Nashville Scene 9-2-21 by FW Publishing

SEPTEMBER 2–8, 2021 I VOLUME 40 I NUMBER 31 I NASHVILLESCENE.COM I FREE

CITY LIMITS: THE STATE OF COVID-19 IN JAILS AND PRISONS

THEATER: NASHVILLE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL’S ROLLICKING GOOD TWELFTH NIGHT

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FALL GUIDE “ALL THE PAIN, ALL THE TEARS,” MARCUS MADDOX AT THE RED ARROW GALLERY

From art exhibitions to food events, concerts, films and more, here are some of the season’s most interesting happenings

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NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

Metro Arts Staffers Allege Mistreatment, Racial Bias by Agency Leadership............7

Way Late Play Date: Little Red Corvette, Pat McLaughlin, Spencer Cullum w/Dominic Billett, NightLight 615 presents The Dark Knight, Dirty Fences w/Country Westerns & Night Talkers, Feel Good, Play On Podcast and more

CITY LIMITS

Public records show that the organization’s commitment to equity is not reflected in its internal dynamics BY ERICA CICCARONE

Pith in the Wind .........................................8

This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

The State of COVID-19 in Jails and Prisons ........................................9 Vaccination among incarcerated Tennesseans is outpacing the general public

CRITICS’ PICKS

30 ART

Crawl Space: September 2021

September’s First Saturday marks a colorful start to the fall art season

BY STEVEN HALE

BY JOE NOLAN

COVER STORY Fall Guide 2021

It’s a Heist! ............................................... 10 The Belcourt’s five-week, 16-film Heist! series offers loads of worthwhile loot BY SCENE STAFF

Coming Attractions ................................. 11 From the Nashville Film Festival to the Belcourt and the megaplexes, here are the films hitting screens this season

THEATER

The Bard’s Visit

Nashville Shakespeare Festival continues with a rollicking good Twelfth Night

MUSIC

There and Back Again ............................ 33 Madi Diaz seeks out a stronger version of herself on History of a Feeling

Catch the colors, concepts and compositions on display in Nashville art galleries this fall

BY LORIE LIEBIG

BY JOE NOLAN

The Scene’s music writers recommend recent releases from Sturgill Simpson, Mercy Bell, Intro and more

Fall for Art ................................................ 17 Three museum shows anchor the season’s visual art offerings

Another Look ........................................... 34

The Spin ................................................... 35

BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

The Scene’s live-review column checks out Darrin Bradbury at The Basement

From The Rolling Stones to the Nashville Symphony, from hip-hop ace Isaiah Rashad to punks Mannequin Pussy and beyond, there’s a live show for everyone

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

Doin’ It Live.............................................. 18

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

Design of the Times ................................ 20 Nashville Fashion Week and Nashville Design Week promise runways, panels, shopping and more BY KELSEY BEYELER

ON THE COVER:

“All the pain, all the tears,” Marcus Maddox at The Red Arrow Gallery

BY AMY STUMPFL

Artumnal ................................................. 16

Josh Black On: Conservative Anti-Vaxxers

The Yawning Gap

BY SEAN KINCH AND CHAPTER 16

OZ Arts leads the way in fall’s performing arts season

OZ Arts to Present Beyond Bourbon at Its West Nashville Facility

BOOKS

An extensive roundup of food and drink events hitting Nashville this autumn

Places, Everyone! .................................... 14

Tennessee Schools Lack Clarity From State Leaders as the Pandemic Worsens

Mary Adkins’ Palm Beach probes the ethics of the ultra-rich

BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Queens of Noise Wave Goodbye With ‘Up Against the Wall’

BY AMY STUMPFL

BY D. PATRICK RODGERS

Eat Up ...................................................... 12

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB:

36 FILM

Art for Art’s Sake

Andreas Koefoed’s new documentary The Lost Leonardo muses about authorship BY STEVE ERICKSON

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FLOOD DAMAGE IN WAVERLY

WAVERLY FLOODING HAD RESILIENT AND CARING TENNESSEANS RUSHING TO AID Over a six-hour period on Aug. 21 and 22, a portion of the Midstate was drenched with 9 to 17 inches of rainfall, leading to massive flooding in Waverly, Tenn. The flood that inundated Nashville in 2010 was the result of about 13.5 inches of rain falling over two days. These floods are supposed to be “100-year” events, and while it may sometimes feel like a century has passed since 2010, we are seeing these types of disasters all too often. Experts like FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell fear these are the kinds of events we’ll likely see more of due to climate change. In March, heavy rains and resulting flooding took four lives in Nashville. Waverly lost a confirmed total of 20 people to last week’s flooding. Among those killed were Loretta Lynn’s ranch foreman and 7-month-old twins. Those dear lives, though difficult and devastating losses, were not the only ones. The flooding took out houses, roads, cell towers and telephone lines. More than 270 homes were destroyed, and 160 others took major damage, according to the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency. Hundreds are without a place to live and are staying on cots in churches or in makeshift aid centers. But it’s during these times that we hear and see an outpouring of love, kinship, friendship and great generosity with many rushing to volunteer. Even while hearing about loss and devastation, we’re also reading about the great kindnesses of neighbors, churches and businesses. Tennesseans are resilient, caring people, always ready to lend a hand. Case in point: One Tennessean anonymously and generously paid for the funerals of all 20 victims. The GoFundMe campaign set up to cover funeral costs for the 7-monthold twins has, at press time, received more than $120,000 in donations. There was a $50,000 gift from Regions Bank, $50,000 from the Tennessee Titans and $100,000 from chemical company Chemours. But it’s not just money being offered. There are trailers full of goods, supplies, water, equipment, clothing and more. Individuals, schools and corporations in communities throughout our state are taking it upon themselves to collect donations from neighbors or employees and making sure the items are all transported to where they need to go. Jim Glenn lives in Ohio but is a native of Waverly, and he’s one of those who collected items for donation — and his act of kind-

ness has made headlines. With the town of Waverly having a population of only roughly 4,000 people, Glenn says, “Everybody knows everybody,” and that’s why helping is of such importance. “I grew up there,” Glenn told Cincinnati’s WXIX. “I have family down there. But this is America. Anytime somethin’ happens, America comes together. They take care of each other.” This same sentiment is no doubt shared by President Joe Biden, who called our governor last week to offer support and quickly approved the state’s request for an emergency declaration. Federal aid will no doubt be necessary as the rebuilding process begins, but the gifts and efforts of those in our community are invaluable. Schools will face unique challenges as they attempt to reopen. Teachers are striving to reorganize, though most of their supplies were destroyed. Upon hearing that Waverly High School’s football field and practice facilities were flooded, the Mt. Juliet High School football team, under the direction of their coach Trey Perry, gathered up whatever items they could and donated them to the Waverly Tigers. The Grand Ole Opry partnered with the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to raise funds during an Aug. 28 show. In 2010, the Grand Ole Opry House was flooded with about 10 feet of water. Opry executive producer and vice president Dan Rogers said: “We heard from artists after the flood that were so helpful, and an amazing staff that came together and made good things happen out of a horrific tragedy back then. This is just a case of the Opry wanting to do the same 11 years later for someone else in this case.” The Waverly Chamber of Commerce has said the outpouring of love and generosity has been great. However, lots more items will be needed for the long haul — things like diapers, formula, baby wipes, toiletries and other nonperishables are still appreciated. Visit nashvillescene.com to find a list of ways and places to help. This flood is tragic to say the least. But Tennesseans are strong; we band together when our neighbors are hurting. It’s been very moving and inspiring to see the outpouring of donations and volunteerism — Tennesseans are resilient.

Editor-in-Chief D. Patrick Rodgers Senior Editor Dana Kopp Franklin Associate Editor Alejandro Ramirez Arts Editor Laura Hutson Hunter Culture Editor Erica Ciccarone Music and Listings Editor Stephen Trageser Contributing Editor Jack Silverman Staff Writers Kelsey Beyeler, Stephen Elliott, Nancy Floyd, Steven Hale, Kara Hartnett, J.R. Lind, Kathryn Rickmeyer, William Williams Contributing Writers Sadaf Ahsan, Radley Balko, Ashley Brantley, Maria Browning, Steve Cavendish, Chris Chamberlain, Lance Conzett, Marcus K. Dowling, Steve Erickson, Randy Fox, Adam Gold, Seth Graves, Kim Green, Steve Haruch, Geoffrey Himes, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, Christine Kreyling, Katy Lindenmuth, Craig D. Lindsey, Brittney McKenna, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Daryl Sanders, Megan Seling, Jason Shawhan, Michael Sicinski, Nadine Smith, Ashley Spurgeon, Amy Stumpfl, Kay West, Abby White, Andrea Williams, Ron Wynn, Charlie Zaillian Editorial Intern Kahwit Tela Art Director Elizabeth Jones Photographers Eric England, Matt Masters, Daniel Meigs Graphic Designers Mary Louise Meadors, Tracey Starck Production Coordinator Christie Passarello Events and Marketing Director Olivia Britton Marketing and Promotions Manager Robin Fomusa Publisher Mike Smith Senior Advertising Solutions Managers Maggie Bond, Sue Falls, Michael Jezewski, Carla Mathis, Heather Cantrell Mullins, Jennifer Trsinar, Keith Wright Advertising Solutions Managers William Shutes, Niki Tyree Sales Operations Manager Chelon Hill Hasty Advertising Solutions Associates Caroline Poole, Aya Robinson, 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

©2021, Nashville Scene. 210 12th Ave. S., Ste. 100, Nashville, TN 37203. Phone: 615-244-7989. The Nashville Scene is published weekly by FW Publishing LLC. The publication is free, one per reader. Removal of more than one paper from any distribution point constitutes theft, and violators are subject to prosecution. Back issues are available at our office. Email: All email addresses consist of the employee’s first initial and last name (no space between) followed by @nashvillescene.com; to reach contributing writers, email editor@nashvillescene.com. Editorial Policy: The Nashville Scene covers news, art and entertainment. In our pages appear divergent views from across the community. Those views do not necessarily represent those of the publishers. Subscriptions: Subscriptions are available at $150 per year for 52 issues. Subscriptions will be posted every Thursday and delivered by third-class mail in usually five to seven days. Please note: Due to the nature of third-class mail and postal regulations, any issue(s) could be delayed by as much as two or three weeks. There will be no refunds issued. Please allow four to six weeks for processing new subscriptions and address changes. Send your check or Visa/MC/AmEx number with expiration date to the above address.

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NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CITY LIMITS

METRO ARTS STAFFERS ALLEGE MISTREATMENT, RACIAL BIAS BY AGENCY LEADERSHIP Public records show that the organization’s commitment to equity is not reflected in its internal dynamics

n 2016, the Metro Arts Commission published an equity statement that realigned its purpose and goals. The publicly funded agency, which organizes arts-related outreach programs in Nashville and provides granting support for large and small arts institutions, would involve every corner of the organization — such as grants, programming, hiring and competence training — to ensure that “ALL Nashvillians should be able to participate in a creative life; and that the arts drive a vibrant and equitable community.” Externally, the promises are bearing out through youth programs, micro-funding opportunities, education programs and neighborhoodspecific initiatives. But according to former and current agency staffers, Metro Arts has built a reputation of racial equity that is not reflected in its internal dynamics. In documents obtained by the Scene via public records requests, staff members describe the agency’s leadership style as “rely[ing] heavily on intimidation, fear and punishment” and fostering a “culture of individualism, competition and secrecy.” Some workers have sought to prove in records submitted to Metro that the current leadership has weaponized Metro’s performance improvement plans and evaluations when staffers call for accountability. Several accuse Metro Arts of paying lip service to the agency’s racial justice framework while tokenizing and exploiting the women of color on staff. To protect the anonymity of sources who fear retaliation, the Scene will not differentiate between current and former Metro Arts employees. Staffers say the agency has relied on the expertise and community connections of its Black staff members to advance its equity goals while subjecting them to disproportionate scrutiny and attempting to silence their criticism of the agency. Cecilia Olusola Tribble was hired in July 2015 as the community arts coordinator, and her main role was to manage the applications and projects in the newly founded Thrive program. Thrive was created in 2014 to support artists excluded from the traditional granting process. By focusing on artists creating work that centers community through direct engagement, the agency has been able to empower hundreds of artists to create art for and with the public. Tribble was also responsible for the agency’s arts program with court-involved youth, designing and facilitating learning cohorts about racial equity, leading interdepartmental and Metro-wide affinity

groups, acting as co-chair in a national network of local arts agencies and arts government grantmakers, and co-chairing the March 2019 Racial Equity in Arts Leadership Symposium. Meanwhile, Tribble was struggling to stay afloat. Records show that Tribble and her supervisor, Rebecca Kinslow, were constantly at odds, despite Kinslow praising Tribble for advancing the agency’s equity work. On Tribble’s May 2018 evaluation, Kinslow wrote: “It has been noted by our consultants at Crossroads [Antiracism Organizing and Training] that the antiracism work happening here [is] rippling out into the region and even nationally. … She serves as a thought leader for other programs that contribute to the agency’s broader equity work.” A doctor’s note in Tribble’s personnel file reports that dust and mold in the agency’s office were contributing to her allergies and asthma. Another letter says that her “stressful work environment” was contributing to hypertension and anxiety. In December 2018, Tribble was placed on a performance improvement plan for tardiness and “inconsistency in the quality of some job functions” related to technology and clerical work, and “the need for more frequent and consistent verbal and written communications.” A public records request did not return any more information about Tribble’s performance until June 10, 2019, when executive director Caroline Vincent, who is white, issued a notice of charges, including violating Metro Civil Services Rules about insubordination, absenteeism and written rules and policies. The letter informed Tribble that Vincent would conduct a hearing to determine if charges were valid on June 17. Two staffers confirmed that there was “a campaign” to get colleagues to register formal complaints about Tribble. Another employee, public art project coordinator Atilio Murga, did make a complaint, writing that he felt “threatened” and “harassed” when Tribble invited him to a lunch she organized for people of color in the office. He noted that he originally discussed the incident with his manager, but later submitted it formally — when Tribble was facing charges. When asked if she ever requested or directed a manager to suggest that an employee make a formal complaint about Tribble, Vincent declined to comment. Tribble submitted a lengthy response to those charges and provided more than 60 pages of printed Slack and text messages with Kinslow in which she communicated about tardiness and absences. Many of those cases involved off-site meetings with

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

BY ERICA CICCARONE

METRO SOUTHEAST CAMPUS Metro Arts’ partners and stakeholders, doctors’ and therapy appointments, illness, child care and the hospitalization and death of family members. Most were met with approval and sympathy by Kinslow. Tribble also wrote that in the meeting to discuss the performance improvement plan, Vincent accused her of being angry, lacking professionalism and not wanting to be in the office. “In my experience and research,” Tribble wrote, “I identify the term ‘angry’ and phrases ‘lacks professionalism’ and ‘don’t want to be here’ as dog-whistle phrases, racial microaggressions and covert threats.” She continued: “As an employee who clearly brings so much value to the organization, these charges, maltreatment, micromanagement, gaslighting, and suspicion are truly troubling and baffling.” Tribble resigned on June 17, 2019, before the hearing could take place, and public records show that a settlement agreement was reached between the employee and Metro. The Scene obtained the original settlement agreement that was sent to Tribble, in which Metro sought to ban Tribble from working in any facet of Metro government “irrevocably and forever.” It also contained a nondisparagement clause that would disallow Tribble from disclosing “any negative opinions she may have concerning Metro Arts as it relates to her employment,” and specifically “as it relates to race equity.” Tribble negotiated via her attorney to have these terms removed. Tribble’s personnel file reveals 10 letters written by partnering organizations and artists in support of Tribble in mid-June, including from Race Forward, Creative Justice Initiative and The Curb Center at Vanderbilt University. Another letter is addressed to Metro Human Resources and Metro Legal from former grants manager Laurel Fisher. Fisher, who is white, writes: “The treatment I received from Rebecca [Kinslow] was very different from how she treated Olusola [Tribble]. … During Olusola’s entire tenure at Metro Arts, Rebecca has looked over her shoulder,

“THEY’RE SCARED OF PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP AND SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER AND PUSH SYSTEMS FOR EQUITY.”

