CITY PLANNERS PITCH HIGHER DENSITY TO WARY RESIDENTS
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STREET VIEW: STORYVILLE GARDENS TEAM SAYS THEME PARK IS STILL UNDERWAY
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BRITTNEY McKENNA
David C. Driskell & Friends: Creativity, Collaboration, and Friendship emphasizes interconnectedness in Driskell’s artistic journey and his relationships with fellow artists. Meanwhile its companion exhibition, Kindred Spirits: Intergenerational Forms of Expression, 1966–1999, celebrates the legacy of Fisk University’s art department—on view at both the Frist and Fisk’s Carl Van Vechten Gallery. Featuring more than 120 artworks from over 40 prominent African American artists, the exhibitions together celebrate the reverberating impact of a prolific artistic community.
Left: David C. Driskell. Mask Series II, 2019. Relief woodcut; 14 1/2 x 11 in. The David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland, College Park.
Gift of Raven Fine Art Editions, 2019.10.002
Right: Ted Jones. Boy with a Feather Earring & Wearing Chains, 1999. Woodcut; 60 x 30 in. Courtesy of Fisk University Galleries, Nashville, TN. Photo: Jerry Atnip
The Frist Art Museum is supported in part by Supported in part by
The Sandra Schatten Foundation Joanne and Joan Whitney Payson in memory of John Whitney Payson
City Planners Pitch Higher Density to Wary Residents
Development strikes a sensitive neighborhood nerve — but it’s also the clearest path to close Nashville’s housing gap BY ELI
MOTYCKA
Death Row Inmates File Suit to Stop New Lethal Injection Protocols
Filing contends studies have proven use of pentobarbital causes a ‘tortuous death’ BY
CONNOR DARYANI, NASHVILLE BANNER
Storyville Gardens Team Says Theme Park Is Still Underway
New park promoting youth literacy is behind schedule but ‘alive and well’ according to partner group BY
LENA MAZEL
Pith in the Wind
This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog
COVER STORY
Finding Joy
Americana artist Joy Oladokun isn’t afraid to speak out BY BRITTNEY M c KENNA
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Danielle McDaniel molds her clay empire BY
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Onetime Nashvillian Bren Joy contains multitudes on Sunset Black BY JAYME FOLTZ
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Protesters at the Tennessee State Capitol on March 11 as lawmakers advance legislation allowing local school districts to bar undocumented immigrants • PHOTO BY HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS
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CITY PLANNERS PITCH HIGHER DENSITY TO WARY RESIDENTS
Development strikes a sensitive neighborhood nerve — but it’s also the clearest path to close Nashville’s housing gap
BY ELI MOTYCKA
ARMED WITH POPULATION graphs and color-coded maps, Metro planner Greg Claxton addressed a packed room at the Nashville Public Library’s Bordeaux Branch on March 11. He’s worried about the numbers coming across his desk — big numbers about housing that Nashville doesn’t have.
“How do we close this gap in a way that works for all Nashvillians?” asked Claxton with the help of a bar graph and the steady demeanor of a chemistry teacher already anticipating follow-up questions. “As we do that, we’re thinking of three things. The first is the need for abundant housing, because when housing is scarce, housing gets expensive. The second: We’ve gotta have the infrastructure that’s necessary to support that. The last is recognizing the distinctive character of the different places in Nashville.”
The evening briefing capped a two-month tour from Claxton and colleagues as part of the city’s Housing and Infrastructure Study — an appendix-like update to Nashville Next, the city’s general guiding planning document produced in 2015.
Estimates by the city and hired consultants project Nashville’s need at about 90,000 additional units over the next decade. That’s starting from a well-documented deficit in housing, particularly for lower-income households, a supply shortage that has pushed population growth to
DEATH ROW INMATES FILE SUIT TO STOP NEW LETHAL INJECTION PROTOCOLS
Filing contends studies have proven use of pentobarbital causes a ‘tortuous death’
BY CONNOR DARYANI, NASHVILLE BANNER
A GROUP OF NINE MEN on Tennessee’s death row filed suit in Davidson County Chancery Court on Friday, challenging the use of pentobarbital in the state’s lethal injection protocol, citing the “risk of tortuous death.”
The Tennessee Department of Correction announced in December that it adopted a new lethal injection protocol using the barbiturate pentobarbital. Following a fiveyear reprieve from executions after errors were revealed in the previous protocol, on March 3 the Tennessee Supreme Court ordered the execution of four death row inmates beginning in May. However, according to the suit, multiple studies show that the use of pentobarbital in executions is a breach of the inmates’ constitutional rights prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.
surrounding areas like Murfreesboro, Mt. Juliet, Nolensville and Gallatin. Nashville real estate has stayed expensive and in short supply as wealthy buyers enter the market and longtime homeowners age in place.
Nashville could build about 70,000 units, planners say, leaving a 20,000-unit gap on top of the gap. The 70,000 projection is at the current rate of development, which already gives Nashvillians plenty to complain about. Claxton has the unenviable job of figuring out how to accelerate that pace by 30 percent — why is he, a technical bureaucrat tasked last year with a Housing and Infrastructure Study by the Metro Council, also answering to the public?
Reactionary resentment about traffic, development, tourists, short-term rentals, gentrification and housing, among other quality-of-life issues, has soured Nashville politics in its boom era. For at least two local election cycles, candidates have pitched voters on their strategy to address Nashville’s growing pains. Success comes with a balancing act — keep recruiting lucrative investment, jobs, tourism dollars and general city growth while minimally pissing off the roughly 700,000 people who live in Davidson County. Both former Mayor John Cooper and current Mayor Freddie O’Connell found winning combinations during their campaigns.
Politicians like Quin Evans Segall and Rollin
“The evidence keeps piling up to show that pentobarbital poisoning is excruciatingly painful,” says Amy Harwell, an attorney for the plaintiffs, in a press release. “Tennessee appears to have picked this method only because they were able to get their hands on pentobarbital, not because its use for executions complies with the Constitution or state law.”
Two of the men who are suing are among the four currently scheduled for execution. Oscar Smith — the first inmate to be executed, with his date set for May 22 — was less than an hour away from execution in April 2022 when Gov. Bill Lee halted the proceeding due to the discovery of errors in the protocol at that time. The complaint cites Tennessee’s history of mistakes in the administration of lethal injections as another reason to stop the use of pentobarbital.
“TDOC has developed an internal culture of recklessness and noncompliance, such that no person could reasonably expect TDOC to comply with even the bare-bones protections against maladministration that it is willing to adopt,” reads the complaint. “This culture of noncompliance, when combined with the risk-prone nature of pentobarbital poisoning as a method of execution, creates a high risk that a person receiving a lethal injection administered by TDOC will be tortured to death.”
According to the suit, one study found that of 58
Horton, councilmembers who backed several bills last year to facilitate denser development, faced organized outrage that sometimes veered into personal attacks. Horton watched last week’s meeting from the back of the room.
Planning’s Housing and Infrastructure meetings hit Green Hills, Donelson, Madison and Brantioch like a vaccine against neighborhoods that may resist Nashville’s higher-density future. Behind Claxton’s diplomatic language and his speaking series’ tactful title, “Community Conversations,” slides conveyed the city’s desperate need for more, denser, faster building. The message appeared to get through.
For the politicians and planners, the challenge ahead will be guiding growth that brings amenities and affordability.
Decades ago, majority-Black neighborhoods from Bordeaux to White’s Creek offered ample single-family housing with suburban density, rural pace and quick access to the city. Recent rapid building north of the Cumberland River — home to much of the county’s natural green space and tree canopy — has appeared even more stark against historic underinvestment.
“While there may be a need for affordable housing, the Bordeaux community — the Black community — has had to bear the burden for decades of solving the city’s problems,” said one woman at the March 11 meeting. “We don’t have
“ WHILE THERE MAY BE A NEED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, THE BORDEAUX COMMUNITY — THE BLACK COMMUNITY — HAS HAD TO BEAR THE BURDEN FOR DECADES OF SOLVING THE CITY’S PROBLEMS”
—A BORDEAUX RESIDENT
sit-down restaurants, we don’t even have businesses to invest in. Developers are getting very aggressive, mentioning these 20,000 and 30,000 units, saying they’re being told to come to us. We know they’re not going to places like Green Hills.” Franklin Bennett, a 35-year Bordeaux resident, specifically mentioned the fully redeveloped intersection at 51st Avenue and Centennial Boulevard that anchors The Nations.
“We’ve seen development all over the city,” said Bennett from the audience. “Why can’t we get some decent grocery stores over here? I want to see that on Clarksville Highway. We pay taxes just like everybody else, and we’re sick and tired of being pushed to the side.” ▼
individuals killed with pentobarbital, 48 had fluid in their lungs, which can create “a sense of suffocating or drowning that has been likened by experts to the sensation intentionally induced by the practice of waterboarding — an unambiguous form of outright torture.”
Additionally, the complaint cites concerns from experts who say that even a correctly administered dose of pentobarbital may not reach a person’s nervous system before the “tortuous” effects kick in, causing a person to feel all of the physical effects of the drug.
The complaint also challenges a “12-hour blackout” policy adopted by TDOC, which “directs the warden to ‘[e]nsure non-contact visits and phone calls — excluding visits and calls from the inmate’s attorney of record
— are concluded’” by 12 hours before the execution. This bars the inmates from communicating with friends, family or spiritual advisers for the final 12 hours of their lives.
“Because the 12-hour blackout concludes with the execution of the restricted person, the 12-Hour Blackout Policy is a restriction on the individual’s ability to communicate his thoughts and feelings as he faces death,” reads the complaint.
The complaint asks the court to order the use of pentobarbital as unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment and TDOC’s blackout rule as unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
This article first appeared on Nashville Banner and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. ▼
RIVERBEND MAXIMUM SECURITY INSTITUTION, WHICH HOUSES TENNESSEE’S DEATH ROW INMATES
PHOTO: DANIEL MEIGS
STORYVILLE GARDENS TEAM SAYS THEME PARK IS STILL UNDERWAY
New park promoting youth literacy is behind schedule but ‘alive and well’ according to partner group
BY LENA MAZEL
Street View is a monthly column taking a close look at development-related issues affecting different neighborhoods throughout the city.
IT’S BEEN A long time since 1997, and Nashville has changed a lot since then. But when listening to people reminisce about Opryland USA, it doesn’t feel like it’s been more than 25 years since Nashville’s last major theme park closed. By all accounts, Opryland was beloved, with music-themed attractions, iconic coasters like Chaos and frequent concerts from local artists.
After Gaylord Entertainment closed Opryland in 1997 to build the Opry Mills mall, no other park emerged to take its place. This wasn’t because the community didn’t want a theme park. Opryland’s closure was a wildly unpopular decision; by 2004, Gaylord employees told The Tennessean they didn’t understand why former execs closed the park in the first place.
But over the next two decades, Nashville still didn’t get a theme park.
In 2011, there was a short-lived glimmer of hope. A developer named Dennis Peterson announced Festival Tennessee, a new park in Spring Hill. It was set to include two 4,000-room hotels, restaurants and clubs, and an NBA team. But this would prove to be a pipe dream. Local alderman Jonathan Duda told the Williamson Scene (then known as the Williamson Home Page) that the developers’ concept plans had I-65 going east to west, which was an initial red flag. After an attempt at rezoning land for the park and meetings with investors, Peterson seemingly disappeared.
There has been other chatter as well. Comedian Nate Bargatze recently said he wants to build a park called “Nateland,” and in 2016 there was talk of a terrifying-looking downtown “Polercoaster.” Dolly Parton even explored opening a park in 2012.
