Nashville Scene 8-7-25 by FW Publishing

STATE SKIRTS CITY AS TESLA TUNNEL MOVES CLOSER TO REALITY

>> PAGE 7 NEWS: POLICE ACROSS TENNESSEE ARE USING POWERFUL PHONE-HACKING TECH >> PAGE 10

HAT CREATES WOVEN ART INSTALLATION INSIDE NASHVILLE AIRPORT >> PAGE 33 FILM: LOCALLY SHOT SKETCH IS A FUNNY, FRIGHTENING FAMILY MOVIE >> PAGE 43

From Gulf Shores and Ocean Springs to Bristol and Lexington, here are our recommendations for late-summer getaways

WITNESS HISTORY

Master embroiderer Viola Grae created the fantastical scene on these boots from Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors to commemorate Hank Thompson’s career-launching 1948 hit, “Humpty Dumpty Heart.”

From the exhibit Sing Me Back Home: Folk Roots to the Present

RESERVE TODAY

artifact: Courtesy of Hank Thompson artifact photo: Bob Delevante

Metropolitik: State Skirts City as Tesla Tunnel Moves Closer to Reality

Local officials say Music City Loop proposal from Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has moved too quickly with too little information BY ELI MOTYCKA

Franklin Man Faces Deportation After Old DUI Jeopardizes DACA Status

Jose Reyes helped police investigate a child-sexual-assault case. Now his family wants to know why he could be deported. BY HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

Police Across Tennessee Are Using Powerful Phone-Hacking Tech

MNPD’s use of the controversial GrayKey tool raises privacy concerns BY NICK PIPITONE

Pith in the Wind

This week on the Scene’s news and politics blog

COVER PACKAGE: THE ROAD TRIP ISSUE

Gulf Shores, Ala., and Ocean Springs, Miss.

Here’s to sand and sun — a tale of two beaches, seven hours south BY MARGARET LITTMAN

Lexington, Ky.

This blue-dot city makes our writer feel nostalgic for Nashville circa 2010

BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

Atlanta

Museums, parks, food and cemeteries fill Georgia’s buzzing capital city BY JULIANNE AKERS

Bristol, Tenn./Va.

This Appalachian city split between two states has entertainment for country music fans and esoterics alike

BY ANNIE PARNELL

Cleveland, Ga.

A pilgrimage to BabyLand General Hospital, plus river and casino lessons BY HANNAH HERNER

CRITICS’ PICKS

Tomato Art Fest, Akira Kurosawa: A Retrospective, The Weeknd, Dalima Kapten and more

Weaving Magic

Design team New Hat has created a woven art installation inside Nashville’s airport BY CAT ACREE

Golden Moments

Lydi Conklin’s debut novel Songs of No Provenance is as tender as it is unruly BY AMANDA HAGGARD; CHAPTER16.ORG

MUSIC

Lightning in a Bottle

Ashley Monroe reflects on the unexpected turns of her journey on Tennessee Lightning BY BOBBIE JEAN SAWYER

Say Howdy Sounds of Welcome aims to support Middle Tennessee’s new community members BY MARGARET LITTMAN

The Spin

The Scene’s live-review column checks out Jack White at The Blue Room and Vandoliers at Row One Stage BY MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER AND ANNIE PARNELL

Drawing Influences

Sketch is a funny, frightening, family-friendly dose of fantasy from Nashville’s own Seth Worley BY LOGAN BUTTS

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD AND THIS MODERN WORLD

MARKETPLACE

ON THE COVER:

Illustration by Kat Conde

SUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER: nashvillescene.com/site/forms/subscription_services

PRINT: nashvillesceneshop.com

CONTACT TO ADVERTISE: msmith@nashvillescene.com EDITOR: prodgers@nashvillescene.com

Loving & Selling Nashville for 35+

In my 35+ years living and working in Nashville, I’ve navigated the twists, turns and now expansive growth of this wonderful place. Let me help you make the best choices in your biggest investment — real estate. I’m so grateful for my clients’ great reviews, repeat business and continued referrals. I’d love the opportunity to help make your Real Estate Goals a reality!

Buy • Sell • Invest

Proud to now be with Onward Real

and

New Hat installation at BNA • PHOTO BY LOELLE STUDIOS

COMING SOON

WHO WE ARE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF D. Patrick Rodgers

MANAGING EDITOR Alejandro Ramirez

SENIOR EDITOR Dana Kopp Franklin

ARTS EDITOR Laura Hutson Hunter

MUSIC AND LISTINGS EDITOR Stephen Trageser

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Logan Butts

AUDIENCE EDITOR Annie Parnell

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Jack Silverman

STAFF WRITERS Julianne Akers, John Glennon, Hannah Herner, Hamilton Matthew Masters, Eli Motycka, Nicolle Praino, William Williams

SENIOR FILM CRITIC Jason Shawhan

EDITORIAL INTERN Kathleen Harrington

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Cat Acree, Sadaf Ahsan, Ken Arnold, Ben Arthur, Radley Balko, Bailey Brantingham, Ashley Brantley, Maria Browning, Steve Cavendish, Chris Chamberlain, Rachel Cholst, Lance Conzett, Hannah Cron, Connor Daryani, Tina Dominguez, Stephen Elliott, Steve Erickson, Jayme Foltz, Adam Gold, Kashif Andrew Graham, Seth Graves, Kim Green, Amanda Haggard, Steven Hale, Edd Hurt, Jennifer Justus, P.J. Kinzer, Janet Kurtz, J.R. Lind, Craig D. Lindsey, Margaret Littman, Sean L. Maloney, Brittney McKenna, Addie Moore, Marissa R. Moss, Noel Murray, Joe Nolan, Katherine Oung, Betsy Phillips, John Pitcher, Margaret Renkl, Daryl Sanders, Nadine Smith, Ashley Spurgeon Shamban, Amy Stumpfl, Cole Villena, Kay West, Nicole Williams, Ron Wynn, Kelsey Young, Charlie Zaillian

ART DIRECTOR Elizabeth Jones

PHOTOGRAPHERS Angelina Castillo, Eric England, Matt Masters

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Sandi Harrison, Tracey Starck, Mary Louise Meadors

GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERN Anna Creviston

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Christie Passarello

MARKETING AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Robin Fomusa

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS AND EVENTS MANAGER Alissa Wetzel

PUBLISHER Mike Smith

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Michael Jezewski

SENIOR ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS CONSULTANTS

Teresa Birdsong, Olivia Britton, Carla Mathis, Heather Cantrell Mullins, Niki Tyree

ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS CONSULTANTS

Kailey Idziak, Rena Ivanov, Allie Muirhead, Andrea Vasquez

SALES OPERATIONS MANAGER Chelon Hill Hasty

ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS ASSOCIATES Audry Houle, Jack Stejskal

SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR Susan Torregrossa

PRESIDENT Mike Smith

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Todd Patton

CORPORATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Elizabeth Jones

IT DIRECTOR John Schaeffer

DIGITAL DIRECTOR Caroline Prater

CIRCULATION AND DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR Gary Minnis

FW PUBLISHING LLC

High View Cottages is a thoughtfully-designed community of 3- and 4- bedroom homes featuring midcentury modern inspired architecture and several inviting outdoor spaces. Perched on a hillside loop road, Phase 3 is the final section of the neighborhood and offers some of the best locations and views in the neighborhood alongside some significant upgrades that are now included in the standard pricing.

STARTING AT $614,900

EAST NASHVILLE

Welcome to The Haysboro. This boutique condo community in East Nashville’s sought-after Inglewood neighborhood blends timeless architecture with modern comfort. Enjoy thoughtful design, a vibrant community atmosphere, and flexible zoning that lets you grow with your space. Whether you’re seeking your first home, a low-maintenance lifestyle, or a place with walkable neighborhood charm, The Haysboro delivers. And don’t miss a visit to E+ROSE Wellness Café located just off the stylish lobby. Limited-time pricing and seller concessions available—contact us for details.

STARTING AT $300,000 INGLEWOOD

ABOUT

LEARN MORE

THE HAYSBORO

LEARN MORE ABOUT HIGH VIEW COTTAGES

STATE SKIRTS CITY AS TESLA TUNNEL MOVES CLOSER TO REALITY

Local officials say Music City Loop proposal from Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has moved too quickly with too little information

BY ELI MOTYCKA

Metropolitik is a recurring column featuring the Scene’s analysis of Metro dealings.

FEW OBSTACLES REMAIN for a proposed underground tunnel project connecting downtown Nashville with the city’s airport. State Republican leaders have swiftly commandeered the process past local opposition — much of it concerned with the project’s billionaire backer Elon Musk — turning the infrastructure moonshot into a symbol of the ruling party’s hostility toward Nashville and disregard for democratic principles.

The Boring Company, a private tunneling outfit among Musk’s vast business holdings, began staging its Nashville project in mid-July. The company’s scant record includes the 1.7-mile Las Vegas Convention Center Loop. Promising eight-minute travel times in Teslas between the city’s two tourist hubs, the Music City Loop presented a flashy match for Nashville’s wellknown transit woes, and major conservative figures lined up to tout the tunnel as a victory for MAGA’s superstar entrepreneur. Their narrative casts the project as an ideological victory: In an instant, juggernaut capitalism could save the hapless liberal capital. Blowing past normal bureaucratic processes is a feature, not an oversight.

Gov. Bill Lee substantiated months of rumors with an official project announcement on July 28 generously sprinkled with adjectives like “innovative,” “bold,” “forward-thinking” and “forward-looking.”

“As Nashville International Airport continues to set passenger records and our city experiences an economic boom, the Boring Company’s investment in the Music City Loop will help ease growing pains and

address transportation challenges at zero cost to Tennessee taxpayers,” added U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn in the announcement. “The Boring Company could not have picked a better new home for this state-of-the-art tunneling technology than Nashville, and I look forward to seeing the tremendous impact this investment will have on our city and its residents.”

Blackburn’s son, Chad Blackburn, appeared with The Boring Company CEO Steven Davis and local investor Landon Gibbs, whom the younger Blackburn called a “good friend” in a social media post, at the airport launch event. A close relationship between Gibbs and Boring Company executives helped kick-start the project, according to Chad.

Airport CEO Doug Kreulen backs the project, as does the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. Musk’s big selling point was the no cash or financing; instead, The Boring Company will get long-term use of the land for free, starting with a two-year lease on a downtown parking lot approved by the State Building Commission on July 31. State Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson — among the handful of state executives in Lee’s inner circle — presided over the lease approval, which began with harsh words for Bryson and state leaders during a short public comment period. Many speakers during the public comment brought up tunneling challenges presented by the city’s infamous limestone bedrock.

Minutes after the meeting ended, a young Boring Company employee pulled into the parking lot on Rosa L. Parks Boulevard. He declined the Scene’s questions, responding only that he was “here to work” before closing the fence behind him.

Critics, led by state lawmakers including Rep. Justin Jones and Sens. Heidi Campbell and Charlane Oliver — all Democrats — have criticized the speed and secrecy with which the tunnel project has cleared normal bureaucratic hurdles. Jones, whose state House District 52 includes the airport, reported being shut out of the announcement event at BNA and denied further information about the project.

Oliver featured lawmakers and community groups at a press conference following the lease approval.

“We have residents, we have elected officials, Metro councilmembers here — everyone was excluded from this decision today,” Oliver began the event. She recounted questions about the project’s cost, compensation structure, geological impact and lack of coordination with local and regional planning bodies.

“Who is the state working for?” Oliver asked. “Who is The Boring Company working for? It’s not serving Nashville. I’ll leave it at that.”

Campbell encouraged Tennesseans to see the project in a broader context of anti-democratic efforts by Republicans to eliminate dissent. Soon, Campbell says, the state may attempt to de-charter Nashville altogether, robbing the capital of all local governing power. Kevin Roberts, CEO of conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, pitched state lawmakers on that very idea at a recent conference.

“Just a few days later, we see that the governor is selling the ground beneath our feet,” Campbell said. “In light of this obscene and financially irresponsible power grab by the controlling party in Tennessee, the push to rubber-stamp Musk’s tunnel with zero public input becomes all the more alarming. It’s a direct assault on the democratic self-governance

“WE HAVE RESIDENTS, WE HAVE ELECTED OFFICIALS, METRO COUNCILMEMBERS HERE — EVERYONE WAS EXCLUDED FROM THIS DECISION TODAY.”

—SEN. CHARLANE OLIVER

of our city.”

At-Large Councilmember Delishia Porterfield also spoke strongly against the project. Mayor Freddie O’Connell says he was first notified of a potential tunnel proposal last summer, but didn’t get any more details “for almost a year.”

The tunnel will run under state roads, cutting the city out of its main planning and approval processes. City leaders and Nashville residents are jarred by the sudden alignment around the project and have asked for due diligence around its safety, timeline and effects on city land and roads. Critics criticize the project as the fruit of corruption, citing social and political connections between Musk, the GOP and relevant state leaders.

At the very least, officials’ disregard for Nashville has provoked the city, which will bear the project’s risk when the boring begins. ▼

SEN. CHARLANE OLIVER CRITICIZES THE MUSIC CITY LOOP PROJECT, JULY 31

PARKING LOT LEASED BY THE BORING COMPANY AS MUSIC CITY LOOP STAGING AREA

FRANKLIN MAN FACES DEPORTATION AFTER OLD DUI JEOPARDIZES DACA STATUS

Jose Reyes helped police investigate a child-sexual-assault case. Now his family wants to know why he could be deported.