— LAUREN FITZGERALD, FORMER METRO ARTS STAFFER double checked her work, and questioned her motives at every turn.” Fisher also alleges in the letter that Tribble “was never able to use the work from home policy without being scrutinized.” When asked for comment, Tribble responded to the Scene via email: “It was an honor and a blessing to serve Nashville through the work at Metro Arts. Unless Metro Arts does the necessary work internally and externally in the space of equity and justice, the agency cannot live into the fullest potential of its mission. However, with courageous leadership that centers antiracist policy and practice, Metro Arts has the possibility of dynamic excellence.” “They’re just scared,” former Metro Arts staffer Lauren Fitzgerald tells the Scene. “They’re scared of people who show up and speak truth to power and push systems for equity.” Fitzgerald, who acted as the agency’s neighborhood and artistic development coordinator, describes the time prior to Tribble’s resignation as “going in the bunker” — an expression used among staff. “Put your head down and work, and try not

nashvillescene.com | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CITY LIMITS to draw attention so you’re not the next target,” says Fitzgerald, who is Black. “But you already know you’re gonna be the next target.” During her three-and-a-half years at the agency, Fitzgerald’s role changed three times, as did her manager, while she managed regional art projects and youth programming and oversaw the Thrive program, working on upwards of 70 projects with artists. In December 2019, Fitzgerald was put on a performance improvement plan for failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a Thrive applicant, whose application did not enter the review process. She resigned three months later. In her exit interview, Fitzgerald wrote that she was forced to resign, and described a workplace where it was “impossible to get a true sense of belonging” and where she “was on constant eggshells.” Since 2018, three out of four of the staff members put on performance improvement plans were Black women. The fourth, Laurel Fisher, was cited for “insubordination” because she communicated with Vincent about ongoing issues with her immediate supervisor, Kinslow. As one staffer tells the Scene: “Have you rocked the boat? Then you were on a [performance improvement plan].” “Metro Arts leverages staff relationships to get access to communities the organization serves,” says a staffer who asked to remain anonymous. “The staff of color know where their authority stops. They do the fieldwork, and then the authority comes in and takes the credit. That was the intention behind hiring a number of smart women of color in the office.”

IN 2017, METRO ARTS invited community members to form the Antiracism Transformation Team. This group consisted of two staff members and eight to 10 artists. It was established, according to the group’s 2019 report, to hold “the agency accountable in becoming fully antiracist in its identity and working for equity in all policies and practices with the goal of dismantling all systems of oppression within the arts ecosystem.” In 2017-2018, the ARTT worked closely with the Chicago-based Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training group to conduct an environmental scan. The result was included in a 2019 report that noted: “People of color’s voices are used to advance an equity agenda, but they experience a lack of power in the hierarchical structure of the organization.” It also noted a discrepancy in salaries between white staffers and those of people of color, adding the caveat that, “Because Metro Arts had an all white full-time staff until 2014, white people have more longevity in their roles and therefore benefit from salary increases over a longer period of time.” The Scene obtained an early draft of the environmental scan in which criticisms are more pointed. It states: “While the organization actively recruits and mentors people of color, particularly if their workstyle emulates normative values add

[sic] they are perceived as those ‘who don’t make waves,’ there is little discussion of an analysis of power and oppression.” Further, it states that “there has been diversity, equity and antiracism training offered for staff, board, and partners, but some are uncomfortable naming racism.” It also states that inside the agency, “Conflict [is] avoided at all cost — but when conflict arises, avoidance and emphasis on people getting along without accountability are the priorities.” According to Fitzgerald, this draft was brought to Vincent in spring 2019. Fitzgerald says that in a private meeting, the director said that it should never be shared with the commission or public. Fitzgerald, who was not involved in conducting the scan, says that it “tells the truth about how people feel about the culture of the organization.” “Metro Arts spent money to train the ARTT team to fulfill this civic duty,” says Fitzgerald, “and Metro Arts’ senior leadership strategically blocked it from being fully executed.” Vincent declined to comment on any conversation she had with a staff member. Shortly after the 2019 report, ARTT was formalized as a standing committee — the Committee for Anti-Racism and Equity, which includes commissioners Will Cheek and Paula Roberts. Roberts, who is serving her third term on the Metro Arts Commission, tells the Scene that CARE is evidence of the commission’s and agency’s commitment to equity. Because it is a standing committee and not an ad hoc, she says: “This is not, for lack of a better word, a whitewashed situation. It’s up there with the things that the commission is known for in the community.” Roberts would not speak to any specific personnel issues or members of the staff, but she says that an internal working group is creating accountability measures in the agency. “We may not be able to fix it for the folks that came before, but we can definitely make sure that the folks that come after have a voice.” When asked if Vincent is the right person to run Metro Arts, Roberts says: “If we didn’t have someone like Caroline, there probably wouldn’t be a CARE group at all. There would have been that report, and the report would have collected dust.” In October 2020, Metro Arts conducted an employee survey. Though employees scored their experiences in the agency high in many areas, one response stands out as consistent with the ARTT report, documents the Scene obtained and interviews with staff: The majority of staff members do not feel comfortable voicing opinions in group meetings and communications.

RECORDS SHOW that these patterns continue with current staff. As part of the commission’s evaluation of the executive director, the managers in the agency have the option to submit comments to the commission’s chair. This year, strategic funding and initiatives manager Janine Christiano documented her concerns for the commission. The statement reads, in part: “Over the years, there have been multiple

accounts made by staff of bias and unfair treatment by management that have been dismissed and hidden. … In these situations, management competence and responsibility are not deeply investigated while staff attempts to alert (i.e. whistle blowing) are labeled ‘insubordinate’ and punished with disciplinary action.” Christiano wrote that “the agency fails to operate within the restorative practices it promotes publicly in the community” and that “executive leadership exhibits difficulty transcending biases that favor personal relationship and racial affinity.” Christiano followed her criticism with a detailed account of two incidents in which she felt Vincent retaliated against her for voicing concerns about racial equity internally. Metro Arts Commission chair Jim Schmidt gave Vincent a score of 2.85 out of 3 on her 2021 evaluation, noting that Vincent’s goals for the upcoming year should be clarifying staff communication channels and “developing stronger mechanisms for feedback and respectful input from team.” Christiano further documented her issues with Vincent in a reply to her 2021 evaluation. In the section scored for teamwork, Vincent wrote, “I would like to see Janine work to see the humanity in us all and extend grace when mistakes are made.” Christiano wrote that this is “particularly cruel and distorted. … I believe this statement by the supervisor demonstrates tone-policing, gas-lighting, a profound misunderstanding of critical feedback, and the supervisor’s own discomfort with selfreflection and accountability.” Staff members tell the Scene that they did not document mistreatment through official channels because they did not trust finance and operations director Ian Myers, who acts as the agency’s human resources coordinator. In Fisher’s 2019 letter to Metro HR and Legal, she said that she “witnessed numerous instances during my time at Metro Arts where human resource concerns were handled inequitably.” Another staffer tells the Scene that Myers “feigns compassion, convinces you to have a casual conversation with him first, and then ultimately supports Caroline’s decision and facilitates using the Metro process for the agency. At the end of the process, the employee’s complaint is not officially documented, but Ian/Metro Arts has compiled their official documentation that supports the agency’s actions.” Myers declined to comment. Vincent declines to comment on matters specific to personnel. Regarding the ARTT environmental scan, she says: “I think that we’re also a government agency and we have to sort of work within the systems that we live in. … We’re in a nonprofit space a lot because … we’re working with funders and foundations and people who have a little bit more latitude, so I think I can say it’s not been easy work, and I think we are in it every day, and the more work we do, the more we uncover and the more we learn. I don’t know that there should be a penalty for that, or a penalty for saying, ‘This is a tough truth we need to address, and what is the best way to address that?’ ” Cedric Dent Jr. contributed reporting for this article. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM.

THIS WEEK ON OUR NEWS AND POLITICS BLOG: Dr. Ernest “Rip” Patton — one of Nashville’s own civil rights leaders — died Aug. 24. An early activist in the Nashville lunch-counter sit-ins, Patton was educated in nonviolent action by the Rev. James Lawson. Among his comrades in the struggle for equality were Diane Nash, John Lewis, Kwame Lillard and C.T. Vivian, the last three of whom died in 2020. Together they desegregated Nashville’s lunch counters and movie theaters, and then took to the open road to desegregate transportation around the nation. … Contributor Betsy Phillips wonders if the city will honor Patton in some way, as it’s been slow to honor other leaders of the movement. And she wonders if white Nashville will continue to benignly ignore contributions of Black leaders and teachers — past and present. “And we fail to honor these Nashvillians who fought to give us all a more just city — and a more just country — to our detriment,” she writes. … The Transportation Licensing Commission rejected 32 pedal vehicle permits, and among those supporting the pushback is the seemingly unlikely figure of Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp chief Butch Spyridon. “You want to be known for being safe, friendly, and easy to consume,” Spyridon told WKRN. “Well, we’re starting to lose some of those assets of really what built us.” Kinda late to the party, our own J.R. Lind writes, but it’s nice to see the powers-that-be recognizing what so many Nashvillians noticed years ago. … Mobile home residents who were facing eviction on Aug. 31 have secured more time to find new housing — and they hope to negotiate for financial compensation as well. Tenants of the W.C. Company-owned trailer park on Dickerson Pike met with a lawyer for Key Real Estate last week and were told they can remain in their homes until the end of the year. The residents will seek compensation for trailers too old or too difficult to relocate. … The Metro Nashville Public Schools board unanimously approved a resolution that pushes back against a recent state law banning the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 schools (or at least banning what the state legislature thinks CRT is). The law itself is vague, and until more specific guidance from education commissioner Penny Schwinn came out last month, teachers didn’t know how it might affect in-classroom instruction. The MNPS board chair said the resolution’s message was that the board has teachers’ backs. … MNPS also released its plans for $276 million in federal emergency funding. Included are funds for nurses in every school, extended summer programs, student mental health services and staff development. … More than half of Tennessee’s nursing homes are operating with staff shortages of 20 percent or greater, and the trend is expected to continue as the Biden administration plans to tie Medicare and Medicaid payments to nursing homes to vaccine mandates. … The United States Department of Education has opened a civil rights investigation looking into states barring mask mandates in public schools. Among the five states targeted by the investigation is — you guessed it — Tennessee. NASHVILLESCENE.COM/PITHINTHEWIND EMAIL: PITH@NASHVILLESCENE.COM TWEET: @PITHINTHEWIND

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CITY LIMITS

THE STATE OF COVID-19 IN JAILS AND PRISONS Vaccination among incarcerated Tennesseans is outpacing the general public BY STEVEN HALE

s COVID-19 has surged throughout Tennessee again over the past few months, fueled by the Delta variant and largely enabled by low vaccination rates, the virus has also quietly returned to the state’s jails and prisons. Case counts among incarcerated people have risen again, although no new deaths among the state’s prison population or in Nashville’s jails have been reported. Last year, COVID outbreaks rippled through Tennessee’s prison system, infecting thousands of incarcerated people and staff. At one point in May 2020, two of the worst COVID-19 hotspots in the country were Tennessee prisons. Forty-two incarcerated people and five staff members have died from the virus since the pandemic began. As of Aug. 25, there are 61 incarcerated people in Tennessee prisons who have tested positive for the virus, with 45 still awaiting test results. Most of the confirmed positive cases come from clusters at Bledsoe County Correctional Complex (21 cases) and another at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary (18 cases). Those are small outbreaks when compared to last year, and

while they could of course grow, this summer’s wave has come after vaccines were made available in the state’s prisons. The uptake among incarcerated people has so far outpaced that of people on the outside — Tennessee Department of Correction spokesperson Sarah Gallagher tells the Scene that, according to TDOC’s chief medical officer, roughly 60 percent of the more than 20,000 people incarcerated in the state have been fully vaccinated. By comparison, roughly 43 percent of people statewide have been fully vaccinated. It’s less clear how willing prison officers and staff have been to get the shot. The department’s data shows that 3,330 doses of vaccine have been administered to TDOC staff as of Aug. 25. There are 5,025 people employed by the department. Beyond that, Gallagher says the department “cannot accurately track the number of fully vaccinated staff, as many receive the vaccinations in the community.” Vaccination rates among prison officers and staff around the country have tended to be lower than those of the general population, leading to calls to mandate vaccination for prison staff, police officers and others. In Tennessee, though, the state legislature

and the governor have banned such mandates for almost all groups. As community spread of the virus has increased over the past two months, so has transmission in local jails, where conditions can be ripe for outbreaks. A recent courtappointed expert raised serious concerns about overcrowding and ineffective vaccination efforts at the Shelby County Jail in Memphis, which is at the center of a pending lawsuit over conditions there. In Nashville, the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office reported on Aug. 30 that 132

people jailed in the city had tested positive for COVID-19 and that a total of 557 were on some level of restriction as a result. But the number of jailed people who have been vaccinated is unclear. The sheriff’s office referred questions about vaccination rates in city jails to the Metro Public Health Department. But beyond confirming that the department continually offers vaccination at DCSO facilities, the department has so far not been able to provide any data about how many people have taken them up on it. EMAIL EDITOR@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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FALL GUIDE From art exhibitions to food events, concerts, films and more, here are some of the season’s most interesting happenings

We don’t have to tell you. We know we don’t have to tell you. We’ve been mired in a global pandemic for the past 18 months, and the Delta variant threatens to mess with all of our plans this fall. That said, if you’re vaccinated, and if you’re abiding by protocols at event venues, you’re still allowed to get out there and enjoy yourself responsibly. And that’s where your old pals at the Scene come in.

IT’S A HEIST! The Belcourt’s five-week,

16-film Heist! series offers loads of worthwhile loot BY SCENE STAFF

ast month, those wily ne’er-do-wells at Hillsboro Village’s Belcourt Theatre hatched a plan — to screen 16 of the best, most compelling or otherwise intriguing films of the heist genre. The Belcourt’s Heist! series kicks off this week and stretches into mid-October. The series is our lead pick for films to see this fall, and we rounded up a crew of our own to break down what’s in store for you. Read on for details on all 16 selections.

SEPT. 3 & 6: JACKIE BROWN The only feature film that Quentin Tarantino adapted from a previous work, 1997’s Jackie Brown is based on Elmore Leonard’s 1992 novel Rum Punch — and Leonard himself reportedly said Tarantino’s script was possibly the best screenplay he ever read. Jackie Brown is about two-and-a-half

SEPT. 4-5 & 8: TO CATCH A THIEF Alfred Hitchcock loved using his people, and To Catch a Thief was like a family reunion. In this 1955 caper based on the David Dodge novel, Hitchcock regular Cary Grant (who also appeared in the director’s North by Northwest, Notorious and Suspicion) plays a former cat burglar trying to clear his name by hunting down a copycat in the French Riviera. Grace Kelly, who Hitchcock also cast in Rear Window and Dial M for Murder, co-stars with Hitchcock vets Jessie Royce Landis and John Williams (the actor, not the composer). This is a Hitchock title you’re far less likely to see in repertory screenings than the usual suspects, so take this opportunity to see it the way it was intended to be seen. Steal a ticket if you must. (OK, don’t actually do that.) CORY WOODROOF

SEPT. 6 & 9: HEAT Val is one of the best documentaries of the year, and it reminded me of Val Kilmer’s co-starring turn as Robert De Niro’s righthand man in Michael Mann’s heist drama Heat. This 1999 thriller also includes iconic performances from legends Al Pacino and Jon Voight, rock-solid supporting spots from cinema tough guys like Tom Sizemore and Danny Trejo, cameo appearances from Tone Loc and Henry Rollins, and a young Natalie Portman in her third feature role. Heat gives us one of crime cinema’s great cat-and-mouse chases, and brilliantly pairs it with the little everyday dramas of family, romance, parenting and work-life balance in the life-and-death professions of both cops and robbers. JOE NOLAN

SEPT. 7 & 12: DOG DAY AFTERNOON

hours long, but it zips by like a film half that length, and every second the iconic Pam Grier is on screen in her titular role as a money-smuggling flight attendant is a second worth relishing. It’s also got Michael Keaton’s delightfully weird performance as a crotch-adjusting ATF agent, Samuel L. Jackson’s and Robert De Niro’s bizarre conman facial hair, and the late, great Robert Forster in one of his finest latter-day roles. An absolutely killer selection to kick off the series with. D. PATRICK RODGERS

Sidney Lumet’s 1975 masterpiece Dog Day Afternoon, which won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, is unlike any other film playing in the Heist! series. For one, it’s based on a gut-wrenching true story — that of a Brooklyn bank robbery gone terribly awry, executed by a couple of small-time crooks with allegedly noble motivations. (As fate would have it, one of the real-life bank robbers handed a teller a note reading “This is an offer you can’t refuse,” and that robber would ultimately be played by The Godfather’s Al Pacino.) It features one of Pacino’s finest performances, as well as a spectacular turn from John Cazale, who would die from cancer just three years after

For our annual Fall Guide, we’ve gathered up all the details on coming visual arts, performing arts, music, food, film and design events set to take place this autumn. You’ll of course want to keep an eye on event websites, as schedules and protocols for events listed in this issue are subject to change. But like we said, we don’t have to tell you that. Dog Day’s release. Cazale was in The Godfather too, as it happens — he played Fredo. D.