But all of these proposals aside, there’s still one theme park that might finally give Nashville its chance again — though it’s difficult to find out many details about it.
Originally announced in 2021, Storyville Gardens is a theme park intended to foster a passion for reading by making stories come to life — it’s designed in part to boost childhood literacy by encouraging kids to read for fun. The park is the passion project of DeLisa Guerrier, who runs local development company Guerrier Development. Guerrier has developed the park in collaboration with Storyland Studios, a group of former Disney/Pixar, Universal and LEGOLAND employees who have helped plan other regional parks in the past.
Early coverage of Storyville Gardens showed convincing mock-ups and big plans. In 2022, the Nashville Business Journal reported that the group was eyeing a site in Lebanon. Fox 17
reported that Hendersonville was being considered. And Guerrier partnered with notable local developer Pat Emery, known for his work on Franklin Park in Cool Springs and Fifth + Broadway downtown.
Initial coverage of Storyville Gardens said building would start in 2024 or 2025. And as recently as July 2024, Guerrier told a Bisnow reporter: “Right now, we have secured quite a bit of land — we’re on a little bit over 800 acres. We are working with the local government to finalize all the details. The park is a small part of the development, and then we have a lot of other incredible amenities, both residential and hospitality components, along with a pretty incredible golf course.”
More recently, however, the Storyville team has gone quiet. Since the summer there have been few updates about the park, and Storyville’s website and Facebook page have remained relatively unchanged from their last major updates. Online, there’s been speculation: Did Storyville hit a snag when developer Pat Emery died in 2022? Do they have a location? Is the park still happening at all?
When the Scene reached out to the Storyville team, they offered a promising — if mysterious — response. This response came via email from The Ingram Group, a strategic consulting and lobbying firm that’s partnering with Guerrier to develop the park.
“Since our last public update on this exciting project, the development team has been working hard on plans for a destination community anchored by Storyville Gardens, a one-of-a-kind theme park celebrating literature from around the world,” a representative for the Storyville team writes
The statement continues: “Recent accomplishments include securing a new development partner following the passing of our friend and former partner Pat Emery; completing our review of numerous potential development sites; finalizing our selection of a location that
IN THEIR EMAIL, THE INGRAM GROUP SAYS THE PROJECT IS “ALIVE AND WELL AND CONTINUING TO TAKE SHAPE.”
will maximize the project’s economic impact; and continued partnership discussions with state and local officials around Storyville’s plans to promote youth literacy and catalyze a family entertainment destination in our region.”
Significantly, the Storyville team also called the larger project by a different name: StoryVillage, a larger development that will include “additional entertainment and retail” as well as the park.
When pressed about “finalizing our selection of a location,” the team wouldn’t offer many specifics. But in a follow-up phone call, they did share some general information. The proposed location is “along one of the interstate corridors outside of Davidson County while remaining convenient to Nashville,” a representative tells the Scene
Guerrier has not yet shared whether the group currently owns land or has finalized architectural plans. There is currently no information about whether rides and attractions are being built, and they have not shared the park’s proposed location. When contacted about the park, representatives for the Lebanon, Hendersonville and Sumner County planning departments say they haven’t received any zoning applications from Guerrier.
In their email, The Ingram Group says the project is “alive and well and continuing to take shape.”
And in the meantime, Nashville will just have to wait. But another few years hardly seems like that long — not when the city has been waiting for another park since 1997. ▼
Former state Sen. Brian Kelsey has received a presidential pardon two weeks into a 21-month federal prison sentence. Kelsey — along with Joshua Smith, owner of Nashville social club The Standard — was indicted in 2021 for funneling money between Kelsey’s state and congressional campaign accounts. Kelsey was sentenced by a federal judge in 2023. Kelsey credits U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who is facing federal scrutiny regarding potential campaign finance violations, with successfully taking Kelsey’s case to President Donald Trump All are members of the Republican Party. An attorney, Kelsey represented Germantown, a Memphis-area suburb, in the state Senate from 2009 to 2022.
Protests returned to the Tennessee State Capitol last week as lawmakers advanced legislation allowing local school districts to bar undocumented immigrants from the public education system. The bills, advanced in each chamber by conservative lawmakers William Lamberth and Bo Watson, seemingly violate a 1982 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) specifically criticized as the political will of activist liberal judges. Opposition to the state’s efforts included testimony from educators, advocates and a sixth-grade student from Knoxville who is the child of immigrants. The legislation advanced out of Senate and House committees and will undergo further vetting by each chamber before final passage.
Vanderbilt returns to March Madness brackets this year after successful regular seasons by both its men’s and women’s basketball teams. Khamil Pierre and Mikayla Blakes both earned regional and national attention this season, including an all-American nod for Blakes, a dynamic guard who was named SEC Freshman of the Year The women’s team also beat UT’s Lady Vols twice this year in two meetings, a first for the program. They play Oregon Friday and hope to improve on last year’s first-round exit. On the men’s side, first-year coach Mark Byington helped score multiple wins over ranked SEC opponents this year before falling to Texas in Vanderbilt’s opening game of the SEC Tournament. Byington, recruited last year from James Madison University, assembled an imposing roster of upperclassmen transfers. An exception is freshman Tyler Tanner, a Brentwood Academy graduate and fan favorite for his scrappy defense and fearless drives.
STORYVILLE GARDENS RENDERING
JEFFERSON STREET SOUND MUSEUM
WITNESS HISTORY
Chris Hillman wore this blue velvet suit on the cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ 1969 debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin The suit’s design includes an Aztec-style sun and the Greek god Poseidon—symbols of Hillman’s love of surfing.
From the exhibit Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock
Courtesy of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage photo Bob Delevante . , presented by City National Bank
Americana artist Joy Oladokun isn’t afraid to speak out BY BRITTNEY McKENNA
FINDING JOY
FOR JOY OLADOKUN, being a musician is about far more than writing and recording. It’s about building community.
The Nashville-based, Arizona-born artist — the daughter of Nigerian immigrants — has no shortage of laurels she could rest on: nominations for awards including GLAAD Media Awards and the Americana Music Honors & Awards; collaborations with heavy hitters like Chris Stapleton and Maren Morris; and previous opening slots for a diverse array of artists including Hozier, Tyler Childers and John Mayer. Instead, Oladokun treats her work as activism, plainly addressing difficult topics in her music and intentionally fostering a community of likeminded listeners online and at her vibrant live shows. October’s Observations From a Crowded Room is the fullest realization of that ethos thus far — Oladokun made her latest in a way that didn’t jibe with the team around her, but did leave her feeling spiritually fulfilled.
“It’s been really fun to play this new record for people, to play old songs for people, and to see people, just in general,” Oladokun tells the Scene, catching up via phone during a day off from touring. “I really do mean it when I say that I just genuinely enjoy being around the people that come to my shows. It feels like a good group of people and like a good community. It feels like most of the room is there to just take care of each other and enjoy a good show, which feels really nice.”
Oladokun will bring that community to Ryman Auditorium on March 27, with singersongwriter Medium Build opening. The show is the final performance of her headlining Blackbird Tour, which she launched in support of Observations earlier this year.
In conversation, Oladokun is warm, thoughtful and laughs easily — especially if she’s about to say something feisty. That kind of seeming contradiction is part of what makes her music so compelling, as she often tackles tough, thorny issues with bright, poppy arrangements. To boot, a fan-favorite track from her 2023 album Proof of Life called “We’re All Gonna Die,” which features an appearance from folk-pop star Noah Kahan, is peppy and buoyant, plainly acknowledging the reality of mortality with a wink and a smile.
Proof of Life set the stage for Observations From a Crowded Room, which digs even more deeply into difficult and often vulnerable themes like living on the margins, the psychic toll of sharing art as a musician, and trying to find a sense of safety and belonging in both the music industry and the broader world as a queer Black woman.
Accordingly, Oladokun wrote, produced and performed the bulk of the album by herself, and she explains that her most fruitful creative efforts often follow times of introspection. She’s recognized a cyclical nature in her creative process, noting that songs about hope tend to come from experiencing deep loneliness for a time.
“This record was made in isolation, very much on purpose,” she tells the Scene. “Because I’d spent so much time listening to people and
Playing Thursday, March 27, at the Ryman
Observations From a Crowded Room out now
dealing with how to filter out certain voices so I could find my own.”
Oladokun began recording Observations From a Crowded Room in Nashville, then spent some time at famed Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and eventually finished the record back here in town. She says one of the bigger challenges in producing the album herself was resisting her tendency toward perfectionism and letting go of each song when there was still room for tinkering and tweaking.
“I think it might have been really easy for me to get in this perfectionism spiral of wanting to make it the perfect record for the perfect moment so everything goes perfectly, and everybody can be so proud of what I made,” she says.
It was difficult for Oladokun to get some of her label team on board with her approach — particularly regarding her decision to eschew working with a flashy producer in favor of helming the project herself. “It was sort of like a dogfight to get done,” she explains, “and to convince my team and people that I should make a record alone.”
After the album was released, and shortly before her tour began, Oladokun was unceremoniously dropped from her record label.
But the fight to make the album she wanted to make paid off, both for the record itself and for Oladokun. She found that the confidence she developed during the process was a greater gift than appeasing record executives ever could be.
“The trust I built with myself creatively over the making of this record, I truly wouldn’t trade for anything,” she says, adding that if she had given in to her team’s wishes, she would have done so to the detriment of her own health. “As a human, if I was going to spend another year the way I’d spent the past three or four, I felt like the next record [they would] make of mine — I don’t think I’m going to be here to hear it.”
Instead, Oladokun stuck to her guns, and her time making Observations From a Crowded Room alongside engineer John Muller ranks among the most fulfilling creative periods of her life.
“I’m so proud of the album,” she says. “I’m so proud of myself. I’m so proud of what I made. I think there is a path that my career could have taken, had I done the pop record that was maybe expected of me. And I didn’t want that, so I didn’t do that.”
women,” “brand-new buildings” and “heroes on parade.” In stark contrast to those images, Oladokun dreams of building a home in the woods with her dog and her lover, leaving behind a town that “still isn’t big enough to love me.”
It’s both pointed and full of heart, creating the kind of stark but loving tension that brings such life to much of Oladokun’s music. It also attracted exactly the kind of unkind, unwanted attention that the lyrics decry.
city. Sometimes I don’t recognize where I live anymore.’”
ONE OF SEVERAL standout tracks on Observations From a Crowded Room is “I’d Miss the Birds.” It’s a melodic, deceptively gentle takedown of the darker side of Nashville’s culture, including “Proud Boys and their
“One day I woke up and a video of me singing ‘I’d Miss the Birds’ was on the very wrong side of TikTok,” she says. “A bunch of dudes were like, ‘This sucks,’ or, ‘I have a friend in the South who’s Black and gay and everybody loves her.’ It’s just totally devaluing [the music] so they can be assholes, because that’s the way the internet works. But also it opened up this sort of can of worms, where people who grew up in small towns, who live in small towns, people like me, are like, ‘Yeah, I do feel unwelcome in my
Worse for Oladokun than the online trolls are the Nashville country and Americana stars who, despite espousing progressive values, don’t stick their necks out for marginalized communities, whether in their music or their actions. Higherprofile artists who tiptoe around sensitive topics (or outright ignore them) are especially egregious, as their large platforms allow them to reach more people while shielding them from the financial consequences of speaking out.
“There are a lot of country and Americana artists that should have said that shit three years ago, five years ago,” she says. “They have the money and the sponsorships. For me to have to step up and say, ‘Why the fuck are Nazis so comfortable in Nashville?’ — I had to be the one to do that. And I love playing that song every night. It’s just this fucking soft, Sheryl Crow-esque, wispy song about wanting to move away.”
