Nashville Scene 7-31-25

Weathering the Storms

BY HANNAH HERNER

HERE’S TO 20 YEARS, NASHVILLE

For 20 years, you’ve trusted us with your biggest moments. From all of us at Genesis Diamonds, thank you for letting us be part of your story. Here’s to the next 20, Nashville!

Field for Special Election in 7th District Grows More Crowded

More than a dozen Republicans and Democrats have kicked off campaigns to replace former U.S. Rep. Mark Green BY

HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

MNPS Heads Into School Year With Improved Student Test Scores

Despite administrative and policy setbacks, Nashville’s public school system saw significant improvement in testing BY ZACK

BARNES

Pith in the Wind

This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

Judson Newbern on Conserving Nashville’s Highland Rim Forest

Local environmental leader wants to bring further awareness to tree canopy BY

JULIANNE AKERS

COVER STORY

Weathering the Storms

Fifteen years in, the ‘weather nerds’ at Nashville Severe Weather keep the labor of love alive BY

HANNAH HERNER

CRITICS’ PICKS

Robert’s Western World Fan Fair, Do the Right Thing Kyle Hamlett, Radio Free Nashville 20-Year Anniversary and more

CULTURE

In the Club: Mahjong & Magnolias

Playing with the ladies who bring Southern hospitality to a traditional Chinese game BY NICOLLE PRAINO

MUSIC

On Your Own Recognizance

Life Behind Bars reflects major personal and artistic changes for Vandoliers

BY BRITTNEY M c KENNA

Closing Up Shop

Woodland Play

Can Nashville stay

JOE NOLAN

Beloved DIY venue The Mouthhole gets ready to go out in style BY P.J. KINZER

The Spin

The Scene’s live-review column checks out the Alabama Shakes at Ascend Amphitheater BY HANNAH CRON

Simple Sandwich Man

Tyler Childers performed his new album Snipe Hunter during a surprise pop-up at Turkey and the Wolf Ice House BY ANNIE PARNELL

FILM

Just the Two of Us

Together is a disgustingly cute body-horror romp BY LOGAN BUTTS

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD AND THIS MODERN WORLD MARKETPLACE

ON THE COVER:

Nashville Severe Weather

Back row, from left: Andrew Leeper, Tom Johnstone, Will Minkoff, Luke Myszka

Front: Elan Segadi

Photo by Eric England

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COMING SOON

WHO WE ARE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF D. Patrick Rodgers

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WITNESS HISTORY

This 1967 Rickenbacker 450-12 model twelve-string guitar, with custom turquoise finish and gold anodized pickguard, was played onstage by John Jorgenson with the Desert Rose Band and in the music video for “Summer Wind.”

From the exhibit Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank

artifact: Courtesy of John Jorgenson artifact photo: Bob Delevante

AUGUST 2 – 10

• An exhibition of 13 fresh floral masterpieces

• Delight in special events and floral demonstrations

• Inspired by Cheekwood’s permanent art collection

• Vote for your favorite mannequin!

Images are from previous Fleurs de Villes exhibitions

FIELD FOR SPECIAL ELECTION IN 7TH DISTRICT GROWS MORE CROWDED

More than a dozen Republicans and Democrats have kicked off campaigns to replace former U.S. Rep. Mark Green BY

HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

CANDIDATES FOR TENNESSEE’S 7th Congressional District are hitting the campaign trail ahead of the recently announced Oct. 7 primary and Dec. 2 general election to fill the seat left empty by former U.S. Rep. Mark Green, a Republican. The district includes a portion of Davidson County as well as rural areas west of Nashville, stretching from Clarksville to the state’s border with Alabama. It was one of three congressional seats redrawn by Tennessee’s Republican supermajority following the 2020 Census. Last year, Green defeated Democrat and former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry by roughly 70,000 votes to keep his seat.

On July 24, Democrats gathered at Nashville’s UAW Local 737 Union Hall for a “Take Back TN 07” rally, which drew around 100 people. Nashville’s state Reps. Aftyn Behn, Bo Mitchell and Vincent Dixie — all of whom are running for the Democratic Party’s nomination in the 7th — attended the event, along with political strategist and fellow candidate Darden Copeland. All four also pitched their platforms at the Democratic Party’s July 12 Three Star Dinner at the Music City Center.

“We’re here tonight because we’ve got some-

thing that seems kind of rare in politics these days, right?” Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Rachel Campbell told the crowd at the July 24 event. “An opportunity, an open seat, a tight congressional margin and a fired-up Democratic base that knows that this moment belongs to us.

“We’re going to build the kind of campaign that can win and can inspire, because this is not just about flipping that seat,” she continued.

“This is about flipping that script. This is about reclaiming our power for too long. Folks in Tennessee and in District 7 have been sold a line of bullshit that rural Tennessee can’t care about

clean air or good schools, that you can’t be pro-labor and pro-growth, that if you if your kid wants to go to college and be debt-free and your hospital stay open, then you’re just asking for too much. But I reject that. I know that you all reject that, because we’re Democrats.”

Democrats focused many of their remarks on economics and connecting with the working class, with an emphasis on the cost of food, housing and health care, and the support of marginalized communities.

At the event, Behn, who currently represents state House District 51, addressed criticism over the fact that she does not currently live in the 7th Congressional District. “In the most MAGA-gerrymandered congressional district in the country, I live walking distance from the line,” Behn told the Scene. “I’ve got 12,000 constituents in CD7 who asked me to run in this race, and I’ve no problem moving if I do win, so I don’t look at it as a concern at all. I think this moment requires people like me who offer fearless leadership and meet the moment.”

“Not many people are talking about this race, but come December, this is going to be the center of the political universe — right here west of Nashville,” Tennessee GOP Chair Scott Golden told a crowd of roughly 100 Republican voters at a forum hosted by the Humphreys County Republicans on July 26.

“We’re going to have a great nominee,” he said. “We’re going to get this done. This is going to be the most important race of 2025 — all due respect to New Jersey and Virginia. The action is going to be right here, and it’s starting tonight in Waverly, Tennessee.”

That forum was attended by several candidates: state Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson); former state Commissioner Matt Van Epps, who was recently endorsed by Green; Montgomery County Commissioner Jason Knight; veteran John Wilt; and now-pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist Stewart Parks. Also in attendance was state Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), who has entered the race after weeks of speculation. A handful of other declared candidates — state Rep. Lee Reeves (R-Franklin), veteran Jon Thorp, businessman Stuart Cooper and newcomer Mason Foley — were not present.

Republicans focused on their support of and advancement of President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda — especially in regard to immigration enforcement, limiting government assistance for immigrants, and proposals like bans on stock trading by elected officials, term limits and the use of auto pens.

Van Epps earned the top spot in a straw poll by voters in attendance, with Bulso coming in second and Parks third. ▼

REPUBLICAN 7TH DISTRICT FORUM, JULY 26

DEMOCRATS’ “TAKE BACK TN 07” RALLY, JULY 24

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MNPS HEADS INTO SCHOOL YEAR WITH IMPROVED STUDENT TEST SCORES

Despite administrative and policy setbacks, Nashville’s public school system saw significant improvement in testing

BY ZACK BARNES

— show the district is not only raising the bar, but ensuring more students reach it.”

DESPITE SETBACKS — including agreeing to a large post-lawsuit settlement and policy changes required by newly implemented state legislation — the Metro Nashville Public Schools system is heading into a new school year on solid footing when it comes to student test scores. The district recently reported its highest percentage ever of students scoring proficient in yearly testing.

One critical area, however, is third-grade reading, where the state reports a 41.7 percent proficiency rate compared to 33 percent among Metro students. Thanks to a third-grade reading law passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2021 and implemented in the 2023-24 school year, this means two-thirds of MNPS third-graders will have to jump through a variety of hoops to be promoted to fourth grade. While most students have been promoted since the legislation took effect, it can be a time-consuming and stressful process for all those involved.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 2

BLUEY STORYTIME & PAJAMA PARTY with PARNASSUS STAFF at PARNASSUS

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REBECCA DANZENBAKER with JULIAN VACA at PARNASSUS Soulmatch

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6

6:30PM ANDREW NAJBERG

with MEGAN STOCKTON at PARNASSUS Extinction Dream

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BOOKSTORE ROMANCE DAY

10:30AM

LOVE THEMED STORYTIME with HANNAH & MADGE

1:30-2:30PM

60 SECOND LOVE POEMS with HANNAH PETERSON

3:30-4:30PM

TAROT READINGS with RACHEL RANDOLPH

6:30PM

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Scoring achievement in the most recent school year is higher in many subjects than it was before the pandemic. In a press release, Director of Schools Adrienne Battle says, “This year’s [Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program] gains show that our strategic investments and academic supports are paying off — and that our students are rising to meet and exceed the moment.”

When looking at elementary and middle school scores, 19 of 21 grade-level subject scores improved over the preceding year. Most interesting is a significant increase in fifth- and sixth-grade achievement across multiple subjects, which coincides with moving fifth-grade students back to elementary school. Since 2021, the school system has slowly been moving fifth-graders back to elementary. The process began with three of the district’s 12 “clusters,” or zones — Maplewood, Pearl-Cohn and Whites Creek — in 2021, and was completed in the most recent academic year. The scores support the claim made by MNPS when announcing the change: Fifth-graders in elementary school outperform fifth-grade students in middle schools.

“The K-5 model allows for greater continuity in instruction and school culture, which we believed would contribute to improved student performance,“ says MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted.

The results also show great gains in high school end-of-course exams, with the district’s largest percentage of students scoring proficient in a variety of subjects under current standards. While MNPS reported the highest level of student proficiency, students were also growing proficient faster than they were elsewhere in the state in multiple subjects. “The 2025 TCAP results are a powerful indicator of progress in student achievement and academic growth for Metro Nashville Public Schools,” says Dr. Erin Henrick, co-director of Nashville PEER, a research-practice partnership between MNPS and Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. “MNPS’ gains — outpacing the state in multiple subjects

One MNPS principal tells the Scene that a reason for the district’s growth in achievement is stability brought by Battle’s leadership, saying that when the district creates a new plan, it sticks with it — not always a common approach in public education. This includes implementing a School Leadership Playbook that puts principals back to focusing on improving instruction. The plan is explicit in what principals should be doing, and their trainings always align with that plan.

Battle, whose contract was renewed in October with a large salary increase, is under contract with MNPS until at least 2028. The test scores are a win for Battle, who was recently at the center of a $6.5 million settlement — one of the largest in Metro Schools’ history. In a lawsuit initially filed in 2020, five MNPS staff members accused the director of retaliation. The school board voted to approve the settlement last week — at the same meeting where board members removed references to DEI within district policy in order to comply with two laws recently passed by the state.

While MNPS is right to celebrate its testing achievements, the district still trails behind the state’s average in many subject areas. But the year-after-year gains in proficiency indicate MNPS is on an upward trajectory. “In Tennessee and nationally, MNPS is becoming a model for how large urban districts can improve through data-informed decision-making, which is the core mission of the partnership at Nashville PEER,” says Vanderbilt’s Henrick. “These results reflect more than test scores — they show a system that’s learning, adapting, and investing in what works.”

Zack Barnes, Ph.D., is an associate professor of special education and literacy at Austin Peay State University, where he researches executive function and reading development. Before APSU, he spent five years as a special education teacher in MNPS. ▼

Vanderbilt University has hired the local office of Baker Donelson to conduct an independent review of what the college says are “recent incidents” of covert recordings of its employees. According to a release, the firm “will be tasked with reviewing the specific circumstances related to the recordings and identifying steps the university can take to ensure all employees fully understand the university’s policies and consistently act in accordance.” Both Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have been in the news lately due to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, with VUMC having seen layoffs to reduce operational costs. Earlier this month, a right-wing media outlet released a covertly recorded video of a conversation with an administrator at Nashville’s Belmont University. The video prompted U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District to call for an investigation into Belmont’s DEI practices.

