snap back — like, ‘Uh-oh, I guess I need to pay attention to what I’m doing in this scene!’ ” Oliver describes a similar experience with last year’s Jitney, which was produced by Nashville Shakes and Kennie Playhouse Theatre and directed by Chicago legend Chuck Smith. “The personal connections I made through Jitney were unbelievable,” he says. “Chuck Smith is so insightful, an amazing director. Everyone was great — sharing their experiences, answering questions. It felt like one giant family. But I’ve been lucky like that from the beginning. I have theater moms all over town — Tamiko Robinson Steele, Alicia Haymer, Megan Murphy Chambers, Meggan Utech, Nettie Kraft. Let me tell you, it’s pretty nice to have that kind of support in your life.” When Oliver’s not onstage, you’ll likely find him working on his music or photography, or on a quest for the perfect cheese fries. (“Nashville is so great, but there’s not nearly enough places to get really good cheese fries.”) He’s currently working on a new musical web series with his friend and frequent co-star Alex Pineiro, along with his first full-length musical. “I’m a big reader, so I’m always coming up with new ideas and projects. One of the things that I’ve learned from theater is that there’s no one way to tell a story or perform a role. So I’m just trying to take it all in and see where it goes.” PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND AT NASHVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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WNXP HOST
MARQUIS MUNSON Evening DJ wants to share ‘weird mixes of music that everyone can love’ BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ WHEN MARQUIS MUNSON was 10 or 11 in Southern California, he had a boom box with a built-in microphone. He’d pretend he was a radio DJ — mimicking Los Angeles hip-hop broadcasting legend Big Boy. The kid with the boom box eventually got on air. But at first, he was mostly broadcasting in the sports world — he arrived in Nashville in 2019 to take a job with ESPN 102.5 The Game. But when the pandemic hit, like a lot of people stuck in isolation, he started thinking about what he wanted out of his work. And the sports radio world didn’t totally fit. “It was just like, ‘Man, I’m about to be 30 this year, it’s time for change,’ ” says Munson, who had been writing and broadcasting about sports since his senior year at the University of Alabama. “And so I started looking for that change. And I started to reflect on what got me into radio in the first place.” The answer was music. “That was my first love,” says Munson, now 31. Around that time, local NPR affiliate WPLN announced it was launching a music discovery station, WNXP, and was hiring. Munson saw it as a
“shoot your shot” moment and applied, becoming one of the first hires at the station as the production coordinator. Munson felt comfortable with part of the job description, like “building the sound” of the station through features and promos. But he was more nervous about the other half of the job: hosting an evening show from 6 to 10 p.m. He was coming straight from the sports world, and his previous foray into music radio — a hip-hop show he hosted years ago on the Tuscaloosa airwaves — wasn’t the best experience. “That was probably where I was at my fakest,” he says, describing a forced-cool persona he tried to put on while broadcasting. After all, Munson says, he was an awkward kid who liked professional wrestling and comic books and whose favorite rapper for a stretch was Will Smith. Even Munson’s years in sports radio forced him to adopt a different persona. Sometimes that world, dominated by white men who expected colleagues and athletes alike to “stick to sports,” was even more restraining. For example, that culture stifled discussions about racial injustice when Colin Kaepernick took a knee during games. But at WNXP, Munson says he’s encouraged to be his authentic self. “Be your natural self, Marquis,” he says, describing the new attitude he adopted. “You’re not that sports guy. You’re not that guy that was on the hip-hop/R&B station, trying to be cool. … Your voice gets highpitched when you get excited about music! That’s your natural voice, and so be that.” That said, Munson is most definitely a hip-hop-head with a strong affinity for old-school acts, spinning A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan
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and Outkast. (Sorry, Outkast counts as old-school now.) He’s also excited about the Nashville rap scene and helping people discover the great acts in their own backyard. Munson says there’s a lot of depth and variety in the scene, mentioning acts like Brian Brown, Reaux Marquez, Namir Blade, Daisha McBride and more. “And all these artists that I just named don’t sound alike — they’re all different sounds. … The scene here is just absolutely amazing.” He’s also earned props for how varied his tastes are. When Munson was hired, WNXP’s program director Jason Moon Wilkins said, “Marquis may be the most open-minded music fan I’ve ever met.” Sure enough, his evening slot may feature anything from preeminent rap band The Roots and breakout folk performer Allison Russell to Jack White or Run the Jewels. It comes naturally to Munson, who grew up hearing different kinds of music from family and friends. He’d make mix tapes that might go from ’90s hip-hop to classic blues to heavy metal over the course of a burned CD. “It was just such a weird mix of music,” says Munson, “and that’s what I like to bring to my show: a weird mix of music that everybody can all enjoy and love.” Munson seems like he’s having a good time, and he loves it when listeners approach him and talk about music he’s been playing. He’s also earned some previous recognition in the Scene, being named the Best New Voice on the Radio in our 2021 Best of Nashville issue. “Just picture me as that friend you always pass the aux cord to,” says Munson. “I’m just trying to be your friendly neighborhood radio guy.” PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND AT WNXP
nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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PASTA MAKER
THE
AARON DISTLER
PEOPLE ISSUE 20 22
The jack-of-all-trades has turned his Mr. Aaron’s Goods into a hit BY MARGARET LITTMAN IF NASHVILLE is a city of multihyphenates, then Aaron Distler is among its most decorated citizens. Meet the pasta-maker-bagel-baker-drummercoffee-purveyor-delivery-driver-entrepreneur-fatherpandemic-pivoter. With Mr. Aaron’s Goods — Distler’s business selling handmade pasta, bagels, sauces and other foodstuffs (think coffee, Rancho Gordo beans and sodas) — he has landed on the venture he intends to pursue long-term. Those goods are available for pickup and delivery out of TKO, a Chinese restaurant in Inglewood. The pastas are also served in some of the city’s best restaurants, including The Catbird Seat, International Market, Drusie & Darr and Cafe Roze. Distler, 42, has a résumé containing lots of Nashville history. After moving to town in 2004 to play drums, he worked as pastry apprentice (somewhat unsuccessfully) at the now-departed, once-beloved Provence Breads & Café. He was an assistant for late comedian Ralphie May and his wife Lahna Turner. (That’s a gig he got in true Nashville fashion: The ex-wife of one of Distler’s former bandmates cut May and Turner’s hair, and she recommended Distler.) He helped May and Turner launch their Fat Baby BBQ sauces. That job was Distler’s first experience launching a food product, learning about USDA inspections and storage and packaging, all details that — unbeknownst to him — would prove useful later on. After Ralphie May passed away in 2017, his managers — the Dorfman family — hired Distler to work in several comedy clubs they owned, including Zanies and another in Huntsville, Ala. When the Dorfmans later bought Breeden’s Orchard in Mt. Juliet, Distler worked there, launching their store and farming apples and peaches. “I loved it,” he says. “It was really nice going out there and seeing the sunrise.” He also hung out with his friends, including TKO owner Ryan Bernhardt, who grew up with Distler in Evansville, Ind., and Aaron Clemins, who cooked at a number of favorite eateries including Kuchina + Keller. They ate and laughed and brainstormed ideas that sometimes seemed like jokes and sometimes became real things, such as Bill’s Sandwich Palace. (While Mr. Aaron’s Goods and Bill’s Sandwich Palace both now share space with TKO and the friends work together in the kitchen again, Distler doesn’t have any involvement in Bill’s Sandwich Palace today. That’s all Aaron and Christen Clemins.) Inspired in part by his late Aunt Patty, who first taught him to cook, Distler had been making pasta — the Amish-style noodles he sells today are an homage to her recipes. Distler was working at the orchard during the days, and after hours he was making pasta with a used pasta extruder he bought in Tuscaloosa, Ala., thanks in part to a loan from his mom. He had the extruder set up in a building at the orchard. On Bernhardt’s encouragement, Distler expanded into wholesaling to local restaurants. Cafe Roze’s Julia Jaksic was the first to put his pasta on the menu in a regular rotation, and that gave him the confidence to approach others. “Nashville is a big city with small-town vibes,” says Distler. “I don’t know that I would feel comfortable walking in and talking to a chef somewhere else.” He likes working with chefs because he likes learning to make something new, like when he figured out how to make a koji pasta for Brian Baxter at Catbird. “It just blows my mind,” he says. “It is the coolest thing to be able to learn from all those chefs.” But Distler, Bernhardt and Clemins also still come up with
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more lowbrow ideas, such as the now-popular tacoflavored pasta shells. In 2019, Distler’s orchard job was scaled back to part time. He and his partner Callie Bradley had a then-2-year-old daughter, and Distler needed more work. He thought about making pasta full time, but his pasta extruder was set up in the extra space at the orchard. “Just move it over here,” Bernhardt said, “put it in the kitchen, and we’ll figure it out later.” “It was probably the kindest thing anyone has done for me and changed my life,” Distler says. “All I did was give him the space,” says Bernhardt. “Why wouldn’t I do that?” “We can all be a family again,” is what Distler remembers Bernhardt saying when both Mr. Aaron’s
Goods and Bill’s Sandwich Palace started cooking out of the TKO kitchen together. TKO is open for dinner only, so having friends cook there earlier in the day makes the best use of the space. When the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily stopped Distler’s restaurant orders, he offered pasta pickup and delivery to the public, and the treat was welcomed by folks stuck at home. He started making bagels — though Bradley is now the bagel master. In addition to the shared rent, being under the same roof means the friends get to brainstorm together again. Their latest idea was born of Distler and Bernhardt’s shared Evansville childhood: Mr. Pizza’s Bakies and Buckets, a bucket of spaghetti inspired by one they loved as kids. (And Bradley had a similar be-
