MAY 13–19, 2021 I VOLUME 40 I NUMBER 15 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE
METROPOLITIK: HOW THE MNPD TELLS US ABOUT FATAL POLICE SHOOTINGS PAGE 6
FOOD & DRINK: COMMUNITY RISES TO HELP BELOVED KURDISH BUSINESS BOTAN MARKET PAGE 18
GUNS, GERMS & DEALS A REPORT FROM THE TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE’S FOUR MONTHS IN NASHVILLE • BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT
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CONTENTS
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25
Metropolitik: How the Police Department Tells Us About Fatal Police Shootings ......6
I Know a Place
CITY LIMITS
Decisions about what information to release after deadly incidents may soon be out of the department’s hands
BOOKS
I’ll Take You There is an unflinching exploration of Nashville’s social justice sites BY LENA MAZEL
Anjali Enjeti’s The Parted Earth follows several generations of personal fallout from India’s Partition
COVID-19 vaccine grows more accessible as demand lessens across the city
BY EMILY CHOATE AND CHAPTER 16
BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
Get Your Kicks ............................................7 Nashville SC’s first four games have proven Nissan Stadium to be a fun, rowdy place to watch a very good team BY STEVE CAVENDISH
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MUSIC
Natural Resources .................................. 26 Nashville’s wealth of top hip-hop production talent is hungry for opportunity
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BY BRITTNEY McKENNA
Guns, Germs & Deals
BY RON WYNN
COVER STORY
A report from the Tennessee legislature’s four months in Nashville BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT
Rhythm Changes ..................................... 28 Monday Night Jazz brings the beat to North Nashville
Push on Through ..................................... 29
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Check out the Ladies Night @ Lane basic mechanics’ class, see Ron Gallo at The Basement, watch Sisters With Transistors at the Belcourt, check out ‘N2020 in a Day,’ stream Sheba Karim’s book event, watch Jackie Brown on HBO Max, read some Fletch books and more
BY ABBY LEE HOOD
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Melvin Van Peebles’ influential and groundbreaking The Story of a Three-Day Pass comes to the Belcourt
The People’s Places: Botan Market
A Low Profile ........................................... 30
FOOD AND DRINK
In the wake of March’s flooding, the community rises to help beloved Kurdish business BY JENNIFER JUSTUS
20 ART
Key to the City
Muralist Charles Key wants to teach kids that art can be a way to dream BY ERICA CICCARONE
22
DANCE
Musicians Corner Plans In-Person Return Is Bryant Town Family Cemetery the Oldest Black Cemetery in Nashville? Athens Family Restaurant Gets Kicked Out of Melrose Early, Welcomed Onto Belmont Josh Black On: Nashville Hot Chicken ON THE COVER:
Photo by Eric England
Allison Russell triumphs over personal trauma on Outside Child BY LORIE LIEBIG
CRITICS’ PICKS
THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:
The Cost of Healing
BY STEVEN HALE
Nashville Makes Progress on Equitable Vaccine Access, but Challenges Remain .....6
MAY 13, 2021
The Spin ................................................... 29 The Scene’s live-review column checks out John Mailander’s Forecast at The 5 Spot
30 FILM
Everyday Peebles .................................... 30
BY NATHAN SMITH
Profile oversimplifies modern anxieties about online manipulation BY STEVE ERICKSON
Primal Stream 53 ................................... 31 Surrealism, Soderberg and Lectroids, now available to stream BY JASON SHAWHAN
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NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD
MARKETPLACE
Turning Pointe
Nashville Ballet returns with live performance at Ascend Amphitheater BY AMY STUMPFL
nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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MAYOR COOPER AT INGLEWOOD ELEMENTARY
IS COOPER NASHVILLE’S EDUCATION MAYOR? In his April 29 State of Metro address, Mayor John Cooper proposed an increase to teacher salaries to such an extent that Metro Nashville Public Schools’ teachers will become the highest-paid teachers in the state. Cooper’s $81 million investment plan is long-awaited and sorely needed — as the results of a study commissioned by the mayor’s office and the Nashville Public Education Foundation showed — just to bring MNPS’ teacher compensation to a livable scale. When he stepped into the mayor’s office, Cooper inherited a fiscal mess that reached back to the administration of Karl Dean — who added $1 billion to the city’s debt load while claiming to be leaving the city “fiscally strong and in good shape for the next administration.” Thus Cooper postponed his campaign commitments to reward teachers for their hard work and loyalty to Metro schools. The budget-busting impact of the March 2020 tornado and the COVID-19 pandemic created a lot of mire for Cooper to wade through and resolve. Teacher retention and classroom experience are two of the most important factors that create a stable, committed and capable school staff. Spending decades at the same school and earning advanced degrees in their field are two of the key factors in developing the best teachers possible. The MNPS Teacher Compensation Analysis study, which was conducted by the national group Education Resource Strategies and delivered in April 2020, showed that Nashville has a long way to go to correct the inequities in our teacher compensation. This report highlights many glaring facts, just one of which is that Nashville has been able to retain fewer than 200 doctorate-level teachers who have taught in Metro for 28 years or more. The capabilities and loyalty of teachers with both advanced degrees and decades of classroom experience are the very reasons we should work to retain the teachers we hire. The 200 educators in MNPS with those credentials make up just 3 percent of the more than 6,500 certified staff members the system employs. This is a harsh but true reality that both Mayor Cooper and the school board have been working to correct. The 2020 study also found that MNPS was losing nearly a quarter of its teachers annually in recent years. More than 18 percent of MNPS teachers left the school system for a
different job elsewhere in the most recent year studied. That attrition rate would be difficult for any employer to absorb, much less in a field like public education, where stability, tradition and experience are key to students’ success. Mayor Cooper, the school board and MNPS leadership are working to change these unsettling facts with this proposed teacher salary increase. Cooper’s decision to invest federal stimulus money into public education has also paid dividends. The district has seen the realization of a plan to provide digital tools such as laptops for students during our unprecedented virtual learning experience during the past two school years. We have seen our school district make tremendous efforts to provide food for needy families while everyone remained home during the shutdown efforts. Our teachers, staff and administration have done more than a remarkable job during these uncertain times. They have achieved the impossible — they have kept our students learning, our teachers gainfully employed and our communities stable. Those are impressive accomplishments even on a good day, but it is a testament to the commitment of our educators and school administrators that they have done so during these challenging times. This proposed pay raise is, arguably, the best we have ever done to reward the fine men and women at our public schools. Mayor Cooper stated in last month’s address that Nashville will be “making Metro’s largest-ever investment in public education, both in operating and capital dollars.” This marks the “first time in a generation we are fully funding the school board’s budget request.” As Mayor Cooper promised in his campaign: “Teachers are the real developers that we need to support. Educators deserve to be treated as the professionals they are; these are the individuals who are preparing our kids for the future.” With this proposed salary increase, Mayor Cooper appears to be making good on this important promise.
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 Stephen Elliott, Nancy Floyd, Steven Hale, Kara Hartnett, J.R. Lind, William Williams Contributing Writers Sadaf Ahsan, Radley Balko, Ashley Brantley, Maria Browning, Steve Cavendish, Chris Chamberlain, Lance Conzett, Marcus K. Dowling, Steve Erickson, Randy Fox, Adam Gold, Seth Graves, Kim Green, Steve Haruch, Geoffrey Himes, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, Christine Kreyling, Katy Lindenmuth, Craig D. Lindsey, Brittney McKenna, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Chris Parton, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Megan Seling, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Ashley Spurgeon, Amy Stumpfl, Kay West, Abby White, Andrea Williams, Cy Winstanley, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian Editorial Intern Diana Leyva 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 Promotions Coordinator Caroline Poole 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 Olivia Bellon, William Shutes, Niki Tyree Sales Operations Manager Chelon Hill Hasty Advertising Solutions Associates Aya Robinson, Price Waltman Special Projects Coordinator Susan Torregrossa President Frank Daniels III Chief Financial Officer Todd Patton Corporate Production Director Elizabeth Jones Vice President of Marketing Mike Smith IT Director John Schaeffer Circulation and Distribution Director Gary Minnis For advertising information please contact: Mike Smith, msmith@nashvillescene.com or 615-844-9238 FW PUBLISHING LLC Owner Bill Freeman VOICE MEDIA GROUP National Advertising 1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com
©2021, 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 | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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CITY LIMITS
METr0P0LITIK
Decisions about what information to release after deadly incidents may soon be out of the department’s hands BY STEVEN HALE
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n the evening of March 12, less than 12 hours after a shooting that left 31-year-old Nika Holbert dead and Officer Josh Baker hospitalized, the Metro Nashville Police Department released an eight-minute “video news release” featuring partial body-camera footage of the incident and narration from MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron. “You are about to see body-worn and incar camera footage so that you can have a better understanding of what occurred based on what we know up to now,” Aaron says at the beginning of the video. The release includes a little more than three minutes of uninterrupted footage from Baker’s body camera, beginning as Holbert hands over a backpack that Baker has asked to search for reasons that aren’t made clear. The shooting occurs after Baker tries to put Holbert in handcuffs. She circles the car while screaming as Baker pulls out his Taser and orders her to get on the ground. He deploys the Taser when she gets into the driver’s seat of the car. That’s when she allegedly picks up a gun in the car and fires at Baker — the gun is not visible in the video, but Baker can be heard screaming, “Ma’am! Put the gun down!” before a shot is fired and he falls to the ground. He returns fire and Holbert drives away. Aaron returns to inform viewers that Holbert drove about a block before wrecking her car and that she died soon after at a hospital. “In the coming days, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office will continue to investigate and analyze this incident,” Aaron says. “By policy, the MNPD will also be conducting an administrative review of the tactics and interaction you have just seen to ensure that they meet the high standards expected of our officers. Thank you for watching this video news release.” A series of police shootings in Nashville this year — three of them fatal, including the Holbert shooting — has brought renewed scrutiny to how and when officers use force against civilians. But it has also put a spotlight on the way the MNPD talks about the incidents in which its officers do so, and raised questions about whether the department’s “transparency” is actually just an exercise in narrative control. The MNPD’s handling of these incidents has also concerned some other criminal justice officials, who have been working to change the process by which footage and information are released to the public after police
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officers fatally shoot someone. Those decisions may soon be out of the department’s hands. The proposed language of a new memorandum of understanding between the TBI, the DA’s office and the MNPD would put the TBI and Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk in charge of what footage is released and the manner in which it is released following fatal police shootings. That would have to be agreed upon by all three parties, though. There’s no question that, since body cameras and dash cameras have been brought to the MNPD, Nashvillians get to see more of these incidents. That kind of footage wasn’t available in 2017, when Officer Josh Lippert shot and killed Jocques Clemmons, or in 2018 when Officer Andrew Delke shot Daniel Hambrick in the back as Hambrick ran away. Our understanding of what happened during those deadly shootings comes from grainy footage taken from nearby surveillance cameras. But the department’s approach to briefing the public on recent shootings, which were captured by officers’ body cameras, has highlighted new complications. Even though the Clemmons shooting prompted a new policy whereby the TBI investigates all fatal police shootings in Nashville, and the Hambrick shooting led to a crucial surge in support for the creation of the Metro Nashville Community Oversight board, it remains the case for now that the MNPD gets the first chance to frame the public’s view of shootings involving its officers.
NASHVILLE MAKES PROGRESS ON EQUITABLE VACCINE ACCESS, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN COVID-19 vaccine grows more accessible as demand lessens across the city BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
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he effort to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccine has seen some success in Nashville, but challenges remain, especially as vaccination rates decline across the city.
PHOTO: MATT MASTERS
HOW THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TELLS US ABOUT FATAL POLICE SHOOTINGS CHIEF JOHN DRAKE ADDRESSES REPORTERS FOLLOWING THE FATAL MAY 1 SHOOTING OF JACOB GRIFFIN After a separate March 12 shooting in which an apparently suicidal woman was shot by an officer but survived, Aaron released partial body camera footage at an in-person briefing, with MNPD training officials on hand to effectively justify the actions of the responding officers. A few days later the department released the full body-camera and dash-camera footage of the Baker-Holbert shooting. In April, after an officer fatally shot a man after a traffic stop, the department released footage that showed the man appearing to run at the officer with a knife in his hand. At a press conference the next day, Metro Police Chief John Drake told reporters that the officer “did everything he could, I felt.” About a week later, when officers fatally shot an unhoused and mentally ill man named Jacob Griffin who’d been making violent threats to his mother, Drake gave a short statement to some reporters on the scene, saying that Griffin had fired “at officers” twice during an hours-long standoff. The next day, when the department released partial body-camera footage (as part of another video package featuring Aaron, this time called a “critical incident briefing”), it was not at all clear that Griffin had fired at officers, even if it did appear that he had fired his gun. On May 4, The Tennessean reported that the MNPD had declined a request to release the full footage from the Griffin standoff and fatal shooting, citing an
ongoing investigation. This all inevitably raises questions as to how the MNPD decides what to release during an ongoing investigation and what to withhold. In an incident in which one of its officers was shot and critically wounded, the department released the full footage; but in the Griffin incident — in which Griffin was evidently experiencing a serious mental health episode and was ultimately shot while pinned to the ground by a police dog — it has declined. In response to a question about how the department makes these decisions, Aaron sent the Scene the text of the department’s policy on “release of certain video in critical incident/officer involved shooting cases.” Reads the statement: “The Public Affairs Office of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, in good faith, will use certain video, in what would ordinarily be protected evidence in an open law enforcement investigation, to timely inform the community of the circumstances of a critical incident/ officer-involved shooting.” Aaron also cited a Los Angeles Police Department policy of providing “necessary context” along with body camera footage since “a video may not tell the whole story.” That’s true enough. But if we’ve learned anything in recent years, it’s that “necessary context” from the police often doesn’t tell the whole story either. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
Concerns about fair access to the vaccine earlier this year were heightened by the outsized toll the pandemic took on Black and Latinx neighborhoods, as well as the health risks facing vulnerable populations like people experiencing homelessness. Leslie Waller, an epidemiologist with the Metro Public Health Department, says that when looking at vaccination rates for people 55 and over, there’s “not a huge drop-off or very noticeable disparity” between white people and those of other racial groups. “What has worked really well so far is showing up to these trusted community sites that are within the communities that we really wanted to reach,” says Waller. Those spots included parks, community centers and religious institutions, as well as big venues like Plaza Mariachi on Nolensville Pike. According to Metro, within the 55-and-older population, 50 percent of African Americans, 51 percent of Asian Americans and 62 percent of Hispanics in Davidson County have received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to almost 56 percent of white Nashvillians. But when you look at all age groups, Waller says, you begin to see the disparity.
