Nashville Scene 5-26-22

MAY 26–JUNE 1, 2022 I VOLUME 41 I NUMBER 17 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE

CITY LIMITS: WORKFORCE EXPANSION BILL WILL PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMMIGRANTS PAGE 7

FOOD & DRINK: CAFFE NONNA HAS KEPT SYLVAN PARK HAPPY AND FED FOR 20-PLUS YEARS PAGE 25

t a h W o S e W Did h s i l p m o c c A ? e r He Last month marked the conclusion of the 112th Tennessee General Assembly. State lawmakers made a lot of noise.

Here’s what they did — and didn’t — get done.

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BE MUSIC. B E ST E E L .

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CONTENTS

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25

40

New Law Will Provide Licensing Opportunities for Immigrants ...................7

The People’s Places: Caffe Nonna

Triple Threat

Daniel Maggipinto’s Italian eatery has kept his Sylvan Park neighbors happy and fed for 20plus years

BY JASON SHAWHAN

CITY LIMITS

Experts say the Workforce Expansion Bill allows ‘immigrants to thrive, remove barriers and make the licensing process a gateway to opportunity’

BY DIANA LEYVA

Pith in the Wind .........................................7 This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

Lee’s ESA Program Cleared the Tennessee Supreme Court, but More Challenges Remain .......................................................8 ‘It’s still to be seen exactly what’s going to happen next in the litigation’

BY KELSEY BEYELER

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COVER STORY So What Did We Accomplish Here?

FOOD AND DRINK

BY JENNIFER JUSTUS

28

VODKA YONIC

An (Im)perfect Storm My husband has Alzheimer’s, and I’m keeping our memories alive for both of us

BY DURELLE LECLAIR LINTON

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BOOKS

Here’s the upshot of what was — and wasn’t — accomplished by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2022

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BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

Education Legislation Largely Focuses on Funding, Censorship ............................... 12 The Republican-dominated Tennessee General Assembly passed the TISA Act — along with laws related to ‘inappropriate’ materials

BY KELSEY BEYELER

Vaccine Mandates Out, Ivermectin In.... 12 Health-related laws this session centered on vaccination requirements, limiting local health department power

BY HANNAH HERNER

A Law Increasing Penalties for Unauthorized Camping Has Locals Worried .................................................... 13 The debate over the bill also garnered national attention when one lawmaker referenced Hitler while voicing his support

BY ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

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CRITICS’ PICKS Musicians Corner Memorial Day Celebration, Weird Al, Midnight Movie: Billy Madison, Sigur Rós, Weekend Classics: All That Heaven Allows, Ukraine Benefit Music Fest and Crawfish Boil, Chaka Khan and more

The outsized RRR engages with history on its own terms

Burger Time The Bob’s Burgers Movie is kooky, offbeat comfort food

BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY

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NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

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MARKETPLACE

Unsparing honesty about grief fuels Charles Dodd White’s A Year Without Months

BY EMILY CHOATE AND CHAPTER 16

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:

FILM

The Hard Beauty

That’s a Wrap .......................................... 11

MAY 26, 2022

Molly Tuttle,Aaron Lee Tasjan, Many More to Play Voices for a Choice Titans Estimate Nissan Stadium Liabilities at $1.8 Billion Margot Cafe & Bar Plans Big Birthday Celebration Lipscomb Political Panel Tests Tennessean’s Editorial Standards ON THE COVER:

Tennessee State Capitol Photo by Eric England

ART

Toothsome Raheleh Filsoofi’s sculpture and video installation is a meditative mouthful

BY JOE NOLAN

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PERFORMING ARTS On Point

Nashville Ballet’s Young Men’s Scholarship Program keeps male dancers on their toes

BY AMY STUMPFL

35

MUSIC

Another Look ........................................... 35 The Scene’s music writers recommend recent releases from Mike Floss, midwxst, Brennen Leigh and more

Something to Talk About ........................ 36 Bonnie Raitt’s Just Like That… expands a legendary catalog

BY BRITTNEY McKENNA

The Spin ................................................... 38 The Scene’s live-review column checks out Lilly Hiatt at Mercy Lounge

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

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It was recently announced that Metro Nashville Public Schools’ director of schools Adrienne Battle has been selected as the 2022 Superintendent of the Year by the statewide organization Professional Educators of Tennessee. She’s the ideal recipient of this award, thanks to her successful record since taking the lead, and her genuine enthusiasm and concern for students, their families and their educators.

Dr. Battle was unanimously selected as Nashville’s next director of schools by our school board in March 2020, after working as interim director for the prior 11 months.

During these past two years in her official capacity, Dr. Battle has shown herself more than capable. She steered MNPS through the disastrous March 2020 tornado that damaged a number of our public schools. She showed herself to be calm, courageous and strategic — all qualities of an exceptional leader. She has continued to exhibit these traits and lead our schools and students through the COVID-19 pandemic, a challenge even more extensive and disruptive than the tornado that preceded it.

What strikes me most about Dr. Battle is her unique position as a graduate of our public school system and as an educator working for MNPS. It’s a mark of Nashville’s success that our public schools helped shape Dr. Battle into the leader she is today.

As a student, she sat in the same classrooms as Nashville’s students do today. She competed on the same athletic fields as today’s MNPS student-athletes, she earned a college scholarship through the effort she put forth on the John Overton High School track team, and she stood at the same blackboards as many MNPS teachers do today.

She shouldered the responsibility of leading schools as their principal. She doesn’t merely sympathize with the challenges facing our students and teachers; she empathizes as one of their own.

Dr. Battle is at the helm of a particularly large public school district, with more than 80,000 students and more than 11,000 staff members. She has already shown that she emphasizes the basics of a good education, and she is also actively working toward innovation and achievement. The programs she has initiated during her tenure have already borne fruit, as MNPS has recently explained: “Dr. Battle has also proposed a series of changes that the Board of Education unanimously approved as a result of her

Metro Schools ReimaginED initiative, which continues to review academic achievement data, current and projected enrollment, building use, programs and staffing to find new ways to improve academic outcomes for all students. She initiated Better Together, a joint venture with Nashville State Community College to create more and stronger pathways to college and career success for MNPS graduates.”

When asked last year by the Scene’s sister publication Nfocus what traits she most admires in people, Dr. Battle said: “Professionally, it’s coachability. Personally, I love people who are nonjudgmental and can work and get along with everybody because they embrace diversity.” That spirit of cooperation is clearly evident in her work.

I also strongly agree with her answer to the next question posed to her in the Nfocus interview. When asked what she hopes never changes in Nashville, Dr. Battle replied: “I hope we don’t lose the smalltown sense of connectedness we’ve felt through the years as the city continues to grow and thrive. And I hope we never lose touch with our history. There are a lot of important pioneers who paved the way for people like myself.”

That small statement speaks volumes. Dr. Battle is committed to supporting and helping her hometown, she acknowledges the giants who came before her, and she is confidently shouldering the challenge of helping future generations grow into successful and well-educated adults. What more could we ask for?

A hearty congratulations, Dr. Battle.

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

Correction

Editor-in-Chief D. Patrick Rodgers Managing Editor Alejandro Ramirez Senior Editor Dana Kopp Franklin Arts Editor Laura Hutson Hunter Culture Editor Erica Ciccarone Music and Listings Editor Stephen Trageser Contributing Editor Jack Silverman Staff Writers Kelsey Beyeler, Stephen Elliott, Hannah Herner, J.R. Lind, Eli Motycka, William Williams, KateLynn White Contributing Writers Sadaf Ahsan, Radley Balko, Ashley Brantley, Maria Browning, Steve Cavendish, Chris Chamberlain, Lance Conzett, Steve Erickson, Nancy Floyd, Randy Fox, Adam Gold, Kashif Andrew Graham, Seth Graves, Kim Green, Steven Hale, Steve Haruch, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, Christine Kreyling, Katy Lindenmuth, Craig D. Lindsey, Brittney McKenna, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Daryl Sanders, Megan Seling, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Nadine Smith, Ashley Spurgeon, Amy Stumpfl, Kay West, Abby White, Andrea Williams, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian Art Director Elizabeth Jones Photographers Eric England, Matt Masters, Daniel Meigs Graphic Designers Mary Louise Meadors, Tracey Starck Production Coordinator Christie Passarello Festival Director Olivia Britton Marketing and Promotions Manager Robin Fomusa Publisher Mike Smith Senior Advertising Solutions Managers Sue Falls, Michael Jezewski, Carla Mathis, Heather Cantrell Mullins, Jennifer Trsinar, Keith Wright Advertising Solutions Managers Richard Jacques, Deborah Laufer, Niki Tyree Sales Operations Manager Chelon Hill Hasty Advertising Solutions Associates Jada Goggins, Audry Houle, Alissa Wetzel Special Projects Coordinator Susan Torregrossa President Frank Daniels III Chief Financial Officer Todd Patton Corporate Production Director Elizabeth Jones Vice President of Marketing Mike Smith IT Director John Schaeffer Circulation and Distribution Director Gary Minnis For advertising information please contact: Mike Smith, msmith@nashvillescene.com or 615-844-9238 FW PUBLISHING LLC Owner Bill Freeman VOICE MEDIA GROUP National Advertising 1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com

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In memory of Jim Ridley, editor 2009-2016

Our City Limits story “The Cost of an Amazon Housing Loan” (May 19, 2022) stated that Metro Nashville’s Envision plan would create 7,500 new units. The correct number is 6,700. The article also described workforce housing as households making 60 to 120 percent of the area median income; the correct range is 80 to 120 percent. We regret the errors.

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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CITY LIMITS

NEW LAW WILL PROVIDE LICENSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMMIGRANTS

a master’s degree in social work. However, due to previous licensure requirements, she considered relocating to a different state to obtain a professional license.

Lara is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allows some undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. at a young age to work and study without the threat of deportation. But

some opportunities were still unavailable to DACA recipients in Tennessee, like obtaining certain work licenses.

But now, thanks to the Workforce Expansion Bill, Lara and thousands of other qualifying immigrants will be able to apply for professional licenses in their desired fields without having to leave the state they call home. Sponsored by state Sen. Shane Reeves (R-Murfreesboro), the bill makes those who are federally authorized to work eligible for professional and occupational licenses. Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill into law, and it will go into effect July 1.

Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, says this legislation will offer new opportunities for the thousands of immigrants and refugees who have been waiting to advance in their careers and pursue their dream jobs.

“We’re absolutely thrilled,” Sherman Luna says. “This law is going to have an impact not just on individuals and their families, but on whole Tennessee communities.”

commitments and billions of dollars of obligations.”

In short, the number has climbed from $293 million to $600 million earlier this year. The new stadium landed in the Capital Improvements Budget at $2 billion, but Council Director Margaret Darby said there was a $200 million “clerical error” and the actual cost is $2.2 billion, making the proposed new home the world’s second-most-expensive stadium.

The team alleges under the current stadium lease Metro would owe $1.8 billion, assuming the Titans exercise renewal rights through 2038. Even if they don’t, over the next four years, the Titans say Metro is on the hook for $1.2 billion. … Councilmember and mayoral candidate Freddie O’Connell insinuated and then outright declared that the aforementioned boffo “clerical error” was less clerical error than hasty decision-making, an accusation vehemently denied by mayoral spokesperson T.J. Ducklo. Meanwhile, at the May 17 Metro Council meeting, the council deferred acting once again on a Cooper administra-

tion effort to buy the former Tennessee School for the Blind property on Hermitage Avenue because no one knows how much it will cost to actually save the building. … The Scene’s Kelsey Beyeler notes, in a bit of an understatement: “The budget process for Metro Nashville Public Schools board has been vague and at times tense.” It didn’t get any less vague when a special-called meeting to discuss the budget May 17 was un-called because MNPS’ legal department had concerns about adequate notice being given. … A source tells the Scene that Davidson County Election Commission Chairman Jim DeLanis will again ask Vanderbilt professor James Blumstein to provide legal advice for the commission instead of Metro Legal — this time on whether a set of proposed charter amendments should go on the August ballot. This year, the DCEC has already spent $790,000 on outside legal counsel to litigate referendums that would amend the Metro Charter. …

A candidate forum hosted by Lipscomb University

Experts say the Workforce Expansion Bill allows ‘immigrants to thrive, remove barriers and make the licensing process a gateway to opportunity’

BY DIANA LEYVA

L

aura Lara, originally from Mexico, moved to Nashville in 2001 and is now a student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Fueled by a passion to serve others and motivated by what she saw as a lack of bilingual therapists and social workers in Tennessee, Lara has been working toward

THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS AND POLITICS BLOG: Mind-boggling numbers and mind-numbing legal distinctions have increasingly dominated the discussion surrounding the future of Nissan Stadium — or a future replacement for the 23-year-old facility that was outdated the moment it opened. But as reporter Eli Motycka notes: “The more numbers come out, the more it looks like Nashville is backed into a corner by a lease signed in 1996 by a city desperate for pro football. Negotiations have shifted to how best to get out of an increasingly expensive thicket of legal

“Now we have the opportunity for these folks to be able to thrive not only in our state, but also in our state doing what they love, doing what they’re passionate about and what they want to do,” says Luis Mata, policy coordinator at TIRRC. Lara says she felt anxious in the days prior to the bill being passed, especially on the day of the Senate vote as she listened to the questions and arguments. She describes the bill’s passage as a relief and a very emotional moment.

“I felt like my body could finally rest from all the tension I had carried for weeks,” she says. “My career goal is to become a licensed therapist. Therefore, it was very important to me that this bill pass.

Now that it has, I will be able to pursue my licensure once I’m done with grad school.”

Created to target the labor shortage, the bill was widely supported in the Republicansupermajority state Senate, passing 20 votes to 7.

“I think that the reason this bill was so successful is that it’s a bill that not only impacts individuals but our economy as a whole,” says Sherman Luna. “We need common-sense solutions that address that and allow Tennesseans who are immigrants to thrive, remove barriers and make the licensing process a gateway to opportunity.”

Mata says it is also thanks to the strategic organizing efforts of directly impacted communities that the bill was able to be passed.