loved bucket growing up in Illinois.) The two are teaming up to sell buckets of Mr. Aaron’s pasta and sauces (designed to feed two to four people) and garlic “butts” (a garlic knot shaped like a butt) to families for a bargain price. They’re offered on the TKO menu — as a pop-up on Sundays now, with hopes of making them a regular item in the future — and are currently served in buckets that read “mucho nachos.” After many years as a jack-of-all-trades, Distler is now focused on building a legacy for his family while bringing Nashville the best goods he can find. “I want to be the Gen-X version of Paul Newman,” he says. “When I have my own brand of pet food, I’ll know I’ve made it.” PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND AT TKO
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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AT ASSEMBLY FOOD HALL
Mar 12
Mar 25
Apr 8
May 13
DJ DIESEL: SHAQ'S BASS ALL STARS
NASHVILLE'S LARGEST ROOFTOP
QUEEN LEGACY
BLACK STONE CHERRY
JUSTIN FURSTENFELD OF BLUE OCTOBER
MAR 11 C Dock Boyz
APR 15 The Groove Line
MAR 12 St. Patrick's Weekend Party
APR 21 Molly Hatchet
MAR 18 Yacht's Landing
APR 22 A Springsteen Celebration + Hyndesight
MAR 19 Def Leppard Tribute: Dave Fleppard
APR 23 That 90s Show
MAR 26 Flying Buffaloes + Zeona Road
MAY 6
MAR 28 Eli Young Band
MAY 21 8 Tracks Band
APR 1
Selena Tribute: Bidi Bidi Banda
APR 2
Rubiks Groove
Back In Black
MAY 27 Eagles Tribute: 7 Bridges
Starting March 27
LIVE MUSIC EVERY FRI - SUN @2PM
Learn More at AssemblyFoodHall.com or Scan Here 5055 Broadway Pl, Nashville, TN 37203 Q E /skydeckonbroadway
March 17
March 18
March 19
Jennifer. Who is Leaving
you know, that Bakery out in
Lost Coast
by Morgan Gould
Bensonhurst that don’t got a name
by Jeesun Choi
by Gina Femia
at TPAC's Johnson Theater
NASHVILLEREP.ORG | 615.782.4040
nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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PROFESSOR AND MENTOR
TAMEKA WINSTON
From humble beginnings, the TSU professor authors textbooks and mentors doctoral students across the country BY ERICA CICCARONE
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DR. TAMEKA WINSTON’S biography is full of accolades. She holds a Ph.D. in education from Tennessee State University, where she now serves as chair of the communications department and professor of communications. She’s been the recipient of several honors, including TSU’s Woman of Legend and Merit Award and the 2017 Nashville ATHENA Award, which is presented annually to an exceptional female leader. She is the only faculty member to receive the Professor of the Year Award in TSU’s College of Liberal Arts twice. She is a consultant to the University of Delta, Agbor, in Nigeria as that school’s faculty builds its communications program, and she collects books to send to the Agbor community each year. By all accounts, Winston is an influential Nashvillian. But when we meet at the John Seigenthaler Center on Vanderbilt University’s campus, she’s more eager to talk about her humble beginnings. Winston grew up in a small shotgun house in Belzoni, Miss. Neither of her grandfathers could read or write, and her grandmother pushed her to go to college and excel. She wanted to meet in the building named for the legendary Tennessean editor and journalist because it was the reason she first visited Nashville in 1999. As a junior at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, Winston was selected for the Chips Quinn Scholars Program for Diversity in Journalism, a paid internship created by the USA Today founding editor and longtime Gannett company president John C. Quinn to give college students of color newsroom experience. It was — and still is — a program of the Freedom Forum in Washington, D.C. The institute flew Winston and her cohort to Washington for specialized training in broadcast or print journalism, and then they were off to their assignments. But her first assignment at a Mississippi daily didn’t work out. It was the early days of email, and Winston’s fellow Chips Quinn intern sent a jokey forward to the production printer instead of the printer next to his desk. She rushed to retrieve it, and they were both fired on the spot. But John Quinn called her personally to make it right: Would she like to intern in Nashville at the First Amendment Center? Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center with offices in Washington and Nashville in 1991 to “help promote appreciation and understanding of the values on which the United States was built.” (After Seigenthaler’s death in 2014, Vanderbilt named the center after him.) Winston didn’t have a car or any money, but Quinn assured her that she could stay in Vanderbilt Village for no charge and walk right over to work each day. That’s what she did. “Mr. Seigenthaler’s team took care of me,” Winston says. They took her grocery shopping and to the mall. They drove her to assignments. Seigenthaler was at the D.C. office and would come to Nashville every couple of months, and he always met with the interns to discuss their work. “I’ll never forget that type of kindness,” she says. Quinn kept in touch with Winston for the rest of his life, as he did with many of his interns. She’d receive his handwritten letters full of advice and encouragement. Before she joined the faculty at TSU, she gave teaching middle school a try. She was struggling with this path when she received one such letter from Quinn with a message: “Remember, you were once that age.” She brings this spirit to her work at TSU and especially in her interactions with her own protégés. She founded the Black Docs Mentoring program, through which she mentors scholars of color pursuing doctoral degrees across the country. Her Sirius XM radio show Black Docs — on hiatus but due to resume in the fall — invites five Black female doctors who are experts in various fields to discuss their lives and work. Winston authors textbooks in communication studies. While this might not sound glamorous on its face, she sees it as a way to help Black students see themselves reflected in their studies. “What I saw in undergrad, for me, wasn’t a direct reflection of African American work,” she says. “And I wanted that to be included — our history as well.” Quinn had a saying he’d repeat to his protégés about racism, especially during their training sessions as college students. Winston remembers it today. “You’re going to continue to soar. Don’t let the bastards get you down.” PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND AT THE JOHN SEIGENTHALER CENTER EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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Thirst-quenching DRAFTS Sports on 30 Screens Soft-open menu of your BTE Favorites Now non-smoking Inside Come have a drink with us: M-F 4:30p-1a | S-S 11a-1a
GIANT $1 COMIC BOOK BLOWOUT SALE
FRI, 3/18 - SAT, 3/19 (12 p.m. - 7 p.m.) 1,000s & 1,000s of Back Issue Comics,
regularly priced between $2.99-$9.99 will be offered for the ridiculously low price of
$1 EACH!
(In our special events room)
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Many of these titles have never been offered for sale before (having been pulled from our new comics stands or back issue comics stock)- and many are in unread, like-new condition! (Many are also bagged & boarded- making them even bigger bargains! COME EARLY! COME OFTEN! (Fresh product restocked regularly while sale lasts!) FRI, 3/18 - SAT, 3/19
THE GREAT ESCAPE
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Five Points at 112 S. 11th St. 615-226-EDGE
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Scan the QR code for more info. nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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coming soon Family Concert
WHEN INSTRUMENTS ROAMED THE EARTH March 26 at 11 am
WITH THE NASHVILLE SYMPHONY ENRICO LOPEZ-YAÑEZ, CONDUCTOR SERIES PARTNER
JUDY COLLINS March 29
March 24 to 26
MENDELSSOHN'S VIOLIN CONCERTO & DEBUSSY’S LA MER April 8 to 10
NAT KING COLE AT 100 April 28 to 30
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Family Concert
with the nashville symphony Nathan Aspinall, conductor
W I T H WY N T O N M A R S A L I S Presented without the Nashville Symphony.
March 22
April 1 to 3
April 30 at 11 am
THE MUSIC OF JOHN WILLIAMS: 90TH
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION May 1
TCHAIKOVSKY, RAVEL & SIBELIUS
GUERRERO CONDUCTS
May 6 to 7
MESSIAH
TOWER OF POWER
AN EASTER ORATORIO WITH THE NASHVILLE SYMPHONY
YOLANDA ADAMS May 8
Presented without the Nashville Symphony. SERIES PARTNER
GOLD RUSH: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL ADVENTURE
April 14 to 16
April 22
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE™ IN CONCERT May 12 to 15
EXPLORE OUR CONCERT CALENDAR AND BUY TICKETS 22
NashvilleSymphony.org/Tickets | 615.687.6400
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
WITH SUPPORT FROM
CRITICS’ PICKS W E E K L Y
R O U N D U P
O F
T H I N G S
T O
D O
[FLED]
FRIDAY, MARCH 18
INDEPENDENT LENS: WALTZ WITH BASHIR
[YOU CAN’T DO THAT ON TELEVISION]
ALTON BROWN LIVE: BEYOND THE EATS
Food-science author and television host Alton Brown is bringing his traveling culinary roadshow back to TPAC for his latest tour — and for the first time, he’ll be performing in Jackson Hall. The extra space should allow for even bigger potentially dangerous cooking demos, the band to play louder and the jokes to be even more expansive. Part variety act, part culinary science seminar and part game show, Alton Brown’s interactive live event should be entirely entertaining. Don’t come thinking
TPAC’s Polk Theater
PHOTO: KARYN PHOTOGRAPHY
With the recently released animated docudrama Flee getting raves and multiple Oscar nominations, Vanderbilt’s International Lens series will be screening another animated account of a man recalling his violent, traumatic past. With 2008’s Oscar-nominated Waltz With Bashir, Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman — a veteran of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 — uses classic animation to explain the atrocities of the time and how men who fought in that war still remain haunted by it. Indeed, Folman counts himself as one of them, spending most of the movie wondering if he really did swim with his fellow soldiers one time, only to get out of the water and walk into the middle of refugee camps where Palestinians were killed. Although this film shines a light on a tragic conflict, it reminds most of us what we already know: War, like so many trauma-inducing experiences, is something you try your hardest to forget, even when your subconscious doesn’t want to let you. Jonathan Waters, principal senior lecturer in Cinema and Media Arts, will introduce the film. 7:30 p.m. at Sarratt Cinema, 2301 Vanderbilt Place CRAIG D. LINDSEY THEATER
LUCY NEGRO REDUX
that it will just be a theatrical version of Good Eats, Brown’s Food Network show. The stage show features Brown’s guitar playing and songwriting chops along with his … well, chopping chops as he performs and informs. He describes it as “ general-focus entertainment for the theater,” so that’s what we’ll go with. Visit nashvillescene.com/food_drink to read our interview with Brown. 7:30 p.m. at TPAC’s Jackson Hall, 505 Deaderick St. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN MUSIC
FILM
THURSDAY / 3.17
[FOLK DREAMS]
JOSH HALPER W/SHANE PARISH & ZIONA RILEY On his 2020 full-length Alrightnik,
