Nashville Scene 5-25-23

CONTENTS

CRITICS’ PICKS

Enter the Dragon, Devon Gilfillian, Dave Matthews Band, Moony and more 26

FOOD AND DRINK

Asian Flavors

Sip these six Asian-inspired cocktails to celebrate the last week of AAPI Heritage Month

BY CLARA WANG

28

BOOKS

The Myth and the Man

Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life captures the civil rights leader in his full humanity

BY ARAM GOUDSOUZIAN; CHAPTER16.ORG

29

Karen Seapker is making paintings about gardens, pride and sadness

BY

A solo exhibit from Sai Clayton explores the dual nature of biracialism

BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

MUSIC

Undistorted Truth

On her distortion-drenched debut, Annie DiRusso says what you would never say out loud

BY DARYL SANDERS

Summer Soundtrack 2023

The Scene’s music writers recommend local tunes for your summer trips and hangs, from Margo Price, Joy Oladokun and many more

29

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FILM

Dramedy of Errors

You Hurt My Feelings fills the down-to-earth dramedy gap

BY LOGAN BUTTS

34

Green Thumbs Up ................................... 34

Paul Schrader’s Master Gardener is pleasing, dark and odd

BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY

Point Doom 35

Messiah of Evil is a masterwork of cosmic horror

BY JASON SHAWHAN

37

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

38

MARKETPLACE

MAY 25, 2023

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:

With a Little Help From His Friends, Morgxn Breaks Down the ‘Modern Man’

Here Are All of the Candidates for Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council

Beloved Broadway Brewhouse Reopens Under New Management and Name

Nashville Attorney Preparing Democratic Campaign for U.S. Senate

31

31

SEAN L. MALONEY, DARYL SANDERS, JASON SHAWHAN, STEPHEN TRAGESER

BY AMANDA HAGGARD,

The Spin ...................................................

32

The Scene’s live-review column checks out Miko Marks and Rissi Palmer at The Lounge at City Winery

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

PET OF THE WEEK!

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Voted Best in Nashville 7x!

INFLATION COOLS FOR 10 STRAIGHT MONTHS — A TESTAMENT TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BIDEN’S ECONOMIC POLICIES

In the months since COVID-19 has been waning, inflation has been a major concern for all of us as consumers. It’s been a concern for economists and policymakers as well. Finally, however, reports are showing that inflation has been cooling in recent months. In fact, according to recent reporting from Forbes, April of this year marked the 10th straight month of decline in inflation, a hopeful sign for the economy and for consumers.

The decrease in inflation is good news for President Biden, who has made the economy a key priority of his administration. His policies have helped put the country on a path toward economic recovery, and this latest news shows that his efforts are paying off. With less inflation, Americans can have more faith in the economy and feel more secure in their futures. That doesn’t mean our problems are completely over, of course — only that we are seeing progress.

According to Investopedia, the consumer price index “measures the monthly change in prices paid by U.S. consumers.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the CPI as a weighted average of prices for a basket of goods and services representative of aggregate U.S. consumer spending. According to a May 10 report by The New York Times, “the Consumer Price Index climbed 4.9 percent in April from a year earlier.” These numbers are a relief for many, as they suggest that inflation might no longer be a major obstacle to economic growth. “Inflation has come down notably from a peak just above 9 percent last summer,” notes the Times, “though it has remained far higher than the 2 percent annual gains that were normal before the pandemic.”

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics showed that grocery prices have dropped for the second consecutive month, gasoline prices moved back up by just 3 percent in April, and used cars climbed 4.4 percent.

(USA Today noted on May 10 that the latter happened after nine months of decline.) Rental costs rose at a slower pace according to the BLS report. The overall data shows signs that inflation is continuing to cool down. For instance, airline fares dropped by 2.6 percent in April, while hotel prices plunged by 3 percent after four straight monthly increases. With summer upon us and many choosing to travel, even these small decreases will be welcome.

Another factor to the cooling of infla-

tion is the supply chain disruptions that we’ve seen since the pandemic. As that USA Today article indicates, the pandemic has disrupted global supply chains, leading to shortages and higher prices for goods. However, as these disruptions begin to ease, prices are likely to stabilize and further reduce inflation.

What this indicates is that President Biden’s plan is working. According to a Feb. 6 release from the White House: “President Biden set the goal of transitioning our economy to lower inflation, while maintaining a resilient job market for American workers. Now, annual inflation has fallen for six [now 10] months straight, driven in large part by a roughly $1.50 decline in gas prices compared to last summer. Over the second half of 2022, three-month core inflation fell from nearly 8% at an annualized rate to 3% at an annualized rate — at the same time that the unemployment remained at or near 50-year lows.”

In writing about President Biden’s economic progress, the Office of Political Strategy & Outreach reported “that nearly 11 million jobs have been created — the two strongest years of job growth in history.” It showed “750,000 manufacturing jobs have been created — a faster recovery than any other business cycle since 1953,” and the “lowest unemployment rate in 50 years.” Further, it revealed that “real wages are higher” and that “inflation fell” — and it continues to fall since that report was generated.

All of this news is no doubt a welcome relief to many Americans who have been struggling with rising prices. While the cooling of inflation is a positive sign, it is still important to monitor the data closely. Inflation is down, but it remains above prepandemic levels. However, if the current cooling trend continues, we can expect to see further decreases in inflation rates in the coming months, even while recognizing there’s more to do.

As noted in the White House release: “While there is more work to do to bring inflation down and lower costs for families — and there may be setbacks along the way — the past six [now 10] months have marked significant progress toward the President’s goal of bringing down inflation without giving up the economic progress we’ve made.”

Editor-in-Chief D. Patrick Rodgers

Managing Editor Alejandro Ramirez

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Staff Writers Kelsey Beyeler, Stephen Elliott, Hannah Herner, Eli Motycka, William Williams

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Stars

Songwriters Under the Stars

Bluegrass Under the Stars

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway with AJ Lee & Blue Summit

VIEW FROM A BROAD

A former Scene editor tries to make sense of this year’s mayoral field — and lands on a wait-for-it deduction

BY LIZ GARRIGAN

Metropolitik is a recurring column featuring the Scene’s analysis of Metro dealings. Liz Garrigan lives in Bangkok, Thailand, and served as editor-in-chief of the Scene well before Nashville was a bachelorette destination.

There is something optimistic about seeing a diverse slate of mayoral candidates representing Black and white, men and women, private sector and public sector, elected officials and unelected alike. Not that long ago, Nashville voters were little more than puppets for a well-connected, well-funded and diverse-poor oligarchy of honky-sauruses who prided themselves on being kingmakers. It was a closed system, a largely unearned patriarchy of gray-haired Brooks Brothers acolytes pre-deciding ballot options for voters.

There has been some progress since in terms of diversity of choice. The late Betty Nixon ran for mayor in 1987, and current Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry, who is Black, narrowly missed making the 2007 mayoral runoff. But until Megan Barry’s election in 2015, Nashville had a succession of white men holding the city’s top office. The most noteworthy deviation from the norm between the time of the insider kingmakers and Barry’s election was that non-native Nashvillians such as Phil Brede-

sen, Bill Purcell and Karl Dean (and Barry herself) were able to make their case to the Nashville electorate after notable achievements in the governmental, legal and/or business dimensions of Nashville life.

The pendulum swung back with the elections of native Nashvillians David Briley and John Cooper, themselves the grandson of a previous mayor and the son of a previous governor, respectively. But Cooper’s decision to forego seeking a second term has given way to a field of candidates so legion — 12 aspirants have qualified — that it’s difficult for any single contender to stand apart. Not all candidates are created equal. Bruce Barry aptly characterized the assemblage of hopefuls as representing “tiers of plausibility,” eliminating a solid handful of them in a recent Tennessee Lookout piece as unworthy of discussion, in large part because their fundraising is so lackluster as to indicate essentially stillborn campaigns.

Had the state legislature successfully eliminated Nashville’s runoff vote as part of its coordinated and ongoing reign of overreach and civic malpractice on blue cities, Republican Alice Rolli might be worthy of more attention. But as it is, she is a lite version of David Fox, her treasurer and the failed 2015 mayoral candidate whose candidacy was doomed by his choice to run too far to the right in a city uninterested in red-state politics. Fox, though, at least had the advantage of having served as an elected school board member

with policy chops and name recognition. Rolli, who seems to enjoy invoking the name “Bill Lee,” can’t say the same and doesn’t appear to have learned from Fox’s strategic error in the runoff. That’s all we’ll say about her.

As I view this race from across the world more than 13 years since last being a Nashville voter, there seems to be a single common thread among some of the more tuned-in candidates: the message that Nashville has become untenable for its own longtime citizens, that the power structures in place have prioritized NFL franchises, obnoxious tourists and rich West Coast newcomers over public school students, hardworking locals and neighborhood infrastructure. Anyone with even the weakest pulse or a dial-up internet connection can see that these candidates are onto something. If I wanted to move back to Nashville today, I’d have a better chance of being invited to run the chamber of commerce than buying a home in Davidson County. Two years out from a 34 percent property tax hike, this is the issue, and it’s time to seize on it without equivocation.

But of those who are viable — state Sens. Heidi Campbell and Jeff Yarbro, retired businessman Jim Gingrich, Metro Councilmembers Sharon Hurt and Freddie O’Connell, and former economic development guru Matt Wiltshire — only two have had the backbone and the fortitude to oppose the latest illustration of citizen bulldozing and misplaced priorities: the $2.1 billion stadium deal for the Tennessee Titans. They are Jim Gingrich and Freddie O’Connell.

A recent Vanderbilt poll shows that 52 percent of Nashville adults oppose this excessive bequest of public resources, this concrete veneration of pro-business philosophy utterly tone-deaf to voter sentiment. O’Connell characterizes it as “the largest public subsidy in the history of the NFL”

at a time when Nashville’s cost of living and quality of life need urgent attention. Gingrich, the retired AllianceBernstein executive, also opposes the deal. Yarbro and Campbell helped pave the way for it in the state legislature, Hurt voted for it in the Metro Council, and Wiltshire is on record in support. Another candidate, Davidson County property assessor Vivian Wilhoite, who has not demonstrated any fundraising numbers yet because she entered the race after the most recent filing deadline, has offered only a non-answer.

Let’s take each of the viable candidates in turn.

Gingrich is among the two best-funded candidates in the race and has funneled $2 million of his own money into it. But no one knows this guy, who came to Nashville in 2018. There are Nashvillians with Moon Pies in their cupboards older than Jim Gingrich’s residential tenure in Music City. It’s hard to imagine him gaining much traction, no matter how much cash he has to throw around.

Wiltshire, meanwhile, has co-opted the blue-and-green campaign colors of former Nashville Mayors Phil Bredesen, Bill Purcell and Karl Dean — no doubt strategically — and has been christened The Chosen One by this city’s fraternity of economic development and chamber apostles. He is a native with a strong résumé who has raised a lot of cash, but how can a candidate support this public expenditure and be simultaneously committed to funding the services that have been overlooked and underfunded over time? He can’t be everything to everyone.

Hurt has the potential to be formidable. She was elected countywide, lives in Bellevue and has worked in North Nashville leading up a Jefferson Street advocacy group. But she has failed to stand out legislatively and voted for the stadium.

Yarbro and Campbell have been mealymouthed and generic in their responses to the issues and have the same problem as the others if you accept the notion that support or opposition to the stadium represents a litmus test for voters. Besides, Yarbro seems estranged from some of his own Democratic colleagues, a number of whom in his delegation are supporting Campbell. For her part, Campbell has run for three offices in four years, which is its own red flag.

