Discover life at The Everett, where elevated living meets the unmatched energy of Nashville Yards. From worldclass dining and entertainment at Assembly Food Hall to concerts at the Pinnacle and events at Bridgestone Arena, you’re steps from the best of the city. Luxury amenities, inspired interiors, and a vibrant neighborhood come together to create an address that’s as dynamic as Nashville itself.
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For 45 years, Tennessee Performing Arts Center has been where our community discovers the magic of live performance. From first Broadway memories to school field trips that sparked lifelong passions, TPAC has been proud to be part of your story. Together, we’ve built more than a stage. We’ve built a home for the arts.
Now, we want to hear from you. Share your TPAC story and help us shape the future of the arts in Nashville.
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For nearly 25 years, NPS Pharmacy has proudly served Nashvillians and Middle Tennesseans with care that goes beyond prescriptions. We treat every patient with dignity, compassion, and respect — supporting communities through trusted expertise in HIV care, STI/STD prevention and treatment, LGBTQ+ health, and behavioral health services. That’s why we were honored as Best of Nashville Top Spot Winner six years in a row, from 2018–2023. At NPS Pharmacy, exceptional care isn’t just what we do — it’s who we are. www.npspharmacy.com
Historic & Distinctive Homes LLC
Where experience meets innovation. Led by Karen Hoff, a multi-award-winning broker with over 40 years in real estate, our diverse, multilingual team provides concierge-level service powered by 21st-century technology.
Buying or selling? Discover what makes us different—and why that’s a good thing.
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$1,150,000 Nashville, TN 37209 Stunning New Construction home in Prime Location. 2964 SF. Chris Moss (owner/agent)
Historic & Distinctive Homes LLC owner Karen Hoff has over forty years of experience, multiple awards of excellence, and high real estate expertise. Our agents strive to constantly update and build on our knowledge of the industry and the neighborhoods we serve.
We also believe in being service-oriented, giving custom concierge service with 21st Century Technology.
To contact our agents, see our agent roster at www.historictn.com/agentroster.
With over 30 years of experience, Mark has been a cornerstone of Nashville real estate since the early ‘90s. As a multi-time Nashville Scene Best Real Estate Agent winner and founder of The CityLiving Group, Mark’s vision has shaped communities and helped countless Nashvillians find their place to call home. We’re honored to celebrate Mark’s induction into the 2025 Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame—a well-deserved recognition of his lasting impact on our city.
Introduction
Food & Drink Readers’ Poll
Food & Drink Writers’ Choice
Retail & Services Readers’ Poll
Retail & Services Writers’ Choice
Media & Politics Readers’ Poll
Media & Politics Writers’ Choice
Kids & Pets Readers’ Poll
Kids & Pets Writers’ Choice
People & Places Readers’ Poll
People & Places Writers’ Choice
Health, Beauty & Fitness Readers’ Poll
Health, Beauty & Fitness Writers’ Choice
Home & Garden Readers’ Poll
Home & Garden Writers’ Choice
Arts & Culture Readers’ Poll
Arts & Culture Writers’ Choice
Music Readers’ Poll
Music Writers’ Choice
CRITICS’ PICKS
Nashville Ballet: If I Can Dream Modest Mouse, Tyler Childers, Tempted by Fiction: A Book Lovers Dark Market, Witness, Jonas Brothers, Brennen Leigh Album Release, Nashville Nightmare Haunted Houses, Shocktober: Zodiac and more
SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
Reading Festival
The Scene’s guide to the 37th annual Southern Festival of Books BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
‘Smug. Narcissistic. Vaguely Unhinged.’ Hannah Pittard’s new autofiction depicts a novelist on the verge of a nervous breakdown BY SEAN KINCH AND CHAPTER16.ORG
The Wedding Singer
With help from Swedish songwriter Jens Lekman, David Levithan explores the joys and sorrows of other people’s weddings BY FAYE JONES AND CHAPTER16.ORG
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR:
Kat Conde is a graphic designer and illustrator from Nashville. She has a soft spot for collecting records and surrounding herself with plants, both of which often sneak their way into her work. When Kat isn’t sketching or designing, you can usually find her crate-digging for vinyl or rearranging her plant corner. Instagram: @katconde
A Sense of Place
Carrie R. Moore’s debut story collection effortlessly holds simultaneous truths BY SARA BETH WEST AND CHAPTER16.ORG
Telling Old Stories in New Ways
John T. Edge on learning to embrace change BY SARA BETH WEST AND CHAPTER16.ORG
An Uncommon Childhood
Growing up in the 1980s, Amanda Uhle wrestled with her parents’ unpredictability BY JANE MARCELLUS AND CHAPTER16.ORG NEW
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In memory of Jim Ridley, editor 2009-2016
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF D. Patrick Rodgers
MANAGING EDITOR Alejandro Ramirez
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STAFF WRITERS Julianne Akers, John Glennon, Hannah Herner, Hamilton Matthew Masters, Eli Motycka, Nicolle Praino, William Williams
SENIOR FILM CRITIC Jason Shawhan
EDITORIAL INTERN Noah McLane
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Cat Acree, Sadaf Ahsan, Ken Arnold, Ben Arthur, Radley Balko, Bailey Brantingham, Ashley Brantley, Maria Browning, Steve Cavendish, Chris Chamberlain, Rachel Cholst, Lance Conzett, Hannah Cron, Connor Daryani, Tina Dominguez, Stephen Elliott, Steve Erickson, Jayme Foltz, Adam Gold, Kashif Andrew Graham, Seth Graves, Kim Green, Amanda Haggard, Steven Hale, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, P.J. Kinzer, Janet Kurtz, J.R. Lind, Craig D. Lindsey, Margaret Littman, Sean L. Maloney, Brittney McKenna, Addie Moore, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Katherine Oung, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Daryl Sanders, Nadine Smith, Ashley Spurgeon Shamban, Amy Stumpfl, Cole Villena, Kay West, Nicole Williams, Ron Wynn, Kelsey Young, Charlie Zaillian
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Experience elevated living at The Poston at The Park, Penthouse 503. Resort-style amenities, unmatched security and privacy, all just steps away from Bricktop’s, Centennial Park and more.
EVERY WEEK for nearly 40 years, we at the Nashville Scene have shared with our readers what makes Music City special. That’s especially the goal in our massive annual Best of Nashville issue — and this year’s issue is among our biggest ever.
Ahead of the Scene’s 37th annual Best of Nashville issue, tens of thousands of Nashvillians cast hundreds of thousands of votes for the best artists, restaurants, services, athletes, performers and institutions in the city. Our team of staff and contributing writers also convened to select our favorites from those categories and more for a total of nearly 300 writers’ choice winners.
Want to know who our readers voted Best Band? Best Brewery? Best Honky-Tonk? Best Dry Cleaner? Best Hair Salon? How about what our team of writers picked as 2025’s Best Rock Album? Best Chef? Best Comedian? Best Place to Buy a Coffee Table Book? In this week’s issue, you’ll find all that and a whole lot more.
Read on, and join us in celebrating the Best of Nashville.
BEST BAKERY
1. Dozen Bakery
2. D’Andrews Bakery & Cafe
3. Baked on 8th BEST BAGEL
1. Bagelshop
2. Crieve Hall Bagel Co.
3. Proper Bagel
OUR VOTERS SAY: “I’ve tried 90 percent of bagels in Nashville, and the Bagelshop in Donelson is the best of the best! Amazing spreads and creative team!”
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BARBECUE
1. Edley’s Bar-B-Que
2. HoneyFire Barbeque Co. 3. Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint
BARTENDER
1. Leah, Lipstick Lounge
2. Jose Luis, Maiz de la Vida 3. Brandy “Legs” Brasfield, Duke’s BEST BEER SELECTION
1. Vinyl Tap 2. TailGate Brewery 3. M.L.Rose BEST BREAKFAST
1. The Butter Milk Ranch 2. Hearts Nashville
The Loveless Cafe
NOVEMBER
Indulge
BEST CATERER
Chef’s Market
Campione’s Taste of Chicago
Zulema’s Kitchen
BEST CATFISH
Lagniappe Bayou Kitchen
Uncle Bud’s Catfish Chicken & Such Edley’s Bar-B-Que
BEST CHEAP EATS
Campione’s Taste of Chicago
Pie Town Tacos
Cheap Charlie’s Taco Shop
BEST CHEF
1. Julio Hernandez, Maiz de la Vida
2. Edgar Victoria, Alebrije
3. Dung “Junior” Vo, Noko and Kase x Noko
BEST CHINESE
1. China Cottage
2. Best Wok Chinese Restaurant
3. Xiao Bao
BEST COCKTAILS
1. Otto’s Bar
2. Attaboy
3. Coral Club
BEST DESSERT 1. City House
Little Gourmand 3. Baked on 8th BEST DISTILLERY 1. Ole Smoky Distillery
Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery
Corsair Distillery
DIVE BAR
Dino’s
BEST DOUGHNUT
1. Five Daughters Bakery
2. East Park Donuts & Coffee 3. Parlor Doughnuts
FARMERS MARKET 1. Richland Farmers Market
Nashville Farmers’ Market
Hip Donelson Farmers Market
BEST FOOD DELIVERY SERVICE 1. Uber Eats 2. DoorDash 3. Pie Society
BEST FOOD TRUCK
1. Pie Town Tacos 2. Bad Luck Burger Club
Maiz de la Vida
BEST FRIES
1. Campione’s Taste of Chicago
2. Grillshack Fries and Burgers 3. Dino’s
BEST GLUTEN-FREE MENU OPTIONS 1. Sunflower Bakehouse
The Gluten Free Goose
Sunflower Cafe
BEST GROCERY STORE
Turnip Truck
Publix
Trader Joe’s
BEST HAPPY HOUR
1. Coral Club
2. Lockeland Table 3. answer.
BEST HOT CHICKEN
1. Prince’s Hot Chicken
2. Hattie B’s
3. Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish
BEST HOT DOG
1. Daddy’s Dogs
2. Campione’s Taste of Chicago
3. I Dream of Weenie
BEST ICE CREAM
1. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
2. Bruster’s
3. Bobbie’s Dairy Dip
BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT 1. Woodlands Indian Vegetarian 2. Taj Indian Restaurant 3. Sindoore
BEST MEDITERRANEAN, READERS’ POLL: GREKO
BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT
1. Caffé Nonna
2. PennePazze
3. Pelato
BEST JAPANESE RESTAURANT
1. Noko
2. 888
3. Sonobana
BEST JUICE BAR
1. Urban Juicer
2. E+Rose
3. Vui’s Juice Cafe
BEST KOREAN RESTAURANT
1. Korea House
2. Babo Korean Bar
3. Koré
BEST LATE-NIGHT EATS
1. Dino’s
2. Daddy’s Dogs
3. Waffle House
OUR VOTERS SAY:
“We love this Sylvan Park neighborhood favorite and have been dining here over 25 years. The food is authentic, delicious Italian fare.”
BEST LIQUOR STORE
1. Sinkers
2. Corkdorks
3. Frugal MacDoogal
BEST MARGARITA
1. Rosepepper
2. Bartaco
3. El Fuego
BEST MEAT-AND-THREE
1. Arnold’s Country Kitchen
2. Wendell’s
3. Bishop’s Meat and Three
BEST MEDITERRANEAN
1. Greko
2. Lyra
3. Epice
BEST MEATAND-THREE, READERS’ POLL: ARNOLD’S COUNTRY KITCHEN
POKE
1. Poke Bros.
2. Aloha Fish Company 3. Pokeworks
RAMEN
1. Black Dynasty Secret Ramen House
2. Otaku
3. Two Ten Jack
RESTAURANT
1. Noko
2. Limo Peruvian Eatery 3. Miel
RESTAURANT IN RUTHERFORD CO.
1. Toot’s 2. Demos’
Puckett’s Restaurant
RESTAURANT IN SUMNER CO.
1. Campione’s Taste of Chicago 2. Lyncoya Café 3. Tutti Da Gio
RESTAURANT IN WILLIAMSON CO.
1. Saffire
2. Herban Market
3. Kokomo Trading Co. BEST RESTAURANT IN WILSON CO. 1. Milestone Craft Deli
Roasted Coconut Cafe
Memo’s Mexican Kitchen
BEST RESTAURANT WITH A VIEW 1. Bourbon Steak
Acme Feed & Seed
Blue Moon Waterfront Grille BEST RIBS 1. Edley’s Bar-B-Que
Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint
Peg Leg Porker
BEST SEAFOOD, READERS’ POLL: THE
BEST SEAFOOD
1. The Optimist 2. Halls Catch 3. Henrietta Red
BEST SERVICE
1. Noko
2. Bourbon Steak
3. Taco Mama
BEST SMALL PLATES
1. Barcelona Wine Bar
2. The Iberian Pig
3. Koshō by Tabu
BEST SMOOTHIE/SMOOTHIE BOWL
1. E+Rose
2. Urban Juicer
3. Wild Berry Acai
BEST SPORTS BAR
ROOFTOP BAR
Ole Red
L.A. Jackson 3. Acme Feed & Seed BEST SANDWICH SHOP
1. Mitchell Delicatessen 2. Bill’s Sandwich Palace 3. FatBelly Pretzel Bakery & Deli
1. Beyond the Edge 2. Neighbors 3. Crow’s Nest
BEST STEAKHOUSE
1. Bourbon Steak 2. Halls Chophouse 3. Sperry’s
BEST SUSHI
1. Bite a Bit 2. O-Ku 3. Sonobana
BEST TACO
1. Mas Tacos Por Favor 2. Pie Town Tacos 3. Maiz de la Vida
BEST TAKEOUT
1. Campione’s Taste of Chicago 2. Degthai 3. Bite a Bit
BEST TENNESSEE WHISKEY
1. Jack Daniel’s
2. Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery
3. Uncle Nearest
BEST THAI
1. Degthai
2. The Smiling Elephant
3. Bite a Bit
BEST VEGAN
1. Graze
2. Sunflower Cafe
3. Avo
BEST VEGETARIAN
1. Woodlands Indian Vegetarian Cuisine
2. Sunflower Cafe
3. Graze
BEST VIETNAMESE
1. Vui’s Kitchen
2. VN Pho and Deli
3. East Side Banh Mi
BEST WINE LIST (RESTAURANT OR BAR)
1. The Authentique
2. Bad Idea
3. Butterlamp Bread & Beverage
BEST WINE STORE
1. Woodland Street Wine Merchant
2. Corkdorks
3. Harvest Wine Market
BEST WINERY/VINEYARD
1. Arrington Vineyards
2. Belle Meade Winery
3. Grinder’s Switch Winery
BEST WINGS
1. Edley’s Bar-B-Que
2. Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint
3. Acme Feed & Seed
With the constant stream of so many new, excellent restaurants opening in Nashville, it’s always difficult to single out just one as “the best.” A criterion I use: Which restaurant do I recommend, without reservation, most often to locals and visitors alike? For 10 years, my answer has been Butcher & Bee. Led by opening chef Bryan Weaver and current exec Chris DeJesus, “The Bee” checks so many boxes.
Looking for farm-to-table fare? The kitchen is fanatical about sourcing seasonally and locally. Interested in vegetarian food? More than half the menu is meat-free, but dedicated carnivores won’t be disappointed thanks to Middle Eastern flavors that deliver punches of spice and umami. Concerned about a restaurant’s culture in general? Management is committed to empowering employees and promoting from within while maintaining a humane working environment, including adding a “healthy
hospitality” charge of 2.2 percent to every check to provide staff with health insurance and other benefits. Want to know what it’s like to be a food writer at a restaurant? Take advantage of Butcher & Bee’s “Order Like a Pro” prix-fixe option, in which you put yourselves in the capable hands of the cook staff, who prepare and present their current favorite dishes of the moment. Add those factors up, and you can see why Butcher & Bee is always an excellent answer. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
Why does Jake Powell deserve the title of Best Chef this year? Well, duh, because James Beard never gets it wrong. (Except for all the times they didn’t give the award to other talented local nominees like Margot McCormack, Trevor Moran, Josh Habiger, Philip Krajeck, Julia Sullivan, Arnold Myint, Vivek Surti, Julio Hernandez, David Andrews, Noelle Marchetti …) But seriously, Chef Powell has definitely earned his vaunted status and national recognition as a James Beard Award recipient through eight years of excellence at Peninsula, his tiny Iberian restaurant a block off of Gallatin Avenue in East Nashville. I contend that Powell and his team get more flavor per square foot of kitchen space than anyone else in Nashville as they work with remarkable precision to create small but shareable plates of Spanish and Portuguese cuisine elevated by Powell’s French techniques. It should also be noted that his introduction of a full menu of various gin-and-tonic variations shone a spotlight on a Spanish favorite that has been commoditized in America for too long. ¡Viva el gin-tonic, y viva Jake Powell! CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
If there’s one trend that has dominated local dining over the past year, it has to be the rise of omakase-style sushi restaurants. In the face of such intense competition at various price points, how has Kase x Noko become the hottest new restaurant in town? It’s the sort of place where prospective diners set their alarms for five minutes to midnight six weeks out from when they’d like to snag a spot or two at the bar for one of the three nightly sushi sessions — which sell out almost instantaneously. You might think the cuts of fish are larger and more precise at Sushi Bar in the Gulch, or that the vinyl listening experience at 888 adds more to the ambiance,
or that Sushi by Bou (which promises to get you in and out in an hour) has a slightly lower price and frenetic NYC-style pacing. And maybe those would be your reasons to visit somewhere other than Kase x Noko — but that would put you in a decided minority. Restaurant partners Jon Murray, Wilson Brannock and Junior Vo operate two of the hottest restaurants in Nashville with Noko and Kase x Noko, and Chef Vo orchestrates the experience at both restaurants with humor and impressive culinary virtuosity. Murray and Brannock lead a staff with a total commitment to hospitality while taking amazing care of their own employees. Ownership provides competitive pay and a four-day work week, access to online therapists, paid gym/yoga membership, health insurance and other employee betterment benefits. CHRIS
CHAMBERLAIN
In a city filled with dozens of amazing places to get a good cocktail, it’s hard to stand out. But Close Company — Nashville’s newly opened offshoot of New York’s very cool Death & Co. cocktail bar — manages to do so. The latest Neuhoff District addition has typical drinks with a twist, like the Bitter Melon Negroni, as well as refreshing pairings like the Jamaican rum and grapefruit soda of the Wray & Ting. Whatever you do, don’t order something basic like a vodka tonic. The big, open adaptive-reuse space is full
of energy and color — and retrieving your food from a novelty cubby counter adds to the novel experience. HANNAH HERNER
The first four words I heard about Butterlamp before it opened in East Nashville last year were “wine bar” and “bread house.” Wine? Good. Bread? Good. Charming European-style bistro with cozy interiors, tree-covered outdoor seating, and a beautifully curated menu of vino and small bites? Goooood. Butterlamp is one of those spots that instantly felt like it’s been part of the neighborhood for years. It’s the perfect place for a romantic pre- or post-dinner drink or to talk and laugh with friends for hours over (several) glasses of great wine. And the bread! Whether you’re enjoying it at the bar piled high with delicious seasonal ingredients or grabbing a loaf to go at the walk-up bread window, you will not be disappointed. NANCY FLOYD
I’m calling it now: The revitalized downtown Arcade will soon be the place to be for locals, and Urban Cowboy’s new location there is a big reason for that. As with Urban Cowboy Public House in East Nashville, the decor at Urban Cowboy Bar is impeccable, completing its rustic style with wood paneling, Western textiles
and just the right touches of taxidermy, neon and leaded glass. The drinks are well-crafted, and excitingly, the pizza is available by the slice. The second-floor Arcade view provides a metropolitan vibe unlike any other in the city right now. HANNAH HERNER
When it’s time to get down, you’ve gotta go down! Downstairs, that is, because a new trio of top-shelf taverns are all bottom-floor. Close Company (this year’s writers’ choice for Best New Bar) offers hints of its former life as a slaughterhouse, with grooves cut in the cement floor that used to channel the blood from the killing floor. (It’s like drinking in a Bond villain’s lair.) Tucked beneath East Nashville barcade Up-Down, Ernie’s Boondock is a new bar that looks like it’s been there forever, with taxidermied animal heads keeping watch over some serious pool shooting, darts throwing and beer drinking. Lowbar is the answer to the ageold question, “Where should I hang out before, during or after a show at The Basement East?”
Just head to the basement of The Basement. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
One thing Nashville and New Orleans have in common: Both cities have an appreciation
for chef-driven restaurants that don’t take themselves too seriously. Mason Hereford perfected that genre in NOLA and brought the essentials here — a tight, inventive menu anchored by hits (Collard Melt, Fried Bologna Sandwich); new bangers (Frozen French 75, umami-packed Cabbage Salad); a huge kid- and dog-friendly yard; and personality in every corner (the White Fang 2 poster in the wolf bathroom says it all). No fuss, no filler, all fun. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
After Nashville collectively fell in love with Kisser, it was no surprise that the next concept from its creators Brian Lea and Leina Horii would become one of 2025’s most-anticipated openings. Babychan blew my already high expectations out of the water, with its Japaneseinspired offerings making it a unique addition to Nashville’s otherwise crowded cafe lineup. With sweet treats like their Strawberry Sando and Black Sesame Swiss Rolls alongside savory choices like their Kurobuta Sausage Rolls and Japanese Curry, Babychan’s menu is a singular vision perfectly executed. RIVER JAMES WITHEROW
With her tangy salad dressing, savory buckwheat galettes and sweet crêpes, Anna
Watson Carl has turned Eastwood Village into the go-to for lunch. Her bright but tiny spot, Yellow Table Café & Crêperie, features the eponymous table, which has been an important object in her family history. (She even named her 2015 cookbook after it.) Today the table welcomes folks from the neighborhood and beyond to sit, linger and share a menu that seems small and simple, yet is delicious and complex enough to choose from multiple days in a row.
MARGARET LITTMAN
Ford Fry doesn’t need to prove himself — the acclaimed Atlanta chef and restaurateur’s Nashville spots The Optimist and Superica did that — so Little Rey is a delight if not a surprise. The smoky steak tacos, succulent whole chicken, and sauce-and-salsa bar make it a must for happy hour or family dinner. (Try the green salsas: One is mild and citrusy, the other spicy and creamy.) Add free parking, George Jones on the speakers and a secret patio that shouldn’t be possible on West End? Best thing to happen to fast-casual in years. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
Ain’t nothing healthy about the Curry Boys menu, and that’s just how the combined Texas/ Tennessee ownership likes it! They’re dead serious about their smoked meats, ranging from legit brisket to pulled pork, chicken and sausages. But they’re also not afraid to break some boundaries by ladling rich green, red and yellow curries over the top of a dish to add to the decadence and flavor. The result is truly a gamechanger for Nashville barbecue. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
Under Vietnam Veterans Boulevard, across from the Rivergate Hooters and next door to a church that used to be a Circuit City, sits my new favorite Indian restaurant. Green Chili Indian Restaurant has quickly become our go-to weekend spot. Our menu favorites include gobi
Manchurian, chicken tikka kebab and garlic naan. The servers are friendly and joke with you about the spice levels. If you’re looking for something delicious and spicy north of town, give Green Chili a try. Plus, it’s locally owned — the owners are also the team behind Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse in Goodlettsville. KIM BALDWIN
Nashvillians are in a new age of high-end, innovative sushi. A moody vinyl bar with killer sake, 888 is the ideal pre- (or post-) concert date night downtown. For sake, try the crisp Koshiki Junsukuri Northern Skies with the chef’s selection of sashimi. In the mood for something higher-end but still fun? Try the tasting menu at Sushi | Bar. This over-the-top evening of single bites will leave you full and fascinated. Think hotate (scallop) with French seaweed butter, hamachi with jalapeño or Zuwaigani crab (Japanese snow crab) with dashi butter. Bonus: Dinner at Sushi | Bar is also a master class in ingredients — did you know cold winter waters around Japan yield higher fat content in fish and thus more flavor? You learn, you taste, you love. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
Nothing hits the spot like jhol momos. Given the incredible diversity of cuisines to be had in Nashville, and the overwhelming kinds of deliciousness that await those who seek, it can be difficult to make grand pronouncements. But if you’ve never had these remarkable chutneybased soup dumplings before, you have a treat waiting for you. I had gone almost 30 years thinking I might never encounter them here. An unpretentious dining room attached to a useful and friendly market, Rajdhani is a treasured collection of flavors, unafraid of quality spice, and my favorite place to dine along the Old Hickory Boulevard to Bell Road corridor.
JASON SHAWHAN
Wedgewood-Houston’s Wood-Fired Favorite! Come try our homemade pasta and pizza!
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Koré comes from the Korean word for whale, 고래 In Korea, 술고래 (“drinking whale”) playfully describes someone who loves to drink— a spirit that reflects our restaurant’s vibe: sharing plates, drinks, and fun together. Rooted in Korean heritage and global influences, Koré offers fusion-style tapas with an Asian flair, perfect for both dining and lively nights out.
VISIT US
Tuesday-Thursday & Sunday 5pm-9:30pm
Friday & Saturday 5pm-10:30pm. Happy Hour at the bar every day 5-6:30 kore.nashville | kore-nashville.com Visit our sister restaurant in Franklin, TN MI Kitchen
Strategic Hospitality’s The Patterson House and The Catbird Seat both had pretty darned successful runs at their original location on Division Street, garnering national accolades and media acclaim in a building that was basically designed for residential and hair salon usage, and which had previously housed shortlived restaurant concepts. With this year’s move to the top floor of the Bill Voorhees Building on Eighth Avenue South comes more space, and more importantly, the chance to design their restaurants and bars from scratch. Already great in their former home, these two Nashville stalwarts could move to world-class status in the new space. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
We’ve seen too many beloved local independent restaurants fall victim to the outrageous rent hikes at the expiration of a long-term lease, so
each neighborhood. That’s a recipe for success.
CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
it’s comforting to see a tenant score a win for a change. Tom Morales recently turned over management of his restaurant empire to his very capable daughters, Lauren and Kendall, but not before making one more bold move to ensure their future. The family negotiated an unheard-of 20-year lease extension for The Southern Steak & Oyster property. That’s what passes for stability in this challenging market.
CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
Austin Ray has always been at least one step ahead of the curve when it comes to real estate, investing in and becoming an important part of every neighborhood where he opens a new edition of M.L. — from the original in Melrose to Capitol View, Providence and an early entry into the Charlotte Avenue corridor. With his latest growth spurt into Franklin, Gallatin, Inglewood and Murfreesboro, Ray will double his locations in about a year, all the time recognizing the different wants and needs of
Nashvillians, don’t sleep on hotel bars. Especially when they have one of the coolest views of the city skyline in town. With a gorgeous rooftop garden, Tall Tales at Waymore’s hotel is the perfect place to pretend you’re in this new cool city called Nashville, and to soak in the vibes far from the chaos of downtown. Hit up happy hour to make the escape even sweeter. The hotel also hosts a full calendar of events, leaving the possibility open of becoming a regular.
HANNAH HERNER
Seafood-centric Halls Catch definitely has a stunning dining room, with iridescent fishscale wall coverings and a wave installation hanging from the ceiling — so you might never think to head to the back bar, which is tucked away down a short hall. Think again, because the hideaway features walls of windows that make it feel like you’re hanging off the back of the Broadwest Building. The unobstructed sweeping views of downtown are from an angle rarely observed, and you’d better enjoy them before another huge development goes up on the old Jim Reed Chevrolet property and messes up the vantage point! CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
Grateful for our people, our city, our home.
Thank you, Nashville! OTTO’S LOVES YOU.
Last year, almost immediately after Shivani and Alexandros Darsinos opened Cafe Babu, their distinctive coffee shop in Chestnut Hill, you could tell something new was up. You’d see people walking purposefully up a few largely industrial blocks, laser-focused on a leisurely latte. (The house specialty includes cardamom syrup.) Alexandros is an architect, so of course the Mediterranean-inspired interior is on point. But the patio, with its prime people-watching and transformation from coffee shop in the a.m. to cocktail bar in the evening, makes this a sought-after al fresco experience. Cafe Babu is designed with some communal tables and intentionally placed seats to encourage you to talk to your neighbors about the baklava — not look at your phone.
MARGARET LITTMAN
Hard to find within the Joseph Hotel, but not a speakeasy per se, Four Walls is the sort of place where grabbing a drink is an event. The ambiance is civilized, with proper lighting and volume levels appropriate for easy conversation. Talented mixologists and attentive servers offer just the right amount of attention, but are also willing to nerd out over classic cocktail recipes if that’s your thing. Four Walls hosts legendary bar teams from establishments around the world for collaborative pop-ups during the year, and those are the best drinking days on the calendar.
CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
The Loading Dock was Berry Hill’s best-kept secret, a true local gem. It was a perfect coffee
is still a pretty cool space for a tour or to see a musical act, it is pretty much devoid of any actual Nelson brothers. Fortunately, Andy and Charlie Nelson have recaptured at least part of their family legacy with a new offering of the beloved whiskey that got them started, Belle Meade Bourbon. They’re still just dipping their toes into the market as they revive the brand, but expect big things to come.
CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
Already home to buzzy restaurants like Fishmonger and Babychan as well as Close Company (the new bar project from the mixology masters of Death & Co.), this former abattoir and meatpacking plant is on track to become a major center of entertainment for the city. Plans for Neuhoff District include establishing a whole-property liquor license so visitors can stroll between venues and enjoy a cocktail on a patio overlooking the river.
CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
shop — fun coffee creations along with the classics, High Garden teas, local art and plants for sale, and a variety of seating across two floors and a patio — until its lease was suddenly discontinued last year. After a long, fraught relocation process, owner Juan Vega-Romero has reopened TLD bigger and better than ever, now in the Buchanan Arts District. Far too often, homegrown havens bite the dust, so it’s all the sweeter that The Loading Dock has been able to turn over a new leaf. HANNAH CRON
Even though Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery
In 2021, Hamzah Nasser opened his first Haraz Coffee House in Dearborn, Mich., hoping to share Yemeni coffee culture with his neighbors. Now there are more than three dozen Haraz Coffee Houses across the country, including one in East Nashville. The menu is replete with Turkish coffee, traditional mufawar (Yemeni coffee) served hot or cold and infused with cardamom, and other aromatic beverages. A small selection of pastries covers both sweet and savory, and the staff is at the ready to help if you have questions about flavors you haven’t tried before.
MARGARET LITTMAN
Matryoshka Coffee has always been a beautiful place, but regulars were given even more to love
as the shop expanded into a bigger, brighter, badder space earlier this year. From the colorful wall of massive murals (designed and painted by owner Abbey Chiavario herself) to the tiny trinkets lining their shelves, they’ve wasted no time filling the new space with their signature whimsical charm. The shop tripling in size also means a lot more seating, which is perfect for the community spirit Marty’s has always fostered. RIVER JAMES WITHEROW
A perennial fixture in our Best of Nashville issues, Sonobana has been beloved for its superb fresh fish and inventive flavors since 1987. Atmosphere-wise? It was … of a time. Today that time is now thanks to a 2025 renovation. They didn’t change too much — the dining room is still small and cozy but brighter, with more elbow room — and the food remains excellent, from fatty tuna nigiri to zesty ginger dressing. The latter can turn a boring head of iceberg into a zippy lunch, so be sure to grab it to go from the restaurant’s adjacent market. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
I love Sperry’s Mercantile’s on-the-go goods, from the luscious potato-leek soup and savory mushrooms to their fancy chicken casseroles. The Belle Meade shop is small, so when Sperry’s expanded to Bellevue in 2024, they did it big. Trek under the interstate to the far side of Highway 70 South and uncover a curated wine section, full seafood and meat counters, and an expanded selection of prepared foods and Sperry’s-approved snacks. And enjoy your new dining options: Take your bounty home, eat in the adjacent dining room, or just hit the drivethru for breakfast and lunch. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
I know table service is transactional: Patrons want excellent service, servers want excellent tips, and our friendly dance will end with
the meal. But at Margot, service never feels transactional. Like the food, it’s been consistently excellent for two-plus decades. Also like the food, it could easily be fussy, but instead comes off casual, despite tremendous education and effort behind the scenes. It’s the difference between being satiated and seen — being waited on and well taken care of.
DANNY BONVISSUTO
Working in a restaurant kitchen can be a sweltering and stressful experience. At Grillshack, they get it — which is why the restaurant’s owners (husband-and-wife duo Susan and Steve Richter) strive to bring a sense of pride to the notoriously thankless back-ofhouse gig. They’re known for paying a living
wage, and they often encourage those who feel undervalued at their current restaurant jobs to apply. It’s like working at McDonald’s if it were run by Bernie Sanders, which could help to redefine the term “flipping burgers” — making it something to be proud of. Sign me up.
CAMERON BEYRENT
Born and raised on a crawfish farm in Braithwaite, La., Carlyn Perez has been bringing shellfish, oysters, crawfish, fresh fish and more from the Gulf to landlocked states since 2016. In the spring, you can enjoy weekly boils by South Coast Seafood at New Heights Brewing, find pop-ups around town at places like Streetcar and Barrel Proof, or order étouffée, live crawfish, shrimp, snapper and more to make at home. Perez delivers weekly all spring and summer. Tip: Purchase your sacks and fixin’s for in-person boils in advance; he almost always sells out.
ASHLEY BRANTLEY
Sometimes you want breakfast for dinner (brinner). Or for lunch. Or, I suppose, for breakfast. It’s hard to top a well-rounded meal of eggs, bacon and the carb of your choice — and Brown’s Diner has delicious choices! No matter the time of day, you can sit on Brown’s expansive patio and gorge on large pancakes or breakfast biscuits. Portions are big and the food is delicious, and whatever you’re ordering, make sure to add a pancake. ELIZABETH JONES
There’s an art to making a great breakfast burrito: a perfect combination of eggs, cheese, potato and protein, wrapped into a dense roll that can conquer even the most devastating hangovers. Too much stuff and it turns into a sloppy mess; too little and it doesn’t fill the hole left by the many mistakes you made the night before. Resting Burrito Face — which just changed its name from JMAS — has perfected that burrito. Tucked behind Tabula Rasa Toys on Porter Road, Resting Burrito Face didn’t just nail the balance — its Sonoran-style tortillas make for a thin and chewy yet structurally sound container for a monster of a burrito. Try the B3 and add green chiles — it’ll cure what ails you.
LANCE CONZETT
Mr. Aaron’s Goods is all about good food — especially good bagels. No longer sharing a wok with TKO, Mr. Aaron’s has leveled up by taking over the full East Nashville space when TKO closed earlier this year. Now owner Aaron Distler and company serve the best breakfast bagels in town. They’ve got your plain, poppy and sesame, but also fun pizza bagel and jalapeño cheddar options. Give the bacon-egg-and-cheese a go, but a personal favorite is the lox with perfect, thinly sliced tomato, onion and cucumber, as well as capers and a hearty schmear. Get a dozen to go and be the office hero, or stop in for breakfast — and grab some good fresh pasta for dinner. ASHLEY
SPURGEON SHAMBAN
Chef Edgar Victoria and his Mexico City-style tacos have been regular Best of Nashville winners in a variety of categories since Victoria started slinging street food in town. This year, he opened a brick-and-mortar Alebrije (in addition to the continuing pop-up at Never Never). Everything on the menu is made from scratch, including the tortillas, made with nixtamal masa from heirloom corn. Alebrije’s menu, in general, is a bargain. The Taco Box, which includes one of each of the tacos (pastor, carnitas, pollo and asada) at a discounted price, is a bonus on top of that.
MARGARET LITTMAN
Coming from Atlanta, Fishmonger knows how to deliver stellar seafood to landlocked areas. Their sauces (yuzu dashi, sunchoke aioli), ceviches and cocktails are a breath of
fresh air, and the fun, funky, no-res setting in the industrial Neuhoff District makes it very clandestine-chic. (But for real: It’s hard to find.)
Now that Red Perch is tragically closed, the ’Monger’s fish sandwich — blackened grouper, pickled peppers, herb salad — is easily the best in town. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
What’s better than supporting one local business? Supporting two at the same time.
Maiz de la Vida is the brainchild of James Beard semifinalist Julio Hernandez, and both the brickand-mortar and food truck versions are worth a visit all on their own. However, the food truck also has the added perk of being permanently parked outside of East Nashville tiki bar Chopper. Customers are actively encouraged to order food at the truck, for delivery inside the bar, so you can get a mouthwatering order of
quesabirrias and a fiery Robo Zombie cocktail in one killer combo of a stop. RIVER JAMES WITHEROW
Salvo’s — which now also has some locations under its Taste of New York moniker — has been doing pizza in town for a long time, and its location in Hermitage is cozy and familyfriendly. It’s not a great spot for a big group, but it’s the perfect place to take our family of three for New York-style pizza and garlic knots without having to head to a busier part of town. And the desserts — cannoli, cakes, tiramisu — are nothing to sneeze at either. AMANDA HAGGARD
Flora + Fauna is a cozy, versatile coffee shop perfect for all kinds of coffee dates. If you just want to sit and sip, the drinks menu always has a creative lineup of flavors. If you want a more complete meal experience, the lunch menu has amazing options, including rotating seasonal pancake specials. The cafe’s understated naturethemed decor and friendly staff create a perfect comfy vibe for connecting with a date over a great cup of coffee or more. (Plus there’s plenty of parking in Highland Yards, the development home to Flora + Fauna and several other great spots.)
RIVER JAMES WITHEROW
With secluded corners, flattering light, a covered outdoor area and one of the most delicious bar menus in all the land, Inglewood Lounge is an ideal space for people of all types
to enjoy while pursuing love. Whatever the vibe of your first date, you will find accommodation. Sparks with a hottie who asks questions and gives eye contact? There are many cozy booths to grow close in before you make your way to the dance floor. Iffy match, drunk when you arrive? Say farewell while ordering a piri piri chicken sandwich to go and enjoy an easy exit from the convenient U-shaped parking lot.
ANGELINA CASTILLO
Compared to many of the new sushi restaurants that have popped up in Nashville over the past couple of years, old reliable Punk Wok has always been a dependable and affordable option hidden away in the corner of the Sylvan
Supply complex on Charlotte. The restaurant shines especially brightly during its three-hour Happy Hour from 3 until 6 p.m. every day of the week. Unless Punk Wok is closed for a holiday, you can count on half-price sushi from the menu of maki, nigiri and sashimi, plus $2 domestic beers to wash it down. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
In the foodie era, just about every regional iteration of the mighty sandwich has had its moment of glory — the cheesesteak, the po’boy, the muffuletta, the Southern tomato, the Hoosier pork tenderloin. It’s past time for the nation to look to East Tennessee, where they like their sandwiches … soft and wet. Bear with me, because it’s a revelation. Nashville’s resident soul revivalist, former NASA employee, and native East Tennessean Jason Eskridge has brought the regional delicacy to the far northeast side with Music City Sandwich Co. Construct your perfect sub from a checklist — bread, meat, cheese, condiments — and then hand your list to the attendant. Once assembled, your sandwich then goes into a wonderfully anachronistic-looking machine called the Fresh-
Galilee’s house bread looks like pita, but the first bite into one of the puffy halves of the round flatbread, delivered still warm from the oven, reveals a deeper flavor. Galilee is among Nashville’s few Egyptian restaurants, and aside from a couple of American dishes on the menu to appease toddlers and Nashville diners with no culinary curiosity, it’s as authentic as it gets outside of the northeast African country. The aish baladi can stand alone, used as a scoop for dips and sauces, or wrapped around a fat patty of ground meat seasoned with cumin, coriander, allspice, diced onion and garlic, baked then finished on the flattop, known as hawawshi. Don’t miss it.
KAY WEST
There’s a lot to love about Vega, the fast-casual sibling to big sister Lyra’s upscale dining room. (I mean, have you had the baklava with rose syrup?) But their business is shawarma, and good God, are they good at it. Maybe it’s the saj bread, which is thin, soft and shockingly capable of holding strong while you’re chowing down. Or maybe it’s the fact that the crew
running the place has been perfecting modern Middle Eastern cuisine for years before opening Vega, really dialing in their beef, chicken and falafel recipes. Or it could be the playful acidity to cut through the richness — toum, tomatoes, garlic tahini and more. Whatever it is, I keep making up excuses to go to Madison just to grab a shawarma on the way. LANCE CONZETT
For years, Roberta’s was the sole provenance for stracciatella in Nashville. This year, Frankies came in hot. Their simple version — with redonion agrodolce, pistachios and a drizzle of their badass olive oil — is sophisticated comfort food at its best. Savory and creamy, punchy and satisfying, the upscale leftovers from mozzarella making are also just plain fun to eat, and that’s the way Frankies likes it. Tip: Frankies’ olive oil is now sold nationwide, so send a little Nashville to friends this holiday season. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
Since Mafiaoza’s closed and took ravioli sticks with them, Nashville has been in
O-Matic, where it’s pampered with a steam bath. The bread softens. The deli meat warms. The cheese melts. The condiments seep. It’s soft, but not soggy. Gooey but not sloppy. No crusty bread chafing your gums. No sandwich innards spilling out upon first bite. Like I said, it’s a revelation. RADLEY BALKO
Whether you’re seeking a hiatus from a desk that looks like it’s been hit by a tempest or looking toward the horizon for a celebratory splurge, The Optimist’s high-end seafood cuisine will give you a mouthwatering experience. Executive chef Ryder Zetts uses a fusion of contemporary and classic methods, combining the delicate flavor of frigid-water fish with sweet Jonah crab swimming in a buttery beurre blanc sauce. Pair the wood-roasted oysters with a cocktail (get one from the seasonal outdoor bar, Jacqueline, when it’s open) and a delightful dessert. The restaurant’s historically inspired postmodern design, along with a consistently rotating menu, will leave you yearning to return to this comforting yet elegant port in the storm.
AIDEN O’NEILL
WE USE INGREDIENTS SOURCED DIRECTLY FROM ITALY, WHERE FOOD PURITY LAWS ARE MUCH MORE STRICT
SAN MARZANO TOMATOES (DOUBLE STAMP CERTIFIED)
NEVER-FROZEN BUFALA MOZARELLA
SUPER PREMIUM “DOUBLE ZERO” FLOUR TASTE THE PURITY
Gus’s is the proud two-time National Fried Chicken Festival winners. We are now here proudly serving the East Nashville community, what many believe to be the world’s
a dark hole in terms of fried cheesy bar snacks. Tiger Bar pulled us out. The team takes two large skewers of mozzarella cheese, rolls them in Flamin’ Hot Cheeto crumbs, lightly fries them, and serves them with one of those unknowable dipping sauces that’s part ranch, part remoulade, and all incredibly craveable. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
Since Red Bicycle in The Nations closed, West Nashville’s roving band of remote workers has been without a home. I finally found the herd at Retrograde, and they’re there for good reason. The City Heights coffee shop is clean, bright and comfortable, and it serves my new favorite thing on toast: light, whipped feta and luxurious prosciutto on crispy toast, topped with spice and olive oil. The result is salty, creamy, lightly spicy and perfect — the kind of dish you’d typically find at a fancy Germantown brunch (but at a fraction of the cost or fuss). ASHLEY BRANTLEY
When Ana Aguilar and Josh Cook finally opened their own brick-and-mortar restaurant in Sylvan Park this year, people were thrilled to have regular access to Aguilar’s jam-filled pastries (called besos) and breads, and then were wowed by the entrées. The scene-stealer is the whole Bucksnort trout, butterflied and perfectly divided with salsa verde on one side and salsa roja on the other. The flavors complement each other, and the craftsmanship makes the dish look like art. Because Tantísimo is the city’s first farm-to-table Latin American restaurant, the menu changes with the seasons. If the trout is on the menu, order it. MARGARET LITTMAN
There’s real ranch — and then there’s the massproduced version that tastes like dollar-store glue and meekly slides off the food it’s supposed to flavor, as if rightly embarrassed by its own existence. Hometeam Pizza’s ranch is the real
deal. Co-owner Samantha Jackson researched what makes a good ranch good — sour cream, mayonnaise and buttermilk — and refined the spice blend to her taste, with the goal of a “pourable but not runny” dressing/dip that enhances each slice without overpowering it.
“Minus giving birth to two amazing kiddos,” says her husband and Hometeam co-owner
I think, as a society, we’ve accepted that a decent burger now costs at least $10. Add fries and a shake and that’s $75 in fast-ish food for
my family of three. Meals at that price point shouldn’t arrive on a cafeteria tray, but that was the norm until SuperNormal arrived in Sylvan Park this summer. One smartly designed orange cube holds a burger and fries, side by side, and three holes in the top lets the steam escape so the food doesn’t get slightly soggy. SuperNormal’s super mod burger boxes up the fun factor on a basic meal — like a Happy Meal, minus the toy. DANNY BONVISSUTO
When Daddy’s Dogs founder Sean Porter announced his plans to open a dive bar named Gramp’s Garage on Gallatin Pike, he wasn’t about spending a lot of money on decor. His vision: drinking beer in the garage of your slightly hoarder-ish grandpa. Porter put out the word on social media that he was seeking junk to transfer from your garage to his in a cashless transaction. The result is delightfully shabby and authentic — and you might even see a couple of my old fishing rods and a beater bike of mine contributing to the ambiance. Try the puddin’ shots while you’re there. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
It’s not your meemaw’s pot pie. Nor is it called “pot pie” on Edessa Restaurant’s extensive menu of Kurdish and Turkish cuisine. Rather, it’s testi kebabi (“clay pot kabob”). Should the description — “finely chopped marinated pieces of lamb cooked with special Turkish spices and vegetables in delicious sauce for hours to maximize the taste” — compel you to order it (and I highly recommend you do), your server will ask you if you would like to have that stew poured into a ceramic dish, covered and sealed with a thin layer of dough and returned to the oven to finish. Just say yes. It will be delivered to the table piping hot, and the server will roll back the baked crust to release the heavenly scent of those Anatolian spices; use that crust to sop up every last bit of sauce. KAY WEST
Over the past several months, Clinton Spruill and Amy Watson of Saap Saap BBQ have popped up at spots including Bad Idea, Hearts, Rice Vice, Martha My Dear and Lowbar. The duo combines their influences to serve up a unique blend of Southern barbecue and Laotian food that’s even more delectable than it sounds. From meat-andthree-type fare like beef and pork ribs, chicken leg quarters, cornbread and mac-and-cheese to
Lao-inspired items like red curry coconut rice and green mango salad, Saap Saap has a perfect batting average. The team also offers catering services — book ’em for your next event and wow your guests. D.
PATRICK RODGERS
I appreciate all snow cones, from a tenderly shaved New Orleans snowball with softness and sweet cream to the crunchy syrupy ones at a concession stand. While I’ve eaten snow of all colors, I have never eaten snow as beautifully balanced and full of fun as the Korean-style bingsu snow from Nashville chef Diana Zadlo’s pop-up That’s It! You will find her snow mounted on fruits and topped with delightful crunches and creams. I recommend the watermelon, with coconut condensed milk, a lime and mint crumble, and fresh watermelon balls. Snow me in! ANGELINA CASTILLO
Whenever my wife and I go to a fine-dining restaurant, I struggle to choose between more avant-garde dessert options and something familiar. My first thought on seeing “burnt Basque cheesecake with black garlic dulce de leche” on the menu at The Iberian Pig was, “Nah, I’m good.” But the dish let me — ahem — have my cake and eat it too. The top is perfectly caramelized, so you get just the right amount of bitterness to balance each bite of rich, dense cake. And the process of aging the garlic to turn it black has transformed most of its sharp savory flavor into something sweet but not cloying, so you get a bonus dimension of flavor.
STEPHEN TRAGESER
R E L A T I O N S H I P C O F F E E
R E L A T I O N S H I P C O F F E E
No one adheres to the philosophy “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” like the folks at Dalts American Grill. They’ve been using the same original recipe for their Chocolate Malt Cake for 45 years, baking and icing the rich triplelayer dessert daily. Not only do they sell up to 25 slices a day — one devotee recently picked up a cake on his way to the airport and flew home to Philadelphia with it on his lap. It has also been shipped as far as New Mexico, though it does not always arrive perfectly intact: After a shipping mishap resulted in a landslide of malt cake, a fan took a picture with her fork dipping into the chocolate debris and reported: “It still tastes great!” TOBY ROSE
Almost every item on the menu at unassuming South Nashville bakery HomeStyle has made its way into my belly. The original owner passed away somewhat recently, leaving the shop in her daughter’s capable hands, and this year the shop celebrated its 40th anniversary. They do great custom work on cakes if you’re looking to celebrate big, but they also have excellent cake squares you can pick up every day, an array of muffins (shoutout to lemon and carrot) and an array of both classic cookies and unique treats. AMANDA HAGGARD
East Park Donuts’ delicious seasonal specials give patrons something new to look forward to throughout the year. Champagne doughnuts for New Year’s, margarita doughnuts for Cinco de Mayo, and King Cake doughnuts for Mardi Gras are just a few of their festive offerings. Certain holidays — like Halloween, Easter and Valentine’s Day — get entire themed boxes with multiple limited-edition flavors. Even outside of holidays, East Park is always rotating through exciting new options. If you see raspberry lemonade in the summer or blackberry Earl Grey in the fall, be sure to get them before they’re gone.
RIVER JAMES WITHEROW
In the past, it’s taken me too long to order breakfast for two reasons: 1. I can’t decide between sweet and savory; and 2. It’s tricky to order both in a socially acceptable manner. Now, thanks to The Butter Milk Ranch’s breakfast appetizers, I can order something sweet for the table, then enjoy a savory entrée. Specifically, I can — and at every opportunity, will — share the brown butter beignets, which taste like a doughnut and funnel cake coalesced in the fryer. With a pool of lemon curd beneath and slightly salty brown-butter “snow” on top, they’re irresistibly, regrettably good.
DANNY BONVISSUTO
BEAUTIFUL
Many restaurants cater to the Instagram gaze, sadly sacrificing taste in exchange for style. But
place making no compromises on either front is D’Andrews Bakery. Everything in the bake case — from the charming fruit-shaped mousse desserts to the massive New York rolls
and stylish cake slices — tastes just as perfect as it looks. Whether you’re stopping in for a staple like the JD Jr. — a glossy chocolate mousse cube topped with a delicate white chocolate feather and 24-karat gold leaf — or just a classic croissant, D’Andrews is sure to be a treat for the senses. RIVER JAMES WITHEROW
I love a good mango sticky rice. The Southeast Asian dessert typically involves a scoop of glutinously chewy rice, freshly cubed mango and a sweet coconut sauce. It’s fresh, bright and colorful enough to delude yourself into thinking it’s healthy. S.S. Gai, the Thai spot at the multi-ethnic pop-up location The Wash in East Nashville (with a stand-alone location to be opened in the coming year), gives the dish an innovative twist. Instead of a pile of sticky rice, the starch is shaped into a bite-size cube, fried and coated in palm sugar, coconut and sesame. Then it’s topped with a sweet mango sauce. You get all the chewy goodness, but with added crunch and a more concentrated mango-ness. Did mango sticky rice need a reboot? Probably not. But S.S. Gai gave it a shot, and came up with something delightful and new. RADLEY BALKO
The first root beer float my toddler had was at Spicy Boy’s, and she’s ruined for life. It’s made with rich vanilla ice cream and Abita Root Beer — and the latter is critical, because it’s made with Louisiana cane sugar instead of highfructose corn syrup. The float is poured tableside (ideally on Chef Justen’s Garden District-style patio), and the herbaceous quality of the root beer brings out the sweetness of the ice cream,
THROWBACK TO CHILDHOOD SPRINKLE CRUNCH AT TABLA RASA CAFE
I
from the Midwest. But it turns out one of the greatest ice cream toppings of all time also has its origins in the area. If you were a Midwestern kid, chances are at some point you recall having a Crunch Cone at Dairy Queen. The sprinkle and peanut brittle topping was a staple of my childhood, and unbeknownst to me at the time, was only available at DQs throughout the region. I spent years searching for the elusive treat once I moved south of the Mason-Dixon line. Thanks to Tabla Rasa, it now lives in my neighborhood, and it brings back sweet memories with every nostalgic bite. NANCY FLOYD
Brewhouse is a Nashville classic for many reasons — pickle fries, spicy ranch, mojo wings, the O.G. Bushwacker! But the Midtown location isn’t what it once was (nor is it owned by the same folks), so I make the trek to Bellevue for my Cajun Sampler fix biweekly. Pair best-in-class bar food with a kick-back atmosphere, killer kids’ menu, and darts? It’s a family-friendly Sunday
I hesitate to write about The Batter’s Box, lest it immediately close. But the ramshackle cabinesque bar on Hermitage Avenue is just as
epic today as it was during my first visit 20 years ago, and respect must be paid. Cold beers and bartenders who’ll gladly say you’re not there if someone calls the landline looking for you — it’s the best place to pre-game before an Ascend Amphitheater show, and the only one with our most iconic bachelorettes as clientele: the ones on their fourth marriage who still know where to party. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
In my 20s, I worked in hell — a pre-#MeToo Tennessee state legislature — and Rae’s was my lunchtime respite. I’m pleased to report the family-owned shop holds up, starting with French bread that’s still NOLA-level perfection. Order a whole pickle, the always-on-point soup of the day, and bust a gut on the Hot Brown, Beastie Girl (beef tenderloin, mushroom sauce) or the Wicked Chicken (green chili, chipotle, pepper jack). But be warned: This lunch eats like dinner, so clear your afternoon. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
Hopefully Nashville Sounds fans recognize how lucky they are that master restaurateurs Benjamin and Max Goldberg of Strategic Hospitality manage The Band Box behind the right-field fence as part of their holdings. Their director of culinary operations, Andy Little, recruits amazing talent to cook special menus of elevated ballpark fare for Thursday night Sounds home games at First Horizon Park, and he intentionally picks chefs who are genuinely delighted to share their takes on concessionstand grub with the fans. It’s always a highlight of the baseball schedule. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
I like the occasional sweet cocktail as much as the next person, but the sweet edge on the flavor profile of most meads I have tried has kept me from clicking with the drink. That is, until a chance encounter with Honeytree’s Sweet Baby Ginger. The East Side meadery uses the characteristic warm zing of ginger root, candied in house, to complement and tame the sugary notes of the fermented honey in this brew. This makes it as quaffable as my favorite lagers — and gets me interested in what else the world of mead has to offer. STEPHEN TRAGESER
8th & Roast coffee is served at its own physical locations on Eighth Avenue, on Charlotte Avenue and in Midtown, as well as in two airport locations, and it’s also sold at grocery stores — but you might be enjoying it without even realizing it. The company has a wholesale distribution network that reaches more than 350 partners, including cafes and offices. They’re proud to source their beans from family farms in Latin America and Africa, where they pay producers fairly and offer a delicious roast. If you aren’t sure whether you’re drinking their coffee, just ask! CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
I’ve gotten low-key obsessed with improving my pour-over coffee game. There’s something so satisfying about making the perfect cup right at home, especially when using a product as good as Crema Coffee. If you can’t make it to a coffeehouse or find a store carrying bags of Crema’s roast, the company’s online subscription service delivers it right to your door. We get a monthly delivery of the Roaster’s Choice. It introduces us to a variety of notes and blends, and doubles as a way to treat ourselves and take a break from the usual mass-market brand we keep stocked. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
An unassuming house in Murfreesboro is a gateway to the expansive world of Chinese tea. The shelves and tables of Music City Tea are stacked with pouches, bins and tins full of fragrant tea, and owner Jenny Zhong eagerly guides customers through the differences between oolong, green and black teas. She’ll sit you down, pour cup after cup for you in a traditional gaiwan (a lidded bowl used for rapid steeping) and draw you into freewheeling conversation. You might get some caffeine jitters by the end of it, but you’ll also leave with a new favorite tea — and maybe a funky, colorful gaiwan. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
With pulled pork, short ribs and smiling servers, Joy Kitchen created something special at their first pop-up restaurant. The dinner featured kids ages 10 to 16 cooking, serving, taking orders and supervising at Papa Turney’s in Hermitage. Joy Kitchen is a nonprofit that teaches underestimated youth from the J.C. Napier Homes community how to become cooks, servers and hosts. Ethan Counts, age 10, joined the program because he loves to cook. He helped plate 396 items at the pop-up. And the organization isn’t just about cooking for people. Chef Sterling Wright is creating a space where there is no judgment and everyone feels welcome. The goal is to raise $2 million to open a restaurant in 2026. HANNAH URBAN
Just when you thought every kind of food and drink fundraiser had already been done, the Nashville Wine Auction came up with a really fun event offering wine lovers a peek behind the curtain into the world of the experts. The Somm Showdown featured experts who had to apply to compete in three challenges to determine who was the master of merlot and the champion of chardonnay. Guests got to taste along through
atmosphere and fresh heirloom corn
a James Beard Semifinalist for Emerging Chef in 2023 and Semifinalist for Best Chef Southeast 2025, leads the Maiz De La Vida crew. Check out our new restaurant in the gulch for handcrafted dishes and agave based cocktails. Visit our taco truck outside Chopper Tiki in East Nashville to try quesabirria and other street tacos. Pick up fresh tortillas in North Nashville at the Maiz Tortilla Shop.
food pairings and blind tastings, and also watch the somms compete in a Jeopardy-style wine theory quiz. It was delicious fun, and it will return this November. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
Nourish’s chef chair Tandy Wilson of City House put together a lineup of some of Nashville’s hottest current chefs from Bad Idea, S.S. Gai, Saap Saap, Curry Boys, Turkey and the Wolf, and Tantísimo to cook at Nourish, a benefit for The Nashville Food Project. Then he connected the chefs with immigrant growers from NFP’s Growing Together community garden program to provide the produce, and the results were meaningful and magnificent. In a time when the local immigrant community faces so much upheaval, shining a spotlight on these transplants from Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal is even more important than ever. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
Just the chance to peek inside the Egyptianrevival church and sit in Adelicia Acklen’s former pew is worth the visit to the Downtown Presbyterian Church. But knowing that you’re helping support the church’s efforts to provide weekly meals for our less advantaged neighbors makes that plate of chicken and waffles even more delicious. Parishioners do the cooking and provide the hospitality, and there’s no better way to wrap yourself in the warmth of the holiday season. They’ve been doing it for 100 years, so join them in a couple months when they make it 101. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
In a year when lots of things seemed aimed at highlighting our differences, Bagelshop’s Max and Kayla Palmer united us over sandwiches. The couple, owners of Donelson’s Bagelshop, collaborated with different chefs to highlight different New Year’s celebrations and the traditional foods that go with them. Bad Idea’s Colby Rasavong celebrated Pi Mai, the Lao New Year, with a Jeow Bong and Fried Bologna Bagel. Javier Salado of Soy Cubano whipped up Pan Con Lechon Cubano for the Cuban New Year, while Wes Scoggins of Jewish Cowboy unveiled the Manzana Melaza for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. A portion of proceeds from the collab was donated to nonprofits like The Nashville Food Project. And importantly, it
taught us a little bit about each other, and helped us see we’re not so different after all.