Nashville guitarist and singer Josh Halper Ingram New Works Festival is a celebration replicates the kind of gentle pop that of new plays that showcases a wide artists like Norman Greenbaum, range of fresh voices in American The Lovin’ Spoonful and William theater. Beginning on Thursday, Truckaway specialized in this nationally recognized DUE TO CONCERNS 50 years ago. Halper — an program returns to TPAC’s ABOUT COVID-19 accomplished guitarist who Johnson Theater with the TRANSMISSION, PLEASE has played sessions and done CHECK WITH VENUES ABOUT work of three very different POTENTIAL CANCELLATIONS time in psych-rock band female playwrights. The 2022 BEFORE MAKING PLANS. Western Medication — sings festival will take on themes in an unpretentious, nice-guy of “woman’s invisible labor,” voice on Alrightnik, and the most childhood trauma, loss, mental compelling track on the album, health, climate refugees and more, “Whale in a Field,” sounds like something reuniting much of the same lineup that Harry Nilsson or Randy Newman might had been announced prior to the COVID have come up with in 1972. In fact, Halper shutdown in 2020. The program features opens the album with a nicely judged cover public staged readings of three new plays, of “Dayton, Ohio — 1903,” Newman’s 1972 including Jennifer. Who Is Leaving, by ode to small-town life — or our perception of Morgan Gould (March 17); you know, that what small-town life used to be. Elsewhere, Bakery out in Bensonhurst that don’t got a Halper puts across a series of guitar name, by Gina Femia (March 18); and Lost pieces that display his advanced chops and Coast, by Jessun Choi (March 19). Visit sophisticated harmonic vocabulary. They’re nashvillerep.org for complete details and similar to the work of fellow Nashville native tickets. March 17-19 at TPAC’s Johnson William Tyler, or the dreamy compositions Theater, 505 Deaderick St. AMY STUMPFL on Memphis picker Gimmer Nicholson’s 1968 album Christopher Idylls. Meanwhile, guitarist Shane Parish gets into avant-garde territory on his new album Liverpool, which features his electric-guitar renderings of [IF HAIRS BE WIRES] folkish material. Rounding out the bill is LUCY NEGRO REDUX Nashville singer-songwriter Ziona Riley, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 has always whose work contains elements of outsider been my favorite. You know the one — folk. 7 p.m. at Drkmttr, 1111 Dickerson Pike he disses his side piece before proclaiming EDD HURT his love: “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun … If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.” Acclaimed Nashville [NEWSIES] poet and author Caroline Randall Williams INGRAM NEW WORKS FESTIVAL was so compelled by the “Dark Lady” of Established in 2009, Nashville Rep’s
ALTON BROWN LIVE: BEYOND THE EATS
THEATER
DANCE
FRIDAY / 3.18
nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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[SWORDS AND SORCERY]
JUJUTSU KAISEN 0
Thanks to recent releases like Belle and Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, anime fans are finally getting to see more of their favorites on the big screen. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is the 2021 film adaptation of Gege Akutami’s hit manga series Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which was itself a prequel to the series Jujutsu Kaisen. The supernatural plot involves Yuta Okkotsu, a teenager whose childhood best friend died six years earlier and is now a curse. (In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, curses are physical manifestations of negative human emotions and energy.) To save his friend’s spirit, Yuta enrolls in a school of Jujutsu sorcerers, a group of people who specialize in handling curses. Even though fans of the anime will have to wait until 2023 for a second season of the anime series, fans and newcomers alike will be able to experience the fast-paced magical mayhem of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which
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MUSIC
SATURDAY / 3.19 [BEAN THERE]
SUNFLOWER BEAN
From Bonnaroo to Forecastle and countless similar festivals coast to coast, Sunflower Bean spent the 2010s proving its mettle as a trusted undercard on big stages. The NYC trio’s bass-playing frontwoman Julia Cumming is a magnetic presence, bringing big Chrissie Hynde energy on every tune and putting an exclamation point on live renditions of standouts like the wistful, orchestral “Twentytwo,” shoegazey “Memoria” and debaucherous Prince homage “Come for Me.” Cumming, guitarist Nick Kivlen and drummer Olive Faber are still waiting on a breakthrough, but certainly aren’t resting on their laurels. Headful of Sugar, due May 6, is the band’s latest. 8 p.m. at Exit/In, 2208 Elliston Place CHARLIE ZAILLIAN [TEEN SPIRIT]
BLACK FUTURE MONTH TEEN STUDENT SHOWCASE
Earlier this year, director-playwrightactor Alicia Haymer found herself again observing the hubbub around Black History Month — the familiar topics, the focus on the past, the increased demand for Black artists just one month of every year. She wanted to do something different to provide local actors and educators with work while focusing on the future for Black young people. Her first idea was to create programming in the genre of Afrofuturism, but Haymer realized making space for young people to dream is pretty futuristic itself. Verge Theater Company, of which Haymer is co-artistic director, is hosting Black Future Month at the small-but-mighty Barbershop Theater. Haymer and a roster of artists have been working with high school students to write scripts, songs, monologues and poetry “based on a possible Black future.” They will take to the stage to perform their work. 6:30 p.m. at The Barbershop Theater, 4003 Indiana Ave. ERICA CICCARONE
SUNDAY / 3.20 [SAM ELLIOTT WHO?]
THE BOOK WAS BETTER
Will someone in this book club say something problematic about women directing movies, or how there aren’t gay cowboys? Only one way to find out! Sure, you’ve seen The Power of the Dog. It’s on Netflix. It’s easy to watch at home. But have you read the book, and if so, did you find that the book was better? That’s the question this new book club from The Bookshop is looking to answer. Led by bookseller Ryne Walker, The Book Was Better is featuring books that have been adapted for the screen, and The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage is the club’s first pick. To sign up, purchase the book through East Nashville’s The Bookshop. The club will meet in person at the coffee shop next door and asks everyone to wear a mask. Private shopping
at The Bookshop will be available following the discussion, with participants getting 10 percent off purchases. 5 p.m. at Hanna Bee Coffee, 1035 W. Eastland Ave. KIM BALDWIN
MUSIC
MONDAY / 3.21 [PRECIOUS MOMENTS]
ALLEGRA KRIEGER W/STYROFOAM WINOS
Pastoral soundscapes meet top-shelf songcraft on Precious Thing, Allegra Krieger’s second album and first for noted Brooklyn indie Northern Spy. A quintessential sleeper hit, the LP brims with intricate Nick Drake-style picking and subtle piano, cello and pedal steel accompaniment across its 10 tracks. Striking, comforting songs like “Isolation” and “The Circumstance” guarantee this is a record I’ll be keeping close by all year. Go see Krieger before Pitchfork inevitably pretends like they discovered her. Local alternative-folk troika Styrofoam Winos will support. 8 p.m. at The East Room, 2412 Gallatin Ave. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN MUSIC
opens wide in theaters on Friday. Screenings include both the original, in Japanese with English subtitles, and the English-dub version. For information on showtimes, visit crunchyrollmovienight.com. Opening March 18 at Regal and AMC locations KAHWIT TELA
SARAH SHOOK AND THE DISARMERS W/AARON VANCE
[ADULT CONTEMPORARY]
SASAMI W/ZULU
Following in the footsteps of figures like Björk, Bowie, Byrne, Peter Gabriel, St. Vincent and even the great Sun Ra, Sasami Ashworth — known mononymously as Sasami — radiates the aura of an otherworldly being as she dons her many guises. A conservatory-trained French horn player with a lifelong appreciation for the pop songcraft of The Beatles and The Beach Boys, Sasami strikes that all-toorare balance between high-level musical intellect and accessibility. In person, the multi-instrumentalist songwriter appears to channel an inspiration so elemental and intense that it has to come with colorful ceremonial garb. And as a golden-throated frontwoman, Sasami conducts her live show as an exercise in transcendence, assisted in no small part by the power and fury of her live band, which verges on metal, the artdamaged rock gestures of Crooked Rain-era Pavement and the stadium-filling majesty of Queen all at once. It’s not for nothing that Sasami’s second album Squeeze is drawing raves right now, but the live experience is something else entirely — more like a rocket firing up its engines. And the dense punk-metal crunch of opener Zulu makes
SASAMI
PHOTO: ANGELA RICCIARDI
FILM
Sonnets 127-154 that she traveled to England to learn more about her. She found a scholar who posited that the woman referred to in these sonnets was a historical figure named Black Luce, a biracial madam of a brothel who was in the same social circles as Shakespeare. Williams’ resulting book Lucy Negro Redux enchanted Nashville Ballet artistic director Paul Vasterling, and he approached her about adapting it into a ballet, which he choreographed and directed. When it premiered in 2019, the Scene named it Best Theatrical Adaptation. If you missed it then, here’s your chance. Lucy will be at TPAC’s Polk Theater for five shows before it hits the road. It’s gorgeous. It’s racy. It’s scored by Carolina Chocolate Drops founder Rhiannon Giddens, and she performs with Francesco Turrisi. Giddens calls the music a “folk score” of dancebased music with roots in Shakespeare’s time. Turrisi is a world-renowned Italian instrumentalist whose knowledge of chord progressions in Elizabethan theater gives the score authenticity, but with Giddens’ bluesy folk bent. While Williams (as narrator) and Giddens represent the lyrical and musical voices of Lucy onstage, dancers Imani Sailers and Claudia Monja will bring Lucy to life through movement. It’s a story about what it means to belong, and what it means to be erased, and what it means to own your own story and share it with the world. March 18-26 at TPAC’s Polk Theater, 505 Deaderick St. ERICA CICCARONE
[MODERN SOUNDS]
When I saw Durham, N.C.-residing band Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, it seemed clear that their raw narratives about getting along with others and yourself and their constantly evolving blend of country, rock and other sounds meant a lot to them. Ahead of the February release of Nightroamer, the Disarmers’ third album, Shook explained to hometown alt-weekly Indy Week that songwriting has always been an important way to process and examine their emotions: “The songs that I write come from personal experience, and the music that comes out is a very singular thing with its own sound. And I like that about it — I don’t think I’d have it any other way.” Nightroamer was recorded just before the pandemic shut everything down, and the band is finally getting to play for audiences that have heard it in full. For their visit to Mercy Lounge on this run, they’ll be supported by outstanding Nashville country singersongwriter Aaron Vance (whom you might recognize from the cover of our inaugural Country Music Almanac issue in January). His 2021 album Cabin Fever showcases his rich and malleable baritone and his ability to write songs that are frequently as fun as they are insightful and heartfelt — perfect for teeing up Shook & Co. 8 p.m. at Mercy Lounge, 1 Cannery Row STEPHEN TRAGESER