“We knew that a lot of their stances are more focused on economic development and stuff like that,” says Mata. “So we took that as an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, this is enhancing workforce opportunities and creating a larger workforce pool to our communities. This is a commonsense piece of legislation here and we need your support.’ ” Lara says the bill being passed was also meaningful to her family, for all the sacrifices they made so that she could have a better life. One of her parents’ dreams was to provide her with an education for a better future. Now, she says, the new law will play an enormous role in attaining that dream.

“Not only will I accomplish my and my parents’ American Dream, but I will also use my education and learned skills to give back to my community, especially the Latino community,” she says.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

and The Tennessean as an extension of the latter’s Civility Tennessee doodad included some interesting claims. To wit: GOP congressional candidate Stewart Parks says that Democrats are hell-bent on killing babies and also your pets. Fellow Republican candidate (pending a lawsuit against the state party) Robby Starbuck touted his bona fides as a watchdog against communism. (If true, he must be doing a very good job, given the total lack of communism in America.) Though The Tennessean’s executive editor said the panel was an “alternative to destructive and abusive ecosystems of social media, cable television and echo-chamber websites,” it was not that. … Contributor Betsy Phillips says Nashvillians have been denied the stories of extremely accomplished and successful 19th-century Black families for far too long, and we’ve got to get to fixing it.

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‘It’s still to be seen exactly what’s going to happen next in the litigation’

BY KELSEY BEYELER

O

n May 18, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Savings Account program.

The ESA program would allow certain students in Nashville and Memphis to use public education funds to attend private schools — an extremely divisive idea.

The ruling follows years of litigation from Davidson and Shelby counties against the state. The plaintiffs’ primary argument was that the program violates the Home Rule Amendment of the Tennessee Constitution because it targets specific counties. Initially, the Davidson County Chancery Court and the Tennessee Court of Appeals sided with the plaintiffs regarding ESAs and the Home Rule. The state appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which heard the argument in 2021 but was delayed due to the death of Justice Cornelia Clark in September. Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of the state in a 3-2 decision (with a specially appointed judge filling in for Clark).

The court’s majority opinion stated that local education authorities are not counties, so the Home Rule does not apply to them. The decision marks a win for Gov. Lee, who’s been trying to implement this program since he took office in 2019. The legislation passed very narrowly in the state House that year.

Reactions to the high court’s ruling were swift and heated. Representatives from several school-choice organizations supported the ruling, and Republican state Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued a favorable statement.

And the governor, of course, was pleased.

“Every child deserves a high-quality education, [and] today’s Tennessee Supreme Court opinion on ESAs puts parents in Memphis [and] Nashville one step closer to finding the best educational fit for their children,” Gov. Lee tweeted after the ruling.

Critics of ESAs — including public education advocates, education leaders from Nashville and Memphis, and Democrats across the state — condemned the ruling.

“Metro Schools are already significantly underfunded by the State of Tennessee under the BEP and TISA,” said MNPS director of schools Adrienne Battle in a statement.

“If the private school voucher law goes into effect, this underfunding will only be worsened to the detriment of the children of Nashville.”

The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act — which Battle references in her statement, and which changes how schools in the state are funded — is set to

“... THIS UNDERFUNDING WILL ONLY BE WORSENED TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE CHILDREN OF NASHVILLE.”

—ADRIENNE BATTLE, MNPS DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS

replace the Basic Education Program in the 2023-2024 school year. But it’s not yet clear how that could affect the ESA program.

Mayor John Cooper released a statement via a spokesperson, saying, “We’re disappointed by today’s ruling but will continue to vigorously fight this law through all possible avenues.”

Despite the Tennessee Supreme Court’s ruling, the ESA program still has more legal hurdles. The case brought on by Davidson and Shelby counties argued that the ESA program violates several aspects of the Tennessee Constitution, including the equal protection and education clauses — arguments that still need to be addressed in court.

There’s also a similar but separate lawsuit from parents represented by the Education Law Center, Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and Robbins Geller Rudman and Dowd LLP. The parent-driven lawsuit argues a number of points, touching on the education and equal protection clauses. “The basis for that claim is that the voucher law takes money out of the pockets of Shelby County and Metro Nashville, but not any other counties in the state,” says Chris Wood, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

Much remains to be seen for the future of the ESA program. Though Gov. Lee has said he wants to get the program up and running “as soon as possible,” he hasn’t laid out a specific time frame for when the ESA program could go into effect. With the remaining court challenges, it’s unclear whether that will even be possible.

“It’s still to be seen exactly what’s going to happen next in the litigation,” says Wood.

“We don’t know if the state is going to try to implement the voucher program for the fall of this year. Nothing surprises me, although it seems like it will be pretty hard to do at this point.”

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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t a h So W e W Did h s i l p m o c c A ? e r He

Last month marked the conclusion of the 112th Tennessee General Assembly. State lawmakers made a lot of noise. Here’s what they did — and didn’t — get done.

WRAP-UP

That’s a Wrap

Here’s the upshot of what was — and wasn’t — accomplished by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2022

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT THE STENCH OF INVESTIGATIONS and subpoenas and resignations and expulsions hung heavy as the Tennessee General Assembly returned to work in January.

It’s a familiar odor at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, having soaked into the carpets through the decades, and this year was no different. A federal investigation into a trio of House lawmakers was well underway, with one indictment and resignation looming and others still on the menu. One senator had been convicted on federal charges and was soon to be expelled from the body; another had been indicted but was awaiting trial.

Triggering a federal criminal investigation is one of the only bipartisan acts at the Tennessee legislature.

In between responding to subpoenas, Tennessee lawmakers found time to make laws during the 112th Tennessee General Assembly, which adjourned roughly a month ago.

Top of mind were two priorities — one sanctioned by Republican Gov. Bill Lee and the other in direct conflict with his stated goals.

First, Lee and his Republican allies, who control both chambers of the legislature, endeavored to completely rewrite the formula that the state uses to fund K-12 education.

With few hiccups, they were successful (read more on page 12), though it remains to be seen what some of the long-term effects of the fundamental change to one of the state’s most significant annual expenditures will be. Some Democrats

and public education advocates offered token opposition to the proposal, but it mostly faced smooth seas and even attracted support from reliably progressive groups.

The second big push caused more heartburn among the conservatives who dominate state government. Leaders in the legislature endorsed so-called “truth in sentencing” legislation, aimed at making sure that certain prison sentences cannot be cut short. According to criminal justice reform advocates — including those on the right — it flies in the face of Lee’s stated priorities dating back to his 2018 campaign for governor. He let the bill become law without his signature, which, considering that he has yet to veto any legislation, is the strongest kind of rebuke he has for his fellow Republicans.

“We were trying to make it a better bill, but it became quite apparent early on that they were not willing to negotiate any of the things that were of major concern, like how much money it could potentially cost,” says Tori Venable, Tennessee director for the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity.

Venable adds that the conservative lawmakers supporting the stricter sentencing rules — conservatives with whom she is often allied — were after “cheap political points.”

“It looks like it’s going to cost us a whole lot of money, and the data doesn’t reflect that it’s going to improve public safety,” she says.

A highlight for Venable was the school funding changes, but a lowlight came toward the end of session when lawmakers rushed through $500 million in bonds for a proposed new Tennessee Titans stadium in Nashville. She’s slowly trying to grow an “anti-corporate-welfare caucus,” but this year, no dice.

Lee all but certainly will be back for another four years in 2023. Asked what his first priority of a second term should be, Venable does not hesitate: “End civil asset forfeiture.”

She’s also asking for more transparency in the legislative process. More often than not, the process by which a proposal becomes (or doesn’t become) law is inscrutable to anyone but those able to hire a lobbyist. Committee votes are rescheduled at the last minute, amendments are not posted online, and simple language describing what a bill would actually do is unavailable.

“Just an average concerned citizen?” she says. “There’s no way. Every other state can do this. … It’s good government.”

In addition to passing major policy changes like truth in sentencing and a school funding overhaul, plus a grocery tax break and a redistricting plan that left Nashville split into three congressional districts, Tennessee lawmakers returned to an old favorite pastime: using the state’s levers of power as a glorified social media posting machine.

Some of the efforts are meaningless, like a resolution applauding Elon Musk for his (potentially doomed) purchase of Twitter. Others have the possibility to make real changes, including to the list of books kids are allowed to read or which bathrooms they are allowed to use.

“The big issue is whether the Republicans in the legislature can focus on actual issues that matter, or whether they’re going to continue to be distracted by whatever’s on Fox News this week,” says Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville). “When we started last year’s session, nobody had even heard of critical race theory, but we finished the session by passing a law on it. When we started this most recent session, nobody was talking about the dangers of librarians, but we passed four bills dealing with libraries.

Republicans have become like 5-year-olds playing soccer, where they just run wherever the ball is kicked by Fox News and right-wing media. To me, that’s the biggest problem we have in the state, that we can’t keep people focused on issues that matter or even principles that last longer than the next couple of news cycles.” ■

nashvillescene.com | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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EDUCATION

Education Legislation Largely Focuses on Funding, Censorship

HEALTH CARE

The Republican-dominated Tennessee General Assembly passed the TISA Act — along with laws related to ‘inappropriate’ materials

BY KELSEY BEYELER IT WAS A MONUMENTAL YEAR for education at the Tennessee General Assembly, with the passage of legislation that touches on education funding, libraries, colleges and universities, and a whole lot more.

A big topic going into the 2022 legislative session was the governor’s goal to replace the Basic Education Program funding formula that has been in effect for 30 years. He succeeded, and the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act is set to take effect in the 2023-2024 school year. Some lawmakers feel the legislation was rushed, while others were simply happy to move on from the BEP. We’re likely to see proposed changes to the TISA Act in next year’s session.

Alongside the passing of the TISA Act, Gov. Bill Lee added $1 billion in state education funding. Metro Nashville Public Schools will not see a significant increase in funding, however, and the Metro school board didn’t support the legislation’s passing — because, they say, it doesn’t adequately fund Nashville’s schools.

Critics fear the TISA Act will make it easier for public education dollars to flow to charter and private schools. Lee has maintained that the legislation is unrelated to vouchers, and while an early iteration of the TISA Act required local funds to charter school students, that aspect of the bill was removed. A couple of separately filed charter school bills were shelved after public pushback, including one that would have aided charters in establishing themselves and growing. One bill extending voucher eligibility for students with learning disabilities passed and was signed into law.

The funding and privatization conversations were heated, but mostly among education stakeholders. An area that saw greater mainstream attention was the content of books. Following last year’s attack on what can and cannot be taught in classrooms — most of which centered on discussion of what lawmakers incorrectly identified as “critical race theory” — Republicans succeeded in asserting even more control over curriculum, focusing on which books students shouldn’t have access to. Some folks testified that children had access to pornography in school libraries (they don’t), and outgoing Rep. Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station) said outright that he would burn books with inappropriate materials.

Many library-related bills were introduced — and a few passed. The Age-Appropriate Materials Act, which will go into effect in the 2022-2023 school year, requires school libraries to post their collections and create a process to receive complaints, review books and possibly remove them if they are deemed inappropriate for certain age groups. Another piece of legislation

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will add librarians to the governmentappointed state textbook commission and allow the body to issue guidance about which books are appropriate, giving the group the power to ban books across the state. The terms “appropriate” and “inappropriate” aren’t defined in either of the aforementioned laws. One bill awaiting the governor’s signature would create a library coordinator position for the state.

A vague, multifaceted censorship bill geared toward public higher-education institutions passed into law. The legislation lists the same 14 topics as the legislation applying to K-12 classrooms, plus two others, but it doesn’t necessarily prevent professors from discussing or teaching these concepts in class. Instead, it gives students and professors the ability to “pursue all equitable or legal remedies that may be available” if they feel they have been negatively impacted for not adopting the so-called divisive concepts in their work. The bill also prevents colleges and universities from requiring training that contains the divisive topics and requires a biennial survey to measure “campus climate with regard to diversity of thought and the respondents’ comfort level in speaking freely on campus, regardless of political affiliation or ideology.”

Democratic lawmakers sought to combat censorship by introducing bills that ensure Black history is taught in public schools. One law ensuring the teaching of Black history and culture in middle school has already been signed by the governor. Another that emphasizes teaching about the civil rights movement in high school passed the legislature and is awaiting a signature. High school students are also now required by law to learn about “the virtues of capitalism and the constitutional republic form of government in the United States and Tennessee.”

Amid a handful of bills that could affect LGBTQ students, two pieces of legislation ultimately passed. One will withhold state funds from districts that don’t determine student athletes’ genders based on the student’s sex assigned at birth. Another law that will go into effect in July prevents biological males from participating in sports designated for females in public higher-education institutions.

Culture-war-related issues and education funding dominated lawmakers’ attention this year, but other bits of miscellaneous legislation made it through as well. Tennessee HOPE scholarships, for example, will see an increase in funds, and one law adds a suicide hotline number to the back of student IDs. A handful of bills also aim to address teacher shortages.

Lots of matters are still up in the air — like the details of the new funding formula, or how the state intends to specify what books are appropriate for whom. ■

Vaccine Mandates Out, Ivermectin In

Health-related laws this session centered on vaccination requirements, limiting local health department power

BY HANNAH HERNER THIS YEAR THE STATE LEGISLATURE took aim at vaccine mandates, pandemic restrictions and doctors who prescribe the abortion pill — while giving an inch on cannabis and a mile to ivermectin.

People can more easily obtain ivermectin, a drug typically used to treat parasites in animals, which has not been FDA approved to treat COVID-19, thanks to SB 2188. This legislation authorizes pharmacists to provide ivermectin to a patient and prevents disciplinary action for pharmacists or prescribers who distribute the drug.

Many places cannot require proof of vaccination, due to new laws. One law stops governmental entities from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter their offices. Another prohibits the governor or any state agency from issuing an order requiring a person to be vaccinated against COVID-19. That bill also adds COVID-19 to the list of immunizations that schoolchildren and college students can be exempt from with a written statement indicating that it conflicts with their religious beliefs. Similarly, HB 1403 adds preschools, child care facilities and the like to the list of places that must accept religious exemptions in lieu of vaccinations.

That said, even with the new restrictions on vaccination requirements, now dentists can administer a COVID-19 vaccination if they receive appropriate training.