MARGARET LITTMAN
Some long-established restaurants end up slipping from your memory, displaced by the latest hot destination. But French-inspired Sylvan Park spot Miel defies that phenomenon. Every week Miel’s owner, Seema Prasad — who’s also a wine genius — grabs my attention with an email outlining the current menu. Here are some highlights (but be aware the menu changes daily, due to a dedication to seasonal and often local ingredients): How about black grouper with Hungarian sweet pepper purée, raw summer squash and lemon olive oil? Tomato risotto with sautéed shrimp, fried herbs and white balsamic? Pan-seared pork cutlet with kale, kohlrabi slaw and cherry beurre rouge? That kind of lineup is hard to forget.
DANA KOPP FRANKLIN
For more than 100 years, people have debated: Tennessee whiskey or Kentucky bourbon? Nashville Barrel Company asks a better question: Why choose? These distillers take the best of both to make their “Nashtucky” Single Barrel. The charred American oak barrel comes from Kentucky, but the aging happens in their Fesslers Lane facility here in Nashville. The result is a 118.4-proof bourbon that’s toasty and robust, smooth and caramel-infused, and so clean
that even I (a relative whiskey novice) know it’s worth the $130/bottle price tag. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
1 Hotel’s intimate tasting of nine whiskeys from the hotel’s stash of rare bottles represents a collective total of more than a century of time aging in barrels. The private tasting takes place in a room next to the rooftop bar, offering fantastic views of downtown, and is conducted by the hotel’s beverage director. The selection includes bottles that you will probably never encounter on any other menu in town — or even in any liquor store in the state.
CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN
Thanks to a ticket price of $550, lots of people get sticker shock when they first hear about Studio Mama Supper Club. What Rebecca Wood has created is more than a house concert with a meal. It’s an intentional evening that gets at the essence of Nashville. Wood, who was the studio chef at Zac Brown’s recording studio Southern Ground Nashville, makes a multicourse meal for roughly 30 people who dine together and talk in a comfortable, intimate recording studio turned into a dinner party. Artists performing this year included Nikki Lane and Wood’s husband, Oliver Wood, but it almost doesn’t matter who is headlining. A group of die-hard musicians joins the performer on the makeshift stage, and you’ll feel like they’re singing only to you.
MARGARET LITTMAN ▼
For over 27 years, we’ve been honored to serve the Greater Nashville area. Our commitment to top-notch cuisine & service are driven by your loyalty & support. You are why we do what we do. Thank you for placing your trust in us!
In the heart of Broadway, Betty Boots is a must-visit for women who love Western style. Founded by Ed and Karen Smith in 2009, it remains the only all-ladies Western boutique in the country, o ering boots, clothing, and accessories that blend country charm with a modern edge.
Known for top-tier service and an unbeatable selection, Betty Boots carries high-end brands like Old Gringo, Double D Ranch, Corral, Lane, Tecovas, Tony Lama, Dan Post, and its exclusive Just Nashville line. Whether you’re after statement boots, a sleek leather jacket, or the perfect jeans, this boutique delivers.And don’t forget the iconic neon sign—one of Broadway’s most famous photo ops! For women looking to embrace Western fashion with confi dence, Betty Boots isn’t just a store—it’s a destination.
Grimey’s
Genesis Diamonds
I knew I loved Thunder Moon Collective, the spot on Woodland Street right off Five Points, the moment I walked in — but it took me another few visits before I realized that its wares are all sustainable, fair-trade or homemade. I was too busy being taken by the selection of fragrances (including Icelandic line Fischersund), socks from Hansel From Basel, hand-dipped candles and massive vintage ashtrays, as well as the best incense collection I’ve found in Nashville. When you’re in a shop as good as Thunder Moon, you can feel good about what you’ve bought, but that’s not the only reason you go in. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
Apart from Nashville sports merchandise,
there’s not really a great way to rep your Middle Tennessee home in a way that doesn’t scream “I love country music and drinking on Broadway!” And depending on how the season’s going, the jerseys might be the more embarrassing option. Enter Music Valley Archive, the brainchild of Tom Gilbert and Hannah Pahl. MVA sells T-shirts and all the essentials, featuring the emblems of the Nashville we know and love. Their designs feature everything from WSMV legend Snowbird to the Bell Witch, and even the West End Chili’s. MVA’s merch is a true Nashville export, and you’re bound to get compliments every time you wear a piece. HANNAH CRON
Shopping is best when it’s a social activity. Walking into Blue Smoke Jewelry feels like entering a party with your closest, chicest
friends. The boutique is always bustling with shoppers, eager to chime in on each other’s purchases, and it’s nearly impossible to leave empty-handed. Blue Smoke Jewelry and Gifts is the creation of Nashville native Betty Elrod, a skilled jewelry designer who left the corporate world to grow her dedicated following with a space filled with beauty, meaning and connection. Betty’s one-of-a-kind handmade jewelry is featured alongside a carefully curated selection of artisan gifts inspired by the mystique of the Smoky Mountains. Shopping is meant to be this magical. TOBY LOWENFELS
In 2022, long-established jewelry designer Freshie & Zero opened a studio shop in a corner lot in East Nashville. While jewelry is designed and made in the adjoining studio
space, shoppers can peruse frames, candles and stickers, in addition to freshly made hammeredjewelry offerings. Freshie & Zero has something for everyone — from baby teethers to art prints to niche food offerings. There are lots of hidden treasures to discover tucked into each nook.
ELIZABETH JONES
Its 12South location has been open since 2013, so it’s been easy to take White’s Mercantile for granted a little. But a recent visit to the Green Hills outpost of singer-songwriter Holly Williams’ Southern chic shop renewed my appreciation for the variety and specificity of
what it offers. A small assortment of Agolde jeans, pajamas and robes from Sleepy Jones, upscale L’Avant cleaning products and plenty of luxe candles and bath products are perfect treat-yourself options. A section of gifts for men — from coffee table books to ball caps to toiletries — sets White’s apart from lots of other femme-centric shops. And with another location recently popping up in Belle Meade, it seems like White’s is really going places.
LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
Gift Horse’s quirky stationery products bring the spark back to stationery shopping. Knowing
Thank
off Dickerson Pike — but I had to restrain myself from buying every single book I laid hands on. Owner Carrie McMahon clearly has taste, and it shows on the walls of her shop. And while nothing will ever quite fill the void in my bookloving heart left by BookManBookWoman’s closure in 2016, shops like East Nashville Books spark the same wonder and excitement of happening into new worlds. LANCE CONZETT
Who doesn’t love a smut truck? Since Slow Burn opened its doors last summer, the mobile bookstore has been slinging romance books that touch on every subgenre and trope you desire. The small (but well-curated) store also carries special-edition books, signed copies, titles from indie authors and book-related merch. Snag a copy of your next read — the spicier the better — at one of Slow Burn’s pop-ups, or check out the monthly book club. TINA DOMINGUEZ
Every month in 2025, the owners of East Nashville bookshop Novelette have come up with a theme, and then I buy a book under that theme — and then they give me pizza coupons for taking tests on the books. I’m just kidding about that last part, but the book membership has a pretty similar vibe to the Accelerated Reader program of my youth. Folks buy a book once a month under whatever off-the-wall theme the owners come up with, and at the end of the year there will be fun prizes for participating. But to be real, it’s just a real fun way to indulge my extreme book-buying habits while chatting with the funniest and coolest bookstore owners in town. AMANDA HAGGARD
When there’s a special occasion, my friends have a foolproof unspoken rule: Get a book from East Nashville shop The Green Ray. The art lover’s paradise is a one-stop shop to tout your obscure obsession to your houseguests.
Some titles currently displayed in my living room include On the Dance Floor: Spinning Out on Screen and Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. I currently have my eyes set on Sofia Coppola Archive: 1999-2023 for my next addition. Stop by and have faith in your own good taste! KATHLEEN HARRINGTON
Founded by Dino’s owner Alex Wendkos and situated next door to Babo in East Nashville’s Inglewood neighborhood, Seconds is a new, self-described “dinner party shop.” Seconds is filled with tasty little morsels like stroopwafels, lemon tarts, pickles, granola, nuts, salami, tinned fish and countless condiments, not to mention glassware, various kitchen accessories and nonalcoholic beverages. If you’re seeking inspiration for a housewarming or birthday present — or if life’s troubles have you in need of some retail therapy — Seconds is the perfect place to kill 30 minutes. Or an hour. D. PATRICK
RODGERS
What better way to learn two-step dancing than from a pair of lovebirds? Married couple Caitlin and JB Duckett started Hello Honky Tonk seven years ago as a way to spread their twostep expertise through Music City. With Caitlin’s formal background in ballet and modern dance and JB’s encyclopedic knowledge of the art form, they have successfully made even the clumsiest of students dance-floor-ready. Residencies at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Skinny Dennis make it easy to find one of their Texas Two-Step “Quick, Quick, Slow, Slow” intros, where you’ll learn all the basic spins. And if you can catch them on a break between the tucks and dips, they’ll gladly school you on the history behind the pastime. Now that’s progression. TOBY LOWENFELS
Nothing makes more sense to me than the combined forces of bakery Baked on 8th and gift shop Electric Mixer. They make for the perfect one-stop micro strip on Eighth Avenue South. Pop into Baked on 8th for a legendary Galaxy Brownie, or — my favorite — buy enormous pieces of cake by the slice and Frankenstein together your own cake. Then head next door to Electric Mixer to pick up balloons, cards and the perfect gifts for a birthday party or housewarming. Owned by Baked on 8th coowner Leah Carmean, Electric Mixer features piñatas made in house, birthday crowns and flower arrangements, all displayed in a candycolored arrangement. ELIZABETH JONES
Sarah House at Lucky 24 has a niche — fineline tattoo work in black-and-white with very
limited color. Were you looking for a realistic pet portrait? A garden of flowers along your leg? Sarah will stretch the limitations of shading in black ink. Not only is she incredibly creative and talented, she’s also extremely careful and considerate of her clients — ensuring placement and size are correct and never making you feel rushed. The results are elegant tattoos, science-book illustrations come to life. Sarah’s schedule fills up quickly, and she does quarterly openings, and you have to follow her on Instagram (@serahsubmarine) to be notified.
ELIZABETH JONES ▼
19
TED has been exploring joy for decades. Now, Nashville adds its own chapter.
JILLIAN TURECKI
Relationship Expert
NYT Bestselling Author
RANDALL WALLACE
Screenwriter, Braveheart, We Were Soldiers
ASHLEIGH MAXCEY
STEPHANIE STYLL
CEO American Medical Association
Happiness researcher, Vanderbilt DR. JOHN WHYTE
ANNE-LAURE LE CUNFF JEROME MOORE
Neuroscientist and Founder Ness Labs
PBS Producer Community Explorer
Podcast Host Founder Killjoy
LARISSA MAY
CEO of Ginko. Founder of #HalfTheStory
BEST CURRENT METRO COUNCILMEMBER, READERS’ POLL: JACOB KUPIN
OUR VOTERS SAY: “She’s a smart gal!”
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BEST TV NEWS STATION
1. WKRN
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OUR VOTERS SAY:
“Very dedicated to serving his constituents.”
Nick Beres, NewsChannel 5
Phil Williams, NewsChannel 5
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The Buck Reising Show
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OUR VOTERS SAY:
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Audio storytelling is distinctive in its ability to capture the emotion in the voices of people impacted by worldwide issues. WPLN reporter Rose Gilbert accomplishes that in her podcast The Country in Our Hearts, which was released in June. The four-episode series details the tragic history of conflict in the region of Iraqi Kurdistan and how Nashville became home to the largest Kurdish population in the U.S. Gilbert traveled to the region and sorted through decades of archived materials to chronicle this story through the lens of one Nashville family, painting a larger picture of America’s current immigration landscape.
JULIANNE AKERS
You’re not supposed to reach for your phone the moment you wake up, but it’s hard to resist opening the City Cast Nashville email
first thing in the morning. With all the dismal news in the world, the editorial team at City Cast knows how to cover heavy topics in a light way using a dash of humor and curiosity. Mixed in with local news are events and volunteer opportunities, along with brief editorial notes to make it all personable. City Cast Nashville’s daily podcast paired with the newsletter is equally engaging and digestible. They have in-depth interviews throughout the week with reporters, comedians and gig workers, and Friday News Roundups feature Metro Council rundowns and guest spots from local journalists (including, sometimes, Scene reporters), artists, activists and everyday residents. City Cast touches on every facet of Nashville life, making readers and listeners excited to spend another day in our city. TOBY LOWENFELS
For as many aspiring country stars who come to
Nashville and make it big, there are even more who never reach superstardom. Shelly Bush fell into the latter category, but not from a lack of talent or work ethic. While she never became a star, her story is the Nashville story — one of a musician with big dreams who made a big impact, even without fame. Former bandmate Ellen Angelico relays Shelly’s story with care and craft in Girl in a Hurry: The Shelly Bush Story With funny anecdotes, interviews with Shelly’s inner circle and a whole lot of heart, Girl in a Hurry is a master class in personal, powerful storytelling. HANNAH CRON
WPLN’s In My Place series started in 2024 as a vehicle to educate listeners on the complex issues surrounding homelessness prevention. It kicked off its second season in February of this year. In 15-plus episodes, a team of journalists looks at the planning, response and prevention measures (or lack thereof) happening around homelessness in Nashville. The series is a deep dive for all the wonks, focusing on both success and failure in housing efforts, and it should be required listening for all folks new to Nashville. It’s in-depth, and every subject is handled with care. AMANDA HAGGARD
Information from state and local governments in Tennessee can be hard to come by — even the kind of info that is supposed to be public can be difficult to access at times. But our media landscape has a pretty good handle on it. This year the Tennessee Lookout staff specifically stands out for their work in documenting information on the state’s franchise tax refunds, info that was available only online from the state for a month. The staff republished the full list of nearly 60,000 businesses and the range of amounts returned to each business. Now anyone can examine the list to see private companies that received a portion of $1.5 billion after the state decided to change its tax law.
NICOLLE S. PRAINO
Former Metro employee Mike Lacy’s forensic attention to city documents helped bring multiple Metro paper trails to light this spring and summer. Publicly available information isn’t always easy to get, often demanding litigious email followups and specifically worded requests, and Lacy’s prolific Substack posts about the city’s hapless Office of Homeless Services proved that obsession can be repurposed for the public good. His “OHS Community Audit” webpage paved the way for Metro’s own examination, and his newsletter promises even more well-designed data dumps to come. ELI MOTYCKA
Many of the bills that make their way through the Tennessee General Assembly are passed along party lines, but one piece of legislation that received unanimous support from both the House and Senate was the Voyeurism Victims Act. The legislation was signed into law in the spring and expands legal protections for victims of unlawful photography by extending the statute of limitations. The change largely came in part from advocacy by a group of Nashville women who discovered the same man had secretly recorded them while engaging in sexual acts. (Disclosure: The bill was cosponsored by Rep. Bob Freeman, who is the owner of the Scene.)
JULIANNE AKERS
It is inspiring to see how many women entered politics in the past few years, when Tennessee’s laws began hitting close to home. OB-GYN Dr. Laura Andreson was spurred into activism by the state’s abortion ban, which adversely affects her patients and could potentially even threaten her job. There are so many to honor in this space, but few speak up as often and as loudly as Andreson, who — even though she did not win — ran for state House District 63 last year, participated in a national lawsuit, and spoke out at the statehouse and at rallies, all while maintaining a patient load. Andreson also recently announced that she’ll be running for the District 63 seat again in 2026. HANNAH HERNER
Although smaller in scale than the statehouse, Metro government has its fair share of messiness and controversy. Often at the forefront of minimizing the drama is Vice Mayor Angie Henderson. Whether she’s ensuring that the Metro Council follows parliamentary procedure or working to maintain order in the occasional hostile meeting, Henderson has quickly taken to the gavel and grown into her role of presiding over the council since her narrow defeat of incumbent Vice Mayor Jim Shulman in 2023.
JULIANNE AKERS
OCTOBER 25-31 OCTOBER 25-31
Join Hands On in filling every spot on the volunteer calendar, where you can discover hundreds of ways to help our community thrive. Everyone who signs up during the week is entered to win fun prizes! Whether you're new to volunteering or have given countless hours to the community, now is the time to serve!
Oct. 25 | 10a.m. - 12p.m. centennial park
Show nashville some love!
Not only did local group Music City MigraWatch broadly prove the power of organized community, it also likely protected Nashville families, inspired a city and saved human lives during the sudden dragnets laid by ICE and Tennessee Highway Patrol in May. While federal and state law enforcement mutated into an anti-immigration task force, the all-volunteer network meticulously collected firsthand documentation that showed methods and, at times, apparent misconduct. In at least one case observed by the Scene, by simply being there, these lookouts discouraged officers from turning a bogus traffic stop into a potential deportation.
ELI MOTYCKA
Protests have become increasingly common at the state Capitol, but one particular act of defiance stood out from the rest this year. In April, lawmakers concluded that day’s debate on one of the most controversial pieces of legislation of the session — a bill that would have allowed school boards to prohibit undocumented students from attending public schools — when 80-year-old Lynn McFarland refused to leave her seat at the close of the meeting. After several attempts to get McFarland to vacate, state troopers picked her up and carried her out of the building, arresting her. The incident drew statewide attention and criticism, and while photos and videos of McFarland’s removal endured, the bill didn’t make it past its final hurdles on the House floor.
JULIANNE AKERS
The critics and editors at the Scene pride ourselves on being a pretty solid source for Nashville’s curious eaters — but for the past couple of years, Anas Saba of Nashville Hidden Gems (@nashvillehiddengems on Instagram)
has been giving us a run for our money. With roughly 130,000 followers on IG (and another 7,500 or so on TikTok), the son of Yemeni immigrants tours the city’s best undersung restaurants, many of them immigrant-owned. With both his social media content and his Nashville Hidden Gems Restaurant Passport (available for purchase via his website), the friendly 27-year-old guides his followers through the best cuisine Nashville has to offer — from Peruvian, Thai and Vietnamese eateries to Korean, Mexican and beyond. We’re glad to have you here, Anas. D. PATRICK RODGERS
A lot of the inhabitants of the Nashville socialmedia-influencer sphere are fairly annoying, if not downright harmful. But one local man has risen above the bullshit in a noble attempt to find the coolest places to stand. Victor Tyler, a Nashville-based filmmaker, has amassed roughly 18,000 followers on TikTok (@coolplacestostand) thanks to his chill dispatches from cool places to stand around town. He ranks the spots on a number of factors: a lack of traffic (of the vehicle or foot
variety), peaceful vibes, something to lean on, rocks to kick. Tyler’s videos provide a soothing antidote to our overstimulating feeds. LOGAN BUTTS
With his delightful 2024 memoir 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left, British rocker Robyn Hitchcock demonstrated he could write prose as adeptly as he writes lyrics and melodies. In January, Hitchcock launched an eponymous Substack as a platform for his prose and has filled it with memories and insights from his four-plus decades as a recording artist and songwriter, as well as some current happenings in his career. With post titles such as “Remembering Syd Barrett,” “Bob Dylan’s Birthday #84,” “I Am the Walrus” and “Glimpses of Brian Wilson,” Hitchcock’s Substack is a highly entertaining and informative read.
DARYL SANDERS
As someone who spent entirely too much of his youth avoiding getting knocked out by dudes doing roundhouse kicks in the pit at The Muse,
I can attest to the fact that the hardcore scene has been one of Nashville’s most enduring. Iconoclast, a zine dedicated to the past and present of local hardcore, is a testament to that. Since December, Iconoclast has pumped out four issues, documented the local histories of screamo and hardcore, interviewed bands like Love Is Red and gathered insights from a wide spectrum of heads from the scene — all packaged in an incredibly cool Maximum Rocknroll-style collage hodgepodge. If you’ve ever been in a circle pit (by chance or by choice), this zine is for you.
LANCE CONZETT
Far too often, seeing a Nashvillian in a national news headline is followed by something at best cringeworthy and at worst totally humiliating. (Certain lawmakers and country stars come to mind.) So it was refreshing to see the nation take note of a non-embarrassment in Survivor 47 runner-up Sam Phalen. While he didn’t become the Sole Survivor, he certainly made his mark on the competition. From lying about his fruit virginity to pulling off the infamous Operation Italy and one of the most intense firemaking challenges in franchise history, Phalen made Nashville proud. He was a team player, a fierce competitor and — unlike aforementioned lawmakers and country stars — not a bigot.
HANNAH CRON ▼
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Case Western Reserve University
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2. Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
3. Cumberland Kayak
BEST PEDIATRICIAN
1. Dr. Elizabeth McFarlin, Tennessee Pediatrics
2. Dr. Kimberly Buie, Green Hills Pediatrics
3. Dr. Nancy Beveridge, The Children’s Clinic of Nashville (tie)
3. Dr. Sunny Bell, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital (tie)
Camp Bow Wow
BEST PET GROOMING
BEST PLACE TO HAVE A BIRTHDAY PARTY
1. Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
2. Ceramic Souls
3. Urban Air Adventure Park
BEST SWIM LESSONS
1. YMCA
2. SafeSplash + SwimLabs
3. Nashville Swim Academy
BEST PLACE TO TAKE KIDS WHEN IT’S RAINING
1. Adventure Science Center
2. Frist Art Museum
3. Woodland Play Cafe
BEST PLAYGROUND
1. Fannie Mae Dees (Dragon Park)
2. Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
3. Mary’s Magical Place
BEST PRE-SCHOOL
1. Christ the King School (tie)
1. Holly Street Daycare (tie) 3. Saint Henry School
BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL
1. Father Ryan High School 2. Christ the King School 3. Harding Academy
BEST SUMMER CAMP 1. Cheekwood Estate & Gardens 2. Camp Ryan, Father Ryan High School
Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
BEST TEACHER (PUBLIC OR PRIVATE)
1. Brooke Ferguson, Nashville School of the Arts
2. Stephanie Wyatt, Christ the King
3. Krista Grimes, Nashville Collegiate Prep
OUR VOTERS SAY: “The trains! The toys! The experience. The BUNNIES!”
BEST TOY STORE
1. Phillips Toy Mart
2. Tabla Rasa Toys
3. The Getalong
BEST VETERINARIAN
1. Dr. Marc Smith, Natchez Trace Veterinary Services
2. Nippers Corner Pet Medical Center
3. Hillsboro Animal Hospital
nashvillehumane.org
I love my toddler. I also love quiet, diaper-free dinners, and Music City Kids Club delivers that. The indoor play space in East Nashville serves kids 13 months to 12 years old, up to seven hours a day, 20 hours a week. Kids 2 and older are just $12 per hour (!), and additional children are $5 per hour more. Kids can draw, play games, do crafts, read or even do homework. And you? You can do whatever you want.
ASHLEY BRANTLEY
Spreading the joy of reading is Book’em’s love language. Parnassus Books gave a bus to the program in 2022, and since then it has been appearing at community events all over the city. Its gleaming interior is set up like a bookstore, beautifully displaying board books and chapter books. But the best part of this bus is that each child is able to pick out one book for free, helping spread literacy and book ownership to underserved areas of Nashville. Seeing kids leaving the bus, clutching a new book to their chests, with a big grin on their faces — what could beat that? If you feel like giving back, you can also organize book drives to fill the bus.
ELIZABETH JONES
With Parents as Partners, Conexión Américas and a team of parent volunteers deliver workshops for six to nine weeks to build knowledge for Latino parents about what happens inside Metro Nashville Public Schools. It’s delivered in Spanish, and the sessions end with a parent-to-parent connection and graduation. My kid’s school had
a successful cohort last year, and the parents left with a way better sense of how to understand how things flow at the school and in the district.
AMANDA HAGGARD
BEST NEW PLAY FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
NASHVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE’S ELIJAH ROCK! A JUBILEE BATTLE
In a season designed to inspire “creativity and empathy” in young audiences, Elijah Rock!
A Jubilee Battle not only racked up another successful world premiere — it also honored the remarkable legacy of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Written by Gloria Bond Clunie, Elijah Rock! challenged youngsters to consider the stories we tell and the importance of standing up for the truth. And in the capable hands of director Bakari King (along with musical director Piper Jones), the play delivered a great mix of music — from traditional spirituals to rap — plus
thoughtful performances and dynamic designs that truly brought history to life. AMY STUMPFL
BEST ADAPTATION FROM WEB SERIES TO STAGE THE THEATER BUG’S STORIES_
The Theater Bug first introduced Stories_ as an original musical web series during the dark days of COVID. A thought-provoking project, it explored the lives of young people through “both their online ‘stories’ and the real-life stories that shape them.” This summer, the Bug reimagined the piece as a live performance, showcasing a slew of talented young artists, along with some wildly polished design elements courtesy of the creative wizards at MA2LA. More importantly, Stories_ managed to tap into the tough real-world concerns faced by today’s kids with grace, humor and sensitivity. AMY STUMPFL
BEST
The hardest part of toddler parenting is cruise directing 24/7. Endless energy plus limited attention spans are a recipe for disaster — until you head to the Nashville Gymnastics Training Center. For kids ages 1.5 to 3 years old, parents participate, helping kids walk the beam, forward roll and bounce into foam pits from trampolines. After age 3, the deal sweetens: Coach Taylor and team take my daughter and run her blissfully ragged in 45 minutes. We leave all smiles, hands stamped, stress-free.
ASHLEY BRANTLEY
BEST ACTIVITY FOR ENERGETIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLERS JACK’S GYM
Hidden on the back side of a shopping center near Nippers Corner, Jack’s Gym is newly opened — but its owner Scott Morgan is no stranger to teaching gymnastics. He has loads of experience over his career, but he shines teaching elementary-age kids. He constantly challenges them to become stronger and work their muscles harder. Every inch of his micro gym is utilized, with “Coach Scott” varying lessons every week and routinely warming up with high-energy fitness games that have the kids exhausted but begging for more. Furthering the wholesome vibes, at the end of each session the kids all gather together and yell “SWEAT!” on the count of three.