That leaves O’Connell as the lone native Nashvillian who wants to prioritize Nashville neighborhoods and fundamental services, who has had the mettle and moral fiber to accept that he might lose support from Captains of Industry for opposing The Big Giveaway — but has done it anyway. He’s not as well-funded as the business candidate, Matt Wiltshire, who has loaned himself $349,000. And as a district Metro councilmember, he has never garnered as many votes as a state senator or a countywide officeholder would. But he is clearly the brainy neighborhood candidate — in the fashion of Bill Purcell — and his allegiance to the prevailing point of view of Nashville voters, as well as his commitment to get the little things right, set him apart and speak to his character and worthiness.

And after all, maybe only dinosaurs remember this, but the last mayoral candidate who looked askance at a Titans stadium deal, Bill Purcell, won the job.

RESIGNATION PROMPTS QUESTIONS ABOUT PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING

Pastorek tells the Scene that the steering committee had no sway over the city’s decision to earmark 7 percent of the $10 million allocation for overhead, nor were they consulted when the city awarded public relations firm Hall Strategies a contract worth more than $600,000 to promote the project. She took issue with the firm, which represented developers during displacements at the RiverChase Apartment complex in the fall and represents Bristol Motor Speedway in its ongoing effort to land a NASCAR deal at The Fairgrounds Nashville. Pastorek also chafed at the committee’s tight timeline as well as meetings’ functionality, specifically Bedne’s decision to bring on a facilitator whose responsibilities overlapped with Pastorek’s role as chair.

When news broke that Pastorek resigned, District 12 Councilmember Erin Evans pointed out that Hall’s contract is the “funding equivalent of almost 10 traffic calming projects.” Hall maintains that the contract is mostly pass-through money to fund printed materials, translation services and website buildout.

Metro Legal and Finance has kept the committee to a strict timeline because the funding originated from the American Rescue Plan, federal dollars that must be allocated by the end of 2024. As chair, Pastorek fielded concerns about whether the city had freed itself from such constraints by first categorizing that money as revenue replacement, then pulling $10 million from the city budget.

THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS AND POLITICS BLOG:

Whitney Pastorek stepped down May 13 after three months as chair of the steering committee for the city’s latest participatory budgeting cycle. Her parting words cast the program as political theater in which officials offered “crumbs” of investment to distract from a larger agenda favorable to corporations and real estate developers. Councilmembers, the mayor’s office and incoming chair Jason Sparks have defended the program, acknowledging its bureaucracy as a necessary facet of democracy.

Nashville first experimented with participatory budgeting in 2021, when the Metro Council allocated $2 million to fund projects in Bordeaux and North Nashville proposed and voted on by residents. Another $2 million came in 2022. This money funded playground equipment, bus shelters, air conditioning at the Looby Community Center, and speed bumps in Bordeaux Hills, among other improvements. Each year, councilmembers vie for neighborhood improvements by submitting projects to the city’s capital improvements budget and capital spending plan. In February, the mayor’s office upped the pool to $10 million and expanded the program countywide. Councilmembers helped recruit interested residents like Pastorek to represent each of Metro’s 35 districts on a steering committee, which was then tasked by the mayor’s office with approving guidelines that would govern the yearslong process to solicit, approve and fund city projects.

“I’m a fan of participatory budgeting, and I think a lot more money should be going to it,” District 21 Councilmember Brandon Taylor tells the Scene after Pastorek’s departure. His constituents participated in the first two cycles, which brought improvements to his

district in North Nashville. “I fight hard to get things we need in North Nashville, but it takes a while to get anything.”

Supporters tout the program as proof of citizen-led direct democracy. Critics, including some former participants, describe participatory budgeting as a bureaucratic and time-consuming way to address obvious community needs. Some say it takes public pressure to deliver equitable investment off the city’s existing attempt at democracy: a 40-person council, a mayor and a vice mayor elected every four years to collect and allocate public resources.

“I had serious moral and ethical concerns that I was not able to reconcile,” Pastorek told the Scene a few days after she stepped down as chair. “I thought this would be a genuine, community-driven process in which a room full of people would talk about their values and the priorities of their individual community. Instead, we were given the arduous and artificial task of editing preexisting guidelines from previous cycles and a timeline that was accelerated and compressed to meet the administration’s needs.”

Fabian Bedne, a former Metro councilmember, is the mayor’s community development manager and has overseen all three participatory budgeting cycles.

“Democracy is sometimes messy, and part of public service is working constructively with others, establishing clear and transparent processes that [maximize] the number of people who can participate, and being diligent about complying with legal and regulatory requirements — especially when we’re spending millions of taxpayer money,” Bedne tells the Scene in a statement. “Those are fundamental principles in participatory budgeting, and we won’t compromise on those. Governing by fiat or dictatorship is certainly more efficient.”

As the deal for a new Titans stadium moved through the council, Pastorek interpreted the city’s approval of $2.1 billion for the stadium as a dismissal of the neighborhood-level needs that participatory budgeting aimed to address. The city will pledge current and future tax revenue behind its $760 million contribution to the new stadium. Neighborhood improvements are typically paid for from the general fund.

“What pushed me over the top was the entire stadium conversation,” Pastorek tells the Scene. “As the community, we get pathetic little crumbs that involve weeks, months, years of hoop-jumping to access and come with incredible constraints.”

Ben Eagles, a senior adviser for the mayor, defended the process as less arduous than the existing path to infrastructure improvements — approval through the Metro Council.

Eagles tells the Scene: “These projects could be funded through the traditional lengthy red-tape route of a capital improvements budget, then a capital spending plan, then a vote by Metro Council, but PB allows residents to have a direct say in what gets done in their neighborhood without relying on priority lists of department heads or the ear of a councilmember or the advocacy of a mayor.”

Pastorek formally resigned after the steering committee had approved guidelines to govern the remainder of the participatory budgeting process. Jason Sparks will replace Pastorek as chair of the steering committee. The window for project submissions closes on June 1.

“The timeline has been very challenging to work with,” Sparks tells the Scene. “But there’s a lot we can adjust within the framework we’ve been given. It’s kinda like when you’re buying a car. You can choose the radio or a CD player, but you don’t just decide not to get the car, right?”

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

The Metro Council approved zoning changes for Belle Meade Plaza, paving the way for AJ Capital to develop the site after months of conflict with surrounding neighborhoods. The site, anchored by Kroger for decades, sits at the corner of White Bridge Road and Harding Pike. Organized opposition has criticized developers’ plans to add hundreds of residential units and questioned the credibility of associated traffic studies. … The petition deadline for Metro candidates passed last week, firming up the field ahead of Election Day on Aug. 3. More than 100 Nashvillians will vie for 35 council districts, five at-large seats, vice mayor and mayor. … We spoke with incumbent Burkley Allen, who’s running for reelection as an at-large member. Allen touted her record working for Airbnb regulation and housing affordability, work that she hopes to continue into her next term. … Nashville attorney Joanne Sowell is preparing a campaign against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, according to paperwork filed by Sowell last month. Blackburn beat former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a centrist Democrat, by 11 percentage points in 2018 with only three counties — Davidson, Haywood and Shelby — going blue. State Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Knoxville Democrat and one of the so-called Tennessee Three, says she is “definitely considering a run.” … Last week’s Metro Council meeting felt like the “beginning of the end,” writes Scene columnist Nicole Williams. With just three months left in the body’s four-year term, legislators are forgoing niceties and picking fights, the final chapter of an exhausting term that started six months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Nashville. In a notable win for inclusionary housing advocates, District 5’s Sean Parker persisted through seven deferrals and a slew of compromises, finally passing legislation that allows four or more unrelated individuals to live in the same house, which was previously prohibited under Nashville’s housing code. … Candidates for mayor will be stage-jumping between forums and town halls and debates nearly every week until early voting starts in mid-July The Tennessean focused on city-state relations, transit, policing and whether the city is on the “right track” at a campaign-trail event last week at Belmont’s swanky new Fisher Center. The right-trackwrong-track question, which has been polled by Vanderbilt in its annual city politics survey, has become a tricky litmus test for candidates’ tolerance of the current administration. …

Contributor Betsy Phillips enters the murky depths of Nashville’s early history with a deep dive on Bishop Richard Pius Miles and the city’s early Catholic church. … Nashville SC continues to climb the MLS standings with a recent win over Charlotte. Reigning league MVP Hany Mukhtar scored two goals for Nashville, including a late-game penalty kick.

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Mayor’s office, officials defend program after committee chair stepped down citing ‘moral and ethical concerns’

BY ELI MOTYCKA

MAYOR COOPER AT THE PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING LAUNCH IN FEBRUARY PHOTO COURTESY OF METRO NASHVILLE

WITNESS HISTORY

Chris Stapleton used this 1966 Gibson Trini Lopez Standard electric guitar on the title track of his debut album Traveller—which was inspired by a cross-country trip with his wife, Morgane, and recorded at RCA Studio A—a turning point that marked his first solo success and the stardom that followed soon after.

From the exhibit Chris Stapleton: Since 1978

artifact: Courtesy of Chris Stapleton artifact photo: Bob Delevante

RESERVE TODAY

WIN THE BEST SEAT IN THE PARK!

Don’t worry about bringing your own blankets or chairs — our friends at Gary Ashton of Re/Max advantage want to give you the BEST SEAT IN THE PARK!

Each week we’ll pull a lucky winner to enjoy the below perks, so you don’t have to come early to grab a good spot by the screen!

SCAN TO ENTER

Nashvilleʼs longest running FREE movie screening returns this summer to Elmington Park, Thursdays in June. Enjoy games, giveaways and food truck fare before taking in a fan-favorite film under the stars.

CRITICS’ PICKS

WEEKLY

THURSDAY / 5.25

MUSIC

[REMOTE CONTROL] SLEEPING WITH SIRENS

Complete Collapse is an appropriate title for longtime post-hardcore-emo-pop band Sleeping With Sirens’ latest album, which hit the market in October. Complete Collapse makes its case for the worldview of a group of dedicated followers of various dystopian fashions, for whom losing control is a function of both personal and geopolitical realities. Sleeping With Sirens’ music avoids total breakdown via the band’s ability to contrast sections of hardcore — with vocalist Kellin Quinn screaming in defiance of the forces that threaten to control him — with melodic hooks drawn from punk, classic rock and prog. For these guys, who started their career in Florida and now reside in Michigan, the pop moments might come as a relief, and Complete Collapse is a hybrid with its own integrity. “Family Tree” and “Apathetic” come across as sincere efforts to come to grips with the dissolution of culture and the lack of trust Quinn & Co. presumably see all around them. Meanwhile, “Mr. Nice Guy” is about being fed up with fake people who offer nothing but excuses, and it’s also one of the most straightforward tracks on Complete Collapse. Dayseeker and M.A.G.S. open. 7:30 p.m. at Marathon Music Works, 1402 Clinton St. EDD HURT

[FLUTEBAE HERE TO PLAY] ASHLEY CRAWFORD

[MINNESOTA

UNITED]

JOE RAINEY

If you don’t already, it’s time you know about Flutebae — aka Ashley Crawford. The classically trained flutist is a Tennessee State University flute professor, director of the Nashville Philharmonic Flute Ensemble, president of the Nashville African American Wind Symphony and an internet sensation. She has garnered a huge online following while sharing videos that showcase her musical talents, from covering SZA songs on the flute to sharing her own genre-bending compositions. She’s created and collaborated with some of the greatest in Nashville, like TSU’s Grammywinning Aristocrat of Bands, Brassville and more. On Thursday, she’ll perform her “Black Prelude” at the Nashville Jazz Workshop with drummer Derrick Greene, bassist Mike Majett, tenor saxophonist Jovan Quallo and Lance Lucas on the keys. If you’re wondering what you may be getting into, check out her Instagram (@profflutebae) for a sneak peek. While you’re there, give her a follow for the continued flute content you didn’t know you needed. 7:30 p.m. at the Nashville Jazz Workshop, 1012 Buchanan St. KELSEY BEYELER MUSIC

There’s no easy way to categorize the music of Joe Rainey, because we haven’t ever heard music as unorthodox as the

sound that the Twin Cities powwow singer makes. A member of northern Minnesota’s Red Lake Nation of the Ojibwe people, Rainey takes an innovative approach to the powwow tradition handed down from Native singer to Native singer, echoed across the lakelands of his home state. Having sampled field recordings of powwow singers/ drummers that he documented himself, he earned himself a record deal with the 37d03d label, founded by The National’s Dessner brothers and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. His nontraditional take on the 2022 single “Once the Reaper” highlights what makes him so special – buzzing synthesizers, layers of phantasmal vocal samples and throbbing bass drums to piecemeal music that drifts between ancient invocations and industrial dance. 8 p.m. at The Blue Room at Third Man Records, 623 Seventh Ave. S.