PATRICK RODGERS

his masterwork overseas, cementing him as one of the premiere talents of the French New Wave. CORY WOODROOF

SEPT. 8-12: THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO

SEPT. 15 & 19: WIDOWS

Hayao Miyazaki’s directorial debut — a feature-length entry in the beloved longrunning anime and manga franchise Lupin III — is a kinetic and colorful animated caper. After Arsène Lupin III (grandson of Maurice Leblanc’s classic fictional gentleman thief) robs a casino only to learn the money is counterfeit, he seeks the source of the fake bills in the small country of Cagliostro. There he befriends the nation’s runaway princess and butts heads with the country’s ruthless count, who wants her hand in marriage in order to discover an ancient treasure. Lupin’s iconic allies and rivals are also in the mix. While Lupin III isn’t a Miyazaki creation, the fluid animation, whimsical landscapes and colorful scenes preview the masterpieces he’d later bring to life at Studio Ghibli. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

Steve McQueen’s 2018 thriller Widows adds a secret notebook, corrupt politicians and some wicked-mad women into a beaker and sets it at high heat. The result is an unexpected chemical reaction wherein familiar heist tropes meet the emotional drama you’d expect from its star, the inimitable Viola Davis. She plays Veronica, the wealthy wife of a career criminal (Liam Neeson) who perishes in a heist, along with his crew. Neeson’s Harry leaves a hefty debt behind and a notebook Veronica is supposed to sell to his debtors. Davis rarely plays characters who do what they’re told, and Veronica is no exception. She marshals the other widows of Harry’s heist — Alice (Elizabeth Debicki, a wonder) and Linda (Michelle Rodriguez) — to execute a grand theft of their own. The twisty-turny plot gets a little in the weeds, but the performances, including assists from Daniel Kaluuya and Brian Tyree Henry, see it through with flying colors.

SEPT. 10 & 14: POINT BREAK Surfing cinema is mostly a sports documentary subgenre defined by classics like The Endless Summer and Riding Giants. Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break is a bankrobbery action film, but its California-surfscene backdrop is unique for a crime flick, and Patrick Swayze’s unforgettable turn as the waves-and-zen philosopher thief Bodhi makes this classic the crunchiest heist movie of all time. The teaming of Swayze with Keanu Reeves — the latter as newbie FBI agent Johnny Utah — still crackles, and Gary Busey plays Utah’s hard-boiled partner in pitch-perfect comic tone. Come for the guns and money, stay for the sunbaked aphorisms and those big blue waves.

JOE NOLAN SEPT. 11-12: RIFIFI Rififi is the gold standard for heist films. Regarded as a lightning rod in its time and a template for the modern caper, blacklisted American director Jules Dassin’s jewelheist movie might be the most respected and influential film screening during this series. Legendary New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther, not an easy man to please, described Rififi as “perhaps the keenest crime film that ever came from France.” Dassin stuck it to McCarthyism and crafted

ERICA CICCARONE SEPT. 17 & 21: BOTTLE ROCKET Long before Wes Anderson was a lauded auteur making a splash at international film festivals with his impossibly stacked ensemble casts and meme-able photo moments, he was a recent University of Texas at Austin grad trying to make films with his buddies the Wilson brothers. Though 1996’s Bottle Rocket was a commercial flop, it was a remarkably special feature-length debut that introduced the world to the writer-director’s idiosyncratic style. With Owen Wilson as terminally inept would-be master criminal Dignan and Luke Wilson as his level-headed buddy Anthony, Bottle Rocket probably features the lowest-stakes heists of any film in this series, but quite possibly features the most heart — not to mention a couple of bits that still make me laugh till I cry. D. PATRICK

RODGERS

SEPT. 18-19: THE LADYKILLERS Before Sir Alec Guinness was Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was the duplicitous leader of a thieving gang that winds up at odds with a wily old widow. The Ladykillers is one of the more humorous selections in this Belcourt

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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FALL GUIDE: FILM series, with comedy greats Peter Sellers (in his first big role), Cecil Parker, Herbert Lorn and Danny Green making up Guinness’ band of bumbling bandits. Screenwriter William Rose, who was nominated for an Oscar for this film, claims he dreamed the film’s story — a story that would ultimately inspire Joel and Ethan Coen, who remade the film with Tom Hanks in 2004. This being a heist series and all, it’s a good thing for The Ladykillers that the crew from Inception didn’t come across Rose while he was asleep. CORY WOODROOF

SEPT. 20: HUSTLERS There’s only one bad thing about Hustlers: It will ruin damn near every other film about strippers you’ve ever seen. But it’s worth it. Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers recounts the escapades of Destiny (Constance Wu), a young woman who makes a living as a stripper to support her daughter and grandmother. With the guidance of veteran stripper Ramona (Jennifer Lopez), Destiny makes a more-

son’s 1969 comic caper are big enough to drive a bus through. But when young Michael Caine — starring as ambitious crook Charlie Croker, alongside comic legends Benny Hill and Nöel Coward — sets out with a motley crew to lift a shipment of gold bullion bound for the Fiat factory, what you get is a showcase for the most sophisticated car stunts possible at the time. In a great display of British motoring pride, Minis whiz around Turin like it’s a Baroque pinball machine, orchestrated by iconic stuntman Rémy Julienne, who died of COVID in January at age 90. STEPHEN TRAGESER

SEPT. 29 & OCT. 3: THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE The Taking of Pelham One Two Three’s title is as memorable as its unique hold-asubway-car-hostage take on the heist film. The movie revolves around the genre’s familiar cop-versus-robber dynamic, but The Taking of Pelham One Two Three upsets expectations again by making its primary protagonist a wise-cracking transit cop instead of a hotshot detective or federal agent. The 1970s gave us great crime cinema, and this movie makes any short list of the decade’s best. Quentin Tarantino lifted Reservoir Dogs’ color-coded criminals idea directly from this film, and Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw are both at the top of their game as the transit officer and the criminal mastermind, respectively. JOE NOLAN

OCT. 2 & 5: THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER than-decent living. Plus, her social isolation is soothed by Ramona’s devotion, and they make a formidable pair onstage. Their business grows much more lucrative when Ramona hatches a scheme: They pick up dirtbag Wall Street men at bars, drug them with ketamine and MDMA, and shepherd them to the club, where they are unapologetically fleeced. I am a sucker for narratives about female friendships, and Hustlers is a wild ride with a lot of heart. In no time, J-Lo will have you forsaking all gods for the pole. Oh, and it’s got Cardi B and Lizzo, who plays her flute in one scene. ERICA CICCARONE

SEPT. 24 & 28: INCEPTION Whatever else can be said about Christopher Nolan’s 2010 thought-crime thriller — as in, like, Leonardo DiCaprio literally doing crimes inside your thoughts — there is no denying its status as one of this century’s almost instantly iconic pieces of cinema. That was true even before the film’s release. (Say it with me: BRAAAM.) If you doubt it, consider the fact that the word “inception” went from meaning, I don’t know, whatever the hell it used to mean to being universally understood as planting thoughts or ideas in someone’s head. Few movies are absorbed into the cultural bloodstream as quickly or completely. But here’s what else can be said about Inception: It’s a film whose visuals are as thrilling and dizzying as its plot, which consists of movie stars in suits trying to pull off the perfect crime. It’s not nearly as confusing as many make it out to be, but if you do find yourself losing the plot a bit, remember you’re at the movies and just let it overwhelm you. That’s part of the fun.

STEVEN HALE SEPT. 25-26: THE ITALIAN JOB The plot holes in director Peter Collin-

As with many of Jim Henson’s joints, my favorite part of The Great Muppet Caper involves Miss Piggy. In the 1981 musical heist film — in which investigative reporters Kermit and Fozzie get caught up in shenanigans while reporting on a jewel heist — she steals the show in a water-ballet scene set to a song called “Miss Piggy’s Fantasy.” The absolute best part is her cute piggy feet flying out of the water with heels on. The scene, filmed in a specially built pool, apparently took a ton of work to coordinate (figuring out if muppet material changes when wet and how to get that dang puppeteer from making bubbles in the water while operating the pristine porcine). Henson said of it in the notes from his daily work journal: “It’s safe to say that no one has ever done a sequence like this in any other film. At least not with a pig.” As the song says: “All the world’s ever wanted, was you, a dream come true. Ah, Miss Piggy.” AMANDA HAGGARD

OCT. 8-10: LE CERCLE ROUGE Jean-Pierre Melville’s filmography — including the hitman classic Le Samouraï — is brimming with unique, stylized takes on genre movies that made him the spiritual godfather of the French New Wave. Melville’s influence can also be felt in works by John Woo, Michael Mann and Quentin Tarantino, and Le Cercle Rouge is a good primer on Melville’s stripped-down, gritty French take on Raymond Chandler-style trenchcoats-and-cigarettes noir. In Le Cercle Rouge, a group of acquaintances separately prepare to heist a jewelry store. Melville builds his characters and plot deliberately, line by line, action by action, frame by frame. It’s a slow burn, but it builds to one of the most memorable heist sequences in the genre. That sequence alone has Le Cercle Rouge on our don’t-miss list for this firstrate fest. JOE NOLAN ★

COMING ATTRACTIONS

From the Nashville Film Festival to the Belcourt and the megaplexes, here are the films hitting screens this season BY D. PATRICK RODGERS

e at the Scene are obviously pretty excited about the Belcourt’s brand-new Heist! series rolling out this week. But those 16 films are far from the only appealing fare hitting local screens this fall. The Nashville Film Festival recently announced the lineup for its 52nd annual installment, which returns Sept. 30 through Oct. 6 for virtual and in-person screenings and panels at the Belcourt, Belmont FLEE University, Rocketown and Marathon Music Works. The fest is scheduled to present roughly 150 films, including a number of titles with loads of critical buzz. Among those are Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentarynarrative hybrid Flee, Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman, Tim Blake Nelson-starring actionWestern Old Henry, horror flick We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, civil-rights-related documentary The Neutral Ground and many others. Naturally, NaFF — as it long has — will put special focus on music-related features and documentaries, including songwriting doc The Fable of a Song, a profile of “Australia’s Queen of Honky Tonk” called I’m Wanita, Invisible (which focuses on a group of LGBTQ performers in the country industry) and others. There will also be short films, Q&As and much more. Visit nashvillefilmfestival.org for the full rundown, as well as ticketing info and more. A cavalcade of both limited- and wide-release features are hitting cinemas throughout the fall as well. Coming to the aforementioned Belcourt in September are: art doc The Lost Leonardo (coming Sept. 3, see our review on p. 36); Paul Schrader’s Oscar Isaac-starring revenge thriller The Card Counter (Sept. 10); Nigerian twin brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Sept. 11); Riz Ahmed as a British-Pakistani rapper in Mogul Mowgli (Sept. 17); Japanese director Sion Sono’s collaboration with Nicolas Cage, Prisoners of the Ghostland (Sept. 22); Jessica Chastain as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Sept. 24); and Ethiopian-Mexican filmmaker Jessica Beshir’s documentary Faya Dayi. And that’s not even to mention the slate of October films set for the Hillsboro Village arthouse, which will include highly anticipated titles like Titane, Lamb, Bergman Island and The Rescue, among others. The Belcourt is still limiting its showings to 50 percent capacity. Find tickets and keep an eye on showtimes, which are subject to change, at belcourt.org. We’d be remiss to not mention films slated for the cineplexes this season. Throughout the pandemic, studios have had to schedule and reschedule release dates numerous times — and thanks to that dastardly Delta variant, it’s entirely possible some of these films will be pushed back yet again. But as it stands, October is a particularly loaded month when it comes to big releases. Wes Anderson’s long-awaited ensemble The French Dispatch is set for an Oct. 22 wide release, as are Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune and the latest effort from Johnny Knoxville and his lovable band of chaos-prone bros, Jackass Forever. Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark is set to drop both in theaters and on HBO Max on Oct. 1, while the 25th James Bond installment, No Time to Die, is scheduled for an Oct. 8 release. The 12th Halloween film, Halloween Kills, is planned for Oct. 15, while director Edgar Wright’s horror effort Last Night in Soho will arrive two days before Halloween. A new Ghostbusters (subtitled Afterlife), a new Top Gun (subtitled Maverick) and a new Marvel Cinematic Universe installment (Eternals) are set to arrive in November, as is Ridley Scott’s Gaga-and-Driver joint House of Gucci. While you’re at it, keep an eye on Full Moon Cineplex’s website (fullmooncineplex.com). The Hermitage-based repertory-centric theater has some truly classic horror lined up for the fall, including multiple Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th titles, not to mention a screening of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre set for Oct. 30. ★

THE FRENCH DISPATCH

nashvillescene.com | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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food and drink events hitting Nashville this autumn BY CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

SEPT. 30-OCT. 2: NASHVILLE WHISKEY FESTIVAL

ating and drinking are two activities during which it’s generally considered permissible to spend time with your mask down. Plus, seeing as how many food and drink events are held outside and require proof of vaccination to attend, food festivals may be among the safest opportunities to interact with others during the next few months. Here’s hoping, because a lot of people have put their hearts and souls into planning some fall events revolving around food and bev. Just the same, you’d better write these dates on your calendar in pencil. (Providing you still use a calendar … and a pencil.)

Corkdorks Nashville has planned three nights of whiskey sampling and education from brands around the globe. You might want to go ahead and book a room at the host Omni Hotel for a couple nights.

DRINKS

OCT. 16: TENNESSEE BEER, WINE AND SHINE FESTIVAL

This annual homage to all things shaken and stirred returns to multiple venues across town for educational seminars, tastings, dinners and unapologetically raging parties celebrating cocktails and spirits, from tiki to Courvoisier to amari. Time to reactivate your Uber account!

This staple of the Donelson drinking calendar has added moonshine to its already impressive roster of beers and wines available for tasting. The daylong Tennessee Beer, Wine and Shine Festival will be held on the grounds of Two Rivers Mansion. Remember, if you want to play it safe, it’s “wine then beer, then …” That’s it. Just wine then beer.

SEPT. 9: TENNESSEE WHISKEY DINNER AT THE 404 KITCHEN Chef Matt Bolus is an unabashed lover of whiskey, and he’s dedicating an entire tasting dinner to pairing bites with Tennessee whiskeys. The dinner will feature producers from across the state, including local heroes from Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery, Pennington Distilling Co., Standard Proof Whisky Co. and Nashville Barrel Company.

SEPT. 11: WINE ON THE RIVER If you can drink it and it might give you a buzz, you’ll probably find a sample of it at this annual event in Riverfront Park. Wine on the River supports The District, an organization dedicated to maintaining the historical integrity of three downtown districts: Broadway, Second Avenue and Printers Alley. Lord knows they need the help!

SEPT. 18: EAST NASHVILLE BEER FEST After a year of virtual tastings, Rhizome Productions returns to the threedimensional world with this beloved beer festival institution in East Park. Show your proof of vaccination at the gate for access to tastings from dozens of local breweries and invited guest brewers, plus live music and food trucks.

SEPT. 25: BEER QUEST 5 This scavenger hunt around the trails and meadows at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary in Brentwood gives participants the chance to find tokens they can trade for a flight of beers from Jackalope Brewing Company and a meal from Smokey Dawggs food truck. It’ll totally be worth the chiggers.

SEPT. 29: STRAIGHT UP 615 PRESENTS AN EVENING WITH FOUR ROSES In honor of Bourbon Heritage Month

OCT. 1-3: PROSTFEST Bavarian Bierhaus will expand its already massive Opry Mills restaurant by adding an outdoor biergarten to serve Oktoberfest beers plus selections from guest breweries East Nashville Beer Works and Wiseacre Brewing Company. They’ll also offer plenty of Bavarian comestibles to soak up the beer.

PHOTO: SEAN VON TAGEN

EAT UP An extensive roundup of

FALL GUIDE: FOOD & DRINK (what, you didn’t know?), Straight Up 615 will invite Brent Elliott and Dan Gardner to Urban Grub to lead participants through a vertical tasting of four years of Four Roses’ delicious Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon.

EAST NASHVILLE BEER FEST

NOV. 6: WHISKEY WARMER AND WINE DOWN MAIN STREET Somehow — whether or not any of the other food and drink events included herein are canceled — I’m guessing that these two Franklin events focusing on whiskey and wine are definites. Whiskey Warmer in Westhaven offers the chance to pair whiskeys from around the world with fine cigars, and Wine Down Main Street is a walking tasting festival around downtown Franklin.