BOOKS
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CRITICS’ PICKS
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Bill Anderson & Friends
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Acoustic Guitar Project
Teddy Robb
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CRITICS’ PICKS
FRI
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MON
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MERLIN & KELLI JOHNSON
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WED
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3/24 FRI
3/25 SAT
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3/20
4/14 HANNAH WICKLUND WITH TRISTAN BUSHMAN
5/6
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THE CLEVERLYS
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4-12 COUNTRY OUTDOORS 4-13 TUNES, TALES & TROUBADOURS 4-15 1982: THE NIGHTFLY TURNS 40! 4-16 RESURRECTION: A JOURNEY TRIBUTE 4-17 SLOTHRUST W/ CALVA LOUISE 4-22 & 4-23 MIKE FARRIS 4-24 WE BANJO 3 WITH BLAKE BROWN & THE AMERICAN DUST CHOIR 4-27 THE CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS 4-30 WORLD TURNING BAND 5-3 WINE, WOMEN, SONG & LOVE FOR THISTLE FARMS 5-4 MIDDLEMAN BURR
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BIRTHING THE BOOK SERIES: A CONVERSATION WITH NICHOLE PERKINS
Poet, author and podcast host Nichole Perkins is not shy when it comes to pleasure. Her podcast This Is Good for You aims to help listeners “stop feeling bad about feeling good,” and her memoir in essays Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be explores the fraught territory of celebrating sexual desire. The book is not a chronological memoir; it bounces from girlhood to womanhood, from kissing boys under her back porch in Nashville to navigating life at Dillard University in New Orleans to finding her groove on kinkoriented social network FetLife. Longtime Nashville readers might especially enjoy her recounting of a trip to Opryland (though it wasn’t enjoyable to a young Perkins). She threads pop culture through the pages of her life, writing about cultural icons (Miss Piggy, Serena Williams, Janet Jackson), the internet, MTV, fashion and more. The Porch Writers’ Collective will host her in an online conversation with Ladyland podcast host (and Scene contributor) Kim Baldwin as part of the collective’s Birthing the Book Series. 5:30 p.m. online; register at porchtn.org ERICA CICCARONE [BIG EMO]
OLIVER TREE
California native Oliver Tree signed to Atlantic Records in 2017. From what I’ve been able to glean from reading coverage of Tree, the big label seems to have believed Tree was a sort of post-Warhol trickster of pop whose outrageous antics — his videos feature the kind of humor made famous by the 1980 movie Airplane!, and he’s announced his retirement at least once, though he’s not even 30 yet — fit in with his super-eclectic pop music. As a fan of pop and what used to be called hype, I find Tree’s music interesting and even profound — if shallowness can be artistic, Tree is a master. On his latest album, this year’s Cowboy Tears, Tree dives into something you might call emo country. He sings in a wobbly voice that undercuts his musical ideas, which are often solid. Students of pop ephemera will hear traces of Cage the Elephant, Neon Trees and maybe even The All-American Rejects. I say Tree should move to Nashville and start recording Americana parodies — I could use a good laugh these days. Sueco and 347Aidan open. 8 p.m. at Marathon Music Works, 1402 Clinton St. EDD HURT MUSIC
3/17
THIS WEEK
[FEELIN’ GOOD]
[TRIP ADVISOR]
LIZA ANNE W/IZZY HELTAI
Following her outstanding 2018 LP Fine But Dying, Liza Anne stirred a bit more New Wave and post-grunge rock into her sonic cocktail. As a result, her 2020 album Bad Vacation has an even sharper rock edge and even more kinetic danceability than its predecessor. At the same time, the record focuses on the challenges of caring for your mental and emotional health. Liza
Anne never pretends that it’s easy. There are more questions than answers, as in “I Shouldn’t Ghost My Therapist,” whose refrain is built around wondering “How do you slow down?,” or “Bummer Days,” whose final chorus asks, “What would it feel like if I could get out of my own way?” She’s played some memorable shows since the record came out, but is really giving Bad Vacation its first proper outing with the aptly named Bad Vacation One Night Only Fourteen Times tour, which makes a hometown stop at Third Man Records’ Blue Room on Tuesday. Support comes from Boston-residing Izzy Heltai, whom you might have seen rocking Country Queer’s AmericanaFest showcase in September. His 2021 EP Day Plan is a bit more gentle than Bad Vacation, but his narratives are just as introspective and emotionally intense as they relay the story of a very difficult year. 8 p.m. in The Blue Room at Third Man Records, 623 Seventh Ave. S. STEPHEN TRAGESER FILM
GREAT MUSIC • GREAT FOOD • GOOD FRIENDS • SINCE 1991 THU
TUESDAY / 3.22 BOOKS
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for the perfect ignition prior to takeoff. 8 p.m. at The End, 2219 Elliston Place SABY REYES-KULKARNI
[SCIENTIFIC METHODS]
SCIENCE ON SCREEN: SOYLENT GREEN
If you’re a fan of Richard Fleischer’s memorably kitschy 1973 dystopian ecothriller Soylent Green, you knew it was gonna screen somewhere around here this year. After all, the movie takes place during a bleak-as-hell 2022, and is set in a New York City jammed with 40 million people. (The actual present-day NYC population is closer to 8 million.) Charlton Heston stars as a looting detective who discovers a major conspiracy while investigating the murder of a wealthy businessman. This leads to a Big Reveal that has Heston screaming an oft-quoted, spoiler-heavy line at the end that, honestly, you must’ve heard by now. Yes, it’s a strange, savage vision of the future. But for a ’70s movie that’s really a cautionary tale about what happens when you don’t protect the environment, it’s also surprisingly woke. Amanda Little, Bloomberg columnist and professor of journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University, will be around for a post-screening talk. 8 p.m. at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. CRAIG D. LINDSEY
WEDNESDAY / 3.23 MUSIC
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[TAME AS IT EVER WAS]
TAME IMPALA
I’ve had three years to rethink my lukewarm review of Tame Impala’s last gig in town. In hindsight, I admit a case of “old man yells at cloud” might’ve come over me with regard to the set list’s lack of emphasis on the dyed-in-the-wool guitardriven psychedelia of the Australians’ first two LPs, 2010’s Innerspeaker and 2012’s Lonerism. Those records still rule, but songwriter-producer Kevin Parker long ago transcended them. Between Parker’s dreamy, fuzzy guitar tones, idiosyncratically crunchy drum sounds and the music’s overall remix-ability, the group’s hold on the millennial/Gen Z festival-going crowd can’t be exaggerated — particularly Parker’s influence on aspiring home recordists and DJs. For further proof of Tame Impala’s reach, give their latest, 2020’s The Slow Rush, a listen, then tune into local station WNXP for a few hours. The band’s dance-floor-ready
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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MARCUS JOHNSON IN THE LOUNGE
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3.28
JOHN CRAIGIE WITH SPECIAL GUEST THE LOWEST PAIR
4.6
SPYRO GYRA
3.29
THE IGUANAS & KEVIN GORDON
4.10
NASHVILLE BEATLES BRUNCH FEATURING FOREVER ABBEY ROAD
3.31
WMOT PRESENTS: SHAWN COLVIN: STEADY ON 32ND ANNIVERSARY TOUR
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SUZANNE SANTO
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I N D E P E N D E N T
BOB DYLAN
What is there to be said about Bob Dylan that hasn’t been said over the past 60 years? The Bard’s prolific output is only outmatched by the reams of writing and analysis about him, by professionals and amateurs alike. If you like him, you’ve probably gone through an obsessive stage. If you hate him, you already know that, and I’m not wasting any effort trying to convince you that you’re wrong. (You are wrong.) Dylan is one of a kind, though — and so is the Ryman. The Bob won’t sound like he did in the ’60s. Hell, he won’t sound like he did five years ago. His voice has aged like a piece of fruit in the hot sun, and he has a penchant for tinkering with the arrangements of even his most iconic songs. But he’s gonna die one day, and so are you. The chance to see him at the Mother Church is too good to pass up. Don’t overthink this one. 8 p.m. at the Ryman STEVEN HALE [EXPLORING A LYRICAL LEGACY]
CHATTERBIRD FEAT. LEYLA McCALLA
There’s such a beautiful, haunting quality to Leyla McCalla’s music. On Wednesday, Nashville’s innovative chamber ensemble chatterbird will partner with this engaging Haitian-American songwriter and cellist to “creatively reimagine” her 2014 album Vari-Colored Songs: a tribute to the poetry of Langston Hughes. Billed as “a celebration of the complexity of Black culture and identity, and a tribute to the legacy of poet and thinker Langston Hughes,” McCalla’s record draws inspiration from both American folk music and the traditional sounds of her parents’ native Haiti. McCalla appears at NMAAM in advance of her appearance at next week’s sold-out Big Ears Festival in Knoxville. Her new album Breaking the Thermometer, available May 6, explores the legacy of Radio Haiti, a radio station that stood up to oppression and dared to report the news in Haitian Kreyòl.
FILM
[DON’T THINK TWICE]
Fascinating stuff. Visit chatterbird.org to learn more. 7:30 p.m. at the National Museum of African American Music’s Roots Theater, 510 Broadway AMY STUMPFL [THE PACKAGE DEAL]
HUMP! FILM FESTIVAL
There certainly seems to be a vibe shift happening in Nashville. Events are opening back up, the dogwood and cherry blossom trees are in full bloom, Daylight Saving Time is kicking in, and the HUMP! Film Festival is back at The Mark. Hallelujah. This year you can watch a new selection of films created specifically for this event and cherry-picked by HUMP! Fest founder and sex advice columnist Dan Savage. All the films are horny, most of them are sexy, lots are really funny, and some are unexpectedly moving. The films are made by non-professionals whose anonymity is part of the package deal. That means you’ll see ordinary people being playfully sex-positive, and you’ll likely see stuff you’ve never experienced, all with a group of Nashvillians in one of the area’s best sex-positive spaces. If nothing else, it’s a great way to introduce yourself to The Mark’s playspace, which is where the four screenings take place. For details and ticket information visit humpfilmfest.com. 7 & 9 p.m. March 23-24 at The Mark, 346 Herron Drive LAURA HUTSON HUNTER MUSIC
Nashville’s ONLY vinyl record store with full bar and 24 seasonal craft beers on tap.