Acquired immunity was equated with vaccinated immunity in SB1982, which allows those who have been sick with COVID-19 to get out of a vaccine mandate with a note from a doctor or an antibody test.

Another bill makes it so churches and religious organizations’ worship services can’t be stopped by local or state governments during a state of emergency or natural disaster.

Legislators have also curbed the reach of pandemic restrictions, limiting the powers of local governments. SB 9013 grants the governor exclusive jurisdiction on issuing orders to county health departments during a pandemic, and local governments can’t contradict or refuse to comply. It also transfers authority to mayors rather than county health officers to order regulations to protect health and safety.

Abortion entered the conversation, though not much changed. HB 2416 adds consequences for doctors who prescribe abortion pills via telemedicine, which was already illegal. It also adds additional requirements for the abortion process and the threat of a felony charge for physicians if they are not followed correctly.

Those with quadriplegia can now obtain cannabis with a THC content of 0.9 percent or lower from other states, due to the passage of SB 1877. The condition is added to a list of other conditions permitting cannabis usage, including Alzheimer’s disease, certain types of cancer and Parkinson’s disease. ■

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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HOMESLESS CAMPS

WHILE HOMELESS CAMPS have received a lot of coverage in Nashville media, rural and suburban communities have also been looking at ways to address their own growing encampments. Even though housing-first models are held up as standards to follow — since they aim to get people into housing as soon as possible — there are still loud voices clamoring for law enforcement to take action.

Starting in July, state and local police will have another tool to take action when people camp on public property, though questions about whether it will be enforced still remain.

In April, the legislature passed SB 1610, which makes camping near or under state highways a misdemeanor. People violating the law would receive warnings from law enforcement and then a $50 fine. The law also expands the Equal Access to Public Property Act of 2012, which made unauthorized camping on state property a felony, to apply to all public property.

Opponents of the bill noted there are already local ordinances in place to prohibit camping in public spaces, and that arrests and charges would make it harder for people experiencing homelessness to find housing.

A fiscal memo accompanied the bill speculating that the legislation would not necessarily raise significant funding from the fines, and even the bill’s sponsor Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Cookeville) suggested there would be no significant increase in convictions when presenting the bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The chair of that committee, Sen. Mike Bell (R-Riceville), asked several questions about what new tools the bill actually offers law enforcement — and while he didn’t seem too satisfied with the responses from bill supporters, he ultimately voted in favor of it.

The bill later passed on the Senate floor, 22 votes to 10. Gov. Bill Lee declined to sign the legislation, saying he was concerned about unintended consequences, according to The Tennessee Journal. The bill will still go into effect on July 1.

It remains unclear how the law will be enforced locally, if at all. Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk — who assured his reelection to a second eightyear term by winning the Democratic primary earlier this month — still wants to review the language of the legislation. That’s according to spokesperson Stephen Hayslip, who adds that the DA has said in the past he “doesn’t prosecute poverty.”

Service providers are still concerned the law could be used as a deterrent even if not enforced. India Pungarcher of Open Table Nashville, a nonprofit that performs outreach to unhoused communities, previ-

ously told the Scene there was a chance campers could move further off the grid, making it harder for outreach workers to assist them and connect them to already scarce resources.

“If people can’t stay on public property, and they also can’t stay on state property, and they obviously can’t stay on private property, and there aren’t enough shelter beds … where will people go?” asked Pungarcher. “No one has that answer.”

Speaking at the Senate judiciary hearing for the bill prior to its passage, Judith Tackett, former head of Nashville’s Homeless Impact Division, said leaders in rural communities told her they needed resources and housing.

At the May meeting for the Continuum of Care Homelessness Planning Council, made up of stakeholders and service providers in Nashville, members also discussed how the city could be ready for the bill to go into effect. Members stressed that city and state agencies should reach out to the Homeless Impact Division and service providers before closing down any camps.

Unfortunately, what may have gotten the most attention in the debate about this bill is not the concerns that experts on homelessness have raised but rather some bizarre comments from Sen. Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) when the bill reached the Senate floor.

Niceley said Hitler “decided” to live on the streets for two years to practice “his oratory and his body language and how to connect with the masses, and then went on to lead a life that got him into history books.”

“They can come out of [these] homeless camps, and have a productive life. Or in Hitler’s case, a very unproductive life,” he said.

The quote went viral — picked up by The Washington Post, national TV news and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver — as people tried to parse just what the senator meant by comparing homeless people to Hitler. (The claim Hitler willingly lived on the streets is also false.)

Within days, Niceley sparked another controversy, this time for saying that only the Jewish members of Donald Trump’s family would care that Morgan Ortagus was booted from the Republican ballot of Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District. (Ortagus was endorsed by the former president and is Jewish.) Niceley once again made national headlines, inspiring people around the country to wonder just what is going on in Tennessee.

But the situation of how to navigate the new state law remains a local matter, for the people living in camps and those trying to help them.

EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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ABBA THE CONCERT

coming soon THE DRIFTERS, THE CORNELL GUNTER COASTERS, AND THE PLATTERS

ABBA

June 27*

THE CONCERT

BEN FOLDS

Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

June 30 to July 2

June 8

GUSTER July 6

CLASSICAL SERIES FINALE

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July 8 to 10

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July 17*

Enrico Lopez-Yañez, conductor

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THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS

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June 2 to 5

June 17 to 19

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GRAND FUNK RAILROAD

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August 5*

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THE ROBERT CRAY BAND

Marvin Laird, conductor

August 16*

with the

Nashville Symphony BRENT HAVENS, CONDUCTOR JUSTIN SARGENT, VOCALIST

June 22

June 26 at Ascend Amphitheater

LITTLE RIVER BAND

August 26*

*Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

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LESLIE ODOM JR.

MUSIC

FRIDAY / 5.27 [THAT’S ME IN THE CORNER]

MUSICIANS CORNER MEMORIAL DAY CELEBRATION

FILM

The free music fest Musicians Corner is back at Centennial Park in a big way, and the organizers are pulling out the stops for a three-day Memorial Day celebration. Friday evening offers a big dose of outstanding local talent, including pop songsmith Maggie Miles, soulful singer-songwriters CoJo Ko and Jason Eskridge and expanders of country Fancy Hagood and Leah Blevins.

In addition to booking outstanding talent and having no cover, one of Musicians Corner’s great features is its family-friendly nature, and the party gets started early Saturday with country-rocking Sophie and the Broken Things going on at noon. Highlights throughout the afternoon include Grammynominated reggae artist Gramps Morgan and purveyor of pop Stacey Kelleher.

Sunday’s an early one too, with some standouts including youthful string-band pros Giri and Uma Peters and superlative rockin’ country songsmith Elizabeth Cook wrapping it up. May 27-29 at Centennial Park, 2500 West End Ave. STEPHEN TRAGESER [A WOMAN IN TROUBLE]

INLAND EMPIRE

Much like everything he’s ever done, David Lynch’s three-hour, shot-ondigital film from 2006 is seen as either an underappreciated work of genius or a gotdamn mess, depending on who you’re asking. (Former Scene critic Mike D’Angelo and his colleague Nathan Lee once gave their opposing takes in the

MAY 27-29

PHOTO: NATALIE OSBORNE

Centennial Park

FANCY HAGOOD pages of Esquire, with Lee praising it as “a YouTube nightmare” and D’Angelo saying “there’s simply no excuse … for an artist of Lynch’s stature to make a movie that looks as hideous as this.”) But it appears Lynch made this polarizing opus to simply give star/longtime muse Laura Dern, as an actress dipping deeper into Lynchian-brand madness, a long-overdue vehicle for her talents — and hopefully let her snag some awards in the process. Some may remember when Lynch memorably spearheaded Dern’s Best Actress Oscar campaign by showing up on Hollywood Boulevard with a big, for-your-consideration banner and a cow. Yeah, that didn’t work. But with a new DCP restoration making the repertory rounds, audiences can see why Lynch went to such wild, weird lengths to champion

WEIRD AL

Dern and the daring work she did here. May 27-31 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. CRAIG D. LINDSEY [STILL DARING TO BE STUPID]

WEIRD AL

With more than 12 million albums sold, a whole grip of Grammys and a number of other accolades, Southern California native Alfred Michael Yankovic long ago transcended simple novelty-act status.

The man is an icon. An acolyte of cult radio figure Dr. Demento and a fan of Elton John, “Weird Al” honed his persona while attending California Polytechnic State University, where he began synthesizing rock ’n’ roll and polka, quickly striking gold with “My Bologna,” his 1979 parody of The Knack’s then-hit “My Sharona.” The rest, as

they say, is history. While Yankovic has been known for outsized concert tours featuring big production, costumes and his parodies of chart-toppers — from “Eat It” to “Smells Like Nirvana” and “Amish Paradise” — his upcoming run of shows in Middle Tennessee is part of a tour with a different approach.

The so-called Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour promises “scaled-down” performances with limited production and a set list featuring “almost entirely” original tunes. That means no parodies, but rather original bangers like “Dare to Be Stupid” and “Mr. Popeil” — though attendees can likely expect a brief medley of Al’s biggest parodies somewhere in the set list. As of this writing, tickets are extremely low for all three of Weird Al’s upcoming shows — May 27 and 28 at the glorious Caverns in Pelham, Tenn., and May 29 at Nashville’s Mother Church of Country Music. So if you’re reading this, act fast — it may already be too late. Opening all three shows will be Weird Al’s good pal, fellow comedy god and UHF co-star Emo Phillips. May 27-28 at The Caverns, 555 Charlie Roberts Road, Pelham; May 29 at the Ryman, 116 Rep. John Lewis Way N. D. PATRICK RODGERS MUSIC

Leslie Odom Jr., will likely be forever linked to his Tony Award-winning portrayal of Aaron Burr in the Broadway blockbuster Hamilton. But hopefully you’ve also seen this multitalented artist in one of his many television or film appearances, among them Harriet, One Night in Miami or The Many Saints of Newark. (I also love his work as Owen Tillerman in Central Park, the delightful animated musical-comedy series on Apple TV+.) This weekend, you can catch Odom as he joins the Nashville Symphony for an evening of Broadway hits and timeless jazz standards. Fans can expect plenty of familiar favorites, such as Hamilton’s “Wait for It” and “Dear Theodosia,” plus “Without You” (from Rent — the show that marked his Broadway debut at the age of 17). But I’m also looking forward to smooth jams like “You Send Me,” “Sunny Side of the Street,” “Autumn Leaves,” “Minnie the Moocher” and more.

May 26-28 at the Schermerhorn, 1 Symphony Place AMY STUMPFL

D O

MUSICIANS CORNER M E M O R I A L D AY C E L E B R AT I O N

[WAIT FOR IT]

MUSIC

MUSIC

THURSDAY / 5.26

T O

[MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE]

THE FATS KAPLIN GANG

As late, great Scene editor Jim Ridley pointed out a few years ago, Fats Kaplin is an extraordinarily talented and versatile musician. In addition to being a phenomenal chess player, an understated magician and a onetime Las Vegas craps dealer, Kaplin is skilled at writing for and playing on so many instruments that he can’t keep track of them. He’s been a go-to bandmate for

nashvillescene.com | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CRITICS’ PICKS BOMBINO

Nashville’s ONLY vinyl record store with full bar and 24 seasonal craft beers on tap.

27 28 29 30 31 1

Like You Mean It Records Acoustic Night Curio Shop Vintage + Vinyl Pop-Up- PM DJ Jeremy Spins the Savage Sounds Panther Club LIVE: Kyle Joshua Trask, Jess Jocoy, Steven Dunn, Ellie Turner OPEN FOR MEMORIAL DAY LIVE: Kat B & Friends Queerfolk Showcase

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some of the best musicians in the folk and roots realm, including Jack White, the late John Prine, Paul Burch and his own wife and musical partner Kristi Rose. There are very few things you could tell me about Fats Kaplin that I wouldn’t believe. (Except that he’s a jerk; mistaking his immaculate black shoe for an empty patch of floor once, I stepped on his foot with all my weight, and he was very nice about it.) Though he’s rehearsed and performed several times at The Blue Room venue inside the Nashville headquarters of White’s Third Man Records, one thing that Kaplin hasn’t done is play his own show as the featured artist. That changes on Friday, when The Fats Kaplin Gang settles in for a night of their own varied and intriguing material. Expect the unexpected, and prepare to be delighted. 8 p.m. at Third Man Records’ Blue Room, 623 Seventh Ave. S. STEPHEN TRAGESER

SCENERY

[DESERT ROCK]

BOMBINO W/LUKE SCHNEIDER

Before Mdou Moctar brought Nigerien psych-rock heroics to the Western

masses, Omara “Bombino” Moctar laid the groundwork. Talking to the Scene in 2019, the gifted and prolific Mdou, 36 — whose North American takeover has included opening slots for Tame Impala and records on Matador and Third Man — credited Bombino, six years his senior, for showing him that a career in music could be possible.

The duo share not just a surname but also a hometown (Agadez), a dialect (Tuareg) and a knack for crafting hard-charging, labyrinthine guitar passages for listeners to get lost in — be it from the couch or on the dance floor. The inimitable local Luke Schneider — he of the new-age pedalsteel symphonies, and homemade incense — supports. 8 p.m. at City Winery, 609 Lafayette St. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN FILM

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[STOP LOOKING AT ME, SWAN]

MIDNIGHT MOVIE: BILLY MADISON

Adam Sandler has proven that he has the capacity to be a Very Serious (and very good) actor. But to me, he’ll always be Billy Madison. As I ground my teeth during the panic-inducing (and also very good)

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BILLY MADISON

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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CRITICS’ PICKS

MUSIC

[WE LIKE TO PARTY]

THE BOOM BAP 14TH ANNIVERSARY FEAT. JUST BLAZE & MORE

As the pandemic continues in its postlockdown phase, I occasionally find myself thinking about the most crowded shows I’ve ever been to. At the top of the list is a punk house show where one kid, who might have been clairvoyant, showed up wearing a football helmet. A very close second is a visit to long-running hip-hop dance party The Boom Bap. At the time, circa 2012, The 5 Spot was home base for DJs Rate, Bowls and Case Bloom’s event, and even then, it was clear they had the formula on lock: There was nary a square foot of the room that wasn’t occupied by party people and connoisseurs of beats. The Boom Bap crew has changed locations a few times; wherever they’ve gone, they’ve filled bigger and bigger rooms to capacity, and even launched a Legends Series bringing in guests like Prince Paul and Spinderella.