ELIZABETH JONES
PLACE
The toughest part of teaching kids to swim isn’t getting them in the water with you; it’s getting them in the water with anyone else. I swear our 3-year-old raised the water level two inches with
just her tears. But manager Cameron Hamann and his team at SafeSplash + SwimLabs never give up. Your child sets the pace, and they pitch ideas to make things easier, including swapping classes as needed. Most of all, they make every child and parent feel less alone. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
When my daughter was born in 2022, I applied to 47 preschools. After a year of waiting, any place would’ve felt magical — but St. Luke’s Child Development Center actually is. Since 1973, they’ve been building community and offering aid in a nondenominational way (which is unique and refreshing) while ensuring diversity in race, ability, economics and ZIP code. Whether they’re potty training, reading in Spanish, hosting family Thanksgiving lunches or teaching Conscious Discipline, the kind, thoughtful, enthusiastic staff makes every day a joy. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
I’m a sucker for miniature golf — even more so when it’s in a temperature-controlled space with a bar nearby. PuttShack’s arrival in Nashville provides a much-needed family-friendly outlet for fun any time of the year. Located right next door to Pins Mechanical Co. (another great place to pass the time with kiddos of all ages), PuttShack features four unique indoor courses that nicely blend modern technology with retro nostalgia. Each course keeps score for you so you don’t have to carry around a tiny pencil, and the holes draw inspiration from pinball machines, Skee-Ball games and classic carnival attractions. It’s a day well spent — with or without the teens and tweens in tow. NANCY FLOYD
Parents know some playgrounds well: Red Caboose in Bellevue, Centennial Park, the sneaky-good play area at the zoo. But unless you frequent the Northwest YMCA, you probably don’t know about BlueCross Healthy Place. The fully accessible playground is open to the public and features a challenge course, splash pad, walking path and fitness equipment. It’s also got basketball and pickleball courts, so you can play right alongside your kids. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
In February, Dancing People put on an all-ages dance party at Riverside Revival that was funky and delightful for folks of all generations. From Gen Alpha to boomers, there was an array of people taking part in the fun. They held a dance contest for the young’uns, a conga line for all and a photo booth and small vintage kids’ clothing setup from Kid Stuff. Dancing People is a nonprofit dance organization that puts on classes and events all year long all aimed at bringing people together to shake it in the name of fun and community, and this free one was just perfect. AMANDA HAGGARD
Not enough people talk about the Promising Scholars program that Metro Nashville Public Schools puts on for free once school is out for summer. The extra session is both for kids who need the extra support as well as for families who might need a fun and educational place for their kid to go while they work. (MNPS may not say this next part, but it’s not attendance-
based — so if you need to miss a day to go to the waterpark or to see Grandma, it’s no big deal.) The only step parents have to take before enrolling kids in next year’s session is letting their regular school know that their child would like to attend. Parents, just be sure to do that a couple months before the end of the 2025-26 school year. AMANDA HAGGARD
The magic of pretend play was in full display this summer at Cheekwood. As a collaboration with Castle Homes, five unique Enchanted Castles were built and scattered along the grounds of Cheekwood. Children (and some adults — I saw you!) were invited to swing, slide, climb, fight imaginary dragons, cross bridges and call down to their royal court. Each castle told a story of its own, from a flowered fairy palace to a wizard’s watch tower. Here’s hoping this exhibit makes a return. ELIZABETH JONES
There’s no more iconic thing for a diva to do than have a public meltdown. So when my 2-year-old did that on the Ryman stage upon
meeting Santa, the photos instantly became my favorite Christmas decoration. This opportunity is a must for any music lover — the fee (under $35) covers your printed photo and admission for a self-guided tour. Plus, Santa’s garb is as flawless as his patience, so everyone can enjoy this epic moment. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
My dog is too insane for public parks, yet I’m at Urban Dog Bar weekly. I get a serotonin boost just walking into the tidy, 20,000-square-foot complex. For just $12 per day (less with an annual membership) you can enjoy “rufferee”monitored playtime, above-average food and cocktails (for purchase) and a rotating slate of activities: trivia, Pilates with pups, drag brunches, adoption events, even breed meetups. Anything you can think of is on the table — and the turf. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
Admittedly, it’s tough to leave my son — er, I mean my beagle — when I head out of town, but it’s a lot easier when I’m checking him into Yardstick. Billed as a premium dog hotel providing “five-star accommodations for
four-legged friends,” Yardstick offers fantastic boarding and day care facilities at their three Nashville-area locations (East Nashville, West Nashville and Berry Hill). Dogs are housed in their own “suites,” and you can even add on spa and room service amenities. (Think nail trims, bathtime, puppaccinos and peanut-butter-filled toys.) The staff is attentive, kind and generous, with regular photo updates throughout your pup’s stay. Only the best for our good boys and girls, right? NANCY FLOYD
Shout out to Hippo, Douglas and all the other pups my son and I snuggled at shelters to lessen his fear of dogs. What started as exposure therapy became adoption talk, but we couldn’t land on “the one” — and my husband, who enjoyed a dog-hair-free decade after our last rescue died, wasn’t fully on board. Within hours of learning that foster-based Proverbs 12:10 offers a no-pressure adoption trial period, we picked out a super-chill hound mix at their weekly Bellevue Petco event. By the end of the week, all three of us had fallen in love with Pi (formerly Gidget) on our own time, in our own home.
DANNY BONVISSUTO
If you’ve never seen a cat have an asthma attack, you’re lucky: I thought my cat was dying when I saw him have one. At the vet’s office, I found out that not only does my cat have asthma, but so does the vet! Dr. Michael Lutz explained what an asthma attack is, what it feels like and how to manage it. He laughed when I told him I was trying to teach my cat how to use an inhaler. Having a vet with a sense of humor is great, and having one with the same diagnosis as your pet is even better. KIM BALDWIN
One of the last places anyone wants to be is a veterinary ER, but if your pet’s in crisis, Nashville Veterinary Specialists is there to help. Gilda, the world’s sweetest mutt, nearly died of a fever that took a few weeks to diagnose, but they got her back to her old self. The thoughtful triage in the waiting room and the nurses who help you understand the pricing are great, but the best part is the 24-hour staff on hand who clearly love their job. Depending on what your animal needs, you may be able to pop in for visiting hours. ASHLEY SPURGEON SHAMBAN
Best Zoo Baby is one of the most competitive categories in the writers’ choice section, and this year is no exception. With cuties like Chive the red river hoglet, Benicio the pudu fawn and Valentina the tamandua pup in the running, the choice was harder than ever. But there’s one
thing we know for certain: Three zoo babies are better than one! Enter Gemma the clouded leopard cub and her two adopted siblings. Gemma was born in July and will be raised here in Music City with a pair of cubs from Kansas 10 weeks her senior. After the tragic loss of a clouded leopard cub at the Nashville Zoo in April, the tiny trio is a reminder that a new beginning is never too far away. HANNAH CRON
Losing a pet can be an extremely stressful situation — for both the pet owner and their furry little friend. Fortunately, when a good Samaritan stumbles across a lost pet, they can bring the stray critter to most veterinary clinics or pet shops to search for a microchip and hopefully reconnect Fido with his family. The only issue there? We’re at the mercy of those businesses’ hours. Until recently, that is. A little less than a year ago, the fine folks at the Nashville Humane Association installed a 24/7 microchip-scanning station at their West Nashville location. Located outside the NHA’s gates at 213 Oceola Ave., the “reunification station” includes instructions for use and is available at all hours, 365 days per year — getting little buddy one step closer to home that much more quickly. D. PATRICK RODGERS
For more than three decades, Dog Day has been a citywide celebration of all things pup. Centennial Park fills up with Fun Zones for kids and dogs — think games and inflatables; cocktails and food trucks; live music; giveaways and shops; and the city’s foremost dog costume contest. Last year’s favorites included a Dumb and Dumber terrier duo and a pair of corgi astronauts. Best of all: Proceeds support shelter pets at Nashville Humane. ASHLEY BRANTLEY ▼
When the VIVID Health Clinic, part of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Program for LGBTQ Health, shut down with no notice to its patients, and when Neighborhood Health spinelessly stopped offering gender-affirming services, mutual aid collective Trans Aid Nashville stepped up. Along with publicly advocating for transgender, genderqueer and nonconforming folks (and others!), TAN offers financial assistance and other resources, and hosts big, fun dance parties for fundraising. In July, TAN also put together a multimedia group show — a tender exhibition on self-actualization — at Elephant Gallery. When other systems fail, get behind the ones making a community — and that means groups like TAN. CAT ACREE
Linda Wynn — the Tennessee Historical Commission’s assistant director for state programs — is a historian’s historian. Not only is her own work impeccable, she’s also responsible for a lot of the support work that makes being a historian in Tennessee possible. You want to put up a historical marker? Talk to Linda. You need someone to consult on a project you’re working on? Talk to Linda. Do you have a history class at a local university you need an instructor for? Talk to Linda. Come February, she’ll have been running the Nashville Conference on African American History and Culture for 45 years, which means she’s been instrumental in preserving Nashville’s history and vetting the research other historians are doing for nearly a fifth of the city’s existence. Through her work, she’s set the tenor for how Nashville history is done and made sure that it’s shared with everyone.
BETSY PHILLIPS
Lexy Burke is one of Nashville’s most adept businesspeople, specializing in what can best be described as the bachelorette economy. She took the money she earned hosting bachelorettes at
a short-term rental and put it into Ranch Hands, a PG-13 male revue that is quickly expanding. Then she made another genius business move and opened White Velvet Wedding Chapel in Germantown, a place for couples to have Vegasstyle micro weddings. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. HANNAH HERNER
It seems like more and more photogs are capturing every political action and important moment in the city, and that’s a beautiful thing. I love to see our city being covered as thoroughly as possible. But there’s a guy who you’ll find at almost every single political action in the city, ensuring there’s a record, and he’s been doing it for decades. Folks may not think they know him, but if you’ve been to any political event in town, you’ve likely seen him — with his camera hanging around his neck, sporting a long beard and ballcap, taking it all in. Al Levenson has been taking photos in the city for years, and he shows up whether there are five people marching or 5,000. AMANDA HAGGARD
Over the past year, Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park in downtown Nashville has been the site of popular local electronic music fest Deep Tropics, the Big Bash show on New Year’s Eve and the NightLight615 outdoor movie series. It’s where thousands of citizens gathered in June for the local iteration of the national “No Kings” protest. The 19-acre park is also home to a 200foot granite map of the state, a World War II memorial and my favorite bit — the Pathway of History, a 1,400-foot route featuring monolithic black granite pylons marked with dates explaining Tennessee’s history, stretching all the way back to 1 billion years ago. It also happens to be a great spot for a leisurely walk — and none of that is to mention the time capsules! Adjacent to the Tennessee State Museum, Bicentennial is a gem of a space right in the heart of Nashville.
D. PATRICK RODGERS
This year, Walk Bike Nashville sought to pull off perhaps its most ambitious plan yet — close off a five-mile loop of Nashville roads and paths from cars once per month to help people imagine what a more pedestrian-friendly city could look like. And it wasn’t just for looks. Cyclists and walkers could enjoy the path and businesses along the way for one day each month this summer. Though the June event didn’t take place due to logistical issues, the July, August and September Open Streets events were successes. There’s room to grow, but the sheer effort to move the dial and make the city a less car-centric place is a noble one. HANNAH HERNER
Nashville-based Hensler Development Group unveiled multibuilding project Peabody Plaza earlier this year, and the positive comments continue. The anchor of the Rolling Mill Hill
is behind Adelicia in Midtown, Twelve Twelve in the Gulch and now this attractive group of buildings located in what some are calling South Bank. A job well done, Mr. Hensler. WILLIAM WILLIAMS
A lot of Nashvillians dream of walkable neighborhoods, with access to public transit surrounded by restaurants, shops, offices and apartments. Few of us imagined that would come in the form of an old meatpacking plant. Fortunately, the McRedmond family and Jim Irwin imagined it. As the Neuhoff District opened to the public, we saw what’s possible, from daily padel (sort of a cross between racquetball and tennis) to a Mas Tacos truck and Brian Lea and Leina Horii’s newest spot, Babychan. Over the summer, when people of all ages sat on the River Steps, watching goldenhour light over the Cumberland while Devon
and Nikki Lane played free shows, joy and relief radiated off the reclaimed bricks. It’s a different take on
These two Nashville Yards towers — offering subtle art deco touches — are handsome both day and night. The genius of The Everett and The Emory is that, though they’re similar in design, there is sufficient effective contrast. Props to Nashville Yards master developer Southwest Value Partners, Dallasbased StreetLights Residential, and Chicago architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz for giving downtown an elegant take on the “twin tower” concept. WILLIAM WILLIAMS
This year, H.G. Hill Realty Company and the Metro Public Works Department retrofitted a dysfunctional stretch of Harding Pike with a new entrance for the Publix-anchored Hill Center Belle Meade, a new traffic signal at the updated intersection and the elimination of the traffic signal at Harding Pike and Kenner/ North Kenner avenues. Sound basic? Perhaps. But the positive effect — for both motorists and pedestrians — is noteworthy. WILLIAM WILLIAMS
The Nashville area has experienced a surge in high-level high school quarterback prospects over the past decade. After leading Nashville Christian School to a state championship and being named both Mr. Football and the Gatorade Tennessee High School Football Player of the Year last season, current senior Jared Curtis is the most sought-after recruit yet. According to recruiting aggregator 24/7Sports’ composite rankings, Curtis is the top-ranked prospect in the state, the second-highest-rated quarterback in the country and the fifth-best
recruit overall. That’s why national college football powerhouse the University of Georgia has secured Curtis’ commitment. LOGAN BUTTS
Vanderbilt women’s basketball star Mikayla Blakes had one hell of a freshman campaign for the ’Dores. During the 2024-25 season, Blakes was perpetually on fire. First, she broke the Vanderbilt and SEC single-game scoring records by pouring in 53 points in a win over Florida on Jan. 19. Then, less than a month later, she upped that already sky-high total, dropping
55 points in an overtime victory at Auburn to break the NCAA freshman single-game scoring record. For her exploits, Blakes was voted the National Freshman of the Year and second-team All-American. For an encore, Blakes led a Team USA squad made up of fellow college stars to the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup title this summer; she was named the tournament MVP.
LOGAN BUTTS
Eddie George saved his best for last as Tennessee State University’s head football coach. The former Titans star running back guided the Tigers to a 9-4 record in 2024, the best mark of
George’s four seasons at TSU and the most wins for the school since 2013. George was named the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading Tennessee State to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the first time since 2013. In March, George accepted an offer to become head coach at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, the state in which he won the Heisman Trophy in 1995 while playing for Ohio State. JOHN GLENNON
Yes, a certain Vandy upset got much more attention last fall (read elsewhere in this section for more), but only one massive ’Dores upset
had actual postseason implications for the winners. Vanderbilt soccer entered the 2024 NCAA Tournament facing an uphill battle. After dispatching crosstown rival Lipscomb with ease in the first round, Vanderbilt had to take on the region’s top-seed and the defending national champions, Florida State. So the ’Dores grabbed their slingshots and took aim at Goliath. Christ Presbyterian Academy alum Caroline Betts scored a pair of goals to force the match to penalty kicks, where Vanderbilt toppled the mighty Seminoles 4-3. LOGAN BUTTS
In what might have been the biggest shock of last year’s entire college football season, Vanderbilt stunned top-ranked Alabama 40-35, knocking off the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time. It was a victory for the ages for the Commodores, who entered the game with a 0-10 record against No. 1 teams and a 0-60 mark against opponents ranked in the top five. They’d also lost 23 straight games to the Crimson Tide. Vandy fans celebrated in style — storming the field and tearing down the goalposts before marching the uprights a couple of miles down Broadway and dumping them in the Cumberland River. JOHN GLENNON
In his first season as Vanderbilt’s men’s basketball coach, Mark Byington faced quite a challenge. Not only had the team stumbled to a 9-23 record in 2023-24, but the Commodores had lost all but one player from that roster — through transfer or graduation. But Byington
got to work quickly, eventually signing 10 new players via the NCAA’s transfer portal. The rebuilt team gelled in a hurry, as Vanderbilt produced a 20-13 season that included the Commodores’ first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2017. Byington earned the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award, which recognizes both on-court success and integrity. JOHN GLENNON
One season after missing the playoffs for the first time in its five-year existence, Nashville SC embarked on quite the turnaround in 2025. In B.J. Callaghan’s first full season as head coach, Music City’s Major League Soccer team transformed itself into an offensive-minded, entertaining and successful squad. Thanks in part to new additions like Eddi Tagseth, Andy Najar and Jeisson Palacios — and thanks in part to the high-scoring tandem of Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar — Nashville is contending for the best record in the league late in the 2025 season. JOHN GLENNON
In what has been a bounce-back year for Nashville SC, the Boys in Gold landed three players on the MLS All-Star roster for the first time in club history. Two of the names were to be expected: highly compensated designated players Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge. The third selection was a bit of a surprise. Left back Andy Najar, signed by NSC from his native Honduran club CD Olimpia over the summer, ranks 16th out of 27 players on the team’s roster in terms of salary. In fact, he sits about $400,000 below the league’s average salary of $649,120.
Belmont sharpshooter Ben Sheppard and former Vanderbilt defensive ace Aaron Nesmith played pivotal roles for the Pacers, while Nashville native and University School of Nashville graduate Jenny Boucek is an assistant coach in Indy. LOGAN BUTTS
It was a dismal season overall for the Nashville Predators, who produced just 28 victories, the second-fewest in franchise history. But there were a few highlights sprinkled throughout the schedule. One occurred on Jan. 14, when the Preds recorded their 1,000th win in regular-season history, beating the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3. Nashville, which began play in 1998, reached the milestone in 2,020 games — faster than all but one NHL team, the Philadelphia Flyers. The Preds’ victory was a full-circle moment for coach Andrew Brunette, who scored the first goal in franchise history.
JOHN GLENNON
And yet, the 32-year-old earned an all-star selection just the same. Najar might be in for a massive payday soon. LOGAN BUTTS
Still just 22 years old, Nashville’s Gretchen Walsh, a Harpeth Hall School alum, is putting together a staggering swimming résumé. After winning four medals — two gold and two silver — at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Walsh kept up the pace in 2025. One of her highlight moments occurred at a Pro Swim Series event in May, when Walsh set a world record in the 100-meter butterfly twice in a single day, becoming the first female swimmer to break 55 seconds in that event. At the World Aquatics Championships in July, Walsh won two more golds, posting the second-fastest 100-meter butterfly time in history. JOHN GLENNON
Let’s face the music: For a variety of reasons, we’re never getting an NBA team in Nashville. (I’m still holding out hope for an eventual WNBA squad.) There is a thriving contingent of Memphis Grizzlies fans in town who cheer for our state’s only top-level professional basketball squad, but Nashville-Memphis sports relations can be a bit dicey. Local pro-hoops-heads were able to live the fan dream vicariously during the 2025 NBA Playoffs thanks to the Indiana Pacers’ freewheeling Finals run. It’s not unique to have joined the Pacers bandwagon this past season; their joy was infectious. But Music City hoops fans had extra reason to hop on board: ex-
The best part of being very bad in professional sports is that it results in a very good draft pick. So it went for the Titans, as their horrid 3-14 season in 2024 was rewarded with the opportunity to select quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall selection in 2025. Whether or not Ward becomes the franchise cornerstone for years to come remains to be seen. But Ward immediately gave Titans fans hope, something in great demand following three straight seasons with a combined total of 16 victories. Ward’s arm strength, accuracy, work ethic and confidence are all reasons to believe better times await —even if they’re off to a rough start.
JOHN GLENNON ▼
YOUR GO TO SPOT FOR A GOOD TIME EVERY TIME S FO
HAPPY HOUR mON-THURS: -7pm Sunday: 2 pm-midnight, all day
AESTHETICIAN
1. Kay Mason, Nourish Skin Nashville
2. Rachel Blacker, 615 Aesthetics 3. Kenzie Cammuse, Nashville Skin Studio
BEST BARBERSHOP
1. Scout’s Barbershop
2. Session Hair
3. Uncle Classic Barbershop
BEST CHIROPRACTOR
1. Sweeney Chiropractic
Dr. Maria DeRochie, Mindstream Integrative Medicine
Bradshaw Chiropractic
BEST DENTIST
Nashville Dentistry Co.
Dillard Dental Services
Dr. McKinnon Forbes, Center for Advanced Dentistry
BEST GOLF COURSE
Hermitage Golf Course McCabe Golf Course
Gaylord Springs Golf Links
3. 615 Aesthetics (tie)
3. Poppy & Sage Aesthetics (tie)
BEST HAIR SALON
1. True Blue Salon
2. Green Pea Salon
3. Session Hair
BEST HAIR STYLIST
1. Craig Wickman, Green Pea Salon
2. Jess Adcox, Session Hair
3. Daniel Dalecke, Local Honey
BEST HOLISTIC
Dr. Ashish Patel of Nashville Dentistry Co. has bee n recognized as best in class, earning the title of Nashville’s Best Den tist by Nashville Scene consecutively since 2018.
With a sterling reputation and an unwavering commit ment to patient care, Dr. Patel has established one of the most tru sted dental practices serving the Nashville and Brentwood communities. Pa tients are welcomed into a calming, state-of-the-art environme nt where advanced dentistry meets comfort, redefining the traditional dental experience.
Finding and trying out a new gym can feel like a workout in itself — intimidating, exhausting and with no clue where to start. It’s precisely why I felt like rejoicing when I discovered Trainbetr. The private strength-training gym, with locations in East Nashville and Green Hills, checked every box. Attentive, kind and patient trainers? Check. Personalized coaching tailored specifically to my needs and skill level? Check. Workouts in the comfort of a private gym? Check. And that’s not to mention the nutritional coaching, customized at-home workout recommendations and steady encouragement from the staff. Regardless of your fitness goals, Trainbetr will help you reach them, with nary a gym bro in sight. NANCY FLOYD
The people at Fighters Boxing Gym are serious about working out. You won’t see any oversized Stanley water bottles with wallets attached lining the floor. The gym’s founder and director Christy Halbert is a former Olympic boxer and one of the reasons the International Olympic Committee decided to allow women’s boxing into the Olympics. Born and raised in Tennessee, she started Fighters Boxing Gym as
Nashville can be a treacherous city to bike in. Between the potholes, the constantly blocked bike lanes, the oblivious drivers and the hills (oh God, the hills), riding a bicycle in this city can get downright scary. But not with Music City Dope Pedalers. On the group’s weekly rides, MCDP evaporates those anxieties and replaces them with pure, uncut good vibes and hot jams. Led by “Nate the Great” McDowell, dozens of cyclists convene weekly at Frankie Pierce Park to explore the city on a casual, no-drop ride through the urban core. No matter your skill level, riding with MCDP is a welcoming, fun way to explore Nashville on two wheels. LANCE CONZETT
I tried to teach my child to ride a bike, I swear. I really tried. But my patience was wearing thin and my legs were tired. Enter Bike Fun, which feels like a magical discovery. Bike Fun is a nonprofit that teaches anyone how to ride a bike. Haven’t been on a bike for 30 years? Have a kid who hasn’t ever ridden without training wheels? There’s no judgment. You’ll be met with encouraging instructors who want to spread their love of riding bikes. No need to be self-conscious, as everyone starts with the same basics — getting on and off the bike, learning how the brakes work, practicing your balance. Individual and group lessons are available, and they also host occasional all-ages learn-to-ride classes, as well as community rides. Volunteer opportunities also exist. ELIZABETH JONES
a nonprofit in 2001, and has since developed it into a destination for group classes, private instruction, open gym and sparring. Halbert is especially dedicated to nurturing young talent and community, and she hosts regular fight nights and matches. If you are at all interested in picking up boxing, she’s the woman to help you do it. Seriously. TOBY LOWENFELS
From Memorial Day weekend through midSeptember, Nashville’s Drift Hotel opens its pool deck for a variety of relaxing free swim days. My favorite is the Full Night Swim, when you can soak up the night sky, complete with moonlit tarot readings and a DJ set. Arrive early
to snag a lounger or rent a cabana and take in the hotel’s Baja-minimalist design. The hotel’s two bars, The Sun Room and Poolside, offer a comprehensive drink menu — the frozen watermelon Cha Cha Margarita is particularly refreshing. KATHLEEN HARRINGTON
It looks like a prop from the set of Mork and Mindy. Or an MRI machine. When you climb into the futuristic-looking egg called the SAVA Sound Pod at Framework in WedgewoodHouston, you’ll have an hour of guided disconnection. You’ll wear an eye covering as you lie inside the pod, which cradles your body as you experience an immersive vibroacoustic concert, designed to either help you create or help you relax (your choice). It’s up to you to decide if it has therapeutic results for you, but there’s no denying that you’ll get 60 minutes of doomscrolling-free time.
MARGARET LITTMAN
This might be the quietest place in Music City.
Up the stairs off of Harding Pike in Belle Meade, Bucca Reflexology is a busy but not buzzy reflexology oasis. Your massage therapist will guide you to a row of recliners, where you can enjoy combinations of reflexology treatments on your feet or hands, head massages or chair massages. Treatment lengths start at 30 minutes, and you stay fully dressed (except for shoes and socks), having treatments in a communal room where no one is talking. Hours are seven days a week, from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m., so there’s no excuse not to fight some of the tension in your muscles.
MARGARET LITTMAN
Long considered an essential for Nashville’s Goop-adjacent populace, Laura Lemon’s beauty and wellness shop Lemon Laine has a dreamy new location that has put it back at the forefront of our minds. The Woodland Street spot, designed by Lèro House, is packed to the gills with all your favorite clean-beauty staples — from supplements and potions by Wooden Spoon Herbs and Moon Juice to locally made concoctions from Clary Collection and Lemon Laine’s own in-house line. There’s also a new wall of niche fragrances (including selections
When hairstylist Carrie Holder opened her salon in 2012, she named it Ohana, after the Hawaiian word for family. Today staff in the small Nations shop keeps up that ethos: They’re warm and unpretentious, skilled and experienced, no matter who you see. Leah taught me how to airdry my hair. Julz “lightened” my hair with layers as we discussed our rescue dogs. April taught me that my real base hair color is very dark blond (!) rather than the brunette I’ve always been. In increasingly corporate Nashville, Ohana is a rare and refreshing combination of consistency, creativity and kindness. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
For many of us who haven’t worn a full face since around 2016, makeup seems like a lost art. Melanie Mills of The Makeup Altar is helping us find it again. The longtime television and movie makeup artist (and Emmy winner) has
her own line of shining body products, but that’s just a small part of her treasure-filled East Nashville store. She has a bevy of professional beauty brands and tools as well as tarot cards, crystals and the like. Offering makeup classes and special-occasion glam, Mills is a trustworthy and encouraging guide on the path to enjoying makeup again.
HANNAH HERNER
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I love the way painted nails look, but I hate getting them painted. Pedicures are relaxing — you can read, scroll or just close your eyes — while manicures hold you hostage with up-close filing, pinching and pushing. No thanks! Dry manicures don’t solve all of that, but they are a huge help. With no soaking involved, Osadcha Nail Studio uses an electric file to gently push back and remove cuticles and dead skin. Since this slightly longer process exposes more of your nail, a gel manicure there can last up to a month, which is more than worth the extra time and money. ASHLEY BRANTLEY ▼
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Visions of artfully designed homes drawn from postmodern architecture books — or more likely, a Pinterest board — can feel like a distant dream after a quick trip to IKEA. If you’ve spent hours scrolling through Facebook Marketplace debating whether the scratches and stains are something you’re willing to settle for, an East Nashville shop called Lykke Haus Vintage can save you from the doomscroll. Lykke Haus Vintage has artfully curated coffee tables, lamps, couches, decor and even creepy dolls from numerous eras — all in great condition. Regardless of your era preference, Lykke Haus Vintage has a piece ready to bring your vision to life, and you won’t have to sacrifice hours in the name of compromise. AIDEN O’NEILL
Walking into Old Hickory’s Lawrence & Clarke Cacti Co. feels like entering a rainforest, or at least the maximalist living room of your classiest green-thumbed friend. There are hundreds of plants to choose from, plus an elegant curation of scented candles, planters and garden tchotchkes that are perfect as a housewarming gift or a seasonal home refresh. But the biggest selling point is the friendly and knowledgeable staff, who are always willing to give down-toearth advice to non-plant-people like myself — they even replanted my old ficus tree that had sentimental value but was looking decrepit, and now it’s as verdant as ever. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
The mammoth Holtkamp family greenhouse is wholesale-only and not open to the public — save for one room. And that room is a gem, a tiny but mighty public retail store. Open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Selective Gardener Plant Shoppe offers unusual house plants, plus some Optimara violets. The small space is chockfull of glossy leaves, with variegated stripes and a polka-dot angel-wing begonia I keep admiring. Stylish ceramic containers already potted with plants are available too. Employees are working in the wholesale business, so the shop is guided by the honor system. Pay by QR code and smile as you walk out the door with your new greenery. (You’re on camera.)