PHOTO: ANGELINA CASTILLO
Oladokun is directly referencing several appearances by neo-Nazi hate groups in Nashville over the past couple of years. Their activities while in Nashville included gathering downtown to harass and intimidate tourists and locals alike, as well as hanging hateful banners on interstate overpasses. These gatherings have constituted some of the more brazen displays of white supremacy in Nashville in recent years, and Oladokun does not mince words when sharing her disappointment that more local artists did not speak out against hatred in their wake.
“You can print this,” she says. “I find [those artists] to be absolute losers. Look at our government. Anybody more famous than me that didn’t make any effort to stop this movement and culture, I hope you’re embarrassed. I really do, from the bottom of my heart. We have such a gift of influencing people’s attention and time, and we’re not willing to use it because we want some company to send us an expensive purse. Like, you have to be a bit of a joke as a human.”
As important as the lyrics of “I’d Miss the Birds” are, the melody is just as impactful. Oladokun is a gifted melodicist, imbuing even her quieter songs with the infectious qualities of a Top 40 earworm. A self-proclaimed student of ’80s pop songwriting, her emphasis on melody is driven by her desire to make people think as much as it is to craft a sticky hook.
“I have messaging,” she says. “I have things I want to say and things that I care about. And if I can make people pay more attention by making it catchy, that’s just such an easy ask. I think there’s something really powerful about pop music and the ability to really just make something that people find undeniable. … On the record, I’m just trying to, in the most honest and pure way possible, get in people’s heads so they can think about what I’m saying.”
There are plenty of listeners who do just that, finding a kindred spirit in Oladokun via songs that can elicit so much anger from certain corners of the internet. The sense of healing and connection that fans find in her music can and often does go both ways. Those difficult feelings and experiences that Oladokun shares in her music don’t vanish after a record is in the can, and relating to fans with this music in particular has offered her a light through dark times.
“I just went from being really, really hopeless — and maybe scared and frustrated — to creative, and then into this beautiful moment of being like, ‘Other people feel this way. Other people have jobs that they don’t love, or they live in cities that they don’t feel safe in,’” she says. “It’s become another beautiful full-circle moment.”
FOLLOWING HER RYMAN GIG, Oladokun has a handful of festival dates and one-off shows on the books, including a couple of opening slots for Gary Clark Jr. and a trip across the pond to headline a show in London as part of Somerset House’s annual Summer Series of concerts. She also hopes to return to a practice from years
OBSERVATIONS
FROM
A CROWDED ROOM
WORSE FOR OLADOKUN THAN THE ONLINE TROLLS ARE THE NASHVILLE COUNTRY AND AMERICANA STARS WHO, DESPITE ESPOUSING PROGRESSIVE VALUES, DON’T STICK
THEIR NECKS OUT FOR MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES, WHETHER IN THEIR MUSIC OR THEIR ACTIONS.
earlier, when she would release a new song every month.
“I’m a big fan of hip-hop, and I think the frequency with which MCs release music not only plays a part in their success, but I think it shows that they have a pulse on culture and the times and are just willing to make commentary without thinking about it for five years,” she says. “I want to bring that energy into the Americana and country space.”
In mid-March, Oladokun made good on that plan when she dropped the single “All My Time,” a loose and groovy love song with quick-flowing verses and delightfully unexpected flourishes of synth and guitar. A fan of releasing music timed to holidays or otherwise special occasions, she
shared “All My Time” to coincide with the start of daylight saving time.
While “All My Time” is a more playful release, Oladokun hopes to also write and share timely songs in response to current events. It’s a way to keep her skills sharp and, more importantly for her, to encourage dialogue around pressing issues.
“Look at the planet,” she says. “I think if we’re not consistently dialoguing about the world around us, and how we should be engaging with it, I think we might get further down a bad path than we already are. I think for me, as an artist — the way I want to meet this moment is, this year, I’m just going to put out some singles about things that I’ve been thinking about, or feelings that I’ve been feeling.”
Oladokun also shares that she’s writing toward a new record but doesn’t have firm plans for a new project just yet. She’d hoped to take some time off after wrapping the album cycle for Observations From a Crowded Room but can already tell that the state of the world might demand otherwise from her — and she’s ready to heed the call.
“Maybe this is where my music and my activism start to mix. Being quiet when, maybe, trans kids need hope doesn’t feel like the right option just because I want to win a Grammy someday. If I don’t win the Grammy but some kid lives 60 years longer than they thought they were going to, that’s more important at this time.” ▼
NASHVILLE SYMPHONY
New World Symphony Opening Weekend with David Robertson
SEP 19 to 21, 2025
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony Elgar’s Cello Concerto
OCT 2 & 3, 2025
Jamey Johnson
OCT 17 & 18, 2025
Verdi’s Requiem with the Nashville Symphony Chorus
NOV 6 to 8, 2025
Randy Travis: More Life Tour
NOV 15, 2025
Disney’s Frozen in Concert
JAN 23 to 25, 2026
Amadeus Live
JAN 31, 2026
Holst’s The Planets
MAR 27 to 29, 2026
Ben Rector: Songs for America
APR 24 & 25, 2026
The Brightness of Light with Renée Fleming
MAY 20, 2026
How To Train Your Dragon in Concert
MAY 22 to 24, 2026
MARCH 20-MAY 31
ART [COLOR THEORY] HERB WILLIAMS: COLOR SHADE
Local artist Herb Williams is a key figure in Nashville’s contemporary art renaissance, and his expressive forms and patterns — in sculptures and street art — are still growing and evolving. Williams’ earliest works were pop-inspired, but some of the most accomplished of his signature crayon sculptures are animal forms. The psychedelic menagerie titled Ripple that Williams installed at the Atlanta International Airport in 2022 felt like a high-water mark that blended the artist’s feel for feral forms with the chromatic aesthetics of his stenciled street art. Williams’ new color SHADE exhibition finds the artist sticking with natural subjects, but with a more contemplative mood and an abstracted sensibility that’s a little Romantic with just a tinge of the pandemic-era weirdness these works were born from. This is another example of the ascendance of abstract landscapes in American art, and color SHADE finds Williams at one of the city’s most unique galleries, making timely work at the forefront of an art scene he helped build. See what all the fuss is about at Thursday night’s opening reception at Haley Gallery from 5 to 8 p.m. JOE NOLAN
THROUGH MAY 31 AT HALEY GALLERY
224 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY S.
NASHVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE’S DINO TIME! AT PARNASSUS PAGE 18
WXNA RECORD FAIR PAGE 20
JACK SILVERMAN, VIKTOR KRAUSS, DAVID WILLIFORD AND ROBERT CRAWFORD PAGE 22
THURSDAY / 3.20
FOOD & DRINK
[THE TASTE OF FRANCE] SAVEURS DU SUD OUEST DE LA FRANCE
Seema Prasad and Elodie Habert have a lot in common. They’re both complete badasses working to make Nashville better. They both own terrific restaurants (Prasad is behind Miel, and Habert founded Cocorico!), and they want us to know that French food is more than croissants and Brie (not that there’s anything wrong with that). They’re collaborating on a one-night dinner at Miel, Saveurs du Sud Ouest de la France, which translates to “flavors of South West France.” Make a reservation online and feast on French onion soup, moules marinière (sailor-style mussels), veal blanquette, cheese plates and other traditional dishes from across the pond. MARGARET LITTMAN
4:30-10 P.M. AT MIEL
343 53RD AVE. N.
MUSIC
[DRIFTING BLUES] GLIXEN
Glixen’s turn at San Francisco’s Noise Pop Festival in late February was a standout show
Visit calendar.nashvillescene.com for more event listings
for fans and critics, and the band is set to play Coachella in April. Singer Aislinn Ritchie grew up in Gilbert, Ariz., and made the move to nearby Phoenix when she was 18. Glixen got together in Phoenix in 2020 as a post-shoegaze band that combines heaviness with melodic moves you might remember from forebears like My Bloody Valentine — and pretty much the entire roster of bands on the 4AD label. Glixen’s brand of shoegaze adds grunge elements that compete with Ritchie’s voice, which tends to linger in the mix as a texture you contemplate along with the guitars. Like the aforementioned My Bloody Valentine or His Name Is Alive, Glixen hooks its songs on melodies that emerge from the haze of electric guitars. Meanwhile, there’s real tension on their new EP Quiet Pleasures; Sonny DiPerri’s production gives Glixen’s dissonant beauty an appropriate veneer, and Ritchie renders songs like “all tied up” and “avoid” as if she’s singing the words from a distance. These folks make being adrift sound just great, which means they’re probably going to be big stars. Suzy Clue, She’s Green and Baby Wave open. EDD HURT
8 P.M. AT DRKMTTR
1111 DICKERSON PIKE
MUSIC [TO A BAND THAT I LOVED] JASON ISBELL
Earlier this month, Jason Isbell released Foxes in the Snow, his first album since his 2007 post-Drive-By Truckers debut Sirens of the Ditch featuring no members of his trusty backing band The 400 Unit. He’s also in the midst of his first proper solo tour ever. It’s going to be weird seeing Isbell onstage in Nashville without The 400 Unit by his side — Isbell and his rocking backing band’s annual residency at the Ryman is regularly one of the best shows in town. With Foxes’ stripped-down acoustic sound and raw themes, it makes sense that the singer-songwriter would want to venture out on his own for this run of shows, which includes four nights at new local venue The Pinnacle. In typical Isbell fashion, Foxes openly deals with his divorce from Amanda Shires — one of The 400 Unit’s key members and a highly acclaimed solo artist — but it’s far from a high-profile dish session. Isbell is one of our greatest storytellers, and he’s especially potent when telling stories in which specificity and relatability intersect. With no wailing fiddles or booming bass backing Isbell, this series of solo performances will put his potent songwriting in the spotlight. LOGAN BUTTS
MARCH 20-22 & 28 AT THE PINNACLE 901 CHURCH ST.
SATURDAY / 3.22
ART [I’M ALIVE]
BUCHANAN ARTS AFTER DARK: CLAY ALCHEMY EDITION
Imagine reenacting the pottery scene from Ghost, but instead of “Unchained Melody,” it’s the theme from The Last Unicorn playing in the background. It kind of works, right? The Rankin/ Bass film from 1982 is a classic to a certain demographic, and that’s the generation that will be out in full force on Saturday night for Buchanan Arts’ latest adults-only event. Show up at the North Nashville nonprofit at 7 p.m., flash an ID to prove you’re 21 or older, and watch a brief demonstration of hand-building with clay. Then you’ll be left on your own as The Last Unicorn screens in the background, so you can construct your own coil-built votive sculpture or ceramic incense holder while enjoying two complimentary adult beverages courtesy of Smith & Lentz, as well as a selection of snacks from Tio Fun! It’s an ideal date night, or a good way to meet new friends. Admission is $40 and includes two pounds of clay, but space is limited, so make sure to sign up early. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
7-10 P.M. AT BUCHANAN ARTS
1409 BUCHANAN ST.
[THE HOMETOWN KID]
MUSIC
GABE LEE
If you’ve never heard a song from folk singer Gabe Lee, it’s time to stop what you’re doing and listen. Seriously, right now. Listen to “Imogene” if you want to be transported to a faraway town, tucked away on a two-lane highway and often forgotten as the world zooms by. Listen to “Merigold” to get lost in a
story of loss — a universal feeling that stays hidden until it doesn’t. Listen to “Eveline” when you need to wrestle with the past — because you’re not alone in that fight, either. From there, dig your own path through Lee’s catalog of truth-telling folk tunes. He’s got plenty of songs to keep you company. Since debuting in 2019 with full-length farmland, this Nashville native has released a handful of albums, including the often-rowdy 2020 LP Honky Tonk Hell and 2023’s lauded Drink the River. The only thing better than spinning a stop-you-in-your-tracks tune is hearing it live, which you can do when Lee headlines a hometown gig this week.
MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER
8 P.M. AT ROW ONE STAGE AT CANNERY HALL
1 CANNERY ROW
[JURASSIC PARNASSUS]
FAMILY
NASHVILLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE’S DINO TIME! AT PARNASSUS
If you have a dinosaur-loving little one in your life, you may want to stop by Parnassus Books this Saturday for a special storytime, presented in partnership with Nashville Children’s Theatre. NCT education and engagement manager and teaching artist Jackie Komos will be on hand to read Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp by Carol Diggory Shields, along with Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug by Jonathan Stutzman. Komos also will lead the group in all sorts of reptilian revelry — including some creative movement and singing activities. The event is free, and while you’re there, be sure to ask about NCT’s world premiere production of Dino Time!, a sweet, interactive and immersive play designed especially for youngsters ages newborn to 5. On stage in the NCT Snuggery Copeland Studio through May
OUTDOORS
[SPRING IS HERE]
SPEND THE WEEKEND AT CHEEKWOOD
Spring has officially arrived, and Cheekwood has plenty of great ways to welcome the season this weekend. You might start with the Holi celebration on Saturday. The Hindu festival of spring and colors features a wide range of music and dance performances, with DJ Srikanth adding to the fun. Grab a tasty treat from local food vendors such as Cafe India and 615 Chutney, do a little shopping or visit one of the henna artists on site. You can even take part in the festive “color throwing” — a joyous tradition that honors the vibrant colors of spring. On Sunday, head over to the Cheekwood beer garden for a soulful performance from Nashville singer-songwriter Carmen Dianne. You can pick up a refreshing drink or snack from one of the food trucks, snap a picture with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE sculpture or simply stroll the gardens, enjoying more than 250,000 colorful blooming bulbs. This weekend also marks the Middle Tennessee Daffodil Show, with divisions for horticulture, photography and floral design.
AMY STUMPFL
MARCH 22-23 AT CHEEKWOOD ESTATE & GARDENS
1200 FORREST PARK DRIVE
18, this delightful tale follows busy prehistoric parents Dino and Dina Dinosaur (played by Nashville favorites James Rudolph II and Katie Bruno) as they prepare for their beloved egg to hatch. AMY STUMPFL
10:30 A.M. AT PARNASSUS BOOKS
3900 HILLSBORO PIKE
FILM [AKIRA SLIDE] MIDNIGHT MOVIES: AKIRA
If you ask any anime addict where it all began for them, chances are they’ll tell you it started with Akira. Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s 1988 adaptation of his own epic manga showed up on our shores in 1990 and became the gateway drug for geeks who crave ambitious, anarchic animation. (I personally know fans who’ll revolt if they make the live-action version that’s been in the works for years.) And just like drugs, Akira sends viewers down a surreal, chaotic, violent, occasionally gross path. Set in post-apocalyptic Tokyo (aka “Neo-Tokyo”), the movie sees biker buddies turning into bitter enemies when one of them obtains property-obliterating powers from one of several pale-ass kids cursed with telekinetic abilities. (Something tells me the creators of Stranger Things are hardcore Akira fans.) The imaginative, surprisingly relevant madness this flick whips up has been ripped off by movies, TV shows, video games and, yes, other anime. And don’t get me started about how many times the iconic “Akira slide” shot has been re-created. Comedian and Belcourt staffer Andre Churchwell will introduce the film. CRAIG D. LINDSEY
MIDNIGHT AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.
MUSIC
[ENO’S WHAT HE’S DOING] AMBIENT
SLEEPOVER
This event organized by Neil Fridd, who performs and records as Terror Pigeon, blends the spirit of a junk-food-fueled night of shenanigans at a buddy’s house when you were a kid with entertainment for folks who’ve logged some mileage in the hectic world of grown-ups. He’s created a black-box theater in the garage of the East Nashville home he shares with other artists and musicians — a place you’ll know if you enjoyed the truly delightful interactive art installation Mystery Yard in 2021. Saturday you’re invited to roll out your sleeping bag for 12 hours of live ambient music from an array of current and former Nashvillians including Jen Starsinic, Tyler Walker (performing as Buff Cousin), Andie Billheimer, Bruce Ervin, Abstract Black (aka JayVe Montgomery) and Will Hicks, a ferocious drummer who will share his music for piano. From 9 p.m. to midnight, Fridd will team up with Caleb McLaughlin and Labrys Light Show on projected visuals; from midnight on, movies will be projected with the sound off, and sleep masks will be available. Hang out till 8 a.m. and Fridd will treat you to breakfast; stay through the 9 a.m. conclusion and take part in the award ceremony. It’s a heartfelt and charming community endeavor; see all the details and buy tickets via Withfriends. STEPHEN TRAGESER 9 P.M. AT 909 MITCHELL ROAD
SUNDAY / 3.23
FILM [THE CHURCH OF BASEBALL] WEEKEND CLASSICS: BATTER UP!: BULL DURHAM
It’s late March, which means pro baseball is
GABE LEE
officially back. And even if Music City can’t seem to land an MLB team, Nashville fans of America’s pastime have something else to look forward to. In honor of baseball season, and the release of Eephus (read our review in this week’s film section), the Belcourt has put together a Weekend Classics series of some of the best movies set on the diamond. The series closes with what is, in my opinion, the best baseball movie: Bull Durham. Ron Shelton’s 1988 romantic comedy set in the world of minor league baseball has everything you could possibly want from a film — a love triangle, sports-related drama, witty banter, peak Kevin Costner, peak Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins playing a wild-child pitcher named Nuke LaLoosh. Bull Durham ran so Challengers could fly. The March 23 showing will feature an introduction from Scene editorin-chief D. Patrick Rodgers. Visit belcourt.org for showtimes. LOGAN BUTTS
MARCH 23 & 26 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.
MUSIC
[DIGGING IN THE CRATES] WXNA RECORD FAIR
A Sunday afternoon in March sounds like the perfect time to hunt through seemingly limitless crates of records in hopes of scoring a treasured album to add to your collection. (Well, any day is perfect for record buying, but shrugging off weekend responsibility to buy a few LPs? That’s truly the best.) Collectors should head to Eastside Bowl for a one-day record fair hosted by community radio station WXNA alongside new East Nashville shop Daydream Records and local go-to Grimey’s New and Pre-Loved Music. Proceeds benefit WXNA, and event organizers plan on hosting more than two dozen vendors dishing new and used wax. Plus, the WXNA website says the event promises local eats, drinks and live sets from station DJs. Per the website, “Love rare, hard-to-find and even bargain priced vinyl records? This is the place to find the platters you’ve been looking for.”
MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER
NOON TO 6 P.M. AT EASTSIDE BOWL
1508 GALLATIN PIKE S., MADISON
MUSIC
[SCHOOL OF ROCK] GIRLS
WRITE NASHVILLE
The kids are all right. If you’re not convinced, buy a ticket to the fourth annual Girls Write Nashville fundraiser at 3rd & Lindsley. Girls Write Nashville provides free songwriting, production and mentorship programs for young women in Metro Nashville Public Schools Title I schools. You’ll quickly be convinced when you see some of the teen songwriters who have been participating in the program. Solace, Koley Berry, Anya, Thalia D and Rachel Rodriguez will be joined by headlining guitar phenom Grace Bowers. If you can’t make it in person, you can listen to the streamed radio broadcast. It’s an under-21 crew onstage, so it stands to reason that it is an all-ages show for the audience too. This evening is part of Lightning 100’s Nashville Sunday Night. MARGARET LITTMAN
7 P.M. AT 3RD & LINDSLEY
818 THIRD AVE. S.
MUSIC
[SOLO PHISH] TREY ANASTASIO
Grammy-nominated composer, guitarist and vocalist Trey Anastasio brings his 20-date solo acoustic tour to Nashville Sunday evening with a stop at the Ryman Auditorium. The sold-out show will be his fifth appearance at the venerable venue. Best-known as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist and principal songwriter for the rock band Phish, Anastasio has also made his mark in classical and theater circles. On the current tour, his two-and-a-half-hour sets are getting rave reviews and have been heavy on material from Phish’s extensive catalog, which he transforms from jammy to folky. His performances have also featured songs from his more than 20 solo albums and recordings with the Trey Anastasio Band. As with all his concerts, the sets are almost completely different from show to show. While the tour is billed as “solo acoustic,” the jam-band legend includes some live looping to augment his acoustic guitar work. Audio recordings from the tour are available on the LivePhish app. DARYL SANDERS
7:30 P.M. AT THE RYMAN
116 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N.
MONDAY / 3.24
MUSIC [OUR PROBLEM] NASHVILLE WOMEN SING FOR CHOICE!
In 1973, Roe v. Wade put choice in the hands of women across the country. Nine years after the monumental decision, Nashville women came together for the first time to celebrate and “sing for choice.” It’s 2025, and women’s individual health care rights are moving anywhere but forward. Now a new group of Nashville women is convening onstage, and they’re advocating harder than ever. On March 24, Nashville Women Sing for Choice! will host this year’s second gathering of Music City’s loudest and proudest. Local standouts, including writer and musician Whit Hill and country rocker Gwen Levey, are on the bill alongside a slate of Nashville champions. Americana legend Carlene Carter is set to return as this month’s headliner after rocking the previous show in January, and local radio luminary Jessie Scott will host the evening. Tickets can be acquired at the door in the form of $10 donations to Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi.
BAILEY BRANTINGHAM
7 P.M. AT THE ’58 AT EASTSIDE BOWL
1508 GALLATIN PIKE S.
TUESDAY / 3.25
BOOKS [DUBLINERS]
EMMA DONOGHUE: THE PARIS EXPRESS
There is no more captivating category of human than Irish writers. They simply love chatting, telling tales and yarning. Acclaimed author Emma Donoghue technically lives in Canada, but she’s from Dublin, so we’ll place her in this
category. She has written 16 novels, and her best-known book, Room, will forever haunt the consciousness of mothers everywhere. Her latest release, The Paris Express, is a sweeping historical novel about an 1895 train wreck at the Paris Montparnasse station. The disaster was immortalized through photographs of the train crashing through the station window onto the street below; you might also recognize the event from being beautifully re-created in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo. Now Donoghue has crafted her story behind the crash with a web of fascinating characters using extensive research to weave them into the social issues of the time. Tuesday she’ll be in conversation with Parnassus store manager Cat Bock. Tickets include one generaladmission seat and a signed copy of The Paris Express. All aboard. TOBY ROSE
6:30 P.M. AT PARNASSUS BOOKS
3900 HILLSBORO PIKE
WEDNESDAY
/ 3.26
MUSIC
[WINGS TO FLY] MAYA DE
VITRY
What’s most striking about Maya de Vitry’s 2024 album The Only Moment is the evenhanded approach the Nashville singer, songwriter and producer brings to a set of songs about the contingency of life. Although de Vitry was once a member of folk-bluegrass band The Stray Birds, there’s little trace of bluegrass on The Only Moment, which turns out to be a sparely performed and surprisingly rocking collection that places de Vitry in the company of fellow neo-folk exponents Sarah Jarosz and Lindsay Lou. With help from bassist Ethan Jodziewicz — check out his accompaniment on “If They Feel Like Wings” — and guitarist Anthony da Costa, de Vitry advances the Nashville singersongwriter moment in a set of superb songs. In a certain way, what de Vitry and company do in The Only Moment relates to both Rosanne Cash’s classic work and something by a far more obscure artist of the 1980s, my eternal favorite Marti Jones, whose 1985 release Unsophisticated
BEST FOOD GOOD FOOD
Live Music at
BROADWAY
From platinum-selling chart-toppers to underground , household names to undiscovered gems, Chief’s Neon Steeple is c bringing the very best national and regional talent back to Broadway.