FOOD SEPT. 10-12: NASHVILLE GREEK FESTIVAL This annual celebration of Greek culture held at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church features Hellenic music and dancing under the large tent, but we know you go for the food! Order in advance to ensure you get some of those pastries made by the congregation, and take home some fantastic to-go plates of spanakopita and pastitsio for dinner.

SEPT. 18: SOUTHERN SMOKE BBQ FESTIVAL Head to Mt. Juliet for an evening of music, arts and crafts shopping, kids’ activities and plates of delicious barbecue presented by the local Rotary Club. Everybody knows Rotarians know their way around a smoker.

SEPT. 26: THE NASHVILLE FOOD PROJECT 10TH ANNIVERSARY PICNIC PARTY Thanks to the ’rona, The Nashville Food Project has converted its annual fundraiser event into a virtual picnic. You’ll still be able to pick up prepared picnic basket meals to enjoy at home while you watch a livestreamed performance by bluegrass sensation

TENNESSEE HONEY FESTIVAL

Justin Hiltner and learn about this organization’s crucial efforts to support the food-insecure members of our community.

OCT. 3: TENNESSEE HONEY FESTIVAL Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park is the place to “bee” for this celebration of all things honey. In addition to honey vendors, honey-inspired drinks, food trucks and beekeeping classes, there will also be live music — because, y’know, this is Nashville.

OCT. 5: TASTE OF WEST NASHVILLE Fat Bottom Brewing plays host to this fundraiser featuring small bites from some of your favorite West Side restaurants, plus a silent auction and live music.

OCT. 9: NASHVILLE VEGFEST Whether you’re already a hardcore vegan or just curious about a plant-based, crueltyfree lifestyle, this event at The Fairgrounds Nashville will offer educational assets about vegetarianism and introduce you to

resources to help you minimize your impact on the planet.

OCT. 21: FARM TO TABLEAUX This sounds like an unusual but entertaining event. Attendees will walk around First Horizon Park enjoying meals prepared by local chefs and farmers while viewing “tableaux vivants,” or living pictures inspired by French theater. The event raises money to support travel opportunities for atrisk youth, so why not give it a try?

OCT. 24: MASTERCHEF LIVE! If you’re a fan of cooking shows, you might recognize some past contestants at this head-to-head cooking competition at TPAC. MasterChef Live! promises to be an immersive experience for the audience. Don’t be scared. We’re pretty sure Gordon Ramsay won’t actually be there to yell at you. ★

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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FALL GUIDE: PERFORMING ARTS

PLACES, EVERYONE! OZ Arts leads the way in fall’s

NUTTIN’ BUT A WORD RUNS OCT. 14-16, AT OZ ARTS

performing arts season BY AMY STUMPFL

ith a lineup that explores compelling themes and artistic innovation, OZ Arts is ushering in a “high-impact” season that promises to challenge and inspire local audiences. “One of the things that excites me most about the artists we’re hosting at OZ this season is that they’re addressing some of the most important issues of the day in really creative and inspiring ways,” says Mark Murphy, OZ Arts executive and artistic director. “These are influential artists at the top of their game, finding new and innovative ways to confront the world around us.” The season opens on Oct. 14 with Rennie Harris Puremovement. Established in 1992, RHPM is widely recognized as the nation’s longest-running street-dance theater company and something of a hip-hop ambassador — “preserving and disseminating” hip-hop culture through a wide range of performances and educational programs. “I first met Rennie back in 1997, when I was artistic director of On the Boards, a contemporary arts center in Seattle,” Murphy says. “My colleagues in Philadelphia kept telling me about this brilliant young guy who was mixing hip-hop with other dance forms to explore important issues and emotions through movement. We were hosting a conference for National Performance Network, and invited Rennie and his company to perform. It was absolutely breathtaking. The energy — and this language of movement that he had developed — it was so powerful. “We kept in touch over the years, and I presented the company a second time in Seattle, as well as in L.A.,” Murphy continues. “Then in January 2020, I saw Nuttin’ But a Word at the Joyce Theater in New York, and just fell in love all over again. It’s so smart, so fresh — but it also acknowledges the rich history and traditions of hip-hop. I’m really thrilled to introduce Nashville audiences to Rennie’s work, and I’m especially pleased that Rennie and his dancers will be on hand to do a lecture demonstration on the history of hip-hop and the evolution of the form while in town, as well as a free master class.” For Harris, it’s all about challenging the audience’s perception of what hip-hop and street dance are all about. As one of the first artists to bring hip-hop dance to America’s concert halls, his work — including a groundbreaking retelling of Romeo & Juliet titled Rome & Jewels — has a way of honoring and including popular dance styles and traditions, while still pushing boundaries and probing universal themes. “The title Nuttin’ But a Word is taken from a phrase used in the African American community,” says the Philadelphia native, who has been honored with the Alvin Ailey Black Choreographers Award, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Doris Duke Arts Award and the Dance Magazine Legend Award, among others. “It basically means you haven’t seen anything yet. Your words mean nothing —

fun, celebratory event for all ages. New Dialect’s Neon Nights features new work by artistic director Banning Bouldin, creative design and choreography by David Flores, and interactive sculptures by New Hat’s Kelly Diehl and Elizabeth Williams, with lighting concepts by Nashville-based production designer Michael Brown (known for his work with Bon Iver, Death Cab for Cutie and The National). (newdialect.org)

OCT. 19-24: THE BAND’S VISIT AT TPAC’S JACKSON HALL The 2021-22 Broadway at TPAC season opens with the Nashville premiere of The Band’s Visit — winner of 10 Tony Awards in 2018, including Best Musical. This beautifully crafted work quietly draws you in with offbeat characters and fabulous onstage musicians, before delivering an emphatic message of kindness and human connection. (tpac.org)

NOV. 11-13: INFINITELY YOURS AND MYTH & INFRASTRUCTURE AT OZ ARTS L.A.-based multimedia performance artist Miwa Matreyek uses her signature technique of layered projections and live performance to take on the climate crisis — interacting with dreamlike, kaleidoscopic scenes as an ever-present shadow silhouette. (ozartsnashville.org)

NOV. 11-14: NASHVILLE REPERTORY THEATRE’S RAGTIME AT TPAC’S POLK THEATER

just wait till you see what I’m about to do. It’s like: ‘So you think you know what street dance is about? OK, watch this.’ ” Harris says street dance is progressive by design, pointing to what he calls the “three laws of hip-hop” — individuality, creativity and innovation. “Innovation is really the result of individuality and creativity,” he says. “That’s what empowers us to move forward artistically and culturally. “I don’t generally have a big message for the audience,” Harris adds. “It’s not for me to say what someone takes away from a performance. I’m just telling a story. But I do hope people will come out, keep an open mind, and have a conversation about the work. To me, that conversation is the most important part — to unpack what you liked or didn’t like, what you connected with. That’s what makes a lasting impact.”

with impressive flight effects. The production features original choreography from artistic director Paul Vasterling and live chamber music scored by Philip Feeney, as well as storybook sets and costumes from designer Campbell Baird. According to the Nashville Ballet, Vasterling has “taken very special care to remove outdated cultural depictions and racist undertones present in the original text.” (nashvilleballet.com)

OCT. 14 & 21: NEW DIALECT’S NEON NIGHTS AT CHEEKWOOD Situated in Cheekwood’s stately boxwood gardens, this “immersive, glow-in-the-dark party and dance installation” promises a

This Tony Award-winning musical weaves together three distinctly American stories in turn-of-the-century New York — including that of a wealthy white couple, a determined Jewish immigrant and a daring Black musician. This marks the Nashville Repertory Theatre’s largest show in more than a decade, and the cast boasts some exciting new talent, along with Nashville favorites such as Megan Murphy Chambers, Bakari King and Nancy Allen. The creative team includes director MicahShane Brewer, musical director Dave Ragland and choreographer Tosha Marie. (nashvillerep.org)

DEC. 2-5: STEAL AWAY AT OZ ARTS This highly anticipated collaboration — featuring composer Dave Ragland, Inversion Vocal Ensemble, Diaspora Orchestra and Shabaz Ujima’s shackled feet DANCE — is described as a “contemporary music-theater-opera hybrid inspired by traditional spirituals and art songs.” (ozartsnashville.org) ★

OTHER UPCOMING THEATER AND DANCE PERFORMANCES OCT. 8-10: NASHVILLE BALLET’S PETER PAN AT TPAC’S JACKSON HALL First presented by the Nashville Ballet in 2013, and most recently seen in 2015, this imaginative full-length treatment of J.M. Barrie’s classic tale offers a delightful collection of pirates and mermaids, along

THE BAND’S VISIT AT TPAC

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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FALL GUIDE: VISUAL ARTS prints. Martin has shown White’s work before, but this is the gallery’s first display of the artist’s unmistakable text paintings, which are one part Ed Ruscha, one part Southern smartass, and altogether iconic.

“PALOMA,” OMARI BOOKER

NOVEMBER

practice: baroque, cinematic, contemporary, beautiful. Booker is a local fave who won a 2020 Best of Nashville award for his Red Line show, which we at the Scene named the Best Exhibition Addressing Social Issues. His recent portraits picture everyday Black Nashvillians alongside pop-culture heroes like Colin Kaepernick and Miles Davis. Benjamin and Booker are a great match, and I’m anxious to see how their works overlap and differ in this display. Tinney Contemporary opens Renaissance:

The Contemporary Expression of the Ancestral Spirit in September. This group exhibition is curated by Fisk University graduate Michael Ewing, and traces the historical connections

“MILES & FRIENDS,” MARLOS E’VAN

between Nashville and the Harlem Renaissance. It’s a fascinating history lesson that reminds gallery-goers that North Nashville has always been the heart of our city’s visual art culture.

Nuveen Barwari opens her first solo show at The Red Arrow Gallery. Titled Gul Barin — the Kurdish phrase for “the state of being showered with flowers” — the show finds Barwari deploying painting, fashion and sculpture to continue her exploration of experiences growing up as a “third-culture kid” in Nashville’s Kurdish community. Barwari’s work often deconstructs the meaning and the actual materials of found objects, and her work with traditional rugs is always a highlight of her installations. I’m expecting a culmination of Barwari’s familiar forms and techniques in a big display that embodies the emerging creator’s developing voice. Yuri Figueroa will take over Channel to Channel in November. The multimedia artist has an admirably open approach to making work, stating on his website: “I use the media and method that makes the most sense in the moment to create something towards whatever is concerning me at the time.” Generally, Figueroa is concerned with both his identity as a Mexican man and his expressions as an individual artist, and the artist’s best abstract paintings and drawings, and his Francis Bacon-esque portraits, seem to generate spontaneously from his subconscious mind. Native American photographer and filmmaker Adam Sings In The Timber brings his documentary images to Coop Gallery in

OCTOBER

ARTUMNAL

Catch the colors, concepts and compositions on display in Nashville art galleries this fall BY JOE NOLAN

all is our favorite season for gallerygoing, and this year’s autumnal offerings include a cornucopia of creations for every taste. Here are our pumpkin-spiced picks for chillyweather arting.

SEPTEMBER East Nashville’s best gallery is The Red Arrow Gallery, and it’s finishing the year with a trio of shows by noted locals, putting a spotlight on a surging art scene that’s proven to be thoroughly resilient in the face of the pandemic challenges. First up is Marlos E’van, whose September 2019 solo show Slightly Dangerous took over the space with a display of paintings and sculpture. E’van is a prolific creator, and Land of tha

Brave, Home of tha Slave finds the artist still restlessly experimenting with styles and subjects almost exactly two years after their first solo show at the gallery. E’van’s latest subjects range from Tupac Shakur to slave-ship-captain-turned-abolitionist John Newton, and a self-portrait on canvas features the kind of exposed stretcher bars that studio assistant Stephen Torton built for Jean-Michel Basquiat in the early 1980s. E’van’s work is filled with messages about race, violence and pop culture, but their crude lines and bold colors make even their most provocative work eminently approachable and engaging. Gavin Benjamin and Omari Booker will kick off the fall art scene at Channel to Channel in September. Benjamin was born in Guyana, South America, and raised in Brooklyn. The photographer references legendary Italian and Dutch painters to explore contemporary Black masculinity at the intersection of culture, media, politics, fashion and design. I admire Benjamin’s varied output, and while I can’t exactly predict what he has in mind for this new exhibition, his website banner offers these single-word declarations about the artist’s

Nashville native Marcus Maddox’s very large photographic portraits of himself and other Black men and women all focus on color: the way black and white complement and define one another, and the way in which the addition of bold greens, reds and soft pinks can highlight those extremes of the color spectrum. Maddox’s work is a showcase for Black skin, and a celebration of the beauty of everyday people. His upcoming show is also one of those exhibits that is hard to envision through digital images attached to a press-release email. If the pandemic has taught the art world anything, it’s that most art will never fully translate through virtual platforms, and you’ll want to see these big, bold works in person at The Red Arrow Gallery. We love to see artists innovating, and it’s also understandable that established artists with recognizable — and lucrative — styles do that less than emerging creators. That’s why Jack Spencer’s October show at David Lusk Gallery has us more than a little curious. Spencer is celebrated for both his portraits and landscape photography, but this exhibit will include 3-D photo-collages, sculptures and even brutalist wooden furniture. Julia Martin Gallery will also open a show by an established artist in October. Chattanooga’s strangest son Wayne White will make a short trip to Nashville for Radio Magic 8-Ball — a display of his signature text paintings on found vintage thrift store

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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November. The artist aims to bring Native voices back into the conversation about the history of the Native experience by filming and snapping pictures of contemporary Native life. The proximity of the show to Thanksgiving makes for perfect timing for this type of history lesson, and the artist’s colorful, dynamic photos documenting Native events, protests and foodways are engaging in any context. Elephant Gallery opens To Get to the Other Side: A Death and Time Travel Show in November. Elephant has hosted lots of open-call group exhibitions organized around themes like clowns, plants and the joys of smoking. This latest display looks at extratemporal liberation in the forms of physical death and

advanced technology. It’s a unique take on a time when so many are grieving the loss of livelihoods, liberties and loved ones — and might want to hit a fast-forward button to the other side of the limbo of these plagued days. The Scene’s arts editor Laura Hutson Hunter curates Futurephilia: Sex and Science Fiction in Contemporary Art at East Nashville’s Main Street Gallery in November. It’s the latest in the ongoing Scene-sponsored Adult Contemporary exhibition series of sex-positive work. Futurephilia examines the erotic implications of our desires for a more perfect tomorrow, and it includes a roster of international artists along with local faves like David Onri Anderson, Sam Dunson and Benjy Russell. ★

WILLIAM EDMONDSON

“SQUIRT,” BENJY RUSSELL

FALL GUIDE: VISUAL ARTS

FALL FOR ART

Three museum shows anchor the season’s visual art offerings BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

t Cheekwood, the extensive exhibit The Sculpture of William Edmondson: Tombstones, Garden Ornaments, and Stonework is an excellent way to take in a large amount of work from the prolific and influential artist. Edmondson famously began his artist’s career making tombstones for friends and family in the early 1900s in Nashville, and several of the works in this exhibit show that influence — sheep gazing skyward, a naked man lying prostrate, a crucifixion scene. But there are also examples of Edmondson’s more idiosyncratic offerings, like a roughly pentagonal shape that suggests a smiling bison, or a pair of women with their knees and legs showing beneath their skirts. More information and timed-entry tickets are available at cheekwood.org. Also on deck for fall is a duo of exhibits that meets the Frist Art Museum standard of balancing mass appeal and quality, while adding a little something extra for discerning regulars. American Art Deco: Designing for the People, 1918-1939 is especially perfect for the Frist, which is located inside one of Nashville’s most iconic historical buildings — itself an American Art Deco masterpiece. The design of that period is a great metric for understanding American history in the time between the World Wars, from the optimistic ’20s through the Great Depression. The show features an array of works, from paintings by Thomas Hart Benton and a 1925 René Lalique glass vase to a 1930 Ford Model A. To commemorate the exhibition’s opening, a curator’s talk with the Brooklyn Museum’s Catherine Futter will take place on Friday, Oct. 8. Details are at fristartmuseum.org. Concurrent with the Art Deco exhibit is the Frist’s contemporary solo exhibition Mary Sibande: Blue Purple Red. The South African artist makes hyperrealistic sculptures cast from her own face and body to critique stereotypes of Black South African women, and color-codes them to reflect the very real emotions that occurred in her country’s recent history. It’s powerful, relevant stuff reminiscent of both Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Yinka Shonibare. The artist will speak on her work on Saturday, Oct. 9. Register at fristartmuseum.org.