P.J. KINZER

ART [SNAKE

EYES] BJ BARBEE: REVERENCE/RELEVANCE

Musician, visual artist and longtime Nashvillian BJ Barbee isn’t shy about how his upbringing in East Tennessee’s Appalachian foothills shaped his perspective as an artist. As he recently put it, “Growing up I became fascinated with the overlap of spirituality and sound” — and that overlap informs Barbee’s current exhibition at Julia Martin Gallery, Reverence/Relevance. As his artist’s statement puts it, Reverence/ Relevance combines “mystical components of a religious cult upbringing with images of legendary musicians, mythical preachers and bewitching bombshells.” Barbee’s most interesting works, to me, are his paintings of classic country and bluegrass performers paired with serpents — his portrait of West Virginia banjo man Don Stover in front of an ouroboros is particularly haunting. Also appearing in Barbee’s paintings are iconic figures including Waylon Jennings, dastardly televangelist Jimmy Swaggart and even Winnie-the-Pooh. The man contains

FRIDAY / 5.26

MUSIC

[RIGHT KIND OF CRAZY] DEVON GILFILLIAN

RODGERS

multitudes, and while the show covers a lot of ground, all of his work is shot through with dark and stirring imagery that’ll likely stick with you. Barbee’s show is paired with ceramics by Becca Jane Koehler, and is on view by appointment or on its final day, this Saturday. Through May 27 at Julia Martin Gallery, 444 Humphreys St. D. PATRICK

comic thriller Gremlins. But he’s also ready to present his socially conscious side; the ready-to-be-an-anthem “Let the Water Flow” was influenced by the fight against voter suppression in Georgia. While most of his music has him sounding like Leon Bridges if he ate ’shroom chocolates or The Weeknd if he didn’t think about coke or your teenage daughter, never forget that Gilfillian is a serious soulster when he wants to be. Watch him and fellow talent Emily King go at it live at the Ryman. 8 p.m. at the Ryman, 116 Rep. John Lewis Way N. CRAIG D. LINDSEY

W/EMILY KING

I’ve been down with Nashville R&B singer-songwriter Devon Gilfillian ever since his 2020 debut Black Hole Rainbow, on which he dropped fun, poppy ditties, but also on-point heartbreakers like “Thank Me Later.” These days, he’s got a ramen-noodle ’fro and is performing tunes from his latest release Love You Anyway. The album shows he’s not afraid to get naughty and nocturnal, like on “Better Broken,” perhaps the only quiet-storm number inspired by the ’80s

MUSIC

[JUST

MY IMAGINATION]

SENSES FAIL

The emo tendencies that typify many current North American bands come through on Senses Fail’s 2022 album Hell Is in Your Head, but the New Jersey band has been around long enough to have shifted membership many times and more or less perfected their classic-rock variation on emo. This means Hell hews closely to the British Invasion usages rock has been recycling for decades, and the album comes across as straightforward — almost, you know, uncomplicated. The band’s kiss-off to an odious star of right-wing media, “Lush Rimbaugh,” gets its message across, while “The Fire Sermon” sports a pretty lush set of chord changes. Hell is definitely emo — this is a band that seems terrified of the world, and in the title track, they sing: “From what I can tell / I think I have a disease.” The album peaks with something titled “Miles to Go,” in which they mention the disappearance of polar bears and the high cost of living in an inflationary bubble that’s only fun when you’ve got the money. Opening will be The Home Team and Action/ Adventure. 8 p.m. at The Basement East, 917 Woodland St. EDD HURT

MUSIC

[DON’T STOP]

CHRISTINE M c VIE TRIBUTE

The music industry and the world at large lost an artistic titan when Christine McVie passed late last year. Often the unsung hero of Fleetwood Mac, McVie has never quite received her due, despite writing some of the group’s best songs. While McVie didn’t attract the acclaim some of her bandmates have, drummer Mick Fleetwood acknowledged her as “the glue” that held Fleetwood Mac together. From “Say You Love Me” to “You Make Loving Fun” and “Everywhere,” McVie’s songs more than hold their own. Artists Heaven Honey and Abby Johnson have put together a tribute to the late legend, featuring a who’s-who lineup of local singer-songwriters including Caitlin Rose, Molly Martin, Lola Kirke and Be Your Own Pet’s Jemina Pearl. The band for the evening will feature Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears, Josh Halper and The Volunteer Department. 8 p.m. at The Blue Room at Third Man Records, 623 Seventh Ave. S. HANNAH CRON

ART [STRING THEORY] STORIED STRINGS: THE GUITAR IN AMERICAN ART

Lovers of visual art, music and American history will be united at the Frist this season. The first exhibition to explore the guitar as a symbol in American art, Storied Strings includes more than 100 works — from John

Baldessari and Thomas Hart Benton to Dorothea Lange and Romare Bearden. The exhibit is divided into 12 sections that span American art from the early 18th century until now: “Leisure, Culture, and Comfort: 19th Century America;” “Amateurs and Professionals;” “Hispanicization;” “Hawaiiana;” “Blues and Folk;” “A Change Is Coming;” “Iconic Women in Country Music;” “Cowboy Guitars;” “Making a Living;” “The Visual Culture of Early Rock and Roll;” “Personification;” and “Aestheticizing a Motif.” Included among the artworks are examples of actual guitars, many of which were borrowed from local collectors. May 26-Aug. 13 at the Frist, 919

Broadway LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

ART [WORLD OF WONDER] RON JUDE: 12 HZ

Photographer Ron Jude’s large-scale black-and-white photographs of landscapes were taken in Oregon, California, Hawaii and Iceland, but often feel otherworldly. Lava flows and cracked glaciers permeate the photo space, and might make you think of a 21st-century Ansel Adams. The exhibition’s title — 12 Hz — references the lowest threshold of human hearing, which the show information says suggests “the powerful yet frequently imperceptible forces that shape the physical world and the limits of human perception.” On Friday at noon, Jude will give a talk about the exhibition with Toby Jurovics, the director of the Barry Lopez Foundation for Art & Environment, which is the lead organizer of the show. Lopez was himself an admirer of Jude, saying of his work: “When I saw Ron Jude’s photographs for the first time, it took me about 20 minutes to catch up to the scale of what he was doing, and the way he was using tonal values, and destroying the notion of boundedness in a ‘work of art.’ I felt small in what he was doing and overwhelmed by something that wasn’t all that big.”

May 26-Aug. 13 at the Frist, 919 Broadway LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

FILM [HOLY MOLY]

MIDNIGHT MOVIE: THE HOLY MOUNTAIN

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1973 masterpiece The Holy Mountain is as much of a capital-E Experience as any film I can think of. It’s gorgeous, disturbing, thrilling, tedious and completely fucking wild. The plot barely matters — this is a visual experience that defies description — but if you’re a stickler for those details, a messiah figure and an alchemist set out to achieve enlightenment atop a holy mountain. But it’s the unforgettable vignettes that will stick with you forever — crucified lizards, shaved heads, anus alchemy, eye-shaped flaming tables, hats for days. It’s playing as part of the Belcourt’s ongoing 1973 series and gets the Midnight Movie treatment this weekend, which means that only the weirdest of Nashville will be there — the cinephiles, the satanists, the ultra cool.

Midnight at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave.

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

MUSIC

[ANTS MARCHING]

DAVE MATTHEWS

BAND

There’s nothing like heading into Bridgestone Arena and joining the

DEVON GILFILLIAN

BJ BARBEE: REVERENCE/ RELEVANCE

Saturday, May 27

SONGWRITER SESSION Porter Howell

NOON · FORD THEATER

Sunday, May 28

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT Alison Prestwood

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, June 3

HATCH SHOW PRINT

10:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 3:30 pm

HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP

LIMITED AVAILABILITY

Saturday, June 3

SONGWRITER SESSION

Carson Beyer and Michael Lotten

NOON · FORD THEATER

Sunday, June 4

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Nick Scallorn

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Friday, June 9

CONVERSATION AND PERFORMANCE

CMT’s

Next Women of Country

featuring Kimberly Kelly, Catie Offerman, MaRynn Taylor, Kasey Tyndall, and Julie Williams

12:30 pm · CMA THEATER

Saturday, June 10

SONGWRITER SESSION

Laura Veltz

NOON · FORD THEATER

Saturday, June 10

FILM SCREENING Fan Fair Phenomenon (1997)

2:30 pm · FORD THEATER

crowds of excitable white people for the Dave Matthews Band. I kid, I kid. Here’s the truth: When a Dave Matthews song comes on the radio, I stick with it. His music takes me back to a time in my life when I was making out as the scents of CK One and Zima filled the air. DMB made music for horny teens, and everyone who got to second base in the mid-’90s should forever be indebted to him. Now his legacy almost doesn’t seem true — it’s too much of a punchline to consider after the disdain campaigns I later practiced against him when my musical tastes shifted. But I’ve come around to admitting the simple pleasures of being a Basic Btch. And the fact that he’s playing arenas 30 years after the release of Under the Table and Dreaming shows that there’s still a lot of us out there. 7:30 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena, 501 Broadway TOBY ROSE

MUSIC

[GOT ’EM CORNERED]

MUSICIANS CORNER FEAT. HAYES

CARLL, AMYTHYST KIAH & MORE

Much-loved concert series Musicians Corner continues its long-standing tradition of bringing phenomenal talent to Centennial Park at family-friendly times with an entry fee of exactly zero dollars. The series’ three-day Memorial Day weekend run starts Friday evening with performances from top songsmiths like Hayes Carll and Crys Matthews, as well as great songwriter and stellar fiddler Lillie Mae. Saturday afternoon, check out rocking songsmiths Amythyst Kiah and Tristen and rising country-folk champ Denitia, among others. The mini festival draws to a close on Sunday, but not without a duo set from Ricky Young and Joel King from pop-mericana group Wild Feathers, a performance from film star and country singer Lola Kirke and more. That “more” includes hometown heroes and cosmic-pastoral instrumental rock champs William Tyler and the Impossible Truth; their most recent local gig, at Vinyl Tap in April for Record Store Day, featured some special guest singers, so be ready for some fun surprises. Friday through Sunday at Centennial Park, 2500 West End Ave.