Their 10th anniversary party at The Basement East in 2018 (coincidentally, No. 3 on my list of packed shows) featured master beatcrafter and DJ Just Blaze, whose work you’ve heard on records by Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, to name just a few. Though rising COVID cases delayed this show originally scheduled for February, Just Blaze will be back on Friday to help The Boom Bap celebrate 14 years of block-rockin’, with some top-tier special guests. Dono Dagger and comedian Josh Black are your masters of ceremonies, who’ll introduce you to Nashville hip-hop heroes Tim Gent and A.B. Eastwood as well as master of beats and former Nashvillian Wally Sparks. 9 p.m. at Brooklyn Bowl, 925 Third Ave. N. STEPHEN TRAGESER

[A STARBARA IS BORN]

MIDNIGHT MOVIE: BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR

Maybe you don’t have friends like Barb or Star (short for Starbara). Maybe the mysteries of culottes or the saga of Trish holds no power over you. Perhaps you’ve never wanted to swan dive through hallucinogenic boat drinks into a wave of yielding flesh and wake up in an official couple. If crustacean wisdom, rodent orchestras, hypersquitos, Grace Jones deep cuts and a cosmic enclave of seagulls bearing witness to human prayer can’t entice you to spend some time in Vista Del Mar, there may be no hope for you. This cult comedy burst into pandemic-era February 2021 like a supernova, only to be kept at a distance by seemingly everyone. But as their Oscar-nominated smash Bridesmaids proved, writers and stars Annie Mumolo

and Kristen Wiig understand innovative and heartfelt comedy, and this magical slice of ambrosia salad with a gin chaser is exactly what midnight movies were made for. If for no other reason than comic treasure Jamie Dornan (you’ll forgive the trespasses of the Fifty Shades series) dancing his soul out to a pitch-perfect Ryan Tedder parody, Barb and Star is the most inspired comedy of the recent dark times. Come on in, the water’s fine. Midnight at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. JASON SHAWHAN [SIRK DE SOLEIL]

WEEKEND CLASSICS: ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS

The Belcourt closes out its Douglas Sirk retrospective with this 1955 tale of scandalous May-December romance, starring Sirk’s Magnificent Obsession lovebirds Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman.

This time around, Hudson plays a young gardener who falls for (and unfortunately,

CRAIG D. LINDSEY

MUSIC

SATURDAY / 5.28

FILM

FRIDAY / 5.27

causes problems for) Wyman’s older, affluent widow. Out of all the Sirk melodramas, All That Heaven Allows appears to be the most influential. Rainer Werner Fassbinder practically remade the film when he helmed his acclaimed 1974 forbidden love story Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, about the relationship between an elderly German woman and a middle-aged Moroccan migrant worker. Nearly 30 years later, Todd Haynes did his own Sirk-saluting soap opera, 2002’s Far From Heaven, in which he had Julianne Moore’s lonely 1950s housewife strike up a bond with Dennis Haysbert’s Black gardener, which gets the whole town talking. So for all you mature ladies who aren’t afraid to get your groove back with a strapping lad, take your young side piece to see this kitchen-sinker. May 28-29 at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave.

ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS

FILM

Uncut Gems, I still half-expected Sandler to bust out from behind the jewelry counter and scream, “He called the shit poop!” (So go the cultural touchstones of a geriatic millennial.) To the uninitiated among you, Billy Madison is a goofball comedy about a wealthy man-child who passed through school on bribes. Wanting to prove his mettle, he gets his dad to pull some strings and let him attempt completion of grades K-12, which proves a challenge for this nudie-magazine-reading, lighting-shit-onfire bozo. Rewatching Billy Madison a few years ago, I often cringed. My husband, who saw it once in the ’90s and said “never again,” looked at me askance. I say, bring me your Snack Packs, your morons, your glue-covered kindergarten teachers. Bring me your life-size hallucinated penguins and your Franks and your freaks. Hell, even bring me your objectification of women. (We could do with a full rewrite of Theresa Merritt’s Juanita though.) After Billy delivers a vexing presentation on a children’s book to an auditorium packed with spectators, the school principal — played by legendary comedy writer Jim Downey — proclaims, “Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.” The same will happen when the credits roll at this Midnight Movie. Midnight at the Belcourt, 2102 Belcourt Ave. ERICA CICCARONE

[PARENTHETICAL BOYS]

SIGUR RÓS

As a card-carrying post-rock enthusiast who celebrates the entire Do Make Say Think catalog and would love to tell you all about how the latest Mogwai LP is the band’s best in years, I find it strange that Sigur Rós remains a blindspot for me.

Twenty years back, when bandleader Jónsi and his crew emerged from the Icelandic wilds with their doozy of a debut, Ágætis Byrjun — complete with its own invented dialect — I was captivated by its dreaminess but wondered why the songs just seemed to hang there, where post-rockers like Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor could be counted on to reward listeners’ patience with inevitable big, distorted climaxes. But the lengthy career Sigur Rós has enjoyed suggests that perhaps there’s more to life than mere quiet-loud-quiet dynamics. For

SIGUR RÓS

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CRITICS’ PICKS

[GOOD LUCK]

BENEFIT FOR THE BEN EYESTONE FUND: A NIGHT WITH BEN

In a world where descriptive words get overused till their meaning starts to blur, it’s not an exaggeration to say Ben Eyestone was a beloved person. He was an exceptional drummer, who moved to town from the Pacific Northwest with countrykissed band The Lonely H and later played with Nikki Lane and Little Bandit, among others. His kindness and irreverent sense of humor made him a favorite of bandmates as well as his co-workers and patrons at The 5 Spot. That makes Eyestone’s death from colon cancer — in 2017, at age 28 — even more awful, as well as truly tragic: Like most musicians, he didn’t have health insurance and couldn’t afford the kind of regular medical care that might have led to an earlier diagnosis and ultimately saved his life. The Ben Eyestone Fund, a joint effort of the Music Health Alliance and St. Thomas Health, was established in an effort to close those gaps. Saturday night, a group gathered under the name Ben’s Friends (as of press time, an undisclosed conglomeration of musicians that could conceivably include folks like Margo Price and Jeremy Ivey, whose Buffalo Clover often played with The Lonely H, or former Lonely H bandleader Mark Fredson) will take the stage at The 5 Spot in Eyestone’s memory, with proceeds

slated for the fund. Also joining in will be Bones Explosion, once described to the Scene as “a band of original East Siders and 5 Spot employees [that does] a bunch of covers, from the Stones to The Allman Brothers,” and BYRD, the atmospheric rock project of Brian Byrd. 8 p.m. at The 5 Spot, 1006 Forrest Ave. STEPHEN TRAGESER MUSIC

MUSIC

this gig, their first in Nashville in nearly a decade, Jónsi & Co. will be road-testing material from the first new Sigur Rós LP since 2013’s Kveikur, which I’d never heard before now — and it turns out, between its impassioned opener “Brennisteinn” and the cacophonous “Kveikur,” ramps up the tempos and kicks in the distortion with the best of them. 8 p.m. at the Ryman, 116 Rep. John Lewis Way N. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

[BIG CONCEPTS]

KENNY CHESNEY

In modern country music, what matters most is concept, which is why many commentators have such trouble with a music that seems derived from rock, hip-hop, folk, schlock and whatever else Nashville producers, singers and label executives deem appropriate. Writing about the East Tennessee-born megastar Kenny Chesney in 2012, the contrarian music critic Chuck Eddy said: “Chesney sounds more convincing when he’s less upbeat.” On the album Eddy was reviewing, Welcome to the Fishbowl, there was a rough concept about the vicissitudes of the megastar’s life, with “While He Still Knows Who I Am” — a tale of a son visiting a father who’s in declining health — one of Chesney’s best tracks. On his latest album, 2020’s Here and Now, the title track finds him singing, “Why you think we call the present the present / There ain’t no better year.” The accompanying music is what I call Dan Henley Jr. — post-Eagles, post-Fogelberg guitars that do their jobs and leave you with no bitter aftertaste. On another track, “Everyone She Knows,” he describes an unmarried, unhappy woman as “a Marilyn in blue jeans, with a touch of Jackie O.” Chesney is a master of concept, and his music is often more interesting than the run of modern country. 5 p.m. at Nissan Stadium, 1 Titans Way EDD HURT

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A women’s column featuring a rotating cast of contributors

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This week at WEDNESDAY

5/25

THURSDAY

5/26 FRIDAY

5/27 SATURDAY

5/28

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KENNY CHESNEY

nashvillescene.com | MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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5/23/22 2:22 PM

SUNDAY / 5.29

CHAKA KHAN early ’80s. But Khan’s voice and presence were too explosive to remain confined within a group setting. She’s enjoyed even more success as a solo vocalist, and has displayed her versatility by collaborating with artists like Ry Cooder, Ray Charles, Prince and Quincy Jones. Khan was among the earliest vocalists to help create and solidify the R&B/rap sound with her iconic 1984 single “I Feel for You,” which matched her frenetic lead vocal with Stevie Wonder’s blazing harmonica solo and Melle Mel’s verbal acuity. Khan has adeptly remained a vital part of multiple musical scenes, even competing on Fox’s The Masked Singer in 2020, and performing a medley of hits on

the 2021 season finale of American Idol on ABC. She’s at home in any and every setting, as she’ll no doubt demonstrate Sunday night at the Schermerhorn. 7:30 p.m. at the Schermerhorn, 1 Symphony Place RON WYNN

TUESDAY / 5.31 [HOT LICKS]

BILLY CONTRERAS TRIO

A world-class violinist who studied and played with legendary Nashville session cat Buddy Spicher, Billy Contreras gets into jazz mode on Tuesday at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge. Born in Michigan

WEDNESDAY / 6.01 MUSIC

NASHVILLE HELPING NASHVILLE FEAT. LUCINDA WILLIAMS, AARON LEE TASJAN & MORE

Last Memorial Day weekend, fans showed up in a big way for the inaugural Nashville Helping Nashville concert in East Park.

A shedload of musicians joined in too, specifically in support of Chris and Telisha Cobb’s effort to buy the property home to Exit/In, the historic club they’ve operated for years. While not-great news for the local music ecosystem continues — including the Mercy Lounge venue complex shutting down and 3rd and Lindsley looking to move after a preliminary development plan for the property was filed — a new installment of Nashville Helping Nashville is happening Saturday, with proceeds supporting independent venues through indie venue trade group Music Venue Alliance Nashville. A broad slate of local radio stations will be represented at the event, and a Record Store Row area is planned, with booths from Grimey’s, Third Man and more.

And of course there will be a ton of music.

Bands including DeeOhGee and Creature Comfort will warm up the crowd for the main event, which is a 50th anniversary celebration of Neil Young’s career-highlight album Harvest, made in Nashville with late producer Elliot Mazer. Singing and playing classics like “Heart of Gold,” “Old Man” and “The Needle and the Damage Done” will be folks like Katie Pruitt, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Kristina Murray, Jon Latham, Nicki Bluhm, Luke Schneider — and someone else you just might have heard of, legendary songsmith Lucinda Williams. 2-9 p.m. at East Park, 700 Woodland St. STEPHEN TRAGESER

MUSIC

in 1984, Contreras moved to Nashville when he was 5, and began mastering fiddle tunes, country music, jazz and classical.

He’s appeared on albums by Spicher, Béla Fleck, Hank Williams III and many more, and he’s also taught violin. During a recent performance at Dee’s, Contreras — playing with bassist Geoff Saunders, guitarist Ben Garnett and drummer Justin Amaral — swung like Joe Venuti or Jean-Luc Ponty on tunes that showed off his advanced harmonic sense and his amazing fluidity.

Like Fleck, Contreras is a bluegrass master, but it could be that Contreras sounds even more original playing jazz — his storehouse of licks seems inexhaustible. Of course, when a superb musician like Contreras plays, the licks don’t seem like licks, and the performance I saw recently proved he could hang with any fusion, bluegrass or country performer you could name. Maybe he should incorporate Frank Zappa’s “King Kong” into his repertoire, just like Ponty did. His bandmates are equally adept — this is a show you don’t want to miss. 8:30 p.m. at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, 102 E. Palestine Ave., Madison EDD HURT

[OUT ON THE WEEKEND]

MUSIC

MUSIC

CRITICS’ PICKS

[STYLIZED SOUL]

ANIKA

The lo-fi murk of English-born singer Anika’s self-titled 2010 debut album suits her offhand vocal style, and the record contains some interesting covers.

Her wobbly singing turns Arthur Kent and Sylvia Dee’s “The End of the World” — recorded most memorably in 1962 by Skeeter Davis — into what you might call post-Portishead, dystopian pop. Elsewhere on her debut, Anika cut songs by Yoko Ono, Bob Dylan and Ray Davies. On her

[NOT SO IDLE]

UKRAINE BENEFIT MUSIC FEST AND CRAWFISH BOIL

Few things have unified the world in recent memory like Russia’s unwarranted and brutal invasion of Ukraine. Various arts organizations and institutions have gotten involved when it comes to providing aid, and one of them here in Nashville is Bobby’s Idle Hour Tavern. Sunday’s event will provide locals with the opportunity to enjoy both excellent music and fine food, and all proceeds go to UNICEF to raise funds for Ukraine’s children. A host of outstanding bands and artists — such as Noel McKay, Lillie Mae, Runner of the Woods, Riders in the Sky, Megg Farrell and the duo of Hannah Juanita and Mose Wilson — will perform. I can’t think of a better way to combine musical enjoyment, culinary treats and uniting behind a cause. 4 p.m. at Bobby’s Idle Hour Tavern, 9 Music Square S.