MUSIC
MARK BISH.
MUSIC
GUITAR LESSONS
with former Musicians Institute and Austin Guitar School instructor
psych pop should play amazingly in a room as super-sized as Bridgestone — especially since Wednesday is the last headlining date of a two-week tour before the festival grind begins. 8 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena, 501 Broadway CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
[STILL HAVIN’ A GOOD TIME]
DUSTY SLAY
After going deep on Nashville’s stand-up scene just before the pandemic, I thought a lot about the personalities I’d gotten to know and how they’d been doing. I never worried about Dusty Slay, though. Anywhere he goes, his look — thick glasses, big beard, long hair, jean shirt, trucker hat — is iconic. His delivery, which I’ve described as “gentleman-redneck,” is equally timeless. Now he’s back in the swing of things, dropping into his local stomping grounds for a one-off set following a West Coast jaunt ahead of residencies in Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas. I’m just eager to hear Slay’s most recent observations on our dumb society. 7 p.m. at Zanies, 2025 Eighth Ave. S. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
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James Gibson: A Life in Sculpture A Retrospective Exhibition March 14-April 2, 2022 Exhibit Reception with the Gibson family, Saturday, March 19, 2 p.m., Todd Art Gallery, Todd Hall, Room 224A
Artist James Gibson Portrait
Negotiation of a Left Turn, 1971, Welded Steel
Hey Bird! 1978, Welded Corten Steel on Aluminum
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art_3-17
ART
FAR OUT
Mandalas, menageries and six Etch A Sketches make magic at Elephant Gallery BY JOE NOLAN
PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO
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ashville artist Benji Anderson was painting a massive, mandala-like mural on the floor of Elephant Gallery in North Nashville when the 30th annual Outsider Art Fair opened in New York. Annie BENJI ANDERSON: Armstrong covered THE FITFUL PORTAL THROUGH MARCH 31 AT the fair opening for ELEPHANT GALLERY, Artnet, outlining the 1411 BUCHANAN ST. history of the outsider art genre and focusing on the respected niche it’s created for itself over the past three decades. The definition of outsider art has evolved over time, but nowadays it’s a catchall term for art made by self-taught creators who are “outside” of the academic and commercial infrastructure of the contemporary art establishment. Benji Anderson is the son of Joel Anderson, founder of Anderson Design Group, and he’s the brother of local artist David Onri Anderson. But Benji opted not to go to college, and his wild, vibrant and densely detailed works vibrate with improvisational energy, idiosyncratic stylings and hallucinatory imagery that make them a good fit for outsider subcategories like “intuitive art” and “visionary art.” Elephant Gallery features lots of artists who are self-taught — or at least less traditionally educated — and Anderson’s exhibition serves as a great reminder of what the gallery did best before the pandemic. The Fitful Portal is an immersive display including a selection of large multimedia works on paper, Anderson’s signature drawings on Etch A Sketch toys, and that huge, colorful floor mural to really pull the room together. The gallery design recalls other displays in the space where artists have created floor-to-ceiling environments, playing to Elephant’s large storefront window. The best Elephant shows are over-the-top happenings that push viewers’ expectations of what an art exhibition should look like and how art can be displayed, and that’s exactly what Anderson does here. The floor mural is painted in vibrant hues of gold, pink, blue and brown. Elements like stars, leaves, hearts and diamonds can be discerned, but it reads like a purely abstract concentric design that Anderson referred to as a “whirlpool” when we chatted before the show’s opening reception. The mural recalls both mandala designs and the psychedelic stylings of the acid-dipped 1960s. Exhibition visitors can’t enter the show without stepping all over what Anderson calls his “biggest painting ever.” The mural acts as a rug-pull of do-not-touch gallery culture — until it’s inevitably painted over for the next show, disappearing like a Buddhist sand painting. The exhibition’s title piece, “Mandala/ The Fitful Portal,” is a large watercolor-andgraphite work on paper. Anderson told me it took him 80 hours to hand-mix his colors and paint his mural on the floor, and the intense
THE FITFUL PORTAL AT ELEPHANT GALLERY detailing of “Mandala/The Fitful Portal” looks practically as laborious. This work glows with circles-within-circles of yellow, pink and green designs that create an intense spiraling effect that made me anxious even when I was just looking at a picture of it on my phone. It’s a trippy piece, and viewers can spend an afternoon closely examining every tiny gesture and line conspiring in its vertiginous effect. Druggy designs are a highlight here, but most of the show is packed with strange creatures and weird plants, populating eerie scenes in absurd other-worlds. In the Outsider Art Fair report on Artnet, Armstrong mentions the late, great singer-songwriteroutsider-artist Daniel Johnston. Anderson’s scenes can be Johnston-esque in their jampacked compositions of colorful, cartoonish characters. But Anderson’s art is more … well, fitful — he jumps through numerous styles in single works, and mixes his media in squalls of crayon, pastel, watercolor, marker, pencil, ballpoint pen and more. “Tread on the Trail” may be the wildest piece in a show packed with wacko works. The piece evokes some forgotten creation myth with a menagerie of crazy creatures that reference cartoon history — a weird pink tiger is stylized like a 1930s Max Fleischer cartoon, and a pair of little fawns are straight out of Disney. A palm tree waving in the background is adorned with meticulously detailed greenery and textured bark, but some animals in this tableau have eyes and noses indicated only by single dots.
The weirdness of the scene — combined with Anderson’s chaotic expressions — can be slightly disturbing, but the artist’s bright, buoyant palette helps balance the work’s more unsettling undertones. No bad trips here, man. The show also includes a collection of Anderson’s Etch A Sketch drawings, with the iconic red toys handsomely arranged on a single row on a slanted viewing shelf. It’s a great display, and the Etch A Sketch works look even more impressive grouped as a whole. Anderson teamed up with Extended Play Press to release his Etchings book of drawings on toy screens in 2019. The works have become something of a signature for the artist — not only because of their playful novelty, but also because they’re emblematic of a creative practice that combines childlike imaginative explorations with the obsessive rendering of myriad detailed images. These sketchy drawings include weird dinosaurs and bizarre architecture, subterranean giants and an impressive negative image of a mask design that finds Anderson filling in the entire background of an Etch A Sketch screen with a succession of meticulously spaced horizontal lines. An Etch A Sketch commercial from the 1960s claimed the toy “writes and draws like magic,” and The Fitful Portal finds Anderson playing an alchemist combining random materials in a state of free play in the service of a visionary consciousness. Abracadabra. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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MUSIC
SOS
Composer C.F. ‘Kip’ Winger’s newest work offers a coded message of sonic joy for Nashville Symphony fans BY JOHN PITCHER
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ou don’t have to be a rock star to compose music for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. But then again, if you aspire to write symphonic music for an ensemble that’s recorded 27 PLAYING MARCH 17-19 Grammy-nominated AT THE SCHERMERHORN albums with 14 wins, SYMPHONY CENTER you do have to be a serious, accomplished composer. And if you also happen to be a rock icon, well, so much the better. Charles Frederick “Kip” Winger is one of those rare artists who’s both a famed rock musician and a noted classical composer. As lead singer and bass player for his eponymous rock band, Winger cranked out a couple of hard-charging, platinum-selling rock albums in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Fastforward 20 years, and Winger seemingly emerged out of nowhere to be recognized as an important composer of symphonic music, earning a Grammy nomination for his ballet score Conversations With Nijinsky. Winger’s classical success didn’t go unnoticed in Nashville, where he’s lived for the past few decades. The Nashville Symphony and music director Giancarlo Guerrero performed Conversations With Nijinsky at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in 2017, and the piece more than held its own on a program that also included music by Debussy and Stravinsky. The ovation at the end of the performance whetted Guerrero’s appetite for more. “Kip isn’t someone you normally associate with classical music, but it was clear after our performance that he’s an amazing classical composer,” Guerreo tells the Scene. “So I met him over lunch and told him, ‘Look, if you write something else for us, we’ll definitely play it.’ ” The fruit of that conversation with Guerrero is Winger’s Symphony No. 1, which gets its world premiere performance at the Schermerhorn March 17 through 19 courtesy of Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony. The NSO will record Winger’s First Symphony in concert for future release on the Naxos label. For classical composers, writing a traditional symphony is as ambitious as it gets. These works typically consist of multiple movements that share rhythmic, melodic and harmonic ideas. It’s the musical equivalent of a novel, with recognizable melodic and rhythmic patterns serving as protagonists on a heroic quest. Johannes Brahms was so intimidated at the prospect of writing his first symphony that it took him 14 years to complete it. Winger gets that. “When Giancarlo mentioned the possibility of my writing something for the orchestra, he suggested I try writing my first symphony,” Winger recalls. “My first thought was like, ‘Well, that’s going to take me 10 years.’ But Giancarlo said the orches-
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tra would record it, so I decided to try and come up with something.” Winger eventually came up with a concept worthy of an M. Night Shyamalan film. Why not write a symphony about a person who receives SOS messages from their own lost soul? Over the course of a two-year period starting in 2018, Winger’s idea of a spiritual Morse code morphed into a fourmovement classical symphony subtitled “Atonement.” Winger scored his symphony for a large complement of winds, brass, strings and percussion. The biggest surprise in the orchestration is a prominent part in the first movement for a MIDI keyboard, which opens the work with the familiar electronic beeping sound of an SOS message in Morse code. “I could have just used an oboe to play the SOS Morse code, but I wanted to have a very specific electronic sound in the beginning,” Winger says. “I didn’t want the whole symphony to be about that sound, though, so I explore lots of other possibilities and sounds in different movements.” Each of Winger’s subsequent movements builds on the SOS message of the first movement, with its meaning reflected in a oneword title. The second movement is “Eleos,” or “mercy,” the third is “Metamorphosis” and the finale is “Metanoia,” or “change of heart,” usually in the sense of a spiritual reckoning. The Morse code spellings for each of these words become rhythmic motifs that are taken up and developed by the entire orchestra. As the symphony’s sonic lost soul searches for its salvation, it occasionally