STEPHEN TRAGESER

FILM [KICK FLICKS]

1973: ENTER THE DRAGON

Every so often, a movie comes along with an impact so seismic that its influence can still be felt reverberating throughout pop culture decades later. The Belcourt is celebrating a handful of these films as part of its series on the movies of 1973, including Enter the Dragon. I could try to convince you to see this iconic work by telling you it’s the Greatest Martial Arts Film of All Time, which it is. I could describe the trippy, The Lady From Shanghai-esque hall-of-mirrors sequence, which has been re-created in everything from John Wick: Chapter 2 to MacGyver. I could try to distill its massive cultural footprint down to a few items (we’ll go with the Wu-Tang Clan and Dragon Ball Z). I could even mention that co-star John Saxon lived in the Nashville area before his death in 2020. But this is a movie in which Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly, two of the coolest people in the history of mankind, take on an island of evil goons by themselves. That’s all you need to

know. May 26, 28 & 30 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt

SATURDAY / 5.27

THEATER

[PUT THEIR SERVICE TO THE TEST]

BACKLIGHT PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

For more than a decade, Backlight Productions has been helping adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities grow and succeed through arts education, providing them with top-notch training and resources and a warm, welcoming community that they’ll never “age out of.” While partnering with professional artists and theater companies, Backlight offers a wide range of programs throughout the year and produces fun shows that allow their participants to really shine. This weekend, the Franklin-based nonprofit will take the stage at Nashville Children’s Theatre to perform Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature, the stage version features all your favorite songs, along with a few you may not know. And with 42 developmentally disabled artists performing alongside local professionals and student actors, it promises to be a heartwarming evening. May 27-28 at Nashville Children’s Theatre, 25 Middleton St. AMY STUMPFL

CARS

[DOUBLE VISION]

SUMMER DEMO SERIES

The second installment of Lane Motor Museum’s Summer Demo series features the 1952 Citroën 2CV Bicephale “Cogolin’’ Replica. The car is unique in that it’s basically two Citroën CV front halves put together, and its curved hoods may remind readers of the popular Volkswagen Beetle released in the ’60s. A practical purpose gave birth to such a quirky car: In the city of Cogolin in the French countryside, firefighters on night patrol would sometimes have to reverse up to a mile in the dark after reaching the end of a

narrow rural road. By simply pinning one set of wheels in place and switching over to the opposite driver’s seat, firefighters were able to drive directly back down the road. Remarkably, the Bicephale can also be operated by two drivers at once, which will be on full display during the demonstration. The monthly family-friendly series includes some of the museum’s oddest automobiles in the museum’s back parking lot. Noon at the Lane Motor Museum, 702 Murfreesboro Pike

JASON VERSTEGEN

[MINOR ROLES]

FILM

1973: PAPER MOON

Paper Moon is one of those rare cases in which the film is as spectacular as the novel. The book, Addie Pray, came out in 1971 and tells the rollicking story of a con man and the young girl who accompanies him during the Great Depression. They’re a lovable pair of scammers. The film, released two years later, stars the real-life father-and-daughter pairing of Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. Except for changing the setting from the Deep South to the Midwest, the movie stays loyal to the novel. All charm remains. At 9 years old, Tatum O’Neal portrayed Addie Loggins and became the youngest Academy Award winner in history — and she won because she didn’t play cute à la Shirley Temple (who, incidentally, won the honorary Academy Juvenile Award at just 6 years old in 1934). Actually, Tatum doesn’t have an ounce of sweetness to her, making her edge of wit the rarest gift of all. Showing as part of the Belcourt’s 1973 series. May 27, 29 and 31 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. TOBY ROSE

SUNDAY / 5.28

THEATER

[HOMETOWN CABARET] IF LOVE IS OVERRATED

Deonté L. Warren’s career has taken them around the globe, performing on cruise ships, in touring productions

of Sister Act and Dreamgirls, and even on Broadway in Disney’s Aladdin. Currently serving as an assistant professor and coordinator of musical theater at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Warren continues to perform here and there most recently turning in an electrifying performance as Angel in Nashville Rep’s terrific production of Rent. Local audiences can catch this multitalented Nashville native this weekend in If Love Is Overrated, a new cabaret performance at Street Theatre Company. Audiences can look forward to a wide range of songs and musical styles, including music by jazz greats like Gregory Porter, Nina Simone, Esperanza Spalding and more, along with works from musical theater legends such as Stephen Sondheim and Jason Robert Brown. At the intimate Barbershop Theater, Deonté will surely have you swaying in the seat. 7 p.m. at The Barbershop Theater, 4003 Indiana Ave. AMY STUMPFL

FILM [UNCOMPLICATED]

1973: THE WAY WE WERE

Air Mail critic James Wolcott recently called Sydney Pollack’s beloved, Oscarwinning, magic/tragic romance from 1973 a “honey trap of Hollywood hooey.” But I dare anyone to watch old-school tearjerker The Way We Were and not root for Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand’s night-andday couple to stay in hand-holding love for the rest of the movie. In a film adapted from a novel by Arthur Laurents (who wrote the script), Streisand’s commie idealist and Redford’s upper-crust pragmatist have an on-again, off-again thang through most of the early 20th century. While some weirdass things keep their home from being continuously happy (Francoist Spain, the death of FDR, McCarthyism), the pop icon and the Sundance Kid have an offthe-charts chemistry that — in this age of movie stars giving off chaste, neutered energy on screen — is both refreshing and intoxicating. And I don’t care what Redford says about wearing two pairs of drawers

BACKLIGHT PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

PHOTO: SARAH HARRISON

an independent bookstore for independent people

6:30AM

Bureau of Imagination

TUESDAY, MAY 30

MEG MASON

with ANN PATCHETT at PARNASSUS Sorrow and Bliss

THURSDAY, JUNE 1

6:30AM

JONATHAN EIG

with DR. LEAROTHA WILLIAMS at PARNASSUS King: A Life

MONDAY, JUNE 5

6:30AM

HOLLY GOLDBERG SLOAN

with GIGI LEVANGIE at PARNASSUS Pieces of Blue

6:30AM

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TUESDAY, JUNE 6

TransElectric: My Life as a Cosmic Rock Star

THURSDAY, JUNE 8

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CRITICS’ PICKS

to protect himself from Streisand during filming. Every time Babs looks at the dude in a scene, you can tell those two smashed all through filming. May 28 & 30, June 1 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. CRAIG D. LINDSEY

MONDAY / 5.29

[I ONLY WANT TO SAY]

FILM

1973: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

It’s the crossover event of the century — that is, the first century. As part of both the ongoing Music City Mondays series and the monthlong 50th-anniversary celebration of films released in 1973, the Belcourt will show Norman Jewison’s adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar. The film takes Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s cult-favorite rock-opera concept album turned Broadway sensation to new, meta heights. The story depicts six days in Jesus’ life leading up to his — spoiler alert — death, told through the perspective of the notoriously complicated Judas Iscariot. Jesus Christ Superstar has always been controversial, with some religious groups hailing it for its humanization of biblical characters and broad reach, and others condemning it for innumerable reasons. But no take on Superstar can outshine its fantastic soundtrack. The film brings together much of the original cast, taking the outstanding score and passionate vocals to the sprawling backdrop of Israel. The on-location filming elevates the already outstanding opera to an unforgettable cinematic journey. It’s distinctly ’70s, a little bit camp and, according to a Huffington Post bracket, the “best Jesus movie,” beating out classics like Godspell and Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter May 29 & June 1 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. HANNAH CRON

TUESDAY / 5.30

[DREAM A LITTLE DREAM]

MUSIC

JEROMES DREAM W/ELIZABETH COLOUR WHEEL & SECOND SPIRIT

In the earliest days of Jeromes Dream, the band toured with New England hardcore instigators Orchid and played a sparsely attended Nashville show. Having written

only a few songs before Orchid invited them on the road, Jeromes Dream eradicated the few of us in the room with their 13-minute set. What they lacked in material, the Vulcan-rockers made up for in sass, vigor and tinnitus-inducing art-punk. Almost a quarter-century later, Jeromes Dream is coming back in support of a new LP on Iodine Records. Their sound remains a relentless barrage of lightspeed emo-thrash and brash noise, never allowing their age to water down their piss and vinegar. The Drkmttr gig kicks off with the sparse, dreary psychedelia of Boston’s Elizabeth Colour Wheel and locals Second Spirit. 7 p.m. at Drkmttr, 1111 Dickerson Pike

P.J. KINZER

WEDNESDAY / 5.31

MUSIC [APOLLO PROJECT] MOONY

Not to be confused with the early-Aughts Italian dance music diva of the same name, Moony is a captivating project from musical polymath Seth Findley, one that gloriously finds its own way of defining what “Nashville music” even means. To call Moony one of the more innovative rock projects out there feels a bit unfair — there are all kinds of influences, textures and vibes to be found — but this is a sound that feels raring up to break out of an idiom. At times, Findley uses distortion as an instrument of jagged, maximal intimacy (the kind that was all over Charli XCX’s How I’m Feeling Now), working as both barrier and guide for the listener. Abundant with muscular hooks and a sense of external perspective, the recent Podunk EP (which gathers a few previous tracks and some new work) is visceral and immediate and hits hard. It takes no time to dawdle, instead aiming for maximum impact in its 18 minutes (and its Pierre et Gilles-adjacent cover art), and it serves as the exact right kind of taster for Wednesday’s show at The End. Even if we’d only been offered the exquisite bossa nova Auto-Tune arena anthem “Sacreligious,” it would be enough to fix eyes and ears on wherever this project is bound for. 8 p.m. at The End, 2219 Elliston Place

JASON SHAWHAN

ASIAN FLAVORS

Sip these six Asian-inspired cocktails to celebrate the last week of AAPI Heritage Month

BY CLARA WANG

Esteemed restaurant critic William Grimes labeled America “the land of the brave and the home of the martini.” In the ’80s, the ultradry vodka martini — shaken, not stirred — was synonymous with the intoxication of money and power. Today you can order a stellar wasabi martini at Virago, just one of many Nashville restaurants and bars incorporating Asian ingredients like lychee, five-spice and Szechuan peppercorn into the ultimate American art form.

Akinde Olagundoye is vice president of the Nashville chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild. He says Asianinspired cocktails are here to stay thanks to audiences moving toward “more well-rounded, balanced and interesting cocktails.” Asian flavors open up a whole new world of potential.

“As cocktail bartenders, we’re curious and always looking to bring new flavors to the table to create excitement,” says Olagundoye. “And taking that culinary knowledge, knowing what those ingredients and fruits are, leads to them being applied to cocktails more.”

In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, I want to highlight not just the delicious culinary possibilities of this movement, but also the arguably more important point of food culture: education. The best Asianinfluenced cocktails tend to come from white-owned, or partially white-owned, restaurants. That’s largely because they have the resources, know-how and aim to make Eastern flavors accessible to Western audiences. While the food at spots like Two Ten Jack is great (and the cocktails are even better), it’s important to keep in mind that first-generation immigrants of color often lack the media training and capital to invest in the kind of ambience and service that attracts Middle America.

Do we really need another Japanese or Chinese fusion spot when there are so few restaurants serving the cuisines in their original format? The market will decide. But as Middle America is introduced to diverse fruits, flavors and ingredients through the digestible format of tasty cocktails, I hope Nashville’s appetite for exotic fruits and ingredients will eventually expand to learning more about the cultures they’re connected to.