MUSIC

RON WYNN [LET ME ROCK YOU CHAKA KHAN]

CHAKA KHAN

Vocalist Chaka Khan has exemplified everything good about the term diva throughout an exceptional career that began when her charismatic stage presence and dynamic lead vocals helped elevate the group Rufus to R&B and funk stardom. She debuted with them in 1970 and remained with them through most of the decade, then did a reunion stint for a time in the

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ANIKA

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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5/23/22 2:23 PM

CRITICS’ PICKS

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5.31

NASHVILLE’S OWN FEATURING AMANDA FAMA AND VERONICA STANTON

6.12

JOHNNY & JUNE BRUNCH FEATURING A.R. CASH (TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY CASH & JUNE CARTER CASH)

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5.31

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I DRAW SLOW ALBUM RELEASE SHOW IN THE LOUNGE

Latin American Chamber of Commerce teams up with Tennessee Performing Arts Center to present its sixth annual Empanada Tasting. It’s a great way to explore the flavor, culture and diversity of the region’s Latin American communities while supporting Latino-owned businesses. A $35 advance ticket includes four empanadas, a dessert and a soft drink or water. Additional drinks — plus a cash bar — will be available through TPAC concessions. Vendors include Salty Cubana, Delicias Colombianas, Don Beto’s, Two Peruvians in a Truck and more. Guests can vote for their favorite flavors, and the evening also promises plenty of music. 5:30 p.m. at War Memorial Auditorium, 301 Sixth Ave. N. AMY STUMPFL

[SMOKEY GOT ’EM]

SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT 45TH ANNIVERSARY

Everybody and their mama knows that Star Wars came out 45 years ago this month and became the highest-grossing movie of 1977. But don’t forget about the secondhighest-grossing movie that year, which also came out 45 years ago this month. Yes, the car-chase extravaganza — in which Burt Reynolds’ bootlegging legend Bandit dodges Jackie Gleason’s determined Sheriff Buford T. Justice all through the South — was a monster hit back in the day, setting off the CB craze and turning Reynolds into a bona fide superstar. Considering how Disney continues to drop Star Wars shows on its Disney+ app, I’m surprised Universal (the studio that released Bandit) hasn’t done a limited-series spinoff over at Peacock.

Maybe they could pull a Bel-Air and do a dramatic reimagining called Bandit. Or they could do Son of Bandit, wherein Bandit’s son follows in his daddy’s footsteps, getting chased down by Justice’s state-trooper grandkids. Hey, Sally Field is still around to play Bandit Jr.’s mom! Just throwing that out there. 7 p.m. June 1-2 at AMC and Regal Theaters CRAIG D. LINDSEY

MUSIC

5.28

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FOOD & DRINK

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2021 full-length Change, Anika applies her detached voice — here’s where I mention that she sounds a little like Nico, which she does — to a set of tunes co-produced by Martin Thulin. I hear traces of Boards of Canada throughout Change, and something titled “Finger Pies” is creepy post-soul rendered in the classic Berlin-meets-London manner. It’s a great track that finds Anika singing lines like, “Writing is useless / My intention / My intention is my intention.”

Change isn’t necessarily a deep album, despite the obvious nods to post-pandemic angst, but its stylizations are satisfying.

8 p.m. at The Blue Room at Third Man Records, 623 Seventh Ave. S. EDD HURT

[HOW I SPENT MY BUMMER VACATION]

BUMMER

Spiritual descendants of Pacific Northwestern heavy metal miscreants Karp — understudies to the Melvins, peers of Unwound and, for those not in the know, an acronym for “Kill All Redneck Pricks” — Great Plains three-piece Bummer fly the flag for taking volume, riffs and the road extremely seriously while confronting the rest of daily life’s drudgery with the gallows humor needed to withstand it. I was hooked from the first few seconds of “Estocada,” the brash opening salvo from Bummer’s 2015 10-inch EP Spank. Thrill Jockey Records also took notice, freeing vocalist-guitarist Matt Perrin, bassist Mike Gustafson and drummer Sam Hutchinson to level up with 2021’s Dead Horse, an ultimate primal scream of a pandemic-era hard-rock record. What might it take to have Olathe, Kan., and Tumwater, Wash. — Bummer and Karp’s dusty respective hometowns — officially recognized as sister cities?

Whores, from Atlanta, and Capra, out of Lafayette, La., fill out the three-band bill.

8 p.m. at The End, 2219 Elliston Place CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

[SPICE UP YOUR LIFE]

TENNESSEE LATIN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S EMPANADA TASTING

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BUMMER

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PHOTO: RICHARD DUMAS

MAY 29, 2022

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THE PEOPLE’S PLACES: CAFFE NONNA

Daniel Maggipinto’s Italian eatery has kept his Sylvan Park neighbors happy and fed for 20-plus years

BY JENNIFER JUSTUS With her series “The People’s Places,” contributor Jennifer Justus provides short takes on longtime local restaurants, markets and bars that deserve another look.

R food_5-26-22.indd 25

emember Nashville in 1999?

The Titans took the field at Adelphia Coliseum for the first time ever. Bill Purcell was elected mayor of Metro Nash-

ville, while Martina, McGraw and Chesney ruled the country charts — each had two No. 1 songs that year. The Preds were just a baby organization in their second season, while Britney Spears sold out the Grand Ole Opry House in support of her first album “… Baby One More Time.”

Neighborhoods like Sylvan Park felt different then. People pumped gas where Edley’s Bar-B-Que stands today, and the bygone meat-and-three Sylvan Park Restaurant still existed alongside the venerable McCabe Pub. No roundabout. No Park Cafe.

No Neighbors Bar — but plenty of neighbors hungry for a mom-and-pop Italian place.

“We hit the ground running,” says Caffe Nonna chef and owner Daniel Maggipinto, who opened his Sylvan Park restaurant in 1999. “With no marketing or anything.”

Maggipinto moved to Nashville in 1996 from New York City, and he brought with him his own spin on Italian family recipes that he worked out in his grandmother’s kitchen in the North Bronx. Maggipinto met his wife Maria in Manhattan when they both worked for a stint in dining services for the Hearst Corp. Maria had been a ballet dancer and part-time flight attendant. Inci-

dentally, she comes from Nashville meatand-three royalty as the granddaughter to Hap Townes, the man who turned rolling pie wagons into a beloved brick-and-mortar carrying his own name. The two married by 1994, and when Maria’s father got sick, she suggested a move to Nashville.

They rented a 25-foot U-Haul and came down to live at an apartment complex on Hayes Street. Maggipinto worked a slew of restaurants that are no longer around — from Arthur’s and Cakewalk to Sammy B’s on Music Row. He helped open Tony’s Lake House Grill in Hendersonville, and then he opened his own place, a Mediterranean-style restaurant called Dancing Bear on Church Street. He has photos from those days cooking with their son on his hip. But Church Street wasn’t a dining destination at that time, and the restaurant closed after about a year-and-a-half. That’s when investors approached him about opening an Italian spot.

When I moved to Nashville in 2005, I asked locals where to eat, and Caffe Nonna was often the response I got. These days, the city has more Italian-style options than ever, from the swanky Yolan, Carne Mare, City House and Trattoria Il Mulino to favorites

PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS

FOOD AND DRINK

like Nicky’s Coal Fired and Mangia. That’s not to mention Bella Napoli, Moto, Giovanni — the list goes on. Even with all the latterday options, Caffe Nonna still stays busy. On a recent Saturday, reservations were booked until 9 p.m. My dining companion and I found a spot on the covered patio next to a 10-top celebrating a high school graduation.

Wearing T-shirts and shorts and summer sundresses, folks rolled in and filled the 50 seats indoors or on one of the two patios. Time has weathered just about every edge in the place. Our server, who had the comfortable and unpretentious air of a seasoned pro, dropped the names of two other Nashville institutions within minutes of greeting us. When we told him we had been at Centennial Park earlier, he mentioned an event happening at the Springwater. He’d heard about it at Brown’s Diner, where he sometimes plays with a band called Southern Funk Orchestra.

For dinner, we split the vegetarian bruschetta, ribbons of carrot and red onion in sunset colors of orange and pink. Piled into a mountain with a confetti of chopped garlic shot throughout, the vegetables rested on a thick slice of bread soaking up

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the white-wine-and-butter sauce. After a couple of crisp salads, we split the Lasagna Nonna, an old menu standby with layers of flavor and texture from butternut squash, creamy cheese sauces, the tang of marinara and brilliant green bites of fresh spinach.

That rustic recipe, as well as other favorites like the lamb shank or Seafood Angeline, draw from a well of family influences and Maggipinto’s own experience.

“Who influenced me in loving food?” Maggipinto says. “Several women in my family — two of my grandmothers, an aunt and my mom cooked as well.” From family gardens on New York lots the size of postage stamps to home cooking and family businesses, he had a lot of inspiration. One set of grandparents ran a luncheonette feeding workers in New York with breakfast plates and chicken Parm sandwiches. Growing up, he worked summers at his aunt’s motel restaurant in the Catskills.

During the uncertainty of the pandemic, Maggipinto got his real estate license. He also keeps up an operation jarring the Caffe Nonna marinara, a project he started after his daughter died of a rare brain cancer just before her second birthday. As a true labor of love, he used to leave work at Caffe Nonna and then spend a couple hours packing up sauce in his business partner’s basement where they stored the bottles. “To save on the cost of the shipping, I would take orders to UPS myself,” he says.

These days, the operation is more streamlined. Maggipinto donates the money he makes from his sauce to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and the Zoë Marie Brain Tumor Research Fund, which is named for his late daughter. “Every little bit helps change things in small increments sometimes,” he says. “It feels good.” Locals can find the sauce in grocery stores like

PHOTOS: DANIEL MEIGS



NASHVILLE

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Turnip Truck, but Maggipinto says the big orders come after episodes of Diners, DriveIns and Dives featuring Caffe Nonna air in syndication. “All I gots to say is Rao’s, watch out,” Maggipinto says, “ ’cause we’re coming for you.”

Maggipinto, who will be 63 in July, spends less time in the kitchen than he once did.

He’s earned it. And he feels good about the team he has in place. In addition to manager Becca Bendaj and Jason Strobel, who heads up the kitchen, he has kitchen staff that has been at the restaurant more than a decade.

Two guys who go by Chino and Juvi were hired by Maggipinto as dishwashers and trained over time on the line. Juvi’s wife Maria and the pair’s kids have all worked at the restaurant.

“To work with people that want the same thing, and recognize the brand and not just an Italian restaurant, and what it stands for here is really amazing,” says Maggipinto.

“My name is not in lights up there, and that never came to my mind when I started the place,” he says. Instead, he says, he just wants to keep customers happy — from “first-timers and old-time regulars and everyone in between. That’s the most important thing to me.”

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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VODKA YONIC

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My husband has Alzheimer’s, and I’m keeping our memories alive for both of us

BY DURELLE LECLAIR LINTON Vodka Yonic features a rotating cast of women and nonbinary writers from around the world sharing stories that are alternately humorous, sobering, intellectual, erotic, religious or painfully personal. You never know what you’ll find in this column, but we hope this potent mix of stories encourages conversation.

I

n some post-tornado photos, an entire neighborhood is reduced to rubble, yet a single tricycle in a backyard invites a child to play; or the whole roof has blown off a house, but the table is still set for dinner; or an intact Bible is flipped open to a favorite verse. I thought about this recently as I glanced out the window and saw my husband working on his lawn mower.

My husband has Alzheimer’s. It’s been getting progressively worse for almost five years. He often can’t recall his children’s and grandchildren’s names, yet he can take apart and repair just about anything. He can’t read the menu at a restaurant or hum his favorite song, yet he’s an ace navigator when we travel. He has some memories of his childhood and knows that he eats a dish of ice cream every night promptly at 8 p.m. Sometimes I’ll mention a trip we took or a joke we’ve shared, and his face will light up like it did in the old days.

He’s not able to read, but he still has a quiet time every morning, praying for people he doesn’t remember, touching their names one by one on the file cards he has always used as his prayer list, names that now don’t have faces.

Sometimes I’ll provide a convoluted explanation describing how he knows someone, where they live, who their children or parents are, where they work. I show him photos from Facebook — I never know what piece of minutia is going to trigger his memory. Once he gets started thinking about someone or something, he can’t let it go until he understands. More often than not, this takes a very long time.

I sometimes get so frustrated I want to scream.

I can see his anxiety and embarrassment when we run into someone he’s supposed to know. “My brain doesn’t work anymore,” he says, so they won’t walk away with hurt feelings when he doesn’t remember them.

He was a child-and-family therapist.

He occasionally taught at the local college and mentored several young people. We recently had lunch with one of them, a young woman he worked with for five or six years. He was anxious about seeing her again because, try as he might, he just couldn’t get her in his mind. Even seeing her in person and chatting did nothing to produce a memory. He was visibly

HE’S NOT ABLE TO READ, BUT HE STILL HAS A QUIET TIME EVERY MORNING, PRAYING FOR PEOPLE HE DOESN’T REMEMBER, TOUCHING THEIR NAMES ONE BY ONE ON THE FILE CARDS HE HAS ALWAYS USED AS HIS PRAYER LIST, NAMES THAT NOW DON’T HAVE FACES. disturbed and sad.

But she was gracious and generous.

“You might not remember me, but I’ll always remember you!” she said, smiling.

“I learned so much from you.”

And it’s at this moment I remembered why I married him.

I often think about all the years he took care of me — bringing dinner on a tray when I was studying for a big exam, taking over the grocery shopping and meal preparation when I took a dream job with an hours-long daily commute, driving straight through from East Tennessee to upstate New York while I napped in the passenger seat. Holding me when my stepdad died.

I get weepy and more than a little angry when I recall the fun we had camping in our little pop-up, or our silly restaurant game of trying to decide what other diners did for a living, or how we made songs out of signs and sights along the road as we drove. We laughed about everything and nothing. We were crazy kids for 25 years.

Then the tornado blew through.

Sometimes, being a caregiver is mind-numbing and dreary. It’s hard to remember how lucky you are when you’re grieving someone who’s still alive. But it’s those cheerful moments of lucidity that remind me of who we were. They’re like the tricycle in the yard, inviting me to jump on.

Then, like a ghost, it’s gone.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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5/23/22 11:59 AM

BOOKS

THE HARD BEAUTY Unsparing honesty about grief fuels Charles Dodd White’s A Year Without Months

an independent bookstore

BY EMILY CHOATE

A

t the center of A Year Without Months — the compelling new memoir-in-essays by Knoxville writer Charles Dodd White — lie three brutal events: the suicides of White’s father, uncle and son. In a haunting preface, he sets these deaths in the context of his tangled family history and establishes that this book’s trajectory is ultimately one of survival.