BY HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

For a longer version of this story, visit our sister publication the Williamson Scene at williamsonscene.com.

A FRANKLIN MAN who helped police investigate a string of sexual assaults against children is now facing deportation because a past DUI jeopardized his legal status.

On the morning of May 8, while on their way to work, Jose Reyes and his father Vicente were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with two other unidentified people. A video reviewed by the Williamson Scene shows two unidentified plainclothes agents in bulletproof vests making the arrests at the end of a rural Franklin road.

Reyes and his father were among the nearly 200 people — most of whom had no criminal history — rounded up throughout Middle Tennessee in a days-long operation. ICE refused to release additional details about the operation or acknowledge immigration arrests in Williamson County, which local law enforcement agencies say they were not aware of or a part of.

Now Reyes — a 2013 Centennial High School graduate — and his father share a cell in Winn Correctional Center, a state prison in North Louisiana used by ICE.

The Williamson Scene spoke to Reyes on July 23 in a recorded prison phone call, during which he described his shock at his detainment.

Reyes says the prison guards are “very respectful,” but called the ICE agents “demoralizing,” adding that he has not witnessed or experienced physical abuse. He does note the facility’s dirty yellow water, which he says inmates who can’t afford the commissary are forced to drink.

“I never thought this would happen,” Reyes says, explaining he and his father were first detained in Cookeville and moved to Knoxville before being relocated to Louisiana. “Everything changed from one day to another. It was kind of a shock.”

Reyes and his wife Annie say that while they come from a conservative family and were generally aware of the Trump administration’s immigration plans, they believed only violent criminals would be deported. Annie says Reyes had applied and been approved for an I-130 form and had a pending 601 waiver, both immigration forms, neither of which slowed or prevented his arrest. Reyes has been attempting to gain his citizenship through his marriage to Annie.

DACA AND DUI

is still working its way through the courts. Campos is set to be deported to his home country of Mexico after he serves his sentences.

Reyes says he and his friends met Campos as children while playing soccer at Liberty Elementary School. He says Campos would invite them to his house and offer the children drugs and alcohol.

“There was always something just deep inside me telling me something was wrong in that situation,” Reyes says, adding that one day Campos called him and propositioned him for sex.

“It was like a shock to me,” Reyes says. “I didn’t know really how to react because I was younger, but it just made me mad, and I told him if he ever asked me that again, I would try to fight him. That was like my best reaction at the time, and I distanced myself after that.”

In 1999, then-4-year-old Jose Reyes, his parents and his 1-year-old sister came to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico.

Reyes was a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient. In 2016 he was charged with a DUI in Kentucky, for which he later accepted a plea deal. He was sentenced to probation. A DUI charge can impact DACA status by making an individual ineligible to re-enroll. Court records obtained by the Williamson

Scene show a handwritten note on paperwork from 2017, which states that Reyes needed to speak to an immigration attorney about the case’s potential impact on his DACA standing. Around the same time, he was also charged with statutory rape in Williamson County but was ultimately found not guilty in a trial. Reyes says he was “falsely accused” of the crime, but before the trial, he received a letter warning that his immigration status could be impacted by the result of the case.

Reyes was then a student at Western Kentucky University studying criminology and psychology. He says he had to drop out of college to afford a lawyer.

Detailed court records of that case were not available, indicating that the charge may have been expunged from his record. But law enforcement officials confirmed the charge and outcome of the case to the Williamson Scene

Also in 2016, Reyes was charged with misdemeanor assault and violation of parole, with detailed court records missing as the cases were also expunged, meaning that the DUI is the only crime on his record.

The Williamson Scene reached out to Reyes’ lawyer, but has not received a reply as of this writing.

Reyes says the DUI conviction is why an immigration judge denied him bond during his current detainment. Now he waits to hear if he will ultimately be deported to Mexico, a country he doesn’t remember, a world away from his wife and their nearly 2-year-old daughter Lucy.

COOPERATING WITH POLICE

Reyes’ experiences with law enforcement also include helping the criminal investigation and prosecution of Franklin soccer coach Camilo Campos Hurtado.

In June of this year, Campos, who has been living illegally in the U.S., pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges in the case. His state case

After Campos’ arrest in 2023, Reyes spoke with a Franklin Police Department detective, recounting his experience. Reyes says he attempted to help identify victims. Campos was indicted on additional charges as more victims came forward.

“When I saw some of those pictures, it enraged me,” Reyes says of victim photos shown to him by law enforcement. “For me, it was enough to protect other children.”

Reyes says he spoke to police because he thought it was the right thing to do, but the irony of helping with the prosecution of an undocumented immigrant and then being targeted by ICE is not lost on him. Now he and his family question why he — rather than the “worst of the worst” — became the target of an immigration arrest after he helped provide information that led to a prosecution.

The Campos case gained national attention in part due to statements made by U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who sent a letter in 2023 to thenU.S. Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers on what the agency knew about Campos.

Some supporters of Reyes have reached out to Blackburn — as well as other elected officials, including President Donald Trump — asking for help in securing the release of Reyes and his father. Annie says they have yet to hear back.

“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that you have somebody who’s been in Franklin, Tenn., their whole life … has helped the police in investigating a case that [Blackburn] herself was very invested in, and she won’t return any of my calls, won’t return any of my emails,” Annie says. “It makes me angry.”

The Williamson Scene reached out to Blackburn’s office for a statement on Reyes’ case. She sent along the following: “Illegal immigrants who wish to obtain legal status to remain in the United States must follow our laws without exception. Under President Trump’s leadership, ICE is working around the clock to enforce and restore the rule of law.” ▼

JOSE REYES’ WIFE ANNIE

THE MOTHER OF JOSE REYES POSES FOR A PORTRAIT WITH HER GRANDDAUGHTER IN FRANKLIN

POLICE ACROSS TENNESSEE ARE USING POWERFUL PHONEHACKING TECH

MNPD’s use of the controversial GrayKey tool raises privacy concerns

BY NICK PIPITONE

SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY like the Fusus camera network and license plate readers has drawn widespread scrutiny in Nashville — but other surveillance technologies remain more secretive. Chief among them is a powerful phone-hacking device called GrayKey used by the Metro Nashville Police Department and several other law enforcement agencies throughout Tennessee.

In a case study published last year, digital investigation software provider Magnet Forensics boasted that MNPD uses a suite of its products, including GrayKey, to unlock and extract data from suspects’ smartphones. GrayKey can retrieve everything from text messages and call logs to app data, location history and even deleted files.

“When the security threat team obtains a suspect’s mobile device, they submit it to MNPD examiners and need a quick turnaround,” the study notes, going on to explain that one case can involve dozens of devices, many capable of storing terabytes of data.

MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron confirms the department’s use of GrayKey, stating that roughly 90 percent of all MNPD investigations today involve digital evidence. “We can only use it under the judicial authority of a warrant or court order, or with the consent of the owner,” he said.

GrayKey is used by thousands of law enforcement agencies across more than 30 countries, including the FBI and local police forces in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada. Early versions were compact boxes with Lightning cables. More recent iterations, updated in 2022, have advanced capabilities, according to FCC filings. Although GrayKey isn’t capable of remote surveillance, its ability to retrieve vast amounts of sensitive data makes it a controversial tool. Its use by local law enforcement is often unknown to the public, and even to some in the criminal justice system. Several Nashville defense attorneys tell the Scene they were unfamiliar with the technology.

“GrayKey is very expensive, and it’s sitting in a digital forensics lab most of the time, not a patrol car,” says Scott Greene, founder of Evidence Solutions, a forensics and expert witness firm. He adds that typically, trained forensic analysts — not patrol officers — operate it.

GrayKey’s use in Tennessee isn’t limited to MNPD. Murfreesboro has deployed the tool since 2020, with a June 2025 council vote approving a $57,110 license renewal. Smyrna authorized a license in 2023. The Tennessee Bureau of Inves-

tigation entered into a $458,619 contract with Magnet Forensics in 2021, acquiring licenses for GrayKey’s companion platform, Axiom, as well as other evidence-processing tools like Atlas and Automate.

Last year, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Shelbyville police lawfully used GrayKey to access a suspect’s iPhone in a murder investigation. After obtaining a warrant, Shelbyville officers hacked the device when the suspect said he couldn’t recall the passcode. Data pulled from the iPhone, including call records and location history, helped solve the case. The court ruled that the search complied with the warrant.

Such cases illustrate how valuable GrayKey is for police when investigating violent crimes. But digital privacy advocates remain wary and warn that the power of the technology could easily be abused without clear oversight.

“Hacking and extraction software often leads to overbroad search-and-seizures,” says Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a national nonprofit that advocates for digital rights. “Police may grab huge swaths of data beyond what’s necessary or even beyond what’s legally authorized.”

Laperruque warns that because of the technical complexity involved, improper or unconstitutional data extractions may go unchallenged in court. He argues that oversight is critical in an era when smartphones store massive amounts of personal information.

“Police often take a ‘better to ask forgiveness than permission’ approach,” he says, with investigators bypassing public debate and skirting disclosure requirements to defense attorneys. This, he notes, risks denying defendants their constitutional rights.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit research center that also advocates for digital rights, believes police should not be using phone-hacking tools like GrayKey at all. But if such tools are deployed, EPIC argues they must come with stricter transparency and oversight.

“There should be a state registry that provides notice of who is using this technology, along with requirements to disclose its use, and how

“HACKING AND EXTRACTION SOFTWARE OFTEN LEADS TO OVERBROAD SEARCH-AND-SEIZURES. POLICE MAY GRAB HUGE SWATHS OF DATA BEYOND WHAT’S NECESSARY.”

—JAKE LAPERRUQUE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE SECURITY AND SURVEILLANCE PROJECT AT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY

A court sided with the University School of Nashville in July and against former director Amani Reed, who sued the school for $22 million dollars in January over matters related to his mid-school-year firing. Chancellor Anne Martin dismissed Reed’s claims of defamation and emotional distress and ordered Reed to pay the school’s attorneys’ fees. In summer 2024, a former student publicly criticized the school for mishandling alleged sexual misconduct by a teacher. The student had brought extensive evidence of this misconduct, which investigators later called “consistent with grooming,” to the administration, including Reed. Parents, alumni and much of the student body turned against Reed in subsequent months, criticizing his handling of the case and culminating in his firing by the board of directors days before students returned to school for the spring 2025 semester.

it was used, to defense attorneys in criminal trials,” says Maria Villegas Bravo, a law fellow at EPIC specializing in international privacy law and surveillance oversight.

Villegas Bravo also notes that Apple, Meta and Google don’t authorize the use of devices like GrayKey, which could lead to legal action, as in a recent case involving Meta-owned WhatsApp. In May, a California federal jury found that notorious spyware vendor NSO Group must pay more than $167 million in punitive damages for enabling the hacks of approximately 1,400 users on WhatsApp. Governments were reportedly using NSO Group’s technologies to spy on human rights activists, dissidents and journalists.

While the use of GrayKey isn’t entirely secretive, police departments nationwide generally don’t volunteer much information about it. That hasn’t stopped Magnet Forensics from boasting about MNPD’s success with GrayKey.

YouTube videos and trade journal articles continue to reference MNPD’s use of GrayKey. In April 2026, the company will host the Magnet User Summit at the JW Marriott in downtown Nashville, inviting law enforcement to “learn more about how our solutions will provide you with an investigative edge.”

Tennessee State University is relocating its College of Education to downtown Nashville, a move that comes as a part of a larger initiative to retool and expand university departments and programs. The college will move from its current building on the main campus in North Nashville to the Avon Williams Campus at 330 10th Ave. N. In the past, the state has suggested selling the Avon Williams Campus as a way to help remedy TSU’s financial struggles. That idea has been met by opposition from school leaders and state Rep. Harold Love Jr. (D-Nashville) who say the building holds historic value to the university.

From Gulf Shores and Ocean Springs to Bristol and Lexington, here are our recommendations for late-summer getaways

FOR OUR SEVENTH annual Road Trip Issue, the Scene dispatched correspondents on fact-finding missions in five areas within a day’s drive of Nashville: Bristol, Tenn./Va.; Lexington, Ky.; Atlanta; Cleveland, Ga.; and an inviting swath of the Gulf Coast.

In this issue, find rundowns of what to do and where to stay in each of these locales, complete with tips for dining, entertainment, sightseeing and more. Need more recommendations for a quick getaway? You can also check out our past Road Trip Issue installments, where we give you tips for weekend sojourns to Red River Gorge, Ky.; Birmingham, Ala.; Shawnee National Forest; Bardstown, Ky.; Oxford, Miss.; Tupelo, Miss.; Columbus, Ind.; Rugby, Tenn.; Hattiesburg, Miss.; Mammoth Cave National Park; Sweetwater, Tenn.; Corinth, Miss.; and much, much more.

See you on the road, and safe travels!

ILLUSTRATIONS BY KAT CONDE

Gulf Shores, Ala., and Ocean Springs, Miss.

Here’s to sand and sun — a tale of two beaches, seven hours south

BY MARGARET LITTMAN

FOR SOME PEOPLE, choosing the right beach for vacation is serious business. (It’s me — I’m some people.) I want all things from one beach trip: beautiful white sand, easy water access for paddleboarding and dark skies for starwatching (not to mention sea-turtle protection). I also want charming boutiques, unusual activities and the hubbub of other happy vacationers. This year, instead of trying to force one beach to be everything, I went to two, both about a seven-hour drive from Nashville. Here’s my tale of two beaches.

GULF SHORES, ALA.