t
MARCH LINE UP
3.6 Eric Paslay’s Song in a Hatw/ Cam, Lindsay Rimes
3.7
Billy Montana, Jet Harvey, Ben Wagner, Ryan Jacobs
3.8 Dalton & The Sheriffs: Dalton Presents The Zac(h)s
3.12
Mark Irwin, Clay Mills, Jen Schott
3.13 Wade Hayes
3.14 William Michael Morgan
3.15 Keith Sykes
3.16 Pick Pick Pass w/ Kevin Mac, Thom Shepherd, David Tolliver
3.19 Salute the Songbird with Maggie Rose, Special Guest: Molly Tuttle
3.21 Julie Roberts
WRITERS’ ROUNDS AT CHIEF’S
3.22 Josh Ward
3.24 Buddy’s Place Writers’ Round w/ Adam Hambrick, Brett Sherocky, Twinnie
3.26 Uncle B’s Drunk with Power String Band feat Bryan Simpson w/ Madeline Edwards, Brenna Macmillan, Elvie Shane
3.27 Terry McBride
3.28 Aaron Nichols & The Travellers - Chris Stapleton Tribute
3.29 Kaitlyn Croker - “Trouble I Chase” Release Party Free Show
TICKETS
At Chief’s we understand that great music is born from the heart and soul of it’s creators, which is why our writers’ rounds are dedicated to celebrating the brilliant minds behind some of today’s most iconic songs.
Cigarettes & Pizza
Salute the Songbird with Maggie Rose
Time was a New Wave-flavored singersongwriter album. The songwriting is ace; “Compass” rocks like some unlikely amalgam of Television and Cash, while “Some Rent” bears down with a chorus that reaches around and grabs you by the lapel every time you hear it.
Joel Timmons opens. EDD HURT
7:30 P.M. AT THE ’58 AT EASTSIDE BOWL
1508 GALLATIN PIKE S.
MUSIC
[KOMETENMELODIE] KRAFTWERK
Long before the debut of Daft Punk and the impending merging of AI and music, Kraftwerk combined sequencers, synthesized beats and more conventional instruments to create what they call Gesamtkunstwerk — “a total work of art.” With their release of Autobahn in 1974, the German four-piece opened the floodgates of electronic music, and that same album brings the group back together in 2025. Electro-synth pioneer Ralf Hütter and company will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first North American tour, which took place following the release of Autobahn, with their modern-day Multimedia Tour. Incorporating music, visuals and live performance art (four side-by-side synthesizers and each member in a full LED suit), the tour takes listeners on a journey through time to the era when techno was obscure, encompassing the quintessential and campy aura of early Kraftwerk. The group will be among the first artists to play Music City’s newest venue, The Pinnacle, when their show makes a pit stop in Nashville on March 26.
BAILEY BRANTINGHAM
8 P.M. AT THE PINNACLE
901 CHURCH ST
MUSIC
[ROCK MONSTERS] DEFTONES W/THE MARS VOLTA
A paradox exists for current tourmates Deftones and The Mars Volta: How do aging guitar-based bands continue to make “progressive” music several decades into their careers? The alternative-rock juggernauts are known to push the boundaries both onstage and in the studio, each with their own avid legions of fans worldwide. Although numerous
copycat acts have followed, neither band can truly be duplicated. The multiplatinum, Grammy-winning Deftones headline their North American tour with tunes from albums such as Around the Fur, White Pony, Saturday Night Wrist and more. The ever-prolific duo of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala have returned to touring again as The Mars Volta. Since their inception in 2001, MV has released eight lengthy concept albums. Word has it that the band has been debuting a whole new album of unreleased songs on tour, their first new music since 2023. Fleshwater opens. JASON VERSTEGEN
8 P.M. AT BRIDGESTONE ARENA
501 BROADWAY
MUSIC [CHECKING
IN]
JACK SILVERMAN, VIKTOR KRAUSS, DAVID WILLIFORD AND ROBERT CRAWFORD
Rumor has it that spirits dwell in the bones of the Victorian house that’s home to Urban Cowboy. And just maybe the staffers who book the music in the hotel’s Parlor Wine Bar are looking to wake them up, considering all the improvisational and experiential music they’re booking these days. Guitarist, bandleader, improviser and composer Jack Silverman (who is also a Scene contributing editor; we also recognized his Prince of Shadows LP in last year’s Best of Nashville) has been doing his best to call them forth when he appears there, usually a couple times a month. A multitude of highcaliber players whose improv skills might make you wonder if they have the shining rotate in and out of Silverman’s cast of collaborators during these gigs, including reeds player David Williford and drummer Robert Crawford, who’ll both play during the March 26 session. Also joining in will be bass maestro Viktor Krauss, whom you might know as a longtime member of Lyle Lovett’s Large Band, a collaborator with outside-the-box legend Bill Frisell or even the man responsible for holding down the low notes during Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ recent collaborative tours. Settle in and let them work their magic.
STEPHEN TRAGESER
7 P.M. AT URBAN COWBOY’S PARLOR WINE BAR 1603 WOODLAND ST.
MAYA DE VITRY
PHOTO:
MARCH
APRIL
APRIL
APRIL
FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD
A Nashvillian realizes her longtime dream with the opening of The Yellow Table Café & Crêperie
BY MARGARET LITTMAN
THE FIRST TIME Anna Watson Carl went to France, she was a college student in a studyabroad program. Almost every day, she headed to a crêperie called Le Crépuscule in the Latin Quarter for lunch. She ordered the special: a savory galette, a salad, a dessert crepe and an espresso for 10 euros.
She got to know the owners, and as she was preparing to return to Nashville, she asked them to share their sweet crepe recipe so she could make the light pancake on her own at home.
“That’s when the first seed of the idea was born,” Carl says. “I had to bring something similar to Nashville.”
Carl was then 21 years old and had conversations with the owner of the now-shuttered Davis Cookware and Cutlery Shoppe in Hillsboro Village about opening a crepe window at their kitchen supply store.
“It was too soon, too early,” she says now, with hindsight. Life took Carl in other directions. After college, she worked in New York and Pitts-
burgh. She went to France, where she studied at culinary school and worked. She wrote a cookbook.
In January of this year, decades after those conversations with Ted Davis, Carl finally opened a crêperie in Nashville.
The Yellow Table Café & Crêperie is a significantly more substantial eatery than a window in Hillsboro Village would have been, but with just 12 seats inside and 12 outside (weather permitting), the Eastwood Village restaurant is a small, cozy space.
“I’ve always been a fan of small spaces, because I feel like that brings this degree of intimacy that you don’t feel in a big, sprawling restaurant,” Carl says.
Carl and her husband Brandon Carl moved back to Nashville in 2018 with a toddler and a new baby. Carl spent many months pushing a stroller through East Nashville, walking to the grocery store, looking for a space that would be right for her future restaurant. The dream went
on pause, like many did during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, when things opened up and her kids were both in school, Carl decided it was time. She had seen an available space in Eastwood Village, home to Kinda Collected and the Switchyards coworking space. While there were a few other empty storefronts in Eastwood Village — a mixed-use development in a former chapel — Carl saw the potential for a buzzy neighborhood gathering place.
“It was walkable,” Carl says. “I loved it. It had that patio space. It just — it felt really right.”
But another restaurant claimed the spot. Then a few months later, that deal fell through, and the landlord came back to Carl to ask if she was still interested. Lease negotiations took six months, then architectural drawings and planning commenced. Carl worked from Switchyards and drew on her experience working in restaurants and as a private chef. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” she says. “It was a huge learning curve.”
The Carls opened the restaurant without the help of outside investors. Designers and contractors helped with the “Tetris game” of fitting everything into a less-than-800-square-foot space and building a kitchen from scratch. But when it came to decor, there was one element Carl had handled on her own, and it was non-negotiable — an eponymous yellow table.
Carl grew up eating around a yellow table. It was a cheery, welcoming element in her life — more than a piece of furniture, it was a feeling. She named her 2015 cookbook after it. So when the crêperie became a reality, Carl’s mom (who
lives in Brentwood) helped find a table that would provide the same vibes for the restaurant. They drove to South Carolina, paid $200 for one they both loved, and brought it back to town to paint it yellow. (Mom colored-matched with the original.)
The Yellow Table serves breakfast and lunch five days a week, and is closed Sundays and Mondays. The menu includes sweet crepes with options such as salted caramel, jam or Nutella fillings, all topped with powdered sugar. These breakfast or dessert treats are likely what most people think of when they hear “crepes.” But Carl’s signature is the galette (“They’re truly my heart,” she says), which is a savory buckwheat crepe. The buckwheat makes them naturally gluten-free — the dessert crepes, made with a different batter, are not — and they’re folded into a square. They’re cooked a little crispier than the dessert crepe. Fillings are in the middle, surrounded by crispy edges, not rolled like a burrito. Options include goat cheese and leek, smoked salmon, ham and other specials, or build-yourown choices. All galettes are served with a salad with a Dijon vinaigrette, just like the ones Carl ate for lunch as a college student. The menu includes other baked goods, espresso, matcha, coffee, tea, soups in season, salads and bread from nearby Butterlamp Bread & Beverage.
For every new restaurant that opens after months of fanfare and anticipation and social
media sneak peeks, there are many more that go for the soft-launch approach, flying under the radar, intending to troubleshoot before the crowds show up. That was Carl’s plan by opening in January, typically the slowest month in the restaurant industry.
“I wanted to open during a time where we could just do a soft opening, not do a lot of advertising, just open our doors and work out the
FOOD & DRINK: CHEAP EATS
SMOKIN’ BUTTZ: THE HICKORY — $9
This food truck is serving up barbecue sandwiches that don’t break the bank
BY KEN ARNOLD
BARBECUE IS A CULTURAL staple of the South. It’s a point of deep pride in the region, along with meat-and-threes and catfish dinners. Most people, especially Tennesseans, love barbecue — but when your plate is, by design, filled with delicious slow-cooked meat, it’s naturally hard to keep it affordable. But the husbandand-wife duo of pitmaster John Cathey and sauce boss Mylica Cathey are using their talents to bring customers classic barbecue that is quick and affordable.
At the Catheys’ food truck Smokin’ Buttz, the signature sandwich is The Hickory — a fresh-baked bun stacked with slow-cooked pulled pork and covered in their Big Jr’s Signature Sauce. The Hickory is topped with pickles, and optional coleslaw is available for an extra dollar. It’s as classic as pulled-pork sandwiches get, though there’s a chicken version also available (The Mesquite). Keeping the sandwiches to the absolute essentials — they’re very meat- and sauce-forward — gives the meal a sense of nostalgia. It’s no-frills, back-to-basics BBQ. Since it’s a food truck, Smokin’ Buttz is never in one place for too long, but the Catheys’ website features a calendar of upcoming locations. You can expect the service to be fast and efficient, and any line that may be there will quickly evaporate.
Smokin’ Buttz is offering classic barbecue sandwiches that are fast and affordable, and also scratch that nostalgic itch for those of us who grew up in the South.
kinks,” she says.