The means of this survival arise from White’s unflinching self-reflection and his deeply felt, lifelong relationship to the natural world, as well as the challenges and mercies found through his life as a writer.

From these elements, White fashions a work of harrowing candor, insightful compassion and hard-won beauty.

A Year Without Months unfolds in a series of essays written over a decade, some composed before his son’s death, others afterward. The looming knowledge of this loss creates a heartrending tug inside A YEAR WITHOUT MONTHS

BY CHARLES DODD WHITE the reader during WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY passages clearly PRESS written while his son 176 PAGES, $19.99 was still alive. By letting the perspective of these pieces stand as they are, White opens up a profoundly vulnerable narrative space, capturing something of the obliterated futures and unanswerable questions that a sudden, unexpected death creates.

In numerous essays, White conveys the dangerous atmosphere that arises from volatile family binds and the impact of troubled familial narratives. “The attraction of repeating old sins should never be discounted,” he argues, warning that such narratives pose a particular risk to us as we form our own self-concepts.

Early on, White recognized that he was more cautious than the other men in his family, finding “great importance in the well-balanced moment.” By contrast, his grandfather and uncle seemed bound in constant cycles of argumentative, tumultuous conflict, especially with each other.

“The real violence between them was in its essential meaninglessness. They battered each other because it was a way to injure themselves, and that was ultimately the only way they knew to wait out death.”

Drawn for a time toward deeper understanding of his father’s suicide, White focuses on the reality of the gun involved in this dark, final act. “The idea of the gun had bent me to it, hobbled me to a single moment.” White doesn’t flinch from this challenging material, respecting the agency of those he’s lost. “A person’s death is poignantly their own. It isn’t an object lesson.”

However, White does lean into the difficult subject of guns and Southern masculinity, challenging those who “have listened to their baser instincts, lashed out, and doubled down.” This challenge finds its sharpest

11:59 AM

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expression in “Why I Don’t Hunt Anymore,” a powerful essay that addresses the rise of a certain kind of Southern outdoorsmen.

Instead of hunting responsibly, forging a deeper understanding of nature (including the toll of taking a life, no matter the species), these men perform “a burlesque of masculinity.” Through their almost fetishistic obsession toward violent gunfire, “the pastoral somehow got swapped out with the paramilitary.” In this “cultural theater,” hunting itself “becomes mere background to the desire to offend.”

Respect for the natural world is one of White’s hallmarks, as displayed in his novels, most recently How Fire Runs and In the House of Wilderness. He’s among the many Tennessee writers who have sought original, thoughtful approaches to writing about nature. Now, as a memoirist, White communicates a porous intimacy with nature, emphasizing his surroundings’ impact on his own perspective.

As a result, White shows particular skill at communicating distinctions between ecosystems and the ineffable power they wield on the humans moving through them.

For example, White contrasts the claybanked, “brown and slow” Georgia rivers of his youth with the “different idiom” of swifter-moving, demanding Appalachian waterways. Then there’s the North Florida lake where his relatives lived, “a mossdripping incoherence of water that excelled at collecting mosquitos, alligators, and other murky undesirables.”

White’s literary vision enmeshes the human world with the untamed elements of our origins. Here, wilderness always surrounds us, no matter how we try to control or numb the rough-hewn truths of our reality.

In A Year Without Months, White insists upon deep reckoning — with his familial inheritance, his losses and his own survival, as well as the shifting currents of Southern culture and landscape around him. White foregrounds accountability, acknowledging “the price we all pay to understand the hard beauty between who we are and what we say.”

White’s openness about such difficult personal terrain and his candor about toxic strains of Southern masculinity create a striking effect that may evoke a familiar white-Southern-male literary lineage but breaks through that familiarity, becoming urgently contemporary. White has written a book that offers no easy answers. Rather, it asks a slew of blazing questions that demand attentive, honest reflection.

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

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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5/23/22 11:59 AM

ART

STILL FROM “BITE,” RAHELEH FILSOOFI

RAHELEH FILSOOFI: ARTIFACTING THROUGH JUNE 30 AT UNREQUITED LEISURE

TOOTHSOME Raheleh Filsoofi’s sculpture and video installation is a meditative mouthful

BY JOE NOLAN

W

e generally think of art as a hand-tool activity — painters hold brushes; sculptors manipulate chisels and welding torches; digital artists swoop styluses on screens; and photographers cling to their cameras.

But Indigenous artists in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the U.S. were crafting elaborate wooden designs by biting birch bark at least 300 years ago. And contemporary artists like Hannah Wilke and Janine Antoni have literally sunk their teeth into their work, making simple ingredients like chewing gum, chocolate and lard into feminist critiques of traditional beauty standards.

At Unrequited Leisure, Nashville-based artist Raheleh Filsoofi’s Artifacting installation pairs a performance video with a sculpture to give viewers an intense experience of mouth-made art.

In her video “Bite,” Filsoofi lifts a large, unfired ceramic bowl to her mouth and proceeds to bite into its wide rim. The artist bites the bowl six times, each time incre-

30

mentally inching toward the center of the bowl. From a nibble to a mouthful, the six bite marks make a pleasantly repetitive pattern of semicircles that add up to a scalloping effect. Filsoofi turns the bowl counterclockwise in her hands and repeats the process until the entire rim of the bowl is decorated by her toothsome design.

The installation at Unrequited Leisure includes a video monitor with Filsoofi’s finished bite-designed bowl displayed in front of it. The arrangement feels like an altar, which adds to the meditative mood of the performance video and charges Unrequited Leisure’s intimate space with mindful stillness.

Jesuit priests sent the first samples of birch-bark bite designs to Europe in the 17th century. Birch-bark artists remove soft bark from birch trees in the springtime before peeling it into separate single layers of paper-thin wood. A layer is folded and then bitten. The teeth marks create thin spots in the wood that allow light to shine through.

Artists can also bite actual holes in the bark to create lace-like textures. When the wood is unfolded a pattern is revealed. The practice continues in Indigenous communities in Canada and the U.S. today both as an art form and as an act of resistance to cultural obliteration.

Filsoofi’s work also speaks to other contemporary women artists who’ve put their mouths where their art is to make empowering statements that push back at traditional ideas of feminine beauty. Hannah Wilke’s vulvar terracotta sculptures of the 1960s are

now considered pioneering works of graphic feminist art, but when the artist traded in ceramics for chewing gum, the works became iconic. Wilke’s vaginal chewinggum sculptures combine post-minimalist aesthetics with a satirical bite: “I chose gum because it’s the perfect metaphor for the American woman — chew her up, get what you want out of her, throw her out and pop in a new piece,” Wilke explained at the time.

Filsoofi’s masticating performance reminds me of that, and also the kinds of sculptures that Janine Antoni has created by biting and licking chocolate and lard. Her 1992 artwork “Gnaw” included 600-pound blocks of both chocolate and lard that the artist carved with her mouth. The process became a commentary on modern romance mores and beauty standards when the chocolate, lard and spit removed from the blocks were repackaged as heartshaped boxes of fancy bonbons and tubes of luxury lipstick.

Filsoofi is a newly appointed assistant professor of ceramics at Vanderbilt University, but her cross-disciplinary creative practice spans from ceramics and video to poetry and ambient sound works. The artist immigrated to the U.S. from Iran in 2002, and her mixing of ancient and contemporary materials and techniques mirrors her aesthetic investigations of sociopolitical themes, which are largely focused on borders and immigration. For Filsoofi, the clay bowl symbolizes historic narratives, which she imagines to be literally embedded in

the land. Filsoofi’s performance represents the reassertion of an empowering personal narrative in the form of the artist’s bitemark pattern.

I find Filsoofi’s installation to be most moving on a purely formal level. Lots of performance-based video art fails when the artist is so focused on performance that they fail to make creative decisions about lighting, angles and edits — all things a filmmaker might obsess over. Some performances might be best showcased with nonchalant documentation, but most of the time this lack of consideration reveals a misunderstanding of the medium.

Filsoofi’s “Bite” video is a great example of performance video done right: She uses dramatic chiaroscuro lighting to focus viewers on her performance. She’s wearing a black dress that causes her torso to disappear into the background, making the slight movements of her seemingly unconnected face and arms appear mysterious and dramatic. Filsoofi’s teeth get stuck in the clay, and the bowl bounces a bit every time her teeth disengage. Filsoofi has to swallow hard and lick her teeth before every series of bites, and the video is surprisingly visceral — my mouth starts watering just typing this description.

The artist also makes a great choice by pairing her video images with meditative silence. The quiet only adds to the sense of this performance as a repetitive ritual in a sacred space.

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NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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PERFORMING ARTS

ON POINT

Nashville Ballet’s Young Men’s Scholarship Program keeps male dancers on their toes

BY AMY STUMPFL

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

I

t’s a typical Thursday night at The Martin Center for Nashville Ballet, and as I observe a Young Men’s Level 2 class, I’m struck by just how quiet it is. That’s not to say that these boys — ranging in age from 11 to 13 — aren’t having any fun. There are plenty of smiles, and far more high-fives and fist-pumping than you might expect from a ballet rehearsal. But as soon as the music starts, the group becomes remarkably engaged and focused.

“Everyone warmed up?” asks instructor Justin Abel, a member of Nashville Ballet’s second company, NB2. “Good, let’s move to the barre. Find your balance. Keep your upper body nice and straight. OK, but keep those knees straight — that’s better. Yes, that’s it!”

The boys respond with a quick nod or thumbs-up before moving on to the next combination. Abel, a Texas native who joined Nashville Ballet in 2021, patiently demonstrates each move, then takes time to gently correct each student’s form and positioning.

“Nice work, now let’s do some more calf raises,” he says, waving off a few groans.

“Come on, guys — you’re going to need strong legs to do all those jumps you’ll be working on next year.”

As if on cue, two boys start leaping about, checking themselves in the mirror to see who can jump higher. It’s just the sort of good-natured competition that the company had in mind when it introduced the Young Men’s Scholarship Program in 2016. Developed under the leadership of artistic director Paul Vasterling and associate artistic director Nick Mullikin, along with former company dancers Jon Upleger, Judson Veach and Gerald Watson, the program offers specialized training for young men that highlights “athleticism, strength, camaraderie and discipline.” And while the curriculum largely reflects that of the school’s regular Academy Division, there’s an added focus on specific male technique, as well as the unique challenges facing male dancers.

Designed for ages 8 through 18, the YMSP offers students one full academic year of tuition-free training, followed by the opportunity to earn merit-based scholarships.

Today, there are about 25 students in the program, which maintains a supportive community for young men to push one another, while developing as individual artists.

That certainly was the case for James Lankford, who was accepted into the YMSP at age 14, and quickly moved up into the School of Nashville Ballet’s Professional Training Division. He was invited to join NB2 in 2020, and in March 2022, he was promoted to the position of company apprentice at the age of 18.

“I feel like I’ve grown up with Nashville Ballet,” says Lankford, who recently celebrated his 19th birthday. “And the Young Men’s Program has been a big part of that.

I think it’s very important for young guys to train with other guys. You’re not totally separate from the women, of course — and the partnering classes are absolutely essential. But male technique is really different.

We’re jumping more, we’re doing lifts. And we have different ways of working through the feet, since we’re not dancing en pointe.”

Beyond specific technique, Lankford also found a safe and encouraging place to grow and discover his own voice as an artist.

“I’m very shy, so being in a space with guys the same age, all going through the same things, was so important for me,” he

says. “There’s a positive sense of competitiveness, where you see someone doing well, and that pushes you to try harder. We were always trying to one-up each other, but in a good way. It’s like a brotherhood. The Young Men’s program really helped me come out of my shell, but it also gave me confidence and discipline.”

That discipline paid off in March, just a couple of weeks before the company was set to kick off its nationwide tour of Lucy Negro Redux at Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

“I was actually an understudy, but two weeks before we opened at TPAC, I had to

step in because another dancer was injured,” Lankford says. “I was a little nervous because it’s a lot of choreography, but I knew I was 100 percent ready. That’s one of the things you learn with the Young Men’s program — you always have to be prepared and on top of your game. Touring with Lucy was such an amazing experience. Performing at these beautiful theaters across the country, having audiences respond so passionately — it helps you realize that all those classes, all those rehearsals were worth it. It’s hard work, but it all leads to something magical.”

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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ANOTHER LOOK

The Scene’s music writers recommend recent releases from Mike Floss, midwxst, Brennen Leigh and more

BY EDD HURT, P.J. KINZER, KAHWIT TELA AND STEPHEN TRAGESER

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ummer is practically here, and it’s time for touring to kick into high gear. Whether they’re headed for the road or not, musicians across a broad spectrum in and around Nashville are offering up FIND LINKS TO STREAM AND BUY THESE RECORDS AT tons of great NASHVILLESCENE.COM/MUSIC new releases.

Find 10 new recommendations below from our music scribes (including one that actually features one of said writers) that you can add to your queue on your favorite streaming service or snag from your favorite record store. Though the Bandcamp Friday promotion (in which the platform waived its fees for a 24-hour period on the first Friday of each month) appears to be over for now, most of our selections are available to buy quickly and easily from the artists on Bandcamp, too.

MIKE FLOSS, CONTRABAND (PLATINUM SOUTH) After a period of building connections elsewhere, Mike Floss began to refocus his attention on his hometown of Nashville last year. Like many MCs, he’s outspoken about the rights and needs of Black Nashvillians, and he’s finding ways to blend his artistic endeavors with community organization.