REFRESHING LYCHEE

Sunda, Lucky Rabbit: Altos Plata Tequila, ginger liqueur, muddled strawberries, lime, lychee, watermelon liqueur, Red Bull

Watermelon

Small, fleshy and delicately sweet lychee fruit grows on a tropical tree native to South China, and has been cultivated in Southeast Asia since 1059 A.D. Lychee bears subtle floral notes that pair well with the more

acidic tones in Sunda’s refreshing Lucky Rabbit. The cocktail features pureed fresh lychees and comes in a tall mug decorated with a purple flower — it tastes like a fruity lychee soda, and goes down dangerously quickly.

SAVORY, SWEET AND SPICY KIMCHI AND GOCHUJANG

Noko, Kimchi Bloody Mary: fish sauce/soy sauce blend, kimchi juice, gochujang, lemon juice, Charleston Bloody Mary Mix, mezcal

Fermented sauces and pickled vegetables

— like the spicy Korean red chili paste gochujang and savory napa cabbage

kimchi — play a huge role in many Asian cuisines, and they are well-balanced with smoky mezcal in Noko’s bloody mary. For ages, humans used fermentation not only to preserve food, but also as a way to stretch salt, which was a precious commodity up until the past few centuries. Asian cooking often uses fermented sauces and pickles to add savoriness and umami rather than directly adding pure salt.

TINGLY, COOL SZECHUAN PEPPERCORN

Xiao Bao, London Flower: Sichuan peppercorn gin, Pimm’s, lemon Sichuan peppercorns offer a uniquely

numbing sensation that leaves your tongue feeling tingly, adding an electrifying dimension to Xiao Bao’s delightful gin-andtonic. These tiny peppercorns ubiquitous in Sichuanese cuisine are berries of the prickly ash tree that, when dried, open up into a flower shape, lending the name “hua jiao” (flower pepper). Take a sip of Xiao Bao’s London Flower and feel the peppercorn kick the back of your mouth, almost like the lingering fizz of Pop Rocks on your tongue.

BURNING WASABI

Virago, Wasabi Martini: Finlandia Vodka, lime, wasabi, burnt lemon

Like Xiao Bao, Virago adds dimensionality to a classic drink, this time with the

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO

PHOTOS: ERIC ENGLAND

XIAO BAO, LONDON FLOWER

VIRAGO, WASABI MARTINI

NOKO, KIMCHI BLOODY MARY

SUNDA, LUCKY RABBIT

burning, pungent properties of wasabi. They reduce the wasabi into a simple syrup of equal parts sugar water and wasabi before shaking it into a cocktail, and the subtle hint of lemon makes the martini almost reminiscent of a sour. The umami of wasabi replaces the bitter saltiness of a traditional olive and lends each sip a pleasant ending kick without being overwhelming.

SPICED MASALA CHAI

Two Ten Jack, No. 3: masala chai spiced rum, pear juice, pear liqueur, lime, cream soda

Two Ten Jack infuses rum with masala chai, a South Asian tea with spices, sugar and milk, by steeping the tea and then letting it sit in rum for a week until it gets bitter and holds the flavor of strong chai. The sugar and the dairy flavor — a remnant of British colonization that was incorporated into Indian tea to make chai — in the cocktail come from the cream soda. Despite the dairy and tea components, it still lands light and sparkly with a chai finish.

BRIGHT YUZU CITRUS

Virago, Flaming Dragon: Lunazul Blanco

Tequila, cucumber, agave, yuzu, shiso leaf, habanero bitters

Yuzu is a citrus fruit originating in China that tastes like a sharp cross between a

lemon and a grapefruit. Virago’s Flaming Dragon counters the acidity of yuzu with the clean, almost meaty notes of shiso leaf, an herb commonly used in Japanese cooking with the fragrance of fresh rain.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO

PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO

VIRAGO, FLAMING DRAGON

With over two decades experience working in Nashville we’d love to be part of your next addition, renovation, or custom build!

BOOKS

THE MYTH AND THE MAN

Jonathan Eig’s

King: A Life captures the civil rights leader in his full humanity

BY ARAM GOUDSOUZIAN

It might seem that Martin Luther King Jr. is more a myth than a man. Thanks to his soaring oratory and moral courage, he has emerged in popular memory as a kind of Founding Father, compelling a nation to better realize its democratic ideals. Yet author Jonathan Eig urges us to “embrace the complicated King, the flawed King, the human King, the radical King.” In King: A Life, Eig paints a vivid portrait of the civil rights leader in all his

so encouraging. And funny!

The shadow of Martin Luther King Sr. loomed over MLK Jr. How did “Daddy King” shape his son’s worldview and personality? Daddy King was a genuine hero — raised in a sharecropping family with an abusive father, all but illiterate as a child, and yet he left home and remade himself in Atlanta as a minister, a teacher and an activist. Daddy King led voter drives and inspired his congregation to fight for civil rights. He also used his prominence to force white politicians to make concessions to his community’s demands.

complexities. Marked by deep research and sharp writing, it is the definitive King biography of this generation.

Jonathan Eig worked as a reporter for various newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, before becoming a bestselling author. His 2017 biography of Muhammad Ali, titled Ali: A Life, won the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing. Eig answered questions via email.

Many of the early books of the civil rights movement were biographies of Martin Luther King Jr. More recently, historians have questioned and complicated the place of King in the movement. How can a new biography shed light on King’s role in the struggle for Black freedom? I’m a big fan of questions and complications! Our understanding of King (and history in general) ought to shift with time. Even though many excellent books on King and the civil rights movement had been published, biography serves a special purpose — it allows readers a more intimate view of history. I wanted to remind readers that King was a man before he became a monument and a national holiday, that he struggled, that he possessed flaws, and that he possessed even more courage than we appreciate.

Biographers live with their subjects for years. What was it like to live with Martin Luther King? As you researched and wrote King: A Life, what was your own journey? He was terrific company — never dull, often inspiring, full of surprises, deep. I spent six years on this book and could have spent another six, easily, without getting bored. I always dream about my biographical subjects. In my dreams, Lou Gehrig ran from me. Muhammad Ali taunted me. Jackie Robinson menaced me. Honestly, Martin Luther King was so kind,

He created a template for his son. And his son — or Little Mike, as he was known in his early years — wasn’t afraid to seize the moment when it came. With his education, his speaking skills, his leadership ability, his courage, MLK Jr. surpassed his father in every way. And that wasn’t easy.

The most vivid “supporting character” in your book might be Coretta Scott King. How would you characterize her relationship to her husband? When I interviewed Harry Belafonte, I got the impression that he didn’t care much for Coretta. But when I asked him why King fell in love with her, Belafonte answered immediately. It was because Coretta was the more experienced activist at that time. She had attended Antioch College and been engaged in many organized campaigns for civil rights. King was attracted to her smarts, to her passion, to her determination above all else.

But if you accept that as truth (which I do), it complicates everything that comes after. She gave up her activism, for the most part, to be a wife and mother, as so many women of her generation did. She didn’t know that Martin was going to become a leader of a nationwide movement. She didn’t know that he would be away from home so often and for so long. She didn’t know that he would be tempted by other women.

And yet she persisted. She made a big impact on the civil rights movement, not only as the support behind MLK, but also as a force in her own right. She’s the one who said, after King won the Nobel Peace Prize, that the award would require them to speak out more on international issues. She spoke out against the war in Vietnam. She was a remarkable and fascinating figure, and I hope someone writes her biography soon.

To read an uncut version of this interview — and more local book coverage — please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. EMAIL

KING: A LIFE BY JONATHAN EIG FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX 688 PAGES, $35 EIG WILL DISCUSS KING: A LIFE 6:30 P.M. THURSDAY, JUNE 1, AT PARNASSUS

TO THE YOUNG

Karen Seapker is making paintings about gardens, pride and sadness

BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

If you wanted to know how the past few years have affected artists in Nashville, you could do no better than checking out Karen Seapker’s latest solo show, Green’s Your Color, at Zeitgeist through June 24. For starters, the exhibition title is a reference to the Gwendolyn Brooks poem “To the Young Who Want to Die.” Death will wait, she writes. Stay here.

The gun will wait. The lake will wait. The tall gall in the small seductive vial will wait will wait:

That’s the place where Seapker’s newest work — a collection of 15 impressive canvases — comes from. This is not just a fantasy land of natural wonders; it’s a fantasy land of natural wonders that have sprouted out of tragedy and deep grieving. In her artist’s statement, Seapker reflects on the purpose of darkness in cycles of growth. “I have been thinking about the role of dormancy in the life of seeds,” she writes, “how they need a kind of suspended sleep to grow. Darkness can be restorative. Punctuating life as it does, it serves a purpose.”

Seapker’s last solo show was installed days after her studio was destroyed in the March 2020 tornado. The paintings were pulled from the wreckage of the storm by friends and employees of a nearby Mexican restaurant, luckily unscathed. But we all know what happened next. Seapker’s paintings compress all that information — storms, the pandemic, the Black Lives

HALF NOISE

A solo exhibit from Sai Clayton explores the dual nature of biracialism

BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

HĀFU is Sai Clayton’s first solo exhibition, and it takes over the intimate West Nashville gallery space Random Sample with a singular point of view. The exhibition’s title references the Japanese word for “half,” which is used to identify people who are, like Clayton, ethnically half-Japanese. It’s a captivating concept that digs into the dual nature of biracialism, and the liminal space of an identity that’s never just one thing.

The show centers on self-portraiture of various kinds — paintings, embroidered silk, block prints, and even a book screen-printed by Nashville’s own Grand Palace. In the painted self-portraits, Clayton dilutes oil paint to such an extent that the pieces

Matter movement and protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder — merging the sacred and the garden in an attempt to find a way to grow.

Death will abide, will pamper your postponement. I assure you death will wait. Death has a lot of time.

On the wall to the left of the gallery’s entrance is the 72-by-48-inch “You Are Spring,” the grandest painting in the show. It takes elements of symmetrical stained glass and Gothic cathedral windows, and pairs them with simple iconography — tendrils of leaves, a spider in its web and a symbol that, depending on your perspective, looks like praying hands, a high five or a vulva. Here, Seapker’s colors are strong but gentle — like an intense sunset diffused by clouds or a summer rainstorm. There are more shades than there are words to name them, and yet Seapker masterfully synthesizes them into easy harmony. Light emanates from the paint as if Rothko were painting O’Keeffe. There is something inherently hopeful in relishing this kind of beauty.

Stay here. See what the news is going to be tomorrow.

A trio of paintings at first seems like outliers among the large-scale visions of gardens and skies. These works incorporate text, and were inspired by Seapker’s children. In recent years, her daughter has come with Seapker to protests and rallies, and thinks hard about what kinds of messages she wants to share with the world. “Lately,” Seapker writes, “she has been writing these messages in notes and books that she gives to me. Some of these are too beautiful to not reflect back to her, too rich to not paint so that I may reflect on the pride and sadness they bring to me.”

“Protest (After Iris)” demands its readers to “Feel the Love of Nature” — a phrase that works like shorthand for the Gwendolyn Brooks poem. Seapker copies her child’s handwriting, surrounding the sign with a clear pink-and-blue sky and a swirl of brushstrokes that could be the path of a storm, a clock’s hand, a planet’s orbit.

Graves grow no green that you can use. Remember, green’s your color. You are Spring.