But it’s been busy since the get-go, particularly on Saturdays. Eastwood Village is booming, with other retailers including Desert + Vine Botanical Supply and Novelette Booksellers. Switchyards has a rule that you can’t eat at your coworking desk, so folks who toil there are looking for somewhere for a nearby coffee or lunch break.
Carl has hired an experienced staff, but the restaurant is also a family affair. On a busy Saturday, you may see her daughter clearing plates or her husband and brother washing dishes.
On nice days, the front patio has become that gathering space she imagined.
“It has been so fun on pretty days to see the patio just full and people bringing out their dogs and their babies … so many dogs and babies,” she says. Carl has noted the multigenerational appeal of the cafe, with customers including 6-day-old babies and their parents, senior citizens and everyone in between. Conversations among strangers start at the indoor communal table.
“Given this political climate right now, which can be so discouraging and hard, it has given me a lot of faith in humanity, just seeing the kindness of the people that are coming and just the connections being made,” she says. “It really feels like a sweet community has formed at the cafe.”
PHOTO: VICTORIA QUIRK
ANNA WATSON CARL
THE CLAY LADY WAY
Danielle McDaniel molds her clay empire
BY HANNAH HERNER
THE CLAY LADY encompasses several different ventures. The Clay Lady’s Campus is a place — a seven-building site on Lebanon Pike. There’s the Clay Lady Way, a method of firing clay often used in elementary schools. And then there’s the Clay Lady herself — Danielle McDaniel.
Since McDaniel took her first pottery class through Metro Parks and Recreation in 1981, her empire has grown to include 85 on-premise artists with private studios and 800 pottery and sculpture students. She bought what would become The Clay Lady’s Campus in 2007, and it has steadily grown, including the recent addition of 16,000 square feet of studios to accommodate demand for her classes — which tend to sell out promptly. With the addition, McDaniel’s MidSouth Ceramics supply store tripled in size — the gallery space for artists doubled too.
But perhaps the most impressive figure related to the Clay Lady is 80 percent — that’s the retention rate for her students.
“Since we have such a high retention rate, when we were building I really kept them in mind, because I wanted them to have a studio worthy of the level that they’re reaching in their artist lives,” McDaniel tells the Scene
Early in her career, McDaniel taught at elementary schools. She’s now teaching the grandchildren of some of her first students.
The feeling of starting a project and not liking the way it’s turning out is something that plagues adult artists just the same as elementary students. One of McDaniel’s gifts is giving the right reassuring word or technique to help her students stay grounded.
“You’re not an artist because you made something,” McDaniel says. “You’re an artist because you were willing to take the chance to try to make it.”
She says clay has taught her to enjoy life’s processes instead of focusing so much on “arriving” at a final product.
“There was something special about it, because if you mess it up, you just wad it up and start again,” she says of the appeal of making pottery. “It was just this complete forgiveness.”
McDaniel bought the campus with the simple desire to have her own studio for making pots and mugs. But the teaching realm is where she finds herself most often these days. While she reserves three weeks per year for a pottery “sprint” to create her own work, she’s fulfilled by wandering through the studios and seeing what her students and fellow artists are up to. She still teaches the center’s $50 “Try It!” classes. McDaniel has also gained respect in the art-teacher world through her instructional books and VHS tapes, the latter of which eventually evolved to DVDs and YouTube videos.
The traditional way to create a clay piece is to make the piece, fire it on a low temperature, glaze and decorate it, and fire it again at a
higher temperature. McDaniel condenses the process with a special formula of glaze that makes only one firing necessary. McDaniel points out that her method of firing is not new — it’s the way people fired pots for thousands of years, because there wasn’t a two-firing method when Indigenous people were originally making pots.
“The art teachers really liked it, because the traditional way was very labor-intensive for them,” she says. “To be honest, it was just what had been done forever and ever. I think what I did is I just put some new life into it and made it more fun.”
The Clay Lady is a philosophy too, as McDaniel wrote about in her 2021 book The Clay Lady’s Lesson Book. The philosophy hinges on the idea that if all people are made in the image of the creator, they are creators too — not just creations.
She thinks part of the appeal of her campus is that people need what’s known as a third place, where they aren’t known for their family or work role and can be themselves.
“I think that when we’re in that flow, we’re really being true to ourselves in more of a way than anywhere else, because there’s no masks or filters when you’re just you and the clay at the potter’s wheel,” McDaniel says. “I think we’re all craving that. Truly, we’re craving being centered and grounded, and pottery is the quickest way to get there.” ▼
The Clay Lady’s Campus 1416 Lebanon Pike,
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FREE FOR ALL
As Timothy Snyder writes, you might be looking for the wrong kind of freedom BY CAT ACREE
IN ON FREEDOM, Yale historian Timothy Snyder describes going to Ukraine after the 2022 Russian invasion. Sitting in the back of a friend’s car, looking over the coast of the Black Sea from Ukraine’s Kherson region, he describes filling the trunk of the car with watermelons given by farmers who de-mined their own fields with improvised equipment.
Snyder and his friend would later give the watermelons away in Kyiv. “During this horrible war,” he writes, “when almost everyone in Ukraine seems to be grieving, people here seem all the more attached to small gestures of solidarity, all the more open to saying what actually matters, to enunciating the small virtues of everyday life, which are no less real than the mines in the fields.”
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MARIANNE RICHMOND with AMI MCCONNELL at PARNASSUS If You Were My Daughter
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SATURDAY STORYTIME with ANDEN WILDER at PARNASSUS Scamp
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Snyder, whose 2010 book Bloodlands investigated the brutality inflicted on Ukraine and the surrounding region by Stalin and Hitler, emerged as one of the leading critics of Donald Trump’s tactics during his first presidential term. In 2017, Snyder published On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century, a short but fierce guide to resisting totalitarian regimes, bolstered by his studies of such powers in European history and applied to the current United States. His lessons were crisp, brief and appropriately urgent: “Do Not Obey in Advance,” “Defend Institutions,” “Beware the OneParty State,” “Be a Patriot” and so on. It is a book to keep in your pocket “when the unthinkable arrives.”
Snyder followed On Tyranny in 2018 with his five-alarm fire of a book, The Road to Unfreedom, about Vladimir Putin’s war on truth and how Silicon Valley tech oligarchs have promoted the growth of authoritarianism within the United States. With those two books, Snyder laid bare what we need to defend against and the tools with which to fight. With On Freedom, the most scholarly and philosophical of this triptych, he explains exactly what’s worth fighting for.
The answer — and we can probably all agree on this — is freedom. The issue, Snyder explains, is that we aren’t defining freedom using the same terms, and the purpose of On Freedom is to resolve that error so a truly free society can actually be attainable. “Americans often have in mind the absence of something: occupation, oppression, or even government,” Snyder writes. “Negative freedom is our common sense.”
Talking to soldiers, journalists, widows and farmers in wartime Ukraine, Snyder heard the word “freedom” over and over but discovered that none of his Ukrainian interviewees specified freedom from Russia. Positive freedom, he explains, is the freedom to do something, be something, imagine something.
On Freedom is structured according to Snyder’s five tenets of freedom, each one building on the next: sovereignty, which requires the development of an empathy-driven political environment where a person can feel safe to make their own choices; unpredictability, enabled by freedom from authoritarian or algorithmic control; mobility, in which young people can rebel from that foundational sovereignty; factuality (“What we don’t know can hurt us, and what we do know empowers us”); and solidarity, or recognizing that “freedom for you means freedom for me.”
Calling upon the works of such philosophers as Simone Weil and Hannah Arendt, historical events that he’s both witnessed and studied, biblical stories, and plenty of his own personal narratives, Snyder’s book is sweeping in its coverage, building a case that’s as challenging as it is transformative, well worth the density of his topics and the dryness of his language. His portrayal of the Constitution as being rooted in negative freedom draws a particularly interesting perspective: If a nation is built on the idea of freedom from (free from taxation, free from government oversight, free from worrying about the needs of others), then that same nation would reasonably begin to act as though it’s under constant threat, willing to sacrifice civil
liberties for the promise of security. It seems likely that, considering his engaging manner as a professor and his previous books’ robust voice, Snyder has kept On Freedom as journalistic as possible — a scholarly, logical argument without emotionality, without manipulation. The closest he gets to heroic language is when writing about Ukraine, but even then he stays measured, well-considered and focused on the purpose of the book. It’s actually a relief to read something that isn’t working so hard to play on the reader’s emotions. “It is, I hope, reasonable, but also unpredictable,” he writes in the book’s introduction. “It is intended to be sober, but also experimental. It celebrates not who we are, but the freedom that could be ours.”
For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. ▼
JONELL MOSSER & FRIENDS featuring CHARLES WIGG WALKER, DUSTY KNAPP, ALEX MURPHY, JOE FLEMING, MIKE MCADAM & GENE DUNLAP BACKSTAGE AT 3RD:
BLUEBIRD ON 3RD featuring DUSTIN CHRISTENSEN, AUSTIN JENCKES & JUSTIN KLUMP WITH JUSTIN LOVE AND MARY MAULDIN
GIRLS WRITE NASHVILLE featuring GRACE BOWERS WITH THALIA D, KOLEY BERRY, SOLACE, ANYA & RACHEL RODRIGUEZ TIN PAN SOUTH featuring COOPER ALAN, DALTON DAVIS, BRAD TURSI & ALLISON VELTZ CRUZ TIN PAN SOUTH featuring BOB DIPIERO, TONY MULLINS, JEFFREY STEELE & CRAIG WISEMAN
featuring KASSI ASHTON, BARRY DEAN, LUKE LAIRD & TRAVIS WOOD TIN PAN SOUTH featuring RHETT AKINS, TRNNIE ANDERSON, JEFF HYDE &
SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
The Hard Quartet turns collaborative energy into rock magic
BY BRITTNEY M c KENNA
THE MEMBERS OF The Hard Quartet share a “collective head.” At least, that’s how Matt Sweeney describes the foursome’s seemingly psychic connection while chatting with the Scene ahead of their show at Brooklyn Bowl on Friday.
“I think we all feel that way about the other three members,” Sweeney says, chatting via phone from his home in New York City. “I think I can confidently speak for the other guys in saying that everybody’s paying attention to the other three guys, and that alone is a pretty fun situation to be in when you’re playing.”
The band itself is technically new to the rock scene, having released a self-titled debut album in October. But its four members are genre veterans, each having logged miles as part of seminal bands from varying points on the rock music spectrum over the past few decades. Sweeney has been with Skunk, Chavez and Zwan; Stephen Malkmus with Pavement, Silver Jews and The Jicks; Jim White with Dirty Three, The Blackeyed Susans and The Tren Brothers; and Emmett Kelly with The Cairo Gang, Clinamen and The Double.
That’s just a sampling of each player’s musical résumé; listing each band, project or artist they’ve worked on would require more space than this feature allows. The sheer breadth of
their collective experience is on full display on The Hard Quartet, on which they seamlessly dip in and out of a bevy of rock subgenres from power pop to proto-grunge and beyond across 15 tight tracks.
It’s no surprise, then, that Sweeney, Malkmus and Kelly wear multiple hats in the band — trading off vocal, guitar and bass roles — while White stays at the drum kit, holding down the beat. That variety is part of the appeal for celebrated guitarist and producer Sweeney, who says he particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to sing.
“I haven’t been the singer in a band in a really long time, so that alone is fun,” he says. “My band Chavez — when I was the singer, I was in my 20s, and I was a pretty reluctant singer. That band was about coming up with things together. … Since we all write [in The Hard Quartet], and everybody sings lead and different things, it’s really fun to know that I have a band who is sympathetic to what I’m doing as the guy singing the song.”