THE SCULPTURE OF WILLIAM EDMONDSON: TOMBSTONES, GARDEN ORNAMENTS, AND STONEWORK THROUGH OCT. 31 AT CHEEKWOOD AMERICAN ART DECO: DESIGNING FOR THE PEOPLE, 1918-1939 OPENS OCT. 8 AT THE FRIST ART MUSEUM

“ONE TREE,” JACK SPENCER

“RIGHT NOW!,” MARY SIBANDE. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND SMAC GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA .

MARY SIBANDE: BLUE PURPLE RED OPENS OCT. 8 AT THE FRIST ART MUSEUM

nashvillescene.com | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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FALL GUIDE: MUSIC

DOIN’ IT LIVE PHOTO: BRANDON DE LA CRUZ

From The Rolling Stones to the Nashville Symphony, from hiphop ace Isaiah Rashad to punks Mannequin Pussy and beyond, there’s a live show for everyone BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

here was a surprising quantity and quality of streaming shows to tell you about in last year’s Fall Guide. While the pandemic certainly isn’t over yet, it sure feels good to be able to encourage you to get vaccinated (if you aren’t already), grab a mask and head out to see some concerts in person. Below, check out our handful of picks from among a huge variety of exciting shows. Many venues and events have vaccination protocols in place, so check websites or give them a call to make sure you’re on the same page.

BRASSVILLE

OCT. 9: THE ROLLING STONES AT NISSAN STADIUM The rock band that helped define what you think of when you think of “a rock band” lost its beating heart in August: Drummer’s drummer Charlie Watts died at age 80. But the show must go on for the group — whose gig is, after all, about taking Father Time down for the count — and their No Filter Tour will roll into town with stellar timekeeper Steve Jordan on the throne.

FESTIVAL FRENZY Most of the music fests that usually spread out across the summer are happening in September this year. Bonnaroo is bringing Lizzo; Tyler, the Creator; Foo Fighters and tons more to Manchester Sept. 2 through 5 (see “Your Quick-Reference Guide to Bonnaroo 2021” in the Aug. 26 Scene for more), while roots ’n’ rock-leaning Muddy Roots offers Cedric Burnside, Dead Meadow and lots of others in Cookeville Sept. 3 through 5. Musicians Corner’s September Sundown has free performances in Centennial Park on Thursday and Friday nights from Sept. 2 through Oct. 1, featuring a mostly local lineup with standouts like soul queen Alanna Royale and R&B duo Louis York. Salt-N-Pepa tops a packed bill for Nashville Pride, coming to Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park Sept. 18 and 19. Sept. 22 through 25, AmericanaFest brings more than 200 artists, from Allison Russell to Kathleen Edwards and beyond, for shows at venues across the city, while Pilgrimage offers Dave Matthews Band, The Black Keys, Maren Morris and many more at Franklin’s The Park at Harlinsdale Farm Sept. 25 and 26.

NASHVILLE SYMPHONY 75TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

OCT. 10: H.E.R. AT FIRSTBANK AMPHITHEATER

OCT. 14: TORRES AT EXIT/IN Mackenzie Scott, who writes and performs as Torres and was once a Belmont student, dives deep into the discomfort of discussions about gender identity and lust on her new LP Thirstier. Her appearance at the historic rock club is her first in town since the tour for 2017’s Three Futures.

OCT. 15-20, OCT. 22-24: JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT AT THE RYMAN

SOCCER MOMMY formed by TSU alumni, has had a banner year with performances all across Music City. If you missed out on their July residency at 3rd and Lindsley, don’t miss this encore presentation.

SEPT. 30: BRASSVILLE AT 3RD AND LINDSLEY

When songwriter’s songwriter and widely loved figure John Prine died due to com-

If you’ve been looking for a reason to check out the new outdoor venue a few miles down I-65 in Thompson’s Station, make it H.E.R. The Grammy- and Oscar-winning R&B singer, songwriter and phenomenal guitarist comes through on the heels of her debut full-length Back of My Mind, a nuanced LP that dances gracefully between R&B and hip-hop.

H.E.R.

After having to cancel the 2020-2021 season because of the pandemic, the Nashville Symphony returns with a packed anniversary calendar. A Beethoven program at Ascend Amphitheater on Sept. 11 and a performance the next night with Nas prelude the official opening program Sept. 16 through 18 at the Schermerhorn. Titled Fanfare for Music City, it features works by Aaron Copland, Antonin Dvořák, Joan Tower and more. Other season highlights include the Latin Fire program focused on Latin American composers on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, a screening of The Princess Bride with live orchestra accompaniment Oct. 29 and 30, and the Strings on Parade program with guest violinist Jun Iwasaki from Nov. 18 through 20 — and lots more excitement through the spring.

Nashville’s own body-rocking brass band,

of former White Stripe Jack White’s label opened up its Blue Room venue as a swanky cocktail bar on the weekends. If that made you concerned that they might have fewer shows in the future, fear not! This two-night stand from Swedish folk-popster Kristian Matsson, aka The Tallest Man on Earth, is just one of several fantastic shows on the books, including a headlining gig for Nashville rocker Katy Kirby on Oct. 2 and a visit from harpist Mary Lattimore with Nashville-born guitarist William Tyler on Nov. 23. See thirdmanrecords.com for the full rundown.

OCT. 1: SOCCER MOMMY AT CANNERY BALLROOM Soccer Mommy — the dreamy, rockcentric project led by Nashville singersongwriter-guitarist Sophie Allison — is finally getting to go on the headlining tour it was meant to start just as the pandemic took hold. The band will get the chance to bring to life Color Theory, their superb 2020 LP centered on examining the impacts of depression and isolation.

OCT. 3-10: YOU GOT GOLD — CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND SONGS OF JOHN PRINE

plications from COVID-19 in April 2020, it wasn’t safe to gather in public to mourn him. Eighteen months later, the pandemic isn’t over, but at least vaccines and vaccination protocols are making it safer to get together. In the week leading up to what would have been Prine’s 75th birthday (and the release of the tribute album Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows, Vol. 2), a series of tribute concerts benefiting the Prine family’s nonprofit Hello in There Foundation has been planned. So far, shows have been announced for the Ryman on Oct. 6 and 7, the Country Music Hall of Fame’s CMA Theater on Oct. 8 and The Basement East on Oct. 9, with participants TBA; all are sold out, but others may be in the works. Watch yougotgold. johnprine.com for updates.

OCT. 8-9: THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH AT THIRD MAN RECORDS This summer, the Nashville headquarters

Superlative songsmith Isbell and his crack band make their annual autumn visit to the Mother Church over eight nights this year. Per tradition, the undercard includes the great Amanda Shires (a 400 Unit member and Isbell’s wife), and it also spotlights some outstanding artists Isbell & Co. think you ought to know, this time focusing on Black women artists in country and roots music. Make sure to get there on time for Brittney Spencer, Mickey Guyton, Amythyst Kiah, Shemekia Copeland, Allison Russell, Joy Oladokun and Adia Victoria.

OCT. 20: MANNEQUIN PUSSY AT THE HIGH WATT Sure, hearing their songs performed by a band in Mare of Easttown is reason enough to be curious about Philly pop ’n’ punk outfit Mannequin Pussy. But there’s a decent chance that it’ll only take one incandescent live show to make you a die-hard fan.

OCT. 21: PATTI SMITH AT THE RYMAN Patti Smith, the multifaceted artist who’s done so much to expand the vocabulary and the horizons of rock ’n’ roll over the past 50 years, is set to make her Ryman debut. Recent set lists run the gamut from 2000s songs to ’70s classics and covers of Dylan and Lou Reed, but given

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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THE SCULPTURE OF WILLIAM EDMONDSON: TOMBSTONES, GARDEN ORNAMENTS, AND STONEWORK AU G U ST 12 - OCTOB ER 31

CMY

William Edmondson (American 1874-1951). Schoolteacher, 1937. Limestone. Gift of John Thompson Jr. 1960.1.

As the first African American artist to have a solo show at MoMA in 1937, William Edmondson is now known as the most accomplished and significant sculptor to come out of Nashville. This exhibition, accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue published by Vanderbilt University Press, draws upon new scholarship on Edmondson in the first large-scale museum examination of the artist's career in over twenty years. Exhibition made possible by

Cheekwood is funded in part by

CHEEKWOOD.ORG

nashvillescene.com | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

PATTI SMITH

FALL GUIDE: DESIGN

DESIGN OF THE TIMES Nashville Fashion Week

and Nashville Design Week promise runways, panels, shopping and more BY KELSEY BEYELER

Smith’s compassionate curiosity, she would make reading the phone book fascinating.

OCT. 26: MAMALARKY AT DRKMTTR Back in 2019, Atlanta-residing psychtinged rockers Mamalarky played the very first show open to the public at the latest (and hopefully permanent) location of all-ages space Drkmttr. They return in the wake of Mamalarky, their debut full-length.

NOV. 8: ISAIAH RASHAD AT MARATHON MUSIC WORKS Chattanooga-born rapper Isaiah Rashad has been open about his past struggles with substance abuse and mental health, which seemed to hamper him from capitalizing on the momentum from his 2016 LP The Sun’s Tirade. But The House Is Burning, his recently released second full-length for hip-hop dream team Top Dawg Entertainment, ought to hush the naysayers.

NOV. 12: DINOSAUR JR. W/RYLEY WALKER AT BROOKLYN BOWL Venerable proto-grunge heroes Dinosaur Jr. have had a pretty great batting average since the original lineup reunited prior to 2007’s Beyond. This show is part of the tour for Sweep It Into Space, co-produced by introspective songsmith Kurt Vile; guitar phenom and Twitter comedian Ryley Walker opens.

NOV. 14: LILLY HIATT AND LYDIA LOVELESS AT 3RD AND LINDSLEY Two of the finest rock-and-roots songwriters and bandleaders are hitting the road together, finally getting to do a proper tour featuring songs from their excellent 2020 LPs — Loveless’ Daughter and Hiatt’s Walking Proof. A hometown stop for Hiatt, this gig marks the end of the three-week run.

NOV. 18-20: STURGILL SIMPSON AT THE RYMAN Sturgill Simpson continued the expansion of his storytelling powers with The Ballad of Dood and Juanita, a country- and bluegrass-infused concept album released in August. Just before Thanksgiving, he makes his return to the Ryman with a band of top-tier pickers from across the country and stringband worlds. ★

hile our musicians may be the loudest, they are by no means the sole contributors to our city’s reputation for talented artists. Many of our most skilled and laudable artists are hidden in plain sight — graphic and fashion designers, photographers, videographers, visual artists and many more thrive in our city’s creative ecosystem. Between Nashville Design Week and Nashville Fashion week — two unaffiliated events arriving this fall — there are plenty of places for anyone (including nonprofessionals who are design-curious) to meet, collaborate, learn from one another and build community.

Nashville Fashion Week (Oct 12-16) is returning to the runway after last year’s digital experience amid the pandemic. NFW has COVID-19 protocols in place, including requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for in-person events, and it will return to OZ Arts to feature some of the most prominent local designers’ collections. At-home viewers will be able to tune in via the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s RUNWAY360 platform. This year’s lineup includes the return of seasoned professionals like Maria Silver, Any Old Iron and Amanda Valentine, as well as newcomers like Emily Phillips and Erica Knicely, who began participating in last year’s scaled-back version of NFW. The week will include showcases from many more designers, an outdoor marketplace, workshops and a new design competition in partnership with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The competition is inspired by the museum’s Suiting the Sound: The Rodeo Tailors Who Made Country Stars Shine Brighter exhibit. Applications are open until Sept. 12 for designers to submit sketches or finished pieces demonstrating their take on country music stagewear. The winner’s design will be featured next to the exhibit in the Country Music Hall of Fame. The week’s proceeds, as usual, will go to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s Nashville Fashion Forward Fund, which supports up-and-coming fashion industry professionals. While you can livestream the events for free, VIP ticket holders will get exclusive access to the Oct. 12 event at OZ. Keep an eye on NFW’s website (nashvillefashionweek.com) to learn about newly announced events and registration. Now in its fourth year, Nashville Design Week (Nov. 1-5) is gearing up to present panels led by local designers covering all kinds of interdisciplinary topics. Each year pres-

EMILY PHILLIPS

ERICA KNICELY

ents a new theme that connects its various events. Last year’s theme was equity, and workshops included titles like Equity in Sustainable Fashion, Designing Out Inequality and Socially Conscious Art and Design. This year’s theme is based on transition, and according to NDW spokesperson Allison Duke, it will focus on the phrase “That was then, this is now, what comes next?” Events will kick off Monday, Nov. 1, with an opening party at Gray & Dudley, where 10 local artists will reveal a community art project called Now and When — Love Let-

ters to Nashville. Throughout the week, 18 workshops will be hosted in different galleries and venues across town. There will be in-person, online and hybrid options, and those attending in-person events must present proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. As the week comes to a close, NDW will host a closing party as well, but those details are still being worked out. Keep an eye on Nashville Design Week’s website (nashvilledesignweek.org) for updates. Duke promises that the full roster of events will be revealed on Oct. 7. ★

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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The High Watt

you and all your 21-and-older friends get full reign over the entire Adventure Science Center — the Car Culture exhibit, Eureka Theater and all — as you feast on Daddy’s Dogs hotdogs and adult bevs. There’s even a Prince-themed laser show in the Sudekum Planetarium. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result is required for entry. That just leaves one question: Baby, have you got enough gas? 7 p.m. at the Adventure Science Center, 800 Fort Negley Blvd. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

[STRANGER BLUES]

TIM EASTON ALBUM RELEASE

press materials for You Don’t Really Know Me cast Easton as a reformed rogue who got himself together after years on the road to folk-blues-rock perdition. I don’t get much sense of his struggle, although he writes about that lifestyle in “Festival Song,” in which the feel-good homilies almost obscure the song’s impact. Easton does hit the mark on something called “Voice on the Radio,” a song about listening to the radio in Nashville. On Thursday, he’ll be playing with Nashville’s Upstate Mojo, whose bluesy 2020 album Just a Rough Sketch was produced by Easton. 7 p.m. at The Basement, 1604 Eighth Ave. S. EDD HURT DATE NIGHT

The folkies of the 1960s were scandalized by the energy and unfettered approach to subject matter that rock ’n’ roll artists favored back then. These days, Americana artists — the descendants of those long-ago folkies — combine folk, blues, rock ’n’ roll and New Wave as a matter of course. Born in 1966,

Nashville singer-songwriter Tim Easton plays a rather polite version of rock ’n’ roll on his new full-length You Don’t Really Know Me. I don’t mind polite rock, and Easton pulls off some nice acoustic guitar blues licks throughout the album. In the title track, he mentions being “born by a raging river,” while “Anchor” casts him as a “wayward stranger.” Meanwhile, “Real Revolution” is a Dylan-esque blues song. In fact, Easton’s voiceprint is essentially Dylan Lite, which I don’t mind either. The

TIM EASTON

[BABY YOU’RE MUCH TOO FAST]

WAY LATE PLAY DATE: LITTLE RED CORVETTE

If you’re anything like me, the first thing you think of when you hear the word “Corvette” isn’t the car itself, but the 1983 Prince song about it. Like OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” or Toto’s “Africa,” “Little Red Corvette” — the second single from the Purple One’s iconic 1999 — is one of those rare hits you’ll always turn up the radio for, even though you’ve undoubtedly heard it a million times. On Thursday, the Adventure Science Center makes the most of this association with an ’80s-themed Way Late Play Date coinciding with the stellar Car Culture exhibit, which includes a fleet of seven Chevrolet Corvettes ranging in model year from 1954 to 2019. For one night only,

ELE IVORY ALBUM RELEASE FEAT. RILEY BUCK & WATSON MAACK

Often what makes good piano-driven pop music work is having the skill and the willingness to lean into the dramatic aspects of it. Singer-songwriter-keyboardist Ele Ivory brings both to the table in her work, which is about to culminate in the Sept. 3 release of her debut LP Drama Club Days; appropriately enough, the LP comes complete with a Kickstarterbacked visual companion. Ivory has a knack for addressing difficulties in human relationships in ways that’ll remind you of classic musicals. While that form encourages a certain kind of distance between the singer and the audience, she closes the gap by making the narratives intimate, as she sings in “We Can’t Be Friends,” one of the singles preceding the album: “Time I invested would have been better spent / Alone on my couch with a Coke and Netflix / At least my TV would have asked if I was still interested.” Two fellow Nashville pop songsmiths will provide support at Thursday night’s album release show: Riley Buck, whose songs have a bit more of a dream-pop bent to them, and Watson Maack, whose tunes lean more toward indie rock. 8 p.m. at The High Watt, 1 Cannery Row STEPHEN TRAGESER