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13-by-10-inch works are hung as a triptych, with Clayton’s painted self-portraits layered underneath block prints of masks with exaggerated features, like the ones used in Japanese kabuki theater. On the opposite wall of the gallery are three 48-by-34-inch canvases with painted faces, but instead of being covered with masks, these have embroidered pieces of silk hanging down their middles, bisecting each of them. The silk hangs from thin steel wires that are installed just above the self-portraits, and I’m reminded of everything from shop signage to church banners to protest signs.

become like watercolor washes. Her monochromatic palette signals that these are more studies than fully realized works in themselves. Clayton washed and dried the raw canvas before she began each painting, emphasizing the textural quality of the surfaces and, possibly, easing up the process of creation — like the writer’s trick of scribbling across a blank page to get through a creative block. Here, Clayton is murdering her darlings, focusing on communicating a message without getting too precious about any of it. The faces in the paintings are all Clayton’s own,

but each appears distinct due to odd angles or sharp shading — her nose casts a dark shadow across her face in one, her tucked chin and upward gaze give her a Kubrick stare in another. The dissimilarities are intentional, referencing both racial dysmorphia and, according to her artist’s statement, “the multitudes of self as it relates to outward racial perception and inward cultural identification.”

Clayton is great at deconstructing an idea that is both specific to her personal experience and universally relatable. In “Face With Mask 1, 2 and 3,” three

In the corner of the gallery is a flowy black silk kimono jacket hanging from a wooden rod. The work, “American American American,” is covered in the Japanese word for “American” embroidered over and over, like a compulsive behavior (“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”) or a punitive task (Bart Simpson at the chalkboard). The stitches are tight across one half of the jacket, but around the edges of the left side, the words become more spaced out, drifting apart and eventually disappearing completely — as if the embroiderer gave up, exasperated, halfway through. EMAIL

KAREN SEAPKER: GREEN’S YOUR COLOR THROUGH JUNE 24 AT ZEITGEIST, 516 HAGAN ST.

SAI CLAYTON: HĀFU THROUGH MAY 29 AT RANDOM SAMPLE, 407 48TH AVE. N.

“SAINT JARMAN,” KAREN SEAPKER “FACE WITH MASK 1, 2 AND 3,” SAI CLAYTON

Bad Acting, Othrside (9pm)

The Tuten Brothers w/ Colton Venner (7pm)

Alesana w/ Limbs, Vampires Everywhere, & Across The White Water Tower

Un Año Contigo: Bad Bunny Dance Party

The Beast Street Band: Bruce Springsteen tribute

The Rocket Summer w/ The Juliana Theory

Hermanos Gutiérrez

Faster Pussycat w/ Jason Charles Miller & The Bites

Mustache The Band

Lenox Hills, Connor Kelly & The Time Warp, Megan Kerr (9pm)

Multi Ultra w/ Gloom Girl MFG, Lombardy (9pm)

Jude Parrish w/ Emma Ogier (7pm)

Cinema Stereo, Mason Pace, The Garden Of Eden (7pm)

Adam Mac, Nell Maynard, Chris Housman, Elizabeth Davis, Zoe Cummins, Ahli (9pm)

Bradley Gaskin (6pm)

Collin Nash w/ Jack McKeon (7pm)

Ellisa Sun, Evan Doan Jenkins, Eva Cassel (9pm)

V3RN w/ Jack The Underdog (7pm)

Pylon Reenactment Society w/ Palomina and Thayer Sarrano (8pm)

UNDISTORTED TRUTH

On her distortion-drenched debut, Annie DiRusso says what you would never say out loud

BY DARYL SANDERS

The sound of distorted guitars speaks to indie rocker Annie DiRusso. That sound also speaks for DiRusso on her new EP God, I Hate This Place

“I feel a lot of emotion from a distorted guitar, so I think that’s pretty reflective on the EP,” DiRusso says, speaking to the Scene in advance of her show at The Basement East on Wednesday. “I highlight more heavy and emotional moments with that sound.”

God, I Hate This Place is full of heavy and emotional moments. Working with her longtime producer Jason Cummings on the record’s five tracks, DiRusso sets a darkly honest mood, magnified with fuzzed-out guitars .

“I’ve always been very guitar-driven,” she explains. “That’s what I write all my songs on. In the last few years, I’ve been mostly using electric guitar.”

DiRusso was inspired to experiment with distortion by other female artists working that sonic landscape.

“When I got to college, I started listening to Margaret Glaspy and Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers and Mitski, Adrianne Lenker and all of these people who were being so incredibly honest,” she recalls. “It was like they were being conversational, almost, with their honesty over these distorted guitars. And I absolutely fell in love with it. I was like, ‘This makes me feel so much.’”

DiRusso also drew inspiration from these artists’ dedication to unvarnished lyrical truth.

“That feeling of hearing something and being like, ‘Oh my gosh, I felt that so many times, but I would never say it out loud,’” she says. “That was a huge moment for me, of just realizing that honesty and vulnerability is the

SUMMER SOUNDTRACK 2023

The Scene ’s music writers recommend local tunes for your summer trips and hangs, from Margo Price, Joy Oladokun and many more

The days (and most nights) are warm, the critters and plants seem very industrious, and the Memorial Day holiday has arrived; the solstice isn’t for another few weeks, but it sure feels like summer. No matter what your plans are — a trip to the beach,

most important aspect of songwriting, and saying things that I’m scared to say out loud.”

DiRusso understands that degree of honesty can be unnerving to some. Case in point: the unsettling opening lines of the EP’s opening track “Emerson,” a song about the street in a suburban part of New York where she grew up: “Baptized by a pedophile / In a church that reeks of oak and death.”

“I think some of the stuff I say makes people feel a little uncomfortable,” she acknowledges with understatement.

In many ways, God, I Hate This Place represents a journey of self-discovery, prompted by a breakup she went through during her junior year at Belmont University, where she was studying songwriting and music business. At the end of “Emerson,” she shares a key realization from her experience, which she describes as “the thesis” of the record: “Guess I’ve never escaped me for too long / Guess I’ve only ever been who I was.”

“It’s like this weird juxtaposition, that I found to be really inspiring writing this EP, of the limit that puts on someone — being only able to be who they are — but also how freeing that is,” she says. “And I think being honest is the only way to really capture that juxtaposition.”

Both directly and indirectly, the aforementioned breakup and the causes behind it inform much of the record. DiRusso confronts unrealistic male-centric notions of female body image and beauty that can be damaging to the psyches of women young and old. While most of the material was written in 2022, DiRusso wrote “Body” in 2020 as a sort of personal declaration of independence right after that toxic relationship ended. At the beginning of the song, she poses the question, “Should I lose weight just so he’ll want me?” She defiantly provides an answer in the opening line of the chorus: “Not really one for trying to be who you want me to be.”

a trip to the library, a trip to the club — you need a soundtrack. The Scene’s music scribes have a playlist of 2023 Nashville summer jams for you, which you can find on our website, and we’ve shared notes on some of our favorite tracks.

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SHARON VAN ETTEN, “RADIO”

This song from Price’s latest LP Strays is about freedom — specifically, from the expectations of others and how they can drown out your needs.

“Radio” is an anthemic declaration of personal independence, with an electronic heartbeat that feels positively slinky and a new whistle-worthy melody at every turn. If you’ve planned a trek that’s meant to help you recharge so you can show up for yourself and others the way you want to, crank this one up.

STEPHEN TRAGESER

DiRusso recorded the EP at Forty-one Fifteen Studio in Nashville and Cutting Room Studios in New York. Josef Kuhn played drums, while Cummings played bass, as well as additional guitars, often contrasting DiRusso’s distortion-drenched riffing with soaring, melodic parts.

“I’ve been working with Jason since I was 16,” DiRusso says of Cummings, who has produced and engineered all her releases. “And I think with this project, as my firstever project [that’s] more than just singles, we were really able to push the boundaries.”

Wednesday night at The Beast, DiRusso will be performing with her touring band — Kuhn on drums, Zack Lockwood on bass and Eden Joel on lead guitar. A short while ago, she recorded a new song with the band.

THE MINKS, “FEELIN’ GOOD”

With its undeniable rhythm and sunny, upbeat message, it’s hard to imagine a song being a more appropriate theme for the summer than “Feelin’ Good” from The Minks’ new album Creatures of Culture. Drummer Dylan Sevey kicks off the track with a snare roll, then bassist Justin Pellecchia joins in on a groove so fat, funky and in-the-pocket it’s impossible to remain still. Lead guitarist Ben Giesecke plays some softly ringing notes to introduce the band’s bluesy lead vocalist Nikki Barber, who delivers a perfect mantra for a summer day or evening: “I’m feeling good / I’m feeling fine / You can try and try, but you won’t steal my shine / Because I’m feeling good.”

And that’s just the first 40 seconds. From there, it’s a full-blown funk-rock jam highlighted by Barber’s cosmic lyrics and Giesecke’s seriously expressive

“My only understanding of recording is just the kind of insular recording situation with just me and Jason playing everything,” she explains. “We typically — and we did for this EP — start with tracking the guitar with a click and then building a track around that.

“But recently I had an experience where I did record a newer song I’m working on, live tracking with my band, and it was an ‘aha’ moment for me,” she continues. “I really loved the process me and Jason have done, but I think for future stuff, I really like that feeling when I listen back to the thing I just recorded. I really loved [that] you could hear the whole band playing together and moving together, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is what I want.’”

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riffing and soloing. Producer Robbie Crowell adds swirling, trippy B3 throughout and saxophone on the swinging outro. Alicia Gail joins Barber and Pellecchia on the soulful backing vocals. This joint is a party, and you’re invited.

DARYL SANDERS

JOY OLADOKUN FEAT. NOAH KAHAN, “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE”

As Isaac Asimov wrote: “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” I believe that’s what Joy Oladokun and Noah Kahan are getting at in “We’re All Gonna Die” from Oladokun’s April release Proof of Life. It’s a friendly reminder that not a damn one of us will get the answers to our burning questions before our lights go out.

All this talk of death and a troublesome journey might make it sound like this song is not a summery

GOD, I HATE THIS PLACE OUT NOW VIA ANNIE DIRUSSO/GOOD PARTNERS; PLAYING WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, AT THE BASEMENT EAST

STREAM THESE SONGS AND THE REST OF OUR PLAYLIST AT NASHVILLESCENE.COM/MUSIC

bop made for windows-down backroads cruisin’, but it absolutely is. Oladokun begins the song searching: “These days, something’s always turnin’ into / Nothin’ will change, I’m just tryin’ to find a / Way up when I’m down.” Kahan adds a verse all about the maneuvers we take to make ourselves look like we do have answers: “It’s bullshit / Don’t it make me sound / Sort of wise?” In the chorus, Oladokun and Kahan come to terms with the inevitable, singing, “We’re all gonna die trying to figure it out.” The song begs to be screamed with a group of your closest friends in the open air — we’re all in this together, after all.

AMANDA HAGGARD

MILEY CYRUS, “VIOLET CHEMISTRY”

Songwriting refreshes itself endlessly from those same basic, primal elements of the chromatic scale. But keeping that in mind, a song that brings together Mike Will Made-It, Jesse Shatkin and Sia has unexpected pop possibilities, and in the mad-scientist hands and voice of Miley Cyrus, “Violet Chemistry” is the kind of stealth smash that sneaks up you. The

THE SPIN

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

At the final stop of their coheadlining acoustic Miko & Rissi Tour, Miko Marks and Rissi Palmer delivered a heartfelt and warm evening of country, soul and blues to an admiring audience Thursday in The Lounge at City Winery. Ahead of the show, Marks and Palmer told the Scene they were thrilled to get to be onstage together. The familiarity that comes with being in a tour bus (or van) over an extended period can breed contempt, but Palmer told the audience that even after traveling together for the past few weeks, she and Marks were “still friends.”