MARGARET LITTMAN
At a certain point in life, you have to hire movers. Your parents are too old and all your friends have bad backs. On the recommendation of a friend, I hired the Black-owned moving company At Ease Moving. They made the entire process feel seamless — from pricing and scheduling to moving and unloading. I not only moved from one town to another, but also moved to a house at the end of a quarter-mile gravel driveway. They handled it like pros, and even stopped to move tree branches aside. They were on time, worked fast and were careful. By the end of the day, they felt like friends. KIM BALDWIN
If you’ve had a box of items to donate in your car for more than a month, you need The Arc. The Arc was founded in 1952 to advocate for kids and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and its pickup service is its primary source of nongovernmental money. Just collect and label your items, schedule a pickup, and your things will disappear from your porch or curb. You get a receipt for your taxes — and some warm, fuzzy feelings. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
When we moved out to Goodlettsville earlier this year, we hired B.C. HVAC Service to clean our ducts. It was a delight to learn that the uncle-and-nephew team grew up in the neighborhood. They taught me about the families who live here — and the variety of snakes I have in my yard. I learned about my pond, where the deer sleep in my yard, and what I’ll hear during hunting season. When the work was complete, I was honestly sad to see them go. KIM
BALDWIN
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Showcasing 13 head-to-toe ensembles, New African Masquerades highlights the motivations, artistry, and economic foundations of four West African masquerade artists. This immersive experience offers visitors the opportunity to see masquerades rarely displayed in the US. Nearly all ensembles were commissioned expressly for this exhibition and represent a wide variety of masquerade practices and cultures.
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September’s Cowboy Kitchen was an example of how musician Jonny Fritz’s artsy friends gathered around him in times of need; and June’s Do You Know How Good You Are? was a showcase for Room In The Inn’s work with unhoused Nashvillians. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
The importance of Samuel Dunson’s contributions to Nashville’s contemporary art scene cannot be overstated. The artist’s visionary works expanded the scope of what painting could be for the city’s artists. He was among the pioneers who helped define Nashville’s particular brand of contemporary art, and he inspired the generation that brought a mural revolution to North Nashville. In September 2024, the artist’s science- and tech-informed show — Art O’Fiscal Intelligence at Julia Martin Gallery — was innovative and mystical, and it found the artist still one step ahead. JOE NOLAN
Will Sutton is a sculptor and skateboarder based in Chattanooga, and a former artist-in-residence at Chattanooga’s Stove Works. He told me all of this when I met him at his very first solo gallery show at Coop this summer. Tennessee Summer, Walter Forever is a display of found-material sculptures celebrating Southern skateboard and graffiti culture, dedicated to the memory of a fallen fellow skater. Sutton’s scattered cardboard sculptures of skate ramps, beer cans, pill bottles and replicas of legendary skateboarding shoes made for an immersive art experience that conjured the spirit of a subculture. JOE NOLAN
New Hat Projects is a Nashville institution, transforming spaces with art installations and wall coverings in big colors and an abundance of character, always rooted in art
history and Southern craft traditions. And that is exactly what was needed at the Nashville International Airport. The largest art installation ever undertaken by Elizabeth Williams and David Meaney, Twine With My Mingles is a monumental hand-woven tapestry made of Tyvek wristbands — the kind you get at a music festival — and inspired by rural coverlet designs. When people arrive in Nashville, it’s our best welcome sign. CAT ACREE
Every Nashvillian should know the name Z. Alexander Looby. The West Indian immigrant
was a lawyer and city councilmember who — despite being the target of racial terror in the early 1960s — soldiered on as a leader in Nashville’s civil rights movement. Looby is at the center of a gorgeous and powerful mural created this summer by nonprofit Creative Girls Rock and spearheaded by local artist Elisheba Israel Mrozik. They Fought With Words: Leaders, Lawyers and Educators is prominently featured on the west wall of the Looby Community Center, the North Nashville space named for the local icon, and the mural also features civil rights leaders Diane Nash, Thurgood Marshall and James Carroll Napier, among others. It’s a bright, vibrant addition to the community center, and one that should inspire generations to come. D. PATRICK RODGERS
When artist-curator Marteja Bailey brought her Rooted Chronicles group exhibition to Zeitgeist in February, it included strong works from local standouts like Omari Booker, Michael Mucker and XPayne. But “Ms. Hattie Margaret Parham” by Woke3 stole the show. The portrait of an elderly woman painted on an assemblage of vintage seed and feed bags is one of the most striking works of art I saw all year. Woke3’s painting was displayed near smaller works by local painting legend Samuel Dunson, and his influence on Woke3 is clear. Painting isn’t competitive, but the pairing was a stalemate. The portrait signals the apprentice becoming a master in his own right. JOE NOLAN
Mike Mitchell, the artist and arts teacher also known as mikewindy, comes from the smallest county in Tennessee, and his work is tied to one of the best parts of folk artistry: the belief that anybody can make art out of whatever’s handy, and that everybody ought to. His Coop show Diddley Drone was an installation of single-string instruments known as diddley bows, made from scraps like tin cans and balusters. But it was also interactive, so the instruments weren’t untouchable wall objects but actual playable pieces. Shows like this open the broad tapestry of folk to anybody, and really, that’s all art is: people sharing their stories with each other.
CAT ACREE
Co-curators Alisa Jernigan and Evan Roosevelt Brown organized To Gather Together at Zeitgeist in July. The photography exhibition brought together notable local shutterbugs like Carlton Wilkinson, DaShawn Lewis, LeXander Bryant and more to create a visual archive examining how architectural spaces affect life in Nashville’s Black communities. The show included great shots of neighborhood gatherings, architectural street photography and candid portraits. Shabazz Larkin stole the show with “Gang Gang,” a photo he took at a family holiday party where he gifted everyone the colorful balaclavas they’re wearing in the picture. The result is like a film still from a Harmony Korine production of a Spike Lee joint, and I’m looking
forward to more photography from Larkin. Maybe even a movie? JOE NOLAN
Artist Brady Haston hosted a reception for the release of David Piñeros’ new photo book at his East Nashville studio last October. 62 is a collection of black-and-white street photographs Piñeros snapped during the occupation of Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville in 2020. Piñeros signed and sold books all night alongside a striking display of images from its pages, printed as wheatpaste posters and mounted on flat wood panels. The small exhibition was both raw and elegant — streetwise and conceptually sophisticated. We ate and drank and talked around a firepit — a perfect October art night in Nashville. JOE NOLAN
To paraphrase writer Janet Malcolm, a quilt becomes something else entirely when it’s removed from its cozy setting and hung on a big white gallery wall. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and displayed at the Frist through Oct. 12, Fabric of a Nation points to the fact that the art form of quilts and coverlets has always exceeded expectations, from precious 17th- and 18th-century pieces of unknown provenance to abstract and political contemporary creations. The Bisa Butler quilt alone is worth all this attention. It’s such a show of originality and courage, featuring pieces that were prized back then and prized even more now. CAT ACREE
John Salvest is a Philadelphia-based artist who
brought his collections of vintage billy clubs, piles of old paperback books, business cards, stamps and bottle caps to David Lusk’s Nashville outpost in February. Salvest combined his mundane treasures into humorous, warm and ironic arrangements that equaled more than the sum of their parts — the billy clubs were hung on a wall to form a peace sign, and the books were stacked on shelves where their colorful spines combined to spell out words like “LOVE.” Material Evidence was the most transformative and formally delightful found/reused/recycled local art show of the year. JOE NOLAN
Charlie Smyth’s Landfill space at The Packing Plant is a must on any First Saturday in Wedgewood-Houston. Smyth is an artist — a painter and sculptor. He’s also a talented singersongwriter, and a great host who always has something insightful to say about his own work and the work of his friends. Landfill is a classic Nashville artist-led space that feels like a funky hangout as much as a gallery. Highlights at Landfill this year included Smyth’s own abstract paintings in decorative vintage frames, a William Eggleston photograph the gallerist found in Berlin, and work by local artists Chris Hundo, Briena Harmening, Todd McDaniel and more. JOE NOLAN
In our 2023 Best of Nashville issue, contributor Joe Nolan named Red Arrow’s Nashville Hot Summer the best group show of the year, noting that it might have also had the year’s best exhibition title. Never ones to cling too tightly to conventions, Katie Shaw and Ashley Layendecker ditched the “Nashville” part of the title, but kept its summertime theme. The result was just as fresh as ever — a slate of artists (including standouts Lauren Gregory, Brett Douglas Hunter and Johnson Ocheja)
making strong work both inside and outside of Nashville. Can’t wait to see what next summer brings. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
When painter John Paul Kesling opened Dear John at The Bankers Alley Hotel in February, the prolific artist delivered large and small multimedia works, including surreal narratives, emotive portraits and pure abstraction. The show also acted as a goodbye message to Nashville’s art community — the artist has now relocated back to his Kentucky hometown. Dear John was yet another strong showing by Kesling, an artist who so thoroughly ingratiated himself to Nashville’s creative community that it wasn’t uncommon to see his work hanging in multiple locations during local gallery crawl events. Dear John: Thanks. JOE NOLAN
Nashville’s print community traces its roots back to the ink-stained early days of Music City’s publishing empire-building. The local revival in contemporary letterpress printing has served as a gateway that’s helped create an audience for contemporary art in Nashville. Hatch Show Print is the wellspring of that revival, and its Haley Gallery put printing as contemporary art on full display in May. Chris Chandler’s Frequency & Distortion deconstructed modular typography, utilizing woodcut fonts to create elegant and colorful modernist-inspired designs. JOE NOLAN
When I heard that 80 percent of students at the Clay Lady came back for more classes, I was absolutely bowled over. But the more I talked to the Clay Lady herself, Danielle McDaniel, the more I understood. She counsels, fosters community and brings back the joy in art for Nashville’s high artistic achievers as well as beginners. She earned this statistic even before she had new, temperature-controlled and spacious classrooms and a seven-building campus. Long live The Clay Lady’s Campus, its classes and resources for artists. HANNAH HERNER
James Beard Award semifinalist Julio Hernandez opened Maíz de la Vida last fall, only four years after launching outside Andy Mumma’s Chopper bar as a taco truck, followed by a tortilla shop in North Nashville. Maíz is a “blend of Nashville & un poquito de Mexico,” the restaurant wrote on Instagram, “1st and 2nd Latino generations, from food to atmosphere.” It’s been such an incredible location to hang out at, among the works of local ceramicist Cesar Pita — including some of his big vessels in serape colors and his boldest clay warriors. CAT ACREE
In hindsight, I don’t know what I thought blackout poetry was, but I assumed it involved writing poetry, which is not something I can do. Turns out, blackout poetry is crafting for adults, and I love it. I met friends at The Porch one Friday night for Alexis Özden’s blackout poetry class. Özden, who goes by Oz, was such an encouraging and enthusiastic teacher. They brought enough craft supplies to stock a thirdgrade classroom, played a fun, jazzy playlist and encouraged us to get weird. Oz is a great teacher. If you’re feeling stuck or down, seek out Oz and one of their classes. KIM BALDWIN
I’m not sure there’s a more prolific art writer in Nashville than Joe Nolan. He’s been writing about art ever since I moved here in the late Aughts, and in addition to his ongoing work with the Scene, he’s written about art in Nashville for The Contributor, Number, Burnaway and more. It was only a matter of time before he put all that wisdom into a book, and Nowville is his eagerly awaited debut. It’s organized as an oral history, so it’s easy to take in piece by piece. Whether you’re interested in how Aaron Douglas founded Fisk University’s art department in the 1930s, why William Edmondson was the first Black artist to have an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1937, or how the Wedgewood-Houston district took off in the past few years, Nolan’s your guy.
LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
DAVID MCCLISTER
For more than 25 years, photographer David McClister has captured the good sides of artists like The Black Keys, Jason Isbell and Taylor Swift. Whether in the studio or in the field, McClister has a talent for bringing out the humanity
of superstars. In his first published collection of photography, All Together Now: 25 Years of Photographing American Music, McClister lets his pictures be as big as the people captured in them, with gallery-size photographs in thoughtful sequence. Even if you aren’t a fan of the “beautiful pictures of famous people” genre of photography (OK weirdo), All Together Now is a gorgeously arranged book filled with images that give real dimension to familiar faces.
LANCE CONZETT
Eliana Ramage is an instructor at The Porch, our beloved local writing nonprofit. She’s also a Cherokee Nation citizen, graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and now a novelist. To the Moon and Back is about a woman who’s determined to become the first Cherkoee astronaut, but her ambitious future is impossible to separate from a violent past. We love to humanize the moon (and the man in it) as a way of keeping it close, and Ramage’s novel has that same tender grip. CAT ACREE
I’m a journalist by trade, but my favorite format is first-person. I thought nothing was more exhilarating than publishing a personal story — then I spoke about the loss of a child and the gift of a cursing parrot toy to a packed room at Tenx9 (nine people, 10 minutes each), Nashville’s longest running storytelling event. The tradeoff of intense, in-person vulnerability was real-time reactions I’ve never gotten from print: laughter, a gasp, a woman’s eyes shiny with tears. This free monthly event at Jackalope Brewing is humbling and cathartic like group therapy, but with beer, snacks and applause. DANNY BONVISSUTO
The Porch goes out of its way to bring visiting writers to Nashville. I’ve taken workshops with authors like Kiese Laymon, Ross Gay and, most recently, Jami Attenberg. Attenberg’s book 1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round is a fantastic craft book. I was in the sold-out crowd gathered at Hanna Bee Coffee on a cold January night when Attenberg taught us how she prioritizes her writing and how we can do the same. She generously answered our questions and signed our books. She even stayed after and chatted with some of us about our projects. It was a special night. KIM BALDWIN
If you follow the local theater scene even a little, you’re no doubt familiar with the oh-so-versatile Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva. This past season she
turned in a stunning performance as Diana in Street Theatre’s Next to Normal, and embodied the mighty spirit of the Present in Rabbit Room Theatre/Matt Logan’s gorgeous new adaptation of A Christmas Carol. She kept busy with Studio Tenn — offering memorable turns in Little Shop of Horrors and The Play That Goes Wrong — before premiering a compelling new performance piece for Kindling Arts Festival that blended spoken word, movement and her singular spirit. AMY STUMPFL
A multitalented actor, writer, animator and puppeteer, Galen Fott is surely one of the city’s busiest performers, regularly working with Nashville Children’s Theatre, the Nashville Symphony, Studio Tenn and more. Recent credits include big dramatic turns at The Rep (including his heartbreaking portrayal of Dr. Gibbs in Our Town) and broad comedy for Nashville Shakes (as the bumbling Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor). You can check out some of his latest animation handiwork at The Little Engine Playhouse in Dollywood, and if you happened to catch Coldplay’s concert in July, you probably saw him performing with the puppet band The Weirdos. AMY STUMPFL
Known for her bold choices and collaborative spirit, Alicia Haymer has emerged as one of the area’s finest directors, racking up some serious credits with everyone from Actors Bridge Studio and Nashville Story Garden to Kindling Arts Festival and even Chattanooga Theatre Centre. But this past season included two very different works — the Tony- and Pulitzer Prizewinning rock musical Next to Normal (a hugely challenging piece, especially in Street Theatre’s intimate space), along with Katori Hall’s fantastical drama The Mountaintop at The Rep. In both cases, Haymer delivered, demonstrating a crystal-clear vision and a powerful gift for storytelling. AMY STUMPFL
In late March, an absolute dream team of local creatives converged on OZ Arts’ flexible warehouse space, scoring one of the season’s biggest hits. Devised and developed by Nashville Story Garden with direction by Lauren Shouse and text by Nate Eppler, Human Resources blended traditional theater with an immersive format, drawing audiences into “the surreal, absurd and fragmented realities of modern corporate life.” Eppler’s sharp humor was on full display, and the production featured
a brilliant ensemble of actors. But what made Human Resources so unique was that the action unfolded through two intersecting narratives — both leading to the same unsettling conclusion.
AMY STUMPFL
Whether supporting the work of local artists or introducing audiences to some of the world’s most visionary giants, OZ Arts has established itself as the city’s go-to destination for “innovative, contemporary art and performance experiences.” Highlights from OZ’s “International Season of Changemakers” included the return of Ukrainian musical/ activist group DakhaBrakha, Botis Seva’s Olivier Award-winning work BLKDOG, renowned Congolese choreographer and storyteller Faustin Linyekula and South Korea’s acclaimed Bereishit Dance Company, along with New York luminaries such as The Wooster Group and Faye Driscoll. Changemakers, indeed. AMY STUMPFL
Tucked in an unassuming little building in The Nations, Street Theatre Company consistently produces some of the city’s most interesting work. Led by executive artistic director Randy Craft, this fearless company opened last season with the acclaimed rock musical Next to Normal, directed by the brilliant Alicia Haymer and featuring an all-Black cast. From there, they jumped into the holidays with the decidedly campy VHS Christmas Carol, serving up the wildly imaginative Alice by Heart, before closing the season with Justin Huertas’ quirky Lizard Boy — offering an empowering message of identity and connection — just in time for Pride. AMY STUMPFL
At first glance, Nashville may not exactly appear to be a hotbed of experimental art. But over the past eight years, Kindling Arts Festival has offered a safe space for some of the city’s most daring makers. This year’s festival featured 19 original projects across eight venues, representing everything from dance and aerial acts to edgy performance art and experimental theater. At a time when the creative community is facing tough financial cuts and political backlash, Kindling invites artists and audiences alike to take big chances, and to celebrate the endless possibilities of art.
AMY STUMPFL
There’s something quite special about gathering with friends and neighbors for an evening under the stars. Since 1988, Nashville Shakespeare Festival has welcomed countless theater lovers to its Summer Shakespeare performances. This year was no exception, with the festival presenting
an especially raucous production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Beyond the performances, there were preshow lectures and a terrific concert series. Despite unprecedented cuts from Metro Arts — effectively eliminating a funding stream that had provided more than $100,000 just two years ago — NSF is determined to carry on. And while forced to postpone its spring production, Summer Shakespeare will be back in 2026 — returning to its original home in Centennial Park.
AMY STUMPFL
With the world premiere of Erase the Night, Nashville Ballet’s artistic director Nick Mullikin offered a powerful (and deeply personal) work, inspired by his own journey with addiction and recovery. And while that may seem an unlikely topic in the world of ballet, this ambitious piece approached heavy themes with great care and honesty, while offering an unmistakable message of hope and human connection. Presented as part of the company’s innovative Attitude series, Erase the Night featured original music from Nashville singer-songwriters Jordan Lehning and Courtney Marie Andrews, and striking projections from Sharon Huizinga. AMY STUMPFL
Shucked was something of a surprise hit when it opened on Broadway in 2023. But this “corny” musical soon developed a loyal following, thanks in large part to the toe-tapping score created by Nashville’s own Grammy Award-winning songwriting team Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. The hometown crowd might have been a bit preoccupied when the national touring production finally arrived at TPAC in November — the same day as the 2024 presidential election. With goofy characters, homespun humor and a resounding message of kindness, acceptance and unity, Shucked provided a fun (and much-needed!) escape. AMY STUMPFL
The Contributor has long been a staple of the community here in Nashville, offering unhoused residents the chance to make a living by selling newspapers and expressing their thoughts in its pages. This year, Contributor vendors had a new way to get their ideas heard with UnZine Nashville, which paired interested vendors with volunteer artists to create their own zines about whatever topic mattered to them. The vendors who create each zine sell the publications themselves, adding an extra source of income to their repertoire. It’s a great way to support unique creative voices and work toward a Nashville where everyone has a place to call their own. HANNAH CRON
Full Moon Cineplex isn’t just a theater — it’s an experience. Walk in the door and you’re greeted by walls covered with props and signed movie memorabilia from across horror cinema history. Guests can purchase dinner with their show year-round, but they can also add a ticket to the attached Slaughterhouse attraction during haunting season. Truly nothing complements a vintage scary movie like the screams of folks being chased by a chainsaw in the next room.
RIVER JAMES WITHEROW
Listen, we know that we at the Scene give the Belcourt a lot of love. But it’s impossible to overstate how important the beloved institution is to our local arts community. So in the midst of its centennial year, we decided to give the arthouse another accolade. Throughout the year, the Belcourt has hosted a series of special seminars and screenings celebrating the vast (and often overlooked) history of Nashville on the big screen. This is in addition to the theater’s usual stellar programming and alwayswelcoming atmosphere. The Belcourt makes our city richer. LOGAN BUTTS
When The People’s Joker screened in the Belcourt’s Queer Qlassics series, director Vera Drew handed out stickers on the sidewalk — and my partner and I ran into Grammy nominee Aaron Lee Tasjan (whose latest album explores coming out) in the popcorn line. That’s just the surface of the community and happy chaos of this July series, which featured a Q&A with Drew, a local queer film history seminar, and screenings of tearjerkers (Brokeback Mountain) and camp oddities (D.E.B.S.) alike. Its focus on “stability in hostile times” is especially important now — and so was its revolutionary sense of joy. ANNIE PARNELL
As the local comedy scene continues to evolve and transform during [expansive hand gesture] all of this, there are few absolutes — other than Amber Autry’s laugh, which is percussive, conspiratorial and just part of why her monthly show at Zanies keeps selling out every seat. When I attended, the headliner for the main room next door popped into The Lab just to do a few minutes, reinforcing Autry’s welcoming vibe — a plentiful sampler platter for current comedy overseen by one of the great voices of the game. JASON SHAWHAN
Alabama-born longtime Nashvillian Dusty Slay is no stranger to the pages of the Scene’s Best of Nashville issue. We named him our Best Comedian in the 2019 writers’ choices, and he landed at second place in the Best Comedian category of last year’s readers’ poll — right behind his buddy and Nateland Podcast co-host Nate Bargatze. But Slay’s star has remained on the rise, and his rock-solid Netflix special Workin’ Man, released in July, shows why he’s our pick once again. Armed with an understated delivery, a charming drawl, relatable but silly premises and a contagious catch phrase (“We’re having a good time”), Slay is the kind of guy you know you’d like to get a beer with. Well. He doesn’t drink beer anymore. Maybe a nice glass of milk. D. PATRICK RODGERS ▼
Nineteen-year-old Maybelle Carter bought this Gibson L-5 model guitar in 1928 with $275 from the Carter Family’s successful first recordings. “Mother Maybelle” used it to revolutionize the role of the guitar— transforming the rhythm instrument into a lead voice with her signature “Carter scratch.”
Yippee Ki-Yay, Nashville!
The holiday season gets an outrageous twist as Die Hard: A Christmas Carol crashes into TPAC for the first time. This hilarious, irreverent, and action-packed parody reimagines the ultimate Christmas classic—with puppets! Follow John McClane as he battles bad guys, saves hostages, and delivers iconic one-liners in a way you’ve never seen before. Filled with over-the-top humor, absurd puppet antics, and plenty of holiday mayhem, this R-rated comedy is strictly for grown-ups. Whether you think Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not, this show will have you laughing all the way to Nakatomi Plaza!
NOVEMBER 17 – 23, 2025 –– White Elephant Night: Nov 22 ONLY ––Tennessee Performing Arts Center
ARETHA FRANKLIN. WILSON PICKETT. WILLIE NELSON. BOB DYLAN. CHER. THE LIST GOES ON.
FRANKLIN. WILSON PICKETT. WILLIE NELSON. BOB DYLAN. CHER. THE LIST GOES ON.
This major exhibition tracks the working-class grit of the hitmakers and hometown talent that converged in the 60s and 70s, producing R&B, rock, and country records heard around the world.
major exhibition tracks the working-class grit of the hitmakers and hometown talent that converged in the 60s and 70s, producing R&B, rock, and country records heard around the world.
Explore the story of the recording epicenter that changed popular music forever.
Explore the story of the recording epicenter that changed popular music forever.
EXHIBIT OPENS NOVEMBER 14
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 • 7:30 pm • CMA THEATER
MUSCLE SHOALS: OPENING CONCERT CELEBRATION
Tiera Kennedy • Bettye LaVette • Wendy Moten
Spooner Oldham • Dan Penn • Maggie Rose • Shenandoah
John Paul White • With house band led by Will McFarlane
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15
SONGWRITER SESSION
DAN PENN & SPOONER OLDHAM NOON • FORD THEATER
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15
PANEL DISCUSSION
MAKING MUSIC IN MUSCLE SHOALS WITH LINDA HALL, CLAYTON IVEY, and CANDI STATON 2:30 pm • FORD THEATER
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16
MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT MAC M c ANALLY 1:00 pm • FORD THEATER
RESERVE TICKETS
OCTOBER 11
TOMMY EMMANUEL, CGP WITH JOHN PIZZARELLI
OCTOBER 12
A.J. CROCE PRESENTS CROCE PLAYS CROCE
OCTOBER 13
PATTY GRIFFIN AND RICKIE LEE JONES
OCT 16 & 23 LOW TICKETS
JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT
OCTOBER 22 BILL MURRAY AND HIS BLOOD BROTHERS
OCTOBER 26 CAM
OCTOBER 31 STEVE HACKETT
NOVEMBER 4 & 5 ERNEST
DECEMBER 30 & 31
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW
JANUARY 8
TREVOR WALLACE
JANUARY 23
PETER ROWAN’S DECADES FEATURING SAM GRISMAN PROJECT WITH SPECIAL GUESTS ON SALE FRIDAY, 10/10 AT 10 AM NOV 9 LIVE AT THE OPRY HOUSE TAYLOR TOMLINSON
NOVEMBER 16 I’M WITH HER
NOVEMBER 20 MARGO PRICE WITH RATTLESNAKE MILK
NOVEMBER 26 BÉLA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES JINGLE ALL THE WAY
JANUARY 24
MAVIS STAPLES JANUARY 29 HANNAH BERNER
MARCH 31
HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS
William Tyler has been a familiar presence in Nashville music since his high school rock band Lifeboy made waves around town in the late ’90s. In the wake of tenures with bands like Lambchop and Silver Jews, he’s built up a sophisticated, thoughtful catalog based on solo guitar work that incorporates an impressive range of musical ideas, from krautrock to 19thcentury art music and beyond. This year, that yielded Time Indefinite, a tape-loop-centric collaboration with Nashville engineer Jake Davis, and 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s, fruit of his creative partnership with U.K. electronic producer Four Tet. At the same time, Tyler gets his band and a bunch of great guest vocalists together at least a couple of times each year
for wholesome, heartfelt and badass cover shows under the William Tyler and Friends banner. He makes room for it all, from evocative, organically technical expression to bashing out Huey Lewis and the News’ “The Power of Love.”
STEPHEN TRAGESER
Listening to Winona Fighter’s debut album My Apologies to the Chef feels like a punch in the teeth. Coming from a lifelong fan of snotty punk rock like me, that’s a high compliment. Months after releasing the self-produced Chef, the group continues to make an impact in the alternative music world, with slots this fall on the revamped Warped Tour and a spate of shows alongside long-running pop-rock band Cartel.