For example, while African Americans are about 27 percent of Nashville residents, they’re only about 16 percent of those vaccinated. Waller says there are plans to offer more vaccination opportunities on weekends and in the evenings to accommodate the work schedules of younger Nashvillians, but adds that many people in that age group may not have the same sense of urgency as older citizens. She says there could be issues of both messaging and accessibility for young folks in those communities, but notes that getting young people vaccinated is a problem in all groups. Nashville’s vaccination rates dropped during April, with the total number of vaccinated Nashvillians at press time sitting at almost 43 percent — falling well short of the city’s goal of hitting 50 percent by May 1. People 35 and younger have the lowest rates of any age group. To improve outreach, the health department has started offering vaccinations at community and neighborhood events, like the recent Tennessee Craft Fair. “We’re hoping we can kind of capture the attention of those people who might not necessarily be so driven
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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to make an appointment ... but would get one if it literally shows up on their doorstep,” says Waller. Another part of the equity push involves outreach to people experiencing homelessness. In April, the health department and 18 partner organizations launched an effort to offer complete access to the vaccine to all people experiencing homelessness in Nashville by Memorial Day. Brian Haile of community health care provider Neighborhood Health, one of those 18 partners, believes that goal is in sight. By the end of May, the collaborative effort will have brought vaccination events to shelters and encampments large and small. Neighborhood Health also offers a walk-up vaccine clinic at Neighborhood Health’s downtown site. Haile notes that there were challenges, including the devastating flood in late March that displaced encampments and claimed the lives of two unhoused people. There was also a brief pause on the use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine following reports that it may have caused a rare blood clot disorder in six women — including one Nashville resident — but Haile says that wasn’t a huge setback. “I think the 18 organizations that came together to really make this work have reason to celebrate,” Haile says. “And our work isn’t over.” In terms of the declining vaccination rates, Haile says he hasn’t seen much difference between the unhoused community and the general population. He also adds it’s a good thing that Nashville was able to get to a point where being homeless “doesn’t make a qualitative difference in someone’s access to vaccines or their vaccination status.” Neighborhood Health has also been a partner in reaching out to immigrant neighborhoods and communities of color. Other partners in that effort include community groups like Conexión Américas, which had been working with the Metro Public Health Department since the beginning of the pandemic. “We worked with them to start a Spanishlanguage COVID-19 hotline, which has still been running, where we field questions about anything COVID-19-related,” says Andrés Martínez, policy and communications director of Conexión Américas, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the local Latinx community. Conexión Américas translated a lot of information from the city into Spanish, from instructions about masks and social distancing to updates on reopening phases. The nonprofit also hosted vaccination clinics at their own headquarters at Casa Azáfran on Nolensville Pike. Latinx communities in southeast Nashville were hit hard by the pandemic over the summer — Hispanics make up 10 percent of Davidson County’s population but accounted for 30 percent of positive cases in June. But Martínez says he was “pleasantly surprised to see a number of Latino families” getting vaccinated at other sites, like the Music City Center downtown, and feels the “messaging has been working.” Still, he thinks people may still need more information and preparation to really commit to receiving the vaccine — it’s not vaccine hesitancy, he says, but rather a lack of vaccine “readiness.” “They might not be equipped with the right information yet, or know where to get it yet,” he says, “or have the transportation.” “We’re just trying to stress the message that it’s safe, it’s effective, and it’s necessary for us to be getting vaccinated in order to avoid this happening again, or getting worse,” says Martínez. “This is what is going to keep our community safe.” EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF NASHVILLE SC
CITY LIMITS
GET YOUR KICKS Nashville SC’s first four games have proven Nissan Stadium to be a fun, rowdy place to watch a very good team BY STEVE CAVENDISH
S
itting in the grass of Fair Park, there’s a new attraction peeking out over the trees. It’s not a Ferris wheel — the Tennessee State Fair is permanently moving to Wilson County starting this year — and it’s not the speedway. The black girders of the south stands of Nashville SC’s new home have given form to a stadium that has been more court brief than realized idea over the past two years. For soccer fans in Nashville, it’s a “pinch me” kind of sight. Five years ago, the thought of a top-flight professional soccer club was little more than a sketch on a napkin, and surely not believable by fans of the sport here in Tennessee. But now, futbol’s supporters are making plans for next year’s season opener in a home of their own — a 30,000-seat temple on a hill, one of the nicest grounds in Major League Soccer. Back at Nissan Stadium, Nashville SC’s temporary home, there are signs that the team that will occupy that space will be worth watching. Over the weekend, on an overcast Saturday afternoon, NSC met the New England Revolution, the Eastern Conference leaders helmed by former U.S. National Team coach Bruce Arena. The opening three games for Nashville had not gone to plan. With largely the same squad, the boys in gold won a surprise trip to the playoffs last season, making it all the way to the conference semifinals. And that team was largely a defense-first proposition: Walker Zimmerman and Dave Romney anchored a backline that combined with a splendid Joe Willis in goal to post one of the best defensive records ever for an
expansion team. In the first and second games of the season — against FC Cincinnati and CF Montréal, respectively — Nashville leaked early goals and had to scrape to a pair of 2-2 ties. In the third contest, fellow 2020 debutante Inter Miami ground the game down to a dour 0-0 tie. If they didn’t get their act together, Nashville could finish a four-game homestand with as little as three points in the standings — and a big hole to climb out of. Coach Gary Smith’s solution was to bench Venezuelan forward Jhonder Cádiz in favor of the newly signed C.J. Sapong, an 11-year veteran who had provided energy off the bench in the opening three games. Sapong can be a real pest, pressing deep into the other team’s half while on defense to hound the opposition. But he’s also been a reliable source of goals, as team-high totals of 16 for Philly (2017) and 13 for Chicago (2019) showed. He may well be general manager Mike Jacobs’ best bit of offseason business. Sapong repaid Smith’s faith quickly, latching onto a header across the goal by Zimmerman to stab home a goal for a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute. By the time winger Alex Muyl picked off an errant pass and slotted another goal past New England keeper Matt Turner in the 75th minute, the game was well in hand. The defense that led Nashville into the playoffs was truly back, harassing New England captain Carles Gil into a forgettable afternoon. And timely goals meant that NSC never had to chase the game, as they did in the first two contests. The questions for Smith following the first three games focused on a preseason that was basically wiped out by COVID-19.
If the offense was blistering the opposition’s goal — as against Cincinnati, where they set a team record for shots — the defense was leaking important chances. And by the time the defense was dialed in against Montreal — the Canadians got two shots on target all day — the offense reverted back to last season’s indifferent form. After beating the Revs 2-0, though, Smith knew the quality of the win. “This, for me, was always going to be the toughest of the four,” Smith says of NSC’s win against the Revs. “Having watched the opening fixtures, I think this group was the most complete of any team we’ve faced so far. When I say complete — I’ve seen this team fight, I’ve seen this team compete, I’ve seen them have a lot of balance.” MLS seasons are a slog. This year, the 34game calendar will run until November after getting a late start due to COVID concerns — with the organization hoping that pushing the season later would allow more fans to attend. It certainly looks like the team Smith and Jacobs have assembled will be competitive every game. Are they good enough to make the playoffs again? It’s too early to say. But as more seats open up and COVID restrictions subside, Nissan is turning into a fun, rowdy place to watch a very good team. It’s good practice for when they move into their new house on the hill next season. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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Mental Health America of the MidSouth salutes our Mental Health Champions. These corporations were originally sponsoring a 2020 fundraising event that was cancelled due to the pandemic, and they generously chose to contribute their gifts as a 2021 unrestricted donation. Thank you for celebrating MHA’s 75th anniversary of serving Middle Tennesseans!
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446 Metroplex Dr, Suite A-224 - Nashville, TN 37211 - (615) 269-5355 1350 Concourse Ave, Suite 142 - Memphis, TN 38104 - (615) 269-5355
Need help? Find help at www.mhaMidSouth.org (615) 269-5355 or scan our QR code for a free, anonymous, evidence-based screening! 8 NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
GUNS, GERMS & DEALS PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
A REPORT FROM THE TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE’S FOUR MONTHS IN NASHVILLE • BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT
nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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THIS SESSION, Tennessee’s Republican lawmakers simped for right-wing pseudocelebrities and Tennessee transplants Ben Shapiro, Tomi Lahren and Candace Owens, the latter of whom got a standing ovation when she visited the House floor. (Owens, for context, once said: “If Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK, fine. The problem is that he wanted, he had dreams outside of Germany.”) They banned a nebulous theory related to racism from being taught in Tennessee schools, an effort that seemed to seep out of the national conservative media ecosystem down to Tennessee, where lawmakers had little evidence that it: A. existed in Tennes-
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“WE HAD OPPORTUNITIES TO REALLY DO THINGS THAT WERE INNOVATIVE AND TRANSFORMATIVE AND COULD REALLY MOVE OUR STATE FORWARD. A LOT OF THE CULTURE-WAR-TYPE LEGISLATION SUCKED THE OXYGEN OUT OF THE ROOM.” —SENATE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS CHAIR RAUMESH AKBARI (D-MEMPHIS)
see schools; or B. was bad. They briefly debated retaliating against the commission that decided to move a bust of the enslaver and alleged Confederate war criminal Nathan Bedford Forrest from its honorary perch at the Capitol. They appointed a 9/11 truther and 2020 election truther to the body that decides which textbooks can be used in schools. They named the stretch of street home to many of the most prominent Metro Nashville offices after former President Ronald Reagan — seemingly in retaliation for the city’s honoring of Nashville civil rights veteran John Lewis and Martin Luther King on streets near the Capitol. One of the governor’s stated top priorities this year was banning a type of China-backed research institute that is not operational at any Tennessee colleges, and the legislature obliged. They banned other stuff that isn’t in Tennessee too, like vaccine passports. They didn’t get everything they wanted, though: An effort to designate an official state tool (the ladder) passed in the House but faltered in the Senate. “We had opportunities to really do things that were innovative and transformative and could really move our state forward,”
says Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis). “A lot of the culture-war-type legislation sucked the oxygen out of the room.” Other divisive legislation could prove to be more substantial. Another of the governor’s top priorities — abandoning handgun permit requirements — passed both chambers relatively early in the session. House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) called it “a massive step forward for freedom,” but many conservatives wanted the bill to go further by applying to all guns and to people younger than the 21-year-old minimum in the bill. (The state has already been sued by a pro-gun group over the age minimum.) Law enforcement representatives across the state voiced their opposition to the proposal, but the typically pro-police caucus was not swayed. Rep. Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station) even said he was offended by their audacity in calling it a bad idea. Since the legislature in 2020 passed a so-called heartbeat bill banning abortion as early as six weeks after conception, abortion was not at the forefront during the 2021 session. (That legislation, championed by Lee, was almost immediately declared
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
O
n two of the most hotly debated issues during the recently concluded session of the Tennessee General Assembly, two conservative Republican doctors stood on opposite sides. When lawmakers debated whether institutions should be allowed to require the new COVID-19 vaccine, Rep. Bryan Terry of Murfreesboro was in favor of banning such requirements. Rep. Sabi Kumar of Springfield, meanwhile, cautioned his fellow Republicans. “Public welfare is what we are here to do,” Kumar said during a March committee debate. “We are allowing our quest for liberty to interfere with public welfare. … I don’t think we should sacrifice anybody at the altar of our own personal liberty.” When the legislature took up various marijuana proposals, the two medical providers were again on opposite sides of the debate. Terry, an anesthesiologist, has long advocated for Tennessee — one of the few states that has no medical marijuana program — to develop a medical one. Kumar, though, is highly skeptical of regulating the plant in Tennessee before federal authorities give the go-ahead. Terry tried several angles and seemed to land on a limited decriminalization bill that frustrated people on both sides — the perfect compromise. But it failed by a single vote in a House committee, sending Terry and other medical marijuana advocates back to the drawing board. They were ultimately able to add many of the decriminalization provisions to another bill and quickly pass it in the final days of the session, acknowledging that they wished it went further while calming the concerns of marijuana opponents like Republicans Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and Gov. Bill Lee. What they accomplished on the final day of the session still leaves Tennesseans with less access to medical marijuana than residents of almost any other state, but it was the biggest step yet here. Now people with nine medical conditions — including HIV/AIDS, terminal cancer and ALS — can possess 0.9 percent THC oil obtained in other states, as long as their local doctor confirms twice a year that they have the qualifying condition. The bill was the rare example of true compromise conducted at least in part in the open. But that is not the normal order of things at the Tennessee legislature, whose Republican supermajority spent much of the past few months deploying its consolidated power to push through conservative vanity projects.
unconstitutional by a federal judge.) But that didn’t stop conservative lawmakers from seeking to further regulate the procedures. Overwhelming majorities in both chambers this year passed a bill requiring women who seek abortions to consider burying or cremating fetal remains. To supporters, it was a matter of dignity, but reproductive rights advocates declared it an attack. “They want to chip away at our rights little by little, hoping we don’t notice, until suddenly our bodily autonomy is banned completely,” said Anna Flores, an organizer with Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, during a protest outside the Capitol. Another issue that seemed pulled from a Fox News roundtable rather than actual problems in Tennessee was the push to require transgender students to compete in youth sports based on the sex listed on their birth certificate. The goal, one House supporter said, was to “maintain the competitive balance, the safety for girl athletes and opportunities for scholarships.” No girl athletes, trans kids or parents were called to testify, and no backer of the legislation could come up with a situation in Tennessee in which this had been a problem. Adam Love, a professor of recreation and sport management at the University of Tennessee, said the legislation “further stigmatizes an already marginalized group of children.” One legislative effort certainly was grounded in reality. Tennessee Republicans have long chafed, especially recently, at Davidson County judges — elected by mostly Democratic voters in Nashville — who typically get the first crack at challenges to the constitutionality of laws passed by the legislature. Lawmakers were frustrated when in recent years one Nashville chancellor ruled their private-school voucher program unconstitutional because it was limited only to Memphis and Nashville, and another ruled that the state had to expand voting options amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But while these cases start out before locally elected Davidson County judges, the appellate process is controlled by Republican-appointed judges from across the state. The first effort at responding to that reality — attempting to forcefully remove the chancellor in the voting case, Ellen Hobbs Lyle, from the bench — was met with intense outcry from the legal community. Some legislative leaders, though sympathetic to the overall goal, saw it as hamhanded, and it was summarily killed. Then Republicans took up other efforts to reshape the judiciary, like moving original jurisdiction for constitutional challenges out of Nashville and to the plaintiff’s home county, or by creating a new “super chancery court” to hear just those cases. After weeks of debate, Republicans crafted an entirely new concept in the final hours of the legislative session — so fresh that it was drafted with a typo and the governor had not seen it by the time he addressed the media after the session. The agreed-upon measure contains parts of several of the previous bills, including moving jurisdiction to a plaintiff’s home judicial district, but it would also trigger the impanelment of a three-judge special chancery court to hear constitutional challenges at the trial level. The trial judges would be picked from the current roster of elected
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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— Jessi Colter From an interview with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
The Outlaw phenomenon, led by boundary-pushing pacesetters such as Jessi Colter, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, greatly enlarged country music’s audience in the 1970s. In 1976, Wanted! The Outlaws—a compilation featuring Colter, Jennings, Nelson, and Tompall Glaser—became the first platinum-certified country album, and a critical coup, earning the CMA’s Album of the Year. Learn more about Colter and her contemporaries by visiting the Museum’s major exhibition, Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s, open now.