Usually, when people refer to Gulf Shores, Ala., they’re talking about three communities officially called “Alabama’s Beaches.” That includes, from east to west, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores and Fort Morgan, a 30-mile strip along

the Gulf Coast that encompasses many acres of protected land, including in Gulf State Park and the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge. One of the things that makes me love these Alabama beaches so much is that these are places where being in nature is encouraged. Yes, there is a lot of development, but there are still places to walk among the Southern pines and watch the waves crash. Since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Gulf Shores has become more environmentally conscious, investing some of its BP Restore Act funding into habitat restoration, beach access and recreation — plus the development of the Gulf Coast Center for Ecotourism and Sustainability, which opened earlier this year. Heading to Gulf Shores from Nashville will get easier in November, when Allegiant Air starts direct flights to the Gulf Shores International Airport. The airport launched commercial flights earlier this year.

STAY

Since 2007, I’ve rented houses from Sunset Properties, a family-owned company that helps me find spots in Fort Morgan — my go-to because the beaches are dog-friendly (unlike in

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach). It’s quieter and more remote — 16 miles or so to the grocery store — but you get serene views and access to both the Gulf and Mobile Bay.

If I wanted to opt for a hotel, it would be The Lodge at Gulf State Park. Rebuilt in 2018 after Hurricane Ivan destroyed its predecessor, it was designed to withstand storms and respect the

beach environment. The state park also has cabins with easy water access — perfect views from a central location.

DO

At the beach, I like to do things that can be done only at the beach. I started with Sand Castle University, which is exactly what it sounds like.

GULF SHORES

PHOTO:

SCU comes to the beach nearest you and teaches you how to make head-turning sand castles. The timing didn’t work for me to do a Paddle and Paint Kayak Excursion at Wind and Water Learning Center, but that is the most me outing imaginable, floating on crystal-clear water and painting with watercolors from inside a rented kayak. I’m a huge fan of the Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach, so I headed there to look at the galleries and to take a hand-building pottery class. They mailed my vase back to me in Nashville. That way it had time to dry and so I wasn’t responsible for its safe transit. On days when I’d had enough sun, I explored Fort Morgan, a National Historic Landmark that has been standing, hidden in plain sight, since 1834.

Like many beach towns, Gulf Shores has a lot of good spots to grab fresh seafood, fried food and buckets of beer. I don’t eat shellfish, but my friends do, so I make sure to get them some royal reds, the deepwater shrimp that is a specialty of the region. Tacky Jack’s, which has waterfront locations in Fort Morgan, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, is one of our go-tos. I like taking food back to my rental house to eat on the deck. Sarah’s Homemade is one of my favorites, particularly the chicken salad and chocolate chip cookies. Woodside Restaurant, inside Gulf State Park, uses some ingredients grown in the park and offers a nice selection of vegetarian dishes (sometimes hard to come by at the beach); it has seating both on the screened-in porch and the outdoor patio.

OCEAN SPRINGS, MISS.

After my Alabama Beaches soirée, I headed to Ocean Springs, Miss. Ocean Springs has an Amtrak station, and the new Gulf Coast route starts this summer, connecting New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., by train. Nashvillians aren’t so lucky. (Please, TDOT, help us get rail service back.) We can drive or fly to the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, although not directly. Ocean Springs gets lumped in with Gulfport and Biloxi, but the town has a completely different vibe, best suited for leisurely strolls through town, art

appreciation and nods to all things Elvis.

STAY

I stayed at Gulf Hills Hotel and Resort, a nearly century-old resort tucked away in the middle of a golf course, just a mile-and-a-half from downtown. In the 1950s, Gulf Hills was where Elvis Presley liked to get away. The hotel has had a lot of lives (and rebuilding from hurricanes). The current iteration leans into Elvis and the midcentury-modern vibes. I scored a large dogfriendly room with a kitchenette, and made use of the big pool, groovy lobby and scenic views. Plus, because it is the only waterfront hotel in Ocean Springs, I could paddleboard right outside my door.

DO

One of the best things about Ocean Springs is the legacy of Walter Anderson, who lived

there for years. He was a sometime recluse who suffered from mental illness, and thus his talent was not always recognized in his lifetime. At the Walter Anderson Museum of Art downtown, you get a comprehensive look at Anderson’s enormous talent, including his murals in the Ocean Springs Community Center next door. Much of Anderson’s work was about the natural world. (He once strapped himself to a tree on nearby Horn Island so he could experience a hurricane in the landscape!) Anderson’s family’s Shearwater Pottery has been a working ceramics studio since 1928. After many visits, I finally headed home with one of their ceramic pelicans to grace my living room. Shearwater is in a neighborhood where I like to paddle, and normally I’d drop in at Inner Harbor Park. But I was in the mood for more art, so I drove the nine minutes to Biloxi to the Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art, designed by famed architect Frank Gehry. Having all my high

culture out of the way, I cruised down Beach Boulevard during Golden Hour. For the 30ish miles between Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, the Mississippi Gulf Coast offers open views and access, never blocked by high-rises or surf shops.

Gulf Hills Hotel has a bar, but not a restaurant as of yet, which was a good excuse to venture out. I wanted an excuse to wander downtown and check out all the boutiques and sweet shops. I love Maison de Lu, a French restaurant with both lunch and dinner and a lively bar scene. May’s Market and Lady May were the answer when I wanted to grab something quick, while Blue Dog Bistro was my go-to for vegetarian options. The drive home from Ocean Springs was slightly shorter than the typical drive home from Fort Morgan (yay!), but it meant I couldn’t stop for my traditional farewell key-lime milkshake at Stacey’s Olde Tyme Soda Fountain in Foley, Ala. Till next year, Stacey! ▼

COASTAL ARTS CENTER OF ORANGE BEACH

WALTER ANDERSON MUSEUM OF ART

OCEAN SPRINGS

This blue-dot city makes our writer feel nostalgic for Nashville circa 2010

BY LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

I DIDN’T EXPECT to fall for Lexington so hard. The second-largest Kentucky city wasn’t even really on my radar, aside from its reputation for horses and bourbon. How was I to know that its laid-back Southern charm and progressive cultural offerings would remind me so thoroughly of pre-“It City” Nashville? By the time my trip was over, I was seriously contemplating relocation.

Admittedly, my reverie might have been influenced by timing. I took a weekend visit with my husband and our 8-year-old, and our trip coincided with June’s nationwide anti-fascist “No Kings” protests, so as I entered the city I felt comforted by a kind of wide-eyed political optimism that is pretty hard to come by these days. The late-springtime weather was perfectly temperate, which never hurts, and there were horses everywhere. I imagine Lexingtonians might feel about horses the way we Nashvillians feel about guitars, but from a tourist’s perspective, the ever-present horse motifs felt somehow both wild and stately.

STAY

OK fine, I stayed at The Manchester for the Le Labo products. Well, that’s not entirely true, but the high-end shampoo and conditioner stocked in every bathroom in the luxury hotel were the first things that caught my attention. I’m a sucker for a luxe hotel experience, and since we had saved so much money by driving instead of flying for a family trip, it felt justifiable

Lexington, Ky.

to splurge on accommodations. And let me tell you: The Manchester did not disappoint. The service was great, and the whole place had an upscale art deco feeling, which put me in mind of a train car on The Orient Express. Just wandering around the lobby and the surrounding grounds felt like a vacation. Upon arrival, we snacked on a charcuterie plate in the hotel bar and admired the hotel’s well-curated art collection. On our last night there, my daughter and I stayed in our room while my husband explored the city. We curled up under the softest down comforters in fluffy monogrammed bathrobes and watched cartoons until I fell asleep — that, to me, is true luxury.

We were there on Father’s Day, so Sunday brunch at the upscale Granddam restaurant on the hotel’s ground floor was an obvious choice. We began with a plate of biscuits that were both huge and fluffy, and we topped each of them with fresh strawberry butter. Our entrées — shrimp-and-grits, a country-fried pork sandwich

and lump-crab eggs Benedict — were just the right kind of indulgent. If we ever return to sample the dinner menu — and I truly hope we do — I’m definitely trying the grilled oysters with Kenny’s Farmhouse cheese on a baguette.

Naturally, there are many other lodging options, from countless Airbnbs to the Lexington outpost of 21c Museum Hotel’s popular chain of boutique spaces. But you can’t go wrong with The Manchester.

DO

First up on my list of Lexington activities was a panel discussion at Institute 193, a contemporary art gallery and nonprofit. The idea of going to a panel on vacation might sound strange, but this one centered on super-sexy artist Patrick Angus, whose paintings of queer nightlife in 1980s New York still feel gloriously subversive. The talk was titled “Depicting Desire,” and the head of the Faulkner Morgan Archive was there to contextualize the paintings in the subculture of the gay underground. The Faulkner Morgan Archive is a true treasure. Named after famous queer Kentucky artists Henry Faulkner and Robert Morgan, the collection includes more than 15,000 items and 250 hours of oral histories. It was fascinating to see so many people from so many generations gathering for a conversation about provocative art. After milling around with the panelists afterward, I got a little background about Lexington’s history as a queer-friendly hub in the otherwise largely red state of Kentucky.

Just down the street from the tony Manchester hotel was The Burl, which feels refreshingly geared toward locals. There’s an arcade, a brewery, a music venue and plenty of outdoor seating for socializing. On the night we visited, a Pink Floyd cover band was playing. The vibe was low-key and untrendy — I cannot emphasize how refreshing this was.

One of my favorite discoveries was the Kentucky Native Café, which was so much fun that

I’m surprised more greenhouses don’t moonlight as family-friendly dining spots. My daughter said it reminded her of a real-life Rainforest Cafe — and if you know any 8-year-old girls, you’ll understand what high praise that is. The restaurant is part of Michler’s greenhouse, which was originally built by German-born floriculturist Carl Michler in 1902. It’s a sprawling space covered in greenery that feels a little surreal — you can sip an iced latte while watching barefoot and happy children climb trees, and listen to a chorus of birdsong under the shade of a tree canopy while snacking on a pain au chocolat. The food was elegant but understated — plenty of lentil-based dishes and fresh vegetables. I would call it wholesome, but even that feels like I’m underselling an idyllic dining experience. When visiting a new town, it’s important to check out as many used bookstores and vintage shops as possible. That way, shopping can feel like a kind of sociological study — you can discover what local residents read, what matters to them, how they decorated their homes 50 years ago. Given all that, I was thrilled with Subject Matter, an unassuming-looking spot we decided to peruse on our way home. Upon opening the door I was greeted by a vignette of framed Sonic Youth and Beastie Boys posters from the early ’90s, several layers of chic Persian rugs, 1970s art books and chinoiserie galore. There was a novel from 1931 called Promiscuous that I should have bought, as well as a handful of outsider artworks by Howard Finster and his sons.

Another shop I was glad to visit was Creatures of Whim, a tightly curated metaphysical/pagan boutique that struck just the right balance between witchy and contemporary. We stopped at an excellent coffee shop/game store hybrid called Chaotic Good, and were surprised to find that we could borrow a board game for our little family to play while we recharged. The Lexington Children’s Museum is a small but sweet spot that was good for a few minutes of playtime before we headed home. ▼

KENTUCKY NATIVE CAFÉ

Museums, parks, food and cemeteries fill Georgia’s buzzing capital city

BY JULIANNE AKERS

EVEN THOUGH I spent the first 23 years of my life in Georgia, I never spent much time in Atlanta. Since I grew up on the other side of the state, my family usually opted to travel to nearby Savannah for shopping and a taste of city life.

When I made the four-hour drive from Nashville to Atlanta for this year’s Road Trip Issue, I quickly remembered what a sprawling behemoth of a city it truly is. The metropolis is home to an iconic skyline, vibrant public art and museums, the Georgia Aquarium, multiple professional sports teams, countless parks and a plethora of restaurants (plus some mean traffic). It’s impossible to experience everything Atlanta has to offer in one weekend, but I made an attempt at seeing what it was all about.

STAY

I opted to stay at Atlanta’s historic Hotel Clermont in the city’s Poncey-Highland neighborhood. Built as an apartment building in 1924 and converted into a roadside hotel in 1939, the Clermont is now an Atlanta landmark with a full-service restaurant and rooftop bar showcasing a fantastic view of the city. My whimsical corner room included four bunk beds, a green couch and a tattersall plaid carpet straight out of a Wes Anderson movie.

Notably located in the basement of the hotel is another Atlanta institution: Clermont Lounge, the city’s oldest strip club and famed cash-only dive bar known to be visited by celebrities and locals alike.

Atlanta is home to a variety of other historic-turned-boutique hotels throughout the city’s unique neighborhoods — including Wylie Hotel, The Georgian Terrace and Candler Hotel. These lodging options, paired with a wide range of Airbnbs and bed-and-breakfasts, make it easy to find a special place to stay in the city.

DO

Atlanta has museums aplenty. As a lover of history and art, I found it difficult to choose from its wide array offerings, which include the World of Coca-Cola, Center for Puppetry Arts, Fernbank Museum of Natural History and Jimmy Carter Library and Museum. Visitors can also take a look at Atlanta’s deep roots in the civil rights movement at places like the APEX Museum, the birth home of Martin Luther King Jr. and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. (The latter two are

Atlanta

currently closed for renovations but are set to reopen this fall.)

I ultimately decided to visit the High Museum of Art, which had an amazing special exhibit featuring work by Korean painter Kim Chong Hak. I made my way through the rest of the museum, which displayed everything from folk art by Georgia’s own Howard Finster to centuries-old European and African artwork and contemporary sculptures and photography.