Sweeney’s voice is loose and warm on “Rio’s Song,” which lopes along to a leisurely beat from White, building and releasing a bit of tension in Malkmus’ silvery, tightly wound licks. “Six Deaf Rats” finds Malkmus on lead vocal, and while
that tune certainly wouldn’t sound out of place on a Pavement record, Kelly’s heftier guitar tone and White’s almost improvisational-sounding drum performance distinguish it as its own animal.
Despite the rotating duties, the album is a cohesive listen, a feat likely possible because of that unspoken connection Sweeney finds so meaningful. It’s also thanks to the band’s shared mentality, which kindly but firmly rejects the “supergroup” label. This is a project each member hopes will last well beyond this initial record.
“One of the reasons that we’re doing press and, you know, that we have a fucking social media presence and all that stuff, is just to cut through the noise and show everybody that this is a band,” Sweeney says. “This is something that exists, something you can go see and something that you can trust will be there and be good.”
Performances like Friday’s show are the real heart of why Sweeney loves being part of The Hard Quartet, as they allow the group to operate as a unit and dig into that shared consciousness. Sweeney attributes that sense of connection not just to their friendship, which is certainly part of it, but to the ease that comes when you’ve paid your dues and really put the time into
developing, maintaining and expanding upon your craft.
“There’s just an understanding,” he explains. “And that comes from a collective knowing that we’ve all been in a lot of the same places and felt some of the same things about playing in bands. We just don’t need to discuss much.”
Skipping over the discussion means there’s more time for the music itself, and more energy to focus on the things that matter to the guys, like making sure the audience is having as much fun watching their shows as they are playing them. That feels especially important to Sweeney given the current social climate, which he likens, in some ways, to growing up during the ’80s, when the “mores were awful and the way people behaved was shitty.”
“Music can give you the feeling that people don’t suck. That’s important to know, because the evidence of them sucking is everywhere. It’s good to know that some people don’t suck.” ▼
Playing 8 p.m. Friday, March 21, at Brooklyn Bowl
PHOTO: ATIBA JEFFERSON
4
5
ALLOW ME TO REINTRODUCE MYSELF
Onetime Nashvillian Bren Joy contains multitudes on Sunset Black
diaristic authenticity. The record delivers Joy’s vulnerable storytelling with an experimental sonic palette, weaving together unexpected genre influences, raw vocal takes and unconventional song structures.
“I spent a long time trying to make music that I thought was cool, instead of realizing that me and my friends are cool in ourselves,” says Joy.
life thing.”
Still, the lyrical brilliance Music City is known for shines through in songs like “El Dorado.” Singing, “Both my eyes are aimed towards you / All that I am is saved for you,” he explores the idea of chasing a dream only to realize the real treasure is right beside him.
BY JAYME FOLTZ
Editor’s note: This story was originally a preview of a March 26 show that has been postponed indefinitely.
Love is the central theme of the album, though he is quick to point out that it’s not just about romance: “Love is the goal, and the death of our generation,” he says. He spends the album exploring the many layers that make up love — self-love, heartbreak and more — and the ways it has impacted his life.
While his early work leaned heavily on pianos and gospel music, guitars are prominent on Sunset Black. Smooth, jazz-inflected R&B riffs inspired by the likes of Beyoncé and Jazmine Sullivan stand tall next to the twang of country influences like Chris Stapleton and Patsy Montana.
In opener “Blue Jay,” he considers the difference between selfishness and self-respect. Inspired by Ella Fitzgerald’s early work, the song emerged from conversations Joy had with friends who kept putting their all into relationships with people who weren’t willing to grow. “I got so frustrated watching that happen,” he explains. “I wouldn’t have learned that unless I wrote that song.”
The album closes with “Fangs,” which highlights Joy’s gospel roots through layered vocals and complex harmonies. Let it keep rolling when the final note fades out, though: As a final nod to his past, Joy ends the track with a hidden demo of Twenties song “Simple Obsession.”
LAST YEAR, onetime Nashvillian singer-songwriter Bren Joy broke a long silence with a flood of new music. Following a series of singles that spanned 2024, in February of this year he released his debut full-length Sunset Black. It’s the follow-up to 2021’s Twenties (Deluxe), itself an expanded version of the show-stopping 2019 EP with which he introduced himself. Fusing elements that run the gamut from R&B and postwar vocal pop to country, folk and beyond, the album captures Joy’s bold interpretation of the beauty in imperfection while embracing the messy, unpredictable nature of life in your 20s.
“I think the biggest risk was taking a threeyear hiatus and then coming back,” Joy tells the Scene. “I want people to hear why it took three years.”
Joy parted ways with the label that released Twenties and went on a journey of self-discovery that led him to reevaluate his music’s purpose for himself and his fans. Every song on Sunset Black stems from a lesson learned during his time away, giving the album a raw,
“Bloodonthetimbs” blends warm, bluesy guitars with intricate melodies and head-nodding sampling, and “Wandering” follows with a jazzschooled palate cleanser that brings to mind legends like Sarah Vaughan. The album moves seamlessly from the amapiano rhythms of “No Fear/Horse” through the sleek, synth-driven sound of “Couture” to the folk-pop-kissed “Never Wanna Let You Go,” painting a picture of Joy’s evolution.
Raised in Nashville, the Belmont University alum left for Los Angeles several years back to expand his sound. “You have to be willing to leave and come back,” says Joy. “You can’t want things from a place that it can’t really teach you. I think that’s not a disrespect thing — it’s just a
“It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve written,” says Joy. “I just needed a little special piece from that era in here.”
More confident and self-assured than ever, Joy is embracing the unknown as the album makes its way into the world. “We’re not supposed to have things figured out,” he says. “We’re supposed to just go along with the flow and see what happens.”
UNDER A BLOODRED MOON
BY ADDIE MOORE
OMENBRINGER WOWED A packed Exit/In Friday — one night after the moon turned a foreboding sanguine shade prior to the total lunar eclipse — with a healthy dose of the home-brewed theatrics and undeniably catchy metal anthems that are powering their grassroots rise. Their set capped off a strong three-band bill as heavy rock ’n’ roll briefly reclaimed the historic Rock Block.
Local power trio Karma Vulture’s “desert rock” blend of stoner rock, grunge and classic heavy metal opened the evening. They made good use of what remains one of the best-sounding rooms in town with high-volume renditions of Them Crooked Vultures’ “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I” and their own “Cheer Up.” Singer and bassist Conor Spellane, guitarist Will Hammond and drummer Ben Foerg also sprinkled in some new tunes, raising our hopes for a follow-up to 2023’s Something Better
Next came Dead Feathers, a touring act out of Chicago. The titular song of 2023’s Full Circle and other standards from the band’s catalog unfold live as psychedelic soundscapes vividly painted with fuzzy guitar tones and anchored by top-notch live drumming. Lead singer Marissa Welu is a vocal powerhouse reminiscent of some of her mightiest heavy rock forebears, from Janis Joplin and Grace Slick to such cult favorites as Coven’s Jinx Dawson and Babe Ruth’s Jenny Haan. Indeed, Welu’s the special element, both onstage and in the studio, that separates Dead Feathers from the numerous other ’70s-worshipping psych-rock bands out there.
After being introduced by a costumed
demonic figure with six-pack abs and an ominous voice, OmenBringer delivered on the hype they’ve received in Nashville’s alwayscrowded live music scene. Lead singer Molly Marie Kent engaged with the crowd in playful and flirty ways as the band tore through “Spells,” “Tungs” and other songs off the group’s 2024 album Thicc Darkness. Some yet to be released material made it onto the set list as well, with on-brand titles like “Monsturbation” previewing what’s to come.
Though they take their rock star aspirations and spooky imagery seriously, OmenBringer brings plenty of levity to interactions with their growing horde of fans. For instance, a pair of beach balls that looked like breasts got tossed into the crowd during Kent’s “ladies to the front” call before “B.T.G.G.F.” Kent joked afterward that she’d entertain offers to sell the props only if they weren’t separated.
Kent got sincere at times about the fan base she lovingly calls her coven. A vocal champion of LGBTQ rights, she described her trans and nonbinary followers as true rebels who live their truths despite being right-wingers’ existential threats du jour. She explained that metalheads who had long hair and wore eerie-looking band T-shirts during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s should be able to relate to being unfairly othered.
This was also OmenBringer’s first local show with drummer Julian Fleck. He rounded out the usual lineup of Kent, guitarist Cory Cline, bassist Mario Galati and rhythm guitarist Spookie Rollings. Time will tell whether the band achieves greater recognition beyond Music City’s borders, but for now, Kent isn’t blowing smoke when she refers to OmenBringer as hometown heroes. That’s because she’s built an inclusive coven that — based on the audience reaction on Friday — agrees with her assessment that the band offers one of the best all-around stage shows for the price of admission. ▼
PHOTO: STEVE CROSS
WE ARE THE WEIRDOS: OMENBRINGER
AFRICA IS A HUGE continent with a diverse landscape of people and cultures. More than 3,000 ethnic groups populate its vast lands, each one with its own traditions and customs. But as with anywhere else, Africa is home to persisting patriarchal structures. Zambian director Rungano Nyoni already challenged the traditions of her native land with 2017’s I Am Not a Witch (which is streaming for free via Tubi), a film that addresses how superstition is a part of government corruption. Now Nyoni is back to once again challenge traditionalism in another feature, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
On the drive home from a party, Shula (Susan Chardy) sees her Uncle Fred dead on the road. Shula’s chaotic drunk cousin Nsansa (Elizabeth Chisela) stumbles onto the scene and calls the authorities. With Uncle Fred dead, funeral arrangements are made and the entire extended family comes to town. But Shula and Nsansa don’t grieve for Uncle Fred. As the rest of the family mourns, Uncle Fred’s history of sexual abuse comes to light.
Similar to Nyoni’s previous feature, Guinea Fowl is about the systemic oppression of women in modern-day Zambia. Shula is a stand-in for a modernist audience’s perspective, allowing
THE DIAMOND IS FOREVER
Baseball dramedy Eephus does it for the love of the game
BY CRAIG D. LINDSEY
RECENTLY, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER got into the baseball-season spirit by rounding up a list of the 10 best baseball films of all time. Even though it featured several obvious favorites (the top five predictably included The Natural and Bull Durham, with Eight Men Out in the top spot), like so many ranked lists before it, it made some people — pardon the pun — cry foul. (Personally, I’m surprised that The Bad News Bears that foul-mouthed kiddie classic, is not on the list.)
Many of the films on that list are included in the Belcourt’s current series, Weekend Classics: Batter Up! (Shout-out to the theater for also programming the forgotten 1976 comedy The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, starring Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor and James Earl Jones as Negro League players who form their own team.) This weekend, the theater will also begin showing Eephus, a new film centered on America’s favorite pastime. A low-budget flick featuring a mostly unknown cast, Eephus (named after a slow pitch designed to confuse the batter) may be too indie and recent to land on any ranked lists. But it’s still a fascinating look at Average Joe ball players who, for at least one day, are up in the big leagues, getting their turn at bat. Set in the late 1990s (there are no cellphones to be found), Eephus is an ensemble piece about guys who
REQUIEM FOR A PREDATOR
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl tells us that silence is the worst option
BY KEN ARNOLD
us to glimpse the world of a traditionalist society. She’s a straitlaced character who lacks patience with the traditions of her family, and the juxtaposition of her relationship with the chaotic Nsansa makes for some good dark comedy in the film’s early moments — though Nyoni slowly pulls the rug out from under her audience later in the film, dealing with brutally heavy topics such as child sexual abuse and the systemic silencing of survivors. Nyoni isn’t just
playing on our sympathy, though. As the title suggests, this film is more of a call to action — a call to speak out against the injustices brought upon women — as the guinea fowl is known to warn other animals of incoming predators. Nyoni is quickly becoming a breakout filmmaker, with two films under her belt that have garnered high praise from the cinephile community. She has delivered fresh and deeply personal stories, and her talent as a director has
basically have a love-hate relationship with the sport. Two recreational New England teams, the Adler’s Paint team and the Riverdogs, spend a day playing a game on a field that’ll soon be cleared to make way for a new school. Adler’s leader Ed Mortanian (Uncut Gems goon Keith William Richards) is already lamenting the loss of the field (“My backyard,” he calls it) and how the dugout will most likely be replaced with an art class and “fucking easels.”