A deluxe version of Chef — including a wildly fun cover of Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun” — hit record stores and streaming services in September. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER
We all know there are plenty of fantastic artists in Nashville. But the ones who make Nashville fantastic are the ones who capture our attention and won’t let it go, and Angie K is one of them. If all she did this year was release her self-titled EP, a joyful embrace of her Latin heritage and smalltown Georgia roots, that would be plenty. But she’s also working alongside Andrea Vasquez to lead the Country Latin Association, seeking to build bridges between artists in Latin America and the States. Country artists in these places have always clearly drawn from one another’s music, and now more than ever, these bridges are essential. RACHEL CHOLST
James Brown’s death left the title of Hardest Working Man in Show Business vacant, but Charly Ortiz-Martínez has come for the title belt. He not only kept the backbeat for two of the bands taking home BON album awards this year — My Wall and Maanta Raay. He also released both LPs on his own No Sabes imprint. The label boasts a broad international flavor with releases this year from Colombia — by producer Ruido Selecto (as Echo Selector) as well as trippy alt-pop unit Animaleja — and Chicago (posthardcore unit Bursting). If all that in addition
Country Music’s Hottest Young Star inks with WME, kicks off CMA Fest 2025, & hits the road with his first headlining “I Still Got It” Tour
to his day job wasn’t enough, Ortiz-Martínez is also one of the brains behind two local Latin dance party residencies: Esencial, which moves locations on occasion, and Inglewood Lounge’s La Celosa. P.J. KINZER
Gee Slab is deeply involved in a lot of collaborative work — see: everything the Six One Trïbe collective is up to, including the second run of their 615 Day party in June — and it’s clear he’s invested in lifting up everyone around him. But when he takes the mic himself, he’s an unbeatable storyteller who makes expert use of something few rappers put in the spotlight: an old-school Nashville drawl. The past couple years have seen him releasing his own material more often after a long hiatus, including March’s Roots in the Dirt, on which he makes every narrative feel like you’re living it. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Though it may seem like they’re an overnight success, the trio at the core of the superb bluesrock band Piper & the Hard Times has been making music for more than two decades. Powerhouse vocalist Al “Piper” Green, guitarist Steve Eagon and drummer Dave Colella came together from varied backgrounds, but have managed to combine soul, gospel, jazz and blues into a fresh, distinctive and highly personal sound. Their sudden rise began in January 2024, when they won the International Blues Challenge, followed by their firstrate debut album Revelation. A critical and commercial success that hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Blues Chart in August 2024, the album yielded the band a third triumph, earning Best Self-Produced CD at this year’s IBC. In the wake of a cancer diagnosis this year, Piper’s spirits (and those of the band) remain high. They’ve certainly proven themselves a stalwart and impressive unit, one that should continue dazzling audiences and critics alike for years to come.
WYNN
RON
Nashville’s newest rock supergroup Million Dollar Emperors was born from a visit by Royal Court of China bassist Robert Logue and lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Joe Blanton to guitarist Tim Carroll’s weekly Rock ’n’ Roll Happy Hour at The 5 Spot. That led to a few songwriting sessions with Carroll, followed by the formation of the group with the addition of Jonathan Bright on drums and Seth Timbs on keys. The quintet has previewed material from their forthcoming debut at several local performances to enthusiastic response. The classic-rock-influenced album is due to be released later this year. DARYL SANDERS
If you follow local music, there’s a good chance all the faces in this supergroup — multiinstrumentalists and/or singer-songwriters Jess Nolan, Jillette Johnson, Will Honaker and Parker Millsap — will be familiar. As of this writing, they have played only two shows (both of which sold out), and the most extensive release of any of their music has been snippets in Instagram posts. But even those small samples bowl me right over with the astute lyrics, exceptional harmonies and indelible grooves. Here’s looking forward to much more from them, as soon as possible. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Exceptional musicians move to Nashville all the time, but few arrive with the pedigree of bassist Tal Wilkenfeld. Wilkenfeld, who moved here from Los Angeles in June, had already made a name for herself by age 21 touring and recording with Jeff Beck. Recording sessions with Prince followed that, and from there the Australian musician’s career really took off. She has worked with a who’s-who of legendary artists, including Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, Buddy Guy, Wayne Shorter, Rod Stewart, David Gilmour and Carlos Santana. Now that she lives in Music City,
Wilkenfeld plans to put more emphasis on her songwriting.
Talk about a swan song. For his final performance as music director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Giancarlo Guerrero programmed one of the most massive works in the entire symphonic repertoire. That would be Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (Symphony of a Thousand). Mahler scored this work for enormous forces, including eight vocal soloists, two mixed choirs, a boys’ choir, a super-sized orchestra and a veritable battery of percussion. The piece makes a big noise and invariably leaves audiences with a lasting impression. Guerrero conducted the work with ardency, sweep and breathless emotion. It was a masterful performance that momentarily turned Music City into Mahler Town. JOHN PITCHER
Nashville and Memphis — Tennessee’s two biggest cities — have more in common than their aggravated-sibling rivalry would suggest. Thankfully, rappers Starlito and Don Trip have been bridging the gap between them for nearly two decades. The duo’s long-running Step Brothers mixtape series returned in May after an eight-year hiatus with Step Brothers 4 Life. Lito and Trip sounded as hungry as ever, spitting sports-obsessed, down-to-earth rhymes with their back-and-forth chemistry reminiscent of Phife Dawg and Q-Tip. Listening, it felt like hearing them become best friends all over again. LOGAN BUTTS
Anyone whose ears are still ringing from Serotonin’s reunion show in July at The Cobra will tell you that, following their first live performance in more than 20 years, the heavy, mathy trio is back. The group’s initial run was
from 1995 to 2002 and took them to basements and stages along the East Coast with acts like From Ashes Rise, Piebald, Reversal of Man and Converge. They injected elements of prog rock into a hardcore scene where such ideas are often shunned, and were survived by three unique, pummeling albums that nevertheless didn’t quite capture their unbridled live energy. Even better, the Cobra gig was not a one-off but the prelude to more shows and recordings. P.J. KINZER
If you haunted Little Hamilton or Glenn Danzig’s House in the early 2010s, Heavy Cream was inescapable. They were a force of nature, one of three bands that exploded out of the flames of MEEMAW’s dissolution and, for my money, maybe the best. Propulsive, sneering and deeply funny, Heavy Cream had everything you wanted out of a band slamming through two-minute bangers. And when they took the stage at the Duke’s 10th anniversary party in April, you’d never have known that a decade had passed since their last show. Given a smattering of additional live shows in the months since, we can only hope we’ll be doing the watusi with Jessica, Mimi, Teddy and Olive for a long time to come. LANCE CONZETT
The debut full-length from the duo of twin brothers and country singer-songwriters Brandon and Derek Campbell has been more than a decade in the making. Both the work and wait paid off immensely. Rhinestone Revolution is funny and heartwarming, and it’s groovy and twangy everywhere you want it to be. The Campbells’ approach to claiming space and sharing a sense of belonging ties directly into deeply rooted country traditions. The years of closed doors they faced because mainstream label folks didn’t think fans were ready to hear from singers who happen to be Black and queer just makes me shake my head. It’s the label bigwigs’ loss, and with the LP out in the world and the Gentlemen on tour, everyone else has gained a lot.
STEPHEN TRAGESER
Between 2017 and 2023, indie rocker Annie DiRusso demonstrated the promise of her music with a series of singles and EPs, including 2023’s God, I Hate This Place, which earned Best of Nashville recognition for Best Rock Debut. Earlier this year, she delivered on that promise with her exciting full-length debut Super Pedestrian. The LP builds on the blend of distortion and melody DiRusso explored on her previous releases. Lyrically, she further addressed themes that make some people uncomfortable — including the heartbreak of unfulfilling and/or abusive relationships and the unrealistic male-centric notions of female
beauty — but from a more grounded and positive place than before. DARYL SANDERS
Tracked live at The Blue Room at Third Man Records and released in March, Starlito w/ Brassville finds the venerable Music City MC leading a big band with a stacked horn section — making huge artistic leaps, again, for something like the 20th year running. Placed in the context of Brassville’s deep Southern jazz-funk, Lito’s staccato vocal approach cuts a Grant Green-like groove. While it doesn’t get as jazzy as, say, Juicy J covering Gershwin — a real thing that happened! — Starlito and Brassville walk a path between Miles, The Meters and the Mizells that evokes neon-soaked nights and foggy mornings. Lito’s casual delivery and complex emotional landscapes put the bow on the package, making Starlito w/Brassville one for the ages.
SEAN L. MALONEY
In writing about Nashville country singer Kristina Murray’s third LP Little Blue in May, the Scene’s Jacqueline Zeisloft noted the clear influence of Emmylou Harris, Jerry Jeff Walker, Harlan Howard and Dean Dillon. The DNA of those legends is indeed present in Little Blue, along with that of Bonnie Raitt, Tony Joe White and Dwight Yoakam. But Murray shows that she’s so much more than the sum of her influences with songs like “Watchin’ the World Pass Me By” and the album’s titular closing track. With a big voice and a knack for evoking raw emotion — be it wistfulness, regret or desire
— Murray makes her presence known with Little Blue’s nine songs and 35 minutes. It’s a beautiful, powerful record, and one that handily earns the mantle of the year’s Best Country Album.
D. PATRICK RODGERS
We’re living in a time when people seem increasingly willing to accept bigotry and even fascist ideas. Songsmith Crys Matthews’ latest LP has a calm and measured tone, but it is clear and firm in its language of opposition to hatred against LGBTQ people, excoriation of religious hypocrisy and willingness to get in the face of people who try to use small-town pride as an excuse for bullying behavior. Matthews celebrates abundant joy as well, sharing a full and rich picture of her life. None of this diminishes the musicality of her work, and the messages are too important to be messed with.
On their debut album Hymns for Lost Things, Suede & ’Lene — aka Angelo Petraglia and Eulene Sherman — make a serious artistic statement and come about as close to perfection as artists can hope. Both lyrically and musically, the record is infused with the spirit of two of Bob Dylan’s mid-’70s classics, Blood on the Tracks and Desire. The duo’s sophisticated mix of interesting, sometimes tragic characters and sharp social commentary is right on time for a country in crisis. Case in point: “Living in the Country” features a chorus that varies slightly each time, but essentially says, “You ain’t living in the country you used to call free.”
Wild Territory, the third full-length by the duo of violinist and singer Rebecca Weiner Tompkins and bassist and singer David Conrad, examines the liminal zone where the past merges with the present. The music on Wild Territory rocks out in fine fashion, and Conrad delivers the lyrics in his cutting baritone. “Down East” tells the story of a woman who realizes she might not be able to go home again. Meanwhile, “Everyday Life” is as dark and foreboding as Americana gets. Conrad sings about “the ghostly laughter of ol’ Karl Marx,” and the song hits home in this year of political and social upheaval. EDD HURT
With the same piss-and-vinegar spirit as their elders The Reatards, The Queers and The Spits, Wesley & The Boys have captured the perfect blend of choppy and sloppy. The angular riffs and ferocious noise are balanced by the rougher elements of the U.K. pub scene of the mid-’70s. The foursome has earned radiant reviews from Maximum Rocknroll and a slot at Gonerfest in Memphis. Released by Sweet Time, the album packs 11 tracks into a half-hour, never wasting a second on excess or fluff — it’s just pure pogo fun. P.J. KINZER
We should all hope to be hittin’ it in our 80s as hard as 84-year-old Charles “Wigg” Walker does on his first album in more than a decade, the wonderful This Love Is Gonna Last. It’s a love letter of sorts to Walker’s late wife Marva, set to old-school funk and R&B grooves. Walker co-wrote most of the material with keyboardist Charles Treadway, who also produced the album. Featuring accompaniment from Treadway, guitarist Pat Bergeson and drummer Pete Abbott, the record also includes contributions from a number of well-regarded horn players and backing vocalists. DARYL SANDERS
The music of Pennsylvania-born and Berklee College of Music-educated pop auteur corook ranges across the stylistic map, but a consistent vision comes through on every track. Their polymathic pop mastery makes their first fulllength Committed to a Bit a primer on how to create catchy, humanistic music that’s both droll and filled with emotion. Their take on postPrince funk, “Blankets,” comes across as clearly as the advanced songwriting techniques of “Death,” which might be corook’s most affecting track to date. Committed to a Bit is as addictive and chewy as the best pop, and corook stands as one of the most inventive songwriters and producers working now. EDD HURT
Over is the first LP from My Wall since the power trio expanded into a quartet. Finished following a 2024 tour of Japan, the album was released via drummer Charly Ortiz-Martínez’s No Sabes label. Over offers some of the most putridly heavy riffs to ever come out of Music City. The dismal, twisted tone focuses on the erosion of fuzzy, downtuned guitar riffs, alternating between blastbeats and ultra-slow tempos. Recorded by seasoned local engineer Shibby Poole and mastered by grind/doom/drone maestro James Plotkin of O.L.D. and Khanate fame, its every note is primed for ear-punishing volume. P.J. KINZER
Sara Bug’s Into the Blue stuns with its incisive lyricism and satisfies with comforting ’90s country-pop melodies. As nerve-racking as self-releasing music can be — with every detail and choice left up to the artist — Bug shows security in herself and unwavering trust in her vision. The track list chronologically follows her personal journey from love found and lost, then to found again. Into the Blue is a breakup record, travelogue and redemption arc. Most of all, it’s an idea fully realized, one that Bug generously set free into the world so we could listen, enjoy and feel it. JACQUELINE ZEISLOFT
If you’re looking for an album sleeve to roll your next doobie on, Maanta Raay’s acid-rock tour de force is a good place to start. It’s the first LP from these newcomers — though individually, they’re all rock-scene veterans. Fronted by Immortal Lee County Killers and Quadrajets guitar-slinger (and Third Man Books head) Chet Weise, the Raay’s thunderous boogie is held down by bassist Mason Hadley and drummer Charly Ortiz-Martínez (whom you’ve already read about a few times in this section). Touching on the ’70s sounds of Blue Öyster Cult and Deep Purple, the dirge of Mudhoney and the heavy psychedelia of MeteorCity Records releases, Maanta Raay is a stoner-rock masterwork. P.J. KINZER
If you were an indie-rock fan coming up in Nashville in the 2000s, your world revolved around The Features. And when word started to spread about frontman Matt Pelham’s return to music — his first offering since The Features quietly disbanded in 2016 — excitement shot through the city’s local-rock group chats like electricity. To be clear, Matt and the Watt Gives is not a Features record — it’s something different, both new and familiar. Though you can hear a glimmer of that old Features DNA in the groove of “Castles” and “The Shade,” Pelham leans hard into a blues-rock maturity that puts his greatest asset — his ragged, emotional vocals — in the spotlight. Songs like “Natchez” and “Cutting Ties” show Pelham in a new, exciting light, and we couldn’t be happier that he’s sharing that light with Nashville again. LANCE CONZETT
The best solo projects do one of two things: They either double down on the thing you already know and love about an artist from their main gig, or they let them turn up dimensions of their personality that can’t shine quite as brightly in a group setting. On Paramore drummer Zac Farro’s debut solo release Operator, he nails the latter. This isn’t Farro’s first foray into non-Paramore pop music — he’s consistently produced synthpop gems as HalfNoise for more than a decade — but it’s a considered artistic statement, filled with warmth and pop clarity. LANCE CONZETT
Jo Schornikow might be known for the atmospheric indie folk she makes as the keyboardist in Phosphorescent, but her 2025 solo EP Quiet Excerpts is more like the dreamy drone of Stars of the Lid or Anna von Hausswolff, crossed with Cat Power. Recorded on the pipe organ at Nashville’s Woodland Presbyterian Church, where Schornikow is music director (and with some overdubs tracked in Schornikow’s native Melbourne, Australia), it’s a strange and comforting record, with unexpected turns that feel like stumbling upon treasures. On “Upstream,” for instance, an image of walking on water is channeled over twee piano and the slant rhyme “steppin’ lightly on fishes and physics.” ANNIE PARNELL
Family Dog has fetched us the latest addition to the short list of truly crucial hardcore records from Nashville. Alternating between a midtempo stomp and fast-paced charge, these kids refuse to rely on tropes of the thrash scene to craft their sound. Their intentionally dissonant chaos calls to mind punk ruiners like Flipper and Die Kreuzen with a hint of Wire’s Pink Flag, early Wipers or contemporaries like Idles. With frequent live shows and another record on the way, there’s a lot to be excited about with this crew.
P.J. KINZER
It won’t surprise you that on her latest record, multi-instrumentalist and producer Megan Coleman — who’s best known as a first-call drummer — came up with inventive beats that are going to move you if you have a pulse. But the insightful songs, sophisticated arrangements and deep, elegant vocals put me in mind of legends like Grace Jones in ways I didn’t expect and am knocked out by. The overall theme is that keeping mainstream culture at arm’s length can be a good way to avoid its more toxic tendencies. That’s front and center on “Juxtaposed,” which features awesome Prince-esque guitar licks from Ping Rose and asks, “Is it our only goal to become one of the ‘haves’ and leave the ‘have-nots’ in the dust?” STEPHEN TRAGESER
All of Daisha McBride’s July EP So Much for Summer deserves a shoutout for being cohesive in spite of its tonal and stylistic variety, as well as for McBride’s incisive lyrics and commanding performance. But the opening track “Lunchroom” is a little extra special. I like to think aspiring middle school and high school rappers still freestyle over beats made with a pencil on the cafeteria table — one of the most awesomely punk, DIY things I ever saw growing up. But if they don’t, her salute to her roots and how far she’s come might just make them bring it back. STEPHEN TRAGESER
It’s been a tough year for public media amid federal funding cuts, and Nashville Public Radio music-discovery station and indie radio darling WNXP stood at risk. The loss of Music City’s biggest listener-funded station would be devastating to the local indie ecosystem. As a newly independent artist, Hayley Williams had a load of songs to release and no rules for how to do it. So the Paramore frontwoman chose to debut the first single from what would become her first indie solo album Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party on WNXP. She went so far as to drop off a burned CD of “Mirtazapine,” her ode to antidepressants, at the station. It was a fittingly creative move for her new project and
a sweet display of solidarity and support for independent music everywhere. HANNAH CRON
In January, Tristen released Zenith, a three-track inducer of nostalgia that revisits her 2013 album CAVES. The EP features a fresh and more rockforward version of “No One’s Gonna Know,” a track called “New Punching Bag” that landed on a compilation years ago and was unearthed for this record, and “Stimulation (I Can’t Get No”) — a track that didn’t make it past some initial takes during the CAVES sessions. Zenith provided an excellent occasion for Tristen to play an all-toorare show at The Blue Room, during which she ripped through a packed set list ranging from her 2011 breakout Charlatans at the Garden Gate to 2021’s earworm-heavy Aquatic Flowers and everything in between. AMANDA HAGGARD
In the language of flowers, ambrosia symbolizes the reciprocation of love. Kip Winger translates this image into a melody of yearning intensity in his new Violin Concerto. Subtitled “In the Language of Flowers,” the concerto leaves no emotion unexplored. The music is in turn festive, capricious and unfailingly lyrical. Nashville Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Peter Otto brought out all of the work’s dance-like energy during its world-premiere
performance at the Schermerhorn in May. Music director Giancarlo Guerrero provided heartfelt accompaniment, and the work was recorded for future release on the Naxos label. One anticipates another Grammy nod for this versatile “rock star” composer. JOHN PITCHER
Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia, the Bride of Lammermoor offers one of the finest examples of the bel canto (or “beautiful singing”) repertoire. But it’s also one of the toughest to pull off, requiring exquisite technique and the highest level of vocal virtuosity. Fortunately, in the spring, John Hoomes and Nashville Opera were able to deliver an ambitious production packed with big voices and richly detailed designs. Lucia also marked the welcome return of internationally acclaimed soprano Rainelle Krause, who made her much-anticipated role debut as the tragic bride, serving up Act II’s famously bloody “mad scene” in spectacular fashion. AMY STUMPFL
I’ll tell you what fits right in at church: a bunch of queer folks and their friends singing Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” Nashville in Harmony, which proudly describes itself as “Tennessee’s first musical arts organization for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and their allies,” hosted its first choral pop-up this year, a one-day singing event open to everyone. Folks in hot pink and camo came to Vine Street Christian Church, where they were led by assistant pastor and Nashville in Harmony director Wesley King, with performances from drag queens Kay Sera and Adhara Bull. Them: “With her arms out like an angel through the car sunroof.” Me: “And with your spirit.” CAT ACREE
No art form can survive without expanding its audience to new generations. Among the Nashville Jazz Workshop’s many worthy efforts and endeavors to broaden exposure and awareness of the music, none is more vital than its Jazz AM concerts. These are free programs held on Saturdays each month at the workshop’s space on Buchanan Street. They offer both stirring music and delightful visual entertainment, designed to introduce and inform children ages 2 through 10 about jazz. They not only spotlight the music from a performance standpoint, but a historical one. Past programs on this season’s slate put a spotlight on Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitgerald, Duke Ellington and Latin music great Celia Cruz. Before the year is over, mark your calendar for programs on Bessie Smith (Nov. 8)
and a season-ending holiday jazz special (Dec. 6).
In 2022, local creative champion Jack Vinoy gathered a wealth of his fellow Nashville musicians to debut his fledgling idea: a creative community where questions are encouraged and collaboration trumps competition. Over the course of a weekend, he effectively broke the haze over the post-COVID music industry and initiated the biannual get-together now known as ca.mp3. Eventually, the event migrated from Vinoy’s living room to a local studio. Perks like cheap recording costs, friendly competitions and the simple notion of gaining musical knowledge fuel the fire of creative camaraderie, and spontaneous freestyle cyphers and impromptu dance battles are to be expected.
Multi-instrumentalist, composer and improviser JayVe Montgomery makes interesting and thoughtful music wherever he goes. Lake Black Town took him to “drowned towns,” sites created across the Southeast when authorities dammed rivers in areas where Black people built communities and economic power after the Civil War. The work uses what is here now to tell us about what was lost when entire communities were literally buried under water. He visited places like Lake Lanier (formerly Oscarville, Ga.), capturing sound (or data he could use to generate sound) from the air, water, animals and even plants, which he used in live recordings and composed pieces. The project originated as part of chatterbird’s composer-inresidence program, and a key source of funding was a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Amid federal funding cuts, the grant was terminated, forcing a rapid conclusion to the project with a concert in May, which Mongtomery followed up with a performance series in June and July. STEPHEN TRAGESER
True to punk’s independent do-it-yourself ideology, all-ages venue Drkmttr has always
strived to be a central part of the community, wherever needed. In the spirit of organizations like Positive Force DC or Food Not Bombs, the venue launched Drkmttr Social Club in late 2024. DSC serves as a daytime program that helps elevate the work of Nashville community organizers. It is an incubator for organizing, training and making art through the lens of progressive principles, offering folks the opportunity and know-how to impact their community. With free snacks and coffee and free workspaces, DSC provides a space for whatever folks need to help their projects move forward. P.J. KINZER
As the constellation of music venues across
Nashville has slowly grown more corporatized, the live music scene has started to lose some of its community-oriented spark. But 615 Indie Live, a daylong local music marathon sprawled across 13 venues (and some 17 stages) early this year, was an antidote to that sucking feeling. A partnership between Music Venue Alliance Nashville and the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp, 615 Indie Live was a choose-yourown-adventure celebration of what makes Nashville special. Whether it was Alanna Royale crushing at The 5 Spot, fiddle queen Lillie Mae lighting up Dee’s, Six One Trïbe throwing down at The Basement or DJs Maggie Wells and Ken Sable holding it down at Night We Met, 615 Indie Live showed the vital need for independence in live music. And all for a measly 15 bucks. LANCE CONZETT
Technically speaking, we’re in year three of Bobby Hotel’s Backyard Sessions, a series of free shows hosted from the downtown hotel’s rooftop. But things really popped off when WNXP stepped in to curate their lineups. Under the watchful eye of WNXP events director Emily Young, the series has transcended from cool gimmick to must-go. Not only are they booking bands like Broncho and Bartees Strange — who’ve played successful ticketed shows around town — they’re also showcasing the diversity of local music by giving spotlights to artists like Wilby, Jarren Blair and Tim Gent. It’s a miracle these shows are free, and even more proof that the Nashville Public Radio station has cemented itself as one of Nashville’s greatest community resources. LANCE CONZETT
Under the broad umbrella of local venues you could defensibly call “honky-tonks,” there are standouts all over town. Robert’s Western World in the neon canyon of Lower Broad. Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge up in Madison. The Nashville Palace in Music Valley. Unlikely as it seems, the best new addition to Nashville’s honky-tonk scene comes to us by way of Brooklyn. (Yes, really!) An outpost of the Williamsburg venue named for country bassist Skinny Dennis Sanchez, the Gallatin Pike spot is a solid addition to East Nashville, regularly hosting performances from top-shelf country artists including Chris Scruggs, Joshua Hedley, The Cowpokes and
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fellow Best of Nashville writers’ choice winner Kristina Murray. Will some purists say it’s not a proper honky-tonk if it’s an outpost of a Brooklyn spot, which is itself an impression of a Nashville dive? Probably. But it’s got good drinks, good tunes, good vibes and plenty of room to two-step your sweetheart across the floor, if that’s what you’re into. D. PATRICK RODGERS
With just 776 seats, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s intimate CMA Theater makes the Ryman feel big, and that’s just one reason to go. Every time you do, magic happens. Emmylou Harris and James Taylor come out to sing Linda Ronstadt songs with Trisha Yearwood. Old Crow Medicine Show plays an acoustic, pin-drop version of Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.” You realize the guy you’re sitting next to knows so much about the artist onstage because he discovered them 30 years ago. These things don’t happen everywhere, even in Music City. But they do happen at the CMA Theater. ASHLEY BRANTLEY
Bluegrass fans can count on Dee’s to feature some of the genre’s best artists on Mondays. The tradition goes back several years at the Madison venue, which recently announced that talent buyer Keshia Bailey and manager Elizabeth Turner have become partners in the business with founder Amy Dee Richardson. In recent years Dee’s has hosted residencies with such luminaries as Bronwyn Keith-Hynes and East Nashville Grass. Neo-bluegrass star Kyle Tuttle is currently holding down the Monday evening slot, and you’re likely to see all manner of guest pickers and singers sitting in. It’s the perfect way to ease into the week, and the picking is worldclass. EDD HURT
While the importance of Jefferson Street in American musical history is better known today than it was in past decades, there remain those unaware that in its prime the street was the center of enormous musical activity. Greats in R&B, soul, blues, jazz and gospel regularly appeared in Nashville thanks to the street’s venues, and it was part of a cultural empire that also helped make radio station WLAC a late-night national treasure and powered the success of mail-order merchandising titans Randy’s Record Shop and Ernie’s Record Mart. All that history and more can be relived through a visit to Jefferson Street Sound Museum. Its founder and curator Lorenzo Washington’s background on the street and his immersion in great Black music dates back multiple decades, both as a fan and a businessman. His efforts to preserve that history led to the museum, a
vitally important addition to the city’s tourist and historical scene. Now a 501(c)3 nonprofit, the museum collaborates with public schools, other nonprofits and community organizations across Nashville. It offers tours, arts and music programs, community concerts and events, plus networking opportunities. It’s a place you can’t afford not to visit if you consider yourself to be seriously engaged with this city’s — or for that matter this nation’s — musical and cultural heritage.
RON WYNN
Each year, when the days are at their most sweltering, the Schermerhorn becomes an oasis amid the bustle of downtown for the annual Spirits of Summer benefit. It’s a highlight within the great programming the symphony consistently offers, with four bartenders from local haunts invited to craft a cocktail paired with a piece of music performed by the best classical instrumentalists in town. This year the event reached new heights, embracing a celestial theme with horoscopes and aura readings in the lobby before the official program began. It’s still hard to say which packed more of a punch: the cocktails, or the sweeping pieces from the likes of composers John Williams and Michael Giacchino.
MARY SIROKY
In September 2023, trend-setting Nashville rocker Jeff Johnson — best known as the bassist for Jason & The Scorchers — suffered a stroke that affected his mobility and speech. In January 2024, a bunch of his musical pals including former bandmate Warner Hodges put together a concert at Eastside Bowl dubbed Jeff Fest to benefit Johnson’s recovery. Earlier this year at the same venue, Hodges organized Jeff Fest 2, which featured performances by Hodges, Dan Baird & Homemade Sin, Royal Court of China, Valentine Saloon and The Raelyn Nelson Band, among others, and raised more than $20,000 for Johnson’s ongoing care and therapy.
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OCT. 10-12
DANCE [BLUE SUEDE FLATS]
NASHVILLE BALLET: IF I CAN DREAM
With the opening of its 40th anniversary season, Nashville Ballet has planned a unique program where “classical brilliance, contemporary elegance and rock ’n’ roll charisma collide.” The evening begins with the Tennessee premiere of George Balanchine’s Rubies, a dazzling masterwork featuring Igor Stravinsky’s vibrant and jazzy “Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra.” Audiences also can look forward to the much-anticipated return of Jiří Kylián’s achingly beautiful Un Ballo, set to Maurice Ravel’s evocative “Le Tombeau de Couperin” and “Pavane pour une Infante Défunte.” And finally, there’s the main stage premiere of Travis Bradley’s If I Can Dream, an exciting new work that honors the singular spirit and music of Elvis Presley. Currently serving as rehearsal director for Nashville Ballet, Bradley is an award-winning dancer and choreographer with credits at Ballet Memphis, Houston Ballet, Richmond Ballet and more. His If I Can Dream was a highlight of the 2024 Nashville Dance Festival, and offers a rather lively start to Nashville Ballet’s new season. AMY STUMPFL
OCT. 10-12 AT TPAC’S POLK THEATER
505 DEADERICK ST.
[GUN-FU]
FILM
Before Mission: Impossible 2 and face-swapping Cage and Travolta, John Woo perfected his signature brand of balletic violence in Hong Kong. The Belcourt’s Golden Princess Hong Kong Cinema Classics series, continuing this week, is loaded with Woo, and three of the master’s greatest pictures are coming locked and loaded to the arthouse’s screens this week. The Killer follows a conflicted hitman (Chow Yun-fat) who accidentally blinds a nightclub singer during a botched assassination. Bullet in the Head transplants three childhood friends from Hong Kong into the chaos of 1967 Saigon, where war and greed test their brotherhood. Hard Boiled finds Woo at his most purely kinetic: A tough police inspector teams with an undercover agent to infiltrate a weaponssmuggling ring, culminating in a legendary 45-minute hospital siege that redefined action movies. Woo’s cinematic signatures include two-fisted gunfights, detailed carnage and an
endless supply of slow-motion doves. But these celebrated films endure as meditations on honor, loyalty and masculine friendship, set in hyperstylized cinematic worlds that push the action genre to operatic extremes. Visit belcourt.org for showtimes. JOE NOLAN THROUGH OCT. 16 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.