While it’s a bustling urban environment, Atlanta also has an extensive tree canopy. I took a stroll around Piedmont Park to enjoy some of the city’s nature. The brutal July heat definitely took its toll on me, but the park’s shaded trails — which surround a lake and are populated by plenty of roaming geese and other wildlife — offered respite. It also connects to the Atlanta Beltline, a 22-mile greenway-style trail that connects much of the city. While I couldn’t make it, friends in the area tell me the picturesque greenery at Atlanta Botanical Garden in Midtown is worth a visit.

I also stopped by the historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta’s Grant Park neighborhood, where more than 70,000 people are buried. Simple headstones, ornate monuments and mausoleums make up the Victorian-garden-style cemetery — the resting place of country icon Kenny Rogers, Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell and renowned golfer Bobby Jones. While I opted for a self-guided tour, the cemetery offers guided tours for $12.

The Little Five Points neighborhood is a mustsee, a colorful and eclectic mix of vintage shops like Psycho Sisters and Rag-O-Rama, record stores (shoutout Criminal Records) and music venues. Atlanta has no shortage of restaurant options, whether you prefer dining at food halls

like Ponce City Market and Krog Street Market or visiting the diverse selection of other local eateries. I had what was hands-down the best roast chicken of my life at Pollo Primo in East Atlanta Village. I savored the perfectly seasoned pollo asado with rice and beans and fresh tortillas on a lively outdoor patio. Gaja Korean Bar’s crispy Brussels sprouts and pork belly doused in gochujang honey were delectable, as was a punchy mezcal cocktail called Foggy Notion, made with hot honey and chili oil and a black lava salt rim. I also enjoyed a hearty bowl of yaki udon and pan-fried gyoza at OK Yaki and extra large thin-crust slices from Fellini’s Pizza. For brunch I headed to Home Grown GA, a retro country diner that provided comforting fried green tomatoes and country-fried steak. Joe’s East Atlanta Coffee Shop and Perc Coffee both provided a much-

needed mid-afternoon caffeine boost.

For drinks, I gathered some friends to go to Hotel Clermont’s rooftop bar, where I ordered a refreshing strawberry vodka fizz called the Gom Jabbar. (All the cocktail names were Dune references.) We also stopped at Pisces, a packed fog-filled nightclub with live DJ sets, plenty of strobe lights and dancing.

As I began the trek back to Nashville and Atlanta’s skyscrapers faded behind me, I settled into the scenic drive back to Tennessee. Most routes take you through Chattanooga and in and out of the Appalachian Plateau. You’re also able to witness stunning views of the Tennessee River and Nickajack Lake. And, of course, you’ll get to see the ultimate roadside attraction: Atomic Mouse of Georgia, an 11-foot-tall statue of a mouse snacking on a wedge of cheese. ▼

PIEDMONT PARK

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART

UPCOMING SHOWS AT THE MUSEUM’S CMA THEATER

OCTOBER 11

YOU GOT GOLD

CELEBRATING THE LIFE & SONGS OF JOHN PRINE

NOVEMBER 1

MARTY STUART AND HIS FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES

SPACE JUNK

NOVEMBER 4

BRIAN CULBERTSON

BRIAN CULBERTSON’S DAY TRIP TOUR

DECEMBER 14

JON McLAUGHLIN AND FRIENDS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Museum members receive exclusive pre-sale opportunities for CMA Theater concerts. Learn more at CountryMusicHallofFame.org/Membership.

AUGUST 7, 8, 9, 15 & 16

VINCE GILL WITH CORRINA 5TH NIGHT ADDED—AUGUST 7

AUGUST 14

CHRIS ISAAK

SEPTEMBER 7

JEFF GOLDBLUM & THE MILDRED SNITZER ORCHESTRA

SEPTEMBER 27 9:30 PM SHOW ADDED

JIMMY CARR ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

OCTOBER 7

X & LOS LOBOS

OCTOBER 29

CONCERT FOR CUMBERLAND HEIGHTS ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

JANUARY 8, 2026

TREVOR WALLACE ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10 AM

This Appalachian city split between two states has entertainment for country music fans and esoterics alike

BY ANNIE PARNELL

Bristol, Tenn./Va.

I LEARNED A LOT from years of doing long distance with my partner: communication, teamwork, the best time to buy plane tickets. I also learned that the midway point between Nashville and Richmond is Bristol, a cornerstone of the Tri-Cities in the heart of southern Appalachia, where the Tennessee-Virginia border runs down the middle of State Street.

Bristol is technically two sister cities on either side of that border, both called Bristol, and for a while it was a home away from home for my partner and me. You might recognize it as the home of the Bristol Motor Speedway, or the annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. As the birthplace of Tennessee Ernie Ford and site of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, where Ralph Peer recorded early tracks from The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, Bristol has music in its blood. There’s a particular story that’s often told about Appalachia: It’s foregone and forgotten, or else written off as backward. Communities like Bristol have been rejecting that story for a long time, and that’s a fight I was reminded of when we took another drive there recently — this time, together, from Nashville.

STAY

The Sessions Hotel and The Bristol Hotel are luxury boutique hotels that celebrate Bristol’s music history. Airbnbs and hospitality chains like the local Hard Rock Hotel and Casino are also available. But my favorite local place to stay is in nearby Abingdon, Va., the home of Demon Copperhead novelist Barbara Kingsolver. A Tailor’s Lodging is a converted 1840s home steps from downtown, with cozy suites and a rentable tiny house on site. The hotel’s owner, Rick Humphreys, is a caring, knowledgeable host — he’ll wait up for you if you’re running late, and share personalized recommendations and fascinating local lore.

DO

On a Friday night in July, we headed downtown and found Border Bash, a free summer concert series that runs every other weekend through early August and is held near the city’s historic Bristol Sign — which spans State Street and reads “A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE” in light-up letters. We danced to the Carolina Celtic punk of The Tan and Sober Gentlemen before making our way to one of my favorite spots: the Neo-Appalachian art gallery HollerHouse.

HollerHouse, a co-sponsor of the recent Saucers Over Appalachia Festival, is challenging perceptions of Appalachia one cryptid at a time. We attended the opening of Over and Over and Over, a printmaking exhibit curated by East Tennessee State University art professor Sage Perrott (aka Haypeep). That title references the repetitive process of making prints — some on exhibit have as many as 17 layers of color. Also open through August is BLAZING FURY, a showcase of R-rated experimental photography from Billie Wheeler, Zac Wilson and Will Major. I’m fascinated by Wilson’s surreal Southern portraits and Wheeler’s shots of the haunted West Virginia Penitentiary. Major’s off-kilter landscapes of local fast-food chain Pal’s are part photography, part performance art, documenting a marathon visit to all 31 locations over the course of a single day.

Next door to HollerHouse are the endless stacks of Cheap Thrills Records and witchy gift shop Bristol Boo-Tique, and on Sixth Street, you’ll find local institutions Mountain Empire Comics and Boyd’s Bicycles. It’s also an easy walk from the delectable Blackbird Bakery to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. The museum is the home of artifacts belonging to Rodgers and Ford, plus a great community radio station, WBCM Radio Bristol, which broadcasts live from its permanent collection. In the rotating Special Exhibits, there’s currently a retrospective of local muralist Ellen Elmes, whose work uplifts local history and diversity — including a community project that celebrates Black history in Tazewell, Va.

Afterward, you can keep the country music history going and get lunch at Burger Bar, a diner with the eerie distinction of being the last place

Hank Williams was seen alive. In tribute, most of their dishes are named after his song titles: We had the “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Hey Good Lookin’” burgers, which did not disappoint. We also loved the Spam musubi and spicy tofu noodles at eclectic Asian fusion spot 620 State Street, and the lemon, thyme and squash soup at Bistro on 6th

For drinks, I highly recommend Elderbrew, an esoteric microbrewery with Twin Peaks-inspired decor. They’ve partnered with HollerHouse on past events and have also created a local hub for weird, groundbreaking art, something they point out online “is often overshadowed by the legacy of country music and the roar of NASCAR engines.” Elderbrew also makes some damn fine beer. The Rat Trap, their smoked wheat saison, is the perfect light brew for a summer afternoon: crisp and refreshing, with just enough bite. Fans of other vices will enjoy the homegrown flower at Fern Ridge Distro, on the Virginia side of town. The dispensary hosts weekly “Learn to Roll” classes and occasional horror movie screenings. On Sundays, the shops tend to quiet down, which means it’s the perfect opportunity to get outside. The Virginia Creeper Trail begins in Abingdon, and Steele Creek Park and Blue Hole Falls are popular hiking spots on the Tennessee side. On this visit, we got breakfast from smoothie shop and e-bike rental spot Blended Pedaler, then headed to the Gray Fossil Site and Hands On! Discovery Center, a science museum in Gray, Tenn., that offers Tesla coil demonstrations and a site tour of an active Pliocene Era dig site. It’d be a great spot for a family outing — and it may be the only kid-friendly attraction to also feature a

“River of Bones.”

If you visit Bristol, don’t leave the area without spending an evening at Abingdon’s Barter Theatre, the state theater of Virginia and the longest-running professional Actors’ Equity theater in the U.S. We saw the premiere run of Mountain Mamas, a new play written through the local Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights Staged at the Barter’s black box and laced with humor and grit, it’s an intimate ensemble story about labor rights, environmentalism and the coal industry, focusing on three generations of female miners. It’s another prime example of contemporary Appalachian artists staring down their own history — and moving, steadfastly, into the future. ▼

BARTER THEATRE

A pilgrimage to BabyLand General Hospital, plus river and casino lessons

BY HANNAH HERNER

THE THING ABOUT people who have an interest in BabyLand General Hospital — the birthplace of Cabbage Patch Kids — is we find each other. Since my inaugural trip to Cleveland, Ga.’s finest attraction in January 2023, I am grateful to have gained three new friends who each independently expressed a fascination with the place. So this summer, six of us girls planned a trip centered on a pilgrimage to the estate of the chinless children, with a few stops along the way.

We tubed, we gambled, and we plotted ways to ensure that the relic that is BabyLand General Hospital lives on for another 50 or so years.

STAY

Naming your rental The Shed at Pink Mountain is pretty good search engine optimization for attracting a group such as ours. The shortterm rental is actually on Pink Mountain (also known as Blood Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains), named for the way it reflects light at sunset. We loved the cozy home, complete with antique decor, a big table for discussions, a serene porch and a hot tub. The reading lights built into each bed were a nice touch. It’s fit for cooking, lounging, and watching live-action Cabbage Patch Kids shows on the living room television. Just plan to get there before nightfall (and possibly bring some nausea patches), as the winding roads leading to the stay are scenic but can be treacherous.

Many charming Cleveland-area cabins are available via Airbnb if you’d prefer even more seclusion.

DO

I come from a resort- and outlet-mall-vacation-style family, and so a float down the Chattahoochee River was uncharted territory for me. Alan Jackson is right, though. I learned who I was on that river, with help from Cool River Tubing in nearby Helen, Ga. When I tried to dig in my heels to stop, I tumbled right in. I then had to bravely cross the river in my Crocs to meet my friends who had so graciously pulled their individual inner tubes over. We had a mixed group — some liked having a rented stick to stage a preventative shove in the right direction. Others went with the flow and depended on others in the case of a major snafu. I’m trying to become

Cleveland, Ga.

the latter. If I learned anything from the muddy water, it’s that resistance is futile.

Absolutely famished from a couple of hours of floating and getting unstuck at various intervals, my trip-mates said The Troll Tavern gave off the best aromas as we passed by. It absolutely hit the spot. I had a solid Reuben and fries to honor my German heritage. Helen is chock-full of Bavarian-style decor. But having been to Frankenmuth, Mich., I can say it pales in comparison. Still, Helen is a good place to wander a bit and maybe purchase a novelty T-shirt. Unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to hit up one of the area wineries, like Yonah Mountain Vineyards or Habersham Winery

Our group waited until Sunday to go to BabyLand General Hospital so as not to be rushed, and we were pleased with our decision to rope-drop the establishment. (That is, show up the second it opened for the day.) It’s housed in a stunning Southern architecture building complete with pillars, and the landscaping and views are gorgeous.

Arriving at opening meant we got a clear view of the first birth of the day. The whole operation is charmingly vintage, with jokes that I think went over most of the attendees’ heads — like the announcement that there’s a fainting room for the fathers. You’ll know a birth is coming when there’s an announcement over the loud speaker, “Mother cabbage is 10 leaves dilated!”

An LPN (i.e., licensed patch nurse) in pink scrubs led us through the process, during which

Kids’ popularity at their peak in the mid-’80s. The many signed headshots near the bathrooms (Julia Roberts, Billy Joel, pre-politics Donald Trump and Joan Rivers, to name a few) help reinforce that point. Think Webkinz, but somehow bigger. The lobby also houses a museum for Little People — the original Appalachian soft sculptures made by Cabbage Patch Kids founder and Cleveland, Ga., native Xavier Roberts, which were the basis for the brand.

BabyLand General Hospital official government documents emphasize the originality of the brand, which prompted me to research the origin story of Cabbage Patch Kids. It’s an interesting rabbit hole that I recommend you go down. My official take: Much of it was Martha Nelson Thomas’ idea, but Xavier Roberts turned the brand into an iconic bit of pop culture, and I can appreciate him for that. Hell, look at the Andy Warhol paintings in the lobby.

we crossed our fingers and shouted “pink, pink, pink!” in hopes of a baby girl. Our wish was granted, and a brand-new Handstitched Cabbage Patch Kid (worth hundreds of dollars more than the plastic Cabbage Patch of yore you may remember) was pulled from the Mother Cabbage’s cabbage vagina.