Hearing these guys complain about losing their precious ballpark to a school that’ll turn kids into art-loving wimps may turn off arts-education enthusiasts. But Eephus also isn’t a feel-good flick for the so-called “anti-woke” crowd. Co-writer/director Carson Lund
crafts a somber, melancholy dramedy about men who use sports to bond. For the guys on these teams — who range from young, spry go-getters to middle-aged, potbellied slobs — baseball brings them together to talk shit, kvetch about their lives, drink beer and shoot off post-game fireworks.
Lund makes Eephus a languid, offbeat mix of Robert Altman (legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman lends his voice as a radio announcer, spouting absurd announcements like Marvin Miller’s PA announcer in M*A*S*H) and Richard Linklater (the deadpan pacing and misfit characters will certainly have you thinking Lund has seen Slacker way too many times). Although the stands are mostly barren, other quirky characters
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl PG-13, 99 minutes; in English and Bemba with English subtitles
Opening Friday, March 21, at the Belcourt
ensured that these stories are executed at a high level. She has a knack for combining tragedy and comedy in a way that might give some viewers tonal whiplash at first. But because Nyoni comes from a place of being so fed up that all you can do is laugh and cry, the balance lands her films somewhere between “depressing comedy” and “tragedy that looks for the comedy in a bleak situation.”
Guinea Fowl is a strong second feature that takes viewers through the Zambian traditional funeral process and the systemic patriarchy that still holds a strong grasp on the nation. The film puts a spotlight on the women held by patriarchy’s grasp, and reminds us to not be quiet in the face of oppression. It’s a must-see film for anyone who’s supportive of African progressivism or modern feminist ideology — or anyone who’s fed up with the system they are stuck in, be it on a familial scale or a societal one. ▼
are lurking around, witnessing these guys give it their all one last time. (My personal favorite is Franny, the elderly baseball-quote-spouting scorekeeper played by Cliff Blake.) Boston Red Sox legend Bill “Spaceman” Lee appears out of nowhere to throw a few left-handed pitches, declare that strikeouts are fascist (an obvious Bull Durham nod) and disappear back into the woods. It isn’t until these guys are playing well into the night, using their car headlights to keep the game visible, that you realize that Eephus is surrealist 1962 comedy The Exterminating Angel with bats and cleats. The last half-hour is quietly, hypnotically downbeat, as both teams are practically in the dark, refusing to stop playing until somebody wins. The love of the game keeps them going, even when they know damn well that they should be at home with their families, covered in Ben-Gay. (I also got a whiff of John Cassavetes’ Husbands, a movie about guys who do everything they possibly can to not go home.)
At one point, the cynical Mortanian encourages a preteen onlooker to not get involved with the sport. For the sad-sack players in Eephus, baseball is a game that serves up both camaraderie and heartbreak. It’s a mistress who gives them nothing but pain, but they can’t give it up because — to paraphrase that old swingin’ number — it makes them feel so young. ▼
Eephus NR, 99 minutes
Opening Friday, March 21, at the Belcourt
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1 Does a prose pro’s job
6 Handled easily
10 Like some Olympic races
14 Got a C, say
15 Snoot
16 Blind blues singer Paul
17 *Emerge, as teeth
19 Flower named for a deity
20 Slippery figure in a simile
21 “I’m in trouble!”
22 Soon to appear
24 Make passable, in a way
25 Tons
26 Heads of ancient Rome
29 *Plural personal pronoun
32 Bait shop purchase
33 One of two official languages of Afghanistan
35 Ancient kingdom of Asia Minor
36 Singer Grande, to fans
37 *Country where the Plain of Jars is located
39 Flight fig.
40 Car brand named for a deity
42 Zero-sum game
43 Pickled ginger served with sushi
44 *Bell sound
46 Devilish sort
48 Balloon material
49 Focus of some magnet schools
50 Virtual companion of the 2000s
52 Nursery sounds
53 Exposure spec.
56 Emmy-winning Sawai of “Shogun”
57 Material in a junkyard pile … or a hint to answering this puzzle’s four asterisked clues
60 Top-seed perks
61 Franchise with a signature A-frame roof
62 What you have in mind?
63 Declares
64 Punny reply to “What are you waiting for?”
65 Partitioned, as land for development DOWN
1 Advantage 2 All but hopeless
3 “Survivor” gamechanger
4 Drag along
5 Close-fitting headwear 6 View 7 Henhouse
8 Night sch. offering 9 Figure out 10 Laundry cycle
11 “Mom and dad aren’t gonna be pleased with us!”
12 Operating system developed by Bell Labs
13 Crow’s-nest location
18 State with the highest percentage of federal land
23 Sights on beaches and in barns
24 ___ chart
25 They may get splints
26 C-shaped tool, maybe
27 Ear-related
28 Winnings
29 Court event
30 Volatile demolition aid, for short
31 “Got me?”
34 In the midst of a conflict
37 Long-handled server
38 “You’re too much”
41 Standard park purchase
43 Press club?
45 Wipes out
47 Longest-running musical in London’s West End, informally
49 Things commonly found in bars
50 Catches red-handed
51 Singer with the birth name Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin
52 Photoshop tool
53 Zealous supporter, in modern lingo
54 Knight’s aide
55 Left in a hurry
58 Life force principle, in feng shui
59 Punk subculture
a year). Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay. Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/studentcrosswords.
Saturday, March 22
HATCH SHOW PRINT
Block Party
9:30 am, NOON, and 2:30 pm
HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP LIMITED AVAILABILITY
Saturday, March 22
MUSIC AND CONVERSATION
Meet Luke
Combs’s Band
The Wild Cards
11:00 am · FORD THEATER
Saturday, March 22 INTERVIEW
Chris Kappy
Artist Manager
2:30 pm · FORD THEATER
Sunday, March 23
MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT
Vickie Vaughn
1:00 pm · FORD THEATER
Saturday, March 29
Museum Membership
Receive free admission,
NOON · FORD THEATER
Sunday, March 30
SONGWRITER SESSION
James House
MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT
Jaelee Roberts
1:00 pm · FORD THEATER
Saturday, April 5
SONGWRITER SESSION
Tommy Karlas NOON · FORD THEATER
Saturday, April 5
FILM SCREENING AND CONVERSATION
Stepping into the Unknown Films from the Bob Dylan Archive
2:30 pm · FORD THEATER
IN THE CHANCERY COURT FOR THE STATE OF TENNESSEE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL DISTRICT, DAVIDSON COUNTY No. 24-1273-II
IN RE: THE MATTER OF NAME CHANGE OF KALIYHA FINLEY-GRAY BY NEXT FRIEND: PATRICIA GRAY Petitioner, vs. TARVISO FINLEY Whereabouts Unknown Respondent. ORDER
IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that the Motion for Service by Publication filed by Petitioner, Patricia Gray, as Next Friend of her granddaughter, Kaliyha Finley-Gray, is hereby granted and it is hereby ordered that Respondent, Tarviso Finley, will be served by publication notice in The Nashville Scene, a newspaper published in Davidson County, Tennessee for a period of four (4) consecutive weeks. IT IS ORDERED.
ANNE C. MARTIN CHANCELLOR, PART II
APPROVED FOR ENTRY: Marykate E. Williams #041708
CAMPBELL PERKY JOHNSON, PLLC 329 S. Royal Oaks Blvd., Suite 205 Franklin, Tennessee 37064 (615)914-3038 marykate@cpj.law
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NOTICE
Cyndey Gordan:
A Petition For Termination Of Parental Rights And Petition For Adoption has been filed against you seeking to terminate your parental rights to Kamilla Stone. You are hereby ORDERED to appear for hearing on that Petition on March 28, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. at Williamson County Chancery Court, 135 4th Avenue South, Franklin, Tennessee 37064 or to otherwise enter an appearance in this matter. If you fail to do so, an order may be entered against you for the relief requested in the Petition. You may view and obtain a copy of the Petition and any other subsequently filed legal documents in the Chancery Court Clerk’s Office at the address shown above.
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IN THE CHANCERY COURT FOR DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE Docket No. 24-1495-III
COTTAGES AT WILLIAMS BEND TOWNHOUSE CORPORATION, Plaintiff, v. ELTON D. FIELDER, Defendant.
PUBLICATION NOTICE PURSUANT ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR SERVICE BY PUBLICATION ON DEFENDANT
By the Order Granting Motion for Service by Publication on Defendant of the Davidson County Chancery Court and signed on March 6, 2025, it appears that the Defendant Elton D. Fielder, owner of real property at 1621 Lincoya Bay Drive, Nashville, Tennessee 37214, cannot be located upon diligent search and inquiry and that ordinary process of law cannot be served upon him. Service of process by publication pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 21-1-203 and 204 has been ordered, and Elton D. Fielder is hereby required to appear and answer or otherwise defend against the Complaint for Monetary Damages and for Judicial Foreclosure filed on December 10, 2024 by the Plaintiff Cottages at Williams Bend Townhouse Corporation, whose attorney is David M. Anthony, Exo Legal PLLC, 901 Woodland Street, Nashville, TN 37206, within 30 days after the date of the last publication of this notice; otherwise, a default judgment shall be entered against said defendant in open court for the relief demanded in the petition.
This notice shall be published in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper of general circulation serving Davidson County, once weekly for four consecutive weeks.
By: David M. Anthony, Exo Legal PLLC - david@exolegal.com - (615) 869-0634 Attorneys for Plaintiff
Elton D. Fielder, owner of real property at 1621 Lincoya Bay Drive, Nashville, Tennessee 37214, cannot be located upon diligent search and inquiry and that ordinary process of law cannot be served upon him. Service of process by publication pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 21-1-203 and 204 has been ordered, and Elton D. Fielder is hereby required to appear and answer or otherwise defend against the Complaint for Monetary Damages and for Judicial Foreclosure filed on December 10, 2024 by the Plaintiff Cottages at Williams Bend Townhouse Corporation, whose attorney is David M. Anthony, Exo Lega PLLC, 901 Woodland Street, Nashville, TN 37206, within 30 days after the date of the last publication of this notice; otherwise, a default judgment shall be entered against said defendant in open court for the relief demanded in the petition.
This notice shall be published in the Nashville Scene, a newspaper of general circulation serving Davidson County, once weekly for four consecutive weeks.
By: David M. Anthony, Exo Legal PLLC - david@exolegal.com - (615) 869-0634 Attorneys for Plaintiff
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UBS Bank USA has the following positions in Nashville, TN. Associate Director, Research Analyst to conduct qualitative and quantitative credit analyses of issuers of Leveraged Loans and High Yield Bonds Financial Services sector. Requires B+3yrs. exp. Can work remotely. (ref. code(s) 002161). Qualified Applicants apply through SHProfRecruitingcc@ubs.com. Please reference 002161. NO CALLS PLEASE.
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