EXHIBIT NOW OPEN DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE Visit CountryMusicHallofFame.org to buy tickets. photo: from the collection of the country music hall of fame and museum, courtesy of capitol records
nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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THOUGH REPUBLICANS in the supermajority did largely get what they wanted out of the session, a few efforts, particularly those related to criminal justice, attracted the support of Democrats at the Capitol. That’s not to say the two parties were in lockstep on criminal justice. Lawmakers moved to enhance penalties for some crimes, and one estimate found that the state would be spending tens of millions of dollars more on incarceration after this session — despite claims by Lee and some legislative leaders that the goal of their “criminal justice reform” push is to have fewer people in prison. Republicans also sought to make it a felony to block roadways and sidewalks while protesting, give immunity to drivers who unintentionally hit protesters blocking roadways and make it a crime to intimidate a bystander while participating in what is deemed to be a riot — all designed as responses to a summer of racial justice protests around the Capitol that made many lawmakers uncomfortable. Though the bill passed in the House, its Senate sponsor
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punted on it until next year. A headline-making reform effort that drew support from nearly everyone in the building was the institution of police use-of-force regulations, an outcrop of discussions between the governor’s administration, lawmakers and law enforcement representatives that followed the police murder of George Floyd in Minnesota last year. The new policy, which passed easily in both chambers, bans chokeholds unless an officer believes deadly force is authorized, requires instruction on chokeholds at police academies, bans no-knock warrants and requires officers to intervene when witnessing excessive force by a colleague. Though some critics said it doesn’t go far enough, that it was compromised by its reliance on law enforcement input and that it simply codifies policies that many agencies already have in place, it was a rare example of Tennessee lawmakers from both parties agreeing on something — and a rare if reserved critique of some law enforcement practices by typically supportive Republicans. There were other points of agreement too, including on the expansion of expungement eligibility and new approaches to judicial diversion. Superminority Democrats largely didn’t have an issue with many of the items included in the $42.6 billion spending plan passed during the penultimate week of the session. They liked pay raises for teachers (though they wanted bigger ones), investments in the state’s technical colleges and a new residency program for rural hospitals. But some of the largest line items in the budget left Democrats wanting, including the creation of a $250 million mental health trust fund, whose interest is expected to be in the seven-figure range annually. It’s not that they opposed spending money on mental health services for kids, but many of them would have rather seen such a large pot of money put to more immediate use. They also questioned the need for funnelling hundreds of millions of dollars into the state’s robust rainy day fund and stable pension fund. Republicans said both were necessary to keep the state fiscally sound long into the future. As they always do, Democrats pushed for Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Since Republican then-Gov. Bill Haslam failed to accomplish the feat in 2015, efforts have continued annually with diminishing response from leaders in the legislature. Some advocates saw an opening this year after federal legislation further incentivized the few states who have not expanded the health care program for the needy. But when Democrats brought it up during this legislative session, it was dismissed out of hand. Representatives from each party chastised the other for making the budget process a political one, which of course it inherently is — Republicans were “disappointed” that many Democrats voted against the spending plan, while Democrats argued they were excluded from the process even more than they typically are. At the Tennessee legislature, performative defensiveness is the name of the game. When confronted with the fact that significant pieces of legislation were crafted in a backroom, leaders chafe. Everything of note was of course crafted in a backroom — how else could the conference committee tasked with
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
judges around the state, one from each of Tennessee’s Grand Divisions. By giving judges from around the state first crack at constitutional challenges, it will bring “a certain sense of equity to the process,” said Rep. Michael Curcio (R-Dickson). “Folks, this is madness,” Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) said. He was so frustrated that he moved to end the legislative session immediately, a symbolic effort that was quickly dispensed with. “We are in the last two-and-a-half hours of session, and we’re lighting a bomb on fire and throwing it into the judiciary. We have no idea how this is going to work.” We’ll see later this year when it goes into effect. Another bill that will have tangible effects in the state was designed as an aid to employers, whom Republicans claim are having trouble finding workers because the federal government boosted state unemployment payments during the pandemic. Republican leaders in the legislature came together to cut the number of weeks Tennesseans can draw unemployment from 26 to as few as 12 (and up to 20, depending on the unemployment rate). The bill also bumps the weekly payout by between $25 and $50. “It will help people because it puts more money in their pocket right up front,” said Sen. Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol), the Senate sponsor, during committee debate. “For businesses it gives them an opportunity to hopefully attract some people and get people working.” There are, of course, many other reasons why some people may not be returning to work — low wages, inability to find child care and a lack of training among them. Or they might have died from COVID-19. Opponents called the timing of the cuts, shortly after hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans unexpectedly found themselves without work, cruel. And the bill’s start date is so far out — December 2023 — that it is not expected to do much to address any current issues. “I don’t think anyone’s trying to make a living off unemployment benefits — it truly does give folks an opportunity to find a job,” Akbari said. “Coming out of something like the COVID pandemic, to reduce benefits at this point, I just don’t know why we’re moving in this direction.”
HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES REMOVING COVID-19 SAFETY BARRIERS rewriting the judicial bill have opened the public negotiating meeting with a plan already drafted? Of course Democrats, whose power in the legislature is at a low point, were mostly excluded from the process, and of course it was political, just as the Republican-controlled backroom crafting of new election maps will be.
BEFORE THE LAWMAKERS LEFT TOWN, they celebrated a symbolic, if optimistic, end to the pandemic. Many of them joyfully ripped down the clear plastic barriers that separated their desks on the House floor. Tape directing foot traffic in the Cordell Hull State Office Building was pulled up. And thermometers used to screen visitors
entering the building disappeared. But the disease was not gone from their lives: Members spent part of their final week in Nashville gathering signatures on a get-well-soon card for a colleague, Republican Rep. David Byrd, who was first hospitalized with the disease nearly six months ago. Last week, as representatives prayed for Byrd, who missed the entire four-month session, he was transferred from a Nashville hospital to a rehab center, though he can barely walk after his bout with the disease and has lost more than 50 pounds. Still, said Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) on the Senate floor late last month, “This is now no longer a pandemic.” EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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A FREE FEST FOR DOGS
(and their humans)
JUNE 12, 2021 ONEC1TY PARK
pupsandpints.com
nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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ANNOUN
CING OUR 2021 LIN E UP
27th Annual JUNE 3
FROZEN II
JUNE 10
LITTLE WOMEN
JUNE 17
THOR: RAGNAROK
JUNE 24
9 TO 5
FREE TO ND! E T T A
Elmington Park
Food trucks, games & fun start at 5 p.m. Movies start at sundown.
N A S H V I L L E M O V I E S I N T H E PA R K . C O M SPONSORED BY
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NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
#MIP21 FOOD VENDORS
I N PA R T N E R S H I P WITH
CRITICS’ PICKS W E E K L Y
R O U N D U P
T O
D O
STREAM MEEK’S CUTOFF VIA THE FRIST
It is an indisputable and widely acknowledged fact that throughout history, women have had more good sense than men. This is a chief delight of Meek’s Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt’s critically acclaimed 2010 Western that defies genre tropes. In it, a small band of 19th-century settlers navigates the harsh Oregon landscape. Hopelessly lost and running low on water, they have hired the titular character — and he is a character — as their guide. While the men in the party trust him to shepherd them to safety, a woman named Emily
[BEFORE IT GETS COLD]
SEE RON GALLO AT THE BASEMENT
Like most artists worth following, singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Ron Gallo is in a pretty constant state of evolution, but some of the most important things about his work stay consistent. In March, Gallo released Peacemeal, an album whose Of Montreal-esque electronic-pop flavor is vastly different from Heavy Meta, the 2017 LP of gnarly power-trio rock tunes that he and his band were playing as they grew into an international touring act. But the message inherent in the records remains pretty much the same: In a world
MUSIC
[OPENLY THIRSTING]
MUSIC
Unless you’re the type who takes the label that says “No User-Serviceable Parts Inside” as a challenge, the inner workings of pretty much any automobile are daunting. And considering how complex cars have gotten under the hood — especially in the past 40 years with the proliferation of computer controls — the likelihood that you’ve spent much time at all in there is slim to none. But there are still unforeseen circumstances — say you’ve gotten a flat tire from running over a nail near one of Music City’s many construction sites — when a little basic knowledge will come in exceptionally handy. Enter the folks at the Lane Motor Museum, who’ve had to care for everything from supersophisticated race cars to petite two-stroke mopeds. Thursday evening, they’ll host their inaugural Ladies Night event (open to all adults), which begins with a course on basic car maintenance. Topics run the gamut from jumping a dead battery to checking fluid levels to checking air pressure and changing a tire. Even if you decide doing your own maintenance isn’t for you, you’ll be a lot more confident talking to your mechanic, too. Once the course is over, you’ll be able to roam around the museum and check out all of the vehicles on display. That includes those in the exhibit Opportunity and the Open Road, which opened last year to mark the centenary of women in the U.S. gaining the right to vote via the 19th Amendment. Attendance is limited to 15 guests; visit lanemotormuseum.org for complete details and snag a ticket via Eventbrite. 5:30-8 p.m. Thursday, May 13, at the Lane Motor Museum, 702 Murfreesboro Pike
FILM
AUTOMOTIVE
CHECK OUT THE LADIES NIGHT @ LANE BASIC MECHANICS’ CLASS
T H I N G S
(Michelle Williams, turning in one of the where so much of society is driven by best performances of her career) sees Meek technology and consumption, it’s critical for what he is: a swaggering cowboy and to remind yourself about what’s really con man who doesn’t know a compass from important and to make genuine connections a cactus. When they come across a lone with your fellow humans. Back in the Native American man minding his winter, Gallo and his wife and fellow own business, Meek captures him. musician Chiara D’Anzieri left This allows Meek to distract the Music City for Gallo’s native EDITOR’S NOTE: AS A RESPONSE TO THE party from his own ineptitude, Philadelphia, but he’ll make his ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, diverting their fears and return to Nashville Saturday WE’VE CHANGED THE FOCUS OF mistrust toward their captive. with a pair of shows. During THE CRITICS’ PICKS SECTION TO Emily is not joining the this time of late-pandemic INCLUDE ACTIVITIES YOU CAN PARTAKE IN WHILE YOU’RE AT bandwagon. Meek’s Cutoff is limbo, The Basement is HOME. slow but never plodding, and hosting afternoon concerts there’s plenty to ponder as the outside on the weekends. If you settlers wander around the desert. recall the parking lot around the The Frist Art Museum will host a virtual back of The Basement’s building, where screening of the film to accompany the bands would set up for Record Store Day expansive exhibition Creating the American parties when Grimey’s was still on the West in Art (on view through June 27). ground floor, you know exactly where to After Vanderbilt professor Sarah Childress go. At press time, tickets to both Gallo’s introduces Meek’s Cutoff via Zoom, you’ll be early show (at 2:30 p.m.) and his late show provided with a link to watch. Register at (at 6 p.m.) were still available. 2:30 & 6 p.m. fristartmuseum.org. 7 p.m. Friday, May 14, Saturday, May 15, outside The Basement, via the Frist ERICA CICCARONE 1604 Eighth Ave. S. STEPHEN TRAGESER
MEEK’S CUTOFF [C’MERE, YA BIG LUGNUT]
O F
[ROCK OF THE SOUTH]
SEE THE STEEL WOODS’ RELEASE SHOW AT THE NASHVILLE PALACE
Americana is another name for boomer rock, and sure, I know the genre is dominated by performers in their 20s and 30s who continue to rewrite the history project invented by the older generation. The Steel Woods hail from Nashville, a town where young, ambitious and talented musicians like the band’s Alabama-bred singer, Wes Bayliss, go to square up their concepts with the danged old music business. Bayliss started The Steel Woods in 2016 with the late guitarist and songwriter
STEPHEN TRAGESER
THE STEEL WOODS
nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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CRITICS’ PICKS Jason Cope, who died in January. Cope’s death hangs over the band’s new full-length All of Your Stones like a pall, and the album registers as modernized Southern rock. It moves a mite slowly for my tastes — The Steel Woods favor a depressed 6/8 groove throughout the album, and sometimes it gets tedious. Still, they’re a good band who write even better songs — as in “Ole Pal,” an affecting tale of small-town life that features a friend who meets his maker while overseas in the service of his country. “You Never Came Home” works off a White Album-style Beatles chord progression, played on piano, and I like the rough elegance of “Baby Slow Down,” in which Bayliss sings, “There ain’t nothin’ worse on planet Earth / Than a mother layin’ rest to what she gave birth.” All of Your Stones is a professionally done addition to the Southern-rock canon — I hope the band keeps on growing. 7 p.m. Friday, May 14, at the Nashville Palace, 2611 McGavock Pike
[AMEN, SISTER FRIEND]
FILM
BRITTNEY MCKENNA [NOT LEAST]
WATCH THE LAST PICTURE SHOW AT THE BELCOURT
So far this year, we’ve lost some good people. The Belcourt will be paying tribute to two of those people when the arthouse
CHECK OUT ‘N2020 IN A DAY’
Earlier this year, the Frist launched an online exhibition curated by Woke3, a TSU grad and founding member of Norf Art Collective. N2020: Community Reflections uses videos, music and photographs to showcase creative expressions by an array of Nashville artists in response to the historic events and challenges of 2020. To be honest, I think we’ve done enough reflecting on how spectacularly shitty our lives became in March of last year, but it’s useful to process the trauma productively. One particularly depressing aspect of the whole shitshow was the feeling of constantly playing defense — never feeling safe enough to create or to build. That’s why N2020 is meaningful. Now that the COVID fog is lifting with increased vaccinations and weather is perfect for outdoor hangs, I’m ready for some socially distant inperson interaction. Grab a blanket to sit on and join Woke3 and other N2020 artists in the Centennial Park Event Ellipse — right outside the front entrance of the Parthenon. The event will feature dance, music, spoken-word performances and more to put some pep in your step and salute artists who continued to create throughout that hellish year. Scene contributor and North Nashvillian M. Simone Boyd wrote last week that the exhibition “gives us the gift
of memory. It reminds us that, despite the treachery of 2020, we are still here.” That’s something to celebrate. 5 p.m. Sunday, May 16, at Centennial Park, West End and 25th Avenue North ERICA CICCARONE
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[WHAT A SMALL WORLD THIS IS!]
CHECK OUT NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY’S PICNIC WITH THE LIBRARY
The Nashville Public Library has served local families for more than a century with award-winning programs that spark the imagination and foster lifelong learning. And this weekend, NPL is inviting the community to celebrate — and support — those programs with its sixth annual Picnic With the Library. The event will take place online once again this year, but the library has planned plenty of engaging activities built around an Alice in Wonderland theme. At-home Picnic Packages start at $200 per family, and include everything from Alice-themed treats, games, craft kits and more. Donors also will enjoy the virtual premiere of Wishing Chair Productions’ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — featuring a fabulous mix of local actors and puppet friends, an original score by Tim Hayden, and Tom Tichenor’s whimsical tiny houses. There’s also an art contest, and even a raffle to win a private performance from NPL’s beloved Puppet Truck. Raffle tickets start at $35. To learn more or to become a patron, visit nplf.org/events/picnic. Sunday, May 16, via Nashville Public Library AMY STUMPFL BOOKS
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
[MISS MARVEL]
STREAM SHEBA KARIM’S BOOK EVENT Sheba Karim’s fourth novel, The Marvelous Mirza Girls, is billed as a
kind of New Dehli Gilmore Girls — a setup that makes it the perfect escape from the twin pillars of pandemic living: anxiety and boredom. Karim writes novels for young adults that are smart and sometimes steamy — she’s also written and edited erotica for adults. In The Marvelous Mirza Girls, the American-born protagonist takes a gap year in India with her mom. Along the way, she meets a handsome boy who helps introduce her to the city of New Delhi, with its Bollywood celebrities, 14th-century ruins, karaoke parties and Sufi saints. For this virtual event, Karim will be speaking with Kentucky-based YA novelist David Arnold, whose books Mosquitoland and The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik are similarly playful and have been acclaimed for their imaginativeness. The streaming conversation will be available via the Parnassus Facebook page. Details are available at parnassusbooks.net, where you can also order a signed copy of Karim’s book. 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 18, via Parnassus Books LAURA HUTSON HUNTER PODCAST
It’s no secret that the recording studio is historically a male-dominated space. Electronic music, too, is a genre commonly associated with male artists — a stereotype that Sisters With Transistors, a new documentary by director Lisa Rovner, hopes to shatter. Combining archival footage with expert interviews — and narrated by the acclaimed multihyphenate artist Laurie Anderson — the documentary uncovers a rich history of women artists making electronic music in the early and mid-20th century, showcasing not just the skill and innovation of its subjects but also the deeply transgressive nature of the music they made. Featured artists include Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, Wendy Carlos, Pauline Oliveros and many more. “This is the story of women who hear music in their heads,” Anderson says in the trailer. “Of radical sounds, where there was once silence.” Radical, indeed. Opens Friday, May 14, at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave.