The best part? Touring the grounds and witnessing the birth are free. (Though I did spend $30 on merch, which I can wear in hopes of finding more cabbage friends.)

It may be hard for a millennial or Gen Z-er to understand the magnitude of Cabbage Patch

After a romp through the sprawling BabyLand General Hospital gift shop and witnessing several births, you’ll need a sit. We loved the sandwiches at the Tipsy Tomato in the charming Cleveland town square. During our Tipsy Tomato lunch, we took time to put together a small list of other destinations with similar energy. South Dakota’s Corn Palace, Missouri’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum, and North Carolina’s American Museum of the House Cat were at the top of our list.

Having just spent some time at one of my personal happy places and witnessed the miracle of birth with friends who knew what’s up, I was feeling lucky. We made a stop at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel in Murphy, N.C., on the way home. (I recommend setting a timer, as time is an illusion in a casino.) It was a welcome change of pace.

I won $150 or so and gave a smidge to each person in the car. Friends who match your freak are priceless. ▼

BABYLAND GENERAL HOSPITAL

COOL RIVER TUBING

TURN THE PAGE FOR MORE EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

2025 TOMATO ART FEST EVENTS & CONTESTS

TOMATO ART FEST VENDOR

MARKETPLACE

WHEN: Friday August 8th: 5pm-10 pm + Saturday, August 9th: 9am-7pm

WHERE: 5 Points

MORE INFO: tomatoartfest.com/events/ vendormarketplace

TOMATO ART FEST OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE

WHEN: Friday August 8th: 5pm-10 pm + Saturday, August 9th: 9am-7pm

WHERE: tomatoartfest.com and at the Tomato Merch Pop up at 103 S 11th Street

MORE INFO: tomatoartfest.com

TOMATO ART FEST COMMEMORATIVE PIN

WHERE: Available at the event entrances, Tomato Merch Pop Up or online at tomatoartfest.com

MORE INFO: tomatoartfest.com/pin

ENTERTAINMENT

Music is played from open to close so be sure to check out the entertainment lineup and schedule at tomatoartfest.com/entertainment

WHEN: Friday, August 8 - Saturday August 9

WHERE: All over Tomato Art Fest

MORE INFO: tomatoartfest.com/entertainment

THURSDAY / 8.7

[SPLATTERCORE]

MUSIC

PRE-MATER PARTY FEAT. LILLY HIATT, TAYLS & MORE

If you’ve ever grown tomatoes, you know that some varieties will spread with fervent abandon if they like where you planted them. (Lookin’ at you, Arkansas Travelers that got me in the doghouse with the HOA that one time.) Applying that logic, East Nashville is fertile ground for the Tomato Art Fest. In addition to heaps of traditionally nontraditional activities and music on two stages during the fest proper on Friday and Saturday — read our Pick below for more info — this year there’s also an unofficial pre-party Thursday at stalwart venue The East Room. Champion rock ’n’ roll songsmith Lilly Hiatt, who’s been touring extensively following the release of her new LP Forever in January, is back in town and heads up the music portion of the bill. Rock ’n’ pop megaband Tayls will also play. You might have caught them in musical costume as The Cure on Halloween, and they’ve been spending lots of time on the road themselves this year. There’ll

also be comedy sets from James Holiday and the ever-popular Josh Black (catch him before he moves to Chicago), and DJ Kyle Scudder will keep the beat in motion in between the proceedings. STEPHEN TRAGESER

8 P.M. AT THE EAST ROOM 2412 GALLATIN AVE.

ART [BERRY

BLAST

] EMILY LEE: BLACKBERRY

For a relatively new gallery, Neue Welt has an exceptionally strong vision. The art hosted in the Wedgewood-Houston space inside The Packing Plant tends toward the experimental, genre-busting and innovative. This latest installation of a site-specific photo-sculpture hybrid from Texas-based artist Emily Lee is no exception. From the press release: “Lee believes sculpture is a social apparatus that can instill patience for discomfort and tolerance for the inconclusive in both the artist and the viewer.”

To me, the sculpture looks like a deconstructed version of a Dadaist ready-made, or a piece of land art excavated after a flood. Lee is also a curator and community organizer, and one of her past events was a yearlong book club called, appropriately, The Year-Long No-Homework

Book Club. Among the books on the club’s roster was Maggie Nelson’s excellent essay collection On Freedom, so look for hints of Nelson’s ideas about coexisting with oppressive forces in this work.

LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

THROUGH AUG. 31 AT NEUE WELT

507 HAGAN ST.

MUSIC

[WHEN I CALL YOUR NAME] VINCE GILL

A new tradition may be taking root in Music City. For the third time in four years, Vince Gill plans to spend a few nights in early August inside the Mother Church of Country Music, where he’ll sing his timeless songs — and share a few stories along the way. He previously played Ryman residencies in 2022 and 2024, performing marathon gigs that dug into Gill’s catalog (from unreleased tunes to “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” nothing seems to be off limits) and a few well-placed covers (such as Bobbie Gentry’s classic “Ode to Billie Joe” in 2024 and Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle Let Me Down” in 2022). This year, Gill plays his adopted hometown at the end of an expansive summer tour. He won’t be home for long, though; the Country Music Hall of Famer tackles a different stage in September, when he returns to The Sphere in Vegas as a member of rock giants the Eagles. Corrina, a local singersongwriter and Gill’s daughter, opens the shows.

MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

AUG. 7-9 & 15-16 AT THE RYMAN

116 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N.

ART [HOT, HOT, HOT] HOT SUMMER

Red Arrow has elevated the timeworn tradition of a summer show into something of the gallery’s signature. Now in its fourth year, the exhibition formerly known as Nashville Hot Summer has shed its local-centric identity —

Belcourt this month), noir thriller Stray Dog, samurai pictures Yojimbo and Sanjuro, Macbeth adaptation Throne of Blood and the indelible Rashomon Stay tuned — there will be more Kurosawa Critics’ Picks coming in future issues. For showtimes, visit belcourt.org LOGAN BUTTS THROUGH AUG. 27 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

MUSIC

[SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA] DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS & DEER TICK

to outsized effect. Among the highlights are self-taught Nigerian painter Johnson Ocheja, whose canvases evoke everything from Kerry James Marshall portraits to the photographs of onetime Nashvillian Marcus Maddox. Ocheja’s “Serenity” is a 78-by-69-inch painting that shows a woman strumming a guitar on a picnic blanket — the perfect summertime respite for a Nashville audience. Works by locally based Red Arrow favorites like Lauren Gregory, Duncan McDaniel, Brett Douglas Hunter and Marlos E’van are joined by more new additions, including L.A.-based artist Jacob Rochester, whose contributions evoke the juxtapositionrich paintings of postmodernists like David Salle and James Rosenquist. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER THROUGH AUG. 31 AT RED ARROW 919 GALLATIN AVE.

FRIDAY

/ 8.8

FILM [THE BEETHOVEN OF CINEMA] AKIRA KUROSAWA:

A RETROSPECTIVE

When combined, Martin Scorsese and Star Wars might cover the most ground in terms of influence in the past 50 years of American cinema. The two institutions’ own influences — yes, Marty himself counts as an institution at this point — most overlap when it comes to one titanic figure: Akira Kurosawa, the man Scorsese once referred to as “the Beethoven of cinema.” For those wanting to dive in (or rewatch) Kurosawa’s classics, Janus Films and Toho have worked to restore and re-release a Murderers’ Row of the director’s films, which will screen at arthouses across the country this month — including the Belcourt. This week alone, you can catch kidnapping drama High and Low (which Spike Lee reimagined as Highest 2 Lowest, also showing at the

Summer is the season for restless road trips and long nights with heartfelt rock songs. Load up the car, roll down the windows, turn up the tunes and head to Grundy County this week for a night with formidable roots-rock outfit Drive-By Truckers and indie road dogs Deer Tick. The co-headlining tour stops Friday at The Caverns, the rural cave turned concert hall about 90 miles south of Nashville. Inside this time-tested grotto, showgoers can hope to hear a set full of the Truckers’ anthematic Southern tales — “Gravity’s Gone,” “Where the Devil Don’t Stay” and “3 Dimes Down” among them — and cuts from Deer Tick’s 2024 album Contractual Obligations (plus a few from 2007 fan favorite War Elephant, of course). Get to the gig early to catch an opening set from local champs Thelma and the Sleaze. Those wanting an extended Caverns experience can purchase cave tours or camping packages with show tickets. Now hit the road before summer slips you by. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

7 P.M. AT THE CAVERNS

555 CHARLIE ROBERTS ROAD, PELHAM

THEATER

[STATUS UPDATE] KINDLING ARTS: EAST NASHVILLE FACEBOOK PAGE: THE MUSICAL

Fresh off the success of its eighth annual summer festival, Kindling Arts is back this weekend, teaming up with Emma Supica and those endlessly creative minds at Cherry Bomb to present East Nashville Facebook Page: The Musical. Honoring “the city’s most revered and despised news source in song,” this partially improvised (and totally hilarious) musical revue first premiered as part of Kindling’s 2023 festival, with a rollicking return during

last year’s Tomato Art Fest. This year’s edition also coincides with everyone’s favorite tomato celebration, promising plenty of goofy fun, catchy new songs and maybe even a few tomato-y surprises. The cast includes local favorites like Supica, Erika Bailey, Ryan Citrino, Caroline Conner, Gabe Cyrus, Christina Ashworth, Seth Nathan Green, Mick Khoury, Maggie Thompson, Cammie York and Jasmine Clark. Audiences also can look forward to a live band, led by Alex Dolezal, and guest sketches from TúPOC (Friday) and Bubblegum Pop (Sunday). It’s a great way to kick off (or wrap up) your Tomato Art Fest weekend, and a perfect salute to the social media group that never fails to deliver. AMY STUMPFL

AUG. 8 & 10 AT RIVERSIDE REVIVAL

1600 RIVERSIDE DRIVE

FILM [MUSICAL MAYHEM]

MIDNIGHT MOVIES: TOP SECRET! & MURDEROCK

The feature film debut of a late, great icon of cinema and the world premiere of a brandnew restoration of the last giallo from one of Italy’s maestros of the genre are showing this weekend, as the Belcourt’s Midnight Movie series has turned its eye to the movie musicals of 1984 that aren’t Purple Rain. The depraved minds behind Airplane! combine Elvis movies, spy thrillers and the down-and-dirty war epic to make Top Secret!, serving Val Kilmer to the world as Nick Rivers, beloved pop star and inadvertent secret agent. Friday’s presentation of Top Secret! is a wild ride that’ll have everyone skeet surfing for the rest of the summer. On Saturday is Lucio Fulci’s Murderock (also known as Slashdance, also known as Dancing Death), a movie that starts like A Chorus Line and ends like Friday the 13th It’s got music from Keith Emerson (yes, that one) and it stars Olga Karlatos (Zombi 2, Prince’s Mom in the aforementioned Purple Rain) and Geretta Geretta (Demons, Shocking Dark). Plus, the murderer wields a hatpin. Be ready for musical mayhem with this weird pair of musicals that never get talked about — and that needs to change. JASON SHAWHAN

AUG. 8 & 9 AT THE BELCOURT 2102 BELCOURT AVE.

HOT SUMMER

SATURDAY / 8.9

ART [THE WEIGHT OF WATER]

MCLEAN FAHNESTOCK: THE WEIGHT

They say comparison is the thief of joy, and in McLean Fahnestock’s latest installation, she builds a narrative about desire and jealousy between a seabird and a rock. Fahnestock’s meticulous new media works combine sculptural pieces with digital elements, creating intriguing tensions between her ephemeral, disembodied moving images and the concrete presence of her physical objects. I generally don’t care for narratives in visual art, but Fahnestock’s story of the stone and the seabird plays out like the push-and-pull between traditional material mediums and the new genres of art that are emerging from the no-place on the other side of our screens. This exhibition at the Downtown Presbyterian Church’s gorgeous chapel will be open to visitors Saturday night and again during DADA Nashville’s Second Saturday Art Crawl in October. This is the first show organized by Nashville Pantheon in 2025. The independent curatorial collective includes Ashley Layendecker, the gallery director at Red Arrow in East Nashville; Joshua Edward Bennett, the gallery manager and curator at Tinney Contemporary;

her show Sunday at Drkmttr marks her first Nashville appearance. She made a splash at Kansas City’s KC Folk Fest in May, and she seems poised to raise her profile on her current tour. The Kitchen Counters and Paul Jesse are Sunday’s openers. EDD HURT

8 P.M. AT DRKMTTR

1111 DICKERSON PIKE

COMMUNITY

[CATCH A WAVE] THE PLUS PLUNGE

Bodies of all sizes are encouraged to splash and swim together at Wave Country on Sunday. The Plus Closet, a secondhand shop and community builder, is sponsoring the day in the sun. A trip to Wave Country includes use of wave action pools, water slides and supplied floaties for that “I’m on vacation” feeling. (Don’t worry, there are regular, non-wave action periods for those who want a calmer pool experience.)