encounters a formidable obstacle, which Winger calls the “brick-wall chord.” This dissonant five-note tone cluster appears throughout the symphony’s first three movements in different inversions and orchestrations, preventing harmonic resolution and, by inference, spiritual salvation. This barrier is finally shattered at the climax of the third movement. Atonement is then expressed as a kind of reverie in the finale. “The feeling at the end is like floating out to sea,” says Winger. Winger is certainly not the first rock star to write classical music. But unlike Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello and other rockers who’ve tried their hand at writing in the classical style, Winger is no dilettante. He’s devoted several decades to mastering composition, counterpoint and orchestration. Admittedly, he got off to a late start. Born in Denver in 1961, Winger grew up in a musical family. His parents were jazz musicians, and from a young age he studied bass and played in rock bands. He wasn’t exposed to classical music until age 16, when he attended a ballet class with his thengirlfriend. As the sounds of Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Debussy washed over him, he soon became hooked. Still, his resolve to become a rock star never waned. He moved to New York City and, by the mid-1980s, attracted the attention of Alice Cooper. He went on tour with the shock rocker and played on a couple of his albums. But while riding the crest of this wave, Winger surprised everyone when he left Alice Cooper to form his own epony-
mous glam-metal band along with guitarist Reb Beach. Winger’s new group enjoyed early success. Their self-titled debut album and second release In the Heart of the Young both went platinum. But the group’s fortunes faded in the early 1990s as heavy metal and progressive rock began losing out to grunge. With his rock career temporarily sidelined, Winger made the unorthodox choice to focus on his passion for classical music. He plowed through the orchestration textbooks of Walter Piston and Samuel Adler and sought out instruction in composing. A major turning point came in the early 2000s, shortly after he moved to Nashville. Winger began studying with a Vanderbilt University composer named Michael Kurek, an artist whose neo-Romantic style appealed immensely to the rocker’s lyrical bent. Under Kurek’s guidance, Winger produced his breakthrough classical work, a multi-movement ballet titled Ghosts. Noted British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon later staged both Ghosts and Conversations With Nijinsky with San Francisco Ballet. Winger completed his most recent classical score in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. It will finally receive its delayed world premiere on March 17, the Nashville Symphony’s first classical series concert since the pandemic that will not include a mask mandate. The importance of that milestone is not lost on Guerrero. “It’s going to show Nashville that we’re back doing what we do best, playing new American music,” Guerrero says. EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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MUSIC
THE MAELS GET THROUGH Amid a new wave of recognition, wildly inventive pop maestros Sparks head to Music City BY JASON SHAWHAN
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BRANCHING OUT
Trumpet virtuoso Jaimie Branch carries jazz’s social conscience forward BY CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
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odern jazz can have a tendency to feel inaccessible to listeners on the outside looking in. This is by no means the fault of its current purveyors. It’s more a product PLAYING THIRD MAN of long-held percepRECORDS MARCH 23 AND tions of the genre as BIG EARS MARCH 26 overly formal, buttoned-up and governed by traditions when compared to punk rock, hip-hop and other idioms younger people gravitate to — despite those genres’ own tendencies toward establishing and adhering to norms. Jaimie Branch is an artist here to explode these and other judgments. The New York-born, Chicago-raised jazz trumpeter extraordinaire — whose go-to stage garb of comfy Adidas tracksuits and vintage White Sox ball caps is more consistent with classic hip-hop than, say, Wynton Marsalis — headlines The Blue Room at Third Man Records on Wednesday. One among a raft of artists gracing Nashville with stand-alone gigs ahead of Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Branch will be accompanied by a group of co-conspirators known as the Fly or Die band, with Jason Ajemian on bass, Chad Taylor on drums and Lester St. Louis on cello. They’ll bring to life a project that’s
spanned five years and spawned three progressive, politically charged LPs: 2017’s Fly or Die, its 2019 follow-up Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise and the 2021 stopgap Fly or Die Live, all issued by Chicago’s International Anthem Recording Co. When the world stopped in March 2020, the band was on the road, with several more months’ worth of dates on the itinerary. “If COVID hadn’t happened, we definitely wouldn’t have put out that live record,” Branch tells the Scene. “It just wouldn’t have been on our radar — we’d have just been continuing plugging along. I think it’s a really beautiful document, and I’m glad it’s out there in the world. But it was never part of the plan. We had a lot more touring to do on that record.” As many resourceful musicians did, Branch spent quarantine breaking her own mold, developing what she calls “a deep solo practice.” That meant gaining proficiency at mbira, an African thumb piano that plays a key melodic role in several places on the Fly or Die records. Taylor, who played the instrument on the tracks, gave Branch lessons. “You don’t have to do much — just hit it, and immediately get this beautiful sound back — but it’s very spiritual,” she explains. “It’s worked its way into my solo projects, along with 808 trap beats, stuff like that.” Branch, who’ll turn 39 this year, has been a known commodity in the experimentalimprovisational world since her early 20s. She caught the music bug growing up in suburban Chicago, where her family moved when she was 9, and she developed simultaneous fascinations with Nirvana and Miles Davis. Aside from a detour to Boston to attend the New England Conservatory from 2001 to 2005, and a stint in Baltimore later on, the Windy City served as both Branch’s classroom and playground until she moved
back to NYC in 2015. “Chicago is open in a way that isn’t necessarily the case in other places,” she says. “There’s endless fractal growth — overlapping sorts of styles, and juxtaposition of styles — and a ton of musicians. Even when I was a good 10 years younger than everyone I was playing with, and the only female in the room, there was never any attitude about that. They took me as my playing dictated.” The Fly or Die trilogy marks a significant first in Branch’s career. Across the records, she puts down the trumpet and — on potent tracks like “Prayer for Amerikkka Pt. 1 & 2” and “Love Song (For Assholes and Clowns)” — sings out against border violence, white supremacy, the prison-industrial complex and other horrors that surround. Even when Branch & Co. aren’t explicitly spelling it out, the music never fails to match the subject matter’s intensity. Throughout its three volumes, the foursome revels in extremes — busy and sparse, aggressive and atmospheric, agitated and relaxed. When I ask Branch if she thinks contemporary jazz has grown more political in light of recent years’ calamities, I can practically hear her furrowing her brow over the phone. She sets the record straight about how — from jazz to blues, avant-garde, hip-hop and beyond — it’s always been that way. “You look back and have Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln records happening … The Art Ensemble of Chicago in the ’60s, they were political for sure. They left the U.S. and went to Paris because they weren’t getting the respect they deserved here. And then you have someone like Nina Simone, who was also overtly political, about race especially. What we’re doing is just part of a continuum. I think of music as more a circle than anything linear.” EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
ome kind of grand cosmic alignment made 2021 the year that Sparks — after 50 years as a band and 25 albums of deft, mordantly smart music that spans genres and PLAYING TUESDAY, moods with an ease MARCH 22, AT THE RYMAN that most artists in any medium struggle with — became media sensations. Two major films (the documentary The Sparks Brothers from Edgar Wright and the avant-musical Annette with Leos Carax) kept bringing fuel to the fire. All of a sudden the Mael brothers, Ron and Russell, weren’t just a cult band venerated by a select few hardcore fans. And the world has thankfully taken notice: Sparks have embarked on their biggest North American tour yet. Because the universe is sometimes beneficent, I spoke with the Maels in the fall ahead of The Sparks Brothers’ release on Blu-ray and Annette coming to streaming services. The part of our conversation previously published online focuses on those films, but we also discussed Sparks’ wideranging musical career in more depth. Read on, ahead of two stops in Tennessee: at the Ryman on March 22, and at Knoxville’s Tennessee Theatre during the Big Ears Festival on March 24.
Ron, in a great 2017 interview with Diffuser, you discussed how you and Roxy Music ended up in a sustained competition in the ’70s. What is it like to still be recording after all this time, when all your rivals have pretty much fallen by the wayside? Ron Mael: It was a really healthy kind of rivalry. We were on the same label at the time, and there were always certain stylistic similarities between us. We never needed that — we’re very motivated pretty much all the time, but somebody doing something really well while working in your general territory will definitely make you try a little harder. We don’t really feel that so much now. And part of that is we don’t really feel that kind of competition or inspiration from another band that’s been around as long as we have. … They tend to take a turn and become more mellow and reflective in a sense. And I’m not criticizing that. We’re just always hyped-up and caffeinated. It’s hard to find a band now to feel pushed by. Is it possible that this inescapable fact of modern rock is what led to the resurgence of ABBA? [Ron laughs.] How does it feel to be playing Nashville for the first time? Russell Mael: We’re excited. What’s happened with all of the attention from the two movies and the last couple of albums, there have been these opportunities to come to parts of America that we’ve never been to before in our entire career. And also to do it on a bigger scale as well, playing at the Ryman. In the past, we might not have been able to play here in that kind of historic venue. We’ve found that wherever we do go, now there’s a core group of people who know the band and have been waiting a long time for us to come and play. And America’s been more neglected than
nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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MUSIC
SONGS OF THE FREE BY P.J. KINZER
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any of us experience a very specific sense of trepidation when going to see an artist who’s been around a while. There is always that little tinge of fear that you bought a ticket as a sign of respect to the elders, and you’ll never really know the satisfaction of experiencing a primal rock machine in its prime. The best I usually hope for is an adequate performance, a set list that doesn’t omit my deep-cut favorites and to never hear the words “This is a new song” come through the house speakers. The tension mounts a bit when there’s a new lineup, or else some or all of the members haven’t played together in some time. The current iteration of Gang of Four has both of those conditions to contend with. Building on the momentum of last year’s Grammynominated box set Gang of Four: 77-81, the anti-capitalist punk quartet announced a rebirth. Returning to the stage for this tour were frontman Jon King, drummer Hugo Burnham and bassist Sara Lee, with David Pajo of Slint and Papa M fame to fill the gap left by the 2020 death of founding guitarist Andy Gill. On hearing that they’d be playing Exit/ In, I acknowledged two immediate feelings: I desperately wanted to see it, and it might be terrible.