[UNBANNABLE]
If there’s one thing I’m zealous about, it’s the right to read freely. In March, I spoke with Pinaklicious author Victoria Kann in a flurry of passion following the removal of her book from Wilson County schools last fall. So naturally, my senses were reignited when an email about Louisiana-based librarian Amanda Jones hit my inbox. After Jones pushed back against farright censors at a town hall meeting in 2022, she received death threats. Opponents called her a “groomer,” a “pedo” and a “porn-pusher,” just for advocating against book bans. But Jones didn’t back down. After suing harassers for defamation — an ongoing case — and establishing herself as a well-known activist, she published her memoir That Librarian: The
8
Fight Against Book Banning in America in August 2024. To celebrate her new paperback edition, Parnassus Books, Humanities Tennessee and Bookpage will host a conversation with Jones and Lindsey Kimery, coordinator of library services at Metro Nashville Public Schools, on Thursday. The paperback adds even more perspective to Jones’ engrossing story, including updates on her lawsuit and new information about book banning in cities across the country.
MADELEINE BRADFORD
6:30 P.M. AT PARNASSUS BOOKS
3900 HILLSBORO PIKE
[GOOD NEWS IS ON THE WAY]
MUSIC
MODEST MOUSE W/BUILT TO SPILL
As if millennial and Gen-X indie-rock fans weren’t feeling our age already, Modest Mouse’s breakthrough record Good News for People Who Love Bad News turned 20 last year. At the time of the record’s release in 2004, some snobbier listeners claimed that Pacific Northwestern frontman Isaac Brock and his band had gone too mainstream, drifting away from the sound of albums like The Lonesome Crowded West and The Moon & Antarctica — albums that had earned die-hard fans in the late ’90s and early Aughts. Those snobs were, of course, wrong. Good News — which the band celebrated with an anniversary reissue last year — is full of the disjointed arrangements, sticky melodies and invigorating, punky energy that Brock and company had been perfecting since 1993. Since Good News, Modest Mouse has seen many lineup changes (including a brief stint with The Smiths’ Johnny Marr on guitar) and issued a handful of strong albums. Recent set lists are sprinkled with bangers from all over the Mouse’s catalog, and possibly the best bit of all? Indie-rock legends Built to Spill are appearing as support on the band’s current tour. Fans can catch MM and BTS this week at The Pinnacle — certainly one of the larger venues Built to Spill has graced in the band’s many years of passing through Nashville. Don’t miss it, and visit nashvillescene.com/music to read Scene intern Noah McLane’s interview with Brock. D. PATRICK RODGERS
Halloween is just around the corner, and Nashville Opera is kicking off the spooky season with a classic thriller — The Shining. Based on the 1977 novel by Stephen King, the piece features music by Paul Moravec (best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning composition Tempest Fantasy) and libretto by Mark Campbell (a prolific writer whose work has earned both a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy). And while the title may be familiar to most audiences, it’s important to note that the opera aligns more closely with King’s original work than Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation. It’s an important distinction for artistic director John Hoomes — who’s celebrating his 30th anniversary with Nashville Opera. He sees lead character Jack Torrance as a largely sympathetic, if flawed, figure — an ordinary man thrust into extraordinary circumstances as he and his family discover the dark secrets of the historic Overlook Hotel. Audiences can expect a lush, almost cinematic score, and Dean Williamson will be on hand to lead the Nashville Opera Orchestra. Word has it that Hoomes has cooked up some rather chilling effects — including video elements that capture all manner of flashbacks, dreams and hallucinations. AMY STUMPFL
OCT. 9 & 11 AT TPAC’S JACKSON HALL
505 DEADERICK ST.
When guitar virtuoso and songwriter Steve Morse brings his band to Nashville Friday night, he will be coming full circle in a way. It was a fateful gig at the Exit/In opening for Sea Level in December 1976 that landed Morse’s then-band Dixie Dregs their first recording contract with Capricorn Records. “Nashville is where the Dregs got discovered,” Morse tells the Scene. “[Sea Level keyboardist] Chuck Leavell told [Capricorn president] Phil Walden he needed to check out our band.” On their current tour, Morse and his
bandmates — bassist Dave LaRue and drummer Van Romaine — are joined by second guitarist Angel Vivaldi. “There are songs I always wanted to do that just felt a little bare as a three-piece,” explains Morse, who was voted Best Overall Guitarist five times by Guitar Player. “Now with Angel, they really snap and come alive.” Friday’s all-instrumental performance will feature “three or four” songs from his dynamic forthcoming album Triangulation, which is scheduled for release on Nov. 14 via Mascot Records. In addition to fan favorites such as “Vista Grande” and “Name Dropping,” the band will also perform some material from earlier albums that they rarely play live because they need a second guitar.
DARYL SANDERS
7:30 P.M. AT THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM’S CMA THEATER
224 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY S.
On “Eatin’ Big Time,” the deep-fried flex that opens his latest album Snipe Hunter, Tyler Childers growls out a strangled line: “Have you ever got to hold and blow a thousand fucking dollars?” It’s a question that drips with awe and excitement, plus a little bite. The song also features an eat-the-rich trophy hunt, and the record that follows charts Childers’ long journey from singing in a church choir in Eastern Kentucky to becoming one of today’s most acclaimed and adored country musicians — with detours to India and Australia in between.
Fresh off a surprise July pop-up at sandwich shop Turkey and the Wolf, where he played the new record in full, Childers is back in Music City to play a two-night stand at Geodis Park. The fruits of his snipe hunt will be on display. Special guests Cory Branan and recent Americana Awards nominee Charley Crockett open.
ANNIE PARNELL
OCT. 10-11 AT GEODIS PARK
501 S. BENTON AVE.
MUSIC
[LUCKY SILVER DOLLAR] SHAWN CAMP
When it comes to concept albums, it doesn’t get cooler than Shawn Camp’s The Ghost of Sis Draper. Fans of Guy Clark will be familiar with the story of Draper, a real Arkansas fiddle player whom Camp met at a pickin’ party when he was 7 years old. Camp and Clark immortalized Draper in “Sis Draper,” featured on Clark’s 1999 album Cold Dog Soup, and she became a muse the pair returned to again and again. “For years, we would work on other songs, then fall into ‘Sis,’” Camp shared in a press statement. “If we got stuck on something, we’d end up going to the Sis Draper project.” As with all of Clark’s lyrics, the legend of Sis Draper will live on forever. On Sept. 12, Camp released The Ghost of Sis Draper, featuring 13 songs co-written by Camp and Clark and one solo Clark composition. Fans can hear performances of those tunes (and surely plenty of Guy Clark stories) when Camp takes the stage at the Station Inn on Saturday.
BOBBIE JEAN SAWYER
9 P.M. AT THE STATION INN
402 12TH AVE. S.
[SHAKE MY WORLD AROUND]
JESS NOLAN ALBUM RELEASE
Jess Nolan cut her teeth providing harmonies in the backing bands of high-caliber artists like Jake Wesley Rogers, Jenny Lewis, Joy Oladokun and Katie Pruitt. She’s now on tour opening for Pruitt, and the two have released a sweet collaboration, “Time Wasn’t Wasted.” It’s clear that her impressive résumé shaped her artistry, but there’s something else in her work that’s completely her own. On top of it all, Nolan has amped up to independently release
her third album, Right at Home, on Oct. 10.
Friday night, she’ll play a record release show at Skinny Dennis with a stacked lineup of support to play in the round, including Lilly Winwood, She Returns From War and Fretland. Those who pre-purchase a ticket will have a surprise gift waiting for them at the merch table, so plan ahead for a great way to spend a Nashville Friday night. HANNAH CRON
7 P.M. AT SKINNY DENNIS
2635 GALLATIN PIKE
The Nashville Smut crew returns with their biannual Tempted by Fiction event — but this time, with dark romance fans in mind. The market will celebrate all things dark romance, with bookish merch and a few masked male models on hand for extra spicy ambiance. Spooky (and sexy) titles from a host of indie authors — including Crystal & Felicity, Ashley Reyes, E.D. Yates, Tay Rose and Elaine Daniels — will be on sale, and the authors will be signing copies. At the last market, most authors sold out within two hours, so preorders are highly encouraged. Shadowed Pages Book Truck will be slinging more smutty titles, while Clay and Clover Earring Company, Ketzel Pretzel Piercings, Mourning Brew and Starlight Candle Company will be offering a full array of sultry goods for sale. Feel free to dress up in costume, but heads-up: Full face masks are not allowed. Details on authors and vendors can be found at @temptedbyfiction on Instagram. TINA DOMINGUEZ
6 P.M. AT FAIT LA FORCE BREWING
1414 THIRD AVE. S., SUITE 101
ART [IN BETWEEN BEING AND NOT] ENTRE SER Y NO SER: MIGRATION, RESILIENCE, AND THE UNSEEN
Curator and sculptor Andrés Bustamante’s new show at the Browsing Room Gallery at the
Downtown Presbyterian Church is a multimedia group exhibition that creates a conversation through personal narratives of migration. Entre Ser y No Ser: Migration, Resilience, and the Unseen brings together painters, sculptors, ceramicists, muralists and portraitists whose varied practices reveal unique perspectives in their expressions of displacement, memory and identity: Clay vessels hold ancestral cultural memories; abstract landscapes reflect geographic and psychological terrains; and fractured portraits convey a fragile dignity. Bustamante is an artistin-residence at the Downtown Presbyterian Church, and he pulled this show together at the last minute to patch a gap in the Browsing Room’s programming. He’s transformed the modest gallery into a lively space with a display that’s remarkably interconnected and of a piece. At a time when local artist-curators are trending, Entre Ser y No Ser finds Bustamante making smart, visionary curating look easy. The exhibition includes work from Keisha Lopez, Cesar Pita, Bustamante himself, Ruben Torres and Alfredo Gonzalez (Dofre), whose iconic painting “Aún Así” is a highlight of Nashville’s fall art season. An opening reception takes place Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. JOE NOLAN THROUGH OCT. 25 AT THE BROWSING ROOM GALLERY AT THE DOWNTOWN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 154 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N.
PHOTOGRAPHY
[CAN I GET A] WITNESS
Photographers for Social Justice is a new Nashville-based collective that supports
and uplifts photographers who use their craft as a tool for social justice. Organized by former Vanderbilt cultural anthropology professor Lesley Gill, the group’s 11 members are hosting Witness, a pop-up photo show at the Friends Meeting House. Gill tells the Scene that the exhibiting photographers “use their craft to address pressing issues of our time, such as immigration, LGBTQ+ issues, racial justice, the crisis in Gaza, contemporary social struggles and more.” Members of the group who are participating in this show include Michael Nott, Emile Passino, Wayne Thomas, Al Levenson, Pat Hollander, Lee Perry, Richard Perry, Joyce Perkins and Lindy Drolsum. “The photographers work in different genres,” explains Gill, “and they explore the boundaries between documentary and interpretive approaches. What unites everyone is a concern for social justice.” The most important people and events in contemporary life have been the subjects of photography — this group is passionate about continuing that mission, and amplifying it in the process. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
1 P.M. AT FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE
530 26TH AVE. N.
WITCH]
along word for word. He was tragically taken far too young at the age of 30, but his son A.J. Croce carries on his legacy more than 50 years after his death. A.J. Croce brings his Croce Plays Croce tour to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Sunday. Expect moving renditions of hits like “Time in a Bottle,” “Operator (That’s Not the Way it Feels)” and “I Got a Name” as the genius of Jim Croce is kept alive for the next generation.
ADAM DAVIDSON
7:30 P.M. AT THE RYMAN
116 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N.
TUESDAY
[STILL GOT IT]
MONDAY / 10.13
FILM [IF YOU SHOOT THIS MAN, YOU DIE NEXT] CITY ON FIRE & RESERVOIR DOGS
Over the past 23 years, the Bell Witch Fall Festival has become a favorite tradition, ushering in the season with all sorts of storytelling, music, theater and even a good old-fashioned ghost story. The festival returns Oct. 11 with Red River Tales. You can check out storytellers, artisans and demonstrations in the afternoon, and then settle in for a concert performance of Douglas Waterbury-Tieman’s Johnny and the Devil’s Box — a new Americana musical “with one foot in the Georgia mountains and one foot in the Grand Ole Opry.”
Beginning Oct. 16, guests can catch David Alford’s Spirit: The Authentic Story of the Bell Witch of Tennessee. Based on Richard Williams Bell’s memoir Our Family Trouble, Spirit tells the fascinating tale of the Bell family — who were said to have been tormented by a mysterious “witch” known as Kate in the early 19th century. It’s a great spooky story, and especially fun to experience on the grounds of the old Bell family farm. All performances take place at the Kay Bagby Theater and Brooksher Outdoor Pavilion, so be sure to dress for the weather, and plan to arrive early to enjoy food vendors and various festival activities. AMY STUMPFL
OCT. 11 & 16-25 AT THE KAY BAGBY THEATER
7617 US-41, ADAMS, TENN.
SUNDAY / 10.12
[THAT’S ME IN THE BAR]
MUSIC
A.J. CROCE PRESENTS CROCE PLAYS CROCE
When Quentin Tarantino’s breakout debut feature Reservoir Dogs was released in 1992, people were too hung up on its moments of lurid violence — Michael Madsen (RIP) really knew his way around a straight razor — to notice how the young film nerd made a heistgone-wrong movie that lifts from a fuckton of heist-gone-wrong movies. The color-coded aliases the crew is given? Why, that’s from The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. The suit-andtie uniforms? Kansas City Confidential. The time-hopping narrative? The Killing. But the movie that QT bites from the most is Ringo Lam’s 1987 crime thriller City on Fire — one of the many newly 4K’d Hong Kong actioners currently playing at the Belcourt. Its story of an undercover cop (Chow Yun-fat) infiltrating a gang of jewel thieves — and eventually getting chummy with a core crewmate — was rehashed in Dogs, where Harvey Keitel’s veteran crook unknowingly bonds with Tim Roth’s eventually blood-soaked, on-the-low officer. The Belcourt will show City on Oct. 9, but Oct. 13 is the only time you can catch it in a double-header with Dogs, which is also this week’s Music City Mondays presentation. For showtimes, visit belcourt.org. CRAIG D. LINDSEY
OCT. 13 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.
For all the nostalgia content that exists for millennials these days, I gotta say the Jonas Brothers still hit. I’ve seen them twice since they got back together, and I’d be glad to go again. They sound awesome, they look great, and their discography is really something to behold. As part of the Jonas20: Greetings From Your Hometown Tour, they’ve even been bringing special guests onstage. (Jojo, Jesse McCartney, Demi Lovato, 5 Seconds of Summer and Fifth Harmony to name a few.) The anticipation of who they’ll choose in Nashville is really what live performance is all about. Heck, I’d be happy to just see Big Rob do the verse on “Burnin’ Up.” The trio is supporting their new album, Greetings From Your Hometown, but they’re also celebrating the 20th anniversary of their career start. They don’t shy away from playing some of the greatest hits. Hint: You’ll get to hear Nick say “red dress,” I promise. HANNAH HERNER 7:30 P.M. AT BRIDGESTONE ARENA
501 BROADWAY
Jim Croce was one of those rare talents who only come around once in a generation. The legendary singer-songwriter had an unmistakable voice and performed love songs that could cut deep and have the crowd singing
Exploring tough themes of social inequality, identity and belonging, S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel The Outsiders absolutely revolutionized the young adult genre of literature. Nearly 60 years later, the story — which follows young Ponyboy Curtis and his chosen family of “greasers” in 1960s Tulsa — continues to resonate and inspire. You can check it out next week, as the Tonywinning Broadway musical arrives at TPAC’s Jackson Hall. Based on Hinton’s groundbreaking novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film adaptation, The Outsiders features a book by Adam Rapp and Justin Levine, with music and lyrics by Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance (better known as the folk duo Jamestown Revival), alongside Levine. I’m eager to check out the show’s evocative score — which blends folk, bluegrass, Americana and rock sounds — along with the gritty “rumble” choreography from brothers Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman. And be sure to look for Nashville’s own Nolan White, who’s making his national tour debut in
the coveted role of Ponyboy. AMY STUMPFL OCT. 14-19 AT TPAC’S JACKSON HALL
505 DEADERICK ST.
WEDNESDAY / 10.15
TOUR [STAR TOURS] LIGHTS, CAMERA, NASHVILLE! A CINEMATIC TOUR OF MUSIC CITY
Reynolds at the Tennessee State Library and Archives on Oct. 16 in support of his latest book, Coach. The book is a companion novel to Reynolds’ Track series, exploring how a nerdy kid, a missing father and a special pair of Jordans came together to create the Coach character readers know and love. Tickets for the event must be purchased in advance through Eventbrite, and the admission includes a signed hardcover copy of Coach HANNAH CRON 6:30 P.M. AT THE TENNESSEE STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES
1001 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N.
FRIDAY
MUSIC
[STATE OF COUNTRY] BRENNEN
Throughout 2025, our beloved local independent movie theater the Belcourt has been celebrating its 100th birthday with special screenings, seminars, Q&As, the unveiling of a historical marker and more. The institution’s latest birthday gift to us cinephiles is a sightseeing tour created in partnership with Nashville Sites. Lights, Camera, Nashville! A Cinematic Tour of Music City is a 20-mile, 15stop, self-guided tour featuring film-related sites from throughout the city, research from Belcourt historian T. Minton and MTSU graduate student Amelie Andalle, and narration from local media legend Demetria Kalodimos. Buzz off party buses, sightseeing trolleys and pedal taverns — this is officially the coolest way to explore the city. Catch me at Bobbie’s Dairy Dip with Demetria Kalodimos in my AirPods, telling me about the filming of Gummo. Just visit nashvillesites.org to load up the totally free tour anytime — and consider making a donation while you’re at it. LOGAN BUTTS
ONGOING AT MULTIPLE STOPS THROUGHOUT NASHVILLE
THURSDAY / 10.16
BOOKS [AS BRAVE AS YOU]
Newbery Medal-winning author Jason Reynolds has a way of compelling young readers’ interest that others could only long to replicate. Each of his novels has a unique structure and a relevant premise that draws in literary fans of all ages. His most lauded effort, Long Way Down, explores the seismic effect of mass incarceration in communities of color in vivid prose. Parnassus Books and Humanities
Tennessee will present an evening with Jason
Back in 2020, I compared Nashville singer, guitarist and songwriter Brennen Leigh to ’70s folk-rock-country singer Mary McCaslin. I think it’s an apt comparison — like Leigh, McCaslin wrote about the mythology of the West, as you can hear on her 1974 album Way Out West. The difference is partly that Leigh identifies as a country singer; she delved into Western swing on 2022’s Obsessed With the West and hard ’60s country on 2023’s Ain’t Through Honky-Tonkin’ Yet, while McCaslin ranged into pop and covered tunes by The Beatles, The Who and Marty Robbins. On her new album Don’t You Ever Give Up on Love, Leigh once again transcends retro country, and that has something to do with her unsentimental vocal style, which finds pleasure in country’s classic tropes. Leigh is a first-class flat-picking guitarist, and her band sounds great throughout Don’t You Ever Give Up Her songwriting also builds on those tropes in an unobtrusive way — you could be forgiven if you thought the waltz-time tune “Texas Tumbleweed” was something she unearthed from 1949. On Oct. 17 at Skinny Dennis, Leigh marks the release of Don’t You Ever Give Up on Love — expect some fancy picking. EDD HURT
8 P.M. AT SKINNY DENNIS
2635 GALLATIN PIKE
MUSIC
[ON THE STREETS] TALL JUAN
10/9 • Intro to MIG Welding
10/10 • Silversmithing for Teens: Part 2
10/11 • Geometric Wood Mosaic Workshop
10/12 • Intro to Metal Fabrication
10/12 • Beginners’ Intro to Sewing: Pajama Pants
10/13 • Denim Repurposing with Visible Mending
10/14 • Create Your own End Grain Cutting Board: Part 1
10/14 • Intro to Adobe Illustrator 10/16 • Laser 101
10/18 • Beginners Intro to Sewing: T-Shirt Blanket
10/19 • Silversmithing for Beginners
10/21 • Create Your own End Grain Cutting Board: Part 2
10/22 • Marquetry: Paint by Numbers with Wood Veneer - Part 3
10/24 • SIlversmithing for Teens: Part 3
10/25 • Intro to Knife Forging Workshop: Part 1
10/25
• Fused Glass Workshop: Sculptural Bowl
10/26 • Intro to Knife Forging Workshop: Part 2
10/27
• Woodshop 101 for Homeschool: Part 1
10/27
• Mold Making 101: Part 1
The Ramones pastiches that Argentine-born and New York-residing singer Tall Juan favored on his 2017 album Olden Goldies included a song titled “Far Rockaway,” which should have made longtime Ramones fans happy. Olden Goldies garnered press attention from the likes of Pitchfork for Tall Juan, who was born Juan Zaballa in San Antonio de Padua, a city in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. His 2024 album Raccoon Nights gleams with production touches that include keyboards and horns, and Zaballa has morphed into an all-purpose garage rocker. You hear the inevitable echoes of garage-rock pioneers like Arthur Lee and Syd Barrett in “If I Ever Come Back,” while “Another Day” is suitably Kinks-esque. Like the Uruguayan-born singer Juan Wauters, who guests on the Olden track “The System,” Tall Juan evokes various aspects of ’60s and ’70s rock ’n’ roll without being doctrinaire about it. Olden Goldies manages to sound lush, but it sometimes comes across as pained, which seems natural coming from a musician who seems to know the attractions and snares of the urban jungle. As he sings in “The Good Times”: “When I’m on the streets / The rats come towards me.” Dillon Warnek opens.
EDD HURT
7:30 P.M. AT SOFT JUNK 919 GALLATIN AVE.
MUSIC
[MADAME PRESIDENT] GRACE BOWERS PRESENTS WE GOTTA LIVE TOGETHER BENEFIT SHOW
Guitar virtuoso and Nashvillian Grace Bowers was in high school on the day of the Covenant School shooting in 2023. As with many others who have grown up in an era when gun violence is a tragically common occurrence, Bowers was affected by the violence and wanted to do something about it. Each year since, she’s hosted a benefit concert supporting nonprofits Everytown and MusiCares. This year’s edition of Grace Bowers Presents: We Gotta
Live Together features a genre-diverse lineup of stars including rapper Flavor Flav; former Walmart yodeler Mason Ramsey; local favorites like Devon Gilfillian, Lucie Silvas and Aaron Lee Tasjan; and many more. It’ll be a great night of music with something for every type of fan, all supporting a great cause. Tickets for the all-ages show are available on Brooklyn Bowl’s website.
HANNAH CRON
8 P.M. AT BROOKLYN BOWL 925 THIRD AVE. N.
[ENTER IF YOU DARE]
HOUSE
NASHVILLE NIGHTMARE HAUNTED HOUSES
Routinely Music City’s most popular haunted house, Nashville Nightmare is back for another year of frights. This year’s iteration features four haunted houses to explore, plus a few sidequests like mini escape games and a “zombie apocalypse training facility.” Of the four houses — Horror High: Final Exam, The Boogieman, Fairy Tale Hell and Area-X — the scariest is Area-X, an Alien-esque sci-fi-horror mashup with blaring alarms and flashing sirens. The fantastical Fairy Tale Hell is the most atmospheric; my party got caught up admiring the scenery in this mystical hell on multiple occasions. The Boogieman takes place in a confined crematorium, making for a claustrophobic march through death and despair. Horror High features the most creative exit strategy of the four, as you have to depart the maze through an old school bus. Make sure to stop by Clown Alley before you leave … if you can find your way out. LOGAN BUTTS
THROUGH NOV. 9 AT THE MADISON TOWN CENTER
1016 MADISON SQUARE, MADISON
TUESDAY
FILM [OVER AT THE FRANKENSTEIN PLACE] THE ROCKY HORROR
Name: BARNEY
1yr. 8m.
Weight: 45 lbs
MEET BARNEY
He is a wonderful and sweet boy who loves affection and attention!
If you’re looking for a gentle, loving pup to be your new best friend and snuggle buddy, look no further than Barney! He loves giving kisses, getting lots of pets, and being told how handsome he is. From cuddling on the couch for cozy movie nights to playing with his favorite toys, Barney is all love and endless entertainment. Come on over to the shelter to give this amazing pup the love and attention he craves!
Call 615.352.1010 or visit nashvillehumane.org
Located at 213 Oceola Ave., Nashville, TN 37209
Adopt. Bark. Meow. Microchip. Neuter. Spay.
Saturday, October 11
SONGWRITER SESSION
Max T. Barnes
NOON · FORD THEATER
Saturday, October 11
BOOK TALK
Author Tom Piazza with Fiona Prine
2:30 pm · FORD THEATER
Sunday, October 12
MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT
C. J. Lewandowski
1:00 pm · FORD THEATER
Saturday, October 18
SONGWRITER SESSION
Alex Miller
NOON · FORD THEATER
Saturday, October 25
SONGWRITER SESSION
Billy Montana
NOON · FORD THEATER
WITNESS HISTORY
at midnight in theaters around the world to do the Time Warp … again. The Rocky Horror Picture Show fans are celebrating half a century of quoting, singing and stripping to the cult “erotic nightmare beyond any measure.” Barry Bostwick, who plays the naive fiancé Brad Majors in the 1975 film, is coming to Nashville for a screening of an unedited version of the film at the Schermerhorn. Little Morals, a local shadow cast group, will perform, and audience members will be given props so they can also be part of the show. Make sure to wear your campiest corset and tightest fishnets — there will be a costume contest. If you’re not already shivering with antici … pation, an original costume will be displayed as well as some other artifacts from the set. There are a few reasons why Rocky Horror is the longest-running theatrical release film in history: its iconic songs, B-movie humor and the space it provides to be as unapologetically strange and sinful as possible. So come up to the lab and see what’s on the slab — before it sells out. (And if that’s not enough, the Belcourt is showing the frightfest each night from Oct. 29 through Nov. 1.)
KATHLEEN HARRINGTON
7:30 P.M. AT THE SCHERMERHORN
1 SYMPHONY PLACE
WEDNESDAY / 10.22
may have nearly broken stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. with his unrelenting process, but the work on screen shines because of it (and it fits thematically within the film, considering Gyllenhaal’s cartoonist-turnedinvestigator Robert Graysmith is also driven by an unrelenting desire for perfection). Not a horror movie in the traditional sense (similar in that way to its cousin Se7en), Zodiac has some of the most horrifying imagery in modern film; I haven’t looked at secluded lakes or banal basements the same way since. Fincher’s look into journalism, police work, society’s obsession with serial killers and the joy of blue-colored cocktails is screening as part of the Belcourt’s Shocktober series. LOGAN BUTTS
8:20 P.M. AT THE BELCOURT
2102 BELCOURT AVE.
Local Kids Always Visit Free Plan
Saturday, October 25
HATCH SHOW PRINT
Block Party
3:00 pm · HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP
Sunday, October 26 HATCH SHOW PRINT Family Block Party
Sunday, October 26
MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT
Maddie Denton
1:00 pm · FORD THEATER
Donna Fargo with Lauren Mascitti
FILM [NOT MANY PEOPLE HAVE BASEMENTS IN CALIFORNIA]
SHOCKTOBER: ZODIAC
David Fincher may have more prescient (The Social Network), iconic (Se7en), misunderstood (Fight Club) and flat-out entertaining (Gone Girl) works in his oeuvre, but serial killer thriller Zodiac might be my favorite. It wasn’t that way originally, but I always uncover something new on every subsequent rewatch; it’s an endlessly rich text. The meticulous master
Rico Nasty should be our next poet laureate. Consider the first verse of “Soul Snatcher”: “The truck that I pull up in black / The face card lethal, it’s MAC.” Pretty standard, sure, for a 28-yearold baddie who had a baby before deciding to become a rapper. But the more you dig into her music, the more you hear how she stretches the boundaries of making two words rhyme in a way that makes you pause and be like, “Wow, she really made that happen.” A few lines from “Grave”: “Seen them run off with the style, it’s OK / They never say nothing I wanted to say / It never gave nothing I wanted to gave / I’m taking you bitches with me to the grave.” The verbs are off, but the insult lies in her using the past tense to show how unbothered she is. With the understanding in rap that you can say whatever you want if it sounds cool, the gist is got. See her live before she hits the Library of Congress. TOBY ROSE
8 P.M. AT BROOKLYN BOWL 925 THIRD AVE. N.
accompanying adults.