“And not just ‘still friends,’” Marks said, adding to Palmer’s assessment. “We’re better friends. … We’re stronger together.”

Palmer noted that they simply flipped a coin to determine who went first each night of the run. Fate determined that Marks would go first Thursday. She and two members of her band — who also happen to be her producers, Justin Phipps and Steve Wyreman — kicked things off with a call to the “Ancestors,” via a song Marks and her group The Resurrectors released in 2021. While the song is normally a bit more playful and upbeat when accompanied by a full band, the live acoustic version was haunting and drawn-out. She kept the vibes coming in an eight-song set that included the swampy and groovy “River” from 2022’s Feel Like Going Home as well as the blues-rockinspired “Trouble,” an homage to late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis.

“I hope this inspires you to make good trouble,” Marks told the crowd — which she noted included her 82-year-old godfather Wilbert McAlister, who flew in from California to watch her perform. He was decked out in an ornate gold-and-black Western suit.

drum loop that emerges in the chorus — evocative of both New Order’s “1963” and Us3’s “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” — sets the vocative plea of “Stay awhile with me,” question mark elided, apart from the three different moods (and beats) “Violet Chemistry” takes us through. It serves as both a thesis statement and a thematic megamix for Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation, understanding the way that circumstance plays fucked-up games with where any emotional path can lead.

Theoretically, every song does that — or at least it should. But “Violet Chemistry” pulls off something akin to that monolithic statue of Jesus at Christus Gardens in Gatlinburg, the one that’s looking at you no matter where you’re standing in the room. The horny triumph of potential, the comforting and perpetual inertia we call routine, the holding close of what’s slipping away; “Violet Chemistry” is there for wherever you are in that three-way dialectic. And it bangs, smooth and electronic, warm and conciliatory with the kind of confidence that can only come from knowing your hooks take no prisoners. Sometimes the right mood is determined by the stereo; seeking the abjection of verbal silence when those words don’t quite encompass that wave of emotions. Pop

music can make the ephemeral eternal, an everlasting commemoration of love — or something like it — at the club or bar or boudoir, when those harsh lights hit you like a ton of bricks.

JASON SHAWHAN

SPENCER CULLUM, “KINGDOM WEATHER”

Your toes sink into cold sand as a breeze ruffles your hoodie. While the sun rises over the steady crashing waves, you take a drag from that one-hitter you bought for Bonnaroo ’08. These are peak vacation experiences, and they embody the vibe that Spencer Cullum brings to “Kingdom Weather,” a prime cut from the wake ’n’ bake record of the summer: the second installment of his Coin Collection series.

Evoking the soft-psych of ’70s surf-film soundtrackers like G. Wayne Thomas and Daryl “The Captain” Dragon with a dash of Stereolab’s motorikmeets-shoegaze explorations stirred in, Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 2 features the songsmith and steelist enlisting lots of friends to explore heady territory with a sense of awe and wonder. When it’s

“Now, that man, he is a real cowboy,” Marks said. “He’ll wear that to McDonald’s.”

When Palmer took the stage with her stellar guitarist Charles Newkirk, she noted that it had gotten fairly cold in the room. Before she could finish the sentence, a man from the audience had rushed to the stage to offer his denim jacket, which she wore throughout the show. “Chivalry is not dead,” another man yelled toward the stage before Palmer and Marks performed a tearjerking and gorgeous cover of The Judds’ “Flies on the Butter.”

Palmer headed into her solo set with the song that launched her career, “Country Girl.” She mentioned that she previously had to play a slightly different version of the song, originally released in 2007, because her old label owned it.

“But not now,” Palmer said, smiling. “As of last week, I now own this song.”

Palmer is a dynamic storyteller, bringing her experience in holding an audience during her Color Me Country Radio show to the stage and getting laughs for her expert delivery. Her set included “Love on You,” a song written about her dream man. She told the audience it was written with a boyfriend she had just broken up with, and called herself the “brown Taylor Swift.”

Palmer’s song “Seeds” plays on a work by Dinos Christianopoulos, a gay poet who lived in Greece in the late 20th century. He wrote a now-well-known couplet that translates roughly to: “What didn’t you do to bury me / But you forgot that I was a seed.” Palmer took the opportunity to remind the crowd of the dangers of exclusion and of not

time for an early-morning smoke amid the gentle sounds of nature stirring, Cullum and his pals — on this track, that’s guest vocalist Yuma Abe and guitarist Sean Thompson — are the perfect company.

SEAN L. MALONEY

BRIAN BROWN, “NBA JAM”

Stellar rapper Brian Brown’s EP

Two Minute Drill is an exercise in the creative possibilities of limitations, with all four tracks clocking in under two minutes. Even so, none of the songs feels pressured or rushed, and opening number “NBA Jam” is perhaps the most chill. Riding a beat built around a melancholy soul sample, Brown takes stock of strange times in the city he’s called home all his life. He’s advocating calm attention, awareness and appraisal — a useful perspective to have as we head into what’s shaping up to be a long, hot, weird summer.

STEPHEN TRAGESER

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advocating for their vulnerable community members.

“Anytime we ‘other’ somebody and they try to get rid of ‘other,’” Palmer said, “guess who they’re coming for next?”

She ended her set with “Good Night,” a tune from the children’s album Best Day Ever that she released in 2013. The song could be best described as a gentler, lyrical version of the book Go the Fuck to Sleep

Then as the evening drew to a close, Palmer brought Marks to the stage for one last song. You could practically feel the light and warmth — something we could all use more of, even as summer creeps in — radiating from the pair as they sang and danced to their recent collaborative single “Still Here.”

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PHOTOS: PAIGE KEITH

GOOD TROUBLE: MIKO MARKS

KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE WHEN YOU WALKED IN: RISSI PALMER

JULY 8, 2023 4-9PM

SPECIAL EDITION NIGHT MARKET | ONEC1TY

Stay tuned for info on our craft cocktail and beer tasting garden!

A GOURMET MARKET OF LOCALLY MADE PROVISIONS FEATURING DOZENS OF MUSIC CITY-BASED FOOD VENDORS.

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SEPT. 30 • ONEC1TY 11AM - 4PM

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DRAMEDY OF ERRORS

You Hurt My Feelings fills the down-to-earth dramedy gap

BY LOGAN BUTTS

The dramedy is becoming a lost art.

Well, maybe not entirely. Sure, several currently airing (or streaming) popular and acclaimed TV shows could broadly be described as dramedies. But the types of directors who make these types of movies are finding it difficult to get funding for their films, even more so if the goal is to receive a theatrical run.

That struggle is why we haven’t seen a movie in theaters from one of the genre’s foremost auteurs, Nicole Holofcener, in quite some time. Holofcener has spent the past half-decade carving out a successful gun-for-hire writing career. In 2018, she earned a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination for the Marielle Heller-directed Can You Ever Forgive Me? In 2021, she was tapped by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to write the Jodie Comer-perspective chapter of their script for Ridley Scott’s Rashomonesque The Last Duel. Holofcener hasn’t directed a film since 2018’s The Land of Steady Habits, a Netflix release, and she hasn’t made a theatrically released movie since 2013’s excellent Enough Said, her previous collaboration with Julia LouisDreyfus.

You Hurt My Feelings is not only a reunion with Louis-Dreyfus (who’s potentially replacing Catherine Keener as Holofcener’s muse), but also a fun companion piece to Enough Said. Both are explorations of messy adult relationships. It also occupies a similar space as Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up — another 2023 film about the struggle

GREEN THUMBS UP

Paul Schrader’s Master Gardener is pleasing, dark and odd

BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY

Paul Schrader’s career as a writer and/or director is littered with tales of white guys trying to do good — by any means necessary. Robert De Niro’s ticking time bomb of a cabbie in Taxi Driver William Devane’s onehanded Vietnam vet in Rolling Thunder (one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite films). George C. Scott’s daughter-seeking porn-biz infiltrator in Hardcore. Richard Gere’s in-too-deep male escort in American Gigolo. Willem Dafoe’s crucified Son of God in The Last Temptation of Christ. Nick Nolte’s sanity-losing cop in Affliction. These men go to extreme lengths — often vengefully or violently — just to get some inner peace.

of creating.

Playing a novelist and writing teacher named Beth, Louis-Dreyfus proves why she’s the perfect vessel for Holofcener’s sometimes acidic, always authentic dialogue. Few actors alive can convey the sense of naked vulnerability that she does while still nailing the comedic timing.

The supporting cast fits snugly into similarly complex roles. Tobias Menzies, playing Beth’s therapist husband Don, brings his usual uniquely empathetic presence.

Michaela Watkins (also in Enough Said) and Arian Moayed (Succession fan favorite Stewy Hosseini) bring a chaotic energy as

In Schrader’s latest, Master Gardener, Joel Edgerton plays … well, a master gardener. His Narvel Roth runs a small, diverse crew of gardeners at Gracewood Gardens, an estate owned by wealthy dowager Norma Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver), who calls Roth “Sweetpea” and often orders him to engage in some upstairs, after-hours activities with her. (Though the viewer doesn’t get to see any of that GILF-alicious action.) Haverhill gets her main horticulturist to take her estranged mixed-race grandniece Maya (Quintessa Swindell) under his wing. Maya unfortunately knows some sketchy drug-dealing fellas, but Narvel starts to bond with the wayward soul, teaching her the finer ways of gardening as well as how to get out of a hellish situation.

Gardener is the final chapter in Schrader’s “Man in a Room” trilogy. The series began in 2018 with Ethan Hawke as a tormented minister in First Reformed, and continued in 2021 with Oscar Isaac as a tormented gambler in The Card Counter. You wanna take a guess what kind of gardener Edgerton plays?

Acting like a less mumblesome Nick Nolte, Edgerton plays Roth as an efficient, quiet guy who, much like the first two protagonists in Schrader’s trilogy, lives a lonesome, regimented existence to mostly

Beth’s sister Sarah and brother-in-law Mark, an interior decorator and actor, respectively. All four struggle with difficult questions: Do they enjoy their careers? Are they even good at what they do?

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Beth and Sarah’s mother Georgia is played by Jeannie Berlin, the daughter of Elaine May — one of the forebears of the world of messy dramedies. Berlin was one of the stars of May’s formative 1972 dark romantic comedy The Heartbreak Kid. Despite that film’s success, May got only two more turns in the director’s chair. It’s hard out there for a filmmaker who wants to make movies like

this, especially when female directors are already given so few shots — something that is thankfully beginning to change.

Even if You Hurt My Feelings doesn’t scream “must see in theaters” — given its lack of movie stars, booming soundtracks or dazzling effects — think about heading out to your local cineplex to check it out if you’re interested in seeing more of these kinds of films. Trust me, the scenes of reallife married couple David Cross and Amber Tamblyn going through couple’s counseling are worth the price of admission.

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keep his inner demons at bay. And just like those protagonists, Edgerton’s character spends most of his alone time sitting at a table, writing in a journal full of musings — Roth is serious about that (plant)life — that we hear through voice-over. We also learn why Roth prefers to stay quiet about his past (yes, it’s wild), and why he sees Maya as an integral part of his redemption.