His latest EP Contraband is a prime example. Over varied and inventive beats, Floss raps about encounters that all too often leave nonwhite people injured or dead at the hands of police, and about making lasting change in communities. “Giant,” which features samples of speech by former Community Oversight Boardmember Jamel Campbell-Gooch, is the heart of the record, in which Floss raps: “What I learned is we can turn tides together if we keep tryin’ / They gonna keep sellin’ us lies if we keep buyin’ / I do this for the kids at Pearl that’s too defiant / I never let this world reduce my giant.” STEPHEN TRAGESER

MIDWXST, BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME (SIMPLE STUPID/GEFFEN) Through confessional lyrics and multifaceted beats, midwxst is revolutionizing the world of hyperpop, a chaotically entertaining musical genre that’s exploded in popularity thanks to social media apps like TikTok. The 18-year-old musician — who grew up in Indiana and came to Nashville for a short time to study at Belmont — dropped better luck next time, a nine-song EP that explores themes of heartbreak and regret through an array of sounds ranging from pop-punk-inspired guitar riffs to glitchhop-esque bass drops. From the catchy moving-on anthem “riddle” to the yearning lost-love track “on my mind,” midwxst approaches universal themes of heartbreak in one of the most musically versatile ways possible. KAHWIT TELA

THE CONTACT GROUP, VARNISHED SUFFRAGES (SELF-RELEASED) If you’ve read the Scene over the past 20 years, you’ve almost certainly read work by freelance contributor Edd Hurt (including his contributions to this very article).

Now you get to hear some of his musical perspective in action. As we reached the depths of lockdown, he began working with an outstanding coalition of Music City musicians — members of Hungry Mother, Altered Statesman, Vladopus9, The Gospel of Power and more — at Sundog Recording Studio on the East Side. They rendered some rich and lively versions of his favorite songs that happen to be from the ’70s, including Alex Chilton’s “Bangkok” and “Take Me Home and Make Me Like It” and Spooner Oldham’s “1980,” plus an original instrumental tribute titled “Helen Reddy.” As he writes in his liner notes: “I played keys and produced the sessions along with the steady hand of Mike Esser, tried to channel the spirit of Jim Dickinson, and stayed the fuck out the way of the train coming at me.” STEPHEN TRAGESER

BRENNEN LEIGH, OBSESSED WITH THE WEST (SIGNATURE SOUNDS) Brennen Leigh sounds a little giddy throughout Obsessed With the West, and that’s appropriate for a modern Western swing album. The essence of Western swing, which flourished around the time of World War II, is some combination of piety and subversion, with the music’s jazzy elements providing a relaxed but definitely swinging foundation. Obsessed pairs Leigh with legendary Western swingers Asleep at the Wheel, themselves masters of sly subversion. Leigh wrote the songs with help from the likes of Katie Shore (who also sings on Obsessed) and Noel McKay (Leigh’s sometime partner in the duo McKay & Leigh). She captures the down-home irreverence of the genre on “Comin’ in Hot,” during which she drives like crazy to make a gig in Nashville and then declares that she’ll probably be late for her date at the pearly gates. EDD HURT

GEE SLAB, THE FIRST AFTERTHOUGHT (BELIEVE IN NEW OPPORTUNITY) On his latest EP, Gee Slab continues his trend of bringing bars that set the scene for cinematic storytelling, enhanced by subtle and sophisticated production.

The prerelease single “Load” is a great introduction to the thematic thread — that is, staying about your business and keeping the right people around you pay big dividends. The philosophy comes to life in the vignettes Slab relates, and it’s an extension of the work he’s doing in real life with the Six One Tribe crew.

STEPHEN TRAGESER ZEEK, DAY THREE (SELF-RELEASED) The five tracks on Zeek’s Day Three run 92 minutes, with drummer John Westberry’s

out-of-meter pulse connecting the music to the 1960s free jazz it’s emulating. What happens on Day Three is nothing definite — Joseph Campbell’s guitars and electronics occasionally turn melodic, but the album’s mood is fragmented and, at times, ominous.

As the album’s engineer Zachary Gresham writes in his liner notes, “The 3+ hours of audio captured at Gilly Hut Studio on June 12, 2021 contain no emotional content.”

Indeed, Day Three is a soundscape that eschews overt emotionalism in favor of indefinite states of mind. Listened to in the background, like ambient music, Day Three simulates the random clutter of an average day, and that’s reassuring. EDD HURT

SOPHIE AND THE BROKEN THINGS, DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR (PETALUMA) Though Delusions of Grandeur is the debut release with her band The Broken Things, singer-songwriter Sophie Gault has been honing her craft for a long time, and it shows. Gault & Co. dance nimbly around the perceived divides between various flavors of country and rock as she illuminates conflicts in relationships with others and with herself. Songs like “Trouble” — in which a couple has difficulty staying apart even though they know they’re not particularly good for each other — impressed veteran polymath Ray Kennedy, who’s known for his work with folks like Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle. Kennedy consulted on the recording and mixed the album. STEPHEN TRAGESER

COOKIE JAR, COOKIE JAR (OFFICIAL MEMORABILIA)

to come from songsmith, producer and multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Novak and the Cheap Time/Savoy Motel camp. Savoy Motel’s most recent release, a 2020 album called Love Your Face, felt like a slight turn away from the funk-splashed sound of 2016’s Savoy Motel. The pendulum swings back the other way a bit on Cookie Jar, with hints of early disco, lots of spacey synths oscillating away, and even a bit of vocoder action. The complete 10-track record is only available on a 12-inch vinyl LP, sleeved in a DJ jacket. You can, however, dig into three tracks from the album released as singles on Cookie Jar’s Bandcamp page: Get a taste of the wavy grooves of “Colorful Graffiti,” the somewhat Prince-ian “Teardrops From a Falling Star” and “Six of One Half Dozen of Another.” P.J. KINZER

SOUND&SHAPE, DISASTER MEDICINE (SELFRELEASED) When I had a long drive in front of me that I was not looking forward to, putting on the latest album from longtime local rockers Sound&Shape was one of the best decisions I could have made. The way they blend prog rock’s ideas about making music on a grand scale with the whistle-worthy hook sensibility of six decades of pop songwriters and the sheer force of punk and metal gave me the serotonin hit that I needed. And there’s plenty of substance to the songs, too — closer “How the Light Gets In,” which has one of singer-guitarist Ryan Caudle’s best vocal performances to date, is a poignant look at carrying on when it feels like everything has fallen apart.

STEPHEN TRAGESER

Cookie Jar is the most recent project

EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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MUSIC

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT

Bonnie Raitt’s Just Like That… expands a legendary catalog

BY BRITTNEY McKENNA

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eleasing more than 20 albums during one’s career is an extraordinary feat in itself. But to do so with the spirit and virtuosity of Bonnie Raitt is another thing entirely. The beloved singer-songPLAYING MAY 26 AND 27 writer and guitar AT THE RYMAN slinger has racked up accolade upon accolade as her discography has unfolded over the past five-plus decades. She’s become one of blues and roots music’s most respected and decorated artists in the process. On her 21st LP Just Like That…, released in April — that count of 21 includes her two live albums, because they are no mere stopgaps — Raitt shows no sign of slowing down.

Just Like That... follows Raitt’s 2016 album Dig in Deep, a widely acclaimed record that, among other recognition, notched

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Raitt an Artist of the Year nomination at that year’s Americana Music Honors and Awards. Raitt’s 2012 album Slipstream, Dig in Deep and Just Like That… were all released via her own Redwing Records label, which she launched a decade ago.

Raitt recorded Just Like That… last summer in Sausalito, Calif., producing the album herself alongside recording and mixing engineer Ryan Freeland. Her studio band was a mix of longtime collaborators and new blood, including veteran bandmates James “Hutch” Hutchinson on bass and Ricky Fataar on drums. Relative newcomers Kenny Greenberg and Glenn Patscha joined the group on guitar and keys, respectively, while Raitt’s old friend George Marinelli lent guitar work to “Livin’ for the Ones.”

While most of Just Like That… is made up of covers, Raitt wrote four new songs for the outing. Highlights of Raitt’s original material include “Down the Hall,” based on a true story of a prison hospice program originally reported in The New York Times, and “Livin’ for the Ones,” which takes stock of the loved ones and collaborators Raitt has lost over the years with a mix of honest vulnerability and reverent homage. Raitt also pays tribute to those she lost in the album’s liner notes, including Toots Hibbert, John Prine and Allen Toussaint. “Down the Hall” in particular is a striking reminder

that Raitt is a powerful lyricist, as the track takes the perspective of an inmate witnessing the last days of patients in the prison’s hospice ward.

Vocally, Raitt sounds as strong — if not stronger — as she did on landmarks of her catalog like “Angel From Montgomery” and “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” her naturally soulful voice bringing edge and gravitas to the album’s more serious moments. “Down the Hall,” for example, finds Raitt exploring a somber register as acoustic guitar and organ gently mingle beneath her voice. She can still rock and wail with the best of them, though, as heard on the achingly bluesy “Blame It on Me” and the arena-ready “Livin’ for the Ones.”

Raitt’s guitar chops are as fine as ever too, and on full display across the LP. Opening track “Made Up Mind,” written and first recorded by Canadian country-rock outfit The Bros. Landreth, serves up tasty slide licks atop soulful vocal harmonies and a groovy beat. “Blame It on Me” showcases Raitt’s understated rhythmic prowess, with a few bendy, bluesy flourishes for good measure. The title track allows space for Raitt’s more melodic playing, and “Waitin’ for You to Blow,” another of the LP’s Raitt originals, is a delightful mix of funky jazz chords, rapid-fire legato runs and creatively employed octaves.

Releasing music isn’t all that Raitt’s been

up to in 2022. In March, Billboard honored her as part of its annual Women in Music event, presenting her with the Icon Award.

In April, Raitt received the Grammys’ Lifetime Achievement Award, the Recording Academy’s highest honor and one that has in the past gone to such artists as Tina Turner and Emmylou Harris. That same month, her 1989 album Nick of Time, which brought Raitt her first true commercial success, was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

Raitt is currently on a lengthy tour in support of Just Like That…, which stops for back-to-back nights at the Ryman on Thursday and Friday. The array of guests joining her on various dates include Marc Cohn and Mavis Staples, as well as NRBQ, whose “Something’s Got a Hold of My Heart” appears in grooving form on Raitt’s new album.

Another icon, Lucinda Williams, will share the stage with Raitt in Nashville.

With an extensive catalog — stacked deep with both chart hits and fan favorites — to draw from, and a stellar live band to bring those songs to life, Raitt’s Ryman shows are sure to be live highlights of this year. Half a century into her dynamic career, she’s reached a status most musicians dream of but few ever reach: a living legend, still deep in her prime.

EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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JUNE 7

STARS FOR SECOND HARVEST WITH CRAIG WISEMAN & FRIENDS

SAM HUNT, ERNEST & BEN BURGESS JUNE 8

MARTY STUART’S LATE NIGHT JAM WITH BILLY STRINGS, EMMYLOU HARRIS,

LAINEY WILSON, MARCUS KING & MORE

JUNE 10

CHELSEA HANDLER 7:00 PM SHOW SOLD OUT 9:30 PM SHOW JUST ADDED! JULY 25

PAT BENATAR & NEIL GIRALDO AUGUST 8

MEN AT WORK

ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM AUGUST 11

HAPPY TOGETHER TOUR THE TURTLES, GARY PUCKETT & THE UNION GAP,

THE ASSOCIATION, THE BUCKINGHAMS, THE VOGUES AND THE COWSILLS NOVEMBER 15

TAUREN WELLS

WITH AARON COLE AND LAKEWOOD MUSIC

nashvillescene.com | MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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MUSIC

THE SPIN

THAT KIND OF LOVE

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

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PHOTOS: MATT MASTERS

ver the past two decades, I’ve done and seen a mindboggling array of things at Mercy Lounge and its sister venues Cannery Ballroom and The High Watt. Some of it’s been for work: My very first concert review was covering a Dirty Projectors show at Cannery for the Scene. Plenty of it has been just for fun: Remember that time The Revolution’s guitarist Dez Dickerson showed up to play during tribute group Mayhem’s Prince show?

Many, many others could share similar stories about The White Stripes’ sortasurprise show, the crowd for Girl Talk dancing so hard they broke a water line, Lizzo flying in right after the Met Gala to dazzle a packed house, a wild-ass “4-D NYE” party with local bands simulating a time-travel experience, or any of dozens of 8 off 8th showcases or benefit shows. That willingness to host such a range of stuff — weird, goofy creative happenings as well as pro-grade shows from legends and up-and-comers alike — is a big part of why the complex has meant so much to the collection of music scenes around town since Mercy opened in 2003. That’s also why it’s disheartening that the new owners of the property and the longtime owners of the business couldn’t come to an agreement on a new lease. Mercy’s Todd Olhauser & Co. are on the lookout for a new spot to open up shop, and property owner DZL is set to reopen the rooms as venues sometime this summer with TPAC veteran Brent Hyams as general manager.

Following a lengthy run of farewell concerts, Thursday’s show at Mercy was the very last one in the current iteration of the complex. Despite the sadness in the air, the crowd still got to see something cool, new and beautiful. The gig doubled as a wedding celebration for top-notch songsmith and rocker Lilly Hiatt and grade-A multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Coley Hinson. Hiatt shared the happy news with the audience midway through her set. What better way for two musical lifers to celebrate their union?

Let’s rewind a little bit. As eye-watering

pollen wafted through the twilight over the deck outside, Hinson and his compatriots warmed up the crowd. Sporting a Larry Bird jersey in support of the Celtics in their battle that night with the Miami Heat, Hinson played guitar and sang, with Alex Munoz on lead guitar, Evan P. Donohue on bass and Josh Minyard on drums. Among other projects over the past 10 years, versions of this group have played as Donohue’s band, and they’ve been songsmith Jeremy Ivey’s band under the name The Extraterrestrials.

Ivey and his musical and life partner, someone you might have heard of named Margo Price, came up midset to sing Ivey’s “The Dream and the Dreamer,” about how greed and other harmful impulses derail our best instincts. The rest of the set included Hinson’s groovy originals, a couple of which featured Hinson’s father, pro steel player Steve Hinson, plus a Donohue song called “Tenure” and covers of “(I’m Not Your)

YOU KNOW OUR WORK IS NEVER DONE: LILLY HIATT

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Steppin’ Stone” in the style of The Monkees (Hinson’s “first favorite band”) and Ween’s “Roses Are Free.”

Hiatt doesn’t change up her band frequently, but new members tend to enter the rotation every year or so.