SATURDAY / 9.04 MUSIC

MUSIC

THURSDAY / 9.02

[LET’S PUT ON A SHOW]

[IDIOMATIC MAVERICK]

PAT MCLAUGHLIN

Pat McLaughlin is a dynamic guitarist, singer and songwriter for whom there have never been idiomatic boundaries or restrictions. He’s penned tunes that have been made hits by artists ranging from Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt and Al Kooper to Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood and Don Williams. He’s earned both BMI Country and Americana Association honors for his writing, while also being an in-demand session guitarist whose impressive playing has enhanced projects by artists like Rosanne Cash, Neil Diamond, Shawn Camp and Julie Roberts. He’s perhaps best known in recent years for his many collaborations with John Prine, and his memorable acoustic playing was requested for Johnny Cash’s final recording sessions. Now McLaughlin can add bandleader to

nashvillescene.com | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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CRITICS’ PICKS

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JONELL MOSSER & FRIENDS W/ SCARLETT EGAN MAGIC CITY HIPPIES W/ COOL COMPANY

9/11

8:00

THE TIME JUMPERS

MON

8:00

JOE TROOP (OF CHE APALACHE)

TUE

BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS

WED

9/3 A JOURNEY TRIBUTE

9/4 HIT DAYTIME SONGWRITERS SHOW

SUN

PAT MCLAUGHLIN BAND LIZ COOPER

8:00 8:00

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9/6

TUE

9:00

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8:00 7:30

9/8 9/9 SAT

9/13 9/14 9/15

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PAT McLAUGHLIN his impressive résumé — he’s heading a first-rate ensemble at 3rd and Lindsley on Saturday night, with Kenny Greenberg, Michael Rhodes and Greg Morrow — each also an ace instrumentalist and studio musician. It’s a night to savor, and a chance to hear excellent players stretching out and doing material designed to spotlight their own talents for a change, rather than enhancing the music of others. 8 p.m. at 3rd and Lindsley, 818 Third Ave. S. RON WYNN

9/22-25

9/30

AMERICANAFEST 2021 FEAT. BRANDY CLARK, BRITTNEY SPENCER, SIERRA FERRELL, PAUL THORN & MORE

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COMING SOON 9-16 COUNTRY OUTDOORS PRESENTS MEGHAN PATRICK, JADEN HAMILTON, THE DAVISSON BROTHERS BAND & JOSH BAGWELL 9-17 THE EAGLEMANIACS: THE MUSIC OF DON HENLEY AND THE EAGLES 9-18 GUILTY PLEASURES 9-19 HEARTLESS BASTARDS W/ TELE NOVELLA

AMERICANAFEST 2021

9-22 PAUL THORN, TIM EASTON, TBA 9-23 KELSEY WALDON, LEAH BLEVINS, ASHLEY RAY, BRITTNEY SPENCER, BROCK GONYEA

9-24 SIERRA FERRELL, AARON RAITIERE, JIM LAUDERDALE, HOGSLOP STRING BAND, TEDDY THOMPSON & JENNI MULDAUR 9-25 BRANDY CLARK, EMILY SCOTT ROBINSON, EVAN BARTELS, RODNEY CROWELL, JULIAN TAYLOR 10-2 SUNNY SWEENEY W/ TYLER HALVERSON 10-7 THE WILDER BLUE 10-8 & 9 WILL HOGE 10-15 SERATONES 10-14 HUNTER METTS W/ WALKER BURROUGHS 10-17 EMILY WOLFE

10-19 TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS 11-3 WILLIE WATSON 11-6 ARLO MCKINLEY 11-7 LERA LYNN W/ ANDREW COMBS 11-9 LOVE HEALS EVERY BODY : A BENEFIT FOR THISTLE FARMS 11-14 LILLY HIATT / LYDIA LOVELESS

MUSIC

SUNDAY / 9.05 [REALITY CHECK]

GATECREEPER

Hailing from Arizona, death metal band Gatecreeper stands out from the guitarmangling crowd by virtue of their attention to detail. On this year’s full-length An Unexpected Reality, Gatecreeper divides the album into one side of seven songs that each clock in at about a minute, and another side that’s taken up by a single 11-minute tune, “Emptiness.” Actually, I can discern subtle differences among the album’s compositions, just as I can tell you that Gatecreeper is one of the more musically interesting death metal groups. On “Superspreader” and “Sick of Being Sober,”

riffs repeat in pleasing fashion, and the band achieves a kind of superstructure that suggests ties to more conventional music. I guess you could make one overarching song out of the fragments on An Unexpected Reality, but the brevity of those tracks says something about the band’s relationship to what is a pretty strange reality. Meanwhile, “Emptiness” grinds along in a slow tempo, and you do emerge from its reality with a sense of loss, although specifics are hard to come by in music that makes a virtue of unintelligible lyrics. I’m not complaining — after all, rock ’n’ roll is often about sound, not words. Also appearing at Drkmttr on Sunday night are a pair of Nashville postmetal bands, Thirdface and Mortius. 6 p.m. at Drkmttr, 1111 Dickerson Pike EDD HURT MUSIC

9/2 W/ JOBE FORTNER, KYLIE FREY

[HANGIN’ WITH MS. COOPER]

LIZ COOPER W/THE MANGO FURS

Before this blasted pandemic, psychedelic folk-rock singer and guitarist Liz Cooper was building a lot of momentum here in Nashville. Cooper and her backing band the Stampede’s 2018 release Window Flowers was a very strong debut LP, full of crowd-pleasers like “Mountain Man” that the trio had been workshopping live at venues all around the city and on the road. Well, much has

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CRITICS’ PICKS LIZ COOPER

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changed in the ensuing three years — not that we have to tell you that — including Cooper’s approach to making music. According to press materials, in the run-up to her new record Hot Sass (out Sept. 3 via Sleepyhead Records/Thirty Tigers), Cooper moved away from Nashville and parted ways with the Stampede in an official capacity. She tracked the new record with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals guitarist Benny Yurco at Little Jamaica Recordings in Burlington, Vt., and the finished product is something connected to Window Flowers but nevertheless new. Title track “Hot Sass” is a fuzzed-out explosion of punkish angst, while “Je T’Aime” is a melodically rich dose of psychedelic pop that owes a little bit of its musical DNA to “Taxman” (which is to say, it rocks). Fresh off an appearance at Bonnaroo, Cooper returns to Nashville this week to play Lightning 100’s Nashville Sunday Night series at 3rd and Lindsley with support from The Mango Furs. Proof of either full COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative COVID test is required to enter. 8 p.m. at 3rd and Lindsley, 818 Third Ave. S. D. PATRICK RODGERS

MUSIC

WEDNESDAY / 9.08 [TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE]

SPENCER CULLUM W/DOMINIC BILLETT

It’s a life’s work to be a fundamental player in a band — much less a lot of them, which is what Spencer Cullum Jr. and Dominic Billett do for a living. You’ve seen and heard Cullum playing pedal steel with (and on records by) folks like Caitlin Rose, Miranda Lambert, Deer Tick and Jonathan Wilson, as well as in his group Steelism with axman Jeremy Fetzer. Billett has played drums and other percussion with such shape-shifting songsmiths as Andrew Combs and Ron Gallo. In the past year, Billett and Cullum have released

outstanding solo records, and they’re just now getting an opportunity to celebrate them. Get down to The Basement early on Wednesday to hear songs from Cullum’s Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection, a pastoral prog-psych opus that features barely a jot of pedal steel, as well as tunes from Billett’s Two Peach Trees, a gently psychedelic pop ’n’ rock record on which he plays almost all the parts himself. The two contribute to each other’s records and perform with many of the same artists and bandmates in different configurations (some of whom Cullum refers to as his “coins”), so expect excellent ensembles and probably a superlative cameo or two. 7 p.m. at The Basement, 1604 Eighth Ave. S. STEPHEN TRAGESER

FILM

Be sure to stop by Natchez Hills Winery for tastings, flights, pints and bottles of local wine and craft beer.

[WHY SO SPURIOUS]

NIGHTLIGHT 615 PRESENTS THE DARK KNIGHT

I can’t help but think that The Dark Knight — Christopher Nolan’s 2008 Batman Begins follow-up — marked the beginning of our current era as a moviegoing culture. Of course, there were many superhero movies that came before this. (Don’t forget, Iron Man won over audiences two months earlier.) But considering how Knight was that rarest of summer blockbusters — a movie that lived up to the hype, made by an acclaimed auteur, featuring awardcaliber performances and a story that’s both faithful to canon and relevant to the terror-heavy times — audiences began craving more superhero movies that exhibited the same awesomeness. Cut to today: We continue to be inundated with superhero movies — some good, many bad — that Hollywood churns out in lieu of original projects. These films also have a hardcore fanbase of geeks, nerds and fanboys, ready to spew toxic menace online if anyone speaks ill of them. (Do I even need to bring up Martin Scorsese?) Anyway, the NightLight 615 series will be screening

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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SEPTEMBER 7

STEVE CROPPER’S 80TH BIRTHDAY BASH WITH BILLY F. GIBBONS, JEFF “ SKUNK” BAXTER OF STEELY DAN AND THE DOOBIE BROTHERS, JASON SCHEFF OF CHICAGO, PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS!

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at PARNASSUS – SIGNING EVENT ONLY The Last Legacy 2:00PM

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SEPTEMBER SELECTIONS:

LAUREN GROFF 2:00PM

TOMMY EMMANUEL, CGP

BOZ SCAGGS

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

MARSHA FORCHUCK SKRYPUCH & DEBORAH HOPKINSON on FB LIVE Traitors Among Us & We Must Not Forget 6:15PM

NOVEMBER 21

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

SALON@615 with BECCA STEVENS

WITH THE WAR AND TREATY AND SIERRA HULL ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

on FB LIVE Practically Divine 6:30PM

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

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MARGARET RENKL at HARPETH HALL Grace, at Last 6:30PM

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

HEATHER MONTGOMERY & REBECCA HIRSCH on FB LIVE What’s In Your Pocket? & Night Creatures 6:30PM

JERRY PARK

at PARNASSUS Slow Roads America

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3900 Hillsboro Pike Suite 14 Nashville, TN 37215 (615) 953-2243 Shop online at parnassusbooks.net nashvillescene.com | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

CRITICS’ PICKS

THE DARK KNIGHT

[DIRT DON’T HURT]

DIRTY FENCES W/COUNTRY WESTERNS & NIGHT TALKERS

Around 10 years ago, you couldn’t throw a rock and not hit a Ramones-and-ReddKross-inspired garage-rock outfit like Dirty Fences. But where most of the bands the East Coast combo used to play with are long gone, the Fences have hung tough. The foursome turned a corner creatively with the 2016 7-inch “Tommy & CC,” which introduced a mellower, more nuanced

EVERGREEN: TV

OCTOBER 2

THINGS YOU CAN DO ANY TIME

Celebrating the legacy of Black Music in Nashville with a unique multi-location musical experience. Benefitting the National Museum of African American Music.

FEATURING

DEVON GILLFILLION Tickets go on sale on September 2nd. Details at www.lovenoise.net Music City Night Train is an event produced by Lovenoise with support by WeGo Public Transit & Acme Radio Live.

[FEELING SO FINE]

WATCH FEEL GOOD

I’m old enough to remember when The L Word was the only lesbian show on television. Very much a series of its time, The L Word didn’t give us a great variety of queer women, but something was better than nothing. Today, there’s much more. I just binged the Netflix series Feel Good, created by and starring stand-up comic Mae Martin in a semi-autobiographical story. Martin plays Mae, a Canadian living in England, who meets bi-curious George (Charlotte Ritchie) one night after her stand-up gig. The two fall hard and fast in true lesbian fashion, moving in together and professing their love within days. George wrestles with her sexuality, which creates conflict, while Mae wrestles with demons as a former drug user. Season 2 goes deeper still, with Mae finally addressing teenage trauma. Both characters are infuriating and charming, and the actors dig deep to bring complex themes to the surface. While these are heavy, it’s all balanced with humor. Mae’s endless non sequiturs, George’s awkward coming-out to friends and family, and Lisa Kudrow as Mae’s mother all provide levity and show our propensity to hide pain in jokes. In Feel Good, the jokes are damn funny. Sadly, Martin isn’t making a third season. But as with reading a short story, you get a sense of the full narrative

iteration of the group, one operating at a more leisurely clip to better emphasize its colorful dual-guitar action. “At the time [‘Tommy & CC’] was an outlier, but it’s strengthened our confidence in exploring different moods since then for sure,” bassist Max Roseglass tells the Scene. Roseglass & Co. recently reconvened with “Tommy” engineer Josh Hahn at his NYC studio Relic Room to record an album’s worth of new material that they’ve been parceling out as a series of digital singles on Bandcamp. Hear it in the flesh — and officially welcome Roseglass, who moved to Nashville in 2019, to town — at this 5 Spot gig. Get there early-ish for Country Westerns, whose ragged, Replacements-inspired jangle-punk originals never disappoint, plus fellow locals Night Talkers. 9 p.m. at The 5 Spot, 1006 Forrest Ave. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

arc in a relatively short amount of time. ERICA CICCARONE

PODCAST

MUSIC

the Oscar-winning work of art that unfortunately set off all this bullshit. The event will feature food trucks (including Pinchy’s Lobster Co, Daddy’s Dogs and more), adult beverages and a pre-movie DJ. 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, 600 James Robertson Parkway CRAIG D. LINDSEY

[AUDIO ARTISTRY]

LISTEN TO A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM WITH PLAY ON PODCASTS

As exciting as it has been to get back to live, in-person performances, I must admit that the last 18 months or so have really opened my eyes in terms of how we define and experience theater. One of my favorite digital discoveries has been Play On Podcasts, a cool new series of “Shakespearean audio adventures” from Next Chapter Podcasts and Play On Shakespeare. The series opened earlier this year with a fierce reimagining of Macbeth (featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Peppermint, Monét X Change and Manila Luzon as the Witches), followed by a darkly engaging take on Pericles. The latest installment offers a fresh adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Jeff Whitty, and is directed by Catherine Eaton. As always, the cast features a great mix of talent from television, stage and film — including the aforementioned Manila Luzon and Tony nominee David Furr (Noises Off) as the regal Hippolyta and Theseus. New episodes go live every Friday and run about 30 minutes, plus there’s plenty of bonus content, such as interviews with actors and directors and more. To learn more, visit ncpodcasts.com/ playonpodcast. Available to stream via Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. AMY STUMPFL

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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Saturday and Sunday, September 4 – 5

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Grand Master Fiddler Championship 9:45 AM – 5:00 pm • FORD THEATER

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Friday, October 8 THE PRINE FAMILY PRESENTS

Saturday, September 11 SONGWRITER SESSION

Brittney Spencer

You Got Gold CMA THEATER

•

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NOON – 12:45 pm • FORD THEATER

Saturday, October 23

Saturday, September 18

Nurse Blake

SONGWRITER SESSION

J.T. Harding

NOON – 12:45 pm • FORD THEATER

The PTO Comedy Tour CMA THEATER

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Saturday, October 2

Matt Jenkins

Willie Nelson And Family

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ART

CRAWL SPACE: SEPTEMBER 2021 September’s First Saturday marks a colorful start to the fall art season BY JOE NOLAN