[TO THE NTH DEGREE]
THEATER
WATCH SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS AT THE BELCOURT
ART
FILM
EDD HURT
screens Peter Bogdanovich’s Oscarnominated 1971 film The Last Picture Show as part of its Weekend Classics: At the Movies series this weekend. The blackand-white coming-of-age tale — starring Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms and Cybill Shepherd as horny ’50s teenagers living in a sleepy Texas town — features a performance from Cloris Leachman as the depressed middle-aged wife who makes Bottoms’ character a man. It’s a performance that got the future Mary Tyler Moore Show star the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Leachman passed away in January at 94. Two months later, author Larry McMurtry, whose semiautobiographical 1966 novel the movie is based on (he also co-wrote the script with Bogdanovich), died at 84. So salute both those titans by taking in a screening of this wonderful film. Screenings are at 2:10 p.m. on Saturday and 7:20 p.m. on Sunday. May 15-16 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. CRAIG D. LINDSEY
[HORSE SENSE]
LISTEN TO SEASON 2 OF COCAINE & RHINESTONES
Above all, what distinguishes Tyler Mahan Coe’s podcast about country music history, Cocaine & Rhinestones, from any conceivable competition is Coe’s combination of horse sense and subtle analysis of one of North America’s most enduring musical forms. The son of country singer and songwriter David Allan Coe, Tyler commands a substantial audience for Cocaine & Rhinestones, which kicked off in 2017 and boasts around 3 million listeners and 150,000 subscribers. During
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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CRITICS’ PICKS
[HALF A MILLION DOLLARS WILL ALWAYS BE MISSED]
WATCH JACKIE BROWN ON HBO MAX
Ready for a hot take? As singular as Pulp Fiction is, as sprawling and intoxicating as both volumes of Kill Bill are, as enchanting as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is, divisive auteur Quentin Tarantino’s best work is his third film, 1997’s Jackie Brown. Or anyway, it’s my favorite. Is that because it put the iconic Pam Grier back where she belonged, front and center on the silver screen? Is it because of Michael Keaton’s delightfully weird performance as a crotch-adjusting ATF agent? Is it because of Samuel L. Jackson’s and Robert De Niro’s bizarre con-man facial hair, or the fact that Robert Forster just generally kicked so much ass, God rest his soul? In a word, yes. The only feature film that Tarantino adapted from a previous work, Jackie Brown is based on Elmore Leonard’s 1992 novel Rum Punch — and Leonard himself reportedly said Tarantino’s script was possibly the best screenplay he ever read. Jackie Brown is about two-anda-half hours long, but it zips by like a film half that length, and every second Grier is on screen is a second worth relishing. It hit HBO Max at the top of the month, and if you haven’t revisited it yet, carve out some time to do so. You won’t regret it. Now on HBO Max D. PATRICK RODGERS TV
soon. Hulu debuted the show’s third and final season on May 7. If you don’t know, the show is adapted from writer Lindy West’s debut memoir Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman. SNL cast member Aidy Bryant stars as Annie, a sometimes bumbling, sometimes genius journalist, and the cast of friends, family and co-workers is rounded out with refined comedic performances by Daniel Stern, Julia Sweeney, John Cameron Mitchell, Patti Harrison, Lolly Adefope and Ian Owens. While Shrill’s inaugural season focused mainly on Annie and her efforts to get her personal and professional poop in a group, Season 2 gave viewers a deeper understanding of who Annie’s friends are beyond supporting players. Many plotlines were pulled from real-life experiences, which made the show — and its characters — that much more tender and relatable. At one point, Annie confronts her online troll for a story, which should remind fans of This American Life of the 2015 episode in which West deals with her own internet hater. In Season 3, Annie’s doctor urged her, unsolicited, to consider gastric bypass — “You know, for your weight.” Bryant told The Washington Post that the conversation was taken almost verbatim from her own doctor’s visit. Shrill doesn’t sugarcoat the moment or attempt to make it into a sitcom-y goof — we get to see Annie tell that doctor what we all would’ve wanted to say. Don’t be sad that it’s over — be thankful we have three seasons of Shrill to watch over and over again on those days when we need a reminder that everyone is worthy of confidence, love and success. And cute-asfuck dresses. Now on Hulu MEGAN SELING
[WEIGHTY ISSUES]
WATCH THE THIRD AND FINAL SEASON OF SHRILL ON HULU
My So-Called Life. Operation Ivy. Jeni’s Everything Bagel ice cream. And now Shrill — the latest addition to the long list of things I’ve loved that have ended far too
BOOKS
FILM
the podcast’s first season, Coe got his shot at explaining how the music business has deformed music and musicians — I find his two-part look at the story of Jeannie C. Riley and her 1967 hit “Harper Valley P.T.A.” both brilliant and horrifying. The second season started in April, and it promises to be as densely packed with detail and downright entertaining as the first. I listened to “Starday Records: The AntiNashville Sound” with an appreciation for how deftly he tells the story of a country label that sported, among many other great figures, George Jones. Established in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, by Jack Starnes and Harold “Pappy” Daily, Starday issued its first single in early 1953. Jones’ 1955 single “Why Baby Why,” featuring the Possum harmonizing with himself by way of primitive overdubbing, established his career. Coe understands how Jones’ supreme artistry emerged from his great gift for mimicry of other country singers. Starday’s roster included Jones along with Moon Mullican, Red Sovine and, as I’m sure you recall, Buzz Busby and Mary Jo Chelette. Starday opened offices and a recording studio in 1960 in Madison, just outside Nashville, and the label navigated the country business while the music was being temporarily eclipsed by rock ’n’ roll. Coe reportedly has an 18-hour season about Jones in the can, and that should be interesting. Cocaine & Rhinestones is hardnosed, dryly funny and totally sympathetic to a great art form — crack open a tall one and dive in. Find it on Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. EDD HURT
[THE MAN FOR THE JOB]
GO READ SOME FLETCH BOOKS
This month marks the 36th anniversary of the 1985 comedy Fletch, which stars Chevy Chase as journalist Irwin Maurice Fletcher, who used assumed names like Ted Nugent, Harry S. Truman and Don Corleone to get to a story. Some of you may know the film was actually based on a 1974 novel by journalist-turned-author Gregory Mcdonald, who ultimately wrote more than 10 books featuring the character. Unfortunately, it’s been a pain in the ass getting the other novels made into movies. Clerks director Kevin Smith spent most of the Aughts trying to get Fletch Won, the 1985 prequel in which Fletcher investigates the death of a lawyer in his newspaper’s parking lot, on the big screen. Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski and Dave Chappelle have been some of the leading men considered to play the titular character. And just last year, it was announced that Jon Hamm would be the lead in an adaptation of Confess, Fletch, the 1976 sequel that introduces Inspector Frances Xavier Flynn, another popular Mcdonald character. At this point, you’re better off reading the books — who knows when the hell they’ll ever become movies. You can order them through local bookshops like Parnassus and The Bookshop, or check them out via the Nashville Public Library. CRAIG D. LINDSEY
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UPCOMING VIRTUAL EVENTS THURSDAY, MAY 13 6:00PM
MORGAN MATSON in conversation with SIOBHAN VIVIAN Take Me Home Tonight
MONDAY, MAY 17 6:00PM
JONATHAN TAPLIN with T BONE BURNETT & CALLIE KHOURI The Magic Years
TUESDAY, MAY 18 6:00PM
SHEBA KARIM in conversation with DAVID ARNOLD The Marvelous Mirza Girls
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19 6:00PM
CAROL LEONNIG Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service
THURSDAY, MAY 20 7:00PM
MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD in conversation with EMMA STRAUB Great Circle
SATURDAY, MAY 22 2:00PM
MAGGIE O’FARRELL in conversation with ANN PATCHETT Hamnet
GET TICKETS & LEARN MORE AT PARNASSUSBOOKS.NET/EVENT 3900 Hillsboro Pike Suite 14 | Nashville, TN 37215 (615) 953-2243 Shop online at parnassusbooks.net nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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HELAN AND HAMID TOVI
THE PEOPLE’S PLACES: BOTAN MARKET
In the wake of March’s flooding, the community rises to help beloved Kurdish business BY JENNIFER JUSTUS With her series “The People’s Places,” contributor Jennifer Justus provides short takes on longtime local restaurants, markets and bars that deserve another look. See more installments at our Bites blog.
B
efore Kayda Tovi opens the front door of Botan Market, she traces her hand under a poster on the front door advertising kunafa, a Middle Eastern sweet made with shredded pastry. BOTAN MARKET That’s how far up the 4905 EDMONDSON PIKE water came, she ex615-942-9398 plains, when the family business flooded in March of this year. That was the second time the market has flooded in its location at the corner of Nolensville and Edmondson pikes — the
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first time was during Nashville’s historic 2010 flood. “Oh gosh, it’s like déjà vu,” says Helan Tovi, Kayda’s daughter. “My uncle and father were devastated. It was hard.” The two men — Hamid Tovi and Even Tovi, who co-own Botan Market — were at the shop the night of that heavy rainfall less than two months ago, watching the floodwaters rise and cars flood in the street, trying to think of what they could do. “You can’t pause the rain,” Helan says. “But to witness it the day after, we were just all in tears.” Bags of rice and produce, boxes of dates, nuts and racks of fresh-baked bread — all ruined. Coolers flipped and heavy equipment washed back to the creek. Helan says the family has considered relocating or raising the building in some way. “But they’re so comfortable with this area,” she says of her father and uncle. “This place has so much history. They don’t want to give it up.” Botan Market is one of the oldest and most respected Kurdish-owned markets in Nashville, a city with what is likely the largest Kurdish population in the United States. Hamid and Even took over the business in the early 2000s when its previous owners, close friends of theirs, moved to Arizona. “We have grown so much into the community,” Helan says. “A lot of people come over here and just hang out and see how my parents are doing, how my family’s doing, grab their drinks and groceries or snacks and go about their day. It definitely has a cultural
feel to it.” After the March flood, the community continued to show up — this time to help the family get back on their feet. Within days, folks were making donations to a GoFundMe campaign for the market. Volunteers, organized through Hands on Nashville, arrived to clean up. Edessa Restaurant, a Kurdish and Turkish spot down the street, brought food, and employees stayed to work. World Central Kitchen brought meals, and the owner of the gas station next door to Botan brought his coffee and tea machines and snacks for volunteers. “That made us feel like we have help,” Helan says. The flood happened at a critical time in the Islamic faith, just before the start of Ramadan — which began in April and concludes with the holiday Eid al-Fitr on May 12 and 13. Even during the holy month, when those who observe Ramadan fast, Helan says folks come in around sundown to grab their last-minute groceries before they break fast for the day. Then on Eid, “We serve a lot of sweets and pastries and teas — now that we can eat all the food we want to,” she says. “People are coming in and out of here making sure they have everything they need to provide for their guests and family around that time. Most of our sales happen around that time. To have the market being closed down at this time is a hardship.” Regular customer Eva Abdullah says she might pick up special boxes of medjool dates, for example, a traditional fruit in
PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND
FOOD AND DRINK
breaking fast. “Ramadan is definitely a time we cook more at home, but honestly most Kurdish households cook daily,” says Abdullah. “However in Ramadan, we might make more specialty dishes. We try to have soups to break our fast, the most popular being neesk, red lentil soup, but I also favor maash, a mint and mung bean soup. We also might make more sweets like zalubi, a fried sweet drizzled with simple syrup, or baklava.” Even while Botan remained closed for repairs, folks stopped in continuously. “Dried figs?” one woman asked, holding open the front door. Helan confirmed they had them and invited her to shop. Despite the grocery technically being closed, Botan’s owners didn’t want to turn anyone away. It’s this welcoming spirit that has kept Abdullah coming back since the early days of the market. “Back then the father of the owner was also alive, and he would always be there and would greet you as you came,” Abdullah says. “Every time I came he would pull me aside and give me some fruit or veggies to take on the house. He’d say, ‘These will go to waste if you don’t take them, please take these for you and your family.’ His sons are equally kind that run the store, and I bet they get that beautiful kindness from him.” Abdullah has been working on two cookbooks. One will feature cuisine from the Barwari region, the area of Kurdistan her husband comes from. The other will be a mother-daughter book featuring foods
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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nashvillescene.com that families cook together. Abdullah posts about her food journey on Instagram at @qazana_kurdi, sometimes sharing her favorites from Botan — Ahmed Tea, madras curry powder, crushed wheat and farina, red lentils, yogurt drinks and fresh naan. “They also usually have a great variety of fresh herbs, even special ones near and dear to Kurdish hearts like Kurdish celery and purslane.” While Abdullah is a longtime customer, Louisa Shafia discovered the shop more recently — within the past couple of years. It quickly became a favorite. “I go there to get ingredients for Iranian dinners and all my Iranian projects,” says Shafia. Shafia hosts Persian pop-ups, writes cookbooks and runs an online shop called Feast that sells gift sets and spice blends. She says that at Botan, she appreciates the different types of date syrups and pomegranate molasses and homemade things like a dish called samanu, a pudding made of wheatgrass. “It’s really special stuff, I’ve only had it at Iranian New Year,” Shafia says. And she echoes Abdullah on Botan’s service, noting that the owners are “up for anything.” “I needed a whole bunch of rosewater one time,” she says, “and they let me order a case wholesale.” Markets like Botan in Nashville initially came as a surprise to Shafia, who previously lived in New York City. Before moving to
Nashville, she searched online for shops carrying Middle Eastern and international goods. “There’s like a plethora of them,” she remembers thinking. “I never had this many options for shopping. It’s wonderful.” These days, when she feels down, Shafia peruses markets like Botan, which are a “total connection to my family and childhood.” Her Iranian father requests trips to Nolensville Pike on his visits too. “He can barely control himself — dried figs, mulberries and walnuts in the shell. All these things he grew up with.” Helan says that on April 23 — less than a month after the flood, and even before Botan had been fully stocked — her family made the decision to open again after receiving a produce order. The space filled up quickly with shoppers loading their baskets with teas and tahinis. A banner was draped across the wall behind the register: “Ramadan Kareem” — welcome Ramadan. One man who lives in Nashville but comes from Israel reminisced about eating fresh green almonds pressed into salt. Others scooped up handfuls of fresh grape leaves. “To bring the culture from back home to the U.S., it’s awesome,” Helan says. “Because everyone feels like it’s at home, and they are at peace and knowing that we have a strong community here as well.” EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
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nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS
ART
CHARLES KEY
KEY TO THE CITY
Muralist Charles Key wants to teach kids that art can be a way to dream BY ERICA CICCARONE
G
rowing up in South Central Los Angeles in the ’80s, Charles Key didn’t have a lot to do. The neighborhood, he says, was infested with gangs, and his parents wouldn’t let him leave the yard. But his imagination was active. His father was an artist, and the walls of South Central were covered in graffiti. After the L.A. riots of the early ’90s, Key’s parents moved the family to Nashville. He graduated from Antioch High School, and worked various jobs after, including as a chef. But art was always in his back pocket — a calling, he says, and a ministry. The Napier area, known to residents simply as “South Nashville,” is home to two of the city’s public housing projects — J.C. Napier Homes and Tony Sudekum Apartments. The neighborhood is also home to a public library, an elementary school, a buzzing
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recreation center and a few civic-based nonprofits. Key doesn’t live in the neighborhood but knows it well. It’s his “church home,” and he has family who live there. He saw a need in the neighborhood for art. “It’s kind of a dark area known for violence and shootings and killings,” says Key. “Why not shine light? My thing is I want to spark somebody, some little kid — spark their imagination. … Maybe I could keep somebody on the right path through this small gesture that I’m leaving in these communities.” A few years ago, Key’s father’s health was deteriorating. He became legally blind and could no longer see his own artwork clearly. He told his son: “You’re young and in good health. Do it now.” It was a wake-up call for Key, now in his 30s. He saved up everything he could and left his restaurant job. He started hitting up local businesses — begging, he says, for a wall. While some building owners would let him paint, they wouldn’t pay him. One night, as he fell asleep, he realized that he had only $20 left, and it might be time to go back to restaurant work. But the next morning, he got a call. The owner of a West Nashville hookah bar was looking for an artist. Was he available? You can find Key’s murals around the city, but his focus is the Napier area. His work often depicts historical figures like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis — figures who open up conversations with kids
about history. The most striking of these is a portrait of James C. Napier painted on the civil rights leader’s namesake elementary school. Its bright color palette is sure to draw in kids so they might ask questions about the Nashville native and first Black register of the Treasury, who was appointed to that role under President Taft in 1911. “I like to use my art as ministry,” Key says, “especially for the kids. That’s why I do a lot of bold pictures and loud colors. I think it’s kind of therapy, especially if you see only bland walls for so long. It kind of messes with your psyche.” Other murals depict pop-culture icons like Serena and Venus Williams, Kobe Bryant and Chadwick Boseman. Key envisions the neighborhood as an arts district, with emphasis on arts experiences for children. He recently volunteered at Napier Recreation Center, teaching art classes to kids after school. “Painting teaches you how to learn,” he says. “It teaches you how to remember. It teaches you how to have a work ethic. It teaches you how to overcome and correct things, all in the practice of painting. You can break that down to any aspect of life. “Painting is a process,” he continues. “It’s emotional. You go through a whole lot. In the beginning, you’re anxious, a little scared ’cause you have a blank wall. The doubts [come in]. Am I good enough? Is this gonna come out right? You’ve got to break
through that.” Key made local headlines last year for a mural he painted on a building that, at the time, housed Eddie’s CeeBee Food Store. He used red, white and blue paint to depict the faces of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor on the side of the building, right next two locally relevant faces — those of Jocques Clemmons and Daniel Hambrick, who were killed by Nashville police in recent years. The mural is important because it reminds us that national conversations have local relevance. The building will now house nonprofit Project Return, and the group is helping Key remove the building’s wood panels and relocate them to make room for windows. After receiving some feedback from the community, Key used one wall to memorialize people in the neighborhood who have died. Their names — Dre, Chippie, Apple Head and many more — are written beside the portrait of a grieving woman. Key knows that the fate of public art is always uncertain, but he finds meaning in the work. Sometimes, it even becomes a way to mark time. The day he finished the Chadwick Boseman mural last year, his father died. He hopes to continue his father’s mission — of teaching kids that art can be a way to process conflict and resolve differences, and a way to dream. Find Charles Key on Instagram at @jamersonsgc.
EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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DANCE
TURNING POINTE
Nashville Ballet returns with live performance at Ascend Amphitheater
Attitude: Other Voices, it features a live musical performance by the Grammynominated R&B act Louis York and girlgroup-inspired trio The Shindellas, with spoken word by award-winning author and Nashville native Caroline Randall Williams. “I was actually working on Seasons when we had to shut everything down on March 13, 2020,” Vasterling says. “I remember that day so clearly — I was frantically trying to get it all down, videoing different bits, not knowing when I’d be able to get back into the studio to work on it. So that seems like a perfect way to open this program. “And Posters was actually the last thing we performed in front of a live audience,” Vasterling continues, “so that feels pretty symbolic, as well. It’s an incredibly powerful work that looks at women and gender identity and stereotypes. And there’s this wonderful back-and-forth between the dance and the poetry and music. Jennifer is brilliant, and Louis York’s music really [defies category] — it’s R&B, gospel, jazz, pop, all mixed together. And of course, we’re always thrilled to have Caroline involved. It’s going to be a special performance.” For Williams — whose book Lucy Negro, Redux was adapted to the stage by Vasterling, premiering in 2019 — Posters represents a different kind of collaboration. “With Lucy, the choreography was created in response to my work,” says Williams. “But with Posters, I was inspired by their work. I was in the studio, writing in real time, responding to and interacting with the choreography. Jennifer is such a generous collaborator, and it was exciting
CAROLINE RANDALL WILLIAMS IN POSTERS
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POSTERS to be in that space, watching it all come together. We built it in layers, figuring out where the poems fit into the movement, adding the music. It was really unlike any collaboration I’ve encountered before.” Williams says she especially enjoyed exploring the connection between movement and the written word, noting that “it’s really like learning another language.” “I think all art tells a human story, and as I’ve worked in this space, I’ve realized just how much these different forms have in common,” says Williams. “Just as I might break a line to make a point or emphasize a certain emotion, a dancer might lift their
arm or leg. The work is the work, whether you’re moving your body, bending a note or searching for just the right word. “Working on Posters was such an amazing experience,” she adds. “But after the year we’ve had — all the time in isolation and the divisive rhetoric — I’m excited to revisit the work with fresh eyes, and really see how I feel about the words that I wrote. It’s really an inspiring work, telling the story of how we lift ourselves, how we make change and claim agency. I hope audiences feel that rush of empowerment. I hope they’re moved by it.” EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
PHOTO: KARYN KIPLEY PHOTOGRAPHY
F
ollowing a year of canceled performances and a successful pivot to virtual programming, Nashville Ballet’s return to the stage feels significant on many levels. After all, this is not only the company’s NASHVILLE BALLET LIVE AT first live, in-person ASCEND AMPHITHEATER performance in 7:30 P.M. MAY 14-15; more than a year TICKETS AT — it’s also the NASHVILLEBALLET.COM company’s first outdoor performance in Nashville. Plus, it’s an opportunity to revisit not one, but two compelling works. But for artistic director Paul Vasterling, it’s the simple act of gathering that feels most momentous. “There’s such an incredible energy in the studio right now,” Vasterling says. “We’re entirely grateful to be working, to be able to gather together safely to rehearse and create. And then, to share that energy with a live audience once again is really amazing. It’s been quite emotional, and very inspiring. These dancers are so excited right now — they’re like racehorses at the gate, just so eager to perform.” They’ll get their chance this weekend, as the Nashville Ballet presents an evening of mixed repertory that includes Vasterling’s evocative Seasons — recently reimagined for the company’s virtual Attitude series, and inspired by Max Richter’s gorgeous recomposition of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Also on the bill is Jennifer Archibald’s Posters. First performed in February 2020 as part of Nashville Ballet’s
PHOTO: HEATHER THORNE
BY AMY STUMPFL
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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BOOKS
I KNOW A PLACE
I’ll Take You There is an unflinching exploration of Nashville’s social justice sites BY LENA MAZEL
“Y
ou have in your hands a different sort of guidebook,” promises the first line of I’ll Take You There: Exploring Nashville’s Social Justice Sites. “In place of offering a single voice and perspective on the city,” editors Amie Thurber and Learotha Williams write, “we offer a multitude, and intentionally privilege the perspectives of those most directly impacted by injustice in the city.” Privileging these voices may, at first, seem to represent an alternative history — another way of understandI’LL TAKE YOU THERE: ing Nashville. But as EXPLORING NASHVILLE’S the work progresses, SOCIAL JUSTICE SITES EDITED BY AMIE THURBER offering perspecAND LEAROTHA WILLIAMS JR. tives of more than VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY 100 local contribuPRESS tors, the purpose be222 PAGES, $17.95 comes clear: This is not just “alternative history.” Instead, it is an unflinching, full story — one that transcends niceties and commits to complex truth. I’ll Take You There, published by Vanderbilt University Press, represents a largescale, citywide project, partially facilitated by the Vanderbilt University Community Development and Action program. Graduate students connected with local communities to find sites of cultural relevance and co-authored many of the stories in the guide. In addition, the editors received submissions from the public. When selecting entries, there were three criteria: “sites that challenge missing or misinformation; sites that reveal privilege or dominance; and sites
THE COST OF HEALING
Anjali Enjeti’s The Parted Earth follows several generations of personal fallout from India’s Partition BY EMILY CHOATE
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unning through the core of Anjali Enjeti’s debut novel, The Parted Earth, is the volatile atmosphere of India’s Partition, a deadly era of violence that tore apart communities and famiTHE PARTED EARTH lies. Spanning generaBY ANJALI ENJETI tions and countries, The HUB CITY PRESS Parted Earth examines 272 PAGES, $26 the personal costs of starting over in the face of tragedy, whether those tragedies are intimate losses or shockwaves of upheaval across an entire continent. On the eve of independence from Britain in 1947, the Indian subcontinent was rocked by the execution of its Partition policy, which created chaotic divisions
that celebrate cultural resistance, resilience, and creativity.” The result is intricate and varied. In the “Southwest” section, for instance, there are consecutive entries about CoreCivic, the progressive Glendale Baptist Church and Radnor Lake. Yet the wide range of entries yields unexpected connections and hidden threads. In the case of these sites, it’s the importance of protest — a theme that persists throughout the collection. The guide is organized geographically into six sections: “Downtown,” “Northwest,” “Northeast,” “Southeast,” “Southwest” and “On the Road” (sites that are within a day trip of the city). It also features four thematic guided tours at the end. “It City” shows tensions around development; “Athens of the South” focuses on educational sites; “Music City” follows Nashville’s “diverse musical past and present”; and “Southern Hospitality” “explores the contested terrain of hospitality in the city.” Many entries critically examine the histories of well-known spots. In “Mansker Station,” Thurber muses that “for White colonists, Mansker Station represented a place of refuge and safety. For the Indigenous inhabitants of the area, it represented the deepening threat to their sovereignty and continued existence on the land they had called home for generations.” The “Aaittafama’ Archaeological Park” entry notes that Old Hickory Boulevard paved over sacred indigenous burial grounds. The “Downtown”
section features the story of Black Bottom, a “center of African-American education, culture, and business in Nashville.” Despite its significant impact on downtown Nashville, Black Bottom was flattened by “revitalization” projects. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum sits where the district’s slums used to be. The guide also highlights the human cost of gentrification, noting communities pushed out by new construction, rising housing costs and — especially in the case of various tent communities — environmental
between Hindu-majority and Muslim-majority cities and led to widespread sectarian unrest, mass killings and largescale population displacement. The legacy of Partition has resulted in disputes over the India-Pakistan border that resonate to this day. Our way into these tumultuous events is through the eyes of Deepa, an intelligent teenage girl whose family becomes a lightning rod for extremist violence in the streets of Delhi. Deepa savors her after-school hours helping out at her parents’ medical clinic, where she enjoys analyzing every symptom and clue that the patients present. To Deepa, “People were stories, and every part of their stories influenced their physical and mental health.” Her sharp curiosity and strong compassion not only help her pinpoint diagnoses “like Sherlock Holmes solving a mystery,” but also fuel her growing passion for writing and reading. Deepa wants to have faith “in something — in a benevolent force that provided guidance, in the pos-
sibility of transcendence.” But as religiously driven violence escalates, “only literature, the power of words, and ancient stories” sustain her. Threats against her parents’ clinic — which treats both Hindu and Muslim patients — begin to intensify at the same time that Deepa falls in love with a kindhearted Muslim classmate named Amir. Sixty years later, in modernday Atlanta, Deepa’s estranged granddaughter Shan faces the toughest challenges of her own life. During a short stretch of time, she loses a pregnancy, her job and her marriage. Floored by these losses, Shan turns toward the unanswered questions that have always hung over her father’s family. Why did her father abruptly leave, moving to India, where he’d never lived? Why had her grandmother become so cold and distant, so uninterested in knowing her? From here, The Parted Earth opens out into a wider range of perspectives and moments in time. Enjeti
and governmental evictions. There are many moments of resilience — the story of Juanita’s, Nashville’s oldest gay bar; Casa Azafrán, a thriving multicultural center on Nolensville Pike; and Fisk’s Jubilee Hall, originally guarded at night against white supremacists, the guide notes, by the same people who built it. The guide celebrates the city’s diversity, noting that Nashville is “home to the largest Kurdish population outside the Middle East,” and “on Nolensville Road alone there are eighteen places of worship, catering to different faiths and ethnic backgrounds.” Additionally, entries show the impact of faith-based communities — especially Black churches — on civil rights protests throughout the city. Throughout the work, two persistent narratives emerge: the cost of prosperity and the struggle for progress. “Much of the wealth here can be traced directly to slavery,” reads the introduction to the “Southwest” section, and entries show the significant environmental and health risks many Nashvillians — particularly low-income, minority, indigenous and homeless populations — have faced because of Nashville’s growth. At the same time, I’ll Take You There showcases the continued work necessary to create an equitable city: in urban farms, the first integrated schools, Islamic centers, downtown sites of protest, Stratford High School and many more. What is a guide for? I’ll Take You There isn’t just a new look at Nashville. Instead, it suggests a new way of looking entirely. The work offers an education; you come away from it more critical of the city, but also more appreciative. The guide is a powerful reminder. Nashville is just a place; it’s the people who give it meaning. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
— who grew up in Chattanooga and today lives near Atlanta — portrays the experiences of Shan’s thoughtful neighbor Chandani, Chandani’s troubled husband Harjeet, and a German woman named Gertrude who formed a loving bond with Deepa and her young son during a period of struggle as they tried to build a family life in London. As Shan seeks answers about the missing stretches of her family history, she also searches for the kind of belonging that has always seemed to elude her. When traditional family ties fray — here, a legacy of generational trauma — other kinds of love and support often grow. As a result, one’s chosen family becomes a strong influence in The Parted Earth. Through supportive female characters like Chandani and Gertrude, Enjeti highlights the unique bonds and challenges found within such intense, complex friendships. Throughout The Parted Earth, the novel’s characters face desperately high stakes, enduring a relentless chain of traumas and upheavals. In each case, Enjeti depicts her characters’ struggles with a deeply felt but measured sense of discernment. Healing may be possible, but its costs remain considerable. For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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MUSIC
NATURAL RESOURCES Nashville’s wealth of top hip-hop production talent is hungry for opportunity BY BRITTNEY McKENNA
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ashville rap and R&B have both seen dramatic rises in popularity in the past few years, earning praise from national outlets like NPR and Complex and catching the attention — FIND LINKS TO THESE and dollars — of PRODUCERS’ PROFILES major players AND MORE AT NASHVILLESCENE.COM/MUSIC like Prescription Songs and Roc Nation. Most of this attention has focused on the city’s wealth of artist and songwriting talent. But an equally important part of the scene has flown largely under the radar: its producers. A.B. Eastwood, a producer, musician and DJ known to friends and collaborators simply as A.B., knows this firsthand. A frequent go-to for artists like Tim Gent and Brian Brown, Eastwood reached out to the Scene suggesting a piece highlighting the important work these behind-the-scenes players do. In addition to the lack of spotlight on producers, he cited the scene’s rapid growth and growing attention as reason for celebrating those who work behind the boards. “It has made me want to really make it all count,” Eastwood says of Nashville hip-hop’s growth. “It’s made it worth something. We’re getting a better image of the things we want to do and how realistic they look. There’s really something on the line now.” In his pitch, Eastwood named a number of producers in town doing great work, including Jack Keller, LacMan, Chris “Dirty Rice” Mackey and Darren King. He also pointed to production duo WonderTwins. The real-life twins, Jeremy and Jermond Prince, have worked with Kiya Lacey, Bryant Taylorr and Mike Floss, among many others. Speaking via phone, Jeremy Prince outlines the duo’s bona fides. He explains how growing up in a musical family — their grandfather played piano with Ray Charles and their grandmother played piano for Dionne Warwick, among their many other accomplishments — inspired the brothers to create beats and tracks of their own. Jeremy started making beats in middle school on their father’s keyboard, eventually realizing that it was his passion. He started college at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for sportscasting while Jermond attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville for architecture. Both eventually transferred to MTSU to pursue degrees in music business. “We didn’t go out in college,” Jeremy Prince says. “We were always in our room, perfecting and getting better and better. And we’ve been doing it since.” He is one of many people who recognize that this moment in Nashville hip-hop is not just a trend or a fluke, but rather the product of both the quality and the quantity of talent in the region. Now that the local hip-hop