Kilmar Abrego García will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals for an additional 30 days, even after a ruling to grant his pretrial release. Last week, orders related to Abrego’s release came in two separate rulings from two federal judges in Nashville — U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. and U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes. The government’s attempt to keep Abrego in pretrial detention was denied July 23, when Crenshaw ordered that Abrego “should be released” and subject to standard bond conditions discussed in a previous hearing. Also on July 23, Judge Holmes ruled that Abrego will remain in custody for 30 days.

On Monday, Gov. Bill Lee and Elon Musk’s The Boring Company announced plans to dig a tunnel from downtown to the airport “beneath state-owned roadways.” The plan is for Teslas to use the tunnel to taxi passengers. Writes Scene opinion columnist Betsy Phillips, perhaps this will be a grand boondoggle that we’ll all get to witness and take delight in. “In times like this,” she writes, “a little free happiness is worth a lot.”

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

DR. ADRIENNE BATTLE

JUDSON NEWBERN ON CONSERVING NASHVILLE’S HIGHLAND RIM FOREST

Local environmental leader wants to bring further awareness to tree canopy

BY JULIANNE AKERS

THE STRETCH OF TREE canopy that lines the western border of Nashville is now considered by some local environmentalists to be the world’s largest urban forest within the limits of a major city.

trees, but to do it in places that are not as environmentally or ecologically diverse or as vulnerable as some of these slopes are.”

ON DEVELOPMENT

“Part of this is putting something in place that simply says to businesses, ‘We’re very much on board with supporting mass transit, putting density along corridors where there is development and working toward affordable housing, but in places where you do have level land that makes sense to invest.’

“Not [to] feel like it’s alienating development, because it’s not. It’s just simply trying to, in a controlled way, figure out where is the best spot. It’s where you already have the septic lines and the utilities to be supportive rather than going into a new area that ends up getting chopped up.”

One Nashville-area group is trying to increase protections for that section of trees — a part of the Western Highland Rim Forest — while also working with Metro and the state to provide additional tourism destinations apart from downtown’s honky-tonks. The Alliance to Conserve Nashville’s Highland Rim Forest recently secured a Wikipedia article for the geological area and hopes designating the forest as the largest within the city limits of an urban center will bring more awareness to the area.

Judson Newbern, lead volunteer of the alliance, recently caught up with the Scene on the current state of the group’s efforts.

ON WORKING WITH METRO

“Metro has pressure to develop, and the Planning Department asked us if we would focus looking at that northwestern corner of the county that is Joelton and Whites Creek, because that’s the cleanest water, cleanest air, and it has the most risk of creating stormwater damage if you start paving those surfaces that are now under trees and soaking up water. You get more runoff, and you could get something like Asheville [floods] happening.

ON CONSERVATION EASEMENTS

“What we’re trying to do is to get the average citizen who appreciates that they’d love to see the hill, they like the ridge lines unblemished, that if they don’t start thinking about that, it will become fragmented like some of the other cities. As you start breaking down into clearings, the natural habitat is reduced. What we want to do is get people who own these slopes to think about putting what are called conservation easements on the slope. The owner continues owning it, but it makes it so that they can put whatever limit they want. You have nonprofits that have to make sure that the easements are honored in the long term, because if someone sells the land, that easement goes with it. These nonprofits that do the long-term holding of the easement are obligated to inspect the property once a year to make sure nobody put a trailer on it or nothing has gone on that was not covered in the easement.”

ON ECOTOURISM

“Slopes are what our concern is, because Nashville does not have any protection on developing slopes. This gets into the delicate subject of the Republican agenda of letting people have any rights to their land and with no constraints. We’re not trying to simply go to an extreme, and we understand development needs to take

“We thought about, maybe along the ridge line, you could get easement put in and put trails in that could be part of the Highland Rim — just like the Cumberland Trail [in East Tennessee] — and you could start connecting these parks within Davidson. But then go to Williamson County and do an entire hike with bedand-breakfasts and all these things that would be really great for a city of this size, and it’s really kind of an unusual opportunity.” ▼

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CHECK OUT OUR 2025 READERS ’ CHOICE CATEGORIES!

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Best Art Gallery

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Best Charity Event

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Best Country Music Artist

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Best Drag Brunch

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Health, Beauty & Fitness

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October 2024) Best Patio

Pizza Best Place for a Business Lunch/Power Lunch

Poke

Place for a Romantic Dinner

Ramen

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Restaurant in Sumner Co. Best Restaurant in Williamson Co.

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Engagement Ring

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Best Wedding Venue

Best Women’s Clothing Store

Weathering the Storms

Fifteen years in, the ‘weather nerds’ at Nashville Severe Weather keep the labor of love alive

BY HANNAH HERNER

JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT on April 3, Nashville Severe Weather signed on to begin a livestream covering tornado warnings in Davidson and Williamson counties.

Seven hours and two minutes later — and after 16 tornado warnings — they signed off.

“I guess the sun is coming up,” NSWX founder David Drobny said roughly six hours and 50 minutes into the stream.

Many Middle Tennesseans stayed up with the self-described “tweeteorologists”/”media-orologists” — a peak of 511,000 viewers at one point — listening to the steady refrain, “It is not safe to go to sleep yet.”

More than a half-million viewers was a new record for the 2010-founded platform.

The top comment on the stream reads: “Guys, so supportive of your work last night — I know many of us were up and listening through most of it. We’re tired and we didn’t even do all the work! So glad y’all do what you do. THANKS.”

Another commenter adds: “This was such a help to have. My younger brother was south of me and I was able to wake him up and get him into shelter cause of this stream. The weather was crazy in Bellevue.”

Yet another: “Amazing work, thankful for you. I took my dogs and cats to the basement twice in the wee early AM and was glad to have you there with me.”

And another: “Let’s gooo no school.”

FOR THE UNINITIATED — and there are fewer and fewer of those with each Nashville-area severe weather event — Nashville Severe Weather is a local weather service run by weather hobbyists, covering only Davidson County and Williamson County. The group sends daily forecast newsletters (and memes) thanks to a robust intern program, and streams and sends live updates on social media during severe weather events.

Through Patreon pledges, the service is self-sustaining. The money pays for radar equipment, weather software and generators to keep the stream going in case of power loss — but it’s certainly not enough money for Nashville Severe Weather’s small team to quit their day jobs. So yes, after that all-nighter, they had to go to work.

The model and volunteer strategy was created by Drobny, a local lawyer who obtained radar software in 2009 and became the de facto “weather guy” among his friends. He soon got tired of texting weather updates and instead began updating people via Twitter. Then he fought to get on the inside — a proprietary chat with the National Weather Service to get professional-level data in exchange for updates from the community. It was something usually reserved for media and emergency services. More on that later.

But in June of this year, Drobny decided to leave the “weather guy” work.

“I’m emotionally and mentally exhausted from 15 years of running NSWX from the margins of my free time,” he wrote in an open letter to Nashville Severe Weather supporters.

From the outside, things will remain largely the same with Nashville Severe Weather’s remaining team members. Those include Will Minkoff, a software developer by day who’s been with the group since 2011. A 1998 tornado that tore through East Nashville spawned his interest in weather as a teen. He spent some of his high school service hours helping with cleanup.

Like Drobny, Minkoff became the “weather person” in his friend group. Drobny caught wind of Minkoff’s efforts — sorry for the pun — and invited him to lunch.

“The rest is history,” Minkoff tells the Scene

The pair soon became a two-headed monster, pledging to never miss a storm.

Like Minkoff, Andrew Leeper developed his interest in weather following the ’98 tornado.

Leeper joined the Nashville Severe Weather team in 2015 and serves as the sort of play-byplay commentator to Minkoff’s color commentary. In college, Leeper was the weather anchor on the campus TV station, but his school didn’t have a meteorology program. He ultimately entered into ministry full time, and he now serves

as the worship minister at Brentwood Hills Church of Christ.

It was Leeper who brought the organization into the streaming age in 2017.

“It was the perfect creative outlet that I’ve been looking for that didn’t exist back when I was in college,” Leeper tells the Scene. “It was really a perfect connection, where I can have a full-time job outside of weather and still be involved.”

Nashville Severe Weather was all amateurs and “weather nerds” (their term) until meteorologist Tom Johnstone joined the team earlier this year — just a few months after his retirement following 33 years with the National Weather Service.

As it happens, Johnstone was the one who

“The first thing is just acknowledging that, hey, you’re not weird or strange because you have storm anxiety. It’s a common thing, and a lot of people here struggle with it.”

—ANDREW LEEPER, NASHVILLE SEVERE WEATHER

made sure Drobny and his team got access to the National Weather Service messaging system back in 2011 — but not before rejecting Drobny at least once. It wasn’t standard practice to allow amateur weather forecasters into the fold, but Johnstone kept his eye on Drobny.

Several months after their first correspondence, there was a flash flood in Cool Springs.

“On the Nashville Severe Weather page, there were pictures of that flood happening,” Johnstone says. “And we didn’t have any idea at the National Weather Service that it was ongoing. We didn’t get a call until 30 minutes later.”

According to the Nashville Severe Weather account, it was precisely 38 minutes later.

But at the time, something clicked for Johnstone.

“Social science has taught us and experience has taught us people need more than just a warning to take action,” he says. “They need some kind of confirmation. So a report or a picture or a video really goes a long way in getting people to take a warning seriously.

“Our mission in the National Weather Service is to protect lives and property,” he continues, “and if we were not using this kind of information, this kind of partnership, we wouldn’t be able to do our jobs as well.”

For about a decade, Johnstone moved away from Nashville to work for the National Weather Service in other markets. But before that, he brought Drobny along as a shadow. Drobny attended training events, media workshops, meetings with emergency responders and ridealongs to assess storm damage. The National Weather Service has a program for training amateur storm spotters who can then report back to the organization — but according to Johnstone, Drobny and Nashville Severe Weather were much more reliable and consistent than your average amateur.

SCREENSHOT FROM NASHVILLE SEVERE WEATHER YOUTUBE COVERAGE ON APRIL 3, 2025

In 2016, Nashville Severe Weather was awarded the Walter J. Bennett Public Service Award from the National Weather Service.

“I remember standing at the podium and saying, ‘For years, I’ve been standing on the outside of the weather enterprise looking in, and this award marks, for me, inclusion into that community — that now I’m on the inside,’” Minkoff says. “That’s nice to see.”

Having been on both sides of the coin, Johnstone thinks the relationship between meteorologists and weather hobbyists like Nashville Severe is complementary. They’re each interpreting the same National Weather Service information. And TV stations do a wider overview, whereas NSWX gets more granular — drilling down into hyper-local weather-nerd territory.

What Nashville Severe Weather can’t do — as they often have to clarify — is let viewers know if school, their concert or their sporting event is canceled.

“WE DON’T BEEF with meteorologists,” Minkoff says. “If they do something stupid, we’ll say it’s stupid. If they make a dumb call or scare people, we’ll call that out.”

Many Nashville-area residents look to Nashville Severe Weather — whether it’s via their YouTube livestreams, the timeline they update on nashvillesevereweather.com or posts on one of their social media accounts — to help soothe anxiety. The NSWX team’s tone becomes more urgent when the situation does, but they won’t be jumping up and down or yelling or using the term “code red.” The livestreams feature a constant flow of simple, digestible information that creates a calming cadence for viewers.

“We’re just not about the hype,” Minkoff says. Weather is, of course, very boring a lot of the time. But it often doesn’t feel that way to Nashvillians — many of whom live through flash floods, tornadoes and other severe weather events on a yearly basis.

“The first thing is just acknowledging that, hey, you’re not weird or strange because you have storm anxiety,” Leeper says. “It’s a common thing, and a lot of people here struggle with it. I think one reason we struggle with it is we’ve been through some really devastating weather events here. We’ve seen it all, we’ve seen devastating floods, we’ve seen tornadoes that take lives in our city. We’ve seen some pretty rough stuff.”

“Everybody in Nashville knows someone that was affected by the tornadoes in 2020,” Johnstone adds. “So that makes it a little more personal. And that personalization, I think, can feed back into anxiety. ”

It has always been personal for Drobny, who has been known to call acquaintances to check in following severe weather events in their neighborhood. While the service the group provides soothes anxiety for many Nashvillians, it ultimately worsened Drobny’s anxiety — especially following several consecutive severe weather events in 2020. A page on the Nashville Severe Weather site pays tribute to Mike Dolfini and Albree Sexton, who were killed during the March 2020 tornado that wrought havoc

“We love engaging with the public. I love it when people share their stories about how we help them, because it’s motivating for us to know that that message is getting through.”