WEDGEWOOD-HOUSTON

Zeitgeist Gallery opens a brand-new twoartist show in September, and it’s an intriguing pairing of painting and photography that juxtaposes themes of conflict and calm to sizzling effect. Jeremiah Ariaz has used photography to document private and public spaces in a way that delivers social and political messages about poverty and myths of the American West. His We Hold These Truths exhibition at Zeitgeist in 2020 pictured people and places from across the country in the days before the election of Joe Biden, and this new display reads like a bookend to that work. Talking Hard Traveling Battleground Blues captures dystopian scenes of urban ruins, protest and civil unrest in socalled “battleground states” from the same period. Photography’s capacity for magnifying the mundane and charging everyday people and places with meaning makes it a powerful tool for political and social messaging. Ariaz smartly uses the medium’s objective, documentary capabilities to make activist art that’s never preachy or overly pedantic, leaving viewers to make meanings for themselves. Local painter Megan Lightell was all set to do a new series of Western

landscape paintings when Nashville’s 2020 tornado and the pandemic put an end to her travel plans. Instead, the artist doubled down on her documenting of the natural spaces here in Nashville, finding longtime subjects renewed with deeper meaning, as parks and greenways became places of health and liberation for many Nashvillians during the time of social distancing. Lightell’s paintings of vibrant local spaces like Bells Bend are gauzy and gorgeous impressionistic works — equal parts document and daydream. Both shows open Saturday, and the gallery will be open from noon until 6 p.m. I love shows that pair painting and photography almost as much as I love displays that blur the line between painting and sculpture, and Nick Fagan’s exhibition at Coop uses one of the lowliest materials you can find in any gallery and makes it fine art. Go into the storage area of any art gallery or institution, and you’ll likely find moving blankets everywhere — lining cardboard moving bins, wrapping sculptures, rolled up as padding to keep gilded frames from scraping hard floors when arranging a gallery layout. Of course moving blankets can also be found in our own home storage, where they protect fragile and valuable objects while they themselves are strictly utilitarian, plain and unadorned, and often damn near cheap enough to be disposable. Nick Fagan borrows from Joseph Beuys’ ideas of charged objects, and turns these humble blankets that have been draped over and wrapped around masterpieces into a massive painted tapestry installation that’s decorated by the artist’s whimsical geomet-

channel finds the singer covering “The Tracks of My Tears” to give-you-the-chills effect. In this age of breathy, mumbling singers, Hartlin’s vast range and idiosyncratic phrasing is refreshingly unique, and she makes the Smokey Robinson classic all her own, backed only by some deft picking on her trusty Taylor. After the tunes, Converge’s resident artists will culminate their projects when Hannah McCarthy leads a group of dancers through an improvisational performance within Beth Reitmeyer’s illuminated installation, Thunderstorm. Music starts at 5 p.m. at 1231 Martin St. Mark Todd’s signature flower paintings have given him an international following, and he’s done illustration work for clients like MTV, The New Yorker and Rolling Stone. Todd’s Love Songs exhibition opened at Julia Martin Gallery last month, and runs through Sept. 25. The exhibition includes a varied display of wooden and ceramic vinyl record replicas that the artist painted in his signature style, mimicking favorites from his family’s large music collection, which includes sides from his grandfather-in-law’s discs from his days as the owner of a Texas radio station. Art for music fans is always a hit in Nashville, and you can crank it up all day at Martin’s gallery from noon until 9 p.m., with refreshments starting at 6. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM “LOVELY DAY,” MARK TODD

Paul Roden is a former Nashvillian who now lives and operates his art studio in the heart of the Rust Belt renaissance in Andy Warhol’s hometown of Pittsburgh. Roden draws and paints, and he’s spent years as a printmaker with a signature style that’s heavily influenced by traditional woodcuts. Roden was born in Nashville, and after earning an MFA from the University of South Dakota he returned to town for a short time in the mid-Aughts. Back then, Roden’s work was more narrative and often spoke to environmental and anti-corporate themes. In our current era of activist art overload, Roden has smartly shifted his practice toward unique individual expressions that are more purely formal, emphasizing the vibrant colors and energetic lines that have always been a highlight of the artist’s work. Roden’s latest works eschew direct political and social messaging to deliver more metaphorical, poetic and meditative imagery. I’m especially into the artist’s recent Cave Painting series, which reflects his work as a designer and pictures prehistoric animals against colorful geometric backdrops. Roden has recently been added to Chauvet Art’s artist roster, and his landscape painting “Pittview” is one of the highlights of the gallery’s current Balance: Order Out of Chaos show, which runs through October. Chauvet will be open for the downtown crawl on Saturday from 6 until 9 p.m.

“PITTVIEW,” PAUL RODEN

DOWNTOWN

ric abstract designs. Coop will hold an opening for Labor and Its Large Souls on Saturday from 4 until 7 p.m. Converge will host the last of its Grassroots Art Park series with a full evening program of arts and music. Converge deploys creative placemaking projects using art and design, and this series brought music to Wedgewood-Houston’s summertime art events, helping fill the gap left from the closing of Infinity Cat. This Saturday’s lineup includes music from Canadian singer-songwriter Joel Guptill, whose latest single “How Do I Break” combines Paul Simon-esque lyricism and bluesy guitar runs into slow dance-folkpop. Guptill opens for Makena Hartlin, whose recent video on the Pitch Meeting YouTube

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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8/30/21 6:20 PM

THEATER

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Nashville Shakespeare Festival continues with a rollicking good Twelfth Night

illiam Shakespeare may have originally written his perennial favorite Twelfth Night as a bit of holiday revelry to close the Christmas season. TWELFTH NIGHT THROUGH But with fast-paced humor and lively SEPT. 12 AT ONEC1TY, AND SEPT. 18-19 AT THE original music, it’s WILLIAMSON COUNTY hard to imagine a PERFORMING ARTS CENTER better choice for an evening of Summer Shakespeare in the park. Director Jim Warren has elected to set the classic comedy — a raucous tale of mistaken identity and unrequited love — in what could be present-day Nashville. As the founding artistic director of the Virginiabased American Shakespeare Center, Warren is widely recognized as one of the foremost authorities on Shakespeare’s original staging conditions, and invites us to lean into a theatrical experience marked by cheeky contemporary references, minimal set and plenty of sassy asides to the audience. As the story opens, we meet Viola — a young woman shipwrecked and alone, believing her twin brother Sebastian to have died in the storm. Determined to make her own way, Viola disguises herself as a man, takes the name Cesario, and goes to work for the kindly Duke Orsino — immediately falling in love with him. Oblivious to the situation, Orsino sends his new servant as an intermediary to declare his love for the

beautiful countess Olivia — who promptly falls in love with the dutiful young messenger, rather than the Duke. It may sound rather confusing, but fortunately Warren has assembled a strong ensemble of players who make the most of the Bard’s witty text and comedic chaos. Melissa Rakiro leads the way as the daring Viola, bringing a wonderful sense of joy and optimism to the role. Kenneth La’Ron Hamilton II also succeeds as the benevolent Orsino, and Alison Campbell is terrific as the lovely Olivia — balancing her character’s initial melancholy with an unmistakable touch of hopeful romance. Meanwhile, Topher Embrey brings a decidedly youthful energy to the role of Sir Toby Belch, working the crowd for big, bawdy laughs. As Toby’s sidekick Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Richard Colley demonstrates a real gift for goofy pratfalls, punctuating his lines with a marvelous mix of befuddled expressions. And Miranda Pepin is truly outstanding as the clever lady-in-waiting Maria, going toe to toe with her male counterparts while showing a real command of the language. David Wilkerson is great fun as the ohso-pompous steward Malvolio, making the most of the part’s physical humor. (Watching him painfully curl his lips as he practices “smiling” is a special delight.) And composer/musician Tom Mason (of Nashville’s

PHOTOS: MICHAEL GOMEZ

BY AMY STUMPFL

own Tom Mason and the Blue Buccaneers) delivers an unusual swashbuckling twist on the role of Feste the Fool, while also providing rollicking guitar licks and a polished original soundtrack. Yes, many of the song titles and lyrics are taken from Shakespeare himself, but the music is Mason all the way. Shane Lowery’s brick-faced set is simple but efficient, and includes a narrow thrust stage that brings the action — and music — out into the park. Denese Kelley’s contemporary costumes support the production’s overall concept. I just wish the design elements felt a bit more cohesive and intentional, but it’s a minor concern in such an engaging and entertaining production. And as I took my seat in the park Friday night, I was reminded that the annual Nashville Shakespeare Festival is about much more than just celebrating the incredible works of William Shakespeare. It’s about the friends we meet there. The connections and community we share, sitting together under the stars and enjoying the magic of live performance. Welcome back, Nashville Shakes. It’s sure good to see you again. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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BOOKS

THE YAWNING GAP

Mary Adkins’ Palm Beach probes the ethics of the ultra-rich BY SEAN KINCH

ebecca and Mickey, the married couple at the center of Mary Adkins’ novel Palm Beach, think they already know about the lives of the ultra-wealthy. As a journalist, Rebecca specializes in stories that focus on the “massive, yawning gap between the well-to-do and the barely-getting-by.” Mickey, a New York stage actor who supplements his theater income by working as a caterer, observes the foibles of the rich in their native habitat. PALM BEACH BY MARY ADKINS HARPER, 304 PAGES $26.99

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When they move to South Florida and become enmeshed in the affairs of billionaires, however, Rebecca and Mickey learn that the boons and burdens of wealth are more profound than they imagined. They also discover that money is a faulty shield against the buffets of fate. Crises in their personal lives push the decision to move. Rebecca has given birth to their first child. A freelance writer, Rebecca has no maternity leave and janky health care. Mickey, whose powerful voice landed him roles in Broadway musicals, develops a vocal hemorrhage and, after surgical complications, faces the prospect that his stage career is over. When one of Mickey’s catering clients, billionaire Freddy Wampler, offers him a six-figure salary to become the “house manager” of Wampler’s Palm Beach estate, Rebecca and Mickey pack up their Queens apartment and fly south. The plot thickens when Cecil Stone, even wealthier than Wampler, lures Mickey away by offering to double his salary. For the first time in their married lives, Rebecca and Mickey buy new furniture and a new car and eat at nice restaurants. Their lives become further entangled with the Stones’ when Cecil’s wife Astrid asks Rebecca to write her “memoirs.” Adkins unfolds the narrative as a series of ethical dilemmas, beginning with the choice to work for Cecil Stone, a “vulture capitalist” responsible for gutting shopping malls and newspapers. “Working for someone doesn’t mean endorsing what they do,” Mickey argues. Rebecca disagrees but eventually goes along with Mickey’s choice, in large part because she wants to glean information about the Stones and their coterie for her online column in New York magazine. As in Adkins’ 2020 novel Privilege, Palm Beach is centrally concerned with class divisions, particularly how the system’s winners fail to comprehend the struggles of the working class. After a frustrating encounter

with Mr. Stone, Rebecca thinks, “What was it with rich people and the refusal to acknowledge that demographic factors largely determined wealth?” Rebecca tries to make the Stones see that there are alternatives to profit-maximizing, rapacious capitalism, but they merely smile and nod. To them, she is simply a “show pony,” a testament to their open-mindedness. The presence of Astrid raises interesting questions about wealth and gender. Astrid tells Rebecca the story of her ascent from Mississippi farm girl to Wellesley graduate and later success as the owner of a vineyard. Rebecca finds much to admire. “Astrid Stone wasn’t pretending not to care about money,” Rebecca says. “She didn’t seem to be pretending, period. … Men tended to be unnerved by women that direct.” Despite her appearance of candor, Astrid is cagey when it comes to the secrets of her financial windfalls. No one, it appears, rises to the .01 percent without taking dubious shortcuts. More divisive than gender issues are the generational conflicts that arise over the ethics of capitalism. Rebecca, who was raised on a farm in Tennessee, rebels against her parents by becoming a vegan. She rants to everyone about the evils of industrial farming, but “it was easier for Rebecca to forgive strangers for eating ham, dairy, and eggs than to forgive her own parents for producing” them. The Stones’ daughter Elle similarly “threw a tantrum” during college about her father’s exploitation of labor. As Mickey becomes acclimated to the Stones’ excesses, his work drives a wedge between him and his wife. He is not bothered by serving $35,000 bottles of wine at lunch or by the capitalist predations that enable such a lifestyle. “I don’t care that he’s a billionaire,” Mickey tells Rebecca. Rebecca pledges, somewhat facetiously, to continue “speaking truth to power,” but when a crisis involving their son poses a financial problem, she is tempted to commit the very ethical transgressions she has spent a lifetime decrying. This novel about wealth becomes a story about health — who can afford the best health care and who suffers from our inequitable system. Rebecca tries to explain to Stone the connections between poverty and health, but he rejects her logic. “I’ve had cancer four times,” Stone says. “And it hasn’t stopped me from steadily increasing my net worth.” Adkins’ contrast between the two couples brings the ethical questions into relief, but at their core they represent choices that everyone faces: How do we balance work and life? What compromises are we willing to make for the well-being of our families? For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC

THERE AND BACK AGAIN Madi Diaz seeks out a stronger version of herself on History of a Feeling BY LORIE LIEBIG

PHOTO: NATALIE OSBORNE

avigating the healing process after a profound and complicated heartbreak is never easy, nor is it linear. On her new album History of a Feeling, Madi Diaz runs the gauntlet of powHISTORY OF A FEELING erful and sometimes OUT NOW ON ANTIbrutal feelings that bubble up during the winding journey toward healing. Around a decade ago, when she was in her mid-20s, Diaz was making a name for herself as a Nashville pop-rock songsmith. She made a move to Los Angeles, but as the years went by, the now-35-year-old found herself being called back to Music City more and more often. She traveled back and forth for a growing number of opportunities that popped up, like songwriting sessions and a chance to sing on Miranda Lambert’s critically acclaimed double album The Weight of These Wings. When an intense long-term relationship ended in 2017, Diaz drove her beloved 1997 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck from California all the way back. “I was going through a pretty difficult breakup, probably one of the bigger loves of my life, and I was really needing to ground myself,” Diaz tells the Scene. “I just wanted to dig myself into the earth, hunker down and heal. Nashville is just nurturing in a way that I really needed at that time.” Over the next two years, she funneled the range of emotions that bubbled out into her writing. She penned more than 100 songs during that period, using the process as a way to heal herself. What seemed to help the most was the opportunity that songwriting afforded for her to view those experiences through a different lens. “I was definitely word-slash-feelings vomiting in a very intentional kind of way,” she says with a small laugh. “It’s making space to move forward. You have to carry all this with you — around for forever. But if you’re going to do that, you have to organize it in a way that’s just easier to carry than it is in its current or original state.” With the help of co-producer Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver), Diaz created a sound that sets the scene for each song’s gut-punching lyrics. Rich layers of acoustic guitar and soft piano on “Man in Me” feel at home next to the relentless percussion and electric guitar grooves that navigate the spiraling anxiety of “Nervous.” Despite the songs coming across very differently, Diaz’s voice — whose gentleness makes searing anger stand out when it flashes through — is the connecting thread. When the pandemic hit, the pressure to deliver — and deliver often — was eased for Diaz. With the bulk of the record ready, she was left with more time to focus on making History of a Feeling exactly what she wanted. “2020 was just kind of like a, ‘Let’s all just

sit with ourselves for forever’ kind of thing, which was both good and bad,” she says. “I really tend to kind of blow through things and get [the record] out as quickly as possible. This kind of forced me to be really precious with things like mixing and track listing order.” The result is a thoughtful and unsparing look at the many facets of a relationship as it crumbles and the process of transformation that can happen afterward. Diaz sings to the listener as though they were a close friend on a late-night FaceTime call, unafraid to be painfully honest throughout the conversation. Tracks like “Woman in My Heart” and “History of a Feeling” blossom from longing for the comfort of the companionship that’s gone and missing who you were before

things exploded. “Crying in Public” marks those moments of vulnerability and uncertainty we often try to hide from the outside world. Just after moving back to Nashville, exhausted and overwhelmed, Diaz emerged from a grocery store to find her truck wouldn’t start. After breaking down in tears in the parking lot, engulfed by frustration — and, in turn, questioning every choice that led her there — she found that the seed for a song was planted. “With any major decision, afterwards you’re like, ‘What did I just do?’ ” she says. “ ‘Why did I just drag myself all the way across the country? I don’t even know what I’m doing here.’ ” An anthem for those determined to move forward, the stunning “New Person, Old

Place” finds Diaz trying to turn the page and break old patterns. “Resentment,” which was previously recorded by Kesha for her 2020 record High Road, cuts incredibly deep, detailing the pain that comes from your partner taking you for granted. Although it was born out of a drive toward finding closure, History of a Feeling emerged as a vehicle toward growth for Diaz, both personally and artistically. “This record really was such a huge learning curve for me because I couldn’t rush it. I couldn’t just write a song about how I’m, like, good now, and moving on — because it just wasn’t real. I had to be super patient with myself, and it was hard, but today, I’m still proud of the record.” EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

nashvillescene.com | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | NASHVILLE SCENE

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MUSIC

ANOTHER LOOK

style. Anderson co-produced the record with Taylor Lonardo, who handled the engineering, mixing and mastering at his studio. Sandy Ramos and Lauren Smith collaborated with Anderson to write the title selection, and Mike Zito provides distinctive guitar assistance on “Back to Chicago.” But otherwise it’s Anderson’s stirring leads and guitar riffs, along with her band’s glovetight support, that make Love on the Rocks a first-rate release. RON WYNN

The Scene’s music writers recommend recent releases from Sturgill Simpson, Mercy Bell, Intro and more BY EDD HURT, BRITTNEY McKENNA, LORIE LIEBIG, DARYL SANDERS, STEPHEN TRAGESER, CHARLIE ZAILLIAN AND RON WYNN

massive festival season is starting up right now — read a lot more about that in our Fall Guide on p. 18 — but the parade of outstanding recordings never ceases. Our writers have 14 new FIND LINKS TO STREAM AND recommendations BUY THESE RECORDS AT (from 11 artists) NASHVILLESCENE.COM/MUSIC for you from a broad range of Music City musicians. Add ’em to your streaming queue or get a physical copy from your favorite record store. Or drop them on your wish list for #BandcampFriday, the promotion in which the platform waives its cut of artist fees on the first Friday of the month — the next installment of which is Sept. 3.