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A.B. EASTWOOD community is getting noticed more outside the city, there’s increased recognition of our homegrown talent in genres aside from just country, rock and Americana. “There wasn’t much exposure on a big scale,” he says. “Now that people are starting to see these artists and producers that are actually getting placements and things like that, they’re starting to recognize that there is talent here. I feel like Nashville has been underrated.” For many producers in Nashville, making beats and tracks is just one small part of the work they do. As Eastwood explains, there are producers in town who shoot photos, make music videos, play in live bands and much more. In other words, producers have to hustle just as hard as — if not harder than — anyone else to turn their craft into a living. And they don’t just work on hip-hop and R&B. As Eastwood’s manager, Zack Cobb of Syzygy Management, tells the Scene of Eastwood: “He’s genre-less. He’s not a hip-hop producer. He makes music.” “When I was in Florida I was primarily a beat maker,” Eastwood says. “When I came back here, I saw people who were producing but also directing shows. Ron Gilmore — he’s a musician, but he also tours with artists. They just really do a lot. I know in other places some producers do a lot too, but in Nashville it’s really common.” This do-it-together mentality is very much in line with the close-knit, highly collaborative nature of the broader Nashville hip-hop, pop and R&B scene. Prince believes this quality has helped elevate the community from its local roots to national recognition. “I’m glad that everyone is starting to come together,” Prince says. “At first, everybody
was out in their own lane and no one was really coming together. Everyone had their own little clique. Now we’re starting to see everyone become one big community and work together, almost like Atlanta.” When asked what goals he has for the production community, Eastwood says he hopes for more venues and events in town that serve fans of hip-hop and R&B, citing the wildly popular long-running dance party The Boom Bap as an example of the demand for more rap-centric events. He also wants to see real, meaningful collaboration between the hip-hop and country music industries. “I hope that we can get more involvement and opportunities from Music Row,” says Eastwood. “There’s guys in town to meet the needs of everything they’re looking for, but have never gotten the opportunity.” Prince echoed Eastwood’s sentiment. “They have a lot more exposure and resources that could help us get recognized on a national level,” he says. “With country music as big as it is in Nashville, having that influence on Music Row that’s generated success for country could do the same for other genres, like hiphop and R&B. That way, Nashville will have diversity and not just be known as one genre.” Author and Scene contributor Andrea Williams has spoken on this topic in various formats, including a Twitter thread about a Black producer-musician friend who left Nashville for better opportunities in Los Angeles. Her friend’s experience hit close to home for Williams. Her husband’s time as a producer and musician in Nashville has been marked by a striking lack of access to the commercial country music industry, which has famously appropriated hip-hop music for years. “All of these things that Black people have
been doing forever — and I can’t stress this enough — what people think is new here [in country music], with the ‘track guy’ era, is so wildly behind, it’s bananas,” she says, laughing. “It’s a mind-blowing thing that Nashville is as behind as it is. … Publishers are signing young white guys who do not have a clue how to program tracks. They are getting signed to deals so that they can develop and learn how to do this, when there’s all these people out here who already know.” “One of the problems is that there’s not an ecosystem that supports Black producers or urban music producers in Nashville,” says Eric Holt, co-founder of the concert promotions group Lovenoise who also co-founded Syzygy with Cobb. “Some of the gap between Music Row and urban music just has to do with relationships. We’ve been trying to build relationships so that they’re aware of this other talent that’s in Nashville. And there are tons of entities putting in that work to shorten that gap, like Nashville Is Not Just Country Music, and D’Llisha [Davis] over at 2L’s. But the gap is there for sure.” Eastwood also cites a lack of familiarity between the two scenes as contributing to the disconnect between Nashville rap and country. He suggests that producers who already have connections to Music Row could do wonders for the rap scene by bringing in other producers and collaborators for what he calls “trust sessions.” “It’s like, ‘Hey, I’ve got a guy I want to bring into this session, just to show you what kind of talent there is in town,’ ” he explains. “It’s stuff where guys who already have the opportunity need to bring guys in. It’s not a talent show, like, ‘How about this guy?’ It’s about building trust. I think once that starts, and once those opportunities become more available, it’ll flow.” Holt and Cobb — who together manage Eastwood, Gent and Taylorr — are actively working to make Nashville a bigger hub for hip-hop and R&B. They’re hoping to foster a culture in which Nashville artists and producers have access to opportunities in all genres, as well as a culture that will draw artists from outside Nashville to come here to work with local talent. They also don’t want that local talent, like Williams’ friend, to leave for other cities. “On the recording side, it’s very cookiecutter in town,” Cobb says. “11 a.m. to 3 p.m., then you have to make it home before the traffic hits. When we go to other towns, that’s not the vibe. There’s nowhere that’s open from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. that you can be yourself in and make a home in Nashville. That’s a big part of it, too.” Cobb and Holt are looking into opening a studio and performance space that would serve artists and producers in a way that better suits their needs. They’re also exploring investment opportunities with major music industry players who the pair say they can’t name right now. “Cultivating the out-of-town relationships to [encourage artists to] come here moving forward, versus us going there, is important,” Holt says. “We do a lot of sessions in Atlanta and Memphis and other places, and want to build up facilities so that we can have those sessions in Nashville. The culture isn’t here, so that just means there’s an opportunity to build a culture.” EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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MUSIC
RHYTHM CHANGES
Monday Night Jazz brings the beat to North Nashville BY RON WYNN
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PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS
E
ven in a city like Nashville that’s brimming with music, Monday night is generally thought of as an evening when precious little of interest happens. The organizers of Monday Night Jazz MONDAY NIGHT JAZZ, are working hard WEEKLY AT THE LOCAL to disprove that DISTRO, 614 GARFIELD ST. notion. The event, which recently launched its third iteration with a move to North Nashville restaurant and market The Local Distro, has become a festive occasion that offers not only one of Nashville’s most diverse and energetic live music sets, but also art on display (including audiovisual work), wares from an array of vendors and food from local sources. Monday Night Jazz is a display of impressive and versatile area talent that draws an enthusiastic audience, eager to enjoy performances and socialize in person again after a long pandemic-induced stretch of streaming shows and self-isolation. But the series’ creators — trumpeter Fredrick Weathersby and saxophonist Stefan Forbus, who met as students at Tennessee State University, and who organize the event with Local Distro owner William Radford — view it as part of an overall campaign to improve conditions and provide more opportunities for musicians and the Nashville arts community as a whole. At the same time, they’re able to bring great entertainment and cultural presentations to Music City. “Stefan and I envisioned this series as something different and special from the beginning,” Weathersby tells the Scene. “We wanted it to be open to the entire musical community, and we wanted to attract both the longtime jazz fan and people who don’t even necessarily consider themselves jazz fans. We’ve included in our performance mix hip-hop and spoken-word artists, vocalists across the board, old and young artists, men and women — people who represent the broad spectrum of artistic excellence. They’re all part of what we’re trying to do here: spread the jazz message and get folks to understand that you can enjoy this music on all levels. It’s open and out there for everyone.” Doors open for dinner at 7 p.m., and the show usually starts around 8 and runs roughly two to two-and-a-half hours. Rather than breaking up performances into tight, short sets, Monday Night Jazz is organized as a free-flowing, continuous event with a core unit of instrumentalists. Other players and guest vocalists get called onstage — sometimes before a song starts, or sometimes as it’s being played. The material spans the idiomatic gamut. On the night I attended, song selections included “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Unforgettable,” “The Girl From Ipanema” and “Summertime.” There was also the smooth-jazz staple “Friends and Strangers,” Bobby Caldwell’s R&B hit “What You Won’t Do for Love” and Ray Charles’ vintage R&B classic
“Night and Day.” For a change of pace, they included the Elvis Presley rocker “Return to Sender,” and closed the night with Herbie Hancock’s huge crossover hit “Chameleon.”
A lengthy list of participating vocalists includes Olivia Reese, Kevin Cory, Cassius and Eli Smith (who perform as The Smith Brothers), Alysha Hinton, Matthias Lamparter, Keith Profitt (better known to local rap fans as Remsteele), Talisha Holmes and Darryl Van Leer. Besides the duo of Weathersby and Forbus — who released an outstanding album called The Real Deal in 2020 — and members of Forbus’ group The Combo, other musicians who’ve been part of Monday Night Jazz include pianist Michael Corder, guitarist Chris Dooley, bassist Justin Kimball and drummer-percussionist Jameel Aziz. The Local Distro’s Radford, another TSU grad whose establishment has been at its present location since February 2019, sees Monday Night Jazz as a foundation for adding other events, like a future Friday Night Jazz event. Moreover, community-focused events like this are an integral part of his business. “We weren’t just interested in this being a place where musicians just come and play and get money,” Radford says. “For the last
three months since this began here, it’s another step in our overall plan of making The Local Distro a community spot for artists, a place where vendors and food entrepreneurs and creators can come and have their items or foods sold, and a place where the musicians are running their spot and hosting the event instead of just being absorbed into the machinery or the backdrop.” Weathersby also sees Monday Night Jazz as a springboard to an expansion of jazz activity both in North Nashville and throughout the region. He and Forbus are discussing launching a similar event in Murfreesboro, as well as developing a partnership with other groups like Nashville Jazz Workshop, which is working toward opening its new headquarters on Buchanan Street, not far from The Local Distro’s location on Garfield Street. “We see jazz as an inclusive, diverse and broad music, and that’s what Monday Night Jazz has shown,” Weathersby says. “We’re getting a great response and are thrilled at what’s happening here at the Distro.” EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | nashvillescene.com
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MUSIC
PUSH ON THROUGH
Allison Russell triumphs over personal trauma on Outside Child BY LORIE LIEBIG
PHOTO: MARC BAPTISTE
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he saying “time heals all wounds” often simplifies the complicated process of moving forward from personal turmoil. For Allison Russell, a simple moment led to a creative turning point. OUTSIDE CHILD OUT While on a tour bus FRIDAY, MAY 21, VIA during a trek with FANTASY RECORDS her bandmates in Our Native Daughters, Russell was comforting her young daughter after an accident. “I was in bed and I was just laughing and thinking, ‘I am lying here, soaked in pee, surrounded by some of my favorite people in the world, and this is so good,’ ” Russell says, speaking with the Scene by phone. That quality time with her daughter inspired Russell to write the incredibly moving song “4th Day Prayer” and became the catalyst for an unexpected and life-changing project. Russell’s first solo record Outside Child, out May 21, is a stunning exploration of trauma she endured in her youth, examined with new insight and wisdom that only time and distance can bring. While she was growing up in Montreal, many of those closest to her had no idea that she was the victim of sexual abuse by a close family member. “If I had ever believed the people that told me when I was a teenager that those were the best years of your life,” she says, “I would have killed myself.” Art served as a lifeline for Russell. She found success as a musician, first as a member of the Canadian folk group Po’ Girl, and then alongside husband J.T. Nero as the duo Birds of Chicago. Later, she joined Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla and Amythyst Kiah in Our Native Daughters, a roots supergroup that spotlights Black women in Amer-
ica, whose stories are too often sanitized or watered down. “I’m really glad that art and literature and music gave me an inkling that maybe there is much more to life,” Russell says. “I just felt that I needed to get this story out.” Outside Child was recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium in just three days, with the help of producer Dan Knobler (whose work you’ve heard on records by Rodney Crowell, Caroline Spence and others) and Russell’s close friends Yola, The McCrary Sisters and Erin Rae. Those magical recording sessions, along with the encouragement of friends and fellow musicians like Brandi Carlile, helped convince Russell that hers was a story meant to be both shared with others and reclaimed as her own.