Wave Country is owned by Metro Parks and open to the public, so there will be other folks there, particularly as temperatures continue to necessitate going to a pool to cool off. Several picnic tables and an umbrella have been reserved for The Plus Plunge fun. Feel free to bring your own chairs and pool accessories too. Wave Country admission is $14, though if you head to The Plus Closet storefront in Donelson, you can enter a giveaway for admission and other goodies in person. MARGARET LITTMAN

10 A.M. AT WAVE COUNTRY

2320 TWO RIVERS PARKWAY

TUESDAY / 8.12

and Cheekwood curator Lina Silvers. JOE NOLAN

OPENING RECEPTION 6 P.M.; THROUGH AUG. 31 AT NASHVILLE PANTHEON AT THE DOWNTOWN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

154 REP. JOHN LEWIS WAY N

SUNDAY / 8.10

MUSIC [SURE THING]

DALIMA KAPTEN

Keyboardist, singer and songwriter Dalima Kapten pays tribute to the great jazz pianist Bud Powell on her 2024 song “Feel the Beat, Bud.” The tune salutes the fleet-fingered bebop musician whose compositions include “Un Poco Loco” and “Sure Thing.” “Feel the Beat, Bud,” is the standout track from Kapten’s foursong EP Field Fire Burn, Burn, which is her first official release beyond a couple of singles. Field Fire has its jazzy tendencies, but Kapten’s music is skewed pop that sometimes meanders enticingly, as you can hear on her 2024 track “Carousel.” The pop and rock elements are more in evidence on another Field Fire track, “How to (Dom)esticate a Star,” which might put you in mind of similar music by Nashville singer and songwriter Adia Victoria. Kapten started out as a singer-songwriter before adding drums, bass and electric guitar to her sound, but her music is pleasingly idiosyncratic. Kapten currently lives in Kansas City, Mo., and as far as I can ascertain,

MUSIC

[PARTY MONSTER] THE WEEKND

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you’ll know that The Weeknd is one of the biggest artists in the world. And the man born Abel Tesfaye continues to break barriers, boasting roughly two dozen Top 10 hits and more than 75 million records sold. The superstar will support his recent trilogy of albums — After Hours, Dawn FM and Hurry Up Tomorrow — with a huge North American tour, which includes a massive headline show in

Nashville on Aug. 12. From humble beginnings at the 600-capacity Mod Club Theatre in Toronto to performing in front of the nearly 70,000-capacity Nissan Stadium, The Weeknd has truly earned the title of a stadium act. People have come to expect flawless vocals from The Weeknd at his shows, that’s a given. But with his upcoming tour, he gives fans an unforgettable immersive experience as he turns stadiums into his playground by using visual effects and stage design to mesmerize everyone in attendance. Nashville fans can expect to hear selections from his latest album, as well as modern classics such as “Starboy” and “Can’t Feel My Face.” ADAM DAVIDSON

7 P.M. AT NISSAN STADIUM

1 TITANS WAY

[TRAIN DREAMS]

FILM

SUMMER OF SOUND: FESTIVAL EXPRESS

When I was younger, one of my favorite pastimes was watching documentaries on late1960s rock acts. I would walk home from school, go to my family computer in the basement and watch Woodstock, When You’re Strange or Gimme Shelter when I wanted to discover when exactly the dream of that generation fell apart. There’s one documentary, however, that has evaded me until now: Festival Express. In the summer of 1970, the Grateful Dead, alongside Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy and others, embarked on a Canadian tour via railway trains and fueled by excessive amounts of alcohol. The documentary is essentially home-video footage of these acts — following them on the stage, depicting their jam sessions on the train and all the other intimate moments that other music documentaries aren’t privy to. One of the highlights of the fly-on-the-wall recording is watching an incredibly drunk Jerry Garcia tell Janis Joplin he’s loved her since the moment he laid eyes on her. Joplin’s performances, filmed three months before her death, are particularly glorious. Catch it at Riverside Revival for free, as part of their Summer of Sound film series.

KATHLEEN HARRINGTON

7 P.M. AT RIVERSIDE REVIVAL 1600 RIVERSIDE DRIVE

DALIMA KAPTEN THE WEEKND

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

DEEP TROPICS AFTER PARTY FRI, 8/16 & SAT, 8/17

JAKE MINCH W/ HANA BRYANNE TUE, 8/19

EMO NIGHT BROOKLYN SAT, 8/23

PSYCHOSTICK + POLKADOT CADAVER SAT, 8/23

PALMER THU, 8/28

RIOT SAT, 8/30

SABRINA CARPENTER DANCE PARTY SAT, 8/30

JAMES THU, 9/4

HOUSE

NICKNAME

THU, 9/4

WEAVING MAGIC

Design team New Hat has created a woven art installation inside Nashville’s airport

BY CAT ACREE

THE BEST PART of any airport is the moving walkway. It’s no contest. A moving walkway is a compact theme park — a moment of play wherein your normal walking pace is swept up in a riptide. The only thing that could possibly make it better is to involve art. Nashville International Airport’s Concourse D extension — the first major project completed under the airport’s $3 billion upgrade — includes three artworks created for the Arts at the Airport program.

A highlight of those artworks is Twine With My Mingles, an installation from Nashville-based creative studio New Hat. At 8 feet tall and nearly 180 feet long, the display spans the entire wall above a moving walkway and is made of woven Tyvek wristbands, like the kind you’d get at a music festival. From concept to installation, the project took a year to create.

To see the piece, New Hat — that is, artists Elizabeth Williams and David Meaney — escorted me through security and into Concourse D. The walkway offers a relatively quiet moment within the concourse, with windows on one side and the massive New Hat piece on the other, more colorful than perhaps any other artwork in the airport.

“New Hat tenet number one is: ‘Color is joy,’” Williams says. “That’s just a part of everything we do.”

Craft history and art history are the other cornerstones of New Hat’s visual language, so they turned to rural Southern crafts to

represent not just Nashville but the whole of Tennessee. “I had this book that Kelly [Diehl, New Hat co-founder] and I originally had in the studio called Of Coverlets,” Williams explains. “The Tennessee Craft Guild in the ’70s went across Tennessee and, Alan Lomax-style, collected specimens of old coverlets, found the provenance, the weavers, the county, the history of the family, and they did this glorious book. … It goes through all the different counties across Tennessee [by] the different weaving patterns.”

In true folk tradition, in the 18th and 19th centuries, generations of families who were too poor for store-bought bed covers reimagined coverlet patterns. The airport installation’s title is a nod to that process — “Twine with my mingles” is a lyric from “Wildwood Flower,” a Carter Family cover of an Old English song.

“The lyric was like, ‘Oh, I’ll twine ’mid the ringlets of my raven-black hair,’” says Williams. “But because they were so country, they thought it was ‘I’ll twine with my mingles’ instead of ‘ringlets. I thought that really spoke to a really very Tennessee thing.”

We ride the walkway together while they point out each pattern: Cat Tracks and Snail Trails, Queen Anne’s Lace, Dolly Pratt. The Tyvek wristband material is inherently temporary — they’re not designed to last longer than the weekend of a music festival, for example — so the woven bands have been epoxied many times over to protect them. There are eight

Twine With My Mingles

Nashville International Airport, 1 Terminal Drive

standard wristband colors and three custom New Hat colors: a muted peach, a light pink and a pale green. The star color is a screaming orange that was a complete accident: a coral red that turned neon when they sealed it.

A post on New Hat’s Instagram account gives what Williams calls a “conservative” estimate of the work behind it all: more than 160 hours of planning with Jonathan Malphrus of Steric Design, 1,250 hours of weaving by 24 (paid) weavers, and material that would be the equivalent of something like 100,000 wristbands.

“A quilting circle is a quilting circle for a reason — because it’s a huge feat that takes lots of people to do,” Williams says. “We didn’t know how much help we would need, and how dedicated the people who were helping us would become.”

Mingles is so seamlessly incorporated into the airport’s architecture that you’d likely have no idea that it’s made up of individual boxes — 77 in all. The hallway has five columns that needed to be worked around, but rather than break the piece into sections, New Hat opted for an intentional fragmentation of the line, with some boxes sticking out more than others. It’s not fabric-like, but there is something of an undulation to it.

It’s the biggest installation New Hat has ever done, and it was also an entirely new concept and process for them. Folks familiar with loomstyle weaving may note that some of the designs have been meticulously over-woven; rather than just using two colors (the warp and the weft), New Hat incorporated as many as four colors. “I hope a weaver walks down here and [thinks], ‘That doesn’t make any sense,’” Williams says. “‘Surely they didn’t do this,’” Meaney says, and then adds: “Yes, we did.”

Mingles is exactly what I’d want someone to see when they step off a plane in Tennessee, possibly for the first time. It’s homegrown Southern folk craft, with new materials brilliantly grafted to its history. As of press time, New Hat’s proposed plaque hasn’t yet been installed, but when it is, its best and final line will bring the project home: “We aim to take what’s old, make t new, and keep it true.”

“The coverlet was maybe the nicest thing in the room,” Williams says of those rural Tennessee family homes. “We wanted this to be Southern hospitality, a statement of: ‘Welcome to our home. We’re putting out our finest china for you.’” ▼

ELIZABETH WILLIAMS AND DAVID MEANEY

CONCOURSE

PHOTO: MICHAEL STRIKLIN

PET OF THE WEEK!

Name: FAYETTE

2 yrs.

Weight: 59 lbs

FAYETTE IS A BRAVE, SWEET GIRL who’s blossomed beautifully in her foster home. With love and patience, she’s gaining conﬁdence every day — and it shows! She’s nearly mastered potty training, is learning to navigate new situations with courage, and is becoming more playful and affectionate by the day. This cuddly pup loves curling up with her people and has started getting excited for car rides — especially when she knows they’re headed to the park! She’s also become much more comfortable meeting new faces, showing just how far she’s come. Fayette is a gentle soul with a big heart who’s ready to keep growing and thriving with a family of her own.

Call 615.352.1010 or visit nashvillehumane.org

Located at 213 Oceola Ave., Nashville, TN 37209

Adopt. Bark. Meow. Microchip. Neuter. Spay.

GOLDEN MOMENTS

Lydi Conklin’s debut novel Songs of No Provenance is as tender

as it is unruly

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

IT FEELS UNFAIR to begin a review of Lydi Conklin’s debut novel Songs of No Provenance by saying it won’t be for everyone. But the aspects of the book that may turn off some folks are probably the reasons they should pick it up.

It must be said that there’s a lot of pee in this book. The main character, Joan Vole, is working through many complex parts of being an underground musician who’s known as much for her antics as her music, and the entire narrative is built around an over-the-top subversive act done onstage (involving pee) that causes her to flee to teach a summer class at a remote college. But it’s the work she does to understand her own behavior that gives readers a reason to stick with the story.

an independent bookstore for independent people

UPCOMING EVENTS

PARNASSUSBOOKS.NET/EVENTS FOR TICKETS & UPDATES

6:30PM

KRISTY CAMBRON

THURSDAY, AUGUST 7

with SARAH E. LADD at PARNASSUS

The French Kitchen

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9

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

BATTLE OF THE TROPES: ROMANCE EDITION MONAY, AUGUST 11

6:30PM

KEM HINTON

with DEMETRIA KALODIMOS at PARNASSUS Nether Land

6:30PM

JASON MOTT

6:30PM

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13

with STEVE HARUCH at PARNASSUS People Like Us

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12

VICTORIA BENTON FRANK at PARNASSUS

The Violet Hour

3900 Hillsboro Pike Suite 14 | Nashville, TN 37215 (615) 953-2243 Shop online at parnassusbooks.net

@parnassusbooks @parnassusbooks1 @parnassusbooks @parnassusbooksnashville

As in Conklin’s 2022 story collection Rainbow, Rainbow, the characters in this novel aren’t neat and tidy. In one moment you might question whether a character like Vole is an egomaniac, and in the next you see the character panicked about whether they’ve taken accountability, and most importantly, you see them as being worthy of love through all of it. You feel a tenderness toward Vole despite those antics, and maybe in some ways because of them.

At one point, Vole attempts to teach a small group of students how to write songs “without origin” — how to separate the lyrics from themselves. She explains to her students why the character in one song called “Rail Rat Done Wrong Tonight” might appeal to listeners over a broad time period:

“It’s his personality,” Vole says to her students. “It’s that we love him, right from the start, so we don’t care that he’s awful. Or we care, and we like it because we want that freedom too.

Freedom from, I don’t know. The grief of life? Morality?”

What she doesn’t relay to the students but thinks in that moment is that “making a mess was the ultimate freedom of the moment. You had to so thoroughly inhabit your enjoyment that you forgot the stain and stink of the next minute. She wanted the kids jazzed up, like she’d been. Not necessarily pissing on the carpet, but feeling the way a song could carry them away on its back.”

The part of the narrative about peeing primes the reader’s brain to immediately feel the level of shame and pain Vole might feel after her shocking behavior onstage. There are portions of the book where Conklin is so effective at drawing us into the scene that we can’t help but feel a little uncomfortable, like when the vivid details of an outdoor courtyard all of a sudden lead to the character peeing outside. The tension between empathy and discomfort can be slightly disorienting, but the effect is powerful.

You don’t question why this musician might run to the woods to teach and leave her phone behind in fear of witnessing a viral moment with herself at the center. A lot of narrative setup needs to happen for a modern musician and a cohort of teenagers to have limited media access, but Conklin expertly works that angle by using lapses in the campus rules on tech to reveal to Vole what actually is happening outside of the place where she ran to hide.

Near the end of the book, a character named Sparrow — an artist and teacher on campus who is also working through their own image and gender issues — responds to Vole’s revelation that she felt confused about her gender and the connections she’d made with others: “‘That’s cool,’ Sparrow said, the words so clear and easy they worked all the way through Joan, breaking up her muscles and relaxing them to goo. ‘There’s always more to figure out.’”