—WILL MINKOFF, NASHVILLE SEVERE WEATHER

throughout Nashville.

“I’ve run out of emotional fuel and mental energy to keep this pace going, especially since the 2020 tornado that killed Mike and Albree, then the derecho, then Waverly,” Dobry wrote in his June exit letter. “It all worked in me a trauma, which caused hypervigilance, which caused burnout.”

Members of Nashville Severe Weather have brought coverage of severe weather events to their audience while on planes, on vacation, on work trips, in the middle of the night, and through sickness. With the core three team members — plus Graham Whitford managing the group’s Instagram account, intern Elan Segadi producing their newsletters and Luke Myszka managing the website — the organization has a deep enough bench that they don’t have to be on call while on vacation. And that’s something that wasn’t true in the early days.

“If you say you’ve got it, you’ve got it, and you can’t take your eyes off it until the threat is over,” Minkoff says.

Still, the biggest challenge is balancing Nashville Severe Weather duties with family time.

“You were, you are, and you will remain: well loved by these NSWX strangers,” Dobry wrote in his farewell letter. “Please be nice to them. They work hard. Their families sacrifice a piece of themselves to run this. You are worth it.”

For Minkoff, knowing he’s helping others stay safe is enough to stave off burnout, even after 13 years doing the work. It’s not uncommon for the team to be recognized in public — some viewers recognize the faces they’ve seen in NSWX’s tiny box on the bottom right of the streaming screen.

Nashville Severe Weather thinks it’s important to meet the real people behind the follower count. During their livestreams, after all, the team members are each sitting alone, talking to a webcam.

“We love engaging with the public,” Minkoff says. “I love it when people share their stories about how we help them, because it’s motivating for us to know that that message is getting

through.”

Significant weather events have been happening more than ever before in Nashville, east of what was historically known as “Tornado Alley.” There’s also more awareness, as coverage of such events is more robust than in the past, thanks to the NSWX service and improved radar tools.

But Nashville Severe Weather focuses on the weather — a cup of water compared to the proverbial ocean of global climate.

Johnstone has expertise in climate — he studied it at The Ohio State University. While there isn’t good data on tornado frequency before 1950, the regions hit hardest by cyclones have shifted in the past 20 or so years, he says. They used to largely occupy the Southern Midwest (Oklahoma and Texas) and have moved into the Mid-South to areas surrounding population centers like Birmingham, Ala.; Louisville, Ky.; St. Louis, Mo.; Little Rock, Ark.; and, of course, Nashville. Johnstone says the shift can’t necessarily be attributed to global warming, however, since it’s difficult to parse trends with so little data history.

“If we have a tornado or a flash flood, that’s weather,” Johnstone says. “Climate can affect the odds of something happening. But climate happens on a different temporal scale, a timescale different than weather. They get conflated a lot.”

Having worked at eight different offices during his National Weather Service tenure, Johnstone says he’d never seen the community embrace a weather service the way Nashville has with NSWX. What’s more, very few cities have such a service to embrace.

“The first time that I went on live with Nash Severe back in April, our phones were blowing up,” Johnstone says. “I didn’t have an appreciation for how many people followed the live coverage. It is tens of thousands of people watching. I was at an event last night and people recognized me, and I didn’t expect that.”

DROBNY DECLINED to be interviewed for

this story. (Fair enough. In his farewell letter, he asked that people no longer ask him about weather — it would be pretty difficult to write this story without doing so.) Each of the NSWX team members says they’ll be less funny without him. And they say they’ll still use the silly terms he created for weather patterns: “Warm Nose Ned,” “Dry Air Monster” and “Crazy Ivan.” (The last is when a storm moves east to west.) They’re considering a “What Would David Do?” T-shirt for the merch shop.

“I miss him every day, but I need him to make a decision that’s the best decision for my friend David and his family, not what’s the best decision for Nashville Severe Weather,” Minkoff says. “David is a world-class hazard communicator, and his voice will be missed, but I think we’ll be able to carry that torch.”

Whether he knew it or not, Drobny was a visionary too. In a time before tweeting was quite so common, he reached people online, and he evolved with the times. Now the service he created is a key part of Nashville’s media and emergency services landscapes.

“It’s not all weather radio anymore,” Leeper says. “It’s not all TV weather anymore. It’s branched out into social media. Somebody’s got to be there. If people are going to go get their weather there, somebody needs to be there that’s giving reliable information. If it’s not us, it has to be somebody else, because that’s where people are. So we feel a burden to provide something that’s useful and reliable.”

For the Nashville Severe Weather team, it’s a service project and a chance to nerd out with fellow weather-heads. They do it for the love of the game. But for the city, it’s a resource that saves lives.

“Did not expect to cry reading that,” reads one comment on Drobny’s farewell post. “Our family lost our home in 2020 and, ‘East Nashville, get to your safe space’ could be the most important words of our lives. Thank you. A million thank yous. And long live Nashville Severe Weather.” ▼

Brother Maven is an American Rock & Soul band making waves as one of the most exciting new acts to emerge from Nashville’s diverse music scene. With soaring vocals, infectious grooves, and unforgettable melodies, Brother Maven channels the spirit of classic rock and soul while carving out a fresh, modern sound all their own.

Formed through a blend of shared musical passion and Music City networking, the band features Daniel Mason (vocals & guitar), JP Presley (lead guitar & vocals), Jeremy McCoy (bass & vocals), and Joel Burns (drums & percussion). Together, they bring a dynamic stage presenceto the stage that captivates audiences and leaves a lasting impression.

Brother Maven delivers a high-energy show fueled by raw talent, tight chemistry, and a sound that bridges generations. Don’t miss their first headlining show at 3rd & Lindsley on August 6th, with support from Lauren Gottshall.

Doors open at 6PM . Tickets are $20.

3rdandlindsley.com

Visit calendar.nashvillescene.com for more event listings

THURSDAY, JULY 31

KIDS [CATERPILLAR BUTTERFLY THING] JULES!

Rock and Roll Playhouse — the concert company that produces family-friendly tributes to Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, The Beatles, Prince and more — brings a different kind of show to Nashville this week with Jules!, an all-ages entertainer who sings original indie-folk-ish family songs about trains, pizza parties and crabby crabs. While you may not initially recognize the name on the bill, if you’ve been in the vicinity of a toddler recently, you likely know Jules from their time on Songs for Littles, the uber-popular YouTube program hosted by “Ms. Rachel” Accurso, a pre-K entertainment phenomenon. (If you know, you know.) And families attending Thursday’s late-afternoon gig can expect a few songs made famous by another sought-after children’s singer — Raffi. Jules’ latest seven-song release celebrates the Canadian forefather of kids’ music with covers of “Bananaphone,” “Baby Beluga” and others. Bonus: The gig starts early, so it should be over by bedtime. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

5 P.M. AT THE BASEMENT EAST 917 WOODLAND ST.

THURSDAY / 7.31

MUSIC

[TELL IT SLANT]

KYLE HAMLETT UNO ALBUM RELEASE

The best storytelling is seldom totally linear, with every facet cut neatly along hard edges. Often enough, the detours and ambiguities are the parts we get the most from in any kind of story. That’s definitely the case in work that songsmith and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Hamlett has been building up over the past two decades and change — with his former longtime band Lylas, in projects he’s worked on with others like Stone Jack Jones and Wooden Wand, and in his solo releases as Kyle Hamlett Uno (often aided by a fantastic rotating supporting cast that these days goes by Kyle Hamlett Uno and Friends). Produced by and recorded with Joe McMahan, Hamlett’s new fulllength The Way Out Inn features 11 songs that split the difference between sublime, somewhat eldritch folk and the ramshackle psychedelic experimentalism of bands like Califone. What is actually going on in a song like Way Out’s “Risen and Right,” a gentle waltz that runs a hand over dark feelings that linger in the wake of grief? You might not get an answer at the full-band

BARRY

release party on Thursday, but the opportunity to explore further is worth the trip. Kim Rueger’s ambient electronic project Belly Full of Stars will support, along with a reading from poet Dan Hoy.

STEPHEN TRAGESER

7 P.M. AT VINYL TAP

2038 GREENWOOD AVE.

[MAKE LIKE A TREE]

NATURE

GET A FREE TREE FROM ROOT NASHVILLE

As the Scene’s Eli Motycka reported in his Nov. 21, 2024, cover story on Nashville’s tree canopy, the benefits of urban tree cover are myriad — from mitigating what’s known as the urban heat island effect to drawing down greenhouse gases and relieving city-dwellers’ stress. According to a counter on tree-planting campaign Root Nashville’s website, the group has planted north of 50,100 trees in Davidson County since its inception. That’s a little more than 10 percent of the way to its goal: half a million trees by 2050. From now until Aug. 31, the campaign — a public-private partnership led by the Cumberland River Compact and Metro Nashville and established by then-Mayor David Briley in 2018 — is giving away free large trees to Nashville residents. By filling out a form via rootnashville.org, Nashvillians can choose from seven native species for their homes or neighborhoods; folks can even apply for community reforestation. You’ve got a month — get to it!

D. PATRICK RODGERS

VIA ROOTNASHVILLE.ORG

MUSIC

[BITTERSWEET AT FOGG STREET] BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS

It’s been 40 years since Big Head Todd and the Monsters started playing bars and clubs around CU-Boulder. But the band — known for its eclectic blend of bluesy, rockin’ jams — is still going strong, with a busy touring schedule and a steady stream of new music. Even more impressive? The group has maintained the same core lineup from the very beginning, including Todd Park Mohr on vocals and guitar, Rob Squires on bass and Brian Nevin on drums. (Jeremy Lawton joined the band in 2003, playing keys and steel guitar.) The band recently marked its 40th anniversary with a pair of sold-out shows at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. But Nashville fans can check them out Thursday, as Big Head Todd and the Monsters help kick off Fogg Street Lawn Club’s new rooftop concert series. Be sure to arrive early to enjoy the signature cocktail list and British-pub-inspired menu, and maybe even try your hand at some traditional lawn bowling. And be sure to keep an eye out for upcoming performances at Fogg Street, including Robert Randolph, Digable Planets, The California Honeydrops and more.

AMY STUMPFL

5 P.M. AT FOGG STREET LAWN CLUB

648 FOGG ST

ART [BETTER THAN ONE]

JANUS

During times of division, it can be helpful to consider all options. That’s the idea behind

Janus, a stellar group show at ZieherSmith’s new gallery space in the Edgehill neighborhood. Each of the eight exhibiting artists has contributed two faces to the exhibition, and within those parameters they showcase an incredible range and perspective. Nashvillebased artist Kimia Ferdowsi Kline’s ink-and-oilpastel-on-papyrus work “A Kinder Sea” seems simultaneously ancient and timeless — the perfect example of Janus’ ability to see both the past and the future. There are no misses here and quite a few opportunities for discovery. Japanese artist Joji Nakamura is making singular figurative works by using his fingers to apply paint directly onto the canvas, and Danish artist Henrik Godsk — whose figures recall Picasso and Patrick Nagel in equal parts — comes from one of Scandinavia’s largest traveling carnival families. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER THROUGH AUG. 16 AT ZIEHERSMITH 1207 SOUTH ST.