Backstage Nashville! Daytime Hit Songwriters Show featuring JIM BEAVERS, TIM JAMES, JORDAN DOZZI & RAY STEPHENSON + JULIA HUTCHINSON
AND SOUNDS of SUN RECORDS
Hope On The Inside Presents: Songwriters
Learn how to thrive in your field, in a town built on artistic storytelling. Our career-focused curriculum and supportive community will help you achieve new goals through your craft.
Because whether you're putting pen to paper, paint to canvas or beyond, this world is better when your creativity comes to life.
English (M.A.)
Creative Writing (M.F.A.)
Visual Arts (M.F.A.)
Contemporary Art Certificate
Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word Oct. 18-19 at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, the Tennessee State Museum and the Tennessee State Library & Archives sofestofbooks.org
BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
IN EARLY APRIL, executive director Tim Henderson of nonprofit Humanities Tennessee sent out a memo “with great urgency” saying that the organization’s National Endowment for the Humanities grant, worth about $1.2 million annually, had been terminated.
One of the first consequences that many Nashvillians spoke of was the potential loss of the Southern Festival of Books, which has been among the most beloved literary events in Nashville since its inception in 1989. But community support and an expanded partnership with Vanderbilt University secured this year’s festival. Now, on Oct. 18 and 19, the 37th annual Southern Festival of Books will visit the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park and its neighboring Tennessee State Museum and Tennessee State Library & Archives. All seems right in the world — at least for a weekend.
This year’s festival lineup features author events with literary powerhouses such as Joyce Carol Oates; conversations between luminaries including Adam Ross and Lorrie Moore, as well as Silas House and Ashley Judd; appearances by local figures like Megan Barry and David Dark; and biographies of icons such as Martin Luther King Jr., John Prine and Johnny Cash. Audiences can also expect appearances in support of projects that seem to be tailored for Nashville, such as writer David Levithan’s collaboration with Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman and musical superstar Pat Benatar’s children’s book co-written with her partner Neil Giraldo. As always, all of the SFOB events are free.
In the coming pages, you can read a small selection of Q&As and book reviews focused on authors appearing at this year’s festival. Our special thanks go to Maria Browning and everyone at Chapter 16, another initiative of Humanities Tennessee, which regularly provides the Scene with books coverage. Visit sofestofbooks.org for details and a full itinerary. ▼
Hannah Pittard’s new autofiction depicts a novelist on the verge of a nervous breakdown
BY SEAN KINCH
THE JACKET COPY of Hannah Pittard’s If You Love It, Let It Kill You prepares us for a story about a novelist whose ex-husband’s debut novel contains an “unflattering” portrait of her. As recursive as that sounds, it undersells the book’s concentric circles. Her ex-husband’s novel isn’t the first time he has maligned her in fiction (an earlier story has her knifed to death by a homeless man), and — here’s the doozy — she has already written about the ex in a memoir and a novel of her own. If his new book is an unwelcome surprise for her, well, perhaps it’s a turnabout that falls in the category of fair play. Readers unfamiliar with the conventions of autofiction — a genre that uses fictional techniques to tell a version of the author’s life — might find it coy to refer to “the novelist” and her “ex” rather than using their names, but keeping them nameless distances Pittard from her creations. Both Pittard and her literary alter ego (occasionally “Hana” or “Prof P”) live in Lexington, Ky., teach at the state university, and cohabit with a long-term boyfriend (“Bruce”) and his 11-year-old daughter. Curious readers may google Pittard to discover the identity of her ex (or read the New York Times article about their divorce), though I urge you to read the novel first. Its appeal lies in its witty prose and the protagonist’s zany misadventures, not in its fidelity to real-life events.
If You Love It, Let It Kill You follows the novelist as she confronts a series of crises — some minor, some grave, all of them self-inflicted. She is surrounded by family, including divorced parents who live blocks away and a sister across the street. She loves them but wishes they would give her some space until they do
With help from Swedish songwriter Jens Lekman, David Levithan explores the joys and sorrows of other people’s weddings
BY FAYE JONES
IN HIS LATEST NOVEL, Songs for Other People’s Weddings David Levithan delivers an often funny, sometimes sad, but always entertaining story about what it’s like to be a wedding singer.
J is a moderately successful Swedish singer-song-
so, whereupon she feels left out. Bruce puts up with her eccentricities but would prefer her to be less hostile about their domesticity. “I hate that we have cotton balls,” she tells him. “I hate that we have a fully stocked first-aid kit.” As a teacher, she tries not to show favoritism to the handsome older student, but the other students aren’t fooled.
Instigating further chaos is the reappearance of a former lover, “the Irish man,” with whom she might have had a one-night stand seven years ago while still married to her ex. The Irish man begins sexy-texting (she weakens when addressed as “hot stuff”), and she responds, hoping that he will shed light on what really happened in their earlier, drunken encounter. The narrator’s justification for indulging in his attentions sounds entirely sympathetic: “Arriving now, as I am, seven years older, less elastic, seven years closer to female invisibility — these texts erase that lingering uncertainty, making me feel alive again, desired, important, powerful, feminine.”
The protagonist’s antics often occupy the gray area between lovable quirkiness and mental
writer: “If you live outside of Sweden, it’s unlikely you’ve heard any of his songs on the radio … unless you are one of the bookish, folkish sort who listen to bookish, folkish stations that play bookish, folkish ditties. Then you might know exactly who J is.” On his first album, he included a song, “If You Ever Need a Stranger (to Sing at Your Wedding),” which led to a side gig as a wedding singer, a job that enables him to live off his music — because “there is no stability in being paid $0.003 every time your song is played.”
Levithan collaborated with real-life Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman, who provided the songs for each wedding in the novel. Lekman actually wrote a song called “If You Ever Need a Stranger (to Sing at Your Wedding),” which did indeed lead to a side career
disorder. With Bruce she pretends to be a dead body, a game that starts playful but turns dark.
“You’ve killed me and I’m dead and now you have to get rid of me,” she tells him. She finds a wounded cat in her garage and tries to nurse it back to health. It’s not strange that she begins talking to the cat; what’s disturbing is that the cat begins to respond, extensively.
Keeping the protagonist tethered to reality is her friend Jane, an English professor, who acts as the Greek chorus. When the narrator whines in a text, “what if this isn’t my life?” Jane responds, “Maybe … you have a creeping feeling your troubles are frivolous.” The narrator’s complaint, “What if contentment inhibits my writing?” is met with abrupt recalibration: “your boredom is From a Place of Privilege.” If Pittard writes a sequel, here’s hoping Jane reprises her role.
A novel about writers has a built-in metaelement, a layer of self-reflexive commentary that Pittard threads through the narrative. The narrator tells her students, “Never name a character who isn’t pivotal to the plot,” leaving readers to conclude that her ex-husband is not “pivotal,” or that her novel has no plot. (Both
as a wedding singer. According to the authors’ notes, Lekman’s own experiences are not part of the book (except for once getting stuck in a wedding cake), but the two men had an interesting creative process. For half of the songs, Levithan wrote the chapter and sent it to Lekman for appropriate music. For the others, Lekman wrote songs and sent them to Levithan to write chapters around.
Levithan’s J doesn’t just churn out generic nuptial tunes. Before the wedding, he meets with the couple, finds out how they met and what they love about each other, and from those discussions writes a song just for them.
The weddings themselves run the gamut: There is a gay couple who share a tuxedo. An elderly couple tie the
conclusions may be true.) She also tells a student that he shouldn’t use stories to make “false accusations about living people. It’s unethical. Fiction isn’t a platform for revenge.”
Pittard lives up to that standard: None of her characters appear villainous, though her alter ego comes close. She wonders if she can be trusted not to cross the line with the Irish man or “have I already gone too far?” She confesses that her ex’s portrait of her — “Smug. Narcissistic. Vaguely unhinged.” — is perfectly accurate. For all her flaws and cringeworthy mistakes, though, we hope for her happiness. She may be the bête noire for her ex, but she remains the heroine of her own story.
For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. ▼
knot for the fourth time (with each other). At a very rich couple’s wedding, J thinks he might be the only person there who is not a showpiece. But in general, he likes these gigs. He likes the couples. Although he may not always admit it, he likes love.
for Other
320 pages,
Readers who have spent any time at all at weddings will recognize the variety. Some couples are soulmates. Some have concentrated so much on the wedding that you wonder if they’ve even thought about the marriage. And some make you want to shake your head in disbelief. But J invests his talent and energy in all of them.
That is, until his girlfriend V has to move to New York for work. She is not sure when she’ll be back, and the work is so consuming that she has no time for long (or short) telephone chats with J. All of this uncertainty throws him off balance, and the question becomes, “Can you write love songs for other people when you’re unsure of your own relationship?” After all, Levithan writes, “These people want a canary, not a Cassandra. J worries that if he attends one more wedding, he will become the person who raises an objection.”
To be honest, readers may find J annoying at this point. He desperately tries to find a wedding job in New York so he can meet up with V, even after she makes it clear that she simply doesn’t have the bandwidth for him. This leads to J’s appearance at a performance art wedding that features one of the sadder couples in the novel. Then he returns to the city for a story in The New Yorker, which involves him spending a day writing impromptu songs for weddings at City Hall. Through all this, he’s unable to stop calling and texting V. But even the most judgmental readers, upon reflection, might recognize in themselves the desperation people feel when they are no longer sure of a loved one’s devotion. J’s behavior might be annoying, but it’s not unrealistic.
Of course, few wedding singers, unless they sing at the weddings of friends or celebrities, ever know whether the marriage will be a success or a failure. In general, J (along with Levithan) falls on the side of love and hope. And readers will find themselves rooting for these eccentric brides and grooms — as well as for J himself.
For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. ▼
Carrie R. Moore’s debut story collection effortlessly holds simultaneous truths
BY SARA BETH WEST
SOMETIMES A DEBUT shouts, insisting: “I’m new, I’m here and I’m something to behold!”
Other debuts enter the scene as if they’ve always been there, quietly confident and wondering what took y’all so long to see them. Carrie R. Moore’s debut, Make Your Way Home, is a collection of 11 stories so assured readers might be forgiven if they finish it and immediately start looking for the author’s earlier work.
Moore’s stories feel solid, substantial — each one thick with structure like a house well built. They are deeply researched and deeply rooted in both the American South and the Black experience there. Always, that experience is complicated, with every character fully aware of the ways home can be both a place you want to escape and a place you long to return to once you’ve left.
That idea shows up in the opening story, “When We Go, We Go Downstream.” Ever and Amari have been talking and messaging ever since he did some web design work for her years ago, and now Amari’s in Texas, Ever’s guest at his sister Leela’s wedding, hoping to see their long-distance relationship up close. Before that first message, though, Ever got to know Amari through her work as a journalist: “Her city had grown less familiar to her, she wrote, but she loved it still, like a troubled cousin sure to get himself together someday.”
The same could be true about the South, carrying as it does so much hurt and harm. In that way, it’s not unlike the family curse, set on Ever’s ancestor Elijah by his woman Evaline, “whom his master forbade him to call wife.” When Elijah escapes, leaving Evaline behind, the story goes that a heartbroken Evaline sought revenge from a witch, who set a curse on Elijah and his descendants, all of them doomed to failed relationships. The story of the curse has been half-believed and passed down, and now Ever shares the story with Amari — “Warily, the way his father told it to him.” Whether it is the curse or the unsettled feeling that rises when Leela’s bride is absent from the pre-wedding festivities,
Ever is anxious: “Part of him fears that this weekend has started a countdown toward their inevitable end.”
Despite this collection’s confidence, the people who inhabit Moore’s stories are often afraid, like Brayden in the powerful “All Skin Is Clothing.” After a stray bullet lodges in the wall above the 6-year-old Brayden’s bed, his momma tells his father that the family has to move: “I don’t care if your mother did raise you in this house.” Even after they settle into their new neighborhood, Brayden remains mute and fearful: “He’d come so close
to becoming the others. Boys who caught bullets in their spines. Who got jumped, their split ribs puncturing their lungs. Who went impossibly quiet after officers knelt on their necks. He searched for his own voice and found nothing.”
This story demonstrates Moore’s considerable skill as it manages many issues at once: class, agency and loss, as well as our need for safety, shelter and love. Instead of specifying when the story takes place, Moore shows the family unpacking VHS tapes. She doesn’t explain that Brayden’s parents operate within different social classes; instead, there is his working-class father’s question: “You really going to put them in public school? Go back to adjuncting?” And when Brayden’s older sister Cadence asks if she can go out “past eight, even, since this neighborhood was safer,” their father illustrates his complicated feelings about the place he comes from: “I don’t want you to think of things like that. Our old neighborhood — the people were still people, wanting different things.” He refuses to set himself apart from those people or that place. In the end, this story is less about fear and loss and more about love: the protective love Cadence feels for Brayden, the first love she might be developing for their neighbor Nelson, the small gestures of committed love between their parents.
In “When We Go, We Go Downstream,” Ever realizes that choosing to love will always be a fearful and wonderful thing. The story closes with Leela and her bride at the altar and the officiant saying she’s never seen “a crowd so ready to bear witness.” Moore’s stories gather like that crowd, each of them full of joy and fear, each of them ready to bear witness to love. The stories in Make Your Way Home effortlessly hold simultaneous truths. They are both the past we wish to escape and the future that beckons. It may not be flashy, but Carrie R. Moore’s debut insists all the same: It is here and it is something to behold. For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. ▼
The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts presents the 2025-2026
Roy Acu Chair of Excellence:
Fall Events:
Zone 3 Visiting Writers Series and CECA
40th Anniversary Kick-O Reading
Zoom Class Visits
Student and Community Writers Retreat
Spring Events: Zoom Class Visits
Student Study-Away in Chicago
The Second Annual Zone 3 Writers Festival
John T. Edge on learning to embrace change
BY SARA BETH WEST
FOR YEARS, JOHN T. EDGE has been a leading voice in the South, primarily through his role as founding director of the Southern Foodways Alliance. At SFA events and in his 2017 The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, Edge focused his attention on the abundance and diversity found in Southern cuisine. In his new memoir House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home, he turns the spotlight on himself, probing the Lost Cause mythologies he grew up believing and later turned away from. He also reckons with the parts of his story he has kept hidden, including his late mother’s alcoholism and the outside violence that shook his childhood home.
“Telling stories about other places and other people,” he writes, “I draped my home in a cloak, hiding our life there from view, trying to convince magazine readers and symposium audiences that the important narratives of my life began at Old Clinton Bar-B-Q in one of those ladder-back chairs, with a vinegar-doused sandwich in hand.”
He goes on to explain that “those stories were true. But they weren’t the whole truth.” After a 2020 panel discussion in which chef Tunde Wey called for him to step down from the SFA, Edge was forced to face the truth: There was much more to his story for him to explore. The memoir comes from that exploration, one man’s attempt to reexamine his past and perhaps find
Growing up in the 1980s, Amanda Uhle wrestled with her parents’ unpredictability
BY JANE MARCELLUS
THERE’S A SCENE in Amanda Uhle’s new memoir Destroy This House where the pre-adolescent narrator is navigating a pile of nearly empty shampoo bottles and a moldy loofah in the family’s only shower. They’ve just moved from a house with six-and-a-half baths in another city, and her hoarder mom refuses to toss bottles she brought along — even nearly empty ones. “Some had but an inch or two of product, but releasing them into the garbage bin would have meant an uncomfortable sense of closure for Mom,” Uhle writes. “You had to pick a spot in the shower and stay there.”
In a book about a childhood filled with abrupt changes, the move from a home Uhle calls the “mansion” to a 1,300-square-foot rental in a “shabby sub-
a new way forward. Edge answered questions via email.
House of Smoke insists on the importance of change, of being willing to change. What change do you still hope to see, both in yourself and in the South? Change requires telling old stories in new ways. House of Smoke is about rewriting the stories I inherited from the South and from my family. As a boy, I believed that Confederate Brigadier General Alfred Iverson, born in my house in Clinton, Ga., was a hero of the Civil War. Writing this book, I learned to tell that story, and others, in new ways.
and with the place where she came undone, I want to reach readers who carry forward complicated family relationships and mixed feelings about the places that made them. I hope my story inspires readers to take on comparable searches. What changed for you once you wrote about your mother’s catfish stew? That Oxford American column was a genesis of this book. On the other side of that essay, I began to recognize two things: My family story has power. And my family story can inspire readers to grapple with their own stories.
I title one of the later chapters “Reconstruction.” I hope to attract readers who recognize that, with each rewrite I make, each change I embrace, I reconstruct myself. My hope for the South is much the same as my personal aim: Learn to embrace change. Be suspect of resistance couched as tradition. A generation from now, I would love to hear country artists singing about what we’ve found instead of what we’ve lost.
You write of how much of your life has been spent performing for an audience, even if that audience was only your mother. Who is your ideal reader, the audience member you most hope to reach? My mother, Mary Beverly Evans Edge, was a woman of great social intelligence with an outsized personality. My want to step into the spotlight was born of her dreams. She also faced big challenges, betrayed by the chemicals that coursed through her body. With House of Smoke, I honor her. In my search to reconcile with her
division” is par for the course. So is her dad’s switch from quixotic entrepreneur to Lutheran minister. One day Stephen Long is peddling air freshener in Sweden and promising Madonna will sleep in their guest room while she works with him on a new perfume. The next he’s studying Greek so he can enter a seminary, hoping church authorities will overlook his divorce.
Though never regular churchgoers, the Longs “made a swift transition from what we were before to a fullfledged church family.”
In this unpredictable household, Amanda and her younger brother Adam try to anchor themselves in a “normal” 1980s childhood. She rides her Huffy bike and becomes an accomplished swimmer while Adam, ever “the baby,” stays inside. They both watch a lot of TV. Like most coming-of-age memoirs, Destroy This House is about making sense of childhood experiences. As a little girl, Amanda knows tidbits about her parents’ lives. Her dad had children from his earlier marriage but was inexplicably run out of Miami by his first wife’s family. Her mom, Sandra, was the topic of a 1973 Indianapolis Star story about her unusual career — fixing typewriters for IBM, rather than working as a typist, as many women did then. “In the shadow of Mary Tyler Moore, Mom was part career-driven Mary Richards and
Concerning the events in 2020, you write, “Hubris undid me,” and you recount the words of chef Tunde Wey, who told you that your time was up. Looking back, is there anything you would change that could have made that situation different? In the summer of 2020, when the New York Times published a critique of me and the Southern Foodways Alliance (which I then directed), I learned new lessons about when to listen and when to speak. I thought I’d already learned those lessons. But like many of us who try to make change in ourselves and our places, I was backsliding. Change is hard. Backsliding is inevitable. I was working to fix the South when I hadn’t done the work to fix myself. I hadn’t yet absorbed the story I told in “My Mother’s Catfish Stew,” the story I tell with more depth and reflection in House of Smoke.
What are the projects you have on the horizon that most excite you? Season 8 of TrueSouth, the television show I make with Wright Thompson (executive producer) and Tim Horgan (director),
part homemaker Laura Petrie.”
But it’s the chaos and contradictions that are most disconcerting, particularly after they move from the East Coast to Indiana. In Indianapolis, they belong to an exclusive club but eat more often at Poe’s, a low-brow cafeteria. They lose an expensive car and drive a pickup truck that technically belongs to a relative. “I may have been blind to them, but my parents must have perceived — maybe even orchestrated — the alternating rags and riches aspects of our life. Our dinners out at Poe’s and the nights we bounced through town in the red-andwhite pickup were interspersed liberally with country club evenings and international vacations.” Eventually it felt normal to switch between “picking out worms in the local live bait shop to poolside virgin piña coladas in Mexico.”
Uhle is now the executive director and publisher of McSweeney’s, and her journalism has appeared in The Washington Post, Politico and elsewhere. Perhaps reflecting the other genres she writes in, Destroy This House is freely sprinkled with pop-culture references, from The Muppet Show she and her brother watch when they’re young to Cheers when they’re older. Those details have value, but I would have liked a more nuanced portrait of both the era and her parents, as well as a
House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home
By
debuted Sept. 2 on the SEC Network. If you haven’t seen an episode yet, this is our model: Take two restaurants in one place, tell the stories of the people who run those restaurants and the people who call those restaurants home.
In the process, we sidestep the myths and halftruths that obscure the South to tell complicated and layered stories. That format has allowed us to tell about recovery from addiction in Dublin, Ga.; father-son dynamics in Lexington, Tenn.; and the impact of economic change in Lake Village, Ark. Back in Season 3, we broke open that formula to tell the story of my mother’s catfish stew and stage the funeral she never had. In many ways, that episode broke me open.
Mississippi gave me the skills and belief to become a writer. Now I’m working to give back to the state that made my work possible. Fifteen miles outside of Oxford, where my wife Blair Hobbs and I live, I’m working with colleagues at the University of Mississippi to build Greenfield Farm Writers Residency.
Set on what was once William Faulkner’s mule farm, we will open, if all goes well, in the first quarter of 2027. No one will pay fees. Writers of all genres, from screenwriting to poetry, will be welcome. Guests in the overnight studios will receive $1,000-per-week stipends. Greenfield Farm Writers Residency will be a new front porch for Mississippi.
For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. ▼
clearer sense of the author’s own emotional journey. For example, she paints vivid scenes of how embarrassed she felt by the piles of sewing fabric and canned goods that spill out of cabinets, but it’s never clear what might have made the woman with the newsworthy IBM career turn into someone who can’t throw away nearly empty shampoo bottles. Is the family’s newfound religious fervor sincere — particularly for Amanda? Or is it just another of Dad’s schemes? How did learning about her half-siblings from her father’s first marriage — and particularly that her half-brother was murdered — change her?
Near the end, Uhle asks similar questions herself. “Who were these people? What drove them? How did all of this happen in our strange lives? Why am I me?” It’s here that she enters the heart of her story.
For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee ▼
1 Train unit
4 One means of going up a hill
8 Builds
14 Tap it
15 Reese Witherspoon’s role in “Legally Blonde”
16 Fictional land of magic and talking animals
17 Baseball great who said “If I’d just tried for them dinky singles I could’ve batted around .600”
19 Playground retort
20 Untouchable
21 Goalie’s stat
23 Genre for “Sunset Boulevard”
24 Designation for some audio connectors
25 Inch (toward)
29 Had the reins
31 Give and take
32 Word with stop or prize
33 Financial support
36 Lose firmness
38 Punk subculture
39 World capital in central Anatolia
40 Woke
42 That little thing you do?
43 Inits. for cinephiles
45 Struggle to decide
46 “___ a roll!”
48 Spreadsheet units
50 In good shape
51 Corn syrup brand
52 Book of Mormon book
53 Plant watcher, for short
56 Helped temporarily, with “over”
58 Chops
60 High-end suit
63 Locale for a couples cruise?
65 Milieu for the Flying Wallendas
66 Obsessed with
67 Reed in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
68 Celestial omens, to some
69 Make tears
70 Mind meld? DOWN
1 Part of an airplane
2 Where Davy Crockett died, with “the”
3 Athlete tackling El Capitan, e.g.
4 Relative of a gull
5 Down 6 ___-country
7 See 49-Down
8 A bunch of
Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 9,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).
Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay. Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/studentcrosswords.
“___, that love, so gentle in his view, / Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof!”: “Romeo and Juliet” 24 N.Y. Rangers’ home
26 Investor’s question for a start-up, to which 3-, 8-, 35- and 49-/7- Down reply “Yes!”
27 One of the Addams family 28 Slowly diminish
Gossip
Dyeing technique 34 Jungian archetype
35 Who popularized the proverb “With great power comes great responsibility” 37 Clown
Weddings
Traffic director 45 Fool
47 Write, as music
49 With 7-Down, worker who likely knows the ropes
54 Subs
55 Invite from atop the stairs, say
57 When ties get untied, for short
58 ___ in three
59 Place offering a Rise ’N Shine breakfast
60 Epitome of simplicity
61 “Flying Down to ___” (1933 film)
62 Lion keeper?
64 Start to count?
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PUBLICATION NOTICE IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF HARDEMAN COUNTY, TENNESSEE DOCKET NO. 20232
TOMEKA COLEMAN, PLAINTIFF, VS. HOWARD EUGENE COLEMAN, DEFENDANT, TO: HOWARD EUGENE COLEMAN
In this Cause, it appearing from the Complaint which is sworn to, that the whereabouts of the Defendant, HOWARD EUGENE COLEMAN, is unknown and cannot be ascertained by the diligent search and inquiry made to that end. HOWARD EU-GENE COLEMAN is there-fore, hereby, required to appear and Answer the Complaint filed in this Cause against him/her in the CHAN-CERY Court of HARDEMAN County, Tennessee, within thirty days of the last publica-tion of this Notice and served a copy of Answer on Howard F. Douglass, P.O. Box 39, Lexington, Tn., 38351, Attorney for Plaintiff, within said time. If you fail to do so judgement by default will be taken against you for relief demanded in the Complaint at hearing of the cause without further notice. It is further Ordered that this Notice be published for four consecutive weeks in the Nashville Scene. This the 17th day of September, 2025.
Kimberly P. Paras, CLERK & MASTER
NSC 9/25, 10/2, 10/9 & 10/23/25
NOTICE OF SERVICE BY PUBLICATION
TO: CELENA A. SZOSTECKI, Defendant IN RE: JEFFERY TERRELL FOSTER, Plaintiff
v. CELENA A. SZOSTECKI, Defendant
IN THE CHANCERY COURT FOR KNOX COUNTY, TENNESSEE DOCKET NO. 210935-1
In this cause, it appearing from the Motion for Service of Publication and the affidavits of the process server that the whereabouts of CELENA A. SZOSTECKI, Defendant, are unknown to Plaintiff so that the ordinary process of law cannot be served on CELENA A. SZOSTECKI, Defendant, and said Defendant, CELENA A. SZOSTECKI, is hereby notified that you are required to file with the Chancery Court of Knox County at Knoxville, Tennessee, your defense or answer to the Complaint filed against you in said cause. A notice shall be published for four consecutive weeks in The Nashville Scene in Nashville, Tennessee. Within 30 days of the fourth publication of this Notice, a true copy of your defense or answer to the Complaint filed against you must be filed in this case and served on Jedidiah C. McKeehan, McKeehan Law Group, LLC, 1111 N. Northshore Drive, Suite P295, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919.
In case of your failure to do so, judgment by default may be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.
This the 22nd day of August, 2025.
ORDER ENTERED August 22, 2025, by John F. Weaver, Chancellor Published in The Nashville Scene for four consecutive weeks – 10/9, 10/23, 10/30, 11/6/25
ORDER ENTERED August 22, 2025, by John F. Weaver, Chancellor Published in The Nashville Scene for four consecutive weeks – 10/9, 10/23, 10/30 11/6/25
Director of Swine Genetic Product Sustainability. Oversee the corporate sustainability strategy of sharing the positive role animal genetics play in a sustainable food system. Employer: PIC USA, Inc. Job location: Hendersonville, TN headquarters, with 25% domestic & int’l travel. Mail CV Attn: Mary Blake, 100 Bluegrass Commons Blvd., Ste. 2200, Hendersonville, TN 37075.
Hospitalist Physician (Hospital Medicine Services of TN, LLC, Nashville, TN): Multiple. Rqs MD(US/frgn eqv) or DO(US/frgn eqv); residency in IM or FM; BE/BC in IM or FM; possess or eligible to apply for TN med license. Email resume: Ann.Daukas@HCAHealthca re.com.
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