Sparrow’s acceptance of Vole helps answer or at least clarify a few questions for the reader: Why do some feel shame over every transgression while others charge around like bulls in a china shop? What would it mean to feel open

to sharing our complex inner person more outwardly? How much of what any person is doing reflects what’s going on in their head?

The book itself ends up falling into songs-without-origin territory: You may never imagine yourself peeing on a person, but there’s so much here you can connect to every human experience. Songs of No Provenance makes you want to root for all versions of all of those people, including Vole, as long as they’re on their way to finding out the full spectrum of who they are.

For more local book coverage, please visit Chapter16.org, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee.▼

Songs of No Provenance By Lydi Conklin Catapult 368 pages, $28

JAM featuring CLAYTON Q, KELLY & SARAH, BAREFOOT JOC, DANNY KENSY, CHASE RYLAND & CHARLIE ALLEN

Relient K

relient k

L.a. Guns w/ greg koch

Can't Feel My Face: 2010s Dance Party

A tribute to weezer's blue and pinkerton

James and The Wild Spirit w/ India Ramey (7pm)

Luke Robbins and the Ex Wives w/

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE

Ashley Monroe reflects on the unexpected turns of her journey on Tennessee Lightning

BY BOBBIE JEAN SAWYER

WHEN ASHLEY MONROE needs a reminder of what she’s been through, she reads a letter she wrote as a teenager on the two-year anniversary of her father’s death. It is a manifestation of sorts — a prayer that she’ll be able to live out her dream of being a singer.

“Since I can’t change the past, the future is a very hopeful place for me,” reads one passage. “I want to be able to share my love with others. … Please Lord, stay with me and give me the chance to do this.”

Monroe has been doing a lot of looking back lately. The country singer-songwriter (who is also one-third of supergroup Pistol Annies alongside Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley) was diagnosed in 2021 with lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. During the grueling months of treatment, the music stopped for Monroe.

“When I was going through chemo, I heard no melodies,” Monroe tells the Scene. “I didn’t sing. I just kind of closed the shades, which is weird for me because I’m always listening to music.”

In November 2022, Monroe’s test results showed she was cancer-free. The melodies came back, and with them came Monroe’s desire to look back on the people, places and experiences

that shaped her. The Knoxville-born 38-year-old — who moved to Nashville at 15, signed a record deal at 17 and began breaking out at 26 with her Vince Gill-produced full-length Like a Rose and its perennial fan favorite “Weed Instead of Roses” — started writing again. She also pored over unreleased songs, many of which she’d penned years earlier. The result is Tennessee Lightning, a sweeping 17-track album Monroe describes as a “patchwork quilt of my life.”

“More than anything, Tennessee Lightning is me,” she says. “It’s like a flash of light, and for a second, everything else goes away.”

She began viewing her life in chapters, beginning with her upbringing. The soulful “Risen Road,” which Monroe penned with Brendan Benson and Waylon Payne, reflects on her use of pain pills following the death of her father. “You can read the Bible, quote it verse for verse,” Monroe sings. “You can steal a pain pill out of mama’s purse / And get a little high on Risen Road.”

“I like exposing truths that people don’t really talk about,” says Monroe. “I love the people [of East Tennessee] and I love the sense of humor and the Jesus-loving. But there’s also addiction and darkness too.”

The album, which Monroe co-produced with Grammy-winning producer and engineer Gena

Johnson, features Monroe’s many collaborators turned friends. The aforementioned Vince Gill, who co-wrote Tennessee Lightning track “My Favorite Movie,” was one of Monroe’s earliest supporters.

“[Gill] called me when I was still living in Brentwood with my mom and asked me if I wanted to go to breakfast,” Monroe remembers. “We hung up and then I had to call him back and say, ‘I don’t have a car, can you pick me up?’

So Vince Gill pulls into my mom’s little house in Brentwood and picks me up. It’s one of those things that changed everything.”

Monroe also teamed up with Marty Stuart to write the sultry “The Touch.” The song features Stuart on electric and acoustic guitar and Shelby Lynne on bass.

“In the recording, you can hear [Stuart’s] sleeve hit the guitar,” Monroe says. “I love being able to hear creaks here and there. I like to feel what’s happening in the room sometimes — especially if it’s Marty Stuart’s sleeve.”

Additional chapters on Tennessee Lightning look at young love, as in the Shangri-Las-esque “Hot Rod Pipe Dream” and the freewheeling Brittney Spencer collab “Bitter Swisher Sweet.” Monroe also explores womanhood and romance on “Amen Love” and “Moth,” grief on “Recover” (which features Little Big Town’s Karen Fair-

Tennessee Lightning out Friday, Aug. 8, via Mountainrose Sparrow Playing on the Grand Ole Opry Aug. 8

child), and motherhood on “Moon Child.” There are also cover songs, including a haunting take on Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.” It’s a fitting choice for an artist who’s been drawn to devastatingly sad songs since childhood.

“I would call it a lonely feeling,” Monroe says of her love for forlorn melodies. “I still seek out that feeling.”

One topic that’s not directly addressed is her cancer diagnosis and treatment. She says album closer and Armand Hutton collab “Jesus Hold My Hand,” a hymn she frequently sings to calm herself down, is the one song that takes her back to that time in her life.

“When something’s really hard and [I] go through it, I like to let it go,” she says. “I put it back in the ‘too hard’ box of my soul. I’ve always let music take me away from reality in a way.”

In the 2010s, Monroe achieved much of what she had envisioned in the letter she wrote as a teen. Though her life today looks somewhat different, she remains a determined force of nature. And she still has notebooks full of songs.

“I look back on how I saw my dreams coming true. I was a huge star, tour buses — all the typical things. Where I am now, my dreams have come true and better.”▼

PHOTO: ERIKA ROCK

SAY HOWDY Sounds of Welcome aims to support Middle Tennessee’s new community members

BY MARGARET LITTMAN

ON TUESDAY, AUG. 12, a star-powered slate of performers will take the 3rd and Lindsley stage for a good cause. Sounds of Welcome is a benefit for the Nashville International Center for Empowerment, aka NICE, an organization that helps refugees, asylees and immigrants in Middle Tennessee. Among others, the lineup includes singer-songwriter Suzy Bogguss, the Phil Madeira Trio (all members Emmylou Harris’ band), Marcela Pinilla, Will Barrow, and Yeli Ensemble performing with musician, educator and indie label head Jeff Coffin (who also plays with Dave Matthews Band).

The benefit is an all-ages show, and with tickets including fees starting at $26.26, it’s an affordable one too. That’s intentional, says Elizabeth Harrington, associate director of development at NICE. The organization aims to be as inclusive as possible and to introduce Nashvillians of all stripes to its work.

“We’re trying to involve folks in Nashville who care about current events and who have a heart for our new American community members and want to get involved,” Harrington says. “We are in a kind of challenging moment of federal funding

uncertainty, and we are striving to continue to empower these new American communities that make Nashville the city that we love to live in.”

Historically, NICE has provided resettlement services and social services to new refugees, asylees and immigrants arriving in Middle Tennessee. While new refugee arrivals are currently paused, there is still a lot of support needed for those who have already planted roots in Nashville. NICE has been serving 150 recently arrived individuals (36 families) in its resettlement program alone, before the administration closed the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) in January. (Harrington notes that USRAP had been in existence with bipartisan support since 1980.) These recent arrivals were left without the regular benefits and infrastructure that would normally support them in their resettlement, so NICE is working to fill in the gaps, she says.

NICE also works to help subsidize immigration application fees, particularly U.S. Permanent Resident Card (“green card”) applications and renewals. Those can cost more than $7,000 for a family of five, a high

(SNAP) benefits. In 2022, 733,866 people in Tennessee received SNAP benefits. Funds raised from the Sounds of Welcome concert will support this work.

“To be honest, until my buddy Will Barrow called me about this concert, I didn’t know what NICE stood for,” Suzy Bogguss says. “I’m just so glad to know that Nashville has a service like this. When I put myself in the shoes of someone who’s had to flee their homeland to try and make a better life, I think it must be such a relief to find help with learning the language and culture. What a great way for our community to welcome folks.”

The benefit concert is one of several events planned for NICE’s 20th anniversary year. On Sept. 18, the organization will host its 20th Anniversary Gala at Rocketown. That event is a higher-dollar ticket ($200-$1,500) and will include musical performances, visual art by local refugee and immigrant artists and stories of resilience.

“I can’t wait to share the stage with these great artists, playing colorful music from many cultures,” Bogguss says of the Sounds of Welcome event. “Hopefully, it will inspire more folks like me who are new to NICE to take an interest in this great program. I’m proud to be a part of a night celebrating such kindness.” ▼

bill on top of other day-to-day costs. The organization is also preparing for increased incidents of food insecurity in the community due to upcoming policy changes affecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Sounds of Welcome 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 3rd and Lindsley

SUZY BOGGUSS

PHIL MADEIRA

Saturday, August 9

SONGWRITER SESSION

Rob Williford

NOON · FORD THEATER

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

WITNESS HISTORY

Local Kids Always Visit Free

Nashville’s Best

Thai Street Food

Saturday, August 16

SONGWRITER SESSION

Jessi Alexander

NOON · FORD THEATER

Sunday, August 17

MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Natalie Murphy

1:00 pm · FORD THEATER

Saturday, August 23

HATCH SHOW PRINT

Block Party

9:30 am, NOON, and 2:30 pm

HATCH SHOW PRINT SHOP

Saturday, August 23 INTERVIEW

Chris Hillman and Dwight Yoakam

3:30 pm · FORD THEATER SOLD OUT

GATHERING THE FLOCK

BY MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

IN ANOTHER LIFE, Jack White could’ve been a preacher. When he steps onstage, it’s with the confidence of a man ready to lead a spiritual experience. But instead of standing behind a pulpit, he holds a blue-and-white electric Fender. July 30 at The Blue Room at Third Man Records, White delivered a sermon of steadfast rock showmanship.

“This isn’t some bachelorette party, driving on a bicycle, drinking beer or walking around on Broadway,” said White, who took the stage in a yellow-and-black jacket that he later tossed into the crowd. “This isn’t Kid Rock’s Big-Ass Ol’ Racist Whatever-the-Fuckin’ Honky-Tonk. … You out there, you’re in my living room now. You feelin’ all right?”

White played a pair of sticky-hot pop-up shows back to back on Wednesday at the rock club connected to his label’s headquarters and Nashville storefront. He announced the gigs hours earlier via social media, and tickets sold out almost instantly — similar to the run he played in jam-packed small rooms last summer, including American Legion Post 82 and The Basement East. White is really making the rounds: He also played two nights in April at Nashville’s new concert hall The Pinnacle.

At Wednesday’s late show, White’s set felt like a celebration for No Name, the album he and his band released last summer, unconventionally without a word of promotion. Built on wall-shaking riffs and elastic hooks, No Name captures a freewheelin’ tenacity that dates back to the singer’s days as a garage-rock upstart in The White Stripes. Onstage, he played the songs as each should be experienced: loud as hell with his razor-sharp band, consisting of Dominic Davis on bass, Patrick Keeler on drums and Bobby Emmett holding down the keys.

The show embraced No Name songs like the rowdy, grifter-beware anthem “Archbishop Harold Holmes,” jumping-jack rocker “That’s How I’m Feelin’” and off-the-cuff “Number One With a Bullet,” a new addition to his touring set list. White also spun through his catalog with songs from The Dead Weather (including “I Cut Like a Buffalo”), The Raconteurs (“Steady as She Goes”) and, of course, The White Stripes. He sprinkled Stripes songs throughout the show, with appearances from the crowd-pleasing “Black Math,” the timeless “Hotel Yorba” and a deep-cut tribute: “Tennessee Border,” made famous by Hank Williams and recorded by Jack and Meg for 2007’s Icky Thump

“I wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart,” White said as the night inched toward its final song, “comin’ to see us play on short notice, ya know?” He also shouted out his daughter Scarlett, wife and fellow rocker Olivia Jean and a couple other famous folks he’d spotted in the room, namely Jason Isbell and Beverly D’Angelo.

The 90-minute gig closed with an encore that included White solo songs “Sixteen Saltines” and “That Black Bat Licorice,” plus a twangy take on No Name number “Underground.” The band delivered the Stripes’ rock megahit “Seven Nation Army” to close out the show. Was this the start of another tour where he rolls from city to city, playing unannounced shows in unassuming places? Who knows! After all, faith can be found at unexpected moments.

GET IN THE VAN

BY ANNIE PARNELL

“SOME THINGS HAVE Changed in our band,” Vandoliers frontwoman Jenni Rose told the crowd during the band’s Thursday night performance at Row One Stage at Cannery Hall, beaming on-

stage in a cutoff Reba McEntire T-shirt. “Mark’s on guitar now, Patrick’s in it — and I’m a girl!”

In the Texas country punk ensemble’s first tour since Rose came out as a trans woman — and now with a reshuffled lineup that puts Mark Moncrieff on guitar and Patrick Smith on bass — they’ve created a space of righteous noise and personal embodiment that fans of The Menzingers and Jeff Rosenstock will find a familiar home in. This is a band that puts on a killer live show, and they love doing it. As my partner said to me between songs, “This might be the happiest band I’ve ever seen play Nashville.”