MUSIC [LISTEN UP]

RADIO FREE NASHVILLE 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AND BENEFIT

Nashville is very, very lucky to have robust independent radio to cut through the static of our crowded terrestrial commercial radio market. Radio Free Nashville, broadcasting on 103.7 and 107.1 FM, began as an idea shortly after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed for extensive ownership consolidation — and, let’s be honest, enshittification — in the world of corporate radio. After running the extensive gauntlet of FCC bureaucracy (and clearing some last-minute weather-related hurdles), the station signed on in April 2005 and has been bringing hours and hours of community radio to the airwaves ever since, from left-wing talk shows to indie rock, local hip-hop and beyond. Twenty years later, the station remains an independent entity reliant on volunteers, and still needs community support to carry on its mission. Come out to Thursday’s benefit show with an open heart, open wallet and open ears for pop and rock acts like Dave Cathro 3, songsmiths like Jon Byrd, the multifaceted avant-garde stylings of DadFad, punkabilly outfit Broken Members

and more. STEPHEN TRAGESER 6 P.M. AT THE COBRA

2511 GALLATIN AVE.

FRIDAY / 8.1

FILM

[LET’S GO TO THE MEOW-VIES] CATVIDEOFEST 2025

With the dawn of the internet came one of its most democratic forms of entertainment: cat videos. One of the first videos ever uploaded to YouTube was site co-founder Steve Chen’s cat Pajamas dancing to Nick Drake. In the 20 years since, videos of our aloof, mysterious friends have dominated the internet, created cat celebrities such as Grumpy Cat, Lil Bub and Maru, and amassed more than 26 billion views on YouTube alone. Don’t count out animated cats as part of this sensation; who can forget Nyan Cat, the pink Pop-Tart kitty who flies through space on a rainbow? In an America’s Funniest Home Videos-type presentation, the Belcourt will screen a curated collection of felines on film during its annual CatVideoFest. You have six days to check out the 74-minute compilation of cat videos, and your admission will support a pawstigious cause, as a portion of the proceeds will go toward the Cat Colony Food Pantry of Nashville. KATHLEEN HARRINGTON

AUG. 1-7 AT THE BELCOURT

2102 BELCOURT AVE.

BOOKS [BLOOD HARMONY] BARRY MAZOR AUTHOR EVENT

Music journalist and author Barry Mazor spent three-and-a-half years working on his new book, Blood Harmony: The Everly Brothers Story, and the result is the definitive biography of the influential duo. Blood Harmony was published on July 22 by Da Capo, and Mazor will discuss his 416-page tome on Friday morning in the Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. While there have been previous books on the Everlys, Mazor is the first author to cover their entire lives, and he does so in a highly readable and thoroughly sourced fashion. The title refers to the Appalachian style of singing the brothers

took to the top of the charts in the mid-’50s through the early ’60s — a style that influenced countless rock, country and Americana artists to follow. “Of the 10 original inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they were the only ones without one or more substantial biographies like this,” Mazor tells the Scene. “So this felt like it was needed, and I just hope I did them justice.” Former Rolling Stone Country editor Jon Freeman, a new addition to the museum’s staff, will lead the discussion, which will include a reading by Mazor from the book. DARYL SANDERS 11 A.M. AT THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM’S TAYLOR SWIFT EDUCATION CENTER

222 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY. S.

SATURDAY / 8.2

SPORTS [A TRIP ACROSS THE POND] NASHVILLE SC VS. ASTON VILLA

For the first time in franchise history, Nashville SC is set to take on a team from one of Europe’s “big five” leagues — England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1 — as Premier League club Aston Villa is making the long trip from Birmingham, England, to face the scorching-hot Boys in Gold. The match is just a “friendly,” which in soccer parlance means a noncompetitive game played between two teams outside of a tournament or league setting, so there aren’t necessarily major stakes involved. But it will be an opportunity to see how the hometown club stacks up against a more formidable overseas opponent; Aston Villa finished sixth in the Premier League for the 2024-25 season. I’m sure NSC’s 2025 all-star trio — Sam Surridge, Hany Mukhtar and Andy Najar — will give AVFC all they can handle. LOGAN BUTTS

4 P.M. AT GEODIS PARK 501 BENTON AVE.

MUSIC [THESE BONES] MUSIC AND CONVERSATION: THE FAIRFIELD FOUR

Saturday afternoon at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ford Theater, author and Penn State professor emeritus Jerry Zolten will lead a discussion about the legendary gospel vocal group The Fairfield Four. A leading authority on Black gospel music, Zolten produced a pair of albums involving the group — the 2001 Fairfield Four album Wreckin’ the House (Live at Mt. Hope) and 2002’s Beautiful Stars, a solo project featuring the group’s renowned bass singer Isaac Freeman and his backing group the Bluebloods. Zolten will be joined on the program by current group members Levert Allison, Larrice Byrd Sr., Bobbye Sherrell and Joe Thompson, as well as former member George Woods. “It’s not that The Fairfield Four were the greatest vocalizers in the world,” Zolten tells the Scene. “They were excellent, but I think it’s that they represent the quintessential example of a Black gospel quartet that had a grassroots campaign, a lot of savvy, a lot of musical talent, and they were able to use radio and records to launch a national career.”

JANUS

Presented in support of the museum’s Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm and Blues Revisited exhibit, the program will focus on the members’ memories of their work with the quartet and of growing up in Nashville. It will also include a brief performance. DARYL SANDERS

2:30 P.M. AT THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM’S FORD THEATER

222 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY. S.

ART [BOARD MEETING] WILL SUTTON: TENNESSEE SUMMER, WALTER FOREVER

SPORTS/MUSIC

Tennessee Summer, Walter Forever is Chattanooga-based artist Will Sutton’s debut solo exhibition. His playful installation of discarded materials creates a memory map leading to both thrills and grief in this exploration of Tennessee skateboard culture. The display includes humorous drawings and what the press release calls “pitiful objects.” This show is half whimsy and half wipeout. The “Walter Forever” mentioned in Sutton’s title is a common graffiti tag in Chattanooga, memorializing a friend whose passing inspired the artist to look at the skateboarding subculture as fertile ground for a creative project. I love Sutton’s combining of high concepts, stoner athletics and discarded materials. To close the exhibition on Aug. 23 at 11 a.m., Sutton will lead a panel of Tennessee skateboarders in sharing their experiences. After the panel, the public is invited to a skate session at the Two Rivers Skatepark. JOE NOLAN OPENING RECEPTION 1 P.M.; THROUGH AUG. 23 AT COOP GALLERY

507 HAGAN ST.

ART [FLEUR POUVOIR] FLEURS DE VILLES: ARTISTE

Business is about to pick up at The Basement East. If you’re looking for big, beefy men slapping meat in Nashville, Classic City Wrestling is back in town. The Southern “rock ’n’ wrestling” promotion will be making a stop at The Beast for a slam-filled Saturday night barn burner. The show will be stacked with a packed card full of talent. You can catch a slobberknocker between the Cody Rhodestrained upcomer The Warden as he takes on CCW’s own Austin Towers. And the CCW title belt will be defended by current champ “The Hoochie Daddy” Najasism. The whole roster of Classic City is a strong showing of new wrestlers on their way up, as the promotion bounces around the Southeast region. CCW’s shows always come fully loaded with rock ’n’ roll, having boasted acts like Alabama trash-blues heroes The Dexateens and local riff-rock riffraff Hans Condor. For the August gig, The Beast will host Thrashville crossover unit Waxed. Waxed’s aggressive rage and lockdown groove straddle the line between thrash metal and hardcore punk, with riffs tougher than a two-dollar steak. P.J. KINZER

8 P.M. AT THE BASEMENT EAST

197 WOODLAND ST.

SUNDAY / 8.3

FILM

[IT’S THE PICTURES THAT GOT SMALL] FATHOM’S BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: SUNSET BOULEVARD 75TH

ANNIVERSARY

Fleurs de Villes has become something of a global sensation over the past few years, dazzling audiences with more than 130 bespoke flower events presented across five countries. With its upcoming Cheekwood debut, the organization promises a particularly colorful celebration inspired by the historic estate’s esteemed art and porcelain collection. Presented as part of Fleurs de Villes’ ongoing ARTISTE series, the show will feature 13 fresh floral mannequins, all created by some of Nashville’s top floral designers. Scattered throughout Cheekwood’s Botanic Hall, Frist Learning Center and the Historic Mansion and Museum, the eye-popping exhibition invites visitors to explore the mansion and gardens, voting for their favorite designs. You can also enjoy a host of related offerings and events during the exhibition — including a kickoff summer soirée (Aug. 1), a sip-and-stroll cocktail crawl (Aug. 2) and a roses-and-rosé event (Aug. 6), along with themed workshops and classes and drop-in conversations with featured floral designers and Cheekwood curators. It’s a perfect excuse to get out to Cheekwood this week, and a unique way to experience some of the city’s finest floral artists. AMY STUMPFL

AUG. 2-10 AT CHEEKWOOD

1200 FORREST PARK DRIVE

With all the bad press they’ve been receiving lately, maybe the folks at Paramount should’ve told Fathom Events to cancel the 75th anniversary screenings of Sunset Boulevard. Billy Wilder’s satirical, gleefully cynical noir kinda sticks it to the studio, which released it in 1950. Silver-screen seductress Gloria Swanson gives her most memorable — and Oscar-nominated — performance by basically playing a batshit version of herself. As former silent-movie star Norma Desmond, Swanson is a deliciously unhinged drama queen. She throws herself into a toxic affair with a struggling screenwriter (William Holden), whom she hires to doctor a script she believes will bring her back to the picture show. She wants to work with old pal Cecil B. DeMille (who shows up as himself) over at Paramount, but the studio would rather work with her vintage luxury car (driven by her waytoo-dedicated butler, played by Greed director Erich von Stroheim) than the old-and-washed diva. Beating The Substance by three-quarters of a century, this beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy was one of the first films to mock Hollywood’s savage practice of chewing up and spitting out stars — especially female stars. Visit fathomevents.com for showtimes. CRAIG D. LINDSEY AUG. 3-4 AT LOCAL AMC AND REGAL

VANDOLIERS

W/ NATE BERGMAN THU, 7/31

JULIA DIGRAZIA W/ SIERRA CARSON FRI, 8/1

HARBOUR W/ ABBY HOLIDAY FRI, 8/1

BRENDAN WALTER SAT, 8/2

OZOMATLI THU, 8/7

CHIDDY BANG FRI, 8/8

CONGRESS THE BAND SAT, 8/9

CHARLOTTE LAWRENCE W/ TAYLOR BICKETT TUE, 8/12

HAIDEN HENDERSON WED, 8/13

JAKE MINCH W/ HANA BRYANNE TUE, 8/19

NASHVILLE MINIFEST WED, 8/20

EMO NIGHT BROOKLYN SAT, 8/23

PSYCHOSTICK

W/ POLKADOT CADAVER SAT, 8/23

PALMER THU, 8/28

RIOT SAT, 8/30

MONDAY / 8.4

MUSIC

[TONK THE

TONK]

ROBERT’S WESTERN WORLD FAN FAIR

When locals who typically shun Lower Broadway get a request from out-of-town friends or family to go honky-tonkin’ — or get a wild hair to dip into the neon maelstrom themselves — one perpetual stop is Robert’s Western World. The venerable watering hole’s recipe of simple but good fare, cold beer and live traditional country music never appeared broken, so no one has tried to fix it. The venue hosted a block party last year celebrating 25 years under the stewardship of JesseLee Jones, singer-songwriter and leader of house band Brazilbilly. They’re reprising it Monday as the free all-day, all-ages Robert’s Western World Fan Fair, featuring performances on indoor and outdoor stages from Brazilbilly and other house acts like Kelley’s Heroes, Joshua Hedley and The Cowpokes. Surprises are to be expected, but top-notch special guests like Elizabeth Cook, Marcus King, Chuck Mead and The Travelin’ McCourys are confirmed to appear. Among much more: The “Wanted for Steelin’” pedal-steel celebration once again honors the building’s history as the former home of Sho-Bud Steel Guitar Company; Western swing mega-band Eddie Slide and His Cowtown Dozen will play; and veteran dance instructor Laura Mae Socks will play host and conduct two-stepping lessons. STEPHEN TRAGESER 10 A.M. INSIDE AND OUTSIDE ROBERT’S WESTERN WORLD