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Russell: That was a record we did shortly after we did No. 1 in Heaven. We had gotten a little more confidence in our recording abilities, as well as the studio techniques we learned from Giorgio Moroder, and we decided to apply that and make a record with a female singer we knew. But right now, as for projects with other artists, we’ve just got a lot on our plates right now. We’ve started another movie musical, and that’s been all-consuming. And we’re doing that parallel with the newest Sparks album, and then the tour. Can you tell us about the new movie musical project? Is this the film of The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman — is that happening? Russell: Well, this is something new; a brand-new project from a new, different idea. We’re still pursuing
The Mother Church of Elliston Place had an impressive age spectrum for the gig on Saturday night. Among the gray-hairs, I saw about as many people who could perhaps be their kids — a true testament to the enduring appeal of Gang of Four. Making my way across the densely populated floor, I couldn’t take two steps without seeing familiar faces of local record-store clerks and collectors who only unearth themselves in THAT’S cicada-like cycles to catch events ENTERTAINMENT!: GANG OF FOUR of this magnitude. Snarling, seething blues duo Black who first played with the band from 1981 Venus got the night going. Batting to ’85, buoyed the classic tunes that preleadoff for an all-star-level lineup is always a dated her tenure with a funky groove that tricky proposition, and reactions were mixed got headier as the show progressed. Pajo, to the twosome’s high-octane performance. meanwhile, proved himself an offseason Three people I spoke with compared Black acquisition for the ages. He was true to the Venus to their fellow Ohio transplants The ferocious, steely noise that the late Gill Black Keys — but also to Blueshammer, the brought to the band while weaving his own painfully plastic fictional bar band from signature elements into the structure. Ghost World. The show was everything I’d have asked Any concerns I had about the current for, and more. On some of the songs, a backiteration of Gang of Four were bulldozed by ing vocal duo added a soulful dimension to the first alloy-tinged strum of Pajo’s guitar. the sound; Brooklyn Vegan identified them at From the opening salvo of “Return the Gift” an earlier show as Dolette McDonald, who perand “Not Great Men” from the Gang’s 1979 debut Entertainment!, the set felt like a formed with the Gang and many others back disco-punk Home Run Derby. King, decked in the day, and Tess Burnham, Hugo Burnham’s out in a collarless cornflower-blue shirt, daughter. Per tradition, King brought out his never stopped his kinetic frenzy. His energy baseball bat to pulverize a microwave during and charisma commanded the room and “He’d Send in the Army.” Once the consumer frothed over like a beer can in a paint shaker appliance was suitably battered, he lifted as he responded to the precise rhythms it over his head and chucked it off to stage Burnham was laying down behind him. Lee, left, as if executing the finishing move in a
foreign-object wrestling match. The earnest catharsis shared by the artists and the audience had gravity like a black hole, pulling us all together at an everincreasing velocity. The crowd chanted along as the Gang closed the main set with “To Hell With Poverty,” seeming unified in our disgust that this Marxist anthem — written more than 40 years ago — still feels appropriate for the current state of inequality in the world. Clearly, making and consuming art about major social issues doesn’t solve those issues. But it’s not all for naught. With socially conscious art like Gang of Four in the world, it’s easier to stand up when the tide of garbage threatens to pull you down. A minute after they departed, the band returned for a four-song encore that began with “Capital (It Fails Us Now)” and ended with their first single “Damaged Goods.” King, his blue linen sweat-soaked to a deep navy, gathered the whole group for a collective bow amid the deafening roar of the crowd. As the house lights went up, I started to make out the faces of people I’ve known the whole time I’ve lived in Nashville — a class reunion for the sort of folks who don’t attend class reunions. The consensus was that our expectations had been exceeded by miles. King & Co. are a vibrant post-punk force of nature, and this was one of the most powerful performances I’ve seen on this stage — a high bar indeed. EMAIL THESPIN@NASHVILLESCENE.COM PHOTO: STEVE CROSS
THE SPIN
does that on tour. Back in the ’90s, during the Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins era, it seemed like every single would get loaded down with countless multiformat remixes. What are your general thoughts on remixing? Russell: We like for someone to put thought into what they’re doing. To us, it’s always better to have some relation to the original song, otherwise what’s the point. But it’s on a case-by-case basis. If someone comes up with something that’s really striking, we’re OK with it as a peripheral thing. We were never that involved with the phenomenon. It’s a specific craft that some people can do very well; it can just be formulaic. We remixed Morrissey’s “Suedehead” in 2006 where it’s deconstructing the song. We did another that we really liked for a singer named Katie Melua, “A Happy Place” in 2010, and it was a different version of the song, but it was still using the song itself. We did that for Yoko Ono as well [on 2010’s “Give Me Something”]. Given the two films, the new tour, and a proper The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, and we’re hoping fusillade of media coverage of the legacy and for it to be a stop-motion animation from Joseph Walcurrent relevance and vibrance of Sparks, do you lace, the director of our “Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than ever find yourself having an Alexander the Great Me)” video. He uses these incredible techniques, they moment where you have a lament that there’s almost look like Eastern European animation. So we’re nothing left to conquer? hoping to get that happening as a feature film. And Ron: What’s happening for us now is so beyond now the new musical has been spurred into existence what we had dreamed of. When we were sitting at by all the activity around Annette. Cannes, at the opening night of a film that we wrote, who could have imagined that when we first started Russell, you have one of the singular voices out? And to tour the world, in cities we’ve never in rock, and it’s still going strong. What’s your played before, and to do it on a whole other level secret to keeping your voice in shape? than back in the ’70s, it’s beyond anything we could Russell: I find that exercise and physical activity try to imagine. We’re never one to be resting on our help with breathing, and singing is all about breathing. I move as much as I can. Cardio and luck, I guess. laurels, and we certainly aren’t taking this moment for granted. We don’t wanna blow it. Ron: He also read an article that Tony Bennett had written advising drinking water all the time, so he EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM PHOTO: ANNA WEBBER
anywhere else in the world, for Sparks, excepting the coasts. For us to come south is really exciting, and we’re looking forward to it. Nashville is such a songwriter’s town that I can’t imagine y’all not making big, rippling effects in the vibe. I foresee a lot of country artists dipping into your catalog for potential covers. Ron: That would be incredible. We very much look forward to that. Your 1980 album Terminal Jive was coproduced by disco legend Giorgio Moroder (your second collaboration with him) and electronic composer Harold Faltermeyer. It didn’t get a release in the U.S. until the ’90s, when Oglio Records issued many Giorgio Moroder Publishing Company albums here for the first time. How did it feel to see your records held back from your home audience? Ron: [These days] because of streaming and the internet, everybody hears the same things. But we were always kind of a regional band in a way. We kept running into an album that we’d done becoming incredibly popular in one territory but ignored in other places. And record companies would try and figure out why that happened; we never knew. It’s all changed lately, now we’re playing places that we’ve never played before. The last shows we did were in Mexico City, and we had never played there before despite being so physically close by in Los Angeles. And the people were really familiar with everything that we’d done. So that slight hurt that comes from an album being ignored is kind of gone now. If it weren’t for the internet, I’d have never gotten a chance to hear Noël’s Dancing Is Dangerous from 1979, which you wrote and produced. When you’re writing for another artist, does that change your approach? And is that something you would ever do again?