The night at Row One began with an opening set by Nashville-by-way-of-D.C. artist Nate Bergman, who commanded the crowd’s attention with an acoustic guitar and a soulful, gravelly voice. “In-ti-ma-cy,” he drawled as he called everyone closer. He even stepped off the stage and into the audience to finish his set with “Into My Arms,” an emotive ballad from his 2022 album Metaphysical Change that suggests Nick Cave. Then, over the roaring of Aussie cowpunks The Vandals’ “I Want to Be a Cowboy,” Jenni Rose called “We’re the Vandoliers, y’all!” and the headlining act took to the stage. Their set kicked off with a raucous rendition of “Life Behind Bars” from the band’s June album of the same name. Rose realized she was trans while working on Life Behind Bars with producer Ted Hutt (Lucero, Flogging Molly), and it charts a journey from denying to embracing her true self. “I had a hard time connecting with people,” she confessed onstage. But while touring now, after coming out, she’s been reminded that “everywhere I go, I have friends.” She’s more open than she’s ever been, and that shines through in the way the group sounds: triumphant, playful and crackling with joy.

As if to illustrate that, throughout the set, she and the band loved on each other and

engaged in some hijinks. Smith tossed Vandoliers-branded bass picks into the crowd and stuck one to his forehead like a third eye. The band played a surprise cover of The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).” Trumpeter and keyboardist Cory Graves ran around stage bumping butts with each band member in turn, then split cymbal duty with drummer Trey Alfaro. At one point, the entire group collapsed into a cuddle puddle as the last notes of a song spilled out. “Give it up for this dirty old man,” Rose joked, before giving fiddler Travis Curry a shoutout for his upcoming birthday.

It might be that sense of joy, that strong bond of community, that makes The Vandoliers unafraid to be vulnerable when the moment calls for it. “It’s been 1,063 days since my last drink,” Rose announced to cheers from the crowd, coyly shaking her head to the line “I miss whiskey” during “Every Saturday Night” from the band’s 2022 self-titled album. She held her hands together in ironic prayer during “Bible Belt” after bringing to life the beating heart of “Valencia,” a swooning ballad of queer desire.

In a world where protecting trans rights gets more urgent by the day and trans children are being bullied by the government, “joy is an act of resistance,” as Rose said from the stage. Toward the end of the set, she declared that “sometimes a girl just gets pissed off” and led the band in a performance of a brand-new song, “Girl on the Run.” Freshly recorded and as yet unreleased, it’s a trans runaway ballad with a galvanizing refrain: “I won’t bow to anyone.” Vandoliers are keenly aware that music can be a force for good, that fun can be revolutionary, that their platform lends them an audience with which to share something that counts. “I would like it to be productive, I would like it to be meaningful,” Rose explained, “and I would like it to help.” ▼

HER AIM IS TRUE: VANDOLIERS WHITE

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

8.1 Alex Williams Album Release Show

8.2 Josh Ward

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

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

8.6 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

8.9 Keith Anderson - The Pickin Wildflowers 20th Anniversary Tour

8.13 Aaron Raitiere

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

8.15

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

Chief’s we

DRAWING INFLUENCES

Sketch is a funny, frightening, family-friendly dose of fantasy from Nashville’s own Seth Worley

BY LOGAN BUTTS

SETH WORLEY IS very open about the challenges of making a live-action family film that appeals to both kids and adults.

“We wanted so badly to make a movie that was almost more for adults and parents than it was for kids,” Worley, a Nashville native, recently told a crowd at the Belcourt. Attendees were gathered for the local premiere of his new film Sketch, which was shot entirely in Middle Tennessee. “But at the same time, acknowledging that we had a responsibility to make something that was going to be absolutely appealing to kids … and giving everybody in the theater something to walk away with.”

Worley added that he and the film’s producers viewed Sketch’s target demographic as “every human alive.”

That’s a fairly ambitious goal for any era, but especially amid the modern movie landscape — where the sort of four-quadrant movie the Sketch team is aiming for is viewed as strictly the domain of high-brow animation from studios like Pixar, or mega-blockbuster superhero movies. Long-gone are the days of ’90s-era Amblin, when live-action family films could reign at the box office.

Fittingly, Worley’s chief influences come from that era of filmmaking.

“The people I grew up watching and worshipping at the altar over were Spielberg and Zemeckis and all the people you’d expect from a 41-year-old white guy.”

Sketch’s story is pulled right from that pool of inspiration. Widowed father Taylor Wyatt (Tony Hale) and his kids Amber (Bianca Belle) and Jack (Kue Lawrence) are struggling after the death of the family’s matriarch. Amber’s way of dealing with her grief is drawing fantastically violent illustrations in her notebook — and when that notebook falls into a magical resurrection pond in the Wyatts’ backyard, her terrifying creations come to life.

Sketch was inspired by events that happened to Worley’s sister, who as a child had a counselor who didn’t ostracize her, instead letting her know that her drawings were “a much healthier choice than inflicting any kind of violence.”

“I thought, ‘That’s the adult I want to be in a kid’s life when I grow up,’” Worley said. “Cut to my daughter in kindergarten, and she starts bringing home these pictures that are inventively violent, like without precedence, and I’m

realizing, ‘Oh, you can believe two things at once. You can believe that art is the safest place for violence, while also believing your daughter is a serial killer and it’s probably your fault.’ And that tension felt really funny to me.”

Hale — also a producer on the film — and Worley have been attempting to get Sketch made for nearly a decade. One of the biggest challenges was finding fellow producers to help fund a live-action, effects-heavy family film. When locally based musician and filmmaker Steve Taylor came aboard as a producer, he was able to connect the pair with other producers willing to take the leap.

Taylor, who is an assistant professor in Lipscomb’s College of Entertainment and the Arts, also enlisted the involvement of the university’s student-run production company Imagine House. Several current and former students ended up with key roles on the film’s crew.

“I have a lot of pride for my Nashville crew,” Worley said. “We’ve made a lot of things together that I’m proud of; we’re going to keep making a lot of things that I’m very excited about.

“This movie would not have been made with-

out so many people in this room.”

Nashville-based musician and former American Idol contestant Cody Fry composed the score — it was his first feature-length composing gig. Fry even wrote and performed a laugh-inducing Kenny G parody song that plays a pivotal role in a Jurassic Park-esque sequence set on a school bus.

That iconic dinosaur film is one of many touchpoints for Sketch. Another Spielberg film that sprang to mind during my viewing was Minority Report — specifically the spider surveillance robots, which feel like older cousins to Sketch’s creepy-crawly “eye-ders.” Those creatures (aka eyeball spiders) were inspired by a line of Taco Bell kids’ toys from the ’90s.

“We wanted to figure out how to do goofy and threatening at the same time,” Worley said. The eye-ders nailed that balance.

Openly aiming for Spielbergian territory is a lofty goal for any filmmaker, particularly one making his feature-length debut on a small budget. But Sketch does a better job at walking the awe/thrills/laughs tightrope than even this summer’s dinosaur-featuring, big-budget Spielberg homage. ▼

Sketch

PG, 92 minutes Now playing at Regal and AMC locations

STAY TUNED FOR OUR 2026 DATES

THANKS FOR SHOPPING WITH US!

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS & PARTNERS

Fab’rik Franklin / Flash & Trash & a Little Bit of Sass / Franklin Road Apparel / Harper’s Den / Hollie Ray Boutique / Little Paper Kids / Mountain

High Outfitters / Nash Collection / Nine Thirteen / Palmer Kennedy / Pauli’s Place

Boutique / Society Boutique / Style with a Twist / Vinnie Louise / Wilder / The Willing Crab

ACROSS

1 Sound from a flock

4 It gets dropped in a pot

62 Features of many war hero statues

63 Home to Florida Atlantic Univ.

8 “Buffalo soldier, dreadlock ___” (Bob Marley lyric)

13 Like well-known news

14 Lessen in strength

15 Toronto N.B.A. player

16 Played a bar game? / [Yawn]

18 Preserved, in a way

19 Boo-boo

20 Go pillaging

22 Swerve, as an airplane

23 Fully add up

25 Friend or family member / Clichéd

27 Emcee’s lines

29 Comment that might be said with a push

30 It might be bruised in a fall

31 City where the Dalai Lama was enthroned

34 Actor Sebastian ___ of Marvel Studios films

35 Formal dress code / What may “burn” in a drag race

38 Member of the South Asian diaspora

41 Connect with

42 Having a full stomach

45 Holy Roman ___, title for Maria Theresa

48 Gymnast Biles

50 Area with no coverage? / Sore loser

53 Like a Venti at Starbucks

54 School of higher learning, in Britain

55 Biblical Promised Land

57 Losing roll in a casino

58 It connects to the tailbone

60 Directional signals that flash on and off, as suggested by the circles in this puzzle

64 Fruity cooler

65 Kind of question that’s binary

66 Pac-Man ghost with the shortest name

67 Field DOWN 1 Southwestern neckwear / Baby’s foot warmer

2 “Baby Cobra” comedian

3 Come clean about

4 Co.’s $$$ watcher

5 Injury / Christmas entree

6 Perfect / Concept

7 Actor Pascal of “The Mandalorian”

8 Was exhausted / Lustful

9 On point

10 “Don’t come in here!”

11 State park in the Santa Monica Mountains

12 “Is this date happening?”

15 City on the Seine

17 Animal whose Greek name is the etymology of the word “arctic”

21 Fly

24 Idle / Texter’s chuckle

26 Amount of meds

28 Olympic sprinter ___’Carri Richardson

32 Follows, as a tip

33 Trail runner?

35 National Audubon Society subject

36 “___ hard to say”

37 Perturb / Frying need

38 “Clair de Lune” composer

39 Come (forth)

40 Does some genetic manipulation on / Some aromatics

42 “No lie!”

43 Them’s fighting words!

44 Anglerfish locale

46 Portuguese currency before the euro

47 Inundates with messages, say

49 ___ truck

51 Religious leader / Actress Jacobson

52 Avian claw

56 Shaving mishap

59 ___ Faire

61 House cry that sounds like a horse cry

Rector. Provide sacramental and pastoral services.

Employer: St. James the Less Episcopal Church. Location: Madison, TN. May telecommute periodically from a location within normal commuting distance of Madison, TN. Incidental domestic travel required. Housing allowance provided. To apply, please mail a resume to J. Howard at 3700 Woodmont Blvd., Nashville, TN.

Consulting Data Engineer (HCA Management Services LP, Nashville, TN) (Multiple Pos) Req Bach (US/frgn eqv) in CS or rel; 5 yrs exp w/SQL & ETL; exp w/complete data anl proj life cycle; exp dsgn, dev, deploy & support sw sys; strong understanding of current agile dev meth; exp impl & custom ETL pckgs. May work remotely 100% from home office anywhere in U.S. Travel to Nashville, TN not required. Email resume Elaine.Healy@HCAHealthca re.com

ATTENTION: VIAGRA AND CIALIS USERS!

1-833-641-6594

(CAN AAN)

HOME BREAK-INS

TAKE LESS THAN 60 SECONDS.

Don’t wait! Protect your family, your home, your assets NOW for as little as 70¢ a day!

Call 1-833-881-2713

(CAN AAN)

DO YOU OWE OVER $10,000 TO THE IRS OR STATE IN BACK TAXES?

Get tax relief now! We’ll fight for you!

1-833-441-4783

(CAN AAN)

STOP OVERPAYING FOR AUTO INSURANCE!

A recent survey says that most Americans are overpaying for their car insurance. Let us show you how much you can save. Call Now for a noobligation quote:

1-833-399-1539 (CAN AAN)

ATTENTION: VIAGRA AND CIALIS USERS!

A cheaper alternative to high drugstore prices! 50 Pill Special - Only $99! 100% guaranteed.

CALL NOW: 1-833-641-6594

(CAN AAN)

WE BUY VINTAGE GUITARS!

Looking for 1920-1980 Gibson, Martin, Fender, Gretsch, Epiphone, Guild, Mosrite, Rickenbacker, Prairie State, D’Angelico, Stromberg. And Gibson Mandolins / Banjos. These brands only!

Call for a quote: 1-833-641-6624

(CAN AAN)

BEAUTIFUL BATH UPDATES IN AS LITTLE AS ONE DAY!

Superior quality bath and shower systems at AFFORDABLE PRICES!

Lifetime warranty & professional installs.

Call Now!

1-833-540-4699

(CAN AAN)

GOT AN UNWANTED CAR???

DONATE IT TO PATRIOTIC HEARTS. Fast free pick up. Patriotic Hearts’ programs help veterans find work or start their own business.

Call 24/7: 1-833-426-0086

(CAN AAN)

PEST CONTROL: PROTECT YOUR HOME

from pests safely and affordably. Roaches, Bed Bugs, Rodent, Termite, Spiders and other pests. Locally owned and affordable.

Call for a quote, service or an inspection today! 1-833-406-6971 (CAN AAN)

A small amount of water can lead to major damage and mold growth in your home.

We do complete repairs to protect your family and your home’s value!

For a FREE ESTIMATE, call 24/7: 1-833-880-7762

NEED NEW WINDOWS?

Drafty rooms? Chipped or damaged frames? Need outside noise reduction?

New, energy efficient windows may be the answer!

Call for a consultation & FREE quote today:

1-833-890-1293 (CAN AAN)

YOU MAY QUALIFY for disability benefits if you are between 52-63 years old and under a doctor’s care for a health condition that prevents you from working for a year or more.

Call now!

1-833-641-3892 (CAN AAN)

AGING ROOF? NEW HOMEOWNER?

STORM DAMAGE?

You need a local expert provider that proudly stands behind their work. Fast, free estimate. Financing available.

Call 1-833-889-1843 (CAN AAN)