LOWER BROADWAY BETWEEN FOURTH AVENUE AND REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY

FILM

[AND THAT’S THE DOUBLE TRUTH, RUTH] MUSIC CITY MONDAYS: DO THE RIGHT THING

I still remember the hell Do the Right Thing raised when it hit theaters back in 1989. Fresh from wowing crowds at the Cannes Film Festival, Spike Lee’s incendiary portrait of the racial tensions that bubble throughout a very hot day in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant — Bed-Stuy, for short — scared a lot of white critics. David Denby infamously said it might incite audiences to choose violence. Some white folks got it: Siskel and Ebert loved the film so much that they

devoted a whole episode of their show to Lee and his take-no-prisoners filmmaking style. Lee throws himself into the on-screen mix as Mookie, the main delivery guy for Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, owned by no-nonsense Italian Sal (Danny Aiello, who got a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance). Samuel L. Jackson, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, husband-and-wife icons Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, a young Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez (who memorably dances her ass off in the Public Enemy-scored opening credits) are just some of the players in this sweltering classic. CRAIG D. LINDSEY 3:20 & 8 P.M. AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

TUESDAY / 8.5

MUSIC [ON THE BORDER] SALUTE THE SONGBIRD LIVE RECORDING FEAT. MAGGIE ROSE & S.G. GOODMAN

The fourth season of singer-songwriter Maggie Rose’s interview series with innovative female musicians, Salute the Songbird, continues with a talk and performance with Kentucky singer S.G. Goodman. On her own, Rose makes high-level pop-soul-folk-country that evokes the likes of John Lennon and Simon & Garfunkel. Her 2024 album No One Gets Out Alive is Nashville-ized singer-songwriter music at its best. Meanwhile, Goodman — born in Union City, Tenn., and raised in nearby Hickman, Ky. — rewrites various indie-rock and folk forms in service of a specifically Southern lyricism on her new album Planting by the Signs Planting is about growing up rural with dreams of the outside world, with Goodman’s spare, nuanced take on post-punk driving home her themes. Planting rocks out in a stylized way, but it benefits from the quieter tracks that Goodman closes out the record with. If I’ve heard a song as moving and surprising as Planting’s “Snapping Turtle” in a while, I can’t recall it. As a person who grew up in the weird Tennessee-Kentucky border area myself, in Clarksville, I relate to Goodman’s themes. The latest installment of Salute the Songbird will feature a combination of interview and live performance. EDD HURT 7:30 P.M. AT CHIEF’S ON BROADWAY 200 BROADWAY

WE’RE ALL FAMILIAR with the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” But it’s hard to live that adage when there isn’t a village square. If there isn’t a place for caregivers to gather with their kids and get to know each other, to let the kids play, for adults to share advice and responsibilities, the maxim is little more than a bumper sticker.

Enter Woodland Play Cafe. Opened earlier this month in the former home of East Nashville bar The Crying Wolf, Woodland Play is designed to help villagers get together.

Brittney Farrow, a mother of two, had a vision of a place where caregivers could get together and let their kids play in a safe environment while grown-ups talked, drank coffee and maybe checked some emails. There are other play cafes in the suburbs — such as Nido in Mt. Juliet — and other cities, but there aren’t any in East Nashville. (Farrow used to live in East Nashville, though she and her family now live in Madison.) Farrow started dreaming about creating the kind of space she as a mother would use, and she as an entrepreneur wanted to build. Farrow’s research showed that parents don’t want to drive more than 20 minutes to get to a play cafe, so she wanted to put hers in a neighborhood where families live. At one point, she almost gave up, having not been able to find commercial property that she could afford with landlords who were interested. “They would say, ‘We don’t want a day care here,’” Farrow tells the Scene. “They were not even listening.” But once she found building owner Adam Leibowitz, who has been her advocate as well as her landlord, she was ready to get to village-building. In some ways, it’s easier to explain what Woodland Play Cafe is not. It’s not Chuck E. Cheese. There are no animatronics, no primary colors, no feeling that you need to walk through a shower of disinfectant when you leave. It’s not a day care either — it’s not somewhere for parents or nannies to drop kids off.

Woodland Play Cafe is the third place for parents and their kids. Farrow’s children — 7-yearold Smith and 4-year-old Emilia — helped her develop the idea, as did her professional background in event planning.

There’s Wi-Fi for parents whose kids are old enough to play on the custom play structure on their own. And because there will be six to eight parents in one relatively small space, it’s not designed as a place to take a phone or video call — it’s instead intended for quicker tasks like checking email before parents return to playing with kids and chatting with other parents and caregivers.

The business model is intended for memberships (between $139 and $219 per month), which allow two hours per day for each kid in the family, plus discounts on classes, priority booking and some free coffee and pastries. Farrow says

PLAY TIME

Woodland Play Cafe is a new third place for parents and kids to hang together

BY MARGARET LITTMAN

most kids have about a two-hour limit for a play experience (less for younger kids), so having the membership plan makes it easier for a family to visit several times per week for a short period.

The cafe is open Monday through Saturday, with extended hours on Thursdays. Farrow is open to feedback from customers about what hours will work best for neighborhood families.

Memberships and pricing are based on kids — not adults — so the nanny can bring a kid one day, and Dad can come the next using the same membership.

Reservations are recommended, as capacity is limited to 25 kids so that it never feels overwhelming or too crowded. Non-members (or folks who want to just check it out) can book a two-hour session for $27 for a parent and child, and $20 for each additional sibling. Farrow also hopes families traveling to Nashville will take advantage of the opportunity to play together

in the neighborhood before or after exploring other kid-friendly attractions.

Farrow collaborated with Jade Hartley of Jade Amber Studio, an interior architectural design firm, to create play structures and spaces that were both fun and safe for children, while also appealing to adults. Hartley was able to offer solutions that she might not be able to give in a more traditional hospitality space. For example, in the classroom area, walls could not touch the ceiling due to HVAC constraints — so the walls come up to a point, making the space “look like a cute little house,” she says.

Woodland Play Cafe is rooted in Montessori philosophy — an approach in which kids are encouraged to learn at their own pace. Farrow’s mother-in-law Linda was a Montessori teacher, and the element of encouraging kids to explore their imagination was a guiding factor in Hartley’s design. The aesthetic includes blond wood

and pastel colors. Initially, Farrow wanted to have Legos, but she found their bright colors didn’t work with the vibe. Then the team found wooden Legos that offered the opportunity for creative play and fit with the relaxing aesthetic.

“I really want to foster independence in this space,” Farrow says.

There are doorways that are adult-size and others scaled for “littles.” The same applies to toilets and hand-washing stations. “It makes them feel included in the space,” Hartley says. The space is fully ADA accessible and has play areas and toys intended for kids with a variety of interests and sensibilities.

In less than 3,000 square feet, Woodland Play Cafe has play areas, the classroom, the adult hangout space and the small cafe, plus an enclosed patio with a large garage door in the works. The building design makes it possible for parents to sit outside and be able to see and supervise kids who are playing inside. There’s currently a pretend grocery store space, but Hartley says that may change in the future — the play cafe is an “ever-developing project” intended to stay fresh for the team, the parents and the kids.

While the entrance to Woodland Play Cafe is located on South Ninth Street, its name originates from the building’s street address, 823 Woodland St. Farrow leaned into it, incorporating a woodland theme with woodland creatures like a fox featured in some of the graphics. The team is making most of the small (nutfree) food menu, including Bento box-style options designed for kids. (Think fancy, buildyour-own Lunchables.) There are specialty drinks and popsicles and a rotating menu of pastries provided by different East Nashville cottage bakers. The staff is experienced working with food, coffee and kids. Farrow is developing a schedule around which parents can plan. For example, one day will be the water-play day (outside on a soonto-open patio) and others will be music days (in conjunction with neighbor Tenn Little Birds).

After years of thinking and planning and building, Farrow quit her job earlier this year to devote herself full time to Woodland Play Cafe and its village. She hopes to eventually expand to other Nashville neighborhoods too.

“This is a place where moms want to go,” Farrow says. “No mom wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Man, I can’t wait to go to Chuck E. Cheese.’ But you do, because that’s where your kids want to go. I want this to be somewhere moms can’t wait to go, and their kids can’t wait to go.” ▼

Woodland Play Cafe

823 Woodland St., Suite D woodlandplaycafe.com

PHOTOS: ANGELINA

CASTILLO

BRITTNEY FARROW

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2

GENERAL ADMISSION

25 local boutiques from 1-4pm

VIP ADMISSION

All the benefits of a GA ticket PLUS

• First dibs at the sales with early access at noon

• Complimentary beverage

• Tote bag full of gifts

PARTICIPATING BOUTIQUES

/ Brittany Fuson Fab’rik Franklin / Flash & Trash & a Little Bit of Sass Hollie Ray Boutique / Palmer Kennedy

Style with a Twist / Vinnie Louise

WHEN PEOPLE ASK me about the challenges facing Nashville’s art scene, I usually default to lamenting the high cost of real estate before enthusing about the local trend of independent curators. These DIY arts organizers are creating nomadic gallery programming in response to the challenges of more permanent brickand-mortar displays. One of the newest faces among Nashville’s independent curators is John Holmes.

Holmes was studying audio engineering at SAE Institute in 2020, but when the pandemic hit, he moved to New Orleans. Holmes moved back to Nashville in the fall of last year, and he’s already organized a handful of interactive newmedia-art happenings in domestic spaces and galleries like Buchanan Arts and Coop.

“I was very socially isolated in New Orleans,” Holmes tells the Scene. “Coming back to Nashville, I did the thing where you try to make new friends as an adult. … Basically, I was just trying to meet people with common interests and make friends, and have these conversations about technology and philosophy.”

His meet-ups and exhibitions since returning to Nashville have focused on interactive works combining tech and aesthetics, and his events have included contributions from local new-media-nauts like video artist Morgan Higby-Flowers, new-media sculptor and photographer Caleb McLaughlin, analog video artist Tuna Cat, and creative technologist DEDZ.

Holmes curates his interactive art and technology exhibitions under the banner of New Media Nashville, the organization he founded and directs. NMN is focused on empowering audiences to better understand the pervasive presence and influence of technology.

“I really love technology and always have,” he says, “and yet ‘technology’ is ruining my life, all of our lives, and the world around us.”

Holmes says experiencing technology through interactive art can create breakthroughs in understanding. These breakthroughs reveal the control paradigms that technological networks can represent and reinforce.

Holmes started NMN after finding very little techcentric art in the city’s galleries and institutions. Over the years, Cheekwood and the Frist Art Museum have done major new-media shows, and Coop’s original outpost in the Arcade was partly inspired by a desire to build an audience for new-media art in Nashville. Vanderbilt University Museum of Art hosted a great video exhibition in 2024 — Gloss: A Measured Response to New Video Art — and Unrequited Leisure eventually focused on a segment of new media dubbed “screen-based” programming during its storied run between 2019 and 2024. But since Unrequited Leisure left its space at The Packing Plant, the local dialogue between art and ma-

TECH SUPPORT

Can Nashville stay plugged into new media? We look to New Media Nashville’s John Holmes for an answer.

BY JOE NOLAN

chines has gone rather quiet.

New-media art has been driven by the technological advancements heralded by Gutenberg and his printing press. But the cultural revolution created in the wake of the relentless progress of the machines has been shaped by artists’ reactions to printing and broadcasting, robotics and artificial intelligence. And the evolution of the concepts and methods that define new media can be traced from the Dada artists of the early 20th century, to the Fluxus artists of the 1960s, to the digital artists of today. Tristan Tzara, Yoko Ono and Beeple are the holy trinity of new media’s gospel of art and tech, proclaiming the good news of material liberation, the appeal of the random, an emphasis on process over product, and the democratizing of art-making.

Dada’s anti-art radicalism challenged what could be thought of as art. Marcel Duchamp’s readymades were everyday objects reframed as art sculptures, and prefigured new media’s interactions of art and technology. They elevated the commonplace and expanded the materials and techniques for artistic creation. Fluxus co-founder Dick Higgins coined the term “intermedia” to describe artists working between disciplines, and John Cage’s experimental musi-

cal compositions embraced chance in a manner that redefined the role of the artist as auteur.

Cage, using the ancient Chinese text I Ching to divine his musical changes, points directly to contemporary new-media artists exploring algorithmic and generative processes. Cities like Austin, Texas, and Portland, Ore., have established digital art festivals and dedicated new-media programming at their contemporary art centers. This could be Nashville, but it feels like we’re playing when it comes to embracing and celebrating these new categories of art.