STURGILL SIMPSON, THE BALLAD OF DOOD & JUANITA (HIGH TOP MOUNTAIN) Sturgill Simpson’s roots have always been squarely in bluegrass, an influence that runs through his debut solo album, 2013’s High Top Mountain, and is right out in front on the two volumes of his Cuttin’ Grass series that he released in 2020. Simpson’s latest project, the delightfully titled concept album The Ballad of Dood & Juanita, connects those roots to other influences of Simpson’s — namely traditional country and cosmic Americana — through the captivating story of a couple named Dood and Juanita (after Simpson’s real-life grandparents). The pair are separated by an act of violence, and Simpson and a crack band of players (with a cameo from Willie Nelson) provide a down-home, cinematic soundtrack to their struggle to reunite. BRITTNEY McKENNA

DAVID FERGUSON, NASHVILLE NO MORE (FAT POSSUM) Producer-engineer extraordinaire David R. Ferguson has spent the past 40 years helping musicians — including his mentor Cowboy Jack Clement and other luminaries like John Prine, Johnny Cash, Margo Price and the aforementioned Simpson — transform great songs into great records. On his new LP, Ferguson puts his own spin on 10 tunes that caught his ear during that time with help from A-list country and bluegrass players. Together, they render tunes like Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times Come Again No More” and Guy Clark’s “Boats to Build” in a rich but organic fashion — an overall effect that recalls his work with stars galore. STEPHEN TRAGESER

MERCY BELL, GOLDEN CHILD (SELF-RELEASED) On its surface, Mercy Bell’s Golden Child reads like an homage to 1990s country as perfected by singers like Kathy Mattea and Terri Clark. Golden Child is no mere pastiche, however. Bell, whose self-titled 2019 album established the Nashville singer and songwriter as a queer Americana artist of uncommon range, turns the conventions of post-Garth, post-Lucinda Williams poprock-country to her own purposes. Bell’s

lucent voice slides through a set of first-rate songs with ease — and a hint of pain. In “Big Sky, Wide Open,” Bell sings: “I’m so lonesome in this town / Got someone at home / Who’s drinking round after round after round.” Golden Child amounts to a reworking of those bighearted tropes from 30 years ago, and Bell’s lyrics communicate loss, longing and ecstasy. EDD HURT

ANDERSON EAST, MAYBE WE NEVER DIE (LOW COUNTRY SOUND/ELEKTRA) With his latest record Maybe We Never Die, Anderson East pushes his sound far beyond the sleek, retro-inspired soul that kick-started his career. Co-produced by East, Philip Towns and Dave Cobb, the 12-song LP is packed with elements plucked from both classic and modern R&B, synth-driven ’80s pop and groovy funk. East’s effortlessly smooth vocals still take the spotlight, but this time they feel elevated further by this richer, intricately crafted soundscape. Still as soulful as ever, East leads listeners through a sort of existential journey, filled with moments of intense passion, fragile vulnerability and human curiosity. Like most of us, Anderson is probably still looking for the answers of what it all means in the end, but his journey to find out is worth taking. LORIE LIEBIG

ANDY PEAKE, MOOD SWINGS (BIG LITTLE) Often when a career sideman makes a record of his own, it’s a reminder of why he is a sideman. Not so with the new album from drummer Andy Peake. Peake (who’s kept time for Tanya Tucker, Delbert McClinton and more) easily steps into the spotlight on this swinging collection that ranges from sophisticated, swampy rock to jazzier fare. In addition to being a hot drummer, he shows he’s also an engaging vocalist with a gravelly, soulful voice and a talented songwriter with a knack for clever wordplay. Peake is accompanied on the album’s 11 tracks by some of his accomplished musician friends, including John Cowan, who shares vocals on a moving cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” DARYL SANDERS

WAYNE MOSH, POST TRUTH, DESTINY HUNT AND ...IS WAYNE MOSH REDUX (SELF-RELEASED) The Katies haven’t been what you’d call prolific since their most active period about 20 years ago. The power-pop band of brothers crashed the Murfreesboro/ Spongebath Records party just a little too late, and their 1999 self-titled album inspired fans who’ve remained loyal, if too few in number to make the trio into stars. In April, I interviewed frontman-guitarist Jason Moore, drummer Joshua Moore and bassist Gary Welch about Die Ultra, their mind-bogglingly good, much-better-latethan-never follow-up, which is complete but still doesn’t have a release date. However, Jason Moore has been a songwriting machine as of late. Under the name Wayne Mosh, he’s uploaded three full-length records to his Bandcamp profile this year. Post Truth has an All Things Must Pass vibe, ...Is Wayne Mosh Redux conjures bedroom pop through the lens of Dr. Dog, and Destiny Hunt’s “Lenina to Bernard” offers a hornfilled Elvis-Cure pastiche. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

INTRO, WELCOME TO NEXT YEAR (THIRD EYE) Usually, you expect someone who raps as dynamically as Intro to identify as an extrovert, but that isn’t the case (hence his stage name, short for “introvert” rather than “introduction”). His debut album Welcome to Next Year is a thoughtful consideration of planting seeds and patiently awaiting the fruit, in spite of disadvantages and distractions. “Flow” is without a doubt the right word for Intro’s rhymes, which glide along over beats inspired by R&B from the ’70s through the ’90s, dancing gracefully along the emotional contours of the stories. STEPHEN TRAGESER

TIM EASTON, YOU DON’T REALLY KNOW ME (BLACK MESA) Sifting through the catalog of widely traveled, Nashville-residing cult-fave songsmith Tim Easton, one finds a trove of straight-shooting tunes falling somewhere between the agile acoustic melancholia of the late Nick Drake and a trad-leaning slant on Wilco’s starry-eyed Americana. Easton has described You Don’t Really Know Me as an album about recovery, in many different aspects. Lines like these from “Real Revolution” bear that out: “Tired

of backsliding, living in the past / Tired of going absolutely nowhere fast.” More interesting, though, is his been-there-donethat take on modern celebrity. “It takes more than one mistake to define a lifetime,” Easton sings on the title track, understatedly condemning the public’s eagerness to jump down people’s throats at the slightest hint of a snafu. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN

LAUREN ANDERSON, LOVE ON THE ROCKS (SELFRELEASED) Vocalist and guitarist Lauren Anderson’s second LP adeptly blends elements of blues, rock and soul, featuring nine originals that showcase her powerful singing approach and energetic, resourceful guitar

ERGO, BRIA, “PLETHORA,” “WHEN YOU CALL ME LOVELY” AND “I THINK NOT” (SELF-RELEASED) For the most part, we focus on longerform releases in this column, but Bria McCollum’s singles (released under the name Ergo, Bria) merit special attention. The Atlanta-born singer-songwriter and Belmont student draws on influences from shoegaze and grunge to pop-punk and sludgy ’90s heavy music. While the tracks all sound a bit different, McCollum keeps a through line with a rich and expressive voice and thoughtful lyrics about pushing back against the forces that make you feel like you don’t have a place. The best may be yet to come, but what’s here is pretty great already. STEPHEN TRAGESER EMAIL MUSIC@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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MUSIC

THE SPIN

AN ESTIMATE ON THE REPAIRS

BY STEPHEN TRAGESER

PHOTO: BRANDON DE LA CRUZ

or a while, it’s been fairly routine for songwriters who’ve aged out of the punk scene to make their way into the folkAmericana-country sphere. If you care about writing and singing songs that tell stories about how to survive a life on Earth, you’re going to find a way to continue doing it when you look at the world a bit differently than you did at age 19 — and your body doesn’t behave quite the same way, either. Darrin Bradbury has navigated this transition very well. As photog Brandon de la Cruz pointed out when we compared notes after Bradbury’s album release party Friday night at The Basement, the Madison-residing singersongwriter and self-described “folk satirist” has refined his instinct for immediacy and economy of language, which likely served him well as a young New Jersey punk. When Bradbury picks out an image or a subject to feature in one of his songs, he gets it across succinctly, but in a way that never feels clipped or forced. He’s also carried over a few other things from his punk days, but more on that in a moment. The show began with a solo acoustic performance from Coralee, one of Bradbury’s favorite songwriters from area writers’ rounds. As she told the crowd, she came to Music City a few years back following breakups with her partner, her band The Townies and her previous hometown of Lexington, Ky. She sang in a bright voice with only the faintest hint of a drawl, but the overwhelming feeling was one of sadness. Near the end of her set, she quipped, “I’m a happy gal, I swear!” It seems like writing and singing melancholy tunes can be a healthy way to figure out what to do with those feelings; hearing songs like Coralee’s “The Music,” a poignant and nuanced look at infatuation, made me feel a little better about squaring up to the messy state of everything. Bradbury came up next for an abbreviated acoustic set of his own. He picked a few songs, written since the recording of his just-released album Artvertisement, that are in tune with living in a time where part of “normal” seems to be reckoning with profound unease. Bradbury has significant experience coping with mental illness; as he explained in press materials, he spent a couple months last year in residential treatTELL YOUR CHILDREN: DARRIN BRADBURY

ment, participating in intensive therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder and PTSD, which has given him lots of new perspective on his work. But the older songs he played weren’t any less insightful. Among the standouts was “Breakfast,” a wry tune from his 2019 LP Talking Dogs & Atom Bombs that is built around observations on a lonesome morning in the suburbs. Bemused, Bradbury pointed out that “Breakfast” somehow took off on Spotify and has been played more than 100,000 times. After a couple requests, Bradbury put down his guitar and called up his band, which Coralee dubbed “The Dudes.” As he cranked his mic stand up as high as he could get and angled the mic down at himself — “Gotta get into Danzig position,” he said, laughing — he informed us that the band helped him make Artvertisement during the week in March 2020 between the deadly tornadoes in Middle Tennessee and widespread shutdowns due to the infernal COVID pandemic. The complement included Scottie Prudhoe on electric and acoustic guitars, Ryan Sobb (also a standout songwriter) on second electric guitar, Preston Cochran on bass and keys and Chase Ballenger at the drum kit. The album is Bradbury’s most rollicking and sonically adventurous release yet, and the band ripped into it with even more gusto than on the recording. They played the record in full, though not in order, roaring out of the gate with “Busted World,” whose refrain — “We are strangers here in stranger times” — feels like a rallying cry. “Artvertisement,” a dramatization of a meeting Bradbury once had with a clueless label rep, was delivered as a full-throated hardcore-punk missive with an allusion to Joni Mitchell buried in the middle. The intensity simmered down a smidgen but stayed high even through more mellow tunes like “XXY Top Left,” in which Bradbury extrapolates on a musing about the nature of reality by fellow songwriter Rayvon Pettis. As the group tuned up for “Exile on Myrtle Beach,” Bradbury chuckled and joked that his doctor would probably call this performance “good cardio.” The final tune of the night was “Mikey Shoulda Died,” a song about a musician and scenester who has changed his self-destructive habits but hasn’t changed his perspective. Or put more elegantly, as Bradbury did: “There’s a sadness in his smile that says far more than his songs these days.” While the band played on, Bradbury finished his lines and strolled out the front door of the club, emphasizing through his actions how the exchange between artist and audience is something incredibly special, and either party takes it for granted at their peril. EMAIL THESPIN@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

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Erin Viancourt, Granville Automatic americanafest

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eonardo da Vinci was lucky enough to live centuries before “branding” and “posttruth” became buzzwords. But as Andreas Koefoed’s new documentary The Lost Leonardo shows, his legacy is still tarnished by them. Interviewing art critics, restorer Dianne Modestini, dealers and even a former CIA agent, Koefoed constructs two narratives out of his material. First, The Lost Leonardo shows the process by which the “Salvador Mundi,” a painting of Jesus rediscovered in New Orleans, transforms from a Renaissance portrait in the style of da Vinci that could’ve been painted by anyone to a certified da Vinci masterpiece. The second one is related, showing the painting’s vast elevation in price. It initially sold for the reasonable price of $1,175, but exponential inflation set in by the time Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman paid almost half a billion dollars for it. One could draw much larger conclusions from these two stories, but Koefoed sticks close to his material. The art world’s venality is a common target in documentaries and, more rarely, narrative films. The Lost Leonardo reveals a hidden world of tax-free storage in airports, as well as the usage of enormous art purchases to launder both money and reputations. Will owning a da Vinci (if that’s what it really is) help bin Salman cover up the stench of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and his country’s repressive politics? The presence of a CIA veteran among its interview subjects suggests The Lost Leonardo’s spy-thriller aspirations. More than most documentaries, it’s oriented toward storytelling. That said, Koefoed’s tendency to shoot close-ups of his subjects outside with gray, muted cinematography does not enhance the drama — nor do his long establishing shots of cities’ skyscrapers, taken

from a drone. But The Lost Leonardo muses about authorship. The “Salvador Mundi” looks much clearer following its restoration by Modestini, but it also looks so different from its original state that several people suggest Modestini is its real artist. To put it a more positive spin on it than the film does, restoration is a creative act. In this case, it reveals details about the painter’s first draft of Jesus’ hand. New York magazine critic Jerry Saltz and artist Kenny Schachter, who are close friends, are The Lost Leonardo’s designated rebels. The film shows Saltz taking a reproduction of the “Salvador Mundi,” writing “NOT ART” on it and turning it upside down. But what if the painting still holds beauty and meaning for someone, even if we can’t be sure that it was made by da Vinci? A very good painting by one of his students still amounts to something. The Lost Leonardo reveals that when vast sums of money enter the realm of art, aesthetics fly out the window. While the authorship of “Salvador Mundi” remains a question (at least to the director and many of his interview subjects), no one would make tens or hundreds of millions selling a decent, well-crafted relic of the Renaissance — until, that is, it’s billed as the “male Mona Lisa.” Doug Dillaman’s short “You Could Have Seen the Mona Lisa,” shot at the Louvre in 2019, shows how it’s impossible to get anywhere closer than 50 feet to that painting, which may indeed be the most famous piece of art in Western history. If the “Salvador Mundi” could get 1 percent of that attention — not to mention money — who would hold up that process? As documentary funding by American streaming channels has risen, many have settled into a formula of archival footage and talking-heads interviews, with the occasional animated scene to liven things up and a dark, ambient, droning score to manipulate the audience’s emotions. The Lost Leonardo — directed by a Dane and produced with money from several European countries — has greater ambitions. It does, however, ground all of its conclusions in material reality. If you want to extrapolate a wider message about the fragile state of truth in contemporary life, you can. As Saltz says, “Power is never neutral.” EMAIL ARTS@NASHVILLESCENE.COM

NASHVILLE SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | nashvillescene.com

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CROSSWORD EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ ACROSS 1

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Marketplace

Rocky McElhaney Law Firm InjuRy Auto ACCIdEnts

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www.rockylawfirm.com LEGALS Non-Resident Notice Third Circuit Docket No. 21D1022

SHANTA GREEN HANCOCK vs. JADONTE JAMAL HANCOCK

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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 JADONTE JAMAL HANCOCK. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HIS appearance herein within thirty (30) days after September 2, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on October 4, 2021. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.

NSC 812, 8/19, 8/26, 9/2/2021 Non-Resident Notice Third Circuit Docket No. 21D150 BILLY HERNANDEZ vs. ALONDRA VALUENZUELA CARRILLO 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 ALONDRA VALENZUELA CARRILLO. It is ordered that said Defendant enter HER appearance herein within thirty (30) days after September 2, 2021 same being the date of the last publication of this notice to be held at the Metropolitan Circuit Court located at 1 Public Square, Room 302, Nashville, Tennessee, and defend or default will be taken on October 4, 2021. It is therefore ordered that a copy of this Order be published for four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville.

four (4) weeks succession in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Nashville. Richard R. Rooker, Clerk L. Chappell Deputy Clerk Date: August 4, 2021 Jane Ellen Cassell Attorney for Plaintiff NSC 812, 8/19, 8/26, 9/2/2021

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