They’re always outstanding players, and that was certainly true Thursday, when she was joined by drummer Luke Fedorko (whom you’ve also seen with bands like Bleary and Twen), bassist Nick Harley and “Sweetbaby” Josh Halper on guitar. Hiatt led the ensemble through emotionally and musically nuanced tunes, mostly from her most recent albums: her 2017 breakout Trinity Lane, its 2020 follow-up Walking Proof and last year’s Lately. Everyone contributed to knocking the performance out of the park; extra kudos to Halper for demonstrating his immense versatility, shifting on the proverbial dime from molten-gold leads to gently shimmering textural accompaniment.

One of the emotional peaks of the set was the Walking Proof song “Some Kind of Drug,” a contender for the best love song to Music City in the uncertain time we’re still living through. As Hiatt sang: “Veins of this city, so small and pretty / You couldn’t pump her up with some kind of drug / Her arms are open, wild-eyed and hoping / Somebody could give her that kind of love.”

Another highlight was when Hiatt announced the marriage and brought Hinson out to sing with her on a gentle tune called “Bail,” with lyrics about the vulnerability of being someone’s partner.

Yet another high point: Hiatt called up her father, songwriter’s songwriter John Hiatt. After he bumped his head on her guitar while trying to retrieve a pick from the stage — “Now, if that isn’t fate,” he said with a laugh — he explained that until the

family saw Lilly perform the next song at her high school talent show, no one had any idea she could play or sing. What followed was a poignant trading of verses on John Prine’s empathetic masterwork “Angel From Montgomery.”

The set drew to a close with “Big Bad Wolf,” a barn-burner from Hiatt’s 2013 solo debut Let Down, and a cover of “Hey Hey, My My,” Neil Young’s anthem for those who make art in spite of whether its cultural value is recognized. Hiatt and the band disappeared into the green room for about a minute and returned to encore with the Walking Proof song “Brightest Star.”

Her dedication — “It’s for you, it’s for the underdogs, and underdogs kick ass” — was about as fitting a sentiment as you could ask for to end the final show at a place that’s been so loved by so many for so long.

While the skyrocketing real estate prices that led to this closure — and that have kept Ohlhauser and the Mercy crew from finding a suitable new spot thus far — are frustrating and dispiriting, there’s still a ton of creative energy sparking around town. As I weaved around a construction crew (because, of course) to get to my parking spot, I thought about some shows that were also happening right then: the Vibes at the Dive hip-hop show featuring Quez Cantrell, Intro and others at The Dive Motel, the metal show with Primitive Man at Drkmttr and rock band The Dreaded Laramie’s EP release party at The Basement. The spirit is alive and well — right now, anyway. But it’s something that anyone takes for granted at their peril. If we as a city allow everyone putting in the work to develop their talent and build their fan base to get pushed far enough away, they’ll eventually become part of some other city’s music scene.

EMAIL THESPIN@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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FILM

TRIPLE THREAT

The outsized RRR engages with history on its own terms

BY JASON SHAWHAN

A

fictional history rooted in a meeting of the minds of two of the greatest folk heroes of India’s resistance to British occupation, RRR is what some might call historical fanfic with a budget. But what a reductive way RRR NR, 182 MINUTES; IN to go through life, TELUGU WITH ENGLISH and what a tragic SUBTITLES lens with which to SHOWING WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, AT THE BELCOURT; view art? Director COMING TO NETFLIX JUNE 2 S.S. Rajamouli (Baahubali: The Beginning and The Conclusion) is as gifted with the Super Soaker approach to film as he is with the ice-pick method — there’s no cinematic tradition he’s not versed in, and that fact has helped increase awareness for this truly special film in North America beyond the Indian diaspora and film freaks of all types.

Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) are both well-known icons of the anti-Raj movement. Their incarnations in this film — the former a forest warrior aiming to rescue a child hostage, the latter a police officer continually colliding with the racism of colonial power structures — aim to cover all emotional bases as their lives become entwined and political repression grows, with rebellion fomenting in the streets and forests throughout occupied India. Tensions are high, and something’s got to give.

It’s an outline that Western audiences could almost take as one of their own. But even working from the same outline, you’d never find a mainstream American film this politically radical or so skilled at blending all genres together to create something that

BURGER TIME

The Bob’s Burgers Movie is kooky, offbeat comfort food

BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY

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es, it does seem odd that there’s such a thing as The Bob’s Burgers Movie, which is finally hitting theaters Memorial Day weekend. (Much like Top Gun: Maverick, also out this weekend, THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE this movie went through PG-13, 102 MINUTES several postponed OPENING WIDE FRIDAY, release dates, brought MAY 27 on by you-know-what.)

I recently told someone I’m writing a review of the movie and she said, “There’s a movie? Are they still on the air?”

Yes, Bob’s Burgers has officially joined The Simpsons and Family Guy in the pantheon of long-running Fox animated comedies. (It just completed its 12th season, with a 13th on the way.) Now the series is also following in The Simpsons’ footsteps by turning out a

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scratches all aesthetic itches without feeling the slightest bit mercenary in motivation.

Indian cinema is so much more than just what gets shorthandedly referred to as “Bollywood” in Western media. Each of the Indian languages has its own regional cinema, and they’re all fascinating with their own unique facets. Even here in Nashville there are at least two or three Indian films (sometimes as many as five) playing most weeks in town, often at the Hollywood 27, with Hindi-, Tamiland Telugu-language films amply represented (and sometimes Kannada and Malayalam as well). You just have to pay attention; and if you love film, you really should.

RRR blends the virtual and the actual with a comparable sense of spectacle; it doesn’t feel like something that could be made in one of Atlanta’s greenscreenenclosed lots, even as Rajamouli could take on any of Marvel’s hired guns and thrash them soundly. His 2012 film Eega was about a man who must avenge his own murder in the body of the fly he’s been reincarnated as, and that’s the kind of imaginative, highconcept art that should be easy for the Hollywood apparatus to make happen. But it does not. Because Rajamouli believes in the

big-screen version of its 2-D nuttiness.

For those who’ve never dipped into the show’s 200-plus episodes, Bob’s Burgers focuses on Bob Belcher (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) and his daily dealings operating the titular neighborhood diner.

Like nearly all of the noteworthy animated shows Fox has aired, Burgers is both a working-class satire and a dysfunctionalfamily sitcom. Despite being a versatile burger cook (the Belchers come up with clever names for the daily specials in one of the show’s running gags), Bob struggles to get by. Thankfully, he has his always supportive wife Linda (John Roberts) by his side, along with their precocious kids: awkward Tina (Dan Mintz), extroverted Gene (Eugene Mirman) and mischievous rabbit ears-adorned Louise (Kristen Schaal).

Together, the family works every day to keep the business afloat — a business whose sole regular customer is needy family friend Teddy (Larry Murphy). In the movie, they have to pay off a loan and their rent, even when a gigantic sinkhole in front of their operation — where the skeletal remains of a carny are soon discovered — prohibits the possibility of foot traffic.

The movie is basically a feature-length episode,

big emotions — all of them.

Bheem and Raju, both in chaste and respectful relationships with supportive women, must therefore channel their livewire energy for societal liberation into something else. Thus their adventures, intricate dance battle, innovative hand-to-hand combat (Thunderdome style!) and palpable dread of being betrayed play with a little extra oomph for queer viewers even as they maintain aspirational romance for family audiences. Though there’s certainly a streak of peplum vibes to be found (think about what Dr. Frank-N-Furter meant when he talked about “an old Steve Reeves movie” and you’ll get the drift) — machismo weathering torment and righting wrongs, lots of muscular feats and sweaty endurance beneath the lash. Though Bheem and Raju are based on real-life figures, they’ve also got Herculean and super-cop archetypes in respective abundance, all things to all audiences.

About that dance number: “Naatu Naatu” may very well be the best musical sequence in the past couple of decades. It’s a great song, and the dancing and staging are spectacular. But it also builds character in a way that informs and electrifies, and it’s carry-

another contained story wherein the Belchers go through some crazy trouble, eventually getting out of it by working as a wisecracking family unit. Thankfully, the story is still funny and entertaining. Creator and longtime showrunner Loren Bouchard works with codirector Bernard Derriman and co-writer Nora Smith to give both die-hards and newcomers a cinematic example of what this crazy-ass show offers on TV every week — complete with the quirky humor, rambling, mostly improvised dialogue and cute musical numbers that have made the show such an endearing fan favorite.

The Bob’s Burgers Movie also continues in the show’s tradition of roping in comedians and improv actors for the extended voice cast. Zach Galifianakis,

VISIT NASHVILLESCENE.COM ing on a dialogue with TO READ OUR REVIEW OF the past century of cinTOP GUN: MAVERICK, OPENING WIDE THIS WEEK. ema and the way that nonwhite culture (and joy) are represented. In the U.S. alone, it was the tradition for decades to have scenes in which Black people would show up, wipe the floor with the ostensible white protagonists in tap — or Lindy hopping, or any of many forms of dance and ecstatic ritual — and then exit the film before the reel change, making it easy for skittish exhibitors to excise any display of nonwhite excellence completely.

RRR, in addition to being a historical epic, political drama, action spectacle and bromantic telenovela, is a film that engages with history on its own terms. This isn’t a case of Tollywood aiming for Western wallets.

The nationwide encore of RRR is American audiences reaching with outstretched arms to something so exciting and rock-solid entertaining that its success already happened without insular traditional media even mentioning it. This isn’t America dipping a toe in Indian cinema — it’s a victory lap.

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Aziz Ansari, Jenny Slate, Sarah Silverman and Jordan Peele are a few of the funny people who return to voice supporting characters. (The show has always been a hangout for the alt-comedy crowd.)

Kevin Kline also resumes his role as the Belchers’ eyepatch-wearing millionaire landlord, who may or not be responsible for burying that carny.

Much like the show, The Bob’s Burgers Movie is kooky, offbeat comfort food. This story of a middle-aged sad-sack restaurateur, his eccentric fam and the various oddball characters they deal with on a daily basis has always been appealingly zany. But it’s also folksy and relatable. Just like the Simpsons, the Griffins and all the other animated TV families the Fox network has brought to Sunday nights over the years, the Belchers are lower-middleclass avatars. No matter how weird and wild this cartoon clan gets, it’s still quite easy to sympathize with them and their everyday exploits.

As we continue to live in a society in which so many of us wonder how we’re gonna keep the lights on and put food on the table, it’s nice knowing the Belchers will be struggling right along with us.

EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2022 | nashvillescene.com

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Catastrophic weather event potentially caused by a meteor crash Spiderlike “Yes, of course” Brief second?

Bruins legend, to fans Receives an anesthetic, perhaps Open, as a tomb Button on a scale Herb unit Un gato grande

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PUBLIC NOTICE AHC Cumberland Open Admission Policy AHC Cumberland is designated as a facility dedicated to the best possible care of the sick and elderly.

AHC Cumberland will comply in every respect with Title VI and The Civil Rights Act of 1964, as characterized by the absence of separation, discrimination or any distinction on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any activity carried on in, by or for; the facility affecting the care and treatment of patients.

1. The facility will provide inpatient care without regard to race, color, or national origin.

2. Patients will be assigned to rooms and sections of the facility on a non-discriminating basis.

3. Employees will be employed without regard to race, color, or national origin.

4. AHC Cumberland is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

5. Patients will be addressed by courtesy titles unless it can be specifically documented that one has requested to be addressed otherwise.

AHC Cumberland will comply in every respect with Title VI and The Civil Rights Act of 1964, as characterized by the absence of separation, discrimination or any distinction on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any activity carried on in, by or for; the facility affecting the care and treatment of patients.

1. The facility will provide inpatient care without regard to race, color, or national origin.

2. Patients will be assigned to rooms and sections of the facility on a non-discriminating basis.

3. Employees will be employed without regard to race, color, or national origin.

4. AHC Cumberland is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Non-Resident Notice Fourth Circuit Docket No 22D164 LATREROS J GADDY vs.

LATONYA C GADDY In this cause it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, therefore the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon LATONYA C GADDY. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HER appearance herein with thirty (30) days after June 16, 2022 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on July 18, 2022. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.

Richard R. Rooker, Clerk M. De Jesus, Deputy Clerk Date: May 19, 2022 Robyn L. Ryan Robert J. Turner Attorneys for Plaintiff NSC 5/26, 6/2, 6/9 & 6/16/2022

Non-Resident Notice Third Circuit Docket No. 22D241 RITU AGRAWAL vs.

RAKESH MENON 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 RAKESH MENON. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein with thirty (30) days after May 26, 2022 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on June 27, 2022.

It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.

Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell, Deputy Clerk Date: April 28, 2022 Robert Todd Jackson Attorneys for Plaintiff NSC 5/5, 5/12, 5/19, 5/26//22

EMPLOYMENT Industrial Engineer V, Innovation (Multiple positions. GEODIS Logistics, LLC, Brentwood, TN or remote) Reqs Bachelor’s (US/foreign equiv) in Ind Eng or rel; 5 yrs exp in Ind Eng continuous improvement, inc facilities support or ops; 3 yrs distribution center exp; exp w/ AutoCAD; PC proficiency w/ exp w/ MS Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel & Access. Reqs domestic travel up to 30% of the time. May work remotely 100% from a home office location anywhere in the US. Travel to corporate office in Brentwood, TN is not required. Mail resume to Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027, Ref INDUS025830.

Innovation (Multiple positions. GEODIS Logistics, LLC, Brentwood, TN or remote) Reqs Bachelor’s (US/foreign equiv) in Ind Eng or rel; 5 yrs exp in Ind Eng continuous improvement, inc facilities support or ops; 3 yrs distribution center exp; exp w/ AutoCAD; PC proficiency w/ exp w/ MS Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel & Access. Reqs domestic travel up to 30% of the time. May work remotely 100% from a home office location anywhere in the US. Travel to corporate office in Brentwood, TN is not required. Mail resume to Sharon Barrow, GEODIS Logistics, LLC, 7101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 333, Brentwood, TN 37027, Ref INDUS025830.

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brightonvalley.net | 615.366.5552 nashvillescene.com | MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2022 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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Nashville is a diverse city, and we want a pool of freelance contributors who reflect that diversity. We’re looking for new freelancers, and we particularly want to encourage writers of color & LGBTQ writers to pitch us.

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