It’s against this backdrop that Holmes is building Nashville’s new-media community.

“If the thing I want doesn’t exist, I will attempt to create it,” he says. “I’m just making the things that I want to see, that’s basically how I’ve always approached artmaking.”

Holmes was a musician and an audio engineering student before he discovered the possibilities of new media. An interest in psychedelic culture led to his moniker — The Shaman — and one senses that the title also reflects Holmes’ knack for bringing people together and creating communities. Nashville has shown a consistent appetite for new-media work, and there have been regular local examples of artists doing interesting projects with sound and vision and

tech. Unrequited Leisure put out a recent call for new-media artists for an upcoming exhibition with The Wrong Biennale, and Begonia Labs has expanded the city’s art/tech displays. New Media Nashville is putting a focus on local new-media artists, with Holmes shaping a collaborative community that is similar to Coop in its early days — in fact, Holmes is a member of that group today. Holmes’ event-focused organization gives artists and audiences — and machines — a common space and level ground to experience one another, and to communicate about our possible futures.

The question facing Nashville isn’t whether the city has the creative talent or cultural appetite for new-media art — Holmes’ programming proves both exist in abundance. The question is whether the city’s institutions will recognize what’s happening in domestic spaces and pop-up displays, and help build the infrastructure to support it. Until they do, Nashville will keep losing ground to cities that understand the future of art won’t be contained within gallery walls — it’s happening everywhere technology and creativity intersect. In the meantime, Holmes is keeping Nashville’s contemporary art scene logged-in — one interactive art happening at a time. ▼

PHOTO: H.N. JAMES

JOHN HOLMES

In the Club is a recurring series in which the Scene explores local social club offerings.

ON A RECENT sunny summer afternoon, the women of Mahjong & Magnolias gather at a home in Franklin. The group of friends gets together once a week to eat lunch, share stories and — of course — play mahjong.

The goal of the traditional Chinese tilebased game is to be the first player to complete one of the hands on a mahjong playing card. There are many options — the National Mah Jongg League releases new cards each year. It can certainly be overwhelming at first, but if you can relate the game to something you’re already familiar with — like the card game rummy — you’ll start to see the parallels and form sets and runs with your 14 tiles by drawing and discarding as you look for the numbers, suits and special tiles to form your chosen hand.

These ladies first learned how to play mahjong in 2019 when Paige Cleveland asked other moms of Battle Ground Academy students if they’d like to learn. After a teacher came out to show them the basics, Cleveland — along with Meg Dillard, Sarah Hodrick, Lyn Knopf, Mary Looney, Jennifer Parker and Karen Such — began to meet on Wednesdays for an afternoon game.

“I never dreamed we’d still be doing it six years later,” Cleveland says. “It started out as just playing, but then we were like, ‘Why doesn’t everyone get dressed up? … Wouldn’t it be fun for whoever’s hosting?’ You can pull out … everything you registered for [when you got married] that you never use.”

The gathering turned into more than just an opportunity to play a game — it’s a moment for the group’s Southern hospitality to shine. They get dressed up, and each member takes a turn hosting, building a tablescape for lunch and setting out carefully curated mahjong tables. Six years later, not only are they still meeting, they also run the popular Mahjong & Magnolias Instagram account (@mahjongandmagnolias), which has more than 23,000 followers. There and on the group’s website, they share everything from where to get dresses to what kinds of tablecloths they prefer. They even started creating their own mahjong playing cards. Right now they sell a “South” and a “Nashville” card, and they plan to release a “Merry Mahjong” holiday card later this year.

“We started [saying], ‘We could do these Southern cards, we could do these state cards,’” Knopf explains, “and it was a natural progression that we made with hosting [to say], ‘Let’s do coasters, let’s do napkin holders.’” She says working together has been a fun way to see how each of the moms brings something to the table from their previous line of work.

MAHJONG & MAGNOLIAS

Playing with the ladies who bring Southern hospitality to a traditional Chinese game

BY NICOLLE PRAINO

Mahjong Mondays

5-7 p.m. every Monday at Fork of the South, 230 Franklin Road in Franklin

Cleveland agrees, saying they couldn’t do what they’re doing now without each of the special touches that everyone brings.

“With launching the Instagram [account],” Hodrick says, “there were so many people that wanted to either come play or wanted to know how we got started. And we want this for other people too. We want them to know how to start a group.”

Mahjong & Magnolias has put people who reached out in touch with teachers and with

one another so they can start their own groups. For those who want to learn for themselves, Fork of the South in The Factory at Franklin hosts a weekly Mahjong Monday, where people of all playing levels are welcome. Fork of the South owner Stefanie Gorman says she just wants everyone to come and feel welcome at her table.

“If you just want to be like the casual player,” Gorman says, “I think that you can come every week and build those skills and not feel as intimidated.”

Gorman says she loves that every week she has Monday to look forward to — gathering with friends, catching up and playing the game. ▼

MAHJONG & MAGNOLIAS IS A CLOSED GROUP, BUT FORK OF THE SOUTH HOSTS MAHJONG MONDAYS EVERY WEEK.

PHOTOS: ERIC ENGLAND

and MATT MCCLURE and Hosted by JETT JURGENSMEYER

GARCIA Birthday Bash featuring COSMIC CHARLIE

MUSIC ON YOUR OWN RECOGNIZANCE

Life Behind Bars reflects major personal and artistic changes for Vandoliers

BY BRITTNEY MCKENNA

IN THE DECADE Jenni Rose has performed as part of Vandoliers, she’s never seen a response to the band’s music quite like she has over the past few months. The lead vocalist and guitarist is on her first tour with the Texas-based country-punk sextet since coming out as a transgender woman earlier this year. That shift in her personal life is coinciding with a shift for the band.

“The biggest difference from what we have been doing for the last 10 years, versus what we are doing now, is I feel like there’s like an emotional connection now that wasn’t there,” Rose tells the Scene. “The shows feel even more important, or powerful. It’s hard to describe, but people are singing these new songs very intensely. … It just wasn’t like that with our other work.”

After coming out to friends and family in late 2024, Rose came out to Vandoliers fans and the broader public in April, sharing the story of her self-discovery journey in an emotional interview with Rolling Stone. That experience is reflected in the band’s powerful new album Life Behind Bars, released in late June, and seems to be reflected in crowds showing up for the band’s current tour in support of the LP too.

“There are more people, because we’ve gotten more exposure,” Rose says. “But it’s also different now. There are a lot of women, a lot of queer folk, and it’s younger. It’s been really great to play for this new audience, and to see them catch on to something like this has been really surreal.”

To make Life Behind Bars, a follow-up to the band’s 2022 self-titled LP, Vandoliers tapped veteran producer Ted Hutt, known for his work with Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Lucero and more. They set up shop to record for two weeks at famed Texas studio complex Sonic Ranch. Rose recalls seeing Hutt’s name on records she’s loved throughout her life and thought his vision would be a great fit for Vandoliers.

“I couldn’t think of a better person to co-create with, so I just started putting it out in the universe,” she says. “I think my idea, when I pitched it to him, was like, ‘I don’t give a fuck about writing a hit single. I just want to make something meaningful.’ And I guess he latched on to that part of it, because there wasn’t the commercial pressure that he was used to. I also told him I didn’t have any money. We didn’t have a label, and we didn’t really know what was going to happen. But he was like, ‘Just send me some songs.’”

Rose sent Hutt material she wrote while the band toured Europe. She noted that she penned the pieces while still drinking but shared them with Hutt nine days after she decided to get sober. A non-drinker himself, Hutt found a kindred spirit in Rose. In Hutt, Rose found an encouraging and honest collaborator, as he often “pushed her to dig” into the emotions driving her writing. That digging yielded not just better songs but a season of awakening for Rose, who began to see her internal (and at that time private) struggle with gender dysphoria reflected in her writing.

“So we got to go to Sonic Ranch for two weeks with Grammy Award-winning Ted Hutt to write this career-altering album,” Rose says. “And then I find out I’m a girl. I really came to grips with it in my bungalow at the studio, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, oh no.’ I’m writing all these songs, and Ted’s making me dig really deep, and then all this shit is starting to come out. I’m like, ‘How am I going to explain these songs to these people?’”

Those conversations generally went more easily than Rose anticipated, and the many emotions she experienced found their way into Life Behind Bars. The resulting album is the band’s most

dynamic record yet, retaining the rough and rowdy sound that made Vandoliers beloved while including rawer, quieter moments that put more focus on the often vulnerable narratives at the heart of each song.

Highlights include “You Can’t Party With the Lights On,” a collaboration with Joshua Ray Walker and Taylor Hunnicutt that pairs a raucous arrangement with a melancholy lyric. Also a standout is the title track, which likens denying one’s true self to being in a prison of one’s own making.

“We all feel trapped by something in our lives, almost everyone,” says trumpet and keys player Cory Graves, who’s also on our call. “So it’s really relatable on this broad scale, which I think is why people are latching on to it, and why the chorus is so cathar-

tic to scream out at the concert.”

Seeing fans sing along to these new songs just weeks after their release is rewarding for the band, though it’s the strong sense of community radiating from the audience that sticks with Rose the most. She is especially touched by meeting young queer people and their parents, and feels proud that Vandoliers have created a space where people of all backgrounds can feel welcome and included.

“Kids are getting picked on right now by our government, so hard in pretty much every realm,” says Rose. “And it’s not just trans kids. But the parents of trans kids and the trans kids that have come to my shows — I just feel so honored to hear from them and to be up there singing for them.” ▼

Playing 8 p.m. Thursday, July 31, at Row One Stage at Cannery Hall

CLOSING UP SHOP

Beloved DIY venue The Mouthhole gets ready to go out in style

BY P.J. KINZER

RUNNING A DIY SHOW space in your home is a thankless job. And while nobody expects it to be a cash cow, the good folks who run these venues often sink a great deal of their own money and time into the enterprise. For that reason, unique Nashville spots like this have a high turnover rate, leaving behind nothing but a gilded memory. Fondly remembered places like the Acklen House, The Glass Menage and The Other Basement all burned brightly before flaming out in relatively short order. One Music City home, however, has been the site of basement shows for an astonishing 12 years.

Since 2013, a trio of musicians and longtime friends — Michael Sadler and brothers Travis and Zac Caffrey — have been hosting free live performances at the home they share, dubbed The Mouthhole. That incredible run comes to a close in August, when the literal underground venue hosts the 11th and final Fest(er), the crew’s annual weekend of Mouthhole music and art. The residents will soon be relocating to a new house in South Nashville.

“The place is just kind of falling apart,” Sadler explains of the current Mouthhole house. “And we’re in a situation where the landlord — the guy that owns this house — owns, like, hundreds of houses in Nashville. He doesn’t take care of them. We’ve gone for about eight years without central heat and air. The roof is slowly caving in. And it’s things that we haven’t been able to facilitate fixing ourselves.”

The trio no longer felt safe living in the house and made a plan to move. They announced their intentions via a GoFundMe campaign in late

May and were able to purchase a new house together. While they’ll continue to make music and book and host shows, those will generally be at other venues, not their new home.

“We had some help from a very generous friend that just loaned us the money to put a down payment on a place,” says Sadler. “We’re not really gonna do the same thing there. We’ll have parties and maybe a few backyard things. We’re not set up there to have a space like [the current Mouthhole]. So it will inherently be a lower-impact kind of thing.”

As an example of what to expect, Sadler points to The Psycho’s Quiz Show, a kind of live game show with musical accompaniment that the group has been putting on at Springwater on the second Friday of each month for about a year. (The next installment is set for Friday, Aug. 8.) But for now, Fest(er) XI will close out this chapter of The Mouthhole on Aug. 1 and 2.

Zac Caffrey will play Friday night, likely donning an ape mask onstage with Chop Chop Chang, his synthesizer-based homage to a chimp NASA launched into space in 1961. Other

acts that night include the dance-floor hooks of Caroline Red and the ominous dirge of Cavehole. Travis Caffrey and Sadler will follow up Saturday night in their sharp-witted and Beefhearted duo The Chewers. Among many others, they’ll be joined by wry comedian Cortney Warner, local psych-rocking outfit Heinous Orca and Cookeville rockers The Dog’s Body, fresh off the release of The Deer of Wisdom via Knoxville’s Gezellig Records.