THE SPIN HEAVY WEATHER BY ABBY LEE HOOD
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atching John Mailander’s Forecast live is a bit like trying to watch gravity. You know there’s a force holding it all together, even if you can’t see it, even when the jazz- and bluegrass-inspired collective teeters on the edge of spinning out of orbit. Those spacey improvisations took center stage during the band’s album release stream Thursday. Mailander and his group returned to their frequent hangout The 5 Spot for their first live show since the pandemic began, to celebrate the release of Look Closer, a six-track EP that marks Mailander’s third solo record. In an interview with the Scene during the run up to the release, Mailander said he feels most grounded in the bluegrass tradition, constituting the building blocks of his storied professional career as a fiddle player. He’s toured and done studio sessions with
RIDERS ON THE STORM: JOHN MAILANDER’S FORECAST
Nashville icons like Molly Tuttle, and he played on Billy Strings’ Grammy-winning album Home. But the Forecast is a different animal altogether, and showcases Mailander’s desire to fold in other genres. The collective played the album top to bottom on The 5 Spot’s stage, where they had workshopped some of the tunes during a monthly residency gig cut short by the pandemic. As Mailander had promised during our interview, the band let the songs take their own shape
“I have been so fortunate and privileged to find a chosen family who see me and love me back,” Russell says. “That was my community coming together and going, ‘We are going to uplift these songs and uplift you.’ ” Although the ripple effects of trauma echo through the whole of Outside Child, it is also a record rooted in accepting joy and healing. “Persephone” explores how a first love helped heal the emotional wounds left by Russell’s abuser. Through a mixture of French and English, “Little Rebirth” reminds us of all of life’s beautiful mystery. The record’s final track, “Joyful Motherfuckers,” reminds us it’s OK to accept and own happiness from both others and yourself. Being able to look back from a safe
distance — with a loving support system backing her up as she took each step — allowed Russell to lift a painful weight from the past off her shoulders. It’s a weight that many others who came before Russell have carried quietly, often for entire lifetimes. As well as the benefit that sharing her story offers with respect to her own healing, she hopes that it can help to stop the cycle of abuse that thrives in silence. “The process of going through this record really did feel to me like I was trying very hard to come to a place of true forgiveness — so that I don’t have to carry this stuff forward, and I don’t have to put it on my child unintentionally somehow. For me, that was like an act of liberation for myself.” EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
during the stream instead of playing them note for note. Mailander kicked things off by using a loop pedal to create airy fiddle riffs on the opening of “Returning,” the first track on the EP. While multiple cameras tracked their movements and made for a dynamic stream, it seemed like everyone onstage got lost in their own little world, taking solos that extrapolated the song’s theme. “Borderline” and “Dust,” the two cover songs from the EP (featuring vocalists Kristina Train and Maya de Vitry respectively) were a little more zippedup and structured but no less fun. Mailander alternated between fiddle and keys, joined by Ethan Jodziewicz on bass, Chris Lippincott on pedal steel and keys, Mark Raudabaugh on drums and David Williford on sax, with a guest
appearance from Gibb Droll, Mailander’s fellow sideman in Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers, on guitar. The gig felt like the opposite of every co-worker’s brother’s jam you’ve been invited to — this was the kind of jam session where folks grin ear to ear and good musicians let loose on songs they know inside and out, until there’s a silent communication about breakdowns and interludes. This sort of familiarity offered space for Mailander’s pizzicato and bowing techniques to spin out into noise or get treated with distortion effects, as he did on the live rendition of Look Closer standout “But It Did Happen.” It means the sudden swerve into a rock mode, courtesy of Raudabaugh’s drum solo during that tune, still makes sense on a largely acoustic album. With just a bit of eye contact and gesturing, the band swung back into orbit and moved seamlessly through the set. Being someone who deeply misses the weekly swing dancing at The 5 Spot that used to precede the Motown Monday dance party, I was delighted to see live music back on that stage. And it felt especially good to watch a talented collective bring to life an album that already encapsulated so many pandemic feelings. EMAIL THESPIN@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 – MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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FILM
EVERYDAY PEEBLES
Melvin Van Peebles’ influential and groundbreaking The Story of a Three-Day Pass comes to the Belcourt BY NATHAN SMITH
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fter World War II, as countries that were once occupied by the Nazis opened up to American influence, French movie theaters were flooded with Hollywood movies they hadn’t been able to see during the war. This attempt at a kind of cultural imperialism had an unintended consequence: French filmmakers were singularly taken with the B-movie marginalia of American cinema, absorbing forgotten Westerns and hardboiled detective THE STORY OF A THREEDAY PASS pictures that would NR, 87 MINUTES; IN eventually inspire FRENCH AND ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES the French New Wave’s riffs on codiSHOWING MAY 14-18 AT THE BELCOURT; AVAILABLE fied and recognizVIA THE BELCOURT’S able movie genres. VIRTUAL CINEMA The rest is, of BEGINNING MAY 19 course, history: A generation of passionate young cinephiles like Godard, Truffaut, Rohmer and Rivette became influential filmmakers, completely changing the landscape of European cinema. Just as American films had altered the perspective of French filmgoers, the works of these directors and their counterparts from Italy, Germany and other European nations would find their way to the United States, giving young American would-be auteurs the inspiration they needed to break with Hollywood’s bloated traditions. When we talk about the New Hollywood movement of the 1960s and ’70s and groundbreaking films like Bonnie and Clyde or The Wild Bunch, we mostly talk about films by white filmmakers, with largely white casts, that interface with the world from a distinctly white point of view. Melvin Van Peebles’ The Story of a ThreeDay Pass, recently restored by Janus Films and Criterion, gives a very different meaning to the phrase “new wave” — it not only experiments with form and visual techniques, but also offers a new perspective and voice that would have never been allowed to develop inside Hollywood. Van Peebles is probably best known as the filmmaker behind Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, considered a milestone in African American cinema not just for its frank and explicit depictions of sexuality and violence (posters for the film infamously declared it “rated X by an all-white jury”), but also because of its rather antiestablishment means of production. After a frustrating experience directing the 1970 Columbia comedy Watermelon Man — one of the first American studio films helmed by a director of color — Van Peebles went completely in the other direction, starring in his own independently financed film about a Black man who has been on the run from racist institutions his entire
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life. Sweet Sweetback’s boundary-pushing content, proud Black male protagonist and funk soundtrack courtesy of Earth, Wind & Fire would become crucial inspirations to the Blaxploitation subgenre. The film, however, also maintained both a radical formal style, rife with jump cuts and saturated colors, and a political edge — it was acclaimed by Huey P. Newton and would become required viewing for Black Panther Party members — that would not be so imitated. When viewing Sweet Sweetback, it’s hard not to detect the visual influence of Godard and his New Wave compatriots, so it’s only fitting that Van Peebles’ feature debut, The Story of a Three-Day Pass, is in some ways a literal French New Wave film. Like many Black radicals of his time — from James Baldwin to crime novelist Chester Himes — Peebles had decamped for France, a country not without its own long history of racism, but at least a place that often took African American artists seriously in a way their own country would not. Van Peebles’ early shorts earned him the appreciation of film programmers, and the director became so enmeshed in the cultural scene of his adopted home — he also added the “Van” to his name after a period in the Netherlands — that when The Story of a Three-Day Pass first played in the United States, it was well-received simply because it was assumed to be by a native French filmmaker. If you didn’t know Van Peebles’ backstory, you couldn’t really be blamed for assuming otherwise: For most of its runtime, Three-Day Pass bears a strong visual and emotional debt to the earlier, more spontaneous films of Godard and Truffaut. Turner (Harry Baird), a Black G.I. stationed on a largely white military installation in France, has just received a promotion from his commanding officer, and along with it comes the rare treat of a three-day weekend pass. He’s conflicted: Van Peebles visualizes W.E.B. Du Bois’ notion of double consciousness through split screen, as one-half of Turner berates the other for being an “Uncle Tom” desperate to impress his white superior, while the soldier in him is desperate to make a good impression so he can maintain his new rank. With the snap of his fingers, Turner transforms from a buttoned-down officer to an ennui-stricken New Wave protagonist, trawling the streets of Paris like Jean-Paul Belmondo in dark sunglasses, trenchcoat
and a trilby. Godard’s protagonists always felt themselves outsiders or antiheroes, but the gulf between Turner and the world around him is obviously more pronounced. Amid a raucous night in a random bar, Turner finally meets a Parisian girl willing to engage with him: Miriam, played by Nicole Berger, one of the leads of Truffaut’s Shoot the Piano Player. The clunkiness of their early lost-in-translation conversations eventually gives way to real feelings, and they make plans to spend the weekend in Normandy together. This is no Before Sunrise — Turner knows that his burgeoning relationship with a white woman might have real consequences for his military career. Though Sweet Sweetback was Van Peebles’ shot heard round the world, The Story of a Three-Day Pass shows an artist whose strengths were already present from his debut. There’s something of a mournful, bittersweet tone to much of the film, as Turner and Van Peebles alike know the situation will probably not end well. But formally it overflows with the spirit of youthful invention — deliberately obtrusive editing, direct address to the camera, the occasional disorienting angle and a stylistically varied soundtrack, composed
in part by Van Peebles himself. There are even several early uses of visual techniques that would become more common in Van Peebles’ followers — the split-screen of fellow Godard fanatic Brian de Palma, and even the iconic double-dolly shot that has become Spike Lee’s trademark. But The Story of a Three-Day Pass is not all visual flash; it comes with a complex emotional sensibility and true thoughtfulness, effortlessly flowing from broad comedy to stylish art film to heartstringtugging melodrama. In many ways, it recalls the vivid romances of Rainer Werner Fassbinder as much as the French New Wave — two taboo-breaking lovers who find themselves hopelessly swept up in one another despite only speaking fragments of each other’s languages, and how glaringly obvious it is that things won’t work out. The Story of a Three-Day Pass is really more the story of two people caught up in each other’s orbits, and the structures that keep them apart. It’s an emotionally startling antidote to the highly processed corn syrup of its contemporary Hollywod interracial romances, like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and an equal antidote to the whitewashing of America’s own New Wave. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
A LOW PROFILE
Profile oversimplifies modern anxieties about online manipulation BY STEVE ERICKSON
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or a thriller, Profile only really achieves one thing: being as grating as possible. And that’s not entirely meant as negative criticism — it evokes a very contemporary anxiety about online manipulation. Director Timur Bekmambetov produced the
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FILM Unfriended movies and Searching, all of which were designed to look as though they were entirely recorded via a computer screen. Adapting French writer Anna Erelle’s nonfiction account of her infiltration of ISIS’ schemes to recruit European women, Profile changes the setting to London. But Profile’s emphasis is on its jangled-nerves mood. We’re always just 30 seconds from a new video call or some other electronic buzz, not to mention the needle-drops of moody covers of “Get Lucky” and “Creep,” sung by women — an approach that is rather clichéd these days. Like Unfriended, Profile is told entirely through screens — and video images made on and for them. As a film, it plays smaller than life, though it successfully portrays a sort of Extremely Online mood, wherein one’s attention span is completely frayed because three important (or seemingly important, anyway) things are happening simultaneously. Profile captures what it feels like to have one friend call you on your phone while you’re in the middle of a Zoom session with another. Trying to move up in her career, Amy (Valene Kane) pitches her boss Vicky (Christine Adams) a TV news report about her efforts to lure ISIS into attempting to radicalize her via Facebook and Skype. Amy creates a new Facebook persona named Melody Nelson with a bare-bones profile claiming she has just converted to Islam, and starts interacting with Islamist videos and comments. Bilel (Shazad Latif), a Pakistani-British man now fighting in Syria, contacts her almost immediately. He’s handsome and charming, but he ignores all the warning signs that she really knows nothing about Islam and is trying to entrap him. Instead, he invites her to join him in Syria during their second video conversation. If the film put more emphasis on character development, this turn of events might be more plausible. Instead it turns into an improbable and frankly unbelievable love story. In an early scene, the audience is given a glimpse of an email from Amy’s bank reminding her that she has a low balance. Not content with this hint about the desperate state of her finances, the film later shows us the many messages from her landlord about her debt. However, she jumps from paranoia about Arabs and Muslims — flipping out when she learns that her TV station’s tech-support assistant Lou (Amir Rahimzadeh) is Syrian-British — to infatuation with Bilel in only a few days. While Bilel is obviously up to no good, Latif’s performance adeptly conveys Bilel’s expertise in grooming and his ability to switch on the charisma. Even so, it never feels like enough to change the life of an adult woman with no attraction to ISIS or real interest in Middle Eastern politics. At its heart, Profile expresses a timeless racist fear about white women being seduced by men of color, modernized with European Islamophobia and anxieties about online culture. Of course, women — and men — being radicalized online by ISIS is a real problem. But Profile isn’t interested in the reasons behind that problem, which are a bit deeper than falling in love with hot recruiters. The film seems impressed with its own technical virtuosity, even though it repeats the same basic style of Unfriended while making its possibilities seem much more limited. Profile expresses something real about the way we can fall for other people’s online projections of themselves, but the political context is just a trapping. PROFILE R, 105 MINUTES OPENING WIDE FRIDAY, MAY 14
EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
PRIMAL STREAM 53
Surrealism, Soderberg and Lectroids, now available to stream BY JASON SHAWHAN
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o horror this week. At least, not in this column. May is coming on like a drunken card player keeping their hand very close to their chest, capable of pleasant vibes or unexpected violence with no advance tip to let people prepare. Maybe you can relate to this, but after getting fully vaccinated, the depressive spikes and pits of poking frustration are somehow getting worse. All the paranoid fragmentation is still there, because a lot of people just don’t give a shit, and never even tried to do so. So film-wise, this week is a bit more “up.” No monsters. No mayhem. No allegories for where we are and how it happened. Just three enjoyable films stuffed to the gills with big laughs and a lot of imagination.
THE BIG CRIME WAVE ON IMDB TV
Creative, visionary and resolutely Canadian, this film is like The Saragossa Manuscript of Winnipeg. Crime Wave (“The Big” was added to distinguish it from Sam Raimi’s film Crimewave, also released in 1985) is a nimble and elastic story that reinvents itself at several points during its runtime, even as it achieves something nearly unimaginable. This is a film about a misunderstood artist struggling against doubt and an uncaring industry, and it is never boring, solipsistic or predictable. Steven Penny (writer-director John Paizs) wants to be a modern — that is, the mid’80s, though as with all predigital Canadian art, there is a certain timelessness herein — master of the “colour crime” film, and he’s got a gift for beginnings and endings to rival some of the greatest storytellers. It’s just the middles that stymie him, leaving him haunting his own life like a handsome shadow (think Morten Harket in the “Take On Me” video), tossing out pages and pages of possibilities. Thankfully for him (and for the film itself), his landlords’ teenage daughter Kim (Eva Kovacs) has been rescuing those pages from the trash and narrating the film in a tone that anticipates the “It’s a Fact” girl from The Kids in the Hall. She’s an essential part of Steven’s journey, along with the benevolent colony of pacifist skateboarders, kinky moneymen and redneck pear-pitchers who populate this explosively funny and deeply sincere film.
THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI E. Coyote’s large-scale cliffside paintings as something looming in the future, but quite another when you’re soaking in your own 40s. Despite Schizopolis’ comedic diversions and periodic self-deconstructions, what sticks out the most about this film is how similar it is to David Lynch’s Lost Highway, which was made at the same time. Though both films leap between lives as relationships unwind into oblivion, Soderbergh’s instinct invariably veers toward empathic comedy and opening perspectives. Schizopolis isn’t the operatic tragedy of Lost Highway (or Mulholland Drive, for that matter), but it could just as easily have been. There’s something about Soderbergh starring in this film that lends it a kind of rawness we don’t get in the autocritiques that emerge from post-’70s auteurs. And there was a lot on his mind when he made this film, reckoning with his legacy after a massive, industry-changing hit and then several financial disappointments. The cinematic equivalent of taking the Etch A Sketch of the soul and shaking everything up to start again, Schizopolis is spry and sassy, playful in tone, and willing to do things differently than previously expected. After this would come Out of Sight, The Limey, the one-two punch of Traffic and Erin Brockovich, and Solaris — which is a string of films that is not to be fucked with. Smilesign.
THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ON AMAZON PRIME
Dense and complex, this beloved 1984 cult film hits the ground running with its textbased prelude and just doesn’t stop, never
making an expected choice or pausing to hold the viewer’s figurative hand. But what’s truly odd about The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai is that, in what should be in direct opposition to its full-speed-ahead mode of existence, it has a surprisingly welcoming and nurturing vibe. A hangout film that demands multiple viewings before you can really even start to enjoy its daffy pleasures, this was marketed as a sci-fi special-effects spectacular when in reality it’s a collision between Thomas Pynchon and Repo Man. As the titular brain surgeon/rocket scientist/rock star, Peter Weller is at his deadpan best. Jeff Goldblum is here, but it feels like Goldblumery is one of the main means of discourse the assortment of rockers, politicians and aliens that make the cast utilize to communicate. And playing the assorted factions of the warring Lectroids are beloved character actors like Christopher Lloyd and Vincent Schiavelli, getting really weird with it. As primary Lectroid antagonist Lord John Whorfin, you have John Lithgow going so far over the top he soars above everything else in the movie like a pterodactyl, and it is awesome. Scientifically, this film would make part of a great triple feature with Howard the Duck and From Beyond, as all pertain to pandimensional human shenanigans, and the various alien presences drawn in by them. It took me years to truly get on its wavelength, but now it is comforting like an afghan on the couch where you’d fall asleep if you stayed up too late watching all kinds of insanity and beauty. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM
SCHIZOPOLIS ON HBO MAX AND THE CRITERION CHANNEL
Steven Soderbergh turned a midlife crisis into the funniest film of his career with this 1996 epic — a smart and lightly smutty picaresque about disaffected suburban life, psychogenic fugues and the ins and outs of a Scientology analog called Eventualism. Schizopolis is still hysterically funny, but its characters hit much harder 20-plus years down the road. It’s one thing to look at office spaces and relationships that feel like Wile
SCHIZOPOLIS
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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 June 21, 2021. 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.