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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thebasementeast basementeast thebasementeast
917 Woodland Street Nashville, TN 37206 thebasementnashville.com THU 3.17 JOJO
W/ TANERELLE & LINDSEY LOMIS
CANNERY BALLROOM
ST. PATRICK’S DAY EDITION
MERCY LOUNGE
W/ PESO PESO & LUL BOB
FT. VOLTAGEHAWK, GUILLOTINE, & MORE
MERCY LOUNGE & THE HIGH WATT
W/ THE HAPPY FITS & CHARLOTTE SANDS
SAT 3.26 NEHODA
W/ BECCA MANCARI & WHY BONNIE
MERCY LOUNGE
W/ CORY WELLS & THE BRKN
W/ KALI & HAIVA RU
THE HIGH WATT
MERCY LOUNGE
MON 3.29 KENNYHOOPLA
MON 3.21 THE SCORE
W/ MAGIC WHATEVER & LUNA AURA
MERCY LOUNGE M
W/ ERGO, BRIA
MERCY LOUNGE M
WED 3.30 JOYWAVE
WED 3.23 JOAN
W/ JOE P
W/ THE WLDLFE
MERCY LOUNGE
MERCY LOUNGE
THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE // MAR 27
LIZ COOPER // MAR 26
W/ JULIEN-K & VANILLA SUGAR
W/ MOLLY MARTIN
Upcoming shows
mar 21 Mar 22 Mar 23 Mar 24 mar 25 mar 26 mar 27 mar 29
soapbox qdp Briston Maroney w/ jackie hayes & mercury sold out! Briston Maroney w/ jackie hayes & future crib sold out! beck sold out! maxo kream w/ peso peso & lul bob 10 years w/ black map & vrsty naked gypsy queens w/ echo pilot & down boy elderbrook w/ ayokay liz cooper w/ molly martin the birthday massacre w/julien-k&vanillasugar wednesday 13 w/ purity among thieves
Mar 30 mar 31 apr 1 apr 2 apr 3 apr 4 apr 5
The Airborne Toxic Event w/ mondo cozmo ian noe sierra ferrell sold out! sierra ferrell dorothy w/ joyous wolf & classless act cannons w/ madi sipes & painted blue the districts w/ francis of delirium & vanillaroma
Mar 20
W/ SOUND & SHAPE AND RYAN SOBB
MERCY LOUNGE
SUN 3.27 THE DANGEROUS SUMMER
MON 3.21 CLAUD
mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 19
W/ BASEBALL GAME & VERA BLOOM
CANNERY BALLROOM
SUN 3.20 THAO
W/ AYOKAY
F RI 3.25 PONCÉ
SAT 3.19 SARAH SHOOK & THE DISARMERS SAT 3.26 THE MAINE W/ AARON VANCE
ELDERBROOK // MAR 25
W/ JORDAN DEAN, JP BURR, & MAJESKA
MERCY LOUNGE
MERCY LOUNGE
NAKED GYPSY QUEENS // MAR 24
THU 3.24 LENOX HILLS CANNERY BALLROOM
F RI 3.18 ZAKKAPALOOZA
QDP // MAR 18
W/ CAROLINE SPENCE
MERCY LOUNGE
THU 3.17 BEER & HYMNS
MAXO KREAM // MAR 22
THU 3.24 DAVID RAMIREZ
& circuit circuit
apr 6 apr 7 apr 8 apr 9 apr 10 apr 12 Apr 14 Apr 16 Apr 17 Apr 19 Apr 20 apr 21 apr 22 apr 23 apr 24 apr 25 apr 26 apr 27 apr 28 apr 29 apr 30 may 1
latto w/ saucy santana, and kali & asianae tate mcrae w/ mimi webb sold out! tate mcrae w/ mimi webb sold out! obituary w/ gruesome & 200 stab wounds kishi bashi w/ tall tall trees Genesis Owusu w/ blake ruby fruit bats w/ johanna samuels lights w/ tillie southern underground pro wrestling pedro the lion w/ oceanator hurray for the riff raff w/ anjimile elvie shane w/ frank ray penny & sparrow w/ lera lynn sold out! government cheese the lil smokies w/ michigan rattlers feelrs, the weird sisters & the reveal son volt w/ s. g. goodman helado negro nilüfer yanya w/ tasha and ada lea los lobos the chats w/ mean jeans & thick gang of youths
FRI. 3/18
SAT. 3/19
zakkapalooza
mercy lounge & the high watt
sarah shook & the disarmers
w/ aaron vance · mercy lounge
SUN. 3/20
SAT. 2/23 MON. 3/21
thao
mercy lounge · w/ becca mancari & why bonnie
kendrick vs drake claud
presented joco shows w/by kali & haiva ru· ·mercy mercylounge lounge
THU. 3/24
WED. 3/23
david ramirez
joan
w/ caroline spence · mercy lounge
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W/ AMANDA BROADWAY BAND & LAURA REED
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W/ JORDAN SHELLHART & ELLIOTT BLAUFUSS
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trapper schoepp (7pm) Brontë fall w/ brandon lee harris & lucas carpenter (9pm)
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mar 25 mar 25 mar 26 mar 26 mar 27 mar 28 mar 28 mar 30 mar 30 mar 31 mar 31 apr 1 apr 1
stray fossa w/ joelton mayfield & jenny kravitz (7pm) step sisters w/ beset & crave on (9pm) the deltaz w/ cam pierce (7pm) arts fishing club & virginia man (9pm) sunshine scott, emily blue, & frank samuel old lady w/ ma'am taylor lowrance w/arielbui&makeyourselfat home the mastersons w/ the whitmore sisters (7pm) the ivins w/ the infamous her & coco hinnon (9pm) lowen (7pm) multi-ultra w/ blackpool mecca & pepper said (9pm) emily hackett w/ olivia barton flummox w/ look what I did & isolation tank ensemble
W/ LOMBARDY
THE HIGH WATT
4.14 THE ZACH DAY TAKEOVER
CABIN BOYS // MAR 24
5.13 THE FOXIES
4.26 THE FELICE BROTHERS THE HIGH WATT
5.14 THE WEEKS MERCY LOUNGE
5.15 MAKAYA MCCRAVEN MERCY LOUNGE M
5.11 THE PALMS THE HIGH WATT
FRI 4.01 THREE STAR REVIVAL W/ THE STOOP KIDS & BCKHND
MERCY LOUNGE
FRI 4.01 NAKED GIANTS THE HIGH WATT
PRESENTS: I HAVE TO DO THIS SHOW
CANNERY BALLROOM
MON 4.04 POINT NORTH
W/ LIL LOTUS, CONCRETE CASTLES, & CHERIE AMOUR
THE HIGH WATT
SAT 4.02 BULLY
TUE 4.05 DANNY G
MERCY LOUNGE M
SAT 4.02 MATT MALTESE - SOLD OUT W/ GIRLPUPPY
MON 4.04 CRANKGAMEPLAYS
W/ GRAHAN BARHAM & TASJI
THE HIGH WATT
WED 4.06 WALDEN
THE HIGH WATT
W/ YOUR BEST FRIEND’S FAVORITE BAND
THE HIGH WATT
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nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
35
FILM
SWORDPLAY
Third Man Records kicks off its Creature Feature series with Thrilling Bloody Sword
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I
f you’ve long lamented the absence of local film series the Light + Sound Machine or Zack Hall’s all too intermittent Basement Tapes nights at Third Man Records, have I got good news for you. Third Man’s projector is firing back up with the launch of CREATURE FEATURE: THRILLING BLOODY SWORD Creature Feature, a film night in TMR’s NR, 81 MINUTES SHOWING 8 P.M. FRIDAY, Blue Room devoted MARCH 18, AT THIRD MAN to some of the wildRECORDS; IN MANDARIN est and weirdest in WITH ENGLISH AND genre cinema that CANTONESE SUBTITLES might otherwise have slipped through the collective cracks of society. And let’s be real: Society today, especially in Tennessee, is pretty fucking cracked. This event — sprung from grindhouse memories, arthouse revelations, roadhouse whiskey and bastard magic — kicks off on Friday with Challenge of the Lady Ninja/ Kung Fu Wonder Child/Little Dot Agitates the Oolong Pavilion screenwriter Hsin-Yi Chang’s 1981 epic Thrilling Bloody Sword. (The film is also known as Heaven Sword, or
in a literal translation of its Mandarin title, Sword Moves Mountains and Rivers.) Billed all over the internet as a kung fu Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (which it is) but also as an episode of He-Man dosed with psychedelics and historical perspective (which it also is), Thrilling Bloody Sword has asskicking little people, alien pregnancies, epic fights, force-field-related disintegrations, arcane rituals, Hydra violence, faeries gone wild, a big ol’ devil, and Elsa Yeung Wai San summoning spirits and banishing demons with Sandra Bernhard-in-both-Hudson Hawk-and-Shogun Assassin energy. Lovingly preserved by the noble freaks at Gold Ninja Video and the American Genre Film Archive from the last remaining 35 mm print in existence, this is the only way modern audiences can hope to see this kungfu-fairy-tale freakout. It’s a blend of timeless folk-tale archetypes, extraterrestrial messianic narratives, Taiwanese splatstick, and the outfits from the best drag shows of both 1981 and 2071. This is as glorious a rededication of Third Man’s exhibition capability as any. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
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25 White Bridge Rd., Nashville, TN 37205 615-810-9625
PUZZLE BY AUGUST MILLER
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MyPleasureStore.com *Offer Ends 4/15/2022. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Discount Code: NSLUCK
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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.
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4/28/22. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021. 1/4/2021.
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Columbia 1006 Carmack Blvd Columbia, TN 931-398-3350
nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 – MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
3:19 PM
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Marketplace
Rocky McElhaney Law Firm InjuRy Auto ACCIdEnts WRongFul dEAth dAngERous And dEFECtIvE dRugs
Voted Best Attorney in Nashville
In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon VICKIE ALEXANDER JONES. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HER appearance herein with thirty (30) days after March 24, 2022 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on April 25, 2022. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville. Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell, Deputy Clerk Date: February 23, 2022
NSC 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24/22
Advertise on the Backpage!
www.rockylawfirm.com LEGAL
IN THE FOURTH CIRCUIT COURT OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE Docket No. 20D1992
Rental Scene
JASON JEREMIAH JONES v. VICKIE ALEXANDER JONES In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon VICKIE ALEXANDER JONES. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HER appearance herein with thirty (30) days after March 24, 2022 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on April 25, 2022. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.
International Entertainment Strategic Specialist. Represent and promote artists and musicians in dealing with current and prospective employers in the United States and Europe. Employer: International Entertainment Strategic Specialist. Location: Brentwood, TN. Some international travel to Europe required. Can telecommute from any location in Tennessee. To apply, mail resumé (no calls/e-mails) to J. Nehasil, 6720 Autumn Oaks Drive, Brentwood, TN 37027, and state the requested position.
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Your Neighborhood
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Local attractions nearby: · Rippavilla Mansion · The Crossings of Spring Hill Mall · Kings Creek Golf Club Top 3 bars and restaurants nearby: · Izzy’s Feel Good Food · Nelly’s Italian Café · The Fainting Goat
3 nearby places you can enjoy the outdoors: · Creekside Riding Academy and Stables · Erwin Park · Self-guided battlefield tour Best place nearby to see a show: · First Bank Amphitheater · Whiskey Room Live · Kimbro’s Pickin Parlor Favorite local neighborhood bar: · Froggy and Jeffro’s
Best local family outing: · Longview Recreation Center · Spring Hill Antique Mall · Evans Park List of amenities from your community: All Coming Soon: · State of the art clubhouse · Resort-style swimming pool · Dog Park · 24-hour fitness center · 24-hour coffee bar
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100 John Green Place, Spring Hill, TN 37174 | southavenatcommonwealth.com | 629.777.8333 38
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NASHVILLE SCENE | MARCH 17 - MARCH 23, 2022 | nashvillescene.com
Southaven at Commonwealth 100 John Green Place, Spring Hill, TN 37174
The Harper 2 Beds / 2 bath 1265 sq ft from $1700
The Hudson 3 Bed / 2 bath 1429 sq ft from $1950
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Gazebo Apartments 141 Neese Drive Nashville TN 37211 1 Bed / 1 Bath 756 sq ft from $1,119 +
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To advertise your property available for lease, contact Keith Wright at 615-557-4788 or kwright@fwpublishing.com
Studio 330 sq feet from $900 - $1000
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brightonvalley.net | 615.366.5552 nashvillescene.com | MARCH 17 - MARCH 23, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE
39
S U H P I TC
Nashville is a diverse city, and we want a pool of freelance contributors who reflect that diversity. We’re looking for new freelancers, and we particularly want to encourage writers of color & LGBTQ writers to pitch us.
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