Appropriately for a venue called The Mouthhole, its openness — with its denizens intentionally being inviting to the audience and performers alike — is what has made it special. Sadler is justifiably proud of the work he and his friends have done in their home and the legacy it leaves behind, and he’s looking forward to the possibility of welcoming people who’ve never gotten to experience The Mouthhole to the final Fest(er).

“And I’ll just put out a personal challenge to all the young kids: Beat it,” Sadler says with a note of defiant hope. “Beat 12 years.” ▼

Fest(er) XI Aug. 1-2 at The Mouthhole

PHOTOS: ANGELINA CASTILLO

FROM LEFT: ZAC CAFFREY, MICHAEL SADLER AND TRAVIS CAFFREY AT THE MOUTHHOLE, 7/27/2024

ZIONA RILEY AT THE MOUTHHOLE, 7/27/2024

Friday, August 1

BOOK TALK

Barry Mazor

Discusses the Everly Brothers

11:00 am

TAYLOR SWIFT EDUCATION CENTER

Saturday, August 2

SONGWRITER SESSION

Cameron Bedell

NOON · FORD THEATER

Saturday, August 2

MUSIC AND CONVERSATION

The Fairfield Four

2:30 pm · FORD THEATER

Sunday, August 3

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Andy May

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, August 9

SONGWRITER SESSION

Rob Williford

NOON · FORD THEATER

WITNESS HISTORY

Local Kids Always Visit Free

Saturday, August 9

HATCH SHOW PRINT

Block Party

3:00 pm · HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP

Sunday, August 10

HATCH SHOW PRINT

Family

Block Party

9:30 am · HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP

Sunday, August 10

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Mat Maxwell

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Wednesday, August 13

LOUISE SCRUGGS MEMORIAL FORUM

Honoring Alison Brown

6:30 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, August 16

SONGWRITER SESSION

Jessi Alexander

NOON · FORD THEATER

Plan a trip to the Museum this summer! Local youth 18 and under who are residents of Nashville-Davidson and bordering counties always visit free, plus 25% off admission for up to two accompanying adults.

8.1

8.2

8.3

8.5

8.6

8.9

From platinum-selling chart-toppers to underground icons, household names to undiscovered gems, Chief’s Neon Steeple is committed to bringing the very best national and regional talent back to Broadway.

From pla hif’N h t

AUGUST LINE UP

Alex Williams Album Release Show

Josh Ward

Livin’ The Write Life w/ Barrett Baber, Kyle Whittaker, Josee Champoux, Brittany Elise, Jesse Felder, Adysen Malek, Jacquie Roar

Salute The Songbird With Maggie Rose, Special Guest: S.G. Goodman

Hell’s Belles - The World Famous All-Female AC/DC Tribute

8.8 Adysen Malek Radio Launch Party w/ Special Guests Caryn Dixon, and Jessica Nixon

Keith Anderson - The Pickin Wildflowers 20th Anniversary Tour

8.13 Aaron Raitiere

8.14

8.15

Stellar Unplugged w/ Adam Blackstone, Dana Soréy, Miles Minnick

Aaron Nichols & The Travellers - Chris Stapleton Tribute

WRITERS’ ROUNDS AT CHIEF’S

8.16

William Michael Morgan

8.17 Pick Pick Pass w/ Kevin Mac, Marla Cannon-Goodman, Faith Schueler

8.19 Chief’s Outsiders Round Presents Country In Color: Skyelor Anderson & Ben Kadlecek w/ Guests Brei Carter, Daya Dorado, Travis McCready, Trae Taylor

8.20 Ashes & Arrows

8.21

Danny Burns - Southern Sky Album Release

8.23 Sammy Sadler & Dave Gibson - The Hits & History Tour

8.25 Buddy’s Place w/ Garrett Jacobs, Ryan Larkins, Lauren Mascitti

8.27 Thom Shepherd Presents The Songwriters w/ Special Guests Shawn Camp, Phil O’Donnell

8.28 The Warren Brothers

8.30 Love and Theft

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.

MUSIC: THE SPIN

SHAKIN’ ALL OVER

BY HANNAH CRON

ALABAMA SHAKES ARE BACK! After releasing their Grammy-winning second album Sound & Color in 2015 and touring to support it, the soulful Southern rock group that has become legendary in our time went on indefinite hiatus. In the meantime, frontwoman and Nashvillian Brittany Howard released two highly acclaimed solo albums, and both bassist Zac Cockrell and guitarist Heath Fogg kept working on music as well, but the Shakes as fans knew them since their meteoric rise began in 2011 were seemingly dead. Lo, there was an early Christmas miracle in December: The Shakes played a surprise reunion show in Tuscaloosa to support an independent music venue. Now they’re back on the road and better than ever with new music on the horizon.

Friday’s show at Ascend Amphitheater kicked off with Nashville soul star Alanna Royale. In the wake of her 2023 LP Trouble Is — which recently hit its third pressing on vinyl — she’s been opening a string of dates for the Shakes. With her wig teased to high heaven and her classically cool vocals dialed in and her band on point as always, Royale provided the perfect start to the hot summer evening.

Next up, Louisiana-born folk artist Caleb Elliott charmed the crowd with his easy-breezy melodies. He brought to the stage cheeky lyricism — “passive-aggressive like a good Southerner,” as Elliott described his songs — and a stacked band, including the Shakes’ Cockrell pulling double duty.

As the sky turned to dusk, the familiar sounds of cricket chirps and an old CCR song crept in over the loudspeakers, and at last Alabama Shakes took the stage. After a trio of songs from their debut album Boys & Girls (“Hang Loose,” “I Ain’t the Same,” “I Found You”), the band settled into a set list made up mostly of songs from Sound & Color, including all three of the bonus tracks released on the deluxe edition in 2021 during the group’s hiatus. So many of those songs written a decade ago or more speak with a prescient knowledge of our shared stresses today. “Dunes” is a perfect example — between the refrain of “I’m losing it!” repeated so often throughout the song, the lyrics alternate between a hope for something better and the unending plague of questions, as Howard wails: “I don’t know whose problem it is / I don’t know whose fuck to give.”

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone at this point, but Brittany Howard knows how to work a crowd. Even before she unleashes her otherworldly voice that demands every bit of attention to be had, Howard has the audience wrapped around her finger. In the lead-up to “Miss You,” she regaled the crowd with the story behind the song, in which a family friend steals Jack Daniel’s from a parked train at Christmastime and unsurprisingly ends up doing time. She’s told the story to massive

crowds before, but Howard speaks with such candor and humor that it feels as though she’s letting you in on a secret. It’s masterful, and it’s a part of why the band has endured so memorably through years of inactivity.

“Hold On” is likely the Shakes’ most famous and oft-played song, but even still there was a feeling throughout the crowd that everyone needed to hear it on this day, in this moment. That’s the overarching message of Alabama Shakes’ discography: The idea that there’s something bigger, something better, something worth fighting for, if only we can stick together and keep going. And despite everything, Alabama Shakes have kept going.

The band played two unreleased songs debuted during this run of shows, “American Dream” and “Another Life,” perhaps a taste of a new record to come. (Photos posted to the Shakes’ social media earlier this year certainly make it a tantalizing possibility.) The group isn’t done trying to make something better out of this world, and we shouldn’t be either. Before ending the night with “Always Alright,” Howard left her adopted hometown with a charge: “Don’t let nobody scare you inside. Don’t let nobody scare you indoors. Don’t let nobody scare you apart. We’re gonna take care of each other.” ▼

SIMPLE SANDWICH MAN

Tyler Childers performed his new album Snipe Hunter during a surprise pop-up at Turkey and the Wolf Ice House

BY ANNIE PARNELL

MONDAY AFTERNOON, Kentucky country songsmith Tyler Childers hosted a free pop-up show to celebrate his new album Snipe Hunter at East Nashville sandwich spot Turkey and the Wolf Ice House. Childers began the set with “Old Country Church,” a Hank Williams cover featured on his 2022 release Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? that he told the audience was the first song he ever learned to play. Then, with the crowd-pleasing love ballad “Oneida,” he launched into a full playthrough of Snipe Hunter, which is available now via his RCA Records imprint Hickman Holler Records.

Fittingly, Snipe Hunter offers commentary on Childers’ skyrocketing to fame — these days, it’s rare to see him play anywhere smaller than a stadium. (Case in point: He’s set to play Oct. 10 and 11 at Geodis Park.)

“Cuttin’ Teeth,” his love letter to longtime backing band The Food Stamps, hit home in the intimate, no-frills setting, as did the zealously delivered line, “Have you ever got to hold and blow a thousand fucking dollars?” from “Eatin’ Big Time.”

“Hosting a soft open for an album in a sandwich shop — that’s eatin’ big time, ain’t it?” Childers quipped between songs.

Offerings of the afternoon included ice-cold Budweiser, a merch pop-up from Childers’ Hickman Holler Hunting Club and a special limited-time-only sandwich. The Snipe Sandwich featured a helping of chicken-fried Spam, house-made hot English mustard, herbed mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, pickles, dill, red onion and hot sauce on a seeded Martin’s roll.

PLAYING OCT. 10 AND 11 AT GEODIS PARK

As Childers told the crowd, though, his usual Turkey and the Wolf order is the restaurant’s famous Collard Melt: slow-cooked collard greens, Swiss cheese, pickled cherry pepper dressing and coleslaw on toasted rye. Or in his words, “a whole bunch of green stuff.”

PHOTOS: ANGELINA CASTILLO

GOT TO COME ON UP: ALABAMA SHAKES

BODY-HORROR FREAKS — I mean, fans — have been feasting on some truly disgusting films over the past half-decade. That’s thanks to gross-out instant classics like Coralie Fargeat’s Best Picture-nominated The Substance, Julia Ducournau’s Titane and king of the subgenre David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future. Michael Shanks’ feature-film debut Together is the latest addition to the new-school disgusterpiece canon.

That said, Together is far from an actual masterpiece. The story is thin, and the themes are well-trodden in the world of genre cinema. But it’s absolutely a first-ballot inductee into the Stomach-Churning Movie Hall of Fame.

Real-life married couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco star as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple moving from their apartment in the city (presumably New York City, but it could be any Northeast metro area) to a more remote spot a few hours upstate. Millie is taking a new job as a teacher at a small-town school. Tim, an emotionally stunted guy who still believes he’s going to become a rock star in his mid-30s, is struggling with the move.

It’s been a rocky few months in the lead-up to the move. To Tim, whose parents are both dead, moving away means leaving behind his friends, who he feels are the only family he knows. This sense of separation anxiety — coupled with the stress of the move and a sense of being stuck with one person in a remote home — causes Tim to close off from Millie in numerous ways. The couple wonder if they need some time apart.

One weekend after moving in, the two decide to hike one of the many forest trails near their new home. After getting lost (and failing to properly make use of the compass app on Tim’s smartphone), they end up falling into a cave filled with the ruins of what appears to be an old church. Lacking water and a way out, they drink from a pool in the creepy cave before spending the night there. If you’ve seen even a single hor-

ror movie, you know this does not bode well for our protagonists.

Tim begins experiencing bizarre issues. When he and Millie are apart, he quickly becomes overwhelmingly weak, his body nearly on autopilot. The recurring nightmares about his parents’ gruesome deaths get worse. He wakes up one night choking on Millie’s hair. Millie chalks all this up to Tim’s mental state following the move. But once Millie begins experiencing the same symptoms, the body-horror chaos truly begins. I won’t spoil the fun, but cults, the Spice Girls and Hollywood’s most underrated character actor Damon Herriman (who played Charles Manson in BOTH Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Netflix’s Mindhunter) are involved.