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Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 20D1979 HAWRI KAK HUSSEIN vs. MATEEN BILBAS 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 Mateen Bilbas. It is ordered that said Defendant enter his appearance herein with thirty (30) days after May 20, 2021 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 June 21, 2021. 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 W. North, Deputy Clerk Date: April 22, 2021 Bethany Peery Glandorf James L. Widrig Plaintiff NSC 4/29, 5/6, 5/13 & 5/20/2021
Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 21D104 MEGAN RENEE PRISCO vs. DANIEL EDWARD ARMSTRONG PRISCO 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 Daniel Edward Armstrong Prisco. It is ordered that said Defendant enter his appearance herein with thirty (30) days after May 20, 2021 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 June 21, 2021. 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: April 22, 2021
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Paul W. Moser Plaintiff
Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell, Deputy Clerk Date: April 22, 2021 Paul W. Moser Plaintiff NSC 4/29, 5/6, 5/13 & 5/20/2021
FORECLOSURE SALE NOTICE WHEREAS, Vinod T. Zaver and wife, Manglaben V. Zaver, by a Deed of Trust, dated July 27, 2005, of record in Book 1129, Page 1562 and Modification of record in Book 1473, Page 2407, Register’s Office for Wilson County, Tennessee AND of record in Instrument No. 20050803-0090649 and Modification of record in Instrument No. 20111205-0094622, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee, conveyed to Randall Clemons, Trustee, the hereinafter described real property to secure payment of a promissory note as described in said Deed of Trust; and
Being a tract or parcel of land situated and lying on the northerly side of Sparta Pike and bounded generally on the north by Forbes and Spring Creek, East by lands of Smith and South by Sparta Pike, the same being a triangular tract running to a point at the westerly end, containing by estimation five (5) acres, more or less. Being the same property conveyed to Vinodkumar T. Zaver and wife, Manglaben V. Zaver by deed to create tenancy by the entirety, dated 8/13/04, of record in Book 1067, Page 2192, with further reference at Book 1065, Page 2103, in the Register’s Office for Wilson County, Tennessee. Subject property is unimproved property and has the address of Sparta Pike, Lebanon, Wilson County, TN 37087 MAP 149 GROUP 340.00 PARCEL 2
PARCEL
Land lying and being situated in the Second Civil District of Davidson County, Tennessee, described according to a survey made by James L. Terry and Associates, dated June 12, 1985, described as follows, towit:
WHEREAS, default having occurred with respect to the note secured by the Deed of Trust, and the full balance owing having been accelerated; and
Beginning a point living on the westerly line of the Pebble Creek Apartments at the southeast corner of the Ervin Entrekin, Trustee property as of record in Book 4940, Page 721, Register’s Office of Davidson County, Tennessee; thence running with the said line of Pebble Creek Apartments South 2 degrees, 53 minutes, 47 seconds West a distance of 375.21 feet to a point lying on the northerly line of Terragon Trails, Section I, as of record in Book 4860, Page 61, Register’s Office of Davidson County, Tennessee; thence leaving the said line of Pebble Creek Apartments and running thence with the said northerly line of Terragon Trails North 43 degrees, 57 minutes, 06 seconds West a distance of 555.18 feet to a point lying on the southerly line of the Ervin Entrekin, Trustee, property; thence leaving the said Terragon Trails and running with the Entrekin Property south 86 degrees, 28 minutes, 03 seconds East a distance of 405.05 feet to the point of beginning, containing 1.74 acres, more or less.
WHEREAS, Wilson Bank & Trust, as the owner and holder of said note, has demanded that the real property covered by the Deed of Trust be advertised and sold in satisfaction of said debt and the cost of the foreclosure, in accordance with the terms and provisions of said note and Deed of Trust;
Being the same property conveyed to Vinod T. Zaver and Manglaben V. Zaver, by Final Decree Confirming Sale from Clerk and Master, recorded on February 26, 2004 and filed for record in Instrument 20040226-0021868, said Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee.
NOW, THEREFORE, notice is hereby given that I, Robert Evans Lee, Substitute Trustee, pursuant to the power, duty and authority vested in and imposed upon me in said Deed of Trust, will on June 4, 2021 at 10:00 A.M., Central Time, at the front door of the Courthouse in Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee as to the 5 acres on Sparta Pike, Lebanon, Wilson Co. property AND at 12:00 P.M., Central Time at the front door of the Courthouse located at 1 Public Square, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee as to the 1.74 acres on Billingsgate Road, Antioch, Davidson Co. property, offer for sale to the highest and best bidder for cash and free from all rights and equity of redemption, statutory or otherwise, homestead, dower and all other rights and exemptions of every kind as provided in said Deed of Trust, certain real property situated in Wilson and Davidson County, Tennessee, described as follows:
Vinod T. Zaver and Vinodkumar T. Zaver is one and the same person.
The notice required by 26 U.S.C. Section 7425(b) to the United States has been timely given, that the sale of the land thus advertised will be subject to the right of the United States to redeem the land as provided for in 26 U.S.C. Section 7425 (d) (1). WHEREAS, Robert Evans Lee having been appointed Substitute Trustee by Wilson Bank & Trust, the owner and holder of said note by an instrument of record in Book 1600, Page 153, Register’s Office for Wilson County, Tennessee AND in Instrument No. 20140714-0061742, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee, with authority to act alone with the powers given the Trustee; and
MAP 104 GROUP PARCEL 023.00 PARCEL I A parcel of land situated in the 19th Civil District of Wilson County, Tennessee, and more particularly described as follows:
Marketplace
EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ 1
scribed as follows:
Subject property is unimproved and has the address of Billingsgate Road, Antioch, Davidson Co., TN 37013 The right is reserved to adjourn the day of sale to another day and time certain, without further publication and in accordance with law, upon announcement of said adjournment on the day and time and place of sale set forth above, and/or to sell to the second highest bidder in the event the highest bidder does not comply with the terms of the sale. Substitute Trustee will make no covenant of seisin or warranty of title, express or implied, and will sell and convey the subject real property by Successor Trustee’s Deed, as Substitute Trustee only. THIS sale is subject to all matters shown on any applicable recorded Plat or Plan; any unpaid taxes which exist as a lien against said property, including without limitation city and county property taxes; any restrictive covenants, easements or setback lines that may be applicable; any statutory rights of redemption not otherwise waived in the Deed of Trust, including rights of redemption of any governmental agency, state or federal; and any prior liens or encumbrances that may exist against the property. This sale is also subject to any matter that an accurate survey of the prem|ises MAY 13 -disclose. MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE might
Being a tract or parcel of land situated and lying on the northerly side of Sparta Pike and bounded generally on the north by Forbes and Spring Creek, East by lands of Smith and South by Sparta Pike, the same being a triangular tract running tonashvillescene.com a point at the westerly end, containing by estimation five (5) acres, more or less. INTERESTED PARTIES are Mary Caraker; Dept of the Treasury - InBeing the same property conveyed ternal Revenue Service; Commuto Vinodkumar T. Zaver and wife, nity First Bank & Trust; and Bone Manglaben V. Zaver by deed to creMcAllester Norton PLLC ate tenancy by the entirety, dated 8/13/04, of record in Book 1067, THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO COL-
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setback lines that may be applicable; any statutory rights of redemption not otherwise waived in the Deed of Trust, including rights of redemption of any governmental agency, state or federal; and any prior liens or encumbrances that may exist against the property. This sale is also subject to any matter that an accurate survey of the premises might disclose. INTERESTED PARTIES are Mary Caraker; Dept of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service; Community First Bank & Trust; and Bone McAllester Norton PLLC THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT, AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE. THIS 21st day of April 2021
Non-Resident Notice Third Circuit Docket No. 20D1966 BARBARA CARUTHERS vs. ISIAKA BAMIDELE 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 ISIAKA BAMIDELE. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein within thirty (30) days after May 27, 2021 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 June 28, 2021. 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: April 29, 2021 William H. Stover Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/6, 5/13, 5/20 & 5/27/2021 IN THE JUVENILE COURT FOR DICKSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE AT CHARLOTTE
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Docket No.: 01-21-008-DN JESSIE SCOTT KEVIN SCOTT 1184 PACK RD. WHITE BLUFF, TN 37167 Petitioners, v ANDREA ZELTNER WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN Respondent. IN RE: JACK INGRAM, Jr., DOB: 04/25/2007 A Child Under Eighteen Years of Age
IN THE JUVENILE COURT FOR DICKSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE AT CHARLOTTE Docket No.: 01-21-008-DN JESSIE SCOTT KEVIN SCOTT 1184 PACK RD. WHITE BLUFF, TN 37167 Petitioners, v ANDREA ZELTNER WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN Respondent. IN RE: JACK INGRAM, Jr., DOB: 04/25/2007 A Child Under Eighteen Years of Age ORDER for PUBLICATION It appearing to the Court from the sworn allegations of the Pro Se Petition for Dependency and Neglect and Custody that the whereabouts of the Respondent, Andrea Zeltner, is unknown and cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence, it is, therefore, ORDERED that Respondent be served by publication of the following notice for four (4) consecutive weeks in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper of general circulation published in Davidson County, Tennessee. It is further ORDERED that if Respondent does not enter an appearance or otherwise answer the petition, further personal service or service by further publication shall be dispensed with and service of any future notices, motions, orders or other legal documents in this matter may be made upon Respondent by filing the same with the Clerk of the Juvenile Court of Dickson County, Tennessee. NOTICE ANDREA ZELTNER Jessie and Kevin Scott, have filed a petition seeking custody of Jack Ingram, Jr. You are hereby ORDERED to appear for trial on that petition on June 22, 2021, at 1:00 PM, at Dickson County Juvenile Court, 500 Spring St., Charlotte, TN 37036, phone number 614-7890250, or to otherwise enter an appearance in this matter. If you fail to do so, an order may be entered against you for the relief requested in the petition. You may view and obtain a copy of the petition and any other subsequently filed legal documents in the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office at the address shown above. ENTER this the 4th day of May, 2021. Judge Honorable Michael Meise NSC 5/13, 5/20, 5/27 & 6/3/2021
ORDER for PUBLICATION It appearing to the Court from the sworn allegations of the Pro Se Petition for Dependency and Neglect and Custody that the whereabouts of the Respondent, Andrea Zeltner, is unknown and cannot be ascertained with reasonable diligence, it is, therefore, ORDERED that Respondent be served by publication of the following notice for four (4) consecutive weeks in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper of general circulation published in Davidson County, Tennessee.
NSC 5/13, 5/20, 5/27 & 6/3/2021 Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 20D1328 THOMAS CHRISTIAN vs. KARLA CHRISTIAN 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 KARLA CHRISTIAN. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HER appearance herein with thirty (30) days after June 3, 2021 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 July 5, 2021. 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 M. De Jesus, Deputy Clerk Date: May 5, 2021 Elizabeth Woodard Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/13, 5/20, 5/27 & 6/3/2021
Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No. 21D228 TINA GAYLE GRESHAM vs. CURTIS LEON GRESHAM 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 CURTIS LEON GRESHAM. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein with thirty (30) days after June 3, 2021 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 July 5, 2021. 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 M. De Jesus, Deputy Clerk Date: May 5, 2021 John B. Iwu Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/13, 5/20, 5/27 & 6/3/2021
EMPLOYMENT Developer I - .Net (Multiple positions. GEODIS Logistics, LLC, Brentwood, TN): Reqs Bachelor’s degree (US or foreign equiv) in Comp Sci or related; 2 yrs app dev exp; 2 yrs app dev using .Net & SQL; exp in developing apps for Logistics, Retail, or Transportation systems; knowledge of leading industry tech w/ strong knowledge around IT governance, project planning, & technological usage/alternatives available in a multi-platform environment. Qualified applicants mail resume to Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027 Ref #: DEVEL16680.
Lead Engineers, IT Storage. Design, engineer, and support complex mixed technology environment to support enterprise storage solutions. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Brentwood, TN. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0333. Senior Developers, IT Application Integration. Design, develop, configure, build, review, and unit test software and solutions for a major retailer. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Brentwood, TN. Multiple Openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 19-0290. Sr. Engineers, IT DevOps. Implement CICD (Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment) technical initiatives and deliver cutting edge solutions for a major retailer. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Brentwood, TN. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to S. Case, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0127. Lead Engineers, IT Data Integration. Support production environments, manage triage events, and provide support for QA activities for data integration interfaces for a major retailer. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Brentwood, TN. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/e-mails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0207.
Sr. Analysts, IT Logistics Systems. Configure, support, and maintain logistics systems located at distribution centers and mixing centers for a major retailer from both a project and operational perspective. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Brentwood, TN. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0116.
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Developer II – PL/SQL (Multiple positions. GEODIS Logistics, LLC, Brentwood, TN): Reqs Bachelor’s degree (US or foreign equivalent) in IT or related; 4 yrs Oracle, PL/SQL app dev exp; exp w/ following generally accepted security practices & methodologies in app dev; able to debug & test computer programs. Qualified applicants mail resume to Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027 Ref #: DEVEL16679.
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Sr. Analysts, IT Logistics Systems. Configure, support, and maintain logistics systems located at distribution centers and mixing centers for a major retailer from both a project and operational perspective. Employer: Tractor Supply Company. Location: Brentwood, TN. Multiple openings. To apply, mail resume (no calls/emails) to P. Hatcher, 5401 Virginia Way, Brentwood, TN 37027 and reference job code 0116.
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NOTICE ANDREA ZELTNER
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Jessie and Kevin Scott, have filed a petition seeking custody of Jack Ingram, Jr. You are hereby ORDERED to appear for trial on that petition on June 22, 2021, at 1:00 PM, at Dickson County Juvenile Court, 500 Spring St., Charlotte, TN 37036, phone number 614-7890250, or to otherwise enter an appearance in this matter. If you fail to do so, an order may be entered against you for the relief requested in the petition. You may view and obtain a copy of the petition and any other subsequently filed legal documents in the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office at the address shown above. ENTER this the 4th day of May, 2021. Judge Honorable Michael Meise
Fairfax Flats 206 Fairfax Ave Nashville, TN 37212
It is further ORDERED that if Respondent does not enter an appearance or otherwise answer the petition, further personal service or service by further publication shall be dispensed with and service of any future notices, motions, orders or other legal documents in this matter may be made upon Respondent by filing the same with the Clerk of the Juvenile Court of Dickson County, Tennessee.
Jessie and Kevin Scott, have filed a petition seeking custody of Jack Ingram, Jr. You are hereby ORDERED to appear for trial on that petition on June 22, 2021, at 1:00 PM, at Dickson County Juvenile Court, 500 Spring St., Charlotte, TN 37036, phone number 614-78913 - MAYenter 19, an 2021 NASHVILLE SCENE 0250,|orMAY to otherwise ap- | pearance in this matter. If you fail to do so, an order may be entered against you for the relief requested in the petition. You may view and obtain a copy of the petition and any other subsequently filed legal documents in the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office at the address shown above.
Logistics, Retail, or Transportation systems; knowledge of leading industry tech w/ strong knowledge around IT governance, project planning, & technological usage/alternatives available in a multi-platform environment. Qualified applicants mail resume to Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027 Ref #: DEVEL16680.
NOTICE ANDREA ZELTNER
1 Bed / 1 Bath 700 sq ft $1825 - $1975
2 Bed / 2 Bath 1036-1215 sq ft $2400 - $2800
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141 Neese Drive Nashville TN 37211 | www.Gazeboapts.com | 615.551.3832 Cumberland Retreat 411 Annex Ave Nashville, TN 37209 2 Bed /1 Bath 1008 sq ft $1259 2 floor plans
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Gazebo Apartments 141 Neese Drive Nashville TN 37211 1 Bed / 1 Bath 756 sq ft $1,119 +
2 Bed / 1.5 Bath - 2 Bath 1,047 – 1,098 sq ft $1,299 +
3 Bed / 2 Bath 1201 sq ft $1,399 +
To advertise your property available for lease, contact Keith Wright at 615-557-4788 or kwright@fwpublishing.com
1 Bed / 1 Bath 675 sq ft $959
5 floor plans
gazeboapts.com | 615.551.3832 nashvillescene.com | MAY 13 - MAY 19, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE
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