Although Gardener has bucolic, pleasing visuals (don’t be surprised if you feel like hitting an arboretum after seeing it), a quaint, levelheaded tone and a hip-but-tranquil score from Devonté Hynes (aka alt-R&B singer Blood Orange), it’s still an odd film. It’s like Schrader had two stories — one involving a salacious love triangle, the other involving a lost soul protecting another lost soul — and merged them together to make a hothouse hero’s journey. Weaver gets her Joan Crawford on here, amping up the petty scorn when her character gets jealous over Roth and Maya’s budding relationship. Swindell, playing a role

Schrader originally wanted Zendaya to occupy, is also a revelation. Her flawed damsel-in-distress is not a ball of callow, selfish neuroses, but someone who puts in the work when it comes time for her to be on the straight and narrow.

Things get predictably vindictive in the third act, as Roth briefly breaks bad in order to retaliate against some disruptive (but lame) figures. It’s a familiar, albeit less bloody, road for Schrader, a bit of darkness before he closes things out, but not with the same sort of ending we’re accustomed to. It appears that, at 76, the old sumbitch is getting soft in his later years — he saves his most problematic, get-off-mylawn takes for that temple of ass-backwards thinking: his Facebook posts. But instead of giving us another tortured white knight, determined to do the right thing or die trying, here Schrader gives us a man who is literally trying to make the world (or at the very least, his world) a better, more beautiful place.

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POINT DOOM

Messiah of Evil is a masterwork of cosmic horror

BY JASON SHAWHAN

Arletty (Marianna Hill) has come to Point Dume to solve a mystery. Her father, an acclaimed artist who has found inspiration in this section of coastal California, has vanished, leaving behind an amazing home and the consumptive horror of an unavoidable cosmic event growing ever closer with every moment that passes. Quaalude-paced and absintheaggressive, the debut film from writerdirector team Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz (American Graffiti, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Howard the Duck) delivers the kind of grand, inexorable transcendence that one would hope for from a title like Messiah of Evil.

Rightfully acclaimed as one of the greats of hippie horror (that is, horror that happens to hippies, not horror that is caused by hip-

pies — think Let’s Scare Jessica to Death, not I Drink Your Blood), this is the kind of trippy nightmare that winds its way through the subconscious and curls up, quietly, until the most inopportune of moments. Katz and Huyck have a gift for the visceral terror that comes from the violation of the social contract, mak ing the grocery store and the movie theater and the gas station into the sites of terrors previously bound to creaky hallways, chaotic beach parties and battlefields.

Messiah of Evil (screening as part of the Belcourt’s ongoing 1973 series on a 35 mm print under one of its alternate titles, Dead People) really is a masterwork of cosmic horror, finding elements equally rooted in folklore and family narrative tradition as well as authors like Lovecraft and Derleth (et al.). One of the enduring truths of horror cinema is that a town with a secret and a family mystery are bedrocks of the genre, but the combination of a family mystery and a town with a secret is a foundation that will stand for as long as society does. Much respect is also due the impeccable outfits and the presence of legendary character actors Elisha Cook Jr. and Joy Bang. Gird your loins and gear up for one of the unheralded classics of ’70s horror cinema, on a wellloved print as well.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

MESSIAH OF EVIL R, 90 MINUTES SHOWING MIDNIGHT SATURDAY, MAY 27, AS PART OF THE BELCOURT’S 1973 SERIES

2 Really enjoy

3 In keeping with

4 Video game franchise starring major-league baseballers

5 Shortest path connecting two points on a sphere

6 Surname of father/ son actors James and Scott

7 Henry Ford’s sole heir

8 Consider something to be

9 Overly suspicious

10 Word often abbreviated to its middle letter in texts

11 *Like a household with a stay-at-home parent, maybe 12 Sambuca flavoring 13 Padded accounts?

39 Antique tools for pressing clothes

40 Ficus fruit

43 Mighty Patch target

45 Lot in Genesis, e.g.

47 Papal emissary

49 Swindle

50 More or less, in time

51 Señor’s send-off

52 River deposits

54 N.B.A. Hall-of-Famer Thomas

55 Best-selling 2019 memoir subtitled “A Coming-of-Gender Story”

56 Components of a hard six, in craps

59 Quick bite

62 Last in a series

64 Farm delivery letters

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

when written in 17-Across

65 Bamboozle

66 1977 Linda Ronstadt hit

67 Word before and after “to,” in a religious phrase

68 Org. endorsing P.P.E. for workers

69 Jean who wrote “Wide Sargasso Sea”

DOWN

1 Moves quickly, as a cloud

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BY SIMEON SEIGEL

Office”), and the owner of the debt secured having requested the undersigned to advertise and sell the property described in and conveyed by said Deed of Trust, all of the said indebtedness having become immediately due and payable by default in the payment of a part thereof, at the option of the owner, this is to give notice that the undersigned will, on June 15, 2023, commencing at 10:30

a.m. at the main north door of the Williamson County Judicial Center, 135 4th Ave South, Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee 37064 proceed to sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for cash, by Trustee’s deed pursuant to the terms and conditions announced at such sale, all of Trustee’s right, title and interest in the following described property situated in Williamson County, State of Tennessee (“Real Estate”), to wit:

LAND SITUATED IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE:

A tract of land in the 6th Civil District of Williamson County, Tennessee, being Lots No. 1 and 2, of a subdivision of the P.M. Chaffin Farm, and described as follows:

Beginning with a point in the center of Temple Road in line with the stone wall along Temple’s East boundary line, said point being the same point as the point indicating the Northeast corner of a parcel designated for future development, (adjacent to the Mary L Rudolph property), of Temple Hills Country Club Estates of record in Plat Book 11, Page 136, sheet#3 of 5, Register’s Office of Williamson County, TN, running thence with the center of said road South 80 degrees 15 minutes East 350 feet to an iron pin; thence Southwardly 1555 feet to an iron pin; thence North 60 degrees West 256.0 feet to a corner post in Temple’s East line; thence North 4 degrees East 1455 feet to the point of beginning.

Being the same property conveyed to MS Rochester Close, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company, by Deed from Katherine Harper Morales, unmarried, dated 02/19/2021 and appearing of

record in Book 8433 page 266

Register’s office for Williamson County, Tennessee. WITH A MUNICIPAL ADDRESS OF 6394 TEMPLE ROAD, FRANKLIN, WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE 37069.

The foregoing shall be sold together with any and all other property, real and personal, which constitutes the Property as that term is defined in the Deed of Trust, but specifically excluding any cash, accounts, deposits, escrows, refunds reserves, impounds and other cash or cash equivalents.

Interested Parties

M5 Rochester Close, LLC Benjamin & Darlys, LLC David Chadwick Taylor The Real Estate will be sold to the highest and best bidder for cash (or for credit against the Obligations if Lender is the highest bidder). All bidders must register at the sale, execute a bidding agreement, and provide the Trustee with a bidder’s deposit of $485,000 by cashier’s or certified check, payable to the Trustee (except for the party secured by the Deed of Trust). The bidding agreement may be obtained in advance of the sale by request to the undersigned. Additional terms may be announced at the sale. The right is hereby reserved to postpone or adjourn this sale, without further publication or notice, by public announcement at the time and place appointed for such sale or for such postponed or adjourned sale. All announcements made at the sale shall take precedence over the terms and conditions of this notice. In said Deed of Trust, Borrower expressly waived the statutory right of redemption, and any and all rights of homestead; dower; all other exemptions and marital rights. Title is believed to be good, but the undersigned will sell and convey only as Trustee.

Title is to be conveyed without any covenant or warranty, express or implied, and any matters having priority over the Deed of Trust and matters which may affect or encumber the Property following

the sale, such as rights of parties in possession; rights of tenants in possession under unrecorded leases or rental agreements; visible and apparent easements; portion of the property within any roadway; any encroachment, encumbrance, violation, variation, or adverse circumstance affecting the title that would be disclosed by an accurate and complete land survey of the land; all leases, grants, exceptions or reservations of coal, lignite, oil, gas and other minerals, together with all rights, privileges and immunities relating thereto, appearing in the Public Records; all matters shown on any applicable recorded plat; taxes or assessments that are not shown as existing liens by the records of any taxing authority that levies taxes or assessments on real property or by the public records; proceedings by a public agency that may result in taxes or assessments, or notices of such proceedings, whether or not shown by the records of such agency or by the public records; taxes assessed by correction pursuant to the provisions of T.C.A. §675-603, et seq.; matters that an accurate survey of the premises might disclose; any facts, rights, interests, or claims that are not shown by the public records but that could be ascertained by an inspection of the Property or that may be asserted by persons in possession of the Property; any encroachment, encumbrance, violation, variation, or adverse circumstance affecting the title that would be disclosed by an accurate and complete land survey of the Property and not shown by the public records; any mineral or mineral rights leased, granted or retained by current or prior owners; prior liens, claims and encumbrances including, without limitation, leases and other agreements; assessments, building lines, easements, covenants, and restrictions that may exist; any lien or right to lien for services, labor or material imposed by law and not shown by the public records; and, statutory rights of redemption of any governmental agency

including, but not limited to, the right of redemption of the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §7425(d)(1), of the State of Tennessee pursuant to T.C.A. §67-1-1433(c)(1), or of any other taxing authority.

Joseph R. Prochaska, as agent for

Thomas T. Pennington, Trustee Reno & Cavanaugh, PLLC 424 Church Street, Suite 2910 Nashville, TN 37219 Telephone (615) 866-2322

Publication On: May 25, June 1, and June 8, 2023.

Non-Resident Notice

Fourth Circuit

Docket No. 14D1063

TALIA ELAINE CROUSE vs. THOMAS JEFFERSON CROUSE

In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a nonresident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon Talia Elaine Crouse.

It is ordered that said Defendant enter HER appearance herein with thirty (30) days after June 1st 2023, 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 3rd 2023. 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.

Joseph P. Day, Clerk

Bill Riggs, Deputy Clerk

Date: May 4, 2023

Chelsey A. Stevenson

Robert J. Turner

Attorneys for Plaintiff NSC 5/11, 5/18, 5/25, 6/1/23

Non-Resident Notice

Third Circuit

Docket No. 23D446

JOSHUA RYAN JAMES vs. Lindsay M. James

In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a nonresident of the

State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon Lindsay M. James.

It is ordered that said Defendant enter her appearance herein with thirty (30) days after June 8th 2023, 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 10th 2023. 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.

Joseph P. Day, Clerk

Bill Riggs, Deputy Clerk

Date: May 11, 2023

Frank E. Mondelli Sr. Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 5/18, 5/25, 6/1, 6/8/23

Non-Resident Notice

Third Circuit Docket No. 14D573

Ersel Tim Cooper vs. Connie Sue Cooper

In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a nonresident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon Ersel Tim Cooper. It is ordered that said Defendant enter him appearance herein with thirty (30) days after June 15th 2023, 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 17th 2023. 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.

Joseph P. Day, Clerk

Bill Riggs, Deputy Clerk

Date: May 18, 2023

Morgan E. Smith

Attorneys for Plaintiff NSC 5/25, 6/1, 6/8, 6/15/23

Computer/IT: Sensormatic Electronics, LLC seeks Sr. Mobile Engineer (Nashville, TN). Wrk w/ intrnl (e.g., sales, spprts, etc.) & extrnl clients in defnng new prdcts in addtn to spprtng exstng prdcts. REQS: Bachlr’s degree or frgn eqvlnt, in Comp Sci, Comp Engrg, Electronic Engrg, or a rltd fld, plus 5 yrs exp as a sftwr engnr or rltd occupation. Telecommuting: Remote Work May Be Permitted.

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