Together’s themes are on-the-nose, and it’s clear this is Shanks’ first time directing a feature film. It’s thanks to Brie, Franco and — perhaps most importantly — the film’s practical effects and makeup teams that the movie is as effective as it is. Our lead actors’ baked-in chemistry and comedy chops endear you to the couple. And the practical effects are truly gnarly. I’ll never look at a reciprocating saw the same way again. With the dreamlike surroundings and horrific humor, Together feels ripped straight from the Ari Aster playbook. Cornel Wilczek’s score even sounds a bit like The Haxan Cloak’s work in Midsommar and Beau Is Afraid

But the cast and below-the-line crew make Together stand out as a worthwhile outing for horror fans. Make sure to bring your barf bag. ▼ Together R, 102 minutes Now playing at the Belcourt and local AMC and Regal theaters

1 “You stink, ump!”

4 Hoppy brew, for short

7 Bygone jeans brand whose name means “happiness” in Hebrew

13 757 or 767

15 Recess

16 Bell for the telephone, for one

17 Secured by a slip

18 John Lennon’s middle name after 1969

19 Hurricane / Nor’easter

21 “The ability to be ill-atease inconspicuously,” per Earl Wilson

23 Downed

24 Eponymous Belgian town

26 ___ chic

29 Bell location, often

32 Must give

35 Erupting with noise

36 Pundit / Tsar

39 Author who predicted electric submarines 15 years before they were invented

40 Down state

41 Forces offshore

44 Word with six or sea

45 Casual refusal

46 Some roadside accommoda-tions, in brief

48 It’s a fact!

52 Cleaver / Dagger

57 Onetime Japanese P.M. Shinzo ___

58 Cocktail of tequila, lime juice and grapefruit soda

59 They try to admit the worst first, informally

61 Got things going

62 Travelers in covered wagons

63 Marquis name?

64 Brillo competitor

65 Choice words … which are necessary to interpret the answers to 19-, 36- and 52-Across and 10- and 33-Down

6 Boxing site

7 Baby fish with pink, coho and sockeye varieties

8 Potato, in Indian cuisine

9 Boat with broad, square ends

10 Sees / Espies

11 Takes a role too far

12 Governor Lamont of Connecticut

13 Music export from Tokyo, informally

14 Like looks from mom and dad, say

20 Music export from Seoul

22 Breast plates?

25 Atmospheric prefix

27 Info found, appropriately, in “ticket agent”

28 Apt nickname for a gumbo chef

56 Grandson of Adam and Eve

58 Lead-in to cast

60 Car that went defunct in 1936

Online subscriptions: Today’s

1 Original name for “bingo,” after the bits used to cover the playing cards

2 First Holy Roman emperor to be called “the Great”

3 “Hurray!”

4 Loving

5 Part of a jury pool

30 Kind of average

31 City up the coast from Cleveland, OH

32 Accessory for Broadway’s Phantom

33 Wells / Mouths

34 Certain rehab docs

37 Experienced

38 Love lines?

39 Dutch cousin of Mac or Ben

42 Centipede setting

43 Long-running police procedural filmed in N.Y.C.

47 Puts one’s foot down

49 Police weapon

50 App-driven rides

51 Interfere (with)

53 Covid-19, colloquially

54 Used social media for private notes, informally

55 The “Amigos” of film, e.g.

PUZZLE BY SIMEON SEIGEL

Real Property entered on April 25, 2025, the Davidson County Sheriff’s Department will offer to sale to the highest bidder, for cash, the interest of Charles J. Fenton, in the following real property located at 2647 Delk Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37208, Map/Parcel 081 - 100-048.00 (the “Property”) and described as follows:

Legal Description: The Property is described in the Quitclaim Deed dated April 28, 2021, of record at Instrument No. 202106080076678, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee.

Street Address: The street address of the Property is believed to be 2647 Delk Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37208, but such address is not part of the legal description of the property. In the event of any discrepancy, the legal description herein sha ll control.

Land in Davidson County, Tennessee, being Lot No. 44 on the revised plan of Normal Heights –Section 2, as of record in Book 2330, page 54, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee, to which plan reference is hereby made for a more complete and a ccurate legal description.

Being the same property conveyed to Charles J. Felton by the Quitclaim Deed dated April 28, 2021, of record at Instrument No. 20210608-0076678, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee.

At 9:00 o’clock A.M., on Thursday, August 21, 2025, on the steps of the historic Davidson County Courthouse, 1 Public Square, Nashville, Tennessee 37201, the Sheriff will sell the above property for payment toward said judgment together with all expenses a nd legal costs accruing.

TERMS OF SALE: Cash, Certified Check, Receipt on Judgment from Plaintiff, or credit of not less than 6 months. Pursuant to Sale Order: bidding will start at $116,650.00, pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 265-115; high bidder will be required to execute a written sale agreement at conclusion of bidding; Plaintiff is allowed to credit bid; redemption rights and equity of redemption are waived, pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-8-101(2); the sale shall be approved and confirmed by the Davidson County General Sessions Court, the Court which issued the process directing this Sale; and the Sheriff shall provide the deed described at Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-8-111 after entry of the order of confirmation of the sale and after confirmation of payment to Plaintiff.

RWA) and analyze the reasons for changes. Requires a B+5 yrs. of exp. Can work remotely. (ref. code 001444). Qualified Applicants apply through SHProfRecruitingcc@ubs.com. Please reference 001444. NO CALLS PLEASE. EOE/M/F/D/V. #LI-DNP.

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

By virtue of an execution and Levy issued by the General Sessions Court of Davidson County, Tennessee, in 611 Live Life Lane, LLC, Plaintiff, vs. Charles J. Fenton, Defendant, Davidson County General Sessions Court Docket No. 24GT8149, as well as that Order

Directing the Davidson County Sheriff to Conduct Judicial Sale of Real Property entered on April 25, 2025, the Davidson County Sheriff’s Department will offer to sale to the highest bidder, for cash, the interest of Charles J. Fenton, in the following real property located at 2647 Delk Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37208, Map/Parcel 081 - 100-048.00 (the “Property”) and described as follows:

This sale is made pursuant to Tenn. R. Civ. P. 69.07(4) and Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-5-101, et. seq. and is in satisfaction (whole or in part depending on amount of sale) of the judgment in favor of 611 Live Life Lane, LLC by that Judgment dated September 3 0, 2024, in the original base amount of $23,526.11, plus all post - judgment interest since the entry of the Judgment, sale expenses and costs, and court costs. All property is sold “as is.” No warranties or guarantees are made, expressed or implied.

Other interested parties receiving notice: Metropolitan Development Housing Agency; Samaroo Development Group; Robert Reed f/u/b State Farm; American Heritage, Inc.

At 9:00 o’clock A.M., on Thursday, August 21, 2025, on the steps of the historic Davidson County Courthouse, 1 Public Square, Nashville, Tennessee 37201, the Sheriff will sell the above property for payment toward said judgment together with all expenses a nd legal costs accruing.

As of July 1, 2025, notices pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 35-5- 101 et seq. are posted online at www. https://foreclosuretennessee.com by a third-party internet posting company. Questions related to the sale or the underlying debt can be addressed to: David Anthony, attorney for judgment creditor, at: Exo Legal PLLC; P.O. Box 121616, Nashville, Tennessee 37212; 615 -869-0634; david@exolegal.com. THIS 17th day of July, 2025.

By: Davidson County Sheriff For Publication in and on: The Nashville Scene: July 17, 2025; July 24, 2025; July 31, 2025

UBS Business Solutions US LLC has the following position in Nashville, TN. Associate Director, Transaction Monitoring to ensure sound risk coverage, adequate quantitative model assessment and validation, and data quality completeness and integrity. Requires a M+4 yrs. of exp. or a PhD+1 yr. of exp. as an equivalent alternative. Can work remotely. (ref. code 001423). Qualified Applicants apply through SHProfRecruitingcc@ubs.com. Please reference 001423. NO CALLS PLEASE. EOE/M/F/D/V. #LI-DNP.

UBS Business Solutions US LLC has the following positions in Nashville, TN. Associate Director, Software Engineer to develop Oracle database solutions in monitoring and oversight by analyzing business functional and technical requirements and assist in implementing them. Requires B+8yrs. exp. Can work remotely. (ref. code 001566). Qualified Applicants apply through SHProfRecruitingcc@ubs.com. Please reference 001566. NO CALLS PLEASE. EOE/M/F/D/V. #LI-DNP.

UBS Business Solutions US LLC has the following positions in Nashville, TN. Associate Director, Risk Control Specialist to Assist in the ongoing management of market risk governance and framework. Requires B+6yrs. exp. Can work remotely. (ref. code(s) 002558). Qualified Applicants apply through SHProfRecruitingcc@ubs.com. Please reference 002558. NO CALLS PLEASE. EOE/M/F/D/V. #LI-DNP.

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TERMS OF SALE: Cash, Certified Check, Receipt on Judgment from Plaintiff, or credit of not less than 6 months. Pursuant to Sale Order: bidding will start at $116,650.00, pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 265-115; high bidder will be required to execute a written sale agreement at conclusion of bidding; Plaintiff is allowed to credit bid; redemption rights and equity of redemption are waived, pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-8-101(2); the sale shall be approved and confirmed by the Davidson County General Sessions Court, the Court which issued the process directing this Sale; and the Sheriff shall provide the deed described at Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-8-111 after entry of the order of confirmation of the sale and after confirmation of payment to Plaintiff.

UBS Business Solutions US LLC has the following position in Nashville, TN. Associate Director, Risk Reporting & Analysis Specialist to monitor the risk measures (VaR, Stress, RWA) and analyze the reasons for changes. Requires a B+5 yrs. of exp. Can work remotely. (ref. code 001444). Qualified Applicants apply through SHProfRecruitingcc@ubs.com. Please reference 001444. NO CALLS PLEASE. EOE/M/F/D/V. #LI-DNP.

Legal Description: The Property is described in the Quitclaim Deed dated April 28, 2021, of record at Instrument No. 202106080076678, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee. Street Address: The street address of the Property is believed to be 2647 Delk Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37208, but such address is not part of the legal description of the property. In the event of any discrepancy, the legal description herein sha ll control. Land in Davidson County, Tennessee, being Lot No. 44 on the revised plan of Normal Heights –Section 2, as of record in Book 2330, page 54, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee, to which plan reference is hereby made for a more complete and a ccurate legal description. Being the same property conveyed to Charles J. Felton by the Quitclaim Deed dated April 28, 2021, of record at Instrument No. 20210608-0076678, Register’s Office for Davidson County, Tennessee. This sale is made pursuant to Tenn. R. Civ. P. 69.07(4) and Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-5-101, et. seq. and is in satisfaction (whole or in part depending on amount of sale) of the judgment in favor of 611 Live Life Lane, LLC by that Judgment dated September 3 0, 2024, in the original base amount of $23,526.11, plus all post - judgment interest since the entry of the Judgment, sale expenses and costs, and court costs. All property is sold “as is.” No warranties or guarantees are made, expressed or implied. Other interested parties receiving notice: Metropolitan Development Housing Agency; Samaroo Development Group; Robert Reed f/u/b State Farm; American Heritage, Inc. At 9:00 o’clock A.M., on Thursday, August 21,

As of July 1, 2025, notices pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 35-5- 101 et seq. are posted online at www. https://foreclosuretennessee.com by a third-party internet posting company. Questions related to the sale or the underlying debt can be addressed to: David Anthony, attorney for judgment creditor, at: Exo Legal PLLC; P.O. Box 121616, Nashville, Tennessee 37212; 615 -869-0634; david@exolegal.com. THIS 17th day of July, 2025.

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Senior Big Data Engineer (HCA Management Services LP, Nashville, TN)(Multiple Pos) Req Bach (US/frgn eqv) in CS or rel; 5 yrs IT exp; 3 yrs Data Eng exp; 1 yr exp w/GCP platform; 1 yr exp w/GCP Svs & Hadoop app dsg & implementation; 1 yr exp w/GKE, BQ, Dataflow, PubSub, Streaming, Java, Python, Scala, SQL, JSON, Avro, Parquet, & Kafka; 1 yr exp w/NoSQL or RDBMS db; 1 yr exp w/CI, CD, Git, & deployment proc; 1 yr exp deploying Big Data Tech to Prod; 1 yr exp w/agile app dev, file sys mgt, & DevOps discipline; 1 yr exp w/shortcycle iterations. Email resume to Elaine.Healy@hcahealthcar e.com.

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